The classic Saturday Night Live digital short "Dick in a Box" nearly didn't air when the Federal Communications Commission got wind of it, Justin Timberlake said.
Sitting down for a Thursday episode of the popular YouTube series Hot Ones, the musician and actor talked about his five times hosting SNL, including a tale he said no one knew.
Timberlake told host Sean Evans how the 2006 "Dick in a Box" video sketch evolved, starting with Lorne Michaels' idea for Timberlake to do a video with Andy Samberg.
"We hit it off immediately," Timberlake said of the two.
After a brief struggle to come up with something, they proposed the idea of two guys way out of touch with their place in time: silk suits, herringbone chains and meticulous facial hair.
Then another writer working with the duo suggested the popcorn-at-the-movies lewd prank. "And I said, 'That's super creepy, bro.' To which we then said, 'Yeah, that is super appropriate for two guys who are are super misled about what's appropriate,'" he said.
Timberlake said they shot the video "all day" on Friday, not getting done until 3 a.m. Saturday. And then the FCC stepped in. "They said you can't say 'dick' on the air. And we were like, 'Oh, right.'"
After working with the FCC, the video sketch was allowed to air with 16 bleeps.
"The irony of that," Timberlake said, "is that bleeped-out version I think is the funnier version."
"Dick in a Box" on YouTube has more than 5.5 million views.
Watch the Hot Ones interview and "Dick in a Box" below.
