Posted in: NBC, Preview, TV | Tagged: lorne michaels, nbc, preview, saturday night live, snl, will ferrell

Saturday Night Live: Is Will Ferrell SNL's Top 3? Who Makes Your Cut?

Published Sat, 30 Oct 2021 10:51:10 -0500

After an impressive two episodes in a row and a Halloween weekend off, NBC's Saturday Night Live returns next weekend with Succession star Kieran Culkin and musical guest Ed Sheeran (though after a positive COVID test reveal, that might be in question). So while we await the start of the promo cycle for next weekend (and hopefully some clarity on the Sheeran situation), we're taking a look at an interesting quote from series creator Lorne Michaels in a THR profile of SNL alum Will Ferrell. In the piece, Ferrell's time on the long-running sketch comedy/music series was examined, and how his 1995 start wasn't initially met with universal praise from the critics. Michaels said he never thought twice about bringing Ferrell aboard, and then followed with a statement that got our dumpster fires of random thoughts raging. "I never rank, but Will's definitely in the top two or three that have ever done the show," Michael stated. There's no question."

Hmmm… Ferrell's "the top two or three" that's ever done SNL? Well, that's a bold statement to throw down on the table like that- even if you are the show's creator. And this isn't an indictment on Ferrell in any way, shape, or form. It's just that the show's been on for now 47 seasons so a top-three ranking takes on a much bigger sense of honor and importance. So who would the other two be? Eddie Murphy? Tina Fey? Phil Hartman? Gilda Radner? Kristen Wiig? Maya Rudolph? Amy Poehler? Dan Aykroyd? John Belushi? Mike Meyers? And that's not even close to the names just off the top of our heads. So who would you have joining Ferrell on SNL's "Mount Rushmore trio"? Or if you don't think Ferrell belongs, who would your trio be? Let us know in the comments below.

Aidy Bryant, Michael Che, Pete Davidson, Mikey Day, Chloe Fineman, Heidi Gardner, Colin Jost, Kate McKinnon, Alex Moffat, Kyle Mooney, Ego Nwodim, Chris Redd, Cecily Strong, Kenan Thompson, Melissa Villaseñor, and Bowen Yang, along with returning feature players Andrew Dismukes & Punkie Johnson, and new feature players Aristotle Athari (Future Man, All Rise), James Austin Johnson (Silicon Valley) & Sarah Sherman (The Eric Andre Show) make up this season's cast. With NBC's long-running sketch/variety series inching closer to the 50th season mark, it does so as the winner of the 2021 Emmy Award for Variety Sketch Series- its fifth straight win in that category (with the series very close to the triple-digits tally when it comes to the number of Emmys won).