![]() ![]() President Jimmy Carter: OK, right, you did some orange sunshine, Peter.Įventually, Carter adds: “Just remember you're a living organism on this planet, and you're very safe. President Jimmy Carter: Were they barrel-shaped? Peter (on phone): They were these little orange pills. At one point, Danny talks down a guy named Peter who's having a bad acid trip (played by Tom). Danny and Tom and I wrote this call-in show hosted by Billy Murray playing Walter Cronkite. This was early in Jimmy Carter's presidency, when he was seen as supremely competent in every way. This was 1976, and we lost that one.ĭanny again refused to shave his mustache to play a president without one. But the censors made us change it to “dip” because, they insisted, “schmuck” means “penis” in Yiddish. The portrait's lips move, saying, “Because you're such a schmuck.” At least, in our script. Danny had the gift of bringing a three-dimensional humanity to his characters, and you almost feel sorry for Nixon when Danny says to Lincoln's portrait: “Abe, you were lucky. The sketch was based on Post reporting team Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein's book “The Final Days,” which describes a besotted Nixon roaming the halls of the White House at night, talking to the portraits of his predecessors. And the great Madeline Kahn played first lady Pat Nixon writing in her diary about “those stormy final days.” Chevy Chase and Gilda Radner played son-in-law David Eisenhower and daughter Julie Nixon, and Belushi played Kissinger. In the “SNL” sketch, Dan Aykroyd played Richard Nixon with a mustache, because Danny had a mustache. Tom Davis and I sort of workshopped this piece at a revue theater in Minneapolis. I wish that Downey hadn't written this, because it may have changed 500 votes in Florida. I was, and still am, a huge fan of Gore's. When Chris Parnell's Jim Lehrer asks them to sum up their campaigns in one word, Darrell's Gore says “lockbox.” Ferrell's W. Darrell Hammond's Al Gore, as written by Downey, unfortunately crystallized what some voters hadn't noticed - a tendency to be wonkish and somewhat supercilious. Bush hilariously captured what everyone already thought about Bush - inarticulate, not particularly bright. This was written by Jim Downey, in my mind the funniest and most insightful writer of political satire in the 42 seasons of the show. I must have spoken for at least two minutes. Vice President, you still have a minute-20.īush: What? That can't be right. Well, unfortunately, I guess my time is up. The line everyone remembers from the sketch is Dukakis' “I can't believe I'm losing to this guy.” I wrote the line, but what made the laugh was the exquisite setup written by Jim Downey and executed brilliantly by Dana and Jan Hooks as a sultry Diane Sawyer.īush: Stay on course, a thousand points of light. The “hydraulic lift” brought him up about 6 inches too high, stopped suddenly with a loud “goosh,” then started up again and brought him down to the right level, with the sound-effects guys perfectly matching what Conan said at the writers' table. On air you heard the whine of the “lift” as Jon rose - he stood on a small box and controlled his elevation by bending, then straightening, his knees. Because the real Dukakis is a good 5 or 6 inches shorter than Poppy Bush, Conan O'Brien had the idea of there being a hydraulic lift behind Jon's podium and supplied the sound effect at the writers' table. Jon Lovitz played a hilariously emotionally detached Michael Dukakis. Bush, and his character was still a long way from the iconic Bush he would do for next four years. ![]() This was only the second time Dana Carvey played George H.W. I imagine there are some glaring omissions, notably Tina Fey's brilliant Sarah Palin impression and Chevy Chase's impression of Gerald Ford. While I've continued to watch the show since I left, all but one of these are from the 15 seasons (1975-95) I worked there. With the presidential election approaching, The Washington Post has asked me to list my 10 favorite “Saturday Night Live” political sketches and explain why they're my favorites. ![]()
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