"There is a certain amount of being able to poke fun at everyone equally that's kind of nice," she added. "And so I think that anything more than that would be giving us too much responsibility and making us seem much smarter than we actually are."
The renewed focus on the 32-year-old program and the discussion of whether it has shaped the presidential race has helped lift its ratings. In its first two shows back on the air since the strike, "Saturday Night Live" averaged 6.8 million viewers, compared with its pre-strike average of 5.8 million viewers.
"We're hoping for a dead tie in the delegates so it, like, goes on for another year," Meyers joked. "They have to postpone the general election."
But the scrutiny has also forced the late-night institution to contemplate whether it has a responsibility to provide equal doses of satire in a tightly fought race.
Michaels believes one of the factors fueling the perception that "SNL" has a bias toward Clinton may be Poehler herself, who plays the New York senator as a woman laboring valiantly to ignore the jibes sent her way.
"People can confuse the charm of the character with the person," he said.
For her part, Poehler noted that "people forget that we did two full years of kind of slamming her in a lot of stuff."
"I've certainly done her in other situations before on the show in not so flattering ways," she said. "I think there's been a history of different takes on her."
Still, the show's writers were divided when Clinton's campaign called and said that the candidate was interested in making an appearance on the show March 2, right before the Ohio and Texas primaries.
"Some people thought it wasn't a good idea," Michaels said. "Would it appear partisan?"
In the end, he felt it was only fair, since Obama had been on the program in November. But he added that "we were very clear that she was doing something that would be written for her and that it was not a campaign appearance in any sense."
Obama spokesman Bill Burton said the candidate is not concerned that his rival is getting a lift from "SNL."
"Frankly, Barack Obama knows he's good enough, smart enough and, gosh darn it, he's won more states, more votes and more delegates, and that's what probably matters more anyway," he quipped, a la Stuart Smalley.
For the most part, the writers said they believe the show's balance is apparent over time, although the program did consciously try to spoof Clinton last week. Playing off her ominous "3 a.m." ad that suggested Obama lacked the experience to handle a crisis, the piece showed stark black-and-white photos of a panicked President Obama calling Clinton at home for help.
"If anything, it was sympathetic toward Obama," Michaels said, though he admitted not everyone saw it that way.
This Saturday's program, hosted by actor Jonah Hill, will likely include more sketches about the 2008 race, although Meyers noted "that the governor of New York will probably take it worse than either of the candidates."
"I also promise that by the end of the campaign," he added, "both candidates will feel that we've portrayed them unfairly."
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matea.gold@latimes.com
