Pharoah v. Sudeikis: A Brief History of SNL on Election Day

This Tuesday, November 6, 2012, the United States of America will hold the 57th election day in the nation’s history.  The incumbent candidate Barack Obama (D) will be challenged by former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney (R), capping a campaign that has been even more polarizing than we are used to when it comes to high-stakes politics.  Of course, the campaign has given us some ridiculous, unintentionally hilarious moments as well.

Actually running as an independent/write-in candidate this year.

Saturday Night Live, an NBC institution since 1975, has always been in the middle of political satire, preceding more straightforward shows such as The Daily Show and The Colbert Report.  In this year’s election, SNL cast member Jay Pharoah was promoted to repertory status and finally took over the Obama impression from longtime cast member Fred Armisen, while Jason Sudeikis, a cast member on the show since 2005, does his Romney impression.

Jay “Obama” Pharoah, or Jason “Romney” Sudeikis?

Now, I want to write this post because SNL is my favorite show – to the point where I can most definitely qualify as a historian of the show.  I’ve seen every single full episode since 2002, and I know everyone who has ever been a member or guest of the show.  I have also looked at trends of the cast, and I can tell you this: SNL really would prefer Obama, err, Pharoah to “win” the election.  When you consider that Sudeikis almost left the show this summer along with Andy Samberg and Kristen Wiig, it is a reminder that the losing party of the election often move on to different things, most frequently away from the show:

To stay just for the juice of being in the public eye — of being Mitt Romney — is not enough.”

Last night, Louis C.K. hosted the final show of SNL before the election.  It was the first show after Hurricane Sandy, and there wasn’t any Obama content from Pharoah; according to SNL Archives, Pharoah has appeared five times as Obama in eight episodes.  (Fred Armisen appeared as Obama 36 times over five seasons.)  But Sudeikis appeared as Romney on Weekend Update last night, marking his fifth appearance this season.  Sudeikis/Romney reminded people that, despite what he said about cutting FEMA in a Republican primary debate,

“if there’s anything people should know about Mitt Romney at this point, it’s that nothing I’ve said in the past should be any indication of my positions in the future!”

This moment was reminiscent of Chevy Chase’s final Weekend Update on October 30, 1976, which just so happened to be the Saturday before Election Day.  Chase, who had done the Gerald Ford impression 13 times as a cast member on the show, claimed that Weekend Update had obtained two separate, hard-hitting commercials that out of goodwill would not be seen – one from the Ford campaign, and one from the Carter campaign.  Of course, Chase showed them both.  The Ford campaign commercial was a silly take on Jimmy Carter’s “lustful thoughts”, with Dan Aykroyd doing his Jimmy Carter voiceover.  But the Carter campaign commercial that followed was simply a video of Ford pardoning Nixon, with b-roll of Ford and Nixon together, concluding with “Four More Years – Vote for Carter.”

Chase ended his final Weekend Update with a commentary that reflected the traditional broadcast news policies relating to political objectivity -of course, he did it while clowning Ford one more time.  It was a funny, yet critically scathing dig of the most important man in the country by the first breakout star of SNL.

Chevy Chase’s commentary on not endorsing presidential candidates. Of course, the graphic takes on a separate commentary on its own.

In the past, Weekend Update has maintained a professional objectivity about major events of the world, never taking sides, always endeavoring to present all perspectives on all the issues regardless of personal feelings. For this reason, in keeping with our policy of fairness, we will not endorse either of the candidates for the presidency.

Saturday Night Live will surely have something to say about the results of Election Day this Saturday (Anne Hathaway hosts, Rihanna is musical guest).  But the show, like all of us, will be on the edge as the returns are all sorted out.  An Obama victory would be the ascendance needed for Jay Pharoah as the show tries to establish a new era, especially with the imminent departure of Sudeikis.  But if Romney wins?  Pharoah will lose what would have been his most relevant role on the show, while the show will be stuck scrambling to replace the guy who plays the next president of the United States!

Now, a brief recap of SNL’s election history:

 1976:  Dan Aykroyd (Jimmy Carter) d. Chevy Chase (Gerald Ford)

-As detailed above, Chase left the show after Election Day 1976.  On that last show, hosted by Buck Henry, The Band appeared as musical guest.  One of the songs they played was “Georgia on My Mind” – which happened to be Jimmy Carter’s campaign theme.  Yup, SNL definitely knew who was winning in ’76.  The show had six episodes to begin the 1976-1977 season, with six presidential sketches.  Aykroyd would remain on the show until 1979.

1980: Charles Rocket (Ronald Reagan) d. Joe Piscopo (Jimmy Carter)

Charles Rocket/Ronald Reagan

I’m not going to spend much time here.  You see, SNL didn’t even start the 1980-1981 season until after the election.  Talk about a missed opportunity.  The show was in the middle of a disastrous makeover, and the worst season in the history of the show was the result.  Rocket was pushed hard as the “star” of the show, comparing himself early to Chevy Chase and Bill Murray, taking the Weekend Update anchor, and playing the role of Ronald Reagan four times.  But after dropping an “f-bomb” at the end of a February 1981 episode hosted by Charlene Tilton, Rocket and executive producer Jean Doumanian were fired and the show was blown up again.  Piscopo and Eddie Murphy were the only survivors, and Piscopo would later take over the Reagan impression until his departure in 1984.

1984:  Harry Shearer (Ronald Reagan) d. Gary Kroeger (Walter Mondale)

Harry Shearer/Ronald Reagan

Dick Ebersol was still the executive producer of SNL during the 1984-1985 season, and the political comedy left a lot to be desired during his tenure.  Shearer only did his Reagan impression twice in the four episodes of the season before the election, and he never appeared on camera at the same time as Gary Kroeger’s Walter Mondale as SNL only did eight election skits.  Of course, besides the show being weak on political humor, Mondale only carried one state in the 1984 election, much to the dismay of Kroeger.  Shearer, perhaps irritated by Ebersol’s lack of sophistication, would leave the show that winter, citing “creative differences” (Shearer: I was creative, they were different”), and the entire cast and Ebersol would leave at the end of the season.

1988: Dana Carvey (George Bush) d. Jon Lovitz (Michael Dukakis)

Carvey/Bush, Lovitz/Dukakis

SNL didn’t overdo the political humor to start the 1988-1989 season (only eight political sketches in four episodes), but the show nailed it with the 1988 debate sketch and “Alien Dukakis”.  With the victory, Carvey would appear as Bush 39 times on the show.  With the loss, Jon Lovitz would leave SNL by 1990.  Also, it must be mentioned that Dennis Miller, now a FOX News favorite, was the Weekend Update anchor during this time.  Back in the late 80s though, he was a very liberal anchor to say the least.  He made a habit of making Dan Quayle look dumb on a very regular basis.

Miller: “Here’s an Update quiz: what’s the difference between these two spherical objects? The answer is, eventually the one on the left will have a light in it. Sorry, Dan. Oh, you make it so damn easy.”

1992:  Phil Hartman (Bill Clinton) d. Dana Carvey (George Bush)

Phil Hartman’s gain leads to Dana Carvey’s departure in February 1993

Dana Carvey had been the only cast member on SNL to do an impression of the active president for the entire term; in fact, he still is to this date since Fred Armisen no longer does Obama.  But with Bush’s loss, Carvey left Saturday Night Live shortly after Clinton’s inauguration by February 1993.  Carvey probably would have stuck around a little longer, had Bush or even Ross Perot won … remember, Perot picked up 19% of the popular vote in 1992.  There were five episodes before the election in the 1992-1993 season, featuring eight political sketches.

1996:  Darrell Hammond (Bill Clinton) d. Norm MacDonald (Bob Dole)

Hammond/Clinton over MacDonald/Dole

Hammond would become a mainstay on Saturday Night Live as Clinton, perhaps more than even Carvey’s George Bush.  But before Election Day ’96, Hammond had only played Clinton ten times since joining the cast in 1995.  Compare that to MacDonald, who did his Dole impression 22 times in between the beginning of the 1995-1996 season and the first five episodes of the 1996-1997 season.  In fact, Hammond only had one Clinton sketch where MacDonald was no where to be found (Norm was also the Weekend Update anchor at this time, and Hammond’s Clinton appeared twice).  But after the election, Hammond thrived as Clinton for the remainder of the decade.  As for MacDonald?  The real Bob Dole visited SNL the show after the election to console MacDonald’s loss (and to tell MacDonald that his impression of Dole isn’t as good as Dan Aykroyd’s).  By the end of the 1997-1998 season, MacDonald had been removed from Weekend Update and he left the show on uneven terms.

2000:  Will Ferrell (George W. Bush) d. Darrell Hammond (Al Gore)

Will Ferrell and Darrell Hammond got some election overtime in 2000

2000 marked a turning point as far as Saturday Night Live covering the presidential election.  For the first time, SNL did three separate debate sketches.  The first one set the tone not only for the season and gave us Al Gore’s “Lockbox” vs. George W. Bush’s “Strategery”.  Green Party candidate Ralph Nader made a cameo to talk host Rob Lowe’s ear off in the season opener, and former cast member Dana Carvey, still best known for his Bush impression seven years after leaving the show, would host the show during the third debate sketch.  Ferrell and/or Hammond would dominate the opening of the show until February 2001.  And even though Hammond lost the election and would not do Clinton as much, he found new life as Vice President Dick Cheney for the next eight years.  Hammond would also be one of four cast members to attempt to replace Ferrell as W. after Ferrell’s departure in 2002.

A glimpse of our possible future under President Bush

A glimpse of the possible future under President Gore

2004:  Will Forte (George W. Bush) d. Seth Meyers (John Kerry)

Will Forte/George W. Bush defeats Seth Meyers/John Kerry

The 2004-2005 season was stuck in between most of the late 1990s cast leaving the show and the arrival of the mid-to-late 2000s cast that would revive the show.  SNL settled on Will Forte’s impression of George W. Bush, and the opening shows of SNL’s 30th season weren’t nearly as memorable as they were four years earlier.  However, note that Eminem would perform “Mosh” on the last episode before Election Day 2004.  By the 2006-2007 season, Jason Sudeikis would take over the Bush role, while Seth Meyers became the head writer of the show and the anchor on Weekend Update, rarely performing outside of Update.

Eminem performs Bush attack “Mosh” on SNL (October 30, 2004).

2008: Fred Armisen (Barack Obama) d. Darrell Hammond (John McCain)

Fred Armisen/Barack Obama defeats Darrell Hammond/John McCain

Like 1988, SNL was coming off of a strike-shortened season before an election year.  This was the season that re-established Saturday Night Live’s relevance in political satire in the 21st century.  It wasn’t just Armisen and Hammond’s impressions of the candidates.  It wasn’t just Tina Fey, who had left the show two years earlier, doing an impression of Sarah Palin that far exceeded anything Fey did as a performer outside the Weekend Update desk while she was a cast member.  Saturday Night Live put on more episodes before Election Day than any other season (10) while performing more political sketches (17).  The show also bought Barack Obama, John McCain (a former host of the show in 2002), and Sarah Palin on the show between October 2007 and Election Day 2008.  Because Hammond lost (and would no longer need to play the Vice President on the show), he would finally leave Saturday Night Live at the end of the 2008-2009 season after 14 years.  Armisen is still on the show.

2012: Jay Pharoah (Barack Obama) vs. Jason Sudeikis (Mitt Romney)

We’ll see what happens Tuesday.  This season has had eight episodes so far, with 18 sketches.  Seth Meyers, the current head writer of SNL as well as Weekend Update anchor, commented on the process of covering the election:

Obama and Romney didn’t make it on SNL, but then again, the election might not be over by Saturday either.

-1SKILLZ