News

Sitcoms don’t get much more wholesome than the 1950s comedy, Leave It to Beaver. But its squeaky-clean reputation didn’t stop rumormongers from creating a laundry list of salacious urban legends around the fates of its stars. In particular, Jerry “The Beaver” Mathers and Ken “Eddie Haskell” Osmond suffered disturbing futures, at least according to the whispers on the pre-Snopes streets.

Here are three Leave It to Beaver urban legends that are equally untrue…

1 The Beaver Was Killed in Vietnam

When the stubbornly living Jerry Mathers appeared on Tom Snyder’s Tomorrow Show in the mid-1970s, Snyder noted that viewers hadn’t seen much of Mathers on TV lately. Most people chalked up his absence to the persistent rumor that the Beav was killed “in the war in Southeast Asia.”

The origins of the legend are twofold. First, Mathers did sign up for military service as part of the Air Force Reserves.

Ted Cordes, whose 35 years at NBC included telling Johnny Carson, Tom Snyder and others what they could and could not put on the air as the longtime head of broadcast standards for the network on the West Coast, has died. He was 87.

Cordes died Sunday night at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles of complications from Alzheimer’s disease, his husband, William J. Derby, announced.

In 1963, Cordes joined NBC as a page in the guest relations department in Burbank and answered fan mail for Bonanza. He called it a career at the end of 2003 overseeing Queer Eye for the Straight Guy and other programs as vp broadcast standards, West Coast.

On live broadcasts, Cordes would personally oversee the 10-second delay to prevent viewers from encountering objectionable material.

“In a nation where everyone believes in at least his own right to free speech, the censor is typically seen as the enemy...

Theodore F. “Ted” Cordes, who spent more than 30 years at NBC including as its head of broadcast standards, has died at the age of 87.

He died on Sunday, July 6, at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles from complications of Alzheimer’s disease, according to his husband, William J. Derby.

Cordes worked on some of NBC’s key shows including The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson, The Tomorrow Show, L.A. Law, Law & Order and the Saturday morning animated Star Trek series.

Joining the company as a page in Burbank before rising to become VP Broadcast Standards, West Coast, he once said that his career began by answering fan mail for Bonanza in 1963 and ended in 2014 when he handled broadcast standards for Queer Eye for the Straight Guy.

After serving in the U.S. Army from 1961-63, stationed in Korea, he joined NBC as a page, before briefly leaving in 1966 to join advertising agency Dancer-Fitzgerald-Sample.

Byron Allen’s “Comics Unleashed,” a syndicated comedy round-table that had been a mainstay of CBS stations, is coming back to the network to — once again — fill some holes.

Two back-to-back half hours of the program will air following “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” on CBS at 12:37 a.m. starting in the fall. The network said it plans to run the show throughout the 2025-2026 TV season, in the time slot previously occupied by “After Midnight,” which is ending following host Taylor Tomlinson’s decision to focus on stand-up comedy.

“’Comics Unleashed’ is a true passion for me, simply because this world can never have enough laughter,” said Byron Allen, founder of Allen Media Group, which produces the program, in a prepared statement. “I created this show so that the best comedians can all come together and help bring non-stop laughter.”

Use of Allen’s program gives the...

In a surprising turn of events that’s got the late-night TV world buzzing, CBS has officially pulled the plug on After Midnight, hosted by comedy’s rising star Taylor Tomlinson. The network had quietly renewed the show for a third season but never made a public announcement, and now we know why – it’s not happening after all.

Tomlinson has decided to step away from the hosting gig to return to her stand-up roots, leaving CBS with a big decision to make about their late-night lineup. The show, which features celebrity guests competing in pop culture and social media challenges, will finish its run in June 2025.

This marks not just the end of Tomlinson’s brief but notable hosting career, but potentially the end of CBS programming in the post-midnight slot altogether – a significant shift in the late-night landscape that’s been part of CBS’s identity since 1995.

The...

Ok, let’s face it. You heard the news about the return of dire wolf pups after 12,000 years, marking the end of that species’ extinction. And maybe you thought, “Wow, 12,000 years flies by!” Or you thought, “You mean, like in Game of Thrones?” But, if you’re a music nerd of any generation, you likely thought, “Man, I love that Dead song.”

The dire wolf predated the Grateful Dead by about 2 million years, a period when the species rambled around this part of the world before vanishing around 10,000 Bce. Fast...

After 2 seasons of breaking the mold on late night, After Midnight will be ending. The second slot late night talk show will not be returning for a third season. The finale of the series will air in June. It comes on the heels of Taylor Tomlinson announcing she was stepping aside from the series to return to stand up. In a statement shared with Entertainment Weekly, Tomlinson shared, "Hosting After Midnight has genuinely been the experience of a lifetime, and I'll be forever grateful for the opportunity to be part of this incredible journey. Though it was an extremely tough decision, I knew I had to return to my first passion and return to stand-up touring full-time. I appreciate CBS, Stephen Colbert, the producers, and the entire After Midnight staff and crew for all the love, support, and unforgettable memories."

Stephen Colbert addressed the cancelation on his show, The Late Show.

Despite the show quietly getting a third season renewal that had yet to be announced publicly, the late-night show “After Midnight,” hosted by Taylor Tomlinson, will conclude after just two seasons on CBS.

Instead of seeking out a replacement host or show, the network has opted to stop programming the post-“The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” time slot altogether, which technically aired at 12:30 a.m., but in reality ran Monday through Friday from 12:37-1:37 a.m. Et/Pt, with the preceding Stephen Colbert-hosted late night program airing from 11:35 p.m.-12:37 a.m. Et/Pt.

According to Deadline, it was Tomlinson’s decision to exit the show as she made it clear to the network and the show’s producers that she had an interest in returning to touring as a stand-up comic.

“Hosting ‘After Midnight’ has genuinely been the experience of a lifetime,...

I’m one of those people — there are a lot of us — who is always up for a Charles Manson movie. There have been so many! All the documentaries and dramatizations. Not to mention the TV specials, both prestige and tabloid, the broadcast interviews with Manson acolytes like Tex Watson and Patricia Krenwinkel, and the epic-event television interviews with Charlie himself, like the famous one conducted by Tom Snyder in 1981 or the one that Charlie Rose did with Manson in 1986. Then there are the books, from Ed Sanders’ “The Family” to Jeff Guinn’s “Manson” to the one that remains the granddaddy of all Manson studies, Vincent Bugliosi’s “Helter Skelter,” the best-selling crime book in history (seven million copies).

The Manson saga has been excavated from every angle. Yet I’m always open to any new ray of light that can be shed on its darkness. So I sat...

Self-awareness has never been Chevy Chase’s strong suit. So when the comic actor raises his hand and admits, “I said something stupid,” we should probably pay attention. That’s what happened when Chase sat down with Bill Maher on his Club Random podcast two years ago, as reported by Far Out, calling out his own bad behavior during a 1980 talk show appearance with Tom Snyder.

Snyder was in full celebrity schmooze mode that night, noting that people in Hollywood were calling Chase the next Cary Grant. The SNL star didn’t necessarily take it as a compliment. “I said, ‘That’s crazy, there’s nobody like Cary Grant and there will never be another Cary Grant and I understand he was a homo,’” Chase told Maher. He didn’t stop there, referring to Grant with a sarcastically cheerful, “What a gal!”

Given 40 years or so to reconsider his words,...

A familiar and trusted broadcast presence in New York City over the last 50 years has signed off the air for the final time: Chuck Scarborough, who has anchored or coanchored Wnbc TV since Nixon was in office, America was in Vietnam and the city itself was teetering on economic failure, surprised many viewers Thursday when he announced on air that he had just delivered his final newscast.

While Scarborough, 81, hadn’t exactly kept his semi-retirement plans a secret in recent weeks, the goodbye no doubt came as unwelcome news to many loyal and longtime viewers.

“From one Chuck to another,” tweeted New York Sen. Chuck Schumer, “Best wishes on your next chapter, Chuck. You didn’t just tell us the news, you made NYers feel at home and for that we thank you.”

Scarborough joined NBC News in March 1974 as co-anchor with Jim Hartz of Wnbc-tv’s then-new 5:00 Pm newscast,...

Norm Macdonald isn’t primarily known for his celebrity impressions, but during his time on Saturday Night Live, he imitated Bob Dole and Burt Reynolds as well as also managed to gift/curse us all with this scarily accurate take on Quentin Tarantino.

But the best Macdonald impression, many would argue, is his David Letterman.

Impressions of Letterman weren’t totally new to SNL. Back in 1983, Joe Piscopo played the host while he was still part of the NBC family. Piscopo’s Letterman was serviceable, but ultimately, uninspired.

Macdonald, on the other hand, was somehow able to tap into the core of Letterman’s comic persona, only slightly amplifying his mannerisms, and ultimately turning the Late Show star into a frenzied sketch comedy character without all that much exaggeration. And shout-out to Mark McKinney for his overly sycophantic Paul Shaffer.

Macdonald must have been doing something right, because even now,...

This article contains Major Spoilers for Joker: Folie Deux.

Director Todd Phillips has been adamant that their version of Joker departed from the canon villain. The final act of Joker: Folie Deux confirmed this with the character's turnabout and devolution.

Arthur Fleck doesn't become The Joker in Joker: Folie Deux. Director Todd Phillips asserted this before the film's release, but there's still the mystery of how Arthur Fleck's story would end. The third act of the film depicts a court drama of Arthur vs. Gotham's corrupt government, and in a surprising turn, Arthur decides to confess to all the murders he committed. Phillips told IGN that the abrupt decision seemed the only way out from Arthur's end. "The only way to win is to burn it all down in Arthur's head, like just a little 'F it all,'" he said. "You know what I mean? Because you just...

During Joker: Folie à Deux's final act, Arthur Fleck decides to represent himself in court and, during a rousing speech, insults Arkham's guards. 

When he returns, they're not happy and proceed to beat him up, wash off his makeup, tear his suit to pieces and then - presumably - rape him in the shower. Nothing is explicitly shown and fans are currently divided on whether Arthur was simply beaten or sexually assaulted by those guards. 

Either way, we next see Arthur being dragged back to his cell where he lies broken in body and spirit, forced to listen to Brendon Gleeson's Jackie Sullivan murder his fellow inmate and fan, Ricky. 

It's seemingly because of this that Arthur decides to go to court the next day and admit there is no "Joker' and only he is responsible for his actions. While it isn't made overly clear, the message seems...

A new trailer for Joker: Folie à Deux just hit the internet, pleasing fans of comic book movies and absolutely thrilling fans of “slow motion gyrating on staircases” movies. Todd Phillips’ follow-up to 2019’s shockingly successful, billion dollar-earning Joker features several lavish musical numbers involving Lady Gaga, and apparently zero references to Batman, who is presumably still just a small boy in this increasingly confusing universe.

One intriguing detail in the trailer: Steve Coogan is in it! The British comedy star can briefly be seen in some kind of an interrogation room, along with Joaquin Phoenix’s Joker, sandwiched between two TV cameras.

When he appeared in the earlier teaser trailer, U.K. fans were shocked by Coogan’s presence, with some likening it to a “jump scare” and others claiming that they were “completely taken out” of the world of the movie when Coogan showed up. Although the best...

Attorney Leon Wildes, who stood next to John Lennon and Yoko Ono in court, in public and on TV during the early 1970s as the famous couple successfully fought unrelenting deportation attempts by the Nixon Administration, died Monday, January 8, at New York’s Lenox Hill Hospital. He was 90.

His death was announced by his son Michael Wildes, the Mayor of Englewood, New Jersey.

Wildes himself would share at least a fraction of the Lennons’ massive fame for a while in the early ’70s, appearing with the couple on various high-profile TV talk shows during the three-year litigation.

After Lennon and Ono, both outspoken critics of the war in Vietnam, moved to New York City following the break-up of the Beatles, they soon became targeted by the Nixon Administration and the Immigration and Naturalization Service. Lennon had been convicted in London in 1968 on a marijuana possession charge, and a waiver he...

January 11, 1999, 25 years ago to the day, was Jon Stewart’s first night hosting The Daily Show.

The comedian took over from Craig Kilborn, who had hosted the Comedy Central show from July 21, 1996. Stewart’s first guest was Michael J. Fox, promoting Spin City.

The Daily Show with Jon Stewart went on to win the Emmy for Outstanding Variety Series for ten consecutive years between 2003 and 2012, before losing to The Colbert Report, a show that he exec produced, for a couple of years, and then coming back to win in 2015 in his final season.

It’s a run that Last Week Tonight with John Oliver looked like it might replicate with seven wins in the category – then known as Outstanding Variety Talk Series – starting in 2016.

However, Oliver is now competing on Monday night at the primetime Emmys in a new category, Outstanding Scripted Variety Series, up against Saturday Night Live and A Black Lady Sketch Show,...

CBS kicks off a new era in late-night on Tuesday, January 16, when it launches “After Midnight” at 12:37 a.m. hosted by comic Taylor Tomlinson.

The series, which will rely on a rotating series of panelists to discuss the latest trends and memes in the digi-sphere, will follow an original hour of CBS’ “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert.”

“After Midnight,” based on the premise of “@midnight,” a program that ran on Comedy Central between 2013 and 2017,” breaks late-night tradition at CBS, which has long depended on a more typical program after 12:30 a.m. But network executives, realizing that the business of wee-hours TV is in flux, canceled “The Late Late Show” that has run for decades in that slot, hosted by people such as Tom Snyder, Craig Kilborn, Craig Ferguson and James Corden. “After Midnight” is said to cost significantly less to produce — a boon in an era when...

The satire that would pervade Terry Gilliam’s subsequent Brazil is largely confined to the first few minutes of 1981’s Time Bandits. The film opens in a modern, English household where a boy, Kevin (Craig Warnock), pores over a book on ancient Greek history while his parents (David Daker and Sheila Fearn) both watch and read advertisements, discussing the relative merits of their various gadgets and appliances compared to those of their neighbors. The living room is lit with harsh artificial light and decorated like a showroom, a place designed as a boast, not to be lived in. Only Kevin’s room, naturally lit via a window and adorned with self-taken photographs and childlike drawings, betrays any humanity.

Soon, the cozy retreat of Kevin’s room is invaded, though not by his parents, but by a medieval knight on horseback, and then a sextet of time-traveling dwarves who recruit the...

James Corden said his final goodbye to The Late Late Show last Friday, April 28, bringing an end to the long-running late-night talk show, which first began airing in January 1995 with host Tom Snyder. However, according to sources cited by Los Angeles Magazine, the Corden-fronted show was losing CBS as much as $20 million a year. The report states that The Late Late Show cost the network between $60 million to $65 million a year to produce but was netting less than $45 million. “It was simply not sustainable,” an executive allegedly told ex-cnn anchor Brian Stelter, who wrote the LA Magazine article. “CBS could not afford [Corden] anymore.” “Even if Corden had wanted to stay in his seat, there was bound to be a late-night reckoning.” Stetler continued. “He would have faced a multimillion-dollar pay cut or painful staff reductions or both, according to two sources who worked with him closely.” The final episode aired last Friday,...

You are reading an exclusive WrapPRO article for free. Want to level up your entertainment career? Subscribe to WrapPRO.

The finale episode of “The Late Late Show with James Corden” was a success for CBS. According to the network, the last episode saw a 77% increase in viewership in its season-to-date average. The talk show posted its largest audience on any night of the week since Sunday, 24, 2021, which is when “The Late Late Show” followed the AFC Championship Game.

For its finale, CBS aired two different episodes, both of which were also available to stream on Paramount+. The first was “The Last Last Late Late Show With James Corden Carpool Karaoke Special,” an hourlong show that premiered at 10 p.m. Et/Pt and featured appearances from Adele and Tom Cruise. Marketed as Corden’s official last “Carpool Karaoke,” that primetime special averaged 3.56 million viewers. That was an increase of 32% from Corden’s last “Carpool Karaoke” special,...

After eight years and too many musical moment to count, “The Late Late Show” is finally coming to an end this April. The CBS talk show first premiered in 1995 with Tom Snyder as its host. Now, as James Corden steps away from the series, that 12:37 a.m. time slot is about to become vacant.

Ahead of this chapter in TV history coming to an end, here’s everything you need to know about how to watch “The Late Late Show’s” final episode, what “The Last Last Late Late Show” is and what celebrities you can expect.

When Is “The Late Late Show with James Corden” Ending?

This Thursday, April 27, say goodbye to “The Late Late Show.” That means no more James Corden, no more “Crosswalk the Musical” and no more “Spill Your Guts or Fill Your Guts.” As for “Carpool Karaoke,” this isn’t the last you’ll...

With “The Late Late Show With James Corden” coming to an end, crew members took advantage of Corden’s interview with “Late Night” host Seth Meyers to ask for a job.

On Monday night, the routine interview between these two late night colleagues was interrupted by several members of Corden’s team asking if there’s room for them at “Late Night With Seth Meyers.” Even bandleader and comedian Reggie Watts got in on the joke.

The segment started off as usual before one of Corden’s cameramen — identified only as Will — interrupted the pair. “Just wanted you to know, man, this shot looks great. Got just the right amount of headroom, perfectly centered. Really captures your essence,” the cameraman told Meyers.

Also Read:

Laura Benanti’s Melania Trump Shows Stormy Daniels Grace: ‘I Know What She’s Been Through — Worst 90 Seconds of Your Life’ (Video)

“Well that’s great.

People from all over the world on most weekdays eagerly line up across New York City — ready to do something they’d likely never do at home.

Dozens of tourists, fun-seekers and fans snake across the floor in the middle of the afternoon in the luxurious lobby at NBC’s 30 Rockefeller Plaza, all anxious to see Seth Meyers do a live-to-tape run-through of his “Late Night,” a program that has been on in one form or another on the network since David Letterman launched it in 1982. Attending one of the shows means agreeing to take part in an hours-long process that requires everything from security checks to a light verbal grilling by a warm-up comic who aims to get attendees ready to laugh. Many blocks away, a similar crowd queues up under a marquee on the west side of Manhattan, ready to take part in a taping of Comedy Central’s “The Daily Show,...

James Corden, host of “The Late Late Show” since 2015, spoke candidly from the stage of The Paley Center in Los Angeles on Sunday. The London-born 44-year-old comic and two producers on his CBS late-night show, Ben Winston and Rob Crabbe, took something of a victory lap as they wind down their tenure in the 12:30 time slot. They have 12 more episodes to shoot, and are planning some big names (and more carpool karaoke segments) for the grand finale.

Bryan Cranston (a good get!) hosted the panel, during which time Corden spoke about the uncertainty he feels about his future employment. “I haven’t felt this scared since I decided to take the show, to move here,” he said. “I haven’t felt on such unstable ground,” but added, “I have to embrace that fear.”

He intends to bring his family back to England and hopes to get back to live theater.

James Corden aims to leave the late-night stage in a big way.

CBS plans to broadcast the last hour of its “The Late Late Show,” which Corden has hosted since March of 2015, on Thursday, April 27, and will add a primetime special that night to help mark the occasion.

Tom Cruise will reunite with Corden for one big sketch to air during the primetime special. Cruise has previously joined Corden on “The Late Late Show” for segments include daredevil stunts such as piloting fighter jets and skydiving. In this new meeting, Corden will have Cruise take part in an epic musical performance during “The Lion King” at the Pantages Theater in Hollywood.

CBS said additional details for the special will be announced in coming weeks along with guest stars who will join Corden during his last two months on the program. Corden is the fourth — and last — person to lead “The Late Late Show,...

In April 2022, James Corden announced that he would be stepping down from his duties at "The Late Late Show" after hosting the late-night staple since 2015. Many speculated about who would take his spot as the successor to Tom Snyder, Craig Kilborn, and Craig Ferguson in the 12:35 a.m. time slot on CBS' schedule. But as we move closer to Corden's final days on the show, which are scheduled to air in spring 2023, no one has officially emerged as the next host. And it appears that the reason for this is that the network is doing away with the series entirely in favor of a fan-favorite format that debuted a decade ago that was canceled after 600 episodes. 

Points if you guessed "@midnight."

According to Deadline, CBS is bringing the improvisational internet-themed panel game show out of Viacom storage and refreshing it for a whole new audience. The reboot will be...

CBS plans to reboot the improv comedy show “@midnight” as a replacement for “The Late Late Show With James Corden,” according to multiple media reports.

Stephen Colbert is set to executive produce the reboot of the series that ran from 2013 to 2017 on Comedy Central. Though Chris Hardwick hosted “@midnight,” a game show that posed Internet-themed questions to its three guests, during its Monday through Thursday airing at the time, Hardwick is not expected to return to the reboot.

The reboot marks a shakeup in the network’s current slate, ending “The Late Late Show” after nearly 27 years, though the change could be expected after CBS CEO George Cheeks shared his plans to experiment with the late night slot.

Also Read:

Michael Bay to Make TV Directorial Debut With Bounty Hunter Action Series for Prime Video

CBS declined to comment. Deadline first reported the news.

In April, Corden announced that he...

CBS wants to cut back on late-night talk and play up the games in the wee hours of the morning.

CBS is expected to replace its long-running “Late Late Show” after a 28-year run with a reboot of the Comedy Central game show “@midnight,” according to a person familiar with the matter, in a maneuver that would cut costs and also revive a programming concept controlled by the network’s’ parent company, Paramount Global.

A CBS spokesman declined to comment on the network’s plans, which would mark the second time the network has raided Comedy Central to stock its late-night grid. Stephen Colbert jumped from Comedy Central to CBS in 2015. Deadline previously reported

the decision.

Using “@midnight” would trim some of the frills in CBS’ post-“Late Show” slot, which another person familiar with the business of late-night TV suggested would eliminate tens of millions of dollars in production costs.

How’s this for a rapid refresh?

Former Comedy Central late-night show @Midnight is being rebooted at CBS, where it is set to take over the 12:37 am time slot currently occupied by The Late Late Show With James Corden, Deadline reports.

More from TVLineGhosts' Asher Grodman Previews the Introduction of Trevor's Parents, Hints at More Fallout From Hetty HookupRatings: Grammy Awards Audience Surges 30 to Hit a 3-Year HighGrammys Honor 50 Years of Hip-Hop With All-Star Medley: Queen Latifah, Missy Elliott, Nelly and 30+ Others

The new incarnation will be executive-produced by The Late Show‘s Stephen Colbert. Former host Chris Hardwick is not attached.

CBS is dipping back into the recent past to fill the late night slot that’s soon to open up when its The Late Late Show With James Corden departs.

The network is set to replace the long-running Late Late Show franchise with a reboot of comedic panel game show @midnight, sources confirm to The Hollywood Reporter. Stephen Colbert, who hosts The Late Show for the network, is on board as executive producer of the revived program that aired 600 episodes on Comedy Central before signing off in August 2017.

Reps for CBS declined to comment.

@midnight, which launched in October 2013, aired Mondays through Thursdays on the basic-cable network, with host Chris Hardwick asking internet-themed questions to three comedian guests. Hardwick is not expected to have direct involvement in the new iteration of @midnight, which hails from Funny or Die and won two Emmys for creative achievement in interactive media social TV...

This year, the TV series Dahmer – Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story has made headlines on Netflix. many have praised the depiction of the serial killer, but not everyone is happy. One such person is the original case reporter who has come out to criticize the show's inaccuracies. Like many other shows, this isn't the first time inaccuracies in a serial killer TV series have been criticized, and it will not be the last.

Serial killers have always been something of intrigue. Despite not killing anyone, Charles Manson has obtained the title of serial killer due to his influence on his followers, which resulted is several murders. Even (or especially) after he died in 2017, plenty of documentaries, movies, and TV shows about him have been released.

Manson (1973)

There is a vast number of serial killer documentary films that get right into detail about the killer and their crimes. Like the other intriguing serial killers,...

Click here to read the full article.

Bill Maher spent an hour with “the icon of icons,” Chevy Chase, for the latest installment of his Club Random podcast, and by the sound of it, they seemed to have a rollicking good time.

They spent the majority of the chat session cracking jokes, matching wits and howling with laughter as comedians are wont to do while covering a slew of subjects including showbiz legends Frank Sinatra and Johnny Carson, circumcision, masturbation and why Maher opted not to have children.

Early in the podcast, they discussed Chase’s work opposite Burt Reynolds in The Last Movie Star, the latter’s final film before he died Sept. 6, 2018. “He was actually dying during it,” Chase noted of the Adam Rifkin film. “That’s when I learned what a great actor he is.”

Maher then mentioned that Reynolds and Chase share a quality that he...

Click here to read the full article.

Not long ago, Brad Herman, the right-hand man to hush-hush Hollywood, invited a longtime client, legendary Motown songwriter Eddie Holland, to a private visit with another client, The Supremes’ Cindy Birdsong, who since September 2021 has resided in a Los Angeles-area care facility after two strokes that have left her unable to walk or speak. Herman, who says he’s been granted power of attorney over the singer, had worked with Birdsong’s family members to extricate her from a previous living arrangement.

“Eddie puts his hand behind her head, very delicately, sweetly, saying, ‘Cindy, I’m really happy to see you,’ then he just sat there real close and sang in her ear: ‘Baby Love,’ ‘Love Child,’ ‘Someday We’ll Be Together,’ ” Herman recalls, eyes tearing, rolling up a shirtsleeve to show a forearm prickling in memory: goose bumps. “Every­one who has a public face has drama.

Click here to read the full article.

As late-night television hosting transitions go, The Daily Show had a smooth one back in 2015.

Jon Stewart announced he was leaving that February. In March, Comedy Central revealed that his replacement would be Trevor Noah, a barely known correspondent from the show. Stewart filmed his last episode in August and Noah filmed his first episode in September.

In short, this wasn’t Jay Leno and David Letterman jockeying for position at NBC to take over for Johnny Carson on The Tonight Show, leading to late night’s version of the Great Schism. It also wasn’t Conan O’Brien taking over as host of The Tonight Show with Jay Leno sent into primetime exile, rebuilding his strength and preparing to leave the Elba of the 10 p.m. hour to retake the throne at the earliest sign of weakness.

No, everybody at The Daily Show...

When James Corden cuts ties with CBS’ “Late Late Show” next year, he may leave with more than people expected.

CBS is considering replacing Corden’s distinct program with a multi-host panel, according to three people familiar with the matter, a sign of how late-night is changing as viewers sample the best of the programs via social media rather than watching them in their wee-hours’ time slot. Corden has decided to leave “The Late Late Show” in the spring of 2023. A panel format could encompass a wide range of concepts, such as the news-roundtable program “Politically Incorrect,” which Bill Maher led on ABC late-nights between 1997 and 2002; the gossipy “Chelsea Lately” that was led by Chelsea Handler on E! between 2007 and 2014; or even the frenetic game-show stylings of “@midnight,” which aired in late night on Comedy Central between 2013 and 2017.

It’s entirely possible the replacement show may not have a live...

Exclusive: Bob Hercules, who co-directed the Peabody-winning American Masters bio-documentary Maya Angelou: And Still I Rise, is set to co-produce and co-direct Tom Who, a documentary about the career of late-night talk-show icon Tom Snyder. Preproduction kicked off this week on the project, which is being co-produced and co-directed by Snyder’s daughter Ann Marie Snyder.

The film will feature lost archival material from NBC’s Snyder-hosted The Tomorrow Show, which ran from 1973-81 after The Tonight Show and showcased Snyder informal, conversational style and drew guests from John Lennon and Barbara Walters to Steven Spielberg and Charles Manson. The show gave way to David Letterman’s Late Night which took over the time slot in 1982 (see Snyder’s final signoff below).

After Tomorrow, Snyder, who started his career in radio and was an anchor for NBC News and Los Angeles’ Knbc, became the first host of CBS’ Late, Late Show franchise,...

G. Gordon Liddy, a central Watergate figure who spent more than four years in prison but went on to appear in a number of TV series, a few films and hosted a radio talk show for two decades, died Tuesday in Virginia, his son Thomas told media outlets. He was 90.

Unrepentant till the end, the imposing, mustachioed Liddy led the “Plumbers,” President Nixon’s secret White House group, but was not among those caught burglarizing the Democratic National Committee headquarters at the Watergate complex in June 1972. Still, he was tried on conspiracy and burglary charges as the mastermind of the scheme. Also convicted of refusing to testify at the Watergate hearings, he served more than 51 months in federal prison.

He famously did not implicate Nixon, but the 37th president of the United States was forced to resign in August 1974 amid the growing scandal.

Liddy is referenced — but his character did...

Noriyuki "Pat" Morita broke many barriers on his way to becoming an American pop culture icon. He will forever be remembered as the wise, kind, and ass-kicking mentor, Mr. Miyagi, in The Karate Kid and its three sequels. But Morita's life story and decades-long career was much more than this legendary role. More Than Miyagi: The Pat Morita Story pulls back the curtain to reveal a complex, supremely talented, and troubled man. He fought racism and Hollywood stereotypes with charm and humor, but was unable to conquer his addiction to alcohol.

More Than Miyagi: The Pat Morita Story is told through archival interviews, remembrances from numerous co-stars, industry colleagues, and his third wife of eleven years, Evelyn Guerrero; who was with him at the time of his death in 2005. Noriyuki "Pat" Morita was born near San Francisco on June 28, 1932 to Japanese parents. He was diagnosed with spinal tuberculosis as a...

Sonny Fox, who hosted the Sunday morning children’s staple Wonderama in the 1960s, died Sunday in Los Angeles of Covid-19-related pneumonia. He was 95.

His death was confirmed by his official website.

As host of the four-hour, New York-based Wonderama from 1959-67, Irwin “Sonny” Fox was one of era’s most popular kid-show hosts, exemplifying the local flavor that markets across the country had adopted. Wonderama was produced at New York’s Metromedia-owned Wnew-tv Channel 5, and also aired in other Metromedia markets including Los Angeles, Washington D.C., Kansas City, Cincinnati and Minneapolis-St. Paul.

The show’s mix of cartoons, celebrity guests, magic tricks, art lessons, spelling bees and Fox’s slapstick humor entertained the kids in the live studio audience as well as TV viewers across the nation. Wonderama ultimately would run from 1955-77, again from 1980-87 and in 2017.

After leaving the show — he was replaced by another longtime host,...

Sonny Fox, the beloved kids television host who connected with children on the New York-based Sunday morning program “Wonderama,” died Sunday in Los Angeles of coronavirus-related pneumonia, his website confirmed. He was 95.

Fox hosted “Wonderama” for four hours every Sunday, and the show was celebrated for the way it engaged children, featuring everything from cartoons to games that kids could play along with at home. In 1959, Fox was hired to replace Bill Britten and Doris Faye as the host of “Wonderama” on the Metromedia station Wnew-tv, Channel 5 in New York.

Fox remained with the show until exiting in 1967 to co-host an adult talk show for Channel 5 in 1967.

Fifty years later, he said was still getting emails “from my kids who are now in their 50s, and some of them are quite extraordinary,” he said in a 2008 interview with the Television Academy. “One came from a young man who said,...

John Belushi’s kinetic energy and skill at physical comedy made him a larger than life performer during his short run as a superstar on “Saturday Night Live” and in movies such as 1978’s “Animal House” and 1980’s “The Blues Brothers.”

But Belushi’s work off-camera as a writer and director, from his earliest days in the Second City improv troupe, was considerable. As the life of the comedian — who died of a drug overdose at age 33 in 1982 — is re-examined in the R.J. Cutler documentary “Belushi,” which premieres Nov. 22 on Showtime, here are highlights of Belushi’s story as chronicled by Variety.

The first reference to John Belushi came in the Nov. 17, 1971, edition of weekly Variety. He was singled out for praise in a generally positive review of the “Cum Granis Salis” show staged by Chicago’s legendary Second City. That famed ensemble would later contribute major players to the original “Saturday Night Live” cast,...

I was a strange child. I didn't have cable TV growing up, so whenever I was at a friend's or relative's house who did, I would, like many kids of my generation, glue myself to that set and absorb what I'd been missing. But unlike other kids, whom I imagine were interested in MTV, Cartoon Network, and scrambled dirty channels, I couldn't get enough of the low-key misadventures of a middle-aged therapist talking to his comedian clients. Dr. Katz, Professional Therapist originally aired on Comedy Central from 1995-2002. Created by Tom Snyder …...

Where's My Roy Cohn? is a blistering account of the infamous lawyer's rise to power and his toxic imprint on American politics. Director Matt Tyrnauer is unflinching in his takedown of a brilliant, but utterly ruthless man. Roy Cohn was a master of Machiavellian tactics. Friends, family members, legal partners, and multiple journalists speak candidly; but the interviews with Cohn himself are truly revealing. He was ferocious, always in attack mode, and never apologetic. Roy Cohn was not burdened by truthfulness or empathy. He embraced narcissism as a cover for self-loathing. Where's My Roy Cohn? paints a brutal portrait. It's a fascinating journey that leads directly to the poisoned discourse today.

The documentary opens with Roy Cohn's entrance to American political theater. At twenty-three, he was instrumental in securing the death penalty for communist spies Julius and Ethel Rosenberg in the early fifties. His tenacity led the rabid anti-communist FBI...

In today’s film news roundup, financing has been secured for a Nicolas Cage police drama, feature drama “Topside” is unveiled and the late Tom Snyder is getting a tribute from his daughter.

Financing Completed

Dcr Finance Corp. has signed a deal to complete the financing for Nicolas Cage’s upcoming crime drama “10 Double Zero.”

The project, which begins shooting on July 29 in Louisiana, is directed by Christian Sesma (“Vigilante Diaries”) from a script he co-wrote with “Green Book” writer Nick Vallelonga about a pair of officers who set out to avenge the killings of several fellow officers in a public shootout with bank robbers. As they get closer to solving the crime, they find themselves the targets of a conspiracy in the ranks of the police force.

“10 Double Zero” was unveiled in May during the Cannes Film Festival with Wonderfilm and Ton of Hats producing. Dcr Finance...

When you’re Norm Macdonald, you surround yourself with things that interest you.

These days, that often means a playing cards at a Vegas casino, as he competes on “Poker After Dark.” Sometimes that means working on new ideas with his longtime producing partner Lori Jo Hoekstra. And as the legendary comic told IndieWire, sometimes that even means indulging in some newfound online fascination. “I watch YouTube all the time. I go down YouTube holes where I’ll just watch every Orson Welles video and just gorge myself on information,” Macdonald said.

It’s that kind of interest — somehow laser-focused and scattershot at the same time — that guides the latest act of Macdonald’s career: Netflix talk show host. Premiering this Friday on the streaming platform, “Norm Macdonald Has a Show” is a collection of 10 half-hour interviews with a wide mix of entertainment subjects. Macdonald speaks to actors such as Drew Barrymore and Michael Keaton,...

Norm Macdonald, the onetime SNL “Weekend Update” host and failed candidate to inherit The Late Late Show, will be back behind a prop desk this fall as the host of Netflix’s Norm Macdonald Has a Show. A trailer for the talk show spotlights Macdonald stiffly questioning the title of the program, asking Drew Barrymore if she misses cocaine, David Letterman if he thinks much about dying and Chevy Chase about knowing Bob Dylan (“I fucked him,” Chase answers). Throughout, it shows Macdonald’s off-the-cuff, irreverent brand of silliness. “This isn’t in the script,...

Exclusive: Bohemia Group Originals, a subsidiary of Hollywood management firm Bohemia Group, has optioned the seven novels in Susan M. Boyer’s Liz Talbot mystery series to develop them for TV. The novels are set in South Carolina and center on a trendy 30-year-old who unravels mysteries in the tradition of Murder, She Wrote.

“I stumbled across book one of the Liz Talbot Mysteries a couple of years ago at the L.A. Times Festival of Books,” Bohemia Group Originals CEO Susan Ferris said. “By the time I had finished it, I ordered three more. Susan Boyer’s books are humorous, charming and light-hearted murder mysteries, set in South Carolina. Each of the books are binge-worthy page turners which I can’t wait to see on TV.”

The seven books in the option are Lowcountry Boil, Lowcountry Bombshell, Lowcountry Boneyard, Lowcountry Bordello, Lowcountry Book Club, Lowcountry Bonfire and Lowcountry Bookshop.

“Sundays With Alec Baldwin” is, on every conceivable level, meant to be simple, inoffensive television. From the ’60s multi-color ABC logo that kicks off the episode to the colorful set complete with blue chairs (that make Baldwin’s eyes pop like crazy), the hourlong talk show is meant to be a throwback to “Dick Cavett and Tom Snyder,” as Baldwin notes in his introduction — a return to TV’s roots. Maybe some insights pop up here and there while the host chats with his famous “friends,” but the superficially personal conversations and big-name sheen are more important than honest-to-goodness candor.

This is all well and good in theory, save two points: First, talk shows like “Sundays With Alec Baldwin” never went away. Or, at the very least, they’ve been back for a while, in a new form: They’re called podcasts, and Baldwin already has one. Nothing makes his...

As I begin writing this I'm watching David Letterman, in one of his final appearances as host of "The Late Show," walk out to greet the audience as he's done thousands of times. He's talking about the weather in New York, again, as he's done countless times. After Wednesday, he'll never walk out onto that Ed Sullivan Theater stage and shoot the breeze about the weather again. He'll never again throw it to Paul Shaffer and the CBS Orchestra to kick off the show. The misfits, alas, will have lost their shepherd. Because at his core, that's who Letterman is and has been. He has represented the off-brand sensibilities of an audience allergic to the vanilla stylings of his cool kid contemporaries. He has been the kind of personality who could give us Stupid Pet Tricks and turn throwing a football at a meatball-topped Christmas tree into an annual tradition.