Will Ferrell leaving SNL
 

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmp.../en_tv_eo/9911


After seven years as a Saturday Night Live stalwart, the funnyguy famous for his dead-on impersonation of President George W. Bush's mangled vocabulary has announced he's quitting his gig as a Not Ready for Prime-Time Player.

"Being on SNL has been a fulfillment of a dream. This show gave me opportunities that just wouldn't have been possible had I remained a bank teller in Irvine," says Ferrell. "The people I've come to know and work with have made my time here the best it could possibly be. I will truly miss them."

The 35-year-old Ferrell plans on following the well-worn path of other SNL alumni and trying his luck on the big screen.

Ferrell, a former member of L.A.'s famed comedy troupe the Groundlings, joined the cast of Saturday Night Live (news - Y! TV) in 1995 after being tapped by SNL founder and executive producer Lorne Michaels. He went on to create numerous characters for the show, including Craig, the Spartan Spirit cheerleader, and Marty Culp, the middle school music teacher who crooned horribly off-key covers of pop tunes.

But it was his signature impressions of Jeopardy!'s Alex Trebek, film buff James Lipton (of Bravo's Inside the Actor's Studio), Neil Diamond and a less than sharp George "Dubya" Bush that made him an SNL star and earned him Emmys last year for Outstanding Individual Performance in a Variety or Music Program and for Outstanding Writing for a Variety, Music or Comedy Program.

In his downtime from SNL, Ferrell has made a few forays on the big screen, most notably as the Moroccan hit man Mustafa in the Austin Powers franchise. He did a hilarious Bob Woodward in the Nixon spoof Dick and played the villainous fashion designer Mugatu in last year's Zoolander. Ferrell also starred in the sketch-to-screen clunker A Night at the Roxbury and Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back.

In an interview Tuesday with the Los Angeles Times, Ferrell says he still needs to convince studio execs that he's more than a one-dimensional second banana. "I'm in that category of, 'Oh, he's funny,' " Ferrell says, not in the leading-man leagues.

He currently has three projects in the pipeline that he hopes will make him a star in the vein of such SNL vets as Bill Murray, Chevy Chase, Eddie Murphy, Adam Sandler and Mike Myers. (Classic episodes of Saturday Night Live can be seen Monday through Friday on E! at 7 p.m. ET/PT.)

First up is Old School, an Animal House-style comedy costarring Ferrell, Luke Wilson and Vince Vaughn as three thirtysomething friends who, disillusioned with life, decide to relive the glory of their college days by founding their own fraternity next to a university. The Todd Phillips (Road Trip) flick is due out September 27.

Ferrell will then segue into Elf, a holiday comedy in which he stars as a human raised in Santa's workshop at the North Pole who finds out he isn't actually an elf. That starts shooting in the fall.

Finally, he will join forces with SNL scribe Adam McKay to write Ron Burgundy, in which Ferrell will star as a veteran local TV anchor forced to team up with a female coanchor.

Before he begins his star turns, Ferrell will next be seen on the big screen reprising his role as Mustafa in Austin Powers in Goldmember, which opens July 26.

Ferrell bows out of SNL on the May 18 season finale.

That sux, I love his Trebek impressions.

A few years ago, someone raised a great point: whenever Wil raises his voice or shouts, it's usually very funny.

At first I thought this was a silly statement until I really started to keep an eye on him. And then realized, it's true....

Maybe the show won't suck now! Oh wait, that would require ALL of the cast to be gone... drat

"Drat" or "DratCH"?

DratCH is possibly the worst SNL performer since Melanie Huxtall...Hushtall...Huxball....whatever her name is, the one who did the horrible Jan Brady schtick.

Will Farrell. Anyone wanna give odds on how many years 'til we see him in a sitcom? Or is that a fool's bet?

I'll say "within 5", easy.

Who will do Dubya now?

I haven't watched SNL in yeeeeears, but Ferrell in movies can either be totally hilarious (Jay & Silent Bob) or just plain scary unfunny (Zoolander). I did catch him on "Undeclared" a while back and thought he was pretty funny. At least he's more amusing than that freaky little ferret from "Corky Romano," Chris Kattan.

Old School sounds like it may have potential.

Hey, it worked for Kevin Nealon and Nora Dunn.

http://charliegoose.homestead.com/files/goose.jpg Honk!

I liked Ferrel in Zoolander. Come on when he shouts the line "I made the piano key necktie, what did you ever do?" Classic.

I haven't really watched the show much in the last two years, but WF was my favorite cast member by far. One of the funniest moments in the last few years was Ferrell's infamous "Cowbell" skit...I hadn't realy laughed out loud at an SNL skit in years until that one.

This really sucks. First of all, NO ONE will ever be able to do as good a George W. than Will. Second, no more Jeopardy! And third, and most dissapointing - no more Inside the Actor's Studio! It was the best skit SNL has done in years. It's really a shame.

Good news. Ferrell is the best part about <I>SNL</I>, and neither the show nor he can grow if he stays any longer. It's time to move on, and I hope he succeeds elsewhere. Hopefully this will trigger some cast shifts and the growth of new talent. Major stars have to leave for new major stars to be created. Best wishes, Will.

das

I am sort of sad (maybe more apathetic) that Will is leaving, but I think it's time for both he and the show that he leave. He can go on and find new things; SNL can try to be more creative.

That has got to be THE funniest thing I've seen on TV in about five years. I've got it on tape, and everytime it's on CC I watch it as well, and I still get belly laughs out of it.

But give credit to Walken, too; it's his delivery that really 'sells' the sketch......

"I've got a fever, baby. And the only prescription is more cowbell!"

"I'm just like you: every morning I put on my pants one leg at a time. Except then, I go out and make gold records...."

"Explore the space."

I use that line at least once every week, and no one ever knows what I'm talking about.

das

I feel really sorry for BOC. You just KNOW that anytime they go into Reaper at a live show, a few dozen of us idiots start screaming for "More cowbell!!!".........

I saw them last year and resisted the urge. They're old, but they still rock - great show. But really, what song couldn't use more cowbell?

das

Uh, possibly John Lennon's Imagine.

But I'd be willing to give it a listen.:D

If only Boston were around, we could hear a version with more synthetic clap as well.

das

It's about time! :up:

I hope he's not banking on a movie career, he was the Jar Jar Binks of "Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back."

WIll Ferrell rules, Kevin Smith is a hack, Rachel Dratch IS funny, SNL week after week is still one of the better shows on the air, and yes.........MORE COWBELL.

SNL is awful. Farrel was the crutch the show leaned on because the rest of the cast (particularly the female cast) wasn't funny. And even Farrel wasn't that funny. He really is the Jar Jar of Jay and Silent Bob.

SNL needs to get rid of most of their current cast and replace them with some really top tallent. Having that glasses chick as head writer has done nothing but hurt the show. All the female cast members are horible and they dominate the show. The show is so preocupied with sex humor that there is no satire or parody, just repetitive (and unsuccessful) sex humor. Again I blame the female writers and cast members for this. I agree with the silent majority of comedy fans out there that has known the truth all along: Women aren't funny.

The lack of tallent from the female cast has materialized itself in the form of non-stop sex jokes. The show really re-enforces the old addage: When you're not funny, work blue.

For the record I'm no prude and love a dirty joke as much as the next guy. But with South Park and Kevin Smith pushing the bounderies, SNL comes off like an "also-ran" tame little p*ssy show in comparison.

From ESPN.com:

DALLAS -- The Sacramento Kings got an earful from Dallas Mavericks fans Thursday night.

From cowbells in all shapes and sizes brought in by fans to kazoos and various plastic noisemakers distributed by the team, American Airlines Center did its best imitation of rambunctious Arco Arena for Game 3 of the Western Conference series.

The decibel warfare began in Game 1 in Sacramento when Mavericks coaches complained to officials about the cowbells clanging behind their bench. Talk about the noise level continued through Game 2, with owner Mark Cuban saying his fans would get even when the series shifted to Texas.

To help make sure they were needed, the overhead monitors played a clip from an old Saturday Night Live skit in which Christopher Walken plays a music producer who tells a band, "We could use more cowbells."

Too funny!