Fake Presidents

It's Presidents Day!

So we're doing something a little different this week. We're taking a look at a different kind of "fake" president. That's right, we're hosting an NCAA-style tournament to see who's the greatest Saturday Night Live presidential impersonator of all time!

The cast members in contention include:

Dana Carvey, Chevy Chase, Phil Hartman, Jay Pharoah, Darrell Hammond, Will Ferrell, Dan Ackroyd, Jason Sudeikis, Will Forte, Chris Parnell, Fred Armisen, Michael McKean, Randy Quaid, plus a few surprise entries.

You can find a bracket with all the contenders on our Twitter feed:

https://twitter.com/Fake_Presidents/status/1361039621006630913

Let the games begin!

Kevin James is the (fake) president in Pixels, a 2015 action-comedy directed by Chris Columbus and also starring Adam Sandler, Michelle Monaghan, Josh Gad, and Peter Dinklage.

How does a President triple their approval numbers? (You gotta save the planet) Is it ever okay for a Geek Squad tech guy to try to kiss a client? (No, definitely not) Is this what a Chris Christie presidency would look like? (Probably)

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This is the episode THEY didn't want YOU to hear!

(They = Ben and Eric, because it was originally recorded as a practice episode months ago, not intended for wide release)

But recent events have, um, changed our opinion of this movie about an insurrection on Capitol Hill during a special joint session of Congress as high ranking members of the Executive Branch plot a coup.

Is this mostly dismissed 2005 Ice Cube-starring action film (a sequel to a Vin Diesel movie that Vin refused to be in!) secretly one of the most predictive political movies of the modern era? Let's find out…

(If you haven't seen this movie, don't worry. Very few people have!)

Twitter: @Fake_Presidents

Instagram: @Fake_Presidents

We look ahead to see what may be in store for the world of Fake Presidents in 2021, but only after we've totally gutted 2020.

In this episode, we cover all the FP developments of last year that we missed (like a new FP show possibly coming to TV in the fall!), a musician-turned-fake president that we adored (Ariana Grande!), and a surprise return of a fake president in the most surprising of places (a kids movie on Netflix!).

We'll also say good-bye to the fake presidents the world lost and then take a look at some notable movies to be released in 2021 to see what we may be covering in the year to come.

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Show artwork by @AnnibalCH. Theme music by @johnathansadoff. The piano music used in this episode's "In Memoriam" section is by Ross Budgen.

Sure, Gal Godot and Chris Pine are back in the 1984-set WONDER WOMAN sequel along with newcomers Kristen Wiig and The Mandalorian himself, Pedro Pascal, but you know what got Ben and Eric really excited this week? Finding out there's a fake president in the movie, too! What would the 80s be like without Ronald Reagan and why didn't he get the part? Wonder no more...

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So many firsts this week!

We cover our first fake TV president with 1600 PENN's "Dale Gilchrist."

We have our first guest with 1600 PENN writer, Dan Hernandez (POKÉMAN DETECTIVE PIKACHU, THE TICK, ONE DAY AT A TIME) to shed some light on what it's actually like to write for a fake president.

And we have our first discussion about Hall of Fame POTUS Bill Pullman, who played President Gilchrist in the TV series 1600 PENN which Dan Hernandez wrote for! It's all connected!

The show was created by Josh Gad (who also stars in it), Obama speechwriter Jon Lovett, and MODERN FAMILY director Jason Winer. Oh, and Jenna Elfman's in it, too, as the First Lady. So much talent! How did this show only last 13 episodes? Let's find out...

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Not since Macaulay Culkin in HOME ALONE 2 has someone so evil gotten lost in New York.

Kurt Russell stars in John Carpenter's classic 1981 action/thriller about a fake president that gets trapped in the worst place on Earth...at least until the sequel.

Donald Pleasence (Dr. Loomis from HALLOWEEN) plays the President, but Eric and Ben disagree on just how evil he's supposed to be...and why does he have a British accent? Did this movie inspire 1997's AIR FORCE ONE? Shouldn't it actually be called Escape From Manhattan? And why did everyone in the 80s think New York would be unlivable by the late 90s? (Also: They weren't exactly wrong, were they?)

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Has this quintessential British rom-com gone from classic to problematic? Sure! But who cares!?! We're here to talk about the US President, quintessentially named "US President," played by Billy Bob Thornton, and the fact that Hugh Grant's British Prime Minister seems willing to go to war with him because of, well, love...actually.

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Gene Hackman is back for his second time out as a fake president...in his last movie role ever? (Yep.) Why did he never act again after this movie? (Beats us.) Was it something Ray Romano said? (Probably.)

Also in this episode, we'll discuss the crappiest part of being a secret service agent, the best part of being a former president, and Ronald Reagan's dead body.

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Homer Simpson is the ultimate anti-hero, the EPA are the ultimate bad guys, and Arnold Schwarzenegger is the not-so-ultimate (Fake) President in THE SIMPSONS MOVIE.

How might an Austrian-born bodybuilder become an American President in real life? Why did Senator Orrin Hatch want Arnie to be POTUS so badly? Is it really such a bad idea to place a billionaire in charge of a critically important regulatory agency?

Find us on Twitter: @Fake_Presidents