Congratulations to SNL, who debuted this past Saturday night with its best ratings since February 4th, 2006 with a 6.1 rating/15 share. (link) With former cast member Tina Fey (30 Rock)as host and Carrie Underwood as the musical guest the Saturday night staple officially announced the return of scripted television. This is a major coup for writers everywhere as the episode was actually funny! I don’t know what caused the change, but it seems like the layoff for SNL writers was a good thing. Gone were the usual cast of not funny characters and instead we had some fresh skits with actual endings. I think it also helps that Fey was the first host back because she already has instant chemistry with most of the cast. Plus, who doesn’t love great cameos by Steve Martin, Mike Huckabee and Obama Girl.
My lone hope is that SNL and Executive Producer Lorne Michaels can work out a new contract for Maya Rudolph who was notably missing from last weekend’s episode. This show needs more female comics badly! It was nice to see SNL finally took my advice and brought in a new feature player though. I know the Upright Citizens Brigade’s Casey Wilson was only brought in to fill the gap left by Maya Rudolph’s absence, but the new blood was refreshing…even if she was only given a few minor parts. SNL has been sorely missing fresh faces for the past three years. Hopefully next week’s episode featuring Juno’s Ellen Page and musical guest Wilco will continue bringing the funny.