Franken Didn't Write McCain SNL Sketch

Contrary to reports on this and other sites, and even to the source article itself, Al Franken did not write the opening sketch of the September 20 episode of Saturday Night Live. This was a classic overreach by everyone involved.

The Politico article that's been used as a source for this story says that Franken, an SNL alum, "helped to craft" the sketch, which is like saying that the guy at the paint store "helped to craft" Guernica. The NY Times has a less hyperbolic take:

The skit, which opened the show on Saturday night, was written by Seth Meyers, the show's head writer, but had been spawned by a conversation between Mr. Franken and Lorne Michaels, the executive producer, who suggested the idea to Mr. Meyers. "Al has been friends with Lorne Michaels for over 30 years, and Lorne thought Al's personal experience was funny enough for a 'SNL' skit," Colleen Murray, a spokeswoman for Mr. Franken, wrote in a statement published on Politico.com. "Sure, Al keeps in touch with old friends, but unless the skit is about nonferrous mining on Minnesota's Iron Range, Al's not in the business of developing skits anymore."

Franken was probably the umpteen-thousandth person to observe that the supposed "Real" McCain, the one with all that honor and stuff, would have to wince at recording those "I approved this message" disclaimers for a raft of dirty ads.

Missed in all of this, which is precisely the point of working the ref, is the fact that the sketch is really funny, and a dead-on deconstruction of yellow political ads. Also missed is the fact that SNL is not a news show, and has no duty to be fair or balanced. Who is writing Fox News' jokes?

Tommy Christopher co-hosts "Unusable Signal" , on BlogTalkRadio Tues & Thur at 9pm, and Wed, Fri, & Sat at 11pm. Click here for the Unusable Signal homepage.