[ LIVE ACTION IN VIDEO STARTS AT 3:15]

Robert Smigel’s animated Ambiguously Gay Duo shorts, about two superclose superheros, goes way back on SNL, and at first last night’s installment seemd like an echo of the old days. Then it burst into wild live action, with Jon Hamm and Jimmy Fallon as heros Ace and Gary, guests Ed Helms, Stephen Colbert and Steve Carell (he’s the big-headed guy) and more phallic imagery than Freud ever dreamed of.

It was the highlight of a pretty good show, (with Paul Simon as musical guest) that underused Helms as host. His mock-political message as a generic Republican presidential candidate – “Hello, I’m either Tim Pawlenty, Mitch Daniels or Gary Johnson” – was tossed away in the show’s last five minutes, and deserved a better spot.

Here’s the superstar Ambiguously Gay Duo.