The most telling thing about Gov. Sarah Palin's brief stint on 'Saturday Night Live' was that Tina Fey was smart enough NOT to stand next to the hottie politician who is way prettier than Tina - a fact duly noted by Alec Baldwin.
SNL, which has been a craptastic mess for years, has seen strong ratings the past few weeks with Tina-as-Sarah skits, but it's ratings were the highest they've been in 15 years when they got the real thing to come on the show. Palin's brief, hardly there visit drew in a late night audience of more than 17 million views, the biggest night the show has had since March, 1994.
It's possible that when all is said and done, "SNL" will also have drawn more viewers and will top the weekly chart, either besting or equaling strong shows such as "Dancing With the Stars" and "CSI."
Unfortunately, Sarah and Tina had no real direct interaction, but they wore similar bright red dresses and exchanged glances as Tina slinked away from the mic when Saracuda walked on to cheers from the audience.
Alec Baldwin (who works with Tina on 30 Rock) has a skit where he talks to Tina - but who is actually Gov. Palin. He says to producer Lorne Michaels, "You can't let Tina go out there with that woman. She goes against everything we stand for - good Lord."
He then forgot one of the biting nicknames of the VP candidate and asked "Tina" to remind him.
"That would be Caribou Barbie," Gov. Palin says. Then Michaels tells him it's the real Palin he's talking to, and Baldwin admits, "Forgive me, but I feel I must say this ... you are way hotter in person... ''
Palin: "Why, thank you."
"I mean, seriously,'' Baldwin adds pointing at the monitor of Tina doing Sarah. "I can't believe they let her play you."
Palin tells him. "Thanks and I must say ... your brother Stephen is my favorite Baldwin brother."
