Three For Three: SNL Mocks Obama In 3 a.m. Ad Parody

In the tank? That's already the buzz on the SNL message boards after Saturday Night Live went three-for-three on a politics spoof, mocking the now-infamous "3 a.m. Ad" in the form of a "Dramatization" of how that call might play out — from the point of view of Hillary Clinton. You've likely seen it by now, but it's worth noting that the meat of the sketch was the so-called dramatized bit — though the piece was introduced and wrapped by a live impression of Clinton by Amy Poehler, in which there were a few zingers at Clinton — the gist of the ad was that inexperienced President Barack Obama couldn't hack it, so when that 3 a.m. call came it was generally him secretly calling Clinton to bail him out.

Legitimately funny concept? Definitely — particularly the part where he had to write everything down — but for the third time in the two weeks since SNL came back on the air, it was a sketch that was "helpful" to Hillary Clinton in that it picked up on and made hay with one of her major themes. It also went further than the debate sketches had gone, because while those sketches depicted Obama neutrally as being the beneficiary of media favoritism, here one of the presumed negatives about him — that he's inexperienced — was highlighted, albeit in spoof form. In this way, it's not just a sketch that could be perceived as in defense of Hillary Clinton, but one which actively took a shot at Obama.

In the tank? That depends on whether you think SNL is in it for the funny and that's it. Actually, a lot of the above depends on (a) whether you think SNL is funny, especially for these last few episodes and (b) which Democratic presidential nominee you happen to support. That last part tends to make a difference, I've noticed. Developing! In the meantime watch and decide for yourself below:

3am Phone Call

The Obama Files: