The Lonely Island - Saturday Night Live

Saturday Night Live

Beginning in junior high school, Samberg, Schaffer, and Taccone began creating live comedy skits that expanded to comedic shorts, music parody (both songs and videos), and one full-length television pilot, before being invited to write portions of the 2005 MTV Movie Awards, which Jimmy Fallon hosted. Impressed with the group's material, he brought the trio to the attention of Lorne Michaels, the producer of Saturday Night Live, who agreed to see them. Performing standup comedy in his free time, Samberg fulfilled a lifelong dream by auditioning for the show. He was called back for a second audition a few weeks later and was ultimately invited to be a cast member; Schaffer and Taccone were invited to join the writing staff based on their work in the trio. Since their arrival, the group has written some popular bits in recent SNL history, most notably, the SNL Digital Shorts (collectively) and MacGruber (Taccone, with John Solomon and cast member Will Forte).

Everyone who has gambled with the Marine Corps, it's gone well. We figured it couldn't hurt to see how long we could ride it.

Uncertain if Michaels would approve of a wacky prerecorded skit on the show, the group borrowed a video camera and filmed a faux lettuce commercial starring Samberg and fellow SNL cast member Will Forte. They presented the finished product to Michaels in December 2005, who liked the short and agreed to air it. It was the first of what would become a regular feature of the program, called Saturday Night Live's Digital Shorts. "Lazy Sunday", the second digital short, enjoyed runaway success in the virtual media, as fans responded with t-shirts and response videos. Many of these shorts have skyrocketed to Internet fame, including "Natalie's Rap" (with Natalie Portman), "Iran So Far" (with Adam Levine), "Jizz in My Pants", "Shy Ronnie (Eidan)" (with Rihanna), and "I'm on a Boat" (with T-Pain), the latter of which was nominated on December 2, 2009, for Best Rap/Sung Collaboration at the 52nd Grammy Awards.

The song "Dick in a Box", which was performed with Justin Timberlake, won the 2007 Creative Arts Emmy Award for Outstanding Original Music and Lyrics. Credited for its production are Andy Samberg, Akiva Schaffer, Jorma Taccone, and Justin Timberlake, in addition to Katreese Barnes and Asa Taccone for music. Based on 1990s contemporary R&B, such as Keith Sweat, Jodeci, and R. Kelly, the song is about giving gift-wrapped genitalia as a Christmas present to one's girlfriend. Samberg and Timberlake made a sequel to "Dick in a Box" called "Motherlover", which aired on May 9, 2009.

Other recent shorts by the comedy group include "Threw It on the Ground" which aired October 2009; "Great Day" aired on May 15, 2010; "Shy Ronnie 2: Ronnie & Clyde" featuring Rihanna aired on October 30, 2010; "I Just Had Sex" featuring Akon, was aired on December 18, 2010; "The Creep" featuring Nicki Minaj and John Waters was released on January 29, 2011; and "Jack Sparrow" featuring Michael Bolton, which was released on May 7, 2011. The sequel to Motherlover, "3-Way (The Golden Rule)," featured Lady Gaga and aired on May 21, 2011.

In the summer of 2010, Taccone quit Saturday Night Live, but has returned to work on a handful of Digital Shorts in the 2010-2011 season. In 2012, more digital shorts were aired that may appear on a future album, including the 100th digital short and "Lazy Sunday 2."

On January 26, 2013, they debuted their new song "YOLO" featuring Adam Levine and Kendrick Lamar. This was the first Digital Short to air since Andy Samberg left SNL. It featured host Adam Levine and musical guest Kendrick Lamar.