Ian Talks Comedy

Meco and I discuss her modeling career; how the Cheetah Girls Movie inspired her; songwriting; trying out for The X Factor, The Lost Resort and the jungles of Costa Rica; the therapies that she did or did not take part in; her webseries about forming a girl group; and her website, everythingmeco.com

In a lengthy interview, Bob Illes and I discuss his early years; starting a radio comedy show at USC; Digby Wolfe; winning a contest to write for Tennesse Ernie Ford; Mike Ovitz; writing monologues for Bill Cosby; meeting Groucho Marx and Peter Sellers; writing for the Lily Tomlin special and winning an Emmy; The Super Emmy; writing the Sanford & Son episode, "Lamont, Is That You", The Smothers Brothers NBC reboot; Mickey Rose; Chevy Chase; Don Novello; Joe & Sons, One Day at a Time, getting dressed down by Norman Lear and his mea culpa; What's Happening!!, Captain and Tenille Show, Fernwood Tonight, winning another Emmy for the last year of The Carol Burnett Show, America 2-Night; Peeping Times; The Mary Tyler Moore Hour;       Steve Allen Comedy Hour; Catherine O'Hara, Flo, Private Benjamin, No Soap, Radio; Silver Spoons; Jason Bateman, John Houseman; The Cracker Brothers; Milton Berle; Double Trouble, Sylvan in Paradise, Jim Nabors; Courtney Cox; Jackie Bison Show; Harry Shearer, Stan Freberg; Amen; Sherman Hemsley; favorite episode; getting cancelled by NBC because Johnny Carson retired; age ranges in sitcoms

Steven Kampmann talks Cook & Moore; Second City; The Cisco Kid; WKRP in Cincinnati; Newhart; Back to School, Club Paradise,  The Richest Cat in the World; The Couch Trip; Clifford; Stuart Saves His Family; For the Boys; Multiplicity; Analyze That; Special Delivery; Buzzkill; Maurice!; and teaches me improv.

This is a list of the performers I would most like to interview on the podcast.  If any body has a lead or if they themselves are listening please email me at [email protected]

The list: In alphabetical order:

Julie Brown (Just Say Julie)                             Dana Carvey                           Jennifer Crittenden                         Chris Eliot                                                                   Melissa Fumero                                                  Merrill Markoe                       Martin Mull                                        Bernadette Peters                                                       Martin Short                                                        Alan Spencer                          Charlene Tilton                                 Henry Winkler                    

Also: Tiffany Haddish                                        Gabriel Iglesisas                     Tim Minchin (AU)                           Amber Ruffin                                     

Blues Brothers

Rich Hall talks about being a street performer; Harry Anderson; moving to NYC in 1978 and doing stand-up with Jerry Seinfeld, Paul Reiser and Gilbert Gottfried;  writing for the David Letterman (Morning) Show; doing The Tonight Show with Letterman as a guest host; Fridays; writing and performing on Saturday Night Live; moving to England; QI; Otis Lee Crenshaw; BBC documentaries; Blazing Saddles

Actor-producer-director Paul Kreppel joined me to talk about growing up in Kingston, New York; early TV; going to Emerson College with Henry Winkler and Andrea Martin; being a guest at Winkler's home during "Fonziemania", The Proposition; Fred Grandy; Judy Kahan; being on David Frost and Mike Douglas, Godspell, Don Scardino, Paul Shaffer; working with Ted Danson and Danny DeVito, auditioning for SNL,  Joseph & the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, moving to LA; Laverne & Shirley; doing a scene with Tony Curtis, It's A Living's cast and first season; retooling, second season and cancellation; Fantasy Island and Bob Denver, tuxedos; Night Court, working with Jay Sandrich on the Cosby Show, It's a Living reboot, adding Crystal Bernard, directing 6 episodes; Ann Jillian; Sheryl Lee Ralph; J.D. LoBue; game show anxiety, Doogie Howser and the unconscious salute; Murder, She Wrote; Edgar Lansbury; Diana Canova; Hello Muddah, Hello Fadduh!

At this moment, Tropical Storm Isaias  knocked out power but we continued talking about:

directing The Apartment, Thea, and Simon, Yahrzeit, Promises, Promises with Jason Alexander, Barney Martin, Charlie Robinson,  Fred Willard, and Jean Smart; moving back to NY; That 70's Show; Jay Johnson doing a benefit, The Two and Only; his partner Murphy Cross and the effort it took to launch a one man show; Jay getting into the zone of one of his ventriloquist helpers

Unfortunately, Sy Rosen was talking to me during Tropical Storm Fay and the first thirty minutes were erased, but we talked about: growing up in the Bronx, Winky Dink and You, college, going in the reserves, not working on a Joan Baez in Sing Sing special, writing a spec script for the Mary Tyler Moore Show and getting a template back from Allan Burns; selling an episode of The Bob Newhart Show about Carol, joining the writing staff and writing "Death Be My Destiny", the 50th best episode of a TV show according to TV Guide, writing a couple of Tony Randall Show episodes but remembering one; writing a Rhoda; We've Got Each Other; Maude; Free Country as a show that should have done better; Taxi and how Stan Daniels added to the script in the writing room; The Jeffersons and Now You Seen it, Now You Don't; bring Redd Foxx back as Sanford

We return with: Gimme A Break not being about an interracial relationship; the talent of Nell Carter; the adding of Grandpa in season two; writing what is considered the best episode of Best of the West; writing an Open All Night for Patchett & Tarses; doing a pilot with Don Ameche; Spencer with Chad Lowe being one of his favorite shows; Anything for Love; Roomies; The Robert Guillaume Show being about an interracial relationship; Northern Exposure; The Wonder Years episodes being Wayne-centric; writing the episode The Nose and being nominated for a Humanitas Prize; The Home Court; Frasier; Lost on Earth; Working; 2Gether; playwriting; writing comedy for retirement magazines; working with Dean Cameron and Robert Romanus

My guest tonight was an original writer for Saturday Night Live, a short film maker with over 50 to his credit and is known for directing one of the most famous movies you have never seen.  He also was a protege of documentarian Robert Snyder and was befriended and mentored by Henry Miller. 

Fridays