Edward Norton may seem like a host out of left field considering his lack of anything to promote at the moment but the Fight Club actor gave a solid performance with his first time SNL hosting gig. His aw shucks manner carried several sketches without seeming too awkward or over the top. And no Norton isn t known for his comedic chops so the decision to amp up his boyish mannerisms helped spotlight his strong suits from his physical comedy to his impressions including a take on Woody Allen in the opening monologue that was top notch.
Related Edward Norton hosts 'Saturday Night Live' Talk about it here 'SNL' recap Bruce Willis is back and he's here to party 'Saturday Night Live' recap Miley came in like a wrecking ballAnd speaking of the opening monologue Alec Baldwin and Miley Cyrus stopped by (came in like a wrecking ball if you will ) to give the first time host some tips. While Baldwin s more understandable the guy s hosted 15 times has a talk show to promote can play off Norton Cyrus appearance is just a head scratcher. Sure she s there to announce her 2014 tour but her interjection and tongue joke fell flat in an otherwise well done lead in to the show.
Overall this latest SNL had more hits (e.g. actual screen time for Nasim Pedrad) than misses (e.g. the Drug Deal sketch). That said it felt like the show had more sketches than usual following a two week break and a Halloween/autumnal theme to play off of the writers clearly ended up with a lot of material. It even led to a shortened Weekend Update. And with a dependable actor like Norton the show seemed to have an easier time integrating him into sketches without worrying about the characters he ll have to tackle or the implications of his appearance on the show. His range certainly came in handy for two wildly different sketches of the night Best SketchSNL s been doing on the nose parodies so far this season (see Girls) and this one a riff on Wes Anderson films is not only hilarious but effectively captures those signature Anderson ticks that make his films mesmerizing. As an Anderson alum Norton does a solid impression of Owen Wilson and his deadpanning twanged delivery of the dialogue coupled with Alec Baldwin s narration make this a hit. All that along with the symmetrically shot references to films like The Royal Tenenbaums and Moonrise Kingdom made for a great sketch.
Best er Something Maybe it s because it aired at 12 50 a.m. maybe because it s just one liner after one liner or maybe because Edward Norton is the only actor who could have pulled this off the rocker but sassy Dad character off everything in this sketch was crazy enough to work at the end of the show. Plus the relish Norton uses with the line Psych it s a boogie after asking the camera to zoom in on a single Nerd is too delicious to miss. Have a Spooktacular Halloween
Worst Sketch A drug deal goes down 1 million dollars is handed over and the recipient brings in his numbers savant to count it except his savant is no savant at all. That s it that s the joke. Yet this sketch drags on and on after its premise giving Norton and the cast little to do but continue to gawk at Norton s character struggling to count the money (though Norton s skittish delivery is a bright spot in an otherwise dull sketch).
Best Use of Underused Aidy Bryant Award The 12 Days Not a Slave sketch follows a questionable premise and it nearly hurtles itself off the cliff and into Worst Sketch territory until Aidy Bryant comes in with the line These have been the best 12 days of my life The look she then gives the camera is comedic gold and not even Miley s cameo in the sketch as a girl twerking on the staircase could top that. As for the rest Jay Pharaoh is just fine as the overly optimistic freed slave Cecil and Norton does his best as the straight man but the joke that racism isn t over even though the slaves are freed doesn t really feel like a joke at all.
Best Musical Moment Janelle Monae performed Dance Apocalyptic on a black and white set and at least on screen looked like she was having the time of her life singing and strutting across stage. The performance (as well as her later varsity jacket donning set for Electric Lady ) was energetic fun and arguably the best so far this season.
Throwback Saturday Sketch Kate McKinnon carried the cold open as Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius who addresses the technical glitches of healthcare.gov by suggesting some alternatives ranging from restarting your computer to visiting kayak.com to buy airline tickets to Canada. The highlight though came with her announcing that all letters of complaint will receive a response in six to eight weeks complete with pamphlets titled So you want to do computer along with Encarta 95 and 1 000 free hours of AOL. Top it all off with Bobby Moynihan as an IT guy with a baseball bat the spinning Mac beach ball of buffering slash death and you ve got a topical and political cold open that doesn t bring the show to an early halt.
Best Single Punchline Sketch It s another one joke sketch but this one works because of its physical comedy. Norton and the cast play sex crazed waiters who loudly explain possible scenarios for when they get a little somethin somethin . Aidy Bryant takes the straight man role as a hostess None of this is sex she says and with moves like Norton s slippery on ice and Mike O Brien s inspired turn of the century southern woman this sex charades sketch plays out its punchline well.
Best Ed Norton as a Teacher sketch Norton played a variety of characters a mullet haired pest control worker s best friend a Rain Man like numbers guy Owen Wilson but he mostly played the teacher or mentor in sketches like School Visit as a police officer teaching children about the danger of meeting strangers (shout out to Nasim Pedrad who finally got some significant screen time). Even his 12 Days Not a Slave character was more a mentor than a fully formed personality. The best though out of all of these was his appearance as pun fan Mr. Pickler in Halloween on the Steve Harvey Show with Kenan Thompson. His enthusiasm for punny costumes which turns into exasperation at Harvey s ineptitude at understanding the basic costumes It s Satan breakfast Thompson exclaims at a couple dressed as deviled eggs helps this sketch stand out.
Cast MVP The ladies win this round. Between the fauxmercial for Autumn s Eve and the gang s appearance in 12 Days Not a Slave the women of SNL shined last night thanks to some memorable one liners and absurd characters. Not only did Kate McKinnon do a solid job as Kathleen Sebelius her appearances bolstered later sketches. Same goes for the underused Nasim Pedrad and Aidy Bryant and even Vanessa Bayer in her brief appearances helmed many of the scenes.
Best Lines My personal area can smell like Thanksgiving all season long. Frankly most of the lines in the fauxmercial got me if only because everything these days is pumpkin flavored or autumnal in some way. (Not that that s a bad thing )
Fake review from the New York Times You had me at Wes Anderson.
Nasim Pedrad I guess you could say I m the vans of acting.
Steve Harvey on wordplay What s that when you find little words in your soup
Norton to Pharoah right before the camera pans to Cyrus twerking Once they see you dance they will try and dance like you.
Pretty much everything from the nutty final Crazy Halloween sketch This is a little Snickers they say it s fun size no arguments from me wink. Now this looks like a Reese s cup but guess what s inside Kale chip Gotcha fatty. This is a peanut scotch taped to an MM because that s just how my mind works. Now this this is the movie Cars 2 but look what happens when you open the case. No DVD now who s in control These are razor blades but they re still in the pack so this time they ll have to arrest me for generosity It just gets progressively weirder.
Extras Anyone think of Kate Micucci in everything she s done when Nasim Pedrad did her character in the school visit sketch
According to Alec Baldwin SNL is like a three wheel bus careening towards a blown out bridge. Does he mean has become or has always been Hmm.
The Critter Control sketch felt like a miss but Norton s Russell was a highlight. I can t tell if he was a leader or just a charismatic citizen is a great line about a dead possum and its possum memorial service. Then again how many sketches are there about possum memorial services
Chris Kattan heard about Ed Norton s shout out to him in his opening monologue. Still no update on how he feels about it though.
Courtesy of the SNL team here s Edward Norton as all the people in Edward Hopper s Nighthawks.
Serious question How many jelly beans do you think were really in that jar
That Halloween Candy sketch is just so 1 a.m. y of the show. The razor blades reveal the Cars 2 line anyone want to take a gander at Norton s character s background Who s adult Ruth anyway
So what s your take on Norton s first time hosting Spooktacular or more of the same Sound off in the comments below.
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