WEBVTT - Wendie Malick 0:00:00.040 --> 0:00:03.920 People just often cast me as a lawyer, doctor divorce 0:00:04.200 --> 0:00:07.000 or a murderer. You know, I killed the bunch of 0:00:07.080 --> 0:00:10.640 husbands one year, and I'm various. I've heard three three, 0:00:11.360 --> 0:00:15.440 three husbands in one year, because you know, it's all 0:00:15.480 --> 0:00:17.520 in there. We all have all this stuff. It's just 0:00:17.600 --> 0:00:20.920 tapping into it and making it real large and then 0:00:21.120 --> 0:00:23.880 there you are. I mean, who hasn't been piste off 0:00:23.880 --> 0:00:32.560 by the husband or there was at some point. Hi, 0:00:32.720 --> 0:00:36.000 I'm Wendy Alec and I've been on television for seventy 0:00:36.000 --> 0:00:45.880 five years. Hello, Hello, and welcome everybody back to Off 0:00:45.920 --> 0:00:49.960 the Beat. I am once again your host, Brian Baumgartner. 0:00:50.360 --> 0:00:54.120 Today is a good day. I mean I could be 0:00:54.160 --> 0:01:00.280 described as giddy in fact, because today Wendy Malick is 0:01:00.400 --> 0:01:04.039 joining me on the podcast. In truth, don't tell anybody else. 0:01:04.400 --> 0:01:07.839 She's one of my favorites. She has had quite the career. 0:01:08.280 --> 0:01:12.000 She worked as a model and also briefly in politics 0:01:12.040 --> 0:01:16.080 before even starting to act. And speaking of acting her 0:01:16.120 --> 0:01:19.600 acting career, incredible does not even begin to describe it. 0:01:19.800 --> 0:01:22.400 Wendy has quite the range. She has worked on everything 0:01:22.440 --> 0:01:26.880 from sitcom's like Frasier two, animated projects like bo Jack 0:01:26.959 --> 0:01:30.679 Horseman and the Emperor's New Groove, and how rare is this? 0:01:31.080 --> 0:01:35.080 Wendy has appeared in not one, not two, but three 0:01:35.480 --> 0:01:39.520 television series that ran for at least six seasons, the 0:01:39.600 --> 0:01:44.440 groundbreaking HBO comedy Dream On Hot in Cleveland with Betty 0:01:44.480 --> 0:01:47.520 White and not the Awards Are Everything, but Wendy was 0:01:47.640 --> 0:01:51.240 nominated for two Emmy's and a Golden Globe for her role. 0:01:51.480 --> 0:01:57.040 Unjust shoot me. Honestly, this entire podcast could be devoted 0:01:57.080 --> 0:02:00.080 to just listing her accomplishments. But I do want you 0:02:00.160 --> 0:02:03.040 to actually hear from Wendy, so I won't do that, 0:02:03.320 --> 0:02:07.680 at least not this time. With that, please welcome my 0:02:07.840 --> 0:02:13.360 friend and two time co star, the legendary Wendy Malick. 0:02:17.360 --> 0:02:24.920 Bubble and Squeak I love it, Bubble and Squeak, Bubble 0:02:24.919 --> 0:02:42.079 and Squeaker Cookie every month left over from the Nut People. Hello, 0:02:42.639 --> 0:02:45.560 how are you? I'm good? How are you? I mean, 0:02:45.680 --> 0:02:49.040 I'm so spectacular now that I'm talking to you. I 0:02:49.080 --> 0:02:52.040 don't think that you realize this. I've started doing this 0:02:52.080 --> 0:02:56.160 podcast specifically so that I can talk to you. How 0:02:56.160 --> 0:02:58.720 many times I've just said that? I have said that 0:02:58.800 --> 0:03:02.400 exactly zero od times? Well, it's it sure is. It's 0:03:02.400 --> 0:03:04.200 sure is a pain in the ask to get on 0:03:04.240 --> 0:03:07.359 your stupid Google thing. This is not made for people 0:03:07.440 --> 0:03:11.240 over sixty, I have to tell you. It's also not 0:03:11.360 --> 0:03:14.760 made for me either, But I luckily had a tons 0:03:14.800 --> 0:03:16.600 of did you start did you start doing this? During 0:03:16.720 --> 0:03:19.960 COVID Steve, you stay here, stay here, stay Sorry, I 0:03:20.040 --> 0:03:22.680 have dogs. There may be noise. I can't control this, 0:03:23.080 --> 0:03:26.120 so no, that's totally I hear you have a zonkey 0:03:26.240 --> 0:03:30.080 or a donkey, a miniature donkey, miniature donkey. Uh. We 0:03:30.160 --> 0:03:33.440 have three horses now down to three. Yeah, three horses, 0:03:33.440 --> 0:03:36.360 one minuature donkey and two dogs. Used to be eight 0:03:36.400 --> 0:03:39.400 of them, but now it's the horri of attrition. We're 0:03:39.400 --> 0:03:41.960 all getting older, so as they go, we don't replace 0:03:42.000 --> 0:03:45.240 them as much as we used to. Does the miniature 0:03:45.240 --> 0:03:47.560 donkey does it like? Does it walk through your house? 0:03:48.040 --> 0:03:50.600 Oh no, no no no. He stays down in his stable, 0:03:50.680 --> 0:03:53.880 but he will put his head on your shoulder and 0:03:53.920 --> 0:03:55.840 lift his little leg up and try to sit on 0:03:55.880 --> 0:03:58.080 your lap. And I have friends who come over just 0:03:58.160 --> 0:04:04.120 for that experience because it's it's pretty pretty fabulous. That's awesome. Yeah, 0:04:04.160 --> 0:04:07.400 he looks like Shrek. He looks like the Shrek Donkey. 0:04:08.360 --> 0:04:12.160 He looks like Donky. Yeah he does. He talks like 0:04:12.240 --> 0:04:15.800 Eddie Murphy though he doesn't talk, but he he speaks 0:04:15.800 --> 0:04:18.520 to you with his eyes. That's that's Phoebe in the background. 0:04:18.560 --> 0:04:23.040 L L Yeah, yeah, good girl, good baby. Um. When 0:04:23.120 --> 0:04:25.880 I was going back and I was, I was researching you. 0:04:26.200 --> 0:04:28.120 And I'm not expecting you to remember, by the way, 0:04:28.160 --> 0:04:31.159 because I was reminded, do you know that we've worked 0:04:31.200 --> 0:04:34.240 together twice on two different shows? You're never going to 0:04:34.360 --> 0:04:37.560 get it were No, I wasn't on dream On. I 0:04:37.560 --> 0:04:39.719 wasn't lucky enough to be in dream On. I was 0:04:39.839 --> 0:04:44.800 on kind of my first significant um like kind of 0:04:44.920 --> 0:04:49.880 lead guest star roles. It aired like maybe the week 0:04:50.480 --> 0:04:53.479 that The Office started was actually aired, but now we 0:04:53.520 --> 0:04:56.799 had shot The Office like a year before. Jake in Progress. 0:04:57.680 --> 0:05:01.920 You were on Jakin Progress. That was the strangest show. 0:05:02.600 --> 0:05:05.560 It was a very odd show, but but it had 0:05:05.600 --> 0:05:10.320 its moments. There was some interesting time. I didn't have 0:05:10.440 --> 0:05:15.760 much to do with you. I was Julie Bowen's high 0:05:15.760 --> 0:05:22.960 school college boyfriend. Wow was Julie Moan on that crazy? 0:05:23.120 --> 0:05:26.000 It's so crazy? At this point, how many like short 0:05:26.040 --> 0:05:29.080 lived shows we've done and you kind of they kind 0:05:29.080 --> 0:05:31.719 of blurred together after a while. Yeah, I've ended up 0:05:31.720 --> 0:05:34.240 working with around a bunch of different things over the years, 0:05:34.640 --> 0:05:38.120 but always a pleasure to see you. Even remember you 0:05:38.240 --> 0:05:43.080 being on that show? Well I didn't. I didn't fully either, Okay, 0:05:43.120 --> 0:05:44.520 So I want to go I want to go back. 0:05:44.600 --> 0:05:47.160 I want to go back back. You grew up in 0:05:47.279 --> 0:05:51.039 or around Buffalo, right, like Niagara Falls ish Well, I 0:05:51.040 --> 0:05:53.760 mean Diagara Falls is not too far, but a suburb 0:05:53.760 --> 0:05:57.560 of Buffalo Williamson, Okay. And it's Mike Michael o'doonnni who 0:05:57.680 --> 0:06:00.000 once said, um, you know, you can take the girl 0:06:00.000 --> 0:06:02.040 out of Buffalo, but you can never take Buffalo out 0:06:02.040 --> 0:06:04.719 of the girl. And I know where that is a 0:06:04.720 --> 0:06:08.680 badge of honor because people from Buffalo are very tough 0:06:09.360 --> 0:06:14.520 but friendly, and they drink well and they make the 0:06:14.520 --> 0:06:19.160 most out of difficult situations. They're survivors. Well you have 0:06:19.240 --> 0:06:21.240 to be, Yeah, you do, you do. It's a very 0:06:21.279 --> 0:06:23.720 hard place to live, and it doesn't have all of 0:06:23.760 --> 0:06:27.000 the cultural advantages of Chicago, but you have the same 0:06:27.080 --> 0:06:29.400 kind of weather, which is very challenging. But I have 0:06:29.480 --> 0:06:32.160 to say, every time I go back, I'm reminded of 0:06:32.160 --> 0:06:34.799 how much I like those people that I came from, 0:06:34.839 --> 0:06:37.920 even though I wanted to get out really early. Honestly, Okay, 0:06:38.200 --> 0:06:41.040 this town is way too small for me. I gotta go. 0:06:41.560 --> 0:06:44.159 When did you leave? Did you leave early? I mean 0:06:44.200 --> 0:06:46.359 after high school. I only went back summers, but my 0:06:46.440 --> 0:06:49.080 parents lived there throughout. My dad died in the spring 0:06:49.120 --> 0:06:50.920 at a hundred and one. My mom is still alive, 0:06:50.960 --> 0:06:53.760 and she'll be ninety three this summer, and she's there, 0:06:54.120 --> 0:06:56.600 so I go. We go back and not rent this 0:06:56.680 --> 0:07:00.160 little farmhouse um every other month and go see her, 0:07:00.279 --> 0:07:03.960 and I see old friends from high school and my youth. 0:07:04.400 --> 0:07:07.400 So you're back, You're back quite a bit? Then, Yeah, Yeah, 0:07:07.440 --> 0:07:09.560 I've been. I've been back quite a bit, particularly these 0:07:09.640 --> 0:07:12.320 last few years as my parents have gotten older. Yeah. 0:07:12.320 --> 0:07:13.960 But I used to go back every summer, and we 0:07:14.000 --> 0:07:17.800 had a wonderful cottage on like Gary on the Canadian side, 0:07:18.560 --> 0:07:21.800 and uh, it's beautiful. I mean, you know, it's crazy people. 0:07:21.920 --> 0:07:23.840 It's always like, okay, hit me with your best shot. 0:07:23.880 --> 0:07:26.840 When you say here from Buffalo. It's like, just go ahead, 0:07:27.000 --> 0:07:30.320 have your way with me. But in fact, it's quite 0:07:30.320 --> 0:07:33.560 a wonderful place to grow up. When did you get 0:07:33.680 --> 0:07:37.120 the bug or get an idea that you want to pursue? 0:07:38.280 --> 0:07:40.800 I was pretty young. Yeah. My my grandmother was an 0:07:40.800 --> 0:07:44.720 opera singer before she had kids. We have a rather 0:07:45.240 --> 0:07:49.520 they're quite an undergening family. But they always they had 0:07:49.560 --> 0:07:53.080 like the musical comedy albums of everything, and I would 0:07:53.240 --> 0:07:55.920 act out and dance and sing all of them whenever 0:07:55.960 --> 0:07:58.040 I could, And on the walking down the beach, I 0:07:58.120 --> 0:08:00.280 used to pretend I had an orchestra behind me. When 0:08:00.280 --> 0:08:03.040 i'd go on vacation with my family, I would pretend 0:08:03.040 --> 0:08:05.600 I was from another country and I didn't know them, 0:08:07.240 --> 0:08:09.400 and then I'd called me over and then my whole 0:08:09.680 --> 0:08:12.080 cover would be blown. But I think I wanted a 0:08:12.120 --> 0:08:15.520 more glamorous life than I had, so I invented it. Right. 0:08:16.120 --> 0:08:18.960 Did you do like theater in high school? Or oh? Yeah? 0:08:19.040 --> 0:08:21.240 And then I and if it wasn't, I didn't have 0:08:21.360 --> 0:08:23.920 enough to do at school, then I just made up 0:08:23.960 --> 0:08:27.280 place and I directed them and put myself with all 0:08:27.280 --> 0:08:30.239 the neighborhood kids and made my younger sister and brother 0:08:30.520 --> 0:08:35.520 probably carry lights or have a minor role. Yeah, you 0:08:35.559 --> 0:08:38.560 were always a star. I was the eldest, and I 0:08:38.679 --> 0:08:40.839 kind of yeah, I kind of directed things, and as 0:08:40.840 --> 0:08:46.560 they say, I still tend to do that, but they're horror. Okay, 0:08:46.559 --> 0:08:52.720 this is what we're gonna do. Uh. You started professionally 0:08:52.960 --> 0:08:57.840 modeling first, Is that right? Yeah? My mother was a 0:08:57.880 --> 0:09:00.760 model in New York before she got married. She went 0:09:00.800 --> 0:09:03.880 off and lived at the Barbazone for women, and dad 0:09:03.920 --> 0:09:05.840 went and said, no, please come back and marry me 0:09:05.880 --> 0:09:08.960 and let's have babies. And she did. But she modeled 0:09:09.040 --> 0:09:11.640 just sort of part time as we were growing up, 0:09:11.800 --> 0:09:14.400 and dragged me along and I thought, oh, this is 0:09:14.400 --> 0:09:16.440 pretty fun. And I got on a team word at 0:09:16.440 --> 0:09:19.400 one of the at one of our department stores, and 0:09:19.440 --> 0:09:21.880 it was great. That's how I could afford to buy 0:09:21.880 --> 0:09:24.920 my own clothes and save some money. And so it 0:09:24.960 --> 0:09:26.840 wasn't until years later when I was in New York 0:09:26.880 --> 0:09:30.079 making seventy five a week doing dinner theater at Club 0:09:30.120 --> 0:09:33.959 Banet in New Jersey, and someone approached me in the 0:09:34.000 --> 0:09:37.200 tickets line and Times Square instead, Have you ever modeled? 0:09:37.480 --> 0:09:39.680 I said, yes, this a matter of fact, in high 0:09:39.679 --> 0:09:44.720 school in Buffalo, in glamorous Buffalo, I did. They said, 0:09:44.720 --> 0:09:46.839 I think you'd be right for will Almina. You should 0:09:46.840 --> 0:09:49.000 come see her. And I went and visited with her, 0:09:49.120 --> 0:09:52.160 and she said, yeah, you belong here. You just have 0:09:52.240 --> 0:09:54.920 to practice not smiling crooked, and don't ever tell anybody 0:09:54.960 --> 0:09:57.360 that you're twenty five, because it's way too old to start. 0:09:59.559 --> 0:10:02.120 So I I spent the next five years pretty much 0:10:02.640 --> 0:10:05.280 traveling the world. It was just the best way to 0:10:05.320 --> 0:10:08.199 see the world. Lived in Paris, went to the Orient, 0:10:08.440 --> 0:10:11.560 worked in Africa. I mean it was really this was like, 0:10:11.640 --> 0:10:15.160 you know, this late seventies, and it was It was 0:10:15.200 --> 0:10:19.160 a great time. It was entertaining, It was a very 0:10:19.400 --> 0:10:22.240 very excellent time. Yes, I don't remember sleeping very much, 0:10:22.559 --> 0:10:24.840 and a lot of wine was drunk, for sure. But 0:10:25.160 --> 0:10:27.720 I just I'm a good clothes horse. So I got 0:10:27.800 --> 0:10:30.520 to do all of the collections and then they'd send 0:10:30.520 --> 0:10:33.760 me off to some beach somewhere to get tan real 0:10:33.840 --> 0:10:39.080 fast and do editorial stuff and great fun. Now I 0:10:39.120 --> 0:10:41.600 have to I have to ask you. I'm assuming this 0:10:41.640 --> 0:10:48.560 is before this you were working for Jack Kemp. You 0:10:48.640 --> 0:10:51.520 worked for this, this was what in your early twenties. 0:10:52.240 --> 0:10:54.760 I was no, this is right after college. Well, yeah, 0:10:54.760 --> 0:10:57.160 I guess I was saying. It was like and he 0:10:57.280 --> 0:11:00.240 we used to to ski with his family. He was 0:11:00.240 --> 0:11:02.560 our congressman, and my dad was a supporter of his, 0:11:03.200 --> 0:11:05.280 and we were off skiing with them one time and 0:11:05.280 --> 0:11:07.560 he said, listen, when you get out of out of college, 0:11:07.600 --> 0:11:09.720 if you want to come and just see what DC 0:11:10.000 --> 0:11:12.120 is like, let me know and you can come and intern. 0:11:12.200 --> 0:11:14.240 And I thought, what a great opportunity. And it was 0:11:14.320 --> 0:11:19.200 during Watergate, so it was just a really exciting and 0:11:19.400 --> 0:11:22.760 crazy time to be in d C. It was I'm 0:11:22.760 --> 0:11:24.520 really glad I had the experience that they did. It 0:11:24.679 --> 0:11:26.840 very clear that I did not want to be in politics, 0:11:27.679 --> 0:11:29.360 but I got to see it from the inside. It 0:11:29.520 --> 0:11:32.480 was pretty pretty cool. And he was very tolerant of 0:11:32.520 --> 0:11:35.319 the fact that I was wearing a George McGovern button 0:11:36.000 --> 0:11:39.720 and OK, but every day that would be like a 0:11:39.760 --> 0:11:43.240 new scandal and another shoe would drop, and it was 0:11:44.160 --> 0:11:48.440 it was pretty thrilling. Wow, how was that working then 0:11:48.920 --> 0:11:55.720 for a Republican senator or congressman during Watergate? That's that's crazy. Yeah. 0:11:55.720 --> 0:11:58.240 When I was there, you know, it was sort of 0:11:58.800 --> 0:12:02.120 astonishing how quickly the whole thing unrabbled. But there was 0:12:02.160 --> 0:12:05.440 such momentum to like do the right thing on both sides, 0:12:05.840 --> 0:12:08.560 and that was when people stayed in DC for the 0:12:08.559 --> 0:12:12.280 weekends and they actually socialized together. Now everybody goes home 0:12:12.320 --> 0:12:15.480 in fundraises, but that was when they would work out 0:12:15.520 --> 0:12:17.360 deals and say, I'll help you with your bill, you 0:12:17.400 --> 0:12:20.600 help me with mine. And it worked. It actually really 0:12:21.120 --> 0:12:24.679 functioned in a strange way. And Jack was he was 0:12:24.800 --> 0:12:28.199 very moderate. He was really much more towards the center 0:12:28.240 --> 0:12:30.760 and had good friends on both sides. He would sort 0:12:30.800 --> 0:12:32.679 of not only did I have to stuff envelopes in 0:12:32.679 --> 0:12:34.600 the basement, which is like the most boring thing, but 0:12:35.000 --> 0:12:37.440 he'd sent me to take notes when they were merging 0:12:37.480 --> 0:12:39.480 the a f C and the NFC to form the NFL, 0:12:39.800 --> 0:12:41.280 so I got to go and sit in on these 0:12:41.280 --> 0:12:44.240 Senate hearings. That was really fun. And he'd take me 0:12:44.280 --> 0:12:47.440 to lunch in the Congressional dining room and introduced me 0:12:47.480 --> 0:12:48.760 to people. And he got a kick out of the 0:12:48.800 --> 0:12:51.240 fact that I was wearing this McGovern button every day 0:12:51.240 --> 0:12:54.360 to work to show how tolerant he was. But he 0:12:54.440 --> 0:12:56.880 was one of the good guys, he really was. Um. 0:12:56.960 --> 0:12:59.360 I admired people on both sides of the aisle. I 0:12:59.400 --> 0:13:02.200 thought it was so there was an interesting group there. 0:13:02.679 --> 0:13:05.920 It was particularly interesting to see all the young interns 0:13:05.960 --> 0:13:08.800 working in all the offices and on Friday nights they 0:13:08.880 --> 0:13:14.520 dimmed the lights and dance to Motown. It's like, wow, 0:13:14.559 --> 0:13:18.079 that's awesome, what an incredible experience to have. It was, 0:13:18.280 --> 0:13:22.079 it was it's all fudder, you know, it's all a fudder. 0:13:22.120 --> 0:13:24.920 It's like, I always feel like one of the hardest 0:13:24.920 --> 0:13:28.080 things if you were an actor, if you became too 0:13:28.120 --> 0:13:31.440 famous to be a people watcher, if you can spy 0:13:31.480 --> 0:13:33.719 on other people and steal from them, you know, I mean, 0:13:33.800 --> 0:13:36.800 you get some great stuff just from being in the room, 0:13:36.840 --> 0:13:40.120 if you're able to sort of candidly observe the characters 0:13:40.200 --> 0:13:44.440 around you. And I have a big file now, no, 0:13:44.679 --> 0:13:48.840 I'm sure. Okay, so you go, you have this incredible 0:13:49.320 --> 0:13:53.960 modeling career you're but pretending to be one or yeah, 0:13:54.440 --> 0:13:59.400 so what brings you into acting? From that light? Started 0:13:59.400 --> 0:14:00.920 out as an act just when I went to New York, 0:14:00.960 --> 0:14:03.160 that was the whole plan. But but but then you're 0:14:03.160 --> 0:14:08.160 only that just wasn't feeding the old travel bucket or 0:14:08.360 --> 0:14:11.720 buying me close, for getting me a decent apartment. So um, 0:14:11.800 --> 0:14:13.840 I decided I'll take this five years and just do 0:14:13.960 --> 0:14:15.840 this for a while. And I did, in fact, and 0:14:15.960 --> 0:14:19.040 came back and and got my first job. It was 0:14:19.080 --> 0:14:21.120 on a soap opera and I was nurse Jones. It 0:14:21.200 --> 0:14:24.760 was so boring, I can't even tell you. But um, 0:14:24.800 --> 0:14:29.120 that was my entry back into television and movies and 0:14:29.120 --> 0:14:31.920 and then slowly I was really really I'm a very 0:14:32.000 --> 0:14:34.920 late bloomer. I mean I never did dream on until 0:14:34.960 --> 0:14:37.960 I turned forty. And that was really my sort of 0:14:38.560 --> 0:14:42.200 entree into comedy, which kind of gave me my career. Right, 0:14:42.320 --> 0:14:45.680 So you you weren't really specifically interested in comedy. Oh 0:14:45.760 --> 0:14:48.080 I love comedy, No, I love it. But I just 0:14:48.240 --> 0:14:50.920 was tall and brune. But in the beginning, yeah, yeah, 0:14:50.960 --> 0:14:54.360 and um, and people just often cast me as a lawyer, 0:14:54.440 --> 0:14:58.200 a doctor divorce, or a murderer. You know, I killed 0:14:58.200 --> 0:15:01.080 the bunch of husbands one year, and various I've heard 0:15:01.160 --> 0:15:06.400 three three you killed three husbands in one year, because 0:15:06.440 --> 0:15:08.160 you know, it's all in there. We all have all 0:15:08.240 --> 0:15:11.320 this stuff. It's just tapping into it and making it 0:15:11.360 --> 0:15:14.320 real large and then there you are. I mean, who 0:15:14.560 --> 0:15:17.120 hasn't been piste off by their husband or there was 0:15:17.280 --> 0:15:21.120 at some point. That's so funny. I was thinking about 0:15:21.160 --> 0:15:23.880 that you you killed three husbands in one year. This 0:15:23.960 --> 0:15:26.520 is not a joke. This is back in my theater day. 0:15:26.640 --> 0:15:30.480 In one year, I played three women totally different projects. 0:15:31.200 --> 0:15:34.360 Totally because if you're highly developed, Feminine said, actually, it's 0:15:34.360 --> 0:15:36.800 because you have such beautiful skin. They figured they can 0:15:36.840 --> 0:15:41.080 throw out some hair on you and it's a dundee. Yes. 0:15:42.600 --> 0:15:47.320 So nineteen ninety Yes, Judith Tupper on dream On, this 0:15:47.400 --> 0:15:51.120 is an innovative People don't realize. I think now like 0:15:51.280 --> 0:15:54.760 changes the whole dynamic of television. I mean, it's HBO's 0:15:54.880 --> 0:15:57.720 first comedy series. Well there had been. There had been 0:15:57.760 --> 0:16:00.320 I think first in ten or something else that didn't 0:16:00.360 --> 0:16:03.480 really you know, it just didn't really connect. But this 0:16:03.560 --> 0:16:07.280 one was so innovative and so fresh. Although hardly anybody 0:16:07.320 --> 0:16:10.240 had HBO at the time, but everybody in our business did, 0:16:10.680 --> 0:16:13.720 so people noticed it, but it was still very under 0:16:13.720 --> 0:16:16.600 the radar. And I'm so sorry that they sold it 0:16:16.640 --> 0:16:20.240 to Fox because Fox tried to air it on a 0:16:20.320 --> 0:16:22.200 network and they had to take all the sex and 0:16:22.280 --> 0:16:25.040 the swearing out of it and put commercials in there 0:16:25.040 --> 0:16:27.080 and a laugh track, which was the kiss of death. 0:16:27.120 --> 0:16:30.400 It was because it was such a brilliant, innovative show, 0:16:30.440 --> 0:16:33.520 and so many shows borrowed from it after that. But 0:16:33.640 --> 0:16:36.800 when that aired with Larry Sanders. That kind of I 0:16:36.840 --> 0:16:39.680 think put HBO on the map for original programming. That 0:16:39.840 --> 0:16:44.160 was their first really big like wow, they brought something 0:16:44.200 --> 0:16:47.800 completely fresh to the dance. Yeah, I mean both of 0:16:47.840 --> 0:16:52.320 those two shows at the time. I mean aesthetically in 0:16:52.440 --> 0:16:54.760 terms of the comedy. I mean also just a comedy 0:16:54.800 --> 0:16:58.360 that had like you said, like sex was sort of inappropriate, 0:16:58.520 --> 0:17:02.280 dark and completely a grew to us. They take no 0:17:02.400 --> 0:17:04.399 bones about it. It was just like, you know, the 0:17:04.400 --> 0:17:07.320 neighbor would show up to braw sugar naked except for 0:17:07.359 --> 0:17:13.119 like a scuba mask and flippers. Was like what. But 0:17:13.240 --> 0:17:15.960 it was such a genius use of of all those 0:17:15.960 --> 0:17:19.080 clips at the Universal Oaned, you know, Martyr Coffin and 0:17:19.200 --> 0:17:21.920 David Crane figured out a way to use those that 0:17:21.960 --> 0:17:25.199 nobody had quite done before, and it was genius and 0:17:25.240 --> 0:17:28.240 we had the most amazing guests. I mean, over the years, 0:17:28.280 --> 0:17:30.760 everybody wanted to come play on that show. And we 0:17:30.840 --> 0:17:34.439 shot it in a warehouse in Sun Valley that you 0:17:34.480 --> 0:17:38.400 could hear gunshots tonight, and it wasn't it wasn't sound proof, 0:17:38.520 --> 0:17:40.560 so every time it would hail or rain hard, we 0:17:40.680 --> 0:17:43.479 just have to have to loop the entire scene. Really 0:17:43.920 --> 0:17:46.280 it was just crazy. Yeah. Yeah, And we used to 0:17:46.280 --> 0:17:48.399 shoot it in three days, and then they expanded to 0:17:48.440 --> 0:17:50.919 four and finally to five because I think Brian Benmam 0:17:51.040 --> 0:17:53.440 was going to have a nervous breakdown if they pushed 0:17:53.520 --> 0:17:55.800 him any harder. But it was a real gift to 0:17:55.840 --> 0:17:58.920 all of us. Yeah, you've said that it changed your life. 0:17:58.960 --> 0:18:02.040 What Oh? Yeah, because it got you into comedy. Yeah, 0:18:02.080 --> 0:18:03.720 I know. I was the straight man for him the 0:18:03.760 --> 0:18:06.080 first couple of episodes, and then they sort of found 0:18:06.080 --> 0:18:08.679 out that I was funny and decided to make my 0:18:08.800 --> 0:18:12.959 character not the together psychologist, but she's actually way more 0:18:13.040 --> 0:18:17.080 erotic than anybody else in the whole shows. And you 0:18:17.119 --> 0:18:20.720 started to see the little fractures in her, in her personality, 0:18:20.920 --> 0:18:22.840 and and that just makes it so much more fun 0:18:22.880 --> 0:18:44.960 to play. I had a blast with that. I read something. 0:18:45.320 --> 0:18:47.520 I did not know this, and I feel like I 0:18:47.560 --> 0:18:51.479 know everything about you, having having been obsessed with me 0:18:51.520 --> 0:18:55.479 for all these years, having created a podcast just so 0:18:55.560 --> 0:18:58.520 that we can do this. You go, you go listen 0:18:58.560 --> 0:19:01.840 to the openings. I've never said that for I read 0:19:01.960 --> 0:19:06.920 that you audition for Diane Cheery. Okay, was this is like? 0:19:07.160 --> 0:19:09.959 Did you come close? I don't know. I didn't get it, 0:19:10.800 --> 0:19:13.399 so that's the endgame. I also got it. Had a 0:19:13.440 --> 0:19:17.520 screen test with George Lucas and Steven Spielberg for for 0:19:17.640 --> 0:19:21.760 Um Grace and Raiders of the Lost Dark, Yes, in 0:19:21.800 --> 0:19:24.680 their hotel room, and I guess Stephen had seen me 0:19:24.720 --> 0:19:26.720 in an Excedrin commercial and that's how he used to 0:19:26.720 --> 0:19:29.800 find unknown actresses and had me come in and I 0:19:29.880 --> 0:19:31.840 chatted with them and they thought it was great and 0:19:31.840 --> 0:19:33.600 said come back and we'll put you. We'll give you 0:19:33.600 --> 0:19:35.840 a screen test next week. And I came back and 0:19:36.440 --> 0:19:38.919 it was anyway, it's a long story, but anyway, clearly 0:19:38.960 --> 0:19:41.600 I didn't get that one either, which really pissed me off. 0:19:42.560 --> 0:19:45.479 But I did a terrible audition, which I was unprepared for. 0:19:45.680 --> 0:19:47.480 But that's a whole other story, and I don't like 0:19:47.560 --> 0:19:52.479 to look back in anger, right right. Did you have 0:19:52.680 --> 0:19:56.560 many auditioned meetings in hotel rooms. I've had one. Um, 0:19:56.600 --> 0:19:58.400 you know, they used to do that, and these guys 0:19:58.400 --> 0:20:00.800 were fine. They weren't creepy at all, it was they 0:20:00.800 --> 0:20:03.399 really weren't. They were lovely and they have big suite, 0:20:03.520 --> 0:20:07.000 which is where they does sound. Really they probably wouldn't 0:20:07.040 --> 0:20:09.800 do it now because it just just could be accused 0:20:09.800 --> 0:20:13.320 of something. But they were lovely. Okay. Yeah, I don't 0:20:13.359 --> 0:20:15.480 know how many I've had in her I don't think 0:20:15.520 --> 0:20:19.280 a lot, but certainly in the eighties that happened more often. 0:20:19.920 --> 0:20:21.960 I think that was that was a leftover from the 0:20:22.000 --> 0:20:26.840 old days and without the extra Yeah. Yeah, so this 0:20:26.880 --> 0:20:29.280 starts a relationship with you. By the way, dream on. 0:20:29.440 --> 0:20:33.040 I know, I'm skipping Cheers, but you end up going 0:20:33.080 --> 0:20:40.919 to work on Fraser Um hilarious and memorable. SERI you 0:20:40.920 --> 0:20:43.440 did ten twelve episodes or something, right, Yeah, I was 0:20:43.480 --> 0:20:47.200 in the last season. It was after Just Shoot Me Wrapped, 0:20:47.320 --> 0:20:49.120 and I had some friends who are writers on that show, 0:20:49.160 --> 0:20:52.639 and they said can she sing? And I said, you know, 0:20:52.720 --> 0:20:56.720 not very well and they said, that's actually perfect if 0:20:56.720 --> 0:20:59.840 you're not that good. So I found the perfect wig 0:21:00.160 --> 0:21:02.119 and uh and went in and I remember the day 0:21:02.160 --> 0:21:04.280 I went in and met with all the writers there, 0:21:04.320 --> 0:21:06.679 and it just felt like one of those things that 0:21:06.760 --> 0:21:08.959 was meant to be. It was so much fun and 0:21:09.080 --> 0:21:14.560 he was so delightful. I have to say, John John 0:21:14.560 --> 0:21:18.320 Mahoney was so yummy. He's he's such a fine actor, 0:21:18.359 --> 0:21:21.119 but he also was an incredible singer, dancer, and we 0:21:21.200 --> 0:21:23.920 got to do a whole dream sequence of buzzby Berkeley 0:21:23.960 --> 0:21:26.959 like dance thing and for our wedding. It was just 0:21:27.359 --> 0:21:30.160 it was such a gift and they all were so gracious, 0:21:30.200 --> 0:21:32.920 And of course then Jane and I ended up being 0:21:32.960 --> 0:21:35.960 together on hot in Cleveland. After that, I said, good, 0:21:36.040 --> 0:21:38.080 I said, I used to be your mother in law, 0:21:40.760 --> 0:21:45.159 now in your roommate. Uh, well, I have to I 0:21:45.200 --> 0:21:48.040 have to ask you first about just shoot me to 0:21:48.160 --> 0:21:53.680 me one of my favorite female performances in all of comedy. 0:21:53.720 --> 0:21:57.480 And I mean that sincerely, Nina van Horne. What's your 0:21:57.520 --> 0:22:01.439 process for creating character? How do you approach that? Is 0:22:01.480 --> 0:22:03.720 it all about the writing or talk to me a 0:22:03.760 --> 0:22:06.720 little bit about But I mean that's you know, that's 0:22:06.760 --> 0:22:09.359 the map. And if you have a great map to 0:22:09.800 --> 0:22:12.600 uh finding out what makes her tick, that's such a 0:22:13.480 --> 0:22:16.080 You got most of it right there. And Steve Levitan 0:22:16.240 --> 0:22:18.720 said when I met with him, he said, I was 0:22:18.760 --> 0:22:22.080 looking for a Wendy Mallec type, you know, someone who 0:22:22.160 --> 0:22:24.440 you could believe had been a model and just has 0:22:24.480 --> 0:22:27.520 a great sense of comedy and comedic timing said, And 0:22:27.600 --> 0:22:32.040 then I realized maybe we should just get and he said, 0:22:32.040 --> 0:22:34.080 and you know, and she's sort of kicking and screaming 0:22:34.080 --> 0:22:37.679 her way into turning fifty. And you know, I just 0:22:37.760 --> 0:22:40.200 so loved this character from the first time I read 0:22:40.240 --> 0:22:42.600 the pilot, and I thought, this is a woman who 0:22:42.840 --> 0:22:45.800 has so many parallels to my own life, except that 0:22:45.880 --> 0:22:49.919 I'm moderate and she's not. I can't tell you how 0:22:49.920 --> 0:22:51.600