Strike Episode!

Pop-ups (38 · 1 fan pick from YouTube comments)

1. Andy wins Late Night via Vulture poll

   0:34

   Vulture's weekly Who Won Late Night? feature named Andy Samberg the winner, a result the hosts link to his earlier joking call-out on Seth's show.

   every week does Who Won Late Night? And I'm happy to say that Andy Samberg won late night this week.

2. Andy's Spelling Bee obsession

   5:50

   Andy frequently Queen Bees the New York Times Spelling Bee, and his near-misses and rejected words, like Quatto, have become a recurring bit on the show.

   One detail here is not in the transcript.

   I mean, I came up one short yesterday, as you know, Seth.

   Goes back to Queen Bee, Ep. 8, 18:30, Seth: By the way, I also got, he didn't tell me to check my phone, but he also got Queen Bee on the spelling bee, which he texted me right before this started.

   Queen BeequibiQuatto

3. Quatto rejected from Spelling Bee

   7:16

   Quatto is the rejected Spelling Bee word Andy keeps complaining about, a callback to a Kuato-style bit from SNL.

   One detail here is not in the transcript.

   Quatto. Yeah. That's fucked.
   KuatoQuatto

4. Strike lasted 100 days

   15:26

   The 2007-2008 writers' strike ran about 100 days, and Seth says it was grayer and grimmer than the earlier strike because it fell over the fall and winter.

   the course of that 100 days was very depressing and very sad

5. UCB strike show raised money for the Guild

   16:16

   The UCB show was produced by Amy Poehler to raise money for the Writers Guild relief fund, and NBC reportedly was not thrilled about it.

   It was for the Riders Guild Fund.

6. Amy's UCB show voicemail

   17:48

   Amy Poehler recounts the night, from the cue-card handmade pitch to Michael Cera hosting and Yola Tango as the fictional band.

   Michael Cera was the fictional host. Yola Tango was the fictional band.

7. Andy's Golden Globes Jackson Maine bit

   22:28

   Andy and Sandra Oh planned a Jackson Maine-inspired bit for the Golden Globes, complete with a pee-rig that malfunctioned in rehearsal and the network cut it as too lowbrow.

   And then the network basically killed it because they were like, it's too lowbrow.

8. Fans point here

   27:15

   2 YouTube comments timestamp this moment, 38 likes.

   One thing happened in the show that then was a sketch on SNL, which is very telling that the writers all were given a chance to put stuff on its feet that they thought had been given a raw deal, and only one turned out… — Seth

9. Jean Cajon debuts from the strike show

   27:29

   Of the sketches written for the strike show, only Tucker's Jean Cajon was good enough to make it onto SNL, where Keenan played the French comedian.

   The first time Jean Cajon performed, which was Keenan as a French comedian, written by Tucker, and it crushed everything.

10. Virginia Horsons finally airs after the strike

    28:01

    A piece taped just before the strike had never been broadcast, so it was held back and aired on the first show back. The hosts' recollection of it sets up the strike-era context.

    But I had made the little thing called Virginia Horsons, Virginia Horsons.

11. Jorma's comedy-bit jokes about his own acting

    28:45

    Jorma points out that a friend's Virginia Horsons rewatch looks like Akiva doing a comedy bit, a gag about the hosts' theatrical mannerisms.

    To be clear, it's not me in real life. It's a character I do.

12. Michael Cera voice note from the UCB show

    29:44

    Michael Cera, the host of the strike show, recalls being asked by Amy Poehler and calls it the best night ever. His note sets up the strike-show memories that follow.

    I just remember being so, so delighted and so honored to be asked by Amy Poehler to do it.

13. Old monologues replaced new writing

    31:24

    Writers could not write new monologues for the strike show, so the hosts read older monologues, including a Donald Trump intro from his 2005 SNL hosting.

    we couldn't write a new monologue for him. And so we had picked monologues that would be funny for him to read.

14. Cue cards written by the writers

    32:21

    With no staff cue-card crew, writers wrote their own cue cards. Emily Spivey's note gives a sense of the labor involved.

    having to write our own cue cards. And it felt like an endless Herculean nightmare.

15. Hairy butt bit played uncensored live

    35:19

    Fred's hairy butt bit was uncensored because it was performed live without cameras, so no blurs or beeps.

    That's the beauty of doing it live without the cameras is, you know, you can go uncensored.

16. Seth sings Jackson Maine's song

    37:26

    The hosts join in on an impromptu sing-along of Jackson Maine's song, with Seth's wife laughing hard. The moment is a light, warm break.

    I was worried my wife was going to die.

17. Seth's cut Christmas ad sketch

    37:48

    Seth recalls a Christmas ad sketch he wrote for the strike show that he cut, with a joke about a second penis borrowed from a friend.

    a second penis. Oh, wow.

18. Seth's list of sketches he wishes were cut

    38:10

    Asked about wanting a sketch done, Seth says he has 10 he wishes hadn't been done, a self-deprecating remark on the strike show's writing.

    My answer is always no, but there are 10 that I wish we hadn't.

19. Jack McBrayer's UCB live show voice note

    38:34

    Jack McBrayer, a 30 Rock actor, sent a voice note remembering the UCB shows as a spectator, with the 30 Rock show dated November 19, 2007.

    The one we did for 30 Rock was November 19th, 2007.

20. Jorma roasts Jack McBrayer

    39:56

    After McBrayer's voice note, Jorma jokingly calls him a bad guy, a playful running jab among the hosts.

    Jack McBear is a fucking asshole. Bad guy. Classic bad guy.

21. Will Forte's audition memory

    40:42

    Will Forte's note recalls auditioning with a gold-lame bit, which Seth says made him realize Forte was funnier than he was.

    He auditioned with it and it was one of those things that when I saw it, I thought, oh no, he's so much funnier than I am.

22. The brown-hair cast problem

    40:59

    A group of new white male cast members with brown hair were hard to tell apart, a joke about the newer cast's indistinguishable looks.

    That was a little tricky for you guys when no one knew the difference between Sudeikis, Hader, Forte, Seth.

23. Shaggy MDs fake pitch

    41:15

    Seth's fake Monday pitch was called Shaggy MDs, a sketch about three doctors, referencing the shaggy hair of Sudeikis and Hader.

    one of my fake pitches on Monday was that the three of you were doctors and it was called Shaggy MDs.

24. Forte's Hamilton rehearsal-dinner speech

    41:24

    Will Forte gave a speech at Seth's and Andy's rehearsal dinners as Hamilton; only a small clip aired on Seth's show because the rest was inappropriate.

    Forte, we've talked about, gave a speech at my rehearsal dinner and then Andy's rehearsal dinner as Hamilton.

25. Fred Armisen calls in from Istanbul

    42:51

    Fred Armisen recorded his voice note from baggage claim in Istanbul, recalling the strike show as exciting and its cold open as one he played an AMPTP exec in.

    I'm recording from baggage claim in Istanbul. So apologies for all the background noise.

26. Jorma glued hair to Fred's butt

    44:13

    Jorma recalls putting spirit gum on Fred's butt for the hairy-butt shot, a practical effect for the uncensored live bit.

    there's a shot of me putting spirit gum on fred's butt for oh for the hairy shot

27. Fred's AMPTP sketch on Update

    44:43

    Fred Armisen performed a pre-strike Weekend Update bit calling NBC bad, and the strike show's cold open continued the AMPTP-character idea.

    He did it on Update right before the strike, which is, I will say, shout out to, you know, it was him basically saying NBC is bad

28. Maggie Carey filmed the strike show

    45:16

    Maggie Carey shot the entire UCB night, and the hosts had access to some footage; the musical choices of Silver Sun Pickups and Clap Your Hands, Say Yeah feel of the moment.

    Maggie Carey filmed the whole night, and we were able to see a little bit of it.

29. A good song is always a good song

    46:07

    Andy argues that fake goofy songs can be as worthy as real ones, and Jorma agrees, a thesis on the value of comic music.

    A good song is always a good song. And that includes songs that are goofs.

30. Shoemaker's backstage video

    46:21

    Shoemaker shot a two-minute video in the tiny backstage storage closet where cast and writers got ready for the strike show, a DIY look SNL rarely shows.

    Shoemaker just took like a two minute video backstage that I sent to you guys today.

31. Simon Rich's sketch played only okay

    47:26

    Writer Simon Rich recalls a supportive audience but a sketch that only played okay, which Seth says fits his famously precise cutting.

    Still, my sketch only played okay.

32. Harper Steele's recycled sketch

    48:26

    Harper Steele, a Late Night guest, admitted she submitted an already-aired sketch to the strike show rather than writing a new one.

    I submitted a sketch that I had already written that actually had already aired on SNL.

33. Second Chance Theater: Unicorn Mountain

    49:13

    Will Forte and Harper Steele co-wrote a sketch where each wrote half without knowing the other's half, now a planned future second chance theater piece. Its first half is a kids' song about unicorns.

    When Harper and Will were on the show, we talked about a second chance theater, Unicorn Mountain.

    Goes back to Second Chance Theater, Ep. 15, 37:49: Is this a good second chance theater, Seth?

    Second Chance Theater

34. Lorne Michaels impression voice note

    50:34

    A Lorne impression claims credit for the idea of Dick in a Box and recalls feeling upset about the strike's timing while vibing with The Lonely Island.

    Dick in a box is my idea. Wait. Okay.

35. Who was doing the Lorne impression?

    51:07

    The hosts debate whether Seth or someone else gave the Lorne voice note, and Seth concedes the prompt was wrong.

    So does anyone have a guess as to who was doing their Lorne there?

36. Jorma missed the final eight episodes

    52:10

    Jorma was filming Land of the Lost during the strike, so he missed the last eight episodes of the season, though the show came back and he was dressed as a monkey boy.

    Because I was doing Land of the Lost. So I was dressed as a little monkey boy during this whole period.

37. Dinosaur piss scene in Land of the Lost

    52:37

    A scene in Land of the Lost has the characters coat themselves in dinosaur piss to hide their scent, which backfires when it burns their eyes.

    Farrell's convinced that they have to dump the dinosaur piss on themselves so it won't track them.

38. Jorma's Razzie nomination

    53:26

    Jorma received a Razzie nomination for his Land of the Lost performance and wanted to be credited as Jermak Pachoni, which his manager rejected.

    I also did receive a Razzie nomination for my performance.

39. Seth previews four Digital Shorts

    54:17

    Seth closes by saying the next episodes will cover four very different Digital Shorts, showing the range of the group's work.

    we do four shows in a row, and they're four very different digital shorts.