Celebrity Buzz with Tom Hanks and Friends

Apr 13, 2020 | 6:19 AM

ABC SETS DISNEY FAMILY SINGALONG: Everyone is stuck at home, and Disney wants you to sing along with the stars. ABC has set a one-hour musical medley, titled The Disney Family Singalong. It will air April 16th with Josh Gad, John Stamos, Aulii Cravalho, Christina Aguilera, Kristin Chenoweth, Michael Bubl, and many morebelting out your family faves. “If there’s something that we’ve all learned in the past few weeks, it’s to cherish every moment and the importance of connection, whether through laughter, stories or music. We hope that we can help create some new unforgettable moments in everyone’s home in a way that only the magic of Disney can,” said Karey Burke, president of ABC Entertainment.

TOM HANKS HOSTS SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE: Saturday Night Live went live on Zoom, with Tom Hanks, who is recovering from coronavirus, hosting. Saturday Night Live at Home also featured Chris Martin as the musical guest. “It’s good to be here, but it’s also weird to be here hosting Saturday Night Live from home,” Hanks said from what appeared to be his kitchen. “It is a strange time to try and be funny, but trying to be funny is SNL‘s whole thing, so what the heck, let’s give it a shot.” He added that it was the first time in a month that he wore anything but sweats. Sketches included Larry David playing Sen. Bernie Sanders, Alec Baldwin calling in as President Donald Trump, Pete Davidson singing in his mom’s basement, a sketch mocking Zoom conferences and “Weekend Update: Home Edition” with Colin Jost and Michael Che.

FRIENDS REUNION WON’T LAUNCH WITH HBO MAX: The cast of Friends will appear on HBO Max for their much-ballyhooed reunion show, but not at the launch date, WarnerMedia announced. “We want to share some background information about the production dates for the upcoming unscripted Friends reunion special for HBO Max. As was previously reported, production is delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This means that the special will not be available on the streamer on Day 1 of launch. But it is coming!” HBO Max said in a statement Friday. “The cast and producers are all very excited to go into production, as this will be the first time since the show ended that the whole cast will be together, and on the original sets to reminisce. There are loads of great surprises in store and lots of rare behind-the-scenes footage they are eager to share. We will keep you informed as plans solidify and once we have a firm premiere date. Lastly, in order to avoid any misunderstanding about what this special is, we want to make it very clear that this is not a new, original episode of the series. The cast will be appearing as themselves, not as their beloved characters. And though fans will have to wait a bit longer for the reunion, they can watch all 236 episodes of the series on day one of HBO Max launch in May!”

HILARY HEATH DIES: The File of the Golden Goose actress and An Awfully Big Adventure producer Hilary Heath has died of complications from coronavirus, according to reports. She was 74. Several other celebs, including Fountains of Wayne frontman Adam Schlesinger, Star Wars actor Andrew Jack, songwriter Alan Merrill and playwright Terrence McNally have also succumbed to the disease.

RUPERT GRINT AND GEORGIA GRINT ARE EXPECTING: The 31-year-old Harry Potter alum Rupert Grint and his longtime partner Georgia Groome, 28, are expecting a child. A noticeable bump (no baby burrito here) was spotted during a recent outing in London, People reports. “Rupert Grint and Georgia Groome are excited to announce they are expecting a baby and would please ask for privacy at this time,” a rep for the parents-to-be confirms to the mag.

GIGI AND BELLA HADID ARE COOKING UP A STORM: Bella and Gigi Hadid are moving into the cooking realm. The supermodel siblings are self-quarantining at their farm in Pennsylvania and are baking from the surrounding fields to pass the time. They shared their efforts, which included their pal Tan France‘s cookie recipe and breakfast tacos, on Instagram Stories.

CHECK IT OUT:

Saturday Night Live‘s “Weekend Update”:

Frank Pallotta

Chris Martin is the SNL At Home musical guest.

What’s his song choice? “Shelter From The Storm” by Bob Dylan.

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And now we’ve got Weekend Update.

Telling jokes with no audience is like “hostage footage,” Che says.

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