Quinta Brunson

Speaker 1 Where everybody knows your name with Ted Danson and Woody Harrelson sometimes is brought to you by Progressive Insurance. Do you ever find yourself playing the budgeting game?

Speaker 1 Well, with the name your price tool from Progressive, you can find options that fit your budget and potentially lower your bills.

Speaker 1 Try it at progressive.com, Progressive Casualty Insurance Company and affiliates. Price and coverage match limited by state law.
Not available in all states.

Speaker 1 I just, for the first time, this is how I found out you were married to her, by the way, you guys.

Speaker 1 Right? I'm right. This is her.
Yeah.

Speaker 1 Welcome back to Where Everybody Knows Your Name. Today I'm talking to Quinta Brunson.
I just finished my conversation with her, and this is me doing the intro after the fact.

Speaker 1 I had the best time talking to her. She feels like a creative soulmate.
I'm elevating myself by saying that. She is an amazing writer, actor, comedian.

Speaker 1 She's pretty much everything. It's like she was almost designed to be where she is, which is the creator of Abbott Elementary, which is in season four right now.

Speaker 1 All right, I can't wait for you to meet her. Here's Quinta Brunson.

Speaker 1 I'm going to try not to be self-deprecating because it's boring and I do it a lot.

Speaker 1 But I am so excited to talk to you because I just watched like, I don't know how many episodes of Abbott Elementary because I hadn't watched it when it came out.

Speaker 1 And it's so, so good.

Speaker 1 It's really my favorite kind of comedy. I love comedy that comes out of

Speaker 1 human frailty,

Speaker 1 out of sadness,

Speaker 1 pain, sorrow, whatever. I love that the comedy comes out of something real.

Speaker 1 I love that it's

Speaker 1 about something.

Speaker 1 And I would imagine, and I'd love to talk to you about that, that it's making a difference out in the world as far as people's relationships to teachers

Speaker 1 certainly has the potential to do that. Yeah.
So I'm just a huge fan of you. And you're a really good actor.
Thank you. I'm really enjoying watching you.
You're really good. Thanks, Ted Danson.

Speaker 1 I have to say, Ted Danson, because you are Ted Danson, and I learned a lot of my acting from you from being a child watching Cheers

Speaker 1 and watching your show with my family. And that's true.
I'm not just saying that. Yes, that is true of all of the wonderful actors I watched as a kid.
Bob Newhart, you know, Martin Lawrence.

Speaker 1 I learned all of that, but Cheers was big in my household. Cheers was big in my household, but it also was very,

Speaker 1 it was on TV every now and then. I guess like, by the time

Speaker 1 I had gotten older, it had gone into syndication. Yeah.
And it was something my mom would, she wouldn't turn off. And that's how I started watching Cheers because it would come on.

Speaker 1 And she had her little schedule of things she liked to watch. But if Cheers was on, she was not turning the TV off.
And she knew the episodes by heart. And this is before you could stream things.

Speaker 1 So it meant something to really know.

Speaker 1 you know, the plot and everything of an episode. And I remembered watching that show.

Speaker 1 Age.

Speaker 1 My My age? Yes. Then.
Then?

Speaker 1 14, 15. Right.
Yeah. But it was on when I was younger.
I think I was like,

Speaker 1 probably like eight when it was airing.

Speaker 1 But it was the re-airing of it that started to get me. And when I started looking at different comedies,

Speaker 1 Friends was funny, but felt like a play. Everyone was very grounded.
I remember thinking that Diane was so grounded. I like almost like she wasn't acting to me when I would look at her.

Speaker 1 She just seemed like I felt the same way being with her sometimes. Yeah.

Speaker 1 And I didn't understand until I was older that you were handsome. Like,

Speaker 1 do you know what I mean? I'm an acquired taste. No,

Speaker 1 I knew when I got older, when I got old enough to understand that you were handsome, I was like, Annie was handsome too. But when I was a kid, I was like, these are just good actors acting.

Speaker 1 And it felt like a play.

Speaker 1 I love that. I really did have that realization recently.
I was like, holy shit, I get why people were losing it.

Speaker 1 But anyway,

Speaker 1 so

Speaker 1 all of that is kind of all of the went into Abbott, like human

Speaker 1 grounded performances, human presentation, knowing where the laugh is and the humor is, but

Speaker 1 building it out of genuine connection with even your castmates. Like we have very good relationships on our show.

Speaker 1 So it's fun to actually act off of each other instead of wait for the laugh off of each other. We're constantly able to react, which is nice.

Speaker 1 Let me back up just one sec because then I'd love to spend a lot of time on your show because

Speaker 1 everything about it, the casting, the stories, the directing, everything about it, I would love to talk about.

Speaker 1 You said, and I don't mean to put words in your mouth, but something like, I know it sounds whack, but comedy is

Speaker 1 in a way, a kind of religion. I don't want to have people go, what? Yeah.
Religion. I did say that.
But I feel the same way.

Speaker 1 To me, it's a,

Speaker 1 if I had a guiding thing that I think is important for Ted to do in life, and that is be kind.

Speaker 1 That's the one thing I can really say, yes. Yep.
This is something that I should do. I'm not always, but this is something I will shoot for.

Speaker 1 And

Speaker 1 being able to do comedy is to me,

Speaker 1 in a way, a kind of kindness. Because if you get people laughing

Speaker 1 in a real genuine,

Speaker 1 not just the joke, but at humanity,

Speaker 1 then you also are being kind because you're reflecting

Speaker 1 things that maybe need to be looked at or appreciated.

Speaker 1 So I totally...

Speaker 1 I think what you meant. You do, because it is a religious experience to

Speaker 1 make someone laugh, to laugh with other people.

Speaker 1 That's one of the things I find to be the most religious.

Speaker 1 Like, and it makes me think of going to a place to worship, you know, and going to a place to have a shared spiritual experience with other peoples and connect with God in that way, which is what religion is.

Speaker 1 a series of practices that help you stay close to God.

Speaker 1 That's what comedy always felt like. The first time I went to an improv class, I came out feeling

Speaker 1 holy. Like I was like closer to God because it had all the ideologies that I thought were more important.

Speaker 1 Even when you go to the basics, like yes, and it was like, I do, yes, that's how I want to live my life.

Speaker 1 And you're right.

Speaker 1 So, yes. Sadly, they call me the comedy, the improvisation killer.

Speaker 1 You're a no-first.

Speaker 1 No, I'll do it for a while. And then it's like like being chased upstairs by my sister I stop and freeze and scream

Speaker 1 you know

Speaker 1 I so admire people who are really good at that yeah I'm and I'm not the

Speaker 1 best improviser but the practice of trying it and doing it I think makes me the makes me a better person and it helps me to connect and and kindness is very much

Speaker 1 um

Speaker 1 yes kind is kind of the epitome of it is kindness, it is, and that's kind of my my MO.

Speaker 1 I don't think I'm an overly, I think I've learned recently that people are confused because I'm not an overly like happy or enjoy,

Speaker 1 you know, like the character in the show, but I am calm and like calm and quiet and kind. And I think that comedy also helps calm me.

Speaker 1 I feel a certain sense of calmness and like laughter and watching a whole room of people laugh. That is like good night.
That is like watching Jesus walk on water to me. It's like the ultimate

Speaker 1 thing because if you can get a bunch of people from different races, religions, creeds, financial standings to all laugh at the same thing, I just,

Speaker 1 it's easy to get people to hate the same thing, but not to get people to like all laugh at the same thing. Yeah, I think I agree.
Yeah. That's how I have like a lot of respect for clowns and stuff.

Speaker 1 People like

Speaker 1 you took a clown class. I did take a clown class class and like, I'm not a clown because that's a, that really is a practice, like an art.
But

Speaker 1 when you go to circus and somebody just does something silly and everyone is laughing, I don't think people get that not everybody can do that. And that is

Speaker 1 intentional and special. Yeah.
Yeah. I love that you did it even when clowns were like, oh, I hate clowns or I'm terrified of clowns or all of that stuff.

Speaker 1 Because when you start, you, you know, when you

Speaker 1 start studying comedy, you see all the, how all of it plays into each other. I just like had talked about this with like Conan, but

Speaker 1 when you go and like start to learn about like Buster Keaton and start to learn about Charlie Chaplin and how their,

Speaker 1 you know,

Speaker 1 form of comedy overlaps with clownery. And you, so I just wanted to like get my hands on every part of it so I could figure out like what.

Speaker 1 God, just listening to you and reading about you you it feels your life feels very purposeful that this was you didn't meander around you kind of had your sights

Speaker 1 on

Speaker 1 comedy on storytelling

Speaker 1 acting writing

Speaker 1 from very very early on right

Speaker 1 yes i think i didn't know it yet very early on, but I think it was always heading that direction. And then

Speaker 1 around like high school, college was when I think I became very intentional about

Speaker 1 humor and comedy too, because I think at a certain point I was trying to figure out like, do I, I don't, you know, like, I don't know if I'm the joke teller, but I love humor. Like, I just like having

Speaker 1 humor and finding the humor in things and then building from there. I'm so grateful

Speaker 1 to be part of this tribe,

Speaker 1 this lineage of to whatever degree I am

Speaker 1 of funny people. Yeah, me too.
Of comedy. It just makes me so happy.
Me too. I get around people like Carol Burnett or Dick Van Dyke.
And I just dick man, I can't even, that's like

Speaker 1 seeing him be 98, right? Yeah, I think so.

Speaker 1 99. And he talked about, he just won an Emmy, right?

Speaker 1 And

Speaker 1 he was talking about comedy. And that's what I mean mean about like, it's this connecting religion that's this 90.
You know, I watched his show when I was a little

Speaker 1 girl and

Speaker 1 it really filled me up to watch him talk and be the age that he

Speaker 1 is. And I don't know, I was Bob, Bob Newhart recently passed.
I immediately revisited his show that I grew up watching.

Speaker 1 The Bob Newhart show, the one with the BMB. And I remembered how much that show was so formative for me.
And

Speaker 1 sorry, what was I trying to say? Well, here I am talking to you. And it's the same thing where you believe in this.
Like you, you do this. You probably could have done something else, but you do.

Speaker 1 No.

Speaker 1 Do you think that? I wonder that about me sometimes. It's like in my writer's room too.
I'm like, oh, man,

Speaker 1 I don't know if we'd be able to do anything else, but I don't know. I can't figure it out.

Speaker 1 I could say that I'd be a butler.

Speaker 1 I like serving. I like serving people.
Oh, you know, to some degree. People I know and like.
I couldn't be a butler to just anybody.

Speaker 1 I think I could have been a teacher for sure. For sure.
But no, this is where we wound up. It was, I was thinking about you too, and like, even when you appear in curb,

Speaker 1 which is naturally

Speaker 1 more crude comedy, but you still even bring your essence to curb,

Speaker 1 which is what's unique about your humor, your offering to the religion of comedy is that you still

Speaker 1 bring Ted Dance into this sense of kindness, even when in that show you're not being kind.

Speaker 1 You know what I mean?

Speaker 1 Because I'm so on Ted Dance's side whenever you come there and you're dating the ex-wife. I'm like, yeah, I mean, well, that pissed me off so much.

Speaker 1 Have you met? You probably haven't. My wife marries Steinberg.
I love her. I didn't know she was your wife until very recently.

Speaker 1 So I love hearing that. I love her.
Oh, I'm all right. Come to dinner, please.

Speaker 1 She's so funny. Sorry, go ahead.

Speaker 1 No, no, you go ahead. She's just so funny.
Her comedic timing is crazy. Yeah.
Like, so, of course, it's beautiful. I love that you guys are a beautiful couple.

Speaker 1 And we do we laugh. Oh, my goodness.

Speaker 1 So much.

Speaker 1 I'm jumping around, but here's why I wish Mary were here.

Speaker 1 Napoleon Dynamite

Speaker 1 was one of her favorite movies movies of all time. Me too.
Will Farrell is one of, I've noted, taking this from what I learned about you. Oh, yeah.
Will Farrell, you know, is one of your favorites.

Speaker 1 Yes. She played his mother twice.
Yep.

Speaker 1 Yep. What else? There was something else.
Norman Lear is my hero

Speaker 1 in life. Yeah.

Speaker 1 But anyway. Yeah.
I loved all of your references that I've heard you say

Speaker 1 about this lineage of people that are important to you.

Speaker 1 Yeah, they are. And

Speaker 1 you feel, or I would feel like corny about that sometimes because I'd be around like my film friends and they're talking about all the film people or the actor people that are inspiring to them.

Speaker 1 And not that those people aren't to me as well, but it really is like comedy, comedy, comedy that fuels me and people who

Speaker 1 take comedic. risks and

Speaker 1 the good, the bad. I was just having that conversation too.
I like what people consider bad comedy. I still like it because it makes somebody laugh.

Speaker 1 Like people are always like really mean about Adam Sandler movies. I'm like, well, he's making half of America laugh with Jack and Jill.
So I don't know. He's doing something that makes people happy.

Speaker 1 And I don't like to be snobby about comedy because it's just not the, it's not the world to be snobby in. No.
I don't think we're supposed to be where the snobs aren't. Yeah.
And

Speaker 1 I've gotten to feel like comedy,

Speaker 1 I'm maybe saying this because I couldn't go off and do Tom Cruise. Right.
You know, for many reasons,

Speaker 1 but I couldn't. I don't have that in me.

Speaker 1 But I always do say that comedy is way harder

Speaker 1 because drama, you can walk in drunk, divorced, and in a really bad mood. And if you're present in the front of the camera, the camera goes, oh, this is fascinating

Speaker 1 and then somebody edits and the story's well well told and you get drama yep whereas if you're not funny you in front of the camera your comedy no one's going to save that comedy the ball is in your hand and it's much more of an athletic absolutely sport absolutely and and

Speaker 1 you know what's been fun for me

Speaker 1 which I wonder how you feel about this because you've just been working for so long is we have what's special about us and what, you know, is the thing that people like about us, the thing that people like to laugh at.

Speaker 1 We don't always know how to mark it or name it. When I was younger, I thought it was like, you know, my eyes or my voice, but it's just like, no, it's kind of deeper than that.

Speaker 1 It's an essence about you that people, that brings people joy. But as the times change and references change, right? Because.

Speaker 1 The references of this year are not the references of five years ago. Well, unless you're talking politics, but I'm just seeing like culturally, things are all over the place.

Speaker 1 So I'm, I find myself now pursuing new projects where

Speaker 1 I

Speaker 1 comedy is about

Speaker 1 like I need to grow with the times constantly with comedy. Does that

Speaker 1 your style are what you're talking about?

Speaker 1 What you're focusing on as your writer in this.

Speaker 1 Yeah, my understanding of the world,

Speaker 1 I feel like

Speaker 1 has to grow. I understand, I have to understand that a joke with the rhythm,

Speaker 1 what am I trying to say? The rhythm of 2005 is not the rhythm of 2024. That's true.
And so, how do I not lose myself as a comedian and what's special about me, but still

Speaker 1 jump on board with the rhythm of 2024? And I feel like you do it because I've seen you do it. I've seen you do it on the good place.

Speaker 1 Like, you're not giving us the same performance that you gave us on Cheers.

Speaker 1 And on Curb, you're not giving us the same performance you gave on the good place. And I know you have a new show coming out, and I like, can't wait to see what you do next.

Speaker 1 But it's surprising to constantly see people continue to grow. Dick Van Dyke is a perfect example of that when he started popping up in the,

Speaker 1 what's the name of those movies? Night at the Museum. I was like, how is he still? Yes.
Like,

Speaker 1 he's found a new rhythm without losing what's there. And I just find that to be so exciting and something unique to comedy.

Speaker 1 I've just learned about a serious but rare heart condition called ATTR cardiac amyloidosis, or ATTR-CM.

Speaker 1 If you have ATTR-CM, you may experience symptoms related to heart failure, like breathlessness and swelling of the legs, but also have issues that seem unrelated, like carpal tunnel.

Speaker 1 There's a treatment option that may help called Atrubi or Acaramatis. Atruby is a prescription medicine used to treat adults with ATTR-CM to reduce death and hospitalization due to heart issues.

Speaker 1 In a study, Atruby helped slow the progression of ATTR-CM and reduce heart-related hospitalizations by 50% when compared to people not receiving Atruby.

Speaker 1 Tell your doctor if you're pregnant, plan to become pregnant, or are breastfeeding, and about the medications you take. The most common side effects were mild and included diarrhea and abdominal pain.

Speaker 1 If you have ATTR CM, talk to your cardiologist about a Truby or visit a truby.com. That's ATTRUBY.com to learn more.
Brought to you by BridgeBio.

Speaker 1 Public lands are where nature gives back. They provide clean air and water, the freedom to recharge, and safe havens for countless wildlife.

Speaker 1 But these places and everything they give us are under threat from reckless exploitation by the powerful and politically well-connected.

Speaker 1 The Wilderness Society fights to protect public lands now and for future generations. Give back to nature by donating now while all gifts are triple matched.
Visit wilderness.org slash donation.

Speaker 1 Cold mornings, holiday plans, this is when you need your wardrobe to just work. Stuff that looks sharp, feels good, and you'll actually reach for.

Speaker 1 And if you're looking for presents, Quince makes gifting easy. It's all stuff you'd like to keep for yourself, but give it to your friends.
These holidays, I've got my eye on the 100%

Speaker 1 Yak wool crewneck sweater. You've heard me talk about Quince's Mongolian cashmere, which I love, but this is supposed to be even warmer and more breathable.
Yak wool crew neck sweater.

Speaker 1 I'll get back to you about that and the yak.

Speaker 1 Get your wardrobe sorted and your gift list handled with Quince. Don't wait.
Go to quince.com/slash Ted and Woody for free shipping on your order and 365-day returns. Now available in Canada, too.

Speaker 1 That's q-u-in-ce.com/slash TED and Woody. Free shipping and 365-day returns.
Quince.com/slash Ted and Woody.

Speaker 1 So my

Speaker 1 listening to you, I agree with what you're saying.

Speaker 1 I am the actor. I am not the writer, not the producer, director.
I am,

Speaker 1 I love to act, love to act.

Speaker 1 And I'm not selling myself short, but I'm not a good storyteller.

Speaker 1 I will take your story, your words, and I will do my best to reflect it in a way that serves the piece the best. That's kind of my

Speaker 1 place. You are a writer, creator, and that to me is the person

Speaker 1 that needs to change with the times. I'm not 100% sure.

Speaker 1 Or this is a question. How do you think you as an actor need to change? Because

Speaker 1 I don't know how you do that because

Speaker 1 All you have as an actor is who you really are.

Speaker 1 Or are you thinking something else when you say needing to change? I don't think it's change. I think it's just adapting to the new rhythm of the world.

Speaker 1 And you are an actor, but I've seen you do it because

Speaker 1 of the writer, because of yeah.

Speaker 1 But you as a performer, though, and I know this for a fact,

Speaker 1 you could just say, no, I'm still doing multicam timing. Yeah.

Speaker 1 It's not dead, by the way. It's not, but you could just say, I'm still going to do the multicam timing of the 1980s.
And that would be which people do sometimes. That's true.

Speaker 1 And the older you get, you want to hang on to some sort of revellance. So you, yes, you pull something from 40 years ago, which is an unfortunate way to go.
Exactly.

Speaker 1 But you can't do the good place and not

Speaker 1 have

Speaker 1 understood that the rhythm is now different. And I know the writers wrote it: great show, great cast, great ensemble cast.
But I see in you someone who has an understanding,

Speaker 1 new tone, new shape, new comedy.

Speaker 1 I can use my body as an actor. I can use my body in a different way for the new rhythm.
And you don't lose what makes you special, but you.

Speaker 1 I love that you say use your body because that to me has always been the,

Speaker 1 that's what I hate about arthritis. Get out of my way, damn it.
I want to move. I just found out my lead director has arthritis.
I never knew. I never knew.

Speaker 1 He, he, I just found out we just filmed our Halloween episode and he, he,

Speaker 1 that just,

Speaker 1 that, it does break my heart. I know that it's manageable and stuff, but he's so agile.
And, you know, he rides horses every weekend and is always fucking whitewater raft and giving me a heart attack.

Speaker 1 So to find out.

Speaker 1 But I love that you were a

Speaker 1 dancer to some degree, acrobat, all of that stuff. Yeah.
Off of your dad, maybe? So my dad was a gymnast so he he got me in gymnastics like for real how far did he he went as far as

Speaker 1 college but he wasn't in college but he was he became a college gymnast which is what's crazy he went to trade school he was a contract contractor but he did gymnastics in high school and then did it for a college team but he wasn't in college but that's he was good though he was very good and i was good because i was small you know am small sorry but i i was you know you were

Speaker 1 So tall now, but um, but I didn't like it. I did not like it.
I knew it wasn't for me. I knew I was,

Speaker 1 I'm 10 years old. They're waking me up at five o'clock to run and shit.
I was like, I

Speaker 1 want to watch Bobby's World and I do not want to do this. Do you guys remember Bobby's World? A very specific memory of mine of like, I need to watch Bobby's World.
I do not want to do gymnastics.

Speaker 1 And my dad was like, okay. And then my mom was a dancer.

Speaker 1 So I actually was a dancer for most of my life until about 22 when I realized but you can see when you're acting and you're performing oh thank you

Speaker 1 the joy of yeah using your body I love it's I give a lot of credit to dancing to having autonomy over my body especially as a young girl just knowing it was mine and how to move it and that I owned it and then also clowning because you like

Speaker 1 I want everyone to take a clown

Speaker 1 puppeteering was another one too pop i took a puppeteering class and that was another one of you know putting your voice through and it all of it just helps you i don't know understand yourself better as a performer you kept looking for different ways to tell forms to tell your stories it seems like yes i do love storytelling i do think that's my main objective when it comes to comedy to

Speaker 1 to be the person

Speaker 1 that

Speaker 1 tells the good story. And I love the idea of bringing all the talent in.
Like one of the greatest joys of Abbott has been to bring bring all these talented comedians in who I know are

Speaker 1 so talented in the world, just hasn't seen them yet, or something like that. Let's talk about the cast thing for a second.
Then I want to talk about your writer's room. Okay.
And all of it.

Speaker 1 Who you met.

Speaker 1 So, so

Speaker 1 you

Speaker 1 have this idea kind of percolating because of your mom, maybe, maybe,

Speaker 1 who was a teacher,

Speaker 1 and you could see the humor

Speaker 1 and the sadness and the realness and all of that of that world. So that was percolating in you.
Yes. Then when did you go, okay, now's the time? Who did you approach to do Abbott Elementary? Yes.
So

Speaker 1 I had the idea and I actually talked about it

Speaker 1 on a roof. with my friend Kate, who is now a writer on the show.
And

Speaker 1 it was, you know,

Speaker 1 you have, it's just like a throwaway idea. Like I got this idea that was probably like in 2017.

Speaker 1 And then when I worked with my now co-producers, Justin Halpern and Patrick Schumacher, my co-producers, co-showrunners, I met them because they casted me in a pilot of theirs for the CW.

Speaker 1 I auditioned begrudgingly and actually got it and was devastated because I did not want to be on a hour-long CW show filming in Vancouver. So I was just miserable.
But I really liked them.

Speaker 1 Yeah, I had to. I keep my word.
But man, I was like, I really did not want that show to go.

Speaker 1 I was like, I just, I, I really was like, oh, this isn't for. And that's how I knew I wasn't.

Speaker 1 I felt like that's how I knew I wasn't an

Speaker 1 actor. I know I'm an actor.
I'm just saying like, you don't want to go do

Speaker 1 unfunny material.

Speaker 1 Yeah.

Speaker 1 Or like, I don't want to do any, I don't want to go to film in, you know, Vancouver. I don't want to go anywhere.
So anyway,

Speaker 1 then

Speaker 1 that's kind of Larry David. You know, he refused to go, you know, east of the 405.

Speaker 1 It's kind of like me. I really relate to him too much.
It really

Speaker 1 get bothered how much I relate to him and curb. So they called.
I remember getting the call. I was on the Transformers ride at Universal Studios that

Speaker 1 the show didn't go. I was like, yes.
I mean, I'm so sorry, you guys.

Speaker 1 And they said, you know what? Well, the thing is, we love you. WB loves you.
At the time, Peter Roth, who's no longer there, was in charge. And they're like, they all want to meet with you.

Speaker 1 And so I met with all these people at WB. They were like, we want to make something with you.
And I was like, okay,

Speaker 1 you know, as lead. And I was like, can I write it? And they said yes.
And so

Speaker 1 through that, I started working with a couple of different producers.

Speaker 1 Then I wound up working on a show with Larry Wilmore on CBS. Wonderful man.
The best, the best who I give full credit to teaching me how to make a show.

Speaker 1 There's being a good writer, there's being a good storyteller, but I feel like Larry taught me how to make a show, how to make a 22-minute television show. And then

Speaker 1 the pandemic came around. This is 2020.
So three years later, after I actually had the idea, and I was on a show on HBO called Black Lady Sketch Show that had gone down.

Speaker 1 And then I, I was like, between the first and second season, I start writing Abbott, but I start writing it as a a cartoon because i had black ladies sketch show i had a project with larry which if it went i would have been in it but i still wanted abbot to get made

Speaker 1 i run into justin and patrick on the lot this is three years later on the wb lot and they're like hey what what do you got going on like i'm just kicking it right now i have the the show abbot and they were like oh it wasn't called abbot at the time it was called harity elementary and they were like well we're they have a deal at wb and they said we we'd love to actually make something with you now especially a cartoon, because at the time they had a cartoon called Harley Quinn on

Speaker 1 HBO Max or DC Universal.

Speaker 1 And so we worked on it together as a cartoon. And then the show if Larry didn't go, and we both kind of looked at each other, like me, Justin, and Pat, we all looked at each other.

Speaker 1 We were like, what if we did this live action?

Speaker 1 And I knew immediately that I wanted to sell it to ABC. because I had met with ABC two years before and there was this woman there.

Speaker 1 The team was incredible and there was a woman there that I knew got me. And her name's Erin Wernberg, she's still there.
And I said, I want to take this to ABC.

Speaker 1 And they were like, Okay, you sure we don't want to go stream? I don't want to go streaming. I knew it wasn't a streaming show.
I knew why do you say that? Because I knew it was built for

Speaker 1 families. Right.

Speaker 1 I knew it was built with two act breaks. I knew it was 22-minute.
I didn't want to fight about it. I didn't want anyone to try to make it

Speaker 1 30 or 40. Or I really believe in that 22, three act structure.
I think there's,

Speaker 1 you know, beauty in that. I don't just look at it as a thing to sell commercials.
Like, I think there's real beauty in that kind of presentation. And so

Speaker 1 I knew ABC was the home for it because

Speaker 1 NBC had done similar comedies and I felt that it was fresher for ABC. It still had the family aspect.

Speaker 1 ABC is not a big workplace comedy sitcom, but I knew that Abbott was also a family sitcom disguised as a workplace sitcom.

Speaker 1 And so

Speaker 1 ABC bought it and a couple of other networks bought it, but I knew I wanted ABC. And then

Speaker 1 that was it. And we made the pilot and it was so, so good.
I was so happy. I was so proud.
I remember after making the pilot, I felt like

Speaker 1 I'm proud. I did, wow.

Speaker 1 Yeah. And I was like, look at Amita.

Speaker 1 You know, I made it. I did it.
And I felt that if it didn't go, I was like, well, then, all right, that's it. That's been my time.

Speaker 1 I felt very confident leaving the industry if that didn't go because I knew it was. That was what you had to offer.
I did know. Yeah.

Speaker 1 And you know, when you look at it and you go, oh, this is the best I can do. This is like my.
everything,

Speaker 1 all those years of watching Cheers and watching Martin and watching Buster Keaton and watching this and watching this. It's all culminated into this.
And this is kind of like who I am.

Speaker 1 So like, if you don't want it, that's tight. But I know that this is the best.
Okay. So you have a script.
You've written it with your two producer friends. Yes.

Speaker 1 What do you do next? Who do you go to? Do you have already in your mind the cast? So, the cast, the only person who I had in mind was Tyler James Williams.

Speaker 1 Yes, he's the best. He's just the best.
You guys are great together. I mean,

Speaker 1 you want to see you guys get together. I know.
You know, you earned it also.

Speaker 1 The writing earned it. So, yeah.
It was so sweet. I loved the the ending.

Speaker 1 I had worked with him on Black Lady Sketch Show just in the sketch, and we just clicked. It was just,

Speaker 1 you just look at someone and you're like, no, oh,

Speaker 1 you get it. We get each other on pretty much every

Speaker 1 yes. We get each other.
And so when I wrote the character, Gregory, I was, I realized I was basically, I was like, oh, I see Tyler's face on this.

Speaker 1 And so I reached out to him and he was in, which was shocking. Like Tyler had like options at that point.
He did not have to

Speaker 1 bank on a

Speaker 1 technically no name, you know, pilot and commit, but he did. And

Speaker 1 he didn't audition. He, we, we didn't do a chemistry read.
Like ABC was like, yeah.

Speaker 1 So

Speaker 1 he was the only person. And I, I got him.
And then everyone else auditioned.

Speaker 1 That's where it was, that's where it got interesting because at that point, ABC kind of wanted to stunt cast cast pretty much everyone.

Speaker 1 And I really stunt cast meaning a name or a popular in this area or something, but not necessarily the right person for the job. Or, yeah.

Speaker 1 So, the next person who I think we casted

Speaker 1 was Lisa Ann Walter, who they

Speaker 1 she just was Melissa. I didn't know what to say.
Yeah.

Speaker 1 There were bigger people, bigger names. It was just her.
And that's what I like to feel like

Speaker 1 it's just you. It was her.
Janelle, especially the principal Ava. The principal Ava is really, they really wanted to stunk.
They really wanted to slap a big name in there. And oh, man.
And it's okay.

Speaker 1 We all tell, I love my ABC family, but I had to be like, I had to put my foot down and say, I,

Speaker 1 this woman is Ava. Because Janelle.

Speaker 1 That's a hard part. It's a hard part.
That's really hard because she walks that line of being unbelievable, believable, which is what she's supposed to be. Yes.
I don't mean her acting.

Speaker 1 I mean, that character. It's like, what? What?

Speaker 1 You did what? And it's, you have to have a special thing for people to still like you, even when they don't like you. It's just, it's pretty unique.
I mean,

Speaker 1 we have, we still haven't seen many people who have it to really be able to. pull that off.
I mean, it's kind of Larry David-esque where,

Speaker 1 or clearly, like Michael Scott in in the office, but Steve Carrow, but this was an even different character, too, because it's not,

Speaker 1 to be fair, it's not a white man. It wasn't a character who we're used to seeing different layers of like it,

Speaker 1 it's a heavy lift. And when she auditioned, I was like, that's it.
And they were like, well, what about this person wants to do it? I said, no.

Speaker 1 And I also wanted to present a new face to the world, you know? I get real joy out of. I think, by the way, that's really, really, really smart.
When you're creating a show,

Speaker 1 that you have faith in, that you can trust or whatever, that you allow the audience to discover people too. Yes.
Because otherwise you have to,

Speaker 1 after so many years of acting, I bring baggage with me. Totally.
The writers have to work very hard

Speaker 1 to get through that, to allow the new. character to be accepted.
And that's what's interesting is you want people to believe, right?

Speaker 1 We know it's TV, but you want the people watching to believe that these people are the people, especially in a mockumentary. You want them to believe these are real people.

Speaker 1 So if you pack it with a bunch of faces that people know already, you're going to have to do twice the work to get people to believe in those characters.

Speaker 1 And I wanted people after the first season, you have no idea how much of our audience

Speaker 1 says something about America right now, but a lot of people believe that it was a real documentary. After like the first three episodes, I was like, oh, we are struggling, a real documentary.

Speaker 1 And then at, you know, by the end of the season, it wasn't until the second season, people discovered we were on a set. People thought it was in real school.
But all of that is beautiful.

Speaker 1 I remember when I was little watching TV. I don't care about the set.
I don't even know the behind the scenes.

Speaker 1 I am hanging out at the fucking friend's place. You know, like, that's what all I need to know.
But you have to do a lot of protecting and a lot of building these days to do that.

Speaker 1 And you have to create a world that's so special that people get lost in it. And the good Good Place is how I discovered Manny,

Speaker 1 Jamil, like these faces I'd never seen before. And I got to discover these new

Speaker 1 people. Will Harper.
Can I just say him? Oh,

Speaker 1 how did I even Will Harper? And you watch it and you're like, where the hell did this person come from? And, but for me,

Speaker 1 that man was cheaty until season three, where I decided to be like, I look him up.

Speaker 1 I think there's beauty in that. Like, yes, believe in the character.
I hope I come across people all the time that just call me Janine and I'm like, yeah, sure. I love it.
Yeah, whatever. I love it.

Speaker 1 Great. But yeah, and then Chris Berfetti, who I

Speaker 1 just need him to get his just due. I think he's one of the most talented plays Jacob on the show.
Unbelievable. He's so

Speaker 1 good. He's so good.
Yeah. Also a hard part to allow.

Speaker 1 Yes. You know,

Speaker 1 not easy at all. And he blew me away with his audition.
Another one, ABC, was like, well, we got this person who just came off this show.

Speaker 1 No, I need them to be the best people. And the last person we casted, which was hard, was Cheryl Lee Rouse's character, Barbara Howard.

Speaker 1 Always. That was such a hard one because

Speaker 1 it was

Speaker 1 a balance of like, know all

Speaker 1 could be vulnerable sometimes to know nothing. could be funny.
We didn't want it to just be a stoic presence, but someone who could also be funny on top of that. And

Speaker 1 my issue with Cheryl with me, I was like, damn it, she's good. I was like, she's too pretty.
Like, I was like, she's so beautiful that I was like, I hope it didn't break the form. And it didn't.

Speaker 1 Her beauty only adds to the character. But that's how the cast came about.
Yeah.

Speaker 1 Really brilliant cast. Thank you so much.

Speaker 1 And what's, I'm sure, thrilling for you as a writer is you could go to any one of those characters, actors,

Speaker 1 and they can carry a story. Yes.
Yes. You can go anywhere, which is just the magic.
That's the beauty of an ensemble, a true ensemble. It doesn't always happen that way.

Speaker 1 I feel like you've been part of really. I've been very blessed.
Yeah.

Speaker 1 Fantastic ensemble. That's because I wanted to be a basketball player where I learned to be team.
Me too. Oh, my God.
I was just talking about this with Tyler. Like, I'm a team sports girl.
Yeah.

Speaker 1 The play is the thing. I'm a team sports girl.
Team is the thing, and it's the most fun. And I don't want to wake up in a new hotel room by myself doing some movie.
I want to hang out with my

Speaker 1 friends who make me laugh every day. Me too.
And I like home. We call ourselves house cats at Abbott because we rarely have to leave our stage.
And, you know, it's like

Speaker 1 the Warner Brothers. Yeah.
We, we, you know, we, it's, it's home. And it's nice to have a home in the feel, um, to trust each other, trust our crew.
Our crew has pretty much been the same.

Speaker 1 Who's your audience? Who's your family? Who is your

Speaker 1 who is even more intimate with you in a mockumentary? They're just

Speaker 1 with you. And so these people are very, very close to us.
And we really value those relationships with our crew. They're just your dance partners.
They are. Because they are dancing.
Literally.

Speaker 1 And they are too. When we move, they have to move.

Speaker 1 It's really a very and knowing you well enough that, oh, I need to turn over here because this is a reaction I know is coming. Yep.
It's really, they come to our table reads.

Speaker 1 Like they're at every single table read

Speaker 1 to just

Speaker 1 be part of the storytelling, which I think is really special.

Speaker 1 This episode of Where Everybody Knows Your Name is brought to you by Primal Kitchen. Life is full of hard decisions.
Choosing a cooking oil doesn't have to be one of them.

Speaker 1 Primal Kitchen is here with pure avocado oil, a healthier, versatile option for your everyday cooking. Primal Kitchen Pure Avocado Oil works for every recipe.

Speaker 1 Grilling, sauteing, baking, air-frying, or marinating. It's pure and quality tested, never blended with other oils.

Speaker 1 Its light, neutral flavor lets your ingredients shine, and with a high smoke point, it's built for high heat cooking.

Speaker 1 Plus, it contains healthy fats from avocados so you can feel confident using it every day.

Speaker 1 At Primal Kitchen, their mission is to make real food exciting and delicious, so you can feel good about every bite.

Speaker 1 It's easier easier than ever to find primal kitchen pure avocado oil because it's now available at walmart you can find primal kitchen in walmart stores or online at walmart.com and primalkitchen.com

Speaker 2 you probably think it's too soon to join aarp right well let's take a minute to talk about it Where do you see yourself in 15 years? More specifically, your career, your health, your social life.

Speaker 2 What are you doing now to help you get there? There are tons of ways for you to start preparing today for your future with AARP. That dream job you've dreamt about?

Speaker 2 Sign up for AARP reskilling courses to help make it a reality. How about that active lifestyle you've only spoken about from the couch?

Speaker 2 AARP has health tips and wellness tools to keep you moving for years to come. But none of these experiences are without making friends along the way.

Speaker 2 Connect with your community through AARP volunteer events. So it's safe to say it's never too soon to join AARP.
They're here to help your money, health, and happiness live as long as you do.

Speaker 2 That's why the younger you are, the more you need AARP.

Speaker 2 Learn more at AARP.org slash wise friend.

Speaker 1 So tell me about the choice to be a MACQ mentor.

Speaker 1 Because that could be risky because that could be, oh, they did that on the office. Oh, they did that on Parks and Rec.
Totally. You know, oh,

Speaker 1 is this a is this a shortcut?

Speaker 1 Is this an easy out for, you know, they're all these kind of, wait a minute, let me make sure this is the right thing to be doing as an audience. I mean, yeah.
And then you go,

Speaker 1 pretty much immediately I went, oh, no, I get it. This, this gives you so much more storytelling.
I think, too, I think. But were you hesitant or did you always?

Speaker 1 I wasn't. I think the story just called for it to me.

Speaker 1 Although I was a huge fan of

Speaker 1 The Office, clearly. In other mockumentaries, there's one I like called Jemae that is ridiculous.

Speaker 1 I wouldn't recommend it to people because I don't think it ages well, but it's by an Australian writer. It's ridiculous.

Speaker 1 But anyway, so I like mockumentaries, but I think when Abbott just was conceived in my brain, I remember the day

Speaker 1 I just

Speaker 1 saw the mockumentary. And I think for a mockumentary, there just has to be a curtain to pull.
There, if you find if there's a world where it would benefit from,

Speaker 1 if it has a curtain to look behind, it's like the world we think we know versus the world that actually is. I think sometimes that's what makes for a good mockumentary.

Speaker 1 But, but once again, I think it's also as a storyteller, it's filling feeling out what the story requires because then you know do you write the looks no in the camera

Speaker 1 oh wow so now you you really have to trust your player those are spiritual to learn that yeah those are don't waste it don't waste a look and i do trust them because they know yeah when they would or wouldn't it's funny too because cheryl when she first started looking to the camera was so foreign to her as someone who comes from stage and film and, you know, multicams was so foreign to her.

Speaker 1 And then it weirdly kind of became a part of her character for a while that

Speaker 1 Janine is naturally very inviting to these cameras. She's excited to smile.
I love being on this documentary. It's going to save the school.
Whereas Barbara wants nothing to do with these people.

Speaker 1 Ava's presentation. For Janine, it's vanity.

Speaker 1 It's another mirror. Exactly.
Janine, Ava, Ava's vanity, because she just like will love to be seen. Janine is like, this is, yeah.
And then Janine is like, this is a way for the school to be seen.

Speaker 1 We're going to help the school.

Speaker 1 Gregory is naturally

Speaker 1 like, what do you call it? Hesitant to engage with them at first. And then they quickly become his best friends because he's the only normal person here.

Speaker 1 So he needs them to be like, are you seeing this too? It's not just, hey, these people are crazy. And Melissa has an extreme distrust as an as a criminal.
She wants nothing to do with them.

Speaker 1 She's like, get them the fuck out of the school. Where it's so having those different relationships, camera, is it's so interesting for the characters.
But, um,

Speaker 1 but I think, yeah, it's just like if the story calls for it, like, um,

Speaker 1 you know, the shows where there's a voiceover,

Speaker 1 Sex and City called for that for Carrie's VO. And people try to call that cheap.
It's not cheap.

Speaker 1 I think that when they conceived the story, it required, they listened to their story and it required a voiceover.

Speaker 1 I think some stories still. So also in that case, it was comforting.
It was comforting. And I did need her to walk me through

Speaker 1 the stories.

Speaker 1 I think it's the difference between when I kind of talk with peers,

Speaker 1 if you're putting together a multicam, why is it a multicam?

Speaker 1 Is it because it's cheaper? Or is it because the story actually benefits from the

Speaker 1 ways doors open and close in a multicam or the rhythm of writing for a multicam?

Speaker 1 Because I still believe great multicams can be made, but they need to be,

Speaker 1 I think there needs to be a reason for the multicam. And

Speaker 1 yeah, like I was, I was giving a lot of thought to this because I just watched a black and white movie and I was like, oh man,

Speaker 1 I'd love to see more silent films, more modern silent films, because yes, we've, we have color and sound now,

Speaker 1 but there's like a real grace and beauty in the silent film. And I would like to see sometimes more stories told that way.
Delighting, which is

Speaker 1 Jordan.

Speaker 1 The expressions on the actors' faces, you know, like that's like, so I wonder what a modern day story of like politics right now would look like as a silent film, right?

Speaker 1 If you can't hear all the yelling and all the yapping, like, what does it look like silently? I just think stuff like that is really interesting, which is a good way to watch the debates.

Speaker 1 And you do, you do learn. Wait,

Speaker 1 one person is very angry. The other person seems to have joy there.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Speaker 1 Seeing things for what they are, but yeah.

Speaker 1 But can I ask you a question? Is that a yes? What? I love talking about myself.

Speaker 1 Your new show, right? Yep. Is it NBC? Netflix.
It's going to be on Netflix.

Speaker 1 Huh.

Speaker 1 Mike Schur wrote it. Oh, Mike Schur wrote it.
That's where I got my NBC brain from. Okay.
Mike Schur wrote it.

Speaker 1 Came from a documentary

Speaker 1 out of Chile

Speaker 1 and got nominated for Oscar, I think. And Mike was able to

Speaker 1 what he does so well, you know, is to take it out of that form and make it an eight-part

Speaker 1 series. I really like that man.
Oh, yeah. He's a nice man.
He's, yeah, he is

Speaker 1 one of the most

Speaker 1 ethical people I know.

Speaker 1 Really nice man. And a brain that's ridiculous.
Yeah.

Speaker 1 But able to sit down and have a conversation with baseball about you. I like that about him.
Yeah. A lot.
He's really, really nice.

Speaker 1 And that was it. So, are you excited about your show? Yeah, I am.

Speaker 1 Part of the thing I love as an actor,

Speaker 1 you know, I, well, whatever. I love the opportunity to go through

Speaker 1 aging

Speaker 1 and still be able to go, well, this is what comedy coming out of this age feels like. This is what, you know, I want to be able to do that as long as I can.

Speaker 1 Thank you, Dick Van Dyke. I know.

Speaker 1 It was kind of a bummer to hear him talk because I was like, damn it, I was going to retire, but now I kind of want to see what I look like at like 98 doing comedy. Can you imagine?

Speaker 1 I'm like a little shorter, a little, a little gray. I think it's going to be really good.

Speaker 1 i wish i uh that's okay i don't need to meet him i i'm just saying like it's

Speaker 1 i hope i do i've been able to spend a lot of time with carol brunette recently and it's so affirming it's just affirming it's they are on the same pedestal yeah me too and and they're very i don't know being around people like that

Speaker 1 You just makes you feel just a little less crazy if you do feel crazy. I don't feel crazy, but like Whippy Goldberg's like that for me too.
Whenever I get to see her, I just feel a little bit like,

Speaker 1 yes, yeah, yes, that's why I started doing it. This is why I am doing it.
Like, you believe in it, but it's really special to be even to talk with you today.

Speaker 1 Well, it's fun because for me, it's like

Speaker 1 it's, I love hanging out with actors, I love hanging out with purposeful people, people who are trying to lead a purposeful life. Yeah,

Speaker 1 um, which is you. Um,

Speaker 1 that's it's inspiring. Anyway, talk to me about fame.

Speaker 1 How was that for you?

Speaker 1 When was that? Oh, people are recognizing me. This is nice to kabam that energy coming at you.
How was that?

Speaker 1 And when was it? Right.

Speaker 1 I've had

Speaker 1 two unique experiences with the

Speaker 1 burst of fame. And one was before Abbott even happened, I was big on the internet because I worked for this website called BuzzFeed.

Speaker 1 And

Speaker 1 that was a taste of also fame now has become very, very relative. Like, I don't, there's so many different kinds of fame, I guess, that

Speaker 1 I'm speaking to my unique experience because I think there's so many different versions of fame that can be experienced. But

Speaker 1 the BuzzFeed part was like, whoa, like people, people know me in China. People know me in other countries, which was so cool.
Or

Speaker 1 walking down the street and being recognized for my work online by people who I think were in my age range peer group, people who I, as someone who likes to make people laugh, those are the people I wanted to make laugh at that time.

Speaker 1 So that felt affirming and also

Speaker 1 cool. Then when Abbott

Speaker 1 fame kind of hit,

Speaker 1 that felt unique because Abbott, with Abbott,

Speaker 1 I never know who is watching the show.

Speaker 1 And it is

Speaker 1 wild to have people walk up to you that you know,

Speaker 1 you know, I don't know. Like, so it'll be like a, like an old, older white man who comes up and taps me or where previously would have been, I don't know, what's up?

Speaker 1 Can I help you? But they like the show. And that's interesting to be

Speaker 1 affecting so many people because of my work. And I love that.
And that's the part I like is I have this thing to show that connects us all, a piece of art that I've shared that

Speaker 1 makes you happy. And that makes me really happy.
That's the part of fame that I really like is having

Speaker 1 work.

Speaker 1 Yes, I used to have this little prayer,

Speaker 1 silent prayer to myself. Please don't let my fame outdo my ability to work.
That's how I feel. If I had to just walk around with fame, it would be sad.
Yes.

Speaker 1 Or I'd have to scramble to figure a way to not make it sad. Exactly.
And that I did feel myself balancing those two things like last year.

Speaker 1 And all of us go through it. You know,

Speaker 1 you go through.

Speaker 1 What is my place in this world as someone who people now know? And,

Speaker 1 you know, naturally the industry is like, well, come to this show, come to this fashion show, come do this thing, come do this thing.

Speaker 1 And at a certain point, you go, am I here because I am, I'm using those people, famous, or am I here because of my work? Because there is a difference.

Speaker 1 And I want to make sure that I know the difference. It's not up to y'all to know the difference, but it's up to me to know what the difference is.

Speaker 1 And so it was finding that balance and realizing I always want to have my work come first and

Speaker 1 have my work be what people know me for more than just

Speaker 1 my name. Or it's kind of why I stayed away from podcasts for a very, very long time.

Speaker 1 I think you and Conan might be the first I've done in a very long time because I don't, I don't, I don't, I don't know if I want people to know that much about you. Yeah.

Speaker 1 And I don't know if I always want them to hear me talk. This feels good because we're talking about comedy.
I still believe I'm

Speaker 1 walking in the purpose. But if you just ask me what I have for lunch, I'm like, why do you want to know that?

Speaker 1 What did you have for me? For lunch,

Speaker 1 a lovely Italian chopped salad. Sorry, didn't it lead you down that path?

Speaker 1 But you know what I mean. I do, I do.
But I am, I am, oof. You know, I feel like I have, I'm going to try to find another word than vomited.
I have,

Speaker 1 I have, you know, spewed

Speaker 1 my life out into the world. Yeah.
You know, and it's too late for me. So,

Speaker 1 how, how do I make use of that now? Is

Speaker 1 you know, I don't, I, you know, I'm,

Speaker 1 you, you bump into De Niro and you're, you're, he's still mysterious. Yeah.
You know, there are people who are just these amazing, talented people who are mysterious.

Speaker 1 And there's something cool about that, but it's too late for me. Wait, really? You really think that?

Speaker 1 The too late part? Yeah. Yeah.
Because I think not after being on TV for this many years,

Speaker 1 people

Speaker 1 know me or think they know me or have an impression or whatever. They know you.
Yeah.

Speaker 1 So

Speaker 1 how do I make use of that? And early on for me,

Speaker 1 I realized that fame is tricky.

Speaker 1 You know, it's like

Speaker 1 my analogy of fame is being a four-year-old kid in the room full of adults all looking and laughing and pointing at you. You can spin that kid out immediately.
They'll go

Speaker 1 nutty. Yep.

Speaker 1 And that's what it's like being a celebrity if you just absorb that. It's kind of what you're talking about.

Speaker 1 Am I I going to this because of my work or because I'm now a celebrity

Speaker 1 and guarding against that?

Speaker 1 But I went, oh, okay.

Speaker 1 And I happened to bump into something I cared about, which was

Speaker 1 being an ocean advocate, which, you know, is a long story,

Speaker 1 but I was able to go, oh, okay.

Speaker 1 You know, I'm standing in front of the tent and people are coming up and saying, oh, I love cheers. Will you sign this? And I go, of course.

Speaker 1 And while we're doing this, let me tell you about this marine biologist. You know, I learned that if you deflect all of that energy coming your way into something you care about,

Speaker 1 then

Speaker 1 you're making use of your celebrity.

Speaker 1 You get to use it for something you care about.

Speaker 1 And especially if you stick with whatever that issue is so that you actually are knowledgeable and not just

Speaker 1 flitting around. I feel like that for me, I'm trying to figure out where to focus my attention.
Funny, you say the ocean, because that was like, that was a thing for me for a minute.

Speaker 1 I got really into protecting the ocean. I still am, but it wasn't my ministry.
But I started working with, have you heard of that for ocean group?

Speaker 1 I have probably

Speaker 1 feels like. I have.
You know, I was like, oh, donated. And then climate is really, really, I don't know what to say.
It is, it has become the thing.

Speaker 1 And I care about a lot of causes. I clearly care about schools.
I care about my neighborhood, Philadelphia, where I'm from.

Speaker 1 But like the thing that I want to keep learning about and really want to try to pull my weight in that direction is climate change.

Speaker 1 But I still want to take the time to know what I'm talking about, to be a real advocate so that if I'm asked, I can either answer the question or point people to the right resources.

Speaker 1 And I think it was weird because I cared about it more than I even knew. And Abbott has now won all these awards for being very green

Speaker 1 set in a very, but it's just in my nature to want to conserve energy. I want to try to make it a,

Speaker 1 you know, sets are, it's easy to burn

Speaker 1 energy and create a lot of waste, but to naturally want to find ways to make that not the case. Right.
A good friend of mine, Kim Bernick, she actually worked on your show on Good Place.

Speaker 1 She was the, I forget her official title, I could say she's on the green team at Universal, but she helps to make sure

Speaker 1 everything is

Speaker 1 as efficient as possible there. And just my friendship with her has impacted me so much.
It changes how I think about

Speaker 1 everything. So I think that might be where I put my celebrity soon.
Good. Yeah.
Good. I mean,

Speaker 1 as you wish, but I think it is the overarching conversation. I mean,

Speaker 1 I, for the longest time, my relationship to climate change was

Speaker 1 I'm giving at the office. I'm, you know, I'm pouring my life into ocean advocacy.

Speaker 1 And then you realize, oh,

Speaker 1 the big gorilla in the room is climate change, which can undo literally everything you care about. It's all connected.
All the ocean work

Speaker 1 out the window if we don't do something about it.

Speaker 1 Anyway. Wait, you said something first, though, that was really interesting to me about

Speaker 1 faith. Oh, I forget, but

Speaker 1 I don't know. You said something really, I think it was interesting when you were on cheers,

Speaker 1 because I'm talking about all this different kind of fame now. It felt like back then, there weren't that many different types of fame.
And I felt like you were very, very, very, very, very famous.

Speaker 1 Like,

Speaker 1 very famous. And the show was so big.

Speaker 1 Is that a time that you

Speaker 1 were you aware? I remember talking about this with like Jennifer Aniston because we recently did an actors on actors, and she was like, I saw that. That was lovely.
Yeah, it is really lovely.

Speaker 1 She was saying how, you know, they were just making their little show on their little set. Did you feel it? Did you guys? Well, we started off slowly.
We were last in the ratings, you know.

Speaker 1 I didn't know that. One year.
I don't know about last for the whole year, but there was one week where we were dead last. I did not know that.
Yeah.

Speaker 1 We were like 71, or as Jimmy Burroughs likes to say, 75 out of 71. We were, you know, we, it was Bill Cosby.
Wow. Which I, you know, I'm now.

Speaker 1 Yes, there are many things, but I'm sorry, I got to talk about Bill Cosby and his show. His show was good.
It was brilliant. The show was good.
You know, and yes, there's the other side.

Speaker 1 Sorry, I don't know. It really was.
And it dragged everything behind it that Thursday night. We all became

Speaker 1 top 10 shows because of

Speaker 1 that show. Wow.
Yeah. So

Speaker 1 it came slowly.

Speaker 1 I think it wasn't until we were in syndication that I walked out on the street and it was like it was like a

Speaker 1 tornado of energy coming my way.

Speaker 1 And then shortly after that,

Speaker 1 I met this man who was an environmental lawyer and we were trying to keep oil drilling out of Santa Monica Bay and we succeeded and we started a small organization.

Speaker 1 And that's when I was, I went, oh, well, this works. Oh, interesting.
I'm okay with this. So that soon after cheers, you started getting into ocean advocacy.
Yeah. That's really cool.
Yeah.

Speaker 1 That's that's fascinating too, because Abbott,

Speaker 1 my show has been successful, right? Especially in this climate. But what's so interesting is

Speaker 1 we're in our fourth season and watching people discover the show. And I think that's one of the

Speaker 1 beautiful things about TV

Speaker 1 is like people picking up a show out of nowhere and all of a sudden it

Speaker 1 gains this new life or or something.

Speaker 1 It happened recently with Suits.

Speaker 1 Exactly.

Speaker 1 King of Queens is like one of my favorite shows in the world. And it happened with King of Queens recently, where people just were like, oh, this show was fantastic.

Speaker 1 And I just think that's a beautiful thing that happens with TV, especially comedies too.

Speaker 1 I don't know, you can just pick up a whole comedy and just become obsessed.

Speaker 1 My little confession is like, when I, as soon as I hear, and you've now now fallen into this category, it started with the office, I think, or no, maybe even friends.

Speaker 1 You know, it was like cheers was over, friends all of a sudden went through the roof. And I think there's

Speaker 1 not, I think, I have a

Speaker 1 shallow, petty side that's going, I don't know, I don't know if I want to watch it. You're right.

Speaker 1 Yeah, I'll be the judge of that, you know, or something, you know, or fearful that it'll never happen to me again, or whatever the fear is.

Speaker 1 I put off watching things and then I

Speaker 1 and then I

Speaker 1 watch and go, oh my God.

Speaker 1 And I did it to the point where I became friends with John Krasinski before I had really,

Speaker 1 I mean, great friends before I'd really

Speaker 1 brilliant. Isn't that the best when that happens? Yeah, where you become friends with someone.

Speaker 1 I have that with someone.

Speaker 1 I have that exact friendship with someone and I didn't watch their, oh man,

Speaker 1 it's going to kill me to not know who this is right now same thing watched them after meeting them and we're like

Speaker 1 whoa

Speaker 1 wait a second

Speaker 1 whoa I didn't know you could actually very good friend of mine I at a berry she's on the bear and I've been friends with that girl for a long time and people were telling me how good she was and everything

Speaker 1 whatever but we became

Speaker 1 We became friends through like stand-up and very good friends. Like this was my girl and I like her.

Speaker 1 Like we have a very big sister little sister dynamic and then the bear came out and i went to her premiere and i i literally turned to her i was like you i didn't know you could act like this she's like

Speaker 1 what she's been on countless shows before i just didn't know um

Speaker 1 And I just had no idea that show is, for whatever they say it is, very dramatic. And I did not know she was that much of a dramatic.
I was just blown away. I was like, so you're going to win an Oscar?

Speaker 1 Is that what you're doing? Like, I didn't know you were that kind of person, but that's that's yeah, I had that relationship with her. I love that, yeah, that's really funny.

Speaker 1 Yeah, I mean, seriously, this is this week, has been me going, Oh shit, uh, Apple Elementary, you know, and Mary had said, You have to watch this, you have to watch this.

Speaker 1 And I did that kind of, yeah, please tell her I love her. I will, please, I will, you know, what I just watched that she was in recently,

Speaker 1 and I mind blown.

Speaker 1 So,

Speaker 1 Back to the Future, Yeah.

Speaker 1 Back to the Future 2 is one of my favorite films of all time. Like, period.

Speaker 1 I don't really love one that much. And then three is what I like.
Like, it'll come one after two on TBS and I'm going to watch it.

Speaker 1 I just, for the first time, this is how I found out you were married to her, by the way, you guys.

Speaker 1 Right? I'm right. This is her.
Yeah. So then I'm like, holy shit, that's the lady.

Speaker 1 Holy shit. So then I start looking her up and I was like, Ted Danzan.

Speaker 1 I don't keep up with

Speaker 1 relationships.

Speaker 1 I know.

Speaker 1 You shouldn't anyway. That's how I feel, but I don't keep up with those things.
So I had a real just breakdown in my house.

Speaker 1 I go tell the room, and this happens to me all the time, the writer's room, and they're like, Quinta, like,

Speaker 1 I don't, I just found out that.

Speaker 1 Daniel Craig was married to the one lady. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Now I'm blanking, but I found out too recently. Okay,

Speaker 1 Oh, she's amazing. I love her.
I don't just know these things, but that one shocked me to my core. But it was because of Back to the Future that I found out you guys were married.

Speaker 1 Can I FaceTime my mom after this? Say, can I face it? She'll be so proud of me if

Speaker 1 I FaceTime her and she can see you. Your mom? Yeah.
Yes. Okay.
Can we do it now? Would you like to do it now? Do you want to do it on the podcast? I hope she answers.

Speaker 1 FaceTime.

Speaker 1 This is live, ladies and gentlemen. This could go south.
It won't. My dad's more inclined to answer.
He actually might freak out, too. It's kind of crazy.

Speaker 1 I don't know what reaction we're about to get, you guys.

Speaker 1 We'll see what

Speaker 1 today is Friday.

Speaker 1 It's five o'clock.

Speaker 1 Yeah, eight o'clock their time. Hey, dad, what you doing?

Speaker 3 I'm helping us move some stuff out of this sister's house that

Speaker 3 has some problems. She's in the hospital now.

Speaker 1 We got to get it ready for it when she comes home. Oh, that's very nice.

Speaker 1 Oh, you're not with mom, but I wanted to, why don't you say hi to Ted Danson? How do you do, sir? I'm having a podcast with your daughter.

Speaker 1 Look at this.

Speaker 1 I don't believe it. I know.

Speaker 1 I know.

Speaker 3 I just finished watching you do those commercials

Speaker 3 telling the lady about the towers.

Speaker 1 Oh, yeah, that is a good commercial, yeah.

Speaker 3 He's up on the scaffold in the towers ordering Chinese food.

Speaker 1 Yeah, that's right.

Speaker 1 Well, your daughter's amazing.

Speaker 1 I'm sure it all came from you.

Speaker 1 But it's a pleasure to say hi.

Speaker 3 Yeah.

Speaker 3 Well, it came from you guys, too. You guys in your earlier days of cinema and TV.
That's all we did was watch and learn.

Speaker 1 Told you.

Speaker 1 So,

Speaker 1 how's your body? Did it survive being a gymnast?

Speaker 1 Oh, yeah.

Speaker 3 Yeah, that's why I'm in somebody's house right now pulling up rugs and stuff.

Speaker 1 Because he's still strong. He's in very good shape.
It's crazy. Well, good for you.
He's a contractor. Yeah.
Yeah. Is mama? She's not with you.
I'll call her later.

Speaker 1 Okay.

Speaker 1 I'll call her later after this. I just want you to.
Thank you for talking. Thank you.
All right, Ted.

Speaker 1 Take care. Bye.

Speaker 1 he's doing some all right ted like you know

Speaker 1 man he'll lose it cheers really was i can't explain it was one of those ones that really

Speaker 1 it's not

Speaker 1 it's one of those shows that taught me just the beauty of a good show it just would be on

Speaker 1 and then and they just watch it we had our favorite shows the cosby show the show called rock do you remember that Oh, very well. What was his name? What is his name? Charles Dutton.
Charles Dutton.

Speaker 1 You know, Rock?

Speaker 1 Yeah, he did. And those were like favorites, but then Cheers was just on.

Speaker 1 And I remember learning that there was like a difference in my household between like hot thing and thing that is on that will be watched. And don't touch the remote.

Speaker 1 It's like, but you're not even really watching. I am.
I'm listening to it.

Speaker 1 My family's big on that. I'm listening to it.
Don't touch that remote. And it's like,

Speaker 1 you've seen this episode seven times, okay? And

Speaker 1 you said Charles Dutton, or we did. And I immediately thought, I don't know why, of James Earl Jones, who just passed.
Bummer. Bummer.
Bummer. Bummer.
One of the great bummer, but a nice long life.

Speaker 1 Long life. I saw one of the first Broadway shows I ever saw was Great White Hope.
Yeah. Just like,

Speaker 1 what is that? So the first one Cheryl saw too, Cheryl Lee Ralph on my show. That was a,

Speaker 1 that was, yeah, that was a real bummer. I

Speaker 1 very much

Speaker 1 looked up to him because his career was so

Speaker 1 vast, like so many different ways to showcase his talent. And I thought that was cool.
And just him being a black man, that was just

Speaker 1 not easy to find with many black actors, let alone black men. And he reminds me a lot of my dad.
So that was also the other thing. He always reminded me of my, my father.

Speaker 1 And I saw him once, but I didn't say hi to him when I was working at the Apple store in Century City. And I came outside and he, he's just sitting there.

Speaker 1 It was very James Earl Jones of him to just be sitting there prominently. And I don't know if he had grandchildren, but there was a kid around him.
I don't know if it was his grandchild or what, but

Speaker 1 I didn't say anything to him because I was young. And, but he, he saw me staring at him.
And so he waved and I just waved back.

Speaker 1 And that was like one of my most formative like memories because he, yeah, I don't know. It's just incredible.
But I, I get sad, but then I get really happy when people have lived a long time. Yes.

Speaker 1 And I hope that they felt fulfilled in their life. And yeah, I felt that,

Speaker 1 you know, Bob Newhart and Norman Lear. I just like, I hope Cicely,

Speaker 1 Cicely ties. I think it's incredible to get to live to,

Speaker 1 first of all,

Speaker 1 you're making it

Speaker 1 just like 60s seems to be hard these days. So I think it's incredible.

Speaker 1 My grandpa, he lived till 96. He just passed away two years ago.
And he and I got closer and closer as he got older and I got older.

Speaker 1 And

Speaker 1 my family won't listen to this, but before he passed away, he told me specifically, he's like, I feel so good about what I've done here. And it was like,

Speaker 1 how wonderful. I was like, and so was how wonderful to say to you.
Yes. As an example of,

Speaker 1 you know, old age seems like somebody made a mistake or you wouldn't have gotten old. You know, no.
No. No.
And this is great and you have this to look forward to. Yes.

Speaker 1 And he didn't, he, you know, he's not famous or anything. He, he served in the war and he had a hundred.
grands grandchildren and great-grandchildren that he's so proud of.

Speaker 1 And I think that that was really beautiful. And it all, it just taught me a lot about like

Speaker 1 being

Speaker 1 fortunate enough to live so long and have and feel like you've like led a good life or whatever so i hope i hope james old jones had that

Speaker 1 i bet right i hope so too but i bet yeah in my mind

Speaker 1 he did he did yes

Speaker 1 yeah can i ask you a silly question if you had a magic wand

Speaker 1 Nothing, nothing, you can't look at what's going on in your life right now as a, a,

Speaker 1 you know, a block or a this or whatever. If you had a magic wand, what will you be doing 10 years from now? 10 years from now, magic wand.

Speaker 1 Is there something you are you pointing or aiming or are you just living in this moment, which is unbelievably successful? But do you have some

Speaker 1 something you also want to do?

Speaker 1 I don't even mean work-wise. I just mean with your life.
With my life. I really want to,

Speaker 1 I've been reevaluating this recently and I want to

Speaker 1 continue to

Speaker 1 live. I know that sounds corny, but when I was younger, I really lived.
I really took risks and enjoyed life and stuff.

Speaker 1 And I think as I've gotten older, and especially with managing Abbott, I've become a little bit more rigid, a little bit more of the adult. More the adult.

Speaker 1 And I don't think I can afford to lose the childlike glee that comes from living and making mistakes and taking risks because i think that eventually that's what's going to help me to be able to yeah

Speaker 1 create again which i do think is my ultimate uh thing that i do and so that's kind of my goal is just to

Speaker 1 keep living and i i felt like before ebb i felt like i spent many many years building a car right it like slowly putting together pieces of car and now i'm riding in the car but like now i'm like i think it might be time to build build a new car.

Speaker 1 I might need to build, you know, something that can go off-road. I know I need to build a nice new thing.

Speaker 1 So in order to do that, I need to feel again, feel what I need and, and, and, and just constantly remember that I don't have to be a boring

Speaker 1 suit.

Speaker 1 I know I'm wearing a suit, but it's not a boring suit.

Speaker 1 It's not a boring suit. It's not a boring suit.
And I just want to have fun too. I don't want to stop having fun.
That's big for me. I really don't want to to stop having fun.

Speaker 1 I can't imagine you will. So I hope not.
Yeah. But yeah, no magic wand, though.

Speaker 1 Well, that's pretty good, what you said. Is that good? That's very selfish.
Stay creative, stay, stay having fun and being joyful and scaring yourself.

Speaker 1 Really fix the climate if you gave me a magic wand. I'd be okay.
I'd figure out my own stuff. But if you gave me that wand, I'd

Speaker 1 fix all of that.

Speaker 1 That's funny. I met my kind of wake-up call when I was I'm 76, almost 77.
When I was turning 70,

Speaker 1 I realized that I was starting to look for a nice, soft landing place. I better get everything in order and, you know,

Speaker 1 and settle whatever, you know.

Speaker 1 And I met Jane Fonda because Mary and she were about to do a film together. And it was like, holy shit, this woman has her foot at 80

Speaker 1 on the gas. On the gas.
And just,

Speaker 1 you know, she really does. No, goes full speed ahead.
Goes full. I mean, Cheryl on my show is kind of like that.
Cheryl, I'm already like, I don't want to get on a plane. I don't want to go anywhere.

Speaker 1 Cheryl, that woman goes, goes, goes. And as exhausting as it is for me, especially as a showrunner, because I'm like, Cheryl, if you're not here on Monday,

Speaker 1 but she always is. That's the thing.
She always is. She'll be like, I'm flying to Georgia tonight and I'll be back tomorrow at 5 a.m.
I'm like, that's exhausting. How are you going to to do that?

Speaker 1 And she does it because she wants to, because she has the will to. And I find that so encouraging.
It's really cool. This was really nice.
This felt so good to talk to you. This felt so good.

Speaker 1 I am so grateful. This is the best part about this job is I would, if I would, at a party, do the who am I

Speaker 1 and not come up and approach you and talk to you. I'm so grateful for this time.
Me too. I really am.
Thank you for having me. I'm a huge fan.

Speaker 1 Thank you. I'm also a huge fan, as you can tell.

Speaker 1 Family. Thank you for this.

Speaker 1 This felt like a very affirming

Speaker 1 day and a very affirming conversation. Good.
And please say hello to the writers in your room, which I feel like I kind of know, seeing how you made the yes. Because it is where it begins.
Yes.

Speaker 1 It is. I have so much respect for writers.
That means a lot to them. Yeah.

Speaker 1 They're going to love that. They're going to listen to this and love that.
And your cast is brilliant.

Speaker 1 So anyway,

Speaker 1 thank you for sitting out and talking. Thank you for having me.
This was lovely.

Speaker 1 Well, there you are. That was Quinta Brunson.
I'm so happy I got to sit down and talk with her. Season four of Abbott Elementary is airing right now.
It's an incredible show.

Speaker 1 I really encourage you to check it out if you haven't already. That's it for this week's episode.
Special thanks to Woody. I miss you.
Come back. You're forgiven.
And to our friends at Team Coco.

Speaker 1 If you like these episodes, tell a friend and subscribe on your favorite podcast app. If you have some time, a great rating and a review on Apple Podcasts helps a lot.
So, thanks in advance.

Speaker 1 We'll see you next time where everybody knows your name.

Speaker 1 You've been listening to Where Everybody Knows Your Name with Ted Dance and Woody Harrelson sometimes.

Speaker 4 The show is produced by me, Nick Leal. Executive producers are Adam Sachs, Colin Anderson, Jeff Ross, and myself.
Sarah Fedorovich is our supervising producer. Our senior producer is Matt Apodaka.

Speaker 4 Engineering and mixing by Joanna Samuel with support from Eduardo Perez. Research by Alyssa Grock.
Talent booking by Paula Davis and Gina Batista.

Speaker 4 Our theme music is by Woody Harrelson, Anthony Gen, Mary Steenbergen, and John Osborne. Special thanks to Willie Navarre.

Speaker 4 We'll have more for you next time where everybody knows your name.

Speaker 1 The Kia Sportage Turbo Hybrid has a bold design, a spacious interior with 232 horsepower and a 12.3-inch panoramic display to keep the adventure going and fit with the way you live.

Speaker 1 And with SiriusXM, every drive comes alive, bringing you closer to the music, sports, talk, and podcasts you love right in your vehicle or on the SiriusXM app.

Speaker 1 Every SiriusXM-equipped Kia Sportage Turbo Hybrid includes a three-month trial, so the experience begins the moment you drive. Learn more at kia.com slash sportage dash hybrid.
Kia,

Speaker 1 movement that inspires.

Speaker 5 What are you reaching for? If you're a smoker or dipper, you could be reaching for so much more with Zen nicotine pouches.

Speaker 5 When you reach for Zin, you're reaching for 10 satisfying varieties and two strengths for a a smoke-free and spit-free experience that lets you lean in.

Speaker 5 For chances to break free from your routine and a unique nationwide community. Whatever you're reaching for, reach for it with America's number one nicotine pouch brand.

Speaker 5 Find your Zin wherever nicotine products are sold near you. Warning, this product contains nicotine.
Nicotine is an addictive chemical.