New, shorter video uploaded.
This sketch is pathetic and insulting because “Obama” is neither black nor funny. I grew up on Saturday Night Live and watched it from the very beginning thirty years ago. It was always bold, cutting edge, and funny. For the last several years, Saturday Night Live hasn’t been funny. Darrell Hammond’s political satire is the shining exception. Down to one black cast member, Kenan Thompson, a blackface minstrel they fished out of some damn time machine, they’re really scraping the bottom of the barrel. Mad TV has been kicking their assess for years and I’m really at a loss as to why this show is still on the air. What do you think?
Totally agree, this show is hopeless and needs to be put out of its misery. I’m old enough to remember when it was actually funny…must be about 30 years ago now. My all time favorite episode was when Broderick Crawford played J. Edgar Hoover to Ackroyd’s Nixon and Belushi’s Henry Kissinger. That was classic, but it’s been downhill ever since. It’s a shame because if ever we needed guerilla TV it is now.
By: Ernesto on February 25, 2008
at 2:10 am
Oh and one more fond memory, the episode hosted by Richard Pryor with musical guest Gil Scott Heron doing “Johannesburg”, which as a pre-teen was my introduction to politically charged protest music. You just don’t get that these days from the McNetworks.
By: Ernesto on February 25, 2008
at 2:19 am
I still remember the Golden Age of SNL. I’m not talking about Belushi and Murphy by the way. For me it was the cast of 1989 – remember those guys?
Dana Carvey, Mike Myers, Chris Rock, Phil Hartman, Adam Sandler, Kevin Nealond… now THOSE guys were funny. I didn’t actually see this Obama skit, but to be honest, SNL hasn’t been funny for years. The fact that SNL is dead, frankly, is Not News.
By: anony mouse on February 25, 2008
at 9:41 am
Chris Farley and Phil Hartman were my favorites.
R.I.P. Saturday Night Live
By: rene on February 25, 2008
at 12:46 pm
My all-time favs cast members and skits are:
Jan Hooks & Phil Hartman – everything, especially her black teary-eyed Tammy Faye with Jim Bakker
Sherry Oteri – everything… she ALWAYS nailed it!
Will Ferrell – especially as Dubyah, stretched out in a cat-like trance, playing with a ball of yarn.
On the other hand, Horatio Sands and that brotha Finesse Williams (??) were IMO the worst cast members EVAAAAAAH!
It’s like this with SNL, once you think the show can’t get worse and are ready to pull the plug, they discover talent (like the ones I mentioned) and the show comes back to life.
By: Denise on February 25, 2008
at 1:49 pm
I didn’t watch. I think I was just prematurely disenchanted of the thought in watching it because I just suspected something was going to be suspect with that crew. See…I can’t prove it but I see this crazy fanaticism with New Yorkers and Hillary still. I just don’t get it.
One would think that New Yorkers and how jaded they are to be cynics and skeptics that they could sniff a con before we in other locales could. But it has not turned out that way. It seems that the people are more Tamminy Hall than even the powerbrokers in their Metropolitian area Establishement.
Hearing Tina Fey endorse Hillary was what I expected from her. The White Female feminist movement in centralized there in NY and LA. They don’t care about ethics and optimism; they are committed to getting their platforms vindicated by any means (i.e. Hilary as their poster-child). So, I am not surprised considering she was the host.
Maybe the sketches were to appease Tina Fey or the cast and writers are that Clintonian as well. Or maybe they really thought they were really funny eventhough the sketch was not innovative comedy. Go figure!
By: Andrea on February 25, 2008
at 2:56 pm
Humor is best when it jabs at bitter reality, and this skit drove home the Obamaphenoma of voters swooning and fainting as if we were electing a rock star and not a politician. I have coworkers who voted for him and said, “I can;t help it, I’m in love!!!” That’s not funny–it’s pitiful.
Naturally, I was in stitches over this skit (especially Obama Girl!!!)
By: Suse on February 25, 2008
at 4:34 pm
I did watch the sketch and I have to say the comedian that portrayed Sen. Obama had his mannerisms down to an art form, and I had not watched simce Chris Rock left. I loved to watch his character, “Nat X”.
By: renee on February 25, 2008
at 8:41 pm
They dropped it on YouTube. Anyone have a link?
By: Benjamin Jancewicz on February 26, 2008
at 10:55 pm
SNL never had anything on Blaine and Twan from Living Color.
By: TripLBee on February 27, 2008
at 10:15 pm
I saw it and thought it was funny, at least in the sense that they depicted accurately what they were aiming to depict. Keenan was actually trying to loose 60 pounds just so he could impersonate Obama, one newsline clip reported. I thought that was funny just hearing it.
By: Phil Russell on February 28, 2008
at 2:55 pm
Try this:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=DNol2-DV6Ug
I would love to see more ‘in depth’ spoof though.
By: Phil Russell on February 28, 2008
at 3:05 pm
How can you guys be upset with the skit. I am a supporter of Obama and thought it was hilarious. I think we take it too seriously. Lighten up..
By: Tanisha on February 28, 2008
at 5:17 pm
Tanisha,
LMAO, we are skeptics (i.e. Skeptical Brotha’s blogsite)!
We are perpetually disgruntled here. So if something is supposed to be funny, we won’t get it. We have to poke it first to make sure it doesn’t bite us.
But as for what SB was pointing out is: in order to mock someone, the person has to be funny in some type of absurd way. It seems that SNL was reaching and lacked the creativity to produce something funny. Instead they just caricatured irony.
The only thing so far that I have seen that is funny about Obama is his rhythm…I mean lack of thereof…dancing skills…or…his appeasement to not seem TOO BLACK on the dance floor. That shit is so not funny to me but absolutely Machiavellian in how he might be PASSING as a rhythmless Brotha’ to suppress getting his freak on in stereo(type).
By: Andrea on February 28, 2008
at 7:17 pm