Will Ferrell’s Best ‘Saturday Night Live’ Characters

Will Ferrell makes his return to Saturday Night Live this week, and it is the perfect time to look back at some his best bits.

Ferrell was a cast member from 1995 to 2002, making appearances in 138 episodes. All that time, plus his additional guest and host appearances, has given the actor plenty of hilarious characters to portray, some of which rank up there with the show’s best.

From long-running impersonations of Alex Trebec and Harry Caray to one-off classics like the “More Cowbell” guy, Ferrell has surely made his mark on SNL history.

Scroll through to revisit some of Ferrell’s best characters.

Alex Trebek (“Celebrity Jeopardy!”)

Ferrell’s impersonation of Alex Trebek is one of the SNL characters that seems to return time and time again, and for good reason: the comedian’s restrained portrayal of the Jeopardy! host is masterful as he holds a panel of wacky celebrity impersonations together.

His frustrated encounters with Norm MacDonald’s Burt Reynolds and Darrell Hammond’s Sean Connery are SNL staples at this point, and hopefully we’ll seem more of them down the line.

George W. Bush

Every President has his SNL counterpart, and George W. Bush met his match with Ferrell.

Ferrell hams up a Texas accent for his bumbling version of the 43rd President of the United States, which has carried on long after Ferrell’s time on SNL ended.

Ferrell took his impersonation to Broadway with You’re Welcome America. A Final Night with George W. Bush and has revisited the character several times on SNL and other comedic events.

Steven “Steve” Butabi (“The Roxbury Guys”)

Ferrell joined forces with Chris Kattan for one of ’90s SNL‘s most memorable recurring skits, “The Roxbury Guys.”

Steve (Ferrell) and Doug Butabi (Kattan) are weirdo party guys straight out of a bad ’90s nightclub who pretty much just excessively bob their heads to Haddaway’s “What Is Love.” The skits are ridiculous, fun and a big enough hit to have spawned a movie surrounding the characters, A Night at the Roxbury.

Harry Caray

Ferrell took his impersonation of beloved Chicago sports broadcaster Harry Caray to “Weekend Update,” and another SNL staple was born.

Ferrell’s Caray is wacky and just riffs on and on about unrelated topics, whether it’s which sports mascots would win in battle or wonderings about the solar system.

Robert Goulet

Ferrell doubled down on his knack for relatively obscure impersonations when he parodied acclaimed stage and screen actor Robert Goulet.

Goulet’s signature crooning style is emulated by a mustache-wearing Ferrell, who hams up the character to being rather unlikeable and pompous.

Whether it’s a dreadful Broadway musical or a compilation of hip-hop covers, Ferrell’s Goulet productions are always a treat.

Craig (“The Spartans Cheerleaders”)

The Spartans Cheerleaders are one of SNL‘s most delightfully annoying duos, and it’s hard to imagine anyone but Ferrell as the male half of the team.

Craig (Will Ferrell) and partner in crime Arianna (Cheri Oteri) bring their school spirit just about everywhere they go, whether its wanted or not. The skits give Ferrell a chance to flex his physical comedy chops as he and Oteri engage in several goofy cheer routines set to ’90s stadium jams.

Marty Culp (“The Culps”)

The musical inclined couple of Marty Culp (Will Ferrell) and Bobbi Mohan-Culp (Ana Gasteyer) serve as the basis for some of SNL’s funniest musical skits.

They represent all the cringeworthy old people trying to fit in with the youth in all the right ways, with piano duets of popular songs. Some of the most recent appearances have seen the duo tackle Nicki Minaj, One Direction, Adele and Bruno Mars with spectacular results.

Gene Frenkle (“More Cowbell”)

Ferrell’s one-off character in the infamous “More Cowbell” sketch has gone down in history as one of the series’ best.

The classic skit sees Ferrell as Gene Frenkle, the fictional cowbell player for Blue Öyster Cult. The band is recording “Don’t Fear the Reaper” as Christopher Walken’s music producer character Bruce Dickinson looks on.

The band is annoyed by Frenkle’s overzealous cowbell playing, but Wilkinson loves it and keeps asking for more. Ferrell gives his all to his performance as he gyrates around and annoys the frontman, played by Chris Parnell.

Dale (“Short Shorts for the USA”)

This post-9/11 sketch sees Ferrell once again playing off another one of his characters’ outrageous behavior with ease.

Dale (Ferrell) wants to show off his patriotism in the office through a pair of extremely short shorts and a crop top. Ferrell flaunts his hairy, unflattering figure all around the board room as his boss (Sean William Scott) and co-workers look on in disgust.

It was fun bit of gross-out humor that U.S. viewers needed during such a trying time, and it still holds up today.