‘SNL’ Recap: Will Ferrell Brings Back George W. Bush

In the midst of a dreary season, SNL has been in dire need of a comedic kick in the ass. What better way to spark the funny than by bringing back Will Ferrell, who can create comedy out of anything, and who hosted what was by far the funniest SNL of the current season.

The cold open saw Ferrell’s George W. Bush addressing the country from the Oval Office – or, at least, from the replica of it he had built in Texas so he could pretend he’s still the president.

Bush – who has become so serious about his oil paintings that he’s getting his MFA from the University of Phoenix online – is here because thanks to comparisons to our current president, public opinion of him is changing for the better. He even believes he might wind up on Mt. Rushmore, next to Washington, Lincoln, and, “I wanna say, Kensington?”

But, it turns out, he’s not here just to gloat in his reinvention, but to remind America that as president, “I was really bad.” After all, we’re still in two wars that he started, he says. “What has two thumbs and started ISIS? This guy.”

In the end, Leslie Jones – whose episode promo featuring her imitating many of Ferrell’s characters is one of the best things she’s done – appears as Condoleezza Rice. She and Ferrell reminisce about the days they were in charge, leading them to duet on the All in the Family theme song, “Those Were The Days.”

SNL has had real problems with its cold opens this season, due to an over-reliance on Alec Baldwin’s impression of the president. The show is finally moving in different directions of late, and having Ferrell open as Bush was a welcome diversion. Plus, Ferrell’s Bush is one of the show’s all-time classic characters. Here, he didn’t disappoint.

Ferrell then came out for his monologue reeling with excitement, as if it was his first time on SNL‘s stage. Also, on his way out, he cracked his head on a steel beam, and was noticeably bleeding from the skull. The traditional Ferrell style bit had him sing “I Think I’m Gonna Like It Here” from Annie as he grew increasingly incoherent from the head injury. (“Is it time to introduce the musical guest? Ladies and gentleman, Matchbox 20.”) It reminded me of Ferrell’s “Mark Jensen Family Christmas” sketch from 2002, (not online, sadly), when a spinning platform got out of hand, causing Ferrell to projectile vomit as he sang a cheery Christmas tune.

The first sketch found Ferrell, Mikey Day, Beck Bennett and Chris Redd as fighter pilots. Giving their Top Gun-style call signs, Ferrell’s, it turns out, is Clown Penis. Ferrell plays this wonderfully straight, explaining that when he approaches the enemy, he wants them to feel the way you’d feel if a clown showed you his penis – “confused, unsettled, and most of all, very very scared. Rest assured, if you see a clown penis – me, or an actual clown’s penis – this just ain’t your day.” The sketch threw in a few non sequitur jokes at the end where Clown Penis lost his bearings – somehow, he wound up in space? – but the joke here was the clown penis, and a very funny joke it was.

Next, Ferrell played a house member in one of Bennett and Kyle Mooney’s parodies of reality TV. The premise: the three are living in a house together. They have plans for movie night, but Mooney thinks that means they’re going out to the movies, while Bennett thinks they’re watching a video. As they discuss this, every sentence leads to them talking to the confessional camera, and making the “drama” sound more consequential than it really is. I’m usually underwhelmed by Bennett and Mooney’s parodies, and felt the same here, although Ferrell and Tracy Morgan, who pops up for a few lines, do generate a few laughs.

Ferrell and Kate McKinnon then play an elderly couple shooting a commercial as real customers of a local, home cooking-style restaurant. Ferrell needs to say the line, “baked in a crispy pastry crust,” and his old man’s attempt to get this right is predictably disastrous, somehow leading to lines like, “baked in my crappy butt.” Then, McKinnon gets to try the same. I enjoyed this sketch – lightweight, but some solid laughs – but I was especially fascinated by the difference in Ferrell attempts at nonsense lines and McKinnon’s. Ferrell created word pictures that seemed just a touch to the side of the real lines, adding to the comedy. In comparison, McKinnon seemed to punt on the effort, letting her lines fade out. Yet another sign of why, no matter how good the people he appears with might be, no one tops Ferrell.

He, Redd and Aidy Bryant then play flight attendants who try to make a flight fun by giving the safety instructions in rap form. Ferrell kills the fun, though, when he includes the line, “God’s not real, when you die, you’re dead.” The rest of the brief sketch finds Ferrell promoting his atheist ideology against the wishes of a growingly frustrated Bryant. Props to Luke Null for his expert beatboxing (and for finally be given something – anything – to do). Not much here, but a few good laughs from Ferrell’s independence-minded atheist.

The commercial parody that followed played off the #timesup movement, selling a deodorant called Next for Men, introduced by Ferrell’s office worker. “I work hard, I play hard, and something’s coming out about me real soon. Because I’m…Next.” Next, the only anti-perspirant for men who are feeling the heat, because their time’s up. As Alex Moffat’s actor on a red carpet says, “I need an anti-perspirant that’ll work with me, because no one else will.” This was a smart and funny approach to a topic not always easy to make funny, but very much on people’s minds.

On “Weekend Update,” after the jokes – my favorite this week came from Michael Che, who noted that “Stephen Miller looks like he has a sex doll named Mother” – Ferrell brought back Jacob Silj, the man who can’t modulate his voice, as an economic advisor commenting on the president’s visit to Davos. The joke, as it was when Ferrell was a cast member, is that the Update host, Colin Jost here, asks him to stop shouting, and Ferrell goes off, accusing him of making light of his disease, voice immodulation syndrome. The rest of the sketch is Ferrell taking offense, then describing his life of crushing loneliness, including the awkwardness of people he loves hearing his sex noises, and how this somehow turned him gay.

Next, Heidi Gardner brought a new character to the desk, teen film critic and YouTube sensation Bailey Gismert. At first, she’s just awkward and inarticulate, calling every film “weird.” This soon evolves, as the stressed-out teen purges her every anxiety – or, at least, makes a show of doing so. Gardner is a strong actress, and if there was nothing at all groundbreaking about this character, Gardner’s all-in portrayal made it work.

Ferrell and Cecily Strong played a couple who star in a Real Housewives-type reality show, back to visit the friends they had before they achieved stardom. Their friends wonder if they have changed. News flash – they have. The pair are hilarious from the outset with dyed blond hair, faces that look pushed back from too many rounds of plastic surgery, stylish clothes, and even a little dog they carry everywhere. After a round of hellos, they bring in their camera crew, and immediately start screaming at their friends for no reason, generating drama. Basically an excuse for loutish behavior by Strong and Ferrell – ending with Ferrell throwing the meat from a barbecue at Day and Bennett – this was a bit more chaotic than probably intended. Bryant didn’t even pretend to hold it together, and while not that memorable, a Ferrell tantrum is always good for a laugh.

The next sketch featured three couples having a leisurely dinner, until Gardner brings up what has become the most forbidden topic of our time – the Aziz Ansari article. When she mentions Ansari’s name, the lights in the restaurant go dim, and each person at the table reacts as if they’ve just been tossed into a pit of lions. This did a great job of addressing how wildly polarizing – and, therefore, difficult to discuss – the Ansari episode has been for so many. As each person at the table tries to express a meticulously-curated opinion, they can’t get one word out of their mouths without someone else admonishing them, “careful.” For a fraught topic that divided public opinion, this was a smart way to turn it into comedy. The entire conversation occurs as if they’re on the verge of a deadly disaster, and when Bennett finally expresses the opinion that the woman in question should have just left, the entire table hides their faces, desperately seeking to escape.

Next, Ferrell played an office worker trying to tell his co-workers a story. When they laugh as he mixes up Cracker Barrel and Crate & Barrel, he can’t let it go. This turns into a lighter version of a Ferrell tantrum sketch, and shows how he can get laughs from virtually any premise, however thin.

The final sketch of the night is an infomercial for recordings by 1950s rock & roll musician Chucky Lee Byrd, the Poet of Teen Love, played by Ferrell. With hits like “Beauty Queen,” “Candy Baby,” and “Farmer Girl,” infomercial host Bennett talks about how the songs recall a more innocent time, while his co-host, McKinnon, has her doubts, listening to Ferrell sing a collection of songs about teenage girls. A smart rip on how, from the 50s-70s, virtually every major male rock performer had at least one song in their arsenal about inappropriately young girls. McKinnon grows increasingly disturbed at the progressively perverted songs, while Bennett struggles with loyalty to the singer who, it turns out, is his grandfather. A smart, funny take on a difficult topic.

SNL returns next week for its ambitious fourth consecutive show with host Natalie Portman and musical guest Dua Lipa.

Watch the Will Ferrell/Chris Stapelton episode of SNL on Hulu