Saturday Night Live wrapped its 51st season on May 16 with Will Ferrell hosting for the sixth time and Paul McCartney serving as musical guest. It was the former Beatle’s fifth appearance on the show and Ferrell’s first hosting stint since 2019.
The finale leaned heavily on Ferrell’s comedy DNA and McCartney’s catalog, with the night’s biggest moments split between a Trump-focused cold open, a monologue prank built around Ferrell’s longstanding look-alike feud with Red Hot Chili Peppers drummer Chad Smith and a surprise third performance from McCartney.
The cold open: Will Ferrell as the ghost of Jeffrey Epstein
The episode opened with James Austin Johnson reprising his recurring impression of President Trump, dozing off in the Oval Office after a recent trip to China. Trump is then jolted awake by Ferrell, in a gray prison uniform and chains, playing the ghost of Jeffrey Epstein. The specter offered Trump visions of the future, evoking Jacob Marley from A Christmas Carol.
“Wow, I’m surprised there is one,” Trump deadpanned about the future.
Among the visions Epstein conjured: Pete Hegseth (Colin Jost) pouring beer into “a giant beer bong” while FBI Director Kash Patel (Aziz Ansari) drank from the connected tube. Another vision showed former Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem on the Home Shopping Network. The cold open also featured a brief musical duet between Ferrell and Johnson.
The monologue: Chad Smith pretends to be the host
Smith opened with a thank you to the audience and a comment that hosting for the sixth time “really feels like coming home” — only for Ferrell to walk on stage and claim the hosting gig was his.
“What the hell are you doing?” Ferrell said, spelling out the bit for the audience: “You’re Chad Smith of the Red Hot Chili Peppers.” The two have famously been confused with one another for years, a running gag dating to Ferrell’s drum battle with Smith on “The Tonight Show” in 2014.
After getting Smith off the stage, Ferrell pivoted to taking audience questions — and called on McCartney, seated in the crowd. McCartney joined Ferrell on stage and immediately insisted that he was, in fact, the host of the show.
Ferrell then mocked McCartney’s case by sarcastically acknowledging his catalog. “I know you’ve written a lot of good songs,” Ferrell said, before reeling off a string of McCartney-penned hits, including “Let It Be,” “Hey Jude” and “Eleanor Rigby.”
But then Ferrell pivoted: “There’s some great songs you didn’t write,” he said, listing “the alphabet song,” Pitbull’s “Timber” and “all the Smash Mouth stuff.”
Will Ferrell and Chad Smith at a Colorado Avalanche and the Los Angeles Kings playoff game at Crypto.com Arena this year in Los Angeles.
(NHL Images via Getty Images)
A mechanic sketch and a Molly Shannon cameo
McCartney resurfaced later in a sketch about what it feels like to talk to a car mechanic, playing a chief mechanic named Nigel alongside Ferrell, Marcello Hernández, Mikey Day and Ashley Padilla. The sketch leaned on increasingly nonsensical industry jargon.
“Your tipsy-wipsy’s all dangly-doodly, and the spiggly-wiggly’s gone crumpet. The whole car is knackered,” McCartney told the visiting couple. He added: “Plus, the steering wheel’s on the wrong bloody side.” At another point, Ferrell explained that the customer was “going to need a new transperson.”
Paul McCartney’s three performances
McCartney performed “Days We Left Behind,” a new track from his forthcoming 21st solo studio album, The Boys of Dungeon Lane, which arrives May 29. His second performance was “Band on the Run,” the 1973 Wings classic.
Then, as the cast gathered for goodnights and the credits began to roll, McCartney walked back to his band and led an unplanned third performance, “Coming Up,” the lead single from his 1980 album McCartney II.
Jost and Che cap Season 51 with another Joke Swap
Colin Jost and Michael Che brought back their finale tradition Saturday night, handing each other “Weekend Update” jokes neither had seen until the cameras rolled.
Jost drew a long bit off a Michael B. Jordan Sinners setup that forced him to pledge his season’s salary to “Dr. Umar’s School for Black Boys.” He capped his run with a Kanye West joke that ended with him close to sacrificing his “beautiful, award-winning, world-famous hair.”
“Send in the barber, Jerome,” Jost said, though the barber never actually got to him.
Che had to read a bit about erectile dysfunction and another about Michael Jackson.
What’s next?
Saturday Night Live returns for its 52nd season in the fall on NBC and Peacock.
Ferrell’s next on-screen project is The Hawk, a Netflix golf comedy he co-created with Harper Steele and Chris Henchy, premiering July 16. McCartney’s new album, The Boys of Dungeon Lane, is out May 29.
