The Lonely Island Hilariously Blames This SNL Alum for "A Couple of Homies"
The hosts of The Lonely Island and Seth Meyers Podcast revisited a forgotten 2009 Digital Short.
Not every SNL Digital Short can be Criterion. In fact, even the Lonely Island members (Jorma Taccone, Andy Samberg, and Akiva Schaffer) don't remember making some of them.
In the May 13, 2025 episode of The Lonely Island and Seth Meyers Podcast, Seth Meyers was not technically present for a confused, chaotic discussion about a short called "A Couple of Homies." You can watch the short on Peacock by checking out SNL Season 34, Episode 13, with Host Rosario Dawson and Musical Guest Fleet Foxes. The short kicks off about 21 minutes into the episode.
This Digital Short is not one that's frequently discussed among the Lonely Island classics, but it does feature a lot of their comedy staples: Two guys being bros, random costume changes, random snacks, purposely terrible song lyrics, high fives, and an ending that conveniently explains the video away as if to say, "Don't worry; we didn't think this was funny, either."
What is SNL's "A Couple of Homies" Digital Short?
In this 2009 Digital Short, Andy Samberg and Fred Armisen are two guys who are hanging out. Will Forte then begins singing lyrics that describe what Samberg and Armisen are doing, in various musical styles. They high five ("Hands meet in the symphony of friendship"); drink sodas ("Soda, they're so delicious and bubbly, they come in cans"); read a magazine ("Having fun with a magazine, just getting information from the written page"); and put on yellow dresses, peel bananas, and stare at each other ("Peeling bananas, wearing dresses, looking at each other's awesome faces, just two buddies being friends and buddies").
How did "A Couple of Homies" happen?
Lonely Island members Samberg, Taccone, and Schaffer barely had a memory of making the video. Taccone said he didn't remember it existing and was pretty sure he was not involved because, "Maybe I hated it."
"We could really race by 'A Couple of Homies,' in my opinion," Schaffer said, and they sort of did.
The guys re-discovered in real time that "Homies" had been made for a previous episode and cut after dress rehearsal. It was then repurposed when the show needed something to go in between an Aladdin sketch and a Gilly sketch.
The video was shot in a dressing room at SNL with minimal lighting. Samberg, Taccone, and Schaffer assumed it was shot on Friday night at midnight, the night before a show. They thought it was Forte's idea, and jokingly decided to "blame it on him."
Then, it occurred to the group that the songs sung by Forte kind of sounded like the music Taccone makes, so maybe he actually was there.
"I think I did make that, so I was loosely involved," he admitted. "Maybe I'm just trying to pass the buck here."
"I think you were heavily involved," said Samberg.
Much later on in the podcast, Samberg took the convo back to the "Homies" short and said his favorite part was the ending (mostly because Forte's butt makes a hilarious appearance). That devolved into a conversation about the time NYPD Blue featured a butt, which turned into whether NYPD Blue star Dennis Franz is a sex symbol, which led to all the guys simultaneously watching the scene in question.
"I don't think this has gotten off the rails," Taccone said.
Samberg later added, "Dude, this podcast is way better without Seth."
Where was Seth Meyers on the podcast?
Meyers was unable to make it to the whole podcast this week, but since he's normally in charge of keeping the podcast on topic, he pre-recorded clips of himself asking the guys questions. Ironically, his questions kept getting the podcast off the topic of "A Couple of Homies."
Meyers did show up at the very end and explained his absence: "I host a talk show! It's hard to do both!" Can't argue with that!
