Video: Saturday Night Live Spoofs First Lady And Let's Move! TV Appearances

The Obama Show: The President "vetoes" rice cakes, and gets in trouble for eating a hoagie...
In a sketch that aired Saturday night, NBC's Saturday Night Live took note of First Lady Michelle Obama's many recent TV outings promoting the Let's Move! campaign. The spoof posits that Mrs. Obama's next media project to spread the word about healthy eating and fitness will be "The Obama Show," a Cosby-esque sticom starring the First Family, set at the White House. Host Maya Rudolph, as Mrs. Obama, calls it "an educational yet laugh-filled half-hour comedy starring my family." Fred Armisen plays the beleagured President Obama, who has to sneak his unhealthy treats. He's caught by Mrs. Obama trying to eat a salami and potato chip hoagie after he's announced that he's "vetoing" rice cakes (above).

"In the past few weeks I've made several TV appearances in order to bring attention to my childhood obesity campaign," Mrs. Obama says in the sketch. "...I've tried to teach kids and parents about fitness in a fun and entertaining way. But the work is not done."

In an apparent nod to another 80s sitcom, The Fresh Prince of Bel Air, SNL cast member Jason Sudekis plays Joe Jamal-Biden, the Obamas' adopted son.



The action is as goofy as any Cosby show storyline: Mrs. Obama discovers the President with his hoagy, and the President claims that "the kids" have left it around. Jamal-Biden enters, and takes the blame for the hoagie, in exchange for "Dad's" car keys. The sketch closes with the President and Mrs. Obama enjoying their rice cakes, snuggling on the couch.

First lady as TV star...
In the past month, Mrs. Obama has become a TV regular. To celebrate the two-year anniversary of the Let's Move! campaign, Mrs. Obama invited NBC talk show host Jimmy Fallon to the White House for a fitness challenge that aired on Late Night. She appeared on The Ellen DeGeneres Show and beat DeGeneres in a push-up challenge. During her debut as First Lady on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, Mrs. Obama got the veggie-hating Leno to dine on a buffet of healthy fare. On the Rachael Ray show, Mrs. Obama discussed healthy school lunches and the Super Bowl. During her Feb. 9-11 tour for Let's Move!, Mrs. Obama filmed a special segment for Bravo's Top Chef. (Above: The President hands his hoagy to Jamal-Biden as Mrs. Obama looks on)

In January, Mrs. Obama actually made her sitcom debut, appearing on Nickelodeon's hit show iCarly to promote the Joining Forces campaign. All of that is in addition to other TV appearances for Let's Move!, such as outings on NBC's Today show.

*NBC video & photos

Video: First Lady Wins Push-Up Contest With Ellen DeGeneres

First Lady Michelle Obama showed off her famous fitness on Wednesday in Los Angles as she taped an appearance on The Ellen DeGeneres Show, engaging in a push-up contest with Ellen DeGeneres as she discussed the Let's Move! campaign, which will have a renewed focus on fitness initiatives for children in 2012.

Mrs. Obama works out "every day," she told DeGeneres, which includes cardio, weights, "biometric kind of stuff," and pushups. She runs about three miles, and also plays tennis and does kickboxing, Mrs. Obama told Jay Leno during a Tuesday appearance on The Tonight Show.

De Generes challenged the First Lady to a push-up contest, and Mrs. Obama did 25 as the audience counted down. DeGeneres did 14.

"That was amazing!" DeGeneres said.

"I just stopped," the First Lady said after, hinting that she could have done many more push ups.



DeGeneres said she was going easy on Mrs. Obama. "I thought it wouldn't be good to show up the First Lady, so I stopped," she said.

"Because I thought, this looks bad that I'm going to beat her. I'm 54, and you're 48."

Mrs. Obama's second anniversary celebration for Let's Move! will be a four-state tour, through Iowa, Texas, Arkansas, and Florida. It begins on Februrary 9.

*Photo and video from The Ellen DeGeneres Show; updated

Michelle Obama Launches Twitter Campaign To Get Jay Leno To Eat His Veggies

Tonight Show host doesn't like the First Lady's favorite food group: "We'll see about that!" Mrs. Obama tweets...
UPDATE: The First Lady gets Leno to eat his veggies
"I don't think I've had a vegetable since 1969," comic Jay Leno told Parade magazine in 2006.

"My mother gave up on trying to make me eat them."

Six years later, First Lady Michelle Obama is stepping in as Mom in Chief: She's launched a Twitter campaign to get Leno to eat some vegetables onscreen when she joins him on Tuesday, Jan. 31 in his Burbank studio to film The Tonight Show. (At top: Mrs. Obama with Leno during a 2008 appearance)

".@JayLeno says he never eats vegetables…we'll see about that! #LetsMove to get Jay to eat some veggies on #TheTonightShow on 1/31! -mo," the First Lady tweeted on the Let's Move! account.

Mrs. Obama will promote the upcoming second anniversary of her campaign when she visits Leno, ahead of a three-day tour which kicks off on Feb. 9 with a visit to Des Moines, Iowa. Leno has not yet responded to Mrs. Obama's tweet, but he's been vocal about his love of unhealthy food, and jokes about it on his show. He's never actually eaten a salad, he said. (Update: Leno retweeted Mrs. Obama late today)

"I eat a lot of junk food like pizza hamburgers and hot dogs. When I have a soda, I have a soda — not a diet soda," he told Parade.

Leno has also joked about Let's Move!. Last October, he aired a doctored video clip of Mrs. Obama punching out NBC's Al Roker during an interview when they were discussing her efforts to get kids physically fit.

Mrs. Obama's veggie challenge to Leno is her first personal tweet on the @LetsMove account--distinguished from staffers' tweets by the "mo" signature--though the account debuted in February of 2011. The First Lady's own @MichelleObama account launched on Jan. 12 this year. She will be taking questions from followers of that account this week, according to a tweet from a staffer. (Above: Mrs. Obama's Leno tweet)

The visit to The Tonight Show is her first appearance as First Lady, though Mrs. Obama appeared via satellite from the White House in March of 2010 to do Leno's segment 10 @ Ten, responding to questions about President Obama's habits. Mrs. Obama also joined Leno for a studio visit in October of 2008, weeks before Mr. Obama's election victory. NBC says Tuesday's outing is the first appearance from a First Lady on a late-night TV chat show.

The President last appeared on The Tonight Show in October of 2011, and after joking to Leno that the White House was in danger of getting egged on Halloween thanks to his wife's insistence on including dried fruit in treat bags handed out to costumed school kids, more candy was actually added to the treat bags. (Above: The President and Leno backstage during the visit)

More TV, and a Let's Move! event in Los Angeles...
Mrs. Obama will be in Los Angeles from Jan. 31-Feb. 1, and she will also tape The Ellen DeGeneres Show to promote Let's Move!; that interview will air on Thursday, Feb. 2. Mrs. Obama has one Let's Move! event scheduled during her LA trip. On Wednesday morning, she will attend an event with Inglewood Mayor James T. Butts and Robert Ross, CEO of The California Endowment, to highlight efforts to eliminate food deserts. She will also speak at a DNC fundraising reception on Tuesday night, and at a fundraising lunch on Wednesday.

Mrs. Obama knocks out Al Roker in this Leno clip:



Related: There has been one White House Tweetup for the Let's Move! campaign, held in October of 2011, as Mrs. Obama hosted the Fall Harvest of her Kitchen Garden. Check the sidebar of the blog for White House vegetable recipes.

*Top photo courtesy of Warner Bros./Michael Rozman/AP; the President with Leno by Pete Souza/White House; video from The Tonight Show

Michelle Obama's TV Schedule For Let's Move!: Rachael Ray, Jay Leno, Ellen DeGeneres

Two day Los Angeles trip: Celebrating the second anniversary of Let's Move! & DNC fundraisers...
First Lady Michelle Obama will have three network television outings ahead of the second anniversary of her Let's Move! campaign in February. All will air next week: Mrs. Obama will be on the Rachael Ray Show, The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, and The Ellen DeGeneres Show. Mrs. Obama marks the second anniversary of her campaign on Feb. 9 with an event in Des Moines, Iowa. (Above: Mrs. Obama joined DeGeneres in October of 2010, for an appearance to discuss military family issues)

Mrs. Obama filmed her interview with Ray on Wednesday when the celebrity chef joined the First Lady at Parklawn Elementary School to unveil USDA's new school lunch standards. The interview will air on Feb. 1. Ray told Obama Foodorama that she talked about the Super Bowl, exercise and "how excited Mrs. Obama is" about the second anniversary of the Let’s Move campaign.

In Los Angeles next week, Mrs. Obama will join Leno in his Burbank studio on Tuesday, Jan. 31, to tape The Tonight Show. The interview will air in the evening. Mrs. Obama will deliver remarks at a Democratic National Committee reception in Los Angeles at 7:00 PM.

On Wednesday, Feb. 1, Mrs. Obama will tape her show with DeGeneres. The interview will air on Thursday, Feb. 2. Before the show, Mrs. Obama will deliver remarks at a Democratic National Committee luncheon, and in the morning she will participate in a Let's Move! event focused on food deserts.

*Photo courtesy of Warner Bros./Michael Rozman/AP