Baseball, baseball, he-man hit the baseball By the power of greyskull
July 17, 2019 12:20 PM Subscribe
The Lonely Island Presents: The Unauthorized Bash Brothers Experience is a Netflix special by comedy rap group The Lonely Island. Billed as a "visual poem",[1] the special is directed by Mike Diva and Akiva Schaffer and stars Andy Samberg and Schaffer as Jose Canseco and Mark McGwire, respectively. It is presented as a rap album written and performed by Canseco and McGwire in the 1980s, when the pair was known as the Bash Brothers while playing for the Oakland Athletics
"SI: You mentioned loving these guys growing up. How much did you watch them and what did you like so much about them?
Samberg: We both grew up—and Jorma too—in Berkeley, so they were our team and are still. To be a kid and for your hometown team to be that Oakland A’s team, which was, I would argue, one of the most exciting sports teams ever to watch—we all had the Bash Brothers poster on the wall.
Schaffer: They went to the World Series three years in a row when we were like 10, 11, 12. What a dream."
You can watch the whole visual poem on Netflix of course, (subscription required). But it's also available on to listen on Spotify and YouTube.
Not only is there Akiva Schaffer as Mark McGwire and Andy Samberg as Jose Canseco, but you get Jorma Taccone pulling double duty as Walt Weiss AND Joe Montana, and performances from Hannah Simone, Jenny Slate, Sterling K Brown, Maya Rudolph, Stephanie Beatriz, Jim O'Heir, and Haim.
While there certainly is a celebration of the excesses of the era, it doesn't shy away from dick jokes and the price the body pays on the steroids, from the lyrics:
You know I’m not a hamburger but they call me Big Mac,
Got the one ton jimmy and the itty bitty sack.
My balls shrinky-dinky ’cause the ’roids so strong,
But it makes the aforementioned jimmy jam look long.
to comments about dialysis and the visuals and sounds of a heart stopping:
Now the pain so bad that my motherfucking heart stop—
It also presages the breakup of the bash brothers, from Canseco's tell-all book:
Keep your mouth shut
No snitchin'
About the steroids
to Mark McGwire's later confession to using and his disdain for Canseco.
A work of art, it's worth spending ~30 minutes reliving the highs and lows of the steroid era as told through song, and nice to see an oft overlooked team getting some time in the spotlight.
"SI: You mentioned loving these guys growing up. How much did you watch them and what did you like so much about them?
Samberg: We both grew up—and Jorma too—in Berkeley, so they were our team and are still. To be a kid and for your hometown team to be that Oakland A’s team, which was, I would argue, one of the most exciting sports teams ever to watch—we all had the Bash Brothers poster on the wall.
Schaffer: They went to the World Series three years in a row when we were like 10, 11, 12. What a dream."
You can watch the whole visual poem on Netflix of course, (subscription required). But it's also available on to listen on Spotify and YouTube.
Not only is there Akiva Schaffer as Mark McGwire and Andy Samberg as Jose Canseco, but you get Jorma Taccone pulling double duty as Walt Weiss AND Joe Montana, and performances from Hannah Simone, Jenny Slate, Sterling K Brown, Maya Rudolph, Stephanie Beatriz, Jim O'Heir, and Haim.
While there certainly is a celebration of the excesses of the era, it doesn't shy away from dick jokes and the price the body pays on the steroids, from the lyrics:
You know I’m not a hamburger but they call me Big Mac,
Got the one ton jimmy and the itty bitty sack.
My balls shrinky-dinky ’cause the ’roids so strong,
But it makes the aforementioned jimmy jam look long.
to comments about dialysis and the visuals and sounds of a heart stopping:
Now the pain so bad that my motherfucking heart stop—
It also presages the breakup of the bash brothers, from Canseco's tell-all book:
Keep your mouth shut
No snitchin'
About the steroids
to Mark McGwire's later confession to using and his disdain for Canseco.
A work of art, it's worth spending ~30 minutes reliving the highs and lows of the steroid era as told through song, and nice to see an oft overlooked team getting some time in the spotlight.
Wasn't able to put it on fanfare as it doesn't have a selection for Album and it's not classified as a movie or TV show either.
posted by Carillon at 12:33 PM on July 17, 2019 [1 favorite]
posted by Carillon at 12:33 PM on July 17, 2019 [1 favorite]
Wasn't able to put it on fanfare as it doesn't have a selection for Album and it's not classified as a movie or TV show either.
Maybe there should be a new FanFare category for this one post plus all the Jon Bois stuff.
--
I am actually pleased to see this warts-and-all kind of stuff come out about baseball. It reminds me of Bouton's "Ball Four" (R.I.P.) book, which pushes back against decades of hagiography in order to humanize the players.
posted by wenestvedt at 12:47 PM on July 17, 2019 [2 favorites]
Maybe there should be a new FanFare category for this one post plus all the Jon Bois stuff.
--
I am actually pleased to see this warts-and-all kind of stuff come out about baseball. It reminds me of Bouton's "Ball Four" (R.I.P.) book, which pushes back against decades of hagiography in order to humanize the players.
posted by wenestvedt at 12:47 PM on July 17, 2019 [2 favorites]
I was a huge A's fan around that time, but my hero was Rickey Henderson, one of the fastest and most daring baserunners ever to play.
posted by Pope Guilty at 12:57 PM on July 17, 2019 [8 favorites]
posted by Pope Guilty at 12:57 PM on July 17, 2019 [8 favorites]
Actually I tried to put it on fanfare awhile back but the IMDb api gave an error every which way I tried, first as a movie then as a tv show, and I never followed up.
Anyway I just wanted to say I too loved the beastie boys very much and I didn't think we'd ever see new stuff from them but I was wrong!
posted by bleep at 1:01 PM on July 17, 2019
Anyway I just wanted to say I too loved the beastie boys very much and I didn't think we'd ever see new stuff from them but I was wrong!
posted by bleep at 1:01 PM on July 17, 2019
Despite what the AVClub says, I think the whole album is full of ear worms. It's quite catchy, also fun to explain why you're singing about walking through the club with your dick in your hand.
posted by Carillon at 2:15 PM on July 17, 2019
posted by Carillon at 2:15 PM on July 17, 2019
I loved it. All bops.
Wasn't able to put it on fanfare as it doesn't have a selection for Album and it's not classified as a movie or TV show either.
It's a movie musical! Just a... short one.
posted by OnTheLastCastle at 2:23 PM on July 17, 2019 [1 favorite]
Wasn't able to put it on fanfare as it doesn't have a selection for Album and it's not classified as a movie or TV show either.
It's a movie musical! Just a... short one.
posted by OnTheLastCastle at 2:23 PM on July 17, 2019 [1 favorite]
If this movie does not have a post-credits scene of Canseco hunting aliens and Bigfoot, it will be an unpardonable missed opportunity.
posted by Doktor Zed at 2:30 PM on July 17, 2019
posted by Doktor Zed at 2:30 PM on July 17, 2019
I loved their movie and old website skits, can't imagine not liking this. Thanks for the heads up!
posted by GoblinHoney at 4:01 PM on July 17, 2019
posted by GoblinHoney at 4:01 PM on July 17, 2019
I have been telling anybody who will listen that this was a significant artistic achievement but I'm getting a lot of blank stares. I've seen it three times already!
posted by Dokterrock at 9:59 PM on July 17, 2019 [2 favorites]
posted by Dokterrock at 9:59 PM on July 17, 2019 [2 favorites]
This sounds like what would have happened if the Beastie Boys followed up License to Ill with more of the same.
posted by pxe2000 at 3:37 AM on July 18, 2019
posted by pxe2000 at 3:37 AM on July 18, 2019
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posted by Carillon at 12:33 PM on July 17, 2019 [6 favorites]