'Digman!' Creators Talk Season 2 & Potentially Landing Nicolas Cage
The Arky-based adventures of Rig Digman (Andy Samberg), Saltine (Mitra Jouhari), Swooper (Tim Robinson), Agatha (Dale Soules), and Fleety the fast loris will officially continue this Wednesday (July 23) Digman! Season 2 premieres on Comedy Central.
You may recall that we last saw our favorite underdog archaeology crew dealing with the fact that Rip's beloved wife, Bella (Melissa Fuermo), had been resurrected from the dead, only to serve as a vessel for the Aunty-Christ. Her evil soulmate, the Uncle-Christ, meanwhile, possessed the body of Quail Eegan's father (Jeffrey Wright).
'Hearing you say it sounds crazy,' Samberg, who co-created the series with Brooklyn Nine-Nine writer Neil Campbell, says after I give a quick recap of the Season 1 finale over Zoom. He goes on to promise that the show's sophomore outing will tie 'that story up a little' before the characters begin to seek out new MacGuffins in an effort to restore Rip's once-great standing in the Arky community.
Campbell also teases further character development for Saltine as she continues her training under Rip's tutelage. 'Can Rip train her into becoming a full-blown Arky? Not just his assistant, [but] more of a partner?" he muses. "It doesn't dominate storylines, but it's an arc that's prevalent throughout the season.'
A comedic riff on swashbuckling action-adventure films like Raiders of the Lost Ark, Romancing the Stone, The Mummy, and National Treasure, Digman! takes place in a reality where archaeologists (better known as 'Arkies') are revered as rock star-level celebrities by the public and hired by museums to track down valuable artifacts.
'There's nothing that I would rather watch … than an Indiana Jones movie,' Samberg admits. 'Those big, '80s tentpole, franchise-y things were the fabric of our youth and really important to us. A lot of work I do is dealing in genre and in tropes — and finding a comedic angle on them. I had never done it with [the action-adventure genre], and it just seemed like a really fun world to [play in], especially if you're doing an episodic where you get to choose an adventure of the week."
The ultimate goal with Digman!, continues the Saturday Night Live alum, is that the show appeals to both genre fanatics and casual viewers alike. 'The hope is that the show feels like a reward for people who know everything about it, because they love it the way we love it,' he adds. 'The references are like a fun extra layer to everything, and then, hopefully, you're also just laughing because the joke writing is good enough.'
Samberg, who also serves as executive producer on the series alongside Campbell and fellow Lonely Island members Akiva Schaffer and Jorma Taccone, doesn't shy away from the fact that his performance as Rip is based on the fan favorite Nicolas Cage character he often played on SNL's 'Weekend Update' segment — one of which featured the real Cage alongside his outlandish TV counterpart (see below).
'Imitation," goes the old saying, 'is the highest form of flattery.' Or, in the words of Samberg's unhinged take on the National Treasure star: 'That's high praise!'
'Part of it was I loved writing jokes for that [bit]. It's an impression, but it really became its own kind of psychotic character,' Samberg explains. 'The moves I got to do in that voice were a lot different [compared to] the other stuff I did at SNL and elsewhere. I missed doing it and getting in that tone. So when we first started talking about this, I was like, 'Oh, that's a good entry point, comedically and performance-wise.' Because of National Treasure, but also because of Indiana Jones, The Mummy, and the genre having existed for so long, it's not going to be just 100% one for one that. It's a really good comedy starting place for me. One of the things I've been really happy about, working on the show, is seeing the character kind of evolve as we work on it, as we try new things, and as he does things comedically and character-wise that are not part of the Nic Cage impression at all. It turns into its own thing.'
Still, the question remains: will Cage ever guest star on the show was Rip's father? It seems like the easiest slam dunk bit of casting…well, ever. The idea has occurred to the creators, who describe it as a Digman! bucket list item they're looking to make a reality.
'You're not first person to actually bring that up,' says Samberg. 'It seems like we really should."
'It is the dream, yeah,' echoes Campbell.
Samberg continues: "Let's just keep the show going. I can't imagine it won't happen eventually, if we just keep begging him…"
While the creators continue to chip away at Mr. Cage's resolve, however, fans can still look forward to a slew of A-list guest voices in Season 2. The list includes, which Comedy Central announced earlier this month, includes such mega-talents as Kate Winslet (Mare of Easttown), Tatiana Maslany (She-Hulk: Attorney at Law), Tom Kenny (SpongeBob Squarepants), Mark Hamill (Star Wars), Nathan Lane (The Lion King), Seth Meyers (Late Night With Seth Meyers), Amy Sedaris (BoJack Horseman), Stephanie Beatriz (Brooklyn Nine-Nine), Geraldine Viswanathan (Thunderbolts*), Beck Bennett (Superman), Fred Armisen (Portlandia), and Kayvan Novak (What We Do in the Shadows), and cult filmmaking icon John Waters (Pink Flamingos).
'You have a responsibility to do something with those people,' Samberg affirms. 'It's not just asking them to come on so you can put their name in the trailer or something. You want them to really score and have something interesting.'
'We would never really ask someone to do a guest voice unless we felt like the A) the role was funny and B) they would be the person to really take it up to another level and make it as funny as possible,' finishes Campbell.
Season 2 of Digman! premieres on Comedy Central this Wednesday — July 23 — at 10:30 p.m. ET, immediately following the Season 27 premiere of South Park. All Season 1 episodes are now streaming on Paramount+.
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