Free Republic

Actor Robin Williams has died, the Marin County Sheriff’s Office confirmed Monday. He was 63. The Sheriff’s Office was called to a home in unincorporated Tiburon just after noon Monday, the office stated in a news release.

Did you hear the one about a Republican Jon Stewart gunning for The Daily Show? Those waiting for the punchline will have to wait till fall, when The Flipside, a conservative take on political satire, hits the airwaves. Host Michael Loftus is a relative unknown, but as he’s planning to come after “insane liberals,” it’s time for an introduction. A fan of Ronald Reagan and John Adams, Loftus hopes to get Americans to toss political correctness aside for a free exchange of ideas. And if you say the American dream is dead, he gets really cross. He’s breaking into the...

Syfy's "Sharknado 2: The Second One" has become the channel's most watched original movie of all time, easily beating the results of the first film.

After more than 30 years on the charts, comedian-singer "Weird Al" Yankovic earns his first No. 1 album on the Billboard 200, as "Mandatory Fun" debuts atop the list. The album is the first comedy set to top the chart since 1963, and logs the largest sales week for a comedy album since 1994. "Mandatory Fun" was released July 15 through Way Moby and RCA Records, and sold 104,000 copies in the week ending July 20, according to Nielsen SoundScan. It was promoted by a well-receiveddaily viral video campaign that launched Monday, July 14. Starting with his parody of Pharrell's...

Joan Rivers made news recently when she walked off of a CNN set during an interview with Fredericka Whitfield. When Whitfield suggested that Rivers could be “mean,” the latter informed the former that under no circumstances should she be interviewing someone, like Rivers, for whom comedy is a calling. Whatever else may be said of Joan Rivers—I, for one, have never had much to say about her at all—this much seems certain: The woman knows that of which she speaks when it comes to her craft. That is to say, she is acutely aware of the purpose, the invaluable purpose,...

The good news is that Tammy is not a crappy remake of the 1957 Tammy movie with Debbie Reynolds that spawned three sequels and a TV comedy series. The bad news is that this one is much worse. It’s a desperate and brainless vehicle for Melissa McCarthy, which she wrote herself, with her husband, Ben Falcone, who also directed, with all the efficiency and verve of an abandoned Volkswagen on the Jersey Turnpike. There isn’t a single shred of evidence that either of them has one iota of talent in the world of filmmaking. Tammy is not just a celebration...

(Reuters) - An audience of 16,000 cheered for the dead parrot and the Spanish Inquisition, and sang along to "Always Look on the Bright Side of Life" in London's O2 arena on Tuesday for the premiere of what has been billed as Monty Python's last stand. For tickets that cost up to 95 pounds ($160), and were sold out in 44 seconds, Python fans saw Eric Idle, John Cleese, Terry Jones, Michael Palin and Terry Gilliam, all in their 70s, perform together for what they have said is probably the last time. The first of 10 nights of "Monty Python...

(Las Vegas, NV) — Legendary comedian Steve Rossi has been transferred to hospice care after a battle with stage 4 cancer. Rossi is half of the world famous comedy team of Allen and Rossi. He lives in Las Vegas. Steve Rossi teamed up with Marty Allen in 1957, where they became America’s number one comedy team. They appeared on more than 700 television shows, including 44 appearances on the Ed Sullivan Show. Rossi’s personal assistant, Christine Kramar, says he believes in the power of prayer. He is living the last days in accordance with his faith and is grateful for...

The new comedy Mom's Night Out features a stay-at-home mother who finally gets the chance to cut loose with her girlfriends. Chaos ensues, and so do a few faith-friendly messages for the masses.

In an interview with Yahoo News surrounding the 40th anniversary of his comedic masterpiece "Blazing Saddles," co-writer/director Mel Brooks blasted present-day political correctness and says he was "lucky" to have made the film in the days when he still could: "They can't make that movie today because everybody's so politically correct. You know, the NAACP would stop a great movie that would do such a great service to black people because of the N-word," says Brooks. "You've got to really examine these things and see what's right and what's wrong. Politically correct is absolutely wrong. Because it inhibits the freedom...

There are plenty of lousy film comedies, but there are only two that I outright hate: "Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan" and "Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby." Both were released in 2006 when Hollywood's fury against George W. Bush had reached its peak, and both let the voters who re-elected him in 2004 have it with both barrels. On its face you would think that Mel Brooks' "Blazing Saddles" chose the exact same targets (rural Red Staters) to humiliate, but he didn't. With his masterpiece (that has just been released as...

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) – Chris Stigall spoke with comedian Rob Schneider on Talk Radio 1210 WPHT about the struggle comedians face in today’s current political environment. Schneider struck on ominous tone when discussing the path he sees the country on. “Democracies don’t end well. We are sliding very fast towards fascism. It’s an ugly kind of thing. There’s this kind of mob mentality that we have to be careful of,” he said. He believes comedians are pressured toward one side of the political spectrum. “There’s a polarization that’s happening…I do think you look can look at government and go, ‘Wow, it...

Obama's Secretary of Homeland Security Jeh Johnson said he could not understand why Americans, including 22 senators, would think he is not enforcing the nation's immigration laws. "I don't understand those who say we are not enforcing the law," Johnson said in an interview that aired on ABC's This Week on Sunday. "We are enforcing the law every day." Johnson was responding to a question from Pierre Thomas about the "blistering letter" that 22 Republican senators wrote to President Barack Obama last week that expressed "their grave concerns the changes

"This brewing spat started on Monday night, when Stewart mocked Hannity for supporting Nevada cattle rancher Cliven Bundy in his battle against the federal BLM. Hannity hit back on Tuesday night. On Wednesday's show, Stewart walked through Hannity's criticisms and showed why the Fox News star is tossing his verbal stones from a glass house."

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday jokingly implied that Alaska wasn't worth reunifying with Russia because it was too cold. At a nearly four-hour, question-and-answer event, one submitted question for Putin asked if, following the annexation of Crimea, he had designs for the largest of the United States. “Are there any plans to annex Alaska to Russia? We would be very happy [about that],” said Faina Ivanovna, drawing laughter from the crowd. “What would you need Alaska for?” Putin said with a smile. “We are a northern country … 70 percent of our territory is in the north and far...

The choice of comedian Stephen Colbert as the replacement for David Letterman ignited a battle of words online Thursday: While little doubt exists that Mr. Colbert is as funny, clever, charming, and goofy as Mr. Letterman, some media voices loudly complained that the decision by CBS now means that network late-night television will largely remain the domain of white male hosts. When Letterman announced last week that he will step down from the “Late Show” in 2015, television critics immediately started pooling names of possible replacements: comedians W. Kamau Bell, Ellen DeGeneres, Tina Fey, Chelsea Handler, Tig Notaro, Amy Poehler,...

CBS has named Stephen Colbert as new host of the “Late Show,” effective when David Letterman retires. Here is the press release: The CBS Television Network today announced that Stephen Colbert, the host, writer and executive producer of the Emmy and Peabody Award-winning “The Colbert Report,” will succeed David Letterman as the host of THE LATE SHOW, effective when Mr. Letterman retires from the broadcast. The five-year agreement between CBS and Colbert was announced by Leslie Moonves, President and CEO, CBS Corporation, and Nina Tassler, Chairman of CBS Entertainment.