Japanese Office

Summary

Podcast Summary: "Japanese Office" — The Lonely Island and Seth Meyers Podcast

Introduction and Reunion
Seth Meyers kicks off the episode with playful banter about Yhorm’s recent stint in Finland, humorously referring to his disappearance as part of a "dramatic built-in arc" for the podcast ([00:00]-[01:10]). The reunion sets a lively and engaging tone for the discussion ahead.

Pop Culture Roundup
The hosts transition into a pop culture segment, beginning with a critique of the New York Magazine SNL cover. Seth Meyers humorously laments his photo, feeling he looks less flattering compared to his esteemed co-stars:
"I am not super happy, but it could have been a disaster, so I will take middle of the road." ([04:33])
John Lutz reassures him, while Akiva Schaffer jokes about the inconsistent salaries for SNL extras, likening pay rates to those of a public school principal ([02:49]-[03:19]). They also discuss Balenciaga’s new shoe line, poking fun at its unconventional design:
"You just pass away JJ Casuals with heels, I don't know what the fuck they're doing." ([13:54]-[14:44])

Deep Dive: "Japanese Office" Digital Short
The heart of the episode delves into the creation, reception, and lasting impact of the "Japanese Office" digital short.

• Introduction by Ricky Gervais
  Seth Meyers discusses the decision to have Ricky Gervais introduce the short, highlighting his late addition which significantly enhanced its appeal:
  "Hi, I'm Ricky Gervais, creator and star of the far superior British version of the Office." ([17:45])

• Adaptation and Parody
  The team explores how "Japanese Office" serves as both a homage and a parody of the original British and American versions of The Office. Akiva Schaffer explains the challenge of maintaining authenticity while infusing their unique comedic style:
  "A bunch of white actors pretending to be Japanese is not a great start." ([24:57]-[25:02])

  Kristen Wiig and Akiva Schaffer discuss the meticulous effort to ensure accurate Japanese dialogue, with all credits presented in Japanese to honor the culture:
  "We tried to make sure that everything that everybody said was as close to real Japanese." ([26:34]-[26:56])

• Production Insights
  Akiva Schaffer reveals the improvisational approach to set design, utilizing existing spaces without constructing new sets:
  "We just went down the hall on 17... hung the blinds to match." ([24:01]-[24:27])
  This ingenuity contributed to the authentic look reminiscent of the documentary style of The Office.

• Audience Reception and Impact
  The hosts reflect on the positive reception of the short, including its feature on American Airlines flights and the seamless integration of Ricky Gervais’s introduction:
  Seth Meyers: "We saw that comedy and the adaptation of it... Ricky was added late, it does help a great deal." ([17:45]-[18:14])
  Kristen Wiig notes feedback from Japanese audiences appreciating the effort, despite minor pronunciation flaws:
  "They can understand everything whether or not they're doing a perfect pronunciation." ([26:34]-[26:56])

Other Sketches and SNL Highlights
Beyond "Japanese Office," the conversation shifts to memorable SNL sketches:

• CPR Class
  John Lutz humorously critiques his role, emphasizing the exaggeration in physical comedy and the intricate setup:
  "It's obvious why I was wheeled in because his hands need to go bursting through my chest..." ([42:18]-[43:05])

• Bless This Child
  The team praises this sketch for its clever parody and understated humor:
  "It's a perfect 10 to 1 sketch that does not get what it deserves." ([52:05]-[53:38])

Personal Anecdotes and Behind-the-Scenes Stories
The hosts share amusing and insightful stories from their time on SNL and beyond:

• Greasing a Palm
  Kristen Wiig recounts her first days at SNL, involving "greasing a palm" at restaurants like Olive Garden to secure good tables for interviews:
  Kristen Wiig: "I was just really trying to... impress this girl and it didn't work." ([12:44])
  The group humorously debates the ethics and effectiveness of such antics, likening it to comedic improvisation ([45:13]-[46:57]).

• Book Club and Residuals
  Discussions about Seth’s book club and residuals from sketches aired on American Airlines flights add depth to their shared experiences and the business side of their comedy careers ([11:04]-[29:26]).

Humorous Interactions and Technical Fun
Throughout the episode, playful interruptions and jokes maintain an engaging atmosphere:

• Seth Meyers and Akiva Schaffer banter about product placements, like aura frames, blending comedy with promotional content seamlessly ([27:54]-[28:30]).

• The team humorously navigates mispronunciations and inside jokes about show elements, such as user Experience in "Bless This Child" and the complexities of SNL's sketch selection process ([35:05]-[44:24]).

Conclusion and Reflections
As the episode winds down, the hosts reflect on their enduring camaraderie and the creative processes that have defined their work on SNL and beyond. They emphasize the lasting impact of their digital shorts, particularly "Japanese Office," on both their careers and the broader landscape of digital comedy content.

Yhorm adds a personal note about his career trajectory post-SNL, highlighting the transformative nature of their collaborative projects ([56:50]-[57:00]). The episode concludes with heartfelt affirmations of mutual appreciation and a final round of light-hearted jokes, encapsulating the essence of their shared history and lasting friendships ([57:06]-[58:23]).

Notable Quotes with Timestamps

• Seth Meyers: "I do really like that when you get drunk, you will find the nearest celebrity and drag them to do a podcast immediately." ([00:39])

• Kristen Wiig: "I was just really trying to impress this girl and it didn't work." ([12:44])

• Akiva Schaffer: "We just went down the hall on 17 and hung the blinds to match." ([24:01])

• Seth Meyers: "Hi, I'm Ricky Gervais, creator and star of the far superior British version of the Office." ([17:45])

• Kristen Wiig: "We tried to make sure that everything that everybody said was as close to real Japanese." ([26:34])

• John Lutz: "It's obvious why I was wheeled in because his hands need to go bursting through my chest." ([42:18])

• Seth Meyers: "We saw that comedy and the adaptation of it... Ricky was added late, it does help a great deal." ([18:14])

• Kristen Wiig: "We found out that night [for being hired]." ([45:51])

• Seth Meyers: "It's a perfect 10 to 1 sketch that does not get what it deserves." ([52:05])

Impact and Legacy
The "Japanese Office" digital short stands as a testament to The Lonely Island's innovative approach to blending traditional sketch comedy with digital formats. By thoughtfully parodying and honoring The Office franchises, they crafted a piece that resonates with both fans and new audiences, demonstrating their knack for creating enduring and impactful comedy.

Overall, this episode offers a rich, engaging exploration of The Lonely Island’s and Seth Meyers’ collaborative efforts on SNL, providing listeners with both nostalgic reflections and insightful behind-the-scenes anecdotes.

Transcript

[Seth Meyers]

I'm going to start. Here's what's going on right now. It's a big day. Not only do we have a guest joining the pod, but also yhorm's back, everybody. Pew, pew, pew, pew, pew. Yeah.

[Yhorm]

Last day tomorrow, guys.

[Seth Meyers]

Of the shoot. Oh. So back on the pod, still in Finland and yhorm, let me just say we missed you a lot. And I've heard from people who enjoy the pod. It was a nice dramatic built in arc that you were sort of both in Finland and didn't understand time zones. It was all of a sudden our podcast had a serial element to.

[Yhorm]

Yeah, and then I got drunk and then I disappeared. Which, you know, could have been related to that. You know, they had a story arc to it.

[Seth Meyers]

I do really like that when you get drunk, you will find the nearest celebrity and drag them to do a podcast immediately.

[Yhorm]

Well, that guy's pretty willing, I gotta say.

[Seth Meyers]

I feel like there are nights you've been drunk where you have then texted us all, hey, you know, I can bring this person too. Yeah, yeah. It's like you're at a bar talking to someone, being like, you want to do a podcast?

[Yhorm]

I was considering doing it with Juliette Lewis, but I was like, ah, no, I won't do it again. I won't do it again.

[John Lutz]

Oh, bummer. That would have been good.

[Yhorm]

I'll see you about tomorrow then.

[Seth Meyers]

Hey, Les, you want to say hi? And then we're going to do the intro to the show.

[Kristen Wiig]

Hi.

[Seth Meyers]

The Lonely island set. Mars podcast. This is the Lonely island and Seth Meyers with John Lutz podcast. Now, Lutz, what year did you join the SNL writing staff?

[Kristen Wiig]

2004.

[Seth Meyers]

And you were also on 30 Rock. And I never remember. What was your character's name?

[Kristen Wiig]

Lutz.

[Seth Meyers]

Right?

[Kristen Wiig]

Yeah.

[Yhorm]

It's a bit of a stretch.

[John Lutz]

I feel like you did remember that, Seth.

[Yhorm]

I maybe did typecasting.

[Akiva Schaffer]

I remember when they just started 30 Rock and they were like, we just need basically background actors who you will be in the writers room in the show. The fake writer's room. Interrupt me if I'm wrong, but I remember this because Liz did it for a little with youh.

[Kristen Wiig]

Yes, that is correct.

[Akiva Schaffer]

It was just basically like them realizing on 22 episodes of the season, we're gonna see these background actors. So wouldn't it be nice if it was people we like as opposed to just randomly casting background actors? But we can't pay them as actors because they're not gonna have lines. They're just gonna be there.

[Kristen Wiig]

Yes.

[Akiva Schaffer]

And then that Slowly grew to you actually being a character on the show. Cause you were right there, and you're funny. And they're like, well, why not throw them some stuff for the pilot?

[Kristen Wiig]

Tina said she wanted to cast it all with people she could trust with a line if she needed to give it to them.

[Akiva Schaffer]

Right.

[Kristen Wiig]

And then once it got picked up, she was like, oh, I have an episode that I wanna write for you where you'll call me the C word.

[John Lutz]

Whoa.

[Kristen Wiig]

Because I don't want any of the regular ca be hated by the fans.

[Akiva Schaffer]

Oh, good.

[Kristen Wiig]

So that was great.

[Yhorm]

Give it to Lutz.

[Kristen Wiig]

But yes, for the first two years, I think I was paid. Well, I would be paid as a principal if I had a line, or I would be paid as an extra if I didn't.

[John Lutz]

And so for our listeners, a principal, like as in the principal of a school.

[Kristen Wiig]

Oh, geez.

[John Lutz]

And what is a principal's salaries?

[Yhorm]

$32,000 a year.

[Seth Meyers]

Private school, then public. Oh, you're still on that?

[Akiva Schaffer]

Yeah, yeah. Can you tell it's weird that they either pay you as a background actor or as a principal of a public high school?

[Kristen Wiig]

Yeah, I completely agree, Akiva.

[John Lutz]

I completely agree with what Akiva said.

[Akiva Schaffer]

It's a weird scale. It's part of why we went on strike.

[Kristen Wiig]

Yeah. The extras actually make more money than a principal does.

[Seth Meyers]

Yeah, that's how bad the public school system is.

[Akiva Schaffer]

Wow.

[Seth Meyers]

So, Lutz, this was a time in your life where you were sitting around in writers room as a full time job, and then you would sometimes get days off and you would use those to go pretend to be a writer sitting in a writer's room all day.

[Kristen Wiig]

Yes. Named Lutz. In both with all the same. Like, the set was the same. The carpets looked like 30 rock carpets. The elevator bank was the same. Everything was the same.

[Seth Meyers]

It seems like the beginning of a Charlie Kaufman movie where you have a job playing yourself after work. You go and play yourself on a.

[Akiva Schaffer]

TV show on a set of the exact same job.

[Kristen Wiig]

Yes.

[Akiva Schaffer]

It's really weird.

[Seth Meyers]

And you never sleep. I mean, I guess you're a severance. Maybe you're ahead of the curve on severance.

[John Lutz]

Are you a severance?

[Kristen Wiig]

I was a severance.

[Seth Meyers]

You were a severance.

[Kristen Wiig]

Yes.

[Seth Meyers]

So which Lutz did we get? Did we get above ground Lutz or below ground Lutz.

[Kristen Wiig]

You got above ground Lutz.

[Seth Meyers]

Gotcha.

[Kristen Wiig]

Sorry. There's a squirrel right outside my window. That's what you get with above ground luts. You see animals.

[John Lutz]

I mean, we can't see it. So if you hadn't mentioned it, it would have just came in.

[Akiva Schaffer]

He doesn't understand podcasting.

[John Lutz]

Seth, should we do a little pop culture roundup before we jump in?

[Seth Meyers]

Oh, yeah, let's do a pop culture roundup.

[John Lutz]

All right. New York magazine SNL cover came out. Seth, you happy with your photos in that?

[Seth Meyers]

I am not super happy, but it could have been a disaster, so I will take middle of the road. Here's what I'm least happy about. My photo, Andy.

[John Lutz]

Yeah.

[Seth Meyers]

I mean, again, each one of us was in a photo with ten absolute legends. Right? And for whatever reason, I'm the only person who's looking off as if there's more interesting people elsewhere.

[John Lutz]

Oh, is that the problem you have with it?

[Seth Meyers]

Well, what do you got? No, I love it. What is your problem with mine?

[John Lutz]

No, I thought you looked totally fine.

[Seth Meyers]

Clearly there's something I did not like that I was looking off, and it looks like I have, like, two chins.

[John Lutz]

Understood. I mean, I think the whole spread to me is like kind of a fun fever dream.

[Seth Meyers]

Yeah. I mean, I will say that David LaChapelle, like, blown out color thing that he's been doing for a long time. It's kind of fun to see my. I mean, that was the only way you and I were gonna get a photograph like that.

[John Lutz]

I tend to agree.

[Kristen Wiig]

Were you there at the same time?

[John Lutz]

No, no, no.

[Seth Meyers]

@ SNL. Yes. We worked with you.

[John Lutz]

There were a bunch of different days apparently shot in different groups, and then maybe even some people that couldn't make one of those airdropped in or something.

[Seth Meyers]

Yeah, there were a couple airdroppers.

[John Lutz]

Yeah.

[Seth Meyers]

I saw Steve Martin afterwards, and he said, if you told people who was in that photo, they would all say, I bet it was so much fun. And it wasn't even a little bit fun. And that's really the true thing because we're all standing there. By the way, I'm sure I got caught laughing at somebody off camera, which is why I'm looking the wrong way. You know, everybody's both in their head about they don't want to have a bad picture, but also they're around people that they want to be funny around. It was not fun. It was stressful.

[John Lutz]

I had a nice, easy time. I was clumped with Billy Crystal and Lorraine Newman, both of whom had so much chill, it really put me at ease.

[Seth Meyers]

Oh, that's nice to hear.

[John Lutz]

And we just kind of gently chatted through the chaos and didn't do anything crazy pose wise. And, you know, it was good to.

[Seth Meyers]

See people it was very nice to see people.

[Akiva Schaffer]

I'd like to present an area for a spicy take from either of you. How do we feel about Alec Baldwin and Mulaney's inclusion?

[John Lutz]

So we got to the bottom of that. They wanted a few five timer hosts.

[Akiva Schaffer]

Yeah.

[John Lutz]

There's the two of them. There's Walken, Candice Bergen and Is that four or five?

[Seth Meyers]

That's four.

[Akiva Schaffer]

Well, Steve Martin.

[Seth Meyers]

Oh, it's Steve Martin. Yeah.

[Akiva Schaffer]

Okay.

[Seth Meyers]

I will say the other thing that was really fun. I was standing next to Tina and Julia Louis Dreyfus, and again, David Lushbell. It's not surprising that he blasts music at his photo shoots.

[John Lutz]

No.

[Seth Meyers]

But also, at one point they were both screaming, none of us can hear you. And it was just really fun to watch those two sort of take charge.

[Akiva Schaffer]

Yeah.

[Seth Meyers]

And it's just in general, the idea that, I don't know, this group needs, like music to have fun. And in general, we're also just less fun than I'm sure David LaChapelle thought. I'm sure people were saying to him, like, oh my God, was it so funny? And I'm sure he's like, no.

[John Lutz]

Well, also they're like blasting like we.

[Seth Meyers]

Are Family, where everyone in there is.

[John Lutz]

Just like, we're the most cynical dead inside people on the plane.

[Seth Meyers]

Did he play music while you took your single?

[John Lutz]

Yeah, I'm sure.

[Seth Meyers]

Disaster. Because he's like, what kind of music do you like? And I'm like, I'm not gonna tell you. And I don't wanna do this.

[John Lutz]

Wilco.

[Seth Meyers]

Exactly. I'm like, no, you're like, now I'm in the mood. And then I'm like, I don't know, like 90s hip hop. And then he start playing it and immediately someone, I won't say the name was like, what? This is your music.

[Akiva Schaffer]

What?

[Yhorm]

That's a sweet bird.

[Seth Meyers]

So that was a real flashback.

[John Lutz]

Sure, sure, sure.

[Akiva Schaffer]

Yeah.

[John Lutz]

To the early aughts dunking all over you for your taste in music.

[Seth Meyers]

Should have gone up and be like, I don't know, man. Just play whatever somebody else likes.

[John Lutz]

You're like, they like it on Broad City, dude. Yeah, dude.

[Seth Meyers]

So just totally stressed out the whole time.

[John Lutz]

Okay. And then something else that happened today. Spirit Award nominations came out. I'm just wondering how they going to not nominate Beetlejuice. Seemed like the best spirit of the year to me.

[Kristen Wiig]

Oh, wow, wow, wow, wow.

[Yhorm]

It took a second.

[John Lutz]

I was sitting on that for three hours.

[Akiva Schaffer]

Yorm, where's the air horn, bro?

[Yhorm]

Wait, hold on.

[Akiva Schaffer]

Deserved it.

[Seth Meyers]

The other thing about that was Andy again, really impressive that you put that second in the pop culture roundup, because again, you're just like a Mexican jumping bean over there trying to get that joke out. And right after you said it, you took a big swig of water.

[Akiva Schaffer]

That's what I was going to point out.

[Seth Meyers]

Had to.

[Akiva Schaffer]

It was like he was on stage.

[Yhorm]

So he couldn't follow post bit goal.

[John Lutz]

You got to wait for everyone to applaud.

[Seth Meyers]

I think it's the anticipation of it had just given you incredible dry mouth.

[John Lutz]

Oh, my God.

[Akiva Schaffer]

He was like Dean Martin for a second having. And a sip of his whiskey. Well timed after a great punchline.

[Seth Meyers]

That's what you doing, man?

[John Lutz]

You surfing the web?

[Kristen Wiig]

No, I'm listening to this gold. How long before this comes out, too?

[John Lutz]

Oh, like six years.

[Seth Meyers]

No, this one's like a week.

[Kristen Wiig]

Okay. I'm just hoping that more people don't make that joke within the week.

[Akiva Schaffer]

Oh, good costume.

[Yhorm]

It might become a Twitter thing. Yeah.

[Akiva Schaffer]

Seth has like six chances to steal it over the next, like, four episodes of his show.

[Seth Meyers]

You know what? Andy might be in the clear. We're on hiatus, so I think he's actually okay.

[Kristen Wiig]

Oh, that's true.

[Seth Meyers]

But I will say it is 124 at 1:22pm so if you hear somebody else make the Beetlejuice Spirit award joke, I just want to timestamp when Andy did it.

[John Lutz]

Thank you.

[Akiva Schaffer]

I have something else before we get onto this, which is that I just listened to last week's episode in my car, and for the first time ever, like, actually almost cried laughing. And it was, I'll tell you when. So it's best look in the world. I'm in the car alone. I'm just tired. I'm heading to work. And I play it and it does the first, like, five or six minutes. And we're talking about it and I'm like, oh, my God, we're talking so much shit about it. It's really fun, but whatever. And then Seth, you had done an impression of it going, like, let me tell you about. And I was like, oh, yeah, that's kind of accurate. Whatever. And then the thing that happened that didn't happen when we were recording, of course, is that they had edited in a snippet of the song starting. And I was hit in the face with the recording of the actual song of Andy going, let me tell you about it. And it sounded so much like your impression set. And after the five minute wind up about it and in my head going, it can't be like that Bad. It's not gonna be.

[John Lutz]

Oh, yeah, it is, though.

[Seth Meyers]

It.

[Akiva Schaffer]

Andy's voice hit I involuntarily, and it takes a lot to get an actual real laugh out of me involuntarily, alone in the car, to start laughing so hard out loud until tears welled in my eyes. Hearing Andy's voice, it brought me pure joy. I mean, you might be right, Seth. It might be Criterion for a real reason.

[Seth Meyers]

Yeah, I mean, we do have to find another category for, like, the. I don't know, the Criterion shitbox, which is, like, worth having, but not because it's good.

[John Lutz]

Criterion Extras, maybe.

[Seth Meyers]

Yeah. I don't know. Shitbox. I feel like shitbox.

[John Lutz]

Okay, let's stick with Shitbox, then. First thought, best thought.

[Seth Meyers]

Well, extras, I mean. Oh, man. Oh, here's something from the last episode. You guys can just pile on as soon as I say this out loud. I have a book club. I have a monthly book club with some gentlemen.

[Akiva Schaffer]

Wow.

[Seth Meyers]

I go to my book club. You're a little late.

[John Lutz]

Yeah, I was taking another one of those famous sips of water.

[Seth Meyers]

This has been one continuous sip since Beetlejuice.

[John Lutz]

I spiked it.

[Seth Meyers]

You've been talking out the side of your mouth a little bit with a glass. So we got a room at a restaurant, and we rotate who hosts, and we try to find a private place to have dinner and talk about a book. Yeah. And I walked in and one of the other guys goes, you have to grease a palm to get in here. And it was very nice to hear a lot of the Book Hub guys had listened to the episode. And then we had a long conversation about palm greasing.

[John Lutz]

And had. Had any of them greased a palm.

[Seth Meyers]

There was one guy we all knew. We were like, you're the palm greaser. And he said, I grease in, I grease out. I like, walk by a restaurant I'm not even having dinner at and I'll just grease a palm.

[Yhorm]

Is it a born and bred New Yorker? Because my uncle's the only person I've seen do that.

[Seth Meyers]

It is.

[Yhorm]

And it was at a Yankee Yankee Stadium, and he handed $20 and a whole other section opened up for parking. I was like, whoa, shit.

[Seth Meyers]

I'm going to go on a limb. I'm going to say, jon Lutz, you've never greased a palm?

[Kristen Wiig]

I don't think. No, wait, I did in college when I took a girl out on a date before a dance at Olive Garden.

[Akiva Schaffer]

Oh, my God.

[John Lutz]

You greased an Olive Garden palm?

[Yhorm]

How much did you give?

[Kristen Wiig]

So it's like $20. It was $20.

[Akiva Schaffer]

To get what?

[Kristen Wiig]

To just. I was just like, take care of us.

[Akiva Schaffer]

To the waiter or the maitre d.

[Kristen Wiig]

I wanted to know. To the waiter. To the waiter. Because I was really trying to impress this girl and it didn't work.

[Yhorm]

Did you get never ending breadsticks after that?

[Kristen Wiig]

Yeah.

[Seth Meyers]

Did he give it back? And he was like, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, buddy, when you're here, you're family.

[Akiva Schaffer]

Wait, you did it in front of the girl? Like she saw you grease the palm.

[Kristen Wiig]

No, no, no, no, no. And I did not do it in front of her.

[Akiva Schaffer]

Got it. You wanted to impress her not with the greasing, but with the meal.

[Kristen Wiig]

I wanted to be like, anytime we needed something.

[Akiva Schaffer]

Unlimited breadsticks.

[Kristen Wiig]

I think I just saw it in a movie. I don't know. I was just really trying to.

[John Lutz]

I want you to walk us through, like, your best case scenario post grease. Like, what does this person do for you?

[Kristen Wiig]

I don't know, Like. I don't know, get us.

[John Lutz]

Say it.

[Kristen Wiig]

Like, get the food. Get us out of there on time.

[Seth Meyers]

Oh, no.

[Kristen Wiig]

I don't know. We had a place to be.

[Akiva Schaffer]

Just be attentive.

[Kristen Wiig]

Sure, Yeah.

[Seth Meyers]

I bet when you grease a palm at Olive Garden, the waiter's like, oh, what the fuck? Oh, shit. God, that's never happened.

[Kristen Wiig]

Yeah.

[Seth Meyers]

God, that's so good. Lutz, Can I just say something?

[John Lutz]

Lutz? Thank you for sharing that.

[Kristen Wiig]

Yeah, yeah, you're welcome.

[Seth Meyers]

That paid off better than I think any of us could have hoped. Oh, and one other thing that I feel like is in the pop culture roundup. Keev, you just sent a text that Balenciaga has released their new line of shoes.

[Yhorm]

Oh, yeah, really cool looking shoes.

[Seth Meyers]

Balenciaga, what the fuck? Unveils its bold new shoe that makes you feel barefoot. And if these motherfuckers aren't trying to get away with JJ Casuals with heels, I don't know what the fuck they're doing.

[Yhorm]

So wait, did it have heels on it?

[Seth Meyers]

Yeah, it's heel. Well, I can't. No, maybe not heel.

[Akiva Schaffer]

I think that's just around the heel to adhere to the foot.

[Seth Meyers]

Yeah, you're right. It's around the heel. I mean, better design than JJ Casuals.

[Akiva Schaffer]

What?

[Seth Meyers]

No offense.

[Akiva Schaffer]

Yeah, it is.

[Seth Meyers]

I just. It's hard for me to accept that they.

[John Lutz]

I mean, it's shoes that look like feet.

[Kristen Wiig]

Oh, no.

[Akiva Schaffer]

Yeah, they do have ones that are like colored, like not flesh colors, like pure black or pure white.

[Yhorm]

They do look kind of cool on.

[Akiva Schaffer]

But the one in the Thing is decidedly a beige. Could look like someone's feet. Yeah.

[Yhorm]

The white ones look kind of neat, though.

[Akiva Schaffer]

Maybe. Yeah. Once you're into, like, the white ones or black ones, it's like flip floppy, weird shaped flip flops.

[Seth Meyers]

Yeah. Let's get to the question everybody's asking. Why Lutz? Why is Lutz here? The digital short this week is the Japanese office. Is there a digital short title card? I can't remember now.

[Akiva Schaffer]

Oh, that's a great question.

[Seth Meyers]

I think there is, because it has an interesting framing.

[Akiva Schaffer]

Well, our rule, as we've talked about for a while, was we only put it in front of ones where at least two of the three worked on it.

[Seth Meyers]

Oh, that's right.

[Akiva Schaffer]

But so did we leave it off this because it was just me and you guys?

[John Lutz]

No, I think it's on.

[Akiva Schaffer]

Oh, it does say it.

[Seth Meyers]

It does. There is. There is. Okay, so my first question, Lutz, did you guys know that you wanted Ricky Gervais to introduce it, or did that happen late in the week?

[Kristen Wiig]

Well, I'll say that. I talked to America right before this.

[Seth Meyers]

So America Sawyer is your co writer on this piece.

[Kristen Wiig]

Yes.

[Akiva Schaffer]

And she's not on here because she's shy. Is that correct? Yes, we invited her. Yawn. Yeah.

[Seth Meyers]

I said, america, can I say you're not here because you hate the spotlight? And she said, you can say whatever you want. I'm on a high from getting out of this and will allow anything.

[Akiva Schaffer]

She's on a high from not having. She was in a panic.

[Seth Meyers]

She was literally. Yeah.

[Kristen Wiig]

But the first thing she said was we talked about Ricky, and Ricky was added later. He just happened to be around, and I think we weren't sure who asked him, but we were thinking it was Steve.

[Seth Meyers]

Yeah.

[Kristen Wiig]

And then we shot that. I. I think. Akiva, do you remember was it Friday or was it Saturday that we shot it?

[Akiva Schaffer]

The Gervais part we shot on Saturday. One of the few times I've shot something on a Saturday for that night.

[Kristen Wiig]

Yeah. So he came in real quick and we shot his thing, I think, in one take. And then that was it.

[Akiva Schaffer]

We shot it on 8H using studio cameras.

[Seth Meyers]

Yeah.

[Akiva Schaffer]

They brought in that little red light and we dimmed everything. And it might have been during, like, meal break or something.

[Yhorm]

His first thing was one take. I was actually watching that and was like, oh, that was, like, very succinct and good.

[Akiva Schaffer]

He nailed it.

[Kristen Wiig]

I think we had cards.

[Akiva Schaffer]

Yeah.

[Seth Meyers]

It's interesting when you watch it back, you realize not everybody had seen the British Office.

[Kristen Wiig]

Yeah.

[Seth Meyers]

And everybody obviously at SNL had and was a huge fan of it. And so we saw that comedy and the adaptation of it and the comedy of Ricky being like, they ripped it off. It's not as funny. Mine's the classic. The audience, I feel like, doesn't have that moment of recognition for him. And they're also surprised he's being mean now, even like a few years later from stuff at the Emmys, that was a running gag between Steve and Ricky that paid off. But this is sort of pre Golden Globes Ricky and pre giant standup Ricky and even like the other. I feel like the other shows maybe, but we do have Ricky Gervais introduces it, and it's a very nice framework. Knowing that you added him late, it does help a great deal. Hi, I'm Ricky Gervais, creator and star of the far superior British version of the Office. As you may know, the American version of the Office is based on mine. And by based on, I mean copied. Exactly. I'm being harsh. They. They made changes. In fact, they completely changed the character of Tim to Jim. Brilliant way to make it your own.

[Kristen Wiig]

The whole thing was lucky because Mirka actually told me that this was a fake pitch and she was like, not going to do it. This was something she pitched in the pitch meeting to Steve, and it was a fake one. And then I think everybody was, like, interested in it. And then she said the reason I was asked to do it. I think she said I was one of the only people who watched the American version of the Office and had written that monologue with Sudeikis in it.

[Seth Meyers]

Yes.

[Kristen Wiig]

When Rainn Wilson hosted. And so I had written the characters. So she came to me, I think, and was like, oh, you know the Office. I don't know anything about familiar.

[Seth Meyers]

Jason, how you doing?

[John Lutz]

Hey, Ryan.

[Akiva Schaffer]

So, Jason, what are you up to?

[Kristen Wiig]

Just compiling my monthly invoices.

[Akiva Schaffer]

What?

[Seth Meyers]

What are you talking about?

[Akiva Schaffer]

Why are you at a desk?

[Kristen Wiig]

I'm always at a desk.

[Seth Meyers]

No, you're not. Okay.

[Akiva Schaffer]

Wait, did you.

[Seth Meyers]

You just looked at the camera. No, I didn't. No, you just did it again. You're looking at the camera.

[Akiva Schaffer]

Didn't.

[Seth Meyers]

He looked at the camera, didn't he, Kristen? I didn't see anything.

[Yhorm]

Wait, Lutz, will you go back to re explain fake pitching and what that was?

[Kristen Wiig]

Oh, sure.

[Seth Meyers]

I'm so glad. Cause no one could get burned worse than having to write up a fake pitch.

[Kristen Wiig]

Yes. So what I learned when I got to SNL was we go into Lauren's office to meet the host for the first time on Monday. And you have to pitch them two ideas. Usually what I found was that people were doing joke pitches just to get a laugh in the room.

[Seth Meyers]

Yes.

[Kristen Wiig]

And you just try to get a laugh in the room just to get it over with. And you'd also don't want to burn your good joke.

[Seth Meyers]

Yeah.

[Kristen Wiig]

If you pitch something and get its big laugh in the pitch meeting and then at the table, everybody's heard that joke. Nobody laughs at the scene.

[Seth Meyers]

Especially if it's a premise sketch with a turn. You never want to burn the turn. I also think it's important to note when you hear pitch meeting, there's this idea of everybody throwing ideas around and people adding to ideas and zigzagging pitch is one way traffic. The host sits there quietly, basically doesn't respond at all. And it's just this workman, like, rotation around the room.

[Kristen Wiig]

Yes. The biggest thing I learned from the pitch meeting was my first year when Harper Steele, the pitch was so something about you playing a baker. Oh, these don't have to be a thing.

[Seth Meyers]

Yeah.

[Kristen Wiig]

These are just so that the host sees everybody they're working with.

[Seth Meyers]

We've talked about it at length when he's been a guest on my show, but JB Smoove was the most entertaining pitcher because he would just sort of rotate through the same 10 pitches over the course of the year, and he would do five of them real fast. And they were all super funny premises that would never make good sketches, but would crush.

[Yhorm]

And then he finally wrote one. Right. About getting pregnant in the butt. Yeah, I think that that one, actually. Yeah. Cause he pitched that a lot.

[Seth Meyers]

But pregnancy did air. And I would say it aired as a cautionary tale to not write up the other ones.

[Akiva Schaffer]

I remember working on that one with Tina in the rewrite room, trying to figure out is forte the butt baby or.

[Kristen Wiig]

Well, Seth, also with the pitch meeting, my thing became that I wanted to make the other writers and cast laugh.

[Seth Meyers]

Yes.

[Kristen Wiig]

So I would. You remember, I would always say, hello, sir, or hello, ma'am.

[Seth Meyers]

Yeah.

[Kristen Wiig]

And I remember when Paris Hilton hosted, you paid me $50 to say, bonjour, Paris, the pitch.

[Yhorm]

Oh, that's $50.

[Seth Meyers]

Well, that's good money. I was gonna say.

[John Lutz]

That's easy money.

[Seth Meyers]

By the way, as you were saying it, I was like, oh, boy, how's this 50 buck dare gonna age? And I'm pretty happy with it.

[Yhorm]

By the way, Seth, you're kind of greasing a palm that was like, greased.

[Seth Meyers]

A palm, you guys.

[Akiva Schaffer]

Yeah, yeah. It's more like bribing a weirdo.

[Seth Meyers]

But, yeah, I bribed a weirdo.

[Kristen Wiig]

Wait a minute.

[John Lutz]

I mean, you could also describe what Letts did at Olive Garden as bribing a weird.

[Seth Meyers]

Yeah, they just bring you to the worst table, and you're like, what happened? You're like, oh, I think I bribed a weirdo.

[Akiva Schaffer]

Sorry.

[Seth Meyers]

I don't work here.

[John Lutz]

Right this way.

[Seth Meyers]

My biggest burn on cause again, getting caught. This is actually a happy ending of a fake pitch that you had to do my first year pitched when Alec Baldwin was there. You have a Jet Ski on your lake, and the lake just voted to ban jet skis. So it's a sketch about you taking one last crazy ride. And it got, like a laugh in the room. And then he kept coming up to me for the next two days going, very excited about Jet Ski. How's Jet Ski coming? Can't wait to see Jet Ski. And then I, like, wrote it up. It was like, again, fun pitch, terrible sketch. And I wrote it up, and it just died at the table. And then it was in the first half of the table read. And when I went to the break, he walked by and he goes, I expected more from Jet Ski.

[John Lutz]

Did not hold back.

[Seth Meyers]

Did not hold back. Nor should he.

[John Lutz]

I mean, I feel like we've talked about this a lot, but. But my only time it happened was pirate convention.

[Seth Meyers]

Right?

[Yhorm]

I love that one.

[John Lutz]

But the most famous one, obviously, is MacGruber.

[Yhorm]

Yes.

[Seth Meyers]

Right? Yes.

[Yhorm]

That was not intended to be a real. No.

[Seth Meyers]

So in the end, there's a purposes served from even the fake pitches.

[John Lutz]

So fake pitch to a movie and a TV show is pretty crazy.

[Yhorm]

Good track record.

[Seth Meyers]

Unbelievable.

[Akiva Schaffer]

So it was at the table then, right? Lutz, you and Marika wrote.

[Kristen Wiig]

Yes. And she was saying, I think when we wrote it, and I honestly don't 100% remember for sure, but I think we wrote it for it to be live.

[Akiva Schaffer]

Yeah, I'm sure.

[Kristen Wiig]

And then I think, you guys, I don't know how it got picked to be a digital short.

[Akiva Schaffer]

It was not our idea. I don't know who it was, but somebody came in and said, could you shoot that?

[Kristen Wiig]

Yeah. And it's perfect for me because it also. The only digital shorts that I ever did never included Andy.

[Akiva Schaffer]

Right?

[John Lutz]

Yeah. That's just law.

[Kristen Wiig]

That's just law. I can't have him in it.

[Akiva Schaffer]

He was like, I love those shorts, but what if they didn't have Andy? What would that look like?

[Kristen Wiig]

Yeah. But then I do think once it was made into, like, it was given to you, then it made more Sense. Because then it could look like the show. Yeah, the show. Cause it wouldn't have looked like the show live.

[Yhorm]

How long did it take to shoot?

[Akiva Schaffer]

I mean, we didn't really even light very much.

[Yhorm]

It was very well executed, I thought.

[John Lutz]

Yeah. Watching it back, the thing that struck me the most was how much it looked exactly like.

[Akiva Schaffer]

But the craziest part about it is we didn't build a set because we were never doing that at this time. And now they would immediately build a perfect office set.

[John Lutz]

Yes.

[Akiva Schaffer]

But we just went down the hall on 17.

[John Lutz]

On 17.

[Yhorm]

Yeah.

[Akiva Schaffer]

And.

[John Lutz]

And it's crazy how much it looks like it.

[Kristen Wiig]

Yeah. That back area.

[Akiva Schaffer]

Yeah. And we maybe hung the blinds was the most we did just to make the blinds be the same blinds. And we just faked everything.

[Seth Meyers]

That's nuts.

[Yhorm]

That's really good.

[Seth Meyers]

I just watched it an hour ago, and in my mind's eye, you did build a set.

[Akiva Schaffer]

Yeah.

[Kristen Wiig]

America also told me that the extra, the bald extra who was in the digital short was. He was really Japanese, and he wrote all the stuff that was on the board.

[Yhorm]

Oh, the chalkboard.

[Seth Meyers]

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Yhorm]

That was a good detail.

[Akiva Schaffer]

So let's get into that part of it real quick. So I remember when the premise came up, a bunch of white actors pretending to be Japanese is not a great start. You go, uh, oh, you can't do that.

[Seth Meyers]

Yeah.

[Akiva Schaffer]

Even back then. Which was 11 years ago. 12 years ago. How many years ago? I don't know.

[Seth Meyers]

Here's how long ago it was. Usher was the musical guest, and he looks exactly the same. Oh, yeah.

[Akiva Schaffer]

So it might have been 30 years ago.

[John Lutz]

Please, let's get to Usher.

[Seth Meyers]

Oh, we will get to Usher.

[John Lutz]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Akiva Schaffer]

But anyway, I remember being concerned at the time. Now, Marika is Japanese American.

[Kristen Wiig]

Yes.

[Akiva Schaffer]

And she speaks Japanese. Not perfectly by her own admission, I believe, but I remember her being like, she can speak it enough. It's spoken in her house, and she was the one doing this. And that was the only thing that made. I would just keep looking to her and go, okay, I'm here to bring your dreams to life. I just want to say, for the record, like, I would never have the audacity to. I think everyone was looking at Marika being like, this is your baby. Let's go. We're gonna support it.

[Kristen Wiig]

Yes.

[Akiva Schaffer]

But it was her thing, and she.

[Kristen Wiig]

Also wanted to make sure that. And we tried to make sure that everything that everybody said was as close to real Japanese. It wasn't like gibberish.

[Yhorm]

You can tell, too, Mirka.

[Kristen Wiig]

Told me that she would say the dialogue to Steve and then Steve would just repeat back what she said to him.

[Akiva Schaffer]

Correct. She was doing that to everybody.

[Kristen Wiig]

Yeah.

[John Lutz]

I was looking at the comments and there was a lot of discussion about how they really are speaking Japane. But their pronunciation's not good.

[Akiva Schaffer]

Their accents are a little off, obviously.

[Seth Meyers]

But yeah, by the way, this is another reason why it would have been a terrible live sketch because you would never have had time to have that attention to getting the Japanese part right. Or as right as it was possible for non Japanese speakers.

[John Lutz]

Yes, as right as it can be in a 48 hour span to be airing on SNL.

[Kristen Wiig]

Yeah, yeah. And when Miracle rewatched it, she said that Steve and Wiig were both very good. Like she could understand what they were saying. And she was very impressed with all.

[Akiva Schaffer]

The comments from Japanese speakers. Seem to think that they can understand everything whether or not they're doing a perfect pronunciation.

[Kristen Wiig]

And all the credits too were in Japanese and they were all like America's cousins names and sisters. And also she said that Jason's credit in the episode was Mike Shore.

[Seth Meyers]

Oh, funny.

[Kristen Wiig]

So Jason's character was played by Mike Shore in Japanese.

[Seth Meyers]

Support comes from aura frames. Keev. I've been talking about aura frames a lot, so, you know, it comes from the heart.

[Akiva Schaffer]

You won't shut up about it.

[Seth Meyers]

It's really fantastic. These are a perfect Christmas gift. I gave one to my parents. Really? My brother did. I don't know why I try to take credit for it, but my brother gave it to my parents and he loaded it up with pictures and they're just changing all the time. And my parents are so happy because otherwise they're just like hounding me for pictures of my kids. And this way I can just use my phone, upload it to their house, and then everybody wins. Guess how long it takes to set it up, Keef? I'm gonna guess two hours, Two minutes, bud.

[Akiva Schaffer]

Whoa.

[Seth Meyers]

Yeah. Also guess what? Yhorm. I know you're always like, you know, a lot of us are like, save the trees. And you're always like, save the wrapping paper. Well, good news. Every frame comes packaged in a premium gift box. No price tag. Add unlimited photos, videos, invite as many people as you want to a frame. There are absolutely no hidden fees or subscriptions.

[Akiva Schaffer]

If I bought one for Luts, could we all put our pictures onto it?

[Seth Meyers]

Yes, we could all do that for Lutz, which I think we would all do because we all love them equally.

[Yhorm]

You could put any pictures you want on there too.

[Akiva Schaffer]

How many photos and videos could we put? Like, three, four?

[Seth Meyers]

It's unlimited.

[Akiva Schaffer]

Whoa.

[Seth Meyers]

And it's, by the way, not limited to even photos. Videos work as well. Save on a perfect gift by visiting Oraframes.com to get $35 off Aura's best selling carver Matte Frames by using Promo Code island at checkout. That's a U R A frames.com promo code island. The deal is exclusive to listeners, so get yours now in time for the holidays. Terms and conditions apply. Support for the Lonely island and Seth Meyers podcast comes from Airbnb. Akiva?

[Akiva Schaffer]

Yeah.

[Seth Meyers]

You love to try to pass as a local when you.

[Akiva Schaffer]

Oh, that's my thing. If I go to Rome, first thing I do the first day is just try to look at what people are wearing, what kind of hats they're wearing, and I go to the local haberdashery, and I try to, like, really get in there. And if I'm going back to a hotel, I feel like the gig is up, so I need.

[Seth Meyers]

It's a dead giveaway. When you walk to a hotel, they know. They're like, this guy's from the States despite his local hat.

[Akiva Schaffer]

Exactly.

[John Lutz]

Keeves known to just, like, go to the local city and get a local Airbnb and then just get, like, a Coney Dog in Detroit.

[Akiva Schaffer]

That's right, a Coney Dog in Detroit.

[John Lutz]

So they know you're from there.

[Akiva Schaffer]

Mm.

[Seth Meyers]

And so the reality for you, Keev, is that some trips are better at an Airbnb because you're traveling with a group of friends, you want to hang out in a way that they don't let you hang out at a hotel.

[Akiva Schaffer]

That's right.

[Seth Meyers]

And Airbnb ticks those boxes for you.

[Akiva Schaffer]

Plus, I'm just into some weird shit, you know, and it's just better when no one's around.

[Seth Meyers]

All right, Keefe, I'm gonna start yelling out cities. Tell me what you do when you're there to make you feel like a local.

[Akiva Schaffer]

Yeah.

[Seth Meyers]

Paris.

[Akiva Schaffer]

The Paris baseball team's local hat.

[Seth Meyers]

The Paris baseball team's local hat.

[Akiva Schaffer]

Yeah.

[Seth Meyers]

Here's the thing, you guys. I'm in a real talk right now. Airbnb. What I love is my kids. Bedtime doesn't need to be my bedtime. Keef. We were just at my brother's wedding. Yeah, you stayed at a hotel?

[Akiva Schaffer]

Yeah.

[Seth Meyers]

Well, I stayed at Airbnb because I had my kids with me, and the hotel was where the wedding was and the music was loud, and instead, I was at Airbnb two minutes away. My kids stayed there. The music didn't wake them up.

[Akiva Schaffer]

You had room to kind of spread out and be comfortable. I was just jammed in a room.

[Seth Meyers]

You were just jammed in a room like a sardine.

[Akiva Schaffer]

Yeah, exactly.

[Seth Meyers]

I had so much sympathy for you. So, anyway, thanks to Airbnb for my brother's wedding weekend and also for sponsoring the podcast. So, again, we were talking about. Ricky Gervais introduces this as the American Office ripped off my show. Our show is based on this Japanese show, but you can tell it's pretty different. And of course, it is exactly the same with Steve Carell playing the Steve Carell part. And man, oh, man, did our cast overlap with the cast of the Office incredibly well, for the purposes of impressions.

[Akiva Schaffer]

I was shocked rewatching it, how each one kind of nailed it perfectly.

[Seth Meyers]

I think you could argue an alternate universe. Every one of those people could have been cast on the Office, and the path of that show would have been almost exactly the same.

[John Lutz]

That's a big thing to say.

[Seth Meyers]

I'm just saying that. I mean, again, I say this credit to everybody in the Office was amazing, but the amount Wiig has the Jenna Fisher mannerisms down while she's also speaking in Japanese.

[Akiva Schaffer]

I remember playing this sketch for Gervais before he recorded his part. He came in, I found a computer, we huddled around it, showed it to him, and when it got to Keenan's part playing Stanley, it was the only moment where he. He was giggling and enjoying it and like, oh, this is so cool. And then it got to that, and he was like, huh? Because that character does not exist in the British Office.

[Seth Meyers]

Right.

[Akiva Schaffer]

And it took him a second. He's like, oh. And he was like, oh, who's that? And I was like, oh, Stanley. He's like, oh, from. From the. Okay, yes. Yeah, yeah, got it.

[Seth Meyers]

Yeah, yeah. Because it would have also worked as a parody of the British Office.

[Akiva Schaffer]

Yes, exactly. Every beat in it is from both.

[Seth Meyers]

Right.

[Akiva Schaffer]

I think on purpose. Right, let's. Because it's like you chose the most iconic moments that were from the British Office that were repeated, because for the logic of it, it had to be things that were in the British Office because this was the precursor. So the jello with the stapler, it was like all the trailer moments.

[Kristen Wiig]

It really is all. Because the pilot. The American pilot is basically the British pilot. It's very similar. They don't change a lot.

[John Lutz]

How many seasons into the American Office were we at this point?

[Kristen Wiig]

It had to be after Rashida was in the show, because Rashida was in the Monologue with Rain.

[Yhorm]

Well, that's later. I feel like that's like at least three seasons in.

[John Lutz]

Right.

[Seth Meyers]

It's less. I bet it's season three. Yeah, I bet it's season three.

[Kristen Wiig]

Cause first season, I don't think it really kicked off. Office premiered in 2005.

[Akiva Schaffer]

And this is 2008.

[Seth Meyers]

Yeah.

[Kristen Wiig]

Yes.

[Seth Meyers]

There's just really nice moments in this Suds. And Bill and Kristen are fantastic. Steve seems to be having a good time as well. Keenan is Stanley. Great. And also the audience just seems to very much enjoy it from the kickoff.

[Kristen Wiig]

Yeah. One other last thing I'll say that Marika gave me was that. That music for the calisthenics. Yeah, that's what they're doing is real calisthenic music that she used to have to do with her school. And she would do the calisthenics outside to that exact music.

[Akiva Schaffer]

When Gervais saw it all, he added the. He asked about it first. He just spring on speech like, what should I. At the end? Should I say it's racist? And I remember being like, yeah, go for it. And then feeling a mix of like, ooh, this is dangerous. And also kind of a little bit of relief of like, for anybody out there that would be like, ooh, is this okay? Which is something I think I felt is like, is this okay?

[Yhorm]

Oh, I thought 100% that you had added that, Keith. Cause it feels like a very lonely island move. And also you're from Berkeley and you.

[Akiva Schaffer]

Would have added that 100%, Gervais. But I was happy to have him do it and just be like, all right. Hopefully that's us calling out that we are aware this is a tightrope being walked. And then the other thing I remember is at this time, this was 2008, and on American Airlines and most flights, there was still a communal TV. You know, multiple communal TVs, where, yes, you could watch your own stuff if you had something that you could watch it on, but there would still be a program that had to be watched by everybody if you put in headphones. And NBC had a. What would you call it? A partnership. And there'd be NBC stuff that played before the movie. And SNL always got to put a sketch in. And of course, it would never be ours, because ours are not something you would broadcast to an entire flight of people of all ages. And this was the one that we should say it went over very well.

[Seth Meyers]

Yeah.

[Akiva Schaffer]

And afterwards, people at the show would be like, that was very. I remember getting so many compliments on this one. And being like, oh, I just directed it. Like, it's not really mine. Like, it was a hit sketch in the SNL world.

[Kristen Wiig]

Did we get residuals for that for American Airlines? Did we get residuals for those planes?

[Seth Meyers]

That's what the first strike was for, was airplane residuals.

[Kristen Wiig]

Okay.

[Akiva Schaffer]

You might have, honestly.

[Seth Meyers]

Yeah.

[Akiva Schaffer]

But it was chosen and it would play on every flight. And I remember seeing it on one of our flights back to la.

[Kristen Wiig]

That's crazy.

[Yhorm]

Did they have the Gervais part as well before and. Or did they cut that out?

[Akiva Schaffer]

I think so. I think it played the whole sketch. And I remember seeing it and being like, why don't they put dick in a box up there? But also being like, that's cool. So it went over very well.

[Kristen Wiig]

Well, I think also, though, Keeva, the way you shot it, you really did, like we were saying, capture how it felt. The intro, the music, everything. It just really.

[Akiva Schaffer]

It came together.

[Kristen Wiig]

It was a very good parody. And I think it's also because the Office itself is shot kind of in bare bones, kind of a documentary style.

[Akiva Schaffer]

Yes. It's the perfect thing to try to copy because you can do it.

[Seth Meyers]

Hey, this is a really. I just had a feeling. Sometimes I look at sketches that get cut from dress and I go, I bet that one's fun to read. And I saw there was a sketch cut from dress called Paul and Jean that was written by Fred. So what does that make you think when you see Paul and Jean written by fresh folk singers?

[Akiva Schaffer]

Kiss.

[Seth Meyers]

Kiss is correct. So open on Gene Simmons office. It's decorated with gold records. Fred is Gene Simmons, Steve is Paul Stanley, another member of kiss. Jason approaches them with a video camera. Thanks again for doing this, you guys. This tape's gonna make my son so happy. He's been in the hospital as a huge KISS fan, so this is really gonna cheer him up. Fred, this is what we're all about. Fred, of course, if you don't know, does an incredible Gene Simmons impression. Anything for a fan, man. Jason. Okay, I'm ready when you are ready, Fred. Here we go. Shoot. Super still. So now it looks like it's being recorded through a video camera finder. Hey, Billy. I'm Paul Stanley from kiss, and you.

[Yhorm]

Know who I am.

[Seth Meyers]

And we want you to get real soon so soon and get well. Cause rock and roll all night Party every day yeah. Get out of that hospital so you.

[Kristen Wiig]

Can chase the ladies around and make.

[Yhorm]

Them beg for your musky sweat and.

[Seth Meyers]

Now we know what the premise is.

[John Lutz]

Gene's not gonna do well Gene Simmons.

[Seth Meyers]

Is bad for making a video for an 8 year old.

[John Lutz]

Yeah, yeah, he's missing the tone.

[Seth Meyers]

Oh, my God. What else we got? You know what? I'll just say it. GOP nominee Senator John McCain was on the show, did update, did a sketch as well. That was a gentleman I always enjoyed the company of. He was a fucking good guy and super funny and was a blast to be around.

[John Lutz]

He was always good when he came on.

[Seth Meyers]

He was always good when he came on. He basically came on Update and he made the argument it was right around when Hillary was May going to drop out. And he made the argument that both should stay in. Hillary and Obama should stay in as long as possible. And like, basically saying, like, they just should beat each other up. But he was saying it as, like, very helpful advice. Democrats, I have to urge you, do not, under any circumstances, pick a candidate too soon. Oh, oh, so you don't think Hillary should drop out?

[Akiva Schaffer]

Absolutely not.

[Seth Meyers]

I told you. Cool it.

[Akiva Schaffer]

You cool it. That's right.

[Seth Meyers]

Fight amongst yourselves.

[Akiva Schaffer]

There's an interesting cut on Air one.

[Seth Meyers]

Seth, you see it on there, Yankee Stadium.

[Akiva Schaffer]

What those are is the one we already talked about. The New York stories. Yeah, the ones I shot with Poehler and Fred. And they would be like Fran Leibowitz and Scorsese or whatever. This was a sequel to it. And I remember it's one of the first things I think Solomon directed because I remember giving him all my pointers on how I made it look the way I looked and what to do and blah, blah, blah. And they went to Yankee Stadium and shot a bunch of. I wonder if those will air next time.

[Seth Meyers]

They do. They do air next season. It's very fun. I love the way they look. These are the people that Amy and Fred play. Matthew Broderick, Sarah Jessica Parker, Scorsese, Rosie Perez. And then it must be Gene Simmons and Kim Gordon.

[Kristen Wiig]

That's impressive that they went from a whole season. Like, does that ever happen? I don't remember anything.

[Akiva Schaffer]

Cause it's a pre tape.

[Seth Meyers]

It's a pre tape and it's sort of timelessly. They were playing people from different eras.

[John Lutz]

No hosts.

[Seth Meyers]

Yeah, no host.

[John Lutz]

That's the key. And Keeve, when you said Solomon directed, you meant Solomon Rush.

[Akiva Schaffer]

Yeah, yeah. It was after the fatwa and he was trying to do some different stuff.

[John Lutz]

Oh, wow.

[Seth Meyers]

And Lauren's like, we need to get him back in.

[Yhorm]

He was trying to stay under the radar. So he went by John.

[Akiva Schaffer]

Right.

[John Lutz]

Didn't think that's what I was teeing up.

[Seth Meyers]

By the way. Last time I saw Solman Rushdie was at Lauren's apartment, FYI. So they are friends.

[John Lutz]

Last time. Meaning you've seen him a lot?

[Seth Meyers]

Sure, he's been on my show. I ran into him.

[Akiva Schaffer]

Famous author.

[Seth Meyers]

Famous author.

[Akiva Schaffer]

You know, Seth has a whole book club where they talk about books with fellow gents. Men's only book club.

[John Lutz]

I was stretching it. It was John Solomon. It's completely different spelling.

[Seth Meyers]

Yeah, it is. I think everybody knew you were stretching it.

[John Lutz]

Solomon Rushdie is spelled almost exactly like salmon, which is crazy to me.

[Akiva Schaffer]

Seth, are women allowed at your book club?

[Seth Meyers]

We can see here what's next.

[Akiva Schaffer]

Won't answer it. Won't answer it.

[Seth Meyers]

What's next? There's a really funny thing, because now we can. This will transition into Usher. It says, update, cut Usher in parentheses. Older women. And then. And obviously the name of the writer. Nobody's certain. Cause it just says Tucker, question mark, question mark. And I want to be like, yeah. If there was a update feature that was called Older Women with Usher, that was Tucker. It just seems like Tucker comedy right there. I'm just gonna. I texted him during this. We'll find out.

[Akiva Schaffer]

It was also something Usher wanted to talk about. I remember.

[Seth Meyers]

Yeah, Usher wanted to talk about older women.

[Yhorm]

Cause he wanted more of it in his life.

[John Lutz]

He was married to or dating or married to someone who was much older than him. And he was like, this is all anyone talks about about me right now.

[Akiva Schaffer]

He gets asked. Yeah, he wanted to address it.

[Kristen Wiig]

By the way, are we talking about MC Usher?

[Seth Meyers]

Oh, boy.

[Akiva Schaffer]

Yeah.

[John Lutz]

I mean, MC Usher.

[Seth Meyers]

See, I feel like this is all on you, Andy, for the Salman Rushdie thing. Because now you've planted that in Lutz's head.

[John Lutz]

It's actually pronounced Salmon.

[Akiva Schaffer]

Salmon Rushdie.

[Yhorm]

Now it's okay for everyone.

[Seth Meyers]

Do you remember when MC Usher came out for the musical act and kept walking down the stairs but never got to the monologue?

[Akiva Schaffer]

Yeah.

[John Lutz]

This is me slow clapping for Seth.

[Akiva Schaffer]

He kept flipping upside down, and all of a sudden he'd be walking on the ceiling. He'd be like, huh?

[Seth Meyers]

By the way, that's what Usher basically does. Yeah. Wait, what else do you want to say about Usher? I mean, it was fantastic to have Usher around.

[John Lutz]

I mean, Usher's the shit. We love Usher. And for me, just. I was so excited that he did love in this club. Cause I love that song.

[Seth Meyers]

It was amazing.

[John Lutz]

And I believe love in this club. If you did, like, a mashup or whatever with Alphaville, Forever Young would be very close. And I really love both Those songs?

[Seth Meyers]

Yeah.

[Yhorm]

Oh, yeah. I just listened to it on the way to work yesterday and was loving it.

[John Lutz]

Which one?

[Seth Meyers]

Both. He mashed them up.

[Yhorm]

No, I didn't mash them up. I did not mash them up.

[Seth Meyers]

He brings a little. He brings a little boombox and then his car rating.

[John Lutz]

So wait, which one, though? Jorm.

[Yhorm]

Usher in this club? I did not listen to. No.

[John Lutz]

You weren't listening to Alphaville?

[Akiva Schaffer]

No.

[Seth Meyers]

No. So Usher got cut from Update. Obviously, he did both of his songs. He appeared in another sketch.

[John Lutz]

Does anybody remember he appeared in a sketch I wrote?

[Seth Meyers]

Yes. Congratulations.

[John Lutz]

It did not get cut.

[Seth Meyers]

It did not get cut. CPR class. Talk us through CPR class. Samberg, Solomon, and Shaffer. This is Andy doing a live sketch because this ticks a lot of your boxes.

[John Lutz]

Me, Akiva, and Salmon Rushdie. This was a classic, stupid live sketch. CPR class. Carell is the instructor.

[Seth Meyers]

Yep.

[John Lutz]

And he wheels me in as his assistant.

[Seth Meyers]

It's so weird that you're wheeled in, because I feel like a normal assistant would get on the table. So now, Andy, why do you think you were wheeled in?

[John Lutz]

I mean, it's obvious why I was wheeled in because his hands need to go bursting through my chest, and blood needs to spray everywhere, and I was clearly set up on a rig. The only thing that I really take issue with, because I did actually rewatch it. Seth. Before this, because I saw it on the rundown, and I was like, what was that? And then now I totally remember. That's how I knew the Usher answer. Full disclosure. It took so long to get to the moment.

[Seth Meyers]

Yeah.

[John Lutz]

That's what's inexcusable about me being wheeled in. If I had been wheeled in and he immediately started doing it, it would have been fin. But there was still a lot of preamble.

[Seth Meyers]

Yeah.

[John Lutz]

So you're like, okay, so this is a rig, and something's gonna happen.

[Seth Meyers]

Yeah, yeah, yeah, you're right. But I did, like, a couple of.

[John Lutz]

The moves in it. A lot of, like, buddy, I'm a grown man. I can take it. You can give me. You can do it the right way.

[Kristen Wiig]

Yeah.

[John Lutz]

Like, just so clearly teeing it up.

[Seth Meyers]

The rig is great. His hands go through your chest and a lot of blood.

[John Lutz]

Yep, a lot of blood. Then he gives me cpr and a balloon lung starts inflating out of the.

[Seth Meyers]

Hole, which is fun, which is really good. You have to then give your dying speech. Well, obviously, I'm assuming you gave the instruction to the blood pump guy to just go.

[John Lutz]

Yes. I said, please just keep shooting it right into my face and mouth, which they did. I've had a good life.

[Akiva Schaffer]

I graduated from high school, I worked one summer as a lifeguard and I just got a free watch from the coolest guy I know.

[Seth Meyers]

And then the great thing is, do you think Usher was always in or. This had been a. Hey, we cut you from update, but we have another really fun thing for you to do.

[Akiva Schaffer]

Hmm.

[John Lutz]

That I don't remember.

[Seth Meyers]

Basically, the sketch is over. O to the V to the E to the R. And Steve Carell says, you know, I. I can't help but think this is somehow my fault. In some ways.

[Kristen Wiig]

I can't help but feel responsible.

[Akiva Schaffer]

You are responsible.

[John Lutz]

We own all are responsible. Hi, I'm Usher. CPR can be a lot of fun, but it can kill someone.

[Seth Meyers]

Then he gives a thumbs up and it's over. And it is not a fit.

[John Lutz]

There's one extra moment of it that I did appreciate though, is he gives a thumbs up and then it cuts to wide and everyone else is also giving thumbs up for some reason.

[Akiva Schaffer]

Yeah, I'm looking at that right now.

[Seth Meyers]

I mean, I enjoy it.

[Akiva Schaffer]

And it also cuts mid zoom out. So it's actually like kind of nicely up cut. It's a rare nice shortcut actually.

[Seth Meyers]

Kevin, while we're doing this, is there any way you can watch dress and see if Usher was in dress? It does make me very happy because just seeing it again, it was and golden era and sometimes we just did dumb things at the end of sketches. And it certainly was better than what the ending of that sketch is without Usher coming in and looking like a million fucking dollars.

[Akiva Schaffer]

Yeah, literally.

[John Lutz]

It might be like a 51 to 49% situation, but yeah, better than.

[Seth Meyers]

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Better than the other. And it was fun. Again, I love seeing you. And live sketches. I wanna also go back to Lutz was hired was your first year at SNL.

[Kristen Wiig]

040404 February of 04.

[Seth Meyers]

Do you remember going to a SNL afterparty where you were there with Liz Kakowski and you were basically going to find you were there almost being vetted to see if people liked you enough to be a writer on the show?

[Kristen Wiig]

Yes. They flew Liz and I in from Chicago. From Chicago. And we went to the Megan Mullally, I think show and we interviewed with Lorne, I think the day before on Friday. And then they said, come to the dress rehearsal. Come to the show and the after party. And then we did all that. And I remember in between dress and air, we went to Pasta Lovers in Times Square to get some fancy New York food and really feel fancy. And I remember that we did go to the afterparty, and that's where we found out we were hired.

[Seth Meyers]

Oh, you found out that night.

[Kristen Wiig]

We found out that night. Like, Shoemaker and Higgins came up to us and told Liz and I that we were hired, and they wanted us to start that Monday.

[John Lutz]

Now let's. What's the over under on you? Greasing a palm at Pasta Lovers wanted a nice experience.

[Yhorm]

You know, you gotta pay for it.

[Seth Meyers]

Just to kind of take care of you guys, you know what I mean? He called back to his local Olive Garden and asked if that guy could put a good word in for him at pasta lovers.

[Kristen Wiig]

And I actually, in my interview with Lorne, said, if you could just call pasta lovers ahead of time for us, get us a good table, that'd be great.

[Seth Meyers]

I like that Lorne was the one who recommended it. You were like, we'd love to get dinner in New York. And he's like, what do you like? And you're like, we love pasta. He's like, lauren and pasta lovers.

[Kristen Wiig]

He didn't want us going to Latanzi.

[Akiva Schaffer]

Yeah.

[Kristen Wiig]

Yeah, it was. That was a crazy night. And then I.

[Seth Meyers]

We.

[Kristen Wiig]

I had to go up to Lauren's table, and I was standing up in my friend's wedding. My best friend's wedding was next Saturday. I talked to Shoemaker and Higgins and I said, I don't know if I can start on Monday. I'm standing up in my best friend's wedding. And he said, oh. And so Higgins and Shoemaker took me over to Lauren's table and they explained it to Lauren and then asked if I could start a week.

[Seth Meyers]

Wow.

[Yhorm]

Whoa.

[Kristen Wiig]

And Lauren was like, sure, John.

[John Lutz]

I gotta call bullshit. My Best friend's wedding came out in 1996.

[Kristen Wiig]

No, no, not the movie. Not the movie.

[Yhorm]

God damn it.

[Seth Meyers]

I watched him look it up.

[Yhorm]

Yeah, I can tell what was happening.

[John Lutz]

But sorry, brother. Sorry to have to nail you to the fucking wall.

[Seth Meyers]

So guess what? Let's. We are gonna bring this to Lorne. Who you align.

[Kristen Wiig]

Please don't. I need this story. This is my only Lorne story.

[John Lutz]

This is my main Nick dote.

[Akiva Schaffer]

And no one does stand up. It is not about that.

[Seth Meyers]

Oh, my God. Yeah. What was the stand up scene in My Best friend's Wedding?

[John Lutz]

It was a good Nick Dote. We should start calling them that, right? You guys agree with me?

[Seth Meyers]

Gentlemen, a nicknote.

[Akiva Schaffer]

Yeah, sure, Seth.

[John Lutz]

You should ask people that on the show. Any fun Nick Dotes for Seth.

[Seth Meyers]

Any fun nicknotes that you want to dote upon us? Hey, America worked reception at SNL before she was a writer.

[John Lutz]

Oh, yeah.

[Seth Meyers]

We would receive. I remember in the dog days of summer, my son Jost, for a while, Harper, would read through, like, 200 submissions and select out which ones were good. And I remember we all liked America's before we realized it was America's.

[Akiva Schaffer]

That's cool.

[Seth Meyers]

And it was this funny thing of like, oh, is that. Wait, that's Meri. That's that Sawyer. And when we hired her, it was one of the only cool ways to hire somebody is. I remember I was in Higgins office with Shoemaker, and he called reception and asked her to bring in a legal pad and some pencils. And then she came in and he's like, that's for you. You're a writer here now.

[John Lutz]

Oh, that's fun. That's fucking awesome.

[Seth Meyers]

Really good.

[Akiva Schaffer]

Pretty awesome.

[Seth Meyers]

That's kind of like a Studio 60 moment.

[John Lutz]

Ah, yes, yes.

[Seth Meyers]

It's how Sorkin would write it.

[Yhorm]

Yeah, exactly.

[Akiva Schaffer]

Those are yours, kid. You're a writer now.

[John Lutz]

So, Seth, you're saying Marika was a recepto baby?

[Yhorm]

Yes, she was.

[Seth Meyers]

I am saying that now. That one. Hey, move over, Nick. Do a recepto baby. Nobody's angry enough about recepto babies.

[John Lutz]

Yeah, man. I guess she just had it given to her.

[Seth Meyers]

Oh, my God. What else do we have to talk about here?

[John Lutz]

What about some Seth's Corner?

[Seth Meyers]

It was a very quiet day in Seth's Corner.

[Akiva Schaffer]

You did the monologue?

[Seth Meyers]

Yeah, yeah, yeah, I did the monologue.

[Akiva Schaffer]

Maybe the Senator John McCain something.

[Seth Meyers]

I did. I think I wrote the update with McCain and then. Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa.

[John Lutz]

Don't start talking about it. We haven't done the song.

[Seth Meyers]

Oh, sorry. Go Seth's Corner.

[Akiva Schaffer]

You're all invited.

[John Lutz]

Seth's Corner.

[Yhorm]

It's happening right now. Take it away with Seth.

[Seth Meyers]

I'm gonna seed Seth's Corner. Cause I was so excited to see the opening. Cold Open was a Jim Downey, Jack Handy sketch, according to the names on it, heavy hitters. And it was a very old school sketch, which is a commencement address where Carell is handing out diplomas and he gives a big wind up as to. This is the kind of school a lot of you came from other schools. And we're more than just faculty students. We're family. This is not the kind of place where people get made fun of for the way they look or who they are or what their last name is. And then it's just one of Those parades where all the names are just the most embarrassing names.

[John Lutz]

Oh, I remember that one.

[Seth Meyers]

And again, it's that real nice Jim Downey touch. Yes. Where one of the names is Dick Hurts and no one comes up. And, like, the name before was like, hey, would you blow me? Right? And somebody comes up, gets a diploma, and he's like, dick hurts. Dick Hurts. And you see Amy's behind him as sort of faculty, and she's a little concerned, and then she gets up and whispers in his ear, dick hurts. Is Dick Hurts not with us today? Who's Dick Hurts? I will remind the students that this is a commencement exercise and not an occasion for childish pranks. That's the one fake name at a.

[John Lutz]

School after, hey, would you blow me?

[Seth Meyers]

Yeah. And the next name's like, Buster Hyman. But it's. I was like, ah, fucking A, man. Tony.

[Yhorm]

That's great.

[Seth Meyers]

Such a good Tony Moon. And this is the end of a season. I bet we're all in a pretty good mood at the end of this one because, again, this is the end of the season where we went on and returned from strike. Yeah.

[John Lutz]

Also, this was our second Karel. Is that right?

[Seth Meyers]

Second Karel.

[John Lutz]

He was our very first episode.

[Seth Meyers]

Mm.

[John Lutz]

And, you know, goes without saying, probably, but just the nicest dude ever. And so funny. And we were always like, ooh, here comes a real comedy host.

[Seth Meyers]

Also, Usher's first song was this Ain't Sex. And it may not have been, but I watched it, and I got pregnant from watching the performance. Lutz, is that the kind of joke that Tracy would make on 30 rec?

[Yhorm]

Yes, 1,000% every day.

[Kristen Wiig]

Yeah. Except he would say it. He would say it like 10 times in a row.

[Seth Meyers]

One more thing to say about this. The 10 to 1 sketch is a perfect 10 to 1 sketch that does not get what it deserves. And I think it might be. I can't quite figure it out. It's called Bless this Child. Anybody remember Bless this Child? I did not until I watched it today. Wiig and Crail are in it, written by Wiig and Sublette, and they are putting their newborn child in a crib. It's very clearly a doll. And they start doing a prayer called Bless this child that turns into a dance where they are just using the baby in the dance and, like, flipping it back and forth to one another. And it's so. I mean, it's so clearly a doll. But I do feel like the audience is like, oh. It ends with them each holding a leg of the baby upside down and singing into the feet like it's a microphone. Bless this child Keep her safe and warm and shield her from all harm Bless this child Protect her from the storm Till the sun comes up again Bless this child Fill her dreams with gold and nays make them all come.

[Yhorm]

True look at us.

[Kristen Wiig]

We're a family.

[Seth Meyers]

And it's really good.

[Yhorm]

Sounds pretty cute.

[Seth Meyers]

And I will just say real quick that Tucker has no memory of Usher older women. So that's. That's an exciting way to end this.

[John Lutz]

I'm just watching Bless this Child with no sound. And it does end with a wig dummy and Carell spinning it in a circle and knocking over all the curtains and stuff, which is pretty fucking incredible.

[Seth Meyers]

Well, there's one more thing I have to add that I think chilled the audience as well. That's right before she said that. She says she's pregnant with another one.

[John Lutz]

And then he starts spinning a dummy in a circle and knocking it in the ch. Nicely done, Kristen and Sblette when we come back.

[Seth Meyers]

Well, a lot to talk about going into the next, which is you guys do an album in the summer.

[John Lutz]

Ye.

[Seth Meyers]

Which is incredibad. You rent a kick ass house where you host parties. Like a bunch of guys who just got a big deal from a record company that intend to save none of it very much. So you have. The room you record in, which I was lucky enough to visit a few times, was maybe one of the hottest rooms I've ever been in in my life.

[Yhorm]

The worst room in the house.

[Seth Meyers]

Yeah.

[Akiva Schaffer]

In all ways.

[Seth Meyers]

Yeah. And then we return with Michael Phelps and Space Olympics, which is one of those that. The first time you played it for me, Andy, I laughed all the way through. Cause it is maybe a version of your comedy that I like the most.

[John Lutz]

Oh, wonderful.

[Seth Meyers]

Yeah. Which is super specificity of things that are maybe not going great. All right, so we're gonna do a Q and A episode with questions everybody's written in with.

[Kristen Wiig]

And I can't wait to be back next week.

[Yhorm]

Yeah.

[John Lutz]

Yeah, totally, man. Did you enjoy it, Lutz? Did you have fun?

[Akiva Schaffer]

Lutz came by the house in Encino.

[Seth Meyers]

Yeah.

[Kristen Wiig]

It was a house guest.

[Akiva Schaffer]

I remember one time you came and stayed and then we dragged you to a Dian Word show. Yes.

[Kristen Wiig]

With Ryan Phillippe.

[Akiva Schaffer]

Yeah.

[Seth Meyers]

Yeah.

[Akiva Schaffer]

It was a great night.

[John Lutz]

That sounds right.

[Akiva Schaffer]

Just listening to those crazy music that Lutz would not have been familiar with and watching him enjoy his evening. And it was all of us up in the VIP at the El Rey just drinking with Ryan Philippi. We had a blast.

[Kristen Wiig]

And then we stayed after to meet the weird singers of that group. They were, like, doing a little artists. The artists that. Yeah, that was fun.

[Seth Meyers]

They were so weird. You gave them 20 bucks and asked them for a good table.

[Yhorm]

Yes.

[Seth Meyers]

Thank you. One more thing I'll say about Lutz. Lutz and I knew each other from Chicago, and when I got Late Night, Lutz was one of the first writers I hired. And Lutz still works for Late Night. Now, people might not know that, but I've been lucky enough to know you for almost 25 years. But Rob Janis was a Chicago improviser, and I remember a couple other guys brought him to a Beastie Boys concert, and. And he was like, well, I would just ask that we listen to their music on the way to the concert. I'd like to familiarize myself with their canon. There you go, guys. What a lovely time this was. Lutz, thanks for joining Lutz. Do you think you had more fun being here, or Marika had more fun not.

[Kristen Wiig]

I think she had more fun not. Yeah, but I had a lot of.

[Yhorm]

Fun, so it was up there.

[Seth Meyers]

Yhorm. It was great to have you back, bud.

[Yhorm]

Thanks, guys. I'm finally actually catching up too, because this was the last show that I wasn't around for. I was finishing up Land of the Lost, and this was pre me knowing that I had a Razzie nomination for that movie.

[Seth Meyers]

Oh, great.

[Akiva Schaffer]

Yeah, it's your last episode where you can be not Razzie Nommed. That's a big deal. Cause you kind of changed after that.

[Seth Meyers]

Yeah, you did change.

[Yhorm]

Yeah, it's a big turning point for me.

[Kristen Wiig]

Oh, one more thing. I don't think any of this recorded on my end.

[Akiva Schaffer]

Oh, good.

[John Lutz]

God damn it.

[Akiva Schaffer]

I will. I will send.

[Seth Meyers]

I love you guys.

[Akiva Schaffer]

They have his mic clean. They have your mic clean. I can talk over anybody. They'll just cut this part out.

[John Lutz]

Oh, my God, Akiva.

[Akiva Schaffer]

It's not gonna be an issue. Can I just say something, Akiva?

[John Lutz]

Like, not letting the episode end is very unprofessional.

[Akiva Schaffer]

Oh, no. It's a fun Wednesday.

[John Lutz]

We've clearly reached an end point to drag it out with, like, side quips. I mean, who are you?

[Akiva Schaffer]

Today's Fred Armisen's birthday, I think.

[Yhorm]

Oh, good lips to Fred Armisen.

[Seth Meyers]

Andy, you hosted the Spirit Awards, right?

[John Lutz]

I did once, yeah.

[Seth Meyers]

If you were hosting it this year, would you be mad right now that you had blown the Beetlejuice joke?

[John Lutz]

No, I would just keep hitting it over and over throughout the show and definitely come out as Beetlejuice. For an extended period of time.

[Seth Meyers]

You think, how are you going to.

[John Lutz]

Leave out the juice? Yeah, exactly.

[Yhorm]

I heard people were talking about me.

[Seth Meyers]

Yeah.

[John Lutz]

If you're asking me who is the best spirit, it's weird to do it now that it's been on snl, you know, because now it's like, oh, I'm doing my famous thing.

[Yhorm]

Yeah. Now it's like a hit.

[John Lutz]

Yeah. That everyone loved and can't stop talking about.

[Seth Meyers]

Now it's like, if Bill was, like, doing Stefan in interviews, he'd be like, it's a hit.

[John Lutz]

Yeah, exactly. We know what it is, dude.

[Seth Meyers]

All right. It's one of our classic double enders. Love you guys.

[John Lutz]

Love you.

[Akiva Schaffer]

Love you guys.

[Seth Meyers]

Bye.