WEBVTT - Kevin Reilly 0:00:05.360 --> 0:00:08.600 I am Kevin Riley was the president of ENDBC Entertainment 0:00:08.720 --> 0:00:11.680 through the entire first chapter of the American version of 0:00:11.720 --> 0:00:20.599 The Office. Hello peeps, welcome, We're at it again. This 0:00:20.760 --> 0:00:23.960 is The Office deep Dive, and I am your host, 0:00:24.400 --> 0:00:27.840 Brian bond Gartner. Today you will be listening to my 0:00:27.920 --> 0:00:33.239 interview with Kevin Riley. Who's Kevin Riley? Why are you 0:00:33.320 --> 0:00:37.520 interviewing him? I don't even remember his name from the credits. Well, 0:00:37.560 --> 0:00:41.080 that's true, Kevin Riley was not in the credits for 0:00:41.120 --> 0:00:45.040 the show because Kevin Riley was even more powerful than that. 0:00:45.360 --> 0:00:50.159 Kevin Riley was the NBC executive that was responsible for 0:00:50.360 --> 0:00:53.720 bringing The Office to the air. If it were not 0:00:53.840 --> 0:00:57.720 for Kevin Riley, the Office would have been canceled after 0:00:57.920 --> 0:01:03.480 six episodes. Kevin staked his reputation on our show, and 0:01:03.560 --> 0:01:08.000 he fought for us every step of the way. And 0:01:08.200 --> 0:01:10.880 by the way, Kevin is responsible for shows, not just 0:01:11.080 --> 0:01:16.160 The Office. Kevin was a network executive behind such shows 0:01:16.360 --> 0:01:21.720 as Saved by the Bell, e r Law and Freaking Order, 0:01:22.040 --> 0:01:26.400 The Shield, Niptuck Rescue Me. Then after the Office, he 0:01:26.440 --> 0:01:31.000 went on to develop shows like Thirty Rock, Friday Night Lights, Glee, 0:01:31.319 --> 0:01:35.360 New Girl, Bob's Burgers, the Mindy Project. I'm gonna stop, 0:01:35.840 --> 0:01:40.319 But my point is we all owe Kevin a gigantic 0:01:41.120 --> 0:01:43.840 thank you for giving us not just the office but 0:01:44.560 --> 0:01:50.600 also like of our favorite TV shows. So on that note, 0:01:50.720 --> 0:01:59.600 I present to you the Man behind the Curtain, Kevin Riley. 0:02:00.200 --> 0:02:07.720 Bubble and Squeak. I love it. Bubble and squeak, Bubble 0:02:07.760 --> 0:02:25.800 and Squeaker cookie, every moment left over from the nabb before. 0:02:25.880 --> 0:02:29.799 Very great to see you. It's been so long, are 0:02:29.880 --> 0:02:32.040 you Are you putting this whole thing together? I'm putting 0:02:32.040 --> 0:02:36.200 this whole time. I did not know that I love it, 0:02:36.440 --> 0:02:38.120 you know, I just didn't connect. As Ben caught me 0:02:38.160 --> 0:02:39.919 in between meetings and he said of the podcast that 0:02:39.960 --> 0:02:42.080 I realized and then I love that you're doing it. 0:02:42.160 --> 0:02:44.840 It's actually perfect, by the way, I never even connected 0:02:44.880 --> 0:02:47.240 to this moment. You also have like a great podcast 0:02:47.360 --> 0:02:50.240 voice too. You done voice over over there I've done 0:02:51.080 --> 0:02:52.960 more recently. You can get in there and do what 0:02:53.000 --> 0:02:57.480 you need to. No, No, you're fine. I've been told 0:02:57.520 --> 0:03:00.400 this a while and it's my cadence. Most sleep of 0:03:00.480 --> 0:03:03.120 my real book is that I sound like Tom Hanks. 0:03:03.960 --> 0:03:07.040 So there's a no, there's this is actually true. I know, 0:03:07.480 --> 0:03:10.639 I never I've never know, now that you say it, yes, 0:03:11.400 --> 0:03:16.280 I have. That then describes it as um a smoky, 0:03:17.080 --> 0:03:22.680 potentially whiskey laden version of Tom Hanks's voice. Um, but 0:03:22.800 --> 0:03:27.000 I'll take it whatever. Um. So yeah, I mean we've 0:03:27.440 --> 0:03:30.120 it's been amazing. I mean so much that I have learned, 0:03:30.600 --> 0:03:34.639 and you obviously so important, and especially these early years. 0:03:35.200 --> 0:03:36.720 So I want to take you back. So you join 0:03:37.000 --> 0:03:41.560 f X in two thousand and you're there through three 0:03:41.880 --> 0:03:45.800 through two thousand three, right in this actual building, which 0:03:45.840 --> 0:03:48.360 is crazy coming in in this build looking in. Yeah, 0:03:48.680 --> 0:03:52.520 this building was a sort of fox outpost. It really, 0:03:52.520 --> 0:03:55.520 it was the New World Television building. It was really 0:03:55.520 --> 0:03:58.880 a crappy building. Yes, in fact, it hasn't been really 0:03:58.920 --> 0:04:02.080 improved that they put a little veneer on it. But 0:04:02.160 --> 0:04:04.360 at the time, I mean, my rug, I had left 0:04:04.360 --> 0:04:07.040 these beautiful offices in my previous job. My my, my 0:04:07.160 --> 0:04:09.560 rug had a giant stain in the middle. It was 0:04:09.600 --> 0:04:12.080 literally a hole in the wall in my office. And 0:04:12.120 --> 0:04:14.600 I said to the office manager. She said, hey, anything, 0:04:14.640 --> 0:04:16.560 we can do whatever you need, just let me know 0:04:16.600 --> 0:04:18.359 and we'll get it for you. And they said, you know, 0:04:18.520 --> 0:04:20.400 you think I get two chairs that match and she said, no, 0:04:20.440 --> 0:04:23.640 I'm sorry, we can't do that. That's where it was. 0:04:23.720 --> 0:04:32.000 But then things really took off. Yea, um, so Ben 0:04:32.120 --> 0:04:36.120 was telling me that you had well. Nick grab was 0:04:36.160 --> 0:04:41.279 your development executives and he apparently was a big fan 0:04:41.320 --> 0:04:43.839 of the British version of the Office. And now when 0:04:43.880 --> 0:04:46.480 did you become aware of the British version of the office. 0:04:46.640 --> 0:04:49.360 I had heard of it, But Nick has always had 0:04:49.360 --> 0:04:51.640 a good nose for sort of what's next. He was 0:04:51.640 --> 0:04:54.719 the guy always looked to like is this sound cool? Yeah, okay, great, 0:04:54.760 --> 0:04:56.719 I think it's cool too, you know. And so it 0:04:56.760 --> 0:04:59.159 was one of those where I had kind of heard 0:04:59.160 --> 0:05:01.200 about it, like yeah, I thought this, I think this 0:05:01.240 --> 0:05:03.920 thing is something. And he came seeing it and talking 0:05:03.960 --> 0:05:07.320 to Bed we can get it, and it's we gotta 0:05:07.320 --> 0:05:09.640 have it. And now did you meet with Ben while 0:05:09.680 --> 0:05:12.799 you were at f X. No, we never did. Really. 0:05:13.000 --> 0:05:14.960 What it was is I was in the middle of 0:05:15.000 --> 0:05:18.640 that transition where it was three magical years of f 0:05:18.960 --> 0:05:20.800 X with a lot of things happening. This is on 0:05:20.839 --> 0:05:23.680 the heels of winning all awards with the Shield and 0:05:24.279 --> 0:05:27.479 Niptuck and Rescue Me was being cast and Russo's first 0:05:27.520 --> 0:05:30.440 project Lucky was here and it was just a lot happening, 0:05:30.480 --> 0:05:33.040 and this would have tucked right in, so it was 0:05:33.080 --> 0:05:36.320 a perfect effect show. But my contract was up. I 0:05:36.360 --> 0:05:38.360 was in the middle of a lot of negotiations and 0:05:38.680 --> 0:05:41.520 it looked like I'm going back to NBC at this point. 0:05:41.560 --> 0:05:43.640 And that's when I start talking to Ben because I'm like, 0:05:43.720 --> 0:05:48.200 you know, look, I'm not maybe not staying it, but 0:05:48.560 --> 0:05:51.800 if I go, I'd like to take this with me 0:05:51.839 --> 0:05:55.520 out the door. And you know, wisely, I think Ben 0:05:55.600 --> 0:05:57.640 smelled the opportunity would have made a great effect show, 0:05:58.040 --> 0:06:01.040 but just from a value perspective, I think he was like, well, 0:06:01.080 --> 0:06:04.640 that's that's better. So we kind of then went quiet 0:06:04.680 --> 0:06:07.360 on it and just sort of sat on it. Okay, 0:06:07.400 --> 0:06:11.920 So then he started meeting with you once you had gone, 0:06:12.760 --> 0:06:15.520 uh to NBC. Yeah, we had kind of wink winked 0:06:15.680 --> 0:06:18.320 like I'll see you over there. But at that point 0:06:18.360 --> 0:06:20.880 then it picked up momentum. I was going that happened 0:06:20.920 --> 0:06:24.520 pretty quick, and we need to take it over to him. 0:06:24.520 --> 0:06:26.719 And you made a deal there, so you pick up 0:06:26.760 --> 0:06:28.680 the pilot. Now you've got to find somebody to run it, 0:06:29.000 --> 0:06:31.640 and you start meeting with with show runners to run it. 0:06:32.000 --> 0:06:36.520 What were your initial instincts about Greg? Well, Greg, he 0:06:36.680 --> 0:06:39.600 certainly from the get go had my respect. I mean, 0:06:39.680 --> 0:06:43.120 he's known as a very thorough for a couple of things. 0:06:43.200 --> 0:06:46.400 Number one, all those years on King of the Hill, Yes, 0:06:46.760 --> 0:06:49.239 which was a show I loved, and I know Greg 0:06:49.360 --> 0:06:51.360 from everybody I knew respect it said Greg was the 0:06:51.400 --> 0:06:56.120 real deal. And then secondly Conan, who I now subsequently 0:06:56.120 --> 0:06:58.200 have gotten you know, known for decades at this point. 0:06:58.240 --> 0:07:00.840 But I knew that they had come up together and 0:07:00.880 --> 0:07:04.960 we're both close college friends and had comedy background together, 0:07:05.000 --> 0:07:07.640 and I just so I don't think we really ever 0:07:09.040 --> 0:07:13.320 that wasn't really ever sell for me. Yeah, I wondered 0:07:13.360 --> 0:07:18.120 if because he hadn't come from you know, live action scripted, 0:07:18.160 --> 0:07:20.360 if there was any concern about that, or you just 0:07:20.440 --> 0:07:23.320 met with him and you knew, as most people do 0:07:23.360 --> 0:07:26.360 who meet Greg that you know. Yeah, it's just that 0:07:26.520 --> 0:07:30.400 quiet confidence, you know, where you know when he says 0:07:30.480 --> 0:07:34.080 things like the same show with ten percent, hope you're okay, 0:07:34.240 --> 0:07:35.960 I think we're I think we're good to go here. 0:07:36.320 --> 0:07:39.600 That like mad like that, not a professor, but a genius. Yeah, 0:07:39.760 --> 0:07:42.080 I mean, you know, but early on, when you're trying 0:07:42.120 --> 0:07:44.320 to have this give and take conversation. You know, Greg 0:07:44.400 --> 0:07:46.600 is a man of few words and sometimes you know, 0:07:46.760 --> 0:07:49.640 kind of just sort of drifts off all together and 0:07:49.720 --> 0:07:54.800 you and we kind of left haging there. Okay, So 0:07:54.840 --> 0:07:57.360 early on it took me a while to get the 0:07:57.440 --> 0:07:59.640 rhythm of you know, he's not a guy where you're 0:07:59.680 --> 0:08:02.560 kind of, you know, hitting it back all over the 0:08:02.600 --> 0:08:05.840 net with some top spin on it. Like I think 0:08:05.840 --> 0:08:10.960 Greig got that. How involved were you specifically, obviously you 0:08:11.040 --> 0:08:13.960 had final say, but in in the casting, how involved 0:08:14.000 --> 0:08:16.880 were you and choosing the people? Well, the casting is 0:08:16.920 --> 0:08:20.400 something you ultimately have approval over at the network because 0:08:20.400 --> 0:08:22.720 it's it's really everything at the end of the day. 0:08:22.720 --> 0:08:24.440 I mean, you got to get the script right. But 0:08:24.520 --> 0:08:27.680 the script right, with the wrong casting, you know, you're 0:08:27.720 --> 0:08:32.760 you're dead, especially in comedy. And this was a in 0:08:32.800 --> 0:08:35.720 some ways of fantasy casting process because first of all, 0:08:35.800 --> 0:08:38.200 we were out of cycle, you know, so we didn't 0:08:38.240 --> 0:08:41.199 have to do this in the shotgun old pilot season 0:08:41.960 --> 0:08:43.959 lock and load. You know, you've got five minutes to 0:08:44.040 --> 0:08:46.040 cast it. We had months and months to do it. 0:08:46.440 --> 0:08:49.640 And I have to say, I don't know how many 0:08:49.679 --> 0:08:51.480 they went through. I was never privy to how many 0:08:51.559 --> 0:08:53.760 came in, but all I know is, you know, the 0:08:53.800 --> 0:08:57.000 trickiest one obviously was Michael, and it came down to 0:08:57.080 --> 0:09:00.280 Bob Oton kirk uh and who's the that we end 0:09:00.320 --> 0:09:03.760 up casting in? What was this? CORRELLI? Yeah, how did 0:09:03.760 --> 0:09:07.320 that work out? And so, you know, and I'd known 0:09:07.400 --> 0:09:10.280 Bob back from the Mr. Show days my former company 0:09:10.480 --> 0:09:15.200 H brill Stein Entertainment. We produced Mr. Show. And you know, 0:09:15.200 --> 0:09:16.880 I thought Bob was a major talent, and by the way, 0:09:16.880 --> 0:09:20.040 I had a great take on the character, a different one. 0:09:20.400 --> 0:09:23.840 So my involvement is I saw every audition for every 0:09:23.920 --> 0:09:27.840 character and they were just fantastic. You know. By the 0:09:28.080 --> 0:09:31.000 sometimes this process can be really a struggle. You know, 0:09:31.520 --> 0:09:33.240 someone who brings it in and they go we found 0:09:33.280 --> 0:09:34.640 the guy, and you look at it and you go, 0:09:35.760 --> 0:09:39.040 this is this the guy you're talking about? All right? Boy, 0:09:39.080 --> 0:09:41.920 I am just not seeing it. We had none of those. 0:09:42.160 --> 0:09:44.560 I mean every time I was like, well, that's the guy. 0:09:44.720 --> 0:09:47.320 Then Jennet came in, Oh my god, that's her, and 0:09:47.360 --> 0:09:50.079 it was just right from the get go. I think 0:09:50.080 --> 0:09:52.400 everybody just made decisions and had a nudget in their 0:09:52.400 --> 0:09:55.880 own direction and it was a blast. And then guys 0:09:55.960 --> 0:09:57.560 like you, you know, who were just coming out of 0:09:57.559 --> 0:10:01.199 nowhere where wait, wait, where this guy come from? This 0:10:01.240 --> 0:10:06.280 is fantastic. How on board were you with the idea 0:10:06.480 --> 0:10:09.199 of total unknowns? I mean Steve had you know, had 0:10:09.280 --> 0:10:13.000 Bruce Almighty? I had no, Well, he like Steve. I 0:10:13.080 --> 0:10:16.920 had done multiple busted pilots with Steve and several bad 0:10:17.000 --> 0:10:19.240 series that he had co starred in or been in. 0:10:19.320 --> 0:10:21.200 He was always funny, and this goes back to the 0:10:21.760 --> 0:10:25.640 Dana Carvey Show with he Colbert and I mean it 0:10:25.720 --> 0:10:28.000 was it's got It's got its own little weird cult. 0:10:28.040 --> 0:10:30.560 Following there was like a Netflix special about it, and 0:10:30.600 --> 0:10:33.640 at that time I was like, Wow, that guy Corrill 0:10:33.800 --> 0:10:36.800 is funny and he was always good. But it was 0:10:36.840 --> 0:10:39.880 always good in a bad thing, you know, or something 0:10:39.920 --> 0:10:43.520 that was okay but didn't take off. Actually, during the 0:10:43.559 --> 0:10:48.559 casting process when we were considering Steve, Stacy Snyder called 0:10:48.600 --> 0:10:51.440 me up. Was running Universal Pictures at the time, and 0:10:51.800 --> 0:10:55.000 that was our sister company. The feature side. He was 0:10:55.040 --> 0:10:56.840 doing forty year Old Virgin and she said, I'm gonna 0:10:56.840 --> 0:11:00.360 send you some dailies. You should see them. And I 0:11:00.480 --> 0:11:03.680 was like, wow, this is a whole another gear for 0:11:03.720 --> 0:11:08.320 this guy. And I don't want to say that was 0:11:08.360 --> 0:11:10.600 what sealed because, by the way, at that point, who 0:11:10.640 --> 0:11:13.640 knows what that movie is getting. It's not like, oh, 0:11:13.720 --> 0:11:15.840 he's already a star, we'll just plug him in. And 0:11:15.840 --> 0:11:18.679 then it was just one of those kids met kind 0:11:18.679 --> 0:11:40.720 of things where it was just the right move. Okay, 0:11:40.760 --> 0:11:45.040 so you meet Greg, all these cast members, it gets 0:11:45.040 --> 0:11:48.240 picked up to a pilot. How has that received at NBC? 0:11:49.840 --> 0:11:53.680 It wasn't you know, it wasn't shown widely. Um. David 0:11:53.720 --> 0:11:55.840 Kissinger was running the studio at the time, was also 0:11:55.960 --> 0:11:58.240 really an advocate and passionate for this, and he was 0:11:58.280 --> 0:12:00.920 a co conspirator with me, but it was still delivered 0:12:00.960 --> 0:12:03.360 it to me, and I would just say it was 0:12:04.280 --> 0:12:09.600 very slow. I was like, Okay, I can see the 0:12:09.640 --> 0:12:13.200 show in there, but but man, we are defying people's 0:12:13.200 --> 0:12:16.280 patients here. Like editorially, it needed a lot of sculpting. 0:12:16.760 --> 0:12:19.040 You could see the comedy, you could see the characters. 0:12:19.120 --> 0:12:21.040 That was not a concern. Those are one of the 0:12:21.040 --> 0:12:23.520 big eases. Oh no, we've got wrong people, or this 0:12:23.640 --> 0:12:26.280 guy is not delivering she's terrible. No, that was not 0:12:26.320 --> 0:12:29.400 the issue. What was working. What was working, But you 0:12:29.440 --> 0:12:33.240 know that narrative was sort of going. And I would 0:12:33.240 --> 0:12:34.840 say one of the biggest things I had to work 0:12:34.880 --> 0:12:38.680 with Greg on is was just looking in network television. 0:12:38.679 --> 0:12:40.160 You had to get through act breaks, you had to 0:12:40.200 --> 0:12:43.679 go sell toothpaste in the middle, and so I'd say, like, 0:12:43.840 --> 0:12:47.360 you know, Greg, we just sort of trail off here 0:12:47.480 --> 0:12:50.520 on these act breaks, and you know, we lose the 0:12:50.640 --> 0:12:54.400 narrative thread and that's kind of fun, but we gotta 0:12:54.520 --> 0:12:58.640 we gotta sculptu. I think Greg went back and this 0:12:58.720 --> 0:13:01.560 is really, I think where we've forged Dart relationship, because 0:13:02.000 --> 0:13:05.280 it could have been brutal, and at least I thought 0:13:05.280 --> 0:13:07.600 it was a creatively fun thing. I think he did 0:13:07.640 --> 0:13:10.439 four team cuts of the pilot. It may have been sixteen, 0:13:10.480 --> 0:13:12.880 you'd have to ask Greg, but it was double digits 0:13:13.640 --> 0:13:18.120 and really, really, and that's where I saw really his 0:13:18.280 --> 0:13:22.200 true gift that he could find find it and he 0:13:22.280 --> 0:13:23.840 knew where it was and he could hunt for it 0:13:23.840 --> 0:13:26.439 in everyone. It was just Sharper and Sharper and Sharper, 0:13:26.480 --> 0:13:29.360 and you could I could just see it, right, Yeah, wow, 0:13:29.520 --> 0:13:32.720 And so they that we had time again, had this 0:13:32.840 --> 0:13:35.840 been done in pilot season, these are the vagaries of 0:13:35.840 --> 0:13:37.960 the whole thing. Had this been done, even with my 0:13:38.000 --> 0:13:41.200 support and love. Had we had only the time, had 0:13:41.240 --> 0:13:44.280 this been the usual way pilot season was down, You 0:13:44.480 --> 0:13:48.720 shot in sometime April, you had a sometimes days to editive, 0:13:48.720 --> 0:13:50.280 not weeks, because you had to go deliver it and 0:13:50.280 --> 0:13:51.920 test it and do this thing and then boom and 0:13:51.920 --> 0:13:54.440 then screen it. You know, sometimes many of these pilots 0:13:54.440 --> 0:13:57.240 are screened off of two cuts. If we had done 0:13:57.280 --> 0:14:02.719 that dead Dead again, I loved it, and I was like, wow, 0:14:02.880 --> 0:14:05.240 when this names work and we had time to do 0:14:05.280 --> 0:14:08.720 the work. So now we were sitting the other part 0:14:08.760 --> 0:14:10.800 when you were playing the system was you didn't want 0:14:10.800 --> 0:14:13.240 to be into early. You want to hit a sweet 0:14:13.240 --> 0:14:16.600 spot when they're dying to see something new and maybe 0:14:16.600 --> 0:14:19.600 you've got a shot just psychically, oh here's something. We 0:14:19.600 --> 0:14:21.280 could be the next thing, and you kind of get 0:14:21.320 --> 0:14:23.160 in there and you don't want to be the leading edge. 0:14:23.160 --> 0:14:25.160 You don't want to be the last one. And this 0:14:25.240 --> 0:14:28.080 thing just sat and sat and sad, sad, and as 0:14:28.120 --> 0:14:31.360 it got exposed through the system, let's just say there 0:14:31.400 --> 0:14:37.840 the system wasn't overly responsive. Yeah, I mean, look the 0:14:37.880 --> 0:14:42.600 network at that point, had you know I had started 0:14:42.640 --> 0:14:45.320 my career at NBC, I was there for six of 0:14:45.360 --> 0:14:49.200 the great years coming up, the heyday of NBC, the 0:14:49.280 --> 0:14:51.280 great and great things we're in a tart to cover 0:14:51.400 --> 0:14:53.480 in the network. I remember looking at his office and 0:14:53.480 --> 0:14:55.000 at some point it done to me, I don't wonder 0:14:55.000 --> 0:14:57.520 if I could ever have that job. And now I 0:14:57.560 --> 0:14:59.920 came back and got his job and was sitting in 0:15:00.200 --> 0:15:03.920 in his office and literally, you know, I closed the 0:15:03.960 --> 0:15:05.880 door and I had a moment. I looked up and 0:15:05.960 --> 0:15:11.200 I I felt so great and about and just amazing. 0:15:11.200 --> 0:15:13.640 I'm sitting literally at Brandon's desk, looking at the monitors 0:15:13.640 --> 0:15:15.200 on the wall, and then I had this sinking feeling 0:15:15.200 --> 0:15:19.440 that I made a horrible, horrible mistake, which it was 0:15:20.080 --> 0:15:23.520 because the wheels were coming off the momentum. It turn. 0:15:24.320 --> 0:15:27.880 I came in telling everybody we need a new breath 0:15:27.920 --> 0:15:31.480 of fresh air, and this place is in trouble. And 0:15:31.680 --> 0:15:34.640 after decades of winning, a lot of the ethos inside 0:15:34.680 --> 0:15:37.520 the building was we know what we're doing, and it 0:15:37.600 --> 0:15:40.040 was a little like who is this guy? And I 0:15:40.080 --> 0:15:43.400 also didn't learn the concept of corporate buy in. You know, 0:15:43.520 --> 0:15:46.280 when you come into a company really anywhere, you know 0:15:46.280 --> 0:15:47.880 it's not a new different on a team. You know, 0:15:47.920 --> 0:15:50.120 if a coach takes over team. You gotta win over 0:15:50.200 --> 0:15:52.280 people's comments like all right, we'll follow you, we'll listen. 0:15:52.400 --> 0:15:55.440 You can't just come in now. Once people are bottomed 0:15:55.440 --> 0:15:58.080 out and are desperate, you got a shot. But until 0:15:58.160 --> 0:16:01.240 that happens. And so I came in thinking things like 0:16:01.280 --> 0:16:03.240 the office, like this is exactly what we need to do, 0:16:03.320 --> 0:16:06.440 and just a lot of people were like, no, no, 0:16:06.640 --> 0:16:10.560 we need the next version of that's sexy single girl 0:16:10.600 --> 0:16:14.200 in New York who's lives with some friends, and they're like, no, no, 0:16:14.320 --> 0:16:17.480 we really don't. There was still this sort of thing 0:16:17.560 --> 0:16:20.880 that lived on in the building post friends of you know, no, no, 0:16:20.920 --> 0:16:23.840 we want funny, but they're gonna be sexy too, right, 0:16:23.960 --> 0:16:26.160 I mean, we need that, And that had just made 0:16:26.200 --> 0:16:28.560 its way into comedy, which was never part of comedy, 0:16:28.680 --> 0:16:32.000 you know. I mean comedy was like funny period. And 0:16:32.440 --> 0:16:36.000 uh so that was still a little bit in the 0:16:36.000 --> 0:16:37.960 wind of like wait a manune, this is a group 0:16:38.000 --> 0:16:41.000 of misfits. So this kind of just seemed like the 0:16:41.040 --> 0:16:45.960 opposite of at least what everyone thought we needed. Right, well, 0:16:46.000 --> 0:16:51.080 I it's so fascinating the idea of we had this opportunity, 0:16:51.080 --> 0:16:54.760 we were handed this jewel this great idea, this show 0:16:54.920 --> 0:16:58.480 from London, and everybody just kind of wanted to do 0:16:58.600 --> 0:17:01.720 the best that we could, to do something different, which 0:17:01.760 --> 0:17:04.760 is what you're talking about. You're up against this old 0:17:04.800 --> 0:17:07.080 guard and and people who have done it in a 0:17:07.119 --> 0:17:11.160 certain way. And Greg was saying, no, we're gonna have writers. 0:17:11.400 --> 0:17:13.479 We're gonna have writers act in the show right now. 0:17:13.640 --> 0:17:16.320 We're gonna not have a wall that we can move 0:17:16.359 --> 0:17:18.960 because we're a documentary, right and we're going to hire 0:17:19.160 --> 0:17:22.439 actors that are not that are me unknown. Even the 0:17:22.520 --> 0:17:24.679 stupid debates over the Doctor, I had to listen to 0:17:24.720 --> 0:17:29.800 opinions of people saying, you know, Americans associate documentaries with 0:17:29.960 --> 0:17:35.520 heaviness and non commercial. It's just an obstructive format to 0:17:35.640 --> 0:17:39.040 most Americans, and you're doing a comedy through that format 0:17:39.480 --> 0:17:42.280 by its nature. And I'm just listening, Oh my god, really, 0:17:42.280 --> 0:17:44.919 and I'm some of these people they were professionals, but 0:17:44.960 --> 0:17:47.520 I'm just thinking, what do you know? And what are 0:17:47.520 --> 0:17:51.439 you talking about? Right? But how confident were you that 0:17:51.520 --> 0:17:53.879 it could translate to a broadcast audience because yeah, at 0:17:53.920 --> 0:17:58.720 the time, single camera, mock documentary, no laugh track, nothing 0:17:58.760 --> 0:18:01.119 like that was on network Talible. Yeah, what I felt 0:18:01.359 --> 0:18:04.480 all along for a minute. One is an office comedy 0:18:04.560 --> 0:18:07.560 is a staple of television, So yeah, the form is different, 0:18:07.600 --> 0:18:11.520 the tone is certainly different. The leads attitude is really different. 0:18:11.880 --> 0:18:14.080 But at the end of the day, you're not gonna 0:18:14.080 --> 0:18:16.360 look at going I don't understand what what is it? 0:18:16.640 --> 0:18:19.399 They're in an office and I always clung to that 0:18:19.440 --> 0:18:21.960 all the way through. But that it's just one of 0:18:22.000 --> 0:18:24.000 the things I just loved about it. I love the 0:18:24.000 --> 0:18:26.760 outpost in the middle of nowhere. I love the the 0:18:26.800 --> 0:18:30.040 boss who's in this island, who is free to just 0:18:30.160 --> 0:18:34.320 run rough shot over everybody, And uh, Jim, I can't 0:18:34.320 --> 0:18:36.440 remember the exact line. Maybe you do in the pilot, 0:18:36.480 --> 0:18:38.199 you know where they say, you know, describe what you 0:18:38.240 --> 0:18:42.200 do and he's like, well, what's paper products and processing? 0:18:42.240 --> 0:18:45.119 And we moved the skids into thing And I'm just 0:18:45.320 --> 0:18:49.560 I'm boring myself out. Is that for me embodied the 0:18:49.600 --> 0:18:52.840 whole show, you know, like, wait, we don't actually even 0:18:52.840 --> 0:18:55.080 know why we come to work or what we really 0:18:55.080 --> 0:18:59.000 accomplished every day, right right? So I was told it 0:18:59.119 --> 0:19:01.680 was the worst testing show in the history of NBC. 0:19:01.920 --> 0:19:03.760 I don't know it was the worst testing, but it was. 0:19:03.880 --> 0:19:08.280 It was bad. The worst testing that maybe made it. 0:19:08.280 --> 0:19:10.480 It was certainly in that pack, I mean, of the 0:19:10.520 --> 0:19:13.399 ones that made it. It was it was really down there, right, 0:19:14.119 --> 0:19:17.479 So what was the idea behind giving five more episodes? Like? 0:19:17.960 --> 0:19:20.840 Did you have to fight to get those five? Yeah? 0:19:21.080 --> 0:19:23.280 First of all, and at this point two things happened 0:19:23.280 --> 0:19:24.640 through the course of the show for me, and I'll 0:19:24.640 --> 0:19:26.560 give you this the first part. At this point, I'm thinking, 0:19:27.280 --> 0:19:32.560 I really think the rebuild of NBC is going to happen, 0:19:33.160 --> 0:19:35.080 and this is going to be one of those pieces. 0:19:35.640 --> 0:19:38.440 And I looked at the rest of the platiff stuff 0:19:38.480 --> 0:19:41.760 we had, which was ship So it's not like I go, Wow, 0:19:41.800 --> 0:19:43.920 I got ten other great things. I just said, look, 0:19:44.280 --> 0:19:46.960 this is going to be a slog, but this is good. 0:19:47.160 --> 0:19:49.040 This is just good, and we're gonna go with We're 0:19:49.040 --> 0:19:53.919 gonna start with greatness. And first of all, I have 0:19:54.400 --> 0:19:57.560 noted this before, but for the way the stupid pilot 0:19:57.680 --> 0:20:00.399 screening process used to work at these broadcasts at works 0:20:00.480 --> 0:20:04.040 was everybody would fly out, and the East Coast guys 0:20:04.119 --> 0:20:06.639 and the heads of sports and the heads of affiliate 0:20:06.680 --> 0:20:10.520 relations and sales and research and all the all the 0:20:10.520 --> 0:20:13.399 middle aged white guys would fly out and sit in 0:20:13.440 --> 0:20:16.640 the room and you know, tell stories, and then you'd 0:20:16.720 --> 0:20:19.360 rotate around and screen all the pilots, and people would 0:20:19.440 --> 0:20:21.400 rank them and put numbers on them, and then you'd 0:20:21.440 --> 0:20:23.920 come in and debate and decide, and you'd have to 0:20:24.000 --> 0:20:26.440 kind of hear all of that. Now, when things are 0:20:26.440 --> 0:20:27.760 going well and you have a hot hand of the 0:20:27.760 --> 0:20:30.040 present entertainment, you go through that process, but they are 0:20:30.080 --> 0:20:33.439 either not pushing back on you, or you have the 0:20:33.440 --> 0:20:35.720 ability to go, well, that's great, Brian, thanks, thanks for that. 0:20:35.720 --> 0:20:38.960 That's fantastic input, and then just go ignore it. But 0:20:39.280 --> 0:20:42.960 when the network starts to get on wobbly legs and 0:20:43.400 --> 0:20:46.840 I had not again established credibility, people knew me, they 0:20:46.880 --> 0:20:48.479 liked me, they're recruited me for the job. But at 0:20:48.520 --> 0:20:53.760 this point I seem to be now uh, advocating for 0:20:53.920 --> 0:20:57.280 things that don't look like what they're supposed to look like. 0:20:58.040 --> 0:21:01.680 And this is identified as a problem early on, and 0:21:02.040 --> 0:21:06.760 so that gave other players more power to come up 0:21:06.800 --> 0:21:09.200 and say, let me tell you why this isn't gonna work, 0:21:09.240 --> 0:21:11.280 and then they had the research. Now, so we come 0:21:11.280 --> 0:21:13.440 out of this pilot screening process and every room is 0:21:13.480 --> 0:21:15.800 giving it. You know, ten is the best zero, we're 0:21:15.800 --> 0:21:17.920 going to give it a point five, you know, or 0:21:18.080 --> 0:21:22.040 or one. You know. Well, nobody likes it except one room. 0:21:22.080 --> 0:21:23.880 I go down, and honestly, it was the only room 0:21:23.880 --> 0:21:27.000 I was interested in. The room filled with the assistance 0:21:27.520 --> 0:21:31.840 and the associates and all the young people, and that 0:21:31.960 --> 0:21:33.840 was the biggest rumor. Actually they were at like forty 0:21:33.920 --> 0:21:36.400 people in there, and I go in and they said, 0:21:36.440 --> 0:21:38.520 what do you guys think? And I remember they take 0:21:38.560 --> 0:21:41.720 away is this not only is this the best thing 0:21:41.760 --> 0:21:45.040 we've done, it's the only thing we would watch that 0:21:45.080 --> 0:21:47.360 you're making, and it's kind of the only thing we'd 0:21:47.400 --> 0:21:50.000 watch and what's currently on the air. And I was like, 0:21:50.080 --> 0:21:52.760 thank you very much, that's all I need to know. Wow, 0:21:54.160 --> 0:21:57.160 And like unequivocally that room was we are in even 0:21:57.240 --> 0:22:00.920 with the first pilot, still hadn't It hadn't even become 0:22:00.960 --> 0:22:02.800 the show it was. They just could they were it, 0:22:02.920 --> 0:22:04.400 and I knew it was going to be the young 0:22:04.440 --> 0:22:06.760 audience that we're going to cling to, but that meant 0:22:06.760 --> 0:22:09.640 nothing still in selling it. It still wasn't the five 0:22:09.640 --> 0:22:12.399