Trump-Biden Debate Skit Propels SNL Ratings

Finally, some positive ratings news. This weekend's Saturday Night Live season premiere drew 7.8 million viewers. Saturday's episode, hosted by Chris Rock, is the highest-rated premiere in four years. It cold-opened with a newsworthy presidential debate skit. Alec Baldwin returned as President Donald Trump. Jim Carrey debuted as Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden.SNL was much-needed after another wild 2020 week that elevated the country to yet another level of chaos. Baldwin's Trump interruptions and expressions were on point. Carrey likewise nailed his Biden impression. He consistently started and ended his answers merely with a Biden-like "here's the deal" and nothing more. Maya Rudolph returned as Sen. Kamala Harris but didn't help. SNL played Harris off as a babysitter for the two men. For Biden it worked, but it made no sense with Trump. The NBC show, of course, couldn't help itself. Clearly, the segment was designed to push Biden as the sane candidate. In the end, Biden "muted" Trump and then went on a lengthy monologue about karma and science teaming up against the president, who tested positive for COVID-19. SNL had a golden opportunity to poke fun at Biden's past uses of the teleprompter, referring to an Iowa voter as "fat," and numerous other gaffes. I would've preferred SNL