HOLLYWOOD Q&A

Q: Who does the amazing impression of Sean Connery in the “SNL” “Jeopardy” sketches?

A: If you’re ever not sure who did a particular impression on “Saturday Night Live,” not only recently but in the long history of the show, Darrell Hammond would be a safe bet.

He holds second place for the biggest number of impressions done on the show (behind Kenan Thompson, who also just edges Hammond out for most years on the show). That puts Hammond ahead of such greats as Mike Myers and even the legendary Dana Carvey.

And of all his impressions (there are more than 100, including presidents Donald Trump, Richard Nixon, Jimmy Carter, George W. Bush and Bill Clinton), Sean Connery on “Celebrity Jeopardy” is his best remembered. “It’s the most popular thing I ever did,” he said in a 2007 interview on the webbased talk show “LateNet.”

He admits, however, that he never quite understood why. Why does the idea of respected film great Sean Connery going on “Jeopardy” and deliberately doing a bad job while insulting the host strike so many people as funny? “It made no sense at all, but it was one of those strange, silly things people responded to.”

Q: They’re making a “Game of Thrones” sequel series, right? What can you tell me about it?

A: Yes, and I can tell you quite a lot, fortunately.

It’s not that HBO is suddenly being generous with details after years of being stingy. But given that the “Game of Thrones” prequel show (or shows, perhaps) will take place in a fantasy universe that’s already been built in the original, small details say a lot.

For example, I can tell you for a fact that it will take place “thousands of years” before the original show, meaning it will tell some of the stories that exist as halfremembered legends in the original series.

The biggest one of those — and this comes from HBO’s official synopsis, rather than the mounds of internet speculation that can be found elsewhere — is that the untitled prequel will unveil “the true origin of the White Walkers.” They, of course, were a key enemy in “Game of Thrones,” treated like a force of nature rather than characters with a past. This prequel series may change that view a little.

HBO also says the show chronicles “the world’s descent from the Age of Heroes.” That is a bit of bait to readers of George R.R. Martin’s source novels, who know that the Age of Heroes was the period when the great houses that drive the politics on “Game of Thrones” were founded.

The most exciting news, perhaps (at least, it’ll excite you if you’ve bothered to read this far), is that this is just the first prequel series in the works.