Political Parodies and Their Lack of "Funny"

Admist the election season, many apathetic Americans get political insight on the candidates from popular cable shows that parody politicians and political events. Shows such as the Daily Show, SNL, and The Colbert Report deliver the news in the form of satires and impersonations. But realisitically how many times can the American public get a good laugh out of watching the President or any politician slip up and mispronounce a word or something faux-paux before the routine wears.

Saturday Night Live is a larget nextwork show with the reputation of not only being funny, but also for their parodies. Lately their impersonations have lost their edge and instead rely on their makeup artists' ability to make them look like the candidate under fire. Although they may look like the political figure and mimic their mannerism, the actors have been delivering lukewarm humor. In an article

"The Satire Recession" , the author Troy Patterson refers to their subpar attempts to be funny as "pseudo-satires". He states that such humor (like refering to John Kerry as dull or poking fun at President Bush's southern accent) trivializes political humor and other comedians further trvialize it by laughing and playing on to such jokes.

Of course this may keep the '08 candidates on their toes, knowing that their mishaps will end up on every late night comedy show. Even if you miss a big debate you'll be able to catch Hilary's slip ups on the Weekend Update on SNL.