Tina Fey's 'forced' Sarah Palin reprisal

Tina Fey got back into the SNL groove Saturday with her impression of Sarah Palin, but some critics think it might be time to retire the character already.

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last updated 8 January 2015

The video: A visibly pregnant Tina Fey hosted the Mother's Day eve edition of Saturday Night Live this weekend, and reprised her much-lauded Sarah Palin impersonation in a sketch focused on the "GOP 2012 Undeclared Candidates Debate." (Watch video below.) Appearing alongside other "candidates you wish you knew less about" — including Donald Trump, Mitt Romney, and Michele Bachmann — Fey's Palin threw in some zingers about the ex-Governor's rhetorical prowess, Fox News, and her glee that we "finally vanquished one of the world's great villains": Katie Couric.

The reaction: I had high hopes for Fey's SNL return, but her Palin impression "seemed forced, in a 'Tina's the host, so we have to do Palin' kind of way," says Mike Ryan at Movieline. "I bet Tina Fey hates playing Sarah Palin by this point." I disagree, says David Sims at The Onion's A.V. Club. If anything, there wasn't enough of Fey in the crowded but still-hilarious GOP debate sketch. The show's writers certainly "worked their hardest to make Sarah Palin once again look stupid," says Mitch Marconi at The Post Chronicle. But that will come back to haunt them: Taunting Palin is like "waving a red sheet at a bull," among the best ways to ensure that she'll run for president. See for yourself: