SNL Digital Shorts are short video segments created for airing on NBC's Saturday Night Live. The segments are recorded with consumer grade digital video cameras and edited on personal computers.
Though not the first filmed shorts presented on SNL, Digital Shorts are a series of shorts specified by their digital creation, as stated above, as well as having the same crew members behind the filming of each Digital Short. The Lonely Island is largely responsible for producing the comedic shorts. Most of the shorts were written by Akiva Schaffer, Jorma Taccone and Andy Samberg in collaboration with SNL hosts and cast members. The shorts generally take fewer than five days to complete. Schaffer has directed all the shorts and Taccone along with his brother, Asa, have produced music as necessary. It is usual for the episode's hosts and musical guests (the latter on rare occasions) to take part in the episode's short, and several shorts have included celebrity cameos.
The short "Lazy Sunday," which aired December 17, 2005, was viewed more than five million times on YouTube alone before it was removed due to copyright infringement. In late 2006, however, NBC began uploading SNL shorts on YouTube themselves. The short "Dick in a Box" which aired in December 2006, was viewed more than 20 million times on YouTube. It was available uncut on YouTube with a special warning, stating that the sketch contained explicit language that was censored from the television version. The short also won an Emmy award.
