Digman! is an adult animated comedy that takes place in a unique world where the biggest celebrities are archaeologists. Main character Rip Digman used to be the most famous of them all, but a tragic event caused him to give up the profession. Now he’s ready to return to the game and, alongside his team of misfits, travel the world searching for priceless artifacts to rebuild his reputation.
The series is set to return this week. Ahead of the season two premiere, we spoke with creators Neil Campbell and Andy Samberg about what viewers can expect from character arcs and more.
Campbell talked about the narrative approach for the cast of Digman!. He said, “We looked at each character, both main cast and guest, what’s something funny to do in both an individual episode but also a season arc. Just making sure it was something that felt like fun and fun to watch.”
When it came down to specifics, Samberg revealed, “Well, certainly we knew we wanted to expand on Saltine’s arc, played by Mitra [Jouhari], and her pursuit of becoming a full archaeologist. That was a big storyline and growth that we were focused on.”
Samberg then went into his own character. “With Rip, obviously we left the first season on a cliffhanger with him and Bella. We knew we wanted to resolve that in a way that felt satisfying and not rushed or anything.”
Campbell then went deeper into the main protagonist. “We kind of know we want him to have emotional highs and emotional lows because when he has them, they go extremely high or extremely low,” he shared. “Andy’s performance of those is always so funny. It’s fun to write for those moments. So we never want an episode where Rip’s just kept pretty cool the whole time. That’s always fun to make sure we’re building in a lot of peaks and valleys.”
Going back to that Digman! season one cliffhanger with Bella, Campbell teased what’s in store for Rips ex-wife. He said, “We have this fun of her being this demon. We wanted to make sure we explored that fully. But there’s also always flashbacks with her in the past. I would say some unexpected twists and turns from there.”
However, don’t expect quite a storybook ending for the lovers. Campbell later explained, “But one thing we didn’t want was it to be like, ‘Alright, here’s a quick reset and everything’s back to normal.’ We want the events of season one to have mattered and to have changed the show going into season two.”
Samberg left us with his closing thoughts on the second season and the series as a whole. “I feel really proud of the show. I feel like it’s really funny and it really represents what me and Neil love,” he said. “I think for people that like Digman!, they’re going to really like it. You know what I mean? My hope always is that the right projects find the right people, the people they’re intended for. I feel there is a lot of people out there who would really laugh and would enjoy it.”
Digman! season two premieres Wednesday, July 23, on Comedy Central.
