Phoef and I discuss his name; Dick Van Dyke Show; reading mysteries; James Madison University; writing, directing, and acting in his own plays; sitcoms are almost Broadway plays; writing a spec Newhart; that script got to Cheers and he was offered a freelance job; turned down staff job on Newhart in 1986 for -Cheers; writing the Cheers episode "The Book of Samuel"; "Dinner at Eight-ish"; "Cheers: The Motion Picture"; the monkey episode; writing for periphery characters Al, Father Barry, and John Hill; replacing characters; Kirstie Alleys cigarette trick; "Gift of the Woodi"; The Kelly Song; Prince is a fan; made more money on the song than any one episode; co-creating Bob; writing "The Fan"; Thanks; The Fighting Fitzgeralds; The US version of Coupling; Rob!; Rob Schneider being hard to deal with; working with Cheech Marin and Eugenio Derbez; Boston Legal - working with Candice Bergen and William Shatner; using clips from a 1957 episode of the Defenders in a 2007 episode of Boston Legal; writing mystery novels; wanting to write an X-Files; shows he watches now; Poker Face being like Columbo and The Fugitive; his  new series Chesapeake Stars on Hallmark; past Cheers writers I've had on; 30th anniversary of Cheers' final episode