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As James Lipton rightfully noted during his interview with Lawrence O'Donnell on this Thursday evening's The Last Word, this was really a remarkable example of just how talented Tina Fey is, who had little to no warning before being asked to revive her SNL impression of Palin for him this week:

‘Inside the Actors Studio’ showcases Tina Fey–or was it Sarah Palin?:

Tina Fey got mavericky once again, reviving her Sarah Palin character during a recent appearance on Inside the Actor’s Studio with James Lipton.

It’s been more than four years since Fey first introduced her indelible impression of John McCain’s former Republican running mate on SNL. (For the record, Fey said she prefers to be identified as “maverick at large.”)

Lipton told MSNBC that before they went on stage, he asked if she would be willing to improvise playing Sarah Palin again, and she said you betcha.

Fey, in character, weighed in on a range of topics like marriage equality (“The Bible says it’s gross…a lot of the amazing wonderful people I met in the audience at Dancing With The Stars seem to go that way. But no”), gun laws (“I believe that if everybody had guns, then there would be fewer guns in the stores”) and even beauty tips for fellow mama grizzlies (“I’m a fan of the Bump It”).

I'd like to see her back on SNL doing the dressed for Sturgis, CPAC 2013, fingernails on a chalkboard, post-Fox firing, Rove-bashing, reality TV version of Palin in the coming year.

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Actress Tiny Fey was seething on Wednesday as she try to express her outrage at recent comments by several Republican politicians about rape.

"I wish we could have an honest and respectful dialogue about these complicated issues," the comedienne told the Center for Reproductive Rights Inaugural Gala. "But it seems like we can’t right now. And if I have to listen to one more gray-faced man with a two-dollar haircut explain to me what rape is, I’m gonna lose my mind!"

Last month, Republican Missouri Senate candidate Todd Akin had asserted that women could not get pregnant through “legitimate rape.” And then Republican Indiana Senate candidate Richard Mourdock claimed on Tuesday that pregnancy from rape “is something that God intended to happen.”

"I watch these guys and I'm like, what is happening? Am I secretary on Mad Men?" Fey said on Wednesday. "What is happening?"

"Todd Akin. Oof. This guy," she continued. "Todd Akin claims that women can’t really get pregnant from a legitimate rape because the body secretes hormones. Now I can’t even finish this sentence without getting dumber; it’s making me dumber when I say it—but it’s something about the body not being able to get pregnant when it’s under physical stress."

"Mr. Akin, I think you are confusing the phrase ‘legitimate rape’ with the phrase ‘competitive gymnastics.’”

(h/t: BuzzFeed)

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It appears that the Fox News graphic department doesn't know what their own employees look like.

During a segment reporting that Sarah Palin was undecided on whether or not to jump into the 2012 presidential race, the news channel showed a photo of Tina Fey imitating the former Republican vice presidential candidate in 2008.

In 2009, Fox News management sent out a memo to employees saying that on-screen errors would no longer be tolerated.

"Effective immediately, there is zero tolerance for on-screen errors," the memo said. "Mistakes by any member of the show team that end up on air may result in immediate disciplinary action against those who played significant roles in the 'mistake chain,' and those who supervise them. That may include warning letters to personnel files, suspensions, and other possible actions up to and including termination, and this will all obviously play a role in performance reviews."

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Since so many of the undeclared potential presidential contenders decided to skip the first official Republican primary debate, Saturday Night Live decided to treat us to their version of the GOP 2012 Undeclared Candidates Debate, with Tina Fey returning as Sarah Palin.

The segment also featured Bill Hader as Fox's Shepard Smith, Jason Sudeikis as Mitt Romney, Darrell Hammond as Donald Trump, Kristen Wiig as Michele Bachmann, Bobby Moynihan as Newt Gingrich and Kenan Thompson as the Rent is Too Damn High Party's Jimmy McMillan.

As expected, Fey stole the show with her Palin impression.

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During a panel discussion on John King USA about PBS's decision to edit out some of Tina Fey's remarks criticizing Sarah Palin while accepting The Mark Twain Prize, Mrs. John King Dana Bash points out that this is not the first time PBS has been "accused of editing to favor Republicans" and that PBS has been accused of being too liberal. It's too bad that the panel and Bash didn't bother to point out the fact that this edit by PBS of Fey's remarks shouldn't be all that surprising to anyone paying attention since the network took a turn to the right some years ago.

That said, I don't expect anything better from anyone on CNN. Introspection as to how our media is not serving their basic purpose as the fourth estate in America isn't exactly their strong point to put it lightly. Since sadly Bill Moyers left the air at PBS... again... I'm not sure why anyone would perceive that network to be "too liberal" other than from listening to the Villager's on their television sets telling them that it is day in and day out. If anyone thinks that The McLaughlin Group or the PBS Newshour or Charlie Rose are liberal, they're not watching those shows. I consider Frontline to be fairly neutral in their reporting and that's about the extent of what I might watch on that network on any kind of a regular basis. They've got Tavis Smiley on there on a nightly basis but his show sure as hell doesn't make up for the shows that lean to the right or the loss of Bill Moyers. He just gave right wing hack Dennis Miller a sad and sorry softball interview on the same night this panel segment aired.

Here's what got ignored during this segment where they made light of the editing of Tina Fey's remarks.

PBS Panders to Right With New Programming:

A new public television program called the Journal Editorial Report, featuring writers and editors from the arch-conservative Wall Street Journal editorial page, will debut tonight on public television stations around the country. The show joins Tucker Carlson: Unfiltered, hosted by conservative CNN pundit Tucker Carlson, and a planned program featuring conservative commentator Michael Medved as part of what many see as politically motivated decisions to bring more right-wing voices to public television.

According to reports in the public broadcasting newspaper Current (1/19/04, 6/7/04) and in the New Yorker (6/7/04), conservative complaints about the alleged liberal bias of the program Now With Bill Moyers contributed to the momentum to "balance" the PBS lineup. The new programs seem to be the result of that pressure. In fact, Now will soon see its role on public television diminish, as the program is cut from one hour to 30 minutes when Moyers voluntarily leaves the program later this year. He will be replaced by co-anchor David Brancaccio, formerly of the public radio business show Marketplace, who expresses no obvious ideology. If Carlson, Medved and the staff of the Wall Street Journal editorial page are all necessary to balance the liberal Moyers, by 2005 there will be no one on PBS to balance them. Read on...

And there's this.

PBS Stolen by Right Wing in Cunning Bait and Switch:

Continue reading »

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Note: this video clip above contains the 30 seconds or so PBS decided not to air. The full program as aired can be seen at this PBS link for The Mark Twain Prize.

Via Paul Fahri at the Washington Post:

Tina Fey got a little political airbrushing from PBS Sunday night during its annual broadcast of the Kennedy Center's Mark Twain Prize for American Humor.

Fey, this year's recipient of the prize, caused a few ripples during her acceptance speech at the ceremony on Tuesday when she mock-praised "conservative women" like Sarah Palin, whom Fey has so memorably impersonated on "Saturday Night Live."

"And, you know, politics aside, the success of Sarah Palin and women like her is good for all women - except, of course --those who will end up, you know, like, paying for their own rape 'kit 'n' stuff," Fey said. "But for everybody else, it's a win-win. Unless you're a gay woman who wants to marry your partner of 20 years - whatever. But for most women, the success of conservative women is good for all of us. Unless you believe in evolution. You know - actually, I take it back. The whole thing's a disaster."

So was this blatant censorship? Absolutely not, says PBS.

"It was not a political decision," responded Peter Kaminsky, one of the broadcast's executive producers. "We had zero problems with anything she said."

But with the 90-minute show running about 19 minutes long after the taping Tuesday night, a few things had to give, Kaminsky said. "We took a lot out," he said. "We snipped from everyone."

This isn't the first time editors have stepped on a Twain recipient's bit. When George Carlin was posthumously awarded the prize in 2008, the show's producers spared the ears of the Kennedy Center audience by bleeping out the naughty parts from a video of Carlin doing his famous "Seven Dirty Words" routine. Thus, a monologue about words you couldn't say on television became one you couldn't say in the Kennedy Center, either.

Irony is dead.

"Are you smarter than a half-term Governor?" looks like a hit. And Palin (Fey) does some gotcha journalism of her own on Katie Couric which is amusing.