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Andy Samberg has carved out a respectable niche for himself since leaving Saturday Night Live in 2012. He scored some indie cred alongside Rashida Jones in Celeste & Jesse Forever, made guest appearances in Portlandia and 30 Rock (both shows, not coincidentally, created by fellow SNL alums), and has become a go-to voice actor in movies like Hotel Transylvania and Cloudy WIth a Chance of Meatballs. (Just pretend That's My Boy doesn't exist. Much like everyone else has.)
But tonight Samberg will undergo his final SNL rite of passage when his new series, Brooklyn Nine-Nine, debuts on Fox. The eyes of other Not Ready for Primetime Players—past, present, and future—will be on him in the hope that whatever outcome follows the show's premiere (success or failure) can teach fellow alums yet one more lesson on The Dos and Don'ts of Leaving Saturday Night Live. What an actor does during his or her time on the show will have a direct affect on how busy a schedule he or she will have after leaving it. And let's face it: You want to follow in the footsteps of Will Ferrell or Tina Fey... not Chris Kattan or Robin Duke.
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Do have writing talent.
Al Franken, Adam Sandler, and Tina Fey are just a few of the still-famous (and successful) Saturday Night Live alums who arrived to the show as writers, not actors. Their individual post-SNL careers have been markedly distinct, but equally successful. Franken has steered toward politics, and was sworn into the U.S. Senate in 2009; Fey racked up a ton of awards by partnering up with Lorne Michaels to create 30 Rock, about her SNL experience; and Adam Sandler has managed to turn shitty movies into box office gold again and again and again. Go figure!
Don't join the cast if you've already got any sort of career happening.
The 1980s were a tumultuous time for SNL. Feeling burnt out, Lorne Michaels asked to take a year off—and assumed that the show would go on hiatus with him. But the network had a better idea: replace Michaels altogether. Which didn't make Michaels very happy—nor the cast, who followed him out the door.
By 1985, Michaels was back in charge and believed that one way to right the (now-sinking) ship was to hire some "name" actors to join the cast. Anthony Michael Hall was a hot property, with a thriving film career that included Vacation, Sixteen Candles, The Breakfast Club and Weird Science. But the then-17-year-old's big-screen presence didn't translate to television. And when he went back to making movies a year later, Hollywood had lost interest (see: Johnny Be Good).
Michael McKean, Mark McKinney, Randy Quaid, and Harry Shearer are other examples of short-time players who were past the point of needing SNL on their resumes when they joined the cast. It's a starting point, people—not a stepping stone.
Do have a bona fide career happening outside of SNL before leaving to pursue one.
The last few years have seen a mass exodus of SNL's most popular players, including Kristen Wiig, Bill Hader, Andy Samberg, Fred Armisen, and Jason Sudeikis. But this new generation of alums seems to have learned an important lesson from the likes of Dana Carvey and Chris Kattan: Have a bona fide career happening outside of the show before you officially depart it.
Armisen has been double-dipping as star of IFC's Portlandia; Wiig earned an Oscar nomination for Best Original Screenplay for 2011's Bridesmaids; and Jason Sudeikis has proven that his talents go beyond doing the running man in a red tracksuit.
Sudeikis has made tons of television appearances throughout his SNL career (including on It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, 30 Rock, and Eastbound & Down) and has made an impact at the box office with Horrible Bosses, Hall Pass, and We're the Millers. (He's also engaged to Olivia Wilde, so he's got that going for him, too.)
Don't play against gender.
Playing the opposite gender can be funny on occasion. Chris Farley's "I'm starving" fat girl is a good example. (Then again, pretty much everything Chris Farley did was funny.) But it became a rut that Terry Sweeney, SNL's first openly gay actor, couldn't escape in the 1985-1986 season. The bulk of his screen time came via female impersonations of Nancy Reagan, Joan Rivers, Diana Ross, Joan Collins, and Patti LaBelle. With the exception of a writing gig on MADtv, not much has been heard from him since.
Do have breasts if you're under the age of 40.
After being overshadowed by their male counterparts for decades, the aughts were (mostly) about the women. Much of the credit, of course, belongs to Tina Fey, who served as the show's head writer from 1999 to 2006. It also didn't hurt that some of the series' most talented comediennes made their debuts during the same time frame, including Amy Poehler, Maya Rudolph, and Kristen Wiig, whose respective post-SNL accomplishments speak for themselves.
Don't laugh at your own jokes.
If one were to calculate the number of skits Horatio Sanz was able to get through without cracking at least one unscripted smile, the statistics would probably show that he laughed at his own jokes most of the time. And what has life after SNL brought him? We're still waiting for Boat Trip 2.
Do make friends at SNL, and keep them.
Sort of like a college for comedians, the connections made on SNL can last a lifetime. And can easily make or break a career. Tina Fey called on Lorne Michaels to help her make 30 Rock happen. Amy Poehler teamed up with former writer Michael Schur for Parks & Recreation. And Rob Schneider owes most of his post-SNL filmography to his friendship with Adam Sandler.
But SNL's most dynamic duo has to be Will Ferrell and Adam McKay, who collaborated for years as actor and writer on the show and whose joint production company, Gary Sanchez Productions, has been responsible for some of the funniest websites (FunnyOrDie.com), television shows (Eastbound & Down) and movies (Anchorman, Step Brothers, The Foot Fist Way) in recent memory.
Don't be over the age of 45.
In an effort to cater beyond the youth market, character actor George Coe, who had appeared in The Stepford Wives and Kramer vs. Kramer, was brought on to play the so-called "authority figure" in SNL's first season. He was 46 at the time. And only ever credited in the first three episodes.
Do make nice with the head honchos of late-night television talk shows.
Jimmy Fallon must have been kissing all the right asses during his years on SNL, as he was selected to take over Late Night from Conan O'Brien (a former SNL writer) in 2009. Earlier this year, it was announced that Fallon will succeed Jay Leno as host of The Tonight Show beginning in 2014. Replacing Fallon on Late Night? Current SNL head writer Seth Meyers. And so it goes...
Don't drop an F-bomb on live television.
Charles Rocket was an important part of SNL's "new breed" in the 1980-1981 season, the first following Lorne Michaels' departure. And he was one of the show's most prolific players, anchoring "Weekend Update" and second only to Joe Piscopo in the number of sketches in which he appeared.
But on February 21, 1981, Rocket dropped the f-bomb heard 'round the world during a parody of Dallas, in which—after being shot, J.R.-style—he improvised the line: "I'd like to know who the fuck did it." Rocket's pink slip came shortly thereafter.
About three decades later, Jenny Slate would drop an f-bomb during her debut skit "Biker Chit Chat." Her contract wasn't renewed after her first season.
