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For a brief moment in the early 2000s, SNL Digital Shorts completely dominated internet comedy. Lazy Sunday, D*** in a Box, Natalie’s Rap, I’m On A Boat, and The Creep didn’t just become popular…they became viral events. The Lonely Island helped reinvent Saturday Night Live for the YouTube era and changed online comedy forever.
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Free boat ride for three. Now, who should I take? Keeve? Yes. And T-Pain. Cool
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If someone were to mention SNL Digital Shorts, does the image of Justin Timberlake holding a
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wrapped gift at crotch level come to mind? Would you get a craving for Magnolia cupcakes or start
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swaying to the beat of a song about boats? Or does belt-flavored hard seltzer or Zoe Kravitz's
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Lost Cat come to mind? There's no question SNL relied on Digital Shorts to get through its new
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Millennium Rudd. But why exactly did Please Don't Destroy never live up to the success
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of their predecessor? Pre-taped short films have been a part of Saturday Night Live's DNA since
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week one, with famed writer-director Albert Brooks serving as filmmaker-in-residence during the show's inaugural season. Although this residency didn't quite work out, Brooks paved
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the way for SNL legends like Tom Schiller and Robert Smeichel, as well as Hollywood heavyweights
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Robert Altman, Ben Stiller, and Paul Thomas Anderson, all of whom helmed pre-taped shorts
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for the show. Some of the earlier SNL shorts found moderate success, including Men Synchronized
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Swimming and White Like Me, with some even reoccurring across seasons, such as The Mr
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Bill Show and TV Funhouse. But while memorable, these shorts never served as the main attraction
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for audiences. It wasn't until 29 years later when The Lonely Island, a comedy group from the
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Bay Area arrived that the shorts became must-see late-night TV. Airing the week before Christmas in
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2005, Lazy Sunday was a low-budget music video following Andy Sandberg and Chris Parnell on a
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quest to see the new Chronicles of Narnia movie, and it became an overnight sensation. Sandberg may
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now be a household name, however, back in 2005, he was anything but. What made this grainy comedy
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rap video such a success and the benchmark it remains today? Two words combined into one. YouTube
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When YouTube launched on December 15, 2005, it became the perfect showcase and booster
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for the Lonely Island's unique talents. And it's probably just gonna be me and you until we die
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What's your point, Clark? Well I have both male and female genitalia So just something to think about While plenty of college students could stay up for SNL 1130 p airtime
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it wasn't so easy for high schoolers living with their parents or young professionals with early mornings to catch the show live
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But with an accessible platform like YouTube enabling on-demand viewing, Lazy Sunday got over 2 million views in the first few days after airing
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which may sound low by today's standards, but in 2005, it was anything but
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The Lonely Island shattered expectations, rejuvenated SNL, and helped define viral comedy
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as the internet began shaping pop culture. Never ones to rest on their laurels, the boys from the
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Bay looked outside the group for the next digital short star. Enter Natalie Portman
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What's a day in the life of Natalie Portman life? Do you really want to know? Please
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Fresh off the V for Vendetta press tour and a year removed from her final Star Wars movie
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she shocked audiences by unleashing her inner Easy E in Natalie's rap. By doing so
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The Lonely Island helped demolish her indie darling image and revealed a widely different
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side, and people took notice. More importantly, other actors also noticed. Soon, stars like John
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C. Reilly, Lindsay Lohan, and Tom Hanks began appearing in digital shorts. But just one year
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after Lazy Sunday set the bar, everything changed. Again, dick in a box. A Christmas R&B parody
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featuring Justin Timberlake became the standard for what The Lonely Island would be known for
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The video wasn't just funny, it was catchy, polished, and a must-share
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The formula evolved into something deceptively simple, a strong song paired with an original video built around an absurd premise with A-list cameos
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But the shorts weren't restricted to music videos. The Lasercats series became a fan favorite
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while standalones like Dear Sister, Body Fusion, and The Japanese Office showed the group's range
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They even stepped outside SNL and TV in general with films like Hot Rod and Popstar
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and while neither dominated at the box office, both became cold classics
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I don't want to like interrupt the early birds. You've already interrupted enough, OK
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But I'm just going to grab my hummus. What's that? How about that
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You want some more of that? What about you, punk? But as all good things must end, The Lonely Island's run
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as Kings of the Shorts eventually wrapped up in 2018 with Natalie Portman returning for a follow wrap The group delivered a few more shorts during guest appearances and specials but by then it was clear the baton was being passed or perhaps dropped but not for long
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SNL took a shot with the group Good Neighbor, composed of Beck Bennett, Kyle Mooney
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Nick Rutherford, and Dave McCary. Although their work prior to SNL was clever and occasionally hilarious
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the show wasn't a good fit, according to group founder Nick Rutherford. No, I don't think, uh, it's like it wasn't a match
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It didn't work. Then during COVID, another comedy trio emerged named Please Don't Destroy
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Formed in 2017, members Martin Hurley, John Higgins, and Ben Marshall built a following online
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by posting videos similar to what they would later bring to the show. They caught attention at SNL, and the guys were quickly hired
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This would seem like an incredible feat, were it not for one member being the son of Adam Sandler's
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longtime writing partner, Tim Hurley, while another was the son of SNL producer, Steve Higgins
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So why do most people associate just The Lonely Island with digital shorts, but not Please Don't Destroy
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They are, after all, both composed of three white unknown young men who make shorts and music videos
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but how did one trio rise above the rest and the other limped its way through four seasons
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Let's start with how social media shaped their placement in the Studio 8H history books
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The Lonely Island clearly benefited from YouTube's launch coinciding with their introduction
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but today, with an overabundance of short-form content, it's much harder to stand out
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And although Please Don't Destroy had a captive audience for nearly two years
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they struggled to convert that exposure into a genuine connection. During their four seasons at SNL, they produced 34 digital shorts
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which is half of what The Lonely Island made in the same amount of time. In Please Don't Destroy's first season, they had nearly as many shorts cut as they had air
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Although their second season showed improvement with 11 shorts aired and none cut
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social media came into play once again with the birth of the term Nepo Baby
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Short for nepotism baby, meaning a child in the industry with one or two famous parents
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two-thirds of Please Don't Destroy fall into that unfavorable category, making any attempt at humility or underdog appeal feel unearned
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Another key ingredient in SNL success is chemistry While both groups grew organically out of friendships the group dynamics are very different The Lonely Island are childhood buddies who spent years building their voice together
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That history showed in their defined personas and natural dynamic, Please Don't Destroy
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met in college and rose quickly in an era of instant feedback
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allowing little time for them to cultivate their individual and collective identity
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Even though they often play versions of themselves, they had a hard time establishing their individual strengths
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People ask us if we're really friends in real life, and the truth is almost all of us are
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So, you know. This may have been why their film, The Treasure of Foggy Mountain
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came and went as quickly as a commercial break. None of this matters more than the quality of the work
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Art is subjective, but when you look at the talent that the Lonely Island attracted
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it's clear they had something special going on. Please Don't Destroy brought in talent, but no one who seems as fully engaged
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and never anyone carrying the weight of the short alone. While the Lonely Island brought audiences into clubs, onto boats, and out onto the Isle of Tortuga
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Please Don't Destroy often stayed on the 17th floor of 30 Rockefeller Center
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That's not to say the Lonely Island relied purely on locations. All of the Lasercats shorts were shot in and around the SNL offices, but they made those spaces dynamic
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Please Don't Destroy, by contrast, were often shown sitting at their desks discussing ideas
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Digital shorts were an opportunity to break free from Studio 8H. The Lonely Island did, and Please Don't Destroy, rarely tried to
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When it comes to what makes a digital short truly special, you have to keep three things in mind
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Timing, people, and product. The Lonely Island nailed all three. They arrived just as YouTube was taking off, allowing both to grow in tandem
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But it wasn't just luck. The trio had already put in the work, pushing through setbacks and sharpening their voice together
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So when the opportunity came, they delivered again and again. Please Don't Destroy, by contrast, has shown flashes of that same formula
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but not with the same consistency or cultural impact. Digital shorts are just another example
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of how Saturday Night Live keeps up with technology. With a half century of experience in the can
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and Lorne Michaels nearing the end of his tenure, it's anybody's guess what the next generation
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of SNL will deliver. A little advice for whoever takes over. Cool it on the belt seltzers