Jerry O'Connell Talks 'People's List' and 'Jerry Maguire's' 20th Anniversary

— -- Jerry O'Connell is having one heck of a 2016. The actor is not only covering wide ground with shows like "Billions," "Mistresses" and "Justice League" (he's the voice of Superman in the animated films), he's also hosting a new show on ABC, "People’s List."

The limited, prime-time series begins Saturday at 8 p.m. O'Connell and co-host SuChin Pak collaborate with ABC and People magazine for top entertainment and feature stories from the week.

"It's so up to date, in terms of news and everything, it's basically everything you need to know, social media, trends, celebrity news and human interest stories in one hour. Think the celebrity version of 'Last Week Tonight with John Oliver,'" O'Connell told ABC News.

The actor, 42, said there were several factors that influenced his decision to join the project.

"It gives us access to celebrity names like Alec Baldwin, Bruce Willis ... people that you normally can't book," he added. "We just interviewed Paula Patton ... she gets physical in a lot of her roles and does a lot of her own stunts. So, instead of just sitting down with her, we got to go into a boxing ring and do the interview with her whooping my butt."

O'Connell said that he and Pak may be modeling the new magazine show after some other ABC icons.

"All I can do is study David Muir and Elizabeth Vargas and see how they do it on '20/20' ... I do study David, how he works the camera, his presence. He's really a pro," O'Connell said.

Along with his current project, 2016 is a big year of anniversaries for O'Connell.

It's not only the 30th anniversary of "Stand By Me," but the 20th of "Jerry Maguire."

O'Connell's mother was a bit cautious when he landed "Stand By Me" 30 years ago, because he was only 12 years old. She actually thought "it was a scam. They just want money."

What it ended up being was the start of his career.

"I have such fond memories," he said, adding that he brought his grandparents to the shoot in Oregon. When the family went to see the movie on opening day in New York City, "The ticket lady gave us our money back because I was in the movie. Just fun memories like that."

"It is a little bitter sweet, now when I do watch it, it gets very sad because River Phoenix passed away," he continued. "He died so young. He was such a talent. It's really sad for me to watch."

O'Connell has stayed in touch with the movie's director Rob Reiner and as well as his "Jerry Maguire" co-star Cuba Gooding Jr.

"He gave the performance of a lifetime there," he said of Gooding's Oscar-winning role. "We all knew it when we were doing it. We were all so excited for him when he won that Oscar and it was inedible to be there and be a part of it."

When O'Connell is in town in NYC, he stays with his parents, where he grew up.

"On the corner of where they live is a deli that has been there since I was born," he said. "I went in there a couple mornings ago ... they went, 'Hey, "Jerry Maguire" right?'"

The manager pointed to a picture of Gooding Jr. and told a story how the actor bought everyone food.

"Why aren't you more like him?" the manager asked O'Connell.

With Tom Cruise reportedly doing a second "Top Gun" 30 years later, O'Connell weighed in on a potential "Maguire" follow.

"That's definitely a pretty funny idea," he said. "You'd have to talk to Cameron Crowe ... it'd be pretty fun. I played Frank Cushman, who went first in the draft. It might be kind of fun to see where he ended up."

"Does he end up as a bitter junior varsity coach or does he end up like John Elway?" he added. "It would be fun to revisit that."