Andy Samberg Going From SNL To The BBC

I think we all expected Andy Samberg to quickly bounce back after exiting Saturday Night Live, but I don't think any of us expected him to bounce clear across the ocean. News broke yesterday that Samberg has signed on to star in the upcoming BBC Three comedy series Cuckoo. The series will be six parts in length, and will also feature The Inbetweeners star Greg Davies.

Samberg's character is described as a "New Age-y slacker" (hipster?), who marries the daughter of two straight-laced parents that aren't too happy about accepting this guy into their home and family. The character is also described as a "square-jawed, self-appointed spiritual ninja” and also “every parent’s worst nightmare.” Spiritual ninja? Samberg definitely wrote that character description.

The show also stars Tamla Kari (Being Human) as Samberg's new wife, Helen Baxendale (Cold Feet) as his new mother-in-law, and the aforementioned Davies as his put-upon father-in-law. The show is created and written by the duo of Robin French and Keiron Quirke, who previously created the ITV2 drama Trinity. Cuckoo will begin filming this summer, and is expected to air before the end of 2012.

Cuckoo executive producer Ash Atalla released this tongue-in-cheek statement about Samberg's casting - "The best of British meets the toast of Hollywood. We hope Cuckoo cements the special relationship between our two great countries. I imagine [President Barack] Obama and [U.K. Prime Minister David] Cameron will be watching closely.” Yes, if anyone can cement the union of the two countries, it's surely the man who created Dick-In-A-Box.

Do you think this is a good first move for Samberg's post SNL career?