norton-monaeIf “Saturday Night Live” hopes to mine this week’s episode for some material to use in a prime time Halloween compilation special Thursday, good luck to them.

The Edward Norton-hosted evening seemed to bring some of the thinnest material of the season so far, even as Norton himself seemed to dive enthusiastically at every assignment, donning every last wig and mustache with gusto.

Norton, not exactly our top box office draw (who has no movie even to promote in the monologue) said at the outset he was first asked to host the show in 2000, but told producer Lorne Michaels he needed 13 years to prepare.

By then most of the show has changed “I’m a little upset that Chris Kattan has gone,” he said.

To goose up his monologue, Alec Baldwin came in to share knowledge for a first time host — part of the duties for having hosted 15 times. What was weird was that they were also joined by Miley Cyrus, who may not have left the “SNL” studio since she hosted for her second time a few weeks back. She was even in a later skit, tweaking in a half baked movie parody titled “12 Days Not a Slave.” Enough Miley already.

The cold open concerned the Affordable Health Care website, which has gotten more press than the benefits of expanded health care coverage. Kate McKinnon’s impersonation of Health Secretary Kathleen Sebelius was  credible and suitably kooky; her lines amusing but kind of predictable.

It’s the kind of issue “SNL” couldn’t leave alone; it also led its flat “Weekend Update” segment.

Norton led well enough in his skits; there wasn’t enough ideas in them to sustain him. In one, he was a cop advising kids not to be tempted by strangers with candy; they were more interested in what kinds of candy. In another he was the head of a Halloween store, advising Kenan Thompson’s Steve Harvey on new costumes – a comedy stab that nearly everybody is doing, including people at your Halloween party.

The one standout thing of the night was a trailer for a fake Wes Anderson horror movie:  “Midnight Coterie of Sinister Intruders.” In it, Norton played a decent Owen Wilson, and the rest of the cast filled the familiar quirky roles of Anderson films. In this Norton may be wrecking his own main source of income; he was Scout Master Ward in Anderson’s “Moonrise Kingdom” and will next star in his “The Grand Budapest Hotel.”

Turns out Norton might have really wanted to try out his impersonations. In addition to Owen Wilson, he did a superfluous Dustin Hoffman Rain Man in one sketch and did two other impressions in the monologue.

There were more bona fide time wasters in the show than usual, including one little bit involving exterminators interrupting a business meeting that went nowhere.

But a late show throwaway about a guy explaining the candy coming out this year that thrived on the writing was so good.

Bobby Moynihan’s recurring Second Hand News with  Anthony Crispino was the main part of “Weekend Update.” More and more it’s becoming a new millennium Emily Litella, full of topical malapropisms, from “legalizing grey marriage” to “the NBA spying scandal.” Instead of saying “Never mind!” he says “I’m pretty sure that’s the way it is,” in an increasingly loud and squeaky voice. In fact, the humor is now dependent more on the high voice than the jokes.

The Update newscast itself didn’t have much but the occasional line, such as Kanye West asking Kim Kardashian’s brand in marriage.” They ended on a gag about the planned revival of “Murder, She Wrote.” “Fans of the original said: We’re long dead,” Seth Meyers reported. (What does that say about fans of the original “SNL”? It made its debut nine years earlier).

Can the musical guest save a show? It might have this week, with the striking Janelle Monae performing two visually arresting and sonically playful new songs.

Even better: Miley didn’t come out and join her.

“Has anybody had more fun than I just did?” Norton said at the show’s end. Well, Ed, not during this particular episode.