Inside Conan: An Important Hollywood Podcast - Paula Davis Revisits 28 Years of Bookings

Episode Date: November 12, 2021

Longtime Conan talent booker Paula Davis joins writers Mike Sweeney and Jessie Gaskell to discuss sneaking into Saturday Night Live as a teenager, setting Abe Vigoda free, why Regis Philbin was her dream guest, and a fiddler’s on-air wardrobe malfunction.Got a question for Inside Conan? Call our voicemail: [phone] and e-mail us at [e-mail]

And now, it's time for Inside Conan, an important Hollywood podcast. Welcome to Inside Conan, an important Hollywood podcast. I'm Mike Sweeney. I'm Jessie Gaskell, and we are writers for Conan. We're writers, are writers. Sure. Maybe writers in the future. It's a world of possibilities. But right now we're hosting this podcast. And actually, Jesse and I saw each other last week. We did. In person. Yeah. And we saw some of our listeners, too. That's right. We were at the Wiltern Theater for the recording of Conan's live podcast, his first live podcast. Yeah.

Of Conan O'Brien Needs a Friend. That was wild. It was really cool to be out among people again. Yeah, yeah, yeah. See a live show. It was a great show. Yep. Will Arnett was a guest. Yeah, Jordan was there. Yeah, and. See a live show. It was a great show. Yep. Will Arnett was a guest.

Yeah, Jordan was there. Yeah, and it was a hilarious show. And it's out already. It is. You can listen to it. Yeah. You can hear us laughing in the background. That's right.

But like you said, we also crazily ran into some fans of Inside Conan while we were there. I know. That was cool. That was fun. A few of you came up to us and I assume you're very hard up for celebrity sightings. You're just happy to be out of the house. Yeah. But it was fun. I mean, going backstage after the show, it really felt like old times, filming the late night show. Right. Having a postmortem.

We had a postmortem. Yeah, I got to sneak into that, even though I had nothing to do with the show. I had nothing to do with it. I've never had less to do. I feel like a UN peacekeeper. Like, why am I here? Yeah, because you had to be there at noon. I think I was just part of the entourage. Yeah, you're Conan's fluffer.

Yeah. Well. Asexual. Yes. Totally asexual. I'm fine either way. You know, I'm open-minded. Yeah, no.

The Conan podcast is a well-oiled machine. So I was just a fly on the wall kind of watching everything, which was fun for both of us, I think. Yeah. I know. It was just nice to see a lot of the wall kind of watching everything, which was fun for both of us, I think. Yeah, I know. It was nice to see a lot of the old staff again. Yeah. Everyone was running out looking busy. It was like the props guys were there because there was a fake award that was given.

So they had one thing to do. They had to make it and deliver it. I hope they held onto that prop. Yeah. What else has been going on with you? Oh, you know, I'm sorry I mentioned, I guess I said I was going to do a swim from Alcatraz to, and that was a mistake to say that. See, I kind of thought you wanted to be held accountable for it.

Maybe that's what I wanted subconsciously. Yeah, but now you regret that. Oh, I couldn I kind of thought you wanted to be held accountable for it. Maybe that's what I wanted subconsciously. Yeah, but now you regret that. Oh, I couldn't regret it more. And probably discussing it again now is not helping. I'm not learning my lesson. What have I done? Like, you talked about running a marathon after you ran the marathon. That's how you do it.

You don't talk about these things beforehand. That's only an idiot. I know. That's like saying, I'm going to write a screenplay this weekend. Exactly. So look forward to it on Monday. What's going on with you?

I went on a little trip to visit my 97-year-old grandmother. Wow. Well, you're a wonderful granddaughter. Well, thanks. I mean, I hadn't seen her in a while because of the pandemic. And then she actually got COVID. year old grandmother wow that's well you're a wonderful granddaughter well thanks i mean i hadn't seen her in a while because of the pandemic and then she actually got covid last year oh wow and didn't die oh my gosh she was in the hospital for two months alone and she bounced back yeah i mean she bounced back to the former mostly stationary status.

I'm going to stick with bounced back. Yeah. But no, it was great. We unsuccessfully tried to fix her remote, and I ate a lot of leftovers. It's amazing. When I visit, she always has leftovers, and yet we never have a new meal. There's no initial meal. It's only leftovers.

Those are from meals prior to your arrival. Yes. Well, welcome back. Thank you. Where does she live? She lives in Dallas. Oh, okay. Yeah, so I was too late to make it to the QAnon rally to resurrect JFK Jr.

Oh, wow. Right. Yeah. Let's say you were there when that was happening. Would any part of you want to go and kind of check that out? And take a look? I don't think so because I would, I would just assume that I would get hit by shrapnel or something. Like there would be.

And then your name forever would be linked with QAnon. I am Q. But you know who's not Q? What a segue. Tonight's guest. Yes. I think that's fair to say. We're speaking with

longtime Conan talent booker Paula Davis. Yes. To learn about her, call it origin story, at least where Conan and NBC were concerned.

Oh, I know. It's amazing. Yeah. It's the stuff of legend here's paula davis hi paula hi you guys hello thanks for being here sure thanks thank you for inviting me sure you're also a longtime listener of the pod i love your pod you got on board way before all these Johnny come lately's. I love it. Do you ever listen for accuracy? Are you ever like, oh, that didn't happen like that? Not at all, because I don't remember. And what's great is I lived it, but when I listen,

it's like the first time I'm hearing about it. So it's even better. What a fun life I've had. Exactly. Conan had a sidekick named Andy. Who knew? Can we talk about the Day One Club for a sec? Sure we can. Can you explain the Day One Club? Day One Club are the people, a very select group of folks who were there on the first day. I'm one.

Jeff Ross, Frank Smiley, Conan, the band. Tracy King. Tracy King. Gina came and went. Michael Gordon, Conan, the band. Tracy King. Tracy King. Gina came and went. Michael Gordon. Oh, Michael Gordon. So some of them came and went. Right.

But a few of us are still on board. Andy, of course. Andy, right? Yeah, and when you say day one, you're talking about September 13th, 1993. Yep. I heard something interesting i know you started before you came to conan as several early uh members of the crew did from saturday night live so before we got to late night with conan o'brien in 1993 maybe we can just quickly go back and you can talk about

your time at snl and how you knew conan there and what you thought about that fellow, and we'll go from there. I'm going to tell you how I arrived at SNL. Is that okay if I go back? Oh my God, yes. No, please do. Please do. When I was a kid, I loved comedy, and both my parents were in show business, so I was very comfortable on sets. I went to visit my mom. She worked on a game show at 30 Rock when I was like six. Oh, cool. And when I got on the set, I just felt, this is where I belong. This is all I want to do.

I'm very comfortable here. This is it. So when I was six, I felt at home. Because it was your home. I guess. They lived on the set. So mommy worked at game shows. My dad worked in commercials. So kind of from that point on, that was all I had my eye on. And then there was the love of comedy. So when SNL started, I fell in love with SNL. And I got obsessed with it, as I do get obsessed with things.

So I got obsessed with it. And I had a friend. And my mom had worked in the building. So I said to my friend Toby, let's go sneak in. And we did. And I was 13. Oh, boy. And so we started sneaking into SNL and just, like, hanging out and watching rehearsals, and I was—

You were such a cool 13-year-old. I had absolutely no parental supervision whatsoever. You know, it was New York, and it was the the 70s or, yeah, it was the 70s. And when you say, did you just kind of waltz through the lobby? I'm sure, obviously, security back then was a totally different thing. Yeah, people were like, these are children. Where could they possibly be going except to where they're supposed to be? I don't think there was security at that point.

And if there was, it was very lax. But as SNL got more popular the security got tighter and toby and i that was my friend right we had to sneak around and i remember one time we had to take the elevator up to the rainbow room yeah and take the steps down so we walked down to the eighth floor from like the 65th floor. The 55th floor or something like that. Something like that. Building schematics and you knew where you could. That is dedication. I was super dedicated.

We went every weekend. Wow. It was really kind of pathetic. I mean, we went to the 17th floor and just like sat by the elevators and just kind of like watch the writers and the cast. That's where the offices were. Correct. Wow.

So you were even into behind the scenes back then. You went right to the beehive. It's my raison d'etre. I wish you'd had a podcast. Aw, thanks. So we did that. And wait, so no one said, should we say or do anything about the two 13-year-old urchins

that are haunting the show? Not really. Isn't that weird did anyone try to befriend you guys or everyone just was like we'll ignore them and they'll go away or no we were befriended by ann beats who really took me under her wing oh cool the gentleman cast were friendlier than the ladies at that time. Hmm. Hmm. Hmm. But you know what? There was no shenanigans. Like, nobody said anything icky.

There was no ickiness. Like, for example, I will tell you that I guess there was an election in 76, so the studio got relocated to Brooklyn. So Toby and I took the subway out to Brooklyn, and when we got there, the security guy said, Dan Aykroyd's looking for you guys. So he found us and he sent us to a train store to buy toy trains for John Belushi because it was his birthday. I feel like you were actually the first interns. We were. They realized they could have unpaid workers.

And that was how the internship was born. And we were psyched to do it. Yeah. So that went on for a couple of years. But through that, I met Ann Beetz. And I started working for her after high school because I lived in the village and she lived in the village. So I would do like personal errands for her and pick up her laundry and do her grocery shopping. And she was so nice to me. And how did you initially start talking to her? I mean, were you like, hey, I want to work here. This is what I want to do. We were very available because we were there. We were bodies. And she was working on an SNL book,

which I actually have upstairs, which looks like a scrapbook. It's green. And I think Francisco Franco's on the cover of it. And she was working on it during the summer, whatever summer that was, maybe. Way back then. She was already working on a book about it? Okay. Right. So she asked us if we wanted to help out, which we did. I cannot tell you how exciting it was. It was so heady and so exciting to be at 30 Rock working. You know what I mean?

As a kid. Did you tell your friends about this? Or were you like, I'm not even sharing this info with anyone because they're going to want to horn in? They didn't want to horn in because, first of all, not – well, I guess it got popular. But in the beginning, nobody knew about it. Right. popular, but in the beginning, nobody knew about it. And for example, when Toby's class was, I think it was Toby's class or the class I had of Toby, we asked Chevy to speak at graduation at this little high school in Greenwich Village. And he did.

Wait. And we took him out for dinner. We tried to pay for dinner before the graduation, but he wouldn't let us. So you booked, your first booking was Chevy Chase at your high school graduation. And we took him out for dinner. We tried to pay for dinner before the graduation, but he wouldn't let us. Wow. So your first booking was Chevy Chase at your high school graduation. You're right. You're absolutely right. And you didn't go through public.

So you just went up and asked him and said, hey. Sweeters, I used to call him. I called him on the phone. Right. From home. Fearless. Fearless. I knew the number of NBC,c which i still know six six four four four four four right and i would call and i would say chevy chase please and they'd put me

through oh went to a chinese restaurant in soho new york city which was called ohoso i think it was toby me two guys from the graduating class yeah and uh chevy We tried to pay and he wouldn't let us. He was a real gentleman. Is Toby in show business? She's an editor. Okay. Okay. Wow.

Yeah. Well, so then it seems like it must have been a natural when you were ready to get a job that you were like, I already know everybody here. People love me here. I stayed in touch with Anne Beetz. All I wanted to do was work in TV comedy. Really, all I wanted to do was work at SNL.

So when I got out of college, I had been in touch with Anne Beetz. And she was so nice. And she hired me as her personal assistant for $150 a week when I got out of school. And my jobs ranged from everything. Like, I remember my first week, I had to take scripts. And my jobs ranged from everything. Like I remember my first week, I had to take scripts up to some Broadway director's office and it was just so cool. And then I would pick up her laundry. I mean, it was, you know, it was a real high-low position. Right.

But out of that, I was working for a couple of writers like Michael O'Donohue, Judy Belushi, like one day a week. They knew all I wanted to do was work at SNL. So a talent assistant position opened up and I was hired at SNL. And that was how I got there. So your first formal staff job there was in the talent department. Correct. Wow. Okay. That's the other thing is that I was obsessed with show business. I was obsessed with comedy and I wanted to work on a show, but I didn't know what I wanted to do. There was no part of me that was like,

I want to be a writer, I want to be a director, or in costumes, or anything like that. You were wide open. Wide open. To grab you. Correct. And did you make the right choice? I think I did.

She's still on the fence. I really like it. Yeah. It works for me. It seems perfect for your skill set and your outgoingness. Absolutely. Will you speak at my graduation? No, but I think that's so brilliant. It's like before you even knew to be nervous about that stuff, you were already instinctively doing it. It's very weird. I think Toby might've actually asked him, but I was right there with him. No, that's, I love that story. And now Talon at SNL, there you were. And did you have interaction with writers and other, the whole staff? And obviously what we're leading to is when perhaps did you get to meet Conan there? I did interact with the writers.

I loved the writers. I loved it. I just loved it. And I did meet Conan and Conan was very young. Really, really liked him. And then I guess he took off to work on The Simpsons. Then he left, worked on The Simpsons. And then I left at some point and started freelancing. Uh-huh. And that's how I met Jeff Ross. The executive producer. Yeah. Jesse, I believe you want to say?

Jeff Ross. Thank you. Yeah. Yeah, so you really do predate. It's like we're seeing that Conan was kind of incepted, possibly even, by you. I birthed him. Yes. I did it.

I had no idea. This is revelatory. And so were you already involved in the show before a host was picked for it? I was not. Okay. No, but I really wanted to be involved. And I was in touch with Jeff, and I think once Conan was chosen, I was bugging Jeff because I wanted a job. Right.

Did you, and so you heard that Conan was chosen and were you like, I know him? What was your reaction to that news? I was super excited. I thought it was great. I was excited. I mean, I was baffled like anyone else, but I thought this is going to be fun. This is going to be exciting. Yeah. Were you surprised that, I don't want to put words in your mouth, but no, were you surprised, as a lot of people were, that this, because everyone thought it was going to be like a well-known comedian or stand-up comic, and then it's this guy who I don't think anyone had seen really on television before. What was your reaction to all that? I just thought it was a risk worth taking. I thought it was great. And I thought it was exciting. And I thought it was really cool that an unknown person was being picked.

But I remember going to meet with Jeff and Conan at Jeff's Broadway video office. I think Conan was laying on the sofa. Classic. That's how we all know him best. Right. And they were really nice. And I sort of made my case. But again, I was so green. Like, okay, let me just say one thing. You're so green. You've been working since you were 13. You were the one with the most experience in the room. You had imposter syndrome. Yeah. That's the story of my life is imposter syndrome. Are you kidding? Yeah. Wait, I want to say something

Yeah I think like now that my kids are older And sort of like one of them is breaking into the business Uh-huh When I think about myself at his age He's so much smarter and like more aware than I was I was just like, yeah, I want to work here I mean

But you had really good instincts at sea I went with my instincts Yeah, so That I did Yeah Well, I love this too because that was here i mean but you had really good instincts it seems i went with my instincts yeah so that i did yeah well i love this too because that was i mean it's not far off from how i got my first job on a comedy tv show how did you do it do tell well i was working for e exclamation point for the e true hollywood story as a production assistant And I started going to all of, I guess it was kind of sneaking in

to the tapings of The Soup with Joel McHale. And I just was there for every taping. And I would laugh loud at all the jokes and was really trying to pal up with the writers there. Right. Wait, because you wanted to be a writer? Yeah, because I wanted to be a comedy writer. And then finally, I got up the nerve to be like,

how did you guys do this? And they started talking to me. And it was like, by then I was sort of a fixture. And they're like, oh, she's a good laugher. That was probably... That's 90% of it. Exactly. I was gonna say.

But Paula, back to you. Did Jeff and Conan describe what they were looking for in the show? 90% of it. Exactly. I was going to say. But Paula, back to you. Did Jeff and Conan describe what they were looking for in the show? I mean, were you in on those early conversations? Not really. I was hired to book comics and book authors. There was like a main booker who was doing celebrities. Right. And then they hired me to...

Because you were such a comedy fan. Yeah. You probably knew a lot of these people. You did it. You were part of a team, right? With Frank Smiley back then? Frank and I did it together. He was a segment producer as well. Correct. Right. So I learned a lot through Frank. And you two, if I remember, spent a lot of time as a result at hanging out at comedy clubs, going to see comics. see comics yes we did i always wonder what that must have felt like from your end because yeah you must have been aware that everyone was hyper aware the second you walked into that you were there yeah it was great it was it was super fun

yes you're on a power trip but i wasn't really like i didn't even know you know i mean i think sweeney's remember lucian yeah lucianan Hold was in charge of the club called the Comic Strip in New York City. Where we went all the time, and he was so nice and accommodating. And again, it was my first time doing that, so I didn't know, like, how cool it was that I would just call Lucian and say, can you put so-and-so up? And he would put them up. Right. Yes, it was very fun and exciting and hard work. And, you know, I would stay at work until like 10 o'clock to go out and look at comics

with Frank. Wow, that's a long day. So it was really around the clock. Yeah. It's a long day. It's great. It's a great job for a young person, you know? And were there comics that just, you remember, like, the excitement of, you know, I use the term discover, but seriously, like, you know, seeing someone and going, you know what, let's give them their first appearance on late night TV, which for a comedian, of course, is always, back then and even now is kind of like the Holy Grail kind of. I remember seeing Gaffigan early on and really thinking he was great.

And I saw Wanda Sykes in Montreal and we booked her from that. Oh, awesome. That's great. Did you have a sense of that like competition or like, oh, we, you know, let's get them before Dave Letterman does or the Tonight Show or it wasn't that. I didn't really. There wasn't't that. I didn't really. There wasn't that sense. I didn't have that. And I also, looking back, was a little too precious about what made me laugh.

I kind of had no ability to say that, oh, somebody did really well at that club. But if it didn't make me laugh, I kind of wasn't interested, which maybe is not that wise. No, you kind of just have to go, yeah, go with your gut, right? Otherwise, you've got no compass and then you're in big trouble. Well, and how much pressure were you feeling like, oh, I can't bring somebody in and then have them bomb on Conan's show? Or, you know, was that, were there conversations, did that happen? After the fact, were you like.

I know it has happened. And of course I don't remember, but Frank would remember, but I do remember a horrifying experience where we needed a comic. We were always a little bit last minute, a little bit behind the eight ball. Like, you know, like if there was time in the show, we were going to need a comic in two days. It was all kind of haphazard. And.

There were so many slots to fill. It was just endless. Exactly. And I remember Frank and I had seen a submission, I think, by somebody who for some reason I thought was funny. They had like one little thing that was funny. And we flew the guy in from LA and went out with him to a club the night before his appearance. And we couldn't book him. It was bad.

Wow. I felt so bad. He just wasn't ready. Wow. So you were just like, you're welcome for the plane ticket. Yeah. Right. Enjoy your stay in New York. Yeah.

Exactly. The Met Museum has a great exhibit right now. We can get you a tour of 30 Rock. That was awful. Yeah, that was a bummer. Well, Paula, so you were one of the only people we've talked to who was really there in those weeks leading up to the first show, too. What was that like? I mean, you were doing test shows.

We know that. What was the feeling like in the office? It was just like, let's just do this. You know what I mean? Like, all hands on deck. I remember Conan doing a test show where he made a peanut butter sandwich, peanut butter and jelly sandwich with

Jeff Ross's assistant, Sally Horchow at the time. And she kind of, you know, she was full of charisma and loaded with personality. And she kind of walked him through the cooking segment. A cooking segment. Exactly. Peanut butter and jelly sandwich. He really was green.

Yeah. It's almost kind of like the last shows at Largo. Right. I was saying the same thing over and over again to people, like, well, you know, we're winding up the show on June 24th, and it's this and it's that and it's the other thing. But I forgot to anticipate that the show was ending. Right. So on June 25th, I was like, what just happened? Yeah.

How do I feel about this? Right. I will tell you, there was some crying involved. Well, yeah. I forgot that the show was ending. I thought it was just words I was saying, like the way I would say, we're going to be at Comic-Con the week of July 15th. Right.

Yeah. Right, right. Exactly. But I have heard you talk about enjoying the office vibe there, at least in the early years, that it was just a really fun environment. Well, Jessie, I will tell you, I do love, it's all I ever wanted was to work on a comedy show with like-minded people who want to laugh, want to have a good time. And also I think have a high excellence level. Do you know what I mean? Like, like it's all fun and games until you need to work. And then everybody, you know, then it's work time. Then it gets real serious. Then it gets serious. And everybody knows when it's time to get serious. And I just loved it. I love the community of it. I love the shared experience.

I love the shared excitement, the shared tension, the shared relief. I just love it. It's like being a part of the same organism. Yes. Or a family. Right. Or a family. I know that's cheesy.

If you have a fun family. Right. See, I don't have brothers or sisters. I don't either. You don't? Yeah, I'm an only child. I didn't have See I don't have Brothers or sisters So I think I don't either You don't? Yeah I'm an only child Only child I didn't know that Yeah

Me too You two Cool Have so much in common We real do We real do Wait till you hear Jessie's Chevy Chase story

I can't wait I always compared it To putting out a newspaper Because you had that Deadline Every day The show Must go on and

there's an audience there they bring in the audience every day so it's like oh you there's no escape there's no postponing things really right so you did have that incredible pressure of being super serious and there you know what in the early days i'm guessing there probably wasn't much time to blow off steam because you had to go right back to the mines for the next day's show. The only blowing off steam part that I recall is, Sweeners, do you remember when we didn't have a green room and Conan's dressing room on the sixth floor kind of functioned as like a staff lounge while we were taping? That was before my time. Oh, that sounds fun. People would hang out there.

It was really fun. It was a tiny room and we'd all squish in there and watch the show and laugh and then, you know, go back upstairs and figure out what was happening next. And in the beginning, I was also casting and I would leave at whatever time, eight o'clock maybe, and everything would be set. And then the next morning I would come in and everything would be changed and different. Oh, just what was going to be on the show. Right, right.

The scripts changed. And things would get thrown out. Exactly. Totally rewritten. When did Conan start doing post-mortem meetings in his dressing room? You know, I was late to those. I was a real late entrant. Just to describe for the listeners,

I mean, this isn't something I was often invited to, but there was sort of a group of producers that would meet in Conan's dressing room after the show to talk about how everything went and if they had to cut anything. A quick talk down. But a lot of times it was just, there wasn't close analysis of the show that night you

don't you think paula it was usually just more blowing off steam and if something didn't go wrong it was conan vicious viciously making fun of like just the stuff he couldn't really make fun of during the taping he got to do right after the show. It was another performance. Yes. Really funny. Yes. Conan at his best. Yes. And there would be riffing.

And if you were lucky, you were not the victim of the riff. Yes. But even if you were. You just had to take it. You just got to take it. Take it like a man. Everyone took it differently. But you had to take it.

You just had to. One time I booked a really bad guest and Conan told me that I threw cold diarrhea at him. We'll be back with cold diarrhea right after this. so after a while after doing comics you were doing actual celebrity guests on the show did you have any um memorable bookings from that period i think i segued into second guests because we still had we still had like a leader like a head of the talent department and then it became kind of an all hands on deck and, you know, cause there were two guests a day and bookings were tough in the beginning. And I think I started to help out with second guests. Were there second guests that you

booked that, you know, would go on to become really big and it's like you were kind of, you know, they become like old friends when they'd come on the show. Well, Gwyneth Paltrow was one. Uh-huh. Oh, she started as a second guest? She started as a second. Second guest was usually like a lesser known person. Yes.

Than the first guest. They'd be showing up after 1 a.m. The show started at 1235 and like they'd come on at like 112 in the morning. Yeah. You know, I was just going to say, I'm sure there were a lot of comedians that were second guests that are now, like, huge stars. Right, right. Was it hard?

I mean, did you ever feel like you had to sell the show to people in the early months of the show, being on the air? Like, there's this guy, Conan O'Brien, he's got a late night show. People kind of knew who he was because it was such a big story at the time. Right.

I think there was definitely a waiting period where people wanted to see how he did. But I think a lot of people wanted to give him a chance. Like, I know Halle Berry was on the first month. And never again. No, she came back. I think she liked him. Yeah, she was on a lot. Yeah.

I think there was generally some goodwill. Yeah. And it wasn't easy. I mean, you know know booking a talk show there's always someone else you want and there's always another talk show that you see those people on like it's just it's a volume business were there any like i i've heard stories about you know guests who either just didn't show up you, they were stuck in traffic or, you know, would they, everyone turn to you and go get a body in here, stat?

Yes. Yeah. Yes. Do you remember any harrowing experiences? I do. I remember, well, I believe you both remember when Kumail Nanjiani didn't show up and then we threw Sona out there. That was 27 years into it.

By then we kind of knew how to handle it. And she was great. But in the beginning we would call Al Roker. Right. Because he was on the show so many times. And he was in the building. Right. He was on the third floor and our studio was on the sixth floor.

Yes. So it was literally, please just come up the three floors and do the show. And he was so nice and he always did it. The thing is, New York is a great place to lose a guest last second because you have Broadway,

you have SNL, and you have the news. That's a good point. So those are three go-tos for all you talent bookers out there. Did you notice that difference once you were in Los Angeles with that? Because you would think

there'd still be a ton of it. But maybe the logistics of getting to the studios harder yeah more spread out more spread out it's a different it's a whole different world how is how so because everybody's working everybody's on location and if they're not working they're not in publicity mode right and maybe it's because of the spread out thing maybe it's because new york is so right centralized that you're like yeah you know what i'm a cab right away i can come down you know what for comedy bits which we could get to in a minute but a lot of times we cast people based on we'd be like it's 2 p.m the show's in two hours i know they live in the upper west side versus someone who lives way out in brooklyn you're, get there. Jack McBrayer is on his way.

Right. Can we ask you, do you remember what your proudest booking was? Like someone maybe, you know, it's like getting the white whale, like someone who just eluded you for a long time and then finally you book them. Well, I can tell you about two that I remember. One you won't believe. Meryl Streep. Ooh. I booked for The Tonight Show.

I've heard of her. Yeah. And I love her. Yeah. And I booked her, and I was very excited about that. Honestly, it's such a volume business that most of the time they didn't register. Someone I loved who I was super psyched to book because it took a long time was Regis. And I know that's really

weird, but I loved Regis. That's not weird. No, he's a human dynamo. He is a human dynamo. Did that take a while? Was he like, I'm a Letterman guy, right? Because he was on Letterman all the time. It did take a while. I would send him notes because I get fixated, as you guys might know. I'd go to work and I'd go to the gym at NBC from like nine to quarter to ten and do the treadmill. And I would watch Regis and Kathy Lee. And I was also very late to that party. Like they had been on for years and were already really successful. But as I started to watch, I just loved Regis.

Then Gina Batista, who you both know. Yes. Another talent booker. Was another booker at the show. I just started talking about my love for Regis one day in the office. And she said, he's my parents' best friends. He's at my house every weekend. So I started writing Regis notes because I would see something on the show that made me laugh.

And I knew that I saw stuff that other people didn't see. And one time I read his book, and there was a great story in there, and I wrote him a note about it. And he would call me, and he would write me notes. Oh, wow. We became kind of friendly. And then I would see him at Gina's parents' house. Uh-huh.

And then one time I got, I don't know why I got, I wasn't really obsessed with this, but I was trying to book Spike Lee and it took forever. And finally, when he showed up, he said, you wore me out. Ah, what a compliment. I know. No, that's great. That's, I'm sure, most of the battle. Yeah.

Oh, it's a lot of the battle. Well, just for our listeners, and maybe myself, because I want to know more about the job of a talent producer. Say you book somebody, what happens then? As soon as they're booked, I hand them off. Okay. I hand them off to the segment producer, who's the person that actually gets on the phone with them and goes over whatever project they're promoting. The stories they want to tell. Stories they want to tell. They'll see the movie. They'll find out. They'll get on the phone with the guest and, you know, mine them for stories. Right.

You know, my feeling was by the time they got there, they were already in the hands of the segment producer. The stage manager would, you know, check in with them to kind of tell them how it was going to go. So a lot of times I wouldn't meet them unless, of course, I was invested if I liked them or if I had a relationship with them. Yeah, if you were a fan. Yeah, but I didn't have a need to say hi to everybody.

And also, I think you're really great at sussing out other people's comfort levels in every situation. A lot of guests, right before they go on a TV show, are wound up and they're very distracted. And it's almost like you want to give them a wide berth. Yes. Yes, exactly. That's very true. And how much of it involves making deals sometimes with studios or publicists? Like, we, in order to get this person, we also have to take this person. There's some of that, but I really tried to have integrity about bookings. I didn't want to book anyone that it wasn't going to go well. So there is some give and take.

And sometimes I would have to say to Jeff, I want to give this person a spot because they gave us so-and-so and so-and-so, or this is an important relationship. So there is some give and take, but I was very protective of maintaining the integrity of the show, except for the time I booked the cold diarrhea that I threw at Conan. Oh, well, I don't know if you could talk about this, but back then being on NBC,

there must have been, maybe it was just an accepted part of the deal, but having probably to book. For new NBC shows. All this talent that appears on NBC shows, whether you liked it or not. You know, that's a funny thing, because synergy only seems to work one way. Right, right. You know what I mean?

Downward synergy. There would be super hot shows. Must See TV was all the rage. Sure. So there was not, at that time, a lot of synergy, unless it was maybe somebody that was like a second or third character on a particular TV show. Right. Yeah.

Yeah. That's a very hard position to be in. I remember some second guests, like you're talking about, so the crowd had no idea who they were. And, you know, maybe they were on a new NBC show. And they have to go out there and, you know, they've got to play it just right. Like if they come on too strong, the crowd, I'd see some acts come on and try to come on a little too brassy or too confident. Oh, yeah. And the crowd would kind of recoil, kind of almost like, hey, we don't know who you are.

Who the fuck are you? Yeah, who the fuck are you? Exactly. Right. Bad instincts. Yeah, but that man, what a hard position to be in to know the best way to thread that needle, you know, in front of a cold crowd that doesn't know or care about you. It's funny that you say that because I saw someone recently on another talk show, like recently, and she is on one of my all-time new favorite shows. And she did another show,

and she came out in character, and no one knew who she was, and she really went for it, and it did not go well because the crowd didn't know who she was. Right. And she came out in character with all this attitude and all this bravado and it just didn't work. Yeah. Anyway, that's not about our show. That's about another show. Yeah.

You know, now another big part of your job and what, please feel free to finally vent about it, is the writers were always pitching comedy bits with celebrities in them. Yes. They were always bombarding you. Always Tom Hanks. Yes, exactly. Oh, my God. All right, if he's not available, Madonna. Oh, my God.

Paul McCartney, we'll settle for. Did that drive you insane? That drove me a little insane. Because we'd aim high. You'd aim high, and I knew for the most part that that wouldn't happen. Right. But of course, I reached out. I think your phrase was, I'm happy to ask.

That is my phrase. Yes, I'm happy to ask, which we all quickly learned meant, oh, okay, this isn't happening. You know what? More than the A-listers, I remember having to ask Joyce Brothers to do things. And I so wanted to say to her, she would do anything. Yes, anything. Always wanted to say to her when I called her, don't listen to this. Just say no.

Please say no. And she never did. No. We even did a comedy bit finally about Dr. Joyce. Just say no. Please say no. And she never did. No. We even did a comedy bit finally about Dr. Joyce won't say no, like just pushing the level. So it was kind of meta. It worked on two levels.

It was saying she didn't, wouldn't say no to anything while making her do almost anything on the show. And there was for a while, they're real stable of late night And there was, for a while there, a real stable of late night all-stars. Dr. Joyce Brothers. Abe Vigoda, of course. Dr. Abe Vigoda. He's beloved. Mary Ed Koch was one for a while.

Oh my God, yes. I forgot about him. Donald Trump for a while was like, oh, we need a stooge called Trump. He won't say no. But I think Abe Vigoda is the one everyone loved. He was just beloved. I loved Vigoda.

Yeah. I loved when we set him free into the wild. The next to last show, I think Conan was winding up late night and part of the bit, he released his Abe Vigoda into the wild. He said, go on now, get.

Right. We let him out of the cage and said, run, Abe, run. So good. And then Conan just started sobbing. Abe was so charming. He'd come and be like, I want to come, but I have a date. A lady friend. A lady friend.

Is it okay if I bring her to the show? And you said no. Absolutely not. we have our standards babe wait i have stories to tell yeah oh please yeah i'm gonna shut up another time i was scrambling for a guest and i called a manager out here in la and was kind of saying do you have anyone in new york and they said no but my friend saw eric lasalle at some hotel. Eric LaSalle at the time was on ER. ER, right. Yes.

So we sent Eric LaSalle some milk and cookies at the hotel and an invitation to join us on the show, and he joined us. He came in the next day. It worked. Oh, that's great. It worked. Milk and cookies.

He's Santa Claus. Milk and cookies. Santa Claus. They will lure a guest in. They'll build a chimney on the set. Milk and cookies. Santa Claus. They will lure a guest in. We need to build a chimney on the set. Here comes Eric. No, but I love that. You're like getting little tips that lead you to guests.

Yeah. One time I booked an award-winning actor for a comedy bit, and something happened. He rehearsed, and then Steve Holl hollander the stage manager was releasing him until showtime and he heard misheard something and and thought steve said something that he didn't say and he was like i'm on to you and he left and i chased him down the elevator out to 49th street and i couldn't get him back i'm on to you what something like that like he got like real suspect like i know what you're saying or i heard that something

very strange oh and he left and there was no convincing him that what he thought he heard he didn't hear no cookies or milk would lure him back he did not get cookies or milk wow did anyone was there any fallout from that or it was just like okay no i guess person's crazy that was it i guess we scrambled and that bit was cut wow wow maybe he didn't like the bit yeah i was looking for a way out that could be that may be more like i remember once we rehearsed a bit and it the ending wasn't good and it didn't do well. And William Shatner was a guest that night and he came early to shoot. We used to do a bit called Secrets and he was going to shoot these William Shatner Secrets.

And on the fly in rehearsal, we came up with an ending to this other sketch that we could plug William Shatner into. And so I had to go back and pitch the idea to William Shatner. And I'll, I go back to him and I explain, you know, Hey, we're doing a sketch and we came up with an ending with you in it. We think it would be great.

And he goes, um, was it the sketch? I just saw you rehearse. And I was like, shit. I was like, yes,

the very one. He goes, I'd rather not. He just gave it to me right between the eyes. He passed out right. But you know, we talked him into it. You did? The same way Jeff Bezos talked him into going to outer space. Yes, no, you know what?

We somehow sweet talked him into it a little bit. Well, now we've got to find that sketch. If anybody could do it, you could, sweet nurse. Yeah, we'll dig it up. The other person we used to, like if he was a guest, while he was there, we'd have him do, I felt bad because we would shoot all these pre-tapes with him to use down the line, like in subsequent days. Mr. T. Oh, yeah. T. Oh, yeah. Yes. He was so funny and so great in every sketch he was in

that when we'd have him in the building, it was like everyone mobilized to like, we got to get T on tape. Let's get him to record an ending for 10 future sketches. He would walk down the hallway and put everyone in a good mood with his energy. He was amazing. Such a sweet guy. Oh, the best.

Yeah. Were there ever people you were surprised were actually really nice or? Oh, this is the stuff I don't remember. I'll just tell you, I would get home from work and my kids would say who was on the show. And I would say, I have no idea. It's just gone. Let me look at this piece of paper. Yep.

Did your family try to pitch people to be on the show? Oh my God, listen to this. My father, who was like a mini Regis, I think that's why I loved Regis so much. He was like my dad. My father lived out on Long Island, and he would come into the city every once in a while. We'd have dinner, we'd see a show and he would, or he would, he was doing extra work at that time because he got into one of the unions. He came in once with his briefcase and it was full of TV show pitches and Conan came in my office and he pitched them to Conan. Oh my God. That's awesome. Oh my God. It was so horrifying.

Oh my God. It was indescribable. He opened the briefcase. I just like slid under my desk. And Conan was so nice to him. We only did half of them. Conan was like, this isn't even the first dad I've fielded pitches from today. Right.

Sweeners, do you remember the Ashley McIsaac cock and ball situation? Yes, I do. That was a good one. I haven't heard this. This is really a Jim Pitt story, but he didn't tell it, so I'm going to. It was a music act. The guy's name, I think, was Ashley McIsaac, and he wore a kilt for his musical performance.

And at the end, he did a high kick, the kilt went up, and he was not wearing any undergarments. Right. As is traditional. As one does. And so it was clear we had an issue. And Conan went into the control room and got on the PA and was saying, we have a cock and ball situation. We have a cock and ball situation. Oh, he was so excited to get that PA.

It was pretty fun. We were all impressed by whoever noticed it because it was quick. There was like three frames of cock and balls and somebody. What did you do? How did you fix it? They, they, they, I,

they blurred it. They pixelated it. They pixelated it. Yeah. Yeah. But it was very impressive that someone had a real eye for that. I wonder who saw it. Somebody on set just to screen for cock and balls.

Exactly. Exactly. Cock and ball screener. They slipped us the old cock and balls. All right. Were there any bookings that your family was really excited about you getting? I remember I was a huge Tina Fey fan, of course.

And one of my kids was with me when Tina was on the show and I introduced them and Tina said, you have a cool mom. So that gave me some street cred. Sure. That probably lasted until you got home. Exactly. That is great.

Well, Paula, we have to wrap up with you, but we were wondering if you have a favorite moment with Conan from over the years. It could be on or off screen. Oh, my. And that could just be the first thing that pops into your head. Okay.

Conan did something for the Simpsons early on when Bart was on Late Night and it was animated. Does that make sense? Yes. Late Night with Conan O'Brien was in The Simpsons show and Bart was on the show. Right. Yeah. And Conan said, only I may dance. Anyway, my children were huge Simpsons fans, and they were watching that episode in my office.

And Conan came in and watched, and it was just kind of a sweet, full circle moment. Oh, I love that. That's nice. Well, thank you so much, Paula. It's great to finally have you on the pod. Yes. Thank you for asking me. And hear about the Day One Club.

Thanks, you guys. This was really fun. Thank you so much paul this is great so welcome great to see you oh it's great to see you thanks thank you paula for joining us paula's also been one of our longtime fans and she often emails us after every episode. That's true. So if you want to get booked on the show, you gotta compliment us. And we wanted to mention one other quick thing. Last week we had Brian Rich, a great writer on Late Night with us and told a,

you know, a great story about reapplying for his job. And we played a phone call. I can't even explain it. Anyway, if you enjoyed the Brian Rich story, you can go to Team Coco Twitter account to find the video of Conan bringing out Hank Flynn during Brian Rich's last episode.

Yes. If that sentence makes sense to you, go check it out on Team Coco. Yeah, it's the student becoming the teacher moment for Conan. Exactly. And also, like I just watched again, Conan lists three things that all the writers hated on the show as being Brian Rich's great creations. Oh. Which cracked me up. Oh, man. And we have a great listener question this week. We do. I'll go ahead and read it here. Please. Dear Inside Conan,

my name is Andrew Melton and I live in Kobe, Japan. What? Oh, here's my question. What is the process like of doing bits that involve audience members like audience member theme songs or Craigslist ads? How do you scope out what the audience members look like and how much time do you have to prepare the piece? Thanks, Andrew Milton. Thank you, Andrew. Thanks, Andrew. That's a fun question.

I don't think we've talked about audience bits much. I don't think we have. That's a really good question and uh we also did a piece called the audiences which was a fake award show that where we'd also have to scope out audience members for the bit yeah these were always exciting because they were one of the only things we did where you really there was a really always an afternoon scramble built in there was a giant scramble because yeah it would be tracking down audience members when when they first show up at Warner Brothers. Yeah, they go check in in the parking structure, basically, and are corralled there and asked to wait for, you know, an hour while everybody checks in.

And we try to get them to buy t-shirts. Right. Yeah, while they're trapped. Right, trapped like rats. Yeah. So, we would go, I mean, the riders would usually hop on to a little golf cart and ride over there and walk around and kind of scope people out. Yes. Which is always a little awkward because I know they could tell that that's what we were doing. they were yes sort of looking at us suspiciously it was like a livestock auction yeah uh tag those two over there check that one's teeth

and depending on what the comedy bit was you know we'd be looking for different things to write about yeah sometimes we'd be making it up based on their looks. So it would be like, well, this guy's got a Hawaiian shirt we can't ignore. So he's going in the piece. Oh man. But so many times we would do something based on someone's look that they had at that time, like glasses or a hat or something. Right. And then they would go in to the studio and take their seat and then take that piece of clothing off. Yes. Take the hat off. I remember once or twice after we got burned by that.

Yeah. And there was some joke about, you know, this hat a guy was wearing or like, I have to go up and sidle up to him before the show. And I was like, um, can, do you mind just keeping your hat on? Yeah, yeah.

Like, I didn't want to explain any. Right, because then you're tipping it off that they're going to be on camera. Right, right, right, right. Although, did you notice as the more the show would go on, the more hammy audience members would get for the camera? I think it's all, I blame the smartphone and just. Yeah, and people wanting to have the clip to send to their, like to share on social media. Yeah, I remember there was even one case

where the audience member was so hammy that we actually digitally removed them from the bit. Yes, that is one of my favorite. Yes. That was a scat. That was a sketch. That was a different thing where there's an actor in the audience and he was behind the actor and was. Mugging.

Yeah. He was so over the top. It was, he literally did ruin the entire sketch. He sold the show. Right. And I don't know whose idea, maybe it was Conan's.

I'm not sure whose idea it was after the show, but it was like,'s i'm not sure whose idea it was after the show but it's like oh you know what we can literally cgi him out of that shot which is such great revenge because you know that all that person wanted was attention right so he must have posted later that night like watch me on conan tonight check out. I stole the show. Yeah. I think Conan actually showed him being cut out the next night. Yes. Just to rub it in a bit. I do remember one time somebody, I mean, we were always a little nervous because a lot of times we'd write jokes for people hoping that they'd have a good sense of humor, but then, you know, depending on their expression, when it, when their bit came up, like it might ruin the bit if they just seemed sad, right. you know, depending on their expression, when their bit came up, like, it might ruin the bit if they just seemed sad. Right.

You know, bummed out about it. Then it was like, oh, no. Or hurt. Yeah. Yeah. Or confused. No, we would try to handicap how jolly they were. Yes.

Beforehand as well. Like, I think they seem to have a good sense of humor. Yeah. Like, this person's gonna be okay being called a shut-in right yeah right um but there was one time i'm sure you remember that an audience member got upset after they appeared on camera and i can't remember if it was that they were actually upset about the the content of the piece or if they just were like playing hooky or something and didn't want to be.

I think they were playing hooky. Yeah, that's kind of what I thought, because it wasn't an offensive thing. No, it wasn't. And I had to go, it was literally like this guy immediately left the audience and was outside complaining loudly

and went to talk to him. And yes, he just said, you know, I have a job. I think he had cut work. Yeah. That's what we suspected because it seemed so over the top and he was really upset. So we cut it out. Yeah. But wasn't that a storyline on Saved by the Bell?

Zach Morris is supposed to be sick at home, and then he goes to a baseball game, and he catches a home run, and he's on camera. Oh. But they didn't offer to remove him from the show. Oh, man. I think those are three-parter.

Yeah. Their first Saved by the Bell three-parter. A very special Saved by the Bell. Well, Andrew. We did it. Yeah. Please go out and enjoy Kobe, Japan. Yeah.

I'm assuming they have good beef there. Nice, Jesse. If anyone else has questions for us, we're taking them. You can call us at 323-209-5303. Don't worry. You can leave a voicemail. No one's going to answer. Or you can email us at insideconanpod at gmail.com.

And we will see you next week with updates about Sweeney's swimming program. Oh, no. Oh, what else can I sign up for or something? Yeah. Okay. Yeah. Okay. Well. See you next week. We like you.

Inside Conan, an important Hollywood podcast, is hosted by Mike Sweeney and me, Jesse Gaskell. Produced by Sean Doherty. Our production coordinator is Lisa Byrne. Executive produced by Joanna Solotaroff, Adam Sachs, and Jeff Ross at Team Coco.

Engineered and mixed by Will Becton. Our talent bookers are Gina Batista and Paula Davis. Thanks to Jimmy Vivino for our theme music and interstitials.

You can rate and review the show on Apple Podcasts. And of course, please subscribe and tell a friend to listen to Inside Conan on Apple Podcasts. And of course, please subscribe and tell a friend to listen to Inside Conan on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, Google Podcasts,

or whatever platform you like best. It's the Conan Show. Put on your hat. It's the Conan Show. Try on some spats. You're gonna have a laugh. Give birth to a calf, it's Conan This has been a Team Coco production