Andy Samberg jokes that Lin-Manuel Miranda borrowed the ‘Hamilton’ reference from The Lonely Island’s iconic SNL short, as the cast reflects on its 20-year legacy.
The Birth of a Viral Sensation
The Lonely Island—Andy Samberg, Jorma Taccone, and Akiva Schaffer—changed the trajectory of Saturday Night Live with their second-ever sketch, “Lazy Sunday”. Premiering in 2005, the short film became an overnight sensation, marking a pivotal moment for both the show and the trio’s careers.
The idea for the sketch had been brewing for weeks, with the group eager to collaborate with Chris Parnell, known for his aggressive rapper persona on Weekend Update. “We had been talking about making this song with Parnell for, I think, a couple of weeks at that point because we loved his Update features,” Taccone recalled.
A DIY Masterpiece
Filming “Lazy Sunday” was a grassroots effort. Taccone purchased a cheap radio from RadioShack, borrowed a camera from Bill Hader’s then-wife, and even enlisted his sister-in-law to play a bodega clerk. The gritty, low-budget aesthetic became a hallmark of their future work, even as A-list stars like Rihanna and Justin Timberlake joined later sketches.
“[They’re] all recorded all the same way, with this garbage equipment. I loved that part of the show; it felt like it truly was the not-ready-for-primetime, kids f—ing running the asylum,” Taccone said.
The ‘Hamilton’ Connection
Samberg’s proudest moment from the sketch? The lyric, “You can call us Aaron Burr, by the way, we’re dropping Hamiltons.” “This was in a pre-Hamilton world. And I’ve told Lin [Manuel Miranda] to his face that I’m pretty sure he took it from us,” Samberg joked.
Parnell laughed off the idea, admitting, “It’s so lame. But I remember him [Samberg] looking up something online or whatever because he wanted to see who shot Alexander Hamilton, and he wasn’t sure, but he had a pretty good idea.”
A Cultural Shift for SNL
Seth Meyers, who was part of the original discussion, called the sketch a game-changer. “It’s impossible to talk about ‘Lazy Sunday’ without falling into the worst tropes of biopics or VH1’s Behind the Music, but the reality is, the minute I saw it at dress rehearsal, I thought the words, ‘everything has changed forever,’” he said.
The impact was immediate. After the sketch aired, The Lonely Island went from unknowns to meeting with major studio heads. “We did ‘Lazy Sunday’ and came back to LA for meetings in January and all of a sudden our meetings were with the heads of movie studios,” Schaffer recalled.
Legacy and Fan Theories
Fans have long speculated about the sketch’s influence on pop culture, including its potential role in inspiring Lin-Manuel Miranda’s Hamilton. While Samberg’s joke is playful, the timing of the reference—years before the musical’s debut—adds fuel to the theory.
Parnell reflected on the intimate process: “They were at their desks and I think I was sitting on the other side of Andy’s desk. It was all very intimate; it was just the four of us writing it, recording it, shooting it. It was kind of a beautiful way to make this thing.”
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