Space Olympics

Hey, everybody.

I don't know if cold opens are appropriate for podcasts, but just before we all hit record, Jorm said he had a great story about medieval times.

I was there.

I don't know if it's a great story.

I think it was a good time.

We, it was Annie's birthday.

We all went.

I think it was like, what, six of us?

I don't know how many it was.

We had our own little table.

We've had mutton, probably.

I can't remember what else we had.

We really cheered our hearts out for Azul.

That was my favorite night.

I loved Azul.

You remember the name of one of the nights?

That's impressive.

Yeah, it's amazing what I do and don't remember, guys.

He didn't remember if it was a birthday or how many people, but he knew Azul.

I just remember screaming Azul at the top of my lungs and pounding on the cutlery.

You could get like pots.

Things came in pots and pounding on things.

And everyone kept saying, stop.

There was a lot of mead.

Where do you feel like this is as far as a good story, Andy?

Well, I got pretty drunk, and then I stole a princess hat from the gift shop, and then I jumped on someone's car in the parking lot, as I recall.

Remembering.

Now I feel like you're just making stuff up.

No, that all happened.

I can vouch for this.

Oh, this is real?

Yeah, that'll happen.

Also, they give you a picture of your group, and then they come over at the end to make sure that you want to pay for it.

And I was like, I don't have it anymore.

So you clearly have the picture.

We were like 22 and broke, and we went out there.

And whatever like volume, whatever decibel level you're supposed to yell to like root on your knight, Azul, your picture double all the time.

We're all like, yeah, Azul.

And your

hurting.

That's why he's remembering people coming over to tell him to take it down and they're like, whoa, whoa, whoa, the horses are going to get scared.

So you were behaving as a modern human in a way that was inappropriate for medieval times.

That's right.

You could say that.

Where famously almost everything went.

Everything was a lie.

Yeah.

No, no, no.

Dead didn't fly at medieval times.

Yeah.

Well, I don't know if this bodes well for the future of cold opens on the pod.

I think Joram panicked once it was teed up that he was going to tell a good story and he told all of the parts out of order and not with any particular Aplom.

I worry with you guys that my time is limited.

So I try to give him

I got 45 seconds to impress everybody with my drunkenness.

It was a little bit like we were like, all right, plot of Michael Clayton.

You have 30 seconds and then we're pulling your mic.

He's a lawyer.

He's a lawyer.

He has a briefcase.

Oh boy, that's not important.

Can I take a stab at it, Yorm?

Fine.

It was my 20, let's say, second birthday, and I wanted to go to Medieval Times.

And we all went as a big group.

and the last thing I remember is Yorma in a princess hat that he stole from the gift shop standing in the parking lot as slow traffic went out of the parking lot screaming at the top of his lungs,

probably a Zul as well.

He fucking won.

It went from us being like, let's go to Medieval Times.

That'll be a lark to that image that I will never forget.

Okay.

Well, one of my friends once decided after a long night of drinking, we were at a restaurant that had a neon World Cup 94 sign

and he decided he was going to steal it.

You need it.

And we were like, don't steal it.

And he put it under his coat and walked out.

And I would say what he looked like to the people who worked there was a guy with a giant neon sign under his coat with a cord dragging behind him.

And they

called the cops and he ran out of the restaurant and then up we were in Chicago, up the stairs to the L and was waiting for his train.

And then he would have a good escape and two cops walked up and like in the history of being a cop it was just clearly the easiest nab of all time it's like hey hey you you're you're under arrest and he's like yeah

it would be like if they put him in the lineup with like four other guys and they're like okay so who was it and only one of them had a giant neon sign with the cord hanging off stuffed under his jacket's honestly just that i think you should leave sketch he did and he's dressed like a hot dog i don't know what you're talking about

I've been framed.

I think it was that guy.

I think it was the other guy.

This guy asked me to hold this, Neon son.

All right, so Space Olympics, I don't have to tell you guys, not historically the biggest hit off Incredibad.

A lot of songs off Incredibad are going to land with a great deal more fanfare when they become shorts.

Yet it's the first one you decide to do for the season premiere of SNL.

Is it because Phelps is the host?

Yes.

With a bullet.

Yes.

1 million percent.

Like there's no part of us that was like, Space Olympics is one of our best ones that we have to lead with.

We were like, oh, shit.

Well, season premiere, guys.

We got to bring it.

No, the best thing about this, there's so many great things.

He's barely in it.

So?

It's not like you make it about him.

Right.

You almost have to, as a viewer, do the work of, oh, I bet they did this because he was there.

Even people who don't know how TV works were probably like, and then he didn't have time to do the pre-tape.

Yeah.

It excuses it.

Very much so.

It was an Olympic-themed episode.

And here's a

Olympic-themed episodes are interesting because you think during the Summer Olympics that it will be the biggest, it is the biggest story in the world.

And then by September, when the show premieres, it's kind of already not.

Well, that's an interesting thing for you to say specifically with me around after doing our pole vaulter bit this year.

Well, still, we built in that it was late.

The whole premise was that it was too late.

Yeah, that was.

Well, the whole premise was about his giant, giant, giant, giant dog.

Yeah.

Phelpsy came in, hosted.

And also, I remember sitting in that house that we talked about at length during the Incredibest episodes.

You played Space Olympics for me, Andy, and I laughed so hard that I was wheezing.

Now, it is a certain kind of song that I love a great deal, which is it's a lot about logistics and big singing about small things.

And again, I keep tipping, I wish it would rain.

It is the same thing, kind of.

Yeah.

Almost a waste of time.

Strained, weird singing.

I will say Space Olympics was very much a solo joint.

Yeah, it was.

It was.

I love that beat.

It's another Drew Campbell beat, and I immediately was like, I just love the melody of this and the futurism of it.

I wrote, I think, a good deal of it before anyone even took a a look at it, Keevin Yorm-wise.

And I think it shows

the one thing looking back on it that I really am shocked by and shocked that people don't have more of a problem with is there's like 30 to 40 seconds of vamping vocals at the top, like not even words.

I was shocked by what I would consider almost dead air

in the video.

Yeah.

And I'd attribute it to you were writing the song based on the music, everything you just said, not thinking necessarily about a video at all.

No.

So it was like, oh, wow, we're free of thinking about videos and thinking about the audience.

We're finally alone in Encino, getting to just make art and make our music.

And it's going to be, you know, our funny music, but it's, it's for the album experience.

And you really feel that when you're watching this short, because boy, oh boy, there's vamping.

There's even moments though where you're not.

There's no vocal.

You're just music playing and shots of you kind of moving around.

Yep, just kind of grooving.

I love that you're bringing this up, Keeve.

Andy, now respond to that.

Was that how you felt about it?

That this was just like, fucking love this meat, let this shit ride.

I'm making art.

I mean, I know we talked about it at the time.

I'm sure I played it and Akiva was like, it seems like a lot of dead air at the top.

And I was like, I know.

And being like,

I think that fact in like an anti-comedy way was funny to me.

I don't think it's something we didn't think.

Okay.

All right.

So not art, but a different kind of joke.

No, we knew.

We were like, what is going to be on screen during these long gaps gaps between jokes?

Yes.

It may have been though that the build just needed that build though.

You know, it just maybe needed that.

Can I just say one thing?

Because Andy brought up that he oftentimes was very late to get up.

Out of the three of us, he is the late riser usually.

But I feel like this one was one that I remember walking into our little shitty room that we made all our music in.

And he was like, I was halfway through.

Like one of those, like, oh.

He got this idea and woke up at 7 a.m.

That's how he's like, I got to get it down.

I got to lay down.

It may have been 10, but yeah.

In the world of music, I don't think this just applies to comedy music.

Being a late riser does not make you the least productive.

Oh, no.

That's true.

I was on fucking fire during our making of this album.

I came up with so many song ideas just sitting in there fucking around.

It could have been three in the morning, too.

Maybe I walked in late afternoon doing something.

Being like, oh, shit, this guy's on fire.

I was so geeked that we finally were getting to make an album.

Yeah.

It was a good test.

Some of the visuals that we get in the long opening vamp.

I mean, you do yell Reach for the stars pretty early.

Right.

Which is a hilarious joke.

We see you, and there is a moment where the audience laughs at your look.

Yep.

You have white hair.

It's a very good wig.

Very good.

You're sashed, good outfit.

You're out by City Field, right?

Yeah.

We're at the old Men in Black stomping grounds.

Yeah.

So you're having fun on this app.

But like, there's a laugh and then it's so much vamping that by the time you actually start singing, people have become completely used to you and they don't think there's anything anything funny about your look anymore.

No, they're just now in the world.

It's world building, really.

Yeah.

Is it twice as funny in the last minute when jokes are coming fast and that it had a slow burn?

Because you kind of...

You don't give up on the sketch.

I wouldn't say that.

But you kind of are, you're kind of lulled into something.

And then it ends so strong in the last minute with all the twists and turns and rapid fire of what's canceled and all the logistics that it is.

Maybe there's some magic to the fact that it's kind of spongy at the beginning, let's say.

I don't know.

It's pretty spongy.

It is a very inspirational song about the Space Olympics.

Andy yells out.

Skyline of red plateaus, strange air and vegetation.

You're a winner.

Welcome to the Space Olympics.

He yells out, you're a winner, before he said that it's a song about the Space Olympics.

So you're just trying to understand what.

You're like, okay, weird space guy.

Yeah.

Skyline of red plateaus.

That's a very Andy line.

And then he's just like, you're a winner.

And you're like, okay.

Yeah.

Then he goes, welcome to the Space Olympics.

He's got one of those really nice Andy lines.

Your name echoes in the halls of the universe.

Feels like it's a couple syllables too long, but you make it work.

I love that.

Oh, yeah.

Had to.

I mean, if it's so bad, Keeve, how come it's Phil Lord and Chris Miller and Seth Meyer's favorite digital short?

I'm not even saying it's bad.

I'm saying maybe there's a magic to it.

You're just saying you hate it.

And I should say, I laughed when I heard it.

I liked it less when I saw it.

exactly i made slightly uncomfortable in moments where i'm like we're not fully in control necessarily what seth just said i think is it because when you are just listening on an album experience you can just vibe out on the cool music and on where's this going there's something about having to stare you in the eyes while you're waiting for it to happen that is more uncomfortable well i think that that's a testament to like in watching it i'm like oh i forgot how many stupid like fire and like shocking like what lightning comes out of his fingertips and and you're just like, because nothing's happening.

You just like put a bunch of extra shit in there.

Be like, maybe this is entertaining.

I was impressed with how many extra visual things you added.

Like, the shot that is just emoting and performing that you made into a shot of him blocking tons of missiles that have nothing to do with the story.

I feel like I did a lot of that stuff.

Yeah, that might be.

Oh, you did.

All right.

Well, then I love that.

Yeah, I did a lot of that.

Yeah.

I would say first verse establishes there's a Space Olympics.

Yeah.

Yeah.

And that it's the year 3022.

Second verse is the rules of the Space Olympics, and it is immediately, they are not grand at all.

I liked the cutaways to the junior suite so much.

I was really surprised we didn't get one of the mini bar because that's a big deal.

That's very, very

normal-looking.

Junior suite.

I believe one shot of Philips is you screaming in his ear.

It's the motherfucking Space Olympics.

Yep, that sounds right.

Yeah, one shot.

One shot.

Then, third versus now, at first, it was just kind of bad.

Now, stuff's going wrong.

That's my favorite line.

Yeah, I just like the details of that.

Well, then they start canceling events.

Space Disc is totally cancelled.

Space Swords is totally cancelled.

Space Loosh is also cancelled.

And all other events are banning.

Welcome to your space.

I mean, there's a premise there.

I think Key would like it if it was twice as fast.

Yeah.

I don't dislike it.

It's just a little middling to me.

I think that that gives it anarchy.

And that's why maybe Phil and Chris, maybe what's appealing to them about it is that there's a sense of anarchy to it.

I think.

I'm sorry.

This is Phil and Chris's favorite.

Why don't you just admit that you hate it and that you hate me?

Hold on.

Is that true?

For real?

Just admit to me finally that you hate me and you hate the song.

Just admit both.

All I know is Phil and Chris better be getting a phone call about a voice note.

Yeah.

This is even more shocking than the call for punch me in the jeans.

So they're running out of oxygen.

Do you think he's talking about his sins in relation to what he did by creating Olympics in Space or other sins that have been not named in the song?

I was reading it that what he has done to sort of throw the space Olympics into chaos, those were his sins.

And hitting the self-destruct.

Yeah.

And also he had made the accounting errors.

Right.

And you did the most Andy face of like, all of a sudden you were definitely Andy and not that dude.

Yeah.

Maybe, maybe messed up the books.

Got it.

The last couplet, though, is shocking and resonates more than anything.

Do you remember the end of it?

It's the craziest left turn.

Oh, you mean that it goes into a Dustin Timberlake song?

Yeah.

Oh, yeah.

You do it for my love.

My love.

And there ain't no woman that can take yours back, my love.

And then he realized as he was writing it, I remember just being like, you know what, this melody says a lot.

Like, just intimidate.

Yeah.

All of a sudden that this has been a love song to someone.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah.

I guess.

Space Olympic song about just all about logistics of Space Olympics, but it turned out that you had written it to a woman and you wanted to let them know that no one could take it.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

And luckily we knew Justin and it wasn't a problem to say that.

i mean we never cleared it or asked we just did oh fuck we're gonna get fucked if he listens to this very funny to me he's not gonna listen to this

i'd like to remembering that we didn't build a single set that we made an entire short set in outer space and didn't do anything we did build one set which one the very end spaceship is is a flat in front of a green screen ah let me pull that up really yeah wow we had some money with the aliens and everything kee oh oh oh yeah you're right all right take it back we built one set but like all the stuff of like everyone wandering around through the catacombs of the spaceship with all the wires that's just the floor of 30 rock that we did nothing to it was just under construction it was just a construction that's all just like the ethernet and stuff of them trying to figure out how to build a new floor at 30 rock it was perfect for this guy's version of the space olympics like it's like everything's not good yeah it's no falling apart spaceship and then all the other things yes is just in the bronx at that place where they did the world's fair and then we just, did we put blue screen behind Andy when he's standing in the ones where it is stuff?

Or did we just put sky behind him and roto out the sky?

I bet we did blue screen there, right?

Just like knocked it all out.

I mean, it doesn't look like we spend a shitload of time.

The thing that's interesting about it to me is, and I remember thinking of this at the time, is some of the shots to me as a sci-fi person look fucking awesome.

Yeah.

Like the one of me that I'm on like some metal planet thing and there's like a really legit stock footage spaceship above me.

Yeah.

You do it for like two seconds twice, but the comping on it to me looks totally good and legit for what we were doing.

Right.

But it's because there's a straight line.

I'm looking at that shot right now.

And it's that that thing just exists, that giant old fountain.

You're in a fountain.

Yes.

And it's empty.

And so there was a straight line on the edge of the fountain.

So we just shot it locked off.

And then we could just draw a line at the top of the fountain.

And so it's just a split screen between that stock shot and you.

Yeah.

It was cool.

Yeah.

Works.

And I thought all the the World's Fair stuff looked really cool, too.

That's true.

The World's Fair stuff just looks cool because that's just real shots with that stuff in the background.

It's cool.

Is that just Rosie?

Were we just shooting with Rosie on that one by that point?

Yeah.

Yeah.

We had not graduated to outside of SNL people, really.

Anyway, I thought everyone did a great job.

I was surprised when there were people, I didn't think it sucked.

I think it's good, but I was surprised when some people were like, it was also two other writers not from SNL, Pete Hike and Alex Gregory, but I remember Pete Hike being like, if that's what your elbow's like, sign me up.

Like as if it was dick in a box around a boat or something.

So there is a certain type of person that, again, I think it's the anarchy of it.

And this may be the slow burn into all the jokes at the end.

Yeah.

I do not just like disagree with you, Andy, but I do want to have everyone hear that Andy said, Ellie, I thought some of it looked really great.

And then have people go watch it.

Just go watch Space Olympics.

Yeah.

And then see if you thought it looked really great.

Well, some of it looks really bad.

I mean, the completion of the thought is, and then some of the shots look very, very clearly like lo-fi shitty green screen and takes you out of it.

If it all looked incredible, maybe that would be a joke unto itself that we spent all of that time and energy on making it look like a real sci-fi movie and the song is so fucking meandering.

Yeah, maybe.

But also the homemade feeling Tim Nerokey kind of vibe is not bad for it either.

No, I think it protects it.

So we will say it's not criterion, but it's best of sci-fi Olympics.

That's a category.

We've got Kim's video, sci-fi Olympics.

On the YouTube clip, there's a lot of interesting ones.

Sam Jones something something says, this is top five.

The lack of an audience reaction actually makes it better because they are in shock.

I remember watching live with my mouth agape, enjoying every single second.

It's just absolute perfection.

Thank you, Lonely Eye.

Oh, my God.

Thank you, Sam Jones.

I think Andy did okay considering the fact he was one man trying to host an intergalactic sporting event.

That's got 1800 likes.

I mean, I tend to agree.

There's another one from five years ago.

I love that they just kind of let Andy Samberg do whatever he wanted and then aired it.

Yeah.

So there is a feeling.

That's the anarchy I'm getting at.

They can tell they know there's no oversight.

It is so funny to think of you having to go to Lauren's office and be like, it's the Space Olympics approved.

That's what I mean.

Like the fact that you can sense you're you're getting something that's been unfiltered, I think is part of what makes it good.

Yeah, I agree with that.

Sure.

I mean, it's also hilarious.

This was the first one where we were like.

We had the whole summer to make stuff and polish it and make sure it was really good.

Not like those things we had to do on the fly, like Lazy Sunday and Dickenbox.

And this was the first one.

Yeah.

Everyone must have been like, huh.

Hey, you know that long runway we were building for those guys?

Turns out it maybe is a curse.

All right, here's another.

These are all positive ones that have a little bit of negativity built in, but I think it's getting at what I'm getting at.

This is from Diana Martins 31.

Literally, my favorite digital short ever, Instant Classic.

I can't wait till they cover this one on the podcast.

I love how it basically says nothing for a whole minute, then jumps right in, and you're expected to be on board.

That's what they love.

Could be just said as an insult.

But that is actually getting exactly what I'm saying, that the slow burn and then twist of it, I think, is satisfying on some level.

What it's telling me also is that we had people's trust.

You know what I mean?

Yeah.

And I think somewhere it's earned and intentional.

Like I was saying before, like we're like, on this one, we're just going to let that bitch breathe.

You know what I mean?

Nobody would accuse it of being mailed in or lazy.

No, no, there's clear effort there.

I'll say this, hearing these comments, I definitely just love humans.

I do think the people who like this sketch are maybe good people that I like.

Here's one from Ashley here.

It says, says, masterpiece.

Either it's criterion collection or they're wrong.

Oh, wow.

Yeah.

Now we're their winner.

I do want to jump ahead, not to rice away from Space Olympics, but this was kind of a perfect Andy episode because we had all of your skills on display in the short.

And then we had live Andy in update.

Andy, do you remember who you were in update?

I'm going to maybe be right because I'm remembering that the host was Phelps.

Is it Mark Spitz?

It was not Mark Spitz.

Oh, I know.

Oh, you have Alzheimer's.

You are so forgetful.

Yes.

Oh, my gosh.

I won't even say a full word, and you'll get it.

Okay.

Ack.

Oh, Kathy.

Kathy.

Was that my first Kathy?

It maybe is.

I mean, the fact that you played Kathy, it is crazier than the fact that you wrote a song about the Space Olympics, right?

Explain who Kathy even is.

Was Kathy in the news?

Here was the setup to Kathy.

Kathy was a comic strip character, probably still, they're probably still making Kathys.

I don't know.

Probably.

It's like Garfield.

Kathy was just a woman of the world who was just dealing with the many pressures of being a working woman is that yeah she had a lot of stuff in her purse yeah yeah she had a lot of dating problems yeah that's just you know she was a modern woman here's the setup to answer your question keeve was kathy in the news well Summer's officially over, and as kids return to school, so must vacationing adults return to work.

Here to talk about Back to Work Blues is funny section favorite Kathy from the comic strip Kathy.

There have been thinner intros.

There have been thinner intros.

Probably, and a lot of them, a lot of those thin intros ended with you rolling out in a different colour.

Well, when allowed.

You want to get into it?

Here's a few Kathys.

So I take it you're not excited then?

Being at work is like being asleep, Seth.

Wake me up when I'm a size five.

I really appreciate how you could find my voice in your features.

Andy, here was my reaction to that.

Uh, okay.

That's your voice eyes written by Andy?

I was always trying to keep in mind.

I was trying to give you something good to do, you know.

Yeah, you want to know the best way to hold on to a man?

A leash.

My mom drives me crazy.

I'm not doing them justice by reading it flatly.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Yeah, a leash.

My mom drives me crazy.

It's like it's like a tag.

Yeah.

There's timing, shockingly.

Now I'm thinking it might not be the maiden voyage based on my reaction to this line.

Finding a good man is like trying to find something in my purse.

Impossible.

Chocolate and

Yeah, I was waiting for chocolate.

That makes me think I've interacted with Kathy before.

Yeah, exactly.

We all know Kathy.

Yeah.

Andy, did the woman who created Kathy at some point write you a nice little note?

I feel like I remember that.

Yes.

I still have it up on my wall in my home because it was very meaningful to me.

She sent me a framed original three-cell Kathy strip where Kathy and Irving are talking about watching me playing Kathy on SNL.

And it's really sweet and it meant a lot to me.

And I sent her flowers back, and I hope she got them because she didn't have to do that.

It's really lovely.

It was not judgmental of Kathy.

It was more a celebratory character for you to play.

Yes, the joke was much more that I was doing Kathy, not anything about Kathy.

I grew up and still, but I just love the funny pages.

It just makes me so happy.

I love just seeing a whole thing of just a bunch of little cartoons and getting to read them.

It just is a wonderful thing.

I mean, I feel the same way.

It was a big deal.

Yeah.

It's one of actually the sadder parts of print media dying.

Yeah.

Is it dying?

Oh, boy.

His limitless pill wore off.

I get the New York Times.

I actually get it delivered to my house.

So to me, in this household, it isn't dying.

Oh, hey, I have another podcast.

You know, Josh and I interviewed Bill Gates.

Whoa.

And somehow Wordle came up.

And then I said, do you do the spelling B?

And he said, yeah, I do the spelling B.

And I said, do you stop at Genius?

And he's like, no, I go to Queen Bee.

And I thought there was, it made me laugh so hard that the two people I know who go to Queen Bee are Samberg and Bill Gates.

Are you stopping the story and saying you didn't tell him that I also get Queen Bee?

I didn't tell him.

Mostly because I'm real confident, and do not take this the wrong way, I wasn't getting the sort of cultural literacy from him that he would have any idea who you were.

He wasn't going to know who you were talking about.

Yeah, yeah.

Maybe not where he's spending his time.

So what?

So you got him on because what?

He's seen your show?

He's been on my show.

So that's how he knows who you are, but not me?

Well, if you want to have him on your show.

A little bit of trivia on the woman who created Kathy.

Her first name?

Kathy.

Look at that.

And Irving, the husband, was later played by Timberlake on the show with you.

That's right.

And I have that fresh in my brain because they showed a picture of it during the 50 Years in Music Questlove and Oz dock that we watched.

That's right.

And Jessica Beale came out as Jessica Rabbit.

Yeah.

But now that you've breached the subject, Keeve, has everyone on this watched the Questlove dock?

I have not.

I've watched the opening and I have not watched the full dock.

And the opening is one of the best things I've ever seen.

Yeah, that's very true.

Well, we'll talk about it again when you've seen it, then Satan.

It's so fun.

But the dock is very, very good for anybody at home that has not watched.

It's on Peacock and it's Questlove and Oz Rodriguez, who is a director at SNL who did a bunch of shorts after we left.

And it's like a two and a half hour music documentary about the 50 years of music at SNL.

And it's truly just a great documentary in general.

I've heard great things about all the SNL docs that they've done in Peacock.

There's one on auditioning in the writer's room, but that is the one that I think has left people absolutely in awe.

Yeah.

Those other ones are really good, but they feel a little more like for the super SNL fan, which anybody listening to this probably is.

So I would watch all those.

But the music one feels almost bigger than the show.

It feels like it's putting some other context on everything in a really cool way.

And we have a nice little section in it.

I'm very excited to watch it.

And we'll talk about it once I watch it.

I probably did not do my homework, but once I watch it, we will talk about it.

A few quick memories about the Phelps show.

There was definitely a sketch.

Do you remember he started a sketch and he was just lovely?

And he was, you know, obviously a legendary athlete, fantastic representative of this country.

He started sketch fully coughing.

Do you remember that, Andy?

That I didn't remember.

The Seth's corner one, I was there for.

I was standing right there.

He's known for enjoying marijuana publicly.

This was before any of us knew that about him.

True.

But people who are known for marijuana sometimes enter rooms coughing.

That wasn't even that.

It was more, I think, that you just remembered land is his second best surface.

He is aquatic.

There's just no way around it.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Lovely, by the way.

Super nice.

Yes.

Down to clown.

It is so funny the way he's built.

You just realize, oh, you could swim every day and still be a thousand yards behind this guy because he's just like.

Yeah, he was born to win gold medals in swimming events at the Olympics.

Yes.

And worked hard.

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You want to go to Seth's Corner real quick?

Seth's Corner, you're all invited.

Seth's Corner, it's happening right now.

Take it waste, yeah.

Yeah, it was the Cold Open.

It was the Tina Fey, as Palin, Amy Polars, Hillary Clinton, Cold Open.

Oh, wow.

Yeah.

All-time classic.

That's an all-time classic.

Tonight, we are crossing party lines to address the now very ugly role that sexism is playing in the campaign.

An issue which I am frankly surprised to hear people suddenly care about.

You know, Hillary and I don't agree on everything.

Anything.

I believe that diplomacy should be the cornerstone of any foreign policy.

And I can see Russia from my house.

I think there's maybe five times, you maybe had more than I did, but I think five times where I had something in 10 plus years where I was so confident and by the way this confidence was based more on Tina and Amy than anything I put on the page I was so confident it was going to crush that I actually like watched it on the floor as opposed to behind a bleacher through webbed fingers dude there was no question it was about to be a moment yeah and the writing was so funny and like everyone in the country was watching everybody wanted it everyone wanted it it was a supercharged moment when like the show met the moment and when that happens that's when SNL is the most powerful.

Was this the first Palin?

It was the first Palin.

So we had had all summer

where there had been like primaries and stuff, and America and the world had gotten to know Palin.

And there was all the talk of like, oh, is this going to be Tina?

Yes.

Who's going to play her?

She clearly had the glasses and the brown hair.

It seemed like it was going to happen.

And this is the payoff moment where everybody's tuning in to see what the take is going to be.

And this is a start of a run for you, Seth.

Yes.

Because you were the one in charge of those.

And this was a huge thing for the show.

It was incredibly helpful, obviously, to have somebody like Tina involved who has, you know, brought a lot of both performing slash writing skills.

People forget she was not on the cast at the time.

She would come back to do these while she was also doing 30 rock.

One could argue that her sort of de facto joining the cast for a couple of months really lends to and golden era status.

Yeah.

Agree for sure.

But yeah, it was thrilling because we had, you know, we'll keep talking about them as they go, but it was the

maybe the most I felt like you guys felt which is that oh now we got to do one better than that one right yeah pressure was on after that yeah you can tell because we did space olympics yeah right just needed to top ourselves seth it's might not be our story to tell but i believe you're aware of it too that summer after palin joined the race and got added to the ticket lauren would always tell the story that for like a week everywhere he went People kept saying to him, it's a gift.

Yeah.

It's a gift, Mr.

Michaels, like his doorman.

And people like, everywhere he went all over town, they were like, She's perfect.

She looks exactly like her.

It's a gift.

And he took that with him and was like, All right, like, Tina, you kind of, yeah, it seems like the universe is just saying this is supposed to happen.

Yeah, if my doorman needs to do it, the way Lauren tells it is both Robert De Niro and his doorman pull them on the same day.

That's better.

Yeah.

Yeah.

That's right.

And it's just at that point.

That's probably why I was doing that voice.

Yeah, you were.

My spot on De Niro.

And oh, I will say there's another thing that happens.

I don't quite understand which part of this it is that makes Lauren do this, but people were, again, frothing for it before it even started, which is a nice way to start with a cold open, right?

And then it started crushing.

And I remember that was one of those times where Lauren under the bleachers said, get Keith, because he was upset where the flags were in the sketch.

And again, there's so, it's so rare where you have written something and you're standing next to Lauren and it's just destroying.

And in your head, it's the day he turns and just gives you a firm handshake and said, I knew you could do it.

And instead, he's like, the flags.

I know that exact thing.

Yeah.

It's such a funny move because the amount you want to say, I'm positive we can move them.

Between dress and air, I'm positive we can move the flags.

You're also desperate to not have him miss a joke.

A hundred percent.

You're down there like, but you're talking about the flags.

He's doing, they're doing the setup for the next joke.

You're going to miss the next joke.

If you said that, though, to Lauren, if you you said, you're going to miss the joke, and this is, again, one of his, I think part of it is, I'm not going to let people get too low.

I'm not going to let people get too high.

And if you said, you just missed a joke, he would say, I know that there's good jokes.

Yeah.

You know, he'd make you feel silly for being needy.

Yeah.

Almost like, I know I pay you to write good jokes and I know you can do it.

Yeah, yes.

And it's in the show because of the jokes.

Now it needs to be the right version of the sketch.

Yeah, you have to play it real cool.

He's good at what he does.

But Seth, this is so, I mean, I love talking about all this, but I wasn't even thinking this was going to be Seth's corner.

I thought it was going to be the thing you had at dress that got cut.

Was that Justice League?

Yes.

Tell me about it.

I can't really remember.

Oh my God, you have such a bad memory.

Yorm's ripped all of us today.

All three of you guys are a fucking mess.

Seth wrote a Justice League sketch with Phelps as Aquaman.

I was in it.

I don't remember.

who I was.

I might not have been in it, though.

Yorm.

You were in it.

Great.

Lockbox.

That's an SNL reference.

And at dress, and by the way, this is not the only reason it got cut.

Michael Phelps, who is not an actor,

in the middle of a line, just couldn't get his line.

Just was like, that's, that's right.

Does it, that's

just went like that.

And then started the line over.

And we were all just like, oh, no,

you're not supposed to do that.

Yeah.

I mean, it didn't matter as much, especially because it was dress.

But he went,

they ought to shake that out.

We're like, we're doing the show.

All I will say is now, again, sometimes it takes a full like 17 years.

I definitely should have written a Just League sketch where every time Aquaman talked, he was super bad at talking.

He was like quiet and like bubbles in his mouth.

And it was just a lot of Superman being like, Look, guys, he's not up here a lot.

He shouldn't be up here.

Can I go back down?

You know, it's like, air tastes weird, right, guys?

Just

chugging waters.

Uh, well, anyhow, it was wonderful.

That sketch didn't play great.

That sketch is a Kenward Myers joint.

Yeah, Kenward Myers.

Who did Andy play in it?

Bill, as Superman, presides over a meeting of the Justice League.

Uh-huh.

So I've got some bad news, gang.

We all know that the economy hasn't been so hot lately, and not to bore you with the details, but it looks like we're going to have to let one of you go.

That's the premise.

Oh, it's our surf meeting.

Andy, you have the next line, but it doesn't say who you are.

Your next line is, it's me, right?

Oh, no, Flash, you're the fastest man on earth.

You're essential to the team.

Then Will says, Great.

I'll go clean out my locker.

No, Hawkman.

You're a Hawk and a man.

That's like two for the price of one.

Then Will, who amongst the Justice League is less than essential?

Michael enters as Aquaman.

He's wearing an open Hawaiian shirt.

Over his costume, he's carrying a couple of fishing poles.

Wow, what's up?

Are we having a meeting?

It's full-on surf meeting.

It's full-on surf meeting.

We went back to the well.

Hey, what's up?

What are we talking about?

Oh my gosh.

Will you guys do something for me?

Yeah.

Yeah.

Go to dress.

It's Don's script, Don Roy King, the director.

And if you page down after all the things,

there's a blank piece after the time codes of the cold open.

And clearly, someone has done a drawing of where Tina and Amy are.

And the purpose of the drawing is where the flag should be.

Wait, what page?

Page 10.

Oh, yeah.

Tina, Amy, four flags.

It's a remedial drawing of four flags.

It's like a reminder, and it's got the camera.

It's like, yeah, it's going to be pointed at the podium, and then there's going to be flags behind it.

We're going to put this in the show notes just so you can see.

This is while that famous sketch was crushing, somebody had to make this tiny drawing.

Tell them about the details, you guys.

There's a really funny game show called Quiz Bull that Lutz, Joast, and Rich wrote, Simon.

It was like a public school kid, three kids, Casey Wilson, Bobby Moynihan, who were new to the cast, Keena Thompson.

And then on the other side, it was Forte, Poehler and Michael Phelps.

And they were homeschooled and they were just some like weird homeschooled weirdos.

And Wig was their mom and she kept wandering out to complain about answers that she thought were actually right.

10 points.

What substance in human blood transports oxygen from the lungs to the rest of the body?

Jasper family.

Tiny gremlins?

Wow.

No.

Yes, it is.

Yes, they are.

Yay, it's mom!

Tiny gremlins, there's tiny gremlins in our bodies.

I've seen them in my microscope.

Okay, Mrs.

Jasper, we've asked you to stay with the other parents and please not interfere with the game, please?

Okay.

Also, Sudekis is the host, and he's getting very frustrated that the Richmond high kids aren't buzzing in.

What triggered the World War I?

Yes, Jasper.

Boys and girls swimming together?

Wrong.

No, it was the assassination of Arch Duke Ferdinand.

Richmond, you guys can jump in anytime here.

All right, if you don't mind.

All right, here we go.

Here, guys.

What ingredient causes bread to rise?

Swear words.

What's that?

Swear words.

No.

No, you're wrong.

No, it's yeast.

Richmond, guys, come on.

Yeast doesn't ring a bell?

All right, no.

Seth, as head writer, though, you would sometimes get those nice moments with Lauren, right?

Definitely.

I feel like there's so many people whose stories are just never getting that nice moment.

And I'll say for me, just personally, for as hard as the show is, and as much as sometimes you are mad at it and mad at the bosses and stuff, Lauren did often, after a short, be like, it played, nice work.

Yes.

You know, like he actually would give me a nice handshake or at the after party, be like, good one tonight.

Yep.

Whatever sort of icy-ness was under the bleachers at the party, I think that was all in the past.

Yes.

He had a real good job vibe at the party.

Yep, for sure.

And I think there might be writers, maybe less so now, but people who didn't bother going over to him at the after party because you just don't want to bother him and he's the boss.

And they never got that side of it.

So they just felt the no nonsense, time is money.

You know, it's between dress and air, there's no time for niceties, we just got to get it done side of the bosses, yes, as opposed to ever getting the like, and now I've had a glass of wine and the pressure's off.

And hey, nice piece tonight.

Uh, you know, what it could have been a little better like this, but I liked it, you know, just the nice version of it.

And I think we were all lucky that we got to the level or whatever at the show or comfortableness to right.

I don't blame any young writer who makes the choice not to go over, but of course, if you did sort of push through that, that, that was the most encouraging and warmest version for sure.

Something I learned over time and that I've learned even more, even just in going back this year, this past season, is like the notion that he maybe is checked out or doesn't care is insanity.

Oh, yeah.

He cares so much.

He's so invested.

He knows all the jokes in the sketches.

He wants them all to work.

He wants everyone to crush it.

Like he is the manager of the sports team and he wants everyone to hit a home run.

And he's thinking about it all the time.

He wants the flags in the right place, too.

Yeah.

Seriously.

Fucking detail.

Honestly.

By the way, the flags in the right places is because he does care about it.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Down to that detail.

Yeah.

No, a lot of people will always be like, it's crazy how Lauren always has a note on a thing that's really working.

And it took me a while to be like, it's because he knows it's good.

And so he wants it to be perfect.

Yeah.

Yeah.

And he knows it's going to be on TV.

He's like, that's in.

So let's get it right.

Right.

Exactly.

The last time I saw him, I remember one of the first things he said was some version of how funny was this cast member in that sketch.

And it had been the last show that it aired.

And I thought, oh, that's really nice.

Yeah.

He still cares, man.

And then I felt like I maybe played it wrong because I was like,

what was one I was funny in?

Is that what you did?

Yeah.

I was like, they're not here right now.

I am.

What was I funny in?

Dad.

The waiter was there.

And so the waiters heard it.

Yeah, the waiter was like, Jesus Christ.

Because I think it happens a lot.

This conversation again.

He used to be funny once a week.

Try four nights a a week like do you watch my show every night

it's funny last i checked you were a producer your name's on it i had flags all over the place you didn't have any notes i put a flag everywhere

that's what i should you know what because he went a lauren note it was always like it looks like the flag's coming out of their head which you know i think i don't have to tell everybody here what it looks like there's a flag behind somebody looks like it's coming out of their head i should start doing my monologue with a flag coming out of my head and that'll be the way to know if he's watching just to know if he loves you.

He just walks in mid-monologue.

It's like, very funny.

Get the fucking flag out of there.

We should get him on this pod just to see if he says, I love you at the end to us.

He will.

All right.

I love you guys.

All right.

So here's what's coming up.

Hey is coming up.

Extreme challenge is coming up.

Ross Trent is coming up.

And everyone's a critic is coming up.

Hmm.

Did you say jam the vote?

I didn't.

Jam the vote was an election special on a Thursday.

Yeah, but that should count.

Yeah, we should do jam the vote.

Yeah, we should talk about the Thursday things because that was a big thing for you, Seth.

Yeah.

Made everything easier to do a Thursday show as well as a Saturday show.

And it was a little bit unprecedented in my mind, even though maybe they'd say, oh, we did it in the 80s or something.

Well, this was the gauntlet.

We had t-shirts printed up that said the gauntlet because we did

10 in a row, right?

10 shows in eight weeks.

Yes.

Yeah, because there were multiple shows on some of those weeks.

Doing a Thursday show in the middle of the show week is so crazy.

Yeah.

You guys, can I just say something before we end?

I was just texting with Wig and she sent me a voice note.

I haven't heard this, so I'm just going to play this for you guys.

Oh, great.

Oh, that's exciting.

I thought of a new theme for you guys.

The lonely islands of Myers Podcast.

It's like good.

It's beautiful.

It's great.

I also like that she sounds like she's at a park.

Yeah, I do.

She was at a park and then had to get it on tape before she forgot it.

Hey, also, I will have seen you guys all in person because this is airing after the 50th.

And obviously, we're going to talk about the 50th.

Oh, wow.

But it hasn't happened yet.

If you're listening to this, the 50th has happened, but we don't know how it went.

I bet it was great.

I think so.

All right.

I can't wait to see you guys there, which is in our future and our listeners' past.

And also, I love you.

Love you.

All you guys.

Love you.

Bye, guys.

Bye.

Bye.

Bye.