{"id":2420534,"date":"2026-05-17T14:28:26","date_gmt":"2026-05-17T14:28:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/?p=2420534"},"modified":"2026-05-17T14:28:26","modified_gmt":"2026-05-17T14:28:26","slug":"snl-recap-season-finale-with-will-ferrell-paul-mccartney","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/snl-recap-season-finale-with-will-ferrell-paul-mccartney\/","title":{"rendered":"‘SNL’ recap: Season finale with Will Ferrell, Paul McCartney"},"content":{"rendered":"

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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tEntertainment\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>
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Will Ferrell hosted the season 51 finale of “Saturday Night Live” on May 16, with fellow Paul McCartney serving as musical guest.<\/h2>\n
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\n\tSNL recap: Musical guest Paul McCartney, host Will Ferrell, and cast member Marcello Hernandez ahead of the season finale of “Saturday Night Live” on May 16, 2026. NBC<\/em>\t<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tBy Kevin Slane<\/a>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

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2 minutes to read<\/span><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div><\/div>\n<\/header>\n

\u201cSNL\u201d returned to the air for the final episode of its 51st season on Saturday, May 16, with Will Ferrell serving as host and Paul McCartney serving as musical guest.<\/p>\n

Ferrell is one of the \u201cSNL\u201d greats, and the show was predictably firing on all cylinders for its season finale. Ferrell was a breakout star almost immediately upon joining the cast in 1995, and has returned to host the show six times and make countless cameos since leaving the cast in 2002.<\/p>\n

Right off the bat, Ferrell anchored one of the best cold opens of the season, playing the ghost of Jeffrey Epstein along his \u201cbest friend\u201d Donald Trump (James Austin Johnson).<\/p>\n

\u201cWe had some fun times together, didn\u2019t we Donny?\u201d Ferrell (as Epstein) joked. \u201cWe should\u2019ve taken more pictures.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"SNL
Will Ferrell as the ghost of Jeffrey Epstein visits Donald Trump (James Austin Johnson) on the season 51 finale of \u201cSaturday Night Live.\u201d \u2013 NBC<\/i><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In an homage to \u201cA Christmas Carol,\u201d the ghost of Epstein showed Trump a future vision of his cabinet. Kristi Noem (Ashley Padilla) is hawking products on Home Shopping Network, while Pete Hegseth (Colin Jost) and Kash Patel (Aziz Ansari) are shilling their own products \u2014 Poland Sprung hard water and a signature cologne called Incompetence.<\/p>\n

Ansari wasn\u2019t the only celebrity came during the Season 51 finale. Immediately following the cold open, Will Ferrell\u2019s doppelganger, Red Hot Chilli Peppers drummer Chad Smith, stepped out for the opening monologue. And early in the episode, Ferrell\u2019s \u201cSNL\u201d castmate Molly Shannon joined him for a sketch.<\/p>\n

Then there was McCartney, who was working overtime despite turning 84 next month. McCartney popped up in the monologue, played a British mechanic in a late-in-the-show sketch, and performed three musical numbers. <\/p>\n

With Smith joining him on drums, the former Beatle led off with \u201cDays We Left Behind,\u201d a track from his upcoming album \u201cThe Boys of Dungeon Lane,\u201d before performing \u201cBand on the Run,\u201d a song he also performed on the show in 2010.<\/p>\n

Then after the goodnights at 1 a.m., Ferrell threw it back to McCartney, who played \u201cComing Up\u201d as the cast dance onstage and the credits rolled. (\u201cSaturday Night Live\u201d didn\u2019t post that video on its YouTube channel, but you can see it streaming on Peacock<\/a>.)<\/p>\n

Check out the videos below to see highlights from the season finale of Season 51 of \u201cSNL,\u201d including Ferrell\u2019s opening monologue, a trio of performances from Paul McCartney, and all of the characters visiting the \u201cWeekend Update\u201d desk.<\/p>\n

\u201cSaturday Night Live\u201d Cold Open<\/h2>\n
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