Ian Talks Comedy

Game show legend Thom McKee joined me to discuss his growing up watching Jeopardy; sitting as a child reading encyclopedias in the bathroom; how his navy training made him quick witted; taking the "general" game show test but wanting Tic Tac Dough because there was no limit; originally taping on weekends; the Navy learning about it and he becomes a celebrity; taping five episodes in a day; getting numbers in the bonus round from his wife, Jenny; always starting in the center; quickness of Wink Martindale; a contestant who introduction made him nervous; topicality of questions; playing trivia weekly now; COVID didn't change his routine; being friends with Mike Post; his dad waiting to meet his future daughter-in-law because the Rockford Files was on; contestants who tied him; one had six ties making the pot the largest in game show history; has the shows on tape but when he's a guest on a TV show he only sees clips of his loss; feeling like Bill Buckner; donated a lot of his winnings to his brother; losing to Eric Krapelian; Eric donated some winnings to Thom's brother; wanting to win but not because opponent made stupid mistakes; one contestant was introduced but never came back to do the show due to nerves; not feigning excitement and being himself; Jenny being brought in for car rounds; two month break was refreshing; landing the 225,000 plane on his aircraft carrier; going on The Merv Griffin Show; Wink misremembering Jenny being pregnant; Wink being friends with Elvis; Chuck Barris; not being overly concerned by Eric Krapelian; feeling fatigued when asked about 10 most populated Japanese cities; only go to take one of twenty vacations (lost all cash value); sold all cars and appliances; playing an Air Force Colonel (turns out he was a Navy Chief Warrant Officer);  Wink and the crew thinking of Thom as part of the show; not having to be sequestered and escorted to the bathroom after a while; going into sales after the Navy and settling in real estate; his three children; Jenny wants a grandchild, preferably a granddaughter; Twitter says Top Gun's Goose's look based on Thom; Thom is 66 to 1 odds to take over Jeopardy!; meeting Ken Jennings; being inducted into the Game Show Hall of Fame; inducting Wink the next year; donating solar panels; dinner with Ken Jennings and wife; never studying except one time his wife reads a triva book on the way up and the question appears on that nights show;

Joel Thurm joined me to discuss watching Milton Berle, wrestling, and Disney as a child; wanting to be an actor but finding his calling backstage; working for David Merrick; casting Broadway; moving to L.A.; working on The Pearl Bailey Show; musical guest appearances; Ethel Winant; casting The Bob Newhart Show; casting Henry Winkler and John Randolph; casting Raul Julia, Katherine Helmond, John Ritter, Will MacKenzie, Rene Auberjonois, and Chirstopher Lloyd in very early roles; casting the play and film of The Rocky Horror Picture Show; casting "Grease"; producing "The Boy in the Plastic Bubble"; coercing Olivia Newton John to take the role in "Grease"; swapping the "new, improved" script with the original; turning 80; casting Fantasy Island with Ricardo Montalban and Herve Villechaize; casting Taxi with Judd Hirsch; Cleavon Little being replaced by Jeff Conaway; Nell Carter being unavailable; Andy Kaufman came with the deal; reluctantly accepting the job of casting and producing Angie; casting "Airplane" with Peter Graves; Kareem Abdul-Jabbar being the third choice after Pete Rose and Bruce Jenner; Barbara Billingsley being the second choice after Harriet Nelson; being named NBC's head of talent; casting a casting agent on an episode of Taxi; Eileen Brennan; casting Gavin McLeod and Lauren Tewes for The Love Boat; casting Daniel J. Travanti for Hill Street Blues; Fred Silverman doesn't think he's likeable, so Joel got him to smile; Cheers comes down to three choices for Sam and Diane; NBC won't let Joel cast it; Joel implores Grant Tinker to hire Ted Danson because women will want to fuck him more than William Devane; being wrong on Don Johnson for Miami Vice; casting Florence Halop in Night Court; his favorite show, Law & Order SVU; fandom of Chris Meloni and Mariska Hargitay; recommending Christine Ebersole to SNL in 1981, his assistant recommending Dennis Miller in 1985 and Elvira in 1987

You can order Joel's "Sex Drugs and Pilot Season" here Sex, Drugs & Pilot Season: Confessions of a Casting Director: Thurm, Joel: 9781629339535: Amazon.com: Books

Herschel Weingrod joined me to discuss being influenced by Billy Wilder and Laurel and Hardy; getting his Bachelors in European history; taking film courses close to graduation; going to the London Film School for graduate school; odd jobs taken; looking to write a film noir; getting the idea for "Cheaper to Keep Her" from an article; having Mac Davis star; Roger Ebert said it was a good script; writing "Trading Places" as "Black & White"; the Dukes were brothers his partner, Timothy Harris played doubles tennis with; making them commodities brokers; setting it in Philadelphia; pitched for Richard Pryor and Gene Wilder; Wilder wanted to change the character to be more likeable; Aykroyd gets hired; Ray Milland fails physical, replaced by Don Ameche; 90% of the movie is from the script, 10 % improv; censors won't let Eddie smoke Kools; Don Ameche apologizes for the f-bomb; explanation needed for end of the film; "Trading Places: The Musical"; timelessness of film; writing "Brewster's Millions", a film made many times; "My Stepmother is an Alien"; Jon Lovitz; Gene Wilder wouldn't've worked because he wanted to be loved; John Landis added Franken & Davis, the train and the monkey to the story; Broadway versions of 80's movies have challenges; The Broadway Rule of the "What I want Song"; "Trading Places" Funko Pops; people quoting the movie in real life; Trading Places remembered as #5 Christmas movie; "Twins" - hired to rewrite the original script; added search for the mother; studies twin tics for movie; "Lifted"; Lana Clarkson; "Kindergarten Cop"; how to write for Arnold; "Brewster's Millions" written originally for Bill Murray; people bet on whether he would show up for "Space Jam"; Bill adlibs; picking the players for "Space Jam"; "True Luck"; Peter Weber comedies; Harold Ramis; Cary Grant; Tom Hanks; English antisemitism; Kaifeng Jews

Patric Verrone and I discuss his influences: Chuck McCann, Sonny Fox, Officer Joe Bolton and Jim Henson; Steve Martin; Carl Gottlieb; growing up in Ft. Myers, Florida; going to Harvard with Al Jean; his Lampoon competition packet; working with Andy & Susan Borowitz, Conan O'Brien, and future wife Maiya Williams on the Lampoon; becoming a lawyer; taking a leave of absence to try comedy writing; getting a job on the Late Show with Joan Rivers; rough times on the show; Victoria Principal doxing; leaving Joan Rivers and getting hired on The Tonight Show starring Johnny Carson; his interview with Johnny; writing sketch and monologue; Sunday morning meetings with Johnny; new characters created; Johnny wanted to dress up less; Carnac moments; The Critic; Doris Grau, Critic / Simpsons crossover; second crossover nixed; writing for the Muppets; the "new" Kermit; his idea of having other puppeteers work on characters and then having Frank Oz dub his voice in; the new puppet, Clifford; working with Dick Blasucci and Paul Flaherty; working with Martin Short, Don Rickles, Billy Crystal and Prince on Muppets Tonight; winning an Emmy and it having it bestowed by Barbara Billingsley; getting hired on Futurama; Cubert Farnsworth; "Problem with Popplers"; no lessons, just jokes; one of my jokes is similar to one in an episode; list jokes; "A Leela of Her Own"; explaining to Hank Aaron his dialogue; writing a Simpsons episode; being President of the Writer's Guild; net neutrality; visiting all fifty states; collecting the Marks Presidential Figurine Set and completing it himself;

Rick Podell and I discuss his early influences; Jackie Gleason; Ed Sullivan; 50's and 60's standups; Alan King; doing standup for his dog; tap dancing; leaving college to do Dames at Sea off Broadway; getting hired as a Universal contract player; doing Baretta and getting a mentor in Robert Blake; Busting Loose; Garry Marshall; Paramount commissary; Chopped Liver Brothers; how appearing on the Mike Douglas Show makes you crave for new material; how his jack-of-all trades style hurt him; working with Milton Berle in Two by Two and meeting his endowment; Budd Friedman gets roasted; writing the pilots Brothers and Our Time with co-writer Mike Preminger; starring in films "Lunch Wagon" and "Underground Aces"; co-starring in "Hero at Large" with John Ritter; losing out on Chips to Erik Estrada; performing with Richard Lewis, Rich Hall, and Dana Carvey; Jay Leno saying he was too handsome to be a successful comedian; touring Montana with Gilbert Gottfried; guest starring as Jackie Jackerman on a memorable Family Ties; guest starring as a mohel on Cheers; writing the screenplay for "Nothing in Common" about his relationship with his dad; having Tom Hanks and Jackie Gleason star; receiving letters from people with the same situations; the film being perceived as too Jewish; Gleason's ill-health; opening with Ginger Rogers for a year; opening for Cher; working on Sunset Boulevard on Broadway with Andrew Lloyd Webber and Glenn Close; being directed by someone who directed Ronald Reagan and Clark Gable; working and later teaching at the Beverly Hills Playhouse; cell phones; and his one-man show

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

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

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

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