Tina Fey's appearance on SNL Saturday - reported by CNN as national news Friday - earned SNL a 7.4 rating and 18 percent share of viewers watching at that hour. This is the highest for a season premiere since 2001, and the highest for any SNL telecast since December 2002, when Al Gore was host. The numbers were up 64 percent over last season's premiere, according to Nielsen data.

Too bad the rest of the episode sucked so bad. I mean, SNL is sitting on a political-comedy goldmine right now. Where was the Amy Poehler as Cindy McCain sketch? And not one Fred Armisen as Obama moment? They just did that one sketch and filled the rest with lame attempts at making Michael Phelps look at least mildly funny (which they didn't succeed at). Are they saving using a very pregnant Amy Poehler as a perfect opportunity for Bristol Palin until next week? I'll tune in, half because James Franco is hosting, and half because I was so impressed with the Fey sketch that there's gotta be some more of that coming. But seriously, SNL, step it up. Tina Fey already writes and acts in her own show, she doesn't need to be the saving grace of yours.

In related news, the McCain camp has called Fey "disrespectful" and "sexist."