For many, the news of Glenn Frey’s death brought to mind their favorite Eagles song. Or his guest-star turn on Miami Vice. Or one of his numerous solo efforts used by movies and TV shows, like Vice or Beverly Hills Cop. Frey’s diversified career left indelible marks throughout ’70s and ’80s pop culture, but one of its most memorable moments features his likeness seduced by a smooth-talking Ben Stiller.
Adam McKay wrote and directed “The H Is O” (“the heat is on”) for Saturday Night Live. It features Ben Stiller as an alpha leader determined to prove to his gang that he can “get” anyone in five lines or less. Enter Glenn Frey (Will Ferrell) and his entourage into the bar, and suddenly everything takes a bizarre and desperate turn. Why Frey was chosen as the subject of this short will forever remain a mystery, but it’s just one of the absurd specific elements that McKay frequently uses to up the weirdness of any project in which he’s involved. It may not be the most flattering way to remember Frey, barking orders at a mostly naked Stiller, but it does add to the man’s mythos, and offers a few laughs amid an otherwise depressing time.
The H is O, a short by Adam Mckay from Will Ferrell