Fake Doctors, Real Friends with Zach and Donald - Real Friends Classic: A Very Special Episode Alabama Jackson w Seth Green and Friends

Episode Date: April 12, 2023

We get animated on this week's episode as we dive into the pilot episode of Donald's new show Alabama Jackson! Join us as we break down the time-traveling comedy with the creative minds behind the show, including Seth Green, Chris Waters, 'Harv' Harvatine, Shirley Faison, Ashley Ray, and Lee House.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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Hi, friends. I'm Danielle Robay. And I'm Simone Boyce. And we're here to introduce you to The Bright Side, a new kind of daily podcast that's guaranteed to light up your day. Every weekday, we're bringing you conversations about culture, the latest trends, inspiration, and so much more. We'll hear from celebrities, authors, experts, and listeners like you. Whether it's relationships, friend advice, or figuring out how to navigate life's transitions,

big and small, we'll talk through it together. Listen to The Bright Side from Hello Sunshine every weekday on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. 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, guys. This is Joelle. Hopefully you know me if you're here. If not, hi, I executive produced this show. I am so excited for what we have in store for you today. Donald has a show, as we've talked about quite a lot, Alabama Jackson. It's out right the heck now. You can go listen to it. It's actually a TV show, so you can watch it, which great and we're so excited he brought so many of his good friends here and we are elated to have an opportunity to bring you guys a sense of comedy and laughter and of course to uplift our friend donald like guys if you he worked so hard put

everything everything else on the back burner to deliver a show that is full of his passion full of his drive it really pushed him as an artist you know and it's I think he's bearing a lot of his soul in it um it's an incredible like the laughs per second are through the roof you're gonna love it I digress we're gonna talk about all of that in the show but before we get to that um I want to take a little bit of time to explain why our other best friend Zach isn't here. If you follow him on Instagram, then you're aware that he recently lost a friend to suicide. It's devastating if you've ever had to go through it. It's a lot to mentally process. It's a lot to try to examine. And so he's taking time to grieve and to do that.

It's been a really hard couple of years. Suicide rates are at an all-time high, and we just wanted to acknowledge, first, the love of that friendship, and second, to encourage you, if you're having suicidal thoughts, if you know somebody who's having suicidal thoughts, to please, please, please, please reach out for help. You are so worth the time and the effort to feel better, to have a full and happy life. And hopefully help isn't too far out of reach. If you're in America, you can call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline. That number is 1-800-273-8255. Again, it's 800-273-8255.

So my thoughts and love are with Zach as he's working through this difficult time. thoughts and love are with Zach as he's working through this difficult time. And of course, to anybody else, you know, trying to grieve a loved one or struggling to lift themselves up. It's a lot of work. We see you. We love that you're trying. And we're with you. Okay. Now we're going to do some laughs. You're going to hear a lot of love between a lot of people who've worked really hard to bring something special into this world. And I love that we can share that with you guys. So without further ado, please enjoy a very special episode of Fake Doctors, Real Friends, the Alabama Jackson story. natural should know so gather round to hear our gather round to hear our Scrubs Rewatch Show with Zach and

Donald well well well look at this look at this look at what we have here Daniel, Joel I'd like to introduce you to Chris and Harvatine hi'd like to introduce you to Chris and Harvateen.

Hi, guys. Hello, gentlemen. Pleasure to meet you both. What's happening? These are the stupid buddy guys right here. Harv is one of the head honchos. Oh, geez. Yeah, he's like the...

We got one of the owners up on this piece right now. Oh, shit. Amazing. Pleasure to have you both, truly. Hello. of the owners up on this piece right now oh shit pleasure to have you both truly well uh it is i'm such a huge fan of what you guys do on the podcast and um oh man yeah so this is so cool that that i'm even like uh um a small part of this and donald you kicked ass in that commercial and how great was it that sets played and then you you're right after right after that's crazy i didn't even know i didn't know you were in a commercial man did you you didn't tell us did

you i didn't tell anyone okay is that what you guys were what were you guys talking about before we record what were you guys talking about is that what we're already recording episode yeah we would so we talked about that as our big news and we yeah the thing that you that you beeped out okay because i was like damn i thought maybe uh my mind went right to dr acula i was like oh shit that would be dope oh my god yo you're speaking the language man everybody would go crazy if that's what it was i think dr acula should be i think you guys should do a Dr. Acula special of the podcast. What if we did a Dr. Acula stop motion animated special? Dude, that's what I'm saying.

We get puppets that look like me and Zach and we freaking make a Dr. Acula movie. I told my, my 15 year old about this podcast and she was, she's a huge fan because of Hulu. She watches scrubs and she called you guys kings you and you and zach kings wow and she like my dream is for her to call me a king because she any anyone so that's like so i know that you guys thought it was it was it was more uh it was more because it

was his friend's son or whatever but all the, all the kids in high school are watching scrubs. It's, it's, uh, it's officially retro cool. I hope so because it really feels like friends and the office are leading the way when it comes to what the kids are watching nowadays. Let me introduce you guys to Harveteen and,

uh, Chris waters. Uh, these guys both work at stupid buddy studios. Harveteen is an owner. These guys both work at Stupid Buddy Studios. Harveteen is an owner of Stupid Buddy Studios. And Chris, what would you say your role is? Because you have a bunch of hats in this situation. Like you and I sat down and we did the development together.

And then you jumped on as a writer after that in Alabama Jackson. I'm just, Joelle, I'm all over the place. We should really start by saying welcome to Fake Doctors Real Friends special episode of Alabama Jackson. The new fast-paced stop-motion animated

comedy series on Adult Swim's YouTube platform, which premieres today! Wait. Thunderous applause, Daniel. Oh, that's right, because today is tomorrow. Today is tomorrow, yeah.

I was like, wait a minute. And on the show we have with us Harv, who is the king of... I'm going to call you king. How about that? Who is the king of uh I'm gonna call you king how about that who is the king you like that oh it's a little much the prince of animation well I'm gonna say king because in this situation you are the two people that I were my go-to guys and then Seth when he gets on here also yeah you guys are champions of the Alabama Jackson cause.

And so, you know, I mean, a lot of people could have jumped on, but Harv, the fact that you volunteered to step up and be a part of this, and Chris, the fact that you volunteered to step up. And then, ladies and gentlemen, let's give a round of applause, thunderous round of applause for Seth Green, y'all. Thunderous applause. Thunderous applause, Daniel. There we go. Here we go. Now I got to say it. Thunderous applause of applause for Seth Green, y'all. Thunderous applause. Thunderous applause, Daniel. There we go. There we go. Now I got to say it. Thunderous applause, Daniel.

Thunderous motherfucking applause for Seth motherfucking Green. Guys. We got him on the podcast. Who else is on this? I see Chris. I see Harv. Hi. I see Joel.

Let me introduce you guys. Daniel. That's Daniel. We call him Danil. Danil. How'd you get saddled with that? That's his name. Long story from a fifth grade old.

Start. Tell him. Nobody knows. It's a long nickname. It's a long nickname. Don't worry about it. This show's about you today, Donald. This show's about you today.

Do you want to talk a little bit about how Alabama Jackson came into being and how these guys got involved? Yeah. Okay. So that's actually a great segue. Alabama Jackson started, you know, I'm a huge fan of Raiders of the Lost Ark. Everybody knows that. I love Harrison Ford. He's one of my favorite actors of all time.

when I first started as an actor. Eddie Murphy, Denzel Washington, and Harrison Ford are three people who I tried to mimic a lot, you know, in my comedy, in my physical movements, and in, you know, and then the seriousness of Denzel. I just wanted to, those were the three that I tried to always be like. And Indiana Jones just seemed like one of those movies where i was like man there's so much black history out there and this dude's chasing after it like he chased after the ark of the covenant that started that's an eat apparently according to uh myth now that's in ethiopia according to

i don't know if you guys know this yeah but the ark is in Africa yeah but that's I love I love the archaeological shit where they where they dig up the bones and my most the thing I'm the most passionate about is old civilizations and like instances of humans on all other parts of the planet and how the culture seemed to evolve even though there was oceans between them which is why there's that whole Pangea argument that they weren't moving, that they were all just sort of in the same region before natural geological phenomenon separated the continent. Right. But the, the, the, the, like the fact that a thousand years ago, 3000 years ago, a million

years ago, another human being was in this spot doing some shit. And now you're standing there that blows my mind it's one of my favorite things so i love to travel yeah i love indiana jones for the fantasy not necessarily the history of it though you know what i mean right and i always thought it was kind of talking about the fantasy of punching nazis in the face yeah man this one dude this one dude taking on a freaking whole army by himself with a bullwhip and six bullets and wins, dude! But also gets his ass kicked, which was what made him lovable, right? Right.

Stumbling and bumbling his way through it all. And I was like, wouldn't it be great if we created a black version of this? Here's exactly how it happened. We're all on this panel, and they're like, hey, what are you guys up to? What are you doing next? We're all like, we're doing this. This is the season of Robot Chicken. Donald loves stop motion and this, that, and the other thing. And they were like, well, Donald, what are you guys up to? What are you doing next? And we're all like, we're doing this. This is the season of Robot Chicken. And Donald loves stop motion and this, that, and other thing.

And they were like, well, Donald, what would you do? What are you going to do? And he goes, you know what I really want to do is a black Indiana Jones called Alabama Jackson. And then everybody exploded in laughter. And then we went on to whatever the next question was. I saw Sten Reich's face on the panel go like this. Is that Donald Bill?

And then Matt texted me and he said, hey, do you think that's a show? And I said, fuck yes I think that's a show. And he said, let's call Donald the second this is over. So that's what we did. We called Donald and we're like, hey dude,

a black Indiana Jones called Alabama Jackson is something. Let's talk about what you really mean. What do you really mean? And Donald started talking about how, because we were all in that place of like, I don't know enough about my own history. We're in fighting about nuance of like cultures.

And what Donald said was, I want to tell the story of a modern black man who has all of these preconceptions and assumptions and is living the life of a modern black man. And he gets forced into a position where he has to learn and appreciate black history. Like from somebody like Harriet Tubman. And he said, it's like,

I want it to be like quantum leap, right? He's got to go back and learn some shit and solve some shit and i was like have you ever watched timeless on nbc because it's a show about right but it was an organization of supposed evildoers traveling back in time to fuck up history and then the people that they had stolen the time travel tech from had their beta model to chase them through time the rules of the time travel were very specifically their beta model to chase them through time. The rules of the time travel were very specifically laid out. You can never return to the same point twice. You can't

like recorrect something that's already been shifted in a timeline. So it's constantly chasing these anarchists through time. And I was like, that's your fucking move. Like you've got somebody actively trying to destroy black history. And Donald looked it up and he's like, that's your fucking move. Like you've got, you've got somebody actively trying to destroy black history. And Donald looked it up and he's like, well, the worst motherfucker was Woodrow Wilson. Yeah. And we were like, well, that's a great villain. That's a great villain. And then I remember who came up with the KK Cabal.

That's, that, that Ashley Ray will be on the show later on. She's the one that came up with the KK Cabal. When you find that bright spot to help you get through your day, it's powerful. That's where The Bright Side comes in. A new daily podcast from Hello Sunshine that's bringing you a daily dose of joy. I'm Danielle Robay. And I'm Simone Boyce. Listen, both Danielle and I are reporters. We've covered the news and we know the world can feel heavy. But the Bright Side podcast is a space to have a little fun, to learn something new and get into some friendly debates. That's right. Join us five days a week to see how life can look from the bright side.

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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. Imagine you ask two people the same exact set of seven questions. I'm Minnie Driver, and this was the idea I set out to explore in my podcast, Minnie Questions. This year, we bring a whole new group of guests to answer the same seven questions, including actress and star of the mega hit sitcom Friends, Courtney Cox.

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And many, many more. Join me on season three of Many Questions on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your favorite podcasts. Seven questions, limitless answers. And then, and then the idea of the black cabinet is an actual historic concept. So us make it, there's a lot of plausible reality in this that an organization called the black cabinet that has time travel is chasing woodrow wilson who also has

time travel and the kk cabal through time trying to save black history while it is actively being trapped trying to be destroyed i'm like this is a fucking great show. Right. So nobody, but you're right. Nobody wants to give you money. Right. Right. Right. It's very hard to convince somebody on a pitch that something is good. So our whole thing at SPS is always, let's make something, let's make it and show you exactly what it is. Cause otherwise it's, it's up to your imagination, your context, and whatever experience you've had up until that moment. So we talked to adults, women, we're like, hey, how does this get, listen, I know you won't give us a pilot. I know we're not going to get a pilot script written. We want to make a proof of concept that has value to the

company. How do we do that? And then we started talking to mechanics of it. So it literally came down to us negotiating for about 20 minutes of content that we could break up any way we wanted. And we're like, we do these in shorts. And that way it's not a single episode. You can show several instances, gain minor character development, even in a one to three minute episode. That's going to prove

the show. So that's what we've done. We've got seven episodes. There is a meaningful arc for each of the characters. Plus you see how it would work in series. Our goal is a half hour, but more than anything, I'm so proud of this motherfucker. I'll take it. Not just because he's such a hard worker, not just because he's so talented, but because he had this idea. He's been so passionate about it and he's really worked his ass off. This is hard work, guys. Making a show.

And he's roped in like half his family, which is also- Well, I got to give it back. I got to give it back though. You know what I mean? Like that, this was one of those things where it was like, look, you got to show up every day. And when you show up, you got to bring something to the table. I'm not that dude. I'm not the dude that even shows up. I'm the dude that's like, what are we doing? Yeah. moments where it was a it was a come to moment where it was like dude you got to be better than you've ever been and even though this is a small medium like you know what we're doing we're hoping

a lot of people view it we'll see how it plays out and stuff this is a huge idea yeah the huge idea i know but the window is so small the window is so small though i feel like you're wrong you disagree i do i do because this is a moment when people are interested in something like this. And what we've been able to achieve is something that is not academically preachy. It's fun. You like this character. You're getting a very relatable POV from a modern human being who is, you know, we all over the last couple of years have dealt with a tremendous amount of forced shame for what we haven't experienced, for the mistakes that we've made, for what we don't already know. And there used to be a lot more basic forgiveness. You take one position or another.

There's a way that we get to present this, a way that we get to make it. And the hack is to just do it. Because you try and get through all these multi-layers, the corporations, all the different companies, especially as they're getting gobbled by each other, you have 400 levels of people who have to both see it, read it, and sign off on it. I hate that shit. I can't waste time like that. off on it. I hate that shit.

I can't waste time like that. So, like, if you think about how short the turnaround is from us on that panel to tomorrow when this show is released. Today. Today. Today is tomorrow. Today is tomorrow. Daniel, can you edit that so it works?

No, it's okay. Time is a perfect eight. That's why Alabama and Harriet can travel so for the listeners out there the three gentlemen that we have on the show today i've known for a bit so i did a movie called clueless a while back uh with breckenmeyer who seth green is best friends with and uh one night uh this is this is sincerely how it happened uh seth goes seth says you should go out on a date with my sister and i was like okay oh my god why would i do that i have no clue you're a good dude man my sister was always bringing home like the worst

right but i had only met you once at this point. You know what I mean? But we did vibe. But we did vibe. No doubt. Brecken was like, hey, you're going to love this kid. And the second I saw you, I was like, oh, yeah, I'm going to love this kid. Right.

And so he invites me on a date with his sister. We go on the date. And after the date, she's like, let's go back to Seth's house. It's to Seth's apartment. And this is when the first time we ever, like, we kicked it a little bit before, but this was like the time that we really kicked it. And I got to tell my jokes. I got to be. We're like 20.

I'm not even 21 yet. Yeah. And then, uh, so we hang out and, you know, Seth and I have a, we have like a, there's a thing that's happening where we kind of get each other's jokes. And it's like, we have the same sense of humor. We exchange numbers. I go back to New York. I'm calling Seth Green on the phone, like once or twice a week. You know what I mean? I'm calling Brecken on the phone once or twice a week. Like, guys, man, I miss y'all. Like, you know, Seth comes to new york fucking comes to new york we're kicking it in new york do you remember when i got to go to your like i was at your mom's on thanksgiving yeah it was

no it was a new it was it was new year's it was new year's eve and you came oh shit so that's like 97 dude i don't clueless 98 i think it's the same year Clueless came out. So I'm not exactly sure. So is that 99 even? I don't even know, dude. I can't. I'm not sure. Clueless is 95.

95. 95. So I was right. So that New Year's is probably like 96. Yeah. Because I was here with Ryan. Yeah. So you come through and my best friend growing up this girl Jessica

Ricardo and Seth hug and I'm like how the fuck do you know each other guys and she's like from auditions back in the day I was like Seth it lives in LA Seth goes I grew up in Philly I'm like oh shit right so the connection was the connection was always there right and so time goes forward, time goes forward. Seth starts doing this thing called sweet J with Matt and Brecken. And just a little bit of context in, in 99, Sony digital was trying to develop, um, a linear content precursor to YouTube. They were convinced that the internet was a place where people would be viewing stuff and everybody was investing negligible amounts of money to see what you could really do. It was still dial-up, but we talked Sony Digital into giving us about $46,000 to produce the

equivalent of 39 minutes of content. And the same thing, you can break it up however you want like one episode 20 episodes so what we wound up doing was making um god how many shorts do you remember it all it all predates anybody matt would be the only one that knows those numbers the point is we made what would become the proof of concept for robot chicken i made a deal with Sony digital lawyers to be able to sell our thing, um, anywhere else. And then we tried to sell it to SNL, Mad TV, MTV comedy. We had a deal with comedy and then September 11th happened. They were like, Hey, we're just not going to fucking do this. So all rights reverted. We sat on it, Matt and I had like three or four years. And then it was Seth MacFarlane making the deal after Family Guy had been canceled the first time. Seth MacFarlane made a deal with Mike Lazo, the head of the Adult Swim, to air the aired and unaired episodes of Family Guy on Adult Swim.

It blew up so big. God, it was even before that. Maverick called me, Seth MacFarlane calls me and says, hey, do you know these Adult Swim guys? And I said, I don't know why I'm doing this. I said, yeah, we already brought, because Maverick had done a voice on Sweet J. Like, he was in our shorts because it was just, like, us gangbanging this independent production together. He called me and said, you should pitch to Adult Swim. I said, we already pitched to Cartoon Network.

We got passed on. And he said, no, no, no. There's a whole new thing. They're buying the old episodes of Family Guy. Go pitch to them. So Matt and I go pitch to Keith Crawford and Mike Lazo.

And in an unprecedented move, they contracted us to make 20 quarter hours of what would become the first season of robot chicken. That's the story. That's fucking crazy,

dude. It's kind of like the same thing in a lot of ways. You guys would jump to a way more hoops than I had to, but you weren't to do this, buddy. You've had it so fucking easy. None of this shit supposed to happen. That's the crazy thing. None of this shit supposed to happen that's the crazy thing none of this shit happens this way it does a terrible standard for ourselves by being able to achieve this on this budget

yeah like with the case we're gonna have to make to anybody for our half hours we've almost we've almost made too beautiful of a show i love that i love that we've almost done that and i can't wait for you guys to watch it you've had it very easy though you know what donald that's the only way i want it i want to protect you from all of this thank you for that and i thank you for that i thank you for that so harv i met at shadow machine right that's where we met and he was animating on robot chicken am i correct that's right and power van towner and towner right and eric and uh and so you know as time went on i i really dove into the stop motion animation uh game like i really am trying to

become a better stop motion animator like my goal is to be able to animate my own stuff. Even though it takes forever. But if Alabama Jackson goes to series, I'd like to animate it on it. That's just how I... That's like Lucille Ball saying, no, no, I've got to be the one to build this dress.

Well, there are some artists that... clothes and stuff. I get it. Why won't you just let me make a joke? No, I get it. I'll let you make a joke. You got the joke out. You got the joke out. Everybody gets it Donald. You're a very passionate artist, clearly. And so when I stepped away from Shadow Machine and, you know, when Robot Chicken left Shadow Machine. Yeah. So what happened there?

Just to consolidate that, we had 100 episode or rather Shadow had 100 episode production contract with Adult Swim. So at the end of five seasons, at the end of 100 episodes, Matt and I had to decide whether we were going to produce a sixth season at all. And if so, were we going to do it at Shadow? And Matt and I had sort of realized how little actual governance we had over the mood and the sentiment. And because we were becoming so close with all these artists, we noticed that there was a manner in which things were contracted or organized or built at a core level that we just had a different philosophy about. And it's not a this way or that way. It's just a way you want to do business, right? So we decided, we realized, because Harvin Towner had broken off themselves both successful animators very talented artists had broken off and made a little boutique production shop like a mini studio

with a full development um capability but also the ability to shoot stages and experiment with shit and they were doing such like cool experimental stuff. And they were like, I don't know, let's just try this, see if this works. I don't know, let's just do this. And we were so excited by that. This was the idea that Matt and I came to Harvintown and we're like, this is a big risk guys. But if the four of us as artists create a collective that is dedicated to just making these projects as best we can. Creating this IP, developing these concepts, working with our friends, and most of all, governing the mood, the manner, the spirit, the culture of the place. That's what we wanted.

So that's where we broke off and formed SVS. And then we produced the last six seasons of Robot there and everything else. Crossing Swords, Buddy Thunderstruck, MODOK, everything. Everything's been done here. Like it's opened up. You guys are freaking animating for the Mandalorian now. Like you guys are freaking doing your thing, dude.

But Harv, can you tell us about how you guys started? Because it's a really interesting story. You know, the studio has a camper as a Winnebago as one of its logos and stuff like that. Can you tell us where that came from? Well, it started with me and Tanner, who were buddy system studios. And we formed that because in animation and stop motion, you can't just, it's hard to do something yourself. You got to team up with someone. animation and stop motion you can't just it's hard to do something yourself you got to team up with someone so we really believed if we team up together we got our friends together like a buddy system then we can do projects and matt and seth were stupid monkey uh so when we teamed up

together it's buddy system meets stupid monkey so we came stupid buddy studios that's kind of where the name came from um and when we all came together, we'd love the idea of camping and togetherness and like having an adventure. So the, the bagel, the Winnebago became kind of our spirit animal, kind of the true North of where we're going. It's the it's the real ride that we're all taking together. So the Winnebago is kind of like our, our jam. So that's where I'm sitting right now is in, in our original Winnebago that me and Towner had when we were teaming up, doing projects just together on really scrappy budgets, it kind of became the symbol for the studio, which.

And that's, that's inside the building that we animated Alabama Jackson. How did you get that inside the, how'd you get it inside the door? First of all? Well, back then the doors were big and there was no enclosure. So we drove it in and then we parked it over here right next to the window so i can see outside of beautiful burbank right on but then we sealed it up we sealed up the doors so we could have a shop and puppet department all that kind of stuff so and then we also had to take out the engine so this thing is not operational it's

stuck in here so whenever we leave this building we might have to just light a match or just walk away. I don't really know because I don't think it's going to go out of here. Well, it has to go with you. It has to go with you. Yeah, we drag it out. And then so when you guys formed the company, Chris, were you there already or did you come much later? I joined up in 2015 and it was actually, originally it was just to help with one project.

It was this insane short that Towner and Harvard made at Buddy Systems called Micro Mayhem, which is incredible. People just look that up on Vimeo. But yeah, so I joined up to help develop that. And then I love the ethos of the place I you know I had worked a lot in animation and CG animation and just seeing a place where you had people like building stuff you know carpenters and grips and like it felt like a little live action

like a miniature live action studio and I was I was just fascinated by that so we and we hit it off and slowly but surely i sort of started taking on more and more projects and then uh for the last three years um i've been ahead of development so i had i helped develop all the tv shows and and features and all the fun stuff that we're working on at the studio that's how i that's how i teamed up with these guys because when we might undersell himself undersell himself but chris is one of the most special people that I have ever gotten the privilege of working with. And he's so good at this job in every aspect. It's a very difficult job to do development because you have to be both curious and have boundless energy and have a very

patient temperament and be a good, you have to be nice. You have to be nice because you're convincing people to do shit they don't want to do all the time. And then you really have to be able to lead with your heart and get emotionally invested in something, which is scary to do shit they don't want to do all the time. And then you really have to be able to lead with your heart and get emotionally invested in something, which is scary to do as a person, especially on behalf of a fucking TV show. So Chris, like it's,

it's been a godsend. We feel like we are making the kind of stuff that we want to make, that we are putting the right kind of time and effort in the right place. So. And I used to, I used to get jealous when I found out chris was working on other projects like no bullshit because i feel the same way it felt like it felt like it was just me when i was with chris you know what i mean he makes you feel good he makes it feel like dude it's just you and me baby it's you and

me baby and then he goes behind my back and he's working with other people. He's like, dude, I was talking to him. Sorry, Donald, I just got off the phone with Disney+. I was like, wait a second. Yeah, no, it's not. Hey, hey, hey, Donald, Donald, Donald. It's called polyamory and it's perfectly acceptable. Dude, he didn't inform me that we were in a poly relationship before that happened.

If I would have known that, I would have been like, all right, bet. He made it seem like that it was just me. And when I found out that it wasn't, one, I wanted him more, obviously. Two, this is the crazy part. It made me realize, oh, this motherfucker works harder than I do. This dude works hard. This is one of the hardest motherf made me realize, oh, this motherfucker works harder than I do. This dude works hard. This is one of the hardest motherfucking workers that I know right now. And because he would be able to be so invested in my thing and then jump on a call with somebody else and be so invested in their thing.

And then jump on another call with somebody else and be so invested in their thing. And then jump on another call. Like, the list is endless. I was like, how many shows do you have about right now? He's like, I've got quite a few that I'm juggling right now. And Alabama is one of them. And I just. Well, I'll say this.

I'll say this, Donald. You made it easy. Like the only thing we do at Super Buddy is stuff that we really believe in. And you were, you're so passionate about animation. This is such a clear idea like we always want to get behind an idea that's just really clear and it's funny as hell i think it's perfect for the energy you bring to every you know whether you're buying coffee and donuts for the whole crew or buying lunch for the whole crew like you dove into this and it was super easy to support

you in making this crazy ass show so uh it's been a blast and yeah, we, we want to make more of it. Adult Swim. Listen in Adult Swim. We're just getting started. We're going to take a break and we'll be right back. When you find that bright spot to help you get through your day, it's powerful. That's where the bright side comes in. A new daily podcast from Hello Sunshine. That's bringing you a daily dose of joy.

I'm Danielle Robay. And I'm Simone Boyce. Listen, both Danielle and I are reporters. We've covered the news and we know the world can feel heavy. But The Bright Side podcast is a space to have a little fun, to learn something new and get into some friendly debates. That's right. Join us five days a week to see how new and get into some friendly debates. That's right. Join us five days a week to see how life can look from the bright side. We'll hear from celebrities, authors, experts, and listeners like you. Whether it's relationships, friend advice, or figuring out how to navigate life's transitions,

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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. Imagine you ask two people the same exact set of seven questions. I'm Minnie Driver, and this was the idea I set out to explore in my podcast, Minnie Questions. This year, we bring a whole new group of guests to answer the same seven questions, including actress and star of the mega hit sitcom Friends, Courtney Cox. You can't go around it, so you just go through it. This is a roadblock. It's going to catch you down the road. Go through it. Deal with it.

Comedian, writer, and star of the series Catastrophe, Rob Delaney. I shouldn't feel guilty about my son's death. He died of a brain tumor. It's part of what happens when your kid dies. Intellectually, you'll understand that it's not your fault, but you'll still feel guilty. Old rock icon, Liz Phair. That personal disaster wrote Guyville. So everything comes out of a dead end. And many, many more. Join me on season three of Many Questions on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your favorite podcasts. Seven questions, limitless Limitless answers. preview. We have to talk to Doug Schrum about that. Let's offline about that. You can play the theme song. Can we? For people to listen to the theme song?

Yeah. Dan will play the theme song right now. Play the theme song right now. That's what I'm talking about, y'all. That's what I'm motherfucking talking about. That's good. Matter of fact, matter of fact, hold up, hold up. I don't think they heard it. Daniel, play it one more time. Alabama Jackson.

He's a time-traveling man, doing the best that he can. Woodrow Wilson hates blacks. Harriet's got his back. Almost saved in black history. Alabama Jackson. Alabama Jackson. That's one of the things, Donald, is like, as this started coming together, as it really started coming together, like when we got Wanda, when I heard the music for the first time, when I saw the way we were going to get to use the monitors and sliders, and I saw the puppets, I was like, God, this is really gonna fucking work. And as we've been putting the footage together, you've been the exact amount

of both patient and hardworking. You're a really good producer. And I know this isn't easy, dude. Like I warned you, but you have not shied away at all from any responsibility. I truly followed your lead, man. No doubt.

And I thank you for that. Oh, you know I love you. You know I love you, too. What? You do? Don't get mushy. Don't get mushy. Don't get mushy.

Don't you get mushy. He actually said it. I say it all the time. Fuck you. I say it all the time. Every time we hang up, I say it. Every time I see you, I say it. Don't even try.

Because so many of our friends have died that I never miss a chance to tell you how much I love you. That just got really dark, dude. Did it? Yeah, it kind of did. It kind of did. It kind of did. It kind of did. Well, you'll never not know where you stand with me.

Well, you'll always know. Dude, that's a double negative. What does that mean? You'll never not know. Never not. Yeah, you'll always know. Never not. It means you'll always know that. Dude, that's a double negative. What does that mean? You'll never not know. Never not. Yeah, you'll always know. Never not. It means you'll always know.

Got it. Sometimes it's appropriate to make a double negative to emphasize. You get it. I totally get it. Joel and Daniel. Joel and Daniel. Five minutes before we have a very – I know we have another – Just edit all this out.

Is there anything we didn't cover that we were supposed to cover on this uh this first portion um well you know i think you guys you spoke a lot about why you guys came together and why you you know liked this initial idea i think we could probably end on what you guys are hoping to see from fan reactions you know and and maybe you know Donald, if there's like, maybe, maybe we can get more into that with your mom, but like what lessons you're hoping people take away since you're dealing with actual history. Right on.

To be honest with you for the, for the fans out there, what's important for me is that you guys just check it out. I'm sure it'll absorb into your into your into your uh brains and you will and i really do believe you'll come back for the next episode and then the next episode and then the next episode but getting you to watch the first episode is my goal that's my true goal and then we'll see how it all plays out. You know what I mean? I think we've got a really dope show that has a lot of, you know, it's fast-paced.

It's got action. And then it's got a little bit of a history lesson in there for everybody. But as Seth said, it's not preachy. We're not in your face talking about it. You know? And so my- Plus you got Donald and Wanda Sykes. Well, then there you got donald and wanda sykes and well then there's donald phase on and seth green right that's a dynamite cast already that is it and

we've also been bringing on a really cool guest cast um it's i'm so proud of this man i'm so proud of this like because it's we we both grew up on a lot of these shows. The eighties was a very different time where entertainment programming was focused on a bit of education mixed in a little bit of like basic guidance for how to be a person, how to be kind, how to not put too much sauce on your food or how to even acknowledge when you've made a mistake and move forward. And because knowing is half the battle.

Knowledge is power. That's right. And knowledge is power. The more you know. Right. And somewhere along the 2000s, that like programming became more about catching eyes from the news to the tablets.

Like it became all about sensationalization. And so the, the, the, the, the opportunity to give little bits of real history, like basic history too, in a way that doesn't feel educational, in a way that feels like you've got an emotional investment in it,

like you need to know more, like you're learning along with this character from a series of experts. That was a really, it's just, fuck Donald, it's come together very well and I can't wait for people to see it. I'm so excited for people to see it, Seth. I am too. And we did take liberties. We did take liberties.

So I think it's like the great and then it's an occasionally true story. I want everyone to know. Right, tell the truth. Because it's like the multiverse we're talking about here, Donald. I feel like we're overemphasizing the educational components of this.

Well, no. Hold on. Like I said, there's just a little bit of history in there that people might not have known or they did know. A lot of people don't know that Woodrow Wilson was a very racist president. He just so happened to be. Yeah, like the racist president. What did the lawyers say? When we were trying to get this cleared, the lawyers were like,

well, he's a notorious racist, so this is fine. So we're not worried. It's well documented. It's well documented that he was very racist. Because in the theme song, if you guys listen, there's a line, Woodrow Wilson hates blacks, and it's true. That's all he needs to say. Yeah.

That's what I love the most about the theme song, is it is just the facts, ma'am. Yeah. Just it needs to say. Yeah. Okay. That's what I love the most about the theme song is it is just the facts, ma'am. Yeah. Just the facts. Yeah. He's a time traveling man. Doing the best that he can. Yo, Woodrow Wilson hates blacks.

Harriet's got his back. All while saving black history. Come on. Yeah. Alabama Jackson. With that, let's bring in the theme songwriter, Burt and my mom will be joining us right now. Ladies and gentlemen,

this Zoom and podcast is getting so crowded, but that's how we do here on Fake Doctors, Real Friends. This is a very special episode of Fake Doctors, Real Friends. Ladies and gentlemen, give it up for Shirley Faison and Burt Price. Thunderous applause, Daniel. Thunderous applause. Ma, you see who's on here with me? Yes, I see Chris.

I see Chris. I see Seth. When's the last time you saw Seth? We were on that one Zoom early on in the production. But in real life, it's been quite some time. Yes. Mom, tell everybody where you're at right now. I'm in my office.

Well, what's this office that you're in? Tell us everybody what happened. Okay, so during the pandemic, I decided to open my own talent agency. Thunderous applause, Daniel. So I'm Seth, after Equity Franchise. So if you're out there and you need an agent and you might be in the metropolitan area or in the tri-state area, Shirley Faison, what's the name of your agency? A Dooney Rose Talent Agency.

A Dooney Rose Talent Agency. Aduni Rose Talent Agency. Do you want to give them a website or something? Yes. It's called adunirosetalent.com. A-D-U-N-I-R-O-S-E talent, T-A-L-E-N-T.com. Thunderous applause, Danny. Thunderous applause for my mom. And then we got Burt Price in the house.

Yes, sir. I'm going to be honest with y'all. I've known Burt for how many years now? 30 years now? Almost, maybe 27. Yes. And he took my younger brother, Olamide, under his wing and taught him the ins and outs of the music industry. And for people who have listened to Fake Doctors, Real Friends, you've heard some of Olamide's music.

Guess who helped Olamide with that? Burt Price. to freaking make a soundtrack for Alabama Jackson and a theme for Alabama Jackson. It was only right to go to the one man that has been doing right by my family since he met us. You forgot about the records that we did together. Well, the records we made together. Don't nobody want to listen to that. Anyway, so Bert, my mom wrote on this with with uh me and then bert i somehow convinced him to probably do more than we paid him for to make some music for us and when you guys watch the show and you listen to the soundtrack that accompanied the

the soundtrack that accompanies the show you you're going to be very impressed. And I want to thank you both for being on here with us. Wow. Thank you. Shoot. I'm happy. You deserve all the praise, Bert. You deserve all the praise. Surely this, I mean, like I I've been saying how proud I am at Donald. I know everyone's exploding with pride, but also both of your contributions to this invaluable. So thank you. Wow. Thank you so much. No doubt. So let's get into this. Mom, had you ever written before when you did this? When I called you up and I was like, Ma, you know, I got one extra slot for a writer. Do you want in? Okay. So I had never written like a script for film or television, but I did write a book called If Walls Could Talk, which was basically about the brownstone in Harlem and all the people who lived in it. So what is your background? It's pretty much a historian type of like,

okay. Okay. So you went to college for black history. Yeah. I got a degree in African-American studies. Right on. And so we, when, when I called you up and I was like, I need you to write with me personally, it was before before all the knowledge that you had obtained in college and stuff like that. And so I was trying to pick your brain. And so you were actually the one who came up with the idea of Woodrow Wilson being the bad guy also. I was trying to find a bad guy to be Alabama Jackson's nemesis. And you were like, well,

what about Woodrow Wilson? And I was like, well, what's up? I had no clue about any of this. This is what Seth was talking about earlier. Like, for real, as a young African-American male growing up in New York City, the amount of my own history that I know is very little. And that's a problem. And the guilt that I had when freaking thinking about that is really also what went into Alabama Jackson. It was like, I can't be this person anymore. I have to know a lot more than I know now.

And my mom had all of this knowledge. And, you know, I used to laugh that shit off. Like I remember one year my mom came at me with the gift was it was for Christmas and she literally figured out, the book was like the size of an encyclopedia. And it was my family's history, my entire family's history. She got it all the way back to Nigeria, to Africa, like my family's history. And I looked at it like, oh wow, that's cool. And that was it. But I had all of this knowledge in front of me and I was taking it for granted. And so I wanted to make sure I didn't do that again. And that's how, that's why I freaking got you on board mama. Are you mad at me for saying that? Can I look at that book at some point? Is that, it's your mom's house?

It's at my house too. Julie, can I come by and check that out? Mom, are you mad at me for admitting that just now? No, I'm not mad at you. I saw how I gave it to you. You just laid it down. That was a lot of hard work. But...

Are you mad? No, I'm not mad. Okay, cool. Donald, your mother is the type of person that understands that human beings will make mistakes and that it's possible to correct those mistakes simply by learning new information and making an effort. And there it is. And I was very happy to have her on board as a writer. Yeah.

Are you mad, Ma? No, of course not. Okay, just checking, just checking. Okay, all right. But Shirley, do you love me just a little bit more than Shun? Just a little. Don't answer that. Don't answer that, don't answer that.

Don't answer that. Okay, so you're actually the person that came up with the idea that Woodrow Wilson was this. I mean, you told me about it. Can we dig a little bit into that real quick? Woodrow Wilson was an interesting person in that prior to becoming president, he was actually president of a college, Princeton. And he got elected with the black vote and he made all these promises and what he did was basically renege on all the promises that he made.

And there's a transcript of, I believe it was Fortune um went to the white house and woodrow wilson they argued and then woodrow wilson threw him out of the white house because he didn't live up to his promises and one of the things that he did was he was the president that kind of put the the nail in the coffin to black history and the contributions that Black people make in this country. All the way from, like, from what I understand, like, his inauguration had Klansmen there, and he was, you know, birth of a nation came out. He debuted birth of a nation at the White House.

And if you remember, birth of the nation was... Depicted Black people as... Yeah, depicted Black people as thugs and rapists and and, you know, killers. And after this movie came out, he debuted it at the White House and said it's American treasure. It's a classic. And people went and saw the movie. And then started lynching people in the street, black people in the street after they saw this movie. And then started lynching people in the street, black people in the street after they saw this movie. This is the this is. Yeah, it was a movie, a kind of a how to to be the most effectively murderous racist possible. Yeah. And it's and this is where we have a lot of a lot of the systemic racism that we're dealing with now in America comes from that.

So he was the perfect bad guy. And Seth, you played him wonderfully. Thanks, man. No doubt. He's kind of a dick, which is always funny to play. Right. We should also say that this show is a comedy, right? that this show is a comedy right this show is so pound for pound funny that you're not gonna really think that you're learning anything right you're gonna have so much fun watching this show that by

the end of it when you find yourself out with your friends and you just randomly recall some incredibly important african-american history facts people damn, did you go to school for that? You're like, nah, I watched Alabama Jackson. I can't wait, man. I'm so excited. I can't wait either. Okay. So that's how you got involved, mom. You were the historian.

So when we started writing all of this, did you ever feel like you were out of your league? Well, you know, what was really interesting was that when i agreed to it i didn't realize that we were going to be on a zoom for eight hours of the day so so after the first day i said okay so i'm on the learning curve here and i bought uh this program so that i I could actually type in the script the way that you guys were doing it. And I just said, okay, I'm here to learn. And let me just try to make a contribution. And let me just try to make a contribution. We made a great contribution, actually.

Some of the, one of my favorite episodes is the Nelson Mandela one. I'm getting a lot of, I had a talk with Adult Swim today, and they were like, yo, there's a possibility that people are going to come at you because of the Nelson Mandela episode. I know that there's a lot that we can't talk about because all the s&p is actually really it's a it's a different level of nba but what are they only scared because it's mandela what are they what's that i i just honestly that episode for me is so it's like i don't want to spoil this but harriet in that episode, because Wanda, again, we recorded all her episodes at once. So we were kind of finding it as we went and we asked her to just like adlib a bunch of stuff. And then we used it in episodes in places and we inadvertently gave Harriet her own catchphrase. And it reveals in that episode, i can't wait um and then also i'm at best

plays mandela and it's brilliant it's brilliant um does a great job so are they just scared like we should i feel like we should say that i feel like we should we should say the structure like how we structure these really short episodes because there's a there's like a thread from episode how we do that yeah yeah so the format is yeah because it's only uh we only have like three minutes to tell these relatively complex stories so the format is we always drop alabama and harriet tubman donald and wanda sykes into the middle of whatever is going on and the audience just kind of has to catch it up and in in every instance, Woodrow Wilson has done something to try to subvert Black history. So he's tried to stop

it from happening. And which is, you know, which is a metaphor for like what's happened when we erase Black history, right? When Woodrow Wilson said, okay, we're not going to teach anybody about anything that's happened with Black history. So they get dropped into this, and then they've got to figure out a way to stop Woodrow and his henchmen from subverting Black history. And so it all happens really quickly. And we feature a major historical figure in every episode. And like I said, we take liberties. We've taken some liberties with Nelson Mandela. But the idea is that we're highlighting the contributions these people have made. We've taken a lot of liberties with Nelson Mandela, but the idea is that we're highlighting the contributions these people have made. We've taken a lot of liberties with Nelson Mandela. We might get a little heat.

We've taken a lot of liberties. We'll see. But our point is very clear that Mandela's freedom, his own agency over his own thoughts were stolen from him for years. And things happen to people that are in prison. I mean, that's why I don't, don't even get me started on that. Let's not go any further. Let's not go. I'm not going to go any further. But the idea that a man like Mandela was so specifically intentionally targetedly persecuted gives us a lot of leeway to demonstrate what that might look like before he's able to become his real self again.

Like we needed for the benefit of our show to kind of show him at what our imaginable worst would be to give him room to be safe. We had to show how much the KK Cabal had compromised Mandela for him to be out of the picture, for AJ and Harriet to have a task. Get him back from that point. Yeah, so I'll give an analogy that doesn't ruin an episode because we didn't use it, but it's an example. Like everyone talks about Muhammad Ali and like his bike got stolen and if his bike hadn't got stolen he wouldn't have gone and talked to the the cop who ended up teaching him to be a boxer right and so the idea would be that woodrow being a time traveling guy knowing that that's a

seminal moment in muhammad ali's life or cash's clay at the time would prevent that moment from happening and then there's no muhammad ali that moment from happening. And then there's no Muhammad Ali. Without Muhammad Ali, there's no athlete activist. So that's the premise of the show is there's these like seminal moments, some of them actual and some of them that we've just imagined in all these historical figures lives. And Alabama and Harriet have to make sure those seminal moments happen or black history will change and American history will change and the global history will change. So that's like, there's super high stakes, but then you also have a character in Donald playing Alabama Jackson, who is not fully committed to the assignment yet.

And then you have Harriet who is like fully committed. And that's where the, that's where the conflict between the two of them comes in is she's trying to be like, look, I sacrificed my entire life for the cause. You need to get with the program. And that's where the conflict between the two of them comes in is she's trying to be like look i sacrificed my entire life for the cause you need to get with the program and that's yeah that's where their growth and that's where their journey goes and and that's what's you know the chemistry between the two of them is so fun don't give away the show chris i'm not but i just i just realized in this moment it's a little bit like terminator 2 and harriet sarah connor and aj is baby john connor yes yeah yes yes yeah because there's a moment where she's like don't you realize how serious

this is he's like i guess i like that analogy wait donald can you talk a little bit about what it's like working with your mom it's a joy working with with my mom. I know I'm safe with my mom. I know if I say some dumb shit, she'll be like, that was some dumb shit. Please, please, please forgive my son for saying some dumb shit. My mom has the sweetest voice ever in the history. And she's also, I mean, she's protected me pretty much my whole life. So having her in a writer's room with a bunch of seasoned writers and, you know, this is the first thing I've ever written in my life, you know, and this is the first thing that my mom, this is the first type of, this is the first scripted

format that, is that right? Is that the right way to say it? This is the first scripted format that my mom's ever had to be a part of in writing. And so we were very new to it, but thanks to Ashley and Lee, we got through good. But I said some dumb shit in the writer's room. And my mom was very good. Yeah, it's a safe. My mom was very good to be like, you know, you know, she protected me. And so it was very good to work with my mom. And also, I was very nervous because I put my mom in this situation and I didn't necessarily set her up for success. I put her, I just threw her to the wolves and, uh, threw her to the sharks and she was able to swim easily, uh, with them. And, uh, I, I am so, I gotta be honest with you, mom. I'm so proud of you.

I'm so proud of, of the fact that, uh, that, that this wasn't something that you were necessarily eager to do, but you knew I needed you and you stepped up because you're my mom and came through like a champ. And so I'm so proud of you. Thank you. I thank you. I thank you tremendously. And we'll see how this all plays out. Now, Bert. Wait, wait, Donald, can I just say one thing? Because you mentioned your mother's voice, how important your mother's voice is. I would just like to say that in all the years that I've known Shirley, I've never heard her raise her voice. She's never, in my presence or in my experience, needed to raise her voice.

She has a confident, quiet strength that is both gentle and formidable. So the value of her voice in the room, like I said earlier, is priceless. Yes. Y'all are bigging me up. I give you flowers all day. I love you all. I'm so excited this is happening.

I can't wait for the people to see it. Ladies and gentlemen, say goodbye to Seth Green, Chris Waters, and John Harvick. Bye. Thanks, guys. to Seth Green, Chris Waters, John Harbeting. Thanks, guys. Awesome to be on the show, guys. Love the show. You guys are great. Thank you. When Donald told us Shirley was coming on, unlike Seth,

I didn't know his beautiful mother, but I had heard her on the podcast and I was like, oh, she could definitely be in the room. So thanks to Big Dogger's real friend for introducing me to Shirley Faison. In all honesty, the room was closed. We had our two writers. It was Lee and Ashley.

And you even said- Yeah, Lee House and Ashley Ray Harris. This thing with like two dimes rubbed together. And Chris, you said to me, you literally said to me, do you want to get your mom in there? We should get your mom in there. And I was like, yeah, let's put my mom in there. Wait, I think it's also important to say, Donald, so many people try and put their family over and the whole thing falls apart.

Not everybody's the Waynes. Not everybody can do that. So I'm glad that the people you brought in, all your family, that they're like experts at the job or this would not have worked. Incredible. Wait till they hear you rap. Wait till they hear that. Like your family that they're like experts at the job or this would not have worked. Wait till they hear you rap. Wait till they hear that. Like your family came through. You should play the guide track.

I feel like we should play it, man. No, we can't play it. We can't play it. We have to go. Stop dominating the time. I'll see y'all later. Love y'all. Bye y'all. Love you guys. So, speaking of the rap bert yes speaking of bringing my family and bert is yes you are my family member yes uh you are actually in the living room that i grew

up in right now yes hanging out yeah uh bert is a musical genius a lot of people don't know this about him and those who do know this about him those who do know this about him run to him for music and help when they need it. And that's who I ran to when the show needed music. Like if you watch the show without sound, without music, it's a completely different show. And Burt stepped in and crushed it. I would really like to, I would, Burt, you crushed it. in and and and crushed it I would really like to I would Bert you crushed it like you crushed it I would really like to get into how you uh how how you got into music what and then what your idea was when you started thinking about Alabama Jackson

wow okay long story short I started pretty much like you did well like you inspired your brothers to do you came from a family that sang and performed same thing with me I came my brothers were musicians and I wanted to do it and I would always get thrown out of their band practice you know all that kind of stuff until finally I just got my own stuff and got better than them and now they beg me to play with them right that's what's up but now um alabama jackson man when you gave me the idea first of all i had very i mean i have a background in post-production but just in like doing commercial jingles and stuff like that actually that's one of the ways we kind of connected to that john silberman music i used

to work at it's a jingle house in new york and you were your group is over there so yeah we were over there yeah yeah that's another way we connected yeah that's right so i worked on the coca-cola olympic spot there for 96 olympics and stuff a lot of things so i did that kind of stuff but never for a tv show always wanted to do some kind of scoring some kind of a you know a movie television project so when you said yes you heard me you're like you're like oh it doesn't pay me i was like yes i'm telling you it doesn't pay much i'm like yes you're like i'm telling you it doesn't i'm like yeah and so the inspirational honestly you sound like alabama jackson first of

all that's why y'all heard so many banjos I don't know why I just like you said Alabama and I grabbed a banjo hanging over there and that's how it started and then you sent the the demo of the the the theme song and then I just we listened to the lyrics I came up with one idea kind of so-so kind of country we were like we kind of wanted country and you were like okay and then you said to us I gotta be honest with you Shun

this ain't it dude we got it then I just thought about blaxploitation bro I love like which way is up let's do it again all of those movies from the 70s, the music was killing. They had Curtis Mayfield. They had James Brown doing it.

So, like, the whole idea was like, you know, I did want to keep it, period, because you're traveling through time. We went to the 60s at one point, so I got to give it a 60s vibe, an 80s vibe, 70s vibe, whatever. But I still wanted to have that 70s blaxploitation kind of energy to it. And then you guys also sent the Chips reference, like the kind of the hokiness of the 80s a little bit. So a lot of it is tongue-in-cheek,

but we tried to really do a good job and make it funky. Your little brother's on guitar playing all the Wawa stuff. I love it. Daddy's on congas playing all the percussion stuff. Cause we really wanted to sound like something straight out of a exploitation, sex, black exploitation movie.

So, and then we hired, and then we hired, uh, my Zell to write the rap for Alabama Jackson. And, you know, it became a true family affair at that point.

Like, it's like, I got, I got literally my brothers, you know, it became a true family affair at that point. Like, it's like I got I got literally my brothers, my mother. I don't even know what to call. I guess my my my brother, Bert, you are my brother. You know, even though you date my mother, you are my brother. I'm just so happy that it all worked out. You know, it was a pleasure. And your rap skills are on point, Alabama.

No, they're shit. Alabama. Yeah, I'm about to say. Alabama's rap skills are on point. So we're going to take another break. And then when we come back, we're going to bring in Ashley Ray and Lee House. When you find that bright spot to help you get through your day, it's powerful. That's where The Bright Side comes in.

A new daily podcast from Hello Sunshine that's bringing you a daily dose of joy. I'm Danielle Robay. And I'm Simone Boyce. Listen, both Danielle and I are reporters. We've covered the news and we know the world can feel heavy. But The Bright Side podcast is a space to have a little fun, to learn something new, and get into some friendly debates. That's right. Join us five days a week to see how life can look from the bright side. We'll hear from celebrities, authors,

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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. Imagine you ask two people the same exact set of seven questions. I'm Minnie Driver, and this was the idea I set out to explore in my podcast, Minnie Questions. This year, we bring a whole new group of guests to answer the same seven questions, including actress and star of the mega hit sitcom Friends, Courtney Cox. You can't go around it, so you just go through it.

This is a roadblock. It's going to catch you, so you just go through it. This is a roadblock. It's going to catch you down the road. Go through it. Deal with it. Comedian, writer, and star of the series Catastrophe, Rob Delaney. I shouldn't feel guilty about my son's death. He died of a brain tumor. It's part of what happens when your kid dies.

Intellectually, you'll understand that it's not your fault, but you'll still feel guilty. Old rock icon, fair that personal disaster wrote guyville so everything comes out of a dead end and many many more join me on season three of many questions on the iheart radio app apple podcasts or wherever you get your favorite podcasts. Seven questions, limitless answers. And we are back. Ladies and gentlemen, give it up for Ashley Ray and Lee House. Thunderous applause. How's everybody doing? Everybody's great.

You haven't seen anything yet either, nope i can't wait i'm gonna have i'm gonna have adult swim send you guys this stuff uh this is a pretty fast turnaround i was surprised yeah i was like okay i was like i thought they were still making puppets probably no we we finished the whole thing i want to talk to you guys about it though too like you know i've known lee for a really long time since i first moved out to los angeles and ashley and i had a conversation together uh i knew right away when meeting ashley that she had to be a part of the project i knew right away uh chris waters introduced us uh and then lee chris was like i got a guy named lee a house and i was like wait a second lee how lee house does he go by house he goes no he goes by

lee but you know i was like he doesn't go i was like wait hold on lee and i used to go play paint ball together we used to smoke weed together we used to do a lot of things back in the day that when we were very young and then you went on to be like a SAG rep at one point and you were a writer. Why don't you tell us about how you came into the industry? And my first job out here was actually working with Ice Cube at Lynch Mob Records. He and I got close over time and I actually went on tour with him. So six months of being in L.A., I'm on tour with Cube, you know, rolling with the Lynch Mob. I wasn't necessarily cut out for West Coast gangster rap. So I became a P.A. I did that for a few years. And then I got a job with the Screen Actors Guild, where I was an outside field rep. And I would go to any set that the SAG actors were on.

I actually went to the Scrubs pilot. I remember. I do remember that, yeah. After that, I started writing jokes for Flex. He got one-on-one. He put me on one-on-one, and I've been in this crazy business of writing ever since. That's nuts and now Ashley you're a stand-up comic you're a fire stand-up comic too by the way no doubt no

doubt but uh what brought you to the business how did you how'd you find yourself here in the in this situation I lived in Chicago that's where I started doing stand-up I started working for the Onion back in 2016 and And I loved comedy writing. I had worked in advertising for a long time, got kind of sick of it, realized I just wanted to make people laugh. So I made that switch, realized I like being on stage too. I think there's this expectation that when you're a Black woman who performs, you do like spoken word or like storytelling or something. And I was like, no, I just want to tell like, you know, like jokes about butts and stuff. Let's just focus on the funny stuff. And that's kind of where I found my lane. I came out to LA and got to work with Maria Bamford. She'd been she was

working on an audio book, and I helped edit it. And obviously, she is amazing with animation, animation, voice work. And that got me really into the idea of like writing an animated pilot, getting more into, you know, doing stuff for Adult Swim and kind of realizing, you know what, I think a black woman could make these kinds of jokes and like make a show that captures this voice. And that's what I wanted to do is like make that kind of black woman stoner comedy that I saw in shows like Laser Wolf and stuff. So I was really excited when this opportunity came up. And I was also, I want to say, very excited to work with Lee because I knew his work.

You worked with Trevor Moore from The Whitest Kids You Know. And I was like, oh my gosh, this is amazing. Just icons, working with icons that inspire me. Yeah. It's always great when you get to work with people that you love to listen to or watch, man. And so that's how I felt about the two of you. As a matter of fact, I was so proud to work with somebody that I known that I knew from back in the day, who had pushed his way all the way up and is now freaking working on. And then Ashley,

you just come with such with this aura, you know, there's just something so magnetic and amazing about you. You know, it's true. You can, you can shuck such, with this aura. You know, there's just something so magnetic and amazing about you. You know, it's true. You can, you can shuck it up. You can laugh it off all you want. I'm so excited to work with you. Are you kidding? No, but there's something really special

and magical about you. Like I said to Chris, I was like, look, if anything, I have to have Ashley Ray on this bad boy. He was like, all right, all right. We'll see if we can work it out. And then mom, of course, you're an icon forever to me. You'll always be an icon to me, no matter what. You know what I mean?

I think, yeah, I'm so, I didn't even realize you were, I thought they said that you were even on the call. Hello? I am so excited to see you again. Oh my, like seeing that you were in there, that was when I was, I just was so excited. Cause for me, it was like the first time I'd been in a room with like all black writers and it just was this, I was like, wow, yeah, this is it. Like everyone

just had these different perspectives that were so interesting. I w I was so excited from the moment we started. Okay. So let's get into how we did this, man. Like our first day in the writer's room was a bunch of story breaking and trying to real, you know, I think our first week was that when did we write our first script, do you think? When was the first script finally written? Oh. It took a while, right? It took a while, right?

Yeah. We were having so much fun. We were bonding with each other, getting to know each other, you know. I felt like we had hit out kind of all the beats or different stories we wanted, and then it was like, oh, we got to get this scripted out, because I had already out kind of all the beats or different stories we wanted and then it was like oh we got it we got to get this like scripted out because i had already left for tour by the time yeah you were on tour but by the time we started writing you were already and i was like in my car like my friends driving me and i'm like on my laptop like joining in over zoom in the car

uh and so i feel like it was probably like into the second or third week we started getting the scripts in. We finally started to get the scripts in. That's not usual, I guess. Yeah, but I would also say that, Donald, like you as an actor brought so much to the room because you would act out so much of it as we were like throwing out ideas that I think we could all see the scenes. Like we immediately just started doing voices and bouncing off each other and being like, yes, this is a scene, this is building into it. So. That was a huge help, man, because you, you know, you would embody Alabama so well. We knew what to write next, you know, and how to play off of you, which is different than most writers room where you don't have the actor in there. Right. Well, I mean, I'm going to be honest with you you guys I felt like a fish out of water because and I was

like how can I make a contribution to this because you know first of all the two of you are very seasoned and you know like I'm gonna tell you something right now both of your scripts didn't get touched when you see them you'll be like oh shit that's exactly what I wrote. It's crazy, dude. First time ever. It's crazy. There might be like a word here or a word there, but for the most part, that shit stayed intact.

Like, you know, both of you. So it's just, you know, you could tell who the season ones were and who wasn't. And I had to find a way to fit in. And I was so nervous for my mom. I was like, how's my mom going to find a way to fit in? And then she found her way in, too.

And it was just like, we got a really good thing going right here. Oh, yeah. Let's keep it going. Yo, to me, that was one of the best rooms I've ever been in. I mean, everybody got along. Everybody was cool. Nobody was extra sensitive. It can get crazy in some rooms. Yeah. Yeah. You guys have been in rooms before, so, you know. Yeah. And I think there's like the expectation kind of,

of like, oh, Adult Swim humor and this kind of thing. But I thought we all just like brought the weirdest ideas, the funniest that like, no one was afraid to really to really get into you know the the weirdest stuff that came to us it was a really a room where i think we were all just really comfortable yeah yeah i've i've i gotta tell you guys man i'm so excited for you to see this show uh we've got seven episodes we didn didn't do eight episodes. We, it went from 10 to, to eight to seven, but they're all very well fleshed out. And the arc for this is amazing. I would love to, uh, I'm going to get on a text right now and send them, send you guys all of the, all of the, all of the shows so you can watch them. send you guys all of the all of the all of the shows so you can watch them bert got to see everything from storyboard bert was there from storyboard all the way to uh mix pretty much because yeah because he was doing the music on it so he's got he's gotten to see he's got to see every version of each one of these scripts yeah Yeah. I'm so excited. Yeah. But finding out that Wanda Sykes was able to voice Hair,

that to me was like, wow, okay, okay, this is going to be amazing. I just, being in this room, it was so special because I felt like we each had our own kind of generational connections to different parts of Blackness and it all like would come together in these interesting ways. Like when we wanted to do this episode about like A aliyah that was like really complicated yeah but then like you

told a story about like how you like she used to prank call you and stuff and i was just like oh my gosh like to me as like someone younger i was like i can't even imagine that and just i think ashley's calling us old and very nice no it, it's all good. You know what I'm saying? It's all good. It's smooth. That's smooth. You've gotten good. That's really smooth right there. It's all good.

I'm over here smiling like, yeah, man, that's right. That's it. I am old. I'm the old mother. But there was just so many of these moments where I was like, oh, this, you know, I think it can feel so distant, like black culture and black history. And it's like, this was a room where it was really alive, where it was like, no, this isn't like something that can just be boiled down to like braids or

these things people appropriate. But it was like, no, we really got to work with the ideas that we wanted to bring to life. Yeah. And it felt good. It felt real good. I want to see, I can't wait to see how this plays out. I you know, I really can't wait to see how that's my news. That's my new slogan. Let's see how it plays out. I don't know. I mean, I think it's perfect. And why is that? Given given how in Texas and other places they're trying to ban books. They are banning, banning.

They're not trying to, they're doing it. Right. They're banning books that deal with Black culture, that deal with Jewish culture. I think it's appropriate to come out right now. Okay, I will say this. The great thing about our show, we talked about it a little bit earlier. The great thing about our show is that we don't push it on you, though.

You know what I mean? You're going to get this history through laughter and comedy. And you can't beat that with a baseball bat. If school was like that, I would have learned way more because I would have been way more invested. That would have been amazing if that's how school was for me back in the day. You know what I mean? First of all, they didn't teach black history in school back then either. I remember making a stink about it.

Like, how come black people only have one page in this whole fucking textbook, dude? This whole textbook on one page. this whole fucking textbook, dude. This whole textbook on one page, that's the Black history segment. Yeah. When I was growing up, I feel like it was always, okay, February, that's your month. Somebody get up and read a dry biography of Harriet Tubman or Madam C.J. Walker. It was always the same people. And we treat, I think, Black history, obviously obviously with a lot of reverence and that i think makes it hard for people to want to make jokes and to like turn this into stuff that is relatable and funny uh because a lot of times people are like oh you

can't no like these these black women there are heroes and stuff you can't make jokes and like you know let them in on the joke and stuff and it's like no you can't like right this is another way of teaching this history and showing people how important they are yeah man and donald you're right using humor is the best way i think to make the lesson stick so that somebody doesn't get bored like i used to and you know you can laugh while you learn laugh while you learn joelle is there anything we missed out on? The only thing I wanted you guys to answer is if you guys had like a favorite. I thought it'd be fun if you guys each commented on something that somebody else wrote that you really liked. I don't know if you guys have that experience with each other's scripts.

That's easy for me. Okay, so they haven't seen the show yet, but I've seen the show, and I'm a huge fan. The Techeba episode is freaking it comes off amazing i don't think anybody uh joelle did you get to see the techieba episode i only got the pilot okay the techieba episode is like fire deborah wilson plays techieba she comes in and slays dude like she slays uh and i don't know if any of you out there know who deborah wilson is if you do she was on mad tv she's a i know who's ever wilson is yeah that's crazy to me wow yeah she's the first i'm hearing of this and i'm yeah i'm just i'm grinning so

much wow that's almost perfect casting though yeah yeah amazing comedian i love her and she came in with so much energy and and and you know she because we were gonna hire her to we had a whole oprah winfrey uh of course and we were like get deborah let's see if we can get deborah to do oprah but then in doing it we were like we're not gonna do the oprah thing let's just get let's just get have her play tachibah and when i tell you she slays she slays it anyway i can't wait for you to see it that's that that favorite one of my favorites is alabama jackson saves rap yeah i think for me my favorite i don't i don't even know if it made it but the alabama jackson and the diner Sit-In. That's the second episode.

Yeah, that one to me, we all threw in little bits that just were like, oh, this punch up here would be really good. The overall arching thing was like, yes, this is what the show should be about. That one I loved. And whenever we would read that one out loud, there were just so many little things we would throw out that were so funny. I think the thing with the acronyms was one of my favorite jokes. Right.

It made it. It made it. It made it. Oh, wow. It made it. It made it. Yeah. Yeah.

Yeah. Yeah. I love grape in Frederick Douglass one. That was killing. Yeah. Grapevine. Yeah. He's he was funny.

So we got we got Ed Fordham to do several roles in this uh ed's an actor he's been on television but he's also a rapper he was in a what was the name of his band as group trends of culture i produced a song on it his record first i think value the skins yeah i think they were the first act on motown rap act on mot Motown. Yep. Sign by Steve McKeever. So we got him on this. We got my nephew. He wrote a rap for this. He's Maisel Faison. He's out there right now. Isaiah Poet. Isaiah Poet. He killed it.

Not trying to sound too sappy. I didn't have a favorite moment. My favorite moment was the process, man. You know, just hooking up each day. And once again, it was such a fun room. It was something that I think each of us looked forward to. And then when we were done, it's like, damn, this has got to become a series. developed we've put out a proof of concept that is like no other i mean we turned this little tiny budget uh and you know i called in a couple of favors seth called in a couple of favors and we really put like i don't think adult swim is ready i don't think adult swim is ready for you know like if this is the if if they come back at us and they say we need you to do it again for the same money, it's impossible. Let's put it that way. You know what I mean? It's impossible. I called in all my favorites. I got Bert on here. I called. That's how I got the music.

I called I called the dude that freaking is dating my mom. Now, you know, you got some some heavy hitters on here, man. Yeah. The music is going to be awesome. You know, you're on there. Wanda Sykes. I mean, come on, man. Yeah.

It's on and popping. It's amazing. It's really just like a family affair. I'm so excited for it to be in the world. All right. Yeah. Well, it's out right now. For all of you listening.

Once you finish listening to the podcast, please, it'll be in the description below. But go to YouTube, the Adult Swim page. It's Alabama Jackson Week. Enjoy. Yes. Yes. I want to thank Ashley Ray. I want to thank Lee House.

I want to thank Shirley Faison. I want to thank Burt Price. I want to thank John Harvartine. I want to thank Ashley Ray. I want to thank Lee House. I want to thank Shirley Faison. I want to thank Bert Price. I want to thank John Harvartine. I want to thank Chris Waters. And I want to thank Seth Green for all being a part of the podcast today. More importantly, I want to thank Joelle Monique and Daniel Goodman for putting together this special version of Fake Doctors Real Friends. And on that note, we will go out with the Alabama Jackson theme song one last time. Five, six, seven, eight.

Alabama Jackson. He's a time traveling man doing the best that he can. Woodrow Wilson hates blacks. Hi, friends. I'm Danielle Robay. And I'm Simone Boyce. And we're here to introduce you to The Bright Side, a new kind of daily podcast that's guaranteed to light up your day. Every weekday, we're bringing you conversations about culture, the latest trends, inspiration, a new kind of daily podcast that's guaranteed to light up your day.

Every weekday, we're bringing you conversations about culture, the latest trends, inspiration, and so much more. We'll hear from celebrities, authors, experts, and listeners like you. Whether it's relationships, friend advice, or figuring out how to navigate life's transitions, big and small, we'll talk through it together. Listen to The Bright Side from Hello Sunshine every weekday on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

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