Ian Talks Comedy

Peter Mehlman joined me to discuss It's Like You Know; his pursuing stand up; Seinfeld and my coincidences; college; Shirley & Maury Povich; being a Yankee's fan, MLB's disclaimer; both of us having dogs named Izzy; Howard Cosell; hypocrisy in sports; NFL anti-trust; sports fans in the US: Detroit Lions; Knicks; Lakers; Lifetime's Attitudes; Dick Cavett; Woody Allen; meeting Larry David; using an article as a spec script; trying to go to all 50 states; writing the "Costanza - Lord of the Idiots line"; length of episodes; Jerry's stand up interstitials; Larry saves the show in editing; Don Adams; Bruce Kirschbaum; "get out"; Teri Hatcher; Courtney Cox; "The Chiese Woman"; Estelle Harris; Liz Sheridan; Taxi; favorite episodes, characters; "The Sponge"; "The Yada Yada"; working on stand up; meeting your idols; Seinfeld's writers credit; networks try to get around quality; reality shows sink scripted shows; the big three networks barely staying alive; Gilbert Gottfried

Mr. Vance joined James Stephens and I to discuss the ubiquity of "Eddie and the Cruisers"; his early influences; Alan Freed; rock 'n' roll; Frankie Lymon & The Teenagers; buying 45's; being one of the first modern "teenagers"; singing doo wop on the corner; Brill Building; doo wop and rap being music movements that started on the street; Jay and the Americans opens for The Beatles and The Rolling Stones; Jay and the Americans were one of three American bands that survived the British invasion (with The Beach Boys and The Four Seasons); "This Magic Moment", their biggest hit was in 1969; Steely Dan started as their backup band; performed as musical guest on SNL in 1977 singing "The Performer"; hiring Leon Pendarvis to the band; writing the new opening and closing themes; putting together a new SNL band; Eric Mercury; performing on The Tonight Show starring Johnny Carson in 1962; Captain Beefheart; James Brown; Woody Allen; Tracey Ullman; Rachel Sweet and Hairspray; Animal House, recording "Louie, Louie" with John Belushi

Phil and Tom talk about early influences (Phil - Marx Brothers, Preston Sturges, Tom - Little Rascals, Bob Newhart, Johnny Carson, Woody Allen); Tom's father being head of ABC; taking ratings books to school; having Elizabeth Montgomery over for dinner); Phil gets the acting bug in high school and becomes a playwright in San Fransisco; Tom breaks his leg and watches Johnny Carson every night and dreams of being a writer; Tonight Show position opens up; Johnny's writers are  not segregated; Tom writes desk pieces; Phil wrote for Hollywood Squares; Phil on having to write for each character; infamous lunch break; Saturday night is biggest night for TV; Tom writes for Cos; Phil writes for Perry Como & Andy Williams; both write for Rock 'n' America; Tom writes for Richard Pryor Show; Richard throws out all sketches written in pre-production; working with Richard Pryor; various sketches; Paul Mooney; Thicke of the Night; Ralph the runner; writer Jeremy Stevens car gets crushed by Robin Thicke; massive ton of unused sketches; Arnie Kogan; Alan Thicke make sure theme song plays in and out of commercials to get royalties; Fernwood Tonight; Norman Lear; Fred Willard; being head writer for 7 episodes of Saturday Night Live; Charles Rocket; small staff and budget hinders show; Michael O'Donoghue; Tom writes a sketch for Eddie Murphy; Phil and Tom officially become a writing team on The Redd Foxx Show (1986); Sinbad, Pamela Segall Adlon, recurring cast changes; learning about writing a sitcom on the fly; writing on of the most popular episodes of My Two Dads; Dick Butkus; Hooperman; John Ritter; writing their best script - Hooperman episode "Who Do You Truss"; Doogie Howser, MD; Mayim Bialik's first tv role; Drexell's Class; introducing America to Tupac, Jason Biggs, and Brittany Murphy; Drexell getting canceled and moving on to the show that replaced it, Martin; working with Martin Lawrence; The Wayans Brothers; "Detroit" John Witherspoon; Phil teaches pilot writing at UCLA Extension Campus; why writers need to create show Bibles today; Tom being retired; the famous Pat McCormick helicopter and streaking stories; 

Steve and I talk about his early influences (classic comedians and cartoons); meeting his partner, Karl Tiedermann in Horace Mann High School; his college radio show; sending his best bits to the National Lampoon Radio Hour; working with Doug Kenney and Sean Kelly; his first piece Silly Puddy Destroys the World; kids newspaper parody; MOMA Fun Book; King of the Z's a documentary about a cheap 40's film studio; discovering Calvert DeForest (Larry "Bud" Melman)"; film wins at Telluride Film Festival; aired on Showtime; getting a call form Letterman's management two months before Late Night premieres and asking for a job interview; bombing the interview out of excitement but getting the job anyway; Larry "Bud" Melman introduces the first episode ala Frankenstein; pre-production; test shows; being a guest the first week; getting a lot of stuff early; 40th anniversary of inventing the glass breaking sound when Dave throws a blue card; Jim Downey joins as head writer; Gammill & Pross; Andy Kaufman & Jerry Lawlor; Larry "Bud" Melman's Christmas Carol; Bob Hope talks to Larry; Larry had to choose between his job as a receptionist at a methadone clinic and Late Night; Don Giller; Was Jerry Seinfeld bumped by Dick Cavett?; how most Letterman writers stop watching after they leave; Gerry Mulligan; his contract not being renewed; Jim Downey brings SNL hours to Letterman; writing for Robert Klein' segments of TV's Bloopers and Practical Jokes; Robert Klein's talk show producer Joe Cates; Robert Klein documentary; King of the Z's on Youtube; being offered to be headwriters of the New Mickey Mouse Club because they were thought of as hip by Disney; how not caring about the job got him the job; writers and crew all became friends; Left after 4 seasons; Keri Russell and JC Chasez; his kids were just as talented as the more famous ones; Annette Funicello; Tiffany Hale; Party Kids; My Little Pony ad; still has a big following; Disney told him not to be too much like the 70's New MMC; too many music rights to get on Disney +; the Don Giller interview that will never be; Steve & Hillary Rollins write an episode of Doug that was considered too funny and he thought was never made; working with his idol Dick Van Dyke; Nastassja Kinski; Bill Murray shows up two weeks before the first show to get writers drunk to get good material; Bill performs 'Let's Get Physical' on first shoiw and almost injures a staff member; Alan Alda: A Man and His Chinese Food; the Criterion Collection

Wayne Kline talks about growing up with a Methodist minister as a father; Max Schulman; reading because his family couldn't afford a TV; Woody Allen; John Oliver; Alfred Hitchcock; Get Smart; Gilligan's Island; Ginger v. Mary Anne; Dobie Gillis; becoming an Army reserve; selling jokes to George Kirby; never being able to imitate Ed Sullivan; writing The Ed Sullivan Show to sell jokes; reading about the Improv in a newspaper; going on vacation to New York to sell jokes to comedians; Walter Alston; selling a routine to Freddie Prinze; leaving NY for LA; joke structure; winning enough to live off for two years on a gamed show; Ed Bluestone introduces him to Henry Bear & Doug Kenney; writing for the National Lampoon Radio Hour; losing on getting SNL to Alan Zweibel; writing for Jimmy Walker; Rodney Dangerfield; punching up a Doc script leads to his first sitcom; Byron Allen; Helen Kushnick; David Letterman's writing ability; how Wayne saw the talent of Robin Williams on Laugh In; Lenny Schultz; Fernwood Tonight; Fred Willard; One in a Million; Norman Paul; room written shows; Jay Leno's Tonight Show was a feed the hopper show; how Bill Scheft and the Underwear Bomber got Wayne a job with Letterman; being advised by Ross Abrash; trying to beat Mulholland and Barrie for jokes in the monologue; head writer Steve Young; submitting for Bill maher; Curb Your Enthusiasm; Larry David getting him a job copying documents; writing a spec scene for Seinfeld and being told it was too sitcommy; Larry Charles; the horror that was Thicke of the Night and Late Show with Joan Rivers; Joan is replaced by Arsenio Hall; Wayne gets fired then hired by Jay Leno with jokes from a monologue he was going to use; being hired as a full time Tonight Show writer working when Jay Leno guest hosts; Joe Toplyn; how to get into show business; Christopher and David Lloyd; loses jobs to Twitter users; Alan Thicke stories; Jay v. Dave: personalities

Mike Sacks joined me to talk about his comedy idol, Chris Elliot; his books being autobiographies of characters he's assuming; Andy Kaufman; how his books fooled his father; Tulane; his magazine writing; self publishing "Stinker Lets Loose"; "And Here's the Kicker"; Buck Henry; Jack Handey; Robert Smigel; mean comedy; Jesse Watters; his character, Skippy Battinson; Don Rickles; right wing comedy; Dennis Miller; comedy nerds; co,edy throughout time does not punch down; comedians as comedy writers; "Sex:Our Bodies, Our Junk"; Poking a Dead Frog; Mel Brooks; Jim Downey; talking about writers personal favorite wprk; The New Show; perking up interviewees; cold calling interviews; Peg Lynch; loneliness of writers; his tough time getting women to respond to an interview; Anne Beatts; novelizations; seeing early drafts; Paul Feig; audio version of "Stinker Lets Loose"; being prolific; "method" writing; OCD; Donald Trump; Mel Brook's helping young writers; Alan Spencer; George Meyers; Arthur Meyer; Chris Elliot

Randy Cohen joins me to talk about the creation of the Top 10 List; growing up in Reading, Pennsylvania; going to Cal Arts to study music and having little talent for it; betting on Johnny Carson's monologues; being a Knicks fan; the solitary life of a writer; first article about Japanese game shows; Modest Proposals a book of satirical letters; meeting the Pope; his first two books; not working with Steve Martin; wanting to end being a freelancer; staying up to watch Letterman; submitting a packet to NBC; not liking Small Town News; having fun appearing on camera; Steve O'Donnell always making him play a doctor; Merrill Markoe's brand of humor; lack of diversity in the writing room; Merrill's structure of pieces lasted after she did; "Late Night in Tokyo"; "Monkey Cam Show"; Dr. Ruth objects to the monkey; "The English Dub Show"; Randy's attempt to do an episode recast; Bad Phone Calls segment; G.E. Handshake; the crew made your piece funnier; man who's; Chris Elliot; leaving in 1990; TV Nation; The Ethicist; most of his writing is under 1000 words; his play The Punishing Blow; being the head writer for the first year of The Rosie O'Donnell Show; his radio show Person Place or Thing

Steve Young joined me tot talk about his Emmy; his influences; watching Letterman as a teenager for the first time; going to Harvard; Conan O'Brien and the Harvard Lampoon; the Lampoon Castle; his submission; first National Lampoon piece; not  being a comedy nerd; Not Necessarily the News; The Rachel Sweet Show; sending a submission packet to Late Night in 1990; being the utility guy; man who's; writing Alan Kalter's coming ups; have Dave affected my memory; Steve teaching at NYU and bringing David Letterman as a guest; Massapequa and Joey Buttafuoco; Jerry Seinfeld; the move to CBS; the constantly changing nature of the show; show becomes more political; Paul Shaffer; his Simpsons episode; ave's Record Collection; finding industrial musicals - musicals written for company functions; his book Everything's Coming Up Profits; documentary Bathtubs Over Broadway; new records collected since documentary; his families reaction; how the documentary was seen by critics, family, and David Letterman; that many people have seen one of these shows; John Roarke does Dave at conventions; why the industrial shows stopped; short films he wrote and starred in; his beard; how Letterman hired from within

All clips thanks to the generosity of Mr. Young himself.

The book: https://www.amazon.com/Everythings-Coming-Up-Profits-Industrial/dp/0922233446/ref=sr_1_2?keywords=everything+coming+up+profits&qid=1646004646&s=books&sprefix=everythings+coming+u%2Cstripbooks%2C63&sr=1-2 

Bathtubs over Broadway on Amazon Prime

Anson Williams joins me to talk about drowsy driving and his invention Alert Drops; his uncle Henry Heimlich and getting his Heimlich maneuver on the Merv Griffin Show; the shooting on Alec Baldwin's set; his famous McDonald's commercial; Happy Days v. Good Times ratings battle; favorite episodes of Happy Days ("Fonzie's Friend", "And they Called it Potsie Love"); the difficulty of performing Pumps Your Blood; his 1977 hit "Deeply"; the theme to Laverne & Shirley; Milwaukee & the Bronze Fonz; being nominated for a Golden Globe; Henry Winkler winning an Emmy for Barry after many years of not getting one for Happy Days; dating Susan Ford (Gerald Ford's daughter); his autobiography Singing to a Bullfrog; his teenage mentor, Willie Turner; teenage groupies; Harvest Time; Hollywood Squares at the Hollywood Museum; guesting on Hollywood Squares; $10,000 Pyramid, and the Magnificent Marble Machine; directing career of 300 television episodes; The Secret Life of the American Teen with Shailene Woodley; Harvest Times; and his variety show pilot Anson & Lorrie. 

Norm Hiscock joins me to talk about his comedy influences: Bugs Bunny, Monty Python, SNL, and the Mary Tyler Moore Show; liking comedy but not performing; meeting Mark McKinney and forming an improv group; Bruce McCulloch joins; the group goes to Toronto; Bruce and Mark joining SNL writing staff in 1985, launching Kids in the Hall; running out of material and Norm joining; favorite Monty Python sketch; King of Broken Promises; To Do List; writing Brain Candy while on SNL; Mark McKinney playing Lorne as the bad guy in Brain Candy; Norm joins SNL; not writing The Paradox car commercial; bringing Mark McKinney's characters Darrill and Melanie (in a controversial sketch) to SNL; his first sketch on his first show; Hi-C & Turkey; David Koechner's character T-Bone; Naked Trucker and T-Bone Show; The Fops; Bob Newhart; Norm MacDonald; Dan Aykroyd; Denver Airport Sketch; Martha Stewart's Topless Christmas; moving to King of the Hill; "And they Called it Bobby Love" wins an Emmy; "Bobby Goes Nuts"; King of the Hill not being another Simpsons; different comedy rhythms; Alice, I Think; The Altar Boy Gang; Corner Gas; other Canadian sitcoms; walking on eggs; re-watching Mary Tyler Moore & Andy Griffith Show; Green Acres; Parks and Recreation; Jerry Gurgich; Audrey Plaza; the best cast he ever worked with; Brooklyn 99; Scully & Hitchcock; Trailer Parker Boys, Kids in the Hall reboot; Space Force; not going to SNL 40