CSI CRIME SCENE INVESTIGATION - SNL ON THURSDAY HOLDS ITS OWN AGAINST STIFF COMPETITION

Although it was up against the season premiere of CBS's CSI Crime Scene Investigation , which accounted for the best ratings of the season with a 14.1 rating and a 22 share, and ABC's Grey's Anatomy, which recorded a 10.1/15, Saturday Night Live Weekend Update held its own with a 7.1/11 Thursday night. The figure was particularly impressive given the fact that its lead-in, The Office, placed fourth in the time period with a 5.2/8. The show also beat the L.A. Dodgers-Philadelphia Phillies playoff game on Fox, which averaged a 6.2/10. Disappointing many viewers who had tuned in hoping to see another Tina Fey ribbing of Sarah Palin, Fey did not appear on the show. (Throughout the week there had been rumors of a Fey-Palin encounter.) The biggest surprise was the appearance of one "William Murray" in the crowd watching the faux Obama-McCain town-hall debate to ask what the candidates thought about the Chicago Cubs chances. (The bit was not far off the mark. In 1960, Richard Nixon and John Kennedy were taken to task by critics for failing to mention Pittsburgh Pirate Bill Mazeroski's World Series-winning 9th-inning homerun against the New York Yankees, which occurred a few hours prior to the third presidential debate.)

10/10/2008