SNL Thursday Night Live - Nails It - Recap and Videos

They did it. And they may be on to something.

Saturday Night Life introduced their first Thursday Night Live half hour prime time show with a political spoof of the presidential debate.

And they nailed it. The skit welcomed back Chris Parnell as Tom Brokaw playing the moderator.

SNL is really getting good at this, and there was even a cameo by SNL alum Bill Murray during the Obama and McCain debate skit.

We missed not seeing Tina Fey as Sarah Palin but suspect she will return again - head writer Seth Myers admitted in an interview about the new Thursday format that Fey would likely return.

Related: Seth Meyers Talks About New Thursday SNL Shows

Watch SNL Thursday Night Live Presidential Debate Video



The remaining segment included an expanded version of the popular SNL Weekend Update with Seth Myers and Amy Poehler. The highlight was the "Really?" skit.

It highlighted much of the absurd events of the last week, and took a particularly hard jab at the insurance company AIG, who just spent hundreds of thousands of dollars at a spa immediately following their government bailout.

Watch SNL Thursday Night Live Weekend Update Video



We think by taking out the musical guest, and reducing the number of "not so funny" skits, and focusing on the issues in the news, Lorne Michaels and his group at Saturday Night Live have a smash hit on their hands.

Watch Other SNL Videos

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Tina Fey Returns As Sarah Palin For Katie Couric Skit On SNL - Video

Tina Fey returned to Saturday Night Live last night to reprise her role as Alaska Governor Sara Palin.

This time, it was to spoof the horrendous interview the Vice President nominee had with news anchor Katie Couric last week.

Related Story: Tina Fey With Hilary Clinton On SNL - Nailed It - Video
Related Story: Darrell Hammond Does John McCain On SNL - Video

As usual, the skit was spot-on. Amy Poehler played the part of Couric, and of course, Tina Fey played Sarah Palin. Amy Poehler asked Sarah Palin what she thought of her trip to New York so far, and Palin's answers were classic.

Fey told Poehler she was shocked because she had "at least 15 to 20 false alarms" where she thought she spotted Osama Bin Laden driving a taxi, and in an effort to "bone up" on foreign policy had visited Time Square to see a movie called "The Bush Doctrine", but was disappointed when the film had nothing to do with politics.

When asked about her trip to the United Nations, Palin (Fey) told Couric (Poehler) that she was disheartened at all the "foreign people" that were there, and that when her and McCain are elected they will work hard to "get those jobs" back in the hands of Americans.

When asked about John McCain shutting down his campaign to work on the economic crisis, and the $700 billion bailout, Tina Fey responded with a convoluted, econo-babble, sound-bite heavy response that made absolutely no sense at all. The live audience loved it. Amy Poehler was great as Katie Couric, with her puzzled looks and uneasy body language.

When asked what lessons she had learned from the Iraq war, and how she would spread democracy, Palin was not able to give specific responses. After being asked again, Fey told Poehler, "I'd like to use one of my life-lines. I'd like to phone a friend".

The skit was classic old-school SNL at its best.

Watch Tina Fey And Amy Poehler As Sara Palin And Katie Couric On SNL



Learn More About Tina Fey And Amy Poehler At InfoStar
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Amy Poehler Announces She Is Leaving Saturday Night Live

Saturday Night Live cast member Amy Poehler is expected to take maternity leave from the cult late night show in November for the birth of her first child.

But in an interview with Men's Vogue she also dropped a bombshell - she will be leaving the show and not returning after her leave.

The announcement, coming on the heels of her appearance with Tina Fey as Sarah Palin and Poehler as Hilary Clinton, is sure to leave a vacuum in the ensemble cast.

Related Story: Tina Fey Does Sarah Palin On SNL - Nailed It! - Video

"It's going to be really hard to say goodbye to yesterday," she told the magazine. "Saturday Night Live was dangerous, late-night, last-minute and star-studded, but like any good drug, you need to know when to put it down."

Poehler is leaving to pursue her other growing television and movie projects, starting with the animated comedy "The Mighty B". Picked up for 20 episodes, Poehler stars as the voice of Bessie Higgenbottom, the world's most ambitious and lovably unhinged 10-year-old "Honeybee" scout.

She also has a currently untitled television project in development with Greg Daniels and Mike Schur, and has just completed the direct to video movie "Spring Breakdown", due next month and starring Poehler and fellow SNL alumni Rachel Dratch, about three women who vacation together at a popular travel destination for college co-eds on spring break.

Poehler is also voicing the character of Gretel in the animated comedy "Hoodwinked 2: Hood vs. Evil", due in 2010 and starring Hayden Panettiere as Red Riding Hood, Patrick Warburton as the wolf, Bill Hader as Hansel, Brad Garrett as the Giant, Joan Cusack as the Witch and Glenn Close as Granny.

"Hoodwinked 2" tells the story of Red Riding Hood, who is training with the group of Sister Hoods, when her and the Wolf get called over to investigate the sudden, and mysterious disappearance of Hansel and Gretel.

It has also been announced that Poehler will star with Isla Fisher in the comedy "Groupies", a comedy set in the world of rock 'n' roll groupies. Filming has not yet started and no release date has been announced.

Learn More About Amy Poehler
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