Pearl is Back with Will Ferrell. For the Last Time. :(
Landlord Pearl now plays Lieutenant Pearl in the latest FunnyorDie video featuring Will Ferrell. It’s called “Good Cop, Baby Copy,” but it’s unfortunately her last video.
FunnyorDie is a collaboration between Will Ferrell and Adam McKay (who directed Ferrell in “Anchorman,” and “Talladega Nights” and wrote for him for “Saturday Night Live”). Michael Kvamme, a partner at Sequoia Capital (YouTube’s venture capital firm), approached the duo about launching a video-sharing site devoted exclusively to comedy. (Creative Artists Agency, the Hollywood talent agency that represents Ferrell and McKay, also has a stake.)
The Landlord was Pearl’s debut with Will Farrell. If FunnyOrDie’s view tracker is accurate, writes the Washington Post, “The Landlord” has been viewed — if the site’s view tracker is accurate — over 36 million times, making it among the most popular viral videos ever posted on the Internet.
Pearl is McKay’s daughter, and he has been criticized for letting his child appear in a foul-mouthed piece like this. As a fellow parent who exploits my kids, I say IGNORE IT ADAM MCCAY! Pearl is too young to remember these videos. And by the time she’s old enough to have people explain it to her, she won’t even be recognized (and the buzz will have faded). I understand why McKay is now turning down requests to put Pearl in films. But I think the global joy Pearl brings (when contrasted with Ferrell in these videos) is a good enough reason to shoot a couple more.
The Pearl series has placed FunnyOrDie on the “online-video map” in what seems like an overnight sensation. Celebrities are now pouring onto the site. The Washington Post lists confirmed future participants as Jack McBrayer, Bill Murray, Eva Longoria, Li’l John, Danny DeVito, John C. Reilly and Sally Jessy Raphael who will join Will Ferrell, Kevin Nalts, Ed Helms, Jimmy Fallon, Brooke Shields, Jeremy Piven, Jenna Elfman, Michael Cera, James Franco, Rob Corddry and Jason Biggs. Okay- I snuck one name in there.
Does “Good Cop, Bad Baby” live up to “Landlord”? Who cares. Pearl and Ferrell are in the top .00005 of good content online and the delta between these two are rounding errors. It’s comedic brilliance, and a welcome threat to amateur video clowns.
In related news, check out this brilliant mashup of Pearl and Alec Baldwin by Tori Weber.
The video with Jenna Elfman is pure gold. She plays a pregnant woman that plays streetball. Funny or Die has become one of my favorite sites.