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Steve Carell is one of Hollywood's most beloved actors. Best known as Michael Scott on The Office, Carell has also built a successful film career with classics like Anchorman and The 40-Year-Old Virgin. After conquering comedy, Carell shifted to dramatic roles in The Big Short and Foxcatcher, earning his first Academy Award nomination for the latter. Recently, he's returned to television, delivering acclaimed performances in The Morning Show (Apple TV+) and The Patient (FX), and signing on for a new HBO series. However, his most lucrative role might be voicing Gru in the six films in the Despicable Me franchise.

The youngest of four brothers, Carell grew up in Acton, Massachusetts. Though he planned to go law school, Carell caught the performing bug after joining a student-run improv troupe while attending Denison University. After graduating, Carell moved to Chicago, where he joined the famed The Second City. His first big...

To be a successful late-night TV host, one has to have a talent for writing. So it's no surprise to see that today's top hosts are also published authors.

Some hosts, like Stephen Colbert and Seth Meyers got their start as writers working for shows like The Dana Carvey Show and Saturday Night Live. Others, like Bill Maher, have used their stand-up and monologue skills to pen books.

So whether you're looking for a last-minute holiday gift or just something to add to your personal library, here's a 2024 guide to the late-night TV book club.

Jimmy Fallon

Admittedly, Jimmy Fallon's books target a very specific demographic. In fact, it's a common theme among late-night TV hosts to write for children. And nobody has done that quite like Fallon.

The Tonight Show host began with books like Your Baby's First Word Will Be Dada. He followed that up with similar titles for moms and grandparents.

“I felt like I couldn’t do well in that situation,” Ben Stiller told Howard Stern about his short tenure as a Saturday Night Live featured player. Stiller didn’t stick around long enough to get the promotion to full cast member, but he’s not the only talented comedy star to leave the show without making it to the A-team.

Here are five more SNL featured players who got the boot before they graduated to the main cast…

1 Tim Robinson Play

The star of breakout sketch-comedy hit I Think You Should Leave got a few moments to shine on Saturday Night Live, but not enough to earn him a return ticket to the show. In an unusual move, Robinson moved from acting on SNL to join the writers’ room, making him the first and only SNL performer to become a writer after originally being cast solely as a performer.

“All five of us met at an orgy,” Harper Steele deadpans while gesturing to the core team behind “Will & Harper,” the new Netflix documentary about a consequential road trip she took with Bff Will Ferrell after coming out as a trans woman. And Ferrell, his eyes sparking with punchlines to come, seizes the opportunity to build on the bit.

“We didn’t remember that we had met until much later,” he says. “We’re like, wait — Acapulco?” At that, Ferrell scrunches up his face like one of those suburban dads he’s so famous for playing on-screen and lowers his voice as if something embarrassing had slowly dawned on him.

They’re joking about the sex party, of course, but the group behind “Will & Harper” does boast a tangled network of connections that extend back through the decades, one that includes marriages, longtime friendships and artistic partnerships. It...

NBC's "The Office" may now be considered one of the most beloved sitcoms in television history, but when the network first announced its plans to produce an Americanized version of the critically acclaimed BBC series, the reaction from fans of the original was far from joyous. Ricky Gervais and Stephan Merchant's "Office" was spiky and profane in a way that network shows simply couldn't be (thanks to their companies' Standards and Practice watchdogs). It was also narratively compact, running a mere two seasons and 14 episodes (counting the two-part Christmas special), which kept the show from getting stale. Most of all, it just felt kind of perfect (which Gervais proved when he tried to revive the series himself). A U.S. rendition stretched out over 20-plus episodes per season was bound to pale in comparison.

Though NBC's "The Office" got off to a rocky start with its six-episode toe-dip of a first season,...

Stephen Colbert’s bandleader is giving the Late Show host the gift of music as he celebrates a milestone birthday.

Born in 1964, Colbert turns 60 today. To mark the occasion, Late Show Band bandleader Louis Cato posted a special performance of one Colbert’s favorite songs. As part of his weekly #CatoCover series on Instagram, Cato performed a rooftop acoustic rendition of Glen Campbell’s “Wichita Lineman.”

Colbert will be spending the landmark birthday at work, kicking off a week of new Late Show episodes. But he’ll be celebrating with old friends and heroes.

His guest tonight is Steve Carell, one of Colbert’s closest friends. The two came up together at The Second City in Chicago, and both went on to star in the short-lived The Dana Carvey Show. They then served as correspondents on Jon Stewart’s The Daily Show, overlapping from 1999-2005.

Continue reading Louis Cato, Jimmy Kimmel...

Watch most comedians long enough and you’ll start to hear the same stories. But watch Stephen Colbert long enough and you’ll always find he has a new reason for audiences to fall in love with his wife, Evie.

On Sunday, April 21 at The Dolby Theater in Los Angeles, California, “The Late Show” host and Ben Schwartz closed out PaleyFest LA 2024 with a wide-ranging and goofy Q&a that included Colbert retelling some of his career-best stories while gently negging his interviewer’s questioning style.

“I will tell you a question I have been asked before,” Colbert quipped, turning Schwartz’ first prompt back on the actor in a good nature. “It’s ‘What’s a question you haven’t been asked before?'”

“And Ok, we’re going to the next question, you guys!,” Schwartz said with a laugh.

Always well-paired for these kinds of media events, the improv...

In the far-reaching pantheon of comedy stars, few possess the same sometimes-subtle, sometimes-explosive style as Steve Carell. First glimpsed by audiences as a cast member on 1996's short-lived comedy vehicle "The Dana Carvey Show," the Massachusetts-born actor grabbed the attention of comedy fans during a six-year stint as a correspondent on "The Daily Show with John Stewart." This desk time helped him transition nicely into another news-related role: the career-hungry anchor Evan in Jim Carrey's "Bruce Almighty" in 2003 before Carell showed us how goofy he could be in 2004's cult-classic "Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy."

However, one role beats all others when combining the many talents Carell has stuffed under his belt (that's what she said). Of course, it's Michael Scott, Dunder Mifflin's cringe-king boss and America's answer to Ricky Gervais's David Brent. Throughout nine seasons of "The Office," Scott helped Carell showcase tonnes of humor and...

Exclusive: UTA has signed veteran comedian Dana Carvey for representation in all areas.

Carvey is best known for his memorable six-season run on Saturday Night Live. He went up to star in the 1996 sketch series The Dana Carvey Show for ABC and the subsequent Hulu documentary Too Funny To Fail: The Life & Death of The Dana Carvey Show in 2017. Other TV credits include The Larry Sanders Show, Just Shoot Me!, Fairly Odd Parents and Rick and Morty.

In film, Carvey starred in in Wayne’s World and Wayne’s World 2. He also voiced the role of Dana in Hotel Transylvania 2 and the role of Pops in The Secret Life of Pets 2.

Carvey currently co-hosts the popular podcast Fly on The Wall alongside UTA client David Spade. He previously impersonated Mickey Rooney in the podcast series You Must Remember This.

Carvey will continue to be represented by Brillstein Entertainment Partners.

Can you imagine a world without "The Dana Carvey Show?" To be fair, you probably can, as the ABC series only lasted for a meager eight episodes during the spring of 1996. While the show itself has gained a cult status over the decades, the real legacy of the series isn't about the show's impact on pop culture, but rather its bringing together of talent that would soon go on to impact pop culture.

Consider this staggering list of names involved: Robert Smigel, Stephen Colbert, Steve Carell, Spike Feresten (writer for David Letterman and "Seinfeld"), Robert Carlock (future showrunner of "30 Rock"), Dino Stamatopoulos (future writer of "Community" and Starburns himself) and Charlie Kaufman were all among the people helping Carvey bring his surreal sketch comedy show to the small screen.

Yet the series may not have happened at all had Carvey not been smarting after a short-lived career as a...

At first, FX’s new drama “The Patient” is by and large a two-hander centered on psychologist Alan Strauss (Steve Carell) and the serial-killing patient, Sam Fortner (Domhnall Gleeson), who abducts him in a desperate attempt to stop himself from murdering again. But as the taut thriller series unfolds, it also expands, introducing a handful of key players beyond the walls of Alan’s prison/Sam’s basement, be it through memory, imagination, or Sam’s constantly tense trips back to the outside world.

If you’re wondering who’s who in “The Patient” cast, we’ve got you covered with a comprehensive roundup of the series’ stars — and where you’ve seen them before.

Also Read:

‘The Patient’ Review: FX’s Steve Carell and Domhnall Gleeson Serial Killer Drama Cuts Deep Steve Carell as Alan Strauss Image via FX

Steve Carell stars as Alan Strauss, a therapist grieving the...

Photo: ‘I Think You Should Leave with Tim Robinson’/Netflix When ‘I Think You Should Leave with Tim Robinson’ premiered in 2019, it instantly became a cult hit thanks to its quotable lines and memorable sketches. One couldn’t go on Twitter without seeing Tim Robinson, dressed like a hotdog, trying to convince a room that the hotdog car that crashed into the building isn’t his. The short span of the episodes, each being around fifteen minutes, allowed for many to constantly rewatch the first season, being able to catch missed jokes and memorize their favorite lines. Many hoped that the series wouldn’t be a one-season wonder, like the similarly surreal ‘the Dana Carvey Show’, and luckily that is not the case with the premiere of season two. Season two of ‘I Think You Should Leave’ offers sketches that are more chaotic and even more existential. Related article: ‘In...

(Welcome to The Quarantine Stream, a new series where the /Film team shares what they’ve been watching while social distancing during the Covid-19 pandemic.) The Movie: Too Funny to Fail: The Life & Death of The Dana Carvey Show Where You Can Stream It: Hulu The Pitch: Fresh off a successful run on Saturday Night Live, […]

The post The Quarantine Stream: ‘Too Funny to Fail’ Charts the Promising Rise and Frustrating Fall of ‘The Dana Carvey Show’ appeared first on /Film.

Crazy Ex-Girlfriend's Rachel Bloom took to social media on Wednesday to pay tribe to Adam Scheslinger, who died Wednesday of coronavirus complications.

“I have so much to say about Adam Schlesinger that I am at a complete loss for words," the actress shared.

"He is irreplaceable.”

Scheslinger co-founded the pop-rock band Fountains of Wayne, and was also well-known for his contributions to The CW's Crazy Ex-Girlfriend.

According to his attorney, Josh Grier, the composer died Wednesday morning due to complications from the coronavirus.

In a statement through his agent to Entertainment Weekly on Tuesday, Schlesinger’s girlfriend said:

“Adam has been hospitalized with Covid-19” and is “on a ventilator and has been sedated to facilitate his recovery.” The musician was “in critical condition,” she said at the time.

Schlesinger also composed songs for Colbert Christmas: The Greatest Gift of All!, Too Late With Adam Carolla, The Howard Stern Radio Show,...

There’s a ridiculous amount of TV content out there waiting to be streamed during your downtime — and a lot of it won’t cost you one shiny penny.

TVLine already offers a premium streaming guide, which delivers a rundown of subscription rates, original series and select library content offered by established, new and forthcoming streamers. We also publish a monthly list of TV shows and movies coming and going on Netflix.

More from TVLineThe Blacklist Creator Explains the Midseason Premiere's Glaring Absence, Teases a Major Secret for [Spoiler]American Idol Video: Will Margie Mays and Jonny West Survive the New 'Duets' Round in Hollywood Week?...

One of the most fascinatingly strange and unpredictable films of 1999 still carries with it more pleasures to be discovered

When Being John Malkovich opened in 1999, nobody knew the name of its screenwriter, Charlie Kaufman, who’d spent the previous 15 years laboring in the comedy salt mines, submitting articles on spec to National Lampoon, writing a number of unproduced pilots, and landing gigs on short-lived (if beloved) sketch shows like Get a Life and The Dana Carvey Show. Yet as soon as it premiered – and for every project he did afterwards – it was talked about as a Charlie Kaufman film, even though it was directed by Spike Jonze, whose work on innovative commercials and videos for Weezer (Buddy Holly), Beastie Boys (Sabotage), and others had earned him a reputation as one of the most sought-after talents in the business. This was virtually unprecedented; even Robert Towne, whose script for Chinatown is...

Exclusive: ICM Partners has signed actor and comedian Jon Glaser.

The six-time Emmy nominee created and starred in three TV series: Jon Glaser Loves Gear, Neon Joe Werewolf Hunter, and Delocated.

He played Councilman Jamm on Parks and Recreation and Laird on Girls.

Glaser’s other television and film credits include: Inside Amy Schumer, Curb Your Enthusiasm, Mr. Robot, Wonder Showzen, Trainwreck, Be Kind Rewind, and Pootie Tang. His voice can be heard on Aqua Teen Hunger Force and Bob’s Burgers, among other series. He appeared as Video Cowboy in the ESPN web series Mayne Street, and he created, directed and starred in a series of web shorts for Comedy Central called Tiny Hands.

Glaser wrote for Inside Amy Schumer, Late Night with Conan O’Brien, and The Dana Carvey Show, and his writing has appeared in the New York Times magazine, ESPN magazine, Bicycling magazine, The Onion A.

Stephen Colbert’s Rolling Stone cover-story interview covered a lot of ground, from his battle with anxiety to why Donald Trump is a “heretic against reality.” But there was even more to the conversation.

On the lessons he learned while working on The Dana Carvey Show

I still will pull out things that Dana said about that show. On the show now, sometimes I’ll say, “Right down the pipe,” as Dana. He’s like, “Do the show right down the pipe. Look right down the pipe of the lens.

Can there be such a thing as a successful failure? In the case of The Dana Carvey Show, the answer might be yes.

The sketch comedy show only ran for seven episodes on ABC in 1996 — an eighth episode was uncharitably yanked in favor of a Coach rerun. The program’s brief rise and rapid flame-out is told in the Hulu documentary Too Funny to Fail, now in contention for Emmy nominations.

Director Josh Greenbaum was in high school when The Dana Carvey Show premiered.

“I vividly remember sitting down to watch the first episode with great anticipation,” he recalls. “I was a huge fan of Dana Carvey and here he was with his own show on the No. 1 network in the primetime slot with the No. 1 lead-in. So it seemed like the perfect formula.”

Carvey, coming off his run on Saturday Night Live and the Wayne’s World movies, qualified...

Stephen Colbert has known Louis C.K. for decades, and even reported to him when C.K. was the head writer at 1996’s short-lived “The Dana Carvey Show.” Despite their professional interactions, Colbert got candid during a Dec. 2 discussion with Samantha Bee about how he had no idea that C.K. had a reputation for harassing women.

“I feel dumb,” Colbert said at the New Jersey Performing Arts Center in Newark, at the seventh annual fundraiser for New Jersey non-profit Montclair Film (via our sister site Deadline). “I’m not surprised that men are bad but… I didn’t know about Louis C.K. I didn’t even know about Cosby! And that’s dumb.”

Read More:Louis C.K.: Michael Ian Black, Rachel Bloom, Jason Alexander, and More React to Sexual Misconduct Accusations

Bee said she is pleased that all of these sexual harassment scandals are now coming to light.

Sometimes a show can get pulled from TV due to the wrong audience finding it, and this clip might be the strongest evidence for that argument. The Dana Carvey Show was pulled off the air rather quickly, and at the time those involved with the show were a bit confused. Now, in the present, it's way more obvious that these were two completely different comedy shows going back to back. Check out them reacting to the series, and then binge some skits of The Dana Carvey Show online. ...

“For those of you tuning in to see my interview with Louis C.K. tonight, I have some bad news,” Stephen Colbert said towards the top of Thursday’s monologue. “Then I have some really bad news.”

C.K., who was set to appear on CBS’ The Late Show, cancelled at the last minute after he was accused of sexual misconduct by five women, several of whom alleged that the comedian masturbated in front of them without their consent. Colbert, who worked with C.K. on the short-lived 1996 sketch-comedy series The Dana Carvey Show, addressed the allegations head-on in a monologue...

Dana Carvey was once one of the most popular cast members on Saturday Night Live. He star had risen so high that after leaving the late night sketch series that he launched his own self-titled primetime sketch comedy series on network television. So why did it fail? A new Hulu documentary called Too Funny to […]

The post ‘Too Funny to Fail’ Trailer: Hulu Documentary Digs into ‘The Dana Carvey Show’ appeared first on /Film.

Enough time has passed since the preemptive demise of “The Dana Carvey Show” that Stephen Colbert, Steve Carell, Robert Smigel, and the comedian who gave the show its name can chuckle a bit. Twenty years after ABC pulled the plug on a subversive primetime sketch show, “Too Funny to Fail” revisits the meteoric rise and spectacular flameout that surrounded the show’s eight-episode run in the spring of 1996. Yet with decades of perspective, Josh Greenbaum’s documentary finds a surprising amount of fondness and wistfulness in a doomed project with such a public end.

Part of that bittersweet satisfaction comes from the retroactive knowledge that some of the major players in this saga would go on to shape the modern comedy landscape. Colbert and Carell got their first big breaks as “Dana Carvey Show” cast members, while Smigel would eventually go on to a vaunted comedy writing career (including being...

"We had hired badass nerd pirates to blow up the system." Hulu has debuted a trailer for a documentary titled Too Funny to Fail, looking back at the short-lived comedy show "The Dana Carvey Show". Does anyone remember this show? Dana Carvey's "The Dana Carvey Show" launched in spring of 1996 and only lasted 7 episodes before it was cancelled. This doc examines how it all happened, how it came together, and how it all went wrong. It features Carvey and former Carvey Show cast members/writers Stephen Colbert, Robert Smigel, Steve Carell, Louis C.K., Charlie Kaufman, Jon Glaser, and more in a look back at why the ABC sketch show would "crash and burn so spectacularly." The show had such an amazing set of writers and comedians, it's fascinating to examine its failure. Hulu also has all the episodes available for you to watch. Here's the official trailer for Josh Greenbaum...

Teaming Dana Carvey, red-hot off his Emmy-winning Saturday Night Live run, with the likes of Steve Carell, Stephen Colbert and Louis C.K. sounds like a comedy grand slam. ABC’s The Dana Carvey Show however was sent to the showers after just a handful of 1996 airings, its infamous flame-out well-chronicled in the Hulu documentary Too Funny to Fail (premiering this Saturday, Oct 21).

VideosCastle Rock: Hulu Releases Trailer for J.J. Abrams Horror Drama

In the trailer above, Carvey first channels Apprentice boss-turned-President Donald Trump in assessing the sitcom’s fate, before recounting how back in 1996 he assembled a...

Sure, there's a chewy Lgbtq true-crime doc, a stand-up comic's most personal special yet, another new anthology show, a late-night talkfest starring Sarah Silverman, a standout movie from Noah Baumbach and not one but two historical serial-killer dramas. But what you're waiting for is the return of Stranger Things, and rest assured, you're about to have your Reagan-era nostalgia itch oh-so-mightily scratched. Here's the lowdown on what you'll be streaming over the next month.

Acceptable Risk (Acorn, Oct. 16th)

Say a guy gets killed while on business in Berlin. Chances...

A great ensemble creates a mysterious bond between a show and its viewers. The chemistry shared on screen brings with it a certain level of comfort.

But to refer to this quality as some kind of supernatural power does a disservice to the men and women who forge it. There is the talent of each individual performer to consider: If any of them falter, the whole dynamic falls apart. It’s a dynamic that requires work, too. Whether it’s bonding in real-life or being a good listener on set, chemistry is a science for these casts; it’s made, not found.

Then there’s the versatility of expanding these connections beyond just one or two cast members, but an entire ensemble of six or so series regulars. The best ensembles work no matter who’s paired up in a scene, and it feels like the TV can barely contain...

The next time you’re ready to throw your hands up in exhaust, think of Steve Carell. One of Carell’s first big breaks in acting was getting cast on “The Dana Carvey Show,” a sketch show that ran on ABC in 1996. But a during a recent visit to “The Tonight Show,” Carrell recalled to host Jimmy Fallon that just before he got that audition (for the job that would subsequently alter his career), his agent was anything but encouraging. “If something doesn’t happen soon, you should get out of the business,” she told him. “It’s over.” Carrell to date, by the way, has won a Golden Globe, two Screen Actors Guild Awards, and also boasts an Oscar nomination. Said agent is, unsurprisingly, no longer his agent. Watch below for some much-needed inspiration: Invigorated? Head over to Backstage's casting calls to book a gig!

Emma Stone and Steve Carell take the court as Billie Jean King and Bobby Riggs in the thrilling new trailer for Battle of the Sexes. The film chronicles King and Riggs' famous 1973 tennis match and opens September 22nd.

The new trailer captures the ridiculous media spectacle that surrounded the King-Riggs match-up, as well as its significant cultural underpinnings. While Carell's Riggs – boasting bushy, Seventies-style sideburns – spews all sorts of sexist nonsense and returns lobs with a frying pan, Stone's King fights for her rightful place in the history books and...

Hulu presented panels for the Television Critics Association this weekend. During his opening remarks, Hulu Svp and Head of Content Craig Erwich announced some new developments for the streaming service’s original programming. A documentary series, Limelight Documentary, will include films about Batman co-creator Bill Finger, one-time James Bond George Lazenby, The Beatles and more. Batman […]

The post Hulu Announces Documentaries About Batman Creator Bill Finger, ‘The Dana Carvey Show’ & More [TCA 2016] appeared first on /Film.

"The Dana Carvey Show" was a short-lived ABC comedy series that last just seven episodes in 1996, but the writing staff featured heavyweights like Stephen Colbert, Robert Smigel, Steve Carell, and Louis Ck. The "Louie" star visited Jimmy Fallon on "The Tonight Show" to discuss how he specifically torpedoed Fallon's dreams of appearing as a cast member. Apparently Fallon gave a great audition, but he terrified Ck. It's awesome. ...

This just goes to show you, kids, sometimes a rejection has nothing to do with you! On Tuesday's Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, Louis C.K. admitted that back in the '90s, he squashed the late-night host's dreams of starring on The Dana Carvey Show simply because he was jealous! "So we were auditioning people to be in the cast, and you came in. You were a young, adorable little boy," said the Louie star, 47. "I mean he was a grown man, I'm not a creep...But you were playing the guitar and you had these little Troll dolls and you were singing songs about Troll dolls...and then you would turn around and wiggle your ass a little bit, because you were young and you had a tight little...

If you're like us and value your sleep, you probably nodded off into your Ambien dreamland before the party started on post-prime time TV. Don't worry; we've got you covered. Here's the best of what happened last night on late night.

Louis C.K. was on "The Tonight Show" and he and Jimmy Fallon discussed some personal history. Apparently Jimmy forgot, but he auditioned for Louis when Louis was the head writer for "The Dana Carvey Show" in the '90s. They were auditioning people to be in the cast and Jimmy came in - this adorable little boy (as Louis recalled). Jimmy played his guitar and had little troll dolls, then turned and wiggled his tight little a**. Jimmy argued that he definitely didn't turn and wiggle his butt several times. When the names came up for casting, all the women in the staff argued for Jimmy but Louis and...

Stephen Colbert sat down with his longtime friend and former colleague Steve Carell at a fundraiser Friday night for the Montclair Film Festival. The annual event, designed to raise money for the now-10-day festival in May, involves Colbert interviewing some of his funny friends, with past conversations taking place with Jon Stewart and Jimmy Fallon. This year, Carell took time away from his busy Foxcatcher promotional tour to reminisce with Colbert about their days at Second City, on The Dana Carvey Show and on The Daily Show. Colbert was technically the interviewer, but it was more of a

read more...

For this week’s spotlight piece, I wanted to look at someone from the cast of the upcoming movie Foxcatcher. I had three incredibly talented men to choose from, but I ultimately went with Steve Carell, a talented comedic actor finally getting his time to shine dramatically. The man has been snubbed for Oscar attention before, but this very well could be the year that he finally breaks through and gets an Academy Award nomination. That would cement him not only as the A-list comedy star, but as a truly respected dramatic performer as well. As such, he’s a perfect candidate to shine a spotlight on today. Carell first got his start on the small screen, showing up on television programs like The Dana Carvey Show, Over the Top, Watching Ellie, and of course The Daily Show. The latter was where he really made his initial mark, playing a correspondent.

StreamFix keeps you up to date on the best streams of the web. Here's the best of what's up and coming for Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Prime, and Crackle this November. Netflix "Portlandia, Season 4" Here is what you need to do: Go right now and watch the episode where Toni and Candice take over the Portland Trailblazers dance team. It is painfully funny, and their final dance routine is a shocking horror for the ages. "Snowpiercer" (Nov. 22) Chris Evans. On a post-apocalyptic train. With Tilda Swinton in her wildest getup yet. What are you supposed to do, not watch this?  "Nebraska" (Nov. 8) Alexander Payne's black-and-white Midwestern pseudo-road movie has a bunch of fabulous moments. The shot of Bruce Dern's relatives watching TV in the living room is sincerely one of the most memorable things I saw in 2013. And all hail June Squibb for showing us how to really...

Jan Hooks, best known for her eight years on Saturday Night Live, passed away in New York on Thursday at the age of 57.

Jan Hooks, best known for her eight years on Saturday Night Live, passed away in New York on Thursday at the age of 57.

Pics: Robin Williams and More Stars We've Lost

Hooks joined SNL in 1986 as a part of a cast that included Dana Carvey, Phil Hartman, Jon Lovitz and Dennis Miller. She made a name for herself on the sketch show through her spot-on impersonations of Bette Davis, Betty Ford, Nancy Reagan, Sinead O'Connor, Jodie Foster and Hillary Clinton.

The Georgia native was nominated for an Emmy in 1998 for her guest role on 3rd Rock From the Sun and was most recently seen on television in NBC's 30 Rock as Verna Maroney, the mother of Jenna Maroney (played by Jane Krakowski).

After her appearance on 30 Rock, Tina Fey said in 2013 that it was one...

Former Daily Show colleagues Stephen Colbert and Steve Carell are set to reunite onstage for the Montclair Film Festival's annual celebrity fundraiser. The two comedians will participate in an in-depth conversation and present rarely seen highlights of their work together at an event to benefit the New Jersey film festival. Watch more Stephen Colbert's 5 Best Out-of-Character Moments Colbert and Carell worked together at the Second City improv troupe in Chicago and on The Dana Carvey Show before serving as Daily Show correspondents until 2005. Carell left to star in NBC's The Office and movies such as The

read more...

It was just last week when it was announced that David Letterman was stepping down from The Late Show after 21 years; now we already have a new host (among other duties) to announce.

Stephen Colbert will not only host The Late Show but will also serve as a writer and executive producer. He was probably a top 3-5 choice of most people who care to talk about these TV news items, so I don’t expect much of an uproar. We shouldn’t expect he will bring the satire and parody that made him famous on Comedy Central’s The Colbert Report, it’s The Late Show after all, right?

Here’s the boring press release:

CBS Announces Stephen Colbert As The Next Host

Of “The Late Show”

The CBS Television Network today announced that Stephen Colbert, the host, writer and executive producer of the Emmy and Peabody Award-winning “The Colbert Report,...

Charlie Kaufman's upcoming FX pilot “How and Why” has cast Oscar nominees Catherine Keener and Sally Hawkins. The series — about a man who can explain how and why a nuclear reactor works, but is clueless about life — marks the “Synecdoche, New York” and “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind” writer Kaufman's return to the small screen. He previously worked on the television shows “Ned and Stacey” and “The Dana Carvey Show.” Also read: Denis Leary's FX Rock ‘n’ Roll Pilot Casts Robert Kelly, Elizabeth Gillies Kaufman will write and direct the pilot and serve as executive producer. Anthony Bregman (“Synecdoche,...

Feature Louisa Mellor 28 Jan 2014 - 07:00

A spate of promising-sounding Us comedy pilots is on its way from the likes of Tina Fey, Charlie Kaufman, Amy Poehler and Louis C.K…

With new seasons of Veep, Louie, Orange Is The New Black and It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia on their way to join successful new arrival Brooklyn Nine-Nine, Us sitcom is already looking not too shabby for the months ahead.

Add to that little lot new sitcom projects from the likes of Louis C.K., Tina Fey, Charlie Kaufman, Steve Carell, and Amy Poehler, and 2014 could well turn out to be a special year for Us TV comedy.

With the best information available at the time of writing, here’s our pick of the year ahead's most promising-sounding Us comedy pilots (many of which are already confirmed as going to series) by that guy who did that thing you liked...

Via: THR

FX has cast Michael Cera and John Hawkes to star in their Charlie Kaufman (Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind) created comedy pilot How & Why. It seems like a team of people that would work incredibly well together. 

The series will tell the story of "a man who can explain how and why a nuclear reactor works but is otherwise clueless about life." There aren't many more details on the series, buy Kaufman is set to write and direct the pilot. I've enjoyed Kaufman's work, and I'm sure this will be entertaining.

This is the first TV series that Kaufman has worked on since Fox's Ned & Stacey, which ended its two-season run in 1997. Some of his other TV credits include Get a Life, The Dana Carvey Show, and Adult Swim's stop-motion entry, Moral Orel.

Few screenwriters burst onto the film scene with as much creative capacity as Charlie Kaufman, the mind behind Being John Malkovich and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. However, the scribe has kept a low profile since directing 2008′s Synecdoche, New York. Despite murmurs about helming the musical comedy Frank or Francis with Jack Black, Kaufman could not get that project off the ground.

Alas, fans of his brainy, soulful, surreal works of comedy can finally breathe easy, as FX has just picked up a new half-hour comedy pilot from Kaufman, entitled How and Why. Michael Cera and John Hawkes are already signed on to appear in the pilot, which Kaufman will write, direct and executive produce.

With a screenwriter as renowned and imaginative as Kaufman behind the project, as well as his eye behind the lens, the main story is not “who” is in How and Why, but “what” is the plot synopsis?...

One of the most exciting potential series to be announced last year was "How and Why," a half-hour comedy pilot from Charlie Kaufman. The "Synecdoche, New York" filmmaker got his start in television, working as a producer for "Ned and Stacey" and writer on "The Dana Carvey Show" before "Being John Malkovich" came out in 1999, so the project actually represents a return to the small screen for him. Today, FX announced that the pilot has cast its leads -- Michael Cera ("Crystal Fairy") and John Hawkes ("The Sessions") -- and will begin production this spring in North Carolina. The comedy will be the story of a man who can explain how and why a nuclear reactor works, but is clueless about life. Kaufman will write and direct the pilot and serve as executive producer alongside Anthony Bregman ("Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind"). Cera's one of the five directors set...

John Hawkes and Michael Cera have been cast in Charlie Kaufman’s upcoming FX series, “How & Why.” The upcoming series marks the “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind” writer’s return to TV after working on shows like “Ned & Stacey” and “The Dana Carvey Show.” Also read: Zach Galifianakis, Louis C.K. Teaming Up on FX Pilot Hawkes, an Oscar nominee for “Winter’s Bone,” will play a TV host who has lost his way. He also had a recurring role on HBO’s “Eastbound & Down.” Cera, who will play his boss, rose to stardom on “Arrested Development” before going on...

NBC has ordered 13 episodes of a new comedy from “30 Rock” masterminds Tina Fey and Robert Carlock starring Ellie Kemper as a woman starting over in New York City after fleeing a doomsday cult. Produced by Universal Television and Little Stranger, Inc., the series is set to debut in fall 2014. Also read: Amy Poehler and Tina Fey to Host Golden Globes for Next 2 Years “We have been lucky enough to work at NBC for our entire careers (except when Robert worked at ‘The Dana Carvey Show,’ now available on DVD) and we thank Bob and Jen for their continued...

Tina Fey is back in business at NBC. The 30 Rock creator, along with her producing partner Robert Carlock, has been granted a 13-episode straight-to-series order for a comedy starring The Office’s Ellie Kemper. The single-camera effort, which is set to debut in the fall of 2014, will center on a woman (Kemper) who escapes from a doomsday cult and starts life over in New York City. “We have been lucky enough to work at NBC for our entire careers (except when Robert worked at The Dana Carvey Show, now available on DVD) and we thank Bob

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NBC has ordered 13 episodes of a new singlecam comedy from multiple Emmy Award winners Tina Fey and Robert Carlock. Ellie Kemper ("The Office," Bridesmaids ) is set to star. Produced by Universal Television and Little Stranger, Inc., and set to debut in fall 2014, the series will center on a woman (Kemper) who escapes from a doomsday cult and starts life over in New York City. "We have been lucky enough to work at NBC for our entire careers (except when Robert worked at 'The Dana Carvey Show,' now available on DVD) and we thank Bob and Jen for their continued support," said Fey and Carlock. "Tina and Robert, who cemented their partnership on '30 Rock,' have created a new signature comedy for us that is audacious, emotional, and clever," said...

Many people still associate Steve Carell the most with either his lovable buffoon characters – like Brick Tamland in Anchorman or Michael Scott on The Office (U.S.) TV series – or his put-upon straight-man roles in such movies as The 40 Year Old Virgin, Date Night and Crazy, Stupid, Love. That is, despite the increasing number of serious dramatic performances that Carell has amassed under his belt, since he broke-out as a Hollywood leading (funny)man after years of working on series like The Dana Carvey Show and The Daily Show.

Carell’s most widely-known semi-comedic screen performance is probably still that from Little Miss Sunshine, wherein he portrayed a Proust literature expert who attempts to commit ...

Click to continue reading Steve Carell is a Paranoid Schizophrenic in the First ‘Foxcatcher’ Image...