While the critical response to Lindsay Lohan's "Saturday Night Live" hosting efforts has been less than positive, the ratings tell a different story. By the numbers, Lohan outshined past hosts like Alec Baldwin, Emma Stone, Melissa McCarthy and even Jimmy Fallon.
"I'm so excited for her," Lindsay's mother, Dina Lohan, told me. "She has worked so hard all week rehearsing. I'm so proud of her. Her brothers Mike and Cody and sister, Ali, were all with her. Thank you for believing in us."
However, it wasn't just her family that joined Dina in executive producer Lorne Michaels' office to watch the show. Dina also invited close family friend and former "Real Housewives of New York" star Jill Zarin and her husband, Bobby, to attend.
"She's a different kid," Jill told me, but she didn't want to say too much about the evening. "It's very hard to be famous, period. I can't imagine doing it at her age. But the one thing she has that a lot of famous people don't have is real talent -- and I can say that as someone that used to be on a reality show."
After the show ended, Lindsay, her guests and the cast and crew headed to Kibo, a Japanese restaurant in New York's Gramercy area, where Lindsay went from table to table thanking everyone.
"It was such a huge celebration at the after-party," a guest told me. "No one wanted to leave. Around 3:00 a.m., folks started to say goodnight after Lindsay worked the room, making it clear that she was back. Not drinking, but rather enjoying being back in the limelight doing something good, not bad."
One person who was not invited to the show or after-party was Lindsay's father, Michael Lohan. Michael is currently living in a Florida halfway house from which he tweeted his support for Lindsay while watching "SNL" on TV.
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