Together they produced some of the most memorable pre-tapes in Saturday Night Live history, ushering in a new era for the late-night sketch show in the process. Now Seth Meyers and The Lonely Island are launching a new podcast.
“The Lonely Island & Seth Meyers Podcast” will discuss each of the group’s SNL Digital Shorts in order, as well as dive into what else was going on behind the scenes at the show the week the sketch aired.
“Episode by episode we’ll discuss how each short was created, what the response to it was at the time, and what impact, if any, it still has today,” the SNL alums said in a joint Instagram post.
The show will be produced by Rabbit Grin Productions, a podcast studio whose slate also includes podcasts from Anna Faris, Mayim Bialik, and Sean Hayes.
Meyers was a cast member on SNL from 2001 to 2014, and also served as head writer from 2006-2014.
The Lonely Island is the comedy trio of Andy Samberg, Akiva Schaffer, and Jorma Taccone that formed in 2001. In 2005, Samberg was cast on SNL, while Schaffer and Taccone were hired as writers. Together the trio made a name for themselves with their pre-taped comedy and music videos. Their second-ever short for the show, “Lazy Sunday,” became a viral sensation before late night had even begun fully embracing the internet, and helped drive the popularity of YouTube itself.
All in all, the Lonely Island aired 107 shorts on SNL between 2005-2018 — including classics like “Dick in a Box, “Natalie’s Rap,” and “Laser Cats”.
The popularity of Digital Shorts also ushered in a new era for Saturday Night Live, with the show continuing to feature the kind of pre-taped comedy that the trio often produced.
Since the trio left SNL, the show has continued to rely on existing comedy teams producing pre-taped sketches — first with Good Neighbor (Beck Bennett, Kyle Mooney, Dave McCary) and now with Please Don’t Destroy (Ben Marshall, John Higgins, Martin Herlihy).
Meyers is already well-versed in the podcast world. He currently hosts “Family Trips with the Meyers Brothers” with brother Josh Meyers, and co-hosted “Strike Force Five” with his fellow late night hosts during last year’s WGA strike.
“The Lonely Island & Seth Meyers Podcast” premieres Monday, April 8th, and will release new episodes weekly.
“Find out how the sausage got made,” Meyers teases in the podcast’s newly released trailer, “or in this case, how the dick got in the box.”
