Eddie Deezen joins me to discuss 1941; working with Dan Aykroyd, John Belushi, and Christopher Lee; Midnight Madness and tough night shoots; loving most of the cast; doing a pilot with Ally Sheedy that didn't get picked up; doing a back door pilot on The Facts of Life; co-starring on Punky Brewster; going to The Tonight Show and getting his foot run over by Paul McCartney; Beverly Hills Vamp with Britt Eckland, Tim Conway Jr., and Pat McCormick; playing the ponies; starting as a standup at the Comedy Store and being gonged by Paul Williams on The Gong Show and its aftermath. Impressionist Zach W. Arnold joined me and impersonated George Burns; talks about being in character; sang like Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin; discusses his natural singing voice; sings as Ringo Starr; discusses blogging the city of Orlando' playing Ringo in two Beatles tribute bands; what's it like to be in a tribute band; impersonated every US President from JFK to Biden; discusses Rich Little; finding a new take on an impression; Robert DeNiro, Dustin Hoffman, and Matthew McConnaughy; his take on Cheech and Chong; I do John Travolta and Robin Williams; we discuss impressionists Roger Kabler, DC Follies cast members John Roarke and Louise DuArt, Jeff DeHart, and Kevin Pollack; Jack Lemmon & Walter Matthau; Zach does Don Rickles and I introduce his John Wayne as Johnny Carson; impersonates Jimmy Stewart, Truman Capote and Paul Lynde; discusses Dana Carvey, Harry Shearer, Jim Carrey, and Rodney Dangerfield; impersonates Alan Thicke and Tom Brokaw; impersonating Eddie Deezen to Eddie Deezen; impersonating the Klumps; his philosophy of comedy; impersonates Katharine Hepburn, Joan Rivers, Ed Wynn, and Andy Rooney; discusses his grandmothers fascination with Andy Rooney;

Brian Kiley discusses growing up in comedy rich Newton, Massachusetts; his comedy influences - Bob Newhart and Woody Allen; not always being a clean comic; not getting an HBO comedy special as a dirty comic; realizing he needs to be a clean comic to get on Johnny Carson; being clean leads to jobs as an opener; 1985 gig on Boston cable; never did Carson, took 17 years to get to Letterman; TV debut on CBS' Morning Program; Johnny Walker Comedy Showcase; other contestants; being a finalist with Mark Brazill and Steve Harvey; getting the job at Conan and never leaving; getting hired at Ellen; perpetual 13 3week contracts; Clinton jokes; Norm MacDonald; the show changing after 9/11 and slowly putting comedy back in; jokes were not as mean; how he was only a guest at the last minute and never introduced as a writer; Roger Ebert; his mother dying and losing his hair at 22; mistake moustache; getting nominated for Emmys settled everyone down; originally college kids came to see the bands; loved writing In the Year 2000 and Satellite Channels; created the Allergic Zookeeper; writing the funny Emmy writer montages; writing for Conan's post NBC tour; writing for the White House Correspondent's Dinner; moving to Los Angeles; whether his kids find him funny; his black / white bit with Deon Cole; corporate gigs and charities; and his novels.

Christian Bladt joined me to discuss growing up in small town New York; early Saturday morning cartoons, including Hickory Hideout; growing up with SNL in the late 80's; Nick at Nite 30-minute episodes and later 60 minute Comedy Central episodes, still watching; the 85-86 cast; Mary Gross; going to Marist College, interning at Conan O'Brien; meeting Amy Poehler & Robert Smigel; easy to get tickets for Conan; went to an SNL dress rehearsal in 1997; became a page week Norm was replaced by Colin; had friends in both camps; Colin Quinn Explains the NY Times; some wanted Craig Kilborn to take over; Spade in America; Snow of the Century episode; Steve Martin / Blues Brothers 4/22/78; taping the show; Goodman & Aykroyd; working with Tim Meadows; befriending Colin Quinn and Norm MacDonald; Norm calling him Jewish Bladt; being a page at SNL25; escorting Billy Crystal and Dennis Miller up to 8H; SNL will be fifty and The Tonight Show 70; The Kids in the Hall; 50's comedy: Ceasar, Benny & Groucho; Todd Hundley; Baha Men; Jim Downey; Jon Lovitz; season 14 is the best season, IMO; mom bought a VCR to watch Star Trek; Jackie Rodgers Jr.; Negro Leage Baseball; blackface; Bill Cosby; working for VP Al Gore; Monica Lewinsky; Ricky Martin and the Backstreet Boys; what Dennis Miller is like off the air; making fun of both sides; Who Are These Broadcasters?; inappropriate jokes; the WATP metaverse; Hackride; Karl Hamburger; Eric Zane; Stuttering John

"Raised Eyebrows" author Steve Stoliar joined me to discuss silent film comedians; Universal horror monsters; The Three Stooges; how The Marx Brothers were the best; becoming his secretary and archivist; meeting Groucho's friends; going to UCLA to study history and hanged to television; saw decline and fall of Groucho in person as well as rage-ridden Erin Fleming; saving all his witticisms; his book comes out and is now going to be a motion picture; 1972 - he tries at UCLA to get Animal Crackers rereleased; does a press conference and meets Groucho for the first time; Universal rereleases it; a year later, Steve asks for a summer job; becomes secretary and archivist; worked seven days a week; Groucho was a personal history capsule; Groucho worked a benefit concert for the 1906 earthquake and performed the night Pres. Harding died; Groucho's Long Island home on the market; friendship with Alice Cooper; first two films made in Kaufman Astoria Studios; then family moved to Hollywood; their lost silent film "Humor isk" will never be found, but there are censored scenes that might; The Day the Clown Cried; going with Groucho to the set of Bob Hope's Joys; not going to Welcome Back, Kotter; he conservatorship trial; not taking part in the estate trial; gets a job typing scripts for Universal; hired by Dick Cavett based on his humorous correspondence; becomes a freelance TV writer; now his book is becoming a movie; CBS takes a sitcom starring Frank Zappa's children written by Steve and tries to make it "Normal Life"; TV & movies are better and worse than they've ever been; "blue humor"; "objectionable" humor; his other works "Imperfect Storm" abut Howard Storm and "Salami's and Swastikas" based on his fathers letters home.

Michael Mann discusses the other Michael Mann; starting on radio before listening to it; recreating Charlotte's Web on the radio show Let's Pretend; his mom getting him into modeling at 5; a newspaper write up from 1952; performing on Broadway with Bette Davis in Two's Company; performing a portion of the show on Ed Sullivan; working with Lon Chaney, Jr. on a infamous 1952 adaptation of Frankenstein; playing Perry Como's son on his show; appearing in a play One Borrowed Time with Jean Lockhart; costarring on the 1955-1956 sitcom Joe & Mabel with Nita Talbot & Norman Fell; working with Ernie Kovacs & Milton Berle; pausing acting in 1960 to go into the Navy; coming back; guest starring on Delvecchio with future client Judd Hirsch; playing softball vs. Happy Days; Penny Marshall; working with Jackie Gleason twenty-five years later in Smokey & the Bandit; MASH; Taxi; Jim Burrows; Szysznyk; Christopher Walken is fine, just hasn't hosted SNL in a while; going to the Professional Childrens School; guest starring on All in the Family with Billy Crystal; Theodore Bikel; "Stephanie's Conversion" episode; becoming a manager; his clients Molly Shannon, Rachel Dratch, Robert Pine; what he's doing now

Gary H. Miller and I discuss Sergeant Bilko and showing Phil Silvers to Will Smith; not hearing TV due to elevated trains; new screenplay about growing up 1961; being a Brooklyn bred Yankees fan; being a teacher to get out of Vietnam; turmoil today vs. the 1960's; instant TV feedback; getting complete opposite reactions from one episode of Bosom Buddies; going to LA; writing a spec MASH; writing Fred Silverman and getting an assignment on Laverne & Shirley; writes an episode about alcoholism; goes to Bosom Buddies; talent of Tom Hanks and Peter Scolari; going to 9 to 5 next; working with Al Jean & Mike Reiss on Homeboys in Outer Space; writing for Gimme A Break; "The Groupie" introduces Andy Gibb to Kari Michaelsen; blackface episode not his idea; wrote mainly Katie episodes; Dolph Sweet; goes to 1st and Ten and wants to inject reality; does a steroid episode with John Matuzak; writing O.J. Simpson into the show; writing a pilot with OJ; why there has never been a successful show about baseball; trying to write a sitcom about golf; A Different World was a more serious show; writing episodes about restricted golf clubs and racial violence; The Fresh Prince of Bel Air; writing Hilary's fiancées bungee jump death; acknowledging the new actress playing the mother; breaking the fourth wall; "M is for the Many Things" a parody of "The Graduate" with Pam Grier; Homeboys in Outer Space; getting racist notes from Disney; HIOS being the hardest show he worked on; going to Boy Meets World; writing the episodes where Cory has a drinking problem and Sean's father dies; Maitland Ward; Reba; Impossible co-authored by Bob Tischler; auditioning for TMZ sports; football; hockey; 1969 Jets; 1969 Knicks; best vantage point for watching sports at MSG; his screenplay; making it through The Summer of Sam and The Blackout

George joins me to talk about his favorite radio programs; growing up with music; moving to Las Vegas; Sammy Davis, Jr; his wife, Jolene Brand; Ernie Kovacs; his biggest talent is to make things funny; inventing the Vegas lounge act; working on The Dinah Shore Show; Fat Jack Leonard; new comedians and brighter colors; can talk about many different topics like sex and politics; laughter is a panacea; taping Al Hirt on a high rise next to a dead man; origins of Laugh-In; predicting Reagan's presidency; getting Nixon elected; booking Ronald Reagan and the Marquis Chimps in Vegas; Barbara Feldon didn't get the dirty jokes; Lily Tomlin gives the finger; Judy Carne shows her nipple; comedy should be fun; Martin Short; Bill Maher; breaking TV's color barrier; Sammy Davis Jr. vs. Micey Rooney; getting fired from The Judy Garland Show; British comics; discovering Byron Allen, Pamela Rodgers, Robin Williams, Lenny Schultze, and Tiny Tim; Frank Sinatra meets Wayland Flowers and Madam; Turn On; hiring Albert Brooks; creating Soul and working with Redd Foxx; Gregory Hines & Sammy Davis Jr.'s challenge dance; creating Speak Up America for Marjoe Gortner and Jayne Kennedy; George Carlin getting his inseam measured by his wife before a show; working with Geoge Burns, Jack Benny, and Goldie Hawn

Michael J. Weithorn joined me to discuss growing up in Rego Park; the blackout of 1965; his favorite series Dick Van Dyke, Get Smart, and Laugh-In; watching the original SNL in college; going to Swarthmore and having no idea how to get into show business; moving to California right after graduation and teaching for three years; impressing Arnold Margolin who helped him get an agent; writing a freelance script for Benson even though he didn't now Benson's job; his first job on Making the Grade; George Wyner; Gary David Goldberg gave him a job keep him at Family Ties and not take others offers; writing a Cheers episode; thinking Cheers pilot was better than Family Ties pilot; writing Alex-centric episodes using stories from his life; casting Justine Bateman; inventing Skippy in "Death of a Grocer"; writing "The Fugitive" and casting Tom Hanks in the role; "4 Rooms Ocean Vu"; Michael Gross comedic chops; "Stage Fright" becomes a meme & teachers people the acronym SCUBA; "Speed Trap" - Alex on speed; Robert Costanzo; writing "The Real Thing" which introduces Ellen; using Billy Vera and the Beaters "At this Moment"; writing an episode for Peter Scolari; leaving Family Ties and creating Pursuit of Happiness; writing a classic Wonder Years; creating True Colors; cast changes and illnesses; likes to write episodes with surreal dream sequences; his King of Queens version is hated and loved; working on the Sinbad Show; wrote the proposed Krusty the Klown spinoff with Matt Groening but was nixed by James L. Brooks; told to run Sinbad if he wanted South Central to go; FOX cancels most "black" shows; wishes South Central and Ned & Stacey were streaming; writing Ned & Stacey on spec; cast Thomas Haden Church and network wanted Debra Messing; King of Queens was not a spinoff of Raymond; being a big fan of Kein James standup and seeing him starring in a "New Honeymooners"; wrote Carrie in Lean Remini's voice before she was even hired; King of Queens was paired with and crossed over with Raymond; Jack Carter originally hired as Arthur, but they got Jerry Stiller to change his mind; how Patton Oswalt & Nicole Sullivan were cast; his indie film "A Little Help" starring Jenna Fischer; working on Weird Loners, The Goldbergs and Schooled; George Segal and "Where's Poppa"; working on a romcom with 60 year-old actors; Family Ties Vacation and "A, My Name is Alex"

Rachel Saya Jacobson joined me to discuss her tweets, early influences including Laurel & Hardy, Charlie Chaplin, and vaudeville; always performing and creating; Kurt Vonnegut; going to The Tonight Show offices and seeing that's what she wants to do; the immediacy of late night; having a Jewish comedy writer dad and a Japanese mom; her father's always doing bits; going to Emerson; writing for the Hyena, its satirical newspaper; writers room vs. the isolation of writing alone; her duties as an associate producer; advice from the head writer; her first sketch, a parody of Last Week Tonight; not getting an internship at Samantha Bee; her dream dinner with Eleanor Roosevelt and O.J. Simpsons; not speaking Japanese; working overseas; Benny Hill Show and Yakkety Sax; podcasts; younger generation knowing Buster Keaton; working in copywriting during the strike; the days of a writer making a living on one show are over; picketing; Bill Maher; writing for the Independent Spirit Awards and having a joe go viral; her favorite shows now - Succession, Severance and Beef; working on animated series like Big Mouth; meeting hero Mike Drucker on the picket line and Joe Mande doing stand up; working with Josh Gondelman and Opus Moreschi; buying "too much tuna" for Nick Kroll; Chelsea Perretti; Adam Sandler; Alice Ju; Jews in Hollywood; Zach Effron; Adam Sandler's bat Mitzvah movie and "80 for Brady"; her dad is semi-retired but still writing; replacing a late night show with a game show; not thinking she would accept

Chip Keyes joined me to discuss Chip being a nickname for William, his mother being a working woman during the war; watching Howdy Doody & The Mickey Mouse Club and wanting to be in to show business; watching Disney and westerns; getting his comedy from his mother's sharp tongue; the influence of The Dick Van Dyke Show; his love of Maverick and James Garner; writing his first sketch in eighth grade; Laugh In becomes a hit and he sees Second City as a way to make sketch performing a career; forming the Portable Circus; becoming a local hit on campus; doing a gig in Hartford; getting George Sherman to be a director; taking the troupe to New York and around the country; a sketch using the word "shit" gets press and a talking to from a Jesus freak; auditioning and not getting SNL; becoming a page; his original plan was to become a teacher; leaving the page program to move to L.A.; SCTV; getting a play produced; his partner, Jeffrey Lippa wants to be an actor; he makes a critical decision; wins on Match Game to give him time to figure out what he wants; goes back to NYC and host a kids show; makes good money doing commercials; Taxi inspires him and his brother Doug to write a spec script; a great note made his spec script better; writes 2 episodes of Sanford; Mort Lachman becomes a mentor; gets hired on Gimme a Break; writes "The Chief's Gay Evening"; does a pilot with George Kennedy; gets job on Valerie; moved to Perfect Strangers; going back to Valerie and being told to come up with stories that could work for Valerie or a replacement; Valerie Harper was tense and a control freak; hard to write for characters who were so nice; Jack Carter; O.J. Simpson; PORKO; Dennis Burkely; getting a GLAAD Award; Valerie condom episode; episode had a warning and was exiled to late night in his hometown; NBC asks for Fire Prevention week and MLK episodes; not liking the AIDS episode after he left; Willard Scott; Edie McClurg doing an episode after almost dying from giardia; Christine Ebersole; Judy Kahan; turning Mrs. Poole from mean to magical; not bringing back Judy Kahan for season 3; the Paris episodes and working on the Eiffel Tower; Jason Bateman and his father direct episodes; Arlene Golonka & Gerald Gordon; Shaky Ground; not being sure of Matt Frewer as title character; George Kennedy was offer only but still read, Frewer would not read; wishing he could have recast with Phil Hartman or George Wendt; "Matt takes"; Matt improvs with a black dildo in front of a young Jennifer Love Hewitt; working with Chris Demetral, Betty White and Marie Osmond; Reagan jokes; Nixon, Reagan, and Trump; writing two episodes of Two of a Kind for the Olsen Twins; the brothers go their separate ways for a while; write Star Patrol; cast Charles Rocket; line producer shoots out of sequence, network doesn't understand; pilot is rejected

Stacii the Drag Artist joined me to discuss her journey; starting to sing in school; incorporating drag; constant performing; taking voice lessons; producing her own show; writing a one person show; her show at Sparkle; singing in French, pre-school; stage fright; being judged by Willam and Alaska from Rupaul's Drag Race; her first show My Quarter Life Crisis; makeup and drag time requirements; first time seeing drag; didn't know women could do drag; Broadway shows; wanting to do songs from Waitress; eighties music; Total Eclipse of the Heart; favorite singers; Lady Gaga; Sam Smith; interacting with the audience; dealing with ADHD and binge eating disorder; showing the bright side of life; bringing visuals, costumes, and props to her show; how to get tickets; being Jewish; adding a song from Fiddler on the Roof; Barbra Streisand; all Jewish drag show; being observant; my daughter being a fan; having a great family; wanting to tour Australia; being on a reality show; auditioning for American Idol; Taylor Swift; traveling; trouble sleeping; being on Cameo; her accompanist DJ Master Mase; her upcoming tour; Edinburgh Fringe Festival; getting back in the swing after vacation at the Cup open mic

Ed Berenhaus joined me to discuss his influences: Jack Benny, Sonny Fox, Chuck McCann, Soupy Sales, Jay Ward; seeing the Beatles at Shea Stadium and being able to hear them; going to Stony Brook University to be a director but segueing to TV and radio; the many rock acts he saw; growing up in Kew Gardens and having Art Garfunkel's school dictionary; becoming an NBC page when befriended by Cousin Brucie; giving the NBC tour; working with Sonny Fox on NBC children's programming; working on Saturday Night Live; Aykroyd & Belushi shower with the pages; meeting Bill Murray; doing an extra rehearsal the day before the October 11, 1975 premiere; being with Chevy at the 1976 DNC at MSG; the NBC logos; the original idea for SNL (Albert Brooks, Jim Henson); seeing Billy Crystal get cut from the first episode; the Candice Bergen episode being the first one to look like SNL today; watching the theme song be written; checking out the musical guests; working on the Tomorrow show and giving pointers to Dan Aykroyd on his Tom Snyder impression; putting the younger better looking audience members up front; seating celebrities; taking Mick Jagger and Ron Wood to the bathroom during the Eric Idle show; making promos for the news; watching the SNL promos being taped; the problems of writing talk show promos; taking Sean Connery to the bathroom when the door won't open; leaving NBC to go to Satellite Network News; SNN being bought out by Ted Turner; moving to Harpo to make promos for The Oprah Winfrey Show; making fun promos for Nick at Nite; memorable promos for The Donna Reed Show and I Dream of Jeannie used in the movie "As Good as it Gets"; worked for Broadway Video on Sunday Night; meeting Miles Davis; the legacy of SNL; trying to give away tickets to a spontaneous Paul Simon / George Harrison performance; SNL being both original and running ideas into the ground; working for The Jeremy Kyle Show and The Joan Rivers Show; the generosity of working with Joan Rivers; meeting George Burns

Bruce Ferber and I discuss reading sports books as a kid; Thomas Wolffe; attending a summer writing session at Andover while in high school; Phillip Roth; Woody Allen; publishers don't like comic novels; the genesis of his novel "I Buried Paul"; meeting struggling musicians without an outlet; session musicians; there are less crappy sitcoms on now; his book "Elevating Oberman" and subsequent tour; "Cascade Falls" and cookie cutter architecture; "The Way We Work" reveals show business from all angles; Billy Van Zandt tells his Lucy story in "The Way We Work"; Steven Van Zandt endorses "I Buried Paul"; going to NYU to be a director; doing six months of film editing and six months writing; writing a spec M*A*S*H* and getting hired to write two Bosom Buddies and a Laverne & Shirley; working on House Calls, Star of the Family, Jennifer Slept Here and Oh, Madeline; writing a Simon & Simon; working on Webster and having Alex Karras be a jerk; Eugene Roche; Facts of Life; bad timing for Gung Ho; Duet; working with Alison LaPlaca, Chris Lemmon, Ellen DeGeneres, Danny Gans; working on Growing Pains but not getting to write an episode; working on Nurses; Coach and Craig T. Nelson; running Home Improvement; the cancer scare episode; Sabrina, the Teenage Witch; his spec Cheers; his film "Praying for Tucson" about Presidential candidate Howard Dean; Dan vs.; his wife's passing; pitching an animated series based on the book "Dazzle" about a misanthropic dog

Director Randall Kleiser joined me to discuss his drawing style; his latest work Drawing Directors; Quentin Tarantino; Robert Altman; getting inspiration from other directors; Spike Lee; Oppenheimer; Jerry Lewis; Nina Foch; earliest influence: "The Ten Commandments"; USC Dirty Dozen; "Captain America vs. the Mutant"; "Foot Fetish"; "Peege"; Bruce Davison; hiring the same actors in different projects; Marcus Welby, MD; Dawn; "Portrait of a Teenage Runaway"; "The Boy in the Plastic Bubble"; directing "Grease"; thought to be a small movie, but was huge; directing actors he saw as a kid; Jeff Conaway; getting the go-ahead for "Blue Lagoon"; Brooke Shields and Christopher Atkins; describing the set as a summer camp; "Summer Lovers"; "Flight of the Navigator" with Paul Reubens as Max; "Big Top Pee Wee"; Paul Reubens always remembered your birthday; Valeria Golino; "White Fang" and his adaptation; "Honey, I Shrunk the Kid"; doing a sequel to get his next project done; working with Rick Moranis; "It's My Party"; difficulty of getting an AIDS movie done; his friends helping for no money; running Digital Day for the Directors Guild; his documentary, "Baby Boomers Yearbook" about his high school classmates; role of directors with writers and actors on strike; role of AI in the future

Barry Blaustein joined me to discuss watching political events of the early 1960's on a b/w TV; his comedy influences; going to school for broadcast journalism; "Broadcast News"; going to LA and getting jobs on specials; working on The Mike Douglas Show; submitting for SNL; Jean Doumanian asking him to write more, not doing it and getting hired anyway; the writing staff did not intimidate him; Elliot Gould and the Accordion Killer; Malcolm McDowell; Ellen Burstyn and Raheem Abdul Mohammad; his dad coming up with "Is that velvet" from "Coming to America"; writing "LFNY" for Eddie on the seventh show and having people upset; Tommy Torture and Ray Sharkey's erratic behavior; Karen Black episode; Charlene Tilton, Mr. Robinson's Neighborhood and Charles Rocket's f-bomb; writing a Nick the Lounge Singer with Bill Murray; the Writer's Strike; first show back with Little Richard Simmons, Prose and Cons, and Khaddafi Look; show two with Buckwheat; John Mulaney was born in 1982 when he was at SNL; Ted Cruz being a fan of his work; Velvet Jones; Donald Pleasance and Fear; "Hidden Photo"; Michael O'Donoghue; writing the Mick Jagger variety special for Tim Curry; "retiring" Velvet Jones and The Jersey Guy; Gumby; Larry the Lobster; appearing on camera; Ebony & Ivory; going out to L.A. to write for Chevy hosting via satellite; Drew Barrymore; Eddie hosts and Steve Martin makes a cameo; Lily Tomlin; working with Rick Moranis, Sid Caesar, Stevie Wonder and Ed Koch; leaving the show and not being allowed to tell Eddie; Pam Norris; "Coming to America"; being a Mets and Clippers fan; writing the "Police Academy" movies and their humungous success in Russia; What's Alan Watching?; going back with Eddie in 2019 to SNL;

Jennifer Aspinall joins me to discuss Universal horror movies; being shy, so stage makeup helped her; hired at a theater at 11; loving illusion; being on film sets at 18; being in front of the camera in Walk the Prank; playing a makeup artist on TV shows; starting out in film with "Playing for Time", "Vortex", and "The First Turn On!"; working on "Toxic Avenger"; gets hired from Metropolitan Opera House to SNL; would do roving special effects makeup; rotating number of artists, MAD TV allowed her to shoot on a schedule that made more sense to hair and makeup; Jan Hooks as a 100 year old woman; Massive Head-wound Harry; Tooncinator; Dana as Bush and Perot; Chevy Chase as Jeffrey Dahmer; Unfrozen Caveman Lawyer; not having the ability to say which cast member more resembles a famous person on SNL but having it on MAD TV; getting SNL's first Emmy nomination; working with Mike Meyers, Chris Farley, and Adam Sandler; Musicians for Free Range Chickens; going to MAD TV; being present at Artie Lange's pig story; Nicole Sullivan; Pam & Tommy; being the Susan Lucci of the Makeup Emmy; Alex Borstein; her work on "Erin Brockovich"; Albert Finney; how her p.a. became the executive producer of "Erin Brockovich"; Jennifer Coolidge; Funny or Die Presidents sketch; getting hired for The Jay Leno Show and staying when he took over the Tonight Show; Leno / Conan "fight"; working the Oscars; Chris Rock and the slap; getting older vs. looking and feeling older; Westworld; Winning Time: Rise of the Lakers; Debra Wilson; "That's My Black Mama"; David Cross; Sponge-Bob Square Pants movies; the Broadway show, her step-son and grandchildren; Martin Short

Deborah Paulmann joined me to discuss starting work in the makeup industry; not liking working in a salon; trying to get in the union; Bert Ruff; how the rules are different now; make-up is a dying art on the internet; SFX Youtubers; microblading; starting free lancing for Barbara Armstrong in 1978 and working exclusively at NBC for five years (1984 - 1989); going to As the World Turns, One Life to Live, then Another World, came back to NBC in 2000 and stayed to 2010; first regular job at NBC was Phil Donahue; sees a mother / mother-in-law feud in the makeup chair; Live at 5 allows her to makeup Bette Davis; memorable working moments with Steven Tyler, Seth Green, Anthony Michael Hall and Robert Downey, Jr.; Chuck Scarborough; starting SNL at the end of the '84-'85 season; doing makeup for extras in the original era; crawling on the ground on air to retrieve a prop for Nora Dunn; Kevin Meaney and her getting locked in the makeup closet and missing his cue; working with Louis Zakarian on SNL and Conan; working with Pamela Stephenson as Joan Collins, Cindy Lauper, Madonna, and Billy Idol; various hosts; young stars brought their makeup teams who couldn't do prosthetics; some favorite people Jon Bon Jovi, Richard Gere, Sir Anthony Hopkins, Rosie O'Donnell, Martha Stewart, Paget Brewster; memories of working with Norm MacDonald, Jimmy Fallon, Will Ferrell, and Darrell Hammond; meeting the SNL host on Thursday's Conan; Jennifer Lopez white towels; working with SNL cast members Will Forte, Fred Armisen. Tiny Fey, Victoria Jackson, Dana Carvey, Phil Hartman, and Kevin Nealon; dealing with showbusiness legends Mel Brooks, Carl Reiner, Bob Newhart, George Burns, and handsy Milton Berle; doing the makeup nightly for Conan O'Brien, Andy Richter, and Max Weinberg; going to HD; Gwyneth Paltrow seeing her legs on HD for the first time; Conan going on TV on the road not done up by her and it going bad; getting paid by Conan for the year NBC wouldn't let him work and the writer's strike; David Letterman unleashes the monkey cam on Live at 5.

Steve O'Donnell joined me to discuss Mike Chisholm; stand up; Sarah Silverman; Norm MacDonald loving to tell comic road stories; Massapequa; Jerry Seinfeld; Carson Daly; Larry Jacobson & Groucho; Edward Everett Horton; Jim Norton; Jim Gaffigan; Jackie "The Joke Man' Martling; hating 50's stand-ups; Shelley Berman; Jack Carter; older Rickles on Kimmel; Pat Cooper; David Brenner; Regis Philbin; using his actual gym teacher on Letterman; Norm's impressions; interview with Jane Fonda; Norm's Clint Eastwood; doing a western bit on Sports Show; 25th Anniversary of the ESPY's; Cleveland Baron's mascot; Norm didn't drive; his memoir; Canada's 70's tourism catchphrase; SCTV; Ghoulardi (Ernie Anderson) leads him to Dave; cliches; his twin brother Mark who was more of an auteur and won a Tony for Hairspray; used for twin jokes on Letterman; appeared with his brother on Strangers with Candy; Sklar Brothers; America's Got Talent; Michael Winslow; Vegas residencies; first job as a greeting card writer; sent all his writings to Letterman and Merrill Markoe while working in a tape room at 30 Rock; his interview; having to give two weeks notice and hearing his jokes being told during that time; being told his work is witty; to laugh or not laugh; a typical Steve O'Donnell joke; bringing his parents to Late Night; midwestern slang for rain; doing Letterman was more than just a job; Jim Downey; his brother individually pre-signing books each with an original joke; Dave changes jokes on air for himself; Viewer Mail construction; Alsace or Al's ass; class clowns; Jeff Martin; many comedians wore eyepatches as babies; todays comedy writers are more diverse and better looking; now being one of the few non-performers on a writing staff; being great on podcasts; the trifectas in comedy performed by Brian McConachie, Eddie Gorodetsky, and Ken Keeler; history buffs Larry David & Conan O'Brien; writing on Great Minds with Dan Harmon; writing for the Chris Rock Show; pitching a bit about to Hannibal Burress and pretending to explain what bling is; Hugh Moore and Shy Tony; writing bad jokes; audiences laughing at straight lines or not knowing old sayings or bits and thinking they're new; "No good deed goes unpunished"; animals that speak foreign languages

Mark Resiman joined me to discuss the brilliance of the Dick Van Dyke Show and working with Carl Reiner on "Summer Rental"; meeting Woody Allen as a teenager; Robert Klein and Rodney Dangerfield; seeing Don Rickles live as a teenager; going to Boston University; getting a job writing jokes for a birthday party comedy album and having it lead to writing for David Steinberg; getting hired for the last four episodes of season six of Saturday Night Live; becoming partners with Jeremy Stevens; writing a Bill Cosby "lite" beer ad for Eddie Murphy and hanging out with him backstage; going to Thicke of the Night; meeting guests Muhammad Ali and Frank Zappa; the comic regulars; the long hours; getting his first movie pitch, "Summer Rental" produced by Bernie Brillstein; working on Dear John with Bob Ellison and Rod Parker; writing the pilot for Puppetman for Brillstein and Jim Henson; writing on Rhythm and Blues; working of Flying Blind with Tea Leoni; consulting; Phil Rosenthal; getting hired on Wings; suggesting Amy Yasbeck; doing Encore! Encore! with Nathan Lane and Joan Plowright; joining Fraser is season seven; creating the Jean Smart character that won her an Emmy; highbrow dialogue added later; Niles and Daphne finally get together; creating the In-Laws starring Elon Gold, Jean Smart, and Dennis Farina; working on Big House with Kevin Hart; Quintuplets rushed into production with Andy Richter; Retired at 35 with George Segal and Jessica Walters; The Exes with Wayne Knight, Donald Faison, Kirsten Johnson; seeing Andi Mack and realizing their is a new kind of family sitcom; Sydney to the Max a parent in the 90's and his kid today; mentoring Danielle Fishel as a director; two sets of kids means hours are easier; strict Disney rules for child actors; multi camera vs. one camera sitcoms; losing weight; one camera sitcoms harder for the actor; Friends would be a nightmare with six equal leads; Angel-Casey-Lee the best people to learn from; how to write

William S. Bickley joined me to discuss faking watching television; watching Liberace with his grandparents; finally getting television and watching anything; family sitcoms were an escape from an abusive home life; going to Baylor University to study English; being a Naval Aviator for a year; being confused for another Bill Bickley; forming a correspondence with Arnold Margolin that allowed him to pitch for Love, American Style; gaining a quick reputation; getting taken under Garry Marshall's wing; writing a treatment for a first-season episode of All in the Family; writing and producing Room 222; meeting Dale McRaven while producing and writing The Partridge Family; asked to join Happy Days while under contract for Partridge Family; secretly writes episodes after hours; asked to run Happy Days and is let out of his contract; first season hours were hellish; asked to do two episodes a week; on first day shooting Ron Howard and Anson Williams get drunk accidentally shooting with real beer; second season test live action clip show uses scenes from the pilot; how he felt Fonzie was a tragic figure; the episode "The Motorcycle"; trying hard to make it look like it was the fifties; the palm tree behind Arnold's that was never seen; introducing Roger Phillips on Happy Days; not remembering episodes he wrote; his series Please Stand By; pitching The Waverly Wonders for Judd Hirsch and getting Joe Namath; going to Out of the Blue and being told to write out its star; having a character on Mork & Mindy named after him; not remembering Down to Earth; his favorite series Perfect Strangers; the real reason Chuck left Happy Days and his plan for bringing him back on the finale; random Happy Days characters; the series "Jumped the Shark" when Richie left; creating Fonzie's magic and seeing it get out of hand; his new project, a sitcom based on Gladys Knight's life.

Arthur Meyers joins me to discuss Ted Cruz's odd Eddie Murphy obsession; the reasons for the WGA Strike; AI; trying to create through AI a short story about if Hitler's name was Steve; AI can't deliver lines like Chris Farley or Mitch Hedberg; having a cold; me losing an episode with Dave Thomas; getting rid of credits; minirooms make show runners jobs harder and employ less writers; studios propose annual meetings to discuss AI; Lorne Michaels; SNL's 50th Anniversary; being a seat filler for SNL 40; going to the after-party; talking to Norm MacDonald; Weekend Update; Herb Sargent and the Weekend Update breakfast; commercial parodies: Swill, Banshee, Craig's Traveler's Checks; his new show Dinner with Parents; It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia; Punch Up the Jam; being a Norm fan; Favorite Weekend Update anchor and set; favorite homebase; his new venture ABC Parenting You Tube Channel; Anna Drezen, being a Letterman and Conan fan; Carson and Letterman Podcasts; other SNL podcasts; pretending SNL was on in the 50's and 60's; oldest and youngest musical guest; Vera Sola; favorite / least favorite musical guests; Frank Zappa; bad musocal performances; his son; what will happen as SNL hits 50; season 7

Oscar winning makeup artist Kevin Haney joined me to discuss growing up in Cinncinnati; watching monster movies but not being a fan of gore; working with Rick Baker and seeing Tom Savini while at Letterman; getting busted walking the streets as Frankenstein as a teenager; being cast in The Wizard of Oz but being enthralled by the old age makeup more than acting; reading Dick Smith's makeup book; being the makeup man his senior year of high school; doing makeup for the Ohio State production of Ghost Dance gets him noticed for "Altered States" at same time he was working on "Basket Case"; gets a job at NBC; is assigned to SNL; Barbara Armstrong is head of makeup; difference between white and black actors makeup; given Harry Shearer to appy makeup to; Lorne was against prosthetics; Doumanian takes over and he is assigned Gilbert Gottfried; makes him up to look like Master Po from Kung Fu; becomes department head in 1981; assigned to Joe Piscopo does Reagan, Sinatra, Nimoy & Iacocca makeup; creates, with Annette Bianco a Joe Piscopo wig; on camera in a Chinese Donahue sketch in April 1984; works on Piscopo's HBO specials; making up Eddie Murphy to look like Mohammed Ali; coaxed back for season 10 and hits it off with Martin Short; working with Dave Thomas; working on "Coccoon" and "Dick Tracy"; winning an Oscar for aging Dan Aykroyd in "Driving Miss Daisy"; Dustin Hoffman shot his "Dick Tracy" scenes later; working on Christopher Lloyd as Uncle Fester in "The Addams Family"; what it is like in a makeup chair; getting criticized for the aging in "Shawshank Redemption"; his work on beaten up Boggs not seen on camera; working on Friends flashback and Russ episodes; how "fat Monica' makeup was used to create Jiminy Glick; being retired; proud of his "Guardians of the Galaxy" crew; still best known for "Basket Case"

Barbara and I talk about her getting the job as film producer at Saturday Night Live; opening the 1981-82 season with Prose and Cons; The Khaddaffi Look; filming some of The Last Days of Silverman's Bunker; Jerry Lewis filming a movie that was never used; working with John Belushi pre-SNL; Babies in Makeup by Nelson Lyon; Fur: You Deserve It with a young Sela Ward; Jogger Motel; Seth Green and Bill Murray: what really happened; Man on the Street Films; George McGovern plays golf through the streets of NY; Video Victims aka Alan, A Video Victim; using Frederick Koehler a lot; The Girls of Saturday Night Live; the three episode arc on the Death of Buckwheat; Buddweiser Light with Robin Williams pretending to ice skate; making her commercials look authentic; Billy Crystal and Christopher Guest's Negro League characters spark the ire of Bill Cosby; makeup artist Peter Montagna makes Eddie Murphy unrecognizable in "White Like Me"; Andy Samberg uses many of her films in a SNL Best of Special; Saturday Night Live Film Festival; Colleen Atwood; Bebe Neuwirth gets one of her first jobs in "Needleman" film; Spinal Tap / Folksmen pre-tapes; Lifestyles of the Relatives of the Rich and Famous; Synchronized Swimming; Danny DeVito blows up ABC; bringing Fernando to Night of 100 Stars; Buddy Young Jr.; Rich Hall; Jim Belushi wants into the cutting room; making sure a giant penis wasn't to smooth in "The Bulge"; Billy Crystal as a substitute during the writers strike; the debacle that was In Search of Francis the Talking Mule; Jim Signorelli; The Lonely Island did the best films besides her; her renegotiations for her fourth season; Martin Short and the Mamie Eisenhower Center for the Dull; creating the 1984-85 opening montage; working on What's Alan Watching?; Mary Salter; Dan Castellaneta in Buckwheat sketch; working with Larry David; Escape from New York, New York; The Clams - a Birds parody; Don't Drink the Water; Hal Wilner

Bob Christianson joined me to talk about being the next Billy Joel; what it means to be a working composer; having Sgt. Pepper be his influence; going to SUNY Potsdam quitting student teaching; joining the Magic Show on Broadway; meeting and replacing Paul Shaffer in The Magic Show and Godspell; doing Gilda Live; performing "I Live to be Unhappy" with Gilda on Broadway; being in The Candy Slice Group; Doug Henning and Gilda Raner being private people; performing in the Broadway play Truckload; arrangeing the Disco version of Babes in Toyland recorded at MSG; touring with Jan Hammer; performing on Aretha Franklin's "Can't Turn You Loose"; being a session musician in the late 70's / eafrly 80's; subbing for Leon Pendarvis in the SNL band beginning in 1983; Jerry Lewis and Don Rickles ad-libs cause producers havoc; accompanying Jim Belushi as Boy George Burns and Rappin Jimmy B and saying "LFNY"; playing piano for Irving Caesar, Mr. Robinson, Michael Douglas; the bandstand being off camera from 1983 - 1986; being inNewsbar with Edwin Newman; backing up Danitra Vance; composing and arranging for The Late Show with David Letterman's 60 Piece Band; his 1982 recording session available on Youtube; writing the theme song to Gimme A Break; people making viral videos out of his music for Sex and the City and the NHL; winning an Emmy and having a documentary made about the NHL theme; losing an Emmy to A Christmas Carol to Lin Manuel Miranda; composing for the films Marvin's Room and Miracle; how he writes his sports themes; inspiration comes at odd times; how Lin Manuel Miranda wrote Hamilton; not being "too precious" with your songwriting; writing and playing on jingles solidifies your craft; deadlines make creativity; Sex and the City needed a lot of music weekly; todays movies need epic scores with no time to write them; why he still admires Billy Joel

Brian Pollack talked to me about his love for The Honeymooners and it's writer Leonard Stern; getting the job and working with Stern on Sledge Hammer!; writers on the picket line look so young; holding cue cards; working on the Horror Hall of Fame in 1974; writing for The Jim Nabors Show and Hollywood Squares at the same time; George Gobel; Rose Marie and Debbie Reynolds; subbing as Cher's cue card guy; "surprising" Paul Lynde for a TV show and finding him dead; Paul was hostile and anti-Semitic when drunk; not knowing Alexis' Smith's career when she did his Cheers; meeting Mert Rich; Phil Kellard gets fired from Hollywood Squares; Jeffersons stole his original pitch and then offered him another episode to write; writing for The Love Boat; favorite episodes of Sledge Hammer!; the cast; firing Jamie Foxx from Roc; getting the job on Cheers with the episode "Please Mr. Postman"; getting a congratulatory phone call from Sam Simon; guest star Admiral William J. Crowe; Rob Long & Dale Staley; favorite episodes; winning the Emmy for "The Days of Wine and Neurosis"; the Dead Emmy Section of the 30 Rock Post Office; seeing gues stars in old movies and not realizing their careers; meeting Hank Aaron at Hollywood Squares; Cheers season 11 was werid; Kirsite Alley asks for them back; their friendship; doing a Cheers sketch for Disney; going to the same psychiatrist as Rodney Dangerfield; being made to re-write Patrick Carlin's script for The George Carlin Show, drawing the ire of George; having to do a rewrite for a new writer on Sister, Sister and having the writer Xerox "her" great reviews; writing with Bob Iles; Sherman Hemsley; Secret Diary of Desmond Pfeiffer; Charles Dutton rejects a Roc script; Roc goes lives; Charles Dutton wants them back; working with Brian Doyle-Murray; Dan Hedaya, Jay Thomas, and Rhea Perlman; Woody Harrelson; imdb mistakes; writing a Simpsons; Boat Trip; his odd array of neighbors

Marc Jaffe joined me to discuss living in Cleveland after Seinfeld; remembering his first TV; Winky Dink; Johnny Carson; liked to write funny things but was not always funny in class; making the teachers laugh; being influenced by Bill Cosby, Woody Allen, and Steve martin; writing for Garry Shandling and Paul Resier; finding his own voice; appearing on Evening at the Improv; easier to do short shots on TV; being a comedian is harder now; improvising what became "Bill & Ted" with Ed Solomon & Mark Cendrowski; getting an MBA; starting standup as a graduate student in Michigan; spending a summer in Chicago moving up the ranks; comes to LA in 1981, the year of the strike; writes for Byron Allen; goes back to Cleveland and gets more work; agent arranges him to meet Jerry Seinfeld and give him comedy material; writes panel for Paul Reiser who vouches for him to Jerry; hired to write standup material for Jerry to perform in the show; pitches over 1000 ideas and gets three made; harder to pitch "The Bookstore" in season 9 because there were more pitches than the second and third season; he would write Jerry's material and Jerry would try it out in clubs with him; giving Jerry notes on performance; marrying an OBGYN and writing a controversial book about it; writing Goo Goo Ga Ga a funny baby book; inventing Elijah's cup, a Passover novelty; doing standup pre and post-Covid; retiring from standup; some older material can't be used because it's considered insensitive, some because the references are too old, and some because relationships are different (ie., daughter's boyfriend is now husband of many years); his wife's Parkinson diagnosis an his taking part in an experiment which isolated the Parkinson's marker; keeping secret his wife's diagnosis so she continue to work as a mohel; coming up with a one man show about his experiences "Side Effects May Contain"; talking about his wife's hypersexuality due to Parkinson's drugs on stage; his children's reaction; being a grandfather

James Patrick Dunne joined me and talked about growing up on the same blok with David Hasselhoff; how music drew him in; making piano records in high school; getting hired by Garry Marshall; being given access to all of the Paramount lot; scoring a movie for Dorothy Hamill; being a Phi Beta Kappa; writing "Do the Fonzie" for Happy Days; writing the theme song for Joanie Loves Chachi; writing "Nobody Loves Me Like You Do" for As the World Turns and having it covered by Anne Murray, Jermaine Jackson, and Whitney Houston; writing "Pumps Your Blood" and getting Anson to sing it; it's life as a jingle; changing the lyrics to "Wash Your Hands" during COVID; the Happy Days softball team; going on a 1980 USO show with Cyntha Weil, Anson Williams, and Marion Ross; the greatness of Marion Ross; his over forty year friendship with ex-roomate Ted McGinley; writing "When You Put Your Heart in It" for the 1988 U.S. Olympic Gymnastic Team and getting it covered by Kenny Rogers and going o #2; writing "Chance of a Lifetime" for the 1992 Olympic Track & Field Team, having it covered by Take 6 and winning a Grammy; writing college alma mater's and fight songs; writing "I'm a Big Girl Now" for Huggies; his career

Janine joins me to discuss her renditions of the National Anthem and This Land is Your Land; moving to Long Island; Doc Pomus; studying historic preservation; getting a job as a receptionist in a service used by Howard Shore; Howard asks her to be his assistant; went to see Patti Smith perform; had to ask for lyrics from band for a shooting script, embarrassing her in front of Taj Mahal; trying to find Steve Jordan on show night; asked to create band space on home base; Leo Yoshimura balked because it didn't have union stamp; Howard called and it became bandstand; filed all paperwork, copyrights, and union activities; appearing in two sketches in the Mary Kay Place episode; SNL never cleared music rights; going through NBC's audio library and bringing music for writers to judge for sketches; Larry the cart guy; Hall Willner did the job muh better than she did; getting officially hired after Mardi Gras episode; Bonnie Raitt; the true story of Elvis Costello's 1977 appearance; giving a backhanded compliment to The Greatful Dead; hanging out with The Rolling Stones; having them sign a picture so that the crew members would know which Stone they were talking to; going to see a Broadway play with Frank Zappa the week after he hosted; not getting Kate Bush; having Gilda hug her when she said how sexy she was as Candy Slice; working on Gilda Live on Broadway; Desmond Child & Rouge; Milton Berle hated by crew who were there on his show thirty years earlier; Twitter's SNL hosts introduce musical guests; Gary Numan; Howard Shore would book someone the opposite of Jean Doumanian's picks; Sun Ra - master of the Walkman; Bette Midler; Linda Rondstadt and Phoebe Snow; The Roches appearance inspire their song "The Big Nothing"; Delbert McClinton; Bill Murray constantly playing The Amazing Rhythym Aces until they were booked; Jaco Pistorius eats the "prop" peanuts during a rehearsal of a Nick the Lounge Singer sketch; the backstage vibe of a party with show girls, camels, and Abe Lincoln: Eubie Blake & Gregory Hines; Steve Martin's Best Show Ever; helping Howard Shore score The Brood; Eugene Record; Michael Palin; crew bets when Jean Doumanian will "steal" Lorne's job; not liking Jean Doumanian; Jean not particularly liking television; SNL is for people who love TV; Walter Matthau; Kirk Douglas; O.J. Simpson; Michael Sarrazin; Marianne Faithfull; leaving with the original cast and having job taken over by Hal Wilner; Hal calling her to ask how things are done; becoming friends and producing shows with him starting in 1985; how Hal got her to start singing seriously; the real meaning of Save the Last Dance for Me; finding Van "Piano Man" Walls; her art.

When I started this podcast in 2020, my then eight year old daughter joined me to talk about her life. Now three years later, she rejoins me to discuss favorite TV shows, music, Youtube, school subjects, her dog, boys and more. Plus she performs Beethoven's Ode to Joy.

Lisa Mende joined me to discussed being asked but ot being able to be on the last Newhart; only being allowed to watch PBS but sneaking The 3 Stooges; always wanting to be an actress; being a child actress in Yiddish theatre; going to study acting at The University of Bridgeport; doing improv with husband Dom Irrera; different types of improv; stand-up being harder than Broadway or improv; the guerilla shooting of Hollywood Shuffle; co-starring in Scrooged as Bill Murray's mother; working with Richard Donner, Bill & Brian Doyle-Murray, and Jack Lemmon; guest starring in Hooperman with John Ritter; The Famous Teddy Z; His and Hers; John Paragon and her get the giggles shooting Honey, I Blew up the Kid; doing a double act with Michel Patrick King in Vegas, Florida comedy condos and The Merv Griffin Show; Dom Irrera writes and has tiny roles on SNL; the '70s/80's comedy community; playing Carol on Seinfeld; her audition; people asking her to say "You have to see the baby"; being on Cameo; shrinkage; The English Patient episode; guesting on Sex and the City; doing Nothing to Lose; co-starring in Rodney Dangerfield's last film;

Kevin Kelton joins me for a writer's commentart for the November 10, 1984 episode of SNL hosted by George Carlin with musical guest Frankie Goes to Hollywood. We talk about working with Carlin; Carlin getting a second chance to act on SNL after not doing it on the premiere; Kevin assisting with a line for Gary Kroeger in cold opening about learning a Walter Mondale impression; odd '84-'85 opening credits; Harry Shearer credited after he left; George is only 47 in this show; was in a great mood whole week; crowd is smaller because they are in a different studio; Carlin takes on religion; supposed to be his fallow period but he's still funny; Willie and Frankie; Chris Guest, Harry Shearer, Martin Short & Billy Crystal did not like other writers writing their characters; Harry would "ice" sketches at read through; Mr. Robinson's Neighborhood added to rerun; Eddie Murphy always lifted what you wrote; Eddie leaves in February 1984; Joe Piscopo thought it was his show but Ebersol didn't; Joe Franklin Show sketches written by Billy, Chris, and Marty; Chris Guests' Senor Cosa; Jackie Rodgers, Jr.; Martin Short and Gilbert Gottfried always "on"; Ghostbusters Show with Chi Chi and Consuela (Mary Gross and Julia Louis-Dreyfus); talent of these women; NY accents make people not seem birght; Kevin appears on Dating Game; Ye Olde Comedy Club - George Carlin as a Revolutionary War comedian; costumes department rents Blue Coats for the Red Coats; Hessians; 60 Minutes Parody; Harry's Mike Wallace; Harry getting fired; 1985 Writer's Strike; Nathan Thurm: Hal Wilner; Not a Cop sketch by Nate Herman; Billy Crystal is the Willie Mays of Comedy; Ted's Book of World Records; getting a sketch cut for time; Larry David's SNL experiences become Seinfeld episodes; Jim Belushi as Bobby Knight inspired chess coach; Pamela Stephenson's breasts have a mind of their own in an Update bit with Kevin under the desk; Andrea Martin; David Misch; Andy Breckman; script coordinators; musical guests; Rich Hall; Strategic Airborne Contraception; goodnights; Jerry Lewis, his new book

Paul Barrosse joined me to discuss his influence of vaudeville and fifties TV comedians; working with Sid Caser at SNL; Dick Ebersol's host choices; Sid wanting more rehearsal time; he and Tim Kazurisnky fitting the same nichde so he knew he wouldn't get airtime; being in a comedy cabaret troupe with adults at 16; directing Threepenny Opera at Northwestern; student written comedy revues led to the Practical Theater Company; PTC had plays, improv revues and rock; improv was scripted beforehand; his theory of improv; how the Practical Theatre Company (himself, Brad Hall, Julia Louis-Dreyfus and Gary Kroeger) got hired for Saturday Night Live; their love for the Beatles; the network censoring him out of his part in his first SNL sketch, the PTC Club; letters about "A Christmas Message from April May June"; Nukes are for Kukes, Brad's guitar at Weekend Update and Dick nixing political and physical comedy; Davey Wilson nixes ideas if to hard to direct; difference between Letterman and SNL; writing a Tonight Show parody for The Smothers Brothers; writing Best Little Whorehouse on the Prarie for Robert Blake; Blake's being friendly only to him; Blake's hatred for Michael Landon and Hal Roach; writing Hell Bent for Glory for Dave Thomas and Rick Moranis, Battered Husband and My Friend Zeus for Gary Kroeger, and Guy Crazy for Beauand Jeff Bridges; memories of Stevie Wonder; Ed Koch; Northwestern University houses his sketches; his season only writers Ellen Fogle and Tracy Torme; was let go because he was hired at same pay as cast members and was most expensive and newest writer; he did not handle it well with Dick Ebersol who was friendly to him; went back to PTC; producing specials for TV Land including "100 Greatest TV Themes"; creating Little People, Big World; doing documentaries with Elizabeth Smart and Mary Kay Laterneau; his daughters, all of whom are now in show business; future shows of the Practical Theatre Company

Jamie deRoy discsses her father backing "The Pajama Game" and "Damn Yankees"; her dad being a big fan of Broadway; getting advice from Harold Prince her senior year of high school to stay in Pittsburgh; her leaving for NY fter one year in college; working with Larry Keith and Margot Moser; Sidney Simon; Margot Moser wants her to stay in NY and take voice lessons with her teacher; getting cast in The Drunkard; becoming friends with its musical coordinator, Barry Manilow; getting hired in the mountains and having Barry write the charts; not writing patter; opening for Irving C. Watson; being a popular opening act with comedic songs; opening for Joan Rivers; performing in the Monkey Bar with Crandall & Charles and Mel Martin; Norman Steinberg; Jeffrey Richards has Jamie watch The Complete Works of William Shakespeare Abridged; she becomes co-producer; revival of show is paused by 9/11; producing Mr. Saturday Night; it was supposed to follow The Lehman Trilogy but COVID hit; Jamie performs a duet with Tyne Daly at a benefit for Primary Stages; COVID closed Broadway; many people quit acting; a British cast gets stranded in NY; Jamie gets COVID in October 2022; producing Beetlejuice, Tina, Fiddler on the Roof, Angels in America and The Inheritance; two most emotional theatre events - the end of The Inheritance and the first "Jamie deRoy and Friends" which paid tribute to cabaret critic Bob Harrington in 1992; producing The Lion, The Two of Us (with Jay Johnson) and Say Goodnight Gracie (with Frank Gorshin); seeing understudies; co-starring with Rene Auberjonois in Threepenny Opera; how sitting next to Martin Scorcese got her cast in Goodfellas and how leaving to go to Cannes got her a bigger part that wasn't cut; appearing in See No Evil, Here No Evil; recording nine albums; her TV show of over thirty years, Jamie deRoy and Friends; what shows she has currently out and about to come out; working with Judy Gold; and making sure to tape everything.

Penny Peyser joined me to discuss her love of poetry; starting to write sonnets in a Shakespearean acting class; why some musings become sonnets; having adult children allows her to write adult poetry; do relationships make you a better writer; writing about the division in our country; growing up in Irvington, NY; her father's political career; going to Emerson College; being a member of the Proposition; which is harder - Broadway or improv; Hot L Baltimore; Conchatta Farrell; working on The Tony Randall Show; Tony Randall vs. Mary Tyler Moore on smoking; Hans Conried; Brian Dennehy; Rachel Roberts; starring in the pilot film for BJ and the Bear; her uncle, director John Peyser directs Charlie's Angels; her roles in the In Laws and The Frisco Kid; being pregnant on the set of the TV movie western Wild Times; The Girls in the Office TV movie; guest starring in an episode of $weepstake$ where they didn't know what accent she should play; The Blue and The Grey; The A-Team; guest starring in Masquerade; being a castmember on Crazy Like a Fox and Knots Landing; guest starring on Shameless and procedurals; being about to do a one woman show as her Shakespearean sonnetcharacter Lady Penelope at the Fringe Festival; malls https://www.amazon.com/Sonnets-Suburbia.../dp/B0BVRW9TB4

comedienne Meghan O'Malley and I discuss her influeces; taking film studies; making student films; her clothing she wears for a set; amount of shows a night; her Instagram show "Barely Making It"; difficullty of Zoom shows; first time performing; taking a class in stand up; being a female comic; pyschinng out an audience by her demeanor; comedian friends on Facebopok; bringer shows; her dad and a field trip I took with him; the homeless; comedians Darin Patterson and Sheba Mason; comedy clubs we have worked; her act described as "silly cleverness"; being told her act was too smart; Rusty Kuntz joke; the c word; Canadians; Jordan Peterson; New Zealand; Hannah Gadsby; Australia; South Africa; high fructose corn syrup; foods that gross us out; hating milk; Eva Anderson; new Night Court; not having a "fallback" job; trying to do a good job but not be promoted; losingmemory due to concussions; getting a role in a SAG film asa bartender because she was a bartender at the bar the movie was shot at; getting bumped by a female comic who made out with the emcee; sexual predator comics; Louis CK; Bill Cosby; old comics who try to hide their jokes when performing; cats; wanting to perform song parodies at my weding; her dad's archery club

Alan Zweibel joined me to discuss growing up where I now live (Wantagh, NY); bar mitzvahs; writing for borscht belt comics; getting his shot on SNL; his famous poetry class anecdote; writing a parody of the Passover Haggadah with Dave Barry and Adam Mansbach; "Go the Fuck to Sleep"; Emily Litella; keeping the character going by adding "Bitch" to her vocabulary; writing and appearing on Chevy's Weekend Update; the Charles Grodin episode; when SNL broke format; writing the Gilda and Elliot Gould romance episode; people loving Gilda and her death affecting people who didn't know her; her dying on his birthday; Bunny, Bunny; his and my favorite Roseanne Roseannadanna; Mr. Death; meeting his wife at the show; being a guest writer three times; doing shows four weeks in a row; Andy Breckman; the 5th season Weekend Update running gag with his picture; being a cast member for one episode for his role in the Conductors Club sketch; Joey Bishop sketch; Lord and Lady Douchebag; being asked to stay by Jean Doumanian; Steve Martin's Best Show Ever; Chico Escuela and his comeback attempt; John Stearns; It's Garry Shandling Show; Ed Solomon; differences in writing for Billy Crystal and Martin Short; Marilyn Suzanne Miller, Rosie Shuster, and Don Novello; Marc Maron; Quintlexia; Gene Wilder; OJ Simpson and the anti-Buffalo sketch he turned down; Celebrity Battle of the Sexes and Races; commercial parodies Banshee and Swill; Jim Downey; Bruce Kirschbaum; Arnie Kogen; Jay Kogen and his It's Garry Shandling Show script. For his amazing book Laugh Lines go to Amazon.com: Laugh Lines: My Life Helping Funny People Be Funnier (Audible Audio Edition): Alan Zweibel, Billy Crystal - foreword, Alan Zweibel, Blackstone Publishing: Audible Books & Originals

Unfortunately, my computer decided to do an upgrade twenty minutes into my interview with Mr. Long.  We discussed becoming a writer, getting his hirst and second script assignments which he described as disasters. he and his partner got their footing and wrote classic as "Veggie Boyd" and "Woody Interruptus" (which introduces Herni).  The rest f the interview is here where he talked about not going to the last episode because Boston didn't care when he went to the 200th episode parade; feeling proud that America cared so much to say goodbye; Pig Sty; George & Leo and Bob Newhart not being able to smoke; the Cameo episode with Larry, Darryl and Darryl and Jere Burns; Sullivan & Sons - Brian Doyle-Murray wants a drive net instead of a trailer; starting to write comic political pieces, most American are in the center politically and don't like rules; Covid restrictions and vaccines; everything is failing; more people are writers than historians; unemployment hypocrisy; reporters became journalists with narratives; Congressmen and Senators are inherently corrupt; All in the Family; school choice and merit pay; schools having different missions and different standards; old fashioned note taking schools; parental rights on both sides; must need to learn basics first - then left or right ideology; hire efficiency experts; Sesame Street; hypocrisy of people who got rich off government contrats now hate government giving contracts

Kiki Steele joins me to discuss getting hired at SNL at the tail end of Dick Ebersol's regime and the beginning of Lorne Michaels second; watching the Beatles on The Ed Sullivan Show; going to Emerson College; being mentored by Norman Lear; Andy Kaufman wanting to hang out in the ladies room at Fridays; working with Paul Miller again on Norman's Corner and Madame's Place; The Hollywood Cubes; Lorne Michaels; messing up timing at the SNL 15th anniversary and being bailed out by Robin Williams; SNL being like a family; her typical week: clean up on Monday; host pitch meeting; typing up scripts Tuesday night and Wednesday morning; putting together the read through packet; timing sketches in read through; waiting for the sketch cards to go up; asking writers for changes; bound scripts delivered on Thursday; counting down musical guest; rehearsals Friday; Herb Sargent delivering baked goods Saturday morning; dress rehearsal; live show; favorite writers: Robert Smigel, Jack Handey; Franken & Davis; the 86 - 90 cast; Bronson Pinchot worst host; Tom Hanks and John Lithgow favorites; Sigourney Weaver gave the pa's gifts;  Buster Poindexter had a song ready every week; Francis Ford Coppola episode; William Shatner; Prince; 15th Anniversary show; Comedy Channel lures her away but she works two jobs; working with Marc Maron, Alan King, and Bob Hope; finding the movies for MST3K; Higgins Boys and Gruber; Alan Zweibel; women writers; Andy Breckman; first job when hired in 1985 was to clean out old scripts from all the way back to first episode; has her SNL jacket; Lorne got her a clock when she left; working with Will Durst; leaving Comedy Central; doing a pilot with Dave Attell; seeing the moonwalk for the first time; Liberty Weekend; Waylon Jennings saves her life; Terry Sweeney; Danitra Vance; Randy Quaid; Victoria Jackson; Paul Simon; Andrew "Dice" Clay; Sam Kinison; her three daughters, two work/worked at SNL; college admissions consultant

1. Listeners, email me at [email protected] 2. Future guests include SNL script supervisor Kiki Kazanas Steele, "Cheers" writer Rob Long, comedian Megan O'Malley, actress Penny Peyser, Broadway producer and comedian Jackie De Roy, and Kevin Kelton doing a commentary track about the November 1984 SNL hosted by George Carlin with Frankie Goes to Hollywood 3. Past Guests whose episodes were "wiped out": John Femia, Sean Kelley, Marc Weiner Mike Preminger, and Dave Thomas.

Phoef and I discuss his name; Dick Van Dyke Show; reading mysteries; James Madison University; writing, directing, and acting in his own plays; sitcoms are almost Broadway plays; writing a spec Newhart; that script got to Cheers and he was offered a freelance job; turned down staff job on Newhart in 1986 for -Cheers; writing the Cheers episode "The Book of Samuel"; "Dinner at Eight-ish"; "Cheers: The Motion Picture"; the monkey episode; writing for periphery characters Al, Father Barry, and John Hill; replacing characters; Kirstie Alleys cigarette trick; "Gift of the Woodi"; The Kelly Song; Prince is a fan; made more money on the song than any one episode; co-creating Bob; writing "The Fan"; Thanks; The Fighting Fitzgeralds; The US version of Coupling; Rob!; Rob Schneider being hard to deal with; working with Cheech Marin and Eugenio Derbez; Boston Legal - working with Candice Bergen and William Shatner; using clips from a 1957 episode of the Defenders in a 2007 episode of Boston Legal; writing mystery novels; wanting to write an X-Files; shows he watches now; Poker Face being like Columbo and The Fugitive; his  new series Chesapeake Stars on Hallmark; past Cheers writers I've had on; 30th anniversary of Cheers' final episode

Jeffrey Kramer joined me to discuss early TV; watching 70's TV; being a guest actor; having Tourette's; starring in Madwoman of Chaillot at Ithaca College; co-starring with James Whitmore on stage at age 15; being mentored by Jean Stapleton & Bob Putch; making TV debut in Barney Miller; Happy Days;  "Hollywood Boulevard" and its fan Quentin Tarantino; Dick Miller; selling flowers on Fairfax and Pico in between gigs; Chico and the Man; Laverne & Shirley; co-starring in a pilot with Caroline McWilliams and Michael Keaton; turning down CPO Sharkey; Stick Around; "Heartbeeps"; Hard Copy (1987); Mary Tyler Moore Hour; Gene Kelly and Michael Keaton; using your celebrity for good; Marty Nadler; Struck by Lightning; Jack Elam; The Last Resort; Andy Kaufman; Jamie Lee Curtis; people who ask him for his autograph; The Incredible Hulk; "Clue"; "Santa Clause: The Movie"; hiring Dylan McDermont for The Practice; becoming a producer; working for Les Moonves;  Tom Skerritt; Fyvush Finkel; using the OJ case on Picket Fences; Adam Arkin; The Practice; Calista Flockhart; guest starring on and producing the pilot of Ally McBeal; the dancing baby; poaching male viewers from Monday Night Football because of the pretty female cast; crossover episode with The Practice; his children; Richard Dreyfuss; Jaws' 50th Anniversary in two years

Patrick Weathers joined me (while watching the December 20, 1980 episode of SNL) to discuss moving up to NY in 1979; working at Studio 54; writing a book about Studio 54 but his agent thinks a TV job is more secure; cold calling Audrey Peart Dickman; his impressions; doing practice sketches; getting his friend David Sheffield to submit; he and David getting hired; meeting Eddie Murphy; Joe Piscopo; Don Pardo; cast and featured players opening montage pictures taken same day; Bruce Willis; David Carradine not drunk or nervous, he saw hosting as highlight of his career; Malcolm McDowell; Malcolm and Patrick sent milk at a bar; Commie Hunting Season most objectional bit in SNL history; pranking writers Arnstein & Hurvitz with Omar Dykes of Omar and the Howlers; Omar brought in as "new talent" to meet Jean Doumanian; Patrick remembers his first speaking role as a door-to-door sniper from episode 3; head writer Mason Williams; seeing the lack of an Arlo Guthrie sketch at read through; James Austin Johnson's Dylans; portraying Dylan, Elvis and more in the Broadway show, "Rock 'n' Roll, the First 5000 Years"; Dylan seeing his Dylan and approving; we watch the Dylan & Guthrie sketch; recalling riffing on Dylan and Guthrie with David Sheffield and Brian Doyle-Murray after read through; Charlene Tilton; 3 Kung Fu sketches; going to Mad TV with David Carradine and afterwards people in a bar trying to fight him, Will Sasso, and David Carradine thinking he was Kain; going to John Lennon's psychic's house in the Dakota 5 days after his death; the psychic, Malene Weiner, telling him to keep John's guitar; his Beatles parody band The Deplorables (in which he plays all instruments); Prince and Aretha Franklin as musical guests; Robert Hays and Sally Kellerman as hosts; his now controversial Ravi Shankar expression; the high note that caused his eyes to bug out; Ray Sharkey; Babes in Thailand; Bill Murray hosts; Jean gets fired, Ebersol fires Patrick, Matthew Laurence and Yvonne Hudson together; getting hired but not appearing on The New Show; working at National Lampoon from 1985 to 1987; Woody Allen cast him and Ann Risley for SNL; Paul Reubens chokes his audition; Leslie Fuller; almost playing Captain Carl on Pee Wee's Playhouse; Terry Sweeney

Ken Levine joined me and discussed the influence of Sgt. Bilko and The Dick Van Dyke show to him and his peers; bad 60's TV; when he decided to become a writer ; why they are known as Levine & Isaacs; writing a spec Mary Tyler Moore Show; writing for Jeffersons and Joe & Sons; writing freelance M*A*S*H* ; being a college DJ; watching "Bananas" and not wanting to be an old DJ lead him to rethink about writing; meeting his partner, David Isaacs; his first script "Out of Sight, Out of Mind" led to offers from The Tony Randall Show and to write more M*A*S*H* episodes; joining the M*A*S*H staff; Ronny Graham; stories about the episodes "The MASH Olympics", "Merchant of Korea", "Our Finest Hour" and "POV"; 1981-82 sitcom Open All Night; Cheers -start, episodes "Any Friend of Dianes", "The Boys in the Bar"; airchecks; meeting (then) Prince Charles on set of M*A*S*H*; life, death, and backstory of Eddie LeBec; writing Cheers related content for the Super Bowl and Mickey Mouse; episodes featuring Wade Boggs and Kevin McHale; keeping the action in the bar is key to the success; writing "To All the Girls I've Loved Before" without an outline; Wang Chung; Sheldon Leonard; background of my favorite episode "Here's......Cliffy”; being in the green room with Elizabeth Taylor; writing and guest voicing a Simpsons; the late Cheers and Frasier script supervisor Gabrielle James; prop master Ed LaPorta and the crew getting their credit

Game show legend Thom McKee joined me to discuss his growing up watching Jeopardy; sitting as a child reading encyclopedias in the bathroom; how his navy training made him quick witted; taking the "general" game show test but wanting Tic Tac Dough because there was no limit; originally taping on weekends; the Navy learning about it and he becomes a celebrity; taping five episodes in a day; getting numbers in the bonus round from his wife, Jenny; always starting in the center; quickness of Wink Martindale; a contestant who introduction made him nervous; topicality of questions; playing trivia weekly now; COVID didn't change his routine; being friends with Mike Post; his dad waiting to meet his future daughter-in-law because the Rockford Files was on; contestants who tied him; one had six ties making the pot the largest in game show history; has the shows on tape but when he's a guest on a TV show he only sees clips of his loss; feeling like Bill Buckner; donated a lot of his winnings to his brother; losing to Eric Krapelian; Eric donated some winnings to Thom's brother; wanting to win but not because opponent made stupid mistakes; one contestant was introduced but never came back to do the show due to nerves; not feigning excitement and being himself; Jenny being brought in for car rounds; two month break was refreshing; landing the 225,000 plane on his aircraft carrier; going on The Merv Griffin Show; Wink misremembering Jenny being pregnant; Wink being friends with Elvis; Chuck Barris; not being overly concerned by Eric Krapelian; feeling fatigued when asked about 10 most populated Japanese cities; only go to take one of twenty vacations (lost all cash value); sold all cars and appliances; playing an Air Force Colonel (turns out he was a Navy Chief Warrant Officer);  Wink and the crew thinking of Thom as part of the show; not having to be sequestered and escorted to the bathroom after a while; going into sales after the Navy and settling in real estate; his three children; Jenny wants a grandchild, preferably a granddaughter; Twitter says Top Gun's Goose's look based on Thom; Thom is 66 to 1 odds to take over Jeopardy!; meeting Ken Jennings; being inducted into the Game Show Hall of Fame; inducting Wink the next year; donating solar panels; dinner with Ken Jennings and wife; never studying except one time his wife reads a triva book on the way up and the question appears on that nights show;

Joel Thurm joined me to discuss watching Milton Berle, wrestling, and Disney as a child; wanting to be an actor but finding his calling backstage; working for David Merrick; casting Broadway; moving to L.A.; working on The Pearl Bailey Show; musical guest appearances; Ethel Winant; casting The Bob Newhart Show; casting Henry Winkler and John Randolph; casting Raul Julia, Katherine Helmond, John Ritter, Will MacKenzie, Rene Auberjonois, and Chirstopher Lloyd in very early roles; casting the play and film of The Rocky Horror Picture Show; casting "Grease"; producing "The Boy in the Plastic Bubble"; coercing Olivia Newton John to take the role in "Grease"; swapping the "new, improved" script with the original; turning 80; casting Fantasy Island with Ricardo Montalban and Herve Villechaize; casting Taxi with Judd Hirsch; Cleavon Little being replaced by Jeff Conaway; Nell Carter being unavailable; Andy Kaufman came with the deal; reluctantly accepting the job of casting and producing Angie; casting "Airplane" with Peter Graves; Kareem Abdul-Jabbar being the third choice after Pete Rose and Bruce Jenner; Barbara Billingsley being the second choice after Harriet Nelson; being named NBC's head of talent; casting a casting agent on an episode of Taxi; Eileen Brennan; casting Gavin McLeod and Lauren Tewes for The Love Boat; casting Daniel J. Travanti for Hill Street Blues; Fred Silverman doesn't think he's likeable, so Joel got him to smile; Cheers comes down to three choices for Sam and Diane; NBC won't let Joel cast it; Joel implores Grant Tinker to hire Ted Danson because women will want to fuck him more than William Devane; being wrong on Don Johnson for Miami Vice; casting Florence Halop in Night Court; his favorite show, Law & Order SVU; fandom of Chris Meloni and Mariska Hargitay; recommending Christine Ebersole to SNL in 1981, his assistant recommending Dennis Miller in 1985 and Elvira in 1987 You can order Joel's "Sex Drugs and Pilot Season" here Sex, Drugs & Pilot Season: Confessions of a Casting Director: Thurm, Joel: 9781629339535: Amazon.com: Books

Herschel Weingrod joined me to discuss being influenced by Billy Wilder and Laurel and Hardy; getting his Bachelors in European history; taking film courses close to graduation; going to the London Film School for graduate school; odd jobs taken; looking to write a film noir; getting the idea for "Cheaper to Keep Her" from an article; having Mac Davis star; Roger Ebert said it was a good script; writing "Trading Places" as "Black & White"; the Dukes were brothers his partner, Timothy Harris played doubles tennis with; making them commodities brokers; setting it in Philadelphia; pitched for Richard Pryor and Gene Wilder; Wilder wanted to change the character to be more likeable; Aykroyd gets hired; Ray Milland fails physical, replaced by Don Ameche; 90% of the movie is from the script, 10 % improv; censors won't let Eddie smoke Kools; Don Ameche apologizes for the f-bomb; explanation needed for end of the film; "Trading Places: The Musical"; timelessness of film; writing "Brewster's Millions", a film made many times; "My Stepmother is an Alien"; Jon Lovitz; Gene Wilder wouldn't've worked because he wanted to be loved; John Landis added Franken & Davis, the train and the monkey to the story; Broadway versions of 80's movies have challenges; The Broadway Rule of the "What I want Song"; "Trading Places" Funko Pops; people quoting the movie in real life; Trading Places remembered as #5 Christmas movie; "Twins" - hired to rewrite the original script; added search for the mother; studies twin tics for movie; "Lifted"; Lana Clarkson; "Kindergarten Cop"; how to write for Arnold; "Brewster's Millions" written originally for Bill Murray; people bet on whether he would show up for "Space Jam"; Bill adlibs; picking the players for "Space Jam"; "True Luck"; Peter Weber comedies; Harold Ramis; Cary Grant; Tom Hanks; English antisemitism; Kaifeng Jews

Patric Verrone and I discuss his influences: Chuck McCann, Sonny Fox, Officer Joe Bolton and Jim Henson; Steve Martin; Carl Gottlieb; growing up in Ft. Myers, Florida; going to Harvard with Al Jean; his Lampoon competition packet; working with Andy & Susan Borowitz, Conan O'Brien, and future wife Maiya Williams on the Lampoon; becoming a lawyer; taking a leave of absence to try comedy writing; getting a job on the Late Show with Joan Rivers; rough times on the show; Victoria Principal doxing; leaving Joan Rivers and getting hired on The Tonight Show starring Johnny Carson; his interview with Johnny; writing sketch and monologue; Sunday morning meetings with Johnny; new characters created; Johnny wanted to dress up less; Carnac moments; The Critic; Doris Grau, Critic / Simpsons crossover; second crossover nixed; writing for the Muppets; the "new" Kermit; his idea of having other puppeteers work on characters and then having Frank Oz dub his voice in; the new puppet, Clifford; working with Dick Blasucci and Paul Flaherty; working with Martin Short, Don Rickles, Billy Crystal and Prince on Muppets Tonight; winning an Emmy and it having it bestowed by Barbara Billingsley; getting hired on Futurama; Cubert Farnsworth; "Problem with Popplers"; no lessons, just jokes; one of my jokes is similar to one in an episode; list jokes; "A Leela of Her Own"; explaining to Hank Aaron his dialogue; writing a Simpsons episode; being President of the Writer's Guild; net neutrality; visiting all fifty states; collecting the Marks Presidential Figurine Set and completing it himself;

Rick Podell and I discuss his early influences; Jackie Gleason; Ed Sullivan; 50's and 60's standups; Alan King; doing standup for his dog; tap dancing; leaving college to do Dames at Sea off Broadway; getting hired as a Universal contract player; doing Baretta and getting a mentor in Robert Blake; Busting Loose; Garry Marshall; Paramount commissary; Chopped Liver Brothers; how appearing on the Mike Douglas Show makes you crave for new material; how his jack-of-all trades style hurt him; working with Milton Berle in Two by Two and meeting his endowment; Budd Friedman gets roasted; writing the pilots Brothers and Our Time with co-writer Mike Preminger; starring in films "Lunch Wagon" and "Underground Aces"; co-starring in "Hero at Large" with John Ritter; losing out on Chips to Erik Estrada; performing with Richard Lewis, Rich Hall, and Dana Carvey; Jay Leno saying he was too handsome to be a successful comedian; touring Montana with Gilbert Gottfried; guest starring as Jackie Jackerman on a memorable Family Ties; guest starring as a mohel on Cheers; writing the screenplay for "Nothing in Common" about his relationship with his dad; having Tom Hanks and Jackie Gleason star; receiving letters from people with the same situations; the film being perceived as too Jewish; Gleason's ill-health; opening with Ginger Rogers for a year; opening for Cher; working on Sunset Boulevard on Broadway with Andrew Lloyd Webber and Glenn Close; being directed by someone who directed Ronald Reagan and Clark Gable; working and later teaching at the Beverly Hills Playhouse; cell phones; and his one-man show