Move over, Indiana Jones – Andy Samberg is here.
Andy Samberg’s Comedy Central animated series “Digman!” has returned for Season 2.
Co-created by Samberg and showrunner Neil Campbell, the show is set in a world where archaeologists are celebrities, and follows Rip Digman (voiced by Samberg), a washed-up archeologist.
Samberg quipped that Digman’s quality that he finds most relatable is, “Probably his deep insecurity and propensity to spiral at the drop of a hat.”
“I think it speaks to our modern moment, frankly,” the former “Saturday Night Live” star exclusively told The Post. “His hair trigger, and his spirals. It doesn’t take much to spin him out. And I feel like that is one of my favorite things comedically about him – but I’ll admit it, it’s relatable.”
Samberg, who shares two kids with his wife, singer Joanna Newsom, 43, explained that the show’s premise started because he and Campbell were laughing about, “how, growing up watching movies like ‘Indiana Jones’ and ‘National Treasure’ where there’s a [message] from the filmmakers to the audience that ‘this is a world where archeologists are the coolest people.’”
He added, “Which we all just accepted a face value. And, in re-examining that as adults, we found it very funny.”
“Digman!” showrunner and co-creator Campbell, who worked on “Brooklyn Nine-Nine” with Samberg, told The Post, “We both like goofy, absurd comedy, where we can just be like ‘how do we take this joke as far as possible?’”
“But then I think the nice thing about working on ‘Brooklyn Nine-Nine’ is we wrote half hour stories that have characters you care about, and moments of poignancy,” he explained. “And so, I think we wanted to find a way to combine those things – but if you just heard the story, would it sound funny on its own, and not sound like a drama?”
They focused on that tone for “Digman!” but also wanted to fill up time with jokes that just made them laugh. “We wanted it to be joyful,” he said.
Samberg based his voice performance on Nicolas Cage.
“It also tied into the fact that we had been talking about my voice being sort of like my Nic Cage impression, and he was in a franchise like that,” he said, referring to “National Treasure.”
“And it sort of all just fell into place.”
The rest of the Season 2 cast includes big name guest stars, such as Tim Robinson, Tim Meadows, Fred Armisen, Stephanie Beatriz, Mark Hamill, Nathan Lane, Seth Meyers, and Kate Winslet.
“You ask people because you think they’re good and they’re right for the part. But if you have a relationship, it makes it easier to ask,” Samberg said about reuniting with old colleagues like Beatriz, Armisen, and Meyers.
“It’s wonderful to have worked in the business long enough to know so many people that you respect and admire, and would want to include,” he told The Post.
Samberg, who rose to fame on the high-pressure environment of “SNL,” which he was on from 2005 to 2012, said that this show is a walk in the park compared to the NBC variety show.
“There’s not a lot of stress for me around making ‘Digman!’ For Neil, maybe. He’s really running point on every single department and pulling it all together and making it happen,” he said.
“[But], I don’t generally get stressed out unless it’s like time pressure, like, something has to be done – and done to the quality that we want – by a certain time.”
