Saturday Night Live Season 37 Reviews - Episode 21 - Will Ferrell / Usher

“These white boys are obsessed with their dicks”

Cold Open: Biden's Room

3 Stars

Biden is upset that Obama is getting credit for gay marriage and he’s visited by his imaginary friend George W. Bush whose actually been trapped in the White House this whole time after getting lost chasing a butterfly.  And with this cold open we get our last appearance of Fred as Barack Obama.  Should we roll a clip package of all the great times we’ve had with him?  What’s that?  No clips?  That was a terrible idea that they held on to way too long?

Will Ferrell Monologue

4 Stars

Will brings his mom onstage for Mother’s Day and decides to speak from the heart.  Good gag of Wally holding a cue card that says “Wally, lower the cards”.  Will proceeds to talk awkwardly about the doctor pulling him out of his mom’s lady parts.

One-A-Day Extra Strength Nasaflu

3 Stars

Will’s loud sneezing keeps interrupting Kristen’s commercial.  The sneezes slightly resemble a Harry Caray scream.

Alternative Prom

3 Stars

Weird to see The Culps in hi-def.  Their 22nd appearance after a 10 year absence.  They’re jamming out at an LGBT prom.

Stay Free Maxi Pads Ladies Long Drive Championship 1994

3 Stars

Another returning sketch from yesteryear although much more recent than the Culps.  Greg Stink and Pete Twinkle are back which means we get a Will Forte cameo.  Most of the jokes in this one stem from it being 1994 and their broadcast is being interrupted by Will Ferrell reporting on the OJ Simpson Bronco chase.

The 100th Digital Short

5 Stars

We’ve finally landed here, the 101st Digital Short according to SNL Archives (but they’re including a Weekend Update Thursday episode).  Andy, Jorma and Akiva (played by Justin Bieber) literally and figuratively suck their own dicks to celebrate 100 shorts.  Everyone’s here, Shy Ronnie, Reba, Ras Trent, the Threw It On The Ground guy, then come the cameos from Justin Timberlake, Natalie Portman, Jon Hamm as Sergio, and Michael Bolton.  Will takes over at one point to suck his own dong which is pretty hilarious (“3 Best Ofs, count ‘em bitch!”).  A super fun song and video.  Does it make the season of really lackluster shorts worth it?  I’m not so sure.  I noticed there was no Convoluted Jerry or the I Wish It Would Rain guy shoutouts.

Usher

"Scream"

Weekend Update

Feels kinda weird we’re still doing Get In The Cage with Nicolas Cage after the obligatory Nicolas Cage cameo we got last time.  But this is the same show that did one last Judge Judy and Joe Pesci Show after their celebrity walk-ons.  He’s joined by Liam Neeson this time.

The 2012 Funkytown Debate

1 Star

There’s a brief moment near the beginning of this sketch where you can see a look on Will’s face that seems to read as “oh no, this is already tanking and we have like 10 more minutes to go”.  Kenan and Will take turns singing about their political qualifications.  Nasim as the non-funky candidate and the introduction of Will’s proposed candidate were kinda fun but this was a big ol’ dud.

Broadway Sizzle

1 Star

A one-two punch of post-Update crap.  This is one of those sketches that almost instantly turns me off.  I can’t really explain why but as soon as Bill and Kristen start talking I get a sense I’m gonna hate this.  I wasn’t far off.  Will keeps singing songs meant for women and getting embarrassed.  The audience seemed confused by this one as well so I don’t think it’s just me.

Usher returns with "Climax"

Anniversary Toast

3 Stars

The awkward toasts sketch makes another appearance as does Will Forte’s Hamilton character.  These usually make for weird and slow 10-1 sketches but seeing how the whole back half has been weird and slow I can’t say I’m terribly excited to see it.  Bobby with the mic drop is always great.

Rerun of Almost Pizza

FINAL ANALYSIS

“Fudge me to dern”

Average

2.8 Stars

MVP

Andy Samberg

The 100th Digital Short, Weekend Update, The 2012 Funkytown Debate

Best Sketch

The 100th Digital Short

Worst Sketch

The 2012 Funkytown Debate

How I Would Have Lorne Michaels-ed It

Man, thinks really fell apart after Update.  I don’t like starting with the Culps but I can’t argue to hard for anything else as a better lead off sketch.  Maybe start with Pete Twinkle and Greg Stink then Broadway Sizzle.  Put the Culps on right after Update and follow it with Funkytown and Anniversary Toast.  Unless of course you just want to cut Funkytown and Broadway Sizzle for something better.

Host Analysis

It feels weird to say I was let down by Will Ferrell but I kinda was.  We got some recurring characters (which were not my favorite part of Will’s tenure) and he didn’t add much to the new material.  Broadway Sizzle only works because of Will’s commitment but he could only take it so far.  He was hilarious in the Digital Short and monologue though.

Final Thoughts

When anyone talks about Will Ferrell on SNL they inevitably bring up the fact that he seemed to enjoy bombing.  If a sketch wasn’t going great he would steer into the skid and try to make something from the silence of the crowd.  Well, this episode is a lot of that energy.  Will felt like he was thrown into the first half (bring back the Culps which is just you and Ana on stage, you’ll play a new side character in a recurring sketch, and appear as yourself in a Digital Short).  The second half felt like they threw Will on stage with nothing, not even a net.  Funkytown Debates and Broadway Sizzle seemed to tank right as they started and neither had the energy (or jokes) needed to sustain their lengths and the 10-1 was another retread just with different lines.  Oddly, the last time that sketch appeared was when Will hosted in Season 34 (I guess he must have liked it).  I would honestly say you can skip this one and just watch the Digital Short on YouTube.

Up Next

Season finale with Mick Jagger and a farewell to Kristen (and Andy)