CBS News announces anchor changes at "CBS This Morning" and "Evening News" - CBS News

Gayle King will be joined by Anthony Mason and Tony Dokoupil as co-hosts of "CBS This Morning," and Norah O'Donnell has been named anchor and managing editor of "CBS Evening News," CBS News announced Monday morning. O'Donnell will also be the lead anchor of political events for the network and continue as a contributing correspondent for "60 Minutes."

John Dickerson, currently a co-host in the morning, will shift roles to report for "60 Minutes" and contribute to election specials.

The staffing moves were announced by Susan Zirinsky, who was named president of CBS News in January and took over in March.

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"This is a start of a new era for CBS News," said Zirinsky. "Our job is to reveal America to itself through original reporting, strong investigative journalism and powerful political coverage."

"CBS Evening News with Norah O'Donnell" begins this summer in New York and will move to Washington, D.C. this fall on a permanent basis.

"Norah is one of the leading journalists of our time," said Zirinsky. "Her outstanding reporting, incisive interviews and dedication to the truth will distinguish the 'CBS Evening News' every night."

CBS News said moving "CBS Evening News" to Washington "adds to the importance and stature of the broadcast and will give CBS News unique access to top lawmakers, whose decisions have a profound impact on all Americans."  

Zirinsky noted the new "dynamic team" in the morning. "Gayle's game-changing interviews, compassionate storytelling and authenticity make her one of a kind. Her unrivaled ability to connect with audiences makes 'CBS This Morning' relevant, relatable and the place you must start your day. Anthony Mason is an exceptional journalist who over his three decades at CBS News has interviewed everyone from presidents to legendary artists and has tapped into some of the most important stories in the world. Tony Dokoupil is a brilliant writer with a passion for delivering stories that matter. This new role will give Tony a platform to continue his standout reporting. We're incredibly excited to have this dynamic team together each morning."

Dickerson will remain based in New York, and contribute to political coverage. "John is a world-class interviewer and writer who uses history to create current context to the complexities of the day," said Zirinsky. "His insights into politics, culture and world events – past and present – will deepen the audiences' understanding of what matters and will add to the excellence of 60 Minutes and CBS News' Election specials."

Zirinsky also said the network is discussing opportunities in New York for Jeff Glor, the current anchor of "CBS Evening News."

"We are grateful to Jeff Glor for his award-winning work and his commitment to both his colleagues and to our viewers. As we transition the Evening News to Washington, we are discussing opportunities for Jeff to remain with CBS News and continue providing the same substantive, trusted reporting that he has been offering for the past 12 years," Zirinsky said.

In April, Zirinsky appointed a new executive producer, Diana Miller, for "CBS This Morning." In February, Bill Owens was picked to lead "60 Minutes."

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2019-05-06 10:44:00Z
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Game of Thrones episode 4 left a coffee cup in shot and we're losing it - CNET

Will that be Grande, Venti or Giantsbane?

Helen Sloan/HBO

Game of Thrones is a work of art. This is the show that has us returning season after season to watch the absolute pinnacle in high fantasy television. This is the show that costs HBO an estimated $15 million per episode to make. And this is the show that just left a Starbucks coffee cup on set during one of the biggest ever episodes. 

If you don't want to ruin episode 4 (or your sense of quality production values) then be warned: very mild spoilers ahead.

Now playing: Watch this: Game of Thrones Battle of Winterfell: We're still shaking

6:04

Episode 4, titled "The Last of the Starks" dropped on Sunday night and fans were giddy with delight to see how everything fell out after the epic Battle of Winterfell. There were surprise twists, there were moments of passion and there was blatant oversight by the production designers. 

And because this is Game of Thrones, and fans notice every tiny detail, the world had feelings!

We are shook. We have followed this series since Sansa was a baby bird and Arya was still fighting with a wooden sword. We agonise over subtle throw-backs and make memes out of Bran's every move. And we live their losses like they're our own. 

It's hard to see if it's actually a Starbucks cup, but you'd better believe they'll take the brand recognition.

To be fair, this just shows the people behind this show, one of the most beautifully produced works of popular culture perfection we've ever seen, are still human. They get tired, they need coffee and dammit if they're going to get that cup out of shot if Emilia Clarke and Kristofer Hivju are delivering that Daenerys and Tormund realness. 

Let's just hope it was wight, with two sugars. 

(We've thrown out a line to Starbucks, and will update here if we find out they're now serving in Westeros.)

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2019-05-06 09:11:00Z
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Weekend Box Office Results: Avengers: Endgame Is Tops Again, Surprising No One - Rotten Tomatoes

One word that evidently does not exist in the Endgame – “counterprogramming.” Three studios learned that the hard way this weekend (one perhaps harder than the others.) The Avengers march on into history though, shattering one of the expected records this weekend while coming up short on another.

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KING OF THE CROP: ENDGAME MISSES ONE RECORD BUT APPROACHES ANOTHER

(Photo by @ Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures, @ Marvel Studios)

The Endgame is still strong. In just ten days it has passed $600 million, managing to do what it took James Cameron’s Titanic to do in 252. With nearly $620 million, the film is still $79 million ahead of the pace of The Force Awakens. That is down from the $110 million lead it had after last weekend. Part of that is due to Avengers: Endgame only having the second greatest second weekend of all-time ($145.8 million) behind Force Awakens’ $149.2 million. Marvel’s juggernaut also fell to third place on the all-time daily tallys for Monday and Tuesday on opening week and second place on Wednesday and Thursday (for non-opening days.) This weekend’s drop (59.2%) was in line with Age of Ultron’s 59.4% and Captain America: Civil War (59.5%) which is still rather impressive given it bested the all-time opening record by $100 million.

Looking forward to next weekend, its haul will be expected to be somewhere between Black Panther’s $66.3 million and The Force Awakens’ $90.2 million — Endgame could be in the realm of $745-823 million. Avatar’s final domestic gross was $760.5 million with a worldwide haul of $2.78 billion. Avengers: Endgame is now the second-highest grossing film ever with nearly $2.19 billion. The Force Awakens took 54 days to reach the $2 billion milestone. Infinity War did it in 48 and Avatar in 47. Endgame opened internationally in 25 markets on Apr. 24, 2019 and achieved the goal in just 12 days.

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ROTTEN RETURNS: DOLLS UGLY INDEED, AND LONG SHOT MISSES BY A MILE

Normally this section is dedicated to just one movie, but this is a bad weekend for one struggling studio and a wake-up call for another. STX Films had a hit this year with The Upside, though that was a fortunate pickup from its original home at the Weinstein Co. That and Second Act (with Jennifer Lopez) were its only successes since 2017’s A Bad Mom’s Christmas. A $45 million attempt to get into the animated game with Uglydolls (34%) is not going to help when it starts with just $8.5 million. Sure that’s better than Annapurna/United Artists Releasing got from Missing Link opening weekend but it’s less than Funimation received for Dragon Ball Super: Broly ($9.8 million) in January this year on just about a third of the screens as Uglydolls.

However it is Lionsgate’s release of Long Shot that is far more troubling. At just $10 million this weekend, the Charlize Theron/Seth Rogen romantic comedy is the lowest wide opening for the studio this year. Lionsgate’s successes as of late have been primarily because of their smallest budgets like Tyler Perry’s A Madea Family Funeral ($20 million budget / $73 million gross), A Simple Favor ($20 million / $53 million), Overboard ($12 million / $50.3 million) and Five Feet Apart ($7 million / $45.4 million). Compare that to the likes of Hellboy ($50 million / $21.7 million), Cold Pursuit ($60 million / $32.1 million), Robin Hood ($90 million / $30.8 million) and now Long Shot’s $50 million budget.

(Photo by Hector Alvarez / © Summit Entertainment)

Since the days of Twilight and The Hunger Games, Lionsgate has struggled to find a place in the current state of the franchise wars, unable to even finish their Divergent series. While they have had some major success stories like La La Land and Wonder, decent franchise returns from Now You See Me and John Wick and even a few surprises like The Hitman’s Bodyguard (which is now getting a sequel) and Hacksaw Ridge, the post-Wonder overlook is one where the only $20+ million opening with the Madea Funeral ($27 million) and their second best was Tyler Perry’s Acrimony ($17.1 million).

Long Shot is the 7^th straight non-Tyler Perry entry in the Lionsgate catalog to open wide and fail to to achieve an opening weekend of $15 million. Robin Hood, Hunter Killer, and Hell Fest could not even do it in five days. Lionsgate had so much confidence in Long Shot that they moved it from the first week of June into the wake of Endgame in the hopes of being the Notting Hill to Fox’s Phantom Menace, and it backfired spectacularly. Even with an 83% on the Tomatometer and critics praising it as one of the great surprises of 2019, Long Shot could go down as the biggest failure to market a Seth Rogen comedy since the Weinsteins couldn’t turn Zack and Miri Make a Porno into a success just months after Knocked Up grossed over $148 million. Long Shot opened to less than that Kevin Smith film.

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TOP TEN AND BEYOND: THE INTRUDER FALTERS WITH CRITICS BUT IS WELCOMED BY AUDIENCES

This week’s final newcomer, The Intruder, feels like a minor success compared to those two movies, besting Long Shot for second place with an $11 million opening and all on an $8 million budget. That’s more than Cold Creek Manor opened to in 2003 ($8.1 million) — the film where Stephen Dorff played the previous owner of a house that terrorized Dennis Quaid. That got a 12% from critics here, while The Intruder got a score of 27%. So here’s to minor successes.

As for major successes, Captain Marvel has just moved into 24^th place for the highest-grossing domestic total of all-time. Shazam! is not nearly in its league, but with over $355 million worldwide, it’s still a minor success for the DC Universe. That is more than the $338 million that Dumbo has accumulated to date, which, at the moment, puts the film in the red in the vicinity of Disney’s holiday bomb, The Nutcracker and the Four Realms.

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THIS TIME LAST YEAR: AVENGERS RULED, BUT FELL BEHIND ALL-TIMER PACE

(Photo by @ Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures, @ Marvel Studios)

The weekend prior, Avengers: Infinity War had the largest opening of all-time. This weekend it had the second-best second weekend of all-time with $$114.7 million, bringing its total to $453.1 million as it already began to fall well off the pace of The Force Awakens. Counterprogramming was offered with the role-reversal remake of 1987’s Overboard which made $14.7 million for second place while Jason Reitman’s Tully was another acclaimed disappointment with Charlize Theron that was released in 1,353 theaters and made just $3.2 million. Also opening in just 34 theaters was RBG, which went on to become one of the most successful documentaries of 2018. The Top Ten films grossed $158.9 million and averaged 60.5% on the Tomatometer. This year’s Top Ten grossed $192.4 Million and averaged 59.6% with critics.

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ON THE VINE: CAN PIKACHU BEAT THE AVENGERS? SERIOUSLY, CAN IT?

(Photo by @ Warner Bros. Pictures, @ Legendary)

A Pokemon with the voice of Ryan Reynolds is going to try its best to knock back the Avengers in its third weekend. Is Detective Pikachu really going to be a force this summer or has its appeal window shortened as people found new games to play? 1964’s Bedtime Story with Marlon Brando and David Niven is getting another redux; you may know it better as Dirty Rotten Scoundrels with Steve Martin and Michael Caine. This year it is known as The Hustle with Anne Hathaway and Rebel Wilson. Last year’s Book Club turned into a little surprise hit for Paramount. This year STX is hoping for the same results with Poms starring Diane Keaton, Jacki Weaver, Rhea Perlman, and Pam Grier in a comedy about a retirement community that starts a cheerleading squad; a film that could have sleeper hit written all over it. But can STX pull it off?

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The Full Top 10: May 3-5

1. Avengers: Endgame (2019) 95% – $145.8 million ($616.69 million total)
2. The Intruder (2019) 27% – $11 million ($11 million total)
3. Long Shot (2019) 83% – $10.02 million ($10.02 million total)
4. UglyDolls (2019) 33% – $8.51 million ($8.51 million total)
5. Captain Marvel (2019) 78% – $4.27 million ($420.76 million total)
6. Breakthrough (2019) 65% – $3.94 million ($33.22 million total)
7. The Curse of La Llorona (2019) 31% – $3.50 million ($48.10 million total)
8. Shazam! (2019) 90% – $2.45 million ($135.19 million total)
9. Little (2019) 46% – $1.47 million ($38.58 million total)
10. Dumbo (2019) 47% – $1.43 million ($109.70 million total)

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Erik Childress can be heard each week evaluating box office on WGN Radio with Nick Digilio as well as on Business First AM with Angela Miles and his Movie Madness Podcast.

[box office figures via Box Office Mojo]

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2019-05-05 18:20:02Z
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'Avengers: Endgame' crosses $2 billion, smashes second-week box office records - Fox News

"Avengers: Endgame" continued its global domination at the box office in a second week victory lap that saw the blockbuster cross the $2 billion mark in record time and unseat "Titanic" as the second highest-grossing film ever worldwide. Domestically, newcomers, including thrillers ("The Intruder"), well-reviewed comedies ("Long Shot") or animated family fare ("Uglydolls") were left in the dust to pick up the scraps.

The Walt Disney Co. estimated Sunday that "Endgame" added $145.8 million from North American theaters and $282.2 million internationally bringing its global total to $2.2 billion. "Endgame" is one of five movies to ever reach that threshold and, not accounting for inflation, is now second worldwide only to "Avatar's" $2.8 billion. "Avatar" reached $2 billion in 47 days of release compared with 11 for "Endgame," although in 2009 the theatrical landscape was different, most notably so in China.

"The sprint to $2 billion is unbelievable. We're in uncharted territory," said Paul Dergarabedian, the senior media analyst for Comscore. "Usually films like this are marathoners."

CHRIS EVANS HAS CHEEKY RESPONSE TO RUSSO BROTHERS' MESSAGE ABOUT 'AVENGERS: ENDGAME' SPOILERS

To reach "Avatar's" global record, however, "Endgame" will have to turn into a marathoner itself and the summer movie season is only going to get more competitive.

Still, "it's got a real chance at getting there," Dergarabedian said.

'AVENGERS: ENDGAME' IS MOST TWEETED-ABOUT MOVIE IN HISTORY

Domestically, "Endgame," which is still playing on 4,662 screens, scored the second biggest second weekend ever with a sum that would be impressive for any film on opening weekend. Even its 59 percent drop is notable considering how front-loaded it was. "Endgame" has now grossed $619.7 million in North America, making it the ninth biggest of all time, behind "Star Wars: The Last Jedi."

'AVENGERS: ENDGAME' DIRECTORS SHOCKED AT BOX OFFICE SUCCESS

New films entering the marketplace hardly stood a chance, but some saw successes even in the shadow of "Endgame."

In second place, "The Intruder," a modestly budgeted ($8 million) thriller with Dennis Quaid and Meagan Good, survived poor reviews and did the best of the batch with $11 million in box office receipts. The Sony/Screen Gems film was released on 2,222 screens.

DOMINO'S WORKER ASSAULTS COLLEAGUE WHO SPOILED 'AVENGERS: ENDGAME'

'AVENGERS: ENDGAME' LEAVES BOX OFFICE RECORDS IN THE DUST

Although close behind on the charts in third place, Lionsgate and Point Grey's "Long Shot," a politically-themed romantic comedy with Seth Rogen and Charlize Theron, failed to make a significant dent against its pricier budget. The film, which was the best reviewed of the newcomers by far, grossed an estimated $10 million from 3,230 screens, against a reported $40 million budget. But word-of-mouth could also help propel "Long Shot" to profits ultimately.

CHRIS PRATT SHARES 'ILLEGAL' VIDEO FROM SET OF 'AVENGERS: ENDGAME'

"'Long Shot' has a shot at staying power," Dergarabedian said. "But there's a lot of noise to rise above."

The unluckiest of the new movies was "Uglydolls," an animated film based on the toys featuring the voices of Kelly Clarkson, Nick Jonas, Blake Shelton and Janelle Monae, which placed fourth with $8.5 million. STXfilms' first animated feature cost $45 million to produce after production rebates. It does, however, still have a China release later this summer.

'AVENGERS: ENDGAME' MAKES HISTORY, BUT AVOIDING SPOILERS PRESENTS NEW STRUGGLE

Industry-wide, the continued success of "Endgame" has also helped the box office deficit, which went from down 13.2 percent last weekend to down 10.9 percent this weekend. And Dergarabedian said that the industry may be on its way to a record summer, still.

"It's not just about one movie this summer," he said. "There's a lot more to come from every studio. Diversity of content will rule the day."

CHRIS HEMSWORTH LOOKS BACK AS 'AVENGERS: ENDGAME' BREAKS BOX OFFICE RECORDS

Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Comscore. Where available, the latest international numbers for Friday through Sunday are also included. Final domestic figures will be released Monday.

WASHINGTON POST SLAMMED FOR SPOILING 'AVENGERS: ENDGAME' IN HEADLINE

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1."Avengers: Endgame," $145.8 million ($282.2 million international).

2."The Intruder," $11 million.

3."Long Shot," $10 million.

4."Uglydolls," $8.5 million.

5."Captain Marvel," $4.3 million.

6."Breakthrough," $3.9 million.

7."The Curse of La Llorona," $3.5 million.

8."Shazam!" $2.5 million.

9."Little," $1.5 million.

10."Dumbo," $1.4 million.

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https://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/avengers-endgame-2-billion-second-week-record

2019-05-05 17:23:37Z
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HBO's apparently working on three 'Game of Thrones' spinoffs, says George R. R. Martin - CNN

Bummed that "Game of Thrones" is coming to an end? Don't be.

Apparently, HBO is working on not one, not two, but three spinoffs of the wildly popular show.

That's according to George R. R. Martin. Except he doesn't call them "spinoffs" -- he's not a fan of that term -- but "successor shows."

In a personal blog post updating his fans, the author of the books on which the show is based said:

"We have had five different GAME OF THRONES successor shows in development (I mislike the term "spinoffs") at HBO, and three of them are still moving forward nicely.

"The one I am not supposed to call THE LONG NIGHT will be shooting later this year, and two other shows remain in the script stage, but are edging closer."

What HBO has said

HBO (which, like CNN, is part of WarnerMedia) has long been clear that it wants to maximize the mojo that is GoT.

"In the press at large, everybody said, 'there are four spinoffs' and they assume that means each one is happening and we're going to have a new Game of Thrones show per quarter," HBO programming president Casey Bloys told EW two years ago.

"That's not what's going on. The idea is not to do four shows. The bar set by [Benioff and Weiss] is so high that my hope is to get one show that lives up to it."

So, what will the shows that Martin mentions be about? He's not telling.

"But maybe some of you should pick up a copy of 'Fire & Blood' and come up with your own theories," he said, referring to his book that came out last year.

There you go. Let the wild speculation begin.

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2019-05-05 17:08:00Z
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‘Avengers: Endgame’ Crushes $2 Billion Milestone in Record Time - Variety

May 5, 2019 8:07AM PT

Disney’s “Avengers: Endgame” has officially surpassed the $2 billion mark in its second weekend in theaters, obliterating the record for the fastest film to reach that milestone.

“Avengers: Endgame” is now the second-highest grossing movie of all time, passing “Titanic” with $2.188 billion globally in just 11 days. The tentpole has earned $620 million at the domestic box office, becoming the 9th biggest title ever in North America. Overseas, “Endgame” has amassed a monster $1.56 billion, with $575 million of that bounty coming from China.

“Endgame” is one of only five films to ever cross $2 billion in ticket sales, joining the company of “Avatar” ($2.78 billion), “Titanic” ($2.187 billion), “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” ($2.06 million), and “Avengers: Infinity War” ($2.04 billion). It took “Avatar,” the previous record-holder for fastest film to $2 billion, 47 days to reach that benchmark.

Related

The epic finale to the current phase of the Marvel Cinematic Universe got off to a record-breaking start last weekend when it debuted with a stunning $1.2 billion worldwide, including $357 million in North America.

Anthony and Joe Russo returned to direct “Avengers: Endgame,” the 22nd installment in the MCU. It picks up directly following “Avengers: Infinity War,” another box office behemoth that left Earth’s Mightiest Heroes scrambling after Thanos (Josh Brolin) eliminated half of life in the universe. The superhero blockbuster stars Robert Downey Jr. as Iron Man, Scarlett Johansson as Black Widow, Chris Evans as Captain America, Mark Ruffalo as the Hulk, Brie Larson as Captain Marvel, Chris Hemsworth as Thor, and Paul Rudd as Ant-Man.

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2019-05-05 15:07:00Z
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Magnifioso, Delicioso: Adam Sandler Finally Came Back to ‘SNL’ - The Ringer

There was an incredible cognitive dissonance to watching one of Saturday Night Live’s most famous cast members from the ‘90s drop by to host (for the first time ever!) in 2019 and regale us with jokes about Game of Thrones and President Trump and Kevin Durant (maybe!) going to the Knicks. There was also an undeniable, blissfully uncomplicated joy.

There he was: Adam Sandler, the Sandman, with yet another imminent Netflix movie to promote (co-starring Jennifer Aniston!) and his pick of several dozen indelible Clinton-era SNL characters to reprise. With apologies to Canteen Boy, Opera Man was absolutely the right choice as a callback during what is hopefully not Sandler’s last hosting gig, in that the bit’s premise—Sandler dresses up like an opera singer and riffs on the news in a buffoonish Olive Garden accent—is just stupid enough to be timeless.

Let’s just say that he can still make a punchline like “Kentucky Derby very fast-o / One in first and one in last-o / Winning horse is magnifioso / Losing horse is delicioso” sing. Let’s just say that “Grope-a grope-a / Sniff-a sniff-a” is a transcendently puerile opening line to the theme song Joe Biden deserves. Let’s just say that if someone was gonna rhyme They afraid to impeach with Putin makes me his beetch, I’m glad it was him. The whole thing was absurd, and a little disturbing, and extremely great. “So very long since I’ve been around-ah,” Opera Man climatically wailed. “Twenty-four years and 24 pounds-ah.”

NBC

Sandler was fired from SNL (along with Chris Farley!) in 1995 and went on to become a critic-proof blockbuster movie star; Opera Man also included a quick bit about the new Charlize Theron and Seth Rogen romcom Long Shot, and how its “Pretty lady / Goofy man-ah” premise seemed awfully familiar. (Rogen was thrilled.) Indeed, Sandler’s monologue consisted of a song called, presumably, “I Was Fired,” with guest appearances from Chris Rock (also fired!) and Pete Davidson (keep trying!), and a final verse that ran as follows:

I was fired, I was fired
NBC said that I was done
Then I made over $4 billion at the box office
So I guess you could say I won

For those millennials (and younger!) not steeped in ‘90s pop-culture lore who thus might solely know Sandler as the guy who makes colossally polarizing Netflix movies, Saturday night must’ve been a little confounding. The dude is 52 years old, for one thing. (“I should have come back to the show before it was HD,” he conceded last week on Late Night With Seth Meyers.) And stripped of any context, he has the chill-but-volatile vibe of that distinct phylum of SNL host where there’s a three-percent chance he or she will forget the name of the musical guest while introducing the musical guest. (Shawn Mendes did a reworked version of “In My Blood” with four cellos; Sandler nailed the intro both times.)

The episode was thus split between the show’s usual, cheerfully hacky approach to current events (the cold open was an Avengers vs. Game of Thrones edition of Family Feud that featured Leslie Jones delivering the line “Bitch, I’m Groot”) and total nostalgia. (One skit was a “Sandler family reunion” that consisted of various cast members—and Kristen Wiig, and Jimmy Fallon—doing impressions of his various blockbuster movie characters.) Basically, to get the most out of this episode, you had to be old enough that this was all transpiring way, way, way, past your bedtime. Your reward was that you got to watch a 52-year-old guy crack jokes about CNN war-zone reporters using Snapchat filters, and still come across like a majestically dopey 14-year-old.

The episode as a whole was far from perfect—it included an early and spectacularly unfunny music video for a song about how “clothes are holes” in which Sandler somehow impersonated both Slash and Axl Rose simultaneously—but it was nonetheless a reminder of how perfect he always was for this show. He can underplay if you really need him to: The best skit that didn’t trade on past glories featured Sandler as a tour operator in Italy going to great lengths to remind depressed people that they’ll still be depressed while on vacation in Italy. (“The pictures you’re in are gonna have you in them.”) But as always, Sandler makes the most sense the louder and the bawdier and the dumber everything around him gets, which is to say that at one point Kate McKinnon was squirting Windex in his mouth in a bar while making out with Kristen Wiig. (Wiig’s tenure at SNL did not, of course, overlap with Sandler’s at all, but who’s complaining?) Impressively, given the quarter-century’s worth of history involved, he returned a conquering hero, but with the chops of an old-timer—and all-timer—who’d never left at all.

And for his final act Saturday night, he did something even more surprising.

Hello police snl made me cry??

— Bethy Squires (@BethyBSQU) May 5, 2019

Specifically, Sandler sang a shaggy and phenomenally tender song about Chris Farley, his old castmate and dearly departed friend. (His quite good 2018 Netflix comedy special 100% Fresh peaks with the same tune.) It was a disarmingly beautiful moment, sounding both improvised and deeply heartfelt, a teary-eyed tribute that captured both the comedy and the tragedy of one of the show’s other most famous cast members from the ‘90s. “After a show he’d drink a quart of Jack Daniel’s and stick the bottle right up his ass,” Sandler sang, a line that always gets a laugh, and always hurts, too.

It was moving on a level SNL almost never even approaches; the whole episode was, really, given Sandler’s inimitable mix of veteran savvy and forever-childlike defiance. He was happy to be there in a way that made you even happier to watch him be there. “To my wife and kids, I’m glad you guys got to witness that,” he announced during his goodbyes. “‘Cause I loved it here, man.”

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2019-05-05 14:12:05Z
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