SNL

Senator Al Franken says Saturday Night Live is as good as it's ever been with their Donald Trump skits -- and he should know ... as an original writer for the show.

We got the performer-turned-politician in D.C. Sunday, where he gave kudos for SNL's latest Trump spoofs, especially Melissa McCarthy's turn as Sean Spicer. The proof's in the numbers ... SNL had its highest ratings in 6 years as of this week.

Al even touches on his old SNL role as self-help guru Stuart Smalley. Doesn't sound like he's interested in getting back into character anytime soon, though.

Turns out "Saturday Night Live" was the big winner in the Presidential election, because it's now off-the-charts hilarious with Melissa McCarthy as Sean Spicer at a White House press briefing.

President Donald Trump went after Madonna big time Thursday night, calling Madonna "disgusting" for musing out loud she was thinking of "blowing up the White House."

Trump went on Sean Hannity's show on FNC and did not hold back. He thinks the singer not only hurt herself very badly by the comment, she hurt the cause for which she was fighting.

The prez also lashed out at 'SNL,' responding to a writer who had tweeted, "Barron will be this country's first homeschool shooter." Trump said, "I don't mind some humor, but it's terrible ... For them to attack, for NBC to attack my 10-year-old son ... it's a disgrace." Trump added it's not been easy on Barron.

'SNL' acted swiftly to punish one of its writers after she tweeted a tasteless joke about 10-year-old Barron Trump.

A source familiar with the situation says 'SNL' has suspended Katie Rich indefinitely, and the suspension came down immediately after her infamous social media post on inauguration Friday.

Rich tweeted, "Barron will be this country's first homeschool shooter."

Rich has since deleted all her tweets, with the exception of an apology she posted Monday.

Deadline first reported her suspension.

Courteney Cox and Jennifer Meyer must've had quite the appetite because they took a mini restaurant tour, and made sure to hit the highest profile spots.

The ladies first hit up Catch Tuesday night. It's the hottest new dining spot in town, which also makes it a hot spot for paparazzi. But when they followed up with a stop at Craig's, it was obvious ... they wanted to be seen, and even talk.

We asked Courteney about 'SNL' lampooning her pal Jennifer Aniston's "Friends" character. Check out her review.

Solange Knowles hit the stage Saturday night on SNL, and she got a surprise by big sis Beyonce, and they were just like you and me.

Solange, who sang "Cranes in the Sky" has issues with being lifted by Bey.

1:52 PM PST -- Shortest beef ever?

We just spoke with Pete who says he was "obviously joking" and that he LOVES Shaq. In fact, the two hung out at the Justin Bieber roast last year.

He adds, "Plus, I would never offend a man that large."

Shaq versus ... Pete Davidson from "Saturday Night Live"?

Yep.

The comedian apparently HATED Shaq's undercover driver video he made for Lyft -- 'cause after we posted it on TMZ Sports, Pete swatted the clip down as "f***ing lame."

Pete posted his review on Instagram -- and, while he didn't mention Shaq by name, it was obvious what he was referring to.

"Hey you know what would be hilarious guys? If a really famous person went undercover as an Uber driver. Isn't that so hilarious and crazy!! UGH SO F***ING LAME."

So far, no word from Shaq ... but he usually isn't one to back down from a celebrity feud.

Gwen Stefani's skirt left little doubt what was underneath it all after Saturday Night Live.

She showed up to the famed cast after party in NYC wearing a sheer top and a very right cheeky skirt.

Someone at WNDU in Indiana is blind as a bat ... because they mixed up Frank Sinatra Jr. and Joe Piscopo (as Frank Sinatra on 'SNL') during Wednesday night's newscast.

The mix-up just gives us an excuse to watch this again ...

Kanye West had a Yeezus-like moment at 'SNL' over a last minute change to his stage, but in a very un-Yeezus move ... he didn't rage out at producers.

According to multiple reports, the rapper went ballistic on show execs before 'SNL' started, but our Kanye sources say that's not exactly what happened. We're told 30 minutes before going live, producers removed almost half of Kanye's set for aesthetics.

Kanye'd been rehearsing on the larger set all day, so he was definitely pissed. We're told he threatened to walk and angrily vented, but only to HIS team ... never to 'SNL' honchos.

He did eventually speak calmly with Lorne Michaels, who decided to put the set back together.

Still, the backstage rant was epic -- the NY Post got this audio of Kanye comparing himself to Stanley Kubrick, the apostle Paul and Picasso. Vintage 'Ye.

Ronda Rousey graciously if not belatedly accepted defeat on "Saturday Night Live," bowing to Holly Holm, and then playing a thirsty bachelorette and a bullied student who kicks ass.

Gotta say ... very funny.

Donald Trump certainly had his moments on "Saturday Night Live," and maybe the best was when a famous dude called him a racist.

During the opening monologue, as Trump was delivering shtick, Larry David screamed from the audience, "Trump's a racist!" You gotta see this. It's hilarious. FYI, an immigration group offered the bounty for anyone who would scream those words at Trump.

And of course, Donald did the obligatory "Hotline Bling."

Bernie Sanders can give it as good as he gets, as our camera guy found out when he asked the Senator about Larry David's 'SNL' impression.

If you missed it ... Larry killed it as his fellow Brooklyn native, and it's sparked an interesting theory: That the 74-year-old senator gave 68-year-old Larry a way to connect with younger people, who are voting next year -- but, sadly, might not know LD from "Seinfeld" and "Curb Your Enthusiasm."

So, the question -- is the presidential candidate a Hollywood star maker?

Watch. Bernie gets the joke.

Several Hispanic advocacy groups are about to learn a hard lesson in advocacy ... don't waste your time during sweeps.

The National Hispanic Leadership Agenda is pissed at NBC for allowing Donald Trump to host "Saturday Night Live." They're going after NBC, saying, "We are appalled that you would enable Trump's hateful speech for nothing [more] than a ratings ploy and ask that you rescind the SNL invitation."

They got the ratings thing right. Trump is set to host November 7, smack in the middle of sweeps. NBC will almost surely get record-breaking ratings, which is a hard thing to give up.

On top of that, Trump and the network have settled their beef, and NBC is not going to resurrect the feud.

Pick your battles wisely ...

Eddie Murphy has opened the door to a return to the comedy stage.

Eddie was arriving at the Four Seasons in Georgetown ... he's in D.C. to pick up the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor at the Kennedy Center.

Prez Obama's sure to be there, and Eddie returned the flattery in advance.

Tracy Morgan made people laugh and cry Saturday night during and after his triumphant return to "Saturday Night Live."

Tracy and wife Megan Wollover were leaving the afterparty when a friend hugged the comedian and broke down in tears. Tracy ended up comforting him.

As for the show ... Tracy's near fatal accident provided him with material to make the night a success.