For its season 42 opener, Saturday Night Live took on one of its favorite targets: local TV news.
SNL has often built sketches around local news, from Morning Miami, to Right Side of the Bed, to WPIX veteran reporter Herb Welch. Saturday night, fictitious Action 9 News in Tampa (there is a real Channel 9 in the market, Bay News 9 on cable) reported on a sinkhole downtown, but the reporter finds the story is really about the eyewitnesses. Watch:
The season premiere was up +29 percent vs. the 2015 season opener, according to Nielsen metered market data. Featuring Alec Baldwin playing Donald Trump and an appearance by Larry David as Bernie Sanders, the show went heavy on the first presidential debate and 2016 politics. The 5.8 household rating is the best since the 2008 season opener which featured an appearance by Tina Fey as Gov. Sarah Palin. That opener averaged a 7.5 rating in the metered markets.