Sushi Glory Hole

Pop-ups (33 · 3 fan picks from YouTube comments)

1. Rain Man reference

   0:52

   Andy jokes about being an excellent driver, referencing the 1988 film Rain Man. The two conversations about the car ride tie back to Seth's first time riding with Andy.

   Excellent driver, Rain Man ref.

2. Mike Diva directed the short

   1:03

   Mike Diva, a longtime friend of the group who made the tour LED visuals, did much of the heavy lifting on the short. He is also a co-director on Bash Brothers.

   Mike Diva did a lot of heavy lifting and I would say we did it together.

3. The 'We Fell Off a Horse' origin

   1:44

   The group fell off a bareback horse during a photo shoot, caught on iPhone video. Mike Diva turned it into an interlude on the tour, complete with a 3D horse shooting lasers.

   And we all fell off the horse and it was on video. And we gave the video to Mike Diva and he made a beat with his brother.

4. Jorm's absence noted

   2:53

   Jorma Taccone is not on this episode; he is reported to be in Finland. The hosts joke that he is probably annoyed, a running bit about his absences and grievances.

   Jorm's not here. I mean, Jesus. We should probably point out Jorm's not here.
   Jorm Thorns

5. Revisit this episode in 85 episodes

   3:22

   The hosts plan to revisit the Sushi Glory Hole discussion later in the podcast's run, to keep episodes in order. The running cadence of the show is discussed as the 'daily' for digital shorts.

   So in about 85 episodes?

6. Wall Street and Guy Ritchie looks

   3:47

   The group's look for the short drew on Michael Douglas in Wall Street, mixed with modern fashion like ASAP Rocky. Seth compares them to Guy Ritchie movie characters.

   Wall Street was the first reference, the original.

7. Jim Barnett and Art Crum comparisons

   4:54

   Andy compares Akiva's costume to Golden State Warriors color commentator Jim Barnett, while Akiva likens himself to Eddie Murphy in White Like Me.

   Then I realized it was the old Golden State Warriors color commentary guy, Jim Barnett.

8. SNL's COVID-era sound stages

   5:50

   SNL's short production moved to rented sound stages after COVID, when filming on the street was impossible. The team describes the new setup as vastly more resourced than before.

   That was born of COVID, right? when they needed somewhere to shoot when no one could be on the streets.

9. Praise for SNL wardrobe and makeup

   6:50

   Akiva praises SNL's wardrobe head Jill, who had suits pulled and tie clips ready within seconds, and says Jodi's wigs were ready right away.

   They are amazing. This woman, Jill, who did the wardrobe, we gave two references quickly through other people

10. SNL department heads and new writers

    7:54

    Seth explains that department heads learn to speak to new writers and cast members in their own shorthand, because the writers are empowered to lead their sketches.

    the department heads are like oh we can't learn how to talk like this person we have to teach this person how to talk like us

11. Who coined the Sushi Glory Hole pitch

    8:14

    Akiva came up with the title idea and kept repeating it; Andy then wrote the 'hear me out' framing as a deliberate pitch-meeting joke, and an early draft didn't use it.

    That would be Akiva. I don't know why. He just came in and just said it.
    three Alvins

12. Hear-me-outs happen organically

    8:51

    The 'hear me out' lines arose during writing because the characters would expect pushback, since they had pitched this many times before and it had gone badly.

    Because, of course, those guys would say that before you would even react because they've pitched this a hundred times and it's gone bad every time.

13. Fans point here

    9:34

    2 YouTube comments timestamp this moment, 5 likes.

    It's sushi being fed through a hole in the wall. Where you going? I love hard Akiva. I love when Akiva's like, just like the ice water in his veins rap persona. Mean mugging. Yeah. Braindead is how I would call it, but…

14. Extra frames of anticipation

    10:18

    The team left a few extra frames of build-up before the first sushi reveal, so viewers would briefly suspect something else coming through the hole.

    We purposely left a few extra frames of anticipation on the first one of James, where it's just, he's sitting there waiting

15. Akiva's line about the fish-quality joke

    10:44

    The 'quality of the fish is worth the risk' bit is an in-group riff on the premise's tagline, which is confirmed through the group's back-and-forth.

    The quality of the fish is worth the risk, as you say.

16. The business plan selling points

    11:06

    Seth praises the bit where the restaurant pitch doubles as a sex-club and bathroom joke, calling those lines the worst selling points.

    Don't leave. At a sex club when you need stamina for sex but forgot to eat back soon.

17. Betsy Torres and the NBC censors

    12:41

    Akiva took a note from NBC's censors to Betsy Torres directly. The concern was a sake shot that looked like urination; Torres let the team keep it because the show now airs in primetime on the West Coast.

    I was like, let me just talk to her.

18. The alternate sake shot

    13:09

    An alternate version showed water shot from a gun, which looked like someone urinating into his mouth; the team kept the sake cup in the final cut.

    We had an alternate where it was like essentially shooting through with like a water gun.

19. Lorne's reaction

    14:41

    Akiva says Lorne Michaels gave a thumbs-up, shook his hand at the after party and said good job, though it aired later than they hoped.

    He said good job and shook my hand at the after party.

20. Why the song got a video

    14:53

    Videos are expensive and there was no outlet for songs, but Andy pitched the idea to Lorne because he was in the building doing Doug, and Lorne said to go for it.

    When we made the song, we were like, will this ever get a video?

21. No hand soap in the dressing room

    15:36

    A running gag about the overflow dressing room having no hand soap or paper towels. Seth says soap was one of the budget cuts at Late Night, after the band.

    No hand soap. Yeah, no hand soap? No. And no paper towels.

22. Extras fill the studio on SNL nights

    16:31

    On SNL nights the studio is filled with makeshift hair and makeup stations and extras who sit in the audience. Akiva tried to take a prank photo and was stared down by 200 people.

    And all the extras were sitting in your audience.

23. Fans point here

    19:38

    2 YouTube comments timestamp this moment, 35 likes.

    The last time we were all on, Andy was saying to our listeners, hey, I'm going out there to do the show. I don't. Oh, no, you were doing it from your hotel on a Friday in New York. Oh, right. And I was like, I don't… — Akiva

24. Mordor pronunciation

    20:06

    Seth got to say Mordor the way fans of The Lord of the Rings books and the Rings of Power series pronounce it. Andy's Legolas bit was cut from the cold open.

    Got to do my Legolas and Seth got to say Mordor the way they say it in all Rings of Power and all the movies.

25. Andy's Live from New York reflections

    21:01

    Andy appeared on SNL's second show and was reflecting on how few times he has been on the show's Live from New York segment.

    that might only be like the fifth time I've ever done it.

26. The 7 o'clock dinner

    21:56

    The hosts describe an unusually early 7 o'clock dinner during a rare normal SNL week. Seth says they had never had dinner at 7 in their seven years overlapping at SNL.

    In the seven years we overlapped at SNL, we probably never had dinner at 7.

27. Akiva's whirlwind week

    23:00

    Akiva was mid-edit on The Naked Gun when he got the news the short was on, and dropped everything to fly out to New York the next morning.

    I was in the middle of I'm on deadline on Naked Gun.

28. Feeling special on stage again

    23:31

    Akiva and Andy watched the short play live from the stage and said they didn't know if they'd feel that way again, a healthier relationship to the show.

    wow, I didn't know if I'd ever have that feeling again.

29. Finest Girl 2016 return

    24:28

    When the Lonely Island returned to SNL in 2016 for Finest Girl, the cast seemed to still be in competition with them. Now the warmth is genuine.

    When we came back in 2016 and did the Finest Girl from Popstar, it felt like people were still in competition with us.

30. Dana Carvey's new impression

    26:05

    Dana Carvey returned to SNL and created a new impression that no one figured out except him. Andy got to do sketches with him each week.

    It is Dana now has a all new super cracking impression that nobody figured out except him.

31. Coldplay's jacket story

    29:17

    Seth recalls being terrified to host Update alone in a season when his co-host had a baby. Watching Chris Martin perform Viva La Vida in a flashy jacket, he decided to perform with the same joy.

    And I just said to myself, go have as much fun as he's having right now.

32. Doug Emhoff as Dougie

    30:21

    Andy's first pitch for playing Doug Emhoff was to teach a Dougie dance, and he sees the character as an upbeat man who loves his wife.

    my first pitch when I got asked to do Doug was, can I first walk out to teach me how to Dougie?

33. Unreleased writer's strike songs

    32:05

    During the writer's strike the group made songs in the studio, though some are only half-finished. Sushi Glory Hole's first chorus was fully recorded but felt like ChatGPT output, so they were not using it.

    we did kind of hop back up in the studio and we did make some songs.

34. Mordor callback

    33:13

    The hosts joke about a 'time is nigh' line, which is an old Mordor callback tying back to the Lord of the Rings bit.

    We figured out something to do with it. We were like, when is the time, though? And then we were all, the time is nigh.

35. Fans point here

    33:26

    1 YouTube comment timestamps this moment, 4 likes.

    Mordor. To the very depths of Mordor. Sorry for everyone listening. That's hard to listen to. I like that you guys keep saying, because first came Doug, and then I think that when you meet him, you can give him a real…

36. Sushi Glory Hole episode to come

    33:59

    Seth proposes revisiting Sushi Glory Hole in a future episode, and Andy promises to dish dirt then.

    And again, this is going to be fun to talk about again when we do the Sushi Glory whole episode in two and a half years.