A New Era of Political Satire: Saturday Night Live

Chevy Chase: Weekend Update 

     Before understanding 21st century's political satire, it is essential to provide one exemplary phenomenon from the media. As the first anchor of NBC's Saturday Night Live's (SNL's) weekend update segment, during 1975, Chevy Chase was an essential component in bringing about the advent of political satire on national television, which would continue well into the next millenium.  He has portrayed numerous political impressions during his time on SNL, including some of the more noteworthy ones: David Eisenhower, President Gerald Ford, and President Ronald Reagan. Although infamous for being the only cast member banned from the show (including hosting privileges), Chevy Chase has had many antics geared towards mocking the media. For example, during the first season of SNL, the pending death of Spanish dictator Francisco Franco made for the United States network television newscasters, specifically NBC's main anchor John Chancellor, to repeatedly mention this phenomeon on slow news days. Hence, the phrase, "Generalissimo Francisco Franco is still dead" became a main headline for Chase to mock the ongoing mention of this Spanish dictator's deathwatch on NBC news.

Here is a url citation that will also provide supplemental information:
http://splitsider.com/2014/09/saturday-nights-children-chevy-chase-1975-1976/ 

Introduction and Thesis

    Concept: Main Point of Research 

     This blog will have a concentration of 21st century political satire in the media: film, television, novels, news, entertainment, etc. In addition, there will be an overview of the origins of American satire and its continuity over time, respectively. The purpose of this will be to highlight the effect satire has on politics since the dawn of this humorous advent. It will encompass wide-ranging subject materials from the political sphere (presidential elections, economic downturns, and infamous speeches). One thing to remember is that political satire is differentiated from political protest; it is not meant to influence the political process nor does it have a preconceived agenda/platform. The purest intentions of political satire, or any satire for that matter, is strictly entertainment. Also another thing to consider before reading this blog is that political satire is not a means of seeking out solutions to the dysfunctions in American politics. Again, political satire is a source of entertainment and comedy, which is meant to be enjoyed, not taken as a serious treatment to the problems at hand.

Initial Questions: What does political satire look like? How is it used in the media?

Here is a preview, a graphics interchange format (GIF), to demonstrate what political satire looks like: