Did Olbermann throw a gunshot gag into his "special comment" about Hillary's RFK gaffe?

That Keith Olbermann really cracks us up. (But now, Sir, you may have gone too far! Too far, Sir, I say!) We spun by his show about a week or so ago and were agog as he spent more than ten minutes reading this overheated, outdatedly formally-written screed against George Bush, all “Have you no shame, Sir,” and “Mr. President, sir, have you no decency?” in a way that nobody speaks nowadays or ever, getting all fired up and sputtering, but knowing to turn to a different camera every few lines. But long before he actually signed off with a  “Good night and good luck” that pays more homage to George Clooney's show biz liberalism than the old show biz hack Olbie thinks he's emulating— about eight minutes in or so, we realized it was all shtik, all comedy— why else would NBC let Bill O'Reilly's comic foil get away with such over-the-top craziness? The guy’s a bonafide mental case and they let him act it out on air!

We emailed a pal over at MSNBC and he told us they love it over there, because the wilder he gets, the more the ratings spike. That explains that--

But on Friday, Mr. TV Personality, Sir, how could you stoop so low? During your “Special Comment” aimed at Hillary Clinton and her reference to RFK’s assassination, did you really throw in a phony gunshot near the top of your blatherings? Did you, Sir? Did you really? As you railed against Hillary’s new low at bringing the terrible spectre of murder into the campaign, did you actually have someone set off a party popper to increase the drama? Was it a prankster on the set? Or will you blame a busted lightbulb? You don’t do that routine live, do you? Do you Sir? Ha!

(Watch: "And claiming there are people who would do anything to stop you-- you! " POP!)

Never mind the denials. SNL hearts Hillary.

Lorne Michaels and his top writer at Saturday Night Live hit the media trail to deny the show is in in Hillary Clinton's pocket, despite three straight weeks of front-loaded sketches (including an overt endorsement by guest host and former writer Tina Fey-- and a cute appearance by Hillary herself) that not only placed the candidate in a sympathetic light but apparently helped her reverse her freefall.

Michaels and Jim Downey claim they're equal-opportunity satirists, but one admission in The New York Times throws all denials out the window:

Both men suggested that Mrs. Clinton benefited from being portrayed by Amy Poehler, whom Mr. Downey called our charm machine.' But Ms. Poehler resisted one aspect of the portrayal in the first sketch on Feb. 23. Mr. Downey had written a moment when a tear was supposed to come to Mrs. Clinton’s eye, and the debate hosts were going to hammer her for "turning on the water works again.”

Mr. Downey acknowledged, “Amy wasn’t crazy about that. She said that was not fair.” The tear was cut from the live show.

Not fair? Hillary's weeping tactics have been debated and satirized for months. Sounds like the show's stars have more power than the writers, which is no surprise but also not promising for the show, which has dropped in quality exponentially from its surprisingly consistent return from strike hiatus.