Offensive?

It wasn't all just Amy Poheler leaving or Kanye being flatter than your first girlfriend on SNL this week. Seems the show has drawn a bit of controversy for the following depiction of NY Gov. Patterson.



The skit has been decried by Patterson who called it a "third-grade depiction of people and the way they look" that could lead others to believe that "disability goes hand-in-hand with an inability to run a government or business." Similarly the National Federation for the Blind has said that the skit was an attack on blind people.

I'm as PC as the next liberal, but brew ha ha over this seems to be a bit reaching. The blindness is used, perhaps distastefully, but only for a couple moments. The real target is Patterson himself, who becomes the butt of a few warranted cocaine jokes and questions about his seeming unpreparedness for the post. Both, I would argue, have more to do with his personality. Of course, as the saying goes, "no body hates my little brother, but me." And in an increasingly sensative time, it's hard to say what's offensive or not. But the "controversy" over this seems to underscore a hard fact about doing comedy these days -- someone's gonna take it the wrong way.

So, what do you think?

Countdown with Ben Affleck

OK, so John McCain may have stolen the show the other night on SNL, but Ben Affleck was surprisingly good as well. Take a look at this lengthy lampooning of MSNBC's Keith Olbermann - he gets a little tripped up with the speed and intensity at times, but all things considered, this is about as good an impersonation as you'll see on SNL (not counting Tina Fey, of course).

Don Draper's Guide to Picking Up Women

All things considered, last night's episode of SNL (hosted by Mad Men's John Hamm) was pretty good, even without an appearance by Tina Fey or any other decreasingly surprising political stunt casting. The best bit of the night went to Hamm, who's perfect delivery carried the otherwise fairly obvious "Don Draper's Guide to Picking Up Women" (including such gems as "blow people away every time you say anything").

Mark Wahlberg Strikes Back (again)

RY RITCHIE:

I've gotta give Mr. Wahlberg credit - he's milking this whole pissed-off-at-Andy Samberg thing for all it's worth. Here he is last night on Jimmy Kimmel:



Anyone else think this whole feud is just a bogus way to promote both SNL and Max Payne? I'm calling it now - Andy Samberg will run another Mark Wahlberg sketch this weekend on SNL, which will be interrupted by Mark Wahlberg himself, who will beat the shit out of Samberg before telling him to say hi to his mother for him.

Welcome Back, Andy Samberg

RY RITCHIE:

All Sarah Palin impersonations aside, this spot-on send-up of Mark Wahlberg is my pick for the funniest bit on SNL this week, and the end to a brutal cold streak for Mr. Samberg. Watch for yourself below: