Jerry O'Connell | Club Random with Bill Maher

Summary

Club Random with Bill Maher

Episode: Jerry O'Connell | March 16, 2026

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Overview

Bill Maher welcomes actor Jerry O’Connell for a lively, meandering conversation at Club Random. The episode delivers classic Club Random energy: freewheeling anecdotes, backstage confessions, and a recurring comedic riff on weed, aging, family, show business, anxiety, and the pitfalls of Hollywood’s culture. O'Connell shares tales from his long career, often with self-deprecating wit; Maher counters with signature skepticism and wry observations about the entertainment business, social trends, and popular culture. While politics is mostly sidestepped, issues like woke culture, gender, parenting, and California’s urban struggles bubble to the surface.

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Key Discussion Points and Insights

1. Jerry O’Connell’s Early Career & The "Stand By Me" Breakthrough

• Stand By Me memory: Jerry's father discouraged him from telling anyone about the film, assuming it would never be released.

  “When I made Stand By Me... My father, I told you he’s British, went: ‘Don’t tell anyone you were in a movie. This film will never be released.’”
  — Jerry, [02:20]

• Rob Reiner’s direction fundamentally changed Jerry’s self-acceptance as a hyperactive kid, giving him permission to be himself:

  “Rob Reiner goes, ‘Jerry, more of that. That’s what I’m talking about.’... I replay that moment about 15 times a day in my head.”
  — Jerry, [35:00–36:00]

• Maher and O’Connell swap stories about being "class clowns" and struggling with authority.

2. Hollywood Tales: Movies, Typecasting, and Self-Image

• Jerry recounts acting with Bill in Tomcats (2000):
  • Jerry jokes about the perks Bill got as a guest star versus his own lower-billed status.

  “They flew you privately. ...You said, ‘Did they send you the jet?’ … If by sent me the jet you mean Spirit Airlines.”
  — Jerry, [07:35]

• Maher reflects on his “B-movie” past with movies like DC Cab and Cannibal Women in the Avocado Jungle of Death.

  “…People to this day say, ‘Hey, DC Cab.’... I’ve gone on to other things.”
  — Maher, [11:51]

• Jerry calls DC Cab a classic and gently mocks Bill’s embarrassment about his earlier acting roles.

3. Navigating Showbiz Ups and Downs: Managers, Rejection, and Resilience

• Jerry on TV cancellations and career resilience:

  "...if you can figure out how to make this the fun part, looking for the next one, it'll be a fun career for you."
  — Jerry quoting his manager, [13:39]

• Maher recounts missing out on a TV part (Mr. Mom) and the resulting despair, joking about “nipple babies” and showbiz nepotism ([14:46]).
• Both men agree that perseverance is key in their industry and poke fun at generational anxieties.

4. Parenting, Marriage, & Living with Fame

• Jerry shares personal details about his marriage to Rebecca Romijn (previously married to John Stamos), blending humor and candor about family dynamics and his daughters.

  “The only time my wife... touches me is if my wife takes a hit off that pen.”
  — Jerry, [04:30]

• Discussion of being a public-school parent, calling on Malcolm Gladwell’s writing as influence ([20:40]).
• The awkward moment of introducing his daughters to “Uncle Jesse” from Full House (their mom’s ex-husband), and how kids process parental pasts ([44:03]).
• Jerry candidly discusses parenting anxieties and efforts to not raise entitled “Nepo babies” in Calabasas.

5. Modern Culture, Wokeness, and Generational Shifts

• Woke culture, anxiety, and ‘woke’ overreach are a recurring motif.
• Maher critiques extremes of inclusion—e.g., girls in Boy Scouts, policies on homelessness ([37:28–40:50]).

  “The pendulum never stops in the middle in America…”
  — Maher, [36:10]

• Jerry balances Maher’s critiques with a left-leaning, pragmatic approach, often referencing his wife’s and daughters’ perspectives.
• Distinction between “old-school liberals” and new generational politics.

6. Calabasas, Kardashians, and Celebrity Encounters

• Jerry details a “Kardashian parking lot” run-in as a mini morality play about privilege ([62:03]):

  “These people are fucking monsters. Taking up three spaces like this... Whoever did this is a monster.”
  — Jerry, [62:03]

• When the offender is Kourtney Kardashian, Jerry reverses and instructs his daughter not to confront celebrity hierarchy.

7. Drugs, Parties, and 21st-Century Vices

• Ongoing banter about marijuana (Jerry never smokes, but Maher keeps blowing smoke his way for laughs); modern party drug scene, the rise of “Unicorn Spray” acid, mom microdosing, and ayahuasca trends ([66:01–67:53]).
• Discussion on generational drug use and their own choices (Maher no longer interested, Jerry never a drug guy, more into booze growing up).

8. The State of California and Urban Life

• Personal stories from Jerry’s gritty 1980s NYC upbringing, comparing it to LA’s present-day woes ([49:51–53:54]).
• Both affirm love for LA despite its problems; debate on guns, safety, and why they choose California for lifestyle and politics.

9. Hollywood’s Political & Social Climate

• Frustration with industry politics: Emmys and critical snubbing of shows like Taylor Sheridan’s Landman due to perceived conservatism ([58:01–59:24]).

  “They will not nominate that show because it’s perceived as a conservative show... This is America, you assholes.”
  — Maher, [58:50]

• Resentment at Hollywood’s echo chamber and award show biases.

10. Jerry O’Connell Live Tour – "Stand By Me"

• Jerry plugs an upcoming live tour with Stand By Me castmates, sharing the emotional resonance of performing for audiences since director Rob Reiner’s passing ([77:27–79:11]).

  “We screen the film... we take questions and we just talk. ...It’s very emotional.”
  — Jerry, [78:12–78:20]

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments (with Timestamps)

• On Working With Bill Maher:
  “Bill, I want to say you were a great acting partner. You had a lot of dialogue. You probably don’t even remember it. You were so great with all your lines.” — Jerry, [07:59]

• On Nepo Babies and Parenting Fame:
  “Our one goal as parents is to make sure we're not raising fucking Nepo babies who are entitled.”
  — Jerry, [55:42]

• On Family and Self-Acceptance:
  “Rob Reiner goes, ‘More of that, Jerry. ...And I replay that moment about 15 times a day in my head.’”
  — Jerry, [35:00–36:00]

• On Gender & Boy Scouts:
  “Boy Scouts now have girls in them. I think this is ridiculous. It’s called the Boy Scouts… There’s a reason why we sometimes separate boys and girls.”
  — Maher, [36:10]

• On Generational Change:
  “We're all a different person in every decade of our life. Wouldn't you agree? …Is that anything like Jerry today?”
  — Maher, [98:35]

• On Keeping Hollywood Honest:
  “You do need both parties to keep each other honest... we have crazy laws in California. Like if you shoot somebody breaking into your house, it might be you who goes to jail.”
  — Maher, [49:03]

• On Award Shows and Woke Town:
  “I had such a good speech but I knew...I can't believe this woke town gave me an award.”
  — Maher, [96:24]

• On Public School Parenting:
  “I really adhere to that, you know, and it’s great. ...Malcolm Gladwell really turned me onto the public education thing.”
  — Jerry, [20:46]

• On Woke Fatigue:
  "You're not Rosa Parks. ...You're just like trying to be this sort of social justice warrior. And there's no war that needs to happen here."
  — Maher, [37:47]

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Important Segment Timestamps

• [02:20] — Jerry’s father’s skepticism about Stand By Me
• [07:10–08:30] — Tomcats memories and on-set hierarchy
• [13:25–15:30] — On being dropped, managers, and bouncing back
• [22:13–23:36] — The impact of Stand By Me, childhood insecurities
• [35:00–36:09] — Rob Reiner’s encouragement, the power of validation
• [36:10–40:14] — Wokeness, gender issues, and generational conflict
• [44:03–45:24] — Parenting, explaining family history to kids
• [53:25–55:35] — 1980s NYC, growing up in rough times
• [61:44–64:07] — The Kardashian parking lot story
• [77:27–79:11] — Jerry plugs Stand By Me Live tour
• [87:10–89:12] — Modern TV: Landman, Taylor Sheridan, and industry politics
• [96:24–96:33] — Why Maher will never win an Emmy, and his intended acceptance speech

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Tone & Style

• Laid-back, unscripted banter
• Shameless self-deprecation and showbiz inside jokes
• Unfiltered talk, candid and occasionally irreverent
• Self-aware handling of woke culture and generational divides

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Final Thoughts

This episode exemplifies "Club Random": it’s unpredictable, raw, and performed for both laughs and catharsis. Jerry O'Connell and Bill Maher dissect personal, professional, and social anxieties—with humility and humor. Both men expose their vulnerabilities, making for a compelling listen. The episode never stays on one topic for long, jumping organically from showbiz confessions and family gags to culture war skirmishes and gentle jabs at LA’s most privileged. Whether you’re a fan of Hollywood nostalgia, comedy, or cultural commentary, the episode is rich in memorable moments and keen insight.

Transcript

[Bill Maher]

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[Jerry O'Connell]

When I made Stand By Me and My Father, I told you he's British. Went, don't tell anyone you were in a movie. This film will never be released.

[Bill Maher]

Club Random. I mean, I had such a good speech, but I knew, Give it to us.

[Jerry O'Connell]

Come on, give us a little bit.

[Bill Maher]

I think the first thing I was gonna say was Club Random.

[Jerry O'Connell]

There he is.

[Bill Maher]

Who'd you think it was? Who else is even gonna walk through that door. It's not like the old Dean Martin show where they were surprised when it was, oh, look, it's Ella Fitzgerald. You remember the old Dean Martin show?

[Jerry O'Connell]

Vaguely. I mean, a little bit.

[Bill Maher]

Yeah. He only came in one day a week. You know, he didn't know. Zero rehearsal. So everything was a surprise. Yeah. So he would go into this one segment of the show where he got with his piano player, and then there was a door, and he didn't know who it was. And it was always, every look, it's Sammy Davis.

[Jerry O'Connell]

Oh, right, right, right. Oh, and he would be surprised.

[Bill Maher]

Yes.

[Jerry O'Connell]

Yeah, that's cool.

[Bill Maher]

The whole show was a surprise to him.

[Jerry O'Connell]

The algorithm gives me a big clip of him singing with this really talented, I think, Brazilian singer doing like a. What do you mean?

[Bill Maher]

The Albari.

[Jerry O'Connell]

The algorithm. Instagram. Like, when I'm scrolling. I spend a lot of time on Instagram, Bill. I have a goal on this show.

[Bill Maher]

What's that?

[Jerry O'Connell]

I want you to get higher than you've ever been. On any episode, I want you to blow it in my face.

[Bill Maher]

Well, on any episode that is. That's not gonna happen. I mean, I've had Woody Harrelson and Quentin Tarantino here, and they both are ridiculous, but I'll be happy to blow it in your face while you don't smoke it yourself.

[Jerry O'Connell]

I don't smoke it myself, but listen, I live with someone who smokes. Yeah, Vapes, actually.

[Bill Maher]

Your wife.

[Jerry O'Connell]

My wife.

[Bill Maher]

Yeah.

[Jerry O'Connell]

Okay.

[Bill Maher]

Is that what we're calling it now? Rebecca Romij.

[Jerry O'Connell]

Rebecca Romijn.

[Bill Maher]

Yes.

[Jerry O'Connell]

Look it up. Supermodel actress. Very successful actress.

[Bill Maher]

Yes, we know who she is.

[Jerry O'Connell]

We've come to see you live.

[Bill Maher]

Yes, right.

[Jerry O'Connell]

The only time my wife finds me appealing, finds me entertaining, finds me attractive, this is not. Is intimate with me.

[Bill Maher]

Why would she marry me?

[Jerry O'Connell]

The only time my wife. What's the word? Touches me is if my wife takes a hit off that pen.

[Bill Maher]

Oh, I see.

[Jerry O'Connell]

So, you know, that's.

[Bill Maher]

First of all, I'm sure that's not true. You look great. I mean, you really aged well. You really have. You look great. Thank you.

[Jerry O'Connell]

You as well. Back at you.

[Bill Maher]

And she obviously married you. And how long have you been together? Like, a long time now.

[Jerry O'Connell]

We've been together over 20 years.

[Bill Maher]

20 years.

[Jerry O'Connell]

My wife was previously married to Club Random fans. Your guest, John Stamos.

[Bill Maher]

I came up. My wife watched.

[Jerry O'Connell]

We watched the whole thing from beginning to end. Someone suggested to me today a comedian whose initials are Howie Mandela that I get into this podcast game that John Stamos and I have a call in relationship show.

[Bill Maher]

Now, this is because you and he had beef because you were with the same woman.

[Jerry O'Connell]

He didn't have beef. John, what is the stuff you always squirt in your drink? I watch every episode and I'm like, what is this? Is this more like cannabis?

[Bill Maher]

Jing jing. I drink it. No, it's. I say this every show. It's this stuff that you put into just regular, sparkling water, and it turns it into a diet soda that has no chemicals there.

[Jerry O'Connell]

So it's a sweetener.

[Bill Maher]

Another case of steaks. No, not steaks. I don't want steaks, but thank you. What? Yes, it's a no chemicals. You know me. Health nut. Aren't you a health nut?

[Jerry O'Connell]

No. Well, I'm not. I eat a lot of processed food. I eat a lot of takeout. I'm not kidding. I know they're not a sponsor, but, I mean, I eat a lot of in and out.

[Bill Maher]

I'm getting this picture. A guy doesn't get laid unless his wife is high. He's always on Instagram eating shitty food.

[Jerry O'Connell]

Well, my wife gets high every day, so don't worry about me. I mean, I see. No, but I am. I mean, I know you're an advocate for specifically marijuana use, and I just want to say it really is, like, just mine.

[Bill Maher]

I don't. I'm an advocate for me being able to do it. I don't give a shit what anybody else does. You get your own.

[Jerry O'Connell]

But will you light it? Here. Cheers. Oh, let me try some of your sweetener. Actually.

[Bill Maher]

Yeah, I think.

[Jerry O'Connell]

Shake it. It's not gonna, like, give me, like,

[Bill Maher]

not more than twice that you're playing with it. But, yeah, I mean, yeah, I think you'll. This is not like, my favorite flavor, and it looks like it's been here for a long time. I have to talk to the staff about things like that.

[Jerry O'Connell]

Cheers. Bill, here's to you. I'm one of the only guests on your show that has actually acted with you. We're thespians.

[Bill Maher]

Oh, you're talking about tomcats. Tomcats 2000, the year.

[Jerry O'Connell]

Let's tell everyone. It's a film called Tomcats. Young men will know what we're talking about. Young men under the age of 30 around there.

[Bill Maher]

Yeah. Why did I do that? It was one day of work for me.

[Jerry O'Connell]

And you made a lot of money.

[Bill Maher]

Maybe that was it.

[Jerry O'Connell]

And they flew you privately.

[Bill Maher]

Oh, for sure.

[Jerry O'Connell]

I know, because you said, when did you get in? We were shooting in Vegas, and I said, oh, I got in yesterday and you said, oh, did they send you the jet? And I went. If by sent me the jet, you mean Spirit Airlines.

[Bill Maher]

Well, because I was doing Politically Incorrect, I had to, like. I shot all day long getting up at the crack of dawn and had to be back in LA and do your night show. Yeah, Politically Incorrect.

[Jerry O'Connell]

Bill, I want to say you were a great acting partner. You had a lot of dialogue. You probably don't even remember it. You were so great with all your lines.

[Bill Maher]

I remember. Are you kidding? Are you?

[Jerry O'Connell]

I'm being dead serious. Oh, yeah, yeah.

[Bill Maher]

No, I could do that level of acting back when I was. I mean, it's funny because the 80s, most of my income was from I did silly movies. Sure. Some of the posters are around here.

[Jerry O'Connell]

Bill, I thought for many years you were the guy in Body Double.

[Bill Maher]

Yes, I wasn't.

[Jerry O'Connell]

I know. A lot of people thought that, though, right?

[Bill Maher]

I mean, yes, I was the guy in DC Cab. I was the guy in a bunch of sitcoms and Murder She Wrote and things like that. But then in the 90s, I got what I really should have always been doing, which was the political talk show. For some reason, in the year 2000, they offered me this thing, and I was like, oh, maybe I'll get back on the horse. See what that's like. Maybe it'll be fun. I don't know. It couldn't have been fun because I had to get up at the crack of dawn. So I flew in the night before in Vegas, and so that was rushed and I had to fly right back after. So it wasn't like, oh, I'm going to get a fun weekend in Vegas. There was none of that. I remember I played the bad guy. You were the.

[Jerry O'Connell]

You played the casino boss and I owed money to you.

[Bill Maher]

Right, Exactly. And I was why they chose me as, like, the scariest guy in the world. But I feel like I pulled that off pretty well. You really did not. Like I was personally going to beat the shit out of you, but as a guy who could control henchmen.

[Jerry O'Connell]

Yeah.

[Bill Maher]

Who would be my henchmen and act as henchmen do you were. I'm a very big advocate for henchmen, by the way. I talked about this once with Mark Cuban, who probably has thousands of henchmen with his money. But henchmen, I feel, are always, like, shot in movies, and nobody ever feels for them. I mean, it's just a job to them. They're humans, too, but we can just wipe them out, like, in scores in a row. And no one ever thinks, oh, that was a guy with a wife and kids and a sister, and he just took a henchman job.

[Jerry O'Connell]

Yeah.

[Bill Maher]

And he's not really a bad guy.

[Jerry O'Connell]

Yeah.

[Bill Maher]

And certainly wasn't a very good henchman because he got shot by one guy and, like, thousands of them went down.

[Jerry O'Connell]

You should pitch this to the John Wick people. Like one of the random people who've been taken out.

[Bill Maher]

I would like a. That's a great idea. I would like a movie from the point of view of the henchmen.

[Jerry O'Connell]

Yeah.

[Bill Maher]

I was. Yes. I was the casino boss. You owed money. I remember being embarrassed by the movie and being in it because it.

[Jerry O'Connell]

What? It's a cult classic.

[Bill Maher]

Are you kidding me? Embarrassing. Well, they were like, you know, in the first scene, they take Viagra at a wedding.

[Jerry O'Connell]

Yeah. It's a silly movie.

[Bill Maher]

Okay. I was embarrassed by DC Cab, too. I think that's.

[Jerry O'Connell]

You shouldn't be embarrassed by DC Cab. I want to tell you. I am. I am. I am younger than you. DC Cab on hbo played non stop in my childhood. I've seen DC Cabin. I'm gonna. This is not an exaggeration. Blow it right over here, Bill. It's what we call a freebie.

[Bill Maher]

Jesus. What a pussy. My God. Oh, yeah. All I did was fucking blow the slightest bit of smoke in you.

[Jerry O'Connell]

One more right over here, Bill.

[Bill Maher]

Okay, but go ahead with your. What were you saying?

[Jerry O'Connell]

D.C. cab. I've watched it hundreds of times. It's a classic film. I mean, I know it might not have been recognized by the Academy.

[Bill Maher]

I think that the B movies I did Pizza man and Cannibal Women in the Avocado Jungle of Death. While more low budget were actually better, funnier movies. They're actually kind of funny.

[Jerry O'Connell]

No.

[Bill Maher]

They're also not Academy Award material. Those ones were just like, I don't know, lowest common denominator, sort of, you know. Yeah. People to this day say, hey, DC Cab. And if it makes you happy, I'm very glad. All the fans out there. All I ever want to say to these people is, you know, I've gone on to other things and.

[Jerry O'Connell]

Of course you have. And we're not defining you by your role in Tomcats at DC Cab. But I will tell you something. Being that we do have. You know, on this show, a lot of times people talk about your manager, Mark Gurvitz. I heard it in the Dana Carvey David Spade episode. You have a mutual manager. For those watching who are not in the entertainment industry, we have managers who will manage our careers. And you're with them for decades at a time. And they're very helpful.

[Bill Maher]

It's like a coach in football. I mean, can he win you the title? Of course not. But can they affect enough of the games, perhaps to take you over the edge in a close race? Yes.

[Jerry O'Connell]

And it's a confidant and it's a protector. So I am with the Mark Gurvitz counterpart, Michael Rotenberg, who's at 3 Arts, who's sort of a contemporary of Mark

[Bill Maher]

Gervitz, another big man.

[Jerry O'Connell]

And they're very good friends. But he said something really interesting to me, first of all, as a manager. He said something really fun. I had a TV show that was canceled, right. Like you, like all of us who've been here for decades, we've got a lot of TV shows that are cancelled.

[Bill Maher]

Which one was this?

[Jerry O'Connell]

I don't even remember. One of the hundreds. And he took me out to dinner. God, our manager Zaro is way wealthier than we are. But they took me out to dinner. And he took me out to dinner and he said I was really depressed. And he said, if you can figure out how to make this the fun part, looking for the next one, it'll be. This will be a fun career for you. And that really, like, affected me and how. I think now, you know there's no

[Bill Maher]

way you can do that. That's not the fun part.

[Jerry O'Connell]

And I will. I really do. I try.

[Bill Maher]

Okay. But that's never gonna be the fun part is when you get kicked on your ass and you have to. Yes, it's the part that. It's not the fun part. It's the part that can make you feel good about yourself because you deserve to pat yourself on the back when you pick yourself up when you could have, like, let it defeat you. I remember once in a. Sitting in a bathtub in a hotel in San Francisco in 1983, I think, crying in the bathtub, because I did not. I was up for the sitcom version of Mr. Mom. And I was like, right on the one yard line. the last minute, they gave it to Barry Van Dyke. Not that I remember. And not that I'm bitter about it, exactly.

[Jerry O'Connell]

Fucking nipple babies. Unfucking real. That said.

[Bill Maher]

And I said, I hope your father does not live a long life.

[Jerry O'Connell]

Stop.

[Bill Maher]

Stop.

[Jerry O'Connell]

Oh, God, I was just thinking of Dick. I was just thinking of Dick Van Dyke. His granddaughter was my kid's teacher. In. In. You did say Van Dyke and not Van.

[Bill Maher]

Not Barry Van Dyke. Yes, he was Dick.

[Jerry O'Connell]

So many vans.

[Bill Maher]

But I thought I was funnier.

[Jerry O'Connell]

But, you know, Michael Rotenberg, my manager, we were talking about managers is a little inside baseball, but we all have managers in this business. He said to me, you're. You're going to end up where you're supposed to be. And that really, like, that affected me as well. I was.

[Bill Maher]

And how would you define where you're supposed to be? Like, well, how would. So if that's true, you fill in that blank for me. Okay. Because I feel like you do a lot of things. Yes.

[Jerry O'Connell]

So that's. What you'll take anything, you know. No, no, no, no, no. It's okay. It's funny to say that.

[Bill Maher]

Hey, I just did the Hollywood Square. So nothing. I cannot even.

[Jerry O'Connell]

I was hoping to get that offer. They didn't get it to one of

[Bill Maher]

the fucking Van Dykes.

[Jerry O'Connell]

Oh, God. Van Dyke's great, great grandson.

[Bill Maher]

Yeah. But you know what? The next day, you get back on the horse. I hope that the younger generations have that. I don't know. They seem so full of anxiety and they're so oversensitive about everything. And, you know, we were just talking about how many. My work. How many live at home. Now, the statistics are very different. It's like 8% in 1970, like, under 34 lived at home. And now it's like 34% or so. Yeah. And some of that's economic, and some of it is just, you know, I don't know.

[Jerry O'Connell]

I mean, if I worked for Mayor Mondame, I would tell you that's affordability right there.

[Bill Maher]

But I hope you don't.

[Jerry O'Connell]

I don't. Please, let's give him a chance. Come on, Bill. I'm born and raised a New Yorker. Let's, like, see what he can do, you know?

[Bill Maher]

Okay, Absolutely, we can. Let's see what he can do. But we already know what he is because it's in his own statements and the people he hires. I talked about him. You say you watch it. You must have seen this. The first show was talking about this woman who is his, like, the head of. But his big issue is the rent. You know, he's the rent is 2 Tam high guy. And that's a good issue. And affordability is a great issue. And. But, you know, I mean, how do I know he's a communist? Well, I'm reading between the lines. When he hired someone who says word for word, let's elect more communists. Okay? This is not like something you have to really figure out. Elect more communists. That's a communist. Now, if Barack Obama or any reasonable Democrat had anybody on their staff who had that on their resume, it'd be like a huge scandal. But this guy. This is just where we are. Like communism. I said it. I'm not. It's a political philosophy. It's an economic philosophy. You're allowed to believe it. You're allowed to vote for it. Let's just not pretend that that's not what this is.

[Jerry O'Connell]

I understand. And take another hit while I say this. I want to smell a little more, please. Just a little bit more, please.

[Bill Maher]

Okay.

[Jerry O'Connell]

I think it's different running for President of the United States and running for. Not New York, a major city.

[Bill Maher]

Like communism is communism.

[Jerry O'Connell]

But if you think. Let me put it this way. If Rick Caruso can't win in Los Angeles, okay?

[Bill Maher]

And he can't, because it's.

[Jerry O'Connell]

He can't.

[Bill Maher]

No.

[Jerry O'Connell]

He can't get enough votes. He can't.

[Bill Maher]

He cannot.

[Jerry O'Connell]

If Rick Caruso can't. If the guy who owns the show.

[Bill Maher]

You like Rick Caruso?

[Jerry O'Connell]

Yeah, I do.

[Bill Maher]

Okay. I met him at the.

[Jerry O'Connell]

I met him at the compound. We have a.

[Bill Maher]

Where.

[Jerry O'Connell]

I live in Calabasas, which is a town in the outskirts of Los Angeles. It's a sort of a tony hamlet of Los Angeles.

[Bill Maher]

Yes, it is very Tony. I think the Kardashians live there.

[Jerry O'Connell]

Kardashians live there. I have a nodding relationship with them. We do.

[Bill Maher]

We have a.

[Jerry O'Connell]

Like a.

[Bill Maher]

You mean like you're taking out the trash? You see them taking out the trash? That kind of a thing?

[Jerry O'Connell]

No, actually, we pass each other in parking lots, and I go.

[Bill Maher]

Parking lots?

[Jerry O'Connell]

Yeah.

[Bill Maher]

Like, what are you buying, Fentanyl?

[Jerry O'Connell]

No, we're in malls. It's like the suburbs. You're in a parking lot.

[Bill Maher]

You go to the mall, and they go to the mall. You see the Kardashians at the mall.

[Jerry O'Connell]

I'm gonna tell you my.

[Bill Maher]

I just. I'm not.

[Jerry O'Connell]

Okay. I'm gonna tell you my Kardashian. I'm telling you my Kardashian mall story.

[Bill Maher]

Great.

[Jerry O'Connell]

My kid was in a math tutor, a kid who was failing math.

[Bill Maher]

How old?

[Jerry O'Connell]

She was? 27. Well, she was in junior high.

[Bill Maher]

Okay.

[Jerry O'Connell]

She's failing math, so I had to take her to, like, a math place. I mean, maybe there'll be a sponsor for the show, Mathnesium.

[Bill Maher]

Okay.

[Jerry O'Connell]

They did help her grades. Okay.

[Bill Maher]

This isn't that school Kanye had, is it? No, no.

[Jerry O'Connell]

My kids go to public school, by the way.

[Bill Maher]

That's how. You know how serious America is about education. When they let Kanye have a school,

[Jerry O'Connell]

I was there for that.

[Bill Maher]

Time.

[Jerry O'Connell]

I do remember, I don't know much about education. Literally, this is what I know about education, okay? My kids were about to go to school.

[Bill Maher]

That's all you need to know about America and education. It is. That's all you need.

[Jerry O'Connell]

My kids were about to go to school, and I was like.

[Bill Maher]

I was like, mom.

[Jerry O'Connell]

I called up my mom. You know, my mom is in. My mom's from Jersey City. She was an educator, public school teacher. My kids go to public school. By the way, I also read that Malcolm Gladwell book, and he's basically like, put them in public school. There's no difference. Go.

[Bill Maher]

Absolutely.

[Jerry O'Connell]

And I really adhere to that, you know, and it's great. I'm telling you, everybody, it's a.

[Bill Maher]

It's.

[Jerry O'Connell]

I mean, listen, mind you, I live in Calabasas, so some people are gonna say, oh, yeah, you live in Calabasas. But Malcolm Gladwell really turned me onto the public education thing. Anyway, I called my mom and I said, mom, Kanye's got this school. Should I send my kids. Where should I send my kids to school? I gotta.

[Bill Maher]

Come on. You considered it.

[Jerry O'Connell]

What do I do? Do I go on Google? Do I go on Yelp? How do I find a school?

[Bill Maher]

Go on Spotify?

[Jerry O'Connell]

No, no, no.

[Bill Maher]

I mean, go on any news outlet. He's very much in the news, Mr. Kanye.

[Jerry O'Connell]

But my mom is so funny. My mom and I love this Qu. Rob said, I'll tell you what you do. You call the Shapiros, you call the Goldsteins, and you ask them where they're sending their kids, and that's where you send your kids to school. And she was absolutely right. Public school, 100%. All the way back to my Kardashian story.

[Bill Maher]

That's what your mother sounds like.

[Jerry O'Connell]

Yeah, she's from Jersey City. She talks like this. I actually, when I'm in Stand By Me, you know, I was a kid actor in Stand By Me.

[Bill Maher]

We all know that. You're the fat kid.

[Jerry O'Connell]

I was husky.

[Bill Maher]

No, you were the fat kid. But that's okay. I mean, it's made it stand out and made you. I mean, come on, you always will be golden for that, even if you'd have done anything else. I mean, look at Macaulay Culkin. He did a similar kid role. He's still iconic, you know.

[Jerry O'Connell]

Highly successful podcaster, by the way. Yes.

[Bill Maher]

I mean, but, like, you know, you've worked every day since. I mean, he didn't. But just that one iconic kid role. And it was the best role to have the fat kid.

[Jerry O'Connell]

It's why I'm here. I was husky, but it's honestly, it's why this Rob Reiner and his wife murder is. It's really, it's very emotional for me. It's very tough.

[Bill Maher]

I'll bet. Because he directed that. If people don't remember, Rob Reiner directed it.

[Jerry O'Connell]

Rob Reiner picked me out of. It was an open call, Bill. He saw something in me. He saw. The man changed everything I have you

[Bill Maher]

say he saw something, like, it's a big mystery. He saw what you still have. You're a charismatic guy. People just, it's why you keep being in the public eye and doing different shows and different projects and getting hired. There are certain people, the public, just for reasons that I find completely understandable, want to see people just want to, you know, be around certain people. You are one of those people because I think it's something, you know, they get it, it translates through the screen or wherever that you really are this guy, nice guy, you know, like, well,

[Jerry O'Connell]

you don't live with me.

[Bill Maher]

What's like, okay, what's your worst trait? Do you think? What would your wife say? Or what do you say when you're being self critical? What's your, the worst thing?

[Jerry O'Connell]

Something I'm trying to work on with my wife. My wife says that I stress her out, that I, that I don't. What, Maybe I have anxiety, you know?

[Bill Maher]

Yeah, anxiety.

[Jerry O'Connell]

Maybe I, I'm an anxious person.

[Bill Maher]

Another cure for that. A little of this and a little of this, trust me, it'll go away.

[Jerry O'Connell]

I'm gonna get back to my Kardashian story. I promise we're gonna come back around to that.

[Bill Maher]

I wanna hear about your anxiety first. What do you have anxiety about? And then, and then what do you, what, how do you stress your wife? Because you're, you're like talking to her about it too much and she's like, you know, honey, it'll all work out. She has to do that a lot,

[Jerry O'Connell]

I guess. I wake up in the morning and I'm like, what is, this is what I have to do today.

[Bill Maher]

Be glad you have to do something.

[Jerry O'Connell]

Yeah, I guess so.

[Bill Maher]

Some people wake up and they got nothing to do. Yeah.

[Jerry O'Connell]

You know, like waking up in the morning, hey, we have to have lunch at noon. Cause I've got to go drive over to Club random at 3:30. I mean, I'm not even kidding, you know. And like so I, I, I'm actively trying to not be as stressful around my wife. And my wife is like a laid back, like Northern California Chick, you know?

[Bill Maher]

Right. Oof.

[Jerry O'Connell]

We watched her ex on this, man. We watched every second of it. It's fun to watch my wife watch her ex. It's crazy to watch it.

[Bill Maher]

Oh, her ex lover. Her ex husband.

[Jerry O'Connell]

Husband, yeah, right. I mean, they were lovers too.

[Bill Maher]

You didn't have to remind me of that. A lot of love. So John Samos was married to her back in the, like, when they were both young?

[Jerry O'Connell]

Yes. And I'm. It's sort of. It's a part of my life that my wife doesn't really talk about, so I just try to like, glean what I can. And you asked him about it and I'm like, well, you know, I mean,

[Bill Maher]

like, I don't think he would mind us telling this, but since we already know I'm talking about somebody else now, since we already brought him up, which is my manager. His girlfriend used to be Bruce Springsteen's wife. So, like, I've seen this before and I don't think it bothers him at all because people just go through different phases of their life. But like, can you possibly ever block it out that your woman was with some guy who the world finds super sexy?

[Jerry O'Connell]

Listen, Bill. My children, I never watched Full House, which was the show that he was.

[Bill Maher]

No. If you want.

[Jerry O'Connell]

Oh, what is this? You in the bathtub.

[Bill Maher]

No, it's you stabbing yourself. Just killing yourself.

[Jerry O'Connell]

Come on. No, there's no self harm.

[Bill Maher]

No.

[Jerry O'Connell]

Come on. And if you do do that, I'm

[Bill Maher]

just saying, if you want to, it's here, you know, call someone.

[Jerry O'Connell]

Thank you.

[Bill Maher]

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[Jerry O'Connell]

No, my. I never watched Full House ever. I was too old. You know, I was in my 20s when it came out. That would have been weird if I had watched a show about like a bunch of kids and stuff like these Epstein files or something crazy.

[Bill Maher]

I agree.

[Jerry O'Connell]

Yeah. But I. My kids watched it, so I rewatched it when my kids were like young, three and four.

[Bill Maher]

Cause you watched shows with your kids.

[Jerry O'Connell]

I was in the living room. You have to make sure they stay alive kids. So they were watching TV and you're on your computer and it's on.

[Bill Maher]

I know that this is a thing. It's just so foreign to me that I would ever have to watch tv, something I didn't want to watch because some four year old found it amusing. It just. Again, I don't have. Bill.

[Jerry O'Connell]

You know what, I'm not even kidding. I'm saying this as a huge fan of yours, personally and publicly. I mean, I watch you every week on your show. I watch all these episodes. I'm A fan. I've seen you live. I've paid for tickets to you. Remember, you were shocked. I came backstage. You went, why did you pay for tickets? And I was like, because we're fans, baby.

[Bill Maher]

Jerry, that means so much to me.

[Jerry O'Connell]

You know, I have two stories I have to get to. How Rob Reiner changed my life. And I'm gonna tell you, and maybe you'll identify.

[Bill Maher]

Oh, okay.

[Jerry O'Connell]

I was what they called.

[Bill Maher]

Bump. The Kardashian story.

[Jerry O'Connell]

I'm getting back to it. I was what they called a hyperactive child. Okay.

[Bill Maher]

And yet fat. That's so weird that it would be both.

[Jerry O'Connell]

Could you. I'm going to go full Dreyfus now. That's what you get. You get the full Dreyfus now. You call me fat, I go Dreyfus the rest of this time. I got a golf. I got in a golf cart accident. I want Percocet.

[Bill Maher]

But no. It just seems odd.

[Jerry O'Connell]

I'm in pain.

[Bill Maher]

Okay. So you're hyperactive.

[Jerry O'Connell]

Hyperactive child.

[Bill Maher]

Right.

[Jerry O'Connell]

My mother, I would always get. They wanted to put me on Ritalin. Okay.

[Bill Maher]

Wow.

[Jerry O'Connell]

It was a. A drug back then. Sure. And I'm in a lot of agreement with you. And. As someone who's raising children, I don't believe immediately. I'm sure medication is needed, but I think sometimes with children.

[Bill Maher]

Right.

[Jerry O'Connell]

I don't think the first answer should be, let's get him on something.

[Bill Maher]

The first answer shouldn't be, let's get him on something or they're in the wrong body. Both things could possibly be relevant. Could be. Both things should be much more rare than they have made them. They left. Let ideology lead them to bad science. And these, of course, are the science people.

[Jerry O'Connell]

Take another hit. If we're going to talk about gender

[Bill Maher]

stuff, we don't need to. I'm just saying that that was a relevant point to make.

[Jerry O'Connell]

Okay. I was just talking about medication.

[Bill Maher]

Okay. You're in the mall.

[Jerry O'Connell]

No, no, no, no.

[Bill Maher]

That's the number. I'm sorry, we're not there. Okay.

[Jerry O'Connell]

They wanted to put me on Riddle.

[Bill Maher]

You're in the mall. Rob Reiner came up.

[Jerry O'Connell]

My mother was adamant about them not putting me on Ritalin.

[Bill Maher]

Oh.

[Jerry O'Connell]

Which I adhere to with my children as well. You know, I get Stand By Me. I got it. Open call. They saw something. I practiced the sides. I got the role.

[Bill Maher]

Had you been auditioning for other stuff and done other stuff before that?

[Jerry O'Connell]

I done. I had been an extra in a commercial.

[Bill Maher]

But you had this ambition to do it.

[Jerry O'Connell]

I took a weekly class at a place Called HB Studios in New York.

[Bill Maher]

But how did you wind up at the call for Rob Reiners?

[Jerry O'Connell]

It was an open call. They were casting young people.

[Bill Maher]

Your mother must have seen it and said you didn't see it.

[Jerry O'Connell]

It didn't come through my mother. It came through.

[Bill Maher]

What? Your agent.

[Jerry O'Connell]

I didn't have an agent.

[Bill Maher]

It came through. Rottenberg.

[Jerry O'Connell]

No, I, I didn't mean. Rotenberg.

[Bill Maher]

Rober.

[Jerry O'Connell]

No, it didn't come through. G, come on. It was an open call. It came through. I don't know how it came through. Maybe through my acting school. I. I don't know. I was always getting in trouble at school. My mother would say to me, can't you just shut up and sit on your hands? Can't you just when you want to blurt something out. I was getting in trouble for blurting things out. For being funny. For being a class clown, I guess they call it.

[Bill Maher]

I was too.

[Jerry O'Connell]

You were? You were too? My mother would pick me up and like yell at them and say, we're not putting them on Ritalin. And we'd get to the car and she'd go, can't you just shut up and sit on your hands? When you want to say something, you want to blurt out something, just shut up and sit on your hands.

[Bill Maher]

Hard for boys.

[Jerry O'Connell]

And so I gotta tell you, boys

[Bill Maher]

have extra amount of energy.

[Jerry O'Connell]

My life for three or four years was me wanting to say something, okay, make a joke about your goo or something and be like, oh God, just shut up and sit on your hands, dude. Just shut up and sit.

[Bill Maher]

Yeah, that's not healthy either.

[Jerry O'Connell]

Just shut up and sit on your hands. And it was my mantra, Bill. I get. Stand by me. Okay, first day on set. For those who know the movie, you'll remember the scene. You won't, but we're throwing like stones in a can. And I have a very funny line where I say, this is a really good time. And it like, it's like a touching scene, you know? Cause it's like 11 year old boys doing nothing going, this is a really good time. It's touching. The scene ends. We finish doing the lines, okay? And we're still sitting there. Rob Reiner doesn't yell cut. And so I do something. I joke with a canteen or I make a joke about myself. I ad lib something. At the end, it's just silence, you know?

[Bill Maher]

Improv.

[Jerry O'Connell]

I improv. And Rob Reiner goes, cut. Jerry. Jerry. And he was a big dude, God rest his soul. And I was like, oh, fuck, I was supposed to shut up and sit on my. Oh, fuck. I fucking did it day one. I fucking did it. Oh God, here we go. I couldn't fucking shut up and sit on my hands. And he comes to set and we're all sitting on the ground. And so he's standing over us. I'm gonna stand. Sorry, camera people. And he goes, hey, Jerry, more of that. That's what I'm talking about. What he did at the end. That's it, guys. More of that, Jerry, more of that. And I gotta tell you, Bill, it changed my fucking life. Yeah, it changed my. I think I replay that moment. This is gonna sound obsessive. I replay that moment about 15 times a day in my head. When I'm driving, when I'm walking, when I want to say something. Cuz my initial reaction is, shut up and sit on your hands. But no. Rob Reiner said, hey, that's it, man. And I gotta tell you, I've been. Maybe you say I'm outgoing and gregarious and I work all the time. I do it because I'm dying for that moment again. I'm dying for it. I live for it.

[Bill Maher]

Let your freak flag fly. Let you be you. It's a great story because it just shows. It epitomizes the conflict that goes on with so many people, but especially boys. It is a thing. I mean, lots of people are writing books about this now. You know, it's just an issue that we sort of. The pendulum never stops in the middle in America. So men were so bad to so many women for so long, and many still are, that then we had a reckoning in 2017. And then it just became sort of toxic to just be a male. And especially boys got the backlash. Like young boys got the backlash to an era that they didn't even take part in. And so they grew up in this time where it was just. You were just. It just. There was no allowance for this kind of male extra energy that especially boys have. Like, there's a reason why we sometimes separate boys and girls. You know, Boy Scouts now have girls in them. I think this is ridiculous. It's called the Boy Scouts. Do you have to always be stupidly counterintuitive about everything? Girls, they also need time when they're just with girls because they can't be around these knuckleheads.

[Jerry O'Connell]

Yeah, it's.

[Bill Maher]

You look like you're angry about this. No, I'm not angry.

[Jerry O'Connell]

I'm just trying to think about it and I'm like, this is really what I try to do. I try not to get angry about these things, Bill. Okay? And I try to think. What I was thinking was, why would they do that? And maybe it's too take away stigma of gender. I don't know.

[Bill Maher]

I'll tell you why, Jerry. They do it because the kind of assholes who live here amongst us, the kind of super woke people, they live to have themselves thought of as the good people, as the social justice warriors. So they're always looking for some new marginalized people to champion. And of course the very thought of it is noble. And I get it. And I'm an old school liberal, 100%. I've always been there for this. And they take it just 10 subway stops too far.

[Jerry O'Connell]

100%.

[Bill Maher]

Some places where it's just about making them feel like they're doing something. And you know what? You're not Rosa Parks. You're not anybody who's doing anything. You're just like trying to be this sort of social justice warrior. And there's no war that needs to happen here. Boy scouts, girl scouts, there's no hate crime happening. Okay? It's just about the way it really is with boys and girls.

[Jerry O'Connell]

I think I can speak on this as someone who has two 17 year old girls here in Los Angeles.

[Bill Maher]

I thought you said you had young kids.

[Jerry O'Connell]

They're 17 now. They were young when they watched oh, I see. Full House. And I'm gonna get back to that story as well. But I see, I see their contemporaries dealing with this stuff. Please blow it this way. I need it more than ever now. Right over here.

[Bill Maher]

Just take a hit, for fuck's sake. I mean, what is wrong with you?

[Jerry O'Connell]

I see it. And really, I'm sure you're the same way. The goal is to make them feel as safe as possible, especially at that precarious age. It's such a tough thing.

[Bill Maher]

And I'm saying it just is sometimes the case with the woke people that they are their own worst enemies. With so much of this shit you talk about your boyfriend mamdame in New York. I don't know what the tally. I'm not my boyfriend, but yeah, I don't know what the tally is.

[Jerry O'Connell]

Casually seeing each other.

[Bill Maher]

I don't know what the tally is now, but it's in the at least high teens of homeless people who have died in the freezing. Because it's just not the policy of the WOKE to ever think that we could like, forcibly get people off the street, which is what we used to think.

[Jerry O'Connell]

Well, there were vagrancy laws when I was younger.

[Bill Maher]

There was no vagrancy. It was what we thought was compassionate to not be sleeping in fucking zero degree weather on the sidewalk, as opposed to their, you know, protecting them like they're some sort of endangered species in their natural habitat. So I only bring this up analogous to. And I could name 10 things, and I don't want to because I don't want this to be so political. But where the woke people go way past where liberals like me and sensible people are to a place that is ridiculous.

[Jerry O'Connell]

I totally hear what you're saying.

[Bill Maher]

Okay.

[Jerry O'Connell]

That said, I think you're trying to inflict your ideas on a city that voted for Mondami and voted for Karen Bass. Like, this is where we live.

[Bill Maher]

I'm always trying to inflict my ideas.

[Jerry O'Connell]

I shouldn't have said inflict.

[Bill Maher]

No, no.

[Jerry O'Connell]

Infect. Sorry, sorry.

[Bill Maher]

I love that.

[Jerry O'Connell]

That's hysterical. Goo. What did you call it? You're goo.

[Bill Maher]

Goo do Back to the Kardashians.

[Jerry O'Connell]

No, let me get to my Stamo story first.

[Bill Maher]

Oh, great.

[Jerry O'Connell]

My kids are watching Full House. I was watching it with them. You should be a.

[Bill Maher]

And once again, this is the guy who was married to the woman you.

[Jerry O'Connell]

My current wife. We'll see if we're still married after this podcast Drops, who was with him

[Bill Maher]

for a brief period of time and has been with you for over 20 years. Yes.

[Jerry O'Connell]

By the way, I'm sure, as you said, they were. What did you call them? Lovers.

[Bill Maher]

How long were they married for? Just a couple of years, right?

[Jerry O'Connell]

Six years, 14 days. Six.

[Bill Maher]

Is that really six years, 14 days.

[Jerry O'Connell]

I'm kidding. I don't know exactly.

[Bill Maher]

I'm gonna guess it was a brief period of time. A brief period of very, very. And then. And then it burned itself out, as it always does.

[Jerry O'Connell]

Smoking a lot. Must have been smoking a lot of pot. No allowed affection to happen. My kids are watching it. One of my daughters who's,

[Bill Maher]

you know,

[Jerry O'Connell]

was always, like, into boys and stuff, comes up to me and goes, dad, his character's name was Uncle Jesse. That's his character's name.

[Bill Maher]

Right.

[Jerry O'Connell]

Comes up to me and goes, dad,

[Bill Maher]

I.

[Jerry O'Connell]

I really like Uncle Jeff.

[Bill Maher]

Oh, geez.

[Jerry O'Connell]

And I was like, get out of here. Cause, like, a lot of my friends call me, like, I'm on a group checks. They all call me Stamos. It's like. It's like. I thought she was like, that's not funny. Messing with me.

[Bill Maher]

That's not funny. I mean, I feel like. No, I feel like that's just.

[Jerry O'Connell]

Come on, you gotta laugh, Bill. You just call me the Fat kid from Stand By Me for.

[Bill Maher]

And that I think is fun and funny. That's the line for you because you have become something very different. That was when you were a kid. Whereas calling you that, I wouldn't appreciate that if that. I mean, we kid about this. But would I want to be like reminded about it every second? I really wouldn't.

[Jerry O'Connell]

It's just good old fashioned ribbing pill. Lighten up, okay?

[Bill Maher]

I'm trying to defend you. This doesn't hurt me.

[Jerry O'Connell]

Lighten up. This became about frozen homeless people. All of a sudden. Jesus.

[Bill Maher]

Back to the Kardashians thinking of frozen.

[Jerry O'Connell]

So I told her to get out of here. I said, get out of here. And she went, no, I really like him. And my other kid, they were like three or four. I said to my other kid, hey, do you like Uncle Jesse? And my other kid was like, yeah.

[Bill Maher]

Oh, Jesus.

[Jerry O'Connell]

And I was like, hey, girls, come here, come here. Hit pause, open my computer. I'm gonna show you three year old girls a photo and it's gonna blow your little fucking minds.

[Bill Maher]

They were like, what?

[Jerry O'Connell]

And I was like, good for you. Are you ready for this, girls?

[Bill Maher]

And they were like, yeah.

[Jerry O'Connell]

Stamos Romaine wedding. My kids were like, is this AI? And I was like, no, girls, no AI. That was taken on good old fashioned film.

[Bill Maher]

So this had never come up before in families.

[Jerry O'Connell]

Oh, we're like three. We're gonna sit them down and be like, hey, we think it's time we told you. Your mom and John Stamos were really ravenous lovers.

[Bill Maher]

So they were three,

[Jerry O'Connell]

Three or four?

[Bill Maher]

Yeah. Oh, they were that young? Yeah. Okay.

[Jerry O'Connell]

My father was previously married to my mom. I don't think they ever. I don't remember them sitting me down and being like, fellas, it's time we told you. Your father exchanged vows with someone who wasn't your mother. It was like I heard them fighting over alimony my father still had to pay or something.

[Bill Maher]

Yeah. They never told me my mother was Jewish.

[Jerry O'Connell]

Oh, really?

[Bill Maher]

We went to Catholic every week, my sister, my father and I. My mother stayed home. I never asked why. It just was always the way it was. It wasn't till I was 13. And it just sort of came up at Christmas time and I'm like, what? That's. I mean, the fact that it never crossed my mind, it tells you a lot about, like, whatever you. Whatever you put in a kid's life becomes the norm. Yeah.

[Jerry O'Connell]

It's true.

[Bill Maher]

Which is also sad because that's why abuse happens also. And kids don't understand how wrong it is. Yeah.

[Jerry O'Connell]

You know, you're absolutely right.

[Bill Maher]

You're absolutely right. I respected the homeless dying in the snow.

[Jerry O'Connell]

No, it's funny. My.

[Bill Maher]

It's funny.

[Jerry O'Connell]

No, my, my father's British. My father's old. He's here in la.

[Bill Maher]

Your father's British?

[Jerry O'Connell]

Yeah, I'm actually a British citizen. He's. He's from London. He. He immigrated to the United States in the late 50s. He's old. And he moved to Greenwich Village and never left. That's where I was raised, in Greenwich Village.

[Bill Maher]

Wow.

[Jerry O'Connell]

And you're a city kid. City kid, yeah.

[Bill Maher]

Wow.

[Jerry O'Connell]

On the subways, everything 1980s, 70s, 80s. Oh, that's another thing. LA is like sort of going through it right now, you know, it's not the city I moved to in the 90s. You know, it's hurting, I'm sorry to say. It just is. Anyone will tell you that that lives in Los Angeles.

[Bill Maher]

You don't have to be sorry. It's not your fault.

[Jerry O'Connell]

And it's funny. I'm never leaving Los Angeles. I love Los Angeles. I love this city.

[Bill Maher]

I feel the same way.

[Jerry O'Connell]

I will never leave. I will never leave the state of California.

[Bill Maher]

I tried once and it just fucking slapped me. Right.

[Jerry O'Connell]

Go with Austin with all those like, stand up dudes.

[Bill Maher]

No, in 2020, you doing.

[Jerry O'Connell]

You getting on stage with Rogan and stuff. Did you do that move?

[Bill Maher]

No, no, slow down. Not Austin. I would not move to Texas in 2020. There was a week when we had the fire so bad that it blocked out the sun for a week. I remember there was no sun and I was like, you know what I pay 13% state tax. You know what? I pay that for the sun. I mean, today is February, whatever. Beautiful day, gorgeous day. I look up in the sky and it goes, that's what I pay my 13% for. That's what I'm. 13% for the sun. If you actually presented that with me, I would, yeah, okay. I will pay 13% for the sun. So when it wasn't here, I looked at places virtually. But I mean, this was during the pandemic. Wink, wink, old Zillow. Not that it wasn't a pandemic. It was.

[Jerry O'Connell]

Let me guess, I want to guess.

[Bill Maher]

Miami. Oh, whoa.

[Jerry O'Connell]

Wouldn't have guessed that.

[Bill Maher]

Well, I'm not going to go to someplace cold. Yeah. I'm not going to leave the United States.

[Jerry O'Connell]

I could see you in Miami.

[Bill Maher]

I could see Miami.

[Jerry O'Connell]

I could see you. You ever do an episode of Miami Vice? Are you one of those guest stars? No, you know, the famous. It's by the way, that's on the algorithm. All the famous people that did Miami Vice, Bruce Willis, Gloria, Stephan, like, well,

[Bill Maher]

you know, after Tom Collins, I did get classic typecast as a.

[Jerry O'Connell]

Don't you ever speak ill of Tom Katz ever again. That is a fucking classic right now.

[Bill Maher]

That's what I meant to say. It's a classic.

[Jerry O'Connell]

I stay in California not only for the weather, I stay here for the politics. I like the politics of California. It's sort of, it's, it's.

[Bill Maher]

I like some of them.

[Jerry O'Connell]

It's in alignment with me.

[Bill Maher]

I, I like it better than Oklahoma. But I think, I know.

[Jerry O'Connell]

I think I like to live in a state where there's gun control. I think there are less guns on the streets. And guns scare me.

[Bill Maher]

I think, yeah, I mean, there's still a lot of people with guns. And if someone breaks into your house, it'd be great if you had one.

[Jerry O'Connell]

I don't have a gun in my house. Yeah, first of all, I have teenagers. And also, I told you, my wife is always hitting off that vape. I don't want her like, well, you

[Bill Maher]

know, you can lock it up. The gun.

[Jerry O'Connell]

I don't trust that. I know the fingerprint stuff. Come on. They're gonna figure out a way to.

[Bill Maher]

Who's gonna figure out, I don't know, the kids, the wife, what?

[Jerry O'Connell]

Yeah, I think guns. Look, I'm a believer that guns like kill, kill.

[Bill Maher]

Yeah, well, they do.

[Jerry O'Connell]

And if they're in your house, that increases your potential for someone.

[Bill Maher]

You talk about California. The reason why people have big problems with California and why one party rule is not a great idea. You do need both parties to keep each other honest is that we have crazy laws in California. Like if you shoot somebody breaking into your house, it might be you who goes to jail.

[Jerry O'Connell]

I understand that.

[Bill Maher]

Shit like that, I understand that is what makes people fed up with this state. And then we look up and there's the sun and we go, okay, I'll put up with that too. I'll put up with the over taxation, the over regulation, the potholes, the homeless, this bullshit. That bullshit. Because the sun is up in the sky and you just cannot sweep that out.

[Jerry O'Connell]

I get it. But that said, getting back to my point, I'm never leaving. Growing up in New York in the 70s and 80s, I've seen this urban. I've seen urban decay. New York City when I was a child was. It was Death Wish. New York City, right? That's what it was. It was Death Wish Was actually. It wasn't an exaggeration. My mom got mugged in our neighborhood. Knife to throat. I got mugged. Knife to throat. Crack epidemic. Yes, on the train.

[Bill Maher]

How old were you?

[Jerry O'Connell]

Oh, my God. 12.

[Bill Maher]

12.

[Jerry O'Connell]

Yes.

[Bill Maher]

And you had a knife to your throat.

[Jerry O'Connell]

Crack.

[Bill Maher]

On the train.

[Jerry O'Connell]

And listen, this is where it gets. This is where it's sick.

[Bill Maher]

What did they think you had to offer?

[Jerry O'Connell]

I'm at 12. This is where it's crazy. My mom gave me cab fare. I was visiting my buddy Oliver Ray uptown. She said, take a cab home. Take a cab home.

[Bill Maher]

And you pocketed the money?

[Jerry O'Connell]

I pocketed the money and took the subway home.

[Bill Maher]

Just like a fat kid and I. Just like a fat kid would.

[Jerry O'Connell]

I'm sorry.

[Bill Maher]

You know, it takes a lot to run this show. Scheduling, cameras, lighting, editing, never ending emails. So to make this all happen, it's important we are organized. If not, then it all goes down the drain. Well, lately we've been using Claude from Anthropic to keep us organized. And it's less chatbot, more the competent co worker you wish HR would hire. Yeah, that's Cloud. Claude is the AI for minds that don't stop at good enough. It's the collaborator that actually understands your entire workflow and thinks with you whether you're debugging code at midnight or strategizing your next business move. Claude extends your thinking to tackle the problems that matter. If you throw in a real problem, Research the topic, check sources, connect the dots. It actually goes deep. Like finds patterns across dozens of documents. Deep stuff you can miss because we're human and get easily distracted. It connects to our tools, like Google Workspace, reads our files, organizes the mess, even builds little apps and spreadsheets. No coding, no drama, just done. If you want AI that actually thinks instead of cheerfully hallucinating, try clawed. Get started with Claude today at Claude AI Random.

[Jerry O'Connell]

Why have I asked my H Vac guy I found on Angie.com to change my grandpa's trachea tube? Because I was so amazed by how quickly he replaced our air ducts, I knew I could trust him to change Pop Pop's tube while I was on vacation.

[Bill Maher]

Make it quick, young man. Aw.

[Jerry O'Connell]

See? Pop Pop trusts you.

[Bill Maher]

I think we should call a doctor.

[Jerry O'Connell]

Connecting homeowners with skilled pros for over 30 years.

[Bill Maher]

Angie, the one you trust to find the ones you trust. Find pros for all your home [e-mail].

[Jerry O'Connell]

if you're tackling a home project, check out angie.com from roofing to remodels and everything. In between, Angie connects you with skilled pros who do such a good job, you might trust them to do other things, like pull out your tooth or be your kid's godfather. Don't actually ask them to do those things, just let them get the job done. Well, Angie, the one you trust to find the ones you trust. Find a pro for your [e-mail]. that's a n g I dot com. I was, like, pretty much in shape at this time. I was working on my.

[Bill Maher]

Well, you said 12. Isn't that around. How old were you when you did.

[Jerry O'Connell]

It was starting to come off. The pounds were starting to come.

[Bill Maher]

How old were you when you did that?

[Jerry O'Connell]

I was 11.

[Bill Maher]

11. See, okay, I was 11.

[Jerry O'Connell]

Oh, by the way, then you went

[Bill Maher]

back to New York. You didn't think at that point where you were hot in the industry that you.

[Jerry O'Connell]

Listen, I blame my parents for this. Like, obviously, like, you look at, like, Elijah Woods, Leonardo DiCaprio's parents, Dakota fan. You think if, like, a kid was in Stand By Me, like, that would be it. I didn't even have an agent or anything. Like, my parents, they had jobs. They didn't know. My mom was a teacher in Jersey City. My dad was working with some advertising.

[Bill Maher]

They'd have known the movie was ahead.

[Jerry O'Connell]

When I made Stand By Me, we went away for the summer to Oregon. I came back to New York City. My grandparents came with me. My mother, when she got off of work, came out with me. They were not stage parents at all. I came home, I was telling my father, they had a crane. We were riding the crane. They did these crane shots. It was so great. There was a body. They had a fake body, but then they used a real body. It was so much fun. They had a dolly, and a dolly is when you push in on a shot. And my father, I told you, he's British, went, you're about to go back to school now. Don't tell anyone you were in a movie.

[Bill Maher]

Come on. Really?

[Jerry O'Connell]

This film will never be released. It will never see the light of day.

[Bill Maher]

Are you serious?

[Jerry O'Connell]

My father had worked with a guy.

[Bill Maher]

Have you ever told that story? That's the best.

[Jerry O'Connell]

I'm sure I have.

[Bill Maher]

That is so good.

[Jerry O'Connell]

My father worked with a guy who left his agency. He worked at an advertising agency, but

[Bill Maher]

it's exactly what a British guy would say. It was of his era.

[Jerry O'Connell]

My father worked with a guy who left the agency. He was a partner and sold his partnership and everything to go make a horror film in Los Angeles. And it never got released. So the life of Tay. And he had to come back to the agency and I think start as a copywriter. He had sold like all of his shares. And like my father told, like my family told that story, like, can you believe? What an idiot? His retirement, he sold it all to go make a movie. And so when I came back, he went, don't tell anyone.

[Bill Maher]

That's so funny because you are so the opposite of a stuck up British prig. You know, that's like. That is so not you.

[Jerry O'Connell]

My father's pretty humble. He's from London. He's not.

[Bill Maher]

Yeah, but I mean, a man of that era from London. I mean, London was a different place. And British, stiff upper lip and, you know, very reserved. We're not.

[Jerry O'Connell]

We're not those people. You know, my parents aren't. And I'll tell you, it's very difficult raising children of moderately faint. The star of Tom Katz and the fat kid from Stand By Me. It's really our one goal as parents is to make sure we're not raising fucking Nepo babies who are entitled. I mean, it's bad enough I'm raising my kids in Southern California. Who. Bill, when you have kids and you're

[Bill Maher]

gonna have them,

[Jerry O'Connell]

they're gonna talk like this. If you're raising them here.

[Bill Maher]

I know, and it's so funny. They've infected your mind. I can tell because I know you're not really. When you. Like every time I say something that's completely commonsensical. Which is why you like watching my show. Love it. You're the best.

[Jerry O'Connell]

You're the voice of reason.

[Bill Maher]

I know.

[Jerry O'Connell]

You're my news source.

[Bill Maher]

I know, but I.

[Jerry O'Connell]

You're my cnn.

[Bill Maher]

But I can see that there is a gut reaction that comes from living with a woman and children where you're like, wait a second, what did he say about this thing that I should be more woke about. I could see it. It's beyond intellect. It's like a gut reaction, like I should defend the. Oh, but you're right. The homeless really shouldn't be on the sidewalk.

[Jerry O'Connell]

Full disclosure, I watch your show all the time. And I watch someone like Patton Oswald, come on here. Who's a good friend of mine. And I know, and it's. I watch how he reacts to some of your politics. It can be trouble for a guy like Patton Oswald.

[Bill Maher]

It can be trouble for most of this. And that's okay. I do not share. It's funny, I always say to my woke friends, you probably heard me say it. We voted for the same person. You're Just why she lost.

[Jerry O'Connell]

Oh, don't say what.

[Bill Maher]

I say it all the time. I said it to John Cryer right in that chair. And it sums up how I feel like we voted for the same person. You know what? As long as we're onto this sort of subject, you know what really pisses me off? They wouldn't give this town, I'm gonna take myself out of this. Although I'm really in the same category. They would not give any sort of Emmy nomination to Landman.

[Jerry O'Connell]

Right, Landman.

[Bill Maher]

Which is a great, great show.

[Jerry O'Connell]

Great dialogue.

[Bill Maher]

Great show.

[Jerry O'Connell]

If you're listening, please, I'm available. I'll even work out for him. Like, I know he's jacked.

[Bill Maher]

I'm such a fan. I'm available, and I'm really not because I'm not available.

[Jerry O'Connell]

Let's go, Tyler. Tom Katz.

[Bill Maher]

I think it's Taylor.

[Jerry O'Connell]

Sorry, Taylor. Oh, Jesus. Beat that out. Taylor Sheridan. Why did I say Tyler? But like, I'm so sorry, Mr. Sheridan.

[Bill Maher]

It's perceived as like, that's how fucking annoying they are that they can't even abide by a show that is not specifically tailored to people who run a yoga studio in San Francisco.

[Jerry O'Connell]

I don't know.

[Bill Maher]

You know, it's about the middle of the country.

[Jerry O'Connell]

First of all, it's so great. Lioness is so great.

[Bill Maher]

It's Lioness. Love that one.

[Jerry O'Connell]

That's another show, that origin story when she goes into the recruiter's office and

[Bill Maher]

he goes, it's an amazing factory he's got running.

[Jerry O'Connell]

It's awesome.

[Bill Maher]

Please. But. Okay, but please, Taylor, if I can just finish this. It's like, they will not nominate that show because. And Billy Bob Thornton has been in the press complaining about this, as he should, because it's perceived as a conservative show, first of all. Even if it was a conservative show, that should be allowed. This is fucking America, you assholes. Okay, but it's. You know what Landman has girl bosses, has Mexicans. It has a trans character. I mean, it's just not exactly what you are.

[Jerry O'Connell]

Agreed.

[Bill Maher]

And so we have to ignore that and pretend it doesn't exist. You know, you want to know why people vote for Trump? That's why your shitty attitude is a real turn off.

[Jerry O'Connell]

So I'm gonna tell you about a bit of. When I say this, Will I stay married? Blow it over here. My.

[Bill Maher]

Sounds like you're gonna blow it over here.

[Jerry O'Connell]

The night of the election, this third one. Yeah, third election. Everyone knows what I'm talking about here. I was watching late at night, the Returns. And I'll be honest with you, I didn't think Trump was gonna win. I live in California. I didn't think he was gonna win. From what I was here, I didn't either. I think he was gonna win. This is where I live. You know, I said something along the lines of, like, there was no planning. This is what they get. There should have been a primary. I said something along those lines, you know, like, I was just spitballing ideas as to. It was a shock, you know, my wife and daughters, without saying anything, became. Became physical with me. They were. They were filled with rage. So if I am being careful with you in how I say things. Yes, I live in California. I live with not one, not two, but three people who, if I made any kind of joke, they would. They'd become very angry with me. You know, I. Well, so I'm.

[Bill Maher]

I don't want to tell you how to live your life, but I couldn't live that way. I would. Whatever household or ever situation I'm in, I say what I truly think. And if it makes you angry, I'm sorry, we'll have to work that out. Well, it makes sense, but I am not going to tuck my tail between my legs and just shut the fuck up. This is what you were dealing with when you were a child. Just sit there and don't say anything. Sit on your hands. But what happened to Rob Reiner? More of that, Jerry. More of that.

[Jerry O'Connell]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Bill Maher]

Where's Rob Reiner's ghost when you need him to be telling you More of that?

[Jerry O'Connell]

Yeah, I.

[Bill Maher]

Now tell the Kardashian story.

[Jerry O'Connell]

Pull into this parking lot. My daughter's failing math. There's a. I love this show. There's a Bentley.

[Bill Maher]

It's ridiculous.

[Jerry O'Connell]

A Bentley. You know what a Bentley. Huge car. It's the size of.

[Bill Maher]

No, I'm from Bulgaria.

[Jerry O'Connell]

Well, I don't know. I mean, like, a Bentley is a large. It's a. Larger than. It's a large car.

[Bill Maher]

Yeah, I'm 70, and I live in, you know, California.

[Jerry O'Connell]

Bentley was parked diagonally, taking up three spaces. And I'm walking with my daughter, and I'm trying not to raise Nepo babies. And I'm like, you see this shit? This is the kind of shit. This is disgusting. I know you live in Calabasas. I know we're raising you in Calabasas. These people are fucking monsters. Taking up three spaces like this. Two. Fine, three. This is a fucking joke. Whoever did this is a monster. Don't ever. You're gonna be Driving in a few years, if you pass math and don't ever do this, like, understand we have to. Like, being someone in society is like, doing, like, helping society out.

[Bill Maher]

It shows the sense of entitlement.

[Jerry O'Connell]

They have 100% entitlement, which you never find among. So I'm there with my daughter and someone whose initials are not Chloe, not Kim. Who's the other one? Not Chloe or Kim. Somebody help me out.

[Bill Maher]

Chris.

[Jerry O'Connell]

Not Kris. That's the mom.

[Bill Maher]

Khloe.

[Jerry O'Connell]

Third one. Khloe's the sister.

[Bill Maher]

Chloe.

[Jerry O'Connell]

Kim.

[Bill Maher]

Kim and Kourtney.

[Jerry O'Connell]

Kourtney Kardashian. She comes out with her kid and she says, we have a nodding relationship. Right. I told you. Like, the Kardashians and I, we, like, cordially, like, nod at each other.

[Bill Maher]

Where. Where was this nodding happening?

[Jerry O'Connell]

In the parking lot.

[Bill Maher]

Oh, in the parking lot before Calabasas? Yeah.

[Jerry O'Connell]

Oh, and so this is not the

[Bill Maher]

first time you met in the parking lot?

[Jerry O'Connell]

No, we had, like, nodding. We have nodding relationships. So I give her, I gotta get

[Bill Maher]

to this parking lot.

[Jerry O'Connell]

I give her the cordial. Oh, it's a Rick Caruso parking lot.

[Bill Maher]

This sounds like a really good parking lot.

[Jerry O'Connell]

So I do the cordial. Hello, my lady.

[Bill Maher]

Don't say that.

[Jerry O'Connell]

And she gives me the nod. Sure. And I actually said, like, hi, Courtney. And she went, hi, Jerry. And we walked past each other.

[Bill Maher]

And our kids, especially celebrities, do.

[Jerry O'Connell]

Yeah.

[Bill Maher]

We pretend we know each other even when we don't.

[Jerry O'Connell]

How goes, man?

[Bill Maher]

I know you from tv. I know you from tv. We've actually never met.

[Jerry O'Connell]

What's up?

[Bill Maher]

Exactly. Do the nod.

[Jerry O'Connell]

She goes and gets in that Bentley that's taking up three spaces. And I went, it's good to see you, Courtney. And she gets in, starts it up and pulls off. And my daughter says, weren't you gonna say something to her about the three spaces and taking up all the spaces? And I was like, you shut the fuck up. That's Kourtney Kardashian. Do what she wants. You shut up. There is a hierarchy in this town, and you better fucking learn it if you want to be in this town. Now go past math, Jerry.

[Bill Maher]

You gotta hang out with me more.

[Jerry O'Connell]

Anytime, Bill. First time, long time. Isn't that what they say in sports radio?

[Bill Maher]

I gotta. I'm gonna put that Rob Reiner back in you.

[Jerry O'Connell]

One more hit for me.

[Bill Maher]

I am gonna put that.

[Jerry O'Connell]

By the way, I've been scared to come on your show, but you know what?

[Bill Maher]

I'm gonna put Rob Reiner back in you. I'm alive.

[Jerry O'Connell]

I might not be married when this airs. But I'm alive.

[Bill Maher]

You'll be married. She loves you. I can tell. I can tell.

[Jerry O'Connell]

One more on my face for the drive home.

[Bill Maher]

Right there, Big one. Is this all a gag or do you actually feel that? Because I do know you're not the first person, by the way, who does this. I don't think he would mind me saying this, so I'm gonna say it. Yeah. But one other famous person who. The exact same thing is Joe Walsh of the Eagles. Of the Eagles. Joe.

[Jerry O'Connell]

I saw them. I saw that fucking Sphere concert.

[Bill Maher]

You gotta go, by the way, I've seen the Eagles five times. I mean, I loved you.

[Jerry O'Connell]

You haven't seen it until you've seen it at the Sphere.

[Bill Maher]

Yeah, I intend to go.

[Jerry O'Connell]

Oh, my God. It's a different experience. Changes concert going.

[Bill Maher]

Yes.

[Jerry O'Connell]

Oh, I'll tell you a fun drug story I went with. It was my wife's birthday. Some people did cocaine and mushrooms, which is weird.

[Bill Maher]

Some people.

[Jerry O'Connell]

Some people did.

[Bill Maher]

Who are these people?

[Jerry O'Connell]

Ecstasy, Molly, whatever they call it.

[Bill Maher]

This is their last version of this.

[Jerry O'Connell]

This is when we went to the Sphere. Some people did. This is the group that we were with. Oh, some people did acid. They do acid now. It's called Unicorn Spray. You spray it.

[Bill Maher]

This is a big group.

[Jerry O'Connell]

Okay.

[Bill Maher]

All those drugs.

[Jerry O'Connell]

Some people didn't do anything.

[Bill Maher]

Well, a lot of people.

[Jerry O'Connell]

Who do you think? I took a test. I really wanted to study this. I was like, when am I gonna get a chance to, like, see this? Who do you think had the most fun?

[Bill Maher]

Elizabeth Warren. I don't know.

[Jerry O'Connell]

The acid people.

[Bill Maher]

Oh, I'm with the drug use.

[Jerry O'Connell]

Yeah.

[Bill Maher]

Well, I don't know what acid is anymore since it's been 30 years since I did it. So I think it's pretty. Like, I've heard it's great.

[Jerry O'Connell]

I gotta tell you. Oh, no, no. Moms are doing it. Like moms are partying on the weekends.

[Bill Maher]

Oh, no, Acid is not your father's acid. There's a whole. I absolutely know this. I'm not particularly interested in trying it myself at this age. I wish I felt more confident to do things like that, but no, it's just not smart for me. But the idea, I think they do

[Jerry O'Connell]

it, they call it microdosing. They drank the whole bottle, but it was microdosing.

[Bill Maher]

But they have refined it so that it is not quite what it was before, which was an all out trip where you're either like falling off, thinking you can fly and diving off a building.

[Jerry O'Connell]

By the way, a mom sold Us, the asset. A mom.

[Bill Maher]

Like a Muslim preacher?

[Jerry O'Connell]

No, no, a mom. Mother, Mommy. Mommy like a mom.

[Bill Maher]

The E mom.

[Jerry O'Connell]

Everything gets back to religion with you.

[Bill Maher]

Yeah. I mean, drugs are whole. It's a whole different world out there. With the microdosing. I mean, I tried microdosing mushrooms and my only reaction was, oh, really? Then what's the point? Like, either you're gonna go full on or not. I mean, it wasn't really a trip and it really wasn't.

[Jerry O'Connell]

It was ayahuasca things that everybody wants.

[Bill Maher]

Well, that's a full on thing. No, I mean, that is a whole different thing and that I don't see as, like, what we're talking about. We're talking about partying here with the fun drugs.

[Jerry O'Connell]

Yeah.

[Bill Maher]

Ayahuasca is not that. Ayahuasca is a deep dive into your psyche, and you have to really want to do that. Be prepared to do that.

[Jerry O'Connell]

I don't want to do it. I don't want to do it.

[Bill Maher]

Don't do it.

[Jerry O'Connell]

You're not. Keep it inside. It's better to keep it inside.

[Bill Maher]

I don't know if it's better, but I don't know. What am I going to do at 70? Like, what am I gonna, like, reorient my whole life because the ayahuasca. And also, I don't feel like I've been that bad. I know my life. I know me, I know who my friends are. I know what I believe. I know who likes me. It all adds up to not an emergency.

[Jerry O'Connell]

Yeah, it's so funny. Somebody really tried to talk me into that ayahuasca thing and the way they described it. And I'm sorry to ayahuasca people. They're gonna go off in the comments right now, but they said like, oh,

[Bill Maher]

God, Jerry, here is what they say.

[Jerry O'Connell]

They said like, you know, there is some diarrhea, vomiting involved, but you got

[Bill Maher]

to stop caring about your kids, your wife and the comets.

[Jerry O'Connell]

Well, I live with my kids and wife, so I have to care about them. Okay, but like, they have access to

[Bill Maher]

the gun, but you can think differently than they. You can think differently than they can, and that's okay. You're a different guy, raised in a different era, with a different anatomy. And you are going to naturally feel and think some different things. And maybe you're right too. You have lived longer. Usually in societies, we think that people who live longer have more wisdom. Not always. There are some old fools, but in general, like, I mean, we shouldn't just dismiss out of hand the possibility that your feelings and your opinions are correct.

[Jerry O'Connell]

I gotta tell you something, Bill. It's funny you say that. I don't think anyone's right. I'm not kidding. I don't think anyone's correct. I don't think there is a correct answer to anything.

[Bill Maher]

Well, there may not be a correct answer, but in a world nowadays where people say, it's my truth, yes, there's my truth. And your truth. There is also the truth. Sometimes there is the truth. Sometimes there is just the truth.

[Jerry O'Connell]

That's why I pay out of pocket tickets for you.

[Bill Maher]

This is not wood. It's concrete. That's not my truth. That just is the truth. There's a lot of stuff where you can say gray area, and we've certainly moved those goalposts to where it's almost everything. You know, we used to have a shared view, at least about the facts. We don't have that anymore. But some things are the truth. And I'll admit that. About the things even which I'm supposed to be on the other side of it, you know, like, I'm not an anti vaxxer, but I didn't appreciate the way we treated Covid in this country. But it is just the truth that it was an actual epidemic and that the vaccine did actually save millions of lives.

[Jerry O'Connell]

No, no, I took it as. Yeah, I think I went three times. And then I was like, all right, I feel good.

[Bill Maher]

Okay. Well, I didn't want any one of them, but that's. That's.

[Jerry O'Connell]

Oh, I got my shingles shot, too. I'm that old. Can you believe I'm that old? I had to get a shingles vaccine, by the way. Let's get some of that pharmaceutical stuff. Enough of this, like, sweetener stuff. Let's get, like. Look at, like, the big ones here. Taylor Sheridan.

[Bill Maher]

Did you ever do drugs in your heyday, though? I mean, like when you were a young. Blade.

[Jerry O'Connell]

No. Booze. You know, I'm sort of in.

[Bill Maher]

Really?

[Jerry O'Connell]

Yeah.

[Bill Maher]

I'm an Irish.

[Jerry O'Connell]

I'm an Irish. Polish American, Italian American. And booze was my thing. Booze, booze.

[Bill Maher]

But I mean, when you did Tomcats, the year 2000, you're single, right? Booze, boozing, you're single. Yeah. Yeah. You're a star.

[Jerry O'Connell]

Yeah.

[Bill Maher]

You're a good looking young guy. Yeah. I mean, there must have been a lot of female interest in you. And there must have been a lot of nights out. Yeah. Did you not take advantage of being a young, handsome star in Hollywood?

[Jerry O'Connell]

Like, I took advantage of it. I liked being in Relationships. I loved the company of other women. I love. I always like a dinner. I'd like to go out to dinner. You know, I like to.

[Bill Maher]

I love.

[Jerry O'Connell]

I love making girls laugh.

[Bill Maher]

But, I mean, was there a period?

[Jerry O'Connell]

No, I'm not.

[Bill Maher]

I do, too.

[Jerry O'Connell]

I'm serious.

[Bill Maher]

Yeah, I am serious, too. And also sex.

[Jerry O'Connell]

Yeah, love that, too. What a feeling.

[Bill Maher]

But I'm saying, was there a period where you were a single man who you like, you really did not want to get married for a while because it was just too much fun to be out there, and you were playing the field, as they said.

[Jerry O'Connell]

I'm going to tell you, playing the field. Well, Bill, I got married, you know, for Los Angeles. I'm not speaking for the rest of the world. I got married at 33, which is in Los Angeles. I was the first one of my friends to get married. 33 was the youngest. My guy friends were like, what are you fucking doing? This is way too young, dude. My friends, we weren't even. I was living in a condo. We weren't even close to getting married. I met Rebecca Romijn. Rebecca Romijn was recently divorced.

[Bill Maher]

Mm.

[Jerry O'Connell]

We dated for about.

[Bill Maher]

I really like Kenny.

[Jerry O'Connell]

Um, we dated for months. Close to a year. I gotta tell you, every time I was intimate with Rebecca Romine, I would say to myself, I can't fucking believe this is happening right now. I can't believe this is my life. Like, I would be like, oh, yeah, that was fun. And then I'd go to the bathroom and be like, just give me a second. And I'd look in the mirror and I'd be like, I fucking did it. I can't believe this is my life right now.

[Bill Maher]

Why? She's gotta fuck somebody I know, but me?

[Jerry O'Connell]

Like, why not you?

[Bill Maher]

Like, who's Bill?

[Jerry O'Connell]

She's on the COVID of Sports Illustrated.

[Bill Maher]

Numerous things.

[Jerry O'Connell]

She was a blue lady from X Men.

[Bill Maher]

Okay, but there's only one James Bond, you know? I mean, somebody else has to step in when Uncle Jesse's busy.

[Jerry O'Connell]

But. But, you know, the fat kid from St. She picked the fat kid from Stand By Me. You said it yourself.

[Bill Maher]

No. Suddenly the fat kid is Val. Some. Suddenly. This has great merit to save a fat kid. I, I, I mean, I love it.

[Jerry O'Connell]

My wife said, who was. Now we're dating. My wife is 31 now. My wife said, listen, I. I want to have kids at some point. Is that something that interests you?

[Bill Maher]

Right?

[Jerry O'Connell]

And I was like, yeah, yeah, of course. Yeah, of course. Yeah. Anything I could do to keep this going? So we got Married a couple years later. And we. It was so funny trying to have, I'll tell you as someone, talk about goo. I had spent my whole life, took another hit. You thought this episode was over. This is the extra stuff. This is the Patreon stuff. Everybody. It's never over. Um, I. One of the most unnatural things I've ever done was trying to get someone pregnant. My whole life had been. I had an uncle, Jerry Di Sapio. I hope he's listening to this. Lives in Monmouth, New Jersey. When I moved to Los Angeles, he drove me to the airport, gave me money, gave me some cash, walking around money. And he said, just do me a

[Bill Maher]

favor, whatever you do,

[Jerry O'Connell]

don't get anybody pregnant. You can never do that. You can't get anybody pregnant. Like, that's the one thing. I was 21, just out of college. Don't get anybody pregnant. So I had tried all those years to not get anyone pregnant. Finally my wife said, like, let's try and get pregnant. I was like, you want me to try and get you pregnant?

[Bill Maher]

I can give you a tip on how to do it. When you come, leave your dick in it. Seriously, it'll work almost every time.

[Jerry O'Connell]

Oh, you have sponsors.

[Bill Maher]

What are you doing? Anyway, so why did you have to try? I mean, that didn't work. Just normal.

[Jerry O'Connell]

You gotta try a little. You gotta try a little bit.

[Bill Maher]

Yeah, but I mean, if you're a newlyweds and you're fucking all the time, you're gonna be fucking when she's ovulating, and then, I mean, the sperm. I mean, it's nature. I mean, people have more of a problem stopping it than starting it. Starting it is. You know, you just don't have to be a rocket scientist to get that. Unless you have some issue. You had some issue? Too little. Well, obviously it worked. It worked. I didn't have an issue, okay?

[Jerry O'Connell]

Fuck me, I had an issue.

[Bill Maher]

Now you, obviously, you put your sperm in a lady and she made children come out. You're a virile man, by the way.

[Jerry O'Connell]

This is the most scientific episode of Club Random that we've had. This is like a health class. This is great. This is about ovulation.

[Bill Maher]

I mean, I have spent my life trying to do the opposite.

[Jerry O'Connell]

That's what I'm saying.

[Bill Maher]

That was my fault. And I feel like that causes. You're talking about anxiety, my friend. Yeah, it does. That's much more anxiety. And there was years when I was young, scared.

[Jerry O'Connell]

Scared of phone calls.

[Bill Maher]

Stupider. When I was a young swain. When, you know, I May not have been as perfect with the safe sex. Sure thing. As you, you get older, you get smarter and wiser and more responsible. But of course, sometimes when you're younger, you know, it's like you use the rubber the first time and then it's like the second time. Well, we know each other now. Of course we use a condom when we don't know each other. What do you mean we don't know each other? I just. You. We know each other.

[Jerry O'Connell]

I think we've covered it all. I mean, what else is left?

[Bill Maher]

I don't know.

[Jerry O'Connell]

Rest in peace, Rob Reiner. It's so funny. Your producer said, do you have anything to plug? And I was like, no, I actually do have something to plug. We're doing these live shows of Stand By Me. It's me, Corey Feldman and Will Wheaton. And what they do is this guy, Dan Pasternak, you probably know him, he's like a comedy. He's like a comedy curator guy. We screen the film in these 1500 seat houses, big houses, and we're going to a bunch of cities. Go on the website standbymelive.com and we screen it and we watch it and then afterwards we have a talk. And every night is different. It brings back memories for some of us. It's very emotional.

[Bill Maher]

I bet it is.

[Jerry O'Connell]

And we haven't done it since. God rest his soul, Rob Reiner and his wife passed. It's gonna be very emotional.

[Bill Maher]

It's gonna be very emotional.

[Jerry O'Connell]

And you know what?

[Bill Maher]

When is this happening?

[Jerry O'Connell]

It happens dates in March and there's gonna be later dates. There's a website called standbymelive.com. it's going to all the cities. It's like a tour. An entertainment group called.

[Bill Maher]

You show the movie and then you get on stage and take questions.

[Jerry O'Connell]

We show the movie and then we take questions and we just talk. And it's, you know, it's really fun for me because I've seen the movie since it came out. I have never seen it in a theater since opening day with my grandparents. And on Fifth Avenue across from Alexander's, on Madison Avenue across from Alexander's. Saw matinee empty theater with my grandparents. And it's so awesome. By the way, I kill in the movie. I do. You do like people.

[Bill Maher]

Yeah.

[Jerry O'Connell]

All the laughs are right there.

[Bill Maher]

Right?

[Jerry O'Connell]

It's just such a.

[Bill Maher]

Right. It's the best part is the fat kid. I'm not trying to just say it. I'm just telling you it's the best part. When I got my first Sitcom. I was the office creep. Does that sound like a compliment? No, but it was the best part to have the other three people. Geena Davis, she was awesome and she was a big star. And Alfre Woodard, Oscar nominee, and Bronson Pinchot, they were all very talented people, but I was the office creator. All their lines, if you looked at the script, you could kind of interchange them. They were just three nice people. I was the office creep and you were the fat kid. And that's.

[Jerry O'Connell]

It's good, you know, so we gotta do something about the film industry here in Los Angeles. It's really. We.

[Bill Maher]

Yeah, we like us. We can do this.

[Jerry O'Connell]

I don't think we can.

[Bill Maher]

I'm not in the industry.

[Jerry O'Connell]

You are in the industry.

[Bill Maher]

It's not the film industry.

[Jerry O'Connell]

You work on a studio. You work. You still work in a studio.

[Bill Maher]

Yeah. Okay, what do we have to do?

[Jerry O'Connell]

Gotta figure out how to get those stages filled again. I mean, you. I'm just saying that because you worked on a sitcom when I'm sure it was like.

[Bill Maher]

But part of this is unions. Part of this gets back to something where your natural inclination, living with the woke is to go, wait a second, don't attack unions. There's some. And it's like, well, you know what? Yeah, that's. I mean, I read that's gonna. That we might be heading for another strike. The deal that they just struck a couple of years ago, it's already up.

[Jerry O'Connell]

Yeah. And now I remember that. I remember the heat that you caught saying, if it's not. If we don't come to an end, well, something's gonna happen. I was Bill.

[Bill Maher]

All I said, I wasn't the first one to go back to work. That was, I think Drew and the ladies from the Talk and some other show, they all said they were going to go back. And I said, yeah, I think that's a good idea. I mean, it had stretched on for a long time. I'm not anti union. I'm not about getting a good deal. But, you know, we do have some information, actual facts since that strike. And I think I know, don't quote me on the number, but a very, very, very high number. I thought when I read it, like 40%, something like that, of jobs never came back. So, like, again, per my theme of let's do what practically makes sense for the old school liberals of the world, as opposed to what just sometimes seems performative now, again, people should absolutely get what they deserve. But also, you know, we live in the era we live in. I can't Change the fact that Telly Norwood is now a movie star. You know who that is?

[Jerry O'Connell]

No, I don't.

[Bill Maher]

I'm so sorry. That's the AI actress. Oh, Telly Norwood. She's not real.

[Jerry O'Connell]

Sheree. How many spaces does she take when she parks in a. I don't know. But Caruso Mall?

[Bill Maher]

None. Because she doesn't exist outside of AI.

[Jerry O'Connell]

Is she attractive?

[Bill Maher]

She's very attractive. I mean, this is the future of movies. They're gonna shoot it for $10.

[Jerry O'Connell]

Does she have to get high in

[Bill Maher]

order for to have a costume? That's the point. They're gonna want to hire Tilly Norwood.

[Jerry O'Connell]

No, they won't. I'm not afraid of AI.

[Bill Maher]

Oh, you should.

[Jerry O'Connell]

AI recreate who you are every Friday night on hbo. Max.

[Bill Maher]

No, not me, but a lot of things. They. Could.

[Jerry O'Connell]

Could they have recreated this conversation? Could AI have come up with us, like, talking about Fat Kid from Stand By, Me and goo and Frozen Homeless and.

[Bill Maher]

No, absolutely not. But could they make Maverick? Top Gun? Yeah.

[Jerry O'Connell]

Yeah, maybe.

[Bill Maher]

You know, they practically did. No, I'm kidding. I actually like that movie.

[Jerry O'Connell]

It was a great movie. It was really good. But I understand what you're saying, you know, it's.

[Bill Maher]

Anyway, look, you and I are not the people who are going to save Hollywood. I'll just put her out there right now.

[Jerry O'Connell]

Yeah, I was just saying. Hey, but, Bill, you know what? I want to thank you. You're one of the few people. Those who. I'm saying, those who don't live in Los Angeles. Bill still shoots his show on a lot. On a Hollywood lot, on a stage. And I'm sure people have said, oh, it would be cheaper if we move to this stage out there. Or you're right there in Hollywood shooting it, and that's gonna be a part of your budget and, like, you do it. I would. I'm currently not working on a lot. I had to go make a film in out of the country. You know, it's where I went. Beautiful country. I went to South Africa. I went to Cape Town. Gorgeous. Really fun. Really made a great film. Worked for. Oh, it's coming out on Tubi. I guess I do have something to plug. Yes, tell us. It's called Summer's Last Resort. It's gonna be on Tubi streaming service.

[Bill Maher]

Summer's Last Resort. Good title. Summer's Last Resort. What is it about?

[Jerry O'Connell]

It's a family movie. I play a father who is, like. He's like, in a household where he has to make believe he's woke all the time. Cause his, like, mom and like, you in real life.

[Bill Maher]

It's a joke. I'm joking.

[Jerry O'Connell]

I was joking. No, it's like. It's sort of like. Did you ever see the film Tomcats?

[Bill Maher]

I'm kidding. No, what is it about?

[Jerry O'Connell]

No, it's great. It's a family movie. It's really fun. I play a stepdad and the teenagers don't want me to marry their mom. And it's cute. It's funny. Cape Town was gorgeous.

[Bill Maher]

You gotta go. You know what would help the plot of that movie? If you go on vacation and you get your organs harvested. I'm just saying, throw in something like that and there's just more drama. There's more things to react to. You know, the kids. How do the woke react to. They're harvesting our organs. But are they gonna go to the wrong people? You know, things like that. Like, is it gonna.

[Jerry O'Connell]

It's good. I'm gonna remember that.

[Bill Maher]

I wanna make sure marginalized people get my liver.

[Jerry O'Connell]

I saw a pretty good movie you should watch. It's called Primate. It's about a crazy chimp that goes crazy. It was funny. I watched it last night.

[Bill Maher]

I watched the trailer last night.

[Jerry O'Connell]

It's on.

[Bill Maher]

I'm a PETA person. I'm an animal lover. I can't watch any movie where animals are abused.

[Jerry O'Connell]

Oh, I thought you would have invited your dogs in here.

[Bill Maher]

They died.

[Jerry O'Connell]

All of them.

[Bill Maher]

Two out of three.

[Jerry O'Connell]

So you got one.

[Bill Maher]

I got one.

[Jerry O'Connell]

You didn't want him or her to sitting here.

[Bill Maher]

That dog is so old and so easily traumatized and not replacing it with a puppy, huh? Well, I've debated that. Like, would it be better to have the very old dog now with a puppy who might annoy the fuck out of it, or would it reinvigorate it? I think it would just annoy you. I really do. I think the old dog would be like, get the fuck away. No, I don't want to play. I played when I was four. You know, dogs, they only get like four years. You get four years where they run around like crazy. Energy.

[Jerry O'Connell]

We have big dogs, too, and they quickly short their lives.

[Bill Maher]

Well, the lives aren't so short, but the life they live, at a certain point, they have a very long period where they're very lazy and there's a lot of sleeping. And if they were in nature, they'd be dead.

[Jerry O'Connell]

Do you get puppies?

[Bill Maher]

Well, you know, when the last one goes, then I want to get, you know, a few together. I think the thing to do is to get them together. So that none of them.

[Jerry O'Connell]

You don't feel lonely when you're at home.

[Bill Maher]

Well, also, none of them feel like, oh, this is my house, and some newcomer came. You know, that's what dogs gets, them fighting. You know, they have to feel like it's nobody's territory.

[Jerry O'Connell]

Hey, can I throw this out there?

[Bill Maher]

Yeah.

[Jerry O'Connell]

I didn't want. I always thought I was allergic to cats. My wife, when we got married, was like, we're getting cats. And I was like, please don't do it. I'm allergic.

[Bill Maher]

I love cats.

[Jerry O'Connell]

I'm a cat guy. I'm a cat daddy. You should get some cats. Cats are fun.

[Bill Maher]

Well, I don't know if you know this, Jerry, but all dogs go to heaven. All cats go to hell.

[Jerry O'Connell]

No, I know you say that.

[Bill Maher]

I hate cats.

[Jerry O'Connell]

You know what?

[Bill Maher]

No, I'm kidding. I'm an animal lover. I love all animals, but I don't want cats.

[Jerry O'Connell]

In a lot of ways, you're kind of like a cat.

[Bill Maher]

I may be like a cat, but that doesn't mean I want. You know, I may be like a man doesn't mean want to have sex with a man. Just, I may be like a cat. I don't want to have a cat as a pet. Maybe there's too much cat energy here. Why am I like a cat?

[Jerry O'Connell]

You watch Heated Rivalry. The Netflix show? Not Netflix. The.

[Bill Maher]

Why would that make me like a cat?

[Jerry O'Connell]

You talked about having sex with men. I was going off on a tangent. Now I'm trying to squeeze in all my Bill more time before I. Before you cut off the show?

[Bill Maher]

You're the one who said. I thought you wanted to quit.

[Jerry O'Connell]

No, I could do this. I'm spending the night. Are you kidding me? You watch the Heated Rivalry show?

[Bill Maher]

No, but I certainly have read about it. I watched it with my kids, the gay hockey players.

[Jerry O'Connell]

It's a hot show, man. I watched it with a couple teenage girls and their friends, and they were into it.

[Bill Maher]

I'm not against it.

[Jerry O'Connell]

They were.

[Bill Maher]

Why is it so popular, do you think? What's the.

[Jerry O'Connell]

I think the sex scenes are sexy and graphic.

[Bill Maher]

This is gay sex.

[Jerry O'Connell]

Gay sex?

[Bill Maher]

Yeah.

[Jerry O'Connell]

And I know you're doing that, but they don't show penis or penetration, so it's not hardcore pornography.

[Bill Maher]

I feel like I have to make no apology for saying I don't like to watch gay sex. And I don't make.

[Jerry O'Connell]

What?

[Bill Maher]

I don't. It's just the full support of the entire gay community.

[Jerry O'Connell]

100%, all of us.

[Bill Maher]

And certainly there's lots of gay men out There saying, you know what? Pussy yucky. You know, like, we all like what we like. And I don't. It just not. You know, I felt like it's awful, but I just don't want to watch it. And it doesn't. It doesn't turn me on. Obviously, I'm not gay. Yeah. And I'm thrilled that it does for you. And I'm glad there's. I'm glad there's things for you, and then there's things they make for me, like. Like landmen. You know why they hate. You know. You know why they hate Landman? Cause it's got four hot chicks on it. It's like, how dare you have hot chicks in a show anymore. Oh, God.

[Jerry O'Connell]

Taylor Sheridan was this close to putting me in the next one, and then I went in on that heated rivalry thing, and he was like, hold. Hold on a second. Hold on a second.

[Bill Maher]

No, I'm. First of all, I'm gonna get Taylor Sheridan on this show. He should do it already, because I. He's a fan.

[Jerry O'Connell]

So you've been talking about. You've been a big supporter.

[Bill Maher]

I'm a big supporter, and I think it's ridiculous that somebody who. I mean, every once in a while somebody comes along in TV like that, who has. So, like, Remember David Kelly?

[Jerry O'Connell]

Sure, yeah. David Kelly, L.A. law. All.

[Bill Maher]

So many shows. Like, how does. Where does this guy find the time to write all these shows?

[Jerry O'Connell]

Ryan Murphy does it a lot.

[Bill Maher]

Who was the guy? Stephen J. Canal in the 80s.

[Jerry O'Connell]

Sure. Remember the typewriter?

[Bill Maher]

Every detective, whether they were fat or in a wheelchair or whatever they were, Steve and J. Canel was having them solve crimes all over town. It was amazing. And, you know, it was just the era. And of course, we're in a different era, but, like, there is some, you know, Aaron Sorkin, like, I mean, there are people who just.

[Jerry O'Connell]

But Taylor Sheridan's been doing it for a second. That movie Sicario. Yeah, that's a real movie, man. That is like.

[Bill Maher]

Oh, and Hell or High. Is it Hell? Yeah.

[Jerry O'Connell]

Hell or High Water.

[Bill Maher]

That's another really good one.

[Jerry O'Connell]

Great.

[Bill Maher]

No, I mean, some people just can, like, sit down at that typewriter and just. It just flows. And Stallone's Tulsa King, also quite, quite good.

[Jerry O'Connell]

That's Taylor Sheridan. I will tell you. I have heard something about him, and this is positive. This is what I've heard. So I don't know if it's fact or fiction.

[Bill Maher]

And.

[Jerry O'Connell]

Please, Mr. Sheridan, if you're upset at this, I'm sorry, but I've heard, unlike. Unlike Other TV people, okay, Unlike other TV people. Other TV people have a script and present it, and the studio goes, oh, well, got to do this, and you got to change this. And we need this. And we're trying to get younger women to watch and do this. And you have to. And we don't have the budget for this, and we don't have the budget for that. And you got to cut this out. And so then they, you know, rewrites and, you know, you get different color pages and scripts, and that's why pages have a bunch of different colors. I'm sure that happened in the Bronson Pin Show, Geena Davis sitcom.

[Bill Maher]

Remember the different color pages. Yes, you're right.

[Jerry O'Connell]

But allegedly, and I don't know this way. In fact, Taylor Sheridan has a script and goes, there it is. Make it. And that's why it's so good.

[Bill Maher]

He is hardly the first one to have that. I mean, that you're right about. In television, it's HBO's mantra, bro. That's how they got to be HBO, is that they let their people do what they want. I mean, I've been very lucky because I'm part of that where you're God in your universe. If they give you a show, you have enough rope to hang yourself if it sucks. But we do not look over your shoulder. That's why they always attracted the top talent. You were so funny, and that was copied by lots of other people. If you want the top talent in this industry, you have to give them that deal. Terrell Echeverridon, I'm sure, has that deal because he is top talent. He is not the first. If you want the really good people, don't fucking tell them what to do or how to do it. Just trust them if it fails. HBO has had big misses, too. That's okay, you know, no one bats a thousand, but that's how you make good art.

[Jerry O'Connell]

You were so funny. This is gonna show you what a fan I am. But we were watching your end of the year episode of Real Talk and you were like, don't know who my bosses are gonna be when we come back, but I love you. Hope you keep us around. This has been a lot of fun.

[Bill Maher]

That really made me laugh. It's true. That really made me laugh.

[Jerry O'Connell]

It's funny.

[Bill Maher]

No, I don't know. I still don't.

[Jerry O'Connell]

We miss you when you're not on the air.

[Bill Maher]

I appreciate that very much.

[Jerry O'Connell]

We really miss it.

[Bill Maher]

I really do.

[Jerry O'Connell]

When you said stuff on the red carpet and people were like, hope you're doing well.

[Bill Maher]

Hang in there, Bill.

[Jerry O'Connell]

It was so funny.

[Bill Maher]

Well, that was apropos to our discussion about Hollywood. So much fun to do that whole thing about. And again, there's a practical aspect to what I was saying. Democrats really need to cut loose to celebrities. They're not helping. They don't strike people as normal because they're fucking not. Democrats already have a problem with people thinking that they are not the common sense crowd. And then when they see, you know, the chapel Rohns and the Billie Eilishes of the world who don't act like normal people, and then whatever they're saying just strikes everybody in America who's a normal person as, oh, God, here's more of this stuff where you can't relate to a real life. And of course, there was comedy in there about. It's so easy to like, show celebrities acting crazy, like giving Kanye a school.

[Jerry O'Connell]

I went to a Kamala Harris rally. My wife and I donated to the campaign. And Megan thee stallion played. And that was pretty. Pretty fucking epic, Bill, if you were there, I mean, it really invigorated, like,

[Bill Maher]

excitement, you know, it really invigorated the people who were already gonna vote for her anyway. That's who we invigorated. Okay?

[Jerry O'Connell]

There is no correct, Phil. There is no correct.

[Bill Maher]

I mean, yeah, I mean, you can jerk each other off all day long. Kamala Harris lost all seven swing states. I mean, she went 0 for 7 where the election was. I mean, that's not. You have to almost try to fuck up that badly. You know, as I've said many times, they lost a crazy contest against a crazy person. So, you know, you do. You. You vote for who you want. You believe what you want. I'm friends with everybody. You know, I love being friends with everybody. I mean, there's very few people who I won't talk to. And again, the people who will not give Taylor Sheridan his due are the same people who think that's terrible. Stay in the bubble. Only talk to the people who already agree with you, who see it the way you do. Okay? You do. You. You know, I'm very happy positioned where I am and very happy I can have you here. And also, I mean, I've had Charlie Kirk here. Yeah, I've had lot. I've had, you know, rfk, of course, everybody and famously went to see Trump. Like, I will talk to all of them.

[Jerry O'Connell]

Let me ask you something. Cause I was watching the Golden Globes and I was watching you mostly just. I'm not even joking.

[Bill Maher]

No.

[Jerry O'Connell]

Because I'm a fan. So I'm like, oh, let's see, Bill. And it's a pressure situation. They're calling your name, you're in front of all those people. Do you give a shit whether you win or lose?

[Bill Maher]

Of course. I mean, you have to be some sort of a liar to say, oh no. I got all dressed up in a monkey suit and you know, put on makeup at three in the afternoon to go out to this thing and this giant traffic jam. I hated every fucking minute of it. I hated all those Emmy award shows I went to and they would never give it to me and they never will. And I understand why that's okay, we don't have to go into that. But yeah, of course you want to because you want. I mean I had such a good speech but I knew that I did

[Jerry O'Connell]

give it to us. Come on, give us a little bit.

[Bill Maher]

Oh, I don't remember what it was but, but I think the first thing I was gonna say was I can't believe this Woke Town gave me an award.

[Jerry O'Connell]

Yeah, that's why they didn't give it to you.

[Bill Maher]

I guess they didn't wanna hear exactly why. But you know, Again I feel like I'm in the Taylor Sheridan category and there's some other shows and other people like that that it's just so anti liberal in my view to have this attitude that they seem to have that you have to just completely conform and get exactly in line of.

[Jerry O'Connell]

Get back, get back in line, get back there.

[Bill Maher]

Yeah, that's how it strikes us. Like again, we should actually even be able to accommodate people who are actually conservative, let alone just not exactly the kind of liberal we are. And that's not good enough for them. And I mean I just, this town, just a lot of the people in this town have a bad attitude. Having said that, I can't walk through a room of anything. Where I go, I was just at the Clive Davis pre Grammy party without every two feet people stopping me and saying the kind of nice things you say to me, like thank God for you, you're the only one who speaks the truth. Thank you for your service.

[Jerry O'Connell]

You know Bill, we were at a party.

[Bill Maher]

So it's, it's like, that's my, I'm

[Jerry O'Connell]

here cuz I ran into you at a party. I was at that party. There is a guy who was there and I said hi to you, hey, remember Tomcatz? I walked away, this guy grabbed me and went, you gotta introduce me to Bill Maher. I've got to, I've got to Meet him. I've got to go meet him.

[Bill Maher]

And. And that was John Stamos. But that is the party where you.

[Jerry O'Connell]

Where you hooked him before me. Just saying.

[Bill Maher]

I got the rebuttal, but that word. No, no, no. You got the girl.

[Jerry O'Connell]

No. Get out of here.

[Bill Maher]

There's no getting girls. No.

[Jerry O'Connell]

Come on. He's happily remembranced. What a beautiful wife. Beautiful. Everybody wins. Everybody wins.

[Bill Maher]

First of all, we're all a different person in every decade of our life. Wouldn't you agree with 30 when you were in your 30s. Is that anything like Jerry today?

[Jerry O'Connell]

Absolutely not. No.

[Bill Maher]

Okay.

[Jerry O'Connell]

Completely different person.

[Bill Maher]

Right. So, you know, that's it. You can't in any way rationally compete against yourself or anybody else at a different era in your life and, you know. Are women in their 20s fun? Yeah, they're fun. They're also such more of a pain in the ass, usually.

[Jerry O'Connell]

Tell me how. How so?

[Bill Maher]

I don't like in their 20s. Well, they're dumber. Like, we all are. We are too.

[Jerry O'Connell]

Okay. They have wisdom in other areas. Like.

[Bill Maher]

Like what? Not sex. They're not better at sex. Sex is like anything with the 10,000, 10,000 hours thing. You, you. It takes a while to get good at it. Okay.

[Jerry O'Connell]

Maybe better at social media. Like, they understand.

[Bill Maher]

Yeah, social media. Who gives a fucking.

[Jerry O'Connell]

Well, I don't know.

[Bill Maher]

I mean, like. But a woman 31 versus a woman 21 in bed,

[Jerry O'Connell]

these are things I don't.

[Bill Maher]

I don't really.

[Jerry O'Connell]

I'm married to.

[Bill Maher]

I know, but for 20 years, not

[Jerry O'Connell]

21 and not 30.

[Bill Maher]

I know, but. But you had a life before that. Yes. So long ago. I don't remember.

[Jerry O'Connell]

I mean.

[Bill Maher]

Well, take my word for it. 21 and 31 are very different. They are. And if I ever go to bed with a woman 41, I'll give you a report on that, but I wouldn't count on it. No, I'm kidding. I'm sure it'll happen. Well, I'm not sure of anything, but

[Jerry O'Connell]

one more hit and then let me hit the road.

[Bill Maher]

All right.

[Jerry O'Connell]

I gotta go. I'm gonna go take my parents to Cantor's downtown. Yeah, I take them to the deli here. My parents are old. They're walking with canes. It's. It's tough. Just give me one for the road.

[Bill Maher]

How is Caners doing?

[Jerry O'Connell]

Great. It's really good. It's a local deli here in Los Angeles.

[Bill Maher]

Oh, I know. It's a classic.

[Jerry O'Connell]

Classic. You should go. The best. Best pastrami in town. Nate N is pretty good, but it's really good.

[Bill Maher]

Love, Nate.

[Jerry O'Connell]

Now I love you boss. You're the best. Hugs, Hugs, not drugs.

[Bill Maher]

Let's not make it the last time. No, we don't have. We don't have to have cameras.

[Jerry O'Connell]

I just so fun watching you come down the hallway.

[Bill Maher]

Random. Random. Really?

[Jerry O'Connell]

Yeah, it was.

[Bill Maher]

You didn't think I was going to show up, huh?

[Jerry O'Connell]

Well, you were 15 minutes late.

[Bill Maher]

I mean. Well, I. No, you were actually 15 minutes early.

[Jerry O'Connell]

I don't give a. This has been the highlight of my year Club.

[Bill Maher]

Random

[Jerry O'Connell]

this episode is brought to you by Athletic Brewing Company. No matter how you do game day, on the couch, in the crowd, or manning the snack table, Athletic Brewing fits right in with a full lineup of non alcoholic beer styles. You can enjoy bold flavors all game long. No hangovers, no buzz, no subbing out for water in the second half. Stock the fridge for tip off with a variety of non alcoholic craft styles. Available at your local grocery store or online at athleticbrewing.com near Beer Fit for all times with its two juicy beef patties and three slices of melted cheese topped with tangy Big Arch sauce.

[Bill Maher]

The Big Arch is what happens when you start making a McDonald's burger and never stop. The Big Arch, the most McDonald's McDonald's

[Jerry O'Connell]

burger yet for a limited time with

[Bill Maher]

verbo care help is always ready before, during and after your stay. We've planned for the plot twist, so support is always available because a great trip starts with peace of mind.