Yes, you read that headline correctly. This year’s Oscars could’ve featured an ambitious performance from the comedic musical trio commonly known as The Lonely Island. Could have. But didn’t. “WHY INTERNET WRITER LADY, WHY,” you scream, shaking your fists at the heavens, to which I say unto you: Because the Academy in its infinite wisdom deemed the performance to be “financially and logistically impossible.” Maybe also because they spent their entire budget on a stage that looked like an extreme close-up of Elizabeth Taylor’s bedazzled brain.

Andy Samberg, Jorma Taccone and Akiva Schaffer revealed the track, which was commissioned and ultimately rejected by the Academy in favor of…Jimmy Kimmel’s jet ski and hot dog cannon shenanigans, I guess. The trio posted the song to YouTube along with “rough storyboards” for “what would have been a fully shot, star-studded music video of exorbitant cost.” Judging by the concept, it may have been worth it:

Maybe the real reason the Academy turned it down is because they knew, deep down in their glitzy little hearts, that the video would be better than the actual Oscars ceremony. The Lonely Island’s concept would have enlisted the help of Chris Hemsworth (along with the other three ridiculously handsome superhero Chrises and Chris Rock), Tiffany Haddish and Gal Gadot for a Broadway-style musical number bemoaning the lack of recognition for major blockbusters. Thor: RagnarokWonder WomanIT (complete with what can only be described as “Pennywise’s Lament”), Girls Trip and — hilariously — even The Snowman would be repped in the full song-and-dance number.

Which meant that the Oscars would have to pay for all those actors to participate, and they aren’t exactly cheap. A laughable concept on its own, considering the cheapest parts of the Oscars budget are the statues themselves (which cost around $900 each) and maybe the envelopes.

Anyhow! Enjoy the video above and join us in mourning the delightful Oscars that could have been.

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