"Poehler and Fey both get awards for straight-up ballsiness for stalking off without a smile or handshake. "

Perhaps they discovered during the dress rehearsal that Palin wasn't up for it.

As I have said before: She sent a cold chill up my spine. She can lie but she can not act.

Wasn't that Palin's whole point? To look like a good sport, and like she was in on the joke?

Forget Palin.

They did a skit where a man shoots ping-pong balls out his ass.

Then a Suz Orman bit where she made several lesbian jokes and ended with a zinger that included "Pussy."

And Bravo to Mark Wahlber for making a multi-show bit to get himself into the Sarah Palin episode. He started it on Kimmel Friday. Best Part? By talking to the donkey he proved that he's a good sport as well.

Mrs. I tried to have books banned and a guy shoots ping-pong balls out his ass.

Fantastic.

"she seemed at ease, gracious, reserved and in control -- and, in both appearances, she had the last laugh."

if by at ease, gracious, reserved, etc. you mean stiff and seeming bizarrely unaware of how dissed she was, then sure, i guess so. and if by "last laugh" you mean that she managed to hang in there and deliver a line in a reasonably natural-sounding way, all right. but neither of her bits was funny. the humor was at her expense, not generated by or with her in any way. she was a good sport, i'll give her that, maybe more so than she should've been.

all in all one of the stranger television moments i've ever seen.

The mirror images of the far-left hating Palin, and the far-right hating Obama.

Kinda undercuts the whole "oooh, they're so evil" bullshit each side spits out.

I guess the same personality types are attracted to the fringes of society, huh?

Do you think she'll give up politics if Lorne Michaels can make the right offer?

Everyone seems to be missing what Alec was really saying to Sarah Palin with his "...you're hotter in person..." He was making fun of her main appeal to G.O.P. men as a kickass hottie. He was just reiterating that she's an empty pant suit -- or in last night's case, an empty blazer.

Baldwin's hosted SNL countless times, so he's great at reading from the teleprompter. I think his discomfort at being in Palin's presence threw off his delivery. He's publicly said more intensely negative things about Sarah Palin than he has about Kim Basinger... so don't diminish his cred.

How can that jellyfish Lorne Michaels justify giving the nasty Palin a chance to play cute and "good sport"? This woman is as egotistical as she is ignorant, and is vindictive and an accomplished liar. This show has reached a sorry nadir here.

Let's get this out of the way first: Palin is, indeed, a provincial, smug nutjob. I am still shocked that anyone, anywhere, is even remotely considering casting a McCain vote, given his choice for co-pilot.

But.

I work on-set as a film acting coach, and I have on several occasions been hired by athletes or non-actor celebrities to prepare them for on-camera appearances-- in short, watching "real people" (oh, how I hate that term, but that's another conversation) in front of the camera is what I do, day in and day out.

And folks, here's the thing: a few months back, when Sarah Palin was still a jaw-dropping surprise, I was shown the now-infamous clip of her delivering the sports on some remote Alaskan TV station, and I immediately thought: she's good. You think Tom Brokaw doesn't have THE EXACT SAME TAPE, of his earliest job in some tiny cinder-block TV station in the midwest somewhere? That it doesn't look equally cheesy and low tech? Think again. More, sports can be a tough segment: it can be a jumble of cities and names, and sports fans are merciless if the information is incorrect. And that appearance was back in the days when the reporter had to read an unheard-of three minutes of copy, straight to the lens, and get it all right, and you cant start blinking, or sweating --and don't ever touch your face or scratch anything, anywhere-- and we can't hear your sticky-dry mouth, and you've got to "connect" with, well, a lens.

You try it. Now try it knowing that lens beams out to millions of people.

I don't have to respect her to know talent when I see it. The minute I saw the segment I wrote all my Democrat friends and told them what I knew: she was going to knock it out of the park at the Republican Convention.

She pops on camera, she's not rattled by crowds (provided she's reading from copy), and, well, she gets it. Trust me: very, very few people do get it. It's a whole lot harder than it looks.

Personally I think she has no business in politics. But in front of a camera? You heard it here first: she is Fox News' next rising star. If I was a Fox exec I'd be PRAYING for McCain to lose and I'd have a contract ready-- and within reason, I'd give her anythings she wants. And if I were Hannity or Combs or any of that group, I'd be watching my back.

very lame.

OK, so she was a good sport about being mocked and humiliated, but she was still mocked and humiliated. I don't see how Palin comes out ahead in that equation. Kudos to SNL for not backing down. All the laughs came from Fey and Poehler (OMG she was great!), not Palin.

Most of what I have to say has already been said by someone or other. I hadn't noticed who did and didn't shake her hand on camera; that's an interesting take.

But I gotta say that as a sketch performer, she was quite good. Her delivery was smooth and natural, much more so than McCain or Obama or Hillary, and she never seemed like she was reading off the cue cards (unlike, sadly, Alec). Bopping along with Amy's rap showed immense good-sportness. I think the appearance probably did her some good, although I doubt it moved many votes. But like she said to Rush or whoever that was, she's got nothing to lose at this point.