The INSULT That Created The Big Bang Theory's Bill Prady

Summary

Dropping Names ...and other things

Episode: "The INSULT That Created The Big Bang Theory's Bill Prady"

Hosts: Brent Spiner & Jonathan Frakes
Guest: Bill Prady (co-creator of The Big Bang Theory)
Date: July 15, 2026

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Episode Overview

In this lively and nostalgic episode, Brent Spiner and Jonathan Frakes sit down with Bill Prady, the acclaimed writer and producer behind The Big Bang Theory, for a conversation filled with show business anecdotes, Star Trek connections, Broadway memories, and reflections on the origins of beloved TV series. True to the podcast's theme, the episode is peppered with rapid-fire name-dropping, behind-the-scenes stories, quick wit, and warmth.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

Hollywood Tales and Name-Dropping

• Classic Hollywood Adventures:

  • Bill Prady recounts attending the rap party for “Lolly-Madonna XXX” at the old MGM lot and a wild story involving Keil Martin driving through the party with his car, almost running over Prady and Rod Steiger (00:10–02:36).
    • “That boy’s been trying to kill me for months.” —Rod Steiger (01:57)

• Star Encounters:

  • The trio share stories of meeting legends like Sammy Davis Jr.:
    • Brent, dressed as Data, is enthusiastically greeted by Sammy on the Paramount lot, who says, “Kid, I love your show” (06:48–07:26).
    • Johnny Phillips’ (Ethan Phillips) notoriously blue comedy routines on the Star Trek cruise (06:08–06:23).
  • A recurring bit involves ringing a bell whenever a name is dropped.

Star Trek Fandom and Influence

• Family Stories:

  • Paul (the moderator/friend) shares his stepdaughter Sophie's journey discovering all Star Trek series in wild order—with Discovery as her entry point (03:00–03:51).

• Fan Crossover:

  • The guests, particularly Prady, reminisce about lifelong Star Trek fandom, and Brent and Jonathan are surprised by the unexpected breadth of their show's audience, including stars like Sammy Davis Jr. (07:30–07:44).

• On the Set Connections:

  • Paul and Prady recall crossing paths multiple times, both on “Big Bang Theory” and earlier shows like “Dream On” (10:28–11:12).

Origins of "The Big Bang Theory" & Writing Career

• The Insult That Launched a Career:

  • Prady explains his segue from selling electronics at Radio Shack to starting as a writer with the Muppets, propelled by encouragement and a “gentle insult” from director John Landis—who told him if he didn’t leave the Muppets, he’d never leave, and that he should try writing for sitcoms (11:09–12:36).
    • John Landis: “You have to leave. Because if you don’t, you’ll stay forever, because that’s what happens.” (11:18)

• Big Bang Theory Backstory:

  • Prady discusses the characters’ origins, highlighting how much of the early dynamic drew on his own experiences in the computer business.
    • On Howard Wolowitz: “He starts out kind of reprehensible… but ultimately he’s the first one who gets married. I think that’s a really cool journey.” (25:42–26:19)
    • The character was very loosely inspired by a real-life colleague with an infamous “two rules” for success with women: "Proposition every woman; have no standards." (26:32–27:19)

• Star Trek Easter Eggs:

  • Prady confirms he deliberately inserted Star Trek dialogue and references into The Big Bang Theory:
    • “Sheldon and Leonard are having a fight and Penny says to Sheldon, ‘How do you feel?’ and he says, ‘I don’t understand the question.’” (34:54)

Showbiz & Broadway Memories

• Old Hollywood & TV History:

  • Stories abound of working with iconic figures—from Jerry Lewis on a Coke commercial (15:15–16:42) to summer stock with Jonathan Harris (Dr. Smith from “Lost in Space”) (22:52–23:06).

• Musical Passion:

  • Prady’s love for the musical 1776 is “without a doubt my favorite… 1776 creates dramatic tension where you’re going, holy crap, they’re not gonna get the Declaration of Independence signed—which is one of the most brilliant pieces of writing.” (48:07)
  • Both Brent and Paul share stories of seeing 1776—including seeing it with LBJ in the audience (46:19).

Behind the Curtain: Industry Insights

• Writer’s Room Culture:

  • Prady recalls the odd genesis of HBO’s “Dream On,” which was created in part to utilize Universal’s vast archive of old TV clips (13:08–14:01).
  • Descriptions of the logistical challenges and camaraderie in the early days of “Dream On”—including shooting in a far-flung, non-union warehouse with a parking-lot set and eating lunch under buzzing high voltage power lines (17:10–18:35).

• Hollywood Collectibles:

  • Paul reveals he owns the prop tally board from the 1776 movie, and both share appreciation for collecting unusual memorabilia (50:18–50:39).

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Memorable Quotes & Moments

“That boy’s been trying to kill me for months.”
—Rod Steiger to Bill Prady at an MGM party (01:57)

“Kid, I love your show.”
—Sammy Davis Jr. to Brent Spiner in Data makeup (07:20)

“John took me aside and said, ‘You have to leave the Muppets. Because if you don’t, you’ll stay forever, because that’s what happens.’”
—Bill Prady, on John Landis’s career-changing advice (11:18)

“The best dream is to go to New York and see 12 Broadway shows in eight days with your kid.”
—Paul, on theater adventures with his son (19:28–19:56)

“The character trait—we had a programmer [like Howard Wolowitz]… His secret to success: proposition every woman, have no standards. …It’s just math.”
—Paul, describing Howard Wolowitz’s inspiration (26:32–27:19)

“I was so jealous that all my friends from Star Trek had been on your show…”
—Jonathan Frakes about Big Bang Theory guest spots (27:53)

“You have to create dramatic tension … 1776 has the audience worried that an event we all know happens, won't happen.”
—Paul on the genius of 1776 (48:06–48:24)

“To be sitting with Captain Kirk processing the death of my father—it was one of those things where you sort of go, this is not real.”
—Paul, recalling a three-hour conversation with William Shatner on set (32:59–34:51)

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Important Timestamps

• Hollywood Party Story (Rod Steiger, Keil Martin): 00:10–02:36
• Sammy Davis Jr. Encounter: 06:48–07:26
• Dream On & Writer’s Room Origins: 11:09–14:53
• Jerry Lewis Commercial Story: 15:15–16:42
• Big Bang Theory & Character Inspirations: 25:00–27:37
• Star Trek Dialogue in Big Bang Theory: 34:54–36:13
• Broadway Memories—1776 Discussion: 45:32–49:01
• Owning the 1776 Tally Board: 50:18–50:39

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Tone & Style

The podcast maintains a relaxed, humorous, and self-deprecating tone, with plenty of affectionate teasing and rapid banter. The hosts and their guest are irrepressibly nostalgic, with a conversational style that blends showbiz reminiscence, Broadway geekery, and heartfelt familial moments. The name-dropping is joyous, never boastful, and always in the spirit of inclusion and shared fandom.

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For Listeners: Why This Episode Stands Out

• Showbiz Genesis: A candid look at how “insults” and moments of doubt sometimes drive career-defining moves.
• Crossover Culture: The intersection between Star Trek and sitcoms, and the enduring pop culture ties between them.
• Industry Camaraderie: Anecdotes reveal the close and supportive nature of the TV writer/producer community.
• Musical Theater Love: The depth of affection for Broadway classics and the obsessive devotion of fans—on both sides of the curtain.

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Transcript

[Bill Prady]

Johnny, can I. Can I tell you something?

[Johnny]

It used to be. Johnny, can I ask you something?

[Bill Prady]

Well, this isn't a question, this is a statement. Yeah.

[Johnny]

An observation, probably.

[Bill Prady]

No, just a little. A Beaumont.

[Johnny]

A Beaumont.

[Bill Prady]

As a matter of fact, it takes place in France. No, it doesn't. The first time I was ever in the Santa Rama Dome, I went to see Deliverance in the year that. Right after it opened. I went with Randy Quaid and a friend of his and his friend's girlfriend, and it was Jeff Bridges and Candy Clark and. Wow. Yeah. And this was 1972. Three, something like that. And Candy Clark and Jeff Bridges were a couple at that time. Oh, that reminds me. Of course.

[Johnny]

Was he a famous movie star then? Yeah.

[Bill Prady]

Well, he had done Last Picture Show.

[Johnny]

Yeah.

[Bill Prady]

And he had done this movie with Randy called Lale Madonna, Kiss Kiss Kiss XXX or Lali Madonna wars, it's called. And that movie starred Rod Steiger, Robert Ryan and. Yeah, and Randy Quaid and Scott Wilson and Jeff Bridges and many other people. Season Hubley. So Randy invited me to come to the. The rap party for that movie, which was held at what was then MGM Studios. I couldn't believe I was walking around the MGM live before Laurimar took over. It was Sony.

[Johnny]

Sony, yeah.

[Bill Prady]

At that rap party, I'm sitting there at a table with Rod Steiger. The party was held on a soundstage. And the soundstage had been dressed as a big party set. But the big doors were open. And all of a sudden, an actor from the movie Gentleman by the name of Keel Martin, who was later on Hill Street.

[Johnny]

Hill Street. Who. I worked with him on Hill Street.

[Bill Prady]

Me too. And he was lovely, Victorian, black. He was so nice. But back then he drank too much. And he came driving through the room in his car. In his car. And all of the tables started to pile up as he was driving, heading toward me and Steiger and the tables, one was piling on top of the other. And finally, it's this a true story. Yeah. I backed up. I mean, I slid my chair back. Steiger never moved. He just stood there. He says, that boy's been trying to kill me for months. And wow. Yeah. But then I later worked with him on. On Hill street and I reminded him of that night. And he said, you know what?

[Johnny]

I didn't remember.

[Bill Prady]

No, he did remember. He said, I apologize. He said, I'm so sorry. Because I was blacklisted from several studios because of that. What I did that night.

[Johnny]

Is that hard to imagine?

[Bill Prady]

No.

[Paul]

Dropping names and other things where the

[Bill Prady]

whiskey Flows and the laughter sings Pull up a seat, Join the game of

[Paul]

bread and Johnny Apartasho. My stepdaughter, Sophie, found Star Trek about eight months ago. She's 16 years old. She's been on a little difficult adventure of late. Some medical things working out. But a comfort that she found was Star Trek. She found her path in tos. Her path in was Discovery.

[Johnny]

No way.

[Paul]

And watching it all, everything completely out of order, and it's driving me crazy.

[Johnny]

Of course it is.

[Paul]

But she did Discovery, and then she did Picard, and now she's on Voyager, and she's sort of working her way back in time. And so. So when we're done with this podcast.

[Bill Prady]

Yeah.

[Paul]

I'm whipping out the phone, and you guys are doing a little. Little video greeting for her.

[Bill Prady]

Of course.

[Johnny]

This is Bill Prady.

[Bill Prady]

Yeah.

[Johnny]

Icon, producer, writer, recovering actor.

[Paul]

That's true.

[Bill Prady]

Right, For.

[Paul]

Well, from. From childhood.

[Johnny]

Childhood.

[Bill Prady]

And a mutual friend of a lot of our friends as well.

[Johnny]

Mutual friend. If I give you a little song, you'll recognize the show he started in high school. I got the horse right here.

[Paul]

His name is Paul.

[Johnny]

And. Thank you.

[Bill Prady]

I did a. A charity function where I did that number with. With Dick Van Dyke and Michael Chiklis. Oh, hold everything.

[Johnny]

You know the premise of the show.

[Paul]

I do not know the premise.

[Johnny]

We drop names.

[Paul]

I ring a bell if a name

[Johnny]

is Michael Chiklis and Dick Van Dyke qualify.

[Paul]

Okay.

[Bill Prady]

Yeah, absolutely. They didn't do it with you as well?

[Paul]

They were not in our. In our production.

[Bill Prady]

Okay.

[Johnny]

In Michigan.

[Paul]

In Michigan.

[Bill Prady]

Yeah.

[Johnny]

Michigandians.

[Paul]

No, it's a very Michigan.

[Johnny]

I listened to it.

[Paul]

Michigan. Explaining this by custom and Michiganian by law.

[Johnny]

Yeah.

[Paul]

That they. At some point, the legislature didn't like being Michigander because of the reference to a bird. Because then you're Michigander. And Michigese and Michigazlings. And then my father would say, and Mishigaz.

[Johnny]

And Michigan.

[Paul]

So there you go.

[Johnny]

Another Jew.

[Paul]

Were you bar mitzvahed in Michigan at Temple Emanuel.

[Bill Prady]

Temple Emanuel.

[Paul]

At Temple Emanuel in Oak Park, Michigan.

[Bill Prady]

Well, there you go. See, I was bar mitzvahed at Bethushurun Temple Bethushurin in Houston, Texas.

[Paul]

Do you remember Frank Sinatra's joke about what Congregation Sammy Davis Jr. Attended after his conversion?

[Bill Prady]

No, don't.

[Paul]

Don't send letters. If it was a joke is from another time. But he said that Sammy attended Congregation Beth. You is my woman now.

[Bill Prady]

Oh, dear. Yeah. Well, if you see the Rat Pack performing in Vegas, if you want to

[Paul]

just leave your body with Discomfort over racial jokes and inappropriate jokes. Well, the Rat Pack, but also the Dean Martin roasts are on YouTube.

[Bill Prady]

Yes, yes.

[Paul]

And you will go, oh, my God. People said those things out loud.

[Johnny]

We used to have an actor we worked with named Johnny Phillips, Ethan Phillips, who was on Voyager, Voyager and on the Star Trek cruise, which I'm sure you've heard about. He did a midnight show that was so blue and so incredibly funny and so inappropriate, they had to cancel it.

[Bill Prady]

Yeah, well, they finally did because people, some of the audience, were offended. The hilarious guy, in that tone that you just mentioned, you can even give Frank and Sammy.

[Johnny]

Jesus.

[Bill Prady]

Oh, my God.

[Paul]

That's not referring to people. Name dropping is when you knew them

[Johnny]

well, about our Lamar's bachelor party.

[Paul]

Okay.

[Johnny]

When we went to see Frank Sinatra.

[Paul]

Okay, there you go.

[Johnny]

There we go.

[Bill Prady]

Exactly. And Sammy was not there. But I did meet Sammy one time on the Paramount lot. I was dressed in my data garb and gold and everything and was walking to the commissary and there was what at the time was the Eddie Murphy building. And Sammy was in the doorway and I was walking and I saw Sammy Davis Jr. Standing in the doorway. He looked over and saw me and he came running down the ramp and he says, kid, I have. I love your show. And I said, sammy, I have loved you my entire life. And I floated to the commissary.

[Paul]

Having met Sammy in that moment, that is amazing.

[Johnny]

Yeah.

[Bill Prady]

He watched Next Generation.

[Johnny]

It's wild. The people who watch the show. You watch the show Star Trek?

[Bill Prady]

Yeah.

[Paul]

Oh, from the time I was a child. Yeah, your show. When I was a child.

[Bill Prady]

Yeah, of course.

[Paul]

Yeah. Oh, yeah.

[Johnny]

No tos.

[Paul]

Yes, of course.

[Johnny]

God. He's still younger than us, so. A lot younger than us.

[Bill Prady]

Oh, yeah, not much.

[Johnny]

Oh, yeah, man, like 12, 13.

[Bill Prady]

You could be my son.

[Paul]

I don't think so.

[Bill Prady]

No, no.

[Paul]

Only if you were very, very, very busy at a young age.

[Johnny]

Well, he's proud.

[Bill Prady]

Do you remember your bar mitzvah speech?

[Paul]

It was just some thank yous and I didn't do. You know, my kids had to do a whole sort of sermon like thing,

[Bill Prady]

learn the Torah, the Dabar Torah.

[Paul]

We didn't have to do that.

[Bill Prady]

No, I did.

[Paul]

I actually found. My dad died a couple years ago and I found the audio cassette of my bar mitzvah.

[Bill Prady]

Oh, yes, yes.

[Paul]

Somebody, you know, you know, hit record on a tape recorder.

[Bill Prady]

Right.

[Johnny]

Did you listen? You must have.

[Paul]

I did listen.

[Bill Prady]

How'd you do?

[Paul]

I did okay.

[Bill Prady]

I did fine.

[Paul]

I had.

[Bill Prady]

We did reel to reel recordings. I know. Exists somewhere. I think it's in storage somewhere. But I remember the opening of my speech, I said something like, February 2, 1949. That's when I was born. Was an occasion which I can hardly remember. But 13 years later, tonight, as I stand on this pulpit, remembrance of this occasion will be an everlasting light in my life. And then I went, take my Tefillin, please. And I got nothing.

[Johnny]

And I. Wow.

[Bill Prady]

Wow.

[Johnny]

You weren't doing shtick back when you were 13?

[Paul]

No. But, you know, here's what I remember from my bar mitzvah. So it was 1973, and I wanted to be the height of fashion. And so I am wearing black and white checked pants, like a. Like a black and white plaid and platform shoes and a crushed red velour sport coat and a bow tie.

[Bill Prady]

Oh, my God. Wow.

[Paul]

Yeah.

[Johnny]

Influenced by Jimi Hendrix. Clothes.

[Paul]

Influenced by a nightmare.

[Bill Prady]

Sounds like Pinky Lee to me.

[Paul]

It looks like what Pee Wee Herman wears on a casual day.

[Johnny]

Wait a minute.

[Bill Prady]

All these names are flying by.

[Paul]

Come on, Pinky Lee.

[Bill Prady]

Pinky Lee's gonna. I think it's gonna fall on deaf ears, but I loved Pinky Lee when I was a kid. Yoo hoo. It's me. My name is Pinky Lee. With my silly hat, my silly coat, my silly dance. Like a billy goat.

[Johnny]

I told you.

[Bill Prady]

Burned into my head from the age of three.

[Paul]

Where did you grow up?

[Bill Prady]

Houston.

[Johnny]

Houston wouldn't get Houston.

[Bill Prady]

Yep. We worked together, didn't we?

[Johnny]

You?

[Paul]

Two times.

[Johnny]

How was he on the set?

[Paul]

He was lovely. Yeah, he was very professional. He showed up on time. He knew his lines. But you did an episode of Big Bang Theory where you replaced Will as Sheldon's mortal enemy because you opened Mint in package. Wil Wheatandall.

[Bill Prady]

Yep.

[Paul]

I was also on Dream on when you did an episode of Dream On.

[Bill Prady]

I did.

[Paul]

I don't know if we really met at the time, but you did an episode of Dream on where you were, I think, a technician that installed a smart house.

[Bill Prady]

That's right. John Landis directed. John directed it, yeah. Do you remember? Draymond was a great success.

[Johnny]

Was that your first writer's room?

[Paul]

Well, no. So I started writing at the Muppets.

[Johnny]

Right, right.

[Paul]

And actually, it's because John Landis.

[Johnny]

Oh, that's a great story.

[Paul]

Will you tell it?

[Johnny]

No.

[Bill Prady]

No.

[Johnny]

It inspired you to leave the Muppets.

[Paul]

Look, doesn't John gets a bell?

[Johnny]

Oh, does he?

[Paul]

But I met John Boy. So Jim Henson died in 1990, and I can't remember. This might have been. I think it's Right after Jim died. But. But it was a Disneyland's 35th anniversary TV special, and there's a Muppet segment in it. And John directed. He directed the special. And John took me aside because John had been friends with Jim and friends with Frank Oz, and he had been around the Muppets forever. Frank Oz. In fact, Frank. Frank is in all of John's movies as a cameo. Yeah. And John took me aside and said, you have to leave the Muppets. He said, because if you don't, you'll stay forever, because that's what happens. And as John. John tells the story. Cause he told it at my wedding to Jessica. He tells the story of having discovered me. And I guess that's sort of valid, but. But. So he said, you know, call me when you want to do something else. And he was producing Dream On. And so that was the first sitcom that I was on.

[Bill Prady]

Well, two things, at least. Yeah. Our friend Gates McFadden, of course, choreographed the movie Labyrinth. The Muppet movie Labyrinth, which she's very proud of, and she should be. Didn't I say Gates?

[Johnny]

Yeah, but I didn't ring her.

[Bill Prady]

Oh, okay. And secondly, on Dream on, as I'm sure you recall, there were a lot of clips. Right?

[Paul]

Right.

[Bill Prady]

My friend Mack McKinney did all the clips, and I loved Mac.

[Paul]

So if you don't know the show, and it's kind of hard to find, I don't know if it's available. But the premise was, it started actually because Universal had a library of bad television that they couldn't use. And they went to Landis and said, is there some way to use this? So they came up with the prem that the protagonist had watched so much television as a kid that it was in his head. And then when he would have a thought, you would black and white, you would go to a movie clip or a TV clip that would illustrate his thought in a humorous way. So in order to find all those clips, there was this team of researchers who would sift through thousands of hours. And then what you would do in the script is you'd write sort of your ideal clip, and then they would. They would bring you some choices.

[Bill Prady]

Yeah.

[Paul]

And Mac had. He had an office there. He was separate from the other guys because he was a smoker.

[Johnny]

Yes.

[Paul]

And smoked in his office. And so it was sort of its own land. But I remember knowing that he knew you. Yeah, they were best friends.

[Bill Prady]

Well, Mac. I knew Mac for years. And incidentally, I have a CD that I did, a music CD called Dreamland. And Aside from this brilliant young singer named Maud Magart, who sings with me on it. Mac did all the arrangements and all the underscoring because it's like a movie of the mind. There's dialogue, there's music, and Mac did all of it. And he did a brilliant job. He also conducted a full orchestra. I mean, that was his real skill.

[Paul]

I don't know that I ever knew that.

[Bill Prady]

Yeah, he was a brilliant musician.

[Paul]

What I remember about him was at his. He lived somewhere in the hills.

[Bill Prady]

My old apartment.

[Paul]

Okay. And it was filled with VHS tapes. He was a compulsive recorder of everything.

[Bill Prady]

Yes, he was. In fact, he took all of those. Universal. All that film from Universal. He copied all of it.

[Paul]

Yeah.

[Bill Prady]

And he had the entire catalog. But, yeah, that's what he did. Hours and hours and hours of video. He. He was the perfect person to do that job. But shortly after I worked there, maybe even the next week after I shot the episode I was in, he called me and said, hey, John Landis wanted me to call you because we're not shooting today. We're not shooting. Dream on. We're shooting a commercial for Coca Cola, for Mexico, with Jerry Lewis, the Nutty Professor. And John wanted to know if you want to come over. And I spent the entire day there with Jerry and John Landis and Mack, and one of the great days of my life, because like most people my age, I grew up. Jerry Lewis was a God to me when I grew up. When I was a kid, I loved him so much. They used to have. There was a theater in Houston, Texas, the Metropolitan Theater. And when Nutty professor came out, this is back in the old days when there were big palaces, still big movie theaters. Jerry did a live stage show between each screening of Nutty Professor. And I stayed all day and saw every screening and every live show that he did, and it was fantastic.

[Johnny]

Do you do a little Jerry or No?

[Bill Prady]

I did Jerry on Next Generation.

[Johnny]

In the holodeck.

[Bill Prady]

In the holodeck. I did. Yeah. I don't do Jerry. I. You know, I like Jerry the philosopher. You know, who he became later on,

[Johnny]

you know, fascinating career, roller coaster career.

[Bill Prady]

And the genius. I mean, a brilliant guy. I mean, he did create video playback. That was his invention.

[Johnny]

He didn't know how to shoot fast.

[Bill Prady]

But were you there that day, Bill, that Jerry was there?

[Paul]

No, no, no. But I know about that day, because as soon as you started to tell the story, I knew exactly what story you were telling.

[Bill Prady]

Oh, I have photos of me and Jerry, and he's dressed as the Nutty Professor.

[Paul]

I mean, do you remember the dream? The dream on studios in the middle of nowhere.

[Bill Prady]

Yeah. Where was that?

[Paul]

So they. So originally the plan was that it was going to be a non union show. It was produced by Universal, but it was going to be a non union show, so they had to move it off the lot. Ultimately, the crew unionized, but they were in a warehouse in Sunland. And I used to tell people who were coming to see me, I'd say, drive north on Laurel Canyon until you feel your life is in danger. And then it's a right and a left.

[Bill Prady]

Right. I do remember it was way out.

[Paul]

It was on Web. And it was next to a bar called the Web, which was a biker bar. And periodically, you know, they'd be taking a body out of that bar.

[Bill Prady]

Yeah.

[Paul]

And we had one exterior set that was a city street that was in the parking lot. And so you'd shoot the reverse by shooting. Just walking down and going the other way.

[Johnny]

Your offices were up there, too.

[Paul]

Everything was in this warehouse. And we would eat lunch out in the parking lot under high powered electric lines that were, you know, the main transmission lines that are buzzing that if you stood underneath them, you could feel your hair go up.

[Bill Prady]

Oh, my God. Well, that was Brian. Ben. Ben.

[Paul]

Brian Ben Ben.

[Bill Prady]

Star.

[Johnny]

Yeah, I know.

[Bill Prady]

Please. And Wendy Malik. I see Wendy occasionally. And. Yeah, yeah.

[Paul]

Who are all really lovely.

[Bill Prady]

Oh, yeah.

[Paul]

And Michael McKean.

[Bill Prady]

Michael McKean.

[Paul]

Michael Mckean recurred on that.

[Bill Prady]

Did he love Michael McKean?

[Paul]

Yeah, he played Brian's boss.

[Bill Prady]

Yeah, yeah, exactly.

[Paul]

The Australian publisher was sort of vaguely based on Rupert Murdoch, I think, something right.

[Johnny]

Does he get one?

[Bill Prady]

Oh, yeah. Michael McKean's a brilliant actor. I've seen him in so many things. I've seen him on Broadway steal shows like Blind. He's fantastic.

[Paul]

Yeah. And an incredibly sweet guy.

[Bill Prady]

Very nice guy.

[Paul]

Really, really nice guy.

[Bill Prady]

Yeah.

[Johnny]

Two things just came to mind. One is while we were shooting, we had a break and Bill went to New York with his son Asher to see Broadway shows. That seems to me like the best dream to go to New York.

[Paul]

You know, Asher and I have. So my son is 19. Wait, Asher Prady? Does he get a. Okay, there you go.

[Bill Prady]

I object.

[Paul]

He's a freshman at Kenyon College in Ohio. He's actually home right now for spring break. But Asher and I have gone a couple of years to see theater. And we go for about eight days and cram like 12 shows in. And it's fantastic.

[Johnny]

It just sounds like a dream.

[Paul]

It's you know, it's two shows a day when you can do two shows a day and all of that and, you know, see everything that we can. So we, you know, we've done that a couple of years.

[Bill Prady]

That's great.

[Johnny]

He also likes nice hotel. He likes the hotel. You like downtown.

[Bill Prady]

The. The Crosby?

[Paul]

No, downtown. The Greenwich.

[Johnny]

The Greenwich.

[Bill Prady]

Well, the Greenwich is nice, too.

[Johnny]

What about uptown? The Whitby?

[Bill Prady]

The Whitby is where I like to stay up to. All right. But I used to do that. My high school drama teacher, who later became my college drama teacher, used to take a group of us for Thanksgiving to New York, and we saw Pickett, and we saw one or two shows every day for four days. And I have some great memories of that. That was back in the day when there were things like. Then we'd go to Sardis.

[Paul]

I lived in New York for 10 years. One of my favorite things was seeing that high school group walk through Times Square with the really, really nervous teacher leading them, who had, you know, the teacher who had never been out of Fort Wayne, Indiana, you know, suddenly in Times Square. Okay.

[Bill Prady]

Hurting them, hurting him.

[Paul]

Okay. This is. Okay.

[Bill Prady]

Well, he was very loose with us. He was just like, go see whatever show you want to see. I'll see you at dinner later.

[Paul]

Oh, that's fantastic. That's the best way to do it.

[Bill Prady]

Yeah. When we saw Hair, I remember going

[Johnny]

to see Hair when I was in high school and we had to sign. My parents had to allow me to go because we got in a bus in Bethlehem and shipped in. Yeah.

[Bill Prady]

Yeah. I'm sure that he had to get approval from the parents.

[Johnny]

I loved that show.

[Bill Prady]

Oh, I did, too.

[Johnny]

And the music show changed my life

[Bill Prady]

when I saw it, we all came back and grew our hair. We really did.

[Johnny]

Give me a head with hair.

[Bill Prady]

Yeah.

[Johnny]

The origin story that I heard, I was very surprised about the writing origin of having been insulted by Isaac Asimov.

[Bill Prady]

Yeah. Well, you were working at Radio Shack.

[Paul]

No. Well, yeah, I did work at Radio Shack.

[Bill Prady]

Right.

[Paul]

By the way, I'd like to share with you. I had some really great material as a Radio Shack salesman. Radio Shack at the time had a Free Battery Club Club. And it said Radio Shack Free Battery Club. And you would come in every month and you'd get it punched. And when it was. When you had 12 punches, you got a free battery, which is. Wow.

[Bill Prady]

Yeah.

[Paul]

And I had this line, I would take it, and I said, oh, I see you're a member of our Free Battery Club. We missed you at the meetings. It Was very exciting. We elected officers. That's just some sure fire material.

[Bill Prady]

Absolutely. Maybe we should start a battery club.

[Johnny]

We might. Oh, I got a little gift for you.

[Paul]

This is a gift for me.

[Bill Prady]

Little of the merch.

[Paul]

Oh, this is. Oh, my God. This is. This is it. Oh, it's gum.

[Bill Prady]

Yeah.

[Johnny]

You know how.

[Paul]

Oh, that's fantastic then. Did I explain when we were on the set together, did I tell you I don't get gum?

[Johnny]

Yeah.

[Paul]

I don't get the concept of it. I don't get the concept of it

[Johnny]

because I used to chew a lot of gum in a set.

[Bill Prady]

Oh, you still chew a lot of gum?

[Johnny]

I do. I like it.

[Bill Prady]

Here's another thing you probably don't know. I did Damn Yankees with Dr. Smith.

[Johnny]

Oh.

[Paul]

Oh, Jonathan.

[Bill Prady]

Jonathan Harris.

[Paul]

Jonathan Harris, Yeah.

[Bill Prady]

He was the devil in.

[Johnny]

Was this in Houston?

[Bill Prady]

Yeah. Summer stock.

[Johnny]

In summer stock.

[Paul]

You know, I met Jonathan Harris once. I. I was. I was dating an actress who had been on a sitcom, and she would do. There was an autograph show that they would do at the Beverly Garland still.

[Bill Prady]

Oh, yeah, yeah.

[Paul]

And so she would do that on Vineland. The what?

[Bill Prady]

On Vineland.

[Paul]

On Vineland, yeah. She would do that show. And it's an emotional ride to walk into that room and see people who haven't worked in a long time who are selling their autographs.

[Johnny]

Welcome to our life.

[Bill Prady]

Yeah.

[Paul]

Well, I know you continue to work because we worked together, so I know you're not where Jonathan Harris was. And Jonathan Harris was very, very old at the time. And I remember it was almost. It was almost a heartbreaking thing because, you know, you sit at a table and you have the stacks of pictures and some people had people to make change, but he was doing it himself. Yeah. Out of a little lockbox.

[Bill Prady]

He was actually a really nice guy. Really nice.

[Paul]

I remember as a kid thinking, he's such a good actor on this show because he's so despicable, you know?

[Bill Prady]

Well, he was great. He was great in Damn Yankees and also was. He was the devil. Yeah, Lola was.

[Paul]

Oh, my God.

[Bill Prady]

So it was actually an amazing production. Lola.

[Paul]

Oh, my God.

[Bill Prady]

Yeah.

[Johnny]

Do you have a Star Trek pinball machine?

[Paul]

And I have a Star Trek pinball machine.

[Bill Prady]

Do you. Yeah, I had a great one.

[Paul]

Did. Did. Is. Did you get some of this from Will? Is that.

[Johnny]

No, no, that came from Pratt.

[Paul]

Oh. From Mr. James Pratt.

[Johnny]

But we weren't paid for the pinball machine, but they gave us each a pinball machine.

[Paul]

Okay.

[Johnny]

As our pay.

[Paul]

There's a Big Bang slot machine in Las Vegas.

[Johnny]

I bet there is.

[Bill Prady]

Yeah.

[Paul]

Which is featured in an episode of what We do in the Shadows, which is. Which is a great show.

[Johnny]

One of the other questions I was told to ask, and then I did a little research, that the characters on Big Bang are based on sort of your split personality.

[Paul]

Well, you know, they're so. They're. They're kind of based on the. When I was in the computer business, the programmers that I worked with, and, yeah, there's a lot of. There's a lot of me going on initially. I mean, over time, other writers contribute and stuff like that.

[Johnny]

Casting. You could feel it when they hit a note that was related to that.

[Paul]

Absolutely. And the character that Simon Helberg played of Howard Wolowitz was so. Howard Wolowitz was actually the name of my partner in the computer business. But the character trait, because that character. Actually, I really like the evolution of the character because he starts out kind of reprehensible. He's a bit of a hound, and. And then ultimately he's the first one who gets married. And I think that that's a really cool journey and it's about maturing and all of that. But there was one of our programmers who was a fairly ordinary looking fellow, and he was incredibly successful with women. And he would show up often. He would come to the office with his latest girlfriend. And there was something. There was an absolute eclectic quality to these women. They were attractive, they were unattractive, they were young, they were old. There was no rhyme or reason to it. And one day he said, you want to know my secret to success with women? And we all said, yes, we would like to know this. And he said, it's two rules. It's proposition. Every woman have no standards. And. Oh, okay, you're just playing the math of this, aren't you? And he said, yes, it's just math and horrible. I condemn those remarks.

[Bill Prady]

Yes, they are disrespectful and clearly finding women who had no standards as well, because they.

[Paul]

But that's it. Yeah, it's. It's. That's. It was reciprocal. Yeah. Oh. But anyway, a lot of that went into the character of Howard.

[Bill Prady]

Wow. You know, Jim Parsons and I.

[Johnny]

Okay.

[Bill Prady]

Went to the same school in Houston.

[Paul]

In Houston. Okay.

[Bill Prady]

We had the same teachers.

[Paul]

That's amazing.

[Bill Prady]

In college.

[Paul]

That's amazing.

[Bill Prady]

Yeah.

[Johnny]

Two fine actress.

[Bill Prady]

And we didn't know that until I did. I didn't know it until I did Big Bang.

[Paul]

Oh, wow.

[Bill Prady]

Yeah.

[Johnny]

I was so jealous. I told you this in our interview. I was so jealous that all my Friends from Star Trek had been on your show.

[Paul]

So Jonathan came in when to meet to direct Stewart and was upset that he hadn't been asked to be on Big Bang. I pitched a character and I said it never got to us because it would have happened in a minute.

[Johnny]

I wanted to be the guy.

[Bill Prady]

He complained that he wasn't playing a character on Big Bang. And as a reward, you gave him a directing slot on this show. Right.

[Paul]

I don't know if that's the exact math, but.

[Bill Prady]

Cause I'm thinking maybe if I complain about not directing the show, you'll give me a character on the show.

[Paul]

Exactly. Forward. We had that. One of the absolute joys of Big Bang, because I'm an obsessed Star Trek fan, is the number of people who were on the show and the number who have become friends. Will. Will is one of my best friends. Levar and Stephanie, we're having dinner with tonight, and levar and Stephanie and Jessica and I go to Jazz Fest in New Orleans together.

[Bill Prady]

Yeah, that's right. And I've been to your party in San Diego.

[Paul]

Have you?

[Bill Prady]

Yes.

[Paul]

Oh, that's fantastic.

[Bill Prady]

I wasn't invited, but I was there.

[Paul]

You just came along.

[Bill Prady]

I went with Lavar, actually.

[Paul]

Oh, okay. Yeah, I do remember that. I have pictures of you so that. Well, we're gonna do that party again this. This year. Yeah. Because we're gonna go to San Diego with. With the new show.

[Bill Prady]

Oh, yeah.

[Paul]

And so if you want to come down.

[Bill Prady]

You know what? Can I get a ride?

[Paul]

Yeah, sure.

[Bill Prady]

Okay, good.

[Johnny]

Don't you take the train?

[Bill Prady]

Well, the train.

[Paul]

I used to take the train to Comic Con. That was fun.

[Bill Prady]

I have been to Comic Con in San Diego where I've gotten three quarters of the way there and had to turn around and go home because it was just a wall of cars and they didn't move.

[Paul]

Yeah, but you can't. I mean, you can't walk around Comic Con.

[Johnny]

Well, but oddly. Go ahead.

[Bill Prady]

Yeah, no.

[Johnny]

Comic Con is really not our wheelhouse.

[Bill Prady]

The San Diego Comic Con.

[Johnny]

San Diego Comic Con is for new shows.

[Paul]

Huge.

[Bill Prady]

And like Stewart features and new series.

[Johnny]

Old guys, we sit at somebody's table, sadly, and it's really not for.

[Paul]

I know, but. But you. You can't.

[Bill Prady]

Well, you can't wander around.

[Paul]

You can't wander around.

[Bill Prady]

Well, we have security, you know, we have people who beat people up if thing Cool. You know, but we were just at

[Johnny]

the Saturn Awards and Tom Cruise was

[Bill Prady]

there

[Paul]

a picture on. On Terry Matalis's Facebook.

[Bill Prady]

Yes, Terry Matalis. Terry won the. The Robert Forster Award.

[Johnny]

And the best speech of the evening was Paul Bettney giving his.

[Bill Prady]

Very funny.

[Paul]

Very, very funny. Oh, wow. I'm a big fan of his.

[Bill Prady]

Yeah, I was a fan of Robert Forster too, by the way. I mean, Jackie Brown, he's great in Jackie Brown.

[Johnny]

Oh, he's great. We gave an award to Shat.

[Paul]

The Shatner.

[Johnny]

Shatner. He did Big Bang too?

[Paul]

No, he did do Big Bang and

[Johnny]

wait a minute, William Shatner, the godfather of us all.

[Paul]

So I met Bill one year at the Banff Television Festival and we were up for something with Big Bang. And I get a call from the organizer of the festival saying that on the schedule is one of the events is an hour in conversation with William Shatner. And he called to say the journalist. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. The journalist who was going to do the interview has gotten sick and would I interview William Shattner? One hour in conversation. And I said, no, I'm not a journalist. That's an actual scandal skill that people have to interview people. I do not have it. And no. And a guy called me back a couple hours later and said, look, I'm desperate, I can't find anybody to do it. I know you're a big Star Trek fan, will you do this? So I agreed to do it and then I crammed at the time, Bill had a two volume autobiography and I think it's three volumes, maybe three volumes down. But so I read it, I crammed it and then it's the worst interview because I'm so over prepared that my questions are paragraphs. And then didn't you. Weren't you in a theater company that was in Stratford on Avon in Ontario? And didn't you meet some people and decide that you would be better off trying in New York? So a group of you then went to New York. So all he could say to all my questions was yes. I mean, and it's on YouTube and it's just awful.

[Bill Prady]

Yeah.

[Paul]

But we did stay in touch. He's a very interesting fellow.

[Bill Prady]

He is.

[Paul]

And when he did Big Bang, so I was, at that point, I was not full time on the show, I was just consulting. But I think Steve Holland, who was running the show, called and said, would I come and hang with him? You know, just. It was basically, you know, somebody of his stature that there would be somebody around with him. And my dad had just passed away and it was a thing I was really processing at the time and I wound up sitting with him for about three hours and we talked about our fathers and there were parallels in the relationship he had with his dad and I had with mine. And it was one of. And it was a very surreal moment because, you know, because I found Star Trek when I was probably 12 years old, you know, like a gazillion people. You know, I found it in the reruns that played in the afternoon. And to be sitting with Captain Kirk processing the death of my father was one of those things where you sort of go, I, this is not real. I'm not quite sure how to do this. And the director, Kevin Smith, was also on the show. Kevin Smith. The episode of Big Bang is Wil Wheaton's Celebrity D and D Game, which was based on Johnny Carson's celebrity. Oh, yeah, poker game. So we said, what if that. And so I remember I'm sitting with William Shatner and Kevin Smith comes in and sits down and we're all. And then Kevin is talking about his dad and I'm going, this is just one of the most surreal, surreal moments of my life.

[Bill Prady]

Yeah, but wonderful, right?

[Paul]

But truly. But truly wonderful. There's a lot of. I would sneak Star Trek dialog into Big Bang Theory, famously. So the boy. It's the opening of Star Trek IV where Spock is sitting in front of the computers and they are testing his memory because he's just had his mind and body reconnected. And the computer says, how do you feel? And he says, I don't understand the question. That great moment. And then among the many times I did it, you know, Sheldon and Leonard are having a fight and Penny says to Sheldon, how do you feel? And he says, I don't understand the question. We also did my favorite thing. We did the self destruct sequence. There's an episode where Sheldon is blackmailing Leonard. And it's an email. It's an email that's gonna be sent if Leonard doesn't acquiesce and it's terrible consequences. And he's got it programmed on his computer and he activates this email sequence with the Star Trek self destruct sequence. Because I love the self destruct sequence.

[Bill Prady]

Oh, yeah.

[Paul]

It's just the best.

[Bill Prady]

Exactly. Did it ever happen?

[Paul]

No. Wait, no. Don't they. Is there. Is there a movie where they do

[Bill Prady]

actually get all the way to get

[Paul]

all the way to it?

[Johnny]

Isn't that what you guys should know?

[Bill Prady]

Well, you know, we were there. We haven't necessarily seen it. Okay, but we were there.

[Paul]

Yeah. You guys should know better than me.

[Johnny]

Not necessarily.

[Bill Prady]

You said you were from Detroit. Did you say what your dad did?

[Paul]

My dad was for Most of my life, I knew him to be an advertising man. He was an advertising copywriter. He had started as a newspaper reporter. He was a reporter for the Detroit Times, which folded the year I was born. 1960. Wow.

[Bill Prady]

So then it became. Was he like, a madman?

[Paul]

He was, yeah. Very much so. I remember. Oh, my God. A wonderful writer. Mad Ben.

[Bill Prady]

Here we go.

[Paul]

Yeah. This is my podcast.

[Bill Prady]

Exactly.

[Paul]

But walking with him on the picket line, saying, you recreated my childhood. And my dad was, you know, skinny, black tie.

[Johnny]

Yeah.

[Paul]

Ad man, but in Detroit. And then the 70s happened, and then it was wide ties and sideburns and denim sport coats and. And all of that. And I watch. And super graphics on the walls of the ad agency. Big stripes.

[Bill Prady]

So it really was kind of the whole Mad Men series kind of evolved that way. Matt, Matt.

[Paul]

Matt Weiner.

[Bill Prady]

Such a genius.

[Paul]

Genius and nice guy. Matt. I am sorry we spent hours walking together in the picket line. I apologize.

[Bill Prady]

Yeah.

[Paul]

For not remembering your name.

[Bill Prady]

Can I ask a question, or I want to remind you.

[Paul]

What if I said no?

[Bill Prady]

Well, I wouldn't ask you. Okay, I'll ask you a different question. You won't know that it always precedes

[Johnny]

his questions with a question.

[Paul]

All right.

[Bill Prady]

Can I ask you a question?

[Johnny]

Yes.

[Bill Prady]

Yeah. This is the same question. So while it's not exactly a question. But it is. It comes as a question. Last two years ago, something like that.

[Paul]

It was.

[Bill Prady]

We were getting close to the holidays, and I didn't have a good present for my son. My son's 23 now. He was screenwriting major at Chapman and loves films. Sees a movie every day. And literally. And so I thought, we gotta get him. We're gonna get him. And I was like, I don't know. And suddenly on my feed, on my emails came this charity auction. And I'm going down the list of charity things that they're auctioning, and I come across one for film director Nicole Hollis center, who. He loves her films. And so I bid on lunch with the Cole Hollis Center. And I waited till the last day I. And I watched what was going on, and I bid, and I got it. And so he had lunch with Nicole. And I'm told that you had purchased the same thing.

[Paul]

No.

[Bill Prady]

Well, that's ridiculous.

[Paul]

That's just wrong. No, I didn't.

[Bill Prady]

Well, you should.

[Paul]

All right.

[Bill Prady]

You'll love her.

[Johnny]

Okay.

[Bill Prady]

But that's really weird, because the woman. The woman I got the.

[Paul]

Bought it from, who was said Bill Prady, had.

[Bill Prady]

Also Bill Prady got it the year before. No, no, That's Amazing. All right. I can't imagine who. What she was thinking, maybe Chuck Lorre got it.

[Paul]

Maybe Chuck Lori got it. Although I doubt that.

[Bill Prady]

Yeah.

[Johnny]

Yeah.

[Bill Prady]

All right.

[Paul]

That's just going to be a mystery.

[Bill Prady]

Yeah. Really? Well, I. I'm gonna. Next time I come across her, I'm gonna ask, why did you. You throw me under the cross?

[Paul]

Give her what for?

[Bill Prady]

Yeah.

[Johnny]

Do you do these charity lunches?

[Paul]

I have done it a couple of times. I. It's very often that's how we got here, really.

[Johnny]

Eric took us to lunch as a charity thing, and as we're having, he said, oh, it's only an hour. I said, no, no, we have much. Let's have dessert. And his wonderful wife Thonia and I and ordered dessert and coffee, said, what are you working on? Anything you can. I said, well, Brent and I are thinking about a podcast. And he said, if you ever need any help, just give me a call.

[Paul]

Oh, that's fantastic.

[Johnny]

How about them apples?

[Paul]

That's fantastic.

[Bill Prady]

We did one, I mean, threw our names in the hat for charity lunch. And the person who won it, the person who came, paid a lot of money, too much money for it, but it was for charity. And the person who came in second said, I'll pay that much if I can do it, have lunch with them. Then the person who came in third said, I'll pay that if I can have lunch with them. And we've done two of them.

[Johnny]

We've got another one coming.

[Bill Prady]

And I just got an email about it. Could you guys do it in April? We'll see. But we're going to do it.

[Paul]

I did. I just did a lunch. It was my high school in Michigan. I went to Cranbrook, and it was a charity thing there. So it wound up being a family from a kid who went to my high school and her parents, and it was me and Rob Edwards and who. The screenwriter who also went to my high school and a film producer also went to my high school. So it was a little show business lunch.

[Bill Prady]

Yeah. That's nice.

[Johnny]

That is nice. It's better when you have people to do it with.

[Bill Prady]

Yeah, yeah, we had a good time. The times we've done it.

[Johnny]

Have you been asked to do a lot of graduation speeches?

[Paul]

I did a graduation speech at my high school, and then I got an honorary doctorate and I did a study for that. Yeah, I know. And I've been thinking that it's considered absolutely inappropriate to use your doctorate as a title, except Benjamin Franklin, who never went past, I think, the fifth grade or something. Was Dr. Franklin. That was an honorary degree. And if he can do it, you might do it.

[Bill Prady]

Yeah. Well, you are Dr. Brady today.

[Paul]

Thank you. Actually, I worked on the last Carol Burnett show, which you cannot find. There's almost no record with Carol Burnett, but there was six episodes of a variety show that she did after Carol and Company. It's practically scrubbed from the Internet. But on that show, my mom was coming to visit and I made a joke in the writers room. I said, listen, Mom's coming to visit, and I haven't entirely been honest with her about my life. So while she's here, please, please call me Doctor. To this day. To this day, writers from that show called me Doc. So who.

[Bill Prady]

Who else was on that show with Carol?

[Paul]

Richard Kind, Megan Fay, and that's all I can remember. But there were more.

[Bill Prady]

Well, do you remember we were talking about Swoosie earlier? Because you're friends with her and acquaintances of Sweet girls.

[Paul]

Yeah.

[Bill Prady]

Do you remember the Mary Tyler Moore Variety Show?

[Paul]

Oh, sure. I mean, the one that. The one that David Letterman is.

[Bill Prady]

Letterman was the mc, but was also

[Paul]

in the kind of.

[Bill Prady]

He was in the cast as well. The Company was Letterman. Michael Keaton.

[Paul]

Yep.

[Bill Prady]

Dick Sean, the brilliant Dick Sean. Yeah, Swoosy. It's a great, great bunch.

[Paul]

Do you know. Do you know about Dick Sean's death? Do you know that story?

[Bill Prady]

Yeah, you can tell.

[Paul]

So Dick Sean, boy, a great place to find Dick Sean is in the Producers, the great Mel Brooks film. And he's Hitler. Yeah, he's fantastic and he's brilliant, but he was a marvelous comic actor. And he also had a brilliant comedian, a standup comedian, but a very, very unusual act that he would do bits and it had a surreal quality to it. Dick Sean died on stage in Santa Barbara and no one. No one, like, came up to help because they thought it was a bit.

[Bill Prady]

Right.

[Johnny]

I did hear.

[Bill Prady]

He apparently just pitched forward.

[Paul]

He. He just, you know, something happened and.

[Bill Prady]

And even his son was in the audience, apparently in the balcony and was going, what's he doing? That's. I don't remember this bit. I. I think he had died.

[Paul]

But. But what? But I mean, kind of. What a great way to go. I think. Didn't Irene Ryan. I think she was in some musical. Irene Ryan, who. People know

[Bill Prady]

she's in Irene on Broadway, the musical Irene.

[Paul]

Was that it? But isn't the story. And I'm not sure. But isn't the story that she finishes her last, you know, piece of. Of the show and walks into the. Walks into the wings and Dies dead. Drops dead. But she'd finished.

[Bill Prady]

Finished.

[Paul]

She finished.

[Bill Prady]

Wow.

[Paul]

And it's. Yeah.

[Johnny]

Worse ways to go.

[Bill Prady]

There are worse ways to go.

[Paul]

Worse ways to go.

[Bill Prady]

Absolutely. Apparently, I, I don't know if this is apocryphal, but apparently Carmen Miranda died on live television on the Milton Burl Show.

[Paul]

That's fantastic.

[Bill Prady]

Yeah.

[Paul]

All right.

[Bill Prady]

I mean, topped everyone.

[Johnny]

Yeah.

[Paul]

Yeah, that's. That's definitely a way to go.

[Johnny]

Just enough to win.

[Paul]

Speaking of Broadway.

[Bill Prady]

Yeah.

[Paul]

Ah, we come back to speaking of Broadway. So you were in what I think is the greatest musical of all time, 1776. This is.

[Johnny]

That's his number one musical.

[Paul]

Number one musical.

[Bill Prady]

No kidding.

[Paul]

Number one musical. Sit down, John and I flew to New York to see you do it,

[Bill Prady]

and, and that night. Was I in it?

[Paul]

You were.

[Bill Prady]

I was in it. Oh, yeah. Thank you.

[Paul]

Were you not always in it?

[Bill Prady]

Well, I was in it. I never missed a performance while I was. I did it for, for six months, and I never missed a performance. But then the show went on for another six months. No, I left.

[Paul]

I, I, I think I was there, like, the second or third week.

[Johnny]

I saw William Daniels. 1776, when I was a kid.

[Paul]

Did you really? I'm jealous.

[Bill Prady]

I saw 1776 in Houston at the Jones hall, the big theater in Houston. And the person sitting in front of me was lbj, and it was, like, three months before he died. He had long hair, couldn't see.

[Johnny]

Right.

[Bill Prady]

I said, hey, can you remove your head? That's right.

[Paul]

Stop holding up this dog. There's a reference that the kids are gonna get.

[Bill Prady]

There you go. Yeah.

[Paul]

LBJ's dogs get a good.

[Bill Prady]

1776 is a great show, so the greatest book of any music.

[Johnny]

Yeah, but you. That's being your favorite show.

[Paul]

That's my favorite. That's without a doubt my favorite. Look, I, I, I love, I love musicals and women. I just want to make that clear

[Bill Prady]

because there were only a couple in there.

[Paul]

That's a very, very small vendor.

[Johnny]

That's one of the clubs that we're in.

[Paul]

Well, in fact, my, My friend, the great Stephen Banks, former head writer for spongebob, author of a series of wonderful children's books, and performer as Billy the Mime. Stephen started the society of straight men who love musicals. And I should have brought membership cards for you guys. I'll send them.

[Bill Prady]

That would have been great.

[Paul]

Just found them in the move. I love musicals in general, but I love 1776. 1776 solves an unsolvable plot problem. You sit down to write something and here's the problem. When you sit down to write 1776, you are obligated to create dramatic tension. 1776 has the audience worried that an event that we all know happens and we all know what day it happened.

[Bill Prady]

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Paul]

Isn't going to happen.

[Bill Prady]

Right.

[Paul]

1776 creates dramatic tension where you're going, holy crap, they're not gonna get the Declaration of Independent side, which is one of the most brilliant pieces of writing. How do you do that? How do you do it?

[Bill Prady]

Peter Stone, who wrote the movie Charade.

[Paul]

But it's based on the work. It starts with, I think, a high school history teacher or something. There's some really cool. I wish I knew this better. There's some really cool origin story of the, you know, of the material that ultimately, you know, becomes this. But, but man, oh, man, I love that show.

[Bill Prady]

It's a brilliant book. And there's a 45 minute section of the.

[Paul]

Without. Without music, without a song. It is the minutes, I think, for. For a while. I don't know if it still is, but it was the longest section of a Broadway musical. Without music, without music.

[Bill Prady]

I think it may be still that way. You saw it at the Roundabout.

[Paul]

I started with the Roundabout, really the

[Bill Prady]

place to see it, because it was 900 seats and you felt like you were in the Continental Congress.

[Paul]

Yeah.

[Bill Prady]

It moved later to the Gershwin Theater, which had like 9,000 seats. And the spotlight was somewhere on Second Avenue. It was huge.

[Paul]

When you saw it with William Daniels, that's the theater that Hamilton is in now. Because I read a great interview with Lin Manuel Miranda talking to William Daniels about, you know, that they. They're in the. They're doing. They're in the same theater and. Because Hamilton actually quotes 1776.

[Johnny]

Miranda.

[Bill Prady]

Exactly.

[Paul]

Lin Manuel Miranda.

[Bill Prady]

I met William Daniels at a. At a Comic con.

[Johnny]

Yeah, he's still on the circuit.

[Bill Prady]

Yeah. William Daniels and.

[Paul]

Well, in his 90s.

[Johnny]

Yeah.

[Bill Prady]

And Bonnie Bartlett were lovely. But I felt like I had to go up and meet him. And I went up And I said, Mr. Daniels, you know, I just wanted to say hello. And we actually have something in common. And he said, what's that? And I said, I played John Adams on Broadway. And he said, no, I played John Adams on Broadway. Okay.

[Johnny]

Okay.

[Paul]

Yeah.

[Johnny]

He.

[Paul]

He and his wife. I don't. I haven't seen him a while, but are often having breakfast at Arts Deli on Ventura Boulevard.

[Bill Prady]

No kidding.

[Paul]

And I have a personal rule that I can only bother them once a year because other. Otherwise, it just. Just gets uncomfortable, but I actually. The. The. The prop. The hero prop from the movie. The tote board. The tally board.

[Bill Prady]

I have that.

[Paul]

I own that.

[Bill Prady]

Wow. Look at him.

[Johnny]

You're a great collector.

[Paul]

I like weird, weird, cool things.

[Johnny]

And you're a great guest. And you're a great man.

[Paul]

My goodness.

[Johnny]

Bill Prady, ladies and gents.

[Bill Prady]

Bill Prady. Sam.