Ever since SNL's Tina Fey took on the portrayal of Alaskan Governor Sarah Palin, the audience levels have just exploded. Lorne Michaels, the executive producer for SNL said:
“I think the gods smiled on us with the Palin thing . . . Like if he’d chosen Romney, I think it would be completely different . . . As exciting as a Romney-Biden debate would have been, it just would have been politics as usual . . . There’s never been an election where we’ve been at the center of so much, except possibly Bush-Gore in 2000,” Mr. Michaels said. “It’s great for comedy, and it’s also great for broadcast television because it’s what we do at our best.”
From what I can say, the 2008 Election Cycle is producing an unprecedented amount of attention and because many younger viewers watch these type of shows are perhaps more likely to get politically involved in the election in the form of not only activity for campaigns but actually to leave their homes on Election Day and vote. This might given the new generation of voters like myself, to actually do our civic duty and realize it is our obligation to be a part of this process.
The article states: "Producers at all the shows have noticed that booking the candidates has paid off all year. Even when Senator McCain did not show up for Mr. Letterman’s show two weeks ago, the absence kicked up Mr. Letterman’s rating — and he extended it into a comedy bit, lambasting Mr. McCain almost every night for “pulling a bailout” on him. As we all know, failing to attend bookings on late-night shows with the ability to influence major sections of the population are devastating and will just give the networks more ideas for its shows; in respect kick about the candidates and blast them.
However the question is: do these comedic skits impact the election? I say they are a factor but they are not the primary fact that has jolted this election from its previous level to this new one.
1 comment:
Good words.
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