I think by almost anyone's standards, Barack Obama's Transition to the Presidency is going about as well as anyone could have ever hoped--especially when you take into consideration all the various EMERGENCIES!! he'll be facing come Jan. 20th. But lets not forget the other Transition that's going on in the world of politics: the retooling of SNL to reflect a new Comedic World Order.
Unlike the Obama Transition, the SNL one doesn't seem to be going as smoothly. It was widely reported that Amy Poehler would not be returning to the show after the recent birth of her child, but there she was last night doing her Hillary shtick as though she's never been gone:
But in addition to keeping Amy on board, they also brought on two new female cast members (Abby Elliot and Michaela Watkins), neither one of whom is African American, something which adds to my sense of puzzlement. There was a lot of talk about replacing Fred Armisen as she show's Obama Impersonator (his imitation of the new president was met with mostly lackluster reviews AND there's the fact that Armisen isn't black) Since I work in the Chicago Improv Community, I have been well aware of a call the show put out to African American actors to audition for the part of Obama--but there was Fred Armisen last night, back on the show and doing, for a change, a killer take off on the President Elect:
So does this mean we'll be seeing a white woman and a white man (Fred's Hispanic and Japanese) portraying the first couple over the net few years? It seems rather ironic that we could find an African American who was qualified to lead the most powerful nation on earth, but Loren Michaels can't seem to be able to find a single black actor to reflect Obama's America (NOTE: I'm not counting Kenan Thompson because no one I know thinks he belongs on the show. Just not funny enough.)
It all just seems very weird to me, but that--as they say--is Showbiz!
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