Bill Hader back on TCM for ‘Showcase’
BY CINDY PEARLMAN June 6, 2012 5:38PM
Actor and writer Bill Hader (Saturday Night Live) will return to Turner Classic Movies (TCM) this summer to host the network's popular TCM Essentials Jr. showcase. Hader will present 13 films that are ideal for parents to introduce to kids, beginning Sunday, June 3, at 8 p.m. (ET) with 12 Angry Men (1957). Photo credit: Jeremy Freeman
Bill Hader knows his stuff when he imitates old-time Hollywood greats like Vincent Price and Peter O’Toole on “Saturday Night Live.”
“I grew up watching old movies,” he says. “I’m a movie buff.”
He’s also “The Essentials Jr.” at 7 p.m. Sundays on Turner Classic Movies. It will showcase classics including “The Wizard of Oz” (June 10), “Rio Bravo” (June 17) and “Lassie Come Home” (July 1).
“These are the movies people love, and I can be an ambassador for classic films,” he says.
Does Hader have a favorite oldie?
“I do love ‘Unfaithfully Yours’ [1948, directed by Preston Sturges]. It involves a guy murdering his wife, and it’s a comedy. ‘Shane’ [1953, by George Stevens] is also one of those movies where the minute it starts, I’m the happiest guy on earth.”
Hader, an Oklahoma native, isn’t just a film fan — he loves his Cubbies.
“Yes, I’m a Cubs fan. They’ve been playing OK. We’ll see what happens. Every season I get excited. This is the first year I’m not going to allow myself to get too excited, though. It’s that way with baseball in general. I’m slowly becoming a basketball person.”
Asked about possible “SNL” cast shakeups after Kristen Wiig’s sendoff last month, Hader just sighs.
“I don’t know anything. I’m not just saying that to be obnoxious. I find out when people get hired the same way you do. I go online.
“Then I go on YouTube thinking, ‘I need to see some videos on this guy I’m going to be working with’.”
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