Either way, viewers appeared ready to laugh. An estimated 17.8 million tuned in for at least some portion of the show Saturday, as NBC's New York institution returned for the first time since the September 11 terror attacks.
But first, Saturday Night Live had to get the approval of hizzoner himself, New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani, who opened the show's season premiere with a tribute to heroes and victims.
Giuliani, flanked by some two dozen police officers, firefighters and rescue workers, said "these are the heroes" and, between hearty applause, reminded the audience that "our hearts are broken, but they are beating. And they are beating stronger than ever."
The stirring speech was immediately followed by Paul Simon, a longtime SNL pal who sang his classic New York survival tale "The Boxer" as cameras panned across the faces of the New York police and firefighters.
Executive producer Lorne Michaels then joined Giuliani onstage, as the mayor urged New Yorkers to return to work and reminded Michaels, "Saturday Night Live is one of our great New York City institutions...so that's why it's important for you to do your show tonight."
"Can we be funny?" Michaels asked.
"Why start now?" Giuliani joked. He then embraced Michaels, before triumphantly announcing, "Live from New York, it's Saturday Night!"
From there, SNL mostly steered clear of political barbs (and its requisite Bushie humor), relying instead on a Little Mermaid parody and goofy recurring skits like Celebrity Jeopardy! and Will Ferrell and Ana Gasteyer's musically torturous duo Bobbi and Marty, who performed at a lesbian wedding. Handling hosting duties was Legally Blonde star Reese Witherspoon, while R&B sensation Alicia Keys served as the night's musical guest.
The show did make some attempts at topical humor during the fake news, Weekend Update, joking that suspect Osama bin Laden is believed to be hiding out in "remote and barren" places "where he is unlikely to encounter others," suggesting they check movie theaters that screen Mariah Carey's box-office dud Glitter.
At another point, not-ready-for-prime-timer Darrell Hammond broke out his Jesse Jackson impression, recounting how he got invited to meet with leaders of the Taliban.
"I had a hang-up call on my machine, so I star-sixty-nined," he said.
All told, SNL scored its best season-premiere ratings since 1998, drawing an estimated 9.6 million viewers. That's 25 percent higher than last year's opening, and about the same as its 1999 performance, when Jerry Seinfeld kicked off the show's 25th season.
Next Saturday's show will be hosted by Seann William Scott, who was supposed to host a week later but was bumped up when Ben Stiller bailed out. Drew Barrymore will host SNL's third episode a week later.