MacGruber’s creator jokes about the SNL bit’s next evolution.
While a lot of Saturday Night Live sketches have ultimately become movies, few have had the cultural footprint of MacGruber. The sketch, which originated on the show in 2007, was ultimately spun off into a movie and a television series, the latter of which premiered in 2021. While a second season of MacGruber has reportedly been written, it has not yet come to fruition, and it looks like creator Jorma Taccone has even loftier ambitions for the franchise’s future. When asked by ComicBook.com if MacGruber might return for a second season, Taccone argued that the next evolution should actually be a Broadway musical.
“It’s such a coup that we were able to even have it be a sketch on SNL, let alone making 10 sketches, let alone becoming a Super Bowl commercial, let alone becoming a movie and then a TV show,” Taccone revealed in the interview, about his role in directing episode 4 of Paramount+’s Knuckles series. “So to me, I think the next step has got to be Broadway musical, I think.”
Taccone also spoke about the “point at anything” scene in the MacGruber movie, and argued that it exemplifies the kind of iconic moments that can make a movie even better.
“That’s really funny that you mentioned that scene, because we had very few days to make that movie filming, and that was the scene that we really spent a lot of time on,” Taccone explained. “I remember there’s lines that you wouldn’t expect. I am like, there’s 17 takes, because partially because it was so funny that we were like, ‘I just got to see him do it again.’ And the other fun fact about that scene is that Todd Phillips was there that day. I have no idea what he was shooting in Albuquerque, but I just remember looking over and being like, ‘I think he likes this. I hope he likes this.’ This is a very specific scene to walk into and be like, ‘What are you making? Wait, hold on. This is your protagonist?’ But yeah, no, I’m trying to think. To me, I do feel certain ways about comedy films where if I see one really genuinely funny, doubled over scene, I’m like, oh, it was well worth it just for that scene. Even if the rest of the movie is sh-t, I’m like, it was well worth it for that scene. The times that I’ve been doubled over, Team America was, I just remember being… It’s also that I saw it with my mother-in-law. It was just us two for some reason. I don’t know why I thought it was a good idea. But I just remember. So maybe that made it funnier, but the sex scene in the… The barfing, it was the barfing scene in Team America that was like, this is the funniest thing I’ve ever f-cking seen.”
What Is Knuckles About?
Set between the events of Sonic the Hedgehog 2 and Sonic the Hedgehog 3, Knuckles follows Knuckles (Idris Elba) on a hilarious and action-packed journey of self-discovery as he agrees to train Wade (Adam Pally) as his protégé and teach him the ways of the Echidna warrior.
The cast of Knuckles also includes Stockard Channing (The West Wing), Edi Patterson (The Righteous Gemstones), Scott Mescudi (Don’t Look Up), Ellie Taylor (Ted Lasso), Julian Barratt (Mindhorn), Rory McCann (Game of Thrones), Cary Elwes (MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE – DEAD RECKONING), Christopher Lloyd (Back to the Future), Paul Scheer (Black Monday), and Rob Huebel (Childrens Hospital). Ben Schwartz reprises his role as Sonic the Hedgehog, with Colleen O’Shaughnessey also returning as Tails and Tika Sumpter reprising her role as Maddie.
