News

Peter Marshall, the velvety-voiced host who presided over NBC’s celebrity-filled game show The Hollywood Squares for 16 years, died Thursday. He was 98.

Marshall, an accomplished singer who also was a leading man on Broadway and one-half of a popular comedy team before embarking on his game-show gig, died of kidney failure at his Encino home, his family announced.

The pride of West Virginia hosted some 6,000 episodes of The Hollywood Squares from 1966 through 1981, winning four Daytime Emmy Awards. Marshall often worked just one day a week, when he taped five shows. “It was the easiest job I ever had, and I never rehearsed,” he said.

Soon after starring in the Tony-nominated Broadway musical comedy Skyscraper opposite Julie Harris, Marshall was offered the job as host of The Hollywood Squares, created by Merrill Heatter and Bob Quigley. An earlier version of the show, hosted by Bert Parks, had been turned down.

Marshall...

Bob Newhart, an Emmy winner and nine-time nominee who helped launch the recorded comedy craze with two smash stand-up albums before starring in the revered TV shows The Bob Newhart Show and Newhart, died today at his Los Angeles home. He was 94.

His longtime publicist Jerry Digney said Newhart died after a series of short illnesses.

Newhart broke out in 1960 with a pair of No. 1 comedy albums — despite never having done stand-up before. The Button-Down Mind of Bob Newhart spent 14 weeks atop the Billboard 200 and stayed on that chart for more than two years. The Button-Down Mind Strikes Back! arrived about 10 months later and also hit No. 1. The former won Grammys for Album of the Year, Comedy Album of the Year and Best New Artist and featured a slow-spoken still-cited monologue with Newhart as Abe Lincoln.

Related: Hollywood & Media Deaths In 2024: Photo Gallery & Obituaries

“I worked as an accountant for 2½ years,...

With the recent death of Norman Lear, we were reminded this year that precious few comedy legends remain with us who were around in the 1960s and ’70s. One of those is George Schlatter, the legendary creator-producer of the iconic 1960s NBC comedy-variety series “Rowan & Martin’s Laugh-In.” Taking its title from the “love-in” and “sit-in” of the hippie counterculture of the time, “Laugh-In” ran from January 1968 to March 1973 and was a giant hit, introducing the world to regulars Lily Tomlin and Goldie Hawn (among many others).

Schlatter turns 94 today (New Year’s Eve), and he still goes into the office every day, looking to produce the next big thing in TV comedy. And this past week, with the death at 86 of Tom Smothers, Schlatter said, “I loved Tommy. Tommy and I were great friends. Tommy took the rap for a lot of what I did, y’know. See, we...

Lucille Ball is very much back in the public eye due to the success of the acclaimed film "Being the Ricardos". Here's a blast from the past, provided by Shout! Factory- the complete Dean Martin Roasts program "honoring" Lucille Ball. The lineup of greats is almost surrealistic: Jack Benny, Dan Rowan, Don Rickles, Bob Hope, Ginger Rogers, Dick Martin, Totie Fields, Milton Berle, Henry Fonda, Nipsey Russell, Vivian Vance, Rich Little, Foster Brooks, Phyllis Diller, Gale Gordon, and, of course, Dino. This time capsule from 1975 is the epitome of what would now be called politically incorrect humor, but it thankfully preserves a period of time in which people could not only take a joke about themselves, but were honored to be the recipient of those pointed barbs.  - Lee Pfeiffer...

In 1968, Dan Rowan, one of the hosts of the variety series Rowan & Martin’s Laugh-In, introduced a guest by describing him as “an act you’re just not gonna believe.” “This guy plays the bugle, plays the guitar, and sings — all at the same time. … This is a unique act, he’s the only one of his kind, and we’re lucky.” His co-host, Dick Martin, retorted, “I guess we are lucky … There could have been two.” Rowan brought Martin over to the guest, the Legendary Stardust Cowboy, who dressed in yellow pants,...

This is for Tim. This is so everybody will remember him. I can tell just by the mail I’ve gotten in the last couple of days that he had a huge fan base that loved him, and they wrote me because they knew I was close to him.

Tim grew up in Chagrin Falls, Ohio, and his father thought that he was handy around the house. But he wasn’t. He decided to put in a doorbell. But he accidentally wired it in such a way that it rang all the time. It only stopped ringing when someone was at the door. So it would be ringing all day, and when it finally went silent, Tim’s dad would say, “I’ll get it.” Tim told me that story. Anyone who grew up in that house had to be a comedian. That’s the kind of life he had.

In today’s roundup, Showtime debuts the trailer for the miniseries about Fox News founder Roger Ailes, and Tom Hanks and Savannah Guthrie will co-host a special hour of NBC News’ “Today.”

First Looks

Showtime has released the official trailer for the seven-part limited series “The Loudest Voice,” about Fox News founder Roger Ailes. The series will explore how Ailes became the Republican Party’s de facto leader, while touching on the sexual harassment accusations that brought his Fox News reign to an end. Russell Crowe stars as Ailes and Naomi Watts plays Gretchen Carlson, with Sienna Miller, Seth MacFarlane and Simon McBurney rounding out the cast. The series premieres Sunday, June 30 at 10 p.m. Et/Pt.

AMC released the official key art and a sneak peek clip from the upcoming supernatural horror series “NOS4A2,” which focuses on a gifted young woman who discovers she has a supernatural ability to find lost things.

Bob Newhart has been selected by Gold Derby editors to receive a special Career Achievement Award at our Emmy season kickoff party on June 5 in Hollywood.

Newhart is not only an Emmy Award winner and frequent nominee, but the Emmys once played a lucky, key role in launching his early TV success.

Back in 1960, Newhart was known chiefly as the first artist ever to reach number 1 on the Billboard sales charts with a hit comedy album – “The Button-Down Mind of Bob Newhart.” He was not yet a TV star, but he was invited to perform a solo skit at the next Emmys telecast. At the last minute, Newhart was suddenly given lots of extra airtime when an “inappropriate” comedy skit planned by Mike Nichols and Elaine May got nixed (it had the nerve to mock an advertiser) and TV producers had to fill the time.

“The show managed to usher...

In today’s TV News roundup, Netflix sets the premiere date for its 50th anniversary special of “Laugh-In.”

Dates

“Laugh-In: The Stars Celebrate,” the 50th anniversary tribute to the original series by Dan Rowan and Dick Martin, will premiere on Netflix on May 14. The special, which was taped at the Dolby Theater in Hollywood, pays homage to the late ’60s series and includes Lily Tomlin, one of the original stars, playing her iconic Edith Ann and Ernestine characters. The lineup of celebrities for the tribute includes Billy Crystal, Tiffany Haddish, Chelsea Handler, Neil Patrick Harris, Snoop Dogg, Michael Douglas, Jay Leno, Rita Moreno, Margaret Cho, Bobby Moynihan, Rob Riggle, Tony Hale, Jameela Jamil and many more.

Behind The Scenes

Variety has exclusive behind-the-scenes footage of the creation of the 200th episode of “My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic,” premiering April 20 at 11:30 a.m. on Discovery Family. For the first time in the series,...

Netflix has announced a new special Still Laugh-In: The Stars Celebrate, a 50th anniversary tribute to the sketch comedy program Rowan & Martin’s Laugh-In (1968-1973).

Hosted by original Laugh-In cast member Lily Tomlin and filmed at Los Angeles’ Dolby Theater, the special will feature appearances by Billy Crystal, Tiffany Haddish, Neil Patrick Harris, Taye Diggs, Michael Douglas, Chelsea Handler, Jay Leno, Rita Moreno, Rita Wilson, Jo Anne Worley, Snoop Dogg, Maria Bamford, Margaret Cho, Jameela Jamil and more.

“The special, which was taped at Hollywood’s Dolby Theater, is filled...

Great news for fans of Doris Day! The Glass Bottom Boat is currently available on Blu-ray from Warner Archives. Ordering information can be found Here

Doris Day entered her eighth consecutive year as a top-10 box-office star when she boarded The Glass Bottom Boat, a hilarious blending of romantic comedy and the era’s burgeoning spy-movie genre. Day plays Jennifer, a girl Friday at a hush-hush aeronautics think tank. When colleagues suspect she’s an espionage agent, Jennifer chaotically sets out to clear her name. Looney Tunes alumnus Frank Tashlin directs with a cartoonist’s sensibility – or zany insensibility – embracing everything from spy guises to push-button chaos in a futuristic kitchen. With top comedians Arthur Godfrey, Paul Lynde, Edward Andrews, John McGiver, Dom DeLuise and Dick Martin in tow, The Glass Bottom Boat is loaded top to bottom with see-through fun.

Frank Tashlin directs Doris Day as “the drip-dry spy...

It’s wacky, daffy and incredibly square, yet Frank Tashlin’s late career Doris Day romp has a certain gotta-watch interest factor: the male cast of clowns performs the sexist comedy well, and Ms. Day’s fantastic screen personality brightens everything. Space-age executive lothario Rod Taylor hires Doris just for romantic purposes, while Arthur Godfrey, John McGiver, Dom DeLuise, Edward Andrews, Paul Lynde and Dick Martin execute dated slapstick amid ‘futuristic’ gadgets from the days of Buck Rogers.

The Glass Bottom Boat

Blu-ray

Warner Archive Collection

1966 / Color / 2:35 widescreen / 110 min. / Street Date March 26, 2019 / available through the WBshop / 21.99

Starring: Doris Day, Rod Taylor, Arthur Godfrey, John McGiver, Dom DeLuise,

Ellen Corby, Edward Andrews, Eric Fleming, Paul Lynde, Dick Martin.

Cinematography: Leon Shamroy

Film Editor: John McSweeney

Original Music: Frank DeVol

Written by Everett Freeman

Produced by Everett Freeman and Martin Melcher

Directed by Frank Tashlin

The great director Frank Tashlin is...

For George Schlatter, the creator of Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In, there was a key moment when the Classic TV comedy sketch series had gone from an oddity to cultural phenomenon: Sammy Davis, Jr., an old friend, was making a guest appearance on the show. They were joking around with comedy bits involving a judge, when, according to George, Sammy came up with the phrase, "Here come da judge!", which would lead into a sketch about the banter between a defendant and a judge dressed in black robe and oversized wig (becoming a national catchphrase in the process). "We taped 'Here Come Da Judge' at two in the morning," says George exclusively. "It was so funny that we put it on the next show. Suddenly people were walking down the hall saying, 'Here come da judge.' The show went on that Monday night, and Tuesday or Wedneday morning when the Supreme Court came into the courtroom,...

We all know Goldie Hawn for her infectious laugh, her unapologetic sense of humor, and her résumé stacked with iconic film roles, but there's a lot about the Hollywood family matriarch and Academy Award winner that you might not be aware of. From the career she might have had to why it took her and longtime partner Kurt Russell so long to get together, we've rounded up all the nuggets of trivia any Goldie fan should know. She almost ditched acting to be a country singer. Can you imagine a world where instead of filming movies like Overboard and Private Benjamin, Goldie was belting it out onstage at the Grand Ole Opry? In 1972, she recorded a country LP for Warner Brothers called Goldie, with the lead single titled "Pitta Patta." Although she had the help of country icons Dolly Parton and Buck Owens on the album, she ended up picking Hollywood over Nashville.

The 21st Annual Art Directors Guild Excellence in Production Design Awards ceremony was billed as a “Return to Hollywood.” Backdrops from classic films dotted the interior of the Ray Dolby Ballroom lobby. Johnny Crawford and his Orchestra kicked off the evening’s festivities with “Hooray for Hollywood.” Even a handful of the evening’s big winners were films that fit the theme perfectly.

As expected, “La La Land” continued its storybook run through awards season, with David Wasco’s team winning for Contemporary Film. In an upset, Wynn Thomas and the team from “Hidden Figures” took home honors in Period Film, despite “Hail, Caesar!” being the only of the category’s nominees to also pick up a nom for Oscars night. “It’s been a long journey to this moment,” said Thomas, who described being nominated at the very first Art Directors Guild award for “Mars Attacks!” “I’m so...

Gas-s-s-s – Or – It Became Necessary to Destroy the World in Order to Save It.

Blu-ray

Olive Films

1970 / Color / 1:85 widescreen/ 79 min. / Street Date October 18, 2016 / Gas-s-s-s / available through the Olive Films website / 29.98

Starring: Elaine Giftos, Robert Corff, Cindy Williams, Bud Cort, Ben Vereen, Tally Coppola, Lou Procopio.

Cinematography: Ron Dexter

Film Editor: George Van Noy

Original Music: Country Joe and the Fish

Written and Produced by George Armitage

Directed by Roger Corman

Roger Corman finally accepted himself as an iconic filmmaker for this, his final show for A.I.P.. Barely released and long considered a failure, Gas-s-s-s – Or – It Became Necessary to Destroy the World in Order to Save It sees Corman and his writer associate George Armitage attempting a Mad magazine- like amalgam of all the counterculture trends of the late 1960s. That tactical mistake becomes eighty minutes of unfocused and unfunny satire. Armitage’s script and dialogue might occasionally hit some serendipitous notes,...

The classic comedy duo is back on TV. Starting today, you can watch the iconic series Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In on the Decades network.Created by Ed Friendly and George Schlatter, the sketch comedy show featured hosts Dick Martin and Dan Rowan in a series of skits, musical numbers, and scenes with celebrity guests like Goldie Hawn, Lily Tomlin, Bob Hope, and Sammy Davis Jr. The show ran from 1968 to 1973.Read More…...

Whatever happened to the great comic duos? Movies and TV used to give us at least one a generation: Laurel and Hardy, Hope and Crosby, Lewis and Martin, Rowan and Martin. Did “Saturday Night Live” somehow end that streak? Did comics suddenly not want to share the spotlight? Comedy Central’s Nick Kroll and John Mulaney had the promise to revive the male comedy team with their oft-performed skit “Oh, Hello,” about two nerdy old men from Manhattan’s Upper West Side who host a public-access show called “Too Much Tuna.” The big problem with “Oh, Hello on Broadway,” which opened Monday at the.

Lily Tomlin will receive her most prestigious honor yet at next year's Screen Actors Guild Awards. The actress—who's earned multiple Emmys, two Tonys, and a Grammy—has been named the 53rd recipient of the SAG Life Achievement Award for her onscreen achievements across a decades-spanning career. Tomlin will accept the award on Jan. 29, 2017 when the SAG Awards takes over the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles. Lily found her breakout role in the early 1970s' variety show Rowan and Martin's Laugh-In, before later taking her comedic talents to the big screen and stage with a number of iconic characters. In honor of the 76-year-old's milestone...

Any casual listeners of Marc Maron's Wtf podcast will be forgiven for presuming that the President Barack Obama, whom the comic interviewed a few months back, was the comedian's ultimate get. His fans know better: The host has been obsessed with talking to Saturday Night Live's creator and executive producer Lorne Michaels. In rant after rant — and conversation after conversation with SNL alums — Maron has cursed himself, cursed the "evil wizard" he saw in Michaels and cursed showbiz itself while trying to figure out why he didn't make...

In 2014, Michelle Obama and Tom Hanks toasted Lily Tomlin's lifetime achievement at the Kennedy Center — an honor that didn't mark the end of her career so much as kick off a comeback. Nearly five decades after her debut on Rowan and Martin's Laugh-In, the 75 year-old is hot: Her Netflix show Grace and Frankie, costarring Jane Fonda, was just renewed for a second season and helped Tomlin earn her 22nd Emmy nomination. And the comedienne's new film Grandma — about a cranky lesbian septuagenarian who helps her granddaughter get an abortion,...

Brad Pitt 'Glory Days' costar Nicholas Kallsen Brad Pitt 'Glory Days' costar Nicholas Kallsen dead at 48 Nicholas Kallsen, who was featured opposite Brad Pitt in the short-lived television series Glory Days, has died at age 48 in Thailand according to online reports. Their source is one of Rupert Murdoch's rags, citing a Facebook posting by one of the actor's friends. The cause of death was purportedly – no specific source was provided – a drug overdose.* Aired on Fox in July 1990, Glory Days told the story of four high-school friends whose paths take different directions after graduation. Besides Nicholas Kallsen and Brad Pitt, the show also featured Spike Alexander and Evan Mirand. Glory Days lasted a mere six episodes – two of which directed by former Happy Days actor Anson Williams – before its cancellation. Roommates Nicholas Kallsen and Brad Pitt vying for same 'Thelma & Louise' role? The Murdoch tabloid also...

Gary Owens, the famous voice of “Laugh-In,” died on Thursday at his Encino, California, home after succumbing to diabetes-related complications. He was 80. The veteran talent, who enjoyed a long career as a radio DJ, voice performer and TV announcer, served as the announcer for NBC’s “Rowan and Martin’s Laugh-In” from 1968 to 1973. His trademarks included the catchphrase “beautiful downtown Burbank” — said in a deep, booming voice — and holding his hand over his ear while he announced. See Photos: Hollywood’s Notable Deaths of 2015 Owens was the first radio star to be inducted into the Hollywood HaIl of Fame presented by the Hollywood.

Gary Owens, best known as the announcer for Rowan and Martin’s Laugh-In, died Thursday at the age of 80, the Associated Press reports.

Owens appeared on many TV shows during his seven-decade career, including Lucille Ball and Bob Hope specials.

He also lent his voice to hundreds of programs, such as Sesame Street and Yogi’s Treasure Hunt and, more recently, Batman: The Brave and the Bold, Wizards of Waverly Place, Johnny Bravo and Dexter’s Laboratory.

Owens passed away at his Los Angeles-area home and is survived by his wife of 57 years, Arleta, and their two sons.

Related storiesWriters Guild Awards: True Detective,...

Attorney Edward Hookstratton, who represented Elvis Presley, Johnny Carson and many major TV and sports media personalities, is dead at the age of 83. He died Wednesday at his Beverly Hills home, according to publicist Todd Beck. Hookstratten’s client list included Joey Bishop, Tom Snyder, Dan Rowan and Dick Martin, Tom Brokaw and Jessica Savitch, as well as sports media heavyweights including Vin Scully, Dick Enberg and Merlin Olsen. “Ed Hookstratten was a brilliant lawyer, my representative, and one of my dearest friends in all the world,” said Scully. ”He introduced me to my wife Sandi, was our best man at the.

The sports and entertainment attorney died late Wednesday at his home in Beverly Hills of natural causes. Edward Gregory Hookstratten was 83. The general counsel for the L.A. Rams for several years, Hookstratten’s 50-year career including repping some of the biggest names in front of the camera and on the field. Johnny Carson, Elvis Presley, Dan Rowan and Dick Martin, and Joey Bishop were clients along with newscasters Bryant Gumbel, Tom Brokaw, Tom Snyder and Jessica Savitch. In the world of sports, Hookstratten represented Vin Scully, Pat Reilly, Marcus Allen, Dick Enberg, Merlin Olsen, Dick Stockton, Don Meredith, Jim Hill and Pat Haden. On the big screen, Hookstratten was a producer on the 1996 news drama Up Close & Personal starring Robert Redford and Michelle Pfeiffer. He was also name-dropped in Rob Reiner’s classic rock mockumentary This Is Spinal Tap, where Fred Willard’s Air Force colonel was named “Lt.

Ed Hookstratten, the legendary sports and entertainment attorney, died Wednesday of natural causes after a long illness at his home in Beverly Hills, publicist Todd Beck reported. He was 83. In a career that spanned more than 50 years, Hookstratten was a powerful and iconic force in show business, with clients that included Elvis Presley, Dan Rowan & Dick Martin, Joey Bishop and Johnny Carson (he replaced Henry Bushkin at Carson Productions); news personalities Bryant Gumbel, Tom Brokaw, Tom Snyder and Jessica Savitch; and Vin Scully, Dick Enberg, Phyllis George, Merlin Olsen, Harry Kalas, Dick Stockton, Pat Haden, Marcus Allen and Don Meredith from the world

read more...

Blue Is the Warmest Colour, the award-winning French film, is already notorious for its fisticuffs between stars and director. It's the latest in an unhappy tradition of histrionics and control-freakery. Here are some vintage feuds

Directors and actors being what they are, they like a good argument. On one side are obsessive perfectionists, on the other self-involved exhibitionists – or so the theory goes. It's often proved a combustible mix in the past, with what is euphemistically termed "creative tension" often adding to the dynamic of the final film.

The media, obviously, is the silent third partner in all this; though you, the reader, ought to be equally ashamed, gleefully drinking in all the foul-mouthed resentment and high-decibel score-settling. You don't have to look far: actors Léa Seydoux and Adèle Exarchopolous turned on Blue Is the Warmest Colour director Abdellatif Kechiche, accusing him of traumatising them during the extended periods shooting sex and fight scenes.

We all know why the original Star Trek TV series was cancelled don’t we? Despite the volume of fan support, this simply didn’t translate into viewing figures and the series couldn’t compete. Well, it seems that according to the latest evidence produced in Marc Cushman and Susan Osborn’s book These Are the Voyages: The Original Series: Season One, that this isn’t the entire truth.

Cushman and Osborn’s book is the first in a trilogy about the Original Series and so we won’t know exactly why the series was cancelled until the third season book comes out. But what makes this information so reliable? Well, they have licenced the Nielsen Ratings for each season – the first time they have ever been published. In the first season, the show was the first or second place in its timeslot for every single episode. It was even...

There's great news for Dean Martin fans and lovers of classic comedy. Star Vista Entertainment/Time Life have released the entire broadcast collection of Dean Martin Celebrity Roasts. These shows were "must-sees" in their original telecasts in the 1970s, as an astonishing array of Hollywood and political legends came together on stage to roast the man or woman being "honored". Taking on the format of a Friar's Roast (without the obscenities), the shows became extraordinarily popular as off-shoots of Dean Martin's long-running variety hour on NBC. Each roast was held before a large live audience in Las Vegas and no "honoree" emerged unscathed. The packaging warns that in today's politically correct society, much of the racially-charged humor might seem shocking but keep in mind, this was the norm in the day with comedians, both black and white, taking good-natured pot-shots at each other. Additionally, people who were arch political...

Actor who made her name in comedy films as an acid-tongued, gravel-voiced tyrant

Eileen Brennan, who has died aged 80, had been a stage actor since the late 1950s, but it was as a largely comic presence in Us cinema of the 1970s and early 1980s that she was most widely admired. As the pitiless Captain Doreen Lewis, putting a dippy new recruit – Goldie Hawn – through her paces in the hit military comedy Private Benjamin (1980), she wore her trademark look: a solid frizz of red hair, a clenched, sneering smile and an expression of withering incredulity. Then there was the gravelly voice: a heard-it-all whine to match that seen-it-all face. It sounded like bourbon on the rocks. Actual rocks, that is.

Captain Lewis epitomised the sort of role Brennan was best at – and which she was still playing as late as 2001, when she made the first in a run of appearances...

Review by Sam Moffitt

In the realm of bad movies every movie geek has their favorites. I read with interest Tom Stockman’s musings on The Room, a bad movie masterpiece I have yet to see, it’s in my Netflix queue though!

Bad movies have their place in any movie geeks library. Movie watching parties can be so much fun if the movies picked are from the resumes of directors like Ed Wood, Phil Tucker, or Herschell Gordon Lewis. Laughing along with movies like this can be such a joy. The crew at Mystery Science Theatre made careers out of laughing at bad movies. Low budget crap made by amateur or semiprofessional film makers is so easy to love.

But what are we to make of a movie made by main stream, A-list Hollywood professionals, made by people with really good movies in their career, which is damn near unwatchable?...

Though she probably made the biggest splash – and scored an Oscar nomination in the process – for her role as Captain Lewis in Private Benjamin, actress Eileen Brennan enjoyed a long and varied career. She died on Sunday at the age of 80.An always-reliable performer noted for her husky voice and take-no-prisoners attitude to both life and performing, she was born Verla Eileen Regina Brennen in 1932 and grew up in Los Angeles. After studying at Georgetown University, she took acting at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in New York, paying her way through work as a singing waitress while performing in summer stock during the holidays.She scored various stage roles, and won an Obie Award for her leading performance in 1959’s Little Mary Sunshine. Brennan followed that up with roles in The Miracle Worker and The King And I.Television would follow in the 1960s, with work on The Star Wagon...

Actresscomedienne JoAnn Worley needs no introduction. One of the stars of the classic TV variety show Rowan and Martin's Laugh-In, Worley will be at Welk Resorts in Escondido displaying her comic versatility as she presents her one-woman show Keep Laughin' June 26-30. In our recent chat, she did indeed have me laughing as she talked about her show, her take on what makes something funny, her favorite stars, and Actors and Others For Animals, which remains close to her heart. She's a tremendously joyous lady with terribly strong vibes about people and the biz and proves an overall endearing human being.

The Writers Guild of America (WGA) has decided to put together a list of 101 best scripted television shows of all time. Members of the WGA took part in an online survey in order to rank the many shows and HBO's "The Sopranos" came out on top, earning the title of WGA best scripted TV series in history. "Seinfeld" took second place, topping the list of the best sitcoms, beating "M*A*S*H" (5th), "Cheers" (8th), and "Friends" (24th). "The Twilight Zone" landed in third place. The show has been around since the 50's and is still on the air today. It's been rebooted twice and Bryan Singer is currently in the works on a fourth version. Check out the full list below and let us know if you believe something is missing or is not properly placed. 1. The Sopranos 2. Seinfeld 3. The Twilight Zone 4. All in the Family 5. M*A...

Jonathan Winters, comedian and television and film actor, best remembered for his roles in It’s A Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World, and as the voice of Papa Smurf in The Smurfs, has died. He was 87. Winters’ show biz career began after he won a talent show in his native Dayton, Ohio. He went on to appear in dozens of television shows throughout his decades-long career, winning a supporting actor Emmy in 1991 for Davis Rules. His other TV credits include The Jonathan Winters Show, The Twilight Zone, Hee Haw, Rowan And Martin’s Laugh-In and Mork And Mindy. He was a veteran of the late night talk show circuit guesting frequently on The Jack Paar Show and later The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson. His late night appearances continued into the ’90s with Jay Leno and David Letterman. His other film credits include Viva Max, The Loved One, Oh Dad Poor Dad,...

The commander-in-chief's turn as entertainer-in-chief is a David and Goliath plot for the ages, and we're only halfway through

How's the election been for you? On a scale of one to 10? Great? Just Ok? Would you recommend it to a friend? Not to trivialize the historical crossroads at which we find ourselves, still less the opportunity for a frank and rigorous exchange of ideas over the best policy with which to lead this great republic into the 21st century, but: have you had fun? Did it suck? Were you on the edge of your seat? Or was it a complete waste of your TiVo?

That America's political machine is an ever-growing subsidiary of its entertainment industry has long been remarked upon. "All campaigns are movies now, consisting of competing narratives with competing stars," wrote Neal Gabler in his superb 1998 book Life: The Movie, a radical expansion of Norman Mailer's famous comment,...

In a world more to his liking, Gore Vidal might have been president, or even king. He had an aristocrat's bearing – tall, handsome and composed – and an authoritative baritone ideal for summoning an aide or courtier.

But Vidal made his living – a very good living – from challenging power, not holding it. He was wealthy and famous and committed to exposing a system often led by men he knew firsthand. During the days of Franklin Roosevelt, one of the few leaders whom Vidal admired, he might have been called a "traitor to his class." The real traitors, Vidal would respond, were the upholders of his class.

The author, playwright, politician and commentator whose vast and sharpened range of published works and public remarks were stamped by his immodest wit and unconventional wisdom, died Tuesday at age 86 in Los Angeles.

Vidal died at his home in the Hollywood Hills at about 6:45 p.

Bob Newhart believes being smart, and not overly specific, about its time has helped his first sitcom's popularity endure.

Hallmark Channel presents 12 hours of evidence Sunday (May 27) with a 40th-anniversary marathon of "The Bob Newhart Show," a 1972-78 staple of the CBS Saturday-night lineup that included such other classics as "All in the Family," "M*A*S*H," "The Mary Tyler Moore Show" and "The Carol Burnett Show."

Newhart's famously buttoned-down humor perfectly suited his role as Chicago psychologist Bob Hartley, whose office misadventures were balanced by his home life with wife Emily (Suzanne Pleshette).

"First, Hallmark is very classy and secondly, the show holds up," Newhart tells Zap2it of his pleasure about this weekend's marathon. "It's enjoying a renaissance, and that's a tribute to the writing and performing. We didn't really go too much into the style of the era, which I think accounts for the longevity ... though in some scenes,...

Los Angeles — Alan Sues, who brought his flamboyant and over-the-top comic persona to the hit television show "Rowan and Martin's Laugh-In" in the 1960s and 1970s, has died, a close friend said Sunday night.

Sues died of cardiac arrest on Thursday at his home in West Hollywood, Michael Gregg Michaud, a friend since 1975, told The Associated Press.

"He was sitting in a recliner watching TV with his dachshund Doris who he loved in his lap," Michaud said.

Sues had various health problems in the last several years, but the death came as a shock to friends, Michaud said. He was 85.

A native Californian who moved to New York in 1952, Sues began his career as a serious actor and in 1953 appeared in director Elia Kazan's "Tea and Sympathy" on Broadway.

But he would be remembered for his wild comic characters.

They included "Big Al," an effeminate sportscaster, and "Uncle Al the Kiddies Pal,...

 

Alan Sues, a regular on the ground-breaking Rowan and Martin's Laugh-In series, has died at age 85.  Although Sues never officially said he was gay at the time, he was one of the first mainstream performers to proudly portray effeminate characters on mainstream TV shows. By 1968, when Laugh-In premiered, societal values were radically changing, allowing Sues and other cast members to be themselves. Sues specialized in playing flamboyant characters including Uncle Al, the Kiddies' Pal, a drunken and rude host of a children's TV show. Sues' personality fit well into the "anything goes" mix of the Laugh-In jokes and crazy characters. He stayed with the show through 1972. He also appeared in classic TV series such as The Wild, Wild West and The Twilight Zone. He played Prof. Moriarty in the acclaimed 1975 Broadway production of Sherlock Holmes. Click here for more.

Another small screen legend has passed on, leaving behind a legacy filled with laughs and memorable performances. TV legend Alan Sues has died at the age of 85.

Sues passed away at his Los Angeles home yesterday.

Known to the mainstream audience mainly for his hilarious stint on "Rowan and Martin's Laugh-In", Alan touched our genre twice: once in 1995 in the television remake of A Bucket of Blood and more famously for his role as Wilfred Harper, Jr., in the ultra creepy episode of "The Twilight Zone" entitled The Masks.

We here at Dread Central would like to take this time to offer our sincerest of condolences to Sues' many friends, family members, and constituents. Your legacy lives on, sir. Rest easy!

Visit The Evilshop @ Amazon!

Got news? Click here to submit it!

Share your memories of Mr. Sues in the comments section below!

Director and comedy writer known for his Elvis films and the hit TV series Julia

The director and writer Hal Kanter, who has died aged 92, was one of the great wits of Hollywood. He made his reputation as one of Bob Hope's principal writers, and for many years scripted the annual Oscar ceremonies (he shared Emmy awards in 1991 and 1992 for his work on the shows). He was also a huge influence on writers who followed him. He ended his 1999 autobiography, So Far, So Funny, with this: "If any of my work over the past 60 years has inspired, encouraged or motivated any young person to write comedy for radio, motion pictures or television, I apologise."

He wrote or co-wrote films including Once Upon a Horse ... (1958) for Rowan and Martin; The Road to Bali (1952) for Hope and Bing Crosby; Move Over, Darling (1963), starring Doris Day; and Frank Capra's Pocketful of Miracles...

Hal Kanter (see photo), creator of the groundbreaking television series Julia, starring Diahann Carroll (photo) as a nurse, died Sunday, Nov. 6, of complications from pneumonia at Encino Hospital in the Los Angeles suburb of Encino. Kanter was 92. Julia (1968-71) marked the first time a black actress had an important role in an American television series playing something other than a maid (e.g., Ethel Waters and Louise Beavers in the 1950s series Beulah). As quoted in the Los Angeles Times obit, Kanter said he didn't want to make profound political statements with each Julia episode. But political statements were made all the same, as Kanter explained: There is a fallout of social comment. Every week we see a black child playing with a white child with complete acceptance and without incident. One of the recurring themes in the thousands of letters we get is from people who thank us for...

Charles Haynes' flickraccount

Some of the funniest women in thehistory of comedy converged at the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences inBurbank adjacent North Hollywood, California, earlier this week. The Ladies Who Make Us Laugh panel ofcomedians included Lily Tomlin, Margaret Cho, Elayne Boosler, Caroline Rhea,Carol Leifer, Bonnie Hunt and Mary Lynn Rajskub.

During the love fest, Booslerrecalled her early days in stand-up comedy. “I left New York, I started in ’72and then I left in ’76 and the Carol Leifer was in the group behind me withSeinfeld and Larry [David]. And she became the girl in that group. So youplayed the Elaine [Benes] part in that group with those guys and went on tobreak into TV and get 50 million Emmys for writing Seinfeld. Everyone here is so accomplished in her own way. And weall followed the next one and followed the next one and branched out and openedit for more and more people.

Celebrity Bowling—that unabashedly silly but undeniably entertaining weekly TV show that ran for eight years in the 1970s (from 1971 though ’78) is coming to DVD From S’More Entertainment.

The Celebrity Bowling 3-dvd Collector’s Set will be available on June 14.

Hosted by Jed Allan (CSI: Miami), Celebrity Bowling featured a pair of two-celebrity teams competing on regulation size bowling lanes that were actually installed inside the show’s studio at L.A.’s Kttv Channel 5.

The rules of the game were known as “best ball”—each team member would take a shot on their own lane. If neither bowled a strike, then whoever rolled the worse shot would try to put up a spare on their partner’s lane. Winning teams garnered prizes (usually appliances, but occasionally even cars!) for audience members both present and sitting at home.

Dick Martin and Bob Newhart team up in that Seventies TV staple,...

This is no Laugh-In matter.

Loopy Jo Anne Worley, 73, most famous for her wacky quips on Rowan and Martin's Laugh-In, will play a pet psychic on the April 14 episode of Bones. Jo Anne will appear alongside another legendary creature, the mythical Latin American goat-sucking chupacabra.

The episode finds Booth (David Boreanaz) and Brennan (Emily Deschanel) investigating the death of a mythbuster television host who is thought to have been offed by the creature...

Read More >...

A werewolf comedy? Living Arrangements is not the first (Curse Of The Queerwolf comes to mind and of course there were those wacky Teen Wolf movies in the 80′s), but this endearing micro-budget indie from director Sam Thompson is more a subtle satire about hippie culture and vegan lifestyle than a horror comedy. It’s not laugh-out-loud funny and it’s never scary but it’s a very clever film that works on many levels. Bohemian newlyweds Sasha and Billie find a vacant and available new apartment near their favorite coffee shops and thrift stores. Life is good until they realize there’s a hungry werewolf living in the attic. Their attitude about this discovery is matter-of-fact but coping with the uninvited roommate challenges their vegan values and animal rights activism. The beast rejects their meals of tofu and bean sprouts and the flag-waving liberal couple fret when they are...

In this strange, low-budget thriller, Dan Brown's The Da Vinci Code meets Hg Wells's The Time Machine but the action only briefly moves outside a cramped penthouse flat in a London high-rise. Five young computer freaks – three women and two men (one of whom uses a wheelchair) – penetrate the Vatican's closely guarded archives, crack the Bible code they contain and unleash a Pandora's box that contains every conspiracy known to man, the secrets of time and the universe, and tomorrow's news. As the German soldier used to say on Rowan and Martin's Laugh-In: "Veerry eenteresting – but stupid."

ThrillerPhilip French

guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds...

Henry Gibson, who delivered witty and sarcastic poems on Rowan and Martin's Laugh-In, has died from cancer at age 73. Gibson had a long career after the show, appearing in such films as The Long Goodbye, Nashville and - more recently- Wedding Crashers. He also had a recurring role on the hit TV series Boston Legal. For more click here ...