This is the first of four specials that Saturday Night Live will be airing on Thursday nights. Rumor has it that at some point, Sarah Palin, will make an appearance as Tina Fey, which, with the two appearing on the same show, may result in the apocalypse. But, in the meantime, we got a special appearance from SNL alum Chris Parnell and a fantastic surprise midway through the first sketch to ask a question: Bill Murray!
Opening Sketch: CNN – The Presidential Debate
Fred Armisen plays Obama, Darrell Hammond plays McCain and Chris Parnell plays Tom Brokaw … and they all nail each one's mannerisms and voice cadences. Well done! "Tom" says the candidates only get 25 seconds to answer one of the "eight least interesting questions" he's picked and they'll only get three second response. Ha! This is clearly playing off the fact that Brokaw was more of a time referee than a moderator at the debate. The candidates can be real windbags, no? And, I say that with patriotic affection. It also tickles my fancy is that Casey Wilson and Bill Hader ask the questions exactly like the deer-caught-in-headlights "folks" who were featured at the debate. Obama answers questions in his staccato signature style, and McCain tries to come off as a bad ass before calling the audience members by the wrong name and walking into Obama's camera frame ...
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Let the Comic-Con gimmicks begin Last year one of the most buzzed-about appearances at the huge San Diego festival was made by a full-scale suit from the Iron Man movie Iron Man you may have heard went on to be this summers biggest films grossing 288 million in six weeksIn order to piggyback off the success of early promotional buzz more and more movie studios are introducing their films in big ways at Comic-Con Case in point Walden Media aka the Chronicles of Narnia people will launch one of the most ambitious Comic-Con marketing stunts ever for its upcoming film City of Ember starring Bill Murray Per Variety Walden will re-create the mythical city from the film on a private two-car train The coolest part The train will take 25 members of the media on a two-hour journey to the conventions San Diego locale Um where can we sign up Erin FoxRelated149 Bill Murray Slapped with Restraining Order and Divorce Papers149 Use Our Online Video Guide to Wa
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Bill Murray by Albert L. Ortega/ WireImage.com
Normally, Hollywood divorces don't come as much of a shocker. But we definitely didn't see this one coming! Jennifer Butler Murray has officially filed for divorce from her Oscar-nominated hubby, Bill Murray, after more than 10 years of marriage – and she's not keeping it a secret as to why she wants out. According to People, the 42-year-old wife and mother of four wants the marriage ended on the grounds of drug addiction, physical abuse, adultery and abandonment. Jennifer Murray is also requesting a restraining order be placed on her husband, alleging that the actor had unhealthy addictions to alcohol, marijuana and sex — and the real kicker — he "hit his wife in the face and then told her she was 'lucky he didn't kill her.'" Say it ain’t so Venkman! Are you as shocked as we were to hear the news? — Gina DiNunno
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Per the Reporter, Fantastic Four sequel helmer Tim Story has inked a deal to adapt for the big screen The Losers, a DC Comics series about a special-ops team left for dead.... Bill Murray is the mayor of the City of Ember, a family flick about a mysterious town's existence.... Elizabeth Banks is a cruel stepmother in A Tale of Two Sisters, based on a Korean horror film of the same name.... Harald Zwart (Agent Cody Banks) will direct Steve Martin in The Pink Panther 2.
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Bill Murray, the very first guest on NBC's Late Night with David Letterman, will help Dave celebrate 25 years in late-night TV this Thursday on CBS' Late Show.... Following the Feb. 3 combo of Drew Barrymore/Lily Allen, Saturday Night Live will feature Oscar front-runner Forest Whitaker as host, and Keith Urban as musical guest.... Fox has announced a Feb. 27-28, after-Idol premiere for Are You Smarter than a 5th Grader?, its new, self-explanatory quiz show.
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Paul Rudd
Not anxious to brave the roads this long holiday weekend? IFC has the perfect compromise: Wanderlust (premiering May 29 at 9 pm/ET), an original documentary detailing Hollywood's many and great road movies, with insightful commentary from such heavyweights as Dennis Hopper (Easy Rider), Alexander Payne (
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Harold Ramis directs John Cusack in The Ice Harvest.
There are a lot of movie directors who spend their entire careers working in a single genre. In a fickle industry where a couple of bombs can lead to prolonged unemployment, there's a certain job security in mining similar subject matter. On the rare occasion when a filmmaker does step out of character, they frequently find themselves chastised by critics and ignored by audiences that are shackled with expectation. Apparently, these concerns didn't weigh heavily on Harold Ramis when he decided to make The Ice Harvest. A dark yarn with a moral compass as slippery as the setting, The Ice Harvest is a far cry from the flicks that made Ramis. In fact, nothing in Animal House, Caddyshack or
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Jacques who?: Bill Murray
Question: I was listening to the DVD commentary for The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou and noticed that when cowriters Noah Baumbach and Wes Anderson discussed inspirations for the character of Zissou, the name was bleeped out. I'm guessing they were saying "Jacques Cousteau," but regardless of whether or not I'm right, why was the commentary censored? Answer: They were clearly saying "Jacques Cousteau," and my best guess is that Miramax Home Entertainment's legal department counseled bleeping the name. Not because there's any legal reason you can't mention a person's name, particularly that of a famous person, but because there may have been concern about potential legal actions stemming from the claim that The Life Aqu
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Question: Do you know what movie Bill Murray is watching on TV in Broken Flowers?
Answer: Bill Murray plays an aging, emotionally disconnected lothario in Broken Flowers, and he's watching The Private Life of Don Juan (1934) when his girlfriend announces that she's packed the last of her things and is leaving him forever. The film was obviously chosen for the way in which it echoes the themes of Broken Flowers, starting with the fact that its Don Juan (played by silent-film star Douglas Fairbanks; it turned out to be his last film) is also middle-aged and forced to reckon with his past.
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Ghostbusters
Few have had more influence on the current crop of "guy comedies" than Harold Ramis. The 60-year-old writer/director, whose began his career editing the jokes page at Playboy, is responsible for some of the wildest flicks of the past three decades. Animal House, Caddyshack and Groundhog Day still have dudes quoting lines and debating funniest scenes, but it's the new release of a special slime-covered DVD set of the Ramis-scripted Ghostbusters and Ghostbusters II that has the yuk-master giving us the lowdown on his comedy classics, his next project and why
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