The Will Ferrell Show, part 37

Will Ferrell is becoming a parody of his own punch lines. When he first began making big Hollywood movies, his humor was amusing.

But lately his movies are turning into that joke that gets told because it’s so funny but is so often repeated it isn’t funny anymore.

“Land of the Lost” is a film production of the original cult-fave TV show from the ’70s.

Starring Ferrell as Dr. Rick Marshall, a quantum-paleontologist with a penchant for radical theories about time travel and show tunes, “Land of the Lost” takes watchers on a journey through time and space.

Sadly, this film’s biggest drawback is also its biggest star, Ferrell. Like most of his previous films, this one is just a multi-million dollar excuse for Ferrell to run around acting like an idiot and making stupid comments.

Per usual, he’s playing the oblivious, angry man-child that was once funny in “Anchorman.” Here, he’s an “expert” in some vocation who is really an idiot yet somehow becomes famous by luck. Marshall is a combination of some Frank “The Tank” (“Old School”), George W. Bush and every other guy Ferrell has played this decade.

That’s not to say the movie isn’t funny. The rest of the cast actually provides some truly hilarious moments, playing off Ferrell’s antics. Oddly, the real scene-stealer is Matt Lauer. His two scenes were actually some of the best in the movie, and it’s probably not a good thing if a “Today Show” host brings the funny more than the star.

It’s obvious that people’s short attention spans will allow Ferrell to keep making movies. If you aren’t the biggest fan of his work, then this movie won’t really be anything new for you. If you’re a fan of his movies, you’re in luck; the movie set itself up for a sequel, so you will get plenty more of the same jokes over and over.