Sarah Palin made a surprise appearance on the Saturday Night Live primetime special Political Bash Monday night on NBC. There was no advertising or leak on her or Senator McCain’s appearance on the special so no one was expecting it.

Sitting in a leather chair alone on a stage, Governor Palin addressed the audience and was met with applause to begin with. However, after launching into her written speech, the reception decidedly cooled.

Palin delivered a speech that must have been intended to be tongue in cheek and funny, but it just was not delivered as such. It was actually rather sinister sounding and Palin herself barely cracked anything more than a sarcastic smile during the whole thing.

Palin said that when she first heard about Saturday Night Live was making fun of her, she was annoyed. But, after awhile, she understood that this was a long standing tradition with SNL and political figures. Palin attempted a joke about not knowing Saturday Night Live was still on the air and there was a smattering of laughter. It felt like the audience was trying to figure out what exactly was going on. Was Sarah Palin joking or not?

Then, with nary a smile, Palin then announced that on January 20th, after she is sworn into office, the parody is to end. Now, obviously, the sketch was written as a joke, and meant to be delivered as such, but it came across as more of a command than a joke. Sarah, in another joke that she just could not make work, said that if SNL didn’t stop making fun of her after she was Vice President, she would see to it that NBC had their broadcast license revoked. Followed by another joke about how no one would know, because no one watches NBC. She concluded with what felt like some sort of mob threat, saying that in Alaska “we play for keeps, it’s called The Palin Doctorine.”

It was eerily silent and uncomfortable during her delivery. I almost felt bad for her if it weren’t for the fact that she herself barely cracked a smile. She was very charismatic during her scheduled cameo on SNL a couple weeks ago, so it was surprising to see her so much the opposite on Monday. I sat here stunned during the whole thing, actually hoping that she would pull off a great zinger at the end and get a good laugh at it all, but it never came.

The audience was kind enough to applaud when she signed off, but that was about the extent of a reaction. It was odd and uncomfortable and I’m very surprised they put her on with it. She had to have done something more encouraging in rehearsals.

John McCain opened the show and was charming and funny, sitting in the same chair, delivering his pre-written speech with a smile and a sense of humor. Whether you agree with his politics or not, there’s no denying he comes across as a decent guy with a sense of humor when he does Saturday Night Live. Although, I’ve got to say, he’s pretty much turned into the “celebrity” he lambasted Obama for being now that he’s basically become a cast member on Saturday Night Live this week.

Truly, it’s all for naught, most people have already voted, either early or by mail, and on the eve of the election, the undecideds should be few and far between. Maybe Sarah Palin thought she had nothing to lose so she would show that she was a serious contender in the last minutes, on a political satire show.