Wired News posted an article yesterday covering the story of LA-based comedy collective The Lonely Island. Like most comedians, they spent years trying to get discovered but they did one thing unusual: they posted all their comedy shorts and songs to their extensive website with Creative Commons licenses. Thanks to their licensed music, they soon found other artists began making remixes of their tunes which they also posted.

Earlier this year, they got tapped to create a comedy pilot episode (called Awesometown) for Fox TV, but Fox eventually passed on the show. Instead of letting the show wither on a shelf somewhere, the group posted the full video both cut and uncut. The edgy, quirky short spread like wildfire online and eventually landed all three performers an audition spot for Saturday Night Live (SNL).

Tonight’s episode of SNL is the season debut, featuring all three members of The Lonley Island as part of the show. Andy Samberg will be a cast member, with Jorma Taccone and Akiva Schaffer as writers. Creative Commons would like to congratulate Lonely Island and wish them good luck and fun times in NYC.