News

Andy Samberg praised Amy Adams during a recent episode of the “The Lonely Island and Seth Meyers” podcast (via Entertainment Weekly) for rejecting the comedy group’s pitch for her to star in a raunchy “Saturday Night Live” digital short. Adams was hosting “SNL” in 2008, a year after winning raves for her leading turn in Disney’s “Enchanted.” Samberg remembered the actor being loyal to her Disney fans, so much so that she had to protect them from The Lonely Island’s “very dirty” sketch pitch.

“I’m not gonna go into great detail about it, but it was a song that would have been a duet with me and Amy Adams, and it was very dirty,” Samberg said of the lost sketch. “It was basically like we were both really old and we were having a picnic, old people couple, and one of us gets stung by a scorpion.

Amy Adams was the hero during one particular Saturday Night Live episode.

While speaking on a recent episode of The Lonely Island and Seth Meyers rewatch podcast, Andy Samberg — one-third of the trio that also includes Akiva Schaffer and Jorma Taccone — recalled a behind-the-scenes moment where the Nightbitch actress declined to film a short that might have been upsetting to some young fans of Enchanted.

“I’m not gonna go into great detail about it, but it was a song that would have been a duet with me and Amy Adams, and it was very dirty,” he explained. “I know that’s kind of sh—y to not say what the premise was, but it was basically like we were both really old and we were having a picnic — old people couple — and one of us gets stung by a scorpion. And then I’m dying or something and the...

Liam Neeson has teased that ‘The Naked Gun’ reboot will be "very funny".The 72-year-old actor is due to star in a new take on the 1988 Leslie Nielsen comedy classic and has promised that fans won't be disappointed by the revival.Speaking to JoBlo, he said: "It’s going to be very funny."The ‘Taken’ actor gushed about his co-stars Pamela Anderson and Danny Huston and said that he and the cast "had some laughs" making the movie, which is being written and directed by Akiva Schaffer.He continued: "It was nerve-racking, but we had some laughs. And hopefully the audience will have some laughs too."Neeson - who plays Frank Drebin Jr., the son of Nielsen's detective from the original series - previously admitted he was "a bit nervous" about helming the reboot.He told MovieWeb in March: "I've done a couple of, like, TV skits with Stephen Colbert and Ricky Gervais,...

One of the great things about Liam Neeson is that, despite all his accolades (and massive box office pull), he’s never taken himself too seriously. Recently, we here at JoBlo got to experience that firsthand when discussing his latest movie, Absolution. While the full interview goes up next week, we had to highlight a hilarious chunk of the interview, where the star teased his upcoming Naked Gun reboot.

When we asked him if he could reveal anything to us about the highly anticipated comedy, he leaned forward and, in hilariously deadpan fashion, said, “It’s going to be very funny,” with Heavy hints of menace. Immediately breaking into a chuckle, Neeson was quick to praise his co-stars, Pamela Anderson and Danny Huston, and looks pretty excited about this potential new direction as he weighs retiring from action flicks.

It has to be said, as far as Hollywood tough guys go,...

Liam Neeson doesn’t know who we are or what we want, but if we’re looking for a proper replacement for Leslie Nielsen, he’s not sure he can help out.

Let’s be completely honest with ourselves for a second. Nobody in the Naked Gun fandom has been calling for a franchise reboot 30 years after what should have been the final film in the series in Naked Gun 33 1⁄3: The Final Insult, especially one that was made without any involvement from David Zucker or the late, great Nielsen. Well, nobody except Seth MacFarlane and The Lonely Island’s Akiva Schaffer, apparently — the pair teamed up to convince Paramount Pictures to revive the series with a reboot film, simply titled The Naked Gun, which is scheduled to hit theaters on August 1, 2025.

With MacFarlane in charge of the story and Schaffer directing, the film series based on Zucker’s...

Liam Neeson will be taking a pause on starring in action films. The “Taken” icon, who has led the franchise since 2009, told People that he is planning to hang up his stunt-heavy leading roles in the next year or so. “Maybe the end of next year,” Neeson said of when he would exit the genre, referencing sometime in 2025. “I think that’s it.”

While Neeson is currently promoting yet another revenge-centric action film with “Absolution,” the actor admitted he is starting to feel his age. “I’m 72 — it has to stop at some stage,” Neeson said. “You can’t fool audiences.”

The “Love Actually” and “Schindler’s List” star added that the more intense stunt work required for his films is performed by Neeson’s longtime collaborator Mark Vanselow. Yet Neeson still does his own fight scenes, and when he no longer can, that’s when the actor has pinpointed his action movie retirement.

Saturday Night Live season 50 is the most anticipated year of SNL in recent memory. The milestone season combined with an election year created a perfect storm of comedy, and one that should attract entertainment's biggest stars.

With an anniversary special set for February, Saturday Night Live will be looking back as it celebrates half a century on the air. Even before the season began, speculation ran wild that there would be a constant flow of former cast members and SNL friends coming through Studio 8H.

And while some cameos got shut down before things even started, others like Maya Rudolph were announced early to help build hype. Last Night On's episode-by-episode guide will track every Saturday Night Live season 50 cameo

Episode 1: Jean Smart/Jelly Roll

The season 50 premiere wasted no time when it came to cameos. The cold open established who else would be on Team Harris alongside Maya Rudolph's Kamala Harris.

Thanks to Andy Samberg’s election season gig (playing Kamala Harris’ husband Doug Emhoff), Saturday Night Live recently aired its first “SNL Digital Short” in six years. The Lonely Island reunion (minus Jorma Taccone) found Samberg and Akiva Schaffer as chain-smoking ‘80s businessmen pitching a “Sushi Glory Hole” to a panel of confused/disgusted executives.

Where did the idea of using a public restroom’s anonymous sex cavity to deliver upscale Japanese seafood come from? On the most recent episode of The Lonely Island and Seth Meyers Podcast, Samberg and Schaffer took a break from delving into their back catalog of sketches in order to unpack the recent music video.

According to Samberg, Schaffer randomly said “Sushi Glory Hole” one day, and then just “kept saying it.” So they tried recording a version of the song with a different beat, but it didn’t end up working. Since they liked some of the lines,...

The Lonely Island is back and boy do they have a pitch; just hear them out! It has been more than six years since the comedy group last released one of their famed SNL Digital Shorts, but the boys returned during this week’s episode of Saturday Night Live to drop a new banger…so to speak.

“Sushi Glory Hole” finds Andy Samberg and Akiva Schaffer entering a meeting with top execs played by Bowen Yang, Maya Rudolph and Kenan Thompson. Their idea? Well, let’s see if these ill rhymes do the trick: You forgot to eat, now you’re out and about but you wanna be discreet / Can’t be eatin’ omakase in the middle of the street / Then you open the app: Sgh is all over the map / So you head to a club, hit the bathroom stall / Find the sushi-size hole in the bathroom wall / Then make a wish,...

The Lonely Island returned to "Saturday Night Live" with a brand new digital short, and it's perfect.

For weird little guys across the world, this is a huge moment. The Lonely Island — made up of Andy Samberg, Akiva Schaffer, and Jorma Taccone — used to provide digital shorts nearly every Saturday night during their run on "SNL" (Samberg was a cast member and Schaffer and Taccone worked on the writing team but often appeared in the pre-taped sketches). Samberg left the show in 2012, but the trio — who still work together all the time — kept providing shorts here and there, like "Yolo" in 2013 (with an assist from Adam Levine and Kendrick Lamar) and "Natalie's Rap 2," which reunited Schaffer, Samberg, and Taccone with Natalie Portman after their first short together in 2006. The latter was in 2018, so it's been six long years since we all got a Digital Short.

Now that Samberg is back...

Lonely Island is back on “Saturday Night Live” with their first song since 2018. Andy Samberg was joined by groupmate Akiva Schaffer on “Sushi Glory Hole,” which sings the praises of an app that allows users to find sushi in a hole in a bathroom in New York (a combination of words that admittedly isn’t the most appealing).

The pair presented their idea to a panel featuring Maya Rudolph, who asked them, “Gentlemen, what do you have for us today?” at the top of the segment. After they introduced the song, the duo leapt into a rap about the perceived wonders of eating sushi in bathrooms.

As they rapped lines that encourage listeners to “drop to your knees and get ready for some fish,” the men traversed New York bars and restaurants that apparently serve as hosts for such an activity. Lest a listener feel a little nervous about eating...

The Lonely Island is back with a business pitch — an app called Sushi Glory Hole, where “instead of strange [bleep], you’d be getting a snack.” In a digital short debuting in Saturday Night Live’s October 5 episode, Andy Samberg and Akiva Schaffer’s entrepreneur characters present a fishy idea to investors, played by Bowen Yang, Maya Rudolph, and Kenan Thompson. “Sushi Glory Hole, makes too much [bleep] sense not to do it / Fish through a hole, you know there ain’t nothing to it,” Samberg raps in the bit. “And there is no scenario in which you wouldn’t want it / So drop to your knees, open wide, and get ready for some rice with fish on it.” As the pitch continues, the duo lays out a hypothetical: “Hear us out: You forgot to eat, now you’re out and about / but you wanna be discreet / Can’t be eatin’ omakase...

Saturday Night Live‘s golden year is reuniting cast members past for some new laughs.

This weekend, SNL alums and musical comedy trio The Lonely Island made a surprise appearance with their new song ‘Sushi Glory Hole’, the group’s first digital short on the sketch comedy show in six years.

A la 2006’s Emmy-winning “D— in a Box,” the song’s title is pretty self-explanatory, featuring Akiva Schaffer and Andy Samberg (Jorma Taccone is not featured but is credited as a writer) in their finest Wolf of Wall Street attire, pitching their new concept to a group of investors.

‘Sushi Glory Hole, imagine that / Instead of strange d—, you’ll be getting a snack,” raps Samberg during their pitch, complete with a tiny model.

James Austin Johnson, Andrew Dismukes, Devon Walker and Chloe Fineman then demonstrate how to use the Sushi Glory Hole,...

Andy Samberg’s appearance in the Season 50 premiere of Saturday Night Live wasn’t just a one-off as the Lonely Island returned to SNL this weekend with a new sketch titled “Sushi Glory Hole.”

As the title suggests, the SNL Digital Short finds the Lonely Island’s Samberg and Akiva Schaffer playing businessmen pitching their “not weird” idea — a series of glory holes throughout the city that dole out sushi — to a room full of investors, played by Maya Rudolph, Bowen Yang, and Kenan Thompson.

“There is no scenario in...

Last night, Nate Bargatze made his Saturday Night Live return less than a year after his first hosting gig, a surprisingly quick turnaround that puts him on the all-time list for fastest reappearance. The season’s sophomore effort was a big step up from last week’s sleepy Jean Smart episode, as well as a master class on the pros and cons of SNL recycling past successes. The show couldn’t resist repeating old wins last night — for better and for worse.

‘Washington’s Dream 2’: Better Than I Would Have Thought

“Washington’s Dream” might have been last season’s best sketch, largely because it was original and unexpected. Bargatze played the eponymous Founding Father as a leader with odd ideas about what he was fighting for. It was a great showcase for the comic’s understated delivery, casually laying out Washington’s bizarre vision like a page ripped...

The Lonely Island is at it again. Six years after the comedy trio last graced our screens with a digital short, Andy Samberg and Akiva Schaffer returned to Saturday Night Live this weekend with their most profane music video yet.

From the minds behind “J*zz in My Pants” comes… “Sushi Glory Hole.” (Yes, really.) The sketch casts Samberg and Schaffer as chain-smoking pitchmen who are ready to revolutionize sushi consumption. Because what’s a hungry man to do when he forgets to eat? “You can’t be eating omakase in the middle of the street,” Samberg points out. So,...

In the first Lonely Island song on “SNL” since 2018, the beloved trio of Andy Samberg, Jorma Taccone and Akiva Schaffer debuted “Sushi Glory Hole,” a humorous take on a fictional app where you can find sushi in a hole in a bathroom around New York.

“SNL” alumna Maya Rudolph, who has been portraying presidential candidate Vice President Kamala Harris during the new season, was on hand for the video. “Gentleman, what do you have for us today?” she asked in the video opener.

“Sushi glory hole,” rapped Samberg. “Imagine that. Instead of getting strange [expletive] you’ll be getting a snack.” A long refrain of “Hear us out, hear us out, hear us out,” played on loop as the trio tried to get others on board with their idea.

Dressed as 1980s businessmen, the Lonely Island members rapped about sushi in bathrooms, with suggestive lyrics, singing, “So drop to your knees...

Paramount Pictures has announced a handful of new release dates for its upcoming films, including Edgar Wright’s remake of The Running Man starring Glen Powell. The much-anticipated flick will be released on November 21, 2025.

The studio has also pushed back the release of the Naked Gun reboot starring Liam Neeson. The film was previously set for a July 18, 2025 release, but the film will now hit theaters on August 1, 2025. The new Smurfs animated musical movie directed by Chris Miller, which was previously scheduled for February 14, 2025, will take the date vacated by The Naked Gun. Additionally, Bryan Bertino’s Vicious, starring Dakota Fanning, has been bumped up, moving from August 8, 2025, to February 28, 2025.

Related Katy O’Brian joins Glen Powell in Edgar Wright’s The Running Man remake

Powell is pumped to work with Edgar Wright, whom he has wanted to work with since he started in the business. “I had a wish list...

Paramount is making some big shifts on its 2025 release calendar, the biggest title dated being Edgar Wright’s reboot of The Running Man starring Glen Powell. The pic is going the Friday before Thanksgiving next year, on November 21.

Running Man will race against Wicked: Part Two on that date as well as Angel Studios’ David and a Warner Bros event movie.

In regards to this year, Paramount also said Friday that its awards-season contender September 5 is now opening November 29 limited before getting a December 13 expansion. Previously, the pic that world premiered at the Venice and Telluride film festivals was set to go on November 27. The Tim Fehlbaum-directed movie starring Peter Sarsgaard, John Magaro, Ben Chaplin and Leonie Benesch depicts what happened with the ABC Sports TV control booth had to contend with a live act of terrorism during the 1972 Munich Olympics.

Related: Breaking Baz: ‘September 5’ Vividly Recalls Tragedy Of...

Paramount made a series of slate changes on Friday, including setting the release of Edgar Wright’s adaptation of “The Running Man” starring Glen Powell for Nov. 21, 2025.

As TheWrap first reported, Powell will take the role filled by Arnold Schwarzenegger in the 1987 film based on Stephen King’s novel set in a dystopian future Los Angeles, where a framed police helicopter pilot is forced into a violent game show where convicts are hunted down by assassins with the promise of a pardon if they survive.

Paramount is also moving their animated musical adaptation of “The Smurfs” from a February release right into the heart of next summer on July 18, 2025. Directed by Chris Miller, the untitled new take on the classic cartoon features an ensemble cast led by Rihanna, who is also writing new music for the film.

“Smurfs” will be released in the weekend between Warner Bros./DC Studios’ “Superman...

After stealing the hearts of rom-com fans, tornado enthusiasts and hitmen this year, Glen Powell finally has his next major role dated for 2025.

He’ll star in director Edgar Wright’s remake of “The Running Man,” which is being released by Paramount on Nov. 21, 2025, the company announced Friday. Powell is taking on the role originated by Arnold Schwarzenegger in the 1987 action film, based on the novel by Stephen King. The film takes place in a dystopian future where a TV show follows criminal “runners” escape professional killers.

Paramount shuffled the dates for several other 2025 films. The “Naked Gun” reboot, starring Liam Neeson, has moved from July 18 to August 1. The cast includes Pamela Anderson, Paul Walter Hauser, Kevin Durand, Danny Huston, Liza Koshy, Cody Rhodes, Cch Pounder and Busta Rhymes. Neeson stars as the son of Leslie Nielsen’s character in his classic, slapstick comedy franchise. It’s directed by Akiva Schaffer...

Paramount Pictures has announced a number of release dates for forthcoming titles, with its Glen Powell-led The Running Man remake among the projects hustling toward theaters next year.

Edgar Wright helms The Running Man, which is set for release on Nov. 21, 2025. Wright, Simon Kinberg and Nira Park produce the new version of the 1987 sci-fi flick that starred Arnold Schwarzenegger.

The studio’s untitled Naked Gun reboot feature will now hit theaters Aug. 1, 2025, after having previously been scheduled for July 18, 2025. Akiva Schaffer helms the comedy from producers Seth MacFarlane and Erica Huggins. Liam Neeson stars as Detective Frank Drebin, the character originally played by Leslie Nielsen in the film franchise that launched with the first movie in 1988. Pamela Anderson and Paul Walter Hauser co-star in the new movie.

Going up against Naked Gun on Aug. 1, 2025, are Sony’s Phoebe Dynevor shark thriller Beneath the Storm and the animated sequel The Bad Guys 2...

Saturday Night Live has delivered a few meta twists to the ends of sketches over the years, such as when Norm Macdonald played a violent, jealous Tommy Lee opposite Pamela Anderson, only to get beaten up by the real violent, jealous Tommy Lee.

Then there was the Trump-era game show “What Even Matters Anymore,” which ends with Kate McKinnon and Cecily Strong breaking character to make sure that host Jessica Chastain is doing okay.

But SNL’s most bizarrely random meta twist came at the end of a sketch hardly anybody even remembers.

A 2006 Dane Cook-hosted episode found Cook and Will Forte playing Poland Spring water bottle delivery men, who have, for some reason, drunk their entire supply. When they get a visit from a suspicious Poland Spring executive, played by Kristen Wiig, the two dudes try to hide the incriminating empty jugs before she can come in. Cook...

During their time on Saturday Night Live, The Lonely Island weren’t exactly known for being terribly controversial. Sure, the musical comedy trio dropped tracks about sticking your junk inside of a Christmas present, and ejaculating in public, but they also devoted a lot of time to more PG topics like Narnia, Captain Jack Sparrow and the concept of existing on a boat.

But it turns out that the group did occasionally find themselves in hot water with the NBC brass. In the most recent episode of The Lonely Island and Seth Meyers Podcast, a listener sent in a question inquiring about the “most trouble the Lonely Island got in during their tenure at SNL.”

While they didn’t get in trouble exactly, Jorma Taccone did describe how, after they “spent a lot of money” on the Digital Short “I Wish it Would Rain,” he received “a very sarcastic response...

Just when Liam Neeson thought he was out, they pull him back in. Samuel Goldwyn Films has dropped the first trailer for Absolution, an action thriller starring Liam Neeson as an aging gangster who attempts to reconnect with his children and rectify the mistakes in his past. However, the criminal underworld won’t loosen its grip willingly.

Absolution has all the hallmarks of a Liam Neeson action thriller: a conflicted man pushed to his limit, icy glares, and, of course, plenty of cracked skulls and gunshots. Neeson stars in Absolution alongside Yolonda Ross, Frankie Shaw, Daniel Diemer, Javier Molina, Jimmy Gonzales, Josh Drennen, Deanna Nayr Tarraza, Terrence Pulliam, and Ron Perlman. Hans Petter Moland directed the film from a script by Tony Gayton.

Related Interview: Steven Seagal talks his latest film, favorite roles, & more!

The film is Neeson’s second collaboration with Samuel Goldwyn Films following the release of In the Land of Saints and Sinners...

One of the most memorably brilliant creative choices behind the MacGruber movie was the casting of Val Kilmer as the dastardly Dieter von Cunth. Not only is Kilmer an icon of ‘80s and ‘90s action movies, but as Airplane! proved, putting dramatic actors in absurd roles is often way funnier.

But Kilmer wasn’t the only name that was floated for the awkwardly-named villain. Apparently MacGruber came very close to battling the legendary actor who faced off against Batman, Adam Sandler and his own wife and child after a few stiff drinks served by a ghost: Jack Nicholson.

In the most recent episode of The Lonely Island and Seth Meyers Podcast, the trio discussed their work on “People Getting Punched Right Before Eating.” It wasn’t a metaphor or anything, it was literally about people getting punched right before eating.

The episode aired on October 13, 2007, with host Jon Bon Jovi,...

This week’s episode of The Lonely Island and Seth Meyers Podcast found the former Saturday Night Live performers discussing the digital short “Iran So Far,” which involved Andy Samberg crooning about then-Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad — with some help from Maroon 5’s Adam Levine and an Aphex Twin sample that the show reportedly didn’t secure the rights to before air time. “It cost NBC, I think, $160,000,” Jorma Taccone confessed during the podcast.

Much of their discussion was devoted to the episode’s guests: host LeBron James and musical guest Ye (“Kanye West” back then). While Meyers called LeBron a “full delight” and a “genuine, fantastic human being to spend time with,” everyone’s feelings around Kanye were a tad more complicated.

Akiva Schaffer recalled that he and Meyers wrote a sketch about Kanye being a “poor loser” at award shows and “speaking out on behalf of others.” Keep in mind,...

Liam Neeson is to lead the cast of the dark heist comedy '4 Kids Walk Into a Bank'.The 'Taken' actor will be joined in the film by rising stars Talia Ryder, Noah Jupe, Whitney Peak, Jack Dylan Grazer and Deacon Phillippe – the son of Reese Witherspoon and Ryan Phillippe.The picture is set to be directed by Frankie Shaw and is based on a graphic novel by Matthew Rosenberg and Tyler Boss. Matt Robinson has adapted the script with revisions by Shaw.Neeson plays former bank robber Danny, whose teenage granddaughter Paige (Ryder) means the world to him.When she finds out that his former gang is pulling him back in for one last theft to pay a debt, she comes up with the solution of getting her three friends to rob the bank the day before so that he doesn't have to.It is not the only comedy...

The Lonely Island made a name for themselves on "Saturday Night Live" by ushering in the SNL Digital Short era of the late night sketch comedy series. Once the breakout music video for "Lazy Sunday" became one of the earliest viral videos on YouTube (long before "SNL" sketches were officially uploaded to the video website), The Lonely Island felt the pressure of delivering hilarious pre-recorded bits almost every single week during their time on the show. 

It should comes no surprise that their most successful bits were various music videos, often featuring rap or R&b tunes with a comedic touch. This ranges from raunchy holiday fare like "D**k in a Box" with Justin Timberlake to the movie-fueled "Jack Sparrow" featuring "Office Space" punchline Michael Bolton as a major cinephile, the latter of which is Andy Samberg's favorite, as confirmed in a recent episode of The Lonely Island and...

The U.S. synchronized swimming Olympics team created online buzz today by moonwalking underwater to the strains of Michael Jackson’s “Smooth Criminal.”

Annie, are you okay? Hell yeah!

The moves are incredibly difficult to pull off, but synchronized swimming has always had its critics. Is the sport any more difficult than what Esther Williams used to do in old movie musicals?

Or for that matter, what Austin Powers pulled off in the open to The Spy Who Shagged Me?

At least one comedian wasn’t a fan. Harry Shearer, the two-time Saturday Night Live cast member, turned his disdain into one of the show’s Top 10 sketches of all time (at least according to one Entertainment Weekly fan vote). “I watched the synchronized swimming on television in August (1984),” Shearer remembered in SNL oral history Live From New York. “I was just fulminating about the outrage of these people, you know,...

Brooklyn Nine-Nine is widely regarded as one of the best shows in the comedy genre and boasts undeniable popularity. This was clearly demonstrated in 2018 when thousands of fans rallied behind the show in a time of need. Fox announced the sitcom’s cancellation, sparking an immediate response from the fans.

Andy Samberg in a still from Brooklyn Nine-Nine || Fox

Adding more to this, in a past interview, Andy Samberg recalled the moment he realized the outpouring of love and support had changed the fate of the show forever.

Andy Samberg Recalled How Fans Rallied Behind Brooklyn Nine-Nine

In the year 2018, when the cop-comedy show was just two episodes shy of completing season 5, Fox decided to abruptly cancel it (via Deadline). This was followed by an immediate response from the show’s fanbase, who rallied behind with the hashtag #SaveB99. Thousands of followers flooded Twitter with captions and expressions of betrayal for canceling the beloved show.

Exclusive: Pamela Anderson, the actress whose turn as C.J. Parker on the hit series Baywatch made her a leading figure in ’90s television, has signed with CAA for representation.

During her time on Baywatch at Fox, the series was the most viewed show with over a billion views per week, and there became a ‘Pamela clause’ that international buyers would only buy episodes she was in.

Anderson will next be seen playing the title role in Gia Coppola’s The Last Showgirl, a film that is set to make its world premiere in the Special Presentations section of the Toronto Film Festival. Written by Kate Gersten, the film follows a seasoned showgirl who must plan for her future when her show abruptly closes after a 30-year run. As a dancer in her 50s, she struggles with what to do next. As a mother, she strives to repair a strained relationship with her daughter,...

"Hot Rod" is one of those movies that really has come into its own since its original release. The movie served as the cinematic coming out party for The Lonely Island, aka Andy Samberg, Jorma Taccone, and Akiva Schaffer. Unfortunately, it was something of a flop when Paramount Pictures released it in the summer of 2007. But audiences have since allowed it to achieve cult status, embracing its many outlandish jokes, elaborate comedic set pieces, and hidden gags. The story of one of those hidden gags is, as it turns out, infinitely better than the gag itself.

On a recent two-part episode of "The Lonely Island and Seth Meyers Podcast," the gang broke down "Hot Rod" in great detail. It's the perfect example of why "SNL" fans should be listening to this podcast. On the episode, the gang explained how on Earth a poster for an obscure, real comedy called "The Whoopee Boys...

Two of the best pop culture fixtures of the aughts briefly collided behind the scenes, according to "The Lonely Island and Seth Meyers Podcast." In a recent episode of the endlessly delightful Lonely Island retrospective project, host Meyers and "Saturday Night Live" digital short mainstays Andy Samberg, Akiva Schaffer, and Jorma Taccone shared a surprising behind-the-scenes moment from Schaffer's cult favorite comedy "Hot Rod," and it featured none other than prolific "Deadwood" pottymouth Al Swearengen.

In case you haven't rewatched "Hot Rod" lately, it's worth noting that "Deadwood" star Ian McShane plays the bullying stepfather to stuntman Rod (Samberg), and his antagonism is one of the major driving forces of the surreal and silly movie. "Hot Rod" came out in 2007, but it filmed a year earlier, apparently before "Deadwood" had wrapped filming on its third and final season. On that show, McShane put in an awards-worthy performance as the irascible Swearengen,...

Andy Samberg has been a renowned figure in the entertainment world, gaining recognition for his immaculate talent in comedy, acting, and singing. Having kickstarted his journey as a writer and cast member for the popular Saturday Night Live (SNL) show, he gained widespread acclaim for his iconic role as Detective Jake Peralta in Brooklyn Nine-Nine.

Andy Samberg in Brooklyn Nine-Nine | NBC

His iconic professional journey is a testament to his hard work and resilience but many might be unaware of the harsh reality that he recently unraveled to the world.

Andy Samberg Got Candid About the Sight Unseen Behind His SNL Success

Andy Samberg‘s journey to prominence began to kick off with his passion for comedy and digital shorts. Working alongside his childhood friends Akiva Schaffer and Jorma Taccone, the group’s comedy charm and music caught the attention of SNL, leading to their arrival on the show.

Andre Braugher...

Andy Samberg first joined Saturday Night Live in 2005. Seven years later in 2012, the comedian and actor decided to leave, for reasons he recently revealed to be to preserve his physical and mental health. In an interview in the fourth season of Kevin Hart‘s Peacock show Hart to Heart, Samberg explained why he felt he had little to no choice but to leave the comedy show. “For me, it was like I can’t actually endure it anymore, physically and emotionally,” he said. “I was falling apart in my life.” “Like you hit a wall,” Samberg continued. “We’re not built to operate that way.” SNL, known for its taxing hours and quick turnaround demanded of its players, required Samberg to both write for the live show and produce weekly digital shorts with his trio known as The Lonely Island. With fellow members Akiva Schaffer and Jorma Taccone, Samberg created...

Andy Samberg knew it was time.

In an interview on Kevin Hart’s Peacock show, Hart to Heart, Samberg said that he left Saturday Night Live in 2012 to preserve his physical and mental health.

“For me, it was like I can’t actually endure it anymore,” he said. “Physically and emotionally. I was falling apart in my life.”

The intense schedule of SNL was to blame. Long hours to write for the live show while making new digital shorts weekly was too much.

“Physically, it was taking a heavy toll on me, and I got to a place where I hadn’t slept in seven years,” he said. “…It’s basically like four days a week you’re not sleeping, for seven years. I just kind of fell apart physically.”

Samberg joined SNL in 2005. He was part of the comedy trio The Lonely Island, starring in digital shorts like Lazy...

America’s use of “enhanced interrogation techniques,” such as sleep deprivation and the confinement box, drew heavy criticism during the War on Terror in the mid-2000s, but no one ever talks about the simultaneous inhumanity of the Dick in the Box.

Given the frantic turnaround time of the comedy television institution, it’s never a surprise when a star on Saturday Night Live has to take a step back from the show because they can’t keep up with the brutal schedule. Everyone who voluntarily leaves SNL will, at some point, talk about the all-nighters and the dread-inspiring deadlines as a factor in their departure, whether they were an actor, writer, producer or some combination of the three.

However, within that notorious six-day workweek, not everyone at SNL suffers the exact same degree of sleep deprivation and over-extension, and those few lucky creatives who fill multiple roles on the...

Andy Samberg is detailing his “Saturday Night Live” exit more than a decade later.

The sketch series staple joined the ensemble cast of the show in 2005. He exited in 2012 after seven years on the show. While Samberg admitted leaving was “a big choice,” he couldn’t “endure it anymore” due to the grueling work schedule.

“I was falling apart in my life,” he said during Kevin Hart‘s Peacock talk show “Hart to Heart” (via The Hollywood Reporter). “Physically, it was taking a heavy toll on me, and I got to a place where I … hadn’t slept in seven years, basically. We were writing stuff for the live show Tuesday night all night, the table read Wednesday, then being told, ‘Now come up with a digital short,’ so write all Thursday, all Thursday night, don’t sleep, get up, shoot Friday, edit all night Friday night and into Saturday.

Andy Samberg was a recent guest on Kevin Hart‘s Peacock interview series “Hart to Heart” and got honest about his exit from “Saturday Night Live” 12 years ago. The comedian was one of the sketch comedy show’s biggest stars during his tenure, which ran from 2005 to 2012.

Alongside his Lonely Island members Akiva Schaffer and Jorma Taccone, Samberg turned digital shorts into one of “SNL’s” most popular and viral segments through such iconic videos as “Dick in a Box” and “Natalie Rap.” However, Samberg told Hart that “I was falling apart in my life” behind the scenes come 2012 and he couldn’t “endure it anymore.”

“Physically, it was taking a heavy toll on me and I got to a place where I was like I hadn’t slept in seven years basically,” Samberg said. “We were writing stuff for the live show Tuesday night all night, the table read Wednesday,...

Andy Samberg opened up about his “difficult” decision to depart Saturday Night Live in 2012 in a new interview with Kevin Hart.

During his appearance on Peacock’s Hart to Heart, the former SNL Digital Short maestro and “Dick in a Box” singer said of his exit after seven seasons, “It was a big choice. For me, it was like, I can’t actually endure it anymore. But I didn’t want to leave. Physically and emotionally, like I was falling apart in my life.”

He continued, “Physically, it was taking a heavy toll on me,...

Andy Samberg is looking back on walking away from Saturday Night Live.

While appearing on Kevin Hart’s Peacock interview series Hart to Heart, the comedian recalled why he made the decision to quietly exit the comedy sketch series after seven seasons back in 2012.

“I was falling apart in my life,” he said, opening up about the exit all these years later. He called the decision to leave “a big choice” and though he didn’t want to leave, he couldn’t “endure it anymore.”

Samberg joined SNL in 2005. After seven years, his contract was up and he decided not to return after the 2011-2012 season wrapped, officially announcing his decision weeks after the finale.

Though he dreamt of being on SNL since he was 8 years old, Samberg explained to Hart how things started to change when his longtime friends and Lonely Island collaborators, Akiva Schaffer and Jorma Taccone, left...

When you’re lucky enough to have a viral hit song, and it happens to be with a pop music superstar, and then you get a chance to perform it at Madison Square Garden … and you utterly blow it.

It’s a story Andy Samberg just told on The Lonely Island and Seth Meyers Podcast on Monday.

The song was “Dick in a Box,” the risqué 1990s R&b parody that premiered on Saturday Night Live in 2006 as a digital short (along with 16 bleeps) and later racked up 28 million views on YouTube (the original is below). The song was written by The Lonely Island (Samberg, Akiva Schaffer and Jorma Taccone) and songwriter Katreese Barnes, along with that week’s SNL host, Justin Timberlake, spoofing his Nsync past.

Samberg eventually got the opportunity to perform the song with Timberlake at a show in New York, and that’s where things went wrong.

One of the most memorable SNL “Digital Shorts” found Andy Samberg and Justin Timberlake singing about celebrating Christmas — not to mention Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, and “every single holiday” — by gifting women their junk wrapped up in festive parcels.

“Dick in a Box” aired nearly 20 years ago, back in 2006, which was such a long time ago, apparently you couldn’t even say the word “Dick” on television without being bleeped?

The song proved so successful that Samberg and Timberlake revived the characters for the latter’s concert at Madison Square Garden in 2007, performing “Dick in a Box” for a sold-out crowd that included future President Donald Trump and Diddy. In retrospect, it’s pretty wild that the characters crooning about surprising people with their genitals were less creepy than some audience members.

So where did the idea for “Dick in a Box” come from? In a recent episode of The Lonely Island and Seth Meyers Podcast,...

Seth Meyers’ comedy style and tastes have changed in the past decade, or at least since he created adult animated series “The Awesomes.”

The late night host said during his podcast “The Lonely Island and Seth Meyers Podcast” with fellow “SNL” alums Andy Samberg, Akiva Schaffer, and Jorma Taccone that “The Awesomes” was unnecessarily R-rated.

The Hulu series, which was co-created by Meyers and Michael Shoemaker and executive produced by Lorne Michaels, ran for 30 episodes from 2013 to 2015. The show satirized the superhero world and starred Meyers, Bill Hader, Rashida Jones, Ike Barinholtz, Steve Higgins, Bobby Lee, Kenan Thompson, and Paula Pell, among a slew of guest stars.

“There’s just too many bleeps, and now I have a 7-year-old who loves it,” Meyers said. “It was trying to be too cool and we didn’t need to be…It’s such a drag now because my son really likes watching...

Exclusive: Paramount has rounded out the cast for its untitled Naked Gun reboot with four additions: Liza Koshy (Transformers: Rise Of The Beasts), current WWE Undisputed Champion Cody Rhodes, Cch Pounder (Rustin) and Busta Rhymes.

No word on the roles they’re playing, but we’re told Rhodes will only be making a cameo. As previously announced, Liam Neeson, Pamela Anderson, Paul Walter Hauser, Kevin Durand and Danny Huston will also star. Neeson plays Detective Frank Drebin, with Hauser as his partner Ed. Roles for Anderson and Huston haven’t yet emerged, though it’s understood that Durand will be playing the film’s villain.

Akiva Schaffer is directing and exec producing the comedy, slated for release on July 18, 2025. Dan Gregor and Doug Mand wrote the draft script along with Schaffer. Seth MacFarlane and Erica Huggins are producing via Fuzzy Door, with Daniel M. Stillman also serving as EP.

Known...

Everyone knows the mongoose is one of nature’s slipperiest animals. Not only can they run at 20 mph, but they’re also resistant to snake venom! If honey badgers and mongooses ever teamed up, we’d be in big trouble. Why all this talk about fast-moving mammals? One of Hollywood’s most devious action stars, Liam Neeson, will star in a cross-country car chase movie, Mongoose, for Amazon. See, it all makes sense.

Mongoose quietly made the rounds at Cannes, with Amazon Prime Video pre-purchasing most of the international rights in a deal nearing $20M.According to Deadline‘s exclusive report, Liam Neeson plays Ryan “Fang” Flanagan in Mongoose, “a war hero who, accused of a crime he didn’t commit and with nothing to lose, leads police on an epic televised cross-country car chase, helped by members of his former Special Forces Army battalion and closely monitored by a...

The revival of I Know What You Did Last Summer is appropriately set to hit theaters in the dead of summer.

Sony Pictures announced Thursday that its new film with the same name as the original 1997 slasher flick is set for theatrical release domestically on July 18, 2025. Jennifer Kaytin Robinson (Do Revenge) is directing the sequel from a screenplay she co-wrote with Sam Lansky after an initial script from Leah McKendrick. Neal Moritz produces the film.

The Hollywood Reporter previously reported that Jennifer Love Hewitt and Freddie Prinze Jr. were in talks to reprise their roles from the first movie that hit theaters Oct. 17, 1997.

Also scheduled for release on July 18, 2025, is Paramount’s Naked Gun reboot from director Akiva Schaffer that features Liam Neeson as bumbling detective Frank Drebin.

The original I Know What You Did Last Summer starred Hewitt, Prinze, Sarah Michelle Gellar and Ryan Phillippe. It was penned by...

Scream 7 and the Escape from New York requel may be off the table for the filmmaking team known as Radio Silence, but they have just set up a new high profile project. Deadline reports that Radio Silence is set to make The Robots Go Crazy, which has Andy Samberg of Brooklyn Nine-Nine, Palm Springs, and Hot Rod attached to star in it.

Samberg is known for his comedy work, and sure enough, The Robots Go Crazy will be taking the Radio Silence team – which previously brought us the horror comedy Ready or Not, the slasher sequels Scream (2022) and Scream VI, the vampire movie Abigail, and segments of the horror anthologies V/H/S and Southbound – out of the horror genre. This project is being described as an action comedy.

Beyond the action comedy description, details on this one are being kept under wraps. Andrew Lanham, whose previous credits include the fantasy drama The Shack,...

Andy Samberg is set to star in a comedy feature from the directing team known as Radio Silence.

Amazon MGM Studios has landed the comedy pitch package for The Robots Go Crazy, with Radio Silence’s Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett attached to helm the film and Samberg attached to star, The Hollywood Reporter has confirmed.

Plot details have not been disclosed, but the movie is described as an action comedy.

Samberg, Ali Bell, Akiva Schaffer and Jorma Taccone will serve as producers for The Lonely Island’s production company Party Over Here. Also producing are Bettinelli-Olpin, Gillett, Radio Silence’s Chad Villella and Silk Mass’ Jon Silk.

Andrew Lanham is writing the script and will executive produce. Lanham, who previously worked on the scripts for Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings and Just Mercy, is repped by UTA, Kaplan Perrone and Ziffren Brittenham.

After appearing in the recent Hulu release Self Reliance,...