Today in TV History: Andy Samberg, Digital Savior of ‘SNL,’ Was Born

Of all the great things about television, the greatest is that it’s on every single day. TV history is being made, day in and day out, in ways big and small. In an effort to better appreciate this history, we’re taking a look back, every day, at one particular TV milestone. 

IMPORTANT DATE IN TV HISTORY: August 18, 1978

WHY IT’S IMPORTANT: There are certain performers whose place in the pantheon of Saturday Night Live are assured through their legacy of indelible characters or years of carrying the show as the top performer. John Belushi, Chevy Chase, Eddie Murphy, Will Ferrell, Tina Fey, Amy Poehler. Andy Samberg was a top performer on SNL, but he was never dominant to the degree of any of those other names. Yet he likely deserves to be mentioned among them when talking about cast members’ importance to the show, and that’s for one particular reason: Digital Shorts.

The pre-produced short films that Samberg and his Lonely Island bros created marked a sea change in not only the types of sketches that Saturday Night Live would produce but also more importantly how they would be consumed. Starting with “Lazy Sunday,” SNL would increasingly be watched on a sketch-by-sketch viral basis.

Running down the usual suspects of Digital Shorts would be an exercise in repetition. Everybody mentions “Dick in a Box.” Obviously the Natalie Portman rap. Obviously “I’m on a Boat” and the one with Michael Bolton. And obviously “Laser Cats” probably deserves it’s own retrospective some day. I wish more people loved “Two Worlds Collide,” a.k.a. “I’m Reba!”

And in the interest of making sure that Samberg’s accomplishments aren’t all in the digital realm, it is worth mentioning that his “Mark Wahlberg Talks to Animals” might be one of the most insanely inspired sketches in years.

Happy birthday, Andy Samberg. Say hi to your mother for me.