NBC’s Saturday Night Live returned last night after an off week where the network aired the new David S. Pumpkins Halloween special, with Curb Your Enthusiasm star/creator Larry David hosting with Miley Cyrus as the musical guest. This weekend’s host came under fire early on in the broadcast, when he made a joke about the holocaust in his opening monologue that was heavily bashed by viewers on Twitter. We have the host’s full opening monologue that includes the joke, along with several messages on Twitter that were sent after the joke aired.
The controversial joke in question centered around a man trying to get a date with a woman at a concentration camp during the Holocaust, which was just one of the questionable moments from his monologue. He also took a jab at Harvey Weinstein and the sexual assault and harassment he’s been accused of. This certainly isn’t the first time a host has tried to push the envelope and fail on the SNL stage. A 2015 monologue from Louis C.K. that included bits on child molestation was heavily criticized while Martin Lawrence went on a tirade in 1994 about feminine hygiene. Most recently, Dave Chappelle was criticized for being too nice about Donald Trump, although the episode would later win him an Emmy award.
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Despite the controversy, the episode was one of the highest-rated for the late night sketch comedy series. The Nov. 4 telecast of Saturday Night Live has delivered a season-high rating in metered-market households, according to “live plus same day” local-market results from Nielsen Media Research. With an edition hosted by Larry David and featuring musical guest Miley Cyrus, last night’s “Saturday Night Live” averaged a 4.7 rating, 11 share in “live plus same day” household results from the 56 local markets metered by Nielsen Media Research and a 1.8/8 in adults 18-49 in the 25 markets with local people meters
The Nov. 4 telecast aired live coast to coast (11:30 p.m. ET, 8:30 p.m. PT) and was replayed at 11:30 in western markets. Note that these numbers under-report last night’s SNL results because they don’t include viewership from the show’s 11:30 replays in the Western U.S. Last night’s edition hit a new season high in metered-market households, with the show’s best rating since last season’s finale (5.3/13 with host Dwayne Johnson and musical guest Katy Perry). It’s the second straight SNL original to hit a new season high, after the Oct. 14 episode, hosted by Kumail Nanjiani and featuring musica b0l guest P!nk, averaged a 4.6.
Last night’s Saturday Night Live} was the #1 telecast of the night on the broadcast networks in both metered-market households and in 18-49 in the local people meters, outrating every Saturday primetime telecast on those nets in both categories. Note that SNL adds significant viewership via time-shifting, with this season’s first three originals growing by +57% in 18-49 and +2.899 million persons or +42% in total viewers going from “live plus same day” Nielsens to “live plus seven day” figures. In L+SD, those telecasts averaged a 1.92 rating in 18-49 nationally and 6.984 million viewers overall, and in L+7, they grew to a 3.01 in 18-49 and 9.883 million viewers. Take a look at the opening monologue for yourself below, courtesy of Saturday Night Live YouTube
