Mr. Pop Culture Report

They might have been on the same live Saturday Night Live production, but clearly Sarah Palin and Tina Fey (Picture) were not meant for each other – in the live sense.

The Republican vice-presidential candidate, Sarah Palin, has made a much-anticipated appearance on NBC’s Live Saturday Night program with her chief mimic, Tina Fey.

Fey and Palin appeared together only fleetingly, to the disappointment of the Washington Post’s campaign diary, The Trail, which complained that she appeared as a “bystander” rather than a participant.

Palin was kept away from Fey, for all but a moment, and the producers also ensured she never met the show’s guest host, Josh Brolin, the star of Oliver Stone’s new movie about President Bush, W, according to the Trail.

Later in the show, Palin was seen dancing in her seat and waving her hands in the air to a rap song by Amy Poehler. The lyrics satirised both her and her home state of Alaska and featured a man in a moose suit and prancing Eskimos.

To some Huffington Post contributors it was the highlight of the show, even if it made Palin look like a “laughing stock.” “Sarah walked right into a den of thieves, her ego too large to back down,” said one post.

The New York Post loved her appearance.

The paper said she “raised the roof” on her SNL debut, “yukking it up with actor Alec Baldwin and executive producer Lorne Michaels as she watched dead-ringer Tina Fey lampoon her at a fake news conference”.

There was surprise on the blogs that Palin was up for going on the show. “I finally picked my jaw up off the floor and accepted the fact that this is what we do in America when times get tough,” said a blogger

Another blogger said Palin’s appearance showed her lack of judgement. “I hope this awful sight gets on YouTube and is shown everywhere, so people really see how dangerous someone like that with that lack of judgment is.”

A more typical response the TalkLeft blog – that Palin showed she could join in on the jokes at her own expense. “Can’t say she doesn’t have a sense of humour or is unwilling to laugh at herself,” said one.

What did you think of Palin’s appearance – was she a good sport or has she turned herself a laughing stock? Was it an error of judgement or has she boosted her ratings in the polls? Let us know what you think.

D-USA/Mr. Pop Culture