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April
27, 2001
News:
Will
WINS!!...
Will Ferrell was
the winner in the category
"FUNNIEST MALE PERFORMER IN A
TELEVISION SPECIAL" at the 15th
annual American Comedy
Awards. He beat out the likes
of Billy Crystal, Gary Shandling
and Jon Stewart for the award. He
was honored for his work on the
network special "Saturday Night
Live Presidential Bash 2000."
His acceptance speech was one
of the funnier ones of the night
as he was delayed from speaking
at the microphone with a mouth
full of food. When he was
finished chewing, he said that he
wanted to share the award with
Darrell Hammond for his
portrayals of Al Gore and Bill
Clinton. He thanked everyone who
worked at Saturday Night Live,
including "Lonnie" Michaels.
He finished by thanking his
wife because she had "a sweet
little ass."
You can catch the
American
Comedy Awards when
they're rebroadcast on
Comedy
Central Friday, April
27th at 9:00 PM, and on Saturday,
April 28th at 1:00 PM.
Website
News:
Updates...
The lack of updates,
for those that have asked, is due
to th oldest excuse in the book:
I'm a friggin' busy guy. Aside
from my regular 9-5 job, I'm also
a freelance artist on the side so
sometimes I have quite a bit on
my plate.
Rest assured, though, Planet
Will is still alive and well,
even if Will has only gotten back
to me one in the 4 years this
site has been around. No worries,
though, as I've got some things
started to update this site with
in the near future, not the least
of which includes fixing the
Message Boards and the Guestbook,
adding a news archive section,
and, oh yeah, BRINGING BACK
THE VIDEO SECTION! Stay tuned
for that!s
Talk to you all later.
February
25, 2001
Website
News:
Video
and audio problems...
As a reminder:
problems with bandwidth persist
and are keeping the video and
audio sections out of commission
for the time being. Thanks,
again, for your patience. I'm
hoping that a solution will
present itself soon.
February
8, 2001
Will
and George:
Bush
is a Burden for Ferrell
from
Jim Rutenberg / New York
Times
PThe television set anchored
to the wall in Will Ferrell's
"Saturday Night Live" dressing
room at NBC was tuned to the Fox
News Channel; George W. Bush was
on the screen, taking the
presidential oath.
Mr. Ferrell, who has been
impersonating the new president
for national audiences since
early last year, watched his
subject with a slight grin on his
apple-pie face. As Mr. Bush held
up his right hand, Mr. Ferrell
did the same. In a mild, dress
rehearsal- level mimicry of the
new president, Mr. Ferrell said
in mock fear: "This is it.
There's no turning back. It's
happening."
He dropped his hand, sat down
in front of his mirror, popped a
grape into his mouth and shook
his head in a mix of disapproval
and bewilderment. But there was
also excitement.
For Mr. Ferrell, 33, the
inauguration of Mr. Bush was a
moment of ambivalence. He was
fairly open about it: he voted
for Vice President Al Gore and he
has big questions about Mr.
Bush's preparedness for his new
job.
But then Mr. Bush's election
campaign, with all of its twists
and turns, has given an enormous
boost to Mr. Ferrell's already
healthy career as a comedian. He
now stands as the leading
impersonator of the commander in
chief, as a definer of President
Bush for the popular culture at
large. He takes the reins from
his "Saturday Night Live" co-star
Darrell Hammond, impersonator of
President Bill Clinton.
It is an oddly burdensome role
that Mr. Ferrell said he was not
necessarily comfortable with: the
kind of burden, he said, that can
kill a good comedy routine.
"In this job, you can't really
worry about that kind of stuff
that much," he said. "I just view
it as doing another character on
the show."
Yet Mr. Ferrell is aware that
despite decades of political
theater - with Rich Little
impersonating President Richard
M. Nixon and Vaughn Meader as
President John F. Kennedy -
perhaps no other comedic bits
have had more national news
exposure than those performed on
"Saturday Night Live" by Mr.
Ferrell as Mr. Bush and by Mr.
Hammond as Al Gore during the
election.
Chevy Chase is remembered by
those who saw him during the
early glory days of "Saturday
Night Live" as a hilarious
impersonator of President Gerald
R. Ford as an uncoordinated
bumbler, a routine that was funny
partly because it made no attempt
to portray the man in any other
sense. His colleague Dan Ackroyd
played a mean and scheming Nixon
and a pious Jimmy Carter. Years
later Dana Carvey offered a
signature impersonation of the
first President Bush, who
ultimately invited him to the
White House. That was about as
far as political humor traveled
into the news realm.
But Mr. Ferrell and Mr.
Hammond's recurring act as Mr.
Bush and Mr. Gore was born in an
age of three 24-hour cable news
channels, one of which, , MSNBC,
is owned by their network. And it
was extended by the dispute over
voting results, news about which
the nation simply could not get
enough. (Propelled by the
election skits, "Saturday Night
Live" had its biggest ratings in
six years.)
Their routines were played and
replayed on the broadcast and
cable news programs, with their
impact snowballing to the point
that both Mr. Bush and Mr. Gore
showed up to make fun of
themselves on a "Saturday Night
Live" prime-time election special
in November. It was the first
appearance on the show by
presidential candidates in
"Saturday Night Live's" history.
Mr. Gore's aides even showed him
a tape of the sketch that ran
after the first election debate
to help him prepare for his
second encounter with Mr.
Bush.
"I think if you look at it
historically, cartoons and
popular caricatures have always
had a big impact on presidents,"
said Michael Beschloss, the
presidential historian. "Now you
have to multiply that by about 50
because of the force of
television, where it is replayed
and replayed."
Mr. Beschloss said that
comedians in general - like Jon
Stewart, Jay Leno and David
Letterman - may have also assumed
a greater role in this election
year because times were
relatively good for the
nation.
"In an era where we're not
dealing with the cold war and
not, thank God, dealing with the
Depression, other voices come
into the dialogue and loom larger
than they might have during a
grave time," he said.
These comedic voices are
rarely, if ever, flattering.
Mr. Hammond's Al Gore had
somewhat slurred speech and the
condescending air of the nerdy
smart kid who is universally
disliked by classmates. Mr.
Ferrell's George
Bush was an inarticulate,
squinty- eyed frat boy doing his
best to fake his way through
final exams. Mr. Ferrell's Mr.
Bush promised to emerge from the
election process "victoriant";
his one-word election mantra was
"strategery." In a recent skit in
which Mr. Gore and the
president's brother, Gov. Jeb
Bush, are shown debating the
country's future, Mr. Ferrell's
George Bush is in the corner of
the room playing with a ball of
string like a cat.
Though his portrayal may well
have capitalized on a negative
image of Mr. Bush that had
already taken shape on its own in
some circles, it helped fix it in
the public mind.
"I think it's going to be very
hard for Bush to get away from
the image that this guy has
created for him in people's
minds," said Eric Foner,
professor of American history at
Columbia University.
Both he and Mr. Beschloss
suggested that Mr. Bush would be
able to counter it by making
joking references to Mr.
Ferrell's act or by embracing Mr.
Ferrell at a public event. While
Mr. Bush did join in when he
visited "Saturday Night Live" (he
said he was "ambilavent" about
the appearance because some of
the show's material has been
"offensible") Mr. Ferrell said
that a public embrace seemed
unlikely.
"Let's just say I don't think
I'll be going up to
Kennebunkport," said Mr. Ferrell
in a reference to the Bush
family's Maine vacation home. The
White House did not return phone
calls seeking comment on
President Bush's view of Mr.
Ferrell's caricature.
Mr. Ferrell said that his
decision to be open about his low
regard for Mr. Bush did not come
lightly. He said he recognized
there was "a fine line" he had to
walk, although he does not
consider himself a highly
political person. But he added:
"You shouldn't have a problem
being political, expressing
yourself. It's funny in the
stories and stuff; I don't know
whether to be unabashed about
that or not, but, yeah, I didn't
vote for him."
His general description of Mr.
Bush? "Let's just put it this
way: I wouldn't be surprised if
this is, like, just a stepping
stone on his way to being
commissioner of baseball.
It's just like, `O.K., I'll do
this for a while.' " Addressing
television critics this month in
Pasadena, Calif., Mr. Ferrell
said, "I think he's probably
drawing up plans to set up a
mechanical bull in the Oval
Office."
This perspective informs the
Mr. Bush that Mr. Ferrell plays
on the program, although the
skits are written by others
before being customized by the
comedian. For instance, in the
"Saturday Night Live" sketch
based upon the first debate
between Mr. Gore and Mr. Bush,
Mr. Ferrell's Mr. Bush was slow
to answer questions, and
steadfastly avoided saying too
much lest he misstate a fact.
"If you noticed in the
debates, he took these long
pauses, which some people, I'm
sure, read as wisdom," Mr.
Ferrell said. "But I just read it
as, like, `I'm . . . trying . . .
to . . . think . . . what . . .
I'm . . . supposed . . . to . . .
say.' "
Mr. Ferrell said he did not
consider his portrayal of Mr.
Bush a dead- on imitation and
that he did not bring the sort of
precise observation to his act
practiced by Mr. Hammond, who
studies hours of tapes for facial
tics and idiosyncrasies of
speech.
He said he tried instead to
capture the essence of Mr. Bush's
mannerisms. "I try to get as good
as I can, and then I kind of
almost throw it out, and then I
go on just
mannerism and what comes to me
comedically in terms of attitude
and play it that way," he said.
"I don't sound that dead-on like
him. It's a blending of trying to
get his
facial stuff down and just
kind of like the beady eyes and
his mouth kind of droops a little
bit."
Now that Mr. Bush has emerged
the winner, Mr. Ferrell is often
asked to appear on political talk
shows to offer his insights into
the man.
He has been refusing many such
requests, he said. Mr. Ferrell,
who six years ago was a
relatively obscure comic with the
Groundlings improvisational group
in Los Angeles, is clearly
uncomfortable with this new
role.
Mr. Ferrell has been used in a
variety of roles on "Saturday
Night," none of which has greatly
upstaged any other. He is as well
known for his impersonation of
Attorney General Janet Reno as he
is for his role as Craig, the
annoying cheerleader, which he
said is the way he wants it. He
fears that the Bush act could
impinge on his comedy, he said,
and dictate the future of his
career. Recently he has begun
crossing over into movies: he was
a co-star on "A Night at the
Roxbury" and will appear in the
forthcoming Kevin Smith film,
"Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back,"
and in Ben Stiller's film
"Zoolander." He also supplies the
voice for one character in a new
WB network animated series, "The
Oblongs".
"I think that the tendency is
to be like: `Whoa! You're so
lucky! You get to do the
president,' " he said. "But I've
seen how, like, you can just get
kind of railroaded into doing the
one thing." Still, he said, "It
has definitely, on some level,
been the most exciting role in
terms of the attention."
As for what he expects of his
Bush act in the future, Mr.
Ferrell said he sometimes
wondered if the act could
replicate the highs it reached
during the election campaign and
its aftermath. "Sometimes, it is,
like, `Wow, I wonder if we kind
of got as close to the sun as
we're ever going to get,' " he
said.
Ultimately, Mr. Ferrell said,
it is up to President Bush. "He's
really going to determine it, in
a way," he said. "If he's going
to keep making news, we'll keep
doing stuff."
Website
News:
Video
and audio problems...
Problems with
bandwidth persist and are keeping
the video and audio secions out
of commission for the time being.
Thanks for your patience.
February
3, 2001
Website
News:
Video
and audio problems...
The video and audio
sketches are currently down in
the MULTIMEDIA section. I'll let
you know when they're back
up.
January
20, 2001
Update:
Videos
added...
6, count 'em, 6 new
videos added to the VIDEO
section!
News:
Ferrell
Not Stating for Bush?
from
saturday-night-live.com
Will Ferrell isn't sure if
he'll be sticking around for the
entire George W. Bush
administration -- four more
seasons would make him the
longest-standing "SNL" cast
member ever.
"I don't want to be the guy
who's been graduated from high
school for two years and is still
hangin' out in the parking lot
looking for girls," Ferrell tells
The Dallas Morning news. "It's an
interesting show to be a part of.
Some people leave too early, some
people stay too long. At a
certain point, you kind of have
to graduate."
Ferrell says he's been
studying Bush's mannerisms when
he has the chance, but basically
views the incoming leader of the
free world as "just a character I
play on the show."
Ferrell,
Morgan Strike Back
from
saturday-night-live.com
Will Ferrell and Tracy Morgan
are among the stars of
writer/director Kevin Smith's
next film, "Jay and Silent Bob
Strike Back."
The plot of the Dimension
Films project remains shrouded in
secrecy, though producers
referred to the film as the final
installment of Smith's so-called
New Jersey chronicles, which
includes "Clerks," "Mallrats,"
and "Chasing Amy." Shannon
Elizabeth, Judd Nelson, George
Carlin, Jason Biggs, Jason Lee,
and Jason Mewes are among those
also appearing. Filming is slated
to begin this month with an
August 10 release date.
"In the tradition of 'A Mad,
Mad World,' we've worked with
Kevin to put together an ensemble
of the finest comedic actors,''
said Dimension co-chairman Bob
Weinstein. "This will be one of
the biggest event comedies of the
summer.''
Ferrell
Plays Bush, Votes Gore
from
Zap2it.com
Even though he voted for Vice
President Gore in November, actor
Will Ferrell will profit from
George W. Bush's presence in the
White House. After all, he'll
have time to finely tune his
regular "Saturday Night Live"
impression of the future
POTUS.
"Let's put it this way: I just
put a down payment on a boat,"
said the actor as a recent press
conference where he was promoting
his voice work on the WB's
upcoming animated show "The
Oblongs."
This past season Ferrell got a
chance to meet Bush when the
Texas oilman turned politician
did a small walk-on for "SNL."
According to Ferrell, their
interaction was cursory at
best.
"Initially, he didn't know
that I was the guy who played
him, if that gives you any
indication of what we are in
store for the next four
years."
Although the two men did not
get a chance to converse at any
length, Ferrell later received a
note from Bush saying how much he
appreciated Ferrell's take on
him. Still, this is more response
than Ferrell has received from
one of his other stock characters
-- Attorney General Janet Reno.
Ferrell joked that he hasn't
heard from her "since we were
roommates in the early '80s."
Curious
About George
from
People
DCount Saturday Night Live's
Will Ferrell among the winners of
Election 2000: He'll ride on the
presidential coattails of Chevy
Chase, Dana Carvey and Darrell
Hammond (who plays Bill Clinton
as well as Al Gore) as the sketch
comedy's spoofer-in-chief.
"Darrell's this master technician
and has almost this scientific
approach to the way he breaks
down impersonating someone.
"I'm not an impressionist. I
try to get more of an overall
feel for what they do," says
Ferrell, 33, who struck gold with
his squinty-eyed, scatterbrained
take on George W. Bush. "I just
mucked my way through it, and it
fit George W., so it worked out.
And since Al Gore is very
precise, Darrell's approach fit
him the best." He is also looking
forward to reteaming with
Hammond.
"Darrell's got his Dick Cheney
ready to go," says Ferrell. "This
roller coaster ride is going to
continue."
--Jason Lynch
SNL's
Will Ferrell & Darrell
Hammond
from
Entertainment Weekly
During this comically chaotic
election season, mocking the
candidates was like shooting fish
in a barrel. But thanks to the
cutting impressions of Ferrell
(as George W. Bush) and Hammond
(as Al Gore), Saturday Night Live
bypassed shooting and went
directly to bludgeoning,
garroting, and eviscerating, then
selling the barrel for scrap.
From summing up the pointlessness
of the first debate in two words
(lockbox and strategery) to a TV
Land-worthy Odd Couple parody
where the two in-limbo candidates
share the White House, these two
cast mates uplifted SNL's "let's
play dress-up" approach from mere
mimicry to inspired political
satire. The chameleonlike Hammond
effortlessly passed himself the
Democratic baton; while his
Clinton was all in the pinched
thumb, his Gore seems channeled
out of his chin-tucking reflex,
as if stifling a belch, to stress
his "I agree"s in a sleepy
Tennessee drawl. Ferrell, on the
other hand, dispenses his mirror
imagery, taking a Chevy-as-Ford
approach: Armed with only a faint
Texas accent and a confused
squint, the performance is pure
simpleton, and simply scathing.
(Giggles "Bush" over a gum
cartoon, "Man, Bazooka Joe, you
don't have to throw a clock to
see if time flies!) In a word,
hilarityous.
--Josh Wolk
December
19, 2000
News:
SNL's
Will Ferrell & Darrell
Hammond
from
Entertainment Weekly
During this comically chaotic
election season, mocking the
candidates was like shooting fish
in a barrel. But thanks to the
cutting impressions of Ferrell
(as George W. Bush) and Hammond
(as Al Gore), Saturday Night Live
bypassed shooting and went
directly to bludgeoning,
garroting, and eviscerating, then
selling the barrel for scrap.
From summing up the pointlessness
of the first debate in two words
(lockbox and strategery) to a TV
Land-worthy Odd Couple parody
where the two in-limbo candidates
share the White House, these two
cast mates uplifted SNL's "let's
play dress-up" approach from mere
mimicry to inspired political
satire. The chameleonlike Hammond
effortlessly passed himself the
Democratic baton; while his
Clinton was all in the pinched
thumb, his Gore seems channeled
out of his chin-tucking reflex,
as if stifling a belch, to stress
his "I agree"s in a sleepy
Tennessee drawl. Ferrell, on the
other hand, dispenses his mirror
imagery, taking a Chevy-as-Ford
approach: Armed with only a faint
Texas accent and a confused
squint, the performance is pure
simpleton, and simply scathing.
(Giggles "Bush" over a gum
cartoon, "Man, Bazooka Joe, you
don't have to throw a clock to
see if time flies!) In a word,
hilarityous.
--Josh Wolk
Even
Dubya laughs at SNL's
jokes
from
MSNBC
Dec. 18...George W. Bush
apparently has a better sense of
humor about himself than many of
his fans do. Some ardent
Republicans are furious about
comedian Will Ferrell's stinging
impersonation of the
president-elect on "Saturday
Night Live," sources say.
"[SNL] HAS GOTTEN some
really nasty letters and e-mails
about it," says one insider.
"[Some Bush supporters]
think it's unfair and biased for
[SNL] to portray Bush as
dumb. I'd imagine that some of
Gore's fans probably aren't
thrilled about the impersonations
of him either, but they've been
less vocal. Some of the Bush
supporters have been pretty
unpleasant."
A spokesman for the show
declined to comment, saying, "We
don't discuss fan mail or viewer
reaction." But Ferrell's agent
says that when Bush appeared on
the show in November, he made a
point of telling the comedian
that he enjoys the impersonation.
"He told Ferrell he thinks he
does a good job," says the agent.
"He thinks it's really
funny."
More
Jay and Silent Bob Casting
News
from
The Hollywood Reporter
Writer/director Kevin Smith
has finished casting his upcoming
comedy Jay and Silent Bob
Strike Back. The latest
additions to the cast are: Will
Ferrell, Shannon Elizabeth,
George Carlin, Seann William
Scott, Jason Biggs, Tracy Morgan
and E! Entertainment's Steve
Kmetko and Jules Asner. Smith,
Judd Nelson, Jason Mewes, Brian
O'Halloran, Jason Lee and Jeff
Anderson are already in line to
appear in the project, which is
slated to begin filming in
January for an August 10
release.
Although Dimension Films is
keeping mum about plot and budget
details, company co-chairman Bob
Weinstein assures us that Jay and
Silent Bob Strike Back will be
the "biggest event comedy of the
summer."
Update:
Videos
added...
Palm Beach and a
strange magazine. Hmmmmm.
2 new videos have been added to
the VIDEO
section.
December
6, 2000
Update:
Videos
added...
Roxbury, Rocky Roads
and Shopping! Oh my!
3 new videos have been added to
the VIDEO
section.
November
28, 2000
Update:
Audio
sketches added...
More AUDIO
SKETCHES were added
including Will and Horatio Sanz
as bad wedding singers and Janet
Reno declaring martial law.
Videos
added...
2 new videos added to
the VIDEO
section revolving around this
year's Presidential debates.
November
18, 2000
News:
Ferrell
Gets Shot by Pimp in Disney
Comedy
(Courtesy saturday-night-live.com)
Will Ferrell and "SNL" writer
Matt Piedmont have sold an action
comedy pitch to Disney, according
to The Hollywood Reporter.
Disney has paid a low-six
figure sum for the "Untitled Will
Ferrell" project, which Piedmont
will write, about a hard-nosed
cop (Ferrell) in the 1970s who
slips into a coma after being
shot by a pimp. The officer wakes
up in present and teams with his
former partner's daughter to hunt
down the pimp, who turns out to
be the largest crime boss in Los
Angeles.
Robert Simonds, who always
seems willing to lend a hand to
films starring "SNL" cast
members, is set to produce the
Ferrell project. He has
previously taken producer credits
on all of Adam Sandler's
comedies, both of Norm
Macdonald's movies, and Jim
Breuer's "Half Baked." He will
also produce the upcoming "Joe
Dirt," starring David Spade, and
"Corky Bonono," with Chris
Kattan.
Update:
New
section added...
There's a new section
in he MEDIA
section called AUDIO
SKETCHES which has, well,
SNL sketches on audio. It's very
cool. Check it out.
Videos
added...
5 new videos added to
the VIDEO
section, including The Coconut
Bangers Ball and Wake Up and
Smile!
November
12, 2000
News:
Will
to Work with Stiller again...
Will Ferrell has
joined the cast of Paramount
Pictures' feature "Zoolander,"
according to Variety.
The comedy stars Owen Wilson and
former "SNL" featured player Ben
Stiller, who wrote the screenplay
and will direct. Ferrell is set
to play Mugatu, a flamboyant
fashion designer and rival to
Stiller's character.
More on this soon...
Update:
Videos
added...
Some new videos have
been added to the VIDEO
page in the MEDIA
section, including an episode of
Dog how and a meeting of the
Brasky Boys!
Transcipts
added...
There are some new
transcipts added to the TRANSCRIPT
page of the MEDIA
section.
The
Ladies Man...
A page for the film
The
Ladies Man has finally
been put up. Sorry for the wait
on that.
|
