Fly on the Wall with Dana Carvey and David Spade - Bonnie and Terry Turner

Episode Date: July 10, 2024

SNL toughness, Wayne's World and Tommy Boy, and That 90's Show with Bonnie and Terry Turner. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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they are two formidable writers on SNL that have contributed to a lot of SNL and a lot of movies we've both been involved with. And you'll hear about that. I remember sitting around the rewrite table, the first, I think, husband and wife team there and just mixed into all the huge, huge, strong writers we had during that run. Yeah, they were, we're so glad to have them because we've had a lot of our

great writers from SNL on the show and they were a big piece of the puzzle. They wrote on church chat for me. It was a character. They were great at that. Maybe you've heard of it. Wayne's World, they were great. They're just great writers. They're down to earth people. They don't put on airs. They're very sweet and extremely bright. And they've had a massive career in films as well.

They did Third Rock from the Sun. That's 70s show. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And that's coming back, the 90s show, right? Is that coming back? Is that the one? Yes, that's coming back. It Yeah, yeah, yeah. And that's coming back, the 90s show, right? Is that coming back? Is that the one? Yes, that's coming back. It's second season on Netflix.

They already had 10 release. So they're still doing it now. They're at the top of their game and we have a very nice conversation. It's really warm and it was nice. Old friends, a lot of fun. And here they are. Something's happening. I see them. Here we go. Here we go. Here we go. Here we go. Here we go.

Here we go. Here we go. Here we go. Here we go. Here we go. Here we go. Here we go. Here we go.

Here we go. Here we go. Here we go. Here we go. Here we go. Here we go. Here we go. Here we go.

Here we go. Here we go. Here we go. Here we go. Here we go. Here we go. Here we go. Here we go. Here we up. That'll be the first 10 minutes. Hi, there's Bonnie. There's Bonnie.

Hi. Hi, everybody. This is like some kind of like where. It's the old writers room. The leaniest film. I'll see you guys later and then it's decades. Hello, hi. Hello.

This is what happens. So how's the last 40 years been for you guys? I don't know. Can I ask how long you two have been married? 40. It'll be 50 years next year. Not that I'm counting. No, it's 49 in November. 40, 41 here. Hey. So you're like the SNL reunion. Oh, 50 next year. Yeah, we were married the same year. Oh, easy to keep track. 83? 75.

75. Oh, 75. Oh, you mean the show. Yeah, I meant the show on, on, on, uh, on Lauren's birthday too. Yeah. It was Lauren. Did he marry you? No.

Oh, Mitch, that thing of like, probably, you know, like, you know, like, you know, And on Lauren's birthday too. Yeah. Was Lauren, did he marry you? No. Is he just as easy? I just, oh Mitch, that thing of like pronouncing you, man, and all this. If you, Jim, what do you think? Jim, do you think? Jim, should they be married?

Should they be married? Jim Downey with his keys and all his scripts in his hand, getting into his office. Into his office. It's the funniest picture I can his office. I'll talk to you later. We're so glad. Thanks for coming on because we've had Jim Downey, we've had Al Franken, Oh, well, Alan's wife working on Handy. Oh, we love Jack Candy, of course. He's shy, which we love him, but you guys are. We let him do it, let Jack do it from a fishing location.

You can get him, I'm sure, if you just let him be outdoors and talk about trout. Trout's very interesting, so. He's the only one probably that isn't obsessed with showbiz, so that's the likable thing about him. He doesn't care. He's great. He just was in his own lane on Monday. Everyone's just exhausted. And he would say that he's good.

In other words, whatever he was going to do, this brilliant esoteric piece of comedy, I took a bath and it's all done. And that was during that Monday. took a bath and it's all done. And that was during that Monday. The rest have to go to the death march of Tuesday night. I go, Jack, why don't you stay up all night? He goes, well, I'm done. I can't. I'm finished. I know. So I don't really know where to start with you guys. It's just that putting you in context is that you come up quite regularly when we talk about movies and sketches. But the main thing for me is like this trajectory. And I want to talk about the greatness and our love for Jan Hooks and Phil, which I feel like you two, you had different lanes on the show, but I feel like you two wrote a lot of pieces with those two starring in them because they were kind of our stalwarts.

I was more of a dancing monkey on the side. Yes. But yeah, I want to get to the the church side stuff, but just briefly, how did you get on SNL? Because people might be curious. How did you get hired as writers? You make it pretty quick, but it was through Jan, right? It was Jan. Yeah. Yeah. She got she got she was hired and and, she said they're looking for writers and we said, what do we do?

And she said, write a couple of sketches and send them to Evy Murray, who was Lawrence's, you know, assistant at the time, which we did. And we didn't hear, that was in October and we didn't hear anything until January, of course. Right. Of course. It's waiting for Gus Menon. They must have been great. Waiting for Godot and waiting for Lorne.

They were both Broadway shows. Did you write anything that was actually usable once you got on there or was it just sort of in general? No. No, I think we just, it was sort of to get the door open is all it was. Yeah. We wrote a thing. All I remember is like Meet the Press thing that we wrote that had Gene Kirkpatrick who

was flirting with, this is how long ago he was, Gene Kirkpatrick. You remember her? Flirting with Betsy Ross. Yeah. They were making a flag together one day. I had a Dwight Eisenhower chunk. Did you? But anyway, no, hysterical.

From my point of view, so I'm on the show, Rosie Schuster is assigned to me because I did the church lady in my standup. She helps me develop it. She called it Church Chat. So she was very useful and very helpful. And then at some point you guys appeared like from the plains of the South or something.

And then you immediately started writing great stuff for that character. And the character is kind of oddvillian. I don't know if she's aged well, but there is a combination to it. And you guys just wrote great for church chat. That whole people love that woman. They love that woman.

She is still relevant as far as I think. I think I think the church lady could have her own podcast. Don't you, David? I mean, she's she's like she's so judgmental is forever. Yeah. You know, yeah. Doesn't get old. Not no, It doesn't get old.

No, it doesn't. It doesn't. And patronizing, holding them down. The whole world are sex fiends and sinners except for me. Totally. Exactly. No shortage of sinners. Exactly.

Herbers. Yeah. I think she's wonderful. Mm-hmm. Well, I'd say if people ask me all time sketches, you know, I think the one with Phil and Jan, it was fairly early on. You know, there was a lot of religious scandals

that first year of Jimmy Swagger and stuff, which also boosted it. Perfect, yeah. But knowing what I know now, Lauren would love a character with a talk show where other cast members get to come in and be hysterical. Like a different characters, yeah. Because they were so funny and that was like a hysterical

level of laughter, very rare in 8-8. Yeah. So speak to that. That was, well, I think it was Jan, because we would watch Tammy Faye Baker and down in Atlanta all the time. And the line that Jan said that knocked me out, I don't know who wrote it, was, it was like, it came from Tammy Faye Baker, it said, it was like, devils

were in a bunt pan jammed on my head and running around. And she said, and I said, they were in a bunt cake pan. Yeah. And I said, evil, evil, bunt cake pan, devils, I rebuke you. It's what she said. And I went, I don't even know who wrote that, but I just, I fell out when Jan did that line. It was great. And then I also, the mascara running down her face was great. Yeah, the mascara, yeah. And then the, you know, accidental,

cause you can't plan it. It was never supposed to be Carol Burnett, but when they saw her putting this stuff on, yeah. It was great. It was crazy. Yeah. I love that. So, do you keep in touch with anyone on the show? No.

No. You guys, smart. Yeah, we've seen Al, I think, more than- Yeah, yeah, yeah. Come on. By the way, I called Al a half hour ago, just to see, you know, because I know you guys wrote with him a lot,

and we're just friends, and tried to get some scoop, but I don't really know really where to begin. I mean, when you look back on your six, seven years, 86 to 93. Six and a half, yeah. Do you look back with joy or a Dresden? I think it was. Yes.

Terry says yes. It's a great, it's a great, it was a great experience. It was like being on a ball team or something. You know, there was just like, everybody was got a chance at bat. It was hard struggles sometimes. And sometimes it was great. Just joy, joyous fun. You know, when those things would hit like that, you just be great.

It's, it's served as our time there, I think, at least from, I can speak for myself, served me well in that it knocked out a lot of really bad habits, you know, when you come in as somebody who's not worked in that situation before that pressure before, you know, and you work under that pressure, and you know, to the, you work to the live broadcast, it makes you become a clearer version of what you meant to do in the first place, you know. And there's something really amazing about it being, you know, it's like, I feel like everybody we are with, including the two of you so much, we're like army buddies, you know, it's like I will never, you know, call and I'll come and, you know, and people who, when working in writers rooms later on in our career,

it became really clear that the SNL experience makes you tougher, sharper, faster, clearer, more respect for an idea and seeing it through. At SNL, you have an idea, you pitch it in the room, the host locks in and says, yeah, then it's your job to make it work. It's a fumble if you don't, when you're halfway there. Exactly. And in a lot of sitcom rooms, I will say run by other people. We'll get to your other career. Okay. But they will have an idea and if they can't make it work in a couple hours, they throw it out and move on. And you go, no, no, don't throw away the idea. That's the hard part.

The easy part is making it work. It just, it takes some thought. Ideas are the hard part. Yeah, you get one good idea. Yeah, right? Yeah. And you should make it work. And SNL is a clear shot at learning how to do that.

It's really amazing to me. When I was there, I learned a lot from these know, when I was there, I just, I learned a lot from, you know, these two Dana and everyone there was newer. And these two are obviously always nice to me. But I was so new and I think I was learning from just at read through because you read a tight sketch that works and you go, oh, that's like, that's how you study it.

You go, oh, there's no fat in here. Everything means something. This gets to this. What am I doing? I don't need 18 pages. I don't need, you know, it just, but every sketch you learn. And then the next read through, you go, okay. And then you see how it's written.

You just learn over time, I think, and watch what works on, on its feet. I agree with you. I agree with that. Totally. And you know, the sudden potential humiliation just focuses you. Oh. As writers sitting there and it's the air show and it's going out or a read through or during the rehearsal.

You don't want any fat. You want it to be like monkey bars. That's funny. That's good. That's funny. Yeah. Exactly. You can't be baggy at all. And this procrastination theater, which is sort of part of that whole week, but it's taking that procre- okay, we got to do it now. It's got to go now. And by the way,

Jim Downey was electric at 1110. He was great. You know, it's funny, Dana, but you can write, you can write five jokes when there's like, you'll have it in the cards. Just like right at that point. I would have a sketch that if it, God forbid, got to the rewrite table and we'd be going through it and for the listeners, the benefit is you get Bonnie and Terry and smile. Everyone's funny adds to your sketch so you get the credit. But I remember, I think this one time we turned the page to the next one

and Jim kind of ran his pen from the top to the middle and goes, I don't know if you need this part. Like this whole chunk could go and you wouldn't even miss it. I'm like, ah, really? And then when you read it, it was a dead spot and you just take, brush your eyes or someone else looked at it and go, no.

And then those are tough to take as a writer. But again, like Bonnie said, it's just bootcamp. You gotta go, okay, I'm in with the best people. So I gotta try. So I'm good. Bonnie and Terry to this question, like do you have people ask you and they, oh, you wrote for SNL.

I thought you were that seven. Oh, we did. Are there sketches now. I thought you were that seven. You should all we did. Where are there sketches that stand out that you shepherded or co-wrote or wrote with a, for the host or anyone that you remember or people ask you, well, if you want to check that out on YouTube, what were the ones that your image of it? And then it's on the air and it's like, oh, it's even better. I like the one that were the raise your hands, raise your voice to set the chickens free. Oh my God.

The song, yeah. The song, I remember that because of everybody that was in it doing. Impression. Impression. The two of you, you were doing Dylan and you were doing Tom Petty. Yes. Am I right? Yes.

You didn't sing, but you did this expression, facial expression that was Tom Petty's. Yeah. You had a word, we could not understand a word that Bob Dylan was saying. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And Farley was part of... Was he Meat Loaf or was he Wilson Phillips? No, it was Wilson Phillips.

Wilson Phillips. The drag is Wilson Phillips. Guaranteed laugh. Yeah, that was just great. I loved that piece. And when the chickens came over the hill, where they had the slow motion, slow motion running over the hill,

I thought that was absolutely great. I love it. That's a classic. Everybody everybody scored in it. It was so great. Yeah. A cast piece where everyone's in impressions is a score. And then was the host. Who was the host that week?

I don't even know. Well, Michael Bolton. Michael Bolton. We talked Michael. It was it was Steven Seagal was the host. And Michael Bolton was the musical guest Michael. We talked Michael, it was Stephen Seagal was a host and Michael Bolton was a musical guest. And we were like, can't write for Stephen Seagal. And, but we taught, we said, if we write this song,

Michael Bolton has to do, he has to set it up because he's the setup, he's the voice. He's the real one. He's genuine. Yeah. And so we went down to his dressing room and talked to him and said, would you, Mr. Michael Bolton, would you please

share this? This is what we're doing. And it's that we're not making fun of Quincy Jones or anything like that. It's not a thing. That's not what it is. You know, and he went, yeah, sure, I'll do that. Oh, I love it.

And now he does all kinds of comedy. I mean, that was the first time he did something comedic. And then he- Who knew that he was a standup? You know? You two have eyes for talent, I'll tell you that much. You've got a nose for the winner every time. You did do a lot of musical stuff as well.

Didn't I do a cowboy thing once? Was it Woody Harrelson? I'm sure you did. And we were on fake horses and it was your guys song. lot of musical stuff as well. Well, I didn't I do a cowboy thing once was it Woody Harrell? And we were on fake horses and it was your song, you know, that's so much, that's a fun part of the show. Yeah, it's doing the musical stuff is great in the show. It's a lot of fun. I like to win. Oh God, I think who said I'd feel like a million dollars.

I feel like a dynamite. Um, Christopher Walken, Christopher Walken. When he would do musical stuff on the show. Oh, he loved it too. It was great. And he could move, he could dance. And for people who don't know, you usually have a music director we had, it was Cheryl, right? Yeah. Cheryl Hardwick. You get as a novice and, you know, comedian, you're sitting with this person who's like, oh, Broadway're sitting with this person who like, oh Broadway show, oh, you mean like that?

I mean, oh yeah. Diddling, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding. And she played some Santana song, The Chords Backwards. And that was the theme to Church Chat. But you guys would- I didn't know that. Fun fact for the kids. Wow.

But that was so great to be on a real musician like that. Where they just, and then there, and then when you get all the cast together and she tried to tell you your part, stuff like that. That was fun. What about the one that was dysfunctional family Christmas? Leave me alone, please go away. I'm not doing fine, leave me alone.

Please don't touch me. Please don't touch me. Was that you guys? That was us. That was us. Yeah, that was us. Great one. Yeah.

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You weren't like in one little lane. And so you would sometimes punch up things. So you'd come in, you'd rescue, write a line, you'd write your own thing, write for the host. So that's the way I see you on the show. You were just ever just floating around and, and, and, oh, Bonnie and Terry are here and they're going to have great ideas. It just, that's the way I remember you guys. I don't know if I remembered it correctly, but I remember. We didn't have the great ideas. That's why we got along. We were always around, but not with the great ideas.

You're right. We were utility players. No, and stars, but that's part of it. Oh, no. Did you work, was Coneheads during SNL? It was, wasn't it? Conan? Coneheads movie. Coneheads movie was during SNL.

Oh, Coneheads, yeah. Yeah, that was, I think it was. That was during SNL. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I just want to,. I think it was, yeah. That was during us and now. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I just wanna, just for all of us, for the people at home, I'm gonna read some of the cast of Coneheads, the movie. Okay. That you guys wrote on.

Okay. We have five minutes. Obviously, Jane, Jane Curtin, Dan Aykroyd, Chris Farley, Lorraine Newman, John Lovitz, Michael McKeon, Parker Posey, Garrett Morris, Julia Sweenon, Parker Posey, Garrett Morris, Julia Sweeney, Adam Sandler, David Spade, Ellen DeGeneres, Michael Richards, Tim Meadows, William Shatner, Phil Hartman, Jen Hooks, Jason Alexander,

Joey Adams, Kevin Nealon, and Sinbad. All crammed into one movie that didn't work exactly, but it was at least a lot to look at. Oh, Drew Carey, a lot of back-up. That's right, he was in the back of the cab. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I would, David, I was thinking about you the other night about the last line on Remilac, the super guy.

I think that was a reshoot. I think you guys wrote me an extra pickup. It totally was a reshoot, yes. And it always made me laugh. Oh, I loved Coneheads. I had such a fun part in that. That was so fun. Coneheads was a good movie.

I just saw stuff in the internet lately because people find it again. Some streamer picks it up and then people give it a shot that didn't drag out to the theater and then they go, oh, that was fault. I know it's kind of a cliche, but I, it seems like there's a hunger for these big kind of dumb nineties comedies. Uh, they're just dumb. You see, Cone ads, you're just laughing. It's so silly and fun, you know? But one thing interesting about you two, I'm just observing it casually, sketch writers, film writers,

and then dominating the half hour world and doing it now with that 90s show. Oh yeah. Season two. So films are, what's the hardest of those three or what's the easiest of those three? Cause you've done all three. I think films are the hardest for me. Yeah, films the easiest of those three? Cause you've, you've done all three. I think films are the hardest for me.

It's a bigger picture. It's a longer shot and it seems like, uh, I don't know, just they, they seemed harder and I don't know why. It's like 120 pages. I mean, that's a lot. Yeah. I was kidding. Keep the balls in the air. Oh my God.

Yeah. You get two acts in and then what happens? Oh geez, yeah. How do we get to the end now? Yeah, we gotta get there. It's just really hard. The one that you guys rode on extensively was Wayne's World. Let's just talk about Wayne's World 1,

which was sort of just landed so beautifully. That was a great experience. Did you guys, this is what I would say, like on the first one, it was 35 days, maybe, or 25, 35 days. It was short. And we're on the car doing, but if a Bram Lincoln, she'd be a baby, baby, whatever. You probably wrote that line or, uh, babe's bunny.

And then, and then the sequel, we had so much money and they built a set where Garth and Wayne hang out and it's sequel, we had so much money and they built a set where Garth and Wayne hang out and it's like just fantastical. It seemed like it was almost a parody of the theme of the first movie. It should have been, it actually should have been a parody of the first film. That we do just, we do just sell out. It says Garth and Wayne have money. They're now living in a giant warehouse. Yeah, wherever they were. The doll factory or something like that.

It was a doll factory, yeah. The old doll factory. Oh, that's right. And there's a giant statue of Lenin. Yeah. Like a hundred. There was a restaurant in there somewhere. Yeah.

That was a Lenin base. And one, you guys, I think Dream Girl was yours or you just, you wrote a lot of stuff for Garth and I just want to thank you. And we were, it was always fun to work together on things. It was very nice. Well, I always felt like that, uh, that the first movie, uh, was like, uh, Wayne and Garth get, uh, $10 billion to make a movie. And what do they want? You know, Garth wants the dream girl, the dream woman. And Wayne wants an exotic singer in a rock band. And they have this cool car.

And there was something that was in the, do you have any Grey Poupon? That scene where he said, they think everything they do is so fucking hilarious. Garth can't hold it together when they drive up to the car and we even set it back and forth and they just explode with laughter over, do you have any, pardon me, do you have any grapefruit pot?

I know, they were laughing way too hard. We never smoked pot or drank in the movie, but they were laughing. And the way I- Seems like you're a little stoned. People asked you over the years, I go, well, the two losers in town and their friends are the happiest people in the town. Like, by tax.

Yeah, yeah. It's ritualization of all those things. And of course, a tip of our hat to Mike Myers. You also had a great- Go ahead, Terry. There was a note that Paramount gave to underline the fact when Farley came up to the car, we should know that this is an important moment.

And about Mr. Big in the car, we should underline this moment. And then Mike put the line in, you know, for a security guard, he had an awful lot of information, don't you think? Like it's directly into the camera. And Paramount was completely happy with it. It wasn't what they asked for with, but they said, oh, that'll do it. That'll underline it.

This is insane. It was like- Oh, it's kind of nice. All the exposition- The funny version of that. Yeah, yeah. Just go to the camera and go, this is what's happening. This is what we're thinking.

Okay. Right. And next. There was one, I think that wasn't Garth, he was on the grass going, ow, ow, ow. He was like, you know, those kinds of moments. Yeah. It was my keys. My keys, my keys. I fell on my keys. Yeah. So if you can just, yeah, I mean, so that movie, but going back to like our movies harder, when we did the scene where he does Foxy Lady, and I don't know if you guys remember

we were trying to get what's new Pussycat. What's new Pussycat, yeah. But Steve Martin was doing it in Father the Bride, just a fun fact. But that was a day where you go triple overtime just to get it. Because I remember walking to the set and going, I think this is the most tired I've ever been in my life.

Isn't it a little weird that I'm going to film this thing? But that's part of film. It gets gritty sometimes. It gets late. It gets cold. It gets got to get the shot. You know, the other weird thing about films for us and doing them was that as we went through,

you know, Hollywood, there they don't let writers on the set. The idea that writers that Terry and I were there. On the set was like a weird thing for we didn't realize it at the time because as far as we were concerned, we were just working. And there is a thing about having writers talk

to the actors. You have to go through the director and there's a filter all the time. And you go, man, if you know who you're talking to and you know what their comic buttons are and how they're physically funny, you should be able to talk to them. CB Right. Because the director could kill them because they're also... DL They don't know the... You should be able to talk to them. Right, because the director could kill them because they're also, it's also you two, with Dane and Mike, who you two are together every day, and someone comes in from the outside and is the mediator. Yeah, it's weird.

I know, it is weird. It seems to come from SNL in a way, like sometimes a writer would jump in a sketch, or even if Davy Wilson came down, a writer or a cast member, it's more of a clubhouse feel, like rather than you're the writer, I'm the performer. Yeah, there was no hierarchy. It was just archy. It was just archy.

It was all in there. You direct your own sketch. You just write it, then you go in the booth and watch. Yeah. You produce and write your own work at SNL. With people like you on the set, because if I'm in the character of Garth, I'm doing things, I can get notes from you guys because you're objectively watching the whole thing.

Maybe you should go over your entrance a little quicker, just a timing thing. So yeah, I'm glad to hear that we had that, but that's, you know, what was your next movie? You did Wayne's World, you did Cohnent's. Tommy Boy. Tommy Boy. Tommy Boy. Tommy Boy.

Tommy Boy was so great. I mean, what a great title that we missed, which was Billy the Third of Midwestern. Billy the Kid. Billy the Kid? It was, yeah, the working, the work. Billy the Third. Was it the Third?

It was Big Bill, Little Bill, Billy the Third. Sorry. Billy the Kid would have been great too though, Bonnie. Thank you, thank you, Dana. A Midwestern was a great too though Bonnie. Thank you. Thank you Dana. A Midwestern was a great movie. I'm out of here. I'm out of here.

No but Terry. Well that was such a great and I think it was a Billy Madison bump right? Yeah that's what we heard from somebody said that the audience might confuse it and because it was us you know two people from SNL and they might go to the wrong movie or something, which I, I don't know. Yeah. Oh my God. What line am I in? Two people named Billy.

I can't keep up with that. I know. Well, Tommy took a while. I mean, Tommy boy, the title took forever. It seemed because I don't think in my recollection, which is a little dusty, is I don't think it was named when we got to the set. I mean, I think we have to find a new title. Adam, I think was shooting Billy Madison maybe in Vancouver.

I don't know, but at the same time. But Tommy Boy, of course, just like Wayne's World, another one where it landed. I appreciate that one, writing a movie. How did that even come about? We were talking with, we talked with Farley and it turned out Farley's, we all had working dads. Of course, everybody had working dads then,

but Farley's dad and my dad had a lot in common, not only their size, not only their demeanor, not only everything about them, but there was this one thing that happened when I said, my dad used to, when he drove a truck, and he had to take dinner napkins and tuck them in, only at a certain weight, well, you get this. He had to tuck dinner napkins into his belt and fold them over it

because the steering wheel would rub on his pants and shine them up right below his belt line. Harley said, my dad had his pants would shine too when he got in the car. And I went, this is weird. So we started talking about our dads and everything. And my dad was on the road a lot. So that's how that sort of started. Went that way. And I was on the other end of Paramount finishing up the cone heads and looking at the testing.

And the testing numbers for Farley were off the charts. And I went over to John Goldwyn's office, who was the president of production at Paramount at the time and said, have you looked at these numbers? This is weird, is this weird? I think this is weird. This number is way high. In a good way.

But are you looking? Has Lorne looked at these? This is this is interesting. And John went, yeah, I know. I know. And we went, huh. And then Terry and

Harley had this conversation, this ongoing sort of thing where they would laugh at each other's fathers. And it became a movie. Isn't that weird? Yeah. So does Lauren say, write something up about this because he's good in Coneheads, he's good on the show.

Let's put something together with salesmen. Because it's like- He was, I remember nothing about how that happened. I think, do you Terry? I don't, I don't really remember. I don't know how it became- I don't remember what the gap was. The word I got was, Lorne got you two

because you're great writers and you wrote well. And he said, maybe it's probably for Farley. But he's like, maybe Farley and spade, because it could be like a buddy comedy and kind of the way they are around the office and spade kind of makes fun of them and goofs around and they pal around and the traveling salesman thing, because a pitch, we always laugh later, like a pitch of a guy selling brake pads in Ohio wouldn't, wouldn't go as far. And, but you have to back into it.

It's like, what's a funny Farley movie? What's a funny idea? My dad was a salesman too. So I related to that part too of like, Oh, um, you got, he worked in commission. You don't get any money until you sell and all that stuff. So I, I related to that. And then it just turned into reading it and going, oh, we're gonna do it this summer.

What a blast. Yeah. That's great. And it was a blast. That was great. I enjoyed that movie tremendously. There's something kind of magic about that movie. There's a likability to it and there's a pathos there.

And then of course, all the funny set pieces. It was like, it just really feels good wheneveros there and then of course all the funny set pieces. It was like, it just really feels good whenever you see a piece of it. It's just like, I don't know what you guys did. Chris Farley's, Chris's brother, his name just left my brain. There's Kevin, there's Kevin. Said that they watch it. They watch the movie once a year. Just to visit with Chris. To visit with Chris. Yeah, because it really captured Chris in a film.

Also, they can't help it because it's on TBS five times a day. Well, this is why they, it's like the Wizard of Oz. It really is. I was on the road, I saw Tommy Boy and Joe Dirt in the same day, just on the same channel. I'm like, Oh my God, what's going on? Is this why I keep getting three cents? I knew it was for some reason. You were great in that film incidentally. Really wonderful.

It was well written for me and just perfect falling into place. Well, the two of you together doing stuff. Like the fat man in a little coat thing, which I've seen done around the office. In the writer's room. Oh yeah, that and a little, you know. Yeah, I love that it's on film. Yeah, couldn't include all the stuff in the writer's room.

Anyway. No. What are you talking about? I don't know what you're talking about i think that chris chris would get big laughs some of the show sometimes clothes will come off yeah wherever you're going you better believe the american express will be right there with you heading for adventure will help you breeze through security

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Visit amex.ca slash yamx. Benefits vary by card. Terms apply. And then you went on, now what was the first one, sitcom-wise after that, was it Third Rock or was it? It was Third Rock, yeah. Yep. And that came from, was it, I just, I didn't put it together with like,

it was a conehead type of thing or was that not? Oh man, it was, it was, this was- It started with just the thing with Marcy Carsey said, would you like to do a show about aliens who visit the earth to maybe do a book report on it or something like that? And we went, no. No. No, no we would not.

You take that idea and get out of my office. Right now. But the more we thought about it, and we were walking down the street in New York and a moving van went by that said, the Solomon Brothers on it. And we said, the Solomon Brothers. They all come in their brothers, which we traded around and moved around, but that was just how it started and went from there. And- Ran forever.

How'd you get John Lithgow? Was he a first choice or he just appeared? Yes. Because he's so perfect in that. How'd you get John Lithgow? Was he a first choice or he just appeared? Yes. Because he's so perfect in that. It was his Banzai Buckaroo, you know, that weird, weird film. John had a reputation for doing odd things. And we thought, and we'd worked with, you know, we had visited an SNL and he was a host a couple times.

And it was, you know, we'd written a Thanksgiving sketch and he knew how to be really funny and very normal. And we- Actually, Bonnie is the one who thought of him because we couldn't figure out who was gonna play that role because he said it was like a cross between Errol Flynn and Bugs Bunny. He wasn't afraid to pick up the sword

and stab somebody with it or put on the dress. He would do anything, whatever we need to do. And we thought and thought, we were thinking for a while and Bonnie said one morning, she said, John, let's go. I said, what? She said, it's John, let's go. And I went, of course, it's John, let's go. Who else would? And we didn't have a full script. We had like three scenes. And some description. DR And description in between. And this is all we have. And we were having breakfast. Marcy and Tom and the carcy Werner had decided we should have breakfast with John. He didn't know

that we were going to pitch a show to him. We gave him these pages with the stuff written and said, just it's about an alien. He went, and he went, ah, what's an alien on this paper? What did that mean? Loopworm? I nearly puked him often. I was just like, oh, this is really bad. This is not good. I nearly puked him often. I was just like, oh, this is really bad.

This is not good. He probably got alien makeup every day. Yeah, something. Anyway, he called that night at like around 730 and said, I hate you both. And we went, okay, great, why? And he said, because I'm gonna do television. I'm going to do television. I never wanted to do television. I never wanted to do a series television. And now I'm going to do series television.

Now I'm going to do series television. How fun. Well, good for us. This is good for us. It's bad for you. It's good for us. This is great. We shot it for ABC originally. And ABC was not keen on it and it jumped networks, which very seldom happens. And, uh, then it would end up on NBC and they got it as a mid season replacement. And we shot 16 episodes or 15, 13, 13, 13 episodes. And it never aired in the dark. We said we're in the dark because we shot it in front of an audience. They got to see the pilot and then, pilot and then they put it on the air

after half a year or more of shooting the show and then they put it on the air and it took off. But it was very, very weird that people were coming in to watch a show that nobody had seen and for some reason it worked. You know how you just get into a project and you go, well, I'm in it. So we'll just keep working. You know? Cross fingers. Right? How many times has that happened to you in your over the last 40 years? Yeah, of course.

You know, several times, right? Were you at CBS Radford? Yeah. Yeah. I think I was on Just Shoot Me right on the same time. Yeah, you were there. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, cause Kristen.

Which was a very funny show. I loved Just Shoot Me. Yeah, it was great. Yeah. It was great. David, I always say David was the Fonz of that show. He totally, he totally was. Meaning it is the, you know, the kind of the,

whatever you call that character. The character, yeah. The guy with the score. The very cool idiot. Yeah, the idiot for sure. Yeah, the cocky idiot. But the cool idiot. It was funny because one episode they find out out I have a big wiener that's

pinched us and then, um, they saw me and they were all jealous at work. Cause they saw me in the sauna. And then they, George Siegel and, uh, Elliot see me hitting on a girl. And I'm so bad at it that, um, they go, you know, the, the clouds are parting and the sun is coming. Cause it goes, George goes classic, great product, bad sales department. And they walk away happy.

Yeah. That was such a fun show. And that was a fun show. And you guys did. So it was 70 no, no, it was third rock then 70 show. And then was it 80s show? The 80s show. Yeah. Yeah.

I think Brittany was on that maybe. Brittany Daniel and then there's 90s. Yeah. Can I ask you guys a question? Yeah, before we get, I just, I remember the first time I met you and I'm kind of, I'm not even sure if I remembered it correctly, but you said something in effect of we're going to work really, really hard and then we're going to go move on, move, you know, retire or do something.

I don't know. This is like nine, when you first came in the office, I probably misremembered that, but I was just curious because all this success and I know there's other little things in between, but basically the show, the movies, the TV shows. Did you guys take kind of a hiatus before you came back? Did you spend or you've been working since all the way through? Before the 90s show you mean? Oh, just yeah, in these last 10 years. Was there a time when you were... We stopped. We just stopped completely. Yeah, We stopped. Stopped. We became serial renovators at that point. We renovated the apartment,

we renovated the house, and that was what we did. We have to do something. Then we started back up. Tom Warner wanted to reboot the show, and Marcy said, if you'll do it, I'll do it. Then we said, okay, we'll do it, and recast it. The fun thing is actually the casting on it because the new kids on it are good. They're great. And we get to work with Deborah Cho and Kirkwood again.

So that's fun. Well, those two, I mean, are Kirkwood Smith. There's something about I mean, he is just so funny. Well, he carries the baggage of the dead poet society. When when we when the son that commits suicide, you know, yeah, it was it was like Well, he carries the baggage of the dead poet society. I guess that's true. When the son that commits suicide, you know? Yeah. It was like when we told the first cast that the grandpa in the show was going to be- Kirkwood.

Yeah. Everybody went, oh my God. Oh my God, the guy whose son kills himself. Oh my God. He's going to be the dad. You know, he's going to be the dad. Yay. So people don't know you came back and you did season one. It's on Netflix, 10 episodes. Yeah. The 90 shows well received. I read some reviews. People love it. I try to do the homework, you know, but then, then now it's back on season two. When is it premiere? Oh, it's 27th of June. Okay. June is yeah. And then basically if you like the 70 show, those parents are back there empty nesters.

And then the grandchild to come back with all their friends. And so it's this conflict again. And, um, Deborah Joe Rupp and Kirk Woodsmith are back. Yes. And really, really funny. What was, okay, here's, here's a Oprah type question. What was it like coming back to the, after that hiatus, working on your house, coming back into the mausstrom, into the, into the. We didn't want to do it, Dana. your house, coming back into the mausstrom, into the- We didn't wanna do it, Dana. We were-

Okay, there's our trending, it's trendy. It was, we just went, in the very beginning, Terry and I just went, why would we wanna do, you know? Why don't we just keep nailing and make a kitchen? You know? And Lindsay, our daughter, who I don't know if you guys remember her. Oh, of course, Lindsay. She was the mascot of, she was always smiling. I remember her always smiling.

On Joe Dixos stool, sitting there. And she said, do this, do this, it'll be great. It'll be wonderful. And she went, you got Deborah Joan Kurtwood, she started pitching what she thought the series should be. Well, I guess it's the thing. What?

And we went, oh. The thing about modern live streaming and all that. So you get to do 10, just 10, take a break, do 10, and then you probably can mix and match. I don't, it just seems easier than 22. Do you remember that correctly? You're right. You're absolutely right. 22, 23, one year was 25.

By the way, a little insert here, I, for a period of time, 10 years, I was developing a half hour show with Tom Warner. Oh, yeah. And he constantly, it was just sort of sweet. Well, Bonnie, Terry, we'll talk to them. I'm going to reach out to them. We could get Bonnie and Terry, but Bonnie and Terry, I mean, he loves you guys. And I said, I know, I think, I think that, you know, they tapped out. Did you guys, so you, you, you got a couple of nickels in your pocket, you know, you're not, you're not from wealthy backgrounds. I assume you weren't so, and you're, you're, you're independently, you're okay. You can do what you want. And so you decide to, after, I don't know, working your asses off for decades,

I think it was a well-deserved, and so you're renovating a cool house. Are you reading books? You're taking walks. How do you fill that after all that freneticism? I miss it. You miss what? The freneticism. I miss it. I miss the crazy. I miss the work. I love the work. I love the thought process. Figuring out the puzzle. I do. I do. And I love, you know, one of the things that got us through the pandemic was the 90s show. We were sitting and thinking

about it. We were in a house, couldn't go anywhere, but we were thinking, our brains were in this other, we were in Point Place, Wisconsin. And that's a wonderful place to live. Yeah. What's the general area are you in Point Place? Like a casual street address? Where would you be? On a rugby drive. I'm kidding. Oh, don't give it away. 2415 Rugby Drive. Rugby Drive.

Sorry. That was a long way to go for that joke. So exactly. No, it's okay. So I give it to your saying. So your brain is occupied during the pandemic with thoughts of this. And I do think from the stuff I've seen, the cast is really good and very likable, all the young people. And so that's also sort of a kick, right? Now you're meeting people first time in a TV series. And then you guys come in like rock stars, I assume, not that you would

present yourself that way, but like, hey, they did the 70s show. They find out what you did. They're like, oh my God, they've done all this stuff. Well, I mean, it's kind of nice, isn't it? Yeah. Well, it makes them relax a bit and go, oh my God, these guys know what they're doing. I'll be honest, the Tommy boy was one of the guys sat down. One of the tech guys, wait a minute, I'll get his name in a minute. Oh, Brad, Brad. Okay, there. Brad sat down with me.

I'm not good with names either. The names escape me. I couldn't remember who Dave Grohl was yesterday. I was like, you know, the drummer from Nirvana. Dave Grohl, yes, Dave Grohl. Of course, of course. Of course, early on set. Yeah, Jeopardy for couples like Bonnie and I.

And the time you have to answer the question is actually 45 seconds. And you get to discuss, who was, who was, she was on that show, the soap opera. I don't know. No, not Dallas, the other one. I don't know. I once sat with George and Barbara Bush,

name drop in Houston outside, and they were a little long in years, but the name would come up like, well, you know, the people. And then Barbara would close her eyes, look up like this for like a minute, and not moving, and then come down with the name. But it was really an interesting kind of just look and stare.

And then, well, that was Jill Masters. You know, whatever. Good one, Bar. Sorry, I don't want to do I don't normally do voices on this. Bonnie and Terry, good stuff. Bonnie and Terry, good stuff. Well, you guys, I guess we'll let you go. But what a blast. It's so funny.

He's talking about all this stuff. This was wonderful. This was lovely. So nice to see you. And I wish we were going to dinner. This is like a dinner basically with no food. Next time we'll do it. So probably don't know the answer to this.

Are you going, did you guys go to the 40th? Did we run into each other there or not? I think we said way over there. It was just like, it was like 3000 people, just like boom. It was a sea of faces. Especially at that party, you couldn't even move. Yeah, it was insane.

Yeah. So that's to that, do you plan on going to the 50th and would you wear the same stuff you wore to the 40th? I totally, I totally will. All right. I always dress like a cellist. So, you know, yeah. Well, it's black, it's easy.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. And you carry a cello. Anything between my legs. Hey, wait, what? Hold it. A cello, you know. You kept it clean until now. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

It was a family show. You ready for this? It go like this. I'm sorry. I apologize. Who does it love? Bonnie and Terry Turner, the, I don't know, you guys are so humble and normal, it's hard to go.

Some of the greatest, you know, archetypal, a big part of the zeitgeist the last 40 years of American comedy and film. I mean, I can bring out an icon or I could just stay with an important part of Americana. Film, comedy. Whatever you want to label it. So last thing I just want to ask is you're not currently in production.

Are you actually, you're just in your house and relaxing. Yeah, we're relaxing until probably November. We're watching cuts of the show and doing editing notes and things, but we're doing it all on Zoom. I know. What a gift. This is my job. This is where I work. Right. That's great. Yeah.

And then I get Paula behind the door. But anyway, I don't even know what that means. You guys look great. Thank you. You look wonderful. And you sound wonderful. We're doing good. This is just like read through for me.

Just right by the table. Yeah, for the amount of damage I've done to my body. You know how much I like beer on an airplane. One final thing I remember, we're going to fly and I don't like to fly. I think it was from LA to New York or something. And Terry was talking and Terry's going, well, I have no fear of flying. I go, wow, that's great. He goes, but I only fly Delta. That's the only airline I'll fly. I have absolutely no fear,

but I'll only go to your Maris. I will only Delta. I like Delta. Yeah. One fatal crash and it was not, and it was a wind shear factor and they asked the tower to go around and the tower would not respond and they landed in Dallas and the plane went down, but most of the people walked off the plane. A lot of the people did and there were some fatalities,

but that's been the only- That's Delta. Delta. You walked off our crashes. I'm just buying some Delta stock right now. That's why I know I tip when I see it. Very good, 10,000. Thank you, Terry.

Thank you, guys. Bonnie and Terry Turner, we're our guests. So you guys have a nice day. Lots of love. Love you both. Love you both. Love you. Love all of you. smash that button, whatever it is, wherever you get your podcasts. Fly on the Wall is executive produced by Dana Carvey and David Spade, Jenna Weiss, Berman of Odyssey, and Heather Santoro. The show's lead producer is Greg Holtzman.