Andy Samberg's Saturday Night Live cast exit explained (Why he left his dream job)

Getting on to Saturday Night Live as a full-time cast member or writer is definitely no easy feat. Especially with the reputation the weekly sketch comedy show has. You have to be able to improvise, stay on point, and be creative. Most comedians dream of working on the series, including Andy Samberg. 

The comic and actor is best known for his role as Jake Peralta on Brooklyn Nine-Nine. The sitcom is one of my personal favorite comedies for many reasons, one of which is Samberg’s delivery and character choices for sure! But before that, the star was a part of SNL and he was very successful. And it’s what he’d always dreamed of doing as he revealed on Hart to Heart lead by Kevin Hart on Peacock. 

Coming on as a guest, Samberg was the latest celeb to be interviewed by Hart and revealed that though it was his dream job, he had to take a step back and exit the show when he reached a point where he was “physically and emotionally” exhausted. Here’s what he said per Entertainment Weekly: 

"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. 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. Thursday night, don't sleep, get up, shoot Friday, edit all night Friday night and into Saturday. So it's basically like four days a week you're not sleeping, for seven years. So I just kinda fell apart physically."

The shorts Samberg is referring to are the SNL Digital Shorts the actor produced for the show with his comedy trio The Lonely Island. He, Jorma Taccone, and Akiva Schaffer were hired on as writers with a focus on the shorts as well. So as Samberg said in the quote above, it was certainly a busy time week after week. 

Some of their best known sketches are “Lazy Sunday,” “I’m on a Boat,” and “Like a Boss.” And despite the grueling schedule and it being a dream since he was eight years old as EW notes, he didn’t want to leave. But he realized he had to for his health. This was especially evident after Taccone and Schaffer decided to exit after five seasons of working on SNL to pursue other opportunities. Samberg shared:

"I think to get back to a feeling of like mental and physical health, I have to do it. So I did it and it was a very difficult choice."

Samberg left Saturday Night Live after seven seasons at the end of season 37, which wrapped in 2012. Despite his success and how popular he was on the show, it’s very good that the actor and comedian decided to leave when he did and made that realization. It’s most important to put your health first, and I’m glad he saw that for himself. He definitely left behind a legacy, with those shorts becoming popular online and for the show. But, he's still doing great things now and we'll continue to support him!