Did 'SNL' Bow To Pressure and Censor Its Political Sketch? [Defamer Decides 2008]

This past weekend's episode of Saturday Night Live continues to make news; first, everyone was talking about the Tina Fey-enhanced vice presidential debate sketch, then, praise trickled down to Andy Samberg's Mark Wahlberg imitation and Kristen Wiig's tiny, tiny hands. Over on the right-wing side of the blogosphere, however, the sketch that ignited conservative appreciation was a takeoff on the government bailout (spoofing Nancy Pelosi, Barney Frank, and Golden West Financial founders Herbert and Marion Sandler) where Jason Sudeikis as President Bush noted, "Wasn't it my administration that warned about the problem six years ago and it was Democrats who refused to listen?" The skit initially appeared on NBC's website but was abruptly yanked yesterday, causing a conservative furor. Now, NBC says a censored version will be reuploaded today. THR has the scoop:

Sources say the real reason for the removal was a faux C-SPAN ticker line that ran across the bottom of the screen during the skit reading "people who should be shot" and listed the Sandlers.

Obviously, recommending that somebody kill two living people could get the network into legal hot water.

"Upon review, we caught certain elements in the sketch that didn't meet our standards," an NBC statement said. "We took it down and made some minor changes and it will be back online soon."

While we certainly wouldn't advocate for assassination, this is the second time recently that NBC has bowed to pressure and censored one of its late-night comedy shows. Have the feathers of the peacock network been so ruffled that they can no longer distinguish parody from reality? Enjoy your Tina Fey-as-Sarah Palin sketches while they last, America — escalating protest could force a defanged Fey to present a William Ayers slideshow worthy of Elisabeth Hasselbeck's seal of approval.

• NBC to restore SNL bailout skit — slightly edited [THR]