It's a Sanford & Son economy.

You left off the obviously only correct answer: I thought Fred Armisen's impression was pretty bad, but now I realize it could have been horribly worse.

Sudeikis's Mitt is way too likable.... Mitt is several rungs down on the charisma ladder even from a impression of him.

I refuse to watch state sanctioned comedy.

@4: Never watched Sesame Street when you were little, eh?

Those who are old enough to have watched Sanford & Son and those who still enjoy SNL are on decidedly different sides of the minimum voting age requirement.

I like Fred Armisen but was uncomfortable with the black face.

They made a big deal of handing over the reigns. Don't get me wrong. I think Jay Pharoah is da bomb, but I liked Fred's Obama better.

A bit of a slow start last night on SNL - but holy shit! Was Seth MacFarlane magnificent or what? No question he's a very intelligent, talented man when it comes to producing and voicing animation, but he's a wonderful performer as well. Thought I was going to wet myself when he was doing Lochte. I mean, "It feels so weird to be dry.?" Comedy masterpiece!

...oh and word has it that Jason is only going to stay on through the election. Rumor is he's leaving in January. Has he dropped about 15 pounds? He's looking gooooood.

Jay is ok, sounds a little stiff, like he needs a lot more work with the character to really get into the groove.

So far imo, Reggie Brown is the standard for Obama impersonators--truncated RNC performance, full performance on Bill Maher--Smoother, easier delivery and funnier material

It's kind of interesting that they made Fred Armisen darker to play Obama, but made Jay Pharoah a little lighter to play the same role.

They had to give Pharoah something, as all he was doing were Denzel Washington and Will Smith impersonations.

The guy who did Paul Ryan was pretty good. I couldn't tell if he was speaking like a 10 year old with a lisp from missing front teeth or not, but if so... fucking genius.

Also, the camera angle made it look like he was wearing a beanie. Then I realized it was just the camera. No beanie.
Throw a fucking beanie on your Paul Ryan guy. That'd work all by itself.

Jay Pharoah did a pretty good job with the voice, but the overall appearance and facial expressions aren't quite there yet.

Fred Armisen's Obama was absolutely genius, it was one of the best things about the show in recent years.

I loved the passing of the mantel of Obama from Fred to Jay in the opening last night.

Is Fred really doing a whole new season? That would be awesome -- Fred Armisen is really the lynchpin of the show now.

I've never been much of a fan of Seth McFarlane, but he rocked pretty hard last night. Good show all around, I even like the new flourishes to the opening credits.

@ 7, well you know Obama's mother was white.

The Paul Ryan was quite good.

Best skit of the show was the puppet workshop. I sincerely hope Bill Hader gets to pull out that puppet again.