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00:00Ah, the drama folks were fine, but we're all about the comedy here, so we're taking the drama panel down with the comedy folks.
00:08So let's bring them out right now. This is a star-studded lineup.
00:12This is a heavy-hitter list of show creators, writers, producers, directors, the whole nine yards.
00:18First up, he is the creator, executive producer, writer, and star of English Teacher.
00:23I think he even does some of the catering.
00:25Brian Jordan Alvarez!
00:27Do I just go anywhere?
00:31Yeah, you can go right there.
00:33Right here?
00:34Yeah.
00:35Is my last name Alvarez? I got the A.
00:37I think we're doing alphabetical now, it turns out.
00:39God, this is crazy.
00:41I mean, Brian, you do it all, so you need to actually pick seats for everyone.
00:45Oh, yeah. Okay, great.
00:46All right, next up, she is the showrunner, executive producer of Laid, Nanachka Khan!
00:51Woo!
00:55And we have her partner in crime as well, also showrunner, executive producer of Laid, Sally Bradford McKenna!
01:01Woo!
01:07He is the creator, executive producer, and writer of Bookie, Nick McKay!
01:11Woo!
01:16We got the showrunner, co-creator, and executive producer of St. Dennis Medical, Eric Legend!
01:22Woo!
01:27He is the co-creator, showrunner, writer, and executive producer of Shrinking, Bill Lawrence!
01:33Woo!
01:39And she is the executive producer, co-creator, showrunner of the Emmy-winning Hacks, Jen Statsky!
01:45Woo!
01:48The Emmy-winning Hacks. I know you're not tired of that just yet.
01:56So, I want to kick things off first with the breaking news from Mr. Bill Lawrence that Scrubs is getting a reboot.
02:05It is official. It is out.
02:08We're calling it St. Dennis Medical.
02:10No, no, I'm joking, I'm joking, I'm joking, I'm joking.
02:13Awkward. A little awkward.
02:15No, I'm very excited for it as long as it's not Tuesdays at 8. I think it's going to be great.
02:19There's room for more than one fantastic medical job.
02:22I'm joking, I'm joking, I'm joking. The show's awesome. I'm sorry.
02:24But Bill, what can you tell us about this new iteration of Scrubs?
02:27Anybody has any ideas, hit me up, man.
02:33Let's talk about it back there.
02:35The reboots are cool in the sense that not a lot of people are making stuff right now.
02:41And I lived and worked with those people that I kind of consider a family for eight or nine years.
02:45And so the idea of good friends and people that I love getting to work is going to be awesome.
02:51I'm really excited about it.
02:52So, early stages. Not much to report just yet.
02:55I said in that answer all that I know about it.
02:59All right, we're going to spend the next 45 minutes just grilling you on the future of Scrubs.
03:04So, I joke about comedy kicking drama's ass, which I think we can all agree, right?
03:12Woohoo, yeah, come on.
03:15Because my argument has been that comedy also is the best drama on television right now.
03:21For a good example, raise of hands, how many of you have had a death on your show this season?
03:27Raise those hands.
03:30Whoa.
03:32See a spoiler, but...
03:34Exactly.
03:35Well, there's a death every week at St. Dennis Medical Lab.
03:38We just don't sometimes see it, but sometimes in the background, maybe.
03:42How many of them have been murders?
03:46All right, so we're just down to Bookie.
03:50Laid probably has the most death per capita of any of these shows up here.
03:5523, I think. 23 sexual-related deaths.
03:58So you guys win, I think?
04:00We might win, yeah.
04:02I don't know what the prize is, but we win.
04:04Yeah, whatever the prize, we win.
04:06But I get the feeling you guys are all kind of sick of the question by now, so we kind of spin it on...
04:12Is there a reason for people to be concerned about drama versus comedy?
04:16I joke that it's comedy versus drama, but these days we're in an era where maybe shows can't be defined
04:24because they are so unique and broad, and every show is different.
04:30No, I totally disagree.
04:33There's absolutely a line between comedy and drama.
04:37Tell it, Nick.
04:38And drama should not enter into comedy, and it has.
04:41You know, I mean, come on.
04:43There's a lot of shows that are just not particularly funny, and they're getting...
04:51One man's opinion.
04:52Nick, I'm so proud of you, man.
04:53Thank you, Pally.
04:54By the way, nice to meet you, Bill.
04:56Guys, I don't want to put the rest of you on blast, but Nick has already won this panel.
05:03So I don't know what you're going to bring to this, but...
05:06Out of the gate, we just tell you how wrong you are.
05:08That's the winning strategy.
05:10And you piss all over dramas trying to be comedies.
05:13That's the goal, but...
05:14Well, you know, there's Whimsody, and that should be...
05:18Maybe that's a new comedy category.
05:20I don't know, but, you know...
05:23You said whimsy?
05:24Whimsody.
05:25What is that?
05:26It's those, you know, almost funny, you know...
05:28It's like back when I was an actor, and you were in a play that wasn't getting laughs,
05:32but was supposed to, the director would say,
05:35They're smiling.
05:40Don't worry, they're smiling.
05:41Laughing on the inside, right?
05:42I don't think they are.
05:45I think that's the swing and a miss of, you know...
05:48We're not quite funny, but I think we're okay.
05:52Well, Bill, we were kind of joking about this backstage.
05:54I don't know if you're going to be able to speak now, but...
05:57Whatever you ask, man, I'm going to let Nick take it.
05:59You've done it all.
06:00Bill, you've done it all.
06:01You've done multi-cam.
06:02You've done straight-ahead comedy.
06:04You've done drama.
06:05You've done comedies that have a strong, dramatic bent.
06:08Where do you stand now on just classifications, and how do you classify?
06:13Dude, I'm trying to be bangsy so people think I'm young, man.
06:16You made me sound like I was 1,000 years old.
06:19Is it so sad?
06:20Veteran.
06:21Look, there's some dramas that are funny, man.
06:25Like, I would say, I wouldn't have, I told you,
06:28I wouldn't blink twice if Succession won Best Comedy.
06:31That show was fucking funny.
06:32It was so darkly funny, I thought it was hysterical.
06:35But I thought it was hysterical because it had jokes, you know?
06:39I think you can do any type of show that has pathos and drama and emotion
06:45and call it a drama if you want.
06:47But I think to call it a comedy, you better be joke forward
06:50and arguably have some big, serious laughs
06:53or at least be attempting it in every shot.
06:56Yeah, and I think all of the shows up here on stage
06:58do a great job of balancing that out.
07:00Guys, my mom's here.
07:01She clapped at that.
07:03Merry Christmas, Mrs. Lawrence.
07:06Brian, you look like you have something to say.
07:09I just like the idea of being very serious about comedy,
07:11about the joke density.
07:12It's like the one thing we're serious about is these fucking jokes.
07:16Yeah, by the way, we're not going to joke around about these jokes.
07:19Yeah, I'm serious, guys.
07:21We need more jokes.
07:22I love that.
07:23Well, there's always the question of,
07:25what's the best way to do comedy?
07:27What's the best way to do comedy?
07:29I love that.
07:30Yeah.
07:31Well, there's always the question of joke per page,
07:33and there's some shows that just...
07:34Yeah, joke density.
07:35Yeah.
07:36But it's a valid question because I watch a lot of these shows
07:38and there's great pathos in it,
07:40and I'm old enough to remember the reason this is a topic.
07:43When I first pitched Scrubs,
07:45I remember a president of one of the networks that said no.
07:48He said, I don't think you can do broad, silly comedy
07:51and then switch gears and have people give a crap
07:54about whether or not a patient's living or dying.
07:56And I remember the pitch ended because I said,
07:58I think you can if you turn the lights down and play an indie song.
08:01And he...
08:03Ha!
08:05And he didn't find that funny at all.
08:07Ha!
08:08Turn the lights down and play an indie song on you.
08:10And that's it.
08:11Yeah.
08:13So I think it's fair to say that comedy has evolved.
08:16And, you know, I remember the episode of Hacks
08:19that first hooked me big time
08:22was that suicide of that young guy in Vegas.
08:25Do you know what I mean?
08:26And for personal reasons, it was still fucking hysterical,
08:30but it really struck me.
08:31We're going for whimsity.
08:33Ha!
08:34Ha!
08:35Ha!
08:36Ha!
08:37Success.
08:39Shit.
08:40I'm pushing for that to be a new category.
08:42I want that to be an Emmy.
08:44Have you heard that term, whimsity?
08:46No.
08:47Is it an episode of whimsy?
08:49A whimsity?
08:51It's like a comedy, but a whimsity, right?
08:53Yeah.
08:55I came up with that when...
08:58Oh, you came up with that.
08:59I did.
09:00Oh, yeah.
09:01Right now.
09:02I trademarked it.
09:03I came up with it the year that Ally McBeal won Best Comedy.
09:06Ha!
09:07Ha!
09:08Ha!
09:09Because I was like, that's...
09:10People are catching strays from Dick.
09:11It's whimsy.
09:12There are no jokes in this.
09:13I'm loving it.
09:14There are no jokes in this.
09:15You know, I'm with Bill.
09:16It's like comedy should still involve joke writing once a week.
09:19Ha!
09:20Ha!
09:21I feel like there's another version of that
09:22Statsky and I worked for Fallon together,
09:24and there was a category of late night jokes that we called claptory.
09:28And those are jokes that are designed, instead of getting laughs,
09:31they're designed to get people clapping
09:33because they agree with the sentiment of the jokes.
09:35Right.
09:36And I think that's a...
09:37It's a cousin to what you're talking about.
09:38I love that.
09:39Shows that are like, we get it,
09:41and we're on the right side of this thing.
09:43Right, right.
09:44But it's not necessarily fun.
09:46They were often like political.
09:48Yeah, yeah.
09:49It's like, yeah, if Congress ever worked,
09:51Yeah, yeah.
09:52Right.
09:53And everybody's like, yes, yes.
09:55But you'd be like, it's not funny at all.
09:59Well, to be fair, in the studio,
10:01there's that sign that says applause, applause,
10:04and they like shine at the same time.
10:06They force you to do it.
10:07In Whimsody, it's feel, feel, feel.
10:09Yeah.
10:10Eric and I did start our careers together,
10:13or I was starting, like 10, 12 years ago.
10:16Oh, I was starting my career too.
10:17I was just much older than you.
10:19But we started writing monologue jokes for Jimmy Fallon,
10:23which is a job where you have to write
10:25like five pages of jokes a day,
10:28which is so different from what we're talking about now,
10:30which is sometimes you make a comedy with no jokes.
10:33Well, you know, there's a lot of talk.
10:35People sometimes, especially hacky comedians,
10:38will go on and say,
10:39well, you can't really push the envelope anymore.
10:41You can't be edgy anymore.
10:43You're hitting all the hot topics.
10:47We're here to slay, Brian.
10:49We are in.
10:50Well, a through line for all of your shows
10:53is you guys, like, you get to do, you get to go there.
10:56Brian, you get to go there.
10:57Yeah, yeah, yeah.
10:58I'm an English teacher,
10:59and it does seem like you have permission to go there, so.
11:03Yeah.
11:04And how does that kind of. . .
11:06FX fearless.
11:07FX is fearless.
11:09There is no box.
11:10Yeah, yeah.
11:11So how do you feel in terms of like,
11:14are you limited to what you can do,
11:16or do you feel sort of comfortable in what. . .
11:18Oh, we feel, yeah, we feel comfortable.
11:20I mean, I think you have to always think of smart. . .
11:22Oh, my God, a literal phone call?
11:24Pick it up. Pick it up.
11:27Pick it up.
11:28One season of a show and you're already this guy?
11:30No way.
11:31No friggin' way.
11:32Please say I have to take this.
11:34Oh, it's my sister.
11:35But I don't know how I got through.
11:37I have my phone on sleep mode.
11:39I thought you were going to say it was. . .
11:40It was Landgraf.
11:41Oh, yeah, it's Landgraf.
11:44Yeah, I think, I mean,
11:47I think you always have to find smart ways
11:52of making something funny, right?
11:54So it feels like we're just still doing that.
11:56But I do feel like as far as pushing the envelope,
11:59I said the FX fearless thing sort of jokingly,
12:02but also they are very fearless,
12:05meaning we would send scripts with stuff
12:08where we were like, this is really,
12:10I mean, we're at the edge here.
12:12And they were like, yeah, we love it.
12:14We think it's funny.
12:15And we were like, great, thanks.
12:16You know?
12:17And Jen, you made that a subject,
12:18you know, part of your show,
12:20the whole question of, you know,
12:22what can be said, what can be done in comedy.
12:25Yeah, I mean, we've always approached the show
12:27with like, if you're not,
12:29as long as you're not punching down,
12:31a joke can be made
12:32and being conscientious of the target of the joke.
12:35And yeah, I think there's a lot of things
12:37that are very overblown in this conversation,
12:40which we tackled in that episode.
12:42But I think a lot of comedians want
12:44all of the privilege of being on stage
12:46and none of the responsibility of having the platform.
12:49And that's kind of what it is.
12:51Sally and Notch, you know,
12:52your show is, you know,
12:54sort of the whole concept is a little edgy.
12:56It's, you know, it's based on Australian format.
12:58Tell us a little bit about, you know,
13:00seeing that and thinking how do we, you know,
13:03translate that for the US crowd
13:05and how far can we go with this idea of,
13:08well, you know, her paramours are dying on a weekly basis.
13:12Yeah, I mean, we, you know,
13:14we have the only show up here
13:16that is not available to be seen yet.
13:18So it's coming out December 19th.
13:20And the idea is-
13:22Which puts us at a disadvantage.
13:24At a disadvantage, to be fair.
13:26Can't really reference anything anyone would ever know.
13:29But it's called Laid.
13:33It's called Laid.
13:34And the basic idea is Stephanie Shu's character.
13:36Stephanie Shu plays the main character
13:37and she discovers that everybody she's ever slept with
13:39starts dying in the order that she slept with them in.
13:42Whoa.
13:43Yeah.
13:44Wow.
13:46I love-
13:47They love it.
13:48This crowd has now won this panel.
13:50Yes, yes.
13:52You know what?
13:53This happened to me.
13:55This happened to me.
13:57Well, it's right what you know, right?
14:00Right what you know.
14:01That's it.
14:02It's terrible at every level.
14:04So, yeah.
14:06We loved it.
14:08And we decided to adapt it.
14:10Considering it's based on Australia,
14:12we felt like we can take credit.
14:13It's such a good idea.
14:14We loved the idea.
14:15And it just felt like it was such a,
14:17like so ripe for, you know,
14:18such great, you know, territory to mine.
14:20So we had so much fun with it.
14:21But I feel like we took what we loved about that show,
14:24about the original,
14:25and the pilot especially,
14:26I feel like we plot-wise stayed truest
14:29to their pilot original.
14:31But beyond that, I feel like we opened it.
14:33Yeah, we kind of ran with the idea and,
14:35you know, opened it up.
14:36So, excited for everybody to see it.
14:39Yeah.
14:40Yeah.
14:41How surreal is it talking about a show
14:42that no one's seen?
14:43This is blowing my mind.
14:44Yeah, it's very strange.
14:45Very uncomfortable.
14:46Can I do a couple minutes on a show I'm developing?
14:48Yeah, please do.
14:50Is it the Scrubs reboot?
14:52By the way, you got any ideas?
14:54I'm in.
14:55It's Scrubs, but every episode,
14:57another one dies after they sleep with each other.
14:59Is the laid original format available to watch?
15:02Can people go and see that?
15:03Or is it just Australia bottle-only?
15:06The Australian is, I think, available.
15:08Yeah, but I would wait until December 19th.
15:10I'm with you.
15:11I'm with you.
15:12I'm with you.
15:13I'm with you.
15:15So, Nick, when we talk about write what you know,
15:18you're writing what you know.
15:20So talk a little bit about how Bookie was inspired
15:23by your experience in that world.
15:26Well, you know, I used to do betting segments on ESPN,
15:29and I know people in this world.
15:31But really, you know, it grew out of wanting to work
15:34with Sebastian Maniscalco,
15:36but not wanting to do traditional
15:38let's turn this act into a multi.
15:41And then we realized, you know,
15:43we've always wanted to sort of get into crime,
15:46but what's funny, so let's go crime-lite.
15:48Bookie was perfect.
15:50And we did channel a lot of characters I know
15:53and people I know and moments I know.
15:55And it was the right level.
15:57You know, it's you can't say it's a victimless crime.
16:00But, you know, we found that it was great
16:03because these guys can actually be the
16:05as much as the perception is they're the predator,
16:08they're the prey.
16:09And it's he's really funny with being exasperated
16:12and victimized.
16:13And, you know, the more we learned quickly with the show
16:16that the more this guy doesn't get paid,
16:19the more that things go sideways,
16:21the funnier it got.
16:22And also, I feel it's in a weird way educational.
16:25It's a window into a world that maybe a lot of us
16:28don't know sort of behind the scenes.
16:30I've learned a lot about money laundering, for example.
16:33But we talked to a lot of bookies
16:35and they're very forthright except about that.
16:38You know, they always say, no, cash is great.
16:40You can do everything with cash.
16:41Really? You can pay a mortgage?
16:43Yeah.
16:44How do you do that?
16:45You know what? You're breaking up.
16:46You know, it's like you never,
16:47that's the one thing you can never get the straight stuff about.
16:51Every time I pass by one of those weird gift shops now in Los Angeles
16:54where you're like, no one goes and buys that.
16:56There you go.
16:57Now I know what they're doing.
16:58They're laundering their bookie money.
17:00I got a buddy who lived on the Lower East Side in New York in the 80s
17:03and he had a store he lived near called Coffee and Dolls.
17:08There was two dolls and a samovar.
17:11Oh, God.
17:12Something else was happening there.
17:14Coffee.
17:15There's also like a bunch of jelly bean stores in Burbank.
17:17Have you noticed that?
17:19There's like four jelly bean stores.
17:23That's where you take your relatives to go see when they come to L.A.
17:27Take the jelly bean tour.
17:29Burbank, yeah.
17:30And Brian, speaking of sort of, you know,
17:32binding what you know, your family,
17:34you come from a family of teachers
17:36and so you had that opportunity to kind of take what you learned
17:39from your mom and your family.
17:41Yeah, yeah.
17:42My mom's a teacher.
17:43My sister's a teacher at Fordham.
17:45Yeah, it also just kind of felt like,
17:47well, if I had a real job,
17:49maybe I would be an English teacher, you know?
17:51Yeah.
17:52I mean, we've also all been through high school,
17:54so, you know, it's like it's a very relatable thing.
17:57And it's also everybody has so many memories from high school,
18:00so when you're writing about it, you know,
18:02and then you're asking people what it was like more recently.
18:04Yeah, yeah.
18:05And especially so those of us who have kids of that age now
18:08are watching it.
18:09It's almost like it's a documentary to us.
18:11Like, yeah, this is how they talk.
18:14This is, you know,
18:15and I almost feel like you're like Jane Goodall.
18:17Did you, like, go in and, like,
18:19how did you sort of figure out, like,
18:21how them kids talk in these days?
18:23I don't know.
18:24I think it was maybe it was just good casting, too.
18:26We found a lot of cool kids from, like, TikTok,
18:29and it's just and we also let them play.
18:32So when we're, you know, it's like we're saying,
18:34how would you say this yourself, and we're finding it, too.
18:36Bet.
18:37Bet, yeah, exactly, bet.
18:39I like that the kids look like kids on your show, Ryan.
18:42Oh, thanks, yeah.
18:43Do you guys remember?
18:44I'm old enough to when it was 35-year-olds
18:46playing high school kids.
18:47Right, yeah, exactly.
18:48Yeah, we didn't go over 40 for high school students.
18:53And, of course, Jen,
18:54one of the big storylines going forward in Hacks
18:57is the fact that she's becoming a talk show host.
19:01And so you're able to mine a bit of your experience
19:04doing Fallon, like you mentioned.
19:06Yes, yeah, that is what she is embarking on in season four.
19:10Right on time.
19:11Late night is hotter than ever.
19:16People are just not watching it on their TV,
19:18but they're still watching it on their,
19:20on the ticks and the tocks, as the kids say.
19:22I'm watching Late Night, yeah.
19:24Another prank call.
19:25Oh, my God.
19:26A moron brand.
19:27I'm going to take this, I'm going to take this.
19:29It's Brian's sister.
19:31Oh, my God.
19:35It's also John Landgraf.
19:38He just bought the Scrubs reboot.
19:40I'm so sorry.
19:41Continue.
19:43But, yeah, so that's what we have looking forward to.
19:45Yes, so, yeah, we, I started,
19:47my first writing job was writing for Late Night
19:50with Jimmy Fallon with Eric.
19:52And, yeah, it's just a very specific type of world
19:56and show that you have to get off the ground.
19:59And so there's a lot to mine from that.
20:01And, yeah.
20:02And these are, like, so many of these
20:04are also certain types of workplace comedies,
20:07which, you know, when we talk about comedy
20:09and there does seem to be a little bit of a,
20:12I hope, comedy renaissance.
20:14I'm feeling it.
20:15But the workplace comedy being a classic example of that.
20:18And these are very different kinds.
20:19I mean, bookie is kind of a workplace comedy
20:21to some degree.
20:22It's just in their SUV.
20:24I was always intrigued by jobs, you know,
20:26whether it's you're a plumber or a cop or anybody
20:29who, you know, like these guys, when they have to collect,
20:32it's going through that doorway
20:34and not knowing what's waiting for you.
20:36You know, we have an episode in season one,
20:39our second episode, they go in thinking
20:42they're just going to get some money from a deadbeat
20:44and he's suicidal, you know.
20:46And then everything changes.
20:47It's one of my favorite episodes,
20:49and it's the same thing.
20:50You can still be funny and walk into heavy shit.
20:52And that's when comedy is at its best.
20:55I love that episode.
20:56The other thing about these guys in their workplace
20:59is, you know, we're in California where,
21:01this is an outlier,
21:03gambling on sports is still illegal here.
21:06Everywhere else in the country, it is legal.
21:09And in a strange way, bookies are just like everybody else.
21:12Like, we all struck to not get involved with AI, hopefully.
21:15I mean, good luck, but, you know.
21:18But there's no profession where we're not an algorithm
21:21or an app away from waking up in the morning
21:23and going, oh, fuck, I'm out of work, right?
21:26And these guys are a little dinosauric in that, you know,
21:29they see there's this thing coming,
21:31this legalization coming,
21:33and they're trying to do an old profession
21:35that may be about to change on them.
21:37So it's very relatable, even though it's very strange and dark.
21:41And, Eric, that's what you found over the years with,
21:44you know, now with St. Dennis,
21:45but some of the other shows that you've worked on,
21:47like Superstore, too, where it's, you know,
21:50the world changes, and that can be mined for comedy.
21:55Yeah, I mean, one of the things I talked about
21:57in my meeting with Justin Spitzer for Superstore
22:00was that I worked in a CVS,
22:02and it was, every place is a funny place
22:05if you are working with people that want to fuck around.
22:09And so, you know, in thinking about this show,
22:13it was like, for St. Dennis, it's such a high-stakes place,
22:18and any time I've spent in a hospital
22:20has been a very memorable day of my life
22:22because it's been very intense.
22:24And yet, you talk to people who work in those spaces,
22:28and they're laughing a lot.
22:30The nurses crack each other up.
22:32If you're a patient and you get a funny nurse or a funny doctor,
22:36it makes the experience completely different
22:39and so much better.
22:40And I think this is sort of tied to your point earlier of,
22:44it's a place with high tension,
22:45and it's actually easier to find comedy
22:47in places with high tension.
22:48And I think that that's maybe hopefully true
22:50about the time we're in right now,
22:52is that to take sort of the not-hot take
22:55would be that, like, I don't know that it's a hard time
22:58to be funny with what's going on right now
23:00because it's so tense.
23:01And I think we're not at the beginning of the tension
23:04where it felt scary.
23:05We've lived with it now,
23:06and people are so ready for it to be broken
23:09that I think that's why, like,
23:10English teachers are so cathartic
23:12because you're just like,
23:13people are saying this shit out loud.
23:16And it just feels good.
23:17And I think, like, I think a lot of the shows
23:19that I'm watching of the people up here
23:21are doing that in ways that are really cool.
23:23Yeah, I mean, Bill,
23:24I'm sure you hear a lot from people who say
23:26shrinking is kind of therapeutic.
23:28It's, you know, it's...
23:29I just thought, why are things tense?
23:30We won, man.
23:31No, I'm joking.
23:32Just kidding.
23:34Sorry, sorry, sorry.
23:35I just...
23:40Bill Lawrence has now won this panel.
23:42I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry.
23:43Is that an old movie quote?
23:44It's like, what do you mean, we, white men?
23:46I want to be like...
23:48I'll take it.
23:50Shoot.
23:51What was your question, man?
23:52I was having fun.
23:53I just want to turn on my ringer real quick
23:54so I can get a call.
23:55Shrinking has a little bit of everything
23:57because there's some workplace in it,
23:59but then there's also that tension
24:00that we're talking about.
24:01You're dealing with some really, you know...
24:03Ah, shit, man.
24:04Look, I think, not to be a nerd,
24:06I'm a huge TV fan
24:08and legitimately a fan of all these shows up here,
24:11and I swear, just knowing their track record,
24:13I'll be a fan of Blade 2, I promise you,
24:15because now I'm a little afraid from what I said before.
24:19But I think everybody up here kind of shares the thing
24:22that I would imagine
24:24no one's more than a couple degrees separated
24:28from pathos in their life or in their family,
24:31and my family generally laughs their way through it, you know?
24:34And, you know, the story of a guy
24:38whose wife was killed and fucked up with his kid
24:40is straight from people we know,
24:42and Parkinson's is Brett Goldstein's father,
24:46and my father has Parkinson's with Lewy bodies,
24:49and Mike Fox is my idol and started my career.
24:52So, you know, it's something that Nick just talked about.
24:55The opportunity to be funny about shit
24:58that will drag you down
25:00is, I think, not only part of everybody's show up here,
25:04but something that the climate is right for, without a doubt.
25:08Well, now's the part of the panel
25:10where I'm going to bring out some props,
25:12because I am the carrot top of panel moderators.
25:19One clap.
25:23But they're smiling.
25:25I've got something.
25:27You don't get to keep these,
25:29but I wanted to represent for each person
25:31a little bit about their show or their past,
25:33and I'm going to start with you, Brian,
25:35because I was telling you this before.
25:37You don't get to keep this. This is mine.
25:39But you can look at it for a second.
25:41But the music on English Future.
25:47I mean, you haven't lived until you've seen
25:49Brian dancing to Maniac by Michael Cimbello,
25:52and then the opening of one episode, Mr. Mr. Curieux.
25:55Did you make this fresh at your house today?
25:58A very crassie.
26:00Seriously, what is that?
26:02Is that a CD?
26:04Oh!
26:06Here it is, yeah.
26:08I know this is a record.
26:10I don't know what this CD is,
26:12but that's the most annoying thing
26:14that's ever happened on a panel.
26:16This is a single.
26:18A song is on there.
26:20Oh, and that could go on a regular record player.
26:22Is that right?
26:24Brian, yes.
26:26Okay.
26:28Dude, the only thing worse is a true story.
26:30My boys were watching Spin City,
26:32and my youngest son said,
26:34was this ever on TV?
26:36And I was like,
26:39Is this the standard packaging for this?
26:41Yeah, it's a record, dude.
26:43It looks very handmade, right?
26:45It's sort of rough edges.
26:47Yeah, people used to buy singles like that.
26:49I have never felt older in my life.
26:51You were like, did you make this today?
26:53No, but the thing is, I know what a record is.
26:55So this is, was this between record and CD?
26:57It's just a single version of a record.
26:59It's just a single version of a record, yeah.
27:01And this always was available.
27:03Yeah, and people would buy a single.
27:05Oh, shit.
27:08I'm keeping these.
27:10The music is fantastic on English teachers.
27:12Yeah.
27:14That is amazing.
27:16That made my night.
27:18All right.
27:22And now I'm going to turn
27:24and get serious for a second,
27:26because of course, Fresh Off the Boat,
27:28and that's a book about Fresh Off the Boat,
27:30but Fresh Off the Boat I think meant so much to people
27:32and still means so much to people for representation,
27:34and I don't think that show gets enough due
27:37for really what it's meant,
27:39and the doors that it opened now,
27:41and the fact that we can have a star
27:43in Stephanie Hsu on Laid
27:45is a testament to the success of that show.
27:49And what that means.
27:51Thank you so much.
27:53This is also quite small, I just want to say.
27:55It's not a regular size book.
27:57Yeah, small book, small record.
27:59I feel like you like little things,
28:01but thank you, thank you so much.
28:03So along those lines,
28:05you've worked on a couple of shows.
28:07I have one obscure one that I know you worked on,
28:09Son of Zorn.
28:11Oh my God, yes.
28:13This is from my personal collection,
28:15and also some Goldbergs.
28:17Woo!
28:19So this is like show-and-tell time,
28:21and sort of what these things meant to you.
28:23So for you, Notch,
28:25what the legacy of Fresh Off the Boat now,
28:27how do you see it,
28:29and how has it meant
28:31for I think other creators?
28:33Do you hear from them,
28:35and what do they say to you?
28:37I mean, it's been really satisfying.
28:39You know, it was a testament
28:41to just being
28:43at the right time with the right people,
28:45that we got that show on the air at all,
28:47and then the fact that it stayed on,
28:49and we did six seasons,
28:51and over 100 episodes,
28:53and during that time,
28:55other shows started coming up,
28:57and other creators and stars,
28:59and you know, because we were always saying,
29:01in the end, we're the beginning,
29:03and I truly feel like we were, you know,
29:05and so the fact that it was followed by more and more,
29:07and now doing Laid with Stephanie,
29:09and you know, Academy Award nominee,
29:11and you know, it's real satisfying.
29:13Yeah.
29:15The importance of that show
29:17can't be understated.
29:19I'm also realizing I never did a show
29:21in a workplace at all,
29:23when you guys were all talking about workplaces.
29:25So I don't know what that says about me,
29:27but I've never done a workplace show.
29:29Oh.
29:33Right, right, right, right, right.
29:35Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
29:37That's all that needs to be said about that show.
29:39Yeah, yeah, yeah, right.
29:41Moving on.
29:43So,
29:45for Nick,
29:47here's a TV Guide cover,
29:49the year that Mom premiered.
29:51Oh, sure.
29:53And Mom, I think, also was one of those shows that,
29:55you know, really meant something to people,
29:57and it said something,
29:59and it had an impact on the folks who watched it.
30:01Yeah, I was very lucky to run that
30:03for a bunch of years,
30:05and it was really, you know,
30:07the first time I,
30:09I'll be honest, you know,
30:11I made my way in half hours for a long time,
30:13being the guy who could write jokes
30:15and write in character voice,
30:17and every time it was time to break story,
30:19I had to burn myself with cigarettes
30:21to stay awake,
30:23because I just had a hard time, you know?
30:25And this was the first show I worked on
30:27that was about something,
30:29about women in recovery,
30:31and about something real,
30:33and I went in kicking and screaming,
30:35thinking, Marron,
30:37this is going to be the death of me,
30:39and it changed everything,
30:41and I started to understand how to tell stories,
30:43so this thing changed my life in many ways.
30:45I love that show.
30:47And also,
30:49I got to work with amazing people,
30:51not the least of which Allison Janney,
30:53who I actually was in plays with in college,
30:55so that was a crazy full circle,
30:57but she's not only brilliant,
30:59but the nicest person in the world.
31:01Yes.
31:03Fantastic.
31:05Eric, we talked a little bit about Superstore,
31:07so Cloud9.
31:09A few bucks online.
31:11Put it on.
31:13Put it on.
31:15I maybe fit into this 15 years ago,
31:17but, yeah.
31:19And St. Denis Medical
31:21St. Denis Medical
31:23is the natural successor to
31:25what was such a great ensemble show,
31:27and the fact that you're building
31:29a new ensemble of people,
31:31and already just a couple episodes in,
31:33it feels like we really know the dynamics
31:35between these characters,
31:37and talk a little bit about what that's like
31:39to create a world,
31:41and these characters,
31:43and watch them start to interact,
31:45and that builds off each other,
31:47as you learn what these characters are,
31:49what their relationships are.
31:51That's got to be fun to be at that point
31:53in a show.
31:55Yeah, I mean, the character descriptions,
31:57like when I was first conceiving of them
31:59with Justin,
32:01they were coming pretty naturally,
32:03and it was feeling good,
32:05and then the next level is like,
32:07what are their relationships with each other,
32:09and you try to really nail down
32:11what each one's going to be,
32:13but none of it really comes to life
32:15until you see them together,
32:17and I was fortunate to have witnessed
32:19that happening from the very first table read,
32:21seeing people read together
32:23for the first time, being like,
32:25oh my god, Allison, who plays Alex,
32:27and Kai, who plays Serena,
32:29they seem like best friends
32:31to the point where Spitzer asked them after,
32:33oh, I didn't know you knew each other,
32:35and they're like, no, we just met in this moment,
32:37and you just stumble upon
32:39these dynamics that
32:41just feel like something,
32:43and then you try to chase those down
32:45with them, and I think for me
32:47in terms of assembling the cast,
32:49I've worked on so many
32:51different shows, and Superstar being one of them,
32:53that the advantage
32:55of being sort of like
32:57a journeyman in that way is that
32:59you have your favorites from every place you worked,
33:01and I was also
33:03benefiting from the time of
33:05coming right off a strike when people were
33:07available and hungry for work,
33:09and was able to get some of my
33:11favorite people from all the jobs I've worked at
33:13to come and be part of the show. It's been really
33:15fortunate and really just fun to be a part of.
33:17Yeah, no, absolutely.
33:19All right, Bill, I got a couple of things I wanted
33:21to show you. Look at this.
33:23Penny can.
33:25It's a penny can.
33:27It's from a show called Cougar Town.
33:29Yeah!
33:31I know it's funny because it says it on the can.
33:33I don't think it actually...
33:35What was the penny can?
33:37It's a game that we invented
33:39because there's a dumb character on that show, and I love a dumb
33:41character, and his favorite game was called Penny Can,
33:43and you throw pennies into a can.
33:45And so
33:47he would constantly say, anybody up for playing some Penny Can?
33:49And the game is as complicated as it
33:51sounds.
33:53What I love about... Cougar Town lasted how many episodes?
33:55120-something.
33:57Yeah.
33:59Six years, five years.
34:01Dude, I'm grateful. I thought you were going to do...
34:03Any gear that you give me from
34:05other shows, the odds are very high that I was
34:07fired off of them.
34:09Well, I have so much Ted Lasso
34:11stuff, but I thought that would be too easy.
34:13Wanted to go with a little Cougar Town.
34:15Cougar Town is a show that
34:17survived network changes,
34:19and obviously a change in format.
34:21And the world's worst title.
34:23Sure, sure, sure.
34:25And yet it became this endearing show about
34:27friends that... I still
34:29justify my wine intake because of Cougar Town.
34:31I'm like, they drank all that
34:33wine on Cougar Town, it must be okay.
34:35Right?
34:37It was a super fun experience, man.
34:39One of the cool things about
34:41stuff like this is you get to remember the
34:43people that you get to spend time with.
34:45I'm a dinosaur. There's so many
34:47young, talented people up here.
34:49But, man, it's a
34:51gift to still walk into work
34:53with young people that are like, wow, a TV show!
34:55And get to hang out
34:57and eventually suck their blood
34:59and take credit for their work.
35:01And look, now we can play pickleball
35:03with shrinking pickleball rackets.
35:05Whoa!
35:07That's swag.
35:09Also a little thing. Another small thing.
35:11And finally,
35:13we mentioned it earlier, but of course,
35:15Late Night with Jimmy Fallon.
35:17Yeah. And just to be clear,
35:19you're taking all of this back? I'm taking all these back.
35:21Okay.
35:23You just have all this stuff.
35:25What's your house like?
35:27You've got a lot of stuff.
35:29I know, and he said he has a ton of Ted Lasso
35:31stuff at the house.
35:33What kind of stuff?
35:35This is an intervention now.
35:37I apologize.
35:39I love that you have this stuff.
35:41You have a record player for these records?
35:43Where do you keep all...
35:45That's cool.
35:47Where do you keep all the swag?
35:49I have shelves of swag.
35:51You're a true television fan.
35:53This has a dollar of pennies in it.
35:55Whoa, shit!
35:57Which I am taking.
35:59We're going to end this panel by playing
36:01Penny Cam.
36:03This is cool. We love all these. Thank you.
36:05Thank you so much.
36:07Very cool.
36:09I also feel like Brian learned a lot tonight
36:11about 45.
36:13Yes.
36:15Now I'm seeing the reason it has a bowed top
36:17is because the back is bowed down
36:19and then you can pull it out.
36:21It's a sleeve.
36:23He's overcompensating.
36:25It's really scientific.
36:27We're heading towards the end of this panel,
36:29but before we end, I do want to hear
36:31from each of you
36:33maybe the one thing that you would love voters
36:35and for people at home watching
36:37to...
36:39What do you think we're here for?
36:43To watch and to go back
36:45and watch.
36:47Are you talking about voters in the next presidential election?
36:49Yes, exactly.
36:51In four years, who on stage?
36:53What would you like people to take away
36:55from your show, go back maybe and watch?
36:57What are you really proud of that you hope people
36:59take away from your show this season?
37:01Especially as we hit the holidays
37:03and people, maybe if they haven't sampled your show
37:05now will go watch your show.
37:07What should they be looking out for?
37:09Brian, what are you proud of with this first season
37:11of English Teacher?
37:13I'm so proud of the show in general
37:15because we thought it was so funny when we were making it,
37:17but then it's going to come out
37:19and you're like,
37:21were we right about this?
37:23It turns out people do find it very funny,
37:25but I would say to people that haven't watched it,
37:27if anything about
37:29the outside of it has made you think
37:31this show isn't for me,
37:33just try one episode
37:35because it's really, I believe
37:37it's so much the texture of the show
37:39and the way the show sounds
37:41and feels and is that works
37:43about it, so I ask you to move past
37:45any exterior
37:47thing and just check it out because
37:49I do believe there's a good chance you will
37:51love it.
37:53And you will see Brian
37:55dance to Maniac in the shower.
37:57Yes, if nothing else.
37:59If nothing else.
38:01Notch, what should people be looking out for
38:03with Laid? And then Sally,
38:05same question. For sure, I feel like people
38:07should go back and watch Laid for the first time
38:09on December 19th
38:11when it comes out.
38:13But I would say we always
38:15describe it as a fucked up rom-com,
38:17so I think it is
38:19about death and
38:21people are dying
38:23but in the
38:25middle of that she's actually
38:27finding love and wanting to find love
38:29and trying to
38:31satisfy this when Harry met Sally idea
38:33in her head, so I think there's a lot
38:35and there's a great female friendship at the center
38:37of it with her and Zosia Mamet who plays her
38:39best friend.
38:41I'm just excited for people to see it.
38:43By the way, we are at that moment of we thought it was funny
38:45and now we're...
38:47It'll work.
38:49But yeah, I think people are going to come to laugh
38:51and we're hoping that it's going to be...
38:53It does have a bingeable quality that I think
38:55we have lots of...
38:57When you think you're going one way, we do something else
38:59and I think people are going to be constantly surprised.
39:01And Sally, I do think
39:03I do have a hoarding problem because the ease
39:05of finding that Son of Zorn's DVD
39:07was probably... That's a concern.
39:09That's a concern.
39:11We can talk more about that experience online.
39:15Nick, as we head to season two,
39:17season one ended on quite a cliffhanger.
39:19Yeah.
39:21If people want to go back and watch season...
39:23Well, I guess we're going to be talking about season two.
39:25So what are you excited for people to see
39:27in season two?
39:29Season two, you're going to see even deeper
39:31folds of the Danny Ray relationship
39:33with Sebastian Maniscalco
39:35and also the amazing Omar Dorsey
39:37who they are so great together.
39:39Yeah.
39:41And if you stick around, you might learn
39:43how to win NFL overs.
39:45And by the way,
39:47I've got to say, I'm so impressed with
39:49Sebastian. I mean, obviously,
39:51stand-up and you never know how a stand-up's going to perform.
39:53I remember
39:55we walked over for the...
39:57when we were testing people to be...
39:59to play Omar's character
40:01with Sebastian
40:03and Chuck, Laurie and I were walking over
40:05and going, oh, I guess we're going to find out
40:07if Sebastian can act today.
40:09You know, one of those moments.
40:11But he's been fantastic.
40:13And he's a delight.
40:15And one more question, how is Charlie
40:17Sheen doing?
40:19Charlie's great and he's back
40:21and everything's great. That was a fascinating
40:23rapprochement.
40:25We had a cameo, a celebrity cameo
40:27in the first episode of season one
40:29that we just thought, why aren't these guys
40:31taking bets from someone famous here in LA?
40:33And Chuck came in
40:35one day and said, I think it should be Charlie.
40:37And I knew we were
40:39onto something because it terrified me.
40:41You know, and that's always a good sign.
40:43And they were so ready.
40:45And those guys made beautiful music together
40:47for years.
40:49And Charlie came in and knocked it out of the park.
40:51Yeah.
40:53We never thought we would see the day.
40:55That was fantastic.
40:57Eric, as the show continues,
40:59what were you
41:01proud of so far and what should we look forward to?
41:03I would say
41:05if there's one thing I...
41:07I'm proud of many aspects of the show.
41:09The first thing is that people within the healthcare
41:11industry seem to be
41:13responding very positively.
41:15I know this because I'm
41:17constantly refreshing comments on all
41:19social media.
41:21And we're getting a lot
41:23of people
41:25feeling seen.
41:27And I remember during COVID,
41:29there was all the clapping for all the healthcare
41:31workers. And I remember
41:33the cynic in me immediately being like,
41:35cool, that's helpful to them.
41:37And we'll immediately forget about them as soon as
41:39we get out of this.
41:41And that's to a certain degree what happened.
41:43And I
41:45stayed sort of fascinated with
41:47the people that work in these places
41:49and do what they do and have to go
41:51about a normal life while they do it.
41:53And the fact that they
41:55are feeling seen by it and it feels accurate
41:57to them
41:59makes me feel
42:01both like we succeeded as a show
42:03but also like if you guys don't watch it,
42:05you're kind of disrespecting them.
42:07Right.
42:09Why do you hate nurses?
42:13So, yeah, I think
42:15I'm most proud of that aspect of it
42:17and excited
42:19to hopefully make more.
42:21And Bill, we were talking before
42:23this season of shrinking
42:25some amazing performances
42:27from Krista,
42:29from Ted McGinley, in addition to your cast.
42:31Brett, this
42:33season was fantastic.
42:35What are you kind of proud of this season?
42:37Look, man, I'm so grateful to
42:39still be doing this.
42:41And I'm such a fanboy, so even
42:43doing this stuff is fun.
42:45And if I was going to tell people why to check it out,
42:47I didn't expect to have a career
42:49highlight in my mid-50s,
42:51but working with Harrison Ford
42:53has been...
42:55Man, the guy is so funny and such an
42:57interesting cat and
42:59such an icon and deservedly
43:01I mean, we're not really going to have another person
43:03that was Indiana Jones and Han Solo
43:05and the President
43:07and Get Off My Plane and The Fugitive.
43:09It's so bananas.
43:13And so, for me,
43:15just know that my day-to-day life is...
43:17Oh, the other day, Harrison called me
43:19and said we weren't going to shoot a scene
43:21because he said I can't
43:23shoot it, and so I was called to set because it was a problem.
43:25And I said, what's going on, man?
43:27He goes, I'm shaving, and I thought I was shaving.
43:29I thought this was a shaving scene that took place after work.
43:31Like, I came home and shaved before I went out.
43:33And I'm like, no, it's in the morning.
43:35He's like, Bill, if it's in the morning, I've got to shave shirtless.
43:37And I go, that's why you're not going to shoot it?
43:39You'll shoot it if you're shirtless?
43:41He goes, I'll shoot it if I'm shirtless.
43:43And I go, well, what do you need, man?
43:45He goes, just ten minutes to do some fucking push-ups.
43:51And the fact that I get to tell that story to you guys
43:55of where I imagined I would be
43:57when I wanted to come out here and do this stuff.
43:59Check him out. He's doing amazing work.
44:03And a true honor for me to be part of his career.
44:07Also, by the way, I feel like if I say Cougar Town's getting rebooted,
44:09it'll just happen.
44:13Well, now that people can't ask you about Scrubs anymore,
44:15I think they've got to ask about Cougar Town.
44:17Yeah, I'm pretty excited about the Cougar Town reboot for next year.
44:19That's exciting.
44:21All right, Jen, we're going to end with you
44:23as the Emmy-winning concumbent.
44:27There's a tremendous amount I'm proud of
44:29about the show for the past three seasons we've been on.
44:33And looking forward to season four,
44:35we're depicting someone getting their dream job
44:37in their mid-70s.
44:39And we tend to, in media and in life,
44:41think of chasing dreams
44:43and getting them as a young person's game.
44:45And I think it's really important to show that
44:47we do ourselves a disservice
44:49by saying that at a certain age
44:51you should stop chasing your dreams
44:53and you should stop really going for it.
44:55And so I think it's very exciting.
44:57It's always exciting to watch Jean Smart,
44:59but it's very exciting this season
45:01to watch her get her dream job
45:03and see what that means for her
45:05and wrestle with it and try to make it work.
45:07Very excited.
45:09Well, you guys, you have a lot of shows to watch
45:11this holiday season.
45:13Thank you so much to our wonderful comedy panel.