Entertainment

BARACK-ALIKE

LIKE many voters, the producers of “Saturday Night Live” are hoping to find Barack Obama.

The difference is, “SNL” will have its own Obama by Saturday, when the show returns to the air after three months of writers’ strike-induced downtime, whereas voters could be waiting much longer.

“Three months ago, we would have approached this with a different kind of thinking,” “SNL” executive producer Lorne Michaels told The Post yesterday of the public’s Obama love-fest last fall. “Once you settle in with someone, you start to notice things about them that are mildly irritating.”

How well an “SNL” cast member is able to correctly identify and portray those “mildly irritating” traits will be part of the decision behind who plays Obama Saturday – and possibly for much longer.

Keenan Thompson – the only black cast member of “SNL” – had been believed to be the favorite for the job, but Michaels says the show has been holding auditions for the part. The only real portrayal of Obama on “SNL” so far was by Obama himself, when he turned up briefly for a sketch last fall.

This and a dozen other reasons are behind Michaels’ choice of “SNL” alum, Tina Fey, to be this week’s guest host for the first of four new episodes, a marathon run that “SNL” hasn’t attempted since 1976. As the show’s former co-head writer, Fey is a ringer who knows the ins and outs of “SNL” better than most. And with her in hand, it will give the staff some breathing room to focus on luring back viewers.

“TV is a habit like any other,” says Michaels. “If you don’t show up often enough, people lose interest, and this is my attempt to win people back.”

Fey did not come easily, as she is frantically trying to catch up on production of her NBC comedy “30 Rock,” which is slated to return with new episodes in April.

“She’s doing it because she was asked,” says Michaels. “When I called her, I got a slow yes.”

Missing from the cast will be Maya Rudolph, who does not have a contract with “SNL” this year and whose long-time partner, director Paul Thomas Anderson, is nominated for an Oscar Sunday night. “But I’m going to keep calling her until she changes her number,” says Michaels.

Rudolph’s featured-player spot in the cast will be taken by Casey Wilson, a performer who has appeared with the beloved sketch comedy troupes, Upright Citizen’s Brigade and Human Giant.

“I think you will love her,” says Michaels.