CHEVY CHASE - CHASE NOT TICKLED BY PALIN'S SNL APPEARANCE

CHASE NOT TICKLED BY PALIN'S SNL APPEARANCE

Comedian CHEVY CHASE wasn't laughing at U.S. vice presidential candidate SARAH PALIN's guest appearance on sketch show SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE this weekend (18/19Oct08), insisting TV bosses made a "big mistake" inviting her on.
The National Lampoon's Vacation star, a former SNL alum, was not impressed by Palin's lack of improvisation skills on Saturday's (18Oct08) programme, which was hosted by W star Josh Brolin and featured Mark Wahlberg and Alec Baldwin.
Palin appeared in an opening skit with staunch Democrat Baldwin, and again in the Weekend Update segment, when she nodded along to a rap song by SNL's Amy Poehler.
But the Alaska Governor's performance failed to crack a smile from Chase.
He tells Access Hollywood, "Quite frankly, it's a big mistake to let her go on. What was brilliant about (SNL producer) Lorne (Michaels) was that he had nothing written for Sarah and that apparently she cannot improvise herself out of a paper bag!
"On Weekend Update, that was her big chance. Nothing."
And Chase has no doubt that Palin's performance has had a negative effect on the campaign of her running mate, White House hopeful John MCCain.
He adds, "The management behind MCCain's campaign has been dumb. This has only helped accentuate the problem of his judgement in choosing, in such a cynical way, a candidate like Sarah Palin for vice president. I think the last thing that they would want right about now is to have the rest of America knowing all that... to have her be seen on SNL, certainly never there... If anything, you just want her to be seen just from a distance."