Japanese Office

I'm gonna start.

Here's what's going on right now.

It's a big day.

Not only do we have a guest joining the pod, but also Jorm's back, everybody.

Pew, pew, pew, pew, pew.

Yeah.

Last day tomorrow, guys.

So, back on the pod, still in Finland.

And, Jorm, let me just say we missed you a lot.

And I've heard from people who enjoy the pod.

It was a nice, dramatic, built-in arc that you were sort of both in Finland and didn't understand time zones.

It was all of a sudden our podcast had a like serial element to it.

Yeah, and then I got drunk and then I disappeared, which, you know, could have been related to that.

You know, it had a story arc to it.

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

Immediately.

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

I feel like there are nights you've been drunk where you have then texted us all, hey, you know, I can bring this person too.

Yeah.

Yeah.

It's like you're at a bar talking to someone and being like, you want to do a podcast?

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

I won't do it again.

Oh, bummer, that would have been good.

I'll see you about tomorrow then.

Hey, Lutz, you want to say hi, and then we're going to do the intro to the show.

Hi.

The Lonely Island Seth Myers Podcast.

This is the Lonely Island and Seth Meyers with John Lutz podcast.

Now, Lutz, what year did you join the SNL writing staff?

2004.

And you were also on 30 Rock.

And I never remember what was your character's name?

Lutz.

Right.

Yeah.

It's a bit of a stretch.

I feel like you did remember that, Seth.

I maybe did.

Typecasting.

I remember when they just started 30 Rock, and they were like, we just need basically background actors who you will be in the writer's room in the show, the fake writer's room.

Interrupt me if I'm wrong, but I remember this because Liz did it for a little with you.

Yes, that is correct.

It was just basically like them realizing on 22 episodes of the season, we're going to see these background actors.

So wouldn't it be nice if it was people we like as opposed to just randomly casting background actors?

But we can't pay them as actors because they're not going to have lines.

They're just going to be there.

Yes.

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

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

Right.

And

then when it got picked up, she was like, oh, I have an episode that I want to write for you where you'll call me the C-word.

Whoa.

Because I don't want any of the regular cast members to be hated by the fans.

Okay.

So that was great.

Give it to Lutz.

But yes, for the first two years, I think, I was paid.

Well, I would be paid as a principal if I had a line, or I would be paid as an extra if I didn't.

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

Oh, geez.

And what is a principal's salary?

$32,000 a year.

Private school, then public.

Oh, you're still on that.

Yeah, couldn't you tell?

It's weird that they either pay you as a background actor or as a principal of a public high school.

Yeah.

I completely agree, Akiva.

I completely agree with what Akiva said.

It's a weird scale.

It's part of why we went on strike.

Yeah.

The extras actually make more money than a principal does.

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

Wow.

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

Yes, named Lutz.

Yeah.

With all the same, like the set was the same, the carpets looked like 30 rock carpets, the elevator bank was the same.

Everything was the same.

It seems like the beginning of a Charlie Kaufman movie where you have a job playing yourself.

After work, you go and play yourself on a TV show.

On a set.

Yeah.

The exact same job.

It's really weird.

And you never sleep.

I mean, I guess you're a Severance.

Maybe you're ahead of the curve on Severance.

Are you a Severance?

I was a Severance.

You were a Severance?

Yes.

So which LUTs did we get?

Did we get above-ground LUTs or below-ground LUTs?

You got above-ground LUTs.

Gotcha.

Sorry, there's a squirrel right outside my window.

That's what you get with above-ground LUTs.

You see animals.

I mean, we can't see it.

So if you hadn't mentioned it, it would have just came in order.

He doesn't understand podcasts.

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

Yeah, let's do a pop culture roundup.

All right, New York Magazine SNL cover came out.

Seth, you happy with your photos and that?

I am not super happy, but it could have been a disaster.

So I will take middle of the road.

Here's what I'm least happy about my photo, Andy.

Yeah.

I mean, again, each one of us was in a photo with 10 absolute legends, right?

And for whatever reason, I'm the only person who's looking off as if there's more interesting people elsewhere.

Oh, is that the problem you have with it?

Whoa, what do you got?

Oh, I love it.

What is your problem with mine?

No, I thought you looked totally fine.

Clearly, there's something.

I did not like that I was looking off and it looks like I have like two chins.

Understood.

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

Yeah.

I mean, I will say that David Lashbel like blown out color thing that he's been doing for a long time.

It's kind of fun to see my, I mean, that was the only way you and I were going to get a photograph like that.

I tend to agree.

Were you there at the same time?

No.

No.

No.

At SNL, yes.

We worked with you.

There were a bunch of different days, apparently, shot in different groups.

And then maybe even some some people that couldn't make one of those days who were airdropped in or something.

Yeah, there were a couple of airdroppers.

Yeah.

I saw Steve Martin afterwards and he said, if you told people who was in that photo, they would all say, I bet it was so much fun.

And it wasn't even a little bit fun.

And that's really the true thing because we're all standing there.

By the way, I'm sure I got caught laughing at somebody off camera, which is why I'm looking the wrong way.

You know, everybody's both in their head about they don't want to have a bad picture, but also they're around people that they want to be funny around.

It was not fun.

It was stressful.

I had a nice, easy time.

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

Oh, that's nice to hear.

And we just kind of gently chatted through the chaos and didn't do anything crazy pose-wise.

And, you know, it was good to see people.

It was very nice to see people.

I'd like to present an area for a spicy take from either of you.

How do we feel about Alec Baldwin and Mulaney's inclusion?

So we got to the bottom of that.

They wanted a few five-timer hosts.

Yeah.

There's the two of them.

There's Walkin, Candace Bergen.

Yeah.

And is that four or five?

That's four.

Well, Steve Martin.

Oh, it's Steve.

Yeah.

Okay.

I will say the other thing that was really fun, I was standing next to Tina and Julia Louis Dreyfus.

And again, David Lush Bell, like, it's not surprising that he like blasts music at his photo shoots.

No.

But also, at one point, they were both screaming, none of us can hear you.

And it was just really fun to watch those two just sort of take charge.

Yeah.

And it's just in general, the idea that, I don't know, this group needs like music to have fun.

And in general, we're also just less fun than I'm sure David Lachabelle thought.

I'm sure people were saying to him like, oh my God, was it so funny?

And I'm sure he's like, no.

Well, also, they're like blasting like, we are family.

Where everyone in there is just like, we're the most cynical, dead inside people on the planet.

Did he play music while you took your single?

yeah i'm sure disaster because he's like what kind of music do you like and i'm like i'm not going to tell you and i don't want to do this

will go exactly i'm like no you're like now i'm in the mood and then i'm like i don't know like 90s hip-hop and then he started playing it and immediately someone i won't say the name was like what this is your music

that's a sweet burn so that was a real flashback sure sure sure to the early aughts dunking all over you for your taste in music should have gone over and be like i don't know man just play whatever somebody else likes you're like they they like it on Broad City, dude.

Yeah, dude.

So just totally stressed out the whole time.

Okay.

And then something else that happened today.

Spirit Award nominations came out.

I'm just wondering, how are they going to not nominate Beetlejuice?

Seemed like the best spirit of the year to me.

Oh, yeah.

Oh, wow.

Wow.

Wow.

It took a second.

I was sitting on that for three hours.

Jorn, where's the air horn, bro?

Oh, wait, hold on, hold on.

Let's deserve it.

The other thing about that was, Andy, again, really impressive that you put that second in the pop cult roundup.

Because, again, you're just like a Mexican jumping bean over there trying to get that joke out.

And right after you said it, you took a big swig of water.

That's what I was going to point out.

It was like he was on stage.

So he couldn't follow it.

Post-bit goal.

You got to wait for everyone to applaud.

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

Oh, my God.

He was like Dean Martin for a second, having a sip of his whiskey, well-timed after a great punchline.

That's what you're doing, man.

You surfing the web?

Oh, by I'm listening to this gold.

How long before this comes out, too?

Oh, like six years.

No, this one's like a week.

Okay.

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

It might become a Twitter thing.

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

You know what?

Andy might be in the clear.

We're on hiatus, so I think he's actually okay.

Oh, that's true.

But I will say it is 12:4 at 1:22 p.m.

Eastern Time.

So if you hear somebody else make the Betelgeuse Spirit Award joke, joke, I just want to timestamp when Andy did it.

Thank you.

I have something else before we get onto this, which is that I just listened to last week's episode in my car and for the first time ever, like actually almost cried laughing.

And it was, I'll tell you when.

So it's best look in the world.

I'm in the car alone.

I'm just tired.

I'm heading to work.

And I play it and it does the first like five or six minutes and we're talking about it.

And I'm like, oh my God, we're talking so much shit about it.

It's really fun, but whatever.

And then, Seth, you had done an impression of it going like, um, let me tell you about it, no, and I was like, oh, yeah, that's kind of accurate, whatever.

And then the thing that happened that didn't happen when we were recording, of course, is that they had edited in a snippet of the song starting, and it was hit in the face with the recording of the actual song of Andy going, Let me tell you about it.

And it sounded so much like your impression set.

And after the five-minute wind-up about it, and in my head, going, It can't be like that bad.

It's not gonna be.

Oh, yeah, it is though.

And when Andy's voice hit, I involuntarily, and it takes a lot to get an actual real laugh out of me, involuntarily alone in the car, started laughing so hard out loud until tears melt in my eyes hearing Andy's voice.

It brought me pure joy.

I mean, you might be right, Seth.

It might be Criterion for a real reason.

Yeah, I mean, we do have to find another category for like the,

I don't know, the Criterion shitbox, which is like worth having, but not because it's good.

Criterion extras, maybe?

Yeah, I don't know.

Shitbox, I feel like shitbox.

Okay, let's sit with shitbox then.

First thought, best talk.

Well, extras?

Oh, man.

Oh, here's something from the last episode.

You guys can just pile on as soon as I say this out loud.

I have a book club.

I have a monthly book club with some gentlemen.

Probably.

I go to my book club.

You're a little late.

Yeah.

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

This has been one continuous sip since Beetle Goose.

I spiked it.

You've been talking out the side of of your mouth a little bit with a glass here.

So we got a room at a restaurant and we rotate who hosts and we try to find a private place to have dinner and talk about a book.

And I walked in and one of the other guys goes, you have to grease a palm to get in here.

And it was very nice to hear a lot of the book hub guys had listened to the episode.

And then we had a long conversation about palm greasing.

And had, had any of them greased a palm?

There was one guy we all knew.

We were like, you're the palm greaser.

And he said, I grease in, I grease out.

I like walk by restaurant.

I'm not even having dinner at and I'll just grease a palm.

Is it a born and bred New Yorker?

Yeah.

Because my uncle's the only person I've seen do that.

It is.

And it was at a Yankee stadium, and he handed $20, and the whole other section opened up for parking.

I was like, whoa, shit.

I'm going to go on a limb.

I'm going to say, John Lutz, you've never greased a palm.

I don't think...

No, wait.

I did in college when I took a girl out on a date before a dance

at Olive Garden.

Oh, my God.

You greased an Olive Garden palm?

How much did you you give?

So it was like $20.

It was $20.

To get what?

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

To the waiter or the Matrix?

I wanted to, no, to the waiter.

To the waiter, because I was really trying to impress this girl and it didn't work.

Did you get never-ending breadsticks after that?

Did he give it back?

And he was like, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, buddy.

When you're here, you're family.

Wait, you did it in front of the girl?

Like, she saw you grease the palm?

No, no, no, no, no.

I did not do it in front of her.

Got it.

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

I wanted to be like anytime we needed something.

Unlimited breadsticks.

I think I just saw it in a movie.

I don't know.

I was just really trying to.

I want you to walk us through like your best case scenario post-grease.

Like, what does this person do for you?

I don't know.

Like, I don't know.

Get us.

Say it.

Like, get the food faster.

Get us out of there on time.

Oh, no.

I don't know.

We had a place to be.

Be attentive.

Sure.

Yeah.

I bet when you grease a palm at Olive Garden, the waiter's like, oh, what the fuck?

Oh, shit.

Oh, God, that's never happened.

Yeah.

God, that's so good, Lutz.

Can I just say something, Lutz?

Thank you for sharing that.

Yeah.

You're welcome.

That paid off better than I think any of us could have hoped.

Oh, and one other thing that I feel like is in the pop cult roundup.

Keeve, you just sent a text that Balenciaga has released their new line of shoes.

Oh, yeah.

Really cool looking shoes.

Balenciaga

unveils its bold new shoe that makes you feel barefoot.

And if these motherfuckers aren't trying to get away with JJ Casuals with heels, I don't know what the fuck they're doing.

Wait, did it have heels on it?

Yeah, it's heeled.

Well, I can't.

No, maybe not.

It's not just around the heel to adhere to the foot.

Yeah, you're right.

It's around the heel.

I mean, better designed than JJ Casuals.

What?

No offense.

Yeah, it is.

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

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

Oh, no.

Yeah.

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

They do look kind of cool on.

But the one in the thing is decidedly a beige.

Could look like someone's feet.

Yeah.

The white ones look kind of neat, though.

Maybe.

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

Yeah.

Let's get to the question everybody's asking.

Why Lutz?

Why is Lutz here?

The digital short this week is the Japanese office.

Is there a digital short title card?

I can't remember now.

Well, that's a great question.

I think there is.

Because it has an interesting framing.

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

Oh, that's right.

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

No, I think it's on.

Oh, it does say it.

It does.

There is.

There is.

Okay.

So my first question, Lutz.

Did you guys know that you wanted Ricky Gervais to introduce it, or did that happen late in the week?

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

So America Sawyer is your co-writer on this piece.

Yes.

And she's not on here because she's shy.

Is that correct?

Yes.

We invited her.

Yawn.

Yeah.

I said, Merica, can I say you're not here because you hate the spotlight?

And she said, you can say whatever you want.

I'm on a high from getting out of this and will allow anything.

Yes.

She's on a high from not having.

She was in a pen, literally.

Yeah.

But the first thing she said was, we talked about Ricky, and Ricky was added later.

He just happened to be around.

And I think we weren't sure who asked him, but we were thinking it was Steve.

Yeah.

And then we shot that, I think.

Akiva, do you remember?

Was it Friday or was it Saturday that we shot it?

The Gervais part we shot on Saturday.

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

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

We shot it on 8H using studio cameras.

Yeah.

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

His first thing was one take.

I was actually watching that and was like, oh, that was like very succinct and good.

He nailed it.

I think we had cards.

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

Yeah.

And everybody, obviously at SNL, had and was a huge fan of it.

And so we saw that comedy and the adaptation of it and the comedy of Ricky being like, they ripped it off.

It's not as funny.

Mine's the classic.

The audience, I feel like, doesn't have that moment of recognition for him.

And they're also surprised he's being mean.

Now, even like a few years later, from stuff at the Emmys, that was a running gag between Steve and Ricky.

That paid off.

But this is sort of pre-Golden Globes Ricky and pre-giant stand-up Ricky and even like the other, I feel like the other shows maybe.

But we do have Ricky Gervais introduces it and it's a very nice framework.

Knowing that you added him late, it does help a great deal.

Hi, I'm Ricky Gervais, creator and star of the far superior British version of The Office.

As you may know, the American version of The Office is based on mine.

And by based on, I mean copied exactly.

I'm not being harsh.

They made changes.

In fact, they completely changed the character of Tim to Jim.

Brilliant.

Way to make it your own.

But what you might do is...

The whole thing was lucky because Mirke actually told me that this was a fake pitch.

And she was like, not going to do it.

This was something she pitched in the pitch meeting to Steve, and it was a fake one.

And then I think everybody was like interested in it.

And then she said the reason I was asked to do it, I think she said I was one of the only people who watched the American version of The Office and had written that monologue with Sudakis in it.

Yes.

When Rain Wilson hosted.

And so I had written the characters.

So she came to me, I think, and was like, oh, you know the office.

I don't know anything about it.

Familiar.

Jason, how are you doing?

Hey, Rain.

So, uh, Jason,

what are you up to?

Just compiling my monthly invoices.

What what are you talking about?

Why are you at a desk?

I'm always at a desk.

No, you're not.

Okay.

Wait, did you you just looked at the camera?

Oh, I didn't.

No, you just did it again.

You're looking at the camera, didn't he?

He looked at the camera, didn't he, Kristen?

I didn't see anything.

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

Oh, sure.

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

Yes.

So what I learned when I got to SNL was we go into Lauren's office to meet the host for the first time on Monday, and you have to pitch them two ideas usually.

What I found was that people were doing joke pitches just to get a laugh in the room.

Yes.

And you just try to get a laugh in the room just to get it over with.

And you'd also don't want to burn your good joke.

Yeah.

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

Especially if it's a premise sketch with a turn.

You never want to burn the turn.

I also think it's important to note: when you hear pitch meeting, there's this idea of everybody throwing ideas around and people adding to ideas and ziggling.

Pitch is one-way traffic.

The host sits there quietly, basically doesn't respond at all.

And it's just this workmanlike rotation around the room.

Yes.

The biggest thing I learned from the pitch meeting was my first year when Harper Steele, the pitch was,

so something

about you playing a baker.

Oh, these don't have to be a thing.

Yeah.

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

We've talked about it at length when he's been a guest on my show, but J.B.

Smooth was the most entertaining pitcher because he would just sort of rotate through the same 10 pitches over the course of the year and he would do five of them real real fast.

And they were all super funny premises that would never make good sketches, but would crush.

And then he finally wrote one, right?

Went about getting pregnant in the butt.

Yeah.

I think that that one actually, yeah.

Because he pitched that a lot.

Butt Pregnancy did air.

And I would say it aired as a cautionary tale to not write up the other one.

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

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

Yes.

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

Yeah.

And I remember when Paris Hilton hosted, you paid me $50

to say bonjour, Paris,

before the pitch.

Oh, that's $50 a month.

That's good money.

He's going to say that.

That's easy money.

By the way, as you were saying it, I was like, oh, boy, how's this 50 buck dare going to age?

And I'm pretty happy with it.

By the way, Seth, you're kind of greasing a palm.

That was like greased a palm, you guys.

Yeah.

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

I bribed a weirdo.

Wait a minute.

I mean, you could also describe what Let's did at Olive Garden as bribing a weirdo.

Yeah.

They just bring you to the worst table, and you're like, what happened?

You're like, oh, I think I bribed a weirdo.

Sorry.

I don't work here.

Right this way.

My biggest burn on, because again, getting caught, this is actually a happy ending of a fake pitch that you had to do I my first year pitched when Alec Baldwin was there you have a jet ski on your lake and the lake just voted to ban jet skis So it's a sketch about you taking one last crazy ride and It got like a laugh in the room and then he kept coming up to me for the next two days going very excited about jet ski

Can't wait to see jet ski and then I like wrote it up and it was like again fun pitch terrible sketch and I wrote it up and it just died at the table and then it was in the first half of the table read and when I went to the break, he walked by and he goes, I expected more from Jetsuki.

Did not hold back.

Did not hold back.

Nor should he.

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

Right.

I love that one.

But the most famous one, obviously, is Magruber.

Yes.

Right.

Yes.

That was not intended to be a real.

No.

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

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

Good track record.

Unbelievable.

So it was at the table then, right?

Let's, you and Merica wrote it?

Yes.

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

Yeah, I'm sure.

And then I think you guys,

I don't know how it got picked to be a digital short.

It was not our idea.

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

Yeah.

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

Right.

Yeah, that's just law.

That's just law.

I can't have him in it.

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

What would that look like?

Yeah.

But then I do think once it was made into, like it was given to you, then it made more sense because then it could look like the show, yeah.

The show.

Because it wouldn't have looked like the show live.

How long did it take to shoot?

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

It was very well executed, I thought.

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

But the craziest part about it is we didn't build a set.

Because we were never doing that at this time.

And now they would immediately build a perfect office set.

Yes.

But we just went down the hall on 17.

17.

Yeah.

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

Yeah, that back area.

Yeah.

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

And we just faked everything.

That's nuts.

That's really good.

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

Yeah.

America also told me that the extra, the bald extra who was in the digital short,

he was really Japanese, and he wrote all the stuff that was on the board.

Oh, the chalkboard.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Yeah.

It was a good detail.

So let's get into that part of it real quick.

So I remember when the premise came up, a bunch of white actors pretending to be Japanese is not a great start.

You go, uh-oh, you can't do that.

Yeah.

Even back then, which was 11 years ago, 12 years ago, how many years ago?

I don't know.

Here's how long ago it was.

Usher was the musical guest, and he looks exactly the same.

Oh, yeah.

So it might have been 30 years ago.

Please, let's get to Usher.

Oh, we will get to Usher.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

But anyway, I remember being concerned at the time.

Now, Merica is Japanese-American.

Yes.

And she speaks Japanese, not perfectly by her own admission, I believe, but I remember her being like, she can speak it enough.

It's spoken in her house.

And she was the one doing this.

And that was the only thing that made, I would just keep looking at her and go, okay, I'm here to bring your dreams to life.

I just want to say for the record, like, I would never have the audacity to, I think everyone was looking at America being like, this is your baby.

Let's go.

We're going to support it.

Yes.

But it was her thing.

And she also wanted to make sure that, and we tried to make sure that everything that everybody said was as close to.

real Japanese.

It wasn't like gibberish.

You can tell, too.

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

Correct.

She was doing that to everybody.

Yeah.

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

Yeah, their accents are a little off, obviously, but by the way, this is another reason why it would have been a terrible live sketch because you would never have had time to have that attention to getting the Japanese part right.

Or as right as it was possible for non-Japanese speakers.

Yes.

As right as it can be in a 48-hour span to be airing on SNL.

Yeah.

Yeah.

And when Miracle re-watched it, she said that Steve and Wig were both very good.

Like she could understand what they were saying and she was very impressed with them.

All the comments from Japanese speakers seem to think that they can understand everything.

Yeah.

Whether or not they're doing a perfect pronunciation.

And all the credits, too, were in Japanese and they were all like

America's cousins' names and sisters.

And also, she said that Jason's credit in the episode was Mike Shore.

Oh, funny.

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

Support comes from Aura Frames.

Keeve, I've been talking about Aura Frames a lot, so you know it comes from the heart.

You won't shut up about it.

It's really fantastic.

These are a perfect Christmas gift.

I gave one to my parents.

Really, my brother did.

I don't know why I tried to take credit for it, but my brother gave it to my parents and he loaded it up with pictures and they're just changing all the time.

And my parents are so happy because otherwise they're just like hounding me for pictures of my kids.

And this way I can just use my phone, upload it to their house, and then everybody wins.

Guess how long it takes to set it up, Keith?

I'm going to guess two hours.

Two minutes, bud.

Whoa.

Yeah.

Also, guess what, Yorm?

I know you're always like, you know, a lot of us are like, save the trees, and you're always like, save the wrapping paper.

Well, good news, every frame comes packaged in a premium gift box, no price tag.

Add unlimited photos, videos, invite as many people as you want to a frame.

There are absolutely no hidden fees or subscriptions.

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

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

You could put any pictures you want on there, too.

How many photos and videos could we put?

Like three, four?

It's unlimited.

Whoa.

And it's, by the way, not limited to even photos.

Videos work as well.

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And time for the holidays.

Terms and conditions apply.

So again, we were talking about Ricky Gerbase.

Introduces this as the American American Office ripped off my show.

Our show is based on this Japanese show, but you can tell it's pretty different.

And of course, it is exactly the same with Steve Curl playing the Steve Curl part.

And man-oh-man, did our cast overlap with the cast of The Office incredibly well for the purposes of impressions?

I was shocked re-watching it, how each one kind of nailed it perfectly.

I think you could argue an alternate universe.

Every one of those people could have been cast on The office and the path of that show would have been almost exactly the same.

That's a big thing to say.

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

I remember playing this sketch for Gervais before he recorded his part.

Like he came in, I found a computer, we huddled around it, I showed it to him.

And when it got to Keenan's part, playing Stanley, it was the only moment where he was giggling and enjoying it and like, oh, this is so cool.

And then it got to that.

And he's like, huh?

Because that character does not exist in the British office.

Right.

And it took him a second.

He's like, oh, and he was like, oh, who's that?

And I was like, oh, Stanley.

He's like, oh, from the okay, yes, yeah, yeah, I got it.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

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

Yes, exactly.

Every beat in it is from both.

Right.

I think on purpose, right?

Let's because it's like you chose the most iconic moments that were from the British office that were repeated.

Because for the logic of it, it had to be things that were in the British office because this was the precursor.

Yes.

So the jello with the stapler.

Yeah.

It was like all the trailer moments.

It really is all because the pilot, the American pilot is basically the British pilot.

It's very similar.

They don't change a lot.

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

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

Oh, that's later.

I feel like that's like at least three seasons in there.

It's less.

I bet it's season three.

Yeah.

I bet it's season three.

Because first season, I don't think it really kicked off.

Office premiered in 2005.

And this is 2008.

Yeah.

Yes.

There's just really nice moments in this.

Suds and Bill and Kristen are fantastic.

Steve seems to be having a good time as well.

Keenan and Stanley, great.

And also the audience just seems to very much enjoy it from the kickoff.

Yeah.

One other last thing I'll say that Merica gave me was that that music for the calisthenics

that they're doing is real calisthenic music that she used to have to do with her school and she would do the calisthenics outside to that exact music uh when Gervaise saw it all he added the he asked about it first he didn't just spring it off but he's like what should I at the end should I say it's racist and I remember being like yeah go for it and then feeling a mix of like oh this is dangerous and also kind of a little bit of relief of like for anybody out there that'd be like oh is this okay which is something I think I felt is like, is this okay?

Oh, I thought 100% that you had added that, Keith, because it feels like a very Lonely Island move.

And also you're from Berkeley and you would have added that.

100% Gervais, but I was happy to have him do it and just be like, all right, hopefully that's us calling out that we are aware this is a tightrope being walked.

And then the other thing I remember is at this time, this was 2008 and on American Airlines and most flights, there was still a communal TV, you know, multiple communal TVs where, yes, you could watch your own stuff if you had something that you could watch it on, but there would still be a program that had to be watched by everybody if you put in headphones.

And NBC had a, what would you call it, a partnership?

And there'd be NBC stuff that played before the movie.

And SNL always got to put a sketch in.

And of course, it would never be ours because ours are not something you would broadcast to an entire flight of people of all ages.

And this was the one that we should say it went over very well.

Yeah.

And afterwards, people at the show would be like, that was very, i remember getting so many compliments on this one and being like oh i just directed it like it's not really mine like it was a hit sketch in the snl world did we get residuals for that for american airlines did we get residuals for those planes that's what the first strike was for was airplane residuals okay you might have honestly yeah but it was chosen and it would play on every fight i remember seeing it on one of our flights back to la that's crazy did they have the gervaise part as well before or did they cut that out i think so i think it played the whole sketch and i remember seeing it and being like, why don't they put dick in a box up there?

But also being like, that's cool.

So it went over very well.

Well, I think also, though, Key, the way you shot it, you really did, like we were saying, capture how it felt.

The intro, the music, everything, it just really came together.

It was a very good parody.

And I think it's also because the office itself is shot kind of in bare bones, kind of a documentary style.

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

Hey,

this is a really, I just had a feeling.

Sometimes I look at sketches that get cut from dress

and I go, I bet that one's fun to read.

And I saw there was a sketch cut from dress called Paul and Gene that was written by Fred.

So what does that make you think when you see Paul and Gene written by Fred?

Folk singers.

Kiss.

KISS is correct.

So open on Gene Simmons' office.

It's decorated with gold records.

Fred is Gene Simmons.

Steve is Paul Stanley, another member of KISS.

Jason approaches them with a video camera.

Thanks again for doing this, you guys.

This tape's going to make my son so happy.

He's been in the hospital.

He's a huge Kiss fan.

So this is really going to cheer him up.

Fred, this is what we're all about.

Fred, of course, if you don't know, does an incredible Gene Simmons impression.

Anything for a fan, man.

Jason, okay, I'm ready when you are.

Fred, here we go.

Shoot.

Super still, so now it looks like it's being recorded through a video camera finder.

Hey, Billy.

I'm Paul Stanley from KISS.

And you know who I am.

And we want you to get real soon, so soon, and get well.

Because rock and roll all night party every day.

Yeah, get out of that hospital so you can chase the ladies around and make them beg for your musky sweat.

Now we know what the premise is.

Gene's not going to do well.

Gene Simmons is bad for making a video for an eight-year-old.

Yeah, yeah, he's missing the tone.

Oh my God.

What else we got?

You know what?

I'll just say it.

GOP nominee, Senator John McCain was on the show, did update, did a sketch as well.

That was a gentleman I always enjoyed the company of.

He was a fucking good guy and super funny and was a blast to be around.

He was always good when he came on.

He was always good when he came on.

He basically came on update and he made the argument.

It was right around when Hillary was maybe going to drop out.

And he made the argument that both should stay in, Hillary and Obama should stay in as long as possible.

And like basically saying they just should beat each other up.

But he was saying it is like very helpful advice.

Democrats, I have to urge you, do not, under any circumstances, pick a candidate too soon.

Oh, so you don't think Hillary should drop out?

Absolutely not.

I told you.

Cool it.

You cool it.

That's right.

Fight amongst yourselves.

There's an interesting cut on air one, Seth.

You see it on there?

Yankee Stadium?

What those are is the one we already talked about, the New York stories.

Yeah.

The ones I shot with Poehler and Fred, and they would be like Fran Leibowitz and Scorsese or whatever.

This was a sequel to it, it.

And I remember it's one of the first things I think Solomon directed because I remember giving him all my pointers on how I made it look the way I looked and what to do and blah, blah, blah.

And they went to Yankee Stadium and shot a bunch of them.

I wonder if those will air next time.

They do.

They do air next season.

It's very fun.

I love the way they look.

These are the people that Amy and Fred play.

Matthew Broderick, Sarah Jessica Parker, Scorsese, Rosie Perez.

And then it must be Gene Simmons and Kim Gordon.

That's impressive that they went from a whole season.

Like, does that ever happen?

I don't remember anything.

It's because it's a pre-tape, it's a pre-tape, and it's sort of timelessly.

They were playing people from different eras, yeah, no, no hosts, right?

Yeah, no hosts.

That's the key, right?

And Keith, when you said Solomon directed, you meant Solomon Rushdie, yeah, yeah.

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

Oh, wow, and Lauren's like, we need to get him back in.

He was trying to stay under the radar, so he went by John, right?

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

By the way, last time I saw Solomon Rushdie was at Lauren's Bartman, FYI, so So they are friends.

Last time, meaning you've seen him a lot?

Sure, he's been on my show.

I run into him.

Famous author.

Famous author.

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

Men's only book club.

I was stretching it.

It was John Solomon.

It's completely different spelling.

Yeah, it is.

I think everybody knew you were stretching it.

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

Seth, are women allowed at your book club?

We can see here.

What's next?

Won't answer it.

Won't answer it.

What's next?

There's a really funny thing because now we could, let's still transition into Usher.

It says update cut, Usher, in parentheses, older women.

And then obviously the name of the writer, nobody's certain, because it just says Tucker, question mark, question mark.

And I want to be like, yeah.

If there was a update feature that was called older women with Usher, that was Tucker.

It just seems like Tucker comedy right there.

I'm just going to, I texted him during this.

We'll find out.

It was also something Usher wanted to talk about.

I remember.

Yeah.

Usher wanted to talk about older women because he wanted more of it in his life.

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

He gets asked a lot about it.

Yeah.

He wanted to address it.

By the way, are we talking about MC Usher?

Oh, boy.

Yeah.

I mean, M.

C.

Usher.

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

It's actually pronounced Salmon.

Salmon Rushby.

Now it's okay for everyone.

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

Yeah.

This is me slow clapping for stuff.

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

He'd be like, huh?

By the way, that's what Usher basically does.

Yeah.

Wait, what else do you want to say about Usher?

I mean, it was fantastic to have Usher around.

I mean, Usher's the shit.

We love Usher.

And for me, just, I was so excited that he did Love in This Club because I love that song.

It was amazing.

I believe Love in This Club, if you did like a mashup or whatever with Alpha Ville Forever Young, would be very close.

And I really love both those songs.

Yeah.

Oh, yeah.

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

Which one?

Both.

He mashed them up.

No, I didn't mash them up.

I did not mash them up.

He brings a little boob box and then it's car rating.

So wait, which one though, Jorn?

Usher in this club.

I did not listen to.

No.

You weren't listening to Alpha Ville.

No.

No.

So Usher.

I got cut from Update.

Obviously, he did both of his songs.

He appeared in another sketch.

Does anybody remember?

He appeared in a sketch I wrote.

Yes.

Congratulations.

It did not get cut.

It did not get cut.

CPR class.

Talk us through CPR class.

Samberg, Solomon, and Schaffer.

This is Andy doing a live sketch.

Because this ticks a lot of your boxes.

Me, Akiva, and Sam and Rushdie.

This was a classic, stupid live sketch.

CPR class.

Corell is the instructor.

Yep.

And he wheels me in as his assistant.

It's so weird that you're wheeled in because I feel like a normal assistant would get on the table.

So now, Andy, why do you think you were wheeled in?

I mean, it's obvious why I was wheeled in because his hands need to go bursting through my chest and blood needs to spray everywhere.

And I was clearly set up on a rig.

The only thing that I really take issue with, because I did actually re-watch it, Seth, before this because I saw it on the rundown.

And I was like, what was that?

And then now I totally remember.

That's how I knew the usher answer.

Full disclosure.

If we just, it took so long to get to the moment.

Yeah.

That's what's inexcusable about me being wheeled in.

If I'd been wheeled in and he immediately started doing it, it would have been fine.

But there was still a lot of preamble.

Yeah.

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

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

You're right.

But I did like a couple of the moves in it.

A lot of like, buddy,

I'm a grown man.

I can take it.

You can do it the right way.

Just so clearly teeing it up.

The rig is great.

His hands go through your chest and a lot of blood.

Yep, a lot of blood.

Then he gives me CPR and a balloon lung starts inflating out of the hole, which is fine.

Which is really good.

You have to then give your dying speech.

Well, obviously, I'm assuming you gave the instruction to the blood pump guy to just go nuts.

Yes.

I said, please just keep shooting it right into my face and mouth, which they did.

I've had a good life.

I graduated from high school.

I worked one summer as a lifeguard.

And I just got a free watch from the coolest guy I know.

And then the great thing is, do you think Usher was always in it?

Or this had been a, hey, we cut you from update, but we have another really fun thing for you to do.

Hmm.

That I don't remember.

Basically, the sketch is over.

O to the V to the E to the R.

And Steve Carell says, you know, I can't help but think this is somehow my fault.

In some ways, I can't help but feel responsible.

You are responsible.

We all are responsible.

Hi, I'm Usher.

CPR can be a lot of fun, but it can kill someone.

And then he gives a thumbs up and it's over.

And it is not a fit.

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

Yeah, I'm looking at that right now.

I mean, I enjoy it.

And it also cuts mid-zoom out.

So it's actually like kind of nicely upcut.

It's a rare, nice shortcut.

Actually, Kevin, while we're doing this, is there any way you could watch dress and see if Usher was in dress?

It does make me very happy because just seeing it, again, it was.

and golden era and sometimes we just did dumb things at the end of sketches and it certainly was better than what the ending of that sketch is without usher coming in and looking like a million fucking dollars yeah literally i mean it might be like a 51 to 49 49 percent situation, but yeah.

Better than the owl, yeah, yeah, yeah.

Better than the other.

And it was fun.

Again, I love seeing you and live sketches.

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I want to also go back to Lutz was hired.

What was your first year at SNL?

04?

04.

04.

February of 04.

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

Yes.

They flew Liz and I in from Chicago.

From Chicago.

And we went to the Megan Malally, I think, show.

And we interviewed with Lorne, I think, the day before on Friday.

And then they said, come to the dress rehearsal, come to the show in the after party.

And then we did all that.

And I remember in between dress and air, we went to Pasta Lovers

in

Times Square to get some fancy New York food

and really feel fancy.

And I remember that we did then go to the after-party, and that's where we found out we were hired.

Oh, you found out that night?

We found out that night, like Shoemaker and Higgins came up to us and told Liz and I that we were hired.

And they wanted us to start that Monday.

Now, Let's, what's the over-under on you greasing a palm at Pasta Lovers?

What a nice experience.

You know, you gotta pay for it.

Just to kind of take care of you guys.

He called back to his local olive garden and asked if that guy could put a good word in for him at pasta lovers.

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

I like that Lauren was the one who recommended it.

You were like, we'd love to get dinner in New York.

And he's like, what do you like?

And you're like, we love pasta.

He's like, Lauren and Pasta Lovers.

He didn't want us going to Lautanzi.

Yeah.

Yeah, that was a crazy night.

And then

I had to go up to Lauren's table and tell, I was standing up in my friend's wedding.

My best friend's wedding was next Saturday.

I talked to Shoemaker and Higgins, and I said, I don't know if I can start on Monday.

I'm standing up in my best friend's wedding.

And he said, oh.

And so Higgins and Shoemaker took me over to Lauren's table and they explained it to Lauren and then asked if I could start a week later.

Wow.

Whoa.

And Lauren was like, sure.

John, I got to go bullshit.

My best friend's wedding came out in 1996.

No, no, no, not the movie.

Not the movie.

God damn it.

I watched him look it up.

Yeah, I can tell what was happening.

Sorry, brother.

Sorry to have to nail you to the fucking wall.

So, guess what?

Let's, we are going to bring this to Lauren.

Who you allowed?

Please don't.

I need this story.

This is my only Lauren story.

This is my main nickdote.

And no one does stand-up in that movie.

It is not about that.

Oh, my God.

What was the stand-ups in my best friend's wedding?

It was a good nick dote.

We should start calling them that, right?

You guys agree with me, gentlemen.

Yeah, sure.

Seth, you should ask people that on the show.

Any fun nickdotes from the film?

Any fun nicknodes that you want to dote upon us?

Hey, America worked reception at SNL before she was a writer.

Oh, yeah.

We would receive, I remember in the dog days of summer, myself, Joe for a while, Harper, would read through like 200 submissions and select out which ones were good.

And I remember we all liked America's before we realized it was America's.

That's cool.

And it was this funny thing of like, oh, is that, wait, that's Merit, that's that Sawyer?

And

when we hired her, it was one of the only cool ways to hire somebody.

I remember I was in Higgins' office with Shoemaker and he called reception and asked her to bring in a legal pad and some pencils.

And then she came in and he's like, that's for you.

You're a writer here now.

Oh, that's funny.

That's fucking awesome.

Really good.

That's pretty awesome.

That's kind of like a Studio 60 moment.

Yeah, yes.

It's how Sorkin would write it.

Yeah, exactly.

You're his kid.

You're a writer now.

So, Seth, you're saying Mariko was a Recepto baby?

Yeah, man.

She was.

I am saying that.

Now, that one.

Hey, move over, Nick Dotes.

Recepto baby.

Nobody's angry enough about Recepto babies.

Yeah, man.

I guess she just had it given to her.

Oh, my God.

What else do we have to talk about here?

Tell us some Seth's Corner.

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

You did the monologue.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

I did the monologue.

Maybe the Senator John McCain

something.

I did.

I think I wrote the update with McCain.

Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa.

Don't start talking about it.

We haven't done the song.

Oh, sorry.

Go.

Seth's Corner, you're all invited.

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

Take it wasted.

I'm going to seed Seth's Corner because I was so excited to see the opening cold open was a Jim Downey Jack Handy sketch, according to the names on it.

Heavy hitters.

And it was a very old school sketch, which is a commencement address where Carell is handing out diplomas and he gives a big wind up as to this is the kind of school.

A lot of you came from other schools and were more than just faculty and students.

We're family.

This is not the kind of place where people get made fun of for the way they look or who they are or what their last name is.

And then it's just one of those parades where all the names are just the most embarrassing names.

Oh, I remember that one.

And again, it's that real nice Jim Downey touch.

Yes.

Where one of the names is Dick Hurts, and no one comes up.

And like the name before was like, hey, would you blow me?

Right.

And somebody comes up, gets a diploma, and he's like, Dick Hurts, Dick Hurts.

And you see, Amy's behind him as sort of faculty, and she's a little concerned.

And then she gets up and whispers in his ear,

Dick Hurts.

Is Dick Hurts not with us today?

Who's Dick Hurts?

I will remind the students that this is a commencement exercise and not an occasion for childish pranks.

That's the one fake name at a school after Hey, Would You Blow Me?

Yeah, and the next name's like Buster Hyman, but it's like, ah, fucking Aman.

Townie.

That's great.

Such a good

and this is the end of a season i bet we're all in a pretty good mood at the end of this one because again this is the end of the season where we went on and returned from strike yeah also this was our second core is that right second corel he was our very first episode

and you know goes without saying probably but just the nicest dude ever and so funny and we were always like ooh here comes a real comedy host also usher's first uh song was this ain't sex and it may not have been but I watched it and I got pregnant from watching the performance.

Lutz, is that the kind of joke that Tracy would make on 30 Rec?

Yeah.

It's a thousand percent.

Every day.

Yeah, except he would say it, he would say it like 10 times in a row.

One more thing to say about this.

The 10 to 1 sketch is a perfect 10 to 1 sketch that does not get what it deserves.

And I think it might be, I can't quite figure it out.

It's called Bless This Child.

Anybody remember Bless This Child?

I did not until I watched it today.

Wig and Corell are in it, written by Wig and Siblet.

And they are putting their newborn child in a crib.

It's very clearly a doll.

And they start doing a prayer called Bless This Child that turns into a dance where they are just using the baby in the dance and like flipping it back and forth to one another.

And it's so, I mean, it's so clearly a doll, but I do feel like the audience is like, oh, oh,

it ends with them each holding a leg of the baby upside down and singing into the feet like it's a microphone.

Bless this child, keep her safe and warm, and shield her from all harm.

Bless this child, protect her from the storm till the sun comes up again.

Bless this child, fill her dreams with gold, and make them all come true.

Look at us.

We're a family.

That's really good.

Sounds pretty cute.

And I will just say real quick that Tucker has no memory of Usher older women.

So that's an exciting way to end this.

I'm just watching Bless This Child with No Sound.

And it does end with a wig dummy and Corell spinning it in a circle and knocking over all the curtains and stuff, which is pretty fucking incredible.

Well, there's one more thing i have to add that i think told the audience well that's right before she said that she says she's pregnant with another one

and then he starts spinning a dummy in a circle and knocking it into shit

oh nicely done kristen and sublette when we come back well a lot to talk about going into the next which is uh you guys do an album in the summer yeah which is incredibad you rent a kick-ass house where you host parties like a bunch of guys who just got a big deal from a record company that intend to save none of it.

Very much so.

You have the room you record in, which I was lucky enough to visit a few times, was maybe one of the hottest rooms I've ever been in in my life.

The worst room in the house.

Yeah.

In all ways.

Yep.

And then we return with Michael Phelps and Space Olympics, which is one of those that the first time you played it for me, Andy, I laughed all the way through because it is maybe

a version of your comedy that I like like the most.

Oh, wonderful.

Yeah.

Which is super specificity of things that are maybe not going great.

All right.

So we're going to do a QA episode with questions everybody's written in with.

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

Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Totally, man.

Did you enjoy it, Lutz?

Did you have fun?

Lutz came by the house in Encino.

Yeah, it was a house guest.

I remember one time you came and stayed, and then we dragged you to a die Ant-Word show.

Yes, with Ryan Philippine.

Yeah.

Yeah.

It was a great night.

It sounds right.

Just listening to those crazy music that Let's would not have been familiar with and watching him enjoy his evening.

And it was all of us up in the VIP at the L Rey just drinking with Ryan Philippi.

We had a blast.

And then we stayed after to meet the

weird singers of that group.

Wow.

They were like doing a little

artists.

The artists.

Yeah, that was fun.

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

Yes.

Thank you.

One more thing I'll say about Lutz.

Lutz and I knew each other from Chicago.

And when I got late night, Lutz was one of the first writers I hired.

And Lutz still works for Late Night Now.

People might not know that, but I've been lucky enough to know you for almost 25 years.

But Rob Janice was a Chicago improviser.

And I remember a couple other guys brought him to a Beastie Boys concert and he was like, Well, I would just ask that we listen to their music on the way to the concert.

I'd like to familiarize myself with their canon.

There you go, guys.

What a lovely time this was.

Lutz, thanks for joining.

Lutz, do you think you had more fun being here or Merica had more fun not?

I think she had more fun not.

Yeah.

But I had a lot of fun.

So

it was up there.

Yorm, it was great to have you back, bud.

Thanks, guys.

I am finally actually catching up, too, because this was the last show that I wasn't around for.

I was finishing up Land of the Lost, and this was pre me knowing that I had a Razzie nomination for that movie.

Oh, great.

It's your last episode where you can be not Razzie nomed.

That's a big deal because you kind of changed after that.

Yeah, you did change.

Yeah.

It's a big turning point for me.

Oh, one more thing.

I don't think any of this recorded on my end.

Oh, good.

God damn it.

I will say.

I love you guys.

Let's finish this.

All right.

I love you.

They have his mic cleaning.

They have your mic clean.

I can talk over anybody.

We'll just cut this part out.

Oh, my God.

Akiva.

It's not going to be an issue.

I'm not going to be having Akiva.

Like, not letting the episode end is very unprofessional.

Oh, no.

It's a fun Wednesday.

We've clearly reached an end point.

To drag it out with, like, side clips.

I mean, who are you?

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

Oh, good.

December 4th to Fred Armison.

Andy, you hosted the Spirit Awards, right?

I did once, yeah.

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

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

How are you going to leave out the juice?

Yeah, exactly.

I heard people were talking about me.

Yeah, if you're asking, who's the best spirit?

It's weird to do it now that it's been on SNL, you know, because now it's like, oh, I'm doing my famous thing.

Yeah, now it's about hit

that everyone loved and can't stop talking about.

Now it's like if Bill was like doing Stefan and interviews, he'd be like,

it's a hit.

Yeah, exactly.

We know what it is, dude.

All right.

It's one of our classic double

Love you guys.

Love you guys.

Love you guys.

Bye.