Amy Poehler Leaving "Saturday Night Live" After Election

Mens Vogue:

No matter what happens in November, Amy Poehler's impersonation of Hillary Clinton on Saturday Night Live will be remembered as one of the high points of the 2008 election. Bossy, bouffanted, totally absurd, Poehler's send-up helped earn her an Emmy nomination, the show's first supporting actress nod in 30 years. It also managed to steer the political debate, lure Clinton onto SNL -- excavating her sense of humor in the process -- and give her campaign some much-needed oxygen. McCain and Obama may be safe from an Amytation, but their Secret Service details are feeling the heat: The Massachusetts-born Poehler delights in tormenting the grim-faced agents whenever the candidates make cameos. "They're pretty badass and super secret, and they just love it if you give them a nickname," she says. "Like, just call 'em Foxtrot, or like, Hey, Fireball. What's up, Danger Mouse?"

But after seven seasons on Saturday Night Live, she'll anchor her final Weekend Update later this fall and start filming a new mockumentary series for NBC from the producers of The Office. "It's gonna be really hard -- Boyz II Men hard -- to say goodbye to yesterday," Poehler says. "SNL was dangerous, late-night, last-minute, and star-studded, but like any good drug, you need to know when to put it down."

Read the whole story: Mens Vogue

Comments

[123dee]

I miss her, she put her heart and soul into every skit. Good luck be happy

[yngcelt]

Amy is one of the few funny people on SNL these days. I have to disagree with her as far as SNL being "dangerous" since it's well known that Lorne Michaels doesn't allow any improv on the show despite the fact that the players are recruited from improv theater. MAD TV on the other hand is freakin' hilarious and you can see that the players there have fun and are free to improv and be organic in their performances. On SNL you can actually see them reading the cue cards from off stage. And what is with SNL constantly being hosted by every Tom Dick and Harry popular celeb for the week? Remember Paris Hilton on the show? Talk about a cure for insomnia. And as great as our athletes are, they always look like shell-shocked refugees while trying to perform on SNL. The only exception was Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson.
For my money, the only quality late night comedy show on Saturday nights is MAD TV. Lorne Michaels needs to quit being such a tight-ass and go back to the old formula that worked when SNL first premiered.

[totalliberal]

Um, Mad TV is not done live. SNLive is live.Get it? Hence the cue cards. Lorne has always insisted on doing it live so there will be a sense of improve about it. Some skits and cast members work.... Some don't . Just because they only re-run all the old skits from the past that worked doesn't mean they all worked. What is more improv than doing it live, warts and all?

And Alec (Shweaty Balls) Baldwin has always been the funniest guest on the show.

[yngcelt]

Um, actually MAD TV is done live. Who do you think all those people are in the between clips applauding and being addressed by the cast members? Yes, MAD TV changed their format somewhat and now do more pre-taped stuff for their audience, but at least when they do the live stuff they're not reading cue cards like they do on SNL.
And while there are a few skits here and there that do work on SNL and Andy Samberg's Digital Shorts are almost always funny as hell, the show itself has gone downhill and the majority of the skits are met with awkward silence or a few chuckles here and there.
And I will agree with you about Alec Baldwin. That Shweddy Balls sketch still cracks me up every time.
"It's been years since I've seen...any balls."
"My, your balls are so big."

[obamasOHangel]

She will be sorely missed, but after the moderate success of she & Tina's "Baby Mama" I saw this coming a mile away. Good luck Amy!

[MrWampler]

Isn't she preggers?

[andvoodoo2]

Yes. Very.

[mredder4]

BOO! Amy is the queen of comedy at SNL now. We've really only just gotten to appreciate her over the last 3 seasons, why end it now?

[NoMoFearNoMoHate]

she's going to... RUN FOR VICE PRESIDENT IN THE NEXT ELECTION CYCLE!

[BethStuart]

Good luck Amy. We'll miss you.