Keith Olbermann Reacts To "SNL" Sketch, Proves Palin Altered "SNL" Script

Keith Olbermann reacted to the "SNL" sketch in which Ben Affleck portrayed him as a cat-loving pompous freak Monday night, and also to a report that the McCain campaign was "tickled" by the sketch.

He had previously told Time's Ana Marie Cox, "Honestly, everybody deserves a laugh but if on the weekend before the presidential election they spent more than seven seconds bothering with ME, the campaign staff has even less of a clue than I thought." He had also blogged at DailyKos about the incident, saying:

In terms of my whole career I really haven't been doing this that long (1997-98, 2002-date) but don't presidential campaigns have more to worry about on the day before the election than me?

Am I misunderstanding? Aren't two breaths spent on a sketch done on Saturday Night Live, two breaths not spent calumnying Obama?

Monday night, Olbermann continued with this "Who, me?" line of attack, but also brought evidence — in the form of cue cards — that Sarah Palin was scripted to compliment Tina Fey for her impression when she appeared on SNL but ad-libbed and left the line out.

Watch:

Comments

[SENATORCALLENBOWE]

U THINK SHE WOULD WING IT? HAHA!

[FedUp60]

Frankly, I am pissed at SNL for having Palin and McCain as it was great publicity for them. All SNL producers did was show how greedy they were in seeing how many viewers watched. I didn't because I will never forgive how they ran their campaign. Racism is going over the line. Both of them should not hold public office of any kind.

[jaielaw]

SNL is in the business of entertainment, not politics--even when politics is the subject. SNL has not been very successful at the entertainment part, although the political sketches have been very funny lately. I don't have any problem with SNL for including Palin or McCain, but Palin was basically just a bystander in the show--what a waste.

[MRSCLOONEY35]

Loved Ben Affleck, Love Keith Olbermann and when President Obama wins tonight, ****I'LL LOVE EVERYBODY!!!!***

[ebanks84]

I wish everybody else would feel that way. Love is the answer!

[frappe]

So Palin proved herself a rogue even on SNL (LOL)
(She doesn't seem to work well with others, does she?)

Fortunately, after tonight, she'll be a forgettable footnote in history.

[leftcoastliberal]

Olberman is sooo much wittier than the buffoons on SNL it's not even funny... or rather it IS funny.

[LuckyLady6367]

Ben Affleck was funny for about 2 minutes. The turning of the chair was hilarious, but I think the skit went on a little too long and made the joke boring.

[jacksinn]

I agree. It had funny moments but the sketch dragged on too long. I love the ragging about the cat and the apartment though.

[LeftLeanerN08]

Affleck had the facial expression down and the cadence of Olbermann's voice pretty well, but the skit did go on a bit too long. McCain and Tina Fey on QVC was priceless.

[sisterdebmac]

It also appeared to me that he hasn't really watched KO very much. Or maybe he's just not a good mimmick. His "impersonation" was terrible.

[Indieguy]

The look wasn't bad but the voice and facial expressions were just awlfull.

[Indieguy]

Definitley too long and really not very funny and I love satire no matter who it's about.

[Yve72]

It did go on too long. The chair spinning was hilarious.

[NeoStar9]

True it did seem to go on a bit to long. However I think it had to though in order for the skit to really work. You have to watch Olbermann for a few minutes to really see these aspects about him (love his show by the way) and to really bring what they wanted across they had to work up to the special comment bit and those always tend to be a bit long. The visuals of the skit is what really solid it. I rarely laugh out loud but the changing of the cameras, especially the ceiling angle caused me to do so.

[TN]

Too bad Tina didn't do a skit of Palin talking to the President of France, Sarkozi. hehehehe Faye couldn't have made it look worse than it was that Palin was soo easily fooled, but it would be fun to get a visual on it.

[carriellbee]

It happened after last week's show. You can bet it will be on this week. LOL

[Ramirez]

If Obama wins (and it looks like he will) what is this guy going to do for four years? Seriously. Will there be any reason for him to be on the air? What's he gonna be doing on his show, government five-year plans and crop forecasts?

[CaptainVideo]

1. Unless the Democrats get a filibuster-proof majority, the Republicans are going to do everything in their power to obstruct. That will provide a lot of material.

2. He will also criticise Obama from the left when it becomes clear that Obama is a relative moderate.

[Diogenis]

IF? Obama wins??

OBAMA/BIDEN 08

Vote of confidence...and support for Keith O

[greguva]

Hannity and O'Reilly certainly don't seem to have lacked for topics of discussion these last few years. I'm sure Olberman will come up with something.

[ladyv]

The Dems will end up with 58 Senate seats max. There will be plenty of Republican bluster to deal with. Plus, Keith mostly goes off on offensive winger media figures. If you think they're going anywhere, you don't know the wingers.

[prabbit]

I'm sure that even with their numbers dwindling, the few Republicans left in government will shreik and moan loud and long enough to provide plenty of material for Mr. Olbermann.

[Womanvoter4Obama]

My new name is Miss.Precious Perfect! It was all in good fun and I'm glad Keith got the joke.

[CaptainVideo]

Actually, the "cat" Olbermann wants in his apartment is a very attractive 20 something girl friend.

[TN]

Palin changed the script. She couldn't bring herself to be a "big" person and give Faye a compliment. We don't need petty, get even, immature people in the white house. People like them are a dime a dozen. Vote Barack today and save a country and save the world.

[wildecat1]

Give me a break. It wasn't "big" enough for you that she stood there a few weeks back while Alec Baldwin called her a "terrible woman" and made other rude cracks? Or when she played along with the "rap" during Weekend Update that did nothing but disparage her? Tina Fey has done everything she could to make Palin look like a fool, and then Palin's supposed to compliment her about it?? Please!!

[irishcat]

Pal in has done everything she could to make HERSELF look like a fool. If she could show no grace, why go on the show at all?

[ladyv]

It's not about being "big," actually. It's about being cool. Palin would've looked very cool if she'd acted like she was down with Tina, or if she'd done the rap *herself* like she was supposed to. Look at McCain on SNL a few days ago. He was hilarious and looked cool and in on the jokes. It's Palin's fault her SNL appearance was a failure. She should've either not done it at all, or been cool about it.

[SayLessDoMore]

Keith, Keith, Keith. C'mon, no pique. Forget about the McCain campaign reaction. Our enemies laugh at us; our friends laugh with us. That s... was just plain funny.

[dawlishgal]

It seems to me that the Republicans who produce SNL got the last word. I shut the Olbermann skit off because I couldn't stand how bad Affleck's impression of Olbermann was. I was hoping it would be funny---heaven knows there is a lot to parody, not only about Olbermann but also his rabid fans like myself. But the crap on SNL was just plain nasty with no redeeming humor. Did they not give Afflect a chance to look at the script before forcing him in that situation that required much more mimic's talent than Affleck turned out to have? (HIs Alec Baldwin was awful too, and what's the deal with Jennifer Aniston on the View....oh yeah, I almost forgot, SNL has that shortage of black cast members problem)!

[CaptainVideo]

The Olbermann parody was really awful. It looked like it had been written by a 10 year old.

A well-done parody would have been very funny, this was not.

[TimeKoder13]

reminded me of the years I stopped watching SNL when it was so lame in the 90s for a period of what 3-4 years.

[OgreDaddy]

You should all be very glad that our Constitution STILL allows Keith to speak
truth to power.

Amazing how some find this FREEDOM so frightening.

[georgiaR]

And you would probably be for the Fairness Doctrine

[CaptainVideo]

I, instead, favor ending the monopolistic control of the broadcast media by a small number of corporate conglomorates. The amount of media any one individual or corporation are allowed to own or control should be strictly limited so that ownership of the broadcast media becomes more diverse. That will produce greater fairness without stifeling the airing of controversial views, which the Fairness Doctrine would cause.

[jesuslovesObama]

The Fairness Doctrine is a good thing for broadcasting and had been a good thing for years, until the Republicans killed it. Whey do you think Rush has demonized it so.

[dphilip]

The only thing thinner than democrats skin is their feined "support for the troops"..

[Fredo777]

You spelled feigned wrong.

[TN]

That's why democrats vote for the troops and republicans vote against the GI Bill and body armour. Watch some more fox and keep being a misinformed american, it suits you well.

[Phoebe917]

you know, i take that kind of personally, dphilip. you know nothing about how i think or of other democrats. we support our troops 100%. what we don't support is how they became cannon fodder at bush/cheneys whim.. just shut up.

[JPD620]

The only thing thinner than a republicans "support for our troops" is their brain matter.

[EseAncianoSharqui]

What about The Sarah Palin Book Of Wisdom? I heard that's a pretty thin tome. Then again, it has nice pictures that creationists can color in. I like the one of the caveman with his pet dinosaur. It reminds me of the Flintstones, which is Sarah's favorite history program, I heard.

[Lulubelle1]

I agree completely with KO's general views, and have been disgusted (as any person of decency and civility would be) by the McCain/Palin campaign and the Faux News perversion of truth.

I enjoy KO most of the time, and found his 'Special Comments' regarding Bush last year particularly powerful, accurate, and justified. However, Keith has grown increasingly strident, petty, and pompous. He goes too far, and takes cheap shots, just like the other side. I don't like it from either side. It's amusing sometimes, but he's preaching to the choir in a way that alienates the middle.

In the end, I think Keith does the progressive movement more harm than good. Yes, we have some bitterness and sarcasm generated by the neo-con domination of politics, and the gross hypocrisy we've seen. But we must remain above that and demonstrate moral leadership, a willingness to acknowledge common ground, rather than insulting all Republicans.

We don't reach anyone by being petty. Keith's consistently sarcastic and hostile tone is a huge turnoff. Conservatives and neo-cons just use it as another example of crazy leftists, etc., and confirmation that the media is biased. It even turns ME off, and makes me cringe at how it must be perceived (nitpicking, criticizing non-substantive gaffes, etc.)

We're above that.
Barack Obama has shown that, and is leading us toward a centrist, inclusive and unified nation.

[Shaddup]

Sorry. Love Keith. And we need a sarcastic, hostile guy after eight years of this crap.