Fred Armisen will be back on “Saturday Night Live” this season.
His woeful President Obama impersonation, on the other hand, is history.
TheWrap.com is reporting the late night sketch show will use newer cast member Jay Pharoah, who is black, to portray Obama starting with this Saturday’s season debut.
That’s great news for those hoping the signature series would return to its more fair and balanced approach to political humor. Not only was Armisen’s Obama a dud, the comedian’s unabashed affection for Obama clearly impacted the performance.
Will Pharoah be an improvement? Here’s a sample:
Passable, nothing more. The material in the clip is pretty weak, too.
The bigger question is whether Pharoah and the show’s writing team will feast on the president’s myriad flaws, or whether the show’s comics will play Palace Guard like virtually every other comic working the stand-up beat.
We’ll start getting some answers at 11:30 p.m. Saturday night.