Michele Bachmann PUNCHES Newt Gingrich! (Kristen Wiig on SNL)

Show - Yet Another GOP Debate

Vanessa Bayer ... Sandy Schaub
Paul Brittain ... Ron Paul
Bill Hader ... Rick Perry
Bobby Moynihan ... Newt Gingrich
Andy Samberg ... Rick Santorum
Jason Sudeikis ... Mitt Romney
Kenan Thompson ... Herman Cain
Kristen Wiig ... announcer (voice)
Kristen Wiig ... Michele Bachmann

It's time for another GOP debate and Herman Cain expands on his plan to simplify government policy.



Ha! Kenan gets to star in this one as Herman Cain gains in popularity. The actual Cain is a bit of a financial genius (or at least was; he took down the Clinton healthcare package in one evening back when he was the CEO of Godfather), but it's still interesting to see a business man slug it out with governors and senators (and surprising to see him gain traction).

Anyway, Kenan did pretty good here, but I can't help but think they could bring Kenan's version of Cain up a few notches by focusing on the craft of impersonation and make him a little wilder. Maybe they should have Jay Pharoah doing Cain? Heck, if Cain and Obama go at it, SNL could have Jay Pharoah do a double (non-live) impersonation where he plays both Cain and Obama (like how Dana Carvey did George Bush Sr and Ross Perot, which won him an Emmy).

Anyway, Kristen's Bachmann is in a janitor's closet with Bobby's hilarious Newt Gingrich (they should really do a skit around Bobby's Newt). Kristen has a funny bit where she decks Bobby.

Kristen pulls double duty as the announcer and a player (so they obviously recorded her voice beforehand). Kristen also does this later in the episode for the Lifetime gameshow.

This is Kristen's fifth appearance as Bachmann. The first was on 09.17.2009. Wiig never really found a zone with Bachmann, not like Amy Poehler's Hilary Clinton or Tina Fey's Sarah Palin.

Bill Hader messes up once here and Vanessa Bayer messes up multiple times (but she gets her groove going after a rough start).

Likely this was written as the Cold Open, but they came up with something they liked better. Not only is this what they usually do for Cold Opens (politically charged), but Anna Faris isn't in it (also usually reserved for political Cold Opens). However, they still thought it was funny, so they didn't remove it from the show.

Enjoy!