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This article contains spoilers for every "Naked Gun" movie (Especially "Naked Gun 3" through "Naked Gun 32")

Prior to 1980, Leslie Nielsen would often be associated with more dramatic roles in movies such as "Forbidden Planet" and "The Poseidon Adventure," in addition to a slew of guest spots across every manner of television show. But that all changed when Wisconsin comedy trio David Zucker, Jim Abrahams and Jerry Zucker (otherwise known as Zaz) cast him as Dr. Rumack in "Airplane" -- otherwise celebrated as one of the greatest comedies of all time. Nielsen possessed a sneaky advantage over more traditional comic actors due to his stature as a serious performer who said his lines as if he wasn't trying to get a laugh. The deadpan delivery of, "I am serious, and don't call me Shirley," single-handedly altered the trajectory of Nielsen's career, thrusting him into almost exclusively comic roles across slapstick heavy spoof movies like "Wrongfully Accused,...

When the great Leslie Nielsen made the media rounds in 1996, promoting his James Bond spoof, Spy Hard, everyone wanted to know one thing. Was he shocked when O.J. Simpson was arrested for murdering his ex-wife, Nicole Brown, and Ron Goldman, and did he think he was guilty? Ever the Canadian gent, Nielsen retired the ever-present fart machine he enjoyed using in interviews, and tried to give a thoughtful answer. Basically, he said that the Oj he knew on set from the three Naked Gun movies they did together never gave him an inkling that he would be capable of murder, although, to read between the lines of his answer, it was clear Nielsen likely had serious doubts as to his innocence.

Indeed, when The Naked Gun 33 1/3rd came out on March 18th 1994, no one who went to see it – and I was one of them – would have ever thought that three months later,...

This article contains spoilers for "The Naked Gun."

Theatrically released studio comedies (and especially spoof movies) have become somewhat of a dying art in the 2020s, with most of them either being relegated to die on a streaming service, being released by independent distributors, or flopping at the box office. It's a bummer because anyone who's seen a great comedy in a movie theater knows the power of laughing with an audience. It's the only kind of communal experience in which people making sounds is a good sign. You have to wonder if there's any movie that could get the genre out of its slump. As of this week, there is! I can't tell you how good it feels to have a new "Naked Gun" movie where everyone can laugh at the universal truths of a snowman threesome, a shotgun being pulled out of Pamela Anderon's hair, and the best...

This post contains spoilers for "The Naked Gun" (2025).

Other than starring in the beloved sitcom "Cheers" as fact-spouting mailman Cliff Clavin, actor John Ratzenberger is probably best known for making repeated voice cameos in the many films of Pixar Animation. Ratzenberger has appeared in almost all of Pixar's movies in some kind of minor voice role, though his presence in them has waned recently, with "Luca," "Turning Red," "Lightyear," "Elemental," and "Elio" missing his presence as a sort of good luck charm. Thankfully, we have another cameo tradition that has just picked up steam again, thanks to the release of the "Naked Gun" reboot.

For those who may not recall, in addition to delivering endless slapstick bits, meta laughs, and silly puns, there's one prominent constant that has popped up in every previous installment of the "Naked Gun" film franchise, and he goes by the name "Weird Al" Yankovic.

Comedy is back in theaters in a big way this weekend with the arrival of the "Naked Gun" reboot. This time, Liam Neeson stars in the spoof comedy as Frank Drebin Jr., son of Leslie Nielsen's detective character form the original parody franchise, and director Akiva Shaffer is at the helm, keeping the spirit of the beloved comedy film series alive while also injecting it with just enough modern flare to keep it fresh.

Tackling such a revered property is no easy feat, and even Shaffer himself was skeptical that a reboot of "The Naked Gun" was even possible. But the casting of Neeson is what helped bring everything together for him, and it was off to the races. However, even with Neeson in the lead role, there was still quite the challenge of satisfying longtime spoof fans while updating things for a new audience, a hurdle that is...

If you like your coffee black, like your men. If you speak jive. If you know a hospital is a building with patients in it. Then it sounds, to us, like you know exactly what kind of movie you like, and you'reready for the absurd genius that is Airplane!, now streaming on Pluto TV. Released in 1980, Airplane! is more than just a spoof — it’s one of the sharpest, silliest, and most relentlessly quotable comedies ever made. Written and directed by the iconic trio of David Zucker, Jim Abrahams, and Jerry Zucker (collectively known as Zaz), the film is a near shot-for-shot remake of the 1957 drama Zero Hour!, only reimagined as pure comedy. And not just a comedy — it's the comedy, the one that redefined what cinematic parody could be.

The genius of Airplane! isn’t just in its jokes (though there are thousands) — it’s in how straight they’re delivered.

In the early 1980s, Jim Abrahams and brothers David and Jerry Zucker pioneered a niche of slapstick- and wordplay-heavy spoof-comedies with films like Airplane! and Top Secret!, which displayed straight-faced silliness as a creative modus operandi. Zucker, Abrahams and Zucker (or Zaz) also produced the short-lived ABC TV series Police Squad!, which parodied police procedurals and starred Leslie Nielsen as the inept, overconfident Detective Frank Drebin. After Police Squad!’s cancellation, Zaz took Nielsen’s Drebin character and molded him for the big screen with The Naked Gun film franchise, where the trio’s patented mile-a-minute visual gags could flourish on a wider […]

The post “The Whole Movie is Doing an Impression of the Genre”: Akiva Schaffer on The Naked Gun first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.

In the early 1980s, Jim Abrahams and brothers David and Jerry Zucker pioneered a niche of slapstick- and wordplay-heavy spoof-comedies with films like Airplane! and Top Secret!, which displayed straight-faced silliness as a creative modus operandi. Zucker, Abrahams and Zucker (or Zaz) also produced the short-lived ABC TV series Police Squad!, which parodied police procedurals and starred Leslie Nielsen as the inept, overconfident Detective Frank Drebin. After Police Squad!’s cancellation, Zaz took Nielsen’s Drebin character and molded him for the big screen with The Naked Gun film franchise, where the trio’s patented mile-a-minute visual gags could flourish on a wider […]

The post “The Whole Movie is Doing an Impression of the Genre”: Akiva Schaffer on The Naked Gun first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.

This article contains spoilers for "The Naked Gun."

I've watched the original "Naked Gun" trilogy more times than I can count. Leslie Nielsen as the bumbling police detective Frank Drebin is by far the actor's greatest comedic role, and one whose deadpan delivery rarely fails to make me laugh. Nielsen's absence, as well as zero input from David Zucker, Jim Abrahams, and Jerry Zucker (otherwise known as Zaz), always gave me pause whenever hearing word of a reboot on the horizon. As of this week, however, it brings me so much joy to know I can add Akiva Schaffer's exuberantly silly legacy sequel to the roster. /Film's Ethan Anderton gave "The Naked Gun" a glowing review as the funniest movie of the year, and I couldn't agree more.

Lonely Island alum Schaffer, along with producer Seth MacFarlane and co-writers Dan Gregor & Doug Mand, honor the spirit of Zaz's zany sense of humor,...

Pamela Anderson plays Beth and Liam Neeson plays Frank in The Naked Gun from Paramount Pictures.

So, is it too late to “jump start” a beloved comedy franchise if that last entry was released before many moviegoers were born, way back in 1994? Well, Paramount’s more than willing to “roll the dice”, since the original feature flick was a big gamble on bringing a TV show to the big screen. But since several successful films have had their start on the small screen (there have been 13 Star Treks and eight Impossible Missions), is it really a risk? Indeed, it was because that source material, a TV comedy classic, only ran for six (?!) episodes. Here’s a bit of personal trivia: “Police Squad” was the first series that I recorded off the air with a Vcr. Yes, it was broadcast over six glorious weeks on ABC in the Spring of 1982. But...

This article contains spoilers for "The Naked Gun."

It almost seemed like a grave mistake to revive a long dormant franchise whose comedic identity revolves around the impossible-to-recreate screen presence of Leslie Nielsen, but rest assured, it's a glorious new day for "The Naked Gun" series. In the Akiva Schaffer-directed reboot of the same name, Liam Neeson embraces his sillier side as Frank Drebin Jr., the equally destructive offspring of Nielsen's character. After spending the latter half of his film career playing older tough guys, Neeson gets to channel that energy into an incredibly funny performance that honors his cinematic daddy without outright copying him. His comedic turns in "The Lego Movie," "A Million Ways to Die in the West" and a scene-stealing cameo in "Ted 2" were all warm-ups for a film that could easily guide Neeson into the next phase of his career. But he's not...

While it's no longer unusual for decades to pass between entries in a studio-owned series, they still remain a relatively rare occurrence. Disinterest, indifference, and/or apathy on the part of rights-holders and potential audiences alike usually explain the lengthy gap between entries. Never underestimate, of course, the power of nostalgia and its ability to convince rights-holders to bring a long disused, ignored, or forgotten property back to movie theaters, both to restart a franchise with “new” entries and renew interest in decades-old properties like the long defunct Naked Gun series. Thanks to David Zucker, Jim Abrahams, and Jerry Zucker (aka "Zaz"), the master parodists behind Top Secret!, Airplane!, and The Kentucky Fried Movie, The Naked Gun:...

[Read the whole post on screenanarchy.com...]...

The Naked Gun returns this weekend hoping to relaunch a long-dormant subgenre with Scary Movie, Spinal Tap and Spaceballs sequels to follow

The Naked Gun, a sequel/reboot to the old movie series of the same name, represents the first of its kind in a long time. No, not a legacy sequel, nor a Liam Neeson movie; the in-demand Irish actor still does two or three of those a year. Like its predecessors, The Naked Gun is a spoof – part of a comedic subgenre with astonishing versatility, in that it can lay claim to some of the very best and very worst comedies of all time. Maybe that’s why these movies, despite relatively low budgets and decent success rates, will sometimes disappear for years at a time. Now, in a period when a pure comedy hasn’t crossed the $100m mark in the US in almost a decade, The Naked Gun...

The three-man comedy factory that ruled the 1980s with their fusillades of slapstick, sight gags, loopy non sequiturs and winking innuendo was David Zucker, Jim Abrahams and Jerry Zucker — Hollywood’s Zaz before David Zaslav. Their legacy rivals that of Mel Brooks in the ’60s and ’70s, most notably via Airplane! and the Naked Gun movies, though I also have a soft spot for their swerve into more conventional farce with the acerbic dark comedy Ruthless People. Even the misstep of Top Secret! yielded its share of laughs, despite attempting to hit an unwieldy jumble of parody targets.

Having honed their skills in a college sketch-comedy troupe, the trio’s strategy was to throw as many jokes per minute at the screen as possible, the sillier the better, ensuring that enough of them stuck to cushion the ones that missed the mark.

Their 1982 ABC series spoofing crime procedurals, Police Squad!,...

Filmmakers like Mel Brooks and the trio of David Zucker, Jim Abrahams, and Jerry Zucker (also known as Zaz) once made spoofs the cream of the comedy crop with hits like "Young Frankenstein," "Blazing Saddles," "Airplane!" and "The Naked Gun." Sadly, the popularity of "Scary Movie," a truly great horror parody from 2000 that followed in similar footsteps and kicked off a franchise of its own, resulted in a swath of far worse copycats from two of the film's co-writers, Jason Friedberg and Aaron Seltzer. "Date Movie," "Epic Movie," "Disaster Movie," "Vampires Suck," and more all tried to cash-in on spoofing popular blockbusters of the time, but the comedy left plenty to be desired, and the poor reception essentially killed the greatness and the appeal of spoof comedy — at least for a little while.

Thankfully, there have still been bright spots in the years since, such as the music biopic-skewering "Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story,...

The 1970s and 1980s were the golden age of the spoof. Mel Brooks was in peak send-up shape between 1974 and 1977 with the box office smashes "Blazing Saddles," "Young Frankenstein," and "High Anxiety," while David Zucker, Jim Abrahams, and Jerry Zucker (aka Zaz) perfected the form with gag-a-second classics like "Kentucky Fried Movie," "Airplane!," "Police Squad!," and "Top Secret!" Of course, when studios noticed moviegoers had an appetite for such silliness, they also sought to cash in with decidedly lesser efforts like "The Big Bus," "Wholly Moses!," and "Spaceship" (aka "The Creature Wasn't Nice").

The trick to nailing the spoof has generally been to take a popular genre that's starting to verge on self-parody (like the Western or disaster movie) and amplify the most ridiculous tropes to an uproariously silly degree. The more humorless the genre, the better. Though there are big laughs to be found in the first three "Scary Movie" films,...

Now that the hype for the next installment in The Naked Gun series – starring Liam Neeson as Frank Drebin, Jr. – is real, we do all have to remember the time when we were all skeptical. Face it, without Leslie Nielsen and any of Zaz (Jim Abrahams and the Zucker brothers) at play, what good could possibly come of it? Really, couldn’t someone from the original writing team have had a hand in the movie? As it turns out, David Zucker says he was excluded entirely from the process of The Naked Gun.

For a little background here, Zucker was previously quoted as saying he did in fact get the script for The Naked Gun delivered to him, noting, “I read the script, and I politely told them I wasn’t going to put my name on it. They wanted nothing from me except my name.” With The Naked Gun...

The Golden Bachelor contestant Sandra Mason and The Bachelorette alum Charles King have announced that they're dating, but will their relationship last? Sandra, a 76-year-old retired executive assistant from Doraville, Georgia, and Charles, a 62-year-old portfolio manager from Rancho Palo Verdes, California, were both fan favorites on their respective seasons. They were young at heart and hilarious, and they were both very memorable. During The Golden Bachelor season 1, Sandra made a strong first impression on leading man Gerry Turner when she comedically had him meditate with her with an expletive-filled mantra.

Similarly, Charles made Joan Vassos laugh on The Golden Bachelorette season 1 premiere night when he emerged from the limousine struggling with a cane, but then dropped it to the ground to walk up to her. He and Joan later raced on mobility scooters. Sandra and Charles also demonstrated how vibrant and inspiring they are when Sandra had an incredible...

The Golden Bachelor alum Sandra Mason and The Golden Bachelorette contestant Charles King have announced that they're dating, after Joan Vassos and Chock Chapple got engaged during the Golden Bachelorette season 1 finale. Joan and Chock have shown some red flags in their relationship because they're still doing long-distance, but they're still going strong, and looking for a place to live in New York City. Now Sandra, a 76-year-old retired executive assistant from Doraville, Georgia, and Charles, a 62-year-old portfolio manager from Rancho Palo Verdes, California, have made a love connection.

Sandra shared a video montage of photographs of her and Charles, set to Zaz's "La vie en rose," and announced their relationship.

In an Instagram post, Sandra shared a video montage of photographs of her and Charles, set to Zaz's "La vie en rose," and announced their relationship. She captioned the post, "I’m just gonna leave This right Here for y’all…...

Writer and director who was part of the Zucker-Abrahams-Zucker team behind the classic film spoofs Airplane! and The Naked Gun

The 1980 disaster movie spoof Airplane! was a flyaway success. Made for $3.5m, it grossed over $170m and forged a new style of film comedy. It was written and directed by the trio known as Zaz: the brothers Jerry and David Zucker, and their childhood friend Jim Abrahams, who has died aged 80 of leukaemia.

There had been movie send-ups before, notably from Mel Brooks, Woody Allen and the Monty Python team. One of the innovations of Airplane!, though, was to multiply the gags without lingering on them. The audience had to be quick to keep up: this was one instance where the phrase “laugh-a-minute” represented a serious understatement.

This article first appeared into the September 2018 issue of Empire.

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Thirty years after unleashing defective detective Frank Drebin onto the streets of LA, the men behind The Naked Gun talk us through its most iconic moments.

“I’ve finally found someone I can love. A good clean love, without utensils.”

So spoke Lieutenant Frank Drebin in the closing moments of The Naked Gun, romancing his girlfriend mere seconds after his would-be assassin is trampled to death by a marching band. It’s been 30 years since Leslie Nielsen’s Drebin crashed into cinemas, getting everything wrong yet somehow still solving the case. Today, Drebin’s co-creators David Zucker, Jim Abrahams and Jerry Zucker (aka Zaz), brought together by Empire for an anniversary chinwag, are in fine fettle — there’s no mistaking Drebin’s heritage. “Tell me if I’m wrong,” says Empire, about to pose a question. “You’re wrong!

It is with great sadness that we bring you the news Jim Abrahams, the legendary writer-director who — alongside brothers Jerry and David Zucker — gave us such comedy greats as Airplane!, The Naked Gun, and Police Squad, has died at the age of 80. His son Joseph confirmed the news to THR, telling the outlet that his father passed away of natural causes at his home in Santa Monica earlier today.

James S. Abrahams was born in Shorewood, Wisconsin on 10 May, 1944. The son of educational researcher Louise M. Abrahams and lawyer Norman S. Abrahams, it would be fair to say that young Jim Abrahams didn't develop his love of comedy from studying his folks' vocations. Rather, it was the childhood friendship he formed with the Zucker brothers — sons of his father's business colleague, and classmates at Shorewood High School and then the University of Wisconsin in Madison — that helped Abrahams Jr. find his funny bone.

Jim Abrahams, a film director and writer behind hit slapstick comedies like “Airplane!,” “Hot Shots!,” the “Naked Gun” series and more, died Tuesday, his son Joseph confirmed to Variety. He was 80.

With his childhood friends Jerry and David Zucker, Abrahams formed the filmmaking trio, called Zucker, Abrahams and Zucker, and popularized the spoof genre of the 1980s.

“Jim Abrahams redefined the boundaries of humor through groundbreaking works like ‘Airplane!’ and ‘The Naked Gun’ series. Together with Jerry and David Zucker, he transformed satire into an art form, inspiring generations of comedians and filmmakers and leaving an indelible mark on the world of comedy,” said the National Comedy Center executive director Journey Gunderson in a statement.

With the Zucker brothers, Abrahams founded the The Kentucky Fried Theater while they all attended college together at the University of Wisconsin–Madison in 1971. That led to them making their film debut with the indie sketch...

Jim Abrahams, the writer-director who with brothers Jerry and David Zucker turned the comedy genre on its ear with such zany efforts as Airplane!, Police Squad! and The Naked Gun films, died Tuesday. He was 80.

Abrahams died of natural causes at his home in Santa Monica, his son Joseph told The Hollywood Reporter.

The trio made their first mainstream impression by writing the sketch-filled Kentucky Fried Movie (1977), directed by John Landis in his prelude to Animal House, and they also combined for Top Secret! (1984), starring a young Val Kilmer, and Ruthless People (1986), featuring Bette Midler and Danny DeVito.

Without his childhood buddies from Wisconsin, Abrahams directed Big Business (1988), starring Midler and Lily Tomlin, and co-wrote and helmed Hot Shots! (1991) and its 1993 sequel, both starring Charlie Sheen.

Joke-filled and laden with sight gags and puns, the humor of Zucker, Abrahams and Zucker, or Zaz as they came to be known, was fast,...

The Surprise Box Office Hit Last Weekend? A Pottery-Making Cat

It’s doubtful J.D. Vance bought a ticket, but the ninth annual CatVideoFest sold a record $281,000 worth of tickets during the Aug. 3 weekend, when it opened on 106 screens across the country, with such venues as L.A.’s Vidiots playing to sold-out crowds. “It’s our biggest opening ever,” purrs Will Braden, the Seattle-based videographer who’s been running the festival since 2016. “It was way bigger than we expected.” Indeed, when you crunch the data, the fest — which is really just a 75-minute compilation reel featuring Braden’s edits of the best online feline content of the past year, like YouTube sensation Momo, a cat who makes pottery on a pedal wheel — performed better per screen than some major releases, including Harold and the Purple Crayon and Fly Me to the Moon. And those numbers should only go up as...

David Zaslav, since his appointment as the CEO of Warner Bros. Discovery, has not been the most popular guy around. With his cost-cutting decisions from shelving projects to cancelling others, there has been a lot of things that have fans reeling. And now, seems like they have one more thing to hate about the man.

David Zaslav in an interview with CNBC

The Warner Bros. part of the Warner Bros. Discovery merger has not seen many positives so far. But according to the last quarterly report of 2024, Wbd has managed to pay off almost $6 billion of its debt, having reduced it from $48 to $42 billion since the merger in 2022.

David Zaslav Faces The Public Ire Once More

Recently, it was reported that David Zaslav, the CEO of Wbd, has hiked his own salary by almost 27%, now reaching almost a $50 million mark. This has happened at a time when Wbd stocks are...

When 1980’s Airplane! proved to be a massive hit, becoming one of the highest-grossing films of the year – up there with The Empire Strikes Back and Best Picture winner Kramer vs. Kramer – it was inevitable that it would get a sequel. But how often are comedy sequels good anyway? When have they ever really recaptured the magic and the laughter of the original? Well, Airplane II: The Sequel gave it a go…by basically being the same movie. Except this time around, Zaz wisely opted out, leaving the production without the strong leaders who reinvented the spoof genre. Instead, they got the guy who wrote Grease 2, one of the most notoriously awful sequels ever! So, strap in – no, not to an airplane but a space shuttle – as we find out: Wtf Happened to This Movie?!…The Sequel!

1980’s Airplane! did incredibly well upon release, making just under $85 million on a $3.5 million budget,...

Airplane! is one of the great Hollywood comedies, a film packed with sight gags and jokes in every scene. Its success paved the way for Police Squad!, a spoof of police procedurals that aired — briefly (and criminally so) — on television. Police Squad! then begat The Naked Gun movies, which, like Airplane!, was riddled with gags, jokes, and puns in virtually every single second of the three films that comprise the franchise (and the upcoming reboot starring Liam Neeson). These comedies, from the minds of Zucker/Abrahams/Zucker (Zaz), are unique among their kin, and there has never really been anything like them for gag-a-second laughs — at least until 2016, when Angie Tribeca premiered on TBS. The series treads the same path as The Naked Gun before it, and if you are a fan of those films, you're going to love Angie Tribeca.

Whatever happened to parody movies? While parody is alive and well with internet sketches like Honest Trailers and Pitch Meetings, it's rare that we still see full-on parody feature films. Filmmakers have been making light of specific films as far back as Buster Keaton's first film Three Ages (a spoof of D.W. Griffith's Intolerance) and continued on through genre send-ups like Mel Brooks' Blazing Saddles, to mocking specific movies like the Zucker-Abrahams-Zucker film Airplane!, which made light of the Airport films of the 1970s. Even after Brooks and Zaz moved away from parodies, there was the trend of Scary Movie movies and their spin-offs, and, in 2007, one of the finest genre parodies was released; Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story would go on to be a cult favorite. Sadly, a new film in the vein of these classics does not seem to be on the horizon, thankfully audiences...

Surely the making of one of the funniest movies ever made can’t be that serious…and it really isn’t! Ok, 1980’s Airplane! was a tough sell and there were minor clashes between the directors and Paramount and lawsuits from a rival studio threatened the casting of numerous stars. But there was also perfect against-type casting, clever workarounds to silly DGA regulations and a complete reinvention of the spoof movie, all of which made Airplane! one of the greatest comedies ever.. Oh, and there were fart machines, too!

And so let’s park the taxi, avoid the fish and check in on our drinking problem as we find out: Wtf Happened to this movie?!

Airplane! has its origins in the Kentucky Fried Theater, which the trio of David Zucker, Jim Abrahams and Jerry Zucker (collectively known as Zaz) founded in 1971. One act the fellas grew fond of was dubbing...

Zoe Saldaña could portray several brilliant characters from DC Comics in the upcoming DC Universe reboot. Her previous work with James Gunn and her range as an actress make her a desirable talent for the new DC Universe. Potential roles for Zoe Saldaña include Renee Montoya, Vixen, Cheetah, Catwoman and more iconic DC characters.

There are several brilliant characters from DC Comics that Zoe Saldaña could portray in the upcoming DC Universe reboot. Zoe Saldaña is best known for her work in major science fiction franchises, specifically the MCU and James Cameron's Avatar franchise. Her work has seen her become the second-highest-grossing film actress, only behind Scarlett Johansson. Zoe Saldaña has appeared in four of the highest-grossing movies of all time: Avatar, Avatar: The Way of Water, Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame. This has made her an incredibly desirable talent in Hollywood, and could lead to a role in the new DC Universe.

Every year, The Streamable looks deep into our crystal ball to predict the future. We correctly predicted CNN+ would crash and burn. And we called the dip in Disney+ subscriptions and the Paramount+ price hike and inclusion of Showtime.

In 2023, the tides turned in the streaming wars. While the past 4 years have seen rapid expansion of streaming services, this year saw consolidation as the prime strategy. Where will 2024 take us? Let’s find out.

1. The Rsn Landscape Completely Unravels

This year saw an interesting number of defections from the Rsn (regional sports network) model. Teams like the Chicago Cubs, Phoenix Suns, Utah Jazz, and Vegas Golden Knights launched their own streaming apps. In the case of the NBA teams, those games are now available free with an antenna.

Ratings for live games on an over-the-air broadcast outlet are often two to three times larger than what they pull on a regional sports network.

In a new New York Times profile about the last 18 tumultuous months at Warner Bros. Discovery, company CFO Gunnar Wiedenfels said “you don’t make friends” via the studio’s now-infamous cost-cutting approach. His boss, CEO David Zaslav, certainly has not.

Take the comments Zaslav gave the Nyt about the WGA strike. No sooner than he seemed to start courting the creative class he needs to fuel his company’s future, the CEO steps in it by implying the same scribes might now be overpaid: “So what if we overpay? I’ve never regretted overpaying for great talent or a great asset.”

Nice negging. Yes, he’s calling those he says he’s overpaying “a great talent,” but he’s also suggesting they’re not worth the pricepoint — at least that’s the way it’s being taken by many, and perhaps that’s all that matters. Paging Dale Carnegie...

Zucker, Abrahams, and Zucker (or Zaz for short) were a trio of filmmakers made up of Jim Abrahams and brothers David and Jerry Zucker, best known for their various comedy/parody movies made throughout the 1980s. Though there are only five movies where all three are credited in some capacity (given the trio had effectively disbanded by the early 1990s), the three men continued to work in the world of comedy filmmaking. For example, Abrahams made Hot Shots! and its sequel, and David Zucker directed three of the Scary Movie movies.

Caleb Landry Jones, the Texas-born actor, debuted a convincing Scottish accent at the Venice Film Festival press conference for Luc Besson’s “Dogman,” which is world premiering in competition at the fest.

Landry Jones was introduced by Besson, who warned journalists in attendance that the actor was speaking with a Scottish accent because he’s “in character.” The director explained, “It’s not his normal voice. He needs to stay in character. So if you don’t understand so much the accent… It’s a brilliant accent!”

Landry Jones, who also sported reddish blond locks and a mustache, quickly replied, “It will be better in the film,” referring to the accent. He flew to Venice from Scotland, where he’s currently shooting a mystery film.

For “Dogman,” the actor dove deep into the part. In an exclusive interview with Variety, Besson detailed how Landry Jones prepared for the role for...

Graphic: Paramount Pictures Even if you’ve never seen a single film by the writing and directing team of David Zucker, Jim Abrahams, and Jerry Zucker (collectively known as Zaz), surely you’re familiar with the ubiquitous references to their work in popular culture. And if you just read that...

Graphic: Paramount Pictures

Even if you’ve never seen a single film by the writing and directing team of David Zucker, Jim Abrahams, and Jerry Zucker (collectively known as Zaz), surely you’re familiar with the ubiquitous references to their work in popular culture. And if you just read that...

Chris Licht is stepping down as CEO of CNN after barely a year on the job, the network announced on Wednesday. Licht’s brief, tumultuous tenure at the helm of the cable news giant was capped by a widely maligned decision to host a town hall event with Donald Trump last month, and the publication last week of a damning profile in The Atlantic. He will be replaced on an interim basis by longtime executive Amy Entelis, the network announced.

CNN talent who spoke to Rolling Stone responded to the news with relief.

Horror and comedy are strange, but highly compatible bedfellows. And when we're talking about the "Evil Dead" franchise, they are natural, gruesome complements.

Sam Raimi's "The Evil Dead" is arguably the most important horror movie of the 1980s. It's a shoestring-budget fright-fest that masks its financial limitations with dizzyingly inventive framing and gonzo explosions of gore. Though it drew inspiration from George A. Romero's zombie films and the demonic possession craze kicked off by William Friedkin's "The Exorcist," its full-throttle exuberance was rooted in everything from Looney Tunes cartoons to Jerry Lewis comedies. Raimi's sequel, "Evil Dead 2," leaned harder into the zaniness, invoking The Three Stooges as we watched our hapless protagonist, Ash (Bruce Campbell), turn into a one-man Larry, Moe, and Curly.

Raimi has since handed the "Evil Dead" reins over to a new generation. Fede Álvarez took a decidedly non-comedic approach to his 2013 remake,...

On Monday night’s Jane the Virgin, our titular heroine is hot and bothered, while her betrothed Michael is just bothered. Meanwhile, this recapper becomes more torn than ever between Team Fiancé and Team Baby Daddy.

The best love triangles are evenly matched, where you can see the girl (or guy, as the case may be) ending up with either one of her suitors. And after a couple of weeks of experiencing the crazy chemistry between Jane and Rafael, this episode shows us why Michael, despite all his current lying and sneaking around, is a valid choice of endgame.

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When it comes to the Oscar for Best Original Song your guess is as good as mine. The Academy announced 39 songs vying for the category at the 2012 Oscars back in mid-December and of those 39 I have thrown a dart at the board and come up with five songs I felt may have a shot at the nomination. If I was to look for any kind of indicators from the awards handed out so far I would say "Hello Hello" from Gnomeo and Juliet and "The Living Proof" from The Help sure look like solid contenders as both were nominated by the Hollywood Foreign Press and the Broadcast Film Critics, but neither of them ended up winning. At the Globes it was Madonna winning for "Masterpiece", which isn't even eligible for a nomination at the Oscars, and at the Critics Choice it was "Life's a Happy Song" from The Muppets, a...