SNL: No one dies harder than John McCain...

Quick thoughts on last night's "Saturday Night Live" coming up just as soon as I enjoy some fine gold...

Ben Affleck and John McCain are two longtime friends of the show, in large part because they're game to do just about anything asked of them. Affleck in particular is so much more likable on "SNL" than he is in most of his movies that his acting career might have gone differently if he had taken a year or two off from films to join the cast.

But last night's Affleck/McCain team-up didn't quite live up to expectations. The opening sketch, with a cash-strapped McCain on QVC, trying to counter Barack Obama's network infomercial while selling campaign-themed tchotchkes, was hilarious -- particularly when Tina Fey, in her final appearance as Sarah Palin, went rogue -- but McCain on Weekend Update fell flat.

As for Affleck, after getting what seemed to be the shortest monologue in "SNL" history (can anyone think of a shorter one?), he got to further the Alec Baldwin parallels by actually playing Baldwin as a guest on "The View" in a sketch I didn't find very funny, but that my wife (who watches "The View") laughed a lot at. Affleck's Baldwin was pretty good, as was Casey Wilson's Jennifer Aniston and Kenan's Whoopi; they just didn't get much to do. And I think I would have enjoyed Affleck skewering Keith Olbermann a lot more if I hadn't recently seen and loved the very similar "Double meat, sir!"

In Roger Ebert full-disclosure style, I should say that I decided to go to sleep about a minute into the latest Target Lady sketch, and then watched whatever else was available on NBC.com this morning (including the German coat store ad and Kenan as an old man giving love advice). Did I miss anything good? How was David Cook?

And, with the election only a few days away, let me remind you all one last time: This is not a political blog. Talk about McCain only in the context of the show (i.e., whether you found it funny or not). Do not talk about policy, do not attack either candidate or each other, or I start deleting comments. Got it?