By Scottie Andrew, CNN

(CNN) — Fifty years ago, weeks before the premiere of the show that would become “Saturday Night Live,” Chevy Chase had a camera test.

NBC execs wanted to see how the untested cast of the late-night series looked onscreen. Many of them were nervous. But Chase knew how he looked.

The disarmingly handsome comic adopted the delivery of a smarmy newsman and deadpanned a joke about the hatching of a baby sandpiper, a triumph for the zoo where it was born, until the bird was stomped to death by a baby hippo born a day earlier. He ended with “Good night, and have a pleasant tomorrow.”

That’s how “Weekend Update” came to be. Chase’s version of events has changed over the years (the camera test anecdote comes from the oral history “Live From New York”; this year, he told Vanity Fair that it happened at a table read). But every retelling of that moment features Chase as a news anchor and a poor baby sandpiper meeting an untimely end.

That anchorman was inspired by local TV journalist Roger Grimsby, but with “Weekend Update,” Chase really invented an outsized version of himself. At once arrogant and idiotic, Chase found a charming cocktail that would make him the breakout star of the nascent “Saturday Night” –– and made “Weekend Update” the show’s signature segment.

‘Weekend Update’ was the show’s first hit

“Weekend Update” typically lands shortly after midnight, after the first musical performance and most of the topical, political sketches. In the capable but predictable hands of current anchors Michael Che and Colin Jost, it’s more of a showcase for other cast members who appear as quirky correspondents. In his sole season as an “SNL” cast member, Chase made it must-see TV that he owned.

Chase was originally hired as a writer, winning a place in the cast after torpedoing himself into a pothole in the pouring rain after dinner with “SNL” creator Lorne Michaels and NBC executive Dick Ebersol. He sold himself then and there, Ebersol said in “Live From New York.”

The very first “Weekend Update” segment was just over three minutes long, complete with a fake advertisement for arthritis medication and a cutaway segment to Laraine Newman on the scene of a fictional hotel homicide. Chase was self-assured throughout, talking a mile a minute in a plain gray suit and red tie, even though he almost stumbled over the first few words of a now-classic joke: “The Post Office announced today that it is commemorating prostitution in the United States –– it’s a 10-cent stamp, but if you wanna lick it, it’s a quarter.”

Michaels told the New York Times earlier this year that sticking a news parody in around midnight was purposeful: Some stations around the US didn’t start airing the show until around that time, after local 11:30 p.m. news broadcasts had ended. Audiences would join the show in progress, see Chase as a fast-talking anchor and fall right in.

The segment grew in popularity week-to-week. A few weeks into his run, he started saying, “I’m Chevy Chase, and you’re not.” He’d reliably skewer politicians and public figures (his favorite target was President Gerald Ford, who Chase joked “tied his shoe to his hairblower and inadvertently pardoned Richard Nixon”) and make fake ri

CNN, HEALTHCARE.GOV, GOODRX, AARP

By Tami Luhby, CNN

(CNN) — The cavalry didn’t come to save the Affordable Care Act’s enhanced premium subsidies, which ended when 2025 did. And while the House is expected to vote in January on a Democratic proposal to extend them for three years, the effort faces significant hurdles in the Senate.

This means that millions of Americans will likely have to shell out more — in some cases, a lot more — for coverage in 2026 or go uninsured. They could also try to find less expensive policies, though those usually involve tradeoffs.

Extending the beefed-up subsidies has been at the center of several battles on Capitol Hill in recent months. Democratic lawmakers refused to fund the federal government last fall unless the subsidies were renewed, leading to a record-long shutdown that only ended in mid-November with an agreement to hold a vote in the Senate on the matter. Both Democratic and Republican health care bills failed to pass the chamber in mid-December.

Moderate House Republicans fought with their leadership last month over temporarily extending the more generous assistance. Four of them ultimately decided to go nuclear and back the Democrats’ proposal.

Here’s what you need to know now:

Did all premium assistance disappear?

No! Only the enhanced premium subsidies enacted by the Biden administration as part of a 2021 Covid-19 relief package have expired.

The original subsidies, which are in the 2010 landmark health reform law, continue to be available. They limit monthly payments for the benchmark plan to no more than about 10% of enrollees’ household income for those earning less than 400% of the federal poverty level, or about $62,600 for an individual and $128,600 for a family of four.

But the enhanced subsidies made Obamacare coverage much more affordable, which helped draw a record 24.3 million people to sign up for 2025 policies. Lower-income Americans were able to enroll in policies with $0 or near $0 monthly premiums, while those in the middle class became eligible for help for the first time. Four out of five consumers were able to find 2025 plans for $10 or less a month.

Some Americans may also qualify

Por CNN en Español

El presidente de Venezuela, Nicolás Maduro, aseguró que el país está “seguro y protegido” frente a “amenazas imperiales” y prometió que en 2026 afianzará el desarrollo técnico y militar hacia una “independencia irreversible”, en un mensaje de fin de año transmitido por el canal estatal VTV.

El mandatario proclamó al 2026 como el Año del Reto Admirable, y también pronunció unas palabras en inglés. “The challenge admirable, 2026, victory forever, ya que me están viendo por allá”, dijo, en referencia a Estados Unidos, que mantiene un despliegue naval en el Caribe desde agosto y en las últimas semanas anunció un bloqueo a embarcaciones que trasladen petróleo venezolano.

“Es el año de afianzar el desarrollo técnico y militar que garantice la protección de la patria y una independencia irreversible frente a las amenazas y doctrinas imperiales”, afirmó Maduro. “La patria está segura y protegida con la unión perfecta, con la fusión popular, militar, policial”, agregó.

Maduro, que cumple el primer año de su tercer mandato presidencial, tras unas elecciones que no fueron reconocidas por buena parte de la comunidad internacional, consideró que 2025 fue “el año del consenso más amplio y firme” en la historia republicana de Venezuela. “Es un consenso nacional para la vida, para la paz y para garantizar el futuro”, expuso.

El presidente señaló que hubo una “consagración de la identidad nacional” que “se manifestó con firmeza ante las amenazas imperiales de despojo de nuestras riquezas de las últimas semanas”.

En el plano económico, declaró que su gestión da “pasos firmes hacia una economía diversificada, productiva y exportadora” para superar el rentismo y la dependencia en el petróleo. Además, mencionó las restricciones que enfrenta la economía venezolana por las sanciones de EE.UU.: “Estamos superando el cerco impuesto hace una década y estamos en condiciones óptimas de enfrentar todos los nuevos retos con más preparación, más trabajo, más creatividad, más experiencia y la unión perfecta de todo un país que produce y trabaja”.

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By Nathaniel Meyersohn, CNN

New York (CNN) — In New York City, the typical household spends more than half of its income on rent and 100,000 people sleep in homeless shelters every night.

“This is what a full-blown affordability crisis looks like,” said Manhattan Borough President Mark Levine in a December report. Median rents in Manhattan have topped $5,400 a month.

The city’s cost-of-living crisis extends to food, child care and other parts of daily life: 1.4 million people, or 15% of the city’s population, is food insecure. A family must earn $334,000 to afford child care for a 2-year old, according to US Census Bureau data.

Zohran Mamdani, New York City’s next mayor, faces the enormous task of making it easier to get by in one of the most expensive cities in the world.

Mamdani won the most votes of any New York City mayor in 60 years, propelled by his focus on working-class issues. Now he must deliver on his progressive agenda when the city’s economy is slowing, the federal government is cutting the social safety net and the city’s budget gap is growing.

Mamdani pledged to freeze rents and build more affordable housing, but many nonprofit organizations and developers that operate subsidized housing say they already can’t cover their costs.

And he wants to implement free care for every child ages 6 weeks to 5 years and eliminate fares on city-run buses.

But he needs state approval to raise taxes on the city’s wealthiest residents and corporations to pay for these plans, and New York Governor Kathy Hochul has thrown cold water on his plan to make the entire bus network free and make up the $1 billion in fares the MTA may lose from eliminating fares.

His ability to implement his agenda in office hinges on mobilizing his grassroots campaign supporters to push for higher taxes on the wealthy, more housing production and other priorities, said Kim Phillips-Fein, a history professor at Columbia University and the author of “Fear City: New York’s Fiscal Crisis and the Rise of Austerity Politics” on the city’s 1970s financial collapse.

His allies recently launched a nonprofit designed to build pressure on city and state lawmakers to pass his agenda in the city and state legislature in Albany. (A Mamdani spokesperson did not respond to CNN’s request for comment.)

“People thought Mamdani’s election was impossible a year ago, but it was accomplished through significant political organizing,” said Phillips-Fein. His success as mayor “will depend upon an alignment of political forces and continued organizing.”

Warning signs in the economy

Before the election, Mamdani’s opponents warned of an exodus of the ultra-wealthy from New York City as well as fiscal collapse if he won.

But the Read more

Media_Photos // Shutterstock

The glitz and glam of Hollywood captures the attention of Americans starting from an early age. Beyond celebrities’ Instagram Stories and red carpet poses, there are actors out there paying their dues and honing their craft in pursuit of a sustainable career or a fulfilling sideline. Submitting to casting calls is a big part of that journey.

Whether you’re a working actor or an aspiring one, you might be curious to know which movies and TV shows are casting roles near you. Backstage compiled a list of projects casting right now in Los Angeles, nearby cities, and nationwide, and which roles they’re looking to fill.

Grusho Anna // Shutterstock

‘The Cabin’

– Project type: short film
– Roles:
— Loretta (lead, female, 18-50)
— Angel (lead, male, gender-nonconforming, non-binary, trans male, 22-40)
— CABIN Crew (crew)
– Average hourly rate: not available
– Casting locations: Los Angeles, California
– Learn more about the short film here

KinoMasterskaya // Shutterstock

‘Everything, Sooner or Later’

– Project type: short film
– Roles:
— Scarlet (lead, female, 18-23)
— Anthony (lead, male, 18-23)
— Production Sound Mixer/Boom Operator (crew)
– Average hourly rate: $25
– Casting locations: Los Angeles, California
– Learn more about the short film here

Dpongvit // Shutterstock

‘Say the Wrong Thing’

– Project type: short film
– Roles:
— Lisa (lead, female, gender-nonconforming, non-binary, 20-30)
— Ryan (lead, male, 20-30)
— David (lead, male, 20-30)
– Average hourly rate: $21
– Casting locations: Los Angeles, California
– Learn more about the short film here

muratart // Shutterstock

‘Revenge League’

– Project