The Comedy Of Politics

Everyone loves a good joke, especially if it’s at the expense of an elected official. For years politicians have been the source of material for the late night shows. Shows like “The Tonight Show”, “The Late Show with David Letterman” and “Saturday Night Live” are notorious for their political satire. It’s always a treat when the politician being poked fun at makes an appearance and can laugh at themselves. On Saturday night, Governor Sarah Palin did just that. Sarah Palin stopped by the “SNL” studios and made an appearance in a couple of sketches. Although she didn’t say very much, it was obvious she was having fun with it.



Over the years we’ve seen politicians that are often the bud of jokes on late night television make appearances. I remember President Bill Clinton playing the saxophone on “The Arsenio Hall Show”. Janet Reno made an appearance on “SNL” in 2001 and in 2002 Al Gore hosted the show. So why would politicians appear on shows that make fun of them? Well the answer has more to do with who’s watching those shows. Today, younger adults are getting their information from shows like “The Daily Show” or “The Colbert Report”. “Saturday Night Live’s” Weekend Update is so popular that they have a special Weekend Update on Thursdays. The candidates are always campaigning for votes; they want to win people over. So they go on these shows to look more human. People can watch and see that they are people too, and they can laugh at themselves. These shows have a huge followings. Sarah Palin’s appearance on “SNL” was the show’s highest rated episode in 14 years.

With less than 2 weeks until Election Day, we can expect the candidates to step up the campaigning until election night. So I’ll expect the jokes and the sketches to get even funnier as “E-Day” approaches. Although I love the sketches and jokes, my favorite form of political satire comes from Mike Luckovich, a national syndicated political cartoonist. I think his drawings are pretty right on!

Madonna Is Calling It “Quits”

Mega Pop Star Madonna is divorcing her husband of more than seven years Guy Ritchie, according to media reports. News came today that Madonna, considered the highest-earning female singer has given up efforts to save her stained marriage. The couple has one child together seven-year-old Rocco, along with a three-year-old adoptive son from Malawi.

Rumors of divorce have been circulating for months now. Madonna has been linked by the media to A-Rod. She’s even been spotted at his games. She has maintained that she and the Alex Rodriguez are just friends. Friends or more than just friends, it would appear that Madonna is now free to publicly pursue a relationship with Rodriguez if she chooses to do so.

Madonna is believed to be worth more than $500 million dollars. With that kind of money at stake, its no wonder that she has enlisted the legal services of Fiona "Steel Magnolia" Shackleton, she is a high profile divorce lawyer that handled Paul McCartney’s divorce from Heather Mills. It’s being reported that the couple did not have a prenuptial agreement, so Ritchie could walk away with more than $100 million dollars.

Madonna’s marriage joins a long list of celebrity couples calling it quits. It really says a lot when this country is facing dire financial times and Madonna’s marriage is considered more noteworthy one news websites than the presidential debates or the economic bailout plan. You have to wonder what this world is coming to.

Tyler Perry Has The Golden Touch

It seems that everything Tyler Perry touches turns to gold. The successful director and Atlanta resident just formally opened a 30-acre multi-million dollar facility that will be the new home to his production company Tyler Perry Studios. The studio is located near Greenbriar Mall where the lot of the old Delta building once stood.

The studio located in the Southwest side of Atlanta is reported to be over 200,000 square feet of office and studio space. It contains several sound stages, a 300 seat screening room and will be used to produce episodes of the TBS sitcom, “House of Payne”. Perry named the four of five sound stages after legendary entertainers Ruby Dee, Cicely Tyson, Quincy Jones and Sidney Poitier.



Most people would think a man of Tyler Perry’s success would choose Hollywood to build a studio. But it’s very clear that Mr. Perry is making a major commitment to Atlanta. Tyler Perry received a lot of praise from celebrities such as Hank Aaron, Sidney Poitier and Former Atlanta Mayor Andrew Jackson, for opening a facility in Southwest Atlanta. Attending the grand opening of Tyler Perry’s new studio was a guest list that included Hollywood legends and young up and coming stars.

During the grand opening festivities a group of protesters demonstrated near the studio. Four writers for the sitcom “House of Payne”, were fired earlier in the week. The protesters were wearing t-shirts with the WGA (Writer’s Guild of America) on them and held signs saying “Perry Has No Shame”. Its reported that fired writers were pushing for unionization.