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Speaker 1: Hi everyone, I'm Kittie Couric and this is Next Question. Okay,

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Speaker 1: this is a bonus episode of Next Question, and I

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Speaker 1: must say a pretty fun one. First of all, I've

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Speaker 1: got my plus one today and it's none other than

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Speaker 1: my sidekick, Adriana Fazzio. Thank you, ladies and gentlemen, thank you. Yes,

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Speaker 1: she's terrific, Adriana. How excited are you to be here

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Speaker 1: with me?

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Speaker 2: I am so excited. I'm usually silently next to you,

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Speaker 2: but now I get to mic today.

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Speaker 1: And why are you excited? Fazzio?

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Speaker 2: I'm excited because you and I both love the show

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Speaker 2: Hacks on Max, which rhymes. And we get to interview

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Speaker 2: the three writers today, Jen Statski, Paul w Downs and

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Speaker 2: Lucia Anello.

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Speaker 1: That's right. And when we watch this show, what do

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Speaker 1: we always say, faz.

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Speaker 2: We say that we are the real life Dubbor Vance

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Speaker 2: and Ava Daniels.

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Speaker 1: It's true for about or for worse.

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Speaker 2: Although we're not toxic.

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Speaker 1: No, well, I don't think they're toxic. Do you think

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Speaker 1: they're toxic?

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Speaker 3: I do.

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Speaker 1: They are toxic maybe in moments, but then they have

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Speaker 1: other moments of real just true affection and I don't

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Speaker 1: know and connection, but anyway, I digress. First of all,

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Speaker 1: they were so nice to spend so much time with us.

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Speaker 1: But here is our conversation with the writers of our

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Speaker 1: favorite show, Hacks.

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Speaker 3: Well.

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Speaker 1: First of all, I can't tell you how excited Atriona

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Speaker 1: and I both are that you all have carved out

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Speaker 1: a little time and your incredibly busy schedules to talk

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Speaker 1: to us about Hacks. Because we love the show. We're

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Speaker 1: obsessed with the show, and we actually think the show

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Speaker 1: is about us. We do well. I'm an older, I'm

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Speaker 1: sort of you know, I'm Deborah Vance and Adriana is

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Speaker 1: Ava and we laugh about it all the time, and actually,

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Speaker 1: following this podcast, we'd like to talk about a show

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Speaker 1: based on us if you all have to do it,

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Speaker 1: and you know, I know you think we're kidding, but

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Speaker 1: we're actually not kidding.

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Speaker 3: Okay, love that.

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Speaker 4: I'm sure We're open for pitches. Let's do it.

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Speaker 5: Well.

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Speaker 1: First of all, I also want to say congratulations because

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Speaker 1: it must be an incredible feeling. I know you all

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Speaker 1: have had a lot of success in other shows, and

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Speaker 1: we can talk about those, but I feel like Hacks

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Speaker 1: has become so huge and has made such a mark. Paul,

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Speaker 1: let me start with you. I mean, what is it

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Speaker 1: like having such a hugely successful show. It must be thrilling,

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Speaker 1: but also kind of a lot of pressure, right.

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Speaker 6: Well, it is a lot of pressure in that I

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Speaker 6: think we've had such a great response and people, you know,

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Speaker 6: who tell us that the show resonates with them, we

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Speaker 6: just want to make it better every season for them.

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Speaker 6: And you know, as people who love film and television,

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Speaker 6: I love it when a show just gets better and better,

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Speaker 6: and so I think there's pressure in that way. But

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Speaker 6: knowing how much content in the world there is and

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Speaker 6: how much great television there is, it is so gratifying

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Speaker 6: that it's cut through because you never know, you know,

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Speaker 6: we feel very very lucky that people have found the

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Speaker 6: show and really respond to it.

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Speaker 1: Luccio, what about you?

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Speaker 7: Yeah, very similar sentiment, which is just like you know,

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Speaker 7: I think, especially when people tell us how much the

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Speaker 7: show means to them and how much they feel seen

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Speaker 7: and connect to it, or say, you know, like I

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Speaker 7: watched it with my dad when he was sick and

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Speaker 7: it was something we could laugh at together.

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Speaker 5: You know, stories like that.

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Speaker 7: They're so sweet and touching, But also it makes me

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Speaker 7: want to make the show good for those people and

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Speaker 7: so that is really a huge source of the almost

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Speaker 7: abilitating anxiety I feel in general about making the shows,

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Speaker 7: Like I really just don't want to disappoint people, and

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Speaker 7: I want, like Paul saying, to give them more of

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Speaker 7: what they feel like they love about the show, but also,

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Speaker 7: you know, still make the show that we want to make.

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Speaker 5: So it is.

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Speaker 7: It is a lot of pressure, but it really comes

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Speaker 7: from having such gratefulness of being able to even make

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Speaker 7: a show right now, Like the industry is in such

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Speaker 7: a weird place of being able to be even writing

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Speaker 7: a season four of a show, which we're doing right now,

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Speaker 7: feels like such a rarity.

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Speaker 1: And Jen, bring it home, Jen.

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Speaker 8: No pressure, no everything, these guys said, And I think also,

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Speaker 8: you know, just to get to make a comedy right

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Speaker 8: now in twenty twenty four, we feel really privileged and lucky.

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Speaker 8: Like we the three of us. You know, the show

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Speaker 8: is about creative collaboration. It's about two people who are

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Speaker 8: lit up and have a love of comedy and it's

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Speaker 8: what drives them. And that's very much so the story

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Speaker 8: of the three of us. We met doing comedy at

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Speaker 8: the UCB in New York and we love it.

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Speaker 1: And upright citizens brigade for you neophyte listeners.

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Speaker 8: Yeah, and so to get to do that and make

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Speaker 8: this comedy show with people that I meant like in

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Speaker 8: a sketch group and like a theater underneath the grocery

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Speaker 8: store is like feels really cool and special and we

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Speaker 8: just I don't know, Yeah, there is there is pressure

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Speaker 8: with it, but you try to just focus on how

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Speaker 8: lucky you are.

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Speaker 1: Are you Canadian, by the way, because you say a

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Speaker 1: bout I know.

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Speaker 4: Okay, so this is so talking about it all the time.

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Speaker 1: I'm glad she's either Canadian or from Baltimore.

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Speaker 8: I'm glad we're getting into this, Katie. So I'm from

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Speaker 8: I'm from Boston and my.

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Speaker 1: Dad is what the hell is about about?

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Speaker 8: I know, it's so strange, it does pop out some sids.

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Speaker 4: What happened? Two things happened.

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Speaker 8: I think when I went to I had I had

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Speaker 8: a pretty thick Boston accent because my dad is from

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Speaker 8: South Boston and has like a really thick South the accent.

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Speaker 8: I think when I went to NYU, I kind of

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Speaker 8: lost the accent. But then I did date someone from

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Speaker 8: Canada for a long time, and I think I picked.

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Speaker 1: Up started talking like that.

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Speaker 7: I started.

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Speaker 8: I think I picked up something. So shout out to

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Speaker 8: Brian Bernstein. If you're listening to every piece of media

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Speaker 8: I do. You're still in my life every day.

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Speaker 1: Hey, I'm big in Canada.

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Speaker 3: Paul, I believe it. I believe it.

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Speaker 2: So Lucie, I guess you're the best person to bring

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Speaker 2: together the connective tissue A. Jen was talking a little

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Speaker 2: bit about how you all met, but then also how

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Speaker 2: Hacks became a show.

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Speaker 7: Yeah, so Paul and Jen and I, well, we originally

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Speaker 7: all met when I'm Paul and I met at a

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Speaker 7: level one UCB class, and then Jen and I maybe

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Speaker 7: two or three years later or something like that, met

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Speaker 7: because we were the only girls in a.

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Speaker 5: Kind of a sketch comedy group.

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Speaker 7: But then the boys stopped emailing us and so we

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Speaker 7: were kind of kicked out of the group. But Jen

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Speaker 7: and I remained friends, and then I introduced paulin gen

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Speaker 7: around that same time, and we were just friends, you know,

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Speaker 7: and then we I guess maybe when is the first

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Speaker 7: time we worked together? Was it on Broad City that

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Speaker 7: we actually well other than work making the videos?

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Speaker 4: Yeah, that's so crazy.

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Speaker 5: It was.

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Speaker 4: It might have been It might have been Broad City

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Speaker 4: or maybe I had done punch up for something you

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Speaker 4: guys did.

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Speaker 1: I don't know, because I did feel like we took

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Speaker 1: their material and made it funnier Chan.

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Speaker 8: Yes, which is it's hard to do because they're incredibly funny,

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Speaker 8: the best writers.

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Speaker 4: So I tried, at least. I don't know that I succeeded.

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Speaker 7: She she always does, but yeah, and so we basically

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Speaker 7: we started writing together in different ways. Punched up a

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Speaker 7: movie that we made rough Night when she was on

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Speaker 7: set with us, and we wrote a spec script. The

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Speaker 7: three of us wrote a movie that we tried to

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Speaker 7: get made that we have yet to.

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Speaker 5: Succeed in doing. But then we were writing.

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Speaker 7: Jen and I were kind of helping Paul on his

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Speaker 7: Netflix special all the characters called Up Down Search that

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Speaker 7: and on our drive from Boston to Portland, Maine, which

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Speaker 7: is where we were shooting a segment for it, we

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Speaker 7: started talking about, you know, women in this industry, especially

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Speaker 7: stand ups, who like you, kind of only read about

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Speaker 7: when their obituary happens, and you're like, oh, yeah, why

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Speaker 7: didn't they ever have the same kind of careers that

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Speaker 7: their male counterparts had, And we were just kind of

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Speaker 7: talking about this idea of what it's like to be

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Speaker 7: a woman of a certain age who's had to, you know,

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Speaker 7: try to make it in that industry at a certain time,

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Speaker 7: and then what that does to your personality, What does

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Speaker 7: that do to your psyche, what does that do to

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Speaker 7: your career, and how you have to kind of gravitate

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Speaker 7: towards certain kinds of materials to survive. Maybe is it

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Speaker 7: kind of what you initially intended to do with your comedy,

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Speaker 7: but it's a way to make money, and so that

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Speaker 7: kind of is like where we.

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Speaker 5: Started having this idea.

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Speaker 7: And then the idea of like a younger comedian, a

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Speaker 7: younger woman kind of learning to respect the older comedian

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Speaker 7: through working with her, and just kind of what that

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Speaker 7: generational conflict would do you just felt like a great

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Speaker 7: story engine. It felt like a great character engine. We

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Speaker 7: kind of just never stopped talking about it. Whether we

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Speaker 7: were hanging out or working together, We just kind of

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Speaker 7: always would email each other ideas, Oh.

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Speaker 5: It could be this idea or that idea. Like it

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Speaker 5: just kind of over the course of a.

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Speaker 7: Couple of years, from like I think twenty fifteen until

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Speaker 7: twenty nineteen, it's just something we were always working on

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Speaker 7: on the back burner and then twenty nineteen.

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Speaker 5: We were like, it really just felt like the right

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Speaker 5: time to pitch it.

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Speaker 1: And it took you five years, as you said, from

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Speaker 1: kind of the conception to getting it ready to pitch,

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Speaker 1: and you were all busy doing other things. I know, Jen,

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Speaker 1: you were on the good place, right And weren't you

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Speaker 1: guys also working on broad City? Lucia and Paul, As

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Speaker 1: Lucia mentioned, you both had plenty of other projects, but

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Speaker 1: this thing was just sort of this nagging idea that

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Speaker 1: wouldn't go away. And I want to talk about the

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Speaker 1: characters and who they're based on in a minute, but

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Speaker 1: if you will indulge me for a moment, I'm sort

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Speaker 1: of interested in all of yours gin stories because I

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Speaker 1: love to know kind of why people become what they become.

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Speaker 1: And I know, Paul, you grew up in New Jersey.

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Speaker 1: You describe yourself as kind of a weird, quiet, shy kid,

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Speaker 1: and you had parents who were super funny, and you

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Speaker 1: kind of related. I think you said that that comedy

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Speaker 1: kind of fueled you, and it also made you less lonely,

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Speaker 1: it made you connect with people. See, I did my

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Speaker 1: research polem. Can you talk a little bit about that

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Speaker 1: and how ultimately you decided to pursue this as a career.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean, you know, I was.

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Speaker 6: I certainly actually wasn't shy, is the truth. But I

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Speaker 6: was very eccentric and strange as a child, I think,

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Speaker 6: and my parents certainly fan the flames of that. They

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Speaker 6: you know, my mom and I used to watch Nick

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Speaker 6: at night and we watched I Love Lucy and Bewitched

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Speaker 6: and you know, whatever else was on. And my dad

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Speaker 6: was a big fan of the Marx Brothers and mel

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Speaker 6: Brooks and you know, so I was watching Young Frankenstein

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Speaker 6: probably before I even understood what half of the references were.

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Speaker 6: And yeah, it was the thing as a kid that

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Speaker 6: you know, I think a lot of people get into

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Speaker 6: comedy because it's, you know, the thing that, especially when

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Speaker 6: you share a sense of humor with somebody, you find

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Speaker 6: your people. And certainly for me, it was also a

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Speaker 6: way of, you know, you can avoid being bullied if

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Speaker 6: you can make people laugh, So that was certainly it

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Speaker 6: was a defense mechanism in a way too. And yeah,

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Speaker 6: I just always loved it, and I loved Saturday Night Live,

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Speaker 6: and I loved watching Robin Williams, and I just wanted

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Speaker 6: to do what he and those people did, so I

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Speaker 6: started writing for myself. In high school, I would do

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Speaker 6: character monologues because I went to a school that had

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Speaker 6: a great performing arts program, and there was this thing

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Speaker 6: called the black Box Theater, and at lunch time you

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Speaker 6: would do like lunch room performances, like a coffee shop

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Speaker 6: for the kids who weren't sitting at the popular table.

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Speaker 6: You could go and do like coffee shop poetry or

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Speaker 6: character monologue.

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Speaker 1: Oh, I love your school. I'm so glad they did that.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, the Pingree School.

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Speaker 6: Shout out to al Romano and Patricia Wheeler who were

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Speaker 6: running the program there at the Pingree School. But yeah,

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Speaker 6: it was like a performance at arts high school. And

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Speaker 6: I think that certainly started me off. And then when

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Speaker 6: I went to college, I did improv in sketch and college,

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Speaker 6: and so when I moved to New York after I

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Speaker 6: was doing stand up and I was auditioning for things,

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Speaker 6: and I wanted to be a comedic actor. But it

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Speaker 6: wasn't until I started doing improv again. And actually it

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Speaker 6: was day one of our first improv class that I

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Speaker 6: met Luccia and I told them this recently, it's so weird.

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Speaker 6: Maybe it's just because you know, someone's going to be

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Speaker 6: important in your life. But I remember the moment of

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Speaker 6: meeting both general Lucia, and I don't have that for

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Speaker 6: many people in my life, which is pretty wild.

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Speaker 1: What do you remember?

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Speaker 3: Well?

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Speaker 6: I showed up early to class because I was so nervous,

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Speaker 6: and Luccia came about ten or fifteen minutes late, very nonplussed,

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Speaker 6: and said what are we doing? And I was like,

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Speaker 6: who is this girl who was so confident and walked

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Speaker 6: in and was like essentially. And then very shortly thereafter,

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Speaker 6: I was doing a scene in this class and she

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Speaker 6: did turn to the instructor and said, you should write

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Speaker 6: that line down, which is not something to do in improv,

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Speaker 6: but she was already directing that's funny.

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Speaker 3: And then I knew of.

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Speaker 6: Jen because I had read some of the sketches that

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Speaker 6: Lucia and Gen were writing, and for Lucia to be

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Speaker 6: lit up by somebody meant they were very special. And

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Speaker 6: I know Lucia spoke so fondly of Jen and how

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Speaker 6: funny she was, so I was very excited to meet her.

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Speaker 6: And then I met her at a coffee shop and

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Speaker 6: I was struck by well, I did say, wow, funny

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Speaker 6: and beautiful which is probably very inappropriate nowadays.

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Speaker 3: It's like I couldn't do.

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Speaker 8: It, but it's interesting because it was in front of

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Speaker 8: your girlfriend at the time.

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Speaker 3: I'm not that jealous tight, but that's the kind of

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Speaker 3: guy I am.

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Speaker 5: No, Yeah, I said, you know what, He's totally right.

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Speaker 5: I agree, And that's.

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Speaker 3: An exclusive Miss Katie about that.

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Speaker 7: Yeah, breaking news is such an old timey line to

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Speaker 7: kind of do.

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Speaker 5: Also at like what were you twenty four twenty fives?

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Speaker 6: Truly am I grout show Mark speaking of Yeah, I

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Speaker 6: done the harp, putting my leg in her hand when

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Speaker 6: I shook her hand.

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Speaker 3: But it was very old school thought Villian almost.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, Jen, I know that you really like the Mary

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Speaker 2: Tyler Moore Show and that was part of the reason

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Speaker 2: you wanted to become a TV writer. What was it

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Speaker 2: about that show that drew you to the industry.

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Speaker 8: Yeah, I was like, like I was an only child

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Speaker 8: and my parents were around a lot.

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Speaker 4: I watched a lot of Nicked Night, like old tea.

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Speaker 1: Like this is a this is some connective tissue nicked Ye.

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Speaker 1: Were you a big Nicked Night person?

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Speaker 5: I watched it. I see liked night.

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Speaker 8: Anonymous thought I were more Yeah, she was cooler, that

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Speaker 8: is true.

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Speaker 1: I don't know, but were you watching the Mary Tyler

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Speaker 1: Moore Show on Nicked Night, Because, by the way, Jen,

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Speaker 1: you and I are kind of on the same page

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Speaker 1: because I became a journalist because of the Mary telling

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Speaker 1: Marsh and absolutely loved that show. And I thought it

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Speaker 1: was so interesting when I read that you thought the

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Speaker 1: pilot was the perfect pilot, and then it made me.

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Speaker 1: I've rewatched the Mary Taylor Moore Show on YouTube or

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Speaker 1: on what yeah, I guess on YouTube, and do you

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Speaker 1: remember exactly what was in the pilot? Is that when

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Speaker 1: Lou Grant said you have spunk and I hate sponsor.

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Speaker 4: Yeah, yeah, So the pilot, to me, that is exactly it.

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Speaker 8: During the interview when Lou and Mary meat for the

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Speaker 8: first time, it is that, you know, I think the

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Speaker 8: reason it's such a good pilot is like that in

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Speaker 8: that interview scene, their rapport and their comedic games are

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Speaker 8: so evident right immediately, and you immediately are like, oh,

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Speaker 8: I want one hundred more episodes of these two doing this.

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Speaker 8: And so I thought about that scene a lot during

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Speaker 8: the deborn Ava interview scene in our pilot because it

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Speaker 8: kind of had the same exact feeling which was you

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Speaker 8: need to buy into the dynamic between these characters immediately

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Speaker 8: for it to work, and you know Mary, they have

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Speaker 8: such crazy good chemistry in that scene. It's so funny.

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Speaker 8: And then the other reason I think it's the perfect

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Speaker 8: pilot and it did influence me wanting to be a

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Speaker 8: TV sitcom writer is for me like sitcoms are so

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Speaker 8: special and wonderful when they are both really funny but

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Speaker 8: have heart and make you feel things, even in thirty

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Speaker 8: minutes twenty one minutes on Network, and that pilot is

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Speaker 8: so funny, but it also is so heart wrenching at

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Speaker 8: the end when her you know X comes back and

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Speaker 8: she's moved and she's like kind of kind of been

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Speaker 8: longing for him and he comes back in our life

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Speaker 8: and she's finally realized her value and it's just like

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Speaker 8: a two line thing. But when he says like, take

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Speaker 8: care of yourself, Mary, and she goes, I think I

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Speaker 8: just did that like made me choke up. That made

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Speaker 8: me choke up as like a ten year old, And

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Speaker 8: I was like, oh, this this is so funny and

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Speaker 8: also so real and emotional that those are the stories

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Speaker 8: I want to tell and what I want to do.

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Speaker 4: So yeah, it was incredibly influential to me.

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Speaker 1: We're going to throw it to break but first, I'm

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Speaker 1: Katie Couric and I'm Adriana Fasio, my plus one for

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Speaker 1: today's episode, and we'll be back with more of the

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Speaker 1: writers from Hacks right after this. If you want to

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Speaker 1: get smarter every morning with a breakdown of the news

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Speaker 1: and fascinating takes on health and wellness and pop culture,

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Speaker 1: sign up for our daily newsletter, Wakeupcall by going to

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Speaker 1: Katiecuric dot com. We're back with the writers from our

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Speaker 1: favorite show, Hacks. Luccia, I know that you didn't get

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Speaker 1: into a school you wanted to get into and you

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Speaker 1: ended up waitressing at a restaurant called KOI. Yes, and

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Speaker 1: even before that, tell me what drove you to this

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Speaker 1: line of work?

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Speaker 7: Yeah, I mean I I actually kind of what I

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Speaker 7: really wanted to do when I was younger was be

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Speaker 7: an MTV VJ.

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Speaker 5: That was like what I wanted to do.

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Speaker 1: I was like that just you wanted to be Martha Quinn, Yes,

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Speaker 1: I literally did.

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Speaker 7: I was like, that's right, I'm going to hang out

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Speaker 7: with rock stars and just kind of hang out.

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Speaker 5: I get famous doing it that.

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Speaker 3: She was perfect doing that.

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Speaker 9: Well.

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Speaker 8: Yeah, yeah, but she has an amazing music taste, so that's

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Speaker 8: very sweet.

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Speaker 5: But that didn't work out. So then, you know, I

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Speaker 5: also loved comedy.

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Speaker 7: I loved watching you know, SNL and I was obsessed

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Speaker 7: with The Simpsons and Daria was really influential to.

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Speaker 5: Me as a kid. But then when I went to

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Speaker 5: college and my undergrad I.

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Speaker 7: Did go I went to Columbia and I was and

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Speaker 7: I loved the film studies program there, but I didn't

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Speaker 7: get into grad school. I wanted to go to NYU

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Speaker 7: Film School and I didn't get in, and so take

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Speaker 7: that and film school, so I started I started doing

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Speaker 7: improv classes because I knew I literally like googled Amy Poehler.

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Speaker 5: I was like, what does she? How did she get

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Speaker 5: to because it was.

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Speaker 7: A time where Tina and Amy were the weekend update hosts.

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Speaker 7: And then that led me to UCB, and so I

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Speaker 7: moved back to New York after college, I like took

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Speaker 7: this summer off and then that's where I met Paul.

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Speaker 7: But I kind of, you know, i'd studied film studies

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Speaker 7: and so I wasn't really planning on being a director necessarily,

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Speaker 7: even though like you know, I had now seen so

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Speaker 7: many films as an undergrad that it was really you know,

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Speaker 7: I had a certain language to discuss it, and I

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Speaker 7: actually thought maybe I would go into criticism because I

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Speaker 7: had a professor.

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Speaker 5: There, Andrew Sarra, So I really learned a lot from

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Speaker 5: and loved.

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Speaker 7: But then when we started, you know, like performing and

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Speaker 7: doing improv and sketches and all that, I did start

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Speaker 7: to gravitate towards the directing. But part of what I

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Speaker 7: felt like was a great education for directing was waitressing.

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Speaker 7: And yes I worked at a couple of restaurants in

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Speaker 7: New York, but the tenure, my longest tenure was like Croy,

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Speaker 7: which is that the Brian Parker tell.

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Speaker 1: I loved their coursby Rice with.

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Speaker 7: It's fantastic, and I have to say they're like the

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Speaker 7: ogs of that. I don't remember having it before or

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Speaker 7: seeing it now. It's kind of everywhere, but.

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Speaker 1: I know you Rice.

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Speaker 7: But I also grew up in the restaurant business. My

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Speaker 7: parents own restaurants and my dad was a chef and

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Speaker 7: my mom designed them. It was a pastry chef, and

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Speaker 7: also they ran the restaurant together. So I also grew

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Speaker 7: up with a husband and wife in front of me

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Speaker 7: working together as Paul, and I do now?

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Speaker 1: And and where was that again, Lucia?

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Speaker 5: This was an Amherst, Massachusetts.

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Speaker 1: Oh that's right, that's right.

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Speaker 2: Are you the one that's behind the Papa Gino's pertucciese choke?

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Speaker 5: Actually no, because I would never go to another pizza.

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Speaker 4: Place, like I would never go.

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Speaker 8: To those places because yeah, she wouldn't be caught dead

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Speaker 8: in a Papainos.

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Speaker 1: Papa Gino's family.

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Speaker 4: So I thank you for your six family.

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Speaker 1: Also, yeah, yeah.

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Speaker 5: I'm not I met my own family.

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Speaker 4: Literally, you're an an yellow family.

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Speaker 7: Yeah, I'm in a yellow so but I definitely felt like,

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Speaker 7: you know, working as a waitress was such a great

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Speaker 7: education for show running and directing, because you deal with

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Speaker 7: front of house, back of house, you know, which is

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Speaker 7: very much like dealing with networks and executives and you know, actors,

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Speaker 7: and then also.

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Speaker 5: Back of the house, which is also kind of actors

445
00:21:23,080 --> 00:21:23,440
Speaker 5: but like.

446
00:21:23,560 --> 00:21:26,920
Speaker 7: Crew people, and you know, learning the nuts and bolts

447
00:21:26,920 --> 00:21:29,240
Speaker 7: of what goes into it and having to kind of

448
00:21:29,280 --> 00:21:32,120
Speaker 7: shape shift depending on who you were dealing with, and

449
00:21:32,160 --> 00:21:33,919
Speaker 7: like do I need to just be brief here and

450
00:21:34,080 --> 00:21:35,760
Speaker 7: just get it done, or do I go over here?

451
00:21:35,800 --> 00:21:38,359
Speaker 5: And you know, do they want to show or whatever

452
00:21:38,400 --> 00:21:38,560
Speaker 5: it is.

453
00:21:38,640 --> 00:21:40,879
Speaker 7: It's like everybody needs something different and you need it

454
00:21:40,920 --> 00:21:44,000
Speaker 7: all to decide immediately. And also things are moving one

455
00:21:44,040 --> 00:21:45,879
Speaker 7: hundred miles per hour and you get in the weeds

456
00:21:45,880 --> 00:21:47,640
Speaker 7: in both scenarios where you're like, oh my god, it's

457
00:21:47,680 --> 00:21:49,640
Speaker 7: so much right now, how am I going to get

458
00:21:49,640 --> 00:21:51,480
Speaker 7: through this? And it's just one foot in front of

459
00:21:51,480 --> 00:21:53,439
Speaker 7: the other and putting out fires and and so I

460
00:21:53,480 --> 00:21:56,200
Speaker 7: really actually feel that waitressing was like the most incredible

461
00:21:56,480 --> 00:21:58,560
Speaker 7: education I could have asked for.

462
00:21:58,680 --> 00:22:02,960
Speaker 1: And maybe maybe you could do a show about a restaurant,

463
00:22:03,080 --> 00:22:08,160
Speaker 1: maybe based in Chicago behind you chef and all your

464
00:22:08,240 --> 00:22:10,040
Speaker 1: experiences at Coy.

465
00:22:11,200 --> 00:22:13,080
Speaker 7: You know what's so funny is that? Okay, so now

466
00:22:13,080 --> 00:22:14,920
Speaker 7: I can't do that show because of the bear. Great show,

467
00:22:15,840 --> 00:22:18,040
Speaker 7: but also, you know, the other thing that I'm very

468
00:22:18,080 --> 00:22:19,680
Speaker 7: passionate about is soccer.

469
00:22:20,000 --> 00:22:22,159
Speaker 5: And I can't do yo.

470
00:22:22,359 --> 00:22:25,879
Speaker 1: So I'm like, what about a female soccer story. I

471
00:22:25,880 --> 00:22:28,760
Speaker 1: feel like they can't have the corner on the market

472
00:22:28,880 --> 00:22:31,560
Speaker 1: on soccer. I mean, I don't know. It seems like

473
00:22:31,600 --> 00:22:34,160
Speaker 1: people have short memories too, which is something you were

474
00:22:34,160 --> 00:22:37,199
Speaker 1: worried about because you guys had a big do you

475
00:22:37,280 --> 00:22:38,560
Speaker 1: like that seamless transition.

476
00:22:38,680 --> 00:22:41,360
Speaker 3: That was good. I know what's going yet, but I'm loving.

477
00:22:41,160 --> 00:22:44,960
Speaker 1: That because you guys had to take a big break

478
00:22:45,320 --> 00:22:48,680
Speaker 1: because Jean had some medical issues and then you had

479
00:22:48,680 --> 00:22:51,960
Speaker 1: the writers strike, and I know you were concerned that

480
00:22:52,720 --> 00:22:54,800
Speaker 1: viewers weren't going to stay with you or they were

481
00:22:54,800 --> 00:22:57,960
Speaker 1: going to move on, but I think nobody moved on.

482
00:22:58,119 --> 00:23:02,200
Speaker 1: I was so excited and Adrian, we were so excited

483
00:23:02,680 --> 00:23:05,600
Speaker 1: when the third season came on. Weren't we a trona?

484
00:23:05,640 --> 00:23:08,520
Speaker 1: We were so weird, so weird, and we were.

485
00:23:08,400 --> 00:23:10,959
Speaker 2: Like cracking up in the theater at south By Southwest,

486
00:23:11,119 --> 00:23:13,919
Speaker 2: like to a strange degree.

487
00:23:14,400 --> 00:23:15,840
Speaker 3: Oh that's great, thank.

488
00:23:15,680 --> 00:23:16,760
Speaker 4: You, that's so nice.

489
00:23:16,920 --> 00:23:19,080
Speaker 5: Oh that's so goa. That was such a fun screening.

490
00:23:19,400 --> 00:23:20,680
Speaker 3: That was really so fun.

491
00:23:21,040 --> 00:23:23,040
Speaker 4: We were so happy you guys were able to come.

492
00:23:23,280 --> 00:23:25,600
Speaker 1: Well, we're your biggest fans, as I said, So, I

493
00:23:25,680 --> 00:23:27,600
Speaker 1: know you guys have said that Deborah is really an

494
00:23:27,640 --> 00:23:30,320
Speaker 1: amalgamation of a lot of female comedians.

495
00:23:30,720 --> 00:23:32,439
Speaker 2: Can you talk to us a little bit about building

496
00:23:32,440 --> 00:23:35,359
Speaker 2: out her character and what you might have pulled from who.

497
00:23:36,280 --> 00:23:40,480
Speaker 6: That was sort of the biggest challenge in getting the

498
00:23:40,480 --> 00:23:43,719
Speaker 6: show ready to pitch was creating this history of this

499
00:23:44,040 --> 00:23:48,280
Speaker 6: iconic stand up, and yeah, basically in our history of

500
00:23:48,320 --> 00:23:51,440
Speaker 6: the character, she started doing a husband and wife live

501
00:23:51,520 --> 00:23:54,480
Speaker 6: comedy act, kind of like Nichols and May, Mike Nichols

502
00:23:54,480 --> 00:23:56,679
Speaker 6: and Elaine May, and they had a very public and

503
00:23:56,680 --> 00:24:01,280
Speaker 6: messy divorce. Not unlike Lucio Ballan Desiernez, she was you know,

504
00:24:01,880 --> 00:24:07,840
Speaker 6: maligned by managers. And we read Debbie Reynolds's autobiography and

505
00:24:07,880 --> 00:24:10,360
Speaker 6: there's obviously a lot of Joan Rivers. She has her

506
00:24:11,240 --> 00:24:14,320
Speaker 6: stand up life, but also her QVC life, and then

507
00:24:14,359 --> 00:24:17,280
Speaker 6: there's you know, there's other stand ups like Paula Poundstone

508
00:24:17,320 --> 00:24:19,720
Speaker 6: and Phyllis Diller, and she's sort of an amalgamation of

509
00:24:19,800 --> 00:24:23,520
Speaker 6: a lot of different women who you know, suffered in

510
00:24:23,560 --> 00:24:27,439
Speaker 6: dignity after indignity, especially in the industry of comedy. And

511
00:24:27,520 --> 00:24:30,320
Speaker 6: Ava is much more someone you know from sort of

512
00:24:30,359 --> 00:24:33,960
Speaker 6: our generation, though younger than us now, who came up,

513
00:24:34,480 --> 00:24:37,960
Speaker 6: you know, through a more traditional comedy writing path, although

514
00:24:38,000 --> 00:24:40,480
Speaker 6: she was plucked off of Twitter, as Debra says in

515
00:24:40,520 --> 00:24:44,840
Speaker 6: the pilot, But you know, both of them are our

516
00:24:45,040 --> 00:24:47,760
Speaker 6: characters that exist in our minds in the world of comedy.

517
00:24:48,600 --> 00:24:52,800
Speaker 2: As someone who was an assistant, I can't imagine writing

518
00:24:52,840 --> 00:24:57,040
Speaker 2: Ava's character without having some lived experience of being an

519
00:24:57,080 --> 00:25:00,800
Speaker 2: assistant or a writer's assistant. John, how much of Ava

520
00:25:00,960 --> 00:25:03,240
Speaker 2: is based on the early days of your career.

521
00:25:03,840 --> 00:25:06,679
Speaker 8: I mean, Ava is very much her experience as a

522
00:25:06,720 --> 00:25:09,280
Speaker 8: comedy writer is very much an amalgamation of all three

523
00:25:09,320 --> 00:25:12,960
Speaker 8: of ours, you know, having come up doing comedy. I

524
00:25:13,040 --> 00:25:18,399
Speaker 8: mean I was, I was a assistant to difficult people

525
00:25:18,560 --> 00:25:22,200
Speaker 8: at times, and so yeah, there's a little bit of

526
00:25:22,240 --> 00:25:25,280
Speaker 8: that in there. But I think you know, the thing

527
00:25:25,280 --> 00:25:28,600
Speaker 8: that Ava has at the beginning that hopefully none of

528
00:25:28,640 --> 00:25:30,199
Speaker 8: us had, is like all three of us, like like

529
00:25:30,240 --> 00:25:33,120
Speaker 8: we said, waitress saying, working in service industry, like kind

530
00:25:33,119 --> 00:25:37,119
Speaker 8: of pounding the pavement doing comedy like we didn't. I

531
00:25:37,119 --> 00:25:39,720
Speaker 8: guess I maybe I did get my first paid writing

532
00:25:39,800 --> 00:25:41,360
Speaker 8: job at twenty five, which is really young.

533
00:25:41,440 --> 00:25:43,520
Speaker 4: But Ava is even more of like.

534
00:25:44,080 --> 00:25:46,119
Speaker 8: Didn't have to pay her dues at all, like she

535
00:25:46,480 --> 00:25:49,280
Speaker 8: kind of in our backstory for her, like got this

536
00:25:49,400 --> 00:25:52,919
Speaker 8: job off of Twitter and didn't even finish college, so

537
00:25:53,400 --> 00:25:56,680
Speaker 8: in a way, like, yeah, she didn't have that until

538
00:25:56,720 --> 00:25:59,200
Speaker 8: she meets Debra, of course, and then she goes through

539
00:25:59,280 --> 00:26:03,040
Speaker 8: the hazing prices of working for dever Vance in season

540
00:26:03,040 --> 00:26:07,920
Speaker 8: one and beyond, never quite had anything as rough as

541
00:26:08,080 --> 00:26:11,080
Speaker 8: the gembre A dynamic, though thankfully not yet.

542
00:26:11,160 --> 00:26:15,600
Speaker 1: Anyway, I want to ask you guys about Hannah because

543
00:26:15,760 --> 00:26:18,760
Speaker 1: she's got a really interesting background too, and I know

544
00:26:18,880 --> 00:26:23,359
Speaker 1: that you all marvel at her acting chops, how committed

545
00:26:23,440 --> 00:26:25,639
Speaker 1: she is, and also what a great person she is.

546
00:26:25,680 --> 00:26:28,199
Speaker 1: I'd love to hear more about that, because we always

547
00:26:28,200 --> 00:26:31,440
Speaker 1: hear when people are creeps and not when they're really nice. Right,

548
00:26:31,960 --> 00:26:35,840
Speaker 1: But you know, she's got an interesting sort of family

549
00:26:36,000 --> 00:26:40,480
Speaker 1: history and comedy, and just tell us a little bit

550
00:26:40,560 --> 00:26:43,919
Speaker 1: about picking her for the role and where there are

551
00:26:43,920 --> 00:26:46,639
Speaker 1: a lot of people who auditioned. And I know you

552
00:26:46,680 --> 00:26:49,160
Speaker 1: can't tell us who auditioned and who didn't get the role,

553
00:26:49,200 --> 00:26:52,840
Speaker 1: although those stories are always so fascinating, But tell us

554
00:26:52,840 --> 00:26:56,480
Speaker 1: a little bit about selecting her for the role of Hannah.

555
00:26:56,560 --> 00:26:59,639
Speaker 6: Yeah, we I think, I don't know, Jen, you counted

556
00:26:59,680 --> 00:27:01,159
Speaker 6: it one point, how many people.

557
00:27:00,920 --> 00:27:04,639
Speaker 8: Read I think I looked at all the casting tapes

558
00:27:04,640 --> 00:27:06,919
Speaker 8: submissions we had gotten because we only you know, we

559
00:27:07,000 --> 00:27:10,520
Speaker 8: started doing readings for her in person, and then COVID

560
00:27:10,600 --> 00:27:13,720
Speaker 8: happened and so then everything switched to virtual and I

561
00:27:13,760 --> 00:27:15,280
Speaker 8: think at one point I tali it up and we

562
00:27:15,359 --> 00:27:19,400
Speaker 8: saw almost five hundred audition tapes for a Oh my gosh.

563
00:27:19,480 --> 00:27:22,600
Speaker 1: Were they well known people or were they mostly.

564
00:27:23,240 --> 00:27:24,840
Speaker 4: It was a combination.

565
00:27:24,920 --> 00:27:27,720
Speaker 8: There was some definitely well known people, and then of

566
00:27:27,800 --> 00:27:31,679
Speaker 8: course a lot of people who, like Hannah, had not

567
00:27:31,800 --> 00:27:33,920
Speaker 8: really done much or people who had just been working.

568
00:27:34,119 --> 00:27:37,000
Speaker 8: We're working actors, you know. We always in the conception

569
00:27:37,080 --> 00:27:39,200
Speaker 8: of the show when we talked about casting, we didn't

570
00:27:39,200 --> 00:27:42,359
Speaker 8: lock ourselves into anything, but we always felt that it

571
00:27:42,400 --> 00:27:44,600
Speaker 8: was Gene and she'd be incredible, and like, you know,

572
00:27:44,680 --> 00:27:47,679
Speaker 8: that it would be a known performer for Deborah, and

573
00:27:47,720 --> 00:27:50,320
Speaker 8: then the dream was to find kind of a newer

574
00:27:50,400 --> 00:27:55,280
Speaker 8: discovery for Ava. So we were really open to getting

575
00:27:55,320 --> 00:28:00,320
Speaker 8: tapes from anyone and everyone, and we watched all of

576
00:28:00,359 --> 00:28:04,919
Speaker 8: those and Hannah really in her first tape and every

577
00:28:05,080 --> 00:28:08,240
Speaker 8: moment after that, every callback and to the test with Gene,

578
00:28:08,320 --> 00:28:12,760
Speaker 8: she just really surprised us. And you know, you you

579
00:28:12,920 --> 00:28:14,920
Speaker 8: the thing about it being a writer is you when

580
00:28:14,920 --> 00:28:17,480
Speaker 8: you audition people, you hear your writing and you're scene

581
00:28:17,760 --> 00:28:22,119
Speaker 8: over and over and over, and I will just speak

582
00:28:22,160 --> 00:28:24,800
Speaker 8: for myself, I was like, I can't hear this scene anymore.

583
00:28:24,800 --> 00:28:26,280
Speaker 4: It's not good. This doesn't work.

584
00:28:26,320 --> 00:28:28,680
Speaker 8: You know, like when people you know, we were lucky,

585
00:28:28,720 --> 00:28:33,159
Speaker 8: we had really wonderful people addition, but no, like you know,

586
00:28:33,240 --> 00:28:35,359
Speaker 8: you just sometimes I think it's not that, it's not

587
00:28:35,480 --> 00:28:38,200
Speaker 8: that and it's so specific. And when Hannah did it,

588
00:28:38,280 --> 00:28:41,080
Speaker 8: she just brought something so unique and new to it

589
00:28:41,800 --> 00:28:44,200
Speaker 8: but also familiar to us because we had been living

590
00:28:44,200 --> 00:28:45,840
Speaker 8: with this character for so long and we knew who

591
00:28:45,840 --> 00:28:47,720
Speaker 8: Aba was and who she was supposed to be. So

592
00:28:48,120 --> 00:28:51,600
Speaker 8: to get that combination of someone delivering on what you'd

593
00:28:51,680 --> 00:28:55,800
Speaker 8: envision but also bringing you know, newness and freshness, and like,

594
00:28:55,800 --> 00:28:58,320
Speaker 8: oh I never imagined that line that way, but that.

595
00:28:58,360 --> 00:28:59,640
Speaker 4: Works, That's what it should be.

596
00:28:59,760 --> 00:28:59,840
Speaker 2: Like.

597
00:29:00,040 --> 00:29:01,520
Speaker 4: She really had that in space.

598
00:29:01,920 --> 00:29:05,320
Speaker 1: And it's so interesting that her mom is Lorraine Newman

599
00:29:05,600 --> 00:29:09,160
Speaker 1: from SNL And I know, you know that was that

600
00:29:09,320 --> 00:29:13,160
Speaker 1: was kind of exciting? Was she pretty much just writing

601
00:29:13,240 --> 00:29:17,040
Speaker 1: and not acting? Was this? I know because I think

602
00:29:17,160 --> 00:29:20,560
Speaker 1: I read Paul that you said it's just such a

603
00:29:20,600 --> 00:29:23,000
Speaker 1: shock that she had never acted before.

604
00:29:23,120 --> 00:29:25,720
Speaker 6: Really oh crazy. In fact, I remember when Jeane found

605
00:29:25,760 --> 00:29:28,040
Speaker 6: out and she was like what Because some people just

606
00:29:28,080 --> 00:29:30,800
Speaker 6: have something that Hannah has, which is it isn't innate.

607
00:29:31,240 --> 00:29:35,360
Speaker 6: She has a gift for you know, she is just

608
00:29:35,400 --> 00:29:40,520
Speaker 6: so natural and so watchable, and also she's able, especially

609
00:29:40,560 --> 00:29:44,000
Speaker 6: in this season, to become so authentically emotional. You know,

610
00:29:44,040 --> 00:29:46,760
Speaker 6: she's never acting at something, she is feeling these feelings

611
00:29:46,800 --> 00:29:48,640
Speaker 6: of the character. She is so in the character. And

612
00:29:48,680 --> 00:29:51,400
Speaker 6: part of it, I think because she comes from a

613
00:29:51,440 --> 00:29:54,560
Speaker 6: family that valued comedy and worshiped comedy, like I think,

614
00:29:54,640 --> 00:29:58,280
Speaker 6: she has the same kind of reverence for comedy that

615
00:29:58,600 --> 00:30:01,680
Speaker 6: Ava has, so she really feels the character. And for us,

616
00:30:02,080 --> 00:30:04,280
Speaker 6: you know, we had Gene attached and she is a

617
00:30:04,360 --> 00:30:06,520
Speaker 6: national treasure. So part of the reason for the extensive

618
00:30:06,520 --> 00:30:09,280
Speaker 6: search was you want someone who can go toe to

619
00:30:09,320 --> 00:30:12,160
Speaker 6: toe with Gene, and if you're getting someone who's lesser known,

620
00:30:12,440 --> 00:30:16,760
Speaker 6: that's a very tall task. And also, you know, we

621
00:30:17,720 --> 00:30:21,800
Speaker 6: really wanted somebody that earned the role.

622
00:30:21,880 --> 00:30:22,960
Speaker 3: And so actually, when.

623
00:30:22,840 --> 00:30:25,920
Speaker 6: We googled Hannah, the only thing we could find was

624
00:30:25,960 --> 00:30:28,640
Speaker 6: she had done Colbert, which is ironic and very full

625
00:30:28,680 --> 00:30:32,720
Speaker 6: circle since doing Late Night is very much the white

626
00:30:32,760 --> 00:30:35,120
Speaker 6: whale for our main character. So she had done some

627
00:30:35,200 --> 00:30:37,960
Speaker 6: stand up and she is a stand up but that

628
00:30:38,080 --> 00:30:41,440
Speaker 6: was about it. And then we also discovered who her

629
00:30:41,440 --> 00:30:43,320
Speaker 6: mom was, and that her mom was Loraine Newman, who

630
00:30:43,360 --> 00:30:46,400
Speaker 6: all of us were fans of. But we also were like, oh, nope,

631
00:30:46,640 --> 00:30:49,560
Speaker 6: I hope people don't have the misconception that she got

632
00:30:49,600 --> 00:30:51,959
Speaker 6: her foot in the door because we had no idea

633
00:30:52,240 --> 00:30:54,960
Speaker 6: when she auditioned who she was, much less who her

634
00:30:55,040 --> 00:30:56,960
Speaker 6: mother was, you know what I mean. So it was

635
00:30:57,000 --> 00:30:59,840
Speaker 6: a really interesting thing that I think it gives her

636
00:31:00,120 --> 00:31:03,760
Speaker 6: so much to draw from in her actual life in

637
00:31:03,840 --> 00:31:05,960
Speaker 6: terms of what women in comedy have gone through and

638
00:31:06,000 --> 00:31:09,000
Speaker 6: in terms of like what comedy means to people. But

639
00:31:09,680 --> 00:31:11,520
Speaker 6: for us, we never we didn't ever want that to

640
00:31:11,520 --> 00:31:15,200
Speaker 6: precede her because she is so so good and she

641
00:31:15,320 --> 00:31:17,760
Speaker 6: is She's always like, well, I'm I'm a comedian. I

642
00:31:17,840 --> 00:31:20,160
Speaker 6: come from comedy, And we're like, sure, you're a comedian,

643
00:31:20,160 --> 00:31:21,560
Speaker 6: but you are a gifted actress.

644
00:31:21,640 --> 00:31:22,080
Speaker 3: You are an.

645
00:31:22,040 --> 00:31:25,640
Speaker 1: Actresspitala And I guess she's been nominated for Emmy's but

646
00:31:25,760 --> 00:31:29,520
Speaker 1: hasn't won one yet. And I think this is going

647
00:31:29,560 --> 00:31:35,880
Speaker 1: to be her year. Kids. You know, you say, Jeane

648
00:31:35,880 --> 00:31:39,840
Speaker 1: Smart is a national treasure, and honestly, you know, as

649
00:31:39,880 --> 00:31:42,440
Speaker 1: somebody who was a big fan of hers, who watched

650
00:31:42,440 --> 00:31:46,840
Speaker 1: Designing Women, you know, I feel like she hasn't had

651
00:31:47,600 --> 00:31:52,160
Speaker 1: a platform like design since Designing Women to really show

652
00:31:52,560 --> 00:31:58,000
Speaker 1: her incredible skills and just how funny she is. Was

653
00:31:58,040 --> 00:32:01,040
Speaker 1: that a natural thing going to Smart? And I love

654
00:32:01,120 --> 00:32:05,160
Speaker 1: what Atrona was mentioning about this amalgamation of comedians, because

655
00:32:05,200 --> 00:32:08,080
Speaker 1: you know, these are kind of my generation, like Elaine Boosler,

656
00:32:08,280 --> 00:32:10,320
Speaker 1: like when it was last time you heard that name,

657
00:32:10,400 --> 00:32:14,680
Speaker 1: and Paula Poundstone and all these women who You're right

658
00:32:15,160 --> 00:32:17,560
Speaker 1: it was it must have been so hard for them

659
00:32:17,640 --> 00:32:20,480
Speaker 1: back in the day. But was Jean Smart just an

660
00:32:20,480 --> 00:32:22,840
Speaker 1: immediate thought from you all, or how did you come

661
00:32:22,960 --> 00:32:24,760
Speaker 1: up with her as the lead?

662
00:32:25,440 --> 00:32:25,640
Speaker 5: Yeah?

663
00:32:25,680 --> 00:32:27,600
Speaker 7: It was a very short list, you know, and Genie's

664
00:32:27,640 --> 00:32:29,120
Speaker 7: very much at the top of that list. And I

665
00:32:29,120 --> 00:32:34,240
Speaker 7: think the thing we were searching for was somebody obviously

666
00:32:34,280 --> 00:32:36,320
Speaker 7: who could be a believable stand up, because if you

667
00:32:36,320 --> 00:32:38,000
Speaker 7: don't believe this woman is a stand up and like

668
00:32:38,040 --> 00:32:40,240
Speaker 7: kind of this iconic Eva, then the whole thing Paul's apart,

669
00:32:40,280 --> 00:32:43,760
Speaker 7: you're like, eh. But we knew that we wanted to

670
00:32:43,800 --> 00:32:47,080
Speaker 7: write towards some more dramatic elements and to be able

671
00:32:47,080 --> 00:32:50,360
Speaker 7: to find somebody who could do comedy and believably be

672
00:32:50,400 --> 00:32:54,880
Speaker 7: a stand up but also can do serious dramatic work.

673
00:32:54,880 --> 00:32:58,160
Speaker 7: And it has a resume that shows that it was

674
00:32:58,240 --> 00:33:00,680
Speaker 7: really hard there's some people that were like, that person's

675
00:33:00,720 --> 00:33:02,200
Speaker 7: so funny, but can they do drama?

676
00:33:02,240 --> 00:33:04,120
Speaker 5: They've never really done it? Do they want to do it?

677
00:33:04,160 --> 00:33:05,080
Speaker 5: Is that going to be a stretch?

678
00:33:05,480 --> 00:33:08,640
Speaker 7: But Gene was really the perfect person for us because

679
00:33:08,680 --> 00:33:10,920
Speaker 7: not only can she do comedy and drama in equal measure,

680
00:33:11,120 --> 00:33:15,400
Speaker 7: but there's something about also her stature, her aura that

681
00:33:15,680 --> 00:33:18,720
Speaker 7: just gives like this fabulous twist to it as well

682
00:33:18,760 --> 00:33:21,920
Speaker 7: and feels like this. You know, it's partly because she's

683
00:33:22,160 --> 00:33:24,479
Speaker 7: a tall, gorgeous blonde, but there's just something about she

684
00:33:24,520 --> 00:33:27,480
Speaker 7: has a command and she just draws your eye and

685
00:33:27,520 --> 00:33:29,120
Speaker 7: it just felt like that is what you kind of

686
00:33:29,200 --> 00:33:32,400
Speaker 7: need to believe that this is a woman whose entire

687
00:33:32,840 --> 00:33:35,280
Speaker 7: ecosystem circles her.

688
00:33:35,400 --> 00:33:38,040
Speaker 6: And you know what not to diminish her prolific career

689
00:33:38,040 --> 00:33:40,920
Speaker 6: because she's been working, honestly, NonStop, she works so much.

690
00:33:41,600 --> 00:33:44,040
Speaker 6: But she was always one of our favorite things when

691
00:33:44,040 --> 00:33:46,440
Speaker 6: we would see Frasier. She stood out in that show

692
00:33:46,520 --> 00:33:48,480
Speaker 6: so much. And you know, when she did the Brady

693
00:33:48,480 --> 00:33:51,080
Speaker 6: Bunch movie, she plays like a really seen stealing person

694
00:33:51,080 --> 00:33:53,840
Speaker 6: in that movie. And it's crazy to think that she

695
00:33:54,240 --> 00:33:57,360
Speaker 6: very much embodies Debora because even though Jane has worked

696
00:33:57,360 --> 00:34:01,080
Speaker 6: forever and is beloved. She'd ever been number one on

697
00:34:01,120 --> 00:34:02,880
Speaker 6: the call sheet. She had never had a lead that

698
00:34:02,880 --> 00:34:05,000
Speaker 6: could show her range. So it was sort of like, Oh,

699
00:34:05,040 --> 00:34:07,920
Speaker 6: here's someone who maybe hasn't had their due to show

700
00:34:07,960 --> 00:34:11,360
Speaker 6: the world everything that she can do. And so in

701
00:34:11,360 --> 00:34:13,600
Speaker 6: that way, she very much was Debra Vance.

702
00:34:13,960 --> 00:34:17,719
Speaker 1: And she's I think she's seventy three geen and you

703
00:34:17,800 --> 00:34:22,400
Speaker 1: meet shen't ask me. I mean she's she is so gorgeous.

704
00:34:22,640 --> 00:34:26,840
Speaker 1: I met her at gosh, I think I went to

705
00:34:26,880 --> 00:34:30,000
Speaker 1: a Vanity Fair party for the Oscars. I know I'm

706
00:34:30,120 --> 00:34:34,919
Speaker 1: very cool, and were walking out at the same time.

707
00:34:35,000 --> 00:34:37,680
Speaker 1: First of all, she's so lovely and I've interviewed her before,

708
00:34:38,160 --> 00:34:41,399
Speaker 1: but that lady is one tall drink of water. Yes,

709
00:34:41,760 --> 00:34:45,600
Speaker 1: she was amazing, and she's just so gorgeous.

710
00:34:45,960 --> 00:34:48,040
Speaker 2: When we met Jean and Hannah and all of you

711
00:34:48,080 --> 00:34:52,080
Speaker 2: at south By Southwest, Jean was presenting Hannah with a

712
00:34:52,080 --> 00:34:56,320
Speaker 2: an award, and their relationship in real life just seems

713
00:34:56,360 --> 00:35:00,400
Speaker 2: so authentic and so sweet. Did their Chemist Street Was

714
00:35:00,440 --> 00:35:02,399
Speaker 2: it obvious just from the first table read?

715
00:35:03,280 --> 00:35:06,239
Speaker 7: It was actually from the audition, I would say, yeah,

716
00:35:06,280 --> 00:35:09,160
Speaker 7: it was just like an immediate even just the way

717
00:35:09,160 --> 00:35:11,680
Speaker 7: that they like, you know, there's something also about their.

718
00:35:11,600 --> 00:35:14,399
Speaker 5: Gender expression that also just felt like the right thing.

719
00:35:14,480 --> 00:35:17,640
Speaker 7: Where you know, Debra, I mean, Gene is just kind

720
00:35:17,680 --> 00:35:22,600
Speaker 7: of this like statuus, you know, female ideal, and Hannah

721
00:35:22,800 --> 00:35:25,160
Speaker 7: also so beautiful, but like has kind of you know,

722
00:35:25,239 --> 00:35:26,200
Speaker 7: she she showed up.

723
00:35:26,200 --> 00:35:28,360
Speaker 5: In the Doc Martin's and the Gunians and it was

724
00:35:28,400 --> 00:35:29,240
Speaker 5: just kind of like.

725
00:35:29,400 --> 00:35:30,960
Speaker 1: She had a grunge going.

726
00:35:31,440 --> 00:35:35,040
Speaker 7: Yeah, just something about just the way that they looked

727
00:35:35,120 --> 00:35:37,840
Speaker 7: together that just felt right. And it's true that like

728
00:35:37,880 --> 00:35:40,919
Speaker 7: their relationship mirrored that, like, and they've really been there

729
00:35:40,920 --> 00:35:43,080
Speaker 7: for each other through a lot of hard, hard moments.

730
00:35:43,120 --> 00:35:47,799
Speaker 7: We've had some you know, really sad things happen on

731
00:35:47,840 --> 00:35:48,280
Speaker 7: our show.

732
00:35:48,600 --> 00:35:50,840
Speaker 1: I was going to mention because I talked to Jane

733
00:35:50,880 --> 00:35:54,959
Speaker 1: about this, and I think, you know, she was very

734
00:35:55,520 --> 00:35:58,880
Speaker 1: generous about talking to me because I lost my husband

735
00:35:58,960 --> 00:36:02,360
Speaker 1: a number of years ago, but she lost her husband

736
00:36:02,440 --> 00:36:05,280
Speaker 1: of thirty five years, I know, in March of twenty

737
00:36:05,360 --> 00:36:09,520
Speaker 1: twenty one. And you know, gosh, I guess work, at

738
00:36:09,600 --> 00:36:14,840
Speaker 1: least for me, it was really invaluable for me because

739
00:36:14,840 --> 00:36:19,040
Speaker 1: you could compartmentalize and focus on something other than your sadness.

740
00:36:19,160 --> 00:36:22,680
Speaker 1: But that must have been a tough period for her

741
00:36:22,800 --> 00:36:24,319
Speaker 1: and for you all for her.

742
00:36:24,600 --> 00:36:28,880
Speaker 6: Right, Oh yeah, we've all I mean, and this is

743
00:36:28,880 --> 00:36:32,120
Speaker 6: overused this term, but we really have become family. You know,

744
00:36:31,960 --> 00:36:35,040
Speaker 6: you become that when you're together with people for so

745
00:36:35,160 --> 00:36:37,160
Speaker 6: long in so many places, and especially when you've been

746
00:36:37,200 --> 00:36:39,799
Speaker 6: through things like that. And I think, you know, it

747
00:36:39,840 --> 00:36:41,680
Speaker 6: happened during shooting. It was like the last couple of

748
00:36:41,719 --> 00:36:42,919
Speaker 6: weeks of season one, and.

749
00:36:44,640 --> 00:36:45,240
Speaker 3: I know that.

750
00:36:45,280 --> 00:36:49,200
Speaker 6: Hannah was really there for her, and Caitlyn Olsen, who

751
00:36:49,239 --> 00:36:51,640
Speaker 6: plays her daughter on the show, was really there for her.

752
00:36:52,360 --> 00:36:52,520
Speaker 5: You know.

753
00:36:52,600 --> 00:36:55,920
Speaker 6: Jeane has now a thirteen year old and she has

754
00:36:55,960 --> 00:36:59,160
Speaker 6: two children. But it was really it was a very

755
00:36:59,160 --> 00:37:02,920
Speaker 6: hard time. But Jean, I think she wanted to finish

756
00:37:02,920 --> 00:37:04,440
Speaker 6: the show and come back and have you know.

757
00:37:04,800 --> 00:37:06,080
Speaker 3: She didn't want the crew to be out of work.

758
00:37:06,080 --> 00:37:07,640
Speaker 6: She was like, let's finish, and I think it was

759
00:37:08,440 --> 00:37:11,480
Speaker 6: nice for her to be back together with this little family.

760
00:37:12,760 --> 00:37:15,239
Speaker 6: But yeah, it was. It's been kind of crazy the

761
00:37:15,280 --> 00:37:18,080
Speaker 6: things that have happened. A lot of life has happened

762
00:37:18,800 --> 00:37:19,560
Speaker 6: behind the scenes.

763
00:37:20,840 --> 00:37:23,160
Speaker 1: I wanted to ask you all, Sorry, Faz, you want

764
00:37:23,200 --> 00:37:23,760
Speaker 1: to ask something.

765
00:37:23,960 --> 00:37:26,720
Speaker 2: I was going to ask Paul about Meg Stalter because

766
00:37:26,760 --> 00:37:30,000
Speaker 2: she's your counterpart on the show, and I love.

767
00:37:29,800 --> 00:37:33,759
Speaker 1: Her, love Meg Stalter Adron, and I love I mean,

768
00:37:33,800 --> 00:37:36,040
Speaker 1: we love everyone on the show. Paul, we also love

769
00:37:36,160 --> 00:37:39,160
Speaker 1: you on the show. Well, thank you very much. So yeah,

770
00:37:39,239 --> 00:37:42,319
Speaker 1: we think you're great and so funny, but thank you.

771
00:37:42,400 --> 00:37:47,480
Speaker 1: Meg is so funny. Yeah, and that first season especially

772
00:37:47,760 --> 00:37:54,399
Speaker 1: just so annoying and so hilarious. I felt for you

773
00:37:54,520 --> 00:37:58,280
Speaker 1: having her work for you. Tell us about her because

774
00:37:58,320 --> 00:38:00,640
Speaker 1: she kind of came came out of no where, didn't she.

775
00:38:01,120 --> 00:38:03,400
Speaker 6: I mean, she's another one who this was her first

776
00:38:04,000 --> 00:38:07,760
Speaker 6: like television job. You know, she had been doing live

777
00:38:08,000 --> 00:38:10,000
Speaker 6: comedy and she is like she comes from the alt

778
00:38:10,080 --> 00:38:13,719
Speaker 6: comedy scene where the three of us met and was

779
00:38:13,760 --> 00:38:18,760
Speaker 6: doing like Instagram videos. Really we had we had written

780
00:38:18,760 --> 00:38:21,839
Speaker 6: this character and we're basing it on like again. This

781
00:38:21,920 --> 00:38:25,239
Speaker 6: character was also, weirdly an amalgamation of people we have known.

782
00:38:25,800 --> 00:38:29,160
Speaker 6: But Meg, in her character work on Instagram did this

783
00:38:29,160 --> 00:38:31,840
Speaker 6: thing of having like bravado but also kind of a weird,

784
00:38:31,960 --> 00:38:34,759
Speaker 6: kind of stuttery way of speaking in a nervousness that

785
00:38:35,160 --> 00:38:38,839
Speaker 6: weirdly like was exactly what we wanted. And then I

786
00:38:38,880 --> 00:38:41,440
Speaker 6: did a stand up show that she was on, and

787
00:38:41,480 --> 00:38:43,440
Speaker 6: she was I had never seen anything like it. It

788
00:38:43,480 --> 00:38:49,839
Speaker 6: was To call it stand up is unfair. Honestly, it's

789
00:38:49,880 --> 00:38:52,319
Speaker 6: performance are like she you know, you like write a

790
00:38:52,360 --> 00:38:55,080
Speaker 6: set in jhone a set and she came in. She's like, okay,

791
00:38:55,400 --> 00:38:57,279
Speaker 6: hello everybody. Oh that's my daughter right there. Please be

792
00:38:57,400 --> 00:38:58,800
Speaker 6: nice to my daughter. It was just so like the

793
00:38:58,880 --> 00:39:01,040
Speaker 6: stream of consciousness bizarre. So like I'm going to show

794
00:39:01,040 --> 00:39:03,160
Speaker 6: you how to enter a party and make a scene.

795
00:39:03,440 --> 00:39:04,279
Speaker 3: I can't.

796
00:39:04,320 --> 00:39:07,000
Speaker 8: Even if you get a chance to see her performing,

797
00:39:07,080 --> 00:39:10,200
Speaker 8: you guys have to because it's like her live is incredible.

798
00:39:10,239 --> 00:39:14,520
Speaker 8: I've never seen someone so connected with the audience but

799
00:39:14,640 --> 00:39:19,200
Speaker 8: like off book and like you're chaotic, chaotic, but it's

800
00:39:19,320 --> 00:39:22,720
Speaker 8: like she's in control because it works and everyone's laughing.

801
00:39:23,239 --> 00:39:26,000
Speaker 6: She's so free. I think that's the thing. She's so free,

802
00:39:26,560 --> 00:39:28,200
Speaker 6: and that's like a great thing to have in a

803
00:39:28,280 --> 00:39:31,160
Speaker 6: scene partner because it allows you to be free too.

804
00:39:31,239 --> 00:39:34,440
Speaker 6: You have to be because there's just like it's just

805
00:39:34,760 --> 00:39:37,719
Speaker 6: an electric thing and we have a lot of fun,

806
00:39:37,760 --> 00:39:41,239
Speaker 6: sometimes too much fun that she and myt the time.

807
00:39:41,280 --> 00:39:46,000
Speaker 4: She's like, guys, get the story.

808
00:39:46,080 --> 00:39:48,040
Speaker 5: Please, we make.

809
00:39:47,920 --> 00:39:49,840
Speaker 3: Each other laugh, you know, like she was.

810
00:39:51,000 --> 00:39:53,960
Speaker 6: She and I both had a mutual affection for each other,

811
00:39:54,520 --> 00:39:56,680
Speaker 6: and that night we met, we were able to tell

812
00:39:56,680 --> 00:39:59,480
Speaker 6: one another and it was really like even though she

813
00:40:00,160 --> 00:40:02,279
Speaker 6: audition for the role, and even in her audition, she

814
00:40:02,400 --> 00:40:04,960
Speaker 6: was like she was remembering that she had like a

815
00:40:05,040 --> 00:40:05,960
Speaker 6: lamp on the floor.

816
00:40:06,280 --> 00:40:08,399
Speaker 4: She was like, yeah, it was like an interrogation room.

817
00:40:08,400 --> 00:40:10,040
Speaker 3: There was like one bowlb on a thing, and she's like,

818
00:40:10,040 --> 00:40:12,920
Speaker 3: I thought this would look good. Sorry, it became like.

819
00:40:13,080 --> 00:40:16,080
Speaker 6: A performance piece just getting her to start the audition

820
00:40:16,440 --> 00:40:17,000
Speaker 6: over zoom.

821
00:40:17,120 --> 00:40:19,919
Speaker 3: So there's no one like Meg's aalter.

822
00:40:20,320 --> 00:40:22,359
Speaker 1: Well, I was going to say, this is probably one

823
00:40:22,400 --> 00:40:24,680
Speaker 1: of the best things that ever happened to her to

824
00:40:24,800 --> 00:40:28,160
Speaker 1: be in the show, because she's just exploded as a result.

825
00:40:30,400 --> 00:40:32,640
Speaker 1: We're going to throw it to break. But first I'm

826
00:40:32,719 --> 00:40:36,640
Speaker 1: Katie Couric and I'm Adriana Fazzio, my plus one for

827
00:40:36,719 --> 00:40:40,000
Speaker 1: today's episode, and we'll be back with more of the

828
00:40:40,040 --> 00:40:55,839
Speaker 1: writers from Hacks right after this. We're back, And of

829
00:40:55,880 --> 00:40:59,160
Speaker 1: course I couldn't let them go without talking about a

830
00:40:59,200 --> 00:41:07,920
Speaker 1: scene from my favorite season, season three, and you'll hear why.

831
00:41:06,800 --> 00:41:08,480
Speaker 9: Look, I'm your sister and I shouldn't have done it,

832
00:41:08,560 --> 00:41:10,680
Speaker 9: But you two weren't even sleeping in the same room

833
00:41:10,920 --> 00:41:14,200
Speaker 9: for months he made the first move and I.

834
00:41:14,160 --> 00:41:15,560
Speaker 1: Was only nineteen years old.

835
00:41:15,600 --> 00:41:18,200
Speaker 5: To give me a fucking break, you stayed married to him?

836
00:41:18,480 --> 00:41:19,960
Speaker 1: Yeah, because he made me happy.

837
00:41:20,160 --> 00:41:21,560
Speaker 9: I mean, you don't want to hear this, but we

838
00:41:21,560 --> 00:41:23,040
Speaker 9: were a better match than you two were.

839
00:41:23,600 --> 00:41:25,160
Speaker 1: And thank god because.

840
00:41:27,000 --> 00:41:28,640
Speaker 5: Because I lost my sister for it.

841
00:41:30,560 --> 00:41:32,120
Speaker 3: Oh, I'm sorry. You've been so much pain.

842
00:41:32,360 --> 00:41:33,120
Speaker 5: Well I have been.

843
00:41:34,760 --> 00:41:35,839
Speaker 1: I've also paid for it.

844
00:41:37,000 --> 00:41:40,800
Speaker 9: I've taken all your punishment over the years, billboards for

845
00:41:40,880 --> 00:41:44,640
Speaker 9: all your specials on my street. You told Katie Couric,

846
00:41:44,760 --> 00:41:45,400
Speaker 9: I can't read.

847
00:41:45,840 --> 00:41:46,439
Speaker 3: It's a joke.

848
00:41:47,640 --> 00:41:49,880
Speaker 1: Who thought of the Katie Curic line? I'm going to

849
00:41:49,920 --> 00:41:54,960
Speaker 1: give full credit where credit is due, Lucia, was that you, Paul?

850
00:41:55,040 --> 00:41:55,920
Speaker 5: I don't remember.

851
00:41:56,600 --> 00:42:00,120
Speaker 8: I actually, I think guys correct me if I believe

852
00:42:00,200 --> 00:42:01,839
Speaker 8: we have to credit our writer's room with that.

853
00:42:02,080 --> 00:42:03,280
Speaker 3: Yeah, I probably.

854
00:42:03,760 --> 00:42:05,719
Speaker 8: I think one of our writers wrote that joke. And

855
00:42:05,960 --> 00:42:09,240
Speaker 8: and we will find their name. We will tell you names.

856
00:42:09,239 --> 00:42:11,879
Speaker 8: We'll find out who and tell you and you can

857
00:42:11,920 --> 00:42:14,760
Speaker 8: send them a gift basket.

858
00:42:14,440 --> 00:42:19,480
Speaker 1: Or I don't know them a Katie correct media mug.

859
00:42:19,719 --> 00:42:23,080
Speaker 4: Okay, I guess.

860
00:42:23,120 --> 00:42:25,920
Speaker 7: One of the things that we sometimes do is we'll

861
00:42:25,960 --> 00:42:29,360
Speaker 7: have like a lot, like an area and we'll highlight that.

862
00:42:29,520 --> 00:42:31,520
Speaker 7: We'll write a joke and we'll highlight it and send

863
00:42:31,520 --> 00:42:33,960
Speaker 7: it back to our writers, and we'll basically get pages

864
00:42:34,000 --> 00:42:36,560
Speaker 7: and pages of alts, and we won't know which of

865
00:42:36,600 --> 00:42:39,200
Speaker 7: our writers wrote which jokes, and then we'll go through

866
00:42:39,200 --> 00:42:41,600
Speaker 7: them and just pick our favorite one or two. Those

867
00:42:41,640 --> 00:42:44,040
Speaker 7: will be perhaps what will end up in the draft,

868
00:42:44,040 --> 00:42:45,680
Speaker 7: which is why we're saying we don't actually know it

869
00:42:45,719 --> 00:42:47,560
Speaker 7: was in that list of joke.

870
00:42:47,640 --> 00:42:49,200
Speaker 5: But I will say I don't ever. I didn't think

871
00:42:49,280 --> 00:42:51,360
Speaker 5: of it as a Paline reference. I just thought that

872
00:42:51,400 --> 00:42:54,200
Speaker 5: it was a Deba either you did, Deborah No.

873
00:42:54,239 --> 00:42:55,879
Speaker 7: I thought that was like just Deborah did a one

874
00:42:55,880 --> 00:42:58,640
Speaker 7: on one with you and she's talking about her sister

875
00:42:58,680 --> 00:43:01,319
Speaker 7: and she said, well, you know you can't read, And

876
00:43:01,360 --> 00:43:03,359
Speaker 7: that just was part of even for some reason.

877
00:43:03,800 --> 00:43:05,799
Speaker 6: I mean, maybe maybe they thought of it that way.

878
00:43:05,840 --> 00:43:08,480
Speaker 6: But it's so funny because Luc and I just rewatched

879
00:43:08,520 --> 00:43:12,719
Speaker 6: Game Change and we were like, man, what a pivotal

880
00:43:12,760 --> 00:43:15,400
Speaker 6: moment in political history was.

881
00:43:15,480 --> 00:43:17,919
Speaker 1: I had a good I thought Jay Roach did such

882
00:43:17,920 --> 00:43:22,080
Speaker 1: a good job. And Janny Strong, who I think is?

883
00:43:22,360 --> 00:43:27,560
Speaker 1: I think Danny Strong is so amazingly talented. I I

884
00:43:27,600 --> 00:43:31,480
Speaker 1: thought dope SIIC was one of the best shows. I'm

885
00:43:31,520 --> 00:43:35,240
Speaker 1: fantasticing as hell, but so good and so well written.

886
00:43:35,280 --> 00:43:40,040
Speaker 1: I just think Danny Strong is a genius. Well, Adriana,

887
00:43:40,239 --> 00:43:42,920
Speaker 1: I feel like I kind of picked this conversation as

888
00:43:42,960 --> 00:43:46,600
Speaker 1: I usually do. It's fine, it's all good. You did

889
00:43:46,640 --> 00:43:48,399
Speaker 1: he not put makeup on for this?

890
00:43:48,920 --> 00:43:49,040
Speaker 7: No?

891
00:43:49,120 --> 00:43:50,600
Speaker 1: I did tell so so.

892
00:43:50,800 --> 00:43:53,320
Speaker 2: Among the things, among the things that contribute to the

893
00:43:53,400 --> 00:43:57,640
Speaker 2: Katie Adrianna Deborah aerodynamic one. Katie always picks up my

894
00:43:57,680 --> 00:44:02,720
Speaker 2: shoes and says, are these yours? Are these John's her husband's.

895
00:44:02,280 --> 00:44:03,040
Speaker 5: Because she said.

896
00:44:04,400 --> 00:44:05,840
Speaker 1: Achana has very big feet.

897
00:44:07,520 --> 00:44:11,800
Speaker 2: I wear a nine. But I literally put like lit

898
00:44:11,840 --> 00:44:13,480
Speaker 2: bom on before.

899
00:44:13,200 --> 00:44:15,279
Speaker 1: There, and I feel like, you look like you have

900
00:44:15,360 --> 00:44:19,640
Speaker 1: mess scar on. I don't you just have very pretty eyelashes.

901
00:44:19,680 --> 00:44:23,880
Speaker 4: Then the show, it might be a reality show for

902
00:44:24,000 --> 00:44:24,359
Speaker 4: you guys.

903
00:44:24,360 --> 00:44:28,719
Speaker 1: Oh wow, I know pretty good, Adriana. I'll tell you

904
00:44:28,840 --> 00:44:30,719
Speaker 1: very quickly and then I'll let you guys go to

905
00:44:30,960 --> 00:44:34,200
Speaker 1: a million things to do. But Adriana uh went to

906
00:44:34,280 --> 00:44:37,400
Speaker 1: Notre Dame and she wrote her thesis about me and

907
00:44:37,440 --> 00:44:38,800
Speaker 1: what was the name of the thesis?

908
00:44:39,040 --> 00:44:43,160
Speaker 2: Adriana Katie Kirk's career and shifting perceptions of femininity in

909
00:44:43,200 --> 00:44:45,279
Speaker 2: broadcast Journalissa thank.

910
00:44:45,040 --> 00:44:46,919
Speaker 5: You Cool.

911
00:44:47,680 --> 00:44:52,200
Speaker 1: Was very smart because she somebody she knew, the mother

912
00:44:52,360 --> 00:44:55,200
Speaker 1: knew a producer I had worked with on Sixty Minutes

913
00:44:55,239 --> 00:44:58,359
Speaker 1: and eighty Way. Adriana tried every which way to get

914
00:44:58,400 --> 00:45:02,200
Speaker 1: to me, and I think my friend Deirdre actually was

915
00:45:02,239 --> 00:45:05,120
Speaker 1: a producer on sixty Minutes. She wrote me and said,

916
00:45:05,200 --> 00:45:08,480
Speaker 1: you know this girl is writing her thesis about you.

917
00:45:08,480 --> 00:45:10,960
Speaker 1: Can you do an interview with her? And you know

918
00:45:11,800 --> 00:45:15,600
Speaker 1: I do get a few requests like that, and I

919
00:45:15,760 --> 00:45:19,800
Speaker 1: was like, oh well. I was very flattered, like wow,

920
00:45:19,880 --> 00:45:22,920
Speaker 1: the whole thesis about me. That's gonna that's gonna be hard,

921
00:45:22,960 --> 00:45:26,200
Speaker 1: but okay. And I remember my assistant at the time

922
00:45:26,320 --> 00:45:28,319
Speaker 1: was like, you don't want to do this, really, do you?

923
00:45:28,360 --> 00:45:30,200
Speaker 1: And I was like, no, I feel like I should

924
00:45:30,280 --> 00:45:32,560
Speaker 1: do it, So go ahead to Adrian to pick up

925
00:45:32,600 --> 00:45:33,439
Speaker 1: the story from there.

926
00:45:33,920 --> 00:45:36,320
Speaker 2: So then Notre Dame gave me a grant to do research,

927
00:45:36,360 --> 00:45:37,880
Speaker 2: and I flew to New York and I all of

928
00:45:37,920 --> 00:45:40,240
Speaker 2: a sudden heard from Katie as I landed at Guardia.

929
00:45:40,280 --> 00:45:43,960
Speaker 2: It was very made for TV, but you landed at

930
00:45:44,040 --> 00:45:47,440
Speaker 2: La Guardia. Why So I conveniently used the grant that

931
00:45:47,480 --> 00:45:49,719
Speaker 2: Notre Dame gave me to book a flight to New

932
00:45:49,800 --> 00:45:51,680
Speaker 2: York the weekend that Notre Dame had a football game

933
00:45:51,680 --> 00:45:54,640
Speaker 2: at Yankee Stadium, And then I was hoping that the

934
00:45:54,680 --> 00:45:56,120
Speaker 2: timing would work out and it did.

935
00:45:56,400 --> 00:45:56,800
Speaker 4: Smart.

936
00:45:56,880 --> 00:45:58,160
Speaker 1: Oh yeah.

937
00:45:58,320 --> 00:46:00,839
Speaker 2: Then Katie invited me over to her part meant to

938
00:46:00,920 --> 00:46:05,799
Speaker 2: interview her, and I was hungover, slightly incredibly nervous and

939
00:46:06,200 --> 00:46:08,920
Speaker 2: like sweating through my like blouse that my professor like

940
00:46:09,440 --> 00:46:10,200
Speaker 2: made me wear.

941
00:46:10,760 --> 00:46:11,840
Speaker 4: Oh my god.

942
00:46:12,320 --> 00:46:14,360
Speaker 1: Yeah, she was so cute.

943
00:46:14,480 --> 00:46:16,399
Speaker 5: Do you guys have a photo of that? Yeah?

944
00:46:16,480 --> 00:46:17,000
Speaker 4: Oh we do.

945
00:46:17,640 --> 00:46:20,239
Speaker 1: Then I was writing a book and she was graduating,

946
00:46:20,280 --> 00:46:22,560
Speaker 1: and I was like, hey, I's Rhanna, You're you know

947
00:46:22,800 --> 00:46:25,799
Speaker 1: more about me than I do, having written this thesis.

948
00:46:26,040 --> 00:46:28,120
Speaker 1: Do you want to come and help me write my book?

949
00:46:28,400 --> 00:46:32,319
Speaker 1: And she did, and then the pandemic happened. She ended

950
00:46:32,400 --> 00:46:35,320
Speaker 1: up living with us for like over a year.

951
00:46:35,680 --> 00:46:37,280
Speaker 3: Oh my god, Oh my god.

952
00:46:37,400 --> 00:46:42,000
Speaker 1: And so anyway, Atreano knows me probably better than almost anyone,

953
00:46:42,520 --> 00:46:44,000
Speaker 1: including my husband.

954
00:46:44,280 --> 00:46:45,200
Speaker 5: Oh my god.

955
00:46:46,560 --> 00:46:48,279
Speaker 3: Okay, this is a show. This is a show.

956
00:46:48,520 --> 00:46:49,280
Speaker 4: It's a show.

957
00:46:49,400 --> 00:46:49,879
Speaker 3: It's a show.

958
00:46:49,920 --> 00:46:51,240
Speaker 4: Why you guys live together?

959
00:46:51,840 --> 00:46:55,319
Speaker 1: Yeah, wow, I want to be mindful of your time.

960
00:46:55,400 --> 00:46:57,840
Speaker 1: But I wanted to ask just a couple quick questions

961
00:46:57,840 --> 00:47:01,600
Speaker 1: about the logistics of making the show, because I've never

962
00:47:01,719 --> 00:47:04,480
Speaker 1: really been in a writer's room. I think I told

963
00:47:04,520 --> 00:47:06,799
Speaker 1: you all my daughter Ellie writes for this show called

964
00:47:06,840 --> 00:47:10,960
Speaker 1: The Boys Onto Side. Yeah, I think I mentioned that

965
00:47:11,320 --> 00:47:14,399
Speaker 1: at South By Southwest and I kind of understand what

966
00:47:14,440 --> 00:47:17,440
Speaker 1: it's like. But you know, when you sit down and

967
00:47:17,480 --> 00:47:21,680
Speaker 1: you're kind of talking about what is going to transpire

968
00:47:21,880 --> 00:47:25,120
Speaker 1: in each episode, is that the three of you kind

969
00:47:25,120 --> 00:47:26,080
Speaker 1: of just riffing?

970
00:47:26,360 --> 00:47:26,959
Speaker 4: Do you all?

971
00:47:27,280 --> 00:47:29,800
Speaker 1: I mean? And are there a lot of other writers

972
00:47:29,840 --> 00:47:31,680
Speaker 1: in the room. Can you just kind of give us

973
00:47:31,719 --> 00:47:35,360
Speaker 1: a sense of how something goes from an idea to

974
00:47:35,480 --> 00:47:36,879
Speaker 1: an actual episode.

975
00:47:37,719 --> 00:47:40,600
Speaker 8: Yeah, so at the beginning, it's like the three of

976
00:47:40,680 --> 00:47:44,160
Speaker 8: us really kind of hone in on what we you know,

977
00:47:44,600 --> 00:47:47,040
Speaker 8: there's a tremendous amount of material that we built up

978
00:47:47,120 --> 00:47:49,719
Speaker 8: while we were developing this show and when we pitched it.

979
00:47:49,800 --> 00:47:52,239
Speaker 8: I think We've said this many times, but we you know,

980
00:47:52,280 --> 00:47:54,480
Speaker 8: when we pitched the show, we pitched the very last

981
00:47:54,480 --> 00:47:57,520
Speaker 8: scene of the series. So we know very much have

982
00:47:57,560 --> 00:47:59,759
Speaker 8: a roadmap of where we want to go for each

983
00:47:59,800 --> 00:48:03,040
Speaker 8: sea and in for the characters, and so three of us,

984
00:48:03,080 --> 00:48:05,680
Speaker 8: you know, we talk before a season of like what

985
00:48:05,719 --> 00:48:08,759
Speaker 8: we big picture ideas and what the ten polls are,

986
00:48:09,560 --> 00:48:12,480
Speaker 8: and you know, we do like blue sky big picture

987
00:48:12,520 --> 00:48:16,239
Speaker 8: can kind of be anything. And then we'll have you know,

988
00:48:16,320 --> 00:48:19,839
Speaker 8: sometimes we'll have a few outlines even written or you know,

989
00:48:19,920 --> 00:48:22,960
Speaker 8: things like that before the writer's room starts, because you know,

990
00:48:23,000 --> 00:48:25,160
Speaker 8: the thing with the show, it's like such a we're

991
00:48:25,280 --> 00:48:27,359
Speaker 8: very lucky to keep making it. But it's like by

992
00:48:27,400 --> 00:48:30,560
Speaker 8: the time we finish post on one season, we're doing

993
00:48:30,600 --> 00:48:33,040
Speaker 8: press for that season coming out, and then by the

994
00:48:33,040 --> 00:48:35,080
Speaker 8: time you know it, like the press hasn't ended, but

995
00:48:35,080 --> 00:48:38,279
Speaker 8: we're starting writing the next season. And so it's kind

996
00:48:38,280 --> 00:48:41,440
Speaker 8: of just like this constant train that's always on the

997
00:48:41,480 --> 00:48:42,200
Speaker 8: tracks and moving.

998
00:48:42,640 --> 00:48:47,239
Speaker 4: You know, we talked me out. It's a it's a

999
00:48:47,239 --> 00:48:53,600
Speaker 4: party train. It's a fun trains NonStop but NonStop.

1000
00:48:53,760 --> 00:48:56,839
Speaker 8: Yeah, And so you know, then the writer's room, well,

1001
00:48:57,000 --> 00:49:00,239
Speaker 8: we have a wonderful group of writers who you know,

1002
00:49:00,320 --> 00:49:03,120
Speaker 8: pretty much all of them have been with us since

1003
00:49:03,120 --> 00:49:06,920
Speaker 8: season one, and they come in and we you know,

1004
00:49:07,040 --> 00:49:09,280
Speaker 8: the breaking of an episode is you talk big picture,

1005
00:49:09,320 --> 00:49:11,200
Speaker 8: you say, okay, here are the ten polls of the season.

1006
00:49:11,719 --> 00:49:13,799
Speaker 8: We know, for example, in season three, we know we're

1007
00:49:13,800 --> 00:49:16,960
Speaker 8: building to Deborah getting this show and then taking the

1008
00:49:17,000 --> 00:49:19,440
Speaker 8: job away from Eva and then blackmail. But so then

1009
00:49:19,480 --> 00:49:21,799
Speaker 8: when you start getting more granular, it's like, okay, the

1010
00:49:21,800 --> 00:49:24,759
Speaker 8: premiere episode, Deborah and Ava, they've been a part. We

1011
00:49:24,800 --> 00:49:26,359
Speaker 8: know we're going to do a time jump, they have

1012
00:49:26,400 --> 00:49:28,680
Speaker 8: to come back together. Where are they coming back together?

1013
00:49:28,800 --> 00:49:31,840
Speaker 8: Like just kind of big idea pit, like pitches on

1014
00:49:31,880 --> 00:49:34,520
Speaker 8: what that can be. Then you hone in on stuff.

1015
00:49:34,560 --> 00:49:36,920
Speaker 8: And once you hone in on stuff, I'm getting very

1016
00:49:36,960 --> 00:49:39,319
Speaker 8: granular and specific, but maybe it's interesting you start writing

1017
00:49:39,400 --> 00:49:42,359
Speaker 8: it down. You start writing it down on cards, which

1018
00:49:42,400 --> 00:49:44,640
Speaker 8: is kind of breaking of an episode, which is each

1019
00:49:44,680 --> 00:49:48,480
Speaker 8: index card is a scene, and just saying like, okay,

1020
00:49:48,680 --> 00:49:51,680
Speaker 8: deborahn Neva meet in the elevator. They have an awkward

1021
00:49:51,680 --> 00:49:54,680
Speaker 8: interaction where Deborah's kind of cold to her and Ava

1022
00:49:54,760 --> 00:49:57,680
Speaker 8: is taken aback by it. And you just do that

1023
00:49:57,800 --> 00:50:00,720
Speaker 8: for a full episode until you have all the scenes

1024
00:50:00,760 --> 00:50:03,799
Speaker 8: broken and you feel good about the beats of the

1025
00:50:03,840 --> 00:50:07,040
Speaker 8: story and the turns and the character development and the resolution.

1026
00:50:07,360 --> 00:50:11,440
Speaker 8: And then once you know we've all decided that that works,

1027
00:50:11,560 --> 00:50:15,840
Speaker 8: someone goes off and outlines it, and then someone goes

1028
00:50:15,880 --> 00:50:19,440
Speaker 8: off and writes the episode, and so yeah. We usually

1029
00:50:19,840 --> 00:50:22,640
Speaker 8: the three of us write a half or so of

1030
00:50:22,680 --> 00:50:24,840
Speaker 8: the episodes, maybe a little less of the season, and

1031
00:50:24,880 --> 00:50:26,840
Speaker 8: then our writers write the others.

1032
00:50:26,840 --> 00:50:28,759
Speaker 4: But it's such a TV writing. The thing I love

1033
00:50:28,800 --> 00:50:29,600
Speaker 4: about it is it's like.

1034
00:50:29,719 --> 00:50:33,040
Speaker 8: Such a collaborative process that like sometimes when people would

1035
00:50:33,080 --> 00:50:34,759
Speaker 8: be like, you know, I would when I was a

1036
00:50:34,800 --> 00:50:36,759
Speaker 8: staff writer in Parks and Rack or good Place, They'd

1037
00:50:36,760 --> 00:50:38,399
Speaker 8: be like, oh, you wrote that episode. I could tell

1038
00:50:38,400 --> 00:50:41,200
Speaker 8: you wrote that episode, And I'm like, everyone write, you

1039
00:50:41,239 --> 00:50:43,840
Speaker 8: know what I mean, Like it's it's it's which is

1040
00:50:43,840 --> 00:50:47,040
Speaker 8: what's so wonderful about it and like so so fun

1041
00:50:47,160 --> 00:50:48,879
Speaker 8: is that it's really collaborative.

1042
00:50:49,320 --> 00:50:52,400
Speaker 1: And Lucci do you all have you all directed episodes?

1043
00:50:52,400 --> 00:50:55,839
Speaker 1: I know, Lucia, you have done a number of episodes, right,

1044
00:50:55,920 --> 00:50:59,160
Speaker 1: I mean I should know this. I apologize, but tell

1045
00:50:59,200 --> 00:51:00,720
Speaker 1: me about direct.

1046
00:51:01,239 --> 00:51:04,560
Speaker 7: I direct most of them. Paul has also done I

1047
00:51:04,600 --> 00:51:06,400
Speaker 7: think you've done. Has it been to each season?

1048
00:51:07,480 --> 00:51:10,200
Speaker 5: Yes, so Paul is directed at least yeah, to each season.

1049
00:51:10,320 --> 00:51:13,080
Speaker 7: And we've had a couple guests come and do one

1050
00:51:13,160 --> 00:51:16,960
Speaker 7: or two episodes of season. But but I usually do

1051
00:51:17,320 --> 00:51:19,600
Speaker 7: what a six or so at a season something with

1052
00:51:19,640 --> 00:51:21,480
Speaker 7: that of the eight or nine or ten.

1053
00:51:21,680 --> 00:51:24,360
Speaker 1: And Jen, don't you want don't you want to direct?

1054
00:51:25,920 --> 00:51:28,200
Speaker 4: You know, I get this question a lot.

1055
00:51:28,360 --> 00:51:32,239
Speaker 8: I've been really spoiled by my creative collaboration with two

1056
00:51:32,440 --> 00:51:37,760
Speaker 8: phenomenal directors because I'm not I'm not lacking in feeling

1057
00:51:37,960 --> 00:51:39,960
Speaker 8: the show is in very good hands. But if I

1058
00:51:40,000 --> 00:51:43,880
Speaker 8: want the show to start going downhill, I definitely will Doret.

1059
00:51:44,120 --> 00:51:46,920
Speaker 7: We always say we want her to direct, but you

1060
00:51:46,960 --> 00:51:48,560
Speaker 7: know we can't force her.

1061
00:51:49,960 --> 00:51:52,319
Speaker 1: You know, you say the show going downhill, and I

1062
00:51:52,400 --> 00:51:55,719
Speaker 1: you know it must be sort of when I said

1063
00:51:55,760 --> 00:51:58,680
Speaker 1: earlier on about you know, it's both exhilarating but a

1064
00:51:58,719 --> 00:52:02,160
Speaker 1: lot of pressure. You know, these characters do have to

1065
00:52:02,280 --> 00:52:05,319
Speaker 1: evolve and new things have to happen, and you all

1066
00:52:05,360 --> 00:52:07,840
Speaker 1: have to come up with new storylines. And I think

1067
00:52:08,200 --> 00:52:13,040
Speaker 1: season three was really I found it more dramatic in

1068
00:52:13,080 --> 00:52:16,520
Speaker 1: some ways than comedic, although of course there's so many

1069
00:52:16,520 --> 00:52:21,800
Speaker 1: comedic moments. But you really started to understand Debra's journey.

1070
00:52:21,880 --> 00:52:24,200
Speaker 1: I hate the word journey. Don't hate the word journey,

1071
00:52:24,400 --> 00:52:27,520
Speaker 1: like we need to strip that from the lexicon because

1072
00:52:27,560 --> 00:52:32,960
Speaker 1: it just is so overused by breast cancer. Journey's journey anyway,

1073
00:52:34,440 --> 00:52:37,839
Speaker 1: but you know, tell me about kind of what went

1074
00:52:37,880 --> 00:52:42,040
Speaker 1: into that and where you go from here. Obviously you

1075
00:52:42,160 --> 00:52:45,480
Speaker 1: go from she got the late night talk show, right,

1076
00:52:45,560 --> 00:52:50,920
Speaker 1: and that I can't imagine doesn't provide just endless storylines

1077
00:52:51,040 --> 00:52:55,080
Speaker 1: and fun things about staffing and all sorts of stuff. Right,

1078
00:52:55,120 --> 00:52:58,400
Speaker 1: You can introduce all kinds of characters, but can you

1079
00:52:58,520 --> 00:53:02,120
Speaker 1: just talk about sort of the evolution of her character

1080
00:53:02,560 --> 00:53:05,520
Speaker 1: and where you see the show going in season four?

1081
00:53:05,680 --> 00:53:08,680
Speaker 1: If you guys, are you starting to wait? When does

1082
00:53:08,719 --> 00:53:09,640
Speaker 1: season four come.

1083
00:53:09,520 --> 00:53:11,080
Speaker 3: Out next spring?

1084
00:53:11,520 --> 00:53:14,160
Speaker 1: Next next spring? But so we're starting to shoot in September.

1085
00:53:14,480 --> 00:53:17,080
Speaker 3: Yes, yeah, we're writing it now.

1086
00:53:17,120 --> 00:53:19,160
Speaker 6: We're about halfway through, well a little bit more than

1087
00:53:19,160 --> 00:53:22,480
Speaker 6: halfway through writing season four. We always knew season three

1088
00:53:22,560 --> 00:53:25,000
Speaker 6: was going to be her Deborah's quest to get this

1089
00:53:25,080 --> 00:53:26,920
Speaker 6: late night job which was opening up. And you know

1090
00:53:27,400 --> 00:53:29,399
Speaker 6: the idea of late night. Obviously, late night is such

1091
00:53:29,440 --> 00:53:32,239
Speaker 6: like an institution in the comedy world, and it was

1092
00:53:32,280 --> 00:53:34,959
Speaker 6: the thing that you like. I think that for stand

1093
00:53:35,000 --> 00:53:37,360
Speaker 6: ups it was like the marquee job, the thing that

1094
00:53:37,360 --> 00:53:38,719
Speaker 6: they all wanted to do, and if you were a

1095
00:53:38,760 --> 00:53:41,040
Speaker 6: stand up, it was the show you wanted to be

1096
00:53:41,080 --> 00:53:43,360
Speaker 6: on because it could make your career. And so we

1097
00:53:43,520 --> 00:53:46,840
Speaker 6: always wanted to build to this season. But now that

1098
00:53:46,880 --> 00:53:50,560
Speaker 6: we're in season three and you understand the characters more

1099
00:53:50,680 --> 00:53:54,040
Speaker 6: and you get to see, you know, I think, a

1100
00:53:54,040 --> 00:53:55,799
Speaker 6: different gear for each of them. So we got to

1101
00:53:55,800 --> 00:53:58,959
Speaker 6: get underneath the characters. We get to meet Deborah's sister,

1102
00:53:59,200 --> 00:54:01,920
Speaker 6: which was obviously a point of trauma for her since

1103
00:54:01,960 --> 00:54:04,920
Speaker 6: her husband left her for her sister. We got to

1104
00:54:05,200 --> 00:54:07,600
Speaker 6: get some more you know, heartfelt moments from Jimmy and

1105
00:54:07,680 --> 00:54:09,839
Speaker 6: Kayla because now we've been with them and while they

1106
00:54:09,840 --> 00:54:12,960
Speaker 6: are the comedic duo and oftentimes comedic relief, that we

1107
00:54:13,000 --> 00:54:15,160
Speaker 6: got to see a little bit more of what makes

1108
00:54:15,200 --> 00:54:18,640
Speaker 6: them tick. And so yeah, I think partially because the

1109
00:54:18,640 --> 00:54:21,960
Speaker 6: stakes are so high for Deborah in this stage in

1110
00:54:22,000 --> 00:54:28,279
Speaker 6: her career, it lent itself to being emotional and in

1111
00:54:28,320 --> 00:54:30,719
Speaker 6: some in some cases more dramatic. But I think that

1112
00:54:30,840 --> 00:54:32,520
Speaker 6: was the thing for us, is that we always wanted

1113
00:54:32,520 --> 00:54:37,200
Speaker 6: to make a show that was both heartfelt and hard funny,

1114
00:54:37,920 --> 00:54:41,440
Speaker 6: and we never saw that to the degree that I

1115
00:54:41,480 --> 00:54:43,239
Speaker 6: hope we get to do because we have a show

1116
00:54:43,280 --> 00:54:46,160
Speaker 6: about comedians who get to deliver jokes. Like Deborah's love

1117
00:54:46,200 --> 00:54:49,120
Speaker 6: language is joking. She's addicted to telling jokes. She cannot

1118
00:54:49,120 --> 00:54:51,839
Speaker 6: not make a joke about something even you know, DJ,

1119
00:54:52,080 --> 00:54:55,600
Speaker 6: her daughter after feeling very maligned in that AA meeting

1120
00:54:55,719 --> 00:54:58,400
Speaker 6: or that NA meeting, is like, don't make jokes, Like

1121
00:54:58,480 --> 00:55:02,200
Speaker 6: she just can't stop making joke folks. So we get

1122
00:55:02,200 --> 00:55:03,400
Speaker 6: to how our cake and eat it too, which is

1123
00:55:03,440 --> 00:55:05,520
Speaker 6: make a show about comedy where we get to tell

1124
00:55:05,520 --> 00:55:09,920
Speaker 6: hard jokes but then also show the real life moments

1125
00:55:09,920 --> 00:55:14,160
Speaker 6: that are hard and sad and you know, real for

1126
00:55:14,239 --> 00:55:17,839
Speaker 6: these characters too. And then season four, like you say,

1127
00:55:17,880 --> 00:55:20,640
Speaker 6: it's like, we're off to the races. Because while getting

1128
00:55:20,719 --> 00:55:24,200
Speaker 6: that job was a huge challenge for Deborah, launching a

1129
00:55:24,280 --> 00:55:27,480
Speaker 6: late night show and having it be a success is

1130
00:55:27,520 --> 00:55:28,799
Speaker 6: an even bigger challenge.

1131
00:55:29,600 --> 00:55:31,879
Speaker 1: Are you going to be talking about you know, it's

1132
00:55:31,880 --> 00:55:34,319
Speaker 1: interesting because I know, I'm sure you all do too,

1133
00:55:34,440 --> 00:55:37,880
Speaker 1: people who work on late night shows. Nobody's really watching

1134
00:55:37,880 --> 00:55:42,399
Speaker 1: them anymore on television. They're watching them online the next day.

1135
00:55:42,520 --> 00:55:45,600
Speaker 1: You know, the ratings are I don't want to say infinitesimal,

1136
00:55:45,680 --> 00:55:48,319
Speaker 1: but they're not nearly what you would think they would

1137
00:55:48,400 --> 00:55:50,359
Speaker 1: be or you know, what they were in the day

1138
00:55:50,480 --> 00:55:57,719
Speaker 1: before digital you know, before iPhones and online stuff. Are

1139
00:55:57,760 --> 00:55:59,560
Speaker 1: you going to be dealing with that or is that

1140
00:56:00,040 --> 00:56:02,560
Speaker 1: to complex? But I feel like, if you if you

1141
00:56:02,600 --> 00:56:04,759
Speaker 1: want it really of the moment, you're going to have

1142
00:56:04,800 --> 00:56:07,000
Speaker 1: to talk about this stuff, will you? And if not,

1143
00:56:07,120 --> 00:56:10,520
Speaker 1: I just gave you a terrific idea.

1144
00:56:10,880 --> 00:56:13,479
Speaker 7: I mean, one of the things that we are going

1145
00:56:13,560 --> 00:56:17,359
Speaker 7: to be kind of tackling is the idea of the

1146
00:56:17,400 --> 00:56:21,600
Speaker 7: glass cliffs, which is that you know, women oftentimes in

1147
00:56:22,080 --> 00:56:27,480
Speaker 7: business especially are kind of offered hired job or you know,

1148
00:56:27,560 --> 00:56:31,640
Speaker 7: CEO jobs or positions of power you know, right before

1149
00:56:31,719 --> 00:56:34,160
Speaker 7: kind of the downfall of the company, as sometimes as

1150
00:56:34,200 --> 00:56:35,840
Speaker 7: a scapegoat, sometimes.

1151
00:56:35,480 --> 00:56:36,600
Speaker 5: As a like glass resort.

1152
00:56:36,640 --> 00:56:39,279
Speaker 7: Okay, finally, final, let's give it to a woman now

1153
00:56:39,320 --> 00:56:41,520
Speaker 7: that we've kind of already sunk the ship or whatever

1154
00:56:41,560 --> 00:56:42,120
Speaker 7: it is, I'm not.

1155
00:56:42,200 --> 00:56:43,680
Speaker 1: Familiar with that phenomenon.

1156
00:56:44,520 --> 00:56:49,200
Speaker 7: Yeah, so for us, that's definitely something that will be tackling,

1157
00:56:49,239 --> 00:56:51,800
Speaker 7: and like you said, it is of the moment. And also,

1158
00:56:52,160 --> 00:56:54,759
Speaker 7: you know, I think that's part of why Debra is

1159
00:56:54,800 --> 00:56:57,640
Speaker 7: given the show, you know, is because so you know,

1160
00:56:57,760 --> 00:57:00,520
Speaker 7: it's almost impossible to have a successful late show, but

1161
00:57:00,560 --> 00:57:04,600
Speaker 7: if there's anybody crazy enough to make something as success,

1162
00:57:04,600 --> 00:57:05,480
Speaker 7: it's sub Evans.

1163
00:57:05,600 --> 00:57:08,680
Speaker 5: So that's definitely part of what season four is a dow.

1164
00:57:08,920 --> 00:57:12,880
Speaker 1: And I'm so glad, you know, because really it's really ridiculous.

1165
00:57:12,920 --> 00:57:14,640
Speaker 1: I just wrote an op ed in the New York

1166
00:57:14,680 --> 00:57:20,320
Speaker 1: Times about how there will be no female anchors of

1167
00:57:20,520 --> 00:57:24,720
Speaker 1: evening news broadcasts after Nora O'donnald steps down after the election.

1168
00:57:25,200 --> 00:57:29,040
Speaker 1: And you know, that is a declining industry or declining

1169
00:57:29,440 --> 00:57:34,360
Speaker 1: format for sure, But it's still attracts about, gosh, nineteen

1170
00:57:34,400 --> 00:57:39,840
Speaker 1: million people a night now. Granted they're all out buying

1171
00:57:39,920 --> 00:57:44,000
Speaker 1: fix it in and depends. But you know, if you

1172
00:57:44,080 --> 00:57:48,680
Speaker 1: look at the commercials, you're like, whoa. But you know,

1173
00:57:48,840 --> 00:57:51,600
Speaker 1: I think it's so important in it it really it

1174
00:57:51,640 --> 00:57:55,880
Speaker 1: bothers me. That's still with the exception of Samantha Bee,

1175
00:57:56,320 --> 00:57:59,800
Speaker 1: there really haven't been any successful and of course Joan

1176
00:58:00,160 --> 00:58:05,000
Speaker 1: Verse for that moment in time, successful late night comedians.

1177
00:58:05,040 --> 00:58:08,680
Speaker 1: And I think it's you know, it shows a real

1178
00:58:09,600 --> 00:58:15,480
Speaker 1: bankruptcy of imagination for programmers and audiences.

1179
00:58:15,560 --> 00:58:19,960
Speaker 6: Honestly, absolutely, yeah, I think that's I mean, that's very

1180
00:58:20,000 --> 00:58:22,240
Speaker 6: much part of the ethos of the show is about

1181
00:58:22,280 --> 00:58:27,480
Speaker 6: how unfair that is and how, you know, in this

1182
00:58:27,560 --> 00:58:29,920
Speaker 6: world we get to do it. But you know, we

1183
00:58:29,920 --> 00:58:32,160
Speaker 6: were asked in an interview, do you think you'll see

1184
00:58:32,160 --> 00:58:34,600
Speaker 6: a female president or a female late night host first,

1185
00:58:34,680 --> 00:58:38,760
Speaker 6: and we said, President, it's a really weird thing that,

1186
00:58:38,960 --> 00:58:42,120
Speaker 6: you know that they haven't been given the chance. And

1187
00:58:44,600 --> 00:58:47,640
Speaker 6: I think that the same goes for broadcast journalism. It

1188
00:58:47,720 --> 00:58:51,840
Speaker 6: is it is really wild because audiences are also largely,

1189
00:58:51,920 --> 00:58:56,200
Speaker 6: if not equally, female, you know, I think women just

1190
00:58:56,280 --> 00:59:01,760
Speaker 6: have a greater ability to empathize and watch someone in

1191
00:59:01,800 --> 00:59:05,080
Speaker 6: a different gender role than their own. And I think

1192
00:59:05,120 --> 00:59:08,600
Speaker 6: there is still like a weird ingrained thing even in storytelling,

1193
00:59:08,640 --> 00:59:11,920
Speaker 6: even in shows, you know, like especially in comedies, there

1194
00:59:11,960 --> 00:59:13,840
Speaker 6: are not a ton of female at comedies. Yes, of

1195
00:59:13,840 --> 00:59:16,880
Speaker 6: course they've been fantastic ones, and we talked about many

1196
00:59:16,880 --> 00:59:19,280
Speaker 6: of our favorites that were on Nick at Night, but

1197
00:59:19,480 --> 00:59:22,240
Speaker 6: they really don't have the same degree I don't think

1198
00:59:22,240 --> 00:59:26,760
Speaker 6: of respect and often instant notoriety that ones that are

1199
00:59:26,840 --> 00:59:27,400
Speaker 6: led by men do.

1200
00:59:28,320 --> 00:59:31,120
Speaker 1: Thank you all so much, as you know, we've already said,

1201
00:59:31,160 --> 00:59:35,040
Speaker 1: we're such fans of yours, such fans of the show.

1202
00:59:35,320 --> 00:59:38,280
Speaker 1: And I feel like, you know, as somebody who's the

1203
00:59:38,320 --> 00:59:41,120
Speaker 1: mother of a writer, I feel like writers don't get

1204
00:59:41,240 --> 00:59:46,680
Speaker 1: enough credit because without them, these shows just wouldn't be anything.

1205
00:59:46,720 --> 00:59:49,600
Speaker 1: I mean, obviously the actors bring it to life, but

1206
00:59:50,440 --> 00:59:53,120
Speaker 1: the writing is so good and the stories and the

1207
00:59:53,240 --> 00:59:57,800
Speaker 1: characters are so I think beautifully drawn. That we were

1208
00:59:57,840 --> 01:00:00,360
Speaker 1: just very excited to spend a little time with you.

1209
01:00:00,480 --> 01:00:02,320
Speaker 1: So thank you all so much.

1210
01:00:02,520 --> 01:00:03,600
Speaker 5: Thanks for having us.

1211
01:00:03,840 --> 01:00:06,960
Speaker 4: This was so fun. Thank you, Thank you for having us.

1212
01:00:07,080 --> 01:00:08,640
Speaker 4: It's a dream come true.

1213
01:00:08,840 --> 01:00:11,320
Speaker 1: Yeah, you trying to anything else before we go.

1214
01:00:11,840 --> 01:00:13,120
Speaker 2: The one thing I was going to let you guys

1215
01:00:13,160 --> 01:00:16,240
Speaker 2: know is we solicited questions from Katie's audience ahead of this,

1216
01:00:16,360 --> 01:00:20,160
Speaker 2: and my favorite comments not question was I use SBF

1217
01:00:20,200 --> 01:00:22,959
Speaker 2: fifty on my hands now because of Debra Vance.

1218
01:00:23,080 --> 01:00:29,120
Speaker 8: Love it that that's good one one liver spot at

1219
01:00:29,120 --> 01:00:32,000
Speaker 8: a time, because, as she says, you can't get a

1220
01:00:32,040 --> 01:00:32,600
Speaker 8: hand job.

1221
01:00:32,920 --> 01:00:36,800
Speaker 4: Yeah.

1222
01:00:36,840 --> 01:00:47,840
Speaker 1: Thanks everybody, Thank you so much, Thanks for listening everyone.

1223
01:00:48,240 --> 01:00:50,840
Speaker 1: If you have a question for me, a subject you

1224
01:00:50,880 --> 01:00:53,120
Speaker 1: want us to cover, or you want to share your

1225
01:00:53,160 --> 01:00:56,880
Speaker 1: thoughts about how you navigate this crazy world, reach out.

1226
01:00:57,280 --> 01:00:59,800
Speaker 1: You can leave a short message at six oh nine

1227
01:01:00,120 --> 01:01:03,520
Speaker 1: five one two five five five, or you can send

1228
01:01:03,520 --> 01:01:06,160
Speaker 1: me a DM on Instagram. I would love to hear

1229
01:01:06,200 --> 01:01:10,040
Speaker 1: from you. Next Question is a production of iHeartMedia and

1230
01:01:10,160 --> 01:01:14,240
Speaker 1: Katie Couric Media. The executive producers are Me, Katie Kuric,

1231
01:01:14,360 --> 01:01:18,840
Speaker 1: and Courtney Ltz. Our supervising producer is Ryan Martz, and

1232
01:01:18,880 --> 01:01:24,000
Speaker 1: our producers are Adriana Fazzio and Meredith Barnes. Julian Weller

1233
01:01:24,120 --> 01:01:28,760
Speaker 1: composed our theme music. For more information about today's episode,

1234
01:01:28,920 --> 01:01:31,320
Speaker 1: or to sign up for my newsletter, wake Up Call,

1235
01:01:31,760 --> 01:01:34,680
Speaker 1: go to the description in the podcast app, or visit

1236
01:01:34,760 --> 01:01:37,960
Speaker 1: us at Katiecuric dot com. You can also find me

1237
01:01:38,040 --> 01:01:41,760
Speaker 1: on Instagram and all my social media channels. For more

1238
01:01:41,800 --> 01:01:47,120
Speaker 1: podcasts from iHeartRadio, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or

1239
01:01:47,160 --> 01:01:49,520
Speaker 1: wherever you listen to your favorite shows,