Business Meeting, Nurse Nancy, and Andy Popping Into Frame

Pop-ups (32 · 3 fan picks from YouTube comments)

1. Four digital shorts episode format introduced

   1:06

   Seth introduces a new format for this episode: discussing four digital shorts in one go. The hosts then debate whether these shorts had cultural stickiness.

   We're going to do four digital shorts because let's be honest.

2. Body Fusion defended against the stickiness critique

   1:21

   Akiva pushes back on lumping Body Fusion in with the shorts the hosts say lacked cultural stickiness, a debate that recurs through the episode.

   I don't think body fusion should be lumped in to that as much.

3. Jeremy Piven hosts January 2007

   3:03

   Piven hosted SNL on January 20, 2007, hot off his run on Entourage. The hosts treat him as the first episode of the discussion.

   Jeremy Piven, hot off and in the middle of Entourage.

4. Watching Andy's face during Nurse Nancy

   3:46

   The hosts play a bit where Andy watches Nurse Nancy with headphones off while Seth and Jorma narrate his reactions. The short stars Scott Garbasiak.

   And we're going to watch your face and we're going to narrate your face as you watch it.

5. Nutty Professor praised as a masterpiece

   5:30

   Seth argues Eddie Murphy deserved an Oscar for the first Nutty Professor, and Jorma recalls laughing through it in theaters. The hosts also tie it to the Nurse Nancy parody.

   I genuinely think Eddie Murphy should have won an Oscar for the first Nutty Professor movie.

6. Digital shorts that did not come from the Lonely Island

   7:06

   Akiva and Andy note that Nurse Nancy and similar shorts were not written by the trio, making them rare exceptions in their output.

   These are some of the rare ones that did not come from us.

7. Scott Garbasiak name bit

   7:23

   The hosts repeat the name Scott Garbasiak, a running joke that Andy says still makes him giggle years later.

   One detail here is not in the transcript.

   I forgot that the name was Scott Garbasiak, which also just makes me giggle immediately.

8. MacGruber's origin as a Lance Armstrong pitch

   8:04

   Jorma recounts that MacGruber started as a pitch for a Lance Armstrong show: Lance would play MacGyver's shitty younger brother who uses found objects instead of tools.

   it was a pitch for the Lance Armstrong show, and it was for Lance to play MacGyver's stepbrother, MacGruber

9. Lance Armstrong versus Forte

   9:00

   Seth jokes that casting Lance Armstrong instead of Will Forte would have been worse but might have done the same box office, with a possible Livestrong tie-in.

   You ever think, oh, my God, if Lance had played instead of Forte, it would have been so much worse

10. Pitch meetings were terrifying

    9:32

    Jorma describes pitch meetings as terrifying: a room full of cast and writers where you must try to entertain while pitching, which is why MacGruber was not his favorite pitch.

    i hated a pitch pitch was always like terrifying to me you're in a big room all of your friends

11. Will Ferrell's typewriter pitch

    ~10:30

    Seth recalls Will Ferrell pitching last with a loud old-timey typewriter, which Lorne found confident enough to let the bit play out.

    Will Ferrell, and he always went last. And as Lorne was going around the room, Will was typing

12. MacGruber pitched repeatedly until accepted

    13:10

    Forte says he and Solomon rejected Jorma's MacGruber pitch several weeks in a row until they reframed it as a short film in three segments.

    And then I think it was the fourth week, he frigging pitched this thing again.

13. A-holes and Blizzard Man with Common

    13:49

    Seth lists A-holes, the first MacGruber and a second Blizzard Man with Common among the strongest shorts from this stretch.

    We got A-holes.

14. Andy's gift for Seth's Really bit

    14:25

    Seth reveals that Andy gave him the Really premise while Seth was preparing his Weekend Update audition, based on how Seth reacts to news.

    a gift from andy sandberg whoa that is true
    Seth's Corner

15. Really audition about Michael Vick

    15:19

    Seth's Really audition bit responded to Michael Vick's arrest for allegedly bringing marijuana onto a plane.

    It was for Michael Vick. Michael Vick got arrested for trying to bring weed onto a plane.

16. Andy's cut Update pieces

    16:29

    Andy jokes that Seth gatekept him from Update, cutting his Mustache and Unicorn pieces and only giving him pre-taped segments.

    Only pre-tapes, Andy, he'd say as he patted me condescendingly on the head.

17. That'll Move the Chains NFL on CBS

    18:46

    NFL on CBS aired as the primo spot after the first commercial break, with Andy as a contest winner calling a game and repeatedly saying 'That'll move the chains.'

    It's the primo spot after first commercial break.

18. Seth's pushback on a second That'll Move the Chains

    20:25

    Seth recalls telling Andy about a second That'll Move the Chains and Andy replying that not everyone gets update every week.

    You said, we don't all have fucking update every week.

19. Fans point here

    21:20

    1 YouTube comment timestamps this moment, 33 likes.

    It always got me. It still does. Saporat comes from Airbnb. As we've talked about, I just got back from St. Lucie watching the Mets.

20. Fans point here

    24:17

    3 YouTube comments timestamp this moment, 38 likes.

    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?

21. Body Fusion, Drew Barrymore episode

    24:25

    Seth introduces Body Fusion, a short from the Drew Barrymore episode in February 2007, that Amy Poehler pitched and that was initially labeled workout video.

    This one came from Amy Poehler and it's listed as workout video

22. Body Fusion's VHS process

    25:36

    Akiva explains the VHS look: they dug up old VHS decks at SNL, shot on studio cameras, dubbed to tape at three speeds, then manually degraded each shot with tracking errors.

    we copied it onto VHS tapes and we copied it onto them at different speeds.

23. Seth praises the manual VHS effect

    26:35

    Seth notes that plug-in VHS effects are obvious, but Akiva's hand-degraded tape gave the authenticity that made the short beloved.

    the great thing about this was because you had done it manually, there was an unpredictability to it

24. Body Fusion placed in the Criterion Collection

    27:09

    Seth formally inducts Body Fusion into the Criterion Collection of digital shorts for its uniqueness, a top-tier ranking in the fan glossary.

    I do put it in the Criterion Collection for its uniqueness.
    Criterion

25. Firestarter brand smoked sausages

    28:54

    A sketch featuring Drew Barrymore as Charlie McGee from Firestarter cooking sausages, a deep cut by 2007.

    Firestarter brand smoked sausages. Cooked in fires, she starts with her mind.

26. Akiva missed a week of editing

    29:39

    Akiva recalls Lorne letting him skip a week of SNL work to edit Hot Rod, the one week he was excused that season.

    I begged Lorne every week to just let me not come in and let me just keep editing.

27. Meet the Boss: Forest Whitaker as Idi Amin

    35:42

    Seth wrote a Meet the Boss sketch with Forest Whitaker as Idi Amin, hosting on the back of The Last King of Scotland. It did not play well at the table.

    Forest Whitaker was hosting on the back of Last King of Scotland, for which he was Oscar nominated.

28. Don't Let the Sun Go Down riff

    38:25

    A Forest Whitaker singing-waiter bit riffing on Elton John's song, rising an octave each time.

    he keeps singing, instead of don't let the sun, he keeps saying do not

29. Fans point here

    38:28

    1 YouTube comment timestamps this moment, 6 likes.

    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.… — Seth

30. Sloth as a funny Jorma animated short

    38:54

    Sloth is an animated short Jorma Taccone made with a fake documentary framing, presented by Kristen Wiig, featuring a metal song. The hosts note that the joke works only with the context of the documentary intro.

    I would count it because I helped Jorm work on it too.

31. Akiva's squirrel critique

    40:05

    Akiva initially thought the sloth short was too much like a commercial, recalled by Jorma in a light-hearted exchange.

    you were like, yeah, that's pretty good.

32. Sloth needed context to land

    40:43

    Jorma recalls that the sloth animation only worked once a documentary framing was added, a lesson he compares to LaserCats.

    the audience is not going to get any of this without some context.

33. Shank your mom with a pterodactyl dick bone

    43:05

    A lyric from the Sloth song, with the hosts praising its escalating heightening.

    I mean, shank your mom with a pterodactyl dick bone. I'm pretty sure that was you.

34. Business Meeting ends in an explosion

    45:58

    Business Meeting ends with a building explosion, a MacGruber-style ending that the hosts note as likely a callback.

    Not surprisingly, it ends in a real MacGruber.

35. Arcade Fire dancing video

    48:06

    Akiva recalls filming Jorma dancing to Arcade Fire during rehearsal with a small digital camera, a precursor to modern reels.

    we would do a little video of Yoram dancing to the musical guest during rehearsals.