As promised last week, Jay Pharoah made his debut as the new Barack Obama on the season premiere of Saturday Night Live. His version of the president, which he’d been practicing on the road this summer, replaced Fred Armisen’s familiar impression. It was a pretty funny cold open, in which Obama told voters that his secret campaign weapon was actually his opponent, Mitt Romney, who can’t help but put his foot in his mouth. But we’re not sure if we’re sold on Pharoah entirely — we get that it seems important to have a black man portray our first black president, but this skit lacked the same ease of Pharoah’s other impressions. His Will Smith, for instance, never ceases to crack us up. Maybe it’ll just take more practice for him to erase the memory of Armisen’s “Obama Plays It Cool” ad…
While we’re on the fence, maybe you’ve made up your mind. Tell us!
