Will Ferrell | King Princess SNL Review
Press Conference Cold Opening
Even though I don’t mind the audience applause at the beginning of an episode, (which I’m seemingly in the minority of) I didn’t like it when Alec’s Trump gets applause, because it makes it seem like we like the guy he’s portraying, which we don’t.
Not caring for most of the jokes here so far.
Didn’t care for the gag with Trump reading a conversation about his food order.
Even though I know these jokes aren’t topical anymore, all of this is still coming off as white noise to me.
While I’m happy Will showed up to try and add life to this cold open, at the same time, I can’t help but feel bad for the comedy legend to stand there and try to be funny with this bad material.
That’s it?? Jesus christ, I’m happy it was fairly short, but at the same time it felt VERY underwritten and pointless honestly.
Rating: *
Monologue
Some fun energy from Will so far. He already made me laugh with the “Put your hands up” bit. My first laugh of the episode, by the way.
Ok, wow, Ryan Reynolds cameo. While I should be happy to see him, I feel a little disappointed that THIS is the monologue they gave Will. They couldn’t think of a monologue for him to carry the comedic material by himself?
Got a big laugh from Will’s Tracy Morgan impression.
Random Tracy Morgan cameo. And hey, Tracy pronounced Will’s last name correctly!
I will also give props to Ryan for giving a great straight man performance here.
While everything here was decent enough, it was disappointing that they couldn’t give Will a good solo monologue.
Rating: ***
Heinz Relax
A well-loved pretape from this era. This is also the last instance of a commercial pretape airing right after the monologue. That’s an aspect of the show I wish they continued doing, because the whole reason why they use the “We’ll be right back” tagline was for the commercial parody right after the monologue. Also, I can’t really think of a reason as to why they would need to stop.
Cecily, during the voiceover: The ketchup bottle makes an innocent noise, and everyone thinks you ripped one at the dinner table.
Great reveal of the ketchup bottle moaning.
Chris’ delivery of “That ain’t what it sounds like.” really made me laugh, even though that isn’t a big laugh line.
I got a laugh from Kyle trying to go to this room with the Ketchup bottle.
Overall, this deserves its high praise as a great commercial parody.
Rating: ****1/2
Democratic Debate
Kate’s Elizabeth Warren brings some fun energy, and her lines were decent here.
The material for Maya’s Kamala here is BAD. It just screams “How do you do, fellow kids?”.
Bernie Sanders’ Larry David impression is good here, as always.
Woody’s Biden is truly great here, and his lines are hilarious.
Chris is making a meal out of his lines as Cory Booker.
Woody’s Biden: “Let me tell you a story about my youth, or maybe a movie or cartoon.”
Bowen’s lines as Andrew Yang are mediocre, despite Bowen’s commitment.
Will’s facial expression as Tom Steyer is really funny, but like with Bowen, his lines aren’t anything worth noting.
Eh, Fred as Bloomberg here isn’t necessary. His impression sounds like a bad Christopher Walken impression at certain points, and the writing isn’t good either.
Rachel is good here as Amy Klobuchar, but her lines aren’t, and this role could’ve been given to a cast member EASILY.
Good laughs from Bernie listing the things that come out of his pocket.
Oh yeah, Colin and Cecily are in this cold open. Their only comedic material in this whole thing were their introductions and closing statements, they got NOTHING in between.
Overall, there were some good laughs here, but there was also a lot of stuff here I didn’t care for, particularly Maya as Kamala here.
Rating: **1/2
First Thanksgiving
I’m not really sure where this is supposed to be going so far.
Also, why are Maya and Fred in this sketch? There is no reason for them to be here.
I didn’t laugh at Will getting his news from a fox.
Yeah, I’m not laughing at Will being a bigot at ALL. If this was rewritten with a clear concept in mind, then this might be ok, but this is just a mess. Will really is trying here, but it’s just embarrassing seeing him here.
What? They’re trying to justify this with a meta ending? What the hell???
Wow, that was bad.
Rating: *
Party Song
An ok reveal of Will as a Teacher being at the party.
I really like Mikey being weirded out at Will being at the party. I also love that Will is just doing regular things in the house, which makes it funnier.
Will’s decline is ok, but I wish that this was building up to something more dark, because that’s what it seemed like this pretape was doing at the beginning.
Heidi as a stressed out wife is a role she always excels at, and this particular one is no exception.
That was it? The ending didn’t even feel like an ending.
Overall, this was ok. But if it was built up to something more dark, I would’ve liked it a lot more.
Rating: ***
Bertucci’s
I didn’t laugh at the beginning with Kate’s character talking about “Hornin’ it up”. It felt too random and non-sequitur.
I’m not caring for the concept of this sketch, but Kate’s performance is good, and some of her lines are decent enough.
Wow, I like that Will can’t function without Kate. It’s taking this a step further, a step that the Party Song couldn’t take for some reason.
I like the melodramatic turn this is taking with Will, and his lines are funny here.
Wow, this is getting a lot better. Will continues to be great with his melodramatic lines, and Kate and Will caressing each other is really funny.
Overall, after a weak start, it got a LOT BETTER the further it went.
Rating: ***½
Weekend Update
Oh yeah, I forgot that Colin wore a lighter colored suit in this season.
Jeez, these Impeachment hearings feel like they happened decades ago, when it was really 6 years ago.
Good jokes from Colin and Che here, but nothing noteworthy to me.
Alex’s GWJBAB character is one of my favorite things he did on the show, so it’s nice to see him here.
Alex is perfect as this character as usual, and Colin’s disgusted reactions to him are really funny.
GWJBAB: We were fighting over C’s. She wanted B’s, but I said “Hey, I’m paying for them, we’re getting the cup-grade.”
All of Alex’s lines here are hilarious as usual.
It’s nice to see Ryan in this commentary, as this character type seems perfect for him.
Dang, it turns out Ryan isn’t really working here, which is disappointing. I think the issue is Ryan’s delivery. The main thing that makes these pieces greater than they already are, is the fast and flawless delivery from Alex. But Ryan’s delivery is going at a more normal pace, and it isn’t really working. The writing is still funny though, so I can’t complain too much.
Overall, a good Update, and Alex as Guy with a Boat is always fun.
Rating: ***½
Cinema Classics: The Wizard of Oz
Kenan as Reese De’What is pretty funny.
Good laugh from Will’s walk-on.
I’m getting good laughs from Kate’s hesitance to tell the people who they were in her dream.
Will: WHAT WERE WE WEARING?
I can’t find much to say about this, but it’s making me laugh.
Everything here was fine, and I got enough llaughs, but after the reveal, there isn’t anywhere else for this sketch to go.
Rating: ***
Ventriloquist
Will’s doing good here so far, and is doing an accurate representation of these cheesy ventriloquist comedians.
I got a laugh from Kenan and Cecily’s forced laughs.
I love the dumb concept to this sketch, and it's executed well. It also helps that Will’s voice as the puppet is really funny. I can’t help but imagine if Will did this sketch while he was a cast member, and he was playing the puppet while the host or someone else would be the Ventriloquist.
I love how this is getting increasingly darker. Will’s yelps as the puppet are increasingly hilarious.
Will as the Puppet: I SPENT HOURS HEMORRHAGING ON THE TOILET YOU MONSTER. MY INSIDES ARE PULP.
Will putting Vaseline on his hand and putting it back in the puppet was hilarious. Everything about this sketch is so absurd, and I love it.
Rating: ****½
CFT: Jeans Commercial
An okay sight gag of Will’s jeans having a hole just for the crack.
Unfortunately, there’s not much to this outside of that. And this doesn’t really work as a full on pretape commercial. I think this joke would be pretty funny if it was an Update joke or a cutaway in a sketch.
I did get a good laugh from Ego throwing something into Alex’s Peekaboo jeans, and him saying “Bullseye” into the camera with a smug smile. Other than that, this was pretty weak.
Rating: **
CFT: Date in Mexico
I’m getting decent laughs from Will’s weird energy.
Will: My mom says I make bad choices. *proud laugh*
Will walking off and screaming was pretty funny.
Despite a good start, this has a dead energy that is really hurting this for me.
Will’s committing here like always, and I’m still getting an occasional laugh here and there, but there’s an off vibe to this that I don’t like, and it’s hurting the sketch for me.
Yeah this is really dying near the end.
Rating: **
CFT: Cast List
This is a VERY well-loved sketch from not only this season, but from this entire ERA. I’m very interested to rewatch it, since when I watched it for the first time, I wasn’t really into it. But I’ll go into it this time with an open mind.
Good laugh from Mikey’s thing that Beck could NEVER do. (That’s the best I can describe it)
Will, right outta the gate, is killing me with his line “SHUT UP BETH.”
Good laugh from Will watching them through the mask in the door.
Will: Tell God I need an answer NOW. Tell God “Gracias”
Jesus, the great lines from Will keep coming. “If you’re gonna kiss my ass, at least tell me how it tastes.” “Good god, you read like such virgins.”
Aidy’s character seems pretty unnecessary here, and I think she’s aware of that, based on the delivery of most of her lines, and the lack of real commitment.
The whole sequence with Will slowly getting ready to put the cast list on the wall, then remembering he needs tape was really funny.
I just realized that the sketch is over half way through, and other than one laugh at the beginning, my ONLY laughs have been from Will. Everything else I just sat and watched. Even though there was comedy there, I didn’t really find it funny.
That theme continues when Will comes back out and asks them to back up, his arm movements threw me off and it was HILARIOUS. It was also really funny seeing almost everyone else in the sketch break character, in particular Mikey who is trying his DAMNDEST to keep it together. Kyle also breaks pretty hard, which shocked me as I’ve never seen Kyle break character before this point.
Ha, Kenan KILLED me with his walk-on.
Overall, I really liked this piece, but mainly because Will carried it throughout. He was the only thing providing me laughs throughout. But he was so funny here, that this was passable for me.
Rating: ***½
CFT: Harry Styles Sketch
Funny reveal of Will as Harry Styles. Also, my god, Will looks like a GIANT. I know he’s fairly tall but it honestly caught me off guard how tall he looks here.
Will’s portrayal of Harry as a shy boy is pretty funny.
I don’t think the dialogue with Cecily saying he’s 17 and Kate saying “Jackpot” was necessary.
Will singing What Makes You Beautiful is pretty funny, and he surprisingly cracks up a bit while singing it.
Will, while asking the women to not look at his “D word”: I brought it from England with me, and I call it Big Ben.
This sketch was pretty dumb but Will made it work, I honestly would’ve much rather had this in the actual show than that First Thanksgiving mess.
Rating: ***
Thoughts
A very average episode. It’s borderlining on forgettable, but Ventriloquist and Heinz Relax are season highlights, and bump up the overall show a bit. But the rest of the show was pretty forgettable, despite Will’s strong hosting performance. Also, two ABYSMAL segments (The Trump Cold Open, and First Thanksgiving) bring down this episode quite a bit.
Segments ranked Best to Worst
Ventriloquist
Heinz Relax
Weekend Update
CFT: Cast List
Bertucci’s Commercial
Party Song
CFT: Harry Styles Sketch
Cinema Classics: The Wizard of Oz
Monologue
Democratic Debate
CFT: Date in Mexico
CFT: Jeans Commercial
Trump Press Conference
First Thanksgiving
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