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Hey everybody, welcome to Literally, it's me, your host, Rob Lowe, Joel McHale. Not McHale's Navy, that's a different McHale. Also maybe the most dated reference I've done on the podcast thus far. Joel McHale, hilarious, always been a fan since Community. The soup, and he's very buff. Although you're not going to really get a sense of that from his voice. Maybe you will, maybe you will.
The guy's buff, and he's a wonderful human. Let's get started with Joel McHale. Now, tell me about the 1983 very cool recording studio you're in. The lighting is very sexy. It's very soft core. Very cool. Is that your home? No. This is...
Early on, I did almost all the shows from my house. And now I'm in a beautiful studio in Santa Barbara, Hidden City Studios. And what I like about this right here, it almost looks like one of those Patrick Nagel, like, you know, early. It's very 1980. Wait, it's Diamond Single. What is this? Hang on, I'm going to see what band this was. Yeah, who is it? Oh, Katy Perry. Katy Perry was...
She's a longtime Santa Barbara gal. Right. Grew up there. Yeah, yeah. Went to Dos Pueblos High School. Everybody knows Katie up here. And she's back now. Her life's come full circle. She's raising her child here. I'm just glad she can afford the property. By the way, this is exactly the kind of stuff you would have done on The Soup. Talking about Katy Perry would have been like, you would have thrown down. Well, if there was a clip of her doing something that was possibly embarrassing or kind of
she was kind of hanging herself. That's how we always pick those clips was they're like, let's not just, cause we can always say everybody's crazy and everybody's weird. Everyone's stupid. Everyone's great. We can say all that, but we always would let the clips speak for themselves. That was our goal and not just go after people, uh, that, and also it had to be a humorous clip and not, you know, depressing. Um, one more thing. Can you turn, I need even less level. This is great news. My hearing's getting better.
That also could be because of my voice is incredibly annoying and it can it reaches into people parts of people's brain they didn't know existed. It's kind of like one of those Liberty Mutual commercials all the time. Oh, my God. Right. Liberty, liberty, liberty.
That's if I look, I'm sure it really helps people and I'm glad they're employing actors and they're still. But oh, my gosh, every time I see those. Well, it's by the way, it might be the greatest use of green screen since the soup. I would agree. And they clearly have a larger budget. But I mean, they're not they're not on the side of that.
fucking river in New York. They're just not. No, no, that is a, that is a studio in Van Nuys. I assume. Were they good green screen? I mean, which the soup was, the soup was literally you in a green screen. Uh, it was, uh, it was in an office building on Wilshire and, uh, it's where they shot everything at E in a, I'm sure you had been there. It was a converted lobby, uh,
And there was pillars just in the middle of the room, which you're like, well, you're just going to have to work around those because that's holding up the building. And now it is an equinox. So it's amazing. You can go get a nice lat workout in right where, you know, our sound department used to be. Did you take over for Kinnear?
No, uh, Kinnear started in 91, uh, way back when, um, yeah, that's when he first started. That was literally when he just kind of turned on their network and before they could sell ads, uh, they would just show Kinnear and then they would run promos for shows like wild on that was just, we're just starting. Um,
and uh talk soup put him on the map and then after kaneer left and you know i don't know what he did after that other than getting nominated for oscars yeah um very nice man uh he uh john henson took over and then house sparks took over and then aisha tyler in 2002 brought it into the barn and that's when it kind of stopped because that uh talk shows had kind of
had their day. And then I took over in 2004 and it wasn't even called the soup then it was called the what the awards, which is a terrible name. And then Ted Harbert, our wonderful president changed it to the soup and not talk soup. And it became a once a week show as opposed to daily. And that's when, you know, I was like 33. Yeah.
And that was a while ago. And believe me, no one was watching, which was great because I was so bad at teleprompter. I needed about a year to get good at it. Teleprompter is an acquired skill, don't you think? There is a lot going on with teleprompter. And when you're as dyslexic as I am. Oh, that's right. Oh, my God. It must have been hell for you. Yes. It was like reading.
music that was had been like left out in the rain and then you're not really good at reading music and then they throw you into a concert hall and go play this and then you go but I don't play French horn and they go like don't worry about it just play it and then they get mad it took me would take me four hours to get through 22 minutes of jokes so here's what I have and you tell me what it is it's never been enough to fuck my life up or it's just one of those things I just live with like being deaf in one ear which I also am
But like when I watch a, let's say a football game and they put stats up on the screen, I...
process them. Like they're now a crawl, like a news crawl that comes across the screen. I'm like, hurry up, hurry up. Like I can read that faster than any human alive. And I can read faster than almost anybody, but it's something about, I don't know if it's columns or like stats and two this year versus that year. And like in different, I can, it doesn't go into my brain. Is that what being dyslexic is like? Okay.
Wait, did either of your parents have anything similar to that? I don't know. Because it's passed down. It's passed down from your if your mom or dad had something like that, then you had a 50 percent chance of getting it.
You may not get it. So my mom is not dyslexic at all. She was a newspaper writer. My dad is definitely dyslexic, but doesn't, but won't acknowledge it. I'm just asking because if your parents had anything similar than I was going to say, definitely. That said, dyslexia manifests itself in different ways. And there's probably something to that. Do your kids have anything like that? Yes. My oldest son, my oldest son, Matthew, who
He's a miracle that he ended up going to Duke and graduating and then went to law school and passed the bar. And standardized testing for him is like, it's like gobbledygook. That's what, that's what, because people always say, oh, so dyslexics are the words rearranged. And I'm like, it just really doesn't even look like anything. It just kind of looks like gobbledygook. And that's...
And then you kind of have to reread it and go back and go, what was that? And then, and then you just read a lot slower. You get better at it as your son obviously has, but you never, you never get rid of it. And now, you know, people are like, it's an, it's a, it's a, you know, it's an advantage. A lot of people say, and I'm like, well, to a point, I guess, but. Have you heard the other diagnosis, like the sub diagnosis, like
visual processing disorder and stuff like that. Yeah. Yep. Yep. That's something else. And, uh,
My kids have versions of that. And there's, that's real fun. I had the same thing. Like it was very hard for me to learn basketball and football plays. Once I got them, I got them. But, but it's, yeah, I think there is definitely something to that. And there's so, as you know, when you grow up, you, you grew up, you grew up, you're older than me, even though you look younger, but there's no tools. There was no,
there was no uh you know no one had anything for students like that no they were slow that's what I was told they told me I was a slow starter literally to my face
And now there's all sorts of tools like wearing tinted glasses, doing things to lock out other senses and noises and things like that. And so there's all these super smart kids getting told they were dumb. And that is a psychological warfare in itself. And that, you know, that's why I went into the arts. Same. I was so bad in math. And I'm telling you, when I look at math equations, like if I try to read a spreadsheet,
or something like that, it's insane. I can read a play in half an hour and memorize it and know it. But you give me four mathematical equations and it looks like a foreign language to me. It's so interesting how it manifests. It's funny you say that it was hard for you to learn. This is amazing because I'm a huge sports nut as you are. And I remember somebody trying to teach me the pick and roll. Pick and roll is one of the easiest plays in basketball. And it took me
forever, learning choreography. It's why I didn't get footloose. I'm right there with you. I've been in a few things where I had to dance and I'm like, well, we'll see, guys. Yeah, I always attributed at first, I was like, oh, maybe I'm tired or maybe I drank too much last night or maybe... And I was like, no, it's just your brain, dude. You just aren't the guy that can pick up choreography quickly. I mean, if you practice it enough times, it'll kick in and now you know it, but
When I see dancers just pick up things, I'm like this. I was like, that's the smartest person on the planet. I can't believe like dancing with the stars. When I see that, I was like, I would probably remember 15% of what those people learned all week long. I'm the same, but it's such a, you know, having kids, it's such a great lesson that we all have our strengths and weaknesses. Do you know what I mean? It's like, I'm not, I wasn't put here to be an accountant.
That's, you know, it's not why I was put here. It's not. And yeah. And that's cool. People ask me, they're like, you have a business manager, but don't you have to pay them? That's a lot of money. And I was like, the amount of money that person has saved to me in managing my business is, has got to be 10 times what I, if I was, if I were to like go over my own finances and try to work that out, I would be in jail for tax fraud. Well, and the other thing is, and I, uh,
I know very, you know, as I travel and around the world, I like to meet interesting people. And I know a lot of incredibly successful people were, and they will say that being successful in business really has very little to do with math. Almost nothing. They say you can hire people who are good at math. Yeah. You hire those people. That's the business skill set.
is a whole other thing. And that's what people don't realize. You get the Elon Musk's and the Jeff Bezos and, and all that. And they're, it's not that they were, I fully agree. They were the idea of people that kept it going, whether, whether, uh, kept things like this is the vision and they have the, uh,
totally different part of their brain that never went, I need to do this, this, and this, and then I'll get to this level where I can enter this company and I'll do this. And they're like, no, no, no, no, no, no. I'm going to make luxury electric cars. And then everybody said, you can't. And then we're like, ah, don't worry about it. I'm going to, I'm going to handle it. And that, I mean, you know, how many times were you told that,
that, uh, actors are, uh, dumb. Yes. And that, that is, Oh, you're going to do that little game. You're, you're doing your little thing. Well, yeah. Why don't you go do that with the, the adults are working on real stuff. That's right. Yeah. Uh, and that, that, that I got that constantly. And then I don't know, I know that you had success early on, uh, but isn't it funny? Like, as soon as I got on TV, everyone's attitude changed completely. Like,
My wife's family just thought she had married some sort of dude who was trying to take her money. And then all of a sudden, I was like, isn't he great? I've been the same guy. I've just been trying to do this the whole time. I was even starring in movies in my early 20s. Starring in movies. And people back in Ohio would be like, to my dad, like, well, isn't it great? He's playing in movies. That was always my... Just the phrase, playboy.
playing in movies. Like I was in a sandbox. Yeah. Rob has that fun hobby. Now, what is he going to do for a living? That's right. Now, fast forward, I have my own kids and my youngest, John Owen, comes to me and says he wants to be an actor.
And now the tables are turned. Now I'm like, oh, why does he want to play in that sandbox? Why does he get a real job? Right. And I get it as a parent. You're like just petrified. You want them to to like, you know, because we know being an actor is, you know, it's not many people get to crack the code.
No, that's true. But think about all the other professions that are not easy to get into or do well. And it's not like it's just a cakewalk if, I don't know, some kid's like, I want to be an actuary. And you're like, I mean, if you can, great. It's really hard. If you're good at it, congrats. But...
I don't know. Is there a profession that John, if he chose a different, is there a profession that he would have said out loud that you would have been like, absolutely great. Go get him. Well, he goes to Stanford, graduates with A's and then tells me he wants to be an actor. And I'm like, well, I have a lot of thoughts. First of all, could have saved a lot of money in tuition. No reason to go to college, be an actor. And I thought you were going to cure cancer, but instead you're going to be
putting hair mousse in and wearing makeup like Papa. And then, and then I had these nightmares where I was like, are my fears and my whole inner, whatever dialogue, am I forcing a kid into a world? Like, is he like, what would I be happy with him being a drone and a cubicle? Is that what I'm trying to do? Is like,
Anyway, long story short, he's doing great. He's a writer, he's an actor, and he's doing great. But it was a moment. It was a real moment in the family, believe me.
Yeah. Your son and I have communicated quite a bit about stuff about, I know that he was trying to make, he made a movie in North Carolina and he asked if I could be in it and I couldn't. That's wrong. My God, that's right. As you know, again, like we all know how difficult it is to be in the business, to remain in the business, to keep things going. And it's a handful of people that get, you know, lucky enough to keep things going.
going. But as Dave Grohl always said, he said it multiple times in speeches, he's like, somebody's got to be, somebody's got to do it. It might as well be you. And the fact that your son is also like a brilliant geneticist or whatever, that's, you know, I think it also shows that so many people that have done well,
in entertainment or any other business also have a whole other skill set that they can exploit. And so I, it's, you know, I always go like, it's a real long career if you stick with it and there's all sorts of things you get to do and who knows how those things will intersect in the future. And that's right. So, uh,
You know, it's, it can be like, I don't know. I know, I know this guy named Brian Corsetti, pretty successful producer host. And he was just fixing land cruisers. And now he's one of the foremost, you know, like he, he completely redoes old land cruisers and he knows all how everything he's a master mechanic and all that stuff. And I was like, well, boy, you never know how that's all going to work out. I always feel like it's a long life.
Hopefully, and it's, you know, there's lots, lots to do. That's why I barbecue a lot. And, you know. You could have a second career as a barbecuer. Yes. Yes, I would probably shorten my life for the amount of salted meats that I would ingest. Oh, it's so good, though. Oh, my God.
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Qualifying plan required. Wi-Fi were available on select U.S. airlines. Deposit and Hilton honors membership required for 15% discount terms and conditions apply. I must hear about you hosting the White House Correspondents Dinner. Yeah. Because that to me is one of the great gigs. Well, I was doing the soup at that point. And then Louis K., my...
uh i've he's my publicist uh along with carly morgan who uh i love they i've been with them forever and he called and they were like you want to do the white house correspondence dinner he was always very he's always very subdued and he's like we need an answer now i'm like yes and um
I know that he had greased the wheels to get to help, like to pitch me. And I had done a thing at a weird event in Aspen where I entertained a bunch of government and generals and stuff. I did like five minutes of comedy and that greased the wheels. And so somehow by some strange twist of fate, I was asked to do it and did it in a heartbeat. And I meet, as soon as I said, yes, the anxiety kicked in and
And all I just thought, what the fuck am I going to talk about? And so it began a like three-month preparation where I've never been more on it as far as preparing for something. I swear to you, I could have played the elephant man if I had the same amount of time and dedication that I had to that 15 minutes of jokes. And it was everything you...
I couldn't believe it. I mean, I well, my good friends, Brad Stevens and Boyd Vico were kind of the head writers of the of the jokes. KP Anderson, who was the executive producer of the soup, also was there. And so and I was taking jokes from friends and we were just putting this whole thing together. And I've never worked harder because I knew that I would it was going to be the most fun.
stressed out and that I was ever going to be. So I better be prepared. And, um, and it, yeah, I took my whole family. I flew out everybody. I knew that I like, they gave us a table. And so my parents were there, my brothers were there. And when you get out there, you're on the dais and you looked out to the 6,000 people in the largest ballroom in
But in that front is everybody. It's like a wax museum of celebrities and athletes. And there's Russell Wilson. There's Robert De Niro. There's the Dos Equis guy. There's Meryl Streep. You know, like it's just it's like being in a fever dream where you're like, well, this is not how my life. This is not this is when this is a dream when you're when your dreams just select.
Things in your brain. And then you sit next to Michelle Obama, who is the nicest, most loveliest person on the planet and is so intelligent. And she's like, how are you, Joel? I'm like, I'm fine. And it was just not, you know, it's just and there's the president on the other side of her.
And then the, the gig, I, I, I met with Conan and Jimmy Kimmel and I talked to Seth Meyers and I talked to Craig Ferguson and I was like, how the fuck did you guys do this? Tell me what you did. And, and,
um they all had they all basically were in kind of the same thing said the same thing which is like work the jokes make sure they're working know them back and forth and if the president tells a similar joke don't tell it just tear it out because it's you're not going to get a very good laugh off of something kind of retold and um
And then you get, and everyone said, if it's Obama, cause it was, he's, he kills it. He's very good at it and he's very competitive and he wants to win. He wants to tell good jokes, which is not how a lot of president, like, I think he was probably the only one that was really like, Oh, I'm, I'm, I'm hiring writers and I'm giving this a real, you know, I'm going to really try. And, uh, and so you, he opens for you.
And again, like it's so you're, you have to wait like four hours because the dinner goes on and on and on. And yes, you're sitting next to the first lady. So you're completely distracted and enamored by the fact that you're sitting and you can't look at your jokes at that point. I'm having like such an anxiety attack right now describing this moment. Well, I was so nervous that I have never been nervous again. I've never, like I have walked out on stage and hosted like the ESPYs and stuff like that. And
never, I wasn't nervous. I never nervous again that it burned out the circuit in my brain. Right.
And so you wait all this time and it sounds like you were waiting while you were having dinner. I was like, yes, of course you're having dinner with the first lady and all. And you can't believe the parade of, of notable people coming through and, uh, and you, it's all happening. And, and, but you are like, okay, we're getting to the time.
And then the president goes up there and it's Obama. And he whether first of all, like, I don't know. I don't care what your politics are. And I've said this before that. But Obama was game and he was OK with being made fun of. And that the fact that the most powerful person on the planet is cool with that really, to me, showed how powerful our country is. Yeah. And what and what is anybody who can take a public.
throw down like that as just a stud. Yeah. And I, I went to France that summer for a junket for community. And I like, it was like, I was talking to a reporter from Romania and I was like, what if I did that publicly in Romania to your leader? There, he'd be like, you'd be swinging a hammer for the rest of your life. You'd be breaking rocks. That's what you'd be doing. And you forget and people take it for granted here. And then, so anyway, I,
The president gets up there. He's got his jokes. He kills it. It's super funny. He's really funny. And then he introduces you after making, I mean, he made fun of me. I'm like, there's the, there's the guy with the nuclear codes making fun of me, which he should, because it's kind of a, it's a competition. Amazing. And when I stood up, I had a dizzy spell. Oh boy. I was like, Oh, here we go. You are nervous. Yeah.
And you get up there and he looked down at it as the president. So I was like, how did this get to, how did I get here? Yeah, exactly. Uh,
There's the first lady. There's De Niro. And then you're just like, all right, do your show. Do the thing you've practiced 2,000 times in the last month. And you start going through. And it's a weird audience because...
Nobody really... Everyone wants to kind of laugh, but not really. But they don't want to laugh too hard at the expense of the other party and vice versa. And if you say something a little edgy, they all go, whoa. And...
So my goal was to offend everyone and to leave no one, to do nothing partisan and just make fun of everyone. Do you remember any of the jokes you did? De Niro was in the audience and we did this joke that...
I said, Robert De Niro is here, national treasure. I don't do an impression of him, but I do do an impression of his agent. And I go, here it is. Bring, bring.
He'll take it. It's true. It's true. It's true. I saw him at the party afterwards and he's like, you. And then I saw him interviewed by Katie Couric and Katie, Katie Couric read the joke out loud, very dryly. And she was like, now was that, did that, did that hurt?
And he was like, little bit. It was a little bit. And then he began inviting me to events where I would go make fun of him again. Amazing. So it was great because I mean, it was I was like of all the way weird ways to develop a relationship with one of the most
uh, you know, like one of the greatest actors in American history. This was not the way that I thought it would go. And, um, so we told this, I mean, I was at the friars club honoring of him, which I didn't. So I just took him out again, where I was, he just started making fun of the movies he had made in the lab. They were like grudge match. Who's the grudge against, uh, people who love cinema. And, uh,
So, and then it was Robert De Niro standing up at those events going like, fuck you! And I...
Again, I was just like, what? How did my life get this way? How did it all happen? And so, you know, thank God. It was a good time. And then after that, after the White House Correspondents Center was over, like, okay, it's done. Jokes are done. The adrenaline rush is over. Obama's getting up. Michelle left her purse. And so I was like, all right, well, I ran after them. I was like,
You forgot your purse. What the hell were the Secret Service doing? Sleeping? I know. I was like, this seems a little irresponsible. But after, I mean, I told some pretty harsh jokes about Obama. And when I was done, he shook my hand. He was like, that was good. But he was like really cool. He was very cool about it. And yeah, again, I couldn't believe. Oh, and then immediately the next day, we left a day and a half later and
My son got sick at the White House during like right before the dinner. He became ill and he was pretty little then. And I mean, ill like vomiting had to be taken to his room. We're like, OK, he's sick.
He had a touch of something. The next day, my older son, he started vomiting and that was like our day. And we were just like, all right, he's going to be fine. Then when my wife and I were getting on the plane and I had said, cause I bought, I bought first class tickets and I was like, we're not, I mean, I was like, I'm going to be exact. I'm splurging. We're buying first class tickets. She and I were about to get on the plane.
And we both went to the bathroom, separate bathrooms, of course, in the airport. And then we both walked out and looked at each other and we were like, oh, no. I think we're both sick. And we're like, let's get on the plane. We got on the plane at that. This was way pre-pandemic and crazy.
She proceeded to be sick almost the entire flight. And I was sick in the other direction the entire flight. And it's not a happy ending to this story at all. No, but everyone I know was like, oh, yeah, you got sick. Well, that makes a lot of sense. I mean, yeah, it was a big day. And I was like, that's not it. No, we all got sick. Something was wrong.
And anyway, so that that was the most great, I would say still to this day, the craziest experience of my life. And it cost me a lot of money because I flew my entire family and put them up for four days. Yeah. And they don't really pay you. I don't think they pay you some, but not everything.
here's a table we'll pay you this and um yeah everything else is you know up to you and i'm like okay great the only thing i can kind of compare it to is being you know my comedy central roast where you you know you're good you know you gotta work and work and work because you don't you you know people are going to knock the shit out of you and you want to make sure you you give equally and then but there's that thing of and it doesn't compare to the president united states but somebody who's beloved
When you know you're about to crush them. It's like, it feels great and it's scary at the same time. It's kind of like, Peyton Manning was on my dais. And, you know, America loves Peyton Manning. He had just won the Super Bowl. I think he had just retired. He's at the top of his life. My thing was, you know, when I chose my dais, number 18 was number one. Peyton Manning is here. You know, he's a football hall of famer.
you know, two-time Super Bowl MVP, but that didn't give him a big head. That came from years of inbreeding.
Very good. How did he like that? He laughed. He loved it. Good. And how did you get Peyton Manning there? I called him. And because I once mistakenly announced his retirement. This is the kind of thing you would have done if the soup was going. I was new to Twitter, did not understand the power of it. And people still give me shit about it. No one more so than Peyton was in his line is always like, I never thought my retirement would be.
Announced by Soda Pop Curtis. And by the way, I was wrong. He had another Super Bowl in him. That's hilarious that that's how you came together. I know. It's like your De Niro thing in a way.
All set for your flight? Yep. I've got everything I need. Eye mask, neck pillow, T-Mobile, headphones. Wait, T-Mobile? You bet. Free in-flight Wi-Fi. 15% off all Hilton brands. I'll never go anywhere without T-Mobile. Same goes for my water bottle, chewing gum, nail clippers, passport. Okay, I'm going to leave you to it. Find out how you can experience travel better at T-Mobile.com slash travel. ♪
Qualifying plan required. Wi-Fi were available on select U.S. airlines. Deposit and Hilton Honors membership required for 15% discount terms and conditions apply. So community, is it amazing that there was a time when you could turn on a network, NBC, and you could watch community into Parks and Recreation, into the office?
Into 30 Rock. Yep. That is insane. That is insane. And at the time, people were like, it's kind of niche comedy. That was my... I was like, you got... It was like, if you...
if you only knew the quality of comedy coming out and look, I brag about certain things, my barbecue. Uh, but I knew making community was a good show. I'm sure when you were making parks and rec, you were like, this is funny. Yeah. And, and I would look around and be like, this, this is such good scripts. These are such funny people. It was like, it's a good, I know it's a good show. And I've been on things that aren't. And then I'll just be like, we're very excited. Uh,
Yeah. Yeah. Those were the, and you know, when community was on, it was regarded as a half failure for ratings all the time. Same. Oh, same with parks and rec. Same. Always.
And they, and I, and now I know, well, we were also up against the big bang theory, which was one of the most not smart programming moves in NBC history. I was like, well, it's community as you, I mean, that same thing has happened with parks and rec, but it's taken on a different life. And at the time we were all, we knew it was good. And we were, we always kind of felt like we're the scrappy little show that a few people really got. And yeah,
And we were happy with that and we'll take it because they were stronger and faster and smarter than other fans of other shows. So yeah,
But now, thank God for Netflix and for streamers because the show took on a life of its own after. Who would have thought? And I know that Parks and Rec has done a very similar thing. Because the show... I'm always like, the shows were good. This is like a well-done, funny show. And it had a bunch of heart in it. And I was like, eventually, someone's going to find it and they're going to love it. Damn it. Yep. It's...
It's just amazing that they all existed at the same time. And we shot simultaneously with you guys at Radford. You guys were above us and we were in the parking garage soundstage. But how about this? How I did not know that there was a basement and that a show was ever being shot. I was on that show for four years. I didn't know you guys were below us.
I honestly didn't. It was the weirdest thing when it was like something out of the talk about a fever dream or like, Hey, you see that door? Yeah. Communities down there. It's so successful. The studios that they're like, we're out of sound stages. What do we do? Just take that garage. Just make that garage into that's fine. There's no windows. It's fine. There's no ventilation. Don't worry about it. It's a soundstage shows happen. It was unbelievable. And then after you guys were out of that space, um,
It's Always Sunny was down there for, I think, at least two seasons. So think about the comedy mojo going on in that basement. And Bernie Mac was there before us. He was hilarious. He was hilarious. He was a funny, funny man. That Kings of Comedy stuff is legendary. I mean, he's... They only make a few of those every few generations. It doesn't come along too much. No, for sure. Who are your favorite comedians? Yeah.
or your favorite shows? What makes you laugh? You know, just people getting hit in the balls on YouTube, pretty much. I don't, yeah, I can't argue. I mean, I grew up with Steve Martin, Robin Williams, and Richard Pryor. And those were the kind of, I mean, the four titans that I...
Like I played Steve Martin's album. So they broke same thing with Robin. I think live on the sunset strip is one of like, it's almost performance art by your prior. It's really extraordinary about his addiction. And then, you know, Eddie Murphy came in on the eighties and delirious was the thing that every fifth grade watching. So good. I just watched clips. I watched clips from, um,
I don't know if it was raw or delirious. I get the mixed up. Was he wearing black or was he wearing red? I know, that's right. Yes, he was wearing black. Boy, comedians sure don't dress like that anymore. But boy, what? Talk about being on top of the world. Oh, he was so funny, Eddie Murphy. And he apparently is going to do...
stand up again. Good. The other thing, Monty Python really changed my life. Yeah. With, with the Beatles documentary out and everybody loving it and I love it and I've talked about it. I just am obsessed with it as everybody is. It made me go back and watch, um, the Ruddles. Oh yeah. Amazing. Which is just amazing. And that's the Monty Python parody of, uh, if you haven't seen the Ruddle, if you like the Beatles and you like comedy, uh,
You must search out The Ruttles, which is the Monty Python folks parody of all those documentaries of the Beatles. It is so funny. And you know what's interesting also? Lorne Michaels produced it. Right. And it, to this day, holds the world record for being the lowest rated piece of programming in the history of NBC. The Ruttles. The Ruttles. I didn't know that. And when you see it, you go, yeah, this is...
you know, America writ large would be what, what, what is this? Right. But then there's squid game and, uh,
If you had said, I mean, think about all the, because that guy tried nine years to get that thing made. Because I'm assuming every time he walked into an office in Hollywood, he'd be like, yeah, so this is going to be done in Korean and it needs this budget and it's going to be this thing. It's going to be very specific and be like, what are you talking about? No one's going to watch that. Cut to the most popular television show ever in history. You just don't know. My question to you is you're shooting a very successful documentary.
very elaborate drama on Fox and you have time to do that. I mean, obviously you're not shooting now because I'm assuming you would be in a firefighter outfit underneath a frozen bridge, trying to pull out a family that whose SUV went over while I don't know, the chemical plant explodes. That's it. Before lunch, we would do that before lunch. Yeah.
I'm assuming the hours are unreal and you're there at four in the morning and you get wrapped at 9 p.m. and then you're force called. Force called is the thing, everyone, where they're like, sorry, we can't give you eight hours off. You just have to get back here. And then they pay you money, which is, I guess they had to do that because they were violating it so many times before there was a penalty. How are you standing and...
Like you have a podcast and how are you not just, I don't know, sitting watching the waves crash at Santa Barbara pier going like, well, that was a busy time. I got to do it again. I mean, cause I, I'm obviously the show's a hit, so it's coming back, but, uh, and you're the, and you're the lead. So you're in every scene practically. It's a lot. I, and I have two podcasts. I have this one and then I have the parks and recollection podcast.
where the great Alan Yang and I go episode by episode and break it down and have people on and just, it's a celebration of parks. And then, yeah, on my hiatus from Lone Star, the theory is I'll go and do the Netflix comedy if it moves forward. And look, I like to work. It actually gives me energy. I don't idle well. And it's,
You know, you know, you've been in the business long enough to know that when when the mojo is flowing your way, you got to ride that stream because there are there are plenty of times when it's not.
Yep. It's like surfing. You just like, hey, if you catch a wave that's good, surf that thing. Surf it. You know, your legs may burn. I'm on a really long wave right at the moment, and I'm really happy about it. And my legs are hurting, but I'm going to keep going because it also, you know, these are all really good things.
You know, it's like you said, we've all been on shows that we maybe we weren't thrilled about or any kind of that's what makes you tired doing good work. I never get tired doing good work in the way that I do doing work. I'm like where it's work.
Right. And you shoot that here or do you shoot it? Yeah. All over the place. I mean, it's the big, it is such a big production. Oh my God. You just can't believe the scale. You just can't. The promos alone. I was like, that was a million dollar promo right there. Yeah. It's nuts. Do you stay down in LA when you're doing it? Just because obviously the commute would be impossible. It depends because like if we're,
out in santa clarita or that kind of vibe it's it's almost easier for me to come back to santa barbara wow and i do but if we're at fox where we shoot the the studio stuff or downtown la where the firehouse is then then i'll go to uh i got a little tiny place in in la wow i'll tell you what's disorienting and you know people like i start my morning with the um
a cup of coffee and meditation and a little prayer. And I, you know what my morning starts with? Knock, knock, knock, knock, knock. Wake up. They're ready for rehearsal. And someone throws a Starbucks down my throat. I walk three steps and I'm in front of 200 people all looking at me going, what are we doing today? Like I've been awake for 30 seconds. And you're like, well, I got to do my morning pee. So, yeah.
Let's make this rehearsal quick. Yeah, there's none of it. And then, before the pandemic, you were doing theater shows. I'm doing, yeah, doing a one-man show, which came out of the two books that I wrote that are just, it's just stories. They're literally me on stage telling stories. And if I was really honest about it, I would say it's my version of a stand-up. Because it's...
It's funny. It's jokes and stories. So if you're shooting, because this show is going to go probably, I'm assuming, six, seven years. Yeah, probably. It's an albatross because big, huge network shows are not as common as they used to be. But when they're hits, they stick around. Cut to every show on NBC with the word Chicago in front of it. That's right.
So I'm assuming you must shoot eight months out of the year, seven months if you're shooting 20 of them? So we're doing... That's the other thing. As the years go on, they order weirdly less and less of them. I remember on the West Wing, we would do 22 every year. Right. It was always 22. And if they thought they could bring 26 out of you, they'd do it. Now...
Almost no one does 22 of anything anymore. And, and sort of 18 is the new 22. So we do 18 a year and we, you know, so that, that takes us from, um, if we, and we come on in, in, in January every year now. So, you know, it's,
mid-September to end of April, right? Yeah, that's a lot. And then you're like, now I'm going to hit the road and get on stage. No, I would do that on the weekends. Very impressive. Well, you know where I got that from, and you know what it was like. It's the same on Community. I would roll in on Parks and Rec, and Aziz and Zari would be like, yeah, I was just up in Portland doing some shows. And I was like, fuck, that's so cool.
I was so envious of that. And Nick Offerman, same. He'd be like, oh, I'm doing a show and whatever. And I was like, all these people have these other big lives outside of this show. And they're such self-starters. Like, I wonder if I have that in me.
I wonder. And that's that that total inspiration. That was how I got inspired to do it was, you know, Aziz every, you know, every Monday would be telling me about, yeah, I was in Athens, Georgia, playing at whatever. And I was like, that's so cool. We get so lucky because we're in this crazy business and we're so lucky because people want to hire us and pay us to do this silly thing.
And I'm like, yeah, just run with it, baby. Yeah. Well, this is fun. Thank you for coming on, man. I knew we would have a great talk. I still got to ask you about St. Elmo's fire at some point. Knock on wood. How fun was that? Right? He's a good dude. Funny man. I could have talked to him for much, much longer, but I have places to be. And I know you do too. It's time to get off the treadmill. Time to get out of the car or whatever the hell you're doing.
and get back to real life. But join us again next week. There will be more to come here. Hope you're enjoying the show, literally, with me, Pablo.
You've been listening to Literally with Rob Lowe, produced and engineered by me, Rob Schulte. Our coordinating producer is Lisa Berm. The podcast is executive produced by Rob Lowe for Low Profile. Jeff Ross, Adam Sachs, and Joanna Solitaroff at Team Coco. And Colin Anderson at Stitcher. Our researcher is Alyssa Grahl. Our talent bookers are Paula Davis, Gina Batista, and Britt Kahn.
And music is by Devin Bryant. Thanks for listening. We'll see you next week on Literally with Rob Lowe. This has been a Team Coco production in association with Stitcher.
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