Threw it on the Ground

Pop-ups (22 · 6 fan picks from YouTube comments)

1. Stephanie thought her callback would be doomed

   0:29

   Stephanie Beatriz recalls being told her callback was with Andy and assuming she'd fail, joking about having "thrown it on the ground." Seth and the hosts then recount how Andy famously ends chemistry reads with a flat "nope."

   they told me that my callback was going to be with Andy, and I was like, oh, no, I'm not going to get it because I threw it on the ground.
   Quaid Army

2. Andy's dead-fish chemistry verdict

   1:12

   Andy's casting-room habit of storming out and calling a dead fish when chemistry is absent becomes a running joke, with Seth and Andy riffing on the exaggerated gesture.

   If you don't have chemistry with the person, you just make a big scene.

3. Fans point here

   18:40

   1 YouTube comment timestamps this moment, 55 likes.

   She'd just taken my ticket and I'm just like marching out. and uh yeah oh wait what oh wait i i sent him the wrong link i was trying to say hi jonah hey guys i was trying to send you through it on the ground and i sent… — Seth

4. Fans point here

   19:40

   1 YouTube comment timestamps this moment, 11 likes.

   Jonah, it's been forever, and it is absolutely a delight to lay eyes on you. All I do is listen to you guys and pretend like I'm there having fun that I have friends on my long drives. Throw it on the ground is so dope… — Seth

5. Jonah Hill on why Threw It on the Ground works

   19:43

   Jonah Hill, joining by accident, praises the short's backpack-rap parody as his favorite, calling the style "science rap." The comment reveals fans' appreciation of its specificity.

   Throw it on the ground is so dope for the backpack rat fat beets heads like me.

6. Fans point here

   20:30

   1 YouTube comment timestamps this moment, 60 likes.

   You're listening to Power 106, Big Boy in the Morning. So listen, this is actually quite important, like on a more serious note, is I was in such a dark place and I started watching this thing and it brought me out of…

7. Fans point here

   23:00

   1 YouTube comment timestamps this moment, 9 likes.

   pop by the connors i wish people i wish this was a video podcast because if you can see jonah it's just a real reminder that la has some of the shittiest hallways in america no i'm in my production i'm eight weeks i'm… — Seth

8. Phantom camera inspired the slow-mo

   34:13

   The short's signature slow-motion destruction came from a Phantom high-speed camera Akiva learned about after asking Dina to research it. The idea was then shelved until the team wrote the song around it.

   I think I asked Dina or somebody, can you research what this is? And she found it, and she found a place in New York that had it.

9. The Drew Campbell beat sparked the idea

   35:01

   The hosts credit a Drew Campbell beat that they played in the office as the musical seed; Akiva jumped up with the idea of things exploding on the ground during the chorus.

   I remember very vividly, Keeve, you jumping up from your chair and going, what if it's just this?

10. Sadat X's Funk Dat as inspiration

    35:29

    Matt Murray kept pushing the group toward Sadat X's "Funk Dat," whose energy fed into the backpacker character's persona of an anti-system rapper.

    Matt Murray, the Panther, had kept talking to us about that song Funk Dat by Sadat.

11. Character drawn from Berkeley-style fronting

    36:35

    Andy explains the character grew from people they knew in Berkeley who claimed counterculture cred while living in comfortable neighborhoods, plus a 90s hip-hop backlash against bling-era pop rap.

    Our experience with it anyway was knowing dudes that were like, we're counterculture, we're anti-system, all this stuff.

12. Tased you in the butthole

    43:29

    The hosts recall that 'Tased you in the butthole' is among the most quoted lines from the short, and the group debated it against an alternate ending.

    Tased you in the butthole... Tased You in the Butthole. But this ain't my dad.

13. Slow-motion filming and speed choices

    45:44

    The hosts discuss how Threw It on the Ground was filmed at high frame rates, then sped up in the edit to fit the song's tempo. The choice was made by group vote.

    we can do it at the incredible slowness, but I have to do these jump cuts, or we can do faster, and we all voted faster

14. Aaron Phillips shot the Phantom footage

    46:38

    Cinematographer Aaron Phillips shot the short on the Phantom high-speed camera, and went on to shoot many of the group's later projects.

    I believe it was Aaron Phillips, and he went on to shoot a ton of our stuff.

15. Like a Boss budget comparison

    46:56

    The hosts recall that a previous music video cost nearly as much as the 'jizz in my pants' sketch, prompting a discussion about outside hires.

    it ended up costing, through various reasons, almost as much as just in my pants.

16. Fans point here

    49:55

    1 YouTube comment timestamps this moment, 6 likes.

    The way Andy's even just moving his shoulders through life, like as you walk up to the hot dog man, is so indicative of this character. — Jorma

17. Ted's Gandhi-level compliment rescinded

    52:27

    A playful exchange about the reaction shots in the short, with the hosts giving then withdrawing praise.

    Compliment rescinded. But they also might have played it perfectly.

18. John Travolta look-alike in From Paris with Love

    58:29

    Akiva notes the hat and costume resemble John Travolta in From Paris with Love, drawing a link to Common.

    The other person who looks a lot like Common, this is Key's observation, is John Travolta in the movie From Paris with Love.

19. Del the Funky Homosapien's crack line

    1:04:01

    Andy explains that the line 'what do you want me to do with this, eat it?' comes from a Del the Funky Homosapien tape in which a seller hands him crack.

    his line literally is what, what the fuck you want me to do with this? Eat it.

20. Fans point here

    1:11:40

    1 YouTube comment timestamps this moment, 21 likes.

    It's a real Samberg. Oh, no, you can't talk right now. Bye-bye. I have to do this. I'm sorry. I love you. But there was an alternative ending, you were saying, to getting tased in the butthole? Yeah. the energy of that… — Seth

21. Butthole shield versus taser alternate ending

    1:12:05

    The group tested two endings with audiences and with Hannibal Buress, who chose the butthole shield ending.

    the moral of the story is you should always wear a butthole shield

22. Hannibal Buress picks the ending

    1:12:41

    Hannibal Buress was asked to choose between two endings and picked the butthole shield version.

    And he's like, oh, man, definitely Butthole Shield.

23. Kids love Threw It on the Ground

    1:14:33

    The hosts note that they received texts from parents whose kids were obsessed with the short, which they had not anticipated.

    my kid is obsessed with Threw It On The Ground, which we didn't think about in the slightest

24. Concert crowds chanted 'butthole'

    1:15:40

    At concerts, audiences would sing along to the short's lines, and the group recalls crowds of 10,000 repeating 'butthole over and over.'

    butthole over and over and it'd be 10,000 people saying it word for word

25. Norwegian Actors' Playhouse

    1:16:13

    Seth shares Fred Armisen's Norwegian Actors' Playhouse sketch, which satirizes European views of America through a detective and a newspaper scene.

    This is Fred's observation of how Europeans see America.

26. Lady Gaga backstage clip

    1:18:03

    Discussion of the Lady Gaga backstage sketch and the bubble dress; she was the musical guest with Madonna in a cameo.

    Yeah. Oh, yeah. Which I was gassed about.

27. Sharon Stone's voice note

    1:20:09

    Sharon Stone recorded a voice note closing the episode, signing off with 'later, Quaids,' a sign-off phrase of the show.

    This is Sharon Stone saying, later, Quades, you bunch of goodies.
    later, Quaids

28. Sharon Stone praised as a hurricane of wonderfulness

    1:20:28

    The hosts praise Sharon Stone's warmth and magnetism and her long career in Hollywood and New York.

    Hurricane of wonderfulness. Yeah, she rules. And just really nice.