Yahoo to Stream Funny Or Die's Mock Presidential Debate

Yahoo has recruited the merry pranksters from Funny or Die to lampoon the 2012 election in a mock debate to stream exclusively on its news and comedy sites.

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The collaboration, announced Thursday, is called "Yahoo! News Funny Or Die GOP Presidential Online Internet Cyber Debate," and features Larry King as moderator, Horatio Sanz as Newt Gingrich, Patrick Warburton as Rick Perry, John C. McGinley as Rick Santorum, Greg Germann as Jon Huntsman, Leslie Jordan as Ron Paul, Erin Gibson as Michele Bachmann, and Reggie Brown as President Barack Obama. 

Mike Tyson will reprise his role as Herman Cain, whom he previously portrayed in a Funny or Die spoof to kick off the presidential race. Comedy writer Bryan Safi will play Bachmann's husband, Marcus, who stood alongside the Minnesota congresswoman during her campaign dropout announcement on Wednesday.

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The satirical sketch will debut Friday at 8 a.m. EST, streaming simultanously from Yahoo News and Yahoo Screen, a video portal within the company's newly launched comedy channel.

Last month, the company -- continuing its push into original video programming and premium content -- announced the launch of the Yahoo Comedy Channel, along with its deal to exclusively broadcast a Bill Maher stand-up show. The comedian's performance, entitled CrazyStupidPolitics: Bill Maher Live from Silicon Valley, will be the first-ever, live, free broadcast online, and will take place on Feb. 23, 2012 at the San Jose Performing Arts Center.



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In another big announcement, Yahoo instated a new CEO, Scott Thompson, on Wednesday; Thomspon, formerly head of eBay's PayPal business, is replacing ousted ex-CEO Carol Bartz.

"Yahoo's future depends on its ability to create great products" and provide a "great experience that fully engages our users," Thompson told analysts. This will help Yahoo deepen user engagement, he added.