Alan Sepinwall

Yeah.

Do you think that you should recuse yourself from judging Japanese office?

Yeah. Yeah. We'll get there.

Agreed. I should also note that we were texting about the pod. We had been texting about the pod. We are fans of the pod. Right. Listeners, we should say, more discriminating than fans, but listeners to the pods, consistent listeners. I think, Mike, you and I have both listened to every single one as of today, correct?

Young Chuck Norris. No. No, but I do like it a lot. But no.

No. No. Yeah. And I say that reluctantly because, and I'm sure everybody here is a great admirer of Steve Martin and everything he's meant, but. Yeah.

And if I could just say, we have a lake house, and when we go out on the boat at the beginning of any weekend, I'm immediately blasting, I'm on a boat. And one of my proudest moments as a father was when my son learned all the lyrics to Finest Girl. Oh, that's great. The bin Laden song. I mean, yes, 100% what Scherza.

I think that's good.

I agree. And I would also add that it also is something that I can understand why hosts would want to be in them because it really like when I think of Natalie Portman, that's like one of the first five things I think about that just like comes to your mind.

I mean, that's the ethical standards that these ding-dongs have. They wouldn't do that. That would be an affront to their comedy morality. It's true.

No. No. Kim's videos? No. No, I don't think so. Laser cats.

I think laser cats is criterion. Really?

I do. I do not. Thanks for saving my life earlier today, Admiral Spaceship. I owe you one. As long as we have cats that shoot lasers out of their mouths, we'll be okay. Oh, jeez, I'm getting a transmission from base. Beep. Hello? A princess has been kidnapped. Robotron.

All right.

No.

Uh, no.

I like it though. And Dane Cook's good in it. He is good in it. Harpoon Man. I would put Harpoon Man in Kim's videos.

I think Dick in the Box might also be on the cover of the Criterion Collection.

Yeah.

And also just to refer to the last episode of the pod, it's not something that you would see on Delta Airlines, which I think is a plus for it.

LaserCats 2. No. No.

No. No. I mean, I appreciate it, but no.

And it just goes ESPN Classic Comedy. So this is just because you're a sports fan and you're kind of like putting it aside in a special. I just think for sports comedy, it's as high as you get.

It might have been a good place. Oh, okay. But I'm a fan of both, is the truth.

No, because I know there are more than 100 of these. And, you know, if there were 200, who knows, maybe Roy Rules would be in the top 40. But in the top 100, it's 101 from a certain year. And I don't even know if you guys are adding the new ones from this season. But I just don't think it's top 20. But, you know, it might be top 25.

Brooklyn Nine-Nine. So that's true. Also, you asked me to blurb your book. Yes. Which was a delight because it was fun to read and everybody should go buy it.

Kim's videos.

I think Syllabus. Yeah, Syllabus. Talking Dog.

no i also say one of the reasons i give it a strike against talking dog is because the best dog snl skit not a lonely island skit is when the scientific uh like now we know what the dog thinks and the dog was a trump voter yeah that's just the best dog skit ever yeah seth what do you think is the best uh driving cat sketch ever uh don't put me on the spot i mean i haven't done any research

Yes. Yes. It's a classic.

Look, niche is not the right word, but it is a rarefied audience that listens to the Lonely Island Seth Meyers podcast as religiously as Mike and I do and also fans of the Lonely Island and fans of the pod, obviously, and fans of Seth Meyers.

Yeah. I get to recuse?

The Mirror.

That's the one with Elliot Page, right? Yeah.

Yeah, I'll give it two. Yeah.

Hero song.

I understand why. Let me guess why.

Because it is really good, but it could have been better.

That's a better way of saying when I said, I mean, I think the issue is act one is great. Act two is hilarious. And there isn't an act three.

We'll start with a yes. Make your case, Tap. First of all, always great to see Downey. I mean, he's just really good. And Jonah Hill, he's got that great, like, incredibly sincere, straight delivery. He's a wonderful actor. Yeah. And just the love scenes. It's just hilarious. It's just a very hilarious character.

Although I will say I don't think of the skit when I think of Jonah Hill, unlike Rihanna and Natalie Portman. Yep. But yeah, I mean, I just it's a consistent laugh. Is this a joke?

I felt the comedy wasn't gay panic adjacent as much as it was look at Jonah making out with his old man.

Jimmy Capps crowning like a newborn. I mean, that is Nobel Prize winning poetry.

And it's also contradictory. As you point out, it's contradictory. Yeah. It's great. It's great. And the Japanese office. No. I say no, but I do wonder, recusal-wise, if Mr. Scheer is bringing any of his office baggage with him.

The Ouroboros, as you like to say, Jake. I find it was going back to milk a cow a second time, right? Yeah. I mean, if Rain had not done his Office homage with Sudeikis and Weig and all that, and then this was the first time that we saw that, maybe. Yeah.

Mm-hmm.

Gentlemen, good to see you.

My pleasure to be here.

Terrible no. I mean, they're definitely going, you know, small hall here, which I think I endorse. You know, I had a short list myself, which was a little longer. I think the only one I might strongly disagree on is Roy Rules, which I have, like, just the softest of soft spots for, just because there's so many great jokes in there.

Like, I think Andy noted in the episode you did on that when he says he loves wearing T-shirts and Roy is wearing, like, a button-down and a tie. Like, that's... It doesn't get better than that. Not a big tent joke, but a pretty great joke. Yeah. But there's so many of them in that one sketch. So I would say that I would agree. United Way is, it's a great sketch.

It does not feel like a Lonely Island sketch. Very true. It's a Peyton Manning sketch. So that shouldn't be on there. So wait, did you guys not take any of the laser cats?

We split. I was pro first laser cats.

I feel like you have to have a laser cat somewhere in criteria, right?

But I just think that LaserCats is so fundamental to the story of The Lonely Island and of the digital shorts. You have to have one on there. Even if you're not like the hugest fan of the idea or the execution, it's... I mean, they did five of them?

I've lost track. Alan, which one would you put on? If you could only pick one. Which one was Chris Dodden? I would probably do, I think Chris Dodd was in 3D, which is also the one with Walken. So it's got Walken, it's got Chris Dodd, it's got Kenan, it's got Andy getting his bionic eye. I mean, I think that's your one right there. I love how Chris Dodd is mentioned alongside Chris Walken. Yeah.

Yes, I remember watching that and realizing what they were doing and saying, wait, they're doing a parody of that? And I just couldn't believe it. And like a lot of their humor, they just kind of kept going to the well and going to the well.

And the more they did it, the funnier it got until you get to the moment where the song just sort of keeps restarting over and over and over again in the span of about 10 seconds. I mean, maybe that's in some ways like the quintessential Lonely Island sketch. Because A, it goes back to their origins with the boo. It's making fun of something that by that point was relatively obscure.

And like they sort of kept picking at the scab over and over again until they got through all of it.

Yeah, exactly. It's like cool guys don't look at explosions. It's just sort of it's taking a trope and, you know, hanging a hat on it.

No, no, I think they did a good job. I mean, the only one I even really thought about that's not on their list is The Tangent. And that's one I think I discovered through the pod because it was so hard to find for so long. But I think that's probably more of a Kim's video anyway.

Yeah. And like Andy doesn't have to be the central character in a short for it to be criterion because he's not in Natalie's rap. He just does a verse. But it has to in some way like have the sensibility of those guys in order, I think.

I think that's why United Way isn't criterion.

Thanks.

So we decided on the 34 that we went through, we decided six unanimously, and then we diverged on two. So I picked eight and Sher picked six. I think that's good because they get stronger, I think, the Lonely Island oeuvre, I think, as they proceed.

I will say just because, you know, the odds of me and Mike being on this podcast again, a second time, maybe not that high. One day I was at the Parks and Rec writer's room and they played Captain Jack Sparrow on the writer's room TV at least seven times.

There was a mindfulness to this. Yeah, good word for it. That's also one of the reasons that we're honored that we are chosen to be Criterion judges.

I was taken to a warm bath of resistance nonsense.

I did something for Criterion. I did an introduction for the Manchurian candidate. So I feel like that's also that Criterion expertise. I actually did something for Criterion, Seth, which you didn't bring up. I don't know why. No, I know. Well, you kept bringing it up on text.

It's sad because you're not going to end it by telling us that you love us.

I appreciate our time together too, Seth.

Thank you.

It's about time.

Seth, you do a James Mason? You do a Mason accent?

Can we hear a little?

20.

20 max is my take. I'm willing to go to 25, but 33, then you're just, that's just loose morals. Yeah.

Yeah. Senate confirmation hearing is just a simple majority. But I take what you're talking about. Oh, man.

Yeah. OK. The breaking the filibuster. Two thirds. Breaking the filibuster. That's what it takes to convict in an impeachment.

Well, we're obviously not going to talk about all 34 or even the top 10 or 15. I mean, look, let's just go through real quick. Lettuce. What do you guys think about lettuce?

It's essential knowledge, but it's not maximum appreciation.

All right. Lazy Sunday.

Yeah.

I feel like after the Eagles thumped the Steelers, he's entitled to his memories and nostalgia for a team longer exist. That's kind of you. Classic rope-a-dope. Let you guys get confident. Loved everything about it. Went according to plan. I certainly understand Seth not wanting to talk about the game. That's fine.