WEBVTT - Created by… Michael Poryes 0:00:14.680 --> 0:00:17.160 Well, thank you so much everybody for joining us on 0:00:17.360 --> 0:00:20.160 this amazing park Opper episode. I say it every week, 0:00:20.160 --> 0:00:21.279 and I say it every week, and I say it 0:00:21.320 --> 0:00:24.880 every week. Magical, amazing, incredible episode. But we keep getting 0:00:25.600 --> 0:00:28.800 these guests that are just the best, whether they're in 0:00:28.840 --> 0:00:31.320 front of the camera, They've written the script, they directed, 0:00:31.600 --> 0:00:37.720 in this case, created two of the most popular shows 0:00:37.720 --> 0:00:39.760 in the history of the channel. 0:00:39.680 --> 0:00:43.600 That changed the channel. They ibserved the channel into being 0:00:44.280 --> 0:00:46.400 what we all love the Channel as it is today 0:00:46.680 --> 0:00:50.640 like this with these were two big, big, big, big projects. 0:00:50.720 --> 0:00:53.280 I would argue one of them helped to change the 0:00:53.360 --> 0:00:57.680 channel and the other one changed all of pop culture. Yeah, 0:00:57.880 --> 0:01:02.240 I mean it's huge, huge, what this man is responsible for. 0:01:02.320 --> 0:01:03.920 And we're so honored to have him here. We're not 0:01:03.960 --> 0:01:05.880 going to wait another minute before we bring him in 0:01:06.200 --> 0:01:08.120 because I don't want to leave him waiting because he's 0:01:08.200 --> 0:01:09.920 just awesome and I'm so glad it's here. So can 0:01:09.959 --> 0:01:13.800 you please help us welcome the creator of not only 0:01:13.920 --> 0:01:17.080 that So Raven, but a little show called Hannah Montana 0:01:17.319 --> 0:01:25.240 Michael Porrez. Hello, Hello, are you. I'm fine? Thank you 0:01:25.319 --> 0:01:26.679 so much for joining us. 0:01:26.680 --> 0:01:30.440 Wow, my pleasure. I even wore my Hannah hat. 0:01:30.480 --> 0:01:32.640 I love it. 0:01:33.000 --> 0:01:35.920 I dove off a little bit and all of that. 0:01:36.280 --> 0:01:38.240 I love that. Well, don't put on a different color. 0:01:38.319 --> 0:01:39.440 We might not recognize you. 0:01:39.720 --> 0:01:41.199 That's true. 0:01:42.880 --> 0:01:45.000 So we just reviewed the Hand of Montana movie, and 0:01:45.040 --> 0:01:46.960 we are so honored to have you here to explain 0:01:47.040 --> 0:01:52.960 how this juggernaut not only changed the channel but changed 0:01:53.200 --> 0:01:56.320 all of pop culture. Really, I mean it became a job, 0:01:56.680 --> 0:01:58.520 but it really did. I mean, it became It's put 0:01:58.520 --> 0:02:01.040 it this way. I had I'd never seen the show. 0:02:01.640 --> 0:02:04.360 I had never seen the film, but obviously knew everything 0:02:04.360 --> 0:02:06.800 about Hannah Montana because it was in the zeitgeist. I mean, 0:02:06.840 --> 0:02:10.760 it was everybody knew about it. So, I mean, before 0:02:10.840 --> 0:02:14.000 I guess we get into that, we always like to 0:02:14.000 --> 0:02:17.960 start with our guests of how did you find Hollywood? 0:02:18.000 --> 0:02:21.680 Get into Hollywood? What was your origin story to finding 0:02:21.720 --> 0:02:23.120 this amazing business of show? 0:02:24.800 --> 0:02:27.440 You know, it was always a part of me. My 0:02:27.560 --> 0:02:30.920 grandfather was in the business of going back. He was 0:02:30.960 --> 0:02:35.160 actually a pioneer in the business who his my great 0:02:35.200 --> 0:02:41.560 grandfather started the first moving picture theater in Brooklyn. 0:02:42.639 --> 0:02:43.440 Oh you're kidding. 0:02:43.880 --> 0:02:50.000 And even before that, I'm related to my mother's name 0:02:50.040 --> 0:02:55.000 and my grandfather's name was Harry Thomas, but that is 0:02:55.080 --> 0:02:59.720 shortened for Thomaschevsky. And there was a Yiddish theater out 0:02:59.720 --> 0:03:06.000 of Russia with Boris Tomashevsky. So I kind of come down. 0:03:06.080 --> 0:03:09.880 In fact, Michael Tilson Thomas, the famous conductor, is a 0:03:10.000 --> 0:03:14.519 second cousin. I've never met him. So it was always 0:03:14.800 --> 0:03:19.760 in me. My uncle wrote, I don't know if you 0:03:19.800 --> 0:03:22.079 remember something called the Bowery Boys. 0:03:21.800 --> 0:03:24.520 And course, of course Wrin Tin. 0:03:24.520 --> 0:03:30.200 Tin doctor killed there the Green Hornet. You know, I 0:03:30.360 --> 0:03:33.560 was the spoiled little brat that got to go on 0:03:33.639 --> 0:03:37.200 to the bat Cave set, you know, and the Green 0:03:37.280 --> 0:03:40.000 Hornet and I and I went on the Bonanza set 0:03:40.040 --> 0:03:40.640 and everything. 0:03:40.720 --> 0:03:42.480 And did you meet Bruce Lee? 0:03:43.080 --> 0:03:48.400 Yes? I did. I was with my uncle and we 0:03:48.400 --> 0:03:50.600 were driving and it was bor like, hey, Bruce, come 0:03:50.640 --> 0:03:53.920 on over here. They met my nephew, you know, and 0:03:53.960 --> 0:03:57.080 he came over, a really nice guy, you know. But yeah, 0:03:57.360 --> 0:04:03.880 it was always in me. I thought, you know, good 0:04:03.960 --> 0:04:06.120 Jewish kid. You know, I'm going to go to college. 0:04:06.160 --> 0:04:10.720 I'm going to be a lawyer. It never worked. I 0:04:10.840 --> 0:04:14.160 dropped out once. Three times. I dropped out. I went 0:04:14.200 --> 0:04:16.840 to U see Santa Barbara. I went to UC Berkeley. 0:04:18.040 --> 0:04:21.440 I dropped out three times. Then I joined a comedy 0:04:21.480 --> 0:04:25.760 troupe in Berkeley, and then when I was around twenty three, 0:04:25.839 --> 0:04:27.800 I moved to La to be a stand up comic. 0:04:28.920 --> 0:04:31.880 Okay, wow, we've heard now this is such an interesting 0:04:32.440 --> 0:04:34.920 path to writing and creating because we've heard a number 0:04:34.960 --> 0:04:37.400 of people saying that they started doing stand up. 0:04:37.560 --> 0:04:40.360 Yeah, and the first and I was doing that. It 0:04:40.440 --> 0:04:43.200 wasn't for me. The world at least then. I don't 0:04:43.240 --> 0:04:46.680 know if it's the same world now. The world then 0:04:47.520 --> 0:04:52.080 was very drug oriented and lots of cocaine and all 0:04:52.120 --> 0:04:57.440 of that. That's not mean. And I started to I 0:04:57.480 --> 0:05:01.279 always loved sitcoms, you know, Marry Taller, Moore Show, Bob 0:05:01.520 --> 0:05:06.240 Mark Show, all those things, and so I started writing sitcoms. 0:05:06.360 --> 0:05:10.400 And surprisingly, the person who helped me first, when he 0:05:10.440 --> 0:05:12.720 was still a writer, he was not a stand up comic, 0:05:13.480 --> 0:05:14.520 was Gary Shandling. 0:05:15.360 --> 0:05:16.800 Really yeah. 0:05:16.839 --> 0:05:20.119 He was writing Welcome Back Cotter and Sanford and Son, 0:05:21.800 --> 0:05:24.200 and he would take my scripts and hand them back 0:05:24.279 --> 0:05:28.000 to the old marked, you know. And he was getting 0:05:28.040 --> 0:05:30.880 out of writing while I was getting in writing, and 0:05:30.920 --> 0:05:33.960 of course he was going into stand up comedy. Yeah. 0:05:34.000 --> 0:05:36.359 And then the Gary Shandling Show, and then Larry Sanders 0:05:36.400 --> 0:05:38.280 and then everything that followed after that. 0:05:38.320 --> 0:05:42.919 Wow all true. As a matter of fact, my last 0:05:42.960 --> 0:05:45.320 stand up gig, the thing that finally did it for 0:05:45.360 --> 0:05:50.039 me to say bye bye. There was a comedy store 0:05:50.160 --> 0:05:55.320 in Westwood, Yeah a time, and I was going to 0:05:55.400 --> 0:05:57.000 go on the open mic, right, and I have a 0:05:57.040 --> 0:05:59.280 little five minute routine and all this kind of stuff. 0:05:59.520 --> 0:06:01.839 And there was like thirty people there and it was 0:06:01.880 --> 0:06:04.200 twelve and I was going to go on in five 0:06:04.279 --> 0:06:08.240 minutes until somebody walked in the room, right, and they 0:06:08.279 --> 0:06:11.279 wanted to go on, assured me they'd only be ten minutes, 0:06:11.279 --> 0:06:15.839 don't worry about it. And that guy was David Letterman. 0:06:17.200 --> 0:06:21.800 And it was not David Letterman. It was David Letterman 0:06:21.839 --> 0:06:24.120 when he was on I think Mary Tyler Moore had 0:06:24.160 --> 0:06:27.800 a very failed variety show and he was on that 0:06:28.440 --> 0:06:32.640 and he went on ten minutes became fifteen, which became 0:06:32.680 --> 0:06:36.680 a half hour, which became forty five minutes. He left. 0:06:37.279 --> 0:06:42.800 Literally twenty six people left with him, and I was 0:06:42.839 --> 0:06:44.799 stuck with the four remaining drunk. 0:06:45.600 --> 0:06:49.520 Oh man, maybe this isn't for me. 0:06:49.960 --> 0:06:53.840 Yeah, maybe God is finally saying, do you get the message? 0:06:54.120 --> 0:06:55.800 How much do I have to tell him? 0:06:58.720 --> 0:07:02.760 Oh? Yeah, how do you get that? So was it? 0:07:02.839 --> 0:07:02.880 Was? 0:07:02.920 --> 0:07:05.720 It then an instant transition to Okay, I'm going to 0:07:05.800 --> 0:07:07.440 go right, I'm going to be a writer. I'm gonna 0:07:07.440 --> 0:07:08.520 focus primarily on writing. 0:07:08.520 --> 0:07:10.920 I didn't even get there at the same time. Okay, okay, 0:07:11.440 --> 0:07:13.840 you know. And so after that I kind of put 0:07:13.880 --> 0:07:18.640 everything to writing and the script. Again, I don't I'm 0:07:18.760 --> 0:07:22.160 dating myself. But the script that finally got me in, 0:07:22.400 --> 0:07:25.720 broke me into getting some good opportunity was a spect 0:07:25.760 --> 0:07:29.440 Barney Miller. I did, oh great show, which I adored 0:07:29.480 --> 0:07:31.800 that show. It's probably one of the better things I've 0:07:31.840 --> 0:07:32.320 ever written. 0:07:32.360 --> 0:07:33.720 I think, well, it's one of I mean, it's one 0:07:33.720 --> 0:07:35.400 of the best shows in the history of television. 0:07:35.480 --> 0:07:36.520 Yeah, I would agree with that. 0:07:36.640 --> 0:07:39.720 Yeah, yeah, oh man, that's great. So, so did you 0:07:39.760 --> 0:07:41.440 were you a staff writer for Barney Miller or do 0:07:41.480 --> 0:07:42.640 you write? 0:07:42.800 --> 0:07:46.000 I never, I never. I never was able to get 0:07:46.040 --> 0:07:47.400 the script to Barney Miller. 0:07:47.480 --> 0:07:49.560 Oh, it was just for you to spec. 0:07:50.280 --> 0:07:55.040 Yeah. And I was a waiter in Beverly Hills at 0:07:55.040 --> 0:07:58.480 a place called r J's, the rib Joint, and it 0:07:58.520 --> 0:08:01.400 was a really popular sawed us on the floor. I 0:08:01.440 --> 0:08:03.680 wore jeans and a T shirt. But it was the 0:08:03.760 --> 0:08:07.600 in place, and so I would I met my I 0:08:07.600 --> 0:08:11.320 got my first agent by waiting tables. I got my 0:08:11.440 --> 0:08:15.400 first pitch meeting by waiting tables. Wosh, because I would 0:08:15.400 --> 0:08:20.120 wait tables and use my kind of joke kind of 0:08:20.200 --> 0:08:24.520 thing to always joke around with the customers, and I 0:08:24.560 --> 0:08:26.880 had a good time. And then when they would ask me, 0:08:26.960 --> 0:08:28.560 so what are you doing, I'd say, well, I'm trying 0:08:28.560 --> 0:08:30.960 to get into writing. Well, I happen to know blah, 0:08:31.840 --> 0:08:34.200 and do you have anything? And I'd go down to 0:08:34.240 --> 0:08:37.560 my locker and I'd get my spec Barney millscript. 0:08:38.360 --> 0:08:40.720 You're kidding me now, you're. 0:08:40.520 --> 0:08:44.640 Telling me you had the like iconic Hollywood dream when 0:08:44.679 --> 0:08:48.320 people come they get a waiting job and you literally 0:08:49.120 --> 0:08:52.720 just get the doors open to you because you're this 0:08:52.840 --> 0:08:57.120 amazingly nice guy who's funny, and someone asks you, how 0:08:57.120 --> 0:08:57.840 can I help you? 0:08:58.080 --> 0:09:01.520 That That was basically you know, I'm talking. You know. 0:09:01.600 --> 0:09:03.599 This wasn't like, Oh, I get a waiter job and 0:09:03.600 --> 0:09:06.560 two months later I'm on staff, get a waiter job, 0:09:06.600 --> 0:09:12.160 and six years later, you know, I got my first opportunity. 0:09:12.200 --> 0:09:16.600 And it was literally on eight when it was the 0:09:16.640 --> 0:09:22.800 first year of the Disney Channel. Surprisingly wow, And it 0:09:22.840 --> 0:09:26.880 was a show called Boy. I haven't talked about this. 0:09:26.880 --> 0:09:31.720 This was a show called dream Finders. This is Ron Miller, 0:09:32.760 --> 0:09:38.440 Walt Disney's son in law, was still head of the company. Yeah, 0:09:38.880 --> 0:09:41.840 and so it was the first it was failed. We 0:09:41.840 --> 0:09:44.079 did a whole lots of like, I don't know what 0:09:44.960 --> 0:09:47.480 might have done, twenty episodes something like that. I never 0:09:47.559 --> 0:09:51.320 saw the light of day, right, and then that was 0:09:51.360 --> 0:09:53.640 my volley there and then I went in from that, 0:09:54.320 --> 0:09:57.160 I got more prime time opportunities. 0:09:58.040 --> 0:09:59.800 Now, do you mind if I asked not to? You said, 0:09:59.800 --> 0:10:02.160 you've you're dating yourself. But I'm just I'm very curious 0:10:02.160 --> 0:10:06.000 because our fans who listened to this podcast are obviously 0:10:06.040 --> 0:10:08.080 big Disney Channel fans. So you say it was the 0:10:08.080 --> 0:10:13.880 first year of Disney Channel. What year is that. 0:10:13.880 --> 0:10:17.680 That's a really good question. If I had to guess, 0:10:18.080 --> 0:10:20.120 it's probably in the early eighties. 0:10:19.960 --> 0:10:23.280 Okay, okay, eighty two eighty three ish kind of area. 0:10:24.000 --> 0:10:26.400 Okay, but I'm really not sure. But it was the 0:10:26.880 --> 0:10:29.720 it was the first year of the Disney Channel, okay, 0:10:30.160 --> 0:10:32.280 you know, and so we were going to use a 0:10:32.320 --> 0:10:34.600 lot of things in Epcot. They flew us out to 0:10:34.600 --> 0:10:37.880 look at Epcot. It was like Epcot was open. I 0:10:37.880 --> 0:10:39.720 think maybe a year or two at that time. 0:10:40.480 --> 0:10:42.680 Yes, we just heard nineteen eighty three was the first 0:10:42.760 --> 0:10:43.360 year of UH. 0:10:44.640 --> 0:10:48.720 And I remember them. There was always a big picture 0:10:48.760 --> 0:10:51.240 of Epcot that would come around on the Disney I 0:10:51.320 --> 0:10:53.480 was a Disney Channel kid. I don't remember a world 0:10:53.520 --> 0:10:57.480 without it at all, and so I remember that Epcot. 0:10:57.559 --> 0:11:00.800 There was always like a like a big vision of 0:11:00.840 --> 0:11:02.679 it that came on the channel a lot. So that 0:11:02.720 --> 0:11:05.040 makes that that's cool that you guys were sent there 0:11:05.080 --> 0:11:06.240 and it was like a part. 0:11:06.040 --> 0:11:10.920 Of your There was like nobody there. Wow, So the 0:11:10.960 --> 0:11:15.000 whole place was there was their crowd. No, people didn't 0:11:15.000 --> 0:11:17.760 want to go Topcot. They were over there the Magic Kingdom. 0:11:17.960 --> 0:11:20.080 That's right. That the Epcot was going to close at 0:11:20.080 --> 0:11:21.560 one point, they said in the eighties there was a 0:11:21.559 --> 0:11:23.040 real chance that was going to shut down. 0:11:23.200 --> 0:11:23.600 That's right. 0:11:24.320 --> 0:11:26.960 Okay, So then you went from there to you said 0:11:26.960 --> 0:11:29.440 more primetime shows, which can I ask some of the shows. 0:11:29.600 --> 0:11:31.200 I'm a television fanatic, So. 0:11:31.960 --> 0:11:38.400 My my my first actual credits were like different strokes 0:11:41.080 --> 0:11:43.000 call a show called Love Sydney. 0:11:43.880 --> 0:11:44.360 Okay. 0:11:44.679 --> 0:11:50.880 I had Tony Randall in it. Alice did one there, 0:11:51.480 --> 0:11:53.720 and I did a couple of Who's the Boss scripts. 0:11:53.880 --> 0:11:58.160 Oh my god, my first big staff primetime job was 0:11:58.400 --> 0:12:01.520 I was was on the last two seasons and I 0:12:01.559 --> 0:12:03.840 got this while I was on the last two seasons 0:12:03.840 --> 0:12:07.520 of Facts of Life. Oh, come on, and I got 0:12:07.559 --> 0:12:10.520 this where you know here I am, you know, thirty 0:12:10.640 --> 0:12:13.440 thirty one year old Jewish guy. All his friends are 0:12:13.480 --> 0:12:17.120 either doctors or lawyers or they're becoming successful business people. 0:12:17.600 --> 0:12:21.280 And and I'm sitting there hoping my unemployment doesn't run 0:12:21.320 --> 0:12:24.360 out as I'm still trying to find the big job. 0:12:26.160 --> 0:12:30.000 At the time, I was developing something with a friend 0:12:30.040 --> 0:12:33.480 of mine's mom. My friend was Bruce Kylish. His mom 0:12:33.559 --> 0:12:37.600 is Irma Kalish, who was, as a woman, a pioneer 0:12:37.640 --> 0:12:42.520 in comedy, television, comedy writing. Wow, it didn't work, but 0:12:42.559 --> 0:12:47.520 then she got hired to run Facts of Life and 0:12:47.640 --> 0:12:52.760 brought me over. That's how my big break happened. Based 0:12:52.800 --> 0:12:57.800 on relationships. It wasn't based on being submitted or anything 0:12:57.880 --> 0:13:01.200 like that. You know, we're in a business where the 0:13:01.280 --> 0:13:05.360 first rule is there are no rules. Yeah right, you 0:13:05.400 --> 0:13:07.920 don't know where it's going to come from. So that 0:13:08.080 --> 0:13:10.960 was my first thing. So I was on two seasons 0:13:10.960 --> 0:13:14.800 of that and then it was not picked up right 0:13:15.200 --> 0:13:18.160 for that? That was like eight season, wasn't picked up 0:13:18.200 --> 0:13:23.240 for a ninth Why because it only had a twenty 0:13:23.240 --> 0:13:29.760 five share. In other words, the entire audience was watching 0:13:29.800 --> 0:13:33.079 this show, and at that time that wasn't to know. 0:13:33.559 --> 0:13:36.040 No, that's incredible. You know how a bunch people would 0:13:36.160 --> 0:13:38.200 freak if they got a twenty five share for anything 0:13:38.200 --> 0:13:41.160 but the super Bowl? Right now? Yeah, no one, no one. 0:13:41.760 --> 0:13:43.360 Just an amazing thing, isn't it. 0:13:43.720 --> 0:13:46.960 Yeah, Well, I have to let you know that I 0:13:47.000 --> 0:13:49.560 became an actor and knew I had to become an 0:13:49.559 --> 0:13:54.199 actor and started professional when I was ten. And one 0:13:54.240 --> 0:13:57.960 of the reasons was different strokes wo, so mash different 0:13:57.960 --> 0:14:00.480 strokes and family ties are. I knew what I had 0:14:00.480 --> 0:14:02.720 to do with my life. But Gary Coleman on different 0:14:02.720 --> 0:14:04.000 Strokes was. 0:14:04.000 --> 0:14:05.719 What are you talking about? Willis was? 0:14:06.200 --> 0:14:08.360 I just saw him and I went, I have to 0:14:08.360 --> 0:14:10.160 do that. And Dana Plato was my first ever on 0:14:10.240 --> 0:14:13.599 screen crush. I mean it was. These were so important 0:14:13.640 --> 0:14:15.680 to me, so, oh man, I can do Yeah, that's 0:14:15.720 --> 0:14:18.160 the coolest thing ever. So then how do you go 0:14:18.240 --> 0:14:21.000 from there to finding your way to then back to 0:14:21.040 --> 0:14:23.680 the channel and creating shows for them. 0:14:23.920 --> 0:14:29.160 Well here's the non glorified road. But after Facts of Life, 0:14:29.680 --> 0:14:31.760 I ended up getting a job on staff of a 0:14:31.800 --> 0:14:35.800 show called Good Morning, Miss Bliss okay, which was an 0:14:35.800 --> 0:14:41.920 ABC show. ABC did not pick it up past thirteen 0:14:42.000 --> 0:14:46.400 I think it was, and NBC picked it up and 0:14:46.440 --> 0:14:51.920 it became Saved by the Belt Okay. So I was 0:14:51.960 --> 0:14:55.440 on the first season of Save by the bet Geez 0:14:56.040 --> 0:14:59.040 after that, but still I didn't want its programming. I 0:14:59.040 --> 0:14:59.960 didn't want to do that. 0:15:00.280 --> 0:15:02.560 I was going to ask you because, like, were you 0:15:02.680 --> 0:15:05.960 feeling drawn to kids programming or at that point. 0:15:06.200 --> 0:15:09.440 What happened was I was drawn to employment. 0:15:10.880 --> 0:15:13.600 Under working yeah, you know. 0:15:13.800 --> 0:15:17.000 And then I got an opportunity coming off of that 0:15:17.280 --> 0:15:23.880 into more primetime shows when a friend of mine, Bob Meyer, 0:15:24.040 --> 0:15:27.800 started to get pilots and things, you know, and he 0:15:27.920 --> 0:15:30.200 got something called Me and the Boys and that lasted 0:15:30.240 --> 0:15:34.920 eighteen episodes, something called Joe's Life that lasted thirteen episodes. 0:15:36.080 --> 0:15:36.800 I was. 0:15:36.960 --> 0:15:40.280 I was on a show called out of This World 0:15:40.320 --> 0:15:41.600 on staffed. 0:15:42.680 --> 0:15:44.800 My my it was out I'm sorry. Was out of 0:15:44.800 --> 0:15:47.040 this World the one where she puts her fingers together 0:15:47.080 --> 0:15:50.840 and stops time. Yeah yeah, okay, yeah, because an alien, 0:15:51.000 --> 0:15:53.680 you know alien, yes, okay. 0:15:55.240 --> 0:16:00.320 And that all led to again Bob Meyer, who I 0:16:00.400 --> 0:16:06.440 worked with, I'm getting a job running Sybil okay, and 0:16:06.600 --> 0:16:09.560 he brought me on and so that was my first 0:16:09.600 --> 0:16:13.200 really kind of high profile staff job. And then from 0:16:13.280 --> 0:16:17.840 there I got onto Veronica's closet, geez, And you think 0:16:17.880 --> 0:16:21.400 everything's going well, and from there Wick Wall, all of 0:16:21.440 --> 0:16:28.760 a sudden, no work, right, And I'm doing my development 0:16:29.400 --> 0:16:33.120 and I'm writing this thing or trying doing that way 0:16:33.200 --> 0:16:36.280 and that. And then I heard that the Disney Channel 0:16:37.320 --> 0:16:41.440 was looking to do their first four camera shop. Right, Well, me, 0:16:42.280 --> 0:16:44.720 I want to work. I said, I'm going to get 0:16:44.720 --> 0:16:47.560 a meeting over there. And a friend of minority had 0:16:47.720 --> 0:16:53.080 a meeting over there and we both had meetings, both unsuccessful. Right, 0:16:53.440 --> 0:16:56.760 all my primetime friends are basically saying, what the hell 0:16:56.760 --> 0:16:59.800 are you doing? Geez? You don't give up on Braunt 0:17:00.080 --> 0:17:03.000 if you go there, I mean, come on, you know, 0:17:03.320 --> 0:17:05.960 and you know, because it wasn't the popular place to go. 0:17:06.560 --> 0:17:10.320 Yeah, We've had We've had interviews with actors, you know, 0:17:10.440 --> 0:17:14.040 adult actors that said, you know, making making that choice 0:17:14.080 --> 0:17:16.399 to go to Disney was it was a crap shoot, 0:17:16.400 --> 0:17:18.639 and that's not like it was, but it. 0:17:18.680 --> 0:17:23.600 Was following just that's where there was opportunity, right, And 0:17:23.680 --> 0:17:27.239 that worked into well what if you know, what if 0:17:27.240 --> 0:17:31.119 a kid could see around the corner? Because my my 0:17:31.320 --> 0:17:35.720 whole thing has always been in anything I write is 0:17:35.880 --> 0:17:40.399 always about the truth first, relatability first, Why am I 0:17:40.440 --> 0:17:43.240 writing it first? And then I'll lay on the funny. 0:17:43.320 --> 0:17:47.439 I always say to everybody, I'm so not concerned about funny. 0:17:48.200 --> 0:17:51.160 I'm concerned about the truth and being authentic. And if 0:17:51.200 --> 0:17:54.280 I can do those things, I can make anything funny, right. 0:17:54.800 --> 0:17:57.760 You know, I learned from Barney Miller and you know, 0:17:58.119 --> 0:18:03.080 Mary Chyler, Moore, Bob Newhart. They weren't the stories told 0:18:03.119 --> 0:18:08.000 weren't funny, it's how they did them and the reactions 0:18:08.040 --> 0:18:11.959 and the relationships. And so that led to that, and 0:18:12.000 --> 0:18:15.880 that led to my life in kids program which, by 0:18:15.920 --> 0:18:21.680 the way, I far prefer it's so much fun working 0:18:22.600 --> 0:18:27.520 with kid actors who want to learn right and and 0:18:27.600 --> 0:18:30.479 that are so jazz that you do that, you do 0:18:30.640 --> 0:18:35.359 what you know. But adult friends, if I was on 0:18:35.760 --> 0:18:40.840 Civil over on yeah I saw your show. Yes, it's okay. 0:18:41.080 --> 0:18:44.399 You never go oh, man, I really saw the last 0:18:44.400 --> 0:18:48.199 episode of So Funny. You don't get that. You just 0:18:48.240 --> 0:18:52.919 go yeah, yeah, you know, But with kids, they run up, 0:18:52.960 --> 0:18:55.160 they hug you. I mean, why why isn't that better? 0:18:55.680 --> 0:18:58.920 Yeah? And you and you get a chance to implement 0:18:59.000 --> 0:19:03.120 like really good messages, especially the Disney Channel, like good 0:19:03.160 --> 0:19:05.879 morals and good decision making and all of that is 0:19:05.920 --> 0:19:07.120 just it's magic. 0:19:07.440 --> 0:19:10.760 It's a higher responsibility because you have to write clean. 0:19:11.359 --> 0:19:15.600 You can't go for the cheap joke. And my whole 0:19:15.680 --> 0:19:18.479 thing is, I don't want to write anything. I wouldn't 0:19:18.520 --> 0:19:23.679 let my kid watch. Yeah, right, And on both times 0:19:23.680 --> 0:19:27.760 when I'm doing this kind of programming, I'm a dad first, 0:19:27.800 --> 0:19:31.480 I'm a parent first. I'm a producer second, right, you know. 0:19:31.720 --> 0:19:34.960 And so as far as where I am in those sets, 0:19:35.000 --> 0:19:37.000 because a lot of things have been talked about about 0:19:37.040 --> 0:19:40.600 all that stuff not on my set. You know, I 0:19:40.640 --> 0:19:44.320 can't control what happens off my set, but I sure 0:19:44.320 --> 0:19:47.399 as he can control what happens on it, you know. 0:19:48.000 --> 0:19:52.920 And you know I've always had including myself, I know, rule, 0:19:53.680 --> 0:19:56.879 you know, that's a great role. Nobody is that good, 0:19:57.200 --> 0:20:01.800 including me, right, you know? With you, Yeah, and especially 0:20:01.840 --> 0:20:05.440 in kids programming, you're in it. There's the door. You 0:20:05.480 --> 0:20:06.560 can be replaced. 0:20:06.840 --> 0:20:10.439 Yeah we all can. Yeah, yeah, we all can all 0:20:10.480 --> 0:20:21.680 the time. So then you're you go into Disney. Is 0:20:21.680 --> 0:20:23.639 is your first pitch that's so raven? 0:20:25.000 --> 0:20:25.200 No? 0:20:26.480 --> 0:20:31.720 God, what what I think? My first pitch was a 0:20:33.160 --> 0:20:41.080 time travel okay, and it almost went but then it didn't. No, 0:20:41.240 --> 0:20:44.480 it almost went, but I think they had something else 0:20:47.000 --> 0:20:50.640 phill of the future. Ah, there you go, they had 0:20:50.680 --> 0:20:54.439 something else, and so they liked it almost almost almost know, 0:20:55.560 --> 0:20:58.440 well what else? And then Susan Sherman and I got 0:20:58.480 --> 0:21:03.040 together and came up with the premise of that's so raven. 0:21:03.160 --> 0:21:06.680 It wasn't that so raven? You know, she was casting 0:21:06.800 --> 0:21:10.600 initially she was the best friend. Oh wow, she was 0:21:10.680 --> 0:21:14.880 so good that we redeveloped the whole We got picked up, 0:21:15.520 --> 0:21:18.360 but we redeveloped the whole thing and put her as 0:21:18.440 --> 0:21:21.320 the star and found a mom and a dad and 0:21:21.359 --> 0:21:25.760 a brother. You know, in kids programming, you know, the 0:21:25.800 --> 0:21:28.359 one thing you learn is it's the talent. The talent. 0:21:28.480 --> 0:21:32.080 The talent writing is great, you need to be really 0:21:32.119 --> 0:21:36.840 well well written, but the writing you can't treat. The 0:21:36.880 --> 0:21:41.240 writing is precious. Writing has to follow the talent and 0:21:41.320 --> 0:21:44.240 mold to the talent to get the most out of 0:21:45.480 --> 0:21:46.520 the kids that are playing. 0:21:47.560 --> 0:21:50.840 Yeah, I mean and what I mean, what what a 0:21:50.960 --> 0:21:57.800 superstar MVP to cast because she had an amazing career 0:21:57.880 --> 0:21:59.080 already at that point. 0:21:59.160 --> 0:22:03.280 She's so good. And when she was coming off of Cosby, 0:22:03.320 --> 0:22:03.879 wasn't she. 0:22:05.440 --> 0:22:08.080 With mister Cooper? She was little in Cosby? She had 0:22:08.520 --> 0:22:12.639 kny with mister Cooper. I feel like she had quite 0:22:12.640 --> 0:22:15.919 a bit of a good run on Fresh Prince of 0:22:15.960 --> 0:22:19.119 bel Air as well. She was right, she had like 0:22:19.119 --> 0:22:22.600 a I mean, she's just she's just amazing. She's been 0:22:22.640 --> 0:22:27.560 working was teeny tiny, She's for Disney. 0:22:27.680 --> 0:22:30.320 You know how she came into the room audition wise, 0:22:31.520 --> 0:22:36.000 she just came in the room. It's just you know, 0:22:36.119 --> 0:22:42.040 and it was like okay, and it was it was like, well, 0:22:42.280 --> 0:22:46.600 what scene would you like me to do? Okay? Uh, 0:22:46.720 --> 0:22:50.000 can you do the second scene? Sure? And then you 0:22:50.200 --> 0:22:55.760 do this I'm ready, Oh geez and nail it. Yeah, 0:22:55.960 --> 0:23:03.000 no script, no pages? Well can you do the fifth one? Okay? 0:23:04.680 --> 0:23:04.960 Wow? 0:23:05.160 --> 0:23:09.040 Railed it like it was really like I was kind 0:23:09.040 --> 0:23:13.440 of just blown away. And we went for her as 0:23:13.560 --> 0:23:19.119 Chelsea Wow. Because the original girl was Caucasian. 0:23:19.880 --> 0:23:21.840 What do you remember the original title was it called 0:23:21.880 --> 0:23:22.679 That's so Chelsea. 0:23:22.960 --> 0:23:27.439 No, it's called absolutely Psychica. That's a title that the 0:23:27.560 --> 0:23:30.640 executive there at the time, Adam Bennette, came up with. Yeah, 0:23:30.640 --> 0:23:33.879 I remember, yeah, so wow. 0:23:34.400 --> 0:23:37.119 You know, you know, because the channel at that time 0:23:37.920 --> 0:23:42.320 the leads were Caucasian. There was no one at that 0:23:42.440 --> 0:23:45.280 point that that was that was the head of the 0:23:45.320 --> 0:23:48.920 show that was casing a different ethnicity. 0:23:49.160 --> 0:23:49.639 So she was. 0:23:49.840 --> 0:23:52.280 It was groundbreaking to put her in it and have 0:23:52.400 --> 0:23:55.480 her be the lead, and there just wasn't anyone better 0:23:55.520 --> 0:23:57.360 that was ever going to do it. The Braven just 0:23:57.640 --> 0:23:58.800 nailed it out of the bark. 0:23:59.640 --> 0:24:03.919 But the reality is this was all about following the talent. 0:24:04.920 --> 0:24:07.399 Had nothing to do with the fact that she was 0:24:07.440 --> 0:24:13.080 African American did not play at all. It was she 0:24:13.240 --> 0:24:16.760 was the best that walked in the room, right, She 0:24:16.960 --> 0:24:21.440 was the best one, and that's why, you know, we 0:24:21.480 --> 0:24:25.080 rejiggered everything. It was following the talent and no other reason. 0:24:25.840 --> 0:24:29.119 The same you know with Miley, I'll tell you Miley 0:24:30.840 --> 0:24:36.520 wasn't Miley. You know, initially fantastic. What I had created 0:24:36.600 --> 0:24:41.000 initially was a Jewish girl from New York. Oh wow, 0:24:41.080 --> 0:24:43.919 that's what she was. That's what Hannah Montana was and 0:24:43.960 --> 0:24:50.120 her father was a studio musician, right okay, And then 0:24:50.880 --> 0:24:54.760 Miley was, you know, sent in videotapes after videotapes after 0:24:54.840 --> 0:24:59.200 videotape auditions, and we kept saying no, you know, because 0:24:59.320 --> 0:25:03.159 she was so great. We had this big show. We 0:25:03.200 --> 0:25:06.080 can't put it all on there. But her auditions got 0:25:06.080 --> 0:25:11.560 better and better and better, and so Disney, the generous 0:25:11.560 --> 0:25:14.359 people they are that, well, she can come out of 0:25:14.400 --> 0:25:16.200 an audition in front of us as long as they 0:25:16.200 --> 0:25:29.639 pay for it. Then she came out and unlike Raven, 0:25:30.920 --> 0:25:34.080 you know, Miley came into the room going how you 0:25:34.119 --> 0:25:41.040 doing right? But the character was supposedly somebody that was 0:25:41.119 --> 0:25:44.480 kind of kind of insecure and shy until they got 0:25:44.520 --> 0:25:48.120 on stage, right. Well, Miley was the opposite of that. 0:25:50.400 --> 0:25:55.439 She read and was not the best one, but she 0:25:55.640 --> 0:25:59.439 was so genuine and authentic and she just took it 0:25:59.520 --> 0:26:02.880 and made the rolled her own. We had another person, 0:26:03.600 --> 0:26:10.040 her name was Danielle Something I think, who nailed every joke, everything, 0:26:10.520 --> 0:26:14.800 everything right. But there was something that the camera just 0:26:14.960 --> 0:26:19.359 adored about Miley. So we decided that we were going 0:26:19.440 --> 0:26:24.520 to roll the dice and take a chance on on 0:26:24.680 --> 0:26:29.520 Miley and then we we here after we decide that 0:26:29.920 --> 0:26:31.399 can we talk to you guys for a minute, and 0:26:31.960 --> 0:26:35.080 Billy Ray wants to come in audition, and it was 0:26:35.119 --> 0:26:37.840 like a lot of us were kind of going like. 0:26:37.920 --> 0:26:43.199 Oh, he's way too old to play Hannah Montana. 0:26:45.119 --> 0:26:54.600 Yes, exactly him. We were going like, oh, come on, 0:26:54.760 --> 0:26:57.080 we don't want Achy breaking Heart to be the dad 0:26:58.040 --> 0:27:00.720 we're going to be able to act, you know, And 0:27:00.760 --> 0:27:04.000 and we said sure, shared delighted, and he came in 0:27:04.359 --> 0:27:06.800 and to our surprise, absolutely nailed it. 0:27:07.200 --> 0:27:07.560 Wow. 0:27:07.880 --> 0:27:10.960 But even more than that, he got Miley from Here 0:27:11.040 --> 0:27:14.399 to hear Oh right, because you can't buy that chemistry? 0:27:14.520 --> 0:27:16.320 No, you can't. Is it? 0:27:16.359 --> 0:27:16.560 Was it? 0:27:16.680 --> 0:27:21.440 Daniella Monet? Yes, Okay, there we go. I was looking 0:27:21.440 --> 0:27:23.399 back at my notes. There was a number of people 0:27:23.400 --> 0:27:27.280 that audition for Hannah Montana that were have gone on 0:27:27.359 --> 0:27:28.359 to do huge things. 0:27:29.920 --> 0:27:33.199 Jojo is one of them, and she was a like 0:27:33.280 --> 0:27:35.359 she had a mega hit at that point. 0:27:35.960 --> 0:27:36.120 Yeah. 0:27:36.320 --> 0:27:38.480 Wasn't Ali from Ali and Aj one of them as well? 0:27:38.520 --> 0:27:40.800 I thought I thought Ali might have been one, or 0:27:41.119 --> 0:27:42.560 I'm not quite she. 0:27:42.520 --> 0:27:44.280 Would have been perfect age at that time. 0:27:45.800 --> 0:27:46.960 Hundreds, Yeah, I know. 0:27:47.240 --> 0:27:50.000 I can't even imagine how many you guys auditioned because 0:27:51.040 --> 0:27:54.000 I was around with the Cheetah Girls as this was 0:27:54.040 --> 0:27:57.639 I was at the upfront when Hannah Montana got introduced 0:27:57.680 --> 0:28:01.919 to you know, the world industry, in the world, and 0:28:02.000 --> 0:28:05.439 I mean it was the energy of everyone, Gary Marsh, 0:28:05.480 --> 0:28:09.440 every single person that was there from everyone was so amped, 0:28:09.600 --> 0:28:14.159 like they had this like heavy hitter into the game. 0:28:14.480 --> 0:28:17.399 This was like gonna blow up the world, and it did, 0:28:17.840 --> 0:28:21.159 so I know, even just the audition process had to 0:28:21.200 --> 0:28:24.320 have been grueling. You guys saw probably everyone that had 0:28:24.320 --> 0:28:25.320 an agent at that point. 0:28:25.520 --> 0:28:30.679 Yeah, it was an exciting time. But you know, and 0:28:30.760 --> 0:28:35.480 I kind of missed that, this is when the ideas 0:28:35.520 --> 0:28:38.880 that were generated over there were It was about the idea. 0:28:39.160 --> 0:28:44.720 It was about discovering new talent. Wasn't about redoing anything 0:28:45.800 --> 0:28:49.520 or playing anything safe. Everything they had took a chance, 0:28:50.200 --> 0:28:54.440 right High School Musical took a big chance that was 0:28:54.440 --> 0:28:58.680 incredibly courageous, and all the stars lined up because we 0:28:58.880 --> 0:29:05.040 premiered right after they did. It wasn't by design. You know, 0:29:05.400 --> 0:29:07.840 you had these two things that came out of a 0:29:07.880 --> 0:29:11.040 box and what like that, and that set the stage 0:29:11.040 --> 0:29:14.080 for Hannah that just it just picked that up and 0:29:14.120 --> 0:29:17.840 what like that. Yeah, it was really quite exciting. 0:29:18.240 --> 0:29:23.240 Well it was also Hannah itself was really courageous too, 0:29:23.240 --> 0:29:26.560 in the sense that Disney had not done to think 0:29:26.640 --> 0:29:31.400 of an episodic type show and having a music, big 0:29:31.480 --> 0:29:34.920 performance type aspect was I know, something that they were 0:29:34.960 --> 0:29:37.520 really concerned on how they were going to pull that off, 0:29:37.720 --> 0:29:40.760 you know, with budget and how to how to do that. 0:29:40.960 --> 0:29:44.280 And I remember that being a thing as it was 0:29:44.320 --> 0:29:47.280 going around, and the end result was great. I mean 0:29:47.280 --> 0:29:49.320 it was it made sense. It was like you know, 0:29:49.640 --> 0:29:51.600 but that was a big thing because they hadn't done 0:29:51.840 --> 0:29:55.760 a big musical production outside of that point from the movies. 0:29:55.800 --> 0:29:57.760 It was not done on a show at that point. 0:29:57.920 --> 0:29:59.800 The thing that I wanted to bring to it is, 0:30:00.600 --> 0:30:02.640 you know, hey, let's do something about a music star 0:30:02.720 --> 0:30:04.680 and isn't it great to be famous and out in 0:30:04.680 --> 0:30:08.240 the world. And as I said, where I come from 0:30:08.720 --> 0:30:13.880 is I think that's that's fine, but it's not relatable. 0:30:13.960 --> 0:30:17.479 It's not a human condition, you know, And so was 0:30:17.520 --> 0:30:21.040 born Well, what if that's a secret and she wants 0:30:21.080 --> 0:30:24.400 to be treated like a regular girl, And what if 0:30:24.520 --> 0:30:30.000 that was because when she was starting to get famous, 0:30:30.400 --> 0:30:32.600 she had a best friend at the time that started 0:30:32.600 --> 0:30:37.040 to treat her differently, right, and that friendship went confluently 0:30:37.120 --> 0:30:42.040 when and so that's why Hannah the whole split personality 0:30:42.200 --> 0:30:48.240 was born. That's far more interesting. You know. Right now, 0:30:48.280 --> 0:30:50.240 I'm going to a lot of colleges and stuff and 0:30:50.280 --> 0:30:54.320 guesting talking about Hannah, and you know, these you know, 0:30:54.560 --> 0:30:57.320 really smart people come up to me and go, you 0:30:57.320 --> 0:31:00.480 don't know what it meant to me? Yeah, thisisode. I 0:31:00.520 --> 0:31:02.400 was going through this and this and this, and then 0:31:02.400 --> 0:31:04.840 I saw that episode and she can get through that. 0:31:04.960 --> 0:31:08.360 I can get through that, you know, was like, oh 0:31:08.400 --> 0:31:12.560 my god, it's at all the work developing stories the 0:31:12.600 --> 0:31:15.600 way we did paid off. Yeah. 0:31:15.640 --> 0:31:18.200 Well, I mean here's a perfect example. So I'm obviously 0:31:18.240 --> 0:31:20.440 I am a forty eight year old man. I had 0:31:20.480 --> 0:31:23.320 not watched Hannah Montana growing up. I did not. I 0:31:23.400 --> 0:31:25.120 knew I knew what it was because again it was 0:31:25.120 --> 0:31:28.000 in the zeitgeist, but I'd never seen it before. So 0:31:28.320 --> 0:31:31.040 we had just watched the movie, and I, being the 0:31:31.080 --> 0:31:34.720 curmudgeon that I am, I have had a difficult time 0:31:34.760 --> 0:31:37.520 getting over the fact that no one recognized her when 0:31:37.520 --> 0:31:41.880 she just put on a wig. Okay, Superman right exactly. So, 0:31:42.360 --> 0:31:45.239 as I'm saying this on the podcast, we have a 0:31:45.400 --> 0:31:48.200 chat going next to us of all the producers. I 0:31:48.320 --> 0:31:51.440 had five or six producers that were all all women 0:31:51.600 --> 0:31:54.080 and all the right age, writing in how could you 0:31:54.080 --> 0:31:56.280 be thinking this? This is what we I mean, just 0:31:56.520 --> 0:32:00.600 jumping to the defense of Hannah Montana. This meant so 0:32:00.840 --> 0:32:04.400 much to people, it did. It meant so much to people. 0:32:04.920 --> 0:32:08.400 It really did change Ada. 0:32:11.320 --> 0:32:13.760 I'll tell you and well maybe it's a known story, 0:32:13.760 --> 0:32:15.360 but it might be an unknown story, but I'm going 0:32:15.440 --> 0:32:19.920 to tell it anyway. Please at the end without mentioning names, 0:32:20.080 --> 0:32:25.720 Disney wanted us to wrap up the end by saying 0:32:26.360 --> 0:32:31.000 that Miley Cyrus wakes up and there's Billy and her 0:32:31.040 --> 0:32:36.320 real mom, and she says, I just had this crazy dream, okay, 0:32:36.480 --> 0:32:41.040 and that was Hannah Montana, right okay? And I said, no. 0:32:42.600 --> 0:32:43.680 No, what. 0:32:45.160 --> 0:32:49.040 You can't do that. You know, the fans and everybody 0:32:49.040 --> 0:32:51.239 that it meant so much to to tell them it 0:32:51.280 --> 0:32:56.120 was all a dream is wrong. I want to send 0:32:56.120 --> 0:33:00.800 the message that there's start of end, there's college, and 0:33:01.000 --> 0:33:02.880 you know which one do you pick? And I wanted 0:33:02.920 --> 0:33:04.920 her to pick college because you can always go back 0:33:06.160 --> 0:33:08.800 start him or whatever. And I will say to you 0:33:09.800 --> 0:33:11.960 that it came down to one person which way that 0:33:12.120 --> 0:33:14.880 was going to go right, because Disney really wanted their 0:33:14.920 --> 0:33:18.920 way right and I really wanted my way. The deciding 0:33:18.960 --> 0:33:23.960 factor was Miley. Yeah, Miley said, I'll go either way, 0:33:25.080 --> 0:33:30.200 but I I I whatever Michael wants right. And it 0:33:30.320 --> 0:33:31.800 was really quite something. 0:33:31.920 --> 0:33:32.120 You know. 0:33:32.200 --> 0:33:36.720 You had this girl stand up and and really take 0:33:37.120 --> 0:33:39.440 a thing, and so she gave me what I wanted 0:33:40.040 --> 0:33:43.719 and what it was in my head and that's why 0:33:43.800 --> 0:33:44.600 it ended that way. 0:33:45.280 --> 0:33:48.880 That's wonderful. Now, was there ever pushback by Disney or 0:33:48.880 --> 0:33:51.160 anybody at the beginning about the wig, like you got 0:33:51.200 --> 0:33:53.560 to change her look more than just the wig or 0:33:54.120 --> 0:33:56.040 the way. If you saw the pilot I did. 0:33:57.800 --> 0:34:00.440 The pilot had the worst wig in it. It was 0:34:00.960 --> 0:34:05.080 so bad they cheaped out. So I was crazy because 0:34:05.080 --> 0:34:07.800 that wig looked like she was like what a like? 0:34:07.880 --> 0:34:10.160 You know, all she needed was she was a fifty 0:34:10.239 --> 0:34:16.560 year old chorus girl doing in Vegas, you know, but. 0:34:16.840 --> 0:34:18.880 We appreciate that about the movie. The wig in the 0:34:18.920 --> 0:34:19.879 movie was so good. 0:34:20.080 --> 0:34:21.000 It was a good wig. 0:34:21.080 --> 0:34:22.359 It was a good and the. 0:34:22.280 --> 0:34:24.239 Wig in the series, for the most part, was a 0:34:24.320 --> 0:34:28.359 really good wig. They went from spending one hundred and 0:34:28.360 --> 0:34:32.360 fifty dollars, right, who I think the wig in the series, 0:34:32.400 --> 0:34:33.799 and so they had to get a couple of them. 0:34:34.680 --> 0:34:38.880 Might have been at the time fifteen hundred, yeah, something 0:34:39.040 --> 0:34:42.359 like that. Yeah, and so they finally had a good wig, 0:34:42.360 --> 0:34:45.319 but the wig and they got almighty. The wig in 0:34:45.360 --> 0:34:47.320 the pilot was awesome. 0:34:56.040 --> 0:35:00.040 Did you guys when you shot that first season? The 0:35:00.040 --> 0:35:03.200 performances were obviously all shot in one or two days 0:35:03.239 --> 0:35:06.560 or whatever whatever, but they were together, right, she did 0:35:06.640 --> 0:35:10.960 one routine after another. Was that that that was later 0:35:11.040 --> 0:35:13.600 on because that wig was even better than the actual 0:35:13.640 --> 0:35:17.080 pilot pilot wig, the one that's in the opening credits 0:35:17.120 --> 0:35:19.640 and then when she comes out and doesn't quickly that 0:35:19.800 --> 0:35:23.279 was later on in the season, right, Yeah, just the 0:35:23.400 --> 0:35:25.279 episode with the wig, the one wig. 0:35:25.520 --> 0:35:32.200 Oh yeah, we actually got the first four or five 0:35:32.440 --> 0:35:35.320 episodes not in front of an audience. 0:35:36.080 --> 0:35:37.560 Oh, really want the. 0:35:37.560 --> 0:35:40.399 Kids to get used to each other. And so then 0:35:40.440 --> 0:35:42.279 when we were super in front of the audience, and 0:35:42.320 --> 0:35:48.640 that was like the fifth or sixth episode, everything just. 0:35:47.960 --> 0:35:50.080 Yeah, yeah, right, there's nothing like the energy of an 0:35:50.080 --> 0:35:50.680 audience show. 0:35:51.080 --> 0:35:54.520 No. But the one thing that we you know, I 0:35:54.560 --> 0:35:58.040 had a whole lot of fun teaching Miley was had 0:35:58.040 --> 0:36:01.680 a hold, you know, and how to listen and how 0:36:01.680 --> 0:36:05.360 to wait for that laugh. She was so eager. She 0:36:05.440 --> 0:36:09.359 knew everybody's lines, and so when somebody was talking to her, 0:36:09.680 --> 0:36:12.560 she wasn't listening to what they were saying. She was going, 0:36:12.640 --> 0:36:14.200 when they're done, I get to talk. 0:36:14.480 --> 0:36:18.880 Yeah, And so she wasn't putting expression on her face 0:36:18.920 --> 0:36:23.120 and reacting and knowing, you know, you've got your line, 0:36:23.239 --> 0:36:25.520 the camera's on you. 0:36:25.520 --> 0:36:29.040 You're in control, right. It's like getting ready to make 0:36:29.040 --> 0:36:32.680 the punch, you know, but you've got to really feel it. 0:36:33.560 --> 0:36:36.719 I had this thing with her where I would go 0:36:36.800 --> 0:36:38.600 out and I would say, Okay, I'm going to make 0:36:38.640 --> 0:36:42.160 it simple. I want you to listen to the person talking. 0:36:43.000 --> 0:36:46.200 I want to see your expression, your attitude on your 0:36:46.239 --> 0:36:49.400 face about what you think about what they're saying, right, 0:36:49.719 --> 0:36:52.360 and then I want you to say your line, because 0:36:52.680 --> 0:36:57.000 if you do all those things, your line's crazy. You're 0:36:57.040 --> 0:37:00.640 going to get the laugh. It's crazy. This is the 0:37:00.760 --> 0:37:04.000 important stuff. It's like, you know, building a house on 0:37:04.040 --> 0:37:07.120 a really bad foundation, or building it on a good foundation. 0:37:07.960 --> 0:37:12.120 So listening expression, that's a great foundation. So when you 0:37:12.160 --> 0:37:15.680 say that line, you done nail it right. And she 0:37:15.840 --> 0:37:18.279 finally got it to a point where I would go, 0:37:18.520 --> 0:37:20.600 I'd be starting getting out of my chair to go 0:37:20.719 --> 0:37:27.160 on to the set, and she'd say, I know, and 0:37:27.239 --> 0:37:30.600 I would come back and sit down. That's it. 0:37:31.040 --> 0:37:35.080 Wow. It seems like she was just really ready to 0:37:35.080 --> 0:37:38.080 be a sponge and absorb everything that she could, learn, 0:37:38.160 --> 0:37:40.880 everything that she could to keep going. She had such 0:37:41.080 --> 0:37:44.759 huge dreams, but she knew that she had to get 0:37:44.840 --> 0:37:46.040 steps to get there. 0:37:46.360 --> 0:37:49.640 You know. She seems she was living the life of 0:37:49.719 --> 0:37:55.680 the character. Yeah, where she was living. You know, as 0:37:56.080 --> 0:37:59.040 it got more popular and more popular, you have more 0:37:59.080 --> 0:38:04.680 false friends, Yeah, coming out of the woodwork treatingly. 0:38:04.560 --> 0:38:04.759 You know. 0:38:05.200 --> 0:38:08.759 And you know, it was smart of her because what 0:38:08.800 --> 0:38:10.560 her parents were saying, what I was saying to her 0:38:10.600 --> 0:38:12.920 was hold onto the people that knew you before. 0:38:13.320 --> 0:38:16.600 Yep, right, hugely important, right. 0:38:16.520 --> 0:38:18.960 That treat you like like, go, okay, you're a star. 0:38:19.040 --> 0:38:23.600 That's nice. Yeah, I'm exec producing the biggest show in 0:38:23.719 --> 0:38:26.400 kids television, and I have friends of mine that are 0:38:26.440 --> 0:38:27.719 still saying, oh shut. 0:38:27.520 --> 0:38:31.600 Up, yeah, yeah, really those are and those are the 0:38:31.600 --> 0:38:33.120 friends that are always going to be there, and there's 0:38:33.120 --> 0:38:36.960 still ones that matter. Well, you said, as you were 0:38:36.960 --> 0:38:41.400 getting more popular, when did you realize what the show was. 0:38:41.960 --> 0:38:44.919 I realized that in the first reason, Oh did you when? 0:38:45.160 --> 0:38:48.319 And it wasn't the show. It was going to the 0:38:48.360 --> 0:38:52.200 first concert, okay. And when you walked out and you 0:38:52.280 --> 0:38:57.080 heard the screams, I've never heard something that loud and 0:38:57.120 --> 0:39:00.400 that high pitched and that and you look and you 0:39:00.480 --> 0:39:02.320 went like, oh my god. 0:39:03.160 --> 0:39:06.560 And you look around and every single kid has seven 0:39:06.719 --> 0:39:07.399 pieces of. 0:39:07.400 --> 0:39:12.920 Merchandise, like not one shirt, like an adults like the bandana, 0:39:13.320 --> 0:39:18.160 the lantern, the book, the everything, until. 0:39:17.880 --> 0:39:22.040 You've heard that sound and when that is when I 0:39:22.160 --> 0:39:25.400 really realized what it was. Yeah, before that. 0:39:27.360 --> 0:39:29.480 But I mean the number the numbers for the channel 0:39:29.480 --> 0:39:32.040 were monster, weren't they They were right out of the 0:39:32.080 --> 0:39:33.640 gate massive. 0:39:34.560 --> 0:39:37.799 But it felt like everyone at the channel knew this 0:39:38.000 --> 0:39:40.440 was going to happen. I mean, yes, there was a gamble, 0:39:40.520 --> 0:39:43.640 but it just seemed like everyone was behind it and 0:39:43.800 --> 0:39:47.440 believed in this brand that they were about to kick off. 0:39:48.040 --> 0:39:50.120 They all just felt it was right and it was 0:39:50.160 --> 0:39:52.560 the right timing and it was just set up so well. 0:39:52.600 --> 0:39:56.880 And I mean, now that you've explained why, it's like, wow, yeah, 0:39:57.080 --> 0:39:59.759 you know, I mean, you guys, And then continued to 0:39:59.800 --> 0:40:03.560 have a ton of guest stars. 0:40:02.320 --> 0:40:03.880 Well, that's what I wanted to ask you about it. 0:40:04.160 --> 0:40:06.239 I'd like to name a couple guest stars for you, 0:40:06.280 --> 0:40:07.880 if that's okay, and I'd like you to tell me 0:40:07.920 --> 0:40:10.239 if you remember what it was like to work with them. 0:40:10.560 --> 0:40:12.680 So we've got to start with one of the greatest 0:40:12.680 --> 0:40:14.040 of all time, Dolly Parton. 0:40:14.800 --> 0:40:19.880 Fabulous. You know a lot of people are are different 0:40:20.400 --> 0:40:24.280 when you there, and they're not their personas sure everything 0:40:24.360 --> 0:40:29.240 you expect Dolly Parton would be. She wash, that's wonderful. 0:40:29.360 --> 0:40:33.319 It was the sweetest person all she said whenever it 0:40:33.360 --> 0:40:34.840 was saying, So what can we get you? Can we 0:40:34.840 --> 0:40:37.400 have anything in your dressing room? Can we get you flowers? 0:40:37.480 --> 0:40:39.680 Can we better? You want some makeup, you want to 0:40:39.800 --> 0:40:44.319 work anything? You want? Anything you want, right, darling, all 0:40:44.360 --> 0:40:49.160 I need is a dressing room in a toilet. Yes, 0:40:49.520 --> 0:40:53.560 that was it. She got everything else. She was delightful, 0:40:55.280 --> 0:40:58.080 not a bad thing to say. She is everything you 0:40:58.239 --> 0:41:00.880 think she would be, not to disappointing at all. She 0:41:01.000 --> 0:41:01.360 was great. 0:41:01.880 --> 0:41:04.240 So how about Selena Gomez. 0:41:05.360 --> 0:41:09.280 Selena Gomez was then pretty darn shy. 0:41:10.120 --> 0:41:12.200 Really, I don't believe that. 0:41:12.400 --> 0:41:13.359 I can believe that. 0:41:13.480 --> 0:41:15.920 Yeah, and you know you would give her notes and 0:41:15.960 --> 0:41:18.440 would be very quiet and what have you. And she 0:41:18.719 --> 0:41:22.880 went and she did her thing. She she didn't have 0:41:22.920 --> 0:41:25.520 any I don't know if she was a star really 0:41:25.760 --> 0:41:30.000 when she was on. Her show was just starting, but 0:41:30.040 --> 0:41:33.200 there was no attitude or anything. She was Again, my 0:41:33.960 --> 0:41:39.279 memory was she was just very very quiet and the 0:41:39.320 --> 0:41:44.200 opposite of my I think she was a little nervous 0:41:44.200 --> 0:41:49.400 because her show was just starting and she's on this show. Yeah, 0:41:49.440 --> 0:41:51.920 but I don't have anything. I didn't really get to 0:41:51.960 --> 0:41:53.640 know her all that well. But she seemed like a 0:41:53.640 --> 0:41:54.600 sweet kid. 0:41:55.800 --> 0:41:57.200 How about the Jonahs brothers. 0:41:58.320 --> 0:42:02.160 Jonah's brothers were all nice, you know, they were all 0:42:02.239 --> 0:42:05.560 nice guys. Yeah, you know, quite honestly acting. 0:42:07.080 --> 0:42:09.680 You know, but they they're rock stars. 0:42:09.960 --> 0:42:16.520 Yeah, they didn't come with any attitude, you know, if 0:42:16.520 --> 0:42:18.759 you had a note, why don't you try this? Or that. 0:42:18.840 --> 0:42:22.800 They were very nice to do it, but acting wise, 0:42:23.239 --> 0:42:25.319 you know, not the not the best ones. And I 0:42:25.320 --> 0:42:27.319 think they all knew it right. 0:42:27.520 --> 0:42:29.880 Yeah. They I feel like they were so realistic of 0:42:30.400 --> 0:42:34.359 again wanting to wanting to learn, how taking notes, how 0:42:34.360 --> 0:42:35.600 can I be better? Absolutely? 0:42:35.600 --> 0:42:37.960 And also a very very solid family. 0:42:38.320 --> 0:42:42.399 Yeah that's hugely important, which is very very important. Am 0:42:42.400 --> 0:42:45.000 I getting this right, was Larry David on the show? 0:42:45.200 --> 0:42:45.399 Yeah? 0:42:46.280 --> 0:42:47.200 What was that? Like? 0:42:47.640 --> 0:42:53.000 That was great? You know, he's he called Steve Peterman, 0:42:53.080 --> 0:42:56.160 who I was co running the show with, and they 0:42:56.320 --> 0:42:59.879 he wanted tickets, you know, to come with his daughter 0:43:00.160 --> 0:43:02.920 see the show. And maybe it sent up down on 0:43:03.000 --> 0:43:03.840 stet and all this. 0:43:04.160 --> 0:43:05.640 Yeah, and it. 0:43:05.719 --> 0:43:08.640 Was just I think Curb was in the first year, 0:43:08.800 --> 0:43:13.320 two three years, something like that. And then Steve says, 0:43:13.360 --> 0:43:15.719 what you want to be on the show? You know, 0:43:15.960 --> 0:43:20.919 and by the recounting was what you know, wait a minute, wait, 0:43:20.920 --> 0:43:25.040 wait wait yeah, well, well can you be on the 0:43:25.080 --> 0:43:28.120 show here? We can write you in something. Well, I 0:43:28.160 --> 0:43:31.759 have Curb, I have Curb, I have Curb. Give me 0:43:31.800 --> 0:43:35.200 a minute, give me, I'll call you back. Right. He 0:43:35.400 --> 0:43:41.320 changed his whole schedule for right to come with his 0:43:41.440 --> 0:43:45.480 two daughters to guest star on the show. And you 0:43:45.520 --> 0:43:47.520 know the bit was, you know, he's waiting and I 0:43:47.560 --> 0:43:51.359 think a Chinese restaurant with his two daughters in embarrassing right. 0:43:51.800 --> 0:43:54.719 Yeah, so you know it was a kick. 0:43:54.840 --> 0:43:58.040 I mean, you have this guy who's fricking genius, yeah 0:43:58.560 --> 0:44:00.560 to your show asking you do you have a line 0:44:00.640 --> 0:44:04.440 here for you? 0:44:05.200 --> 0:44:06.480 That would be great? 0:44:07.000 --> 0:44:07.320 Wow? 0:44:07.560 --> 0:44:10.160 And what about finally the rock. 0:44:11.400 --> 0:44:16.200 Oh my god, the sweetest Oh thank you God, you 0:44:16.320 --> 0:44:20.920 just saved Sabrina right there, he would have ripped up 0:44:21.040 --> 0:44:25.480 like a girl. We had makeup, we had nails, and 0:44:26.200 --> 0:44:28.480 he did anything we wanted. 0:44:28.640 --> 0:44:30.960 Oh that's great, anything you want. 0:44:31.440 --> 0:44:33.279 I can't. Oh man, you. 0:44:33.239 --> 0:44:35.200 Would have risen. You would have just crushed Sabrina. 0:44:36.520 --> 0:44:39.120 Oh no, I love him so much. 0:44:39.200 --> 0:44:41.600 He was nowhere. I mean, I can tell you some 0:44:41.680 --> 0:44:47.520 people that were poles. Now there's one, right, I gotta 0:44:47.600 --> 0:44:51.839 know doctor Phil really absolutely. 0:44:52.640 --> 0:44:55.759 Oh wow, that's a shame. 0:44:55.760 --> 0:44:59.840 You can talk to anybody in the car with my 0:45:00.440 --> 0:45:03.680 doing the scene. Miley tried to make small talk with him. 0:45:03.719 --> 0:45:08.680 He didn't engage. Oh wow, why are you here? Yeah, 0:45:08.880 --> 0:45:11.840 this was not a nice man, and maybe there was 0:45:11.920 --> 0:45:15.600 something else going on. But you're you're around kids. This 0:45:15.640 --> 0:45:16.400 should be fun. 0:45:16.600 --> 0:45:20.799 This is a kid, Yeah, like bring the kid with 0:45:20.920 --> 0:45:23.680 This list also has Austin Butler. So it had to 0:45:23.719 --> 0:45:28.560 have been when he was on the like very beginning 0:45:28.640 --> 0:45:30.319 of his career, right. 0:45:30.440 --> 0:45:34.160 I don't remember what did he I don't know, I 0:45:34.200 --> 0:45:34.520 don't know. 0:45:34.560 --> 0:45:36.279 It had to have been when he was really young. 0:45:36.640 --> 0:45:42.000 I'll tell you another jet. Well, Vicky Lawrence terrific on Prior. 0:45:42.320 --> 0:45:47.480 What a sweetheart, brilliant, just a total sweetheart. But I'll 0:45:47.520 --> 0:45:50.040 give you one of my favorite stories. And he wasn't 0:45:50.080 --> 0:45:54.400 on the show, but he brought his kid, Sylvester Stallone. 0:45:54.280 --> 0:45:59.719 You're kidding, Oh my gosh, the show and he said 0:45:59.719 --> 0:46:02.239 to me, you know, well, I gotta, I gotta, I 0:46:02.320 --> 0:46:04.920 gotta tell you, he said. 0:46:04.719 --> 0:46:12.239 Finally, finally I did something that impresses my kids. Oh 0:46:12.280 --> 0:46:13.200 my god, this is. 0:46:16.320 --> 0:46:16.720 Twice. 0:46:16.880 --> 0:46:20.680 Come on, I'm finally doing something. 0:46:22.440 --> 0:46:23.840 My whole life I was Cobra. 0:46:34.760 --> 0:46:39.160 So I do have to ask, because I remember, you know, 0:46:39.480 --> 0:46:42.320 the energy and things that were going on during this time. 0:46:42.400 --> 0:46:45.720 But what was it like during the Vanity Fair controversy 0:46:46.000 --> 0:46:48.759 and it was such a big deal. Was that stressful 0:46:48.800 --> 0:46:52.560 for you guys, you know, for the shows, like the 0:46:52.600 --> 0:46:55.359 writers and keeping like the integrity of what you guys 0:46:55.360 --> 0:46:57.200 had built at that point for the brand. 0:46:57.920 --> 0:47:01.839 It wasn't. We just kept doing what we did. Did 0:47:01.880 --> 0:47:05.319 I like it? Not? Really? Yeah, because it kind of 0:47:05.320 --> 0:47:07.960 flew in the face of the brand that was going on. 0:47:08.080 --> 0:47:10.960 But that's the kind of thing I stayed out of 0:47:12.160 --> 0:47:15.840 and I let them Disney and the parents handle that. 0:47:16.800 --> 0:47:20.800 Did I agree with it? Not No, not really. Did 0:47:20.880 --> 0:47:24.120 I let that invade and infect and you know, did 0:47:24.120 --> 0:47:27.440 I project that I was disappointed in Miley or anything 0:47:27.520 --> 0:47:31.719 like that? No? Did I lay more more of the 0:47:31.760 --> 0:47:33.240 responsibility on her parents? 0:47:34.280 --> 0:47:34.800 Yeah? 0:47:35.040 --> 0:47:36.120 Yeah, well you have to. 0:47:36.640 --> 0:47:39.799 I had to move on and do my job and 0:47:39.920 --> 0:47:42.320 be there for her and all that. Like I said, 0:47:42.960 --> 0:47:45.959 on my side, I got what I wanted. I can't 0:47:46.000 --> 0:47:47.960 control what happens when I'm not on my. 0:47:48.000 --> 0:47:52.920 Set, right, Yeah, I think there is a point of allowing. 0:47:53.280 --> 0:47:57.160 You know, I'm sure you became a parental figure for 0:47:57.239 --> 0:48:00.759 a mentor, and there is a part of of that 0:48:01.000 --> 0:48:03.719 age that she's just in. When you're working with kids 0:48:03.800 --> 0:48:07.760 that are becoming teenagers into their adulthood, right, it probably 0:48:08.040 --> 0:48:11.520 felt like you had to let her go and make choices, 0:48:11.680 --> 0:48:13.479 and whether they were mistakes or not. 0:48:13.880 --> 0:48:17.800 You know, and look at the big effect that had nothing. 0:48:18.120 --> 0:48:20.640 That's the thing. If anything, it did exactly one thing 0:48:20.719 --> 0:48:21.600 you wanted to do. 0:48:22.040 --> 0:48:22.239 Yeah. 0:48:22.360 --> 0:48:25.080 I mean sure, there's a lot of those quote unquote 0:48:25.080 --> 0:48:27.680 Disney kids that want to break away from the Disney 0:48:27.680 --> 0:48:30.160 image and they'll do it in a big, splashy way, 0:48:30.200 --> 0:48:32.239 and sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't. I know, 0:48:32.280 --> 0:48:34.759 other Disney kids that have done nudity or that kind 0:48:34.800 --> 0:48:36.880 of thing, and it does it backfires, It just doesn't. 0:48:36.960 --> 0:48:41.279 You know. It's an interesting thing. You know. Miley is 0:48:42.360 --> 0:48:49.040 really instinctively smart, right, and so when you look at 0:48:49.080 --> 0:48:51.560 what she's doing, there's thought behind it. 0:48:52.000 --> 0:48:52.200 Yeah. 0:48:52.360 --> 0:48:55.840 Yeah, And she's really smart and she makes her moves 0:48:56.320 --> 0:48:59.319 and you can see by how she has led her 0:48:59.400 --> 0:49:01.759 career up and up and up and up in the 0:49:01.800 --> 0:49:04.600 songs that she's doing and the choices she's making, and 0:49:04.640 --> 0:49:08.400 it's like, wow, way good for you, because so few 0:49:09.440 --> 0:49:12.920 that that hit that kind of stardom don't keep their 0:49:12.960 --> 0:49:18.279 heads on straight. Yeah she is. She is completely in 0:49:18.360 --> 0:49:19.240 charge of her career. 0:49:20.280 --> 0:49:25.359 Yeah, yeah, she definitely is. So I have a question 0:49:25.400 --> 0:49:27.560 for you. Wait, love that you've been spending this much 0:49:27.600 --> 0:49:29.360 time with us. So one of the things we like 0:49:29.520 --> 0:49:32.960 we like to ask is it's your series you've got 0:49:33.040 --> 0:49:37.040 you did four seasons. Is there a favorite episode that 0:49:37.080 --> 0:49:38.799 you have is the one that sticks out for you 0:49:38.880 --> 0:49:40.080 as that's my favorite one? 0:49:40.680 --> 0:49:47.240 Well, yeah, you know, there's an episode that sticks sticks 0:49:47.239 --> 0:49:51.840 out to me because it's so I'm most proud of it. Okay, 0:49:52.040 --> 0:49:56.719 in the last season and we did an episode about 0:49:57.160 --> 0:50:04.759 the military and about military families and Miley going out 0:50:04.800 --> 0:50:09.719 with a guy who kept I think not Jake, it 0:50:09.840 --> 0:50:13.480 was the other one going out with a guy that 0:50:14.000 --> 0:50:17.640 kept canceling on her right, and she got in a 0:50:17.680 --> 0:50:20.520 little bit of a snitty fit about it. And then 0:50:20.560 --> 0:50:23.439 we find out the reason he kept canceling on her 0:50:23.880 --> 0:50:26.919 is his dad is in the military overseas and when 0:50:26.960 --> 0:50:31.120 he calls, he has to drop everything and take the call. Yeah. Right, 0:50:33.320 --> 0:50:40.279 And it was the about an appreciation, that appreciation of 0:50:40.320 --> 0:50:42.520 military families and the next time you see a kid 0:50:42.520 --> 0:50:46.600 who has a parent overseas serving, maybe you'll have a 0:50:46.640 --> 0:50:51.240 little bit more appreciation for it. Miley sang my favorite 0:50:51.280 --> 0:50:55.840 song was written by chen Nieman called bin Here. All along, 0:50:56.640 --> 0:51:01.760 we had real families on the set. We had real 0:51:03.320 --> 0:51:08.880 soldiers talking to the family and delivering messages, and it 0:51:09.000 --> 0:51:13.879 hit me that, you know, we're doing an episode. We're 0:51:13.920 --> 0:51:17.360 doing a children's program, a kids and family program. What 0:51:17.520 --> 0:51:23.520 other program could have done that story? Yeah, where you're 0:51:23.520 --> 0:51:26.400 doing something it's about something so serious and we can 0:51:26.520 --> 0:51:30.640 still be funny, but we're in the we're at a 0:51:30.760 --> 0:51:36.399 level where when our audience watched that show and they 0:51:36.600 --> 0:51:40.640 now have this kid who seems military or that or 0:51:40.680 --> 0:51:44.439 what have you, that they have a far larger appreciation 0:51:45.200 --> 0:51:49.040 for the sacrifice not only of the parent that's in 0:51:49.080 --> 0:51:52.640 the military, but of what the family goes through. That's 0:51:52.880 --> 0:51:55.960 the I'm most proud of. 0:51:55.840 --> 0:51:58.160 That amazing by the way, the care we just found 0:51:58.200 --> 0:52:00.759 out again from one of our mega fans producers that 0:52:00.800 --> 0:52:01.919 the character's name was Jesse. 0:52:02.440 --> 0:52:06.399 That's it. I will also tell you that where I'm 0:52:06.440 --> 0:52:08.759 most proud of Miley the performance she made that I 0:52:08.840 --> 0:52:13.360 just thought was like Lucille ball time, right, it was 0:52:13.440 --> 0:52:17.319 so good. We did an episode I forget what it 0:52:17.400 --> 0:52:23.600 was in second or third season about her getting paid 0:52:23.640 --> 0:52:30.239 a lot of money to advertise a product she hates. Oh, 0:52:30.280 --> 0:52:34.360 and we also established that when Miley lies, the character 0:52:34.440 --> 0:52:37.640 Miley Stewart lies, she just sweats just a little bit, 0:52:38.600 --> 0:52:41.680 just a little bit, right. And now she's on this 0:52:41.800 --> 0:52:45.280 Larry King kind of show and Larry King is asking 0:52:45.360 --> 0:52:49.080 about this product and she's starting to say how oh 0:52:49.120 --> 0:52:52.000 I love it and this and the other thing, and 0:52:52.560 --> 0:52:57.440 she starts to sweat from under the wig, right, And 0:52:57.840 --> 0:53:07.120 we said to her, smells like teens sellout that you know. 0:53:07.239 --> 0:53:10.680 He said to her, no matter what happens, until you 0:53:10.800 --> 0:53:15.319 hear the director, you'll cut you keep going right, and 0:53:15.360 --> 0:53:20.160 so we turned it up right. He was coming down, 0:53:20.680 --> 0:53:27.120 she was, you know, with a going and stayed in character. 0:53:27.920 --> 0:53:35.680 I was falling off my chair so much because very 0:53:35.719 --> 0:53:40.680 few could just stay, stay there, stay there. This was 0:53:41.040 --> 0:53:43.640 Lucy oldball and. 0:53:42.960 --> 0:53:49.160 And rather chocolate chocolates, and it's why. 0:53:49.120 --> 0:53:53.520 It's I just adored that. That just sort of said, Okay, 0:53:53.680 --> 0:53:57.160 she's there, she's got it. Yeah, nothing we can do. 0:53:58.600 --> 0:54:03.120 That's amazing. Well, before we say goodbye to you, because 0:54:03.160 --> 0:54:06.400 this has been amazing again, I could hear television history 0:54:06.400 --> 0:54:08.880 stories for my entire life. I love this one of 0:54:08.880 --> 0:54:13.800 my favorite things. Ever, what do you hope new fans, 0:54:14.120 --> 0:54:18.280 because of streaming it comes around, it's never gone anymore. 0:54:18.320 --> 0:54:21.280 What do you hope new fans take away from Annah Montana? 0:54:22.719 --> 0:54:26.120 Well, you know, the exciting things about new fans for 0:54:26.239 --> 0:54:29.480 me is that they like it as much as the 0:54:29.520 --> 0:54:33.040 old fans liked them, and they're getting the same messages. 0:54:34.280 --> 0:54:37.400 Because one of the things that I was really a 0:54:37.480 --> 0:54:41.040 stickler on is I didn't want to do anything that 0:54:41.160 --> 0:54:43.759 was dated. I didn't want to do anything that was 0:54:43.760 --> 0:54:47.440 of the time politically or socially. I just wanted to 0:54:47.480 --> 0:54:51.080 do universal truths that were true when I was growing 0:54:51.160 --> 0:54:57.000 up and today and tomorrow, and just stayed with things 0:54:57.000 --> 0:55:00.960 that were incredibly solid and relatable. So I think the 0:55:01.000 --> 0:55:05.880 reason fans today really like it is it's it speaks 0:55:05.920 --> 0:55:10.600 to those fundamentals that are in all twelve year olds, yeah, 0:55:10.800 --> 0:55:12.600 and eight year olds and nine year olds and ten 0:55:12.680 --> 0:55:15.799 year olds. So you know, I'm just I love the 0:55:15.840 --> 0:55:19.000 fact that it's finding another audience. I think it's so cool. 0:55:19.280 --> 0:55:24.359 Yeah it is. And now the new audience, a lot 0:55:24.400 --> 0:55:28.480 of them probably have parents that were pans of it, 0:55:28.920 --> 0:55:31.279 and this is another like it's just like a two 0:55:31.400 --> 0:55:35.160 generational home happening. And they also have the stories of 0:55:35.200 --> 0:55:38.759 the grandparents telling them how they went and took their 0:55:38.840 --> 0:55:41.759 parents to a Miley Cyrus concert, you know what I mean. 0:55:41.800 --> 0:55:43.920 It's like, I mean all of those I mean I 0:55:43.960 --> 0:55:46.319 still get comments from just my time on say by 0:55:46.320 --> 0:55:48.080 the Bell, which was a big show for a lot 0:55:48.120 --> 0:55:48.399 of people. 0:55:48.400 --> 0:55:54.919 Short absolutely yeah, wow, well, thank you yes so much 0:55:55.000 --> 0:55:55.839 for joining us. 0:55:56.160 --> 0:55:59.359 This has been really really cool. I've enjoyed it a lot, 0:56:00.040 --> 0:56:01.680 learning the kind of behind the scenes, and I just 0:56:01.719 --> 0:56:02.920 have to get out of my own way when it 0:56:02.920 --> 0:56:05.120 comes to the wig. That's just me in my own way. 0:56:05.239 --> 0:56:05.840 That's all it is. 0:56:05.880 --> 0:56:14.680 I get it. Just a pilot, well, that's all that was. 0:56:16.760 --> 0:56:18.200 And then they spent a little money on a. 0:56:18.200 --> 0:56:21.080 Bed and then you're fine, Well, thank you so much 0:56:21.080 --> 0:56:22.000 for joining. 0:56:21.680 --> 0:56:25.720 Us, Congratulations for doing I mean, yeah, that's a raven. 0:56:25.880 --> 0:56:28.839 Hannah Montana, like we said, d legend, they let they 0:56:28.920 --> 0:56:33.200 change the channel. They like groundbreaking with with you know 0:56:33.320 --> 0:56:36.600 everything with that's a raven and then Hannah Montana it 0:56:36.920 --> 0:56:40.719 translated into pop culture of itself and it just was. 0:56:41.160 --> 0:56:43.960 You know, what's it's you know, it's a writer creators 0:56:44.040 --> 0:56:47.080 dream to get aboard something like that. It was really 0:56:47.120 --> 0:56:48.800 the highlight of my career. Really. 0:56:48.800 --> 0:56:51.080 Well, well, thank you so much. We'd love to have 0:56:51.120 --> 0:56:53.480 you back sometime. Yes, we want because I feel like 0:56:53.480 --> 0:56:56.359 there's a lot more stories we want to is okay, good, 0:56:57.200 --> 0:57:00.759 Thank you so much, Thank you, Aye. 0:57:03.600 --> 0:57:03.920 Man. 0:57:04.160 --> 0:57:07.839 I was literally texting with producer Jensen before about how 0:57:07.920 --> 0:57:10.840 I could listen to stories like that all day, all day, 0:57:11.120 --> 0:57:13.160 all day, from all the from Barney Miller, all the 0:57:13.160 --> 0:57:15.080 way on different strokes. I could just sit there and 0:57:15.080 --> 0:57:17.360 listen to the stories the other of my favorite Hollywood 0:57:17.360 --> 0:57:19.320 television stories ever, so I mean. 0:57:19.440 --> 0:57:23.680 What an evolution of him having you know, however much 0:57:24.040 --> 0:57:26.680 power and say when it came to certain things. So 0:57:26.760 --> 0:57:29.760 then what he got to do when it got to 0:57:30.080 --> 0:57:32.800 his time on hand in Montana and how much control 0:57:33.240 --> 0:57:36.720 and how much I mean, think about that mentor aspect 0:57:36.760 --> 0:57:39.960 of it getting put on Miley and Miley looking at 0:57:40.040 --> 0:57:41.320 him and going what do you want? 0:57:41.320 --> 0:57:42.560 What do you want to do? This was what do 0:57:42.600 --> 0:57:44.360 you want to do? Yeah, yeah, I'm here because of you. 0:57:44.440 --> 0:57:44.919 What do you want? 0:57:45.080 --> 0:57:45.280 Right? 0:57:45.360 --> 0:57:47.560 And she by the time the show ended, think of 0:57:47.640 --> 0:57:51.640 the explosive like fandom she had. I mean, the star 0:57:51.800 --> 0:57:54.160 that she could have was. She could have just taken 0:57:54.200 --> 0:57:56.640 it and said this is what I want? Yeah, and 0:57:56.680 --> 0:57:58.040 instead she gave it to him. 0:57:58.160 --> 0:58:00.040 She could have said the most ridiculous thing in the 0:58:00.080 --> 0:58:01.680 world and they would have been like, you got it, Okay. 0:58:01.840 --> 0:58:04.000 She's like, no, no, this is he did this. What 0:58:04.000 --> 0:58:06.960 do you want to know? Yeah? Thank you so much 0:58:06.960 --> 0:58:09.240 for joining us, Michael, and thank you all for joining 0:58:09.320 --> 0:58:11.160 us to get a little bit of a behind the 0:58:11.160 --> 0:58:14.960 scenes to look at just how it's done. You know, 0:58:15.040 --> 0:58:17.360 you get me. This is from from the actual creator 0:58:17.640 --> 0:58:19.120 point of view, not a write, not just a writer, 0:58:19.200 --> 0:58:20.840 but somebody who created the entire thing. 0:58:20.920 --> 0:58:25.080 And the Hollywood dream does come true. Guys get water 0:58:25.280 --> 0:58:28.720 job do it for six years? And Sealer. 0:58:30.600 --> 0:58:33.720 Yeah, and originally about a Jewish girl from from New Jersey. 0:58:33.840 --> 0:58:36.920 The original Hannah Montana about a Jewish girl from New Jersey. Wow, 0:58:37.040 --> 0:58:39.840 so cool. Well, thank you everybody so much for joining us. 0:58:39.920 --> 0:58:42.840 And don't forget because I think if I'm not mistaken, 0:58:42.920 --> 0:58:45.280 which I probably am because I normally am, but actually 0:58:45.280 --> 0:58:47.160 I think this time I'm not. The next movie we're 0:58:47.160 --> 0:58:50.360 going to be doing is what can be considered kind 0:58:50.400 --> 0:58:52.360 of the first d com ever. But there's a big 0:58:52.840 --> 0:58:54.880 there's a big check mark next to it because uh, 0:58:55.480 --> 0:58:58.360 there there are some some questionable people. There's some people 0:58:58.360 --> 0:59:01.640 out there wondering if this is true or not. But 0:59:02.120 --> 0:59:05.360 it is kind of to some people considered the first 0:59:05.440 --> 0:59:07.880 ever dcom. We're doing next, which is nineteen ninety seven's 0:59:07.920 --> 0:59:11.720 Northern Lights starring Diane Keaton, So make sure to check 0:59:11.760 --> 0:59:14.200 out that review as well, And thank you so much 0:59:14.200 --> 0:59:16.520 for joining us. And when I take off my headphones, 0:59:16.640 --> 0:59:21.520 Jack again for just after talking to him, I h 0:59:21.760 --> 0:59:25.320 it's it wasn't a bad movie just by the premise anyway, 0:59:25.560 --> 0:59:27.440 Thank you everybody so much, and we will see you 0:59:27.440 --> 0:59:27.800 next time. 0:59:27.880 --> 0:59:40.280 Bye.