Matt Smith and Amy Adams, already franchise ves thanks to Man of Steel and House of the Dragon, have joined Star Wars: Starfighter. / HBO, Warner Bros. Pictures
It’s the last day of August, and Popculturology is in your inbox with the latest edition of The Monthly.
Pop culture news didn’t slow down over the summer — neither did snack news, with Snackology publishing a whopping 11 pieces since July’s The Monthly — so here are the three stories you need to know, two trailers you need to watch and one article you need to read.
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Heidi Gardner and Michael Longfellow on SNL, Ryan Gosling and Flynn Gray on the set of Star Wars: Starfighter, and Mikey Madison at the Oscars. / NBC, Lucasfilm, AMPAS
3 THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW
“yall acting like we died”
With the yearlong celebration of SNL’s fiftieth season now behind us, we appear to be on the cusp of a massive retooling of the show.
While as of the writing of this edition of The Monthly there hasn’t been any official word from NBC about the SNL cast, we’ve gotten some major news through not just the trades but cast members who have departed the show. The ranks of former cast members now includes Heidi Gardner, Michael Longfellow, Devon Walker and Emil Wakim.
Gardner has yet to publicly comment on her departure (her most recent Instagram post is an ad for Starbucks), but as of this moment, she’s the biggest name leaving SNL. Since joining the show in 2017, Gardner became a go-to talent in not just sketches but also as a Weekend Update guest.
The news that Longfellow is out is probably the most shocking, especially after a Puck report this month that he had screen tested as a potential Update anchor.
“Will not be returning for a 4th season at SNL,” Longfellow wrote on Instagram. “Wish I was but, so it goes. It was the best three years of my life so far. I feel nothing but gratitude for the experience and everyone there.”
Longfellow never really made an impact in regular sketches, but he had quickly established himself as a killer Update guest. Did he find himself in some kind of “Update anchor or bust” situation ... and the answer was bust?
Over at The Not Ready for Primetime SNL Podcast, Mike Ryan and Ryan McGee put out a special Friday episode, giving a good state of play in terms of where SNL stood at that point in the week.
No solid news on new cast members, but there’s a LateNighter report that the on member of the Please Don’t Destroy trio — Martin Herlihy, John Higgins and Ben Marshall — might become part of the show’s main cast. (The rumor is Marshall, with one of the remaining members stays on the writing staff and the third is off the show completely.) I dunno, booting Longfellow and elevating these guys seems like a huge miss to me.
💬 “yall acting like we died lol we just getting different jobs,” Walker wrote on X in response to a post claiming that the duo of him and Longfellow had done “irreparable damage” to the poster’s brain. (Devon Walker)
• • •
More stars for Star Wars: Starfighter
I’ve long had the theory that in today’s world of franchises and cinematic universes, the MCU and Star Wars eventually come calling for every actor. (Look, it’s only a matter of time before we learn about Daniel Day-Lewis getting into superhero shape for a future Iron Man movie.) There’s even a growing roster of actors who have checked off both franchises: Natalie Portman, Samuel L. Jackson, Harrison Ford, Oscar Isaac. (Does Emilia Clarke count? We’re all pretending that Secret Invasion never happened, right?)
Star Wars staked its claim to several big names this week with the announcement that Amy Adams and Matt Smith were among the actors who had joined Ryan Gosling in director Shawn Levy’s Star Wars: Starfighter.
This isn’t Adams’ first big franchise, previously playing Lois Lane in Zack Snyder’s Man of Steel, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice and various versions of Justice League. For Smith, his Doctor Who fame landed him a major role in Terminator Genisys (which was one of many dead ends for the Terminator franchise) before he joined the Game of Thrones-verse with House of the Dragon.
Is it good that these franchises have devoured pop culture and the careers of stars like Adams? Probably not. But it’s always fun to see how they mesh with these roles. (Star Wars)
• • •
Like and subscribe to the Oscars
The Oscars and ABC have been partners since 1976, with the biggest awards show in entertainment airing on the network for almost half a century. The synergy between the two entities has deep roots. Does anyone think that Jimmy Kimmel would’ve hosted the ceremony four times if he wasn’t ABC’s only late-night talent? Or that Conan O’Brien didn’t get a shot to host until after he was no longer associated with NBC or TBS?
The deal between the Oscars and ABC isn’t up until 2028, but Disney’s rivals are already making moves to snap up the ceremony from ABC. The big news this month is that YouTube — which has over the past few years revolutionized itself from the app that you streamed videos from on your phone to the service that now dominates your TV — has looked into rights to the Academy Awards.
If you ever wanted to shake up an awards ceremony, jumping from ABC to YouTube will definitely make that happen. Are we ready for MrBeast to host the Oscars? (Bloomberg)
Zoe Saldaña in Avatar: Fire and Ash, and Sabrina Impacciatore on The Paper. / 20th Century Studios, Peacock
2 TRAILERS YOU NEED TO WATCH
Avatar: Fire and Ash
I’m not going to argue about whether James Cameron should keep making Avatar movies. It’s what he’s decided to do with the rest of his life — and I’m sure Disney isn’t complaining after Avatar: The Way of Water grossed $2.32 billion at the worldwide box office. A lot of people want to pay money to see these films in theaters.
What we can take Cameron to task for, though, is his recent stated desire to “see the cost of VFX artists come down.” Sorry, but if you want to make movies that are almost entirely realized thanks to the work of visual effects artists who turn your motion-captured actors into the blue-tinged folks of Pandora, you need to pay them. Or get a logon to whatever VFX software those teams use and do the work yourself. (The Associated Press)
• • •
The Paper
When The Office premiered way back in 2005, it wasn’t a hit. Not even close. The first season was uneven. It slowly built a devoted fanbase before becoming a core NBC sitcom. Two decades later, it’s unescapable, in syndication on TBS and holding a spot as one of the top streaming shows.
I don’t know if that magic awaits The Paper.
We’re days away from the Office spinoff premiering on Peacock, with the streaming shifting from the weekly release model that made the original a hit to just dumping all ten episodes of The Paper at once. While insiders have told places like TVLine that the move was made thanks to “overwhelmingly positive early reaction to the series,” I don’t buy that. If you have a hot property that can build buzz, you stick with the weekly releases.
But if you know that The Paper isn’t going to hit well with viewers, you don’t give people a chance to sour on the show between episodes. (TVLine)
📖 How the crew behind The Office crafted a new type of workplace story with The Paper (Jessica Wang, Entertainment Weekly): “‘That workplace was so much about people trying to have a decent life and not get too bummed out at a very boring job,’ Daniels says, whereas at The Truth Teller, ‘the boss is actually inspirational to the staff, and they get on board with this super low percentage of winning.’”
Who the F*** Is Marc Maron Without Podcasting? He’s About to Find Out
Marc Maron has been everywhere since announcing the end of his iconic podcast. He’s been on other podcasts, he was on Apple TV+’s Stick, his new standup special came out, the animated movie The Bad Guys 2 hit theaters.
For a guy who’s ending the unparalleled run of WTF with Marc Maron, he certainly doesn’t seem ready to shy away from the spotlight — if anything, he’s become more bold since making that announcement. (The Hollywood Reporter)
CATCHING UP
Here’s what you might have missed from The Omnicosm this month ...
The Omnicosm founder. Popculturology, Deep SNL Thoughts and Snackology writer. A Rochester, N.Y., native now living in the Washington, D.C., area. Won’t pass up a Genny Cream Ale.
