Will Ferrell closes 'SNL' season with Paul McCartney and doppelganger Chad Smith
Key takeaways
- (Smith stuck around for the whole show, sitting in with the “SNL” band and playing drums for Paul McCartney.)
- Ferrell was an ideal closer for Season 51, which has largely been about developing relatively new talent in the cast, including rising stars Ashley Padilla, Jeremy Culhane and Marcello Hernández.
- After an absence of a few weeks, President Trump (James Austin Johnson) returned, sleepy from his trip to China.
Gallaga May 16, 2026 11:50 PM PT 7 min Click here to listen to this article Share via Close extra sharing options Email Facebook X Linked In Threads Reddit Whats App Copy Link URL Copied! Print 0:00 0:00 1x This is read by an automated voice. Please report any issues or inconsistencies here.
Will Ferrell has done the Will Ferrell thing for so long — playing embarrassingly self-absorbed doofuses, both fictional and based on real people — that it’s easy to forget that when it counts, he can still serve as the glue on “Saturday Night Live.”
For his sixth time hosting the show since leaving the cast in 2002, Ferrell had plenty of those doofuses to portray, including a “Nudeman” dad whose underwear are exposed in the rear when he meets his daughter’s boyfriend. But in sketch after sketch on the show, he showed his usual 100% commitment to every character, even when he was playing himself in the monologue doing a bit about an identity mix-up with Red Hot Chili Peppers drummer Chad Smith. (Smith stuck around for the whole show, sitting in with the “SNL” band and playing drums for Paul McCartney.)