Al Franken's Saturday Night Live Return: Franken Helps Write SNL's McCain Skit (VIDEO)

Saturday Night Live's opening skit knocked John McCain for running misleading ads about Barack Obama. As Politico reported earlier tonight (see below), Al Franken, a Democrat currently running for the Senate in Minnesota and a former SNL cast member, had a hand in crafting the skit. Scroll for Franken's McCain skit or, WATCH FIVE OTHER JAMES FRANCO-HOSTED SNL SKITS HERE

WATCH FRANKEN'S MCCAIN SKIT:

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EARLIER Politico reports that Al Franken had a hand in writing tonight's Saturday Night Live skit about John McCain.

Al Franken, the former "Saturday Night Live" star now running in a high-profile Senate race in Minnesota, helped craft the opening sketch mocking John McCain that is slated to kick off the NBC comedy show tonight, according to two well-placed sources inside the network.

Franken, who hasn't been a staff writer on the show for 13 years, "phoned in" a spoof of McCain recording campaign ads in an edit booth, said an NBC source. Seth Meyers, the show's current head writer, wrote it, but the sketch was hatched by Franken, a longtime liberal satirist and comedian.

Comments

[JeremyO]

Best sketch this year! I think they should have made McCain pee on himself, to make it more realistic.

[mlcpacker]

Yep !

[Wittsend]

This is strategically brilliant. It's a vaccine against similar McCain ads. A regular vaccine uses a killed or non-viable form of the disease that causes the body to recognize the REAL disease and fight it off later. Now, every time people see one of those sleazy McCain ads, they'll remember this skit and be skeptical about it. I give the credit to Al Franken.

[GuidedByEwoks]

Franken used to be a fan and friend of McCain. John was on Franken's short-lived TV show and Al also gave money to his 2000 political campaign. Funny how losing your morals and values can change things. Franken '08!

[LeeCalif]

Ya. Losing those qualities prompted McOldman to make a run for President, again!!

[Merersu]

Man, sarcasm's seriously wasted on you!

[Merersu]

My "sarcasm" comment wasn't meant for you! My bad!

[MissKaren]

I'm Karen and I approve this skit.

[BlogWatcher]

The Skit just wasn't that funny. The Palin-Clinton skit, now that was hysterical­ly...oh wait, I mean very funny. Wouldn't want to make a sexist comment and hurt Sarah and Hilary's feelings.

[MichB1]

Keith?

[captainindustry]

NOw THAT was hysterical­l...... whoops!! never mind. Your comment made me laugh out loud,, in a gender -neutral, polite, pc sort of way...

[KOB1]

Knew somehow that last week's opening was way too good to be topped. So SNL plays it safe and trumphantly marches back to banality. I sincerely hope Mr. Franken will be a better candidate than he is a comedian.

[Mozart123]

Good thing the Tina Fey/Amy Poehler skit was so good. The rest of the show, well, Michael Phelps was like a fish out of water.

[davenav]

So, I was laughing by mistake?

[nowalnuts]

SNL just isn't very funny in general and it hasn't been for a very long time. I enjoyed last week's skit very much but right now it does not take a genius to make Republicans look like a joke. They are doing a better job of it for themselves than anyone else ever could. Watching clips of McCain on Monday taking back what he said on Sunday and changing it again the next day are pretty hard to beat when it comes to inflicting damage.

[ebonyjsg]

Wasn't too funny but it was definitely TRUE! McCain is a PUPPET!

[MoeSart]

That was quite unfunny.

Whoever wrote it.

[bish66]

Al Franken is hit-and-mi­ss.This was hit and miss...

[davenav]

I disagree. I thought it was a scream, and proved the old maxim -- it's funny 'cause it's true. A lot of comedy comes from pain, and McCain's behavoir, as skewered perfectly in this devilishly understated sketch, is very painful to observe, even as an O supporter. I used to have respect for the guy, and that has evaporated completely now.

[con4life]

These programs don't make any impact anymore as more Americans now know what they are up to. 30 plus years after John S. McCain first appeared on the national stage, majority of objective and clear thinking Americans are not now going to buy the assertion that he's a liar just because SNL comedians say so. SNL is just one more liberal leaning organization that is trying to hoodwink Americans into electing Senator Obama; might have worked with Chevy Chase making Gerald Ford look like a bumbling ogre; fortunately most of us are now wiser. McCain will be the next POTUS, you can take that to the bank.

[arglebargle]

What "bank" would that be? Goldman Sachs? Merrill Lynch? AIG?

[BigPictureReg]

",,McCain will be the next POTUS, you can take that to the bank..."

Hold that thought.

Ok, I have a lengthy list of banks on the trouble list that I would like to recommend.

[wordvarc]

Laugh Out Loud!

There's more truth in good humor than in a politician's "straight talk" or a pundit's "commentar­y."
.

[KarlaElisa]

Now I understand how the McCain ads take wing.
It's sort of the same disconnected story line stuff South Park accused Family Guy of pulling.

[ZimboChick]

Lol....'di­d u use your fingers?'

[bish66]

That actually was pretty smart...

[thedailymccain]

Darryl Hammond doesn't even come close in his impersonation. Check this out:

www.thedailymccain.com OR www.youtube.com/thedailymccain for a better impression and hilarious monologues from McCain.

[JohnDewey]

Heh. Talk about shameless self-promotion!

Your impression is OK. You've got some of the physical mannerisms down, but Hammond does a better job on the voice - his pitch and intonation are excellent.

[MBryant]

I think Al Franken is a talented well-meaning guy. But he's got to decide if he's going to be a grown up and a serious candidate for Senator or if he's going to keep very publicly playing around. This is unseemly for a U.S. Senator and he needed to start profiling his Senatorial behavior long ago. I know it's fun - it uses chops he has and likes to use - but he's just got to say "no" to this stuff if he wants to be taken seriously.

[Jacob77030]

As opposed to Senator Larry Craig who likes to play around in public toilets?

[WolfLarsen]

I love Al but that skit was dreadful. SNL ain't what it use to be and hasn't been for a long time, although Tina Fey KILLED last week!

The comparison was stark.