David Cross: In the Middle of Nowhere
41:07 Share

Art in your home can instantly transform your space and bring you joy. Saatchi Art makes it easy for you to discover and buy one-of-a-kind art that you'll love. Whether you're looking to complement your home decor, fill a blank space on your walls, or start an art collection, you can find the perfect piece for your specific style and budget at Saatchi Art. Go to SaatchiArt.com today to bring the beauty of art into your home. Plus, listeners get 15% off their first order of original art with code ROB.

That's 15% off at SaatchiArt.com. S-A-A-T-C-H-I-Art.com. Ever wish your favorite TV show had twice as many episodes? Everyone knows that feeling. And so does Discover. Everyone wants more of their favorites. That's why Discover doubles another favorite thing. Cash back.

That's right. Discover automatically doubles the cash back earned on your credit card at the end of your first year with Cash Back Match. Now that's a real crowd pleaser. Everyone knows how it ends. Double the cash back. See terms at discover.com slash credit card.

I gotta get going soon. I gotta take the ribs out. Are you doing like that plastic surgery thing where you're removing your ribs because you think it'll give you a better sight line on camera? Or are there ribs in the oven? No, I'm taking two of my right ribs out because I'm starving. I like it. Hi everybody, welcome to Literally. I am your trusted, loyal servant host, Roberto Bosifio-Slow.

Some of you will understand that reference and some of you will not. And that's just the way it goes because you know what? We have David Cross on the show today and we make no apologies for comedy here. We like it dry and wry and you better keep up with us because we're not slowing down for anybody because this mofo is a smart, smart, funny writer, creator, blogger.

auteur, actor. And his hallmark is really, really smart, wonderful, off-the-wall irreverent comedy. And we're about to discover that we may have led the same lives. I have to ask you about Bernie Brillstein. Bernie Brillstein was our mutual manager and had a legendary career, ran studios, discovered everybody from Jim Henson to

you know, all of the early Saturday at live people. And yes. Um, I'm so sorry to tell you he's passed. Um, yeah, this is a tough way to find out. Yeah. Uh, no, I, I, every, I'm going to say every two years or so, there's some reason to, he comes up or there's a organic reason to bring him up and, um, you know, amongst friends or, or, uh,

you know, my wife and other friends at dinner party or something like that. And, um, it almost every single time I will start, I will pause, I will start tearing up a little bit, a little bit, you know, I just, when I think about, um, how lucky I am that I was able to just be in this orbit, you know, and, uh,

watch him and he was instrumental to Bob and I's career. And, uh, he was just an amazing guy, amazing guy. And he, he was, it came up with, or, or he shepherded he, he, if anybody remembers, I, I don't listen. If you ever spent any time with Bernie, there are quotes that you will never forget. And I have one about he, he was like, it's really very simple. I looked at the number one and two shows on the world in the world. One was laughing. Um,

And what was the other was Green Acres. I thought, great. It's laughing for Hicks. Laughing for Hicks. And it was huge. It was amazing. Yeah. I mean, this is like like Brooklyn, New York, Jewish city boy. But he and he has some he had some amazing stories that were interesting.

that he acknowledged as, you know, right place, right time. Like there were some, what's his story about? There was a huge snowstorm and lightning,

Lenny Bruce was at Carnegie Hall. Do you know that story? I'm going to butcher it, but I can't tell the story. I mean, I've only got 20% of the information, but he has so many of those right place, right time stories. He was with Elvis on the Ed Sullivan show. Elvis was from Memphis, obviously, and it was his first time there.

uh, one of them to New York and was freezing. He hadn't brought anything to keep himself warm. I have a photo in my house of Bernie giving Elvis, uh, a sweater. Wow. Backstage at the, uh,

At the Ed Sullivan show. Have you talked to Jeff Garlin? Oh, no, but I know he apparently has great stories. He has great stories. He does a great impression. It's not even that great, but you just go with it. You're like, oh, sure. I mean, it sounds so appropriately Bernie. Were you at the now infamous, famous...

memorial service at Royce Hall at UCLA? No, I wasn't. I tried to go, but I couldn't. I'm sure you've heard about it. It was unbelievable. It was so unbelievable to me that I wrote an entire chapter about it in my first book. Tell me. The chapter's called No One Follows the Frog. I was chosen as one of the people to eulogize Bernie, which was a high honor. I think it was Gary Shandling

Brad Gray was at the time one of the most powerful people in Hollywood. I think Lovitz was one. Lorne Michaels. And then Kermit the Frog, because Bernie discovered Jim Henson. Kermit the Frog would then play a banjo rendition of Rainbow Connection. And we were all kind of...

not arguing, but kind of trying to figure out who would go first and who would go, who you didn't want to, if I didn't want to follow Gary Shandling, whatever. And Lorne Michaels was producing it. And he's the most brilliant producer I've ever worked with. He can produce from, you know, Simon and Garfunkel in the park to Saturday night live for 75 years to Bernie's funeral. He knows what the hell he's doing. And I said, so what's the order of the speakers? He goes, um, I don't know yet, but I know that no one follows the frog. Yeah. That makes sense. And when that frog, uh,

Came out and sang that song. I'm telling you, like full on ugly crying. I believe it. It was insane. I remember Tim Meadows, who I love, was literally on the floor. It was just the most emotional, sweet. Yeah. That's a killer song. Yeah. And it was, you know, still very, very fresh, you know, his passing. Yeah.

He loved, but boy, and he had, you know, he had a poster of Mr. Show over his toilet in his bathroom. The one in his office. Yeah. The automatic door or whatever. Yeah. Um, you know, I, I, uh, I'll, I'll take it for what it is, Rob. Which is good. I hope. You're not the only one.

You were in, or at least it's in your credits, of one of my all-time favorite shows ever, Wondershowsen. Oh, God, yeah. Yeah, I did that a couple times. That was, I would put that in my top 10 shows ever. One of the most subversive. Got to be, right? Smart, subversive, brilliant, unique shows. I think they only did like 12 episodes or something like that, maybe 15.

Yeah. Oh, just brilliant. Brilliant, brilliant, brilliant. Yeah. It's one of those shows I discovered, my kids discovered it when they were super young. So they don't know what they're watching. You're watching it going, oh my God, this is, yeah. It is one of those shows, and I talk about it whenever I get the chance to, if people have not seen it, it's one of those rare things where you go, I cannot believe that

This was put on television. It's, it's, it's just brilliant. And, and way ahead of its time, still ahead of its time. And, uh, um,

And the fact that they, that they're the show patients is probably one of the most genius things I've ever seen. I won't spoil it for anybody, but, and I wouldn't make it the first thing you see, do not run out and, you know, Google and check that one out. You should just come across it in the natural order of how, you know, if you get the DVDs or stream it or whatever. Um,

Patience is amazing. And when you realize what it is, when you realize as it's dawning on you what the show is, what that episode is, it's just genius. And did you ever see Horse Apples? Yeah, of course. Yeah, which was the hee-haw kind of takeoff. And they did a segment in one of the things, and then they did an entire episode that was just Horse Apples. Yes, that's the one I really remember. Yeah, that was a lot of fun.

Did you see their Vernon and John Lee and Vernon Chapman follow up was the heart. She holler. No, no. Xavier renegade angel was the next thing I believe. I never saw it.

I just remember how, I do remember how ridiculous the outfit was. Is it the hat that I'm remembering? The amazing hat? I don't, I don't, they, oh, was that the beer can hat? Yeah. I don't, I don't remember exactly, but it's not practical in any way. And it hurts. And it hurts. Did you, did you know people who collected beer cans? My sister, my sister did. No,

No way. Yeah, because we go up down like the back roads. And I was in Roswell, Georgia, which now is kind of all connected. But back when we were kids, it was just redneck and rural. And really, everybody was looking for those Billy beer cans because they were worth 200 bucks. Looking for a rusted Billy beer can. And yeah, my sister collected beer cans. That was the same era because I had Billy beer cans.

And then the other thing you wanted were what they called cone tops. Cone tops. Cone tops were beer cans from the 30s. Oh, wow. Where they literally had a cone top. Oh, wait. So you collected them. Did you get into CB radio? I wanted to be into CB radio. And-

But your religion didn't allow it. You might. Yes, that's right. It was against my religion. Um, I, my parents wouldn't buy me a CB, but that's absolutely exactly the bullseye of, of my job. Same thing. Same here. And, uh, CW McCall, right? Oh yeah. Well, that was, that was like when it had reached everywhere. But I mean, this was starting in the South and the Midwest, you know, that was, uh, once they got in a convoy, that was, uh,

By the time L.A. knew of it, it was way past. Right. Yeah, I remember there was a handful of us, and one of us, I think it was Glenn Harris, had a CB radio, and we'd get on and just prank other truckers and stuff.

What was your handle? I had two, Cottonmouth and Dr. Death. Those are good. Yeah, those are my, I was probably 12. But we was 12, we taught, you know, we do just what we imagine trucker voice, you know, Southern. But, you know, we were also 12, so our voice didn't,

You know, we still had a 12-year-old voice trying to trick other trackers. You got a Smokey on your back door, 10-4. Yeah, we try to make stuff up and try to get it into the vernacular, you know.

America in the 70s. Beer can – yeah, I actually took it so far as to become a member of the BCCA, Beer Can Collectors of America. Wow. So what happened when you gave it up or you said, I'm done? What was that decision like? And then also, what did you do with beer cans after that? It's sad because I –

Wish I still had them, but we, my parents got divorced and we moved. I'm so sorry. Yeah. It's, it's years of therapy have gotten me to the point where I can openly talk of it. But, um, we had a very traumatic move, uh, away from my, you know, home and Dayton to like, and we spent some time in Colorado and a little town and, and then ended up in California, but the beer cans did not make it on the trip. And I,

I have no memory of what happened. I can't imagine I threw them away. I think I probably have blacked it out. Did you like sell them to somebody, a friend or somebody new? Maybe I saw, because across the street, Craig Eifert across the street had the killer, killer beer can collection that I could never compete with. Yeah.

like you know primo coors cone tops and course finding a course cam was insane because you know they didn't sell it yeah east of the mississippi river yeah in fact i didn't realize that the entire predicate of smoky and the bandits talk about breaker breaker 19 is is this theft of a coors beer stash yeah to bring it east of the mississippi river bring it to atlanta was it atlanta yeah and uh um

They filmed some of that in Roswell. They talked about it for a year. Hey, man, Burt Reynolds. Burt Reynolds and who's that other motherfucker? Burt Reynolds and the fat dude from Honeymooners. You know, whatever. Everybody was excited about Burt Reynolds. Oh, my God. You just transported me. That's what I do.

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 never go anywhere without T-Mobile. Same goes for my water bottle, chewing gum, nail clippers. Okay, I'm going to leave you to it. Find out how you can experience travel better at T-Mobile.com slash travel. ♪

I'm just, I'm just stag. I want more of a Georgia David. People say like, Oh, you don't have an accent. And that's, that was intentional. Cause I was born in,

I was born in Atlanta and I moved, uh, when I was like one and I lived in a couple of places in Florida, three places in Florida where my two other sisters were born. And then we moved to, we lived in a couple of places in Connecticut and then three places in New York and then moved back to Georgia when I was nine. And I was there until I was 19. And, um,

I was old enough. I hadn't really gotten a Southern accent by the time I left when I was like five, I guess. Um, and when I moved back there, I like consciously didn't want to have, I was really upset that we had to move to Georgia. Um, and I kind of fought it. I fought a lot of that stuff sometimes in an obstinate way that, uh, like stuff that I truly love now, like, uh,

barbecue and southern rock and soul food and you know things like that i i was like i'm not eating barbecue it's my favorite food in the whole world and i probably knew it then but like nope and i'm not gonna listen to leonard skinner and i'm not gonna you know whatever and um yeah and now i've come to you know appreciate and love a lot of that stuff uh i mean that

I was dipping it. I mean, yeah. Dipping. Chewing. I was a beach nut guy. I didn't go with the beach nut. There was, uh, um, were you, uh, did you dip? Did you do skull or a Copenhagen? I never, I never, I had friends who did it. I never did that. I, uh, it was, that was a bridge too far. But that shit would fuck me. I mean, it would put a little in, you know, you're talking about like a 14 year old.

and you know just peer pressure by that but after a few years it's just like I'm gonna do I mean this is where everybody I'm hanging out with all white it was like the whitest you know uh and um

And those sleeveless puffy jacket vest things that didn't have sleeves. I'd wear those vests, but they'd not be a shirt. It'd just be the vest. And was tubing a part of your... Hell yes. Oh, dude, come on. Man, we'd go tubing down the Chattahoochee all the time. And shitty weed. Really Colombian gold and nothing. I remember the first time I had...

like Indica or something like that. And it fucking knocked my ass. And I was like, probably I'm going to guess like 15. Uh, and I was just used to kind of dirt weed. Like we all were, you know, and I couldn't, I could barely even talk, you know? Uh, and that stuff pales to what we have now. I mean, it's not, that stuff is the dirt weed of today, you know? And, uh,

But yeah, that was Georgia childhood. It's funny how when you move when you're a kid and it's traumatic, you're so right. You kind of...

dig in and like i'm not gonna change who i am for this new culture like because i ended up from um do you remember levi tough skins did you was that yes i do do you remember those yeah yeah okay yeah so i was a big levi tough skin guy and um and i ended up in malibu

In 1976, I was like, fuck this place. Malibu. Totally different. It's like completely different culture. Who needs sun and the beach and the ocean? But I and I was in my tough skins and I was not and everybody else was in shorts. And where I came from, you didn't guys didn't wear shorts unless they were cut off.

Levi's you could wear that yeah yeah I had the I had cut off tons of cut off jeans yeah cut off jeans ironically would make a make a reappearance as I got older but yeah but like I I hung under those tough skins for way too long and like wasn't gonna learn how to surf thought it was ridiculous and of course yeah guess what I love now surfing yeah I'm sure and what how old were you at that point I I was 13

Yeah, that's prime time. You get there and you're just becoming your own person and you're sensing your individuality and who you are. And yeah, you dig. And I dug in. I was like, I'm not going to. And of course, as I said, like, you know, that was when I was nine. But but I didn't last very long. And a few years later, I'm still got my dip. Just disgusting, stupid shit. Were you a baseball fan? Oh, big time. Yeah. OK, good. So did you ever have the thing where you put the chewing tobacco?

But you wrapped it with bubble gum. No. Yeah, that was a thing. I never heard of that. Yeah, because that's what like – somehow I got it in my head that that's what the new cool young baseball major leaguers were doing. Wait. So you thought – that wasn't a thing that you thought was a thing? I don't know. No.

looking back, I mean, looking, looking back, cause no one, I've asked this question to a couple other people and everybody goes, no, I've heard it, but I'm telling you, I remember it vividly. Like, Oh yeah, no, man. Like, uh, Bob Horner, third base. Let's go. Oh man.

I think I love the idea that you, as a 13-year-old, just put two things together and that became like, yeah, that's what they're doing. I don't think people were doing that. That's really funny. Where did I get that into my head? I don't know. You were 13. Who knows? That's funny. You know, the other thing I collected...

Were you must, there had to have been like seven 11s or whatever. Like that was like where you'd like for me in Ohio was like a big night to walk to the seven 11 and get a slurpee. Like that was the height of entertainment. And, and then they had the baseball trade, baseball trading cups as they called them. And I'll never forget the, the Bob Horner one was these horrible caricatures of

Of the baseball players. And it was Bob Horner on the hot corner. Jack Clark lights the spark at Candlestick Park. So amazing. That's pretty good memory. That's good. Yeah. I want those. I really want to find those again.

We are our place that was like the high school hangout. I was too young for it, really. But was it was just a McDonald's off of Roswell Road. And all the all the kids would go to the McDonald's. There wasn't a whole lot around. Isn't it insane that that's what like our kids to be like, I'm sorry, what they they cannot imagine.

It was, that was really, it was fun for us. Like the McDonald's, we just don't let the lights go off. Like they turn the lights off. Ooh, they're closing it down. Ooh. Yeah. Well, you, so, uh, did you have midnight movies? Was that a big thing when you got older? You mean going to the midnight movies? Yeah. Going like, uh, uh, when I got to be about, I don't know, um, 16, I'll say, uh, so perimeter mall, uh, had, uh,

I think three movie theaters in it. And that was like closest, it was still a drive, but it was like the closest one. And then they had midnight movies, which were always, there was like a rock and roll one and a, you know, horror film one. And then like a, uh, you know, sexy one, right. It'd be like the groove tube. And then it would be, um, a Ralph Bakshi cartoon, which I never got. I never, I never got the Ralph Bakshi. That's about being high. That's about getting high.

you know, really wasted and going to see it and heavy metal. Did you ever see heavy metal? Of course. Yeah. And then, Oh, how about this one? Kentucky fried movie.

Oh, yeah. Way better than Grootube, I think. But they're kind of, yeah, they feel like they belong on the same bill. Yeah, similar thing, but Kentucky Fried Movie was far superior. Speaking of movies, see how good I am at segwaying? Wasn't that good? It was really good because we were speaking, literally speaking, of movies. I know. And then you said it out loud. And then I said that out loud. And that enables us to go into another different part of the conversation.

A segue, if you will. Yeah. Even if you won't. Alvin and the Chipmunks. Sure. So my neighbor is Ross Bagdasarian. Oh, tell him I said hello. He's the most competitive human being who ever lived. For those of you who don't know, Ross Bagdasarian's father, and this is, it's kind of an apocryphal story, but I think it's true because Ross tells it. His father, Ross Bagdasarian Sr.,

What was down to his last $200. He was like a singer songwriter or whatever, right? Is this making sense? And spends the last money the family has on an, the earliest version of an audio tape recorder.

And the wife is like, okay, this time you've gone too far. This is it. We're divorcing. You're a loser. Nothing you ever do goes right. It's over. And he's screwing around with the voices, speeding it up and records everything.

The Witch Doctor. That's right. The Witch Doctor, right. I saw the Witch Doctor. He told me what this... With the crazy... Just because he's screwing around with a thing. And it becomes, against all odds, a crazy national hit song. Yeah. And he made up the Chipmunks just because that would...

That was just the name he went for for that song and then decided to do a cartoon and on and on and on. And today the Chipmunks lives on and is a multi, multi-billion dollar business. And his son then took over and has been running the Chipmunks for probably 40 years at least. And –

Yeah. So I'm well-versed in Janice's wife does almost all of the voices. Yeah. Alvin! Right. And what's the guy's name? Who's the dad, the fake dad of the chipmunks? What's that character's name? Oh, Dave. Yeah, of course. Dave. Yes. But that's Ross. That's Ross's voice. And we would play Tennessee, but that ball is out! When you said he was competitive, I was wondering in what way, but now I know you mean in sports. Right.

in golf, sports, every single... Well, tell Ross and Janice I said hello and hope they're doing well. I will. One of my favorite stories. And I have a couple that are like this, but I had a trip with my wife. And when we took this two-week tour around Southern Africa, we were in Mozambique,

uh, which is kind of a long skinny country, uh, on the Indian ocean. And we had gone to, when I say it took an hour and change to get from even a small town through back roads through, I mean, really, uh, uh, difficult terrain where there's nothing, literally nothing around. And they kind of coming through this terrain and getting this, um, really, uh, uh,

fairly desolate strip of uh beach that was fairly long and had little pockets of there's some huts here and some there's a place to stay here and a place down and the place we were staying at was having this ridiculous like echo rave for 35 people but it was just loud and annoying with a dj and everything and i'm like fuck this and i went down the beach and i went

uh, walked about, you know, roughly a mile to this other kind of outcropping of, uh, rooms. And I walked down the beach and I walk in and I'm like, hi, excuse me. Um, uh, do you have any extra rooms? And the woman looks up to me, I'm in Mozambique in this tiny little, and she's like, Alvin in the chipmunks. Uh,

Yeah. It was crazy. It was nuts. And that's one of several stories I have. I mean, but that's the most... I mean, I was talking about being in the middle of nowhere. It's the reach of what you do sometimes as an actor you just can't imagine. Well, now it's cable and all that. Yeah, now it's not as surprising maybe, but I remember... It's funny you mentioned...

going to Africa. And this ties into Bernie Brillstein, who, by the way, produced and discovered ALF. He discovered ALF. He discovered ALF at a... At Starbucks. No, that wasn't a Starbucks, then. Coffee Bean and Tealy. What's the... At Schwab's Drugstore. Schwab's Drugstore. ALF was sitting there with Angillion. It's the middle... It's the same thing. It's the Serengeti Plain. It's the Serengeti Plain. It's the Rift Valley. It's where man first walked upright. Right.

There's no one. It takes you two days in a car to get there. And we had never seen any other human beings. And finally over the ridge come the Maasai warriors. And they're just so splendid and just heroic looking. And one of them is wearing an ALF t-shirt. Yeah.

And I was like, well, there you have it. And here's the great thing. He was part of the Nielsen family. So his viewership, you know...

Count it. It counted. Counted for more than mine. My family was a Nielsen family for a hot second. And I remember it was in the mid-80s and I was kind of not really living at home, but I would come home and they were like diligently writing. It's when you had to write down what you wrote. There wasn't a box. There wasn't any of that stuff. It was like a journal. Yeah. And then later on, I had a show and somebody –

reached out to me who, you know, you have people in your life and you don't cross paths for years. And then they reach out and they reached out and said, oh, by the way, I'm a Nielsen family member. I was like, oh, well then there. And she would say that she had five people come over

Every time the current show I was on was on and I could see when she did it, the numbers in Chicago would go up by a half a million people. It was like the craziest. It was like the craziest. Like, what is that algorithm? That doesn't seem right. Yeah.

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 never go anywhere without T-Mobile. Same goes for my water bottle, chewing gum, nail clippers. 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. Come on, jump. I don't know if I'll make it. Hurry. The floor is lava.

Whoops. Hey, life happens, which is why your favorite styles from Ashley are available in life-resistant high-performance fabric with removable machine-washable fabric slipcovers that make it easy to clean spills, dirt, and imaginary lava. For more mess and less stress, shop Ashley's high-performance furniture in-store or online at ashley.com. Ashley, for the love of home.

The Gifford Pinchot National Forest is where your character is hiking in The Dark Divide, correct? Am I pronouncing it correctly? Yes, that is correct. Which is not the Bronson Pinchot National Forest, which is a whole... No, we lobbied to do that, but they didn't, you know, because he had nothing to do with it and Gifford Pinchot did, so they kept it Gifford. Okay, that makes a little more sense. We tried, we tried. Yes.

So I did a, I did a movie, um, and it's mostly, it's based on a true story based on the guys, um, uh, what became a collection of books. He was, uh, a big writer at the time, but now he's like one of the most revered naturists in America, but, uh, um, guy named Robert Pyle. And it's an amalgamation of a bunch of his books, but it's about this guy who is, um,

completely, uh, ill prepared to do this journey through 126 miles of what is the most rugged terrain and uncharted stuff, uh, uh, area, a lot of it uncharted in, um,

in America, at least the lower 48. What state is it in, by the way? So we, did we start in, gosh, we shot in Oregon or Oregon, Oregon into Washington. I think it goes to both because yeah, it ends at the Cascade River. I don't know. We shot, it was a crazy shoot. The most grueling, arduous thing I've ever done in my life. It was really, really hard. And a lot of

near misses. Yeah, it was tough. And there are a couple things you'll see on screen. It's like, that's for real. That really happened. And a lot of bruises and scrapes. It takes place in 95. And this guy, his wife had just died of cancer. And she kind of tricks him into going, doing this thing he had always talked about doing, threatening. I'll do it one day. I'm definitely going to do it. I'm getting ready. And he ends up, she forces his hand. And he

you know, it's one of those contemplative things where you, you know, he comes out a different person through all the things and, uh, the experiences and, uh,

It was good. It's actually a good movie. It's beautiful. It's stunning, man. There's a lot of these, some drone shots that are just like, I mean, it's a magnificent part of the country. I don't know if you've been into the woods in the Pacific Northwest, but they're wildly different than what I'm used to in the South or the Northeast. I mean, I've been in beautiful woods, but man, this is a whole different, I mean, it's like mythical and medieval and just beautiful.

crazy beautiful beautiful movie like the where can one see this movie on most of the streaming things it's definitely not Netflix though but it's like I think it's Hulu and Voodoo and Tibby and Tubu and Bobby and Boo Boo it's Rookie and Kooky and Quappy and

It's in a bunch of those. Let me ask you this. So we've talked about, we have the same beer can collecting. We had almost the same childhood, kind of. And we talked about the midnight movies. Rob, I'm going to have to interrupt you. I think you were, I didn't think you grew into this kind of rugged tiger beat handsomeness. I think you always had that quality. I was a weirdo Jew with thick glasses and a doofroh.

And I don't think we had quite the same experience. But see, that's I see myself in you. I don't know what that says about me, but I immediately hear your story. You got to up your self-esteem. Yeah. But no, but we have the same cultural. How about this? How about this? Will you buy this as a thesis? We had the same cultural touchstones.

Oh yeah, for sure. Okay. Well, clearly. Okay. Yeah. So legend of boggy Creek, is that ringing a bell for you? Uh, I, I know the name. I don't remember what that was. Well, it's it, it's about Bigfoot.

And it was a huge thing for me in the midnight movies. And when the minute you talk about shooting a movie where you shot this movie, I did, you see Bigfoot was Bigfoot up there. Uh, everyone always asked me that. I, uh, I didn't, I didn't see him. I, and people ask like, so do you believe in big, because that's part of the, one of the questions that is threaded through this movie is the idea of Bigfoot. Um, no way. Yeah. Yeah. The, I have the, the,

And Robert, you know, the real Robert Pyle is a biologist and like, I believe Harvard educated. I mean, like really smart. And and so it goes against every scientific thing that he knows that there. But he ends up grappling with this.

Is there a Bigfoot? And it's really, he's very, he's an awesome dude. He's a great, great, cool guy. And he's in a band with Kirsten Obaselek from Nirvana. How about that? Yeah, they do music about Bigfoot. I'm not kidding. They do music about Bigfoot. Yes, I'm not kidding. He has, you know, multiple side projects and that's one of them. Oh, wow.

Yes. Check out the movie. I think you'll like it. Dark Divide. But it's about there's I can't say it's about Bigfoot, but that is a thing that comes up a couple of times. That's that's too good. A longtime obsession with Bjork Hansen, Bigfoot. At least it's alliterative. Everything I like begins with a B. And there's there's your next book. Bjork Hansen, Bigfoot is a good one. Oh, I'm writing that down. You don't have to. It's it's recorded.

I got to ask you about Arrested Development, which is one of the great –

I mean, it's, I always argue with people about greatest comedies of, you know, and that's for sure. It's for sure on the list that goes without saying, um, what, well, let me ask you, what are your favorite TV comedies? I mean, I, I loved Arrested Development. I have a huge, uh, respect for the, the writing and the, the entirety of it. Um, I was a big fan of community. Yep. Um,

I would growing up. I loved mash and I loved Carol Burnett show. Um, then when I got a little older, uh, Python and, I loved soap. Um, and I loved Barney Miller. Um, and then, and then I kind of stopped watching TV for quite a while. I mean,

a good 15 years. I don't think I've watched TV. Never, you know, never saw cheers. I never saw any of those shows. Yeah. Yeah. Exactly. Never saw them. I, I truly, I only saw like, and, and probably when they were repeated, uh, uh, I never saw, I saw like four signed, I'd seen four sign belts, you know, and I've seen, you're right. Like maybe 10 cheers or something like that. No, no friends, you know? No. And yeah, I just stopped watching for a long, long, long time. So,

There's big gaps there, but, you know, and people would turn you on to, like, you got to watch wonder shows, you know, and currently Penis or Pen15, I'm not sure, amazing show, great, great acting and writing and just a wonderful show. And there's so much really good stuff out there, but... Pen15, I've heard, you're the second person today who I really respect talk about that. I've got, that's...

It's so, Rob, it's so good. The acting is, the acting, the writing, the whole, and the kid, you know, the conceit of it is the two older girls who are playing themselves, you know, versions of themselves in, I think it's ninth grade or something like that. So fucking great. And they're surrounded by real younger kids or cast, you know, who aren't the adults. And they're amazing. Those kids, that's some of the best acting ever.

It's just, it's a really, really, and it's poignant and it's real and it's, oh my God, talk about...

touchstones and you know uh bringing things up that you remember and those emotions and uh the awkwardness it's just they're they're it's just genius it's great i'm i'm i can't wait i've i just hear the just the notion of the older actors making no attempt to d to make an excuse for that they're way too old to play the parts they're playing oh it's great it's perfect

You just check it out for real. So you got to watch a dark divide, then watch a penis and then watch, um, the wonder shows and, um, follow up. Yes. Uh, Xavier renegade angel and the heart. She holler, the heart. She holler, holler is in like the Hills, like in the Hills of Virginia. Yeah.

At some point, my phone is going to go off. It's right here. I have to take the ribs out. Well, listen, enjoy the ribs. I hope so. Yes. And this was so much fun. I've got great stuff I get to catch up on. Yeah. Thank you, Rob. Oh, my gosh. He is so funny. He is so dry. He is like super dry. Like there are times I'm like, oh, you know, that's a joke. It took me a minute. I mean, he's so dry. He makes Christopher Guest seem like carrot top.

Unreal. What a funny, smart man. That was great. Okay. So before we wrap up for the week, it is time. Yes, it is. It's called the low down line. Hello. You've reached literally in our low down line where you can get the low down on all things about me, Rob Lowe. 323-570-4551. So have at it. Here's the beep.

Hey, Roblo. My name is Regina, and I'm from Saratoga, New York. And I adore you, first of all, in everything you've ever done. I am curious. I know you love animals and dogs especially, and was wondering about Champion from Parks and Rec. Whose dog was that?

Or is that if he's still alive? And I hope he is. And it looked like you really got along really well with him. Do you still see Champion? Thanks, Rob. Love to you and your family. Bye bye. Oh, thanks, Regina. Oh, it's great to hear from you. Thanks for calling in. Yes, it was obvious, wasn't it? How much I love Champion.

I loved that dog so much. First of all, I love animals and I love dogs anyway, but Champion was really, really special. And one of my great memories of doing Parks and Recreation is the scene where my character, Chris Traeger, is being emotional. I think he's crying, lying on a bed, and Champion is just licking his face.

And it's making Chris laugh. And we had to put, you know, the old trick. You put a little bit of peanut butter on your face and the dog wants to lick it off. Champion was so sweet, but Champion passed away last year, sadly enough. And he was a trained professional actor. He was a rescue that they trained. And I don't remember if Champion was written as a three-legged dog.

And then they found a three legged dog or the dog that they brought to play champion had showed up in that. I don't remember the, the Genesis of it. Um, but I particularly love, uh, I did a talking head and parks and rec with champion. And in a Kennedy voice, I say each bean, I'm three legged dog. And instead of saying, I am a Berliner or whatever Kennedy was saying when he said it, it said, I love this three legged dog is so stupid and fun. Um,

Thanks for making me remember the amazing champion. Thanks. I hope you had fun as I always do. Next week, there's more fun in store right here on Literally. So keep coming back.

You have 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 talent bookers are Gina Batista, Paula Davis, and Britt Kahn. And music is by Deventory Bryant.

Make sure to leave us a rating and review, and we'll see you next week on Literally with Rob Lowe. This has been a Team Coco production in association with Stitcher.

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. 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.