She Likes to Watch

Are you ready for the Space Olympics?

“Saturday Night Live” had a relatively dismal season launch last weekend, but there was one bright spot: the latest entry in the brilliant “Digital Short” series.

Dressed in one snazzy ambassadorial suit, a wig-wearing Andy Samberg invites interplanetary athletes to “reach for the stars” at the 3022 Space Olympics.

As you’d expect, holding a sporting event in space has its setbacks — such as a food shortage and unreliable utilities. There might even be an alien horde menacing the control room … But hey, “You’re a winner!”

Does anyone know what song “Space Olympics” is spoofing? It’s drivin’ me nuts, as the pirate said.

(This YouTube version is a bit distorted, so here’s an NBC.com link for you purists out there.)

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Excitement about the 2012 London Olympics is already mounting in Britain, where soccer hooligans and socialites alike are preparing their welcome for the world’s athletes.

London won its bid as Olympics host with this video, titled “Sport at Heart.”

First aired in 2004, the ad features five Olympic gold medalists and a score of British icons, ranging from Oscar winner Helen Mirren to James Bond himself, Sir Roger Moore. International soccer celeb David Beckham is shown puzzling over a crossword in a cafe, while “Shakespeare in Love” star Joseph Fiennes rehearses in the Globe Theatre.

(If the tune sounds familiar, it’s because it’s the theme song for NBC’s hit reality show “The Biggest Loser”: Heather Small’s “Proud.”)

Meanwhile, London mayor Boris Johnston has a message for the world’s table tennis enthusiasts: Ping pong was invited in England, not China!

Here, he makes his stump speech for bringing the illustrious sport of ping pong “home.”

The London Olympics logo, an angular thing that cost about $800,000 to design and admittedly looks a bit like a swastika, is also stirring up Britons’ righteous anger. In fact, a BBC poll found that 80 percent of online voters loathed the multicolored symbol, compared to nearly 9 percent awarding it a “gold medal.”

According to these fellows, however, the London Olympics logo may just save your life. (Warning: Video may contain drug use, obscenity, racial stereotypes and general silliness.)

Hardy the Land of the Stiff Upper Lip, is it?

Few things set an American heart a-thumping faster than a last-minute victory at the Beijing Olympics.

The U.S. men’s swimming team squeaked past France at the end of Monday’s relay event, beating two world records and securing an amazing down-to-the-wire win.

It might have been the sight of Michael Phelps flexing his rippling abs, or his brutish yawp, but that event — rife with athletic rivalry and dramatic tension — made for excellent television.

Since so many of the Olympics’ coolest events (the stunning opening ceremony, the U.S. men’s basketball blowout versus China) take place at odd hours, I’ve started catching up online.

Interviews, analysis and full video broadcasts are available at this Olympics coverage super-site.

The Tribune also has plenty of Olympics coverage, from up-to-the-minute stories to videos, photo galleries and blogs by Central Coast athletes competing in China.