Ian Talks Comedy

Eva Almos joined me to discuss TV she watched growing up; starting voice over in Canadian radio; Rick Moranis; loving voice acting the best; re-writing a line on an audition; moving to L.A. for voice overs; studying writing with Ed Scharlach and becoming his partner; Night Heat; Tony Roasto; ALF; creating a voice; Donita Donata; Swamp Thing; Larry Sanders Show; Duckman - Jason Alexander; Secret Service Guy; Michael McKean; An American in Canada; The Blobheads; Howard Busgang; What's New Scooby Doo; Uncle Joe's Cartoon Show; mentoring future animated writers and actors; taping animated programs is better in a group; Joe Flaherty; Wild Kratts; current projects; celebrities who try their own animated series

Fred Graver joined me to talk about tricking his parents into watching more TV; The Dick Van Dyke Show; going to Notre Dame; getting a job as a typist at National Lampoon; getting hired on Late Night with David Letterman; Merrill Markoe; William Wegman; 360 degree show; writing the Top 10 List; Chris Elliot; remotes; Arnie Barnes; Airplane Anniversary Show;  meeting Pete Townshend; best guests; Harvey Pekar; Crispin Glover; Sonny & Cher; working for Norman Lear on Sunday Dinner; getting hired for In Living Color; writing a Hey Mon!; writing Men on Film; Jim Carrey; writing and shooting the episodes; Super Bowl Halftime episode; Night Court; Dick Van Dyke spec script; Cheers last season and Tonight Show wrap up party

Mert Rich joined me to talk about his Emmys; growing up in Detroit; Soupy Sales; Bill Kennedy; Milton Berle; Jackie Gleason; Carl Reiner; being in one of the last Bob Newhart Shows and meeting Mary Tyler Moore at the wrap-up party; Wayne State; going into advertising; joining Second City; doing industrial films with Steven Kampmann; 1/2 Hour Comedy Hour; side jobs; auditioned for Taxi; doing a Quincy; joining SCTV Network 90; being a Juul Haalamayer Dancer; Jake LaMotta's Raging Bull BBQ; Dr. Tongue's 3D House of Beef; meeting partner Brian Pollack at the Hollywood Square - Match Game Hour; writing a parody of Footlose; writing a What's Happening Now! and a Love Boat; working with Al Jean & Mike Reiss; working on Hulk Hogan's Rock n Wrestling; learning how to use a computer on Sledge Hammer!; Jackie Cooper; episode "Dori Day Afternoon"; creating the character of Cliff's girl friend Margaret O'Keefe on Cheers; episode "What's Up, Doc?"; hanging out with Woody Harrelson; Roger Rees; writing the episode that earned Kirstie Alley an Emmy; You've Lost that Loving Feeling; Bill Medley; Roc; firing Jamie Foxx from pilot; difficulties of Roc Live!; Kurt Rambis; episode "The Stan Who Came to Dinner"; writing a pilot for John Ratzenberger; working on the George Carlin Show; Sam Simon; Brian Doyle-Murray; Sister, Sister; Sherman Helmsley; Secret Dairy of Desmond Pfeiffer; Boat Trip; The Simpsons; Sir Roger Moore; Cheers finale; On the Verge of a Wig - Out; Kirstie Alley; COVID 19;

Canadian treasure Ron James talked to me about coming to L.A.; becoming a stand up comedian; Second City cast mates; My Talk Show; Bob Tischler; Texas; George Carlin; Richard Pryor; John Cleese; having funny friends; getting advice from Lorne Michaels; Americas influence in his Canadian childhood; Nova Scotia; opening for the Martin Scorcese SCTV reunion; corporate gigs; tough crowds in Alberta; guns; January 6th; Justin Trudeau; clean water on Canadian Native American reservations; Robin Duke; knowing a show is not going well by caterer and guest stars; Chubby Checker;  a bad gig in Cancun; The Bear Pit in Edinburgh; Dennis Miller; joke context; people who think they could "try" stand-up; Nova Scotia being his tuning fork; his parents; stand up in person vs. on tv vs. sketch comedy troupes

Ron Osborn joined me to discuss his childhood as a horror fan; Art Center College of Design; giving blood for a living; meeting Jeff Reno; getting the job on Mork & Mindy and throwing up every morning; pitching stories; writing 12 Angry Appliances; 17 writers in the writers room but Robin gets credit for ad-libbing series; Robin never forgetting a joke; a typical week at Mork; Tom Poston; Too Close for Comfort; youngest writers on a staff of 6; Ted Knight; my favorite episode of Too Close; ABC tries to hip it up; Jm J. Bullock; Audrey Meadows; freelancing a Silver Spoons; Goodnight Beantown; decent ratings but still cancelled; pitching to Night Court; freelance episode leads to them getting hired; great writers room; creating the characters of Phil and The Wheelers;Selma Diamond; Ellen Foley; I Had Three Wives; having to write one more Night Court right before wedding; how I Had Three Wives led to Moonlighting; coming up with scenes on the fly; commenting on being a TV show; Bruce Willis gets the job because Rick Dees turned it down; making a scene longer to give Bruce & Cybill a day off; Allyce Beasley & Curtis Armstrong; "Atomic Shakespeare" pitch; claymation scene; writing & shooting "Atomic Shakespeare"; Paul Sorvino; Charles Rocket; 3 episode arc "Sam & Dave"; adding Curtis Armstrong; "Casablanca" homage episode; Cybill Shepherd's pregnancy changes the series; working with Eva Marie Saint; Dennis Dugan; leaving the show; Goldie and the Bears - the lost Hulk Hogan pilot; selling a Charlies Angels story; working with George Lucas on Radioland Murders;

Marc Sotkin and I discuss his books The Comatose Adventures of Lenny Rose and With Time Off for Bad Behavior; the final season of Laverne & Shirley; Larry Breeding; coming to LA and joining the Off the Wall comedy troupe; getting hired for Sirota's Court and moving to Laverne & Shirley; Phil Foster; Blansky's Beauties; Working Stiffs; I'm A Big Girl Now; working with Danny Thomas; having a bit part on Laverne & Shirley; writing two specials with Garry Shandling; It's A Living; Ann Jillian; Crystal Bernard; Sheryl Lee Ralph; how not gelling with Bill Maher on a pilot script led to getting The Golden Girls; how working with the ladies was different than on Laverne & Shirley; episodes he wrote: Ebb Tide; Bill Dana; favorite jokes; Golden Palace; replacing Alexei Sayle with Cheech Marin; Don Cheadle and the episode Camp Town Races Aren't Nearly as Much Fun as They Used to Be; The Sinbad Show; Platypus Man; First Time Out; You Wish; Charles in Charge; his internet series Boomer Alley; his graphic novel The Improbables; his short film, The Decision; and what he's working on now.

His books, TV scripts, and The Improbables cartoon can be found on marcsotkin.com

Ellen Foley discusses her early career; The National Lampoon Show; Jim Steinman; Paradise by the Dashboard Light; 3 Girls 3; Hair; Night Out; Kenny Everrett Video Show; Spirit of St. Louis; Tootsie; Night Court; Married to the Mob; teaching in the School of Rock; and her new album, Fighting Words.

PS: Sorry for the interference on Ms. Foley's IPhone.

Patrick Harburgh talks about his upbringing in Buffalo' being a ski instructor in Aspen; learn how to write a script; getting hired on Greatest American Hero; creating the character name BA Baracus for the A-Team; creating Hardcastle and McCormick, Destination America; 21 Jump Street (tv and movies); working with young Johnny Depp, George Clooney and Brad Pitt; Aspen Extreme; Sea Quest; The Net; his two books Aspen Pulp and Pirata; not knowing who Steven J. Cannell was when he hired him; 

Dean Friedman joined me to discuss his musical influences; "Ariel";  "Company"; "Lucky Stars"; "S & M";  "McDonald's Girl"; "Hey Larry"; Complete Guide to Synthesizers, Sequencers, and Drum Machines; virtual reality; creating the game Eat-A-Bug and 12 others for Nick Arcade; doing the scores for the UK TV show Boon, I Bought a Vampire Motorcycle, and Eerie Indiana; "Son of Abraham"; crowd-sourcing albums; making money in the music industry; "The Bastard Son of Dean Friedman" and "A Baker's Tale; playing music with your children; All request Zoom concerts; 

Dennis Danziger discusses when he went one on one against Kobe Bryant; studying play writing in the University of Texas at Austin; moving to NY; being a sports junkie; writing an episode of The White Shadow; not remembering Open All Night; how a one act play with Rhea Perlman led to a job on Taxi; writing a pilot After George for Susan St. James; writing an episode of Empire; Kate & Allie; Homeland; and Foley Square; writing a Melba; the unorthodox story of "Daddy, Diary of an Expectant Father"; writing for My Sister Sam and the People Next Door; Antonio Sacre; being one of George HW Bush's Points of Life for his volunteerism; the Pops Club; "The Short History of the Tall Jew"; The Good Men Project; inequality between majority white, black and Hispanic students in LA; The Richard Nixon Sex Tapes - a series of one act plays; Shalom Vietnam