The MacGruber Episode

Pop-ups (29 · 3 fan picks from YouTube comments)

1. MacGruber takeover introduced on podcast

   0:03

   Jorma Taccone hosts a takeover featuring co-creators Will Forte and John Solomon, with Seth Meyers. The episode covers the MacGruber sketch's origins.

   We're doing a takeover today, courtesy of Jorma Tacone, who is joined by his two collaborators on MacGruber, Will Forte and John Solomon.

2. Forte and Solomon met in college

   2:02

   Will Forte and John Solomon met at UCLA, arranged by mutual friends who thought they'd click. They first bonded in a discussion section of a history class.

   Yeah, we met in, I think it was our sophomore year of college, right?

3. Forte's pre-comedy finance job

   3:56

   Before comedy, Forte worked as a cold caller at Smith Barney Shearson, following his father's career as a money manager and stock analyst.

   So I started working at Smith Barney Shearson as a cold caller.

4. Solomon filmed trauma cases for training

   5:06

   Before SNL, Solomon filmed trauma cases in an ER, producing educational videos for doctors. He persuaded patients to sign release waivers.

   Before I went to SNL, I am in an ER filming trauma cases that come in with people extremely badly injured.

5. Solomon hired for SNL at Santa Monica lunch

   6:57

   Solomon learned he was hired for SNL during lunch with Forte in Santa Monica, when Mike Shoemaker called Forte. Forte had been on the show four years by then.

   I was at lunch with Will and a man named Mike Shoemaker called Will.

6. Forte pushed for Solomon's hiring

   7:31

   Forte repeatedly advocated for Solomon to join SNL's writing staff, which took years to happen. Seth notes that cast members need a few seasons before staffing input carries weight.

   you were also always banging the drum for your friend, John Solomon, who you thought should join the writing staff.

7. MacGruber born from MacGyver pitch

   11:59

   MacGruber began as Taccone's pitch: a stepbrother spin-off of MacGyver. The writers rejected it repeatedly until Taccone's pitches eventually led to a three-part short format.

   I don't want the listeners today being like, oh, well, of course they're doing a MacGyver thing.

8. Taccone pitches MacGruber repeatedly

   12:48

   Taccone pitched MacGruber, MacGyver's stepbrother, to Forte and Solomon several times before they agreed. The Jeremy Piven episode was roughly the fourth or fifth attempt.

   I have an idea for MacGyver's brother, MacGruber, who's just not as good. And we just kept telling him we didn't get it.

9. MacGruber's stepbrother joke

   13:17

   The writers joked about MacGruber's different surname, explaining him as MacGyver's stepbrother, and later revealed MacGyver as MacGruber's dad in a Richard Dean Anderson sketch.

   The best part of this was how much more confusing it got when we eventually did a sketch with Richard Dean Anderson, who is then MacGyver

10. MacGruber's three-short format

    14:34

    Each MacGruber episode was three short films that got progressively shorter. Each week presented a new problem for MacGruber's bomb-defusing attempts.

    each little short film that we did would get progressively faster. So usually the first one was about a minute and a half.

11. Disgusting items handed to MacGruber

    14:52

    The original MacGruber joke: he defuses bombs using disgusting things, and his assistants reluctantly hand him horrible objects.

    MacGruber is using disgusting things to defuse bombs. And every time he asks one of his two assistants to hand him something, it's something horrible

12. Debate over bum semen wording

    16:17

    The writers spent two days debating whether the bit should say bum sperm or bum jizz, a detail that became part of the MacGruber toolkit.

    Which I do remember, we may have spent two days discussing, is it bum sperm? Is it bum jizz?

13. Falconer co-created by Slovan

    17:25

    Forte wrote The Falconer with Slovan and Alan. Slovan originated the idea and is compared to Taccone as the one who pitched it.

    Slovan was the person who actually came up with The Falconer. He was the Jorma of The Falconer.
    The Falconer

14. Forte's Luge sketch resubmitted

    18:38

    A Luge sketch Forte wrote during the Winter Olympics was resubmitted in April. Seth recalls Forte shopping it around the office.

    And you wrote it during the Winter Olympics. Maybe the, oh, I'm going to get it wrong. Maybe the O2 Winter Olympics.

15. Yes-shopping

    19:26

    Forte was known for getting a no from one writer and asking others until he got a yes, which Jorma calls very Forte.

    You did a lot of yes shopping.

16. Never take no if it's funny

    19:40

    Jorma's principle: a no from one writer isn't final if the idea is funny, which fits Forte's yes-shopping habit.

    Never take no if it's funny.

17. Date sketch cut for time

    21:01

    During a live show, the team cut a Date sketch's lines to fit time. Forte resisted cutting a joke, insisting it be kept.

    And looking at your face, Forte, and you being like... no, I can't do this.

18. Solomon learns Forte's sketch method

    21:44

    Solomon says he learned sketch-writing craft from Forte at SNL; on writing nights they spent hours on one sketch while others finished faster.

    comedy sketch writing was something that Will knew and I didn't. And he, you know, definitely taught me everything I know about sketch writing.

19. Fans point here

    25:32

    2 YouTube comments timestamp this moment, 14 likes.

    John, do you remember an idea Will had for a sketch other than Benjamin Franklin that wasn't ever going to work, that he wouldn't let go of? It wasn't ever going to work. Or one that maybe didn't work, that if it was… — Seth

20. Potato Chip written at 7 a.m.

    26:21

    Potato Chip was written in a rush at 7 a.m. on table-read day, after an all-night session. Forte had only a nugget of an idea, recorded on his phone.

    That was one where it was like seven in the morning.

21. Gingeman Franklin resubmitted

    28:54

    Solomon resubmitted Gingeman Franklin, which Forte had submitted many times. It was later produced on Late Night as Second Chance Theater.

    And then Solomon came to my office one day and said, hey, what do you think about resubmitting Gingeman Franklin?

22. Forte's office debate: 'don't' versus 'do not'

    30:26

    Seth recalls Forte agonizing over whether 'don't' or 'do not' was funnier, a small example of the detailed comedic craft the writers put into their work.

    I heard Forte in an office spending a lot of time trying to decide if it was funnier to say don't or do not.

23. A single song played 400 times in a year

    31:40

    Jorma describes Forte playing one Emerson, Lake and Palmer track, which also appears in MacGruber, loudly across the hall for an entire year. The writers' room was a lively place.

    he could only listen to one song for an entire year. And he would play this song very loudly on his computer

24. Fans point here

    32:17

    1 YouTube comment timestamps this moment, 36 likes.

    Will, will you do me a favor? I want you to read it the way you want it performed, and then we can decide later if it's worth keeping in. But if you go into the chat, Kevin has found Hockey Date, a sketch the three of…

25. Fans point here

    32:45

    1 YouTube comment timestamps this moment, 3 likes.

    Very vague. Okay. Okay, I have it up. I have it up. Okay, here we go. Hockey Date. Open on Hockey Arena. Will and Julia, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, take their seats. Will is wearing a Chicago Blackhawks jersey with the… — John Solomon

26. Catrice Spines made the MacGruber theme

    39:32

    The theme song's music was made by Catrice Spines, who also worked with the team on Dick in a Box. The hosts pay tribute to her as the talented collaborator who has since passed away.

    Catrice actually made the song.

27. Second MacGruber: the alcohol sketch

    40:02

    Seth calls the Molly Shannon MacGruber, the alcohol one, a favorite of his and one of Forte's best performances, with the hosts quoting its countdown.

    MacGruber! Making life-saving inventions out of household materials!

28. Forte as a comedy eater

    41:21

    The hosts praise Forte's expert eating in MacGruber sketches, comparing him to Brad Pitt as a dramatic eater.

    I think Brad Pitt's our greatest dramatic eater and Forte's our greatest comedy eater.

29. Tight: MacGruber's word of approval

    42:28

    In the Seth Rogen sketch, MacGruber keeps saying things are 'tight' to seem younger, and the hosts repeat the bit.

    you keep saying things are tight. You keep enthusiastic saying like, isn't that so tight?

30. The Miata enters MacGruber lore

    48:07

    A Miata reference from the first MacGruber set up the car that later showed up in the film. Forte's college girlfriend's Miata inspired the detail.

    There's a Miata reference in- Yeah, that's why he's into Miatas.

31. Forte's Miata sold for charity

    49:58

    Forte later auctioned the car for a Pangea Network charity for $55,000, after the car sat on the lot and then in his backyard.

    for the pangea network we auctioned off the car and this guy bought it for 55 grand

32. Lorne loved MacGruber

    53:20

    Seth says Lorne Michaels, who usually dislikes recurring sketches, was a big fan of MacGruber, and it appeared in the highly watched Sarah Palin episode.

    Lorne loved MacGruber. I think he loved the thought and craft you guys put into it.