Doppleganger

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What's the name of our podcast again?

I feel like you were phrasing it really good last time.

So is it the Lonely Myers podcast? No. Right. Not terrible.

It was the Lonely Island Seth Meyers podcast where we get granular.

Oh, right. Yeah. Great. Great.

Get granular.

That's what everyone wants. It's like an E-40 slang. Get granular.

It's the Lonely Island and Seth Meyers podcast.

We went to the Seth. well again.

Yeah, we got a taste, on Natalie Rapp, of what you could bring to a short.

Exactly. So I did not, even though I was in Natalie Rapp, I didn't fuck it up bad enough. So you guys thought, maybe the reason it's a hit is Seth's mini cameo. Hard to know. Let's flesh it out.

We wrote it for our submission packet. Ah, we were trying to get hired.

Question, though, did we change it for air or did we just shoot it straight up? I can't remember that.

I think we invented the ending for us, you know?

Yeah, it feels like it. It also feels a little bit like we were just done and we were like, OK, we're done.

I think we wrote it for Awesome Town, to be honest, when we thought we might have a sketch show at Fox pre-SNL. Oh, that's right. And that's why we had in our back pocket when they asked us to submit for us. And now we were like, oh, we have some sketches we wrote for our failed Fox pilot.

It stands to reason because it is starring three people. Yes. Yeah. I think I remember us sitting down when we were making the submission packet for writing and changing the names from Keeve and Yoram to Seth and Will Forte.

Yeah. When you watch it, it does look like a Lonely Island sketch where Keeve and Yoram were taken out for two of Andy's dad's friends.

You guys look great.

You do. You look nice.

You look fine. And again, like I meant, this is going to be a traumatic episode for me. Don't get me wrong. I was super psyched to be in a digital short. I go back and I watch it and it just looks a little wrong.

No, no, no, not at all.

In fact, you have the last line of the whole thing, which you added on set, and is my favorite part.

I shot the wrong guy.

Back to work?

Back to work. Let's go, Bozo.

Let's go, Bozo.

Yeah, let's go, Bozo. But it does feel a little bit like we're done with this sketch.

Yeah. And your tapping of the wall, kind of just figuring out like, oh, it's a building, is one of the high points. I don't want to jump ahead, but I just want to say your performance in that moment might be the best performance in the whole piece.

Now, this is going to sound like, again, I'm really shifting gears here from saying this was a bad moment for me. And now I'm talking about all the praise I'm getting for this. But I mentioned this to Shoemaker today and he said, oh, that's the one where you tap the wall. So tapping the wall. Everybody loves it.

Well, yeah, I mean, I guess you could argue like he's trying to get us back.

Yes. Right. It's a burn. He's going to find somebody that doesn't look like me and say it looks like me. And then it's me.

He's wearing a green bandana around his neck.

Yeah, I know the first guy. That guy's your twin. That guy. And then Andy goes and stands next to him and becomes very dramatic.

I don't know which one to shoot. What? Why are you going to shoot anyone?

Wait, we can ask him something that only Andy knows. Andy, what do you think about sandwiches? I love them. Andy does love sandwiches.

Everyone loves sandwiches. You're right.

It escalates very quickly. Will takes out a gun. Ice cream, take the shot. Cut to me, and Will and Horatio eating the sandwiches. And we realize, while we're eating the sandwiches, that we definitely shot the wrong guy.

Yeah. Yeah. Very, very simple premise.

We once again, we hadn't done a lot on SNL, but in our other work, we incorporated the fact that I like sandwiches.

Yeah. Yeah. You and Joey from Prince.

Is that a Joey thing?

The two guys who famously love sandwiches.

Yeah. In what way does Joey love sandwiches? Is that like a known thing?

He's just like a big sandwich guy, I think.

He also loves pizza, to be fair.

That's true. Food in general, I think, is Joey's big thing.

So he's got a little more of a rounded, but they had a lot of episodes to kind of round out his character.

Got it. I should note that we received a note from the podcast producers that if this could also be a friends podcast at the same time,

it would help. They feel like. I would imagine.

But we won't get as granular, as you can tell with the friends details.

Well, yeah, I mean, I don't think I'm equipped. Clearly, I didn't even know. Joey liked sandwiches.

That was the extent of my friend's knowledge, though.

I mean, I think we're kind of rushing through Doppelganger, but I think Doppelganger sort of lives as a not really an indicator of what digital shorts are going to be.

No, but I think it's a good thing for people to know that. that's one of the sketches that got us SNL. So, you know, if you watch it and you're just like, I, can write something better than this, then maybe you can.

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

And I will say, I actually enjoyed all of your acting, especially yours, Andy. I thought you were super natural.

Yes. Thank you.

Fucking finally.

And this perfectly tees up your new turn into serious, dramatic acting.

Tell us about it.

What? Oh, get a plug in. Yeah, get your plug on. By the time these air, it'll be relevant.

I'll say this for us, making stuff that was not songs. It definitely was kind of one of the like templates for us. Yes. Of like, oh, there's like a premise. It feels grounded at first, then it escalates, then it cuts faster and faster and then it ends.

Oh, right. Of course. Yeah, that's for sure. Everyone was playing two roles. It was a classic Jeremy Irons dead ringers.

It was basically a clumps.

Or if I was going to quote Magnus MacLeod, I'd say simple sketch, limited budget, perfect execution.

Well, who's Magnus MacLeod?

The second comment on YouTube.

God damn it. If you were to quote MacLeod.

We really underutilized the fact that people have left YouTube comments like a decade ago.

I mean, it was from three years ago.

OK, OK. Still in the mix.

And three years ago, Gemster also said it's pretty amazing how they managed to find actors who look so much like them. The doppelgangers, though.

I like that guy. That's a good comment.

Yeah, we can just read these all day. They're great.

Keith, what's the most recent comment?

When's it from? I'd have to organize by a sort, by. Hold on. Sort by newest first.

This is good. Good content. Good content.

Hold on. Five days ago.

Someone watched it five days ago.

There's three different comments from five days ago. And one is from Joe Mama, right? Says Will Forte's doppelganger is one of the guys in Kraftwerk.

The band. OK, that's true. He looks exactly like one of the dudes from Kraftwerk.

And then Matthew Casella says, take the shot with the emoji of like, crying, laughing. And then I think this one's a diss.

Oh, well, I think that is a diss.

That is a diss. That's a Seth diss.

And we know he didn't like Bozo. You don't think he liked Bozo?

That was just that line you established earlier in this podcast that I came up with the closer. You gave me credit for it. Yeah.

And I liked it then until I read that comment. And now I'm questioning everything.

That's what social media does, guys. Don't let it tear us apart.

Oh, my God. It does. It poisons the brain. Hey, here's another thing that I want to ask you guys about. There's that weird thing where you watch something that is, in this case, I guess, 17 years old or thereabouts.

Yes, I did notice that.

Super blousey, button up shirts were guys who obviously work in an office. And I don't think shirts were that blousey then.

It felt like a 90s kind of shirt.

Yeah, it felt like the way shirts looked on kids in the hall or the state.

You know. what it also looks like, though, is the wire. I felt like the wire did that really well. And I think that we were a little bit more in league with what they were doing for the wire of just like realism.

And with the social commentary.

Yeah, these guys are shopping at Marshall's. They're on their way up the ladder.

I do remember saying these are regular guys on a lunch break. Yeah. Like office workers. And so I don't know, maybe they made a choice over in wardrobe.

Yeah. Blame the SNL costume department.

Yeah. I mean, I guess we shouldn't have looked like the Strokes. These were just work dudes.

It wouldn't have made much sense. But we are swimming in those shirts.

We are really swimming. There was a third doppelganger hiding in our shirt blouse. That was the part that was cut.

If there was a late reveal that it was actually a quattro, no one would have been surprised.

Let's not get ahead of ourselves, although it is nice to tease quattro. If you're listening right now, know that there's going to be multiple episodes where I just go hard at Andy for quattro comedy. I agree, though. I think that this is, you know, again, is it criterion collection, digital shorts? No, but I also felt proud of it at the time.

It's a good song. Yeah, good theme song.

So didn't air. Not only did it not air, Yoram, you only think four of these ever didn't air.

We said that we did a hundred and one ish on the show, but I think we probably did more, like 115, or like it was a lot. And I think out of those four of them didn't air. To my knowledge, I don't know if you guys recollect differently. And this is one of them.

You want to try to list them now? There's this one. There's the Zac Efron one. And then there's the Will Ferrell one.

Oh, maybe it's five. And then there's that weird cartoon that we did, which I can't remember what was.

Yeah, with who was in that one on affairs.

Oh, yeah. What was it called? It was so weird. I actually kind of liked it.

I don't remember what you're even talking about.

It was trying to do a cartoon, but with real faces. We were like trying something almost collage. It was like an experiment.

Oh, like the flowers and stuff.

Yeah, we didn't quite have enough of a premise to make it.

Yeah, it felt like a Korean cartoon or something.

Yeah, exactly.

Like preschoolers.

Yeah, it was like a little kid thing. But then it got weird.

It was really strange.

There was also Tudor, but got bumped.

That was a Twitter based one.

Right. So that's five.

And then there was dudes in sunglasses looking dope or something.

That was the Zac Efron one.

Oh, that was Efron. OK. Yeah, yeah.

I want to ask you real quick. So we've come up with a few that got cut off the top of your head. Give me a number of how many you wish hadn't aired.

Oh, I'd have to go through them all.

Higher. A higher number.

Do you think ten? Do you think there are ten that airs that you wish? Yeah. I'm very excited to start getting to those.

Well, there's two categories for that, though. There's the ones that, on the day, we were like, don't air this. And it still aired. And then there's the ones that, in hindsight, you're like, oh, I could have done without that air.

But that's not particularly fair, because you're so exhausted by the process, because most of them we did in like 48 hours. So by the end, and sometimes going to air, you were so mad at yourself for it not working that you wanted it not to air. And I would put, I wish it would rain in that category, too.

Oh, never take that back.

I mean, hindsight.

I wish it would. rain is top three for me all time.

The only regret I have, I wish it would rain is that we should have stuck to our guns and aired the super long version.

Yeah. Yes. I mean, at that point.

But we'll get there in six years when we do that episode.

We will get there in six years, because we're basically knocking out one of these every three months.

Yeah. Yeah. We're nailing it.

So wait, here's the thing I want to say real quick, too. Early on, I think there was way more. if it's good, it's in. If it's bad, it's out. Later, once digital shorts became their own thing, Lauren was very loath to cut them.

Well, oftentimes it's what happens with a particular cast member, where it's just clear they're a hit and then they get gently forced into the show to like, make sure they have something, because that's why people are tuning in. And I think the shorts became its own version of that. Yes.

And there was probably a happy medium. You know, if you guys could have cut everyone you wanted to cut, that probably would have been too many. But there probably could have been five to ten. Now, I should note, in any era, I would argue that Handlebar and Lobster Claw is not going to make the show.

Yeah, correct. When rewatching it, I was like, there's no way this aired. And then looking at the rundown being like, oh, right, it did get cut.

So it didn't air. Can I say something about it, though? Yeah. Well, explain what it is first.

OK, so I wrote a sketch called Lobster Bar. Sorry, Handlebar and Lobster Claw. It was like a 70s cop show opening graphics. Kick ass song from the Go team.

Is that Go team? Yeah. Yes. Maybe the best part of the sketch.

All right. Enough. And stop hurting my feelings. Sorry. Well, and then I like New York City.

I forgot about that part, too.

So the ninja sits down. I can see the ninja and he can't. Zoom in on me. Zoom in on the ninja. Zoom in on me.

And the credits, I should point out, are just very clearly the sabotage video, except I have lobster claws.

Yeah. Very borrowed from a more popular thing.

Yeah. To be fair, though, there's a lot of stock footage of explosions. So you do think that the show is going to be exciting, and then it's not.

Right. That's everybody's favorite comedy move, where you set up a big like. we're going to do a cool thing and then you do a quiet thing. Everybody loves that. Yeah.

I think every single one of them made it into MacGruber sketches. Yes.

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

it's trying to escape the sketch.

We got to get out of here.

In a pre-tape.

This isn't even a live sketch where that can happen. And you're like, they can't get fixed.

It's like if you were watching like a movie in a theater and they started breaking, you'd be like, you could have fixed this.

The actors are just laughing through takes.

It's fine. Just keep going.

I like that Keeve said to the makeup artist, go fix that. And they're like, no, no, we're good.

No, I know what this is. That's not going to fix this.

Yeah. They're like, it's not airing.

When this doesn't work, that's not the problem. I mean, great shame, because one, it was like, oh, this is great. Now I'm digital shorts, too. I'll just write it and then I'll be part of digital shorts. So I have great shame about that.

Oh, wow. That's why I thought it had aired, because we saw it so many times.

Did not remember that.

That's why I never had to go back. I watched it. I mean, week to week, an SNL audience is vastly different. You guys will all have some nights. The crowds are hot.

I feel like we should watch all seven versions for the laughs and just see which one was closest.

I mean, you know. what we should do is watch all seven versions. Take the last stack of. Yeah. You multiply the audience by seven and see if even then.

they're definitely different cuts. Right.

I thought we tinkered. Yeah.

Yeah. I think we tightened dramatically, thinking that the first one was playing in the awkward silence of just like how quiet it gets. Like, what if we speed it up? Yeah. I don't know if we did anything besides that.

Yeah. More of the Garth Marenghi version.

It is very nice to think back to one, the fact that I was completely infringing on your guy's thing, and two, you were still trying to fix it. Like, that is a great credit to you, because this was very much a doctor who should walk out and be like, she's gone.

You were not infringing on our things. We were still so new. Yeah. We were just excited to be hanging out with you and like trying to fix it. And we didn't know that we had a thing even yet.

I do think that I do a thing where everybody who's ever worked at SNL has done. I'm projecting how I think Lorne felt about it. That Lorne was like, can someone tell Seth he's not the digital short guy? I have no proof that he said it, but I feel as though it's a thing he said.

When you do watch one that is not doing well, it does immediately put you back into that chair under the bleachers with Lorne and just feeling that that space of nothingness while he glances over at you, disappointed.

OK, but as my mom would say, now, let's say something positive. Right.

Great. Right.

I like. the look of it. Looks really good. Yeah. When it starts, it's got good energy.

So much younger.

And I'm in and then it just doesn't hook me. But I will say there's something there. We just never quite figured it out.

I like your looks. I like the 70s style cop, like street cop outfits. Like they're not dressed in police blues. They're dressed like cool leather with like the badge on the necklace. And I like there's big cardboard boxes.

I like that. There's something there.

The lobster claws are very good.

And also, again, Andy, you're acting.

Dorm, love my acting.

I love your acting. It was very subtle.

Well, especially at that time, I was Hambone McGee. So for me to do with that, that subtle was a great feat at that time. But the lobster claws did look good, as always. Prosthetic and makeup, and all those guys did a great job.

Yeah. Some don't work.

Yeah. And Antonio Banderas is actually sort of a joy to see.

Yeah. Antonio Banderas has two shots. He basically runs along the roof and then he stops and finds the camera. And you realize he's that kind of actor who's super fun to look at.

Yeah. And then he does a punch at the end. Yeah. Whatever, he's doing, some action move, which also, by the way,

if we had cut that into young Chuck Norris, no one would have noticed.

We should have just cut shots of this into young Chuck Norris. But once again, back to what you're saying, another promise we then don't deliver on, which is we put Antonio Banderas in the opening credits. Yeah. Being kick ass, punching.

Nothing more disappointing for an audience.

And then he's not in it.

But I will say we knew that was funny. Yes.

We enjoyed that.

Like. it's an annoying joke, but it was funny to us.

I remember enjoying the company of Antonio Banderas and Matt Dillon a great deal. Don't remember much about these shows. Do you guys remember much about these shows?

No. I wrote a Legend of Zorro sketch with Horatio, and I remember that was like one of my first times, like writing in another room with other people. And so that was kind of memorable for me.

And did we get mad at you for stepping out on us?

Oh, fuck. Yeah. I mean, I was ostracized entire week.

I don't remember anything about that sketch, but I'm going to guess Horatio was a other Zorro. Yeah. Who was worse?

Yep. It's a safe bet.

Yeah. You're right on the money.

Your name is on it as a writing credit, Seth.

Yeah. I had a sketch cut from dress in both shows that I have no memory of. One called Soccer Game that I wrote with Fred. No memory. And one called Brain Eaters that I wrote with Fred.

I mean, once you were head writer, Seth, I'd try and get your name on anything I could to try and give it a shot of getting picked by you.

Just going to stack your bets.

Oh, you would put my name on it so that I would then my own ego would be like,

oh, oh, yeah, I guess there's something about this one.

I guess I did more wrong on that. But alas, it was not to be. Andy wasn't allowed on stage, only in the edit bay and on the rough streets of Manhattan.

Oh, boy. This this just kidding.

Giuliani cleaned all that shit up. Am I right, guys? We all agree, that was it.

Geez. And he remained the best America's mayor. The Lonely Island podcast is supported by Airbnb.

Seth, I don't know if you know this, but when I was out in Los Angeles, when we were making Popstar, I had to stay at seven different places.

Get out of town.

Yeah, because we kept editing for seven and a half months. And five of those places were Airbnbs. And I got to say, my experience was lovely. in each one of them. I stayed in every kind of location around Los Angeles.

I hate leaving money on the table. You'll go back and you'll take the tip. We've left the waitstaff. And we have to say that money is supposed to be on the table.

I've done that many times. And you've told me not to so many times. But you know what? I hated, leaving it on the table. So I got to go back.

Well, I'm glad you finally came to that realization, because a lot of people don't realize they might have an Airbnb of their own right under their noses. Your home might be worth more than you think. Find out how much at Airbnb dot com. slash host. Hey, everybody, pardon the brief interruption.

Hi, Seth and Andy, and Jorma and Akiva, my husband. It is Liz Kakowski here. And I am with our good friends who all worked on SNL, with all of us at the same time. We have Emily Spivey. Hi, guys.

What's up, turkeys?

And we're here to tell you about our new podcast. through Paper Kite Podcast. We have been making parodies of podcasts and we have one show called Say More, with Dr. Sheila and Amy's playing a therapist in that one. We have the Chris Chapman do over with Ike Berenholtz and Seth.

Women. talking about murder is about two women helping women not to get murdered. This is Jo Beth. I like to stay close to home due to the fact, you know, I've been stalked. I've almost been murdered many, many times.

This is Donna.

I love it all.

I'm a yes person. I love a road trip and I love a city at night. So I just walk around and, you know, say hi to whoever I pass. I'll go to a temple. I'll go to a church.

I'm worried, sick about Donna, but, you know, that that's what makes it work between us. I am sort of her protector. I like to feel that I am a mama bear to all women who are about to be murdered.

So Jo Beth, today's murder happened on a cruise ship.

Of course it did.

I love cruises.

Of course you do. His body was found in Doug's basement, bludgeoned to death by a pet rock.

Oh, do we know the pet rock's name? Cause? that might be a clue.

Should we do my wrap up?

Yes.

This has been Jo Beth.

And Donna.

And, as always, don't go in basements. Don't cross state lines alone. Don't ever load something into the backseat of your car unless you're facing outward. Don't let the gas guy in your house ever. Don't go jogging.

Available on the Odyssey app or wherever you get your podcasts. The support for the Lonely Island and Seth Meyers podcast comes from Shopify.

I was just saying, I didn't know that and I'm really excited to learn about it. So tell me about it.

Well, you want to get in the merch game, right? You want to start selling merch.

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

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

You know how curious I am, Seth? I'm just chomping at the bit to find it out, because I really want to sell this men's perfume.

No matter how big you want to grow, Shopify gives you everything you need to take control and take your business to the next level. Sign up for a $1 per month trial period at Shopify.com slash Lonely Island, all lowercase. Go to Shopify.com slash Lonely Island now. Somebody else got Lonely Island all caps. Unfortunately, they beat us to it.

Yes, I have. And I got a lot of crazy looks from my nine-year-old.

Yeah, because it looks like a beer or some crazy energy drink, but it's not. It's actually a healthy beverage.

And then you explain it, that it's called Liquid Death. And my kid was like, yeah. And I was like, no, it's delicious water.

But that's a very nice thing about it. Liquid Death will brutally murdered your thirst. I hope you explain that to your child. And they're infinitely recyclable. cans are helping bring death to single-use plastic bottles.

It's punk rock meets environmentalism. You know what I mean?

Yeah, it's fun. It's fun to drink out in public when people think it's a beer, especially when the cops come to hassle you. Right.

The fuzz is always on my case, Seth, and I like to hassle them as much as possible.

You like the hassle to go back and forth. Hey, this is really exciting. You can get a free shipping of Liquid Death. It's a Mountain Water flavored sparkling and iced tea eight packs with Amazon Prime or Grab a Can or a case at your local 7-Eleven, Target, Walmart, Whole Foods, or on Instacart. Go to liquiddeath.com slash island to check out their healthy, infinitely recyclable beverages and find your closest retailer.

Yeah, they were pretty badass, as I recall.

In my head, Arctic Monkeys were super young dudes, and now they're probably, they're 40, right?

I feel like it was their first album, right? They were on and they left like actual children.

Yeah, I will say they impressed me pretty hard on that show because on air, the lead singer pointed up to the crowd and said into the microphone, that man just yawned. And I was like, that's incredible.

During their live performance?

Yeah, I believe so. I was just like, these guys are fucking great.

I mean, when you're a teen, on live television, you do whatever you want.

In his defense, they went on right after Handlebar and Lobster Claw had aired.

Even I can tell.

He's like, fuck you, Lorne, for putting that on before us.

Oh, spot on, Sonny. Wow.

Oh my God, I don't even know. That was like channeled through me. Yeah. I wasn't even thinking about it. Hey, this year, either the first versions or our pretty early versions of now, some of the recurring sketches in our generation.

Oh yeah, hit us with that.

A-holes at a travel agency. I think that might've been one of the first A-holes. Oh, wow.

That was big.

That's a really fun Sudeikis and Wig.

Keev, do your A-holes.

Babe, babe. Yeah, you get it.

You still get it.

It's based off you and Liz, though, right? Yeah. So you talk to each other.

Yeah, yeah. Sudeikis observed us.

Alexi and I ironically started calling each other, babe, based on A-holes, and then it kind of just took.

Oh, that's not good.

And that's bad. We call each other that.

I bet you guys are cool when you say it, though.

You want water, babe? I hate water. She hates water.

Well, I guess a cruise is out of the question, then, huh?

And then Vincent Price, we start getting Vincent Prices out there. Ah. There's a St. Patrick's Day.

Early Vincent Price.

Early Vincent Price. Aaron Gobra briefed Philgrip. The holiday ritual in which you are set to participate traces its origins to the most mystical of Celtic tribes, the Druids. Each year, those dark souls celebrated the feast of Flag-o-Flag-o-Dushan, a human sacrificial celebration honoring the beast god Brag-off. Phil is writing with Matt Murray, who I think this is his last year on the show.

God, did he leave after one season? One season with us.

I think so. Yeah.

The Panther skedaddled after that.

Matt, the Panther, Murray. Yeah. So that's it.

He was one of our ace homies there, because we met him at the movie awards.

Still an ace homie. Yeah.

A very funny writer, who continues to be a very funny writer. And this is a very exciting time where it's early in our, you guys know, I call it a golden era.

Yeah.

I do like the nards on us calling it the golden era of SNL.

A golden era.

Yeah. A golden era.

A, yeah.

A, it's A golden era. Yeah.

But we put the A very small.

That's right.

There is something really funny about doing things just to antagonize other generations of SNL.

Yes, but I didn't say the golden era. I said A.

It would be tight, though, I think, if we started just saying that.

Just beefing with other SNL podcasts.

There's clearly no arguments you made for any era except the first one, right?

Yeah, that's correct.

To say it's the golden era.

You're trying now to start beef, because I do have a firm opinion about what golden eras were on the show, but I don't want to get into it.

Okay. So you're saying there are multiple golden eras.

Yeah. I think there's like three or four.

Stretches where everyone's like it was working during that time.

Where it was just like working. Yeah. Maybe five.

So what do you guys think? Hit us in the comments. We'll be right back after a word from our sponsor.

Put the comments under doppelganger video.

Now I'm just going off titles. I'll tell you the sketch. You guys tell me the writer. Women's coaches, fashion awards.

Uh, Paula Peller, James Anderson.

Yeah. Or both. Both of them. You got them both. Those are the both of them.

Okay.

Great. Paula Pell. Of course, wrote the women's coaches fashion awards. Yeah. I'm shocked by this.

Ooh.

Were podcasts a thing in 2006?

Yeah, clearly.

Was that even a word that we were using then?

I do think that the fact that hater and Ken word are on there just was like, yeah, of course those guys were up on that.

Yeah. Hater would be the first guy to know about podcasts.

For sure.

You guys, we had a guest writer in one of these shows. And it should be noted, guest writers come in, either do one or two weeks at SNL.

Was it John Glaser?

No, it was Mindy Kaling. Yeah.

Oh, right. That was going to be my guess.

Oh, I remember that.

She was on The Office at that time, right?

She was on The Office and she came and guest wrote on SNL.

That's an extra credit fucking lover of comedy right there.

There you go. But Michael Che was the only guest writer who then became, I think, a full-time writer.

Was that when we were there?

You were probably gone when Che started. Yeah.

No, we were there the week. he was the guest writer because Timberlake was the host. But we were not on the show anymore.

We came back for the show. Oh, so, we weren't still working there. That's why it's foggy.

No, but we were working the week. he was a guest writer. That's why it's a foggy, weird memory.

That's when we came back and did the dating game thing?

Yeah. Oh, that's right. I remember being at the rewrite table on 9 with Michael Che. there. He had gotten something picked up.

What did Mindy write?

She wrote a Chad Michael Murray Weekend Update feature with Will Forte.

And you. Yeah, that's on brand.

Where Will Forte played Chad Michael Murray. Here's a quick Michael Che thing, which I think speaks to how good the communication is. at SNL. Lauren told me that I promoted him to a full writer and I was like, oh, that's great. I'm so happy to hear it.

That is a great story about SNL. You're like, yep, that's that place.

I think we've already talked about this, but I didn't know I had gotten the show until after my meeting with Lauren, where he tells you, you got the show.

I didn't know. I saw myself in the opening credits. I had been on a subway and I walked out and the camera was there and I kind of, I don't know why, but I was like recoiled, but then smiled as if like a knowing smile. Wow.

That was, that's how they got it. That was just stolen footage.

This is just documentary footage.

That's how they got it. I was like, whoa. But then like, Hey, you just happened to look cute that day. And then, man, that was it.

That's how they get all those. They go to like a sushi restaurant and they'll find all of a sudden Andy's eating.

sushi and they'll just get him or, or like where you buy your balloons. Yeah.

Yeah. The opening credits are found footage.

Yeah.

What was your worst one, Andy? What was your worst opening credits? Do you have one you hate?

No, I was okay with them all. There was never a moment when I did my opening credits shot where I wasn't still super gassed that I got to be in the opening credits.

There are some that are slightly more embarrassing. Like if you don't like the idea, do you get to shout it down or not?

Well, my last one, I think they had some idea and I was like, what if I'm just like out having sushi? Cause I love it. And they're like, okay. And then we did that. I think it might even have been Keith's pitch eating sushi.

Don't put that on me.

Really funny pitch.

Don't put that on me.

Yeah. Great pitch. Keith.

Yeah, thanks.

No, I was just like, what's the place we haven't seen in the credits.

Oh, it wasn't Secchi.

That wasn't. that's a good one. So she was good.

You weren't at Secchi.

I don't think so, but it might've been like sushi of Gary or something.

I, because, again, I'm the worst actor of this horse. I mean, I think my smiles always looked like a little nauseous. Like I'd eaten, like a bad clam. Like that's how it looked when I did my smile. And there was one I loved, which is we shot it all on a rooftop.

your producer in the future.

Yeah. Now I would say, like now HR would probably say that's the solid foot on the line to just remove a shirt for the purposes of laughter. I mean, they haven't seen shoemakers, but no one would complain to HR.

That's what I'm talking about, brother.

Yeah.

I don't subscribe to this narrative about you not being good at acting. Okay. Yeah.

Oh, I'm sorry. It sounds like I'm fishing for you to say I'm better at it. Yeah. Okay.

No, I don't think you're fishing. I think you actually believe it. It makes me sad because I think you're a wonderful actor.

Thank you.

And you know who I think is good is fucking Andy.

Yeah, obviously that's come across.

Oh, my God. Yoram, this is so nice.

I just feel like it's a dramatic turn that I feel like he's taking.

Again, no proof. it was said, but I've definitely heard in my brain, will someone tell Myers he's not a fucking actor?

I think you're being punished for being such a good writer. That doesn't make you not be a good actor.

You know, I think the way I found happiness was leaning into the things I was best at and great contentedness.

Sure. It's hard. I was a fan of your sketch work and I still am.

And I certainly think it speaks to what a good actor you think I am, that the many cameos I did on Brooklyn, Nine-Nine, always appreciated the call.

You had your own show. You're not available.

I know it. You used a photo of me. You used a police artist sketch, which I appreciate. Yeah.

Police artist sketch. And it was clearly you.

Late night talk show hosts. It's kind of a trope of the genre that they self-deprecate about their acting skills. You know, like Letterman would always do that. And Fallon talks about, you know, like taxi and whatever. It's part of the gig.

He's good in that, though.

I will say this. When I was on SNL and I had to do impressions, I was so in my head about him because I thought there was a way to approach doing impressions and totally over-prepared for him. And everything I did felt a little wooden. And it's super fun now to have a talk show where you can just like bust into impressions with no thought before or after it. And it's really fun.

It's my favorite thing.

So I'm feeling better about myself as a performer now, Andy. I do want you to know. Good.

Your Giuliani, really makes me so fucking happy.

You know what, Seth? You are by far the best at impressions out of the four of us. I mean, none of us do.

I mean, Andy, I don't know if you saw my peewee in the Weird Al movie, but a lot of people fucking raved.

Oh, my gosh.

Two lines, but they were good. Good. Two lines.

So like what kind of people were raving?

I don't know.

Uh, ravers? Yeah. You know, on ecstasy.

Ravers on ecstasy.

Okay. So they were already raving.

It was in the parking lot before they got into the rave.

Andy, I think about your Billy Bob Thornton impression a lot. Do you? I genuinely think about Kangles a lot.

Kangles.

My favorite is your Beetlejuice, though.

Oh man. I did try to get that Beetlejuice on.

Was it Parakeet? No, it was. Meet the Press.

Meet the Press.

Uh, there was a long. All right. So Andy thought he had a really good Beetlejuice, and that is not, that does not add value to a show that is airing in 2006. so one day we're at the table, read, and there is Meet the Press. At the time hosted by Tim Russert, and if you've ever watched SNL, you know that the cold opens if they're not about a news story of the day.

Probably.

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

I gotta get married.

So, governor, you hate sandworms. I hate myself.

And then of course, in a classic way, it's just super specific plot points of Beetlejuice. It was a lot of anti-sandworms.

A lot of anti-sandworms, yeah. And then, you know, spitting into my inside pocket, you know, save that for later.

Oh, Alec Baldwin. Yes. But he wasn't in it. No!

And he's like, why'd they do Beetlejuice?

I was in it and then didn't.

That is shocking.

A dude from Beetlejuice. Yes. From the film Beetlejuice. You did a Beetlejuice sketch and you didn't put him in.

Oh, I just like thinking about Seth reading, that for the first time.

Look, we were very tired, okay? We were very tired. But I'll say this. It did play pretty well at the table.