Whether you're new to the Emmy-winning and Grammy-nominated Andy Samberg or you're looking for the latest Andy news, images, and videos, come here to find out about the king of The Lonely Island, Saturday Night Live, Lazy Sunday, Laser Cats, Junk in a Box, Dear Sister, Hot Rod, J**z in My Pants, I'm on a Boat, Mother Lover, On the Ground, and Shy Ronnie. Next movies: What's Your Number, and Friends with Benefits.
Andy Samberg c/o Saturday Night Live 30 Rockefeller Plaza New York, NY 10112
If you do this, I recommend a postcard. You may want to use a letter on a normal flat and thin piece of paper in a regular envelope, but even that's a risk that it won't get opened. Do NOT send a package. Make sure your envelope is light-weight, thin, and does not have any objects or bulges in it.
When you're in the spotlight, people hate you. Lots of people. Their concern is that they may get mail from one of those people who want to do them harm.
This is my rant about people who think SNL doesn't produce stars. Andy's movie might not have been a hit, but he'll be back and he'll join this list of 38 other SNL stars to succeed in the movies.
This rant based on this article:
"Andy Samberg goes where so many of his fellow Saturday Night Live performers have gone before, trying to turn their late-night TV fame into stardom on the big screen. With a few blazing exceptions - Chevy Chase, Dan Aykroyd, John Belushi, Will Ferrell - most have failed, sometimes miserably."
What? Are you kidding me??? Sandler? Stiller? Crystal? Rock? Meyers? Murphy? The following is a list of actors who were on Saturday Night Live and have gone on to have at least one hit movie. The list is chronological, based on when they were on SNL...
(Hits are movies that make over $50 million. Blockbusters make over $100 million. All figures are based on worldwide sales.)
1. Chevy Chase (8 total... 7 Hits: Caddyshack, Vacation, Fletch, European Vacation, Spies Like Us, Christmas Vacation, Snow Day; 1 Blockbuster: Last Action Hero)
2. Dan Aykroyd (18 total... 9 Hits: 1941, Trading Places, Spies Like Us, Dragnet, My Girl, Sneakers, Antz, Evolution, Christmas with the Kranks; 9 Blockbusters: Blues Brothers, Indiana Jones 2, Ghostbusters, Ghostbusters 2, Driving Miss Daisy, Casper, Pearl Harbor, 50 First Dates, I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry)
3. John Belushi (3 total... 1 Hit: 1941; 2 Blockbusters: Animal House, Blues Brothers)
4. Bill Murray (11 total... 7 Hits: Stripes, Scrooged, What About Bob?, Grounghog Day, Space Jam, The Royal Tenenbaums, Garfield; 4 Blockbusters: Tootsie, Ghostbusters, Ghostbusters 2, Charlie's Angels)
5. Eddie Murphy (24 total... 11 Hits: 48 Hrs., Trading Places, The Golden Child, Eddie Murphy Raw, Harlem Nights, Another 48 Hrs., Boomerang, Life, Bowfinger, The Haunted Mansion, Norbit; 13 Blockbusters: Beverly Hills Cop, Beverly Hills Cop 2, Coming to America, The Nutty Professor, Mulan, Doctor Dolittle, The Nutty Professor 2, Shrek, Doctor Dolittle 2, Daddy Day Care, Shrek 2, Dreamgirls, Shrek 3; NOTE: And he's got three more on the way with an untitled Brett Ratner project, Beverly Hills Cop 4, Shrek 4)
6. Julia Louis-Dreyfus (2 total... 1 Hit: Christmas Vacation; 1 Blockbuster: A Bug's Life)
7. Jim Belushi (6 total... 2 Hits: Trading Places, K-9; 4 Blockbusters: Jingle All the Way, Snow Dogs, Hoodwinked, The Wild)
8. Billy Crystal (6 total... 3 Hits: Throw Momma From the Train, When Harry Met Sally, America's Sweethearts; 3 Blockbusters: City Slickers, Analyze This, Monsters Inc.)
9. Martin Short (6 total... 5 Hits: Father of the Bride, Father of the Bride 2, Jungle 2 Jungle, Jimmy Neutron, The Santa Clause 3; 1 Blockbuster: The Prince of Egypt; NOTE: And he has one more on the way with The Spiderwick Chronicles)
10. Chrisopher Guest (2 total... 1 Hit: Small Soldiers; 1 Blockbuster: A Few Good Men; NOTE: Christopher Guest is best known for his critically acclaimed mockumentaries)
11. Joan Cusack (7 total... 4 Hits: Broadcast News, Working Girl, In And Out, School of Rock; 3 Blockbusters: Runaway Bride, Toy Story 2, Chicken Little)
12. Robert Downey, Jr. (8 total... 5 Hits: Natural Born Killers, Bowfinger, Good Night and Good Luck, The Shaggy Dog, Zodiac; 3 Blockbusters: Back to School, U.S. Marshalls, Gothika; NOTE: And he's got two more coming with Iron Man and Tropic Thunder)
13. Anthony Michael Hall (3 Hits: Vacation, The Breakfast Club, Edward Scissorhands)
14. John Lovitz (8 total... 3 Hits: Little Nicky, Rat Race, The Benchwarmers; 5 Blockbusters: Big, A League of Their Own, The Wedding Singer, Cats & Dogs, The Stepford Wives)
15. Randy Quaid (7 total... 4 Hits: What's Up Doc?, Vacation, Christmas Vacation, Not Another Teen Movie; 3 Blockbusters: Days of Thunder, Independence Day, Brokeback Mountain)
16. Don Novello (4 total... 1 Hit: Jack; 3 Blockbusters: The Godfather III, Casper, Atlantis: The Lost Empire)
17. Damon Wayans (3 total... 1 Hit: The Last Boyscout; 2 Blockbusters: Beverly Hills Cop, Last Action Hero)
18. Dana Carvey (2 total... 1 Hit: Little Nicky; 1 Blockbuster: Wayne's World)
19. Phil Hartman (2 total... 1 Hit: Small Soldiers; 1 Blockbuster: Jingle All the Way)
20. Kevin Nealon (5 total... 2 Hits: Little Nicky, Heartbreakers; 3 Blockbusters: The Wedding Singer, Anger Management, Daddy Day Care)
21. Mike Myers (8 total... 1 Hit: Austin Powers; 7 Blockbusters: Wayne's World, Austin Powers 2, Shrek, Austin Powers 3, The Cat in the Hat, Shrek 2, Shrek the Third; NOTE: And he's got two more coming with The Love Guru and Shrek 4)
22. Ben Stiller (13 total... 4 Hits: Keeping the Faith, Zoolander, The Royal Tenenbaums, Anchorman; 9 Blockbusters: The Cable Guy, There's Something About Mary, Meet the Parents, Along Came Polly, Starsky & Hutch, Dodgeball, Meet the Fockers, Madagascar, Night at the Museum; NOTE: And he's got five more coming with The Heartbreak Kid, Tropic Thunder, Madagascar 2, Hardy Men, and Another Night)
23. Chris Rock (9 total... 2 Hits: Down to Earth, Bad Company; 7 Blockbusters: Beverly Hills Cop 2, Boomerang, Doctor Dolittle, Lethal Weapon 4, AI: Artificial Intelligence, The Longest Yard, Madagascar; NOTE: And he's got three more coming with Bee Movie, Madagascar 2, and an untitled Brett Ratner project)
24. Adam Sandler (13 total... 4 Hits: Little Nicky, The Animal, The Hot Chick, Spanglish; 9 Blockbusters: The Wedding Singer, The Waterboy, Big Daddy, Mr. Deeds, Anger Management, 50 First Dates, The Longest Yard, Click, I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry; NOTE: And he's got two more coming with You Don't Mess with the Zohan and Bedtime Stories)
25. Rob Schneider (13 total... 7 Hits: Demolition Man, The Beverly Hillbillies, Deuce Bigalow, The Animal, The Hot Chick, Around the World in 80 Days, The Benchwarmers; 6 Blockbusters: Home Alone 2, Judge Dredd, The Waterboy, Big Daddy, 50 First Dates, Little Man)
26. David Spade (4 total... 2 Hits: Racing Stripes, The Benchwarmers; 2 Blockbusters: The Rugrats Movie, The Emperor's New Groove)
27. Jay Mohr (4 total... 3 Hits: Small Soldiers, Pay it Forward, Are We There Yet?; 1 Blockbuster: Jerry Maguire)
28. Sarah Silverman (4 total... 2 Hits: Heartbreakers, Evolution; 2 Blockbusters: There's Something About Mary, The School of Rock)
29. Chris Elliott (7 total... 2 Hits: Groundhog Day, Snow Day; 5 Blockbusters: The Abyss, There's Something About Mary, Nutty Professor II, Scary Movie 2, Scary Movie 4)
30. Janeane Garofalo (3 Blockbusters: The Cable Guy, The Wild, Ratatouille)
31. Will Ferrell (13 total... 7 Hits: Austin Powers, Zoolander, Old School, Anchorman, Kicking & Screaming, Curious George, Stranger Than Fiction; 6 Blockbusters: Austin Powers 2, Elf, Starsky & Hutch, Bewitched, Talladega Nights, Blades of Glory; NOTE: And he's got two more coming with Semi-Pro and Step Brothers)
32. Molly Shannon (11 total... 3 Hits: Never Been Kissed, Serendipity, Marie Antoinette; 8 Blockbusters: Analyze This, How the Grinch Stole Christmas, Shallow Hal, The Santa Claus 2, Scary Movie 4, Little Man, Talladega Nights, Evan Almighty)
33. David Koechner (9 total... 5 Hits: Wag the Dog, Austin Powers, Anchorman, Yours Mine & Ours, Snakes On a Plane; 4 Blockbusters: Dukes of Hazzard, 40-Year Old Virgin, Talladega Nights, Barnyard; NOTE: And he's got two more coming with Semi-Pro and Step Brothers)
34. Tracy Morgan (4 total... 2 Hits: Head of State, Are We There Yet?; 2 Blockbusters: The Longest Yard, Little Man)
35. Jimmy Falon (3 total... 2 Hits: Taxi, Fever Pitch; 1 Blockbuster: Arthur & The Invisibles)
36. Tina Fey (1 Blockbuster: Mean Girls)
37. Amy Poehler (4 total... 1 Hit: Deuce Bigalow; 3 Blockbusters: Mean Girls, Blades of Glory, Shrek 3; NOTE: And she's got one more coming with Horton Hears a Who)
38. Bill Hader (3 Blockbusters: You Me & Dupree, Knocked Up, Superbad; NOTE: And he's got two more coming with Pineapple Express and Tropic Thunder)
I hope to see Andy Samberg join his friends on this list soon.
The bottom line is that Saturday Night Live has always pumped out talent, and it continues to do so. The fact that Lorne is helping get Andy into movies is a testament to Andy's future in film. He and the Lonely Island need to get a script together to pitch. I'm sure they made Hot Rod funnier than it would have been, but they need to start with a solid script in order to get people interested in the movie. They have to be interested in the characters and the jokes. While the jokes in the trailers made us smile, they didn't make us laugh. And the characters weren't strong enough to interest us.
Q: How many movies have featured characters that originally appeared on "SNL"?
A: 17: "Mr. Mike's Mondo Video" (1979), "The Blues Brothers" (1980), "Gilda Live" (1980), "Wayne's World" (1992), "Mo' Money" (1992), "Bob Roberts" (1992), "Mr. Saturday Night" (1992), "Coneheads" (1993), "Wayne's World 2" (1993), "It's Pat" (1994), "Casper" (1995), "Stuart Saves His Family" (1995), "Blues Brothers 2000" (1998), "A Night at the Roxbury" (1998), "Office Space" (1999), "Superstar" (1999), and "The Ladies Man" (2000).
On a side note, Michael had this interesting tidbit to say in his article:
"In the goofy Hot Rod, a movie originally planned for Ferrell and who remains an executive producer, the gangly Samberg shows he has charisma, even in this one-note role, another one of those child-man characters that moviemakers pandering to America's youth find so endearing. Ferrell has been a master of this kind of role, in movies ranging from Elf to Blades of Glory, and has yet to wear out his welcome."
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The Animation Empire update...
Here's another video from our archives, Taking Care of Business:
OCCUPATION: Comedian, Saturday Night Live cast member
PRO: Co-founder of the Internet sketch comedy team the Lonely Island whose digital shorts became an Internet sensation. A digital short he made for SNL called Lazy Sunday garnered significant attention and bolstered Samberg into the mainstream.
CON: Has had limited prominence in SNL's live sketches, and has followed up Lazy Sunday with only one other sensational short—the R&B spoof -- in a Box.
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They forgot to mention that he created YouTube by rocketing it to the top of the Internet video pack (YouTube now has a commanding lead), he made NBC Internet video into a business (NBC leads the pack now in TV channels that do Internet videos), and he put Saturday Night Live back on the map. Additionally, the recent Dear Sister (The Shooter) along with other popular digital shorts (Young Chuck Norris, Natalie Portman Rap, and Laser Cats) shows that he has longevity other than just -- in a Box. And he has received a little more notoriety as a live cast member recently, doing his two live skits of Sanjaya.
Plus they also don't mention that he's successful because he has The Lonely Island (and many others) supporting him and writing for him. He's well supported by his friends.
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Update:
Added the embedded video to the original Laser Cats and a new link:
""It's something we've always wanted to do and we've been working on putting it together," said Samberg of an LP he's hoping to record soon with his Lonely Island troupe writing partners, Jorma Taccone and Akiva Schaffer. "It's about finding the time, but we've definitely got some ideas.""
This next quote makes me wonder what their idea with Justin was going to be... maybe we'll find out when Justin hosts next...
"Samberg said the writing team originally came up with a different idea for Timberlake, but show honcho Lorne Michaels insisted they exploit his musical side. "We wanted to do an early-'90s-style R&B song and Jorma came up with the 'Di-- in a Box' premise," he said of the smooth, Color Me Badd-esque ballad about an unexpected holiday surprise."
This next quote makes me think that it's interesting that a lot of the music they are making fun of was from a similar era. My Testicles, Special Gift, Narnia Rap, and even Young Chuck Norris were not all that far apart in the time periods that the music was popular...
""We presented it to Justin once we thought it was funny enough and he didn't even blink," Samberg recalled. "He was like, 'Oh yeah! Absolutely!' " Inspired by some of the music the Lonely Islanders grew up listening to as kids in the San Francisco Bay Area — Jodeci, R. Kelly, the Isley Brothers, LeVert and "any '90s R&B band who had a song with the word 'freak' in it" — the song was a perfect fit for Timberlake, who was also a fan of all those acts. Plus, the former boy-bander was more than willing to poke a bit of fun at his harmonizing past and dress up in the goofy color-coordinated suits, oversized shades and complex facial hair."
"He basically came up with the hook," Samberg said. "I had a loose melody and he took the reigns and schooled us on how to record and make it sound fantastic. He added pauses to make it more catchy. And that 'Midday at the grocery store' line? That was his."
"We traded messages after [the whole thing took off online]," Samberg said. "He loves it."
"Samberg said that now that he's done filming the big-screen comedy "Hot Rod," directed by Schaffer and featuring Taccone, he's hoping to get working on that album."
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The Lonely Island dudes could easily release two full musical albums without recording any new songs:
From The Lonely Island: - The Heist - Bing Bong Brothers - Just 2 Guyz - Ka-Blamo - Stork Patrol - My Pants - We Didn't Do the Bu This Month - Awesometown Theme Song - And lots more...
From Saturday Night Live: - Lazy Sunday (Narnia Rap) - Young Chuck Norris - Natalie Portman Rap - My Testicles (with Tom Hanks) - Harpoon Man - Special Gift (with Justin Timberlake) - Sloths - Andy Popping Onto Frame techno mix
However, I think he'll mix it up some with Lonely Island, SNL, new music, and some skits (like Adam Sandler's stuff). In that case, they can stretch out the existing music over like 6 albums (along with the new material).
EDitorial: Why wasn't Andy Samberg on Saturday Night Live this week?
The show I'm referring to is 2/11/07, hosted by Forest Whitaker.
Well...
He was there.
He did the voice announcing of "Sloths!" Plus he obviously wrote it and made it with his Lonely Island cohorts.
And he did the intro with Drew Barrymore the previous week.
Basically, they understand that the world loves Andy. They need that and want that. However, they don't want it to be the Andy Samberg show. Andy doesn't want that either. So they give the world 1-2 Andy sketches each night, and they limit it to stuff that The Lonely Island wrote. Stuff that will be viral on the internet and that the world will love.
That particular night he did Sloths and Andy Popping Into Frame. His only live appearance was the voice intro for Sloths.
Because they limit it to stuff The Lonely Island wrote, we're mostly going to get Digital Shorts and movie references like The Usual Suspects, the Total Recall sketch (Andy was Quato; I still can't find a video of that anywhere) and the intro with Drew Barrymore (Say Anything...). Even the Sloths video featured Sloth from Goonies. I love it when these guys pull out these old references.
So they've been pulling him out more to use him as a tool. They only pull out Andy as a big gun. That way the fans come to see the funny Andy Samberg skits, but he doesn't take over the show (like Eddie Murphy did).
Plus, it's no coincidence that Justin Timberlake did a concert with Andy with their Gift in a Box song, and Justin's hosting again this week. I smell another smash hit Digital Short music video.
In the meantime, The Lonely Island is finishing post-production on their movie, Hot Rod, and I'm sure Andy and The Lonely Island are preparing their next project (i.e. writing a script for their next movie).
So we may be complaining, but Andy isn't complaining. Honestly, they should make some more movies, maybe do 4 or 5 seasons of SNL, and then they should take another stab at their own sketch show. I think they are ready for it (their sketches are much funnier than Awesometown was, now that they have experience), and the world is ready for it (i.e. they have enough fans).
This is the story of The Lonely Island, straight from their own mouths. ...And mine.
From their website:
"The Lonely Island is a group of filmmakers located in (formerly Los Angeles, CA) New York. They have recently joined the cast and writing staff of Saturday Night Live."
Now back to me:
The Lonely Island is the comedy group that Andy Samberg is involved in. They actually did two "sitcom" pilots that weren't picked up by the networks, and they were commissioned to do a "sketch show" pilot. Well, that one (Awesometown) also didn't get picked up by the networks. However, one of the networks that passed on it, MTV, hired the three boys to write on the MTV Movie Awards. That's where they met Jimmy Falon, who was the host for that year. Jimmy thought they were hilarious and introduced them to Lorne Michaels, the creator of Saturday Night Live.
In the meantime, Andy had been practicing his standup comedy in clubs, and he even landed a comic showcase TV spot on Comedy Central's Premium Blend. So that's why Lorne hired Andy as a cast member and the other two as writers, directors, and musicians (they mix all of Andy's music vidoes). Lorne hired Andy because he was more experienced in front of audiences and it showed.
Lets just hope that Lorne lets another older cast member go next season in order to bump up Jorma. I'd let go one of these (1) Seth Meyers (they won't, because he's the head writer; they should only use him for the Weekend Update and take him off the cast list), (2) Darrel Hammond, (3) Maya Rudolph, (4) Kenan Thompson, (5) Will Forte, or (6) Bill Hader (he's new, but he's already starting to annoy me. Amy Poehler and Fred Armisen anchor the show. Plus Kristen Wiig, Andy Samberg, and Jason Sudeikis are the future of SNL.
Anyway, that brings us back to the current time. Last year, Andy Samberg was approached by Pam Brady (producer and writer of Just Shoot Me, South park, and Team America: World Police) to star in a movie she wrote, Hot Rod, about a moped rider named Rod. Well, they hit it off, and she let all three members of The Lonely Island rewrite her movie with her and share the credit. She also let the director of their group, Akiva, direct the movie (he had been directing all the SNL Digital Shorts and several music videos). Jorma also stars, and they got Chester Tam (long-time collaborator of The Lonely Island) and Bill Hader into the cast.
Back to The Lonely Island talking about themselves:
"The group was founded in 2001 by Akiva Schaffer, Jorma Taccone and Andy Samberg. The three have been friends since attending junior high and high school together in Berkeley, CA. After high school they parted ways for college (Akiva to UCSC majoring in film, Andy to UCSC followed by NYU Film and Jorma graduated from UCLA Theater.) Eventually they all landed in an apartment in Los Angeles where they resumed filming comedy shorts and christened themselves (and their apartment) 'The Lonely Island'. They have been collectively writing, directing and acting in projects ever since and are frequently joined by their friend Chester Tam and others.
They are represented by United Talent Agency and Mosaic Media.
For fan mail and all other subjects, please send email to: films@TheLonelyIsland.com. The Dudes read all of the email sent to them, but they're so busy, and there's so much of it, that they rarely get a chance to respond to any of it. But they do read everything and appreciate all of the sweet, sweet, fan love."
Their "autobiography" is from the contact page of their website:
