Molly Shannon Surprises In ‘SNL’ Cameo During Will Ferrell’s Episode

In a lengthier sketch featuring a majority of the Saturday Night Live cast members, Will Ferrell portrayed an eccentric and mean-spirited high school theater instructor. And what’s better than a problematic teacher played by Ferrell? Two — the second of which is played by none other than Molly Shannon.

The two SNL classmates (both are alumni from the mid-’90s through the early millennium) reunited in a winding bit that tracked the anxieties of the theater program’s students, who were fretting over the new cast list for the spring musical, Grease. The sketch is a resurrected one previously cut-for-time during Ferrell’s last hosting stint in 2019.

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Featured player Jeremy Culhane, donning a felt hat, portrayed a student who recently booked a Cheerios commercial as a background actor — a role Ferrell’s teacher is clearly envious of. Meanwhile, Veronika Slowikowska featured as a nerdy student who often quipped “girl boner!” whenever discussing everything from Jacob Elordi’s latest project to Mikey Day’s TA character.

Among the funniest lines of the night was Ferrell’s character’s assertion that his “all white” take on The Color Purple was “brave,” despite detractors’ negative reactions.

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After Kenan Thompson also briefly showed up as choreographer, wheeling out a protesting Sarah Sherman (whose character faced animosity from Ferrell’s for being in a wheelchair), and Marcello Hernández and Kam Patterson reunited their dynamic duo of nonchalant jocks, bursting through the door came Shannon, as music director and choir teacher Ms. Peebles.

She took center stage, dismissing claims her character was “too handsy” with the boys. Maintaining that her “tough as nails” style yields results, she invited another featured player, Tommy Brennan, to demonstrate his highest vocal range. At this point, it becomes pretty easy to telegraph where the bit is going when she asks him to sing, but that doesn’t diminish the comedic return when Shannon pantomimes giving him a wedgie and cupping his crotch to get him to sing higher.

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