Sen. Al Franken Doesn’t Really Want to Talk About Stuart Smalley on ‘Morning Joe’

Will Lerner
·Producer, Yahoo Entertainment

Sen. Al Franken was on Morning Joe and was asked how his famous Saturday Night Live character would feel about the state of the country these days. You remember Stuart Smalley, right? He was the character who would deliver the affirmation, “I’m good enough, I’m smart enough, and doggone it, people like me.”

Sen. Al Franken seemed mostly unamused with questions about Stuart Smalley. (Photo: MSNBC)
Sen. Al Franken seemed mostly unamused by questions about Stuart Smalley. (Photo: MSNBC)

Now, Franken is past his days as a comedian and has been representing Minnesota in the U.S. Senate since 2009, and he has generally made a point of taking the job seriously. That means not talking about his sketches from the ’90s. Yet host Joe Scarborough asked, “How would Stuart Smalley say what you’re feeling right now?” “Stuart would feel a lot of ‘dis-ease’ with what’s going on now,” Franken replied. “And he would point out that ‘dis-ease’ spells out ‘disease.’ I don’t do Stuart Smalley. I’m a senator.”

Al Franken's Stuart Smalley character was popular enough to get its own movie. (Photo: Paramount/Courtesy)
Al Franken’s Stuart Smalley character was popular enough to get his own movie. (Photo: Paramount/Courtesy)

This would seem like the time to move on, right? Well, I guess you’re not Donny Deutsch. “Have they instructed you, you are never able to do bits?” asked Deutsch. “You can’t do any old bits?” “I went through something called the de-humorizer when I came to the Senate,” Franken replied with a small smile.

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