Paul Feig (IN STUDIO) Suits Up & Ditches Stand Up For Directing

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David, I have not seen you.

I think the last time I officially saw you, we were both auditioning for Tales from the Crypt. Shut up.

And I walked out of the audition, and David goes, Well, Fieg's here. Everybody else might as well go home.
It was Hulk Hogan and Mr. T doing an ad for something.
Who knew they could really advance?

And they were doing the comedy of, you know, thing, like saying it over and over again.

Yeah, exactly. You want to do this? I mean, I tell you what, you think this is going to be good? It's like, oh, dudes, just please.
Oh, I did with a magician who had who had dubs.

Oh, you yeah oh yeah and they would just hear

can they stay in your room

okay dana big show we've got paul fig now paul fig i don't know if it hits the ear as a household name but you will know a lot of his movies he's written great director freaks and geeks he created

right that old show they got from judd appetow was involved in that to seth rogan to linda cartellini there was a lot of big stars popped out of that and uh also one of my all-time favorites, Bridesmaids, he directed that.

We talk all about these things with him, with Paul.

And he did the housemaid. That's when we talk about.
That's coming out

the 19th of December right now. December 19th, coming up.
I'm going to check that one out. That's Sidney Sweeney.

And I think that's more in the drama tip. I think it's more of a, I don't think it's a full-blown comedy.
But I like the idea.

We talk about that movie and the sensibility of it. But yeah, he was a real gentleman.
He dressed up. You know, I wore a tank top.
Spade was shirtless.

He was a half shirt and a dolphin shorts and a sailor hat. And he had a nice suit on.
He's a real gentleman. And it was really fun talking to him.
Yeah.

Also, a simple favor he did. That was with Blake.
Yeah. He's done some great stuff.
He's been all over the place. These movies that...

pretty much everyone has seen. So I think you'll like the chat from his POV.
So here's writer, director, producer, Paul Feig. Paul Feig.

You know, I was watching

Vertico last week, you know, and seeing San Francisco in the 50s. And Jimmy Stewart is just always in a suit and a lot of hats, but just suits.

And then here I am at Schoozer's age, and this is me dressed up. It took 10 seconds to put it on.
It's a different time. It's a different season.
T-shirts are primarily what a grown men wear.

It's just t-shirts and tennis shoes. That is true.

Especially in L.A. That's a very L.A.
thing. Yeah.
Yeah. But I always heard you're judged by how expensive your watch is and how good your shoes are.
And everything else can just be tennis.

Well, wait a minute. Why? I had a good watch.
I had a good watch. You had a good watch.

I'm not judging that.

We can cut this part, but how much is on that left wrist? Like, what is the price? Is that something that would attract somebody?

Murder.

Attract somebody.

Exactly. No,

I have this

watch dealer in Italy, believe it or not, who just sells it at cost because he's a Rolex dealer. So if you get in with one person,

they have to sell it at cost. They can't jack it up.
I have to say, you are the best dressed person we've had on the podcast. Oh, my gosh.
Thank you. We've done 1,700.
Least talented, but the best.

Least talented. I saw your Wikipedia page.
What are you talking about? I just saw the beginnings of it. That's right.
David, I have not seen you.

I think the last time I officially saw you, we were both auditioning for Tales from the Crypt. Shut the fuck up.
And I walked out of the audition, and David goes, Well, Fig's here.

Everybody else might as well go home. And then you got the part.
Oh, my God.

Really? So, have you held a torch for this movie? Oh, yeah, I've been waiting for this moment. I know I did.
Is this the get-back?

Okay, now we know what's going on for the podcast. We know I'm talking about the movies.
Well, yeah, you know, I did also a show called Monsters back in the day. Was that a cartoon?

It was, that was a movie, but I did a show, a scary show, and I had a doll killing me.

No, I was the killer. Yeah.
Well, the Tales from the Creek, you killed

the Scotty dog, I remember, because it was Julie Brown. Yes, I think I'm thinking the same thing.
Yes, exactly. That was probably the name of the episode.
Yeah. Yeah.

Anyway, that didn't propel me as far as I thought it would at the time. So we're going to show this trivia for you, then.
But how funny that long ago? I know.

I think we probably said hi at various events. You're always so nice to me, Ben.
Oh, good. Okay, when I was a stand-up.

When I see Paul out, first of all, he looks dapper and I warn Dana you better bring your dapper is it is a cool word it's a David Niveny you know like what the what the canon of dapper should have a martini it's down to you and JB smooth at this point

JB has even got a hat on oh I know look at his shit JB with a hat

he says a hat at the Emmys which I'm sure everyone loves behind me I did when we did Ghostbusters I had JB come in because I wanted to do these kind of man on the street things that we were going to put in the movie JB comes I turn on the camera on the street he talks for 45 minutes.

God damn. I never stops.

I'm so unshocked.

It was hilarious, but I was just like, wow, JB, you are just. It's seen as a cutaway, JB.
Yeah. It's a montage.
I know. He doesn't shy away from that.

It's brilliant of Larry David to have him on. Yeah, I mean, that was just madness.
He was a brilliant character.

The editing should have won an award because they got to really tighten it up.

You don't edit on that much, right? Now, when you wear this coat. Oh, I think we'll do it.

I mean,

there's a lot of held shots. You don't even know if they're.
Well, probably because when I did it.

Oh, a couple of people remember? Yeah.

When I did it, we did it. I've told this before, but we just were told different things.
We walked into a scene and then we argued. And then we went back to one.

And they came up to me and said, now be a little offended by what he says. And then they go up to him and I go, what's he doing? They go, you'll find out.
I go, oh, so it actually was kind of fun.

I come back. Now Now it's kind of a different scene.
And the editing was in,

do you use one whole scene and tighten it or do you sort of use pieces? But each one I had a for sure stance. Yeah.
And he didn't know it.

And he's figuring, we're both figuring out as we go or arguing. But that was sort of very clever.
I think it's a brilliant way to do it for you.

I think it's Gary Shanley was the first experience with that. And I thought it was like magic.
Yeah, totally. Three cameras at once.
You'll say something like this.

You'll say something like that. And I'll do this.
And you'll say something like that. It was like, mean I don't have to repeat these words all day long and finally get to the money shot?

Well, that's when I was doing, I did a bunch of the offices, and it was kind of the same vibe.

They were tightly scripted, but then once you got to set, Greg Daniels was cool if you just kind of played. And so,

like, we did a Halloween episode once, and

Greg allowed us to cut out a whole storyline because we got on this whole tear with Dwight

talking to Michael, and Dwight was wearing like the hood from the Star Wars the Emperor and he just got in this thing where just we got on an angle it looked funny if he over enunciated the way that the guy in the movie does and it was just this back and forth it was so funny that Greg was like okay we'll lose that other storyline because I just want to hang in the scene

that's really smart because I've worked in other shows where they just you know they're locked in keep any of that stuff

that as a director

I do want to hear about your past because it's interesting how long you went before you really got into it with stand-up and acting and stuff.

When someone is discovering it while the camera's rolling, and

it pops. Even if they just change something or they literally add a new line, it's sort of a little bit of magic if it works, right?

Oh, I'm so, that's my joy place, basically, because I always try to cross-shoot, you know, so that we're shooting both characters at the same time.

So, I mean, bridesmaids, that opening scene with them in the coffee shop was just like five hours of, it was scripted, but then it's like, try this, try that, imitate a penis, do you know all this thing?

And out of that, yeah, these moments happen and be cross-shooting, then you're on the other person, so they're reacting in real time.

Audiences pick up on that. That's the magic of digital because I never did a movie when digital came in, and so it was always

cutting, you know, it's always

Bridesmaids was on film still, so we were stuck with those 12-minute loads.

Okay, something would just start to happen. You're like, oh, no.
So that's why I got to change the film. On film, and it was 2011.
Yeah. Was that a concerted?

Yeah, it was. The studios were still a little weird about

digital. HD.
Yeah, in 2006, I did a movie called Undercompany Minders that no one ever saw.

But my DP at the time was kind of, he was one of the forerunners of doing HD stuff.

So we were going to do it, and the studio was really against it because they had just had a really bad experience on one of the current, the Superman movie they were making back then, where they shot on the Genesis system, and there was some like line that went through it.

They had to digitally fix the whole thing.

So they, but my guy guy was so adamant about doing it that they ended up firing him. They made me fire the DP because they said, you have to shoot this on film.
And it was terrible.

That guy was halfway to Utah where we were going to shoot the movie. And he had to turn his car.

It was awful. And now,

industry stands. Yeah, sometimes if people watching don't know, when you do movie, like you'll do coverage on someone.
And then they have to recreate something and it's not the same reaction.

It's just a real conversation. You can suck the air out of it.
It is easy.

That's my nightmare. Sometimes you just can't cross-shoot and somebody does something off-camera and you're like, oh, it's never going to be as good.

Could you do that thing again? It's never. You almost want to use just the off-camera voice.
It was so perfect. Oh, totally.
And you're not even on them. You're like, that was just.

I did a movie once where Dana's probably run into this where when you're with comics, you've probably run into it.

Where you see this sneaky move I didn't pick up on where I did my coverage and they did theirs. And I stuck to the script.
And when they flipped around, they ad-lived for 20 minutes.

And I couldn't react because I wasn't on camera yet. Oh, Oh, totally.
Oh, no, and so I look dumb. They're just scoring, scoring.
And I was like, Yeah,

I've had that happen a couple of times. And I've actually taken the time to turn the camera back around and say,

It was more because we discovered a bit when we were on the other side. I was like, you know, then the crew gets all mad at you and the DPS.
If it's fair, it's fair. And you go, oh, that's great.

That's worth it. We just did something and we said it's worth going back.
That's exactly it. And they got all mad, but it's like, I don't damn it.
I don't have it.

Well, you'd be surprising how many directors do not at least intrinsically have your philosophy of trying to capture some kind of magic.

And they torture you and they do a thousand takes and they're thinking of the edit and they're not trying to kind of. So I was thinking one scene, there's so many in bridesmaids, obviously.

But when Kristen Wigg is kind of sneaking up in the front of the airplane, I mean, just the spontaneity of that and how it felt. And, of course, her brilliance, but that must have been a throw.

That was, I mean, that was literally, that was the most fun day on that set because it was just like, we do it. And I'd go, let's go again.
And like, just here comes Kristen.

Like, I don't know what she's going to do this time.

She doesn't know either. Yeah.
No, and it was hilarious. And I mean, I just, I didn't want to wear her out.
I think we did six or seven takes of that full scene just to get it.

And then, and then we're in the coverage we were playing around. And there's funny coverage.
And then everybody, luckily everyone is good. Flight attendants are good.
Everyone's playing off it.

And everybody's a good. Maya playing it so flat is good because that's a choice too.
She doesn't try to jump in and get some big laughs. She's like, you're getting laughs off her just staring.
yeah

but i mean huge shout out to mitch silpa who plays the you know stove steve the flight attendant because he just played that like you know like an i love lucy you know or like a jerry lewis movie where all this stuff's happening the guy just stares and acts completely straight man in that part and uh also rose uh

which i sort of discovered mostly on that because she's such a knockout and then she was just really holding up and being funny and just everywhere you went was funny so

obviously that was her coming out. I mean, she'd been on things, but that was like

comedy coming out.

Because she had just done Get Him to the Greek, and we were trying to figure out who to cast in that role.

And we saw a lot of funny women for, but it was just like, I think we need like, you know, like a dramatic actress for that.

And Judd was like, go down to the editing room and take a look at her scenes from...

from Get Em to the Greek. And I was like, wow,

there's something there, even though she's playing a completely different character. But I mean, Rose is so talented.

She's one of the most versatile comedy people I know because she plays it so straight and she just becomes the character and doesn't look for jokes.

She just is naturally kind of, her reactions are funny and play well against funny.

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Okay, listen.

So for

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They're fun to have around. Yeah.
And then you take that and then

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Yeah,

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You've had some Omaha steaks, haven't you? Yeah, you're going to see me

in the kitchen. Maybe I'll take them out on the BBQ, depending on weather permitting.
Yeah. And watch me.
Hey,

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Oh, yeah. I actually met her with you.

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Yeah. Yeah.

Seven minus two equals five hour. More than you need.

Larry David was here. I've quoted this before, but he had said that the thing that he looks for is when people are trying to be funny.

And he goes, oh, no, no, no. Yeah.
Oh, no, totally.

We don't do that. That's this other line that's crossed.
And why?

Do you... You look at comedies, other movies of your peers or whatever.
You don't have to bury anybody. But can you kind of intuit what's going wrong? Because great comedies are rare.

Well, it's the reason why comedy doesn't win awards. It's the reason why Steve Carell never won an Emmy for the office.
That's crazy. Because if you're good,

you make it look effortless. It looks easy.
He's not trying out. Yeah, we all know there's nothing worse than sweaty comedy.
You know, and you see it all the time.

Somebody's just like working so hard. Yeah.
So, yeah, I mean, that's, especially, bless them, like day players who come in, you know, and you hire. Oh, they're so funny in the audition.
Yeah.

All I'm ever doing is like, take it down.

Take it down. And I get it.
This is your one moment to shine, and here you come.

Even SNL hosts, their publicists warn us at a time. They're so funny, and they can't wait to show you the funniness.
And we're like, God, just stay on there. We'll just steer you around.

There's been no better place I've seen people eat it than on SNL, like the guest hosts. When you just see, oh my God.
I remember there was the sweatiest one I ever saw in there was from way back.

It was Hulk Hogan and Mr. T doing an ad for something.
Who knew they could do it? The real guys. And they were doing the comedy of, you know, thing, like saying it over and over again.

Yeah, exactly. You want to do this? I'm going to tell you one thing.
You think this is going to be good? It's like, oh, dudes, just please. It would be so much funnier.
Mr.

T was like, I actually pity the fool.

See, right there. Play illustrators.
Do so pity these fools.

So, can we just for a second, I mean, because for our audience and stuff, just a little bit of your biography. Sure.
Because

there's an interesting thing, I guess. And I don't know, seeing a Woody Allen movie kind of blew your mind.
I mean, for me, it was the party with Peter Sellers or other ones.

So you had this as a young person and then you went into performing mostly right? You were dreamless to be on the SNL maybe or

100.

Okay.

Yeah, and I actually signed with

an interesting thing that happened where because I was a standard. Yeah, I started in Michigan and I was a kid in doing theater and there you go.

Bloomfills.

Bloomfield Hills. Wait, are you from Michigan? Yeah.
How did I never know this?

I just found it because it says Royal Oak, and I think that might be in the vicinity of Bloomfield Bloomfield. Yeah, it is.
It is totally. And I was like, this motherfucker never, ever.

And go lying. I want to look up when I'm in the, when I make the top 100 people from Michigan, I should have scanned it a lot.

And then I claim if I'm from Arizona, too, so I really get. Oh, there you go.
I try to get in that contest. You're a man of the world.

Me and Hugh definitely. There you go.
Nice.

The big hitters.

Yeah, so I wanted to be an actor. That was my goal.
I I wanted to be Steve Martin. I wanted to be

like five years old.

I got laughs in front of a school play and was like

addicted. Yeah.
And so I started doing stand-up when I was 15 years old in Detroit.

It was terrible, obviously. Was there a big scene? Why was it terrible? Yeah.

Because I was terrible.

We were all terrible. I know.
I was doing like Johnny Carson jokes and stuff like that.

I did not know that. There we go.
Vegas. Give me an opening.
There you apologize.

People were pressing the podcast on. Sore subject.

No, it was big because the show Make Me Laugh

was big. Howie Mandel,

Bruce Baum, all of them. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Mike Binder. And Mike Binder was a Detroit guy.
And so all these comedy clubs sprung up because of Make Me Laugh.

All these open mic nights. You know, was that Baby Man Bomb? Yeah, yeah.
Baby Man Man Bomb. Yeah, and he put the thing up, and then he's in the club, and then he says,

remember Bearing Mule Gear? Yeah, I love the assortment pack pack of the weird eccentric, you know, how comedians were so different.

In those days, not everybody had his elbow on the mic saying he masturbated in front of his cat. Yeah.

I'm a Jazz Kane or Danny Johnson. Like every time I got an opening or an MC

watching these guys, and we always say they would rarely change their act. That was a new, that was the old way.
Oh, no, it was like vaudeville. You travel with that fucking thing, Eric.

I think Danny Johnson got it. Folklore says he got this great 20 minutes that killed every time in like one night, almost a fever dream.
I've heard that. And then just kept it for 40 years.
Yeah.

But that was that whole vaudeville thing, remember? Yeah. The movies killed vaudeville because a guy had an act for 20 years and they put it on film.
Okay, what else he got?

So what was in stand-up, your best bit? My best bit. You must have had a bit that worked.
I did.

I had two killer bits.

One was Willard Schmidt, the woodshop teacher. So I had these glasses and I would go,

and he's a stand-up comedian.

It's funny. So I was kind of like a very energetic comedian.
But then I would do that. He's just completely flat.

All his jokes are about like, you know, I had a kid in class and I told him to stop fooling around. He continued to fool around and he got his arm cut off.

And then I'd go and tell a joke about something and then I'd go back to another horrible story about something. Very flat.
So

it would kill. It would just kill.
So the teacher actually cut the arm off? Was that the kid? No, no, because the kid was fooling around. He didn't listen to the teacher.
Oh, I see. So they got his

teacher. Exactly.
Yeah. And then my other bit was my big closer was the Thurston Howell Blues, which I had my harmonica.
And I would do this. Oh, oh, yes.

I can't even recall from Gilligan's Island. From Gilligan's Island, yes, exactly.
And then the killer line, I don't know if I can get it right, but it's like... No pressure.

Now, that professor, he's really quite daft. He can make a coconut lie detector, but he can't build a goddamn raft.
Yeah, and that would kill. So there you go.
It's very true, though. Thank you.

But this was back in my life. I can't believe it.
Let me tell you my closer. Yeah, okay.

This killed everything.

This killed everything. This fucking Dana.
Destruction. It's sort of like

one of my

boom at the end. Watch this.
Watch this, Paul. Okay, here we go.
So I talk about Skinamax

and I talk about all these shows I watch late at night, all these R-rated shows. Then I said, HBO has a new show called New back then, Autopsy.

We go into a coroner's office and film a live autopsy let me tell you something hbo i can't whack off to autopsy or can i

bam yep so steal off get to laugh whack off music up good night people fly out of their chairs that was a tough one i had him cut i had him cut give him a red light um i have a gilligans island joke that i did on s and l so we're doing jerry seinfeld and my line was okay for you know it was like a game show right and it was like if the professor can make a radio out of a coconut, why can't he fix the boat?

There you go.

See? I can't believe it. I like when someone goes, I saw Gillian's Island.
It was the one where Mrs. Howell didn't know what to wear to the rescue.
Oh, yes. Which was every episode.

Oh, what should I wear to the rescue? Love it. Oh, my God.
I got lauded. Funny, I got lauded back then because this was 85 when I was doing this.

And everybody was still doing, hilariously, this sounds so old, jokes about the 60s. And so all these comedians come up and go like,

you're the first guy who's made fun of the 70s. So I was, there you go.

Oh, I was my peak in 1985. I know.
I used to do Carrie Grant. I'd do Jimmy Stewart.
You know, all those.

Jack. Oh, yeah.
No, I didn't do the hair back, but I did Jack.

Leave a message. You know, whatever.
There you go.

It kills. You know, it kills.

But yeah, now I'm, I don't do Kerry Grant anymore. Oh, I'd love to.

When we work the retirement home, but I have a new bit now that I'm doing that. I'm when I'm talking to Comcast and there's someone who doesn't know.
I just use Kerry. I use Carrie Grant's voice.

I turned it on and off, but I still have no reception. And they don't respond or say, Are you?

Like, who are you? I can't believe it. I thought that was a big game.
So, anyway, so back to you. You are a stand-up, you're killing, and then you're directing hip movies.

What's this timeline and what happened?

I was

full-time stand-up from 85 85 to 90. Okay.

I got on a thing called the Paramount Comedy Theater, which was the first home video, videotape

comedians special. I don't know if I remember that.
Huh, I don't.

It was only in video. It was kind of like the HBO.
It was only on VHP.

Howie was the host.

And we shot it down at the Hermosa Beach, you know, the comedy management. Black club.
Yeah, the greatest. And when Jimmy Miller used to manage it,

Jimmy Miller, the Jimmy Miller. The pioneer information.

No one makes popcorn like my little brother. He's Dennis' brother, everybody.
And he's exactly the same accent. But so I did it.
And then, so the guy that produced it,

I went, did my act, it killed, went great, and it was really successful. My first success is the stand-up.

I had lunch with the producer a few weeks afterwards, and he said, you know, they did not want you on this show.

Like, Howie's managers hated your act from your tape so so much, they threatened to pull Howie off of the special if you did it.

And this guy was kind of a fighter, so he just fought to get me on there. And the hilarious thing was after my set killed, his managers wanted to

sign me. They signed me.

And this all comes back to when you said SNL, because they said, what do you want? I said, my dream in life is to be a regular in SNL. They're like, we can make that happen.
Done.

First of all, anything. You should always run for the hills.

Of course.

And yeah, and then, of course, it never happened. They sent my tape to Lauren.
He's like,

what year? What year? This is 86. That's when I got the show.
Oh. I knew it.
And I remember,

would you take a look at Paul Fridge's tape, Daniel, see if you think anything's there?

I don't see it. Any glimmers? I didn't see it.
I didn't see your tape. I probably would have said, that man's going to make a hit movie.
I don't know.

Keep behind the camera.

It's very interesting how many people were stand-ups and ended up movie actors or

impressionists. Anthony Hopkins, just a bunch of people.
Well, a lot of guys,

when I was coming up, all became writers.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

That's the smoothest transition. Well, because they would have like killer jokes, but they didn't necessarily have like the greatest stage presence.
Or you get tired of the grind of traveling.

That's what drove me out because

those five years was like working towards becoming a headliner. And the minute I became a headliner, I didn't like it.
Yeah. Because it was lonely.
Being a headliner is lonely.

Like when you're the middle or the opener, you know, the guys are back. You come off stage.
Everybody's like, yeah, yeah, that was so great.

When you're the headline, you come off, everybody's gone to dinner.

Yeah. And you're like, nobody's here.
I know a guy, Larry Bubbles Brown from San Francisco, got to a level in San Francisco. He's headlining.
He's great.

Said, nope. After about a couple of times, said, no, it's the pressure, the end, just stayed a middle.
I get it. And the road was, I hated the road.
And I hated the road, too.

Did you play Spellbinders in Houston? What are the places?

Mr. T.
West Feathers. It's all up and down the West Coast.
Christian T Feathers. Yeah, yeah.

The Bay Area, I could stay in the Bay Area pretty much, you know, and not have to just drive to Santa Cruz, Cobbs,

Punchline.

God, it's funny. We almost crossed the path.
I know. It's crazy.
No, it was the comedy condo that drove me out of the business. Oh, staying with the.
Okay, give us a comedy condo.

For people who don't know. No,

they would buy this condo and have three bedrooms. Three bedrooms.
One was the shitty one for the opener. One was that slightly less shitty one.
Yes. And then the beautiful one for the headlines.

The master bedroom or the primary bedroom. You live with three people.

And in like one week, it's the greatest thing ever. Everybody's great.
The next week, you're stuck with some fucking guy who is the worst.

And they're all like trying to bring cocktail waitresses home. And I'm just like, I want out of this scene.
I don't want it. Yeah.
You're saying sex happened in the comedian's condo?

Believe it or not, for certain guys, there were certain guys that were just totally. Did you ever share a condo with a venturiloquist? I wish.
I did. Oh, I did with a magician who had, who had doves.

Oh, you did? Yeah. Oh, yeah.
And they would just hear,

can they stay in your room? No, I know. This was a Twilight Zone.
He really believed that Chuck, Chuck Wood, was real. And he said, don't look at Chuck.
Don't bother Chuck. Don't touch Chuck.
Wow.

Chuck in that writer and his contract. You have eye contact with Chuck.
Do you remember Emo? I stayed with Emo all the time. Emo filmed.
San Diego Improv.

And he was like, you know, I was going to breakfast early. I go, oh, we're doing this off camera? Oh, I was going to say, does he like in real life? He's just like, yeah, so anyway, dude.

But he was very nice. He would put, but he put all his joke cards out on five.
I think Dennis does this, writes them all out. And I was like, am I supposed to do this? Like, it was so organized.

And then he, like, Dennis, they memorize him. And I'm like, no fucking chance.
Even back in the early days with Dennis, he'd do that. I know he has fought.
You've seen him with the cards, right?

I don't know. The other day we were talking about Lucy Kay, and I just, just about great stand-ups.
And I just thought, Dennis,

it's Dennis's best special.

Yeah. He's put it up there.
He's very alert there.

So how do you, so what happens next? Your stand-up is not, you tire the road. Tire the road.
So I go into acting

and did that for like 15 years. I was like a regular on five different TV series.
I always be like the fifth or sixth lead, you know, on

Dirty Dancing, the TV series, was my first big one. I was a character that was added on who was not in the movie.

Norman, the bellhop who wanted to be a stand-up comedian.

So there you go. Yeah, exactly.

Remember when they used to do the cartoons of like, you know, the Brady Bunch or the Partridge Partridge family, and they'd add like a magical bird.

Like, I was the magical bird on the show, basically.

Or the dancing pandas. You kind of do have a timeless look.
Like, I could see you on the Beverly Hill Billies as the banker. Or, you know what I mean? I would love to play a lot of parts.

Yeah, I mean, that's all the parts I used to get.

Yeah. Yeah.
But, you know, yeah, I was on the Tom Arnold, you know, the game. Oh, Jackie Tom.
Oh, yeah. What Tom Arnold did you get? I got good Tom Arnold.
Was he a good Tom? Yeah, yeah.

I'm friends with Tom, and I know he had some rough times there.

But Tom was great, but they were, you know still he and and did it last two or three seasons no only one season that they it's the first show i think in history to get canceled in the top 20.

oh wow because they kind of pulled the plug because they they wanted to go over to do this uh um thomason i forget the those producers but they were cbs and so they pulled him over to there um and i think we were abs oh yeah we were rich thomas maybe no it was thomason they they worked with the clintons a lot i remember um anyway look it up everybody I did not know that.

Impression number two. Well done.
There you go. Was it Varley on Jackie Thompson? Yeah, we did.
He did that one episode. Oh, yeah, yeah.
And we finished the episode.

I don't know if I should say there's not. We finished the episode, and the minute we were done, Tom and Roseanne had him taken away to rehab.
Oh, yeah. Got that episode out of him, though.
Yeah.

But he was the loveliest guy. I love

him. Brilliant, sweet.

Sweetest guy. Last time I saw him,

Joel Madison and I went to the Rose Bowl,

and he was there with his mom, and he's like, hey, Paul,

he's just the sweetest guy. Yeah, very doll, very Midwestern.
I mean, salt of the earth, and probably the funniest person. Yeah.

Well, we haven't seen another. No, I mean, not like that.
It's been a while now.

Where's Chris Farley? The new Chris Farley? I'll just look for

clips online. By the way, anybody over 180 is in danger of being, are you the Knicks Chris Farley? You're a little heavy.
Giant manic energy. We were just saying this morning,

he wasn't that big during some earlier movies. It was really toward the end.
Like, I was so skinny, and I was probably 135 in the movie, so he looked big. But I'll show you something on the way out.

But

where it's like, oh, he wasn't, I think he gained almost 100 pounds right at the very end. Wow.
At some point, but you know, Jackie Gleason was sort of heavy. He'd go, no, we go.

And he would move gracefully. But Chris was still an athlete as a big guy.
But all those guys, they're like sumo wrestlers, like, you know, Belushi, who wasn't the first one. Belushi was his hero.

Yeah. Belushi was even, I think, skinnier, and he was known as a fat guy.

He was just a little rolling.

Well, it's like,

you know, Zach's, old Zach's on his show. He's always, I'm not fat.
He's like, Zach's just like a normal looking guy.

Either fat or not fat.

He always has them make fat jokes about him. Then he's like, I'm not that.
Yeah, he's like,

you have a beard. It's not that.
Yeah, I like when he's on his show and everyone shits on him.

Did you all this time, because we know where your story's going, were you a big, big movie fan?

A lot of comedians, I would, whenever I could, is just go watch a matinee in a theater on the day of a show. So you had this lane of being a huge.
Oh, yeah. That's all I wanted to do was do movies.

Oh, the whole time. Yeah, yeah.
I just, you know, well, my goal was to be back then, Woody Allen. I was going to write, direct, and star in all my movies.
That was the goal.

I did it once, the very first movie I ever made, which has never been released, called Life Sold Separately. And I wrote, directed, and starred in it.

And it was myself and Penn Jillette was in it, actually. Oh, really?

And then some friends of mine, Steve Bannis and Dave Gruber Allen who you know who are all actors now and carry was it the sensibility of woody obviously you're not doing a woody impression but it was just his whole it was no it was um it was about i i had i only had like thirty thousand dollars to make it so i had to like make it all in one field during the day on one day so it was about four people who who get some

yeah totally oh yeah okay that's it you know you save on wardrobe you save on lighting exactly yeah um it was four people who all get a message in their head that a UFO is going to come to this one place and pick them up and take them away from their lives because they're all unhappy with their lives in different ways.

Yeah, it's kind of cool. And so everybody shows up and they don't know why each other's there and they find out they have this common thing and then it all kind of turns.
Then you go into writing.

How do you get writing jobs?

I never actually got a writing job. Oh, yeah, on Freaks and Geeks.

I created it. Yeah, I created the show and then I co-ran it.

Because Judd swore to me that you had nothing.

I knew it. Oh, man.

Judd hit me up this morning i haven't heard well just make sure you bring it

together i don't have a jet app to substitute a presentation

hey i think uh freaking geeks was mine that's kind of like judd apto that sounds just like him i thought he was sitting here a book work a book market

hi judd if you're watching um but yeah you you that was your creation you yeah and you shippered it and it's kind of has a cold following now or it's yeah it's become a thing which is nice i mean it's kind of stood the test of time which you always hope that.

That's sort of.

So you were in on casting a lot of people that blew up. Yeah, yeah.
That was all.

Who was on there? Just for the people? Just for the people.

Seth Rogan, who we discovered at 16 years old in Vancouver.

Yeah, that guy struck me. I don't know what to call.
I know, poor guy.

Linda Cartellini, Jason Siegel, James Franco, Busy Phillips,

Sam Levine,

and, of course, John Francis Daly, who's now a big-time director, writer-director.

I know. So they all have succeeded.
All blew up. Yeah.

So, so when, so since we, this isn't a two-parter, I want it's like, when did you start your first movie direct? Did for a studio, or when you for a studio,

it was the thing called Unaccompanied Minors, I think I referenced earlier. Yes,

when they fired my DP for wanting to shoot HD. Oh, okay.
Yeah, I got that. Well, no, no, no, I'm actually, no, it was a movie called I Am David that I did right after Freaks and Geeks.

It was like a drama, and that was the moment when I'm like, oh, this will be my Oscar movie. And I learned a valuable lesson, like, don't ever try to make movies to win an Oscar.
Yeah.

Well, what are you learning at this point? What are the basic things? You do Freaks and Geeks, and you're directing there, and then you're going here.

We know where you go, or you become this great comedy director.

So you're learning stuff all along, right? Well, I start, then I go heavily into TV directing because I directed.

I wanted to direct on Freaks and Geeks, and they wouldn't let me because I didn't have enough experience or whatever.

Finally, they let me do the very last episode that I wrote and directed and it came out really well. So then they go, oh, he knows how to do that.
He actually knows what he's doing.

And believe it or not.

But then our line producer from Freaks and Geeks went on to do arrested development. And so he called me up and said, hey, they'd like you to do arrested development.

So I ended up doing like six arrested developments. Which is probably, no, it's not harder.
That's still, it's not a sitcom. No.
Did you ever do a sitcom? No, no, not three camera. No.

Yeah, it's way harder what you're doing. Yeah, well, I don't know.
It's closer to movies. Yeah.
but the three cameras seems hard to me, you know, like what you're doing.

Three camera, yeah, just a different muscle probably. Well, you're definitely relying.
Yeah, you got that audience right there.

Yeah, I like having something happen, like getting it right once and never doing it again. That's why I love movies and single camera stuff.
You know, because that you just get magic once. Yeah.

When you get it right in a comedy, it's so hard. Yeah.
From the idea and the pitch to the script doesn't get right. And you've got to get that right.

Then you've got the editing and the casting and then

finishing it and the product, you know, and then the marketing and the poster.

And then the biggest problem is it all works. Everybody's got, everyone can agree what's dramatic, what's sad, what's scary, what's thrilling.
Nobody can really agree on what's funny. Yeah.

So comedies are so divisive because some people love them and some people hate them.

And trailers are really, you know, like lightning rods. I mean, we put the trailer out for

bridesmaids.

People are enraged and angry, and like, you know,

either like, oh, clearly all the best jokes are in the trailer, and then they were mad that they thought they knew that we were going to be making fun of Melissa McCarthy's character.

And it's like, no, she's actually the coolest character.

But people, there's a hostility I find, because I think maybe it's was that people have gotten burned by a lot of comedies over the years, you know, and so they came in for.

They're afraid to go into the theater.

Not by yours, my friend.

You've been some of the greatest comedies of all time. Thank you.
It's true.

but you know but there's it's just uh yeah it's there's a weird thing and that's why now there's not a lot of comedies straight up comedy yeah what what what do you what's your thoughts on that where are they i think i think comedy straight comedy feels too frivolous for audiences for the in the last 10

years you know what i mean they want higher stakes and i think you know it's the difference between like a movie that's about like we're spies or cops but like the villain is like bumbling And so it's like, oh, so it's all comedy.

So there's no stakes there versus I always go back to that movie 48 Hours, which, you know, oh, Eddie Murphy, this is going to be hilarious.

First thing there's like a guy gets like executed in a hallway and you're like, oh, shit, Walter Hill. But then it, yeah, but then you're like, oh, cool.

So now when Eddie Murphy goes into that cowboy bar, I'm kind of worried he's going to get shot or something bad's going to happen. That's not

goofy comedy. Yeah, people get stakes.
So that's why now so much comedy is in the form of horror movies. I mean, all, did you see weapons? I saw it too.
It's hilarious. Yeah.
Yeah.

I mean, it becomes hilarious.

And Megan and those things, you know, so is

weapons too scary for me. No, no, no, it's not.
Megan too scary for me. No, no.

I will tell you. I will tell you because I saw some blurb on you that I would love.
When I watched Megan, I watched it like Mystery Science. I just talked the whole time and was making myself laugh.

And I'm like, why can't Dane and I just do this? Well, you just watch something and there's so many funny things to say. Yeah.
And Megan was funny in that way, but I see why it worked also. Yeah.

Well, because you're still, you know, you're invested.

I used to get really mad at this film, like, if Studio Exacts when they could use the word stakes. Yeah.
Because I always felt like, did they know what that means or not?

But now, do they even know what it means? Sometimes, well, sometimes people just repeat words. I know, exactly.
But you realize, like, it just audiences have to feel that they're

invested and you know, like, worried. Naked Gun, the new one that came out.
Helen, I watched it. Yeah.
It was, but it was that, there was no stakes. It's old school, yeah.
It's old school.

So you really have to, it's very tricky. Well, I was really rooting for that, too.
And I think it did pretty well. Yeah, it did pretty well.

But because that kind of breaks the mold of what I'm saying. But look, comedy, you know, we say this is how it is, then something comes out and it changes everything.

So, you know, the biggest thing in comedy, and we all know this, is if you're inflexible in comedy, you're dead. You know, if you're like, I know what's funny and don't tell me what's funny.

if you don't evolve along with the scene, you know, keep your voice, but just, you know, don't be making dad jokes. The ones that stick out to me are Tropic Thunder, Hangover,

some of Will Farrell movies. Yeah.
They just hold up. And then they sort of, it sort of changed or it stopped.

Or I don't know if it's political records or whatever the studios want or the audience wants. I just think it's what the audience wants.
Audiences are very

fickle. Yeah, exactly.
But they,

because we've done a lot of research in my company, this, you know, about like,

why do sequels a lot of times not work anymore? Right. You know, because it used to be like a sequel to the question to

you. Yeah, exactly.
Because you think, oh, people just show up. But the big question audience are asking now, because they've got so much stuff available to them, is why?

Why do I need to see this? I really like the first one. Why do I need to see what's going to be different about this? Am I just going to see the same thing again? And it's a valid question.

You know, everything's expensive. There's something about discovering a movie too.
Yeah. And you just don't discover it in the sequel.
You found all your answers, kind of. Yeah.

And that's why sequels are so hard to do because

you're not discovering. Yeah, the discovery isn't.
Everybody thinks they want Bridesmaids too.

And I'm like, yeah, it could be funny, but the reason Bridesmaids works is because Kristen Wigg, you meet this person who's just a complete disaster. And she has to build herself back up.

And by the end, she doesn't show happy. So you don't want to be a motherfucker.
Is she a disaster again? Yeah. It's like, where do you start? Yeah, right.
Oh, she's messed up again.

Well, I don't want to watch this. We We talked about that.
There's a one we did called The Wrong Missy on Netflix. And we wind up getting married.
The girl's crazy. And she's very funny.

She's the whole movie. Like, she goes bananas.
But how do you do it where she kind of got her shit together

and then there's different pitches? But you go, God, that's a tough one because you almost want to leave it alone, but there's such a feel for like, well, maybe do one.

People think they want it. Yeah.
They pay you more. It makes less.
So I know. Yeah.

That's the answer. There you go.
You know, you've worked with, this sounds like some social statement. You've presented a lot of women into comic films.
Yeah. You know, Bridesmaids, obviously.

And then you love Melissa McCarthy, as we all do.

So when you directed her in Bridesmaids, and then you guys connected again, I would just speak to that. I mean, did you just sort of,

we know her. I mean, she's so charming and whatever, but did you see Lightning or Biology? There's more here.

Yeah, well, we just hit it off. I mean, because, yeah, we did Bridesmaids then we did the Heat, then Spy, and then Ghostbusters.
Yeah.

No controversy in Ghostbusters, by the way. Oh, yeah,

I was out of town.

Do people talk about it? Exactly. I was weird.

No, well, you know, like with Farley and people you've worked with, like, if you're in sync with somebody comedically, that's like gold because it's so hard to find that, you know, where it's across the board, you agree.

Jesus.

Well, I think for the performer from that side of the fence, if you have a director like you who's affable, who gets them, who's smart, and wants to capture them, is not resentful of them or competitive with them.

I mean, there's a lot of types of directors out there. And so that obviously just, but you capture her.

Yeah, well, I mean, that's my, I always say my biggest job on the set is to create a safe environment where everybody feels they can try anything.

Because I used to, when I was an actor, I'd get yelled at by certain directors. What are you doing? Stop that.
And then you just quit job. You're humiliating.
Can I try something? Yeah.

And then I try something and it goes, that's what you wanted?

Yeah, really? That was terrible. Those are quotes.

That's what you wanted. That's why she's in front of the whole crew.
So why would you sabotage the person in the movie? That's so awful.

I mean, I love my fellow GGA and yet sometimes I just go, you guys, come on. Well, sometimes they're speeding it up.
They want to keep moving. And also, if you just go at the end, can I try one?

But if it's someone like you. And you're like excited to see it, like, hey, if we can make it better, and then, like you said, you stumble into something else that works, that's the fun.

I think she can do that i think she trusts you because i saw the heat and that was with sander bullock yeah yeah great and uh and then after that was spy spy yeah with spy and rose again yeah yeah physical comedy always a verbal non-verbal comedy with melissa is always great she does that she does i mean well she'll surprise you with jokes and like you know sometimes she'll be in the middle of a of like a really

mean thing and she's like, I can't say that. I'm like, Melissa, finish it.
It's going to be the funniest thing you say all day.

At least for the outtakes, give us something. Yeah.
Totally. Some of those movies, she goes off, and then she can be very, you feel for her.
Yeah, well, that's the thing.

And that's, you know, I, you know, because when we did the heat, there was a lot of not backlash, but I heard like certain like entertainment reporters like, oh, she only does one thing.

She's always just mean all the time. So that's why I did spy because I was like, no, I want to show that she's actually really sweet.
Yeah. You know, in real life, but then she gets to become a tiger.

She has to be a tiger, but then she is affected by it.

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You know, this last year, Dana, after

my big dinner,

slipped into the old food company.

Oh my goodness. No one says that.
I basically fused in with the couch.

I'm talking stuffing, pie, all the fix

that cedar bread house I tore into.

I don't remember eating it. Sorry with the roof.
I said just the roof.

Oh, one of those. Yeah, I did a lot of pumpkin pie.

Anyway, now I come.

What do you do now? I've got Chavez, my holiday reset. I keep a couple servings in my carry-on, stash some at home.
My friends and family show up. The snacking gets a little too nutty.

I blend mine with nut milk and frozen fruit or iced coffee. A little extra.
No, I want to. Yeah.

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Off.

So you actually read reviews that are actionable on them. Oh, I see that.
Now I'm going to make a whole giant $30 million movie

to prove you, motherfuckers.

Pretty much. I do everything out of revenge, basically.

Just wait a minute. You'll see her range.
And then she was in a simple favor, or was that Blake Lively? No, it was Blake Lively. Blake Lively.
Yeah. I know they're all these up.

What's going on with Blake Lively right now? Yeah. She's a great actor.
Are you jailing? She's fantastic. Are you going to jail? I know exactly.

I have no idea what's going on. I know.
I don't either. All I know.
I'm Team Blake. I'm definitely.
Do you have any final because we'll put it to rest here?

Do you have any final thing to say about Ghostbusters?

I'm glad I made it. I'm very proud of it.

The people that had a problem with it, I'm sorry.

Younger people really like it. It was a lot of mostly

older guys who saw when they were kids and they got really mad that I wouldn't have to do it. No, it was with me going, I'm exactly your demo.
Old, cranky. I should be an expert.

Cranky, I judge everything. I don't like it.
I don't like anything to change.

That's not him. Wait a minute.
I don't even like Dan Ackrid being older now. I'm like, I want him the way I saw him.
And so when I see that, I go, I literally go and I go, I got to be fair about this.

I love Ghostbusters, but I think these girls are funny. So what do we do? So I go in and I go, it is funny.
Now, that's just one opinion, but I paid. I went and saw it.
I saw it too.

I thought it was great. You go, well, those four people are just.
It's different. There's different jokes.
It's not

exact frame-by-frame recreation. No, because you didn't want to do that.
But it was just, you know, it was,

I thought it would be fun. What I didn't realize.
It wasn't going to be fun. I know.

It was one of the worst experiences of my life. Well, without making it was fantastic.
But all the shit around it. I mean, Donald Trump came out against us.
Oh, he did. Well, there's a video of him.

There was a video of him going,

We don't like it. We wanted Dan Aykroyd.
We got to have the other guys. The ladies can do their movies.
The men do their movies. Well,

here's the exact quote. And you can find it online.
It's on Twitter. Oh, really? Oh, it's on video.
He goes, and now the ghostbusters are women. What's going on? What is going on?

It's the end of the world as we know it. It's not good.
And let me tell you, I've seen it many times.

me, and they're busting them. I know what they do, and they need that ackroid.
They've got to have Aykroyd.

So let's talk about your current movie, which I like these kind of movies. I saw the teaser trailer, I thought it was kind of brilliant because it's just a, you know.
And so it's called Housemaid.

The Housemaid, yeah. With someone who I think is sort of out there now a lot.
I think she's got a feature, yeah. Sidney Sweeney.
Oh, Sidney Sweeney. You've heard of her.

And Amanda. Amanda Safe Reed.
Safe Reed. And so tell us about this movie that's coming out in December.
Yes.

I am very excited about it. It's more of a straight-up thriller, but it's still in my own inimitable way.
It's going to be funny at times. It gets nutty.
Yeah.

It gets, you know, in the weapons economy.

But

it's based on a best-selling book that's been on the bestseller list for a year and a half called The Housemaid by Frida McFadden. And

Brandon Sklinar is also in it, who's fantastic. And Michaela Maroney, who was in another Simple Favor movie that I did last.

And it's just, it's a really fun, twisty thriller. You think you know where it's going and you completely don't know where it's going and then it twists again.
I love it. Yeah.
I love thrillers.

That's kind of all I watch. Well, it's good for City Sweeties.
You know what? You know what? I do too. I'm a huge star.
I really like thrillers. Yeah.

You know what it is?

I find I don't watch much comedy because I don't know. No, I don't watch it at all.
I know how the rabbit gets out of the hat. Yeah.
It has to be something really different. Yeah, no, totally.

I did just watch Friendship the other night, and that really made me laugh. How is that? In serious? Friendship? Yeah, you know, Tim is just so funny.
If you like Timothy,

if you love Tim, you'll love this movie. Sure.
There's some of the funniest. There's a couple of sequences that are so funny.
He's got some of the best clips. Yeah.

You know, like everything is clips now, but it's a way to introduce you. It's like a little nugget.
And then if I see it enough, it starts showing up.

And I'm like, obviously, I'm watching it because it keeps telling me, oh, you like this. Yeah, no, totally.
You're going to look at it again. And then it keeps surprising me.
It's very hard.

Yeah, no, it's true. So I don't watch a lot of them, but I, yeah, thrillers and crime shows and all that.
I love all that stuff. Yeah.

I watch them with my wife. And, you know, and

they're just fun. So we like true crime, too.
Did you say it's a housemaid, is it called? The housemaid, yeah. And did you say a little bit of what it was about, or you don't want to say?

Oh, you know, I can say, yeah, I guess I should do it with the little plug.

Yeah, it's about this young woman who's kind of living out of her car, a little down on her luck, who goes and gets an interview to be a housemaid in

this rich family's house and gets the job. And the woman who hires her seems like the greatest boss ever.
And then things start to turn and get weird. I'm in.
Thanks. It's all I needed.
Excellent.

Living in car. You're going to love it.

Exactly. And

it's a sexy thriller, too. I'll say that.
It's kind of nice. I mean, I just, everything for Eden was like, these two girls are going to hook up.

I'm like, Eden was just like, I thought it was literally two girls hooking up.

That was the pitch. It was like, I thought it was really

kind of a soft core point. Yeah, that's why I got it.
This is taking you back to your Skinemax days. It was.
And I was like, oh, there's other people.

Wait, there's sand? Actually, how do you... That sounded like an interesting movie because it was weird.
Like, I go. Well, it was a true story.

How do you fight this idea that we all know?

I was in and out. Oh, Eden was a true story.
I like it.

No, I did like it. And Jude Live.
Everyone who was good was in it. Jude, I love Jude.
So when will it be on my machine, Eden? Well, it's going to be in theaters. Believe me.

Eden still hasn't been released.

I'm sorry.

Oh, yeah. I switched over here.
We know about Housemate.

Let's go back to about Housemate. Because the Housemate opens December 19th.
But I believe that. That is sort of the thing.
It's in theaters.

And then you have to compel people to the theater thinking that, well, it'll be on Amazon Prime in a month. So is there a strategy? It'll be on the machine soon, I believe.
And is it always, always?

I guess it's always on something else later.

It used to be DVD, used to be VHS. But now, like F1, I saw it, then it goes, it's going to be on Apple.
I'm like, oh,

I I didn't want to wait, but you know, it's like, oh, okay, but there's a window, it's shorter, it's longer. I love it.
But the big screen is good. I'll tell you this.
What I've discovered, this is

because of this connectivity. Yes.
It's either church or a movie theater. Turn it off for two hours.
It goes pitch dark. The sound's really great.
You're in a stadium. There's almost no one there.

It's fantastic. I mean, the world just quiets down.
It's a way bigger deal than it was to me in the 90s. Oh, no, totally.
Now it's like,

I'm going to turn it off. Well, at home, when I watch a movie, I look at my phone and when I go to the theater,

you're also disturbing people. So it's one more reason to go, just fucking for a little bit.
Even though you get itchy, you go. Oh, no, totally.

Or like when you hear it, like, buzz, you know, you're like, wonder what it was.

It's that. That's it.
Let me ask you a question about the Summer Blockbusters and which one that you might have enjoyed the most.

I was in my own head because I did see all three in the theater because Jurassic Park,

Mission Impossible, Superman. Those three

all did really well and got a lot of people in the theaters, which is great for the movie industry. Yes.
Do you have a favorite?

You're going to love this. You don't have to say anything.
I didn't see any.

What? I didn't see any. Fantastic Four? No.

I hate to say I'm not a superhero guy. Okay, what's your favorite movie in the last few years? What's the movie that's really floated your boat besides Dunkirk? No, I'm just throwing stuff out.

There you go. Exactly.
Once Upon a Time in Hollywood.

I enjoyed that very much. I really liked that.
I mean, I have to say, I think there's a movie called Abigail that I loved. It was this vampire movie, but that's a straight-up comedy.

It's because it's so bananas. You've got to watch it.
That's on the machine. No, exactly.
Yeah, that's on the machine. You can definitely get it on the machine.
I've heard of that.

Megan, I thought Megan was great. Okay.
The first Megan. I didn't see the second one yet.

Yeah, I mean. I got you.
Is Allison Williams in Megan?

Yes. She's the mom.

Yeah, she's the

one. It starts like a tragic beginning, right? Oh, no, totally.
Well, it's actually got a really funny beginning because it starts with the ad for the dolls, for the dolls they're trying to sell.

I don't see that. That's I go like, okay,

it's so smart. They mix it.
You got to set the tone right at the beginning of a movie. Yeah, you said open.

Did you say that? Open winding?

You got to get something right away. It's almost like a TikTok.
We just got to let people know how to watch the movie. Right.
Oh, okay. Horror films are the highest moneymakers.
per movie.

At the moment, at the moment. At the moment.
Yeah. I was just curious, just before we let you go, it's just like,

what movies do you love, just off the the top of your head. You don't have to say your favorite.
Oh, just of all time.

I mean, my favorite movie of all time is It's a Wonderful Life. And not that I think it's the greatest movie ever made, but I think it accomplishes everything a movie is supposed to accomplish.

It makes you cry. It makes you happy.
It makes you sad. It takes you through dramatic things, and it's uplifting at the end.
So I always loved that one.

I concur.

I literally, it's a thing. My wife just laughs because if I talk about that movie with people, and I just, and I don't know if I'll get me now, but it's like a trigger.
You get emotional. Oh, no.

When the people come to the end and they say, we heard, no, it's, I'm already feeling it. We heard George,

sorry. Yeah.
Bailey was in trouble. I don't know why.
That gets me every time. It's fantastic.
And you know, the backstory on that movie is it literally bankrupted the studio that

created it. Yeah, it was Capra and some other guys started the studio, Liberty Studios, I think it was called,

and it was so poorly received and so destroyed by the critics. Crap, Capricorn.
Yes, Yes, Capricorn, exactly. Cornball.

But it was only because when TV came around and it was something that they could put on for free or for like no money. So they just started playing it over and over again at Christmas time.

And that's how it became this big movie. Oh, boy.
I kind of like those stories. I like those stories too because when the critics shit all over your movies, you go, maybe there's a second chance.

So what else is on your list off the top of your head? Doctor Strange Love, one of my favorites of all time.

Bringing Up Baby, one of my favorite movies of all time. That was with Hepburn J.
Stewart. Hepburn.
And no, and

you're the guy that nobody knows that you do anymore. Carrie Grant.
Carry Grant. Yeah, Carrie Grant.
In one of his funniest roles ever. He plays a nerd, and it's hilarious.
I like to bring up baby.

There's something about the baby that I just love.

It's a fun voice to do. It's the weirdest voice in film.
Yeah, totally. It's fantastic.
Do you like 2001 and Space Odyssey? I do. I love it.
You like that? I love that movie.

It's so funny. When I was in film school, I had a friend, and he he was like, oh man, if they made that movie today, the sound would be so much better.

And I go, no, the reason that movie is great is because there's no sound. Like, when they're in space, it's just silent.
Yeah. And it's so creepy.
It's weird as medical.

You know, when that guy's trying to get back in and they're trying to grab him, I'm like, oh, it's so harrowing. And then he goes, drift.
I never got out of it.

For years, it took me, I kept thinking about that guy who drifted off into space. And the greatest death scene in a movie.
Yeah, totally. I can feel it, Dave.
Yeah, basically. I can feel it.
Daisy.

And now here we are in the world of AI.

Well, Paul, that's the scary part.

In three years, I can make a movie with my computer like Apocalypse Now, right? In three years. I refuse to believe that's going to happen.
Garbage. You're moving.
Apocalypse Now is garbage?

No, I mean if you're going to go make it on your computer with AI, I know exactly. You still see where it's in experience.
Exactly.

So, well, any final thoughts, Dave? I've been on the David Spade podcast. I want to know

if you would think I could handle the conjuring.

Yeah. Oh, yeah.
Yeah. I mean, I love the conjuring movies.

But would you enjoy it if you won't? I won't. I mean,

that's based on real. If it's as any real, if it's any devil, I can't take it.
Go to see Weapons. Weapons is a good

weapon. You and Dana both like it.
You will enjoy it. It's mostly funny, and it's filmed.
I thought the beginning, the first act is so interestingly.

Yeah, the first act, you'll go like, oh, this is going to be really scary. And then it, because it jumps around different POVs of the different characters.

And then let's just say Amy Madigan is brilliant in the movie. I didn't know it until I was in the city.
I didn't know until the end credits.

You're going to get pop-outs, you know, and you know when they're coming. The camera's in tight.
What I do is I sort of

many of those because I don't know what's going on. There's only like three of those kind of like,

you know,

just squint during those. I'm in my late G standing line.
Take a beta blocker. I'll take a beta blocker and we can go.

All right. Thank you, Paul.
And I will

be housemaid. We will go.

December 19th. December 19th and theaters only.

Theaters only. I'm going to see it, and then I'm going to hit you you up after.

You bet. I can't wait.
Perfect. All right.
Bye, guys. I'm going to go there.
Bye, everybody. Thanks, everybody.
Bye, everybody. Bye.
Bye. See ya.

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Fly on the Wall is presented by Odyssey and an executive produced by Danny Carvey and David Spade, Heather Santoro and Greg Holtzman, Maddie Sprung-Kaiser, and Leah Reese Dennis of Odyssey.

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