The Lonely Island's Non-Musical Greatest Hits

From 2005 to 2012 the trio known as the Lonely Island, made up of Andy Samberg, Jorma Taconne and Akiva Schaffer, was responsible for over a hundred "SNL Digital Shorts," consistently the most popular segments of each episode of Saturday Night Live.  It's not much of a stretch to say the group's viral success revolutionized both the iconic TV show and the entire Internet.  Starting with their first major hit "Lazy Sunday" many of the Lonely Island's best videos have been original songs, making them the most successful musical comedians since Weird Al Yankovic, perhaps even surpassing Cletus T. Judd as the Polka Prince of Parody's heir apparent.  Now they are releasing Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping, their first movie since the 2007 cult hit Hot Rod.  The new film is a mockumentary about Conner4real, played by Samberg, inspired by the likes of Justin Bieber in Never Say Never and Michael Moore in Where to Invade Next.  Three songs from the movie have already been released, all of which are hilarious and one of which debuted on the Saturday Night Live season finale as a Digital Short.  However, not everything the Lonely Island does is so melodic.  Here are a few of their best non-musical Digital Shorts.

Lettuce

Anytime "Lazy Sunday" comes up in an interview with a member of the Lonely Island or another SNL castmember "Lettuce" is right on its heels.  It was the very first Digital Short, an odd, quiet precursor to the tapestry of boastful hip-hop and pop parodies that followed.  The light surrealism makes this sketch feel more like what would come in Hot Rod than "I'm On a Boat."  For a generation of SNL fans the image of Samberg and Will Forte sitting on a stoop, having a meaningful conversation and chomping on heads of lettuce is as iconic as John Belushi, putting on an accent as thick as his winter coat and getting English lessons in the very first SNL sketch in 1975.

The Shooting

Speaking of overshadowing things, an SNL sketch is probably the only thing that could get me to devote any thought towards The O.C.  Apparently the second season finale of the Fox series featured a dramatic death scene that inspired "The Shooting" two years later.  In the short Andy Samberg walks in on Bill Hader writing a letter to his sister and pulls a gun on him, at which point "Hide and Seek" by Imogen Heap is cued much like in The O.C.  Andy shooting Bill opens the floodgates for a tidal wave of violence and music cues.  It's possibly the Lonely Island's most memed work and is currently the most popular video on their YouTube channel that isn't an original song.  Thanks to this sketch Heap's croon of "mmm watcha say" has become eternally linked to dramatic murder scenes.  Also, that week's host Shia LaBeouf makes an appearance.  I'm not saying I have any particular desire to see the Beefster shot but if you do, this is a good place to look.

People Getting Punched Just Before Eating

Again, the title really says it all but it's amazing how much the Lonely Island can get out of such a spectacularly simple and silly premise.  Andy Samberg traverses the New York City streets punching people in the process of putting food in their mouths.  Victims include Samberg's fellow cast members, strange faces who I assume are writers and other SNL off-screen employees and three rock legends in Jon Bon Jovi and Foo Fighters' Dave Grohl and Taylor Hawkins.  Maybe two and a half rock legends.  Dave Grohl definitely counts as one whole rock legend so take that as you will.  Aside from Schaffer and Taconne's always great directing and editing, what really sells the set up is Samberg wildly lunging at the innocent diners then celebrating with a goofy dance, all set to a quirky synth rhythm probably pulled from the public domain.  The only better performance in the packed two minutes and thirty seconds is from a couple of very confused observers in a pizza place.

Get Out!

The two main characters of "Get Out!" have a very specific dynamic and we can all see ourselves on either side.  There are no winners when someone walks in on someone else sitting on the toilet.  Samberg plays the toilet occupier and Fred Armisen stars as the roommate who can not stop opening the door at the wrong time and the wrong place.  The Lonely Island does what they do best and take a common, everyday occurrence to the wildest extreme imaginable.  These guys do not traffic in subtlety yet somehow they created the funniest, mostly not gross bathroom joke ever.

Laser Cats

Star Wars.  The Avengers.  Jurassic Park.  Those Avatar sequels that are definitely happening and are going to be awesome.  "Laser Cats."  All once in a lifetime generation defining epic franchises.  "Laser Cats" is the most unique take on the iconic hero's journey in a century.  The series follows Andy Samberg and Bill Hader as Admiral Spaceship and Nitro, clear analogues to Gilgamesh and Enkidu, in the aftermath of a nuclear war that left cats with the ability to shoot lasers out of their mouths.  Thanks to a deceptively low-budget style and some clever editing Spaceship and Nitro's larger-than-life adventures feel grounded and accessible without losing any of the spectacle.  Each of the seven chapters is framed as a pitch to Lorne Michaels with the joke being that somehow the visionary producer can't see the value of the safest bet in the world.  I can safely say, without exaggeration, that if "Laser Cats" were at the movies it would be the reason we go the movies.