Hollywood Handbook - Ike Barinholtz, Our Studio Friend
Episode Date: April 22, 2025The Boys talk to IKE BARINHOLTZ about his role in The Studio. Get a Hat Pack Hat here!Watch the video of today’s episode at Patreon.com/HollywoodHandbook Like the show? Rate Holly...wood Handbook 5-Stars on Apple PodcastsAdvertise on Hollywood Handbook via Gumball.fm See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
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So I don't know.
For me, I'm like, I guess I want to say, like, if I knew everyone was going to be this mad,
I wouldn't have gone.
But then I go, it was a chance to be in space with my five best friends.
And like, when is that gonna come around again?
And our people really matter, they just fucking jealous.
Like, they're jealous of the...
I think they've never...
Because I slayed?
Oh, because I slayed in space for the first time
and no one has done that?
And now all of a sudden I'm the villain?
Something I, just from seeing how people talk about it,
I'm reading some of these comments
and I actually think they have never been to space.
That is so apparent.
Just from how they're talking about it.
And I'm not allowed to say it.
I'm not allowed to say it.
It's like, that's my privilege all of a sudden.
It's a privilege to slay.
It's like, that's available to you
if you actually just fucking put the time in.
I just love that, that in that capsule
were like six of my favorites in their field.
Katy Perry, my favorite singer, Gail King, favorite talk show host, Lauren Sanchez, favorite
wife of Jeff Bezos.
The best wife of Bezos.
And then-
Her wife sucked.
Yeah, I don't like her. But, other three ladies, I don't fucking know,
but I'm sure they're my favorite.
All of them rock, and whatever they're doing, ugh.
And the vibe was so fucking good.
I'm not in the photos.
Yeah, I think like, they're all really tall.
So I'm in the back, I've kinda got my hands
on the small of each of their backs,
just kind of rested, light fingers,
like spider push-up fingers, you know what I mean?
I'm not getting a full palm in there
because I'm a married man as well.
Yeah, no, no, no, no.
You know, but I'm sort of tickling just, you know,
beneath their shoulder blades and just kind of like making them feel supported
because it was, I wanted them in front
because it is about women in space,
which has been an issue for our country.
We can face it now.
We haven't put that many in there, but-
Only like N over there.
But to be safe, like, yeah,
we're gonna have a guy up there too. You know what I mean? We're gonna have a dude up there. But only only like and but to be safe. Like, yeah, we're going to have a guy up there too.
You know what I mean? We're going to be up there.
And he just in case things go haywire, ladies, don't worry.
Well, if the fucking thing breaks, you got to move the thing.
You know what I mean? Yeah.
Or the wheel. Like it's like just like to be careful, you know.
And so I'm not the story, but it was fun.
It was fun. I'm glad you are.
You made it back safely.
Although I did think we were robbed of
probably the funniest news story ever.
If the capsule just got lost into space.
Not yes.
Thank you.
Yes.
People talking about, oh, would it be funny if it exploded?
I don't want to watch it explode.
That's horrible.
What if we just can't find it?
It just got lost.
No, they have an incredible adventure.
Yes, we could have been on day four of like wolf blitz
or being like still no contact with the capsule.
You know, the oxygen levels are, are, seem to be fine.
And they had enough food for a while,
but we expect of losing full contact.
Yes. Time is passing differently for them than it is for us. and they had enough food for a while, but we expect of losing full contact.
Yes, time is passing differently for them
than it is for us.
They come back in two million years.
They've aged one hour.
We joked about that up there and I was going,
they weren't laughing, but I kept going,
anybody else getting Titanic submersible vibes?
Anyone else have submersible vibes?
Ladies, has anyone seen the film, Event Horizon?
But I'm glad you guys are back safely
and I'm glad you got to spend a little time with your girls.
Yeah, it's just like, I don't know.
There's 11 minutes.
The media doesn't always portray,
like yeah, it was 11 minutes of bliss.
We laughed so much up there.
I bet.
Like they don't really show.
And it's for science and it's for, you know,
progress and it's for gender.
But it's also, they're just funny.
Katie's so fucking funny.
Freaking hilarious.
Like she's so funny.
Her music videos actually sometimes will have
a little bit of a comedic bent.
And it's like you get some of her personality.
You mean like a lot of a comedic bent, right?
No, of course, of course, of course.
But you know how like that's also packaged in a way
that like everyone's gonna get it,
but how out there and like,
subversive and avant-garde her comedy can be. Not just kissing a girl, but like pretending,
like you actually like it.
Pretending to enjoy it, yes.
And she's not even.
If you've done that, it's like, no, you didn't.
And well, you did not like that.
You did not like that.
That is so slimy.
It's also like, how can you not be hilarious
and be married to Russell Brand?
Like if you're, that's just like the honestly.
You're gonna pick up some like a few techniques here and there.
She's the funny one.
She was the funny one.
If you went to dinner with them,
you would walk away laughing at her.
Even funnier than him.
Number two funniest couple of all time, Jerry Stiller
and Ann Meara, number one, Katy Perry, Russell Brand.
That was so, yes, that was so fun to be hanging out and laughing.
And like, they're still friends.
And like, I don't know if this happened, but I kind of heard that like, they're
still close enough that he was like, Oh, if you can sneak me up there a bit so I
could get away, so I could get, so I could Skype Skype the authorities. So I could Skype Interpol.
I didn't see anything. I didn't see anything, yeah.
But no.
I'm a little bit with the poppies. I need to get it out of space, love.
Did Space Force happen?
They're gonna slap the cuffs on me? On the media?
General Mark Ned?
Is Mark Ned gonna nib me?
Fuck.
General Mark Ned arrested Russell Brand after he slipped out the side of the Blue Origin
chip.
We gotta get a season three at that point.
Oh my god. We have no choice
Ike call Greg D
Come
Go call the man
He's running. We got a new office. We don't got a new Space Force. He lives in the studio
Ike Barron holds
The damn the, my god.
I'm getting caught in an avalanche.
Ike, talk about your character on the studio.
Tell me a little bit about who he is.
He's a little bit of a scamp,
but I wanna put words in your mouth
that he's a little bit.
This guy is freaking epic.
He's a business professional,
but there's also a little bit bit of like a, uh, uh, uh,
uh, uh, uh, uh, a mischievous bent. Well, I don't know if his business is show business or
monkey business, but this guy is all about the business. You came up with it.
It's just a guy who quite frankly should have been frigging canceled or whatever the heck's
going on in his head a long time ago.
I know that was your idea.
These guys are real.
Some of them are actually a little weird.
They're out here running around getting into scrapes.
Yeah.
And he, he he'll say whatever the heck he wants.
He doesn't care.
Uh, but he's also got heart.
He's also got heart.
You left your filter at home when you went to play this one.
Oh, no, no.
I said.
Filter go bye bye a long time ago.
No, I didn't know that.
Yeah, no.
Honey, if your wife calls from home,
honey, your filter's sitting on the kitchen counter.
That's my design, madam.
In fact.
Don't touch it.
Throw it out, you dang bitch.
Oh, no.
That's the kind of stuff you'll see.
Yeah, but when you put it on, you wouldn't say that.
But when you have it off, you would call your wife that.
Yeah, no.
And we have a really good relationship.
I'm already at work. When I'm in the car, I'm already at work.
I'm portal to portal.
But in reality, he is a guy who...
There used to be a lot of guys like him in this town.
What's his name?
John or something?
Sal.
Sal.
Yes, perfect.
He's the grandson of Abe Zapperstein, the founder of the Harlem Globe Triders.
Yeah.
But there was-
There was a bunch of them before.
This town used to be run by guys like Sal, and they all got thrown out and kicked out.
But that was when Hollywood actually made shit.
So, he's coming for this.
He is a marginalized voice.
Oh, there's not a lot of guys like him anymore
running around.
He's the minority now.
Herd, yeah.
Endangered species.
Yeah, yeah, and people are trying to hunt him.
And he's not gonna let him. And the show is about-
They got a horny like species as well. You ever see that species?
Species was having-
Species, I was fully sprung when I saw Species. I remember like at that time being like,
even though I know it would almost certainly lead to my gruesome death, I hit that ship.
I remember, yes, I remember having that exact thought
while masturbating.
When I was watching the film, I remember being,
at that time I didn't need hymns.
By the way, use hymns everyone.
But at that time, it was so easy.
They had to get rid of species.
Yes. Because like hymns would never let species come back now. No, they can't make a new species It was so easy.
Because like, Hymns would never let species come back now.
No, they can't make a new species
because the Hymns industry is so powerful now
and has such influence on the content
because you wouldn't, no one would be using Hymns
if species was in theaters.
No, no, no, no, that's not happening.
Also Hymns, real quick about Hymns, they say it's for, you know, no, no, no, that's not happening. Also, hymns, real quick about hymns,
they say it's for, you know, you're a boner,
but it's also hair loss.
And I've, since I've been taking it,
I don't know what's going on,
but my actual penis has become encased in hair.
Encased is exactly the right word.
It's not just, it's not just growing.
No, it's completely.
The root doesn't appear to be in the fat.
You can't see it.
It's actually, yes, it's actually a cover.
And your hair is.
It's like a koozie.
And your hair is getting boned out as well.
It's straight up.
I put some relaxer in it so it's dropped,
but it's like done the opposite thing. It's supposed to make my penis hard and my hair full and it's made my penis
full and my hair rock hard. So I don't know how to talk to you about that.
They have doctors that you can text.
From him's?
Yes. Oh yeah. They have the best text doctors in the entire business.
Their text game is so on point.
And it's the, what I like about it is you know, it's a chat, you know, I think it's called a chat because it's, it is like talking to your friends, even though they're professional doctors.
Yeah.
I don't like just hanging out with your friends.
And they're definitely real doctors. It's not like a man running an AI
out of a center in Bangalore.
What? Yeah.
Like it's a real doctor in this country.
Yeah, it's the doctor in this country
who I feel like is a bro.
It's a good old fashioned American doctor.
What happened to those guys?
What happened to them?
Bring those guys back.
Is what I say.
We're getting them back.
Hello.
Hollywood handbook.
Well, it's been a while.
It's great to have you back.
And I'm interested in catching up with you.
Clean Harry is back in the studio.
We're talking about Harry's razors today. interested in catching up with you. Clean Harry is, is, is back in the studio where
we're talking about Harry's razors today.
Uh, clean Harry, my recollection, I don't
remember everything.
He was a museum guard.
He was obsessed with-
That was a long time ago.
Shaving.
That's what I said.
Said it's been a while.
He was obsessed with shaving people, people
being clean shaven, collected Yu-Gi-Oh cards.
That's pretty much all I remember.
What have you been up to in the last,
I mean, it's been like a year, I think,
since we last talked to you.
I've actually been having a really good past two weeks.
Okay.
Yeah.
I found an Apple watch on the ground.
And that was that happened two weeks ago. That happened last
week. That happened last week. Two weeks ago, I had the idea
to start looking on the ground for something good.
Okay.
So it wasn't for an Apple watch specific.
You were just looking around and only took you a week to find an Apple watch.
Well, yeah.
So I go, well, two weeks ago I had a good idea and then one week ago, basically
it paid off, so I'm going this two weeks I'm on fire.
And what?
Punk.
What was going on before that things were not as good prior to two weeks ago whereas I've told you things
really took a turn well and I don't even punk I noticed you do have a beard now
yeah which and if you're interested in hairy shaving products, they've got the,
the, the, the way to handle the feel so good, like the very high quality shave.
You got deodorant, lotion, body wash, hair gel.
Uh, and it's just an unbeatable value.
They have German engineer blades made in their own factory that stays sharp longer.
Customizable delivery option
for schedule refills as low as $2,
half what you pay for other big brands.
Speaking of what you would pay,
how much would you pay for a new Apple watch?
Right out of the box.
You're selling the Apple watch and you said it's new?
Was it in a, it was in a-
Well, how much would you pay for a new one?
When I, and you say right out of the box,
was it in the box where you found it or it was out of a box?
Punk oh, this is can you just answer a question punk?
How much would you pay for a new Apple watch right out of the box?
I don't I mean like I don't want to be saying other prices
I think while we talk like you can get a five blade razor, weighted handle, foaming shave gel, and a travel cover. This would be even less.
What I'm offering you would be even less than.
Okay, if you would actually play the game,
you would say, no, not less than, I don't care.
At Harry's.com, it's not your voice.
Can I be honest, punk?
I don't care about Harry's.
I'm trying to do business here.
I am trying to have a business conversation with you.
This is just $3.
You said that the Apple Watch would be less than that.
No, I didn't say it would be less than that.
It would be less than what you would say
you would pay for it out of the box
if you would just say a number for that.
But by all means, let's talk about Harry's.
Let's talk about shaving, which I haven't been able to do
for a little while, as you mentioned, punk.
Get the shaving products that always deliver. Get Harry's. which I haven't been able to do for a little while, as you mentioned, punk.
Get the shaving products that always deliver, get Harry's.
Normally their trial set is $13.
Right now you can get it for just $3
at harrys.com slash the boys.
That's our exclusive link, harrys.com slash the boys
for a $3 trial set.
And an Apple watch might be thrown in.
Hollywood Hamburg.
Are those a Met Ray-Bans?
These right here?
Yeah.
No, no, no, no, but it's funny you said that
cause I got Ray-Bans right here
and I think I might kick this up a little notch right now.
Wow.
Now we're podcasting.
Okay, and this, now I might be talking to Sal
rather than I. Now, want to talk to Sal?
Let me see if he's here.
Hold on one second.
Yeah.
Can you get him for me?
You got Sal.
Wow.
Oh, wow.
It's like I'm inside the studio.
What would your top gun guy name be?
It's like I'm at Continental Pictures trying to pitch my movie.
If I was a pilot at Top Gun, what would my Top Gun name be?
Yeah.
Giggles.
Giggles.
Giggles, he's too far left.
Break left, Giggles.
You got it.
And I'll give a little.
Yeah, always a little laugh
because it's funny to you that it's so dangerous.
All the names, they all represent,
like Maverick is always not playing by his own rules.
Iceman was, he was so cold to the touch,
he would shake his hand, he would almost burn your hand.
Goose's poop is white.
Goose's poop is white, Goose's poop is white.
And he will actually fuck you up
if you get close to his young.
Yeah, yeah, no, he's very protective. Merlin was always doing little sleight of hand close-up magic in the
jet. You never could see it. They cut a lot of that.
Uh, uh, jester
would kind of uh, he would-
He's a hacky sack.
He's a hacky sack and juggle and stuff. Yeah, but they all all their names-
Bell's on his helmet. Oh, yeah. Yeah, he would like, he would like, he would like, he would like, he would like, he would like, he would like, he would like, he would like, he would like, he would like, he would like, he would like,
he would like, he would like, he would like,
he would like, he would like, he would like,
he would like, he would like, he would like,
he would like, he would like, he would like,
he would like, he would like, he would like,
he would like, he would like, he would like,
he would like, he would like, he would like,
he would like, he would like, he would like,
he would like, he would like, he would like,
he would like, he would like, he would like,
he would like, he would like, he would like,
he would like, he would like, he would like,
he would like, he would like, he would like,
he would like, he would like, he would like,
he would like, he would like, he would like,
he would like, he would like, he would like,
he would like, he would like, he would like,
he would like, he would like, he would like,
he would like, he would like, he would like,
he would like, he would like, he would like,
he would like, he would like, he would like,
he would like, he would like, he would like,
he would like, he would like, he would like,
he would like, he would like, he would like, he would like, he would like, he would like, he would like, he would like, he would like, he would like, he would like, this is normal to me. And then they're like, oh, I guess your reality
is already naturally augmented, which I never knew.
Right.
I am identifying all the like birds and bugs
and plants that I'm seeing.
And like my brain does give me like a readout
for what they each are.
I didn't know that no one else could see that.
Yeah, I wouldn't say no one else.
So is it like you have like the Terminator vision
and it's like you look at a bird and it's like,
do not kill, this is a sparrow.
It gives me a threat level for sure.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
But then I, so it does have tactical apps.
And so I'm like, okay, this is interesting.
Okay, talk to me.
Like I can't, like, my six is completely exposed at all times,
and it also, like, I need a lot of time to turn around if my six is, uh, is threatened.
Yeah, you have a wide gate. Yeah. And so they have apps. Yeah. Yeah. I have to do like a big turn.
It's like, you have to walk all the way around the room.
It's like a seven, nine point turn for me to get all the way around.
You have to go outside the room to actually get turned around.
Yes. It's bad opsec. That's bad opsec.
It's, it's, it's dangerous.
And so the apps, I just have to wear like a big
backpack with a, that like connects with a hose to the glasses
and it gives me my six and it,
and if someone is behind me and they're holding anything,
or if there's a car behind me or something,
they'll be like, watch your six, Ranger,
and then I can start to turn around.
Can you use the glasses in the metaverse?
Cause I'm constantly in the metaverse. I don't know if y'all are spending time in the metaverse? Cause I'm constantly in the metaverse.
I don't know if y'all are spending time in the metaverse.
Yeah, that was what turned me off.
And I haven't gotten a straight answer is like,
well, I'm already in the metaverse.
Are the glasses only, you know,
are they only available to me in what I guess
other people think of as the main reality?
Right, right, right. That Which is the way I look.
Right, right, right.
That's a big question I have.
When are we gonna evolve?
Cause I don't wanna wear them if it means
that I have to spend one second less in the metaverse.
I tried them on as well and I started like,
I was just looking at stuff and going like,
that's a brick, you know, like that's a tape.
Like, and it was like, it was awesome.
Like it was so fast. And I was like, and's a brick, you know? Like, that's a tape. Like, and it was like, it was awesome. Like, it was so fast.
And I was like, and people were like,
freaking out at how smart it was.
And then all of a sudden, one of the salespeople
lean over and they go, oh wait,
maybe we should turn them on.
And that's when they knew, you know,
this guy is identifying objects, right, materials.
Can we start studying him?
Yeah. Yeah.
Like, just, like, use his vision for the glasses now.
Mm-hmm.
But I don't have the Terminator readout.
I don't have that.
It's not tactical.
It's all like...
Just as with this. Have you thought about this?
This is like, God, this is so off topic.
But I almost wanna talk about it,
even though it's, what's that cup?
This right here, this cup right here,
History of the World, part two.
And you see how he saw that?
I knew it was a cup without even,
and not everyone will watch the video of this,
but I knew it was a cup without even having to be told.
So- That is incredible.
How did you get Mel to like,
how did you put him in his place, I guess,
when you're working on that?
Like how do you communicate to someone like that
to like, shut the fuck up?
Yeah, how do you really stomp on his bones?
It's tough, it's tough,
because you really do idolize someone,
and they're like a hero to you.
But you need to achieve status, alpha status.
Of course, of course.
But you wanna be respectful.
Those are World War II veteran we're talking about.
But you wanna fuck them up, you wanna fucking.
Well, I just wanted to know that you're not the boss now.
And so what I would do is like,
if there's a moment where
Mel is kind of telling a story about him and Carl Reiner and Neil Simon in the writers,
I know Reiner. Yeah. And, and it's like, it's, I can see all the other people on zoom are listening
and, and I, they're, they're really making it look like he's telling an amazing, sweet, beautiful
story, but I can't let it happen.
So what I would do is I would just, uh, I would just kind of mute him, his box.
And I would just keep pitching sketches.
So we can actually, yeah.
So he was like, then Neil Simon looked at me and I'll never forget what he said.
And I'd be like, all right, I'm gonna look at a I'd be like, all right, let's get back to gay Hitler.
And just kind of minimized.
I made his box smaller and smaller in the screen.
And that way I'm, we're not affecting productivity, but I'm also not going to be out alphaed by
this fucking guy.
You know what I mean?
And again, respectful, idol, God, God, King.
Incredible, but at the same time, you have to let him know,
Mel, everything you have is because of me.
I mean, in a weird way, like if people like me don't buy tickets
to like, you know, the producers or Robin Hood men and tights, like, then what do you have?
Like really what do you have?
Fucking dude.
Yeah. It doesn't, it's like, he never happened.
So, so, but, but I loved working with him and he made this cup.
He actually made the, his hobby is he makes knockoff yetis.
Wow.
And yeah,
I think with like Nick Offerman's shit
that's all like wood.
It's like, what am I using with what?
Like I'm just looking around, like I see barely anything.
If I want wood, I'll go watch Species again.
Yeah, baby.
No, Bo likes to work with steel and alloys and metal.
Yeah, stuff that actually collapsed.
Composites. Yeah. High. Yeah, stuff that actually collapsed.
Yeah.
Yeah.
High heat processes, all that stuff.
It's really, it's what separates the Mel from the boys.
Mm-hmm.
And he's really going to like take advantage of this, this tariff stuff.
Oh, God.
He's one man band when it comes to like full on industrial manufacturing.
Mel's going to be eating good. But he's licking, he's been licking his chops comes to like full on industrial. Mel's gonna be eating good.
But he's licking, he's been licking his chops
ever since he heard the news.
He's gonna be making some, what we call in Chicago,
real money now.
He's gonna be doing some Brooks wheeling and dealing.
Cause his name's Mel Brooks.
Ike, Ike SNL 50. Did you do anything?
Uh, I, I couldn't see, I couldn't watch it.
Were you in the concert or something?
I had a piece that was cut at dress rehearsal.
Oh my God.
Always the best.
It's always that actually funny.
Yes.
Yeah.
Yeah.
It's a funny for me and I don't get it yeah it was a bummer my
whole my like entire family came like I'm jealous I'm not even gonna disguise
it yeah well I'm not gonna make an excuse not just your wives like no
we're laughing about it now it was my It was me and my wives and all their families. Uh-huh.
We had like...
His wives and their families, my girl.
I said, like, I basically, I'll tell you what I said to Lauren the following day. I said,
I appreciate you giving us 56 tickets, but what is the point of me schlepping them all out here
and getting hotels and figuring out lifts and stuff.
And making your schedule to be with one wife
until like 2 a.m. then you gotta slip out of the room
be in there with the other way she wakes up
she thinks you were there all night, you know what I mean?
They all looked so beautiful.
They were so excited to see what their husband
has been up to.
And then it just went from Eddie Murphy
and then straight to Jimmy Fallon.
Like I never existed.
Yeah, something. Yeah.
And I had one of my wives, my third wife.
We went from the appetizer to the dessert
and it felt like something was missing.
The main fucking course.
Just a little bit of filet mignon perhaps.
And I turned to my third wife's, uh, Sarah Beth, and I said, uh, I'm fucking fuming right
now.
Yeah.
Yeah.
I'm really upset.
I'm really upset.
So vulnerable to tell her that.
Wow.
Yeah.
You know, men don't talk about their feelings enough.
And, and, and I think it's so for you even to share this here that you were willing to
say to your wife, I'm fucking furious, I'm fuming.
Like that's so, I think you're gonna help
a lot of people like.
I always tell people, make sure one of your wives
is someone that you could get vulnerable with,
that you can be honest with.
And say how mad you are, yeah.
The other one.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
But it was a great Yeah. The other one. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
But it, but it was a great night.
I met John Stamos.
That was awesome.
If you can tell one wife how annoying wives are.
Mm-hmm.
Yeah, but you don't, you don't want to like,
you don't want to get in a situation where you're like
playing the wives against each other too much.
That's no, that's toxic.
They shouldn't even know about each other.
That's manipulative.
No, no. That's toxic. I took a big risk in having them all come
because we were sitting together.
But it's your big night, it's SNO 50.
Like it only comes along every 50 years or so, I think.
One of them and her parents and her kids
from her first marriage, they were sitting kind of
by John Ham and then my other wife and her father
and his girlfriend,
they were kind of sitting down by Sarah Silverman.
I'm not gonna like do the seating chart,
but we were like, yeah.
Yeah, it's not necessary.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Can you give us a taste, I mean,
just because like we actually do love comedy,
like can you give us a taste of,
not the whole sketch, but just, yeah.
I don't know how this plays into it,
but that you'd gotten into like whole whole on like, Rex Tillerson makeup.
Because like, you had been saying.
Oh my God.
That, I mean, it was like a fairly traditional cold open
from like 2017.
Yeah.
That they had thought about doing then,
but it was like, kind of like,
too good for the show then, so they were like,
should we do this at SNL?
It was, what I heard was it was a traditional gold open
from that era, but then it got a little bit Ike-ified.
Mm-hmm, yeah.
Well.
It was Ike-dumb.
Basically, the basic premise,
you probably know this already,
was Rex Tillerson, as we all know,
was fired by Donald Trump in his first term
when he was on the toilet.
And so basically the whole sketch is it's Rex Tillerson.
He gets up and he's like, honey, I'm going to have a great day today.
And he goes and he sits down to do it on the toilet or morning business.
He's on a freaking toilet.
So already I'm laughing.
The toilets normal. I don't, it doesn't, that's not the joke. I'm just curious. The toilet doesn't look like, doesn't look like, um,
I don't know, Cookie Monster or something.
The art director kind of threw that out there. He's like,
do we want to make that toilet wacky? Do you want to have poop everywhere on the floor?
Like he pooped everywhere.
You're so subtle and so restrained.
And the poop on the floor.
Your toilet work is so subtle and so real that I think that's why you really
do let like the comedy of it shine.
And it's never like reaching for the laugh.
You're always reaching for the like flush handle.
I always say like, I'm not trying to show you
what it's like when you're on a toilet.
I'm trying to show you what it's like when this character
I'm playing is on the toilet.
So I take it seriously and I try to keep it normal.
So anyways, the phone rings and it's-
The toilet phone.
The toilet phone rings, it's kind of connect to the toilet.
And, and I answer is Rex, Rex, and I'm like, hello, hello, Taylor.
And it's freaking Kim Kardashian.
Wow.
Already I'm like, just completely like, where am I?
I thought I knew where it was going.
And now I'm eating out of the palm of your fucking hand because it's like,
you're completely in control.
You've got the strings. I'm the puppet.
And I'm like, well, what dance would you like to see?
Because I have no idea why Kim's calling.
She's friends with the rats on the toilet.
Like, what the hell's going on here?
Yeah.
Should we have a beat with her where we kind of talk? And she spreads with Rex on the toilet. Like what the hell's going on here? Yes.
Should we have a beat with her when we kind of talk?
And then the call doesn't go well and I hang up.
Oh my God.
It goes bad.
He's mad.
It goes bad.
Oh yeah, no this is not a good phone call.
And the writers will figure out,
the writers are figuring out like what happens in that.
Cause that's not a good phone call.
But you never called me back after our date
and I'm pitching this like a crazy thing
where it's like, wait, Rex is dating her.
We wouldn't do that, but that's like.
This is at the table with us and other.
I'm jealous of this.
I want to be dating Kim.
Yeah.
And like, and you pitch something like that
where you're like, yeah, he has a call with Kim Kardashian
and like something happened.
They're like, well, what is it?
What happens?
It's like, well, what's your fucking job?
Jesus Christ.
What are you doing here? There's like 50 of you. I, what is it? What happens is like, well, what's your fucking job?
There's like 50 of you. Yeah.
I didn't go to Harvard.
Y'all figured that out.
You know what I mean?
What shape should the gold be in?
And it's like, I don't know.
I just give you all the gold.
You guys can mold it however you want.
I'm, I'm holding the map and saying the hills are that way.
Yeah.
I'm not being like, oh, here's a statue now.
Come on guys. Um, anyways, here's a statue now. Come on, guys.
Um, anyways, the sketch was a progression of worse and worse phone calls.
And finally, at the end, I'm like, honey, no more phone calls.
And there's one last call.
One more phone call. Yeah.
And you know who it is, right?
It's, uh, yeah, it's Boblin.
And, uh, he, he gave that really helps to pitch in this.
I say, like, and we have Alec Baldwin coming out.
I like Donald Trump.
Yep. And then he gives me the old you're fired.
Yeah. Yeah.
We didn't make it.
It did make a little southern, huh?
Yeah, he does it.
He did. It's different every time.
Yeah. That's the beauty of the impression, though.
Yeah, we did this.
We did this when I went to dress when I hosted in 2017, got the axe.
And then so for the 50th, Lauren called me.
The whole episode got axed, right?
Yeah, yeah.
And it was, there was just, every sketch had a different kind of problem.
And they just, that night, like, it was the only show that ever aired on the East Coast
and then Lawrence.
So it never really got on there.
So when the 50th was happening, Lauren called me and goes, whatever you want, Baron Holtz.
And I said to him, I want to do the Towers of Sketch.
I owe you.
Yeah.
Yeah.
So we did it.
We did it.
And it, I thought it was funny, but then five minutes beforehand, I'm,
I'm just sitting there. I'm talking to, I'm talking to a frigging Mick Jagger and
Lauren Michaels comes over and he just looks at me and just goes,
and I was like, and then a little bit later. Yeah. It just, it was like a no head shake.
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
Yeah. And so it was, was it an amazing night
for comedy and SNL and all of us in America?
Yes.
For me and my wives and their families,
it was a, it was bittersweet.
Bittersweet. It was bittersweet.
Yeah, yeah.
I didn't mean to cut you off, but it was like.
No, no, that was bittersweet.
I felt like you were gonna say bittersweet.
I was gonna say bittersweet.
So it doesn't, yeah.
So, yeah.
So nobody's pissed.
People listening at home,
sometimes you'll go,
Sean's interrupting the guest all the time.
And it's like, well, I'm helping him.
I'm helping him.
It was gonna be bittersweet.
I couldn't get there and you-
I could see you were getting emotional,
especially remembering your wives,
having that bittersweet experience and so.
Whoa.
Hollywood handbook. Whoa. Hollywood handbook.
Whoa.
Hollywood handbook.
We talk about inhabiting these characters, right?
And I wanna come back to Sal a little bit.
These studio executives, as you are playing them,
you're taking on this identity,
you're understanding them in new ways.
Can you now come back to us and tell us a little bit
about what it's like in that mind?
Do they know that we're smarter than them?
The show, yes, it's a risk that you're taking,
because this is your livelihood, you know?
And it's also, though, a very valuable experience
that you could share with people like us,
as Hayes is saying, where it's like,
when I go in to talk to a studio executive,
I sometimes am trying to say,
inside their head,
do they know how much fucking smarter I am than they are?
And do they know that I should just be doing what I'm doing and, and what they're
doing and I should be deciding like what I'm getting paid and stuff and like what
my deal is.
Yeah.
Do they, do they know that?
And is that affecting their behavior in some way? Or are they actually like, sometimes it looks like they're.
So fucking stupid, they can't even see that.
Was it can I shop under their nose?
Go ahead.
Can I shock you guys?
I have never spoken to a studio executive.
Okay.
I, I, I. I had a suspicion.
When I got this part, a lot of times people are like,
I'm playing a cop, I'm gonna go.
Go on a ride along.
I'm gonna go on a ride along, I'm playing an accountant,
my cousin's an accountant, I'm gonna ask him questions.
You're doing a golf cart ride along
with the studio executives.
I wanted, I didn't know what it meant.
I didn't know really what they did, I didn't know who they were, I didn't know really what they did.
I didn't know who they were.
And I did not want to know.
I wanted to go into it completely blind.
And this is what I'm saying.
I have all these credits.
You're doing all this amazing work.
You have shows on the air.
Could it be that like, oh, just because no studio executive
ever found out about this stuff, like,
oh, maybe that's the problem
that they're saying, hey, don't do these shows.
I've managed to exist completely outside the system
while working in it.
And when I made this decision-
I've always admired that.
I've always admired, you are an industry outsider
who happens to work in the business.
I've said this before.
I'm seeing you from inside the system.
My, you know, my paws on the glass.
Yeah. Right. Yeah. I get through there somehow, you know? Well, I mean, that's the thing is you want
to be in, but you also want like, you want to help the detachment, which is why I said, I don't want
to know these guys. I want to be straddling it. Do you remember the Ewok movie?
I want to be straddling the war, just thinking about this a little more.
I do wanna get to the Ewok movie,
but I wanna be like sort of riding on it
and just sort of like scooting back and forth on the board.
Well, right, well, you could be riding on a star cruiser,
like in the Ewok movie,
there's star cruiser crashes on the planet.
Oh no, I saw the Ewok movie, my friend.
You remember he gets, there's the,
everyone's getting a special gift.
Right.
And the gift is gonna somehow come into play
later in the movie, but some of them seem really exciting.
You know, like, it's like this person's got like this,
like, you know, very fancy special gift,
but then like one person gets just a stick and they go,
oh, I just got a stick.
This sucks.
But then someone gets trapped under the water.
They touch the water and immediately they're under
and the water has a hard surface like glass
and they're drowning and no one can get them out.
And what's the only thing that can reach the surface?
Stick.
The stick.
Yep.
Where's my stick, Ike, to reach through there and be able to communicate with you.
I'm drowning on this side.
Can you pull me over to where the executives aren't?
Cause they're so cruel to me.
Ike they don't like me and I don't understand them.
I want to pull you in as I'm pulling myself out basically. And they, they do understand
you want to drown. I want to drown. I want to drown and I want you money on the inside and money
and wives and wives. But I mean, I don't know any of these people. I don't. And I don't want to. And
Rogan said to me, Joe Rogan, he said, you should do a little bit of prep for your show.
And I said, hey, prep this and pass, pass me the blunt. Shut up. Yeah. Let me have some
more weed, Seth. Prep is also a drug that he was maybe saying, you know,
with all the-
The guy likes drugs.
With all the, you know, with all the strange coming your way.
The guy likes drugs and he's not gonna have kids.
Yeah, yeah.
He does not want children.
He does not want children.
Not doing it.
He wants weed.
I gave him, I thought it was nice, He does not want children. Not doing it. He wants weed.
I gave him, I thought it was nice.
Catherine Hahn and I for a rap gift gave Seth a child.
That's interesting.
Just to try it.
Cause he actually does want it.
He's gotta want it.
I know, you know what I mean?
He keeps saying this but it's like you do want it.
I've never brought up if I want them or not,
I just have them.
Yes.
My wife for years was like, I'm just not a dog person. I brought him a dog.
What'd you do? Got a dog.
She loves it. Of course she does. She can't stop walking.
Of course she wanted it. She had no idea what she wanted.
Nobody knows what they want. You just fucking tell them.
We figured, Hey, this could be a fun thing for Seth.
A friend of ours had a baby recently, didn't want it.
Probably had too many, you know?
So at the wrap party, I gave him like a perfectly swaddled two and a half month old, like little
baby.
And if you saw the look on his face, he was like, he looked horrified.
Yeah.
But at the same time, I can tell he was, there's a little bit of seed of,
he's actually kind of into it. Yeah. It's kind of been doing it. Yeah.
But am I doing this? Oh, you know, I can't, what the fuck is this?
Shit. Oh baby. Oh baby. Yeah. But then,
you know, the, the, then the baby laughs back at him and it's like,
wow, what connection, right?
Movie idea.
Same way.
And the baby's like, ho ho ho ho ho.
A baby with the same laugh.
Oh, is that possible?
Oh, yeah.
This baby, did this baby get into my stash?
And this, the baby, the baby could smoke weed, you know, but it's the baby likes ceramic
It's all they do that just kind of as a self-defense
thing like so the like so the fathers will
Like not the father don't abandon. They usually have the same laugh. They have some of the same interest
They get into hot hobbies that the same hobbies that's been going on for a long time, for thousands of years.
Go to houseplant.com, yeah, buy a ceramic.
I mean, it's not just weed over there,
it's ceramics, ashtrays,
all kinds of collectibles for the house.
It's art.
It's art.
It's art.
And I'm not just saying that
because he gave everyone in the studio
a half a percentage of houseplant.
Oh my God.
It is a great store to shop at.
Yeah.
And you had to take on the risk as well, right?
I mean, that comes with upside, but.
Oh, Pam, Pam Bondi, not so happy with me.
Not so happy with me.
I'm in a lot of trouble right now with the US government.
Yeah.
But it's, I'm not going to let that affect
my friendship with Seth.
Or with, or Joe Rogan.
Or with Pam Bondi.
Or with Pam, or with Pam, who I startedan. Or with Pam, Bob. Or with Pam.
Or with Pam, who I started with in Chicago.
Work is work, but then you have, obviously,
your Chicago roots and your friendship there.
Yeah, I wish people could have known her
when she was just kind of like a sweet old improv nerd.
I wish people knew her when she was sashaying
around the house and teasing Al Bondi.
And it's crazy, he still yet never wanted to sleep with her.
It's so crazy.
That is wild.
That's why she's so mad.
Running point,
talk to me about your decision to fudge the timeline
a little bit in terms of like,
obviously we're both big fans of LA Waves.
We love the waves.
We've been, you know.
So, you know, obviously Travis Bug and Marcus
were never actually on the team at the same time.
Two interesting characters, you know,
two interesting characters, two big personalities.
And I like the kind of fan fiction element.
Travis and Soury, they had to dump Travis and Soury
to actually get Marcus.
Well, yeah.
So the fact that he was drafted later
in the life of the show, just like,
I love that there's artistic license and all of that,
but it took me a while to find my footing
and just talk to me about some of these decisions
and kind of the sandbox that you are in
and what made you kind of go rogue as it were.
There was a real, there was a lot of discussion
in the writer's room because,
and I would say it was split 50-50
with people who wanted to kind of really stay true to the waves, like actual like mythology industry,
which is inherently interesting in itself.
And I get it.
I get it. I get it. I get it.
Yeah.
I took the other position.
Yeah.
And, and even though I knew that meant we could never like, there would never be a character like Ross bomb Gardner, uh, you know,
we would probably like never dip into the Shalai Ramos trade.
All that stuff would never come to light. But to me,
to have the freedom to kind of be anachronistic,
um, it really, it really just made for a better story.
No, it's what's the best story
and how do we talk about what's happening right now?
Because it is a commentary on society.
I mean, we talk all the time on this show
because it's about the industry,
and we say that nipple-tism is real,
but that nipple babies are people,
and they often are passionate about what they do
and should be given a fair shake.
And like, you know, gonna have some bumps, gonna have some,
you know, there's a learning curve, but like,
let's not get in their way
before they even have a chance to succeed.
But the choice to, instead of, you know,
to depart from the reality of the waves
and have Isla Gordon be a substitute
for the real life owner of the waves, Paul Allen.
Yeah.
And for her to adopt so much of Paul Allen's style.
Yes.
Life history.
Philosophy.
Sexual proclivities.
Sexual proclivities.
Yes.
Yes.
Obviously the, yes, the Paul Allen sexual proclivities.
The thing you guys have to understand though is that like, when you're dealing with a team
like the waves, like waves fandom is real. And those people, as you know, like the, like
the waivers, the wave, the wave crave.
Yeah.
If you, if you mess up something that really happened,
they will blast your ass online. They'll harass you. Yeah.
And and so we really wanted to make sure we were true to them.
But why have Kate do a Paul Allen impression instead of just having
just have it be Paul Allen?
I know you can't have Paul himself.
But like, we just wait for him to die.
Yeah. Yeah.
No, but also because if we had Kate come in and do like a different
character, people wouldn't get it. So we had her, we sent her like basically
every speech, every Ted X talk he's ever done. We had her really like study the
matter. They should do the main Ted. I don't know why it was only Ted X. He
owned Microsoft. He's pretty big deal in tech.
I just like, it felt a little disrespectful.
Having to do like Tedx, Chula Vista.
But it's you at SNL 50.
I mean, you got to feel a kinship where it's just like,
obviously the main squad, right?
And it's like, it's a zero sum game.
And you would have been getting some.
I would have been getting some.
I would have had a real different night.
Yeah.
I listen, listen, I know people were mad and I know that there was, that they wrote that thing in people magazine that just really blasted us.
Uh, but his widow, it was just, she wrote an op ed for people magazine and we obviously read that and we're not, not affected by it.
But Ike, you're the man in the arena, Ike. You know what I mean?
Like ultimately she's his widow. She has a right to her opinion, but she's, she's in the stands.
Like you're going to get bloody. You're going to, you're're gonna have some bumps and bruises.
So I just wanna say, I know you're affected by it
and I feel it when you talk about it, I feel it.
Yeah, it's like, I'm not a heartless monster.
And like, I know everyone reads the people op-eds
and like, I get it.
Yeah.
Yeah, it's the, you know,
but I just, at the end of the day, boys,
I gotta do what I think is right
for not just the show, but for, for the check.
You're helping a lot of people.
Yeah. You're helping a lot of people.
So, you know, to hell with her.
The executives won't be mad that we said,
we said all this stuff about the executives, right?
Have you, have you encountered anybody actually
from the real studios?
Now, I guess he said, you never talked to an executive.
Yeah.
He said, he never seen her.
No, no, no, no, hold on.
That was before, before, now that the show has come out.
Have they been saying, Hey, that's me.
Was that me?
I was, I was, I'm driving up Gower the other day and wherever it takes me.
Yeah. I've just,
I'm driving up Gower and his car pulls up next to me and it was like a rickety
old, like a, like an old Subaru or something. Yeah.
And that's a one lane each way. So that's an oncoming,
he came around and, and, and, and through like a, like a,
like a soda from a Wendy's at night thing. And I was like, what the hell?
And it makes the motion to roll down the window.
So I rolled down my window and I look out the window.
It's freaking David Zaslav.
Zaslav, yeah.
Yeah.
And he's like a big Subaru guy.
He's a classic Subaru guy.
And he looks at me and he goes, it was it was right on, man.
Oh, wow.
Yeah. Yeah. I was like, oh my God. When he threw the soda, I thought he was right on man. Oh, wow. Yeah.
Yeah.
I was like, oh my God.
When he threw the soda, I thought he was mad, but I thought it was
bad.
He was just trying to get, he was trying to give you a soda.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
I got so, man, you earned it.
Yeah.
He, he, he seemed, I probably 90% sure it was David's Aslov.
I've never seen him, but like, I think it was him.
And so, so that's just one example of a studio head
who's reached out and been like, hey brother.
You got us.
You got us, yeah.
You freaking nailed my ass.
They do sort of a jive thing.
You know, I guess it's like,
they call me Jack, everything is Jack.
Yes.
It was, yeah.
It's also, it's like a weird Jack.
Got an idea for me Jack?
I'm always like that.
Yeah.
Mr. Zazlove.
If Scatman Carothers was in the Sons of Anarchy
is the kind of the way it feels like they sound,
in my mind at least.
That's how every studio executive
that's reached out has sounded though.
They all sound like that.
But they are actually, they're really,
they have a really hard job.
They have a hard job and I respect them and I love them.
And I hope the show.
That's a hard job.
I know it tickles them a little bit.
Yeah, they could do some ribbing, but it's a hard job.
It's a hard job.
And listen, it's like, are they perfect?
No.
Do they make a lot of mistakes?
Yes. Does those mistakes lead to people getting fired and their lives ruined?
Sure. 100%. Yeah. But it's a hard job.
And like, I like, nobody, nobody's they would let me. Here's my pitch.
You two run a freaking studio
and have two studio heads run this podcast.
Let's see what happens.
Let's see.
Yeah, try switching with me.
Let's see what happens.
I don't think, I don't know if it would go well.
I think it would be a real bad podcast
and we'd have some pretty freaking wacky movies
coming out in the next couple of years
with you two, we, nut balls. The ideas that I have for movies We're gonna have some pretty freaking wacky movies coming out in the next couple years with YouTube,
nut balls.
The ideas that I have for movies are so crazy.
And like if I were to tell you even one idea, you know.
Well, you gotta give me a little taste now.
You gotta give me at least one.
Harry Potter.
Bye.
Ha ha ha ha ha ha.
Whoa.
Whoa.
Hollywood handbook.
That was a Head Gum podcast.
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Liz and I met in the writer's room
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