"Dick in a Box" (censored as "D*** in a Box") is a song by the American comedy trio the Lonely Island featuring American singer Justin Timberlake. The trio—Andy Samberg, Akiva Schaffer, and Jorma Taccone—co-wrote the song with Timberlake, Katreese Barnes, and Asa Taccone. Barnes and Asa Taccone co-produced it with Jorma Taccone. Saturday Night Live (SNL) creator and producer Lorne Michaels asked Samberg to write a musical sketch for the 2006 Christmas episode with Timberlake, who was returning as both a host and musical guest. Samberg developed the concept with other members of the group before working with Timberlake on December 14. They recorded the track around midnight and spent the next day and a half filming the corresponding music video.
The sketch depicts two early-1990s R&B singers, played by Samberg and Timberlake, singing a holiday song about making a Christmas gift for their girlfriends: their penises in boxes. The sketch premiered on SNL as a Digital Short, a series of comedic short films created for the show, on December 16, 2006. The word "dick" was bleeped 16 times following an agreement with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). SNL producers published an uncensored version of the sketch online right after its broadcast debut, making them the first scripted comedy show on a broadcast network to use the internet to avoid FCC control over its explicit content.
On January 27, 2009, the song was released digitally as a single through Universal Republic Records and included on the Lonely Island's debut studio album, Incredibad, released on February 10. "Dick in a Box" went viral on the internet and received praise from television and music critics for its raunchy humor and Timberlake's performance. "Dick in a Box" has been recognized retrospectively as the Lonely Island's signature song and one of the best Christmas-themed SNL sketches. The track won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Original Music and Lyrics in 2007, and appeared on the Australian and Canadian song charts in 2009. Samberg and Timberlake reprised their roles in two Digital Shorts sequels, "Motherlover" (2009) and "3-Way (The Golden Rule)" (2011).
Writing and recording
Justin Timberlake first appeared on SNL as a musical guest in 2000, performing as a member of the American boy band NSYNC. In late November 2006, Timberlake announced his return to SNL for the December 16 episode as a host and musical guest. On December 12, when Timberlake was on track to host SNL for the second time, creator and executive producer Lorne Michaels asked Samberg to try writing a funny skit to showcase Timberlake's singing skills. Although the writing team originally came up with a different idea, Michaels insisted they use more of Timberlake's musical side. Inspired by the music they grew up listening to, members of the Lonely Island wanted to write an early-1990s R&B song that was similar to the work of Jodeci, R. Kelly, the Isley Brothers, LeVert, and H-Town. That night, they contacted associate music director Katreese Barnes to help them work on the song; she was later credited as a songwriter and producer. Samberg felt the concept of imitating a 1990s-style band was "a perfect fit" for Timberlake, who was a member of a boy band.
The concept of the track was not decided until December 14, when Jorma came up with the "dick in a box" premise. Once the trio agreed the concept was funny enough, they presented a rough draft of the song to Timberlake. A fan of 1990s-style music, Timberlake immediately accepted the song. He was the only one who was confident about the sketch. The trio was having doubts about the crass joke and the bygone musical concept. Timberlake felt it was important to make the song "really singable" and suggested changes to "Dick in a Box". He came up with the hook and the line "Mid-day at the grocery store", while adding pauses to make the song more catchy. Schaffer suggested adding the three steps of making the box into the lyrics. Samberg, who was feeling nervous when working on the idea with Timberlake, said the singer "took the reigns and schooled [them] on how to record and make it sound fantastic". The writers finished writing the lyrics within two hours.
Like other SNL sketches, "Dick in a Box" was recorded and produced in a very short time. Samberg and Timberlake recorded their voice track for two hours around midnight on December 14–15, right after finishing the lyrics. They used special equipment, including a $500 microphone, in Samberg's office. Timberlake recalled the crew was laughing frantically during the production and that the "delirium of no sleep" contributed to the song's humor. Although Samberg's voice cracked a few times, Timberlake's easygoing attitude made him more relaxed throughout the recording session. Asa Taccone, Jorma's brother, worked on the track in Los Angeles while the other writers were in New York City. Initially, Jorma gave his brother the specific outline of the track for him to work with, which Asa described as a "cheesy, 90s, Color Me Badd type track". Asa then sent the writers instrumental tracks and went through each beat with them during phone calls. He was nervous working with Timberlake and felt the process was chaotic because of the limited work time. "It was semi-terrifying having [Timberlake] listen to my stuff. I was a kid back then. I'm sure the stuff I was playing was mostly terrible", Asa said.
Composition "Dick in a Box" is an R&B song with a runtime of two minutes and 41 seconds. According to Universal Music Publishing Group's digital sheet music for the song, it is composed in the key of C minor and set in common time signature, with a moderately slow groove of 80 beats per minute. The vocals span two octaves, from C4 up to C6. Music critics compared the track to the work of Color Me Badd, noting the song's spoken-word breakdown and the way the last syllables of the refrain go increasingly up. Critics also found the track was influenced by American groups New Kids on the Block, Hall & Oates, and Backstreet Boys.
David Jeffries of AllMusic described "Dick in a Box" as an imitation of teen pop, while Stephen Saito of Premiere called the slow jam "an ode to the phallic present for all occasions". Chris Mincher of The A.V. Club and Stuart McGurk of GQ viewed it as a midtempo synth rock track that soundtracks a rapidly unfolding horror. "Dick in a Box" has been described as a Christmas song by critics, including Mincher, who highlighted its release in the SNL Christmas special. Ross Bonaime of Paste referred to it as a hybrid between "a Christmas song, a '90s R&B parody and a joke about bad gift giving". Believing the sketch qualified as a Christmas film, Matthew Dessem of Slate pointed out that the Christmas setting and the theme surrounding Christmas presents, as well as the non-Christmas holidays mentioned in the song, all take place around Christmas.
Premise and themes
The music that the Lonely Island grew up listening to inspired "Dick in a Box". They wanted to make a parody of the members of a 1990s R&B group, who were still stuck in that era. It follows the tone of other songs by the Lonely Island, which focus on mundane characters who express themselves aggressively about their daily lives. Timberlake and Samberg named their duo 2:30 am, after what the former described as when "really strong lovemaking" begins. Despite referring to early-1990s R&B music, Timberlake said the sketch was not "parodying anyone in particular".
Timberlake explained the premise, where the characters genuinely give their genitalia as Christmas presents to their lovers, aimed for comedic effect, while making the characters even more ridiculous. He thought initially the idea was creepy, but still pursued it. The premise was based on dick jokes and some men's habit of putting their penises in unusual things. "It's nothing new. Guys have been putting their dicks in boxes since caveman days", Schaffer said. Despite not trying it himself, Samberg had heard stories from other people doing similar things with bad results. Jorma said a scene in the 1982 Barry Levinson film Diner, in which Mickey Rourke's character tricks his date into groping him by placing his penis inside a box of popcorn at a movie theater, also inspired the premise. An identical act can be found in a scene of La Boum (1980), directed by Claude Pinoteau. Mincher felt the act was "so absurd (and unexpectedly raunchy) that few watching it live could see it coming".
Critics have offered various interpretations of "Dick in a Box". Penny Spirou in Music in Comedy Television: Notes on Laughs (2017) and Virginia Heffernan of The New York Times viewed the sketch as a satire of "the bad faith of the pandering R&B foreplay songs", which was made to trick a woman's desire for comfort, until she "opens that nicely wrapped present". Heffernan also linked the content to Timberlake's public image in the 2000s, saying, "He's all sweet, but he gets what he wants. And no one, not even Janet Jackson, stands in his way... [The audiences] have decided, for now, that he's cooler than they thought". Terry Gross of Fresh Air opined that the sketch is a parody of narcissism, in which the characters suggest "the greatest gift [a man] could give to a lady is a very special lovemaking". She noted the singers emphasize "how great he is, not how much he loves his girlfriend, but really how much he loves himself". Mincher argued that besides the joke about men's obsession with their own genitalia, the sketch pokes fun at men's gift-giving mistakes. A man believes he is the greatest present his girlfriend could receive, implying that a woman should provide sexual favors for her man. He dismisses more expensive presents as superficial. Mincher suggests the sketch is a product of fantasy detached from the reality of relationships.
Release The video for "Dick in a Box" was sent to NBC executive Rick Ludwin after the raw editing had been finished at 4:00 pm on December 16. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) took issue with the actors saying "dick" on-air and wanted to stop the sketch's screening. SNL producers agreed with the FCC that the song could be aired with the word bleeped out. However, since the FCC has no jurisdiction over the content on the internet, the producers asked Ludwin to make the uncensored version available online. Ludwin, who was initially hesitant about the idea, watched the footage with a representative from the NBC legal department. He found the sketch funny and realized that those searching on the internet specifically for the video would not be upset by its content. He sought final approval for the uncensored sketch from Kevin Reilly, the president of NBC Entertainment, and Jeff Zucker, the chief executive of NBCUniversal Television Group—both of whom approved the idea. Editing continued on the video for the rest of the day, in time for its television debut.
"Dick in a Box" premiered as a Digital Short on the Christmas episode of the 32nd season of SNL, which aired on December 16, 2006. NBC bleeped the word "dick" 16 times as agreed with the FCC. After the broadcast concluded at 1:00 am ET on December 17, both the censored and uncensored versions of the sketch were made available on NBC's website and YouTube channel, under the heading "Special Treat in a Box" or "Special Christmas Box". A cautionary warning was shown at the beginning of the unbleeped version, while viewers had to affirm they were over 18 to access the video. Besides the official video uploaded by NBC, bootleg copies of the clip were being removed from YouTube at the network's request.