What will the remaining Saturday Night Live special Thursday edition do without a debate to parody? Coming up for material for the sole non-"Weekend Update" sketch in each of the last two weeks has been simple enough: just riff off of that week's McCain/Obama clash.

Still, the writers as well as Fred (Obama) Armisen and Darrell (McCain) Hammond deserve credit for coming up with a useful debate sketch on very short notice (the real debate ended only 23 hours before the special aired), one based primarily on the week's breakout political star: Joe the Plumber. As moderator Bob Schieffer (Chris Parnell again stepping into the chair this week) looked on, McCain poured on the effusive praise, promising to add a Cabinet-level Department of Plumbing, and saying he would take a plunger to the federal budget. "Joe the Plumber is a straight shooter, and one of the finest people I've ever known," said Hammond/McCain. "As president, I'll be relying on his advice and expertise."

SNL is getting around the problem of Obama's lack of inherent humorousness by almost completely reducing him to straight man status in these debate sketches. Armisen stood by stolidly as Hammond admitted that Joe the Plumber was invisible, 3 1/2 inches tall, and accompanied by a unicorn named Simon. It was all very random and without any real political import, since unlike Tina Fey's Sarah Palin, which works by scarcely exaggerating the words and mannerisms of the real Palin, Hammond's McCain is becoming a weird invention that doesn't much resemble the actual candidate.

However, the "Weekend Update" portion of the special was arguably tougher on McCain, with a joke contrasting the hip Obama strategy of running ads embedded in video games with his rival's tactic: "Not to be outdone, John McCain has begun putting ads inside MRI machines." In a segment called "We Liked It," Amy Poehler and Seth Meyers said that McCain had stumbled around at the second debate "like an old man wearing a hospital gown," and criticized his references to Herbert Hoover as too dated for younger voters to get. The worst thing they could say about Obama is that his smile looks forced, not the most scathing critique one could make.

Even McCain supporters were lampooned, as Kristen Wiig wandered onto the set playing the older woman who called Obama "Arab" at a rally last week; she was depicted as befuddled and too harmless to be truly hate-worthy. To cap off the night, Hammond reprised an old favorite with his Jesse Jackson impersonation, as the reverend decried the possible impact of the "Bradley Effect" (people who tell pollsters they will vote for a black candidate and then don't) on Obama's vote totals. Hammond has always captured enough of Jackson's intonations to avoid criticism for his portrayal, though it will certainly be noted that neither Obama nor Jackson were played by black actors.

While the debate sketches are certainly up to the standards of a fully rehearsed Saturday sketch, the Thursday SNL specials have been nearly buzz-free and anticlimactic to this point, suffering by comparison with the three Saturday shows that have featured Fey as Palin. SNL wasn't even Thursday's major collision of politics and pop culture: McCain's belated appearance on The Late Show With David Letterman took the honors there. But the show will once again be the center of attention this weekend, if the CNN report that Palin will take the stage at Studio 8H is correct. So far, however, SNL Thursday isn't making anyone forget Fey's day job.

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