Sarah Palin sets 'SNL' ratings record

Sarah Palin's visit to "Saturday Night Live" drew the show's highest overnight rating in 14 years.

Last night's telecast, hosted by Josh Brolin and featuring musical guest Adele, averaged a 10.7 rating and 24 share in 56 metered markets, according to Nielsen Media Research. That's the highest overnight 'SNL' average  since a 1994 episode that was hosted by Nancy Kerrigan and featured musical guest Aretha Franklin.

Saturday's program also included appearances by Alec Baldwin, Mark Wahlberg, Oliver Stone and -- once again reprising her role as Palin -- Tina Fey. But it was the much-anticipated visit by the real Alaska governor that gave the show its biggest overnight rating in more than a decade. The numbers also make "SNL" the third-highest-rated show of last week, after ABC's "Dancing With the Stars" and CBS' "CSI."

'SNL' has successfully capitalized on viewer interest in the election this season. The veteran sketch comedy show's ratings are running 76% higher than during the opening weeks last fall.

Clips of Palin's two sketches, below.

Clip 1: "And now I'd like to entertain everybody with some fancy pageant walkin'..."

Clip 2: Palin dances behind the Weekend Update desk...

SNL had a tricky task here: make good use of Fey, make good use of Palin, keep the sketches funny, yet stay within the boundaries of what Palin's camp will find acceptable. Given how much SNL has mocked the vp candidate in recent weeks, the moment when Fey and Palin pass each other on stage was about as tense as when two candidates shake hands before a debate.

Previous: SNL debate parodies

Comments

[Mario]

Palin rocks!

[Mario]

Palin rocks!

[Bob Hunter]

Outside of the fact SNL hasn't been funny since the Ford Administration, it figures they needed Sarah Palin to help their ratings. She stole the show.

[george abrahams]

Tina was the tense one as she passed by Sarah. Sarah was genuinely cheerful. Tina had a dour grimace. It is unfortunate that Tina feels that she has to leave the planet if a milestone of the first female vice-president is achieved.

[Cathy]

Sarah, YOU ROCK!! But then ratings ALWAYS go up when it's you. We LOVE YOU and . . . may I say, CONGRATULATIONS in advance. After all McCain and Palin will win this next election!

[Cathy]

Sarah, YOU ROCK!! But then ratings ALWAYS go up when it's you. We LOVE YOU and . . . may I say, CONGRATULATIONS in advance. After all McCain and Palin will win this next election!

[Libs have no backbone]

Gosh how funny that all the crazy libs sell their soul to have a chance to meet their nemesis, Sarah Palin. And look at sleazy Oliver Stone showing up!!!
("Please, someone go see my new hateful movie")
Wow, those libs really stand by their beliefs!!! Maybe they don't have anything else better to do?

Sarah Palin showed true class, courage and a down-to-earth sense of humor by showing up and doing a terrific job. What a great lady!

[Millard Fillmore]

Just proved what everybody already knew; Gov. Palin is a woman of great accomplishment while Ms. Fey is, and always will be, just a clown.

[zig]

Tina Fey looked liked a drug addict hag next to the natural beauty and class of Sarah Palin!!!There is no comparison. Sarah is beautiful and intelligent.

[candi]

Sarah showed true class and a willingness to show shes human. Sarah does rock, I have yet to see the other side show the same cooperation. Then again it just wouldnt be the same when you have to follow...
Sarah Palin ladies and gents-a leader showing true classiness and one who doesnt take herself so seriously.

[dp]

PALIN POWER!

[azrandyusa]

"Outside of the fact SNL hasn't been funny since the Ford Administration, it figures they needed Sarah Palin to help their ratings. She stole the show." -Bob Hunter

Bob nailed it. Sarah Palin's Red States popularity pokes the Libs straight in the eye. They have gang-mocked her unmercifully and she remains wildly popular.

[Eric]

If McCain doesn't win, maybe SNL should hire Palin. The parts of last night's show that didn't include her were painful to watch. SNL has gone from ground-breaking comedy to first session improv class over the years, and the rest of the show reminded everyone in the house why we stopped watching. http://fashionpigs.blogspot.com/

[Mike M.]

USA's own Iron Lady! No surprise on the ratings, she's been drawing HUGE crowds everywhere she goes, (MSM doesn't report on that of course). Plus, she's the only NON senator in this race - and the only one that actually shows an ability to LEAD. If anyone needed more proof of her bravery than that of her taking on BOTH political parties to win governorship, then what more could you ask for to see her walk on to a show that went so low so as to insinuate that her husband committed incest? She's not afraid of anybody.

[Frank]

Go Sarah - great job!
As far as SNL and all entertainers: anything for a buck or ratings point.

[Dylan]

I'm glad Palin can laugh and be mocked and show the "Unreal America" truly ridiculous her campaign is.

How much conviction to whine about the liberal media and then go on SNL. She should stick to the church circuit.

Thanks God Tina Fey will always be around and Sarah will go back to terrorizing the moose in Alaska

[JP in Chicago]

I've been a Republican all my life and have only voted Republican... the fact there are people who would vote anything but Obama in this election amaze me. I am absolutely cringing at the thought Sarah Palin may reach the level of Vice President.

[mike]

To me, she exudes common sense and a can-do spirit. I like her a lot. I think she will make a great leader one day for this country. I get a shot of energy whenever I see her. The contrast and screen presence between Tina Fey and Sarah Palin couldn't be wider. Palin has natural charisma and exudes strength.

[Kelly Bowling]

Zig says "Palin is a beautiful and intelligent woman."

Have you seen this nitwit's interviews? She has the intellect of a 5th grader. I was expecting a "Are you Smarter than a 5th Grader" skit. That would have been hillarious.

She is a MORON!

[JT]

How ironic. The biggest ratings SNL has had in 14 years and it largely showcased just how bad the show has become in recent seasons. The show is generally boring, one sided and full of yawns these days. The only thing (aside from the music) worth seeing last night?

Sarah Palin.

THis should be a lesson to SNL writers and producers. Stop turning off half of the country. Stop being so mean to Conservatives.. and maybe you can enjoy good ratings all of the time.

[Kathleen]

SNL blew it. What could have been their chance to be really fun or funny wasn't. How about a funny press conference with Palin asking a reporter in a wheel chair to stand up or explaining their economic policy in three letters JOBS. Sarah could have been as funny as McCain was at the Smith dinner but instead they ruined the appearance and soon their ratings will disappear because they have lost their perspective hence their humor.

[Mark]

Palin was great and graceful.
Fey is hysterical as Palin after all it is a comedy show right. SNL will have at least four years of bashing President McCain and Vice-President Palin. Should be fun to watch

[BobJ]

Making fun of Palin's accent or bad interviews is childish. Every politician has a bad day or a bad interview here there...

Just ask Joe Biden. He messes up what President was in office during the Great Depression. He forgets that TVs weren't in existence at the time. He asks a man in a wheel chair to "stand up."

Just ask Barack Obama. He says he's visited 57 states and only has a few left to go. He admits on camera that he wants to "share the wealth" of what he considers wealthy Americans.

Everyone can have a bad interview or speech. It doesn't make you stupid. A lot of people around the country have different accents.. that doesn't make you stupid either. Liberals need to get over that insult. Every time they insult a candidate with a "funny" accent, they're insulting at least a third of the country. Great thinking at work I guess.

[Jonathan]

It's amazing to see people glorifying Sarah Palin! I will be so happy when Barack is elected and ushers in a new wave of intelligent politics.

[Kathleen]

I wish when Alec Baldwin made his sexist comment to Sarah that she was hotter in person, she would have replied And You're Not!! Not everyone know that Alec has a conservative brother and it was just more non funny humor from SNL. Major disappointment and no reason to ever tune in again.

[Rufus]

Palin's good in front of the camera, she has experience with it. But let's not get too excited, she's still a joke, politically. Everyone knows it and watching her "supporters" try to come up with reasons as to why she's qualified is the funniest thing in the world.

[scgal]

Way to to Sarah!!! Proud of You
You added some much needed class SNL.

[EdMichaels]

Palin's experience is no more of a "joke" than Obama's. Both candidates have a similar amount of time in politics (Obama's only been in the Senate for something like 150 days... never sponsored significant legislation.. never taken any controversial stands.. never went against party in any significant way). A good argument could even be made that Palin has *more* experience than Obama.

Its amazing how many people are suddenly so against an unknown Senator running for office. I seem to remember a lot of the same people actively supporting the unknown Governor Clinton of Arkansas just a handful of years ago.

[Geepa]

Kelly Bowling: YOU'RE the moron. Go back and watch the Feb. 08 interview Palin did on C-SPAN. She is smart and articulate. Granted, the Neo-Republican Party has taken her out of her element by having her spew their "talking points". But she did a great off-the-cuff question-and-answer session there on C-SPAN.

Thought Palin handled last night's SNL with grace. As if: they were gonna make fun of her anyway so why not join in.

PS did you see the great hug one of the cast gave her at the very end. Some of them like her!

[Rufus]

To BobJ:

I don't think anyone reasonable really minds her accent, so I agree that nobody should care about that. BUT she hasn't had a single interview/speech that wasn't heavily flawed. Please stop fooling yourself.

By the way, you're good at remembering Talking Points. Hooray for brainwashing!

McCain sold himself out and it's painful to see him running such a sad campaign.

[sickofliberalBS]

Sarah did fine, she'd make a Good VP despite what the wackos libs say she has more Executive experience than Obama, and even Joe the Plummer has been examined more than Obama, like where is Obama's Birth certificate and His school records, no body wants to talk about it, whats he hiding? How come he made a million and gave nothing to charity, Why does he really beleive in wealth distribution, look on the net, you cna find actual vids where he says he wants to re-distribute wealth, ALL his life hes been a socialist, If you are one say it, dont lie, The American people deserve the truth... see the lawsuit about his failure to prove he was born in the USA, some beleive he was born overseas, you do the homework. http://dockets.justia.com/docket/court-paedce/case_no-2:2008cv04083/case_id-281573/

[Kathleen]

What's wrong with the writers at SNL? There is so much that is funny out there and they can't see it. If we can't make fun of ourselves we have really lost it.

[Lloyd]

"I've been a Republican all my life and have only voted Republican... the fact there are people who vote anything but Obama in this election would amaze me. I am absolutely cringing at the thought Sarah Palin may reach the level of Vice President."

Wow another ‘I was a republican till now story’, can you come up with some new material. A true republican would support republican values and principles, McCain supports some republican and Palin embraces conservative’s values. Obama supports neither republican values or principles he supports very liberal and some socialist principles. Again if you compare Obama’s listening, speaking and voting as his main resume while Palin ran a city and then a state, which shows her resume is vastly superior to Obama’s.

[Gary]

Not even Palin could rescue last night's pathetic excuse for a show. I've been watching SNL off and on since the 1970's, although much less now.

At one time, with the characters and guests they invited, you could expect at least 60 of the 90 minutes to be entertaining. Even in the best of times, however, as a general rule (and, to paraphrase Eddie Murphy), "Last week's musical guests really sucked".

I watched Palin's first spot and was mildly amused. Waited until the top of the hour to see if there would be more. The intervening sketches were so lame and contrived, I gave up and went to bed. Saw the rap bit this morning. Glad I didn't lose more sleep waiting to catch it.

From the coverage the show gets nowadays, if anything noteworthy happens, you can catch it Sunday morning on YouTube. No need to suffer thru the entire televised root canal.

Sad that YouTube has become the "Cliff's Notes for SNL". Sad that watching the complete 90 minute show has become "SNL for Dummies".

[Smokie]

It is so obvious how the media is in bed with the Democratic or should I say SOCIALIST party. I'm glad the ratings went through the roof. This should be a sign to them that Palin really does rock and that her popularity is nothing to be taken lightly.

[BobJ]

Rufus:

You've watched "every" interview & speech? I highly doubt that. I bet you've only watched Kouric and Gibson.

[Paul]

Lloyd, come on...How many high profile Republicans and Republican-leaning institutions have endorsed Obama? And how many Democrats and Democrat-leaning institutions have endorsed McCain......Yeah, exactly.

The pendulum has swung too far to the right, now it's time to go left. Then, we'll swing back right, then left. This is our cycle. It's time to shift. This is what a democracy is all about. You can't have one party run it country for too long, especially with such a horrible recent track record. Both parties make huge blunders, both parties do great things, it's merely time to balance things out. Nobody can argue that the last 8 years have been a complete and total failure by our current Administration. They will go down as the worst ever, hopefully. I pray that no administration does a worse job than Bush and his goons. It's becoming most Americans' fear that a McCain/Palin administration will be just as bad, if not worse.

[Reality]

Don't you liberals get it? The fact that you spew your hate 24-7, mock Palin and McCain, openly endorse Obama but still - Sarah Palin gets record ratings. Don't you see how she has the last laugh? She won, you lost!

Makes you really wonder about those polls. Who are they polling??? With record ratings for Sarah, the liberal ticket should be VERY WORRIED.

I'm ready to pop the champagne.

[George]

/Agree with Gary. I too have watched SNL faithfully (even during the awful, awful years after Lorne Michaels' departure). It used to be one of the most cutting edge, most talked about comedy shows on TV.

Even as recently as 2000, it was still a pretty good show even though it had long lost its edge.

Now? Its a pathetic imitation of MadTV (which is awful as well). I have faith that Lorne Michaels can make it good again.. but he needs to go back to what makes the show strong. He needs to dump the entire current cast and start over.

PS: Sarah was great. Definitely the highlight of the show. The rest of it put me to sleep. I just wish they had written something better for her to do.

[CeeLee]

WTG, Sarah! While she is far more qualified and experienced to be President than Barak Hussein Obama, she doesn't need a teleprompter to be a good communicator. Hope she is our next VP.