Dick in a Box
"Dick in a Box" (also known as "A Special Box"[1] and "A Special Christmas Box") is an Emmy-winning Saturday Night Live digital short featuring Justin Timberlake and Andy Samberg that aired on December 16 2006. Following its debut on network television, the sketch became an example of viral video after massive exposure on sites such as YouTube.[2] The song featured was written and produced by Samberg, Timberlake, Akiva Schaffer, and Jorma Taccone of The Lonely Island, with associate music director Katreese Barnes.[3] The video is a parody of R&B sex ballad videos from the early 1990s. The song won a Creative Arts Emmy Award for Outstanding Original Music and Lyrics.[4] After being notified of his Emmy win, Timberlake performed the song at his concert at the Tacoma Dome in Washington.[5]
Plot and style
The music video portrays two Casanova-type men (played by Samberg and Timberlake) singing about giving Christmas gifts to their lovers (played by Maya Rudolph and Kristen Wiig, respectively). Each man has a gift-wrapped box attached to his waist inside of which he has placed his penis. The lyrics include step-by-step instructions on how to create the gift (1: "Cut a hole in a box", 2: "Put your junk in that box", 3: "Make her open the box... and that's the way you do it!"). They also sing about how a "dick in a box" is better than a diamond ring ("that sort of gift don't mean anything"), a car (because his lover needs something to "let you know you're my shining star"), or "a house in the hills" (because "a girl like you needs something real"). It is also suitable for any holiday or occasion: Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, and even "over at your parents' house", "midday at the grocery store", and "backstage at the CMAs". At the end of the film, they are both arrested (presumably for indecent exposure) and taken away by the police.
The style of the video and the musical performance is inspired by early-1990s R&B/new jack swing acts like Color Me Badd, Jodeci and R. Kelly; The Lonely Island and Timberlake were fans of such acts while growing up.[6] The premise also resembles a scene in the 1982 Barry Levinson film Diner, in which Mickey Rourke places his penis inside a box of popcorn to impress his date at a movie theater.[7]
Response
An uncensored version was made available on the Saturday Night Live website after the show was aired.[8] It features the same audience response track, as the short was aired uncensored to the in-studio audience. No version was released without the audience response.
NBC added the video to YouTube, where it has received more than 28 million views and is ranked as the sixth-most viewed video in that website's history. Over 18 additional copies were also posted to various YouTube and Google Video accounts,[9] bringing the total views to over 35.3 million, making it the 24th most viewed video on the Internet[10] (as of September 2007).
On December 22, 2006, the Parents Television Council called on NBC to "rethink its decision to post an uncensored version of a Saturday Night Live sketch on both its own website and YouTube, in which the word 'dick' is used multiple times".[11] When the sketch aired on SNL, NBC bleeped out the word dick a total of 16 times.[12]
Some radio stations played the edited version (called "Junk in a Box") as an unofficial single by Timberlake.[citation needed] The version used was recorded from the SNL broadcast.
The song won an Emmy Award for Outstanding Original Music and Lyrics.[4]
On October 21, 2007, NBC took down its YouTube channel in preparation for the launch of Hulu.[13]. The high quality version of Dick in a Box is now hosted on Hulu, and can be viewed via a number of sites embedding Hulu videos.
Parodies and homages
- When Timberlake appeared on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno on January 3, 2007, the next guest was Masi Oka, who came out with a strategically placed box taped to him.
- On January 10, 2007, on The Ellen DeGeneres Show, Ellen was mailed an AQUA2GO water drink box and asked to market it.[14] She made a jingle to the tune of "Dick in a Box" consisting of step-by-step instructions (including "Step 1: punch a hole in the box").[15]
- The social networking website Facebook created a virtual gift shop for Valentine's Day that included a box with a bow on top and a hole cut into one of its sides.[16][17] This box is now sold out.
- The band Incubus covered the song while on their 2006 Light Grenades Tour.[18]
- The band Umphrey's McGee covered this song, complete with box props, as their first encore of their New Year's Eve show in Chicago, with percussionist Andy Farag contributing rare vocals in the Andy Samberg role, and Brendan Bayliss singing Justin Timberlake's part. The multi-camera video is available on YouTube.[19]
- Other parodies include "Bagel with Lox".[20]
My Box in a Box
A parody from the female perspective, "My Box in a Box" appeared on YouTube and has since been viewed by millions.[21] On January 8, 2007, on Countdown with Keith Olbermann, Olbermann called "My Box in a Box" the "#1 most viralest video" in the world. The video received press coverage in a wide variety of media, including Rolling Stone[22] and Cosmopolitan.[23]
The performer of "My Box in a Box" was listed as "Bunny", a 20-year-old from New York City. On the January 12, 2007 episode of Countdown, it was revealed that she is actually two women: Melissa Lamb, a sophomore at the University of Pennsylvania (who appears in the video), and Leah Kauffman, a junior at Temple University (the actual vocalist).[24] (At the time of the video, Kaufman was studying in London, England, and Lamb was serving as the replacement.) The box that was used as a central prop was sold on eBay for US$1,525, of which $1,000 went to Philadelphia charity Philabundance, and the rest to VH1's "Save The Music" campaign.[25] In 2007, the same production team kicked off the Obama Girl phenomenon with "I Got a Crush... on Obama".[26]
See also
References
- ^ "A Special Box". NBC. Retrieved 2007-01-20.
- ^ "YouTube - D*ck in a Box". Retrieved 2008-07-09.
{{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter:|1=(help) - ^ Steinberg, Jacques (2006-12-21). "Censored 'SNL' Sketch Jumps Bleepless Onto the Internet". The New York Times. Retrieved 2004-12-30.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ a b "2007 Creative Arts Emmy winners" (PDF) (Press release). Academy of Television Arts & Sciences. 2007-09-08. (page 10)
- ^ Hilton, Perez (September 9, 2007). "He's A Winner Too!". Retrieved 2007-09-09.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ Kaufman, Gil (2006-12-20). "'SNL' Star Behind Timberlake's Raunchy Hit Hopes To 'Box' Up Full LP". MTV via VH1.com. Retrieved 2007-01-27.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ Gordon, Devin (2007-08-13). "Is It Too 'Hot' In Here?". Newsweek: p. 53.
{{cite journal}}:|pages=has extra text (help); Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ "Dick in a Box - Uncensored Version". Saturday Night Live. NBC. Retrieved 2008-02-03.
- ^ "NewTeeVee - Where to Find Good Video". NewTeeVee. Retrieved 2007-01-22.
- ^ "Vidmeter All Time Top 100". Vidmeter. Retrieved 2007-07-11.
- ^ "PTC Criticizes NBC for Posting Uncensored "Saturday Night Live" Sketch on the Internet" (Press release). Parents Television Council. 2006-12-21. Retrieved 2007-08-01.
- ^ "PTC Puts NBC on Naughty List". Comcast News. 2006-12-22. Retrieved 2007-01-18.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ "NBC Pulls YouTube Channel". ValleyWag. 2007-10-11. Retrieved 2007-11-11.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ "AQUA2GO Press Releases". Esgee Enterprises. 2007-01-10. Retrieved 2007-01-21.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ "Ellen's Aqua2Go Commercial". Google Video. 2007-01-10. Retrieved 2007-01-21.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ "Facebook Gift Shop". Facebook. 2007-02-08. Retrieved 2007-02-07.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|date=(help); Cite has empty unknown parameter:|1=(help) (subscription access required) - ^ "20.png". Facebook. 2007-02-08. Retrieved 2007-02-09.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|date=(help); Cite has empty unknown parameter:|1=(help) - ^ "Incubus Setlist". ncubus-online-view.com. 2007-09-05. Retrieved 2007-09-05.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ "Umphrey's McGee - Dick in a Box - 12/31/2006". YouTube. 2007-01-08. Retrieved 2007-01-18.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ YouTube - Broadcast Yourself
- ^ "My Box in a Box". YouTube. 2006-12-28. Retrieved 2008-02-03.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ "My Box is in Rolling Stone". Rolling Stone. 2007-01. Retrieved 2008-02-03.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ "Cosmopolitan July '07: My Box is a Overnight Success". Cosmopolitan. 2007-06. Retrieved 2008-02-03.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ "January 12, 2007 Countdown with Keith Olbermann video". MSNBC. 2007-01-12. Retrieved 2008-02-03.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ "My Box in a Box blog". typepad.com. 2007-01-11. Retrieved 2008-02-03.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ "Branding Unbound blog". Rick Mathieson. 2007-06-21. Retrieved 2008-02-03.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|date=(help)
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