Splitsider: ‘SNL’ Recap: Will Ferrell Delivers Amid High Expectations

For this week’s SNL recap on Splitsider, I theorize why Will Ferrell’s much anticipated return to the show didn’t live up to the hype.

Excerpt:

“After Jimmy Fallon and Maya Rudolph’s spectacular stints hosting SNL earlier this season, I proposed (only somewhat facetiously) that all episodes should be hosted by former castmembers. Fallon’s episode was a gleeful trip down memory lane, complete with cameos by Tina Fey, Tracy Morgan, Rachel Dratch, and Horatio Sanz, and Rudolph’s might have been the highlight of the season, with the multitalented actress bringing the best out of the cast and crew to with her own masterful performance. I expected this episode would be the closing argument to my former-castmember-hosts proposition.

So was it? Sure, so long as I get another closing argument at some point.

We were given a solid, albeit predictable episode: predictably strong in the first half while weak in the second; predictably laden with cameos by other former castmembers and reprisals of characters from Ferrell’s era; predictably celebratory for remaining at the center of the pop culture universe over the years. Of course, Ferrell’s presence makes anything immediately funny (except maybe Broadway Sizzle), but for whatever reason – high expectations or simply lightning evading the bottle for the writers and actors – this episode didn’t ignite as we all hoped it would.”

Read the full post on Splitsider.com.