VIDEO: ‘Saturday Night Live’ Unearths Will Ferrell’s 2001 Cut-For-Time ‘Old Prospector’ Sketch
Longtime cast member returns to host this weekend’s episode of NBC’s late-night series
January 26, 2018
There’s gold in them thar archives, apparently.
In anticipation of Will Ferrell’s return to “Saturday Night Live” this weekend, the long-running late-night series uploaded a previously unaired sketch from the comedian’s days as a regular cast member.
Called “Gus Chiggins, Old Prospector,” the 2001 bit stars Will as a kooky old prospector who has been embedded in a military unit preparing to hunt for 9/11 mastermind Osama bin Laden. The sketch, which also features then-cast members Darrell Hammond, Chris Kattan, and a slew of recent Stern Show guests like Tracy Morgan, Jimmy Fallon, and Seth Meyers, was reportedly cut for time.
After rediscovering “Gus Chiggins” online, Meyers tweeted about his experience taking part in the sketch, which happened just a few weeks after he joined the cast:
This was my third week at SNL. It was a month after 9/11 and the week someone sent anthrax to NBC. Everyone was scared and losing their minds. But for these six minutes I didn’t think of anything but how fucking lucky I was to be in this sketch. https://t.co/wL0SPnqK2p
— Seth Meyers (@sethmeyers) January 26, 2018
Ferrell makes his “SNL” return this Saturday at 11:30 p.m. on NBC alongside musical guest and recent Stern Show performer Chris Stapleton. It’s unclear whether he plans to dust off his pickaxe and take another turn as Gus Chiggins, but fans can now watch the original sketch (above).
