NBC Showbiz and Celebrity Breaking News

heavily criticized cold-open sketch, sources confirm to The Post.Strong, 39, appeared as a guest in the dress rehearsal ahead of the live show, then changed her mind “last minute” about playing Stefanik in the sketch, which mocked last week’s congressional hearings on antisemitism on college campuses. Newcomer Chloe Troast replaced Strong on air.The opening sketch is always the last one to be written and Saturday’s was slightly rushed, according to sources.

Identity theft is not a joke, Emily. Emily Blunt revealed recently that many die-hard “Office” fans are still not happy about the fact she and John Krasinski (who played the loveable Jim Halpert) are married.

ABC:Monday, Jan. 22: “The Bachelor” (8 p.m. season premiere starring Joey Graziadei), “20/20” (10 p.m.)Wednesday, Feb.

be any more in our feelings?After Matthew Perry’s tragic death on Oct. 28 at 54, fans have been seeking solace in the magic he created alongside Courteney Cox, David Schwimmer, Jennifer Aniston, Matt LeBlanc and Lisa Kudrow in NBC’s “Friends,” which ran for 10 seasons from 1994 to 2004.In 1997, Rosie O’Donnell asked Perry, “Are you friends with the ‘Friends’?”His answer? “Yes, we are.

be a better show to marathon on Thanksgiving than “Friends?” “Friends” is a classic show to watch on turkey day, since each season had an episode themed to the holiday. It doesn’t hurt that it’s a crowd-pleasing watch for the whole family too. This year, it’s especially poignant, since Matthew Perry, who played Chandler, died at age 54 on Oct.

97th Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade is finally here, bringing holiday cheer, musical performances and giant floats of new and returning characters. This year’s parade will have 16 giant character balloons, 26 floats, 32 novelty and heritage inflatables, 12 marching bands, 700 clowns and eight performance groups (but no partridge in a pear tree). Over 3.5 million people in NYC and more than 50 million viewers at home typically watch the parade, and 5,000 volunteers usually help keep it running smoothly.

Adam Sandler is known for his 1994 hit “The Chanukah Song,” so it comes as a surprise that he actually wasn’t offered to sing it first on “Saturday Night Live.”The comedian, 57, who debuted the tune on a “Weekend Update” sketch with late actor Norm Macdonald, now reveals that Roseanne Barr was initially asked to take center stage. At the time, Barr, 71, was hosting the NBC sketch comedy show that week.“They were talking about Roseanne singing it,” Sandler told Access Hollywood recently. He went on: “And she was nice enough to say ‘no, let Adam do that, that’s his, he wrote it, that’s his song.’”“I’m happy to be a part of Hanukkah.

Trolls [Band Together]’ this weekend. “3D glasses, the music’s awesome, there are a lot of adult references, so if you want to go and enjoy… The kids will love it.”She continued that her son, Hal, 4, was so inspired by the film that he “wants to be baby Diamond and have Daddy be – first of all, I just called my husband ‘daddy’ on television,” Bush Hager stopped herself, while Kotb burst into laughter.

TMZ that “he was loved and cared for and surrounded by people during his final days.”“It is with tremendous sadness that I must report the passing of my dear friend, Peter Spellos at 2:30 am this morning,” Fred Olen Ray, another friend of the late actor, wrote in a Facebook status. “Many of you knew Peter personally.

A year before his death, Matthew Perry revealed that he asked “Friends” co-creator Marta Kauffman to give him the final line of the series. “No one else will care about this except me,” Perry wrote in his memoir, “Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing.”“So may I please have the last line?” he asked the producer. Perry’s wish, of course, was granted, as the Season 10 finale ended with Chandler and Monica (played by Perry and Courteney Cox) saying goodbye to their empty apartment alongside Rachel (Jennifer Aniston), Phoebe (Lisa Kudrow), Joey (Matt LeBlanc) and Ross (David Schwimmer).At one point, Rachel suggests they all go grab a final cup of coffee before Chandler and Monica leave New York City and go to live in the suburbs with their children.

TMZ, Cash, 54, said she was cast as an extra in the Season 5 episode “The One in Vegas: Part 1.” In the storyline, her character was initially going to sleep with Chandler after delivering room service. “The scene was Chandler and Monica [Courteney Cox] were arguing In Vegas about Monica having lunch with [ex-boyfriend] Richard [Tom Selleck],” Cash said. “And in our script, Chandler goes up to the hotel room and orders room service and I bring it up as a hotel worker.

funnyman Chandler Bing in the hit sitcom “Friends,” used his quick wit and charm to woo a room of execs when things derailed during a presentation.“Due to an electrical failure, the presentation stopped,” Littlefield recalled in an article for Variety Wednesday. “Eventually, we learned that a curling iron overheated and short-circuited most of our power.”“I panicked.

The Rockefeller Center Christmas tree has been carefully selected and is due to make its way to the Big Apple next week for a lighting ceremony hosted by Kelly Clarkson on Wednesday, Nov. 29.This year’s sappy specimen — a Norway spruce 80-feet tall and 43 feet in diameter that was donated by the McGinley family in the Binghamton region — hails from the town of Vestal, New York, about 190 miles northwest of NYC.Currently casting a shadow over a residential driveway basketball hoop, the tree is to be cut down Nov. 9 and arrive at the Rock two days later, on the morning of Veteran’s Day.

Hughley co-starred as comedian Simon Stiles opposite Perry’s co-executive producer Matt Albie in “Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip,” Aaron Sorkin’s short-lived dramedy that aired for one season on NBC (2006-2007).“I was on the road [when Perry died] and I instantly flashed right back [to ‘Studio 60’],” Hughley, 60, told The Post. “It was a very late Friday night and my son had turned 18, so I was going to take him out and we were going to hang out all night.“But we were running over [in the shooting schedule] and we got behind,” he said.

played the popular Chandler Bing on the hit NBC sitcom.Perry died Oct. 28 at the age of 54 in his LA home of an apparent drowning.“We are shocked and deeply, deeply saddened by our beloved friend Matthew’s passing,” they said in a joint statement to People. “It still seems impossible.

Matthew Perry died at the age of 54 on Saturday of an apparent drowning. Just hours after the news broke, “Saturday Night Live” paid tribute to the beloved “Friends” actor during their latest episode in Season 49.Comedian Nate Bargatze hosted this weekend’s “SNL” with musical guest the Foo Fighters.During the NBC sketch series, a black and white photo of the actor and his name appeared on the screen.At the height of “Friends” in the mid-1990s, Perry hosted “SNL” for an October 4, 1997 episode.

Variety reported on Tuesday.The actress, 35, has played Upton on the NBC drama since joining in Season 4 as a recurring character.

Chevy Chase‘s recent comments about their comedy “Community.”The 80-year-old “Saturday Night Live” alum made headlines last month on Marc Maron’s “WTF” podcast where he said the show “wasn’t funny enough.”McHale, 51, told People recently that Chase “stopped hurting my feelings in 2009.”“I was like, ‘Hey, no one was keeping you there,'” he continued. “I mean, we weren’t sentenced to that show.” “It was like, ‘All right, you could have left if you really wanted that.’ But yeah, you know Chevy.

legendary moment.Audiences were seeing double on NBC’s “The Voice” Monday night when singer Talakai, 34, took the stage during the blind auditions portion of the hit singing show. The Sacramento native, who sang a haunting rendition of Sam Smith’s “Stay with Me,” immediately hooked Legend, 44, who turned his chair around mere seconds after Talakai began singing. In a video posted to “The Voice’s” official X (formerly Twitter) account, the “All of Me” singer can be seen smiling as he begins to notice how alike they look.

The new NBC series, premiering Oct. 3 at 10 p.m., stars Shanola Hampton as Gabi Mosely, whose high-profile, high-powered crisis-management firm, Mosley & Associates, finds missing people relegated to the margins of society (minorities, sex workers, etc.) and ignored by the public and by the press.

premiering Sept. 25 (10 p.m.) and starring an engaging Jesse L.

Paramount+’s “Frasier” revival, airing on the streamer come Oct. 12 with the first two episodes. A teaser for the new series dropped today and features the “X-Men: The Last Stand” actor, 68, stepping into the shoes of his longtime character once again.Grammer has played Frasier in the hit NBC sitcom “Cheers” from 1984 until 1993.He then had his own eponymous spin-off show that was broadcasted on the network from ’93 until 2004.And almost 20 years later, the stiff and pretentious Dr.

posted to X ( formerly Twitter), was initially covered in Tina Fey’s 2013 autobiography “Bossypants,” and depicted Fallon, 48, yelling at Poehler, 51, during a table read for the NBC variety show. “Amy Poehler was new to SNL and we were all crowded into the seventeenth-floor writers’ room, waiting for the Wednesday night read-through to start,” wrote Fey. “Amy was in the middle of some such nonsense with Seth Meyers across the table, and she did something vulgar as a joke.

groveling apology to his “Tonight Show” staffers after reports surfaced of his toxic workplace behavior — but fans aren’t buying it.One user on X, formerly known as Twitter, pointed to a line the 48-year-old TV host allegedly said during the all-hands meeting: “It’s embarrassing and I feel so bad.”The commenter said the “apology sounds like it was spoken by a toddler.”“Why didn’t and couldn’t he apologize in person? I find the Zoom apology insulting,” another shared, while others chimed in that Fallon only said he was sorry “cause he got called out.”Fallon likely conducted his apology virtually, however, because of the ongoing Hollywood strike, which has shut down production for a slew of highly-anticipated movies and TV shows, including late-night talk shows.“Oh, f–k off. Fallon’s ‘apology’ is about how he was inconvenienced by the Rolling Stone article exposing him as a raging a–hole and nothing about apologizing to staff or saying how he will change,” another scathing comment said.Another user likened the saga to Ellen DeGeneres, who had her “Ellen Show” canceled in 2022 after a 19-year run following a flurry of toxic workplace allegations against the seemingly family-friendly talk show host.“The Jimmy Fallon saga is following EXACTLY the same footsteps that Ellen DeGeneres tread … accusations.

Rolling Stone published a story in which 16 current and former employees accused the late night talk show host, 48, of being “erratic,” drunk at work and creating a “toxic work environment.” Fallon reportedly told staffers that he did not intend to “create that type of atmosphere for the show,” two employees claimed to the rock bible in a follow-up report. “It’s embarrassing and I feel so bad,” Fallon allegedly said.

published a story Thursday in which two current and 14 former “Tonight Show” staffers accuse the host of fostering a “toxic workplace.” Seinfeld took specific issue with two employees’ recounting of an “uncomfortable” incident during which Fallon, 48, allegedly publicly “scolded” a crew member who flubbed a simple task while taping a segment with the legendary sitcom star.The anonymous whistleblowers claimed Seinfeld, 69, ordered Fallon to apologize to the worker — and that Fallon supposedly complied.“It was very awkward, and Jerry [Seinfeld] was like, ‘You should apologize to him,’ almost trying to make it a joke,” one of the employees told a reporter. “It was one of the strangest moments ever and so many people were there, so it’s kind of hard to forget.”Rolling Stone claimed Seinfeld’s reps did not respond to multiple requests for comment, but once the story was published, Seinfeld sent them the following statement: “This is so stupid.

to Rolling Stone.“He couldn’t remember he had just crossed it out himself,” the employee said. “I was like, ‘Oh, my God, he [seems] drunk. He doesn’t know what he’s doing.”The Post has previously reported about Fallon’s drinking and partying getting “out of hand” back in 2015, and a bartender who served him commented, “He’s a mess.” “Nobody told Jimmy, ‘No,’ ” a staffer told Rolling Stone.

according to The Hollywood Reporter. In an effort to help cover expenses of his mother’s hospital bills, Peverall set up a GoFundMe page at that time, raising $20,482.

new Paramount+ documentary, “Reinventing Elvis: The ’68 Comeback,” which takes viewers behind the curtain of the original NBC telecast through the eyes of Binder, 90, who shares candid, emotional, behind-the-scenes stories of working with Presley and with his notoriously iron-fisted, sketchy manager, Col. Tom Parker (identified here as “The Villain”), who’d relegated Elvis to a string of laughably bad movies throughout the 1960s to keep the gravy train rolling along.“Reinventing Elvis: The ’68 Comeback” is produced by Spencer Proffer (“The Day The Music Died: The Story of Don McLean’s ‘American Pie'”) and directed by John Scheinfeld(“The U.S.

Mickey Rooney’s quirky behavior on set — more than 40 years later.The “Wayne’s World” actor, 68, dished regarding Rooney’s one-of-a-kind antics, during taping of the 1982 sitcom, on a recent episode of his podcast Fly on the Wall —including the way Rooney would wave stacks of cash in his face.“He was doing ‘Sugar Babies’ on Broadway getting $50,000 a week, and then the TV show, they were giving him $50,000 a week, and he’d been broke for decades,” Carvey told podcast co-host David Spade. Carvey continued: “So he always carried like, $5,000 with him in cash and he’d put it under my face and go, ‘Think I can afford lunch?'”He then recalled that while the pair were filming their one-season TV show, the Andy Hardy actor was in his 60s.Despite his older age, Carvey recollected that Rooney seemed to possess a vigorous amount of vitality and spirit.The former “Saturday Night Live” cast member noted that Rooney would often tell him on set: “I was the number one star in the world.

in a Friday statement to The Wrap.“I have been in this industry for decades, and not a single complaint has ever been made against me until now. Many of the claims recently referenced in the media are simply false.”Alarr’s exit follows the conclusion of a nine-week misconduct investigation and the launch of a petition signed by more than two dozen cast members calling for his removal, saying they feel “very uncomfortable and distraught should he stay involved with the show.”“These allegations were already examined in a detailed and entirely independent investigation that lasted for two months.

which weren’t cracked until 2021. This behavior would continue well into the 1970s; in the end, he would claim to have killed no less than 37 people.For half a century, the notorious killer — whose real identity remains a mystery — was believed to be a sole actor.“It’s very unusual for cold cases to have this much information. But if you read all the police files, you see that there’s very little linking these crimes together.

the actor who played him. “When I was in ‘The Office,’ I spent several years really mostly unhappy because it wasn’t enough,” Rainn Wilson, 57, said on Bill Maher’s “Club Random” podcast, according to an early transcript from the interview. Wilson starred as Dwight for all nine seasons of the hit NBC workplace comedy, earning three Emmy nominations along the way (for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy) — no small feat considering the show was almost cancelled early on in its estimable run.Despite the success, according to Wilson, he was left feeling unfulfilled.“I was making hundreds of thousands. I wanted millions, and I was a TV star, but I wanted to be a movie star.

“Still Laughing: A Life in Comedy,” recounts his legendary show business career encompassing music, nightclubs — and, most notably, television.“I keep saying this is my first book — and next year I’m going to read another one,” Schlatter joked to The Post in a wide-ranging interview about “Still Laughing,” out July 11 (The Unnamed Press). “They were after me to tell people about my long and illustrious past … so I sat down in the office and I talked into a machine and I talked and talked and flashed back on a lot of memories — some of them more colorful than others.”In “Still Laughing” (“as told to” writer/producer Jon Macks), Schlatter regales readers with stories from his 70-plus-year career in the limelight, including his stint managing Ciro’s nightclub in Hollywood to his years in television, producing five episodes of “The Judy Garland Show” (1963-64 on CBS) and famously creating “Laugh-In,” the hugely popular and groundbreaking quick-hit/groovy/topical sketch-comedy series that aired on NBC from 1968-73 and launched Goldie Hawn and Lily Tomlin, among others, into stardom.

“Just Jack & Will.”McCormack, who played gay lawyer Will Truman, and Hayes discussed the early days of filming the comedy.“In the summer, people were finally checking out the show, and our ratings kept going up and up and up. And I think they realized they had a hit on their hands,” McCormack said, according to People.He added that Sassa took the men out for lunch one day following the conclusion of the premiere season and they walked through a parking lot where they saw “Porsches with ribbons on them.”“Scott went, ‘Anyway, we just want to say thank you,’ ” he said.However, the “Perception” star explained that “Sean leaned over to me — I don’t make this up — and said, ‘Is it expensive to insure a Porsche?’ ““Cause I literally can’t pay rent right now,” he recalled Hayes saying to him.

fell multiple times from dangerous heights on the “America’s Got Talent” stage, famously OCD judge Howie Mandel nearly had a nervous breakdown. “The tension in the room and the fear … I remember saying, ‘I can’t watch this,'” he told The Post of the balancing act from the female troupe, who call themselves Three G.“These are three young people who have left a war-torn country where their life is in jeopardy and their family’s life and their future.”The women — who appeared on “AGT’s” Season 18 premiere last week — kept picking themselves back up and trying again — which was an inspiration to Mandel.“They will risk everything and you feel it through tears and pain and injury just to make a better life maybe in a different place for themselves and you sense that on the stage,” he said.The audacious acrobats are still in the running — after Mandel and fellow judges Simon Cowell, Sofia Vergara, and Heidi Klum voted to keep them in the competition.The 67-year-old Canadian native — who made his debut on “AGT” in 2009 — said contestants take the plunge, knowing they can benefit from the exposure they gain through the NBC series.“It’s not just a silly talent show.