Hero Song

Pop-ups (26 · 6 fan picks from YouTube comments)

1. Hero Song began from a Drew Campbell beat

   0:39

   The song grew out of beats sent by Drew Campbell, which Andy heard as a Jean Valjean-style vigilante ballad. Asa Duconi recorded the vocals in the office.

   I think it's him and Asa Duconi, or it was Asa.

2. Jean Valjean-inspired vigilante concept

   0:48

   Andy said the concept came from hearing the beat and imagining a dime store Jean Valjean, which became the vigilante premise.

   It was like me doing a dime store Jean Valjean vigilante guy song.

3. Musical inspiration: In a New York Minute

   3:28

   Andy named the song In a New York Minute as the musical inspiration, with its city-and-tracks imagery and a sung-over-the-streets feel.

   the musical inspiration for it is that song In a New York Minute.

4. Asa Duconi, Jorma's brother, in the short

   4:01

   Asa, Jorma's little brother and frontman of Electric Guest, sang on the track and appears as the street character approaching the SUV.

   Asa, Yorm's little brother, is the lead singer and creator with his buddy of Electric Guest is their band.

5. Asa's voice note recalls the week

   4:08

   Asa sent a voice note about the Hero Song week, remembering he was flown in to run Pro Tools and that the crew was delirious from lack of sleep.

   I actually asked Asa about his memories from that week, and he sent me a little voice note.

6. Fans point here

   4:21

   2 YouTube comments timestamp this moment, 21 likes.

   I'll wait till after I hear it. When I was talking to Andy about this skip and this time, I realized that we were all blacked out damn near for this period. Them, because they worked insane hours, the hours of SNL were…

7. Jorma joins the pod from Finland

   7:30

   Jorma phoned in from Finland, where he was shooting Land of the Lost, and missed eight episodes of the season.

   Somebody is joining us from Finland.
   Four Shock Jocks

8. Jorma's Land of the Lost shoot was 65 days

   8:10

   Jorma explained he shot the movie for 65 days out of an 80-day schedule, which the hosts agreed was a lot of days for a comedy.

   I was still doing Land of the Lost.

9. The dumpster full of folded cardboard

   9:55

   The dumpster gag shows cardboard boxes in the trash, which the writers read as a subtle joke that the trash was not recycled.

   I think the original idea about it was that it doesn't make sense, which makes me laugh.

10. I can't take another murder

    10:40

    This line sets up the frustration that drives the escalating punch sequence, with the next headline 50 more murders pushing him over the edge.

    You have the line, the aforementioned line, I can't take another murder.

11. Andy's slack-jawed reaction to the first punch

    13:07

    Seth notes Andy's surprised face at being punched, which the hosts say sells the moment and the joke that nobody saw it coming.

    And then you immediately have a great Andy slack-jawed face.

12. Punch count tallied: 55 in the aired version

    14:05

    Kevin counted the punches, landing around 55 in the aired version, though the crew shot far more takes.

    I had Kevin count it up.

13. Lorne's cut: Sudeikis spits on Andy

    19:54

    Lorne asked the team to cut the spit moment after the two-by-four, and Andy showed the cut to Lorne on a phone in his office.

    The one thing Lorne asked us to cut, and we did, was Sudeikis after the two by four leaves, then walks back and spits on me.

14. Fans point here

    19:56

    1 YouTube comment timestamps this moment, 40 likes.

    The one thing Lorne asked us to cut, and we did, was Sudeikis after the two by four leaves, then walks back and spits on me. I remember that. Was it a dress? — Andy

15. Fans point here

    22:08

    1 YouTube comment timestamps this moment, 5 likes.

    It's definitely the podcast for BTS. Yeah. Yeah. Smooth like butter. I mean, if you're asking me, I'm all about that, standing next to you. But that's solo work. I understand. We had a different idea this week. I'm not…

16. Dropped dirty duet with Amy Adams

    22:20

    The team considered a dirty picnic duet with Amy Adams, but she declined after a mother and daughter reminded her of her Enchanted audience.

    It was a song that would have been a duet with me and Amy Adams, and it was very dirty.

17. Akiva on rare notes from Lorne

    25:46

    Akiva noted that Lorne rarely gave notes, usually just saying nice work before moving on.

    Again, yeah, we so rarely got notes.

18. Vampire Weekend's fifth-album SNL run

    30:51

    The band has released five albums from 2008 to 2024 and appeared on SNL for most of them. The hosts work out the missing appearance on the 2019 album.

    Five albums from 08 to 24, five albums.

19. Ezra's voice note on SNL history

    31:26

    Vampire Weekend's Ezra sends a voice note about the band's multiple SNL bookings and the rare 'every album' feat. He questions how many artists have appeared five albums in a row.

    In terms of Vampire Weekend's history on Saturday Night Live, here's what I remember.

20. Fans point here

    31:43

    1 YouTube comment timestamps this moment, 7 likes.

    album, being informed by people who tend to know these things that it's very rare for a band to be invited on four times in a row. I don't know if it's like a three is the magic number type thing. It's probably rare to…

21. Arcade Fire as the 21st-century benchmark

    33:14

    Ezra's research finds Arcade Fire is the only 21st-century band to play SNL five albums in a row. The hosts joke about Lorne Michaels' Canadian ties.

    Arcade Fire is the only 21st century band I can find that played SNL five times in a row.

22. Five Timers and the Steve Martin story

    35:04

    The hosts discuss Five Timers, the club for SNL hosts who return. Seth recounts Steve Martin and Martin Short's backstage jokes during their recent appearance.

    You know, that obviously makes me think about Five Timers.

23. Fans point here

    39:40

    1 YouTube comment timestamps this moment, 40 likes.

    I want to say another, just a nice thing, which is I went and said hi to Marty and Steve. And then I went and said hello to Juno Temple, who was also on the show. And I'd never met her. She'd done the show via Zoom… — Seth

24. Juno Temple meets Steve Martin

    40:05

    Seth describes how Juno Temple reacted when Steve Martin dropped by to say hello, and how the hosts sometimes forget how remarkable such meetings are.

    And then he walked out, and it was this really great moment where Juno looked at me like, holy shit.

25. Fans point here

    40:30

    1 YouTube comment timestamps this moment, 4 likes.

    Well, most people, Seth, don't meet two to three to four famous people every day for work, where they come to their work every day. I got a good system worked out. Exactly. I like that you glommed us into your thing.… — Akiva

26. Nurse Nancy's leftover Jiminy Glick prosthetic

    42:28

    Head of makeup revealed that Andy's Nurse Nancy prosthetic was a leftover Jiminy Glick piece. Andy wants to rewatch the sketch.

    the prosthetics we put on you for Nurse Nancy were leftover Jiminy Glick prosthetics.

27. Tookie Stiles on the rundown

    43:27

    A rundown note says 'Tookie Stiles will be played back as a VT.' The hosts treat the professional memo as a joke, and Brian Tucker later explains the sketch.

    note, Tookie Stiles will be played back as a VT for air.

28. Brian Tucker on Tookie Stiles

    44:43

    Brian Tucker explains the origin of the Tookie Stiles sketch, which combined early hip-hop with a wave of assassination attempts in the late '70s and early '80s.

    we wanted to do something about hip-hop in the late 70s and early 80s

29. Four first-time hosts in one run

    46:08

    The hosts note that Tina, Elliot, Amy and Jonah were all first-time hosts in this run, which made the stretch especially notable.

    all four of these hosts in this run, first-time hosts

30. Hot Rod vs. Superbad screenings

    46:54

    Andy recalls the Superbad screening and how Hot Rod seemed to land differently, as the two films opened close together.

    After Knocked Up came out and Hot Rod had bombed, I texted Michael, Sarah, and Jonah.

31. Declan asks who reads the inbox

    50:32

    A listener asks who reads the show's emails and how the best questions reach the hosts. The hosts joke about the reliability of the system.

    Who gets to read this inbox? Do y'all have someone that does it for you

32. George asks about comics

    51:18

    A listener asks if Seth and Bill Hader will write more comic books after their Spider-Man comic. Seth says the comic was written during the writers' strike.

    I was wondering if you two had considered writing more comic books in the future.