“Saturday Night Live” stuck with its ratings-drawing formula Thursday and successfully continued to lampoon the presidential race.

“SNL: Weekend Update Thursday,” the first of three half-hour specials to air before the Nov. 4 election, spoofed the second presidential debate, then continued with an extended version of “Weekend Update.”

The opening debate sketch had John McCain (Darrell Hammond) and Barack Obama (Fred Armisen) answering “the eight least interesting questions,” as chosen by Tom Brokaw (greatly under-appreciated “SNL” alum Chris Parnell).

Most of the laughter was created by Brokaw’s manic obsession with the candidate’s time limit. He would frequently interrupt the two just as they were about to make their points. McCain’s aimless wandering, as well as Obama’s connection to controversial figures, was also the butt of a few jokes.

The sketch was funny enough, but it lacked the sharp satire of previous political sketches.

The biggest surprise of the night came when comedy uber-star Bill Murray asked, as an undecided voter, how the Chicago Cubs could stop losing.

“What, as president, would you do to guarantee this never happens again? In your answer, please be specific,” Murray said.

Obama encouraged Cubs fans to support other teams, while McCain said the Cubs are hopeless and will never win the pennant or the World Series.

The rest of the show consisted of one of the most consistently funny “SNL” segments, “Weekend Update.” As always, anchors Amy Poehler and Seth Meyers riffed on topics from the serious (looming economic depression) to the ridiculous (Poehler’s hatred of armadillos). Along with a Hall and Oates bit, there was also a Norm MacDonald-esque O.J. Simpson joke.

Meyers reported that Simpson broke up with his girlfriend of 10 years just before his trial.

“He didn’t O.J. break up with her, he just regular broke up with her,” Meyers said.

“Update” also featured a bailout edition of “REALLY?!? With Seth and Amy,” which contained a new segment, “OH MY GOD, ARE YOU SERIOUS!?!”

A point of discussion among “SNL” fans was the absence of Tina Fey’s mind-blowingly spectacular Sarah Palin impression. Being that Palin made no significant headlines, Fey’s non-appearance was understandable.

The special tried to take advantage of “SNL’s” strength: political satire. And it worked, for the most part. Despite its lack of scathing comedic dissection of the candidates, the debate sketch deservedly got laughs. And as always, “Update” kept the laughs rolling with its one-liners.

The next Thursday night specials will air 8:30 p.m. Oct. 16 and 23 on NBC.

Here’s hoping the cast can transfer the momentum from these specials into consistently better episodes of “SNL.”