WEBVTT - David Trainer Meets World 0:00:18.239 --> 0:00:31.160 David, are you there? I'm here. Wow, David, how are 0:00:31.280 --> 0:00:35.040 you nice? Nice to see you, guys. I mean, I 0:00:35.040 --> 0:00:38.320 am so excited to see you. This is an amusing 0:00:38.360 --> 0:00:45.200 idea talking about talking about turning back to clock. You 0:00:45.320 --> 0:00:50.280 guys probably know how many years it is? Years? God, 0:00:50.800 --> 0:00:54.400 isn't that crazy? I know. I mean, I think one 0:00:54.440 --> 0:00:57.120 of the things that's um so like one of the 0:00:57.120 --> 0:00:59.440 reasons I'm so excited to see you. And you would 0:00:59.480 --> 0:01:01.520 have no unless somebody has told you, you would not 0:01:01.600 --> 0:01:05.280 know this, but um you know I've I've directed now 0:01:05.280 --> 0:01:10.880 almost thirty episodes of children's TV, and any time I 0:01:10.920 --> 0:01:13.320 get asked what it was that made me want to 0:01:13.360 --> 0:01:17.080 be a director, I always referred to you because when 0:01:17.160 --> 0:01:21.320 I think about what I love so much about directing children, 0:01:21.440 --> 0:01:24.520 especially because I do mostly children's TV, I think of 0:01:24.560 --> 0:01:29.040 the way that you and Jeff McCracken treated us as kids, 0:01:29.160 --> 0:01:31.800 and how much respect you had for us. And you 0:01:31.840 --> 0:01:34.760 were truthfully the first person to really give me an 0:01:34.800 --> 0:01:39.520 acting lesson, Like I learned so much from you. I 0:01:39.880 --> 0:01:41.920 couldn't even tell you how much I learned from you, 0:01:42.200 --> 0:01:45.440 and so your impact on my life in the two 0:01:45.520 --> 0:01:47.840 years that I knew you twenty seven to twenty nine 0:01:47.920 --> 0:01:51.360 years ago has literally just changed the course of my life, 0:01:51.480 --> 0:01:53.720 and I I've never really been able to properly thank 0:01:53.720 --> 0:01:56.160 you for that, so I'm super excited to say that 0:01:56.200 --> 0:01:59.360 to you. Well, thank you. I'm glad you know better 0:01:59.400 --> 0:02:05.280 to be a good influenced on avantage. We've had those two. Yeah, yeah, 0:02:05.400 --> 0:02:09.400 we've had those two. And directing young actors as a 0:02:09.520 --> 0:02:16.240 particular subset of directing, not exactly. It's in many ways 0:02:16.840 --> 0:02:23.040 like directing anybody and other ways, it's gotten some particular Yeah, well, 0:02:23.120 --> 0:02:25.639 that is actually a great question to start with. Then, 0:02:25.800 --> 0:02:28.600 I mean, you had you I don't know exactly where 0:02:28.639 --> 0:02:30.800 you started your directing career, but you were most famous 0:02:30.800 --> 0:02:36.120 for directing Designing Women from nine to ninety two, right, Yeah, 0:02:36.320 --> 0:02:39.000 I mean before that, I was a theater director and 0:02:39.040 --> 0:02:43.079 before that playwright, so so the roots are in the theater. 0:02:43.760 --> 0:02:47.760 And then came to Los Angeles to direct one episode 0:02:47.760 --> 0:02:50.280 of Designing Women and stayed for four years and became 0:02:50.280 --> 0:02:53.280 one of the producers. So that was that was sort 0:02:53.280 --> 0:02:55.040 of the beginning. But I want to go back for 0:02:55.120 --> 0:02:59.320 a second because I'm fascinated by the fact that you 0:02:59.480 --> 0:03:02.560 came from theater and so did Michael Jacobs. And I 0:03:02.560 --> 0:03:06.079 think we we tend to forget how much multi camera 0:03:06.120 --> 0:03:10.400 sitcom in particular was like a direct descendant of theater, 0:03:10.880 --> 0:03:14.919 and how much what we do as actors and as 0:03:15.000 --> 0:03:19.120 directors in that that context is pretty much theater. I mean, 0:03:19.240 --> 0:03:21.639 was that an easy transition for you or or can 0:03:21.639 --> 0:03:23.360 you talk about what that was like to go because 0:03:23.360 --> 0:03:25.600 you used to I know you used to do Shakespeare 0:03:25.639 --> 0:03:29.120 because you gave me in Ben an amazing Shakespeare lesson 0:03:29.160 --> 0:03:30.880 one day. I don't know if you remember this, but 0:03:30.919 --> 0:03:32.880 we we spent like one time reading, so I know you, 0:03:33.280 --> 0:03:36.040 but I know you were you started in classical theater 0:03:36.520 --> 0:03:39.280 and then here you are doing a kids sitcom. Can 0:03:39.320 --> 0:03:43.040 you talk about how similar or different they are? Well, 0:03:43.120 --> 0:03:45.840 you know, I think you're absolutely right that the multiple 0:03:45.920 --> 0:03:53.000 camera television comes from the theater. And my conviction is 0:03:53.080 --> 0:04:00.520 that it comes from from Flodville. Yeah, Vaudeville shows add 0:04:00.560 --> 0:04:05.839 these short plays between the musical acts, and it gave them, 0:04:06.360 --> 0:04:09.400 you know it it was my set. I mean I 0:04:09.440 --> 0:04:12.880 never it was before my time, but I screamed their beauties. 0:04:14.040 --> 0:04:17.720 A single set would be inserted in the middle, you know, 0:04:17.839 --> 0:04:21.280 in the middle of the stage. And a little play 0:04:21.320 --> 0:04:25.120 of twenty minutes or so we take place and and 0:04:26.040 --> 0:04:29.520 I've read some of them and they're remarkably like what 0:04:29.720 --> 0:04:33.000 we end up doing. So I think that what what 0:04:33.120 --> 0:04:37.239 multiple Camera did was take take the theater and and 0:04:37.240 --> 0:04:40.480 and add to it the resources of movies and and 0:04:41.000 --> 0:04:44.080 specifically of television, because it does here, it is, and 0:04:44.160 --> 0:04:46.120 so it has a lot to do. It has a 0:04:46.120 --> 0:04:50.440 lot to do. I mean almost entirely. So the transition 0:04:50.480 --> 0:04:53.039 is not that hard. Did you watch a lot of 0:04:53.040 --> 0:04:57.440 television before you started directing it? No, not particularly. Uh, 0:04:57.640 --> 0:05:01.159 you know, the way I actually specifically came to it 0:05:01.240 --> 0:05:03.640 was I directed a plan Broadway that came and played 0:05:03.680 --> 0:05:06.279 Beyoncet and when it played the Honest and you know, 0:05:06.279 --> 0:05:08.120 I had directed seven plays in a year and a half, 0:05:08.240 --> 0:05:12.000 had less money at the end of that, I've got, 0:05:12.040 --> 0:05:15.480 you know, the logical extension of this potters Field someday 0:05:15.600 --> 0:05:19.840 you know, we're not going directly, and I was very 0:05:19.880 --> 0:05:22.839 fortunately I directed good things and good places. But it's 0:05:22.839 --> 0:05:27.640 a it's and it is what it is. So I 0:05:27.680 --> 0:05:31.159 took the opportunity of being in Los Angeles and having 0:05:31.160 --> 0:05:33.760 my name in the newspaper every day because there's a 0:05:33.880 --> 0:05:37.559 big add every day for the squad, so I didn't 0:05:37.560 --> 0:05:39.160 have to explain why I was there. I didn't come 0:05:39.200 --> 0:05:42.520 as a supplicant for a beggar, and sort of poked 0:05:42.560 --> 0:05:44.240 around and figured out how to do it. And then 0:05:45.520 --> 0:05:49.560 Jim Burrows, whom I met, arranged for me to to 0:05:49.920 --> 0:05:55.320 to observe Bill Persky doing Kate. Now, so that was 0:05:55.320 --> 0:05:58.880 where I lived in York, so I sort of made that. 0:05:58.920 --> 0:06:01.600 I took the money I made at the office and 0:06:01.720 --> 0:06:07.440 basically invested in So I didn't work for a year, 0:06:08.200 --> 0:06:10.240 but I had one. I mean, I knew I had 0:06:10.240 --> 0:06:12.480 the money from the n so it was a sort 0:06:12.480 --> 0:06:16.039 of investment in the future that was unclear whether it 0:06:16.080 --> 0:06:18.880 worked out, but then it did. And then and then 0:06:19.000 --> 0:06:23.360 designing women. You know, the women were, if I understand 0:06:23.360 --> 0:06:27.279 it correctly, second hand sort of the women were looking 0:06:27.320 --> 0:06:33.520 for what they called the real director. I know, so, 0:06:33.839 --> 0:06:37.480 you know, a smart agent with most to Harry Johnson. 0:06:37.720 --> 0:06:40.359 I got this guy, and I my understanding because they 0:06:40.360 --> 0:06:42.400 also can said if you don't hire somebody else will 0:06:42.440 --> 0:06:44.919 and get regret it. So Harry and I had a 0:06:44.920 --> 0:06:46.720 long talk on the phone and he hired men and 0:06:46.800 --> 0:06:49.240 you never even met. So when I showed up at 0:06:49.240 --> 0:06:53.960 Warner Brothers. I had never seen that was designing with 0:06:54.040 --> 0:06:57.120 a shot up felt. I had never seen a camera close. 0:06:57.200 --> 0:07:01.360 I've seen sweed in New York. You know. Now you're 0:07:01.360 --> 0:07:05.680 in charge of four of the camera what they're doing, 0:07:06.279 --> 0:07:08.840 you know. So it was it was like coming in 0:07:09.120 --> 0:07:15.680 virtually with a blank mom, but with what but understanding 0:07:15.720 --> 0:07:18.720 actors and stage and stuff like that, and let's see 0:07:18.800 --> 0:07:21.680 you go from there. And so you know, you directed 0:07:21.680 --> 0:07:25.560 the first two seasons of Boy Meat's World almost exclusively. 0:07:25.640 --> 0:07:27.320 John Tracy did the pilot and then you came in 0:07:27.360 --> 0:07:29.760 and did every other episode for the first two seasons. 0:07:30.440 --> 0:07:33.640 Did you one? What was were we your first experience 0:07:33.720 --> 0:07:38.560 working then with kids? And what was that like? Well, 0:07:38.600 --> 0:07:42.040 you guys were great and fun. I mean I remember 0:07:42.240 --> 0:07:44.960 certain kinds of specifics. And presumably we will get into 0:07:45.000 --> 0:07:49.120 this like Danielle, how we got to you? Yeah, I 0:07:49.160 --> 0:07:51.280 can't wait for that story. Can wait for that story 0:07:51.960 --> 0:08:02.640 for two of us? Yeah, I mean I think we 0:08:02.640 --> 0:08:04.880 could actually get into it here. Instead of when we 0:08:05.000 --> 0:08:06.920 talk about the episode, there a lot of other things 0:08:06.960 --> 0:08:10.640 to talk about the episode. Um, let's talk about how 0:08:11.400 --> 0:08:16.560 I became Topanga because I actually just learned something from 0:08:16.680 --> 0:08:19.480 David for when it When I was trying to get 0:08:19.560 --> 0:08:21.280 David to come on the show and we were emailing 0:08:21.280 --> 0:08:25.240 back and forth, David said to me, yes, of course, 0:08:25.280 --> 0:08:28.520 how could I forget that Friday night, Michael had gone home, 0:08:28.560 --> 0:08:32.800 Michael Jacobs had gone home for Shabbat, and the actress 0:08:32.840 --> 0:08:35.320 we had hired us to Panga, was not working out. So, 0:08:35.400 --> 0:08:38.000 for those who don't know, I had auditioned for the 0:08:38.080 --> 0:08:40.560 role of Topanga and I did not even get a 0:08:40.559 --> 0:08:45.240 call back. And I know exactly why, because I had 0:08:45.480 --> 0:08:49.600 zero idea what acting was and welcome to the club. 0:08:49.840 --> 0:08:53.560 All I had done up until that point were commercials 0:08:53.720 --> 0:08:56.680 where all I was doing was playing a cute, bubbly 0:08:56.800 --> 0:08:59.520 ten or eleven year old. And I had done two 0:08:59.559 --> 0:09:02.280 episode a Full House, where again I was just kind 0:09:02.320 --> 0:09:05.160 of playing a slightly different version of myself. It was 0:09:05.320 --> 0:09:08.960 just the tiniest bit different. And I didn't know that 0:09:09.000 --> 0:09:13.160 you could change how you said things, or that you 0:09:13.200 --> 0:09:20.320 could pretend to be someone. I didn't know that at all. Truthfully, 0:09:20.360 --> 0:09:22.480 I did not know that I was. I had had 0:09:22.520 --> 0:09:24.960 no training at all. And you were cast in the 0:09:24.960 --> 0:09:27.520 episode you had one of those you were one of 0:09:27.600 --> 0:09:31.199 those girls, right, I mean the girls who are doing 0:09:31.200 --> 0:09:33.840 the science experiment. Yeah, and the girls who were talking 0:09:33.840 --> 0:09:39.560 about corries. Well, what recollection? You were one of the exactly. Yeah, 0:09:39.559 --> 0:09:43.319 it was the fish pulled out the dead. So I 0:09:43.800 --> 0:09:45.440 didn't get a call back for Topanga, but the next 0:09:45.520 --> 0:09:46.800 day I got the audition to be one of those 0:09:46.800 --> 0:09:48.760 two girls, and I booked that role, and so then 0:09:48.800 --> 0:09:50.920 I got to set and I was one of the 0:09:50.960 --> 0:09:52.800 girls who had a couple of lines the Fish Girl, 0:09:53.000 --> 0:09:56.760 and I saw David working with the actress they had 0:09:56.880 --> 0:09:59.400 cast as Tapanga. Now, I was not there for all 0:09:59.480 --> 0:10:02.400 of the topa Anga scenes because if my character wasn't 0:10:02.400 --> 0:10:04.440 in the scene, I was in school or something. But 0:10:04.600 --> 0:10:07.120 in a couple of scenes where Tapenga and the Fish 0:10:07.160 --> 0:10:10.800 Girl were together, I got to watch David work with her, 0:10:11.280 --> 0:10:15.240 and I it was literally the first lightbulb of what 0:10:15.320 --> 0:10:17.680 we were doing as actors went off in my head 0:10:17.679 --> 0:10:23.320 where I was like, oh wow, And I had that 0:10:23.360 --> 0:10:25.679 feeling you get as a kid where you're like can 0:10:25.720 --> 0:10:28.319 I can I try again? Like I really feel like 0:10:28.360 --> 0:10:31.400 I get it now? And David was working with her, 0:10:31.400 --> 0:10:34.200 and I specifically remember one line that I don't think 0:10:34.280 --> 0:10:36.240 was in the episode where when she walks away, she 0:10:36.320 --> 0:10:43.280 says peace and um, the actress, I remember this whole moment. 0:10:45.200 --> 0:10:47.400 It was just a moment that really stuck out because 0:10:47.440 --> 0:10:50.520 I remember being repeated over and over again. Her natural 0:10:50.559 --> 0:10:55.400 inclination was to say piece and walk away, and and 0:10:55.480 --> 0:10:58.160 David was saying, it's when you say it like that, 0:10:58.240 --> 0:11:02.000 it sounds down or sad, it's not. It's it's just peace. 0:11:02.520 --> 0:11:07.560 And I remember them going back and forth peace and 0:11:07.640 --> 0:11:09.880 being like, oh man, in my head, I'm hearing myself 0:11:09.920 --> 0:11:13.000 say it going I know, I think, I know. Just 0:11:13.320 --> 0:11:15.760 remember that. I remember that Friday rehearsal. It was this 0:11:16.080 --> 0:11:20.000 the whole episode was a disaster at that point. It was, 0:11:20.040 --> 0:11:22.920 and it was day one. And so for the record, 0:11:23.120 --> 0:11:25.720 the girl's name is not actually fish Girl, just so 0:11:26.760 --> 0:11:35.760 she's got her. Her name was Megan Parlor. Megan Parlor. 0:11:36.880 --> 0:11:41.120 But so anyway, long story short, Friday, the very first day, 0:11:41.400 --> 0:11:44.120 that actress who was playing to Peana gets let go. 0:11:44.360 --> 0:11:46.320 And I'm going to then let David take it because 0:11:46.360 --> 0:11:48.960 now this is stuff I don't have the inside knowledge on, 0:11:49.040 --> 0:11:53.360 but David does. David, what happened? This is what I think. Okay, 0:11:53.400 --> 0:11:55.880 there's sort of problems that you think you can solve, 0:11:56.559 --> 0:11:59.920 and then there's problems that you think you can't solve. 0:12:00.520 --> 0:12:03.280 And sort of by working with her, she moved from 0:12:03.320 --> 0:12:06.439 one camp to the other, Kip to the insoluble camp. 0:12:06.880 --> 0:12:09.880 So Michael had gone home. I mean, the way things 0:12:09.880 --> 0:12:11.600 working those days, you guys can remember it's been and 0:12:11.600 --> 0:12:13.960 I do. We had a table reading on Friday. You 0:12:14.000 --> 0:12:16.320 can bank school hours on Friday, so you guys all 0:12:16.360 --> 0:12:18.959 went to school and then late in the afternoon you 0:12:19.000 --> 0:12:21.440 got out of school and we rehearsed. But by then, 0:12:21.480 --> 0:12:24.680 if it was sundown or close to it, Michael went home. 0:12:24.840 --> 0:12:27.400 He'd done the rewriting anyone home for Shabba, So that 0:12:29.200 --> 0:12:32.760 basically in that situation, I was on stage, and Ed 0:12:32.840 --> 0:12:39.000 and John were the guys upstairs, and just Ward were 0:12:39.000 --> 0:12:42.080 the guys upstairs. So even LOUI of Michael. So I 0:12:42.080 --> 0:12:47.320 remember calling them, I think, and saying, disaster, we gotta 0:12:47.320 --> 0:12:51.080 get rid of her, and you know, what what are 0:12:51.080 --> 0:12:52.719 we gonna do? I said, no, no no, no, no, we 0:12:52.800 --> 0:12:57.239 got it. Is he here, I've seen her, right, So 0:12:57.559 --> 0:13:00.400 that's what I recollect. I think it wasn't oh this 0:13:01.920 --> 0:13:04.360 I got I don't mean I got this, but we 0:13:04.440 --> 0:13:10.040 got this we got this and again I think maybe 0:13:12.160 --> 0:13:16.520 they came down and maybe you did part of Oh no, 0:13:16.679 --> 0:13:19.200 I know exactly what happened there. Guys did a reading. 0:13:19.280 --> 0:13:23.960 Yeah it was it was said yes, yes, I mean 0:13:24.000 --> 0:13:26.560 it was self evidence that you were prints. So that okay. 0:13:26.559 --> 0:13:28.520 So that's the that's some of the holes that are 0:13:28.559 --> 0:13:31.199 filling in for me now, because we definitely did an audition. 0:13:31.480 --> 0:13:35.720 At the end of the rehearsal day, they said, Marla, Danielle, 0:13:35.920 --> 0:13:38.080 we can you guys come with us and we're going 0:13:38.120 --> 0:13:41.240 to have you read these this scene. I don't remember 0:13:41.320 --> 0:13:44.000 what scene it was, but it all of a sudden 0:13:44.000 --> 0:13:46.439 it was a parent that Marlin I were re auditioning 0:13:46.960 --> 0:13:50.679 for this other character, which um is also a kind 0:13:50.720 --> 0:13:53.480 of an uncomfortable situation because Marlin I have spent all 0:13:53.559 --> 0:13:55.680 day kind of being pals and buds and the two 0:13:55.679 --> 0:13:57.559 of us are here, you know, we're friends, were playing 0:13:57.559 --> 0:13:59.800 these scenes together where we play friends, and now all 0:13:59.800 --> 0:14:02.000 of a sudden, it's like we're both auditioning for a 0:14:02.320 --> 0:14:08.960 marching exactly. It's like thousands of domes for and so 0:14:10.200 --> 0:14:13.640 Marla went in first, and Marla did the scene, and 0:14:13.720 --> 0:14:15.880 my mom and I are sitting outside and we can 0:14:15.920 --> 0:14:20.160 hear laughing going on, talking going on, and I'm looking 0:14:20.160 --> 0:14:22.720 down at the scene being like laughing, I don't know 0:14:22.800 --> 0:14:25.240 that there are there is there? Okay, I guess there's 0:14:25.240 --> 0:14:29.080 a laugh, Like I'm stressed. Marla's going is in there. 0:14:29.080 --> 0:14:31.560 She's in there for a while. It's very talkie talkie 0:14:31.560 --> 0:14:33.640 and friendly, and I can just hear a lot of chatter. 0:14:33.720 --> 0:14:36.720 And then Marla comes out and Sally Steiner, the casting director, 0:14:36.800 --> 0:14:40.160 follows her out, and in front of us, Sally is 0:14:40.200 --> 0:14:44.320 asking for Marla's mom every possible way she can get 0:14:44.320 --> 0:14:46.440 in touch with Marla over the weekend because Marla was 0:14:46.480 --> 0:14:48.840 going up north, which I think is where she lived. 0:14:48.880 --> 0:14:51.040 She was going back up north to see her family 0:14:51.360 --> 0:14:53.920 for the weekend, and Sally was nervous, like, how are 0:14:53.920 --> 0:14:55.080 we going to get in touch with you? This is 0:14:55.120 --> 0:14:56.720 before the days of cell phone, So I need to 0:14:56.760 --> 0:14:59.120 have the house number where you live, your agents man, 0:14:59.280 --> 0:15:01.400 your agents paid, your number, your man. I need any 0:15:01.400 --> 0:15:02.960 ways of us we're going to call you over the 0:15:02.960 --> 0:15:04.640 weekend and if and if you have to come in 0:15:04.720 --> 0:15:06.800 on Monday, I need to let you know over this weekend. 0:15:07.120 --> 0:15:10.240 And I was thinking, Okay, that audition went really well, 0:15:10.320 --> 0:15:14.040 and now Daniel Fisher and now go ahead, gentleman. Daniel 0:15:14.520 --> 0:15:17.520 and I walked in and I did the scene, and 0:15:17.560 --> 0:15:20.920 then I was done. There was no like extended chatter. 0:15:21.400 --> 0:15:24.000 I walked out and turned around to see if Sally 0:15:24.120 --> 0:15:27.240 was following behind me. No one followed behind me. I've 0:15:27.280 --> 0:15:29.080 written down my numbers in case you need to get 0:15:29.080 --> 0:15:31.040 in touch of me over the record. Do you need 0:15:31.040 --> 0:15:35.320 my factor? Who's my page number? My mom's page number? 0:15:35.520 --> 0:15:39.680 It was crickets and I then my mom and I 0:15:39.760 --> 0:15:43.560 walked out and I burst into tears. I was like, 0:15:44.160 --> 0:15:46.320 I didn't do it. I didn't nail it. It was 0:15:46.400 --> 0:15:48.880 I don't know what happened. I just obviously Marla was 0:15:48.920 --> 0:15:52.160 better because I they wanted they It was clearly they 0:15:52.160 --> 0:15:53.680 want her. And I was sad, and I was like, 0:15:53.760 --> 0:15:55.120 but it's gonna be okay. I didn't you know an 0:15:55.120 --> 0:15:57.320 hour ago this part wasn't mine either, Like you know, 0:15:57.400 --> 0:15:59.240 who cares. It's gonna be fine. It's gonna be fine. 0:15:59.240 --> 0:16:01.520 And my mom, it's now two hours past the time 0:16:01.560 --> 0:16:03.640 we're supposed to be home, and my dad has no 0:16:03.680 --> 0:16:05.640 idea where we are. He's been paging my mother like 0:16:06.440 --> 0:16:08.520 like where are you? And so my mom says, we 0:16:08.560 --> 0:16:10.240 need to call your father. And we had a Zach 0:16:10.360 --> 0:16:14.320 Morris car phone. So I call my father on the 0:16:14.400 --> 0:16:17.640 Zach Morris car phone and I am in tears and 0:16:17.640 --> 0:16:19.320 I'm trying to explain to him what happened. So we 0:16:19.320 --> 0:16:22.160 were rehearsing and there's this girl and then and then 0:16:22.200 --> 0:16:24.080 so Marlon I and he's like what He's like trying 0:16:24.080 --> 0:16:26.480 to understand what I'm saying, like why what are you 0:16:26.520 --> 0:16:28.720 even talking about? And then he goes, hold on, hold on, sorry, 0:16:28.760 --> 0:16:31.520 I have a call waiting, and he just comes back 0:16:31.560 --> 0:16:33.240 and I look at my mom and like, go waiting 0:16:33.720 --> 0:16:37.160 holding the phone like this. And then my dad comes 0:16:37.200 --> 0:16:42.520 back and says, that was someone named Sally Steiner and 0:16:43.000 --> 0:16:46.440 she told you to come back on Monday. As to Panga, 0:16:46.760 --> 0:16:49.320 none of these things are words. My dad had any 0:16:49.360 --> 0:16:51.520 idea what they meant. He didn't know Sally Steiner was. 0:16:51.560 --> 0:16:53.120 He had never heard the name to Panga. He didn't 0:16:53.200 --> 0:16:58.920 understand what was going on. And I just scream and 0:16:59.000 --> 0:17:01.960 my mom looks at me and go or we just 0:17:02.000 --> 0:17:06.639 start screaming in the car. It was I mean, it 0:17:06.680 --> 0:17:09.960 will it is a moment I will remember. I get 0:17:10.040 --> 0:17:11.960 chills thinking about it. I remember, I will remember it 0:17:11.960 --> 0:17:14.960 for the rest of my life. They couldn't find Marlow's number. 0:17:25.720 --> 0:17:28.560 It's so what's so funny is that it was a 0:17:28.760 --> 0:17:33.399 huge deal to you because being the guest star in 0:17:33.480 --> 0:17:37.800 a leading role was a big deal. But actually it 0:17:37.840 --> 0:17:40.919 didn't mean that much. It's you know, now it means everything. 0:17:40.920 --> 0:17:45.040 It changed your life. But actually from the perspective of like, 0:17:45.160 --> 0:17:47.760 you know, if if, if it had to Pango was 0:17:47.760 --> 0:17:49.680 supposed to be a one one episode, right it was 0:17:50.200 --> 0:17:54.400 from right, Yeah, it's like that, it was like, right, 0:17:54.520 --> 0:17:57.240 So it's so funny that it only it's like snowballed, 0:17:57.280 --> 0:17:59.520 you know, throughout the years. So this moment, which was 0:17:59.560 --> 0:18:02.440 a big deal for an elven year old, but like, actually, 0:18:02.560 --> 0:18:04.639 if your life had gone on and the part of 0:18:04.680 --> 0:18:06.600 you know whatever, it probably would have just faded away 0:18:06.600 --> 0:18:08.639 and been one of those fun like childhood memories. But 0:18:08.920 --> 0:18:12.680 now it's become this defining characteristic of your life. It's 0:18:12.720 --> 0:18:18.120 fascinating that's how it works. Though not because I agree 0:18:18.160 --> 0:18:26.920 with that, but when a writer like Michael writes apart 0:18:27.240 --> 0:18:32.560 like that, where there's a connection, yeah, implicitly, there's a 0:18:32.640 --> 0:18:35.879 hope that it goes on. Yeah, my honestly, so that 0:18:36.520 --> 0:18:38.160 from your point of I mean, I think every step 0:18:38.160 --> 0:18:40.720 of the way, it's like you're the fish girl, then 0:18:40.760 --> 0:18:44.800 you're auditioning, then you're happy, then you're sad, then you're happy. Right, right, 0:18:45.400 --> 0:18:48.439 that's the scene, and if it ends there is like 0:18:49.800 --> 0:18:52.640 but but from from the show's point of view, there's 0:18:52.680 --> 0:18:56.400 always about a short term storytelling in a longer short term. 0:18:56.440 --> 0:19:00.600 So I think there was it was important that the 0:19:00.760 --> 0:19:04.800 right he be cast in that part from the show's 0:19:04.840 --> 0:19:07.000 point view, or else you would have had to read 0:19:07.200 --> 0:19:10.159 do you had to find another way to introduce Corey 0:19:10.200 --> 0:19:13.600 to somebody who's going to be It's yeah, So I 0:19:13.640 --> 0:19:17.000 think it's two things. It's unimportant or or important only 0:19:17.000 --> 0:19:20.479 in retrospect and at the time really important. Well that's 0:19:20.480 --> 0:19:22.679 actually really that's a good question. Do you do you 0:19:22.760 --> 0:19:26.080 have any memories of what what I mean? Do you 0:19:26.280 --> 0:19:29.520 because at that point the show is still defining itself, 0:19:29.560 --> 0:19:31.720 The show is still trying to find its voice in 0:19:31.760 --> 0:19:34.399 a lot of ways. And had you when when you 0:19:34.720 --> 0:19:37.280 took the job to direct the first season, I'm presuming 0:19:37.320 --> 0:19:40.120 you had seen the pilot and that's why you took 0:19:40.160 --> 0:19:43.120 the job. Well, I mean I took the job because 0:19:43.520 --> 0:19:47.119 you know, it's not worth going into all the details. 0:19:47.160 --> 0:19:51.800 But my mind, Michael had wanted Michael I had a 0:19:51.800 --> 0:19:56.040 prior relationship on another show, And and then what means 0:19:56.040 --> 0:19:58.240 the world is I was supposed to Michael wanted me 0:19:58.359 --> 0:20:00.240 to do the pilot, and I did something else, and 0:20:00.280 --> 0:20:03.040 the other things fell through, and some it's like, I mean, 0:20:03.560 --> 0:20:07.119 there's a whole sort of like story upon the second 0:20:07.240 --> 0:20:10.639 second podcast doesn't have any care. Okay, well then I 0:20:10.680 --> 0:20:13.200 guess the question becomes, what do you do you remember 0:20:13.680 --> 0:20:16.560 being a part of developing the voice of Boyme's World 0:20:16.640 --> 0:20:19.040 or developing a tone, and and do you remember what 0:20:19.160 --> 0:20:21.679 those conversations were like, like did did it feel like 0:20:21.720 --> 0:20:24.280 the show was sort of baked into the pilot and 0:20:24.320 --> 0:20:26.760 into the writing, or were you still kind of fishing 0:20:26.800 --> 0:20:30.520 around for a character like to Panga, a best friend 0:20:30.560 --> 0:20:34.440 like Sean, you know, finding the parents. And I think 0:20:34.480 --> 0:20:38.760 these things are they are the thing that Boy's World 0:20:38.760 --> 0:20:43.120 have from the beginning. And I was trying to parenthetically, 0:20:43.760 --> 0:20:45.400 I was trying to think how many shows I did 0:20:45.880 --> 0:20:48.200 Jacks and I would say, okay, it's three. Oh wait, 0:20:48.240 --> 0:20:50.639 there's another four, Oh wait, there's another, just like six 0:20:53.000 --> 0:20:56.760 conceivably seven things I did with Michael over a period 0:20:56.760 --> 0:21:03.440 of say four years. Boy's World was a perfect expression 0:21:03.480 --> 0:21:07.960 of Michael's voice and I was dead. So the thing 0:21:08.280 --> 0:21:13.920 was pitched perfect from the beginning because of the connection 0:21:14.000 --> 0:21:19.840 between Michael as a writer and a voice and then 0:21:20.000 --> 0:21:24.879 as an accur so the rest thing it fell in around. 0:21:25.080 --> 0:21:28.600 You know, it felt, it felt okay, you know, I 0:21:28.640 --> 0:21:32.240 don't remember. I mean, I remember, Michael's not any who guys, 0:21:33.119 --> 0:21:36.960 Michael's not a day at the beach. Depends on the 0:21:37.000 --> 0:21:43.199 kind of day it's not. So so it's not like 0:21:43.280 --> 0:21:47.520 it was smooth and no new shows every smooth. Michael 0:21:47.640 --> 0:21:50.320 makes things harder sometimes then we have to be at 0:21:50.359 --> 0:21:54.680 the same time. This was great. I mean it was like, man, 0:21:54.920 --> 0:21:59.640 a writer has a speaker, like the Michael Benn connection, 0:22:01.600 --> 0:22:04.919 You've got yourself from the basis of real since and 0:22:04.960 --> 0:22:08.080 everything else. And I mean, I think going back to 0:22:08.640 --> 0:22:11.520 June and you know, you know that in so many 0:22:11.520 --> 0:22:14.479 ways it was evident, And I think it was evident 0:22:14.560 --> 0:22:17.560 to me even when that other girl was still there 0:22:17.560 --> 0:22:19.480 and I was thinking, I can't I'm not going to 0:22:19.560 --> 0:22:23.160 be able to make her right, this one, this one 0:22:23.240 --> 0:22:27.639 with the fish. She seems good, you know, is you 0:22:27.680 --> 0:22:32.680 can sort of feel what will do? Confuel. Well, going 0:22:32.720 --> 0:22:34.679 back to what you said about the roller coaster of 0:22:34.760 --> 0:22:37.040 you know, you're happy, you're sad, You're happy, you're sad. 0:22:37.080 --> 0:22:40.040 After I get that phone call on Friday night, Yeah, 0:22:40.560 --> 0:22:43.080 I got the part. Show back up on Monday as Topanga. 0:22:43.440 --> 0:22:46.840 I did. I showed up on Monday as to Panga, 0:22:47.119 --> 0:22:50.200 and I was now the person David was working with 0:22:50.440 --> 0:22:52.760 trying to get the you know, the right tone, the 0:22:52.840 --> 0:22:57.400 right intonation, the right deliveries, the right physicality. And it 0:22:57.440 --> 0:23:00.920 was hard for me. I was a bubbly, fast talking 0:23:01.320 --> 0:23:10.200 spunky and and uh yeah, I I it was very 0:23:10.240 --> 0:23:12.480 hard to speak slowly. It's still hard for me to 0:23:12.520 --> 0:23:16.280 talk slowly. And we worked all day and then we do, 0:23:16.400 --> 0:23:19.040 as we've discussed on the podcast before, what are weeks 0:23:19.040 --> 0:23:21.320 were like? Monday was producer run through at the end 0:23:21.320 --> 0:23:24.679 of the night, and David, I I would love to remember, 0:23:24.680 --> 0:23:26.520 and I've loved to know what your memory of this 0:23:26.640 --> 0:23:29.199 night is, because I can tell you my memory was 0:23:29.240 --> 0:23:33.560 that we we do the producer run through and we 0:23:33.640 --> 0:23:37.840 sit down from Michael's marathon note session, and I had 0:23:38.240 --> 0:23:40.400