All The Presidents' Memes: FunnyorDie assembles all-star cast of SNL imPREZsionists

[isoS]

FunnyorDie.com has taken celebrity stunt casting in web videos to a whole new level with this Ron Howard(!)-directed short featuring every major Saturday Night Live alum who did a presidential impression on the show, from Chevy Chase (Gerald Ford) to Fred Armisen (Barack Obama). To replace the late, great Phil Hartman (Ronald Reagan), the production had to settle for a former road comic and Fox sketch show performer named Jim Carrey. Rounding out the cast: Will Ferrell, Darrell Hammond, Dana Carvey, Dan Aykroyd and Maya Rudolph as Michelle Obama (the sketch was written by an equally impressive roster of SNL and Simpsons alums: Al Jean, Adam McKay, Tom Gammill, Max Pross, Dan Greaney & Michael Price). Those names alone will behoove you to watch this, but they probably also make you a little skeptical that this could live up to its pedigree and actually be funny. Well, against all odds, it is. Now we wait for the sequel, in which Terry Sweeney leads the illustrious roster of SNL first ladies.

[funnyclown]

Did Ron Howard write that, too?

(Oh wait, like 10 people wrote that. Wow. Also, good to see Tim Conway working again, though sad to see how badly he's let himself go.)

[Americas Team]

No offense to Jim Carrey but boy do I miss Phil Hartman.


http://www.hulu.com/watch/4169/satur...n-at-mcdonalds

[jenkirkman]

Congrats to AST's own Nizzles (Neil Mahoney) for editing the shit out of this!

[isoS]

Great job Neil!

[Umlaut]

Why does Obama have a Cubs cup on his dresser? Everyone knows he's a White Sox fan.

That's right. That's my comment.

(Chevy is really great in this.)

[OGRastamon]

Sorry that just made me think about how we'll probably have six more years of Fred Armisen doing an impression that is funnier and more accurate when done by The Rock.

[James Smann]

Just saw this on the Olberman show...so awesome.

Also: Chevy's Ford really, really sucks.

[aenemaTron]

All it ever was was him falling down, and he still does it well.

[James Smann]

You're right, of course, about him just falling down. But to me when you put that up against Darrel Hammond, Carvey and Ferrel (who to me probably does the best caricature of a president ever) it just doesn't hold up...for me. But to each his own of course.

[isoS]

Originally the joke was that he made zero effort to impersonate Ford (other than the falling). And given what a dud president Ford was, I think that was the funniest possible take.

This video really drives home that compared to his predecessors, Obama's not giving comics anything to work with. Reagan, the Bushes and Clinton were all just so full of character quirks, mannerisms and verbal tics ripe for the mocking. What's Barack got? He speaks haltingly and sneaks smokes. Yawn.

[funnyclown]

Ah, well, yes, the editing was superb. But, uh... Yeah.

[James Smann]

Originally the joke was that he made zero effort to impersonate Ford (other than the falling). And given what a dud president Ford was, I think that was the funniest possible take.

No yeah, totally. I just feel like now, almost 40 years later that it just pales in comparison is all. I've been steadily slogging through the first four seasons and his early stuff with Ford falling and whatnot is funny, I just don't think it compares to everything that the others did with their presidents.

[JuanCarlos]

Originally the joke was that he made zero effort to impersonate Ford (other than the falling). And given what a dud president Ford was, I think that was the funniest possible take.

This video really drives home that compared to his predecessors, Obama's not giving comics anything to work with. Reagan, the Bushes and Clinton were all just so full of character quirks, mannerisms and verbal tics ripe for the mocking. What's Barack got? He speaks haltingly and sneaks smokes. Yawn.

Well it would help said comics if they'd actually used a black actor for the role. Lorne must be kicking himself for throwing Finesse out.

[aenemaTron]

Just because the skin color is the same, or similar, it doesn't mean someone is a better choice. From what I understand, Obama is half white (mother of predominantly English extraction) and half straight-up Kenyan Luo African. He wasn't raised in the typical african-american culture. As far as I know, neither was Fred Armisen. For some reason people have trouble making the distinction between someone being "black" and someone being african-american in the traditional sense.

[BillBrasky]

But Fred Armisen is 0% black. He is of Venezuelan, German, and Japanese descent.
However, he's doing a better job in this video than he normally does on SNL.

[Berliner]

I do think Armisen could do a better Tiger Woods than Kenan.

[scamboogah]

For some reason, I don't think Lorne Michaels has lost any sleep over getting rid of Finesse Mitchell.

Melanie Hutsell, on the other hand, I bet that one kills him...

[isoS]

I've seen Obama impressions that were more accurate than Fred's, but I can't really say they were funnier. I just don't think there's much to work with there. Clinton was a charming philanderer, W. was an imbecile who struggled to complete a sentence, Bush Sr. was a wimp who rambled on and made hand gestures, Reagan was a senile grandpa... What's Obama's thing? Being articulate? A great public speaker? How do you mock that? Maybe you can do one sketch where he talks in his grand, oratorical way even in the most mundane daily life situations (putting the kids to bed, ordering at a restaurant, telling the barber what kind of haircut he wants), but that's a one-off. It's not a bottomless well the way Clinton's womanizing or W's stupidity was.

Obama needs a "thing." It's tricky because he doesn't want to fall into any stereotypes, and no one wants to appear racist in mocking him. But Americans love flawed heroes, and right now, Obama isn't flawed. (I'm not talking policies or politics, I just mean his character.) Smoking is the closest thing we've got, and that just isn't big enough. Really, we were lucky lucky that Dana Carvey (a genius impressionist) found a funny and original take on Bush Sr., because in reality he was pretty dull and indistinct. Unfortunately, no one has stepped up and done the same for Obama. Or maybe he's just too polished to dig into.

[Zoltar]

Alright, now, everyone name their favorite joke in this video. Go!