Hunt and Peck

I watched The Lonely Island’s Bash Brothers Netflix special - A Hunt and Peck

Here are some thoughts.

By lil_scooter93 May 31, 2019, 1:00pm EDT

MLB: San Diego Padres at St. Louis Cardinals

Before we dive into the newest The Lonely Island creation — The Lonely Island Presents: The Unauthorized Bash Brothers Experience — we first need to go over a few things.

First things first: What is The Lonely Island?

Saturday Night Live viewers are likely familiar with the group. The trio began in the early aughts making short films birthed from the fever dreams of Akiva Schaffer, Andy Samberg, and Jorma Taccone. They eventually made their way to SNL and became known for their SNL Digital Shorts. Their unique brand of absurdist humor and easily Internet-deliverable content quickly shot the group to stardom. Most people have likely heard or seen references to some of their more popular videos.

So now, who are the Bash Brothers?

This one is a bit easier to explain. The Bash Brothers were Jose Canseco and Mark McGwire. They hit a lot of dingers for the Oakland Athletics in the late 80s and then bashed their forearms together. The A’s marketing team developed a song and music video to the tune of “Monster Mash” called “Monster Bash” featuring the two. That seems to be important for what we are about to discuss next.

The Lonely Island Presents: The Unauthorized Bash Brothers Experience is a combination of these two delightfully strange groups into a perfectly silly thirty minute escapade of music, humor, baseball, and the 1980s.

One does not need any real knowledge of baseball or the Bash Brothers to enjoy the humor, but it does slightly improve the experience. Samberg brings forth his enthusiasm and goofiness to portray Canseco (who is known for being a bit brazen) while Schaffer plays McGwire with a perfect awkward deadpan. The dynamic is clear from the first video when the players are asked to introduce themselves and Samberg proclaims “They call me Joseeeeee!” and Schaffer follows up with a flat “And I’m Mark.”

The episode contains some great cameos as well, such as Sterling K. Brown as Sia. Mya Rudolph also makes an appearance.

Despite the sexual and drug references, The Lonely Island is somehow able to bring some type of wholesome, aw-shucks goodness to some of the more villainized former players, while continuing to crack jokes about some of their misdeeds. The show is silly, it is fun, and it is oddly nostalgic. If you have a free thirty minutes and want to watch something senseless and enjoyable there are not many things that hit the mark better. I greatly enjoyed it and I will definitely be watching again!

The Lonely Island’s Bash Brothers deliver major-league audacity in a minor-league package | The AV Club

The Lonely Island’s Bash Brother Netflix special is a work of art | SBNation.com