SNL History w/ Jason Reitman
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visit buyatoyota.com the official website for deals all new toyotas come with toyota care a no-cost maintenance plan see your dealer or visit buyatoyota.com for details let's go places jason reitman dana jason reitman who is a uh i would say a friend of mine and uh smart guy a director writer uh

Just did this SNL movie, which sort of fell in our lap because it's right up our alley. What do you mean by that? I don't understand. Well, you used to be on SNL. 1947? No, yeah. So we got an advanced copy of the movie so we could watch it at home because we were running around. And it was very, very interesting having been in 8-H for seven years. And they made a set that looked like

I thought they were filming in 8-H. Yeah, me too. It was so accurate. Yeah, he did a great job with that. Staircases, the actually hallway, the page desk, that whole. And then when we went back to the show where I did recently, I just saw that again. I was like, God, it was exactly right. He's done some great stuff. That movie is very interesting, worth the watch. And then he's done Ghostbusters. Juno, which was a smash, up in the air with George Clooney, I think maybe Anna Kendrick. Yeah.

And so he's just high quality. I worked on something with him once, or at least we talked about something and love to get involved with this guy. He's just a smart, good guy to hitch your wagon to. And, and, you know, I was interesting because of his resume and all the stuff he's done very successful, but just never lost his fascination for this live wacky, crazy idea of a TV show that Lorne Michaels invented basically, you know,

Going on live at 11.30, under rehearsed, under everything. Like Lauren's famous quote, the show does not go on because it's ready. It's because it's 11.30. So Jason has a fascination with it, and he tried to capture the spirit of that first show, the crazy, chaotic spirit. And so we talk all about that. We break it down, David. We break it into little microscopic pieces. So here he is, Jason Reitman.

David, are you still around the corner from me? No, I actually moved from that mansion to another one. Oh, okay. No, you live in the nice area and I, listen, I've hit the skids. I was going to email you about this. Oh, I'm sorry. Yeah, I moved about a mile away. It's not great. Okay. You should crowdsource something. I think people would spend money on seeing you in a nice place. See, Dana doesn't care.

It's David's world. We just live in it. I'll just say it. I know it's a hackney cliche. So how are you today, Jason? Here's the most trite thing I could say to you. Are you looking forward to the holidays? I am. Are you? Actually, I mean, I'm in that place where the movie's out and there's nothing left to do with it. And now I have to think of something else to do.

Okay, the good news is I saw it last night. I was mesmerized by it. I thought, oh, thank God. I love it. By the way, this is the scariest fucking podcast I could go on because I haven't done anything yet with two SNLers. I'm on with two legends, two real deal who know the fucking show. So I'm not trying to shine you on. I'm genuinely intimidated by this. I've never seen a movie like this where I was so familiar and I got...

goosebumps at times. I was got emotional at times. Uh, so I, I was realizing that David and I are, are in a different lane where we're experientially it's, it's so familiar, it's different, but it's, and, uh, you really captured it though. The chaos of it, it still is just chaotic as fuck. So here's the common thing that I keep on hearing back from particular, uh, from anyone who worked at SNL, I mean, crew cast, anything.

The stairwell. The stairwell between the 8th and 9th floor. And we literally got that down to the exact details. The handrail, everything. Where anyone who's ever worked there has smoked in there, cried in there, broken up with their boyfriend in there. Because there's no privacy at SNL. And every time there's a character who would walk in the stairwell, they said they would fuck them up. There's a co-ed bathroom now. You know...

And just one small bathroom for everybody. And it's down the hall. Yeah. Where is it down by Lauren's office? No, the other way it's on eight H, but just around the corner. Oh yeah. But yeah, your point. Yeah. There's no real privacy. And sometimes in the stairwell, you'll see a writer that you've been wanting to see for a sec. And then you'll have a little powwow right there in the stairwell. Some writing happens there as well.

Was that in the movie, Jason? You know what, Jason, I will tell you just to bore everyone on eight H when you go down toward the elevators, you can take a left and there's a men's room, but it's bigger. You know, it's got a couple, I would go into the stall, close it in my suit or whatever for weekend update and just go over, go over during the commercial and then run back to

because I had to get one minute of silence because everyone's grabbing you and there's noise and there's music and there's crowds and there's other cast so you go I just have to focus you don't want to get out there and look at the cards and go oh my god I don't know this as well as I thought I did or something you know same thing with sketches you go over there and cram and then come out and go okay more distractions but they do the same thing while I'm directing you

You need a second. Yeah, because if you're a director, everyone is reaching out to you at any given moment and everyone has a question. They're looking at you and they're always trying to measure whether this is a time to ask you a question and they can't do that when you're in the bathroom. So I use my few bathroom breaks during the day as the moment to like, I pull out the sides and I go, what the hell am I making here? And you forget to go to the bathroom because I go, wait, wait, why did I come in here? I just came in to study. I was like, oh yeah. Yeah.

But I will say, go ahead, Dan.

They they ran it and everyone was so there was a tension because Secret Service and army men were there, you know, flak jacket, helmet and machine guns. Right. And I came out of the the makeup room on eight and I saw them lined up like six or eight on both sides holding machine guns. I said, can I go? Yeah, you can go. And I'm in the Biden outfit. And I literally saluted them. Yeah.

not as a joke. It was just like kind of nervous energy, but we just thought a cast member. I thought, well, we should kind of laugh a little bit while they rehearse this. Cause everyone was dead quiet. Cause it got laughs, you know? And I said to him, uh,

I don't know if we should ask Lauren, I'm going to ask him, but Lauren was so deep into the whole thing. He didn't want to hear any notes at that moment. Right. Cause he had a lot, a lot of stuff to think about. That was an intense night. So you really, I think you did a really good job capturing Lauren's obsession with the show, you know, basically, especially then. Yeah. But still now not knowing what it was and not, you know, well, I, I thought, you know, you could have, uh, I had no idea what to expect. Um,

And there's not a lot of just like set shot. It really moves, which is an understatement. There's tons of throwaway lines and there's laughs all the way through, but there's so run over. You got to pay attention. And there's just, it's just all movement. There's no like real static, not that many static shots. I did love Willem Dafoe and Lauren in the elevator. Just a side two shot. I like that sometimes when directors don't,

not waste time, but go in for like this shot. There's just so typical over, over close up, close up, close back and forth. I like things playing. Like you have to just pay attention. Cause that's, you're like really watching people talk and you can understand it. You don't need to be close up with them, close up with them. So that I liked. And I liked, um,

Just seeing every cast member played and who's playing them and sort of forgetting it and just thinking it's the real Chevy. It's the real everybody. Very cool, though. Very cool. Thanks. I didn't know 90% of that. You know, that first show, it all takes place if people don't know. What is it? The hour and a half before the show. How obsessed were you both with SNL before you auditioned? Finally, a question for us. Thank you.

When I look on it now, like I met Lorne in 86. So he'd done five years. He had his sabbatical and came back, but it still seemed like it was a hundred years in my mind because of my college years watching the original Saturday Night Live. And so it was still like this monumental thing to actually try to get on. And I auditioned.

A couple of times I auditioned once at the comedy store, a cattle call with comedians doing five minutes with no MC. And I followed Sam Kenison. No way. At midnight in Kenison prime. I died a thousand deaths. Wasn't that special? Well, I was going to show you as a director, you must, you know, it's very, it's difficult, but you landed it. You're doing actors or comic actors, improvising, throw away, doing comedy, right?

for film, you know, there's that to try to get it integrated. So it feels really poppy

But there were some ones that I really noticed that just felt real, felt spontaneous. That was all just you yelling at them or just one camera? I'll tell you how we made it and how we even got into this in the first place. Look, I grew up obsessed with SNL. And I also grew up around some of those actors because my dad was obviously directing some of them. But when I was a kid and I would watch it, every once in a while there would be these bumpers where...

You would see the crew for a second, a sketch would end, the camera would pull back. And sometimes it would even, you would even hear the director from the control room and it would be like, you know, this actor go here, this actor go here. And you'd see the crew and you see them moving a set. And the moment that happened, I went, I want to know who the fuck those people are. Like, I want to, how is this thing being made? Because I was obsessed with the concept that on Tuesday you start with nothing. And by Saturday you have a finished show. And yeah,

And when I right after I directed Juno, my agent asked me, what do you want to do next? And I told him, I said, look, I had two dreams as a kid. One was to one was to direct movies. And the other was to be a writer for Saturday Night Live. And I said, you ask Lauren if there's any chance he'd let me come and write even for like a week. And Lauren was really kind. And he said, yeah.

Yeah, yeah, you can come to space camp. And so I went, I spent one week there. It was one of the greatest weeks of my life. And I think it was coming off of that. I thought, all right, I want to, I want to make a movie. It's not

it's not as much like a celebration of the the comedy but like a celebration of how this show is actually made and the fact that it came so close to not ever existing yeah yes it is i i'm doing it now just sort of a guest i suppose doing biden and stuff and yeah you just you still you can't prepare for it you go i'm gonna do a lot of stand up or whatever you can't really prepare for it because

It's changing every second. They throw you out there. You're kind of like, there's the cards. You're trying to be loose, trying not to push, trying to land it. So it's intense. It's just still really intense. I mean, that's actually, I was really curious because when I've been watching you do this, recently I would go,

I wonder if you feel like you're falling back into how comfortable you were back in the day. Does it feel like day one for you or does it even feel further out of reach because it's something you used to feel comfortable doing and now you have to jump right in with a new cast, new set of writers?

Um, that's, that's a good question. I'm actually podcasting on my side. I I'm on your podcast. No, but, uh, that I'm, I'm it, if to me, it's always solving the puzzle in the moment. If it's my character, like what is the musicality or rhythms I have to hit? What are the chops? What are the, and, um, the first time I went out there, it felt familiar, but it still was

Right as you're about to, they're going to push you out. You're going to enter a scene. There still is. Okay. I'm not on camera to 10 million people. I'll be on it in a second. Right. I've got this little moment. Don't push, have fun. So I, I fell into it pretty, pretty quickly, but I still have, um, I'm not completely where I was when I stepped off in 93, um,

That was another level because you're doing four or five sketches a show. Did you guys ever get to a point where... Oh, I can't even imagine. You have to go an hour waiting for your one moment. All week. Dana's waiting. If you come back to host...

It's the opposite. I think the first time I hosted, I was in 13. I've never been in more than three sketches, I think, when I was on the show or maybe four. Oh, that's wild. Dana was always packed in a lot, but I was sort of used sparingly. And so 13 overwhelmed me. And now Dana's waiting for one. And it's maybe one paragraph. You go-

Jesus, I got to nail, there's no second take. If that show, I always say, if it had second takes, it would be so much better because if you could just pick from one, because sometimes you walk into a sketch and you're like, like on a scene in a movie, sometimes you go, you know what, can I come in again? You know, I just, I'm not in the right space. I came in a little early. And on those, you just go in and go, oh fuck, it's not going right. And we just, this is the one. Let me ask you. So would you rather,

kill it rehearsal, kill it dress and know, oh my God, somehow I have to replicate how well that worked. I don't know exactly why the magic happened or would you rather hit it at like 70% address and go, oh, I know exactly how to take it to a hundred now. Definitely the second one, 70%. It's a horrible feeling when it goes just perfect address. Cause you know, you're like, this is never going to be that good again. It's more than horror. It's sickening. Also, you want to be good enough address to where

You get on the show because you don't want to save too much because then it gets cut and you're like, oh, fuck, I really laid down on that. But you know, some of these sketches, you know, we're going to get on. There's some that just kill, but you're like, oh my God, I just hope it does table read, kill rehearsal with the crew and then dress and then air. And it's hard to keep it going every single one and have it work.

And, you know, for me, it's like I try to tell myself it's not literal. The cue cards are just suggestions, because when you get out there and you have this part you have to do, you can kind of just sort of rush just slightly and not really connect with the audience. It's it's it's sort of a ballsy move to take a moment or extenuate a beat just just a little bit because that keeps it alive and the audience senses it when

when you're having fun and surprising yourself. Do you get to have fun now when you're doing it, Dana? Because I have to imagine first time around when you're a cast member and you have no idea what the sky is. You don't know yet that you're going to have success in films. You don't know yet all the other things that are going to happen, that you're going to be an all-timer. So that's always going in the back of your head of like, oh, is this going to work or not? I'm wondering for both of you, to go back now, does it feel like

I am who I am now. I can go out and have fun. Uh, or is it just as high pressure? I need to get a win. I need to crush it. Uh, I would say it's both. It's a little bit. I'm playing with house money. I understand that. Uh, in the beginning, I didn't know I was with Phil Hartman, the Phil Hartman or the Jan hooks. They, we didn't know where it was going by 93. It was feeling pretty good, but now it's still the thing. If I'm doing Biden, I'm trying to get the language and the

and sort of ride the wave if it comes to me. If I'm doing, no joke, I'm not getting around here. My eyes get big and I hold that, then it's still kind of the same process. So both things are true. Playing with house money, no one way down the other side of it. It's kind of like you would say to Steven Spielberg, is it any better now? Or is it any easier now? He's still just trying to solve problems. Isn't that what directors do? David, how often do you miss it? You know,

Everything is so different than SNL that I liked. I liked it because I had a good, fun batch of people. And I'm glad I kind of stayed close with them. But I don't miss as much because it was...

I just remember sort of the hard parts and I also remember the great parts. You know, you forget, it's like surgery. You're like happy after, but during it, you go, God, it was tough. But I'm just happy it happened and I got six great years out of it and then it got me on something else. And then trying to stay afloat is the next big challenge, you know, because you could

do your own show and it doesn't work and then suddenly all your heat's gone and you're not doing anything. And it just, it's tough. It's hard not to fall off a cliff after. How often are you talking to current cast members about that? How often do they reach out and go, Hey,

It's all going well. I'm on the show. I feel confident. I'm getting on every week. What happens from here? I think Dana gets it more because they ask him about impressions and what to expect and these kind of things. But when we have him on the show- I'm with people that are really young. Yeah. Right now he's with people that are really young that are- Yeah. Some haven't even been on a sketch yet. They're just like, what am I doing here? Because there's so many casts. It's very-

Very frustrating, for sure. I'm sure I feel for them sometimes. 50 years in, you know, you got 200 cast members before you or whatever. When I was on it, it was really, it was the original, which is probably the best or whatever the best means or the most potent. And then, of course, Eddie's years in Piscopo and then the Billy Crystal year, then the Stranger. So it seems young and it's history when I was there now. Blue Nile.

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I was going to ask you, like, because what's interesting to me is, okay, now we got to cast these people, you know? Yeah. And I wonder when was it down to like three people or was it instant?

The gentleman, you know, it's hard for me to connect the names. Like a gentleman who plays Dan Aykroyd. Yeah, yeah. Landed so well. They all did, really. I mean, I was laughing. Oh, that's Billy Crystal. Yeah, that's... I was laughing the whole time. You know, so, I mean, look, a few things are happening. I mean, one, I'm approaching this as a movie. And...

And I'm thinking about this as this is a movie specifically about the 90 minutes leading up to the first episode. So the movie, like a concept from the original concept, which is always the movie starts at 10 p.m. with Lorne Michaels out on 50th Street looking for Andy Kaufman. The movie's going to end last line of the movie, 1130, live from New York on Saturday night. So in knowing that, it's not about how do we tell the whole history of SNL? It's not, oh, how do we recapture Chevy Chase? It's going, okay, who is Dan Aykroyd at 11 p.m.?

How vulnerable he is, how scared is he, how confident is he? On the first show, where is he right in this moment in time? Right before the world changes. There's a moment where SNL doesn't exist and then there's a moment where it does exist. It's like a, it's a shuttle launch. It's like, it's the first walk on the moon. Where is everyone's heart at? Where is Lorne Michaels when he's actually vulnerable or maybe the last time before he becomes as confident as he is?

And what is this strange group of people, some that worked, some that didn't? I mean, geniuses like Jim Henson that have like, you know, it's not going to click. It's not going to work are in the same room as people who are literally just, they, like I always said, this is a, this is a shuttle launch. Like that's what we're watching. So with, so with Dan Aykroyd, it becomes a question of, you know, not can you do basimatic, but rather,

Can you capture his energy and his verbosity and his intelligence and his vulnerability? And Dylan O'Brien, who, you know, Dylan O'Brien's like a heartthrob. Dylan O'Brien was, you know, in like Maze Runner and Teen Wolf. And like, you know, I don't think people think of him as a comedian, but understood that Ackroyd's on the spectrum and understood how Ackroyd spoke. And also understood Ackroyd's sex appeal, which I think no one else did. No other actor came in and understood that, like,

Ackroyd could get it like women loved him. That's an important part of who he was. And, and so all good looking and charming and so smart and, and kind of willing to play both ends of the spectrum of comedy of being like uber confident, but also weird. So, uh,

We interviewed every living person who was in the building October 11th, 1975. So not only the cast, not only the writers, but costumers, production design, members of Billy Preston's band. We interviewed Howard Shore. We interviewed Paul Schaefer. There was NBC pages we literally got a hold of who could just give us a taste of like, what was it like? How were people acting? How confident or unconfident were people? And that's what leads to the casting, not acting.

Can you nail the Chevy Chase fall? Or can you nail Gilda Radner doing Rosanna? Or you hear a random story that actually did happen and no one knows about it. Just some page tells you, oh, I don't know if you know this, but over by the elevators, then you're like, oh, we should put that in. It's great texture. It's just something that did happen. It's weird. And then because you're moving the camera through this whole

Everyone has to be good because you got to know when the camera's hitting you for the movie, not the show. But when you're going through the hallways and you go into makeup, then you pan in, you're going to the host dressing room, then George Carlin walks past and you're trying to catch people going, oh my God, this is sort of the chaos of it all. It's hard to be... The idea was to drop you in it. We wanted the audience to feel not like they were being presented a movie, but rather... I just remember the first time I was there, it just felt like...

Holy shit, I'm here and everyone's moving past me. And as people, I recognize people I don't recognize. And being at SNL, no one sits down. Like you're not allowed to sit down. It's just constant movement. And that's what I wanted the audience to feel is like layers of action. And so we tried to give 30 different characters actual arcs, but sometimes they're the foreground, sometimes the background, but literally every actor works every single day.

There's no trailers. You're just there. And we rebuilt the entirety of 8H, eighth floor, ninth floor. It's all one 360 set. It looked great. It looked exactly... I thought it was real. I'm like, oh, they must have built this, but there's so much shit they'd have to put in here. Like those makeup rooms and the wardrobe and everything and all the things in the walls. And I'm just like, goddamn, because...

It was like in real time. One time you move and I go, they're on that side. Okay. Oh, they're coming by where we used to put catering along the wall. Oh, they're coming back. So it was real. In that respect, like it didn't even matter, I guess, but it does. If someone knew it, they go, because I would see like Herb Sargent.

Yeah. Was still there with us. He lays out. Oh, I didn't realize that. Herb was there when you guys were there? Yeah. We took his office. Update. Update writer. He's in charge of update. Yeah. And he was like, kind of grousey. But after about a year, he moved out of that office and me and Farley moved in. Oh, yeah. And then Sandler and Rock took.

The back part is like a small two little offices with the door between them, but you have to go through ours. So that was four of us crammed where he had all these papers and shit just doing up-dating. Yeah.

and newspapers but yeah i saw him i think i told dana before this i saw audrey pert dickman yeah i was working with because she was there with me and she was there with no kidding yeah right and uh i was like oh my god was she there from the beginning because you could see was joe dixo in that was yes joe dixo is day one in fact uh is great um

So we were finishing up this last Ghostbusters movie that I produced with Ackroyd and I showed him the model of the whole set. And I, you know, I interviewed Ackroyd a bunch of times and finally I was like, Hey,

can you give me an impersonation of Joe Dixo for the actor who's going to play him? And after it just like, just jumps right in that dual minutes. And he like, just starts doing the whole thing. And then I was like, what about Davey? How about Davey Wilson? Can you give me Davey Wilson? Davey Wilson. And he starts doing like Davey Wilson and like, this isn't going to work. What do you want to put? What? Where? You want to use? I don't,

no yeah how about that between dress and air meeting Davey Wilson's got a script out right next to Lauren's desk and it's that bindered script that says starting live in a circle and he's like this and he goes well we're gonna have to jump we're gonna have to put gap girls right after and he's like I don't think we can get camera I don't think we can do it and he would laugh and smuggle and yell at it come on Davey's like why you're asking too much yeah yeah

But I didn't know Davey was there from the beginning. How stupid am I? Well, I think there's something about Lorne's, I'm not sure, part of it is loyalty. And you guys know this better than I do. But someone told me once, Lorne has the same routine every day because he thinks if he did it differently, tomorrow morning he wouldn't wake up Lorne Michaels.

And I thought that was really interestingly said. And when I, the first time I went to SNL, I was probably a teenager and just as an audience member. And I remember the fear I felt and I couldn't even understand why I'm like, I'm just sitting in the audience. Why am I scared? But then I started checking with other audience members and everyone felt the same thing. We were all scared as I started to count down. But then I went years later and

to write for a week and I got to wander around and it started to hit me. I was like, oh, nothing's changed. And the more people we would interview, nothing, physically nothing changes. The turnover of people. I mean, there was people that we were interviewing that had literally been with the show since pretty much the beginning, like art department people who'd worked back from at least like episode two or three. So I think there's a consistency there.

that there's a recipe that Lorne seems to believe in. And I think it's the reason why every other sketch show that's been popular comes down to the few people that were at the core of the cast, and yet there's something about the DNA of the show that allows brilliant people to come in and out of it. Writers, actors, musicians, like anything, but the recipe remains.

I think that Lorne Michaels never, never wavered. You know, there was, it should be an hour. It should be pre-taped. We should change the theme. We got to get rid of that song. We don't need the, you know, for years and multiple administrations of overlords. He has stood the test of time. He really does believe in it. And these are the off-label things that I don't know you would know, but basically when you take unknown people,

And you put them on a show, which right now there's unknown people who just got on Saturday Night Live. It's a de facto reality show. You're watching them grow and get confident. That's really interesting. I believe or putting a football player, Joe Montana is going to host a live 90 minute show doing. So there's a reality element to it. So.

It's so compelling. And then the band plays and they break big bands. And I got to see Roar Bisson and Neil Young standing there. And so then you have those moments. So I think you're right. It's the DNA of it. And Lorne never wavered. He's right now because I'm watching your movie. And then I'm just flashing back to last week when Lorne would suddenly appear at 8H.

And was, you could tell he's uncomfortable where the rehearsals go and he's trying to think how to fix it. What should we change? So it's an extraordinary thing that it's a 50 year and going, going, going. It blows my mind. Yeah. I think people like Jason. You're right about when I like when they pull the camera back and they go to commercial.

And they start ripping down a set and you're like, the set's that small? Or, you know, anything. You just look, it's more you're learning. You're like, oh, it's right there in the front or, oh, that set was over in the corner and they all get up and sprint out.

And that part is very cool to watch. I, it's funny. So I grew up on sets and I grew up, just wanted to be on the trucks. Like I wanted to be one of the crew. I wanted to be one of the dudes. I love that they would say off color jokes and I just wanted to hang. And,

When I watched SNL, I got a very early feeling that there is a brilliant ensemble in front of the camera. We're all aware of that. But there must be a brilliant ensemble behind the camera that's performing some sort of chaotic ballet that allows this show to exist. And when I got to see it in person, I just couldn't fathom how you write all night Tuesday, you do the table read Wednesday,

And then in the middle of the night on Wednesday, there's already someone painting a wall, hemming a dress, creating a wig. And then it goes right up to the last second. And it's the most thrilling thing I've ever been present for. And that's what I wanted. I wanted an audience to experience like, because it's very easy for people at home to go like, I'm going to turn it on at 1130 and see what they do. And then after be like, yeah, they did a good job. They did a bad job or like whatever. And yeah,

It is an extraordinary piece of choreography in front and behind the camera to pull off that show. And they are constantly bending the boundaries of what can be done on live television. And that started literally with the first episode. And I think there are two things you captured really well. One is to your point about the crew. By the time the read-through, you got some laughs there. And maybe you're not blocking Thursday, but you're blocking Friday. And you're just kind of...

you're kind of going by the crew and the crew is often just casually kind of right. Yeah, they're America. You're running the lines and either there's silence or there's five or 10 teamsters or just regular people

laughing and it gives you a little boost, you know? And the other thing was watching the film. I want to give it away for the people are going to watch it. You can't give it away because it's tactile. You actually can't give this movie away. I already told everyone what the last line of the movie is. And that's kind of the beauty of it. Yeah. I loved the buildup, watching the buildup to the tension. Is it going to go on? Are they going to show a Carson rerun? I just love that. I love the Johnny Carson phone call. Yeah.

Whether it's real or not, I don't know. But at the last second, they're either going to go to Carson or go to what now has gone for 50 years. So you built that so beautifully. Thank you. I was right in the moment. Even though I knew what the answer was going to be, I was like, God damn, are they going to put Carson on? I'm riding that train emotionally. So every single person is so invested on the show and the cast and crew.

to something that doesn't really matter yet. It's nothing. It's also, everyone's pretty defeated in a weird way because most people are saying, this is some dumb thing we're going to do in two weeks. We're going to look for another job. And so you couldn't say to someone now when you're working on the show, you go, well, at least we have a job. At least this is picked up. At least there's a different vibe. But then it's like, why are we working this hard for this shit? And I love seeing the board of how many

I love when Billy Crystal caught the board. Right. And he's like, holy shit. What do you mean? You can just eyeball it and say that's a three hour show. Like just for the audience, the board today is where the sketches go up and they're honed down. There might be 10 or 12 of them in, in, in Jason's movie, there's a board in the

hallway on 8H, not up in Lorne's office, with like 50 sketches. Three musical acts, a magic show. They're like, wait, who the fuck is getting cut? Because you know who's getting cut before you go in, but you're like, oh, wait, that guy was it? And they all treat Jim Henson like shit, which is funny. He's such a genius. And everyone's like, get the puppet guy out of my way. And then, you know, and then it's so cool. They stop putting them in compromising positions. They would banter.

Big Bird over, you know, Elmo or whatever. Yeah, that was funny. One thing I wanted to ask you is like the, you know, when you're watching it and so they're there right now, they don't know they're on Saturday Night Live. Yeah. Like I did 10 years later. Yeah. They know it's late. They're getting paid. They were they obviously they were found by each other.

And they're smoking weed and rabble-rousers. And they were sort of more aggressive than people would be now, in a way. They'd be more deferential because it wasn't a hit show. And they knew Lorne. Lorne was younger than Chevy Chase. He was a contemporary, a peer. So you captured that, too. I mean, how much of that vibe was part of your thinking? The rebellious thing, especially Belushi. Yeah, right.

I think it was Rosie Schuster who told us that what it felt like every night was that feeling if you broke into your high school, that if you broke into your high school over the weekend or overnight and you're just running around and like you own the place. And that was echoed by everyone we talked to, that during the day, Rockefeller Center is an office building with people in suits. And then all of a sudden it's Thursday and it's two in the morning and Aykroyd

somehow stole a set of keys and had literally a key to every door in the building. And it would just go and like, just in the middle of the night, he would go find fun places to go, find places to smoke out. He had found this one shaft on the eighth floor that if you open it, he could like exhale into it. And that was his way of smoking. But I...

What I love is actually the idea that they were a bunch of kids and how young they were. That Ackroyd was 23 and Lorraine was 21 and Belushi was 26. And like, they were genuinely kids. And, you know, I asked Ackroyd, it's like, you know, what were you going to, what were you thinking right before you went on? And he said, you know, I was thinking I still have a snowplow up in Toronto. So I had a job waiting for me.

That's fine. He still likes that stuff. He's still a very real dude like that. I mean. Oh my God. He'd rather talk about ghosts and things and paranormal. He lights up. What a sweetheart. By the way, tell me about it. But. When those guys come by the show, Jason, when I was there, he'd come by. Like I had, I interviewed Aykroyd for Spin Magazine or something. Yeah. Like a collab. But.

But first of all, couldn't be more generous and sweetheart. He's Canadian. But it's such a legendary thing when you're on the show and someone that used to be on that you'd watch comes through the hallways.

And he comes in the office. Oh yeah. Oh yeah. This one, this is old Herb Sargent, you know, you know, don't be in a hurry to leave the show. Fair enough, sir. Yeah. He has an extraordinary memory and he can, and he, and everything's right on tap for him. And that was an interesting thing between people, but some people didn't remember anything or they, they clearly would, you know, had made up 50% fabricated their history. Um, Akron has an exceptional memory and, and we'll hold to it.

Oh, yeah. But it's weird now because now we've shown the movie to them. You know, like, all these folks, like, that we interviewed have now watched the movie and watched themselves be, like, portraying the guy sat in a screening with, like, Billy Crystal revisiting, like, the worst night of his life. Oh, wow. Interesting. What was that like? Yeah, I'll just ask that. I mean...

So what's interesting is, you know, so Billy obviously gets cut on opening night and Billy Crystal has had about as successful a career as a human being can have. And he talks about that night like it happened yesterday. It still stings. It has to sting. Wow, wow, wow. Yeah. I mean, so we were looking for a script from opening night. We kept on asking everyone, everyone we interviewed.

because there was stuff that was like a sketch that got cut that we always wanted to read. And we just want to know what it looked like. Nobody had it, not Lauren, not anybody. Finally, we asked Billy, hey, is there any chance you have a script from opening night? And he goes, I think I could find it. An hour later, I found it. So we go to his house. He pulls out the script and he starts leafing through it. And he just goes there.

That's where I was supposed to be deeply emotional. Oh, it'll kill me. So we scan the script and anytime someone has a script in the movie, it's Billy script, like a physical, like the physical script. Like anytime a character is like going through pages on scenes, just like in our movie, that's Billy script that we actually, that we scanned.

And he went back three years later and then had this killer year with Christopher Guest. You look marvelous and all that stuff, you know? Yeah. But still that moment. This is a, an ad for a new, new sponsor Lux bidet. John Lovitz. Are you listening? We have to, you know, toilet paper fails you sometimes. And all I hear about is bidets and how,

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If you could show it to me. So this is what happens. So I've done two movies about real people and this is what inevitably happens. Like, uh, you, you interviewed the, the original person. All they want to know is who's going to play them and if they're attractive and how tall they are. And then, and then they watch the movie and they just can't, they can't figure it out. Like there's just silence after they're just freaked out by it. They're freaked out by watching themselves. Um,

It's emotional. Thrown back in time. It's like, yeah, Billy was really into it. Lorraine loved it. Garrett loved it. I think, I think for Garrett, it really was. I think Lamorne did an extraordinary job as him. And I did too. He really kind of sounded like him. He kind of, I was like, yeah, yeah.

He was on this podcast and is very memorable as one of our favorite. Yes. I mean, he's amazing. I ran him three days ago at that thing and he was sitting there. Oh, this guy, he was super, super sweet. Still, you know, I do impressions of people and I, and I do kind of have empathy, uh, for the, in, in terms of you with these actors and watching people play them. It's like, is that,

Is that how people see me? You know, it's a little vulnerable. Oh, yeah. Am I missing the way the world sees me? I thought Lorne wasn't very pushed. I liked it. He wasn't like, no. You know, they didn't. You guys didn't do that. It was very kind of thrown away because he's a little Canadian. You know, he's a little...

He's got something, you know, that's a little unique to Lorne. And back then it was a little softer. So I did like the guy that played him. I thought he did a great job. He's the kid who played, you know, Gabriel Luella played Spielberg in the Fablemans. And so he's now played two of the most iconic Jews of all time. And I think there's something about Gabriel where he's,

He has this look in his eyes where if he has a vision, you know somehow he's going to accomplish it. And I don't think that's something you could teach somebody. I think he just has that. That tracks so beautifully throughout the whole film. He was vulnerable. Where's Waldo of the film, the Lorne character? Like, oh, what is he thinking right now? And, you know, nonverbal acting is just a skill set that some people have. I think Michael Keaton's

you know, naturally gifted at it. And Gabriel, he is too. No lines, just looking at a board and thinking, you know, you really wrote it with him, that character, I think. For each character at the end of the day, I tried to identify just one thing as far as the casting. So, you know, with Chevy, it was an ego that needs to be humbled. You know, with Belushi, it's a guy who thinks everything

That somehow going on to Bella television will be the end of his life, you know for Gilda It's obviously the overwhelming empathy, you know for our Garrett. It was uh Who am I like? What's my identity who the hell and by getting out of that one idea instead of it being an impersonation? It became alright. This is this is the one thing this is what the one thing you want in this film and it just gave him son to chase and

Did Belushi really... I mean, I heard Belushi didn't like the bees. That's true, right? But did he...

Really have a problem with that. He's sort of a bigger actor than the show. I wouldn't think that of him I would think he's just a goofball. This is what I understood is One you know, he wouldn't sign his contract and the any went missing on on opening night and He definitely had animosity with Chevy and I think the reason was really clear You know, what was brilliant about that first show is that no one looked like anyone on television. I

Belushi didn't look like someone who should be on television. Gilda did not look like someone who should be on television. And Chevy did. And I think what upset Belushi was that when you look at who Belushi was on stage at Second City and in the National Lampoon Show...

He, he was a star and he had found a place where he could a hundred percent be himself and people would respect his genius. And now he was going to be on television and Belushi knew Chevy's going to be a star. And, and, and the network kind of identified that from moment one and, and Chevy knew it. And Chevy was like, this is where I'm going to get my win. Uh, that's why, you know, we have this line in the movie where, uh, he's like, Oh, is this an ensemble? You know, he,

Yeah. So I think also it was revealed obviously later on, I guess people, it was obvious in the beginning that you're at home base and eight H that means you're in the center of the studio. You really can play to the audience and the camera. It's the perfect position to be in where Chevy was. And then you're going right to the audience and you can drop little ad libs in, you can break out character bits, stuff like that. So, and then,

you know, obviously he broke so hard. I was just going to ask you quickly about two subsidiary characters that people wouldn't be household names, Michael O'Donohue and Rosie Schuster, who helped me put together church chat. So I was interested how, um,

What a big part of that year she was as Lauren's wife. Their relationship was shaky or something. I fell in love with Rosie as everyone does. You know, I all I'd been hearing was that everyone falls in love with Rosie. And then Gil and I, Gil's my writing partner. We got on the phone with Rosie and I think, you know, we wanted to fight after, you know, after the call. We just felt so head over heels for her. And she was so funny. She was easily the.

Of all the heavyweights we spoke to, she was easily the funniest person we spoke to, who just consistently made us laugh and said things out of nowhere that were highly original. And what I think really interested us about her was that, look, I mean, look, this cast is, and this group of writers and cast are challenging all these social mores and the way that they're doing television, the way they do comedy, but also for Lauren and Rosie, who

who their marriage is coming apart, they're seeing other people, they're still married to each other, they're working with each other, that they were taking this 1970s nuanced look at love where it's like, she's fucking Danny, they're still married, but they respect the fact that

They make each other better. And that's all that counts. Like they make each other funnier. They make a better show together. They support each other. They understand each other. Who gives a shit. And Lauren didn't give a shit. That was really clear in speaking to everybody. That was that. Yeah. The hippies day or whatever. The new, new kind of looking at everything basically days, including comedy. And I think that's what,

What's so cool about that moment is you have young people who are going, we don't have to do it the same way that anyone else has done it before. That's kind of what the movie is about. It's about the moment where one generation just rips television out of the hands of another because they say, your time is done. That's why we have Milton Berle in the movie. Milton Berle is there representing an entire generation of old TV that this group goes, no, I'm sorry. We're done with you. That was a brilliant...

Because I read it, it wasn't exactly true. Jake K. Simmons as Milton Berle is magnificent. The character's hilarious. Well, Milton exposing himself is true. He may not have exposed himself to Chevy, but he exposed himself to a bunch of other people. I think he wanted that out there. So he was constantly exposing himself to people. It's hysterical.

I mean, so the first person we heard about was Zweibel and he had exposed himself to Zweibel in someone's dressing room. And then the more we talked to people, the more people I would find out, you know, even Jeff Ross. Jeff Ross came to our premiere and after he goes, oh yeah, yeah, Milton showed me his dick. I didn't get May 2, I got May 22. That's how big it was. Yeah.

Well, I mean, to have him in there and also I wasn't quite sure. I may have lost track of it. I love when Spade doesn't like a joke. He's like, oh, no, I'm going to let you know how much I don't like that joke. No, I like that.

the guys are the big dicks want to show everybody that's so funny my friend used to accidentally send his huge dick picture to girls and go oh my god sorry not for you no that's okay well i just think of hydraulics i mean there was a prosthesis in your show and it's like you're extrapolating where how does that really get to a place of excitement it seems like it's just too much weight uh to

It's very funny. This is a very naturalistic movie. We shot on 16 millimeter. We tried to do everything old school. There's only two visual effects in the film, and one of them was retouching Milton's penis to make sure that the skin color and shine match JK's skin.

only only in the movies and as far as rosie schuster being there in 86 and being assigned to me i had a church lady character for my stand-up to develop it i i didn't know she was his ex-wife and i noticed that she would always call him dear in meetings yes dear i love that oh dear i know yeah she called him she was good in the movie

Oh, well, Rachel Sennett is off the charts. I mean, I don't know of another actor who's had as strong a debut when you think about her first three films, you know, Shiva Baby, Bodies, Bodies, Bodies and Bottoms. I mean, it just lights out good. And she's yeah, she's a killer.

Yeah, she was charming. Yeah, she seemed just in the pocket, totally natural. And Michael Adani, who you brought up earlier, obviously is one of the reasons why the show is genius from day one is that, again, I think that's this other thing about Lauren is his understanding that a show could hold the tone of Jim Henson.

kind of the delight of like a comedian likes why bell with the dark nastiness, uh, O'Donohue and knew that that somehow this is a show that's going to occupy enough space where all these voices can live together. And,

And Tommy Dew is the guy who played O'Donoghue. And that's a really tricky role. I think that's one of those things where it was great from the outside. You don't see how hard it is to be able to say that kind of nasty shit and still be a likable character. And there's very few actors like, like Billy Bob was someone that, you know, Billy Bob Thornton was a guy who would like, he could literally say anything. You still like the guy. And it just, it's such a tricky thing to do.

Yeah. Interesting. Well, Lorne is very clever about that. I don't really know how his brain works, but it's at a high level of really absorbing. The thing I say as I came back as a young person, but Lorne's an AI who's downloaded the show. So it's gener-

So he can blink stuff. He can look at something and kind of go, well, if they're supposed to be older, we have to make them older or whatever. There's the essence of things very quickly. We'll figure out what's wrong, what might be better. And you see him. I've been there many times when the show is a little flat and, and I can tell he's,

a little wounded, but going to go on to the next one. And then when it goes well, he's just a little lighter, but it's an intense life to do what he's done and is still doing it. And it's going to keep doing it after the 50th. What newsflash? I was about to, I, you just dropped that. Like it was nothing. Um, I'm curious with both of you, do you remember early moments where you understood why Lauren picked you?

Like, uh, where like, did it ever become clear? I was like, oh, this is what he saw in me. And this is why he knew I was special. David, I'll let you go first. You know, it was, I wasn't a big character guy. I just did stand up. And I think, uh, he liked the way it was written, even though I wasn't even a headliner. Um,

And when I got there, I was a little over my head, more than a normal over your head because I wasn't writing sketches for characters and I wasn't doing crazy stuff. And that wasn't something that was on my even radar that it was so high above me that from Arizona, I couldn't think, oh, one day I should be on SNL. It didn't even cross my mind. It was, I was saying I should be like a manager at Bennigan's, you know, that was like the ceiling. And so when you get to, you get at the highest place and you're the lowest level,

It was hard. And I was always feeling about getting fired and getting, when obviously he was having some troubles, especially the first couple of years. But when we had Lorne on, he goes, and by the way, David, you were never in danger of getting fired. And I was like, it's just weird to hear him say that because that's all you're thinking for six years. And just have him say it out loud because it was a little rocky road, but got through it. But shit, I was just like, oh, I don't know what he saw. Maybe this didn't look like everyone. You know, you just, you don't know what.

I wasn't a huge jumping off the page guy, but he did say also during the podcast, I always, I always knew you were funny. It's nice to hear just that simply that we always knew you follow up question. Yeah.

Is there a person who makes you more nervous when you answer the phone and someone goes, I have Lorne Michaels for you? Is there any person who would actually make you more nervous? Or is that the person who would make you the most nervous hearing, oh, he's on the other line?

um it definitely is something that you might avoid especially if you're there if you're there and you're part of it it's the ultimate boss going oh my god the godfather's calling or when to this day though i'm saying even oh yeah i can see if they go one wants you to come up i feel like lauren's uh emotional interface i'm just making up these words i'm just more used to it this time around so i kind of want to give him a hug and tell him a joke and be silly uh it would

But for years when I was on the show, you know, because Lorne had this thing walking down the hallway, still with the show, you know, that kind of stuff. And you're still here. He was intimidating. I mean, he had told somebody recently or that he had to create sort of a wall between himself and the cast or else they would have eaten him alive. Right. You know, so, yeah, he's an intimidating character. But, you know, if you go to the Yankee game, you know, he's kind of.

I mean, yeah, he's an eclectic personality. There's sort of the elusive Lorne and erudite Lorne. And then there's the guy who wants to get a hot dog and go to the game. Also, that stuff, you're not as fearful now because you did it. And so now I just like to see Lorne and laugh with him and try to make him laugh and goof around. As much as possible. But you feel like he's so observant and so smart that he can just see right through you right. And he kind of knows where you're going wrong. Never leave a hit.

He always has these lessons, never leave a hint. What happened to me was so unusual and bizarre and just happened since that I had done the Church Lake character in my act, but I was doing 70 minutes of standup and it was just a few minutes of it. And so then decided to make it into a talk show with Rosie Schuster, and then it just scored huge. And it was an accident. I didn't know, it was great that it was a talk show on home base.

I didn't know it was great that my character is funny and also Phil Hartman and Sigourney Weaver could come on and be funny. And I had Jan hooks and Phil Hartman scoring. So I figured out at some point, that's what Lauren loves. It's a sketch that at home base, a reoccurring character with a catchphrase and then guests can come on and be funny as well. Right. Yeah. And so, and then I did chop broccoli that show and a few other things. So I didn't,

have ground leads up in San Francisco. So I just was a sketch player doing standup and in the small rooms that would work in the bigger rooms to be harder. So I didn't really know I was a sketch player, but when I got on there, I figured out, well, this is where I belong, you know, doing characters and sketch, but I was trying to do it as a standup. So, so that was a freakitude to have that right up front. Yeah.

David, for lunch today. It's almost lunchtime, yeah. Do you have any- What are you going to do? What do you do? You know, sometimes I really just want to have fun. I would get like a really good turkey sandwich with avocado. Or if I really want a guilty- I was going to say the same thing. Really? I just had it yesterday. And maybe a few baked chips. And then you'd want an ice cold Pepsi, which I don't. What I like to do with Pepsi is I fill the whole glass to the brim with ice.

And then I slowly pour the Pepsi in and I make what I call a super Pepsi. Yeah. Cause the cold is great. It's not that super, but yeah. Well, I think if I say it's super, then it's kind of, it's, it's closer to super. Well, in your head it's super. Cause it's great. It's a super Pepsi. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, it's not a regular situation. Yeah. Yeah. You know, I was flying this week and a Pepsi on the plane, all Pepsi products.

The casino I just played, every restaurant and everything, you throw one in with lunch, dinner, and get a little caffeine going. You get the fizzy bubbles, and it's fun. And, you know, you share it with people. An Austrian friend of mine once said to me, quote, and you know what enhances those flavors and really makes them pop? It's an ice cold Pepsi.

I said, thank you, Austrian. So gives it a pop. Yeah, it gives you a pop with the Pepsi pop. It's better than a regular pop.

Get a fizzy Pepsi in you and a pepperoni piece of pizza. You know, I've done that so many times. Well, yeah, I would say pizza and a Pepsi. They sound alike. They go together. You will lose your mind with pizza and Pepsi every time. Grab a Pepsi zero sugar for your next meal as food deserves Pepsi.

It says two people that rely on her voice. You know, this is a job stand up this whatever. Zycam is great because if you feel a cold coming on, you know, I have Zycam in my bag. Like if you're on the road, give it a couple of squirts because your throat's sore, sniffling. That's when I go for it because it's sort of,

If you're already in the throes of it, it will speed it up. It will shorten. It will shorten the cold or reduce the symptoms so that the second you start feeling, because sometimes you go, oh man, am I getting a cold? And that's when you hit a Zycam. Boom, boom. Yeah, nail it. And it's kind of fun too. They have rapid melts, medicated food drops, a lot of flavors, you know. Nasal swabs. Nasal swabs. Those are fun. Sprays. Yeah. So you can get it in a lot of different ways.

If you feel a cold coming on at the first sign, reach for cold shortening products from Zycam, the number one cold shortening brand. And for best results, use at the first sign of a cold and continue to use until the symptoms completely subside. Pick up Zycam in the cold and flu aisle. Visit Zycam.com to see where to buy online. Is there anyone these days that you fight for to laugh more than Lauren? Like, is there a person that you want that you try to make laugh more than Lauren?

You feel the way more when they laugh more than Lauren. No. Um, my first show back doing these little sets of shows, um, I was reading Biden and the, and the read through, and I didn't really have it, but it was kind of coming onto me this, um,

Biden non-sequitur thing. And guess what? And by the way, the fact of the matter is, and so I was throwing it in. It wasn't in the little draft of the script. I just thrown it in and I saw Lauren's shoulders going up and down because that means in the corner of my eye. And so that was, that was a big one. The shoulders go, you know, yep. The read through laugh of Lauren is unreal. Like when you're on the show and everything matters and you read through and you

You wrote a sketch and it's your lines and you're saying it and then you see him just buy into the sketch and start cracking up or slap the table. You're like, holy shit. Oh my God. This is crazy. The week I was there, I wrote three sketches. That's a lot. No, no, no. They didn't make it. I did for the table. That's a lot of writing though. It's hard to do. Yeah, but I've been wanting to do this for decades and this is my one chance. Trust me, I had stuff in the house. So I just...

I made so many rookie mistakes not realizing oh fuck like that's never gonna work at the table read and he's gonna be reading the all the all the all the stage directions and there's multiple locations why did I do that all these things too many sets oh yeah I made that mistake god I I wanted so many do-overs I got a sketch on but oh my god that who was your host that week

Ashton Kutcher was the host. Narls Barkley was the musical guest. And now you know exactly when it took place. Sure. That's great then. Well, how fun. Lauren is like a coach, you know, and if you did, you were a high jumper, right? In high school.

How the hell do you know that? Who slipped you that weird piece of paper? I wasn't. It must be you. I just at least had a perfunctory look at your Wikipedia page. I assume we would mostly talk about this, but I love track and field, and I remember Dick Fosbury and stuff like that, but

Uh, Lauren is like a coach that you want to please. And I had a button down coach when I was in high school, very not, not big with the praise. You'd have to just go fantastic. But Lauren, he would just give you a little, if you dismantled the room, like really scored, you might walk by him and he would just tap your shoulder and give a little pat.

and kind of nod his head. And that was like a, you know, a huge, huge win, right, David, if you kind of acknowledge. I think three years and I did one Hollywood Minute at read-through and he goes, he turns the sketch, he goes, next sketch. And he goes, I think you found your voice. All right, we're going to do Wayne's World. And I was like, and then two weeks later in the hallway, he goes, maybe Hollywood Minute this week? I go, you're asking me to do a sketch?

Oh my God. That must've been extraordinary. Oh man. I was just talking about the rare gift to say cruel things and for people to love you for it. And it's like, you're literally one of the handful of human beings on earth who can do that. And you can say these things and people love you for it. And like, you can't teach that. It's just like, it's just in the DNA. I'm not really a mean person. That's the funniest part of the whole thing. It's like, you just think of these jokes and goes, Oh, that'd be funny.

But you're not like, I fucking hate these people. You just go. Isn't that the truth? Like when you think about the few people who do this, like if the few greats who are like, they know how to just cut you to the bone and be funny.

most of those people are not mean people. Like Don Rickles is not a mean person. Jeff Ross is not a mean person. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Uh, like the real assholes are not funny. They're just, yeah, yeah, you're right. Yeah. Yeah. It's because you always have to find the fine line where it's not too rough. And sometimes I would go too deep and caught myself a dress or something. Well, now I don't think they're going to buy that. That's that's. Well, when Chevy came on this podcast, I, you know,

I'd seen him and I know I, I knew enough of seeing him over the years. He was very generous to me when I was at Lorne Michaels house before I got on the show, but I was out there and he loved my audition tape, saw something in me, but Chevy loves to say the thing you're not supposed to say. Yeah.

to the extreme where it can go wherever it wants to go. I have an example for you. Uh, and I've known, I've known Chad in my entire life. I grew up, you know, uh, like with, with his kids and stuff and like one of the best Americans ever created. And so, so Chevy comes in to watch the movie and he's there with Janie and they watch the film and he's in the group and he comes up to me after and he pats me on the shoulder and goes, well, you should be embarrassed.

What an exact Chevy thing. You couldn't even write it better. Yeah. Funny. Well, he knows that's, that's funny. Like, okay, that's the most, that's the roughest thing you could say to a director in that moment, right up there. And all right. You know, and I'm trying to balance it. I'm trying to balance it. Cause I get my head. I know. All right. I'm getting a Chevy chase moment. That's 1000% only for me right now. And in, from a comedy point of view, that's really pure. And that's kind of, that's kind of cool.

But also, I just spent like two years of my life recreating this moment so that, and trying to capture Chevy perfectly. And also, even in the ego, find the humanity and give him a moment to be loved. No, none of that shit played. He's not talking about that stuff. It's a funny thing to say, but then you got to look at the meter and go, what percentage was real? Was it all a joke? Or was there a little bit he's not happy, but you just don't know when he leaves and you go...

ah well he saw it i think the key the key is if you can when we i just say yes to everything he at one point he goes i had a way bigger career than you guys we both went of course you did so if you go back in time he says you should be embarrassed i'm completely humiliated and then the air goes out of the balloon then he's more like hey it wasn't that bad you know but you always say yes

um have you seen my cock and he would go like this like was it a hundred times yeah and then he would go like that he went on video which is horrible because everyone would he was so funny with all his visual craziness you know dana we we're gonna let we we have to wrap up with jason who's a fucking stud but we just mention his great other things he does we won't go into him totally but

we just just so people know knows the up in the air was great is this when you do it at the end of the show you like you're like oh by the way this is who this guy was no we well i know we're going to introduce you we separately we're going to introduce you and say all this but i want you to hear that i love this one full saturday night live i thought we could it could have been about your high school apparently it could have been how you frequent stk in hollywood but we didn't want to

Spend the whole time on that. That's in your Wikipedia also. By the way, William Defoe too. Loved every minute of William Defoe as Dave Tibbett. I don't think I've ever been to STK. That's kind of, that's exciting. Frequence Los Angeles takeout STK as does Channing Tatum.

Did it really say that? By the way, that's a really interesting way to do advertising. I never thought of that, but anyone can update a Wikipedia. You can just go to the most famous person you can think of. Just slide in at your favorite restaurant. That's hysterical. So if you own a restaurant, you're just going to be like, and Beyonce, you know, loves the... Always seen at Cheesecake Factory. Yes.

The problem, which I've said before, is if people hear something, they have a hard time thinking it's utterly untrue. So on the Wikipedia page, it said I had a previous wife named Leah. It's probably still there. So people go, so you were married before Paula to a woman named Leah? No.

No, it's all made up. Well, you must have known someone named Leah. Nope. It's all made up, but you must have had someone before, you know, no, it's a 100% some nerd in their room and it's still there, you know? So I did it to myself. Dan, I said, I collected gerbils. We just put it in one time and then,

It was such a mistake because in the middle of heavy interviews, they're like, you know, my son has a gerbil. And I go, I don't give a fuck. And they're like, but don't you love Euclid? And I went at that start. I go, what? I forget. I go, oh, right, right. I got to get that out of there. It was like for one laugh. That's Richard Gere. Remember the gerbil up the butt? Yeah.

people would go, well, he must have had at least pet gerbils. He must have sat on a gerbil. No, it's all made up. No, but come on. David, this is not going to turn out well. I know, right? I just did it again. Dana, thank you. Jason, you're stud. Aside from everything else you've done. Nice hanging out. I love talking about SNL like that. And what a fun movie to watch and just be thrown back into that crazy world.

Did a great job. One last thing before we go, the Franken and Davis characters. You know, it's great. So those two actors, uh, they did something I hadn't experienced before. They auditioned together.

And that's what made it work. They already knew each other. And so they just did the bit together and it was like, oh, I believe them as a duo. And I was like, why don't more actors do this? That was so smart. Now that Julia Child bit, did you see like, I don't know if you saw the movie, but at the beginning there, you know, it's chaos and they show on the side. Nice David. They show on the side, Frank and David, it's just one of the crazy things is one of the most memorable sketches of all time, Julia Child.

They just walk by. We got this thing we just want to do. It's blood. And Lauren's like, sounds great. Moves on. And you're like,

Oh my God. That's everyone knows. There's a lot of detail. So for the, for a big SNL fan, which I'm presuming, like your listeners are, you know, way bigger fans than I am. Yeah. Uh, they like, like we have colon blow in there. Like there's all sorts of little details. If you start actually, if you start looking in the background and stuff, there's all kinds of fun stuff. And then obviously Easter eggs. Cause colon blow was a 10, 12 years later. Yeah. That was when I was there with Phil.

Goddamn, what a great one. I'll have to watch it again. Okay, thank you, Jason. What a stud. What a stud. I'll talk to you later. Enjoyed it. Bye. This has been a presentation of Odyssey. Please follow, subscribe, leave a like, a review, all this stuff, smash that button, whatever it is, wherever you get your podcasts. Fly on the Wall is executive produced by Dana Carvey and David Spade, Jenna Weiss-Berman of Odyssey, and Heather Santoro. The show's lead producer is Greg Holtzman.