'Saturday Night Live' Earns Big Ratings

(FROM VARIETY) – Last weekend's Saturday Night Live, the first original broadcast since the show went on hiatus three months ago due to the writers' strike, scored the best ratings in two years, averaging a 6.1 rating/15 share in Nielsen's metered-market households. Those are the best numbers since a Feb. 4, 2006 episode, hosted by Steve Martin, and they mark a 36 percent jump from the show's pre-strike average. Tina Fey hosted, and Carrie Underwood was the musical guest. Presidential candidate Mike Huckabee also made a guest appearance during the ''Weekend Update'' news segment, and Martin briefly appeared during Fey's opening monologue. Saturday's SNL was the first of four straight weeks of new shows, with Juno star Ellen Page set to host next week and Wilco booked as the musical guest. (Variety)