Discover the Hidden Gem of The Lonely Island: The Unauthorized Bash Brothers Experience!

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Having just watched Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping again on Netflix, I’m still amazed and disappointed that it flopped at the box office initially. The group The Lonely Island attributes this to the excessive marketing featuring Justin Bieber. Despite its financial failure, the movie, which uses mockumentary style to satirize the music industry with Andy Samberg as the talentless, unfunny musician Conner4Real, has developed a devoted fanbase, and I’m glad it did.

Nevertheless, “The Popstar” isn’t my top pick among Lonely Island projects, but it’s one I stumbled upon quite unexpectedly years ago on Netflix. Given the scarcity of discussions about it, it’s possible you may not have heard of it before. If that’s the case, let me be the first to introduce you to “The Unauthorized Bash Brothers Experience”.

The Unauthorized Bash Brothers Experience Is An Overlooked Gem

In 2019, I came across an intriguing production titled “The Unauthorized Bash Brothers Experience“. This isn’t your typical album; it’s billed as a “visual poem”, delving into the lives and careers of baseball legends Jose Canseco and Mark McGwire with a humorous, hip-hop twist. In this production, Andy Samberg steps into the shoes of Canseco, while Akiva Schaffer, who also co-directs with Mike Diva, dons the “Big Mac” persona. Jorma Taccone, another Lonely Island member, makes appearances here and there as a sports journalist, MLB player Walt Weiss, and NFL quarterback Joe Montana.

The 30-minute special is set in the late ’80s and showcases the time when the duo steered the Oakland Athletics to a World Series victory using performance-enhancing substances. This controversial aspect is frequently highlighted. Interestingly, Canseco himself, as reported by Mercury News, seems to appreciate the Netflix movie Bash Brothers, claiming to have enjoyed it.

An Interest In Baseball Is Not Required, But Viewer Discretion Definitely Is

If The Lonely Island hadn’t made “Bash Brothers”, it’s unlikely I would have watched it, given my minimal interest in sports, despite my upbringing being in the city of Mark McGwire’s final Major League Baseball team, the St. Louis Cardinals. Fortunately, you don’t need any sports knowledge or enthusiasm to appreciate this special. It’s brimming with cleverly written, hilarious rhymes and captivating visuals that seem out of place in a baseball-themed comedy short but always feel right at home.

It’s worth noting that, given a fan’s familiarity with The Lonely Island, they might expect “Bash Brothers” to be quite explicit, perhaps even more so than anything the group has previously produced (with the exception of Judd Apatow’s nudity in “Popstar,” possibly). The frequent mentions of McGwire and Canseco’s drug use pale in comparison to the (presumably fictional) accounts of their sexual escapades, vividly depicted in one of the album’s standout tracks, “Oakland Nights.” This leads me to one of the key scenes in the special.

It Features, Arguably, The Best Cameo In A Lonely Island Project

In various pre-recorded SNL sketches and adored feature films, The Lonely Island is renowned for including some fantastic celebrity appearances. Among these, the most impressive one, as I see it, can be found in “Bash Brothers,” where Sterling K. Brown makes a guest appearance.

As a huge fan, I must express my admiration for the Grammy-nominated artist, Sia, who beautifully croons the chorus of “Oakland Nights.” Though she’s not physically present in the special, she makes her presence felt through her captivating vocals. Stepping into the limelight to lip sync Sia’s enchanting lyrics is none other than Brown, a talented artist who has previously collaborated with Samberg in one of the best episodes of Brooklyn Nine-Nine, earning an Emmy nomination. In this production, “Bash Brothers,” he delivers an outstanding performance, pouring his heart into the role while gracefully dancing in a silk robe and sporting a wig adorned with Sia’s distinctive two-toned hairstyle.

It turns out there’s one Lonely Island movie I haven’t watched but really want to see now – it’s “Hot Rod” from 2007. I’ll need to subscribe to Paramount+ to catch that zany comedy at some point. For the time being, if you haven’t already, I highly recommend checking out the audacious masterpiece “The Unauthorized Bash Brothers Experience” on Netflix.

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2025-05-24 18:07