00:00:00
David. Uh, what were you just saying? >> I was talking about, do you know William
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Simmons? >> Oh, yeah. Billy, Billy, Billy, Billy Simmons. Yeah, he's the best. That guy's
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[ __ ] great. Whoops. >> Bill Simmons has his tentacles in a lot of things.
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>> He's all over this space. You know, when I when I say this space, you know what
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I'm talking about. >> Yeah. Podcasting. He was uh >> king of the airwaves of sports uh
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regular airwaves. Now he's podcasting. Now he's all over. He's >> part of that Amy Polar show. Uh
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>> he has a lot of things going. He's got a whole atmosphere over there if that's
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what they call it. >> And what is that what they call >> atmosphere? I don't know that.
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>> Like a whole world over there. >> It's shaky. We'll get back to that. The
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thing you're going to enjoy about this podcast if you're a Saturday Night Live
00:00:49
fan is this guy Bill Simmons. He knows more about every single sketch. >> Yeah.
00:00:55
>> That I've ever done and every episode. So that we do deep dive on that. He is
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>> maybe the biggest fan of the show ever, one of them, you know. So that's very
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interesting to get into all. I saw him at that Netflix brunch the other day. Uh >> oh, okay.
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>> the other week, the other month. And >> uh super cool guy to just BS and
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[ __ ] with. Um and he also knows a ton about SNL. But when he was on, >> I think maybe we've had him on twice,
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but he basically interviews us. He he he wants to know so much about the ins and
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outs and the >> behind the scenes that it's pretty fun to just lean back and kind of go back
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and forth with him. >> Yeah. And he does really understand podcasting. >> And he can tell that I'm an athlete, so
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he kind of likes that >> because he's a sports guy. >> Yeah. He just tagged you tagged you
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right away. Yeah. Right away. >> Yeah. >> Because that don't come that's not
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natural. >> I used to tell him how when I used to lead off a lot, >> you know, when I was in baseball.
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>> Yeah. >> And then I run back to first. I look at the pitcher, I go, "What? What's
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>> Well, did it ever throw? Did it ever throw in little league baseball? The
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batter's up and then the whole the whole team starts going, "Hey, bada batter.
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Hey, bada batter." You think they could heckle something better than Yes, I'm a
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batter and I'm going to batter. Hey, bada bada bada. Hey, bada bada. >> Yeah, I have to say that. Do they still
00:02:24
say that in the pros? I should have asked some [ __ ] >> Um, no. I think sometimes they go beat
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them, bust them. That's our custom. Yeah, that's our custom. >> New York. That was a real one from my
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high school. >> You know what I they I saw A-Rod do? He goes, California oranges, Texas cactus.
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We play your team just for practice. And everyone's like, >> uh, I know I am, but what are you? I'm
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rubber. You're glue. Whatever you say sticks to you. >> I would be on second base going.
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>> Should we save this for our regular podcast? >> I know. Let's bring on Bill Simmons.
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>> We're wasting gold on an intro. Please enjoy Bill Simmons and cut that part
00:03:09
out. Yeah. This is my setup. This is where I do my pod. So, I got all my all my stuff
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behind me. So, it looks like I'm in this big and then if you zoom out, it's just
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like this little weird corner of stuff and then nothing else looks like that in the room.
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>> Fake busy corner. >> Yeah, fake busy corner. >> I'm in an abandoned motel
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>> uh near near Bakersfield. And uh >> Dana was taken. >> I put Larson in room. God.
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>> I'm a I'm a minist. >> Good one. >> Everybody knock and give me food.
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>> I'm a minimalist. What? What can I say? >> God, no [ __ ] >> So, should we
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>> So, wait, I have to ask Bill first. There's no way. What did you have to do
00:03:57
with 30 for 30? I just saw this. >> I created it. I came up with the idea. I
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sent the memo, dude. >> And then uh for like a year and a half, me and my friend Connor show like
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basically came up with every angle of it and got it sold. That's in my notes.
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Yeah. >> Yeah. I don't want to talk about me though. I want to talk SNL. Let's Let's
00:04:16
see. We don't need to talk about >> I know. No, you're boring. I understand.
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I understand. >> Yeah. Yeah. Everybody knows you. Okay. Top best athlete. I'm trying to do a
00:04:24
mashup of Bill Simmons. Best athlete host on SNL. >> Oh, wow. >> That's a tough one.
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>> Does The Rock count? >> What's The Rock on? >> Um, he's an athlete. Well, he's a movie
00:04:37
star, but >> yeah. No, he's an athlete. >> The Rock was really good. I mean, he did
00:04:41
the the Barack Obama on it, which I thought was one of the better presidential sketches they did in the
00:04:46
last 20 years. >> Yes, that was funny. The Rock is good. Yeah, there's Payton Manning back in my
00:04:53
day. Joe Montana with Walter Payton. >> Yeah, but I mean Montana was in one of
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the iconic sketches of the late 80s that the I'm going to go upstairs and masturbate, which was like out of nobody
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could believe he did that back in the day. I was like, "Oh my god, Joe Montana
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said masturbate." >> And you know what? Fun fact, talk about how fun fact, talk about how competitive
00:05:13
Joe Montana is. He finishes the show and he landed that sketch, which killed >> and then he he he can't come out of his
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dressing room almost like a boxer. He feels >> he feels he didn't do very well. And
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Joe, can can you go talk to him? He just he just can't come out, you know. Funny.
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>> Jesus. John Madden was good, too. was before your time, but he uh he came in
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right as he was taking off from CBS and they built it was during the Eddie era. >> Yeah.
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>> They built the whole show around him and he was pretty he was pretty good with
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that. I I want to say OJ hosted in the first five years and thank god he didn't
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kill anybody. >> Oh, he killed so I had to say it. I know it's not funny but I had to say it.
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Charles Barkley during David's era just missed him. >> Oh yeah. >> Um
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>> yeah it's tough. Hey did Joe Montana have any problem with that joke Dana?
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No, I don't think so. I'll be up. His inner monologue was, "Yeah, I'll be
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upstairs masturbating." Yeah. >> Yeah. >> There was a charm when athletes come on
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or non-professional actors. There's a sort of kind of stilted charm to them.
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You know, >> I find that that's a big big part of the show is having movie stars, non-
00:06:22
comedians try to do an hour and a half of a live sketch. It's a ridiculous task. So, it's it's a great reality
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show. I think when MJ came on that was about as in the running for about as famous as he ever was. That was really
00:06:37
when he had ascended to the A++ list and >> um everybody was so interested to see
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how he would do and he did really well you but it it just felt like a moment when he was on
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>> that ch changed 8H everybody was flipped out so he was Michael Jordan at that
00:06:53
time >> and uh he was um it's a real interesting part of being a cast remember being
00:06:59
behind the slats with Michael Jordan and we're about to go and do the sketch and
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it's live and he's not in his element he's kind of looking in script and I
00:07:07
said, you know, just look at the card. Don't worry about it. Christopher Walkin
00:07:11
does it. Just look at the card if you have to. >> Well, and they're so used to coming
00:07:14
through in pressure >> that eventually you come out and the adrenaline is running and it's basically
00:07:20
no different than if they have a big game or something like that. I was when I, you know, when I got to know Seth
00:07:26
Myers and Hater and those guys in the late 2000s, they popped on my pod. I was always so interested in the mechanics of
00:07:32
the person coming on who hosted who fit in right away. What actor, actress, comedian, who just kind of got the show
00:07:39
and could have been like a surrogate cast member versus somebody who came in and was just kind of their head spinning
00:07:44
the whole week. And then certain people would come in and you guys that were on the show would be like, "Oh,
00:07:51
>> this isn't easy. This person gets it. This guy, this guy or this girl could
00:07:54
actually be on the show full-time." >> Well, well, I don't I'd be curious what
00:07:58
those guys said. off the top of my head like John Goodman was like a c he was just good at everything. Tom Hanks, of
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course. >> Tom Hanks was a great one. Yeah, >> completely committed. By the way, I want
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to just for a second check your memory. What was the hit sketch kind of objectively for Michael Jordan's
00:08:15
episode? >> Wasn't it the Steuart Smallley? >> Yes. >> Yeah. And then there was uh there was a
00:08:20
negative thing. I mean, I'm I'm top top top percentile SNL fan that has ever
00:08:26
been on this show, including all the people who have been on it. You're just
00:08:29
not going to. I grew up at the show. I was an only child. I remember every single season, everything that happened.
00:08:35
I'm just I'm going to have an answer for every question you have. >> I now I now put you I knew you were a
00:08:41
fan and a sports fan, but now I put you in context. So, now you're one of those
00:08:45
people, which is great. There's not that many of them that are comprehensively
00:08:51
dug into that show. So, let's Should we try to see if we can stump it? >> Here's the thing. We I told Spade this
00:08:57
when we did a podcast. Like I'm I was born in 1969. That's literally the
00:09:03
perfect year to grow up at the show cuz I was six when the when the show premiered. I wasn't able to watch it
00:09:09
till I was maybe eight or nine. They started running the half hour >> kind of highlight shows on NBC that
00:09:14
would be like 9:00, 9:30, whenever that was on. And that's how Belushi was my
00:09:18
first guy. I'm like who is this? I'm like eight. I'm like this is how does
00:09:22
this person exist? Started watching those. They finally let me stay up late for the fifth season, my parents. And
00:09:28
then I was all the way through Eddie uh when you came on when uh when Spade like
00:09:34
the height of the 90s and all that. Then Hartman I mean uh uh Frell coming back and basically saving the show and it
00:09:40
felt like it was a trouble. >> Uh I've been there for every piece of it.
00:09:43
>> Wow. Have you have you did you ever entertain going into the business we're
00:09:49
in? >> So ironically I did. I was I was um in the mid 90s I was writing for uh the
00:09:56
Boston Herald and trying I really wanted a sports column and the high school newspapers and it's like I have no
00:10:02
chance this is never happening and I lived with a guy who I'd done a lot of comedy stuff with just for fun and we
00:10:08
knew this guy named Bill Lawrence who um I think >> he's a producer. Yeah, he's he was at
00:10:15
the time he was on the show Friends >> and he had an SNL connection >> and it was the year when everything blew
00:10:21
up when the New York magazine when they wrote that piece and it was that when they were coming in and they're blowing
00:10:26
up the show, summer 95 maybe. >> Yeah. >> And we did this whole packet and we sent
00:10:30
in, >> you know, 20 pages of stuff. Now I learned later like there's no way
00:10:34
anybody even saw it, but we sent it in. We're like this is it. This is our big
00:10:37
break. >> Uh and it never happened. But um >> without You mean without a an agent or
00:10:42
something just sending in a packet? >> No, but we had like Oh, a guy knows a
00:10:46
guy. I was one of those. But you don't know any better. I was living in Boston.
00:10:48
>> We're not supposed, you know, we're not supposed to read them. We on the show.
00:10:50
We were talking yesterday about how we had mailboxes, you know, there wasn't
00:10:54
email. So, right Dana was always full and then uh and Mike Myers and then everyone else just started getting full.
00:11:00
But but if people sent packets, which a lot of people would send us scripts and stuff and to this day, if you read, they
00:11:06
can sue you. So you really can't even >> read it in case you don't like it. But 3
00:11:12
years later there's a sketch like that on the show cuz it's very easy to think.
00:11:15
>> We didn't know that in Boston. We're just like this. They're going to hire
00:11:18
us. We'll be able to come in. We'll be hanging with Sandler. And it just did
00:11:22
not happen. >> Better keep my summer free so I can go in there and prep when they call right
00:11:26
away. >> What was your first sketch that that was the top of that 20page pile? What was
00:11:31
it? What was the topic of it? >> It was a big Friends parody. It was the first year of friends and we
00:11:36
did a long you you probably saw it in the pile. No, it was a big >> and I told Lauren, "It's not happening.
00:11:43
It's all right. He'll he'll he'll he'll do he'll do fine."
00:11:47
>> I remember we had another one about Jesus making Jesus coming back and like
00:11:53
signing with Nike and doing this whole and we were like really this is so edgy. This is going to be great. Now I I read
00:11:58
it now I'd want to kill myself. Well, >> yeah, but sometimes stuff was funny
00:12:04
anyway back then. When I even look back at sketches that are like clanking, it seemed to work then
00:12:09
>> and uh you just don't know and then later you embarrassed. But some of them
00:12:13
actually still hold up. >> Yeah, we're going to >> Well, it's funny with your era there.
00:12:18
The sketches were mean in a good way. Like some of the stuff I like some of the Carson stuff Dana did, you go back
00:12:25
and you watch it, you're like, "Oo, >> man." Like, was Carson okay with this? I
00:12:30
just don't know if >> stuff's not mean in the same way. Especially SNL which is way more
00:12:35
celebrity friendly than I think it was. But back then it was like like Roblo did
00:12:39
that uh the the Arsenio Beckman whatever that was like the Arsenio parrot. It's
00:12:44
like man this is kind of mean. Yeah. >> But it was good. That's what we all grew
00:12:48
up with. That was what made us laugh. >> I don't know if there's a better way to
00:12:51
put it but if there's an elephant in the room or what you're not supposed to say
00:12:54
or what you're observing, you just need to tease that out. That's why it's
00:12:58
funny, you know, and then it can be construed as mean or not mean. But Johnny was fine with it. He actually
00:13:04
liked Carino, >> you know. He said really they're making fun of Arino as much as they're making
00:13:10
fun of us. That was And then there was one sketch that got him dinged and I was blacklisted casually from the show. Um,
00:13:18
so bittersweet memories, but of course I revered Carson and I revered doing him.
00:13:24
I've never had more relaxed fun than being in the Johnny the Earnest Nebraska
00:13:31
guy. That that's just a great Bill's here and you apparently have a very big
00:13:36
podcast called It's called The Ringer. I understand. You know, that >> interviewer with that voice
00:13:42
>> hasn't been replaced yet, but we've had some great people, but not no Carson
00:13:46
yet. Well, then you did the Larry Sanders episode, which in the be the one of the best seasons in the history of
00:13:53
television, season four. But, uh, where you come on and you're doing the impression and they're trying to keep
00:13:58
Larry from finding out that Dana has his impression of him, then he sees it and then it's a whole cat and mouse game of
00:14:03
whether he's going to do it on the show, but you actually have the mustache on
00:14:07
and the fake teeth. You're like, >> I have the my ass. >> Yeah. And I heard Gary was tweet by it
00:14:14
later, but I I told him I said, "I'm just doing one frequency that you use in
00:14:18
your standup something." And I don't even know what he's trying to do to me,
00:14:23
you know? It's like Jay Leno. Yeah, it goes like that, but he doesn't talk like
00:14:26
that, you know. But anyway, >> he goes like this, too. >> I do think that was different way back
00:14:32
in the day where you would take a piece of something and both of you guys did it. You take a piece of whatever and
00:14:38
then you blow it out and now it become the impersonation, right? Like Will Frell did that with with when he was
00:14:44
doing W. >> He took like small pieces of it. It wasn't even close to being W. You did
00:14:49
that when you did uh George Bush Senior. Same thing. >> Oh yeah. >> Now I feel like when they're doing the
00:14:54
impressions, it's more like a dead-on impersonation of somebody is the trend
00:14:57
now. But back then it was like I'm going to take this one piece and go crazy with
00:15:00
it. >> I I'm doing it with Biden currently because I you know you need to you know
00:15:05
I said this yesterday but my latest toy is so abstract. Because the only one who
00:15:10
understand Biden is is Hunter. So then I then I can do Biden of anything. Hey, Dad. What's going on? Yeah, just goes to
00:15:17
people. So I Oh, no. I already ate. Maybe tomorrow night. Yeah, cuz sure. Yeah, 7:30 is great. Okay. You know, so
00:15:26
I I find for myself in high school with my friends, I want to ask you this, abstracting my impression of the water
00:15:33
polo coach into madness and then that rhythm extenuated. coming from someplace real like Will's W was in a real zone
00:15:42
but so playful. I just like the style of it. I also like people who could do a perfect impression too. But I do like
00:15:48
abstracting it. >> I mean that was Hartman like when when I was in college and we would tape it, you
00:15:54
know, we'd have like the VCR player. So we tape it, we watch it the next day. It
00:15:58
was like a Sunday ritual. >> And Hartman did the McMahon and we thought the McMahon was like the
00:16:04
funniest thing of all time. wasn't really, you know, there were pieces of Ed, but his version of McMahon, we
00:16:10
thought combined with the Carson, we just like we would be imitating, we' be
00:16:15
talking about, but Hartman was really good at. He did that with the Sinatra group, too.
00:16:19
>> Um. >> Oh, yeah. Oh, sure. >> Where same thing like his version of
00:16:21
Sinatra, Piscapo was like more of an impression >> and he would have fun with that. I know
00:16:26
Pispo is on your pot. I loved it. >> Um, but great. Yeah, >> the Hartman Sinatra was a little bit
00:16:32
like uh I don't know, a little rowdier, a little angrier, and I thought it was
00:16:36
funnier. >> What about Ed McMahon doing it when all he has to say is yes and you are
00:16:41
correct. Just those little hooks just saying it over and over. You are correct, sir. And then when he goes
00:16:46
young, older reference lost on younger viewers. Yes. >> Because that that was where Phil was the
00:16:52
laugh bomb and I didn't have to carry that weight. I was kind of doing this rhythm and setting it up and very
00:16:58
sincere and I know that you are correct sir. >> Yeah. >> Old reference last time. So it was just
00:17:03
a like a a magic show. It was like and then boom. But yeah, Phil was just >> there was a piece to that Carson thing
00:17:11
though where you were tapping into something that I think people my generation were feeling where like
00:17:15
Letterman was our guy for my generation. the most important things that happened
00:17:20
to me when I was like 12, 13 was Eddie Murphy and Letterman >> and just kind of going on the ride with
00:17:26
both of those guys from 82 to 85. And Carson, I love Carson. >> Everyone, you know, for for three
00:17:33
generations, Carson was with three channels, everyone watched Carson, >> but he did start to seem a little old by
00:17:39
the time we got to the late 80s. >> And when you guys kind of crossed the beams and went after him a little bit in
00:17:45
a fun way, but you still went after him. It was a little like when Norman went after Letterman in the mid 90s. It was
00:17:50
the same thing where he loved Letterman, but the fact that he was paring him was
00:17:54
like, "Oh, okay. We're doing this now." >> Well, I would say built to that that I
00:17:59
kind of realized that everybody every comedian becomes a characture of themselves. Like, am I looking at this
00:18:06
comedian and and maybe actor or whatever, or am I looking at an impersonator? So, there's just this
00:18:12
redundancy to your character. But with Johnny, Jay Leno told me, uh, he was guest hosting back then, Johnny was
00:18:18
still around, that Johnny would walk down at NBC at Burbank and just yell out, "They're making fun of me now. It's
00:18:24
time to go." >> So, >> right. >> That was Johnny, who's obviously was
00:18:29
very bright, kind of reading the tea leaves, you know, >> and then you never went on again, right?
00:18:34
>> I didn't. >> Well, so what happened when you did Dennis Miller, who you were friends
00:18:38
with, who used to be on the show, >> you did Dennis Miller cooking, but did
00:18:41
he like that? Did you think it was funny? >> Well, Robert Smiggle writes these pieces
00:18:46
that are brilliant and they're they're a little cutting. I with that because I
00:18:50
was good friends with uh with Dennis. I just called him, you know, and said, "We're doing the cooking show, the
00:18:57
thing." And he goes, "Okay, that's all right." You know, >> I mean, it's hard to say no even though
00:19:02
you don't like it. I don't think anyone really likes an impression when they're
00:19:05
It's like getting a caricature uh you know, on the things you're fearful of yourself. All the things you
00:19:11
don't like. >> They did me about 3 weeks after I left SNL. I'm like, "Let me get out of the
00:19:15
building." Jesus, let let the body get cold. [ __ ] >> Well, you had Terry Hatcher sitting next
00:19:20
to you for the Spade in America that time. >> Oh, that was that was one of the best
00:19:25
ones you ever did. And she just started doing you and it was like, "Oh [ __ ]
00:19:28
what's going on here?" >> Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. But at least I got to
00:19:31
be there and give her jokes and things to say to so make it funny and make her at least get
00:19:37
>> get more of the laughs because she was the host. But she was great about it.
00:19:41
Yeah, that was that was actually a fun one cuz I was there. But like when you did Dennis with Tom Hanks, that was fun.
00:19:48
But Dennis is in on it and then I think he doesn't mind and he and he sort of is
00:19:52
that way and his voice is so perfect to do. Uh I think he was always cool about it. He's he's so and he's so great. it
00:20:00
and it's so when you have a a a way of speaking that can be it's just very
00:20:06
unique and I think that's ultimately >> it was just from hanging out with Dennis
00:20:09
a lot and touring with Dennis and just extrapolating that attitude but you know I was standing outside a hotel Dennis
00:20:16
and I were playing Dallas or something and I said that just hit me that your whole comic motif is like life is really
00:20:23
[ __ ] and it's really hard like so because the car at the airport they get the car gets you to the gig, right? But
00:20:32
when you do the gig the next morning, the car is always late, which I pointed that out to Dennis and then he just he
00:20:38
laughs so hard me going dark, you know? They got us in, but now [ __ ] it, now it's a half hour late, flight's leaving,
00:20:44
you know, and he died with that. But I I just think that attitude is still so funny to me. Billy Simmons, huh? SNL
00:20:53
cat, huh? Got the photographic memory like a junior Creskin here. So funny. Yeah, Kreskin's always in there. You
00:20:59
know, we golfed once in Palm Springs. And he goes, "Uh, we drive all the way
00:21:03
there." And he goes, "Uh, he goes, "You want to go golf in Palm Springs?" I was
00:21:07
like a newer comic. And he goes, "Uh, I go, "Yeah, yeah." So, he goes, "Yeah,
00:21:11
okay. I'll meet you out there." I'm like, "We don't want to drive together."
00:21:14
Like, "Okay." So, we drive all the way out there. >> Yeah. And then we get out there and
00:21:18
then, uh, we're golfing and I go, "Hey, how far to the green?" He goes, "Hey,
00:21:23
Spud, you don't have to worry about the green for another [ __ ] nine shots."
00:21:27
All right. Hit it as hard as you can. And I'm like, "Okay." And then because
00:21:32
we were I don't know. And then he hits two bad shots in a row. He goes, "Fuck
00:21:35
it. I'm heading back." I go back home to LA. Goes, "Yeah, [ __ ] that." I go,
00:21:39
"Dennis, don't be this is you're too hard to deal with. Come on. Like we're
00:21:43
having fun. Everything's cool." But I looked up to him so much I couldn't
00:21:46
really talk back to him or bust his balls too much. It took so long to get to that point. But he's still always
00:21:52
above me, better joke, right? It's always that thing growing up. Who do you look at? That's why when people come on
00:21:56
the show, yeah, I still have reverence to certain people because I got there with Dana, with all these guys because
00:22:03
they were always the ones I looked up to going on. Uh, and then if you ever get in a movie where kids come to you and
00:22:10
say, "Hey, we watch Benchwmers or we watch whatever." And then you go, if
00:22:14
this is anything close to what it was like when I would watch movies and I saw someone from that movie, I would have
00:22:21
[ __ ] freaked out cuz that's all that mattered in my life was those movies.
00:22:24
>> Yeah. We also had less choices back then. I really wonder like if you're
00:22:28
like 18 now, there's so much comedy and stuff to watch and Tik Tok all these
00:22:34
different places. >> Blended >> like when uh I think you guys were both
00:22:39
on the on the show for this, the Partridge Family versus Brady Bunch sketch. >> Yeah.
00:22:44
>> Like to me that was one of the peak SNL sketches. Not because it was like one of
00:22:48
the funniest, but it was like it hit this time. Everyone watching that show had the same pop culture experiences,
00:22:54
right? So, anyone I knew knew the Partridge Family, we knew the Brady Bunch, we knew every episode of those.
00:22:59
We knew Charlie's Angels. We knew all the early SNLs. We knew the early light.
00:23:03
Like, we all had like the same 25 things. We had the same movies. >> So, when you guys did that and it was
00:23:09
like, "Oh, they're going for this. Oh, there's more cast members. Oh, they're
00:23:12
gonna have the voice crack." And I don't know how you would do that now in 2024
00:23:17
because I don't know if 15 20 years ago people like at age 22 would have all the
00:23:24
same experiences. Yeah. I don't know if it exists. >> I mean the biggest show currently kind
00:23:29
of is the bear which is a great show but you know how far can it reach compared to prime time. I got cancelled from a
00:23:36
sitcom and we were doing Mickey Ro show 24 share or whether it was 30 million or
00:23:42
just with three channels. It was insane. But we actually to that sketch we had Melanie Hutzel on who was in it and she
00:23:49
wrote it and we broke that sketch down for like a half hour on the podcast with her just the part and the how it came
00:23:56
together. The Brady Bunch match. >> Well, plus Susan Day was in it which pushed it o over the top. But I heard
00:24:02
even Pisko when he was on a couple weeks ago on your show >> and he was talking about how they didn't
00:24:07
feel like the show was doing that well but yet 8 million people were watching or whatever it was. That's what it was
00:24:12
like. Like we had >> right >> 11 channels. So even if SNL was kind of
00:24:16
failing, everyone was still watching it. And then when SNL started to come back with Eddie was like this is great. SNL's
00:24:22
back. And then they had the Billy Crystal season. >> Did you have a crush on Susan Day or
00:24:27
not? I did. >> Oh my god. Come on. I mean, growing up with a partridge family, I was like,
00:24:31
Dana liked David Cassie, but I me and you liked Susan Day. >> Well, then she had the LA Law comeback,
00:24:37
which was like, all right, >> I was into it. >> Chrissy didn't talk much.
00:24:41
>> Who's attractive? Who's more attractive from that era? Elizabeth Elizabeth
00:24:46
Montgomery or Susan Day? >> Susan Day. I felt like Elizabeth Montgomery was slightly older
00:24:52
generation, right? >> Still loved. >> Thanks for answering that, Bill. No, no.
00:24:57
There was like there's three generations. There was like the Peggy Lipton, Belinda Montgomery generation.
00:25:02
There was the Lindsay Wagner, Linda Carter, Cheryl, Jack Smith generation. >> With that was such an easy cell. God
00:25:10
damn. >> Oh, all the above. All the above. >> Danner, >> the Charlie's Angels.
00:25:15
>> Yeah. >> Ble Danner. >> Then we moved to the Dukes of Hazard,
00:25:19
Fall Guy, Heather Thomas, Katherine Bach, that era. Yeah. >> You were watching a lot of TV. I was
00:25:25
known a child. I was watching sports and TV. What else was I reading books? What
00:25:29
else was I going to do? >> Me, too. I know. I know. I know all those shows.
00:25:37
I don't know what we've lost. I was We were going to ask you just cuz you're
00:25:42
have your pulse on, you know, media podcasting stuff. like >> John Stewart's coming out in SNL and
00:25:50
what is the influence now of political satire versus 80s and 90s in terms of moving the needle?
00:25:58
>> Uh I like that phrase. So anyway, talk to that if you want to. >> Well, it's I mean SNL had a huge part
00:26:04
with this. I I would say maybe the biggest and once Trump came in in 2016, I think it just became a lot harder
00:26:12
because when when the real life stuff is a parody, how do you parody a parody? When you look back to
00:26:17
>> Akroyd, I mean, you've talked about this on the podcast. Acrodite's doing Nixon,
00:26:21
he's got a mustache. Like everything was way more loosey goosey. Uh Acro's doing
00:26:26
Jimmy Carter talking about the Almond Brothers, smoking a doobie with them. Uh Hartman does Reagan.
00:26:33
>> I mean his the Reagan sketch where Reagan's pretending he's out of it and
00:26:37
then everybody leaves the room. And I mean it's one of the great sketches they've ever done.
00:26:41
>> Yeah. >> And then once they figured out the debates, the 88 debate I think was huge
00:26:45
with the Dukakus and >> uh Bush and it was just so and Love it doing the I can't believe I'm losing
00:26:51
this guy. I think from 88 all the way through Sarah Palin, SNL really was kind of shaping how people thought in a lot
00:26:59
of ways. I to me like the Sarah Palin thing still makes me mad because when they had her on with Tina, I felt like
00:27:05
that's when something shifted >> and the celebrity cameo became as important for the show as making fun of
00:27:14
these people. And that's that to me is like the line in the sand when the show
00:27:18
started to change a little bit. D they they'd bring on they'd have 32 cast
00:27:21
members then they'd bring on stars to play people >> and not use the cast.
00:27:26
>> I see. >> I would be furious. >> A lot of a lot of cameos. >> Yeah. That I I feel like it's very it's
00:27:33
so different and difficult to be a cast member on that show right now if you're
00:27:38
just coming into established players. And I think it's great. I kind of wish
00:27:42
I'd stayed a few years longer but people are staying 10 12 years and then new
00:27:46
people in there. It's such a different dynamic that Lauren is managing the best
00:27:51
he can. You know, >> I thought you stayed the perfect amount of time. >> Well, I definitely because Wayne's World
00:27:57
hit and my political impressions hit, I got sort of uh freakily really big really fast, maybe too big, you know,
00:28:06
and so I had so so much stuff coming at me. I was almost confused uh as to what to do. But later on I realized that I my
00:28:14
own attention attention dis deficit disorder and sketch comedy I was like a fish in water in that. That's why I went
00:28:22
back to it in 97 with with u the Dana Car about >> loaded. >> What about I'm asking about podcast
00:28:32
superstars. What's next for Megan and Harry? Because >> I don't you say something about you've
00:28:39
called you a great word. something in the past. >> It's a great word. But do they Is it
00:28:44
Hallmark movies now? What's next? What would be the best move? >> I mean, there's probably a there's a
00:28:50
huge acting comeback for her at some point, right? >> She should do that Suits show. It's huge
00:28:54
now on Netflix. She should just jump right back in. >> Or some TV like a Christmas movie where
00:29:00
her divorced husband and they have to be with the kids, but they're stuck in the
00:29:04
snow and then they fall back in love. Yeah, she just needs one of those. She's
00:29:07
back. And John Corbett could play her husband. >> He's just a friend of mine. But
00:29:13
>> because all she needs is one thing like that to get big ratings just out of
00:29:16
curiosity factor. And she's back in Hollywood. I don't know why. I don't
00:29:19
know why she's not jumping back. >> The biggest reason Suits took off again
00:29:22
though. I mean it huge on top secret. Yeah. >> Do Do you think if Harry came out I mean
00:29:29
he did some event in Vegas where he made fun of himself a little bit or told some
00:29:33
jokes. I think that's the move for him and it could be on this podcast. or or
00:29:38
on other on yours but >> or host SNL >> any kind of little just in the lane of
00:29:44
it being funny he's aware of how people perceive him and stuff I think would be
00:29:48
because they're just monolithic now we don't really know what they're thinking
00:29:52
they release statements and >> here here's one thing I've learned Dana
00:29:56
and I've had my podcast since 2007 not everybody should have a podcast like it's okay it's not like it's not
00:30:05
like a driver's license you know some people just can't do it. >> It's turning into it. It's sort of
00:30:10
mandatory. >> I just want to make a note because for the people listening, you don't all have
00:30:15
to have one. It's okay. >> It's not like Instagram. >> It sounds easy and it's kind of hard.
00:30:21
>> It's hard and you have to you have to have some level of expertise on
00:30:25
something. You have to have real authenticity. I mean, >> one of the reasons like think about all
00:30:29
the reasons your your show works. You have a relationship with each other. I'd
00:30:33
want to listen to you guys talk anyway. you have this wealth of SNL related guests, but then also other comedians
00:30:40
that could come on that feel comfortable with you. They tell stories. I hear things maybe I didn't know. And I just
00:30:45
feel like I'm hanging out with you guys. Like podcasting is not that hard, but
00:30:49
people always over and over again make it hard and they come up with they try to do the idea versus to look at what
00:30:56
actually works, which is like, do I want to spend time with the host or not? Over
00:30:59
and over again, it's do I want to spend time with these people or not or this
00:31:02
person, and that's what works. Where do you where do you interject because my uh
00:31:06
you know people tell me about outrage outrage if it's outrageous it's contagious you know a lot of podcasts
00:31:12
kind of harbor in >> you know the idea of clicks and trending you have the hot take that gets there
00:31:18
first >> and there's that lane we're sort of we want to make people feel good and be
00:31:23
interesting but we don't should David and I have a feud we can cut this part
00:31:27
out but >> should we find a way to get really mad at each But you know that that lane I mean it
00:31:36
>> no you guys are good. You guys are doing great. >> Spade spade every like maybe every month
00:31:41
could just take a flying pot shot at somebody to see if it could maybe get in a couple places.
00:31:46
>> See if I still got it >> out of nowhere jumping off the top rope flying elbow on somebody. I don't know
00:31:51
mess around. >> I want to believe me I want to a lot of times >> instead of fly on the wall fly on the
00:31:55
minute and you bring back Hollywood Minute but it's part of our show just that
00:31:59
>> Wait, can we talk about Hollywood Minute for a second? >> Yeah, sure. one of the iconic update uh
00:32:04
reoccurring things that David did. >> Did Hollywood Bennett create Twitter?
00:32:11
>> Yeah. >> How about that? Yeah, I think >> it was it was a pre precursor for sure.
00:32:16
>> It's basically Twitter. You watch it and it's just like he's throwing out these
00:32:20
oneliners with a pictureeliners about a photo. Yeah, >> maybe you should talk to Elon. Maybe see
00:32:24
if you can get a cut. >> God damn. I don't know. I I sometimes hear old Hollywood Minute jokes and I
00:32:31
go, "God damn." Like some of them are pretty rough. Uh but I think for back in
00:32:36
the day when it was just uh fawning over celebrities, that was the only hook it had. It was like if someone doesn't
00:32:41
really know anyone or you don't know me and I've got sort of an innocent look
00:32:45
and then really hopefully cleverly. And that's another thing is a lot of the writers I was
00:32:51
going to say are trying to use me to get through me even through sketches through
00:32:55
Dana. They want to get stuff out there, even if it's like anger, and they go,
00:32:59
"You should do this." Because they don't have a way to do it. They go, "I can
00:33:03
funnel it through one of these clowns and get it out there and then I'll be on
00:33:06
the side going, yeah, [ __ ] that guy." And so, social media has changed a little bit. You're doing that on the
00:33:12
show and it's just on, >> right? And people taped it, >> then it comes and goes. And if somebody
00:33:17
got mad, maybe you'd read about it in a newspaper, the trades, but ultimately
00:33:21
>> you couldn't even see it unless you watched it. >> Yeah. Yeah.
00:33:23
>> And I think now that the last 15 years, one of the things that's changed with
00:33:26
the show is if something, you know, like you have some comment in Hollywood Minute and be like, "Oh my god." Then it
00:33:31
turns into a thing, then the celebrity gets mad, they fire back at you. Now people are reporting about that and it
00:33:37
turns into >> story. It would be before I went to bed that night. It I would know what hit,
00:33:41
what didn't, what was the problem and then I'd have to have an answer the next
00:33:45
day and then there'd be a feud and then it would go back and everyone would have
00:33:48
a [ __ ] comment about it. I think that keeps SNL really helps it because if I don't see a sketch now I follow them. So
00:33:54
if I don't see a sketch I can watch it Sunday morning they're just like sketch
00:33:57
sketch sketch like broken out monologue this that and that's kind of a smart way
00:34:02
to sift through to see what's going on there lately. >> Yeah totally. Well it's also interesting
00:34:07
to see how the cast members are using >> like Khloe Fineman has a really good
00:34:11
Instagram account >> and she just like test drives different characters and stuff and you're w half
00:34:16
the time you're watching it going how is this not on the show? Why am I watching
00:34:19
this on Instagram? But >> audition. Yeah. >> It seems like there's more creative
00:34:24
outlets than probably you had in the mid 90s where you're writing for yourself.
00:34:28
>> If they say no to the sketch, you're basically like, "Oh [ __ ] all I did was
00:34:32
walk out and say goodbye to everybody." At the end of that, I did nothing >> and then that's it till the next week,
00:34:37
right? >> Yeah, that one stung. That was a little too close to home. Yeah.
00:34:42
There's this Instagram account that runs all these old sketches and they ran
00:34:46
Comedy Killers from Nean's the It's a game show. Nean's the host. >> And I I I don't know if Dana was still
00:34:54
in the show, but David probably was, but >> it's all these categories of things
00:34:58
whether they're a comedy company or not. It's like the categories like the
00:35:01
Holocaust, child abuse, >> it's just and then it goes through and I was like, man, what would happen if they
00:35:08
ran this now? What would the reaction be? Because back then we were like, "Oh
00:35:12
yeah, this is great. What a great idea. This is so funny." We were all in on the
00:35:15
joke. Now people would just get mad. I feel like >> I think that's why people like Bill Burr
00:35:19
or Shane or those guys do well because it's just even Theo, they just say whatever they want and it's almost like
00:35:25
back in time. And then some people go, I don't want to get mad. I just want to
00:35:29
laugh or not laugh and not have a big opinion about it and move on. But and then people get mad at them and want to
00:35:35
get rid of them and you go, no, maybe you can't get rid of people anymore. hopefully just if it just falls under
00:35:39
comedy, of course, we always think you should be able to do whatever you want. But not
00:35:44
everyone. >> But isn't the reason you guys got into comedy is like part of what was funny
00:35:49
is, oh, I probably shouldn't say that or, oh, I shouldn't laugh at that, but
00:35:53
that's what was funny about it. >> And now the fear there's there feels
00:35:58
like there's more fear than we've ever had with comedy. But I I agree with you
00:36:01
that it's coming back because my son's 16. He loves Shane Gillis >> and he like
00:36:07
>> that generation I think is ready to see somebody kind of dance close to the line
00:36:12
again, >> right? They they went from the super pampered super everyone's scared to do
00:36:17
anything and the new people like, "Hey, [ __ ] it. Let's get back to just laughing
00:36:20
and doing jokes and not because it's all it's all down to like five jokes you're
00:36:25
allowed to use and then everyone's like, "Okay, I'll accept that one. That one
00:36:28
didn't offend anyone. It has no no corners on it. It's just the most generic bland dog [ __ ] And some of
00:36:34
these comedy specials, they're just sitting talking. Like there's not even
00:36:37
they're just like walking around. You go, "Is there jokes?" Someone's like, "I
00:36:40
won't have an audience in mine or I won't have this." And there's not. It's
00:36:44
not just even jokes anymore. Making you laugh. It's like introspective. And I
00:36:49
go, I I personally would go, let's just get back to getting laughs. >> I agree. What do you think, Dana? You
00:36:56
know, I I you were maybe too young for this when it came out, but Blazing Saddles. So, Blazing Saddles is like
00:37:03
it's a peak movie for me. I'm like a senior in high school or something.
00:37:07
>> Yeah. Sure. >> And so, I knew that Richard Prior, who co-wrote it with Mel Brooks, was not
00:37:14
racist, and neither was Mel Brooks. I knew it was they were satarizing all the white racists are idiots. Cleon
00:37:22
Little is above everybody. So, and the movie is hysterical, but yeah, you can't
00:37:27
do it. Now, the difference between uh like I played a southern a strong Thur or whatever, Southern Car on SNL.
00:37:37
Yeah. And >> right >> now it would be like I as if I'm that guy. Yeah. We've lost our sense of humor
00:37:44
about it. For better, for worse. It's very it's very serious out there because
00:37:49
the stakes are very high between the left and the right and Trump and Biden. It's very It's just compared to like
00:37:56
Clinton versus George Sanders, it's like so benign and now it's all toxic and I
00:38:02
have to trace it back to social media giving us a platform and tribalism. Talk to that. I don't want to even mention
00:38:09
what do you think about that people getting there >> in their bubbles. >> It's like it's it's a combination.
00:38:15
Social media becomes the hall police where a lot of people on social media are just trying to get people mad at
00:38:21
each other being like did you see that? Did you see what he said? Did you see that? And
00:38:25
>> kind of poking the bear on that stuff. Um, >> it's also easier to go backwards
00:38:30
>> and have somebody be like, "Oh, I dug this thing you did at your comedy set
00:38:35
1993. That's weird." >> Um, you have people who are doing standup acts. I know they try to take
00:38:41
the phones as much as possible, but >> you know, sometimes when you're te and
00:38:45
I'm not a standup, but talked to enough of them. Like sometimes you're out
00:38:48
there, you're testing [ __ ] and you're trying to figure out what works and what
00:38:51
doesn't and where the lines are. And if >> you're losing that ability, that becomes
00:38:56
dangerous too, I think. But um >> right, >> it's also hard to p pry people's phones
00:39:01
out of their hands. I mean, it's who's giving up their phone for two hours, you
00:39:04
know? That's a very tough situation to say you can't t talk to your babysitter,
00:39:09
you can't talk to anyone. And and so you have to agree to do that. People are
00:39:13
doing it. But yeah, what you're saying is true. If you want to say jokes that
00:39:17
go way too far and then you're going to be judged on that, you're like, "This is
00:39:20
where we used to practice." And then we go, "Okay, that one didn't work. Okay,
00:39:24
that's too much." But it's already out there now. And they're like, "No, that's
00:39:28
your favorite joke." And you're like, "No, that was a pretend joke I'm trying
00:39:31
to sharpen and now I got to I'm going to die with it because that's where do you
00:39:37
practice?" You know, what do you do? I'm with you. >> Yeah. Well, you you want to as comedians
00:39:42
mostly just you want to say what you're not supposed to say. It's what pops into
00:39:46
your head >> and uh to take that away and you we all self censor now. Oh, I can't do that. I
00:39:52
won't do that. We'll cut that. You know, just do you you're not even thinking
00:39:56
about but you are. >> Well, I remember the sketch the Italian restaurant sketch with Kirsty Alley
00:40:02
>> when you're the Mater D and you're just like basically mauling the guests, which I'm
00:40:08
half Italian, so I love that because Italian restaurants really are actually like that. They're very touchyfey. And
00:40:14
so he went for it. There's that one part when the camera pans back and he's just
00:40:19
got Victoria Jackson with her legs up and he's like >> and then by the end of it they're just
00:40:25
like licking the face and doing all that. I don't even know if I'm not even
00:40:29
positive that would fly now. >> I don't know. I just don't know. It's
00:40:33
like right on the line. >> But what I would tell people who have seen it are offended whatever is I ask
00:40:38
Kirsty Ally, can I are you okay with this? >> Yeah. She's amazing in it. Like she lets
00:40:43
everything go. Yeah. >> Some people are there to say whatever. We let's do anything you want to me and
00:40:48
whatever's the funniest and they trust you and then it's way funnier than the
00:40:51
people that are stiff and worried about it. That's the best. >> And we did it in dress where I go over
00:40:56
to the table and Victoria goes back. I have her legs up around my shoulders and I'm talking to everyone sort of and then
00:41:02
apparently the censorship people said, "Hey, chill out a little bit." But
00:41:07
somehow Smiggle pretended to or Rob Schneider, I can't remember, pretended to try to get to me before that. But
00:41:13
that was probably once I was in that position in 8H, I go >> one of the biggest laughs I've ever been
00:41:20
been part of was that. But the honor to be associated to your point, couldn't do
00:41:24
it today. We're going to have >> I don't know if we had her already.
00:41:28
Sharon Stone, >> there's a sketch that has 16 million on YouTube where we are sort of augling
00:41:35
her. She's going through airport security. Oh, look. And I'm playing a man from Indonesia or something. Oh,
00:41:41
look. Oh, can we take And she We're taking her clothes. I I I don't know if
00:41:46
we'll talk about it with her or whether you are after her, but um you know when
00:41:50
I remember when I did the Pod of a Spade, we talk about SNL. The thing that I always feel like it doesn't get enough
00:41:55
credit for it catches somebody a lot of times at the absolute most famous they ever were any at whatever point in their
00:42:03
career. with the guest host, right? She had Sharon Stone on probably like right after Basic Instake or right before and
00:42:10
she's >> the most white hot famous >> she's ever gonna be like right there,
00:42:15
right in that moment. And that's why it's so it's so funny to see some of the
00:42:18
social media accounts that are around SNL, right? about like they have the ones of just there's a there's a Twitter
00:42:24
account of just a guest host announcing the musical guest >> and sometimes it's really funny because
00:42:28
they could be like there's Steven Seagal you know introducing smashing pumpkins
00:42:33
and it's like >> it's like pop culture mad libs you know that like uh
00:42:38
>> there's one Amelia West like saying good night and it's Pearl Jam and it's like
00:42:42
super young Eddie Veter and it's like all right thanks to Eddie and Pearl Jam
00:42:46
and >> there's no other pop culture artifact like that >> you Someone dug up, Bill, uh which I saw
00:42:52
might have been on Twitter was uh just rolling at promos, which I didn't know they were rolling when I was
00:42:59
there because they're just rolling and then they're like and I used to write
00:43:03
promos. So, >> yeah, >> it's me, Amelio, Eddie Veter, Lauren talking and then going okay and then
00:43:11
just all the talk in between. I would say this, I'd hit this. We step out of
00:43:15
frame, they try one. Hey, it's Ailio Estz and Pearl J. And then we all walk back into frame and go, "How'd it go? We
00:43:21
were a second too long." Okay, take this word out. It's riveting for me to go
00:43:25
like, "There's me." It's almost like watching that Beatles thing where you
00:43:28
go, "There's something I didn't know about and they're filming and it just a
00:43:33
little sliver of time in one of my favorite things in the world and just doing it and just my daily the boring
00:43:41
daily grind of that place and you go so [ __ ] cool." Well, for both of you,
00:43:45
it's like all that stuff must be like these random home movies that are in your attic, but meanwhile like 20
00:43:51
million people have seen them and then >> dress rehearsal and stuff. We never saw
00:43:56
dress on video where we or they have it somewhere because now they're showing
00:44:00
clips from SNL from dress and they're showing this and they have a million things backstage and some of the mystery
00:44:04
is gone. But, uh, it was fun to just run around backstage. There's no security.
00:44:09
There's no nothing. There's no there's people in the hall drunk and friends of
00:44:12
friends that are there and Phil Hartman's going move the [ __ ] out of the way because he's got 90 seconds to get
00:44:18
to his quick change of back and people are drunk go hey man like I'm at the show but now I think they've got a
00:44:24
little more dialed in but that was part of the fun of it. >> It's a you know it's there's a sur
00:44:28
reality to it. I always tell people it's a little bit like going back you to your
00:44:32
high school on a Sunday afternoon when no one's around and just walking around
00:44:36
the halls whatever that feeling is. So when I'm there in the 17th floor and I'll be walking along and I'll see me
00:44:43
and Phil in a sketch or picture David or it's it's it's heady stuff because
00:44:48
experientially it's it is the most intense part of one's life or or right
00:44:53
up there you know. >> Yeah, >> because of the livveness of it and the
00:44:57
legacy of it. That's why I think of cast members who joined this year. You know,
00:45:02
I was lucky, but I had Eddie and Billy Crystal, Mark Short, that those guys and then also the original cast, which is
00:45:08
like Mount Rushmore for all of us, you know. >> Um, >> but when you when you showed up, the
00:45:13
show was in trouble cuz it felt like that transition year after the Billy Crystal uh that Martin Short and
00:45:21
Christopher Guest that year and then Lauren came back. He had this young cast and only a couple of them ended up
00:45:27
staying I think for the second year. But then you showed up and Hartman showed up
00:45:31
and all of a sudden the show was the show was amazing again. Um but could you feel like
00:45:37
>> did it feel like that was a make or break year? Now I feel like I'm
00:45:40
interviewing you. Did that feel like a make or break year for the for the cast or did you not even sense that?
00:45:45
>> Well, unless I've misremembered this but Diana Minard who was Lauren's lieutenant
00:45:50
producer, really nice woman. I believe are saying I I was told that we had a 10 show commitment um that Bernie 10 shows
00:45:59
>> Bernie Burlstein went to Brandon Tardikoff I think and just said you got
00:46:03
to give Lauren one more shot this I remember so I was told this if we don't hit the ground running they're going to
00:46:09
pull the plug at Christmas. So, uh, incredibly nervous. Anyway, and the first sketch that I did, Madonna
00:46:17
came on for my first show and apologized for the 85 season. That was our cold open.
00:46:22
>> Yeah. >> And then I'm in a sketch with Jan Hooks and Phil and myself. And uh I just found
00:46:29
out recently I was talking to Robert Smeaggel and and Jim Downey Jim Downey and they just said that the audience
00:46:36
felt safe with us and at that moment because you don't want the audience to feel nervous for you or not quite sure
00:46:44
where the joke's going, you know, you want to get them relaxed. So, uh to come
00:46:49
in with them and do that was great. And then when David showed up and Chris Rock, Chris Farley, Sandler, I felt like
00:46:56
in those years we were peak peak all cylinders for for us because we had >> the bad the bad boys kicking ass. And
00:47:05
then we also still had Phil and John Loveitz for a year and Dennis and stuff. So that was
00:47:10
>> I mean that was that was the second peak of the show. I feel like the show is in
00:47:14
danger in my lifetime three times. The first was okay >> after the original cast left that Gene
00:47:22
Dominion year that you talked about a little with Piscopo but um it really felt like the if Eddie if Eddie isn't
00:47:28
there the show gets canceled like that's just >> Was that the Robert Downey Anthony
00:47:31
Mahal? >> No that was the next one was the the uh so that was season six >> pisto
00:47:40
they end up keeping but if they don't have Eddie I think the show gets canled.
00:47:43
Yeah, >> I think if the Dana Phil Hartman that first season doesn't work,
00:47:48
>> I think the show gets cancelled. And it really feels like if if the Will Frell
00:47:53
that season if Frell's not on the show and the new blood and the people they
00:47:57
kept, but then the new people they brought in that season didn't work. I do wonder if they would have canceled it
00:48:02
that year because that I remember that >> that was back in the day when those
00:48:06
magazine profiles if it was the right kind of hit piece really felt like incredibly damaging and that I remember
00:48:11
reading that New York magazine piece and being like oh my god the show's going to
00:48:15
get cancelled and then that first episode with Will he showed up he did get off the shed
00:48:20
>> he did the the phone thing with mel Hemingway and it was just like oh we're
00:48:24
good this this guy's amazing the show's going to be good again. Um but I after
00:48:29
that I never felt like SNO was in danger again after that. >> Where do you feel what how now that you
00:48:36
are sort of an expert? What do you feel about this season and this cast >> and the new watch as much anymore? No.
00:48:44
>> I watch uh I still watch I still monitor it. Um I I think they've made the
00:48:51
mistake the last decade of too many cast members, which I think you can always trace when the show is struggling.
00:48:57
>> Yeah. >> It's when the show is always humming, it's always smaller cast members. And
00:49:02
I've talked about a bunch of people about this who've worked on the cast.
00:49:06
Like >> it's like a basketball team. If you if you guys watch basketball, like
00:49:11
>> I do. If you're playing 14 players and everybody's playing, you know, 12 to
00:49:16
18 minutes a game, guess what? The team's going to suck. But if you're if
00:49:20
you figure out who like your seven or eight are and you ride those seven or eight, the team's going to be really
00:49:25
good. And I always felt like SNL at its best always had the eight or nine. I I I
00:49:31
went to Lauren's office like 10 years ago and I got to do >> a podcast with him, which was amazing. I
00:49:36
mean, it was like honestly one of the highlights of my career. And I was giving him my basketball theory and his
00:49:40
answer was, "Yeah, but the new cast members, that's kind of like the draft."
00:49:47
And you, it takes so a couple years for the new cast membersh. Yeah. And you got to have those guys
00:49:54
ready and that's why we have the deeper cast. >> I get it, but I still feel like it
00:49:58
should be eight or nine max. >> I It would have been tough on me. I just I happened to be in like four things on
00:50:05
the on my first episode. I didn't even know what I was doing. But it it's sink
00:50:09
or swim. If you're slow motion, it's kind of like if you don't like when when
00:50:13
an NBA player gets traded >> and he and then he comes in with a new team with a new system and he gets into
00:50:20
his rhythm. >> He's fits with the system, all of a sudden he's scoring 20 points. He's a
00:50:24
different basketball player. But if you coming off the bench constantly and the offense isn't running through you, the
00:50:29
same thing with SNL. If you can't get your reps in and get rid of the fear, not all of us are Eddie Murphy, who I
00:50:36
thought was a a savant, you know, at 19, but mo even will f everybody gets better
00:50:41
the more they're out there and then the audience also discovers you, gets comfortable with you. So I I it's it's
00:50:47
it's pick your poison. I don't think you know I Lauren, you know, it's his show.
00:50:52
He's 50 years. He he has a method to what everything he thinks of everything.
00:50:56
So I guess this is um how it how it works. you get to be on the show, but you may have we we didn't have anyone
00:51:04
not in the show. When I was there, it was seven cast members, >> right? >> So, everybody was in every show, but now
00:51:09
a lot of times, oh, I wasn't in it for two weeks. >> It's like survivor. Yeah. Because
00:51:12
there's people that just if you don't make it and then and then they sometimes
00:51:16
add but don't subtract. So, now you add this person because you got to cover
00:51:21
like a leading man type. You know, they there's sometimes there's types. I never
00:51:25
got that back then, but sometimes you need to fill a Phil Hartman role. sometimes you need to fill this kind of
00:51:30
guy and and then um if you don't do or just adding now suddenly it's just too
00:51:35
many to keep track of. It's just hard for them. They go bananas but then if they leave where do you go? I remember I
00:51:41
was going to leave a year earlier and then they're like what do we have lined
00:51:44
up because it's always easier to get work when you're on SNL and then >> right
00:51:48
>> had a movie almost every summer and then uh you leave and luckily got on just
00:51:54
shoot me but that that that doesn't always happen so what do you do when you
00:51:57
go and so you just sometimes just stick it out and there's people there sticking
00:52:01
out longer than we used to I stayed six years and that was considered a hair long um Sandler uh Farley Rock was three
00:52:10
Sandler for like were four or five. No, five. So, I stayed one year too long and
00:52:14
I was like the [ __ ] guy that went to college that came back to high school cuz it was Will and Sher and I was like
00:52:19
I like them but I didn't I immediately felt like oh no all my guys are gone and
00:52:24
I don't know what to do with this. I don't and so I just did one Lauren goes
00:52:28
stay and you can do one segment a week do whatever you want and I didn't do sketches. I just did one segment a week
00:52:34
of whatever I wanted and that was like my own kind of update. So that was where the Terry Hatcher thing was. Sean Penn
00:52:40
gave me a tattoo. >> I thought that really worked. Yeah, I >> it was fun. It's funny, but you have one
00:52:44
swing to get it right. I went to the World Series, did a field piece to the Braves with Chipper Jones and some
00:52:50
people. So, you know, some of those came out pretty funny, but after that I said,
00:52:54
"No, I think it's time to boogie." And uh and then I forgot where this question
00:53:00
started. >> Well, I mean, part of it is about how you build the cast, right? And
00:53:03
>> yeah, >> everyone says the same thing. You have to have that one glue person.
00:53:08
>> Mhm. You know, and then you could argue about who the greatest glue person was.
00:53:11
It's probably Phil. >> Philoid. Yeah. Acrod's in there. I think there
00:53:17
was a moment where Sudakus and Hater together >> were like just literally covering every
00:53:23
possible glue thing you would ever want. >> And and Fred Fred Armson too, >> right?
00:53:28
>> Those three, it's always amazing that we get these new peaks after Will Ferrell.
00:53:33
And then um we asked um Keenan Thompson, who's your MVP or whatever and he said
00:53:41
the women of the last 20 years. >> Yeah. >> And I do think there were complaints
00:53:45
about misogyny in terms of casting and Norah Dunn had some complaints about it. Um and boy, starting with I don't know
00:53:54
Sherio Terry through Tina and I I'll miss all the name. Maya and and Amy Polar, you know, it's just Kristen and
00:54:02
then and then Kate >> and um >> Yeah, but you know what though? I I thought that was totally fair because I
00:54:09
always felt like Jan Hooks was one of the best cast members of that entire generation ever.
00:54:13
>> And she and they're always like, "Oh, it wasn't until this when" and it was like,
00:54:16
"Man, >> I I thought >> it's taking it away from her a little
00:54:20
bit because she was >> I thought I I mean to to me she's in the running of one of the best female cast
00:54:26
members in the history of the show." >> Yeah. And >> I think she's in the top five.
00:54:30
>> Yeah. A male you would women were not running for president. I mean Sarah
00:54:34
Palin came on the scene and there was Tina Fey meeting that in in the era I was in it was mostly men politically.
00:54:43
There were other figures but so that sort of evolved as well. Obviously, Hillary became a big a big thing, but um
00:54:50
yeah, Jan Jan Hooks, I don't know if I wouldn't call her underrated because
00:54:55
everybody knows, but if you really take a deep dive into into her work, she was one of those what can't she do? You
00:55:03
know, >> Bill, who's your who's your starting five if you took out the original casts?
00:55:12
That's that's they're too good. They don't count. >> And take us out. Yeah.
00:55:18
>> He's like, "You don't have to worry about that." >> Yeah.
00:55:22
Dana's got a real Mount Rush. He's got a legitimate Mount Rushmore. He really
00:55:26
does. >> He's got I really have to say I'll give it to Dana. >> Uh, okay. Take Dana out.
00:55:31
>> I get people who think I um I'm just I'm an impressionist like Rich Little when I
00:55:38
meet him at airports and stuff. You did the best impressionist. And I go, "Well,
00:55:42
but what about Church Lady and Gar?" and they go, "Oh, that's kind of
00:55:46
flattering." Okay, go ahead. >> I think uh I think Hartman and Eddie and
00:55:53
um >> Frell >> Yeah. >> just all the all the different stuff they could do.
00:56:00
>> They just had it like it's almost like instead of just naming five, it's almost
00:56:05
like who can't be left out. >> And I think you have to mention those three and you have to mention Dana.
00:56:11
>> Um >> you have to mention Dana. I have. >> And if you're if you're pulling the
00:56:16
original, if you're if you're saying that's off limits, that's tough for me
00:56:19
because I think Gilda was the best female cast member they ever had. >> And it's not a popular opinion because
00:56:26
it was 100 million years ago and people barely remember it. But man, if you go back and you look at all the stuff she
00:56:31
did, she was so good, so talented, so famous that she had her own Broadway show. Like,
00:56:37
>> how many cast members in the history of SNO could be like, "You're so good at
00:56:41
this. We're gonna have a show called Gilda Live and you're gonna do all your
00:56:44
characters. It's like impossible. >> I'm not gonna fight young Gilda. Yeah. I
00:56:48
I mean Gilda I mean all these girls the women today will probably be like >> they looked up to Gilda. I'm sure like
00:56:55
we looked up to different >> I looked up to Gilda too. I mean I would watch her and I didn't realize how hard
00:57:00
what she was doing was. I would see characters and just think that was the people and then later go oh they're
00:57:05
doing different I don't know what was going on. You know, >> I actually thought of the last 20 years,
00:57:10
I thought Maya Rudolph >> was the was the my favorite female cast member. Um, I thought she could do the
00:57:16
most. I thought I just thought she was incredibly talented. I know she's she
00:57:20
has like four or five kids. Like I like she's definitely gone the family direction a little bit, but
00:57:25
>> Oh, yeah. >> I think she was like I I just thought like she was one of those she could
00:57:29
literally do anything. Well, it's almost like you could make three three or four
00:57:33
packs for people like just Maya. >> You could do top 20. You could do top >> and then and then you have Armison and
00:57:39
Sedakus and and Bill her maybe the best, you know. So, it's it's it's just a it's
00:57:44
a fun game. It's a way to celebrate the show. For me, my thought about Gilda is
00:57:48
the charisma and the likability was was at the the highest I'd ever seen of any
00:57:55
cast member. I mean, there was an adorability thing about her. She's playing a little girl on a bed. It's an
00:58:02
in just herself. She's so committed. It just there was just this uh kind of other level of of likability or
00:58:09
adorability, whatever quotient you want to call it. >> Who do you have as your number one I
00:58:14
maybe you're too close to this and can't answer, but number one weekend update.
00:58:19
>> Well, I have to uh bifurcate them in a way like >> Yeah. like Chvy was the original and so
00:58:25
when I'm watching that show um he was just no wonder he he's a movie star you
00:58:31
know he's like he was >> such a good vibe to watch Chvy yeah everything was funny everything was
00:58:35
exciting it was fun to watch >> Dennis Dennis did six years solo that's
00:58:39
why I don't you know when you had Tina and and Jimmy Fallon stuff this is a different kind of idea I do think the
00:58:46
current two uh Michael and Colin I have a great chemistry they're they're
00:58:51
getting even better and looser. They're tricking each other. So, I think they're
00:58:55
really as good as it gets. >> So, but for a solo, you know, night after night, I've never been around. And
00:59:02
David would, you know, Dennis is just such a brilliant joke writer. >> Um, and he's a machine.
00:59:10
>> But, so I would put him up there as the solo. I mean, Norm Norm only did two
00:59:15
years, you know, it's different, right? Was two years. Norm also had a a thing
00:59:21
you couldn't take your eyes off of him, you know, when he was doing Update. That
00:59:26
smile, the dimples. I mean, he was like he looked like a movie star. He never played into it, but he looked like a
00:59:30
full-blown movie star, >> especially in that era. >> And then the the turns that his jokes
00:59:36
would take. I don't know what do you call it, David? That style of his like OJ's not doing too well because he kills
00:59:44
people or whatever it was, you know, >> the pauses. Yeah. >> Pauses and like this really bold turn.
00:59:51
So he's >> it's fun to talk. >> Michael Jackson says he'll never get
00:59:54
married mostly because he's gay. Yeah. >> It's like and then but they let him do
00:59:59
it and then it's just hard to compete with that because that's just in a world
01:00:05
of you weren't cancelling people. He would have been cancelled. I mean there
01:00:08
there's so many things he said and then he doesn't his stand up people. >> I maybe he might have been uncared. No,
01:00:15
no, he doesn't care. A and even later in his career, he would just do gigs and
01:00:20
people come, they know what they're getting. So, >> but yeah, to Can I just talk to that for
01:00:24
a second? Cuz Norm's um I he wasn't stoned, but he his eyes were all sparkly
01:00:30
and he had a grin on his face. I saw him go on the View once with Barbara Walters
01:00:35
and everyone and they're just talking about presidents or something and he gets into a casual thing just soft
01:00:41
selling it with that grin of his. Yeah, with the Clintons, right? I mean, you know, they uh they're good. I think I
01:00:47
like them, but uh I I think they they kill they kill the guy, right? You know, >> they kill too many people. That's what
01:00:54
>> And Barbara Walters didn't under didn't know who he was. It was just a comedian
01:00:58
getting booked. >> What are you wait what? >> What are you saying? I think any great,
01:01:03
right? But so his soft pedaling, he was almost like a country >> guy out in the out in the town square or
01:01:11
something. So you you they never landed hard in like a a way with Norm. That was
01:01:17
also part of his >> I thought Dennis was the best. But Norm Norm was my favorite.
01:01:25
>> Okay. I don't know. I just felt like I didn't know if everyone was in on Norm.
01:01:29
I didn't know anything. I'm living in Boston. We don't have the internet yet.
01:01:32
I don't know how popular it is. But I just knew like me and my friends, we were like
01:01:37
>> this guy's probably getting fired soon. Let's just enjoy this for the for the 10
01:01:41
to 20 weeks this is. >> Did Did he originate fake news or was that someone else?
01:01:49
>> Did Norm say and has the fake news? >> Yeah, I think he did. >> Yeah, he also he did the note to self.
01:01:55
Another interesting argument that people always have the same SNL arguments. Nobody has the
01:02:01
>> who are the best five people to just pop next to the weekend update guy for four
01:02:05
minutes. Oh, for bits >> combo. Cuz that was Belushi. Like that was one of the things he
01:02:12
didn't get enough credit for when he would come in and he would do different
01:02:15
things, but he would do the guy that got me. I can't >> he would do the one where he would just
01:02:18
get super mad and end up with the button. No, and then he'd go flying off the stage. Like I feel like he was the
01:02:23
first one that was like crazy >> throwing his body. >> Eddie was Eddie was unbelievable. Eddie
01:02:29
became famous. >> And then Sandler probably hit the hardest of anybody. >> Yeah. because he could do the
01:02:35
characters, he could do the songs. Like when he did the the first time he did the Hanukkah song, like you go back and
01:02:41
watch that clip, like people lose their [ __ ] minds. Like it's like he's
01:02:45
Leonard Skard Freeird. >> He's a professional singer. It's unreal.
01:02:49
Along with Joe, which is very rare, and he's cute. >> And then uh I remember when he did Crazy
01:02:55
Spoon Head. He did all the uh Halloween things killing. >> Yeah. And just just commitment. I mean,
01:03:00
Adam has that whatever whatever he has, he's got it. You know, he super super
01:03:05
likable charm. >> Yeah. And hater, I think, is up there, too, for just popping on. Kate McKinnon
01:03:10
was really good at it. Just coming on, playing some crazy character. >> But it is like its own little skill set
01:03:16
because you It's like you're a basketball player. You're just coming
01:03:18
in. You have to make like five threes in two minutes to get out of the game. >> Yeah. You did a I mean, that's how you
01:03:24
broke in, right? With uh sit next to >> I think I was doing like little Hollywood minutes. Oh, that's what
01:03:30
that's all that was. Yeah, I guess I would come in and do those. But even if
01:03:33
I did anything I talked about going to concerts or whatever, you're sitting on
01:03:36
a desk in the dark and you're like and you know it's coming to you which joke
01:03:40
and then you slide in and the Q cards they point and they go like you're up after this one and you're like because
01:03:47
you're in the dark and no one's really looking at you and you slide over and
01:03:50
then there's 20 million people like they see you and even when you walk by you go
01:03:54
I can just run in front of that camera right now, >> right? >> I guess that's a trust issue. It is like
01:03:58
a rodeo a rodeo thing because I remember one time you're in you're in you're on
01:04:03
deck and you're in the darkness and the show's all lit up and there's laughs and
01:04:08
ra and I think it was Chris Rock was before me or something. So I see his hair, his chairs rolls out and he does
01:04:15
his thing. Then I'm in the shoot and it is you have to go from just darkness and
01:04:19
crew guys around you to being on, you know. So there's there is that. Dana, what about when you do you do a good one
01:04:26
and it kills and then you kind of scoot yourself and then Piscapo uh I mean uh Joe Dixo pulls you off or whoever and
01:04:33
then you're in the uh dark and you're just walking behind like a Gap Girl set
01:04:37
and no one's even looking at you and you're like your adrenaline's going but
01:04:40
the show's still going over here and you sort of walk back to the underneath to
01:04:45
maybe snag a few compliments from Lauren and the producers watching >> some of the audience members and they
01:04:51
avoid eye contact >> and then you go back and where it's lit by your dressing room to change and
01:04:55
you're like anybody did it go good did it go bad like >> another good category is the the Mount
01:05:02
Rushmore or whatever of people who weren't even the focal point of the sketch but somehow were still the
01:05:06
funniest person in the sketch >> which is like to me Chris Farley's number one
01:05:11
>> um >> oh yeah has to >> like he's in the dysfunctional family
01:05:14
feud >> he's he's just like the loser kid who Harman's being mean to and he's probably
01:05:21
like the fifth most important but every single thing he does in the thing is hilarious. Um,
01:05:25
>> and then at the end he runs out and starts kicking to the left and right. I
01:05:29
just saw that the other day. I go, "What a moron." I remember walking at
01:05:33
rehearsal. I go, "You're not really doing that." He goes, "Oh, yeah.
01:05:36
>> You were on the other side. You were in the normal family." >> Yeah. I watch him. Yeah. We were I think
01:05:40
we were the normal family, right? >> He Chris was there was so much in intellect behind all that. You knew him
01:05:46
much better than I did, David. But his rhythms and sounds and moves that he would, you know, like I mean it just
01:05:53
they were so concise and you could not not laugh. Like when he would do his kind of fake laugh like he would turn
01:05:59
into a hog, you know, just around the office, >> you like this is irresistibly funny. But
01:06:06
yeah, he he was your eye went to him. Anything he was in, I once did Ross Perau riding him like he was a piggy.
01:06:12
Come on, piggy boy. Let's go, piggy boy. And I was going, Chris, is this okay
01:06:16
with you? And he goes, "Oh yeah, do whatever you want." You know, I'm
01:06:18
whipping him and stuff. >> I know other people get mad. You can't do that to Chris. Chris wasn't mad. No,
01:06:23
no, do it. I'll do whatever you want. I don't care. I think it's funny.
01:06:26
>> So, >> you would never kill a bit. >> So, we're headed for the 50th year.
01:06:31
>> Yeah. >> Next year. >> I know. >> Yeah. >> Which I think is really good for your
01:06:35
podcast because, you know, it's the fact that the show's been around for a half
01:06:40
century is >> What do they do, Bill? What does this leave? Who takes over?
01:06:45
>> It's stunning. and bizarre. I can't even fathom fathom it. 50th.
01:06:51
>> Um I think I I'm guessing Lauren's going to leave and I'm guessing somebody major
01:06:58
has to take over the show. Somebody with real DNA with >> someone NBC would approve. Everyone
01:07:03
would have to approve. >> It's I I just feel like it's Tina. It's
01:07:06
Seth if he wants to do it. >> And it's got to be somebody on that level who has that kind of chops.
01:07:12
They're not just be like, "Hey, we hired Bob. He's been a huge fan of the show.
01:07:15
he'll be taking over for Lord Michaels. Like I I don't see that happening. I
01:07:18
feel like the person's got to have DNA. >> Yeah, we brought him over from Hallmark
01:07:21
>> and they they would have to they would be warned ahead of time that half the
01:07:25
time you're miserable. I mean, it's it's a tough show. Not every show crushes.
01:07:30
There was just a lot of shows in my where the party's a little grim and didn't really land it that night, you
01:07:36
know, because that's why there's no other sketch shows because the the ratio
01:07:40
of success to failure and a quick hit sketch. >> Yeah. But I I do think the fact that
01:07:45
it's live, they tried to take that away in the 90s. He said, "Let's make it
01:07:48
taped and we got to change the theme." And Lauren, to his credit, always resisted.
01:07:54
>> Somehow he knew about branding >> before maybe that was become such a
01:07:58
thing people talk about. Stuck with that theme. Everything's familiar. And that's
01:08:03
why we can interview cast members. We talked to Mikey Day yesterday, >> right?
01:08:07
>> He's on today. And uh we know everything. We told him that. We know
01:08:11
the offices you're in. We know Lauren's there. It's still But Lauren might just
01:08:16
stay a few more years. I don't know. I >> Yeah. Who knows? Like the Patriots are
01:08:20
going through this now. Bill Bichc >> just left and they hired a new coach and
01:08:24
he's got a new coaching staff and there's been a lot of stories about >> whoa things are so different and oh the
01:08:31
coach talked to the media today and >> oh my god they have this you know they're changing this part of the office
01:08:37
and it's going to be this now and everybody's like because Belich was there for 20 plus years. Yeah. And just
01:08:42
any kind of change feels like the most substantial change ever. So I can't even
01:08:47
imagine with SNO if somebody else came in and was like, "Hey, I thought of an
01:08:50
idea. We're going to merge two offices and make it one big." People like,
01:08:54
"What? You can't do that. That's it's been that way for 50 years." I don't
01:08:58
know how you do that. >> Maybe Tina and Seth could make one Lauren. I don't know. I mean, they they
01:09:04
would Lauren is very good politically with the the new regime as Universal, whoever is or whoever the head of the
01:09:11
network. He's really good at doing that. And how do you navigate all these cast
01:09:16
members um kind of Game of Throning each other even even if they love each other,
01:09:22
it's still just your friend gets. So, I don't know. It's really hard.
01:09:26
>> And Lauren knows all the celebrities, too. So, Lauren can call someone and
01:09:30
say, "Maybe Steve Martin would be good in this. let's call them has to be able to be dialed in.
01:09:35
>> The new iteration of the show I don't feel like should be celebrity dependent.
01:09:38
And I would go back to what the roots of the show were and go to cast members and
01:09:43
a guest host but not be celebrity dependent because >> celebrity and pop culture is part of the
01:09:49
what they should be you know kind of >> I felt that yeah and we talked about it
01:09:53
earlier uh yesterday when the podcast a while back but yeah when a celebrity would come in and then in my era someone
01:10:01
from the cast would do that impression I just thought it was dispiriting you know
01:10:07
um for the Yes. And we had So I I do think this I'm going to say it. The secret sauce, one of them is is watching
01:10:15
a young performer come in, male, female, watching them trundle along and then become a star. You're you're in real
01:10:22
time. You're experiencing it with them. And that is still the magic elixir of an
01:10:28
unknown person being thrown out there, you know, >> and you want those impressions to have
01:10:32
some bite and and you want to have some edge to it. And it's just hard if they're a friend of the show, friend of
01:10:38
the show. And so you got to stay away from some people or you can't do this politically.
01:10:41
>> Like you could argue they should be having so much fun with Taylor Swift and
01:10:44
Travis Kelce, right? Like that should be >> Think about if those people existed in
01:10:49
the late 70s or in the late 80s. >> Sure. >> That would have been fodder for the show
01:10:54
every week, but now I feel like they'd be a little afraid because oh no, she
01:10:58
won't want to come back on if we make fun of her. >> And I like the other piece of it is
01:11:02
>> good point. Why is the show live at this point if there's no danger that comes
01:11:08
with being live? Because, right, because the reason, the whole reason they had the show in the first place was this is
01:11:13
live. Anything can happen. >> Any line might get crossed. Somebody might >> swear accidentally. All these crazy
01:11:19
things could happen. >> Now it's like a safe live, which I don't at this point like I don't know why you
01:11:24
just wouldn't tape the show at 8:00 and air it at 11:30. It's not like, "Oh my
01:11:29
god, what's going to happen?" I don't Do you feel like 50th? >> Maybe.
01:11:34
>> Uh, it would be better. I mean, when you can have two takes on something like on
01:11:37
a movie, you're definitely better. Some sketches you come off on the wrong foot
01:11:41
and you're like, oh my god, we came in wrong. And it's just not clicking. I
01:11:44
want to step back and go, let me just come in again. And then you're like, it's too late. It's not It's not
01:11:50
working. when when something uh like when Ross Pro's running mate Adam Admiral Stockdale came out and he was
01:11:58
kind of goofy and then like three days later Phil's doing that and I'm doing
01:12:02
pro and we have the car and that was just what the show does best when it happens is the zygeist is all there and
01:12:10
and but now you've got to compete with things like this everything and then you
01:12:15
hit it and it's this relief valve and that's when the show is magic and I I
01:12:20
think in the modern era with all the different people doing different kind of comedy takes all the time, it is more
01:12:26
difficult, but that's still when it happens, it's it's great. Great.
01:12:31
>> Well, it's going to be interesting when Shane hosts at the end of this month.
01:12:34
Yeah. >> You know, >> why do why do you think so, Bill? What do you think? You know,
01:12:38
>> I think there's going to be real danger, you know, and it's like, holy [ __ ] I
01:12:41
don't know what's going to happen. And that's a show I want to watch live.
01:12:45
That's more about him than the show. But um you know and I also think he's one of
01:12:49
the funniest people working right now. So >> well we we mentioned that when we we
01:12:52
talked just casually that time the uh he he's the guy right now you know and uh
01:12:58
he his take it's it's just uh you you just want to listen to him and going
01:13:04
back to the show and how he how he got fired. That's that's an example of a
01:13:09
live show where you want to see it. Like how is how are they going to handle it the show and how is Shane going to
01:13:16
handle it? So, I'm sure they're thinking about different things, but usually when
01:13:20
the show's at its best, it's going to go right at it, you know, like maybe him
01:13:25
and Bow and Yang will be in a rowboat somewhere. I don't know. But they usually go right at it, right? You know,
01:13:36
>> Bill, I have a uh Don't get mad. I have a sports question. >> Yeah, let's go.
01:13:41
>> Don't get mad. I know how you I know your temper. Um my temper >> because people ask me this. I'm kidding.
01:13:47
He is temper. Um is football allowed to be rigged? I know people say is football
01:13:52
rigged, but then they also say it's entertainment or NBA. Is that stuff allowed to fudge and twist because it's
01:13:59
an entertainment company instead of just sports? I don't really get that. >> Are you saying could the Super Bowl have
01:14:06
been scripted because Kansas City won and they won in overtime and Taylor Swift and her boyfriend kissed after the
01:14:12
game? >> That's part of it and how beneicial >> how beneficial that is. Or even I
01:14:18
thought I saw a thing with Shaquille. I see basketball players sometimes online saying, "Oh yeah, we're told the finals
01:14:23
will be this long and who who wins." And Shaq saying when he got drafted, David
01:14:28
Stern said to him, "Where do you want to play? Hot or cold?" And he said, "I want
01:14:31
to play somewhere hot." He goes, "Okay." And then the day of the draft, he goes,
01:14:35
"It'll be Orlando." And then >> he's saying this and he goes,
01:14:38
>> "That's a famous story." Yeah. >> I mean, that's kind of weird. I never
01:14:41
heard that story. And I go, "Is that so the are the ping pong balls really bouncing around or you know, I don't
01:14:47
know. It it it makes me think all this stuff and then the defense is we're an
01:14:52
entertainment company. We don't have to play exactly by the rules. And you go,
01:14:55
"Oh, like a movie." Like we uh we have to make it fun to watch. >> Yeah. I don't I don't think they can rig
01:15:02
the games, but I used to write about this all the time. I you know, it's same
01:15:06
thing like how you guys would do impressions of people. I would always play up certain things and have fun with
01:15:10
it. One of them was that David Stern, the old NBA commissioner, was, >> you know, this like basically veto
01:15:16
Corleó and rigging all this stuff. >> And there was always this thing about
01:15:20
when Patrick went to the Knicks. >> It was the first time they ever read the
01:15:24
lottery. There are seven envelopes >> and he's reaching down and he grabs each
01:15:28
one and if you look briefly for like a split split second, it looked like the Knicks one had a little bit of a crease
01:15:34
on one of the sides. >> Ah, I felt it. Then there was a theory that they had frozen the envelope. So as
01:15:41
he's feeling the envelope that was frozen that was the one he >> and it was like you know whatever like
01:15:47
they just put it in like a carbon whatever so it was like freezing cold when he touched it so he knew that was
01:15:53
the one but that was always a a recurring bit about him. Same thing when when Jordan got suspended or when Jordan
01:16:01
retired there was always a thing. Oh no actually Jordan got suspended for a year. the Shaq thing, that was always a
01:16:07
story. >> Um, there was stuff they did in the late 90s, early 2000s where >> the perfect team for the league and the
01:16:15
ratings always seem to win and that like most famously it was a Philly versus Milwaukee, Allen Iverson, they're trying
01:16:21
to get him into the finals of 2001 playing Milwaukee and Philly shot like a hundred more free throws than Milwaukee
01:16:27
in the series. Yeah, >> there was the Kings Lakers game, which I'm sure you guys remember, 2002, where
01:16:34
um if the Kings win game six, they win the series. Everyone on the Kings fouled out. So, you see stuff like that. I do
01:16:41
think they can kind of nudge the officials to say, "Hey, man, we don't like how, you know, Shaq is being
01:16:48
defended. When they do this, you got to call it." And then they start calling it
01:16:52
early and the other team's like, "Wait, we were doing that last game. That's a
01:16:54
foul now." Um >> um but yeah, there's >> conspiracy stuff. >> Players that are spend their whole life
01:17:01
playing as hard as they can to get where they it's just hard to buy. You're going
01:17:04
to tell players not to play hard. But then you see like oh I you watch all these like which I would never see a lot
01:17:11
of chiefs uh no holding calls and then they just show over and over holding and you go so I mean they the refs can't see
01:17:17
everywhere but sometimes if they want to they can always find a hold somewhere because it's kind
01:17:22
>> I mean that's the Patriots going 19 and0 in the helmet catch >> or if you watch the helmet catch like
01:17:28
four guys are holding for Eli because he buys like an extra four four seconds >> and there's just holding all over.
01:17:33
people are just getting mauled and the refs were like cool. >> And that was the year we had spygate for
01:17:38
the Patriots and >> you know the the commissioner's office was against them. So the Patriots fans
01:17:43
have always felt like that game was >> What's the What's the penalty rate per
01:17:47
game right now? Because seems like when I watch the NFL there's an incredible
01:17:51
play and then I immediately go looking for the flag pop up. >> Oh flag the best play I've ever seen.
01:17:58
So, I do think if you're going to rig uh professional sports and you want to kind
01:18:02
of nudge it, that would be your way to do it without getting caught. >> That was when when gambling sports
01:18:08
gambling really took off the last 15 years. One of the first edges the best gamblers had was the referee tendencies.
01:18:14
>> Yeah. >> And this was in NBA and NFL specifically where it's like, oh, this this team they
01:18:20
call more penalties and more penalties means, >> you know, this will happen. And that's
01:18:24
the same thing with NBA. If somebody's more foul happy, then the over is going
01:18:28
to hit more. And now all that stuff's kind of on the internet and people know
01:18:32
it. But when they assign g certain refs to certain playoff games, then people like, "Oh, of course they assign that
01:18:38
ref. He always calls it for the road team." And so that stuff's out there. Um
01:18:43
I think it's fun. Some people take it very seriously. >> Well, when I'm losing millions every
01:18:48
week on DraftKings, it's >> How' you think about it? How'd you do in
01:18:51
the playoffs? Spade. Uh, in the PL I do DraftKings, but I also do uh >> FanDuel.
01:18:57
>> I get with some guys and do like uh fantasy or guillotine leagues or weird
01:19:02
stuff like that just to keep the fun going up until the end. And uh I do okay in those. I'm not that great. It's just
01:19:09
some it's a good time killer. I'm in the fantasy league with uh Jimmy's cousin and John Ham and all
01:19:15
those people where it's 11 people in the league, but the winner gets to vote
01:19:19
somebody out of the draft the next year, which I think is the single best rule. So, we have to show up.
01:19:24
>> Rude. >> We have to show up and then the guy who won's like, "All right, uh Dana, I'm
01:19:31
sorry. You're out and you just have to get your stuff and leave >> and that's it. We don't see you for a
01:19:36
year." Yeah. It's great. It's really really It gets super bitter. >> And you keep going lower and lower with
01:19:40
people or do you add a person? >> No, it's the same 11, but we we have 10
01:19:45
people in the league every year plus the guy who got voted out. >> Oh, so it's even.
01:19:49
>> So they get to come back a year later, they can't get voted out, but then
01:19:52
somebody else gets voted out. >> It has to be even. Dana, you don't understand.
01:19:57
>> I just I'm going to ask you guys a question. I mean, I felt like I felt
01:20:01
beat up after I watched the Super Bowl. >> Yeah. >> I don't think I've ever gotten that beat
01:20:06
up. I'm from Bay Area, so I'm a Niner fan, but I I like the Chiefs, too. I'm
01:20:10
not fanatical, but I was rooting for them. But there was some frustration and penalties, and it was and the way it
01:20:16
ended, I was like, ah, it wasn't satisfying. And if you're a Chiefs fan,
01:20:20
I guess it was, but it was like that new fifth quarter. I I wasn't paying attention to that. It had never been in
01:20:25
the, you know, >> in the uh Super Bowl that rules for the overtime. >> You were confused. It was It was one of
01:20:33
those things. People wrote about it, but nobody actually thought it was going to
01:20:37
happen. So then when it was happening, there was so much strategy to it that none of us had really totally considered
01:20:44
>> and the NerS ended up choosing to go first. >> But I was saying this week
01:20:48
>> to me it's like going second was such an advantage because you become the
01:20:51
blackjack dealer. So the other guys going first, you know exactly what they're going to do and then you can
01:20:57
decide what you need to do to match whatever they did >> is the advantage. But I don't think we
01:21:03
realized it until we watched it. >> Because if you get a touchdown, you're
01:21:06
not >> just going for two probably because you could win with a touchdown with an extra
01:21:10
point. >> The Chiefs said that. They said if they were scoring, they were getting two.
01:21:14
They >> Yeah. They were going to come back. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So >> I told my wife it was over. I said, "Oh
01:21:20
no, Mahomes got the ball. They're going to do four downs." >> They moved back so [ __ ] easily when
01:21:24
they came out. I was like, "Oh, >> it's going to be prevent defense just
01:21:27
and then it was just so predictable >> when one team is playing three downs
01:21:32
punt and or they did get the field goal and the other team is going to go four mentally uh to move the ball." So,
01:21:39
>> well, and then there's this inevitability with him, which I think all the best athletes have
01:21:44
>> where when the door is open like that, you're like, "Oh, here we go." Do you
01:21:47
think he could host SNL Patrick Mahomes? >> I mean, he's kind of he's kind of
01:21:51
quirky. I get, >> you know, I think I could host it. You know, we did the game. We thought we do. I
01:21:59
give him a little stutter. >> That was pretty good. >> Oh, I like that.
01:22:04
>> Oh, I'm sure everybody does it on, you know. >> No, that was I haven't heard a lot of
01:22:07
Mahomes. That was good. >> I haven't as far as like Pew Herman. >> Yeah, about my voice.
01:22:16
>> Now I'm doing Bobcat Goldweight, but that's okay. >> Bobcat Goldweight as Pat Mahubs. as
01:22:21
back. But yeah, he's a supernatural talent, a word I like to use a lot, you know, for sure.
01:22:28
>> Well, you asked me about athlete host. I thought Kelsey was was actually really
01:22:32
good last year or two years ago whenever he did it. I thought he was solid. >> Um, I think he'd be an actor.
01:22:39
>> He's with CIA. There's a master plan. I I I love it. It's just to make him into
01:22:44
an international movie star, and he probably has the the looks and the charisma to do that. It's just kind of
01:22:50
The Rock did it and was open about it. You know, >> I'm ready for action stars again. I I
01:22:56
feel like we're in such a weird spot. Like the the era I grew up with >> where we had Arnold and we had Sly, we
01:23:03
had then Von DM showed up and Seagal and all these dudes and we just there was a
01:23:07
new one every year and we had like this embarrassment of riches. Carl Weathers had a chance.
01:23:12
>> Yeah. >> Um >> and now it's like it's all these Jason
01:23:16
Stathithm guys. They know how to do this like choreograph kung fu stuff and I don't know I missed the days of just
01:23:22
like these big dudes that we can kind of make fun of on a show like SNL. >> I like I thought he was great. I thought
01:23:28
he was his first five were great. >> Oh yeah, he's great. >> He was a legendary bad host.
01:23:34
>> Anybody seen Rick Richie in the pool hall scene? One of the great scenes.
01:23:39
Anybody seen Richie? Anybody? >> He Yeah, he always played Italian dudes. He played like Nico Pretti and people
01:23:47
like that. Even though he >> I didn't even know what that meant when I was a kid. I just kept going, "You
01:23:51
better kick his [ __ ] ass, dude." Then there's like eight guys and he walks in
01:23:54
and starts being a dick. And I go, "Once in my life, I just want to be this guy.
01:23:58
Just go up to a bunch of guys that are looking at me and go, the [ __ ] are you looking at just for once and then beat
01:24:03
the [ __ ] out of all >> he was he was Steven Seigal when he when he hosted the show as far as just this
01:24:07
alpha male presence and stuff and talking about how he could choke anyone out or beat anyone up just Yeah. Uh, he
01:24:14
was a perfect he was the legendary reviled host though from your generation, right? Wasn't he the least
01:24:19
favorite? >> You know, there's others I wouldn't mention. I I I kind of I liked him. Um,
01:24:26
>> I did I >> It's hard to act tough when you ask for a scrunchie cuz
01:24:31
>> I found him fascinating. You'd go by the dressing room during the week and you'd
01:24:36
hear a woman in a state of pleasure. It was just really interesting, you know. >> Oh my god, what a lover that guy was. I
01:24:42
guess so. But uh he was just fun to talk to. What a trip. But he, you know, he he
01:24:48
was a little offended by Hans and France. We had to rewrite it because he thought we were making fun of him in the
01:24:53
read through and then we rewrote it so that you could beat up Arnold. You're
01:24:57
the only one who could beat up Arnold. So, but I like the guy. I don't know. I
01:25:02
like There's worse hosts, but you can't really name everybody. It's just too
01:25:05
rude to name them. No one's going to do that, you know. >> Yeah. That becomes aggregated. It's like
01:25:10
the Daily Mail. David Spade said so and so for your life. >> Yeah. >> Yeah.
01:25:15
>> But Marcy Klein told us she was the wrangler of host over the years and
01:25:19
producer. Hi Marcy. And she Lauren would say uh so and so was in their dressing room. They're not coming out. So she
01:25:26
would have to go in there and they'd be crying and the show's on in four minutes
01:25:30
or or or just having a panic uh attack. Uh >> and so yeah, you kind of have some
01:25:36
empathy for the host. They're doing something that's impossible, you know.
01:25:40
Yeah. You know, one of the things because I loved all the books like I read there's this great book that came
01:25:45
out I'm going to say mid 80s the it's called I think Live from Saturday night
01:25:50
or something like that but it's about the first 10 years of the show and and
01:25:54
it was one of my favorite books and then the oral histories came out with Jim Miller and Shales and a bunch of other
01:25:59
stuff but you'd read the history of the show and these things that happened never expecting YouTube's coming and all
01:26:06
these other things where you could actually just go back and watch. So there was always that legendary story of
01:26:10
Belushi when he was so [ __ ] up he couldn't go, you know, basically couldn't start. It was the I think when
01:26:16
Kate Jackson hosted >> and they were like it's 5050 whether he he he could die in the air if you put
01:26:21
him on Lauren and Lauren's like I'll take those chances >> and puts him on and he's in the first
01:26:26
sketch. So I've always read that story and then you watch the clip and it's
01:26:30
like >> Belushi seems fine. Like he's a little he's a tiny bit green but it's it
01:26:34
doesn't seem like he's going to die during this. >> Sounds better. Yeah.
01:26:38
>> Yeah. So, sometimes the video doesn't match up whatever the uh the story.
01:26:42
>> Yeah. >> Yeah. >> Dana, we got to we got to wrap up, Bill. But anything else you have something
01:26:47
good for, Bill? >> Um I I don't like forget top 10 whatever movies that you can revisit throughout
01:26:53
your life. >> Oh, yeah. >> So, like, you know, I see The Godfather every year pretty much. You know,
01:27:00
there's there's ones that you just see a lot of, you know. So for me, Heat was
01:27:05
the movie that started the rewatchables because we did on my podcast, we just it
01:27:09
was the 20th anniversary >> and me and my friend Chris Ryan, we're just like, let's just do a podcast about
01:27:14
heat. [ __ ] it. People loved it. >> So we created the rewatchables. And >> what do you want to do? That was the
01:27:20
first time Pacino went full screen, which was amazing. >> Pacino is crazy in that movie.
01:27:25
>> Pacino has explained it after that he's playing the character like the guys on
01:27:29
cocaine. >> Yeah. >> And it's like, yeah, we know we saw heat. We we we know that's what you're
01:27:34
doing. LIKE SHE'S GOT A GREAT ASS. >> WAIT, Heath Heat's up there time.
01:27:44
>> Um >> go ahead. >> And then uh Boogie Nights. The two Godfathers are on all the time now
01:27:49
because I think Showtime has just stripped all their library except for the Godfathers and they're on constantly
01:27:55
and I'm >> amazing. >> I just couldn't feel like I can dive in
01:27:58
at any time to those. Shaw Shanks a good one. >> Pul Fiction. They I mean there's certain
01:28:03
ones that just >> any science fiction in there. >> Not for me personally, but for a lot of
01:28:08
people I mean there's a ton of comedies. I mean, you know, Tommy Boy, I'm not
01:28:12
just saying this because spades on this, but Tommy Boy has become >> the the good thing about especially when
01:28:17
you get older and you have young kids and you can start showing them the comedies. Mhm.
01:28:22
>> It's got to be one of the first six or seven because I don't know how old a kid
01:28:26
has to be to understand Farley was one of the funniest people of all time and how funny that movie is, but
01:28:32
>> it's probably like age four where you can like fat guy in a little coat. It
01:28:37
might even be age three, but you can just indoctrinate that. Yeah. >> In that. So there, you know, there's
01:28:43
there's a bunch of the rewatchable like >> what about me in the window watching the
01:28:47
girl at the pool? Are they rewatching that part? Maybe like fast >> is that cut out of I think that's cut
01:28:52
out on TV. So there's >> even Jo there's stuff that's cut out and
01:28:55
I and I never know it and then I go so there's people that are seeing these movies with a couple of parts missing
01:29:01
>> because it's so rough for TV and I'm like they don't even know those extra
01:29:05
part. I don't know. That's a bummer. That's >> one of the cool things now is like with
01:29:08
YouTube and all these different places like you know Dana show from the mid 90s like I don't know 20 of those sketches
01:29:16
are on YouTube now. That was one of those things where if you love that show and then it gets cancelled and it's
01:29:22
gone. There's no unless you taped it on your on your VHS, it's gone. It's
01:29:27
history. >> Yeah. >> And now kind of all that stuff has a second life. Like shows like Freaks and
01:29:31
Geeks. >> Yeah. >> You can dive into that. Larry Sanders, which Shanling was always like famously
01:29:36
never wanted it on DVD. He was always like very prickly about it. And now like every episode's on the Max app, you
01:29:43
know? So you >> is great. Nothing goes away now. We're all in We're all in cyber bits next to
01:29:49
We're next to Godfather next to everything else. Just all there. Uh could Airplane be made today?
01:29:56
>> Yeah. I think the the problematic ones Animal House. >> Yeah. >> Um if you're talking about is this movie
01:30:03
canled now, which we talk about a lot on the rewatchables, like Animal House, Revenge of the Nerds.
01:30:09
>> Um Porkies. I don't know how >> stuff with women. Yeah. >> Yeah.
01:30:15
I don't even know how you Yeah. I don't even know how you explain it now. Much
01:30:18
less in ' 83. >> Fast times at Ridgemont High. >> Yeah, that but that's a good movie
01:30:22
though. Like at least it's well written. >> Sean Penn is so good in that.
01:30:26
>> Yeah. Um >> but yeah, some of the some of the 70s 80s I think Airplane's fine though.
01:30:31
>> I just think a really silly movie right now because the country's in such a bad
01:30:35
mood if that's just joke per minute almost just physical gags would be a nice look.
01:30:41
It's weird the the airplane naked gun type of movie which I always I mean that's what we all grew up with. It just
01:30:47
kind of is done. And then they would do the top secret and they would do the um Oh yeah,
01:30:52
>> the ripoff versions of of those kind of movies, but it was like 20 years of
01:30:55
them. Then they made the scary movie franchise. Now nobody does any of those. >> Yeah. Yeah. Never know. I don't know.
01:31:02
That's my final question. >> Thank you, Bill. >> Bill, it's been a pleasure. I
01:31:06
>> You guys are awesome. >> You hanging out with us. This was really
01:31:09
fun. I forgot I was on a podcast or even even hosting a podcast. So, thank you. >> This was uh fantastic. I love you guys.
01:31:18
You guys got a fantastic podcast. >> Hey guys, if you're loving this podcast,
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