Albert Brooks and Rob Reiner

Summary

Podcast Summary: Conan O’Brien Needs A Friend – Episode Featuring Albert Brooks and Rob Reiner

Release Date: December 18, 2023

In this special episode of Conan O’Brien Needs A Friend, Conan delves deep into the enduring friendship of two legendary figures in comedy and filmmaking: Albert Brooks and Rob Reiner. Hosted by Conan's team at Team Coco and Earwolf, the episode offers a heartwarming exploration of their 60-year-long camaraderie, their collaborative works, and their insightful perspectives on comedy, legacy, and the evolution of entertainment.

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1. Introduction to Guests and Their Friendship ([07:05] - [11:06])

Conan begins by introducing Albert Brooks and Rob Reiner, emphasizing their longstanding friendship and numerous collaborations. He highlights their new documentary, "Albert Brooks Defending My Life", which has recently been streaming on Max and has garnered critical acclaim.

Conan O'Brien ([02:35] - [02:55]):
"These are two men that don't want to be complimented, especially Albert."

Albert and Rob respond modestly, downplaying the compliments but expressing genuine appreciation for being part of Conan's show.

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2. Reflections on Norman Lear and Early Encounters ([11:06] - [14:50])

The conversation shifts to the impact of Norman Lear, a mutual mentor who recently passed away. Rob shares a poignant memory from childhood, illustrating how Norman recognized his comedic talent early on.

Rob Reiner ([11:06] - [12:10]):
"He was the first guy to recognize... your kid is really funny."

Albert interjects humorously, reflecting on the changing times and the subtle shifts in how talent is perceived.

The duo reminisces about their early interactions with Norman Lear and how his mentorship shaped their careers.

---

3. The Making of "Defending My Life" ([14:50] - [29:33])

Conan expresses his admiration for the documentary, noting its importance and the brilliance of Albert's work.

Conan O'Brien ([14:16] - [14:49]):
"I absolutely loved the documentary. It was beautifully done."

Rob and Albert delve into the inception of the documentary, discussing how it combined elements of their personal stories with broader comedic insights. They touch upon the challenges of creating authentic and relatable content that resonates across generations.

Albert Brooks ([15:16] - [15:44]):
"Someone came to me before Rob with the idea of doing a documentary, and it didn't work out..."

Albert emphasizes the importance of sticking to one's comedic instincts, even when faced with skepticism.

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4. Evolution of Comedy and Mockumentary Style ([29:33] - [43:26])

The conversation evolves into a discussion about the evolution of comedy, particularly focusing on the mockumentary genre pioneered by works like "This Is Spinal Tap".

Rob Reiner ([32:11] - [34:03]):
"We learned from Albert, you gotta stick to your guns. And hopefully, people will catch up."

Albert reflects on the risks involved in innovative comedy and the necessity of commitment to one's vision.

They discuss how "Spinal Tap" blurred the lines between reality and fiction, setting a precedent for modern mockumentaries and influencing countless comedians and filmmakers.

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5. Personal Anecdotes and Family Stories ([43:26] - [57:38])

Albert and Rob share intimate stories about their families, particularly focusing on the influence and memories of their fathers.

Albert Brooks ([50:14] - [51:06]):
"He destroyed absolutely during the performance. That's the coolest part."

Rob narrates the tragic yet inspiring story of his father's passing during a performance, highlighting the resilience and dedication ingrained in him from a young age.

The guests discuss the profound impact of losing a parent in such a public and unexpected manner, and how it shaped their approach to life and work.

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6. The Changing Landscape of Television and Legacy ([57:38] - [67:57])

The dialogue turns to the transformation of television and the concept of legacy in the entertainment industry.

Rob Reiner ([63:34] - [64:43]):
"But you say, you've done things where they're disposable. They go there. You made people laugh."

Albert critiques the modern perception of fame, arguing that legacy isn't solely about sustained recognition but also about the immediate joy and impact one brings to their audience.

They debate the relevance of traditional stars in today's fragmented media landscape, comparing the past dominance of icons like Humphrey Bogart and Barbara Stanwyck to the current state where content often overshadows individual celebrity.

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7. Fear, Legacy, and Personal Growth ([67:57] - [75:11])

Drawing from the themes of "Defending My Life", the conversation delves into the philosophical aspects of fear, legacy, and personal growth.

Albert Brooks ([62:22] - [63:31]):
"We're stuck with a lot of things we don't need... what we're fearing doesn't have to be feared."

They explore how facing one's fears and embracing vulnerability can lead to profound personal and professional development. Albert shares his struggles with fear and the importance of confronting it head-on to achieve authenticity in one's craft.

Conan, in turn, relates these insights to his own journey of seeking genuine friendships and connections beyond the surface-level interactions typical in celebrity circles.

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8. Closing Reflections and Mutual Respect ([75:07] - [75:11])

As the episode draws to a close, Sona Movsesian wraps up the conversation by highlighting the mutual respect and deep-seated admiration shared between Albert and Rob.

Sona Movsesian ([75:07] - [75:11]):
"It's been an absolute thrill delight. It checks every single box."

Albert and Rob express their gratitude for being part of the show, emphasizing the importance of meaningful connections and the enduring nature of true friendships.

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Notable Quotes

• Rob Reiner ([11:06]):
  "He was the first guy to recognize... your kid is really funny."

• Albert Brooks ([15:44]):
  "You did all of it? I did all my cone and schtick."

• Rob Reiner ([32:11]):
  "We learned from Albert, you gotta stick to your guns. And hopefully, people will catch up."

• Albert Brooks ([62:22]):
  "We’re stuck with a lot of things we don’t need... what we're fearing doesn't have to be feared."

• Conan O'Brien ([02:35]):
  "These are two men that don't want to be complimented, especially Albert."

---

Conclusion

This episode of Conan O’Brien Needs A Friend offers listeners an intimate glimpse into the lives and minds of Albert Brooks and Rob Reiner. Through candid storytelling and profound discussions, Conan facilitates a meaningful dialogue that not only celebrates their illustrious careers but also delves into the essence of friendship, fear, and legacy. For fans of comedy and filmmaking, this episode serves as a treasure trove of insights and heartfelt moments, encapsulating why these two men are revered figures in the entertainment industry.

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Note: This summary excludes promotional segments and advertisements present in the episode, focusing solely on the substantive conversations between Conan, Albert Brooks, and Rob Reiner.

Transcript

[Conan O'Brien]

Three couples, four vacations, a lot to unpack. Watch the Four Seasons, a new series starring our comedy favorites Tina Fey, Steve Carell, Colman Domingo will Forte and more in a hilarious and heartfelt love letter to long term relationships based on the original Alan Alda film. Watch the Four Seasons, streaming now only on Netflix.

[Sona Movsesian]

You know, it's nice to have friends who are supportive of what you're into.

[Matt Gourley]

Yeah, it is.

[Sona Movsesian]

Whether it's hip hop, country mashups or the latest indie comedy flick, they're just down with what you want at that moment. Yeah, well, like those friends, State Farm is there. I didn't see that coming. State Farm is there to help you feel supported by helping you choose coverage. Yeah, it's just like choosing coverage, you know, with so many options, it's nice knowing you have help finding what fits for you.

[Albert Brooks]

Yeah.

[Sona Movsesian]

So you can check coverage off the list and spend time laughing with friends at the movies or whatever else you're into. Maybe going to a rodeo. Just thought of that like a good neighbor. State Farm is there.

[Albert Brooks]

Hi, my name is Albert Brooks and I feel confused. Refused that I'm asked to do something. I was asked 40 years ago by some disc jockey on KHJ dawn in the morning and I, I guess nothing's ever changed. So I'm confused about being Conan o' Brien's friend.

[Rob Reiner]

Oh my God.

[Sona Movsesian]

We bought the rights from that disc jockey.

[Rob Reiner]

Hi, I'm Rob Reiner and I almost honored.

[Sona Movsesian]

Yes.

[Rob Reiner]

To be Conan o' Brien's friend.

[Sona Movsesian]

That's so close to being a real. Just a real statement from both of you.

[Colman Domingo]

Fall is here.

[Sona Movsesian]

Here they are.

[Colman Domingo]

Back to school.

[Sona Movsesian]

Ring the bell Brand new shoes Walking loose Climb the fence Books and pens. I can tell that we are gonna be friends. I can tell that we are gonn. Hey there. Welcome to Conan o' Brien. Needs a friend. Joined by my two friends. I consider you friends.

[Matt Gourley]

Oh, that's nice.

[Sona Movsesian]

No, it took a while.

[Colman Domingo]

Five years.

[Sona Movsesian]

Yes.

[Matt Gourley]

Fifteen.

[Sona Movsesian]

Is that how. Sona. How long have you been with me?

[Matt Gourley]

You know, I, I actually just messaged you recently because I found 15 years ago on December 3rd, I found out I got my job because it's my best friend Christina's birthday. And, and I, I emailed you.

[Sona Movsesian]

I was like, she emailed me. It was very sweet. And she said that was 15 years ago. She was gonna be my brand new assistant. Cause I was moving out to Los Angeles to host a tonight show for 40 years. The plan went off without a hitch. But we had the interview and then I. You were told that you were hired. And then we met at a coffee shop.

[Matt Gourley]

Yeah.

[Sona Movsesian]

On San Vicente in Brentwood. I remembered in the meeting that. That for some reason, you were sitting on a couch that I think was a very low couch and had a soft cushion. So people were asking me, who'd you end up hiring? I said, oh, it's this woman, Sona. She seems really bright, and she's highly recommended. And so I hired her. And they're like, well, what's she like? I said, she's got dark hair. She's really short. Because I just remembered thinking you were really short because you sunk into the couch. So then I meet you at this coffee shop, and you are tall. Yeah, pretty tall. I mean, but with your hair was. Was up. You had your hair bun up. So made you over eight feet high. And. But you came in, and I remembered Sona had a notebook. And she was writing everything I said down very seriously. And we had a professional exchange. It was nice for the last time. It was so hilarious. And I will say I did more to corrupt things immediately than anyone. You did all of it? I did all my cone and schtick. And very quickly you said, I'm not gonna listen to anything this guy says. Nothing serious. He's a fool. But I always go back to that first time Sona walks in taller than I had remembered. That's the first thing that struck me. Notebook, writing everything down. And then on her own initiative, because I was moving my whole family out from New York, she made a book for me, like a professional book that she had bound, that said, here's what helpful things to know about la. And it included, when it first rains in la, there's a lot of sediment. Cause it doesn't rain regularly, so drive more carefully.

[Matt Gourley]

The secret menu for In N Out.

[Sona Movsesian]

Yeah. No, seriously. No, no, seriously. It was filled. And it was a book that you could have published that you just made on your own. And I remembered thinking, this person is fantastic. And then I immediately corrupted you.

[Matt Gourley]

Yeah.

[Sona Movsesian]

And it reminds me of on the Simpsons. I didn't write this joke, but someone wrote this joke where, you know, Barney's really smart, and he's studying hard for the, you know, LSAT or something. He's just. And then Homer convinces him to have a drink of beer, and he has it, and he immediately turns into Bar. And he's like. And you see, I'm Barney.

[Colman Domingo]

Oh, well, he's Homer.

[Sona Movsesian]

I realized I infected you with the Conan stupidity. And then that was all gone. And then it went from, hey, Sona, you know, when is my car gonna be out of the shop? Boo hoo. Conan doesn't have his car. Fancy talk show host won't have a way to. No Sona. I know. I'm just curious when it's gonna be out so I know that I don't have take an Uber.

[Matt Gourley]

Well, yeah, I think you're giving me too much credit. I think your kids actually said the most accurate thing, which is you melted half my brain.

[Sona Movsesian]

I said something about Sona, and they went, you melted half her brain, and these are little kids. And I said, well, what about the first half? And they went, that was already melted. I'm like, I think that is the best description of my relationship with Sona. Now. Goerli came to me more fully formed as a human being. And I've tried to damage you, but you seem more resistant.

[Colman Domingo]

Oh, I'm pre damaged.

[Sona Movsesian]

You're pre damaged.

[Colman Domingo]

Yeah, I think I.

[Sona Movsesian]

But you seem like you have it together.

[Colman Domingo]

Oh, no, no. Falling apart.

[Sona Movsesian]

Okay. Yeah, you make falling apart look pretty good. Oh, you can clean up real nice. It is funny how these little memories come along and you time travel back to. Oh, right. I was an adult who was a TV host who was meeting an assistant, and we were a professional seconds before it all went to cuckoo town.

[Colman Domingo]

You got in just. Just in time.

[Matt Gourley]

I want someone to do a deep dive of people before they met you and after they met you and how. How much you ruined them.

[Sona Movsesian]

Well, you know what's been amazing is my wife. My. My wife is just so. Liza is so adept at parrying my madness and, you know, handling it and, you know that thing I do where I'm just saying crazy things, and Sonan will say, what'd you say that for? And I'll say, don't let him bother you, meaning I talk about myself in the third person. And I managed to get people around me going, what do you mean him? And I go, he's just. It'll be who? And I'll be like, Conan. Conan's just in one of those. It's just Conan doing his Conan thing. And they're like, no, you're. It's so great because I do that around Liza. And she's like, uh huh. Okay. So anyway, she's completely unfinished. She is not having it.

[Matt Gourley]

You make all of us unhirable.

[Sona Movsesian]

Yes. And you do.

[Matt Gourley]

I think you do it on purpose. Like, Blake can't work anywhere else.

[Sona Movsesian]

No, no, I've been ruined. Yeah.

[Matt Gourley]

None of us can work anywhere else.

[Sona Movsesian]

No. Eduardo. Eduardo could. Hasn't been ruined. Yet, Eduardo, I think could still. And you will soon work someplace else. Because I know you have that look of someone who's like, I'm out of here. But, Eduardo, I haven't ruined you yet, right? No, I don't think so. Yeah, but you are very comfortable giving me tons of shit constantly now. I am.

[Albert Brooks]

Thanks to Sona.

[Rob Reiner]

Yeah.

[Sona Movsesian]

Yeah.

[Matt Gourley]

That's my legacy.

[Sona Movsesian]

I think you came in the other day and just immediately attacked me for something. I can't slipped off anyone more times. No, I'll see. I'll see Eduardo, like, walking down the street and I'll lower my window going, Eduardo. He flips me off. I'm like, wow, that guy hates.

[Colman Domingo]

Don't talk to me in public, asshole.

[Matt Gourley]

I know. What's it like to work for someone you're, like, scared of. I would never know that.

[Colman Domingo]

I know.

[Sona Movsesian]

I learned that too.

[Matt Gourley]

Yeah.

[Sona Movsesian]

Oh, no. No one has. Anyone who knows me is immediately unafraid to. Just to tell me exactly what they think.

[Colman Domingo]

But I think it's a. It's not that I don't want to speak for YouTube, but it's not that you feel, like, powerful. It's more a defense mechanism of, like, I. You have to put up your walls with this guy. You have to defend yourself.

[Sona Movsesian]

This guy, by the way, is out of control. This guy is this guy Conan.

[Matt Gourley]

Yeah.

[Sona Movsesian]

And I've noticed it too, with him. I think he's. I think he's. I think he's insanely talented.

[Matt Gourley]

This is madness.

[Sona Movsesian]

No, no, he's insane. Look, I'm saying this as a. I've watched him for a while. He's crazy. Off the charts. Wrap it up, dick face. Probably means Conan. But you know what? To Matt's credit, that's how you have to deal with Conan, because he's. He is what? He's what? He's a once in 100 year talent, but then he gets off the rails and this is how he has to be dealt with. So what you guys are doing is perfect.

[Colman Domingo]

I would say you are a once in a hundred years something.

[Sona Movsesian]

Like a tsunami. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Matt Gourley]

A natural disaster.

[Sona Movsesian]

All right, I'm back to being me again.

[Matt Gourley]

Destroys the world.

[Sona Movsesian]

Hey, Conan. I just showed up. That other guy just left.

[Matt Gourley]

Oh, Conan's back.

[Sona Movsesian]

Hey. I am very excited. I don't know what that other guy thinks. I am thrilled. Absolutely thrilled. This is a very special podcast today. Seriously, it really is. My guests today have been friends for almost 60 years. One is the filmmaker behind such classics as When Harry Met Sally and this is Spinal Tap. The Other is a comedy legend who starred in films like Modern Love and Broadcast News. Now they have a new documentary streaming on Max, and it is. It's a must. You must watch this. I have watched it, I think now three times. I love it. It's titled Albert Brooks Defending My Life. I am honored. That word doesn't even do it justice. I'm beside myself that they are here today. Rob Reiner, Albert Brooks, welcome. There's no way around this, so I'll get it out of the way. I've done. How many of these have I Done, Adam? 520. How many? It's a big day for me. I'm totally in love with both of you guys and your incredible body of work. And so the fact that you're here talking to me is a huge deal. And that's pretty much all the time we have. I think we should wrap it up there, because these are two men that don't want to be complimented, especially Albert.

[Rob Reiner]

I have a hard time with it.

[Albert Brooks]

That's Barry Sanders. I want to be complimented.

[Sona Movsesian]

You want it? You're incredible, Albert. What can I say?

[Rob Reiner]

I think the same, Albert.

[Sona Movsesian]

Yeah.

[Albert Brooks]

Okay.

[Sona Movsesian]

I have to say, there's a lot to talk about here. I wanted to start because it just happened. We just lost Norman Lear. I know you guys both knew this man very well, and for you, Rob, you was like a second dad.

[Rob Reiner]

He was. I mean, I'm very lucky that I had two role models in my life that I could look up to and I learned from. I mean, I met Norman when I was a little kid, and he. You know, he tells a story. I don't remember it, but he tells me that I was playing with his daughter who was 8 years old. We were both 8, and we're playing jacks, and I was teaching her how to play giving of the rules to jacks. And apparently I was doing it in a funny way. I didn't know. And he told my father, he said, you know, your kid is really funny. And. And my dad said, really? That sullen child of mine, he can't be that funny. So Norman was the first guy to recognize.

[Albert Brooks]

Can I say how times have changed? Because that's how long ago it was that the thing was, your kid is so funny playing jacks today. Nothing said about a kid with a little girl is ever good.

[Rob Reiner]

But wait a minute.

[Sona Movsesian]

Wait a minute. If you called your dad, it's a very creepy comment.

[Rob Reiner]

Yeah, but, Albert, we were both 8. I wasn't like 24, and she was 8.

[Albert Brooks]

You were advanced for Your age and.

[Sona Movsesian]

Your line for much of your adult life is, do you want to play.

[Albert Brooks]

Jack to say you're old enough to be canceled?

[Sona Movsesian]

Well, first of all, Norman was. Was he 100?

[Rob Reiner]

100.

[Albert Brooks]

101.

[Sona Movsesian]

Absolutely unbelievable. And, of course, your father Carl, lived 98.

[Rob Reiner]

98, yeah.

[Sona Movsesian]

And I was at some event, and this is maybe two years ago, and Norman was talking, and he talked about this longevity thing with comedians. And he said, I swear to God, people always ask us. It's something about laughing all the time.

[Rob Reiner]

He said, wait a minute.

[Albert Brooks]

Henry Kissinger?

[Rob Reiner]

Yeah, he was very funny.

[Sona Movsesian]

He was very funny. Very funny. He laughed every day.

[Albert Brooks]

I saw him once at the Improv.

[Rob Reiner]

And how did he do.

[Albert Brooks]

He did that same Vietnam bit.

[Rob Reiner]

Yeah. Did he get any laughs?

[Albert Brooks]

I told them the pueblo was real. They didn't believe Laugh, Laugh.

[Sona Movsesian]

No.

[Albert Brooks]

But then he did audience work.

[Sona Movsesian]

Have you. Yes, I was going to say his crowd work was spectacular.

[Rob Reiner]

Where you from?

[Albert Brooks]

But where you from?

[Sona Movsesian]

You called out the sweater.

[Albert Brooks]

You had papers.

[Sona Movsesian]

So the point is, if you laugh every day, you live a very long time. I. No, no, no. Maybe.

[Rob Reiner]

And also, you have.

[Albert Brooks]

We can think of people, we know, contemporaries that are no longer with us at Laughed. I don't think it's any of that. I think it's lucky.

[Sona Movsesian]

Yeah. Okay. Well, I tried to say a sweet, positive thing.

[Rob Reiner]

Yeah.

[Sona Movsesian]

And Albert took me out at the knees.

[Rob Reiner]

Albert put a damper on it.

[Sona Movsesian]

Yeah. Yeah. I don't feel good now. I absolutely loved the documentary. Albert Books Defending My Life and thought it was beautifully done. And what was great was this has been long overdue because your body of work, Albert, is insanely rich and ingenious and inspiring for generations of comedians. But it took a friend. Because you guys knew each other. You met in high school, right? You met in high school.

[Rob Reiner]

Yes. And I, you know, we've known each other for 60 years, and I always wanted to do this. When you remember the film, My Dinner With Andre, when it came out, at that point, I said to Albert, come on, we'll go to a deli, we'll sit down, It'll be my lunch with Albert, and we'll do it. And he never wanted to do it at that point. At a certain point, I don't know what made you change your mind, but we decided to do it. And that became the centerpiece of the. Of the documentary. The two of us just sitting in a restaurant and talking.

[Albert Brooks]

Someone came to me before Rob with the idea of doing a documentary, and it didn't. It didn't work out. But Then the idea was like. The idea, but to do it is good. So then I was having dinner with Rob, and, you know, are you. Do you ever want to do my lunch with Albert? And I said, well, what if we combine this? We do. And then we also broaden it out and do clips and talk to people.

[Sona Movsesian]

Well, the absolute rocket fuel are the bits. And because the comedic bits that you were doing, they were not. They're evergreen.

[Albert Brooks]

They really are.

[Sona Movsesian]

Every single sketch bit that you've done, whether it was on the Tonight show or the Flip Wilson show or the Johnny Cash show or. I mean, there are people who had shows. I can't believe who had a show. Everybody had a show.

[Rob Reiner]

Everybody had a Conan o' Brien.

[Sona Movsesian]

Even Conan o' Brien.

[Rob Reiner]

Another show. Yeah.

[Sona Movsesian]

Unbelievable.

[Rob Reiner]

Everybody said it in the documentary that it was like he broke the sound bar. It was like Chuck Yeager. And they found a new way of. Of presenting comedy. And Albert was.

[Sona Movsesian]

Well, that's been misinterpreted. What I was saying is Albert's as funny as Chuck Yeager. And then people took it this other way.

[Rob Reiner]

And who was funnier, Kissinger or Chuck Jager?

[Sona Movsesian]

I would say Yeager.

[Albert Brooks]

That's not the fair thing.

[Sona Movsesian]

But you did a kind of. There was a kind of comedy.

[Albert Brooks]

I made up a joke the other day. Yeah. Neil Armstrong was at a party and told these people a joke, and no one laughed. He told a joke about the moon, and no one laughed. And he said, well, I guess you had to be there.

[Sona Movsesian]

I was with you. I love this moment. First time I met Albert was at this event, and I had never met him before. And I was. And this. I'll back up just a second because I was so relieved. You said something in the documentary, Rob, that resonated with me, which is. I think I've met everybody, just about everybody, and I'm never intimidated. I was intimidated to meet Albert. I was worried about it. I thought, we're probably gonna bump into each other at some point. And I felt a little queasy about it. And then you say in the documentary that you always were intimidated by. By Albert.

[Rob Reiner]

Well, I. It's not just intimidated. I. You just. Where is this coming from? This mind? You never. I've never met anybody that had a mind that works that way. And other comics, you know, established comics. Larry David in the documentary says the same thing, that he was, you know, so happy when Albert gave him approval to a joke he said or something like that. You have to understand, I mean, I. In the circles I was with, I don't care who they were. It was Robin Williams, Billy Kunster, I don't care who were in the. When we got together and people started spritzing. When Albert started. When Albert went, It was like, you know, challenge dance, when everybody's challenging. When Albert started, everybody backed off. Yeah, everybody backed off because they knew that, you know, here comes the guy, here's Babe Ruth stepping into the cage. And.

[Albert Brooks]

And I always thought it was a cool thing. And then when I got married, my wife said, it's cause you never shower.

[Rob Reiner]

You think that's why they backed off? Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. I remember she had good personal.

[Sona Movsesian]

You know, it was so funny because Albert was. The first time I met you, you won't remember this, but it was someone's house. We're standing by a pool. You told me a story that was really funny and I laughed, legitimately laughed. It was a very funny story. And you had some friend with you who I didn't know, and the friend just kind of struck and said, well, I guess he had to be there. And you turned on your friend and went, no, no, he laughed. Apparently you didn't have to be there. And I was in the moment watching an album.

[Albert Brooks]

I remember I said, don't you understand that expression? Yeah, that's when nobody laughs. If somebody laughs, you don't have to be anywhere.

[Sona Movsesian]

You don't have to be anywhere.

[Albert Brooks]

A stupid man.

[Sona Movsesian]

I don't know who it was, but forever in my mind, I cherish that book.

[Rob Reiner]

But Albert, we talked about this in the document documentary. Albert would go on national television, live television, without ever trying out the bit he was going to do. Yes, that to me is talk about working without a net. I mean, this is in the case Annette Funicello, which was what would make anybody good. But no, but, but, no, he.

[Albert Brooks]

No, but that's bordering on. You had to be there.

[Rob Reiner]

We had to know that reference. No, no, but he. He would do this. And, you know, we shared a house together and, and. And, you know, I don't remember it exactly, but he did. The first time he did the mime piece, I don't think it worked. Did it work the first time you did it?

[Albert Brooks]

Well, the very first time, I don't think it worked. It was the Steve Allen Show.

[Rob Reiner]

It worked.

[Albert Brooks]

Nobody knew anybody.

[Rob Reiner]

The point is, he came out. He was doing a mime, and he came out in the white face in the leotards, and he never stopped talking.

[Sona Movsesian]

It's so funny.

[Rob Reiner]

So it's a brilliant piece and it didn't play the way it Then time goes by, and I think you were called to do the Tonight show or something. And I said, albert, what are you going to do on the show tonight? He says, I'm going to do the mime piece. And I said, yeah, but it didn't get. It didn't do well. He says, yeah, but it's funny. I said, I know it's funny, but it didn't get the kind. He says, yeah, but it's funny. And that's the thing that I learned about Albert, which is it is funny. You just. The audience has to catch up to it. They just have to know it. And Johnny Carson was hosting, and he came out, and the same kind of thing where they were a little bit hesitant. They didn't know. Johnny went and I was there. Johnny literally fell off his chair. And the audience said, I see. I get what this is.

[Sona Movsesian]

A lot of times, in my experience, if the audience is looking at the host and they want permission and that they need permission, and then they know everything's okay.

[Rob Reiner]

Yeah, yeah.

[Sona Movsesian]

And so that bit come out and you're talking and you were describing, I am now walking against the wind. I'm doing it. But then you just. It just goes into standup comedy as a mime about my wife. And, you know, she said she lost 30 pounds. And I said, look behind you. You'll find it. And you're in total mime makeup, and you're doing it. And the thing is that I think when I talked in the doc about breaking the sound barrier, to me it's about the level of commitment, and it's why I think it was no surprise that you turned out to be such an excellent actor when you were doing these pieces. I think there was a time in show business where you needed to let everybody know, I'm in show business. These are jokes. Let's have a good time. Nudge, nudge, wink, wink. And what you were doing was this, like, De Niro, like, commitment that you made it okay for everybody to sort.

[Albert Brooks]

Of work on that. I mean, you know, with respect to people, the audience is the last to know anything. I never understood the idea of doing it for an audience, because the audience doesn't know anything until they see it. So if you do anything they haven't seen before, you don't get immediately rewarded. Like when you're previewing a movie with cards, the movies that get 100 are the movies they've seen every other weekend.

[Sona Movsesian]

Right. They're familiar.

[Albert Brooks]

They're familiar, yeah. Unfamiliar doesn't get a good grade. But what do you. Do you just never do it? Yeah, but, you know, it's the same. It's the same. If we go into a restaurant and it's a fine restaurant and we're served a dish, we don't know anything about this. We take the. We take the word of the person who owns the restaurant and we taste something we've never tasted. And if. If the world didn't have that possibility. And by the way, I think show business is. That's the Holy Grail, is no risk. And I think as algorithms get mature and as more executives get parking spots, the risk is less and less, because it's a business. Why do you want to take a risk?

[Rob Reiner]

I mean, I learned from Albert when I saw how committed he was to doing that bit. Even though when we first screened Spinal Tap, which Albert had done real life before that, but this was the first kind of about rock and roll, and it was a mock documentary, and. And we previewed it in Dallas, and people came up to me afterwards and they said, I. I don't understand. Why would you make a movie about a band that nobody's ever heard of and one that's so bad? And I. So it's like, yeah, they didn't know what we were doing. It took them a while to figure out that this. We're making fun of this, you know, And. And I learned from Albert, you gotta stick to your guns. And hopefully people, the audience will catch up. They'll. That they. That they were served.

[Sona Movsesian]

I think what I learned in the doc was that I talk about. I mean, I think there was a Barbara Mandrell show. If you had one hit single, they suddenly gave you a variety show. And. And it feels, Albert, like you did.

[Albert Brooks]

There probably was a bar that was the circuit.

[Sona Movsesian]

It was the circuit. So what you did is you did all of these shows and the bits are fantastic. And you're, you know, bit after bit after bit, you're an elephant tamer that comes out. But you announce to the crowd, I'm an elephant tamer. I have all these tricks. I'm doing the elephant. The elephant got sick. Just, I'm gonna use a frog. But just. It's the same tricks and it's such a beautiful. I mean, you're laughing at hearing the idea, but then the execution is absolutely fantastic. You're doing these bits on these shows long before you get to Johnny. And I think one of the keys in show business that's harder to find these days is there were places to work things out. You were doing it on television. But before you got to the Holy Grail, which was Carson.

[Albert Brooks]

Right.

[Sona Movsesian]

And if you do Johnny Carson as you say in the doc, the next day, anywhere you went, you talk about going to the dry cleaner the next day. Hey, great bit. Everybody had seen it and.

[Albert Brooks]

Right. But I was fortunate because I didn't get to that show with that. I got to the show in his mind as established.

[Sona Movsesian]

Yeah, exactly.

[Albert Brooks]

So there wasn't and I didn't even want to do that. I begged my agent to get onto Dick Captain it cuz he was the thing. He was the John Lennon was on there and they didn't want me so I went to Johnny Carson by default. And what a great default it was because nobody watched a cab it, you know, I mean a couple of college kids but Johnny Carson was like a pathway to another universe.

[Sona Movsesian]

No, it's the equivalent of being today the closest thing you can think of Johnny Carson on a Tuesday night. Today the only thing that comes close is maybe the Super Bowl. That's how many people are tuning in. You've got maybe half the country watching because he had a monopoly.

[Albert Brooks]

Well it was a Super bowl for people you knew because I did Ed Sullivan and that you know on paper they said that was 50 million people but it wasn't people I saw in Los Angeles. Now if you go to St. Louis, that's where Ed Sullivan they do watch but it wasn't the group, it wasn't the market I went to or the dry cleaner or my day but the Carson show. Everywhere you went, the gas station. Hey Z Johnny, you know that's, that's what that got at least where you.

[Rob Reiner]

Live, you just didn't go to places where Ed Sullivan.

[Albert Brooks]

Well, I couldn't travel. I had to travel.

[Rob Reiner]

Where did Ed Sullivan go?

[Albert Brooks]

I, I always, I, I there I've always had an adage if you have to travel more than 2,000 miles to get a compliment, don't do it.

[Sona Movsesian]

I like that. Yours is 2000, mine is 4000. I, I have a wider circle because I'm, I'm hungrier. Good. I'm hung of.

[Albert Brooks]

I went to Oahu once after that Hawaiian bit I did just to walk around. But did you get people saying not one, not one.

[Sona Movsesian]

Oh man, I do a lot of traveling, you know that I do the travel shows. Nothing quite like the feeling of an upgrade when you're traveling. Well is it T mobile customer? You can take the perks with you. That's good. Isn't that nice? It starts the moments you take off with free in flight Wi fi So you can stream your favorite show on the go. Obviously that would be this show, I would think.

[Matt Gourley]

Yeah. You go in a plane and then you stream your podcast.

[Sona Movsesian]

If I'm anxious about a flight, the thing that calms me is seeing myself. And then when you land, T Mobile's got you covered with 15% off all Hilton brands. Did you know that?

[Matt Gourley]

No.

[Sona Movsesian]

Yep. Plus you're covered with 5 gigabytes, count them, 5 of high speed data in over 215 countries and destinations with Go 5G or next plans. And I have to tell you, it's a nice feeling when I travel the globe for my travel work. I like to know that when I land in that other country, I'm covered, I'm there. I can text you and say, hey, I got here safely. I forgot to feed my cat. Could you feed my cat? You could remind me I don't have a cat.

[Matt Gourley]

Right.

[Sona Movsesian]

It's all good stuff. Yeah.

[Matt Gourley]

You FaceTimed me before from another country. And it went was crisp. She was clear.

[Sona Movsesian]

Yep. You could see every mark on my face. Find out how you can experience travel better@t mobile.com Travel qualifying plan required Wi Fi where available on select US airlines. Terms and conditions apply. I went to a party recently. Was a rager by my friend Rodman.

[Matt Gourley]

Yeah. Yeah.

[Sona Movsesian]

He had the. He had the tunes bumping. It was really fun and it was special to me because when you get together with good friends, good chums, amigos, pals from the past, celebrating important occasions means more moments with the coolest people in your life. For me, it's gotta be Rodman.

[Matt Gourley]

So many cool people.

[Sona Movsesian]

So many cool. You're just like, so cool. They do. I have the coolest friends. Cheers to 50 years of Miller Lite. The greatest tasting light beer for people who love beer since 1970. Yeah. You know what I say? I say it's Miller time. I do. It's the 50th anniversary of Miller Light. Did you know that?

[Matt Gourley]

I didn't.

[Sona Movsesian]

So many times whether I've been out at sea.

[Matt Gourley]

Oh, okay.

[Sona Movsesian]

Yeah. You know, on someone's yacht. And I'll crack open a Miller Light. Or whether I'm scaling a volcano. Oh, yeah, it's about to erupt. Because that's the best time to see a volcano when you can feel the tremors. And I crack open a Miller Light. Miller Light. That's what I'm talking about. It's great taste. It's 96 calories. And I did a study myself. It is 96 calories. Go to millerlight.com kona to find delivery options near you. Or you can pick up some Mirror Lite pretty much anywhere they sell beer. It's Miller time. Celebrate responsibly. Miller Brewing Company in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. 96 calories and 3.2 carbs per 12 ounces. You know, one of the hardest parts about B2B marketing is reaching the right audience. You put so much effort into a campaign only for it to get wasted on the wrong people. Do you know what I mean? Yeah, it's ridiculous.

[Matt Gourley]

It's crazy.

[Sona Movsesian]

Yeah, it's like, hey, Santa Claus, get your bathing suit over here.

[Matt Gourley]

Oh my God.

[Sona Movsesian]

Hey, he doesn't need a bathing suit. He's up at the North Pole. What did I waste my time for?

[Matt Gourley]

Yeah, and he's got elves.

[Sona Movsesian]

Exactly.

[Matt Gourley]

They can make it.

[Sona Movsesian]

Okay, you're ruining the point I was trying to make. Yes. No. One of the hardest parts about B2B marketing is reaching the right audience. You put so much effort into a campaign only for it to get wasted on the wrong people. Fortunately, LinkedIn is a network of over 1 billion businessy people who might actually be interested in your business. You can target your buyers by job title, industry, company role, seniority skills or company revenue. So stop wasting budget on the wrong audience and start targeting the right professionals with LinkedIn ads. LinkedIn will give you a hundred dollar credit on your next campaign. So you can try it yourself. Just go to LinkedIn.com TeamCoco. That's LinkedIn.com TeamCoco. Terms and conditions apply only on LinkedIn. You know, it's interesting, Rob, you got this taste with all in the Family. How old were you? Is it 1970?

[Rob Reiner]

71? I was 23.

[Sona Movsesian]

You're 23 and that's a show that everybody in the country starts watching. I mean, it was, I remember in our family, everybody. That's what you did. You watched all in the Family?

[Rob Reiner]

Yeah, and by the way, we were a country of 200 million people at that time and we had 40, 45 million people watching every week. And they couldn't, couldn't devo or DVR you.

[Sona Movsesian]

You had, you had to be there.

[Rob Reiner]

You had to watch it when it was on. So you had a, a shared experience by 40, 50 million people watching this every week.

[Albert Brooks]

And that's what a big successful sitcom was. You had to get those, you know, those are extraordinary numbers. But if you didn't get 30 million right, you didn't stay on.

[Sona Movsesian]

Well, it's hilarious now to look at the ratings. It kept eroding over time. Nobody seriously, it's it's kept eroding over time, but I sit back, I have.

[Albert Brooks]

A drink and laugh and. One point. One.

[Sona Movsesian]

Yeah. Yeah. Well, I mean, seriously, like, if you get a million people to watch.

[Rob Reiner]

Yeah. That monster hit is 5 to 10 million people. And they're not all watching at the same time.

[Albert Brooks]

That's what that. Yeah. Nielsen had to come up with those things or they were going to go out of business. Those after things, you know, you can't. We're not going to pay you to tell us. 700,000 people watched. Okay, okay, well, look. Seven. And then another 200,000 watched on their watch the next day. All right, all right. And. All right.

[Sona Movsesian]

400,000 saw it in their suit.

[Albert Brooks]

40,000 people heard it. Okay. Add that and 10,000 people told someone else. Not enough. All right, all right, we'll come up with.

[Rob Reiner]

And you can't talk to anybody about a show that you've seen. That's because they always say, I didn't see that app. I'm only on season one. Don't tell me.

[Sona Movsesian]

Don't tell me.

[Rob Reiner]

So you can't ever have a discussion.

[Albert Brooks]

The water cooler is gone.

[Sona Movsesian]

Yeah, but I remember how much of my life, my childhood was seeing, you know, you on all in the Family and how that was a cultural event, you being on Johnny or your films on snl. You talked about it. You know, it would happen on a. It would happen, and then you'd all talk about it. My friends who were into comedy, and I would talk about it in Brookline, Mass.

[Rob Reiner]

Well, think about. Think about this. Talk about appointment television. Saturday Night Live, when it first came on. On. That's a Saturday night. That. And you had to watch it when it was on. And it was, you know, it was on 1130 and 1130 and on the west coast, kids, young people in parties, would stop whatever they were doing and watch Saturday Night. And that. That, you know, also, I think we.

[Sona Movsesian]

Have to bring this up because it's in the doc and it's something I did not know, which is that you were approached by Lorne and Dick Abras. Dick Abrasal. Wonderful, wonderful man.

[Albert Brooks]

Man.

[Rob Reiner]

Yeah. You. You. You have a great love for him, don't you?

[Sona Movsesian]

You know, I know his knowledge of comedy is stunning.

[Rob Reiner]

Yeah.

[Sona Movsesian]

Anyway, what a. He's on the Rushmore. He's on the. He's not on Mount Rushmore. But anyway, those guys approached you about building SNL around you, and you said, I think. And that's.

[Rob Reiner]

And.

[Sona Movsesian]

And you said, I think that's a mistake.

[Albert Brooks]

Well, I. Here's the thing I, you know, it's 50 years ago and I'm. Maybe Lauren has another memory of it, but it wasn't that complicated. In the fall of 74, I went to a meeting and they, they said, because that was Johnny Carson's rerun night. And they said, we're going to stop doing that. We're going to put an original show. We want to do it live from New York and we'd like it to be Albert Brooks show. You would be the host. Now, I had flirted with television twice and thank God the way the life works, I didn't do it. 1. About two and a half years earlier, I got offered my own summer show on cbs. Six shows. And I mean, it was going to be the Albert Brooks Show. What, what, what kind of show will it be? I was, you know, really starting to think. There were offices, we got offices. And then, then I was asked to. Carol Burnett, who was the big CBS star, was honored. And I was asked to perform at the event. And I didn't have a lot of stuff. I had bits that I did from the road, one of which was on my album Comedy Minus one, not to be confused with Godzilla Minus one. Somebody said, is that where you, you play part of a monster? I said, I don't have any. But so I performed at that. And I did this bit that I did on my record where if you're a comedian and you're performing in the south and you're bombing, then you have that fail safe. You dig deep and you come out and you pronounce it clearly and you somehow get out the word ship and that turns everything around. They laugh for 20 minutes. I said, people run out. They build a statue in the park, you know. And so basically it was. Saved my life. So the next day I get a call and William Paley called my agency and said, this foul mouth young man will not appear on my network. Yeah, so I didn't do that. So. And then earlier on, I was going to do a sitcom that I backed out of in a meeting where that was already a go. Aaron Spelling was producing it. It was a whole season approved. And Michael Eisner, the last question said, well, let me ask Albert, though. What do you see for this character in five years? And I said, suicide. And, and I, I stood up and I said, I'm not ready. This is not gonna work. And I left. And the agents follow me into the elevator. And one of them said, you should wait, you should wait. And the other said, I don't think it's a good. He should do it. And so after those two, I was done with television. I wanted to make movies. So a. I wasn't gonna do the Albert Brooks show, but I also thought that they were talking to somebody from Los Angeles. And when they said, we're doing a live show at 11:30 in New York, to me, live meant nothing. There was no live. I didn't see anything that I wasn't supposed to see. If somebody in New York said a.

[Rob Reiner]

Swear word, you mean like shit?

[Albert Brooks]

It was cut out long before I saw it. So I had a couple of thoughts. I said, well, wouldn't it make more sense? I mean, the Tonight show, in essence, is live. They never stop. What if you did one at 4:30 and one at 7:30 and put the best together to air? But they wanted live. And obviously it worked. It was a, you know. But I knew that I would be John Belushi, I'd be on 8 grams of coke. I. I'm not good starting at 11:30. It's why I hated the Road. I never got that third show at midnight. It just didn't make sense to me. It was too late, wait too much. And I said, you know, every show has the same host. You should use different hosts each week. So they said, okay, well, thanks for coming in. Then four months went by, they hadn't done anything yet. They came back to me. We want you associated with the show. What do you want to do? I said, I want to do short films. So I made an agreement to do it. I did them here. And for that, in the spring of 75, Lauren and I did the National Jungle. In those days, they would take the Sheraton Universal and every reporter would have a different room and they'd set up the room so they could pretend you came to them.

[Rob Reiner]

Yes.

[Albert Brooks]

So you'd walk into a room, there'd be this fake palm tree. Albert Brooks, welcome to Fort Lauderdale. Thank you. Wow, it's sweaty out there. You know, they loved if you played along.

[Sona Movsesian]

Sure.

[Rob Reiner]

Yeah.

[Albert Brooks]

And it was the same interview. So you're going to make short films for a new show? I am. What's the show about? I don't really know. Here's the producer. Ask Lauren. And he didn't know at that moment, what's the show about? Well, we're going to have the new kind of comedy and it's going to be new in that. So then from that point, Lauren got his primetime players and he built this show that has been the longest running show on television. So obviously he did it perfectly but that's the way it went down.

[Sona Movsesian]

I love the, the, the short film that I remember. And I'm one of those believers that God is in the details. You know, I just love the little things.

[Rob Reiner]

And, and devil is in the details.

[Sona Movsesian]

And the devil's in the details.

[Rob Reiner]

They're both in the details. How does that work?

[Sona Movsesian]

I wish you hadn't brought that up, but the, the school where they teach you comedy, the.

[Albert Brooks]

Well, that was not for Saturday night.

[Sona Movsesian]

That wasn't for snl.

[Albert Brooks]

No, that was the first thing. That was for a show called the Great American Dream Machine. Yeah. I just remember I had written an article for Esquire called Albert Brooks Famous.

[Sona Movsesian]

School for Comedians, which many people took seriously.

[Albert Brooks]

Many. 2,000.

[Rob Reiner]

How many people applied?

[Albert Brooks]

2,000 tests.

[Sona Movsesian]

They got, they took these tests. But one of my favorite things, we.

[Albert Brooks]

Had pictures of a fake school. It was like those famous artist school. And then we had a.

[Sona Movsesian]

You can draw this pirate.

[Rob Reiner]

Yeah.

[Albert Brooks]

A two page comedy talent.

[Sona Movsesian]

Yes. Well, there's a short.

[Albert Brooks]

Thea. Don Rickles. That woman wearing that mink over there looks like a bear. Squirrel. Yeah, yeah, Gentile. You know, you had to check the box, you know.

[Sona Movsesian]

Well, there's a. It's you walking down the hall and saying, there's a different class going on in each room. And then you say, in this class, we're going to look at. Students are learning the spit take. Now, you remember when Danny Thomas on his show would do his. Someone would, his agent would give him bad news and he'd spit his coffee out. Well, here they're learning the famous spit take. Let's see how it's going. You open the door and what I love, it's. It's a. It's maybe 30 students in a horseshoe shape and there's a teacher talking. The floor is covered with spit and coffee. And. And I always, as a kid, I remembered seeing that and howling like, I know what's coming.

[Rob Reiner]

Yeah.

[Sona Movsesian]

And. And it was this wonderful thing that many people think comedy is not knowing what's coming. No, there's a beautiful kind of comedy where you're told, you open the door, coffee everywhere, and then they do it. And no, no, Lucy, you dribbled.

[Rob Reiner]

That's not enough of a spray.

[Albert Brooks]

And then there was a class. And many times when comedians make it big, they give back to society. Here in this class, students are choosing which disease to work for in case they make it big. And one student is going, what about eczema? He says, that's not gonna work. Yeah. He says, yeah. Another student, I Thought it was cured. No, it's not. No. You know, picking the three diseases left. But anyway, that was. I did that about three years before Saturday Night, but that got my taste for.

[Sona Movsesian]

I remember seeing that and loving it and then loving that. With the short films and then the movies, you're treated as if you have a sense of humor, you're gonna find out where the comedy is. And I think one of the things that really held true for Spinal Tap, it was so true to a real documentary that long before now mockumentary, as a whole channel, probably in streaming. This was before that really, that happened. And of course, you did it in real life. In real life. And it's up to you to decide as an intelligent person where the comedy is.

[Rob Reiner]

Yeah. I mean, which is a change.

[Albert Brooks]

What is a change at the time? Because, look, comedy is still a second class in the world. It's why they say at the Oscars, you know, should there be a category for comedy acting? Like, it's the stupidest thing I ever heard. But somehow it was like an acting school. If a student could cry, which is only a chemical thing, it has nothing to do with emotions. If you're a person whose tear ducts are such that you keep your eyes open and you can start to produce, you'd get an A. Because people think that that's good acting. And, you know, scenes, dramatic scenes, where people yelled, that was good acting. And that's sort of the way the whole world thinks. And drama is considered the serious part of it. And comedies like. And it's the same as what you're saying, because most comedies would let you know it's a comedy.

[Sona Movsesian]

Right.

[Albert Brooks]

You know, it's like, you know, either even with the logo, you know, the zany thing, or the kooky they had. They wanted to let the audience know Spinal Tap, they.

[Rob Reiner]

They wanted to release it. Remember, Airplane was a, you know, big, big hit comedy. And we came in after that and they said, well, we're going to do a. You know, instead of the twisted plane, we're going to have a twisted guitar, and that's going to be sp. I said, all right, that's good.

[Sona Movsesian]

That could have saved it.

[Rob Reiner]

But. But, you know, you're saying, it's very close to the bone. That's what you would do. And it's very close to real. I hired a DP who had done a lot of rock and roll documentaries, who had shot them, and as we' and he says, I don't understand what's funny about this. This is what they do. This is the real thing. There's nothing funny here. And I said, yeah, no, but we're twisting it a little bit, you know, but also the.

[Sona Movsesian]

I think you both have done this masterfully, but the awkward silences. And I. I brought up De Niro before, but De Niro and Raging Bull, his. And. And he's played this character so many times, but someone who notices something and then kind of can't let it go.

[Albert Brooks]

Yeah, well, De Niro's always like that. I mean, once you say you're talking to me, if nobody answers, you shouldn't.

[Rob Reiner]

Yeah, yeah. Well, he.

[Sona Movsesian]

He had his answer. No, no one was talking to you.

[Rob Reiner]

But he won't take no for an answer.

[Sona Movsesian]

But I love that. I love that. So many times. I see. And I, I. It's in all your work, but in defending your life, there's so many times where you just. You. You can't let things go. You want to know. You want to know more. You're.

[Rob Reiner]

But that's Albert.

[Sona Movsesian]

And that's. And that is you.

[Rob Reiner]

That's coming out. That is Albert. He doesn't let anything go. Well, you know, he still has. I'm not gonna do that, Joe. No.

[Albert Brooks]

I don't know what the joke is, but if you think you shouldn't do it, don't.

[Sona Movsesian]

That instinct is usually.

[Albert Brooks]

But, you know, you were talking about the Tonight Show. I don't know. I never got a straight answer, but there was like four years that I was on that are gone.

[Sona Movsesian]

Yeah.

[Albert Brooks]

And I never repeated a bit ever. So I think of some of those bits I did a bit once that was. I loved so much, and I was hoping to. But it was in those years that were gone.

[Sona Movsesian]

You know what happened, though, right? It's a famous.

[Albert Brooks]

Well, is. It's. I heard two stories. A fire or they taped over.

[Sona Movsesian]

No, it's. I mean, a fire would be someone they taped over. What happened was.

[Albert Brooks]

Oh, I'm gonna hear one.

[Rob Reiner]

Which bit was it? I wanted.

[Albert Brooks]

I'm gonna tell you. But what happened.

[Sona Movsesian]

But Albert's directing now.

[Rob Reiner]

Is this. Is this one of those awkward silences?

[Albert Brooks]

No, no, no, no.

[Sona Movsesian]

It's becoming it. Look, we're letting the tension build. But you commented on it.

[Rob Reiner]

Okay. Then I broke the silence.

[Albert Brooks]

Did they tape over?

[Sona Movsesian]

I was gonna get to it in my own time and in my own way, but now I feel rushed and rattled and rightly intimidated by Albert Brooks, as I knew I would be.

[Albert Brooks]

Let's go. Let's go to the Sinatra.

[Sona Movsesian]

They. Apparently all the tapes were preserved. They were in a Warehouse that was in, like, New Jersey, and a bean counter said, we've got all these tapes. Hey, what's this for here? And they're like, that's storage. Those are all the old tonight shows from 63 to 76. 76. Those are all of the Tonight Shows. Are the tapes still good? Yeah, the tapes are good. We'll erase them. Let's reuse them. So one person now, I talked to Rick Ludwin, who worked on Johnny Carson's Tonight show, and he said it wasn't Rick, but he said, I know there was a guy who had to go to Johnny and say, all your work from 1960, like your inner you trading quips with Groucho, show you with your idol Jack Benny, you with all these. It's all gone. So that they could put some I Dream of Genies on a. On a tape. And that's a funny reference, Sonny. You'll enjoy it later.

[Matt Gourley]

I'll enjoy it later. I'll think about it.

[Sona Movsesian]

You'll think about it.

[Rob Reiner]

Google it.

[Albert Brooks]

But not much later.

[Rob Reiner]

There was a clip. There was a clip that.

[Sona Movsesian]

There was all gone.

[Rob Reiner]

There was a clip.

[Albert Brooks]

I don't think it was 63. I mean, know. But.

[Sona Movsesian]

But I'll tell you this intermittently.

[Albert Brooks]

You mean in like.

[Sona Movsesian]

No, but you know what I'll tell you. I will tell you that the clips that tended to survive were ones that Johnny. If it's like the Ed Ames.

[Rob Reiner]

Yeah.

[Sona Movsesian]

Or something like that, he would say, oh, my. Get me one of those so I can show it to people at the house.

[Rob Reiner]

Now, when you say the AD Ames, does your audience know? Of course they know what I'm talking.

[Sona Movsesian]

I'm talking down to my audience now. I'm above them on a cloud and they're in the mud. If you don't know Ed Ames. No, it's a famous tomahawk throw. And it. And he hit the crotch.

[Rob Reiner]

Yeah. It looked like a penis.

[Sona Movsesian]

And it looked like a penis with an erection. And Johnny's dying laughing. And I think he calls it Frontier Bris. A huge laugh. You can tell it was an accident. And it was the original viral moment.

[Albert Brooks]

The biggest fear in all of the universe is that I die and there is a heaven. And God says to me, I can see your cock.

[Sona Movsesian]

Wait, but why you? Specifically, why is, you know, you.

[Albert Brooks]

I don't care. But anyway, I did this one bit that was really great. Remember the Ed Sullivan plates where you used to spin the. You had to get all the plates at one time spinning. So I brought out five people and I Said to the audience, I'm going to attempt something that's never been done. I'm going to start and I'm going to make this gentleman laugh and I'm going to go down and if it happens correctly at the end, all five will be laughing together. And so I started and there was music. Music.

[Rob Reiner]

But he was talking to the ears.

[Albert Brooks]

You didn't hear what I said. I would talk to them and it.

[Rob Reiner]

Was only a specific joke.

[Albert Brooks]

The first guy would go and I'd go to the next guy. And then the first guy would start to go, oh. And I'd run back again.

[Rob Reiner]

It's a great bit. We couldn't find it.

[Albert Brooks]

It's erased.

[Rob Reiner]

The other thing we couldn't find is my father went on the Tonight show and actually said that Albert Brooks was the funniest.

[Albert Brooks]

He said, Albert Einstein.

[Rob Reiner]

Albert Einstein. At the time, his real name, Albert Einstein was the funniest person he knew.

[Sona Movsesian]

Johnny said, who do you like these days?

[Albert Brooks]

When I was 16.

[Sona Movsesian]

When you were 16 years old, you get name checked by Johnny on the Tonight Show.

[Rob Reiner]

We couldn't find that clip either.

[Albert Brooks]

What a thrill.

[Sona Movsesian]

This I have to bring up, which is the similarities. You're good friends, you've been good friends since high school and there are some similarities. Both your fathers in the business. You lost your father at an early age. It's a. A very sad story. He died performing at a Friars Club.

[Albert Brooks]

Yeah.

[Sona Movsesian]

Roast on stage. Parker Carcass and you. That was a loss that clearly had a huge effect on you.

[Albert Brooks]

Yeah, obviously, yeah.

[Rob Reiner]

He said something in the documentary that, that I didn't know. And when I heard it, I. I couldn't believe it. He said that when he was a kid, he used to go to sleep with the radio on. On, and his mother would come in while he was sleeping and turn it off at night. And one morning he woke up and the radio was still on.

[Albert Brooks]

It was like three in the morning.

[Rob Reiner]

Three in the morning. He woke up and he said he knew at that point that his father.

[Sona Movsesian]

Had died because your father had been sickly.

[Albert Brooks]

But he was sick my whole life. You know, he was healthier for my brothers. But by the time I was born, it was not. It was not good and he had trouble walking. So for my life he was to able always ill. So I was always worried about it. So it wasn't like a premonition. I thought this was happening every day.

[Sona Movsesian]

I had heard about it. And then you and I got to have a dinner once and you told me the story. And it's Absolutely unbelievable. He was on the Friars Club dais and it's 1958 and he destroys, I mean, absolutely destroys. And he's the hit of the night.

[Rob Reiner]

You can listen to it.

[Sona Movsesian]

Yeah, I listened to it. And then he goes back and he sits down at the. And passes away. And it's weird because it's the thing that comedians talk about sometimes almost in a wistful way, like I'd love to kill in front of a crowd and then just quickly go.

[Albert Brooks]

And what I'm always amazed at is that he finished, you know, he finished his bit could happen on the way up to the mic, it could happen during. But he finished. So that's the coolest part.

[Rob Reiner]

And then they try to save the evening.

[Sona Movsesian]

The insane part that you, they send it. Your, your father, they're working on, on him backstage. Backstage. Milton Burl says to a singer at.

[Albert Brooks]

The time, Martin, go up there and sing. Number one hit in America.

[Sona Movsesian]

And he says, sing, sing.

[Albert Brooks]

And Milton Burl didn't know what the song was. He says, go sing your hit. Go sing your hit. Tony. Martin stands up and he sang. And his hit was called there's no Tomorrow.

[Sona Movsesian]

Jesus.

[Albert Brooks]

There'S no tomorrow.

[Sona Movsesian]

While they're working on your dad in the back. Oh my God. Good God. And now your father, of course, lived a wonderful, I think, 170 years. I got to know him. He was such a beautiful man, such a lovely man. So encouraging and absolutely lovely. The first time he came on my late night show, he came out and he said, this is my first time on the show, so I'm going to mark my territory. So he walked around to the back of the show miming, peeing it. But I don't think my crowd knew what mark your territory meant. And he sat down and it had gotten nothing. And he went, well, that completely didn't work. And that was my favorite part. My favorite part was him just saying that, you know, because any bit where you have to get up, leave the.

[Albert Brooks]

There's the perfect example was Carl walking around mocking peeing Gray or the fact that your audience didn't like it.

[Rob Reiner]

Was it shitty or didn't understand it?

[Albert Brooks]

Yeah, yeah, I'd say it was great.

[Rob Reiner]

Last night I, I was at CBS where we shot all in the Family and all this stuff and they had a special for Dick van Dyke who's 98. And I opened the thing and introduced it and talked about how the first pilot of the Van Dyke show was. My dad did it, he starred in. It was called Head of the Family. Family. And it didn't sell. And Sheldon Leonard, who was producing the. The show, said, the script is great. We just need to find a better you.

[Sona Movsesian]

That's where he got Enter Dick Van Dyke.

[Rob Reiner]

And I tell that story. I told that story at the beginning.

[Sona Movsesian]

You know, it's funny. I've seen the footage of the original Dick Van Dyke Show.

[Rob Reiner]

Yeah.

[Sona Movsesian]

Which didn't have Dick Van Dyke. I've seen the footage of your dad in that role, and it looks insane. Insane.

[Rob Reiner]

Yeah.

[Sona Movsesian]

Because it's like if someone showed you Casablanca.

[Rob Reiner]

Yeah.

[Sona Movsesian]

But instead of Humphrey Bogart.

[Rob Reiner]

Yeah. You know, Ed Wynn.

[Sona Movsesian]

Yeah, exactly.

[Albert Brooks]

Going. Doesn't that sound like a Sinatra song he never recorded? We just need to find a better you.

[Sona Movsesian]

Yes. A better you. So he was. Was he encourage? He was encouraging of you being in comedy? Was he worried for you?

[Rob Reiner]

He didn't say anything. Thing. He never said yes or no. And so I never knew. I mean, I didn't know. It wasn't until I was, like, 19 and I directed a production of no Exit, of all things John Paul Sartre. Richard Dreyfus was in it and Couple. And that was the first time I ever got anything from my dad. Where he came backstage and he says, that was good. No. And he looked me in the eye and said that. So the only time he ever gave me any kind of encouragement. And I went to visit him at the house. Had his house then the next day. And he said, I'm not worried about you. You're gonna be okay. Whatever you wanna do. But that was already 19.

[Sona Movsesian]

I saw something. I mentioned this to you once, and I feel like I fail because I can't find it. But somewhere I saw footage, because briefly, you were part of a doubles act. You were partnered with Joey Bishop's son.

[Rob Reiner]

Yeah, Larry Bishop.

[Sona Movsesian]

Larry Bishop and someone with, like, a Super 8 camera. Right after you've done a show, maybe it's 1968. 69 takes you out onto a fire escape and interviews both of you.

[Rob Reiner]

Wow.

[Sona Movsesian]

And they're talking to both of you about you having famous dads. I saw this thing and I thought, well, surely you've seen this. And then you said, you've never seen it.

[Rob Reiner]

I've never seen it. And Larry and I'll find it. Larry and I opened at the Hungry eye for Carmen McCray. And we were booked into all those nightclubs, the ones know you. You know, the Rooster tale in Detroit, Mr. Kelly's in Chicago, Paul's Mall, the Bitter End. We booked into everyone. And after that run, he said, I. I can't do this now, by the.

[Albert Brooks]

Way, before that, in high school, I had an act with Larry. Yeah, and this is funny. Al and Larry, we were in high school and there was no such thing as an improv or any place. A guy on Coena named Laird Brook shot Schmidt. He looked like Ernie Kovacs. He opened his house. He called it Laird's Lair. So you could.

[Sona Movsesian]

You think it was a pedophile?

[Albert Brooks]

No, no. Here was the rule.

[Sona Movsesian]

Creeps right now all over America are hearing this going, that's it. It's their comedy club.

[Albert Brooks]

Here was the rule. You could perform there if you brought the audience. So Larry and I had to bring our friends from high school who heard the same bits at lunch. This time they had to pay $5 and sit in a guy's house.

[Rob Reiner]

It's in the living room.

[Albert Brooks]

It's the same thing. And they're looking at us like, oh, okay, but what is this? This was lunch. And you know, well, it's a club and it was a guy's house. First thing I've ever seen in this city that even got strangers together at a poor person's house.

[Rob Reiner]

And how long did that guy thing last?

[Albert Brooks]

Till he came. Pain.

[Rob Reiner]

He had a very strange proclivity. Very strange proclivity. Comedy got him off.

[Sona Movsesian]

Yeah, that was. That was Robert Redford hitting the lights in the Natural. He's slowly. Albert's going around the bases. The music's playing. All is coming down. Oh, my God.

[Rob Reiner]

We'll be right back.

[Sona Movsesian]

We drink so much water every day, and it's just water. And I'm like, hello, boring. There's gotta be a way to make water more exciting. Well, guess what? Someone cracked it. With authentic flavors and lively carbonation. Waterloo sparkling waters bring full flavor artistry. Blay, you're drinking one right now. Drinking one right? Right now. I got the raspberry nectarine and it is tasty. Very good. Very tasty. Everyone here in the office has been enjoying them. They're excellent. They are delicious. And you know, you say, what's flavor artistry. Some people think, oh, you're just talking a lot of high class nonsense, Conan. No, it's about custom crafting, multisensorial flavor experiences of aroma, taste and mouth feel that make you say wow, wow to that sentence. Waterloo waters are crafted, not formulated or off the shelf. Just purified sparkling water and non GMO project verified natural flavors, which I insist on.

[Matt Gourley]

Me too.

[Sona Movsesian]

With zero calories, sugars or sweeteners. I drink water constantly. I just had a couple of glasses of water and it was just Regular water upstairs. And I regret that time. It was boring.

[Matt Gourley]

You'll never get that back.

[Sona Movsesian]

I'll never get that time back. Three full glasses of water. I wish it was Waterloo and I could have had. What did you have? Raspberry.

[Rob Reiner]

You know what?

[Sona Movsesian]

What's that one cracking open? A peach right now. Okay, well, you could have offered that to me. You just ate a second when I haven't had one. Oh, sorry. Nice. Thanks a lot. I'm so thirsty. Were you working tomorrow? Give Waterloo sparkling water a try. Look for Waterloo sparkling water next time you shop. Learn more about the flavors from Waterloo sparkling [e-mail] hey, big sandwich news. This is hot off the presses, literally. Firehouse Subs has teamed up with Hot ones on a new bold version of the iconic hook and ladder sub. You know, the old hook and ladder sub? The old hook and ladder used to be our favorite. Well, guess what? Introducing the all new zesty garlic cooking ladder. A limited time sub packed with the perfect combo of mild heat and bold flavor. We're talking smoky turkey, honey ham, melted pepper jack cheese, all stacked on a freshly toasted bun, plus onions marinated in hot ones. Classic garlic, Fresno hot sauce and crispy garlic chips on top. And guess what? I know my hot one sauces. I think.

[Matt Gourley]

Yeah, you do.

[Sona Movsesian]

And that's one of the good ones. Try the new zesty garlic cookin ladder at Firehouse Subs today. Exclamation point. Only for a limited time at Firehouse Subs. You know, what I will say has had a big effect on me as a human being is the message behind defending your life, the movie about fear. People who move on to a higher plane are the ones that were less afraid in their life. I think about that a lot. It's very profound and. And probably has influenced me more.

[Rob Reiner]

Are you frightened? Are you. Do you have any fears that you need to overcome?

[Sona Movsesian]

Yeah, many, many fears. And I just. That movie spoke to me. It's hilarious.

[Albert Brooks]

And you know, and I think because I haven't gotten over mine, but I see facing that tribunal and saying, but I made the movie.

[Sona Movsesian]

Yeah.

[Rob Reiner]

Doesn't that count for something?

[Albert Brooks]

Come on, man.

[Sona Movsesian]

You're sitting in the same chair saying, I made. Look, I did this.

[Albert Brooks]

I mean, let me go on. I made this doesn't count.

[Sona Movsesian]

But I don't know. That really spoke to me that taking risks, doing things. And we're not here long.

[Albert Brooks]

No. And we're also. It's one of those things we're stuck with from the original humans. You know, we're stuck with a lot of things we don't need. And that's one of those primordial feelings that. That you needed in a world we don't live in.

[Sona Movsesian]

The tiger or the lion.

[Albert Brooks]

Yes. And the things that you would be afraid of. And especially in a world where the sky looks like 800 gods. I mean, everything is scary. You don't know anything. So I don't think that we've adapted very well to what there is to be afraid of and what there isn't. Not that there isn't shit to be afraid of, but sometimes you feel it all the time, and it's not necessary all the time.

[Sona Movsesian]

I heard a fact once that I. The human mind is fascinated by the most recent and interesting way to die and puts that right at the top of the list. So when Covid came along, everyone said, oh, my God, it's Covid. If I can avoid Covid, I'll be fine. Suddenly everything else. Colon cancer, lung cancer, heart attacks, car accidents, falling, disappeared. We love to move. What's the latest thing to the top of the list? You know, after 9, 11, it was, if I can get on a plane and land safely, I'll be okay. And that's our tendency, and it goes back millions of years.

[Rob Reiner]

But I think we have news for people. They're gonna die at some point of something. Yeah, that's the news. That's the news.

[Albert Brooks]

It's always trying to localize it, to be able to understand it. That's why. Because, you know, there's too many things to think about otherwise.

[Sona Movsesian]

Well, this gets to. I had a conversation with Albert once, and at the time, I was saying to Albert, I've done some stuff I really like that really makes me laugh. And I've worked with some really brilliant people, and I've got this body of work that I'm proud of. But it's television. I said, you've. And this is both of you, you've made movies. And I was saying that those last. What I've done is. I said, I'm in the disposable. I'll never forget. I said, I'm in the disposable pen business. I think I've made a lot of good Bic pens. They were used and they'd been tossed out. But you've made. Made movies, which I put on this whole other level. And Albert, with great conviction, was saying, you don't understand. None of it matters. And I. I had this fight 30.

[Albert Brooks]

Years ago with Rob, because I. I remember it maybe 20 years ago. Rob at the time was saying that the great movie stars of the when movie stars were the Cary Grants. The card. They will always be remembered. And I say, said, nobody will always be remembered.

[Sona Movsesian]

No.

[Albert Brooks]

Nobody in the movies. Maybe Hitler, maybe Einstein, maybe Elvis Presley, but that's about it. You know, it's just.

[Rob Reiner]

Yeah, but the thing is, you did things where they're disposable. They go there. You made people laugh.

[Albert Brooks]

Yeah.

[Rob Reiner]

And people. People will come up to you and say, that made me laugh. So you made somebody feel good. Well, you know, that's all it is.

[Sona Movsesian]

You know what's interesting? I took what Albert said as. It calmed me. It made me feel better. Most people now, it's total coincidence. Shortly after that, I did some interview, I think, with someone at the New York Times, and they were telling me, you know, what do you think about your legacy, whatever? And I said, it doesn't matter. And then I quoted Albert and I said, albert Brooks told me none of this matters. And I said it as the good news. The good news is I think I've had good intent. I've tried. I keep trying. And then I'm gone. And you move on. But the thing that was fascinating about it was that so briefly, Conan and Albert were trending as goth, that we were Goth. And I was like, well, no, we're not. This isn't. I don't think of this as a doomsday thing. It may be.

[Rob Reiner]

It matters at the time.

[Sona Movsesian]

At that moment.

[Rob Reiner]

At that moment, it matters.

[Albert Brooks]

Anything matters. Right. It's just a minute. You know, that's what it is.

[Sona Movsesian]

I saw. I got to ask to write a thing about Johnny Carson once. So I did this research, and I read a 1980 profile in Rolling Stone magazine of Johnny Carson. And in it, Johnny's moaning and bitching about how all the big stars are gone. He said, there are no big stars anymore. He said, we've, you know, and he's talking about, you know, Groucho's gone, Bogart, Bogart's gone, and people he loved. All the people, they're all gone. And who's left? There's nobody. And I'm thinking, what do you. I mean, everyone thinks everybody's perspective. And my perspective was, well, I came along in 93, but, boy, what if I could have talked to Jimmy cag, agony, all that. Well, no, don't be stupid. There are so many people now that come up to me and say, oh, my God, you got to talk to all these people for almost 30 years who are gone now, who were giants. And I Think at the time. That's not how I thought about it.

[Rob Reiner]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Sona Movsesian]

And I. I knew.

[Rob Reiner]

But you know something? Oddly enough, there are no stars anymore.

[Albert Brooks]

Well, that's not true.

[Rob Reiner]

No, that's the only true. Wait a minute.

[Albert Brooks]

Margot Robbie is.

[Rob Reiner]

No, but wait a minute.

[Albert Brooks]

Wait. No reason. Tom Cruise. Cruise.

[Rob Reiner]

Tom Cruise is a star.

[Sona Movsesian]

Right.

[Rob Reiner]

There's no question about it. Tom Cruise is a star. But the way in which we thought of stars, they're not people that carry pictures that you go to see because that person is in the movie. You'd go. Because that person. Right now you got Taylor Swift in music and Tom Cruise. Who else would you. I have to go. Well, his dad to the movie theater.

[Albert Brooks]

Didn'T do that well. We weren't so happy with it just being the guy from Paranormal. Use some someone else, please, because these numbers are devastating. No, I mean what I. I'm telling you, when you see. When you see Barbie is the example of a modern movie star.

[Rob Reiner]

Yeah.

[Albert Brooks]

Because I star. But no, but she's great.

[Rob Reiner]

Don't get me wrong.

[Albert Brooks]

I love Margo. I'm telling you, I. I think another person in that the movie would not have been the same.

[Rob Reiner]

You mean Ruth Buzzy?

[Sona Movsesian]

Yeah. From Westerly, Rhode Island. Ruth Buzzy. Don't ask me why. I know that it's different, but.

[Albert Brooks]

But those guys, the Humphrey bogarts, they made 11 movies an hour. You know, they were just making them.

[Sona Movsesian]

Yeah.

[Albert Brooks]

It wasn't even about. They made so many movies that. That's why you went to see them. It wasn't out of the blue. Casablanca came and everybody went. It was just the 18th movie he made.

[Sona Movsesian]

And that was their 11th choice. Yeah, that was Bogart.

[Albert Brooks]

It's called Television. Television.

[Sona Movsesian]

Yeah.

[Albert Brooks]

That's what they did.

[Sona Movsesian]

Yeah.

[Rob Reiner]

But there was a. The period that we were, you know, brought into, there were people, they said, he'll open a picture. You get this person or that person and they will open the picture. Meaning you'll get a good first weekend. And there was a list of people. And now what opens a picture is, you know, action superheroes that opens a picture, but the star itself doesn't open the picture.

[Albert Brooks]

Yeah. We may. We may have crossed into a thing where the actual picture opens the picture.

[Rob Reiner]

Yeah.

[Albert Brooks]

I mean, the Marvel world is a little bit different than what that's fraying now.

[Sona Movsesian]

That's that they're having trouble.

[Albert Brooks]

We don't know.

[Rob Reiner]

Yeah, they're starting.

[Sona Movsesian]

Well, they're having. They're struggling.

[Rob Reiner]

Yeah, they're struggling. Yeah.

[Albert Brooks]

I read a treatment for Uncle Marvel that was.

[Sona Movsesian]

The ability to K. And what was the story?

[Rob Reiner]

What was the story for Uncle Marvel like?

[Albert Brooks]

He said it was Reluctant Guy.

[Sona Movsesian]

I don't know if I should.

[Albert Brooks]

This don't even fit anymore. How do you breathe in this thing?

[Sona Movsesian]

We got the testing back from Uncle Marvin.

[Albert Brooks]

She's hot. Literally.

[Matt Gourley]

Damn.

[Sona Movsesian]

It has to be satisfying to both of you that nothing ages like comedy. And you've both done all this work that, you know, if I talk to an 18 year old comedy nerd, they will look at your stuff and say, this is genius. This is brilliant. This is terrific. That has got to be a good feeling. Even you have to feel good.

[Albert Brooks]

Well, you're just telling me this now? I don't know who you talk to.

[Sona Movsesian]

They're not smart people. They're idiots.

[Albert Brooks]

Call me once in a while.

[Sona Movsesian]

I love that. This is a little tidbit I think I can share, which is you had me over to your house, Rob, to watch the documentary and then you confided in me as the lights were going down. Albert may come by if people, if this goes over well. If this goes over well. And I got the sense that he was circling the neighborhood in a car like a shark, but he wanted to hear how it went over. And then the lights came up and the first thing I said to you is, I think you can call Albert. And you came over, which was sweet.

[Albert Brooks]

I'm circling. I don't live far and I, I.

[Rob Reiner]

But you were nervous, you didn't want to sit there.

[Albert Brooks]

The truth is I, there were six other screenings and I was driving like mad that night, circling 18 hours.

[Sona Movsesian]

Yeah, well, this has been an absolute thrill delight. It checks every single box. I think I'm getting out of the business, gentlemen. Which was your aim, I think, when you came here. Let me make sure I mention because I want to, I, I did say, I want to mention that you have a, a podcast and we have many people listening to this. So let's get the word out on you.

[Rob Reiner]

Yeah, no, it's, it's, it's who killed jfk? You can get it anywhere. You get your podcast and it's basically commemorates the 60th anniversary of the Kennedy assassination. And there's 10 episodes, they drop every Wednesday. And I think if you listen to all 10, you will get 60 years of information will be put in a place that you can call, kind of understand what happened on that day.

[Albert Brooks]

And by the way, like me, he has assembled some hysterical bits from jfk.

[Rob Reiner]

Yeah, we have one.

[Sona Movsesian]

People don't know.

[Rob Reiner]

JFK did a lot of the grassy knoll. What was that one?

[Albert Brooks]

I had, I had a bit. I was, I know where to do it. I was working on and that's that if Walter Cronkite were working today and this happened. Yeah. Let me do 30 seconds of it. And 2. 10am it's official. John F. Kennedy assassinated in Dallas. Let's go to our panel at the end. From the Lincoln Motor Company, Jack Ryan, well known gardener. Javier Martinez from Winchester, Paul Allen. Let me start at the end with the Lincoln. Why it was 74 degrees. Is that when you suggest a top should be down? Well, Walter, at Lincoln we don't really make the rules but we say to the customer we were above 80 so it was too cold, it shouldn't have been down. Paul, how far can the Winchester. Well, first let me ask Javier. Talk to me about the grassy knoll. How often Is that Mo?

[Sona Movsesian]

Yeah, it's a 24 hour news site. It doesn't have. Have that. Yeah, that same impact.

[Rob Reiner]

Yeah.

[Sona Movsesian]

This is probably too dark but I've had a thought in my mind which is what if Zapruder had gone on to make other films? Oh Jesus.

[Rob Reiner]

Oh my God.

[Sona Movsesian]

That was a comedy bit idea I had. And he comes out with other films and they don't have anything to do with that. And the critics are killing him because it doesn't have the impact of his first film. And then he's enraged, like why am I, why am I constantly being judged on my first film?

[Rob Reiner]

I'm being typecast, I'm being, I'm pigeonholed.

[Sona Movsesian]

He starts. As his films sell less and less, he starts going back to. There is a motorcade. Even though it doesn't fit the story at all. That's a bit that I've had that I've been afraid to talk about out loud.

[Albert Brooks]

Christmas Vacation five from Abraham Zapruder.

[Sona Movsesian]

Like, you know, it's lacking the impact of the gentleman. God bless you both.

[Albert Brooks]

Thank you.

[Sona Movsesian]

And that's a Christian God.

[Rob Reiner]

Yeah. You know, even though today's a, you know, time. Monica.

[Sona Movsesian]

I know, but it's my studio. So have a happy Catholic Christmas both of you. Filled with Jesus, Son of God, eternally begotten of the Father, God from God, light from life, true God from true God. Begotten, not made when I'm being with the Father.

[Rob Reiner]

Sold.

[Sona Movsesian]

Thank you fellows.

[Rob Reiner]

Thank you. Thank you.

[Albert Brooks]

Goodbye.

[Colman Domingo]

Conan o' Brien needs a friend. With Conan o' Brien, Sonam of Session and Matt Gourley produced by me, Matt Gourley executive produced by Adam Sachs, Nick Leal and Jeff Ross at Team Coco and Colin Anderson and Cody Fisher at Earwolf. Theme song by the White Stripes Incidental music by Jimmy Vivino. Take it away, Jimmy. Our supervising producer is Aaron Blair and our associate talent producer is Jennifer Samples. Engineering by Eduardo Perez. Additional production support by Mars Melnick Talent booking by Paula Davis, Gina Bautista and Brit Kahn. You can rate and review this show on Apple Podcasts and you might find your review read on a future episode. Got a question for Conan? Call the Team Coco hotline at 669-587-2847 and leave a message. It too could be featured on a future episode. And if you haven't already, please subscribe to Conan o' Brien Needs a Friend wherever fine podcasts are downloaded.

[Conan O'Brien]

Do Crohn's Disease Symptoms Keep coming Back? Tremphya may help at 12 weeks, rapid symptom remission was achieved in most patients taking tremphy and some experienced visible improvement of their intestinal lining. At 12 weeks and one year, individual results may vary. Tremphya is a prescription medicine used to treat adults with moderately to severely active Crohn's disease. Serious allergic reactions and increased risk of infections and liver problems may occur. Before treatment, your doctor should check you for infections and tb. Tell your doctor if you have an infection, flu like symptoms or if you need a vaccine. Explore what's possible and ask your doctor about treatment. Call 1-800-526-7736 to learn more or visit tremphyaradio.com.

[Sona Movsesian]

The wrongs we must right, the fights we must win. The future we must secure together for our nation. This is what's in front of us. This determines what's next for all of us. We are Marines. We were made for this.