Obama May Cancel His 'SNL' Appearance Due to Ike

Jeffrey Ressner of Politico is reporting tonight that Sen. Barack Obama may cancel his scheduled appearance on "Saturday Night Live" because of the potential disaster on the Texas coastline from Hurricane Ike.

Barack Obama is scheduled to appear on “Saturday Night Live” tomorrow night, but he may pull out if Hurricane Ike devastates Houston, Texas, "SNL" creator-producer Lorne Michaels told Politico on Friday. “If it’s serious, it will change everything for us,” he said. “The tone of the show will shift, and it would be inappropriate for the senator to do if it looks in any way like it’s going to be a tragedy.”

In addition, plans are in the works for "SNL" veteran Tina Fey to guest star as GOP vice presidential pick Sarah Palin, but a confirmation of Fey’s participation will come Friday night after she figures out if it will interfere with weekend shoots for her own program, “30 Rock.”

The show had been in contact with Obama earlier this week to go over material, said Michaels. “The things he’s hopefully going to do are morphing daily — it’s comedy, it’s not a platform speech.” As late as Friday afternoon, he was on the phone with Obama advisers going over a new script. “It’s certainly my hope” that he appears in more than one segment, he says, “but that will depend how things go in dress [rehearsal] and whether [he is] comfortable with [the material.]”

The show’s September return to the airwaves will launch with a politically themed skit. Election material will also serve as a heavy component of the “Weekend Update” mock newscast, and potentially two to three other skits will touch on the campaigning. Over the next two months, Michaels said the show’s reliance on political material will depend on what actually occurs on the campaign trail. “The first debate is on a Friday night, and we’ll have some take on it to be sure,” he said.