Political Communication 2020 Campaign Analysis Blog: Comedy & Politics

Wednesday, November 11, 2020

Comedy & Politics – Tuesday, October 20th (Blog #9 A)

How are the presidential candidates being presented on comedy programs? What impact do you think satirical shows and late night hosts are having on this year’s election? And how does it compare to previous campaigns? Since there are no textbook readings for this topic, you should reference two readings from Blackboard, two media examples from this year’s campaign, and two media examples from previous campaigns to support your answer.

39 comments:

Brianna MejiaNovember 15, 2020 at 10:11 PM
Brianna Mejia 1/2

Television has always been a medium in conveying important information to the public, but its main role is entertainment. For years, shows such as Saturday Night Live have turned news into comedy routines. In the week leading up to the elections, the presidential candidates Joe Biden and Donald Trump have been portrayed negatively on skit shows such as Saturday Night Live. For example, in the clip entitled “Trump Rally Cold Open – SNL” Trump is portrayed by Alec Baldwin as unintelligent and blatantly racist at points. Often, candidates’ negative traits are the only ones conveyed. However, it is not only Trump that catches criticism. In 2016, SNL loved to make fun of Hilary Clinton as well. For example, they made her appear old and out of touch with technology in the video “Hillary Clinton Election Video Cold Open – SNL”.

However, according to the article “A History of Politicians on Late Night” when appearing on Late Night comedy shows such as shows with Steven Colbert and Jimmy Fallon, the candidates can appear laidback and relatable. They need to prove that they can take a joke and have a personality outside of politics. Often times, these late-night hosts can make them seem more favorable. This is the case with Joe Biden when he went on The Late Show with Steven Colbert and was able to present himself as witty, funny, and not the “sleepy joe” many thought he was. However, in 2016 when Trump went on Jimmy Fallon, the interaction felt awkward, forced, and was not filled with many laughs. This is an example of how things can do wrong.

I think that satirical shows and late-night shows are having a negative impact on the election as they are making it out to be a joke. They are making issues and horrible scenarios into something people can laugh about, which sometimes can take away from the severity of the situation. In the past, I think that these shows have provided comedic relief and made candidates look more human such as with George Bush in 2000 (Martinez). However, this election cycle seems to favor one candidate more than others. For example, according to an article by Forbes, more comedic talk shows and satirical shows attack Trump more than Biden which makes them unfavorable to conservatives and or/ republicans. This makes even entertainment Tv divisive and political. This is something that we haven’t seen in previous years (before the 2000s), as the candidates received equal attention and criticism.
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UnknownNovember 16, 2020 at 2:22 AM
Jessica Bischer

Television talk shows appearances provide presidential candidates from all parties an opportunity to display themselves in a relaxed and comical environment. The overall purpose of both daytime and late-night talk shows is leisure and is mainly provided for entertainment. However, with all things in the entertainment business, politics are sprinkled in.

John F. Kennedy was the first president to appear on late-night television in 1960 on "Tonight starring Jack Parr." The presidential nominee did not stray from talking policy with the audience, and the tone of the interview was professional. Saturday Night Live offered nominees the opportunity to take part in their political satire, further proving they're not afraid to laugh at themselves. In 1975, Gerald Ford was the first to garner the title "Entertainer in Chief" after his appearance on Saturday Night Live. Ford's campaign team was looking to give him a softer representation in the eyes of Americans (Brownell). SNL wasn't exactly what his team had planned for, but would provide the friendly edge Ford was striving for. In 2000, George W. Bush would pass the next milestone in political late-night, with a comical "Top 10 with David Letterman" segment, featured on "The Late Show." The audience cheered with laughter as the caring conservative resembled a pal rather than a president. With late-night television, presidential nominees faced a new challenge of presenting themselves as fun-loving but reliable, juggling comedy with policy. Programs based around political commentary began popping up on various networks and by the 2010s had created a new subgenre in television (Barker 936). The 24-hour news cycle of modern media drove political commentary programs like "The Daily Show" and "The Colbert Report" to rapid popularity (Martinez). What viewers loved about these were the combination of their nation's government at work and non-sensical jokes. The increased popularity of political commentary led Jon Stewart and current Stephen Colbert, to host "The Late Show." Late-night television had become a necessary stopping point for presidential nominees in 2008 to pay a visit to a few late-night hosts during their campaign.

During John McCain's campaign trail, a financial emergency struck, causing him to cancel all of his future appearances. "The Late Show" producers were contacted about his absence 15 minutes before filming. According to the host, David Letterman, McCain was on-site filming with CBS and Katie Couric at the time of cancellation. John McCain did, however, appear on "The Daily Show" with Jon Stewart, where he was able to crack jokes with the host. Barack Obama appeared on "The Late Show" several times during his 2008 campaign trail, an obvious crowd favorite of audiences. Both party candidates would continue to make late-night appearances in 2012 and again in 2016.
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UnknownNovember 16, 2020 at 3:10 PM
Lille Gaeta
Comedy programs have become a surprisingly relevant part of politics. Presidents have utilized comedy shows to their advantage, leading “political commentators and media scholars… [to note] the opportunities and obstacles late-night comedy television presents presidents to become an entertainer in chief” (Brownell 2016). In this election, neither candidate was presented in a particularly great manner. After the first debate, Jimmy Kimmel Live! did a segment where he described the two candidates as sleazy (Trump) vs. sleepy (Biden), while calling the debate “wrestle mania.” In the SNL skit “Weekend Update: Trump’s Final 2020 Election Message” Trump’s own words and actions were used against him, when the anchor stated that Trump’s rallies were connected to 30,000 COVID cases and 700 deaths, and “that means he’s officially killed more people across the Midwest than Jeffrey Dahmer and John Wayne Gacy combined.” With this skit, SNL was portraying Trump in a negative light without the use of an impersonation; just by using his actions against him.

Alec Baldwin’s infamous, yet scathing, impression of Trump has become very widespread since he began to play the president back in 2016. In SNL’s 2016 skit on the second presidential debate, Trump was portrayed as inept and rude while Hillary was portrayed as intense and only slightly more put together. In 2016, in “Hillary Clinton’s Election Video Cold Open – SNL” Clinton was portrayed as harsh, intense, and controlling, claiming she wanted to be her own vice president (Shankar & Sederholm 2016). In past years, presidents going on late-night shows have helped with their likeability. Perhaps one of the most well-known appearances by a president on a late-night show is Bill Clinton’s 1992 appearance on Arsenio Hall’s show doing a rendition of “Heartbreak Hotel” on a saxophone (Martinez 2015). In 2000, Bush appeared on the Late Show with David Letterman, showcasing his easygoing demeanor and his “vote-for-me-because-I'm-the-type-of-guy-you-could-have-a-beer-with approach,” when ended up being quite popular (Martinez 2015). Both of these situations helped Clinton and Bush appear significantly more likeable and approachable.

Satirical and late-night shows had a negative effect on this year’s election. Since neither candidate was really portrayed in a positive way, it almost makes the election look like a joke, or puts more distrust in the candidate than people already had. The feeling of “settling” for one candidate or the other was extremely common in this election, so to see these negative portrayals in the media most likely did not help people feel better about who they planned on voting for. Branding your only choices as “sleazy” or “sleepy” does not get people exactly energized to vote. However, this election had the largest voter turnout in history, so it did not even really matter how the candidate were portrayed; people still showed up to the polls.
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McKayla Norris pt 1November 16, 2020 at 8:44 PM
Comedy programs and late night television shows have been around campaigns for some time, but with the current circumstances, their presence is stronger than ever. Many Americans have openly discussed their inability to take these candidates seriously on several different levels and meme culture has shown that time and time again. With most comedy programs and late night talk shows being openly biased to the left, they’re most definitely leaving an impact on the candidates but I am unsure about their direct impact on the election. Late Night Television has been seemingly “celebrating” Donald Trump's loss. Late night hosts such as Stephen Colbert, Jimmy Kimmel, and Seth Meyers have not been shy in their feelings towards the election results, even going as far as making comments such as “our long national acid trip is almost over”, “After four years, Americans can finally exhale”, and “times up on the 20th”(Pallotta, 2020).

Saturday Night Live has been actively involved in political satire for years, but Trump and Biden have recently become their main source of content. A good representation of political comedy, especially in this election year, is the SNL segment that impersonates the first presidential debate. This is a skit that shows the weaknesses and issues with each candidate, highlighting on main criticisms that they have received through the course of their campaign. President Trump has been portrayed on Saturday Night Live many times throughout his first campaign cycle, his presidency thus far, and his current campaign. With Alec Baldwin playing him, the impression that this popular show gives off is that Donald Trump is outrageous, pompous, and comical. According to an article from Forbes, “conservatives who support Donald Trump are avoiding late-night television shows”(Berr, 2020). I don’t believe that these impressions of Donald Trump play a huge role or make a lasting impact in his 2020 campaign because it was pretty much the same kind of comedy back in 2016 when I believe it made more of an impact. Along with this, Donald Trump’s past as a former reality TV star and his unconventional presidency has made him a particularly easy candidate to satirize. Joe Biden has also had his fair share of air-time being portrayed on Saturday Night Live as weak and potentially unfit, but never portrayed as worse than Donald Trump. As a result of this, Saturday Night Live currently “attracts more than 65 percent CNN and MSNBC fans than Fox News devotees”

In terms of the impact that these shows have had on the campaign and election, I don’t believe that they have affected the campaigns success or election outcomes. Certainly, the election has impacted the success of late night television, though as “Post election fever propelled Saturday night live to its biggest ratings in more than three years”(Hibberd, 2020). However, there are both pros and cons to having air time or being the main talk of the show. As shown before, a large percentage of Trump supporters do not entertain any of these shows because they feel as though “their views are often marginalized by Hollywood”(Berr, 2020). With this, it shows that Trump appearing on one of these shows might be an opportunity to reach other voting blocs, aside from his main supporters, that he needs to gain votes from. It is a bit different for Biden who has the bias on his side in a comedic or late night show. Due to his weakness in speaking and his pre-existing support from that group of people, I believe less is more for Biden in this department.
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McKayla Norris pt 2November 16, 2020 at 8:44 PM
The presence of comedy television in this campaign has certainly been heightened in comparison to campaigns and elections in the past. For example, Bill Clinton received a wrath of comedic jokes about him on television during his time as President as his sex scandal made him an easy target. According to a report from Robert Lichter, “in 1998 President Bill Clinton was the subject of more than 1,700 jokes on late night television”(Whitten, 2020). Along with Bill Clinton, Hillary Clinton was also a victim of late night television and comedy throughout the duration of her 2016 campaign as well. Becoming the first female nominee, SNL and other platforms took liberties in their impersonations of Hillary Clinton as well. However, these platforms laugh with the left more so than laughing at them. According to The Bazaar, “Donald Trump called Alec Baldwin's impressions of him ‘mean spirited and not very good’... but Hillary Clinton and her impersonator Kate McKinnon now go on dinner dates”(Gonzales, 2017). Objectively, Donald Trump has taken the brunt of late night tv jokes in comparison to previous candidates.

Works Cited
Berr, J. (2018, August 01). Why Conservatives Find Few Laughs On Late-Night Television. Retrieved November 17, 2020, from https://www.forbes.com/sites/jonathanberr/2018/07/31/why-conservatives-find-few-laughs-on-late-night-television/

Murphy, C. (2020, April 17). Joe Biden Makes First TV Appearance on Desus & Mero After Obama's Endorsement. Retrieved November 17, 2020, from https://www.vulture.com/2020/04/joe-biden-went-on-desus-and-mero-after-obama-endorsement.html

Whitten, S. (2020, November 10). Donald Trump is bad for comedy, but his election loss doesn't mean he'll be gone from late night. Retrieved November 17, 2020, from https://www.cnbc.com/2020/11/10/donald-trump-has-fundamentally-changed-late-night-comedy.html

Pallotta, F. (2020, November 10). Late-night TV celebrates Trump losing the 2020 election. Retrieved November 17, 2020, from https://edition.cnn.com/2020/11/10/media/late-night-election-trump-colbert-kimmel/index.html

Gonzales, E. (2017, October 11). Hillary Clinton and Her Saturday Night Live Impersonator Kate McKinnon Had Dinner Together. Retrieved November 17, 2020, from https://www.harpersbazaar.com/celebrity/latest/news/a20773/hillary-kate-mckinnon-dinner/

James Hibberd November 10, & Hibberd, J. (n.d.). 'Saturday Night Live' ratings soar to 3-year high after election with host Dave Chappelle. Retrieved November 17, 2020, from https://ew.com/tv/saturday-night-live-ratings-election/
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Claire FaulknerNovember 16, 2020 at 10:52 PM
One of the biggest beneficiaries of this year’s presidential race was late night comedy. With the chaos, drama, and funny moments of this election, there was no shortage of content upon which to draw from. Media exposure has become an integral part of presidential campaigns (Brownell 938); however, it was a difficult thing to achieve in 2020 due to safety restrictions. The COVID-19 outbreak halted the production of comedy shows in the spring, and though many were able to resume filming the skits and segments audiences expect during the final months of a presidential race, there were no candidate appearances. Most of the political content on comedy shows this year was commentary, conveying the opinions of the show’s hosts and writers, instead of allowing viewers to draw their own conclusions based upon a candidate’s performance. Many shows used their airtime to cut through the overwhelming stress of 2020 with humor, while others worked unusually serious stances into their normally light-hearted content.

Saturday Night Live has been airing election sketches since the 70s, poking fun at the appearances, mannerisms, and blunders of political figures. Opposite to the halfhearted jabs at politicians SNL has done in the past, I noticed that this year’s sketches, like both of the presidential candidates, used more personal insults than usual. For example, their 2012 debate Cold Open featured humor about Romney’s lengthy plan, the high altitude of Denver, and Obama’s wedding anniversary happening on the same night. In contrast, this year’s first debate Cold Open joked about Biden’s mental acuity and Trump’s disregard for human lives, along with his failure to condemn white supremacy. Biden was portrayed as incompetant and Trump was depicted as childish. And while, in my opinion, some of SNL’s comedic exaggerations held truth and were largely driven by broader political conversations, I think that the criticisms in their recent sketches have been much harsher than in past years.

The same held true for some of the late night comedy talk shows. While some hosts made simple jokes about the debates by Trump and Biden arguing to two old men using leaf blowers, others spoke on more serious notes, like Stephen Colbert, who claimed that the debate was “one of the most upsetting moments not only of the night but of [his] lifetime,’ seeing the sitting president not manage ‘to simply condemn white supremacy” (Johnson). For comparison, Colbert’s coverage of the debate between Obama and Romney contained humor about both of the candidates saying Israel repeatedly and poked fun at how Fox News anchors said that Romney’s biggest job that night was to look like a plausible president. Clearly, the commentary of comedy shows has become far more critical during this presidency and election.

The increasingly critical views shared on comedy shows have had different impacts on Democrats and Republicans. Most of the harsher criticism and jokes have been made about Trump, therefore largely alienating Republication audiences, who “have long complained that their views are often marginalized by Hollywood” (Berr). For Democrats, the shows provided comedic relief throughout the election, when events like the debates were “irredeemably, disappointingly, frustratingly sad” (Johnson). However, all jokes aside, in such an important election, even comedy shows, like the rest of the media, had a responsibility to prevent the spread of fake news and to encourage people to vote. I believe that for the most part, they achieved this. Whether voters enjoyed or agreed with the sketches and segments they were seeing, comedy shows lit a fire in voters this year, especially ones that were too burned out to watch the news. Comedy was powerful this election.
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Shannon FlahertyNovember 16, 2020 at 11:42 PM
The role a president plays on TV has been re-invented ever since President Gerald Ford was on Saturday Night Live in 1976 (Brownell). Presidential candidates are expected to make the day time morning show circuits in order to talk about boring things, but where they really turn heads is when they venture into the late night television spectacle. Much like Richard Nixon found out in the first televised debate with John F. Kennedy, how one appears on television is everything when it comes to how favorable a candidate is over the other/s. How a presidential candidate’s presentation comes across on late night comedy programs is crucial, especially in appealing to the younger generations who are staying up late to watch these shows (Martinez). On comedy programs recently, it is all about poking fun at presidential candidates for their quirks. In specific, from a past campaign, rather than focusing on the changes presidential candidate Elizabeth Warren wanted to make- SNL chose to highlight how she does a odd little grandma-like dance move in which Kate McKinnon emulated as her character of Senator Warren. Senator Warren even got in on the fun in a Tik Tok challenge to Drake’s “Drop Flip the Switch” in switching places with McKinnon while both doing the little dance move Warren is now somewhat famous for (Weaver). SNL does not shy away from satirizing events quickly either. Just days after the Vice Presidential debate, the show was already equipped to take on the “fly” gate from Mike Pence’s head. It could be said that the candidates are always pitted against each other on comedy programs.
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Johnny MarquardtNovember 16, 2020 at 11:43 PM
Comedy programs such as SNl and talk shows like late night with Stephen Colbert have always had a presence in politics. It could just be me, but that presence seems stronger this time around. SNL has always found a way to make fun of politicians, Democratic or Republican, you are not safe. With Trump running for his second term (which of course he had lost) they dug a little harder on Trump compared to Biden, which of course still got some comedic takes directed at him. For example, according to Forbes, “NBC’s Saturday Night Live, where Alec Baldwin’s scathing impression of Trump has become an audience favorite…Conservatives have long complained that their views are often marginalized by Hollywood” (Berr). The right has been notoriously known to take more criticism on comedic shows and talk shows compared to the liberal party. On the other hand, when it came to the presidential debate, both parties were in the fire fight. According to Chicago Tribune, Jimmy Fallon had stated, “Sitting through that felt like getting a COVID test in both nostrils at once,” and Jimmy Kimmell had stated, “I’d call it a nightmare, but at least during a nightmare you get some sleep” (Johnson).
In a world where politics are so important, I think you can see these Satirical shows and late night hosts are making a positive impact on the election. Yes, they mostly focus on the negatives and joke about it, but not all the time. I see it as helping many understand politics through comedy. For example, SNL did a skit on the 2020 presidential debate, called, “First Debate Cold Open” which actually watching the debate, summed up the debate pretty well where it brought up the fact that Trump wouldn’t let Biden finish a sentence, and Biden slowly losing his cool and breaking under the pressure of Trump’s attacks. Colbert had interviewed Biden on his Late-Night show. Some might not find politics entertaining, but someone like Colbert helps by cracking jokes, while at the same time bringing up important topics, such as his plans on if he is elected. It’s the best of both worlds you are informed and get to laugh.
This isn’t recent either these shows have been combining comedy and politics for years and especially SNL. Actually, politicians have even hopped on the shows like SNL to show that they can create comedic relief in politics which can be seen as a strategy to be liked more by their audience. For example, former president Obama made a cameo in a skit called “The Clinton's Halloween Party” back when he was president and starting to prepare to run for his second term. In the skit he was dressed as himself for Halloween because, “Even though its Halloween I have nothing to hide”. Donald Trump when running for presidency had hosted SNL and became a serious meme when he was in the skit, “Hotline Bling Parody” which is the perfect example of any publicity is good publicity. The video on youtube alone has 13 million views, which could definitely be seen as a ratings booster for Trump at the time for his 2016 election run.
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Johnny MarquardtNovember 16, 2020 at 11:45 PM
Berr, Jonathan. “Why Conservatives Find Few Laughs On Late-Night Television.” Forbes, Forbes Magazine, 1 Aug. 2018, www.forbes.com/sites/jonathanberr/2018/07/31/why-conservatives-find-few-laughs-on-late-night-television/?sh=4fce317d7b44.

Colbert, Stephen. “Full Extended Interview: Joe Biden Talks To Stephen Colbert.” Youtube, www.youtube.com/watch?v=MgutpMLbPt4.

Johnson, Steve. “Review: Was There Humor in the Chaos? How Late-Night TV Handled the Trump-Biden Debate.” Chicagotribune.com, Chicago Tribune, 30 Sept. 2020, www.chicagotribune.com/entertainment/tv/ct-ent-trump-biden-debate-late-night-tv-1001-20200930-lvjlsgtvf5g6riqwklpzhcqbja-story.html.

SaturdayNightLive. “First Debate Cold Open - SNL.” YouTube, YouTube, 4 Oct. 2020, www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wsije1KetVw.

SaturdayNightLive. “Hotline Bling Parody- SNL.” YouTube, YouTube, 5 Nov. 2015, www.youtube.com/watch?v=cjeORm4LMDk.

SaturdayNightLive. “The Clinton's Halloween Party- SNL.” YouTube, YouTube, 9 Oct. 2013, www.youtube.com/watch?v=Njyg0ZzfhyI.
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Harriet RiceNovember 17, 2020 at 9:34 AM
Harriet Rice
Comedy programs do a great job in capturing every little detail of presidential candidates. Doing so allows the skit to be more humorous. For example, this year SNL only had 85 minutes to re-create Kamala Harris's white pantsuit with no prior knowledge of the look (Wasilak). It looks identical to the one Kamala addressed the nation in Wilmington DE. Even looking at other candidates such as Alec Baldwin as Trump, which nearly looks identical. Not only with the wig and the spray tan but he captures the mannerisms of the candidate. Trump has been an easy target for late-night comedy programs, and it is recorded that in 2017 there were more than 3,100 jokes made about Trump during late-night programs (Whitten). Seth Meyers produces a segment on his show called “A Closer Look” which focuses on daily headlines that are generated by Trump (Whitten). It is hard to host shows and not talk about Trump. Other past candidates such as Hilary Clinton are played well on SNL. Kate McKinnon plays Hilary Clinton and captures her awkward persona very well. During this presidential election, SNL also includes recaps from the past presidential race between Trump and Clinton. McKinnon playing Hilary in a skit and says, “even if you do win on Tuesday, the election still be stolen from you” (Lattanzio). This highlights her past presidential race in a humorous light. However, when it comes to Joe Biden’s portrayal people are not impressed. Jim Carrey plays Biden on SNL and viewers dismissed it as a “cringe super spreader” (Michallon).

Late-night hosts tried to find the humor in the debates specifically. After watching the presidential debate, the whole world felt embarrassed and confused. Late-night hosts including Jimmy Fallon, Jimmy Kimmel, and Stephen Colbert all let out some hilarious comments to capture the debate. As Jimmy Fallon said, “Sitting through that felt like getting a COVID test in both nostrils at once,” (Johnson). The late-night shows highlight the bad humorously but also knowledgeably. They want to make people laugh, but they also have a huge role in informing people on the debate too. Some people may have not watched the debates and are only getting a recap from these late-night hosts. Watching them you see a contrast in Kimmy and Colbert. Kimmel is not as direct as Colbert. Colbert seems to say how he feels and includes his personal jokes on Trump's weight or appetites (Johnson). Looking at previous campaigns it was crucial to get the most screen time possible. Using late-night interviews is a great tool in reaching younger audiences (Martinez). People enjoy the late-night shows because it's laid back and funny. Kennedy did the opposite during his late-night interview with Jack Paar. He got into some serious discourse about the jokes (Martinez). Being the first major candidate to go on the late-night we can cut him some slack, but candidates today need to adapt and laugh with the hosts not contradict them. As we face a global pandemic and an election year that many will remember late-night shows are a place that people can escape the seriousness and confusion of candidates.

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Mariam ShawishNovember 17, 2020 at 10:49 AM
Mariam Shawish (1/2)

From tuning in to watch the news, to staying up late-night for entertainment, television plays a huge role in our lives. Through TV and television programs, the American public is given a chance to better connect to our federal officials. This is especially within late-night comedy programs, who have turned into a large political resource. Late-night shows were not always political, that was not the point of them. This changed during the Nixon administration, the Watergate scandal and with The Dick Cavett Show that “demonstrated the ability of late night to not just make fun of the political elite but to cover hard news with both pointed questioning and a sly wink” (“When Late”)

The first presidential candidate to make a major appearance on late-night television was John F. Kennedy. Unlike how the late-night shows are now, he appeared on Tonight Starring Jack Parr, where he got serious about the threat of communism. In the interview, president Kennedy brought up the responsibilities of the president, he claims that he will decide whether “were going to live in security what our relations are going to be with the communists but our relations are going to be with people around the world it’s the president, not the house not the senate” (Martinez). Unlike late-night television now, President Kennedy “Unlike today's candidates, who usually try to play along with the host's jokes, Kennedy played it straight and got into some pretty serious discourse about the threat of communism” (Martinez).

Political Late-Night satire is back on the rise, “but under Trump, the line between news and satire has blurred” (Whitten). Ever since 2016, President Trump has been a comedy gold-mine for all of these late-night shows, they are always targeting him because he is consistently dominating news cycles. With the consistent jabs that President Trump is getting from Colbert, Fallon or any of these late-night hosts, it is fair to say that these late-night shows effect the electoral population. They also have pushed Trump to remain within right-winged media, which was shown in his first interview post being diagnosed with COVID-19. By sticking to “right-wing echo chamber has threatened to shut off Mr. Trump from a much larger — and electorally important — audience of potential voters and political independents whose votes [could have helped Trump]” (Peters).

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UnknownNovember 17, 2020 at 10:57 AM
Xavier Cullen

Trump and Biden are portrayed very differently on comedy programs mainly due to the political leanings of the shows’ hosts. For example, on Saturday Night Live, Alec Baldwin’s over-the-top impression of Donald Trump has gained massive attention, and that’s mainly because SNL is very liberal, and so they are more inclined to make Trump look like a fool and to act up his most unsavory features, such as his orange face or the way he talks. This act promotes the idea of Trump being an idiot that can barely speak coherent sentences, and it certainly has had a negative affect on his campaign.

However, I think one thing that is often overlooked is that political comedy often humanizes horrible people or horrible situations. In Alec Baldwin’s impersonation of Donald Trump, for example, Baldwin characterizes Trump as a bumbling idiot while overlooking the very scary things he has done. Sure, it’s funny to make fun of someone who talks the way Trump does, but I believe that it makes light of someone who has done and said truly horrible things that affect a lot of people’s lives. For example, after the presidential debate, many late night comedians opted for easy jokes, such as mocking appearances and weight. Writer Steve Johnson said of these jokes that, “worse than being cheap, easy and body-shaming, Fat Donald jokes miss the point by many meters” (Chicago Tribune). The point that those jokes miss is that Trump is not bad because of his appearances, he’s bad because of the dangerous things he is saying, and often these jokes make light of those things or avoid the real issue altogether.

As for Biden, he is portrayed most notably by Jim Carey on SNL. However, it’s not at all as damning to Biden as Baldwin’s impersonation is to Trump. That’s possibly due to Trump being a once-in-a-lifetime type of president that is perfect to impersonate, but it can also be due to SNL’s liberal bias, which drives away conservative viewers. This viewership difference is shown in late night shows, where “regular viewers of MSNBC and CNN accounted for roughly four times the audience of CBS' The Late Show With Stephen Colbert when compared with Fox fans” (Forbes). Shows aren’t going to be bashing Biden nearly as hard with their comedy if the vast majority of their viewers support him.

As for years past, some of the most classic impressions are Dana Carvey’s George H.W. Bush and Tina Fey’s Sarah Palin. Carvey described his impression as a mixture of Mister Rogers and John Wayne, and won an Emmy in 1993 for his performance. For TIna Fey, her Sarah Palin impression during the 2012 election was a return to SNL after leaving in 2006 as a writer and actor. These two impressions were iconic for the show, and shaped the public’s perception of the politicians they played. However, like I said before, I believe that these impressions can often be very harmful, as they turn the person they are impersonating into a joke and not as a threat to thousands of lives in America. Carvey, for example, became very close friends with Bush after Bush lost his re-election bid, and Fey, while she didn’t want to be in the same shot as Palin, showed her admiration for presidential candidate John McCain. Both Palin and Bush eventually came onto SNL to confront their counterparts, which only adds to how these impressions can be used as a positive for campaigns, and can make them seem more comedic, light-hearted, and caring than they actually are.
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Christyna StaggNovember 17, 2020 at 11:29 AM
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Christyna StaggNovember 17, 2020 at 11:30 AM
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UnknownNovember 17, 2020 at 11:33 AM
erin fennell

Presidential candidates have always been under the scrutiny of comedy shows. Shows like SNL, Jimmy Fallon, Conan and many others use political figures as either segments of their show. This year both candidates have been impersonated, and used for comedy routines. Biden had just recently had an impersonation done of him by Jim Carry, while James Corden makes fun of Trump through a song. SNL also aired a skit reenacting the first presidential debate, making fun of the candidates childish behavior (Gardner). The debate was widely talked about on these comedy shows, with comedians like Jimmy Kimmle and Jimmy Fallon making jokes about it, saying “sitting through that felt like getting a COVID test in both nostrils at once” (Jimmy Fallon), and saying that “I’d call it a nightmare, but at least during a nightmare you get some sleep” (Jimmy Kimmle) (Johnson). A second debate skit was done by SNL, this time on the Town hall debate. Again, Jim Carry played Biden and his impersonation focused on making fun of Biden for being soft and old. The skit also incorporated Wrestlemania, showing the characters of Trump and Savannah Guthrie physically fighting, and even having Trump's character get hit in the head with a chair. All of this to show and make fun of the absolute immaturity and chacos within this year's presidential debates (USA Today).
I think these comedy shows have a huge effect on the elections. They show explicitly, and make fun of, how immature and embarrassing both of the presidential candidates have been presenting themselves to the nation. The skits might be making fun of the candidates, but the candidates also aren't making it too hard for the shows to do. The way both debates went, it was easy for comedians to find ways to make fun of and make these candidates look less than fit to run the country. It is comedians and comedy shows jobs to make fun of political figures, but it is the job of the candidates to not make it so easy, and they are failing. During this year's elections, comedy shows only emphasised how awful these candidates looked in the media and I think had a huge effect on voter turn out. I know a lot of people were very conflicted on who to vote for, or if to vote at all this electron and I think the comedy shows this election just made people even more unsure if either of these candidates were fit to be elected.
I also think this is very different from other years. Presidents have been appearing on late night TV since John F. Kennedy. Back then it was more of an interview with a few jokes. This shifted to less about the candidate and more about entertaining the public when “Bill Clinton donned sunglasses and played “Heartbreak Hotel” on the tenor saxophone on “The Arsenio Hall Show”’ (Andrews) during his election year. Nowadays late night shows are more so to make fun of candidates rather than laugh with them. However, comedy shows are still a very important part of the election. Media presence is all about controlling your image, especially for a presidential candidate. Comedy shows have the power to help or harm a candidate's image so when offered to appear on one and to be able to control the narrative, I think that is a smart move by the candidate to attend.

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Christyna StaggNovember 17, 2020 at 11:33 AM
Christyna Stagg (Part 1/2)

Once Biden and Harris were announced President and Vice President of the United States on November 7th, 2020, Saturday Night Live (SNL) made a skit about the night. In this 85-minute skit from SNL, they re-created this night with Harris wearing a white pantsuit (Wasilak). Maya Rudolph played Kamala Harris (Wasilak). To fulfill Kamala’s look to the best they could, Raya Rudolph and her assistant did everything they could to get the details of Kamala’s outfit the best they could (Wasilak). This included the shoes, the makeup, the hair, the blouse Kamala was wearing and the white pantsuit (Wasilak). While creating this look, the people who designed Rudolph’s costume for this skit had not contacted Harris’ team so there was no cheating ahead of time of what Kamala would actually wear to an event like this (Wasilak). Rudolph ended up wearing a cream suit that they found from past SNL skits, which was supposed to be used to play Melania Trump in a sketch but it was never used (Wasilak). In addition, Rudolph wore Jimmy Choo pumps to pull the whole outfit together (Wasilak). For President Trump, he is constantly on comedy programs because Trump is constantly in the public eye and will never leave the public eye (Whitten). He is always in subject matters in the news and is constantly in majority of every new cycle (Whitten). Seth Meyers’, a host on NBC news, hosts a television segment called “Late Night with Seth Meyers” (Whitten). In this segment, he states “He’s sucked the air of the room… It’s nearly impossible to do a show without mentioning him, because whatever the craziest news would have been, he did something crazier” (Whitten). Seth is stating that President Trump is always doing something crazier than anything ever done so he is constantly talked about on his late-night segment (Whitten). In addition to this, it is stated that because of this, Trump will never not be in the media in years to come (Whitten). Just because Trump lost the 2020 election, it does not mean Trump will disappear from public eye in years to come (Whitten).

While some people might find these satirical shows and late-night skits funny, conservatives find very little laughs on late night television (Berr). Many conservatives have been avoiding late night television shows because they do not want to see President Trump being mimicked and mocked (Berr). When comparing regular viewers of MSNBC and CNN to Fox news, MSNBC and DNN counted four times the number of audience members of CBS’ The Late Show with Stephen Colbert when compared Fox fans to MSNBC and CNN fans watching (Berr). This was similar to the audience members of Jimmy Kill Live and NBC’s The Tonight Show starring Jimmy Fallon (Berr). Late night shows like MSNBC and CNN with their rhetorical structure of satire and irony is more appealing to a liberal aspect which is why many conservatives avoid late night television shows (Berr).
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Christyna StaggNovember 17, 2020 at 11:34 AM
Christyna Stagg (Part 2/2)

Compared to past campaigns, political parodies will always be a laugh to many viewers. On Saturday Night Live (SNL), Alec Baldwin played the role of Donald Trump during an interview on CNN News cast (WatchMojo.com). In this skit, he parodied Donald Trump on the campaign trail (WatchMojo.com). He hit the spot with impersonating our current President with his mannerisms and the way he speaks (WatchMojo.com). In the same election term, Kate McKinnon played Hillary Clinton at SNL for a few skits (WatchMojo.com). She did an amazing job and earned her title as “funniest face” in SNL skits, especially when she played Clinton (WatchMojo.com). There is another 2016 election skit from Saturday Night Live where Hillary became Bernie (McFarland). Kate McKinnon, who is known on SNL for playing Clinton extremely well, also played Bernie very well in this skit. This skit played a role to the primary struggle between Clinton and Bernie Sanders for the primary win back in 2016(McFarland). Another example from the 2016 election is on the Last Week Tonight show when John Oliver made Donald Drumpf (McFarland). In this late-night show, Oliver devoted 22 minutes of his show to digging up Trump’s family’s original surname, Drumpf (McFarland). This bit became a viral success, becoming the most watched piece of HBO content ever that was put online for free (McFarland).

Work Cited:

WatchMojo.com (Director). (2017, December 17). Top 10 SNL Political Parodies [Video file]. Retrieved November 17, 2020, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=co9Gz5GcryM

Whitten, S. (2020, November 10). Donald Trump is bad for comedy, but his election loss doesn't mean he'll be gone from late night. Retrieved November 17, 2020, from https://www.cnbc.com/2020/11/10/donald-trump-has-fundamentally-changed-late-night-comedy.html

Wasilak, Sarah. "SNL Had 85 Minutes to Re-Create Kamala Harris's White Pantsuit For Maya Rudolph — Here's How They Did It," Popsugar 9 Nov. 2020

Berr, Jonathan. "Why Conservatives Find Few Laughs on Late-Night Television," Forbes 31 July 2018.

McFarland, K. (2020, September 10). A Timeline of the Best Late-Night Bits of the 2016 Election. Retrieved November 17, 2020, from https://www.wired.com/2016/11/timeline-best-late-night-bits-2016-election/

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Ryan MillerNovember 17, 2020 at 11:37 AM
Ryan Miller pt 1

This election cycle, it often felt as though the SNL writers’ room had material handed to them on a silver platter. They are, in this age of digital clip sharing and ‘viral’ moments, the go-to source for political parody and humor. The entire team is focused on attention to detail. In some cases, they need to work quickly to accomplish this as Sarah Wasilak mentions in her Popsugar article that details how the wardrobe department pulled off a Kamala Harris pantsuit replica for Maya Rudolph in less than two hours.

Moments like these on SNL can be instilled in audience’s memories for quite some time, as I personally immediately think of Kate McKinnon’s somber performance of Hallelujah in 2016 for example.

While Trump seems to bear the brunt of SNL’s punches, it’s important to remember that they have been tough on every president for essentially their entire 40+ year run. They have also not shied away from poking fun at Biden’s ‘it depends on the time and place’ stance on fracking or knack for telling questionable longwinded stories.

It’s also easy to forget that SNL themselves gave Trump a platform when he initially ran, allowing him to host in the fall of 2015. In fact, in a Deadline article years later, former SNL cast member Taran Killam revealed that most of the cast was embarrassed to even go through with that episode as protestors gathered outside.

The most infamous SNL portrayal of my lifetime however has to be Tina Fey’s Sarah Palin. As pointed out in a Washington Post article by Sarah Kliff, Fey made such a mockery of Palin on SNL (by mostly using real quotes!) that “those who watched the SNL clips had a 45.4% probability of saying Palin’s nomination made them less likely to vote for McCain.”

Something that I did not like, and neither did many others according to embedded tweets in Michael Hein’s Popculture article, was SNL joking about the late Herman Cain in their cold open from the VP debates. Especially with so much material coming from these events, arguably too much material to the point that they can’t even touch upon everything, I’d prefer that they did not make light of a person’s death regardless of political affiliation.
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Summer PerrattiNovember 17, 2020 at 11:53 AM
(Part 1)
When television star Donald Trump first entered the White House, the crossover between entertainment and politics frazzled the traditionally minded voters of the United States, who envision their political figures to be veterans, long-term public servants, or now on multiple exceptions, the occasional actor. However, the relationship between the two fields is surprisingly more common than many of us may have thought. In fact, political candidates would be remiss if they ignored the world of entertainment entirely, particularly late-night comedy shows. Over the course of the twentieth century, “professional entertainment increasingly offered new ways for presidents to connect to their mass audiences.” Thanks to rapid technological advancements, political figures not only have been able to connect with voters through the entertainment industry, but also have the advantage of reaching media consumers and fans as well (Brownell 926). When political candidates appear on comedy programs, they have the opportunity to take off their presidential loafers and step into the slippers of a more “comfortable and relatable” character (Martinez). However, a politician’s public appearance, even in late-night comedy, will inherently contain political motive: for example, when President-elect Joe Biden appeared on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert for an extended interview in the September of 2019, his conversation with Colbert smoothly transitioned from comedic, satirical small talk into sincere political discourse about Biden’s candidacy, policy platform and disapproval of the sitting president. After joking that Colbert’s encouragement to run for president during a previous interview inspired Biden to declare his candidacy, Biden cited Trump’s controversial, inflammatory rhetoric following the Charlottesville Unite the Right Rally in 2017 as his final push to run (Colbert 3:10-6:00). Along with late night comedy programs providing a platform for Biden, these programs work in Biden’s favorite regardless of his appearances, as late-night comedians typically share liberal values and project these views on their content as a result. Since 2015, it has been nearly impossible to tune into the shows hosted by comedians like Stephen Colbert, John Oliver, Seth Meyers, Jimmy Fallon, Jimmy Kimmel, and Jon Stewart without hearing satirical, yet politically and socially informed attacks on President Trump. During campaign season particularly, the content of late-night shows is virtually fueled by the state of the presidential race, providing them with constant updates to give their takes on. After the first 2020 presidential debate, for instance, Trevor Noah from The Daily Show with Trevor Noah slammed Trump for constantly interrupting Biden’s speaking time: “There was no way to stop Trump last night. He interrupted Biden, he interrupted Wallace, and there weren’t any commercials last night. And if there were, he would’ve interrupted those, too” (Noah 4:00-4:25).
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Hannah TeboNovember 17, 2020 at 12:14 PM
Late night talk shows are now becoming one way in which Americans can see a political candidate in a new light. Typically, politicians are seen as important individuals with little to no humor. They are, of course, the people who pretty much run our country. This has changed a lot since late night shows like SNL and Jimmy Fallon have started discussing politics on these shows, even going as far as making little satirical skits about politicians. It also has been a way for politicians to reach a younger audience.

JFK was the first major candidate to appear on late night. He appeared on Tonight Starring Jack Paar according to Jack Martinez of Newsweek. This was a platform for him to discuss the threat of communism and reached a larger audience by appearing on a late-night talk show. Eventually, talk shows became a go to stop for any candidate with a young target voting bloc.

For the past presidential debates and presidential election, there has been more of an emphasis on jokes about politics between show hosts and skit creators. Political satire is more popular now because politics are a more popular topic among many communities. The Trump presidency saw a change in how late-night shows went about political satire. According to an article by Adrian Horton, political satire on late-night shows got harder as the person they were making fun of fed off the attention. In a sense, it killed political comedy. She asks the question: where does late-night go from here? Trump’s presidency has made it so there is little else outside mocking the president for the entire show. Hosts from Colbert to Fallon create monologues for the beginning of their shows about Trump’s headlines and from there it seems like they never drop that issue. It has gone between making short jabs at Trump to trying to process the turbulent headlines of our reality. How are late-night shows going to look when Trump is no longer president? What will hosts talk about if it’s not mocking his tweets or impersonating him? It’s also really concerning that a lot of people only get their news from these kinds of shows due to the fact it is skewed in a particular direction.

This past election, the candidates were made fun of in typical fashion, but in more ways than one, many late-night shows focused more on Trump satire than Biden. This has been the norm for the past four years, almost a way for some of these hosts and show creators to cope with the Trump administration and headlines every day, but now I’m not sure how late-night shows will change. Will they start making fun of Biden in the same way after he’s inaugurated? Will there still be a focus on Trump and his fits of rage on Twitter? How will the political landscape change in the next four years for comedic late-night shows?

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Sam MesbahNovember 17, 2020 at 12:30 PM
Samantha Mesbah
Blog #9

While television has had a presence in politics for quite some time, under the current circumstances it was even more dominant this election cycle. While candidates use news outlets and morning shows to vocalize their beliefs and ideas in a more serious setting, nightlife shows are often used to bring out humor and character in the politicians. The idea of combining comedy and politics to appeal to the American people had arisen in the late 1950s and 60s. (Brownell) Politicians are also using different strategies to appeal to the young voter. We have seen an extreme rise in candidate’s social media platforms as well as appearing on certain television productions. “Today’s candidates choose the late-night comedy circuit because they know they have to appear comfortable and relatable, especially to young voters.” (Martinez) By using outlets like these candidates can target a specific voter group and appeal to them in a nontraditional way.
Saturday Night Live is one late-night comedy show that has done many different skits regarding political agenda. SNL has been broadcasting political commentary since the 1970s ad has made light humor out of politician’s mannerisms, ideas, and beliefs. Looking specifically at the 2020 election, SNL was able to take the brutality of the debates and create a skit called, “First Debate Cold Open” which highlighted Trump’s inability to let Biden speak while Biden would lose his temper and crack under the pressure of Trump. While news and political commentary oftentimes look at these debates from a serious point of view, SNL can thoroughly analyze the event specifically adapting to the young voter. This video has more than 29 million views on YouTube, as it is an effective way to get political commentary out to those who might not be political junkies. Following the debates, SNL also produced a skit, “Biden Victory Cold Open” to discuss the outcome of the election and the different attributes of the extended election period. This 8-minute skit was able to discuss mail-in voting, voter fraud, the swing states, and other topics comically to not only inform viewers of what took place in the 2020 election but also bring some humor to the craziness that was displayed.
SNL has been doing political commentary for quite some time. They have developed an effective way to bring humor to politics and engage voters all across the country. The 2016 election was also seen often on SNL as two different skits surrounding the debates had seen over 30 million views on YouTube as well. One can also understand that Trump once being a television star, understands that simple politics don’t always appeal to everyone. His ability to bring humor and entertainment to the political arena is a strategy he has been utilizing since his political career began.
It is evident that comedy programming has been around for quite some time and will continue to play a dominant presence in politics. While the pandemic has had everyone in the United States citizen more prone to using their social media and technology, these comical shows brought enjoyment and entertainment to the American people with a substantial amount of views on these programs.
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UnknownNovember 17, 2020 at 12:31 PM
For as long as I could remember I have always wanted to be a comedian. I would always tell anyone who asked how I wanted to be a comedian. I have probably cumulated in my short life so far about a year’s worth of comedic content and recently I can’t stand comedy, I’m not sure how much of that is a reflection on the state of comedy today or how jaded I’ve become in my overconsumption. Comedy used to be a way to speak truth to power but nowadays it seems to be completely hijacked and in support of that power, it used to hold accountable. As far as my disdain for the current state of comedy I have boiled it down to two main reasons, post irony is too esoteric and it has become too politicized. Generation Z was raised with absurdist comedy from a young age with SpongeBob to their teenage years with Comedy Central shows like the Eric Andre Show and The Tim and Eric Show. There’s really nowhere really to go after post-ironic comedy because it does not leave any room to build off of, it sort of serves as a vacuum or a black hole. I know this personally as absurdism had consumed and overtook my life at a point. Post irony and absurdism can be very demoralizing and it’s been cancerous for me in my life. Generation Z has more mediums to consume content than any other generation in history and with that, they have built for themselves the most powerful online collectives of comedians, memers, vloggers, trolls, and pranksters. With that has come some backlash and stereotyping from other generations, “Just as millennials were clumsily dubbed the avocado-toast-loving, industry-killing generation, the Gen Z stereotype is an equally reductive portrait: a sardonic, nihilist, climate-change-conquering group of social media vigilantes, righteously trolling for social justice (and roasting millennials in the process).” (Warzel) Generation Z used to be in my opinion the last hope for comedy after how disheartened I was with the state of late-night and stand-up comedy with how dumb and cringe it was but unless they can forge a path through post irony that I haven’t thought about before or they are doomed along with comedy. I understand these forms of comedy such as stand up or late-night TV comedy are supposed to try to appeal to everyone but the internet has made it so that anyone can find their niche especially with comedy and because of that the widely appealing late-night comedy does not appeal as much with the younger generations who have every avenue for comedic content at their fingertips. The generation gap for comedic content has always existed but it has never been this big of a gap as most of Generation Z with full access to the internet grew up in a time where all they had was the internet and because of this they can not only easier navigate the internet but they are also mostly meme literate which has given them their own unique generational language. All in all Generation Z’s taste and standard for comedy have proven confusing for the mainstream media and politicians. Surprisingly though Joe Biden who often gets criticized for his age and everything that comes with that, had one of the biggest meme moments of the year when he played Despicito off of his phone. “The moment quickly went viral on social media. Critics accused Biden of pandering to Latino voters, supporters fired back that the critics were not putting the moment in context and others lamented that people were not focused on more substantive issues.” (William Cummings) The incident did not play out as intended as Biden did not do as well with the Latinx community in Florida but it did bode well with Gen Z, better than Hillary Clinton’s “Pokemon Go to the Polls” incident. “The American public who did not heed what was implicit in her command: that we Pokémon Go to the polls and vote for her, specifically in a way that would allow her to win the Electoral College.” (Kelly Conaboy)
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UnknownNovember 17, 2020 at 12:32 PM
Hunter Stern

For as long as I could remember I have always wanted to be a comedian. I would always tell anyone who asked how I wanted to be a comedian. I have probably cumulated in my short life so far about a year’s worth of comedic content and recently I can’t stand comedy, I’m not sure how much of that is a reflection on the state of comedy today or how jaded I’ve become in my overconsumption. Comedy used to be a way to speak truth to power but nowadays it seems to be completely hijacked and in support of that power, it used to hold accountable. As far as my disdain for the current state of comedy I have boiled it down to two main reasons, post irony is too esoteric and it has become too politicized. Generation Z was raised with absurdist comedy from a young age with SpongeBob to their teenage years with Comedy Central shows like the Eric Andre Show and The Tim and Eric Show. There’s really nowhere really to go after post-ironic comedy because it does not leave any room to build off of, it sort of serves as a vacuum or a black hole. I know this personally as absurdism had consumed and overtook my life at a point. Post irony and absurdism can be very demoralizing and it’s been cancerous for me in my life. Generation Z has more mediums to consume content than any other generation in history and with that, they have built for themselves the most powerful online collectives of comedians, memers, vloggers, trolls, and pranksters. With that has come some backlash and stereotyping from other generations, “Just as millennials were clumsily dubbed the avocado-toast-loving, industry-killing generation, the Gen Z stereotype is an equally reductive portrait: a sardonic, nihilist, climate-change-conquering group of social media vigilantes, righteously trolling for social justice (and roasting millennials in the process).” (Warzel) Generation Z used to be in my opinion the last hope for comedy after how disheartened I was with the state of late-night and stand-up comedy with how dumb and cringe it was but unless they can forge a path through post irony that I haven’t thought about before or they are doomed along with comedy. I understand these forms of comedy such as stand up or late-night TV comedy are supposed to try to appeal to everyone but the internet has made it so that anyone can find their niche especially with comedy and because of that the widely appealing late-night comedy does not appeal as much with the younger generations who have every avenue for comedic content at their fingertips. The generation gap for comedic content has always existed but it has never been this big of a gap as most of Generation Z with full access to the internet grew up in a time where all they had was the internet and because of this they can not only easier navigate the internet but they are also mostly meme literate which has given them their own unique generational language. All in all Generation Z’s taste and standard for comedy have proven confusing for the mainstream media and politicians. Surprisingly though Joe Biden who often gets criticized for his age and everything that comes with that, had one of the biggest meme moments of the year when he played Despicito off of his phone. “The moment quickly went viral on social media. Critics accused Biden of pandering to Latino voters, supporters fired back that the critics were not putting the moment in context and others lamented that people were not focused on more substantive issues.” (William Cummings) The incident did not play out as intended as Biden did not do as well with the Latinx community in Florida but it did bode well with Gen Z, better than Hillary Clinton’s “Pokemon Go to the Polls” incident. “The American public who did not heed what was implicit in her command: that we Pokémon Go to the polls and vote for her, specifically in a way that would allow her to win the Electoral College.” (Kelly Conaboy)
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UnknownNovember 17, 2020 at 12:41 PM
Sources
Cummings, William. “Biden Goes Viral after Playing 'Despacito' at Florida Campaign Stop, as He Tries to Win Latino Voters.” USA Today, Gannett Satellite Information Network, 17 Sept. 2020, www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/elections/2020/09/16/biden-plays-despacito-florida-campaign-event/5814764002/.

Conaboy, Kelly. “Remember When Hillary Joked About 'Pokémon Go to the Polls'?” The Cut, The Cut, 2 Nov. 2020, www.thecut.com/2020/11/hillary-clinton-pokemon-go-to-the-polls-sexism.html.
Strapagiel, Lauren. “Teens On TikTok Have Me Believing Gen Z Is Going To Be Just Fine.” BuzzFeed News, BuzzFeed News, 22 Oct. 2020, www.buzzfeednews.com/article/laurenstrapagiel/tiktok-teens-gen-z-hope.
Quinn, Karl. “The Joke's on Us: What Happens to Comedy Post-Trump?” The Sydney Morning Herald, The Sydney Morning Herald, 13 Nov. 2020, www.smh.com.au/culture/comedy/the-joke-s-on-us-what-happens-to-comedy-post-trump-20201113-p56ee0.html.
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Jailynn CaraballoNovember 17, 2020 at 5:06 PM

Jailynn Caraballo

The presidential candidates have been showcased on many different comedy programs. Some of the shows have showcased them in a positive light, but for the most part they have been seen in very compromising scenes, which makes for even funnier TV.

One TV show that has presented the candidates a lot has been SNL. They hold none of their punches and do a great job at saying exactly what everyone else is thinking. They have had several funny skits with both President elect Biden and President Trump as the main characters. I think these displays of comedy can only been seen as a way to make the American people feel more connected. There are funny characteristics that both the candidates have and its normal to make fun of people who are in the public eye. I think by poking fun we are reminding everyone that these candidates are fallible humans like everyone else.

This year SNL has had many skits devoted to the presidential race. In one of the episodes Alec Baldwin played President Trump (WatchMojo.com, 2017). Baldwin has acted as President Trump many times before on SNL. They also had an episode where they showed a pretend version of when Biden declared his run for presidency (Saturday Night Live, 2020). These skits were really funny and got a lot of media attention and as we know all media attention is good media attention when you’re running for president. Though the SNL skits from this presidential election have been widely spoken about and shared, so have those of past presidential elections. There was one year where a skit they had aired mad fun of Obama’s Ukraine address (Saturday Night Live, 2014). And another where they showcased a fake Hilary Clinton promoting her run for presidency (Saturday Night Live, 2015).

SNL is nothing if not timely. Very shortly after Biden and Harris gave their victory speeches, the amazing cast and crew at SNL re-created the white pantsuit Harris wore and got Maya Rudolph to play as her (PopSugar, 2020). The only demographic that seems to be excluded from all of the SNL fun is conservatives. “Conservatives who support President Donald Trump are avoiding late-night television shows, which have featured some of the sharpest commentaries about the former reality television star’s performance in office, according to data from TV analytics firm Alphonso (Democratic Under Ground, 2020).” Although SNL strives for a wide viewership and to promote laughter to their audience, it seems as though not everyone has the same sense of humor.
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