Kristen Wiig
SNL spoofs ABBA in sketch starring Kate McKinnon, Kristen Wiig, and Maya Rudolph
McKinnon was joined by fellow SNL alumni during Saturday Night Live's annual Christmas episode. SNL Spoofs ABBA in Sketch Starring Kate McKinnon, Kristen Wiig, and Maya Rudolph: Watch Scoop Harrison
Carol Burnett Returning to TV Opposite Kristen Wiig in Mrs. American Pie
Carol Burnett hasn’t been a series regular since The Carol Burnett Show went off air in 1978, but that’s about to change with her starring role in the Apple TV+ comedy series Mrs. American Pie. Per The Hollywood Reporter, the legendary comedian will star as Norma, the grande dame of the Palm Beach high society in which Kristen Wiig’s Maxine Simmons is trying to get a seat at the table. Set in the early 1970s, the series is based on Juliet McDaniel’s novel of the same name. The official logline reads as follows: “As Maxine attempts to cross that impermeable line between the haves and the have-nots, the comedy asks the same questions that still baffle people today: Who gets a seat at the table? How do you get a seat at the table? What will you sacrifice to get there?” Advertisement...
MacGruber Is Humanity’s Last Hope in New TV Series Trailer: Watch
Peacock’s revival of MacGruber debuts in less than two weeks, and today the streamer has unveiled the official trailer. In the clip, Will Forte’s titular character is tasked with taking on a former foe in order to save the world from forces of evil. Having been imprisoned for the past 10 years, MacGruber is offered the option to serve out the rest of his life sentence or be granted a release in order to save the president’s kidnapped daughter. Agreeing to take on the suicide mission, he reunites his team of Vicki St. Elmo (Kristen Wiig) and Dixon Piper (Ryan Phillippe) in order to face an old foe. “After rotting in prison for over a decade, America’s ultimate hero and uber patriot MacGruber (Will Forte) is finally released,” reads the official logline. “His mission: to take down a mys...
Barb and Star Go to Vista Del Mar Deserved to Go to Sold-Out Theaters: Review
The Pitch: Kristen Wiig and Annie Mumolo reunite as screenwriters a decade after Bridesmaids, this time co-starring as the eponymous leads in a new raunchy comedy. Is the magic still there for another hugely successful laugh riot? A Movie That Oughta Be in Theaters: Movies like Barb and Star Go to Vista Del Mar are a good reason why it remains heartbreaking that movie theaters are mostly ghost towns these days. The new comedy from Lionsgate Pictures was originally intended for theatrical release last summer, and there’s little doubt that it would be best served by playing in front of a large, boisterous crowd. It’s not to suggest that Barb and Star is bad; anything but. Yet it’s undeniably the kind of film that would work at the height of its powers with a ready audience gobbling up every ...
Wonder Woman 1984 Is Gold Plated Positivity: Review
The Pitch: Wonder Woman is back — this time, in Washington DC, circa 1984 — to once again save the world from destruction. Diana Prince (Gal Gadot) is joined by her magically resurrected boyfriend Steve Trevor (Chris Pine) and new frenemy Barbara Minerva (Kristen Wiig) to stop a destructive cycle of wish fulfillment and delusion run amok. In her second outing with the character, director Patty Jenkins once again leans into sentimentality, this time to extoll the power of honesty and sacrifice for the greater good. It’s a timely message, and though it takes some major suspension of disbelief to navigate the often clumsily connected dots, Wonder Woman 1984 is ultimately an uplifting story of hope in the face of pain and fear. I Wanna Know What Love Is: If you recall, 2017’s Wonder Woman focu...
Kristen Wiig’s SNL Return Stresses an Uncertain Future for Character Actors
When Kristen Wiig hit the stage to deliver her monologue this past weekend on Saturday Night Live, she said it felt like coming home. She reiterated this point at the end of the show, during the goodnights. In between, she backed up her statements by comfortably re-settling into the rhythms of the show, and reviving two of her many recurring characters: Sue, the woman who can’t handle surprises; and Mindy Gracin, the addled stage star who appears on the game show Secret Word. Wiig still stands among the most beloved centerpiece stars of SNL this millennium, and this week’s episode underlined a major reason why, at least in terms of the popular consciousness: She originated a lot of recurring characters on the show. So many, in fact, that she can reprise two second-string ones like Mindy Gr...
Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band to Play Saturday Night Live
Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band will return to Saturday Night Live on December 12th to serve as the evening’s musical guest. Dune actor Timothée Chalamet will host the episode. The Boss and his band will take their third turn on SNL, having previously played the show in 2002 and 2015. (Springsteen appeared in a solo capacity in 1992). This time around, they’ll be supporting their new album, Letter to You. SNL has also announced that country star Morgan Wallen will serve as musical guest on its December 5th episode, appearing alongside host Jason Bateman. If you recall, Wallen was scheduled to play SNL earlier in the season, but his appearance was canceled after he broke COVID-19 safety protocols. In his place, SNL tapped Jack White and he delivered one of the more memorable pe...
Nigerian doctor named one of TIME’s Most Influential People in the world
TIME named Nigerian physician Tunji Funsho to the 2020 TIME100, its annual list of the 100 most influential people in the world. The full list and related tributes are available now at time.com/time100, and Mr Funsho’s TIME100 profile is available here. The list, now in its seventeenth year, recognizes the activism, innovation and achievement of the world’s most influential individuals. Mr Funsho, a cardiologist based in Lagos, Nigeria, is the first Rotary member to receive this honour for the organisation’s work to eradicate polio, having played an essential role in ensuring Africa’s certification as wild polio-free in August of 2020. “I’m honored to be recognized by TIME for my part in ensuring that no child in Africa will ever again be paralyzed by wild polio, a disease that once disabl...
Paul Feig Blames Ghostbusters Reboot Backlash on Anti-Hillary Clinton Movement
In 2016, Hillary Clinton became the first female presidential candidate to be backed by a major US party. Gender was not surprisingly a hot button issue throughout the Clinton vs. Donald Trump election, dividing households nationwide, but longtime film director Paul Feig believes that the vitriol against Clinton had a substantial impact beyond politics: he blames the anti-Hillary movement for the backlash he received for his female-led Ghostbusters reboot. Speaking on Jess Cagle’s SiriusXM show last week, Feig said, “I think some really brilliant author, researcher or sociologist, needs to write a book about 2016 and how intertwined we were with Hillary [Clinton] and the anti-Hillary movement.” Officially titled Ghostbusters: Answer the Call, the reboot hit theaters Summer 2016, just ...
