NBC’s Saturday Night Live returns next weekend with Succession star Kieran Culkin and musical guest Ed Sheeran, following an impressive two episodes in a row and a Halloween weekend off (though after a positive COVID test reveal, that might be in question). So, while we wait for next weekend’s promo cycle to begin (and hopefully some clarity on the Sheeran situation), we’re looking at an interesting quote from series creator Lorne Michaels in a THR profile of SNL alum Will Ferrell. The piece looked at Ferrell’s time on the long-running sketch comedy/music series, and how his 1995 debut wasn’t met with universal acclaim from critics.
Michaels stated that he had no reservations about bringing Ferrell on board, and then proceeded to make a statement that sparked our dumpster fires of random thoughts. “I never rank people, but Will is definitely in the top two or three of anyone who has ever done the show,” Michael said. There’s no doubt about it.
“Hmmm… Ferrell’s “top two or three” SNL performers? Even if you are the creator of the show, that is a bold statement to make. And this is in no way, shape, or form an indictment of Ferrell. It’s just that the show has now aired for 47 seasons, so a top-three ranking has a much greater sense of honour and significance. So, who are the other two? What about Eddie Murphy? What about Tina Fey? What about Phil Hartman? What about Gilda Radner? What about Kristen Wiig? What about Maya Rudolph?
What about Amy Poehler? What about Dan Aykroyd? What about John Belushi? What about Mike Meyers? And that doesn’t even begin to cover the names we can think of off the top of our heads. So, who would you have on SNL’s “Mount Rushmore trio” with Ferrell? If you don’t think Ferrell belongs, who would make up your trio? Please let us know in the comments section below.
This season’s cast includes 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 Villaseor, and Bow Yang, as well as returning feature players Andrew Dismukes and Punkie Johnson and new feature players Aristotle Athari (Future Man With NBC’s long-running sketch/variety series approaching its 50th season, it does so as the winner of the 2021 Emmy Award for Variety Sketch Series, its fifth consecutive victory in that category (with the series very close to the triple-digits tally when it comes to the number of Emmys won).
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