The Lonely Island and Seth Meyers Podcast - Doppleganger

Episode Date: May 13, 2024

The guys discuss their digital short, Doppleganger, and the laughs that came from the A-holes at a Travel Agency sketch. Plus, Seth brings up memories of sketches that never aired including Handlebar and Lobster Claw, Brain Eaters, and more! Show Notes:Doppleganger A-Holes (Not all the clips we mention are available online; some never even aired.)If you want to see more photos and clips follow us on Instagram @thelonelyislandpod. Sponsors:AirbnbThe Lonely Island Podcast is supported by Airbnb.  Your home might be worth more than you think.  Find out how much at airbnb.com/host ShopifySign up for a one-dollar-per-month trial period at SHOPIFY.COM/lonelyisland Liquid DeathYou can get free shipping of Liquid Death’s Mountain Water, Flavored Sparkling, and Iced Tea 8-packs with Amazon Prime or grab a can or a case at your local 7-Eleven, Target, Walmart, Whole Foods or on Instacart. Go to liquiddeath.com/ISLAND to check out all their healthy, infinitely recyclable beverages and find your closest retailer.  Produced by Rabbit Grin ProductionsExecutive Producers Jeph Porter and Rob HolyszLead Producer Kevin MillerCreative Producer Samantha SkeltonCoordinating Producer Derek JohnsonCover Art by Olney AtwellMusic by Greg Chun and Brent AsburyEdit by Cheyenne JonesMix and Master by Jason Richards

This episode is brought to you by Airbnb. Your home might be worth more than you think. Find out how much more at Airbnb.com slash host. What's the name of our podcast again? I feel like you were phrasing it really good last time. Was it the Lonely Myers podcast? No, right? Not terrible. It was the Lonely Island Seth Meyers podcast where we get granular.

Oh, right. Yeah, great. Get granular. That's what everyone wants. It's like an E40 slang. get granular. Oh, right. Yeah, granular. Get granular. That's what everyone wants. It's like an E40 slang. Get granular. It's the Lonely Island and Seth Meyers Podcast. Hey, everybody. I'm Seth Meyers. Welcome back to episode seven of the Seth Meyers and Lonely Island Podcast

where we get into the weeds with deeply specific details about the digital short era at SNL. I'm joined as always by the Lonely Island. Hi, gentlemen. Hi there. Hey, Seth. So this is going to be a very traumatic episode for me.

Let me just start by saying that. We are coming off a high, a new high watermark in the digital short era. We're coming off Natalie Rapp, raps, or Natalie's rap, depending on how you choose to phrase it. It's a hit. You guys now have two, like, genuine hits in your back pocket. And now there's an era, a very brief era, where there's a dip. And it's the TMS era of digital shorts.

Too much Seth. We went to the Seth well again. Yeah. We got a taste on Natalie Wrap of what you could bring to a short. Exactly. So I did not, even though I was in Natalie Wrap, I didn't fuck it up bad enough. So you guys thought maybe the reason it's a hit is Seth's mini cameo.

Hard to know. Let's flesh it out. Yeah. Now, we're going to discuss two different shorts this episode. One aired, one did not. Thankfully, we're going to start with the better of the two outcomes, which is Doppelganger. Oh, my God. That guy over there totally looks like you, Will.

What? Where? Over there on the bench. That guy? No way. He doesn't look like me. Now, you guys are the three credited writers for Doppelganger. Is that your memory of it?

We wrote it for our submission packet. Ah. We were trying to get hired. Question, though. Did we change it for air or did we just shoot it straight up? I can't remember that. I think we invented the ending for SNL. Yeah, it feels like it.

It also feels a little bit like we were just done and we were like, okay, we're done with that. I think we wrote it for Awesome Town, to be honest, when we thought we might have a sketch show at Fox pre-SNL. Oh, that's right. And that's why we had it in our back pocket when they asked us to submit for SNL. We were like, oh, we have some sketches

we wrote for our failed Fox pilot. It stands to reason because it is starring three people. Yeah. I think I remember us sitting down when we were making the submission packet for writing and changing the names

from Keev and Yoram to Seth and Will Forte. Yeah. When you watch it, it does look like a Lonely Island sketch where Keev and Yoram were taken out

for two of Andy's dad's friends. You guys look great. You do. You look nice and young. We look fine. And again, like I meant, this is going to be a traumatic episode for me. Don't get me wrong. I was super psyched to be in a digital short.

I go back and I watch it, and it just looks a little wrong. By the way, I think Forte's great in it. I feel like I'm sticking out like a sore thumb. No. No. No, not at all. In fact, you have the last line of the whole thing, which you added on set, and is my favorite part.

I shot the wrong guy. Yep. Back to work? Back to work. Let's go, Bozo. Let's go, Bozo. Yeah, let's go, Bozo. Let's go, Bozo. Yeah, let's go, Bozo. But it does feel a little bit like we're done with this sketch.

Yeah. And your tapping of the wall, kind of just figuring out like, oh, it's a building is one of the high points. I don't want to jump ahead, but I just want to say your performance in that moment might be the best performance in the whole piece. Now, this is going to sound like, again, I'm really shifting gears here from saying this was a bad moment for me, and now I'm talking about all the praise I'm getting for this,

but I mentioned this to Shoemaker today, and he said, oh, that's the one where you tap the wall. So tap in the wall. Everybody loves it. All right, I want to talk through Doppelganger real quick. It is a very simple idea. It is three gentlemen sitting outside 30 Rock eating sandwiches, and all of a sudden,

Andy and I say to Will, oh my God, that dude looks just like you. Cut to Forte looking just like Forte, but now he's got a mustache, and he tells us, that doesn't look like me, and we tell him it definitely looks like you with the mustache, which is the first real logic leap. He says, all right, let me find one for you, because if you see a friend's doppelganger,

you don't assume that everyone there has their own doppelganger nearby. Well, yeah. I mean, I guess you could argue like he's trying to get us back. Yes, right. It's a burn. He's going to find somebody that doesn't look like me and say, it looks like me. And then it's me and I'm wearing a top hat and it cuts over to me. Definitely looking like me. There's a real big moment where I tap the wall. Everybody still talks about it. Legendary wall tap.

By the way, the audience, not to say the audience doesn't respond to the wall tap the way that history has. Sure. But you audibly hear the tap. There's no laughter. There's no laughter over the tap as it plays. And then we say we find Andy's, and cut to Horatio looking like a garbage guy standing by a trash can.

All right, let's do Andy. Okay. There he is. Wait, I got one too. By the trash can? Same one. Oh my God, that is you, Andy. That guy?

Yeah, that guy. He doesn't look anything like me. What? He looks exactly like you. I mean, you gotta look past the gloves. It's not the gloves, that guy's a loser. Fine, who do you think he'd look like? I don't know.

How about that guy? Yeah, that guy does not look anything like you. He's wearing a green bandana around his neck. Yeah, no, the first guy. That guy's your twin. That guy. And then Andy goes and stands next to him and it becomes very dramatic.

I don't know which one to shoot. What? Why are you going to shoot anyone? Wait, we can ask him something that only Andy knows. Andy, what do you think about sandwiches? I love them. Andy does love sandwiches. Everyone loves sandwiches.

You're right. It escalates very quickly. Will takes out a gun. Ice cream takes the shot. Cut to me and Will and Horatio eating the sandwiches. And we realize while we're eating the sandwiches that we definitely shot the wrong guy. Yep. That's about it, right?

Yeah. Yeah. Very, very simple premise. We once again, we hadn't done a lot on SNL, but in our other work, we incorporated the fact that I like sandwiches. Yeah. Yeah. You and Joey from Prince.

Is that a Joey thing? The two guys who famously love sandwiches. Yeah. In what way does Joey love Friends. Is that a Joey thing? The two guys who famously love sandwiches. In what way does Joey love sandwiches? Is that like a known thing? He's just like a big sandwich guy, I think. He also loves pizza, to be fair. That's true. Food in general, I think, is Joey's big thing.

So he's got a little more of a rounded, but they had a lot of episodes to kind of round out his character. Got it. I should note that we received a note from the podcast producers that if this could also be a Friends podcast at the same time. It would help substantially, I would imagine. But we won't get as granular as you can tell with the Friends details. Well, yeah. I mean, I don't think I'm equipped, clearly. I didn't even know Joey likes sandwiches. That was the extent of my Friends knowledge, though. I mean, I think we're kind of rushing through Doppelganger, but I think Doppelganger sort of lives as a,

not really an indicator of what digital shorts are going to be. No, but I think it's a good thing for people to know that that's one of the sketches that got us SNL. So, you know, if you watch it and you're just like, I can write something better than this, then maybe you can. Can I say, I remember being very proud of it

because it was a little bit regular. Like, it has a beginning, middle, and end, and it's not flashy. I don't know. There was something about it where I felt proud of it in a different way because it didn't feel like it had any gimmicks. It felt like an actual piece of normal sketch writing. Yes. And I will say, I actually

enjoyed all of your acting. Especially yours, Andy. I thought you were super natural. Yes. Thank you. Fucking finally. enjoyed all of your acting especially yours andy i thought you were super natural yes thank you fucking finally and this perfectly tees up your new turn into serious dramatic acting tell us about what oh get a plug in yeah get your plug on by the time these air it'll be relevant i'll say this for us making stuff that was not, it definitely was kind of one of the templates for us. Yes. Of like, oh, there's a premise,

it feels grounded at first, then it escalates, then it cuts faster and faster, and then it ends. And that's all sketches, but for us, it was thinking of ideas that specifically worked as a pre-tape that you couldn't do live. You would have had to do pre-tape doppelganger shots and intercut them live,

and the timing would have been wonky for this idea so it did kind of have to be a pre-tape oh right of course yeah that's very true everyone was playing two roles it was classic Jeremy Irons dead ringers

it was basically a clumps or if I was going to quote Magnus MacLeod I'd say simple sketch limited budget perfect execution damn

well who's Magnus MacLeod? the second comment on YouTube. God damn it. If you were to quote. McCloud! We really underutilized the fact that people have left YouTube comments like a decade ago. I mean, it was from three years ago.

Okay, okay. Still in the mix. And three years ago, Gemster also said, It's pretty amazing how they managed to find actors who look so much like them for the doppelgangers, though. I like that guy. That's a good comment, yeah. We could just read these all day. They're great.

Keith, what's the most recent comment? When's it from? I'd have to organize by, sort by. Hold on. Sort by. Newest first. This is good. Good content.

Good content. Hold on. Five days ago. Someone watched it five days ago? There's three different comments from five days ago. And? One is from Joe Mama. Right.

Says, Will Forte's doppelganger is one of the guys in Kraftwerk, the band. Okay. That's true. He looks exactly like one of the dudes from Kraftwerk. And then Matthew Casella says, take the shot with the emoji of like crying laughing. And then I think this one's a diss. Garnett Nelson says, SNL, home of horrendous closers. Oh, well, I think that is a diss.

That is a diss. That's a Seth diss. Wait, no. He didn't like Bozo? You don't think he liked Bozo? That was just that line. You established earlier in this podcast that I came up with a closer. You gave me credit for it.

Yeah, and I liked it then until I read that comment, and now I'm questioning everyone. That's what social media does, guys. Don't let it tear us apart. Oh, my God, it does. It poisons the closer. You gave me credit for it. Yeah, and I liked it then until I read that comment and now I'm questioning everyone. That's what social media does, guys. Don't let it tear us apart. Oh my God, it does. It poisons the brain. Hey, here's another thing that I want to ask you guys about. There's that weird thing

where you watch something that is, in this case, I guess, 17 years old or thereabouts. Oh, shit. Are super blousey shirts. Yes, I did notice that. Super blousey button-up shirts were guys who obviously work in an office. And I don't think shirts were that blousey shirts. Yes, I did notice that. Super blousey button-up shirts were guys who obviously

work in an office. And I don't think shirts were that blousey then. It felt like a 90s kind of shirt. Yeah, it felt like the way shirts looked on kids in the hall or the state. You know what it also looks like, though, is the wire. I felt like the wire did that really well. I think that we were a little bit more in league with what they were doing for The Wire of just like realism. With the social commentary. Yeah, these guys are shopping at Marshall. They're on their way up the ladder. I do remember saying these are regular guys on a lunch break. Yeah. Like office workers. And so, I don't know, maybe they made a choice over in wardrobe. Yeah, blame the SNL costume department. Yeah. I mean, I guess we shouldn't have looked like the Strokes. These were just work dudes.

It wouldn't have made much sense. But we are swimming in those shirts. We are really swimming. There was a third doppelganger hiding in our shirt blouse. That was the part that was cut. If there was a late reveal that it was actually a quaddo,

no one would have been surprised. Let's not get ahead of ourselves. Although it is nice to tease quaddo. If you're listening right now, know that there's going to be multiple episodes where I just go hard at Andy for Quado comedy.

Alright, I agree though. I think that this is you know, again, is it Criterion Collection digital shorts? No, but I also felt proud of it at the time. I thought it was really nice. Beginning, middle, end. Good indication of the new kind of things we could do with digital shorts. Again, now, I've been in Natalie Rapp. Scored. Been in Doppelganger. Scored. And I get a little thirsty and I write one. I don't know why I'm trying to hide from it. I write Handlebar and Lobster Claw.

It's a good song. Good theme song theme song. So. Didn't air. Not only did it not air. Jorm, you only think four of these ever didn't air? We said that we did 101-ish on the show, but I think we probably did more like 115. It was a lot. And I think out of those, four of them didn't air, to my knowledge. I don't know if you guys recollect differently.

And this is one of them. Do you want to try to list them now? There's this one. There's the Zac Efron. Yes. One. And then there's the Will Ferrell one. Oh, maybe it's five. And then there's that weird cartoon that we did, which I can't remember what it was. Yeah. With who was in that one on a Ferris. Oh, yeah. What was it called? It was so weird. I actually kind of liked it. I don't remember what you're even talking about. It was trying to do a cartoon, but with real faces. We were like trying something almost collage-y. It was like an experiment.

Oh, like the flowers and stuff? Yeah, we didn't quite have enough of a premise to make it work. Yeah, it felt like a Korean cartoon or something. Yeah, exactly. For like preschoolers. Yeah. It was like a little kid thing, but then it got weird. It was really strange.

There was also Tudor with Kutcher, but got bumped. That was a Twitter-based one. Right. So that's five. And then there was dudes in sunglasses looking dope or something? That was the Zac Efron one. Oh, that was Efron. Okay.

Yeah, yeah. I want to ask real quick. So we've come up with a few that got cut. Off the top of your head, give me a number of how many you wish hadn't aired. Oh, I'd have to go through them all. Higher. A higher number. Do you think 10? Do you think there are 10 that you wish? Yeah. I'm very excited to start getting to those because, well, there's two categories for that though. There's the ones

that on the day we were like, don't air this and it's still aired. And then there's the ones that in hindsight, you're like, oh, I could have done without that airing. But that's not particularly fair because you're so exhausted by the process because most of them we did in like 48 hours. So by the end and sometimes going to air, you were so mad at yourself for it not working that you wanted it not to air. And I would put, I wish it would rain in that category too. Oh, never take that back. I'm in hindsight. I wish it would rain is top three for me all time. The only regret I have about wish it would rain is that we should have stuck to our guns and aired the super long version. Yes.

I mean, at that point. But we'll get there in six years when we do that episode. We will get there in six years because we're basically knocking out one of these every three months. Yeah. So wait, here's the thing I want to say real quick, too. Early on, I think there was way more. If it's good, it's in. If it way more if it's good it's in if it's bad

it's out later once digital shorts became their own thing Lorne was very loath to cut them and I think you guys got to a place

that was maybe a little divided from Lorne where he needed a digital short and you guys would say this isn't up to our standard

which by the way is fair every writer in SNL no one hits their standard every week. Of course. That's why it's so hard to do. But digital shorts became so valuable to Lauren that he was putting them on no matter the quality. Well, oftentimes it's what happens with a particular cast member where it's just clear they're a hit and then they get gently forced into the show to to make sure they have something

because that's why people are tuning in. And I think the shorts became its own version of that. Yes. And there was probably a happy medium. You know, if you guys could have cut everyone you wanted to cut, that probably would have been too many. But there probably could have been five to ten. Now, I should note, in any era,

I would argue that Handlebar and Lobster Claw is not going to make the show. Yeah, correct. When re-watching it, I was like, there's no way this aired. And then looking at the rundown and being like, oh, right, it did get cut. So it didn't air. Can I say something about it, though? Yeah. Well, explain what it is first.

Okay, so I wrote a sketch called Lobster Bar, sorry, Handlebar and Lobster Claw. It was like a 70s cop show, opening graphics, kick-ass song from the Go team, is that? The Go team, yeah. That's maybe the best part of the sketch. All right, enough. Stop hurting my feelings. Sorry. Well, and then I like New York City.

That was good. That was a good part of it. So we're two cops. I play Handelbar. I got a Handelbar mustache. Andy plays Lobster Claw. He's a police officer with lobster claws for hands. Yeah.

Antonio Banderas is the host of the show. He is only in the opening credits as the chief. You can tell we just shot him on the roof real quick. And end of the opening credits, the scene is the two cops in a diner, and I'm reading a newspaper. The newspaper says a ninja has robbed a bank. By the way, as I'm saying this, I want to be like, it was funnier when you saw it.

It's exactly this funny. If you're listening and not laughing, that is exactly the right response. A coffee gets set down. Lobster claws have trouble picking up a coffee. Basically, the only sound you hear because nobody's laughing is just like, tink, tink, tink, tink. Then the ninja, is it you, Jorm? It is me. It's you, right?

I forgot about that part too. So the ninja sits down. I can see the ninja, Andy can't. Zoom in on me, zoom in on the ninja, zoom in on me, you think I'm about to apprehend the ninja, and instead I get a straw. Yeah. Thanks, handlebar. No worries, lobster claw.

And the credits, I should point out, are just very clearly the sabotage video, except I have lobster claws. Yeah. Very borrowed from a more popular thing. Yeah. To be fair, though, there's a lot of stock footage of explosions, so you do think that the show is going to be exciting.

And then it's not. Right. That's everybody's favorite comedy move where you set up a big, like, we're going to do a cool thing. And then you do a quiet thing. Everybody loves that. Yeah. Now, I will say it does seem like a lot of those explosions, I think, had more success later on in MacGruber. I think every single one of them made it into MacGruber sketches.

Yes. on in MacGruber. I think every single one of them made it into MacGruber sketches. Yes. It also has the grainy feel of Dyke and Fats, which was a far more successful take on the 70s cop show. But in general, I think the saddest thing that happened when I rewatched it, and I have not gone back and looked at this because we'll get into why I didn't need to go back and look at it. But late in the sketch, my handlebar mustache just starts to droop. Like one side is just, it's almost like the mustache knows. It's trying to escape the sketch.

We got to get out of here. In a pre-tape. This isn't even a live sketch where that can happen and you're like, they can't get fixed. It's like if you were watching like a movie in a theater and they started breaking. You'd be like, you were watching like a movie in a theater and they started breaking you'd be like the actors are just laughing two takes it's fine just keep going i like that keith said to

the makeup artist go fix that and they're like no no we're good no i know what this is that's not gonna fix this yeah they're like it's not airing when this doesn't work that's not airing. When this doesn't work, that's not the problem. I mean, great shame because one, it was like, oh, this is great. Now I'm digital shorts too. I'll just write it and then I'll be part of digital shorts. So I have great shame about that. And then the other shame is not only did this not air, but it went to dress seven times. Oh, wow.

That's why I thought it had aired, because we saw it so many times. Did not remember that. That's why I never had to go back. I watched it. I mean, week to week, an SNL audience is vastly different. You guys will all attest.

Some nights the crowds are hot. Some nights the crowds are ice cold. Seven... But what about on this? I feel like we should watch all seven versions for the laughs and just see which one was closest on. I mean, you know what we should do is watch all seven versions. Take the laughs, stack them.

Yeah. You multiply the audience by seven and see if even then. They're definitely different cuts, right? I thought we tinkered, yeah. Yeah, I think we tightened it dramatically, thinking that the first one was playing in the awkward silence of just like how quiet it gets. Like, what if we speed it up? Yeah. I don't know if we did anything besides that. I remember you pitching one. Do you remember this, Seth? Yeah. You pitched at one point that what we should do is graphically make

a DVD menu as if it was a hit movie and then do DVD commentary on top of it where we can like pause it and fast forward it and talk about what went wrong and then air that as a short. That's fun. And I remember thinking that was a pretty good idea. We just didn't ever write it. Yeah, that's more of the Garsh Marenghi version. It is very nice to think back to one, the fact that

I was completely infringing on your guys thing and two, you were still trying to fix it. Like that is a great credit to you because this was very much a doctor who should walk out and be like, she's gone. You were not infringing on our thing, Seth. We were still so new.

Yeah. We were just excited to be hanging out with you and like trying to fix it. And we didn't know that we had a thing even yet. We just knew that we were like getting to make shorts on SNL, which was like our lifelong dream. So for us, it was like, shit, maybe we can fix it and then we'll get another one to air. Yeah. There was no entitlement around it at all. I do think that I do a thing where everybody who's ever worked at SNL has done. I'm projecting how I think Lorne felt about it.

That Lorne was like, can someone tell Seth he's not the digital short guy? I have no proof that he said it, but I feel as though it's a thing he said. When you do watch one that is not doing well, it does immediately put you back into that chair under the bleachers with Lauren and just feeling that space of nothingness while he glances over at you disappointed. Okay. But as my mom would say, now let's say something positive, right? Great. Right. I like the look of it.

Looks really good. Yeah. When it starts, it's got good energy. As we mentioned, the music's dope. I like seeing you and me together, especially because we look so much younger. So much younger. And I'm in, and then it just doesn't hook me. But I will say there's something there. We just never quite figured it out.

I like your looks. I like the 70s style cop, like street cop outfits. Like they're not dressed in police blues. They're dressed like cool leather with like the badge on the necklace. Agree. And I like there's big cardboard boxes you're running through and stuff. Mm-hmm.

I like that. There's something there. The lobster claws are very good. And also, again, Andy, you're acting. Dorm loved my acting. I loved your acting. It was very subtle. Well, especially at that time,

I was Hambone McGee. So for me to do with that, that subtle was a great feat at that time. But the lobster claws did look good, as always. Prosthetic and makeup and all those guys did a great job. Yeah, some of them don't work. Yeah. And Antonio Banderas is actually sort of a joy to see.

Yeah. Antonio Banderas has two shots. He basically runs along the roof and then he stops and finds the camera. And you realize he's that kind of actor who's super fun to look at. And then he does a punch at the end. Yeah. Whatever he's doing, some action move. Which also, by the way, if we had cut that into young Chuck Norris, no one would have noticed.

We should have just cut shots of this into young Chuck Norris. But once again, back to what you're saying, Jorm, another promise we then don't deliver on, which is we put Antonio Bio banderas in the opening credits yeah being kick-ass punching nothing more disappointing for an audience and then he's not in it but i will say we knew that was funny yes we enjoyed that like it's an annoying joke but it was funny to us i remember enjoying the company of antonio banderas and matt dillon a great deal don't remember much about these shows. Don't remember much about these shows. Do you guys remember much about these shows?

No. I wrote a Legends of Zorro sketch with Horatio. And I remember that was like one of my first times like writing in another room with other people. And so that was kind of memorable for me. And did we get mad at you for stepping out on us? Oh, fuck yeah. I mean, I was ostracized entire week. I don't remember anything about that sketch,

but I'm going to guess Horatio was a other Zorro. Yeah. Who was worse. Yep. It's a safe bet. Yeah. You're right on the money. Your name is on it as a writing credit, huh?

Yeah. I had a sketch cut from dress in both shows that I have no memory of. One called Soccer Game that I wrote with Fred, no memory. And one called Brain Eaters that I wrote with Fred, no memory. And one called Brain Eaters that I wrote with Fred, no memory of that either. I mean, once you were head writer, Seth, I'd try and get your name

on anything I could to try and give it a shot of getting picked by you. It's got to stack your bets. Oh, you would put my name on it so that I would then, my own ego would... Yeah, you'd be like,

oh, oh yeah, I guess so. There's something about this one. I guess I did more wrong than that. But alas, my own ego would be like, oh, oh yeah, I guess so. There's something about this one. I guess I did more wrong than that. But alas, it was not to be. Andy wasn't allowed on stage. Only in the edit bay and on the rough streets of Manhattan. Oh boy. Just kidding, Giuliani cleaned all that shit up.

Am I right, guys? We all agree. That was it. Oh, geez. And he remained the best. America's mayor. The Lonely Island Podcast is supported by Airbnb. Seth, I don't know if you know this, but when I was out in Los Angeles when we were making Popstar,

I had to stay at seven different places. Get out of town. Yeah, because we kept editing for seven and a half months. And five of those places were Airbnbs. And I got to say, my experience was lovely in each one of them. I stayed in every kind of location around Los Angeles. And the whole time I was thinking I should be doing this same thing because these houses are just making moolah for people. And I never did. And you know what? I don't know if you know this about me, but I hate leaving money on the table.

Did you know that? I hate leaving money on the table. You'll go back and you'll take the tip we've left the waitstaff. And we have to say that money is supposed to be on the table. I've done that many times and you've told me not to so many times. But you know what? I hated leaving it on the table. So I got to go back.

Well, I'm glad you finally came to that realization, Jorm, because a lot of people don't realize they might have an Airbnb of their own right under their noses. Your home might be worth more than you think. Find out how much at airbnb.com slash host. Hey, everybody, pardon the brief interruption. You have heard us discuss on our podcast, Amy Poehler, Liz Kikowski, Emily Spivey, all people who are lucky enough to share our time with at SNL. And they have a new podcast, Women Talking About Murder. It's hilarious. And we'd like you to hear the trailer for it right now. Hi, Seth and Andy and Yorma and Akiva, my husband.

It is Liz Kikowski here. And I am with our good friends who all worked on SNL with all of us at the same time. We have Emily Spivey. Hi, guys. And Amy Poehler. What's up, turkeys? And we're here to tell you about our new podcast through Paper Kite Podcast. We have been making parodies of podcasts,

and we have one show called Say More with Dr. Sheila, and Amy's playing a therapist in that one. We have the Chris Chapman do-over with Ike Barinholtz and Seth, that's our buddy who we did Boom Chicago with. And then now coming up, we have a new one that is a parody of true crime, and that is me and Emily in a show called Women Talking About Murder. And we are two women who are talking about murder. Take a listen. Women talking about murder is about two women helping women not to get murdered. This is Jo Beth. I like to stay close to home due to the fact, you know, I've been stalked.

I've almost been murdered many, many times. This is Donna. I love it all. I'm a yes person. I love a road trip and I love a city at night. So I just walk around and, you know, say hi to whoever I pass. I'll go to a temple. I'll go to a church. I'll go to a seance. I'll go to someone's basement when he says, come on over. I'm worried sick about Donna, but you know, that that's what makes it work between us. I am sort of her protector. I like to feel that I am a mama bear to all women who are about to be murdered. Her body was found at the bottom of the Red Rocks on day three of a women's yoga retreat. If I could have only one bumper sticker,

that bumper sticker would say, it's always the husband. So Jo Beth, today's murder happened on a cruise ship? Of course it did. I love cruises. Of course you do. His body was found in Doug's basement, bludgeoned to death by a pet rock. Oh, do we know the pet rock's name? Because that might be a clue. Should we do my wrap up? Yes. This has been Jo Beth. And Donna. And as always, don't go in basements.

Don't cross state lines alone. Don't ever load something into the backseat of your car unless you're facing outward. Don't let the gas guy in your house ever. Don't go jogging. Don't go walking. Don't have affairs. Don't go on a cruise. Don't do sports.

And finally, do not have fun. Love you all. Stay indoors, my babies. Available on the Odyssey app or wherever you get your podcasts the support for the lonely island and seth meyer's podcast comes from shopify hey yorm hi seth did you know shopify is the global commerce platform that helps you sell at every stage of your business i was just saying i didn't know that and i'm really excited to learn about it so tell me about it well you want to get in the merch game, right?

You want to start selling merch. You know me and I have all sorts of weird ideas for merch. I've tried to sell Lonely Island stuff. I tried to sell a Lonely Island men's perfume called Stinky Dick at one point. So tell me, could I sell that?

I think that the reason those products failed is not because of how you named them. It was because you weren't using Shopify. And whether you're selling scented soap or offering outdoor outfits, Shopify helps you sell everywhere, Jorm. From their all-in-one e-commerce platform to their in-person point-of-service system, wherever and whatever you're selling, Shopify's got you covered. And you know what I love about Shopify, Jorm? Are you even curious at all?

You know how curious I am, Seth? I'm just chomping at the bit to find it out because I really want to sell this men's perfume. No matter how big you want to grow, Shopify gives you everything you need to take control and take your business to the next level. Sign up for a $1 per month trial period at shopify.com slash lonelyisland, all lowercase.

Go to shopify.com slash lonelyisland now. Somebody else got lonelyisland all caps, unfortunately.case. Go to Shopify.com slash Lonely Island now. Somebody else got Lonely Island all caps. Unfortunately, they beat us to it. That's why it's all lowercase. Shopify.com slash Lonely Island. All lowercase. Now to grow your business no matter what stage you're in. Support for the Lonely Island and Seth Meyers podcast comes from Liquid Death.

Yorm, you ever cracked open a liquid death? Yes, I have. And I got a lot of crazy looks from my nine-year-old. Yeah, because it looks like a beer or some crazy energy drink, but it's not. It's actually a healthy beverage. And then you explain it, that it's called liquid death. And my kid was like, what?

Yeah. And then I was like, no, it's delicious water. But that's a very nice thing about it. Liquid death will brutally murder your thirst. I hope you'll explain that to your child. And their infinitely recyclable cans are helping bring death to single-use plastic bottles. Also, Liquid Death donates a portion of Propolis from every can sold to help kill plastic pollution. So is it a reaper of sorts?

Yes, but it's a grim reaper for things we are not fans of. It's a good reaper. It's punk rock meets environmentalism. You know what I mean? Yeah but it's a grim reaper for things we are not fans of. It's a good reaper. It's punk rock meets environmentalism. You know what I mean? Yeah, it's fun. It's fun to drink out in public when people think it's a beer, especially when the cops come to hassle you, right?

Oh, man. The fuzz is always on my case, Seth, and I like to hassle them as much as possible. You like to hassle to go back and forth. Hey, this is really exciting. You can get a free shipping of Liquid Death, some mountain water, flavored sparkling, and iced tea eight packs with Amazon Prime or grab a can or a case at your local 7-Eleven,

Target, Walmart, Whole Foods, or on Instacart. Go to liquiddeath.com slash island to check out their healthy, infinitely recyclable beverages and find your closest retailer. That's liquiddeath.com slash island. It's funny to me that Arctic Monkeys are now way older than then. Yeah, they were pretty badass, as I recall. In my head, Arctic Monkeys were super young dudes and now they're probably, they're 40, right? I feel like it was their first album right that they were on and they left like actual children yeah i will say they impressed me pretty hard on

that show because on air the lead singer pointed up to the crowd and said into the microphone that man just yawned and i was like that's incredible during their live performance yeah i believe so i was just like these guys are fucking great. I mean, when you're a teen on live television, you do whatever you want. In his defense, they went on right after Handlebar and Lobster Claw had aired.

So a lot of people were yawned. You know, the fact that he only saw one yawn, God bless. The guy yelled out, it's Residgies! Residgie from the thing! From Seth's thing!

It's from the thing that it won't air. Even I can tell. It's from the thing that won't air. Even I can tell. He's like, fuck you, Lorne, for putting that on before us. Oh, spot on, Seth. Wow. Oh, my God. I don't even know.

That was like channeled through me. Yeah. I wasn't even thinking about it. Hey, this year, either the first versions or our pretty early versions of now some of the recurring sketches in our generation. Oh, yeah. Hit us with that. A-holes at a travel agency. I think that might have been one of the first A- generation. Oh, yeah. Hit us with that. A-holes at a travel agency.

I think that might have been one of the first A-holes. Oh, wow. That was big. That's a really fun Sudeikis and wig. Keeve, do your A-holes. Babe. Babe. Yeah, you got it.

You still got it. It's based off you and Liz, though, right? Yeah. So you talk to each other? Yeah, yeah. Sudeikis observed us. Alexi and I ironically started calling each other babe based on assholes, and then it kind of took.

Oh, that's not good. And that's bad. We call each other that. I bet you guys are cool when you say it, though. You want water, babe? I hate water. She hates water. Well, I guess a cruise is out of the question then, huh?

And then Vincent Price. We start getting Vincent Prices out there. There's a St. Patrick's Day. Early Vincent Price And then Vincent Price. We start getting Vincent Prices out there. There's a St. Patrick's Day. Early Vincent Price. Early Vincent Price. Aaron, go brah, brave pilgrim. The holiday ritual in which you are set to participate traces its origins to the most mystical

of Celtic tribes, the Druids. Each year, those dark souls celebrated the feast of flag-o-flag-o-dution, a human sacrificial celebration honoring the beast god, Bragoff. celebrated the feast of Flaggle Flaggle Dushan, a human sacrificial celebration honoring the beast god, Bragoth. Phil is writing with Matt Murray,

who I think this is his last year on the show. God, did he leave after one season? One season with us. I think so, yeah. The Panther? Skedaddled after that?

Matt the Panther Murray. Yeah, so that's it. He was one of our ace homies there because we met him at the movie awards. Still an ace homie. Yeah.

A very funny writer who continues to be a very funny writer. And this is a very exciting time where it's early in our, you guys know, I call it a golden era. Yeah. I do like the nards on us calling it the golden era of SNL. A golden era. Yeah. A golden era. A, yeah. A, it's a golden era. Yeah, a golden era.

It's a golden era. Yeah. But we put the a very small. That's right. There is something really funny about doing things just to antagonize other generations of SNL. Yes, but I didn't say the golden era. I said a. It would be tight, though, I think, if we started just saying that. Just beefing with other SNL podcasts.

There's clearly no argument to be made for any era except the first one, right? Yeah, that's correct. To say it's the golden era. You're trying now to start beef because I do have a firm opinion about what golden eras were on the show, but I don't want to get into it. Okay, so you're saying there are multiple golden eras. Yeah, I think there's like three or four. Stretches where everyone's like it was working during that time. Where it was just like working. Yeah. Maybe five.

So what do you guys think? Hit us in the comments. We'll be right back after a word from our sponsor. Put the comments under doppelganger video. Now I'm just going off titles. I'll tell you the sketch. You guys tell me the writer. Women's Coaches Fashion Awards.

Paula Peller or James Anderson? Yeah, or both. Both of them. You got them both. Those are the both. Okay, great. Paula Pell, of course, wrote the Women's Coaches Fashion Awards.

Yes. I'm shocked by this. All right. This is 2006. There's a sketch called Podcast. Ooh. Were podcasts a thing in 2006? Yeah, clearly.

Was that even a word that we were using then? I do think that the fact that Hater and Kenwerder are on there just was like, yeah, of course those guys were up on that. Yeah. Hater would be the first guy to know about podcasts. Oh, for sure. You guys, we had a guest writer on one of these shows, and it should be noted, guest writers come in,

either do one or two weeks at SNL. Was it John Glazer? No, it was Mindy Kaling. Yeah. Oh, right. That was going to be my guess. Oh, I remember that. She was on The Office at that time, right?

She was on The Office and she came and guest-wrote on SNL. That's an extra credit fucking lover of comedy right there. There you go. But Michael Che was the only guest-writer who then became, I think, a full-time writer. Was that when we were there? You were probably gone when Che started. Yeah. No, we were there the week he was the guest writer because Timberlake was the host.

But we were not on the show anymore. We came back for the show. Oh, so we weren't still working there. That's why it's foggy. No, but we were working the week he was a guest writer. That's why it's a foggy, weird memory. That's when we came back and did the dating game thing. Yeah.

Oh, that's right. I remember being at the rewrite table on Nine with Michael Che there. He had gotten something picked up. I don't know if it ever aired, like a pre-tape. What did Mindy write? She wrote a Chad Michael Murray weekend update feature with Will Forte and you. Yeah, that's on brand. Where Will Forte played Chad Michael Murray.

Here's a quick Michael Che thing, which I think speaks to how good the communication is at SNL. Lauren told me that I promoted him to a full writer. And I was like, oh, that's great. I'm so happy to hear it. And then was like, oh, that's great. I'm so happy to hear it. And then it turned out nobody had told Michael Che that. And it was like a full three days later that I was sitting in his office and he just thought he was like on a week to week deal. And I said, congratulations. That's so awesome. And he was like, what? I was like, oh, yeah, you're fully hired here. And he was like, oh, man, that is a great story about us.

You know, yep, that's that place. I think we've already talked about this, but I didn't know I had gotten the show until after my meeting with Lauren, where he tells you, you got the show. I didn't know. I saw myself in the opening credits. I had been on a subway and I walked out and the camera was there and I kind of, I don't know why, but I was like recoiled, but then smiled as if like a knowing smile. Wow. That was, that's how they got it? That was just stolen footage? It was just documentary footage. That's how they got it. I was like, whoa, but then like, hey.

You just happened to look cute that day. And then that was it. That's how they get all those, I heard. They go to like a sushi restaurant and they'll find all of a sudden Andy's eating sushi and they'll just get him. Or like where you buy your balloons. Yeah, the opening credits are found footage.

What was your worst one? Andy, what was your worst opening credits? Do you have one you hate? No, I was okay with them all. There was never a moment when I did my opening credits shot where I wasn't still super gassed that I got to be in the opening credits. There are some that are slightly more embarrassing. Like, if you don't like the idea, do you get to shout it down or not? Well, my last one, I think they had some idea and I was like, what if I'm just like out

having sushi because I love it? And they're like, okay. And then we did that. I think it might even have been Keeb's pitch. Eating sushi? Don't put that on me.

Really funny pitch. Don't put that on me. Yeah, great pitch, Keeb. Yeah, thanks. No. I was just like, what's a place we haven't seen in the credits?

Oh, wait, it wasn't Seki, that was it? That's a good one. Sushi was good. You weren't at Seki. I don't think so, but it might have been like Sushi of Gari or something.

I, because again, I'm the worst actor of this course. I think my smiles always looked like a little nauseous. Like I'd eaten like a bad clam. Like that's how it looked when I did my smile. And there was one I loved, which is we shot it all on a rooftop. Like it was a one big rooftop party and it kept finding different people. And it's my favorite one I did because I looked up and Shoemaker was there and Shoemaker had taken his shirt off and he was just

standing next to the camera with his shirt off. And I have a genuine. That's how you knew he was going to be your producer in the future. Yeah. Now I would say like now HR would probably say that's a solid foot on the line to just remove a shirt for the purposes of laughter i mean they haven't seen shoemaker's bod no yeah no one would complain to hr that's what i'm talking about brother seth can i just jump in on something yeah i don't subscribe to this narrative about you not being good at acting okay yeah oh i'm sorry It sounds like I'm fishing for you to say I'm better at it. Yeah, okay. No, I don't think you're fishing.

I think you actually believe it. It makes me sad because I think you're a wonderful actor. Thank you. And you know who I think is good is fucking Andy.

Yeah, obviously that's come across. Oh my God, Jorm, this is so nice. I just feel like it's a dramatic turn that I feel like he's taking.

Again, no proof it was said, but I've definitely heard in my brain, will someone tell Myers he's taking. Again, no proof it was said, but I've definitely heard in my brain, will someone tell Myers he's not a fucking actor? Again, a very kind man that I don't believe would say that, but I think I've heard that. I think you're being punished for being such a good writer. That doesn't make you not be a good actor. You know, I think the way I found happiness was leaning into the things I was best at and great contentedness.

Sure. It's hard. I was a fan of your sketch work, and I still am. And I certainly think it speaks to what a good actor you think I am, that the many cameos I did on Brooklyn Nine-Nine, I always appreciated the call. You had your own show. You're not available. I know.

You used a photo of me. You used a police artist sketch, which I appreciate. Yeah, police artist sketch. And it was clearly you. Late night talk show hosts, it's kind of a trope of the genre that they self-deprecate about their acting skills. You know, like Letterman would always do that. And Fallon talks about, you know, like taxi and whatever. It's part of the gig.

Who's good in that, though? I will say this. I will say this. When I was on SNL and I had to do impressions, I was so in my head about them because I thought there was a way to approach doing impressions and totally overprepared for them. And everything I did felt a little wooden. And it's super fun now to have a talk show where you can just like bust into impressions with no thought before or after it. And it's really fun. It's my favorite thing. So I'm feeling better about myself as a performer now, Andy. I do want you to know. Good.

You, Giuliani, really makes me so fucking happy. You know what, Seth? You are by far the best at impressions out of the four of us. I mean, none of us do. I mean, Andy, I don't know if you saw my peewee in the Weird Al movie, but a lot of people fucking raved. Oh my God. Two lines, but they were good.

Good. Two lines. So like what kind of people were raving? I don't know. Ravers? Yeah. You know, in ecstasy. Ravers in ecstasy?

Okay, so they were already raving. It was in the parking lot before they got into the rave. Andy, I think about your Billy Bob Thornton impression a lot. Do you? I genuinely think about Kangles a lot. Kangles. My favorite is your Beetlejuice, though. Oh, man.

I did try to get that Beetlejuice on. Was it Parakeet? No, it was Meet the Press. Meet the Press. There was a long... All right. So Andy thought he had a really good Beetlejuice, and that does not add value to a show that is airing in 2006.

So one day, we're at the table read and there is Meet the Press at the time hosted by Tim Russert and if you've ever watched SNL you know that the cold opens if they're not about a news story of the day sometimes it is a talk show. Andrew Cooper was one

I used to do, Meet the Press. So I saw Andy, who'd you write it with? Klein? Probably. So you see Andy Samberg and Rob Klein have written a Meet the Press. Now, I, as head writer, am a little shocked that these guys want to dip their toe into the political cold open. Long, very well structured, too. Long two-page intro of like, today on Meet the Press, we're joined by Tennessee Senator Bill Frisch. And then it's like a stage direction.

Cut to Bill Hader as Bill Frisch. And you go through the whole thing. And then at the very end, it's a filling in for Tim Russert today. Beetlejuice. Yeah. And I was like, oh, yeah. So, Governor, you hate sand. Oh, I gotta get married. So, governor, you hate sandworms.

I hate them myself. And then, of course, in a classic way, it's just super specific plot points of B.O.D. It was a lot of anti-sandworms. A lot of anti-sandworms, yeah. And then, you know, spitting into my inside pocket, you know, save that for later. But do you remember who the host is? I'll give you a hint. It's relevant.

Oh, Alec Baldwin. Yes. But he wasn't in it. No. And he's like, why'd they do Beetlejuice? I was in it and then didn't. That is shocking. A dude from Beetlejuice.

Yes. From the film Beetlejuice. You did a Beetlejuice. Yes. From the film Beetlejuice. You did a Beetlejuice sketch and you didn't put him in. Oh, I just like thinking about Seth reading that for the first time. Look, we were very tired. Okay? We were very tired. But I'll say this.

It did play pretty well at the table. Yes. And it was one in a long lineage of things that played at the table and lifted everyone's spirits, even if it had no chance. Yes. I mean, I think Mondo Butts was another example. Oh, yeah. But Mondo Butts, we thought was going to go. Mondo. It went to dress twice. Yeah. That was another one when we spent a lot of time trying to fix Mondo Butts. And it's really funny looking back. And, you know, I appreciate that. The attempt. Yeah. It's such a shame because it would be just a phrase now

in the lexicon of all of the world. It is crazy how slim of a margin it is between, you know, like a t-shirt that says Mondo Butts in the NBC store. Yeah. And also then it not ever airing and people thinking it sucked. Like that margin is so fine. I know, just razor thin. It's a fine margin, y'all. Ooh, hold on.

I got to meet the press, guys. Yeah, yeah. I'm seeing it and I'm very excited. All right, ready? Andy, I'm going to read everything up until your first line, okay? Are you cool with that? Yeah, I mean, it's going to take a while. All right, here we go.

Open on NBC News graphic Meet the Press theme. From NBC News in Washington, this is Meet the Press with David Gregory. Our issues this Sunday, the military officially repeals its don't ask, don't tell policy. And the Republican presidential candidates increase their attacks on frontrunner Rick Perry. Joining us today, Representative Barney Frank. Republican Senator Olympia Snowe. NBC political analyst Chuck Todd. And filling in for David Gregory, Beetlejuice. It's Meet the Press.

Hey, shooter! Shall I? We can always cut it. Yeah, don't keep going. Keep going. Okay, I know what you're thinking. What's this guy know about politics, right? Well, the truth is, not a whole heck of a lot.

But guess what? Doesn't matter. Why? Because I'm the host with the most, babe. So let's jump into the issues. Barney Frank, step right up, step right up. Answer this question about politics. There we go.

I mean. I don't know. It's got me. That played red hot at the politics. There we go. I mean, it's got me. That played red hot at the table. You are right. That is exactly. On a tough day at the table, there was no way that didn't get.

Oh, the snorting is. Oh, no, Alec was in it. Alec was in it as Barney Frank. So there you go. He says, thanks for having me, Beetlejuice. And I go, don't say the name. You don't want Beetlejuice to say the name. That't want people to say the name because he wants to stay

right again right away the first joke is dependent on the audience remembering Beetlejuice everyone knows the rules of Beetlejuice

dude it's like Gremlins yeah there are no new movies where we all know the rules right uh Infinity Stone stuff

maybe Infinity Stone but I feel like everybody knew Gremlins rules Back to the Future rules all know the rules, right? Infinity Stone stuff? Maybe Infinity Stone. But I feel like everybody knew Gremlin's rules, Back to the Future rules, Beetlejuice rules. Stranger Things probably has some rules

that we all know. Probably. Hold on. In Beetlejuice, though, doesn't she have to say like, juice beetle, juice beetle? She has this reverse

energy. Whoa, Yoram, just please don't say it three times because we honestly don't know for sure. I only said it two and a half. I feel like we have already stummeled him

by reading the whole sketch. Fuck. He's a troublemaker. All right, so for our listeners, obviously this was an interesting episode because we were talking about one you probably didn't remember and one you couldn't have remembered

because it never aired. But next episode, episode eight, we're into really the one recurring, I guess that's not quite true because we have the Timberlake trilogy, but LaserCats. The only one that reoccurred every year. Yeah. I mean, this would be a wonderful deep cut. LaserCats has its fans. Some people might skip straight to it.

Some people might say, oh my God, I'm going to go to episode eight. If that's where LaserCats lives, I'm going to get into that right now. So guys, you'll hear us soon, as soon as we can get our four schedules together in episode eight. We're going to go to space with the laser cats. Woo! Fucking strap in, motherfucker, yeah!

Pew, pew, pew. Bye, dudes. The Lonely Island and Seth Meyers podcast is supported by Airbnb.