Between Barack and a Hard Place

Of course there were influential Second City alumni and political sketches from the 1980’s to the 2000’s, but they are fewer and less memorable. After Lorne Michaels stepped down for five years during the 1980-1985 period of Saturday Night Live, when he returned the cast was much different than before he left. No one from Chicago was featured and none of the original cast remained: “It’s Square One time at SNL...the Chicago talent hunt with Fraken and Davis, often in the company of Michaels, wound its way through the hallowed halls of Second City on Wells St., through a host of suburban comedy clubs, and out among the orange crates and belly laughs of ‘Temple of Doom’... no one among the current group at Second City made the SNL cut” (Daley 1). The fact that the new cast was not full of Chicago personalities was odd for Saturday Night Live, but Second City alum stars such as Chris Farley, Mike Myers, Amy Poehler and Tina Fey made their way back into the graces of Saturday Night Live.

Saturday Night Live stars and political figures of today are part of the generation that grew up watching the original cast and all the political spoofs that ensued in the beginning seasons. Even before Barack Obama was nominated by the Democratic party, Second City had its eye on the young senator. In January 2007, Second City premiered a show called “Between Barack and a Hard Place” which “was centered on the biggest political super star since JFK--and a resident Chicago citizen to boot” (Thomas 242). The director of the show, Matt Hovde, said the message of the show was “There’s actually somebody out there that people like, that people are rooting for. And he’s from Chicago” (Thomas 243). As previously mentioned, the generation of politicians, including Barack Obama, grew up watching Saturday Night Live and most likely played a defining part in how satire is viewed: “Sometimes it seemed like Obama would turn around, like, ‘Can I laugh at that? Alright, everyone’s laughing at that, so I guess I can’” (Thomas 243). Previously, satire was viewed as disrespectful, but now is viewed by politicians themselves as funny. Laughing at themselves is a way to stay human, and the nation fell in love with the Chicago candidate who loved to laugh during a time of turmoil.