Dick in A Box - Background

Background

He basically came up with the hook I had a loose melody and he took the reigns and schooled us on how to record and make it sound fantastic. He added pauses to make it more catchy. And that 'Midday at the grocery store' line? That was his.

—Samberg, discussing Timberlake's influence on the song

The song began development on the Tuesday before the show's airdate (December 12), when Saturday Night Live executive producer Lorne Michaels called Andy Samberg into his office and asked him to try to "write something funny" to showcase the singing skills of Timberlake, both the host and musical guest. The song featured was written and produced by Timberlake and Samberg, fellow Lonely Island members Akiva Schaffer and Jorma Taccone, Taccone's brother Asa Taccone, and associate music director Katreese Barnes. Samberg said the writing team originally came up with a different idea for Timberlake, but show honcho Lorne Michaels insisted they exploit his musical side. Taccone came up with the "dick in a box" premise. Samberg, along with Schaffer and Taccone, presented a rough draft of the song to Timberlake on Thursday afternoon, and, after reworking it to Timberlake's specifications, Samberg and Timberlake recorded the song in Samberg's office around midnight that night. According to Samberg, Timberlake "didn't even blink" upon hearing the idea, and was immediately receptive to recording it. Timberlake recalled that the musicians were "laughing hysterically" during its production, and that the "delirium of no sleep" contributed to the humor of the song. Though his voice cracked a few times during recording and he was a bit nervous working with Timberlake, Samberg said his "insanely" easygoing attitude put him at ease. The duo spent much of Friday and Saturday filming the music video in and around New York City, and it was not until 4pm on the day of the show's broadcast — less than eight hours before the show was to go live — was the video in sufficient shape to be shown to the NBC executive responsible for late-night programming, Rick Ludwin.

The show's producers had already concluded on their own that the video would have to be bleeped to be broadcast, but had a special request for Ludwin: would they be given permission to make the uncensored version available online. Ludwin's first instinct was that they shouldn't, but upon seeing the video with a representative from the NBC legal department, he found himself laughing and realized that those searching on the Internet specifically for the video would not be shocked. The material was still touchy enough that Ludwin sought final approval for the Web version of the video from Kevin Reilly, the president of NBC Entertainment, and Jeff Zucker, chief executive of NBCUniversal Television Group, both of whom approved the idea. Another executive suggested that a disclaimer be placed before the Web-only version of the video that warned of its explicit content, a proposal that was immediately accepted. The video was edited most of Saturday, in time for its television debut.