Six years ago, Will Ferrell‘s catty theater teacher character terrorized students played by Saturday Night Live‘s Season 45 cast. And in his May 16 episode, he returned to wreak havoc on a new class.
This time, he brought his colleague, Ms. Peebles — played by Ferrell’s SNL cast mate for six seasons: The great Molly Shannon.
“Cast List 2” was a great way to bring nearly every Season 51 player into a sketch with Ferrell. In it, a full spectrum of theater nerds (Ashley Padilla, Andrew Dismukes, Jeremy Culhane, Veronika Slowikoswka, James Austin Johnson, Chloe Fineman, Ben Marshall, Jane Wickline, and Tommy Brennan) and two football players (Kam Patterson and Marcello Hernández) await the reveal of who’ll star in their spring musical.
“Lunch is almost over, and Mr. Koenig still hasn’t posted the cast list,” Fineman’s character tells her fellow agonized students, while Madison (Padilla) asks what’s taking so long.
“It’s Grease, Madison,” Johnson’s character chides. “There’s, like, a ton of speaking roles.”
Then, Mr. Koenig (Ferrell) steps out of his office to lord his power over the students begin his long, slow reveal of who made it in.
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Will Ferrell’s first “Cast List” sketch was cut for time in Season 45
“This show needs to be a hit after the fall musical flopped,” Ferrell’s character tells them. “But I still contend that doing The Color Purple with an all-white cast was brave.” He goes on to share that “the school board is pressuring me to cast one particular student….I won’t say who, but I’m ‘wheelie, wheelie’ mad about it.” A cast-sporting student in a wheelchair (Sherman) looks around, surprised.
As in the original unaired sketch co-starring Cicely Strong and Aidy Bryant’s cast — which you can watch here — eager students unsuccessfully try to score points with Mr. Koenig. But it’s too late; he’s already picked his favorites.
Said favorites include Mikey Day’s character Casper, who was a senior in the first sketch and has since stuck around as an assistant. NOT in Mr. Koenig’s good books: Culhane’s character Dyson, who wears an incredible music note tie and a fedora that Mr. On Blast would envy.
“Ever since I booked that Honey Nut Cheerios commercial, Mr. Koenig’s been, like, weirdly jealous and mean to me,” Dyson says, before Fineman’s character warns, “Be careful what you say, okay? There’s a rumor Mr. Koenig likes to watch us spin out through that Wicked poster!” Cut to Mr. Koenig peering out from where Elphaba’s face was seconds before.
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One by one, each student is cut down to size as they make it clear they’ll do almost anything to be in the show (but NOT as a tree again).
Molly Shannon tested Tommy Brennan’s … range in SNL’s “Cast List 2”
To help Mr. Koenig make the right choice, he brings in the music director and choir teacher, Ms. Peebles (Shannon).
“A couple of things about me. First of all, some people say that I’m too handsy with boys. That’s a lie! I don’t know who started it,” Shannon’s character tells them. “And number two, I am tough as nails. But guess what? I get results. Watch this. You, with the striped shirt, come here. Sing me the highest note that you can,” she tells one student (featured player Tommy Brennan). She soon makes some handsy adjustments to help him hit that high note.
Watch “Cast List 2” from Season 51, Episode 20 above, and watch all of Will Ferrell’s May 17 SNL sketches here.