Saturday Night Live: The Best of Will Ferrell

Being in the UK I never really got a chance to see anything other than the film projects that grew out of SNL sketches as it never got an airing here. Of course now I could probably get it on one of the many cable channels we have or even on-line I guess, but generally it has never featured on my "must watch that" list (and yes, I am sad enough to have such a list). The couple of DVD's floating about offer me the chance to go the other way though as I can watch the sketches and characters that comedians now more famous for their films did when they were "coming up" (although one might say that SNL is "up" to a certain extent).

Although I have always found Ferrell's style to be hit and miss, this is a funny DVD with plenty of strong sketches. Ironically the highlight of the piece is not really thus due to him though. I refer to the Blue Oyster Cult sketch which is famous for Christopher Walken, and rightly so. Now that I think about it actually, my second favourite sketch here owes more to others than him, as the contestants on Jeopardy are funnier than the host. Anyway, even within these sketches Ferrell still does well and produces good laughs. The thing that marks him out from those around him is that, if he does crack up, he is usually the last to do it and he holds it together very well. By contrast, Jimmy Fallon seems unable to keep from laughing no matter what he is doing.

As with any sketch show the DVD is not as even as I would have liked and some of the sketches are a bit silly; not a problem in and of themselves perhaps but when they are alongside more inspired silliness then they do seem a little weak – the chess cheerleaders being an example of this. However generally the quality is high and each sketch is funny and imaginative and hasn't dated at all. Well worth a look then as a summary of Ferrell's time at SNL for those unacquainted with it, although I imagine that SNL viewers will find as much missing as present.

It's true that Will Ferrell's contributions to SNL can't be summarized on one DVD, especially not one running a little over an hour (one episode of SNL is 90 minutes), but that's not to say that the material here isn't hilarious. The problem with these collections is that fans have their favorites and almost always a few of them are missing and that's definitely the case here. In fact, some of the particular recurring sketches like "Jeopardy" & "Inside the Actor's Studio" could've chosen better examples than what ended up here for those. Again, what is here is funny and the extras are nice too. Here are the sketches in order that make up the main feature (the sketches are pretty complete except for where I list them as "snips":

Marty & Bobby Culp: Drug awareness assembly VH1 Behind the Music: Blue Oyster Cult (with Christopher Walken)"More Cowbell, baby!" - A personal favorite! Dissing your dog training video Spartan Cheerleaders Chess Team tournament Robert Goulet: Coconut Banger's Ball Snips - Will in thong at business meeting/Mini Cell Phone at new wave store/Rachel Dratch gives birth to Will Jeopardy: Burt Reynolds, Sean Connery, French Stewart Inside the Actors Studio: Charles Nelson Riley (Alec Baldwin)

The Devil teaches Garth Brooks a song Snips: George W. Bush/Janet Reno boxing Guliani/Clinton, Monica, & Saddam on the phone Space the Infinite Frontier with Harry Caray (& Jeff Goldblum)

Hot Tub Luvas (with Drew Barrymore) Roxbury Guys (with Jim Carrey) Snips: Good Morning Latte/Dog Show Nude guy poses for Art Class (with Lucy Lawless) Family yelling at dinner (with Sarah Michelle Gellar) Jacob Silj: Voice Modulation (on Weekend Update)

Extra Features:

Will Ferrell's audition for SNL as Harry Caray Unaired Dress Rehearsal sketch: Prospector in the Army

Will's Conan appearance in black underwear (plugging Roxbury)

Will's Conan appearance as Goulet

Outtakes: Hot Tub Luvas (with Winona Ryder), Goulet as Sherlock Holmes, Doctor Sketch (with Seinfeld), Voice Modulation on Weekend Update, George W Bush & George Bush Sr. (Dana Carvey), Neil Diamond on Weekend Update, Fight in club (with Ellen Degeneres), Tap dance (with Katie Holmes), and Mini computer email at New Wave shop (with Pierce Brosnan)

As you can see, the disc is above average in content and as far as these collections go, this one's up there. None of these collections will be perfect because the focus is on stars who have done a slew of hilarious sketches and many of them will be left out. Personally, I was disappointed to not see the VH1 Behind the Music on Neil Diamond...priceless. I agree with a previous reviewer that said Will needs something like a three disc set to even scratch the surface of his hilarious work on SNL, but this is better than nothing and probably as good as it will get unless SNL one day sees Season set releases. So I'd say start digging up your dubbed from TV SNL marathon VHS tapes, unless you have none, then by all means pick this up!

The show is so much nice and helpful for everyone. I felt like the show shouldn't end, it was so fantastic

There is no doubt in my mind that Will Ferrell is a great comedian, and was perhaps the only good thing SNL had going for it for a while, but the sketches chosen to assemble on this collection are far from the best things Ferrell has done on SNL. Where's the bad doctor? Where's Bill Brasky? Where's Mr. Turkanian abusing on his employees while Peirce Bronson looks on in horror? Where's the Bush sketches that are actually FUNNY? There were tons of them, why pick that one mediocre one??

Did Ferrell actually get to choose what went on this collection? I'm sorry to think that future generations will think that this is the best that he came up with while he was on SNL.

There's something infectious about Will Ferrell. He's like a giddy boy ready to do anything for a laugh--and more often than not he delivers. Whereas recent comic additions to NBC's "Saturday Night Live" have done nothing but harm the show, Will Ferrell remained the top in the game from his reign during 1995 - 2002. He's finally left the show, probably to be replaced by some unfunny dimwit like Jimmy Fallon. Ferrell's got about five projects lined up for the next few years, including "Curious George" and "Bewitched." I've had my eye on him for quite some time. I'm glad that his career is finally getting off the ground.

In this 72 minute collection of his best skits, it's evident that the man has a keen observation for comedy and what works. Take, for instance, his impersonation of Robert Goulet in an interview with Conan O'Brian, included on the DVD. His catchphrase is "Goulet!", and he uses it as a fallback method when there are long moments of no comedic passage between the two. But he never overuses it like a lesser comedian might do. This is all minor stuff, of course, but it's the minor stuff--in the end--that counts.

We've got the best of the best here: Bobbi and Marty Culp, George W. Bush, Harry Caray, and more. It's all good fun, too. Watching Ferrell makes the time fly by--the 72 minutes feel like thirty.

I've seen a handful of better "SNL" stints involving Will than those included on this DVD. Running at 72 minutes, I feel that producer Lorne Michaels could have pushed for at least 90 minutes of footage--the basic running time for a motion picture. Two hours would have been great, too--there sure is enough footage. A few scenes are spliced together and not shown in their entirety--the film takes bits and pieces from different skits and then includes the full-length ones such as "Celebrity Jeopardy" here and there. But it's a small complaint, because you'll be laughing so darn hard you'll wet yourself.

My favorite skit of the collection? Probably "Celebrity Jeopardy" or the Harry Caray skit with Jeff Goldblum, ruined only because Goldblum somehow forgot his lines. Ferrell saved him by subtly pointing him in the right directions. At one point, Goldblum leans forward and says, "I'm not sure how to answer that," an obvious indication that he has forgotten his lines. "It's not rocket science, just say yes and we'll move on," Ferrell replies, still in character, of course. And another thing I noticed it that Ferrell induces laughter but laughs at his own gags and those surrounding him very little--and when he starts to smile he quickly hides the grin, unlike Jimmy Fallon who on basically every single skit on this DVD cracks up and can't control himself. (I'm not exaggerating. He cracks up on every skit.)

Many comedians got their careers started on "SNL." There was Dan Aykroyd, Chevy Chase, Bill Murray, John Belushi, and Steve Martin, such a frequent host of the television show when it first aired on NBC starting in 1975 that he was often considered a castmember himself. Over the past few years, "SNL" has gotten stuck in a rut--the last time it was consistently funny was during the late eighties and early nineties, when such comedians as Mike Myers and Dana Carvey flaunted their comedic charm for the camera and led their way to aspiring film careers, coughing up "Wayne's World" and "Austin Powers," to name a few well-known titles.

Will Ferrell is following that chain reaction. A true "SNL" comedian in the sense of the meaning, and with his promising film career ahead of him, it's evident he may just become the next Chevy Chase or Bill Murray or Steve Martin. It's the true "SNL" dream, and by golly, he's living it.

Thanks for the laughs, Will.

"Saturday Night Live: The Best of Will Ferrell" runs 72 minutes and has a bundle of special features, including: Will's audition tape, a deleted dress rehearsal scene, two Conan O'Brian interviews, a photo gallery, and more. It is not rated and contains mild sexual references/nudity and language.

4.5/5 stars.

• John Ulmer