Sherri Shepherd of The View is disappointed at the lack of black cast members on Saturday Night Live. Sherri, who’s not exactly on the Mensa waiting list, mentions something that has long been an issue with critics, but she does it in a surprisingly topical and relevant way. Shepherd points out that there aren’t even enough black people on the show to do an accurate spoof of her show, The View. There is only one current cast member who is black, Kenan Thompson, and he plays Whoopi when they do a View parody. Sherri’s presence is non-existent in send-ups of the daytime talk show. She blames this on Saturday Night Live casting.

Of the 90 or so actors to grace the “SNL” stage since its 1975 premiere, only eight have been African-American. And that’s an issue for “The View” co-host Sherri Shepherd.

In an AOL interview, she points out that there aren’t even enough African-Americans for a proper skit of her ABC daytime show. While Thompson portrays co-host Whoopi Goldberg, Shepherd’s character is simply left out of the sketch.

“Couldn’t they have gotten Maya Rudolph to play me?” Shepherd asked. “She is so awesome! They need more black people in their cast!”

“I agree with her,” Baron Vaughn, a black comic, told the New York Daily News. Diversity “doesn’t seem to be something that interests them.”

“Plenty of black people that I know have been on ‘SNL,’ and they haven’t been utilized to the best of their abilities. As much as I love Fred Armisen, there needs to be someone who can do a better Barack [Obama],” Vaughn added.

[From EURweb.com]

I agree that the cast of SNL is lacking in diversity and isn’t able to use their talent well. It often seems like the only use they’ve found for black comedians, both now and in the past, is as impersonating other people of color or as highly stereotypical black characters like Nat X, Ladies Man, and Eddie Murphy’s Mister Robinson’s Neighborhood.

What I can’t totally back up is the insistence that Saturday Night Live find a strictly black cast member to play Barack Obama. Obama has a multi-ethnic background, so demanding another cast member based solely on race makes no sense. Fred Armisen has been the go-to guy for black characters on the show, but he’s Venezuelan, German and Japanese. Armisen plays Prince, Obama, and this last weekend, infamously portrayed New York Governor David Paterson, all black men. He’s also played Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, and he’s not Middle Eastern.

The same complaint has been made about the SNL cast’s lack of women. Now that Amy Poehler has left the show, the only full fledged female cast member is Kristin Wiig, the rest of the women on the show are “featured players” and all but one of them were just recently added. Kenan Thompson, currently the only black male cast member, is recruited to play any women of color needed for a sketch.

SNL casting says “Casting is an ongoing process at the show. We are constantly looking for new people. We’ve been auditioning every couple of months or so, and we’ve seen numerous African-American performers and continue to look.”

MAD TV was recently cancelled, and Keeghan Michael Key may be looking for a job. He’d give Armisen a run for his money on Obama, too. Key’s impersonation was spot on, appearance aside.

Two months ago, Amy Poehler had a baby on a Saturday instead of going in to work at Saturday Night Live. We all thought that was the end of our love affair with Amy on the Saturday night sketch show, as she’d said she was going to quit after the baby was born. But we all got a happy surprise last week when the show was opened by Amy as Hillary Clinton. Even better, this week, we got a double dose of deja vu when Maya Rudolph joined Amy for an encore of Bronx Beat and in what was a final Weekend Update with Seth and Amy.

At the end of Weekend Update, which featured an interview with Fred Armisen as New York Governor David Paterson, Amy began a heartfelt, and very near tearful, announcement that it was her last show and express her gratitude for the “dream come true” that being on Saturday Night Live has been for her. Never a show to linger on the sentimental, however, a blind and somewhat confused “Governor Paterson” wandered into the shot just as it looked like Amy might start crying. It threw Poehler into a fit of laughter and made the rest of the thank you and goodbye bearable, both for us and for Amy.

Seth Meyer got to hug Amy goodbye at the end of Weekend Update, and I was jealous because I just wanted to hug her goodbye, too. For the first couple years Poehler was on the show, she wasn’t my favorite, but that had changed dramatically after she started co-anchoring Weekend Update with Tina Fey after Jimmy Fallon left. I loved Amy and Tina together, and Amy’s sketches started growing on me, too. I could watch Amy as Kaitlin or impersonating Sharon Osbourne all night.

Amy will be back sometime in 2009 with a new sitcom on NBC. At first it was reported to be a spin-off of The Office, but that has since been denied. Whatever it is, I hope it works out as well for her as 30 Rock has for Tina Fey. I wouldn’t miss it.

Note by Celebitchy: Here are the videos, which again are only available to US visitors. There’s a video with commentary of Amy’s departure that is available outside the US on YouTube.

New York Governor, David Paterson, is legally blind. He’s currently charged with the responsibility of replacing Hillary Clinton’s Senate seat now that she’s been chosen as Secretary of State, something that he says he takes seriously in light of the scandal with Illinois governor Rod Blagojevich allegedly trying to sell Obama’s vacant seat. With this new development comes the inevitable Saturday Night Live mocking impersonation that is standard for any politician in the national spotlight. And so, on Saturday night, Fred Armisen put on his best fake, scruffy facial hair and wandering eye and did the Governor not-so-proud.

Gov. Paterson didn’t see the humor in a “Saturday Night Live” bit that mocked his blindness.

During the “Weekend Update” segment of NBC’s irreverent comedy show, actor Fred Armisen played Paterson, imitating his wandering eye, gravelly voice and blunt, self-effacing demeanor.

But Paterson and advocates for the visually impaired didn’t appreciate stock blind jokes that had Armisen pretending to be disoriented and wandering aimlessly.

“The governor engages in humor all the time, and he can certainly take a joke,” Paterson’s spokesman, Errol Cockfield, said today.

“However, this particular ‘Saturday Night Live’ skit unfortunately chose to ridicule people with physical disabilities and imply that disabled people are incapable of having jobs with serious responsibilities.”

[From NY Post]

Advocates for the blind say that the send-up of the New York Governor gives a negative impression of blind people as independently able and therefore employable. The National Federation for the Blind says the the visually impaired have a 70% unemployment rate and that mocking the subject, like SNL has on more than one occasion, perpetuate that.

I am sensitive to their issue, to a point. I really don’t think most HR directors or small business owners take their hiring cues from SNL political spoofs. Usually things like this are blown way out of proportion as far as I’m concerned. It’s been clear for years that there’s really nothing off limits for satire when it comes to politicians on Saturday Night Live, and Governor Paterson’s blindness is just as open for over the top impersonation as Bill Clinton’s sexual indescretion or George W’s lack of… lets just leave it at “judgement” (although, he’s got wicked reflexes as seen in this weekend’s shoe ducking incident).

Note by Celebitchy: I don’t agree with SNL and personally do find it offensive when someone mocks a handicap and makes it seem more disabling than it is. It’s not necessary or funny, and Paterson has every right to express his displeasure. It is much different than making fun of infidelity, which is a voluntary behavior and a personal failing.

You can watch the videos of the skit below if you’re in the US. If you’re outside the US, like me, you’re SOL.

Sarah Palin made a surprise appearance on the Saturday Night Live primetime special Political Bash Monday night on NBC. There was no advertising or leak on her or Senator McCain’s appearance on the special so no one was expecting it.

Sitting in a leather chair alone on a stage, Governor Palin addressed the audience and was met with applause to begin with. However, after launching into her written speech, the reception decidedly cooled.

Palin delivered a speech that must have been intended to be tongue in cheek and funny, but it just was not delivered as such. It was actually rather sinister sounding and Palin herself barely cracked anything more than a sarcastic smile during the whole thing.

Palin said that when she first heard about Saturday Night Live was making fun of her, she was annoyed. But, after awhile, she understood that this was a long standing tradition with SNL and political figures. Palin attempted a joke about not knowing Saturday Night Live was still on the air and there was a smattering of laughter. It felt like the audience was trying to figure out what exactly was going on. Was Sarah Palin joking or not?

Then, with nary a smile, Palin then announced that on January 20th, after she is sworn into office, the parody is to end. Now, obviously, the sketch was written as a joke, and meant to be delivered as such, but it came across as more of a command than a joke. Sarah, in another joke that she just could not make work, said that if SNL didn’t stop making fun of her after she was Vice President, she would see to it that NBC had their broadcast license revoked. Followed by another joke about how no one would know, because no one watches NBC. She concluded with what felt like some sort of mob threat, saying that in Alaska “we play for keeps, it’s called The Palin Doctorine.”

It was eerily silent and uncomfortable during her delivery. I almost felt bad for her if it weren’t for the fact that she herself barely cracked a smile. She was very charismatic during her scheduled cameo on SNL a couple weeks ago, so it was surprising to see her so much the opposite on Monday. I sat here stunned during the whole thing, actually hoping that she would pull off a great zinger at the end and get a good laugh at it all, but it never came.

The audience was kind enough to applaud when she signed off, but that was about the extent of a reaction. It was odd and uncomfortable and I’m very surprised they put her on with it. She had to have done something more encouraging in rehearsals.

John McCain opened the show and was charming and funny, sitting in the same chair, delivering his pre-written speech with a smile and a sense of humor. Whether you agree with his politics or not, there’s no denying he comes across as a decent guy with a sense of humor when he does Saturday Night Live. Although, I’ve got to say, he’s pretty much turned into the “celebrity” he lambasted Obama for being now that he’s basically become a cast member on Saturday Night Live this week.

Truly, it’s all for naught, most people have already voted, either early or by mail, and on the eve of the election, the undecideds should be few and far between. Maybe Sarah Palin thought she had nothing to lose so she would show that she was a serious contender in the last minutes, on a political satire show.

McCain’s first skit on SNL, which was a hit. His second skit, below, wasn’t quite as effective

After a serious ten straight minutes of political commercials, Saturday Night Live finally kicked off with John McCain and Sarah Palin. The real McCain, but not the real Sarah Palin. Tina Fey was back with what will be, if she sticks to her word, her final performance on the Saturday show as the Alaska Governor.

McCain and “Palin” were on QVC on the skit, in rebuttal to Obama’s Wednesday night 30-minute ad, because the time came cheap as long as they would hawk a few products. As Tina-as-Palin explained as she stroked her lovely, designer jacket, running a Presidential campaign is expensive.

Senator McCain announced the pair’s first product, a 10-piece collector’s set representing the ten town hall meetings the Senators McCain and Obama had. He stepped over to reveal ten blank, white plates, because, as he explained, Obama refused to do town hall meetings.

The second product was presented by Palin, a complete set of Joe action figures, plumber, six pack, and Biden. Her favorite being the Biden doll, whose string you could pull and he would talk for 45-minutes straight.

McCain then took the opportunity to talk about the crossroads in American history we all find ourselves in this election year… until Palin interrupted to announce that there were only two minutes left to order the Washington Outsider jewelry!

Which brought McCain to his “Fine Gold” line of jewelry, presented by Cindy McCain. That joke wrote itself. The next one had to reach a bit further, Sarah Palin’s Ayers Freshners, to plug in when “sumthin’ doesn’t quite smell right.” Plus, as Tina said, it keeps on reminding you of William Ayers!

The final official product was John McCain Pork Knives, to “cut the pork out.”

Then Tina’s Palin goes rogue, taking the camera to the side with “PALIN in 2012″ t-shirts, “just wait til after Tuesday to wear them.” Whether they win or not, she says, Palin isn’t going anywhere, she’s either going to be in the White House or be White Oprah.

From off camera, McCain asks, “What’s going on over there, Sarah?”

“Oh, just talkin’ ’bout taxes.”

Before the Senator delivers the obligatory line for opening Saturday Night Live, he tells the QVC audience that he is a true Maverick, a Republican without money, so had no choice but to go on QVC. And unlike Barack Obama, he doesn’t have Hollywood connections, his only showbiz supporters are John Voight and Heidi from the Hills.

He closed with, “When you go to the polls remember “Country First”, and as a reminder, all undergarments are unrefundable.”

John McCain was as willing and funny as I knew he would be. He really seems to have a sense of humor, it’s just been markedly missing, or strangely askew, for the past couple weeks. He got plenty of laughs and alot of applause. He seemed to be a hit.

But then he came on Weekend Update. There was actual booing when he was introduced. Senator McCain delivered an interesting array of “last minute strategies.” The “Reverse Maverick”: where he does whatever anybody tells him. The “Double Maverick”: going totally berserker and freak everybody out. The “Sad Grandpa”: Obama has a lot of time left to run for president, voters should give him a chance. People laughed at his bad ideas, but not in the good way. When Seth Myers asked which he was going to use, McCain got serious for a minute and said he was going to stick with his basic strategy… connect with the voters, stand by his record, etc. And if that doesn’t work, probably the Double Maverick.

One sketch too many, Senator.

Ben Affleck was not as good as I’d hoped he’d be. He had a couple of funny moments, but more than not, he was disappointing. Singer David Cook, on the other hand was excellent.

Update by Celebitchy: Here’s Ben Affleck as Keith Olbermann, and as Alec Baldwin stopping by The View. (Thanks daisy424!)

John McCain will be returning to Saturday Night Live, the McCain campaign has confirmed. McCain was the featured host in 2002, and this will be the Senator’s second cameo appearance this year. It couldn’t come at a better time, for him, either. The November 1st show is airing just three days before election day and SNL has been a great way to get a little push in popularity this election.

Aides to the Republican presidential candidate said Friday that McCain will make a detour from battleground states to appear on “Saturday Night Live,” the late-night show that has been a must-watch for many during the political season.

McCain last appeared on “Saturday Night Live” in May, after clinching the nomination and while the Democratic primary continued. The 72-year-old Arizona senator joked about his age, saying: “I ask you, what should we be looking for in our next president? Certainly, someone who is very, very, very old.”

When McCain hosted “SNL” in 2002, he mocked singer Barbra Streisand’s political advocacy by performing a medley of her songs.

[From Associated Press]

John McCain was funny and likeable in his previous appearances. His turn on Barbra Streisand by getting into her repertoire of songs the way she gets into politics was priceless. His sense of humor has waned a little bit in these final weeks of the election but I’m sure the SNL writers will come up with something, possibly even to joke on his recent irritability, and I’m betting McCain will be enough of a sport to go along with it.

About a month ago, rumor had been that Barack Obama was going to be on this weekend’s show, but that rumor subsequently dissipated. Lorne Michaels, the man behind SNL, said that the show doesn’t confirm a guest star until they’re in the building and no one was in the building yet, so he’s not even confirming McCain at this point. He did say Obama was tentatively scheduled to be on last week’s show but was unable to make it after having gone to Hawaii to visit his ailing grandmother. I was honestly still expecting him to show up on Saturday, until I heard McCain had been scheduled.

McCain will have another Democrat to face, though. Ben Affleck, an outspoken Democrat and Obama supporter is the host this week, and that has been confirmed. Affleck has been hinting at getting into politics for awhile now. Maybe McCain will provide the same opportunity for him that Joe the Plumber was given, I hear he’s thinking of running for office, too.

Here is a link to a clip from 2002 of John McCain as a creepy husband.

John McCain and his wife Cindy are shown campaigning in Sarasota, FL on 10/23/08. Credit: ANG/Fame Pictures

Will she or won’t she? Rumor has it that Britney Spears will host of Saturday Night Live for the third time sometime in the days leading up to the December 2 release of her new album. Right now NBC reps are denying it, but rumor has it that Brit will make her triumphant return to SNL on November 22 as both host and musical guest.

According to whispers on the Snitch Circuit, Brit will host and perform as the musical guest on the November 22 episode of SNL.

The pop star has always been a good sport about mocking herself, as the rumored November guest spot would be Britney’s third hosting/performing gig on the NBC sketch comedy series.

[From PopCrunch]

Both NBC and Spears reps are kinda-sorta denying it. They don’t seem to be going as far as saying it’s categorically untrue, however.

Despite a report from fledgling blog celebuzz claiming that Britney Spears will be performing on Saturday Night Live sometime in November, the singer’s rep and a spokesman for the NBC show deny that Spears has been booked. Spears’ only TV appearances scheduled thus far is Good Morning America on Dec. 2 (which also happens to be her 27th birthday and the date her new album, Circus, hits stores) and an MTV documentary, tentatively titled “For the Record,” which is slated to air on Nov. 30. As for musical guests on SNL, American Idol winner David Cook will perform on Nov. 1 and new episodes are planned for Nov. 15 and Nov. 22.

[From Entertainment Weekly]

She hasn’t been booked. In other words, maybe the details haven’t been hammered out yet? It would be an ingenious idea for both parties to make this happen if it isn’t. Saturday Night Live is enjoying it’s biggest ratings in years thanks to the election year, and Britney would get massive exposure for the release of her album, Circus. Saturday Night Live might be able to maintain some of their pre-election popularity by having the comeback queen of the year on again.

This November, I’m voting yes on the initiative to bring Britney Spears back to SNL on November 22nd.

Here’s a video of Amy Poehler as Britney Spears. Thanks to Popcrunch for the heads up:

Britney is shown at the pumpkin patch with Jayden on 10/23/08. Credit: Revolution/Fame Pictures

Former SNL star Will Ferrell made a comeback Thursday night on the primetime, pre-election, weeknight Saturday Night Live special as President George W. Bush, opening the show with an address to the nation where he said the election was between “the hot lady and the Tiger Woods guy,” both of whom were very “patriotized” and display “much characterization.” But his main reason for being there was for the opportunity that had been evading the “President” to publicly endorse John McCain and Sarah Palin. Claiming to finally have the chance to make it official since the country was on such an upswing and his approval rating was so high, Bush was surprised when told by an “advisor” that the country was, in fact, in a downward spiral and his numbers have never been lower. He apologized for not knowing that, but explained he had no way to know since he had declared the Oval Office a “bummer free zone” about four months ago.

Ferrell’s George Bush introduced Senator John McCain and Sarah Palin, but only Tina Fey as Palin entered the Oval Office. When the President asked her where McCain was she said that when the Senator heard Bush was going to publically endorse them, he disappeared. But not to worry, Todd was tracking him. Asked what she’d been doing lately, Fey’s Palin answered she’d been travelin’ around, talkin’ ’bout change, talkin’ bout Ayers and doin’ a little shoppin’.

When Palin uttered the Larry the Cable Guy line, “Git ‘er done”, Bush commented on Palin’s folksy image. Palin thanked him and she said she likes to think of herself as one part practised folksy, one part sassy and a little bit of high school bitchy. Bush told her he tried to do the folksy thing but after awhile it just came off as douchey.

Bush took it upon himself to advise Palin that she was going to be very important if they won the election, telling her that the VP is the most important position in the land, the President can do nothing without checking with the Vice President. Fey said she didn’t want to go all Katie Couric on him, but it’s actually the opposite, to which Ferrell said that’s not what Cheney told him!

Enter “Todd” in his snowmobile gear with the missing Darrell Hammond as McCain after having found him in the Adirondacks, still not wanting to be there to accept the endorsement of the President. Not speaking a word, and trying to pull away out of every photo op, the McCain impersonation was the exact opposite of the Palin impersonation in how they played to Bush. With pain visible on Hammond’s McCain face, Ferrell did his best George W. and looked into the camera and said “When you think of John McCain, think of me, George W. Bush… when you’re in the voting booth, before you vote, think of this face. A vote for John McCain is a vote for George Bush.”

Then they all delivered the opening line of the show in unison. Another hilarious night of over the top impressions and fun with this crazy election!

Mark Wahlberg and fiancee Rhea Durham at the “Max Payne” premiere in Hollywood. Photo credit: Griffinbauer.

When Mark Wahlberg appeared on the Jimmy Kimmel show, threatening to punch SNL comedian Andy Samberg in the nose over his impersonation of Wahlberg in a skit, everyone went into a tizzy, calling the actor a hothead with no sense of humor. Turns out Marky Mark was just joking- and proved it this weekend in an extended cameo on SNL. At the very beginning of the show, Wahlberg approached SNL producer Lorne Michaels, demanding to know where Samberg was. Then later in the show, Wahlberg had an on-screen confrontation with Samberg in which he made fun of himself, and even talked to a donkey just like Samberg did in the previous week’s bit.

My guess is that Wahlberg had already been recruited by SNL writers to appear on this week’s show before he was a guest on Jimmy Kimmel and was setting us all up for the big joke. It wasn’t really all that funny – but at least we know that Wahlberg doesn’t take himself that seriously. Mark must be in a good mood these days, with his action flick based on a video game, “Max Payne” sitting at number one at the box office.

Max Payne, the videogame adaptation starring Mark Wahlberg, shot up an easy win at the box office, even as two of the weekend’s other new releases — The Secret Life of Bees and W. — performed nicely, finishing in line with their respective estimates.

The No. 1 action flick grossed $18 million from Friday through Sunday. Although not quite on par with the debut totals of some other game-based movies, like the most recent Resident Evil films, which blew away more than $23 mil in their premieres, Max Payne’s premiere number is a marked improvement on the first-weekend sums of Wahlberg’s previous two gun-totin’ flicks, last fall’s cop drama We Own the Night ($10.8 mil) and early 2007′s Shooter ($14.5 mil). And here’s another sort of backhanded compliment: It’s a good thing the movie earned as much as it did this weekend, for its lamentable CinemaScore grade of C portends a limited audience in the coming weeks.

[From Entertainment Weekly]

Hey, Marky Mark: say hi to your mother for me!

Here’s the SNL video of Mark Wahlberg and Andy Samberg’s “face off.”

Photos of Mark Wahlberg and Rhea Durham at “Max Payne” premiere from Bauergriffin. Photo of Andy Samberg catching a cab in New York from Bauergriffin.

The long awaited appearance of Sarah Palin on Saturday Night Live began with Tina Fey. Tina started the show spoofing Sarah Palin at a press conference where jokes were made about Palin not answering questions and about the McCain/Obama debate on last Wednesday.

Camera-cut to Loren Michaels with the real Sarah Palin who pulled of a pretty decent joke with Michaels about 30 Rock not being well known enough for Palin to spoof Fey. Enter Mark Wahlberg angrily looking for Andy Samberg. It was no surprise that whole deal was a set up, but I’m really hoping it was set up with this much forethought: A whole week of taking everyone for a ride just to tie in to the next joke… when Loren directed him to Sambergs dressing room and he stormed off, Michaels explained to Palin that Marky Mark wasn’t happy with the show’s impression of him.

Palin kind of snorted and said “Tell me about it.”

Then, in an inspired cameo, Alec Baldwin came on, mistaking Palin for Fey, asking Michaels how he could possibly let their wonderful Tina Fey on stage with that horrible Sarah Palin. Feigning embarrassment when Michaels introduced him to Sarah, Baldwin recovered by telling her that she was way hotter in person, to which Sarah responded that Stephen was her favorite Baldwin.

Then, in what one could have feared would have caused the collapse of the world as we know it, Tina Fey and Sarah Palin passed each other, as Fey skittered offstage when told Palin was on her way on to announce that she wouldn’t take anyone’s questions and “Live from New York, it’s Saturday Night!”

Palin didn’t say much, and certainly didn’t interact the way Hillary Clinton did, or show as much comedy talent as McCain, but she was understatedly amusing. She reminded me of my junior high school teacher humoring the 8th grade graduation crowd after taking a ribbing by the valedictorian in his speech. Clearly not thinking it was as funny as everyone else does, but not wanting to look like she doesn’t have a sense of humor about herself.

The introduction sketch wasn’t the last we saw of Palin on the show. During Weekend Update, Sarah reappeared. She declared she wasn’t going to do the bit they rehearsed, so Amy Poehler launched into the rap, obviously meant for her all along, that mentioned Jeremiah Wright, William Ayers, “Drill, Baby, Drill”, the Bridge to Nowhere, and shooting moose. Cast members danced behind her, dressed as Eskimos, a moose (which was shot), and Palin husband, Todd. Sarah sat at the anchor desk bopping along to the music and doing that thing she does with her mouth. You know, when she pushes her top lip up with her bottom lip? Yeah, that.

Palin finally got her chance to imitate Tina Fey by using the sign-off Fey had delivered for years, ala Chevy Chase, as one of the anchors of Weekend Update, “I’m Sarah Palin. Good night and have a pleasant tomorrow.”

On a few Palin-unrelated notes, Adele was phenomenal live, Amy Poehler is hugely and adorably pregnant, and I’m pretty impressed with Samberg and Wahlberg pulling off this week long joke on the media.