WEBVTT - Andy Guerdat Meets World 0:00:19.640 --> 0:00:19.880 Will. 0:00:20.400 --> 0:00:20.560 Yes. 0:00:21.160 --> 0:00:23.079 I am devastated that I have to ask you this 0:00:23.160 --> 0:00:25.279 question because I was supposed to be there with you 0:00:25.360 --> 0:00:27.920 to enjoy it myself, I know, but Jensen and I 0:00:27.960 --> 0:00:30.200 were not able to join you and Susan on the 0:00:30.240 --> 0:00:33.600 double date to Yamava. Jensen had surgery earlier in the 0:00:33.640 --> 0:00:37.800 week and was not ready for a long drive. I know, 0:00:38.320 --> 0:00:42.000 Nate bargatzi at Yammava with you. Tell me how was it? 0:00:42.080 --> 0:00:46.120 How one? How was the steakhouse? Two? How was the show? Three? 0:00:46.440 --> 0:00:47.240 How was the venue? 0:00:47.520 --> 0:00:49.839 You missed? You both missed them? 0:00:49.920 --> 0:00:50.120 It was. 0:00:50.159 --> 0:00:51.640 It was a pretty great night. It really was. 0:00:51.680 --> 0:00:54.280 Because first of all, I'd never been to the Amavah before. 0:00:54.360 --> 0:00:57.200 Huh me neither, And it's like two or three years old, 0:00:57.360 --> 0:01:00.639 so it's brand new. I mean when I say there 0:01:00.720 --> 0:01:03.560 was not a piece of paper on the floor. It 0:01:03.680 --> 0:01:07.200 was the cleanest casino I've ever been in in my life. 0:01:07.240 --> 0:01:12.520 It is spotless, The rooms gorgeous. They took care of us, 0:01:12.640 --> 0:01:15.120 you know, checked us in and we get right to 0:01:15.160 --> 0:01:16.880 our room, and then they brought us up to this 0:01:17.000 --> 0:01:19.880 bar and that's where we got to meet everybody that 0:01:19.959 --> 0:01:23.360 everybody from the Yamavas staff, and it was just so cool. 0:01:23.520 --> 0:01:25.479 I was thinking of both of you the whole time 0:01:25.480 --> 0:01:27.320 I was there, because the first thing they're like, they 0:01:27.360 --> 0:01:28.600 came in and they said, oh, we've got this. 0:01:29.000 --> 0:01:30.440 I think it's called the eighty three. 0:01:30.520 --> 0:01:34.840 It's like this list of all of these top shelf 0:01:34.920 --> 0:01:38.760 alcohols that have been collected all around the world, so 0:01:38.800 --> 0:01:41.399 it's like some of them are from one hundred years ago. 0:01:41.520 --> 0:01:45.959 Someone's like they're working on cultivating this list of really 0:01:46.000 --> 0:01:48.160 specialty drinks where they told us, they go, oh, no, 0:01:48.240 --> 0:01:51.840 we have a five thousand dollars margarita what where it's 0:01:51.880 --> 0:01:56.360 like a specialty kind of you know, old school tequila 0:01:56.560 --> 0:01:59.040 in with the gold rimmed and the glass. You get 0:01:59.040 --> 0:02:01.160 to keep the glass and it's like a Versace glass 0:02:01.240 --> 0:02:04.320 or Gucci glass, like some specific kind of handcut thing. 0:02:05.120 --> 0:02:07.280 And then as we're leaving, a. 0:02:07.320 --> 0:02:10.519 Guy's like, excuse me, but I love the podcast, big 0:02:10.560 --> 0:02:12.440 fan of the show, and I thought you would really 0:02:12.480 --> 0:02:14.000 like to see this because I think this is something 0:02:14.120 --> 0:02:16.440 Rider would love. And they go to so they have 0:02:16.680 --> 0:02:19.600 these lockers all set up with you can join this 0:02:19.639 --> 0:02:22.160 club where if you have specialty alcohol, they go into 0:02:22.240 --> 0:02:23.840 the locker thing and. 0:02:23.800 --> 0:02:26.040 They'll save it for you. But then he goes watch this, and. 0:02:26.000 --> 0:02:27.800 He reaches behind this thing and he presses a button, 0:02:27.840 --> 0:02:31.280 the secret button, and the whole front opens up and 0:02:31.320 --> 0:02:34.320 there's a speakeasy inside that's Now you're in a walk 0:02:34.320 --> 0:02:37.960 in humidor with cigars from all over the world that's 0:02:38.000 --> 0:02:39.679 only has four little tables in there. 0:02:40.080 --> 0:02:43.040 And oh, this is the rider Strong room right here. 0:02:43.960 --> 0:02:46.000 And then we go down to the casino and I'm like, 0:02:46.040 --> 0:02:50.799 and now we're in Daniel, so top of the line 0:02:50.919 --> 0:02:53.880 spa it was, we could they then they brought us 0:02:53.880 --> 0:02:56.720 to the steakhouse and they were doing the first the 0:02:56.760 --> 0:03:00.520 specialty they thing they had that night was it was 0:03:00.680 --> 0:03:05.560 a pasta courus that's cooked and burned off in the 0:03:05.639 --> 0:03:06.200 cheese wheel. 0:03:06.360 --> 0:03:07.880 Oh, I love it when they do it in the 0:03:07.919 --> 0:03:08.480 cheese wheel. 0:03:08.720 --> 0:03:11.360 So they brought the big parmesan wheel out in front 0:03:11.360 --> 0:03:14.239 of our table. Yeah, they burn off the vodkas, homemade 0:03:14.240 --> 0:03:18.040 pichi bukatini, which is like my favorite, like the thick 0:03:18.120 --> 0:03:22.440 kind of spaghetti, all just in this amazing possible. That 0:03:22.560 --> 0:03:26.680 was our appetizer, and then you're picking all the steaks 0:03:26.720 --> 0:03:28.960 you want. We had these perfectly cooked steaks, and then 0:03:28.960 --> 0:03:31.359 we went to the show twenty five hundred seat theater. 0:03:31.919 --> 0:03:35.720 Gorgeous theater, wonderful seats right at the top. Nate Bargatzi. 0:03:35.840 --> 0:03:37.800 This is the end of his tour. He'd been doing 0:03:37.800 --> 0:03:40.559 this big, long tour and this is the very last episode. 0:03:40.720 --> 0:03:42.600 His openers were great, but then he got on. 0:03:42.640 --> 0:03:44.480 He did like a ninety minute set. He was up 0:03:44.480 --> 0:03:46.600 there forever, just by himself. 0:03:46.720 --> 0:03:50.120 He crushed it soon and I then tried to gamble, 0:03:50.400 --> 0:03:54.600 which we suck at. I mean, we walked around with 0:03:54.720 --> 0:03:56.360 money in our hands, going, I don't know what to 0:03:56.360 --> 0:03:58.880 play because when we go to the slot machines, all 0:03:58.920 --> 0:04:01.000 the slot machines are just you put your money and 0:04:01.200 --> 0:04:04.120 it sucks it in like you've never owned it. And 0:04:04.120 --> 0:04:05.600 then I don't know what's happening, and then all the 0:04:05.600 --> 0:04:07.160 money's God, it was like, I don't know what the 0:04:07.160 --> 0:04:09.680 hell just happened. So we were tried to sit at 0:04:09.720 --> 0:04:11.600 a few tables, but we're just we realized we're just 0:04:11.640 --> 0:04:15.960 not We're like not gamblers, right, But it got even 0:04:16.040 --> 0:04:18.120 you know, so we're sitting at dinner and you know, 0:04:18.120 --> 0:04:20.560 we were all supposed to go together, the four of us, 0:04:20.560 --> 0:04:23.400 but a couple of the women who set this whole 0:04:23.400 --> 0:04:25.680 thing up said do you mind if we have dinner 0:04:25.680 --> 0:04:27.880 with you at soon? We're like, yes, please. We just 0:04:27.920 --> 0:04:29.400 talked to each other all the time. We're sick of 0:04:29.400 --> 0:04:32.160 each other, so yes, other people at the table will 0:04:32.160 --> 0:04:35.200 be great. And they sat down with us, and halfway 0:04:35.200 --> 0:04:37.440 through the meal, she looked over and she said, Okay, 0:04:38.320 --> 0:04:41.640 we would really love to have you guys come and 0:04:41.680 --> 0:04:42.360 do the pod here. 0:04:43.040 --> 0:04:44.840 We will take care of you. 0:04:45.279 --> 0:04:47.400 Do we want the spa all as like the spa, 0:04:47.480 --> 0:04:50.320 the casino, the Rider Strong Room. I was like, I 0:04:50.360 --> 0:04:52.680 don't think it's gonna be too much of an arm 0:04:52.720 --> 0:04:56.040 twist to have us go there and record a couple 0:04:56.040 --> 0:04:59.839 of episodes at this gorgeous casino. The property is absolutely stunning. 0:05:00.160 --> 0:05:01.520 Like we'll take you down to the spot, we'll do 0:05:01.520 --> 0:05:03.200 all this stuff, Like we'll totally take prid of you. 0:05:03.279 --> 0:05:05.680 Co We would love for you to come and do 0:05:06.240 --> 0:05:09.080 the podcast here at the al that's something we have 0:05:09.120 --> 0:05:11.599 to do. And they said, we can pick a show 0:05:12.480 --> 0:05:15.560 that it'll be around and the entertainment they're getting Mariah 0:05:15.600 --> 0:05:19.000 Carey ed Sheeran in this twenty five hundred seat theater. 0:05:19.040 --> 0:05:23.280 So you're seeing what seems like a you know, arena, 0:05:23.480 --> 0:05:25.640 huge but right, but it's this this. 0:05:25.839 --> 0:05:28.920 I'm saying arena show, intimate. 0:05:28.640 --> 0:05:33.080 Intimate venue. And so it's just one banger after the 0:05:33.120 --> 0:05:34.880 next that are going there. So they're like, pick a 0:05:34.920 --> 0:05:37.440 show we can, We'll have you guys, come to the show. 0:05:37.600 --> 0:05:40.159 You'll go to the casino, will comp everything, we will 0:05:40.200 --> 0:05:40.880 do podcasts. 0:05:40.880 --> 0:05:42.719 You're gonna love it. We're gonna have so much fun. 0:05:42.800 --> 0:05:43.560 Go to the steakhouse. 0:05:43.640 --> 0:05:45.560 The steakhouse they ate we ate at just won the 0:05:45.680 --> 0:05:48.800 number one casino restaurant in the country, like beat all 0:05:48.839 --> 0:05:50.440 the Vegas restaurants. 0:05:50.440 --> 0:05:52.840 Everything them in will I'm in. 0:05:53.480 --> 0:05:56.680 You missed you both missed out on a seriously fun night. 0:05:56.800 --> 0:05:58.680 And again it was an hour and it took a 0:05:58.680 --> 0:05:59.159 while to get there. 0:05:59.320 --> 0:06:00.960 We left in a Friday, but the drive back on 0:06:00.960 --> 0:06:02.680 Saturday it was like an hour and fifteen minutes home. 0:06:02.720 --> 0:06:03.200 It was nothing. 0:06:03.480 --> 0:06:06.080 And so it was it was great. Well, thank you, 0:06:06.760 --> 0:06:07.400 it was awesome. 0:06:07.600 --> 0:06:10.160 We will have to make a trip there. A family trend. 0:06:11.680 --> 0:06:13.440 Oh look at you, which, by the way, like even 0:06:13.480 --> 0:06:16.400 when they deliver your car the next day, you walk 0:06:16.440 --> 0:06:18.720 it in and there's two waters sitting in your car too, 0:06:18.760 --> 0:06:19.920 yamava waters waiting for you. 0:06:20.120 --> 0:06:21.360 Top of the line. This is awesome. 0:06:22.320 --> 0:06:25.080 Welcome to Pod meets World. I'm Daniel Fishl, I'm writer strong, 0:06:25.440 --> 0:06:26.960 and I do not know how to gamble. 0:06:28.040 --> 0:06:28.599 I'm Wilford. 0:06:29.960 --> 0:06:32.000 I'll teach you well, I'll teach you please. 0:06:32.040 --> 0:06:32.839 It's awful. 0:06:44.680 --> 0:06:45.400 When we are. 0:06:45.320 --> 0:06:48.120 Recapping an episode and we see a writer's name who 0:06:48.160 --> 0:06:52.000 we remember. It's a nice feeling of nostalgia. But you 0:06:52.000 --> 0:06:54.360 know what else is kind of a cool feeling when 0:06:54.360 --> 0:06:57.000 a writer's name pops up and we don't remember them 0:06:57.160 --> 0:06:57.520 at all. 0:06:57.960 --> 0:06:58.919 It's a mystery. 0:06:59.080 --> 0:07:03.080 We want Saul immediately, and that is the case with 0:07:03.200 --> 0:07:07.480 season five's Andy Gerdat. Andy wrote two episodes in season five, 0:07:07.600 --> 0:07:12.160 Fraternity Row and a very Topanga Christmas, then mysteriously didn't 0:07:12.200 --> 0:07:14.440 have another script for the rest of the season or 0:07:14.680 --> 0:07:17.280 the run of the show. He already had quite a 0:07:17.320 --> 0:07:20.480 resume before he joined Boymet's World somehow, beginning his career 0:07:20.560 --> 0:07:24.280 in the Jefferson's Writer's Room as a first job, and 0:07:24.400 --> 0:07:28.400 then working on Morcan Mindy, Head of the Class, Empty Nest, 0:07:28.800 --> 0:07:32.880 Full House, Sister Sister, and his own show that he 0:07:32.960 --> 0:07:35.560 co created for Fox, Herman's. 0:07:35.080 --> 0:07:37.360 Head Great Show, Such a Yes. 0:07:38.120 --> 0:07:41.960 And after this outstanding sitcom run, he jumped headfirst into 0:07:42.000 --> 0:07:46.120 animated kids shows, entering a third and Emmy nominated category 0:07:46.240 --> 0:07:49.520 of his career on shows like Sheriff Cally's Wild West, 0:07:49.760 --> 0:07:55.000 super Normal, Fancy Nancy, and Paw Patrol, working NonStop even 0:07:55.080 --> 0:07:58.480 after a whopping thirty five years in the business. To 0:07:58.600 --> 0:08:01.120 say that is rare for a TV writer would be 0:08:01.160 --> 0:08:05.720 an incredible understatement. And so today we welcome a very 0:08:05.840 --> 0:08:09.320 esteemed TV writer whose work we all know, yet we 0:08:09.360 --> 0:08:12.320 don't know him at all. It's time to talk to 0:08:12.360 --> 0:08:15.000 season five Boy Meets World writer and the man who 0:08:15.000 --> 0:08:19.600 could introduce Marshall and Chase to my kids. It's Andy Gridatt. Andy, 0:08:19.680 --> 0:08:23.080 thank you so much for joining us. We are honored 0:08:23.120 --> 0:08:27.120 that you said, yes, I know Jensen tracked you down 0:08:27.360 --> 0:08:31.400 with an old home phone number to mind you, so 0:08:32.120 --> 0:08:33.480 I hope we didn't scare you. 0:08:33.840 --> 0:08:34.839 Kale five. 0:08:38.640 --> 0:08:41.280 Very very interesting and exciting. Yeah that I don't even 0:08:41.280 --> 0:08:43.160 know how he got the old We're about to get 0:08:43.200 --> 0:08:44.679 rid of the landline anyway, and. 0:08:44.880 --> 0:08:52.000 Well now you definitely have to because Jensen is your number. Well, 0:08:52.080 --> 0:08:53.920 one of the many reasons we wanted to have you 0:08:53.960 --> 0:08:57.320 on the podcast is you spent just season five on 0:08:57.440 --> 0:09:00.760 Boy Meets World in what has been in an incredibly 0:09:00.880 --> 0:09:05.040 impressive career in TV, and though your name was familiar, 0:09:05.320 --> 0:09:08.240 we could not place your face. Did they keep you 0:09:08.360 --> 0:09:11.040 away from us in some sort of don't feed the 0:09:11.080 --> 0:09:12.160 animals situation? 0:09:12.559 --> 0:09:16.040 Or they very much did. I think they were saving 0:09:16.559 --> 0:09:19.240 you guys from me. It was an odd thing I was. 0:09:19.440 --> 0:09:21.840 I was a freelance writer, so I was not there 0:09:21.880 --> 0:09:25.360 every day. I never met you guys. 0:09:28.600 --> 0:09:30.640 Have a pretty good memory, and I was like, I don't. 0:09:30.480 --> 0:09:36.240 Remember even for writers. Yeah, I kind of disappeared in 0:09:36.280 --> 0:09:39.040 the wall. Well would work there, but yeah, no they 0:09:39.120 --> 0:09:41.600 I never met you guys because they I'm not even 0:09:41.640 --> 0:09:45.000 sure they invited me to the taping. Wow, I remember, 0:09:45.720 --> 0:09:50.559 But it was one of those situations back then. It's 0:09:50.640 --> 0:09:54.320 different now, but in those days, they a typical network 0:09:54.320 --> 0:09:57.920 show would use some freelance freelance writers, right so that 0:09:57.960 --> 0:10:01.200 the staff couldn't keep up with the pace without some help. 0:10:01.240 --> 0:10:05.680 And so I had worked with Bob Tishler on Empty Nest. 0:10:05.720 --> 0:10:09.480 I've done four episodes of Empty Nest work and he 0:10:09.559 --> 0:10:11.600 needed some help, and so he called me in and 0:10:11.640 --> 0:10:13.280 so I just did them. You know. I came in 0:10:13.320 --> 0:10:16.080 and I met with the staff, but I never met 0:10:16.080 --> 0:10:19.040 with anybody else. So I have no good stories. I'm sorry, 0:10:19.080 --> 0:10:21.480 I have no I'm not going to be any entertaining stories. 0:10:25.360 --> 0:10:28.200 Listen, we don't even need entertaining stories about our set. 0:10:28.280 --> 0:10:31.440 We'll just take any entertaining stories you have period. 0:10:31.640 --> 0:10:33.480 Okay, I'll try to manage those. 0:10:33.880 --> 0:10:34.240 Okay. 0:10:34.320 --> 0:10:36.880 Well, before we get into your non stories of Boy 0:10:36.960 --> 0:10:38.920 Meets World, I want to talk about the genesis of 0:10:38.920 --> 0:10:42.800 your writing career and how someone ends up with The 0:10:42.920 --> 0:10:46.000 Jeffersons as their first writer's room. 0:10:46.720 --> 0:10:50.320 Yeah. Like I say, that was it seems like another 0:10:50.559 --> 0:10:54.000 It was another era in television. There were three networks 0:10:54.040 --> 0:10:59.160 when I came out to LA writing. So, and I've 0:10:59.160 --> 0:11:02.160 mentioned this to any times the people when I started writing, 0:11:02.240 --> 0:11:06.280 there were there was one black sitcom writer in all 0:11:06.320 --> 0:11:08.760 of Hollywood, guy named Thad Mumford, who I never worked with. 0:11:09.160 --> 0:11:11.559 Uh, Sad was great. Sad wrote for mash all the time. 0:11:11.600 --> 0:11:14.000 You say, yes, he was a very good writer. Yeah, 0:11:14.040 --> 0:11:16.559 but there was just so. I mean, all these shows 0:11:16.600 --> 0:11:19.200 like The Jeffersons, which now would have a primarily black 0:11:19.240 --> 0:11:23.080 writing staff, didn't have any black writers. So it was 0:11:23.920 --> 0:11:25.720 and because the show had been on the air for 0:11:25.800 --> 0:11:28.640 quite a while at that point, what happens is you know, 0:11:28.640 --> 0:11:31.720 they get the writing staff just gets runs out of stories. 0:11:31.760 --> 0:11:33.920 They just can't think of anything new, so they bring 0:11:33.920 --> 0:11:36.360 in freelancers to try to sort of come up with 0:11:36.400 --> 0:11:40.760 something fresh. And so that's that's how that I. You know, 0:11:40.800 --> 0:11:43.320 I was just pounding my just bear was a kid. 0:11:43.400 --> 0:11:47.120 I was twenty six, I think five even maybe, and 0:11:47.160 --> 0:11:48.920 I was just pounding on doors trying to get in. 0:11:49.000 --> 0:11:50.959 And that was a place you could get in because 0:11:50.960 --> 0:11:54.920 they'd they'd run out of stories, right. I pitched them 0:11:54.960 --> 0:11:58.800 some stories and sold one. But I have an entertaining 0:11:58.800 --> 0:12:02.880 story about that Jefferson's Please Please Okay, So it was 0:12:02.880 --> 0:12:05.600 called Florence's Union. I don't know if you remember the show, 0:12:05.640 --> 0:12:08.680 but Florence was Marla Gibbons made right. So it was 0:12:08.679 --> 0:12:10.959 a story where she formed a union of maids in 0:12:11.000 --> 0:12:13.680 the building. Okay, you can comedy high jinks and sue. Okay. 0:12:14.040 --> 0:12:17.560 So we write it, my late partner and I wrote 0:12:17.559 --> 0:12:22.120 it many years later. If you remember the movie Basic Instinct, 0:12:22.200 --> 0:12:26.640 Michael j Okay, so infamous movie. So there's a scene 0:12:26.720 --> 0:12:29.720 when Michael Douglas has been fired from the police force 0:12:30.040 --> 0:12:32.000 and he's and he's laying on his couch, you know, 0:12:32.040 --> 0:12:33.960 with a Battle of Scotch or something, and the TV's 0:12:34.000 --> 0:12:36.520 going in the background and it was playing our episode. 0:12:38.320 --> 0:12:40.560 And the only reason we knew because on the screen 0:12:40.559 --> 0:12:43.040 for like a second was Marla Gibbs was holding a 0:12:43.080 --> 0:12:45.400 sign that said on strike. And so my partner and 0:12:45.440 --> 0:12:47.400 I happened to see the movie together in a theater. 0:12:47.440 --> 0:12:52.880 We that's we called the writers Guild, and I think 0:12:52.880 --> 0:12:55.440 we got a couple hundred bucks out of it. I 0:12:55.520 --> 0:12:58.160 like to say to the people I co wrote basic. 0:13:01.360 --> 0:13:04.880 Who now at the time, who's running the Jefferson's writers room? 0:13:05.120 --> 0:13:10.760 Oh? God, Bernie Ross And I can't remember his partner's 0:13:10.840 --> 0:13:15.000 name we worked with. God, are their names of going 0:13:15.040 --> 0:13:17.640 out of my head? Sorry, I don't remember. 0:13:17.720 --> 0:13:18.120 That's okay. 0:13:18.160 --> 0:13:20.240 So The Jeffersons was a spin off, right, It was 0:13:20.280 --> 0:13:21.920 a spinoff of All in the. 0:13:21.840 --> 0:13:25.719 Family family, which I then ironically worked for worked on 0:13:25.880 --> 0:13:28.079 for three seasons. I did Archie Bunker's Place a few 0:13:28.120 --> 0:13:31.800 years later, which was the actual spinoff of All in 0:13:31.800 --> 0:13:32.280 the Family. 0:13:32.320 --> 0:13:35.240 So these are all Norman Lear shows, correct, Norman Lear shows, 0:13:35.520 --> 0:13:39.080 who is the essentially the godfather of the American. 0:13:38.679 --> 0:13:42.000 Sitcom Yes, to a large degree, he is of the 0:13:42.000 --> 0:13:43.360 modern sitcom. 0:13:42.960 --> 0:13:45.600 Right, correct, Right, I mean he didn't he didn't do 0:13:45.640 --> 0:13:47.360 stuff like The Honeymooners, which I guess you could go 0:13:47.400 --> 0:13:49.720 back and say was the start of the family sitcom. 0:13:49.760 --> 0:13:52.600 But the modern day family sitcom, the all in the families, 0:13:52.640 --> 0:13:56.280 the Vernon Shirley's all, that's all Norman lear right. 0:13:56.400 --> 0:13:58.840 Yeah, it stems to a large degree from Norman. Yes, 0:13:58.960 --> 0:14:00.560 I mean he was the one who's that who just 0:14:00.600 --> 0:14:03.240 sort of decided, you know, a sitcom doesn't have to 0:14:03.240 --> 0:14:08.199 be soft, it could be a g it could be outrageous, 0:14:08.679 --> 0:14:11.800 and you know people been doing that ever since. 0:14:12.400 --> 0:14:14.160 Right, I'm sorry, I take it back. I think Levernon 0:14:14.160 --> 0:14:15.040 Shirley was Gary Marshall. 0:14:15.080 --> 0:14:16.000 That was Gary Marshall. 0:14:16.040 --> 0:14:20.280 Yeah, that was not Yes, geez, some of the biggest ever. 0:14:20.440 --> 0:14:21.280 That's awesome. 0:14:21.480 --> 0:14:23.760 With your writing partner who you mentioned. What was his name? 0:14:23.920 --> 0:14:27.600 His name was Steve Crimberg. He's passed away since, but yeah, 0:14:27.600 --> 0:14:32.000 we started out together in nineteen seventy eight, I think 0:14:32.080 --> 0:14:36.360 was our first credit even and worked together for quite 0:14:36.360 --> 0:14:38.320 a while and then he sort of got fed up 0:14:38.320 --> 0:14:42.160 with the business and moved away, and then I went 0:14:42.200 --> 0:14:44.960 on solo for quite a while, and then I started 0:14:44.960 --> 0:14:50.160 writing again with a partner then Steve Sullivan. Yeah, and 0:14:50.200 --> 0:14:51.840 we wrote a lot of cartoons together. 0:14:52.000 --> 0:14:55.160 So well, you went on to Mork and Mindy, Archie 0:14:55.160 --> 0:14:58.160 Bunker's Place as well as you mentioned, and TV version 0:14:58.320 --> 0:14:59.080 of nine to five. 0:14:59.160 --> 0:15:01.080 The list goes on on. But I wanted to ask 0:15:01.120 --> 0:15:02.960 you also about Head of the Class. 0:15:03.240 --> 0:15:03.400 Oh. 0:15:03.480 --> 0:15:06.720 Yeah, it was a massive ratings hit, but allegedly had 0:15:06.720 --> 0:15:09.240 a lot of egos and issues on set. 0:15:09.320 --> 0:15:10.720 What was that experience like. 0:15:11.440 --> 0:15:15.440 Well, Head of the Class I'm very friendly with I've 0:15:15.440 --> 0:15:19.400 stayed friendly with most most of the people the writing 0:15:19.440 --> 0:15:22.200 staff because it was it was sort of like a 0:15:22.240 --> 0:15:24.880 Bunker mentality, because it was a very difficult show to do. 0:15:25.640 --> 0:15:27.480 It was a bit too big of a cast. You 0:15:27.480 --> 0:15:31.160 guys know from you know when you're when you're structuring 0:15:31.160 --> 0:15:33.520 a sitcom, you don't want to add too many characters 0:15:33.520 --> 0:15:36.600 because then everybody gets a little bit less and then 0:15:36.840 --> 0:15:41.440 you can't keep all the actors busy. It makes everything difficult. 0:15:41.480 --> 0:15:43.840 But for whatever reason, the guys who they were very 0:15:43.840 --> 0:15:48.200 good writers, but they missed they misconceived the show originally, 0:15:48.280 --> 0:15:52.320 so we had this huge classroom of kids and then 0:15:52.320 --> 0:15:54.960 Howard Hessman was the star. But but we just couldn't 0:15:55.000 --> 0:15:57.200 keep everybody busy, so the set was always in turmoil. 0:15:57.880 --> 0:15:59.320 The writer's room was fine. 0:15:59.120 --> 0:16:03.640 Though very close with Tony Odell, who is a dialogue 0:16:03.640 --> 0:16:06.400 coach and I work with a lot on my Disney 0:16:06.440 --> 0:16:10.160 Channel shows, and Tony Odell is a gem of a 0:16:10.200 --> 0:16:12.720 human being, and I can't imagine that he was any 0:16:12.720 --> 0:16:13.440 different back then. 0:16:14.360 --> 0:16:19.240 I again spent very little time on the set, right 0:16:19.480 --> 0:16:21.520 because I was the guy stuck in the writer's room 0:16:21.560 --> 0:16:25.000 trying to crank out next week's exactly devising producer on it, 0:16:25.480 --> 0:16:28.880 and Tony was always fine. I don't know if he 0:16:29.000 --> 0:16:31.840 if he would confirm or deny some of the difficulties, 0:16:31.880 --> 0:16:36.360 but I think it was mostly stemmed from actors who 0:16:36.360 --> 0:16:39.000 were unhappy. Yeah, they didn't have enough to do, which 0:16:39.040 --> 0:16:42.200 is understandable. And then you have two lines and one 0:16:42.200 --> 0:16:43.840 of them what happened next, mister Moore? 0:16:44.200 --> 0:16:49.000 Right right, Hessman's first show after Karp wasn't it? 0:16:49.400 --> 0:16:49.800 Yes? It was? 0:16:49.880 --> 0:16:51.480 Yeah, so he was he was coming on. He was 0:16:51.480 --> 0:16:52.600 a big star by that point. 0:16:52.680 --> 0:16:54.680 He was a pretty big star, and he was also 0:16:54.960 --> 0:16:57.800 frankly a bit of a grouch and was not happy 0:16:57.840 --> 0:17:00.440 he'd been sold the idea of the show, which is 0:17:00.440 --> 0:17:03.680 to say you're the there's two stars you and then 0:17:03.680 --> 0:17:06.520 the class, but you're going to be the co star 0:17:06.560 --> 0:17:08.600 of every episode. And it really didn't quite lay out 0:17:08.640 --> 0:17:09.720 that right. 0:17:09.760 --> 0:17:11.640 Well, they probably pitched him like it was welcome back Catter, 0:17:11.800 --> 0:17:15.359 like this is your year, mister Catter essentially, but it didn't. 0:17:15.160 --> 0:17:17.959 Quite plan now, and he was not particularly happy with 0:17:18.200 --> 0:17:20.680 that aspect of it, and probably some other things. I 0:17:20.680 --> 0:17:23.560 always liked Howard personally whenever I would talk to him 0:17:23.800 --> 0:17:25.800 off off the set, but on the set he could 0:17:25.800 --> 0:17:30.719 be pretty grouchy. And anyway it was, it was what 0:17:30.760 --> 0:17:32.720 it was. You know, it's it's water under the bridge. 0:17:32.760 --> 0:17:34.960 I look back on that stuff now and just think, 0:17:35.040 --> 0:17:37.320 oh my god, I cannot believe we were all fighting 0:17:37.359 --> 0:17:41.800 over Yeah, that joke really well. 0:17:41.840 --> 0:17:44.320 And then you get to create your very own show 0:17:44.520 --> 0:17:48.040 with Herman's Head one of Fox's first big swings when 0:17:48.040 --> 0:17:50.760 it came to original sitcoms. What did it feel like 0:17:50.960 --> 0:17:55.480 going from writer's room to suddenly being your own showrunner 0:17:55.520 --> 0:17:55.960 and EP? 0:17:56.800 --> 0:17:59.280 Well, first of all, I never eat heat it, which 0:17:59.320 --> 0:18:01.879 is okay, there's a long story to that which I 0:18:01.880 --> 0:18:05.200 will not give you the whole ugly story. But Herman's 0:18:05.240 --> 0:18:07.479 Head was an idea that my white partner and I 0:18:07.480 --> 0:18:09.960 came up with and we sold to ABC. Back in 0:18:10.000 --> 0:18:12.720 the god it would have been nineteen eighty three or something. 0:18:13.280 --> 0:18:14.760 It was ahead of its time. It was ahead of 0:18:14.760 --> 0:18:18.520 the curve for obvious reasons and because it took place 0:18:18.560 --> 0:18:23.159 inside a guy's head, and so ABC passed on it, 0:18:23.160 --> 0:18:25.679 but it became kind of a famous unsold pilot and 0:18:25.720 --> 0:18:28.600 we got work off of it forever. And then in 0:18:28.680 --> 0:18:34.359 nineteen ninety I think eighty nine maybe our agency CIA, 0:18:34.400 --> 0:18:37.600 which was super powerful then, more much more powerful than 0:18:37.600 --> 0:18:39.960 than it is now, and they called us and said, 0:18:39.960 --> 0:18:42.080 by the way, Herman's Head just sold a Fox, which 0:18:42.119 --> 0:18:45.920 was like, wait what yeah, because we were producing out 0:18:45.920 --> 0:18:47.840 of the Class and we just signed a two year 0:18:47.920 --> 0:18:50.560 deal to continue producing Head of the Class, so we 0:18:50.560 --> 0:18:52.119 couldn't back out of it. And it was like we 0:18:52.520 --> 0:18:55.119 got sort of blindsided, and so we made it a 0:18:55.119 --> 0:18:57.040 deal to be a creative consultants on it, but we 0:18:57.119 --> 0:19:01.359 got epe the show. It was for us extremely frustrating 0:19:01.400 --> 0:19:05.560 because yes, it was a funny show, there's no quest 0:19:05.720 --> 0:19:08.680 remember it very fondly, but it wasn't quite the show 0:19:09.200 --> 0:19:12.840 he and I had imagined we'd imagined something, uh that 0:19:12.880 --> 0:19:16.160 would be funny, but also you know win Emmy's because 0:19:16.400 --> 0:19:19.159 that it could be about the human thought process. You 0:19:19.160 --> 0:19:21.840 could dramatize what it's like to be a human being 0:19:21.920 --> 0:19:23.840 and those important decisions we all make. 0:19:23.880 --> 0:19:29.240 Basically what inside out and made a billion dollars. Yeah, 0:19:29.160 --> 0:19:31.280 when I first heard of inside Out, I was like, 0:19:31.400 --> 0:19:34.280 this is just Herman's Head. I remember Herman's Head so well, 0:19:34.320 --> 0:19:36.880 and I loved the concept as a kid. I only 0:19:36.880 --> 0:19:39.800 saw a few episodes, but I remember thinking, this is brilliant, 0:19:39.840 --> 0:19:42.399 this idea, and then inside Out just took it to 0:19:42.440 --> 0:19:46.399 the they never gave I never made a penny on 0:19:46.480 --> 0:19:47.040 inside Out. 0:19:47.080 --> 0:19:51.639 That yeah, inside out, but it certainly did take it 0:19:51.960 --> 0:19:54.480