Mike Chisholm joins me to discuss how his curiosity leads to conversations; Steve O'Donnell; our first time watching Letterman; meeting Letterman guests on twitch; Rick Sheckman; intern stories; becoming friends with Rupert Jee and speaking at his retirement; Steve Young; Paul Shaffer; swooning over Barbara Gaines;; Steve Weiner; learning how to podcast; Calvert DeForest; Matt Roberts does a three hour episode; editing, PC culture; censoring episodes; the r word; Midget Wrestling Warriors; saying something is gay; Don Rickles; Andrew "Dice" Clay; Howard Stern; blackface; Jjimmy Hat, Andy Kaufman, and Jerry Lawler; Merrill Markoe; befriending Jeff Altman and Dick Cavett; how my OCD affects my show; his ailing father; season 2 and being my Tony Randall

Chris Kelly joined me to discuss his dad and his love of lesson plans; living in Canada and having having one US TV station; Little Rascals; other comedy hubs beside Canada; his influence; improv; his dad writing for SNL; Harry Shearer; every TV show having its own process; Letterman's reaction to being passed by Politically Incorrect in the ratings; having structure even in lunch orders; writing for the Village Voice; getting hired on HA!'s After Drive and Comedy Channels Sports Monster; being told Sports Monster had no viewers in Philadelphia; being the first to write about sports in National Lampoon; getting to NL when they got rid of the nudity, and having it shut down; the letters; the "prefect game" in Late Night; Tom Gammill & Cathy; writing VO's for Penn Jillette; meeting Bill Maher and discussing the Politically Incorrect should have a Johnny Carson like monologue; Bills early TV appearances; Buffalo Bill, Geena Davis and Jay Tarses; Slap Maxwell; Richard Mulligan; Arianna Huffington; Christine O'Donnell; moving to ABC; writing with Bill his New Rule on football streaming; Roseanne vs. OJ jury episode; great talk show guests; Charles Grodin; Dom Irrera makes a host look good; Andrew Smith on Johnny Carson and getting his job by "whipping it out"; Bill Scheft; Reese Witherspoon; having to write 100's of jokes on the same topic; Top 10 list; calling to congratulate Bill on 9/11 episode that got him fired; all desk show bits were created by Bill except New Rules written by Billy Martin; The Kardashians; Regis Philbin; what's Bill like; best and worst guests; Scott Carter's tremendous fingerprints on the show; his cat book, Downton Tabby

Andy Goldberg & Wendy Cutler of the improv group Off the Wall joined me to discuss the founder, Dee Marcus; how they met her; the original members, Chris Thompson, Judy Pioli, and Joie Madigow; having four women and two men; Marc Sotkin and Robin Williams join; improv games; characters; Paul Willson, David Ruprecht, Phil Lamar, and John Ritter join and leave; Maryedith Burrell; Completely Off the Wall pilot loses to Fridays; appearances on The Dating Game, The Goodbye Girl, and Fernwood Tonight; Norman Lear's compliment; voiceover acting and looping; Super Loopers; Diary of a Young Comic with Richard Lewis; hanging out at Cantor's Deli; Garry Shandling, Bernadette Birkett, Archie Hahn, Tom Tully, and Harry Murphy join and leave; Ken Levine takes classes; 1985-1986 sketch comedy Off the Wall not affiliated even though Susan Elliot was a cast member; George Wendt; Laverne & Shirley; Dance Night; celebrity fans Bruce Willis, Sam Shepard, and Gene Hackman; appearing on An Evening at the Improv; having a monthly guest, including Chevy Chase; Wendy & Bob Perlow due gags on People Do the Craziest Things; Candid Camera; Edinburgh Festival; Puppetry of the Penis; Groundlings cross-pollination; his book, Improv Comedy and teaching Bryan Cranston

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

Dan Vitale joined me and discussed social media presence; attention he got from Marc Maron's podcast; Lorne Michaels seeing him; his audition for The New Show; his fluctuating weight from 1986 - 1991; Cobra Kai; streaming services give more content; Dave Chappelle, Chris Rock, Bill Burr & Louis CK; being Lorne Michaels protege; being funnier now than when he was "hot" in the '80's because he's off alcohol and drugs and older; being listed above Norm MacDonald as a SNL cast member in Rolling Stone; growing up in Island Park, Long Island; other famous Island Park residents including Al D'Amato and the basis for Tony Soprano; where he did stand up pre Covid; living through Covid and protests; going back to college and feeling like Johnny Lawrence from Cobra Kai; IPhones; Dave Attell, memories of Don Novello and Randy Quaid; wanting to know who from his cast was invited to the 40th anniversary; Joan Cusack; Anthony Michael Hall; Damon Wayans; Jon Lovitz; Nora Dunn; Dennis Miller; Danitra Vance; Terry Sweeney;  A Whitney Brown; Jim Downey; Franken & Davis; remembering the Madonna episode and the horrible week working with Chevy Chase; being with world's largest man Michael Hebrank (1100 lbs.) at the Brookhaven Rehabilitation Center; intermittent fasting; coming back for the Ron Reagan Jr. episode; residuals; current SNL; Baldwin's Trump vs. Carrey's Biden; Taran Killam; Darrell Hammond making SNL a civil service job; Alan Zweibel; and John Murray

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 ifermaglich@richmondhillhs.org

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;

Andy Hoglund joined me to discuss finding out about SNL through Wayne's World and Comedy Central reruns; my getting tapes mailed from Canada by Bronwyn Douwsma; going to Boston University; studying film; doing a term paper about how the original cast of SNL embodies the baby boomers; working for Sen. Ted Kennedy; writing an article about SNL movies and it going viral; his copy of the Shales / Miller SNL book being autographed by almost 100 cast members; first, by Dan Aykroyd, second by Colin Quinn; writing for Vulture; being asked to recap SNL's episodes for Entertainment Weekly; Don Pardo; Johnny Gilbert; meeting a lot of ex-cast members through stand up; Christopher Guest only one to not sign; Harry Shearer; Steve Martin & G.E. Smith only non cast members to sign; season 6 cast members Denny Dillon, Patrick Weathers, Matthew Laurence; Don Novello's friendship with Francis Ford Coppola; Peter Aykroyd; Mark McKinney and his work on Studio 60; KITH Brain Candy; Season 11; Fridays; Robin Duke, Jim Belushi, Mary Gross, and Kevin Kelton; Billy Crystal was the only time he sent the book away to be signed; Dana Carvey; Robert Carradine; Michael Davis; MST3K and Joel Hodgson; Anne Beatts; Yvonne Hudson; Brian Doyle-Murray; Adam Sandler; how Lorne Michaels has changed; me getting my picture with him; Colin Jost & Michael Che; Shari Lewis; and our friendships with the late Dan Vitale

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

Interviews with four people who wrote to "Late Night with David Letterman" and their queries answered.  1. Carlin Trammel Philo IL 1992; 2. Michael Austin, Pico, Texas September 6, 1984; 3. Scott (Wofford) Kirk September 6, 1984; and Keri Maijala December 6, 1984

Doug McIntyre joined me to discuss Mr. Belvedere (Christopher Hewett)'s testicular accident and narcolepsy; Catholic school; other Great Neck residents Andy Kaufman and Alan King; sitcoms; the Dick Van Dyke Show; the Odd Couple; Norman Lear and Garry Marshall schools of sitcoms; working with Lowell Ganz on Knight and Day; going to Stonehill College; working in advertising; meeting and writing for Jack Klugman; getting a job on You Again? ; Throb; Full House; how Lenny Ripps is this generations Al Boasberg; Pat McCormack; long hours makes great friends on Full House; John Stamos' General Hospital character makes Doug's neighbor happy; writing a crossover episode with Urkel from Family Matters; working on the New WKRP in Cincinnati; pitching a reboot; writing the Soap Opera Awards while not knowing about them; Liberty's Kids earns him a Humanitas nomination; civics; I'm Just a Bill; Jack Sheldon; cancelling the Regents; Long Island Nets and the ABA; soccer; rooting for bad teams; Yankee fans; his love for Jean Shepard; his article about the Wright Brothers leads to his radio career; retiring because politics turns into asshole patrol; his sleep cycle; Donald Trump; open boarders; internet does not tie people to their country; the US flag should be for all people; welfare; US is a great country and is hated by both extreme sides; first Nation comedians; George Washington; Whiskey Rebellion; too much news that tells you what you already believe; his wife, Penny Peyser on The Tony Randall Show; his upcoming book; Frank's Shadow; rubber chickens; his memorabilia collection; and why my students are the future.  

I was a big fan of John Putch for many years...unfortunately this taping was ruined by a bad connection.  I was able to save over a half hour of the interview, in which John and I discussed being on the Cold Turkey movie set; directing Dick Van Dyke thirty plus years later; appearing with his mom, Jean Stapleton on talk shows; first acting appearance on All in the Family; playing Bob Morton on One Day at a Time; the made for TV movie "Angel Dusted"; writing and directing the "Route 30" trilogy; "The Father and the Bear"; keeping a small batch of movie regulars; All in the Family trivia; his mom appearing on SNL; TV movies "You Had me at Aloha" and "A Holiday Spectacular"; directing Ann Margret; past and future guests Nat Bernstein, Charles Robinson, Jamie Rose, Jeff Kramer, and Stacey Nelkin

NewsRadio's Sesame Street; favorite episodes of Taxi; his submissions for Harvard Lampoon and SNL; the change to writing half hour; how Newsradio creator Paul Simms hired comedy writers with no sitcom experience; his first episodes was co-written with Paul Simms; Newsradio's own style of writing; the length of days at Newsradio; hours were similar to Barney Miller; Christmas Story one of my favorite TV episodes of all time; Fibber McGee & Molly always in the script; joke written for 10% of the audience; writing an episode for Johnny Cash but he never agreed to do the show; Station Sale is an example of a "gang-written" show; team re-write after some read throughs; six people credited with some episodes; jokes sometimes written for 10% of the audience; eunuch jokes on Futurama; James Caan guest stars; episode is an homage to Clockers; Tubalcain; Joe Furey; Phil Hartman; why NBC continuously messed with the series; leaving Newsradio; death of Phil Hartman; 3rd Rock; Preston Beckman programmer; Undeclared; Rob Schneider's sitcom Rob; writing Ron Schneider's Annoying Girlfriend Theatre on SNL; writing the most episodes of Futurama; which show is the most in his creative voice; Sidney Poitier Mr. Pibb joke; Brickleberry; Yucko the Clown; Family Guy; cutaways are the hardest part; Seth MacFarlane's assistants become the best writers; ever meeting the boss; Cherry Chevapravatdumrong; toughest job he ever had; he was a manatee; South Park; Beavis and Butthead; Norm Hiscock

The J. Geils Band Richard "Magic Dick" Salwitz joined me to talk about his first musical hero, Louis Armstrong; practicing his instruments; playing the cornet; getting his first harmonica at the ae of3 when he had the flu; wearing harmonicas; how long a harmonica can last; "Whammer Jammer" breaks harmonicas; meeting J. Geils and Danny Klein in 1966; bootlegs; first record deal; having the Allman Brothers as fans;  "Musta Got Lost"; 70's radio airplay and DJ autonomy; opening for the Rolling Stones; performing during an earthquake in Japan; doing SNL with Rodney Dangerfield in 1980; reaction videos to "Love Stinks"; "Centerfold"; "Land of 10,000 Dances"; punk rock; Dennis Miller uses him as a cultural reference in a joke; being introduced to Shun Ng; Shun Ng's childhood; how acoustic guitar and harmonica blend perfectly; Shun being a semi-self-taught musician; Shun's genius; being self-taught on harmonica; his attack playing of the harp; how martial arts and music relate; James Caan's martial arts career; my daughter's martial arts and music lessons; greatest rock 'n' roll front man; rhythm 'n' blues help form the sound of the J. Geils Band; 70's R & B; what he's listening to now; the two types of harmonicas and how people who play woodwind instruments shouldn't smoke.

Jeremiah Ukponrefe joined me to discuss being Canadian; not being a reader growing up; memoirs being both hard to read but also fascinating; the Percy Jackson series; The Outsiders; Of Mice and Men; writing a book; his process; "booing" candy on Halloween; his book The Hive, being Star Wars meets Starship Troopers; morals being subtly hidden in science fiction; self-publishing; his book being one in a series; describing his series' universe; his protagonist, Alex; research; stand up career; only putting crowd work on You tube; how it's hard to break in stand up in Canada; Second City; writing freelance comedy; worse response doing stand-up; bombing on a date; bombing for 35 minutes; no bringers shows in Canada; wants to be knows as a science fiction / fantasy writer and a stand-up comedian; can sell books at shows; book feedback; target audience; each book in his series is for a different demographic; still keeping a day job; producing stand-up shows; roast battles; learning to do stand-up in his voice; storyteller comedians; Ellen DeGeneres; Jay Leno

After the interview is the audio of my last stand-up appearance from August 2011.

To order the Hive" Hive (The Arcane Volumes): Ukponrefe, Jeremiah: 9781777332907: Amazon.com: Books

Game show legend Jim Peck joined me to talk about living in Milwaukee during the Happy Days era; favorite radio shows; the first time he saw a television; going to Marquette University; getting the performing bug; his first job as a booth announcer at WISN; Don Pardo; hosting a series called Confrontation; Jim Peck's Hotline; hard to get guests; Take it from Here from Washington DC; Big Showdown; falling down during entrance and having it be on YouTube today; emulating Johnny Carson; contestant interviews; Hot Seat; the Richard Dawson "feud": Second Cance; Peter Tomarken; going out with Monty Hall on his 94th birthday; Peter Marshall; his unaired late night pilot After Hours: The Jim Peck Special which would have featured Susan Anton, Robin Williams, and Loni Anderson; You Don't Say; Nipsey Russell; Dick Gautier; Robert Ridgely; 3's a Crowd; led to divorces and firings; originally pitched by Jess Oppenheimer as a clean game show and sexed up by Chuck Barris; Chuck realizes "no one had fun on the show"; cheating on game shows; Press Your Luck; The Price is Right; his famous perm; Confessions of a Dangerous Mind; Everything's Relative and other game show pilots; You Tube 3's A Crowd reaction video; being hired to sub for and take over for Jack Barry on Joker's Wild; Barry dying and the syndicator choosing to go with Bill Cullen; calling his mother's friend out of the audience to play game; Divorce Court; Doug Llewellyn; Judge William Keane; show was done with actors and scripts; guest lawyers including John Erlichman; Judge Keane decided case by what he saw, not original outcome; hosting the Drum Corps International on PBS; Milwaukee; retiring from WTMJ-AM in 2021 - his first radio job.

Comedian Glenn Hirsch joined me to talk about his "nickname" Gleeb Hush; the other Glenn Hirsch (The Duck Sauce Killer); meeting a third Glenn Hirsch (a doctor); a similar situation I had with my brother; growing up in Jackson Heights, Queens; his mother being an organized hoarder; old report cards; being a fan of impressionists not comedians growing up; always able to make others laugh; sixth grade teacher asks him to do a monologue; COVID helped him learn about himself; entertaining is exhausting; having several health scares including a burst appendix, sepsis; Non-Hodgkins lymphoma diagnosis; too many stand ups to keep track of; less than seventy comics when he started; no such thing as bringer shows; picking a number and getting a spot; being asked back by Budd Friedman; taking two years to get decent slots; can't make a comedian; me trying out for Last Comic Standing; my sitcom pilot; not caring if he ever got a sitcom; appearing on Evening at the Improv; comedian comradery; adding tags to friends bits; losing to Brad Garrett on Star Search; cancel culture in clubs; playing 55+ communities; Bobby Slayton; being a "New York" sports fan; drugs; having a long distance marriage; concerts he went to; seeing the Rolling Stones with his daughter; getting "spit on" by Joe Cocker and passing around a joint backstage; meeting Muhammad Ali twice; meeting Pete Rose and Willie Mays; his daughter being friends with Y.A. Tittle; guesting on Dallas; losing a part to Sam Kinison: being passed over for a part of a New York Jew and asked to read for his Irish best friend; would he of rather hosted a talk show or had a sitcom; helping John Debellis write monologue jokes; writing and producing Comedy Club Superstars; not being able to just sit and write for others; and how Tom Snyder had the best talk show format

Comedy writer D.B. Frick joined me to discuss watching the Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson; George Carlin; comedians of the 1980's; baseball; John Mulaney; banging Bond babes; Herschel Walker; trying stand up; Wantagh; GPS; The Amazing Race; reality TV; Herve Villechaize; Antonio Banderas; Peter Dinklage; blackface; working at UCLA with Conchatta Farrell; Abe Vigoda; being an intern on Late Night with Conan O'Brien; writing a joke that Conan called his favorite of the year; getting the internship; Paul Schaffer; Alan Zweibel; Saturday Night Live's 50th; Lemmings Revival; Tony Hendra; Chevy Chase; sneaking in to the SNL 25th after party; sneaking into the Hayden Planetarium; raising a kid; making money by inventing or inheriting; not being in wills when promised;  Mr. T method of travel; teaching improv at Cambridge; getting scalped tickets to Monty Python; his TV show Welcome Back, America; Jackie "The Jokeman" Martling; writing a sitcom for himself pre-COVID; being taken seriously; having friends outside of show biz; borrowing money; giving to the homeless; having a wallet in 2022; putting everything in the back of your phone; crickets; being at Conan when Norm MacDonald had the greatest appearance in late night history; working for Conan O'Brien; how he thinks he blew his chance at Conan; wishing he was part of the original cast of SNL; The Blues Brothers; Bob Nelson; Christopher Guest directing Lemmings; Darrell Hammond; Don Pardo; SNL’s 50th Anniversary; Punkie Johnson; 30 Interviews in 30 Minutes

Chris Regan joined me to discuss growing up in Central NY; 70's TV; enjoying black & white comedy movies; loving Monty Python; SNL; UK comedy; auditioning for David Frost; comedy aging poorly; Michael Davis; going to Ithaca College; being in a sketch troupe with Andy Daly and the Stangel Brothers; being a NYC comedian and mostly topical; going to a comedy club for the first time at 14; coming advertising; working for Nickelodeon; getting jokes on Weekend Update; Colin Quinn vouching for him to get a job on The Daily Show; political affiliation of late night writers; Gen X not getting a President; teaching; working on Talk Show with Spike Feresten and FOX's bungles; Lopez Tonight almost making him quit show business; Chuck Sklar; poker playing and pai gow; writing for Anthony Jeselnik and Greg Giraldo; first Family he worked on was the Simpsons crossover; his episode "Girl Internetted"; "Send in Stewie"; "Yacht Rockers"; Marjo Gortner; "Teacher's Heavy Petting"; the fun of writing for Chris Griffin; his relationship with Seth MacFarlane; Harry Shearer; the three Family Guy writing rooms; Family Guy references; new season; TV ratings and his new episode "Bring Up Brady" with Tom Brady coming next season

Director Paul Miller joined me to discuss appearing on TV before ever watching it; Howdy Doody; becoming a director; getting hired at the Ohio State University TV station; getting a job at KGO TV San Fransisco; Electra Woman and Dyna Girl; working freelance for NBC Sports; directing the Oscars and the Osmonds; getting the call to direct Fridays; working with KISS; directing the Hollywood Cubes sketch; how live TV makes changes up to the last minute; how Saturday Night Live uses more pre-taped segments then when he was there; directing the Gilbert Gottfried / Larry David pilot Norman's Corner; NBC urges Lorne Michaels to hire him to replace Dave Wilson as SNL's director; SNL being a writer's driven show; directing the pilot for In Living Color; appearing on camera in first SNL episode; Phil Hartman, Dana Carvey, and Jan Hooks; Sam Kinnison; being pre-empted by the World Series; Roy Orbison; directing SNL during the Technician's Strike; '88 Debate sketch; Mike Myers; coming back for anniversary shows; Damon Wayans; Jim Carrey; working on The Ben Stiller Show, Mad TV, and Not Necessarily the News; directing and being nominated for the Cable Ace Award; Dennis Miller; Kathy Griffin; directing 2 Super Bowl half Time Shows; can you win an Emmy for directing the Emmy's?; directing Charlie Brown's Christmas 50th Anniversary; where he keeps his Emmy; producing and directing The Carol Burnett Show's 50th Anniversary; and his charity work building schools in Africa.

Diana Peckham joined me on the phone to discuss watching the Wide World of Disney and The Ed Sullivan Show; "The Wizard of Oz"; her father being a wrestler in the 1956 Olympics and her grandfather being a professional wrestler in the 1930's; awareness of Andy Kaufman; seeing his challenge on SNL and writing a letter in; being one of four chosen for a "wrestle off"; taking her father and grandfather as coaches; Andy Kaufman's misogynist persona; talking to Al Franken after the show; not knowing what she was getting into in the match; not knowing the referee was Andy Kaufman's manager (Bob Zmuda); her wrestling past; her parents working as AD and assistant AD at Emerson College; offers after the much; the FBI; going to college to be an English teacher and getting a job as a P.E. teacher; having her appearance grow as legend year after year; getting the tape in 1989; showing the video to her AP Lit students; being retired in New Hampshire; getting recognized on FB when SNL started streaming; REM used a clip of her in their video for Man on the Moon; getting royalty checks and marriage proposals; being made to stay in her dressing room during the show; almost getting her shoulder broken during the match; did not fight during dress rehearsal so segment went long and bumped Mr. Bill; how she would have played it; Kaufman v. Lawler; the SNL vote; did Andy die of AIDS or lung cancer?; getting slapped at the wrestle-off; her other competitors; how Andy would wrestle his girlfriend and other plants; the movie "Man in the Moon"; teaching; her children being athletes; and wrestling in the 30's and 40's.

Melanie Chartoff joined me to discuss watching Soupy Sales and Steve Allen; being interviewed by Johnny Carson and Oprah Winfrey; living by herself in Woodstock, NY her the summer of her junior and senior years of high school; her college sweetheart; writing funny songs and putting it into an act; auditioning for the new Laugh In; moving to L.A.; being in the Proposition; working at the Improv with John Debellis; John Debellis and Larry David's love of baseball; getting Fridays; writers room at Fridays was a boys club; Brandis Kemp; "Rocky Horror Picture Show" and "Road to El Salvador" parodies; "Women Who Spit" and "Diner of the Living Dead" almost get them kicked off TV; Reagan getting elected in '80 changes the tone; Elevator Sisters; the Plasmatics; musical guests; Marty Feldman; Mark Blankfield's pharmacist; Madeline Kahn; getting her tooth knocked out on live TV; the Andy Kaufman incident; doing a movie "Doin' Time" with Mohammed Ali but not meeting him until years later; Fresno; appearing on Newhart; Parker Lewis Can't Lose; letters from prisoners; The Hollywood Autograph Show; guesting on Seinfeld; being in the finale; Tom Kramer; Tina Sinatra; being a voracious reader; writing a novel; Rugrats and its thirty years of popularity; Phil Proctor; going to England with Robin Leach; Coaching charismatzing - discovering ones unique force of personality; doing improv with therapists; being a feminist; her titles for Fridays; hot tubs; women putting their sexuality out there; Fridays director Tom Moore in the NY Times in a body suit learning how to do trapeze; classic Fridays sketches - "TV is fake"; "Door to Door Whores", and "2nd Amendment";

To Meet Melanie :https://www.hollywoodshow.com/default/main    To buy her book melaniechartoff.com  and to take her Charismatizing class: Charismatizing.com   Fan sitehttps://www.facebook.com/charismatizing   Read a review 18506.gif (630×420) (allauthor.com)

Tracy Newman joins me to discuss the first time she picked up a guitar; folk music; her favorite childhood movie "Hans Christan Anderson"; Danny Kaye; George Carlin; Jeff Altman; going to college; going to New York; The Limelighters; Italy; performing at the Bitter End; performing at the Improv; becoming a teacher at the Groundlings; Rodney Dangerfield; dating Rodney Dangerfield; The Groundlings being the feeding ground for SNL; Heidi Gardner; being a founding member; teaching improv; Phil Hartman; non-show business Groundlings; teaching Tress MacNeille, Paul Reubens, and Conan O'Brien; thinking Conan was too raw for Late Night when he got it; Promise of Love TV movie; Valerie Bertinelli & Eddie Van Halen; making an experimental short "True Bliss" with then husband James E. Dean; teaming up with Jonathan Stark; film looping; studying sitcoms to write a spec script;  getting hired on Cheers for season 11; her episodes, including, Rebecca's Lover - Not! with Harvey Fierstein; people not knowing Ellen was gay; daytime TV; writing "The Puppy Episode" where Ellen comes out; writing an Ellen for Mary Tyler Moore; winning an Emmy, a Peabody, and a PETA Award; appearing on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson; beating Peter Mehlman for an Emmy but not a Writer's Guild Award; paying for her Peabody; Hollywood Walk of Fame; meeting famous people in LA; Lowell Ganz; being asked to show-run Hiller & Diller by him and Babaloo Mandel; writing various pilots; Bob's bad timeslot but great cast; creating According to Jim and Soul Man; hiring Jim Belushi, her song "Carpool'

A performance of Carpool follows the interview.

To buy Tracy Newman's albums visit Tracy Newman and the Reinforcements - I Just See You - Amazon.com Music 

Brian Levant joined me to discuss his first TV souvenir: the scripts to a defunct series Noonday; collecting box tops to get toys; still feeling the way about toys that he did when he first got them; his book "My Life in Toys"; his first word being TV related; collecting salt and pepper shakers; playing with the toys he collected and not keeping them in pristine condition; watching Leave it to Beaver and then bringing them back twenty five years later; The Flintstones; not really collecting superheroes; got the job directing The Flintstones when Stevenn Spielberg saw his Flintstones collection; how Happy Days grew him professionally; Garry Marshall's style; playing basketball while writing and softball in between tapings to create a family atmosphere; Weirdly & Creepella Gruesome; Hanna Barbera "stealing" characters; The Great Gazoo; Harvey Korman; Allan Cumming's stunts in "Viva Rock Vegas"; the book putting his collection to bed for the most part; my collection of TV artifacts; writing the classic Happy Days "A.K.A. the Fonz" and "Hard Cover"; leaving to produce Brothers and Sisters; upcoming 50 Years of Happy Days book with Fred Fox; first episode I remember watching in syndication; my favorite Happy Days joke "Mama, Papa, Sister"; the episodes "Stolen Melodies", "Letting Go"; the finale; Beethoven being a sitcom on steroids; Charles Grodin; Jingle all the Way and working with Arnold Schwarzenegger

Teri Bolo joined by to discuss the lack of Groundling representation on my podcast; her first vivid memory of seeing Peter Pan on TV; going to see Pollyanna and being told she looked like Hailey Mills; her and her aunt going to Gary Austins improv class, which became The Groundlings; what it means to teach improv or to take improv classes; the rules of improv; whether characters are created or fine-tuned in improv; Laraine Newman; "Tunnelvision"; "If You Don't Stop You'll Go Blind"; The Dating Game; The Gong Show; her role in "Carrie"; being on a big time movie set; the famous shower scene; working with George Burns and John Denver in "Oh God"; being cut out of "Animal House"; going to movie locations while on vacation; Gary Austin; Del Close; improv being collaborative and not competitive; Robin Williams; Fred Willard; "The In Laws"; "Mommie Dearest"; my dad meeting Faye Dunaway and my mom meeting the bank robber from the "7-Ups"; making out with a girl for a scene i "Scarface" that you can only see her arm in; "Pee Wee's Big Adventure"; being a stand in for Julia Duffy and The Love Boat; the Newhart episode where she and Julia Duffy played twins; Bob Newhart not getting recognized at the gate; Don Rickles visits Newhart set; 24; "Little Miss Sunshine";  when to approach celebrities;

written by Ian Fermaglich

cast:                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        Ben Rosenfeld / waiter..........................Dylan Gottesman www.backstage.com/tal/dylan-gottesman   dylangottesman@gmail.com                                 Ashley Martinez / Sophie / Mary ......... Phoenix Loudermilk www.backstage.com/tal/phoenix-ever  ever                                                                           Gary Rosenfeld / Todd..........................Randall Lakefish                                                                                                                                                Stage Directions...................................Ian Fermaglich                       

Special Thanks to Kevin Kelton, Stu Kreisman, Tom Ruprecht, and Sam Sandora

Paul joined me to discuss being happy; Earth Angel; taking a year off from college to write a hit; his management changing his age and name; coming from a musical family; his father hating rock 'n' roll; Elvis; making demos in Nashville; Conan O'Brien; The Pointer Sisters; Brill Building; his hits "When" and "7 Little Girls"; "7 Little Girls" being banned in Boston; performing on Dick Clark's Saturday Night show; almost forgetting the words on live TV; The Beatles changing his career to jingle performer and writer; smoking; crooners trying to sing rock; Elvis' success; Col. Tom Parker; Elvis' generosity; Paul Anka; his jazz quarter made of jingle singers 5ive; learning his parts by computer; scat yodeling; his biggest hit "Roses are Red"; being paid to sing at weddings; trying to make a woman cry each time he sings it; his wife Susan; how his book came about; winning a Clio but not getting the award; Arizona uses his song and the case goes to the Supreme Court; "Hello this is Joanie (The Telephone Answering Song)"; wanting to sing a duet with Willie Nelson.

Jon Schroeder joined me to discuss his fake imdb facts; his influences Pee Wee Herman, Chris Elliot, Garry Shandling; Sledge Hammer; going to San Fransisco State; his first job, copying Fresh Prince and Family Matters episodes for syndication; writing promos for the WB; meeting and writing with Doug Benson; getting hired on The Sarah Silverman Program; her show being more cartoonish than Bob's Burgers; working on Jimmy Kimmel Live! during the hiatus; becoming friends with Chris Elliot; Susan 313 pilot; why writers stay on Bob's Burgers; trying to top past holiday episodes; Burger of the Day and Storefront; when Gene repeats things that sound "dirty"; "Sheesh, Cab Bob"; "Carpe Museum"; Regular Size Rudy; my favorite characters; episode titles; "Stand by Gene"; Nora Smith's ability to throw out the perfect line; writing songs for the show; feeling that "Something Old, Something New, Something Bob Caters for You" needed a song and Nora writing it while taking a walk; Bob's Burgers: The Movie; The Oscars; "A Few Gurt Men"; writing Linda stories; differences between Linda and Marge Simpson; age of fans of Bob's Burgers; Teddy episodes; could Bob have been played by Bob Newhart?; guest stars; Kevin Kline as Fischoeder; improv in "Sheesh, Cab Bob?"; "Video Killed the Gene-io Star"; "Dream a Little Dream of Bob" with Jon Glaser, H. Jon Benjamin, and Jack McBrayer improvs; interviewing Bob's Burgers crew or YouTube; not being a performer; writing in the characters voices; Dan Mintz; John Roberts; his podcast "Two Jon's Don't Make a Right"; making lefts are dangerous; Jon Daly's podcast of reviewing podcasts; me talking to people from SNL; going backstage and meeting Don Pardo; 

Joe Grossman joined me to discuss having no early TV restrictions; being a fan of David Letterman since 13 or 14; Chris Elliot; trying at first to be a cartoonist; finding out that Letterman has writers; Lewis & Clark College; learning standup at the American Comedy Institute for an article for Time Out NY; writing a submission packet; being passed over for the job twice; eventually getting hired by the Stangel brothers; getting stuff on the first night; meeting Dave after putting away the Late Show bear; a chance encounter with Dave before in an elevator; almost being run over by Dave in the basement; written into bits by Lee Ellenberg, Jeremy Wiener, and Tom Ruprecht; did not write himself in because he did not want to be a performer; how the annual Thanksgiving dinner for the staff gave us Sherman Grossman, the sneezing monkey; monkey handler stories; how a kangaroo ended up on the Late Show; 2008 Writer's Strike brings comradery; Joe starts appearing telling rehashed jokes about other subjects; Chris Christie; "Ox, the Wilderness Expert"; drinking urine in a lot of sketches; rules of urine drinking for young comedy writers; having Grace Helbig play a love interest in a bit; inadvertently talking like Dave; telling viewers about his birthing classes; Dave announcing his child's birth on air; puns with the Foo Fighters and Wu Tang Clan; his last appearance with a highlight reel; Norm MacDonald; going to the last show party and then watching it in a bar at 11:35; cleaning out his office and taking a few mementos; getting hired at Full Frontal with Samantha bee; having to learn a new voice to write to; and adjusting to a new schedule

Elaine Aronson joined me to discuss 60's TV; growing up in Newton, Mass; going to college for dance; graduating from UCSB with a degree in dramatic arts w/o talking a drama class; teaching dance; being a secretary at Empire Pictures; writing scenes for child actors; getting Ron Zimmerman as a mentor; writing a spec Molly Dodd; getting hired on It's the Garry Shandling Show; first episode is Gilda Radner episode; strike happens and goes back to being a waitress; "Save Mr. Peck's" an all guest star episode; "Worry Wort"; how an episode doesn't start with tricks; moving to Night Court; Phil / Will; meeting Bill Clinton; writing the final episode and 30 Rock redoing it; doing Doogie Howser, MD; the Bochco method; having an ear infection and not being able to hear when having to interview deaf actresses; meeting her husband, Curtis Armstrong; Gilbert Gottfried; Clinic Defense Alliance; working on Good Advice & Cybill; Christine Baranski; the failure of The Gregory Hines Show; Maggie; The Weber Show; That 80's Show; The Game; Mystery Girls; Project MC2; You, Me, Her; how mini rooms are not leading to young writers being able to later run shows; her pilot Kitty's Dish; long hours currently on The Gilded Age; Long Island sets; Curtis' taping American Dad; Moonlighting

Roger Eschbacher joined me to talk about his early influences; Romper Room; Monty Python and original SNL, making videos with high school classmates including Tom Kramer; going to college to study communications; getting a job as a PA on Fridays; working with Andy Kaufman; getting a job on Not Necessarily the News; having Conan O'Brien tell him about the Groundlings; working there with Lisa Kudrow and Will Ferrell; working on a George Carlin special; Sunday Comics; Candid Camera; Cheers; Please Watch the Jon Lovitz Special; writing a story for Star Trek: The Next Generation; "Wagon's East"; writing for Aah, Real Monsters;  The John Larroquette Show; Detention; Friends; Wendy's commercials; writing for Scooby Doo; Tracy Newman; wrote two books for children; writing young adult science fiction novels; reading them as a kid; the difference between hard sci-fi and soft sci-fi 

Amazon.com: Dragonfriend: Leonard the Great, Book One eBook : Eschbacher, Roger: Kindle Store  

Amazon.com: Ghost Star (Ghost Star Adventures Book 1) eBook : Eschbacher, Roger: Kindle Store

Road Trip: Eschbacher, Roger: 9780803729278: Amazon.com: Books

Tommy Kovac, podcaster and comedian, and I discuss what bought us to our podcast, favorite guests, favorite moments and all sorts of fun stuff.

Boyd joined me to talk about watching Love American Style with his mom, and being inspired by Steve Martin and The Goodies; going to Oklahoma Christian University; sending samples of his work to Letterman head writer Steve O'Donnell; being chosen for the job over Conan O'Brien; realizing he doesn't know the show that well; feeling like he was in over his head the entire time he was there; getting let go after two years; Pirate Television for MTV; Garth Brooks; writing a spec Roseanne that got him Full House; writing the Mary Kate & Ashley Olsen tv-movie "To Grandmothers House We Go"; Merlin Olsen; OJ Simpson; Little House on the Prairie; getting the job on Nurses; Anson Williams and the Heimlich maneuver; how Nurses saved lives; David Rasche; Sledge Hammer; Robert Wuhl; "Hollywood Knights"; Loni Anderson; WKRP in Cincinnati; Ada Maris; What A Country! with Yakov Smirnoff; getting scared by the made-for-TV movie "Adam"; favorite television shows and the cast and crews love; still hanging out with people from Nurses and Full House today; David Letterman's new show; Lenny Ripps; creating a sitcom for Fox, Rewind; quitting before the pilot was shot; having Rewind cancelled before airing its first episode; writing the Chris Farley film "Almost Heroes"; Chris Farley dying before the movie came out; working with Bette Midler on her eponymous sitcom; Dolly Parton; his art career; Basquiat; everyone should create; Keith Haring; podcasts are a creative outlet; this episode was a back and forth; Harlan Williams hated being around other comedians;