It's Official: Andy Samberg Leaving SNL, Best of SNL Digital Shorts!

Despite all the rumors over the last few months, and the final line of Lazy Sunday 2, it wasn't until yesterday that Andy Samberg officially announced that he is leaving Saturday Night Live.  While not entirely surprising, it is disappointing to see him leave the show.  His Digital Shorts really revolutionized SNL and helped the show evolve for the viral-video era.  We are assuming that as Andy leaves the show, he is taking his SNL Digital Shorts with him, as he (and the rest of the Lonely Island trio Jorma and Akiva) were really the driving force behind them.  Since most of Andy's memorable SNL appearances were in the Shorts, we decided rather than putting together a "Best of Andy Samberg" collection as we did with Kristen Wiig, to just do a "Best of SNL Digital Shorts" (all Digital Shorts, including those that don't prominently feature Andy).  And the end, we added some of our favorite non-Digital Short Andy sketches as well.  Let us know if you think we missed anything!  What's your favorite Digital Short?

Best of SNL Digital Shorts

Lettuce
It may not be the most memorable, but it was the very first Digital Short.

Lazy Sunday
Digital Short #2, arguably the world's first viral video sensation.

Laser Cats
The first in what would be become a 7-part annual tradition.  We only included the first one here, but all 7 are actually really fun.

Natalie Raps
Academy Award winner Natalie Portman, like you've never seen her before

D*** in a Box
The second huge viral video.  This one proved that Lazy Sunday wasn't a fluke.

The Shooting

The first big non-musical Digital Short.

Iran So Far
While many of the popular Digital Shorts include excessive amounts of profanity or sexual jokes, this one is just a really sweet, passionate love song.  To Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

Japanese Office
As a huge fan of The Office, I thought this was just brilliant.

Space Olympics

The Olympics. In space.

Ras Trent

Ba-da-ding-ding-ding-ding woooooooooah...

J*zz In My Pants

I'm very sensitive, some would say that's a plus.

Doogie Howser Theme

Tear

I'm on a Boat

This one really pushed the censors at NBC.

Like a Boss

This video aired after the song had already debuted on The Lonely Island's first album Incredibad.  Host Seth Rogen re-dubbed the lines originally done by Akiva on the album.

Mother Lover

Part 2 of the trilogy, 'cause every Mother's Day needs a Mother's Night.

Threw it on the Ground

My dad's not a phone, duh!

Reba (Two Worlds Collide)
I have no idea how Andy and the gang came up with this one, but this is just brilliant.

Shy Ronnie

Music's greatest duo.

The Curse

Sergio!

Boombox
This one also aired after the song debuted on Incredibad.  The verse about the businessmen was cut from the video.

Great Day
It's gonna be a great day!

Shy Ronnie 2: Ronnie and Clyde

Rihanna and Ronnie return, to hold up a bank.

I Just Had Sex

If I had to describe the feeling, it was the best!

The Creep
Not gonna lie, this one's kind of weird...

Zach Looks for a New Assistant

While most Digital Shorts were done in the Lonely Island's signature style, this one has Zach Galifianakis written all over it.

Jack Sparrow

Turns out Michael Bolton is a major cinephile...

3-Way (The Golden Rule)

The finale of the trilogy, in a him and a him and a her way.

A Brief Interview with Drake

Everything you ever wanted to know about Drake.

Gotye Backstage

Andy and Taran are big Gotye fans.

100th Digital Short

The epic 100th Short, featuring the return of most of the popular Digital Short characters and guest stars that you just watched above. Plus a random appearance from Justin Bieber.

Lazy Sunday 2

Bookmarking the Shorts (excluding Lettuce, which most people forget about), Parns returns for the final Digital Short #101 - Lazy Sunday 2.

While Andy is most known for the Digital Shorts, he did have some memorable non-Digital Short sketches as well.  Here's a few of our favorites:

Non-Digital Short Sketches

Blizzard Man
Our #1 favorite Andy sketch.  Wish some Blizzard Man was included on the Lonely Island albums.

Mort Mort - Accountant for the Stars
This twice-recurred character was really more of an excuse for other celebrity impressions, but was still a fun Andy character.

Mark Wahlberg Talks to Animals
This was a very random Mark Wahlberg impression, but it caught on and became pretty popular.  I still find myself saying "Say 'hi' to your mother for me!" from time to time.

Mark Wahlberg Talks to Andy
Following Andy's impression, the real Mark Wahlberg made headlines by publicly criticized the sketch on various talk shows.  Turns out, it was just to setup his encounter with Andy "backstage".

Weekend Update

Andy also had some memorable Weekend Update appearances, such as his Mark Zuckerberg impression, his recurring "Get in the Cage" segment, and his impression of comic strip character Cathy.

  

Deep House Dish

Finally, one of our favorite early Samberg characters, T'Shane on Deep House Dish!  Interestingly, DJ Dynasty Handbag's original sidekick was Tiara, as played by Rachel Dratch.  But when Dratch left the show, Andy took over as the unforgettable T'Shane.  Here's a little compilation of a few Deep House Dish sketches, featuring Andy Samberg as T'Shane.  This video also features Lady Gaga and Madonna who were already feuding back then!  Ooh eey T'Shane!

Andy, you will be missed.  Let us know if we missed any of your favorite Andy sketches!

UPDATE
How could we forget Andy's great impression of everyone's "favorite" American Idol finalist Sanjaya!