It was in December of 2005, midway into the 31st season, that Saturday Night Live started airing 3-minute short films called "SNL Digital Shorts" as part of its broadcast.

You gotta give credit to The Lonely Island guys- Akiva Schaffer, Jorma Taccone and Andy Samberg for putting all their hard work and comedic talent into making these clips happen. From what I understand, the boys have been largely responsible for writing the stuff, shooting it themselves on digital video cameras, and editing them on a regular PC.

Which is what they've been doing for quite some time during their early Lonely Island days. The very first SNL digital short, which appeared on the 03 December 2005 episode was "Lettuce", which became an instant internet favorite. You can find a clip of "Lettuce" on the NBC official website, but the quality is really bad (we'll feature it when we find a better clip).

What really made it happen for the dudes, was this clip- "Lazy Sunday", which aired 2 weeks later on December 17. It was a huge internet favorite, and racked up some 5 million views on YouTube before NBC pulled it out (but it's now available on the NBC website). Check it out now!

"Lazy Sunday" stars Andy Samberg and Chris Parnell. Oh, and in case you feel like singing to it, here are the lyrics. Jorma Taccone provided the beat to this, and Akiva directed the video.

"Lazy Sunday"
An SNL Digital Short

Lazy Sunday, wake up in the late afternoon
Called Parnell just to see how he's doin'
Hello?
What up, Parn!
Yo Samberg, what's crackin'?
You thinkin' what I'm thinkin'?
Narnia!
Man it's happ'nin'!

But first, my hunger pangs are stickin' like duct tape.
Let's hit up Magnolia and mack on some cupcakes.
No doubt, that bakery's got all the bomb frostings.
I love those cupcakes like McAdams loves Gosling.

Two! No, Six! No, Twelve! Baker's Dozen!
I told'ja that I'm crazy for these cupcakes, cousin!
Yo, where's the movie playin'?
Upper West Side, dude!
Well, let's hit up Yahoo Maps to find the dopest route.
I prefer Mapquest!
That's a good one too.
Google Maps is the best!
True that! Double true!
68th and Broadway.
Step on it, sucka!
What you wanna do Chris?
snack attack, muthafucka!

Hit the Chronic-what?-cles of Narnia!
Yes, the Chronic-what?-cles of Narnia!
We love that Chronic-what?-cles of Narnia!
Pass that Chronic-what?-cles of Narnia!

Yo, stop at the deli, the theater's overpriced!
You got that backpack? Gonna pack it up nice.
Don't want security to get suspicious-
Mr. Pibbs and Red Vines equals crazy delicious!

Yo, reach in my pocket and pull out some dough,
Girl acted like she never seen a $10 before!
It's all about the Hamiltons, baby
Throw the snacks in a bag, and I'm Ghost like Swayze.

Roll up to the theater, ticket buying what we're handling,
You can call us Aaron Burr from the way we're dropping Hamiltons
Parked in our seats movie trivia's the illest!
"What Friends alum starred in films with Bruce Willis?"
We answered so fast, it was scary:
Everyone stared in awe when we screamed "Matthew Perry!"
Then quiet in the theater or it's gonna get tragic
We're about to be taken to a dream world of magic

In the Chronic-what?-cles of Narnia!
Yes, the Chronic-what?-cles of Narnia!
We love that Chronic-what?-cles of Narnia!
Pass that Chronic-what?-cles of Narnia!

It's this blog's goal to feature as many of the SNL Digital Shorts as we possibly can. So drop on in from time to time to see what we can dig up!

Cheers, everyone!