It's only fitting that Amy Poehler gave birth to her first child on a Saturday.  The actress and comedian has been perhaps the biggest star in the post Will Ferrell-era of Saturday Night Live, and maybe the best female cast member in the long history of Saturday Night Live.  It was merely a testament to her talent and tireless effort on the show that she continued to work in the high-stress environment of live television up until the day she gave birth.  She was supposed to be on Saturday's episode of Saturday Night Live, but when Poehler went into labor, the writers had to scramble to re-write parts of the show (they had to cut a Bronx Beat sketch with the returning Maya Rudolph), and Seth Myers had to read the fake news on Weekend Update all alone.  Though there were no special political guests, the Jon Hamm-led episode was solid enough, and worthy of the large audience that Saturday Night Live continues to accrue during this election season. 

Mad Men's Jon Hamm may not be somebody that the average SNL viewer is familiar with, but it was fairly obvious that the SNL writers adore him and his show.  There were a ton of references to his character Don Draper, plus two sketches in which he actually played Don Draper.  And, this wasn't a case of a host lacking range and the writers giving him an easy workload.  Hamm proved throughout the episode that he had sizable range and easy comedic timing, and it was disappointing he didn't get to show off his chops a little bit more. 

Coldplay didn't sound very good.  Right?  Saturday Night Live is a difficult venue to play, its acoustics never flattering, but Chris Martin's voice sounded weak and a little bit off.  Also – not a fan of those outfits, whatever they were supposed to be. 

The big story from Saturday was that, really, there was no big story.  Amy Poehler giving birth on the day of the show is certainly notable, but that's really only for true Saturday Night Live fans.  The fair-weather, election season viewers have been showing up expecting big, important guests.  On Saturday, the best they got was Maya Rudolph, and I bet most of the viewers either had no idea who she was or assumed she had never left the show. 

Hopefully, viewers will stick around for next week.  Ben Affleck is hosting the November 1 episode, and there's a very good chance that Barack Obama will show up.  Maybe even John McCain.  And, if you're an American Idol fan, David Cook is the musical guest.  So, there'll probably be something for everyone.


-Oscar Dahl, BuddyTV Senior Writer
(Image Courtesy of NBC)