Although Saturday Night Live‘s episodes have been creatively uneven (What was up with that Michael Phelps swimming sketch?), the 2008 political season has been good to the show. Prior to last night’s broadcast, NBC saw a 50% ratings bump over 2007’s first two weeks.

A large part of the program’s recent success is, of course, due to Tina Fey‘s hilarious portrayal of Sarah Palin. Last night, the Emmy winner’s second attempt helped SNL improve 46% over this point last year. (You can see the clip of yesterday’s opener below.) Given that the Vice-Presidential debate is scheduled for this Thursday, I expect we will see Fey one more before we hit a rerun. (For some reason, the producers can only manage four episodes in a row before needing to recharge.)

Anne Hathaway and The Killers are the featured guests next Saturday.