The Lonely Island and Seth Meyers Podcast - Business Meeting, Nurse Nancy, and Andy Popping Into Frame

Episode Date: July 22, 2024

This week The Lonely Island and Seth talk about the digital shorts Business Meeting, Nurse Nancy, and Andy Popping Into Frame. Plus, they talk about other sketches including Body Fuzion, Fire Starter, NFL on CBS, Crystal Falls Town Hall, and more! Take the guesswork out of buying concert tickets with Gametime.  Download the Gametime app, create an account, and use code LONELY for $20 off your first purchase. Terms apply.  Download Gametime today. Last minute tickets. Lowest Price. Guaranteed. Here's a special limited time deal for our listeners.Get up to 60% off at Babbel.com/LONELY Body FusionMacGruber (every episode)Business MeetingSloths Andy Popping Into Frame(Not all the clips we mention are available online; some never even aired.) If you want to see more photos and clips follow us on Instagram @thelonelyislandpod. Produced by Rabbit Grin ProductionsExecutive Producers Jeph Porter and Rob HolyszLead Producer Kevin MillerCreative Producer Samantha SkeltonCoordinating Producer Derek JohnsonCover Art by Olney AtwellMusic by Greg Chun and Brent AsburyEdit by Cheyenne JonesMix and Master by Jason Richards

All right, let's get into it, guys. I got to go. Why? What do you have to go for? What's so fucking important? I have to go to a comedy. Why do you have to go? A comedy sketch show, Andy.

Oof. You have to go to watch a comedy sketch show? It's a long story. Let's talk about it later. It doesn't matter. No, but I will say, and again, I hope it's a great comedy sketch show, and I'm sure it will be, but that is my nightmare. I've reached the age where that is fully my nightmare.

Do you guys ever look back at the things you tried to get important people to come to and feel so bad? Yeah. About wanting people to come and see you do your silly sketches? Every person in my life that I care about, I've begged and essentially forced to come to multiple bringer shows when I was doing stand-up. And it cost them so much money. Yeah. Those were a bummer. And they were brutal, yeah.

All right, let's get into it. Seth, hit it. This is it. This is it. It's already started, Jorma. I think there's a real problem, Jorma, how often you tell me to start when in my head I've started. It's the Lonely Island Sunfire Podcast!

Hey, guys. We're going to do a new thing this episode. We're going to do four digital shorts because let's be honest. Here it comes. They didn't resonate. They lacked a sort of cultural stickiness that a lot of shorts had. Fair? I think that's a really nice way to put that they all stuck.

That's the nicest way of saying it. I don't think body fusion should be lumped in to that as much. I agree. I think body fusion is great, but lumped in to that as much. I agree. I think body fusion is great, but also no credit to Andy, no credit to your arm. You did a great job shooting it, Keith, but it is sort of... It's Polar's. We'll get there. We'll get there. Yeah. Our work being called lacking cultural stickiness, that would be so nice as a review for some of this stuff. Yeah. I will say I had a different way of saying it and then you said here we go during the t-up and i realized i had to sort of i don't know do sort of like a scooby-doo

backtrack oh yeah because you thought the burn was coming do the mean version now these stunk they all suck you piece of shit we stand by this this is our hearts work they didn't stink but first of all because here's the really cool thing. I would have said, you know, one of the things about this era of SNL, which you guys know how I stand, where I stand, and Golden Era. Right. And Golden Era. I always thought, you know, it was very hard for the show to be great

without a really strong digital short. And here's the thing. These four shows, looking back on it, are great shows. Despite us. Yeah, despite you, which I think is healthy that there were many times that you guys lifted up the show and then the reality was this show could also be fine without you guys.

But I want to start with Jeremy Piven. Strong disagree is what I'm reading on Jorma's face right now. I feel like I was involved in making some of these shows better. I mean, the MacGruber's in here, the first MacGruber's in here. I feel like that was good. Oh my God, we'll get to it. This is literally like somebody trying to make an opening statement in court

when the prosecution is making theirs. Guys, fair. First episode we're going to talk about is January 20th, 2007. Jeremy Piven, hot off and in the middle of Entourage, a very fitting choice for a show that had a great cultural footprint, unlike the next four digital shorts we're going to talk about. Listen, just keep leaving Body Fusion out of that. I'm not leaving Body Fusion out of that. I'm doing the first Piven. The digital short is movie trailer. Was that made for that show? No. And

I believe now again, we are doing these so far apart. We have no memory. If we repeat ourselves every episode, it can't be helped. We apologize. But I believe it cut for dress in one of our previous podcast episodes. And I think we've even brought it up on one of the other episodes because we saw it in cut for dress. This is only a minute 10. Can I just watch it real quick to remind myself? Yes. Yeah. And we're going to watch your face and we're gonna narrate your face as you watch it yeah you just go ahead and take off your iphone so you can't hear us this february the doctor is he's smiling he's smiling he likes it nurse nancy now i really feel like he and i gotta

go to war over whether that's good i think i think he's embarrassed really laughing part of it's knowing how you're feeling seth i think he's kind of coaxing the the bigger chuckles up some head shaking disappointed head shaking oh that speaks for itself i do like i do like garbasiak garbasiak's a good name a rare yorm vo too I'll pronounce you mad and black. Come on, guys. I was home. I know. That was a nod to Liz there. I always cry at weddings.

And her love of American. Nurse Nancy. Coming this February. Mm-hmm. Okay. Okay. Short. It was short.

Very short. I'm caught up. How'd we clear those songs, first off? I know. I think you had Bust a Move and Who Let the Dogs Out and Boom, I Got Your Boyfriend all in. Yeah. We didn't care about reruns. We knew what we had and we knew that we didn't want it to ever repeat.

Ah, so you would just throw the music out there. I mean, should we kick it off, Seth? Should we talk about how we feel? Yeah, kick it. Kick it off. I mean, I respect how hateful it is. Yeah. I also feel, do you guys feel this way?

I now think about Nutty Professor as a masterpiece. Yes. Never seen it. Is that is. Yeah. I also feel, do you guys feel this way? I now think about Nutty Professor as a masterpiece. Yes. Never seen it. Is that true? Yeah. Okay.

I genuinely think Eddie Murphy should have won an Oscar for the first Nutty Professor movie. I remember being in the theater doubled over for like eight minutes of that movie

just being like, oh my God, this is so funny. Yes. And it's kind of exactly what we were making fun of in that short. The dinner table scene

in the first 98 Professor movie, I have maybe watched on YouTube as much as I've watched the bar scene from Inglourious Bastards. Like, I think it's just

a perfect piece of cinema. The craziest thing about that is that the bar scene in Inglourious Bastards is also all Eddie Murphy. But almost too good, right? The makeup was too good. It's too good.

So one of the things as I look at it now as, oh, this was sort of a time where that was maybe viewed as... But this is based on Norbit and the Clumps, I'm assuming. Sure. Nutty Professors, 1996. What year are we now? 2006? 07.

Yeah, 07. So a lot has happened probably since then. A lot has happened and probably not just Eddie Murphy film. But I will say this, for how you can judge things occasionally

and occasionally I don't know where you're going to shake out on that, having you say that you thought he deserved, like makes me really happy because I really do remember

being in the theater just dying. So it makes me really happy that you liked it. Thank you for saying that. I never saw it, as mentioned. Let's watch it right now. I just was like, I'm an actor happy that you liked it. Thank you for saying that. I never saw it as mentioned. Let's watch it right now.

I just was like, I'm an actor. Here's an assignment. I didn't even know what the context was. You had no idea. You're like, why should I do this?

Yeah, that's what it reads in the thing. You're not owning it at all. What a wonderful opportunity to play many roles. But the meanness in it is interesting that you note and that is what makes us like it.

But it didn't come from us because we didn't write this. None of us did. No. These are some of the rare ones that did not come from us. That's right. Which character did you like playing the most, Andy, out of all of them? I mean, they're like my children.

I can't choose. You can't choose. I truly didn't remember what was going to happen in this one, which is also rare. Usually they start playing like, oh yeah, but this one was just a total surprise. I had forgotten all of it. I forgot that the name was scott garbasiak which also is just makes me giggle immediately garbasiak's good i forgot yorm stole that vo money from higgins like a motherfucking champ finally yeah i really did

i got my 400 so again not the most memorable but you guys, also the birth of a new sort of ersatz digital short, which is MacGruber. Yes. Now, you wrote and directed MacGruber's. You wrote him with Solomon and Forte. Yeah. One of my all-time favorite things that ever happened in SNL was MacGruber. And do you remember the impetus

behind the first one? The story I tell, which I think is accurate, was that it was a pitch for the Lance Armstrong show. And it was for Lance to play MacGyver's stepbrother, MacGruber, which already doesn't make any sense. And instead of diffusing bombs, he obviously doesn't use guns or anything. He just uses like little found objects, things like pieces of shit and pubic hair. So none of his assistants want to touch any of the items when he desperately needs them. Jojo, grab that twine.

I'm on it. Casey, gum wrapper. Right here. Jojo, that dog turd. What? The dog turd right by your foot. I'm not picking up that dog turd. Ten seconds.

You heard her, Jojo. Give me the dog turd. No, why do we need a dog turd? That's my business. Now pick up the dog turd. Just give him the dog turd. Give me the dog turd No why do we need A dog turd That's my business Now pick up the dog turd Just give him the dog turd You give the dog turd Yeah Casey

Give me the dog turd No I can't I'm keeping count 3 seconds Fine I'll get the dog turd I just hope I have Enough time to

Bitch Do you ever think Oh my god If Lance had played Instead of Forte It would have been So much worse And yet it would have Done exactly the same at the box office?

There's the burnage we were looking for. That's what I was talking about with the judgment earlier. I don't know what I'm going to give you. Maybe even a little better. There might have been like a Livestrong tie-in, and people would have been showing up to have a group. Damn, slam. Might have made more money.

and people would have been showing up to have a group. Damn, slam. Might have made more money. No, I think it's actually indicative of how little I thought of the original pitch was that I was just like, yeah, just like get through this. Because I hated a pitch. Pitch was always like terrifying to me. You're in a big room, all of your friends,

everyone from the show, all writers and cast are there and you're a famous host and you have to like open your mouth and try to entertain people. And Lauren. And Lorne. And Lorne. I mean, let's remember the arbiter of taste, Lorne. Exactly.

You know, who wasn't terrified of the pitch? Who? Pelé. Oh, Pelé, the Brazilian soccer player. Oh, he dominated the pitch. You kind of went overseas with that one. Well, he dominated the pitch. He dominated the pitch.

He wasn't afraid of it. He couldn't wait to get out there every day. He was cool as a pro as the proverbial cucumber. I think the angriest I am at the long walk you just took us on is the way you said Pele. Yeah, I knew it would be. Was Pele known to be cool as a cucumber? I just didn't know. Yeah, I think under pressure.

The proof is in the pudding, Keev. Bicycle kicks much? When you watch old Pele highlights the the whole time you just hear him going, oh, fuck, fuck, fuck. Oh, I don't know what I'm doing. No, no, no, no, no, no, no. I will tell you who genuinely was not afraid of the pitch was Will Ferrell.

And again, I only saw his last year of pitching, so he might have been nervous about pitching early on in his time in the show. I got less nervous about it the longer I was there too because I learned the valuable lesson, the pitch doesn't matter and you could just try to make people laugh. That was more important

than actually trying to pitch a sketch. But I think I told you guys, Farrell's last pitch, he just brought in an old timey typewriter and he always went last. And as Lauren was going around the room, Will was typing like he was writing down all the pitches and it was the loudest typewriter.

And so people would say, I have an idea pitches, and it was the loudest typewriter. And so people would say, I have an idea where, and it's like, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick. Really slow, really loud. And then even Lorne was smiling because I think Lorne at that point had so much confidence in Will knowing that this wasn't a road to nowhere.

And so it got all the way around the room. And then Lorne, as he always did, said, where's Will? And Will just turned the just like turn the sides to bring the paper up. And he looked at it for a really long time and he said, no, I think we're good. No fear of the pitch.

Okay, well, for those of us that were terrified of it, MacGruber got a really bad reaction. My second pitch that day, I remember because that one got a groan. And then the second one was a spoof commercial for a new kind of chunky mayonnaise that also got like basically booed. And then I believe it was like another month of me trying to repitch it to Forte and be like, what if we did this though? What if you played McGregor? And then the first one that we did for the Piven show is basically that joke. And then the only thing that I really

remember that nobody clocked, but I found funny, was that his assistants, the reason that Maya Rudolph was named Casey is because the Piven's character was named Jojo. And so it was a nod to the band Casey and Jojo. To the R&B group. The R&B group. It makes a lot of sense, actually. Yeah. Casey, Jojo. It was wonderful. By the way, I want Forte to give his version of what he thinks how MacGruber came about because that's probably different than mine. Okay. My recollection of how

MacGruber came about. John Solomon and I were supposed to write with Yorma on a Tuesday night and Yorma came in and pitched this idea about this character called MacGruber who was MacGyver's younger brother, who was just pretty shitty at doing the same thing that MacGyver does. And we thought it sounded pretty dumb.

So we just said, no, let's think of something else. And then a week later, we got together to write again. And Jorma pitched it again, equally as excited about it. And John and I were equally as unenthusiastic about it. And then he pitched it the next week. And then I think it was the fourth week, he frigging pitched this thing again. And we're like, okay, let's just do it just to get him to shut up and move off it. And then as we started thinking about it and thought about it as more of a short film in three segments,

as opposed to one segment that was a sketch, then it all fell into place. But yeah, in the very beginning, we did not have high hopes. I love you guys. I just want to say something about this episode. So we got Nurse Nancy, which is not, you know,

going to make the Criterion Collection of the Digital Shorts. But we have the first MacGruber. Huge. We got A-Holes. Huge. We got, I think, our second Blizzard Man with Common. Yes. Amazing. And then also, I just want to dip, I'm going to dip in and I know we're going to do this a fair amount, but I

really want to take a toe and place it into Seth's Corner. Oh. Seth's Corner, you're all invited. Seth's corner, it's happening right now. Take it away, Seth. Weekend Update, the first really was in this Weekend Update. Oh.

Which is huge. Genuinely a huge moment for my time at Weekend Update. And really, never would have come up with it on my own, was a gift from Andy Samberg. Whoa. That is true. He even gave it to me at a more important time than a week where we had a show.

He gave it to me when I auditioned for Weekend Update. And I was working on my audition for Weekend Update, and Andy came to my office, said, you should do a bit called Really. And I said, why? And he said, that's how you talk all the time. I said, my favorite version of you is when you show up to the office mad about something that's happening in the world or in your life. And you get so worked up that you go, really? That's what

we're doing? That's the way? And you always, like when you bring that venom and it comes from your soul and you combine it with your comedy mind, it always would make me laugh the hardest you can make me laugh. I didn't remember it was before your audition, though. I thought it was after you already got Update. No, no, no. It was because I wrote a really for my audition. That's awesome.

Yeah. And then it says what you trotted it out for. Do you remember what it was? It was for Michael Vick. Michael Vick got arrested for trying to bring weed onto a plane. Michael Vick's alleged attempt to bring weed onto a plane. Michael Vick's alleged attempt to bring marijuana onto a plane

raises many questions. Questions we will now address in a new segment on Weekend Update called Really with Seth and Amy. Michael Vick, really? You didn't want to

throw your weed away before you went through security. Really? You have $117 million left on your contract. Do you know what $117 million means? You can afford to replace your weed if you have to throw it away at the airport. Really. I mean, come on, Michael.

Even my dumbest high school friends know to throw their weed away at the airport, and they have no money and love weed. And you got caught at the Miami and they have no money and love weed. And you got caught at the Miami airport. Really? You didn't think they'd check for drugs at the airport in Miami?

Really? And Seth, in return for me helping you create that, you cut two things of mine from Update. Looking at the rundown.

Starting off a long trend of you gatekeeping me from glory in your sacred space. Only pre-tapes, Andy, he'd say as he patted me condescendingly on the head. Only pre-tapes for you, lad. You're better with an edit pass, my child. Wait, what got cut so we can judge whether they should have been cut? There's just one here.

Well, I apparently helped Solomon and Forte write a Jim Caviezel piece for Will Forte. As well as a piece called Mustache starring me, written by me, Solomon, Jost, Doug Ables, Charlie Grandy, and Baze, apparently. Wow. Too many people. The full update team. Yeah, I know. Do you remember what it was? I have no idea what it was.

Mustache is you came out to give your review of the Oscars, maybe the Golden Globes. It was an award show. You came out with a mustache and pretty much only had nice things to say about actors who had mustaches. It was a lot of me noting that this was the first mustache that I had seen you with.

I mean, it sounds like a good premise that was also incredibly topical. A word show just had aired. Yeah, that part was good. But I guess not good enough. I wrote a scene called Unicorn. You guys remember Unicorn? I had to look it back up again.

It is basically a town that's voting on whether they should tear down Unicorn Forest to build a mall and everybody wants to. And it's been clear that they all have uncountable wealth because of the magic unicorn. But they also really want a mall. Everybody's voting to tear down the unicorn and then Polar is an elf

named Periwinkle who keeps claiming you're being rash. And I can't say why, I know, but I feel like if you kill that unicorn, you're being rash. And I can't say why, I know, but I feel like if you kill that unicorn, you're all going to die. Um, perhaps the unicorn is here because the forest is the last magical place on Earth and it's warning us not to destroy it. Thank you, Periwinkle.

I think we all know how you feel about the unicorn, but it looks like you're outvoted on this one. You know, it's a trifle, but you guys, I was very happy when I remembered how much fun Polar was playing a little elf. Oh, shoot. There's something else. Wait, there's something else that happened

for the first time in this show. I can't believe we almost missed it. One of my favorites, because I got a great story about it. That'll move the chains. Oh, my God. Oh, my God. One of my favorites. By the way, it was high in the show.

Oh yeah, yeah. It's the Primo spot after first commercial break. It's the first sketch. Yeah, it was super high. It's NFL commentators, Sandberg, Jost, Murray. Primo spot. You were a kid who had won a contest to go into the booth. Yes, yes, yes.

To be a live broadcast at an NFL game. And you said that'll move the chains no matter what had just happened that's right played along the sideline to Reggie Wayne first down Colts that'll move the chains it certainly will Danny wow looks like someone's been brushing up on his football terminology nice job Danny I'm trying now it's Manning on the quick snap. Hands to Hedaya. And he picks up about four yards. That'll move the chains. Well, not this time, Danny. The chains actually only move on a first down. Great effort though, Danny. Yeah. Manning back under center. Drops back. He's got Harrison deep. That'll move the chains. And the pass falls incomplete.

And the chains move. No, no. And it worked pretty well. It did. It played nice. I feel like people still, like, once every five years will say that to me. Yeah.

I mean, I can't hear that'll move the chains without thinking about it. So I feel like that's a win on your... But my favorite story about it, which I often tell, and we'll get to it, because I think it aired. Two months later, maybe even less, you came into my office and I said, what are you working on

this week? And you said, we're thinking about doing another That'll Move the Chains. And I said, another? Because I did not strike me as a recurring character. It struck me as a premise piece. And so I said, another. And do you remember what you said to me? No. You said, we don't all have fucking update every week. Which was, it was like 80% doing a bit, but I could tell 20% you were a little mad. The guy who got to just get 10 minutes a week

was being all judgy about you trying to rebuild. That'll move the chain. Didn't we do a second one though? Yes, it was basketball and I think it was from downtown, maybe. Or nothing but the bottom of the net, maybe? That might be it. It was a very novel re-imagining.

I feel like you got that'll move the chains back in there too. Probably said that'll move the chains. I wonder if we got in, Yorm, you know how much I wanted to say this on something. Thunder Dan is En Fuego from downtown. Yeah, that was like your main thing. Yeah, with a lisp, though.

Thunder Dan is En Fuego. Thunder Dan Marley, he can't miss. Yeah, it always got me. Still does. Support comes from Game Time. Yorm, you love a concert. I can't stop loving concerts. Thanks, Seth.

One of the greatest concerts I ever saw in my life. You know what it was? Was it my brother's band? It was the Lonely Island concert. Oh, I like those guys too. Yeah, it was fantastic. And if you love going to concerts or other events, you know, I can tell you one of my favorite things to do

is using Game Time because it makes getting tickets for concerts and events faster, easier. Even if you don't buy tickets right away, prices on the GameTime app actually go down the closer it gets to Showtime. So for guys like you and I, who maybe make our decision late in the game,

all of a sudden an evening, an evening opens up for us. Yeah, which it never does. It's a swamp. Yeah, but then all of a sudden you're like, look, what are we going to do? Are we just going to stay at home and watch TV? Or are we going to go to the GameTime app and look it up?

One of the bands we love is doing a concert locally. We should go check it out. Let's do it. Yeah, let's do it. Y. We should go check it out. Let's do it. Yeah, let's do it. Yorm says that more than anything else. Let's do it. It's the lowest price guarantee.

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price guaranteed you're say game time like you're a high school basketball coach you're down 10 you're about to go back out on the court and you want to inspire your team with the way you say it come on everybody it's game time! Very well done. Support for Lonely Island comes from Babbel. Jorm, you're a world traveler. I am. I'm in Finland right now as we speak. I feel like every time I'm looking for you,

you're in another country. And look, you can walk around town and you can maybe learn how they say hello, how they say goodbye, how they say, sir, you're in the bike lane. Because I know you like to just set up shop in the middle of a bike lane. I do what I want. Yoram, there's an easier way, though. If you want to learn a new language, you absolutely should get Babbel.

Be a better you. Be a better you, Yoram, in 2024 with Babbel. It's a science-backed language learning app that actually works. Don't pay hundreds of dollars for private tutors or waste hours on apps that don't really help you speak the language. Babbel's quick 10-minute lessons, they're handcrafted by over 200 language experts to help you start speaking a new language in as little as three weeks.

So Jorm, next time I'm gonna go visit you in one of your exotic locales, I'm gonna do a little Babbel first. I'm gonna put aside some time so that when I show up, we can converse in the native tongue. Treat yourself to 60% off on me, Seth. Well, I'm glad you mentioned that because here's a special limited time deal for our listeners. Right now, get up to 60% off on me, Seth. Well, I'm glad you mentioned

that because here's a special limited time deal for our listeners right now. Get up to 60% off your Babbel subscription, but only for our listeners at babbel.com slash lonely. 60% off at babbel.com slash lonely spelled B-A-B-B-E-L.com slash lonely. Rules and restrictions may apply. Rules and restrictions may apply. Jorm, say babble like you are in a river and you're gasping for breath because you can't swim. Moi moi. That's goodbye and finish. All right, moving on.

Next show, Drew Barrymore, February 3rd, 2007. Digital short, this one came from Amy Poehler and it's listed as workout video but what would you think of it as if you gave it a title

Akiva body fusion yeah body fusion body fusion I think it was just confusing or came in late and so we just called it workout video

let's tone our arms you can use weights or any household item for a more advanced workout, use one pound hand weights. Or air. Body Fusion is wonderful. It is an 80s style workout video. And Akiva, this is one of the first times I heard you describing the process of making something where I was hella, to use the West Coast term, impressed. Thanks for that.

It has a grainy VHS quality. And I remember you saying, did you shoot it and then transfer it to VHS and then sort of crumple the tape? Yeah, it was experimental. And I was really proud of having thought of it. There were some old VHS stacks still at SNL that weren't really plugged in. And we went and dug them out. And then we shot it on the normal kind of studio cameras, but at a good frame rate that

looks like old stuff. And then we copied it onto VHS tapes and we copied it onto them at different speeds. You remember when you used to do VHS and there'd be the two hour version that was like, you know, pretty high quality and then the EP and then the LP, like for four hours or six hours. And we took three different tapes and just recorded it at three different speeds. So it went from, you know, good to bad to worse. And then there was one where I did it and then touch the tape and all the stuff you're not. And it was like tracking all over the place. And then we digitize them all back in and put them on top and then shot to shot. I just chose how messed up to make it on every shot. And it worked so well because back then people would

just still do like a fact, a VHS effect. And you could always tell it was fake. And I got called by people asking how I did it, what plugin I used. I remember also being impressed when you suggested doing it. And that SNL had machines. Yeah. it's obvious when you think about it. I was going to say, I thought it was obvious. Yeah, thank you. Anytime there is that plug-in or that effect, if you watch it long enough, you can tell it's an effect. And the great thing about this was because you had done it manually,

there was an unpredictability to it that made it so authentic and great. And I remember it was one of those that was beloved without necessarily having a ton of laughs in it. You just felt everybody watching it was enjoying it so much. Just having rewatched, actually, there was more laughs than I was expecting because what you just said was my memory of it as well, that people just were being charmed by their performances and their little looks they're giving each other and stuff. But then I was surprised to actually hear some actual laughs in there as well.

I think it's a very special one, Body Fusion. I do put it in the Criterion Collection for its uniqueness. Yeah, exactly. Because it's so different from everything else. And it was such a fun idea. There's a reason I made it into the 100th Digital Short. The roundup recap of all things we were proud of. Yes, it did.

Yeah. Oh, right. Did you see the Body Fusion ladies for a second? Body Fusion lady. Body Fusion, not just because of the style of it, but because Polar had a good idea. And now when you watch it, you're like, oh yeah, I've seen a hundred things like this.

But at that moment, it felt like, in my opinion, like a new thought to have on her part and then Keeve's delivery of it. Yeah. The concept of that the exercise videos have the lady doing the hard version, the medium version and the easy version. I didn't even know that existed in exercise videos. And she had to explain to me what it was. And now as someone who's lived 20 more years, I've seen those videos. Pretty accurate. Pretty sure the first Dakota Fanning show, which was a fun little impression for Polar over the years to do and gave hosts fun things to do.

There was a great Donatella. There was Target Lady. It was a good show. Good show. Oh, there's a really fun Smoke Sausages where I'm pretty sure it's Drew Barrymore as her character from Firestarter cooking sausages on a grill. All grown up. All grown up. Why not? A very deep cut because, again, by 2007,

I believe Firestarter is probably 20-plus years old. Sounds like we would have wrote it. Yeah, that wasn't our idea. Yeah. That's our territory. Hi, I'm Charlie McGee, but you probably know me better as Firestarter. That was a long time ago, and now I've got something that I'm really excited about.

Firestarter brand smoked sausages. Firestarter brand smoked sausages. Cooked in fires, She starts with her mind. Then we have Forest Whitaker, you guys. The Forest Whitaker show, the digital short, is Andy Poppigan frame. Here we go. Let's talk about it. Talk me through it.

Can we first just talk about how wonderful Forest Whitaker was? Sure. Let's distract from the fact that we made Andy Poppigan the friend. That was my intention. Why are you doing that to your compadre? I was just so, I was so disappointed. I was so disappointed watching it. Let's remember that we're editing Hot Rod.

This is crunch time, editing Hot Rod. Sure. We're talking February 2007. We have a summer release date. Sure. I begged Lorne every week to just let me not come in and let me just keep editing. And the one week he let me do it

was the Jeremy Piven show of the whole season. And I remember it so clearly because I wasn't there that whole week. That was Nurse Nancy? Yes. And that's why they dug out Nurse Nancy from back in November from the Ludacris show. It had already been made.

Yeah. And I was doing MacGruber, so I was distracted. Maybe we had a test screening or something coming up and he was like, okay, fine. You can miss this week. And I did not come in at all for that one. When you guys did, Blizzard Man would come and I just read the script on the couch at the editing room.

And that was it. That was the only one that he let you off for? Only one? Yes. In my memory, yes. But it was a big deal. When he said it, it was like a snow day for a kid. Yeah.

It was like, oh my God, I just got the whole week. I get to work on the movie. I can work. That you're also producing. I can't believe how much're also producing. Yeah. I can't believe how much you remember sometimes, Keev. It's all a big schmooey blob to me. It's just specific. I didn't remember the Nurse Nancy stuff until right now. But the Piven one, I remember not being there because it was weird to not be there for a week. Seth, do you remember

every guest that's been on your show like vividly? No. Okay. Weird. Well, you admit it. Yeah, I do admit it. Okay, but Akiva, for Andy popping into frame, you said earlier that you thought that this was groundbreaking at the time. I'm paraphrasing what you said. Well, to be willing to be this naked on screen, I mean. This unprotected by the written word or jokes. That it was almost punk rock.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. It was. Let me go into something that i forget to do uh the comments this is comment number one on the youtube channel from three years ago is it andy's cute because that's what i got they let this man do whatever he wanted and i love it that is the punk rock thing is that it was like hey we're gonna do whatever we want i guess yeah i mean i think even as we were making that one, we knew it wasn't that great. Is this enough?

It was experimental. It was going to be all style and it was going to be more like kind of the interstitial stuff we had shot for Awesome Town. And I believe one of us, possibly even me, said out loud

while we were cutting it, people who don't like me are going to really hate this. Well, I think, to be fair, I think that's also because you do look kind of cute. Oh, Yoram. You do look cute. You're pretty cute on screen.

Like, I'm like, oh, look at that adorable guy. And if I didn't like you, I'd be like, fuck this guy. I agree. Yoram, I'm gonna tell you, one of my biggest takeaways from watching this was, damn, Andy was handsome. I was endeared to him at the time, or else I would've hated him, too. Y'all are nice

it's also like the show is so polished that sometimes we would go what if we do something that is premises yeah that is very

unpolished and like play with expectations it's almost good you feel it working because it does the thing it does

fast pop fast pop fast pop fast pop so that your brain goes okay he's gonna pop in and then it goes

to a wide and you're searching the screen and you're searching and you know, it is doing something right because it is telling a cadence of playing with expectations. And then he pops in somewhere and you're like, okay, it's teaching me a game visually the same way. And I remember us talking about it, that we were basically making something that would be on Sesame street when we were doing it. That's what it feels like. And when comes in i'm like okay and they're they're heightening and that really works and then i'm like okay if they've got another forte up their sleeve i'm gonna be with this because it's like doing every variation on a theme it's like in

the film amadeus remember when uh the guy that's not as good uh salieri or whatever comes in and he's been working on something for years yes and most are like oh that's a really cool melody and he's like or you could do it like this or you could do it like this and he's been working on something for years and Mozart's like, oh, that's a really cool melody. And he's like, or you could do it like this or you could do it like this. And he does like 10 variations on the theme immediately in a way that would take this other guy

obviously a year to figure out. Just watch that total accurate description of the scene. This is exactly what we were doing. We only thought of like three variations.

Yeah. And so it was like a third of a Mozart maybe. You're right. You're right. If it had heightened after that, I think I would have liked it a lot more.

And was this the beginning of us doing a stupid beat that I had made kind of thing? Because we ended up doing this kind of thing a bunch of times. Yes, we ended up doing two more. We did Punch Before Eating and we did Extreme Competition. Which I like both of those better, but there's a lot more to laugh at in those. Well, yeah. I mean, the first MacGruber wasn't as good as the later ones either, right? That's true. Yeah.

I've been notified, Seth, that there was an out-of-breath jogger cut from this episode. From 1933. You want me to hit you with a little taste? Because it never aired. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Well, before you read it, Andy, let me just say, I'm devastated at our choice. And I'm sure when I hear it now, I will realize that this would have changed the trajectory of the show. Now a moment with the out of breath jogger from 1933. It would be me in a thirties full piece swimsuit. Sure. That's what joggers would wear,

a swimsuit. Yeah. Ooh, this depression's the worst, huh? Ah, you see that movie, King Kong, the first one? Supposed to be awesome. This Adolf Hitler character seems to be stirring up a lot of trouble. I'm sure it'll pass. Oh, tell you who my favorite baseball team is right now, the 1933 New York Yankees. Oh, I'm having trouble breathing. You know what rules?

Having 48 states, it's the best. Al Capone! That was the end al capone the idea that they would cut something that's like a minute long is a little unfair i don't even know which one of those is supposed to get a laugh because again the out of breath jogger from the 80s like 80s jogger already is funny yeah also 80s references are ones that are a little bit more fun to hear, certainly in the mid-2000s. And now you go back to 19... It's really funny

that you tried. Okay, but the speed at which jokes would be coming at you and the look of it, it would be black and white. It would be old-timey footage. But why cut something

that is just a little fun pop like that? You know what I mean? Probably because it died and we had better stuff is my guess. Heath Urban went over. I have a memory of something else that got cut in the Forrest Whitaker show that I wrote called Meet the Boss. Do you guys remember Meet the Boss?

Oh, I remember this vividly. I love this sketch. I was so sad when the- The King of Scotland sketch. Yes. Forrest Whitaker was hosting on the back of Last King of Scotland, for which he was Oscar nominated. And I wrote a sketch where Idi Amin was the new boss at a mid-level office.

By the way, it fucking destroyed at the table. I quote it all the time. Destroyed at the table. Yes. I will not on this podcast do my impression of Forrest Whitaker's Idi Amin because I feel as though nobody wants that. Really? I mean, I would desperately want it, but I think it's a good call not to. But if you can imagine, it was a lot of Forrest Whitaker's Idi Amin being upset that someone ate

his yogurt, even though he had labeled it. Yeah. I quote it to my kids all the time. And the part about it that I still feel a little bad about is obviously forest whitaker is an actor of an incredible skill there is a heft he brings to his performances there is work he goes into finding a character and i think he took a journey to find a place to play idiom mean and then for me to immediately make it a sketch character he had a lot of questions about is it funny for this character to be saying this stuff? And all, the only feedback I ever gave him was like, yeah, but just like do it like Idi Amin. He was giving an Oscar caliber Idi Amin for Uyediz Yogurt. It was so funny.

It was so funny. And how did it play a dress? Not great. I should say it didn't play great, but also it maybe would have gone, and I have nothing but respect for this choice, you could tell it just wasn't that much fun for him and it was better not to do it. I think that's why I liked it though, because he was actually giving sort of more of a dramatic performance. It was that. I'm going to say something that is my theory and was my theory at the time. Our SNL audience 100% had not seen that movie.

Yeah. And that was the problem. Right. There's a scene in that movie where James McAvoy is his doctor. It's called Infernal Emergency. Do you remember? And then he takes a baseball bat,

holds it across his stomach, you know, mean stomach, and just applies pressure. And he lets out a gigantic fart. And that's when they kind of fall in love. And he's like, you're my guy now. And that's the story of that. It's all based on a fart. It's also one of the longest farts that you've ever seen on film, right?

Yeah. I mean, it's like, it feels like it's like a 30 second fart. It's very long. And the entire relationship is predicated on that fart. It's a very serious Oscar movie where they're like, and the inciting incident is a fart. It's true. I will say another thing I cannot hear without thinking about this show and Forest Whitaker is the Elton John song, Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me. Do you remember the scene where Forest Whitaker is a waiter?

He's a singing waiter and he keeps singing it and he keeps singing it going up one octave each time. And the thing I remember about Forest Whitaker is he keeps singing, instead of don't let the sun, he keeps saying do not, which is a really... I feel like, is that a James Anderson? No, Paula Pell and John Lutz.

Okay. But Forrest Whitaker keeps getting higher and higher and singing, do not let the sun. And I just... He left a mark. Forrest Whitaker left a mark on me. Also in this show

Jorma Sloth oh is that a digital short no I would have counted you would not count it just because it didn't

have the slate it didn't have the tag on it I would count it because I helped Jorm work on it too if Body Fusion counts it should count it came exclusively

out of our office okay yeah it's the shortest little piece of animation the joke being that it's a documentary that was sent in to a wildlife channel that's been given to them by a group of students at Staten Island Technical High School. And then they play the video and it's supposed to be about sloths and supposed to be educational, but the person who's presenting it hasn't seen it yet. And that's Kristen Wiig who's presenting it. And she hasn't seen it,

but she's heard it's very educational. and then it breaks very quickly into a sort of aggressive rock medley kind of song and then horrifyingly bad animation that I did on Final Cut of Sloss like shooting Uzis and I feel like stylistically it was kind of the precursor to O'Brien's Insane Clown Posse thing. Yeah. It had a lot of that fast-paced setting. Can I just say one thing about Sloth real quick? Please. First of all, Keeve, I remember distinctly you saying that this was reductive and that it was too much like a commercial and you didn't want me to do it. And then after I

spent five days of 12 hours a day of doing animation, you were like, yeah, that's pretty good. I don't know if you remember. Okay, well, apologies. I remember the part saying it was pretty good, but I didn't remember the negative part. Yeah, you thought it was like a squirrel thing. There was some squirrel advertisement that you were like, you can't do this because it's like these squirrels. What I learned making the sloth thing was the song was made. I had done all this animation for these sloths being crazy and clearly not acting like sloths. And then I remember Jost was like, you need some context for this. So you got to put a top and a tails on this of like, how this is being presented. And I remember it being like a real aha moment of comedy of like, oh yeah, the audience is not going to get any of this without some context. By the way, it's the exact same thing that happened on Laser Cats, but you hadn't

learned it yet, I guess. Burn. Yeah. I don't know. Yeah. Andy, since we can hear it, can you play it real quick so we can listen to Sloth? And today I'd like to talk about some very special animals that don't get much attention. Sloths. They're furry. They have two or three toes, and yes, they're very, very slow. Luckily, we just received a brand new documentary on these adorable creatures from a group of students at Staten Island Technical High School. I haven't seen it yet, but we always party 24. We eat algae off our fur We got three toes Bubble pound 3,000 blood lights

Break your nose And kick your face In a punch fight We eat fab food But prefer your girls Shake your arm With a pterodactyl. Hire a dog to burn down a hospital.

Eat cocaine off America's gravestone. Don't call us slow. Don't call us slow. That was not entirely accurate. This has been a message from the Staten Island Zoo. Hey, Josephio. Well, it was a Staten Island technical high school because that's where his dad worked. So he wanted to give a little shout out to his dad.

Even better than I remember, gentlemen. Yeah, I forgot me and Suds were on it. Yeah, on the track. You guys are rocking it. Incredible heightening on the lyrics. Shank your mom with a pterodactyl dick bone. I'm pretty sure that was you. track you guys are rocking it incredible heightening on the lyrics i mean shank your mom with a pterodactyl dick bone i'm pretty sure that was you and then i was murray did did matt murray do america's gravestone do cocaine off america's gravestone it has a real natalie's

rap heightening to how bad how quickly it gets terrible in that those are things you should never say. Yes. It starts to go off the rails pretty quickly. Did you see the comment about America's Gravestone is the best Beck Odile line that was never recorded? Really good. That's a really good YouTube comment. That's a good comment. So you know what? I'll just say Andy popping into frame, you know, a little soft, kind of has two and a half beats.

Yeah. Sloss puts its foot to the gas and just never lets up and is just perfect. It's much more on brand for us, frankly. Yes. Yeah. I didn't remember that it was a song with lyrics either, which I think Jorm, correct me if I'm wrong, progressed throughout the week. No, no.

We had to make it first because I had to animate to it. We actually recorded it really early on in the week because I was animating all week. It took forever because I was animating in Final Cut, which is not an animation program. The part that really got me, Orm, that I had fully forgotten about was cutting to Sloth from Goonies shredding on electric guitar. And the audience all completely understood it for some reason, I think. Oh, yeah. Well, that's when we were young and our references were their references. I did a bit during the pandemic.

I think it was during the pandemic where I said that I had been going to impression camp. And the first rule of impression camp is don't do sloth. There's no way. Doing sloth now would be on par with me trying to do Idi Amin. Even if it's a perfect sloth, people would say, what are you doing? You'd be like, no, but have you seen Goonies? It's a great sloth.

You guys probably remember that Keenan and Joe shared an office and had a Goonies poster on the door. Do you remember that? That it just hung there forever? Yeah. And when Josh Brolin hosted, he walked up. He's like, there I am. Like, he's so young and goonies that you for i even forgot yes i was like all right that is you i've been looking at you every day that i've gone to joe's office he was

such a hunk he just became a different kind of handsome guys we're gonna wrap it up with the fourth quarter here it's the rain wilson show rain wilson the digital short is business meeting daniel what do you think? Well, sir, our online division is hemorrhaging money. I say we lose it. Okay. Peter? I gotta go with Dan here.

Derek? I'd lose tech support. Okay. Red? Downsize research. Water guy? I don't work here. Right.

Derek's twin brother. I agree with what Derek said. Uh, Mountain Joe. Well, we could consolidate marketing. Snake Eyes. Scaleback IT. Uh, Chief Big Cloud. Long before Sister Boop. Not now we could consolidate marketing. Snake Eyes. Scaleback IT. Chief Big Cloud. Long before Sister Boop. Not now, Gary.

Sorry. I enjoyed watching Business Meeting because it highlights that wonderful cast, but it does end in a real Seth-unfriendly way. Not surprisingly, it ends in a real MacGruber. There was no ending, so a building just explodes. The lapsing building.

Not my favorite. Did it air after MacGruber? explodes. The lapsing building. Yeah. Not my favorite. Did it air after MacGruber, the first MacGruber? Yeah. So that's bad. Did you use that building ever in a MacGruber, the stock shop? No, because MacGruber was always exploding. Yeah, that was a detonation. Oh, this was the demolition.

Is the same idea, obviously. By the way, there's a strong chance at that point that none of us are thinking there's going to be another MacGruber. True. So we probably thought it was like a funny callback to MacGruber is my guess. Yeah. This was a Tacone-Jost-Sandberg joint. It was?

I remember though that Seth did a lot. I think I directed this one, didn't I? You did direct it. And it was fun. And Rainn Wilson's very good in it. And all of our cast is really good in it. And Shoemaker's son Austin is in it. And Shoemaker is in it.

That's right. And I like is in it. That's right. And I like that about it. There's some good jokes. This was another one, Jorm, where I was so busy trying to edit, but I did come in. I was in that room, but you guys had wrote it. You were in charge of it. And I came in, I remember, and we just talked eyelines a little bit. Because it's kind of complicated. And it was like, oh no, here's the rule. If you shoot Rain straight down the middle, so when he turns to the left, he's looking camera left. He turns to the right, he's looking camera right. Then you can just shoot everybody on this side this way,

and this way, this way, and you never have to worry about it. That's right. And I remember us working it all out. Yeah, because there's a lot of people who appear and then disappear as other characters. Yes, which I really like that thing too. Yeah, it all works pretty well.

I like the arcade fire cameo. Made me happy, I will say. I also had that delicious turkey sub puppet in my house forever until it fell apart. And the tiger, wasn't the tiger like on the wall in our office? Oh yeah. The head. Mounted tiger head who didn't come prepared for the meeting. Also, I want to give a shout out to another beginning of a franchise Danny song, which were those really fun sing-along songs that Sudeikis and Tucker wrote. And was Andy, Sudeikis, Bill, and Forte? Those were always good times.

Yeah. There's also a really good Yoram Dances Along to Arcade Fire, what would have been now a TikTok, or an Instagram story reel, where we would use a small digital camera, like a photo camera, because phones couldn't even take video back then.

And we would do a little video of Jorm dancing to the musical guest during rehearsals. And we did a good one with Arcade Fire. I was in my underwear, I believe, for that one. Yeah. You also can't do that probably anymore. Guys, I was watching Business Meeting, what'd I miss? No, then we're just talking about me getting naked

in front of Arcade Fire. Oh, yeah. So guys, as we sort of finish up here, I just want to say, we've finished four shows. And again, maybe So guys, as we sort of finish up here, I just want to say we've finished four shows. And again, maybe Sloth, as we look back, I would say Sloth

and Body Fusion would be ones you'd want to talk about years later. But also great work was done outside of the digital shorts. This is the dawn of an era where we get value

from you guys. That's not just your precious little videos. Andy, Blizzard Man. Yeah. Andy, Danny Song. You know, obviously, ideally, there'd be Blizzard Man. Yeah. Andy, Danny's song. You know, obviously, ideally, there'd be a third.

But... What is Danny's song? He just talked about it when you were watching Business Media. Oh, yeah, you were watching something. Sudeikis' sing-along songs.

You, Bill, Will, and Sudeikis singing in a bar. Remember you would tell stories and then you would... Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. They were great. But we didn't write that. Isn't that Tucker? Yeah, I was saying Sudeikis and Tucker. I was saying, but you're in him. Yeah. And you would... Oh, yeah, yeah. They were great. But we didn't write that. Isn't that Tucker?

Yeah, I was saying Sudeikis and Tucker. I was saying, but you're in him. Yeah. And you're really good. No, thanks. You guys, I really have to go. I'm sorry. We all have to go.

You guys, this has been episode 17. We're going to do three shorts in the next episode, which is going to bring us to the end of your second season. Ooh. So join us next week as we talk about all those digital shorts. And this is cool. Jorm is going to tell us what was so fucking important that he had to jump off the pod. See you next week as we talk about all those digital shorts and this is cool. Yorm is going to tell us what was so fucking important that he had to jump off the pod. See you next week.