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Before he was a Ghostbusterand an Oscar-nominee, Bill Murray was a cast member on Saturday Night Live, where he entertained late-night audiences from 1977 to 1980. Now, the Golden Globe-winning Lost in Translation star, who attended the 50th anniversary of SNL on Feb. 16, is reflecting on what the experience was like.

Per Entertainment Weekly, Murray appeared on SiriusXM’s Sway in the Morning with host Sway Calloway and talked about what the 50th anniversary of Saturday Night Live meant to him. “It was surprisingly emotional. I wept three times in the show. It really got to me,” Murray said.

When Calloway asked what he wept for, Murray started off by telling a joke, “Oh, there were sketches that were dying,” he said. “No, I’m kidding.”

Related'He Was a Tough Nut': Bill Murray Recalls Working With Gene Hackman on The Royal Tenenbaums

Bill Murray starred with Gene Hackman in the 2001 Wes Anderson...

Over four decades later, veteran actor and Ghostbusters star Bill Murray has addressed the literary treatment of his late friend and collaborator John Belushi by Bob Woodward, calling the latter's work "completely inaccurate." The legendary comedian, actor, and musician Belushi was one of the original Saturday Night Live cast members and died in 1982, aged 33, from an overdose of cocaine and heroin.

Murray aired his opinion of Woodward's 1984 biography Wired: The Short Life and Fast Times of John Belushi on The Joe Rogan Experience podcast. "If he did this to Belushi, what he did to Nixon is probably soiled for me too. I can't take it," he said. "You could have two sources and everything like that, but the two sources that he had, if he had them for the Wired book, were so far outside the inner circle that it was criminal, cruel."

RelatedErnie Hudson Reflects on Harold Ramis'...

Saturday Night Live actor Bowen Yang was accused by an extra who's worked on the NBC series of getting Shane Gillis fired back in 2019. However, Yang has spoken out on the allegation to note how that's not the case.

Six years ago, Yang and Gillis had both been hired to join SNL as new performers. Problematic jokes Gillis had made about Asians on his comedy podcast resurfaced soon after his casting was announced, boosting a social media movement for SNL to cut ties with the risqué comedian. The SNL team ultimately acquiesced by firing Gillis, though the bridges have been rebuilt, with Gillis having since appeared on the show as guest host. Ahead of his second guest-hosting stint on March 1, comic and SNL extra Michelle Best posted a comment on an Instagram video shared by NBC to "acknowledge" that Yang was allegedly responsible for Gillis' firing.

Related'Don't Negotiate With Terrorists':...

New York's hottest club is Saturday Night Live, but only if you've hosted it at least five times. That gets you entry to SNL's exclusive "Five-Timers Club". Now that Saturday Night Live has celebrated 50 years of laughs, we're taking a look at one of its most consistent yet difficult to attain inside jokes/accolades, The Five-Timers Club. Besides the obvious honor of being a late-night regular, what does this comedic membership entail? And what other entertainment icons have made the cut?

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Saturday Night LiveTV-14ComedyNewsMusicRelease DateOctober 11, 1975NetworkNBCShowrunnerLorne MichaelsCastSee All

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Adam McKay Self / Various

Adam Sandler Self (archive footage)

Al Roker Self / Margaret Jo McCullin / Various

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Directors  Dave Wilson, Don Roy King, Liz Patrick, Andy Warhol, Linda Lee Cadwell, Matthew Meshekoff,...

Pete Davidson became a regular fixture of Saturday Night Live with an eight-year long run on the show, becoming the series’ youngest cast member at the age of 20 and an instant hit thanks to his “Weekend Update” appearances, among other sketches. However, his return for the show’s 50th anniversary celebration had fans talking for a reason other than his comedic talents – the reducing number of his trademark collection of tattoos.

Davidson, who is currently starring as one of the many big-name voices in the animated hit movie Dog Man, has become well-known as a walking scrapbook of inked designs with around 200 tattoos adorning his body. Almost all the actor’s pieces of body art have some kind of personal significance to either his life or his career, but while appearing on SNL50 many fans noticed that he is not as tatted up as he used to be.

During a...

Tom Hanks stepped back onto the Saturday Night Live stage just days after staging a “walk out” at the weekend’s Homecoming Concert. While the actor and his wife, Rita Wilson, appeared to be disgruntled at there being no awards getting handed out at the event, it was, of course, all part of the show. This meant that it was not a surprise to see Hanks back on the show for its 50th anniversary special, where he introduced a special montage of sketches that have aged as well as a Hollywood star without a good surgeon.

Hanks joined a segment dedicated to what SNL executives and cast members have termed “canceled characters.” The legendary actor, who is part of the show’s “five-timers” club, delivered a fitting monologue to introduce the rogue’s gallery of controversial, offensive, and generally just problematic faces to have graced screen as part of SNL’s line up.

The stars really did come out for the 50th anniversary special for Saturday Night Live. Introducing Adam Sandler, who performed an incredible SNL50 tribute song, was none other than the legendary Jack Nicholson.

When the camera cut to Nicholson, the applause rained down. The actor kept it simple, saying, "Ladies and gentlemen, Adam Sandler!" From there, Sandler gave a shout-out to Jack and began his song, singing, "Everyone in this room has something in common. All of our lives were changed by the show."

Sandler is known for his songs and mashups, and this one was perfect for the occasion. He sang about the cast, funny moments (including those behind the scenes), the crew, Lorne Michaels, and paid a very heartfelt tribute to fellow SNL vet and friend, the late Chris Farley, who passed away in 1997, and Norm Macdonald, who died in 2021. You can watch the entire performance, and Jack's introduction,...

Eddie Murphy's impression of Tracy Morgan on Saturday Night Live stole the show in a recent sketch celebrating the show's 50th anniversary. Murphy did his Morgan impression during the show's 'Black Jeopardy' sketch.

Murphy was joined for the SNL skit by fellow Black comedians, with Kenan Thompson playing host Darnell Hayes (aka Alex Treblack), and the other contestants being Leslie Jones and Tracy Morgan himself. During 'Black Jeopardy', Murphy did a hilarious impression of Morgan -- while Morgan stood right beside him and played a man named Darius. From his very introduction, Murphy was fully in-character as Tracy, calling out "Big Dog gonna make some big money!" in an over-the-top impression that had the rest of the cast struggling to keep a straight face.

Related'Might Have Been a Little Hokey': Cobra Kai Finale Cut a Scene Revealing 1 Killed-Off Character Survived

A deleted scene from the Cobra Kai finale reveals...

Quick LinksThe "Original" 'Saturday Night Live'One 'SNL's Failure and Another's Success

Live from New York, it's Saturday Night! Speaking of that iconic opening line, have you ever wondered why it's phrased that way? Why does it say just "Saturday Night" and not "Saturday Night Live?" Having two "lives" might be redundant, but isn't Saturday Night Live the name of the show? It is now, but that wasn't always the case.

Casual viewers may not know that the original name of the series was actually NBC's Saturday Night. That's why the opener is phrased that way. Even though it was always live, it didn't add that word to the title until Season 3. Believe it or not, this was because there was already a series titled Saturday Night Live on the air when the then-nbc's Saturday Night debuted in 1975. This "other" SNL was Saturday Night Live with Howard Cosell,...

The 77th annual Writers Guild Awards were handed out on Saturday in concurrent ceremonies at the Edison Ballroom in New York and Fairmont Century Plaza in Los Angeles.

Shōgun took home the prize for Best New Series, beating out fellow first-time nominees such as English Teacher, Nobody Wants This, Fallout and Mr. and Mrs. Smith. The Hulu series also won for Best Drama and Episodic Drama, while Max’s Hacks took home the trophy for Best Comedy, and HBO’s The Penguin won for Limited Series.

More from TVLinePaleyFest 2025: Agatha All Along, Matlock, Hacks, Cobra Kai and More Join LineupWriters Guild Awards 2025: Evil,...

Saturday Night Live's biggest stars are everywhere these days: from the hallowed halls of Studio 8H, all the way to the beachy shores of Malibu, California. And in honor of the historic 50th anniversary of the longstanding comedy sketch series, everyone is getting in on the action of celebrating and honoring its many iconic moments. Including Volkswagen, which reunited Bill Hader, Kristen Wiig, and Fred Armisen as "The Californians" in a commercial for their latest car.

The air-headed, valley girl-inflection-toting bottled blondes from the popular soap opera parody sketch star in the ad for the new Volkswagen ID Buzz, an electric take on their own California icon, the old Vw bus, which debuted on Thursday. And, frankly, it's giving nostalgia vibes in an extremely earth-conscious way, which is like, totally Californian of them. We can see why Karina (Wiig) and her lover Devin (Hader) are too impressed by her...

A star-studded crowd gathered to celebrate the legacy of the iconic comedy and musical series Saturday Night Live. As part of the 50th anniversary of the show, SNL50: The Homecoming Concert saw many familiar faces from the last 50 years of the series' history both watching and performing at the event, which was hosted by Jimmy Fallon. As the night kicked off, however, no one expected to see Oscar-winner Tom Hanks and his wife Rita Wilson storm out of the auditorium after Fallon explained that the night would not include any awards presentations. Fallon said:

“Apparently, there’s been some confusion. This is just a concert. We’re not giving out any awards tonight. So, I just want to make sure that everyone knows that.”

At that point, Hanks and his wife stood up out of their seats and stomped up the central aisle and out of the venue. Of course,...

Tina Fey, the former head writer and cast member of NBC's Saturday Night Live, has revealed that she's part of the writing team behind SNL50, the 50th anniversary special that will air this Sunday on NBC. Even though Fey's experience on the show speaks for itself, returning as a staff writer meant that she had to clean the rust off of her comedy writing skills. However, a visit from a very special SNL icon made everything better.

Fey was a guest on The Tonight Show With Jimmy Fallon alongside her former SNL co-star, dear friend and collaborator, Amy Poehler (via Entertainment Weekly). The conversation turned to what's brewing for SNL50, and Fey revealed that she's part of a team of staff writers for the special: "I know a little bit about what's taking shape because I am working on it as a staff writer, which I'm pretty excited about,...

Jesse Eisenberg is a one-time Saturday Night Live host, once serving in that role for a guest hosting gig in 2011. He has not hosted the sketch comedy series since, but that could be in part due to the experience not going so well for the actor.

During a new interview for Today with Jenna & Friends, Eisenberg discussed his SNL experience. He revealed that he's still haunted by how it went, despite how he was told that it was the "best episode they ever did." For the former Lex Luthor actor, he went into SNL extremely excited, as creating comedy for the legendary show was something he had dreamed about. He also presumed that it was up to him to write the sketches he'd appear in, and he started slipping written skits to cast members leading up to the show. Eisenberg said he was told by someone at SNL that this was encouraged,...

With the 50th Anniversary of Saturday Night Live looming on the horizon, many of the show's former stars and guest hosts have opened up about their experiences on the series. While stories from writers about letting polarizing figures like Donald Trump host have taken center stage, a new anecdote has emerged from a 2013 host. Jesse Eisenberg, known for roles like Lex Luthor and Mark Zuckerberg, opened up about hosting the long-running sketch comedy series, and sadly, he doesn't look back fondly on the experience.

During a recent appearance on the newly revamped fourth hour of Today, Jenna & Friends (via Variety), he expressed regret about his lifelong dream being far more sour than sweet:

"I only have bad memories because I did such a dumb thing. My dream when I was 17 was to write for ‘SNL.’ I made a packet and everything and I got an agent. And then, when I got asked to host,...

Saturday Night Live is celebrating its 50th year on television this year, and with this milestone comes a plethora of new insights and anecdotes regarding the show's storied history – some of which are collected in a new book, which reveals that former SNL writer and star Tim Robinson had a pretty strong reaction when Lorne Michaels invited Donald Trump to host an episode during his first presidential election campaign.

Before becoming President of the United States, Donald Trump was a mainstay on NBC, with his competition series The Apprentice serving as a pivotal part of the primetime lineup. Shortly after announcing his run for president, the network dumped Trump as host of the series due to derogatory comments he made about Mexican immigrants, but that didn't squash his involvement with NBC. Instead, to the shock and awe of many, Lorne Michaels invited Trump to host an episode of the long-running sketch series.

It's hard to believe, but this year, Saturday Night Live turns 50 years old. Created by Lorne Michaels, the show premiered on Oct. 11, 1975 and while it didn't go quite as smoothly, it certainly became a cultural phenomenon. Dan Aykroyd, John Belushi, Chevy Chase, George Coe, Jane Curtin, Garrett Morris, Laraine Newman, Michael O'Donoghue, Gilda Radner, and host George Carlin were the first to appear on the legendary show. And now, as its 50th anniversary special approaches, NBC has released a partial list of major A-list actors, musicians, and celebrities who will appear.

SNL50: The Anniversary Special will feature a who's who of major celebrities, per Variety. They include Sir Paul McCartney, Tom Hanks, Kim Kardashian, Steve Martin, Martin Short, Scarlett Johansson, Dave Chappelle, Miley Cyrus, Paul Simon, Robert De Niro, Sabrina Carpenter, Pedro Pascal, Bad Bunny, Quinta Brunson, Peyton Manning, Woody Harrelson, Adam Driver, Ayo Edebiri, and John Mulaney. More stars will be announced soon.

For the last several decades, Saturday Night Live has been faced with questions of its future. While so many people claim not to watch or call it unfunny, everyone still talks about it and sketches still go viral. Some feel the show has run its course, the sketches need work, or members of the cast need to go. Nothing ever comes of it because Saturday Night Live is engrained as part of the fabric of late-night television that no one really ever expects to end. But there’s one point in time when Saturday Night Live almost did get canceled, and arguably should have been. The show was hanging by a thread, and instead of a complete cast shake-up saving the show, it led to a year that has become known as the “weird season.”

This was in 1985 during season 11, a bizarre season that the new Peacock docuseries SNL50: Beyond Saturday Night...

The Writers Guild of America West and Writers Guild of America East have chimed in with their selection of the best writing among television and film offerings of 2024. The 2025 WGA Awards nomination announcement was delayed a week due to the devastating fires that hit Los Angeles and scorched more than 40,000 acres. The guild currently plans to stick with its Saturday, February 15th date for the awards ceremony.

Ceremonies will take place in Los Angeles at the Beverly Hilton and in New York City as the Edison Ballroom.

WGA Awards 2025 Nominees

Original Screenplay

A Real Pain, Written by Jesse Eisenberg; Searchlight Pictures

Anora, Written by Sean Baker; Neon

Challengers, Written by Justin Kuritzkes; Amazon MGM Studios

Civil War, Written by Alex Garland; A24

My Old Ass, Written by Megan Park; Amazon MGM Studios

Adapted Screenplay

A Complete Unknown, Screenplay by James Mangold and Jay Cocks, Based on the Book Dylan Goes Electric!

TV’s best scribes are getting their moment in the spotlight: The Writers Guild of America West (Wgaw) and Writers Guild of America East (Wgae) have announced nominations for the 2025 Writers Guild Awards ceremony, which is to be held Saturday, Feb. 15.

The TV nominees include a number of first-timers, including the final season of Paramount+’s supernatural drama Evil, HBO’s Batman spinoff The Penguin and freshman series like Prime Video’s Fallout and FX’s Shōgun. Of course, usual suspects like Hacks, The Bear and Abbott Elementary are all present and accounted for as well.

More from TVLineSAG Awards 2025: Nobody Wants This Duo,...

While Hollywood continues to reel from the devastating L.A. wildfires, the WGA is honoring some of the film industry’s best and brightest by announcing the 77th annual Writers Guild Awards nominees. The yearly celebration of excellence in film, TV, new media, news, radio, and promotional writing is always a highlight of the year, as the event brings attention to many hard-working individuals across a broad spectrum of entertainment.

Anora, A Real Pain, Challengers, Civil War, and My Old Ass are among the films nominated for the Original Screenplay category, while shows like The Boys, The Diplomat, Fallout, Mr. & Mr.s Smith, and Shōgun compete for Drama Series excellence.

The WGA plans to announce the winners on February 15 in New York at the Edison Ballroom and in Los Angeles at the Beverly Hilton.

Here are the nominees for the 77th annual Writers Guild Awards:

Screenplay

Original Screenplay

A Real Pain,...

Hit Man and My Old Ass join awards heavyweights Anora, A Real Pain and Dune: Part Two in the Writers Guild of America (WGA) nominations announced on Wednesday after being delayed due to the ongoing LA wildfires.

Scroll down for nominations

Challengers and Civil War are included in the original screenplay category, while Wicked, Nickel Boys and A Complete Unknown are in contention for adapted screenplay.

Vying for documentary honours are Jim Henson: Idea Man, Kiss The Future, Martha, and War Game.

Eligibility rules excluded The Brutalist, Conclave,Emilia Perez,All We Imagine As Light,Hard Truths, andThe Outrun.

The...

Anora, Challengers, A Complete Unknown, Nickel Boys and Wicked are among the feature film screenplay nominees for the 77th annual Writers Guild Awards, which revealed its nominees Wednesday to honor the year’s best in film, TV, new media, news, radio and promotional writing.

Winners will be announced February 15 during concurrent ceremonies in New York at the Edison Ballroom and Los Angeles at the Beverly Hilton.

Today’s nomination comes after the WGA delayed its announcements from last week due to the impact of the devastating wildfires across Los Angeles last week. Several groups delayed their noms announcements in order to extend voting deadlines including the Oscars.

Last year’s WGA Awards saw The Holdovers and American Fiction win the top film awards at the strike-delayed ceremony, which came after the Oscars were handed out and Cord Jefferson’s American Fiction won the Academy Award for Adapted Screenplay.

Here’s...

A lot of great movies, actors, and screenplays fall through the cracks during awards season as the Oscars race typically narrows to a handful of expected nominees. That's why it's fun to see what earns attention with some of the other more niche awards bodies. The Writers Guild of America...

Mike Schur, a writer celebrated for his work on The Office, recently shared his mixed feelings about a 2008 Saturday Night Live sketch titled “The Japanese Office.”

The parody, which aired during an episode hosted by Steve Carell, has since racked up millions of views online. However, Schur opened up about his unease with it during an appearance on The Lonely Island and Seth Meyers Podcast.

While Schur acknowledged SNL as a major cultural force, he admitted this particular sketch didn’t quite land the way he had hoped. “I felt a little bit rankled,” he said, reflecting on how the parody represented The Office.

The sketch begins with Ricky Gervais, the creator of the original British The Office, introducing a fictional Japanese sitcom that he claims inspired his show. In the segment, Steve Carell reprises his role as Michael Scott, joined by SNL cast members Jason Sudeikis, Bill Hader, and Kristen Wiig,...

Mike Schur, a talented writer known for his work on “The Office,” recently reflected on a 2008 “Saturday Night Live” sketch called “The Japanese Office,” which left him feeling uneasy.

The parody, aired during an episode hosted by Steve Carell, has since gained millions of views online but didn’t sit well with Schur, who shared his thoughts on “The Lonely Island and Seth Meyers Podcast.”

Schur explained that while he appreciated “SNL” as a cultural tastemaker, this particular sketch didn’t capture what he had hoped it would. He admitted feeling “a little bit rankled” by how the parody represented “The Office.”

The sketch opens with Ricky Gervais, creator of the original British “The Office,” introducing a fictional Japanese sitcom that supposedly inspired his show. In the clip, Steve Carell reprises his role as Michael Scott alongside other “SNL” cast members like Jason Sudeikis, Bill Hader, and Kristen Wiig, portraying Japanese versions of iconic characters.

Mike Schur successfully transitioned from writing at Saturday Night Live to working on some of the best sitcoms of all-time. So when Schur gave his thoughts on SNL's attempt to parody his show The Office, his opinion carried a lot of weight.

Schur joined the Saturday Night Live writing staff in 1998, a year after graduating from Harvard. Soon, he became the "Weekend Update" producer and an Emmy winner. Schur left the show 2004 and followed that up as a producer and writer of The Office.

Seth Meyers invited Schur onto The Seth Meyers and Lonely Island podcast to discuss the best "SNL Digital Short" sketches of all time. Schur emphatically stated that the 2008 Office parody "Japanese Office" does not deserve any special recognition.

"It didn't scratch the itch of reflecting [The Office] in the way that I was hoping the show would be reflected somehow," Schur said. "I worked at SNL,...

Before Mike Schur helped create beloved comedy series like “The Good Place,” “Brooklyn Nine-Nine” and “Parks and Recreation,” he won Emmys as a writer on “Saturday Night Live” and “The Office.” The two series collided in May 2008 when “The Office” star Steve Carell hosted “SNL” and participated in a viral digital short titled “The Japanese Office,” which has since earned 17 million views on YouTube. Schur, however, recently said on “The Lonely Island and Seth Meyers Podcast” (via Entertainment Weekly) that the parody left him “a little bit rankled.”

“It didn’t scratch the itch of reflecting [‘The Office’] in the way that I was hoping the show would be reflected somehow,” Schur said. “I worked at ‘SNL,’ but you still feel like ‘SNL’ at some point at some level is an arbiter of what matters in the culture. And when [Carell] did ‘The Japanese Office,’ I remember being a little bit rankled.

Plot: In the sixth and final season of the Emmy-nominated comedy, Nandor, Nadja, Laszlo, Colin and Guillermo will enter the workforce, visit New Hampshire, go to a human dinner party, fête The Baron and conjure a demon — all while trying to find their place and their purpose in this crazy, mixed-up world.

Review: Since it debuted in 2019, What We Do In The Shadows has consistently been one of the funniest television shows. Taking a cue from the mockumentary film of the same name starring Jemaine Clement and Taika Waititi, What We Do In The Shadows has followed the Staten Island-based vampires Nandor (Kayvan Novak), Laszlo (Matt Berry), Nadja (Natasia Demetriou), energy vampire Colin Robinson (Mark Prosch), and Nandor’s familiar Guillermo (Harvey Guillen) as they have explored the day to day life of the bloodsuckers and their interactions with the human world. The series has been consistent in tone and...

This article contains spoilers for the first two episodes of What We Do in the Shadows season 5.

After the arsonist’s inferno, neglected fire insurance premiums, and financial ruin which befell Nadja’s (Natasia Demetriou) vampire club last season, and the final growth spurt which marked the return of the once and future energy sucker Colin Robinson (Mark Proksch), What We Do in the Shadows season 5 returns to bloody basics. The opening double-header episodes, “The Mall” and “A Night Out with the Guys,” lean into Jemaine Clement and Taika Waititi’s original 2014 comic creature feature film by putting the supernatural immortals in mundane modern settings, and newly adopted olde world recreations.

“We want to be seen interacting with something like trams, trains, and all sorts of different things,” Kayvan Novak, who plays the ancient vampire warlord Nandor the Relentless, tells Den of Geek. “For an audience, that’s always exciting to see.

You made it through the Screen Actors Guild Awards, the Directors Guild Awards, and the Producers Guild Awards, too. The wait for the Oscars is almost over, but one more major guild had yet to give out its trophies before the Academy Awards. Tonight, Hollywood’s top writers came together for the Writers Guild of America Awards, which honored the finest achievements in film and television writing.

On the film side, the nominees were actually quite different from what you’ll see at the Oscars next week. In the Original Screenplay category, “Licorice Pizza,” “Don’t Look Up,” and “King Richard” were still nominated, but “Belfast” and “The Worst Person in the World” were replaced with “Being the Ricardos.” The Adapted Screenplay category was even more distinct, with only two Oscar contenders (“Dune” and “Coda”) nominated.

But it ultimately did not matter, as two Oscar nominees took the top prizes. “Coda...

Sunday’s 74th Writers Guild of America Awards will wrap up the guild season, along with the American Society of Cinematographers Awards. Will the winners be an Oscar preview?

“Licorice Pizza,” written by Paul Thomas Anderson, and “Coda,” by Sian Heder, are favored to win Best Original Screenplay and Best Adapted Screenplay, respectively. However, they are not facing off against many of their Oscar rivals as the WGA’s rules have rendered several scripts ineligible, including Oscar nominees “Belfast” and “The Worst Person in the World” in original, and “Drive My Car,” “The Lost Daughter” and “The Power of the Dog” in adapted. But if they both prevail, they will have bagged the two top industry prizes as they won at BAFTA last weekend right in the middle of final Oscar voting (it ends Tuesday).

The TV field features heavy-hitters “Succession” and “Ted Lasso,” both of which are expected to...

On Thursday, January 13, Writers Guild of America West (Wgaw) and Writers Guild of America East (Wgae) jointly announced their 2022 nominations for television and new media. Winners will be rewarded on Sunday, March 20 in a ceremony that also honors motion pictures. Read on for the complete list of 2022 Writers Guild Award nominations for TV, which includes a nice mix of new series (like Hulu’s “Only Murders in the Building”) and established fare (like HBO’s “Succession”).

SEEReminder: Here’s who won last year’s WGA Awards

This year’s drama series contenders are “The Handmaid’s Tale,” “Loki,” “The Morning Show,” “Succession” and “Yellowjackets.” Of these, only “The Handmaid’s Tale,” “The Morning Show” and “Succession” also showed up in the Episodic Drama category, which was rounded out by specific episodes of “1883,” “This Is Us” and “New Amsterdam.”

The comedy series nominees are “Curb Your Enthusiasm,” “Hacks,” “Only Murders in the Building,...

The Writers Guild of America revealed nominations Thursday in television, new media, news, radio/audio and promotional categories for the 2022 WGA Awards, which are scheduled to take place Sunday, March 20 hosted by the WGA West and WGA East.

Nominees in the marquee TV categories include reigning Comedy Series winners Ted Lasso from Apple TV+, with newcomers to the list including several shows with multiple noms: HBO Max’s Emmy winner Hacks, Showtime’s Yellowjackets, Hulu’s Only Murders in the Building and Disney+’s Marvel series Loki. That group along with FX’s Reservation Dogs comprise the awards’ New Series nominees list.

The wide-ranging list also includes noms for Netflix’s Maid and Midnight Mass, HBO’s critically lauded The White Lotus and Emmy winner Mare of Easttown, Amazon Prime Video’s The Underground Railroad and Disney+’s WandaVision in the longform categories.

Other notables: noms for Taylor Sheridan’s...

“Only Murders in the Building,” “Hacks,” “Loki” and “Yellowjackets” are among the top nominees for this year’s Writers Guild Awards, announced on Thursday. Winners will be honored at a joint 2021 Writers Guild Awards ceremony on Sunday, March 20, 2022.

The nominations from the Writers Guild of America West (Wgaw) and Writers Guild of America, East (Wgae) include outstanding achievement in television, new media, news, radio/audio, and promotional writing during 2021. The WGA Awards announcement caps a busy week that also included the Golden Globes’ unusual non-ceremony ceremony on Sunday, and this year’s SAG Awards nominations on Wednesday.

“Only Murders” led the WGA tally with three noms, including comedy, new series and comedy episodic. Shows with two nominations include “The Handmaid’s Tale,” “Loki,” “The Morning Show,” “Succession,” “Yellowjackets,” “Hacks,” “Reservation Dogs,” “Bob’s Burgers” and “The Simpsons.” HBO led all networks with nine; followed by Apple TV Plus, FX, Hulu, NBC, Netflix and PBS,...

The Writers Guild of America Awards were handed during a virtual ceremony on Sunday, March 21. But don’t base your Oscar predictions on these kudos. Every year a slew of Oscar-nominated scripts are deemed ineligible for consideration here due to guild guidelines. Indeed, over the past 12 years only 80 of the Writers Guild of America Awards nominees have numbered among the 120 screenplays that reaped Academy Awards bids. Scroll down for the 2021 Writers Guild of America Awards winners list.

Our odds predict that “Nomadland” will win Best Adapted Screenplay winner at the Oscars but it was not allowed to compete at the WGA Awards. Neither was another Oscar contender in that category: “The Father.” The guild did match the academy three-for-five in this category, with “Borat Subsequent Moviefilm,” “One Night in Miami” and “The White Tiger” competing at both. “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom” and “News of the World” round out the guild nominees.

PGA best feature contenders include award front runners Nomadland, Mank and Minari.

The Producers Guild of America (PGA) has revealed the nominations in film and TV categories for its 32nd annual awards event, set to take place virtually on March 24.

Up for PGA’s theatrical feature award, which the Guild says has predicted 21 of the past 31 best picture Oscar winners, are the producers of Borat Subsequent Moviefilm, Judas And The Black Messiah, Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, Mank, Minari, Nomadland and One Night In Miami.

In the animated feature category, the producers of The Croods: A New Age, Onward, Over The Moon,...

The Producers Guild has pulled back the curtain on its PGA Awards nominations for theatrical motion pictures, animated features, TV series and specials and televised/streamed motion pictures. See the full list below.

Vying in the marquee category — the Darryl F. Zanuck Award for Outstanding Producer of Theatrical Motion Pictures — are the producers behind

Borat Subsequent Moviefilm, Judas and the Black Messiah, Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, Mank, Minari, Nomadland, One Night in Miami, Promising Young Woman, Sound of Metal and The Trial of the Chicago 7.

On the toon side, the five pics up for the Animated Theatrical Motion Picture prize are The Croods: A New Age, Onward, Over the Moon, Soul and Wolfwalkers.

Annie Awards Nominations: ‘Soul’ & ‘Wolfwalkers’ Lead Field For Animation Prizes

Over on the small screen, the Episodic Television Drama category includes Better Call Saul, Bridgerton, The Crown, The Mandalorian and Ozark, and the comedy series nominees are Curb Your Enthusiasm,...

The Writers Guild of America announced their WGA Awards TV nominations for on Wednesday, February 3. After getting just one bid from the Golden Globes earlier in the day, AMC’s “Better Call Saul” rebounded to top all shows with five nominations including for Drama Series along with Amazon Studios’ “The Boys,” Disney +’s “The Mandalorian” and Netflix’s “The Crown” and “Ozark.”

Hulu lands two shows in contention for Comedy Series with “The Great” and “PEN15,” making the streaming service the only company to score multiple nominees in the category. They are joined by HBO’s “Curb Your Enthusiasm,” Apple TV+’s “Ted Lasso” and FX’s “What We Do in the Shadows.”

Another notable feat belongs to “The Simpsons,” which dominates the animation category with four of the six nominations. Despite premiering over 30 years ago, the Fox series shows no signs of writer’s fatigue. “Bob’s Burgers” and “BoJack Horseman...

The WGA on Wednesday unveiled nominations for its 2021 WGA Awards in the categories of TV, new media, news, radio/audio and promotional writing during 2020. Winners will be honored March 21 in a virtual ceremony.

AMC’s Better Call Saul topped all shows with five nominations including for Drama Series, joining a list that includes Amazon Studios’ The Boys, Netflix’s The Crown (which led the way on the TV side at the Golden Globe nominations earlier today) and Ozark and Disney+’s The Mandalorian.

Also making noise today is Hulu, the only other company to have multiple noms in the top categories; it scored in Comedy with Tony McNamara’s The Great and Pen15 and FX on Hulu’s What We Do in the Shadows, which are joined in the race by HBO’s Curb Your Enthusiasm and Apple TV+’s Ted Lasso.

Lasso is also nominated in the New Series,...

The nominations for the 2021 Writers Guild Award TV categories were announced on Wednesday, with streaming series dominating the lineup.

Both the drama series and the comedy series categories were majority streaming, with hits like “The Queen’s Gambit,” “The Mandalorian,” “The Crown” and “Ozark” sitting alongside fan-favorites like “PEN15,” “The Great” and “Ted Lasso.” Other nominees included HBO Max’s “The Flight Attendant,” HBO’s “Lovecraft Country” and Showtime’s “Good Lord Bird.

“Better Call Saul” also landed three additional nominations for individual episodes, with “Ozark” picking up another. “The Great” and “Ted Lasso” both picked up nomination for individual episodes as well as for Best New Series.

Comedy and variety nominees included Peacock’s fledgling late-night show, “The Amber Ruffin Show,” Amazon’s “Yearly Departed,” the one-off “30 Rock” reunion special and Stephen Colbert’s 2020 election coverage on Showtime.

Nominations in the film categories will be announced later this month,...

“Better Call Saul” are among the top nominees for this year’s Writers Guild Awards, landing a nod for best drama series, as well as three nominations in the episodic drama category. “The Simpsons” landed four nominations in best animation, while newcomers “Ted Lasso” and “The Great” both scored nominations in best comedy, new series and episodic comedy. Winners will be honored at a joint 2021 Writers Guild Awards virtual ceremony on Sunday, March 21, 2021. Here’s the complete list of nominations, announced on Wednesday morning:

Drama Series

“Better Call Saul,” Written by Ann Cherkis, Vince Gilligan, Peter Gould, Ariel Levine, Heather Marion, Thomas Schnauz, Gordon Smith, Alison Tatlock; AMC

“The Boys,” Written by Eric Kripke, Ellie Monahan, Anslem Richardson, Craig Rosenberg, Michael Saltzman, Rebecca Sonnenshine; Amazon Prime Video

“The Crown,” Written by Peter Morgan, Jonathan Wilson; Netflix

“The Mandalorian,” Written by Rick Famuyiwa, Jon Favreau, Dave Filoni; Disney Plus

“Ozark,” Written by Laura Deeley,...

Women landed one third of all the Primetime Emmy nominations in the seven directing categories, a record high for the Television Academy.

In total, 16 women were recognized this year out of 48 total directing nominations — a big jump from last year, when nine out of 49 directing nominees (just over 18%) were women. And this year, a woman was nominated in every single directing category, after two straight years of no female directors getting a nod for a reality series and one year without a woman picking up a nom for a variety series.

Before this year, female directors had the highest representation in 2013, when eight of the 33 nominees — or 24% — were women. That was when there were still just six directing categories, as reality series had not been added to the list at that time.

In the writing categories, women landed 33 nominations out of a total of 120 nominees, or 27.5%. That’s a slight...

John Mulaney & the Sack Lunch Bunch will return, but the hijinks are moving from Netflix to Comedy Central. The comedian has announced that he is coming back for two new specials, similar to the one that debuted on Netflix last December. Mulaney will host and executive produce the new installments.

Per the announcement, John Mulaney has signed a deal to produce two new Sack Lunch Bunch specials for Comedy Central. This is both a win for the cable network and something of a blow for Netflix, as the first special was received quite well. While the streaming service rarely shares ratings information, it did well enough to get Comedy Central interested in a follow-up. Mulaney had this to say in a statement.

"I was an intern at Comedy Central when I was barely older than the kids in the 'Sack Lunch Bunch. I wasn't a very good intern, so I...

John Mulaney is taking his “Sack Lunch Bunch” from Netflix over to Comedy Central. The comedian has signed a deal to host and executive produce two new original “Sack Lunch Bunch” specials for the cable channel, one a holiday-themed installment that will reunite the cast from the original “John Mulaney & The Sack Lunch Bunch,” which launched on Netflix last December.

The pair of new “Sack Lunch Bunch” events will mark Mulaney’s return to Comedy Central where he last did a special in 2012.

Here’s the description for the original “John Mulaney & The Sack Lunch Bunch,” which debuted on Netflix Dec. 24 of last year:

Also Read: How John Mulaney Got Jake Gyllenhaal for 'The Sack Lunch Bunch' (Video)

Emmy Award Winning Comedian John Mulaney aims to recapture the magic of that bygone television era when children sang songs about their feelings with celebrity guests on funky outdoor sets. The result:...

John Mulaney is bringing the “Sack Lunch Bunch” to Comedy Central.

Variety has confirmed that Mulaney has signed a deal with the cabler to host and executive produce two new “John Mulaney & the Sack Lunch Bunch” specials. The first special debuted on Netflix this past December.

“I was an intern at Comedy Central when I was barely older than the kids in the ‘Sack Lunch Bunch.,'” Mulaney said. “I wasn’t a very good intern, so I am psyched they hired me again. We are thrilled to bring these specials to Comedy Central: a place where I have had so many good times.”

The first installment of the “Sack Lunch Bunch” was an hour-long variety special starring Mulaney, over a dozen child actors, and celebrity guests like Jake Gyllenhaal, Natasha Lyonne, and David Byrne. Mulaney co-wrote it with Marika Sawyer with music by composer Eli Bolin. Rhys Thomas directed.

Spencer Mullen Dec 26, 2019

John Mulaney & The Sack Lunch Bunch, Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, Travis Kalanick, and more in today's daily Link Tank!

Here are five ways that The Rise of Skywalker could have been fixed without altering the plot.

"Complaining about the big, broad swings of the lightsaber that is Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker’s plot is boring. We can whine endlessly about the specific writing decisions and whether they’re bad or good, but, where does that get us? Plus, if you liked The Rise of Skywalker, but you’re scratching your head about a few things, you’re probably kind of sick of trying to debate that it was perfect when you know it was really just okay but flawed."

Read more at Inverse.

Here's why Florence Pugh's Amy March is the highlight of 2019's Little Women.

"When I watched the 1994 version of...

Spoiler Alert: Proceed with caution if you have not yet watched “John Mulaney and the Sack Lunch Bunch,” streaming now on Netflix.

Children’s entertainment based on “existential angst and fear” might not seem like a natural combination on the face of it, but according to John Mulaney, that combination’s fueled the genre for as long as he can remember.

“A lot of entertainment that I consumed as a kid had a lot of either melancholy or dread, and it was not some undertone,” the comedian tells Variety. “Even things like ‘I know an old lady who swallowed a fly’ — every part of that [song] is odd and disturbing!”

And so as he set about building “John Mulaney and the Sack Lunch Bunch,” his new variety special for Netflix, co-written by Marika Sawyer (“Saturday Night Live”) with music by composer Eli Bolin. They drew inspiration from musical influences including Burt Bacharach,...

Right at the top of John Mulaney’s new Netflix special, the clean-cut comic addresses his audience directly, in order to explain what he’s doing. After all, this isn’t another stand-up set or Broadway play. It’s both. Kind of. It’s an inventive, exciting, and very funny homage to “Mister Rogers Neighborhood,” “The Electric Company,” and more live-action kids’ shows of yesteryear. But it’s also very theatrical, with plenty of scenes taking place on stage and lots and lots of music. Really, “John Mulaney & The Sack Lunch Bunch” is an advocacy piece for thinking like a kid again — and Mulaney makes a damn convincing case.

“What you’re about to see is a children’s TV special, and I made it on purpose,” Mulaney says, flanked by a group of 8- to 13-year-old children known as The Sack Lunch Bunch. “It’s a show for kids,...

Dead To Me, Russian Doll in running for new series honours.

Writers of The Crown, Succession and Watchmen are among the television nominees for this year’s Writers Guild Awards, unveiled on Thursday (5) by the East and West branches of the Writers Guild of America (WGA).

Joining the three projects in the list of drama series nominees are writers of The Handmaid’s Tale and Mindhunter. Nominees in the WGA’s new series category include PEN15, Russian Doll and Watchmen.

In the original long form category, nominees include the writers of Chernobyl and True Detective and the adapted long form category includes Fosse/Verdon and Unbelievable.