I remember a time when I had to make a gut-wrenching decision
every Saturday night. Should I go out, have a few drinks, and hit
on girls way out of my league or stay home and watch
“Saturday Night Live”? The agonizing process had me on
the verge of panic attacks when the weekend rolled around.
This year, the choice has not only gotten easier, but it’s
also become a virtual no-brainer. With “SNL” fluttering
like a cheap kite, I had no choice but to devote all my Saturdays
to partying like a real college student. The reason for the
show’s subpar season is ironically linked to a movie about
partying like a real college student. Released last Friday,
“Old School” stars surefire “SNL”
Hall-of-Famer, and my personal favorite, Will Ferrell, whose
departure this past season essentially crippled the show.
If fan voting were held to determine the greatest
“SNL” cast member of all time, Ferrell most likely
wouldn’t come out on top (Bill Murray and Mike Myers would
battle for that honor). However, he was arguably the most valuable
cast member in the show’s history. Even though the landmark
NBC program had already lost relevance after the mid-1990s and has
been on a downward spiral since the turn of the millennium,
Ferrell’s exit was the death nail on the “SNL”
coffin. No one is irreplaceable, but he comes mightily close.
No cast member has left the show in such shambles. Whereas Myers
had Adam Sandler waiting in the wings and Dana Carvey had David
Spade lined up behind him, Ferrell had a bunch of pretenders (Jeff
Richards, Fred Armisen) following in his footsteps. Part of this
misfortune was due to bad timing. Stars like Tim Meadows, Molly
Shannon, Cheri Oteri and Ana Gasteyer had vacated the premises
prior to Ferrell, creating a sudden and devastating void. I think
we’re all in agreement that the current cast is one of the
worst ever.
Don’t get me wrong. I can’t resist laughing at one
of Darrell Hammond’s many impressions. I admire Amy Poehler,
who is criminally underrated, for her wide range of characters.
However, Hammond is limited to playing politicians and celebrities,
and Poehler simply lacks the charisma to carry the show on her own.
If we can somehow morph the two together, we would have an
über cast member in the Ferrell mold.
Ferrell basically put “SNL” on his back and carried
it for his last three seasons. He had some of Hammond’s
uncanny impressionist talent as well as Poehler’s ability to
go from a raging lunatic to a sweet little five-year-old. The way
Ferrell got into character was frightening and his tendency to make
fellow cast members break character was a thing of beauty.
A lot of people will remember Ferrell as “the guy who
played George W. Bush.” However, he was at his comedic best
in sketches that featured him as a bit player, especially an insane
one that inappropriately screamed louder and angrier as the sketch
went on. Nonetheless, he created so many recurring sketches that a
large chunk of sketch ideas were useless once he left. Who’s
going to play the constipated Alex Trebek on “Celebrity
Jeopardy!” or the zany James Lipton on “Inside the
Actors Studio”? Where have you gone, Craig the Spartan Spirit
cheerleader?
Top Ferrell “SNL” moments: the John Rocker
“Weekend Update” tirade, “Behind the Music: Blue
Oyster Cult” and any Janet Reno sketch. E-mail Chang at
dchang@media.ucla.edu.