← Adam Carolla Show
Adam Carolla Show
Adam Carolla Reacts to Jimmy Kimmel’s Show Cancellation + Steve Wilkos & Renny Harlin
01:51:11
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- [00:00]
Adam Carolla
Well, in this episode you remember him from Jerry Springer. Now his own show, which he's been doing for a while. Steve Wilkos comes in and Renny Harlan, famous director cliffhanger and well beyond Die Hard just keeps, just keeps going. Anyway, Rennie comes in, we'll do the news, we'll do all that right after this. Hey, it's Adam Carolla from the Adam Carolla Show. Football season is in full swing and there's no better place than to get in on the action than betonline, your number one source for all things football. Betonline gives you more ways to play with the latest odds, breaking news, live scores and even in game betting. So you never miss out on a moment from every NFL and college game and matchup. Betonline is your place for all things football and if you love MLB or UFC or NHL, anything with letters in it, futures, even Betonline keeps you locked into the action all year long. And don't Forget the BETOnline VIP program with exclusive level up bonuses, weekly cash boosts and rewards designed for serious players. Head to betonline today. That's betonline. The game starts here. Five hour energy caffeine just got a serious flavor upgrade. Five hour energy shots hits you with tasty caffeine in 17 different flavors. You get as much caffeine as 12 ounces of fancy coffee, but without any of the sugar or crash and it's all packed into a tiny 2 ounce shot. Big flavor, small bottle. Perfect for when you need a quick jolt. But you don't want to lug around the giant coffee mug or send someone on a run. It's right there. Easy to carry around. These shots bring the flavors of the season right to your pocket. Give your caffeine a flavor upgrade with 5 hour energy shots. Get yours in the store or you can get them online at 5hourenergy.com or you can grab them at Amazon today. That's 5hourenergy.com in store or at Amazon today.
- [02:29]
Mike Dawson
Frontotemporal degeneration, or FTD, causes uncharacteristic personality changes, apathy and unexplained struggles with decision making, movement speaking or language comprehension. You often misdiagnosed as bipolar disorder, depression and sometimes just a midlife crisis. Learn more this World FTD Awareness Week by visiting the association for Frontotemporal degeneration@the.
- [02:57]
Adam Carolla
Aftd.Org.
- [03:06]
Mike Dawson
From Corolla 1 Studios in Glendale, California. This is the Adam Carolla Show. Adam's guest today from the Ste Wilkos Show, Steve Wilkos and the director of the cinematic masterpiece cliffhanger, Rennie Harlan. Plus the news with me, Mike Dawson. And now, kind of a slow news day. So no intro, joke, Adam Corolla.
- [03:32]
Adam Carolla
Yeah. Get it on. Got to get on the choices and mandate. You get it on. Thanks for tuning in. Thanks for telling a friend. Steve Wilkos back in studio. Good to see you, my friend.
- [03:43]
Steve Wilkos
Thank you.
- [03:45]
Adam Carolla
Interesting journey for you from Marine to cop to Springerton now.
- [03:51]
Steve Wilkos
Yeah. You know, I certainly never thought I was going to work in tv. My father was a paratrooper in the Korean War and became a cop and I looked up on my dad like he was Superman. And I wanted to be just like my dad. So I joined the Marines after high school and became a cop and thought I was going to do that for 30 years, get my pension and retire. But I ended up in tv and I can't say that I hate it.
- [04:15]
Adam Carolla
Well, people say all the time like, oh, you work a lot or something like that. I just go, well, if you have to work, this is a much easier job than roofer or cop or paratrooper.
- [04:29]
Steve Wilkos
I'm so fortunate because when I was a policeman I worked 6 days on, 6 days off. I think it's changed now, but back then it was six days on, six days, six days on, two days off. And then when your weekends rolled around, you got three day weekends, but you only got two weekends off a month or you had to work a month before you got weekends off. I work two days a week now, you know, Tuesdays and Wednesdays and we tape from like the last week of August to the first week in March and then I'm off the rest of the year. So I'm very fortunate with my work schedule. It's, it's not a grind, by no means.
- [05:03]
Adam Carolla
Well, I always talk about. But it's real good to have a lay down a base model for work that is real work and tough work and sometimes hot and sometimes dirty and sometimes dangerous. And then you lay down a nice base of that and then everything else feels pretty cushy after that. And so Marine and cop and for me I was a carpenter so it's just job sites and digging ditches and real work. Everyone should have that. And I do think part of the undoing of America, which is everyone going insane now, is people don't have a base of work like dirt, little daint. It's a combination. You need all these things to really make it that kind of job. It's got to be hot or some elements are involved that you're exposed to elements. You know, it's got to be a little dusty, a little dirty.
- [06:05]
Steve Wilkos
Like a little grind nobody's willing to grind anymore.
- [06:08]
Adam Carolla
Right, right.
- [06:09]
Steve Wilkos
Like. Like I got out of the Marine Corps, which obviously I worked really hard in the Marine Corps and had long days and hours and all that. And when I got out, I worked construction. Non union job. Just like working. It's not a jackhammer, but had the flat plate on the bottom and you pump it.
- [06:25]
Adam Carolla
Oh, I was talking about that yesterday. Yeah, it's a tamper.
- [06:27]
Steve Wilkos
Yeah, tamper.
- [06:28]
Adam Carolla
Yes. It has a Briggs and Stratton engine in it. It just shoots carbon monoxide out of the side of it. It just goes.
- [06:37]
Steve Wilkos
I worked that thing for eight hours a day, and I remember I would come home and have to ice my forearms because it just was. It was brutal.
- [06:46]
Adam Carolla
I don't. And that's another good point. I don't think kids today, I think a lot of people know, they think jobs are either fun or exciting or fulfilling. And then at the worst they can get is boring. I said, no, no, there's a neck strata that's much lower than that. It's painful. It's loud, it's painful. You're sucking up fumes. I would work at jackhammer all day. I don't think. It's kind of one thing. We tell people all the time, if you're planting a dwarf avocado tree in your backyard on a Saturday, you might dig for 40 minutes, but you don't dig for nine hours. You don't know what it's like to dig for or to work that tamper.
- [07:28]
Steve Wilkos
But I think, like, to your point of having these life experiences, like working really hard in the Marine Corps and being a policeman and hours and holidays and being out in the cold or the rain or whatever, and then to get a show where other people get shows and they don't want to do publicity, they don't want to go out and travel, they don't want to go out to affiliates or where. For me, it was like the easiest thing in the world. I mean, I worked really hard, and I think you get to stay on air 19 years when you're willing to do a lot of things and make people happy and they buy your show. So for me, a lot of people think it's hard work, but compared to what I did in my previous career, it's not hard work. And I really appreciate the fact that I had this opportunity and I knew, like, I'm willing to do anything to keep this gig because it's the greatest gig in the world.
- [08:21]
Adam Carolla
Yeah, in a way, it's sort of like technology in that my kids grew up with a smartphone, so they don't give a shit about a smartphone. But if I had that smartphone and I brought it back in time a hundred years, people would be, I could sell tickets for people just to watch me look at it. You know what I mean? And when you have a kush job and you grow up in air conditioning and you grow up with money or something, it's like then stuff to you and me where they go, you want to fly over here and then they're going to put you up in a hotel, but you got to do press in the morning. You go, yeah, that sounds like air conditioning and food and free this and free that. That sounds good because my head's back on a construction site. They never went there. But I also feel like there's a kind of a tactile sanity that comes with putting things together and being outdoors and breaking a sweat. It's sort of hard day's work for an honest day's pay and stuff like that. And I think people were a lot saner and pragmatic when that was the schedule and you couldn't avoid it. And there's too much computers, air conditioning and cubicles and people are starting to go a little nutty. That's what I'm experienced. And the reason I'm always, pardon the pun, drilling down on this is I toggle in between the creative sort of pie in the sky digital world and the mechanical blue collar world all day, every day. I'm literally building something with these guys. And then I come here and then I do work here and then I go back and talk about plywood nailing schedules with these guys. And I realized these guys are never nutty, they're never sick. Covid didn't exist to them. Covid wasn't even a thing to those guys. They didn't talk about it. They didn't wear a mask. Then talk about getting your kids vaccinated. They didn't have opinions on it. They just went to work.
- [10:32]
Steve Wilkos
Right.
- [10:33]
Adam Carolla
They just got up and went to work and then they went home.
- [10:35]
Steve Wilkos
They got paid the rest of history. Right?
- [10:37]
Adam Carolla
Right. Like if you handed them a burrito, they didn't wipe it down with Purell or anything. They just sat down on a pile of dryw and thank you for the burrito. And by the way, you can get whatever food you want for them because they have no allergies, they have no food based requirements. They're not lactose intolerant. They don't have anything. And I started to realize, why are these guys always so sane and sort of even and the rest of the ones that are sitting in the air conditioning and on college campuses are starting to go nuts.
- [11:06]
Steve Wilkos
Yeah, well, and the other thing is I tell my kids I have a daughter who's in college and my son's in college and I tell them all the time, if you bust your ass nowadays and you grind. When I say grind, people tell me all the time, oh, you're so lucky that you got into TV and you got your own TV show. But I worked every side job. And so when guys came to me and said, hey, you want to work on the Springer show as security? I was like, yeah, they knew they could come to me and I would work a side job. I wasn't going to lay on my couch and do nothing all day. Or, you know, back then there was no cell phones and look at TikTok for eight hours. You know, I was up hustling all the time and I tell my kids all the time now. I, you know, and I don't want to be the old man. And I was joking with your producer before the show about, I'm shaking my fist at everybody and angry now and, you know, mad at the world. But if you grind, if you go out and hustle, I go. The competition that you're facing is nothing now compared to when, when I was coming up, like everybody wanted to, everybody I knew in Chicago, the guys I grew up with, everybody works side jobs. Every, everybody wanted to work, make money and, you know, they would do anything. Like, you know, if you were a cop, you would, you would work a stamper the next day or, you know, you would do anything to get ahead. And I don't see that anymore. People like, oh, I need a mental health day. I, you know, I'm triggered. So I need time off. And so I think if you're just a hard nosed person and you go out and you hustle and you grind, I mean, you're gonna get ahead.
- [12:37]
Adam Carolla
Well, that's the good, the good news is you just have to be willing to work and you will rise to the top in a world where people are pretty entitled and lethargic and soft and soft. Soft is a good, soft is a good point. And I don't, I think people look at it as sort of a pejorative, like that guy's hard, you know, this person's soft. You need. And also say males need a certain amount of Hardness, like they just, you gotta toughen them up a little bit. A little adversity, kicking the butt, you know, you're fine. Coach yelling at him, Drill sergeant yelling at him, Commanding officer yelling at him. You know, guys need a little of that, a little resilience, you know, some calluses built up.
- [13:25]
Steve Wilkos
I hear excuses why people don't come to work. And you know, most of my staff is young and we had, we just all came back to taping at the studio in Stamford, Connecticut. And so we had all the crew and production and everybody was there and somebody was saying how, oh, they couldn't come to work because, you know, they were feeling blue or whatever. And I said, you know, I tape on Tuesday and Wednesday. And one Wednesday morning about six years ago, my mother called me up to tell me my father passed away. And it was sad, but I, you know, my dad was older and had been in poor health for the last couple years of his life. And I went to work because what was I going to do? Sit around at my house and think about it and, you know, and there was nothing I can do. You know, my mom was in Florida, I live in Connecticut. I said, mom, is there anything I can do? She said, no, I'll call you and you know, let you know everything that's going on. But like, I didn't want to sit around in my house and, you know, just be down in the dumps. I went to work, took my mind off it. Plus if I don't go to work, we shut a production day down, which, you know, you're losing probably a hundred thousand dollars a day if you're not taping. So I mean, I felt like a little responsible to that too. And so I think most people wouldn't do that. Like nowadays with younger people, I need, I have my head and everything else. It's like, no, you got a job, do your job and then, you know, you deal with other situations as you go along. But yeah, I don't think you're going to see a lot of that going forward.
- [14:57]
Adam Carolla
No, but I do think you'll see a smaller group do an extreme version of that. There's a smaller group of people that are doing jiu jitsu at 5 in the morning and then working 12 hour days and working weekends and holidays. Like you're gonna see a, like a weaponized super and those people are gonna inherit the earth, like they're just gonna take over.
- [15:29]
Steve Wilkos
Oh, I agree. When you said the jiu jitsu thing too, like, you know, I wish I didn't hear about a lot of that. And I studied all kind of like martial arts when I was in the Marines in the cop. And that's a pretty badass form of martial arts. But. And I also think, like some of the younger people, like you're saying, I think a lot of them are aware about like, alcohol and stuff. You see a lot of young people, certain segments that aren't drinking, like we grew up drinking, like, you know, you would get off work and you'd go drinking, and I think people have become more aware. So I think you're right. There is going to be a small group that, you know, are going to make good decisions and work hard, and it's going to be easier for them to compete because like I said, I think your competition is way weaker now.
- [16:13]
Adam Carolla
Yeah, I mean, everybody's gonna be. It's like physically, it's like people are gonna. Are morbidly obese, they have diabetes, they eat junk food all day. And then there's a group that are just doing cold water plunges and jiu jitsu and don't drink and stuff like that. And that's an extreme opposite. And those people shall thrive. Because when you and I were coming up, everyone just lived in the middle. Everyone was like fairly skinny and worked pretty hard. So it wasn't like you said, the.
- [16:46]
Steve Wilkos
Smartphone people waste enormous amounts of time. Even I have to catch myself not to waste a lot of time, but like myself, I keep real active every day. I play golf, I go out with my buddies, we play golf every day. When I come home, I take a little nap, I go down to my gym, I work out. And you know, I'm to the point in my life where I'm 61 years old. I'm not trying to compete, you know, like become a bodybuilder, any that, but I want to be stronger than the next 61 year old, you know, like, I want to be able to be functional. There's. There's a guy in my club that's 92 years old. He owns the nicest grocery store in town. He still stocks his shelf. He golfs like. I want to live to be as old as my dad. My dad lived to 86, but I don't want the life my dad had at 86. Like he was in poor health. He didn't do a lot when he retired. And, you know, I want to be functional. And, and I think at 61 again, I can't look at myself when I was 30, 40, or even 50, but I don't think there's a lot of 60 year olds that are still weightlifting, that are staying as active. I don't drink anymore. I become more aware of, to take care of myself. And I think that young people, like we're saying my kids hardly ever drink and which is maybe they saw like, you know, because I went through a period of time where I drank too much and I don't drink at all. So I think if you, you know, if you learn from that and my kids are learning from my mistakes and you know, they're getting education. But. And I said education is a small, it's a small part of really succeeding in life. Yes, you want to be educated, but you want to instill and work hard and show up and, and you know, like even in Marines. What I learned from the Marines was like, you just get it done. There's no complaining, there's no bitching about it. You just go out there and we have to do this. You get there, you do it no matter what.
- [18:37]
Adam Carolla
So you go from Chicago cop to side job, Springer security. And there's a lot of like side jobs for cops in production. You see it out here, used to see it in LA when they shot a lot more out here. They don't see it as much. But I always, always thought that seems like a pretty cush gig for a cop on a day off, right?
- [19:01]
Steve Wilkos
Yeah.
- [19:01]
Adam Carolla
And, but so walk us through that sort of first meeting and then how that turned into an on air presence.
- [19:09]
Steve Wilkos
So Mike McDermott who runs my security now, we were cops in the 14th district in Chicago. And I was walking out at 1:00 clock in the morning, he said, hey, you want to work the Jerry Springer show tomorrow? I never heard of Jerry Springer. I didn't know who he was. I said, what do I gotta do? He goes, you know, you gotta wear a suit and tie. You show up. And I remember the first episode I was there, this was in 1994. The show hadn't take the turn where they had the fighting and the confrontation. Everything was kind of a boring show and it was some kind of race related show. I don't even remember what it was. But we stood around the audience, we didn't do anything. There was no fighting, nothing. It was boring. But I made $35 an hour back in 1994, which is huge, right. And so whoever was running security at that time, like me, I showed up, I did what I was told. So the next time they needed security again, they called me. You know, this guy called me.
- [20:06]
Adam Carolla
Well, they would call, they needed security if they had a Topicality that they thought might be volatile.
- [20:12]
Steve Wilkos
Right. So they called me to, you know, be one of the guys. Well, one day, the guy that was running it, I don't know what his deal was, but he wasn't showing up or, you know, he was demanding things, and he was a sheriff, and they fired him. Like, they called him up, said, where are you? Oh, I'm late. They go, you're fired. We're not going to use you anymore. And I was standing right there, and they said, you want to run security here? And I said, yeah, I'd love to. You know. And so then the show started taking little crazy turns where they had, you know, younger people on and they started getting in physical altercations on the show. And they said, okay, you know, we'd like you to be here full time. I said, great, I'd love to be here full time. So, you know, I. They gave me a salary or whatever they gave me. Well, then the show exploded, right? Like, they had this thing, and they asked me to shave my head. I shaved my head, and the show became very successful, and they gave me a TV contract. So it just kind of progressed as long. And I don't think there was ever a plan to make me part of the show, but because I was on stage so much, and then I shaved my head and did all the things they did that my role just kept, you know, growing slowly on the show where I became a big part of the show.
- [21:28]
Adam Carolla
Yeah. And, God, when did Jerry pass? Has it been three years?
- [21:32]
Steve Wilkos
Two years. He passed two years? 20.
- [21:34]
Adam Carolla
23. 20, 23. I found him to be very interesting guy to interview. I enjoyed him. I didn't find his Persona was different on TV than it was in here. I found him to be kind of thoughtful and interesting. Very thoughtful guy, smart. I don't know, was he sort of along for the ride in that situation? Like, how much of that was him?
- [22:06]
Steve Wilkos
Like, I don't think any of it was him, the show. Because Jerry was very passionate about politics. And I think, you know, if he looked at. If he had any regrets in life, it would have been that he never, you know, made governor of Ohio or senator of Ohio or congressman of Ohio.
- [22:23]
Adam Carolla
He was a mayor of Cincinnati.
- [22:25]
Steve Wilkos
Right. Cincinnati. And, you know, he thought the show, and he said it many times was stupid and silly, but it provided him with a great life. And I think he did have fun with it. But if. I know that if he could have done a show that was completely different, that was political leaning or something like that, he would have loved that, and I think he tried to do something along those lines when he did his podcast in the last few years. So, you know, it wasn't something that he would have picked to do the show that we did, but it was hugely successful. Jerry was a smart guy and he just went with it.
- [23:03]
Adam Carolla
So the show was so successful. And you're, you're sort of distinctive looking, so you must have gotten recognized almost immediately when the show.
- [23:11]
Steve Wilkos
Well, you got to remember, you know, that time in the late 90s, there was no really. The Internet wasn't really that big and there wasn't, you know, it was, you know, abc, NBC, CBS and all that. So when a show was huge, you think about those numbers back then, you know, we'd had 10 million people watching our show at the talk show, right? Like, I think I draw 800,000 now. Like, so, yeah, the numbers are just unbelievable. So everybody knew who I was. You know, like, I'd be locking people up and they'd be like, oh, you're Steve from the Jerry Springer show, you know, and I'm like, yeah.
- [23:44]
Adam Carolla
So you still remained a cop?
- [23:46]
Steve Wilkos
Yeah, I was. I started on the springer show in 94 and I left. I left. I retired as a policeman in 2001. So I did both for eight years.
- [23:56]
Adam Carolla
Oh, wow. I thought once you got full time with Springer, but no, I stayed both. How did you balance that?
- [24:04]
Steve Wilkos
Well, I worked during. So I had a permanent afternoon shift on the Police Department from 4 to 12, and I worked Springer from 9 to 3:30, and then I would just race to the police station. So I worked long days.
- [24:18]
Adam Carolla
God, that's crazy.
- [24:19]
Steve Wilkos
And then after I got off my police shift, I worked security in the nightclubs in Chicago from midnight till 4 in the morning.
- [24:25]
Adam Carolla
What, what is, what's going on with Chicago about now? And how different is it than I.
- [24:32]
Steve Wilkos
Can, you know, I, I tell my wife if I was coming out of the Marines now, I would not become a policeman.
- [24:40]
Adam Carolla
Oh, yeah.
- [24:41]
Steve Wilkos
I mean, you know, when I came on the police department was 1990. So it was pre phones, pre. You know, these cops have to wear body cameras. I'm not going to lie. I would have got blown up if I had to wear a body camera back then because, you know, there was things I did that I used force and I don't regret it. But like, these guys, I mean, everybody's looking to sue and filming you and everything else. I mean, no way, man.
- [25:05]
Adam Carolla
I couldn't imagine what recruitment would be like to be a cop in Chicago these days.
- [25:12]
Steve Wilkos
I mean, first of all, the politicians, like the mayor in Chicago, so anti police, you know, they don't back you. They're. I. I don't know. I know, like in some departments they took away personal immunity, you know, so why. And I. I think that might have happened in Chicago because I remember talking to some guys I still knew on the force, and they're like, I'm not doing anything. They're like, no, I'm not going to lose my house.
- [25:37]
Adam Carolla
And. Well, yeah, I mean, they call it the Ferguson effect, which is if you get out of your car and go get involved with something, it might be nothing, or you may be filmed and be leading the Internet the next day. Either way, there's an element. You know, there's kind of an element. You may have experienced this, but I've dealt like, there's a white collar kind of version of this, which is like attorneys who work for networks. And sometimes when you're dealing with the attorney that works for the network, you go, hey, I want to say this or I want to do that or we want to do a bit. That's blah, blah, blah. And they just go, no. Then you go, why not? They go, I don't know, just no. And you always leave. I would always leave going, they never will lose their job for saying no, but they could lose their job if they say yes. And then we get sued by Disney, you know what I mean? So they're incentivized just to say no. There's a lot of jobs that. Where they just go now, and that's better. And so if you take cops and you incentivize them not to get involved, because at the end of the day, everyone's just a human. And all anyone wants to do, whether you're the cop on the street or the lawyer in the office for Comedy Central, you just want to go home at the end of the day with.
- [27:06]
Steve Wilkos
Your job and get your paycheck.
- [27:07]
Adam Carolla
And get your paycheck. So you've incentivized these people not to get out of the car.
- [27:12]
Steve Wilkos
Well, you know what was said, you know, when I became a policeman, I really enjoyed being a policeman. I loved going to work, I loved getting the bad guy. I loved solving problems in communities. I'm not just saying that. I really. If somebody said, hey, you know, officer, these guys down here, they're making my life tough. They're. They're a bunch of thugs. They're selling drugs, they're doing this, they're doing that. I loved helping that guy out. I love making his block safer. I really Enjoyed that. And now you're telling me like, you know, I left in 2001, so it wasn't bad yet. But you know what? If you're taking that ability for a cop to go out and get the bad guy to clean things up to make it nicer for people that just want to live their life without a hassle, it's terrible. You know, if, if a guy's. He's not going to get out of his car and kick somebody ass and say, get out of here, you're causing problems. You know, what's the sense of being a cop?
- [28:17]
Adam Carolla
I don't know, but it's gotta be unsettling knowing that your mayor and the city council and maybe even the governor, they don't really like you, don't like your position, don't like what you're doing.
- [28:31]
Steve Wilkos
Between Pritzker, Johnson, like you said, the city council. I'm only speaking for Chicago because I know it. And they're not getting backed up. They're. Nobody takes the stand of policeman. They, you know, they, they tie their hands so badly. There is no incentive to go out and fight crime. I mean, most guys listen, when I went to work, I didn't want to shoot anybody. I didn't want to kill anybody. I didn't want to hurt anybody. But I did want to get the people that were causing problems in the community, whether selling drugs or had guns or were gang banging or whatever. I wanted to get those guys. And I think a lot of policemen had. Most policemen had that attitude. Well, now when you think like, okay, my boss, you know, I had a boss come in one time and he stood in front of roll call. He was a captain, and he said, you know, if you're 100% right, I'll back you all the way to the hilt. I go, if I'm 100% right, I don't need your backing. I need you when it's in the gray area, when I'm trying to do good. But maybe I'm in that gray area where, you know, I need somebody to back me up. That's when I need you. I don't need you when I'm 100% right. And now I don't think they'll even back you when you are 100% right.
- [29:53]
Adam Carolla
Yeah. I don't know how they think this is going to play out, but there's only one way it plays out. It's just less people wanting to be cops, cops not motivated wanting to get into trouble, and more crime and then thus more crime.
- [30:08]
Steve Wilkos
Like the if there's no consequences. And you see it in New York with this no bail, you know, when there's this. There was an article in the paper the other day where there's. There's. It's like 15 or 16 guys are causing 60%, 67% of crimes on the subways, like, because they keep getting released, and either the same day or next day, they're committing the crimes again. And don't spend any time in jail. So what. What is going to stop these guys from going out and committing crimes when there's no consequence?
- [30:47]
Adam Carolla
Look, the one thing about criminals and like, criminal organization, criminal organizations and cartels and things like that, they're the most fluid. In a weird way, they're the most pragmatic people in the world, and they're fluid. And so the cartels in Mexico, they sold weed for a long time, and then you make weed legal. And they go, now we're switching fentanyl. And they'll do it overnight. You know what I mean? And if you do that, they'll go, okay, we'll do human trafficking now. They'll just immediately go to where the getting's good. They'll just float. They're like water flowing down a street. Hit a twig, go this way, hit a leaf, go that way. But they're just float. They just flow. And they will take whatever you give them. And so if you let them do, you know, here in LA, we go, well, it's a misdemeanor if it's under 995. They'll go in there with a calculator and get up to $994 worth of merchandise before they walk out of the store. They will do all the time and always what we let them do.
- [31:53]
Steve Wilkos
I couldn't believe the signs in San Francisco, where they got the signs posted on the street about retail theft. If you steal, they're advising you to make sure if you steal, you steal less than 1,000 bucks.
- [32:05]
Adam Carolla
Yes. And they go, if you turn and look the other way when they're doing drugs in the street, then there's gonna be tons of people doing drugs in the street. And if you let them camp overnight in the park, they're gonna camp overnight in the park. And if you let them rent or buy Winnebagos and park them down pch, then that's where they're going to live. Because everyone wants to live in Malibu. They just don't want to pay to live in Malibu. So they will take whatever we give them. But I don't get why? We don't understand that.
- [32:35]
Steve Wilkos
Yeah, I mean, you know, you just. Like, with Newsom, you know, I see, like, the problems they have out here, especially with the homelessness, the. The drug. The open drug markets, you know, And I said, again, with New York, you know, I spend most of my time in Connecticut, where I live. You know, I do the show, but, you know, and I'm very up on New York, and they have these open and they're supplying the needles.
- [33:01]
Adam Carolla
Right.
- [33:01]
Steve Wilkos
And everything else. And I go. So if you're. I think most people like getting to your point earlier. Most people want to go to work, come home to their wife, their kids, you know, watch tv, watch sports, just live a life without being harassed. Right. You know, you. You want to be able to walk down the street. You want your kids be able to walk down the street not being harassed. You don't want to be stepping on needles. You don't want to see human feces in front of your house. Things like that. Like, it's really simple. But if, again, if there's no consequences, if. And if you do things that I think encourage it, like you say, like, if you're providing needles, okay, you can shoot up here. Like, what is going to happen? That's going to happen? These people aren't going to. You know, they use the parks as an outdoor toilet. Everything gets run down. And then because you're letting people do drugs, they need money to get those drugs. They're not working, so what do they do? They resort to crime. They rob people. They break into cars. I mean, San Francisco people, you know, they weren't even rolling their windows up on a car, and they're like, please, I have nothing of value in my car. Don't break it.
- [34:11]
Adam Carolla
You know, so, well, we got in some sort of weird, perverse world where if you left a backpack on your passenger seat in San Francisco and went to get a coffee and someone broke the window, most people would tell you that's your fault, and that's. That's a weird Mason Dixon line to get to cross into. But most people would say that's your fault, and the cops wouldn't look for it. And then also, there is unintended circumstances or consequences which happen from this stuff, which is out here, if somebody steals your laptop, the cops aren't even. They're not rolling on that at all. So several years ago, I think it was in Pasadena, some guy got his laptop stolen. The guy snatched it, and he knew the cops wouldn't roll on it, but he wanted his laptop back. So he told the cops the guy pulled a gun on me and took my laptop. Which is how this is gonna work. If you're not gonna go find this guy's laptop, then people are gonna start saying the guy had a gun. So then the cops rolled up to the guy and see him in the alley with the laptop, but they think he has a gun. So now the guy makes some sort of move, and they shoot the guy. Now you go, whose fault is that? The citizen shouldn't have lied. Yeah, but the citizen wanted his laptop back, and he knew you weren't gonna get it, so that's on you. But it's an unintended consequence is what I just think.
- [35:47]
Steve Wilkos
I think you get people in, and they, you know, maybe they think their heart's in the right place, and, you know, you don't want to be too hard or, you know, maybe excessive, but then you get so far away from it, and again, you know, if you don't have law and order, you're gonna have anarchy.
- [36:07]
Adam Carolla
Right? So it was a very. Even though it wasn't that long ago, from a calendar standpoint, it was just a very different time we were in, when you were a cop over there.
- [36:19]
Steve Wilkos
Again, like, so many things have changed. One, like I said, the cell phone is the biggest thing that changed police work. Like, you know, I remember, even before cell phones, like, I remember we saw this guy grab this woman's purse. It was an older lady, and she was much older. She probably in her 80s, grabbed the print. We just happened to be driving down the street. We saw. We chased a guy. He starts fighting with us. We're punching him, trying to put the cups on. And I remember this woman coming out of her house and like, oh, my God, officers, why. Why are you beating him like that? You know, and this. I'm like, you know, you don't see why we're doing it. You just see the effect. You didn't see the cause. And that's the problem with doing police work is people just see, like, oh, there's two guys beating up one guy. No, we're two police officers trying to effective arrest. We're not just beating. Beating this guy up.
- [37:12]
Adam Carolla
Yeah, well, the other thing that's interesting, I brought it up recently, but I've seen there's many more women on the force now than there were back in your day. And also, the women sort of had. They manned the phones, but they weren't walking the streets. And now they're out there on the beat and they're giving up £70 to a lot of these guys and getting thrown around out there, which is sort of bound to happen. You know what I mean?
- [37:39]
Steve Wilkos
Yeah. We didn't have a lot of police women when I was on the job. There was some, like you said, I see a lot more and I think with the police department, they've done away with standards. Right, right. You had to used to be a certain height, you had to be physically fit. Like I remember we in the police came, we had to run like a mile and a half. You had to be able to do so many people push ups this and they've done away with all that.
- [38:07]
Adam Carolla
Right.
- [38:07]
Steve Wilkos
And that's a big problem because. And I would, I remember telling people all the time, you know, I'm six three even at 61, I'm 225, but when I was a younger man, I weigh 252, 245, I was a marine, I was trained, you know, in self defense and all kind of things. And you know, you go up against some of these guys, they're career criminals, they don't care that you're wearing a badge or a gun, they're going to fight you. And if you've never been in a fight in your life and you've never been in violent situations and all of a sudden you're wearing a badge and you think that little piece of metal is going to protect you, you're sorely mistaken.
- [38:48]
Adam Carolla
Right.
- [38:49]
Steve Wilkos
And listen, I don't want to get into a whole thing about women versus men and this and that, but I don't think women have that. A lot of them don't have that killer instinct or that gene in you where you become very violent to self protect or.
- [39:04]
Adam Carolla
Well, I mean, look, I grew up playing football since I was 7 and I played the line for 10 years, 11 years, and all I did was line up in front of big dudes and try to handle them, you know, and they tried to handle me. And it worked out most of the time in my favor, but not all the time. But whatever it was, I was used to that. I was fine being handled that way and trying to handle the person, you know, but if it never. You know, I remember once, I remember when I got to high school and I was playing in high school and there was a guy and he was like athletic and stuff like that and it was sort of weird practice and, and at some point someone went to hit him or he, you know, and I saw him just sort of turn and flinch and put his hand up and I was like, oh, he's never been in a football uniform before, you know, and by then I'd played seven years of pop war. I was used to helmets and pads and hitting and I was used to it. He wasn't, you know what I mean? This was a new thing for him. And yeah, as a woman, as guys growing up with rough and tumble, play, wrestling, playing football, wrestling in high school, you know, Marines and all that kind of stuff, yeah, you get used.
- [40:21]
Steve Wilkos
You're very physical.
- [40:22]
Adam Carolla
You're very physical, but. And you're used to being physical and aggressive. Right? Now, I wasn't even that aggressive. I was just like, I understand the concept of someone coming at me and trying to take me down.
- [40:34]
Steve Wilkos
Right.
- [40:34]
Adam Carolla
And if it never happened from zero to 30 and now it's happening in the street, I wouldn't excel at it either.
- [40:42]
Steve Wilkos
Listen, I grew up in Chicago in the late 60s and early 70s, and you know, when I was growing up, we got into fist fights as boys and fist fights all the way through high school. And then I went into the Marines. You know, my kids grew up in Connecticut, you know, in like the Greenwich area, where my son, I, you know, he's in college now. I know what he's doing now. But he never was a fist fight in school or in the neighborhood of Connecticut, you know.
- [41:10]
Adam Carolla
Right.
- [41:11]
Steve Wilkos
So like, you know, it's just different. So, you know, everybody in my neighborhood, it was just part of growing up. You got into fights with other guys. You knew how to defend yourself or you knew how to get into a scrap and take care of business or whatever. So not that that's the way you want your kids to be raised, but I'm saying if you become a police officer, those situations are going to arise no matter what. If you work on the streets in Chicago, you are going to get into a physical confrontation. It's not a matter if it doesn't matter when and if you've never been in a physical confrontation, you're going to be on the bad side of things.
- [41:49]
Adam Carolla
All right, Steve, hang out with us for a quick break and we'll do a little news with Dawson over there right after this. Homes.com Some might say homes.com is the best home shopping site. It may be that homes.com has a super comprehensive and transparent agent directory. Or Maybe it's that Holmes.com is the only site that always directly connects you with the listing agent who knows the home the best. Or perhaps it's homes.com's well, the fact that they have the most in depth neighborhood content of any, any home shopping site that's extensively researched to highlight the personality of each neighborhood because, you know, each neighborhood does kind of take on their own personality. Homes.com goes above and beyond to bring home shoppers the in depth info they need to find the right home right away. Homes.com We've done your homework. Oh, oh, oh. O'Reilly Auto Parts. Yeah, O'Reilly Auto Parts. Well, you know the jingle. They're in the business of keeping your car on the road and that's what they do. O'Reilly Auto Parts offers friendly, helpful service and the parts and knowledge you need for all your maintenance and your repairs. I always gone to O'Reilly whenever I need something for the cars and I need stuff for cars quite a bit, I go to O'Reilly. I don't work on my leased electric Audi, but I do work on my race cars and I get all my stuff from O'Reilly. So whether you're a car aficionado or a novice, doesn't matter. You're going to find the employees at O'Reilly Auto Parts are knowledgeable, helpful and best of all, they are friendly. Stop by O'Reilly Auto Parts today or visit us at O'ReillyAuto.com that's O'ReillyAuto.com Adam O'ReillyAuto.com Adam Audible's Romance Collection has something.
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- [45:00]
Adam Carolla
And now Alcoa presents Definitely Not a Jew on the Adam Carolla show, dateline High Point, North Carolina.
- [45:13]
Ad Read / Promo Voice
A 44 year old woman was charged.
- [45:15]
Adam Carolla
With assault and attempted larceny after fighting with an employee of Family Dollar. The employee caught her shoplifting a $6 pack of toilet paper.
- [45:35]
Mike Dawson
Definitely not a Jew.
- [45:40]
Adam Carolla
Oh, Steve Wilkos in here. Dawson's in here. The Steve Wilkos Show. By the way, it's NBC and You can check your local affiliates for that. All right, Dawson, what's going on out there?
- [45:52]
Mike Dawson
Well, Jimmy Kimmel ignited a firestorm over his comments about the alleged Charlie Kirk assassin. So Disney is pulling ABC's Jimmy Kimmel Live indefinitely. Next, our media, which owns hundreds of television stations, announced it would preempt Kimmel show on all of its affiliates for the foreseeable future. They say Kimmel's comments about the death of Mr. Kirk are offensive and insensitive at a critical time in our national political discourse. We do not believe they reflect the spectrum of opinions, views, or values of the local communities in which we are located.
- [46:28]
Adam Carolla
So when all this was breaking, I was on the road in traffic doing a thing kind of half out of town, and I was listening to talk radio. So I love talk radio, but talk radio tells you what's going on when it's happening. And Mike August, who's booker and friend, and I was meeting him at the event, he's a sports radio guy. I don't get the sports radio guys, but okay. But he's very. He worked for Kimmel's show for 15 years. He's very finger on the pulse of what's going on. This guy, that guy Jimmy, he knows what's going on at the Kimmel show, and he was there for a long time. He also knows what's going on in late night show business because James Baby Doll Dixon, my agent is Colbert's agent. It was Mike's former partner and Jimmy's agent also. It was crazy. James Baby Doll Dixon, represent. Seven weeks ago, we had two guys that were like the king of late night. And now both gone, both on over a decade, so on and so forth. So anyway, I'm hearing about this on the radio. And so I call, Mike calls, and he goes, how far away are you from the gig? I got another hour in traffic. And then he brings up Kimmel. For some reason, he's something like, oh, man, what's this Kimmel thing? Something sort of innocuous. And I go, oh, yeah, man, that's crazy, right? He goes, what? And I go, yeah. And so then I tell him, I think he knows that Kimmel's been pulled off. He does not know. So then I go, I said, you know, it would be funny every time I talk to O'Reilly. O'Reilly, Bill O'Reilly always says to me, connecticut guy, right? I Talked to Bill O'Reilly last week. Last week. He goes, hey, tell your buddy Kimmel to put me on the show. Tell your buddy Kimmel roll in Every time, he goes, tell your buddy I'd be great on the show. Go tell your buddy that. And Kimmel was slated to go to New York. Go to Brooklyn, you know. So he goes, he's gonna be in here, you know. Tell your buddy, you know, whatever. So just because I think it's funny and I know Jimmy's show's been pulled, I tell Mike, hit up O'Reilly and tell him good news. I got him booked. He's coming to New York. Colbert's his lead, but he's going to bump Colbert, and I got you in there instead. And Jimmy goes, sorry. Mike goes, you want me to do what with O'Reilly? I go, just hit up O'Reilly spiel. Tell him good news. I got him booked on Kimmel's show. He goes, you got him booked on Kimmel's show? I go, yeah, yeah, tell him that. Tell him that it's funny. Well, I don't get it. Why did you book him on Kimmel's show? I thought he went, kimmel said, okay, so this goes on for 10 minutes. I go, mike, it's a joke. It's a joke. It's funny, right? He goes, why is it funny? And I go, cause it's a funny joke because O'Reilly's always hit me up and now it'd be funny if you told him I got him booked. And he goes, I don't get what's funny about that? And I go, it's funny cause Jimmy's show got canceled. And he goes, what? I go, yes, Jimmy's show got canceled. He goes, what are you talking about? I go, what the fuck, Mike? Don't you have a radio? You got a phone? I've been on the road for an hour. I've been on the road for an hour. He goes. I go, just don't say, how far are you from the gig? Goes, five minutes. I go, just go there, park your car, get your phone out and call me back. And then he calls me back, and he's like, holy shit. Holy shit. And I'm like, now you can see how funny that O'Reilly joke is, right? And he's like, well, yeah, now I get it. So I said, we'll hit O'Reilly anyway, because this is going to be funny, because I just want to do this. And then Mike's talking when affiliates. He was saying, I think it was Conan had one affiliate in Boston drop him. And that's when the domino effect started happening with Conan. But he knows the nuts and the bolts of TV and Late night and affiliates. And once X amount of affiliates, once the affiliates drop you or group drops you, then. Then. Then you get dropped now. So then I. I'm very weird about sending texts to people that are in the middle of stuff because I feel like they're being flooded with text. And then it. Then it feels like a burden to them. Cause they feel compelled to answer your text in a pile of texts that they're getting.
- [51:35]
Mike Dawson
Well, I would imagine you were on the receiving end of that yesterday.
- [51:41]
Adam Carolla
Well, I got onto a group thing with all the guys who worked there and stuff like that. The usual suspects. The guys I watch football with and stuff. But I also had a gig, so I basically shut it off. Have to go perform and be on stage and do whatever I'm doing. I can't sit around, get a private room and look at my phone. It happened right when I got there, but there was a break. And I said to Jimmy, I just sent him a text because you want to be on record as understanding or knowing or whatever. So then I just sent him a text that just said, thinking about you. Hope you're okay. And then I always write. I don't know, maybe this is a reverse psychology thing, but I always write, you don't need to reply because I just want. It's like your dad died. Hey, Steve, sorry. Handle your business. I understand. I don't want you writing me back and telling me, thank you for. It's a tough time for all of us. I'm thinking about you.
- [52:47]
Mike Dawson
I need with that sometimes. No need to reply. Just making sure you're cool.
- [52:52]
Adam Carolla
Right. He wrote back 18 seconds later, which is how Jimmy does. He just writes back, you know, and maybe he's passive aggressive. Maybe it's my no need to reply makes him reply faster. But he just replied and he's like, wow, strange times out here. Whatever. And then I wrote. I wrote. I told my book O'Reilly on the show. I said, look, as long as you're replying, I'm going to just tell you I booked O'Reilly, but I make a joke. And then he just wrote back, I'm being followed by a helicopter. And I was like, oh, wow, these are strange times. Wow. So I just said, stay safe. Good. I think a lot of people want me to comment on it. My feeling is this. I don't think he should have been fired. It's a weird thing. The right and the left are always sort of misinterpreting things. He was inaccurate about something. It wasn't like he was necessarily attacking Charlie Kirk, he was trying to dump it on Trump and inaccurate about it because that's what we're living in, a time where something happens. Nancy Pelosi's husband gets hit with a hammer. This side says he's had a MAGA hat, on that side says he's some kind of nudist hippie from Haight Ashbury. That's all we do now. I don't feel like it's necessary, but that's all we do. But also, and I don't like the government getting involved and I've heard every side of the story and in general, I just want people to speak and then the ratings will do the talking and you can support them or not support them. And that's what you want to watch. You can watch it or you can watch Gutfeld and listen to him bash Kimmel or however you want to do it. That's the world I'd like to live in, but it's not the world we're living in. And I understand people's arguments. And my thing is just my perspective is different just cuz I know Jimmy, and I know Jimmy to be a very good guy and a generous guy. And I've always said that about him. And I realized that while everyone else knows Jimmy as a caricature, I know him as a person. So when people, when I run into the people that don't know Jimmy as a person, all O'Reilly or Dave Rubin, Dennis Prager, and they go, what's up with your buddy Jimmy? Well, I know him, so that's why I don't think of him like you think of him. But on the other hand, they think of you as a cartoon character too. And I know you, you know, I know Dennis Prager is a very sweet man, lovely, lovely man. But these guys on the other side think of you as a cartoon character. And then at a certain point, there's the assassin who thinks of Charlie Kirk as a cartoon character, not a dude. I know him as a guy, sweet guy, fair guy, family guy, good American. But that guy looks at him as a cartoon character and that's why he gets to kill him, you see? And so I know Jimmy as a human and I know how good he is and I know how decent he is. And we disagree politically, but who cares? We disagree. We disagree on pizza toppings as well, but it doesn't mean we don't talk, you know, and that's the word I don't get, right?
- [56:44]
Steve Wilkos
Because Eileen conservative Jerry was super liberal guy and we would have discussions all the time. But we loved each other. I mean, I loved the man, he loved me. I mean, I saw him a month, you know, and we'd talk about not burning somebody. You know, Jerry came to see me. I know he knew this was the last time he was ever going to see me. He didn't burn me with, hey, Steve, I'm dying.
- [57:06]
Adam Carolla
Right?
- [57:06]
Steve Wilkos
Like, he wanted to see me one more time, but he was not going to burn. And, you know, that's just the way he was. But my point is, like, we. All these years, we, you know, we spent 30 years together and we had opposing views, but I loved him, he loved me. We love getting together, being together. Now it seems like if you have opposing views, people are cutting you out. Like, I don't want you in my life anymore. You don't think like me, which to me is like craziness. Right. People are cutting their own mothers off, their parents off, because you don't, you know, you see these kids on TikTok, I won't have any. Do my parents anymore because, you know, they think opposite of me, it seems.
- [57:44]
Mike Dawson
It's.
- [57:44]
Adam Carolla
It's a.
- [57:45]
Mike Dawson
It's a larger operation.
- [57:46]
Steve Wilkos
Yeah.
- [57:47]
Mike Dawson
It's just the world is dividing everyone against each.
- [57:50]
Steve Wilkos
Strange times, man. I mean, you're cutting people that you love out of your life because they don't think like you. It's crazy.
- [57:58]
Adam Carolla
First off, I don't get what's in it for you. You know what I mean? Like, I would like to enjoy Thanksgiving, you know what I mean? And we can watch a football game and eat some turkey and drink a little bit. We don't need to talk about any of this stuff. I think for me, it's always been a thing where it's always he said, she said. But I think there is a. A division to be made or delineation to be made, which is there are people that are on the left and the right and the left people. Nobody thinks Jon Stewart is an evil guy. They think of him as, I disagree with this guy politically. They even will say he's talented, he's smart, he's bright. I'm sure he's a good dad. I'm sure he's a good husband. He's a good dude. I disagree with him. I disagree with whatever his policies are. Okay, that's fine. But when you start getting into this guy's evil, well, then we're going to a different place. Because the disagreement, whether it's at Thanksgiving with your niece and your nephew, if you. You're a Steelers guy and they're Ravens fans. That's. That's fine. That's how the world comes down. We come down to everyone's a fan of something. You're a Chevy guy, I'm a Ford guy. You know, whatever we do. But if you're a Chevy guy and I'm an evil guy and you're a Pittsburgh guy, and I'm an evil guy, and you like anchovies on your pizza and I'm an evil guy, well, at some point, I can't come to Thanksgiving, and at an extreme point, I'm going to need to be put down.
- [59:40]
Steve Wilkos
Right.
- [59:41]
Adam Carolla
And that's the problem. And I think that's the division that we're talking about, which is the right and the left go. Oh, there's. You guys sling just as much mud as we do. Right. But we're calling people stupid or low IQ or slow or sleepy or whatever he's doing. You're going with the evil part, and that's when the bullets start flying.
- [60:05]
Steve Wilkos
Yeah.
- [60:05]
Mike Dawson
I think they've also underestimated just how. Just how much this country has, I guess, come together behind Charlie Kirk and how this is incredibly wrong. Would you like to see what Kimmel said?
- [60:21]
Adam Carolla
Yeah, I've seen it. But we can.
- [60:23]
Mike Dawson
We'll leave the long cut in there.
- [60:25]
Adam Carolla
Because we can polite. It's him going after Trump with an assistant.
- [60:34]
Mike Dawson
It's after everyone who voted for Trump.
- [60:36]
Adam Carolla
I guess that's what the MAGA problem is.
- [60:38]
Renny Harlin
Yeah.
- [60:42]
Adam Carolla
We hit some new lows over the weekend with the MAGA gang desperately trying to characterize this kid who murdered Charlie Kirk as anything other than one of them and doing everything they can to score political points from it. In between the finger pointing, there was grieving. On Friday, the White House flew the flags at half staff, which got some criticism. But on a human level, you can see how hard the President is taking this. My condolences on the loss of your friend Charlie Kirk. May I ask, sir, personally, how are you holding up over the last day and a half, sir? I think very good. And by the way, right there, you see all the trucks? They've just started construction of the new ballroom for the White House, which is something they've been trying to get, as you know, for about 150 years. And it's going to be a beauty. Yes. He's at the fourth stage of grief construction. There's nothing wrong with that. That part was in my mind. Yes. The other part, inaccurate. But like I said. Yeah, I can't turn on Jimmy because he made my career. And I know him as a person. I just was talking to him before this, just sort of. He was at the Emmys. I just said, what's going on? I'm at the Emmys. I gotta sit here for four hours and not win anything. And it was just human, funny conversation. Renny Harlan, the famous film director, is out there. Got here a little early, so I'm gonna wrap it up just a beat early and get Rennie out here. Steve, the show on NBC, no danger of being pulled by the affiliates?
- [62:18]
Steve Wilkos
No, because when they tell me something, I listen.
- [62:21]
Adam Carolla
You can go. Should we go? You can check your local affiliates, right?
- [62:25]
Steve Wilkos
Yeah, we're all over. Go to stevewilkos.com and they'll tell you where it's at.
- [62:28]
Adam Carolla
Thanks, Steve. Always good to see you, my friend.
- [62:30]
Steve Wilkos
Thanks, Ray.
- [62:30]
Adam Carolla
We'll take a quick break. Get Rennie in here right after this. Simply safe. Well, I want to talk to you about home security for a minute. For years, I just thought it was about having an alarm go off when somebody busted into your home. Kick down the door, the alarm goes off, but by then it's too late. The guy's already in your house helping himself to your TV and your Pop Tarts and all the other essentials. That's the problem. Traditional security is reactive and simply safe. Well, that's proactive. You see, they're going to nip it in the bud. Here's how it works. Smart cameras powered by AI can tell the difference between a squirrel and some guy lurking in your yard. It's about stopping crime before it gets to the front door. So don't wait until after the damage is done. Get proactive protection with Simplisafe. Right, Dawson.
- [63:35]
Mike Dawson
You can get 50% off your new SimpliSafe system with professional monitoring. And your first month free@simplisafe.com Adam. Just head to simplisafe.com Adam to claim your discount and make sure your home is safe this year. Keep your home, your family, and your peace of mind. Protection protected with Simplisafe. There's no safe like Simplisafe.
- [63:51]
Ad Read / Promo Voice
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I'm coming in hot.
- [63:55]
For this month only you can watch full seasons of the CBS shows you love, from the courtroom drama of Matlock to the heroics of Fire Country. Go back to where it all began in NCIS Origins. Or watch the hilarious hauntings of ghosts, all for free. Full seasons of the CBS shows you love. This month only on Pluto tv. Stream now. Pay never.
- [64:28]
Mike Dawson
It's time to check Adam's Voicemail.
- [64:34]
Adam Carolla
Ace, quick question for you. Is there a rich guy version of a car air freshener? Like, obviously they're not used using a pine tree or putting something on the vent or putting a candle to the seat, or are they just saying, yeah, it's new car smell. Is there a rich guy version of a car air freshener? Thanks.
- [64:54]
Mike Dawson
You can leave us a message at 888-634-1744.
- [65:00]
Adam Carolla
I'd say Alcantara leather is the smell. Like there's a smell. There's a rich leather smell and I'll go with that. I don't think candy corn or pine or anything. That's the poor man's smell. I think the smell is good leather. You ever smell a real expensive handbag or something? That's the smell of rich guys. Renny Harland is in studio. He's got the movie The Strangers Chapter 2 that'll be in theaters nationwide September 26th. He's also made many, many films. I've talked to him about Cliffhanger, one of my favorites, and the little sleeper film Driven. I think we had some discussions about that with a Sylvester Stallone who's getting on and doing his thing now. But many, many, many films. Die Hard 2 and an interesting story. So I don't know, how did you come to this country and get involved with such huge high budget films? How did that. What was the journey?
- [66:11]
Renny Harlin
The journey was bumpy and curvy, but it was just, it was about a little boy in Finland growing up in the middle of nowhere and dreaming big and loving Hollywood movies. And I just wished hard enough and left Finland when I was in my early 20s and went to Hollywood and a lot of blind luck, a lot of hard work, a lot of sleepless nights, a lot of lost money. And ultimately I was able to make couple of low budget films. And then I hit it big on my third little film, which was A Nightmare on Elm Street 4. And it became in the franchise of seven movies, it became the most successful of the whole series and overnight changed my life. And the next phone call was from Spielberg and rest is history.
- [67:04]
Adam Carolla
What did Spielberg have to say?
- [67:07]
Renny Harlin
It was really funny because I was staying in this motel in Hollywood, $20 a night, by the way, with, you know, bullets flying and scantily clad ladies running around. And then the phone rings and then the manager calls me. Usually the manager calls me only to ask, where's my $20 for the following night? But he says, arlene, you have a phone call. I'm like, who would ever call me Because I don't know anybody. It's like, it's some Mr. Spielberg for you. I'm like, oh, come on, quit this joking. And it's like, okay, well, you know, he said it was Steven Spielberg. I'm like. Then I realized it might be for real. I'm like, okay, okay, I'm here. And then I'm like, hello. And it's like, randy, it's Steve. How are you? I saw your movie last night. I loved it. We gotta talk. And he had seen Nightmare on Elm street that weekend when it came out. And I went to Amblin Entertainment on the Universal lot, and Steven Spielberg offered me a movie to do and we developed it. We never made it, of course, because it's Hollywood, but we developed the movie for a year and we became friends. And then one thing led to another and I started making movies.
- [68:16]
Adam Carolla
It is interesting how low the batting average is in Hollywood. How many. I think about it periodically. How many meetings, how many pitches, how many discussions, how many zoom calls, how much. And nothing ever? No, not nothing ever. But it's rare that stuff comes out the other end. But you have to be sort of like a baseball player and that if you got a hit once every three times you've been to the plate, you could be an all star.
- [68:47]
Renny Harlin
Yes. And this is such a huge topic. You could talk endlessly about this, but I was just. We arrived in town with my wife a couple of days ago and we were driving from the airport and looking around and I looked at this city and I said, you know, do you realize that this is a city of broken dreams? It's a city of dreams too, but it is for most people here.
- [69:09]
Adam Carolla
Yes.
- [69:09]
Renny Harlin
And I don't, you know, I don't want to sound wrong or anything, but am I the only one who feels like every waiter you have in the. In the restaurant and every bartender, they actually are actors or some kind of filmmakers or something like that. But. But are they, you know, are they. You know, some of them people who came here when they were young and they had these big dreams, but they were not able to make it. And they're still doing that bartending and waiter job. Nothing wrong with that. But they still say that they are an actor or they are a director or screenwriter, but they really are a waiter. And at what point in your life do you then sort of give up on the dream and say, like, I gotta do something with my life. And again, I'm not putting down waiters or anything like that, but I'm just saying that It's a very common story in this town.
- [70:03]
Adam Carolla
Well, I got a lot of thoughts about that. One is, I'm always kind of curious if they really want that thing that they say they want. And it's something I think about all the time. Like, there's a personal version of it in families and friendships and marriages, where at some point, when you're constantly arguing with people or having friction, you start to think to yourself, is this what they want? Because it feels like this is what they want. And then they always go, I don't want any of this. I want a beautiful relationship. I never want to argue again. It's like, why do you seize every opportunity to do this? And then I think to myself, do you know what you want? I know people that go, I want to be a country musician. And there's one guy wanted to be a country musician, but he never played and he never got out. And I got out and I was doing standup and I would go locally and I'd just do it for free. And I started. I would work all day, but then at night I would go out and do free standup. And I said, well, look, if you want to be a musician, you gotta get out there and get your guitar and get on stage and you gotta do it for free. And he said, well, you can afford to do it for free because you're rich. I can't do it for. And I said, you can do it. First off, I don't have to do it, but I am rich. I don't have to do it, but you can do it. But then I think to myself, do you want to be a country musician? Cause I don't know. I don't know that they do. And I don't know that they know it because you wanted to make films, so you just came here and you just showed up. And I know plenty of people that want to do comedy when they just show up at the club and they'll get a job at the club washing dishes so they can do their comedy at night. And then there's the people that talk about it but never do it. And I don't actually think they want it, but. But I don't think they know it.
- [72:06]
Renny Harlin
That's a good point. And I. I mean, I said, when, you know, when I came to LA and after a couple of years I lost all my money and I was living in a garage I found. Met somebody who let me sleep next to the 316 BMW in their garage for a year for free.
- [72:25]
Adam Carolla
318, probably oh, maybe it was 318. That's 323 18.
- [72:29]
Renny Harlin
Yeah.
- [72:30]
Adam Carolla
I was just straight, let's make sure it's not a 360.
- [72:32]
Renny Harlin
I wanted to make so miserable, make it, make the story so miserable.
- [72:35]
Adam Carolla
We had a 1.6 liter engine, not a 1 8. Yeah.
- [72:39]
Renny Harlin
But you know, I, I barely had money to, to sometimes go to a coin operated phone and call my mom in Finland, who I was very close to.
- [72:49]
Adam Carolla
How many nickels did that take?
- [72:51]
Renny Harlin
It was, you know, like going like, like that. But I only had $2. So it was a very short conversation. But basically my mom said, like, rainey, why don't you come back to Finland? You're talented, you can do things here. It's gonna be great. And I said, I'd rather die than come back and, and, and say that I was defeated. And I meant it. I meant it. I was ready to die. And that's the difference, I think, between people is like, do you want to make movies or is your goal to be famous and rich or something like that? Cause then you should do something else. But if you want to make movies, then you know you're ready to do anything for it.
- [73:28]
Adam Carolla
Yeah, no, I agree. I think they want to be famous, but they're not interested in whatever this craft is. And the joke that's being played on them is it's the ones that are really into the craft that end up getting famous because they're so into the craft and they're trying to go around the craft part to the fame part. And the craft part entails a lot of free work and a lot of free. A lot of scripts that never see the light of day, a lot of playing places and never getting paid with nobody in the audience. That's the part you gotta do. And they don't wanna do that part because that part is uncomfortable and it doesn't pay. And the only reason you would do that is if you had to and were in love with it. And they're not, but they don't know it. And that's my thing. And I'm starting to wonder if people that argue a lot or just have bad relationships or whatever. I wonder if it's the same thing. Like, I'm starting to wonder if they want this, but they don't know it. And the problem is everyone's story is the same. I want this. Of course I want this. I'll do anything. You'll do anything except for what it takes to do it.
- [74:39]
Renny Harlin
Exactly.
- [74:40]
Adam Carolla
You can really just kind of tell what people want to do by what they do for free.
- [74:46]
Renny Harlin
Totally.
- [74:47]
Adam Carolla
And if they do it for free, then that's what they want to do. And I mean, it could be any. It could be working on a car, could be working in the yard. It could be writing a screenplay. It could be playing acoustic guitar. You do it for free. That's what you want to do.
- [75:02]
Renny Harlin
Totally.
- [75:03]
Adam Carolla
And so you're living in a garage next to either 318i or. Or 316i, and you're just like sleeping on a mattress in a garage.
- [75:14]
Renny Harlin
Yeah, for a year. And I didn't have money to go to the movies, which was my lifeline. I didn't have money to buy the trades, you know, Hollywood Reporter and Variety to read what's going on in the town. I didn't have any money and I didn't have a car. So living in the Valley in a garage with no car. Cause I lived next to a car, but I didn't have a car.
- [75:36]
Adam Carolla
Where were you in the Valley?
- [75:39]
Renny Harlin
Kind of, you know, close to Warner Brothers there. Sort of like Burbanky, is it? Sherman Oaks. You know, that kind of area to look a lakey.
- [75:50]
Adam Carolla
So you had a good, decent neighborhood, and the guy let you know, live in the garage.
- [75:54]
Steve Wilkos
Yeah.
- [75:56]
Adam Carolla
But you were, you know, young, tall, good looking, exotic with your accent.
- [76:02]
Renny Harlin
You could have been a dancer.
- [76:03]
Adam Carolla
You could have been a dancer. Did you must have met lots of girls, right?
- [76:09]
Renny Harlin
Well, even that wasn't easy. Cause, you know, to meet a girl, you have to be able to take them out for lunch or something. You know, it's like literally my daily meal was Campbell's soup. 48 cents for the normal kind, 53 cents for the chunky one. And when I had, like a feeling of celebration, I had a chunky Campbell soup.
- [76:28]
Adam Carolla
When you mixed with water mixed with lurch. Yeah. I remember being poor and dating and trying to impress. And I used to work for a guy named Ron Braun. He's passed away. Good dude. And he owned a very trendy restaurant on the west side. But I was a carpenter. I could never afford eating at his restaurant. It's called Muse. But I used to go to Ron. I go, ron, what do you need done around here? And he had a bunch of booths that he needed lowered and a bunch. He needed a bunch of stuff, you know, I said, ron, I'll do all that stuff at your restaurant, but I got a date tonight. So when I come in, I need the treatment. And he'd go, oh, okay. So I'd worked there for like eight hours. Do all this work. And then I'd come walking in at night and it was crowded, it was popular, you know, West Side, Louisiana. And it'd be like, oh, Mr. Carolla. Yeah, right this way, right this way. And then sit down and the girl look around and be impressed. And then Ron would come by. How you doing? I'm doing good. Good. And then, you know, bring me stuff. And then I'd go to reach for my wallet, go, your money's no good here, Mr. Carolla. This is, this is our pleasure serving you. And I remember that. That was my move.
- [77:43]
Renny Harlin
Genius.
- [77:43]
Adam Carolla
I don't know why she thought I was driving, but I was driving a beat up pickup truck, so she must have figured something out.
- [77:49]
Renny Harlin
Well, you and Harrison Ford both started in carpentry and look what happened.
- [77:53]
Adam Carolla
I've always wanted to challenge him to a little carpentry competition. I feel like I could beat that man. But okay, so what gets you out of the garage?
- [78:07]
Renny Harlin
That was literally that. I got a job. I had made one movie in Finland and I desperately tried to get people to watch that. And then one producer watched that and gave me another job. I mean, I make it sound like it happened in a month, but it took like two years. And it was a movie called Prison and it was a little horror film that took place in a prison. And the producer was Irving Yablanz, who was a very famous producer. He discovered John Carpenter and he produced Halloween. And when he took me on his 80 foot yacht, he would say, halloween bought me this yacht. And of course I was starting to think, like, oh my goodness, what is prison going to buy for all of us? Well, it bought nothing because it didn't get released. But. But I made Prison and then I had Prison. I had a little $1.1 million budgeted horror film. And I showed it to New Line Cinema. They were producing 91 Elm street and after seven meetings where they threw me out of the. They finally gave up thought that I was so persistent that they should let me take over their franchise. And that's how I got the job.
- [79:18]
Adam Carolla
I gotta say, I always bring it up, but Cliffhanger, One of my favorite Randy Harlan films. Lots of good stuff going on in that film. First off, from a visual standpoint, just exquisite. I mean, you should just. You could watch that movie with the sound down and just look at those mountains and peaks and snow. Visually pretty amazing film. And then, you know, Lithgow being the heavy was good. Like it was just a lot of the female heavy was great in that. Rooker and Stallone it just. It was also. It was, you know, it kind of toggled back and forth between a kind of Stallone y kind of almost cartoony movie and then real, you know, very grounded kind of movie. Now, sometimes Stallone, it just becomes a cartoon or not. But this one sort of had both those elements in it.
- [80:17]
Renny Harlin
Well, I'm glad you noticed that because that was a real important point for me. And actually, I had envisioned. We just talked about Harrison Ford. I had envisioned Harrison Ford as the star of the movie because I wanted the movie to be very real and very grounded. You know, action spectacle, but real. And the studio wanted Stallone. I didn't want him. They talked me into hiring him. I had a meeting with him. I had a lunch with him. And I said to him, I don't want to hire you. I'm sorry. I respect you. You've done great movies. But you are Rambo. You are cartoony to a certain extent where no one will believe that you can ever fail. So from the get go, all I have to work with is the spectacle, but not the human aspect.
- [81:06]
Adam Carolla
You brought up a very interesting point, which is no one will believe you can fail. Which is kind of interesting because it's true. It's almost James Bondi Old James Bond. He's in a cage. He's being lowered into an alligator pit. And you're thinking to yourself, he's gonna get him, though. He's gonna get him. And you're like, you can't do that as a viewer. You have to think, he's gonna get killed by alligators.
- [81:30]
Renny Harlin
Totally. And to get over that, I rewrote the opening of the movie. The original opening scene of the movie was that Stallone's character climbs a mountain to rescue a wounded eagle. The poor eagle can't fly, and bravely he climbs up, rescues the eagle, puts it inside his jacket, takes the eagle down to the ranger station and brings it back to health. That was the opening of the movie. I'm like, okay, we got to change this. And this was over lunch with Stallone, and I said, we gotta. We gotta change this so that you're not rescuing an eagle, you're rescuing a girl. And Stallone says, that's a great idea. Rescuing a chick is much better than rescuing a, you know, bird is a bird, but chick is much better. I'm like, yeah, there's just one. But you're gonna fail and the girl is going to fall and die. He's like, so I'm gonna rescue the girl, but the girl dies. Like, yep. That's what we gotta do. And he looked at me and then he cracked a smile and he said, well, you're the boss if you. That's what you wanna do. You know, we gotta do that. And I said, you know, we got to do that to bring you down to earth. And in the opening scene of the movie, tell the audience that you're a real person. And we did it. And the opening worked really well. And, And. And the. Then the movie flowed from there.
- [82:48]
Adam Carolla
Yeah, I could still see him hanging onto his glove, hanging off, and I don't know how much. There wasn't any CGI or anything back then and AI and all that stuff. How did you shoot that scene?
- [83:02]
Renny Harlin
We shot it for real. And the casting of the girl for the opening scene was a real interesting process because, you know, normally, you know, producers told me, like, yeah, we'll just get some cast, some good actor, and. And then have a stunt woman do the fall. I'm like, no, it's. It's got to be the same woman. They're okay, well, we'll get a stunt woman who can act. I'm like, okay, well, all the respect. I think we need an actor who wants to be a stunt woman and not the other way around. And so. So we would put the word out to young actors saying, like, if you want this so badly that you're willing to do this fall in the Italian Alps at 8,000ft, fall 500ft, free fall on this tiny, tiny thin wire, then you have a chance. And then we have a bunch of people come in and they read. And then Michelle Joyner, this young actress, walked in, did the scene. Casting director was standing on a chair. Michelle was lying on the floor. They're holding hands. And she goes. She looks at the camera. She's like, please don't let me die. I don't want to die. And we are all in tears watching this performance. I'm like, that's the girl. I call Stallone. He flies in, runs in, drives in. And we do the scene with him and Michelle. And Stallone is in tears. And I'm like, we got the opening of the movie, and that was Michelle never done stunt work. We went to the Italian Alps. The peaks were so small that you could land one skid of the helicopter on the peak, take the actor out there, rig her into the wire, take her out there, Stallone and her. And cameras and everything floating in the air, helicopters and this and that, 8,000ft off the ground. And we did it for real. And that's why it looks so good.
- [84:42]
Adam Carolla
Yeah, it's. I mean, it's hard to substitute for real. And that was real. It was also a time when things were analog. Like when you were in the theater, you knew they did this because there wasn't any other way to do this but that. And it was, it was super effective and just a, just a, just a fun, A fun film. That was a good film and like I said, had the sort of right amounts of all the elements. There's sometimes when films get too big, they get sort of cartoony and then, you know, you kind of lose interest in them. But this was not said all. And so how much of that was written by you and how much of that was the loan stuff?
- [85:30]
Renny Harlin
It was really a collaboration. We had a script and then I worked with Sly in making it exactly what we wanted it to be. So it was a collaboration. Sly physically did a lot of the writing, but it was. All of it was result of us spending a lot of long nights together and just going through line by line and figuring out, what does everybody say? What do they do? Blah, blah, blah. Because I also wanted the villains to be interesting and multilayered because to me, in an action movie, the hero is only as good as the villain. If the villain is weak mentally or physically or whatever, then, you know, the hero doesn't need to do much to beat them up. So we wanted to have an interesting villain. And you mentioned John Lithgow. So I think we really showed that we wanted to go with somebody who is, I mean, physically he's a big guy, but he's mentally challenging.
- [86:26]
Adam Carolla
Rosetta Stone. Well, and maybe you're traveling or maybe you're just sitting around the pool, the lazy days. Either way, why not use that downtime to actually learn something useful like a new language? Rosetta Stone makes it easy. I mean, imagine going on vacation and actually being able to order food without pointing at the menu like a caveman. That's called progress, folks. This is a great experience and it's very user friendly. And like I said, Dr. Drew speaks very fluent French, but not so much with his wife. And they're going to France and he got a Rosetta Stone and she got hooked up and she went there and spoke like a local. And he never stops bragging about it. Rosetta Stone's been the gold standard for 30 years. Millions of people, 25 languages. Their true accent tech actually helps you sound less like a Taurus and more like you know what you're doing. And it's all in bite sized lessons. Fits your schedule and you can use it on your phone or your desktop. So no excuses. It's Rosetta Stone, right? Dawson?
- [87:38]
Mike Dawson
Don't wait. Unlock your language learning potential now. Adam Carollisho listeners can grab Rosetta Stone's lifetime members membership for 50 off. That's unlimited access to 25 language courses for life. Visit RosettaStone.com Adam to get started and claim your 50 off today. Don't miss out. Go to Rosetta Stone.com Adam and start learning today.
- [87:57]
Ad Read / Promo Voice
This September, CBS Hits are streaming free on Pluto TV.
- [88:01]
I'm coming in.
- [88:02]
For this month only you can watch full seasons of the CBS shows you love. From the courtroom drama of Matlock to the heroics of Fire Country. Go back to where it all began in NCIS origins, or watch the hilarious hauntings of ghosts, all for free. Full seasons of the CBS shows you love this month only on Pluto tv. Stream now. Pay never.
- [88:29]
Adam Carolla
Yeah, look, you had this sort of international all star team of villains. You had Lithgow. We had a woman it guys from different parts, you know, and different tribes and ethnicities. Like it was a. You had the, the. Well, I don't know. I don't know. It would be the villain. But the, you know, the, the bald guy with the mustache. He was sort of in on the heist in the first place. The guy, the insider, Rex Lynn. That guy was real good. Yeah, in it too, because he just sort of fell right into that role. I believe. Believe that guy.
- [89:06]
Renny Harlin
Immediately we actually became very good friends. And many, many years, we were just the best friends.
- [89:13]
Adam Carolla
Oh, really?
- [89:14]
Renny Harlin
Yeah. Yeah. And he went on to do like one of those CSI Miami things. He was on those shows for years and years and years. Everybody's seen his face.
- [89:25]
Adam Carolla
I had a weird situation I was looking in and I want to ask Andrew in the other room to look this up. Well, you'll tell me. But we were doing a deep dive on an actress and she was the Canadian actress that was in Driven, which was supposed to be an F1 movie. Ended up being an indie movie, I guess. I did talk to Stallone about it once at a party he still seems angry about. Did not come out the way he wanted it to come out. You directed that, right? And the woman in that, the love interest, was Estella Warren. Estella Warren. And we were like sitting backstage at some club somewhere playing shows, being bored. And we just started looking into her. She was very beautiful and she was an Olympic water dancer or something. And I said, oh, that's interesting because in the movie Driven, they had a scene where she was in the pool. And that was probably you going, hey, you got this skillset? Do it. Let's let you do this if you're an Olympic caliper. Synchronized water swimmer, Right? So that was in. And I was telling everybody, and then everyone's like, God, she's so beautiful. And then we started doing a deep dive on her, and she fought cops and got arrested and got into all kinds of. If you look her up, her story is insane. I don't know if you followed with her or knew any of this stuff.
- [91:00]
Renny Harlin
I don't know any of that stuff.
- [91:02]
Adam Carolla
If you read her IMDb or bio or whatever, some fought cops a couple of times. Now when I hear this, I just hear, oh, she liked to drink. You know what I mean? That was the story. That's what I heard. Starred in Planet of the Apes, the remake, and then just not much after that. Whoa. But an interesting thing in Driven, there's a scene where they steal the IndyCar after doing a big gala at night, and they take off and they go down the street, and they're going so fast that the manhole cover comes flying off on the road. And as a car guy, I look at that and I go, oh, come on, that could never happen. And then later, about two years ago, F1 goes to Vegas and something very similar happens. And then I go, just like in Driven. And everyone else looks at me and goes, we don't know what you're talking about. Oh, that's so sad.
- [92:05]
Renny Harlin
Yeah, Driven is the story of my life. And, you know, looking at now at F1, I'm like, you know, we're supposed to make that movie.
- [92:14]
Adam Carolla
Oh, oh, the Brad Pitt movie. All right, wait, I have her rap sheet. And then we'll get back. She was arrested in Los Angeles after she allegedly hit three parked cars with her Toyota Prius and then fled the scene. Police eventually found her and arrested her for driving under the influence of alcohol. During her arrest, she allegedly kicked an officer and resisted being handcuffed. Later, at the police station where she was being arrested and booked, she managed to slip out of her cuffs and run and was quickly captured.
- [92:55]
Renny Harlin
Well, at least she had a Toyota Prius.
- [92:59]
Adam Carolla
She's helping the environment. In 2017, she was arrested for domestic violence after allegedly throwing cleaning fluid at her boyfriend.
- [93:09]
Renny Harlin
Dirty bastard.
- [93:11]
Adam Carolla
She was pretty feisty, this one. Did you find her to be that way on the set? No, no.
- [93:17]
Renny Harlin
I'm completely shocked. And, you know, she was. I mean, she came from the world of athletics. I mean, to get to Olympics in anything Let alone that kind of synchronized swimming. It's a really tough sport. And she was, you know, also exploring the acting world. And we came across her and we thought she was beautiful and a new face for a movie, and we really liked her and she did a great job. And I didn't see any of this. I don't know how this happens, you know, I mean. And she was a nice Canadian girl. So I guess for some people, this, you know, we talked about a little bit about LA and Hollywood. Like, maybe the grind is just so hard that for, you know, some people crack. And I feel bad for that.
- [94:04]
Adam Carolla
Yeah, it's. It's. I would, you know, getting back to everybody and the broken dreams, not doing what you want to do for a long period of time and maybe a lifetime is a frustrating way to go. I knew guys when I was a carpenter. When I was a carpenter, I didn't want to be a carpenter. I wanted to be a comedian. And I was always unhappy on the construction side because I didn't want to be there. I had to be there to get paid. But I didn't like it and I wanted to be somewhere else doing something else. And not only that, but carpentry was the exact opposite of comedy, which is. It was early mornings, it was dusty, it was dirty. No one was funny. There wasn't anybody. There was no class clown. Half people didn't speak English. The white dudes weren't funny at all. And it was like serious and physical.
- [95:02]
Renny Harlin
That's very creative.
- [95:04]
Adam Carolla
Not at all. I just sat there, bored and uncreative. It was uncreative. I wanted to be at night with a beer and laughing at a club with guys, you know, and this wasn't any. It was the opposite of that. So I was very uncomfortable. But there were guys, I realized who liked being carpenters. They didn't have aspirations to be anything else. They kind of knew that they weren't going to be stars or screenwriters or comedians. They were carpenters and they were pretty happy about it. They didn't seem to be troubled or plagued or upset. They were just there to work and they did their work. They took pride in their work and they seem at peace with it. So the most tormented. You can be a carpenter, just be happy about being a carpenter. You can be a waiter, just be happy about being a waiter. Or you can be a screenwriter or a comedian and you could be happy. What you can't be is a. A waiter who wants to be a screenwriter and be happy.
- [96:04]
Renny Harlin
You're so right. And you know I gotta tell you something. I don't think you know this, but I have a podcast in Finland with my wife. We live in Miami. We don't live in Finland, but we're doing this podcast in Finland, and we talk about a lot of topics like this, you know, about dreams and happiness and all that. We're just talking about this thing that when you wake up in the morning, if you're frustrated with what you're doing and you don't want to do it, and you go to a job that you hate. We understand people have to make money and, you know, provide for their family and everything, but could you at the same time, start maybe kind of trying to direct your path a little bit more toward what you would like, even if it's a hobby first, but do something. Don't just say, like, I hate my life. Everything sucks. I hate everything, but do something about it.
- [96:52]
Adam Carolla
Well, I have a little remedy that's different than what you're saying, but I did it myself, and it worked for me. And I would suggest everyone do this, and the person will be happy. Er, but so will all of us who interact with that person will be happier as well, which is at a certain point, after being a carpenter or working in that world for five years, you know, 50 hours a week, I sort of realized, well, maybe this dream of comedy is not gonna come to fruition. I may just be doing this for the rest of my time. So I actually had a conscious thought, which is, start acting like a good carpenter. Get organized. Be prompt. Get your tools in order. With carpentry, it's real easy just to have all your tools kind of spread out in the bed of your truck and start wrapping up your cords. Put the bits with the bits and the screw, screw tips with the screw tips. And, like, get your shit together as a carpenter. You can go take all the groundlings classes you want at night and do all the open mics you want at night. But your day job as carpenter, that's for this foreseeable future. That's your job now. Why don't you start getting serious about it and be professional? And I immediately got happier. That's great advice, because I was like, I'm tired of moping around as a carpenter all day. I'm gonna. This is what you're doing now. Do it the best you can do. That's it. Waiter, carpenter, Uber driver, I don't care. You don't wanna be there? Fine, you're there. So don't mope, do it. And I got better as a Carpenter. And I got sort of happier because I was more satisfied. Cause I felt like I was doing better work. And then I didn't say put the comedy dreams on hold or anything. I just said, this is what you do during the day. At night, you go hang out with your comedy buddies and. And work for free.
- [98:57]
Renny Harlin
And as a result, you got successful in what you wanted to get successful in, because you grabbed life by the walls and did your best.
- [99:05]
Adam Carolla
Yeah, I mean, it didn't mean I was gonna be successful as a comedian. It just meant I wasn't gonna be moping around as a carpenter. You know, like, you have these people that are your waiter, but they clearly don't wanna be there. And it's like, all right, now we're both miserable. And you do. There is a psychological phenomenon that takes place that when you take some pride in what you're doing, even if it's not what you want to be doing, it's more satisfying.
- [99:31]
Renny Harlin
Absolutely. And I always. When I hire, for example, an assistant to work for me, I say, okay, today you're an assistant, and you're making photocopies or you're organizing something, or you're making a list of my calls. Do the best job anybody's ever done doing that, because that'll get noticed. And, you know, you might be an assistant for a month or six months or for a year or two years, but ultimately it will get noticed that you are the best in doing this. And then you'll get to the next step. But if you're like, oh, I'm just doing this crap now, and I'm just gonna do it with my left hand because I want to get to the next step, then you'll never get there.
- [100:09]
Adam Carolla
So, yeah, Driven was supposed to be F1. Ended up being indie. Stallone has regrets. Maybe you do as well. And then these indie movies come out. You get Rush, which I enjoyed quite a bit. And you get the F1 1 and Brad Pitt, and everyone goes nuts over that thing. And now all of a sudden, you can do F1 movies. I don't know. Was it a clearance thing back then?
- [100:35]
Renny Harlin
Yeah, it's a really long story. Sly and I were good friends. We were both huge racing fans, and we went to all these Formula One races. And, you know, this was whatever, 25 years ago. And at that point, Formula One was not that well known in America. And so it was an uphill battle to get it financed and everything. But we did get some financing together, and then we went to F1, and we wanted to do this Movie. But there was a guy whose name is Bernie Ecclestone, who was the head of F1 at that point.
- [101:06]
Adam Carolla
He owned it. Yeah.
- [101:07]
Renny Harlin
And at the last minute, because somebody said a wrong word or somebody didn't put enough money under the table or whatever it was, he just said, like, actually, you're not doing this. And then we were left there, like, movie half prepped, everything, kind of planned, everything there, money there. And we can't use the word Formula One, and we can't use their cars, we can't use their tracks or any of it. So then we did this sort of a bastardized version of Indycars that kind of act like F1 cars, because we couldn't let go of that dream. And. And we did the movie. And it's. I think it's kind of an example of one of those situations where you. You make a movie kind of for wrong reasons because it's something you love. It's like, if you love golfing, it doesn't mean that you should make a movie about golfing. So it just didn't. I don't think it's a terrible movie. And when I look at now, the Formula One movie, F1, the movie, I see a lot of same shots there and same approach, but it's just, you know, 10 times bigger budget, 10 times better script, big stars, and the full collaboration of F1. All those tracks, all the cars, everything. And, you know, the drivers. And drivers. And of course, you know, fantastic, skillful filmmakers and all that. But I would be lying if it didn't have. If it didn't hurt me in my heart a little bit that we couldn't make that dream reality. And we made a movie that we know is inferior, but sometimes it happens.
- [102:40]
Adam Carolla
Yeah. It's a feeling of having an invention and kind of going, I got an idea for an invention. And then 20 years later, somebody has that invention and they're getting all the money and the praise and stuff. And you just think, man, I had that. That's what. I had that idea back then. You know what I mean? But I'm not getting the praise and I'm not getting the checks, but that was my idea.
- [103:05]
Renny Harlin
You're talking about the guys who decided not to invest in Facebook.
- [103:10]
Adam Carolla
So for you, and you and Stallone end up sort of parting ways. I think last time we talked, there was a little friction there.
- [103:19]
Renny Harlin
Yeah, it was unfortunate. We were super good friends. That movie, you know, killed our bromance because studio wanted one type of a movie, Stallone wanted one type of a movie, and I was hired by the studio, so I had to be loyal to them. They were my employer. There was no other option. But then I kind of took the brunt of the blame. That the movie wasn't exactly what Sly wanted it to be.
- [103:43]
Adam Carolla
Uh huh. He couldn't sort of wrap his mind around that concept. Cause I do feel like he of all people should understand that that's sort of how things work. Right.
- [103:56]
Renny Harlin
I know it's unfortunate and over the years I've tried to kind of reach out and touch him, but he wouldn't have any of it. So he's that kind of a person who is like either your friends or you're not.
- [104:11]
Adam Carolla
Well, the people that I know that are kind of alpha types, they love people and then they hate people, but they don't really have in between people. They're either very much in love with people and very big fans of people, or they hate them. And I'm sort of live in the middle. I'm sort of. That guy's all right, not so bad, you know, Like, I don't get where the energy comes from with a lot of people, but I think it's a characteristic, like it's an alpha type.
- [104:48]
Renny Harlin
I agree. And I think it's a little bit of a ego thing where with these kind of people who can be extremely intelligent and extremely powerful and successful, but either you are in their orbit and you circle in that orbit and you toe the line always. And if you, if you go a little bit off track, then you can, you can become the bad guy.
- [105:13]
Adam Carolla
Yeah, I mean, it's a little biblical, like you're either for me or you're against me. And they have a thing where it's like, if you're not for me, then you must be against me. And I'm always like. There's a third option which is really not caring and just kind of wanting to get the fuck on with life, you know. But they have an ego thinking you're gunning for them or, you know, they internalize everything. But I mean, that's what makes him fun when times are good too. Right?
- [105:39]
Renny Harlin
Super. I remember Thanksgiving at the Stallone house, sitting next to his brother and his mother and his daughters and his wife and eating turkey and cracking jokes and watching Frank Stallone play the guitar. And those were great times because you were part of the family.
- [105:54]
Adam Carolla
Frank is an interesting character and I enjoy Frank quite a bit. I just thought he was kind of fun. It's a weird, I don't know, burden or position for him to be in in life. You know what I mean? Like that. Constantly trying to kind of claim your own station and mantle and explaining to people why you belong and all that kind of stuff. But fun. I've always found the guy.
- [106:20]
Renny Harlin
I like fun.
- [106:21]
Adam Carolla
Found the guy fun. And mom seems a little crazy.
- [106:25]
Renny Harlin
Whose mom isn't crazy?
- [106:28]
Adam Carolla
That's a good point. So I'm gonna give you a plug here. The Strangers Chapter 2. What part of Florida are you in, by the way?
- [106:38]
Renny Harlin
Miami.
- [106:39]
Adam Carolla
Oh, nice. Yeah. Last time we're talking about getting out there, looking at some of those cars and checking things out. Your people are telling me you got a lunch appointment.
- [106:54]
Renny Harlin
So it doesn't matter.
- [106:55]
Adam Carolla
It doesn't matter.
- [106:56]
Renny Harlin
I'll be late. You wanna talk, we talk.
- [106:58]
Adam Carolla
Oh, look at you. That wasn't a ploy to get you to stay longer. But I'll meet you a little in between. Let's see, you're married to Geena Davis, right?
- [107:11]
Renny Harlin
I was.
- [107:12]
Adam Carolla
I find her to be. She seems like one of the most attractive people on the planet. And the reason I say that is like people go, they'll say like Jennifer Aniston or someone like that. And I've talked to Jennifer Aniston at Kimmel's parties and stuff. And she's cute, but she's not striking. You know what I mean? At some point you can't be under five' five and have a B cup and be that. You gotta be a little taller. You gotta have a little more. Geena Davis to me is amazing and great. There's a great actress. You guys have kids together?
- [107:55]
Renny Harlin
No.
- [107:56]
Adam Carolla
Oh, I think I must have brought stuff because last time I was here I was like, what a genetic duo you guys made. Both tall, striking looking people. It's a shame. Maybe not too late, I don't know. But it's a shame you guys didn't have any kids.
- [108:13]
Renny Harlin
Yeah, we had our time and she's, you know, I mean, she's. What makes person also attractive is when they are intelligent and talented. So she's an amazing person. But we had our time in the 90s and then we moved on and now my life is incredible. I have an incredible wife. I have a three and a half year old and a one and a half year old.
- [108:38]
Adam Carolla
Wow.
- [108:39]
Renny Harlin
My life is perfect now.
- [108:41]
Adam Carolla
You're 66, you're in great shape. But that's still old for that. Did you have to. Did you use a surrogate? Did you have to. Was there science involved?
- [108:52]
Renny Harlin
No science. We did the old fashioned.
- [108:54]
Adam Carolla
Really?
- [108:55]
Renny Harlin
Yeah, it was easy. It was very pleasant. Yeah. Hey, 66 is the new 40.
- [109:02]
Adam Carolla
Yeah. I mean, I guess I was trying to think Anthony Quinn had a kid at 81 or 82 or something like that. Didn't Tony Randall had a kid?
- [109:14]
Renny Harlin
Didn't Robert De Niro just have a kid?
- [109:17]
Adam Carolla
Yeah, I think Robert De Niro.
- [109:19]
Renny Harlin
Didn't Mick Jagger or somebody like that have a kid, too?
- [109:22]
Adam Carolla
It is, I guess it's a lot more about the age of the partner than the age. You know, it's the roller skates age, not the keys age. If you do the.
- [109:32]
Renny Harlin
Exactly.
- [109:34]
Adam Carolla
You do the math. So for you, you seem very content and at ease and comfortable in your station. And I don't know, because you were the king of the huge blockbusters and everything like that. And Hollywood's one of those things just like up and down and up and down and up and down. But then, I don't know, at a certain point, maybe a maturity kicks in and you sort of learn to appreciate. Just get back to your roots or your basics or. I don't. I don't know how to describe where you're at.
- [110:14]
Renny Harlin
Yeah, I think for a lot of people, Hollywood can be a rollercoaster ride. And it's how you take those. Those twists and turns and dips and highs. And I've been through a lot. I've had big hit films and some not so big. I lived in China for six years now. I've been back for about five years in the Hollywood swing of things. I don't live here. I live in Miami, which I love. And things are just going fantastic. And I think it all started right after Covid, or sort of during COVID when I met my future wife and I found a purpose in my life. I'd been working hard, living hard, but in a way drifting like I didn't have something solid. I had a lot of dreams about that, and it came true. For me, it was always about having a family, having something that will leave a kind of a legacy for me. And now having these kids, it's everything to me. And it just makes me work harder. It makes me feel more grounded, at ease, relaxed, inspired, motivated, and as a result, just work hard. Keeps coming to me. I have four movies coming out next year, really theatrical movies next year. And now I have Strangers two Chapter two coming out in a week.
- [111:36]
Adam Carolla
Unbelievable. Renny Harlan. I'll let you get to lunch, but it's always great catching up with you. Likewise, and appreciate you taking the time. Steve Wilkos, you can check out his NBC shows on the affiliates as well. You can go down kroll.com for all the live shows where I'm doing standup. And until next time, Adam for Ranny and Steve and Dawson saying Mahala, pick.
- [112:06]
Mike Dawson
Up your phone, leave us a voicemail. The number is 888-634-1744 and get tickets to see the Ace man@adam corolla.com.
- [112:20]
Adam Carolla
Foreign.
- [112:27]
Ad Read / Promo Voice
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