Dana Carvey had a plan. On the request of longtime Saturday Night Live showrunner Lorne Michaels, he was going to spend six weeks in New York along with his wife Paula. They’d get to enjoy autumn in the city, and he’d appear each week on SNL to do his impression of the then-president, who was running for a second term. It would have been a fantastic little work trip, but it was not to be, at least not in its original form. Months later, Carvey still remembers the moment when he realized it wasn’t going to happen.
He was watching the first Presidential Debate between Donald Trump and Joe Biden alongside his wife. One lost train of thought turned into another flub which turned into a general sense of uneasiness about President Biden’s performance. At some point, Carvey realized the entire Presidential race had suddenly just changed and whatever plans he’d discussed with Michaels were probably going to be out the window. Here’s what he told Page Six…
When that first debate was sort of going awry with President Biden, I turned to my wife and I said, ‘We’re not going to New York,’ during the debate. That’s absolutely true.
Of course President Biden didn’t drop out immediately. He hung on for a few more weeks, and Carvey ended up appearing almost a dozen times on SNL in 2024. It wasn’t always to do his President Biden impression, however, as the politician eventually stepped aside in favor of Vice President Kamala Harris and Governor Tim Walz, who took over the Democratic ticket. They eventually lost the election but were featured prominently on SNL in the lead-up, played by Maya Rudolph and Jim Gaffigan. Carvey appeared sometimes as Biden and other times in supporting roles, including one week where he revived his beloved Church Lady impression.
During his interview, Carvey also talked about his goal with political impressions, as he also famously portrayed President George HW Bush in the late 80s and early 90s. He said he’s never been interested in scoring “political points” or trying to “put them down.” Instead, he’s always tried to find something “fun” to lean into and poke fun at. That helps explain why his skillful impressions have usually been popular with people of all political leanings and why the subjects themselves have typically to him, especially President Bush who had him come stay at the White House.
Saturday Night Live has always been a show that comments on popular culture and what people are talking about right now. It’s not unusual for something to happen mid-week and get talked about on the show that weekend. That’s why there’s no promises. An impression only matters if it’s needed. Fortunately, given how many impressions Carvey can do and how friendly he still is with Michaels and the rest of the SNL crew, something tells me we haven’t seen the last of him.
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