Feeling a bit uneasy about the lack of Will Ferrell in your life? I know I am. It has been almost three weeks since the release of his hit film “Blades of Glory,” two weeks since Variety reported the sale of his comedy pilot to HBO, and it will be months before the arrival of his next silly sports comedy, “Semi-Pro.” With the season of “Saturday Night Live” drawing to a close, a cameo seems unlikely. How am I going to survive without more opportunities to howl uproariously at Mr. Ferrell’s crazy antics this year?

But then, Mr. Ferrell thought of a way around this terrifying lack of exposure. Apparently he’d heard something about these newfangled vehicles called viral videos, and crazy Web sites where average Americans could take their comedy impulses and give them an instant audience of millions. And so, as luck would have it, Mr. Ferrell and his writing partner, Adam McKay, had a video camera, a concept, a Web site, and the good fortune to have one of the most famous comedians in the world to star. After only posting it on their funnyordie.comWeb site late last week, the two-minute video — “The Landlord” — has already topped anything on rival YouTube with 1.6 million views, and growing by thousands every hour.

There’s only one problem: “The Landlord” isn’t funny, and Mr. Ferrell isn’t funny in it. It’s a twominute, joke-free dialogue between a deadbeat tenant (Mr. Ferrell) and a demanding landlord, played by Mr. McKay’s 2-year-old daughter, Pearl, who curses repeatedly. I’ll admit that the little girl can be vaguely amusing, and there’s a glimmer of humor in the first few seconds. But what follows is a seemingly endless repetition of the premise — and a growing realization by the viewer that poor Pearl has been unwittingly dragged into this video for cheap laughs. She probably didn’t even get a bump in her allowance.

Aside from its lack of comic value, the “Landlord” video — which nevertheless earned itself a feature in Tuesday’s Los Angeles Times and coverage on the widely read Defamer.com— also takes up a large chunk of the viral video audience’s disposable time. The entrance of someone as famous as Mr. Ferrell into this formerly egalitarian marketplace tilts the balance of power away from those who might benefit from free exposure. Let’s face it, how many of us have more than a few minutes each day to watch videos? After you’re finished with Mr. Ferrell’s film, you’re not likely to load YouTube and browse through the junk heap of unknowns, looking for the gem. And by “you,” I mean the studio development executives who look to the viral market to discover fresh new concepts and shortcut their way to the next hit.

But it’s there, right now, over on YouTube. I just saw it — comedy gold. It’s attracting a fraction of Mr. Ferrell’s attention, but it’s infinitely funnier, full of heart, and with a far greater chance of translating to broad commercial success. It’s called “The Zimmers ‘My Generation,'” and it’s a cover version of the 1965 rock anthem written by Pete Townshend and performed by the Who. Like the Who, a group of British rockers formed the Zimmer Band; however, unlike the Who (barely), none of its members are younger than 69, and some are over 100. Its lead singer, Alf Carretta, is 90.

The single hasn’t even been released yet — it was recorded and filmed in March at the legendary Abbey Road Studios in London, where the Beatles recorded their last albums. “My Generation” turned up on YouTube on April 2 and has already generated nearly 320,000 hits. That’s with no publicity outside of a few short articles in the British press. The Zimmers met in a bingo hall, and you can see the camaraderie and life in their performance — it’s electric, and its humor stems from the ironic reversal of the song’s original message, that the older generation just doesn’t get what’s going on. The Zimmers stand for the principle that today’s youth don’t realize the staying power of those older than 80 — and when you see the charismatic Mr. Carretta sing the line “I hope I die before I get old,” you’ll get a chill from the thrill.

“I think that YouTube is great,” “Saturday Night Live” executive producer Lorne Michaels told the Observer last week, “because if you do something like ‘D— in a Box,’ someone in Pakistan can see it.” Yes, but does Mr. Michaels acknowledge the reverse — that people like him need to be checking out the creative minds in Pakistan, or England, for the kind of material his performers can’t create? I’m willing to bet that the Zimmers would make killer guests on SNL, and have the potential to produce a smash CD for an American music label. I could even see them touring, performing in Vegas, and appearing on “60 Minutes.”

But first they need to get seen by the arbiters of popular culture — the busy showbiz executives, producers and agents who wasted two minutes of their valuable time this week watching Mr. Ferrell’s “The Landlord.” It’s a shame that a star of Mr. Ferrell’s magnitude — who could sell a concept to any network in town — has usurped the Internet’s potential to launch new talent and fresh ideas by barging in with his ubiquitous name and face and hogging the spotlight. After 90 years, it’s Alf Carretta’s turn.