News

Mel Brooks has a goal in life. It’s to be funny and make people laugh. In his book, “All About Me!: My Remarkable Life in Show Business,’ he wrote, “Comedy is a very powerful component of life. It has the most to say about the human condition because if you laugh you can get by. You can struggle when things are bad if you have a sense of humor. Laughter is a protest scream against death, against the long goodbye. It’s a defense against unhappiness and depression.”

It’s a mantra that has served Brooks well since it broke into show business as a writer on NBC’s The Admiral Broadway Revue on 1949. He followed that up by working with some of the funniest people in the early years of TV on Your Show of Shows (1950-’54) with his lifelong friend Carl Reiner, The Imogene Coca Show...

When you purchase through our links, we may earn an affiliate commission.

Fubar is a spy action comedy-drama created by Nick Santora. The Netflix series follows Luke Brenner, a top CIA operative who’s about to retire from the field, but when he discovers that his daughter is also in the CIA and is currently in a dangerous situation, he is forced to return to the field. Fubar stars Arnold Schwarzenegger, Monica Barbaro, Milan Carter, Gabriel Luna, Fortune Feimster, Travis Van Winkle, Fabiana Udenio, Jay Baruchel, Barbara Eve Harris, Aparna Brielle, Andy Buckley, Guy Burnet, and Carrie-Anne Moss. So, if you loved the explosive action, hilarious comedy, and entertaining characters in Fubar, here are some similar shows you should check out next.

True Lies (Rent on Prime Video) Credit – CBS

True Lies is a short-lived spy action comedy-drama series created by Matt Nix. Based on the 1994 film of the same name,...

Throughout film history, filmmakers have resorted to a plethora of methods to balance an actor’s height in the context of the scene, whether utilizing some special tools or forced-perspective framing. Tom Cruise allegedly used shoe lifts for his work, a method Don Adams used during his stint on Get Smart, which starred Barbara Feldon, who was considerably taller than him.

Alan Ritchson in Reacher | Credit: Amazon Prime Video

Although one would assume Alan Ritchson wouldn’t need such treatment, given his stature, interestingly, the show does use certain tricks to display Reacher’s towering build.

Even Alan Ritchson had to undergo special tricks to achieve Reacher’s towering build

In Lee Child’s novels, Reacher towers almost everyone he encounters, and to emphasize this aspect of the character, the showrunners incorporated some subtle changes in some of Alan Ritchson‘s shots. From his visit to the thrift shop to the pawn shop,...

Although most of today's viewing audiences weren't watching 1960s television live, it speaks to the quality and relatability of shows from that decade that many of its shows are cemented in popular culture. If they're not being rerun on cable or made available on several different streaming apps, they're being transformed for modern viewers with feature-length homages, for better or worse.

From spy dramas and family sitcoms to science fiction adventures and dark gothic soap operas, the 1960s had a little something for everyone. When we look back on the decade's television, we see a rapidly changing landscape, one where shows nostalgic for a simper time screen opposite imaginative, forward-thinking programs. Although many 1960s shows feel very much of their time, there's a stylish charm that makes them still enjoyable to watch today.

Here are some of the best TV shows that the 1960s has to offer -- take a...

Before "Austin Powers," "Johnny English," and "Top Secret!" there was "Get Smart," the 1960s spy sitcom that mined the genre for laughs when the James Bond and "Mission: Impossible" franchises were still in their infancies. Co-created by comedy legends Mel Brook and Buck Henry, "Get Smart" ran for five seasons from 1965 to 1970, earning seven Primetime Emmys and plenty of other accolades along the way.

Stand-up comedian Don Adams starred as Maxwell Smart, the sometimes inept top-secret agent who regularly held the fate of the world in his hands ... and often almost fumbled it. By his side was the beautiful, super-cool Agent 99 (Barbara Feldon), who loves Maxwell despite his clumsiness and penchant for messing up missions. The central trio was rounded out by Edward Platt's The Chief, the supportive leader of the intelligence agency Control, which employed both Agent 99 and Maxwell.

"Get Smart" inspired a follow-up film, sequel TV show,...

Because time is a flat circle, and residual checks only go so far, several cast members of Modern Family recently got back together for a commercial hawking WhatsApp, seemingly set in an alternate universe in which Ed O’Neill and Sofia Vergara don’t exist.

Play

While this commercial may be bad (and it definitely is) it’s far from the first time that sitcom stars have regrouped for painfully awkward ads, such as how…

4 The Stars of ‘Full House’ Appeared in a Nightmarish Yogurt Ad

The idea of Full House’s Bob Saget, Dave Coulier and John Stamos re-teaming for a Greek yogurt commercial sounds cute on paper, but in execution it got weird as hell. I mean, the punchline of this spot finds Stamos being nonconsensually humped by a grocery store clerk. And before that, Stamos rips his face off. Sure, it’s because he’s really Saget in a Mission: Impossible-esque mask,...

Rochelle Oliver, who starred on Broadway in Lillian Hellman’s Toys in the Attic and Edward Albee’s Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? and taught acting at New York’s respected Hb Studio since the 1970s, has died. She was 86.

Oliver died April 13, the Hb Studio announced. “Those who knew Rochelle will know what a luminous artist, sensitive and passionate teacher she was,” it said in an Instagram post. She died two days shy of her birthday.

For the big screen, Oliver starred in the Horton Foote-written 1918 (1985) and Courtship (1987) and appeared in such other films as The Happy Hooker (1975), Paul Mazursky‘s Next Stop, Greenwich Village (1976), John Sayles’ Lianna (1983), An Unremarkable Life (1989), Martin Brest’s Scent of a Woman (1992) and Woody Allen’s Hollywood Ending (2002).

She also recurred as Judge Grace Larkin on Law & Order from 1993-03.

A protégé of Uta Hagen — who also taught for decades at Hb and...

En garde, worldwide enemies of France, along with all freedom-loving people! Hubert Bonisseur de La Bath Aka super-agent Oss 117 is on the case! Actually, he’s on two cases as a pair of his deadliest missions is now available in a nifty ultra-cool double BluRay gift set. Yes, I know Santa “made the scene” over a week ago, but if you’re wondering what to do with your gift cards or return credits, well…

First, let’s crack open the dossier file on this operative. The character springs from a series of novels begun by writer Jean Bruce, beating Ian Fleming’s 007 by six years. Of course, the movie studios beckoned, and a movie franchise premiered in 1957 and concluded in 1970. Ah, but you can’t keep a good spy down. Five years before they teamed on the Oscar-winning The Artist, director/co-writer Michel Hazanavicius and star Jean Dujardin re-imagined...

Herman Raucher, the best-selling author and screenwriter who earned an Oscar nomination for the coming-of-age classic Summer of ’42 and wrote the script for the thought-provoking Watermelon Man, has died. He was 95.

Raucher died Thursday of natural causes at Stamford Hospital in Stamford, Connecticut, his daughter Jenny Raucher told The Hollywood Reporter.

Raucher, who started out in live television, penned the screenplays for two Anthony Newley-starring films: Sweet November (1968), directed by Robert Ellis Miller and also featuring Sandy Dennis, and Can Heironymus Merkin Ever Forget Mercy Humppe and Find True Happiness? (1969), featuring Joan Collins.

He also was given inspiration from Bobbie Gentry’s 1967 hit song to write the screenplay to Ode to Billy Joe (1976), a love story that starred Robby Benson and Glynnis O’Connor and was helmed by Max Baer Jr.

With the Robert Mulligan-directed Summer of ’42 (1971) in postproduction, someone came up with the idea of Raucher writing a...

Obliterated is a high-octane action comedy series created by Jon Hurwitz, Hayden Schlossberg, and Josh Heald. The Netflix series revolves around an elite team from various branches of the US armed forces in order to stop a terrorist attack that could wipe out Las Vegas. When the team thinks that they have completed their mission, they spend their night celebrating with lots of alcohol and drugs but disaster strikes when they find out that the threat is still active and they only have a day to save Vegas. In the haze of alcohol and drugs, the team gathers and goes on a mission to save Sin City. Obliterated stars Nick Zano, Shelley Henning, Terrence Terrell, and Alyson Gorske. So, if you loved Obliterated here are some similar shows you could watch next.

Archer (Hulu & Rent on Prime Video) Credit – FX

Synopsis: The suave, confident and devastatingly handsome Sterling Archer may...

Richard Moll, the fun-loving actor who portrayed the towering and tenderhearted bailiff Aristotle Nostradamus “Bull” Shannon on all nine seasons of the popular NBC sitcom Night Court during its original run, has died. He was 80.

Moll died peacefully Thursday at his home in Big Bear Lake, California, his publicist announced.

Suitable for his 6-foot-8 frame, Moll played an abominable snowman alongside Ringo Starr and Barbara Bach in the comedy feature Caveman (1981), and he was a scary, decomposing Vietnam veteran in the horror film House (1986).

Moll also did lots of voiceover work, with a regular gig as the immortal bodyguard Norman on the syndicated series Mighty Max and turns as Harvey Dent/Two-Face for three Batman cartoons.

Moll had a shaved head — he did that to play the warrior Hurok in the sci-fi film Metalstorm: The Destruction of Jared-Syn (1983) — when he auditioned for the role of Shannon on Night Court, created by Reinhold Weege.

We will update this article throughout the season, along with all our predictions, so make sure to keep checking IndieWire for the latest news from the 2023 Emmys race. The nomination round of voting takes place from June 15 to June 26, with the official Emmy nominations announced Wednesday, July 12. Afterward, final voting commences August 17 and ends the night of August 28. The 75th annual Primetime Emmy Awards will now take place Monday, January 15, live on Fox at 8:00 p.m. Et/ 5:00 p.m. Pt.

See our previous thoughts on what to expect at the 75th Primetime Emmy Awards here.

The State of the Race

Although comedy is subjective, Jeremy Allen White giving the most acclaimed performance among the 2023 Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series Emmy nominees is not. The young star has already won a Golden Globe, Critics Choice Award, and SAG Award so far this year for his work on...

Our friends over at Terror Vision are celebrating Halloween in a Massive way this year with #13WeeksOfHalloween, which will run from August 1 straight through October 31.

Starting August 1st and running through October 31st, Terror Vision will be dropping titles every single Tuesday (#TerrorVisionTuesday) with exciting new releases ranging from the early 1900s to brand new 2023 titles. Most of the releases will be horror or horror adjacent and many of them new to disc. Here’s everything you need to know, from the press release…

Terror Vision will be releasing a definitive triple LP edition of the score to The Monster Squad, the score to Rumplestiltskin on cassette and LP, and, following their Blu-ray release of Copperhead earlier this year, will be releasing the film on VHS… along with the its recently-announced LP!

In addition, Linnea Quigley’S Horror Workout (1990) will finally be available on VHS and Blu-ray, with its outrageous...

Terror Vision has quickly become one of my go-to labels for obscure horror titles, and they're getting a jump-start on the Halloween season with #13WeeksOfHalloween, offering an eclectic mix of new, rare, and cult releases on VHS, Blu-ray, 4K Uhd, LP, and cassette:

"Halloween is Terror Vision's favorite time of the year but it's always a bummer when it's over. Much like many of you, the beloved genre distributor begins celebrating the spooky season in September... but this year, that's not good enough - and that's why they've created #13WeeksOfHalloween.

Starting August 1st and running through October 31st, Terror Vision will be dropping titles every single Tuesday (#TerrorVisionTuesday) with exciting new releases ranging from the early 1900s to brand new 2023 titles. Most of the releases will be horror or horror adjacent and many of them new to disc, so if you're ready for a mountain of Halloween treats, read on!

Scroll through our photo gallery to see our official 2023 Emmy predictions for Best Comedy Actor. As the star of Apple TV+’s “Ted Lasso,” Jason Sudeikis is tipped to win a third consecutive Best Comedy Actor Emmy trophy. He does, however, face a serious challenge from Golden Globe, Critics Choice, and Screen Actors Guild Award winner Jeremy Allen White (FX’s “The Bear”), who is running first in the race according to Gold Derby’s odds.

Sudeikis would follow Don Adams (“Get Smart”), Carroll O’Connor (“All in the Family”), and Michael J. Fox (“Family Ties”) as the fourth man to take this prize three times in a row. If “Ted Lasso” doesn’t end up returning for a fourth season, he will be the only one in the group with a perfect track record.

Aside from White, this lineup also includes his fellow first-timer, Jason Segel (Apple TV+’s “Shrinking...

Scroll through our photo gallery to see our official 2023 Emmy predictions for Best Comedy Actor. As the star of Apple TV+’s “Ted Lasso,” Jason Sudeikis is tipped to win a third consecutive Best Comedy Actor Emmy trophy. He does, however, face a serious challenge from Golden Globe, Critics Choice, and Screen Actors Guild Award winner Jeremy Allen White (FX’s “The Bear”), who is running first in the race according to Gold Derby’s odds.

Sudeikis would follow Don Adams (“Get Smart”), Carroll O’Connor (“All in the Family”), and Michael J. Fox (“Family Ties”) as the fourth man to take this prize three times in a row. If “Ted Lasso” doesn’t end up returning for a fourth season, he will be the only one in the group with a perfect track record.

Aside from White, this lineup also includes his fellow first-timer, Jason Segel (Apple TV+’s “Shrinking...

If Jason Sudeikis (“Ted Lasso”) ends up winning his third Best Comedy Actor Emmy in a row, as Gold Derby predicts, he would join a rare group of four men who claimed this category three times consecutively. To date, only Don Adams (“Get Smart”), Carroll O’Connor (“All in the Family”), Michael J. Fox (“Family Ties”) and Dick Van Dyke (“The Dick Van Dyke Show”) have pulled off the three-peat. Will Sudeikis now become the fifth?

Sudeikis has been at the top of Gold Derby’s predictions for Best Comedy Actor all season long. His closest competitor is Jeremy Allen White (“The Bear”), who dominated the winter awards season thanks in part to “Ted Lasso” not having any eligible episodes. Other likely nominees for the 2023 Emmys are Bill Hader (“Barry”), Steve Martin (“Only Murders in the Building”), Martin Short (“Only Murders in the Building”) and Jason Segel (“Shrinking”).

Note that several...

Season 3 may or may not be the final installment of “Ted Lasso,” but either way, Jason Sudeikis could do something that hasn’t been done in 35 years: win three consecutive Best Comedy Actor Emmys.

Only three men have accomplished this feat in the category: Don Adams for “Get Smart” (1967-69), Carroll O’Connor for “All in the Family” (1977-79) and Michael J. Fox for “Family Ties” (1986-88). You could also could count Dick Van Dyke, who won for “The Dick Van Dyke Show” from 1964-66, but the first two were prior to the standardization of the comedy actor category. His 1964 win was under a discontinued lead actor category that was not genre specific, while 1965 was the year the Emmys experimented with just four categories and awarded five people, including Van Dyke, with a generic performance prize. O’Connor and Fox both have four comedy actor Emmys total, sharing the category record...

Click here to read the full article.

Gary Nelson, who directed the Disney films Freaky Friday and The Black Hole, served as the in-house helmer on the first two seasons of Get Smart and called the shots for scores of other shows, has died. He was 87.

Nelson died May 25 in Las Vegas of natural causes, his son Garrett Nelson told The Hollywood Reporter.

His father was Sam Nelson, who served as an assistant director on such landmark films as The Lady From Shanghai (1947), All the King’s Men (1949), Some Like It Hot (1959) and Experiment in Terror (1962) and was a co-founder, along with King Vidor and others, of what would become the DGA.

Gary Nelson started out as an A.D., too, working on films including Nicholas Ray’s Rebel Without a Cause (1955), John Ford’s The Searchers (1956) and John Sturges’ Gunfight at the O.K. Corral (1957), before he got a big break thanks to his future wife,...

Chicago – Patrick McDonald of HollywoodChicago.com appears on Eddie Volkman Show with Hannah B on Star 96.7 Wssr-fm reviewing the new Blu-Ray edition of “Back to the Beach,” the 1987 parody of Frankie and Annette beach movies from the 1960s, featuring of course Frankie and Annette.

Rating: 4.0/5.0

Frankie Avalon and Annette Funicello portray offbeat fictional versions of themselves, married and stuck in Ohio after Frankie (nicknamed the Big Kahuna) wiped out on a monster wave called the Cowabunga from Down Unda, and left the California Beach to raise rebellious Bobby (Demian Slide) and grown daughter Sandi. When Frankie and Annette go back in California to visit Sandi, the old wave meets the new wave.

Extras: Watch anywhere Digital Movie Code, Special Feature “Filmmaker Focus” spotlighting Director Lyndall Hobbs.

’Back to the Beach’ on Blu-Ray

Photo credit: Paramount Pictures

Patrick McDonald of HollywoodChicago.com reviewed “Back to the Beach” during the Eddie Volkman...

When the 74th annual Emmy Award nominations were announced back in July, legendary comedy duo Steve Martin and Martin Short joined an incredibly short list of costars nominated in the Comedy Actor category for their performances on Hulu’s “Only Murders in the Building.” Throughout all Emmy history, only four other sets of comedy acting pairs have landed nominations in this category in the same year. But now that they have accomplished this feat, could the internal competition keep either of them from netting the trophy?

The first duo of comedy actors to earn nominations in this category dates back to 1968, when Sebastian Cabot and Brian Keith were recognized for “Family Affair” but lost to Don Adams (“Get Smart”). Tony Randall and Jack Klugman had the longest streak of costar nominations in this category from 1971 to 1975: Klugman bested Randall in ’71 and ’73, but Randall had the last laugh by finally...

Larry Storch, the comedic character actor who also did voiceover work and impressions and was best known for his role as Corporal Randolph Agarn on “F Troop,” has died. He was 99.

His family released a statement on his Facebook page, saying, “It is with the heaviest of hearts that we share with you the news our beloved Larry passed away in his sleep overnight. We are shocked and at a loss for words at the moment. Please remember he loved each and every one of you and wouldn’t want you to cry over his passing. He is reunited with his wife Norma and his beloved F Troop cast and so many friends and family.”

Storch was a familiar face on TV shows throughout the 1960s and ’70s — he starred in the 1970s children’s show “The Ghost Busters” and appeared on “The Love Boat” and “Car 54, Where Are You?” On “Married…...

Click here to read the full article.

Larry Storch, the manic comic actor who starred as the bumbling sidekick Corporal Randolph Agarn on the 1960s ABC sitcom F Troop, has died. He was 99.

Storch, who got his start as a stand-up comic, did impressions and voiced the all-knowing Phineas J. Whoopee on the classic cartoon Tennessee Tuxedo and His Tales, died early Friday morning of natural causes in his apartment on the Upper West Side of New York, his personal manager, Matt Beckoff, told The Hollywood Reporter.

“If I told you how nice he was, you wouldn’t believe it,” Beckoff said.

Storch was great friends with Tony Curtis — a fellow New Yorker whom he met when they served aboard a submarine tender in the U.S. Navy — and they appeared together in The Prince Who Was a Thief (1951), Who Was That Lady? (1960), 40 Pounds of Trouble (1962), Captain Newman, M.D. (1963), Sex...

Few comedy duos have had the staying power of Steve Martin and Martin Short, two actors and entertainers who recently rejuvenated their decades-long partnership with the smash hit Hulu comedy series “Only Murders in the Building.” The hilarious spoof of true crime podcasts looks poised to perform extremely well at the upcoming Emmy Awards, and if Martin and Short both earn nominations in the Comedy Lead Actor category, they will become only the fourth comedy pair in the history of the awards to earn double bids in the category.

The last time two costars competed in the comedy lead category was exactly 20 years ago, when in 2002 Matt LeBlanc and Matthew Perry both earned nominations for “Friends.” That year was one of the comedy’s best at the Emmys, as it earned 11 nominations and picked up prizes for Comedy Series and Jennifer Aniston, but LeBlanc and Perry ultimately lost to Ray Romano for “Everybody Loves Raymond.

Longtime producer Mace Neufeld died Friday in Beverly Hills, Calif. He was 93.

A representative for Mace Neufeld Productions said he died peacefully in his sleep.

Born in New York City, Neufeld started in the business as a songwriter and then a talent agent, managing comedy and music talents including Don Knotts, Don Adams, Randy Newman and Neil Diamond. Before entering entertainment, he pursued photography, winning an award for his photo of a returning WWII veteran.

He moved into producing for television in the 1970s, overseeing shows such as “The Captain and Tennille” variety show, “The Kids from C.A.P.E.R.” and “Quark.” He was nominated for a primetime Emmy for the TV movie “East of Eden” in 1981.

His first feature film credit came on hit horror film “The Omen” in 1976, and he produced its sequels as well. Neufeld had a long association with author Tom Clancy, starting with...

“Pepper Ann” is coming to Disney Plus on Sept. 8.

The first three seasons of the fan-favorite ’90s animated series will be available to stream next month, with the release of Seasons 4 and 5 still unclear.

Created by Sue Rose, “Pepper Ann” follows the adventures of its titular redhead character and her friends and family. Known for its witty parodies and infectious theme song, the series tackled topics including body issues, school work and being raised in a divorced, single-parent household.

Kathleen Wilhoite is the voice of Pepper Ann, starring alongside Clea Lewis, Danny Cooksey, Pamella Segall, April Winchell, Cree Summer, Candi Milo, Don Adams, Kath Soucie, Tino Insana, Jeff Bennett and Jim Cummings. Rose executive produced with Nahnatchka Khan for Walt Disney Television Animation and Sunwoo Animation Co., Inc.

Also in today’s TV news roundup:

Dates

Disney Channel will premiere “Under Wraps,” a contemporary comedic remake of the 1997 Halloween classic...

Variety's Awards Circuit is home to the official predictions for the upcoming Emmys ceremonies from film awards editor Clayton Davis. Following history, buzz, news, reviews and sources, the Emmy predictions are updated regularly with the current year's list of contenders in all categories. Variety's Awards Circuit Prediction schedule consists of four phases, running all year long: Draft, Pre-Season, Regular Season and Post Season. The eligibility calendar and dates of awards will determine how long each phase lasts and is subject to change.

To see all the latest predictions, of all the categories, in one place, visit The Emmys Collective

Visit each individual category, according to the awards show from The Emmys Hub

Link to film awards hub The Oscars Hub

Draft>>>Pre-season>>>Regular Season>>>Post Season

2021 Emmys Predictions:

Outstanding Lead Actor In A Comedy Series

Updated: Aug 10, 2021

Awards Prediction Commentary: How many ways can awards journalists write that Jason Sudeikis...

The year of 1969 saw the moon landing of the Apollo 11’s Eagle module, Richard Nixon sworn in as the 37th president of the United States, the Stonewall Riots in Greenwich Village ushering in the gay rights movement, the Tate-La Bianca murders by the Manson Family, the landmark Woodstock Music and Arts Fair which attracts 400,000, the tragic and violent Rolling Stones concert at the Altamont Speedway and even Tiny Tim marrying Miss Vicki on NBC’s “The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson.”

But one major event was basically ignored by the mainstream media: the Harlem Cultural Arts Festival which took place June 29-August 24 at the Mount Morris Park. Founded by Tony Lawrence, the festival celebrating Black pride, music and culture features such landmark performers as Sly and the Family Stone, Gladys Knight and the Pips, Stevie Wonder, The Fifth Dimension and Mahalia Jackson. And when the NYPD refused to supply security,...

Rhonda Fleming, star of the 1940s and ’50s who was dubbed the “Queen of Technicolor” and appeared in “Out of the Past” and “Spellbound,” died Wednesday in Santa Monica, Calif., according to her secretary Carla Sapon. She was 97.

Fleming appeared in more than 40 films and worked with directors such as Alfred Hitchcock on “Spellbound,” Jacques Tourneur on “Out of the Past” and Robert Siodmak on “The Spiral Staircase.”

Later in life, she became a philanthropist and supporter of numerous organizations fighting cancer, homelessness and child abuse.

Her starring roles include classics such as the 1948 musical fantasy “A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court” alongside Bing Crosby, 1957 Western “Gunfight at the O.K. Corral” and the noir “Slightly Scarlet” alongside John Payne.

Her co-stars over the years included Kirk Douglas, Glenn Ford, Burt Lancaster, Bob Hope, Rock Hudson and Ronald Reagan, with whom she made four films. Other notable roles included Fritz Lang...

Tony Sokol Jan 9, 2020

Buck Henry, who created classic comedy for big and small screens, dies at 89.

Genius comedy writer and actor Buck Henry died of a heart attack at Los Angeles' Cedars-Sinai Health Center at the age of 89, according to Variety. Henry was a frequent host on Saturday Night Live, wrote the screenplays for such comedy classics as The Graduate and What’s Up, Doc? and co-created Get Smart with Mel Brooks.

Buck Henry, who was born Henry Zuckerman on Dec. 9, 1930, was the son of silent film actress Ruth Taylor, who was also the star of the original Gentlemen Prefer Blondes. His stockbroker father was a retired Air Force brigadier general named Paul Steinberg Zuckerman. Given Henry’s penchant for comic corruption, this may have informed the educational subterfuge he mined to adapt, along with collaborator Calder Willingham, Charles Webb's novel The Graduate for Mike Nichols' 1967 classic generational comedy. “I...

“Are you here for an affair, sir?”

It’s one of the great lines in The Graduate, a movie that’s nothing but great lines, written by a New Yorker a year older than Mrs. Robinson. Buck Henry, the man who penned the screenplay, plays the officious, condescending hotel clerk, tormenting Dustin Hoffman with a routine question about whether he’s there to attend a wedding reception. It’s a great single-scene breakout role for Buck Henry — he wouldn’t have been comfortable playing one of the participants in the affair.

Buck Henry, a writer who with Mel Brooks created TV’s Get Smart and a frequent host during Saturday Night Live‘s early years, died on Wednesday from a heart attack. He was 89.

Henry’s early writing credits included TV’s The Garry Moore Show and This Was the Week That Was, before he and Brooks created 1965’s Get Smart, a five-season, Emmy-winning spy spoof starring Don Adams in the title role.

More from TVLineEddie Murphy's SNL Hits an 11-Year Audience High With DVR Playback, Best Since Sarah Palin's 2008 Visit2019's Biggest TV Controversies: SNL's Mis-Hire, Rookie Exit, Constance Wu Rues Renewal,...

Buck Henry, the legendary screenwriter behind The Graduate and What’s Up, Doc? who also co-created Get Smart and was a regular presence in the early years of Saturday Night Live, died tonight of a heart attack at Cedars-Sinai Health Center in Los Angeles. He was 89.

A family member confirmed the news to Deadline.

Henry scored a pair of Oscar nominations — one for his and Calder Willingham’s adapted screenplay for The Graduate and another for directing with Warren Beatty the 1978 movie Heaven Can Wait. He also won a writing Emmy in 1967 for Get Smart, the spy spoof he created with Mel Brooks, among many other accolades.

He became a familiar face to a new generation of TV viewers by hosting Saturday Night Live several times during its first five seasons. He might be best remembered as John Belushi’s foil in the classic “Samurai” skits.

Henry also had more...

Go-go Gadget reboot! It’s been announced that Disney is working on a new live-action movie based on the beloved Inspector Gadget animated franchise, which is currently moving forward under the simplified title Gadget.

The Hollywood Reporter revealed the news this evening, telling us that Saturday Night Live writers Mikey Dave and Streeter Seidell are penning the script, which makes two Disney reboots they’re currently working on, as the pair are also writing the new Home Alone film coming to Disney Plus. Aladdin producers Dan Lin and Jonathan Eirich are likewise attached and the project is yet to snag a director, though the hunt is on.

You’re most likely already familiar with the premise, but just in case you’re not, Inspector Gadget (initially voiced by Get Smart‘s Don Adams) is a clumsy cyborg detective recognizable for his hat and trench coat who has an endless array...

Disney is in early development on a live-action “Inspector Gadget” movie and has set up the project with “Aladdin” producers Dan Lin and Jonathan Eirich at their Rideback banner.

Disney has hired Mikey Day and Streeter Seidell, best known as “Saturday Night Live” writers, to work on the script.

“Inspector Gadget” originated in 1983 as an animated science-fiction comedy co-created by Bruno Bianchi, Andy Heyward and Jean Chalopin. It was originally syndicated by Dic Entertainment and Lexington Broadcasting Service.

Don Adams, best known for starring in “Get Smart,” supplied the voice of the title character who had his body equipped with an array of devices to battled with his enemy, Dr. Claw, leader of an organization named M.A.D. Gadget’s niece Penny and her dog Brain turned out to have the smarts to stop Dr. Claw.

Disney made a live-action movie in 1999 with Matthew Broderick as the titular character,...

Ted Danson is in a league of his own in the Best Comedy Actor Emmy category, having extended his own record to 13 nominations this year with a second straight bid for “The Good Place.” If he manages to take home the prize, he’d join even more rarified air as one of three men to have won the award for multiple shows.

The only two men to have to have been honored here for different shows are Richard Mulligan, who triumphed for “Soap” in 1980 and “Empty Nest” in 1989, and Michael J. Fox, who three-peated for “Family Ties” from 1986-88 and scored a record-tying fourth win for “Spin City” in 2000. All of the other 13 multiple Best Comedy Actor champs prevailed for one respective show, including Danson. He has two Emmys for “Cheers,” winning in 1990 and ’93, and was nominated for the entirety of the sitcom’s 11-season run. He returned to the...

Ted Danson nabbed his lucky 13th Emmy nomination in Best Comedy Actor on Tuesday and second in a row for “The Good Place.” But even more good news? He’s now extended his own record for most nominations in the category.

Danson set the record himself last year when he pulled ahead with his 12th bid. He was previously tied at 11 with Alan Alda and Kelsey Grammer for 14 years. Alda achieved 11th heaven first, getting shortlisted for all 11 seasons of “M*A*S*H,” winning in 1974 and 1982. Danson then went 11 for 11 for playing our favorite bartender Sam Malone, on “Cheers,” taking home the award in 1990 and ’93.

See 2019 Emmy nominations: Here’s the complete list of nominees

Grammer also received 11 nominations for playing one character, Dr. Frasier Crane, but only 10 of them were for “Frasier,” as he was snubbed in 2003. His 11th bid was for his guest appearance as Frasier in...

Ted Danson made Emmy history last year when he set a record for the most Best Comedy Actor nominations with his 12th bid in the category, for “The Good Place.” And now he can put even more distance between himself and the also-rans with his lucky 13th nomination.

Danson is in third place in our Best Comedy Actor odds, trailing defending champ Bill Hader (“Barry”) and Golden Globe champ Michael Douglas (“The Kominsky Method”). He’s ahead of Don Cheadle (“Black Monday”), Jim Carrey (“Kidding”) and Anthony Anderson (“Black-ish”). Danson’s nomination last year was a surprise, as he was in eighth place in our odds after the Emmys completely snubbed “The Good Place” the year prior, but his and Maya Rudolph‘s guest bid helped the beloved afterlife comedy break through in a major way. (“The Good Place” is currently in fifth place in our Best Comedy Series predictions.

Bradley Bolke, who provided the voice of Chumley the walrus opposite Don Adams on the Tennessee Tuxedo cartoons of the 1960s, has died. He was 93.

Bolke died Tuesday in Dobbs Ferry, New York, Rick Goldschmidt, the official historian and biographer for Rankin/Bass Productions, told The Hollywood Reporter.

Bolke played the dimwitted Chumley, the South Pole sidekick to Adams' wise-cracking penguin, on Tennessee Tuxedo and His Tales, which aired on CBS from 1963-66 and then for years afterward in reruns. The duo resided in the Megapolis Zoo, and when they had a problem, they consulted with their friend Phineas J. Whoopee, the "...

Twenty-five years ago, audiences were captivated by a most arresting and original spin on a TV staple — the police drama. Steven Bochco, who was already well-known as one of television’s chief innovators and reinventors thanks to high-quality series like “Paris,” “L.A. Law” and “Doogie Howser, M.D.”, co-created “NYPD Blue.” This was his second reinvention of the genre (he was also responsible for “Hill Street Blues”), but in teaming up with David Milch the envelope was pushed even farther.

Not only would “NYPD Blue” pioneer a grittier, more frenetic storytelling style with the use of regularly jerky and very verite handheld camera, it would challenge long-established broadcast network limits regarding violence, nudity and four-letter words. Of course, the road for such a disruptive new approach would not be an easy one, with high drama playing out both among the opposition to the game-changing series and within its own ranks before...

Canadian kid Eric McCormack kept his youthful acting dreams local because he was too ignorant and afraid to figure out how to get to Los Angeles or New York, where he could go for bigger roles. The theater-trained thespian began his career with Canada’s Stratford Festival and traveled to Nova Scotia and New Brunswick, paying his dues after the festival closed at the end of each year. It wasn’t until the early 1990s that he moved further west, to Vancouver, to begin his television career in earnest. It all paid off, and McCormack now stars in two series — the “Will & Grace” revival on NBC and “Travelers” on Netflix — and will receive his star Sept. 13 on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

“I was doing plays in first grade, so for me, it was always that or nothing. I had no fallback position,” McCormack admits.

It was McCormack’s...

TV opening sequences are the lifeblood of television shows -- they can be short or long, but no matter what, they set the mood for a series. Dramas often use more symbolic sequences, while comedies typically utilize humorous material from the show itself to engage viewers.

Opening sequences may be right at the beginning of the episode, right after the cold open, or not present at all for narrative purposes. Shows may also utilize variations of opening sequences in order to best facilitate the storytelling of a show.

Related: Enjoy Unlimited access to thousands of Movies and TV shows with Amazon Prime Video

The best of them are pliable and moldable while still servicing the show it's for, and they not only deliver crucial information about a show but also convey important narrative and aesthetic information. If you have the urge to skip them, don't!

There are hundreds of incredible sequences out there.

Good news for Ted Danson: Not only did he receive a Best Comedy Actor nomination for “The Good Place,” but he is now the most nominated performer in the category. Thursday’s nomination marks Danson’s 12th bid in the category, which he has won twice, for “Cheers” in 1990 and 1993.

Danson, who was last Emmy-nominated for his guest turn on “Damages” in 2010, was in a long-standing tie at 11 Best Comedy Actor nominations with Alan Alda and Kelsey Grammer. Alda was the first to hit 11, getting shortlisted every year for playing Hawkeye on “M*A*S*H,” winning in 1974 and 1982. Danson then pulled off the “11 nominations for 11 years” feat for everyone’s favorite bartender Sam Malone.

See Ready the trolley! Ted Danson and Maya Rudolph put ‘The Good Place’ on the map with two Emmy nominations

Though “Frasier” also ran for 11 seasons, Grammer was only nominated 10 times, missing in 2003. He got his first...

Eric McCormack returned to “Will and Grace” 11 years later in 2017 without missing a step as uptight gay lawyer Will Truman. An Emmy winner for the show in 2001, McCormack reunited with fellow Emmy winners Debra Messing, Sean Hayes and Megan Mullally for a highly successful 16-episode revival season that is now eligible for this year’s Emmys.

McCormack recently chatted with Gold Derby contributor Tony Ruiz about stepping into Will’s shoes again a decade later, his highlights from this revival season and what it was like to win an Emmy. Watch the exclusive video chat above and read the complete interview transcript below.

SEEDebra Messing Interview: ‘Will and Grace’

Gold Derby: Eric McCormack, coming back to “Will & Grace” after 11 years, did you have any hesitation or was it at all different the second time around, or did it just feel exactly like no time had passed?

Eric McCormack: We...

Anne Hathaway stars in the 2018 film “Ocean’s 8,” a female reboot of the “Ocean’s 11” films with George Clooney, Brad Pitt and Matt Damon. The new version includes an all-star cast featuring Sandra Bullock, Cate Blanchett, Sarah Paulson, Mindy Kaling and Rihanna.

Stardom came quickly for Hathaway when she first began her career. After one season on an unsuccessful sitcom, Hathaway found herself cast as the star of Garry Marshall’s film “The Princess Diaries.” It was kind of a case of art imitating life since in the film a young high school girl finds out she is really a princess and is launched into the public eye. The same thing pretty much happened to Hathaway. The acting bug though wesent in her system since after all she was named after the wife of William Shakespeare and her mother was a former actress who gave up her career to raise a family.

The Classic TV series Get Smart introduced the world to Don Adams as Maxwell Smart, secret agent 86, and Barbara Feldon as Agent 99, both working for the secret government agency Control and taking on the world-threatening Kaos. The show itself is a full-blown parody of the spymania boom created by the James Bond films throughout the 1960s, though what's interesting is that a spoof usually comes at the end of a creative cycle, many of them signaling a last gasp of sorts from whatever subject is being parodied. Get Smart, on the other hand, came three years into the boom. When the show premiered in the fall of 1965, there had only been three 007 movies, with things really exploding at the end of that year with the release of the fourth, Thunderball. Donna McChrohan Rosenthal, author of the non-fiction exploration of the show The Life and Times of Maxwell Smart, explains in an exclusive interview,...

Hugh Hefner, publishing legend and iconic founder of Playboy magazine, has passed away at the age of 91. Hefner died of natural causes at his Playboy Mansion home, surrounded by his loved ones. Hefner had not been seen in public for quite some time as rumors of declining health began to spring up over a year ago. The robed Romeo truly lived a fairy tale life, one that Kiss' Gene Simmons summed up perfectly in the 2009 documentary, Hugh Hefner: Playboy, Activist, Rebel when he said, "Show me any guy of any age anywhere in the world. . . that wouldn't give his left nut to be Hugh Hefner at 20, at 50, at 80."

Hefner borrowed $8,000 dollars (including $1,000 from his mother) in 1953 to create Playboy while he was working for Esquire as a copy editor. The world-famous magazine that placed naked women and intelligent interviews right next to each other, and changed the world. While most famous for Playboy,...

For over six decades, Don Rickles was a living comedy highlight reel. Whether he was roasting his own audience during a stand-up routine, bringing talk-show-host veterans to tears with laughter or acting alongside the biggest movie stars in the world, all of Rickles’ performances were one of a kind.

The legendary insult comic died on Thursday at the age of 90. His longtime representative Paul Shefrin told People in a statement: “Emmy-Award winning iconic comedian Don Rickles passed away at his home Los Angeles this morning (Thursday) as a result of kidney failure.”

While younger generations will remember him as the...

Love them or hate them, reboots are here to stay -- until they get remade once again. And while some franchises are better left alone (cough, cough, "Fuller House"), others are even stronger the second time around, especially when you're not old enough to remember the original. Here's a look at the best and worst kids' shows making comebacks faster than you can say "cannibalizing my childhood."

'The Powerpuff Girls' (1998 - 2005)

Way back in 1998, Cartoon Network did something amazing and produced a cartoon that was equal parts "Spider-Man," "My Little Pony," and Ms. Magazine: "The Powerpuff Girls." Audiences eager to see that girls could kick butt too responded strongly, keeping the show on the air for seven years. The carefully crafted blend of silliness, standard villain plots, and adorable sisters charmed kids all over the world, spawning merchandise, cosplay, and even a full-length feature film. So naturally, a reboot was inevitable,...

An amazing talent gone way too soon, Janis Joplin is more than her boozy, brash public image. This bio docu has the personal background and the insights of those her knew, plus the Texas and San Francisco context in the Rock breakout of the late 1960s. Janis: Little Girl Blue DVD Filmrise / Mvd 2015 / Color / 1:78 widescreen / 105 min. / Street Date May 6, 2016 / 19.95 Starring Janis Joplin, Cat Power (voice), Peter Albin, Melissa Etheridge, Clive Davis, Laura Joplin, Michael Joplin, D.A. Pennebaker, Kris Kristofferson, Country Joe McDonald, Dick Cavett.. Cinematography Francesco Carrozzini, Jenna Rosher Film Editors Mark Harrison, Maya Hawke, Billy McMillin, Garret Price, Brendan Walsh Produced by Amy J. Berg, Alex Gibney, Katherine LeBlond, Jeff Jampol Directed by Amy J. Berg

Reviewed by Glenn Erickson

Janis: Little Girl Blue is an entertaining and emotionally affecting bio-film about the noted singer and songwriter, whose rise to fame in the San Francisco scene of the...