If the grilling of Comcast (NSDQ: CMCSA) and NBC top execs is any indication, the merger of the two companies faces an uphill battle in the Senate Antitrust Subcommittee. Comcast chairman Brian Roberts and NBCU president Jeff Zucker found themselves repeatedly challenged, and occasionally cut off, by passionate bordering on belligerent Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn.), a former Saturday Night Live writer and performer who made it clear he did not think the merger was ready for primetime.

It’s probably a good thing for both Comcast and NBCU that the FCC and the Justice Department, not the subcommittee, have to vet the deal, with Congress in a secondary, oversight role. More on Multichannel.