As James Lipton rightfully noted during his interview with Lawrence O'Donnell on this Thursday evening's The Last Word, this was really a remarkable example of just how talented Tina Fey is, who had little to no warning before being asked to revive her SNL impression of Palin for him this week:

‘Inside the Actors Studio’ showcases Tina Fey–or was it Sarah Palin?:

Tina Fey got mavericky once again, reviving her Sarah Palin character during a recent appearance on Inside the Actor’s Studio with James Lipton.

It’s been more than four years since Fey first introduced her indelible impression of John McCain’s former Republican running mate on SNL. (For the record, Fey said she prefers to be identified as “maverick at large.”)

Lipton told MSNBC that before they went on stage, he asked if she would be willing to improvise playing Sarah Palin again, and she said you betcha.

Fey, in character, weighed in on a range of topics like marriage equality (“The Bible says it’s gross…a lot of the amazing wonderful people I met in the audience at Dancing With The Stars seem to go that way. But no”), gun laws (“I believe that if everybody had guns, then there would be fewer guns in the stores”) and even beauty tips for fellow mama grizzlies (“I’m a fan of the Bump It”).

I'd like to see her back on SNL doing the dressed for Sturgis, CPAC 2013, fingernails on a chalkboard, post-Fox firing, Rove-bashing, reality TV version of Palin in the coming year.