Andy Samberg is in a gay bar (Rick Santorum in SNL GOP Debate)

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, Andy's Santorum doesn't get much air time here... just the mostly visual gag that they stuck him in a gay bar. This is Andy's second appearance as Santorum (9/24 this season and this week). Santorum was also impersonated once by Chris Parnell back on 05.17.2003.

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!