Bill Hader & John Mulaney Love Writing Niche SNL Sketches | Conan O'Brien Needs A Friend

I know Lauren would get frustrated when. you because you, Melanie, you guys would. have these obsessions about very small. things in show business. Yeah. Lauren loves a big. He likes a home run hitter. He likes. someone who's going to go out there. He. likes, you know, give me your church. lady. Give me your like, oh my god, give. me the give me the character that. everyone just can't wait to see. Softball down the middle. And I I know. that you guys loved coming up with stuff.

that would kind of, you know, the one I'm thinking of is you. you were you were doing a Jud Hirs. impression on the show. When I came back to host Steve Higgins. saying out of the gate like, "Hey, Steve." He goes, "All right, none of. that sandwich in a briefcase that. you and Melanie like so much.". Oh my god. Sandwich in a briefcase is a perfect. description. of the weird sandwich in a briefcase. made me laugh cuz that's so accurate.

where be like and I remember yeah we had. a sandwich in a briefcase in a sketch. when and it got cut and I told uh Melany. he wasn't there. Can you share the concept real fast? Oh yeah, sure. Sure. Oh. Oh, sorry. Sorry. Yeah, the concept of those sketch. we'll edit here everybody. Okay. and. three, two, and um a one and a two and u. it was called uh Kesh in color and it. was a uh. I remember this. It was a um oh gosh, it.

was a cop show, a 70s cop show called. Kesh. and and the host was Kesh. And then we. basically kind of just did that thing. where we ripped off from uh Police Squad. where everybody and but it wasn't a. thing where we all froze and we and we. pretended to be frozen and someone came. in. The joke was that. they would freeze too early. Yeah. you. know, so I'd be like, I gotta tell you, can and Jud Hirs was uh. the captain uh the the.

enter scenes and I go, greetings and his. salutations, Genesis. You're right, Gish. Mayor Giuliano was. setting all those fires. and and you would walk in and it was. like I got to tell you Ganesh. No, you. know it was like it would it would. freeze too early. Yes. Yes. But it was a thing that John and I would. and and Fred would get on it too where. we the ideas that we would try that that.

Lauren would just be like no like super. arcade like we want to do one thing. about time life. It was a guy, me and. Fred, recording Time Life. Um, it was like a Time Life uh commercial. It was like Time Life commercial. It was. like. Jimmy Hendris. Jimmy Hendris. the Star Spangled Banner. And then you.

slowly realize it's Woodstock and it was. like John Lennon, John Lennon, John Lennon. It was just and we were laughing so hard. and it played like this. Everybody was. like, "Why is that why is this. happening? Why is this happening?" And. we were like. could not get through it. We were. laughing so hard. And I just remember it. was one of those things if you had seen. it at at SNL, everybody has their stacks. of script scripts and they're kind of. reading along and if something sucks.

you'll just see someone in the middle of. a sketch just go. and just drop it on the floor. Yes. I saw that you just everybody was. just dropping it looking at the next. sketch like there's no way we're doing. this. And so when you see that you just. like take it slower. You're like John. Lennon and looking at everybody. twist the knife. Maybe you can relate to. this, but when I was a kid watching. television, I loved it when the people making the.

comedy. uh when I could even if I didn't know. what they were talking about, if I could. sense that they were smart and that they. didn't care if I laughed or not. like. Money Python. Money Python was a big one. Yeah, Money Python. I didn't understand half. of what they were talking about because. sometimes they would do sketches about. whatever was happening in in London. politics or British politics in 1969, 1970. But there'd be other sketches that. I didn't quite understand. But I could.

tell the rhythm of it. I could tell this. was really smart, was really funny. And. I could also tell that they they weren't. yearning for my laughter. Yeah. Yeah. They were just making. themselves laugh. They were making themselves laugh. SCV was like that. Well, SCTV would do. uh jokes. Uh, one of my there was a. Towering Inferno parody they did um. where there was a big fire and it was a. and all the characters and because of. there were so many different characters. uh. I remember. remember this. Yeah.

Uh Andrea Martin. played Edith Prickley but she also. played another character. So there was. one scene where they just had to put. they Andrea Martin was playing the other. character in the scene and there's like. nine characters in the room and they. just had Edith Prickley who always wore. like a leopard skin pillbox hat. They. clearly just put that on a an a, you. know, another actress, another actor, and had that actor turn their back and. so that they could do the sketch. And then at the end of the sketch, I. think it was John Candy says, "All.

right, let's get moving. So and so, so. and so with so and so. Prickley's. double. You come with me." And I'm like, I'm I don't know how old I was at the. time. I might have been 14. You're like, you're allowed to do that? I literally. thought like a laser beam of truth. hit me in the middle of my forehead and. I thought, I can't believe that just. came through my television. They didn't. care if I noticed that joke or not. They. said it so quickly. Yeah, they're making themselves laugh. It was that was Yeah. I mean, John Candy. also did that guy. It was like it was. fishing with bands like where he would.

have uh new wave bands and he would fish. with them. And then there was this throwaway thing. where they would get the fish and they'd. be cooking it and they would offer it to. him and he would go, "Oh, I don't eat. fish.