SNL news

I'm not one of those snarky people who dismiss the current state of Saturday Night Live. In college, I knew plenty of kids who tried to claim cool points by proclaiming that SNL hadn't been good since the Belushi-Aykroyd days. Today, the Hartman-Carvey years are considered to be just as good -- I'd argue that they were significantly better because they weren't bogged down by the drug humor -- and the Ferrell-Hammond years were also solid.

I'll admit, though, that the show struggled at times last year. Some people (I'm looking your direction, Horatio Sanz) have clearly overstayed their welcome. Darrell Hammond, who has overtaken Kevin Nealon and Tim Meadows for the longevity record, is the only guy who has the versatility of Ferrell or Hartman. I love the female cast, but I wouldn't have minded if Lorne Michaels had done one of his periodic overhauls.

Didn't happen. Aside little-used featured player Rob Riggle, no one is leaving. Finesse Mitchell and Kenan Thompson have been given long-overdue promotions, and they've added two featured players, one of whom lists a stint on Punk'd on his resume.

I hope Lorne isn't trying to keep the under-21 Fallon swooners by dumbing down this great show. We'll see.

In happier SNL news, it's a girl for Tina Fey.