Well, bad writing failed another game host tonight, as Ed Norton gave it his all and more, but there just weren't a lot of genuine laughs. Oh well.
COLD OPEN: Kate McKinnon is Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius, who starts off explaining and riffing on the screwed up website that is Healthcare.gov. Some jokes are good, some are lame. Just a so-so opening.
MONOLOGUE: First time host Edward Norton comes out, explaining why he hasn't hosted since Lorne first asked him to back in 2000. He's joined by SNL fave Alec Baldwin, who gives him advice on impressions (Ed's Woody Allen is his best), and then Miley Cyrus (ugh) crashes, telling him to be sure and stick out his tongue. And she's there...why? Does she live under the stage?
AUTUMN'S EVE: Ad for pumpkin scented tampons for fall. Sadly, this short commercial will turn out to be one of the highlights of the night.
SCHOOL VISIT: First sketch has Ed as Officer Rosen, explaining to grade schoolers not to talk to strangers, and Nasim is the annoying class leader who just wants candy from people in vans. I don't know, I found this one long and unfunny.
STEVE HARVEY SHOW: Kenan is the clueless Steve Harvey and Ed is a costume designer, whose creative Halloween costumes Steve can't figure out. It's ok, it's the first of a number of sketches that were just "there," for me, not particularly bad but not any great laughs either. Ed sure is trying though, he's been front and center in everything so far.
WES ANDERSON TRAILER: The best thing in the episode. A horror movie parody of a Wes Anderson movie, that has all the director's precious tics nailed, with Ed doing a spot on Owen Wilson impersonation.
CRITTER CONTROL: Ugh, a genuinely painful one, with Ed and one of the new guys as pest control people interrupting a business meeting to look for possums in the vent. It's really, really bad.
DRUG DEAL: Another miss, with a bunch of the guys in a hotel room, handing over $1 million dollars in drug money, but Ed's brought in to count it and also apparently so he can do his Rain Man impersonation. Not exactly a topical reference, but he must have really wanted to do it. It's ok as an impression, but again, nothing funny in this one.
WEEKEND UPDATE: A really short Update this week, as Seth and Cecily toss off a few jokes about the healthcare website and then Bobby comes out as Anthony Crispino, the only guest, which is rare. He's pretty funny, but that character seems to be descending into more and more shrieking every time we see him.
12 DAYS NOT A SLAVE: Post-Civil War sketch with Jay as a newly freed slave who walks into a bar, upsetting all the racists in it. This is one of those skits with a point to make, in this case, that racism didn't end with emancipation, but there are a couple of laughs near the end about white people trying to dance like black people (sadly, Miley makes another appearance, which just annoys me now).
RUTH'S CHRIS: Another painful one, with a bunch of virgin waiters bragging about sex, which they know less than nothing about. Eh. Goes on too long.
HALLOWEEN CANDY: Ed's a psycho who wants to give out weird Halloween treats instead of regular candy, while his crazy son DIego (Bobby) and a random lady named "Adult Ruth" (Aidy) lurk in the background. They did this same sketch at Christmas with Steve Buscemi a couple of years ago, and it was SO much funnier. I don't know, maybe it's Ed's delivery? Either that or Steve Buscemi doing anything weird is just inherently funny to me.
A pretty middling episode for the Halloween show, but Janelle Monae was good, and I guess overall it deserves a C. Next week should be interesting, as Kerry Washington's hosting (which many see as a direct response to all the criticism SNL's gotten lately over the lack of diversity among its cast), and Eminem's back as the musical guest. See you then!
