The Lonely Island Beginnings

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1. Podcast opens with Seth's introduction

   0:09

   Seth Meyers introduces the new podcast as a sitdown with three old friends from the era when the trio joined SNL.

   This is the first episode of a new podcast that I'm doing with three very old friends of mine.

2. Four Shock Jocks name

   2:34

   Jorma proposed 'Four Shock Jocks' as the podcast name, citing the Zoom P4 recorder's sound effects that sound like morning radio.

   I have figured it out, and it's called Four Shock Jocks.

3. Spider-Man Turn Off the Dark injuries

   3:22

   Early previews of the Broadway Spider-Man musical saw several performers fall from the rafters, a story the press covered heavily in those years.

   A lot of Spider-Men were falling from the rafters and hurting themselves super bad.

4. Give Up the Smooch update sketch

   6:49

   Andy hung upside down in a rig for the SNL update sketch 'Give Up the Smooch,' a catchphrase Seth and Andy still reference.

   Give Up the Smooch was Andy in a full rigging where he had to hang upside down and come down from the rafters.

5. Upside-down rigging and engorged faces

   8:04

   Andy describes blood rushing to his head during long waits before SNL segments, leaving his eyes bloodshot.

   by the time they lowered me down, all the blood had like rushed into my head.

6. Flying Walendas rigging joke

   8:29

   Ken Ammon compared the SNL rigging crew to the Flying Wallendas, a famous circus family of aerialists.

   it was like the Flying Walendas.

7. Idea of short-question guests

   9:21

   The hosts start a running list of guests for long interviews and short two-question appearances.

   I do think that a list I want to keep running for this podcast in our early nascent stages is guests we want to have on to answer really short questions.

8. Seth's rough first years

   10:53

   Seth says his first four SNL years were his most anxious, improving once the Lonely Island arrived and he began doing Update.

   I think my second year you guys were there, I started doing update and felt a little better.

9. Lauren's update criticism

   12:38

   Seth recalls Lorne saying Update was the least of his problems, a remark Seth took as a small victory.

   updates the least of my problems.

10. Burn the tape

    14:33

    After Seth's A Closer Look bit, Lorne told Alex Baze to burn the tape, a line the hosts praise.

    Lorne turned to Baze and said, burn the tape.

11. Knockoff question for next episode

    17:11

    The hosts assign listeners to name their favorite knockoff, prefaced with #knockoff.

    Everybody has to come up with their favorite knockoff.

12. Moving to LA together in 2000

    17:31

    The trio all moved to Los Angeles around 2000 after finishing school, deciding to work together on video projects.

    All at once in 2000.

13. Fans point here

    18:39

    2 YouTube comments timestamp this moment, 3 likes.

    They might be just Seth heads. That's true. Do you think the Seth heads at this point are a little worried about the lack of politics? Possibly. What I do know they want is our three opinion on politics of the day.…

14. The Lonely Island name

    19:22

    Akiva named the Fairfax and Olympic apartment the Lonely Island, the origin of the group's name.

    found an awesome apartment on Fairfax and Olympic that Akiva ended up dubbing the Lonely Island.

15. Fired from Fox ornament job

    21:20

    The trio took a temp job tying ribbons on Christmas ornaments for Fox, but quit when they were separated and McDonald's breakfast was still being served.

    they're still serving McDonald's breakfast, so we quit.

16. Channel 101 film festival

    ~23:56

    Channel 101 was a monthly short-video festival created by Dan Harmon and Rob Schrab where the trio showed their work.

    Channel 101.

17. Avoiding sitcom writer jobs

    24:08

    The trio avoided sitcom staff jobs, fearing they would lose their independence and stop making their own work.

    We purposely didn't take jobs, specifically because a friend of ours had gotten into the circuit of writing for sitcoms and then never got to do their own stuff.

18. Shared writer credit on the MTV Movie Awards

    25:23

    A friend got the trio on MTV Movie Awards writing, where they split one writer's check at about $333 each per week.

    Our friend got us a job on the Movie Awards, put us in touch with Joel Gallen, and split a single writer check.

19. Fallon hosts the Movie Awards

    27:10

    In the second year Jimmy Fallon hosted the MTV Movie Awards and brought Mike Shoemaker and other SNL writers with him.

    Fallon hosts brings Shoemaker, Higgins, and a ton of SNL writers with him.

20. Mike Shoemaker introduced

    27:43

    Mike Shoemaker, an SNL producer who later produced Seth's Late Night, is introduced as a true friend of writers.

    One detail here is not in the transcript.

    For my money, there's no better friend of writers in television than Mike Shoemaker.

21. First meeting with Shoemaker

    28:56

    The three hires first met Mike Shoemaker in his office, and Jorma says he has always thought Shoemaker was funny and kind. Shoemaker was a longtime SNL producer.

    I just remember meeting Shoemaker and being like, I can't believe this is our boss.

22. Shoemaker urged the shorts

    29:38

    Akiva notes Shoemaker was the main person encouraging the trio to keep making Digital Shorts, a thread that runs through the early episodes.

    he was the main person encouraging us to keep doing them.

23. Andy's Swedish Chef audition

    33:13

    Andy's SNL audition included a Swedish Chef impression singing In the Air Tonight. The Swedish Chef was a recurring target in the news in the early 2000s.

    it was the Swedish chef singing them. So it was basically just like the Swedish chef doing In the Air Tonight by Phil Collins.

24. The short films were not a job opening

    35:38

    Seth admits he knew the trio made short videos but did not expect them to become their path at SNL. The hires' short-film background was not what the show was looking for.

    It's so weird that the show didn't know from the beginning. Oh, these guys make short films.

25. Andy's role in the Katrina sketch

    41:53

    Andy was in the Katrina fundraiser sketch and played a boom mic holder in the news crew. Bill Hader's Pacino drew big reactions.

    I was holding a boom mic.

26. Bill & Andy Impressionoff origin

    42:02

    Andy's debut was built as a contrast with Bill Hader, who does strong impressions while Andy is known for bad ones. The sketch aired October 1, 2005.

    Bill and Andy Impressionoff was a success.

27. JJ Casuals and the shoes that look like feet

    44:41

    JJ Casuals was a commercial parody of Jack Johnson. Seth says the sketch's catchphrase line has stuck with him ever since.

    Keep it JJ casual.

28. Crossing the line on set

    45:50

    On JJ Casuals, the trio noticed the shot crossed the 180-degree line and that the production wasted time. This became a lesson in the group's frustration with editing and set control.

    they just crossed the line.

29. Sea Captain sketch cut

    49:41

    Andy's 17-year-old sea captain sketch went to dress rehearsal but was cut. Seth reads through the script and says it kept Lonely Island sense of humor.

    I was a young sea captain.

30. Bing Bong Brothers origin

    52:27

    The Bing Bong Brothers was a self-produced music video parody of the Ying Yang Twins' Whisper song, made by Jorma and Akiva after they felt frustrated at SNL. It later aired on G4 and has around 16 million views.

    And we did a music video based on the Ying Yang Twins song, the Whisper song.

31. G4 picks up the Bing Bong Brothers

    54:13

    G4 aired the Bing Bong Brothers on a web clips show, which made the trio realize this could be a route to TV.

    I think that they had a show on G4 that was like way earlier than like a Tosh.0.

32. Shoemaker encourages shorts with the cast

    54:49

    After seeing the Bing Bong Brothers, Shoemaker and Higgins encouraged the trio to make similar videos using Andy or the cast. This encouragement led directly to the Digital Shorts format.

    if you guys want to make something like that, but using Andy or using the cast or both, that would be great.

33. The Lonely Island font

    55:10

    Akiva's off-yellow impact font from the early videos became the group's signature Lonely Island font.

    Akiva always loved this like sort of off yellow impact font and then it just became like our staple Lonely Island font.

34. Lettuce teased, same stoop

    55:31

    Seth teases the next episode's first Digital Short, Lettuce, which filmed on the same stoop used in Bing Bong Brothers.

    it's called Lettuce. And that stoop is the exact same stoop from the Bing Bong Brothers.

35. Seth's Corner introduced

    56:46

    Seth's Corner is a recurring segment where Seth discusses something he wrote for the episode's SNL show, and the hosts then critique it. It debuts here.

    Seth's Corner, you're all invited. Seth's Corner, it's happening right now.
    Seth's Corner