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This year’s milestone 50th anniversary celebration of Saturday Night Live likely felt like a family reunion for Abby Elliott.

After her four-season run on the NBC sketch comedy show from 2008 to 2012, the Golden Globe nominee recently opened up about her family’s legacy on the show, which includes dad Chris Elliott‘s 1994-’95 run and her uncle Steve Higgins’ was co-head writer from 1995 to ’97, having since served as a producer on SNL.

“I mean, it’s wild,” she said on SiriusXM’s The Julia Cunningham Show, noting that Higgins is “my mom’s sister’s husband. … I mean, something in the Niedert women. I mean, they must just like funny men.”

Abby’s cousin and Steve’s son John Higgins has been on the show since 2021, appearing as part of the comedy trio Please Don’t Destroy. The group frequently pokes fun at their own “nepo baby” status, with Martin Herlihy,...

Back in the 1990s, sketch comedy was mostly dominated by "Saturday Night Live." After a rough patch in the 1980s, the series rose to prominence again thanks to the talents of "Wayne's World" stars Mike Myers and Dana Carvey, Chris Farley, Adam Sandler, Will Ferrell, Cheri Oteri, Molly Shannon, and more. But during this time, there were also a series of worthy, alternative sketch comedy competitors that offered a nice change of pace from the mainstream network laughs of "SNL."

From the delightfully Canadian comedy of "Kids in the Hall," to the diverse hilarity of "In Living Color," the short-lived but brilliant "The Dana Carvey Show," to the madness of "Upright Citizens Brigade," there was a sketch comedy show for everyone. But perhaps the series that would go on to have the biggest impact in pop culture's future was MTV's "The State," named after the comedy troupe of the same name.

In the mid-1990s, NBC decided it wanted out of the Adam Sandler business. That is, until it wanted back in.

In January 1995, producer Lorne Michaels was summoned to the office of NBC honcho Don Ohlmeyer, who wanted Sandler and Chris Farley fired from Saturday Night Live. Michaels fought back. “I said, ‘Don, it’s generational. For you, a good show is Bill Murray as the lounge singer,’ ” Michaels remembered, according to Lorne: The Man Who Invented Saturday Night Live.

Michaels was able to shield Sandler for a while, but Ohlmeyer eventually got his way. Michaels worked out an agreement with their agents, and both Farley and Sandler were out, ostensibly to work on movie projects. Neither comic wanted to go, but at least their success at the box office served as revenge.

The movies were so popular, in fact, that NBC realized that maybe it had made a mistake.

Thirty years after it debuted in theaters, fans of arguably Chris Farley’s greatest movie seem to be hungry for nostalgia. Released in 1995 and co-starring David Spade and Brian Dennehy), Tommy Boy is one of Farley’s most quotable and memorable movies. Now,it’s achieving success on streaming three decades after its theatrical premiere.

Tommy Boy, directed by Peter Segal and written by Bonnie Turner and Terry Turner, is currently the No. 9 movie on Paramount+, per FlixPatrol. It edged out Sonic the Hedgehog 3,which is No. 10, for ninth place in the top 10 in the U.S. on the streamer.

Tommy Boy Sits at No. 9 Currently Image via FlixPatrol Audiences Love Tommy Boy

The movie stars Farley as Tommy Callahan and Spade as Richard Hayden. After Tommy’s dad, Big Tom (Dennehy), dies suddenly, Tommy and Richard hit the road to save the Sandusky, Ohio-based family business, Callahan Auto Parts.

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Chris Farley was only 33 years old when he died of an overdose on December 18, 1997, and it all felt horribly inevitable. He'd been in and out of rehab so many times that being an incorrigible addict had become part of his comedic persona. When he returned in the fall of 1997 to host "Saturday Night Live," the series that launched him as a comedic dynamo earlier in the decade, the entire cold open made a joke out of his ability to do the show. At the time, I couldn't believe what I was watching. He was clearly unhealthy and sounded like he'd been gargling razor blades, as though his body itself was trying to reject him.

If you know Farley's story, you're aware that the people in his orbit did everything they could to get him sober. Alas, he kept finding his way back to the party.

We’re back again with another round of amazing movies that are streaming on Paramount+, this time for June 2025.

As summer is about to start, we’re with some of the hottest titles that have landed on the streamer. From one of Tom Cruise’s ultimate classics, a film that made it to the big screen from an X post to Chris Farley and David Spade’s iconic comedy, this list has a little bit of something for everyone to watch.

Here are the flicks you need to add to your movie watch list this month.

“No Country for Old Men” “No Country for Old Men” (Miramax Films)

Ethan and Joe Coen’s neo-Western crime thriller “No Country for Old Men” follows the events that take place after a horrific drug deal. After hunter Llewelyn Moss (Josh Brolin) takes the cash that was left behind, killer Chigurh (Javier Bardem) is hot on his trailer.

Two weeks after the death of Cheers alum George Wendt, the actor’s cause of death has been revealed.

According to a death certificate from the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health, which was obtained by People, Wendt died from cardiac arrest. Underlying causes included congestive heart failure, coronary artery disease, and hypertension, per the outlet.

A rep for Wendt confirmed his death on May 20 at the age of 76 in a statement to Rolling Stone. While an exact cause of death was not given at the time, the rep...

Few "Saturday Night Live" cast members made a bigger impact in a short period of time than Chris Farley. From his debut on the show in 1990 to his tragic passing in 1997, Farley made a name for himself with his "go for broke" commitment to physical comedy and his charming, affable personality.

Farley played big parts in small roles for a couple of feature films alongside his "Saturday Night Live" cast members like Adam Sandler in "Airheads" or "Coneheads" with Dan Akroyd, but it's his starring role in "Tommy Boy" that made him an eternal star. The 1995 comedy stars Farley as an overgrown man-child forced to take the reins of his father's brake pad company, with poor David Spade forced to babysit him.

It's a classic odd couple comedy, with Spade's snarky comedic persona contrasting perfectly with Farley's "golly gee wiz" sincerity. Many say "Tommy Boy" is Farley's best movie,...

Arguably, a tolerance for shady characters is a requirement for becoming a celebrity in the first place, so it’s not surprising that many of them have had brushes with serial killers. Some of their connections, however, are a little more unexpected than accepting a ride from a weirdo.

5 Danny Trejo Was Hypnotized By Charles Manson in Jail

Before Trejo was Machete, he was a real criminal, and before Charles Manson was, you know, Charles Manson, he was a pretty fraudster. That led them to cross paths in county jail in 1961, where Manson sought out Trejo for protection. Instead of the usual offerings of drugs or similar, though, Manson insisted he could hypnotize Trejo into feeling high on heroin, which Trejo reported actually worked. “If that white boy wasn’t a career criminal, he could have been a professional hypnotist, someone who went to high schools and state fairs and...

Exclusive: Emmy, Golden Globe and Critics Choice Award winner Paul Walter Hauser has signed with WME for representation.

Hauser is perhaps best known for starring opposite Taron Egerton in Apple TV+’s crime drama Black Bird, for which he received an Emmy, Golden Globe and Critics Choice Award, in addition to a SAG Award nomination. Most recently, he was seen starring in drama The Luckiest Man in America, which premiered at last year’s Toronto Film Festival and had a theatrical release via IFC Films in April.

Hauser has quite a packed slate, looking ahead to the rest of the year. First up is Marvel’s The Fantastic Four: First Steps, which is slated to hit theaters on July 25. Subsequently, he has Paramount Pictures’ comedy The Naked Gun, revitalizing the classic franchise of the same name, on August 1, and the Western crime thriller Americana on August 22. He stars opposite Sydney Sweeney...

“It’s a dog-eat-dog world, Sammy, and I’m wearing Milk-Bone underwear.”

George Wendt, best known as Norm, the master of the hangdog lament with elbows propped on the Cheers bar rail, passed away this morning at the age of 76. He earned six consecutive Emmy nominations for the role, one of the classic comedy’s anchors from its first episode to its last. It was a significant step up from his first job in show business, sweeping the floors at Second City, where he eventually became a member of the improvisational repertory company.

Wendt joined Ted Danson and Woody Harrelson on the Where Everybody Knows Your Name podcast last summer and reminisced about trying out for the iconic sitcom. He almost didn’t get to audition since he was already committed to another comedy over at CBS when the opportunity came knocking.

“They want you to come in anyway,” his agents told him.

George Wendt, the actor and comedian best known for playing Norm Peterson on the classic sitcom Cheers, died Tuesday, May 20. He was 76.

A rep for Wendt confirmed his death to Rolling Stone. An exact cause of death was not given, though the rep said Wendt “died peacefully in his sleep while at home.”

The rep’s statement continued: “George was a doting family man, a well-loved friend and confidant to all of those lucky enough to have known him. He will be missed forever. The family has requested privacy during this time.

George Wendt, best known for playing the beer-swilling Norm on Cheers, died peacefully in his sleep while at home early Tuesday morning, according to a family representative. He was 76.

Wendt was on Cheers for the entirety of the show’s epic run from 1982–1993. On a series full of beloved characters, his Norm Peterson was arguably the most beloved, with his entry into a scene announced each time as all the bar’s patrons exclaimed, “Norm!” What followed was usually a setup from one of his co-stars followed by a snappy one-liner from Norm.

As a result of that performance, Wendt earned six consecutive Emmy nominations for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series, but never won.

“I have a hard time talking about Norm. It’s like he’s too close to me,” Wendt once said of the character. “I think he’s the toughest to write for because he’s not really anything.

George Wendt, an American actor and comedian who earned six consecutive Emmy nominations for his performance as Norm Peterson on the beloved NBC comedy series “Cheers,” died Tuesday morning at his home. He was 76.

Wendt’s death was confirmed by his publicist Melissa Nathan with the following statement: “George was a doting family man, a well-loved friend and confidant to all of those lucky enough to have known him. He will be missed forever. The family has requested privacy during this time.”

A student of the Chicago improv landscape, Wendt was a comedian at The Second City in the 1970s before becoming a television actor. After numerous guest spots, he landed the role that would come define him: the loyal barfly Norm Peterson, whose regular first line of “Afternoon everybody” became one of the fan-beloved motifs of the series.

A standout among the cast, Wendt earned six Emmy nods in...

Television has often been described as a mirror of our world. Through various genres and formats, we can see the many ways humankind comes together and interacts with each other, for better or for worse. Just like the people we encounter in real life, the characters on our favorite shows and the people who bring them to life will sometimes have to deal with death.

The cast and crew of Hulu's "Mid-Century Modern" learned this the hard way when the legendary Linda Lavin passed away while the show was in the middle of filming their first season. The Broadway veteran and "Alice" star played Sybil, the wise-cracking, overbearing, and deeply loving mother of Nathan Lane's Bunny Schneiderman, who is the Sophia of the "Golden Girls"-esque series. But when Lavin succumbed to cardiopulmonary arrest in December 2024, her character suffered a similar fate, leaving behind mourners on both sides of the camera.

Even though it aired for seven seasons between 1997 and 2003, "Just Shoot Me!" isn't as appreciated as it should be. While it's rarely considered to be one of the best sitcoms of all time, "Just Shoot Me!" was a strong part of NBC's late-'90s sitcom lineup, following the lives of employees at a fashion magazine, namely the outspoken Maya (Laura San Giacomo) and her boss and father, Jack (George Segal).

The show's supporting cast also includes lots of great comedians, as well as a slew of guest stars like Joe Rogan, Jessica Walter, and Mark Hamill. It's even produced one of the greatest sitcom episodes of the past 30 years with "Slow Donnie," a season 3 episode featuring David Cross pre-"Arrested Development." 

Whether you agree "Just Shoot Me!" is an underrated sitcom that you should check out or not, its cast has gone on to do quite a lot since the show ended.

As every Saturday Night Live season comes to an end, a handful of cast members learn they won’t be invited back for another year. For comedians who struggle to make their way into sketches, they can probably read the writing on the wall. But after one season in the mid-1990s, a number of the show’s biggest stars got the ax.

Dana Carvey, Phil Hartman and Mike Myers had already said their goodbyes, leaving the SNL spotlight focused squarely on Adam Sandler and Chris Farley. While young viewers worshipped the comics, older fans — and network executives — didn’t think the current cast was working out. Don Ohlmeyer, the NBC honcho who later pushed for the ouster of Norm Macdonald, first set his sights on Sandler and Farley, according to Lorne: The Man Who Invented Saturday Night Live.

“All the Baby Boomers, Don foremost among them, thought they knew...

The tragedy of Chris Farley isn’t only about his death, it’s that it seemed to come directly from his admiration for John Belushi. Farley’s idolization could be charming, like when he would try on Belushi’s old clothes in the SNL wardrobe department; but it also headed where so many knew it would. As such, Lorne Michaels made it a duty of his to keep an eye on Farley the best he could.

As told by Susan Morrison, author of Lorne: The Man Who Invented Saturday Night Live, Michaels was deeply affected by the 1982 death of Belushi, who was an original player on SNL. And while drugs were around in subsequent eras, watch was specifically put on Chris Farley during his SNL run in the early to mid ‘90s. “When Belushi died, it really hit [Michaels] hard. And I think he felt like, oh my God, this whole...

David Spade and Chris Farley were constantly pretending to be at odds with one another in movies like Tommy Boy and Black Sheep, sometimes even coming to blows in fight scenes that didn’t exactly require John Wick-tier choreography.

But behind the scenes, the two Saturday Night Live cast members were good friends. While the ill-tempered Farley did occasionally threaten to beat up Spade, Adam Sandler always managed to convince him that this was a no-win scenario.

But things got really bad when the guy from St. Elmo’s Fire came between them. Last year, Rob Lowe appeared on The Rich Eisen Show and verified the rumor that Spade and Farley literally fought over him during the making of Tommy Boy. “The big fight was because I came into the hotel after shooting. Spade was not shooting that day but Farley was,” Lowe explained. “And Farley and I did a sauna and a jacuzzi.

It’s been 30 years since Chris Farley’s Tommy Callahan first told David Spade’s Richard Hayden character to “shut up” in 1995’s Tommy Boy. The comedy featuring the SNL alums has become a cult classic over the years, but never received a sequel.

During an appearance on Theo Von’s This Past Weekend Podcast, Spade explained why he passed on the opportunity to do a sequel. "I was pitched a Tommy Boy 2, which was... our kids are together," the actor said. "And I'm like, 'I just can’t find a scenario with no Farley,'" he said, referring to his co-star who died at the age of 33 in December 1997.

Spade explained that the pitch focused on the character's children. "[It was supposed to be about] our kids, and it was about them, and then I was going to come help them on the road or something," he shared. But Spade passed on the movie, because...

David Spade recently announced that he turned down the sequel to his cult comedy from 1995, Tommy Boy. Created through a collaboration of Saturday Night Live actors, it became a pivotal point in the careers of both David Spade and Chris Farley. The story revolves around the late auto parts factory owner's unqualified son, who must fight his money-grabbing family to save the company. Tommy Boy celebrated its 30th anniversary in March 2025. Director Peter Segal has emphasized Chris Farley's importance to the franchise, which explains why Spade won't be in a sequel.

Spade expressed his hesitancy to accept the offer in an episode of Theo Von's podcast, where he explained he turned down the offer for a sequel. David Spade and Chris Farley were SNL co-stars for years before their collaboration on Tommy Boy, during which time the pair developed a close friendship. Spade has spoken fondly of his co-star,...

As much as David Spade probably needs a break from Dana Carvey interrupting him on the Fly on the Wall podcast, he knows the idea of a Tommy Boy sequel without Chris Farley is immensely dumb.

“I was pitched a Tommy Boy 2, which was our kids are together,” Spade told Theo Von this week on the comedian’s This Past Weekend podcast. “I was pitched it two years ago. And I’m like, I just can’t find a scenario with no Farley.”

Von, the comic with the Joe Dirt haircut, tried to imagine how producers could get around the problem. Would they recreate Farley with CGI? Hire one of Farley’s brothers?

The focus would have been on the original characters’ kids, Spade explained. “And then I was going to come help them on the road or something. But listen, the magic in the bottle was Chris. I had a good part.

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,...

Released in 1995, Tommy Boy has gone on to become a comedy movie staple and cult classic. Starring Saturday Night Live castmates and close friends David Spade and Chris Farley, the film played off of their undeniable chemistry and likely wouldn't work if one person were taken out of the equation. This could be why a sequel never came to fruition, given the passing of Farley in 1997 from a drug overdose at the age of 33. Still, that didn't stop Spade from receiving a pitch for a sequel, and he's now revealing his response to a potential Tommy Boy follow-up.

During an appearance on Theo Von's podcast, This Past Weekend, Spade reveals that he was pitched an idea for Tommy Boy 2, and it's something he turned down without hesitation because he can't imagine a sequel without Farley. Not only were Spade and Farley co-stars in the film, they also shared the...

1995’s Tommy Boy, while not specifically based on a Saturday Night Live sketch, had become one of the most popular movies from SNL creatives, with veteran sketch writers Bonnie & Terry Turner penning the screenplay along with Lorne Michaels producing and, of course, Chris Farley and David Spade crossing over into the movie realm. The duo’s popularity would even get them another film where they’re pitted together with 1996’s Black Sheep. After the back-to-back starring films, Farley and Spade ventured into their own separate paths. While Spade continued to star in his own vehicles after Farley’s passing in 1997, the SNL comedian reveals on Theo Von’s podcast that he was actually pitched a sequel to Tommy Boy two years ago.

According to Variety, Spade stated, “I was pitched a Tommy Boy 2, which was our characters’ kids are together. I was pitched this two years ago, and I was...

David Spade recently appeared on Theo Von’s podcast and revealed he was pitched an idea to make a sequel to “Tommy Boy,” his 1995 buddy comedy with the late Chris Farley. Spade shut the pitch down immediately considering there is no “Tommy Boy” without Farley. The two actors were close friends and were “SNL” co-stars for five years before headlining “Tommy Boy” together. Farley died of a drug overdose in 1997 at 33 years old.

“I was pitched a ‘Tommy Boy 2,’ which was our characters’ kids are together,” Spade said. “I was pitched this two years ago, and I was like I can’t find a scenario with no Chris Farley. He was the whole movie. It would be too much of a sell out. I can’t imagine it. No one could do that. It was our kids and it was about them and I was going to help them on the road.

During Chris Farley’s time on Saturday Night Live, creator Lorne Michaels would allegedly ban the late actor-comedian for “weeks at a time” to help him with his alcohol and drug use.

Susan Morrison, the author of Lorne: The Man Who Invented Saturday Night Live, made a recent appearance on Dax Shepard’s Armchair Expert podcast, where she opened up about Michaels changing his regulations on the sketch comedy show’s cast’s alcohol and drug use following John Belushi’s overdose death in 1982.

“When Belushi died, it really hit him hard,” she explained. “And I think he felt like, oh my God, this whole approach of just letting people do their own thing on their own time, this was the wrong approach. We’re a tribe, we’re a group, and we have to look out for each other.”

“So by the time Chris Farley comes along, you know,...

Chris Farley is widely considered one of the most iconic “Saturday Night Live” cast members of all time, but “SNL” creator Lorne Michaels wouldn’t always allow him on the set of the prolific late-night sketch show.

During a recent appearance on Dax Shepard’s “Armchair Expert” podcast (via Entertainment Weekly), Susan Morrison, the author of “Lorne: The Man Who Invented Saturday Night Live,” said that Michaels cracked down on the cast’s alcohol and drug use after John Belushi died from an overdose in 1982.

“When Belushi died, it really hit him hard,” Morrison explained. “And I think he felt like this whole approach of just letting people do their own thing on their own time, this was the wrong approach. We’re a tribe, we’re a group, and we have to look out for each other.”

This approach extended to Farley, who “clearly had addiction issues” at the time,...

It seems as though most surviving former Saturday Night Live cast members were invited to attend February’s 50th anniversary celebration, even if they weren’t actually participating in the show itself. And while some ex-SNL stars bailed on the event for mysterious reasons, others were more than happy to come sit in the audience.

In the latter camp was Jay Mohr, who called his time at SNL50 the “greatest weekend of my life.” But according to Mohr, he did believe that there was a slight chance that he might be asked to fill in for a deceased star.

During a recent episode of his podcast Mohr Stories, the one-time Jerry Maguire villain told guest Will Forte that he spent the lead-up to the show fantasizing that Lorne Michaels and company would request that he impersonate the late Norm Macdonald. “(In) my delusional brain at SNL50, I’m like,...

It’s hard to come up with quality comedy sketches on a weekly basis for almost a half-year straight, which is probably why so many Saturday Night Live veterans from Bob Odenkirk's time were always dreaming of a White Christmas in the writers’ room.

Saturday Night Live is legendary for its ability to cause its writers and performers to develop comical levels of job burnout due to its grueling production schedule. The late nights and long hours of the 30 Rockefeller Plaza workplace are often romanticized by the alumni who turned their SNL start into a thriving career with much more manageable hours of operation, but of all the nostalgic A-list comedy talent who once called SNL home, Odenkirk isn’t one to wax poetic about the weekly nightmare that produces each episode of the sketch series.

While Odenkirk has since expressed his gratitude for how hard SNL pushed him...

Former “Saturday Night Live” writer Bob Odenkirk revealed his favorite unaired sketch from his 1987–1991 tenure on the show.

During a Friday appearance on “The Kelly Clarkson Show,” Odenkirk reflected on the four years he spent working on “SNL” and the cast members he got to work with, including Phil Hartman, Adam Sandler and Chris Farley. When asked by Clarkson if he had a favorite sketch he wrote during his “SNL” run that never aired, Odenkirk replied, “There was one, in particular, I really loved. I wrote it for Jon Lovitz, if you know him. Very funny guy.”

“It’s about a hot dog vendor in New York and he’s got a trainee. He says [to his trainee], ‘Ok, you take the next guy.’ The guy walks up and he [asks for] a hot dog with mustard,” Odenkirk continued. “[The trainee] gives him a hot dog, puts mustard on it and hands it to him and, as...

It’s the Inverse Law of Entertainment: All musicians want to be comedians, and all comedians want to be musicians. Most comics aren’t blessed with musical talent, but some still get a taste by appearing in the videos of their favorite artists. Saturday Night Live cast members, probably thanks to their musical heroes guesting on the show, get more chances than most.

Here are eight times that SNL comedians randomly pop up in music videos by iconic artists…

1 Will Ferrell, Maya Rudolph and Amy Poehler

The Beastie Boys’ “Make Some Noise” video is full of comedy cameos, including Seth Rogen, Jack Black, Rashida Jones, Will Arnett, Rainn Wilson, Jason Schwartzman, Mary Steenburgen, Ted Danson and David Cross. SNL is well represented as well with Ferrell as the future Ad-Rock, Rudolph as a lady hitting on Danny McBride and Poehler as a sneering bistro patron.

2 Jason Sudeikis and Will Forte Play

Sudeikis and Forte,...

Did Chris Farley almost voice Shrek? (Photo Credit – Wikipedia/Prime Video)

Can you imagine Shrek with Farley’s signature, boisterous energy? The green ogre would’ve been a whole different beast. Instead, we got Mike Myers, who definitely knocked it out of the park, but Farley’s Shrek could have been iconic in its own right.

Farley had already nailed about 80 to 90 percent of his lines before he passed away in 1997. If fate had played out differently, we could have had Farley’s voice leading the charge in the Shrek franchise, possibly even through a sequel (via Cheatsheet). But after his death, DreamWorks had to pivot fast, bringing in Myers to save the day. Farley’s Tommy Boy banter with Spade inspired Shrek and Donkey’s vibe – loud, goofy, and totally Farley-style fun.

But after the actor’s passing, DreamWorks rewrote the character to be a bit grumpier and more seasoned.

Paul Walter Hauser, the performer known for his roles in films like Richard Jewell and TV shows like Cobra Kai and Black Bird, recently had his breakout voice role in 2024's Inside Out 2. He was responsible for bringing to life the endearing character known as Embarrassment, yet another of the various emotions that make Riley's world a very complicated one. Hauser is currently promoting his role in Major League Wrestling (Mlw), and used the opportunity to address the return of the Pixar franchise for a possible Inside Out 3.

Hauser spoke to ComicBook.com to promote his latest participation in the wrestling world. Although he was eventually eliminated from Battle Riot VII, Hauser looks unstoppable in his rise to become a huge wrestling personality (he plays himself in the wrestling ring). It was during the interview that he was asked about the possibility of reprising his character Embarrassment in a future Inside Out sequel,...

When was the last time you were genuinely surprised by a movie and had a great time in the theater? You will with the thrilling new game-show drama The Luckiest Man in America, starring Paul Walter Hauser (The Fantastic Four), Walton Goggins (Fallout), and other big names. The recently released film is actually based on a true story, set in the 1980s around the game show Press Your Luck — and a conman who thought he could beat the system for an endless supply of cash. To say more about the juicy story of The Luckiest Man in America would be a disservice, but MovieWeb recently caught up with the film's director, Samir Oliveros, to learn more about his experience bringing the wild story to life — including how he stumbled upon the real-life craziness in the first place.

"I actually found a VHS tape in Goodwill. I go to thrift shops frequently when I'm writing,...

Throughout its 50-year run, "Saturday Night Live" has been the launching pad for some of history's most beloved comedic actors and actresses. Fans often debate which decade of "SNL" was the best, but an argument can be made that the 1990s featured some of the funniest sketches in the show's history, introducing audiences to up-and-comers who would go on to become some of the biggest names in comedy to this day. One of those young stars was none other than Adam Sandler.

After making his film debut in 1989, Adam Sandler performed stand-up comedy in clubs. At one of his performances in Los Angeles, "SNL" cast member Dennis Miller was in attendance. Impressed by Sandler's material, Miller recommended him to Lorne Michaels, which led to Sandler landing a job in the "SNL" writers' room in 1990 and eventually being promoted to featured player in the cast. Alongside his co-stars Chris Farley, Tim Meadows,...

Finally, a biopic about The Boss. Not a whole lot has been revealed about Deliver Me from Nowhere, based on a certain part of Bruce Springsteen's decorated career. So far, we have a title, a general plot, a promotional image of Jeremy Allen White playing the music legend, and the cast alongside him. That includes the reliably stellar Paul Walter Hauser, and MovieWeb recently caught up with the award-winning performer while he was promoting his new film out this week, The Luckiest Man in America. Hauser also took time to share his experience with Springsteen, including how involved The Boss was as a producer and Hauser's appreciation of the musician.

"I came to Bruce late. I grew up with Billy Joel. That was kind of my guy. And it wasn't until my mid- to-late 20s that I even discovered Bruce Springsteen. I didn't know his music that much, and I love it,...

While audiences might be getting sick of sequels, remakes, and reboots, there's at least one coming to theaters this summer that we're actually looking forward to. "The Naked Gun" franchise is being revived with Liam Neeson taking on the role of Frank Debin Jr., son of Leslie Nielsen's Detective Frank Drebin from the original "Naked Gun" spoof trilogy of films that spawned from the short-lived comedy series "Police Squad!"

While reviving old comedy franchises can be rather risky, "The Naked Gun" comes with a promising filmmaker behind the camera, one who hasn't found much box office success but has consistently delivered some of the greatest comedies of the 21st century. Akiva Shaffer, one-third of the groundbreaking "Saturday Night Live" comedy group known as The Lonely Island, who ushered in the era of the "SNL Digital Short," is directing the film, having previously been at helm of "Hot Rod" (which...

Photo Credit: Paramount Pictures In a movie career cut far too short, Chris Farley will probably best be remembered for his comedic tour de force performance in Tommy Boy. The film, which paired him with fellow Saturday Night Live star David Spade, celebrates its 30th anniversary today, and it now relishes its status as a cult film that has only grown over time. Before the film was released, we spoke with Farley about the project, and he told us why the combination of co-star Spade and director Peter Segal made Tommy Boy the most fun he’d ever had making a movie. (Click on the media bar below to hear Chris Farley.) https://www.hollywoodoutbreak.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Chris_Farley_Tommy_Boy_.mp3 Tommy Boy is currently streaming on Pluto TV and available on DVD, Blu-Ray, 4K and most digital platforms.

The post Why ‘Tommy Boy’ Was Chris Farley’s...

The much-anticipated biopic chronicling the life of late Saturday Night Live star Chris Farley has taken a substantial step forward, according to recent statements from actor Paul Walter Hauser, who is set to portray Farley. Hauser, renowned for his roles in I, Tonya and Richard Jewell, shared that the project has bagged support from New Line Cinema, and the scripting is at an advanced stage.

Josh Gad will make his directorial debut with this project, which is based on "The Chris Farley Show: A Biography in Three Acts" by Tom Farley Jr. and Tanner Colby. The screenplay for the biopic is crafted by Scott Neustadter and Michael H. Weber, both acclaimed for their work on 500 Days of Summer and The Fault in Our Stars. Whilst speaking on Jake's Takes about his new film The Luckiest Man in America, Hauser shared a positive update on the Farley project, saying:

"We're...

It seems like every generation of Saturday Night Live mints a whole slew of new comedy superstars. Despite the eighties being rather slow in that regard, in the nineties, SNL once again recaptured the zeitgeist. For the first time since its seventies heyday, the stars of Saturday Night Live were becoming big screen superstars, often in movies produced by SNL’s master impresario, Lorne Michaels, such as Wayne’s World, Tommy Boy, and a few others. This era gave us Mike Myers, Adam Sandler, Chris Rock, and so many others.

However, the 90s era of SNL was also rocked by the untimely death of two charter members, Chris Farley and Phil Hartman. Chris Farley always idolized the original cast, particularly John Belushi. Still, in his efforts to live up to his idol, he dove head-first into a food, drug and alcohol addiction that would kill him before the decade was out,...

Paramount is currently celebrating the 30th anniversary release of Tommy Boy, and for good reason. It's a comedy classic that has held up over the years (despite Roger Ebert's crushing review), its iconic star Chris Farley is getting a big biopic from Josh Gad, and it has a new 4K Uhd release that's visually stunning and full of great special features. Its director, Peter Segal, took some time to travel down memory lane with MovieWeb and look back at the film. He even shared more about a specific behind-the-scenes moment that, in his commentary track for Tommy Boy, he said was "too R-rated" to discuss.

The moment in question was one of several takes during the endlessly quotable "housekeeping" scene, when David Spade pretends to work for the motel the characters are staying at. "You know, we always tried different jokes. And when Chris was answering the door for David's 'Housekeeping,...

The Chris Farley and David Spade buddy comedy Tommy Boy has been released on 4K Ultra HD for its 30th anniversary.

Available as a limited edition Steelbook or 4K/Blu-ray combo, the film was remastered under the supervision of director Peter Segal. Bonus content includes director commentary, deleted and extended scenes, alternate takes, a gag reel, and the theatrical trailer.

Debuting in theaters on March 31st, 1995, Tommy Boy paired the Saturday Night Live alumni as traveling salesman Tommy Callahan III (Farley) and his father’s assistant Richard Hayden (Spade), who go on a road trip to save the Callahan family’s auto parts business.

Other cast members include Brian Dennehy as Thomas “Big Tom” Callahan Jr., Bo Derek as Tommy’s stepmother, and Rob Lowe as Tommy’s stepbrother.

Though Tommy Boy received mixed reviews and earned a modest $32.7 million at the global box office, it has become a cult...

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This year marks the 30th anniversary of the 1995 comedy classic "Tommy Boy," and while a handful of moments in it don't hold up to modern comedy sensibilities, the film is still largely a hilarious and surprisingly heartfelt story about a lovable loser tasked with saving his family's small-town auto parts company. Though Chris Farley had appeared in a handful of movies already, "Tommy Boy" was the first starring role for the "Saturday Night Live" superstar on the big screen, and despite the intense pressure of their schedules, he and fellow "SNL" star David Spade carry the film on their shoulders as their characters trade insults and ultimately go from annoyed acquaintances to genuine friends over the course of the story.

Since "Tommy Boy" was his first big movie, Farley wasn't prepared for the level of mental stamina required to lead a feature film.

Casting can be a frenzied game of musical chairs fueled by whims and cocaine right up until filming, at which point you’d better be certain because replacing an actor will probably mean extensive (and expensive) reshoots. The same isn’t necessarily true of a voice actor, however. You can let those guys record entire movies and then let someone else do it all again — and they have.

5 Her

Samantha Morton didn’t just record an entire performance as Joaquin Phoenix’s A.I. girlfriend in Her. They were actually on set together, acting in real time, albeit with Morton hidden away in a four-by-four plywood box so as not to ruin the illusion of being a computer. “It was only in post production,” director Spike Jonze later said, “that we realized that what the character/movie needed was different from what Samantha and I had created together.” He then...

Chris Farley’s friends and collaborators have shared a lot of great stories about the late comedian over the years, but even casual acquaintances have some funny anecdotes about the Tommy Boy star, it seems.

The hilarious Ike Barinholtz, who has starred in shows like The Mindy Project and The Afterparty, recently guested on David Spade and Dana Carvey’s Fly on the Wall podcast. In addition to discussing his time as a Mad TV cast member and Stanley Kubrick’s Eyes Wide Shut, Barinholtz also revealed that he once had a memorable encounter with Farley.

“I got to meet (Farley) a couple times,” Barinholtz told Spade and Carvey, “and he was like my idol, I loved him so much.” While working as a busboy at Second City in Chicago, Barinholtz saw Farley on more than one occasion. “He would come in once in a while, and he was always so nice,...

John Lithgowhas made a name for himself by playing memorable characters like Winston Churchill in The Crown, Dick Solomon in 3rd Rock From the Sun, and Arthur Mitchell in Dexter. While his face is instantly recognizable, his voice is also a unique part of his identity, and the proof is in 2001's animated film Shrek. When viewers saw Shrek, many recognized Eddie Murphy as the voice of Donkey, and some were also quick to recognize Lithgow as the voice of the villainous tyrant Lord Farquaad. Although the character made quite an impression in the movie, the actor admits that he didn't think the movie was going to that big a deal. He thought he was giving voice to a "Saturday morning cartoon."

Lithgow is in the spotlight nowadays because of his confirmed participation in the Harry PotterTV reboot. He's set to play Hogwarts' headmaster Albus Dumbledore in the series. Overnight,...

These days, it's not easy to keep track of all the different streaming services you may be subscribed to. It can take hours to sift through the libraries on Netflix, Prime Video, or Hulu in search of the best movies you can watch for free. Take, for instance, Paramount+. Since it was launched in its current form in 2021, Paramount+ has been a home for original programming like "Halo" and "Knuckles," as well as content from CBS, Nickelodeon, and Showtime. 

When opening up the platform's Movies section, it's overwhelming to see the spectrum of films and genres to search through. You could watch classics like "The Godfather" or "Forrest Gump," both of which are currently on Paramount+, but what about films you might not easily find on the front page? From the most iconic films of all time to more recent indie hits, these 15 films will guarantee you a great movie night,...

The Farrelly brothers’ sophomore effort, Kingpin, will be getting a newly restored 4K Blu-ray release from the label Kino Lorber. Blu-ray.com has reported that the bowling comedy, which stars Woody Harrelson, Randy Quaid, Vanessa Angel, Bill Murray, and Chris Elliott, will be hitting retailers sometime later this year. At this time, there currently isn’t a list of special features that have been announced for this new physical media release.

The description reads,

“Roy Munson (Woody Harrelson) is a young bowler with a promising career ahead of him until a disreputable colleague, Ernie McCracken (Bill Murray), tricks him into participating in a con game that ends with Roy’s bowling hand crippled for life. Years later, Roy ekes out a hardscrabble existence until he discovers Amish bowling phenom Ishmael (Randy Quaid). With the help of a gangser’s girlfriend (Vanessa Angel), he plots to take Ishmael to the top of the bowling world.

Any montage of Adam Sandler's or Chris Farley's best work on Saturday Night Live needs to include the "Schmitts Gay" commercial parody. But comedy duo weren't the first choice for the now-classic SNL sketch.

Saturday Night Live brought commercial parodies to the mainstream right from the jump. For 50 years, SNL has been mocking real commercials or inventing their own off-the-wall ads for every imaginable product.

Perhaps the most famous SNL commercial parody is 1991's "Schmitts Gay" written by Robert Smigel. In an interview with The Ringer, Smigel explained the inspiration behind the beer ad.

"There were so many commercials at that time that were populated by bros," Smigel said. "And it was just such a stupid, embarrassing way to sell beer. It just cracked me up."

Smigel wanted a way to call out the sexism and homophobia he saw in beer commercials of the late '80s and early '90s.