10 Best Digital Shorts in 'Saturday Night Live' History

'Saturday Night Live' may be decades old, but the era of the digital short is far shorter.

But that doesn't mean that the creators of the 'SNL' digital shorts, The Lonely Island Boys (Jorma Taccone, Akiva Schaffer and Andy Samberg), haven't produced a vast body of work in that short time. To date, they have created over 70 official shorts and dozens of unofficial ones as well.

Sorting through them all to produce the best is a daunting task, one that would produce nothing more than acrimony and arguments. Sounds like a good enough reason for us here at TV Squad.

What follows are the 10 greatest digital shorts in 'Saturday Night Live' history.

More than possibly any addition to the show in recent memory, these shorts have re-injected 'SNL' back into the pop culture conversation, mirroring the rise of viral video and a "do it yourself" aesthetic that turns consumers into producers. Of course, since its humble beginnings, the Digital Shorts have grown in terms of scope and budget, but rarely forget their humble (and let's face it, bizarre) origins in the process.

As with all lists of this nature, this is meant to provoke debate, not actual arguments. Tastes are subjective, especially when it comes to the esoteric nature of the shorts themselves. One man's 'Motherlover' is another woman's 'Space Olympics.' While there's no one list that will fit everyone's taste, hopefully the following attempt sparks memories of the best that this ever-expanding genre has produced. And since these shorts all aired during times in which 'Dora the Explorer' isn't on the air, consider yourselves warned about the overall content of what follows. All sketches are readily available for viewing, but may not suit all tastes. We good? Good.

Honorable Mentions

Business Meeting (Feb. 24, 2007)


The Tizzle Wizzle Show (Dec. 19, 2009)


On the Ground (Oct. 3, 2009)


And now the list (drumroll, please ...)


10. Grandkids in the Movies (Feb. 23, 2008)
Bill Hader+Adam Samberg=comedy win. There's something endearing about their attempts to produce film that's appropriate for their grandfather's viewing pleasure. Plus, more than a few of us have heard a phone go off during a film and scrambled to answer our own.



9. Two Worlds Collide (Nov. 21, 2009)
Kenan Thompson as Reba McEntire? Sure, why not? What ensued was a song that not only was catchy, but addressed the jarring visual dissonance in increasingly hysterical fashion. Samberg's ability to produce joyful naïvete has rarely been used to better effect.



8. United Way (March 24, 2007)
How funny is this Peyton Manning-centric film? It's so funny that the New England Patriots fan compiling this list is felt compelled to include it. And no, he doesn't feel good about himself. But while he hates the man on the field, he admires Mr. Manning's game attitude in this sketch all the same.



7. J*zz in My Pants (Dec. 6, 2008)
Flight of the Conchords might have scored a better Pet Shop Boys parody with their tune 'Inner City Pressure,' but what this sketch lacks in pure authenticity it more than makes up for in convulsive humor. Not only does this sketch have a killer musical track, but also a sumptuous visual world in which to place the inherently vulgar joke. Throw in a game Molly Sims and Jamie-Lynn Sigler, plus a cameo from Justin Timberlake, and you have a classic digital short.




6. Doogie Howser Theme (Jan. 10, 2009)
Oddly sweet in a way that digital shorts almost never are, this homage to the classic '80s theme song doesn't disrespect its source even as it lifts it so far off the ground it threatens to drop it directly on its head. Throw in Neil Patrick Harris lending authenticity and a bit of poignancy to the proceedings and you have a classic that can be watched over and over again.



5. Motherlover (May 9, 2009)
Some people place this and its predecessor together as one discreet piece of digital mastery. This list doesn't, although this list does acknowledge that the continuity between them actually surpasses that on most NBC dramas. While somehow bolder than the original video featuring these two would-be lotharios, it still lacks the surprise of the initial iteration. Still, this Timberlake/Samberg jam is still plenty strong enough to crack the Top 5.




4. I'm on a Boat (Feb. 7, 2009)
Considering the humble financial and technological beginnings of the digital shorts, it's downright shocking to see the amount of money that appears onscreen during this Auto-Tuned masterpiece. From Samberg's nautical themed pashmina afghan to T-Pain's joyous declaration of life on the open seas, everything about this short is damn near perfect. Now let me go grab my flippy floppies ...



3. Iran So Far (Sept. 29, 2007)
'I'm on a Boat' wins points for sheer audacity in terms of scope, but 'Iran So Far' ekes it out for sheer audacity of topic. Writing a love song about Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad? Allllrighty then. And yet, it somehow works, between Samberg's post-sexual perspective, Fred Armisen's bizarrely sweet performance as Ahmadinejad, and Maroon 5's Adam Levine singing a sweet hook that wouldn't be out of place on the Billboard charts.



2. Lazy Sunday (Dec. 17, 2005)
Only the second digital short ever aired, and yet it's still No. 2 overall. In so many ways, it set the template for what these shorts could be: lyrical, musical, nonsensical, filled with as many visual jokes as verbal, and defiantly singular in their viewpoint. 'Lazy Sunday' didn't aim to appeal to everyone, but by doing so, opened up 'Saturday Night Live' to the general television audience in a way it hadn't done in years.




1. Dick in a Box (Dec. 16, 2006)
Like you expected anything else. (Sorry, 'Laser Cats' fans.) Honestly, if this song has been released with more sanitary lyrics in 1997, it would have topped the charts. Justin Timberlake's melodic sense coupled with The Lonely Island's sensibility connected with the SNL audience in a way that perhaps no other piece the show has produced in the last 15 years. If 'Lazy Sunday' brought the show back into the collective conversation, THIS was the moment that pushed it to the top of the water cooler chat. Not every short since has tried to directly emulate it, but every short stands in its shadow all the same.




That's our Top Ten List. Which favorites of yours made the list? Which were unjustly omitted? Leave your thoughts below!