AND THUS SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE BECOMES THE KITSCH* VARIETY SHOW IT ONCE MOCKED: SNL Sings ‘To Sir With Love’ In Honor of President Obama: “At the end of the song, the two of them presented [a poster of Obama in the background] with a present: a tea mug saying ‘world’s greatest president.’ The two offered their last goodbyes, though Zamata couldn’t help but slip in a ‘don’t go’ amid the thank-you’s.”

Compare that to the show’s first season, which brutally mocked Gerald Ford via his press secretary, who stupidly agreed to host the show, not knowing what he was in for, with one of the writers admitting afterwards, “The President’s watching. Let’s make him cringe and squirm.”

As Sean Davis of the Federalist quipped on Twitter today, “Guys, I think DPRK News [the parody North Korean propaganda Twitter feed] might have hacked SNL.” Twitchy accurately concludes that “Between attacking a 10-year-old kid and this LAME Obama tribute, SNL really just sucks.”  Just as its surprisingly funny sketch immediately after the election predicted, SNL has retreated deep into the safe space woobie known as The Bubble.

* In every sense of the word.