Fake Doctors, Real Friends with Zach and Donald - Our Favorite Early Success Stories

Episode Date: April 8, 2021

On this week's episode, Joelle rounds up some of your favorite stories from Zach, Donald, and our guests on their early years of success in show business. 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. All that sitting and swiping, our backs hurt, our eyeballs sting. That's our bodies adapting to our technology.

But we can do something about it. We saw amazing effects. I really felt like the cloud in my brain kind of dissipated. There's no turning back for me. Make 2024 the year you put your health before your inbox and take the Body Electric Challenge. Listen to Body Electric from NPR on the iHeartRadio app 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 live events, and more

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Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your most fabulous shows. Eagle up in the sky, J.D. and Turk just flew by. Take a look, it's in this pod, it's story time now. You guys, hello. I'm your host today. It's very weird just being here by myself in this room, but I'm super excited because I went on to Twitter and I asked you guys, the fans, what were your favorite stories from the podcast? And you guys hit me up with a ton of stuff, so many options for me to choose from. And so I decided that perhaps one story time wasn't going to be enough.

We were going to need multiple because there are so many different types of stories. Is it, you know, the stories we're going to do today are about our beginnings, the early times from a lot of our guests as they were just breaking into the industry. We get a ton of letters from you guys who are aspiring actors, directors, writers, cinematographers, animators. And so I kind of wanted to revisit because I remember when I first got to LA and I was trying to figure out what am I going to do? How am I going to make it out here? It's so expensive. I have only my college experience. Who will hire me? And it was so hard just trying to figure out like how to break in and I think

for me hearing the stories of people who'd already done it is what continuously encouraged me to go after my dreams and getting to listen to these guys I mean Sarah Chalk obviously Zach and Donald Johnny C like there's rich stories of just survival, of situational comedy, of bonding and love. And I think that's what we're really going to discover today as we go back to some of these really early stories. So stay tuned. And let's hear a couple of stories. Five, six, seven, eight. So gather round to hear our, gather round to hear our Scrubs Rewatch Show with Zach and Donald. So first up, we have a story from Johnny C. This is all the way back in season one, episode 16. Johnny came and talked to us a lot about what happened around 9-11, the Macy's Day Parade, the first gathering

that was allowed in New York City post the attacks. And he gives us such beautiful, wonderful, loving insight to how a lot of the emotions are played throughout Scrubs and why downplaying can sometimes be the best thing for an actor or a writer to do if they want to impact their audience because it feels more authentic and real. Something that strikes me about Johnny C every time he's on the podcast is how much he cares about this art and his craft. If you haven't listened to 116 in a while, I highly recommend you go back. It's an excellent episode. There were many stories to pick from, but I couldn't resist hearing Zach talk about his nephew throwing gang signs one more time. So stay tuned for Johnny C.

Here we go. We should start right off because I have some ideas. Go ahead, Johnny. Go ahead, Johnny. Because you guys have to grind this. And I'm so excited that some things occurred to me while I was watching this thing. Go ahead. I love it when you come on. You know why? Because you guys have to grind this, and I'm so excited that some things occurred to me while I was watching this thing. Go ahead. I love it when you come on. You know why? Because you come prepared. You're as prepared as Donald and I. You're wound up.

Well, I am. Look, going back and watching this, first of all, it's hard not to feel really proud of it. Yeah. not to feel really proud of it. Yeah. And this one I thought deserved some backdrop because the one last week, 115, is a spectacular episode. Zach, you're particularly great in that episode with Sarah. And then the monologues with the shrink let the whole ensemble just shine.

And I busted my ass on those monologues because the writing was astonishing. And you notice there's no cuts. I mean, we were clearly all told that they'd be one. Yeah. They were, especially since Donald knew it. So we were clearly all told that there would be no cuts.

But what I thought was really interesting and maybe interesting for people listening is a little bit of context. And what I mean is, because in this episode, it became clear to me just how gelled the ensemble is, whether it's Kenny and Judy, you and me, Zachy, Donald and Sarah, the thing is just watertight. And the reason is because I think, as we discussed already, 9-11 had already occurred.

We're around about the middle of December here. And so what happened in New York, which I'll circle this back, was the New York Yankees lost the World Series in seven games to the Arizona Diamondbacks. And the only reason that's relevant is because they lost, there was no ticker tape parade in New York City. So we were invited to the Thanksgiving parade in New York City. And it was the first taste of real rock star for all of us because we worked till Wednesday night till about 925. And this was a week or two before this episode.

And then we were whisked off to LAX where we occupied the entire front of first class there was only one other person there were only one other that's right and it was a it was a boy band it was like a O-Town or something like that we shared first class it was the cast of scrubs and O-Town I remember this it might as well been a private plane it wasn't but it was first class it wasn't coach it was first it wasn't business but it was first class. It wasn't coach. It wasn't business class. It was first class, and we were going to New York to participate in the Thanksgiving Day Parade.

Now, remember, there had been no mass gatherings allowed in New York since that Tuesday morning in September. It just wasn't allowed. The Yankees were supposed to be there, but they weren't. So we fly overnight, and you guys can chime in, but we fly overnight. We're deposited at some chapel on the Upper West Side somewhere. Yeah, we didn't even go to the hotel. They dropped us off at the freaking parade. Yeah, we were like lying on the ground in the chapel to kind of get up.

Absolutely. Yeah. And we got sideways on the plane. Yeah. Sideways. as you do and and then we we got up and zacky i think you brought your nephew onto the float yeah i did and it was a quasi-racist kind of pocahontas float um and i think they've gotten they've gotten rid of some of those since then i think yeah but i absolutely i think ours was here's the scrubs cast and a quasi racist uh pocahontas float on the upper west side in the staging area and who pulls up behind us but the wiggles in the big red

car now i had gone to wiggles concerts with my son every time they're in Los Angeles for the last couple of years. I was eating, sleeping, and drinking the Wiggles. So I got off the float, and I went back to the big red car, and I introduced myself to Murray and Jeff, and I introduced myself to everybody, and I became friends with the Wiggles. And I am to this day.

Do you hang out with the Wiggles still? Not really, but I did a video for them, and they became my friends. They're great educators. My memory, sorry to interrupt one second, Johnny. My memory is that my nephew was a very outspoken kid and not shy at all. And I don't know how old he was, but he was little. He had to be like nine, dude. No, younger, younger, younger. He was a little kid. And so Al Roker, we're off the float at one point, and Al Roker is interviewing us. And he goes, I'm here with the cast of Scrubs,

and I've got Johnny C. McGinley, Donald Faison. He's going around introducing the whole cast. And this is live television. And my nephew goes, what about me? And Al Roker, it's awkward, and Al Roker ignores him and starts, so tell us about the show. Interrupts him again. What about me?

Stop. And finally, Al feels bad enough that he's like, oh, I'm sorry, young man. You're right, and what's your name? And then he introduces himself. But I was like, it was my first. Wasn't he throwing gang signs too? Like, wasn't Jagger throwing gang signs? He didn't know any, like, real gang signs, but he had seen didn't he didn't know any like real gang signs

but he had seen on tv how how rappers and whomever throw gang signs so we're on the float and he's like throwing these like almost gang signs when i when i spoke to al roker after after he cut i said how how is this for a turnout and he said this will be the largest turnout in the history of the macy's thanksgiving day parade and i said well give me an? And he said, this will be the largest turnout in the history of the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. And I said, well, give me an estimate. And he said, there'll be about three and a half million people here. And so every time we went through an intersection,

and I'll wrap the story up in a minute, but every time we went down an intersection, you could see it was 100 to 200 people deep at every intersection. I've never seen that many people, I never will, in my life. Yeah, I remember being like, wow, there seen that many people i never will in my life yeah it was that was i remember being like wow there are so many people here and we were on the float and every you're right every time we passed an intersection it looked like it went so deep into the intersection

i remember thinking how are all of these people it was like sardines too like they were packed together because nobody had been allowed nobody had been allowed to gather since that Tuesday. Another thing I remember is that my nephew was on the float, and I thought, oh, this will be fun for him. He was bored in 30 seconds, right? And I was like, oh, fuck, I got to take care of this kid for a whole parade. Yeah, it's all the way from uptown all the way to Macy's. Yeah, and he's throwing his gang signs for a while, and he got bored of that and then there was like an upstairs in the float i don't know if it was like it was like in pocahontas's head or something well no it was a

multi-tiered ship that was a boat yeah but even like in the not in the in the non outside area there was some spot he found and then he went up there and he found bubble wrap and i was like okay fucking bubble wrap will entertain him for a little while then he got over the ball he was stomping on the bubble wrap and i was like this i'm never having kids this is like the worst what about me my only point bringing this up and i'll circle it back was that and also remember a couple of weeks earlier actually about a month earlier we had been picked up for the back nine. Right. And we ran around the hospital with our HUDs cut off.

And so that meant you had paychecks until May, the first week of May or so. Right. Because in TV, you only get paid for episodes produced. And so that meant – Just so you know, just let's explain to people who don't know. The show was picked up for the first 13 episodes, and they kind of see how you do in the ratings. And then if you do well enough in the ratings, you get the rest of the order, which is – in business talk, it's called the back nine, meaning you get nine more episodes. And we had been given that news about a month earlier, and we ran around the hospital like we'd won the Stanley Cup.

I remember it vividly. Yeah, dude. Yeah. was about a month earlier and we ran around the hospital like we'd won the stanley cuppers i remember i remember that yeah dude yeah and my only point in this is that between getting picked up and now about 15 or 16 episodes into it and i can see it in this episode as we'll uh discuss but the ensemble is watertight whether it meant going on a trip together or getting picked up people are starting to vibe off each other and it's as clear as day when I was watching it. What Donald and Sarah are doing, as you guys know, I think the camera is an x-ray machine and it sees through

all the bullshit. What they're doing together, there's zero bullshit. What Zach is doing at the end with Sarah on that cot, there's no bullshit. It's just tight and right. And I just, oh, I got a chill. It just, it really got me. You gave me a chill too, because I gotta tell you, I didn't remember in that scene with Sarah, what happened. I didn't know if it was going to

turn romantic. I didn't know if I cried. I couldn't remember. And I was actually moved by the two of us because nothing happens. I agree. I agree. Like would happen in real life. In the movies, we'd kiss. In the movies, I'd break down and cry. But in real life, two friends might just sit there in silence for a minute.

And I just thought that was beautifully done. I think it's the real privilege of friendship when nothing does happen. So that I don't have to demonstrate to you anything and you don't have to demonstrate anything to me. And real friendship is when stuff is allowed and it's a tricky verb to settle. And you guys let it settle in front of the lens. And as we'll discuss, Will McKenzie, he just let the scene play and the two actors,

it's really lovely. And on a primetime comedy, it's spectacular. It's spectacular. Now, we've been graced by the presence of many stars. One Scott Foley, Heather Graham has been on the show. No shortage of A-list celebrities. But there is something extra special when Tara Reid showed up. And that's because she went to high school with Donald.

So we got to hear about Donald's first encounter with Moonshine, a shootout at his first apartment in LA, and what happens when you fall asleep on the set of Clueless. Here's Tara Reid telling us all of Donald's juicy gossip. I believe it. I believe. Yeah, I remember three things in my life that are very important in my life, and you're part of two of them. Right. Before you go into this, because this is going to be juicy, that's a tease for the audience.

We're going to take a quick break, and we'll be right back with the Tarare. 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.

All that sitting and swiping, our backs hurt, our eyeballs sting. That's our bodies adapting to our technology. But we can do something about it. We saw amazing effects. I really felt like the cloud in my brain kind of dissipated. There's no turning back for me. Make 2024 the year you put your health before your inbox and take the Body Electric Challenge.

Listen to Body Electric from NPR on the iHeartRadio app or wherever you get your podcasts. It's Chelsea Handler. And if you listen to my podcast, Dear Chelsea, you know that I love making space for women to share their stories. And that is why I'm excited to be part of Women Take the Mic, iHeartRadio's celebration of women who make music, influence change, and create culture. All month long, your favorite voices from talk radio, music, and podcasting will highlight

the remarkable achievements made by women and discuss the most significant issues facing us today. Search Women Take the Mic to listen to a collection of International Women's Day episodes from iHeart's top podcasts, including Angela Yee's Lip Service, The Psychology of Your 20s, and Dear Chelsea. It is a great way to support women and discover your new favorite show. Listen to Women Take the Mic on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hey, good people. This is Laia. Now, for years, we have celebrated Women's History Month at QLS with a month of very special programming. This year, we have three Grammy Award-winning ladies, Brittany Howard, Corinne Bailey Ray, and Lettucey.

All three of these artists make music and write songs that fit many genres. And each will be discussing new songs and albums. We also have the incomparable, incredible queen of dance, Fatima Robinson, who has won NAACP Image Awards, choreographed the Oscars, the Grammys, your favorite Gap ad, and Super Bowls. choreograph the Oscars, the Grammys, your favorite Gap ad, and Super Bowls. You know her from her work with Beyonce, Mary J. Blige, and of course, Aaliyah. And most recently, the color purple.

Celebrate women's history with us at Questlove Supreme every week in March. Listen to QLS on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Scrubs Rewatch Show with Zach and Donald. And we're back. And we're back. Two things in my life, two things in my life that are really big moments in my life and important moments in my life, and Tara's a part of them. My first time ever falling asleep on set was on the Clueless set, right? I fell asleep and we were doing the party scene.

The TV show or the movie? The movie. And to fall asleep on a set, you got to be really brave. But, baby, I wasn't in Clueless. I know you weren't in Clueless, but you showed up at the party scene. Oh, yes, yes, yes, yes. You remember? Yes, yes, yes.

You remember? Yeah, at House of the Valley. Yeah. So I'm sleeping on a freaking like a chair and we're shooting the movie and somebody's like shun wake up and i open my eyes and tara standing in front of me standing over me and i'm like what the fuck are you doing here and she's like hey and i was like holy shit right and and it was a big moment for me because it takes it you gotta have trust

to fall asleep on a set first of all because people will fuck with you one two it was a big moment because it was it was my big break and it was a huge movie and i knew at this point i i i didn't know it was going to be huge but i knew that i was in los angeles and i made it and my one friend that had made it in los angeles is me up on set. And I was like, holy shit, this is serendipitous. This has to be fate. She's going to give me some of that big Lombowski juice. Right, some of that juice, some of that spark. Can I tell him the story about being in your apartment when the gun shooting?

Oh, God. Yes. Go ahead. Yes, go. Go ahead. So I go over to meet Donald, and we go to his house, and it's just me and him. We're hanging out.

No, it's more than just me and you. It's me, you, and some of the cast from the Mickey Mouse Club. Like, I don't know how it turned out to be this. We were hanging out with, like, Chase Hampton and Damon from the Mickey Mouse Club. Oh, yeah, you're right. know how it turned out to be this we were hanging out with like chase hampton and damon from the mickey mouse club and it was like those two and a couple of other people and were at my house in hollywood i just moved it was like all famous actors at the time right i just moved to los angeles right let her tell the story don't hijack it all right go ahead tara so we go to his house and we're hanging out and we're all having fun. And then all of a sudden, out of nowhere,

bop, bop, bop, bop, bop, bop, bop, in front of his house. And Donna's like, duck! And we're all laying on the ground. Like, it was the scariest thing I've ever seen. And all of a sudden, he knew what to do. He's like, duck, lay on the ground. And then all of a sudden, after the shots,

he's crawling towards the window to peek through because we didn't know. It was right in front of his building. So we're peeking through if they're gone or not. And after that, we laid on the floor and all of us laughed so hard because we couldn't believe what just happened. It was so crazy. And then you were still alive. Yeah. All right.

You left a couple of parts out, Tara. So we're hanging out and somebody goes, yo, this is a really dangerous neighborhood. I'm like, get the fuck out of here. This is not a dangerous neighborhood. I'm from a dangerous neighborhood. This isn't a dangerous neighborhood. I'm from Hell's Kitchen. Right.

I'm from Hell's Kitchen. Blah, blah, blah. Blah, blah, blah. Everybody get down. So we get on the ground. And now I'm on the ground and I'm looking at Tara and Tara's bawling, crying. And I'm like, oh, God, oh, God, oh, God. I brought Tara Reid over.

I broke Tara Reid. I brought Tara Reid over to my house. I brought Tara Reid over to my house. She's probably got shot or some shit like that. She's going to die. Everything calms down. We all get up and we're looking around and I'm like, yo, that was the funniest shit ever. I just said that this wasn't a scary neighborhood. That this was Hell's Kitchen.

And out of nowhere, and then right as I said out of nowhere, once again, retaliation comes. Oh, really? There was more? Oh, it was crazy. So we jumped to the ground again, right? And now I'm laughing. I'm laughing so hard.

And we all are. Right. I'm stoned out of my mind. Oh, my God. I'm freaking laughing at gunshots outside my window, dude. Oh, my God. Yeah, laughing so hard. This story doesn't have a climactic ending other

than the fact that we survived it does yeah the climactic ending is that you survived a drive-by and you didn't get tarareed killed right and i didn't thank god i didn't get tarareed killed wasn't there a story you told me once donald where you um you went over tara's house and had uh moonshine for the first time in my life. Yes. What's that story? So we were in high school. And it was Tara's... Tara was 16.

It was her sweet 16. And I guess I was a senior. And she's like, yo, come to my house in Jersey. I'm throwing a party. And all my friends from Jersey are going to be there. And like I said, Tara and I were close in high school. So there was like me her and then my cousin like well it wasn't okay it was jamal it was jamal it wasn't terrence howard

it was jamal yeah um my buddy jamal and one other person we go over to tara's house and so we get there and tara's like dude you're not gonna believe this but i got a keg and i was like you got a fucking keg she was like i got a keg all right cool feels like it's just like the classic jersey i grew up in jersey too obviously it's like it's like remember in teen wolf when he goes through all the trouble to get the keg and then he puts in the room and there's all those kegs yeah anyway yeah keg stands so i get there i get there and i'm like holy shit she got a keg right so she taps the keg stands, the whole thing. So I get there, and I'm like, holy shit, she got a keg, right? So she taps the keg, and we're all drinking it, right? We're all drinking.

And she goes, yo, you want to try something different? And I was like, in my mind, I'm like, oh, God, this is where it all goes bad. She goes, you want to try to drink something different? I was like, yeah, sure. She goes, come with me. She takes me in the kitchen, and in the kitchen, there's this big vat. And she's like, it's moonshine. And I was like, what?

She's like, it's moonshine. My dad made this. And I i was like get the fuck out of here and she's like yeah and so i look at him it's like clear with like celery it looked like floating i was like okay i'll try it and i try it and i sip it and i'm telling i'm gonna tell going to tell you something right now. After I sipped it, I don't remember much of what happened the rest of the time. I remember Tara showing us, I remember you doing your high school cheerleading stuff in front of all of us to show us that I remember that I remember falling asleep on the floor and waking up the next morning and taking the bus or the train, one of those things, back to Manhattan.

But it was my first time and my only time ever trying moonshine. First and only time trying moonshine? Yeah, yeah, yeah. It scared him too much. It got me. All I know is I don't remember much. I just remember falling asleep on the floor. It's like those things.

It's like when you watch movies and it's like, you know, it shows you moments in a person's life as they're watching it flash before their eyes and it blacks out and then it comes back and it's something different. And then it blacks out and then it comes back and it's something different. I have two memories.

One of them is Tara Reid going like, rah, rah, bish, boombah. And then the other one is passing out on the floor, looking over and seeing everybody on the floor knocked out and then just passing out. This is called a young teenage boy tries moonshine for the first time. Great night.

It was a great night. One of my most memorable moments. Tara Reid has a few of them. One more time for the fact that it's Tara Reid. Sometimes when we don't have guests, the guys, as you know, as a loyal listener, have just moments that are beyond the pale. Moments that really illuminate who they are

as individuals, what makes their friendship click, what makes them shine as individuals. as individuals. And we got a great request to see, to re-listen to Donald and Zach talking about their encounters with Mariah Carey. To be honest,

I totally forgot about this story. I'm so glad someone suggested it. I, just listen, just listen. It's great.

Yeah, what song would you put on to cry? If I had to put on a song, oh man, you want to know what song it is? What? The score from Bambi. It's about your people, too. The Prince of Egypt.

Whitney Houston and Mariah Carey. There can be miracles if you believe. The hope is frail. It's hard to kill. Come on on now. I don't know that song. Who knows what miracles you can achieve. I'm going to listen to it and it's going to make you well.

Have you ever seen it? When you believe, somehow you will. Joelle, you're about to cry right now? It's the best. I think this is a school talent show. It's the most beautiful song maybe ever. Yeah, listen, man. It's the most beautiful song maybe ever. Yeah, listen, man. It's so wonderful.

First of all, the song's about when Pharaoh's chasing the Jewish people out of Egypt. Right. It's about the story of Moses. Right. The plague. It goes all the way through. It goes all the way through. It's a Passover song.

It's him going all the way through to him coming down from the mountain with the Ten Commandments in the ark. Or no, he has them in his hands, I think, at the end of the movie. Yeah, he's holding the commandments. He's holding them. Remember from the, what was it? Is it the history of Earth? These 15 commandments. It's not the world part one.

These 10 commandments. It's the world part one. He's 10 commandments. But the song is amazing, man. And, you know, it's, you know. So that's what you would put on? That song is, if you ever need to cry, whether it be, it's just such a hopeful song. You know what I mean?

Right. We've spent this whole, this whole, I know we're jumping off topic and everything like that. We've spent this whole time, you know, Amanda Clutes is, you know, has delivered a lot of hope to people in this world.

You know what I mean? Her faith and her belief really helped a lot of people when Nick was sick. And, you know, for some reason when when you have all of that faith and you have all of that love it overwhelms you man and so listening to a song like that listening to there can be miracles when you believe it just overflow you just overflow with hope and joy and faith. And it just works.

You know what I mean? Wow. That's beautiful. Now I got to listen to it. I've never seen the movie. I never heard the song. I'm sorry. If you get the opportunity, check it out. There's a lot of really good voiceover performances in it.

What year is it? It's old? 1998. Yeah. Okay. There you go. But that song, first of all, it was Mariah Carey and Whitney Houston singing it. And I don't know if you were big Mariah Carey or Whitney Houston fans.

First of all, I think those are, you know, of my lifetime, two of the true versions of what a diva is as far as being able to sing. I had a Mariah Carey interaction once. So did I. It was one of the best nights of my life. What was yours? Well, mine wasn't like we've made out or anything. Yours sounds like you. No, we didn't make out.

No, no. No, no, no, no, no. Imagine. Yeah, it was totally awesome. No, we didn't make out. I met her and Derek Jeter in the same night. Wow. It was back when they were dating.

I was PA-ing on a Mariah Carey music video called Up on the Roof that you can go watch on YouTube. You mean Rooftop? No, it's called – oh, is the song Up on the Rooftop? I thought it was Up on the Roof. I think it might be the – Joelle, can you double check, please, what the name is? I'm doing it right now.

What's the one with her and Mobb Deep? Well, she doesn't have two songs, one called Up on the Roof and one called Rooftop. It's either one. I think it's Rooftop. Yeah, it's one called The Roof. Yeah, with Mobb Deep, right? Mariah Carey. No, this is called Up on the Roof.

It's the Mobb Deep beat. I'm telling you, it's the Mobb Deep beat. You're right. The Roof, Mariah Carey, Mobb Deep. Told you. Now, Joelle, does she have one called Up on the Roof? I will look that up, too. Because I remember that I had to lug all this stuff up to the roof.

It's just the roof. All right. Well, listen. The elevator broke in this building in Brooklyn. All the PAs had to lug all the gear up to the roof. And I was like, I hope her next song is called Lobby. Damn it. Anyway, I got in the you know you you would be a good dad could you have some really good dad jokes that's not a dad joke that is a fucking dad joke dude listen i am gonna be a great dad but not

because of my jokes just because i'm hilarious listen uh before the elevator broke i got in with mariah and her whole posse. And I was just a PA. And I had a baseball hat. And I looked away like, you know, I thought you were, I didn't know. I was fresh out of film school. You just didn't want to look in the eyes. You didn't know.

Yeah, I just thought you don't look at the star. You just look away. And she was like, I like your baseball hat. It was my favorite baseball hat. And I was like, oh, thank you. Thank you. Like not making eye contact, like bobbing my head. And she was like, I might want to wear that in the video.

And I was like, oh, okay. And she was like, I might want to wear that in the video. And I was like, oh, okay. And she's like, can I borrow it? And I was like, oh, yeah. So her like entourage took my baseball hat and it had like a red circle on it. And they came back to me and they were like, hey, we want to darken the red circle with Sharpie. Is that okay? And I was like, oh, it's kind of my favorite hat,

but I don't want to like let down Mariah, let down the whole team. You know, I just lugged everything up to the roof. I want the video to be good. You know, this is what I was thinking. And they're like, we'll give you $40 if you'll let us darken the red circle with Sharpie. And I was like, wow, I didn't have any money. I was probably making a hundred bucks to be the PA. I was like going to, you know, increase my salary substantially. So I was like, to, you know, increase my salary substantially. So I was like, yeah, for 40 bucks, y'all can just go to nuts on it with a Sharpie and I'll just have a great story.

So that's what happened. And I don't even, I haven't watched the video in 20 years, but. Well, she's on the roof. I know she's on the roof. If at any point, I got to see if at any point, anyone, anyone who's curious, just go watch the video and see if she's ever wearing a black baseball cap because that's mine. Right on.

I got 40 bucks. Extra. Extra. Yeah. That was a hard shoot. 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. All that sitting and swiping, our backs hurt, our eyeballs sting. That's our bodies adapting to our technology. But we can do something about it. We saw amazing effects.

I really felt like the cloud in my brain kind of dissipated. There's no turning back for me. Make 2024 the year you put brain kind of dissipated. There's no turning back for me. Make 2024 the year you put your health before your inbox and take the Body Electric Challenge. Listen to Body Electric from NPR on the iHeartRadio app or wherever you get your podcasts. It's Chelsea Handler. And if you listen to my podcast, Dear Chelsea, you know that I love making space for women to share their stories. And that is why I'm excited to be part of Women Take the Mic, iHeartRadio's celebration of women who make music, influence change and create culture. All month long, your favorite voices from talk radio, music and podcasting will highlight the remarkable achievements made by

women and discuss the most significant issues facing us today. Search women. Take the mic to listen to a collection of international women's day episodes from I heart's top podcasts, including Angela Yee's lip service, the psychology of your twenties and dear Chelsea. It is a great way to support women and discover your new favorite show. Listen to women. Take the mic on the I heart radio app,

Apple podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hey, good people. new favorite show. Listen to Women Take the Mic on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hey, good people. This is Laia. Now, for years, we have celebrated Women's History Month at QLS with a month of very special programming. This year, we have three Grammy Award-winning ladies, Brittany Howard, Corinne Bailey Ray, and Letticey. All three of these artists make music and write songs that fit many genres, and each will be discussing new songs and albums. We also have the incomparable, incredible queen of dance, Fatima Robinson, who has won NAACP Image Awards, choreographed the Oscars, the Grammys,

your favorite Gap ad, and Super Bowls. You know her from her work with Beyonce, Mary J. Blige, and, of course, Aaliyah. Okay, so by far, this was our most requested story. It is the Jeff Zucker Noogie story from the upfronts, right after they shot the pilot, where they go back and remember the time that Donald gave a noogie to the president of the production company. Not a great look, not a great look, not a great look, but, uh, a funny story that to this day, to this day is quoted in this lovely friendship that we all get to be a part of because of fake doctors, real friends. But what I discovered upon re-listening is there's also like these really beautiful gems.

For example, I really like when Zach starts talking about going back to the hotel room to re-watch the pilot, which is, of course, such a nerdy thing to do, but it's so sweet and innocent. It's just look at this thing we made and look, it's here and it's ours and people are excited to watch it. And I think if you're an artist and a person who creates anything that they're going to share, whether that's, you know, a beautiful cake or a fun T-shirt or, you know, whatever, that's the best part is like getting to give it to other people and seeing their reactions. And of course, celebrating with people who made it with you. So please enjoy this early story of early fame from Zach and Donald.

Please enjoy this early story of early fame from Zach and Donald. Donald, you pointed out something very wise, and that is that, you know, when you do a pilot, you shoot the pilot and then you have no idea if the show is going to get picked up. Right. And there's often a lot of time between when you shot the pilot and then, let's say, the network says, OK, we're going to make it a series. And then let's say the network says, okay, we're going to make it a series. And then you go to a thing called the upfronts, which is when your show is selected, you go to a huge party in New York City where they announce, where the network is going to announce all of the new shows. And this is a very thrilling thing for a young actor. Absolutely. And also when Scrubs got picked up, it was considered one of the better pilots of that time. And so when we went to Upfront, I remember all of the heat that we had behind us at Upfront.

Like even the party for all of the Upfront shows was kind of themed towards us. You know what I mean? And, you know, you get there and you meet a bunch of executives for the first time. And you don't really know who they are because nobody really knows executives until you're on the network and somebody tells you, okay, that's my boss and that's his boss and et cetera, et cetera. Well, that reminds me of a wonderful story about you because we were – so first we go to the party and it's this amazing party and it's, you know, we were just wide out. We couldn't believe we were here. I mean, I was waiting tables a few months ago and, and, uh, here we are in New York at this giant party and you have to, you take pictures with a lot of people and, you know, you're getting treated like a celebrity and you're not, no one even knows who you are really yet, at least, especially in my case. And, um,

and then, then we go to this, and there were celebrities at the party. I remember Kevin Nealon, who I was a huge fan of from SNL as an example. He was – I think he literally might have been one of the first celebrities I ever met was Kevin Nealon at this party. And I remember thinking like, oh, my God, we're hanging out with celebrities. Like, we've made it. Yeah, you know, Sean Hayes was another person who was a big champion. Like, we've made it. Yeah, you know, Sean Hayes was another person who was a big champion. Like, he loved the show, and it was really awesome

to have the dude from Will & Grace, who at this point was really famous on television. Yeah, that show was huge. And do you remember any other stars that were at that party? I just remember because I was such an SNL fan as a kid that I was so geeked out that Kevin Nealon was there. I think there may have been some other older SNL faces. It was all the – it was like NBC rich.

Anyone who was on NBC at that time was at the party. Now, we proceeded understandably to get quite intoxicated at this party. Oh, my gosh. I remember Bill Lawrence saying, like, all right, guys, just so you know, like, don't like – you know, there's going to be a lot oficated at this party. Oh, my gosh. I remember Bill Lawrence saying, like, all right, guys, just so you know, like, don't, like, you know, there's going to be a lot of executives at this party. Like, I understand you're in New York. Your lives just changed.

But, like, don't get shit-faced. Right. Cut to. All of us. All of us. All of us. Shitty. Sarah Chalk's famous line,

have you guys ever heard of a cosmopolitan? Yeah. They're great. Sarah stumbled up to us sideways and she's like have you guys ever heard of a cosmopolitan they're great and then i remember judy for some reason at this bar wasn't there like a trapeze like a trapeze but not a trapeze what do you call that thing where you swing on a trapeze you swing on a trapeze feels way too dangerous to have been a real trapeze, but was there?

It was something like that. It was a bar in the middle. It was like a bar in the middle of the bar. It was in the Meatpack District. I think it was called Park or something. Anyway. And she was on. I remember her being on the bar and flipping over and just showing everybody what she had

on underneath that dress she wore that day. Because she was, and I remember her husband at the time being like, that's it, we're going home. Time to go home. Let's go. Now, my favorite part of the night is Donald was giving everyone noogies. And let me tell the story and then you can clarify. Let me tell the story. Let's start from the beginning now.

Let's start from the beginning now. Let's start from the very beginning. Okay. So Scott Sassa was the dude that I thought was in charge of all of NBC at the time. I think he was higher up than Jeff Zucker, who we're going to talk about. Jeff Zucker was, I believe, the president of NBC, who's actually now the president of CNN. But at the time, he was the president of NBC. He had just come from whatever, CNN, but at the time he was the president of NBC. He had just come from whatever, the Today Show at the time, and then he'd gone on to be the head of NBC. And I didn't know this.

So Donald didn't know who he was. You're going to ruin my story. Donald didn't know who he was. I thought he was Scott Sasson's assistant. And Donald was going around giving everyone noogies, and I look over, and Donald has Jeff Zucker, the president of the network, in a full headlock. And he's giving him a drunken noogie on his bald head. And I hear Jeff Zucker go, please, Donald, no.

For our entire friendship whenever Donald tells me a cringy story that makes me want to run away I just tell him about please Donald no Jeff Zucker you know at this point I'm giving everybody love because I'm so excited that we're on the network it's going down and I look over and I see

Jeff Zucker in my mind Scott Sass' assistant standing over by the bar, you know, by himself, or he might have even been with somebody. And I'm like, hey, you, come over here. I got noogies to give out. And he's like, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. And I point at him again, and I'm like, and I get a little bit more,

you know, aggro about it. And I'm like, no, you get over here right now. And he's like, no, no, no, no, no, no. And so I march over to him drunk as can be. Oh, my God. I've seen you march. When Donald marches, his arms swing. And I walk up to him, and I grab him, and I put him in the headlock.

And I'm like, don't you ever tell me no. And I'm grabbing him, and I'm giving Jeff Zucker a noogie. And I remember Bill Lawrence, like, a few days later being like, dude, Donald, I just have to ask you if this actually happened. But did you give Jeff Zucker a noogie? I was like, I gave so many people noogies. I gave so many noogies. I can't recall who was the recipient of my noogies. And he was like, well, apparently you gave the head of nbc a noogie and and he's

not really happy about it well he wasn't genuinely pissed off was he no i don't think he was genuinely pissed off but he stayed away from me yeah i remember he really long time i remember he did come to visit the set the hospital and and he kind of stayed away from you because he was um yeah that's very funny. Well, what else do you, so then I remember that night ended where we were in. I wasn't there. You were, this was you and Nealon. I wasn't there.

Oh, really? No, I wasn't there. Almost everybody ended up back in Bill and Krista's hotel room. And we, it's kind of, it's sweet slash embarrassing. We were so geeked out. We were like, let's watch our pilot. So we were like, it was like a whole bunch of people and Kevin Nealon, who I was a super fan of. And, um, we just were watching the show and I don't know, it was a sweet moment. I remember being like, Oh, I just thinking like, I can't believe this is happening. But then the funny

thing is you have a long time before you start shooting. So we made the show. It got picked up. My mom freaked out that I was like, that I quit my waiting tables job. She was like, but what it's so long, what are you going to do? And I was like, I, I, mom, I, I, I can live off this pilot money for a long, I was living so frugally with no money that I was like, I can live off this pilot money for a long time. So I'm going to write. And that's in that time is when I really finally sat down and put garden state together. And at my dining room table. I kind of was like, this is a sign. I have this time that the universe gave me, and I don't need to wait tables, and I'm going to sit down and put this script together.

That's awesome. This last story is one I just wanted to put in there for myself. Getting to meet Sarah Chalk on this show has been an incredible experience. She's everything you hope she might be. She is kind and truly so, so funny and generous, a very generous soul. And you only need to know her for about five minutes before you can see that. And there's something really great about this trio of Donald, Zach, and Sarah, their energy, the way they lightly poke fun of each other, the way they pump each other of Donald, Zach, and Sarah. Their energy, the way they lightly poke fun of each other, the way they pump each other up too though. Like there's not a lot of tearing down

in this friend group and every time we have them together I just sort of want to bask in the glow of their delicious conversation. They are they're kind of I think the friends everybody wants to be and or have and so I wanted to stick this on the end because man, listening to these guys talk about their early struggles, but also their early accomplishments, but also how they stayed grounded. It's a really fun journey. So here's Sarah talking a little bit about the dressing room situation at Scrubs and Sacred Heart. So I hope you guys enjoy it. I'm 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. All that sitting and swiping, our backs hurt, our eyeballs sting. That's our bodies adapting to our technology. But we can do something about it. We saw amazing effects. I really felt like the cloud in my brain kind of dissipated. There's no turning back for me. Make 2024 the year you put your health before your inbox.

And take the Body Electric Challenge. Listen to Body Electric from NPR on the iHeartRadio app or wherever you get your podcasts. It's Chelsea Handler. And if you listen to my podcast, Dear Chelsea, you know that I love making space for women to share their stories. And that is why I'm excited to be part of Women Take the Mic, iHeartRadio's celebration of women who make music, influence, change, and create culture. All month long, your favorite voices from talk radio, music, and podcasting will highlight the remarkable achievements made by women and discuss the most significant issues facing us

today. Search Women Take the Mic to listen to a collection of International Women's Day episodes from iHeart's top podcasts, including Angela Yee's Lip Service, The Psychology of Your 20s, and Dear Chelsea. It is a great way to support women and discover your new favorite show. Listen to Women Take the Mic on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hey, good people. This is Laia. Now, for years, we have celebrated Women's History Month at QLS with a month of very special programming. Women's History Month at QLS with a month of very special programming. This year, we have three Grammy Award winning ladies,

Brittany Howard, Corinne Bailey Ray, and Letticey. All three of these artists make music and write songs that fit many genres. And each will be discussing new songs and albums. We also have the incomparable, incredible Queen of Dance, Fatima Robinson, who has won NAACP Image Awards, choreographed the Oscars, the Grammys, your favorite Gap ad, and Super Bowls. You know her from her work with Beyonce, Mary J. Blige, and of course, Aaliyah, and most recently, the color purple.

Celebrate women's history with us at quest love supreme every week in march listen to qls on the iheart radio app apple podcast or wherever you get your podcast we miss you we were taught we've been talking about how we never see you and uh we miss your face i miss you guys too we got the band back together on zoom. No, look at this. The band's back together on zoom. The band is back together. We can't do our handshake virtually Donald and make Zach jealous. It's all good. He doesn't like our handshake.

I don't think, I think he hated it. I'm just jealous. I never, whenever people do those like epically long handshakes, I, I frown, but only because I,

I've never been involved with one and I, I couldn't possibly remember it. So maybe I'm just jealous. I have a very long one with Sarah Chalk, and I have a very long one with Breckin Meyer. Those are the only two handshakes that I have in my life where I'm like, geez, this is a long-ass handshake. Could you and Sarah get right back into it without fault right now, you think?

Oh, fuck yeah. Get it, girl! Running man. You get it. We were talking in the last episode about your epic. We were talking about your epic I told you so dance and how long it was. Oh, my God. That's so funny.

People send me that at different moments in my life over social media. That was one of those fun times on scrubs like what a unique job when do you get to do this where bill was just like the line in the script said i told you so and he said instead of saying that just make up like a a song and a dance and i told you so song and dance and such like you know it's not frequent you have to do that on your job so it's fun um well do you remember getting down into the splits yeah it's hard to get out of them i remember getting down into it and being like and i'm stuck uh-huh i was gonna say there's some video i think on one of the gag reels that people can watch on

youtube if you're if you're interested where sarah just kept going and going and going with her i told you so dance and they only could put a short piece of it in the show but it like it went on for like a full minute I think oh yeah they didn't cut so I just kept going and then um brought in some French and German like I told you so in German which is because obviously after being tortured going to German school twice a week for my entire upbringing, anytime I can feel that it's actually – it's only been useful in scrubs. That's the only time I've ever used my German. Really? Yeah, when we would go to international upfronts and stuff like that, it was always helpful.

Yeah, when you do press, you must be very popular with the French and German press, I would think, because Sarah is fully trilingual. Not anymore. I was as a kid. French, I still, I can speak. But after my grandmother died, we don't really speak German anymore. So I've lost so much of it. But French, I still have because that was all day. Everyday school was in French, like math, science, PE, everything.

I'm so jealous of people that can speak multiple languages. I wish I could speak multiple languages, man. Like I tried to get the Rosetta Stone and I just failed at it. You know what I mean? But I failed at it. No, you didn't fail at it. You just didn't commit, Donald. You know what?

That's a better way to look at it. That's a better way to look at it. You know, I probably could have been great at basketball if I dedicated a lot of time to it. I mean, I'm not saying I would have had natural super skills, but I always think of it like it's what you dedicate time and focus and energy to. You know what? You're absolutely right, because I know a lot of people who didn't play sports growing up and put a lot of energy into sports when they got older meaning uh like tennis or golf or something like that and now they are very good at those sports right i just i just want to clarify for yourself for your own psyche that you could probably be you could easily become

bilingual if you cared enough to if you dedicated the hours you dedicate to animation, to learning a language, I probably, I probably would be fluent. What language would you choose? What language? I could choose a language. Hmm. That's interesting.

I would choose Spanish because, um, uh, here we are living in California and it, it feels like makes the most sense to be able to speak with so many Spanish speakers that are here. Uh, yeah. Spanish is that are here. Yeah. Spanish is a good one.

Wow. I also like French. Chinese is probably a good one now. French is a good one. But if I could choose, I would want to choose something that's like out of the ordinary. Hebrew. I would love to learn to talk Hebrew. I want to learn Hebrew.

That would be great, actually. Oh, my God. You speaking Hebrew in Israel would be one of the most amazing things. Can you just do it, please? We'll do it together. We'll do it together. I'll learn Hebrew. That would be great.

I would love that. Well, so, Sarah, we were talking about learning sports and stuff like that. Learning sports and stuff. I know you wanted to say something. Go ahead. Oh, no. I just want to say two things. One that, yes, Donald, pick a language and absolutely you'll master it.

In terms of languages, I kind of cheated because I was a kid. And I feel as a kid, it's like it's just insert. It's like a gift into your brain. It's so easy. And as an adult, it's so much harder. But sports, I'm living proof that what Zach just said is not true about you could play basketball and become really good. I devoted so much time in my youth to basketball. It's all I wanted and I wanted it so bad. And I

tried out for the basketball team in grade five, grade six, grade seven. I was at our neighbor's hoop in the pouring rain in Canada, practicing every day. And then tryouts for grade seven basketball came and I was like, this is my year. The basketball came from across the the court hit me square in the face and started a series of like crazy nosebleeds that lasted for months until I got my nose cauterized but anyways um I kept trying out for the team and I kept practicing and I take like camps and I would I would try so hard and finally in grade 10 and I was still the shortest kid in the class I grew when I was like really like 18 or something. So I finally made the team. And Blake, who you both met, who's my brother-in-law, was two years older and was my coach

and makes fun of me till this day. And I made the team, but I spent the whole time on the bench. But I was like, I didn't care because I had a jersey and I was on the team and I was getting on the bus with all of my buddies to go to the game and that's all I wanted. And we had a really good team and they would put me on a center forward as like a joke when we were beating the other team, like 70 to four.

And I'd be like jumping, trying to like, and it was all effort, no skill. So trying so hard and just, yeah. Well, you know what? You made the team. So all of that practice paid off. And you got to run up and down for a couple of minutes during every game that year, I'm sure. I do think a lot of people say, and I'm including myself in this, like, oh, I suck at that.

Oh, I suck at that. Oh, I can't cook. Oh, I can't drive a motorcycle. Oh, I can't play basketball. And it's like, no, well, maybe you're not amazing at it, but you never dedicated any fucking time to trying. Right. Well, there is that. There is that.

There is that. Like I say all the time, I can't write. And I'm going to be honest with you, I can imagine so much. And I can come up with so many stories. You know what I've never done, though? You know what I've never practiced?

Trying to write it down. I've always been like, well, I've got this idea. And somebody's like, oh, you should write it down. And I'm like, oh, no, I'm not a writer. How would I ever know if I don't sit down and I put the pen to pad? Of course. Just imagine something you love, like in your case, it would be animation or basketball or golf.

Imagine all those hours you had been in a writing class. Right. You know? Right. You'd probably be a fucking amazing writer. Right, right. Absolutely. Or practicing, not just sitting in a class.

Well, it's like you said. I would learn how to write. That doesn't necessarily mean I'd be a great writer. I might not be great at it, but I would be able to understand structure and I would understand, you know, uh, how to tell a story. You would still get way better. You would get way better. Even if no matter where you're starting at, will you become one of the greatest writers of all time? No, but if you, but you'd be, you'd, you, I guarantee you with practice, you'd be, you'd be pretty darn good.

I feel like you get put in a box as a kid of the things you can and can't do so early. And for me, that was singing. I was in grade five and Mrs. McKinnon was like, chalk girls, just mouth the words for this performance to my sister and I when we were singing Christmas carols in a mall for like some school, not a fancy choir, like a school choir. And I feel like it was like that moment where I love nothing more than musical theater and was doing musical theater after school. And it just completely shut me down and put me in this box of like,

oh, that's something that I can't do. So I stopped working at it and learning and trying. And who knows where you would have gotten if you would have kept going. You could have been adele eponine in les mis on broadway well you think it's you think i remember a kid i went to school with could not really sing that well he could barely hold a tune you know what i mean uh but he could play the piano really really well right when he graduated he's gone on now to write songs he performs all the time he's a

an amazing artist you know what i mean but i remember when he couldn't sing and he could sing his ass off now you know what i mean so cool my little brother olamide when he was in a band called imagine when he auditioned for the band band Imagine, he sang show tunes because that's all he knew. I think his audition was something like the song to Peter Pan, I won't grow up. I think that was his audition for the band. And they were like, well, the kid can hold a tune. Let's see if we can work with him. Now, my little brother, he has music that he works on all the time, and he tries to get it out, and he's doing his thing as a musician, and he's a very good singer, and he sings.

If you ask me, he sings better than a lot of these motherfuckers out right now, but that's just me. How do we hear his music? Can you give him a plug? Yeah, we'll shout him out. plug yeah we'll shout him out at yo lami day uh y-o uh o-l-a-m-i-d-e i think that's it i i you know to be honest with you i wasn't expecting to shout him out like that but i think that's his handle on instagram okay uh and if it's not we'll fix it we'll fix it if it's not uh anyway he worked really hard to get where he was. So I understand the premise.

That doesn't necessarily mean you're going to be the greatest of all time. I'm just saying an epiphany I had in my own life in my 20s was stop saying you suck at X, Y, and Z. And it's not that you don't, but it's because you haven't dedicated any interest. And it comes at any time. And it's not that you don't, but it's because you haven't dedicated any interest. And it comes at any time and it comes with interest. So the things that we're all interested in, in our own lives, our own hobbies and things outside of being an actor, we'll dedicate countless hours to. For me, one of my hobbies is photography. I will be online looking at cameras and playing with new cameras, you know, for endless hours., I could be dedicating that time to something else and get quite good at that thing.

So it's just foolish to say like, oh, I suck at that. You might, but it's not because it's in your bones. It's because you didn't dedicate any commitment to time. That's all I'm blabbing about. I agree with that 100%. And that also goes for learning lines also. Yes, sure. Just putting it out there.

Yeah, Donald always used to say and always does say, oh, I can't learn lines. That's bullshit. You were fucking high watching basketball. And that was honest. That's the honest to goodness truth. And when I stopped doing all of that, I found that learning lines was actually very easy to do when you just – look, if you can't learn it in two hours, there's something wrong. You know what I mean? You should really think about finding other exercises to

do when it comes to line learning, that is. It's just a matter of practice for me. I miss you. I miss you guys too, and you guys have been keeping me entertained and happy. Are you really listening? Because we had to prove to Randall. I don't know if you heard the episode with Randall, but he tried to act like he was listening.

And then he said, three, two, one, and he got outed. No, I've been listening. I haven't heard all of them.

I've heard a bunch of them and it's making me so happy. And I can't believe how much you guys remember. And it's so fun to just, especially in a time like this, like go back into that, go back into that headspace. And we had, I just,

we had so much fun we had so many fucking laughs and i um yeah all of it like donald singing sanford and son the other day um you know what it is fun to hear johnny c well you know what it is i was hanging out with paul rudd and alicia silverstone and breckin meyer doing a clueless reunion like a year and a half ago or something like that right and pa And Paul said something that was very, very interesting. He was like, we have history together. You know what I mean? So because we have history together, it's so easy to fall back into where we were when we were working on Scrubs, right?

He was saying we're clueless. He was like, we had such a great time, and it was such a big opportunity for all of us, and it turned into something so big that when we see each other, you can't help but reminisce and feel all of those great feelings that you had when shit jumped off, right? Yeah. I think also, you know, when we did the show, we didn't have all these years of knowing

just how special it really was. I mean, we've all done plenty of jobs since and continue to work and will till our dying day. But I think when I watch these episodes back and I talk to you guys and it's great seeing everyone now, we're doing the show. We see you, Sarah. We saw Johnny C. We see people that we don't see all the time.

It's even bringing back more nostalgia for me because I'm going, wow, what a unique time this was to not only do something for so long, but to create this wonderful bond with these people. And it's, you know, a lot of jobs as an actor that you do, they're fun and everyone's cool and it works or it doesn't.

But it isn't such a special thing where you have these lifelong bonds with people. It's so true. It was our 20s, right? Like it was our 20s. It was such a formative time, I think, too, in our lives. And then for it to be on such a special show. And, yeah, like you guys were saying, like now've realized being adults, like how fucking rare that is. And to have, you know, I mean, we would, we would spend,

it was like you guys were talking about with Randall. It's like we would spend 16, 20 hours shooting. We would go overtime that people don't never do anymore. And then we would go with the whole crew to the money tree, you know, on a Friday night we would have wine and cheese Fridays. I mean, we've literally just spent like over 100 hours together and then you know and then are still hanging out or would hang out on the weekends and I think and we really all eat lunch together I mean I don't know if you guys

nowadays on sets people are like all right later it's like lunch I go right to my trailer but we used to every single day for nine for eight years um have lunch together yeah yeah yeah it it's so it's so um it's so rare i was working on a job like a year ago and i just i was new there and i just grabbed my train went down and sat with with the crew and a couple guys that i'd worked with years and years ago and somebody said like oh actually just go to the trailer i was like oh that, Oh, that's not how, that's not how I grew up. That's not what I enjoy. And it was yeah. I don't know if you guys remember, but Carrie Bennett,

our amazing costume designer who had her own line of fabulous scrubs. I definitely remember Carrie Bennett. I think she was so great. So she, she, she, she'd say to me, you know, after lunch, she was like, Sarah, um, I don't want to say this, but we're running out of scrubs in of your scrubs. And, and we, we, we just need to, we're going to give you this art smock as a giant bib and you've got to wear it to the lunch tent. And I was like, you're kidding me, right? Carrie. She's like, no, no, just just like wear it and then it will protect the scrubs these beautiful baby blue scrubs from the chili stain and uh so i did and it was kind of humiliating and i was super proud i i came back from lunch and i'm like carrie and

then i had taken a quick uh disco nap in my dressing room and i fell asleep on a sharpie and so these baby blue scrubs that were like pristine on the front had like a Sharpie stain the size of a grapefruit on the butt. Sarah, is it okay to tell everyone that you're not necessarily the tidiest person? Oh my God, I forgot about that. Your dressing room. Oh my God. Holy shit.

How did you find anything in that never you've never seen anything like it people oh my god that's right that is so true well i don't know do you guys remember i moved dressing rooms because i was between your two dressing rooms at the right end of the hallway and then in whatever season that heather graham came on she was coming for eight episodes and they made her a really nice dressing room. They brought in like new carpeting and they painted. They brought in this cute little couch. And it was smaller than our dressing room, but it was so pretty.

And so when she left, they let me have it. So I ended up switching over to Heather's dressing room, which was amazing. That's so fucked up. They fixed up a dressing room because Heather Graham was coming. And then when she left, you were like, can I have it? And they were like, sure. Like that's so fucked up that after all this time you didn't get that dressing room well that's that's you moved across the hall that's right you moved to the other side

oh but okay yes i did and and to as more proof that i've been listening to your podcast johnny c i was laughing so hard he was like he was like remember we how we each got 1500 from disney every year to improve our dressing rooms i was like, remember how we each got $1,500 from Disney every year to improve our dressing rooms? I was like, hell no. We did not all get that. I remember going into, Donald didn't have much decor and he would just like add like whatever the latest video game system and the controllers everywhere. And then Sarah looked like a teenager exploded. There was just like shit everywhere.

I kind of was a teenager. I mean, when I look back at those episodes, we were babies. Yeah, but you were in your 20s. You weren't a teenager kid. I know. I know. I know. No, you're right.

And then Zach, your dressing room looked like fucking, you would walk in and it would smell good. You had freaking art on the wall and shit like that. I fixed it up. I was there my whole life. I thought it had to be a little bit nice. But I want everyone to realize, these are still hospital rooms, okay? These are small hospital rooms that basically just had some Ikea furniture and a fresh coat of paint.

But dude, you changed your shit up a little bit more than just Ikea furniture. Yeah, I think it was like another couch. They were like, Zach, here's your room. And you were like, no, we got to fix it. Hold on now. Hold on now. Where did you get this furniture from? Ikea.

No, no, no, no. We're going to have to get Pottery Barn. Like you. No. It was not as nice as Pottery Barn. I think it was all rental shit. So every year they bring you in like, how about this couch? And you'd be like, no.

And then they'd just go to the rental house and be like, how about this one? It was just like some bullshit couch. I'm learning so much. I, A, never got the 1500 Johnny C style. Neither did I. I never had someone say, how about this couch? I was just whatever couch was in there until I took Heather Graham's room. I mean, in my defense, I was there the most hours of the day.

So I did occasionally be like, I'm going to need to nap. So I'm going to need a nice nap couch. I do remember going up to somebody and being like, listen, I don't want to be a pain in the ass or anything like that. But my couch is made out of like, it's like dandery or whatever this shit is. And it's really hard on my face, and it's really hot. Is there a way we could find something that's a little bit more cooler? And not cooler like aesthetically cooler, but cooler like keeps your body cool, cooler.

I don't want you to be a pain in the ass, but is there any way this could happen? And I remember them being like, hmm, well, let me talk to somebody about this. We'll see. You're talking about. When Heather Graham leaves,

you can have her couch. Maybe. Zach's like, they would be like, here's a couch. What do you think of this couch? No. Okay.

What about this? You should have been like, you should have been like, Heather Graham would like me to have a nicer couch. Okay, guys, that's the show. So I hope you enjoyed taking this trip down memory lane. Go to my Twitter and recommend more stories that you enjoy. We've already had great suggestions for just categories.

Someone wanted to see all of the first times that people, like, the question we ask everybody when they first come on the show is, when did you first get involved in Scrubs? So maybe I'll do a compilation of that. I've gotten a request for all of Donald's raps. I might try to do that. There's a ton of options in here. I already know I want to do one of just the youths. You know, obviously, we're gonna put Zach's bar mitzvah story and the time maybe he found that special massager.

Donald has great stories from, you know, being a kid dancing in front of the fame school. So let me know which stories you guys want to hear. And I'll try to make a couple of compilations. I know you miss our two week drops. Of course, Zach and Donald are very, very busy working hard to bring you other great content that listen.

I've heard some behind the scenes things. I can't talk about it here, but you guys are going to love what's coming down the pipeline. So it's totally worth it. I'm just going to have to dig deep and work really hard to keep trying to entertain you. Reilluminate some of the things we have forgotten. Like I said, I forgot some of these stories existed, so it's been a fun journey for me. If you guys have suggestions,

you can hit me up on Twitter or Instagram, DM me, whatever, and I'll try to put something together you guys like. Until then, please, you know, hang out with us. Join us next Tuesday. We've got another great show for you. Really excited to bring it to you. And of course, as always, thank you so much for listening. Thank you for just being here and being a light in our

lives. Thank you for everyone who showed up to the live show. We have another one in the works, so get ready for that. I think that's everything. Okay. Have a great weekend. I love you guys. Bye. So gather round to hear our Gather round to hear our Scrubs Rewatch Show with Zach and Donald 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.

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