Palin Lands SNL Its Highest Ratings in 14 Years

No word on how (and if) Sarah Palin's appearance on Saturday Night Live will help out the Republican's campaign, but it certainly helped out Lorne & Co. Word is that the show saw its highest household ratings in more than 14 years (to be more specific: since March 12, 1994, when Olympic skater Nancy Kerrigan hosted). To put it in a more recent perspective, ABC reports that the ratings were up 47% compared to the October 4th episode. Somewhere, Marky Mark is crediting himself for this. Meanwhile, in the D.C./Northern Virginia market, Obama aired a new television spot during Saturday's episode, targeting women and focuses on "McCain's position on women's compensation, health care, Social Security and abortion rights." McCain told a Virginia crowd on Saturday that he thought Palin and Fey were "separated at birth."

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By Jen Carlson in Arts and Events on October 20, 2008 12:30 PM

Comments [rss]

debra88

Wow, Lorne Michaels really is the loser we always knew he was. He'd book a monkey if he could generate revenue from it. Only one way the ratings can go now Lorne, better think of another gimmick quick!

Rfive

palin giving snl their best rating in 14 years is proof that the show hasn't been relevant in that time. sad...

NannyState

"ABC reports"? And while the Disney Company isn't really interested in SNL, they are very interested in acquiring Sarah Palin. (They've always wanted to combine a loveable audioanimatronic figure with one hell of a scary ride.)

seandabear

It wasnt a performance at all. How many lines did she have? Maybe three? They could have just had a cardboard cutout, probably would have been funnier actually.

meL

#11 - Apparently she was supposed to do a sketch during Weekend Update, but at the last moment pulled out and told Seth Meyers that she couldn't go through with it. If it was part of the sketch, I guess we would've seen it on air.

Oh well.

MonkSalve

I got the feeling we were laughing at her not with her. She just kind of happened to be there.

Amanda Harletsch

matty, got it 100% right. Still a fact.

Art Stewel

Ridiculed? Consult a dictionary.

Compare her performance to any other pol who has appeared on the show. They all come across as wooden boards. Have you seen any of those appearances?

Did anyone really expect her to be funny? Probably very few people, if any, reading this are funny, but almost everyone thinks they are. What would all you critics say that was so funny if you were Sarah Palin on SNL?

She was good. She had fun with it, which is not to say she was funny. She had timing and presence - she was relaxed and good natured. She was comfortable on live tv with professional comedians joking on her.

Disagree all day long with her politics, but she entertained millions, and reports are she won the respect of some of her principal satirists. That's not easy.

And did you happen to catch her at closing credits in those those black leather boots??

camera_club

#3: how was she good? she just sat there a smiled and said close to nothing while she was ridiculed on television

Rob T Firefly

@7: I thought that whole cop-out thing was part of the sketch, not that I thought it was funny or anything.

ed_Extinct

I watch her just to see another dumb-ass thing come out of the her mouth... in fact, as much as a can't stand W's accent, I sure will miss it compared to Palin's accent... she sounds like back woods white trash, which in a way, is what she is.

matty

^amanda did you find that out in your US Citizenship course?

Amanda Harletsch

what is CRAZY is that the popular vote, that is the number of individual votes does not ellect the president in this country, that is just fkdup!

meL

#5 I agree. She was not funny at all... and surprisingly everything else on SNL was. And that cop-out from the Weekend Update sketch? C'mon. If she had any sort of humor, she would've just went along with it instead of going 'oh it'll be bad for the campaign'.

huffybike

I still think people mostly want to watch Fey as Palin. I certainly do.

grifforama

you are fucking kidding me ? I tuned in, and sort of wished I hadn't. She did nothing.

hulaedwyn

I hope this stunt guesting brought a larger audience to SNL's secret weapon: Kristen Wiig. Her Suze Orman skit was comedy gold.

Art Stewel

It won't help the Republican campaign. There was probably a ton of Obama boosters watching figuring she would get hammered, and to their credit SNL gave it to her in a fun, jocular way.

Most politicians visiting the show are complete wood. SP was vivacious and a good sport. She seemed more comfortable than Marky Mark, Fred Armisen, and Keenan combined. Even if you dislike Palin, she was good.

But I'm retarded - I would love SNL if every other skit was Farthead Businessmen. And I hope they expand Sudekis as Todd Palin on the next show, seeing as in two weeks the Palins will be seceding from the national scene.