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Martin Short contracts COVID-19 following SNL anniversary special

Martin Short contracts COVID-19 following SNL anniversary special

Yahoo21-02-2025
Martin Short contracted COVID-19 after the 'Saturday Night Live' 50th anniversary celebration. The 74-year-old actor's 'Only Murders in the Building' co-star Steve Martin has revealed they need to postpone some upcoming live shows this weekend after his pal fell ill with the virus. Steve, 79, shared a photo of Martin kissing Maya Rudolph backstage at 'SNL50: The Anniversary Special' and wrote on Instagram: "Maya had Covid. Marty has Covid. I wonder why? The SNL 50th Covid curse is real." The two stars were scheduled to take their 'Dukes of Funnytown!' tour to Durham Performing Arts Center on Saturday (22.02.25) and Knoxville Civic Auditorium the following evening but the shows will now take place in October. Steve added: "Unfortunately, we have to reschedule our sold out Durham and Knoxville dates to 10/17 Knoxville and 10/18 Durham. "So sorry for the inconvenience. I think we'll be funnier then, anyway." During the 'Weekend Update' segment on Sunday's (16.02.25) special, Colin Jost had joked that packing so many stars into one studio space may not have been a good idea. He quipped: 'Health experts are facing increased pressure this winter in the face of outbreaks of COVID, the flu, RSV and nanovirus, which they're calling a quad-demic. So we did the smart thing and packed every beloved entertainer over 60 into one tiny space.' Steve - who has hosted 'SNL' 16 times and made dozens of cameos over the years - delivered the opening monologue on the anniversary special. Martin made an appearance during his speech, with his pal introducing him as: 'The only Canadian who wasn't in Schitt's Creek.' The 'Cheaper by the Dozen' actor then asked his pal if he had his passport on him before two people in ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) uniforms appeared on stage to escort Martin out. Steve then quipped: 'Marty and I have worked together for so long that we can actually finish each others… careers.'
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Director Alex Russell made ‘Lurker' about obsessive fandom. He'd rather not talk about himself
Director Alex Russell made ‘Lurker' about obsessive fandom. He'd rather not talk about himself

Los Angeles Times

time20 minutes ago

  • Los Angeles Times

Director Alex Russell made ‘Lurker' about obsessive fandom. He'd rather not talk about himself

We are sitting between the 'Miscellaneous Horror' and 'Juvenile Delinquents' sections at CineFile Video, a compact, densely stocked curated video store on the westside of Los Angeles. Surrounded by physical media, I wonder how 'Lurker,' the first feature by writer-director Alex Russell, will eventually be classified here. The shelf across from him holds the DVDs and Blu-rays labeled 'Gay.' The realization prompts him to chuckle. 'That's me,' he says. Arms crossed, Russell, 34, at first seems guarded and resistant to conversation. He admits doing press about his work is still a novel experience for him. Later, as he digs into the making and meaning of his movie, he'll relax and the words will spontaneously flow. Out this Friday, 'Lurker' examines the insidious entanglement between rising British music star Oliver (Archie Madekwe) and the seemingly docile Matthew (Théodore Pellerin), a clothing store employee turned self-styled tour videographer. As Matthew joins Oliver's inner circle, their parasocial bond evolves into a real friendship, until Matthew's desire to belong becomes dangerous. And while at first Oliver rules over a pack of sycophants, the power shifts. 'Everyone has been in a situation where they want a group of people to like them,' Russell says. 'And then sometimes you're on the other side of it, where you're already in and you see someone else wanting to be liked by you.' As someone who went to several different schools growing up, Russell became observant of male relationships and the implicit rules by which they operate. 'I could see how groups of boys, whether it's in high school, a fraternity or a basketball team, start to assemble themselves and create sort of unspoken hierarchies,' Russell says. The music world presented an ideal setting as well. 'Lurker's' mean-boys drama mostly takes place in Los Angeles, where individuals seeking a career in entertainment by any means necessary abound. Russell lived here for the larger part of the last decade, writing the screenplay at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. 'I felt gross about being in L.A. but also hopeful,' Russell says candidly on the realization that he was one of countless others here trying to make it. 'What I like about this place — and I think this is represented in the movie — is that it's full of people who are trying to put themselves out there in some type of way.' Russell knows firsthand what it means to feel exposed in pursuit of a dream. His career writing for TV for award-winning shows like 'Beef' and 'The Bear' only took off after he became vocal and open about his goals. 'There was something liberating about being like, 'I want to be a working screenwriter,' which, of course, there's no greater cliché in L.A.,' he says. 'That felt like the more courageous thing. I was used to this self-doubting, cynical philosophy of: I should keep it to myself if I have dreams that could embarrass me if I don't make them a reality.' Born in Chicago to an immigrant mother and an American father, Russell initially studied engineering, but quietly taught himself screenwriting. He would dissect the scripts of comfort movies like 'Legally Blonde' and 'The Devil Wears Prada' in order to learn structure. 'When you teach yourself something, in a way it's more organic because you're just like: OK, what are the movies I actually know? I'll reverse engineer those,' he says. But as someone with no direct connection to Hollywood, his dream required tryout stints in New York and Atlanta, as well as a lot of crashing with patient friends. 'There are so many couches I have to thank for getting to do the work I do now,' Russell says, laughing but sincere. During those rougher early years, Russell created a pilot for the now defunct Viceland cable network and a short series for Comedy Central's YouTube channel. 'At the time I was looking for anything to grasp onto,' he remembers. It was in L.A. that he landed his first writers' room job on the FX comedy 'Dave,' a meta series centered around rapper Lil Dicky. Russell believes his proximity to the music industry set him apart when the opportunity emerged, outweighing his inexperience. Most of his close friends work in music, including Kenny Beats, who composed Oliver's songs for 'Lurker,' and Zack Fox, who plays a hanger-on in the film and is a DJ in real life. The scenes that show Oliver performing were shot with real crowds during parties at which Fox DJed. 'It was just a huge stroke of luck,' he says. 'I had a bunch of half-hour spec scripts that were set in the music world. It was just good timing that they were looking for someone like that, because on a craft level, I really hadn't found it yet.' 'Lurker' would be an experiment — to discover his own storytelling voice. 'The skill of being in a TV room is: How well can you service the voice of someone else? How can you find the most overlap between yourself and whoever's running the show?' Russell explains. 'That can start to feel like: I would like to know if I have my own tone, if I have my own way of doing things.' To find his way into the story, particularly its darker edges of obsession, Russell looked to Damien Chazelle's 'Whiplash' and Dan Gilroy's 'Nightcrawler' as references. Additionally, 'Almost Famous,' Cameron Crowe's mostly autobiographical film about a teenager interviewing a rock band, seemed the closest to his sensibility. 'This kid gets to do this big Rolling Stone article on one of his favorite bands and there are these moments where it feels like he's in the band and that's really his dream,' Russell says. 'At the end of the movie it's like: Was that all just for the story he was writing? Or will they talk to him again? And then they do. It's a wholesome version of the movie that mine isn't.' In 'Lurker,' conversely, the worst label someone in Oliver's orbit can receive is that of being a 'fanboy.' The term carries an intensely pejorative connotation in the group and speaks to the imbalance of power between the singer and his fawning entourage. 'A fan is fundamentally an outsider,' Russell says. 'What does it mean to admit that you're a fan? It's to acknowledge that there's them and us. You are the watcher of whatever you're a fan of and they have your attention. Matthew is trying to bridge that gap. He wants to appear as a peer.' The fact that 'other directors weren't exactly dying to direct' his screenplay, Russell says, coupled with his producers' encouragement, convinced him to get behind the camera. 'I didn't really know what that entailed,' he admits. 'I really didn't think I had certain leadership qualities to rally a bunch of people. I didn't see myself that way.' But knowing the motivations of his characters armed him. Russell could determine which potential collaborators interpreted his writing as he envisioned it. For example, he agreed with cinematographer Patrick Scola that shooting on 16mm film would add realism to a story taking place in a realm of artificiality. In casting Pellerin, a Quebecois actor seen in 'Never Rarely Sometimes Always,' the filmmaker found a performer with the ability to exhibit ambiguous intentions, not a one-note villain. Though he's always plotting to stay in Oliver's good graces, Matthew has a deep need for validation. When he gets a taste of the status being around Oliver grants him, he refuses to let it go. 'You could see him living and dying on each of these social interactions,' Russell says. 'You could tell he wants to say and do the right thing. There's a sweetness to him. We didn't want this to be so icy that you automatically disliked this guy and you're shaking your head the whole time. You want to feel like there's someone in there who just wants to belong.' Russell finds the proliferation of a social media mindset unsettling, especially the darker side of attention-seeking trolls. 'Part of why this movie exists is to instill a little bit of shame,' he says with a dark laugh. 'That's not something we should be bragging about.' On top of those digital-age preoccupations, Russell sought to indict the petty jealousies that exist among men — a subject, he thinks, that remains taboo. 'There are a lot of movies about women being jealous of each other, but there aren't a lot about men,' he says. Near the end of 'Lurker,' a surprising encounter between Oliver and Matthew illustrates the complexity of their misconnection, a delicate balance that showcases Russell's talent for mining originality from situations that could have played out more conventionally. 'In that moment, the tension is built up so that either it's going to turn sexual finally or turn violent finally,' the filmmaker says. 'That's what the audience is thinking, but then it's this mystery third thing. And I just love it because it genuinely surprises people.' But regardless of where a viewer is coming from, 'Lurker' taps into something utterly relatable. 'So many people look to movies because they feel like outsiders,' Russell says. 'Everyone has some relationship to being an outsider and being an insider. It's not black and white. That's what this movie wants to get into. Those things can shift, the gravitational pull is not anchored.' Much less of an outsider now (he's even won an Emmy for 'Beef'), Russell has found his peers. He and James Sweeney, another queer director, have become close. Sweeney's film 'Twinless,' out Sept. 5, follows the brotherly friendship between two young men that's threatened by a secret. Both 'Lurker' and 'Twinless' premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in January. Russell is amused at the similarities between their films. 'In a city like this, everyone is thirsty for community or feeling like a part of some group,' Russell says. 'And the truth of L.A. is that people make up groups. And if you make up your own group, then you get to choose the members.'

How much are tickets for Chevy Chase's 2025 ‘Christmas Vacation Tour'?
How much are tickets for Chevy Chase's 2025 ‘Christmas Vacation Tour'?

New York Post

time20 minutes ago

  • New York Post

How much are tickets for Chevy Chase's 2025 ‘Christmas Vacation Tour'?

Vivid Seats is the New York Post's official ticketing partner. We may receive revenue from this partnership for sharing this content and/or when you make a purchase. Featured pricing is subject to change. Chevy Chase is going on tour and you're not. Starting Nov. 20, the first person to ever utter 'Live from New York, it's Saturday night!' will return to the road for an eight-show tour celebrating his classic 1989 film 'National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation.' And, while he won't return to the birthplace of 'SNL,' he'll get close when he visits Newark's New Jersey Performing Arts Center on Thursday, Dec. 18. At all shows — except for one October gig which will be 'Fletch'-centric — the 81-year-old funnyman screens his iconic Yuletide-themed comedy and then takes part in a moderated conversation before closing the show with a lively audience Q&A. 'I've seen this movie probably almost a hundred times, but watching the movie with the crowd participation made it extra special,' a fan shared on Facebook. The laughs, the clapping, people saying all the famous lines made it so much more fun than me sitting at home. When we see Cousin Eddie the first time on the lawn everyone started clapping and laughing it was truly magical!' They added 'when Chevy and his wife came out he did a little dance and everyone around me stood up and gave him a standing ovation! The Conversation part of this was hilarious!!! He did an absolute amazing job considering he is over 81 years old. Did he forget something…..yes, did his wife have to remind him of a memory….absolutely she did, however he was super funny and still as quick witted as any other 80+ year old men I know!!!!' If you'd like to see the wisecracking silver screen icon IRL, tickets are available for all nine upcoming shows (that includes the 'Fletch' screening). At the time of publication, the lowest price we could find on tickets for any one Chevy show was $71 including fees on Vivid Seats. Other screenings/Q&As start anywhere from $73 to $206 including fees. For more information, our team has everything you need to know and more about Chevy Chase's 2025 'National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation Tour' below. All prices listed above are subject to fluctuation. Chevy Chase tour schedule 2025 A complete calendar including all tour dates, venues, and links to the cheapest tickets available can be found here: Chevy Chase tour dates Ticket prices start at Oct. 29 at the Golden State Theatre in Monterey, CA screening 'Fletch' $122 (including fees) Nov. 20 at the Peabody Auditorium in Daytona Beach, FL $102 (including fees) Nov. 21 at the Walt Disney Theater in Orlando, FL $206 (including fees) Nov. 22 at the King Center for the Performing Arts in Melbourne, FL $203 (including fees) Dec. 12 at the Ovens Auditorium in Charlotte, NC $100 (including fees) Dec. 14 at the Texas Trust CU Theatre in Grand Prairie, TX $71 (including fees) Dec. 15 at the Smart Financial Centre in Sugar Land, TX $103 (including fees) Dec. 16 at the Bass Concert Hall in Austin, TX $100 (including fees) Dec. 18 at the New Jersey Performing Arts Center in Newark, NJ $73 (including fees) (Note: The New York Post confirmed all above prices at the publication time. All prices are in US dollars, subject to fluctuation and, if it isn't noted, will include additional fees at checkout.) Vivid Seats is a verified secondary market ticketing platform, and prices may be higher or lower than face value, depending on demand. They offer a 100% buyer guarantee that states your transaction will be safe and secure and your tickets will be delivered prior to the event. Still curious about Vivid Seats? You can find an article from their team about why the company is legit here. Stream 'National Lampoon's Vacation' movies Want to brush up on your Griswold family foibles? Here's how you can stream all five (!) 'National Lampoon's Vacation' films today. Chevy Chase controversy Over the years, Chase has stirred up trouble with his comedic collaborators. As you may recall, way back in 1978, he engaged in fisticuffs with fellow 'SNL' cast member Bill Murray backstage in John Belushi's dressing room. Decades later, Chase was banned from hosting 'Saturday Night Live' after a number of incidents where he derided 'Not Ready For Primetime Players and writers with homophobic and sexist slurs; he also reportedly slapped Cheri Oteri in the back of the head. This century, the now 81-year-old comic starred in NBC's 'Community' until the fourth season when Dan Harmon and co. cut him loose. Chase allegedly verbally abused Donald Glover with a barrage of racist insults and slurs which led to the firing. Comedians on tour in 2025 Chevy not headed to a city near you? If that's the case, here are just five other huge tours you won't want to miss these next few months. • Steve Martin and Martin Short • Bill Murray • Adam Sandler • Ana Gasteyer • Macaulay Culkin screening 'Home Alone' Want to see who else is telling jokes on the road this year? Check out our list of all the biggest comedians on tour in 2025 to find the show for you. This article was written by Matt Levy, New York Post live events reporter. Levy stays up-to-date on all the latest tour announcements from your favorite musical artists and comedians, as well as Broadway openings, sporting events and more live shows – and finds great ticket prices online. Since he started his tenure at the Post in 2022, Levy has reviewed a Bruce Springsteen concert and interviewed Melissa Villaseñor of SNL fame, to name a few. Please note that deals can expire, and all prices are subject to change

'The Pitt' showrunner introduces new doctor and teases Dr. Langdon's return in season 2 first look (exclusive)
'The Pitt' showrunner introduces new doctor and teases Dr. Langdon's return in season 2 first look (exclusive)

Yahoo

time4 hours ago

  • Yahoo

'The Pitt' showrunner introduces new doctor and teases Dr. Langdon's return in season 2 first look (exclusive)

Sepideh Moafi arrives as Dr. Al-Hashimi, an attending who will have some "tension" with Dr. Robby in season 2. A new doctor is clocking into The Pitt — and so is a disgraced one. The Emmy-nominated medical drama's sophomore season — again taking place over the course of one 15-hour shift in the emergency department — takes place on July 4th, 10 months after the events of the season 1 finale. Showrunner R. Scott Gemmill tells Entertainment Weekly that timeline was chosen specifically to bring back Dr. Frank Langdon (Patrick Ball); the season will take place over the course of his first day back after completing rehab. (For those who might need a quick refresher: Langdon was caught stealing medication from the hospital, leading to a blow-out fight with Noah Wyle's Dr. Robby and the revelation of a drug addiction). "It was really driven by wanting to have the Langdon character back and knowing how much time he would've had to spend in rehab and going through his recovery process," Gemmill explains. "We knew it had to be about 10 months, [which] took us into the summer. We played Labor Day, essentially, for the first season, so we decide to play this on the 4th of July." Gemmill acknowledges that most of the other doctors will be well aware of Langdon's drug problem by now — "gossip seems to travel faster than the internet" — but there are some new characters that won't know the extent of what happened. It'll be the first time Langdon and Robby cross paths since their dramatic fallout in season 1. "Let's just say there's a lot of history that has to be resolved between them before they can get back to any kind of normalcy," Gemmill says. One such new character is Dr. Al-Hashimi, played by Black Bird and Generation Q: The L Word star Sepideh Moafi, an attending who arrives at Pittsburgh Trauma Medical Center from the VA Hospital, where she previously worked with Dr. Mel King (Taylor Dearden) and Dr. Samira Mohan (Supriya Ganesh). "She's gonna be someone who's very progressive in her approach to medicine and believes in the modernization of the medical field," Gemmill says. "And Robby's a little bit more old school and there'll be a little bit of, let's just say, tension as they try and figure out how to work together." He adds, "Robby has a very specific way of how he likes to run his emergency department, and Dr. Al-Hashimi has her own specific ways of how she likes to run an emergency department, and they're not necessarily cohesive." As Robby navigates these tense relationships new and old, he'll also be navigating his mental health, which Gemmill says is the "big through-line of episode 1." According to Gemmill, season 2 is really about Robby "coming to terms" with the post-traumatic stress disorder he picked up during COVID. "One of the things that Robbie has a habit of is, he's very good at telling people what to do, but not necessarily great at taking his own advice," Gemmill says. "He has to come to terms with setting an example, I think, for those who he works with so that he can't tell people to get help and to seek help if he's not doing it himself. So, you know, I think it's a journey of self-discovery for him as well in terms of his own mental health." Robby's journey includes a plan to take some time off, but it might not be so straightforward, Gemmill teases. "There's some questions whether he'll really do it or not, because it's not in his nature to step away from the work." The Pitt season 2 debuts in January 2026. Read the original article on Entertainment Weekly

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