Fake Doctors, Real Friends with Zach and Donald - Brian Baumgartner's Not Kevin IRL

Episode Date: October 15, 2024

Brian Baumgartner is best known as Kevin from The Office. He outlines the series' rapid growth on DVDs, streaming, and the video iPod after its original run on NBC. The series' universal reliability, impeccably stacked cast, and four-episode arcs helped make it a classic. A theater kid at heart, Brian stumbled into television acting after falling in love with Los Angeles. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Hey friends, I'm Jessica Capshaw and this is Kamila Luddington and we have a new podcast, Call It What It Is. You may know us from Graceland Memorial, but did you know that we are actually besties in real life? And as all besties do, we navigate the highs and lows of life together. Big or small, we're there. And now here we are opening up the friendship circle to you. Listen to Call It What It Is on the iHeartRadio app,

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within the span of 17 days and less than 90 miles, two women did something no other woman had done before, try to assassinate the president of the United States. One was the protege of Charles Manson, 26-year-old Lynette Fromm, nicknamed Squeaky. The other, a middle-aged housewife working undercover for the FBI, identified by police as Sarah Jean Moore. The story of one strange and violent summer, this season on the new podcast, Rip Current. In 1982, Atari players had one game on their minds, Sword Quest.

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I'm Steve Byrne. Together we do the Two Cool Moms podcast, which is a podcast where we help dispense advice to our loyal listeners. Everybody has an issue. Everybody has something that they need help with. Right. And that's where we come into play. Because our moms, we're cool moms.

We like to think that we have inherited their maternal advice. And we try to just do some good. Besides being comedians, we love to help. Guys, bring us your queries. They could be personal questions. They could be serious. They could be lighthearted. But know this, we are here for you.

Yeah, you can find us wherever you listen to your podcasts or on the iHeartRadio app. Hey, everybody. Before we start the episode, this is Zach Braff here. I just want to say I have a very big announcement that you're gonna wanna know about. So check out my Instagram on October 17th. You're gonna wanna check in

because I have a very exciting big announcement. So mark your calendars, set an alarm, October 17th around 10 a.m. mega announcement coming. Here's the show. We have a live audience? No, it might be someone in his team or something. I didn't realize we had a live audience. We don't.

If we have a live audience, that'd be kind of cool if we could do that too. We could do this show live? We should do it live. We should have a live audience and sell tickets for the live audience. No, you need to be edited and I need to be edited. Yeah, but the live audience, the live audience can't record, can they? I'm sure they can record and they're just gonna wait for you to say something stupid. Right, it might happen today. It might happen today. It might happen today.

The only reason you and I are still able to do this podcast is because Daniel edits it. Listen, we've said some of the most, you're absolutely right. We've been so insensitive sometimes. Well, when you talk for two hours and you sometimes broach sensitive issues, it's nice to be edited.

You don't always, not everyone is gonna stick the landing with how they phrase things. Not a, listen, I'm gonna say this. Go ahead. My wife was saying this earlier to me today. She was like, baby, there's nothing wrong with middle of the road. And I was like, what are you talking about?

She was like, when you strive to be too famous, things can go wrong just by one thing you say. Right. But when you strive to be just, you know, do you man, make do what you do best. Yes, Donald, I agree. And also, don't throw freak offs because Don't throw freak offs because. Oh, watch it, buddy. I'm not saying anything other than I learned what a freak off was. I didn't I didn't know that freak offs were a thing. I have so many questions where Dan will have to cut it all if we go into it. But I just want to say I'm being educated.

Yeah, can we get a can we get a quick overview of what a freak off is? No, but keeping it 100, man, I get it. Let's only talk about this in a way that Daniel won't have to cut. Right. What is a freak off, Donald? First of all, there's levels to it. And have you ever been to one? First of all, no.

That's what I'm trying to say. There's levels to it. And I am on a certain level. And then there's a whole nother level. I didn't know that there was a freak off. I didn't know there was a a certain level. And then there's a whole nother level. I didn't know that there was a freak off. I didn't know there was a freak off level. I didn't know about the freak off level either. And I like to think I'm well connected.

I now know that I am not even close to connected. You have never been to a freak off, I'm assuming. I've never been to a freak off. Daniel, have you ever been to a freak off? I think I left, I'm sure I left early. I'm still not sure what a freak off is. I assume a freak off is people try and outdo one another with sexual acts so that people are like, whoa, I thought what I was doing was crazy.

What you're doing is next level. And this is a public space. You know, think of it like, think of it like, think of it like, like, it's like a break, like, you step it, step up, step up, step up. Step up to the streets. I wasn't going to say step up. I was going to say like the, you know, the NBA does the, the basketball dunking competition.

No, the dunking competition. Oh, all-star Saturday night. Yeah. I was looking at it as like, step up, like, you bring your crew, I bring my crew, and we freak off. Oh no. I think it's like. You got served in the freak off. You mean like, what's that mean where Julia Stiles learns to break? Save the Last Dance. There's no battling and save the last dance.

No, there's battling and save the last dance. Not like step up or what's the other one that was the one that Mariana was in. Can we go with my analogy please? In the NBA dunking competition. What's the one with Chris Brown? It's like the dunking competition but with sexual acts, I'm assuming, where someone's like, yo, he just went, that was insane.

The crowd goes wild. And now it's me and Tom's turn and we're gonna, let me show you what a freak is. We freaking off. Yeah, oh, they freak. And then the audience is like, wow, they freaked off. Oh, holding up tens, holding up tens, holding up nines. It's a freak off.

It's a freak off. Daniel, have you ever been to one of those, Daniel? You know, I haven't, I'm sorry. I'm missing out on the freak offs. I wonder if I've been to parties where they were like, all right, get everyone out of here who's like normal, and then we're gonna have a freak off. And I'm like, oh, the party's over, going home.

And they're like, get the fucking, get the signs. Get the normies out, like turn off the lights, like get everyone like, oh, we're all leaving, we're all leaving. And then I go home and I'm like in bed, like reading my book and then the freak off starts. Right. Freak off starts.

Right. Wow. By the way, Donald, that movie you were thinking of was Stomp the Yard. Stomp the Yard, that's the one. Columbus Short. Columbus Short and Chris Brown. Donald, I remember.

It was the one with the Marion. Then there's one with a Marion and B2K in them. And they had a real popular one too. And they're trying to, it's like a community center that all the dancers are, I forget the name. The funniest shit is Julia Stiles learning to break dance. That shit's amazing. Have you ever seen that video on the internet?

When she like, she finds the rhythm of the city. Oh, it's amazing. Yo, Doc. Oh, God. You gotta watch's amazing. Yo, Doc. You gotta watch it. Just look on YouTube. You sound like a fucking exec. Oh, you know, what was exactly what you said? She finds the rhythm of the street.

You know they're doing that thing. They're doing that thing. I told that story, right? She finds the rhythm of the city. I just remember there's a clip that's so cringe where she's like, she's learning to break by looking at the rhythm of the city and she sees people playing basketball and then she's like, she's learning to break like by looking at the rhythm of the city and like, she sees people playing basketball

and then she's like, she sees how they move. And then she like- I think that's honey. That's honey. You're thinking of honey. Oh, I'm conflating two movies. That's honey. Yeah, that's honey.

That's what Jessica Alba. Jessica Alba, yeah. Yeah, that's honey. Sorry, it's two different women who learned the rhythm of the streets. So. Learn the rhythm of the streets Yeah, well he's Puffy's in a lot of trouble holy shit, I

Don't think he's gonna get out of jail. I mean I've just been like so much about it I didn't know anything about any of this I really know very little about puffy, but I just been reading as I'm sure a lot of people have, it's insane what's been going on over there. It just goes deeper. Like it just is deeper than we thought it was. That's all. Like I don't know anything. You don't know anything.

Like that just shows, we don't know what goes on. But they brought so many charges. I've been reading like the feds don't bring that many charges unless they like have it all like they don't they don't do what they did with a Rico case unless they like have it all. Right? This is a lot more about this than me. It's all allegedly we got to say it's all allegedly allegedly but I'm saying what little I know about Rico charges and that's very little is that like they don't show their cards until they have it all.

Right. Right? Yeah. It's definitely no joke at this point. Well, I will say this, man, for a really long... It's heartbreaking in a lot of ways too, because Puff was a hero to a lot of young men, a lot of people. You know what I mean?

And if this is the way it goes down, holy shit. Wow. people, you know what I mean? And if this is the way it goes down, holy shit, wow. You know? Well, you might learn, there might be things proven that make him a really horrible, horrible person. We don't know yet. I mean, you know- Well, you know, videos don't lie, you know?

Oh yeah, there's already the video of him. I don't wanna go into it, but anyway, yeah, Daniel? I was just gonna say, you know, it is always disappointing when you find out people that you previously looked up to are monsters. You could say the same thing about Bill Cosby. He was America's dad. He was also a monster.

And it's like, that's tough. This one came out of the blue though. I mean, just because I don't really know much about Puffy, to be honest, I really don't. I know he was, I know all this, like how he influenced hip hop and everything. And I know very little, but know he was a, I know all this, like how he influenced hip hop and everything. And I know very little, but I, I, this, this just came out of like all of a sudden, this, this is the, the mat,

I mean, the articles are everywhere and they're, and they're so crazy. Yeah. The graphic. And people are fucking quitting. Do you see all these people that are, that are quitting, stepping down from their jobs? From their jobs? Yes. They were, they were definitely at the freak off. Well, I don't know if they were at the freak off, that are stepping down from their jobs. From their jobs, yes.

They were definitely at the freak off. Well, I don't know if they were at the freak off, but it's very unusual that all of a sudden people are like, you know what, I'm gonna retire a few years early. But I'm 30. Right. What else should we talk about? I don't know what else to say about the freak off.

Oh, I ran into two actors who love you, Donald, and both want to come on the podcast at the Emmys. Who? Dule Hill. That's right. Well, you know I love me some Dule Hill. Hold on. What? Go ahead.

I love me some Dule Hill. I was at the Emmys recruiting people left and right. And I thought I got Dule to say yes. Okay. That's wonderful. Go on. I'm listening. I got a look at the Emmys recruiting people left and right? And I thought I got Dulay to say yes. Okay, that's wonderful. Go on, I'm listening. I got the card at the Emmys. Did I look good? Do you like my joke?

Donald, you watched my joke? I didn't watch the- No, but my joke, you can watch it on YouTube. You said, oh, I'll watch it on YouTube after this show. Come on, man. I'll watch it after the show. Don't be an asshole to me. I was texting you for your input.

Did it? I know. I knew you didn't watch it. I know. I knew you didn't watch it. You know how I knew you didn't watch it? Cause after it crushed and it did really well, you didn't text me. You didn't text me and be like, yo, you crushed. Daniel, did you watch it? I did watch it and you did crush.

So I'm not gonna reveal it right now because I want Donald to see it. No, he knows the joke because I was texting him for thoughts. We were going over it. I was texting him for thoughts on it. And let me tell you something. It's pretty ballsy to do a joke you never rehearsed in front of millions and millions and millions of people.

Absolutely. Especially a joke that's a little bit complex. It's a little bit complex. Just in its structure. And Bill was helping me with it and he's like, don't go for like four laughs, dude, because you're gonna be milking it. Go for like one solid laugh. And I go, are you kidding me?

I've seen Kristen Wiig up there, like get like five laughs out of one sentence. Like I'm going to try to like milk the fucking thing. I only got like one line. And, and so it's so ballsy because we never rehearsed. And I went up there and it fucking crushed. I got like four laughs out of like two sentences. That's fucking awesome, dude. You crushed. That's awesome. You know what it's like though? It's being like a parent because you do it to me sometimes and I know why you do it. I'll have something that's coming out and instead of going right away to go see that shit, I'll wait because I want, I don't want it to be bad and I don't want it to be bad

and I don't want it to be, you know what I mean? And me have to look you in the face. So I'll wait. And you do the same. I'm surprised you don't watch that. You do the same thing to me, fucker. Don't even try it, man. It took you 19 years to see Remember the Titans.

So don't even try it. That was really bad. But that's just cause like, I don't know why. I was weird. But I gotta tell you, I was really nervous about it because to get up in front of that room, I mean, it's like all of the people killing it in Hollywood and then of course,

all the millions of people who are watching at home. And it's one thing to just like, you should have seen what they wrote for me. It was like, oh my God, I'm not gonna get up in front of those people and say this horrible, stupid joke. It's not gonna get eaten a chuckle. then I was like I gotta like I gotta shine I gotta like try and write something and it has to be quick because these things are quick

so I really worked on it hard and and got some input from from friends including you and And craft it was I thought it was funny from the gate I like I like the banter between you and Mindy from the gate. I think your sister gave you some really good fucking advice. By the way, that's someone else we're gonna have on is Jessica Kirsten. My sister, for those of you who don't know,

is a standup whose career is just beginning. And finally, I mean, she's been at it, and now she's skyrocketing. She's got a Hulu special. She's fucking blowing up. Jessica Kirsten, check her out. But she's a great joke writer, obviously, as a pro standup who's crushing it.

She's been in it for a while, man. When we first met, well, it's kind of like at the same time when Scrubs was happening, she kind of, Last Man Standing is a long, long, long, long time ago. She was on that comic competition, Last Man Standing. But like, if you go to New York and you go to The Cellar, which is the best comedy club on McDougal downtown, she's like one of their staples.

She's like one of the, and if you ever watched that show, what's Pete Holmes' show called again? Crashing, it was about stand-up comics. Jessica plays herself, a lot of New York stand-ups play themselves in it, and Jessica played herself in it, and she was really funny on that. But now, she's finally getting her flowers. She got a big special and anyway, Donald's right.

Jessica gave me, helped me with the joke because I'm not a standup comic, so she helped me refine it too. It takes a lot to be able to tell a joke also. Well also- But listen, you think Eddie did it by himself? He had two of the best with him. He had Keenan and he had freaking, and he had Robert Townsend.

I'm just saying the most balling- He had great joke writers with him. I'm just saying what standups do is they try a joke out, it bombs, they go, I gotta work on it. They try another joke out and they refine it and they refine it and they refine it. And by the time you probably hear it in The Cellar in New York City, it's fucking great. This was like a kind of a big swing with no rehearsal in front of millions of people. It's either going to get, it's going to go one of two ways.

One way you're sweating bullets. I was sweating bullets. We get backstage, you'll see when you see this, they built this whole hospital set. And we didn't, I thought it was like, we're going there and the Emmys, you know, like anything. You get up and you get at the microphone and you each say a sentence. And then we get backstage and they're like, okay.

So when the curtain goes up, these extras are gonna run through with a stretcher and you guys will come and then you're gonna come to these marks and then they start giving us like blocking and it's like a countdown. I'm like, wait, what's happening with a stretcher? Like all this shit's happening. We're backstage and I can see Mindy Kaling

starting to be like, oh shit, we should have come to rehearsal. And Mackay Phifers, cool as a cucumber. Cool as a cucumber. He went to rehearsal. No, I don't know if he went to rehearsal, but he was like, he's sitting there talking like, so how's Donald, man?

I'm like, bro, I can not small talk right now. Like we are about to go live. I swear to God, he's going to come on the podcast too. But Mackay was like, chill. And I was like, I felt like I was, I was trying to hold together because Mackay was so chill, too chill for me. Cause he was trying to have small talk. Mindy, I can see, was kind of like, whoa,

there's a stretcher, there's blocking, we should have come to rehearsal. And I'm in the middle like, you guys just got to say like the setup sentences, I got to fucking crush this joke. And it was really funny, it was really funny. Anyway, he's the sweetest guy and he wants to come on the show and he asked about you. He couldn't be nicer, that guy.

He's a great dude, man. I've known him since New York City. Before I left New York City, we were young in New York City. I remember when he, oh my God, I remember the heat when he popped in New York. Oh my goodness gracious. I remember everybody feeling.

What was the movie that popped him? Well, he did, I think it was Fresh. Was it Fresh? Dan, will you check? What was his first big break? I remember, because we're the same age, that he like all of a sudden became like- It was the one with the guns.

It was the one where they were selling guns and stuff like that. And it was him and Fredro Starr. And then he did, I Know What You Did. Then it just went on. He was like, and I know what you did last summer. He did that high school high. Wasn't paid full, was it?

No, paid full as much like, that's the dope shit with him, Wood and freaking Cameron. That shit, oh my God. He has one monologue in that movie. That's the fire shit where he just gets out of jail and he automatically wants to go back into selling drugs. And he gets emotional about that shit. He's like, I love selling drugs. Yo, this motherfucker, yo, I swear. What about 8 Mile? Of course, man. And he has a very long

career also, man. Yeah. Well, and then he did a yar, like, yeah, but he's so real and just the nicest person, except I didn't know how to tell him. I didn't want to act nervous, but he was like, literally we're like 30 seconds to the curtain going up. And he's like, so how's Donald? I'm like, bro. Not now, not now, not now. I need to pace, I need to pace,

and I need to say like, the lips, the tip of the teeth, and the tongue. And I was trying to make him go away. I'm like, he's good. He's good. He's got kids. How's the kids? They go, yeah, yeah, he's got kids.

He goes, I got two kids. I'm like, that's great. That's great. And he's like, how many kids, how many kids Donald have? I'm like, bro, I cannot. He has six, but I can't tell. He goes, six? I'm like, I can't talk right now, Makai.

I gotta get my shit together Makai but that's how cool he was about it he didn't give a fuck it was like we were it was like we were both like going to get coffee right on right on I love it um we should talk about our guest guys Brian Baumgartner am I saying that right Danel you know Brian Baumgartner, am I saying that right, Daniel? You know everything. Baumgartner. Baumgartner. From the offices here. And what- Holy cow. That's exciting because we have a lot of,

I have so many office questions. What a, what a- I have quite a few office questions actually. Yes. Like, you know, how did y'all keep a straight face? I know. Like some of y'all, you know, like that's a lot of improvisation.

I want to know, just people on our show always ask, like, how did you guys make it through that? Well, I want to ask how they made it through Steve Carell because I find him to be one of the funniest people in the world. And very quick on his toes. He's a savvy individual. I can talk to you forever. We have so much to catch up on, but we should probably invite our guest in who's waiting

because I was a little bit tardy. So gather round to hear our, gather round to hear our, Scrubs Rewatch Show with Zach and Dono. Hey! What is really good with you, Brian? Hello. What is really good with you? Brian, I'm so sorry we're tardy. I fucked up the timing of this and we're so honored to have you on the show,

but it's my fault we're late. No, you're good. Are we good here? Are you hearing me? I hear you. You look so much like yourself. I look like myself. There you go. You don't sound like the character. I know, Brian. You don't seem simple. You be perpetrating the fraud. See, this is the thing. This is how you know he's a good actor. This is how you know he's a good actor. This is a good actor. He fucking he looks like Hollywood's like yo He's Kevin dude. He's totally Kevin in real life. Yeah Within two seconds you like shit. He's not fucking Kevin. Does that happen to you Brian?

Do people like please be more like Kevin? Uh For sure, but I mean I do have to say Zack It's nice to see you recently in a role that that's like you so I really appreciated bad monkey Actually play a character that's like you that is my true self or at least your Hollywood reputation That's my true self No, he's like a drug addict to who, I can't say all the spoilers. Okay, yeah.

Go on, Brian. When people come up to you, sorry, we're just going to jump right in because I fucked up the time and we don't have you for too long. When people come up to you and you must be so recognized all the time, because the show is one of the most beloved shows of all time, are they surprised when you like form normal sentences and aren't a simpleton? I mean a little sometimes for sure. Yeah. You know, it's one of these things where, and I don't know you guys experience it, and certainly don't want to don't want to overstate the case but You know what I say to people is the office like we were a hit right like we were

We were big on NBC and people watched and and you know Nominated for the stuff and in some cases one But I don't know of another show in television that actually once we were done, we became much bigger. Wow. Like all through the streaming and the pandemic and the Netflix and the whole thing. And it was sort of like we'd been done four or five years and then I started getting mobbed in the airports.

You know, like it was this weird thing that- That is weird. and then I started getting mobbed in the airports. It was this weird thing that it sort of continued to grow way after. I think a whole new generation. Sorry, go ahead. I think there's like maybe seven shows and you guys all came around the same time that grew strictly from,

and I was talking about this earlier with our producers, from DVD, man. If it wasn't for DVD sales back in the day, man, and the office being, the box set being on DVD and stuff, that's how people found you guys later on. Like you, I, we were looking at- Well, then Netflix, right? It wasn't as on Netflix, was it?

We were looking at our notes and stuff like that. And DVD, you guys weren't popular the first season. It wasn't, I would say like season three, you guys took off, right? DVD is what really helped out, if you ask me. Is he right about that? To some extent, but I mean, I think more significantly back then,

it was the video iPod. We launched in right as we started, and then there was the video iPod, and our mutual bosses over there at NBC Universal, they put us probably as an experiment, well, you can have this little show for free or whatever. Oh, I didn't know that.

And then you started being able to download shows, right? Back in the day, $1.99 or $2.99 a show or whatever. And we were like in the middle of the second season and suddenly those lists started coming out like they have now, like most streamed or whatever. And we were like number one on that. It was like, wait, how did that, what, whose, you know, and I think it was young people with iPods

that found the show sort of subversive and different that they could appeal to. And that's kind of where, yeah, the success of our original run started. I just remember having that box set and at night, me and my now wife playing season one through five. We were still making scrubs at the time, but to go to bed, we would play season one through five in the box set

and just thinking, holy shit, how have I been missing? I was on NBC with you guys. How have I been missing this show and fucking being so fucking phenomenal, man. I think another generation also just found it, continues to find it. I think, is the streaming platform Netflix that it's on or has it moved to Peacock?

So now we're on Peacock, yeah. But whenever it was on Netflix, right? Yeah. And so it just, it allowed a whole new generation of young people to find it. And it's so subversive in a lot of ways. It's so on PC in a lot of ways. Yes.

And I think that there's a lot of young people who are like, oh, like this, this kind of show couldn't really be on in this way anymore. Right, right, right, right. And isn't it sort of refreshing? I mean, I was watching some episodes on the plane, because it's kind of on one of my go-to, I want you to know you're one of my go-to plane shows.

When they have the office on the plane, that's what I watch, because I know I'm going to laugh. You know you're going to get a good one. I know I'm going to laugh. And also I love about to get a good one. I know I'm going to laugh. And also, what I love about it is there is a rough season arc, obviously, but you can kind of just bop in at any moment and you're going to laugh at whatever is happening. Well, that's actually a big discovery. So this is, it's a little deep and I think meta is the wrong word, but the show was built

for streaming before streaming exists. And I'll tell you what I mean. Greg Daniels, our creator, he wrote a lot of like three and four episode arcs, right? So it's like Idris Elba comes in to be this temporary boss and he's there three or four episodes and then he goes. Jim goes and takes a job at the other paper company and this lasts for a few episodes and it goes or this relationship or this whatever.

And so I think that people, you know, it's 22 minutes if you're watching it or whatever. And it's like, oh, okay, we can watch three episodes, have a little story and then be like, okay, we'll pick that up later. Some people have said that. But I think to your point about the young people, I always said the subversive thing.

I think that sort of a new discovery for me is that the relationship between an unreasonable boss who makes his employees do unreasonable, embarrassing things is closely mirrored to an unreasonable teacher who makes their students do unreasonable things while sitting next to people who you don't choose to sit next to, and you have projects and all of that.

And I think that relatability for high school, college, even junior high, like I think that's a real thing. And also dealing with people who like Steve Carell never says the right thing. And everyone in their life has someone who's older, who doesn't say the right thing and they're trying to educate them in why they can't say that or why that's inappropriate.

But watching him fumble through, I mean, he was so fucking perfect in that role that- They all were. Let everybody- Everyone. No, that's nice. Yeah. I mean, tell us about, sorry, let's go back to the very beginning and just tell us about, because I always like to hear audition stories.

How did you get this amazing role? Well, so- You're a Northwestern graduate, aren't you? So I went to Northwestern's, like, the Cherub program. Yeah, the Cherub program. That's for people who don't know, that's like their high school summer program. Yeah, which is like one year between junior and senior year.

And I did that. And that was where for me, cause one of the things that I talk about people when I'm talking to them is like, when for you did it become like, oh, this is what I want to do as opposed to a hobby. And maybe that's because for me, like it was like, oh, I'm going to do this play in school. I'm going to, you know, oh, this is what I want to do as opposed to a hobby. And maybe that's because for me, like, it was like, oh,

I'm going to do this play in school. I'm going to audition for this or whatever. But I just felt like it was an activity or, I don't know, would help me get into college. But then I'll be a lawyer or whatever. And that was the moment for me where I was like, oh, like creating a character and objectives and actions and all of the physical and I'm gonna do voice

and I was like, oh, this is like a thing. And that's where I decided. I went to SMU in Dallas. And I think the thing for me, which I don't know if it's unique or not, but I never, I'm curious about you guys. Like I never thought truly, I never thought about film and television.

Like I watched television and I watched movies, but there was a disassociation for, it was like I'm a theater guy. Like that's what I'm doing. And that was sort of all I wanted to do. I didn't have any, and it wasn't like I thought I couldn't or I don't know, there just was like a consciousness thing for me, like I never was like, I'm gonna audition

for this commercial or this TV show or whatever. So I was doing theater and then visited Los Angeles and well, and also lived doing eight shows a week in the theater and like, this is not easy for the rest of my life. Where were you doing theater at? So I was primarily based in Minneapolis and I would say that, you know,

there's the Guthrie theater there, which is like a huge regional theater. And I was traveling around and doing shows, touring, some in New York and Chicago and San Francisco and Dallas and sort of doing that. And I was getting jobs and then was like, okay, I think I want to, I just fell in love with Los Angeles,

like the weather, like the city, like sitting outside in Westwood at a coffee bean was like, wow, this, you don't get this in Minneapolis. And so, you know, I struggled doing shows for not a lot of people or doing a lot of shows. When I moved to Los Angeles. How did you make a living when you moved out to LA? So well, this is my point, which was a bunch of excuses.

And then to say, I met the folks on the office just a couple of months after I moved. Oh, wow. Fuck you, dude. You lucky fuck. Oh my God. I love it. We want to put a disclaimer to the audience that don't do that. It doesn't happen that way. You do, motherfucker. Oh my God. I love it. We wanna put a disclaimer to the audience that don't do that.

It doesn't happen that way. That doesn't happen. It doesn't. It doesn't. It really doesn't. But I will say this, and this is kind of a new discovery for me, which is I think the fact that I hadn't been here

for that show really helped me because I wasn't like, there was no nerves, I wasn't nervous. And then sort of every step along the way, I was like, well, of course this is going to happen. Like, I didn't have that like self doubt or like feeling like this is the most important thing if I don't get it, like I don't know what I'm gonna do. Oh really, I would have thought even though you moved here,

you would, you knew you would still be like, holy shit, this could be life changing. No, it's weird. I don't know why. I can't really explain why, but the, but I was, but that part was certainly lucky. But I, but think about this too though. When we started, right, so I was hired

in, let me get the math right, so the pilot was like February of 2004. Between February of 2004 and September or August when we came back to work of 2005. So like over a year and a half, we shot six episodes. So when Donald's talking about like, we only shot six, you know, we shot the pilot and then we shot five more and then it didn't air until, you like spring of 05 so it was over a year that it aired after we shot the pilot so and it had a start right it wasn't it was very slow start we hit off the game is very you know what shout

out to NBC back in the day they don't do that shit no more well I mean extended family we shot one season. It took us two years to make that show. And we went through a strike and the mother shit. I'm just saying, they don't, and the network doesn't have patience for you not doing well now. Not back then they didn't. Back then, if you had 10 million viewers, they were like, you know what?

See you later. Yeah. Well, now too, I don't think they have much patience. If you have 10 million views, you and nowadays. I just saw Rob Reiner on a clip of Rob Reiner talking about Seinfeld. I didn't know that he was a producer of Seinfeld, which he is, and he was talking about how it was not a big hit at all. In fact, he had to go beg, beg, beg them to keep it on the air because the first whatever,

five or six didn't do very well. Yep. Our stories are very similar in this regard. So I am told what I am told is that the only reason we got to make more than a pilot, they have the, what do you call them? The testing room? Dial testing, yeah.

Yes. So they bring people in and they have people test and it did not test well except for one room, which was, they had one room, which were the assistants at NBC. So like the people who were like secretaries and low level development people, they sort of put them in like,

okay, why don't you weigh in? And those young people liked it. And I was told the same thing happened with Seinfeld. So they decided to give us a chance. It's amazing when you watch it now to go like, how could, you know, there's so many stories in Hollywood, of course, of like, how could you not think this is genius? It was so... I know it's so...

Think about the ones that didn't make it. No, but also it is so unique. It is so unique. Obviously there had been the British office, right? So we had a week with those of us, I loved that. And plenty of us had a frame of reference. And I remember thinking, how the hell, I mean, Steve Carell's genius, of course,

but how is he gonna top what Ricky Gervais is doing? It's so unique and it's so- And it was also so, also it was so graphic and dirty like the shit he said on HBO was like, yo dude, how are you gonna do this on NBC? And also it was so English, of course. So how does this get Americanized? And I was so, and then it does, how many episodes

actually reflect the Office episodes? Only the pilot. Only the pilot. Wow. Yes, which Greg Daniels said, which I learned this much later, he did that so that he wouldn't get notes from the network on the script. So what he did was he spent the time on the cast, on the characters, on the world. So he considered himself like world building of what Dunder Mifflin was and the relation,

you know, like where everybody sat in there, it was all very planned out in terms of the type of characters they were and how they would interact and you know who they would associate with or not associate with or be forced to be next to someone like Angela and I who really didn't belong but there was a barrier in front. The only barrier in the whole office was in between us. All of that stuff. It wasn't a set, right? Wasn't it a real building? So we moved.

Oh, when did you move? The first six episodes. There was an old, God, you guys I'm sure wouldn't know it. I think it was called Culver Studios. It was like- It's gone. It's still there.

I shot- It's owned by, didn't we shoot it? It's like down La Cienega, down there. We shot Scrubs there. We shot the last episode of the season of Scrubs there. Okay. So we ate lunch on the soundstage. And so the production offices for that building

is Dunderbiflund. So upstairs, when you go upstairs and like where the production offices would be, that was our set. And then Greg was like- That's for the first six, you said? The first six. And then everybody said to him, like,

we can't sustain this. Like we're on a second floor. Like there's nowhere to move around. And so he was like, okay, but it's not changing. Like there was so much that was like about realism and really, you know, he wanted everything like ultra real. So he recreated that space. Exactly.

Exactly. On us, on the middle of a soundstage, uh, out in a van Nys panorama city. And the only thing he did, and it's something crazy like this, like this is not an exaggeration. He added 18 inches to the conference room because he was, he room because he was, the camera people were like, you have to give us somewhere to stand.

Like we can't fit a cast of 16 and two camera guys and a boom mic guy and all that in this space. And he was like, well, we can't change it because it's been a stat You know anyway Completely fooled now where? Because I always had it in my mind that it was in that building that we see where's that building? so that building is is so that is the exterior of

the Satoko, I mean it's on Satoko is that what it's called? Oh Chandler Valley Studios, yes. And the exterior, there were two independent sound stages and the exterior of one of the sound stages, that is it. That is right. Wow, it must have become a tourist destination. It is, yeah. I mean we couldn't, the last couple seasons.

I was so fooled by the way, My whole life, my whole life. My whole life. My whole life. My whole time as a audience member, I believed you were, I mean, this is so silly, because I'm a filmmaker, and this is what I do for a living, but I was convinced that you were in that actual building in the valley somewhere.

No, well, I mean, sort of, but it didn't look like that. So. I mean, the warehouse, I could tell, was a soundstage because that was kind of just like a soundstage. Right, yeah. Well, I couldn't fool you on that, but yes. No, but. I mean, the warehouse is kind of like,

what if we just put it in the soundstage? Oh yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. No, but he, he, you know, uh, what do you call it? Uh, drop, drop ceilings with the, with the tile. I'm like gesturing. I don't know if we're in on video, but you know, the, the, uh, it looks like you're pushing DJ.

Yeah. Well, yeah, like you can put, you can push, you can put, yeah. Well, it looks like you're raising the roof. Up, down, up, down, uh, you know, the ceiling tiles, like you can move. Yeah. What looks like you're raising the roof. Up, down, up, down. You know, the ceiling tiles. Yeah, like ceilings. Yeah. So like, no, they put that in. So even on the soundstage, because he wanted it to look the same.

He wanted it to feel constricted and tight. Let's take a break. We'll be right back after these fine words. Once again, we find ourselves in an unprecedented election. And with all that's happening in the lead up to the big day, a weekly podcast just won't cut it. Get a better grasp of where we stand as a nation every weekday on the MPR Politics podcast. Here our seasoned reporters dig into the issues that are shaping voters' decisions and understand

how the latest updates play into the bigger picture. Listen to the NPR Politics podcast on the iHeartRadio app or wherever you get your podcasts. The 2024 presidential race is upon us, and the stakes couldn't be higher. But the outcome of the election might not be clear until long after everyone has voted. If the race ends up being as close as it looks right now, we could be in for a repeat, or worse, for the year 2000, when election night dragged on for 36 days. 36 days of uncertainty and lawsuits and hardcore political combat. To hear the whole story, check out Fiasco Bush v. Gore, a six-part podcast from the

co-creators of Slow Burn, and find out how a statistical tie in Florida put the 2000 election in an unprecedented holding pattern, with the entire nation waiting with bated breath to find out whether Al Gore or George W. Bush would be the next president of the United States. It's a story about how history is made and what we should expect if it comes back for an encore. Listen on the iHeartRadio app, Apple podcasts, or wherever you listen to podcasts. How do you feel about Biscuits?

Hi, I'm Akilah Hughes, and I'm so excited about my new podcast, Rebel Spirit, where I head back to my hometown in Kentucky and try to convince my high school to change their racist mascot, the Rebels, into something everyone in the South loves, the Biscuits. I was a lady rebel. Like, what does that even mean? The Boone County Rebels will stay the Boone County Rebels. It's right here in black and white in print. A lion.

An individual that came to the school saying that God sent him to talk to me about the mascot switch is As a leader, you choose hills that you want to die on. Why would we want to be the losing team? I just take all the other stuff out of it. Segregation academies, when civil rights said that we need to integrate public schools, these charter schools were exempt from that. Bigger than a flag or mascot. You have to be ready for serious backlash.

Listen to Rebel Spirit on the iHeartRadio app, Apple podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. I felt too seen. Dragged. I'm N.K. and this is Basket Case. So I basically had what back in the day they would call a nervous breakdown. I was crying and I was inconsolable. It was just very big sudden swaps of different meds. What is wrong with me?

Oh look at you giving me therapy, girl. Finally, a show for the mentally ill girlies. On Basket Case, I talk to people about what happens when what we call mental health is shaped by the conditions of the world we live in. Because if you haven't noticed, we are experiencing some kind of conditions that are pretty hard to live with. But if you struggle to cope,

the society that created the conditions in the first place will tell you there's something wrong with you. And it will call you a basket case. Listen to Basket Case every Tuesday on the iHeartRadio app, Apple podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Do you ever wonder where your favorite foods come from? Like what's the history behind bacon wrapped hot dogs? Hi, I'm Eva Longoria.

Hi, I'm Maite Gomez-Rajon. Our podcast, Hungry for History is back. Season two, season two. Are we recording? Are we good? Oh, we push record, right? Okay. And this season we're taking an even bigger bite out of the most delicious food and its history.

Seeing that the most popular cocktail is the Margarita, followed by the Mojito from Cuba and the Pinyo Colada from Puerto Rico. So all of these... We have, we thank Latin culture. There's a mention of blood sausage in Homer's Odyssey that dates back to the ninth century BC. BC?

I didn't realize how old the hot dog was. Listen to Hungry for History as part of the My Cultura podcast network, available on the iHeart radio app, Apple podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. We always get asked this on Scrubs, tell us about how the improv was handled. We, on Scrubs, we sort of build Lawrence's rule was, I definitely want it good as written and make sure you don't skip that.

I definitely want to have a great version as written and then time permitting you guys can fuck around. And a lot of funny stuff came out of that. Was that the same kind of vibe as you guys? Yeah, I mean, how it was explained to us, which, and maybe you're just not wanting to share this, how it was explained to us which and maybe you're just not wanting to share this how was explained to us Right is that we still have mega conglomerate studios and

GE or Comcast or whoever she was the G he was it that was the one man But we have left us in with spaceship. I'm just gonna put it out there. I'm just gonna put it out there. All right, go on. He, no, so the scripts had to be approved. Like someone had to say it was okay to say

whatever the words were. And so they always wanted us to say what the words were because they wanted to make sure that we had a version that was approved. But we all 100% of the time, we changed. And they started doing, what did they call, oh, candy bag, especially for the little like direct to the camera, you know, like you're being interviewed stuff. We would have like eight versions of those, which essentially was delivering the same idea, either opinion on what was going on, or sometimes it would be like,

well, we can't really decide how Kevin would feel about whatever, so give us both, and then we'll sort of put it all together, would he be delighted by this, or would he not understand it or would he, you know, like whatever. And so they would sort of build things, build things in that way.

Yeah. And then- That's so fun. Those direct to the camera things, you can just see where there was so much opportunity there to riff where you could be like, you know, cause then you can very easily get what's written. Okay, I got it. I got what's written,

now let me just go off and just see where my brain goes. Yeah, totally. Yeah, it was, that was pretty special. But yeah, we, you know, the amount of whatever improv got into an episode obviously just varied per episode, but we were always given an opportunity, even the scenes too. Was anybody brave enough to go against Steve?

Man, I mean, it was really hard, and it was also hard just because of the structure. Like, he, you know, he's, you know, especially like, I mean, you think about sort of the quote unquote famous scenes in the conference room. So he's standing, you're sitting, there's sort of, no, I mean, you're already got a power imbalance there. And then you have him who might be truly, like, I honestly believe this, the greatest improviser ever. And the reason I say that is because not only is he funny, not only can he come up with anything in the moment,

but what he does, which without naming any names, other people have trouble with is he's always on story, like on topic, like he's never go, he's never saying something that's like, well, Michael wouldn't say that or, but he also understands like what the whole of the script, the individual episode or the season that we're on, like where he's trying to get. And he's just, yeah, I mean, he's a,

I love watching clips of the bloopers. I mean, I know the scrubs fans love watching scrubs, but when I, I saw recently, I, my Instagram knows now that I love Office Bloopers, and I saw a scene where he was explaining his home entertainment system to Jim, and watching Karel try and he couldn't get through it. It was so funny watching him not be able to get through his improv.

Probably the closest. Some of your audience may have heard this before, but probably the closest to standing up to him, which wasn't even standing up to him, was if you remember the episode, which by the way, can you even say the title of this episode these days on television?

But Gay Witch Hunt, when he kisses Oscar, that was improv'd. That was the kiss. The kiss was improv'd. Where was HR? Listen, come on. Where was HR when this happened?

Oscar had such a lawsuit against Dunder Rifflin. Everybody had a lawsuit against Dunder Rifflin. More than anyone. I know, but everybody had a lawsuit. He was outed. He was outed in the freaking room. Outed. He was outed.

Outed and kissed. Brian, is there anyone that works there that doesn't have a lawsuit against Dunder Rifflin? No. No, there's a lawsuit every which way, at least against Steve and probably several characters as well. Yeah. I mean, God bless Greg. You know, we had such a huge cast and it never got smaller.

It just kept getting bigger. He would find a different energy that he wanted to bring in from Ellie Kemper or Ed Helms. You know, that would just sort of change, you know, he would sort of add that ingredient in it would change. But he, you know, it was a, it was an office where everyone at one point in time should have been fired. Like Kevin really like he was fired in the last episode. Everyone should be fired.

Dwight finally fired him. But now you guys had to, one thing that's unique about the office that people who aren't actors might not realize is, you know, when we do our scenes on Scrubs, we don't have to be there when people are doing their other stuff. You guys are 100% of the time background.

Yes. What was that like? I mean, that's a very unique situation. And you got hours where you're just background. Yes. And that was, again, that was a little bit for me. I mean, I had booked a couple of other, you know, smaller jobs or whatever, but this happened very quickly out of the gate. a couple of other, you know, smaller jobs or whatever, but you know, this was happened

very quickly out of the gate. And I think early on, it was my expectation that this was how it was because I had come from theater and if you're rehearsing something, you're always there. And then, you know, maybe they spend some extra time on some other scenes. But no, it was, you know, now it really was like everybody had a schedule of the number one on the call sheet, you know, because everybody was there every day, all day, 12, 14, you know, plus hours. I mean, we were doing like 60 hours a week and you know unless Michael had to go see Jan in New York or whatever especially early on like we were just all

What did you do? Was it crossword puzzles? What was your secret? You know? Well, we were you know, we were doing 30 episodes there for a while a year So I was paying that's good bills Like we were paying bills. There wasn't a whole, people always ask about like, what were the pranks like? We weren't really pranky, but we did have, I don't even know what it was.

It wasn't Google, I don't know, AOL, instant messenger or something. So we could like pop something up on someone else's screen. Your computer's worked. The computer's worked, yes. I feel like that would've gotten a couple people fired. That definitely would've gotten Donald fired.

I would've been kicked out of the fucking show. Donald would've been fired, Donald would've been like, look at this totally inappropriate meme for. Oh, gosh. What did I do wrong? It's just a freaking eggplant. That must be crazy though, because you're like, oh my god. As much as you love the show and you're grateful to be on the show, at a certain point you're

like, oh my god, I have to get out of this. I'm in the background and you don't need me. Is there a Brian lookalike that can fucking sit here? Well, we did joke. Things started changing a little bit as we went on, I mean, 10 years. That early on, it was like, so guys, wait, no one ever goes to the bathroom?

Like, no one is never in the other room making a cup of coffee while this is going on? I really think Kevin should be somewhere else. Yeah, couldn't Kevin have the chance right now? Mindy and Novak, they had it lucky because they were in a different room. And so did the dude Creed, right? Didn't he?

No, so Creed was in ours. So here is the little nerdy insider info, right? Because we, Greg had come, not had come directly, but he had worked on SNL, and he was really wanted collaboration. So like I directed, there were a lot of writers. Here's the thing, anyone who was in that other office, they were writers.

So they were upstairs writing. So like Paul Lieberstein, Toby, Mindy Kaling, BJ Novak. They're all writers. They were the writers, so they didn't have to be there until like a conference room or, you know, they would drift in for some important, you know, group scene or whatever. But yeah, they would go up to the writers room

and they'd be writing episodes. Toby is Paul, is that his name? Paul Lieberstein, yeah. He's so good. I mean, everyone is so good, but he was also one of the main writers of the show Yes, yeah, and he was actually when Greg went to launch because Greg went with Mike sure Mike sure was a writer Who played Moe's by the way, so he was not there very much at all

Yeah when Greg Greg launched Parks and Rec and when he launched Parks and Rec Paul Lieberstein actually was showrunner for a period of time yeah that's that's some you guys have some great directors man like your directors they overlap with us I'm sure some of them some of them for sure some of them are like freaking JJ winners and oh yeah I mean you mean the guest appearance directors. Yeah. Didn't, yeah, what was that about?

Like why people just love the show and they were like, I want to, I want to. Well, they were definitely coming for you, Brian. That's exactly. The rumor was, and it's been so long, I was told, I believe, God, I'm like making excuses, that JJ Abrams wanted to direct a season. And Greg preferred the model

where we had a different director every week. So J.J. Abrams came in, Harold Ramis did, I don't know, four or five, and some big ones. Didn't Brian France then? It was just always interesting to see the director's names. It would be like, what the fuck? They got this dude to direct?

Right, right. I know. I mean, Ken Winningham directed. We have some of the same directors. I'm curious, maybe, Daniel, you could ask chat GPT. This is a good chat GPT question. Which directors both directed Scrubs and the Office? I know Ken Winningham was one.

Ken, you must have had Quapus. Ken Quapus? Maybe once or twice. Paul Feig? No, we never had Paul. Oh, you never had Paul. That surprises me. Let's take a break. We'll be right back after these fine words. Hey, it's Mike and Ian. We're the hosts of How to Do Everything from NPR's Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me. These fine words. But we will find someone who can. Listen to the How to Do Everything podcast on iHeartRadio.

Hey friends, I'm Jessica Capshaw. And this is Camilla Luddington. And we have a new podcast. Call it what it is. You may know us from Graceland Memorial, but did you know that we are actually besties in real life? And as all besties do, we navigate the highs and lows of life together. And what does that look like?

A thousand pep talks. A million I've got yous. Some very urgent I'm coming offers. Because I don't know, let's face it, life can get even crazier than a season finale of Grey's Anatomy. And now here we are, opening up the friendship circle. To you. Someone's cheating?

We've got you on that. In-laws are in-lying? Let's get into it. Toxic friendship? Air it out. We're on your side to help you with your concerns. Talk about ours, and every once in a while, bring on an awesome guest to get their take

on the things that you bring us. While we may be unlicensed to advise, we're gonna do it anyway. Listen to Call It What It Is on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. How do you feel about biscuits? Hi, I'm Akilah Hughes, and I'm so excited about my new podcast, Rebel Spirit, where I head back to my hometown in Kentucky and try to convince my high school to change their racist mascot, the Rebels, into something everyone in the South loves, the biscuits.

I was a lady rebel. Like, what does that even mean? I mean, the Boone County Rebels will stay the Boone County Rebels, but the image of the Biscuits... It's right here in black and white in print. A lion. An individual that came to the school saying that God sent him to talk to me about the mascot switch is a leader. You choose hills that you want to die on.

Why would we want to be the losing team? I just take all the other stuff out of it. Segregation academies. When the civil rights said that we need to integrate public schools, these charter schools were exempt from it. We're not bigger than a flag or mascot. You have to be ready for serious backlash. Listen to Rebel Spirit on the iHeartRadio app, Apple podcasts, or wherever you get your

podcasts. I felt too seen. Um, dragged. I'm N.K. and this is Basket Case. So I basically had what back in the day they would call a nervous breakdown. I was crying and I was inconsolable. It was just very big, sudden swaps of different meds. What is wrong with me? Oh, look at you giving me therapy, girl. Finally, a show for the mentally ill girlies.

On Basket Case, I talk to people about what happens when what we call mental health is shaped by the conditions of the world we live in. Because if you haven't noticed, we are experiencing some kind of conditions that are pretty hard to live with. But if you struggle to cope, the society that created the conditions in the first place

will tell you there's something wrong with you. And it will call you a basket case. Listen to Basket Case every Tuesday on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. The 2024 presidential race is upon us, and the stakes couldn't be higher. But the outcome of the election might not be clear until long after everyone has voted. If the race ends up being as close as it looks right now, we could be in for a repeat or or worse, for the year 2000, when election night dragged

on for 36 days. 36 days of uncertainty and lawsuits and hardcore political combat. To hear the whole story, check out Fiasco Bush v. Gore, a six-part podcast from the co-creators of Slow Burn, and find out how a statistical tie in Florida put the 2000 election in an unprecedented holding pattern, the entire nation waiting with bated breath to find out how a statistical tie in Florida put the 2000 election in an unprecedented holding pattern, with the entire nation waiting with bated breath to find out whether Al Gore or George W. Bush would be the next president of the United States. It's a story about how history is made and what we should expect if it comes back for an encore. Listen on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to podcasts.

Alright, so let's talk about your chili for a second. Did you have anything to do with, I mean, did this come out of the blue or do you really make a good chili? Well, you're talking about there was the episode. I'm talking about the episode. I know you wrote a book, but like both. Oh, the episode. Did the writing come out of the book? No, totally. That was just the writers.

That was 100% the writers. Yeah. And you know, I do. So I do think, all right, here's my cheeseball pitch for you, right, that the reason that people respond to the show and particularly like During a global pandemic Right is the the last line of the show? I'm getting serious with you for a second, but the last line of the show that Greg Daniels wrote the last episode

So he wrote it Pam says You know that she's asked like why would they make a documentary of this paper company or whatever? And her answer is, there's beauty in ordinary things. Isn't that kind of the point? And so for me, when you look at sort of the totality, everybody's, you know, a lot of people are mean, there's Michael says inappropriate things you could sue,

but like there is sort of a genuine kindness and a celebration of very small moments, right? It's like the opposite of 24 or whatever, you know, some big spy show or whatever. And so to me part of that chilly thing is that it is like this guy does this one thing that many people in America and around the world do. They make a great chili. They are proud of it. They are celebrated by their friends and family doing it. And this is the thing that gives them great pride

on the weekends and maybe goes to chili festivals and participates in competitions. He believes this is the thing he does best. Now it's a comedy, so he spills it on the floor and there's genius physical comedy by me, whatever. But the idea is that celebration, to me that is in some ways, because people talk about it all the time, but it is like a physical embodiment of that thing that the show is trying to celebrate, which is like just a teeny victory or a great thing that an ordinary person does.

There's my pitch. So that led to you genuinely getting into Chile. It did. I mean it started as a joke, I'll be honest. Right, because you were associated with chili because of the show. Yeah, like I made it. Like I never made chili before that show. But people associate you with chili. Oh, 100%! Do you go to cook-offs and stuff like that? Oh yeah, he's made a book. You wrote a book. What's the book you made? I write a cookbook about chili. Did you write the cook-offs and stuff like that? Oh yeah, he's made a book. You wrote a book. What's the book you made? I write a cookbook about chili.

Did you write the cookbook about chili? Yes. No, you must have collected recipes. Well, I collected. Yes, yes, yes. So I put some of my... But I made it one day. Let's give a shout out to it.

Seriously Good Chili Cookbook. A hundred and seventy-seven chili recipes. Yes, a hundred and seventy-seven. Well, actually, I'll tell you, my funniest interaction was I was traveling, I was alone, I was in a hotel bar sitting there and the hat on, like keeping my, and I had just finished eating and the bartender, like it had been cleared away

and the bartender comes by and sets something down in front of me. I don't even really look or process, I just sort of look up and I'm like, oh no, no, I've already eaten. And he kind of leans down, it's like the 50s, the 40s, I don't know what kind of movie,

but he just kind of leans on the bar and he's like, this is from the woman at the end of the bar. And it's yes, it's a bowl of chili. Like that is what, I don't get set a drink, I get set bowls of chili. That's hilarious. Well, that's what happens. People associate you with it.

And it's like, it was smart of you to lean into that because then have you become good at making chili at this point? Yeah, well now, yeah. No, and I do really like it. Well, and that's where the inspiration for the book came is I got invited to, and this thing is not like a couple years.

It's now, I don't know how many, it's over 50 years. Actually happens at the end of September. I'm not going this year, but the world championship chili cook-off. You have to win like your state region. It's in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. And so I went there, got to know them, they asked me to judge the thing. And then I was like sort of blown away by,

oh wait, this is chicken, this is white, this is verde, like a green chili and all this type of stuff. And so we sort of put that together for fun. But I know I really do enjoy it and the culture of it too. All right, I know you have to let you go. Okay, but before we go, I do love a good chili. I just wanted to say, I just want to appreciate the chili. Okay, you want the audience

to know that you love chili. I just love a good chili. Audience, have you registered that Donald loves chili? Dear audience, dear audience, I do love chili too. Now, I just read this in the notes, in 2020 alone, Americans cumulatively streamed more than 57 billion minutes of The Office. Yeah.

Making it the most watched show of the year, that was during lockdown, it was like the most watched show of lockdown, I'm assuming. Yes. That's insane. So then that, tell me about, you have your own podcast. It's obviously different from the office ladies. The office ladies were the inspiration for us, by the way.

I'm sure they were. That popped off and people started approaching Donald and I and it was, and we said, okay, that sounds fun. Shoot the shit with Donald about episodes. That sounds great. But you have your own podcast. Tell people about that who don't know about it so they can find it.

Off the Beat is what it's called. It started actually. So I did a Spotify exclusive podcast that started right about the time that Jenna and Angela started Office Ladies. It was called An Oral History of the Office. It was totally different than what you guys do and what they were doing. What was curious to me, because these numbers had started streaming, and by the way, those numbers,

this is what I mean, like when we started like getting approached in airports, it was, they started releasing for a brief period of time, like streaming numbers. And we were like the step-childs of NBC. And they released the numbers, and it was like, not only were we at the top, and Friends was number two, but we were double what Friends

were doing. It was this sort of insane thing. And so I put together, I interviewed everyone from the show, writers, crew, actors. We did about 150 hours of interviews to answer the question of why, why did this happen? Like why has this now sort of come back? So I started with that, I loved it, then started talking to other people,

love to have you guys on at some point. It's off the beat, which now you can get wherever you get your podcasts. And yeah, it's really fun for me. I love doing it. And I love listening to you guys as well. Well, thank you, man. And thank you for coming on.

And sorry we were late, but I just want to... We find you, Donald and I just find you so funny. And I think all those people watching... I have so many more funny and and I think I think More question I know Well, we'll have a nice of it all and all of that stuff We'll have him back on Donald because I hope you'll come back Brian. Yes, we're such fans of yours No, well, thank you so much and I can't I can't leave you without noting that That that that you guys I don't know if without noting that you guys,

I don't know if you're aware of this, you do some T-Mobile commercials. Yes, we do. We do. Yeah. Are you aware that we're a team? Are you aware of this? I saw that, yes.

I said, it's okay. Susie, we're following in your footsteps again. Daniel, beep the company that he said, okay? Please beep that shit. We're okay Daniel beat the company that he said The company that you mentioned that gets no shine on this Sour notes Have you seen show No, I'm saying we're following- Have you seen Shogun? Have you seen Shogun?

That's what this is gonna be like. This is what it'll turn into! Yeah. No, we're following in your footsteps again. We're just picking up the pieces and trying to follow in your footsteps again. Well, we're proud to be competitors with that company that shall not be named. Yeah. All right, Brian.

Thank you so much, bud. Thanks, guys. Hey, it's Mike and Ian. We're the hosts of How to Do Everything from NPR's Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me. Each week, we take your questions and find someone much smarter than us to answer them in the next episode of How to Do Everything from NPR's Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me. Each week, we take your questions and find someone much smarter than us to answer them.

Questions like, how do you survive the Bermuda Triangle? How do you find a date inside the Bermuda Triangle? We can't help you, but we will find someone who can. Listen to the How to Do Everything podcast on iHeartRadio. I felt too seen. Um, dragged. I'm N.K. and this is Basket Case. So I basically had what back in the day they would call a nervous breakdown. I was crying and I was inconsolable.

It was just very big, sudden swaps of different meds. What is wrong with me? Oh, look at you giving me therapy, girl! Finally, a show for the mentally ill girlies. On Basket Case, I talk to people about what happens when what we call mental health is shaped by the conditions of the world we live in. Because if you haven't noticed, we are experiencing some kind of f*** up conditions that are pretty hard to live with. But if you struggle to cope, the society that created the conditions in the first place will tell you there's something

wrong with you. And it will call you a basket case. Listen to Basket Case every Tuesday on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. The 2024 presidential race is upon us and the stakes couldn't be higher. But the outcome of the election might not be clear until long after everyone has voted. If the race ends up being as close as it looks right now, we could be in for a repeat or worse for the year 2000 when election night dragged on for 36 days. 36 days of uncertainty and lawsuits and hardcore political combat. To hear the whole story, check out Fiasco Bush v. Gore, a six-part podcast from the

co-creators of Slow Burn, and find out how a statistical tie in Florida put the 2000 election in an unprecedented holding pattern pattern, the entire nation waiting with bated breath to find out whether Al Gore or George W. Bush would be the next president of the United States. It's a story about how history is made and what we should expect if it comes back for an encore. Listen on the iHeartRadio app, Apple podcasts, or wherever you listen to podcasts. Muhammad Ali, George Foreman, James Brown, BB King, Miriam Makeba. I shook up the world.

James Brown said, said love. And the kid said, I'm black and I'm proud. Black boxing stars and black music royalty together in the heart of Zaire, Africa. Three days of music and then the boxing event. What was going on in the world at the time made this fight as important that anything else is going on on the planet. My grandfather laid on the ropes and let George Foreman basically just punch himself out. Welcome to Rumble, the story of a world in transformation. The 60s and prior to that, you couldn't call a person black.

And how we arrived at this peak moment. I don't have to be what you want me to be. We all came from the continent of Africa. Listen to Rumble, Ali, Foreman, and the Soul of 74 on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. How do you feel about biscuits? Hi, I'm Akilah Hughes, and I'm so excited about my new podcast, Rebel Spirit, where I head back to my hometown in Kentucky and try to convince my high school to change their racist mascot, the rebels, into something everyone in the South loves, the biscuits.

I was a lady rebel. Like, what does that even mean? I mean, the Boone County Rebels will stay the Boone County Rebels with the image of... It's right here in black and white in Prince. A lion. An individual that came to the school saying that God sent him to talk to me about the mascot switch is a leader. You choose hills that you want to die on.

Why would we want to be the losing team? I just take all the other stuff out of it. Home segregation academies. When the civil rights said that we need to integrate public schools, these charter schools were exempt from that. Bigger than a flag or mascot. You have to be ready for serious backlash. Listen to Rebel Spirit on the iHeartRadio app, Apple podcasts, or wherever you get your

podcasts. I fucking love that guy. Huh? He's so funny. It's funny. By the way, I got to say, as a fan, it's weird seeing him make full sentences. That's what I was going to say, man. This dude's a fucking good actor, man.

He's such a good actor. We got to get into this. We got to really get, when we have him on again, I really want to talk about what he does, what else he's doing in his career and stuff like that as an actor. And if he's gone back to theater at all, we just ran out of so much time. And he stayed the amount of time that we needed. I know, I appreciate him saying that. There's just so many questions.

It's my fault. You know, I was trying to, I fucked up the timing. I was trying to, I went to hot yoga, Donald. Good for you. I'm trying to lose the weight that I gained while in Europe. Zach, I'm going to say something to you and I don't want wanna sound like an asshole. Okay, go ahead.

I can't wait to hear what this is. What did you gain, five pounds? Um, like six, yeah. But I don't want those six pounds. Don't say something like petty. I'm gonna keep it to myself because I have something very petty to say about a six pound weight drop.

Well, well, let me just say. Can't nobody see no six pounds off of your ass, man. I can see it and I don't like it. You can see it, you vain motherfucker. You look good, bro. You are a handsome, well-liked player of the male human species. Well, I'm single, Donald. When I have a wife and children, I can let my body go. There are plenty of women that would love to be with you, my friend.

You just have to be open to receive the love of these women and stop being so picky. I'm ready to receive. I just also don't want to have, personally, I have love handles. I'm ready to receive. I just also don't wanna have personally, I have love handles. I'm working on getting rid of them. I too worked out today. Oh, there you go. I put on a sweat suit and went up to the top of my hill.

Good. And started punching with my trainer. We were boxing. Good. Kicking and swinging and stuff. I just also wanna live a long time. Doing our thing. They there doing our thing. They're doing their thing.

Hot yoga, it really feels good. You come out of there high on life. It's really hard when you're in there and you wanna die. And then you come out and you're like, ah. How's your posing? It's really bad. I haven't been in a long time because I have this horrible tennis elbow, but I put this strap on and I, you know what I mean? I put this tennis, I wore my strap on.

No one seemed to mind that I was wearing a strap on in yoga. No, I have a tennis elbow strap on and I thought, let me see if my tennis elbow can survive this. So I took my time, but it feels great. It feels really good. And I've already lost a bunch of weight from not eating like an asshole and drinking like an asshole. You know what it is? Go ahead. It really is the combination of the sugar.

Like I find myself noticing, I've noticed now how much sugar I eat daily. Yeah, that's just a waste of your, of your efforts. Yep. But it's, it's in everything though. And that's the thing. You know what I mean? Well, I mean, I mean, of course it's in everything, but you cannot have sugary things on purpose. Well, you know, wine is, you said it yourself, wine is delicious. Alcohol is the worst. I mean, the easiest way to drop weight is just take alcohol out of the equation

Yeah, but I was drinking like a fish in europe. It's hard to not it's hard to be in paris and not drink wine That's advanced Not drink wine in europe challenge level impossible that's double black diamond I couldn't do that shit that's like that's like Here are the cities. I not how to be healthy in. Paris, Stockholm, New York. In LA I can be healthy. New York should be easy to be healthy in. No, dude.

Josh Raden and I came back and he's like, I'm gonna go and try and like dry out a little bit in New York. I'm like, you're gonna dry out in New York? Good fucking luck. I'm going to LA where you can dry out, you can be healthy. Where you can sincerely dry out. Yeah.

They give you vitamin B shots at the health stores out here. No, I mean, LA is, well, we hoe is like, you know, the center of where I live and, you know, it's a health culture and it's about, it's much easier to be healthy out here to me. By the way, I was driving home and I had to comment, I wanted to tell you this on the podcast,

for those of you who don't live in a city that's doing this, there's so many robots in West Hollywood, it's crazy. It's just kind of creeped up, but you got all the delivery robots on the sidewalks and then you got the Waymo driverless cars on the street and I was tripping out driving home being like, this is just kind of happened little by little, but we live amongst all these robots now.

So what did they say? 32 is the year that California is gonna be all electric, right? That's the year that they wanna clean up the West coast, right? And California is gonna be- Was that a mandate of when they'll stop being allowed to get gas cars here?

I'm sure they'll keep cars you have, but maybe you can't buy it. I don't know any of the loopholes, but by 32 they want to have cars on the road. They won't sell anymore cars. They're not going to take your car away from you, but they won't sell anymore. But you can also just go to Arizona and buy it if that's your steeze. People always find a way. They'll import cars. Right. and buy it if that's your steeze. I mean, people always find a way. They'll import cars. Right, I'm sure there's a loophole,

but 32 is supposed to be an electric city. Hell yeah, the fucking robots are coming, bro. Gas don't help them, but what does help is that electricity, man. This whole thing is gonna be powered. Our whole, all right, look, and I'm gonna jump off on a tangent. No, don't go too long. It's not a real It's not a crazy one

Infrastructure is very important true. Amen And we need to really focus on that in California, especially especially because it shakes So much here. I know I was a little on yesterday especially because it shakes so much here. I know. Was there a little one yesterday? Two days ago. I fucked a little one. I get the robots, I get the clean air, I get all of that stuff.

But if these roads aren't shaped properly and these buildings aren't reinforced, we're going to have a real big problem because you know shit happens. Anyway, that's my little tangent. Last thing I want to say, that was beautiful. Beautiful. I'm going to, I love that. I just want you to remember that. I'm going to get that tattooed. I'm gonna I love that. That's what you remember. I'm gonna get that tattooed I'm gonna get that whole paragraph tattooed on my chest

Is important in this important listen that did you watch Jim crazy yet? I watched some of it. Hold on first of all, Daniel you want to shim crazy? No, what you have to watch Jim crazy It's from the maker of Tiger King everybody. Oh, you have to watch Chimp Crazy. It's from the maker of Tiger King. Everybody who's listening, you have to watch Chimp Crazy. I can't believe it. Look it up. I'm writing it down right now. Donald, you gotta watch. I've watched, I watched two episodes.

It's so insane. Oh, at the end of episode two, there's a twist. Daniel. Did you get to the twist? No, I didn't get to the twist. Daniel. Yes, yes. There's a place in America Where you can go and buy a chimp?

Yeah, it's fucked up. It's Minnesota Yes fucked up Daniel I'm saying like bubbles. Yeah. No Daniel you could MJ got bubbles Look Daniel. Yes, not only can you buy the chip, but you can buy it from when it's a little tiny baby and really cute and fun and shit like that. And you can keep it to when it kills you.

Yeah. You can keep it all the way up until it kills you. Ah! Because that's what it's gonna do. That's pretty much what's gonna happen. And I start watching Chim crazy, I'm like, there's no way the guy I made, Tiger King has found another fascinating story.

Jesus Christ. And this one's even crazier. Yo, look. Donald, you got to keep going, please. I text Casey every night. I'm like, what's your progress? They put 2001, a Space Odyssey on TV. What?

They put a Chimp to watch. They tried to radicalize the trip started going crazy Started jumping around Throwing his mother fuckers back with the wind with the thing bashing the fucking you gotta keep going man To at the end of episode 2 there's a twist and then 3 it just is only 4 episodes. So just watch the whole thing. It's insane I'm still like and then they the guy that they hire to be, cause this dude can't be, the Tiger King dude can't walk around and shit like that. So he hires a proxy. Well, he can't interview people in the exotic animal community cause they obviously know who

he is. He's a bad guy to them. So he has to hire a proxy director. And the guy he hires is like, I don't even know what a proxy director is. I had to look it up. Anyway. But he's also a dude who's been arrested several times for being in the exotic animal community. Yeah. It's, Dano, when you get the chance.

Okay, yeah. Dano, please watch it. The first episode alone. And also Shogun, on the total opposite side of things, I gotta say is just- Okay, so now you watched it because it won that shit, huh? Did you, I had been watching- I never watched it.

I wish you would, man. I know you won't, but it is so amazing. It's so beautiful. It's really, really good. And obviously I started watching because I did read Shogun's gonna sweep the awards, Shogun's gonna sweep the awards, Shogun's gonna sweep the awards, and I was like, okay, well, I gotta check it out.

I love big sweeping stories that are, you know, it's like a, you can't believe how much money they spent making this thing, it's huge. And the actors are so good. And I was like, okay, and it's amazing. I finished Just In Time to watch it sweep, truly sweep, I think it's won more than any shows ever won.

That's crazy. It's so good. All right, we won't keep the audience anymore. We've gone long. We love you guys. Thank you for listening to our little podcast. Donald, I miss you so much. It hurts sometimes.

I miss you too. My wife told me that you told her you miss me socially. Well, you don't hang out. And I know that you're a bit of an agoraphobe, and I do miss you. I'll have to come to you is the only way I'll see you. I'll come to you, I'll come out. I'll get out.

We can go eat some food. You wanna have a freak off just me and you? Ooh. What in the tail does that mean? Well, you know what it means, just me versus you. How do we one up each other in this one-on-one freak off? So it's one-on-one, baby. It's like, oh my God, you joke now.

Donald, tune in next week when Donald and I are going to do a live freak off. Daniel will judge. That's blindfolded. We can't ask Joelle. Daniel, you're gonna have to judge. All right. It feels like an HR problem if we make Joelle. Would you like to feel like it's okay? Yeah, no problems there. All right. I love you guys. Five, six, seven, eight. about a show we made about a bunch of dogs and nurses and a Canada who loved the hate I said here's the stories that we all should know

so gather round to hear our gather round to hear our spurs we watch show with Zach and Donno mm-hmm In California during the summer of 1975, within the span of 17 days and less than 90 miles, two women did something no other woman had done before, try to assassinate the President of the United States.

One was the protege of Charles Manson, 26-year-old Lynette Fromm, nicknamed Squeaky, the other a middle-aged housewife working undercover for the FBI. Identified by police as Sarah Jean Moore. The story of one strange and violent summer, this season on the new podcast, Rip Current. Hear episodes of Rip Current early and completely ad-free and receive exclusive bonus content by subscribing to iHeart True Crime Plus, only on Apple Podcasts. Hey, friends.

I'm Jessica Capshaw. And this is Camilla Luddington. And we have a new podcast, Call It What It Is. You may know us from Graceland Memorial, but did you know that we are actually besties in real life? And as all besties do, we navigate the highs and lows of life together. Big or small, we are there. And now here we are, opening up the friendship

circle to you. Listen to Call It What It Is on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. I'm N.K. And this is Basket Case. What is wrong with me? A show about the ways that mental illness is shaped by not just biology. Swaps of different meds. But by culture and society. By looking closely at the conditions

that cause mental distress, I find out why so many of us are struggling to feel sane, what we can do about it, and why we should care. Oh, look at you giving me therapy, girl. Listen to Basket Case every Tuesday on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. I'm Joe Gatto.

I'm Steve Byrne. Together we do the Too Cool Moms podcast, which is a podcast where we help dispense advice to our loyal listeners. Everybody has an issue. Everybody has something that they need help with. And that's where we come in. Because our moms, we're cool moms, we like to think that we have inherited their maternal advice and we try to just do some good.

Besides being comedians, we love to help have guys bring us your queries. They could be personal questions. They could be serious. They could be lighthearted. But know this. We are here for you. Yeah, you could find us wherever you listen to your podcasts or on the I heart radio app. In 1982, Atari players had one game on their minds. Sword quest. Because the company had promised 150 grand in prizes to four finalists, but the prizes disappeared, leading to one of the biggest controversies in 80s pop culture. I'm Jamie Loftus. Join me this spring for the Legend of Sword Quest. We'll follow the quest for lost treasure across four decades. Listen to the Legend of Sword Quest

on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.