Just like last year, when they broke down the process of making "Lazy Sunday," The New York Times is again diving into the creation of a popular SNL Digital Short. This time, of course, they're exploring "Dick in a Box", which aired last Saturday and made its way around the Interwebs soon afterwards.This time, the article goes over the process of getting NBC to place the uncensored version on its web site and YouTube channel. Believe it or not, after Andy Samberg and Justin Timberlake recorded the video, which wasn't finished until 4 PM Saturday, Lorne Michaels had to get permission from NBC late-night chief Rick Ludwin to put the uncensored version on the web site. After Ludwin saw it and liked it, he sought permission from his bosses, NBC Entertainment president Kevin Reilly and NBCU Television Group CEO Jeff Zucker. I can just imagine the phone conversations...
Anyway, Samberg and his buddies Akiva Schaffer and Jorma Taccone have come a long way from the Lonely Island days, haven't they? Before, they'd do a sketch about private parts and just slap it up on the web. Now, excutives at the highest levels have to get involved. Ah, such is the price of fame, right?
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
12-21-2006 @ 1:45PM
Phatman said...
The FCC can suck it! If more producers made shows with the intention to strip out material for the broadcast but include it on the Web or in a DVD then they might have a chance at getting some money out of my pocket. I'd much rather pay to buy a dvd of a show that has extra scenes (actually included during the show not slapped on to another area of the disc) than to watch a show when it airs and have to deal with commercials and censorship.
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12-21-2006 @ 1:40PM
Curtis said...
It looks like you forgot to include the link:
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/21/arts/television/21sket.html?ref=television
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12-21-2006 @ 1:48PM
Joel Keller said...
You're right, Curtis. I added the link.
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12-21-2006 @ 7:05PM
Adrienne said...
OMG! How hilarious is this! That's all I want for Christmas!
http://www.celebrityfox.com
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12-21-2006 @ 5:04PM
Book Fan said...
Such is the price of using the resources, name, distribution, and trademarks of a huge corporation to promote your material. As you say, on their own they'd just slap it up on the web.
And they were still more than free to produce and release this on their own dime. On NBC's dime? A company beholden to mainstream advertisers and sponsors? Yes, it gets checked over-- big surprise.
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12-21-2006 @ 8:40PM
Kyle said...
Funny piece, and yes they have come a long way since Loenly Island, but in their travels they have lost allot of their sense of humor. I attribute that to the censorship and lack of total creative control that comes with network TV.
I secretly had hoped they would be given the riens as head writers when Tina Fey left, but unfortunately it looks like they have more time to go before they get the top spot. Its unfortunate too, because the show still is 70-80% un-laughable and predictable at best. It feels like im watching the same jokes I watched over and over before.
Miserable show... Lonely Island is just about their only watchable material.
Kyle
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