Turning away the disdain of TV critics like so much Sith lightning, The Clone Wars tapped into the cortexes of America's younglings and delivered big numbers for Cartoon Network on Friday:

The Force is with Cartoon Network as Star Wars™: The Clone Wars™ Blasts Off as the Most-Watched Series Premiere in Network History

Fresh from its across-the-board prime-time delivery and ratings growth in third quarter, Cartoon Network rocketed to new delivery heights with the premiere of STAR WARS: THE CLONE WARS at 9 p.m. Friday, Oct. 3. The new Lucasfilm Animation series scored as the most-watched series premiere in network history, according to preliminary data from Nielsen Media Research. The one-hour new series premiere also reigned as the #1 program from 9-10 p.m. among all major kids networks in kids 6-11, kids 2-11, tweens 9-14, teens 12-7 and persons 2+, earning triple-digit increases compared to the same time period last year. The weekly, CG-animated series also attracted the largest tweens 9-14 audience for any premiere telecast of an original series in Cartoon Network's 16-year history.

[Ratings info for other programming and general network preening redacted.]

Highlights of Cartoon Network's record-setting premiere of STAR WARS: THE CLONE WARS compared to the same time 2007 time period include the following:

STAR WARS: THE CLONE WARS (Friday, 9-10 p.m.) vs. the Same Time 2007 Time Period

· Kids 2-11 delivery (1,829,000) grew by 125%

· Kids 6-11 delivery (1,438,000) increased by 120%

· Tweens 9-14 delivery (1,219,000) improved by 91%

· Boys 2-11 delivery (1,395,000) expanded by 150%

· Boys 6-11 delivery (1,159,000) jumped by 160%

· Boys 9-14 delivery (991,000) increased by 133%

Never dismiss the power of the Force.

Hephner and Metcalf make it look Easy. / Lewis Jacobs /The CW

You might be surprised to hear that the best new network show of the fall season may well be on The CW, shunted onto a throwaway night that the network turned over to an outside production company to fill with programming. Because The CW and the studio, Media Rights Capital, didn't send me a premiere screener of Easy Money, which debuted last night, I was just as surprised.

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AMC

SPOILER ALERT: Before you read this post, run away to a neighbor's playhouse and watch last night's Mad Men.

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What will Saturday Night Live do when the election is over? For that matter, what will they do if Sarah Palin and that other guy lose? Saturday, SNL kept the Alaskan gravy train running with yet another skit, this one clocking in at a plus-sized eleven minutes and change. As a comedy bit, this didn't seem as inspired as Fey's first two takes on Palin—though maybe it's just the familiarity at this point—but conceivably it could be even more important. In this media age debates are sometimes won or lost days after they're held, after something in the media serves to crystallize its perception; SNL, for instance, did as much as anyone to ensure that Al Gore's sighs (and maybe the phrase "lockbox") would be the only thing we remembered from his first debate with Bush. Did Tina Fey do the same for "maverick," or was there, as the pundits say, no knockout blow?