Fey As Palin, Ferrell As Bush: SNL Looks Back At Last Decade

SNL in the 2000s will be remembered for something else too – the way the digital shorts, and later the rest of the show, became viral video sensations. The success of YouTube coincided with the success of “Lazy Sunday” – a low-budget, couple-minute rap from Andy Samberg and Chris Parnell about the Chronicles of Narnia. But it continued on. With Samberg as the main on-screen presence and Jorma Taccone and Akiva Shaffer (mostly) behind the scenes, sketches, and songs, like “Dick In A Box” and “Iran So Far Away” are now ingrained in the public consciousness. “These guys were the first to kind of be in a position to do it,” said Bowser. “Not to mention, they’re hugely talented.”

One of the stars of “Dick In A Box,” and other popular SNL sketches in the 2000s was Justin Timberlake, who was also interviewed for the special. Moynihan, a fellow backup-dancer during a memorable “Single Ladies” sketch, said if Timberlake “wasn’t a multi-million dollar star he should be on SNL.” The excellent hosts were a theme throughout the special as well – Moynihan pointed to Sigourney Weaver last year as one of his favorite, especially after lobbying hard for a sketch featuring the pair. “She doesn’t understand that it was just a thing for her that week, but for the rest of my life I’ll be like, ‘I had that moment with Sigourney Weaver,'” he said. “That’s awesome.”

September 11 was also a focus of the show – from Rudy Giuliani and the FDNY and NYPD welcoming the show back a few weeks after the tragedy, to Paul Simon‘s moving performance that same week. (Also, it’s jarring to see Bernard Kerik standing next to Giuliani during the opening.) “Everyone was affected in the kind of way you don’t want to think of a traumatic experience,” said Bowser, echoing the sentiments of a lot of the cast during the special.

Some final reflections from Moynihan: “SNL toughens you up and gives you a thick skin so you don’t get upset when people don’t like your jokes. It’s 99% disappointment in the comedy world. Learning how to make that 1% amazing, that’s what you learn here.”

And from Bowser: “This was the most generous cast and decade in terms of performers working together.”

The special featured some never-before-scene clips, from dress rehearsal and even some Weekend Update test runs from a young Jimmy Fallon and Fey. One clip is below (Parnell rapping during dress). More info about the program, airing tonight at 9pm on NBC, is here:

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