By: Kevin Volz, Media Relations Assistant


This weekend’s Saturday Night Live featuring Lindsay Lohan was one of those rare episodes where the focus was not on the sketches, but the star the sketches were built for. Enough people tuned in to watch LiLo to put the NBC show in the No. 1 spot Saturday night. Yes, Lindsay’s acting abilities were overshadowed by SNL’s regular characters, but the actress’ ability to bring in the big ratings is admittedly impressive.

Anticipation was high at the start of the show. After all, Lohan has been hilarious on the show in the past. Once her monologue began, however, Twitter exploded with negative comments. "This may be the first time Lindsay Lohan had trouble doing lines," @DrunkEnough said.

On Sunday afternoon, “SNL Lindsay Lohan” was the second most-searched term on Google and the sketch “The Real Housewives of Disney” was trending nationwide on Twitter. Many Twitter users tweeted about Lohan’s failed attempt to read cue cards. Meanwhile, others praised her comeback, commenting on her healthier and happier appearance.

The episode didn’t spin off into its own successful Twitter account like #Angiesrightleg, however influencers are still talking about the program. Lohan will continue to be praised and scrutinized but it does not take away from the publicity SNL receives throughout the process.

From a PR standpoint, we know that when booking a client for any television appearance you must weigh the potential benefits against the potential risks. This performance could have helped Lohan along the road to a presumed movie comeback, but the negative reviews now leave some wondering if that will ever happen for the troubled young star.

Clear, consistent and authentic communication, especially during a crisis when rumors are flying, can keep the public on your side or help win them back.  As Lohan’s PR rehab continues, it’s clear a few jokes and one appearance on SNL isn’t going to fix everything.  It’ll be interesting to see how she reacts to her fans and her critics in the wake of the SNL episode and what steps are taken by Lohan and her PR team to control the message.  After all, her past moves show that she is anything but predictable.

Kevin Volz  is the Media Relations Assistant at MediaSource, a multimedia production and media relations company that works with many of the nation’s top hospitals, retail organizations and other business to get their message out to the masses.