Today's Top Show

Looks like the "not ready for prime time players" are finally ready.

Most popular tv episode on Hulu today?

Saturday Night's Live's debut of their four week "Weekend Update Thursday" spinoff. The idea is that election fever is sweeping the nation and providing plenty of fodder for the sketch show to hit the airwaves (I know, I know, airwaves are so 20th century).

I found the actual episode to be a disappointment. It consisted of an opening sketch parodying the most recent presidential debate, followed by an extended version of the Weekend Update section (featuring Seth Meyer and Amy Poehler).

Some of the jokes were political, and some of them were about other news items, as we usually see on SNL. There were also a few Update Correspondent bits.

Overall, the whole thing came off as kind of half-baked. The central theme for the debate sketch was that contestants had only 25 seconds to respond to questions, with Tom Brokaw being a bully moderator. This just didn't work-- Brokaw is too genial, and in the actual debate, the candidates bullied him for extra time over and above their lengthy scheduled responses.

Highlights included McCain wandering around through the framed camera shots at inappropriate times, and a surprise appearance by Bill Murray. Murray has a smile-inducing charisma, and his brief time on camera was as exciting as it got.

Let's give a big thumbs up to Hulu, though, for their rapid-fire posting of the show in its entirety. The program aired at 9:30 Eastern, and I noticed it on Hulu a little past midnight. Good job, Hulu!