Tina Fey recalls awkward moment Will Ferrell sketch 'face planted' on Saturday Night Live
Tina Fey has recalled an embarrassing SNL moment Will Ferrell would probably like to forget.
Tina Fey admits seeing Will Ferrell flop on Saturday Night Live was "almost reassuring".
The Hollywood star has recalled an awkward moment one of the SNL legend's sketches totally fell flat with audiences during the dress rehearsal, and ended up getting pulled from the broadcast.
Appearing on Jason and Travis Kelce's New Heights podcast, she said: "To see it happen to Will, who, everyone loves Will, the audience. That even Will face planted was almost reassuring."
The sketch in question saw will playing a character who "looked exactly like Gabe Kaplan" from 1970s sitcom Welcome Back, Kotter.
The four-season show, which was a breakout project for a young John Travolta, starred Kaplan as a high school teacher battling with a class of rowdy students.
At the time, Kaplan was a popular comedian whose unique look with a curly halo of hair and moustache, but the audience didn't recognise who Will was imitating for the sketch decades later.
Tina recalled: "It was like, a guy who looked like Gabe Kaplan and who works at an accounting firm, and then he comes over and they're like, 'Oh, you just missed it. Gabe Kaplan was here.'
"And he's like, 'You didn't call me. No one came to get me. You know I'm obsessed'.
"It was so funny at the table read, and then death."
Tina admitted she has been able to learn from the awkward moment.
She added: "After a while you just kind of — I always do kind of compare it to what little I remember of sports.
"It's like, sometimes you just go hard and you lose and you're like, 'Okay, I didn't die. I live to fight again. I guess we'll try again next week.'"
Back in 2017, Will himself opened up on the skit, acknowledging that it got "zero laughs" from the crowd that day.
Last year, the Elf actor had the chance to redeem himself on Seth Meyers' Late Night segment Second Chance Theatre, which gives SNL alumni the opportunity to perform material which got cut from the show.
He was joined by John Oliver, Bowen Yang and Rachel Dratch as he brought the sketch to life, and Will compared the routine to a "novice college improv troupe you were forced to see because your friend is in it".
Seth suggested the issue may have been modern audiences simply not recognising Gabe Kaplan anymore.
Will quipped: "We should have probably passed out like a leaflet that night at the show explaining what to look for."
