Joel McHale
58:50 Share

If you're driving right now, take a look around. See all those cars? You can find them on AutoTrader because they have the largest selection of new cars, used cars, electric cars, even flying cars.

Okay, no flying cars yet, but as soon as those get invented, they're going to be on AutoTrader. Not only can you find the car you just saw, you can find it at a price personalized to you with Kelly Blue Book, my wallet on AutoTrader. From credit scores to down payments to interest rates, we all know that car buying requires a lot of math.

Enter MyWallet on AutoTrader, a tool that shows you exactly how much you'll pay each month for your car based on your unique info. So you never have to do your car math again. So whether you're into timeless classics or the latest trends, did somebody say solar-powered, eco-friendly, self-driving car? Or whether you just want something practical with no surprise costs, if you see a car you like...

Find it on auto trader. See it. Find it. Auto trader. Listen, Dana, new year's resolutions are coming in. I know a lot of people don't do them. A lot of people do do them. A lot of people don't know what's what's no. That's what I said. A lot of people don't do them. A lot of people, but by the time you said do do them, I'd already said, no. So I think resolutions are great. Right. You know, and I think learning a new language, um,

Because Rosetta Stone, one of our favorite sponsors, has got this. They've hacked this. They know how to do this. This is where you learn language, Rosetta Stone. Yeah. Sounds scary, but when they do it so much, they learn every year what people like, what they don't like, and they just get better and better. It's personal growth, you know? Language learning is something you...

It sounds overwhelming, but I think these guys know how to do it. It's a smart way to do it. But it's cool. Whenever you meet someone, all of a sudden they go, oh, yeah, we went to Paris. You did? And they go, you know, they speak a foreign language. It's always very impressive.

Because everyone travels, everyone's trying to get career advancement, cultural appreciation. But let's break down what Rosetta Stone does. Yeah, well, Rosetta Stone, first of all, it has speech recognition. So there's a built-in true accent feature that gives you feedback on your pronunciation. It's like having a personal trainer right there to help you. Right. And it's flexible. You're not driving 40 miles to go to some junior college. Nothing against them in a classroom. Some Juco.

anytime, anywhere, learn on the go with the mobile app or at your desktop on your schedule. Right, David? How about the value, the amazing values? I like it's my schedule. I like they have a lifetime membership and that is all 25 languages. So,

That pretty much covers anything you would need to be in America, to be overseas, to be anywhere. All trips. Listen, that's lifetime access to all 25 language courses Rosetta Stone offers for 50% off. That is a steal. Start the new year off. Yeah, with a resolution that you can reach. This one might work. Today, Fly on the Wall listeners.

can take advantage of this Rosetta Stone's lifetime membership for 50% off. What do you got to do though? You got to visit rosettastone.com slash fly. That's 50% off unlimited access to 25 language courses for the rest of your life. My goodness, redeem your 50% off at rosettastone.com slash fly.

Okay, so we've got Joel McHale. Joel McHale, nice chat with Joel. Joel McHale. I did a pilot once a little while back, and Joel McHale was in it with Ken Yong, who are really good friends, like best friends. I just think best friends forever. I know Ken Yong, sure. We all know Joel. We all know Ken Yong's background.

A great standup. We see him at the comedy store. We talk about community, this show community. He did forever. He did. We talk, of course, I've asked about Chevy Chase because that ties in us a little bit and good stories. Guys got good stories. And he also likes international scouts. Do you know that Dana? Cause where I get my Land Cruiser done.

Right. He buys up a lot of scouts and they're all old ones and very cool ones. And he was one of the first, he did a show where you, um, make fun of videos. Oh, talk soup. Talk soup. Yeah, that's great. And, um, what's kind of interesting without giving you away, I'll talk about, he had a little bit of dyslexia and he was reading teleprompters and the struggle and the challenge of that. But that show is huge and went on for years. Um,

And he now has a new show. Animal Control. And I think it's just started its third season. And I just read a really nice thing about it in the paper. So Animal Control, you know him for sure when you see him. And we had a nice chat. So let's listen up. Enough about us.

Very exciting. That beard is rocking. Look at his fucking cool hair too. I hate this guy already. All the transplants guys, this can be yours. Literally. No, it cannot. That's too good. You got to have some donors. If you're going to go, no, that is, that is fucking Trini Lopez, early Tom Jones. Who are your hair donors? Charo. Uh,

When the Russian Olympic doping thing hit, I was able to reap the benefits because they had all this extra...

Extra tranquilizer sitting around, guys. But Parse of Ohebe, he's in Sherman Oaks. He's a wizard. This is my great-grandfather. That's what would have been me. He's showing a picture of a goddamn cue ball. Oh, really? A cue ball? Might as well be George Costanza. And you're like, well, who has the greatest hair in Hollywood? I think it was... What did Rob Lowe say? Rob Lowe said Richard Gere, I think, in the history of Hollywood. That's Joel McHale. I think it's Jeff Bridges.

Yeah. I mean, if Keanu's... Can I make my face redder? That's just the Cheetos wearing off. Everyone says on the YouTube comments,

hey spade rough night i'm like no this is just it guys they're like geez what a disaster what's northern european you get a little rosacea i don't think i'm red heather am i in real life

my fucking dad was kind of red, but he was such a goddamn drunk. Yeah. But you're still, you speak at this age. Like if you still, if we all went back to our high school reunions, just an impromptu high school reunion, we'd all be like, Oh, we're doing great. Yeah. Yeah. You're right. Me and my buddies in high school don't look so fucking tragic. So we see, by the way, when I was at, and back in Arizona, Sir Joel and, um, they, uh,

These two old dudes walked up to us and I'm like, oh, look at these broken down motherfuckers. And they go, hey, we were a year under you guys in high school at Saguaro. I'm like, shut the fuck up. Wait, we're all around the same?

Oh my God. Well, they also were sitting in the Arizona sun, right? They were baiting. Everyone lays out every day. Yeah. No sunscreen. That's for girly men. I talked to a guy at an event in the recent past, about 20 minutes.

And had no idea who he was. He's in show business. But he quietly, quietly put on 50. And he became, I don't know why it's always quiet, but it was unrecognizable. And then someone told me later, and you kids out there can guess who it was, but it was not Joel or Ken, his best friend Ken Yong. Who was it?

Let me guess. No. Yeah, I like where she was. Let's do it. We'll save it. No, I can't because it would be mean to the person. I saw a guy that loudly put on 60 pounds. But I think Martin Sheen got over it in a second. No, it was not Martin Sheen. It wasn't Ken Jeong. He was born on Ozempic. That guy's fit. He can still high jump over six feet. Yeah. Do you guys know who Nathan Fillion is?

extremely handsome man from Edmonton. And he, he continues to look great, but he like when starting around like late thirties, forties, he did put on 50 pounds easily. Quietly. Great. Really? And then he lost it all. I don't, I don't know how he did it. Uh,

But he lost it all. And everyone's like, you look great. And he literally was like, if you just carry an extra 50 for a decade, then and you lose it, then you get this new blank check to look great. Because everyone's like, hey, and I was like, oh, you could just hang in there for that 10 years.

That guy pulls wool even when he's 50 plus over. No, you come in a boozed up alcoholic at the 40th anniversary. And then for the 50th, you just go clean for a decade. Yeah. And you got all the- Nate Fregazzi says he just tells people, even though he's kind of fat, he goes, I just tell people I lost 300 pounds and they go, holy shit, you look great. You look good.

Nate Bregazzi's not fat. But he says to that to people. So they go, oh, wow. Well, now this is pretty good for you. He's like, I saw Def Leppard play. Yes. So did we. Thank you. This is Ted. They opened for Kiss at the Forum.

Open for. I know. I felt. I was like. I feel like. That's a story. That's a pick them. We got to interview Joe Elliott for an hour. What a kick in the pants that guy. What were you saying? Someone was like, well, definitely. But they're on this comeback because one of them had cancer or

And you get up there and then you start watching them. I was like, which one has cancer? And there was like all the three of them were bloated and bad hair dye. They're all just like, and then the guy with cancer just died.

skinny and short just like full of energy they're like he's doing great now and I was like oh wow that really shows you I think it's it's sad when there's like a quartet of singers or whatever and then they eventually one by one pass away I was in Vegas once and they ladies and gentlemen the platter and it was like such a bring down it's funny

I saw, I saw that's an old joke. When Mac, when it was down to Stevie Nicks, two guys from Los Lobos and a contest. And the name is. And. The Beach Boy. Just Josie, Josie Ann. And some friends. I remember in Seattle, this is it. It's Steppenwolf. No original members.

And I thought, what happened? What's going on? What is the point? Well, then it's a, what do you call it? A tribute band. It's that point, right? It's really just a cover band, which is kind of good. I saw Led Zepp again or one of these, you know, and the cover bands where I didn't even, well, I didn't think it was really Led Zeppelin, but I said, okay, at least I'll just go hear the Led Zeppelin songs. I can win a cover band, right?

And they were like, here's one that no one knows. I don't even think Robert Plant remembers. I'm like, no, no, no. Guys, here's the deal. I want to know every motherfucking... And then they weren't doing hits. They go, we're not here to do the Zeppelin hits. I go, okay. And I think you don't understand what's going on. I paid $3 and what I want...

$3 at the Vaseline room in Reno or something? I think it was at Sharky's that place. I like a tribute band that's like, we're not playing the hits.

Yeah. What is your only job? And you're not playing to a crowd. We're going to play a new song. Wow. It was a Canyon Club, Joel. Do you know what Canyon Club is? Oh, yes. Oh, God. Not a great gig. Actually, I played Canyon Club, so I can't. I played it. That's why I'm saying. I saw Forner there. I bet it was great.

It was actually three in her because one guy didn't show up. My friend. Oh, because the jokes are bad. You go like this. Oh, no, my friend Boyd saw Rick Springfield there. And he said Rick Springfield walked out and said,

fuck you i'm 75 and then just went right into jesse's girl that's the best opening ever let me do a quick dennis miller this is 20 seconds per this topic playing a casino in san bernardino and you know in the casinos they're all in the bar for the longest time then they come in so we came out like two months before we go on it's thousand seats not one person sitting there and dennis goes

Christ sakes, Carvey. Did we just turn into Three Dog Night over here? Sorry, I just wanted to share that with Joel because I knew he would chuckle. Dad, you actually taught me day and night. Years ago, you were like, yeah, you ever go to those gigs where you haven't done stand-up in a while and then you just go into your act and you're

You're barely holding onto the roller coaster as it's going. And I was like, Oh, that thing. I'm so glad you said that. Someone else has done it. The more famous you get, the, your standup gets shitty for a while. Like probably when you're full time on community, you're doing less, less reps, less get, and then your price is going up and up. Right. Yeah. They get a lot of, it's a lot of talk about greatest hits.

Yeah. Well, you know, we know the old days, Joe, where you're not that old, but... Yeah, I'm old. When...

Dana was headlining. You could still get carded if you do a little aggression right there. I was out there with some guys that were just doing the same 45, not even an hour, just the same 45 on the dot. Then I'd see him a year later, same 45, three years later. Because they just had mailing lists and stuff. There was no TikTok or YouTube or not that many specials at all, right?

There's only a couple. Do you ever get like, well, as you said, like the bands come out, they play all their hits and that's what everyone wants to hear. And I'm like, yeah, but I don't think comics can do that. I know I do a mixture usually because some people go, oh, you didn't do the one joke of yours. I like. Yeah. I am very close to doing a one man show where I do quick change.

Church Lady, Hans. Oh, yeah. You go to... You kill it. I did that one. Ed Sullivan, the person goes behind the... Partition. The panel and then comes out as a totally new character in like one second. Well, you've reached the... Well, you both have reached that legend status, so you can... Yeah, bring me in there. Thank you. But you should then do three characters that everybody knows and then throw in a character that you'd be like... And this one was...

From SNL's 1986 special, and then just be a character that you've never done before. Deep cuts. And it's like this got to read through, and that was it. Listen, it's a new year. New year. A lot of proposals. Oh, yeah. Lots of people popping the big question. Sure, it's a huge moment, but what they don't tell you is how many decisions you have to make when choosing.

The perfect engagement ring, David. I can think of six questions off the top of my head. Shape, size, color, cut, clarity, carrots, you know. Damn. That's fantastic. Off the top of your head? No, there's no place better to start than BlueNile.com because they know what she wants and so it's time to learn fast. They do this every day.

they know they'll take the guesswork out for you guys don't know anything I don't know anything you know you go in there blue and I'll dot com

You'll create a bigger, more brilliant engagement ring than you can imagine price. You won't find at a traditional jeweler. It's been since 1999. They've been the original online jeweler. That's right. They've always been committed to ensuring that the highest ethical standards are observed when sourcing diamonds and jewelry. Their diamond price guarantee means that in most cases...

They'll meet or beat a competitor's price on a comparable diamond. And, you know, it's a surprise usually, so it'll stay safe because every Blue Nile order is insured, arrives in packaging, they won't give away what's inside. Most cases even delivered overnight. Blue Nile has a 100% satisfaction guarantee with free shipping and returns, so you can make sure the ring you pick is the one. Love can last forever, but...

You know, you get free service and repairs for life, so you're covered. Wow. I mean, come on. If you're going to make a move, you've got to use Blue Nile. Don't wander downtown. Have some guy. Let me get that eyepiece out. You can check out the diamond if you want it. And the deco-wine-man. We got one made of wood. He charted up trisomes.

Right now, $50 off your purchase of $500 or more with code fly at blue Nile.com. That's $50 off with code fly at blue Nile.com. That's blue Nile.com. Hey, I'm Ben Stiller. I'm Adam Scott. And we make a TV show called severance. Severance is back for season two on Apple TV plus before the premiere, Ben and I are going to be binging season one and putting out daily recaps beginning January 7th. We'll be dropping an episode featuring a

The Severance Podcast with Ben and Adam. Listen and follow now on Apple Podcasts, the Odyssey app, or wherever you get your podcasts.

He's got that animal control thing in the back. Animal control shows. Don't get third seasons anymore. Well, this is a fucking hit in 2024, a third season. I always say, well, it's weird. We've done 30 total episodes, which, you know, in the old days, that's one season. So, Hey, divide up the pie. However you like. That's great.

Let's call it five, six seasons. You know, when we did Rules of Engagement, Dana, at the end, it was always 22 episodes. And the way we whined about it was, because you can always find a way to grouse in the set, is first season of Rules of Engagement, we did 22 and we debuted huge. And then there was a fucking strike. And we came back and we never got the momentum. Our fault, I guess. Damn those workers trying to fight for their rights. It was only 13 pickups. And you're like, 13 pickups?

And your whole year is over because you can't do anything. You can't book anything else. You can't get a new show and you just wait. And on May they go, we might bring you back. And if we do, it'll be for a measly 13. We do less if we could. And I'm like, God dang. The second we got to a hundred episodes, they fired us that day. They're like, that's all we need. Bye. Joel, who are you following? Who's the show? What is this magic?

Who am I following? Oh, I thought you meant like in my political life. The Proud Boys. No. Yeah.

You had me. I was like, they have a great TikTok. What night are you on and what time coming up? We're on, I think we're on, it's January 2nd as hangovers are just being cured. A perfect day. Yeah, I think that's a Thursday after Hell's Kitchen or Next Level Chef with Gordon Ramsay, who's always raining scolds.

And, uh, and then Dennis Leary has a new comedy that is on after us. I know all about it. Really? Yeah. Their parent. Oh, what, what is his show? Cause it's, uh, what's the one? Uh, it's called. Nope. I'm where I'm getting there. Really great. That, uh, not giving you telling you going Dutch, going Dutch. Yes. It's about a air army base in Europe. That is only for supplies. Uh,

And so they're like the great distributor to all the bases. So they have, there's no action at all. And Danny Pudi is in it from Community. That's what it says, yeah. And so the family is slowly coming back. So yeah, that's, we were very lucky because Fox is hung in, you know, you hear all these stuff, but they hung in there with the show and not compared to Community, but like on Community, but we were always there.

we were always on the bubble and, and Fox, like they liked the show. They're like, we're hanging in there. And now it's slowly built up on Hulu and they've taken their time. So they've,

They did the thing that old comedies used to do where they would take care of it and nurture it and water it. And so it's gotten better. And it's really enjoyable. It's nice they do what they say because not all these networks, they can tell you it's great until the day they chop your head off and you go, oh. But that's, it's just a biz. But I think they add in Hulu. There's some reason you're doing well. You know, they calculate everything together. Some metrics, something means something.

It's working. AI. It is. It's interesting that the, I mean, not to get nuts, but they like how Netflix, like,

Friends in the office. Those are, and suits of all, you know, like they're all, and same thing with community. We didn't become a hit until after streamers came out and there they were. And these shows have a hundred or 150 episodes and people see them like comfort food. And you were NBC and how many episodes? We are NBC. We were canceled after our fourth season and then brought back to

on Yahoo screen. What's that? What's that? Uh, it was a short lived streaming service that Yahoo calculator. Yeah. That it was, it went from the biggest calculator app, biggest website to, yeah, to a, uh, to weather and, uh, to just a little weather app after, after, but they literally blamed us for the downfall of Yahoo screen, which I'm like, I brought down a streamer and, uh, uh,

Then that was it after six seasons. So we did like 130. So you had 130 to sell. It kind of, I don't know the word cult, but it has legs. I mean, because I don't think anything kind of like community. It was unique, you know? Yeah. Just its vibe and the way it was written and the people in it. So it's kind of cool that it lives on. Yeah, Dan Harmon is a freaking true genius. I think, David, you probably know him.

I know him a little bit. I know him. I did a thing with him for, I think, National Geographic Channel where I played JFK or something. I can't remember. It was shot all over at that studio. Sounds awesome.

Yeah. He's very, very smart. Joel, are these Chevy stories, we had him on the show, is it more rumor or was he a bit of a pickle? Put it this way, too. I want to think, how did you think about Chevy during the show and now how do you think about Chevy now? Oh, hell yeah.

Well, you know, I've never answered any questions about him. So this is... I like it. This is... Well, this is SNL related, so it's a little... I can start with my theory because we had him on and I kind of figured him out right before we came on. And then it kind of made sense to me that he has an impulse to say the thing you're not supposed to say, even if it goes...

territory that you cannot even comprehend he's going there, but he has an impulse to do that. So right before he came on our show, he was at David's house. I just sort of went with it and he would do all this shock stuff and I just started finding it so funny because I saw what he was doing. If you're not ready, but if you don't get defensive, it's like a swing and a miss. Someone just laughs. Yeah, all that. I would agree with everything on that plane.

Uh, and then you worked with them a lot more than I like at six in the morning as we're all stumbling in there, trying to hoping to make our 15 hour day. Uh, he, I guess this is a separate thing, but he, he didn't want to be there for that long. Like it was those hours and those that, that work was, it was too much for the man. He didn't want to be there. And so we would have to find a way to, uh,

shoot them out. Uh, and, and I'm not Chevy, if you're listening or watching, I don't think you would disagree with any of this. And, uh,

And he had, he was, yeah, the man had a lot going on all the time and he would, he could definitely as like be disruptive. And, uh, he, he, he definitely didn't like it when some people were funnier and, uh, he kind of loses mind a little bit. And then, uh,

You know, he was fired from the show famously. And yeah, like we everyone was like, I feel like he's he's everything like when he was good, it was magic. And he's so good. And he's we watch those first few seasons. He's so funny.

Uh, but you know, the guy, the guy was his own self sabotager all the time and, uh, would be, yeah, he would always be disruptive and all that stuff. So I think in doses, like you're saying, like if he's throwing out, he, he also has, he also always had to find if things were going well, he would find a way to, uh,

To slow that down. Right. He would he would throw some wrench in and and yeah. So, yeah, I mean, the guy, you know, he's his reputation precedes him. And and I haven't spoke to him since the show ended, but I did play him in a movie. And I guess I called him to tell him that.

Uh, but, uh, yeah, I'm sure he's, yeah, there's that. That's weird. You played Chevy in a movie after community. Very strange. Just someone who does a lot of arms workouts. Uh, so, uh, yeah, it's an, it's, he's always been, yeah, he was always the, uh,

Focus of attention whenever he was in the room. All those picadillos or ticks, whatever you want to call them, we've worked with people in show business where it can be cute and funny, but then if it's actually part of a job, it's a completely different idea. Forget Chevy. Just if anybody is actively just being difficult. Well, if you don't love coming to work, that's hard. If you get nervous at work, you're going, someone's coming in.

and it's going to be tough. And you're like, these days are so hard anyway, and no one believes it. But if you're in it and you know you're up at six and leaving at 8.30 at night, you're like, we have no life. Just get your lines memorized. Yeah, single camera, half hour. I mean, that's a workload. And we shot those shows like they were movies. They weren't shot in a documentary style scene. So none of it was that loose. It was all cinematic. And we shot those like paintball things and all those things.

all those kind of epic look looking things for half hour. And, you know, uh, I, we knew Chevy had obviously dealt with things like that before because he was a gigantic movie star all through the eighties. But, uh,

Yeah. And then, you know, there'll be other times when we, you know, physically push each other around. So that also happened. And, uh, well, well, I, I, I don't know. I mean, you're, I wouldn't want to try to fight you. I mean, I think you're probably, don't, you don't want to one of the strongest guys in Hollywood. I don't know. Don't don't. Yeah. It was all.

When we look back on it, I'm like, what? That was just mayhem as we were trying to get this shit made. Just do a cute show. Yeah.

Yeah. And, and then, then I have that thing of like people like, Oh, there's that thing. Cause during the time it was pre, it was, it was during the times when you didn't say anything where it was like, just keep doing what you're doing because every, because it's working and you, we didn't want to rock the boat. And so that, so we kind of, I remember multiple people above us going, yeah, and he's all ours. Yeah.

And, you know, the show was working. So I yeah, it was it was it was you don't want them to say, let's get rid of the stress is coming over. I was like, I don't know what I don't know if I talk to him again. I'm sure he was like, fuck you. So I'm like, all right. Right. But he'd probably say that anyway, even if he was in love.

He might surprise you. I don't know. But yeah, that's, uh, we've all, I've had experiences like that, Mickey Rooney, but anyway, it doesn't really matter. Mickey Rooney, but, uh, God rest his soul. But yeah, he was putting it in, in, in the Mickey Rooney sort of analogy. I love any podcast that mentions Mickey. Go ahead. He's so happy right now that his name got mentioned. Mickey Rooney, number one star in the world, right? Legitimately. Yeah. Chevy, uh,

Time Magazine, Funniest Man in America. And then movie after movie after movie. Tall, great looking. Goldie Hawn said when I saw him, I was like, this is a formidable person. He comes in and at some point he's got to feel like I'm on a sitcom or I'm on whatever. And it just, and everyone's getting laughs around him. And usually they would write that out. They would just be like, I'm the guy that scores. And then here's the movie around me. Everyone can be okay.

And so there's something to that. I remember George Segal. I would think that with George Segal when I was on Just Shoot Me because he's so great.

And one time he goes, you little fuck. I used to work with Elizabeth Taylor. I go, I know, dude. We would laugh about it because, and he would yell it to the audience. He'd point to me and go, I used to work with Elizabeth Taylor. Now I work with this fucking asshole. But we had a great time. But don't you think that like you, he was happy about it. He was happy. Right. Is that they didn't realize that when everybody's funny, that makes everything funny. And that makes the whole thing funny.

better and rarely like on a show i don't know i'm trying to think of some i don't know some example of some super funny show eight is enough let's say no um where they go oh everyone was funny on that show except for that one guy it's like no no the whole because everyone was scoring everyone straight man for this man everyone's valuable and george said you know we had all done

Just Shoot Me wasn't a magnanimous hit, but it stayed on for seven years. I think what happened, we all had downtime where it wasn't working for a little bit. So we all were like, hey, we're all lucky to be here. So it was a lot less fighting. I can't remember any because we thought we know what it's like when it doesn't work. It's not all given. If you're on Friends and it's your first show you get and you're a superstar, a worldwide star,

You can't even imagine what if I did a show that didn't work? You can't imagine what it's like to just get pilots canceled. So when you've had ups and downs and something works, you go, oh, we are lucky. Let's do not mess this up.

Yeah, that's probably what I'm doing. But it sounds like there was nobody on Just Shoot Me that was disruptive. Right. I'm saying is that you had that. And so you don't want to mess the show up. You're probably not telling everybody like, hey, we got to get rid of this. What can we do? Because they might say, yeah, this whole show is a problem. Let's just get rid of it. And you're like, no, I like it. I want to be here.

Do you think that when Chevy came through with community, like how, how much has changed now with live streaming shows? Cause you'll just see full blown movie stars, except Tom Cruise, who's one of my favorites doing a live streaming series. And there is no, it's, there's no, it's completely accepted. It's not like, Oh, what happened to his movie career? There's more of those than watching live. Yeah. I mean, that's also why like when Snoop and Jamie Foxx and,

Dwayne Johnson and Ellen all did game shows.

And that blew away the, Oh, you don't have to, you, there's not a tie. You know, like you're in that lane now. It's just all the lanes blurred. And then, and then, then the streamers had all the money and like squid games, uh, or squid game. If like no one cares, they're like, Oh, it's just great. We don't. And I was like, if you told an executive five years ago that a foreign language murder game show drama and Kevin Costner, uh,

would be the biggest things on TV. They'd be like Kevin Costner in a Western. I don't think so. That's not going to be a hit that Westerns are dead. It's all science fiction. Oh, and people are not going to read subtitles. Forget it. And then the biggest things on the planet.

That's part of the fun is that no one knows, can't figure out showbiz. That's part of the, it's part of the crazy lottery. It's like you go, I could make it overnight. You just don't know. It could be in a show that blows up. There's 5 billion bits of digital information to watch right now.

globally between YouTube and then all the rest. So it's 5 billion. So I'm just saying it's different. That's my point. My thesis is that show business changed. You can do commercials. You can talk about your brand and being in the marketplace with your brand. Everyone can do commercials. Everyone can do anything. Everyone can do Masked Singer. Huge hit. Who would have thought?

Yeah. Which you've been on. Yes. Well, yeah. Ken caught, you know, once again, like those guys caught lightning in a bottle. And if you get it, which I when I was first on that show, I was like, I don't really understand what the rules are. Are we guessing who they are or are we telling you? Are they good at singing? Is it which one is it? And they were like, absolutely. And I was like, oh, costume. Yeah.

By the way, I like the guesses. It's like, is it Lady Gaga? Is it Adele? I think it's President Obama. And they're like, nope, it's Corey Feldman. And they're like, oh, I knew it. Oh, it's a kid from Eight is Enough. That's right.

Twice. No, it was from they always throw out those crazy guesses. Big names. I would like it just one time to be like, oh, it is Prince Harry.

Holy shit. They got him. And Megan Markle, they play like a horse character and she's the front and he's the back and they pop out. That would be great. That'd be really good for ratings. But as my mom would say, they should do that. They should do that. Ken is so like, he's that, he's like the secret weapon on that show where he's so fricking funny on it. And like without, I mean, everyone's really great. And like, and Robin, like Robin,

Thick's, his great, they had to throw, his ear is so good that they have to throw static at him and Nicole sure is there or they'll, they can just listen to a person's voice and they will point out some obscure singer from like, oh, that guy's from Northern Italy. He's a big pop star in Austria and he can, both he and Nicole could decipher that. And so they had to throw it anyway, but Anna and Ken would just say the funniest thing.

When I talked to Robin backstage, he said, I can tell you can't sing just by talking to you because I hear your voice. I was like, wow. All right. This podcast is brought to you by eHarmony, the dating app to find someone you can be yourself with. Because let's be honest. Have you ever? Now, Dana, you haven't dated. You've been married for a long time. But dating, you know, you remember it's very tough.

Mm hmm. Well, you know, I had some bad, some bad dates, you know, I mean, it was rough dating back in the day because I was a bus boy. That was my person. That was who I was. Claim to fame. That was your identity. We called ourselves table maintenance personnel managers. But it's hard to get a date when you're a bus boy. And I have my heart goes out for all the bus boys in the world. But it's good to be honest. Right, David? Right. Because, you know, that's.

A classic situation where you try to be a little bit of someone you're not just to get in there. And I've done the same thing. I've been out and caught myself saying, oh yeah, I'm really into daycapage too, because you just kind of want to find a connection there, but it doesn't always work because you eventually come back to being yourself and they figure you out. So the best dates are the ones where you're with someone who's acting like themselves or

You're being yourself and it flows. And that's where eHarmony comes in. They try to help you with a quiz. They want to meet people. They want you to meet people that are like you and like you for the right reasons. And that makes sense. And then you can skip all that. I know they say it's all games and it's hard to avoid some of that stuff. You don't want to get breadcrumbed.

I think that's a great idea that they sort of... Breadcrumb is a good one. That's when someone answers your text about once a week just to keep you around, but they don't really care about you. Oh, is that? That's funny. Breadcrumber, yeah.

But I think it's good that instead of your initial thing is right with the person on the dating app, eHarmony is sort of the middle person that kind of quiz it, get you with people already that are like you, you know, matches you up. I'd love for you to give eHarmony a shot, David. Well, out there, you know, for our listeners, if you're thinking about it, give eHarmony a shot. You get started with their compatibility quiz for free. Then you can find someone to be yourself with, eHarmony.com.

Get who gets you. You know, I hate to get serious here, Dana, but the family depends on you. And everyone needs to think about this. Get serious about something every family needs, which is life insurance. That's very true. Ethos has made securing life insurance as smooth as possible possible.

Because, you know, normal coverage from work may not be enough. The rates go up as you age. With Ethos, you can apply for affordable life insurance quickly and easily online and all without a medical exam. Just answer a few health questions for a free quote. And that's in less than 10 minutes at ethos.com slash flyfly. You know, because a lot of times, David...

Work provided life insurance may not be enough. You know, the rule of thumb is to have a coverage that's 10 times your salary. But an employer provided life insurance typically doesn't cover maybe one or two times your salary. See what I'm saying? Yeah, you got to read and find out what it is, because if you haven't used Ethos, you know that there's complications like when these things happen and you never know.

We've got aliens out there. We've got a lot of things going on. And you never know. You never know. There's people I've heard of. Something like that happens and then everyone's just jammed. And you don't want to jam up the family. Suddenly the income's gone. And you've got mortgage, you've got tuition, bills. Oh, yeah. I think it just feels like it's too much money for people. So they should call and just check because...

If it's affordable, then you're in, you know, I would just at least try, you know, or if you don't want to deal with a whole medical exam, you just have to answer a few questions. It's online, you know, a few health questions. It's worth it. I mean, something like this ethos, it's going to get you coverage quick, easy, fast.

And all online. That's quite an advantage. Way simpler. Two million families have trusted Ethos to help find the right coverage. Give your family peace of mind today for whatever the new year brings. Term life policies start as low as $10 a month. Okay. Get your free quote at ethos.com slash fly. That's E-T-H-O-S dot com slash fly.

You know what a fun fact, David Spade? Yeah. Bruce Lee went to the University of Washington, my alma mater. Where you did. Oh, my God. Don't make me do that research.

Bruce Lee, was he nice? I watched Enter the Dragon last week. Oh, did you really? Yeah. Do you have any classes with him? No, he was much older than me. How dare you? Yeah, but when everybody says like, oh, you went to Harvard? Yeah, like how many presidents? And I was like, nobody has a better... I was like, Bruce Lee, name somebody better. Get somebody cooler. I'm going to jump around here. You...

You were once quoted as saying, which is a great beginning. Now, when we talk about SNL sometimes in the show, you say, I think you say, because you're the only one that wouldn't love the cue cards. I love the cue cards. Oh, no, bad. I would, the anxiety that I'm feeling right now. Of hearing about it? I don't know how, like, I think, well, I was talking to,

who's a hater, Bill Hader about like, I was like, I don't know how you do it, man. He goes, oh, I'm super dyslexic. And if they change a single word, I flip out. And Stefan, you know, like obviously that was improvised, which was pretty incredible. But no, you got like, I still to this, when I see

Like when I see like people doing the weekend update or those things that I've gotten so much better at it because of the soup for so many years. But that live audience with cue cards flying with multiple people, I would be like, oh, boy, here we go. Well, there are a lot of cuts between dress and air.

And you don't get a chance. You're just going to see it on the card and pretend you're not reading the card. They yell on the way out, it'll be on the cards. And you're like, this is not good preparation. On the card, and we're skipping that. And you just go from here to here. So it is crazy. But just for a second, as it leads into this discussion, how many years did you do the soup? Because that's another part of your resume. Oh, yeah. 12 years. Soup's great. And did that break some... That also was kind of fresh. Did it ever not do well? I always thought talk soup and the soup would always... You could always...

just oh yeah it did not well really i always thought i loved it i thought i wouldn't like that one i thought it was uh extremely entertaining no matter whenever you clip through and you saw it because it's it's pop culture and quips and yeah no we had a good time but then i think then in 2015 i he was at that point not the most well organized uh

uh network on the planet this is now almost 10 years ago but uh they signed me to a new two-year contract in august and then canceled the show in late october and uh that was great and um and they didn't realize my contract was guaranteed no joke no joke i'm not kidding around here oh no and they had to pay your head they should have just done it

But was that time when the waterfall of streaming was just budding into linear television and no one know, you know, television viewing was falling off?

was coming on slowly but surely and they didn't know. They were like, what's the problem? Maybe it's the show's fault. And that was the day you would always blip. And that kind of brought it into the barn. Also, they had moved our night and increased the number of repeats and they were always telling us

telling us, oh, no, no, there's so many people watching. There's even more people watching it now. And then they canceled. I was like, don't try to make me feel better. Just tell me what's going on. And that, yeah. So that was on for 12 freaking years. And I couldn't believe it. And that was one of those cases where I was like, well, this is what happens. You get a television show and it...

you know, it's on, it works. This is how it works. Right. And then, you know, it's so hard. Nobody gets 12 years. Nobody gets 12 years. Does that exist out there? Is that on Hulu or Netflix? It was soup. The soup. No, because all those clips were news clips. So we just, we just, you could use them for free for one week and then you had to pay for them all. And so there's, I,

I was told some, like there's a couple of people that saved, you know, like 400 episodes. I was like, I don't know what those people are, but I haven't seen them. It is weird to go back and look at it. My kids look at me and go, what is, what is, what are you doing? Is that you? And I'm like, yeah, your dad used to do before he had hair. And, uh, did you stick with the crew laughing and not an audience? Yeah.

We would have, we put out folding chairs for about 20 people because we wanted it to be, we wanted to keep it low. And then they, at one point he wanted to do it daily. And I was like, we shouldn't do that because we're,

What if it doesn't work? And then it was going to become more of a talk show. And I was like, keep it. Let's keep it to just clips. The way it is. Slightly dirty jokes. Yeah. And then they were like... Then Daniel Tosh came on and he was such a monster hit. And he was always like... At one point, there was the president who ended up canceling the show. She had this big meeting with me and she...

And she was like, have you thought about putting clips on from the Internet? And then and I go like we do every week for the last week.

five years and she was like oh you do okay thank good all right end of meeting and i was like she's not even watching the show she doesn't wow that's a perfect executive yeah don't read you should be like the show don't listen just have an opinion is doing your show you're like yeah we're trying to be like the new show that's really our show yeah they're all very blurry i mean

it's a format that works and you guys do it, toss to it. Then they just go, Oh, we'll watch the new one, new version. And yeah, he's fine. So Rob Diedrich has been doing it on MTV for forever. Sure. Same thing. So let me ask you, I'm just curious. Are the, you were reading a teleprompter, right? I was, but, um, it was, so it was for the crew, the first year, um,

Nobody watched. And because we were on a 10 o'clock on Fridays, it was a desert. And this is you kids listening or watching this. There was a time when you could only tune in for your show and you missed it if that didn't. Yeah.

And we began to beat like a rerun of Sex and the City and they were over the moon. And this show was so cheap at that point that they kept us on. But it would take me for 22 minutes of jokes and clips put together. It would take me four and a half hours to finally kind of do it. Oh, horrible. Oh, there was a crew guy that quit. He was just like, I can't.

Like this guy can't read. And that's how we talk. We should be in and out in real time. I love a crew guy. This kid can't read. What's happening? Of course, we hire somebody who can't read to read. And so that lowered, my anxiety lowered as I got better at it. And then I began to not care. And we would do the show live.

And I was, I would advertise that I had dyslexia and I'd be like, I don't know what's going to happen. I can't really read, but we're doing it live. And so that, I mean, of course the best therapy for my dyslexia was doing a live show on television. So it was an odd, but, but it, but that's, yeah. So to this day, like I'm not the greatest reader, but I'm so much more relaxed at it. And yeah,

And I just kind of go, you're, it's just going to be a thing. And that's how it is. And it's not going to, it's your, you'll just have to, you know, these are, it all worked out. Thank God. But yeah, when you guys just even, I know going back to it, but when like reading, like if I were to see a cue card with,

Like to see all the, like to see two jokes on a card at once and be like, here comes that one. Here comes that one. And I know what's coming. So that means I'm ready to talk to whatever that I would be like, I would need. Yeah. That's always. It was a bit, it's a bit much. I did it recently on SNL and it was a lot. Yeah.

There's a lot of notes in your head. You've got guests and moving and introducing and landing jokes. And yeah, a lot of times there's three jokes in one paragraph and they're not like delineated. It's just, but I do think what's great is like, I have two older brothers that are, had dyslexia, but it wasn't diagnosed back then. No, you just, they just called you an idiot. You're dumb. Yeah. They were in the red book or the yellow book rather than the blue or green, whatever it, you know,

and kind of felt sorry for him, but it was just nothing to do with their intellect at all. So it's great that they can go, no, no, this is how your brain works. Doesn't mean you're not Einstein. Yeah. I don't, I don't know. And then the pressure of, oh, so this is a lot, this is the most, you're on the most popular live show of all time. You auditioned to get on this thing. And then it's like,

Here's we'll see how you do. If you if you score in this next 15 seconds, you'll probably get another season or you're just completely off the show. And I bet that's like the NFL. Yeah.

That's right. That, I mean, uh, like I, I, to this day, like there are cast members. I'm like, I can't, yeah. I mean, you know, you know, but like cast members that got fired, I was like, what? How did, but they're school. So I've had, yeah. It's a long, uh, you know, you, they've been all over this for a little, many times. There's all kinds of reasons why things happen. And some of it is just whimsy and luck. And, and then people can last two or three years and then something happens.

I don't know how it all really goes down. I was on Kevin Nealon's podcast.

And hey, I was starting just second. Anyway, I'm trying to do a little Kevin Nealon. Hey, Joe, hiking with Kevin. Let's give him a plug. Hiking with Kevin. He's yeah, he is. But he was saying that right before because he had that character, Mr. Subliminal. Yeah. Yeah. Subliminal. Yeah. It was like the first time he was doing it. And he was just about to. And Lauren got behind him.

Like, it's counting down from the commercial. And Lauren just goes, are you sure this is what you want? And I was like, what? And he had a revolver in his hand. I feel like on top of everything else, the creator of the show just kind of fucks with you a little bit. And you have to laugh and go, was he serious?

Part of his sense of humor. I mean, his running catchphrase, you walk past in the hallway, still with the show. You know, he just likes to break the tension. And between dress and air, he still gives a speech to everyone and kind of, we're going on the air show and it wasn't a really good dress. And it's like...

It'd be like really, like really good if this show was like funny rather than not funny. We have a two week break and you're going to meet a lot of your relatives and all they'll remember is this show. I'll go. But then it makes me laugh. Yeah. Or you say we had a two week break. You're back and it shows you took too much time off. We got to get back. Great. Thanks, coach. Yeah. Anyway, let's do a great show. Get them.

Well, he's like, I don't know. I mean, you're you were an athlete and stuff. Yeah. You could have a coach who is you. You should all the time. So I went to state school and then one suit just in a rare blue moon would give you a compliment or give you a little nudge. And it meant a lot more. You know. Oh, yeah. No joke. Yes. I went down the memory lane on Airbnb. I occupied once and it was I'll just say it. Awesome.

It's clean. It was tidy. It was beautiful. It was private. Great big kitchen right next to a forest. What's not to like, David? You check that box saying I'd like to be near a forest. That's a good thing. A lot of people like Airbnb because you can do that. You can say, hey, I want to

place with a pickleball court, you know, and they can find you on. You can be in town. You can be in the suburbs. You can be in the country. I mean, you can have a pool. You can not have a pool. I mean, the benefits of Airbnb are just the flexibility of it. Yeah. And the locations and privacy compared to hotels.

Listen, hotels are fine and that's great. But sometimes I think if you get into an Airbnb and you see the convenience and all the things, you don't have to walk by people in the hallway and not get on the elevator and talk about the weather. So you realize that it might really...

be more tailored for you. And it's the turns into the perfect accommodation, whether you're with family, friends, whatever you're on your own, you know, consider Airbnb for your next adventure. I don't think you'll regret the switch. This is a message from a sponsor Intuit TurboTax. Taxes was dealing with piles of paperwork and frustrating forms and then waiting and wondering and worrying if you were going to get any money back.

Now taxes is easily uploaded your forms to a TurboTax expert who's matched to your unique tax situation. An expert who's backed by the latest technology with cross-checks millions of data points for 100% accuracy. While they work in your taxes, you get real-time updates on their progress and you get the most money back guaranteed. All the way you go about your day. No stressing, no worrying, no waiting.

Now, this is taxes. Intuit TurboTax. Get an expert now on TurboTax.com. Only available with TurboTax Live Full Service. Real-time updates only in iOS mobile app. See guarantee details at TurboTax.com slash guarantees. So what was the sport you were best at? I know you played football and you also... Yeah, well, I walked on to the University of Washington football team. So I... That...

I was way out of my league. Talk about being, could not have been worse, but they kept me on.

Uh, cause I was, I was really good at skit night and, uh, they loved me on skit night. So they, I became like a mascot, but they, that was the most, that was the most terrifying I'd ever been a part of, but at the same time, most fun. Uh, but if I had to pick, if, uh, I was really, I was a good basketball player.

And, yeah, I was a pitcher my freshman year of high school, and I quit that. But I guess. Triple threat. Oh, no. Yeah, I played darts. I mean, I played every. I like to blame my ADHD, but I just wanted to chase a ball or throw something. That's all I wanted to do as a child.

But right now, all I do is play tennis. I remember playing freshman year of football in high school and the coach was like,

See those guys playing tennis? They're all training to be old men. And it was like, and we can play football. And everyone's like, yeah. And now I'm like, hey, probably should have stuck with tennis. Yeah, I've been a little bit better. But I if I don't exercise, I get. Yeah, that's my wife. I get very agitated. And it's I think it's my best form of therapy that and red wine.

Uh, so, uh, yeah, no, I, I, I, I now have this relationship with the university of Washington where they, it's been because of it, like being in Hollywood, they've, uh, not because of the records I set, I get to kind of do team events sometime. And now I'm still friends with a lot of the players, but, uh, from the, uh, the old guys. So I, now I'm like, I can't believe my good fortune.

Like they, they were, they didn't kill me. But that our coach, Don James, who was not a yeller in any way, he would be, he was always quiet. And he, even in practice, he kind of stood in this booth and directed things like, like a conductor very quietly. And when he would say something like that was, he would be literally just go, that was good. I'd be like, yeah,

Coach James thought I was good. And, but yeah, we are also, yeah. So he, he, he was, continues to be one of the most legendary coaches of all college football. And yeah, yeah. And then when I saw him years later, I was like, Hey coach. And he was like, Oh, Hey. And I was like, you remember?

And because it's the walk on programs at these colleges where we were cannon fodder to make the to make the scholarship players, you know, look better. Yes. Basically, keep them keep them in shape.

That's my long winded explanation. I love hearing about that. I was tracking distance running in high school and we do intervals. You sprint a lap around the track, rest for a minute, sprint a lap. But the eighth one, which was the last one, the coach would always say, gentlemen, blood, gut and hair.

And we never knew what the hair part, you know, we used to thought blood and guts, but blood, gut and hair. No, I don't know what it meant to this day. I I'm asking, and you guys don't know. So clearly still haven't figured it out. Lauren Lansbury was his name. He was a brilliant coach. Train the shit out of us. I remember Blair witch project when they just found the teeth in the hair and that was more terrifying than finding a hand. Yeah.

I think that's a good connection. Yeah, it worked. I mean, we just got scared when we heard that, but anyway, Dane, anything left for Joel? He's great. David, did you play sports? Joel? Listen, I'm not on trial here. No, I was a skateboarder. I did play baseball. I did play all of them, baseball, basketball, and football until it got too rough. Like,

I think I was good enough in baseball until sophomore year in high school. I got cut and never went back. Football, I tried out sophomore year. I got annihilated and the coach treated me like I was Lucas and said, maybe this isn't for you. And then basketball, yeah, you could figure that one out. It was fun to play like intramural stuff. And then I wasn't bad. It just, at a certain point, you're not going to do anything. Did you? I was probably as good as Bronny. Wait. Oh,

Oh, I root for Brawny. Come on, man. Take the other side. Wait, who's Brawny? LeBron's kid. LeBron James' son. I see. Yes. David, did you see that? It came out like five years ago. They studied skateboarders and about how it teaches independence.

Cause you're teaching yourself something a lot of the time. And it's not really a teams, but you're, it teaches true independence and, uh, and, um, to, to be out on your own and to be aware of your surroundings. And well, it's a good game to do on your own. Like when I, you just get your skateboard in Arizona, I'd skate around. You don't need to find a football game. You don't need to find someone to play basketball with. You just go, Hey, I'm going to go skate.

And then you go to a pool or somewhere and, and there's other dirt balls there and you just skate around. So it's kind of fun. And my parents are gone in the day. So I would just skate and, uh, try to get better. But I did really like it. There was definitely a skater mentality, a bunch of dudes that were doing that. And, uh,

Some were burnouts and stuff, but we weren't going to be in the football team. So there's different factions, you know, and I was a skater, but I'm glad you brought that up because it's good on the quads. That's the reason I have good quads. That's why I don't show them a lot because people would go fucking nuts. You're still maintaining them then somehow. If we ever do this again, we're going to have to talk about truck restoration, David. Oh yeah, that's right. Yeah. Yeah.

Dana, we have a mutual truck restorer, Brian Corsetti, who... You're into... I'm into Land Cruisers. And you're into Scouts? Well, Scout, I have Land Cruisers as well. Oh, you're a fucking rich motherfucker.

Yeah. So thank you. Truck specific or SUVs. Scouts look cool, dude. I have an international scout and a 1970 Land Cruiser and a 1990 Land Cruiser. Cool. All the way. I like all, all look cool. I'm looking at seventies trucks now. That's all my Instagram feed. That's cool.

That's me too. Come on. Are you guys going to get a Tesla truck? I mean, come on, man. Come on, man. Oh, no. They're so cool looking. They don't look like they're from that video game. Dig dug at all. You're going to get a dig dog truck. I love Elon. I hope I think they're working out the bugs, though. I'm not ready for a Tesla truck. Plus, I'm too puny. They're fucking magnanimous. I saw one the other day. I walked by. It's like a tank.

Well, I would like to go ahead. Yeah. I would valet in one of those and just they say name on the for the car. And I'd say I'm Batman and go right into Koi. You're not going to get in the Beverly Center with it. It doesn't seem like it's a Batman vehicle. I mean, it's pretty cool. I've seen him blacked out. I would worry at the valet would accidentally impale himself on one of the corners and sue you because they're like, what happened? I bled out from. I know they got you. They come with that team. Thank God.

Bactine is back. All right. Thanks, Joel. Thank you for having me. And I held back on saying how giddy I was to talk to you guys because you're my hero. So that's it. Okay, I'm leaving. Thank you, buddy. We worked on things. We've seen you around. You have no idea how excited I was to do this. And my wife was like, well, that's a good one.

And I was like, wait, it's not like the other ones are bad. And she was like, oh, yeah, they are. She said, please say hi. And she's never met you. Say hello. And thanks, buddy. I'll see you around. Thanks, Joel. Animal control. Animal control. 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.