How Will Ferrell "Made" Jimmy Fallon Break in Drew Barrymore's "Love-Ahs" SNL Sketch
The former cast members reminisced in 2019 about the hot tub sketch with Fallon's Fever Pitch costar and Rachel Dratch.
In the weeks leading up to February 16's three-hour 50th anniversary celebration on NBC, the team behind Saturday Night Live has selected one sketch from every single season — 50 seasons in 50 days — to reflect the show's rich legacy across five decades. Presenting the sketch chosen to represent Season 27: "The Love-Ahs with Barbara and Dave" starring Will Ferrell, Rachel Dratch, Jimmy Fallon, and Host Drew Barrymore.
In the "More Cowbell" installment of Peacock's four-part Beyond Saturday Night docuseries, Jimmy Fallon recounts the famous moment when, as a new cast member, he broke into laughter during the iconic sketch. "Will turns, and I have my one line, and...I looked into the eyes of a lunatic," the Tonight Show Host said, explaining that Will Ferrell's expression undid him.
Ferrell then confessed that, because he was masked by his position and his beard, "you can't quite tell, but I'm breaking as hard as they are." And as it turns out, Ferrell openly admits he deviously aimed to break Fallon on purpose in a popular recurring sketch: "The Love-Ahs" with Rachel Dratch.
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Will Ferrell tried to "grab" Jimmy Fallon during SNL's "The Love-Ahs with Barbara and Dave"
Ferrell and Fallon looked back the "Love-Ahs" sketches during a 2019 Tonight Show interview, in which the Elf star revealed the ways he tried to get Fallon to laugh while playing the sensual Roger Klarvin alongside his amorous wife, Virginia Klarvin (Dratch).
Explaining the premise of the "The Love-Ahs with Barbara and Dave" to the audience, Fallon said he played a character named Dave who sat in a hotel jacuzzi, "and then two of the creepiest humans came and got in the hot tub with me."
"With you and Drew Barrymore," Ferrell nodded. As Roger Klarvin, he added, "I was sitting across from you. But I just remember trying to get my foot in your crotch during the sketch. I kept trying to reach under the water to grab you."
Fallon confirmed that Ferrell physically goaded him during several of the Love-Ahs sketches. "I would always try to pinch you," Ferrell said. And you can absolutely see Fallon trying not to react on camera.
"Or touch me," Fallon finished. "Right before I said my line, you'd give me a little, like, squeeze on the kneecap or something."
"Hey, I'm just in character," Ferrell said, throwing his hands up. "But it added to the hijinks."
"I love trying to get you there," Ferrell told Fallon. And the former coworkers and pals continue to collaborate years later: The two joined forces on a song from Fallon's 2024 Holiday Seasoning album, "One Glove."
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Drew Barrymore hopped in the hot tub with Barbara and Dave on SNL in 2001
SNL Five-Timers Club member Drew Barrymore — who still holds the record fo Youngest SNL Host for her debut at age 7 — starred in "The Love-Ahs with Barbara and Dave" during her third stint as Host on October 13, 2001.
Barrymore played Roger and Virginia Klarvin's friend "Barbara Her-nan-dez" four years before she and Fallon would star in "Fever Pitch," the movie that would introduce Fallon to Barrymore's producing partner and Fallon's future wife, Nancy Juvonen.
You can see Fallon trying to tamp down giggles as Ferrell secretly jabs him while calling his character's name. Dratch and Ferrell start laughing themselves as the Klarvins chomp on "spiced meats" in the hot tub.
"The Welshly Arms is renowned for its shanks," Barrymore's Barbara purrs, looking at Dave.
"Below the surface there is a frenzy of activity," Roger Klarvin declares as Fallon's Dave throws his hands up to prove he's not involved. As Barbara and the Klarvins tell the story of their first erotic evening with each other, the cast can barely keep it together. But is it a love match between Barbara and Dave.
Watch "The Loveahs with Barbara and Dave" from Season 27, Episode 3 above, and stream every season of SNL on Peacock anytime.
