'SNL' Recap: Ryan Gosling is A Bundle of Nerves
Ryan Gosling is widely recognized as being one of the best actors of his generation. (And, more superficially, one of the best-looking actors ever.) But he’s not exactly known for being funny, which made his presence in Saturday Night Live’s Studio 8H a little perplexing. To be honest, the Canadian-born movie star seemed a little perplexed — not to mention very, very nervous — about his first-ever hosting stint as well.
Those nerves never really went away. In multiple sketches, Gosling could be seen tripping up lines or struggling to rein in laughter, a valiant battle he lost more often then he won. But he also seemed to be enjoying himself, as opposed to gritting his teeth and trying to get through it. And the cast was eager to help him succeed, with one former Not Ready For Primetime Player—and fellow neighbor to the north — Mike Myers even crashing his monologue to pay homage to their shared Canadian heritage in song. “I’ll take it from here,” the former Wayne Campbell said, relieving Gosling of the responsibility of having to tell jokes by himself. If Canada ever launches their own version of True Detective, Gosling and Myers are the pair we want to see solving crimes and saying “Sore-y.”
Best Sketch: The Wiz Live!
Hot on the heels of its highly rated live telecast on NBC, The Wiz took a victory lap in an SNL skit that slyly satirized the misguided Twitter outcry that accused the classic Broadway musical of being “racist.” (Those Tweeters didn’t seem to realize that The Wiz has been around for some 40 years.) Dropping The Wizard of Oz’s goofy Scarecrow into the realm of The Wiz was a fun “world’s colliding” premise that also allowed Gosling to show off some of his Mickey Mouse Club stage training.
Worst Sketch: Birthday Party
Aidy Bryant channeling Chris Farley and diving into a cake? Funny. Everything else in this creepy, off-putting sketch? The opposite of funny.
Best Use of Ryan Gosling: Angelo Skaggs
Whose news is more unreliable than Weekend Update’s second-hand news expert Anthony Crispino? Try third-hand news guy, Angelo. Expertly matching Bobby Moynihan’s wardrobe, facial hair and upper register vocal pitch, Gosling cheerfully mis-reported intel about Star Wars and The Four Jamaicans and Charlie Sheen having “the HBO.”
Episode MVP: Kate McKinnon
The spirit of the immortal Debbie Downer Disneyland sketch hovered over the set during Gosling’s first skit of the night, an alien abduction riff during which the cast tried — and failed — to keep from cracking up. While Bryant vainly struggled to keep her composure, Gosling channeled vintage Jimmy Fallon and broke repeatedly. McKinnon, meanwhile, just ran with it, heroically (and hilariously) going off-book in order to keep the sketch moving along. Without her, they’d still be laughing like lunatics.
Saturday Night Live airs Saturdays at 11:35 p.m. on NBC.
