WEBVTT - Creating Comedy Gold with the creators of “Hacks” 0:00:03.440 --> 0:00:10.640 Hi everyone, I'm Kittie Couric and this is Next Question. Okay, 0:00:10.920 --> 0:00:14.400 this is a bonus episode of Next Question, and I 0:00:14.520 --> 0:00:18.000 must say a pretty fun one. First of all, I've 0:00:18.000 --> 0:00:22.000 got my plus one today and it's none other than 0:00:22.079 --> 0:00:27.760 my sidekick, Adriana Fazzio. Thank you, ladies and gentlemen, thank you. Yes, 0:00:27.840 --> 0:00:30.760 she's terrific, Adriana. How excited are you to be here 0:00:30.800 --> 0:00:31.040 with me? 0:00:31.480 --> 0:00:34.400 I am so excited. I'm usually silently next to you, 0:00:34.440 --> 0:00:35.920 but now I get to mic today. 0:00:36.120 --> 0:00:37.959 And why are you excited? Fazzio? 0:00:38.479 --> 0:00:40.880 I'm excited because you and I both love the show 0:00:41.000 --> 0:00:44.360 Hacks on Max, which rhymes. And we get to interview 0:00:44.400 --> 0:00:48.199 the three writers today, Jen Statski, Paul w Downs and 0:00:48.360 --> 0:00:49.240 Lucia Anello. 0:00:49.479 --> 0:00:52.400 That's right. And when we watch this show, what do 0:00:52.440 --> 0:00:54.400 we always say, faz. 0:00:54.280 --> 0:00:57.040 We say that we are the real life Dubbor Vance 0:00:57.320 --> 0:00:58.560 and Ava Daniels. 0:00:58.880 --> 0:01:00.640 It's true for about or for worse. 0:01:00.880 --> 0:01:02.000 Although we're not toxic. 0:01:02.760 --> 0:01:04.840 No, well, I don't think they're toxic. Do you think 0:01:04.840 --> 0:01:05.520 they're toxic? 0:01:05.840 --> 0:01:06.240 I do. 0:01:06.400 --> 0:01:10.120 They are toxic maybe in moments, but then they have 0:01:10.720 --> 0:01:16.360 other moments of real just true affection and I don't 0:01:16.400 --> 0:01:20.399 know and connection, but anyway, I digress. First of all, 0:01:20.440 --> 0:01:22.760 they were so nice to spend so much time with us. 0:01:22.800 --> 0:01:26.800 But here is our conversation with the writers of our 0:01:26.920 --> 0:01:29.360 favorite show, Hacks. 0:01:36.400 --> 0:01:36.640 Well. 0:01:36.680 --> 0:01:40.280 First of all, I can't tell you how excited Atriona 0:01:40.400 --> 0:01:44.000 and I both are that you all have carved out 0:01:44.000 --> 0:01:47.320 a little time and your incredibly busy schedules to talk 0:01:47.360 --> 0:01:51.440 to us about Hacks. Because we love the show. We're 0:01:51.480 --> 0:01:53.920 obsessed with the show, and we actually think the show 0:01:54.000 --> 0:02:01.840 is about us. We do well. I'm an older, I'm 0:02:01.880 --> 0:02:06.920 sort of you know, I'm Deborah Vance and Adriana is 0:02:07.040 --> 0:02:10.240 Ava and we laugh about it all the time, and actually, 0:02:10.240 --> 0:02:13.720 following this podcast, we'd like to talk about a show 0:02:14.120 --> 0:02:16.400 based on us if you all have to do it, 0:02:17.120 --> 0:02:19.320 and you know, I know you think we're kidding, but 0:02:19.400 --> 0:02:20.440 we're actually not kidding. 0:02:20.639 --> 0:02:21.280 Okay, love that. 0:02:21.600 --> 0:02:24.440 I'm sure We're open for pitches. Let's do it. 0:02:24.480 --> 0:02:24.679 Well. 0:02:24.680 --> 0:02:27.960 First of all, I also want to say congratulations because 0:02:28.000 --> 0:02:30.760 it must be an incredible feeling. I know you all 0:02:30.760 --> 0:02:34.560 have had a lot of success in other shows, and 0:02:35.080 --> 0:02:38.120 we can talk about those, but I feel like Hacks 0:02:38.560 --> 0:02:43.600 has become so huge and has made such a mark. Paul, 0:02:43.680 --> 0:02:45.320 let me start with you. I mean, what is it 0:02:45.520 --> 0:02:49.000 like having such a hugely successful show. It must be thrilling, 0:02:49.080 --> 0:02:51.760 but also kind of a lot of pressure, right. 0:02:52.240 --> 0:02:55.160 Well, it is a lot of pressure in that I 0:02:55.200 --> 0:02:58.760 think we've had such a great response and people, you know, 0:02:59.520 --> 0:03:01.440 who tell us that the show resonates with them, we 0:03:01.560 --> 0:03:05.000 just want to make it better every season for them. 0:03:05.280 --> 0:03:07.960 And you know, as people who love film and television, 0:03:08.520 --> 0:03:10.760 I love it when a show just gets better and better, 0:03:10.800 --> 0:03:13.840 and so I think there's pressure in that way. But 0:03:14.560 --> 0:03:16.760 knowing how much content in the world there is and 0:03:16.800 --> 0:03:20.560 how much great television there is, it is so gratifying 0:03:20.560 --> 0:03:22.520 that it's cut through because you never know, you know, 0:03:22.560 --> 0:03:26.080 we feel very very lucky that people have found the 0:03:26.080 --> 0:03:27.400 show and really respond to it. 0:03:27.720 --> 0:03:28.840 Luccio, what about you? 0:03:29.560 --> 0:03:32.720 Yeah, very similar sentiment, which is just like you know, 0:03:32.800 --> 0:03:36.320 I think, especially when people tell us how much the 0:03:36.360 --> 0:03:38.880 show means to them and how much they feel seen 0:03:38.960 --> 0:03:41.280 and connect to it, or say, you know, like I 0:03:41.320 --> 0:03:43.560 watched it with my dad when he was sick and 0:03:43.600 --> 0:03:45.200 it was something we could laugh at together. 0:03:45.400 --> 0:03:46.560 You know, stories like that. 0:03:47.000 --> 0:03:50.360 They're so sweet and touching, But also it makes me 0:03:50.800 --> 0:03:53.360 want to make the show good for those people and 0:03:53.440 --> 0:03:58.600 so that is really a huge source of the almost 0:03:58.640 --> 0:04:04.280 abilitating anxiety I feel in general about making the shows, 0:04:04.320 --> 0:04:06.040 Like I really just don't want to disappoint people, and 0:04:06.080 --> 0:04:07.840 I want, like Paul saying, to give them more of 0:04:07.840 --> 0:04:11.800 what they feel like they love about the show, but also, 0:04:11.960 --> 0:04:14.000 you know, still make the show that we want to make. 0:04:14.080 --> 0:04:14.680 So it is. 0:04:16.240 --> 0:04:18.800 It is a lot of pressure, but it really comes 0:04:18.800 --> 0:04:22.360 from having such gratefulness of being able to even make 0:04:22.400 --> 0:04:24.479 a show right now, Like the industry is in such 0:04:24.480 --> 0:04:26.480 a weird place of being able to be even writing 0:04:26.520 --> 0:04:28.240 a season four of a show, which we're doing right now, 0:04:28.240 --> 0:04:30.160 feels like such a rarity. 0:04:30.800 --> 0:04:33.080 And Jen, bring it home, Jen. 0:04:33.760 --> 0:04:37.800 No pressure, no everything, these guys said, And I think also, 0:04:37.880 --> 0:04:40.840 you know, just to get to make a comedy right 0:04:40.880 --> 0:04:44.320 now in twenty twenty four, we feel really privileged and lucky. 0:04:44.360 --> 0:04:46.720 Like we the three of us. You know, the show 0:04:46.760 --> 0:04:50.320 is about creative collaboration. It's about two people who are 0:04:50.600 --> 0:04:52.960 lit up and have a love of comedy and it's 0:04:53.040 --> 0:04:55.840 what drives them. And that's very much so the story 0:04:55.880 --> 0:04:58.360 of the three of us. We met doing comedy at 0:04:58.360 --> 0:05:01.159 the UCB in New York and we love it. 0:05:01.040 --> 0:05:04.359 And upright citizens brigade for you neophyte listeners. 0:05:05.680 --> 0:05:09.600 Yeah, and so to get to do that and make 0:05:09.640 --> 0:05:12.080 this comedy show with people that I meant like in 0:05:12.120 --> 0:05:15.120 a sketch group and like a theater underneath the grocery 0:05:15.160 --> 0:05:18.240 store is like feels really cool and special and we 0:05:18.400 --> 0:05:20.919 just I don't know, Yeah, there is there is pressure 0:05:21.040 --> 0:05:23.400 with it, but you try to just focus on how 0:05:23.480 --> 0:05:24.120 lucky you are. 0:05:24.360 --> 0:05:26.479 Are you Canadian, by the way, because you say a 0:05:26.520 --> 0:05:27.760 bout I know. 0:05:27.880 --> 0:05:30.080 Okay, so this is so talking about it all the time. 0:05:30.279 --> 0:05:33.760 I'm glad she's either Canadian or from Baltimore. 0:05:33.839 --> 0:05:36.719 I'm glad we're getting into this, Katie. So I'm from 0:05:36.880 --> 0:05:38.600 I'm from Boston and my. 0:05:38.640 --> 0:05:41.080 Dad is what the hell is about about? 0:05:41.320 --> 0:05:45.039 I know, it's so strange, it does pop out some sids. 0:05:45.360 --> 0:05:46.920 What happened? Two things happened. 0:05:46.960 --> 0:05:48.560 I think when I went to I had I had 0:05:48.560 --> 0:05:51.000 a pretty thick Boston accent because my dad is from 0:05:51.040 --> 0:05:53.520 South Boston and has like a really thick South the accent. 0:05:53.880 --> 0:05:55.760 I think when I went to NYU, I kind of 0:05:55.800 --> 0:05:59.159 lost the accent. But then I did date someone from 0:05:59.200 --> 0:06:02.720 Canada for a long time, and I think I picked. 0:06:02.520 --> 0:06:04.160 Up started talking like that. 0:06:04.320 --> 0:06:04.800 I started. 0:06:04.839 --> 0:06:07.240 I think I picked up something. So shout out to 0:06:07.240 --> 0:06:11.159 Brian Bernstein. If you're listening to every piece of media 0:06:11.240 --> 0:06:15.440 I do. You're still in my life every day. 0:06:16.960 --> 0:06:18.160 Hey, I'm big in Canada. 0:06:18.200 --> 0:06:23.880 Paul, I believe it. I believe it. 0:06:24.040 --> 0:06:26.440 So Lucie, I guess you're the best person to bring 0:06:26.480 --> 0:06:29.440 together the connective tissue A. Jen was talking a little 0:06:29.440 --> 0:06:31.800 bit about how you all met, but then also how 0:06:31.880 --> 0:06:33.599 Hacks became a show. 0:06:34.240 --> 0:06:38.080 Yeah, so Paul and Jen and I, well, we originally 0:06:38.160 --> 0:06:40.160 all met when I'm Paul and I met at a 0:06:40.200 --> 0:06:43.760 level one UCB class, and then Jen and I maybe 0:06:44.000 --> 0:06:47.279 two or three years later or something like that, met 0:06:47.520 --> 0:06:49.720 because we were the only girls in a. 0:06:49.720 --> 0:06:51.159 Kind of a sketch comedy group. 0:06:51.200 --> 0:06:54.080 But then the boys stopped emailing us and so we 0:06:54.080 --> 0:06:57.640 were kind of kicked out of the group. But Jen 0:06:57.720 --> 0:07:00.200 and I remained friends, and then I introduced paulin gen 0:07:00.240 --> 0:07:03.080 around that same time, and we were just friends, you know, 0:07:03.240 --> 0:07:07.960 and then we I guess maybe when is the first 0:07:07.960 --> 0:07:10.160 time we worked together? Was it on Broad City that 0:07:10.440 --> 0:07:12.680 we actually well other than work making the videos? 0:07:12.800 --> 0:07:13.679 Yeah, that's so crazy. 0:07:13.640 --> 0:07:14.040 It was. 0:07:14.560 --> 0:07:16.760 It might have been It might have been Broad City 0:07:17.040 --> 0:07:19.640 or maybe I had done punch up for something you 0:07:19.680 --> 0:07:20.240 guys did. 0:07:21.160 --> 0:07:23.240 I don't know, because I did feel like we took 0:07:23.280 --> 0:07:25.360 their material and made it funnier Chan. 0:07:25.960 --> 0:07:29.680 Yes, which is it's hard to do because they're incredibly funny, 0:07:30.240 --> 0:07:31.120 the best writers. 0:07:31.200 --> 0:07:33.920 So I tried, at least. I don't know that I succeeded. 0:07:34.880 --> 0:07:39.000 She she always does, but yeah, and so we basically 0:07:39.080 --> 0:07:43.560 we started writing together in different ways. Punched up a 0:07:43.600 --> 0:07:45.440 movie that we made rough Night when she was on 0:07:45.480 --> 0:07:47.800 set with us, and we wrote a spec script. The 0:07:47.800 --> 0:07:49.760 three of us wrote a movie that we tried to 0:07:49.800 --> 0:07:51.800 get made that we have yet to. 0:07:51.880 --> 0:07:55.200 Succeed in doing. But then we were writing. 0:07:56.400 --> 0:07:58.520 Jen and I were kind of helping Paul on his 0:07:59.120 --> 0:08:02.200 Netflix special all the characters called Up Down Search that 0:08:02.840 --> 0:08:06.880 and on our drive from Boston to Portland, Maine, which 0:08:06.880 --> 0:08:09.320 is where we were shooting a segment for it, we 0:08:09.520 --> 0:08:13.679 started talking about, you know, women in this industry, especially 0:08:13.680 --> 0:08:16.119 stand ups, who like you, kind of only read about 0:08:16.120 --> 0:08:18.800 when their obituary happens, and you're like, oh, yeah, why 0:08:18.800 --> 0:08:21.000 didn't they ever have the same kind of careers that 0:08:21.000 --> 0:08:24.280 their male counterparts had, And we were just kind of 0:08:24.280 --> 0:08:26.680 talking about this idea of what it's like to be 0:08:27.160 --> 0:08:29.840 a woman of a certain age who's had to, you know, 0:08:30.200 --> 0:08:32.440 try to make it in that industry at a certain time, 0:08:32.480 --> 0:08:34.880 and then what that does to your personality, What does 0:08:34.920 --> 0:08:36.719 that do to your psyche, what does that do to 0:08:36.760 --> 0:08:39.400 your career, and how you have to kind of gravitate 0:08:39.440 --> 0:08:42.080 towards certain kinds of materials to survive. Maybe is it 0:08:42.160 --> 0:08:44.520 kind of what you initially intended to do with your comedy, 0:08:44.520 --> 0:08:47.600 but it's a way to make money, and so that 0:08:47.679 --> 0:08:49.080 kind of is like where we. 0:08:49.000 --> 0:08:50.120 Started having this idea. 0:08:50.160 --> 0:08:52.120 And then the idea of like a younger comedian, a 0:08:52.240 --> 0:08:55.960 younger woman kind of learning to respect the older comedian 0:08:56.000 --> 0:08:58.199 through working with her, and just kind of what that 0:08:58.280 --> 0:09:01.080 generational conflict would do you just felt like a great 0:09:01.120 --> 0:09:03.280 story engine. It felt like a great character engine. We 0:09:03.480 --> 0:09:05.520 kind of just never stopped talking about it. Whether we 0:09:05.520 --> 0:09:07.520 were hanging out or working together, We just kind of 0:09:07.520 --> 0:09:10.240 always would email each other ideas, Oh. 0:09:10.120 --> 0:09:11.920 It could be this idea or that idea. Like it 0:09:12.000 --> 0:09:13.080 just kind of over the course of a. 0:09:13.080 --> 0:09:15.600 Couple of years, from like I think twenty fifteen until 0:09:15.640 --> 0:09:18.360 twenty nineteen, it's just something we were always working on 0:09:18.360 --> 0:09:20.320 on the back burner and then twenty nineteen. 0:09:20.320 --> 0:09:21.679 We were like, it really just felt like the right 0:09:21.720 --> 0:09:22.360 time to pitch it. 0:09:22.840 --> 0:09:25.560 And it took you five years, as you said, from 0:09:25.679 --> 0:09:29.680 kind of the conception to getting it ready to pitch, 0:09:29.720 --> 0:09:32.840 and you were all busy doing other things. I know, Jen, 0:09:32.920 --> 0:09:36.560 you were on the good place, right And weren't you 0:09:36.600 --> 0:09:40.040 guys also working on broad City? Lucia and Paul, As 0:09:40.200 --> 0:09:44.640 Lucia mentioned, you both had plenty of other projects, but 0:09:44.800 --> 0:09:48.800 this thing was just sort of this nagging idea that 0:09:48.840 --> 0:09:51.240 wouldn't go away. And I want to talk about the 0:09:51.360 --> 0:09:54.120 characters and who they're based on in a minute, but 0:09:54.600 --> 0:09:57.920 if you will indulge me for a moment, I'm sort 0:09:57.920 --> 0:10:01.920 of interested in all of yours gin stories because I 0:10:02.000 --> 0:10:06.280 love to know kind of why people become what they become. 0:10:06.760 --> 0:10:08.760 And I know, Paul, you grew up in New Jersey. 0:10:09.120 --> 0:10:12.280 You describe yourself as kind of a weird, quiet, shy kid, 0:10:12.320 --> 0:10:15.400 and you had parents who were super funny, and you 0:10:15.520 --> 0:10:18.880 kind of related. I think you said that that comedy 0:10:18.960 --> 0:10:22.400 kind of fueled you, and it also made you less lonely, 0:10:22.480 --> 0:10:25.440 it made you connect with people. See, I did my 0:10:25.559 --> 0:10:29.360 research polem. Can you talk a little bit about that 0:10:29.520 --> 0:10:33.480 and how ultimately you decided to pursue this as a career. 0:10:33.920 --> 0:10:35.720 Yeah, I mean, you know, I was. 0:10:36.080 --> 0:10:38.640 I certainly actually wasn't shy, is the truth. But I 0:10:38.760 --> 0:10:41.480 was very eccentric and strange as a child, I think, 0:10:42.160 --> 0:10:46.280 and my parents certainly fan the flames of that. They 0:10:46.440 --> 0:10:48.600 you know, my mom and I used to watch Nick 0:10:48.600 --> 0:10:51.640 at night and we watched I Love Lucy and Bewitched 0:10:51.720 --> 0:10:55.319 and you know, whatever else was on. And my dad 0:10:55.400 --> 0:10:58.360 was a big fan of the Marx Brothers and mel 0:10:58.440 --> 0:11:01.079 Brooks and you know, so I was watching Young Frankenstein 0:11:01.120 --> 0:11:03.800 probably before I even understood what half of the references were. 0:11:05.040 --> 0:11:07.839 And yeah, it was the thing as a kid that 0:11:08.280 --> 0:11:09.680 you know, I think a lot of people get into 0:11:09.679 --> 0:11:14.160 comedy because it's, you know, the thing that, especially when 0:11:14.200 --> 0:11:15.880 you share a sense of humor with somebody, you find 0:11:15.920 --> 0:11:19.480 your people. And certainly for me, it was also a 0:11:19.520 --> 0:11:23.480 way of, you know, you can avoid being bullied if 0:11:23.520 --> 0:11:25.240 you can make people laugh, So that was certainly it 0:11:25.480 --> 0:11:29.760 was a defense mechanism in a way too. And yeah, 0:11:29.760 --> 0:11:32.400 I just always loved it, and I loved Saturday Night Live, 0:11:32.440 --> 0:11:34.240 and I loved watching Robin Williams, and I just wanted 0:11:34.240 --> 0:11:37.560 to do what he and those people did, so I 0:11:37.600 --> 0:11:40.520 started writing for myself. In high school, I would do 0:11:40.600 --> 0:11:43.360 character monologues because I went to a school that had 0:11:43.360 --> 0:11:46.360 a great performing arts program, and there was this thing 0:11:46.400 --> 0:11:49.199 called the black Box Theater, and at lunch time you 0:11:49.240 --> 0:11:52.400 would do like lunch room performances, like a coffee shop 0:11:52.480 --> 0:11:54.600 for the kids who weren't sitting at the popular table. 0:11:54.640 --> 0:11:57.000 You could go and do like coffee shop poetry or 0:11:57.880 --> 0:11:58.760 character monologue. 0:11:58.840 --> 0:12:01.160 Oh, I love your school. I'm so glad they did that. 0:12:01.400 --> 0:12:02.360 Yeah, the Pingree School. 0:12:02.400 --> 0:12:04.800 Shout out to al Romano and Patricia Wheeler who were 0:12:04.840 --> 0:12:07.560 running the program there at the Pingree School. But yeah, 0:12:07.559 --> 0:12:09.480 it was like a performance at arts high school. And 0:12:10.360 --> 0:12:13.520 I think that certainly started me off. And then when 0:12:13.559 --> 0:12:17.960 I went to college, I did improv in sketch and college, 0:12:17.960 --> 0:12:19.840 and so when I moved to New York after I 0:12:19.920 --> 0:12:22.000 was doing stand up and I was auditioning for things, 0:12:22.000 --> 0:12:24.000 and I wanted to be a comedic actor. But it 0:12:24.080 --> 0:12:28.160 wasn't until I started doing improv again. And actually it 0:12:28.240 --> 0:12:31.480 was day one of our first improv class that I 0:12:31.520 --> 0:12:35.000 met Luccia and I told them this recently, it's so weird. 0:12:36.360 --> 0:12:37.880 Maybe it's just because you know, someone's going to be 0:12:37.920 --> 0:12:40.240 important in your life. But I remember the moment of 0:12:40.280 --> 0:12:43.080 meeting both general Lucia, and I don't have that for 0:12:43.240 --> 0:12:46.320 many people in my life, which is pretty wild. 0:12:47.160 --> 0:12:48.160 What do you remember? 0:12:48.800 --> 0:12:49.000 Well? 0:12:49.040 --> 0:12:51.160 I showed up early to class because I was so nervous, 0:12:51.280 --> 0:12:55.760 and Luccia came about ten or fifteen minutes late, very nonplussed, 0:12:55.800 --> 0:12:57.360 and said what are we doing? And I was like, 0:12:57.440 --> 0:13:00.800 who is this girl who was so confident and walked 0:13:00.840 --> 0:13:04.079 in and was like essentially. And then very shortly thereafter, 0:13:04.640 --> 0:13:07.360 I was doing a scene in this class and she 0:13:07.480 --> 0:13:11.200 did turn to the instructor and said, you should write 0:13:11.200 --> 0:13:13.800 that line down, which is not something to do in improv, 0:13:13.920 --> 0:13:16.920 but she was already directing that's funny. 0:13:17.640 --> 0:13:18.920 And then I knew of. 0:13:18.920 --> 0:13:20.839 Jen because I had read some of the sketches that 0:13:20.920 --> 0:13:24.440 Lucia and Gen were writing, and for Lucia to be 0:13:24.480 --> 0:13:27.240 lit up by somebody meant they were very special. And 0:13:27.320 --> 0:13:30.440 I know Lucia spoke so fondly of Jen and how 0:13:30.440 --> 0:13:32.840 funny she was, so I was very excited to meet her. 0:13:33.559 --> 0:13:35.839 And then I met her at a coffee shop and 0:13:36.000 --> 0:13:40.320 I was struck by well, I did say, wow, funny 0:13:40.360 --> 0:13:42.680 and beautiful which is probably very inappropriate nowadays. 0:13:42.679 --> 0:13:44.000 It's like I couldn't do. 0:13:43.960 --> 0:13:46.640 It, but it's interesting because it was in front of 0:13:46.679 --> 0:13:47.920 your girlfriend at the time. 0:13:50.040 --> 0:13:52.160 I'm not that jealous tight, but that's the kind of 0:13:52.160 --> 0:13:52.880 guy I am. 0:13:53.160 --> 0:13:55.640 No, Yeah, I said, you know what, He's totally right. 0:13:55.679 --> 0:13:57.080 I agree, And that's. 0:13:56.960 --> 0:14:00.320 An exclusive Miss Katie about that. 0:14:03.080 --> 0:14:07.360 Yeah, breaking news is such an old timey line to 0:14:07.440 --> 0:14:07.920 kind of do. 0:14:08.080 --> 0:14:10.760 Also at like what were you twenty four twenty fives? 0:14:11.120 --> 0:14:13.839 Truly am I grout show Mark speaking of Yeah, I 0:14:14.240 --> 0:14:16.640 done the harp, putting my leg in her hand when 0:14:16.640 --> 0:14:18.600 I shook her hand. 0:14:17.320 --> 0:14:21.240 But it was very old school thought Villian almost. 0:14:22.360 --> 0:14:24.560 Yeah, Jen, I know that you really like the Mary 0:14:24.600 --> 0:14:26.920 Tyler Moore Show and that was part of the reason 0:14:26.920 --> 0:14:28.920 you wanted to become a TV writer. What was it 0:14:28.960 --> 0:14:31.040 about that show that drew you to the industry. 0:14:32.120 --> 0:14:35.200 Yeah, I was like, like I was an only child 0:14:35.400 --> 0:14:36.760 and my parents were around a lot. 0:14:36.800 --> 0:14:39.720 I watched a lot of Nicked Night, like old tea. 0:14:39.960 --> 0:14:43.320 Like this is a this is some connective tissue nicked Ye. 0:14:44.160 --> 0:14:45.880 Were you a big Nicked Night person? 0:14:46.520 --> 0:14:50.640 I watched it. I see liked night. 0:14:50.720 --> 0:14:54.840 Anonymous thought I were more Yeah, she was cooler, that 0:14:54.960 --> 0:14:55.440 is true. 0:14:55.880 --> 0:14:58.280 I don't know, but were you watching the Mary Tyler 0:14:58.280 --> 0:15:01.200 Moore Show on Nicked Night, Because, by the way, Jen, 0:15:01.760 --> 0:15:04.560 you and I are kind of on the same page 0:15:04.600 --> 0:15:08.480 because I became a journalist because of the Mary telling 0:15:08.560 --> 0:15:13.560 Marsh and absolutely loved that show. And I thought it 0:15:13.600 --> 0:15:16.200 was so interesting when I read that you thought the 0:15:16.320 --> 0:15:21.040 pilot was the perfect pilot, and then it made me. 0:15:21.480 --> 0:15:24.640 I've rewatched the Mary Taylor Moore Show on YouTube or 0:15:24.680 --> 0:15:27.480 on what yeah, I guess on YouTube, and do you 0:15:27.560 --> 0:15:30.160 remember exactly what was in the pilot? Is that when 0:15:30.240 --> 0:15:32.880 Lou Grant said you have spunk and I hate sponsor. 0:15:33.040 --> 0:15:36.480 Yeah, yeah, So the pilot, to me, that is exactly it. 0:15:36.560 --> 0:15:39.120 During the interview when Lou and Mary meat for the 0:15:39.160 --> 0:15:42.200 first time, it is that, you know, I think the 0:15:42.240 --> 0:15:44.480 reason it's such a good pilot is like that in 0:15:44.520 --> 0:15:48.080 that interview scene, their rapport and their comedic games are 0:15:48.200 --> 0:15:51.680 so evident right immediately, and you immediately are like, oh, 0:15:51.760 --> 0:15:55.120 I want one hundred more episodes of these two doing this. 0:15:55.680 --> 0:15:57.600 And so I thought about that scene a lot during 0:15:57.600 --> 0:16:00.600 the deborn Ava interview scene in our pilot because it 0:16:00.720 --> 0:16:03.280 kind of had the same exact feeling which was you 0:16:03.320 --> 0:16:06.560 need to buy into the dynamic between these characters immediately 0:16:07.000 --> 0:16:10.440 for it to work, and you know Mary, they have 0:16:10.600 --> 0:16:13.880 such crazy good chemistry in that scene. It's so funny. 0:16:14.560 --> 0:16:16.440 And then the other reason I think it's the perfect 0:16:16.440 --> 0:16:18.440 pilot and it did influence me wanting to be a 0:16:18.480 --> 0:16:21.560 TV sitcom writer is for me like sitcoms are so 0:16:21.960 --> 0:16:25.600 special and wonderful when they are both really funny but 0:16:25.760 --> 0:16:28.920 have heart and make you feel things, even in thirty 0:16:28.960 --> 0:16:32.520 minutes twenty one minutes on Network, and that pilot is 0:16:32.560 --> 0:16:35.480 so funny, but it also is so heart wrenching at 0:16:35.520 --> 0:16:40.200 the end when her you know X comes back and 0:16:40.560 --> 0:16:42.760 she's moved and she's like kind of kind of been 0:16:42.800 --> 0:16:44.840 longing for him and he comes back in our life 0:16:44.840 --> 0:16:48.120 and she's finally realized her value and it's just like 0:16:48.200 --> 0:16:50.240 a two line thing. But when he says like, take 0:16:50.280 --> 0:16:52.200 care of yourself, Mary, and she goes, I think I 0:16:52.360 --> 0:16:55.160 just did that like made me choke up. That made 0:16:55.200 --> 0:16:58.280 me choke up as like a ten year old, And 0:16:58.480 --> 0:17:01.000 I was like, oh, this this is so funny and 0:17:01.200 --> 0:17:04.720 also so real and emotional that those are the stories 0:17:04.760 --> 0:17:06.320 I want to tell and what I want to do. 0:17:06.480 --> 0:17:09.080 So yeah, it was incredibly influential to me. 0:17:11.760 --> 0:17:14.000 We're going to throw it to break but first, I'm 0:17:14.080 --> 0:17:18.000 Katie Couric and I'm Adriana Fasio, my plus one for 0:17:18.080 --> 0:17:21.359 today's episode, and we'll be back with more of the 0:17:21.400 --> 0:17:30.960 writers from Hacks right after this. If you want to 0:17:31.000 --> 0:17:33.679 get smarter every morning with a breakdown of the news 0:17:33.760 --> 0:17:37.200 and fascinating takes on health and wellness and pop culture, 0:17:37.720 --> 0:17:40.680 sign up for our daily newsletter, Wakeupcall by going to 0:17:40.760 --> 0:17:51.880 Katiecuric dot com. We're back with the writers from our 0:17:52.000 --> 0:17:57.960 favorite show, Hacks. Luccia, I know that you didn't get 0:17:57.960 --> 0:18:00.439 into a school you wanted to get into and you 0:18:00.640 --> 0:18:04.440 ended up waitressing at a restaurant called KOI. Yes, and 0:18:04.520 --> 0:18:07.240 even before that, tell me what drove you to this 0:18:07.359 --> 0:18:08.119 line of work? 0:18:09.000 --> 0:18:12.439 Yeah, I mean I I actually kind of what I 0:18:12.480 --> 0:18:14.639 really wanted to do when I was younger was be 0:18:15.000 --> 0:18:15.920 an MTV VJ. 0:18:16.280 --> 0:18:17.600 That was like what I wanted to do. 0:18:17.800 --> 0:18:21.000 I was like that just you wanted to be Martha Quinn, Yes, 0:18:21.359 --> 0:18:22.240 I literally did. 0:18:22.320 --> 0:18:24.160 I was like, that's right, I'm going to hang out 0:18:24.160 --> 0:18:25.560 with rock stars and just kind of hang out. 0:18:25.600 --> 0:18:26.680 I get famous doing it that. 0:18:26.800 --> 0:18:28.119 She was perfect doing that. 0:18:29.280 --> 0:18:29.480 Well. 0:18:29.560 --> 0:18:32.800 Yeah, yeah, but she has an amazing music taste, so that's 0:18:32.880 --> 0:18:33.399 very sweet. 0:18:33.920 --> 0:18:37.119 But that didn't work out. So then, you know, I 0:18:37.160 --> 0:18:38.120 also loved comedy. 0:18:38.160 --> 0:18:41.040 I loved watching you know, SNL and I was obsessed 0:18:41.040 --> 0:18:45.359 with The Simpsons and Daria was really influential to. 0:18:45.280 --> 0:18:47.720 Me as a kid. But then when I went to 0:18:47.800 --> 0:18:49.480 college and my undergrad I. 0:18:49.880 --> 0:18:51.919 Did go I went to Columbia and I was and 0:18:52.000 --> 0:18:54.000 I loved the film studies program there, but I didn't 0:18:54.000 --> 0:18:55.879 get into grad school. I wanted to go to NYU 0:18:55.880 --> 0:18:59.520 Film School and I didn't get in, and so take 0:18:59.560 --> 0:19:03.960 that and film school, so I started I started doing 0:19:03.960 --> 0:19:06.879 improv classes because I knew I literally like googled Amy Poehler. 0:19:06.960 --> 0:19:08.720 I was like, what does she? How did she get 0:19:09.080 --> 0:19:09.920 to because it was. 0:19:09.840 --> 0:19:13.600 A time where Tina and Amy were the weekend update hosts. 0:19:13.640 --> 0:19:16.119 And then that led me to UCB, and so I 0:19:16.200 --> 0:19:18.920 moved back to New York after college, I like took 0:19:18.960 --> 0:19:21.240 this summer off and then that's where I met Paul. 0:19:21.320 --> 0:19:24.200 But I kind of, you know, i'd studied film studies 0:19:24.280 --> 0:19:27.240 and so I wasn't really planning on being a director necessarily, 0:19:27.520 --> 0:19:29.919 even though like you know, I had now seen so 0:19:29.960 --> 0:19:32.080