NEW YORK — Politics and parody collided on Saturday as Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin made a self-deprecating appearance on "Saturday Night Live" in which she critiqued the performance of her comic doppelganger.
The Republican vice presidential candidate endured a diatribe from actor Alec Baldwin, who pretended to mistake her for comedian Tina Fey, before opening the program with its signature line, "Live from New York, it's 'Saturday Night!' "
Fey's lampooning of Palin as a clueless but perky candidate has become a pop culture phenomenon and has helped lift "Saturday Night Live's" ratings to their highest level in seven years.
On Saturday, the program opened with a skit in which Fey blithely fielded questions in what was billed as the governor's first news conference. The camera then cut to the real Palin, standing in a hallway with executive producer Lorne Michaels, watching the bit on a television monitor.
"Yeah, Lorne, you know, I just didn't think it was a realistic depiction of the way my press conferences would have gone," she said, shaking her head disapprovingly.
"Yes, but it's obviously a heightened reality," Michael replied.
"Why couldn't we have done the '30 Rock' sketch that I wrote?" the governor asked, referring to Fey's critically acclaimed but low-rated comedy.
"Honestly, not enough people know that show," he responded.
For Palin, the cameo offered a chance to demonstrate a lighter side in the midst of a hard-edged campaign.
She told radio host Neal Boortz on Friday: "I just want to be there to show Americans that we'll rise above the political shots that we take, because we're in this doing serious business for serious challenges that are facing good American people right now."
She was forced to field some more shots on the program. In Fey's sketch, the comedian offered to entertain reporters with "some fancy pageant walking," a jibe at Palin's beauty queen days.
Then Baldwin rushed up to Palin and Michaels in the hallway, greeting them as "Lorne" and "Tina."
"You can't let Tina go out there with that woman," he implored Michaels as Palin listened, her lips pressed tightly together. "She goes against everything we stand for. . . . This is the most important election in our nation's history and you want our Tina to go out there and stand there with that horrible woman?"
When informed that he was standing next to the governor, Baldwin drew himself back.
