‘SNL’ recap: Ryan Gosling can’t stop cracking up as host [Video]

Ryan Gosling’s third go-round as guest host of “Saturday Night Live” should have been a victory-lap party after a year’s worth of goodwill that started with his well-received “Barbie” performances, peaking with his “I’m Just Ken” number at the Oscars in March. He even showed up in last week’s Kristen Wiig-hosted episode to prime the pump.

But not everything works out the way you want it to and instead of a party, Gosling’s episode found live sketch after live sketch torpedoed by the host breaking character and trying to hold back laughter. That nervous energy seemed to have infected other cast members who also couldn’t make it through pieces, most notably a News Nation sketch about the dangers of artificial intelligence that goes out of control when it’s pointed out that two audience members look a lot like the animated characters from “Beavis and Butt-Head” (Gosling and MIkey Day). Heidi Gardner, playing the host of the segment, couldn’t …