In Memoriam: Will Forte (Sort Of)

Well, it’s the end of a weird, absurdist, hit-and-miss era, as Will Forte and SNL announced their amicable separation today, after 8 years of professional bliss and uneven comedy.

As for Will and this blog, it’s no secret that our relationship has not been so smooth.  We’ve often voiced our objection to some of the more outrageous, off the wall sketches that seemed to spring forth from the Forte womb, most often found in the 12:50am dead zone, or sometimes only in dress rehearsal (see: skeevy stalker Hamilton, the bizarre Falconer, and the lyrical stylings of Jackie Snad and Clancy Bachlerat, which literally consist of just random words thrown together in random orders).  In many cases we’d rather see Jason Sudeikis elevate a simple premise or a lame idea to something spectacular, rather than a Forte sketch that was just too far out there.

But, to his credit, Forte willingly flew too close to the sun.  Sure, he got burned a time or two (certainly in our eyes), but we have to respect his ambition.  And beyond the odd sketches and one-note “Weekend Update” characters, we have to begrudgingly admit that his MacGruber was often brilliant, and even more impressive, it never got old.  And while Forte’s George W Bush never managed to escape the shadow of the definitive Will Ferrell version, he really never had a shot, but he still soldiered on and made it work in its own way.  We can certainly salute him for that.

So, Will Forte, we’re going to miss you challenging us.  The show is going to be a little more dull without you (if that’s even possible.  Riiiiight???). We didn’t always like what you did, but we (usually) respected it.

In honor of Forte’s departure we’re going to leave you with what we consider his grand opus, a sketch from another planet; strange, baffling, completely dead in the water and with the impression that it was made on a dare, but, yet, oddly compelling.  Will Forte, for better or worse, this is your legacy:

Vodpod videos no longer available.

(on another note, can you believe it’s already been a whole year since that whole uproar over the firing of Michaela Watkins and subsequent hiring of Jenny Slate and Nasim Pedrad?  Time sure flies when you’re occasionally offered sharp and/or funny sketch comedy).