Why does this show still exist?

I haven’t watched Saturday Night Live for a very long time, but tuned in last night in hopes of catching Tina Fey’s much-hyped Sarah Palin parody, and out of curiousity about how they might be taking on the presidential election generally, not to mention the financial meltdown.

This is what I saw:

— an opening skit about how political ads distort the truth.

–the host’s opening monologue, an extended riff on the fact that he is a famous actor who is also attending Columbia University.

-an interminable skit about “cougars“.

–a skit about a James Bond-type secret agent who is — wait for it — a stoner!

And then, four set pieces into the show, they got back to current events — with a hi-larious bit about how difficult it will be to find impartial jurors in the latest O.J. Simpson trial.

At which point I turned the television off.

Seriously: why does this show still exist?

(Full disclosure: I had an unhappy experience working on some animated pieces for SNL ten years ago. But my question still stands.)