Fake Doctors, Real Friends with Zach and Donald - 414.5: A Conversation with Anne Brodzinsky

Episode Date: March 23, 2021

Zach's mom pays the pod a visit to discuss her new book, "The Falling Down Time: One Child's Story about Divorce" and share some incredible stories from Zach's childhood.Buy your live tickets here: https://onlocationlive.com/product/fake-doctors-real-friends Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Bring a little optimism into your life with The Bright Side, a new kind of daily podcast from Hello Sunshine, hosted by me, Danielle Robay, and me, Simone Boyce. Every weekday, we're bringing you conversations about culture, the latest trends, inspiration, and so much more. I am so excited about this podcast, The Bright Side. You guys are giving people a chance to shine a light on their lives, shine a light on a little advice that they want to share. Listen to The Bright Side on America's number one podcast network, iHeart. Open your free iHeart app and search The Bright Side.

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This season, teens will share all about growing up in political battleground states. We will always exist and we will definitely not let them take away our joy, no matter how hard they try. not let them take away our joy, no matter how hard they try. Listen to Queer Chronicles on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your most fabulous shows. I used to have so many men. How this beguiling woman in her 50s. She looked like a million bucks. Scams a bunch of famous athletes out of untold fortunes.

Nearly $10 million was all gone. It's just unbelievable. Hide your money in your old rich man, because she is on the prowl. Listen to Queen of the Con, season five, The Athlete Whisperer, on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hi, Guapo. Oh, did you get a haircut? Did you get a little trim trim?

Man, I'm working on a show right now. I'm always getting haircuts. You look good. I'm not going to blow smoke, but you're looking fine. You can blow smoke if you want. I will blow smoke all over you. Oh, my gosh. Oh, boy.

And I will watch it ripple all over my curves All through your crevices and nooks We need to get this out because we're about to invite my mom on the show Any naughty talk needs to come out right now Okay well I'm gonna say this Your mom's book made me cry Yeah me too Dude it made me cry a lot

Like I was sitting there like wow this is You know and I just read it before we did the show. So as I was walking up the stairs, I was like, get your shit together, motherfucker. Get it together. Tell her that because that'll really move her. And of course, it made me cry too. We today, guys, are going to have my mom on the show. And welcome, welcome, welcome.

And we're going to be shifting a little bit because Donald and I are both going back to work. So our one-year pandemic job is going to have to shift a little bit. We're doing this on a Sunday afternoon. Thank you, Joelle and Dale, for accommodating us. Easy. And then we're going to have a big old party with the live show, which is Friday the 26th. So we're skipping an episode, but we're going to come back to it later on, I guess, is what's going to happen. If you have a ticket to the live show, technically you will still get two shows this week.

I'm just saying. You'll have to come, but if you're going to miss it. So please don't yell at us for going back to one show here and there because we just can't. This has been so awesome and don't think we don't love doing it. This has been so awesome and don't think we don't love doing it, but we're so thrilled that we actually have a chance to do some of the work we really do and love to entertain you, our acting. And so we're going back to work for reals. Yes, yes, yes. But we're going to keep the show going because we love doing it. So it might not be twice a week all the time.

It might just be once a week. be twice a week all the time. It might just be once a week. We also want to have the fun of folding in special guests like Donald's mom and my mom and lots of – we talked to all the stuff we've told you about, about people from the show, the stand-ins. Joelle is working on contacting the stand-ins and some fun crew members and all that stuff. So I just wanted to – let's just go through a couple logistics for the live show because I did see there were tons of questions on my Instagram and I'm sure Donald, yours as well. I'm off Twitter, but Joelle, I'm sure you're getting Twitter questions. So fill in any blanks.

The answer is it is totally not – what do they call that? Global locked? Global locked? Geo locked? What's that term? I don't know. I don't know. Well, some people ask if it's geo whatever.

The point is you can watch it anywhere. Stade, Kenya, Italy. There you go. Uzbekistan. Probably not North Korea, I'm guessing. I'm sure you could. If you were in Wakanda, it's playing in Wakanda. Yes, in Wakanda it's available.

Everywhere it's available. Now you might say, but Zach and Donald and Joelle and Daniel, I can't stay up in the middle of the night. That's fine. If you buy a ticket, you can then listen until April 2nd. Right, Joelle? Yes. It's a full week after it premieres.

So you get a week to listen to it. Sorry, watch it. Now, we have been outfitted with dope mega cameras, so we're going to look so pretty. We're going to look our prettiest. Also, Donald and I are both getting in shape to act, so we look as handsome as we've ever looked. Well, I don't look as handsome as I've ever looked. I disagree. I'm on the road.

You're looking good, buddy. You're looking fine. You're looking fly. You're looking fly. You are a gentleman and a scholar. Bill Lawrence is our main guest. He's very excited. He called me with so many questions from London. He'll be returning from Ted Lasso production to come be on our show.

And that's it. I think it's going to be roughly two hours is what we're aiming for. If you're in North America, it will be six on the West Coast, nine on the East Coast. And, of course, for all the other countries, you just have to Google the time difference between you and Los Angeles. And you can watch it live. And if you're in the middle of the night and it's asleep, you can watch it the next day or blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. Joelle, anything I'm forgetting to explain to people that might have questions? I don't think so. It's 7 o'clock. You guys can come in. We saw people in the chat already.

The chat is up and running, so if you want to get in the chat, go for yours. Not that we'll be up in there, but you know, there'll be other Fake Doctors Real Friends fans in there, so if you want to chat with your peers, go right ahead uh the sound

machine will be labeled so i won't accidentally hit the wrong thing wu-tang forever and um forever ever uh all right let's go ahead and uh let's invite my mom in should we get into the show oh yeah let's count us in baby five. 5, 6, 7, 8. I said stories about a show we made about a bunch of doctors and nurses and a janitor who loved to hate. I said he's got stories that we all should know.

So gather round to hear our gather round to hear our Scrubs Rewatch Show with Zach and Donald Oh my god, I'm nervous. Hi there! Hi, Mommy.

Hi, I'm just making sure I'm doing this right. Mom, don't worry. About 98% of the people we have on have trouble connecting. So don't worry. Especially Sarah Chalk for some reason. Yeah, Sarah Chalk every single time. Every time. Well, I'm in good company.

Yeah, you are. I just want to say hi to Donald because I haven't really said hi, sweetheart. How are you? Hi. How are you? It's good to see you. Good to see you too. Right on.

Before we're all off and everything, I got to get my wife up here because she's going to want to say hi too. When she found out you were on the show. She was like, don't let me, don't forget to come. Tell my mom, we're going to get to her book, but tell my mom what you said. The second you got on. Your book made me cry, like weep, like cry. I had a really strong emotional response to it. Oh, that's interesting, Donald, because that's why I couldn't get it published by

traditional publishers. They said that parents wouldn't buy it because it was too sad. Oh, I didn't think it was too sad. I just, I never really looked at it from the kid's point of view. Being a divorced parent, you always look at it from your point of view and how you feel. And it just broke my heart that the kid was hurting for a little bit. But she had such amazing parents that they were willing to work it out. And it wasn't like that when my parents got divorced.

You know what I mean? And it wasn't like that when I got divorced. And it was so refreshing to see a family that was able to do it. And so it wasn't like some of it was sad, but some of it was like joy to see a family that was able to do it and so it wasn't like some of it was sad but some of it was like joy like wow like you know if they could get this together you know maybe i could have gotten it together uh well i wanted my ex-wife uh i wanted the parents to be kind of a model for parents reading the book yeah so they could say, well, what, could we try any of this? Could we try something? You know, because it really is, you know, there's a lot of research on this and it really is better for the kids if the parents can remain respectful to each other and generous to

each other. Well, let's, let's just dive right into this because it's just happening naturally. We want to talk to my mom because she's my mom and we love her, obviously. Donald's like a part of the family. And talk about my mom's experience of what Scrubs was like from her point of view and maybe some funny childhood stories. But the first thing, one of the things we wanted to have her on was my mom is a wonderful psychologist who's occasionally I give out words of her wisdom to all of you listeners. And when I was a child, she wrote a popular children's book about adoption for children called The Mulberry Bird. And if you have an adopted child, I can obviously highly recommend that book. It's very, very popular for adopted families. But recently, my mom, as she will discuss and tell us, noticed that she was having trouble finding the right book to discuss divorce with your child, roughly ages 6 to 10, and decided that she would set about to write one herself. So what is it, mom, that you thought wasn't out there for parents? I don't remember

when you and dad got divorced, really any children's books that were, I mean, obviously you were skilled as a psychologist to handle it as best as you could, but tell everyone and us what came to your mind when you said, I tell me, tell everyone and us what, what, what came to your mind when you said, I want to create something that will help parents talk to their children. Well, it's a similar story as, uh, as existed for the mulberry bird. And that is, that is a story that tells us the child, what happened with the birth mother. And there were no books for children about adoption at that time. And there's still very few where the birth mother's story is told. And that's the story the child really wants to hear. So when I thought about the falling downtime, I thought,

well, the children's books that exist for divorced, divorcing parents to read now are based on the parents wish for the child to be okay. The parents profound wish that they aren't hurting their child. And so they're all pretty cheerful. Like, it's going to be okay, you're going to have more toys, you're going to have another bedroom, you're going to go to do this and that. And it's all very, you might be sad, but it's all going to be fine. So I thought I wanted to write a book from the child's perspective, which would, first of all, show what the child remembers, everything being all right. And for a child, that's what they remember. And suddenly, for some reason, things are not all right and they don't know why. Yeah, that was also what I think triggered my emotional response.

Everything was so vivid and the memories were so vivid in the beginning. So specific and it was like fresh in the beginning you know uh remembering yeah so specific and like it was like fresh and in the child's head and and then all of a sudden there was this shift and the kid didn't know what it was but just everything wasn't the same and right and i and i imagine they very often internalize that and make it that they did something wrong. That's a very common response for children to have is that this strange thing is happening. And their parents, I think one of the reasons they think they've done something wrong is their parents become quieter and sadder and more distant. And these observations sort of resemble when their mom or dad has been mad at them in the past. So they think, oh, I've done something. Surely this couldn't have happened

just out of the blue. I must have done something. Children are very egocentric. They think that the world revolves around them. I never thought of it in the context before of like, oh, when they're behaving the same way they behave when they're mad at me, because they've gotten quiet and they're not as, I don't know, silly and effusive or whatever. Exactly, exactly. So that is why I wrote the book. And the book is called The Falling Down Time, One Child's Story About Divorce. And it is available on Amazon. And it was written by my mom. And it is, talk a little bit to mom about people who say, well, I, you know, I'm hearing Donald say he cried. I'm hearing you guys say you were emotional.

What do you say to the parent who say, well, I don't, I don't want to face my child's sadness about this. I want the, you know, I imagine parents are nervous about doing the honest sort of emotional children's book as opposed to the chipper one, you know, about you'll have two sets of toys. Yeah. Well, that's a really good question because that is a challenge for parents. It's a really big challenge for, for people who are divorcing to be able to say, what can I possibly do that would be good for my child? And what you can do, one of the things you can do is let them feel what they're feeling. Don't hold it. Don't, don't, don't, don't, don't push those feelings away. Right. And it is going to, as a parent, you are going to feel terrible about this at times. But something terrible is happening in your life and in their life.

And to pretend that that's different is really a kind of abandonment, really. It's kind of walking away from the child into what you need. And it really isn't about what you need right now it's what your child needs yeah it's like the parent doesn't want to deal with the emotion because that's really hard so but you're saying that that's you can't you can't abandon the child's emotions you have to face it straight on yeah you can you can abandon them but it isn't good for them. Right. It's very interesting. My kids and I, we had a really rough time after

my ex-wife and I got divorced and we're all good now, but I remember thinking, oh, we're probably never going to see each other again or we're probably never going to talk again. I remember we talked about that at's, we're probably never going to see each other again, or we're probably never going to talk again. I remember we talked about that at some time, at some point.

And now, I mean, now my kids live with me and, you know, it's amazing how things shifted. But I do, at the end of the book, when, you know, when the child gives encouragement to other kids you know from what i understand a lot of kids go through this and they all turned out pretty well that was also one of those moments like yes you're absolutely right and i got emotional about that because my kids are with me now and i remember there was a moment when that wasn't a possibility and i didn't see and i couldn't see that light at the end of the tunnel. And now, you know, I think one of the things that's so special about your book to mom is like, like Donald said, it like an episode of The Simpsons in a comedic way is funny to kids on a kid level and adults are going to get their version of the story. And the parents, like Donald is saying, as a parent of divorced children,

is going to get their emotional, but sort of a guidebook in a small sense of how you could behave in a healthy way for the child, but told from a child's point of view, which I thought was really, really well done. Thank you. Thank you. That's my hope.

Yeah, you're such a good writer too. And I know you're saying, listener, that I'm biased, but she is such a good writer. My mom- How about this? Get the book. How about this? Go out, get the book, and then be the judge for yourself.

All right? How about that? Get the book. It's on Amazon. But my mom's the kind of person that will write you like a thank you note, and you've got like tears in your eyes because it's so beautiful. You're such a good writer. Let's segue a bit mom and talk about um what what let's talk about zach yeah let's switch to me enough about the book let's switch to me enough about me no but i thought i

thought that you know for listeners who who are here because they love the show scrubs it might be interesting from uh from your perspective you know what was it what was it like do you remember the day i called you and said you know i've been trying to be an actor since I was a child? And we can talk about that, too. But do you remember the day and what your feelings were? I had six callbacks for Scrubs. Do you remember that whole process? I do.

I do remember. And it was very, very exciting. And the interesting thing is I look back on it, it was hard for me to put it into a context because to me, you had been successful at that point for a long time. And I didn't really, until you helped me understand it, realize what a big deal it was. Wait, why did you think I'd been successful for a long time when I was a waiter, when I got the part? I mean, not to diss waiters, but I was barely surviving on money. since you were 14 years old, a lot of callbacks. You'd been auditioning from that age and people were calling us in to talk to us and tell us maybe you weren't going to get the part, but you were fantastic. And so we were hearing as parents that you were very, very talented. And

I really only, I honestly thought it was only a matter of time. Oh, really? You never told me that. I like to hear that. I didn't know. I didn't know. I mean, it's so stressful for parents. And I'm sure if you're a parent listening and your child is pursuing the arts, you know, you want to support them and you want to love them. And of course you want them to follow their dreams, but there has to be nerves like, oh, I hope that they can make a living at this. Of course. Okay. But how do you handle it if your kid doesn't have it and you're getting the feedback of, well, this might not be the right move? But that's up to the child. I mean the child, the young adult or the adult to decide when to give up.

The parent – I mean we're talking – I'm telling the psychologist what to think, but it seems to me the parent can't decide that. You have to let the kid or the young adult figure that out. But there has to be some honesty in there too. Right. Don't you have to be like, okay, well, I'm not trying

to crush your dreams. Comma. But they said you sucked. Comma, but. But they said you don't got what it takes, baby. And that you should

probably think about going into sanitation. Like, what? It doesn't have to be sanitation. Well, I always thought, and I've said this on the show, I always, my plan was always, I'm going to give it my all,

but if not, I will do something in production. And I say this to people, again, I'll say it now, if you're pursuing the arts and, you know, your backup doesn't have to be being an orthodontist,

which is always what I pick as my random career. It could be something, and you can still work in filmmaking and TV making. You might not be the star in front of the camera, but you can be in the process. I'm sorry, mom, you go, you go. How does a parent deal with this? Well, there's a couple of things on the table here. One is Donald's question about how do you help a child when you really, you know, you look at each

other and say this, this isn't happening. You know, I think conversations about that, that aren't really like, well, why don't you go into something else? But let's talk about a whole lot of things you could do with what you know how to do. Let's make a list. And that segues into what Zach is saying is that if your child is wanting to be a dancer, but isn't a good enough dancer to be making a living at it. Well, there's a lot of things that surround dancing and performing and those kinds of things could be being an usher. No, mom, I think I have this in my mind because you always probably helped me help me figure this out, which was like, you know,

there's a myriad of things you can do that aren't the exact thing. Aim for that goal, but then have things lower on the pyramid that are things you will be skilled at at that point that you can also do. I don't think that you, I don't think that I helped you figure that out. I'm going to tell a story now from a long time ago that you've heard before, and Donald probably has. And this illustrates that you knew from a very early age that there were other things. When you were seven years old for your birthday, you asked us if we would buy you a curtain to hang in the TV room. Center of the TV. Oh my God.

Well, the curtain guy, the curtain guy must've been like, wait, what? In the middle of the room. You really want the curtain. Do you remember?

Was he like, you want to put a curtain in the middle? I don't remember that part, but you also said that was not a, not the only gift you wanted clip that was not the only gift. You wanted clip-on lights from the hardware store. And you wanted a

light board. Yeah, a lighting board. Do they have a home lighting board for kids? That is so sweet. You made one. I did. By the way, Donald, listen, I made one. I did. By the way, Donald, listen, I made one. What I did was she got me the clip-on lights, and I took multiple, you know,

those things that are meant to go on the timers. No, no, no. The thing you put in the old days when you were going away and you wanted your lights to go on and off, you put a timer. So I would rig the clip-on lights with gels on them to those timer lights, and I could flick the switch on the timers that's true sorry mom go ahead no it really was true that you knew at that age you were seven years old that there was something exciting about the theater and and about performing And then you engaged your siblings in making dramas,

and you called it the Bradford Zinsky Theater, and you actually sold tickets when we had the dinner party. You didn't say, could I? You were out on the front porch with the tickets. Yes! Trying to make that money. I got that hustle early, Donald. You were out on the front porch with the tickets. Yes! Trying to make that money. I got that hustle early, Donald.

My mom's just trying to have a dinner party. I'm out front charging tickets to a play that the guests don't want to go to. Can you imagine you go to your friend's house for dinner, and you're like, oh, it's cute. He's selling tickets to a show. And then dinner's over. You're like, wait, what? We really have to go? Like, we have to go to the show well you you were selling tickets to the guests for for dinner or were you just selling tickets to random people walking

down the street no no guests for dinner but little did they know that they had come to dinner theater and after dinner there would be a play and they weren't always short plays. Right, Mom? Sometimes they had gravitas and depth. They were a little bit convoluted at times. Yes. And your older sister and your younger sister were a cast of characters.

Yes. So you didn't have too much to work with. Oh my God, I remember this, Mom. I gotta tell you, just another kudos to you for being a great mom that when I said, can I have a curtain in the middle of the TV room? Uh, you said yes. And we did so many plays. We had, by the way, if you have a child, you don't have to put it in the middle of the room, or if they have a playroom, you could put it like one third of the way through the room. But I gotta to tell you, this curtain that was probably not super expensive,

we got so much joy from just the idea of we're putting on a show and we can pull the curtain and do a show. And that was the big feature of it was it had to be a curtain you could pull. Yeah. So that's what it was.

We got so many hours of joy out of that damn curtain. Yeah. Yeah. And I think, you know, I was also into the tech, you know, as you know, I was into the technical theater. So these shows would sometimes have elaborate set changes that the audience would have to wait while me and my little sister were changing the set behind the curtain. Amazing. Bring a little optimism into your life with The Bright bright side a new kind of daily podcast from hello sunshine hosted by me danielle robay and me simone voice every weekday we're bringing you

conversations about culture the latest trends inspiration and so much more i am so excited about this podcast the bright side you guys are giving people a chance to shine a light on their lives shine a light on a little advice that they want to share. Listen to The Bright Side on America's number one podcast network, iHeart. Open your free iHeart app and search The Bright Side. Jon Stewart is back in the host chair at The Daily Show, which means he's also back in our ears on The Daily Show Ears Edition podcast. The Daily Show podcast has everything you need to stay on top of today's news and pop culture you get hilarious satirical takes on entertainment politics sports and more from john and the team of correspondents and contributors the podcast also has content you can't get anywhere else

like extended interviews and a roundup of the weekly headlines listen to the daily show ears edition on the iheart radio apps, or wherever you get your podcasts. with more entrepreneurs, more trailblazers, more live events, more Martha, and more questions from you. I'm talking to my cosmetic dermatologist, Dr. Dan Belkin, about the secrets behind my skincare. Walter Isaacson, about the geniuses who change the world. Encore Jane about creating a billion-dollar startup. Dr. Elisa Pressman about the five basic strategies to help parents raise good humans. Florence Fabricant about the authenticity in the world of food writing. Be sure to tune in to season two of the Martha Stewart podcast. Listen and subscribe to the Martha Stewart podcast on the iHeartRadio app, Apple podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

iHeart podcast update this week on your free iHeartRadio app. Rachel goes rogue. For the first time, she's ready to tell you the real story on her own terms. What's true, what's false, and the secrets she's been waiting to reveal. Two Jersey Js, from menopause to making the most of your 40s and 50s, follow these fabulous women as they navigate family, friendships, and even frenemies. The Eds. There's so much more to the Eds

than being married to real housewives. These two gentlemen are loved and well-mannered, quite the opposite of their trash-talking wives. Hear these podcasts and more on your free iHeartRadio app or wherever you get your podcasts. Okay, so let me ask you a question. wherever you get your podcasts. Okay. So let me ask you a question. You knew you wanted to be in theater.

You knew you wanted to be a performer of some sort. When did you realize you wanted to tell stories too, though? When was that? When did that become part of the, the game? That's a good question. My,

I have an early memory of standing in front of, um, I think it was fifth grade. We had been given an assignment that we were going to read a story. I may have told this before in the podcast. We were told to read a story and then we were going to read – those who wanted to could read it in front of the classroom. And I wrote my story and I included – the characters in my story were kids in the class. So I made them the – certain kids in the class. So I made them the certain kids in the class that were, you know,

popular or everybody liked. I kind of made them the protagonists. And then when I, and it was funny. And when I read the story, the whole class, including the teacher, were belly laughing. And I remember like looking up being like this feeling of, I wrote this at my desk and all of these kids, including that teacher, are cracking up is up, was like a eureka moment for me. Like, oh, I want to keep doing this. Like this, not only performing it, but the fact that these are my thoughts. That I said, Naima Johnson did something funny on this adventure that I'd made up. Whatever it was, it was a great, it was a great feeling. And I think that it sort of just kind of dovetailed into all the things I

was doing, the community theater, the camp and stuff like that. Did you get a lot of calls from school about how creative your son was, Anne? When he was in school, he didn't do a lot of theater. He did theater camp in the summer. But one story I do remember is when he was in high school, he was very active in the television and radio station they had at the high school. AFV? What was it? What did you call it? Well, in college, it was called RTVF. I forgot what the high school version of it was. Which is where you roll in the TV. Oh, the AV squad. The AV squad.

I told everyone, Mom, about how I was – when I was younger, I thought I was so cool because I was on the team that would roll the projectors into the classroom. And I just – I thought I was Fonzie. I just thought there was nobody cooler than me because I was wheeling that projector into the classroom. There you are. I mean, yeah. But go ahead tell them tell the story about itself the story is that um there was a news program that um was was um on a local station you know that they had in the community and so they did a real news program i

think every week sack i don't know something like that yeah anyway I remember it was channel 35 yes and you were uh I guess for a series of them or a couple of them you were the director yeah and uh you won director of the year at yes in high school at you know my first award for directing yes and this is one of the moments I remember being very proud of you and it's happened since then, but this was one of the first, the man who ran the program came over to me afterwards and said, you have no idea how wonderful he is with all the people who are doing this program. He's talking to them through the microphone and telling them they're doing a great job. He's telling them that was wonderful. I love that. When they make a mistake, he's telling them, don't worry. He's whispering to them. And he said, I never saw anything like that. So it made me very proud of you as a person. You brought tears to my eyes, mom, because I love that you

told that story. But also I it was a very happy time. You know, I did feel quite alienated in high school, as you know. I had friends and everything, but I just couldn't. I wasn't into sports and I couldn't find my thing. And in that TV group, I found my people. And in directing, I found a thing that really lit me up. And I have really happy memories from being there. So I just have to say one more thing, that every time I visit one of your sets,

you've been going for a while. You all know each other. The thing is humming and somebody, at least one person, often more come over to me and say, your son is running a beautiful set here. We all love each other and we love him. And that's a beautiful thing. And that started with that director in high school. Yeah. Mr. Mullen. Yeah. Yeah. Shout out, Mr. Mullen. I bet you never thought you'd get a shout out, Mr. Mullen. Mr. Mullen, I don't know if you'll listen to the, I truthfully, I'm not even sure if he's still with us, but he was a wonderful teacher, and it was a great experience.

Wow. I wonder if any of my teachers listen to our podcast. If you do, and you failed me, and you thought I wasn't going to amount to anything, in your face. Oh, my God. Yeah. In your face.

Look at that. I remember I had a teacher that um my charms didn't work on her and she she this was at the height of family ties i think and uh and i thought i thought i was uh i thought i was a little like alex p keaton and and and but i this is so she she came uh she we were all waiting outside the class and she showed up late. And I think I was like trying to be like a funny wise ass. And I was like pointing to my watch. And she turned to me and she said, Zach, I'm really not into the whole Alex P. Keaton thing. Oh.

I never forgot that. That had to feel good. It hurt my feelings that she didn't think my Alex P Keaton esque charm was charming but I but but I did the fact that you the fact that she knew that you were doing Alex P Keaton without you being like I'm doing Alex P Keaton no I mean I'm saying I was trying to be the silver lining right there the silver lining is freaking I'm a genius actor because I'm an impressionist because I was playing a character and you picked up on it.

Yes, you got what I was going with. Wait, I was thinking about something. What were we talking about right before that? We were talking about you, bud. Yeah, I blanked on something. So, Mom, what was it like? No, but go back to, obviously I wanted to talk about Scrubs.

Do you remember when I called you? I think you were the first call I made when I, because after my sixth audition for Scrubs, I had a Motorola StarTech, if you recall those, and I put it on the, I had been told that I will know sooner, I'd know probably today or tomorrow. And I put the Motorola StarTech, I remember, on the passenger seat of my Nissan 240SX. And I just started driving on the 101 freeway. And my phone rang. And it was, I believe it was Bill Lawrence who said, I'm not supposed to tell you because

other people want to tell you, but you got it. And I'm so excited. And I was freaking out. And I said, you know, I knew that you would be my first call. So do you remember that moment at all? I do. I do remember the call exactly. And I remember I didn't know about all the callbacks.

I didn't know the process at all because I think you were kind of holding back because it was very big. And I don't think he wanted to get us all excited, you know, then be disappointed. And it's not like that phone call when you got to tell your mom, I didn't get the part. So I'm sure you heard. I know. And I think I had turned, but with both of my parents, I think I'd gotten to a place, you know, I was waiting tables. I was in a lull, you know, being an actor, there's highs and lows at all stages. And at this

stage I had gotten some Indies and I'd gotten some stuff, but I was kind of at a lull. I was working as a waiter and I didn't want them to get excited before there was any, you know, so I would, I would even if I, even when I was six auditions in, I was probably minimizing it because I didn't want to disappoint them, you know? Yes. Yes. I'm sure you were. But it was very, very exciting. And then what I think happened was that it grew on me. I began to realize over a period of days and even weeks what this was going to be. Just the first season. We didn't know, of course, that it would be many seasons.

And then it started to do very well. The ratings were extremely good. And it was exciting, very, very exciting. Sarah came over to the house and everyone instantly fell in love with Sarah as you do in real life. And I remember at one point, you know, I had had girlfriends that weren't exactly helping around the house that much as a mom would like. And I remember Sarah was over just as a friend, but there she was at the kitchen sink doing dishes from dinner. And she called out. She was like, did anyone let the dog out? And my mom was like i love her i remember that i remember sari doing the dishes and calling over the water did anyone let the dog out and my mom turning you like i love her Oh my God. You can marry her right now.

I know. Well, she is quite a catch. And we miss her. She's coming on the show a bunch, but we don't see her that much because she's in Canada. Tell me about, do you remember visiting set for the first time and what that was like? Yes, because it was like nothing I had ever done before in my life. You know, I'd never seen a set of that size and complexity.

Oh, wait, pause. Look who it is. There she is. Anne. Hi, sweetheart. How are you? I'm good. How are you?

I'm good. I'm good. It's wonderful to see your face. Well, thank you. I just took my anti-aging face LED mask off. Oh, that's why you look 14. Yes, thank you. Thank you. Thank you. It works. In the closet with your headphones on.

Yeah, Mom, I don't know if you know this. I know you listen to the show sometimes, but this is Donald's home studio in their walk-in closet. I definitely know about the closet. This beautiful dry cleaning. Yeah, we always get to see when you've picked up the dry cleaning. I was actually thinking about it this morning. I was like, I need to redo the closet for this live show. Now that we have HD cameras, everything is going cameras we you know we everything is more everything's gonna be clearer oh my god that's so scary we got to figure something out this week

and congratulations they're so cute i love looking at the um online they're just adorable oh they're ready to come visit you whenever you want oh that would be so good now we're out of this terrible time that we are all in and we can visit i know we miss you so much we haven't seen you in so long last time we saw you was like zach's birth like a little bit after was it i don't know it's been a while it will it will have been a over a year probably my birthday is april 6th coming up um those of you who want to shower me with presents no we know we we know everybody make sure it's in your calendar casey make sure it's in your calendar it's on my calendar every year all right we got to go because we have a call okay i love you tell my mom that she's wonderful

i tell her all the time i tell her on instagram all the time we liked each other from the first moment yes always because casey's the kind of woman who'll say, did anyone let the dog out? No, Casey won't say, did anyone let the dog out? She's not a dog. I don't even know what that means. It wasn't there. So we have a caller, guys.

We should go to break first. Let's go to break. We're going to go to break, and then we're going to take a caller that Joelle found to ask my mom a question about talking to your children when you're going through a very shitty thing called a divorce. We'll be right back after these messages. Bring a little optimism into your life with The Bright Side, a new kind of daily podcast from Hello Sunshine. Hosted by me, Danielle Robay.

And me, Simone Boyce. Every weekday, we're bringing you conversations about culture, the latest trends, inspiration, and so much more. I am so excited about this podcast, The Bright Side. You guys are giving people a chance to shine a light on their lives, shine a light on a little advice that they want to share. Listen to The Bright Side on America's number one podcast network, iHeart. Open your free iHeart app and search The Bright Side.

Jon Stewart is back in the host chair at The Daily Show, which means he's also back in our ears on The Daily Show Ears Edition podcast. The Daily Show podcast has everything you need to stay on top of today's news and pop culture. You get hilarious, satirical takes on entertainment, politics,

sports, and more from Jon and the team of correspondents and contributors. The podcast also has content you can't get anywhere else, like extended interviews and a roundup of the weekly headlines. Listen to The Daily Show, ears edition on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. you get your podcasts. Hi, I'm Martha Stewart, and we're back with a new season of my podcast. This season will be even more revealing and more personal with more entrepreneurs, more trailblazers, more live events, more Martha, and more questions from you. I'm talking to my cosmetic dermatologist, Dr. Dan Belkin,

about the secrets behind my skincare. Walter Isaacson, about the geniuses who change the world. Encore Jane, about creating a billion-dollar startup. Dr. Elisa Pressman, about the five basic strategies to help parents raise good humans. Florence Fabrikant, about the five basic strategies to help parents raise good humans. Florence Fabrikant, about the authenticity in the world of food writing. Be sure to tune in to season two of the Martha Stewart podcast. Listen and subscribe to the Martha Stewart podcast on the iHeartRadio app, Apple podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. iHeart podcast update this week on your. iHeart Podcast Update. This week on your free iHeartRadio app.

Rachel goes rogue. For the first time, she's ready to tell you the real story on her own terms. What's true, what's false, and the secrets she's been waiting to reveal. Two Jersey Jays. From menopause to making the most of your 40s and 50s, follow these fabulous women as they navigate family, friendships, and even frenemies. The Eds. There's so much more to the Eds than being married to real housewives. These two gentlemen are loved and well-mannered,

quite the opposite of their trash-talking wives. Hear these podcasts and more on your free iHeartRadio app or wherever you get your podcasts. Scrubs Rewatch Show with Zach and Donald. And we are back. Back. All right, we're back, we're back, we're back. We are back Back Back All right, we're back, we're back We are back

And Joelle, bring in the caller to answer the caller's question Say hello to Chrissy Martell Give it up for Chrissy Martell Raise your thunderous applause, Chrissy We're giving you thunderous applause The soundboard works I am so excited This is like a dream come true. Oh, you're very sweet. We're so happy that you're here and that you're willing to come on. And so

you've got, you see Joelle and Daniel. I don't know where the boxes are for you. That's Donald, who you recognize. And that beautiful woman with the scarf is my mom, Anne. Hello. It's so, I'm just honored to meet you. It's so exciting. That's amazing. Well, we're glad to have you. Where are you calling from, Chrissy? Aurora, Illinois, a western suburb of Chicago. Chicago in the house?

Okay. I know why Joelle got you on the line. Chicago natives stick together. You Illinois girls stick together. Yes. If you're from Illinois and you write in, you're way more likely to get picked if you brag about loving Illinois in the subject. Just brag about that or brag about Northwestern.

One or the other. Well, I don't read them. Joelle does. So maybe you could say that you love Rebels, you love Ganja, you love all things that Joelle might enjoy. PS5. Ganja's legal here now, so, you know.

Oh, nice. Welcome to the club. New Jersey, too, by the way. All right, listen, Chrissy, we had you on because we have the gift of having a brilliant child psychologist here who's written a new book called The Falling Down Time, which is aimed to help children roughly six to ten, mom, deal with helping parents talk to their children. And we had you on because I understand that you're going through a divorce and have children of this age. And we thought maybe you could ask my mom a question that would help facilitate more conversation for people that are in a similar place.

So go ahead with your question. I would love to, um, is it Dr. Brudzinski? You can say Ann, but please call me. Well, Ann, it's, it's a pleasure. Um, so yes, I am going through divorce. I am also a divorce attorney. So I was telling Joelle, I'm going the DIY route, uh. But you know, it's, it is what it is. And this has been a tough year for a lot of parents and a lot of parents of kids with special needs, which I happen to be. I have two children, ages four and a half and three. He's actually Oscar, he's going to be turning three on Tuesday. So they are a handful. They're awesome boys. They both are autistic and, you know, it's just tough sometimes. And so parenting can be difficult.

But really what I care most about is them. And I think that's what I always tell my clients. The most important thing is the best interest of the children, making sure they're okay. And so my question is, you know, when I am with my boys, and they're a little bit younger than your target audience, but as they grow, you know, these things will probably be important too. They're too young for this book. Yeah. enough for it. And just as they get old enough to maybe understand a little bit better about mom and dad not living in the same house anymore. You know, there'll be a lot of questions. But the one thing that I really care about the most is just how they're feeling. And sometimes they'll be sad, and I can't exactly understand why. And so I'm wondering, should I ask them specifically, are you sad because dad's not here? Or should I ask them, why are you sad? You know, because I don't want to bring it up if it's not on their mind, but I also don't want to glaze over it if it is something that I should, you know,

address at any given time. Right. So, of course, I don't know your children. And so I'm answering in a kind of a global way, but you'll take from it whatever works for you and your kids. In general, it's safe to say knowing why a child is sad is less important than being a person who notices that they're sad. So really for your three-year-old, most three-year-olds don't really know why they're sad unless something just happened, like someone took their toy or they dropped some food or whatever it is. They know about that sad, but the larger issues, which are in your case, sadness, certainly about the divorce and some grief probably as well, three-year-olds feel, but they don't know how to tell you. They don't have the language to tell you. So the best thing to do if you sense that

three-year-old is sad is to kind of maybe curl up in a nice cozy place and get the stuffed animal that's the favorite and read a favorite book maybe some food some good food and do a little snuggling and just kind of be together and make a plan for later rather than try to find out. What you're doing is really acting as though you know, and that is the most important thing. I love that. And for your four-year-old, it's a little different. Four and a half year old, it's a little different. And again, you will judge this from your kids and whatever parts of autism are affecting them. But for four and a half year old, you can be a little more explicit. But rather than say, what are you sad about? One of the things I like to do a lot of drawings with kids this age, they love to

draw. So you can do what I call a temperature tower. It's just a simple line, a vertical line with one at the bottom and 100 at the top. And you draw one for you and you draw one for your child with their name at the top. And the temperature chart is how am I feeling right now? And you do yours first. And you say, well, I'm about a seven. I'm okay. But, you know, I might be a five. I don't know. Wait, sorry, mom.

You mean one to ten or one to a hundred? Sorry, I should have said one to ten. It doesn't matter. Yeah, but so you're saying let's stick with one to ten because that's where you started. started. So you say one to 10. So you say I'm a five or I'm a seven, whatever, rather than even if you're a one, I wouldn't go there, I would just sort of stay in the middle. But it gives the child that's listening to you an option to not be a 10. Now the child may say I'm 10. And that's interesting. But if you've come through a little period of sadness, and you sense something, you could say, okay, you're a 10. Wow, that's amazing.

Sometimes I'm a 10, but I'm not always a 10. So it's a kind of a way that you're communicating together, that you know, that it isn't always okay. And you may get a conversation out of that from your four and a half year old, a little bit of conversation. You can also say, well, when I do such and such, I feel like a 10. And when I do this, I tend to feel down a little bit lower. Do you have any things that make you higher or lower? Another thing is what I call a frown box. So you don't say it's a sad box, but a frown box is any little box that you find and some objects,

they could be stones that aren't swallowable or whatever. And you take turns putting things in the box and you call them frowns and you say what you're frowning about. So you participate in this as well. So that part of it is that the child feels that I'm a human being. I'm like my mom. And I'm, you know, if your husband, your ex-husband could do this too, it would be wonderful for them to share this with him, both the temperature towers and the frown box. So you get to see, you're a child, but you get to see, I'm not, there's nothing wrong with me that I have these feelings. I have these feelings, but so do my mom and dad. Yeah. One of the most powerful things that I've shared with the listeners here, mom, that you always said to me is, you know, and you said it to me as a child, and I think of it now when I'm about to turn 46, which is you said, I would share with you something that was upsetting me. And you go, well, of course, that makes total sense. If you didn't feel that way, there'd be something wrong with you. When you're going through this XYZ experience, if you didn't feel ABC, there'd be something the matter with you.

We've adopted that in our house. Oh, you have? I found that- Since you said that, Zach, we've started doing that. Yeah, well, that's all my mom. That's her specialty. Another thing I wanted to say, mom, that you gave me that really helped me as a child. They were these worry dolls. I don't know if they, were they a Mexican custom? They still sell them. Yeah. I'm sure you might find them on Amazon or just on the internet somewhere. I believe they're called Mexican worry dolls and they're, they're, they're, they're minuscule. They're, they're about a

centimeter high and they go in a little container. And what you do is my mom, as my mom taught me is for a worrying child. And I was a kid who worried a lot is you, you teach each, you tell each figure, uh, one of your worries and you put them in the little canister next to your bed. And while you're sleeping, they work on your worries. So it's like the child can have their anxiety relieved. Cause like, don't worry. These dolls are specifically meant to work. That's all they do is they work on worries. And I remember being a kid and being like, this is a big worry. So I would like talk to them. I'm like, look, I'm going to need six of you guys on this worry. No, I would, I would totally like

give them tasks. And I'd be like, look, I need everybody, but you, you're going to, you have a little small worry, but you guys are all on this main worry. And I, and I really believed it and, and, um, and took comfort in knowing that while I was sleeping, they'd be attacking the worry. It was awesome. They don't take it away, but they work on it. Yeah, they work for you. And I love it for two reasons. In my household, my boys are, I'm white and my husband's Mexican. So they would, it would be great for them. I'm always trying to incorporate, you know, um, their culture and that would be cool. But also, um, sleeping is tough just for us in general, kids with autism are always up in the middle of the night and, uh, we're still working on that. But if that could be something that could help them stay in their own bed and stay, you know, not have to, cause I'm a sandwich right now. I'll have both boys on either

side of me and, and they just roll right into me. So I'm like trying to teach them to sleep in their own beds and stuff. And, and that's a great idea. I'm going to look those up. Yeah. I got a lot. It was, it was, I was so lucky to have a child psychologist mom because she, um, and people always joke with me over the years, like, Oh, cause my stepfather was a psychologist and my stepmother is a therapist and people were like, oh, because my stepfather is a psychologist and my stepmother is a therapist. And people are like, oh, are they always all analyzing you? And the truth is I didn't feel that at all. I felt like I was really well listened to.

They understood the importance of listening to the child and hearing what they have to say. And I always felt heard. And so you were never like in a room with a big mirror ever. What do you mean like you you never ever were in like a room with a mirror like oh you mean like a two-way mirror where they were analyzing me no no thank goodness no no but also but also you're right though when you say stuff like that that's the first thing you go to it's's like, wow, you had a lot of therapy in your life. Yes, yes. So how does that work?

My father in his later years taught a marriage counseling course with my stepmother. So then he got on the therapy train, too. He's getting in from all sides. It's important. I mean, you can tell when you listen to this podcast that Zach, especially you have had a lot of words of wisdom in your life because you have such empathy with everyone that you talk to. And I just think that that's one of the best parts about listening. I mean, I love the show. I love everything about it. But I will say, and you raised a nice young man who is very empathetic to people and kind. And I just think that it's so cool to listen and see that your two favorite actors are really good people. And they're just fun talking to one another. And it's just so much fun listening to them. You're very sweet. Chrissy, I heard everything you just said. You said Zach is empathetic and I'm not.

I heard you. No. I heard you. No, no, no. I heard you. I'm sure when Chrissy's back on for your mom's show, she'll say the same thing about you. I am good with moms.

So, you know, I'm just kidding. That means a lot to me, Chrissy. And yes, not only did I have empathetic therapists in my life, but I also was in therapy. There was no stigma in my family about going to therapy or

seeking out new age things, whether it be books or courses. The environment was very open to working on yourself. I know plenty of people listening. I'm sure their families were the opposite. There was something wrong with you if you were going with a therapist or there was something wrong with you if you're reading a self-help book or had interest in a workshop. So I'm very blessed that I had a family that was like, do it all, read everything, you know, take that wacky workshop where you're walking on coals or whatever it is. That's it. It's very interesting. Our parents kind of had the same type of, not the same upbringing, but had a lot of the same interests. And so because of that, Zach and I have a very similar upbringing where we took workshops, and you know what I mean?

And therapy wasn't looked at as something bad, you know? It's really interesting. It's really, I find that the most interesting about our friendship. It's like we were destined to meet, if you ask me, because a lot of the things that we went through as kids are just too similar, you know? It's just we have- Well, now that we learned that we both would sneak into

the high school theater to play with the lighting board. I told Donald, Mom, on the last show that I would sneak- while other kids were sneaking behind the school to smoke cigarettes, I would sneak into the school auditorium to play with the ancient lighting board. And Donald was like, I did too. But he did it because he was in the AV club,

man. I did it because I thought it was like, you know, I was freaking flying a Millennium Falcon, turning everything into light speed. Right. That was great. Well, I hope that that was helpful, Chrissy.

I would say fix your life, but I'm scared. No, we don't want to. We don't know if we're going to. This isn't a fix your life segment, but definitely get a copy. Do you want to fix your life? Do you want to fix your life?

I actually had just a quick question about it, but I am interested in the book too. Yeah, so get the book, The Falling Down Time. Do you want to fix your life? Do you want to fix your life? I actually had just a quick question about it, but I am interested in the book too. Yeah, so get the book, The Falling Down Time. Your kids are obviously a little young for it. But my client's kids will be loving it. But you're a divorcee, but this should be on your coffee table in your office for your clients. Absolutely. The Falling Down Time. And I can tell them where I found it and they'll just be like, what?

You were on that podcast? Oh my gosh. You know what? I'll tell them where I found it and they'll just be like, what? You were on that podcast? Oh, my gosh. You know what? You can put a Post-it note on this on the coffee table in your waiting room that says, Zach Braff's mom wrote this awesome book.

I will. The Falling Down Time, which is on Amazon. Let's take a break. We'll be right back after these fine words. Bring a little optimism into your life with The Bright Side, a new kind of daily podcast from Hello Sunshine. Hosted by me, Danielle Robay. And podcast, The Bright Side. You guys are giving people a chance to shine a light on their lives,

shine a light on a little advice that they want to share. Listen to The Bright Side on America's number one podcast network, iHeart. Open your free iHeart app and search The Bright Side. Jon Stewart is back in the host chair at The Daily Show, which means he's also back in our ears on The Daily Show Ears Edition podcast. The Daily Show podcast has everything you need to stay on top of today's news and pop culture. You get hilarious satirical takes on entertainment, politics, sports, and more from John and the team of correspondents and contributors. The podcast also has content you can't get anywhere else, like extended interviews and

a roundup of the weekly headlines. Listen to The Daily Show, ears edition on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hi, I'm Martha Stewart, and we're back with a new season of my podcast. This season will be even more revealing and more personal, with more entrepreneurs, more trailblazers, more live events, more Martha, and more questions from you. I'm talking to my cosmetic dermatologist, Dr. Dan Belkin, about the secrets behind my skincare. Walter Isaacson, about the geniuses who change the world. Encore Jane, about creating a billion-dollar startup.

Dr. Elisa Pressman, about the five basic strategies to help parents raise good humans. Florence Fabrikant, about the authenticity in the world of food writing. Be sure to tune in to season two of the Martha Stewart Podcast. Listen and subscribe to the Martha Stewart Podcast on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. iHeart Podcast update this week on your free iHeartRadio app. Rachel goes rogue. For the first time, she's ready to tell you the real story on her own terms.

What's true, what's false, and the secrets she's been waiting to reveal. Two Jersey J's. From menopause to making the most of your 40s and 50s, follow these fabulous women as they navigate family, friendships, and even frenemies. The Eds. There's so much more to the Eds than being married to real housewives. These two gentlemen are loved and well-mannered, quite the opposite of their trash-talking wives. Hear these podcasts and more on your free iHeartRadio app or wherever you get your podcasts.

Okay, Donald is giving you a fix your life opportunity. I wasn't going to do it, but he's the co-host. Ladies and gentlemen, it's time for Illinois' favorite segment. It's time to fix your life! All right, go ahead, Chrissy. Okay, well, it's pretty simple. I am single. So I'm just kind of ready to start dating.

I know it sounds like, you know, people, everyone does it at their own pace whenever the time is right. Right. For me, I'm feeling the time is right. I am, and I apologize to my ex if he's listening to this. Sorry. But he can date to whatever. I, I have two awesome kids and they are young and will obviously we're a package deal, but I want to get to know someone for who they are. I want them to get to know me for who I am. You know, when is the right time to tell people about it? What do I how do I approach this subject? I mean, I think, Donald, you would know what it's like dating when you already have children and obviously finding someone that you want to be a companion with.

already have children and, and obviously finding someone that you want to be a companion with. And then, and then I am still open to having children someday. I'm 32. So I have time and would love to start a life with someone in that way. But also right now I'm just looking to date too. Right. That's normal. And you should, and there's nothing wrong with that. Have you started, the obvious question that comes to mind is the apps. Have you tried, and you don't have to go on the Tinder, of course, but like one of the more ones for relationships like Match and such. Have you done any of that? Yeah.

Funny enough, I met my husband on eHarmony. So that one's out. Yeah. No more eHarmony. No more eHarmony. Done with that one. It doesn't stick. So that one's out.

Yeah. No more eHarmony. No more eHarmony. Done with that one. It doesn't stick. So I did, yeah, I looked at some of the apps. I got on them. Then I got off of them.

Then I got on again. And I'm like, I've talked to people. I've gone on a couple dates. I just don't want to like rope somebody in and then be like, by the way, I have two kids. Well, I think in your match profile, you and your match, if I was advising you as your dating advisor, I would not, I would have your beautiful children in somewhere in your match profile, pictures of you happy with your kids, you know, so you're never misleading anyone. I'm a, I'm a mom of two. I mean, there's think how many people are out there dating with children. It's not the kind of man you're going to be looking for is not someone who's going to be afraid of that, obviously. Yeah. I was going to say, if you find somebody and you say, I have kids and that's a deal breaker for them, that wasn't the person for you anyway,

right? So, you know, I don't think there is a scenario where you don't automate, where from the gate, you should be telling people i'm a single mother you know um i think the more honest and open you are you'll attract the type of person you're looking for you know where uh so i i i wouldn't i wouldn't worry about i wouldn't worry about that you'll also remove the anxiety um right away that oh i'm gonna be misleading and found out like no you're being right up front like don't don't come knocking if you're not interested in. They'll still come knocking. Trust me.

Yeah, they'll still come knocking. They'll still come knocking. Oh, yeah. I've had a couple of those. Yeah. But you might also, I mean, you know, full disclosure, you might want some fun and just some fun dating. You might, after being in a marriage and going through this divorce, which doesn't sound,

might, after being in a marriage and going through this divorce, which doesn't sound, which obviously is unpleasant, you know, give yourself license to date and have fun and maybe not necessarily go right for the guy who's maybe going to be your next husband and stepfather to your kids. You might want to have a little fun dating time with people that aren't necessarily father material, but fun, fun dating material. At the end of the day, and if it does get to the point where it does become that serious, you could say, well, you know, I got into, I wasn't, I was, I'm a divorced parent. I wasn't really looking for a relationship where we are now is where we are. And so I'm opening up more to you, but to be, I was just trying to get out there and meet new people, to be honest

with you. And you just so happened to get serious with you. So if you want to keep it light, it's all right to keep it light too. It depends on what it is that you want to do, as Zach just said. If you're looking for another relationship, I would be as open as possible when letting everyone know who you are, if that's what you want. I always feel if you're withholding anything, then you're always going to have this anxiety in your head about, oh, what if he finds out? So just get rid of it right off the bat by being open with it

in your profile of whatever dating site you're using. But if you're going out to have fun, who cares? It's none of their business. Yeah, you can have two profiles, my dating for a fun romp profile with no kids. And then your relationship profile with kids. Mom, what do you think of me and Donald's pop psychology? Are we doing a good job?

You're terrific. I wouldn't add anything. Oh, there you go. I never in a million years thought I would get dating advice from Zach Braff. Well, we give great advice. And we're just PhD approved by my mom to give counseling. So there you go. Joelle, Joelle's out on the dating market.

Do you have any tips for her? Um, no, that all sounded really good to me. Uh, just being honest and upfront and, you know, uh, have fun. Dating should be fun. So Joelle's about to go on two dates in front of a lot of people. Uh, the live show, Chrissy, are you going to join us for the live show? I already got my ticket. I'm mom. Are you join us for the live show? I already got my ticket. Mom, are you joining us for the live show?

Do you even know about it? Absolutely. All right, Friday, everyone listen. Guess whose mom doesn't know about the live show? You got to get your mom on board, Donald. Now, Mom, do you still listen regularly? Be honest. It's okay if you're not fully up to date.

I listen intermittently. Okay, well, I want to tell you something. When Donald and I started this podcast, Chrissy, we made a joke saying a handful of Scrubs fans will listen and maybe our moms. Turns out both of our moms have checked out. Well, I'm in it for the long haul. It's become a global sensation, but our moms, nah, they're over it. They know you well enough that this is not exciting for them but for us it's like we're getting to know you and like know who you are it's

oh my gosh it's fascinating and i was just you know i'm such a diehard that everybody comes on here and they say oh i didn't like season nine i liked it more scrubs is good let me ask you a question when's the last time you watched season nine? Well. And how many times did you watch season nine? More importantly, Chrissy, what are your feelings on the soundboard? Are you pro soundboard? No. No soundboard.

You are no soundboard, Chrissy. No. Let her answer. Go ahead. No. Chrissy, what are your thoughts? You like it. Yes.

A lot of people do. Casey, what are your thoughts on the soundboard? Zach, I love you. Oh, well, that wasn't lot of people do. Casey, what are your thoughts on the soundboard? Zach, I love you. Oh, well, that wasn't about me. I was talking about the soundboard. You asked for it. You asked for it, Zach. No, where are you going?

You asked for it. Uh-oh. Oh, no. He has to go get mom. This is a new thing. He likes to bring Casey on the show multiple times. You know what it is? He's so obsessed with his wife that he can't spend an hour away from her, so he has to go get her.

That's the kind of love I'm looking for. Exactly. That's the kind of man I want, too. And she's, I know both women and both single women are like, that's what I want. Where is he? Oh, my God. He's, he literally, Mom, he can't do an hour podcast. I'm going to get Casey.

He had you on the show, and he recorded you saying stuff. And so now he's using the soundboard. He got his mom and a caller on. And he's saying some really mean things. Well, I don't know. No. No, Casey. No.

I assure you he is not. Casey, he's being crazy. Are you on drugs? Yes, he is. We know that he is. Oh, my God. I'm like, what is a soundboard? What does that mean?

No, Casey, I recorded this. Listen. Okay. Zach, I love you. Zach, I love you. Zach, Zach, Zach, Zach, I love you. And I sometimes play it when I feel I need to hear your voice. Do mine.

As you should. Let her hear the ones. Oh, and here's Donald. Wu-Tang forever. Here's Donald. Here's theang forever. And here's Donald. Here's the other one. Do or do not. There is no try.

Oh, and here's Donald's favorite sound, Casey. Oh, God. All right, come on. Casey, with all due respect, we got to wrap this show up. I'm not the one who keeps coming up here. I know your husband, who is obsessed with you, had to go get you. You're the one that's in here now. Oh, my God.

Zach, I love you. No, babe. No. Thank you. Oh, I love that woman. That was a fresh one for the listeners. I love that one. By the way, listeners, that last one was not the board, listeners.

That was her. Hey, Donald, I got to tell you, while you were getting Casey, and I said to the audience, and my mom, I go, God, this guy is so obsessed with his wife. He can't be without her for an hour. And both single women went, that's what I want. Ideal husband material over here. I want a relationship that's like Turk and Carla.

They're just so real to one real another they're so in love but then i also love how jd and elliot he says at the end elliot you're my dream woman i just love it yeah well i mean for that to happen you gotta be either turk or carla you know what i mean relationships like that are on television. The real relationships are going to have ups and downs. Turkey and Carla never really had ups and downs, man. Their ups and downs was what are we going to name Izzy? You know what I mean? Or, you know, like television relationships are meant to be just that, to uplift you and to want you to experience love like that but you know what about I mean Bill Lawrence I would say to his credit I would say he put in storylines about divorced

people and now he has Ted Lasso and and and I think those things are important too because when you're watching things you kind of want to see scenarios that play out that you you know what would you do in that situation or who's, you know. But on TV, it just seems like they always end up, you know, it always ends up the right way on television. You know, that's the, that's the only thing like me personally, I wanted to, I wanted movies. I wanted to be in relationships, like in the movies I saw like 16 candles and, relationships like in the movies I saw, like 16 Candles and or The Breakfast Club and or, you know, those were ideal to me. And I tried really hard over and over again to find that. And I'm gonna tell you something right now. It's only in the movies, man. And then if I found something that

was close to it, I really didn't want it, you know? Well, the movies don't always reflect how difficult it is and how much work a healthy relationship takes. It's a lot of work. So what you see me and my wife do is, I mean, it's our shtick and we've perfected it. But, you know, I want all the listeners out there to know that you get the show. You know what I mean? Yeah.

But you are, I will say this about you. Of course, you're a normal couple that go through your hard times and your arguments. But I will say that you are a very doting, loving husband. You give her a lot of love. Yeah. Have you seen my wife? Yeah, she's a knockout. Yeah, I'm saying, man.

Zach, I love you. I don't appreciate that. I don't appreciate that. We'll get Florence on here going, Donald, I love you. I don't appreciate that. I don't appreciate that. We'll get Florence on here going, Donald, I love you. All right, guys. Chrissy, thank you for coming on. We really appreciate it. And good luck with all that's going on in your life.

Thank you so much. Like I said, it was a dream come true. And good luck to you. I guess I'll see you at the live show. We'll see you at the live show. We're so excited. Listen, if you can get on the chat or if you want to shout out Joelle or something like that, do it. Maybe we'll get you on the live show too.

We'll see. We don't know. We don't know. Repeat customer. Oh, my gosh. All right, Chrissy. Thank you. I love you.

Bye. Bye, guys. Bye-bye. Bye, Chrissy. Take care. Well, that's our show, guys. Don't forget to pick up The Falling Downtime if you're someone who's going through a divorce and need to talk to your children or if someone in your life is going through that situation. It's available on Amazon. is a beautiful, beautiful book that addresses the subject of the birth mother to the child.

And that's called The Mulberry Bird, also available on Amazon. Mom, did you have fun? I had a lot of fun. Thank you for giving me this chance. It was terrific. Well, I love you very much. I love you too.

See you on the live show. And I love you, Donald. And everyone, so please join us. Our next show is the live show. We'll be watching My Qu and everyone so please join us our next show is the live show we'll be watching my quarantine all sorts of fun all sorts of adventures you'll be seeing us with our new fancy webcams that that we bought and um lots of guest appearances and fun and laughter right tank forever forever all right count us out, Donald. Five, six, seven, eight. I said he's got stories about a show we made About a bunch of docs and nurses and a janitor who loved to hate

I said he's got stories that we all should know So gather round to hear our Gather round to hear our Scrubs Rewatch Show with Zach and Donald Mm-hmm. Bring a little optimism into your life with The Bright Side, a new kind of daily podcast from Hello Sunshine. Hosted by me, Danielle Robay.

And me, Simone Boyce. Every weekday, we're bringing you conversations about culture, the latest trends, inspiration, and so much more. I am so excited about this podcast, The Bright Side. You guys are giving people a chance to shine a light on their lives, shine a light on a little advice that they want to share. Listen to The Bright Side on America's number one podcast network, iHeart. Open your free iHeart app and search The Bright Side.

I'm Raquel Willis. Join me on my new podcast, Queer Chronicles, a show where LGBTQ plus folks tell their own stories in their own words. This season, teens will share all about growing up in political battleground states. We will always exist and we will definitely not let them take away our joy, no matter how hard they try. Listen to Queer Chronicles on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your most fabulous shows. As important as choosing the right destination when traveling is choosing the right travel partner.

Gene! Gene Fodor! Gene, we're good. But be careful, because the worst trips result when two partners have two different agendas. The CIA really need your help, Gene. Freeze, Americano! Gene! Run!

Listen to Fodor's Guide to Espionage on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. I used to have so many men. How this beguiling woman in her 50s She looked like a million bucks. Scams a bunch of famous athletes out of untold fortunes. Nearly $10 million was all gone. It's just unbelievable. Hide your money in your old rich man because she is on the prowl.

Listen to Queen of the Con, Season 5, The Athlete Whisperer on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.