On Wednesday, May 22, The Lonely Island intrigued the denizens of Twitterland with a message teasing a mystery project that would be hitting Netflix within the coming 24 hours. Even those of us who’ve made a habit of keeping our ear to the island ground had no idea what to expect. Yes, we were well aware that the comedic musical trio would be embarking on their first ever tour beginning in June 2019, but this seemed like an altogether separate prospect. Even though we had less than a day to speculate, the suspense nearly killed us.
And then it hit: At midnight, Netflix offered up The Lonely Island’s new so-called “visual poem,” titled The Unauthorized Bash Brothers Experience.
Dutiful fans of Andy Samberg, Jorma Taccone, and Akiva Schaffer’s work should be familiar with past shtick centered on former baseball pros Jose Canseco and Mark McGwire, but what was once a lone parodic ditty has given way to a 30-minute, genre-hopping bout of wonderful chaos with Samberg and Schaffer reviving their interpretations of the respective athletes.
The comedy special, which sends up everything from ’80s music videos to Beyonce’s “Lemonade” to 2001: A Space Odyssey to Terrence Malick’s Tree of Life to Netflix’s own Stranger Things, focuses primarily on Jose and Mark’s endless attempts to woo uninterested women and their struggles with steroid abuse. In the tradition of The Lonely Island, digressions from these overarching themes are plentiful. Occasionally we’ll hear the characters singing (or rapping) about their workout routines, eating breakfast, and buying puka shell necklaces, among some considerably more bizarre topics.
Making matters all the more fun, The Unauthorized Bash Brothers Experience is filled to the brim with cameos. We see the familiar faces of Sterling K. Brown, Jenny Slate, Hannah Simone, Jim O’Heir, Stephanie Beatriz, Maya Rudolph, and more still. In other words, the special is a treat for anyone who enjoys The Lonely Island’s usual shtick.
The Unauthorized Bash Brothers Experience is available to watch on Netflix now, so enjoy at your leisure! Warning: Various musical numbers will stick in your head.
Images: Netflix