How long was Andy Samberg on SNL? Former head writer reveals one of the actor's sketches that Lorne Michaels hated
Comedian and television writer Seth Meyers reminisced about an SNL sketch by Andy Samberg during the April 30, 2025, episode of The Lonely Island and Seth Meyers Podcast. During the podcast, Meyers played a voice note from SNL head writer Rob Klein, who shared a behind-the-scenes account of the chaos the sketch sparked, particularly with SNL creator and producer Lorne Michaels.
"That’s Lamps. One we’ll never live down," he said.
During the aforementioned episode, Rob Klein explained in his voice note that the sketch, titled Lamps, was written by Andy Samberg, a member of The Lonely Island comedy trio. The sketch starred Andy Samberg, Kristen Wiig, and special guest Hugh Laurie. The premise was surreal: the three appeared on stage as giant, singing lamps armed with shotguns.
As reported by Deadline on July 11, 2024, Andy Samberg joined SNL in 2005 and left in 2012. During his time on the show, he became known for his viral digital shorts like Lazy Sunday and I'm on a Boat. However, Lamps didn't receive the same acclaim, particularly from the show's writing staff.
Klein further explained in his voice note that "no one" was angrier about the sketch, Lamps, more than Lorne Michaels. He added that he initially believed Michaels had supported the sketch. But that assumption was quickly dispelled.
"He (Lorne Michaels) doesn’t think it makes sense. He doesn’t understand why the lamps are singing. And I would say we absolutely had no response to that. If you’re looking for an explanation, we simply didn’t have it," Klein recalled
Michaels' disapproval was so strong that "Lorne also came to the control room during blocking," a sight which was "rare" and therefore a clear sign of his concern. Klein further admitted that the tension between them was so intense that he likely did not speak directly to Michaels again for about a year.
Rob Klein shares behind-the-scenes details about Andy Samberg's SNL skit Lamps
In the April 30, 2025 episode of The Lonely Island and Seth Meyers Podcast, Saturday Night Live (SNL) head writer Rob Klein revealed several unexpected behind-the-scenes instances of chaos surrounding Andy Samberg's Lamps from 2008.
As per an Entertainment Weekly article dated May 3, 2025, the sketch was set in a lamp store. However, as the narrative progressed, the sketch took a surreal turn because once the owners left the room, Samberg, Kristen Wiig, and Hugh Laurie emerged as enormous, animated lamps who burst into song, shouted absurdities, and ultimately took the shop owners hostage.
As per the report, the sketch was never officially uploaded to SNL's YouTube channel. However, this SNL sketch quickly achieved near-mythical status among the cast and crew of the production, not necessarily for its comedic brilliance, but for the turmoil it stirred behind the scenes.
"I think Andy wrote the title, and we wrote the first page of it before we had any idea that the lamps were going to sing. So at a certain point, Andy, as a lamp, just started singing, and we were having a blast. Little did we know that the sense of fun was going to soon be replaced by one of the darkest weeks of my professional life," Klein remarked in his voicenote.
During the podcast episode, Klein also revealed how the sketch evolved in ways that no one initially anticipated — and how the creative unpredictability led to an intensely difficult week for him professionally. Beyond the chaos of the actual production, Klein added that there was high tension among the writing staff as well.
According to Klein, SNL writers were "already pissed off" just seeing the title Andy Samberg had used. According to Klein, calling the sketch Lamp Store would have been normal, but the skit was called Lamps, and it was a "sketch about talking lamps."
"There was a sense of playful mockery maybe before that — 'you guys are silly' — and a lot of people saw their sketches kill at the table, and then not get picked. So people are angry," he added.
Once Klein's voice note concluded, podcast co-host Seth Meyers re-entered the conversation to offer a bit of levity. He speculated that if Samberg were to revisit the sketch today, he would probably insist it was better than people remember.
"Andy has real Lamps trauma because people made fun of it for a long time afterward," he added.
Currently, Andy Samberg co-hosts The Lonely Island and Seth Meyers Podcast, alongside Akiva Schaffer, Jorma Taccone, and Seth Meyers, where he discusses the Lonely Island's SNL digital shorts.
