SNL

Jan Hooks, who worked alongside some of the biggest "Saturday Night Live" stars ... died Thursday ... TMZ has learned. She was 57.

We've learned she passed away this morning in New York City. Sources tell us Jan had been battling a serious illness.

Jan was part of the 'SNL' cast from 1986-91 ... the same time as Chris Farley, Mike Myers, Phil Hartman, Dana Carvey and Dennis Miller ... and was most famous for being half of the Sweeney Sisters ... and also for her impressions of Sinead O'Connor and Hillary Clinton.

She most recently played a part on "30 Rock."

Right after 'SNL', Jan joined the cast of "Designing Women." She also had a famous role in "Pee-Wee's Big Adventure."

Jan had dated fellow SNL star Kevin Nealon ... before they were both on the show. Nealon tells TMZ he and Jan had "amazing times as friends, then dating and then the incredible rush of being on SNL together."

He added, "I only wish she knew how well respected and admired she was. This is such a loss."

Jan was nominated for an Emmy in 1998 for a role on "3rd Rock from the Sun."

Sarah Silverman and "Saturday Night Live" channeled their inner Bass-o-Matic at the expense of Vitamix this weekend ... but the company famous for slicing and dicing took its whipping like a champ.

In the long history of blender humor, the new sketch was a distant second to Dan Akroyd's '76 classic -- but Vitamix was still thrilled Silverman and Vanessa Bayer endlessly chopped up the product's ridiculous $650 sticker price.

A Vitamix rep told us ... the company's honored to be among the long-list of brands that have been lampooned on "SNL," especially during the show's 40th anniversary season.

No such thing as bad publicity ... plus, it's a great excuse to bring back the Bass-o-Matic.

Chris Pratt brought "He-Man" to life last week on Saturday Night Live ... and now, the A-list actor tells us there really is one toy from his childhood he'd love to hang out with.

The "Guardians of the Galaxy" star was cruising through LAX when our photog asked which piece of plastic he'd like to "Toy Story" it up with .. and Pratt gives a pretty good answer.

He also rattles off one idea that's clearly a dangerous choice.

Can we say ... one of the coolest dudes in Hollywood.

Not everyone was laughing at Jay Pharoah's impersonation of Shannon Sharpe on "SNL" this weekend -- especially not the former NFL star ... who say's Jay's impersonation was "horrible."

Jay played Shannon during a skit for the show's cold open -- in which Shannon and Ray Lewis were discussing the issues with the NFL ... including the issue of domestic violence.

During the sketch, Jay portrayed Shannon as a bumbling, confused imbecile ... who couldn't take a stand on the NFL issues because of his own legal issues in the past.

For the record, Sharpe was accused of stalking and raping a woman back in 2010 -- but he was never arrested or charged with a crime ... and the accuser eventually dropped her case.

So, when asked how he felt about the "Saturday Night Live" sketch, it probably wasn't a shock when he wrote, "That was a horrible impression."

Sharpe also publicly agreed with a fan who said, "@JayPharoah did was NOT FUNNY HE IS NO @FrankCaliendo He made it seem like you were not educated the way he was talking."

"Saturday Night Live" is about to lose its most seasoned performer ... Kenan Thompson will be leaving the show after this season ... TMZ has learned.

Sources connected to SNL tell us ... Thompson -- the most tenured African-American cast member in the show's history -- planned to leave last season, but decided to stay after head honcho Lorne Michaels asked him to stay on ... citing the show's massive turnover this season.

We're told Kenan has no hard feelings and is leaving on great terms. Our sources say he's in talks for a new show and plans on moving to L.A. (with his wife and brand new baby) when the season ends.

We'll miss you, DeAndre Cole.

UPDATE: SNL says our story is "inaccurate as the season hasn't even started and cast decisions aren't made until the end of the season." But as we reported ... this is not an SNL decision -- it's Kenan's decision, and we know he's already made it.

Don Pardo -- the man who famously announced "It's Saturday Night Live!" starting from the very first episode of "SNL" in 1975 -- passed away Monday night at the age of 96 ... NBC officials confirm.

Pardo reportedly died in his sleep in Tucson, AZ.

The man with the booming voice was hand-picked for the "SNL" job by creator Lorne Michaels -- and was featured on 38 of the 39 seasons (he missed season 7). He also missed 2 eps in 2013 after suffering a broken hip.

But like the champ he was ... Pardo got back to work after healing up and continued to serve as "SNL" announcer when the show resumed in September 2013. He worked all the way up until the "SNL" season finale back in May.

Pardo had been working with NBC since 1944 ... and provided voice work on everything from baseball games to newscasts and even gameshows -- spending 7 years on "The Price is Right" starting in 1956.

After that gig, Pardo spent 11 seasons on "Jeopardy" ... back when Art Fleming hosted the show.

Long story short ... the guy was a pioneer in almost every facet of television.

Former "SNL" writer John Mulaney tweeted moments ago ... saying, "Goodbye Don Pardo. You worked from World War II until this May. You were cool as hell. I'm very lucky I got to talk to you those few times."

Dane Cook also posted a message about Pardo -- saying, "I always wanted to host SNL and it was a lifelong mission. When I got it and got to NYC I had 1 must. Get a photo with the great Don Pardo. His voice set the tone of the show and hearing him usher in each host with his booming hijinx-y role call was in my dreams but saying my name finally. My dream came true. Thank you sir for spending time chatting and introducing me to America on that special Saturday night."

Lindsey Buckingham better beeline it to Babies R Us and buy a gift ... because Kenan Thompson's wife just gave birth to a beautiful baby girl.

Georgia Marie Thompson was born Friday morning around 10:30 AM in New York -- weighing in at 6 lbs - the new parents are exhausted/ecstatic.

Kenan, hasn't slept a wink since the baby was born.

Welcome to parenthood ... and hey, Kenan, while you're at it, check out the Brandi Glanville post on TMZ. Our baby advice -- no matter what she does, don't call her an a-hole!

Either Chris Kattan thought it would be funny to dress as his classic "Saturday Night Live" character Mango for last night's Council of Fashion Designers of America event ... or he's made some serious life changes recently.

You can't-a have-a de Mango ... or the late 90s back.

The catalyst for the Solange/Jay Z elevator fight has been a mystery ... until now. "Saturday Night Live" spilled the beans ... an errant spider.

It's pretty funny ... especially Maya Rudolph who plays an epic Beyonce.

SNL writer Leslie Jones became a star performer for the show with her outrageous slavery themed sketch that was definitely sketchy -- but also pretty hilarious.

Although that might depend on who you ask ... and the person you're asking better not work at Ebony.

A "Saturday Night Live" actress is under attack by the senior editor of Ebony.com -- who claims a bit she performed on the show where she joked about being a "Number 1 slave draft pick" is an "embarrassment."

The woman in the crosshairs is Leslie Jones -- who performed the bit during the Weekend Update of SNL ... and essentially said in slave days, she would have been the most popular woman on the plantation for forced slave breeding.

"See, I’m single right now, but back in the slave days, I would have never been single. I’m six feet tall and I’m strong, Colin. Strong! I mean, look at me, I’m a mandingo ... I’m just saying that back in the slave days, my love life would have been way better. Massah would have hooked me up with the best brotha on the plantation … I would be the No. 1 slave draft pick."

But after the sketch, the backlash began -- with Ebony.com senior editor Jamilah Lemieux tweeting, "This Leslie Jones person is an embarrassment @msmarypryor. I'm so appalled right now."

Jones fired back on Sunday -- writing, "If anybody should be offended is white folks cause it’s what they did.”

"Y’all so busy trying to be self righteous you miss what the joke really is. Very sad I have to defend myself to black people. Now I’m betting if Chris Rock or Dave [Chappelle] did that joke or jay z or Kanye put in a rap they would be called brilliant. Cause they all do this type of material. Just cause it came from a strong black woman who ain’t afraid to be real y’all mad."

Kenan Thompson and Kel Mitchell came thiiiiiis close to squashing their longstanding beef at the Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards -- Kel totally thought it was happening ... and then it didn't.

We caught up with Kel in Sherman Oaks Monday, and he told our camera guy he was under the impression during their segment Sunday night ... Kenan would give him a shout out.

For everyone above the age of 12 who missed it -- Nickelodeon gave one of the executive producers of "Kenan & Kel" a Lifetime Achievement award, and Thompson sent in a recorded speech where he never acknowledged working with Kel.

Sources close to Kenan say it wasn't meant to be a diss ... producers didn't tell him to mention Kel until after the piece had been filmed and he was too busy for a re-shoot.

Kel says he's not mad -- and even offers one final plea to Kenan in regard to a reunion.

"Half Baked" star Jim Breuer's ex-neighbor is now facing felony stalking charges -- after allegedly mailing a box of condoms to the actor's Jersey house ... in a perverted joke involving Jim's underage daughters.

Sources close to Jim tell TMZ, the actor's been having problems with Giuseppe Ionfrida for a couple years ... but it got particularly twisted back in December.

We're told Ionfrida allegedly left extremely creepy comments on a YouTube video about Jim, such as ... "How's your three pretty daughters doing ;)" Days later, Jim claims Ionfrida shipped him a box of condoms.

We're told Jim called police in early January, and Ionfrida was arrested on felony stalking charges.

We spoke to Ionfrida who told us he denies leaving the YouTube comments about Jim and his daughters. He did say he doesn't like his kids hanging around Jim -- which is an issue since their kids are friends.

We reached out to Breuer ... he had no comment.

Chris Kattan just pled not guilty to DUI ... and in an unusual move, the judge ordered him to attend AA meetings.

TMZ broke the story ... Chris crashed his Mercedes into a parked car on the freeway last month after allegedly admitting he had taken Rx drugs. Earlier that day he was totally out of it on an airplane.

Chris entered his not guilty plea Monday morning and the judge ordered him to attend 2 AA meetings per week -- as a condition to bail. It's odd ... because everything we've found about AA focuses on alcohol ... not prescription meds. And alcohol was not a factor in the accident.

It's also curious ... the judge didn't order Chris to abstain from meds or booze.

Chris Kattan is not on a prescription pill-induced downward spiral ... he's just got a bad back.

Kattan blew out of LA Friday before the Oscars hit town ... and chalked up his bizarre behavior on a plane -- and his subsequent DUI arrest last month -- to Rx meds after back surgery.

Kattan doesn't tell us when he underwent surgery ... but assures our photog he's doing just fine.

We also asked about DUI charges filed this week, but he's totally in the dark.

Chris Kattan was high on drugs when he crashed his Mercedes into a truck on the 101 Freeway earlier this month ... according to the LA. City Attorney, who just nailed the comedian with a DUI charge.

A rep for the City Attorney's office tells TMZ, prosecutors filed one count of Driving under the Influence of Drugs, which carries a maximum penalty of 6 months in jail and a $1,000 fine for a first offense.

As we reported, Chris' car was seen weaving on the freeway early on Feb. 10 ... before careening into a coned area and slamming into a parked Dept. of Transportation truck, destroying his car in the process.

According to sources, Kattan -- who was not injured -- appeared out of it and told cops he had taken Rx pills before the crash. He was arrested on the scene.

Kattan will be in court for arraignment March 3.