Comics tread lightly with Palin pregnancy

By DAVID BAUDER, AP Television Writer

Tools

By Beth Boehne

NEW YORK (AP) — The pregnancy of Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin's unwed daughter was fair game for late-night comics on Monday, but they tread lightly.

Three of the comics, in fact, made Democrat John Edwards the butt of their jokes about the situation. Edwards, the former presidential candidate, admitted this summer to an affair after first denying it.

"Governor Palin announced over the weekend that her 17-year-old unmarried daughter is five months' pregnant," Jay Leno said near the top of his "Tonight" show monologue. "And you thought John Edwards was in trouble before! Now he has really done it."

Both Craig Ferguson and Conan O'Brien, who compete against each other in the early morning hours, went down the same road.

"I don't think that a young lady getting pregnant should even be news," said Ferguson, of CBS' "Late Late Show." ''Unless John Edwards is the father. Then that is kinda news."

NBC's O'Brien joked that Palin said that "we should never have introduced her to John Edwards."

David Letterman, on CBS' "Late Show," made the pregnancy the subject of only his fifth and last joke about the selection of the Alaska governor as John McCain's running mate.

"Here's good news, ladies and gentlemen," Letterman said. "The Palin family crisis that we were talking about on Sunday and Monday, that has been solved now and, today, the baby is being adopted by Angelina Jolie."

Jon Stewart of Comedy Central's "The Daily Show" kept his lacerating wit away from the topic. There was only one allusion to it in a Samantha Bee weather forecast skit, when a cloud in the shape of a pregnant woman floated by.

Leno, before moving on, touched on the situation with three gentle jokes. He said that apparently Palin's daughter is named "Juno," a reference to the movie about a hip unwed teenager who gives birth to her child.

His third joke was about telling McCain about the pregnancy, but "into his bad ear."

O'Brien's monologue made reference to the opening of the Republican National Convention.

"The theme for tonight's Republican convention is 'Who is John McCain,'" O'Brien said. "Tomorrow night's theme is, 'Who forgot to check if the vice president's daughter is pregnant?'"

Wednesday, Sep 3 at 2:03 PM Pete wrote ...

How old is the boy that got Sarah Palin's daughter pregnant since she is only seventeen? Is he 18 or older?

Add a comment

Name:

Comment: 500 Characters Left

WSBT and its affiliated companies are not responsible for the content of comments posted or for anything arising out of use of the above comments or other interaction among the users. We reserve the right to screen, refuse to post, or remove user-generated content at any time and for any or no reason in our absolute and sole discretion without prior notice, although we have no duty to do so or to monitor any Public Forum. Items that may be considered inappropriate to post are those containing profanity, hatred, or insensitive, vulgar, unlawful or threatening comments.

WSBT Weather

icon
Current Temp 25
°
More Weather
More On Demand

Stock Quotes

YouNews

This content requires the latest Adobe Flash Player and a browser with JavaScript enabled. Click here for a free download of the latest Adobe Flash Player.
This content requires the latest Adobe Flash Player and a browser with JavaScript enabled. Click here for a free download of the latest Adobe Flash Player.

Tonight On WSBTFull Schedule

7.00
Wheel of Fortune
7.30
Jeopardy!
8.00
The New Adventures of Old Christine
8.30
Gary Unmarried
9.00
The People's Choice Awards
11.00
WSBT News
11.35
Late Show with David Letterman

Question of The Day

What does President-elect Barack Obama need to do to improve the economy?

E-mail your comments. We'll pick some to read during WSBT News at 5.