The VP hopeful's Saturday Night Live appearance gets the show's highest ratings since 1994.
Special guest cameo Governor Sarah Palin stands alongside producer Lorne Michaels as they watch Tina Fey impersonate Palin on 'Saturday Night Live' -
NBC
Sarah Palin's appearance on Saturday Night Live helped boost the show to its highest overnight ratings in 14 years. The GOP campaign is proving to be a ratings bonanza for late-night TV -- just two nights earlier, Palin's running mate delivered David Letterman's highest ratings since 2005 on the Late Show.
Was Palin funny on SNL? Well, no. She didn't actually do anything; the comedy revolved around her refusing to participate. In the show's opening sketch, Palin looked on from backstage as Tina Fey impersonated her during a fake press conference.
"I really wish that that had been you," says Lorne Michaels, SNL's executive producer.
Responds Palin: "Well, Lorne, you know, I just didn't think it was a realistic depiction of how one of my press conferences would've gone."
Later during "Weekend Update," Palin appeared again only to decline to participate in a sketch supposedly meant for her.
"I've been thinking it over," she told Weekend Update anchors Seth Meyers and Amy Poehler, "and I'm not going to do the piece we rehearsed. ... My gut is telling me this is a bad idea for the campaign."
Poehler then stepped in for Palin to perform a rap that instantly became a highlight of recent SNL memory. Which, granted, isn't saying much.
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