Inside of You with Michael Rosenbaum - PAUL REISER: Recipe to ‘Mad About You’ Success, Power of Naivety & Connection Through Comedy

Episode Date: February 25, 2025

Paul Reiser (Mad About You, Aliens) joins us this week to share his experience in this industry from developing household classics like Mad About You, to keeping a finger on the pulse by appearing in current hits like The Boys, to reinvigorating his passion and career in standup comedy. Paul talks a lot about his early aspirations as a comic, the stress he believed it would cause his family, and the importance of the jester in keeping status quo in society. We also talk about the key to Mad About You’s success, working with James Cameron in Aliens, and the complexities of Hollywood vs. simplicities of standup. Thank you to our sponsors: 👕 Quince: https://quince.com/inside ❤️ Betterhelp: https://betterhelp.com/inside 🛍️ Shopify: https://shopify.com/inside __________________________________________________ 💖 Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/insideofyou 👕 Inside Of You Merch: https://store.insideofyoupodcast.com/ __________________________________________________ Watch or listen to more episodes! 📺 https://www.insideofyoupodcast.com/show __________________________________________________ Follow us online! 📸 Instagram: https://instagram.com/insideofyoupodcast/ 🤣 TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@insideofyou_podcast 📘 Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/insideofyoupodcast/ 🐦 Twitter: https://twitter.com/insideofyoupod 🌐 Website: https://www.insideofyoupodcast.com/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

When you're with Amex Platinum, you get access to exclusive dining experiences and an annual travel credit. So the best tapas in town might be in a new town altogether. That's the powerful backing of Amex. Terms and conditions apply. Learn more at Amex.ca. this episode is brought to you by Defender with a towing capacity of 3,500 kilograms and a weighting depth of 900 millimeters, the Defender 110 pushes what's possible. Learn more at land rover.ca. You're listening to Inside of You're listening to Inside of You with Michael

Rosenmom. Hey, thanks for joining. Thanks for supporting this podcast. We've been doing this, Ryan, for what six years now uh yeah yeah and um you know people always go yeah your podcast is blown off i'm like you know the podcast does fine but it's really uh comes down to the patrons the support this podcast it's like you know you hear those things on like uh npr like donations or whatever what is it this is fresh hair yeah very gross well you know your contributions um but it certainly is I mean, it's really a community that has supported this little podcast and kept it going and it's thanks to you. So if you're enjoying this podcast, hopefully you'll join Patreon and give back if you'd like, patreon.com slash inside of you. And there's a lot of perks.

There's so many cool things getting your name shotted out and packages for me and gifts and blah, blah, blah. But more importantly, you're supporting the show and keep it going. So I really appreciate it. And I want to thank everybody. You can also go to my Instagram at the Michael Rosenbaum. my link tree and you could see all the things I'm doing, cameos, conventions, Smallville Nights with Tom, some products, my fart book, which is available on Amazon, and Rosie's puppy fresh breath for your dog's breath. So also the inside of you online store now has lunchboxes,

Smallville, signed by me and Tom. So those will go fast. Anyway, great guest, Ryan, Paul Reiser. Legend. Legend. He's right up there. You autographed my aliens poster. Oh, yeah. And I love when old school comes in here. Yeah. To sort of just talk about their life and talk about their history and who they know and and also talk about mental health and, you know, other important things. But it was a real treat having them in the studio because I remember Matt about you

was one of the biggest shows ever. And I was very candid. I was like, so you made a million dollars an episode, which is like two million. Now? He was really cool about all of it. But look, if you like the episode, hopefully you'll subscribe, write a review. It really helps the podcast. Let's get inside of Paul Reiser. It's my point of view.

You're listening to Inside of You with Michael Rosenbaum. Inside of You with Michael Rosenbaum was not recorded in front of a live studio audience. I can tell you're close with your wife. I'm very close with my wife. You are. You're constantly. You've been married for how long? I've been married 36 years, 32 of them dynamite.

There's got to be downs, of course. Come on. There is. There are. Never down, never whole chunks of years, but an afternoon could go wrong. And then you can't get any, and sometimes you just have to wake up and start over. You can't fix it in a day. Oh, I listened to the new stand-up.

I watched. I didn't listen. I watched it. I appreciate it. it's dude it's hilarious and you talk about like your wife when she says something and you take some time to answer no if you take a moment she goes okay he's deaf he's not listening i heard i was thinking and i just found out yesterday that our dog who's almost 10 uh is not hearing well i went so it's not just me because neither of us heard the door open but i now i'm a little

alarm because she's very aggressive and it's good she's a good guard dog but not if she doesn't hear the door open or somebody coming in with a gun god forbid so uh we're gonna she's gonna but she's not as annoyed with the dog for not hearing as she is with me it's interesting it's a combination of things which you talk about on your special which life death and rice pudding and i love the ending where you you think it's over then you come out and you kind of explain why it's called rice i do so the people don't leave no but it's cool and you get a standing ovation and i i had to think i mean First of all, I mean, the big question is, why did you want to do this after 30 years? I didn't want to flood the market and do one every year.

You know, well, a lot of it, like for 20 years, unintentionally, I didn't, I wasn't out doing stand-up for 20 years. From like, when mad about you creating and then doing it and then recuperating, I was kind of, I just had gotten out of the habit of getting out there. So it's really the last 10 years or so that I've been out. And for the longest time, I didn't feel, you know, I was just, every night you'd want to get better. So I wasn't thinking about you, I want to get a special. But I kept hearing from people going, oh, I didn't know he does stand up.

Oh, the guy from Stranger Things is trying to be funny now. I was like, oh, geez. So I thought, I need to put some sort of public record and say, yes, this is what I do. This is what I actually enjoy doing. And it felt like it was time. And I was happy the way it came out. Yeah, you could watch that. It's available now in digital.

demand it's really funny and i and i didn't know you know you watch this a lot of specials they aren't funny but you genuinely made me laugh which is hard usually just stare at the screen even if i think things are humor so you're tough you're one of those guys yeah but there were a couple some things in there that i just i laughed and oh my nice it's relatable it's relatable you're very relatable you're self deprecating you've always been self deprecating with good reason why come on well you know i you know people i don't know if i'm self-deprecate i i kind of feel like Especially now, after all these years, when the audience comes in, I feel like it's old friends. Like, well, I know you guys know me.

You already bought a ticket and you drove here, so you heard of me. Familiarity, yeah. And a lot of the audience, like, yeah, we saw you in 85. We saw you in 90. You know, so we kind of been through this together. So it feels, I don't look at a self-deprecate. I'm just being honest. And I feel like everybody, you know, the many people who feel the same way about here's what's not going well.

Here's what I'm not good at. Here's what I'd like to be better at. Here's what just stymies me. And, you know, if you hit it right, the audiences laugh because they go, oh, that sounds like me. Yeah. I was thinking about when you were talking about you and your friend who you've known him since you were 10. He lies. And he's always, he's hitting on girls or waiters at the waitresses.

You can't say waitressing anymore. Servers. Yes. What do you say? TV repairment. TV repairment. Yes. But, you know, it's like, you know, he says someone, wow, look at that.

You know, he's like, hey, how are you? And he's flirting. And you're like, what are you doing? Yeah, yeah. We're past that. And his line was, I want to see if I still got it. And I had to break it to him. You don't.

We don't have. 1982, we had it. It's gone. It's so funny because I'm 52 and already I'm like that. Yes. It's like they don't want to hear it. You're not some young, cute guy. Yes, take a look at you.

Pass a mirror and take a look. Like, there are younger people in you out there. And, yeah, but we, you know, we go down fighting. We just go, yeah. you just you have an image of yourself and you think you know the muscle you see a pretty girl well hello it's like hey grandpa sit down oh that's cute isn't that adorable you smell just like my pop pop is that dracar um how do you feel though i mean you look honestly i'm not just saying you look great you really like how do you how do you keep in shape how do you have good jeans what

No, I have terrible genes. I have terrible jeans. I have, you know, I feel okay. I don't, I hear some people wake up feeling refreshed. I've not experienced that. No. And I even say, I think it's in the special. You know, I don't know what has happened, but the gift of sleep has now eluded me.

And every morning starts, the first words out of my mouth were, I didn't sleep so good last night. Now, I don't know why, but I don't know that I've ever woken up feeling refreshed. But I, you know, you do the best you can. You have some coffee. You get off and go for a walk. I'll get on the stationary bike every once in a boat. That helps you get going? The coffee?

Well, the steps, all these things. Well, you got to get out of the house once in a while. You know, I, you know, we were out of town. My wife and this week, and we're in a nice hotel. And we're there for two nights. We went to see a cowboy game in Dallas because my cousin said, I got a suite. I went, all right, we'll come to that. So we're in a nice hotel.

And then my wife, very innocently, she says, you know, they have a gym. And I went, how does that involve me? I went, you know, just because they have it, they could have a mosque. Doesn't mean I'm like, God bless them, let them have whatever they want. I don't have to do anything. That's kind of rude. What? That's kind of rude that she says they have a gym.

No, she wasn't saying like, come on, tubby. She went into email like that. She was going, you know, she's equally unmotivated. She was like, you know, I guess if we wanted to be better people, we could go down to two and go to the gym. I'm like, yeah, no, we could also not. Do you get, did you get nervous before you're special? Because there has to be like, having done this, this is a special, here I am. I want to know what you're feeling right before they announce to come on stage.

Excited, always excited. Really? Yeah, well, I didn't go from zero to a hundred. I didn't like, you know, let's hurry up, you got to tape a special. Right. So I spent, you know, a couple of years, I was just working on stuff with no special in mind. And then somewhere, beginning of last year, I said, let's aim for a special. and we'll do it in the fall.

And literally, I didn't even know, but it came out exactly a year after the day, to the day that we shot it. And so I was just out, and I just started eyeballing, okay, what's, you know, let's get the best sequence. And that's the fun stuff, is the minutia.

And like, sometimes you find a, you know, this bit connects to that bit, which you hadn't thought of, put those two together. Oh, that leads to somewhere else. So that's the fun part. Yeah. So, and then, you know, after a few months,

you go, okay, I've got it working, and now let's just polish it and get comfortable with it. And then you end up editing anyway, you know. You cut a lot from it? Yeah, well, the show, you know, you do about 75 minutes and then we cut it down to just under an hour. And when you're looking at it with that kind of eye, you go, yeah, that bit, you know, if you're just doing a special and people haven't seen, that bit is, you don't need that. That one's not as good as the other one. And you find places to cut.

Who does that? Me? Like, for instance, do you trust your wife to watch it and tell me what's not funny? No, I trust it to watch it, but no, I sit and I go, and even I sit with an editor and I, you know. Is that funny? You say, is that funny? Well, sometimes, you know, you have two bits separated by an odd sentence, you know, like if you take out that middle sentence, put those two together, you go, oh, oh, that's actually funnier now because it's tighter. And, you know, it's, I mean, but it's the same as film editing or TV.

it's like just there's pacing and and uh sometimes a pacing that for me feels comfortable on stage live doesn't you know feels a little bit lethargic on in film so you go you know let's tighten this up um and also you know i i in my mind i try to write carefully and concisely and pick the right words and like this yeah take out that word so you write all your own stuff yeah yeah and you put it together like okay that's tight say it like like that's tight say it like that. And then invariably, I don't. I get up and either I forget or I just go off on a tangent. So, you know, it's, I find it sometimes hard to edit my own stuff because I do a lot of half, I'll start a sentence or start a word and then, you know, not finish it. What's funny to me is

sometimes, you know, like on social media, I have people who do it because I don't know how to do it. So they'll put up these clips and they'll put up the text, the captions. But they'll put up every, um, I go, just, just, you know, just. Get to it. Get to the word. They understand that I'm stuttered. Do you, when you're doing a special, though, you have the freedom to stop and go, all right, let me take that against this.

This is a special. It's being filmed. Let me take that joke again. You would think. You would think. You know, usually the, the, um, you do two shows and you pick the best take. We, we just did one. I didn't want to do two.

And so in my head, I thought I could do that. I said, you know, if I mess up. I'll go, let me take that over and we'll cut it out. But something else comes over. I go, you know what? It's live. And these people are here in this theater right now. I don't want to just.

Right. Because it also, it pulls up the curtain and go, oh, so you're not even doing this for us. You're doing this for some other purpose. So it felt disrespectful. The director at the end of the show. And it was a really lovely ovation. And, you know, it's funny. You pointed out, you know, I came back.

as a sort of a little bit of an encore, I come and I tell the rice pudding story and why it's called rice pudding. In fact, it was this wonderful, really enthusiastic ovation at the end. Everybody stood and was really lovely. In editing, though, I went, I got to condense that because the audience

is going to go, well, the home audience will say, oh, it's obviously over, let's change channels. I was like, all right, so take out that really long thing and just do the bit where I look at my watch and come back on. but at the end of the show and now they've stood up and they stood up at the end of the show and then after this little encore

and I get off and he goes I just need one shot I go what do you mean you need a shot you know when you lifted your hand the camera missed it I go you think I'm going to go back out there in front of these people a thousand people sitting here who've been watching for an hour and a half go all everybody look raise my hand no so you said no I said well by the way

if you're watching it home and his hand goes up You only see you're up to the elbow. Let them imagine what's above the elbow, probably his wrist. I think they can put it together in their imagination. Inside of you is brought to you by Quince. I love Quince, Ryan. I've told you this before. I got this awesome $60 cashmere sweater.

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cancel your unwanted subscriptions monitors your spending and helps lower your bills so you can grow your savings this is just a wonderful app there's a lot of apps out there that really you know you have do this and pay for and that but with rocket money it's they're saving you money you're getting this app to save money um i don't know how many times that i've had these unwanted subscriptions that i thought i canceled or i forgot to you know the free trial ran at ryan i know i know you it. That's why you got rocket money. I did, yeah. And I also talked to a financial advisor recently and I said, I had rocket money and they said, that's good. This will help you keep track of your budget. See? See? It's only, we're only here to help folks. We're only trying to

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have saved a total of $500 million in canceled subscriptions. with members saving up to $740 a year when they use all of the app's premium features. Cancel your unwanted subscriptions and reach your financial goals faster with Rocket Money. Download the Rocket Money app and enter my show name inside of you with Michael Rosenbaum in the survey so they know I sent you. Don't wait. Download the Rocket Money app today and tell them you heard about them from my show inside of you with Michael Rosenbaum. Rocket Money. but you're excited by this point by the time you start the show absolutely that's great that's great somebody said you ever get nervous i said like a week before i might get nervous i did a show

recently where and i hadn't done one for a couple of months and i was actually having that cold sweat you know dream of oh i got a i got a school you know report and i haven't done my homework i thought oh i'm not going to remember this but invariably come hell high water you when you get and the lights go down, something comes up. You know what I noticed, and I've heard this from other comics too, I don't remember ever feeling unwell on stage.

And there are days you go, I've got a cold, and I don't feel good, and you go up, whether there's adrenaline and maybe it's simple biology, hormones, whatever. They go out and I go,

oh, I feel great. And you get off stage and you feel like shit again. It's like, but there's something about turning it on and performing. You're performing,

you know. You never saw, you never saw Springsteen yawn three hours you think a guy in the 70s might yawn no he's not i don't know how they do that i'm tired everything i do exactly you know no i'm serious and then you're talking about sleeping it's like it's some reason i'm like i'm like i'm tired when i go to bed but i feel good i feel like hey it's a good tired and i wake up and i feel worse yeah something happens i think somebody comes in and bangs you in the tendons i think that's what happens yeah were you always funny were you always and growing up did you

have like a happy childhood where your parents always there i had a happy childhood my parents were always there yeah if anything i went the other one of you like have a fight break up leave the house for a while give me the house but they were they were there for you they supported you unconditional love all that stuff all good yeah i i had um you know i have no complaints about my childhood and i was it's funny i grew up in new york and and i have and so he says you're family funny. I was like, I don't think so. And then I remember in college had a friend who's from a very small town upstate New York and came in the city and stayed at my family's house. And we have breakfast. It was all loud and everybody's talking. And she goes, oh, so everybody's funny here.

I went, I guess. I was like, I wasn't, I don't think my family would stop and go, boy, what a funny young child we have. It's like, we're all funny. We all talk loud. We all try to talk over each other. I mean, I was drawn to it as a thing. I mean, my older sisters were not putting on George Carlin records. That was me. They knew it was funny. But, yeah. And you know what, I think in like elementary school, I look back and I think that should have been a sign.

The fact that when we had writing assignments, you write a composition and if you had to, I think you was an option, you could read yours in front of the class. I always like, can I read mine? It's like, I'm going to get some laughs. I put some jokes in. And in fact, I put a joke here that only one guy in the back's going to get, but that'll be worth it to me. You were already writing as a kid inadvertently. Yeah, I knew the performing part of it. If you had a school play, it's like, okay, I liked being on stage.

When I was in college, I did a couple of plays, but not in the theater department. They were, you know, the city. Like community theater. It was even less. It was like the dorm. There was a theater department, which I never had anything to do with. But the dorms would put on, like, you know, follies or something, or sometimes a musical. we did Guys and Dolls or something.

And I, and the first one, I only did it in Guys and Dolls because somebody fell out. And I said, oh, that should be fun. And I loved getting ready for the show, going back to you like getting nervous. And I loved like two in the afternoon in history class going,

all right, seven more hours until the curtain goes up. And that's, I'm going to get that laugh and then that other laugh half an hour later. And I realized I enjoyed the whole package. I enjoyed performing. I enjoyed looking forward to performing. And I also love the community of it. I remember at the end we did, you know, I don't know, a week of shows or four or five shows.

And at the end, you're, you know, you're backstage and you're, or at the end, a rap, you know, rap party. And I thought, I love this community. It's like it's like, and it's ironic because stand up is so singular, you know, but it still feels communal. I feel communal with my fellow comedians and I do feel communal with the audience. And I noticed after COVID, after lockdown, there was the immediate first bunch of shows, there was a palpable appreciation of being together. Like, we're all out of the house and we're actually, we're laughing together. Yeah.

You know, I remember there's connection. Connection. And sharing, you know, comedy is not funny if it's, there's no, if the tree falls and nobody hears it. It's like, yeah, that's really funny, but not until you, nobody's going to laugh until you gather the people. And I remember even the first couple, I remember a few shows after lockdown where people were still socially distancing or your and or wearing masks. And it's like, that's not the same. You've got to be sitting next to people. I got to see the smiles. You know, you're not going to laugh with a mask on. So it underscored for me how much a part of the

joy is seeing people, and the immediacy of it. You'd say. They're laugh. That's it. That's the big part. You're not waiting six months to see if it cuts together. It's right there. Your instant gratification or instant shitting your pants. Yeah.

Instant shitting the pants doesn't happen so much. Well, you've, I mean, look, in your life, you've bombed before. You've gone up on stage you bomb. Like, you wrote, like there was a story that was in a book about a concord. Yes, I had one or two that I remember. But even then, in the back of your mind, you're going, this is so bad. It's funny. That this is, you know.

And you're, you know. weren't scared up there. Well, I probably was. I mean, now I've been telling the story over the years because it was such a, you know, it was, it wasn't, gee, you're so bad. It was, you shouldn't have been here. We didn't come to see you. We came to see the singer after you.

Melissa Manchester. Right. And now, having said that, if my stuff was better and I was sharper, you know, this is 30 years ago, I should have been able to turn that house around, like, or have the skill to go, I know this isn't going well. And, you know, and I've done those. Sometimes you go, like, huh, that joke didn't work. And that's fun.

But it doesn't affect you, like, really badly. It doesn't change my life course. I don't go, I'm leaving the business. No, man, you don't have those anymore. I mean, I, you know, I'll go down to the club here. There's a club in Southern California in Hermosa Beach where you always go down to work out. And they're always a great house. Once in a while, they'll be usually because they're a group.

Like, we have, you know, the car dealership of Southern California, they have a little convention. It's 150 and they're all friends and they're all drunk. Like, hmm, this is, and it's all men. Well, that's not going to be the same. And sometimes, you know, in that environment, it's perfectly not only acceptable. For me, it feels perfectly helpful. Like if something didn't work, I go, all right, you know what? You helped me.

Thank you. I'm going to cross that joke off. Well, I'm going to come back tomorrow. That joke will be better. go, all right, as long as he knows that that didn't kill, you know, that was... You know, but that's rare. I mean, you have something that I hear from a lot of communities that, like, it really weighs on them, and they really get...

I mean, I even hear old stories from Seinfeld when he bombs. He's like, it was the worst feeling of my life. Is that your wife? Can we listen in? I have a friend named Spam Risk. We all have that friend who we ignore. Let me show. Literally, okay, it's like the seed-eater joke.

My phone is sitting next to me and vibrated, and I did. didn't know that my phone was there. I said, I think I've soiled myself. I feel, well, you are in your 60s. I feel, I feel a stimulation that I had not planned. But other comedians, like, I've heard them, they're like, you know, afterwards, if they don't do well, that it really affects them. But you seem to be so, I don't know, you seem to be okay with it. Like, you learn from it. Well, when you've been doing it this long, you're, you don't, you don't, you have, you have some nights that are 10 or an 8 or a 6, but, but, you know, um, this. usually a reason or whatever they're not life-threatening they're never they're never

consequential enough to go I'm in the wrong business but were they at one point were they like more no not really I was talking to the comedian about this and I remember early on you know I mean first year and you're allowed to be not great I just started and you're also sort of protected you know how like babies can swim in water because they've been in the womb it's like comedian When you're starting, you have an embryo of naivete and ignorance. You don't know how not good you are. You think you're better.

So you may not even feel it. And then later, years later, you go, oh, that's quite bad. Wow, yeah. You know, you didn't know it. Or you didn't know, you think you're pretty hot. So, but I remember this on a night that it was good. And I was still at the time thinking, boy, I hope I did the right thing, leaving my father's business and saying, no, I want to be a comedian,

which is the last thing, you know, parents want to hear. So what are you going to do? You're going to go to clubs at 2 in the morning and get no money and just a drink and talk to girls? Uh-huh. How's that going to work out? We'll see. When you have an alternative, you know, he had a business.

He had very successful business. He said, well, you'll come into the business. I went, I don't think so. I think I really want to be a comedian. So I carried that for a while, like, not that I'm not going to do this, but like, oh, boy, I really hope I have some. something tangible to show for this in a while. But I remember, you know, on a good night, you get off and go, oh, man, I love this.

I can't wait till tomorrow, I get to do it again. And then the nights when it didn't go well, I would go, God, that was terrible. I can't wait till tomorrow to get this taste out of my mouth and to do it again. I thought, if every road leads to, I got to do it again, maybe I'm in the right thing. It's like, in a way, I don't know if this is a good analogy, but it's like a baseball player who strikes out and then goes, I can't wait to get up and get it. get at that picture again like i want to come out i want to hit a home run this time i'm not going to strike it i'm i can't wait to go i'm going to prove myself oh you have a tough series you know

i'm sure aaron judge didn't go home and go you know what i'm in i should be in retail i'm in the i'm in a wrong profession no because you know what this this is a slump i messed up whatever i'm still i'm still good at this and this is what i do you talk about the clubs when you're younger and you're drinking you're you know talking to girls and having fun them with the guys did you ever get into drugs and alcohol? No, I'm hoping to. You are. Yeah. I know some people. The day is still young. I know some people. But you never got into that. No, I wish. I wish I would. No, no, I used to say, I remember certainly in the 80s and, you know, you're playing clubs and there was a sort of similarity. Every club owner in Cleveland and Atlanta and Dallas and it was always some sort of young hot shot in his 30s. He was now

making money, hand over a fist. And it always like be offering you a Coke. And, you know, and I remember to think, no, I thank you. And I wish what I said, I, was finished my sentence, I wish I could just say, can I have the cash value of whatever it is your, that looks like several hundred dollars. Give me the $300. Give me $80 and keep the Coke. But you weren't interested. No, I never, I've never. Why do you think that is? Do you think it's nature, nurture kind of thing? A little bit. I mean, I know, you know. You never wanted any. I never. I never. I never. I never. I didn't even, I didn't even smoke weed till like the end of my college. Like, I, you know, I just, for some reason, I wasn't, it just didn't appeal to me.

Wow. That's good. I also didn't try oysters to wait well, well, until life. I went, you know what, this is good. So, you know, I'm not, I'm not against it. I'm just saying it didn't appeal to me. What about, like, you know, we talk on this podcast a lot about mental health, like anxiety and people get anxiety, people get depressed. Have you ever been through those stages in your life? Sure. Sure. Yeah. What was like the worst time in your life? they were never long running i mean i think there are moments and there are moments of doubt and there are moments of um um gee what a cheerful podcast you got uh we explore i came in men man i came in here feeling good make a note clock that you're going to sleep really well tonight i hope to god then this will be

worth it um no i i i don't think i ever look back and had periods of of depression that you know were crippling i think that like the toughest part i remember I mentioned this before, it was like when I was deciding to make the leap and say, I really want to do stand-up. And to do that, for me, I had to like really sort of sell it to my parents, mostly my father, because he has business. He had a wholesale food business. And, you know, and I grew up in that. And I used to work my summers there. And it was always kind of expected.

And it was like, well, that'll be easy. And that's really successful. We've had a very nice, comfortable life. And I could continue that. And it would be, you know, and nobody wants it. You don't want to disappoint your parents. So that was a stressful period. But it was almost like removing, you know, a splinter that once I broke through that

memory and went, you know what, I really do want to do this. The heart, but I still have the challenges. I got to, you know, break it to him. And he may or may not be good with it. And he ultimately was. But the decision. The decision because I'm like, oh. And at that time, thinking, I don't, I don't.

You know, I was doing both. I used to, after college, I was working in my dad's office, eight in the morning to whatever, six, go home, sleep a little, and then go into the comedy clubs. So I was trying, I was burning in both ends. And I wasn't doing well in either because I was not focused. So I'd be coming to the office tired and I'd show up at the club's tired. And I went, this can't go on.

You know, you have to, you have to, what do you want to do? And when I looked at it honestly, and I had a couple of people that I talked to and I would go, oh, so it's really clear what I want to do. What I'm struggling with is how do I present this? And how do I have the tough conversation that I don't want? So your father meant a lot to you. He's still with you? No, no.

He died in 1989. So he got to see, you know, it was very important that when the first time I was on the Tonight Show, it was like, that is a currency that he understood. And his quote was, hey, Johnny seemed to like you. Is that what he said? Yeah, it's like, I know what he meant. It's like, well, you did not. But, you know, but it's like, because you think your kids, I don't know what the, you know.

I look at my own kids, like, I don't know. Somebody told me my son had written something and he told me a writer or respect. And he said, you know, your son is like really freaking good. I wasn't really. I thought so, but I know that I'm biased. I think he's great. But wow, okay. So sometimes outside currency helps.

And so anyway, so my dad, you know, and he got to see. I start to do TV and do the Tonight Show regularly. So, I mean, I think it was literally a day or two that he was distressed when I said, I'm not going into your business. And then from then on, God bless him. I mean, he was really supportive. Watched everything you did? Everything.

He would wake up and he would wake up and tape reruns. I went, but you have the original. You don't have to tape. They're rerunning it to, well, the Tonight Show you did for last year. It's on again today. I went, yeah, but you have that tape. And he would call you after everything? Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Yeah, he, you know, he... I never experienced that. No? No, I never experienced that. Where'd you grow up? I was born in New York and Long Island, but I grew up in Indiana. Really? Yeah.

That's a jump. That's quite a commute every day. Well, my dad moved. That's good. I see. So, since I was eight, I lived there, but my whole family's from New York. I got you. But yeah, yeah.

It's just, when I, when I, listen, it's like, there's a little envy. There's a little, but there's also like, that's cool. That's cool to experience that. I mean, you know, he wasn't. really vocal, he wouldn't call, say, that was funny, you know, but I could, I knew he was proud and I knew he had accepted, you know, and I know he would tell everybody, you know, my son's going to be on letter, my son's going to be on. Right, right. So, you know, and I look back with the distance, I have more respect and appreciation like, oh, that must have been really

hurtful for him when I left. It's like, not because, you know, I mean, he was, he had succeeded and he didn't need me, but to continue that. But, like, you know, there's a certain joy that he was looking forward to. And I said, yeah, I'm not going to do that. But, you know, I mean, I have kids now in their 20s, and you realize you just want them to find themselves. You make yourself happy and it doesn't have to be what I planned for you. You buy a pair of socks, that's two socks.

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Amazon today. You know, I got to work with Peter Falk, who I... Oh, yeah. You talk about that in your special. I do. I do. And I do. And I, I'm part of why I love telling that story. I was telling that story just as to friends. I thought, oh, maybe that's part of the act. But we... There's an overlap of Peter Falk and my father. One time, the idea, I did a movie I did with him who was called The Thing About My Folks, and I wrote it only because I wanted to play with Peter Falk. And I thought, so one time I was visiting my parents

back in New Jersey, this is like early 80s. And my father happened to be watching whatever came on. I'm sure he didn't look for it. And it was the cheap detective, Peter Fawke. And he was just really laughing. And I thought, Peter Falk, my father. There's some connection here. And I said, Peter Falk, as my father.

Yes, okay. So Peter Falk. So I had, for years, I would just, it took me well to figure out the story, but I just had this desire to do Peter, a movie. Because you know your father loved him. Because, because of that connection, but also I grew up loving Peter Falk. And I, and I don't know that it came from my parents. I just was, first time I saw him, I was eight years old and I saw Robin in the Seven Hoods. And I just went, I don't care about any of these guys, but who's this Peter Fawke?

Oh, my God. So, well, the funny thing was, so finally, I wrote the script, I got it to Peter Falk and to my, astonishment he loved it and said let's go do this we had dinner my wife and peter and his wife and we have dinner and we leaving and my wife turns and he goes oh my god he's your fucking father and i said yeah it doesn't look like him doesn't but there's something in the connection but the reason i even brought it up so part so he he i related to him something associated with my father but what we really connected about was that he who was a little younger than my father but not by much. He had a father who was in retail, had a business, had a store in upstate New York.

Did you know this? Yeah. Okay. And no, but what I did, but what I didn't know at the time was the similarity that his father looked at Peter's career choice, oddly, like, why would you do that? And so I said, well, there's a connection where he and I, we're both the idiot sons of fathers who don't understand why it's, there was a great story. And I don't remember, I don't remember, told me or if I he told this on TV or but there's a story where he got his first job and he was working a movie and you know he's working these two days and he's not working next week and but he's doing well and he says dad come in come into the city and let me take you to lunch he goes you know what would they fire me dad I'm not working today so they meet for lunch he goes what do you when you

say you're not working today he goes well I shot my scenes yesterday and then my next scene is not till Tuesday so today I'm not working today and his father goes Peter tell them that you don't want to be paid for today. Make sure to, you know, Dad, you get paid for it. No, it's not right. You shouldn't take money for today. And I went, oh, that's so beautiful. It's just, it's so, well, that makes all the sense in the world.

You're stealing. You're getting paid. Because this is how he grew up. Yes, you work a day. You get paid for a day. You work for, but if you're not working, and I thought, oh, that just moved me. Yeah, you're still moved. Yeah, I love it.

And it's also, it's what bonded me, you know, as much as I looked at Peter, as a father figure. It's like, we were closer because of that experience of choosing acting, you know, and he did not picture that as a young man. He was in the civil service. He was, you know, he was,

I forgot what the story was he, like, I think he walked by an acting class or something and he said, I've got to do that. It was, I was like, you know, I was thinking. But you said you did this with your left hand. Yes.

Like your right hand. Yeah, that, yeah, that's... Nothing. Thank you. That would be all. I loved... I used to watch him all the time. Yeah.

Yes. I love that. I love that you get a little emotional. You know... You're a human being. That's what this show's about. Is it? I had no idea.

Dude, people have cried on this show. I came here as a human being. I didn't know that it was going to be needed. I didn't know. I had to hear as one. I didn't need to call it up. Look at all the stuff you're doing now. I mean, you did the voice season three.

You're coming back? That's what I'm told. The next season that they have a... thing for me to do. I mean, come on. I sit by the phone. The legend. Well, they, I had not heard of the boys when I got offered this thing. And I called my son, my 24 year old, I was two years ago, he was 22. And he knows, he just is very culturally plugged in. I said, do you ever heard of the show the boys? He said, yeah. He said, well, they want me to be on it. What do you think? He goes, dad, it's great, and you'll hate it. I know what? He goes, I know you. He goes, I know you. Was he right? Yeah. Well, I don't like, I don't like,

I don't like, you know, that's not my kind of thing. But when I watched it, he goes, because it's really over the top. And I went, and I watched a minute, I went, wow. But then when I realized, okay, it's not gratuitous, this is what their palette is. It's just over the top, violent. You can appreciate it. Yeah. And I said, and the role was really funny.

And it's called The Legend. I said, well, that's cool. I'll be The Legend. You're now The Legend. I'm The Legend. That's so cool. It was fun. And Stranger Things?

Another show. I wouldn't be, you know, watching. These are big-ass shows. Oh, listen. Well, that, again, he told me about Stranger Things. My son hit me to it. He watched it the weekend that came out. And literally, and everybody was talking about it.

And then, like, that Monday, I get my agent calls me, says, you've ever heard of this new show of Strangeer Things? I said, of course I have. I don't live in a cave. Yeah, my son just told me an hour ago. But he said, they want to meet you. And so at that, A, these guys already had me in mind for something. and it's the biggest show in the world.

Yeah, that's got to feel good. Yeah. I mean, I didn't have to think too hard about that. No, but when I say, you know, if I sit down and pick shows to watch, that's not in my world, you know, science fictionity. And it's crazy. You know, being in aliens, it's like, I have no business being in that world. And yet, there I am.

By the way, aliens, by the, it is one of my favorite movies. It's a lot of people's favorite. It is a really, really great movie. But I always think, you know, you play such a great character and you're really good at. You're serious and, you know, you're up to no good. And, you know, you're worse than these creatures. Maybe. You don't see them.

Yeah. What is he? Screwing each other up with for a profit or whatever it was. For a percentage? Percentage. Well, I mean, that experience. I just watched the documentary to. They had this four-hour documentary.

I have the download. I can forward it to you. But you have four hours for you to watch it? I watched it with all my friends. We watched every bit of it. Really? I got to say it. The only thing I didn't like and I liked it.

lot was they should have had more of the there were some secondary characters that were in it for like three seconds that talk a lot that you're like I don't really but you know you're in there and you're in there a lot which is good but did you audition for it yeah you know I can't quite I know I went in and met Jim Cameron I don't know if I read a scene I don't I think I didn't and my understanding is you know he was looking for somebody that they could delay the reveal that this guy is and so to whatever he was looking for somebody who was not particularly well known and if he's known at all it's for comedic light stuff so i i think that was his thinking um but i don't know was he nice to work with yeah he was great he had to be come on did you see a side of him that was like he's

he's tough he's totally tough and he's intense and he's brilliant you know so uh you know there all these stories about oh he's so demanding and like you you create the abyss you write Terminator you make all that shit happen it's like that's not you got to be a special kind of person you have to be wildly passionate and convicted and focused you know I mean his I mean he is a very unique person I don't know him well but he was always nice to me he cast me and he included me and and a lot of the stories came onto being because we shot in England and they had it was just they were not used to, and they were resistant to a brash young American, even though he's

Canadian, you know, this young Wundekin. And they have their thing, you know, they have it's, it's not different, but there's, you know, like they have, we have a tea break. I saw, that's all in the documentary. And they went, and Jim was like,

whoa, wait, wait, got to get this shot. How fuck is this? Yeah, no, we're getting the tea break. So there's a little bit cultural clash there. And, um, Yeah, but, you know, I mean, his brain, he invents the technology that he needs. Like, you know, the abyss. We don't have a camera or something that goes down that deep. I'll fucking invent it. Okay.

You know, and he came out of the Roger Kormis. So a lot of the stuff, the action stuff in aliens is models. And it's like, you, I still can't tell. Like, I mean, I know it's not. I miss that. I miss where they would do practicals and models and things like that. I just think that there's so much CGI that it just takes me out. it just takes me completely out of it and like he created these worlds that were just believable

you're in that world did he when you do you remember him giving you any direct direction and him just say no i want you to say it like that like not really no i don't know that he didn't you just do your thing no i just don't know that my memory is any good um he must have just like what you were doing it you know the part was sort of in a way simple and um i i'm sure there were things that he said, you know, try it this way, but it was never dogmatic or, you know, it was always delivered. Well, I didn't have any problem. But again, I was so, I was so aware that this was going to be a monster hit. You knew that while you're making that. Yeah. Oh, I knew it when I read it. I went, Jesus Christ. Well, first of all, Alien was great. And I knew that. And Sigourney

Weaver, it's like, okay. And I had seen Terminator. I go, this guy's great. And the script was, I have never had this experience. I was out of breath reading, turning pages. Oh, oh, oh, wow, And he's written, you know, short little haikus, like, almost like Batman, pow, gazelle, like, boom, and like little half sentences. And you go, it's a stunning read. You should find this script. And so I go, well, this is going to be a big hit. If I'm lucky enough to get cast, my job is just don't bring the film to a grinding halt. You know, don't walk on, don't walk on, when you walk on, you know, on screen when they see you, that you don't want everyone to go, whoa, something's wrong here.

Just blend in. Do you still get residuals from it? I'm sure I do. But they're probably not a lot at this point. I got a dollar 40 from the Philippines. I'm going to spend wisely. Yeah, exactly. I mean, I got to talk about Matt about you.

I mean, how many shows did you pitch before Matt about you? I, you know, it wasn't like I was sitting there coming up with ideas and then I said, I got it. How about this one? I think I had two or three times I had gone out with it. the script or had a deal to write a script and never got made. So I think over, you know, early 80s to, you know, maybe 90, had a couple of opportunities where I had come up with an idea and some were sold. But mad about you came, again, I was saying to somebody, I'm not the most aggressive,

assertive, creator. You know, sometimes I need an invitation or an encouragement. And in that case, I had been on another show and I got a little bit of visibility as a comic. And I was approached by the studio, whatever became Sony, it was a smaller studio, the TriStar, I guess it was called. And so invited me to create, you know, write a script for yourself. And at the time, I was newly married and that was my act was, my stand-up act was all about things I was discovering. And then finding success with it, like, oh, that material. about relationship, that's actually funnier and deeper and feels better to me than, hey, California

is different than New York. So I like, oh, this feels like my wheelhouse. And so I said, almost like as a disclaimer, I said, you know, if I was going to come up with a show, it's not going to be a wacky idea. It's going to be really small. Like, you know, my, they said, we'll go write that. And so that's what I went home and wrote. And I knew that, you know, that we could have. fun doing that. The pitch, and I knew there was something to it that when we pitched it, I remember, you know, I remember going to the three execs and each one, I'd give a little example of what it was and they'd all go, oh, all right, so listen to this. So my wife, and they would have stories from their own. Okay, so this is pretty universal. But we, you know,

the pitch of that was, and I'm proud of this, because it was a good pitch. I said, you know, when you're out with your wife, you're at a party and you're socializing and you're talking and you're just, you know, you're being nice with everybody. And you say good night. And you're you get into the car, I said, the second that car door closes, that's the show. I said, when you're driving home and you go, why would you say, I didn't know she was pregnant? Yes, you could. It's like, it's just the intimacy. And to the extent that we can keep the cameras out, just pretend that there's cameras in the back of the car, in the back of your house. And, you know, as we went on, our sort of motto to ourselves was make it feel, it's got to feel more

like life and less like a TV show, you know, because sometimes we all come up with a great line. This is pretty much the pitch. Yeah, well, but it's pretty, but it was our sort of mission statement as we were going. It's like sometimes, I mean, somebody would write a really great joke. Yeah, but you know what? Nobody would really say that. Or if a wife said that, then that would be the end. He's like, no, it sounds too much like a really funny guy on a TV show. Obviously, we went for jokes and we went for laughs, but there was a real undercurrent of reality there. That was, and ultimately, that's the sort of the filament that, for those people who liked the show, that's what they came to. I loved it.

Even if they couldn't put their finger on it, they go, just felt real. It's like, yeah, because we worked at that. I mean, you guys are going toe to toe so many times, I just remember in that living room. Yeah. And just, it felt like you're watching a movie or a play. It's just like, it was so bad, was that hard to memorize? I guess you're writing. No, no, it was never hard to memorize for me.

I mean, as a stand-up, I was used to talking. for a long time. And yes, I would either write it or be rewriting it or, you know, it's never, and you're doing, you know, four pages at a time. It's not, it's not, you're not doing an hour and a half straight. But same thing we were talking before about being excited before a show. Before tape night or even just rehearsals, like if I saw six pages, and that was my favorite stuff to write, it's like if you look at it, it's just dialogue, dialogue, dialogue, dialogue. And I know I'm playing with, you know, somebody's great as Helen Hunt. And, and you know these characters and you're just um it was that was joyful and i couldn't wait to do those scenes

did the dialogue change a lot on opening night like on friday nights when you record it no you're pretty much solid by thursday yeah i mean yes it wouldn't change sometimes you'd find something in a pause or a lap and it was certainly not making up lines um but you know and the other thing was and this was sort of key to assuring helen when I sent her the script before she did the pilot. I said, this is not welcome back, Cotter. There's not funny guy and a wife going, oh, honey. I said, this is equal.

This is 50, 50. And it's not he's neurotic and she's sane or she's neurotic. And he's the, I said, within every scene, oh, he's got it together. Oh, now she's got to be this. Now she's nuts. And I said, and that's what, you know, marriage is. It's like, I mean, there are days, you know, in my marriage I go where I got to be the voice of reason and more often than not she's got to

be the voice of reason it's like okay that's how we got this far did you know it was helen hunt when she walked in the room yeah well I I invited her I what happened was I was in middle of writing the pilot and we were invited to a dinner party my wife was friends with uh we were friends with a woman who was a friend of helens and they actually shared a house in the hills and they were housemates and they had a dinner party and it was maybe 10, 12 people there and I had never met Helen I'd seen her in a few things

and I thought she was great but I hadn't because I had in my head all other look she doesn't, Ellen does not look at all like my wife and I was picturing brown hair, brown eyes and like, you know, they're all saying you know you can't choose who you love love chooses you.

So at this party and I'm going she's cool I said she's she's adorable she's really cute she's funny she's whip smart she's just offbeat enough and she's really bright

she's really smart woman and so we're leaving the party and I remember turning to my wife like what do you think about her as you she'd be great I said I don't know so you know you don't want to follow up a dinner party that was lovely read this script

I'm in love with her yeah yeah but I sent her the script and you know she used to tell the story that like she was just getting on a role on a you know getting some traction in film. And the last thing she was thinking of doing

was a half-hour sitcom. And in her mind, sitcoms, and she was a huge fan and student of sitcoms. She could recite every, she was on Mary Talimore as a child. She was Murray's daughter. But she knew every Lucy. And she, you know, the things that endeared me to her,

it's like, okay, and you know Mel Brooks records by heart. And you know David Steinberg records by heart. Jeez, okay, this is going to work. And so she read the script and said, yeah, I really like this. I don't know what to do. You know, she was sort of reluctant to like it. And she came over to my house.

I said, let's just talk. Let's just read it. So we would read a scene. And she's such a deeply rooted actress. Yeah. We had a scene and it was in the kitchen. So I would do it like this. We would just read it.

Not Helen Hunt. She got up and she started going to my sink because she's, you know, the scene is in the kitchen. And so she's talking to me and she's washing dishes in my house. and she was so convincing that I actually said Helen you leave those I'm going to get to this good no I'm doing the scene

oh my God you're doing the scene you just knocked me it was like so real so when we went in we had to bring in other people I think so that was even before we started casting so I already had

I said I think we found it yeah I mean yeah that's amazing hey folks it's me Michael Rosenbaum listen if you're a supporter of the podcast If you're enjoying these interviews, we ask you if you can join Patreon,

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So if you want to become a member of Patreon and support this podcast, that would be awesome. So just go to Patreon, P-A-T-R-E-O-N, Patreon.com slash inside of you. And I really appreciate you. Thanks. Wait, I didn't get charged for my donut. It was free with the Tim's Rewards points. I think I just stole it. I'm a donut stealer.

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Hi, I'm Ben. And I'm Nicole. Together we host Wicked and Grim, a true crime podcast that unpacks real-life horrors, one case at a time. With deep research, dark storytelling, and the occasional drink to take the edge off, We're here to explore the wicked and reveal the grim. We are Wicked and Grim. Follow and listen on your favorite podcast platform.

And you don't stop working. It's like the problem with people you wrote, produced, and starred. Available right now on either iTunes or Amazon, any way you rent to buy content. Yes. I mean, how did you come up with this? You know, it's so funny. People say, you're always working. I go, yeah, I don't mean to.

I don't feel like I need to. get out of the house. In fact, I love doing nothing. I do. But the problem with people sort of came out backward. You know, I've now done it twice that I've written and produced in film. And the Peter Falk movie, the only reason for it being, is that I wanted to make a movie with Peter Falk playing my father. And I didn't understand what it could be until I had my second kid. I went, okay, I have an idea about what fatherhood is or what I want to say. Yeah. And the other movie, the only other movie I had in my head the whole time was, I got to make a movie in Ireland. I had seen local hero, which takes place in Scotland, but whatever. And that was 1983. And I just loved that movie.

It was so offbeat and charming. And I said, that looks really nice. American go into a little picturesque town, Ireland, Scotland, whatever, and making a movie there. So I had for years just this vague notion, I got to get to Ireland. And then I, you know, I would try, writing. I went, that doesn't work. That doesn't work. And then I said to, it's funny how creative things happen. I just happened to be talking to a woman producing, a film I was on for two days. I said, yeah, I do have this one movie. I want to make an Ireland. I think, maybe I should write it with somebody because I have, she said, I know just the guy. And she introduced me to this young guy that never met, never heard of him. We met for coffee

and went, yeah, it seems like a smart guy. And he sparked to the idea. And he was a great collaborator. He was just like, yeah, let me take it right here. And in short order, we zeroed on this story because like why would you go to Ireland you can't just go because you want to go I said okay so the story became what if their relatives New York guy and an Irish guy they're the distant cousins who've never met and their grandfathers were brothers and they had a fight and so we were raised to not like each other so the Americans hate the Irish side of the family Irish don't talk about the American and we both don't even know what it was about and I said well that's a it's fun but it's also secretly

about something. It's like how do people who were raised, you know, with a bias, how do you, how do you get past that? I said, okay, so here's a big theory, big theme in a very small thing. It's basically a two-hander. Columini plays my, because he's genius. And we got the script to him and he also just wouldn't love it. Let's do this. And then COVID and took us three years to get it off the ground. But, you know, I can't remember how I was telling you. I was talking to somebody earlier. You know, that's part of what, um, part of what I love about stand-up is it's so uncomplicated. You just go, show up, tell your jokes, go home. And whereas you come up with a movie, it's like, well, you got to write it. You got to get somebody to finance it

and wait. Shoot it. Get it done. It's like it's so many pieces. So I don't know how many of those I have in my life. And then you keep doing it. Well, yeah. And then, of course, by contrast, when you get invited to go being somebody else's thing, like, oh, that'll be fun. And it feels like batting with just one bat, you know, like the gutter. The gutter was this. I look so funny. I can't wait to see that. It's so stupid funny. Susan Sarandon, the bowling alley. I mean, come on. It is a, you know, it's sort of in the school of dumb and dumber. You just, you know, you hate yourself for laughing at some of the silly stuff. Critics love this. It's really fun. And they said, we've missed missing this kind of comedy. But that was one where I, you know, I wasn't sitting

home going, get me a bowling movie or get me anything. I was like, and, you know, I was like, It's funny. I mean, my agents will go, well, I got an offer. I went, ah, fuck, I got to get out of house. And I remember, like, three pages in, and I was laughing, you know, it's like, I don't always laugh at print. And I go, this is really funny. And then I'm going, gee, I hope this was written by a black guy.

It's like, okay. It's really, it's actually two brothers. I mean, no, they were actually brothers. Yeah. Small B. Small B. Yes. Yeah. Isaiah and Yasser Lester.

And they're a great team. You know, it's not always easy to co-direct something, but they wrote it together. And it's really funny and wrong. You know, and I play this basically the Howard Coselle in the bowling world. And who's just so clueless and just says things that like, did you even think about what you just said?

And I went, God, this is really funny. The gutter. And when can you watch that? That's out right now in theaters. In theaters. And then you have the problem with people. That you have to go. You have to go on your eyes.

iTunes, you have to find it. They make it very difficult. And life, death, and rice pudding is available now in digital demand. I mean, you got to go. You know what? God, you don't stop. A lot of people say, we can't get enough Paul Reiser. And I'm trying to fill that void.

Hey, I think that's true. Dude, look, stranger things, the boys, all these movies. It's like satisfying America's demand. Yes, absolutely. This is shit talking with Paul Reiser. It's quick. You just answer fast. These are my top tier patrons.

Go to patreon.com slash inside you. Thank you for supporting the show. Murphy C says best memories of playing Dr. Sam Owens in Stranger Things. Getting the call, getting invited to join the biggest show in the world. That was a highlight. Did you have a lot of fun doing it?

I did. I did. It was, you know, I came in on the second season. So I already knew it was a big hit and I knew what it looked like. And a little bit I was thinking, like, I'm the new kid in high school and where do I sit? You know, they're all going to be bonded.

They've been together. they'd just been through a whole first season. Were you nervous at that? I wasn't nervous. I just didn't expect it to be as welcoming. And the kids were, the kids were like really sweet and smart. Who was your favorite kid? They were all, they were all great.

I mean, really. Yeah, Gaten was great. He was great. He was on the pod. And yeah. And Millie, you know, and even later on, and she became this global phenomenon. And I go, she's really a sweet young lady. And she's just smart and sweet.

And like, you know, if you don't know better, you go, well, she's going to be really, you know, snooty. It's like, no, she's really delightful. She's really smart. Melissa M. Are you more of an aliens or predator guy? Which one do you think? Is this Melissa Manchester? This is Melissa Manchester.

That's why that she would write into you. More aliens or predator and which one do you like more as a monster? I've never seen a predator movie. You're going to go with aliens. You were in aliens. Yeah, I'll say that. I mean, that's a good. Yeah.

Taylor R. Favorite childhood memory. Birth. That's how clever I am. Birth, folks. I remember it. I remember it like it was yesterday. It was birth. He was born, thank God.

And then it, yes, and then it got cloudy after that until this podcast. Linda M., what do you love most about your life? Oh. And that you could take a second. Give me a second. All right, time's up. Well, the fact that we have one, the fact that we're here, and I have to remind myself, like, on the tougher days. And they're not depressing it, but like days when, oh, this is broke.

gee, you have this problem with your kid, or gee, this little health scare or this, you know, or the fact that your country, you go into shit, those little things, you go, all right, well, but you're alive, you know, and you won't be always, you know, and you think of, I always go back, like, well, somebody in 17, you know, 1700s, they wake up and I go, well, this is a shitty Wednesday, whatever, you're dead now, you know what I mean, it's going to pause. We're all going there. We're all going there. And you know what comes tomorrow, Thursday.

So there'll be another one. So, yes, so you try and, you know, make the most of it. So I enjoy my life. I married a really wonderful woman. And, you know, not every day or every hour at all is smooth sailing. But even that, I go, Norman Lear wrote his memoir was called, Even This I Get to Experience, which is a very juicy, doesn't flow off the tongue, but it's a great sentiment.

And it's so beautifully Jewish. Even this. even this I get to experience which you apply it to everything it's traffic I stub my toe I love it I stub my toe isn't that phenomenal tell me about a time

Raj says project was either so difficult or taking such a mental toll on you that you considered quitting mental toll I don't know that I would quit or thought of quitting yeah

I think on these longer journeys like getting these two movies made there were certainly moments where you go maybe this is not worth it. This seems to me too many obstacles. And then you go, well, wait a minute. Why am I going to let these people say no? It's like if you want to get it done, I'm but, you know, just keep trying. And that's, it's really all you have in life. It's like, get up. It's not guaranteed to go

your way at all, whether it's a film or a project or, or a day. But like, let me try the best I can. And more than likely, it's not going to go well and wake up in the morning and something new hurts. And you go, all right, this is Tuesday. Is it? Yeah. That was our go-to on Man About You, Helen. And whenever we were trying like just, well, like, let's just really, you know, pinpoint where we are as actors, where we are. We just look at it as you go, it's a Tuesday, as if that would give us a wealth of biographical data from which to.

Did you, whose idea was it that you would ask for the most per episode in the history of television at that time? I don't think that was the case. I think it was, or maybe Seinfeld. No, Seinfeld was after, I don't know. Who said, you know what we should do? We should make a million dollars an episode. You know, it sounds like a big number, but a lot of those numbers are zeros. That's nothing.

Today, that would be $1.8 million today. Yes. That's crazy. Yes, but it was the biggest show on TV. But in the 1400s, that would have been like three drachmas. Jeez, that's pretty exciting, though. When they told you that that's what was going to happen, where you're just like, well, you look at this, how about that?

You know, but you said before, or one of the questions was like, do you think of quitting? It was never clear or guaranteed that any season they were going to pick it up again. You know, like in the old model, what we want to pick it up is like... They just put you to the last second. And there were periods in the beginning

of the first or second season, a man about you were like, oh, I don't know if this is worth it just because, you know, finding the right creative partners and sometimes just stupid battles with network people you go, ha, do I have the stamina? I'm like, oh, yeah. I don't want to not do this because of these people. So you find a way to push through.

I don't remember where we were or how that happened. I don't think we went in and they go, ask him for a meal. I think, you know, it was a, we were ready to end it. And we always said this, we knew going in, this would be our last season. We wanted to end it. And we wanted it. We had it in mind how we wanted to end it. And at the time, I guess NBC needed to.

the show or felt they did. I don't know that they really did. But, you know, it's nice. It is. It's awesome. Well, worth it. And you also know, like, well, this is a moment. This is not going to happen again.

Right. Right. Where somebody's going to say, the thing you're doing at this moment has value. So step up to the plate. Relish the moment. Yeah. Well, look, this has been fantastic. Life, death, and rice pudding.

your stand-up special is available now on digital and demand. The problem with people, check that out everywhere or iTunes. Same place. Anyway, anywhere you buy it. So, yeah, you go on your iTunes and say, give me the Paul Reiser package. I want the whole thing. And that includes the gutter.

Yes. With Susan Sarandon, hilarious. I mean, the trailer, I can't wait to watch it because it's right up my alley. Oh, it's so funny. We have loyal people here listening, so they're going to check it at what? Those are folding fun, right? Yeah. Yeah, right at my alley.

See? I said, all right. You know what? You're so clever that it didn't even... Ryan? You're so clever. It didn't even register. It didn't register for me. But when I get in the car, oh, am I going to laugh? Oh, God. Will you call me? Will you call me in time? I got it. I'm on the 405. I got it. Oh, this has been awesome. You're a legend. And you play the legend. Pleasure. I love that you're doing great. You should be working always. You're funny, funny man. Thank you. Congrats on everything. And you. Thanks for having me in your lovely studio here. Thank you.

Thanks, Paul. That was a damn treat. Thanks for coming in the studio. I didn't know. He probably was looking at me like, I don't know who the hell you are. But I'm doing your podcast to promote my shit. It was cool to have him.

Yeah. Yeah. He was cool. He was awesome. Thank you for listening. And right now we're going to do the top tier patrons. These are the folks that give the most back to the podcast. And if you want to join patreon.com slash inside of you.

or is it inside bitching.com slash inside inside of you inside of you inside of you so let's give these shoutouts to very important people here all of you Nancy D little Lisa Eukiko H Niko P Rob L is it Rob L

we keep wondering no one's corrected us yet Yeah it just looks like an L Jason W Sophie M Raj C Jennifer and Stacey L Jamal F Janelle B Mike L Dan Supremo 99 more San Diego N

I'm Maddie S. Kendrick F. Belinda and Dave H. Brad D. Ray H. Tab of the T. Tom, Antalya, M. Betsy B. Ranin C. Michelle A. Jeremy C. Eugene and Leah. E. Gia. M. S. Eric H. Oracle. Amanda R. William K. J. R. J. J. M. Jessica B. L. Romeo, the band. Frank B. J. J. J. J. M. L. L. Romeo, the band. Frank B. Jenman. J. J. J. Janine. T. April R. Randy S. Claudia. Rachel D. Nick W. Stephanie and Evan. Stefan. Charlene A. Don G. Jenny B. 716. E. N. G. F. B. Tracy. Heather and G. Heather and Greasy. L.E. P.R. C. S. Dave. T. David. David. L. Jill and Brett or. Drette. Or Brett. Jet. Brill. Brill. Brill. Brill. Brill. Brill. Brill. Brill. Brill. Brill. Jeff G. Kareem H. and Brian B. We love you. Thank you for supporting the podcast. And just, I don't know what else to say. You're keeping me employed and Ryan employed and everybody else. So from Hollywood Hills and Hollywood, California, I am Michael Rosenbaum. He is Michael Rosenbaum. Who are you? Oh, I'm Ryan Tayes. Oh, a little waves of camera. We love you guys. And as always, I mean it, be good to yourself. That's important. So take care of yourself and try to create new healthy habits and be kind, be a good human being. And we'll see you next week. Hi, I'm Joe Saul-Chi, host of the Stacking Benjamin's podcast. Today, we're going to talk about

what if you came across $50,000. What would you do? Put it into a tax-advantaged retirement account. The mortgage. That's what we do. Make a down payment on a home. Something nice. Buying a vehicle. A separate bucket for this edition that we're adding. $50,000, I'll buy a new podcast. You'll buy new friends. And we're done. Thanks for playing everybody. We're out of here.

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