‘SNL’ political special vanquishes all comers

Happy the presidential campaign is over? We bet the folks at NBC aren’t.

Grabbing a last chance for campaign laughs -- and high ratings -- NBC devoted the bulk of its prime time on Monday to a two-hour “Saturday Night Live Presidential Bash 2008,” a mix of new material and old clips from the comedy show that’s hit new levels of popularity this fall with topical sketches, led by Tina Fey’s impersonation of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin.

And the people voted with their remotes. “SNL” won the night with 14.4 million viewers, according to early returns from Nielsen Media Research. It was NBC’s best performance in that Monday time slot since the Golden Globe Awards in January 2007.

-- Scott Collins