JustASC

JTA reports on how a gag by my pal Larry Yudelson evolved into an extended song-and-dance bit on Conan O’Brien’s show.

…[T]he show’s recent Mormon Christmas send-up actually had its roots in an unusual place: an offline brainstorming session among progressive Jewish bloggers.

The backstory started earlier this month when Tablet magazine published a story on a Chanukah song written by Orrin Hatch, a Mormon Republican senator from Utah. In response, blogger Larry Yudelson posted a query to his fellow Jewschool.com contributors wondering if “there are any special Mormon holidays for which we can return the favor?”

In response, Jewschool managing editor Alana Suskin mused, “Wouldn’t it be off the charts funny to do a [Jewschool] holiday song for Mormons?”

So how did the idea get to Conan?

Occasional Jewschool contributor and full-time “Tonight Show” writer Rob Kutner recognized a funny idea when he saw one. He asked Suskin and was granted permission to pitch the Mormon holiday song idea to the staff of the NBC show.

For their song, Kutner and fellow “Tonight Show” writer Todd Levin went with the simple premise of the average American’s lack of knowledge about Mormonism. Their lyrics absurdly cited Ms. Pacman and the Amish as representatives of the faith (they are not).

And here’s the result.