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Sharon Stone has her sights set on bringing her late friend Phyllis Diller’s story to the big screen.

The 67-year-old Basic Instinct Oscar nominee revealed in a new interview that she’s “desperate to play” the comedy legend, who passed away at age 95 on August 20, 2012.

“She and I were very close friends,” Sharon told Business Insider.

Keep reading to find out more…

“Phyllis made little paintings for all my kids. She cooked me dinner a lot of times -that woman could cook. I told her I wanted to play her, and she sat down and taught me her laugh. She made me practice her laugh!”

Sharon also praised Phyllis’ journey, noting she “didn’t hit it big until she was 49” after years of living in a trailer park with five kids and a schizophrenic husband, practicing her act on women at the laundromat.

She even has dream casting ideas for other roles,...

Nearly 13 years after the comedy legend’s death, Sharon Stone hopes to make a biopic about her late friend Phyllis Diller.

The Oscar nominee recently admitted she’s “desperate to play” Diller, who died at age 95 on Aug. 20, 2012, reflecting on her time with the comedian and how Diller prepared her to lead a potential biopic, which stone is “trying” to make happen.

“I do want to play Phyllis Diller very, very badly,” she told Business Insider. “She and I were very close friends. Phyllis made little paintings for all my kids. She cooked me dinner a lot of times — that woman could cook. I told her I wanted to play her, and she sat down and taught me her laugh. She made me practice her laugh!”

Stone added, “You know, she didn’t hit it big until she was 49. She lived in a trailer park with five kids and her schizophrenic husband,...

Sharon Stone is ready to take on her first biopic: Portraying late pal Phyllis Diller. Stone told Insider while promoting her latest film “Nobody 2” that she is next trying to get a Diller biopic greenlit. Stone and comedian Diller were “very close friends” for years until her death in 2012.

“I do want to play Phyllis Diller very, very badly,” Stone said. “She and I were very close friends. Phyllis made little paintings for all my kids. She cooked me dinner a lot of times, that woman could cook. I told her I wanted to play her and she sat down and taught me her laugh. She made me practice her laugh!”

When asked if she is actively looking to get the film made, Stone said, “I’m trying. You know, she didn’t hit it big until she was 49. She lived in a trailer park with five kids and...

Tracey Bregman is famous for playing Lauren on The Young and the Restless. But throughout the years, she and her character crossed over to The Bold and the Beautiful. Recently, the actress reflected on her time on the sister soap.

Beautiful Memories

Although most of Bregman’s soap career has been on Y&r, for a brief period in the 90s B&b was her home. Bregman’s character Lauren moved to Los Angeles to further her fashion career, but ended up creating drama.

One of Lauren’s most memorable storylines on B&b was her affair with Eric (John McCook). When Eric’s wife, Stephanie (Susan Flannery), discovered the affair, it led to a juicy confrontation between her and Lauren.

Bregman reflected on the iconic moment on her Instagram stories. The actress posted a video clip of Stephanie and Lauren’s confrontation by the swimming pool. “Oh, how I miss working with the great Susan Flannery,...

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John Howley's 1989 animated film "Happily Ever After" was conceived as a sequel to the "Snow White" fairy tale. Its story extrapolated partly from the earliest published version by the Brothers Grimm but also partly from the 1937 Disney-produced film "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs." "Happily Ever After" didn't re-use any of Disney's designs, voices, characters, or concepts (at least none that weren't already in the Public Domain), but one can see how Howley's film relied on vague cultural echoes that Disney originally yawped into the mass consciousness. Snow White (Irene Cara), for example, had almost identical hair and wore a similar dress to the version of the character designed by Walt Disney.

"Happily Ever After" staggered during its brief theatrical run, making only $3.3 million at the box office on a modest $6.8 million budget (although it was later heavily rented...

As wildfires continue to ravage Southern California, the full extent of the devastating Palisades fire is still being assessed. But at least one thing is for certain: Joan Rivers’ jokes are safe.

The famed comedian’s daughter recently shared that, shortly before her house burned down, she grabbed a few important items including birth certificates, medication, clothing, and most notably, the Daytime Emmy award that her mom won for Outstanding Talk Show host in 1990.

But what about Rivers’ legendary archive of jokes?

Rivers, who passed away in 2014, left behind what The New York Times called a “meticulously organized collection of 65,000 typewritten jokes.” The jokes were kept on index cards and cross-referenced by categories, such as “Parents Hated Me,” “Las Vegas” and “No Sex Appeal.” As the Times noted, the biggest subject was “Tramp,” which contained 1,756 jokes.

The cards were stored in a filing cabinet, containing 52 jam-packed drawers. Rivers also saved...

Back in the 1970s, Hanna-Barbera's animated sitcom Wait Till Your Father Gets Home ran for three seasons with 48 total episodes airing during its run. After more than five decades since the show's premiere, Wait Till Your Father Gets Home can be revisited with its resurrection on a modern format.

Early next year, the Warner Archive Collection will release the complete series of Wait Till Your Father Gets Home on Blu-ray on Jan. 28, 2025. The series was previously set for its Blu-ray release in November before getting a delay, but its street date is now revealed. Previously, only the first season of the series was given an official release on physical media, hitting DVD back in 2007. The new release on Blu-ray will mark the first time the complete series will be made available on physical media.

Related 10 Classic Scooby-Doo Villains that Fans May Have Forgotten About, Ranked

Scooby-Doo and the gang are...

For decades, stop-motion animation has brought charm to the uncanny valley, allowing for intricate, immersive storytelling that no other medium can quite achieve. By blending physical craftsmanship with meticulous artistry, stop-motion creates a tactile, often eerie quality that feels both real and otherworldly. In the horror genre, this technique is uniquely powerful, lending itself to surreal visuals and unsettling atmospheres that linger long after the credits roll.

From cult classics to modern masterpieces, stop-motion horror movies showcase the boundary-pushing potential of animation. These films combine technical brilliance with chilling narratives, crafting unforgettable cinematic experiences.

Mad Monster Party Is a Cozy Horror Story Released in 1967

Long before stop-motion became a mainstream animation style, Mad Monster Party? paved the way with its quirky charm and Halloween-themed ghoulishness. Created by Rankin/Bass Productions, the same studio behind holiday classics like Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, this film brings together a who's who of iconic monsters -- Dracula,...

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To this day, Rod Serling's sci-fi anthology series "The Twilight Zone" regularly tops lists of the best TV shows of all time. Serling, and a team of some of the best sci-fi authors of the 1950s and 1960s, conceived of 156 miniature morality stories, usually with a supernatural bent, and in so doing changed the very face of television. Sci-fi and horror were considered more commercially viable, inspiring a new slew of imitators and a shift in the public's attention. Serling also introduced a unique form of storytelling efficiency with "The Twilight Zone," proving that an entire, closed morality fable could be wrapped up in a mere 25 minutes (or 51 minutes in the show's fourth season). Serling was also careful to explicitly state a moral in every episode, making "The Twilight Zone" a fantastic social commentary. 

"The Twilight Zone" ran from...

Saturday Night Live first aired on NBC in 1975. Created by Lorne Michaels, the late-night sketch comedy has had its ups and downs throughout the years. Each episode features a celebrity host and musical guest, some of which have been incredible additions to the series lineup, while others just didn't hit the mark. Below we chronicle a list of 10 of the worst hosts featured on SNL.

Louise Lasser (1976) Actress Louise Lasser on Television Set | Lynn Goldsmith/GettyImages

Louise Lasser hosted during the debut season of SNL during the penultimate episode. She was well known for her work in Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman, which earned her place as host. Earlier that year, her personal life took a nose dive when she was given six months probation for cocaine possession. During her episode, she refused to perform with the cast, making an exception for Chevy Chase and a dog.

Her opening monologue focused on her struggles,...

Quick Links Pixars A Bugs Life Is Based on Aesops Fable the Ant and the Grasshopper Hopper Is a Disney Villain Who Uses Intimidation to Accomplish His Goals A Bugs Life Is an Overlooked Pixar Gem

Disney villains have earned a lot more space in the spotlight in recent years. Especially with Halloween time in Disney Parks focusing on them more with each passing season. Many of Disney's star villains have received their own stories in book and movie form. Actresses Angelina Jolie and Emma Stone, and Glenn Close have tackled villainesses like Maleficent (from Sleeping Beauty) and Cruella (from 101 Dalmatians) in live-action. And with the recent announcement of Walt Disney World getting a Villains Land, the brand is clearly picking up some major stream.

One Disney Villain who has fallen out of the spotlight since the release of his feature film in 1998 is Hopper -- the main antagonist of Pixar's A Bug's Life.

The culture at large seems to be very ambivalent about Sherwood Schwartz's 1964 sitcom "Gilligan's Island." On the one hand, it was massively popular and, thanks to plum syndication deals, remained in the pop culture consciousness for literally decades, feeding its goofy reruns to multiple generations. The seven stranded castaways are all easily recognizable by millions, and kids grew up chuckling to Gilligan's antics. On the other hand, "Gilligan's Island" is often lambasted, critically, as the nadir of television. The series takes place in a lightweight, cartoonish universe, and it doesn't ever reach deeply into the souls of the characters to analyze how they adapt to being stranded on a tropical island. There is no madness or deterioration, just shenanigans. 

Anything as popular as "Gilligan's Island" at least deserves a robust and healthy regard, however. Its seven stars may have been playing broad, slapstick archetypes, but their performances certainly struck a chord.

Full House is one of the most popular TV sitcoms of the late '80s and all the '90s. Millions of viewers tuned into ABC and later TBS and TeenNick to catch up with the Tanners. The show ran for eight seasons and 192 episodes and featured on-location shooting at beautiful locations like the Walt Disney Resort and Hawaii. The Beach Boys, Vanna White, Little Richard, and Phyllis Diller are among the famous names who made guest appearances. Later, a sequel called Fuller House was picked up by Netflix. Needless to say, Full House was a huge success for creator Jeff Franklin.

The appeal of the show is in its family-friendly entertainment. Despite the cheesy life lessons, there's a lot of heart and comedic scenes in Full House that make it stand up even today. The cast has a ton of chemistry as well, which makes every moment among the family feel believable.

Lo, the enduring miracle of the film awards year. Just when things begin to look hopeless—and it was looking pretty bleak a month ago—intriguing, maybe even watchable, prospects suddenly sprout. The movies are like Osiris, that old Egyptian resurrection god: You just can’t keep ‘em down.

As August arrives, more than a few adult viewers, unattuned to the ongoing fantasy-and-animation boom, are now peeking around the corner at Saturday Night, Jason Reitman’s Saturday Night Live origins story. The film was scheduled last week by Columbia Pictures for release on Oct. 11—the 49th anniversary of NBC’s first SNL broadcast, back in 1975.

As historical moments go, that may or may not impress the film Academy’s growing body of foreign-based Oscar voters. But for the domestic crowd, especially those in upper age brackets, the birth of an American comedy phenomenon, still alive some five decades later, is compelling.

Quick Links Deborah Vance and Joan Rivers Had Similar Personal Lives Deborah Vances Career Trajectory Is Eerily Similar to Joan Rivers Hacks Is Indebted to Joan Rivers, but Not Exclusively Her Jean Smart shines as Deborah Vance in Hacks Season 3, with Hannah Einbinder as a perfect counterpoint. Parallels between Deborah Vance and Joan Rivers' lives and careers are evident, adding depth to the show. Hacks cleverly satirizes cancel culture and explores the sacrifices made for professional success.

In its third season on Max, Hacks is just as hilarious as ever. The great Jean Smart, whos already won two Emmy Awards for her leading work as washed-up comic Deborah Vance, remains brilliantly on-point. And Hannah Einbinder, as Deborahs cynical writer Ava, is once again a fantastic counterpoint to Smarts larger-than-life performance. The Season 2 cliffhanger, which saw Deborah fire Ava, had many wondering if the series had written itself into a corner,...

Saturday Night Live has been a solid career platform for female comedians ever since the show began in 1975. Many of the most celebrated SNL cast members have been the women on the show. Multiple female SNL cast members have gone on to have incredibly successful careers after leaving the show, with names like Maya Rudolph, Tina Fey, and Amy Poehler all receiving their big break as part of the Saturday Night Live lineup.

The many SNL female cast members who have appeared on the show since it started in 1975 are a key reason Saturday Night Live has remained successful for so many years, and it remains a solid platform for the careers of women in comedy. Female comedians have often been at the forefront of the entertainment industry, with names like Lucille Ball, Joan Rivers, Whoopi Goldberg, and Phyllis Diller leading the way. SNL has mirrored this fact since its inception,...

Most of us have quietly curtailed our lockdown hobbies, but internet creator Teigan Reamsbottom is still getting up at 4 a.m. to curate camp-classic pop culture video clips. He also does his best to improve the video quality using a dedicated gaming computer he’s stuffed full of Ram and a software suite that uses machine-learning algorithms to preserve the clips’ original characteristics.

In a world where movies can be vanished for tax write-offs and physical media can be scarce, it’s heartening to see pop-culture artifacts unearthed — even if it means that no ’80s or ’90s celebrity is safe.

Exhibit A: from the heyday of “Sex and the City,” an interview with Kim Cattrall where she scat sings while her then-husband Mark plays an upright bass. The clip has long been an internet fixture (it was once the subject of an exhibit at Lower East Side gallery THNK1994). It...

On Friday nights — and special occasions! — IndieWire After Dark takes a feature-length beat to honor fringe cinema in the streaming age.

First, the spoiler-free pitch for one editor’s midnight movie pick — something weird and wonderful from any age of film that deserves our memorializing.

Then, the spoiler-filled aftermath as experienced by the unwitting editor attacked by this week’s recommendation.

The Pitch: Wait for Santa to Get a Load of These Nuts

There’s no doubt in my mind that Santa is a midnight movie fan.

A famed night owl with a criminal streak, ol’ Kris Kringle seems like just the sort of cinephile who would fit in with the IndieWire After Dark crowd. Sure, he would probably be more inclined towards the Christmas projects that feed his ego than a cheap “Sausage Party” predecessor with some of the most unpleasant computer-animated cheese ever melted into imagination. But...

Amy Sherman-Palladino’s highly anticipated return to original television,”The Marvelous Mrs Maisel,” first premiered back in the spring of 2017 to bubbly, joyous acclaim. The Amazon Prime Video series chronicled the fictitious rise of recently separated Jewish-American housewife Miriam “Midge” Masiel (Rachel Brosnahan), as she pursued an unlikely career change to standup comedy. For its fifth and final season, the show nabbed 14 Emmy nominations including Luke Kirby as real-life comic Lenny Bruce in Best Comedy Guest Actor for the series finale, “Four Minutes.”

Having set the piece in late 1950s New York, Sherman-Palladino didn’t shy away from drawing her character inspirations from real-life figures of the time. Midge, for one, was largely based on trailblazing female comic and legend, Joan Rivers. From her upper-class jewish upbringing to her no-holds-barred style of comedy, the character of Mrs. Maisel was very much indebted to history. So too were other characters in...

Midge Maisel from The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel was inspired by real-life comedian Joan Rivers, sharing similarities in their upbringing, education, and performing at the Gaslight Cafe in New York. The casting of Rachel Brosnahan as Midge attracted criticism due to the show's Judeocentric nature, with non-Jewish actors playing Jewish characters, including the portrayal of Lenny Bruce by Luke Kirby. The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel pays tribute to Joan Rivers' legacy as a trailblazing female entertainer, and although the show is not a direct biopic, it draws inspiration from one of the most respected names in comedy.

In The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, Rachel Brosnahan’s Midge Maisel is born from inspiration from a real-life comedienne but who is Mrs. Maisel based on? The Amazon Prime series ended in 2023 with its fifth and final season, and in that respect, it seems important to take a look at the inspiration behind the show’s leading lady.

This month’s installment of Deep Cuts Rising features a variety of horror movies, with some selections reflecting a specific day or event in November, and others chosen at random.

Regardless of how they came to be here, or what they’re about, these past movies can generally be considered overlooked, forgotten or unknown.

This month’s offerings feature Dracula, a giant zombie poodle, a golem, and more.

The Tomb of Dracula (1980)

Image: The Tomb of Dracula

Directed by Minoru Okazaki.

For World Television Day (November 21), Dracula followers as well as Marvel fans might get a kick out of the 1980 animated TV-movie based on the serialized comic series The Tomb of Dracula. Between 1972 and 1979, the iconic Count Dracula was reworked into a master antagonist who was routinely opposed by a team of vampire slayers. The same series also contains the introduction of popular Marvel character Blade.

Marvel and Toei Animation...

On September 24, 1993, “Boy Meets World” premiered on ABC.

If that sentence made you feel old, take a quick moment to use your retinol and also maybe start exploring how to make a will.

Done? Welcome back. The family sitcom starred Ben Savage as Cory Matthews, an average American boy just trying to make it through the day with the help of mischievous best friend Shawn (Rider Strong), childhood sweetheart Topanga (Danielle Fishel), sweet if slightly insane older brother Eric (Will Friedle), and wise mentor George Feeny (William Daniels). “Boy Meets World” ran for seven seasons on ABC and enjoyed exuberant reruns in syndication on Disney Channel and ABC Family.

30 years since its debut, the show created by Michael Jacobs and April Kelly might be more popular than ever, thanks to Strong, Fishel, and Friedle recapping the series on “Pod Meets World,” which recently hit 20 million downloads across platforms. An iHeart...

Forget the pleasantries, today sucks. Paul Reubens, best known for his incomparable work as Pee-wee Herman, has passed away. The weird, wacky, and wonderful comedy figure is one of the most influential creatives ever to do it, and left in his wake is an irreplaceable void of silly, absurdist joy. Reubens' created the character of Pee-wee Herman while performing with The Groundlings, the legendary improvisational comedy troupe boasting alumni like Laraine Newman, Pat Morita, Craig T. Nelson, Jon Lovitz, Adrienne Barbeau, Conan O'Brien, Phil Hartman, Phil Lamarr, Lisa Kudrow, Jennifer Coolidge, Will Ferrell, Kristen Wiig, Maya Rudolph, Melissa McCarthy, Will Forte, Annie Mumolo, Kaitlin Olson, Edi Patterson, Tony Cavalero, and a ridiculous number of other eventual "Saturday Night Live" players.

Pee-wee Herman was an immediate hit and led to Reubens writing, producing, directing, and starring in "The Pee-wee Herman Show." He quickly became a household name, and the Pee-wee character would get another show,...

Actor Rachel Brosnahan is the new Lois Lane for Superman: Legacy, having presumably won the job based on her outstanding work in Amazon's The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel. That role ties into a period setting -- the 1950s -- as well as covering the travails of a woman working in what was traditionally a male-dominated industry. Casting her as Lois makes a good deal of sense.

Lois was inspired by a number of similar figures in pop culture during the 1930s, which subsequent incarnations of the character have emulated. Brosnahan's casting is a strong signal that the new Lois will follow that pattern closely and deliver a take that's close to her roots. She's an ideal choice for it, as well as lending a sense of what kind of approach the upcoming Superman: Legacy will take.

Related: DC Studios Reportedly Had No Issues With Superman: Legacy Star's Henry Cavill Resemblance

Lois...

Los Angeles, Jan 30 (Ians) Lisa Loring, who played the young Wednesday Addams in ‘The Addams Family’ from 1964 to 1966 and also appeared in ‘As the World Turns’, died aged 64 of a stroke, her daughter Vanessa Foumberg confirmed.

“She went peacefully with both her daughters holding her hands,” Foumberg said, reports Variety.

A friend, Laurie Jacobson, reported her death on Facebook, writing that she “was in our hearts always as Wednesday Addams.”

Butch Patrick, who played Eddie Munster on ‘The Munsters’, also remembered her on Facebook, writing: “Very sorry to hear of my dear friend Lisa Loring’s passing. We were very close and worked together often. I know she was very weak. I was in her company just a few weeks ago. Godspeed my friend.”

Loring’s shimmying frug dance called ‘The Drew’ frug gained renewed attention with the new Netflix series ‘Wednesday’, on which Jenna Ortega does her own interpretation of Wednesday’s dance.

Los Angeles, Jan 30 (Ians) Lisa Loring, who played the young Wednesday Addams in ‘The Addams Family’ from 1964 to 1966 and also appeared in ‘As the World Turns’, died aged 64 of a stroke, her daughter Vanessa Foumberg confirmed.

“She went peacefully with both her daughters holding her hands,” Foumberg said, reports Variety.

A friend, Laurie Jacobson, reported her death on Facebook, writing that she “was in our hearts always as Wednesday Addams.”

Butch Patrick, who played Eddie Munster on ‘The Munsters’, also remembered her on Facebook, writing: “Very sorry to hear of my dear friend Lisa Loring’s passing. We were very close and worked together often. I know she was very weak. I was in her company just a few weeks ago. Godspeed my friend.”

Loring’s shimmying frug dance called ‘The Drew’ frug gained renewed attention with the new Netflix series ‘Wednesday’, on which Jenna Ortega does her own interpretation of Wednesday’s dance.

Los Angeles, Jan 30 (Ians) Lisa Loring, who played the young Wednesday Addams in ‘The Addams Family’ from 1964 to 1966 and also appeared in ‘As the World Turns’, died aged 64 of a stroke, her daughter Vanessa Foumberg confirmed.

“She went peacefully with both her daughters holding her hands,” Foumberg said, reports Variety.

A friend, Laurie Jacobson, reported her death on Facebook, writing that she “was in our hearts always as Wednesday Addams.”

Butch Patrick, who played Eddie Munster on ‘The Munsters’, also remembered her on Facebook, writing: “Very sorry to hear of my dear friend Lisa Loring’s passing. We were very close and worked together often. I know she was very weak. I was in her company just a few weeks ago. Godspeed my friend.”

Loring’s shimmying frug dance called ‘The Drew’ frug gained renewed attention with the new Netflix series ‘Wednesday’, on which Jenna Ortega does her own interpretation of Wednesday’s dance.

Lisa Loring, who played the original Wednesday Addams on “The Addams Family” from 1964 to 1966, died Saturday. She was 64 years old. She died from complications from a stroke caused by high blood pressure, per media reports.

Loring is best known for her role in AMC’s macabre comedy, “The Addams Family,” in which she played the adorable-but-morbid Wednesday Addams. Though she only played the creepy pet-collecting, headless doll carrying-character for two years, she set the mold for live-action portrayals of Wednesday for decades to come. Most recently, Jenna Ortega, who plays Wednesday Addams in the Netflix series “Wednesday,” was inspired by Loring’s portrayal of the character, particularly her shimmying dance called “The Drew,” which gained renewed attention when Ortega redid it for the Netflix show.

Loring was born in the Marshall Islands to parents who had served in the Navy. She lived in Hawaii before coming to Los Angeles with her mother.

Lisa Loring, the original Wednesday Addams on The Addams Family sitcom, died after suffering a stroke, according to The Hollywood Reporter. She was 64.

Loring’s daughter, Vanessa Foumberg, confirmed her death, saying, “She went peacefully with both her daughters holding her hands.”

Loring secured the role of Wednesday Addams when she was just six years old in 1964. The character was sweet yet strange, caring for pets like a black widow spider (named Homer) and a lizard (named Lucifer) and playing with her aptly-named headless doll, Marie Antoinette. Wednesday also helped...

Lisa Loring, the actor who played Wednesday Addams in the iconic TV adaptation of The Addams Family, has died aged 64.

Loring died on Saturday night (28 January) at St Joseph Medical Center in Burbank, California.

Her daughter Vanessa Foumberg told The Hollywood Reporter said that Loring died of complications from a stroke caused by high blood pressure.

“She went peacefully with both her daughters [Vanessa and Marianne] holding her hands,” she told the publication.

Loring’s friend, Laurie Jacobson, also reported her death on Facebook, writing that Loring was “embedded in the tapestry that is pop culture and in our hearts always as Wednesday Addams”.

Loring is best known for her role playing the pigtail-wearing, pale, death-obsessed character Wednesday in ABC’s sitcom The Addams Family. She took on the role at six years old in 1964 and played the character for two years.

The actor set the framework for the character who would go...

Lisa Loring, the actress who played Wednesday Addams in the classic TV adaptation of The Addams Family, has died. She was 64.

Loring died Saturday night at Providence St. Joseph Medical Center in Burbank of complications from a stroke caused by high blood pressure, her daughter Vanessa Foumberg told The Hollywood Reporter.

“She went peacefully with both her daughters [Vanessa and Marianne] holding her hands,” she said.

Loring is best known for her turn as the morbid, pig-tailed Wednesday in ABC’s black comedy sitcom The Addams Family, a role she took on at six years old in 1964. She played the character for only two years, but set the template for live-action portrayals of Wednesday, and was recently praised as an inspiration for Jenna Ortega’s interpretation on the hit Netflix series Wednesday.

Born Lisa Ann DeCinces on Feb. 16, 1958, in the Marshall Islands, Loring’s parents divorced when she was very young and she...

Lisa Loring, who played the young Wednesday Addams on “The Addams Family” from 1964 to 1966 and also appeared in “As the World Turns,” died Saturday of a stroke, her daughter Vanessa Foumberg confirmed. She was 64.

“She went peacefully with both her daughters holding her hands,” Foumberg said.

A friend, Laurie Jacobson, reported her death on Facebook, writing that she “was in our hearts always as Wednesday Addams.”

Butch Patrick, who played Eddie Munster on “The Munsters,” also remembered her on Facebook, writing, “Very sorry to hear of my dear friend Lisa Loring’s passing. We were very close and worked together often. I know she was very weak. I was in her company just a few weeks ago. Godspeed my friend.”

Loring’s shimmying frug dance called “The Drew” frug gained renewed attention with the new Netflix series “Wednesday,” on which Jenna Ortega does her own interpretation of Wednesday’s dance.

The Pixar movie A Bug's Life is a sharp and funny look at capitalism through the lens of insects who are at odds with one another, and there are many kinds of "bugs" in the story. The movie follows an ant named Flik (voiced by Dave Foley) who has a deal where grasshoppers give his colony food and make sure that other insects don't hurt them. Flik wants to leave this pressure-filled situation and ends up being in charge of bugs who are part of a circus. Along the way, he comes across many types of insects, including a stick bug, which is one of the movie's most memorable characters.

Stick insects are actually bugs that resemble sticks and hide in plants in order so to survive. The walking stick bug character from A Bug's Life, Slim (voiced by Frasier's David Hyde Pierce), is adorable and charming, helping to make...

Gene Perret, a three-time Emmy-winning writer on “The Carol Burnett Show” and “Three’s Company” producer, died on Nov. 15 at the age of 85 in his Westlake Village, California, home.

Perret died of liver failure, his daughter Linda said, per The Hollywood Reporter. In a separate Facebook post on Nov. 15, she wrote, “This is a post I wished I never had to write. There are so many words to describe Gene Perret — kind, talented, gracious, giving, loving, fun and not to be forgotten, funny. To many of you he was a mentor, a job he took very seriously and was very proud of, but to me he was the best Dad a girl could ask for. Today, we said good-bye to him and I’m heartbroken. I’m going to miss him but will love him forever and ever. Rip, Dad, you deserve it!”

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Wilko Johnson, English Rock Icon and ‘Game of Thrones’ Actor,...

Gene Perret, who began a decades-long comedy writing career contributing jokes to stand-ups Slappy White and Phyllis Diller before joining the Emmy-winning writing staff of The Carol Burnett Show, launching a 28-year tenure with Bob Hope and serving as a producer on Three’s Company and Welcome Back, Kotter, died Nov. 15 of liver failure at his home in Westlake Village, CA. He was 85.

According to family, Perret began writing comedy as a hobby while working as an electrical engineer for General Electric in Philadelphia during the mid-1950s. After contributing some one-liners to local comic White, he was introduced by a friend to Diller, who hired him for her 1968 sitcom The Beautiful Phyllis Diller Show and encouraged Perret to pursue comedy writing full time. In 1969 he moved his family to California and within a year was writing for variety show The Jim Nabors Hour.

In 1971 and ’72, Perret wrote for Rowan & Martin’s Laugh-In before contributing to episodes of The New Bill Cosby Show, The Helen Reddy Show, Love, American Style, All in the Family and What’s Happening.

He joined the popular CBS variety series The Carol Burnett Show in 1973, remaining until the end of the show’s run in 1978. Nominated for six Emmy Awards during his Burnett run, he won in 1974, 1975 and 1978.

After Burnett, he wrote and produced multiple episodes for hit sitcoms Welcome Back, Kotter and Three’s Company, and in 1980 reunited with Burnett’s Tim Conway on the short-lived The Tim Conway Show.

Perret’s longest-lasting professional collaboration was with Hope, serving on the comedian’s writing staff for 28 years and working on dozens of Hope’s TV specials beginning with 1984’s Bob Hope’s Uso Christmas in Beirut.

In addition to his television work, Perret wrote numerous magazine articles and more than 40 books, including Comedy Writing Step by Step and The Comedy Writing Workbook.

Perret is survived by his wife of 64 years, Joanne, four children, six grandchildren, seven great-grandchildren and several nieces and nephews.

Gene Perret, the masterful comedy writer and producer who collected three Emmy Awards for his work on The Carol Burnett Show and penned jokes for Bob Hope for nearly three decades, has died. He was 85.

Perret died Nov. 15 of liver failure at his home in Westlake Village, his daughter Linda Perret told The Hollywood Reporter.

During his 50-year career, the South Philadelphia native also wrote for two Tim Conway-starring shows as well as for Rowan & Martin’s Laugh-In, All in the Family, Welcome Back, Kotter, Three’s Company, Cpo Sharkey, Gimme a Break!, Love, American Style and What’s Happening!!

An analytical expert when it came to comedy, Perret joined Burnett in 1973 and served as a staff writer on her legendary CBS variety program for its final five seasons. He received his Emmys in 1974, ’75 and ’78 and was nominated three other times.

Perret collaborated with Hope for 28 years,...

With the world premiere of Guillermo Del Toro and Mark Gustafson’s Pinocchio this month, people are once again reminded of how creepy stop-motion animation is. Despite how truly beautiful the medium can be, as all of Studio Laika’s movies can attest to, stop-motion will always have a place in the horror genre, even when the movies don’t mean to.

Some stop-motion films, both feature-length and short, traumatized kids with their seemingly innocent facades. These bits of media are a wonderful way to get kids into the horror genre. At worst, it gives them a few nightmares along the way.

Mouse Soup (1993)

Redditor PurpleSaurusRex655 had haunting memories about trying to recall a creepy short he had watched as a child. To paraphrase, “I remember seeing a very creepy cartoon when I was little, or at least part of it before I turned it off. The cartoon contained unattached...

Jules Bass, the co-producer and co-director of such animated classics as “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer,” “Frosty the Snowman” and “The Last Unicorn,” died Tuesday of age-related illness at an assisted living facility in Rye, New York, his publicist confirmed to TheWrap. He was 87.

Through their banner Rankin/Bass, Bass and Arthur Rankin Jr. (who died in 2014) made some of the most beloved children’s programming of all time, including stop-motion classics “Rudolph” (1964), “Santa Claus is Comin’ to Town” (1970), and “The Year Without a Santa Claus” (1974). Bass also wrote many of the iconic songs, including Heat Miser and Snow Miser’s catchy showstopper and “Put One Foot in Front of the Other” with composer/conductor Maury Laws.

Bass also produced and directed the 1967’s “Mad Monster Party?” starring Boris Karloff and Phyllis Diller.

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Rankin/Bass’s hand-drawn projects include the 1969 holiday special “Frosty the Snowman,...

Jules Bass, whose work as a producer and director of stop-motion and animated television specials such as Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, Santa Claus Is Comin’ to Town and The Year Without A Santa Claus has become an integral part of the holiday season for generations, died today in Rye, New York, of age-related illnesses. He was 87.

His death was confirmed by publicist Jennifer Fisherman Ruff.

Bass was working in advertising in New York City when, in 1960, he teamed up with an art director at ABC named Arthur Rankin Jr. to form a film production company called Videocraft International. The company was launched with the 1960 series The New Adventures of Pinocchio, utilizing traditional animation, but found its breakthrough success in 1964 with the stop-motion classic Rudolph, featuring the voice of Burl Ives as Sam the Snowman.

Rankin died in 2014 at 89.

Based on the Gene Autry hit song of 1949, Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer...

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Jules Bass, the animator, producer, director and composer who partnered with Arthur Rankin Jr. on the stop-motion holiday TV specials Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, Frosty the Snowman and Santa Claus Is Comin’ to Town, has died. He was 87.

Bass died Tuesday at an assisted living facility in Rye, New York, publicist Jennifer Fisherman Ruff told The Hollywood Reporter.

Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, based on the song popularized by Gene Autry and featuring the voice of Burl Ives, debuted in 1964. Frosty the Snowman, starring Jackie Vernon and Jimmy Durante, bowed in 1969, and Santa Claus Is Comin’ to Town, starring Fred Astaire, premiered in 1970. All three have remained strong television draws through the decades.

Rankin/Bass Productions’ cel-animated, stop-motion features were farmed out to Japanese animators and were painstaking to make, with thousands of still photos of their characters’ incremental movements put together at 24 frames...

In earlier sitcom eras, the stage personas of seasoned real-world stand-up comics made for reliable main characters, but rarely were they actually performing jokes professionally onstage. Only later would supporting characters dip into the standup arena — think “Full House’s” Dave Coulier or “Facts of Life’s” Geri Jewell — until finally Jerry Seinfeld and Garry Shandling took their funnymen and, to varying degrees, their craft, center stage on “Seinfeld” and “The Larry Sanders Show.”

Today, however, two widely admired, multi-Emmy-nominated comedies — “Hacks,” set in contemporary times, and “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel,” at the midcentury dawn of a new style of comedy — are taking deep, hyper-detailed and subtly nuanced dives into the stand- up world, both looking uniquely thorough a female lens.

Ironically, both series are headlined by actors known for their stage, film and TV work without any stand-up background — Jean Smart as Deborah Vance on “Hacks,” Rachel Brosnahan as...

The sophomore slump is, as history has shown, a real thing. The first season of “Hacks” earned an Emmy for Jean Smart and a nom for Hannah Einbinder — so the new season had to step it up. And that’s exactly what the writers did, kicking things into high gear — literally — as Deborah Vance and Ava Daniels hit the road on a larger-than-life tour bus.

“Season 1 was a tough act to follow. I definitely put a lot of pressure on myself this season, at least in the beginning,” Einbinder tells Variety. “I didn’t want to let everyone down. But then once I got back into the swing of filming, and we all kind of got in our groove, it just felt so right. ‘The gang’s back together!’ And it’s this cohesive, well-oiled machine that runs really well.”

Smart adds: “You’re always having to prove yourself, especially...

George Shapiro, producer and longtime manager of Jerry Seinfeld, Carl Reiner, Andy Kaufman and other comedy stars, died May 26 at his home in Beverly Hills. He was 91.

Shapiro was co-founder and partner in Shapiro/West Associates, the prosperous talent management banner that helped assemble the mammoth NBC hit “Seinfeld” and numerous projects for Andy Kaufman. More recently, Shapiro served as executive producer of the Crackle/Netflix series “Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee,” hosted by Seinfeld.

A vivacious personality, Shapiro was known for his long relationships with clients and for his infectious enthusiasm for the business of entertainment. “Shapiro’s love of laughter and reverence for those who inspire it helped him build a career in comedy as an unabashed supporter of comic performers and comedy writers,” Shapiro’s family stated.

Danny De Vito, who co-starred with Andy Kaufman in the influential 1978-1983 sitcom “Taxi,” recalled Shapiro’s presence during the...

George Shapiro, the deeply respected talent manager, producer and co-founder of Shapiro/West & Associates, died Thursday evening of natural causes at his home in Beverly Hills. He was 91.

Along with his partner and childhood friend Howard West, Shapiro was personal manager to comedy greats Jerry Seinfeld, Andy Kaufman and Carl Reiner, among others. He and West would go on to executive produce Seinfeld, one of the top comedy series of all time.

Born in New York, Shapiro spent summers during his teenage years as a lifeguard at the Tamiment Resort in the Poconos, where he met performers like Dick Shawn, Pat Carroll and Carol Burnett, singer Barbara Cook, and choreographer Herb Ross. That’s when he also got to know talent agents.

“These guys came up … I didn’t even know what an agent was, but they came to see the show, to talk to the girls, talk to the comedians,...

You might feel like you’ve already seen Mr. Saturday Night the musical even if you’ve never seen Mr. Saturday Night the movie, and whether you find that comforting – Billy Crystal certainly is one of the most likable presences in all of show business – or disappointing might depend entirely on your taste for well-delivered Borsht Belt comedy.

That’s not damning with faint praise: Mr. Saturday Night, the Broadway musical opening tonight at the Nederlander Theatre based on the 1992 comedy, is, at its best, a charming showcase for the undeniable talents of both Crystal and the showbiz icons he adores. There are shout-outs galore here to the likes of Milton Berle, Harry Ritz, Jack Carter, Phil Silvers, Myron Cohen, Moms Mabley, Shecky Green and more, and a lovely visual tribute (Scott Pask designed the attractive sets) to comedy and TV pioneers from Betty White and Phyllis Diller to Richard Pryor and George Carlin.

Lucille Ball is very much back in the public eye due to the success of the acclaimed film "Being the Ricardos". Here's a blast from the past, provided by Shout! Factory- the complete Dean Martin Roasts program "honoring" Lucille Ball. The lineup of greats is almost surrealistic: Jack Benny, Dan Rowan, Don Rickles, Bob Hope, Ginger Rogers, Dick Martin, Totie Fields, Milton Berle, Henry Fonda, Nipsey Russell, Vivian Vance, Rich Little, Foster Brooks, Phyllis Diller, Gale Gordon, and, of course, Dino. This time capsule from 1975 is the epitome of what would now be called politically incorrect humor, but it thankfully preserves a period of time in which people could not only take a joke about themselves, but were honored to be the recipient of those pointed barbs.  - Lee Pfeiffer...

Hello, dear readers! Before those of us in the States get ready to gobble down our Thanksgiving dinners later this week, we have a brand new batch of horror and sci-fi home entertainment releases to look forward to first. One of this writer’s favorite films of all time, Philip Kaufman’s Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978) is getting the 4K treatment from Kino Lorber this Tuesday, and Arrow Video is resurrecting both The Snake Girl and the Silver Haired Witch and Phantom of the Mall: Eric’s Revenge on Blu-ray as well (this is also very exciting news in my world). Arrow is also re-releasing a handful of other titles—The Cat O’ Nine Tails, The Bird with the Crystal Plumage, and C.H.U.D.—and the first season of Rod Serling’s Night Gallery is headed to Blu-ray as well.

Other releases for November 23rd include Chupa, Lair,...

This story about “Hacks” first appeared in the Down to the Wire issue of TheWrap’s awards magazine.

Like all good stories about comedians, “Hacks,” the HBO Max series that stars Jean Smart as a fading Las Vegas comic, began on the road.

“We were actually on a road trip many years ago,” Jen Statsky, who co-created “Hacks” with Paul W. Downs and Lucia Aniello, said. “Paul was shooting his ‘The Characters’ special for Netflix, and Lucia and I were there to help out. And we just started talking about female comedians and women in the arts in general — women of a certain age who hadn’t really gotten their due, while their male counterparts had a seemingly much easier path and got recognition. We were talking about these iconic women who nevertheless kept pounding the pavement, got knocked down 1,000 times and got back up 1,001 times. And we just became fascinated with telling that story.

The Emmy comedy categories were looking like a walk in the park for Ted Lasso until HBO Max and Universal Television swept in late in the season with its acclaimed new series Hacks, sweeping up 15 nominations and now giving ol’ Ted a run for his money after just 10 episodes.

The series focuses on a veteran Vegas comedienne, Deborah Vance, played by Jean Smart, who hires a young comedy writer, Ava (Hannah Einbinder), to give her some fresh new material and gets more than she bargained for. It is a story of two women of different generations whose personalities may clash, but they are actually both certifiable, and certifiably brilliantly written and performed characters that lit up this season just in the nick of time.

Joining Deadline for Universal TV’s two-part panel at Contenders Television: The Nominees awards-season event were Smart, Einbinder and Carl Clemons-Hopkins,...

In last weeks episode of Ru Paul’s Drag Race All-Stars, the queens had to write and perform an original verse to “Show Up Queen” which contained a heavy focus on activism and standing up for what you believe in. Trinity was declared the rightful winner after choreographing her whole team, creating moving lyrics regarding her HIV status and walking the runway in an incredibly over-the-top carnival outfit which was stunning! After her lip-sync with the mystery opponent (Alexis Mateo) it was revealed that the rest of the queens had voted and it was a tie regarding who should go home. This meant that the sole decision goes back to Trinity which was the least dramatic option that could have happened and also made the lip-sync somewhat redundant. It was revealed that Trinity decided to send Jan home instead of Pandora which I do not agree with but the queens...