Giving Justin Timberlake’s career the dose of irony it needed to escape from its boy band origins, Saturday Night Live a much-needed boost in cultural relevance, jokers everywhere a silly way to start any list of directions (1. Cut a hole in a box), and singers like R. Kelly and Jodeci an entirely undeserved revival, the musical sketch “Dick in a Box” was an instant hit.
The song, released during SNL’s December 16, 2007 airing, promoted the gratuitous and unrealistic thesis that spending money on your girlfriend would never be as good as presenting her with your own specially wrapped organ. For the purposes of television, the word “dick” was bleeped out — over and over again — but NBC, having learned from its experience of losing control of previous Samberg hit Lazy Sunday on the Internet, posted an official uncensored version to NBC.com and its YouTube channel. By Monday, people everywhere were humming the song. I have to admit I even had it as my ringtone for a while.
Citizens of the Internet were ready and willing to piggyback on the hit with their own parodies, climbing onto basketball hoops and finding scenic waterfronts so as to recreate each shot. Easily the best of the bunch was “My Box in a Box,” a woman’s take on anatomical gift-giving, which brought together the people who later created “Obama Girl”, and now make their living off web video.
For such a cheap joke, “Dick in a Box” holds up pretty well over time. And just like any time is good for giving such a special present — whether it’s a special holiday like Christmas, Hanukkah, or Kwanzaa, or just “midday at the grocery store” — there’s no need to wait for a
special occasion to watch it again.
See our previous coverage:
