According to the New York Times, after seven full seasons and almost a hundred Digital Shorts of his own creation, Andy Samberg has confirmed that he will no longer appear on Saturday Night Live, leaving behind him a legacy that is comparable to some of the show’s legends. And it all started with “Lazy Sunday.”
The success of “Lazy Sunday” in 2005 started a different direction for SNL’s ‘Digital Shorts’ segment; one that Samberg steamrolled with his faux music group The Lonely Island, which featured writers Akiva Schaffer and Jorma Taccone. More recently, he was handed the hard task of impersonating the already comedic Rick Santorum.
Whether it was “Like a Boss,” the enormously popular “I’m On a Boat” with T-Pain or the infamous “Dick in a Box” video with Justin Timberlake, his real-time, non-sketch segments stood apart from the rest of the show. They showcased Samberg’s affinity for music and the songs being extremely catchy with celebrities making hilarious cameos helped a bit, too. Even Michael Bolton was involved – it was that good.
As we learned a few weeks ago that Wiig would not be coming back, it is evident that Samberg’s departure was linked to hers (and possibly Jason Sudeikis’s, who still remains undecided on his future with the franchise). To which the comedian responded: “She kept saying that it was her time. I can connect with that. Something about it just feels like it’s the moment.”
Both the two top tier veterans of the show, the end of Samberg and Wiig’s reigns signal a theme that has been apparent throughout all of SNL‘s history: out with the old and in with the new. It is a renewal that happens every few years where the veterans leave and a new freshman class is ushered in to take their spots. Our guess: Taran Killiam, simply for this reason.
We said it once with Wiig and we’ll say it again with Samberg: We’re going to miss you, Andy. And so will all of New York.