Strike Episode!

Summary

Podcast Summary: The Lonely Island and Seth Meyers Podcast – "Strike Episode!"

Release Date: September 30, 2024
Episode Title: Strike Episode!
Hosts: The Lonely Island (Andy Samberg, Akiva Schaffer, Jorma Taccone) & Seth Meyers
Duration: Approximately 54 minutes

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1. Introduction and Recent Updates

The episode kicks off with Seth Meyers and The Lonely Island catching up on recent events and upcoming appearances. They humorously discuss Andy Samberg's recent win on "Late Night," highlighting the playful rivalry between Seth and Andy.

• Andy Samberg: “That was always your goal.” [00:42]
• Seth Meyers: “New York magazine, vulture.com every week does. Who won Late Night? And I'm happy to say that Andy Samberg won Late Night this week.” [00:23-00:40]

2. Creation and Impact of SNL Digital Shorts

The conversation delves into the genesis of their groundbreaking SNL Digital Shorts, exploring how these innovative sketches were conceived, received, and their lasting impact on both SNL and online comedy content.

• Jorma Taccone: “I think Simon was one of the great cutters of all time.” [27:43]
• Andy Samberg: “We maybe even helped launch YouTube to do it.” [Contextual Reference]

3. Personal Anecdotes and Behind-the-Scenes Stories

The hosts share amusing and heartfelt stories from their time at SNL, including the challenges and triumphs of producing digital content in the early days of internet video.

• Seth Meyers: “We definitely would have done it on Update with Andy as that dude.” [01:16]
• Akiva Schaffer: “I think Sean's going to talk big. He has a louder personality now.” [Contextual Reference]

4. Akiva's Finnish Sauna Experience

Akiva Schaffer recounts a humorous and slightly awkward experience arguing about American politics in a Finnish sauna with two fellow Finnish gentlemen. The story highlights cultural differences and the unique dynamics of such an encounter.

• Akiva Schaffer: “They were drinking beers pretty heavily and listening to like, kind of loud EDM music, which not too many people in the sauna do.” [10:22]
• Andy Samberg: “And it's just like a cedar planked room with steam in it or like hot air.” [11:01]

5. Reflections on the 2007-2008 Writer's Strike

A significant portion of the episode is dedicated to reminiscing about the 2007-2008 SNL writer's strike. The hosts discuss how the strike affected the show, their personal feelings during that period, and the spirited efforts to keep comedy alive through impromptu performances.

• Seth Meyers: “It was a tough time to be one of the brown hairs. Yeah, it was a tough time.” [41:06]
• Jorma Taccone: “It was super bizarre to do the table read on eight in the main studio for me.” [09:02]

6. Stories from the Strike Show

The hosts share detailed memories of the UCB Live Strike Show, including challenges like writing and holding cue cards without the usual support structures. They highlight the camaraderie among writers and the creative solutions they employed to keep the sketches engaging.

• Jorma Taccone: “I remember sitting on the floor at UCB with a big marker writing these cue cards, and it just felt like it was never going to end.” [32:10]
• Seth Meyers: “We all hung out a ton. And looking back, I kind of think it was fun.” [15:12-15:48]

7. Guest Voice Messages and Recollections

The episode features heartfelt voice messages from past collaborators and guests, including Michael Cera, Amy Poehler, Nora Jones, and Jack McBrayer. These messages offer personal insights and fond memories of working together during the strike.

• Michael Cera: “I had the best night ever. I remember Seth holding the two cards for me and how much someone yelled, shut up. Incredible, that scene.” [29:28-30:35]
• Amy Poehler: “I was stressed during the strike, like you, Seth. But then I also had some awesome, amazing times during the strike, too, like you, Lonely Island.” [18:34-19:05]
• Nora Jones: “I was so excited to be there, and I just remember it being really fun.” [35:39-36:24]
• Jack McBrayer: “I thought that was very special. I was honored that I got to be a part of that.” [38:03-39:50]

8. Reflections on SNL Sketches and Digital Shorts

The hosts reflect on specific SNL sketches and digital shorts, discussing their creative processes, the decision-making behind what made it onto the show, and the enduring popularity of certain bits.

• Seth Meyers: “Only one turned out to be good enough to be in the show.” [27:28]
• Jorma Taccone: “Maybe I could say that and like, rule of twos gets it across.” [32:39]

9. Humor and Banter

Throughout the episode, the hosts engage in playful banter, jokes, and humorous exchanges that showcase their chemistry and comedic timing. They poke fun at each other’s quirks and share laughs over shared experiences.

• Jorma Taccone: “I think your question was wrong.” [Various Points]
• Andy Samberg: “I love you guys.” [Throughout]

10. Closing Remarks and Future Plans

In their closing remarks, Seth Meyers and The Lonely Island express their excitement for future collaborations, upcoming episodes, and continuing their journey in comedy and podcasting.

• Seth Meyers: “We are going to come back and we do four shows in a row and they're four very different digital shorts. Show the breadth of what you guys do.” [54:15]
• The Lonely Island: “Love you guys.” [54:29]

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Notable Quotes with Timestamps:

• Seth Meyers: “I think Andy Shoemaker and I started a text chain about how had the French pole vaulter who knocked the bar over with his dong happen when we were all at SNL together.” [01:16]

• Akiva Schaffer: “They were drinking beers pretty heavily and listening to like, kind of loud EDM music, which not too many people in the sauna do.” [10:22]

• Michael Cera: “I had the best night ever. I remember Seth holding the two cards for me and how much someone yelled, shut up. Incredible, that scene.” [29:28-30:35]

• Amy Poehler: “I was stressed during the strike, like you, Seth. But then I also had some awesome, amazing times during the strike, too, like you, Lonely Island.” [18:34-19:05]

• Nora Jones: “I really bummed I missed the goodnights, that's all. At least I think I did.” [35:08]

• Jack McBrayer: “It was really just so fun to see y'all doing your phenomenal job.” [38:03-39:50]

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Conclusion

"Strike Episode!" offers an engaging blend of nostalgia, humor, and heartfelt reflections as The Lonely Island and Seth Meyers revisit their shared history at SNL. The episode provides valuable insights into the creative process behind iconic digital shorts, the resilience during the writer's strike, and the enduring friendships forged in the world of comedy. Through candid conversations and amusing anecdotes, listeners gain a deeper appreciation for the collaborative spirit and innovation that The Lonely Island and Seth Meyers bring to the comedic landscape.

Transcript

[Seth Meyers]

The Lonely island and Seth Meyers podcast, we've now caught up. We are now actually recording this just a few days before people will hear it. So this is the most like podcasters we've ever been.

[Andy Samberg]

Yeah, well, that was true of last week, too. That's why we were able to plug Andy being on your show and Harper and Will being on the show.

[Jorma Taccone]

Oh, and how'd that go, Seth? How did me being on your show go?

[Seth Meyers]

Andy, I'm glad you brought that up. And I hope everybody took the plug because it turns out the plug a paid off. New York magazine, vulture.com every week does. Who won Late Night? And I'm happy to say that Andy Samberg won Late Night this week.

[Jorma Taccone]

Hot off the press. Hot off the press.

[Andy Samberg]

That's always your goal. Just for anybody, for your. My guess, Andy's been on Seth's show before and has said, as a joke, did we win Late Night, Seth?

[Seth Meyers]

Yeah, I knew that. And I feel as though he would have won it before except for the fact that he called it out so hard.

[Andy Samberg]

Yeah, they had to wait.

[Seth Meyers]

By the way, half of the article is about them explaining. Yeah, we know he said it, but.

[Andy Samberg]

That'S not why it's a conversation.

[Seth Meyers]

The best thing about it is genuinely six weeks ago, maybe more.

[Jorma Taccone]

Definitely more.

[Seth Meyers]

I think Andy Shoemaker and I started a text chain about how had the French pole vaulter who knocked the bar over with his dong happen when we were all at SNL together. We definitely would have done it on Update with Andy as that dude. Then all three of us just kept texting jokes.

[Jorma Taccone]

Yeah.

[Seth Meyers]

And then decided at the end of the text chain, well, we should just do this in eight weeks when you come on. And yesterday morning, all the script was. I went back in the text chain and transcribed the texts.

[Akiva Schaffer]

Don't say anymore. No, no, I can't wait to watch this.

[Jorma Taccone]

It played just as you would hope.

[Seth Meyers]

Oh, it played great.

[Akiva Schaffer]

Wow. Great.

[Seth Meyers]

And it was the rarest case where you are making your friends laugh. And then you say, we should just do this on T. And then we did and we won Late Night. Kevin Miller, who's both, you know, our old friend, a producer on this podcast. Producer on Late Night, the segment producer who produced the segment, Andy, he did say to me, you know, Andy really grew up. Cause when we were reading it, he said at one point, I think balls might be a little too rough a word.

[Jorma Taccone]

I did.

[Seth Meyers]

It was a little too dirty for you.

[Jorma Taccone]

It was about how he also knocked over the hurdles.

[Seth Meyers]

Yeah, he couldn't do hurdles. Either. Cause he has giant balls. Yeah.

[Jorma Taccone]

That his giant balls aren't gonna hurt. I was like, I think we should just keep it to dung. I think balls conjures too many weird visuals. And he was like, whoa, yeah, yeah.

[Andy Samberg]

That's a big moment.

[Seth Meyers]

The dick in the box guy who's this stately gentleman. Yeah.

[Akiva Schaffer]

Might as well be wearing a top hat.

[Andy Samberg]

Parenthood really changed you.

[Seth Meyers]

Also, we cut. There was a long bit in it that Andy wisely cut about the reason it had taken eight weeks to have the French guy on our show is that travel's really hard for him. It was pretty good because it gets caught in the. Where does it get caught in the airplane? The cabine door.

[Jorma Taccone]

The cabin door. And then he tried to take a boat, but it acted simply as an anchor.

[Seth Meyers]

And if he puts it over on one side, the boat just goes in circles.

[Jorma Taccone]

That was the joke. I was sad to lose.

[Seth Meyers]

And then the late ad was that he got here because he just started swinging it over his head. Came as a helicopter, used it as.

[Jorma Taccone]

A one man helicopter.

[Seth Meyers]

That was obviously the lowbrow part of the week. There was some highbrow as well. The first segment of Andy was great. He talked about his movie Lee with Kate Winslet. And that was also very funny because we had a whole segment about. What was it? Andy talks earnestly about the film.

[Jorma Taccone]

I had to answer questions earnestly to do right by the movie.

[Andy Samberg]

I saw a teeny clip of it on Instagram last night. And just everything you say seems more and more like a setup to a bit.

[Jorma Taccone]

I know, it's such a weird dynamic.

[Seth Meyers]

It was really fun, but it was great. Definitely thread that needle. Another wonderful highbrow. Will and Harper came on. Everything I possibly could have wanted. They spoke very lovingly about their film and were also super funny.

[Jorma Taccone]

Oh, my God. Yeah.

[Seth Meyers]

Harper did this great bit where she came out. I had just done a closer look. And she said, you know, Will and I were watching the first act on TV and I said to him, you know what? Seth is smart. And the whole bit was they just realized they just got it. And that Will lost a bet. Will had to pay $1,000. Cause it turned out.

[Jorma Taccone]

Cause he was like, seth's not smart.

[Seth Meyers]

And then I went to the. By the time you're listening to this, you can go to Netflix now and watch this wonderful documentary. I went to a screening, I moderated a panel at the Paris Theater. They did a New York premiere of the movie. And I went out and I asked Will the first question and he answered in Made up French. Les trousers ponts, les de Louvre des Berron, Raleigh, Les tropdon, le Du le auto. And then I said, what are you doing? He said, oh, I thought because it was the Paris theater.

[Jorma Taccone]

Oh, my God, clearly.

[Seth Meyers]

And the surprise for everyone there is that Wiig and Paul Pell got up on stage and sang the closing song live. Really, really cool.

[Jorma Taccone]

That is a treat.

[Andy Samberg]

Gunning for the Oscar already.

[Seth Meyers]

Gunning.

[Akiva Schaffer]

It's on Netflix now, right?

[Seth Meyers]

It's on Netflix now. Yeah, now. I saw Dratch at the Will and Harper premiere, and I was talking to her about the fact that my kids go to school near where she lives, and sometimes I see her on the street and I hadn't seen her this year. And she said, what time do you come? And I said, 8:20. She said, oh, that's usually when I'm doing the New York Times spelling bee. And I said, you know, Sandberg queen bees it every day. And you would have been so thrilled. She was like, what? Like Dratch. Jatch spun out so hard by the fact that you queen bee and all. She had all the questions you would have wanted her to ask.

[Jorma Taccone]

Yeah.

[Seth Meyers]

Does he use hints? Does he have the two letter clues? Does he? And so, yeah, yeah.

[Jorma Taccone]

I mean, I came up one short yesterday, as you know, Seth.

[Seth Meyers]

Yes, alluvial was the word.

[Andy Samberg]

Ooh, you want to update everybody.

[Jorma Taccone]

It's just spelling. Be wise.

[Seth Meyers]

Yeah, yeah.

[Jorma Taccone]

I mean, I got it most days. Again, I'm still in a crazy zone.

[Andy Samberg]

Yeah.

[Seth Meyers]

Yeah.

[Jorma Taccone]

I think I missed two since the last cast and both times it was by one word.

[Seth Meyers]

Yeah, it's really exciting.

[Jorma Taccone]

And then got it every other day. And, you know, obviously texted Seth and I text Keev now, too. And he very sweetly every time says, proud of you. For real. And it's weird because I know he means it and also is making fun of me. And I really like that tone. It makes me feel good.

[Akiva Schaffer]

50 50.

[Jorma Taccone]

It's a quality key.

[Seth Meyers]

50, 50.

[Andy Samberg]

I know it's important to you and so I care about it because I know you care about it. I love you.

[Seth Meyers]

We had curriculum night at our school and a dad worked for New York Times games and he wanted to thank us for the constant shout outs.

[Jorma Taccone]

Are you serious?

[Seth Meyers]

Yeah. Also, we did a thing. We did a ubernt on our show where he talked about New York Times games, and I feel like it made it over to them. And so they also told me, though, there's a new sports connections Y type game.

[Jorma Taccone]

Whoa. So just real quick, Seth, I actually just thought of this. I do have screen grabs because of things I sent you that they didn't accept in spelling bee that we were pissed off about.

[Seth Meyers]

Yeah. These are words that are not acceptable words. Yeah.

[Jorma Taccone]

And I take a screengrab right when it says not in word list and send it to you and go da fuck. That's usually the text.

[Andy Samberg]

Yep.

[Seth Meyers]

So what are some of the ones?

[Jorma Taccone]

Quato.

[Seth Meyers]

Yeah, that's fucked.

[Jorma Taccone]

They did not accept wank room on June 27th.

[Seth Meyers]

Yeah, that's right.

[Jorma Taccone]

Doink.

[Seth Meyers]

Well that's hard cracking.

[Jorma Taccone]

That's January 15th. No. Doink. That might be it.

[Seth Meyers]

There's a chance that maybe based on the pod, you know how at the end of every year I feel like Merriam Webster adds a. A few like words of the year.

[Jorma Taccone]

Yeah.

[Seth Meyers]

You know like tiktoker all of a sudden is a word but it wouldn't have been. And so maybe quato just based.

[Jorma Taccone]

I thought for sure you were gonna say doink. So did I.

[Seth Meyers]

No.

[Jorma Taccone]

Quato is so much more difficult to get in. Can I say one other thing? Just cause it came up in my screen grabs.

[Seth Meyers]

Yeah.

[Jorma Taccone]

I'm such a fucking cool guy. I got the mini in 13. That's my all time high.

[Seth Meyers]

13 seconds.

[Andy Samberg]

Yeah.

[Seth Meyers]

That's good.

[Jorma Taccone]

Yeah.

[Seth Meyers]

I don't think you can impress me with anything about the mini.

[Andy Samberg]

Here's the thing about the Mini though is that some people do it on their laptop, I think and can get like five seconds. Cause they're typing.

[Jorma Taccone]

Yeah. Which is cr.

[Andy Samberg]

This is iPhone specific. And honestly it got more difficult with some of the updates when the iPhone got a little sloppier.

[Seth Meyers]

Today is Friday. People will be listening to this pod. On Monday you will have appeared on snl.

[Jorma Taccone]

Unless I get cut.

[Seth Meyers]

Unless you get cut. So this is an interesting thing.

[Jorma Taccone]

Yeah.

[Seth Meyers]

Our listeners right now are in the future. They know the answer to what we are talking about now. We don't know the answer exactly right. I think you're not going to get cut.

[Jorma Taccone]

I think it's highly unlikely. But like we'll see how it goes. Address.

[Seth Meyers]

Right after you finished our taping you went over to the SNL table read.

[Jorma Taccone]

I did.

[Seth Meyers]

And this sketch that we're talking about played red hot in the room.

[Jorma Taccone]

I think so.

[Seth Meyers]

Yeah.

[Jorma Taccone]

There were. I mean it's a big old piece with a lot of really funny people in it. And it was first off, I know I'm like a broken record, all the ex SNLs but it was super bizarre to do the table read on eight in the main studio for me Yeah, I know. Everyone's used to it now.

[Akiva Schaffer]

I was gonna say, where do they do it now?

[Seth Meyers]

Yeah. So they moved it from a tiny room to the studio floor during COVID And I think people liked it and that's what they still do. But it does feel crazy.

[Jorma Taccone]

And everyone at the table has a little microphone in front of them, which was not the case for us, Right?

[Seth Meyers]

No, we had nothing.

[Andy Samberg]

It was recorded, but it was not amplified.

[Jorma Taccone]

Yeah. So it's like on the one hand, when I walked in, I was like, oh, you can really hear people. That's kind of cool. Like, it sounds the way it would sound in the sketch. Way more. But yeah, it was trippy. It was trippy, but also fun. And I hope it went well.

[Seth Meyers]

Yeah. Wouldn't it be funny if all the headlines are Saturday Night Dead? And we're like, it was good in the room.

[Andy Samberg]

Andy, I could tell you're trying to not spoil it, but we can't spoil it for them, right? They're in the future.

[Akiva Schaffer]

Good point.

[Andy Samberg]

They could spoil it for us, right?

[Seth Meyers]

Yeah.

[Akiva Schaffer]

Write in and tell us what you thought of it.

[Seth Meyers]

Yeah.

[Jorma Taccone]

I always hesitate, though. Cause if things change so much there.

[Andy Samberg]

That's true.

[Jorma Taccone]

Like, it's Friday. By the time the show happens tomorrow, it might be completely different for all I know. And then I was the one who gave up all the beans on what it was supposed to be and then got changed. And people are like, mad or embarrassed.

[Seth Meyers]

Yeah.

[Andy Samberg]

Okay, well, next week we could ask you how accurate it was.

[Jorma Taccone]

Okay, great.

[Seth Meyers]

Yeah. All right, so we'll do that.

[Akiva Schaffer]

Good.

[Seth Meyers]

Call for next week. Anybody else have any housekeeping? Yhorm. You told us you just had an argument about American politics in a Finnish sauna.

[Akiva Schaffer]

Yeah, well, naked. Which is just a weird way to have an argument. Sitting between two pretty big Finnish guys who are also naked. I just. I haven't done that before.

[Andy Samberg]

So towels around your waist or just butt naked?

[Akiva Schaffer]

Exposed butt naked, yeah.

[Andy Samberg]

And it's just like a cedar planked room with steam in it or like hot air. And you just sit with your bare butt onto the wood where someone else's bare butt just was.

[Akiva Schaffer]

No, you have little, like, courtesy towels that you bring in with you that you sit on, but you're naked. And then they were drinking beers pretty heavily and listening to like, kind of loud EDM music, which not too many people in the sauna do. That. That's kind of frowned upon. Even I know that. You know, as an American, I learned pretty quick.

[Seth Meyers]

But I feel like you have the energy where you would conjure that.

[Akiva Schaffer]

Conjure those two guys.

[Seth Meyers]

Yeah. You have a sauna energy where I feel as though if they watched you walk in.

[Akiva Schaffer]

Yeah.

[Seth Meyers]

They would say, I think that guy's gonna be okay with our vibe.

[Akiva Schaffer]

Oh, 100%.

[Seth Meyers]

Yeah.

[Andy Samberg]

Was this sauna you had been recommended or did you just like, walk down the street and go, I'm going to go in this place.

[Akiva Schaffer]

They're everywhere, Keith. I'm surprised there's not one in my room. It's the land of saunas.

[Andy Samberg]

Right. And is that the one you did? The one in your hotel?

[Akiva Schaffer]

Yeah. And to give a little shout out, there's a restaurant called L, which means steam. It's talking about the essence of steam that comes from the sauna. And there's like four saunas in that restaurant. And I happen to know Jasper, who's the owner of that restaurant, and I went to all of those four saunas. I learned all about the history of saunas and all the different kinds of them, and it was great. But this wasn't that sauna. This was a different sauna with two naked guys that I had a very aggressive argument with.

[Andy Samberg]

Did each sauna have a different. You had to tour all four. Did they. Was it like one was with tile and one's wood and one has eucalyptus or something? Was that.

[Akiva Schaffer]

They're all wood, but there's different kinds of smoke or lull.

[Jorma Taccone]

Oh, my gosh.

[Akiva Schaffer]

So there's. There's a smoke sauna.

[Seth Meyers]

So bumming out. Your pronunciation is bumming Antioxidants.

[Jorma Taccone]

So excited to say it every time.

[Andy Samberg]

I'm so excited for it.

[Akiva Schaffer]

I think my pronunciation might be right.

[Seth Meyers]

Yhorm.

[Jorma Taccone]

Forgive this, but I think it's probably what everyone listening wants me to ask.

[Akiva Schaffer]

Sure.

[Jorma Taccone]

So is, like, everyone hard? Semi fully flas.

[Akiva Schaffer]

We were all flaccid.

[Jorma Taccone]

Can you imagine if you had said anything else?

[Seth Meyers]

That was such an earnest answer.

[Jorma Taccone]

Very, very clearly what it was supposed to be.

[Seth Meyers]

Oh. Oh, good question, Andy.

[Jorma Taccone]

If you're like, I mean, I was hard. I did my part. I was full too.

[Akiva Schaffer]

We were listening to EDM though, Andy. So anything could have gone, you know.

[Seth Meyers]

Yeah, that's hard.

[Andy Samberg]

That can get you excited.

[Jorma Taccone]

Oh, dag. Yeah.

[Andy Samberg]

And then last question about it. So they're drinking beers, like ice cold beers. That actually sounds fantastic. But is that part of.

[Akiva Schaffer]

No.

[Andy Samberg]

Because in America you would never do that. Because it's thought of as a place where you're, like, detoxing.

[Akiva Schaffer]

If you really want to know about this. These guys were rural Finnish dudes who were doing a Work thing. They were like in the Coast Guard or something like that, from what I understood. And they were getting wrecked before their physicals the next day.

[Andy Samberg]

Right. They're having fun.

[Akiva Schaffer]

Yeah.

[Seth Meyers]

Def talked about it when Andy came to Helsinki to watch me run a marathon. The day after a marathon, we went to a place, Josh found a restaurant. And remember, he said it was like the concert says it's like Finnish tapas. It's called Sloppus. Yeah, I don't think that's right. But the whole time we kept saying, this is really good sloppas. And I don't to this day, I don't know. So maybe while you're there, dig into it, Norm.

[Akiva Schaffer]

Yes, I'll try to find it. Sloppas.

[Seth Meyers]

I bet Josh will be able to find the restaurant. We're going to send you to get some slappas because it really was great.

[Akiva Schaffer]

Yeah, go.

[Seth Meyers]

Tomorrow this episode, we're going to talk about the 2007, 2008 writer's strike, which was announced at the after party for the Brian Williams Feist show. Do you guys have any memory of finding out that the strike was officially on?

[Akiva Schaffer]

No, I don't.

[Seth Meyers]

I do remember I was very upset and I, like, remember the switch being thrown of, like, a super fun afterparty. I had felt like the start of the season had been so hot. And then I think Steve Higgins came over and told me, the strike is on. And I just felt my bones immediately hurt. The strike starts. It does end up going 100 days, and we have a strike show in November. November 17th, Amy Poehler pulls together a fundraiser at UCB Theater, her theater in New York City. It is very exciting to just get back together and talk about doing a show. It was all sketches that had previously been written in honor of pencil down. And we asked all the writers to pick a sketch that they had never produced on the show and whether or not they would want to produce it. And we had to make our own cue cards, which was a lot harder than I think any of us thought it would be.

[Akiva Schaffer]

Who had the best handwriting?

[Seth Meyers]

I don't even remember, but I don't. It wasn't Wally. It's not like Wally came in and did cue cards for us.

[Akiva Schaffer]

Did you all. Because I watched the little video, which was great and very nostalgic, and I will say made me cry three times, which is. Says something about my state of mind. But, Seth, did you actually hold the cue cards? Like it was mentioned at one point that you were holding cue cards?

[Seth Meyers]

I believe I maybe did hold cue cards. At some point, I think different people had to hold cue cards for different sketches.

[Andy Samberg]

Yeah, I think you held them for your sketch that you wrote.

[Akiva Schaffer]

Ah, that's pretty cool.

[Andy Samberg]

I think.

[Akiva Schaffer]

So now you know how Wally feels.

[Seth Meyers]

I do finally know how Wally feels. I do want to take a quick step back and say that the course of that 100 days was very depressing and very sad. And it was also way worse timed than the last strike, which was over the course of the summer. This was the end of the fall. All through the winter, we were picketing and it was like, gray and miserable and slushy and gross. With that said, we all hung out a ton. And looking back, I kind of think it was fun.

[Andy Samberg]

Well, the fact also that everyone went to UCB to just put on a show because everyone was like, it just shows that everyone that was working there would do SNL for free, right?

[Akiva Schaffer]

Oh, yeah.

[Andy Samberg]

There's not a lot of jobs that if you were forced to go on strike, the auto workers don't go. I'm still gonna put some windshields over the break. And so it just shows how lucky we all were to work there.

[Seth Meyers]

Yeah. For real.

[Andy Samberg]

So I asked Poehler. Cause she really was in charge of this. And it did raise money. Did you just say that it was for charity? It was for the Writers Guild fund. And she had to get permission from Lauren, who actually attended and watched the show, and I believe had a lovely night. And she had to get permission from NBC and from the Writers Guild and everything, I think.

[Seth Meyers]

And I believe NBC was not super cool about it.

[Andy Samberg]

Oh, is that right?

[Seth Meyers]

I believe I asked Shoemaker. Shoemaker said Jeff Zucker was not happy that we were doing it.

[Andy Samberg]

But also, when NBC is part of the system that's being on strike, and then you're asking them a favor while you're in a legal battle, Essentially, yeah. All right, here we go. So all we did to prompt these was I said, do you have a memory of the ucb? Tell me anything you can remember, because we don't remember anything. Here's Amy.

[Amy Poehler]

Hey, guys. Amy Poehler here, longtime listener, first time caller. I love your podcast so much and love all of you so much. Okay. UCB strike Show. Yeah, Like Jorma. I don't really remember anything, but I know we got permission to do it, or I don't even know if we did need to get permission. Let's just say we did. But it was really exciting because, first of all, Lauren came, which was, I don't know, just really nice. And we all just kind of put on a show. I remember getting props and costumes together and making a running list and going over who was going to do what scenes. I have incredible pictures from that night. I think I made it into some kind of ibook, like a flip book. And it's just the best goof around. I remember Michael Cera was the fictional host. Yola Tengo was the fictional band, and Yola Tengo, the members, were friends of mine, and I guess in a way, so was Michael's. So they all did us a favor. And the writers wrote their own cue cards and held them up and came out on stage. And it was one of those nights where the writers and actors were all working together to get the scene ready, and everybody just put up the stuff they wish they had been able to get on the show. Or maybe they put up the stuff that they were glad America never saw. The thing I remember the most, though, is Seth and I did Weekend Update, and I think Fred did Nicholas Fane, that character who reads from the news but doesn't have any takes. And we raised money for the wga. I know that. And it was just an amazing time. I was stressed during the strike, like you, Seth. But then I also had some awesome, amazing times during the strike, too, like you, Lonely Island. So I'm straddling right in the middle. That's what she said.

[Seth Meyers]

I mean, first of all, can I just compliment how good a podcast voice Amy has developed?

[Jorma Taccone]

Really soothing.

[Andy Samberg]

Yes.

[Seth Meyers]

So soothing.

[Andy Samberg]

A real pro.

[Jorma Taccone]

Yeah.

[Seth Meyers]

That was an asmr. Am I saying that right?

[Andy Samberg]

Yeah.

[Jorma Taccone]

Oh, wait. Yhorm said it almost made him feel like he was in a sauna. But which one?

[Seth Meyers]

Which one?

[Akiva Schaffer]

That one. The lille for that one is.

[Jorma Taccone]

So it was that one.

[Andy Samberg]

That's all of them.

[Akiva Schaffer]

No, no, the Lilla describes the team.

[Seth Meyers]

It wasn't the only. Keep saying. Keep saying four and then only have a word for one.

[Andy Samberg]

Yeah.

[Akiva Schaffer]

Smoke.

[Andy Samberg]

We all know smoke.

[Seth Meyers]

Lola is the steam the answer every time.

[Andy Samberg]

No, Lil is the thing.

[Akiva Schaffer]

No, Lola is this type of steam. There's different kinds of Lolas.

[Seth Meyers]

People listening right now are so mad. We got back to saunas as soon as Amy was done.

[Jorma Taccone]

They were like, oh, we were just finally getting some strike stuff.

[Akiva Schaffer]

By the way, can I say, listening to that was the same as watching. Like, I was tearing up hearing her talk about it. It's very emotional, and I felt very sweet and nostalgic.

[Jorma Taccone]

It's. And also, I think, like, you're not doing great. Like, it's too easy.

[Seth Meyers]

You're crying too much.

[Jorma Taccone]

That's Too easy.

[Akiva Schaffer]

Yeah, that's.

[Jorma Taccone]

Yeah. But we love you.

[Seth Meyers]

Well, also. And I know I'm about to do the thing I just criticized you guys for doing. I also feel like the fact that you're crying after being in a sauna where you should be. Everything should be out of you, and yet you're still generating tears.

[Jorma Taccone]

Seth, this is interesting. Cause you just said yhorm is sensitive. Like he came out of a sauna. But I'm curious which sauna.

[Seth Meyers]

Don't do this.

[Andy Samberg]

He doesn't know the other ones.

[Akiva Schaffer]

I'm saying the cedar one. And then there's also one that they. Which is like, anybody can buy it. Bradley Cooper just got one. I don't know if I should put.

[Seth Meyers]

Him on glass like that.

[Andy Samberg]

We should go to his house and use that one.

[Jorma Taccone]

Oh, yeah, let's go there now.

[Seth Meyers]

Boombox Berry. I actually asked. Wait, hang on. We're walking to.

[Jorma Taccone]

Brad, we're walking to Bradley Cooper's house.

[Andy Samberg]

Hey, it's me, Jackson, Maine. Welcome to my house.

[Akiva Schaffer]

I just got out of the sauna.

[Jorma Taccone]

Hey, there you are. Weird that you answered the door in character, Brad, but I mean, Jackson, awesome.

[Seth Meyers]

Philadelphia Eagles Jersey.

[Jorma Taccone]

Can we use your sauna? Is it perhaps the same method they use in hello?

[Andy Samberg]

Yeah, come on in. We don't listen to any EDM here. Only good old country rock.

[Seth Meyers]

Oh, so he's doing. He talks like his character. So Bradley Cooper's still in character.

[Andy Samberg]

Yeah.

[Jorma Taccone]

Yes. And I just want to say this, maybe always worth it to get Keev to rock his Jackson main impression.

[Seth Meyers]

Well, now we're going to take the biggest tangent. Andy hosted the Golden Globes, and I'm still heartbroken to this day. Andy had a bit cut from the Golden Globes. Oh, yeah. He hosted it with Sandra. Oh, it was fantastic. It was the year of a Star is Born. And of course, the thing that Andy most was drawn to in that film is when Jackson, Maine, pisses himself on stage.

[Andy Samberg]

Yeah.

[Jorma Taccone]

At the Grammys.

[Andy Samberg]

Yeah.

[Jorma Taccone]

So fucking dope. So sad and funny at the same time. A very effective scene and one that you have never seen in a movie before, certainly.

[Seth Meyers]

Yep.

[Jorma Taccone]

And so we were gonna do our version of it where Sandra and I would come out and I was dressed like Jackson Payne. And she was like, our next category is bubble. And I would be like, yo, did we win?

[Seth Meyers]

Did we win, baby?

[Jorma Taccone]

And then she's like, oh, no, he's been drinking again. Sandra Beebe, do we win it? Star is born. And then I had a pee rig in my pants and we blocked it. It Was everyone in the. As far as I was concerned, that was working on it in the writing room? We were all very excited about the piece.

[Seth Meyers]

Yeah, yeah.

[Jorma Taccone]

And then the P rig didn't fire at our one rehearsal. And then the network basically killed it. Cause they were like, it's too lowbrow. We don't wanna do that on the globes. And I'm like, yeah, the globes are super high brow. Everyone's drunk and looking at their phone the whole show. They really don't think it's gonna matter.

[Seth Meyers]

Wait, Andy. I will say two things. One, you must have been so mad when the P rig didn't fire the one time you had a chance to show it off.

[Jorma Taccone]

True. Also, I was wearing. They gave me pants that were, like, water resistant. I'm not kidding.

[Seth Meyers]

So you couldn't see.

[Jorma Taccone]

There were, like, khakis that were water resistant. So it didn't show up. And everyone was like, it didn't work. And I was like, well, I'm soaking wet.

[Seth Meyers]

The other thing is, wasn't there a second pee rig? Didn't you pee yourself twice on, like, different sides?

[Jorma Taccone]

I think. Yeah.

[Seth Meyers]

I think you told me that, like, you peed yourself once.

[Jorma Taccone]

Yes.

[Seth Meyers]

And then there was a second rig.

[Andy Samberg]

Oh.

[Jorma Taccone]

And then more was supposed to come.

[Seth Meyers]

Out, but down the different leg. And so then Sandra was like, oh, man.

[Jorma Taccone]

That's like, oh, here comes more.

[Andy Samberg]

Oh, that's real deja vu.

[Seth Meyers]

I like the amount of prep I put into, like, making sure I have a run list of things for us to talk about on this podcast. And the fact that Bradley Cooper maybe, or maybe didn't buy the sauna that Jorm was talking about led us down this path.

[Akiva Schaffer]

Yeah, that's fair. You can check up on that.

[Seth Meyers]

I think Amy and I did cut jokes at Update, which played pretty hot. Like, jokes that had bombed but were funny jokes.

[Andy Samberg]

How do you think people got to come in, like, the audience? That would be a question I would have asked at Polar is like, because the UCB theater, how many people do you think it even fit? 80?

[Seth Meyers]

No more than 80. Probably 200.

[Akiva Schaffer]

Well, and a lot of it was, like, people from the show too. Right.

[Jorma Taccone]

I think some of them were people that worked at snl. Is that what you're saying?

[Akiva Schaffer]

Yeah. Yeah, exactly.

[Seth Meyers]

Yeah. By the way, I think the night raised, like, $1,800.

[Andy Samberg]

Yeah. Cause it's not like they can charge a lot.

[Jorma Taccone]

You don't have to say that.

[Seth Meyers]

I'm just saying, like, because we gave seats away to, like, friends and family. Like, it was Oh, I see.

[Akiva Schaffer]

Yeah.

[Seth Meyers]

The Lonely Island Podcast is supported by Airbnb. Hey, Yorm. Hi. You know how last summer my family and I circumnavigated the globe?

[Akiva Schaffer]

I do. And I was jealous.

[Seth Meyers]

Took a balloon, went around the world. Took somewhere between 79, 81 days. And while I'm doing it, I'm thinking I should Airbnb my place. Right. I would be nuts not to look into it. You know how expensive it is taking a balloon? Just the propane to keep it aloft.

[Akiva Schaffer]

I know you spent an arm and a leg on that trip, and I commend you for wanting to chip away at that nut.

[Seth Meyers]

Of course. Because otherwise you're stressed the whole trip.

[Akiva Schaffer]

Otherwise, you're a fool.

[Seth Meyers]

You. You're a fool. You said. And you're the first to say it. A lot of people don't realize they might have an Airbnb of their own right under their noses. It's a low lift way to make sure you're using the space and even earning some money, your home might be worth more than you think. Find out how [e-mail] host don't be a fool.

[Akiva Schaffer]

Crack that nut.

[Andy Samberg]

Support comes from Rocket Money, but I don't have to tell you that. Yhorm.

[Akiva Schaffer]

No, you don't.

[Andy Samberg]

Now just stop me if you know this already, but most Americans think they spend about $62 per month on subscriptions, but the real number is closer to 300. You didn't stop me. I noticed. So is this new?

[Akiva Schaffer]

I didn't know that, but go ahead.

[Andy Samberg]

Even if just a couple of subscriptions fall off your radar, those recurring payments you don't even know about can really add up. Yhorm. You need to stop me if you already know this stuff.

[Akiva Schaffer]

No, no. I would stop you, believe me.

[Andy Samberg]

What's a subscription you have that you forgot about and then realized you had been just hemorrhaging cash? Just toss one out.

[Akiva Schaffer]

I'm not going to name names, but there was one that was three years of me paying, like, $20 a month. I lost a little money.

[Andy Samberg]

You really need Rocket Money?

[Akiva Schaffer]

I do.

[Andy Samberg]

If you did, you could say something like this next sentence. Thanks to Rocket Money, I'm no longer losing money because of subscriptions I forgot about. Wouldn't that have felt nice? To say that sentence? Yor.

[Jorma Taccone]

Yeah.

[Akiva Schaffer]

After, like, hundreds of dollars? Totally.

[Seth Meyers]

Ugh.

[Andy Samberg]

I just said the sentence. It felt great. Even though for me personally it was a lie. But for you, it was true. I'm very responsible. Rocket Money is a personal finance app that helps Find and cancel your unwanted subscription monitors your spending and helps lower your bills so you can grow your savings. Stop me if this sounds like something you'd want or stop me.

[Akiva Schaffer]

Oh, I will. I will.

[Andy Samberg]

All right. You just say stop right there. Here we go. Here's something you could do. At Rocket Money, you can easily create a personalized budget with custom categories to keep track of your spending every week, every month. See your monthly spending trends in each category to know exactly where your money is going.

[Akiva Schaffer]

Stop it.

[Andy Samberg]

Okay, great.

[Akiva Schaffer]

Stop it, because I love it.

[Andy Samberg]

Okay, good. That makes sense to me. You're still the Yorm I know. If you hadn't stopped me, I'd be like, who is this guy? Rocket Money has over 5 million users and has saved a total of $500 million in canceled subscriptions, saving members up to $740 a year when using all of the app's features.

[Akiva Schaffer]

That's a lot of money to have saved. That's pretty impressive.

[Andy Samberg]

Stop wasting money on things you don't use. Cancel your unwanted subscriptions by going to RocketMoney.com I that's RocketMoney.com Island.

[Seth Meyers]

One thing happened in the show that then was a sketch on snl, which is very telling that the writers all were given a chance to put stuff on its feet that they thought had been given a raw deal. And only one turned out to be good enough to be in the show.

[Akiva Schaffer]

What was in the show?

[Seth Meyers]

Jean. Kay Jean. The first time Jean K. Jean performed, which was Keenan as a French comedian.

[Andy Samberg]

Oh, yeah.

[Seth Meyers]

Written by Tucker. And it crushed Zeus Tallores.

[Akiva Schaffer]

Oh, my God.

[Seth Meyers]

I love.

[Akiva Schaffer]

Oh, yeah. Increable.

[Seth Meyers]

He would say Zeus Tallores. He was like a black French comedian. So it was like basically like a earthquake type character.

[Jorma Taccone]

Yeah, it was like a Def Jam set. But if he was French.

[Seth Meyers]

If he was French, two things.

[Andy Samberg]

Seth. We had made those little short that I guess we'll talk about on the Tina Fey episode, which is the first episode back from the strike. But I had made the little thing called Virginia Horsens. Virginia Horsens with Wiig just before the strike, but it hadn't aired. Cause it was just a little throwaway piece. So we had one piece of tape that no one had ever seen. So we did put it up at this. And then it did air the first show back.

[Seth Meyers]

Great.

[Akiva Schaffer]

Also, Virginia Horson's rewatching at Kyiv is the most I've ever seen a friend of ours act like you. Yeah, there's literally like moves that she does that I'm like, oh, my God, that's So Keeve doing a comedy bit. It's really funny.

[Andy Samberg]

I was just doing it for her. I'm like, it's this guy, you know, and he does this. I was like, make sure your hands are, like, so nervous and sweaty.

[Akiva Schaffer]

And there was some hand gesture that she made that was very. Just two guys, too, where it was like. Just like what?

[Andy Samberg]

To be clear, it's not me in real life. It's a character I do.

[Akiva Schaffer]

Yeah, sure.

[Andy Samberg]

It's my. Just two guys.

[Akiva Schaffer]

I said, you're doing comedy.

[Jorma Taccone]

Yeah. Just like your classic Jackson May.

[Andy Samberg]

Exactly. I'm not gonna do it again. I'm not gonna get goaded into it. It comes when it comes.

[Seth Meyers]

It has to happen authentically. Please.

[Jorma Taccone]

But just, like, what would you say if I asked? Like, hey, where'd you get the sounding?

[Andy Samberg]

I don't do it on demand. I'm not a monkey like you guys. I don't need it.

[Seth Meyers]

Oh, man. Don't make it about what we are and what you're not.

[Akiva Schaffer]

More of a director over here.

[Jorma Taccone]

This guy's in post, you know, he's very directory right now. He's in post.

[Andy Samberg]

Throw on a voice note. Yor.

[Seth Meyers]

Yeah, throw in a voice note.

[Akiva Schaffer]

Okay. I have a voice note from the incomparable Michael Cera, who was the host that evening, and I haven't listened to it yet, so I'm going to cue it up.

[Michael Cera]

Hey, guys, it's Mike. Thank you so much for asking me on the show. I'm going to keep. Try and keep it brief because I'm in a movie theater, my fellow patrons around me. Sorry.

[Andy Samberg]

Wow.

[Michael Cera]

I. I mean, it's 16 years ago that we did this show, but I just remember being so, so delighted and so honored to be asked by Amy Por to do it. She just sent me a text, said, hey, we're doing this, and would you come and do it? And, you know, I had to assume I was the very first person to be asked to do it, so I took it that way, and I was very pleased. Anyway, I'm gonna wrap it up soon, but my memories are. You know, I don't really remember much because it's so long ago, but I had the best night ever. I remember Seth holding the two cards for me and how much. Well, how someone yelled, shut up. Incredible, that scene. And surreal, and it was just so funny. That was, again, obviously, I only just showed up and rehearsed.

[Andy Samberg]

You couldn't get beat up.

[Michael Cera]

I just went right on so you guys could speak. Obviously, much better to what it's like to work at SNL than I could, because that was really the only experience I had doing the show.

[Akiva Schaffer]

All right. That was far better than I thought it was.

[Jorma Taccone]

Oh, my God. Did anyone recognize what the movie sounded like?

[Andy Samberg]

Scream. I mean, not scream. Like speed or something. It had some urgency to it.

[Jorma Taccone]

It might have been like Master and commander.

[Seth Meyers]

Really great. Really funny.

[Jorma Taccone]

It sounded like maybe like a ship at sea under duress. Yeah.

[Andy Samberg]

And people were having to yell to get over the din of a noise.

[Jorma Taccone]

But people were also yelling at him to shut up. Ruining the movie.

[Seth Meyers]

That was really well done.

[Akiva Schaffer]

Well, thank you, Michael. That was lovely.

[Jorma Taccone]

Thanks, Mike.

[Seth Meyers]

Michael was just on my show, and we actually talked about this, and the thing I had forgot was his monologue, because we couldn't write a new monologue for him.

[Jorma Taccone]

Ah, right.

[Seth Meyers]

Was old monologues. And so we had picked monologues that would be funny for him to read. So it was like Snoop Dogg. And I feel like it was Paris Hilton. Paris Hilton. And then the craziest. It was Trump. It was Donald Trump's 2005. Because if you can imagine, in 2007, it was very funny to listen to Michael Cera read the very bombastic, braggadocious intro that Donald Trump had when he had hosted in 05.

[Michael Cera]

It's great to be here at Saturday Night Live. And I'll be completely honest, it's even better for Saturday Night Live that I'm here.

[Andy Samberg]

Should we keep listening to more voice notes?

[Akiva Schaffer]

Yeah, you do one.

[Andy Samberg]

Okay, so here's one from a writer that we've mentioned multiple times, Emily Spivey.

[Jorma Taccone]

That Strike show was so fun because we got to do sketches that didn't air on snl. But the thing I remember most about it was having to write our own cue card. And it felt like an endless herculean nightmare. And I had such a new respect for Wally and the cue card guys after that, because I remember sitting on the floor at UCB with a big marker writing these cue cards, and it just felt like it was never going to end.

[Andy Samberg]

There you go.

[Seth Meyers]

It's funny how writers are so loath to make cuts, but when you were doing your own cue cards, I think it really dawned on you, I might not need this chunk. I think we could cut it, Take this middle out. I'd be like, rule of twos gets it across. Well, I'll say something else about the night. Being together was so much fun. It was way too long. We let every writer pick a sketch. Very few of them crushed. Yeah, we remember the ones that did. There were some real Long, draggy ones.

[Andy Samberg]

Did you have a sketch besides Weekend Update that you chose?

[Seth Meyers]

I did have a sketch and I remember late in the show, I cut it. I said, you know what? I can feel the audience flagging. I'm gonna cut my sketch. And then I went over to a couple other writers and said, hey, what do you think? Should we just cut ours? And I swear to God, not gonna name names. Every one of them said, God, I'd love to get it up on its feet.

[Akiva Schaffer]

Aw.

[Seth Meyers]

I was so, so mad.

[Akiva Schaffer]

No regard for the audience whatsoever.

[Andy Samberg]

I'm gonna ask Jorma this Jorma. Do you remember what we did besides the Virginia Horsens?

[Akiva Schaffer]

Well, I watched at least the half an hour version, which was why I was crying.

[Andy Samberg]

So you got reminded.

[Akiva Schaffer]

But I ran, so that was great.

[Andy Samberg]

And then we had a special guest do the Adam Levine singing parts, which was Nora Jones.

[Jorma Taccone]

Yeah.

[Seth Meyers]

Wow.

[Akiva Schaffer]

Also made me tear up as well, because just honestly, just for the sheer, like, seeing us so young and being like, oh, wow, we've all been friends for so long. It's really sweet.

[Andy Samberg]

And people showing up just to have a nice time.

[Jorma Taccone]

Yorm seeing us at that age, does it make you forgive us?

[Akiva Schaffer]

Oh, man, that's such a.

[Seth Meyers]

There he goes. Complicated Water works.

[Jorma Taccone]

Because I can just say I'm sorry and it's not your fault.

[Andy Samberg]

It's going to get him.

[Jorma Taccone]

Oh, he's falling apart.

[Akiva Schaffer]

Because fuck him, that's why.

[Jorma Taccone]

Fuck him, that's why. Still good.

[Andy Samberg]

How did we know she was game for this kind of stuff? We met her at the show because we had not made incredibad yet. That was the summer to come.

[Jorma Taccone]

Yes. She hadn't recorded Dreamgirl, our album track.

[Andy Samberg]

Yes.

[Jorma Taccone]

I think we bumped into her through mutual friends in New York. Cause she was doing shows in New York and living there.

[Andy Samberg]

Just the nicest. And we couldn't believe she said yes. And it was so nice and cool of her to come do it.

[Jorma Taccone]

It was. And for the Andrew Harry butt line, I believe we put tons of hair glued to Fred's butt.

[Seth Meyers]

Right.

[Jorma Taccone]

And he pulled his pants down in front of everybody. And it was all hairy.

[Andy Samberg]

Yeah, that's right. Maybe just have like a wig back there.

[Jorma Taccone]

Yeah. That's the beauty of doing it live without the cameras is, you know, you can go uncensored, no blurs.

[Seth Meyers]

You can show an actual hairy.

[Jorma Taccone]

But yeah, no blurs, no beeps.

[Akiva Schaffer]

You guys, this is the brilliance of us doing this real time. I now just got a text from Nora Jones of her memories.

[Jorma Taccone]

Oh, exciting.

[Andy Samberg]

It's awesome.

[Nora Jones]

Hey, Yeah, I just remember you guys asked me to be there and sing, and I was really excited, and I always felt kind of like an outsider, and I didn't know anybody well enough to feel completely comfortable, but I was so excited to be there, and I just remember it being really fun. And Yola tango played. And at the end, when you guys all go up to the front to say the goodnights, I was kind of shy, and I think I dipped out because I was embarrassed or something. I don't know why, but I didn't realize that it was such a big deal to do the good Nights. Even though I'd done the show twice. I remember always wanting to be in the back, and everybody pushed me to the front. But I really bummed I missed the goodnights, that's all. At least I think I did.

[Seth Meyers]

I just want you to know, Nora, tears are pouring out of Jorma's eyes right now.

[Andy Samberg]

Thank you, Nora. She's got, obviously, maybe the best podcast voice of anybody, if you imagine a Nora and Amy podcast.

[Seth Meyers]

And, I mean, it was good almost that she was late, because I think everybody would have hated every other voice they heard this episode, including ours.

[Andy Samberg]

That's right.

[Jorma Taccone]

A podcast with Amy, Nora, and you as Jackson, Maine. Now you've got my money.

[Andy Samberg]

Yeah, now you're talking.

[Seth Meyers]

Oh, he did it.

[Jorma Taccone]

Do the first line.

[Andy Samberg]

Oh, yeah. No, I don't take requests.

[Jorma Taccone]

Oh, Miss Girl, do it.

[Seth Meyers]

Yeah, me.

[Jorma Taccone]

Seth did it.

[Andy Samberg]

You're proving that everybody can do it.

[Seth Meyers]

Told you guys.

[Andy Samberg]

It's more of the spirit and joy in which you do it.

[Seth Meyers]

You know, Forte and Wiig do it at karaoke.

[Andy Samberg]

Oh, do they?

[Seth Meyers]

But Forte does the Lady Gaga part.

[Andy Samberg]

Oh, that's nice.

[Jorma Taccone]

That makes sense.

[Seth Meyers]

And just screams, oh, my God.

[Jorma Taccone]

Imagining Will going, ha ha. Doing that whole ride, I was worried.

[Seth Meyers]

My wife was gonna die, she was laughing so hard.

[Andy Samberg]

Sounds great.

[Jorma Taccone]

It's a very fun song to sing. I'm not gonna front.

[Seth Meyers]

Yeah. Maybe we could actually do a reading of my sketch, the one I cut.

[Andy Samberg]

Oh, yeah.

[Seth Meyers]

I don't think it's good, but I do remember it was a Christmas ad. And I think, by the way, the only good part is the beginning, which was, what do you get for the man who has everything? A second penis.

[Andy Samberg]

Oh, wow.

[Seth Meyers]

Which is a joke. My friend Pete Gross once said when we were watching TV and I was like, oh, I'm gonna try to write a sketch about that. So I didn't. Even with the best joke.

[Jorma Taccone]

Maybe the only time in an episode where you had something that was a dick joke and we didn't.

[Seth Meyers]

Yeah. And I will say, sometimes people will say, when I do a Q and A my show, they're like, is there something you wrote at SNL that you wish they'd done? My answer is always no, but there are 10 that I wish we hadn't.

[Akiva Schaffer]

Yeah, that's right.

[Jorma Taccone]

Oh, yeah, that's right.

[Seth Meyers]

Yeah.

[Andy Samberg]

I've got another one. I'm gonna throw up right now.

[Jack McBrayer]

Hey, y'all, this is Jack McBrayer from such things as 30 Rock and this voice message right here. I was talking to Akiva about the UCB live shows we did doing. The writer strike of ours is 2007. The one we did for 30 Rock was November 19, 2007. And I think y'all had actually done yalls before that. I don't remember the exact date. I remember Michael Cera hosted. I remember seeing Will Forte in Gold Lame Question mark. But of course, as I was just a spectator, it was really just so fun to see y'all doing your thing because of the love that y'all had. I always like just, you know, tagging along to all the SNL folks because I got to see y'all doing your phenomenal job. And I was telling Akiva, I got to see how the sausage was made without having to actually make the sausage. And so that was always such a fun thing for me to witness. And, yeah, y'all were just a hustling. There was just love for what you were doing. You know, it felt kind of scrappy, all these network TV people who had clearly succeeded. I mean, you were at the pinnacle of what, comedy, and then you were able to just, like, get down and dirty in an improv theater basement. And all the proceeds were helping out people who had become unemployed. So I thought that was very special. I was honored that I got to be a part of that. And, yeah, let's hope we don't have to do that again. All right, I hope this is helpful, y'all. I'll talk to y'all later.

[Akiva Schaffer]

Bye. Can I just say something real quick?

[Seth Meyers]

Yeah.

[Akiva Schaffer]

Don't be fooled. Anyone who's listening to this podcast, Jack McBride is a fucking asshole. Okay, Bad guy.

[Seth Meyers]

Classic bad guy, if you ask anyone in the know. Bad guy.

[Andy Samberg]

The Will Forte one to someone just very. I don't wanna ruin his. The truth is, he could still use that bit. Oh, you have a forte one. Why don't you play the forte voice note as a reply to this voice note?

[Seth Meyers]

Okay, great.

[Andy Samberg]

This is like an oral history, guys.

[Seth Meyers]

Yeah.

[Akiva Schaffer]

Okay, here it is.

[Andy Samberg]

I Don't really have any major memories from the Strike Show. Oh, boy, here we go. That was it. Thank you.

[Jorma Taccone]

I didn't.

[Akiva Schaffer]

It's the first time I listened.

[Seth Meyers]

This is a poorly sequenced oral history. Yeah, I like it. I remember it. He auditioned with it. He plays one of those robotic gold men that would sort of in Times.

[Jorma Taccone]

Square, spray paint themselves gold.

[Seth Meyers]

Spray paint themselves gold. He auditioned with it and it was one of those things that when I saw it, I thought, oh, no, he's so much funnier than I am. It's amazing.

[Andy Samberg]

There was a moment where there was four or five just white guys with brown hair who were brand new and you were one of them.

[Seth Meyers]

Yeah.

[Andy Samberg]

That was a little tricky for you guys when no one knew the difference between Sudeikis, Hader, Forte, Seth.

[Seth Meyers]

It was a tough time to be one of the brown hairs. Yeah, it was a tough time.

[Jorma Taccone]

You left me out of that.

[Andy Samberg]

I left out because your hair was big.

[Seth Meyers]

Yeah. But then Hader and Sudeikis had a. I remember once one of my fake pitches on Monday was that the three of you were doctors and it was called Shaggy MDs.

[Andy Samberg]

Right. They were a little shaggy too.

[Seth Meyers]

They were a little shaggy. Can I just say another thing about two things that are both wedding related? Forte we've talked about gave a speech at my rehearsal dinner and then Andy's rehearsal dinner is Hamilton.

[Jorma Taccone]

Yeah.

[Seth Meyers]

And we only showed a little clip of it on my show one time because the rest of it's so inappropriate.

[Jorma Taccone]

Yes.

[Seth Meyers]

And that clip, just this week, somebody posted it on TikTok and it's been making the rounds.

[Andy Samberg]

I saw it.

[Seth Meyers]

Uh, oh, but again, it's fine. We showed it on NBC, so it's fine. But.

[Jorma Taccone]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Seth Meyers]

Alexi, my lovely bride said you should really read the comics because it's well edited by our wedding video company. It cuts back and forth from forte to she and I laughing. And she said most of the comments are about how nice I look and how you're just wearing your shitty show sweater.

[Jorma Taccone]

So nothing to do with fortune.

[Seth Meyers]

It's so funny. I'm like, I bet there's some. I bet my comments are different, by the way.

[Jorma Taccone]

Couldn't be a better result.

[Seth Meyers]

No, good result. A good result for the comments. And. And you really can hear you. And Hayter and Sudeikis are three very audible laughs that you can hear. And then the other wedding thing, I'll say that Jack McBrair in just a couple weeks is going to officiate my brother's wedding.

[Akiva Schaffer]

Oh, that's gotta Be a good wedding.

[Seth Meyers]

You ask for a better person to just be the voice of which love will be discussed. I really, truly can.

[Andy Samberg]

That's a great choice.

[Seth Meyers]

Yep. All right. Do we have another?

[Andy Samberg]

Yeah, I've got one from SNL's own Fred. Let's see what he said. I did not listen to this. Here we go.

[Seth Meyers]

Hey.

[I]

I'm recording from baggage claim in Istanbul, so apologies for all the background noise. What I remember from the UCB strike show is, first of all, that it was really exciting. And I remember it had been quite a few weeks since the strike started, so it was felt really good to perform. And I remember Amy Poehler organized a lot of it. And then I remember, I think the cold open was I played someone representing the amptp and it was written for me. So it was one of those things. It's almost like when someone writes a political sketch. Like, it's something that I don't know how to do. I don't know how to write that way. I remember Yola Tengo was the musical guest, and that was really cool. And then I also remember, I think we all did our makeup, meaning I have, like, a memory of having, like, you know, spirit gum or glue and, like, you know, fake mustaches and stuff. And everyone's sort of helping each other do that kind of thing.

[Seth Meyers]

Did we have.

[I]

I know we had wigs, but I don't know how we did that or did we not have wigs? That's the part I don't remember.

[Akiva Schaffer]

I don't.

[I]

There's a lot I don't remember from it, but it was really fun and really exciting and. Hi, I hope this works.

[Akiva Schaffer]

Did you guys watch the video at all?

[Jorma Taccone]

I saw a little.

[Akiva Schaffer]

Yeah, because I don't remember this, but when he's talking about do your own makeup, I don't remember doing this, but there's a shot of me putting spirit gum on. On Fred's butt for.

[Andy Samberg]

Oh, for the hairy butt?

[Akiva Schaffer]

Yeah, yeah, for the hairy butt. But I don't remember Butch is putting so sticking hair onto his butt.

[Andy Samberg]

So, you know when Fred's talking about that, he played the AMPTP president in some sort of a spoof of him. I just had a memory that I shot a whole video. Was it for the wga? Do you remember this, Seth?

[Seth Meyers]

I'm sure, yeah.

[Andy Samberg]

Of Fred as that guy. And it was like a industrial or something. And it was for the wga.

[Seth Meyers]

He did it on Update right before the strike, which is, I will say, shout out to. You know, it was him basically saying, NBC Is bad. And we did it on the show.

[Akiva Schaffer]

Yeah, that's pausing. You have to.

[Jorma Taccone]

That's what SNL's for.

[Seth Meyers]

That's what SNL's For. And for those who don't know, he's also in. He's in Istanbul. He's currently on the lam. I feel like we should say that.

[Andy Samberg]

Yeah.

[Akiva Schaffer]

What is he doing there?

[Seth Meyers]

He's just on the lam. He's on the lamp, FYI.

[Akiva Schaffer]

Yeah, I get it.

[Seth Meyers]

Yeah. Actually check out Fred's tour dates because if you are in Europe right now, Fred is doing some shows and some kick ass places.

[Akiva Schaffer]

I wonder if he'll come to Hill.

[Jorma Taccone]

So, yeah, Maggie Carey filmed the whole night and we were able to see a little bit of it. And the thing that struck me immediately was how exactly of the moment the music was. So like the first song is Silver Sun Pickups. And then it goes straight into clap your hand, say yeah. And I was just like, fuck, these songs are great. Oh, it's taking me back.

[Akiva Schaffer]

But that's also why I was so emotional because they're very manipulative.

[Jorma Taccone]

Like, oh my God, I remember those songs had just come out, so it was like the coolest shit you could ever. It was just making me laugh.

[Seth Meyers]

But you're still like on. Your finger's still on the pulse of music if that's still the only thing you listen to. Right? Yeah, Like I'm still a cool guy.

[Andy Samberg]

Yeah. It didn't do nostalgia for you, Seth. Cause that's what your ipod playlist is when you're jogging.

[Seth Meyers]

No, I'm still like, you know, when I see like the youths at the park, I'm always like, have you been listening to Clap your.

[Jorma Taccone]

Seth? This is what I always say. A good song is always a good song. And that includes songs that are goofs. Oh, yeah, like fake songs.

[Seth Meyers]

Yeah, fake goof songs.

[Andy Samberg]

Yeah.

[Jorma Taccone]

They don't lose their worth.

[Seth Meyers]

They don't lose their words.

[Akiva Schaffer]

Sometimes. Sometimes those are even better than real songs.

[Jorma Taccone]

You could argue they're better. Thanks for saying that, Jorm.

[Seth Meyers]

We're also talking about a video that we will. I think Shoemaker will give us permission to share. Shoemaker just took like a two minute video backstage that I sent to you guys today. And it's really crazy because he really just sort of walks through this tiny little like storage closet of backstage where everybody's getting ready for the show. And it's pretty amazing because we were never for everything SNL is. It's never that. It's never DIY with the rest writers and Cast.

[Jorma Taccone]

Yeah.

[Akiva Schaffer]

I teared up watching it.

[Andy Samberg]

I mean, our shorts were in the beginning. If you've been paying attention to the.

[Jorma Taccone]

Podcast, we're teared up.

[Andy Samberg]

You got Jormi.

[Seth Meyers]

Got Jormus. Really? I do not think Finland is a fit for yhorm.

[Akiva Schaffer]

I don't know, man. I don't know.

[Andy Samberg]

He hasn't seen his family.

[Jorma Taccone]

Yhorm's molecules are just vibrating, y'all.

[Akiva Schaffer]

It's gotta come out.

[Jorma Taccone]

The guy is channeling.

[Seth Meyers]

Who do we got next?

[Akiva Schaffer]

The next one I got is a writer who was there that evening and a very accomplished young man, even at the time, had probably written 14 books or something. This is Simon Rich.

[Jorma Taccone]

I remember the audience was completely on our side.

[Seth Meyers]

Like, a lot of them were our friends. They were really supportive of our strike. Like, they could not be more aligned with us in every way. And still my sketch only played. Okay. That's what I'm saying.

[Andy Samberg]

A perfect memory.

[Seth Meyers]

That's what I'm saying.

[Jorma Taccone]

Seth, was he one of the ones that was like. I'd really like to see it. Okay.

[Seth Meyers]

Everything I know about Simon, who is truly one of the great cutters of all time. Like, Simon would cut a sketch from dress to air from like, 10 pages to two.

[Akiva Schaffer]

Yeah.

[Seth Meyers]

I was gonna say there's no way as an editor. And if you've ever read any of Simon's books, like, they are so precise. There's no fat on the bone. And so I think if I'd gone to Simon, he would have happily cut his sketch. Got it.

[Jorma Taccone]

Well, good on him.

[Seth Meyers]

Good on him is fright. But I'm glad that his memory is mine as well, which is like. It wasn't like, super.

[Akiva Schaffer]

Ke. You got another one.

[Andy Samberg]

This is my last one. Harper Steele, a Late Night with Seth Meyers recent guest.

[Seth Meyers]

Here's what I remember. Everyone wrote original sketches for the UCB Live Strike Show. The air was filled with electricity.

[Jorma Taccone]

Oh.

[Seth Meyers]

I, on the other hand, submitted a sketch that I had already written that actually had already aired on SNL because I was lazy. Turd.

[Andy Samberg]

Well, her memory's not exactly right. Cause we did not do original stuff.

[Seth Meyers]

Right?

[Akiva Schaffer]

Yeah, we weren't allowed to.

[Seth Meyers]

I do now wanna go back and see what Harper submitted.

[Jorma Taccone]

Was it the gynecologist one?

[Seth Meyers]

I can't remember.

[Akiva Schaffer]

It might have been. It had that vibe.

[Jorma Taccone]

Also, did we kind of undermine what we said about no new writing by acknowledging that Fred did a whole intro as the exec?

[Seth Meyers]

I think that's within the bounds of what you were like. He wrote it for the show and not for Television.

[Jorma Taccone]

There you go.

[Andy Samberg]

That is true. You are allowed to go write a play.

[Seth Meyers]

When Harper and Will were on the show, we talked about a second chance theater, Unicorn Mountain. And this was a sketch they wrote together on SNL that they want to do the next time we do second chance theater on a show. And the idea was each of them would write half of a sketch, and Will wrote the first half, gave it to Harper, Harper wrote the second half, but Will had no idea what the second half was until I just realized.

[Akiva Schaffer]

That that's why I was doing it with Jost, because Harper had told me that she did that, and I was like, that's a great idea. I want to do that.

[Seth Meyers]

And it was. The whole first five minutes was Will wrote a song for a kid's show called Unicorn Mountain. That's all about how it's a wonderful place where all the unicorns play and frolic and their magic. And then it hard cut to the Next, like, episode 21 of Unicorn Mountain, and it was just Tracy Morgan and someone else eating a unicorn carcass and talking about how it had been so easy to cat. So keep an eye out for that, anybody who. Do we have more?

[Andy Samberg]

That's all my notes.

[Akiva Schaffer]

I think I'm tapped out.

[Seth Meyers]

I have a special one, you guys. Ooh. I reached out to Lauren.

[Akiva Schaffer]

Oh.

[Seth Meyers]

You know, I remember being very upset about the timing of the strike because, you know, I was really vibing with the Lonely island at the time. I was sort of the fourth. The unofficial fourth. You know, Dick in a Box was my idea.

[Jorma Taccone]

Wait.

[Andy Samberg]

Okay.

[Seth Meyers]

But I told them to keep that to themselves, you know, because. And it was good. It was good.

[Andy Samberg]

Okay.

[Seth Meyers]

All right.

[Akiva Schaffer]

It kind of trailed off, so I'm.

[Jorma Taccone]

Not, like, 100% sure that was Lauren.

[Andy Samberg]

You didn't really talk about the strike show either. You got a little on a tangent there.

[Akiva Schaffer]

Yeah.

[Seth Meyers]

Yeah. Maybe when I asked him to do it, I didn't quite understand what exactly it was supposed to be.

[Andy Samberg]

Got it. It was the wrong prompt.

[Jorma Taccone]

So does anyone have a guess as to who was doing their lorn there?

[Andy Samberg]

Yeah, I think Seth was hard to say.

[Jorma Taccone]

Do you think it was Seth?

[Andy Samberg]

Yeah, I think it was Seth.

[Jorma Taccone]

I tend to agree, Keith.

[Andy Samberg]

Yeah, that's just my theory.

[Jorma Taccone]

That was a special one for sure.

[Andy Samberg]

Yeah, that was very special.

[Jorma Taccone]

You didn't lie.

[Andy Samberg]

I didn't know we were allowed to get goofy on here.

[Akiva Schaffer]

I like the idea of Lauren vibing with anyone.

[Seth Meyers]

What gave it away? Dudes, I can't wait.

[Jorma Taccone]

Oh, God.

[Seth Meyers]

Well, I want to say that I remember I would pick it every day. And then there was a place in the West Village that I would go sometimes with Polar, and I would have, like, a ham and cheese quiche and a glass of red wine. And then I would just go back to my apartment and sleep. Like, it was a pretty depressing time. But then I would wake up and we would go out really late.

[Andy Samberg]

Yeah.

[Seth Meyers]

And that wasn't the worst thing in the world.

[Jorma Taccone]

Yes. But also, everyone felt bad.

[Andy Samberg]

We.

[Seth Meyers]

We all felt bad.

[Akiva Schaffer]

Okay, wait, this is the season, though, that the last eight shows or so did come back. Is that correct?

[Andy Samberg]

Correct.

[Seth Meyers]

That is correct.

[Akiva Schaffer]

Okay. Because the reason I don't remember hanging out with you guys at all is because I was. I was doing Land of the Lost, so I was dressed as a little monkey boy during this whole period. I don't know how they must have gotten in. And I asked Lauren if it was okay because it was during the strike. And then that's why I missed the last eight episodes of the season. So when we come back to do new episodes of that movie has a.

[Jorma Taccone]

Scene in it that is one of the hardest things I've ever laughed at, though, when Feral's convinced that they have to dump the dinosaur piss on themselves so it won't track them, and then it immediately starts burning all their eyes or something.

[Akiva Schaffer]

Yeah. And he keeps saying, ooh, that's early mornin stuff.

[Andy Samberg]

Oh, yeah, that is good.

[Jorma Taccone]

Ooh, yeah, that's early morning Stone.

[Akiva Schaffer]

He dozes himself again.

[Jorma Taccone]

Oh, my God.

[Akiva Schaffer]

There's a funny start of that movie.

[Seth Meyers]

Land of the Lost. Available wherever you get your movies.

[Jorma Taccone]

Yeah. And then it immediately. It doesn't work right. The dinosaur immediately.

[Akiva Schaffer]

Oh, immediately.

[Jorma Taccone]

Immediately he's attracted to it. Like, oh, God, now we're covering all this piss.

[Seth Meyers]

How many hours did it take you to get into makeup for that movie, Jorm?

[Akiva Schaffer]

It was three and a half hours to get into the Chaka makeup. I have some really funny photos of me just wearing the head and, like, just buck naked underneath. I also did receive Irazzi nomination for my performance. And one thing that I'm bummed about that happened is that I was trying to get myself credited as Jermac Pacione in that movie. And my manager said, that's the dumbest idea I've ever heard. And then after I got the Razzie nomination, I was like, well, now.

[Jorma Taccone]

Oh, yeah, it would have been great if it just said Jermac Pacconi. Razzie.

[Akiva Schaffer]

That's not me. I don't know who that is.

[Jorma Taccone]

That's not me.

[Seth Meyers]

That's not me.

[Jorma Taccone]

Didn't you just get a Razzie nom. No, it' Check the name.

[Seth Meyers]

Jermac Pawnee.

[Jorma Taccone]

Yeah. That's some Jermac guy.

[Akiva Schaffer]

I don't even know.

[Seth Meyers]

Landon lost. These are the cast listed in order. Will Ferrell, Anna Friel, Danny McBride, Norma Taccone, Matt Lauer. True story.

[Andy Samberg]

Oh, there it is. Great.

[Akiva Schaffer]

Yeah.

[Seth Meyers]

All right.

[Andy Samberg]

Well, let's end it on that.

[Seth Meyers]

Anyway, we are going to come back and we do four shows in a row and they're four very different digital shorts. Show shows the breadth of what you guys do. Very excited to get into it. I love you guys.

[Akiva Schaffer]

Same here. Sad.

[Seth Meyers]

All right.

[Andy Samberg]

Love you.

[Jorma Taccone]

Love you guys.