Palin on SNL: Shooting the moose

By David Beard, Boston.com editor

Sarah Palin made her trip to NBC's Saturday Night Live, and Bullwinkle should have stayed home.

While Palin took a chair on the formerly Tina Fey-occupied Weekend Update, she declined to do the "Sarah Palin Rap,'' a move that prompted Burlington's Amy Poehler to rock the house instead.

Here's the video, in which the Poehler Palin sang "All the mavericks in da house, put your hands up!'' -- and Palin and "Update'' partner Seth Meyers complied, grooving in unison.

Backed by two ''Eskimos'' and a faux First Dude, Pohler/Palin gave the obligatory call-and-response -- "When you say Obama/I say Ayers'' (the real Palin said ''Ayers'' grinningly with the crowd) -- it was time for the moose to appear. Briefly.

Shambling onto the stage, this Bullwinkle lookalike, a representation of Palin's ''support'' for animals, had a moment in the forefront before Pohler thrust her finger in its direction and stage gunshots broke out. The ''moose'' dropped to the ground, and Pohler, moving next to the real Palin, tossed in a few more stage shots for good measure.

"Goodnight,'' Palin added at the end of the sketch, ''and have a pleasant tomorrow.''

Here's the opening Palin/Tina Fey skit as well, not quite as funny:

Readers, did you catch the performance? What did you think? Let us know in our comments section.