Will Ferrell and Molly Shannons “Cord and Tish” Are Very Ready for the Royal Wedding

Will Ferrell and Molly Shannons “Cord and Tish” Are Very Ready for the Royal Wedding

With the royal wedding just around the corner—its May 19, but if youre reading this, you knew that—y..

With the royal wedding just around the corner—its May 19, but if youre reading this, you knew that—you might have noticed that people are getting a little excited. Among them are Will Ferrell and Molly Shannon—specifically, their fake TV personalities, Cord Hosenbeck and Tish Cattigan. If those names dont sound familiar, perhaps you missed the pairs controversial coverage of the Rose Parade for Amazon earlier this year, a straight-faced performance done entirely in character. For those who dont actually care much about the royal wedding, Cord and Tishs boneheaded coverage on HBO might be the perfect way to watch it. If you need a preview of whats in store, the duo stopped by The Tonight Show Wednesday to give a sneak peek at their schtick—and perform a song theyve written for Prince Harry and Meghan Markle.

In January, “Cord” and “Tish” were not very popular with some Amazon users, who didnt quite get the joke Ferrell and Shannon were making. In fact, 40 percent of their broadcasts reviews were one-star notices—mostly from viewers who didnt have a clue that the broadcast they were watching was intentionally satirical. As one wrote, “Horrible. I wanted to hear one of the local bands, but the unfunny hoses were babbling some nonsense about omega-3s and salmon…what? It wasnt funny, it was idiots babbling to hear themselves talk. Who are these hosts?” But clearly, that hasnt discouraged Ferrell and Shannon. On Fallon, they snapped right back into character as bumbling, babbling professional talking heads—prattling on about their time in “Europe,” A.K.A. Canada, and their own romantic lives. “Im single by choice,” “Cord” told Jimmy Fallon. “It doesnt mean that its not going to happen for me, but I respect a womans choice—to not want to go out with me.”

Unsurprisingly, these two characters are not nearly as good at songwriting as they think they are—but nevertheless, they performed their latest composition on the Tonight Show stage. Some sample lyrics: “Far off in a fairy land where lords and ladies dance/ There lived a sad and lonely prince who dreamed of true romance/ From a land across the mighty sea, a lovely maiden came/ She was a true American, and Meghan was her name.”

Perhaps viewers tuning into HBO this weekend actually understand the joke this time. If they dont, HBO might face an even more ferocious wave of anger than Amazon did in January. After all, the Rose Parade is one thing—but as Ferrell and Shannons song notes, this is “the wedding of the century.”

Get Vanity Fairs HWD NewsletterSign up for essential industry and award news from Hollywood.Laura BradleyLaura Bradley is a Hollywood writer for VanityFair.com.

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