You may not realize it, but Andy Samberg is actually part of a trio called "The Lonely Island". They had already achieved some internet fame before being recruited to SNL. If you check out You Tube, there are a bunch of hilarious skits and music videos from the early to mid 2000s. Andy Samberg, Jorma Taccone, and Akiva Schaffer have all been working as writers for SNL for a few years now but Andy is the only cast member. It's still not a bad gig, I mean this is an Emmy award winning group (they are responsible for all the Digital Shorts, including "D in a Box", which is what won them the Emmy). But it's so sweet that SNL finally gave them real face time!
When I say "real" it's because you may have seen Jorma and Akiva on the screen for a couple seconds just thinking they were random extras.
For example, in "Giraffes" the face of the guy on the screen (with missing eyes and brains getting eaten) is Akiva.
You see Jorma walking by, chomping on lettuce at the end of the digital short "Lettuce". He is the boom microphone holder wearing a vest who appears in front of the camera and vomits in "Jam the Vote" and "Everyone's a Critic".
I could go on and on about how much I love these guys and about all the funny videos they've done, but you can easily find them if you're interested. Here is the video that was aired on SNL this past Saturday (probably NSFW, even though this aired on TV at 12:40am):
This season of SNL has been really funny. I know it has its ups and downs and there was a period recently where it was boring except for when something The Lonely Island related was being aired. But between the great guest stars and political satire, I have enjoyed myself. I think there is a great cast, with one exception – Casey WIlson. She is a featured player and I realize that means she might be less experienced than the others but she's awful. She gets on my nerves. She overacts and is never funny and hasn't done one even half decent impersonation of anyone yet. And she's had plenty of chances. For some reason, she's been in a disproportionate amount of skits – not just for a newcomer, but period. There are some episodes where she is in almost every skit and it makes me wonder why.
Anyway, the Lonely Island is coming out with a CD, Incredibad, on February 10, 2009. Yes, I will own a copy. 😉