An SNL Digital Short is one in a series of comedic and often musical video shorts created for airing on NBC's Saturday Night Live, generally produced and written by The Lonely Island (Jorma Taccone, Akiva Schaffer and Andy Samberg), though originated by Adam McKay, in collaboration with SNL hosts, writers, and cast members. The segments were originally recorded with consumer grade digital video cameras and edited on personal computers. It is usual for the episode's hosts and musical guests (the latter on rarer occasions) to take part in the episode's short, and several shorts have included celebrity cameos.
Showing Season 3 of 14
Season 3
2007
Season 3 of SNL Digital Shorts featured an exciting array of sketches that solidified the format as a staple of Saturday Night Live's comedy. The season was marked by a mix of absurdist humor, pop culture parodies, and catchy musical numbers, with The Lonely Island (Andy Samberg, Akiva Schaffer, and Jorma Taccone) continuing to play a central role. The season took full advantage of the digital format, allowing for more creative and experimental content outside of the traditional SNL structure.
01. Iran So Far
2007-09-29
Samberg sings a love song for Mahmoud Ahmadinejad (Armisen), along with Adam Levine from Maroon 5, sampling "Avril 14th" by Aphex Twin. Jake Gyllenhaal has a cameo.
02. People Getting Punched Just Before Eating
2007-10-13
Samberg punches people who are about to eat, then gleefully dances afterwards; victims include Forte, Armisen, Sudeikis, Taccone, host Jon Bon Jovi, and Taylor Hawkins and Dave Grohl of the Foo Fighters. The punched victims then become zombies and do the Zombie Dance. After the dance and just underneath Samberg's head has the quote "Believe in Your Dreams". The short shares the style of Andy Popping Into Frame.
03. Brian Diaries
2007-11-03
Brian Williams describes a day in his life, including watching footage of himself, meditating while the disembodied head of Bono praises him, and dropping pennies on Al Roker and Matt Lauer from the NBC building.
04. Grandkids in the Movies
2008-02-23
An old man presents films which have his grandsons (Hader and Samberg) digitally inserted in order to help old people be more comfortable with today's films. Features clips from the films No Country for Old Men, Michael Clayton, Juno, Transformers (referred to as "The Transforming Robots"), and There Will Be Blood.
05. The Mirror
2008-03-01
A girl (Ellen Page) wakes up from a nightmare and begins seeing a zombie (Samberg) in her bathroom mirror, which turns out to be the nightmare of the zombie, a wolf man (Forte), and a woman named Debbie (Wiig) who is married to Dracula (Sudeikis). After several nightmares, the camera returns to Page waking up from a nightmare, and as the short ends, the zombie pops up at her bedside.
06. Hero Song
2008-03-08
An apparently wealthy man (Samberg) sings about crime infecting the city, then turns into a superhero (à la Batman) and tries to save a woman (Amy Adams) from being mugged, only to have the mugger (Sudeikis) beat the superhero to death.
07. Andy's Dad
2008-03-15
Jonah Hill confesses to Samberg about how he has fallen in love with his father, Ben Samberg (played by longtime SNL writer Jim Downey). Hader also confesses the same thing.
08. Laser Cats! 3D
2008-04-05
Samberg and Hader interrupt Lorne Michaels' dinner with Christopher Dodd (appearing as himself) to attempt to pitch Laser Cats! again, this time with a scene enhanced by 3D glasses. The plot revolves around a ban on all laser cats and a battle against the corrupt Mayor Top-Hat (Thompson). Christopher Walken appears as a general.
09. Daiquiri Girl
2008-04-12
Samberg appears in an amateur, early-90s music video about a girl who loves to drink daiquiris. Meanwhile, text scrolls up the screen explaining that the producers apologize for airing the video because a certain musical guest (Gnarls Barkley) failed to appear for the shooting of a digital short, despite an agreement to do otherwise.
10. The Best Look in the World
2008-05-10
Samberg and host Shia LaBeouf sing a high-energy country song for an infomercial about Samberg's new dress shirt, black socks, no pants look (the best look in the world). Armisen, Forte, Thompson, Sudeikis, and Hader all appear as people following the trend (a dad, a husband, two cops, and an illiterate genie).
11. Japanese Office
2008-05-17
Ricky Gervais presents a clip from a Japanese show that was his inspiration for The Office, featuring Japanese versions of Michael (Steve Carell), Dwight (Hader), Jim (Sudeikis), Pam (Wiig), and Stanley (Thompson). Also, Darrell Hammond plays Regis Philbin in a tampon commercial. At the end of the episode, Gervais comments "It's funny 'cause it's racist".
