The Best of Will Ferrell's SNL Characters
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Gene Frenkle
Ferrell's iconic character from the "More Cowbell" sketch actually has a name, and it's Gene Frenkle. Best known for rithing around a recording studio with his over-eager cowbell playing, Frenkle's cowbell playing is famous around the world, and it's all because Ferrell gave his all to a totally ridiculous sketch idea that relied only on his ability to be annoying.
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Craig Buchanan
Craig and his partner Arianna, played by Cheri Oteri, did not make the East Lake High School Spartan cheerleading squad. But that doesn't stop them from cheerleading anyway. Appearing wherever they are needed, but not necessarily wanted, Craig and Arianna jammed to '90s tunes while Ferrell showed off his physical comedy for all to see.
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Roger Clarvin
Starring in "The Lovers" recurring sketch, Virginia (Rachel Dratch) and Roger (Ferrell) Clarvin are two professors who love discussing the intimate details of their romantic lives to strangers they come across on their travels. Despite their newfound friends not wanting anything to do with them, the Clarvins are relentless, and their frank conversations about sex almost always end in Ferrell screaming for his wife to "GET THE H*LL OFF ME!"
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Marty Culp
SNL has always done musical sketches well, and the sketches that feature Marty Culp (Ferrell) and Bobbi Mohan-Culp (Ana Gasteyer) are among the funniest. Featuring some hilarious old age makeup and Ferrell trying to appear young via his piano covers of popular songs, the Culps have become iconic characters that have stuck around through cameos and the SNL 40 celebrations even after Ferrell left the show.
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528 VOTESSteve Butabi
Although the 1998 film A Night at the Roxbury was criticized in the same manner that most SNL films are, Ferrell's character Steve Butabi from the Roxbury Guys sketches is still considered a classic. Appearing alongside Chris Kattan, Steve Butabi and his brother Doug are nothing but loud Eurodance lovers who go to bad '90s nightclubs and get rejected by women. That's it. That's the sketch. That's the movie. And yet all these years later it's still entertaining to watch Ferrell dance around like an idiot at Steve.
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Frank Henderson
Frank Henderson first appeared in a sketch called "Get Off the Shed". In the sketch, Ferrell is hosting a backyard BBQ while his kids are playing on top of the shed. In true Ferrell fashion, he tells the kids to get off the shed, they don't listen, and you can probably imagine Ferrell shouting "Get off the shed" over and over again right now.
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Dr. Beaman
“Dr. Beaman’s Office” is a sketch that's often considered to be one of Ferrell’s best. Playing a grossly incompetent doctor, Ferrell hams it up on the phone in his typically loud, idiotic way, before having to tell a couple that he lost their baby. Like, literally, he misplaced their baby.
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820 VOTESTerrence Maddox
As a drifter-hippie type that works as a nude model, Terrence Maddox - like Ferrell - has no shame. Appearing in an art class as a live model, Maddox's famous catchphrase is "Good day to you," said with a very Ron Burgundy-sounding inflection.
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920 VOTESGus Chiggins
Often regarded as fellow cast members' favorite Ferrell sketches, Gus Chiggins was cut for time and thus never properly aired on TV. Thanks to the Best of SNL DVDs and YouTube, the sketch, which features Ferrell as an old-timey prospector sent to Afganistan with a troop of soldiers, is totally insane. It features a cast cracking up at every moment, as Ferrell says things like "oh peaches!" It was written just weeks after 9/11 and at a time when anthrax was sent to NBC, so the fact that the sketch is just purely and genuinely absurd and silly despite the stresses going on is a testament to Ferrell's genius and the writers who put this thing together.
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Often appearing on Weekend Update to bring awareness to his "real" disease, "Voice Immodulation Syndrome," Jacob Silj is a classic Will Ferrell character, in that Will Ferrell gets to yell and get on people's nerves. Unable to control the volume of his voice is ruining his life, as Silj constantly complains, but most people don't see the human side of the disease and only see an annoying person that can't have fun at a high school dance because they're unable to sing softly.
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Jeffrey's Supervisor
Ferrell didn't say much in the "Jeffrey's" sketch, in which a bunch of snarky clerks made fun of customers at a store called Jeffrey's, but his few lines became iconic simply because of the way he looked. In what looks like a precursor to his role as Mugatu in the Zoolander films, Ferrell's Jeffrey's supervisor was moody and fashion-forward in a way that was painfully accurate regarding both certain types of supervisors and a particular breed of fashionista.
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Tom Wilkins
Always holding his morning latte, Tom Wilkins was Ferrell's morning talk show host on the show Morning Latte. Not too far off from Ron Burgundy, Tom is the typical cheery morning talk show host, filling his time with inane chatter and interviewing guests that aren't all that interesting. In typical Ferrell fashion, even him introducing himself as Tom Wilkins is funny, for no reason at all other than that it's Will Ferrell saying it.
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Mr. Tarkanian
With Mr. Tarkanian, Ferrell was able to let loose and yell at everyone who came across him as he played the boss from hell. Of course, this being a Will Ferrell character, he punctuated extreme bouts of yelling with a calm, soft-spoken demeanor, that was then quickly shattered by more yelling.
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Michael Shersby
Michael Shersby is a British member of parliament for Uxbridge, and he's a lover of the band Oasis. As the Parliament debates important topics and discusses with the Prime Minister, Ferrell's Shersby often loses his train of thought and devolves into nonsense. When he does remember what he was trying to say, it's almost always related to Oasis and Liam Gallagher.
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David Larry
David Larry, not to be confused with Larry David, was one of Ferrell's first characters. David was the co-host of a show creatively titled "Dog Show," in which he opened every show by playing a song on a drum and shouting "Dog Show!" Like many great Ferrell characters, this one allowed Ferrell to talk to dogs in the most serious, hilarious ways imaginable.
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Ted Brogan
Ferrell plays Ted Brogan in the famous "Baby Dude" sketch featuring Charlie Sheen. As a 37 year old man that is born to a woman giving labor in the hospital, Ted is a phenomenon known in the medical industry as a "dude."
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Terry Gantner
Terry is a positive family-man that stars on a show called the Terry Gantner Family Workout. By teaching karate and aerobics, Terry is able to show off his athletic skills - until things go horribly wrong and he manages to hurt himself.
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Baron Nocturna
Baron Nocturna is a Cinnabon employee and super-goth, who appears on the late-night Tampa public-access cable TV show, Goth Talk. Baron Nocturna, whose real name is Gordy, is a friend of the two high school students who run the show, Azrael Abyss, played by Chris Kattan, and Circe Nightshade, played by Molly Shannon.
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Leslie Attebury
Ferrell's Mr. Attebury is quite contained compared to his usual characters, as he mostly sits around miserably as his wife enjoys their wealth. In one particular sketch, Attebury's wife throws him a party. As his wife, played by Ana Gasteyer and wife's friend played by Gwyneth Paltrow accost a Lebanese man, played by Chris Kattan and accuse him of being a terrorist, Attebury sits miserably by, drinking scotch and hoping the whole thing will end.
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Dale Sturtevant
In "Dissing Your Dog," Dale Sturtevant aimed low when he got on his hands and knees and insulted the hell out of his dog. But it was all for the greater good, as Dissing Your Dog is a new method of dog training that Dale invented which promises to "train your puppy with mockery and verbal humiliation."
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Spider
Spider is a stagehand for The Joe Pesci Show, and is constantly abused by Pesci as a reference to the character Spider in the film Goodfellas. Eventually harrassed by Robert De Niro for his inability to hold a cue card, Spider speaks up for himself and is offered money as an apology by De Niro. Things seem to be looking up for Spider until Joe Pesci offs him as he walks off stage.
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Peter Tanner
Peter Tanner was the manager of a late '90s boy band called 7 Degrees Celcius. A very obvious criminal who did little to hide his past, Tanner's group consisted of Jeph (Chris Parnell), Samm (Chris Kattan), Sweet T (Horatio Sanz), and Wade (Jimmy Fallon).
