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Tracing 'SNL's' political humorWriter, critic Tom Shales evaluates show's satirical impact
(CNN) -- Since it debuted in 1975, "Saturday Night Live" has been a prime purveyor of political humor. From Chevy Chase's bumbling Gerald Ford to Phil Hartman's Ronald Reagan to Will Ferrell's George W. Bush, the show has poked fun of politicians and political issues on all sides of the ideological spectrum.
"Live From New York" co-author and Washington Post television critic Tom Shales was the "Newsmaker of the Week" on CNN's "The Capitol Gang" last week. That show's Al Hunt sat down with Shales to talk about "Saturday Night Live's" political humor. HUNT: From Chevy Chase's Gerald Ford to Darrell Hammond's Al Gore, describe the role that "Saturday Night Live" satire has played in shaping political perceptions in America. SHALES: Well, I don't think it's decided any elections exactly. But I think that they crystallize the dominant caricature. Gerald Ford, what, he tripped maybe once coming down the stairs of a plane, bopped somebody on the head with a golf ball once or something. But they seized on that, and they used it as a symbol of his ... ineptitude. HUNT: Fumbling presidency. SHALES: Yes. HUNT: Right. SHALES: Yes, literally fumbling and then falling down, that became falling down. It really caught on, and Gerald Ford, being smart, and his advisers, they embraced it rather than condemned it. Which also began a "Saturday Night Live" tradition, you know, let's -- when they pick on you, it's better to -- ha-ha -- go along with the joke, you know, pretend you find it funny than to get mad. HUNT: What are your one or two favorite moments of political humor on "Saturday Night Live"? SHALES: Well, Jim [co-author James Andrew Miller] and I have a favorite sketch of all time, which was a Republican primary debate. ... HUNT: 1988. SHALES: ... Danny Aykroyd came out of retirement to do Bob Dole, and everyone thinks of Norm Macdonald doing Bob Dole. But Danny did the most brilliant Bob Dole, slipping in all these zingers in this debate. Pierre DuPont was there, and, you know, Aykroyd as Dole would say -- [DuPont] was trying to call himself Pete DuPont, and Aykroyd would say, "Now come on, your name's Pierre. Let's be honest here." And he would get Bush with, "I never had the automatic dishwasher. I never had the boat to scoot around -- speed around Kennebunkport." Hilarious, one of the best sketches they ever did. HUNT: Over the more than quarter century, the role of politics on the show seems to have ebbed and flowed. Sometimes it's central, sometimes it's just been marginal. Why is that? SHALES: Well, there was a period of five years there, when [producer] Lorne [Michaels] and the original group left, [that] Dick Ebersol, who was the producer for most of that time, was not as enamored of political humor as Lorne was. He also tended, I think, to be a little more cautious. He was a network executive, after all. HUNT: Right. SHALES: And you know how they are. HUNT: Right. SHALES: They don't encourage controversy too much. HUNT: John McCain hosted the show last weekend. It was widely considered a tour de force. Looking at the political landscape today, who, apart from Bill Clinton, would you think that Lorne Michaels would love to have on "Saturday Night Live"? SHALES: Well, apart -- did you say apart from Bill Clinton? HUNT: Yes. SHALES: Because he's numero uno. HUNT: Yes, right. SHALES: And having done Letterman, who knows? He might. Janet Reno came on; she busted through a wall. HUNT: Right, right. SHALES: I think Hillary -- they would probably be glad to have. Who else is particularly funny right now? I mean, McCain was a great, a great catch for them. HUNT: But political humor has really been pretty nonideological or nonpartisan over the years, hasn't it? They're sort of equal opportunity slashers. SHALES: Yes, absolutely. I mean, I don't think Bush -- either the Gore or Bush camps could claim this last time that one got worse than the other. And part of this is because [writer and producer] Jim Downey, who was kind of running the political humor then, is himself a Republican. You know, we just assume that people in the arts are all liberal Democrats despite the occasional Charlton Heston or whatever. But not the case. Downey is pretty conservative. HUNT: You have said though that you don't think the show in many ways is as adventurous as it was in the beginning. But do you think that's true [now]? Has George W. Bush gotten a free ride since he's been president? SHALES: I think because of 9/11 and other things, I think that he's gotten through pretty easily so far. Of course, when the next election comes around, he'll be fair game, and they'll open up on him and do whatever is necessary. They don't have a good George W. Bush impersonator right now, that's the problem. HUNT: They have Chris Parnell doing it now. SHALES: Yes. You know, it was supposed to be Darrell Hammond, their resident impressionist par excellence, a guy who can do, you know, almost anybody. I mean, he can do Dick Cheney. How many people can do Dick Cheney? But he couldn't seem to get George W. Bush down. So they finally had to give it to Chris Parnell, at least for the time being.
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