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It’s been over 25 years since the death of Chris Farley, but his presence in comedy remains undeniable. Whether it’s Tommy Boy or his iconic Saturday Night Live sketches that continue to go viral, Farley’s legacy looms large. Now, longtime friend and collaborator David Spade imagines what Farley’s career might have looked like today.

Farley died in 1997 at 33 years old. In the three years prior, his movie credits included Airheads, Billy Madison, Tommy Boy, Black Sheep, and Beverly Hills Ninja. His star was very much still on the rise having left Saturday Night Live in 1995.

David Spade made his name in entertainment alongside Farley at Saturday Night Live and the movies Tommy Boy and Black Sheep. Appearing on Theo Von's podcast, Spade reflected on Farley's career trajectory which was cut tragically short.

“He would have been working with everybody,” Spade said . “I mean even at that point toward the end,...

For fans of King of the Hill, Monsignor Martinez is about as cool as you can get. Seen regularly on the television of the Hill family, Monsignor Martinez is a fictional priest who always seems to be wrapped up in melodramatic life-and-death adventures in the telenovela named after him. In King of the Hill, the ridiculous clips of Monsignor Martinez are always good for a quick laugh, but if the television gods had complied, we could have gotten a lot more of him.

In 2000, King of the Hill writers Mike Judge, Greg Daniels and Jim Dauterive crafted a half-hour live-action pilot based on the character. Sadly, Fox didn’t proceed with the series. According to an interview transcript posted to the FilmBoards forum in 2004 (the original interview doesn’t appear to be online), King of the Hill actor Dave Herman reportedly said Fox didn’t want a show where “a...

Quick ViewAimee Lou WoodNatasha RothwellLeslie BibbParker PoseyJason IsaacsMichelle MonaghanWalton GogginsLisa

HBO’s The White Lotus has captivated the audience with stellar storytelling, sharp writing, intricate characters, and a great ensemble cast. As the series progresses, fans are eager to learn about the new and some returning cast members gracing the screen. Many of the cast members have built impressive careers in Hollywood beyond their roles in this acclaimed series.

The White Lotus season 3 | Credit: HBO

Understanding the actors’ earnings provides insights into their industry standing and the value they bring. While HBO hasn’t disclosed the exact salaries of The White Lotus cast, estimates suggest how much the leading actors earn from the series.

Although their per-episode salary hasn’t been revealed, HBO typically pays lead actors $150,000–$500,000 per episode, while supporting actors earn around $50,000–$150,000. Want to know how much the actors of White Lotus season 3 earn from each episode? What...

Original “Saturday Night Live” cast member Dan Aykroyd did not make an appearance on the series’ 50th anniversary special on Sunday, but he nonetheless enjoyed watching it from home.

“All Heads up toasting triumphant SNL 50th,” Aykroyd wrote in a post on X. “Advantage of not attending — got to see every second of concert and show on TV. Quote from my children: ‘Look at daddy’s smile!’ Had it from start to finish. Congratulations Lorne. Well done as usual.”

Aykroyd bowed out of the live broadcast due to “prior commitments,” his representative told Variety. He was the only surviving original cast member to miss out — Garrett Morris appeared on stage, Laraine Newman was in a pre-taped sketch, and Jane Curtin and Chevy Chase were in the building.

Still, Aykroyd posted that day on X: “Cracking a Head with pride at having been a co-founder of SNL along with everyone we...

The legal fight between It Ends with Usco-stars Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni shows no sign of slowing down anytime soon. However, amid all the controversy surrounding Lively and Baldoni’s competing lawsuits, the actress and her Deadpool & Wolverinestar husband Ryan Reynolds decided to attend Saturday Night Live’s recent 50th anniversary celebration. Now, sources, per TMZ, say that other attendees “avoided” the couple at the event.

One attendee, per a source, at the event at 30 Rockefeller Plaza was reportedly overheard saying, “Who told them to come?” referring to Lively and Reynolds. Another source who was at the taping of SNL50 added, “Blake and Ryan were the talk of the entire evening, and many people avoided them.”

RelatedRyan Reynolds Celebrates Deadpool & Wolverine's Critics' Choice Award Win Amid Justin Baldoni Legal War

Last summer's billion-dollar blockbuster picked up a big win (with a caveat) at the Critics' Choice Awards.

Others...

During NBC’s SNL50 anniversary event, Ryan Reynolds brought humor to a tense legal feud involving his spouse Blake Lively and actor-director Justin Baldoni. In a Q&a session led by Tina Fey and Amy Poehler, Reynolds addressed a question with a sly remark that hinted at the ongoing dispute.

Wearing a tuxedo with Blake Lively by his side, Reynolds casually responded to a greeting by asking, “Great. Why, what have you heard?” The comment drew laughter from a room filled with celebrated guests, including Steven Spielberg and other prominent figures. Cameras captured Lively’s amused reaction as she exchanged a mock look of surprise with her husband.

The legal battle, which has made headlines over recent months, centers on accusations of defamation and retaliation. Lively is engaged in a lawsuit against Baldoni following a series of public exchanges related to the production of the film It Ends With Us.

A throwback-filled Q&a with Tina Fey and Amy Poehler in the middle of SNL50: The Anniversary Special suddenly felt very 2025 tonight.

As the former castmates joked with the A-lister crowd in Studio8H, and Tim Meadows and Quinta Brunson got a Sade reference in there, the news that is captivating Hollywood stood right up at Lorne Michaels’ celebration.

Near the front of the star-powered audience bit, a tuxedo-clad Ryan Reynolds rose to ask a question of the 30 Rock and Parks & Recreation stars. With his in-the-news spouse Blake Lively looking on, the Deadpool actor stood up to a “How’s it going?”

That’s when Reynolds turned on the comedy chops and innocently replied: “Great. Why, what have you heard?”

Needless to say, with Lively’s multi-lawsuit war with It Ends With Us co-star Justin Baldoni over what occurred during production of the film and the alleged online smear campaign that followed,...

We’re celebrating 50 years of “Saturday Night Live”! All this week, we’re digging into the late-night comedy institution with new stories, including lists, essays, interviews, and more.

When “The Blues Brothers” hit theaters in 1980, it opened a Pandora’s Box that would eventually gift Hollywood films like “Wayne’s World” and curse it with abominations like “It’s Pat” and “Coneheads.” John Landis’ ultra-cool film about two brothers on a mission from God to get the band back together was bursting with Chicago blues performances, epic car chases, and enough celebrity cameos to fill a season of “Saturday Night Live.” Grossing over $100 million on a $27 million budget, it proved to many that characters who originated on Lorne Michaels’ NBC variety show were more than capable of carrying their own feature film.

In theory, that was true. With “SNL” exploding in popularity and Dan Aykroyd and John Belushi wading into movie stardom,...

The theme song for "The Big Bang Theory" is a fast-talking deluge of pseudo-nerdy references that are juuust incorrect enough to drive real-life nerds a little big crazy. The full version of the theme, rarely played in its entirety before the show, included enough brainy references to be clever, however. It talks about bipeds evolving, the continent of Pangaea, and it contains the lyric "Australopithecus would really have been sick of us," which I deeply appreciate. 

The theme song was written and performed by Canadian rock band Barenaked Ladies, the authors of the famously wordy 1998 hit "One Week." Gen-Xers can likely recite large portions of "One Week", although only committed Barenaked Ladies fans have memorized the entire thing. The band also had charting hits with "It's All Been Done" (also from 1998) as well as "Pinch Me" and "Too Little Too Late." Those paying attention to indie rock in 1992 likely heard...

A comedy movie starring and written by multiple Saturday Night Live cast members has suddenly become a streaming success over a year after its release. Since its debut in 1975, NBC's long-running sketch comedy show has served as the springboard for 11 feature-length films based on some of the show's most popular sketches and characters, which have seen mixed success. Their first foray into film came in 1980 with Dan Aykroyd and John Belushi's The Blues Brothers, which earned over $115 million at the box office against its $27 million budget.

The success of Wayne's World in 1992, starring Mike Myers and Dana Carvey, encouraged Saturday Night Live creator Lorne Michael to produce more film adaptations featuring popular characters. He brought back 1970s characters for Coneheads in 1993, followed by It's Pat, Stuart Saves His Family, A Night at the Roxbury, Superstar, and The Ladies Man. However, most of these movies struggled both critically and commercially,...

Lorne Michaels has donated a collection of his work on Saturday Night Live and more to the Harry Ransom Center at the University of Texas.

The collection spans 50 years and includes rehearsal notes for SNL, sketches, annotated scripts, personal correspondence and more. The archive covers Michaels’s early writing on shows such as Rowan & Martin’s Laugh-In and The Beautiful Phyllis Diller Show through Saturday Night Live, as well as on shows such as The Kids in the Hall and films such as Wayne’s World, Mean Girls and Coneheads.

“Lorne Michaels has kept us up late and laughing for 50 years, and I’m confident for years to come his archive will be studied by students and researchers looking for insight into the social, political, and cultural history of our time. We are deeply grateful to him for entrusting this rich legacy to us,” said Ransom Center Director Stephen Enniss.

A special exhibition,...

Saturday Night Live, née NBC’s Saturday Night, has broken so much new ground in late-night television that in many ways, it’s shaped the industry in its own image. But who were the firsts among the firsts?

14 The First Cast Member

Big names like Chevy Chase, John Belushi and Dan Aykroyd have gotten more press over the years, but Gilda Radner was the first person Lorne Michaels added to the roster. She tragically passed away in 1989.

13 The Most ‘Live From New York’s

Chevy Chase got there first, announcing the calling card after the first sketch ever aired. But Darrell Hammond would say the famous phrase the most often throughout his career, clocking in at 70 times.

12 The First Host

The structure of the show was a lot different in the beginning, but Michaels was already set on a rotating menu of hosts. The first to do it was George Carlin...

Legendary film critics Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert had pretty mixed opinions when it came to movies based on Saturday Night Live sketches. They gave Wayne’s World two thumbs up, but called Coneheads one of the worst films of 1993. And for some reason they were massive fans of Stuart Saves His Family? Really?

But the duo’s harshest SNL criticisms, oddly enough, happened during an episode of SNL.

Siskel and Ebert appeared in the very first episode of the Lorne Michaels-less eighth season. The hook? They would be reviewing the season premiere of SNL — as in the one that was in the middle of airing. As Siskel noted during the sketch, it was “history’s first live review of a television show still in progress,” which is a pretty clever meta joke. It arguably worked far better than the episode’s central, highly-irregular conceit: that host Chevy Chase was...

The cast of Pixels includes several well-known Hollywood actors, as well as many supporting roles and fun cameos from the world of film, TV, and gaming. Despite not being considered one of Adam Sandler's best-ranked movies, Pixels certainly includes a fun premise. It tells the story of extraterrestrial invaders of Earth who once found a video game-infused time capsule in space and mistook it as a declaration of war. In another Adam Sandler and Kevin James collaboration, the main cast of Pixels use their video game expertise to repel this alien invasion that comes in the form of game characters.

Due to this unique premise, Pixels can almost be counted as a video game adaptation movie. Although it is not based on any one game and does not include a storyline found in a video game like Detective Pikachu, Warcraft, Sonic the Hedgehog, or Mortal Kombat of late, it...

Saturday Night is currently generating significant buzz with its theatrical release, and Dan Aykroyd, a major contributor to the NBC sketch comedy, has given his blessings to the movie by calling it a standalone masterpiece. The biographical comedy-drama captures the behind-the-scenes drama and creative process of airing the very first episode of Saturday Night Live on October 11, 1975, as Lorne Michaels and the rest of the cast and crew swam through the chaos of creating history.

On Friday, which was the 49th anniversary of Saturday Night Lives premiere, Aykroyd took to X to sing praise for the groundbreaking movie. He wrote:

Cracking a Head to applaud Jason Reitmans triumphant SNL film. Wow! What a propulsive, engaging, funny, beautifully cast and acted, suspenseful, adventurous, music-filled ride. A perfect window into the creative process at its highest level.

As one of the six original cast members in 1975, Aykroyd played a pivotal role in...

This article contains discussion of addiction.

2024 has been a really huge year for "Saturday Night Live," the sketch comedy institution that operates out of Studio 8 in New York City's famous 30 Rockefeller Center. With the show entering its 50th season during its September premiere -- which brought Emmy-winning "Hacks" star Jean Smart on board as a host -- and a major election this year providing plenty of material week after week, more eyes are on Lorne Michaels' 90-minute late-night show than ever. Not only that, but Jason Reitman's film "Saturday Night," which focuses on the show's humble beginnings and its messy, chaotic 1975 premiere, releases on October 11 (the anniversary of the "Saturday Night Live" series premiere). 

It feels like Michaels and company are pulling out all the stops this fall to celebrate the show -- John Mulaney (one of the most popular hosts in recent memory) will star in an upcoming episode,...

NBC's Saturday Night Live is a staple of American television, and the best SNL seasons feature some of the funniest in small-screen history. Though it has seen many ups and downs, SNL has consistently pleased its fans even when the casts have changed over the years. Beginning in 1975, Saturday Night Live is now in its 50th season and doesn't seem to be slowing down any time soon. The sketch comedy show has launched the careers of myriad prolific comedians, such as Will Ferrell, Eddie Murphy, Adam Sandler, Mike Myers, and more.

Not only that, but iconic characters created on SNL have often gotten their own spinoff movies. Wayne's World and Night at the Roxbury are based on SNL sketches, and the same goes for Coneheads and The Blues Brothers. Due to the fact that it is a sketch show, it is hard to judge episodes and seasons as a whole,...

Original Saturday Night Live cast member Jane Curtin recently admitted that, during her time on the show, she always thought SNL fans were morons — after all, who else would pay to see the Coneheads movie?

On October 11th, director Jason Reitman and Sony Pictures will unleash their “based on a true story” dramatization of the lead-up to the first-ever episode of SNL, exactly 49 years after the events in question. However, as is the case, the whenever Hollywood turns real people and events into digestible entertainment, Saturday Night will not be without a few brazen, creative liberties when it comes to the SNL mythos. In fact, the Muppets fandom is already calling on a boycott for how the film reportedly presents Jim Henson, played by Succession’s Nicholas Braun, as a hapless rube whom the entire SNL cast and crew bully and berate behind the scenes.

But the most interesting possible...

In the real world, Phil Hartman could never have nearly cuckolded Arnold Schwarzenegger — the late, great star was too good of a guy to ever embarrass that beta.

When comparing Chris Columbus’ filmography of family-focused Christmas comedies, the critically panned but mildly commercially successful 1996 movie Jingle All the Way doesn’t quite command the nostalgic adoration of, say, a Home Alone or a Home Alone 2: Lost in New York. But while Columbus only served as the producer and rewrote the script of Jingle All the Way, the film about competing fathers, Arnold Schwarzenegger and stand-up legend Sinbad, desperately (and violently) trying to secure the hottest toy on the market in time to appease their young sons before Christmas certainly has Columbus’ comedy DNA embedded within it.

Case in point: Columbus’ decision to cast Saturday Night Live and The Simpsons star Hartman to play the nosy, divorced and charismatic neighbor...

“SNL sucks now” isn’t as fresh a complaint as you might think. This sentiment was even a matter of public discourse way back in the early ‘90s, as evidenced by the not-so-cleverly titled 1994 Entertainment Weekly article, “Is Saturday Night Dead?”

The magazine wasn’t alone in expressing concern for the long-running comedy series during its 19th season. The New York Daily News noted that SNL would have to try and “find a desperately needed fresh sense of identity” following the loss of Dana Carvey and Chris Rock, and the announced departures of Phil Hartman, Julia Sweeney and Rob Schneider.

So EW offered up “20 suggestions” for “how to fix the show.” Looking back at this list, it’s amazing how spot-on some ideas are in retrospect — while others are laughably dated and arguably awful.

For starters, writer Bruce Fretts (who sadly passed away in 2020) suggested handing over the reins of Weekend Update to David Spade,...

If you’re in the mood for a classic comedy, Prime Video is a great place to stream. You can get started with a 30-day Free trial, and there’s a lot to love.

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Classic Comedy Movies on Prime Video

Classic Comedy TV on Prime Video

Add More Comedy with Prime Video Channels

Classic Comedy Movies on Prime Video

For the purposes of this list, we’ll consider “classic comedies” as titles that came out at least 20 years ago.

Death Becomes Her The Big Lebowski Dr. Strangelove Heathers Swingers Galaxy Quest Fargo Billy Madison An American Werewolf in London Sweet Home Alabama Election Army of Darkness Overboard Dirty Rotten Scoundrels American Graffiti Planes, Trains, and Automobiles Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein Bowfinger Don’t Be a Menace to South Central While Drinking Your Juice in the Hood CB4 Roxanne Sprung Duck Soup Wallace & Gromit: The...

Dr. Doofenshmirtz's new Disneyland design is causing an unsettling stir on Twitter. Fans find Phineas and Ferb's live-action Doofenshmirtz both impressive and horrifying at the same time. Suggestions for a different character adaptation with less terrifying proportions are voiced on social media.

Disneyland added a Phineas and Ferb character to its roster of live-action characters, but the Internet is unsettled by his design. With Halloween fast approaching, Disneyland California is preparing for its shining attraction, the Treat Trails at Oogie Boogie Bash. The Trails feature a group of Disney villains wandering, while visitors trick-or-treat to collect candy. With a Phineas and Ferb revival coming to Disney TV and then Disney+, the company elected to reintroduce its major villain in Disneyland.

Unfortunately, Dr. Doofenshmirtz's Disneyland appearance is unnerving potential visitors. Twitter's Discussing Film released a few still images of Doofenshmirtz at the Treat Trails, and his design is worrying. Check it...

Paul Walter Hauser reveals that he expects people to have strong reactions to the upcoming Chris Farley biopic from director Josh Gad due to how beloved the real-life figure was. He plans to approach the role with "love and effort," and will be putting on weight to more accurately portray Farley's physicality. Hauser has proven himself a powerful comedic and dramatic actor, and the biopic has the Farley family's blessing.

Paul Walter Hauser discusses his approach to playing Chris Farley in the upcoming biopic about the Saturday Night Live legend. A handful of SNL cast members have gone down in history as not just being the funniest people on the show during their tenures, but some of the funniest comedians, period. Farley, who passed away in 1993 at age 33, is undoubtedly one of these figures, and he's now set to be the subject of a biopic from director Josh Gad.

In a recent interview with Variety,...

The 1990s saw many popular sketches from Saturday Night Live being adapted into films, as studios posited the theory that they could stretch out a recurring sketch into a feature length story. The success of these adaptations varied drastically in terms of quality. While Waynes World and its underrated sequel were both met with critical acclaim, films like Coneheads and A Night At The Roxbury had to settle for being cult favorites. Among the most unique projects of this era was Office Space, a comedy from Mike Judge based on the Milton short films he had developed for Saturday Night Live. The popularity of the Milton animated sketches had drawn enough interest in Judges material, but Office Space had a very tumultuous casting process.

Not every comedy series can achieve the level of satirical excellence that The Simpsons once enjoyed — especially not those shows made by Seth MacFarlane.

Television has always played an important role within the universe of The Simpsons. After all, the sadly discontinued intro sequence famously ends with Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa and Maggie all crowding together on the couch to watch TV together before being sucked into a black hole, turning into butterflies or getting crushed to death by Rick and Morty. And, since the show prided itself on holding up a playful, yellow, four-fingered mirror to American society and pop culture, it inevitably had to playfully jab the other comedies on TV that were inferior to what Matt Groening and his writers had cooking.

The Simpsons has parodied scores of sitcoms and sketch shows since it began in 1989, and much of the mockery was just some friendly ribbing between...

SNL movies peaked in the '90s with hits like Wayne's World. Recent films like MacGruber haven't fared as well financially. As studios move away from theatrical comedies, SNL stars are finding success on the small screen with TV shows. The days of SNL launching movie star careers may be fading, with actors like Pete Davidson now finding TV success.

Live from the big screen, it's the Saturday Night Live movies! In its nearly 50-year history, NBC's iconic sketch comedy series has seen several hit sketches jump to the film world. Some have seen massive success. Others have returned with less-than-stellar results (nearly every other movie).

There is no doubt that the '90s were the peak of SNL and SNL movies. From 1992 to 2000, roughly one new film was released per year. SNL took the 2000s off before returning with the 2010 film MacGruber, the most recent SNL movie to date.

Most actors start with menial roles, often uncredited. Once they have a few jobs under their belts, they choose a path of movies or TV shows.

Sometimes both.

Adam Sandler has made a name for himself as a low-key celebrity loyal to his friends.

His unique slapstick humor appeals to a wide range of ages, making him a family-friendly actor with a dark side.

His first TV appearance was as an extra in The Cosby Show. He's also been in shows like The King of Queens and Kevin Can Wait featuring Kevin James, The Chris Rock Show, and Brooklyn Nine-Nine.

Essential Viewing: 11 Elisabeth Moss Movies & TV Shows You Must See

Since launching his movie career, Sandler has also started his own production company and has a string of actors in his movies.

You can expect to see at least one or more of the same names in any film. He often has his real-life wife,...

Phil Hartman's comedic brilliance shone on SNL, captivating viewers with unforgettable characters and impersonations. Before SNL, Hartman helped create Pee-wee Herman with Paul Reubens, showcasing his talent and creativity. Despite personal turmoil, Hartman's legacy as a beloved comedian and family man continues to be celebrated.

Celebrated comedian, actor, and writer Phil Hartman captivated audiences for eight years during his sensational tenure on Saturday Night Live, delivering laughter and joy with his impeccable impersonations and zany original characters. Before making it big on the trailblazing sketch show, Hartman worked closely with fellow comedy great Paul Reubens, helping him create his iconic alter ego, Pee-wee Herman.

Hartman performed alongside stars like Jon Lovitz, Dana Carvey, and Chris Farley during his time on SNL. He then branched out and appeared in films like Coneheads, and So I Married an Axe Murderer and in the TV shows The Simpsons, DuckTales, and Pee-wees Playhouse.

Here's a lesson for the kids out there: speak your dreams into existence and maybe, just maybe, they'll actually come true. Tragically, those who follow the comedy scene closely know that it's littered with high-profile examples of beloved talent who ended up burning out and leaving us far too soon. This one, however, might end up circling back to the best of silver linings.

Today's news has to do with Chris Farley, the late, great "Saturday Night Live" actor and comedian who passed away at the age of 33 back in 1997. He may not be as well-known a quantity among younger generations, but their older siblings and parents can certainly fill them in on the prolific, scene-stealing theatrics of the man who rose to prominence through "SNL" and subsequently made audiences cry with laughter in movies such as "Wayne's World" and its sequel, "Coneheads," "Airheads," and even an uncredited role in Adam Sandler's "Billy Madison.

Legendary comedy Chris Farley will have his life story told in an upcoming biopic. It's also been revealed who will be portraying the one-of-a-kind entertainer, which is sure to be a challenge for any actor to take on.

Per Deadline, it's been reported that Paul Walter Hauser (Cobra Kai) is attached to star in a biopic for Farley. Written by Scott Neustadter and Michael H. Weber, the film is dubbed The Chris Farley Show: A Biography in Three Acts. Josh Gad is also on board to direct, while Saturday Night Live's Lorne Michaels will be producing via his Broadway Video banner. The project is currently getting shopped and doesn't yet have a distributor.

Related Jack Whitehall & Paul Walter Hauser Embrace Slapstick in The Afterparty Season 2 Jack Whitehall and Paul Walter Hauser discuss their roles and fusing slapstick surprises with murder mystery mayhem in The Afterparty.

The biopic will be...

Adam Sandler is one of the most prolific comedy actors working in Hollywood right now. The actor has his particular brand of comedy, with his gruff voice, loud humor, and the inclusion of Kevin James in many of his films. Though the actor has proved his acting chops in more dramatic roles such as Punch-Drunk Love and Uncut Gems, his comedic roles are still classics.

One of his breakthrough comedies was the sports comedy Happy Gilmore. The film follows the story of an ice hockey player who competes in a local golf tournament. The film was a huge commercial hit, putting Sandler on the map as a bonafide comedy star. His co-star Christopher McDonald mentioned that Sandler had shown him a copy of a sequel for the film.

Adam Sandler Confirmed To Have A Script For Happy Gilmore 2 Adam Sandler in Happy Gilmore

Actor Adam Sandler is now known for...

Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire is about to unleash all kinds of ghouls on New York City once more – with two generations of ‘busters ready to battle them, no less. As well as continuing the adventures of the young Spenglers – and Paul Rudd’s Gary Grooberson – the original gang is back in the Firehouse. Empire caught up with them for our world-exclusive Frozen Empire issue, getting the inside scoop on the film, the characters’ much-anticipated returns – and all other kinds of spooky business. Read Empire’s conversation with Dan Aykroyd here – discussing possessed objects, ghostly encounters, and a spiritual visit from an owl.

Originally published in the March 2024 issue of Empire.

———

Empire: Your family’s fascination with ghosts dates back to your great-grandfather, a spiritualist who held séances. Have you had any otherworldly encounters recently?

Dan Aykroyd: Nothing happened this summer at the old farmhouse where the séances used to take place.

Sinbad is thanking “fans and friends” for their enduring support following his first major appearance in more than three years.

The beloved comedian, now 67, suffered a stroke in November 2020 — and with the exception of a still image shared to his Instagram in 2022, had not been seen in public until last month.

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On Feb. 29, Sinbad joined...

Sinbad had a stroke in 2020 and underwent multiple surgeries and intensive therapy for his recovery. Sinbad's most recent appearance was in the fourth season of the acclaimed series Atlanta, where he played himself. Despite rumors, Sinbad never starred in a movie called "Shazaam" as a genie, but many people confuse him with former NBA player Shaquille O'Neal's movie Kazaam.

Sinbad is a popular comedian and actor who rose to fame in the mid-1980s and 1990s. Also known by his first name David Atkins, Sinbad was born in 1956 in Benton Harber, Michigan. Currently aged 67 as of November 2023, Sinbad grew to prominence in the 1980s as a stand-up comedian who earned several exclusive HBO comedy specials. He eventually brought his comedic talents into the world of acting, appearing in popular 1980s and 1990s television series such as A Different World (1987 - 1991) and his own series The Sinbad Show (1993 - 1994).

Before...

Most of main cast of Seinfeld had a difficult time finding individual mainstream success after the series ended TV appearances seem to make up the majority of their careers, but it seems to be changing Any lack of success is either self-afflicted or not their fault at all

Seinfeld was one of the most decade defining sitcoms of the 1990s and its popularity and influence hasn't seemed to waver since it ended. The show was popular, in fact, that its practically impossible to hear the names of its main cast members and not immediately think of their role on it. It's been alleged over the years, however, that the show's popularity is exactly what has prevented them from finding that same level of success in other projects. This infamous theory has been long-known to the public as simply the "Seinfeld curse".

It's never easy for a sitcom actor to find...

If you’re a child of the nineties, chances are you grew up loving Sinbad. Also known as David Atkins, Sinbad began his comedy career as a contestant on Star Search before nabbing his breakout role on the Cosby Show spin-off, A Different World, where he played Coach Walter Oakes; he served as a mentor to the main cast, who all played students at the fictional Hillman College. His distinctive look made him instantly identifiable, and it wasn’t long before he started showing up in movies, with roles in Necessary Roughness and Coneheads.

His career was unusual because most people went to TV after their movie careers cooled down. For Sinbad, it was the opposite. His solo TV show, The Sinbad Show, was a flop, but shortly afterwards, his movie career went into high gear, with him appearing in a string of hit movies. His biggest hit was Houseguest opposite the late Phil Hartman,...

Former “Saturday Night Live” star, Jane Curtin, was taken by surprise by the longstanding show’s humourless early episodes.

Curtin, who served as one of the original “SNL” cast members, recently rewatched the award-winning comedy show’s earliest sketches with her family and was shocked by the absent laughter.

“We were sent the five year compilation video of ‘Saturday Night Live”s first five years a few years ago, and I gave one to my daughter,” Curtin, 75, recalled to People. “We were out visiting her daughter one Christmas, and her husband said, ‘Have you ever watched any of these? And I said, ‘God, I haven’t seen them in a long time.’

Read More: Jane Curtin and Laraine Newman Remember The Big Backstage ‘SNL’ Fight Between Bill Murray And Chevy Chase

“He said, ‘would you mind if we watch one?’ And I said, ‘No, great! Pick one!'” she continued,...

Murder Mystery star Adam Sandler sent his congratulations to a talented young golfer, Happy Gilmore, who shares the same name as his character in the 1996 comedy film.

After real-life Happy Gilmore announced that he has officially committed to Ball State University for his academic and golf career, Sandler took to Twitter to express his support to the high school senior. Gilmore, whose actual name is Landon, received the nickname "Happy" when he began playing in golf tournaments at a young age. Sandler’s Happy Gilmore movie is one of his classic comedies from the 1990s, which helped establish his status as a leading man.

Related: Drew Barrymore Reveals Who Could Get Her to Start Acting Again

Go get em Happy. Pulling for you. https://t.co/4o4LOoAWDN — Adam Sandler (@AdamSandler) June 23, 2023

Happy Gilmore was directed by Sandler’s long-time collaborator Dennis Dugan from a screenplay co-written by Sandler and Tim Herlihy.

NBC's Saturday Night Live is a staple of American television, and it has become weekly required viewing for many households — here are the SNL best seasons, ranked. Though it has seen many ups and downs, SNL has consistently pleased its fans even when the casts have changed over the years. Beginning in 1975, Saturday Night Live is nearly 50 seasons in and doesn't seem to be slowing down any time soon. The sketch comedy show has launched the careers of countless prolific comedians, such as Will Ferrell, Eddie Murphy, Adam Sandler, Mike Meyers, and more.

Not only that, but iconic characters have been created on SNL often leading to their own spinoff movies. Wayne's World and Night at the Roxbury are based on SNL sketches, and the same goes for Coneheads and The Blues Brothers. Due to the fact that it is a sketch show, it is hard to judge episodes and seasons as a whole,...

Bill Hader explains why his fan-favorite SNL character Stefon never got a movie. Having risen to fame thanks to his 8-year stint as a major player on Saturday Night Live, Hader has now moved on to the auteur phase of his career, garnering critical acclaim as star and creator of HBO’s dark comedy Barry. But though Hader has clearly gone far beyond being just an uncanny impressionist and oddball comedic actor, questions are still asked about some of his most famous SNL creations, including hilariously bizarre - and somewhat divisive - Weekend Update character Stefon.

One question that indeed comes up for Hader is why Stefon, unlike many other fan-loved SNL characters, has never gotten a movie. Now Hader himself has explained why such a movie not only hasn’t happened, but wouldn’t make any sense. Speaking to The New Yorker, Hader revealed that the idea of a Stefon movie has come up,...

Some noteworthy new releases, a bevy of library titles and the complete series of “Freaks and Geeks” are among the new additions to Amazon Prime Video this month. May will see the streaming availability of the 2022 films “She Said,” “Violent Night” and “Till” on Prime Video, while the beloved (and short-lived) TV series “Freaks and Geeks” will be streaming on Amazon starting May 4.

We’ve also included everything new to Freevee, which includes the first three “John Wick” movies, “Scarface” and “The Usual Suspects.”

Check out the complete list of everything new on Amazon Prime Video in May 2023 below.

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The 41 Best Movies on Amazon Prime (April 2023)

Arriving May 1

MasterChef Mexico S1-4 (2015)

A Beautiful Mind (2002)

Amistad (1997)

Babe (1995)

Babe: Pig In The City (1998)

Babel (2006)

Beavis and Butt-Head Do America (1996)

Biker Boyz (2003)

Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure (1989)

Blue Crush (2002)

Blue Crush 2 (2011)

Bound (1996)

Bridget Jones: The Edge Of Reason (2004)

Bridget Jones’s Baby...

With its list of new releases for May 2023, Amazon Prime Video is increasing its global reach.

The streamer’s biggest original offering this month is a German series. Hohlbeins’ – The Gryphon, based on the works of Wolfgang Holhlbein, will present a sprawling fantasy tale about three teens discovering a fantastical world called The Black Tower where “the Gryphon, a world-devouring monster, mercilessly subjugates all living creatures.”

The only other original title of note in May is Freevee comedy Primo on the 19th. Written by author and journalist Shea Serrano and produced by Michael Schur (The Good Place), this coming-of-age series will follow a teenager balancing “college aspirations, societal expectations, and a hectic home life on the south side of San Antonio.”

And that’s pretty much it for Amazon Originals this month! Thankfully, there is a huge influx of library content to keep Prime Video subscribers entertained. May 4 sees the...

David Spade and Chris Farley only made two films together as co-leads. In 1995, they appeared in Peter Segal's "Tommy Boy" and in 1996, they starred in Penelope Spheeris' "Black Sheep." They also both appeared in the movie "Coneheads," although they had no scenes together, and were part of a generation of comedians who started on "Saturday Night Live" in 1990. This generation, often called "The Bad Boys of SNL," included future stars like Adam Sandler, Tim Meadows, Chris Rock, and Rob Schneider. The group frequently worked together both on the show and in feature films, and some of them still collaborate to this day.

Farley, rather tragically, passed away in 1997 at the age of 33 due to a drug overdose. There was every reason to believe that, had he survived, Farley's career would have continued to progress, evolve, and include more dramatic work. Of the "Bad Boys," Farley seemed to have the greatest comedic chemistry with Spade,...

Since 1980, the weekly sketch show "Saturday Night Live" has produced eleven feature films based on its characters. "The Blues Brothers" was released in 1980 and remains one of our favorite "SNL" movies (though it's debatable how much of an "SNL" movie it is with no Lorne Michaels attached). It was another 12 years before another "SNL" movie came out, and it was worth the wait. The 1990s were the heyday for a proliferation "SNL" movies, beginning in 1992 with the beloved "Wayne's World."

The rest of the decade was hit or miss for "SNL" movies in terms of quality. We saw the return of Dan Aykroyd and Jane Curtain in the heartwarming "Coneheads." Will Ferrell got his first leading role with "A Night at the Roxbury." There was an awful "Blues Brothers" sequel for some reason. And does anyone even remember they made an entire movie with Julia Sweeney's androgynous character, "It's...

A number of great movies are leaving HBO Max at the end of March, so it’s time to prioritize these titles in your queue. Filmmaker James Gunn’s sequel/soft reboot “The Suicide Squad” will depart the streaming service on March 22 after first hitting HBO Max the same day it was released in theaters back in 2021. Similarly, “Space Jam: A New Legacy” was whisked away on March 1 after also getting a day-and-date release in 2021 (sorry/not sorry if you missed it).

You also only have until March 7 to stream “Just a Boy From Tupelo: Bringing Elvis to the Big Screen,” a short documentary on the making of the Oscar-nominated biopic “Elvis.”

Other noteworthy films leaving HBO Max this month include “The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford,” “Contagion,” the extended version of “Dances with Wolves,” “Ghostbusters,” “Four Weddings and a Funeral,” “Love & Basketball” and “Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping.

Exclusive: Cazzie David (The Umbrella Academy), Jon Rudnitsky (SNL), Karan Soni (Deadpool franchise), Oliver Cooper (Red Oaks), Taylor Hill (Babylon) and Jason Alexander (Seinfeld) will lead the heist comedy Stealing Pulp Fiction, marking the feature debut of writer-director Danny Turkiewicz, which has wrapped production in Los Angeles.

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Billed as a love letter to the classic Quentin Tarantino pic and the history of cinema as a whole, the film is based on Turkiewicz’ short of the same name, which he wrote and directed at the height of the Covid pandemic in 2020. It follows friends Jonathan (Rudnitsky), Elizabeth (David) and...

There’s nothing quite like when HBO is airing one of its trademark watercooler-worthy dramas weekly. Thankfully, we’ll get to it experience exactly that and more on HBO Max in March 2023.

The big ticket item on HBO Max this March is undoubtedly Succession Season 4 on March 26. Part prestige drama and part screwball comedy, Succession is about as fun a watch as they come. Season 4 of the series about egregious wealth will find the Roy siblings reeling after trying and failing to take down their father, Logan (Brian Cox).

HBO Max’s other major TV option this month is another weekly release from HBO. Matthew Rhys returns as the titular lawyer in Perry Mason Season 2 on March 6. Season 1 of this period piece reboot flexed the classic TV character’s detective skills. From the look of the trailer, it seems as though this is the year Perry makes his name in the court room.

Dan Aykroyd will host the six-part comedic docuseries “A History of the World in Six Glasses” on Fox Nation beginning in January 2024, network president Jason Klarman said Thursday.

The series, which will feature Jim Belushi, Jon Lovitz, Kevin Nealon and George Wendt, will examine the origin and cultural impact of beer, wine, spirits, coffee, tea and soda.

“I laughed out loud watching every episode and learned so much about the cultural impact of these iconic beverages,” Klarman said in a statement.

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Roseanne Barr to Debut Fox Nation Comedy Special in Early 2023

Aykroyd, who won an Emmy for his comedy writing for “Saturday Night Live” in 1977, has starred in films including “The Blues Brothers,” “Ghostbusters,” “Coneheads,” “JFK” and “Driving Miss Daisy.”

The Canadian-born co-founder of the House of Blues launched Crystal Head Vodka in 2007 with painter John Alexander. He was a part owner of several wineries in Canada’s Niagara Peninsula,...

Chris Farley may have died too soon -- he was only 33 years old when he passed away on December 18, 1997 from a drug overdose and heart disease -- but he left us a great comedy legacy. Born in Madison, Wisconsin on February 15, 1964, Farley developed a reputation from a young age as someone who loved to entertain those around him. Entertainment was something that he pursued later in his education, as he studied theater in college, along with communications. He further developed his comedy chops with numerous performing troupes, including the Second City theater, where he learned from improv instructor Del Close, the teacher of such comedy icons as Dan Aykroyd, John Candy, and John and James Belushi.

It wasn't long before Farley got his first big break. Lorne Michaels, the producer and co-creator of "Saturday Night Live," took notice of his talent and cast him on the show in 1990. Farley was...

In the 1920s, Russian animator Władysław Starewicz, a.k.a. Lasislas Starevich, began experimenting with stop-motion animation techniques that would make the process look a little bit more natural. Traditionally for stop-motion, a doll, clay, or other plastic substance would be moved slightly, photographed, moved slightly again, and so on for 24 frames per second, creating the illusion of movement. The resulting animation takes a lot of painstaking work and a great deal of time, but it makes for an appealing style than allowed dolls and models to come to life. The issue Starevich had with stop-motion was that is possessed a "jerky," unnatural quality of movement. He combated this by moving his camera during the photography process to add a blur to the image. If an animated figure had the same photographic blur as a quick-moving human, Starevich figured, then the animated object would appear more real.

Thus, go-motion animation was born.