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How Did This Get Made?
Last Looks: Circus Island [Jason Edition] w/ Justin Halpern
01:12:36
Discord beware—it's a Jason takeover! Paul's away, which means Jason reluctantly takes the mic and responds to all your Contexts & Opinions (formerly Corrections & Omissions) on our Circus Island episode, including a call from a performer in the movie. Then, writer/producer Justin Halpern (Abbot Elementary, Harley Quinn) chats with Paul and Jason about his hilarious new mystery novel Get Lost, why you'll never see Batman go down on Catwoman on the Harley Quinn TV show, the origins of $#*! My Dad Says, and much more. Plus, Jason announces the first movie we'll be covering for our EXTREME SUMMER series before introducing a mysterious brand-new segment. JASON'S SUMMER PLAYLIST: Rala-Bucho by Antonio Carlos & Jocafi World of Trouble by The Montvales Love of the Song by Jobi Riccio Remenanuèch by Cocanha Tau Special by The Movers I Just Want To Talk To You by Charles Brown & Sleepy Creek T'chuba T'chiba by Dulce Neves Get It Up For Love by Ned Doheny Spring Theme by Fabiano do Nascime...
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Transcript213 lines
- [00:01]
A
All right. What's up, jerks? It's Jason. Paul's away on a trip. Wow, wow, wow. Wouldn't it be nice? Which means I have been forced to fill in for him and interact with you weirdos, which, as you know, I don't care for. I don't like to hear from you and I don't want to talk to you directly. Regardless, we're here. We've got to do it. So, Scott, if you wouldn't mind, play the goddamn theme song.
- [00:34]
B
Hello?
- [00:34]
A
Chasing my old friend. Oh, wow. It's time for you to host again. Oh, wow. This is for me. Holy cow. Because maybe Paul is still sleeping. They know he's out of town. Left the show with you for safekeeping. Wow. All the freaks in the Discord that love you will go Mercer. Well, disconnect the discord. What's up, jerks? Here come the sound. Okay, you know what? Here's the deal. Great work. Really impeccable work. And I'm seeing here that Chris Finke did it. Chris Finky. Great work. Outstanding work. I'm familiar with Chris Finky as a regular contributor to the Doughboys podcast. Scott, does Finky regularly contribute to this podcast as well, or is this a one off? Yeah, he sends in a good amount of themes. Okay, great. Only revealing that I do not listen. I do not listen to this show. Okay, terrific. Here we are. Get ready for it. We're going to be talking about the recent episode about the gem of a movie called Circus island or Circus Camp, depending on what you found it as a movie that one Discord user. Listen, I am being. Let me be very clear. I'm being forced to. To talk about the Discord. I don't want to. I have other things to talk about. I came here ready with notes to tell you guys everything that's going on in my personal life, to pull the curtain back and give you all the information. When I got here, producer Scott said, nope, you've gotta talk to the Discord fans. So, great news, Quantum Volt. Quantum Volt thinks the tagline should have been Circus Island, America's creepiest home video. Great work, Quantum Volt for that alt movie tagline. I guess that's something we do here is alt movie taglines. Again, so much is going on in my personal life. I wish I could share it with you, but instead I've got to say these words. Remember, if you have an alt movie tagline, submit it to us on the Discord at Discord GG Backslash hdtgm. And if you have a Last looks theme song. Just like Finky did. Go to hdtgm. Com. See, these should be the same place. 1. I'm sending some people to Discord. I'm sending other people to a website. Let's streamline this and click the Submit a song button on our homepage. Remember, just keep them short. 15, 20 seconds at best. I'll be honest, Finky's was dynamite lengthwise. Although, boy, to do sounds of silence, you're doing that intro which we know then triggers. It would be like doing in the Air tonight and crapping out right before the drum fill, right? Oh, how about that? I would love somebody. Here's a challenge. I'd like a full length. Now, I'm asking for you to break the rules. I know we're saying 15 to 20 seconds, which is great. I would like a rule breaking Full length In the Air tonight that is about the podcast. Okay. Challenge is out there. Okay. Gauntlet is thrown. All right, so now again, I've got so many notes about so much that's going on in my personal life that I really was so excited to share with you, the audience. But instead, I'm reading this. Coming up on today's episode, we'll be hearing all your corrections and omissions on Circus Island, AKA Circus Camp. Then Paul and I have a great just chat with Justin Halpern. Boy, we already recorded it. Spoiler alert. Not to pull the curtain back too much. And it was great. You know, Justin is one of the showrunners of Abbott elementary and the showrunner of the animated Harley Quinn show that you've heard. Paul and I talk a lot about how much we loved. We also talk about how Shane Black influenced Justin's upcoming book, Get Lost, the process of pitching the Harley Quinn show. And oh yeah, we also talk about the term breast run, so you won't want to miss that. It is a pretty dynamic and chest conversation. And just like Paul always does at the end of every last looks, I'll eventually reveal the movie we're covering on next week's episode. Or maybe I won't. Maybe I'll choose to be my own man and I won't do everything Paul does. Maybe it'll be a fucking secret. But before we move on, I've got to announce we're returning to Largo in Los Angeles for two live shows on July 31 and August 1. Get tickets now at HDD. It's impossible to Scott keep all this in. It's impossible to say the accurate. It's. It's dumb. We got to Think of a way to refer to the website that just gets people there. The way that doughboys has birdfuck.com. if you enter birdfuck.com, it just takes you to Doughboys.
- [05:42]
B
We need.
- [05:43]
A
Okay, here's a thing, audience. Maybe it's one of our classic catchphrases. Maybe what's up jerks is exactly. Takes us to the. How did this get made dot com? Maybe there's something easier to say than hdtgm.com. that's just preposterous. And I'm furious it still exists. Okay, next week on July 1st, you can finally see June in Legally Blonde, the prequel series L. It's on prime video. It's going to be absolutely fantastic. I'm very excited. You can probably go now and pre save it on Prime. And that's it. Enough plugs. Let's get to the episode. So let me get this straight, Scott. We do plugs first. Why do we do plugs first? Are we just assuming people don't stay till the end? Yeah, we want to make sure people hear it. Okay, how about this? You know what? I don't mind it. But as a listener, you know what I don't want. I don't want to start with Plugs. And I get it. It's easier to ignore Plugs at the end. But. But how about this? Just to incentivize people to listen to the whole episode at the end, after every single thing that's happened, I am introducing Ba ba ba ba ba. A new segment, but you're gonna have to wait. Okay, it's time for Corrections and Omissions. Hit the theme. Corrections and omissions. Corrections and omissions. Em, if you want to help us out, you gotta tell us what we're missing. Corrections and omissions. Corrections and omissions. If you want to help us out, you gotta tell us what we're missing. Okay, thank you, John Cohen, for that theme song. Great work. Again, these are. These are pretty great. These are exactly the right length. They're dynamic, they're interesting. I'm enjoying it. I can't believe the next words are about to come out of my mouth. And I want to just once again stress vigilantly. I did not write this script. It was written for me. These are never words I would choose to say. And in fact, I say them out of distress. Okay, let's go to the discord. So listener John Steele. I mean, I hope that's his real name. You know what? I'd love it if we started only choosing people because they use their real names. I'd love to talk to real people. John Steele. I hope that's a real person. So John writes, I just wanted to point out one of the best moments in the movie. When Carlos and Curly Landers are having their romantic beach dinner and he tells her that her eyes remind him of his ex wife's. The music comes to a halt and there's a boing sound effect. Just wanted to bring this moment to light. Yeah, no, the movie is nuts. And there's a bunch of weird sound effects. So I'm not surprised. There was a boy oing this movie. I think maybe also had a record scratch. Like this movie had real cartoony elements to it. Thanks, I guess, John, for pointing it out. All right, next thing. Rob from Long Island. Okay, Rob from Long island, you piece of shit. Let me get this straight. Carlos got the Circus Mexicali job offer before his wife even thought of the idea for the summer camp. But then they plan the camp's big finale show for the same day. The camp's leader has to leave for Mexico. Why not just schedule the show before he has to leave? Also, I don't know if this was the same for everybody, but the end of the episode, there was an ad for a foster care program. I found that funny. Okay, Rob from Long Island. I agree. You know, these people are in control of their schedules. I'm. I'll be honest, I'm not even sure why he maintained the Circus Mexicali job. I guess it was just because it was always, always his dream finally come to fruition. There's a world in which, if the movie was really wanting to be great, everybody from camp joins him in. In Mexico to support him in Circus Mexicali. And they all end up involved in the circus there. But that would have probably been too expensive to do, but boy, I would have liked that so much more as an ending to the movie. And then in terms of at the. What you say here at the end of the episode, there was an ad for the foster care program. I found that funny. I don't find anything about the foster care program funny, and I'm shocked that you would say that. Disconnect the discord because of speech. Just like this. I am curtailing freedom of speech. Okay, here we go. Oh, great. These are my favorite words to read in the script. Enough discord comments for now. That's right, discord. Zip it. After a quick break, I'll answer some phone calls. What? Not live. Not live voice. I don't have to Talk to them.
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C
Right?
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B
Yeah.
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A
Voice messages.
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D
Don't worry.
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A
Do not. I will not. If you try and make me talk to these people. Scott, the answer is no, okay? We're going to talk to people. Including one call from someone who is actually in the movie. Oh, that's cool. Stick around. Break number one. Okay, stop skipping ahead through the ads. We're back. Circus Island Corrections and Omissions, Part 2. Boy, I like this even less than saying, let's go to the discord. Let's go to the phones. First up, call from Anonymous. Ooh, the hacker group. I hope it's the Anonymous hacker group.
- [11:28]
E
Wow. I still have so many questions, but I'm going to go ahead and ask a question about the school that Gabby went to and her mom ran. I don't think very well. So early on, when they're establishing the bully dynamic that Ashley has, she steals Gabrielle's calculator before a test. Gabrielle tells the teacher she can't find her calculator and the teacher automatically gives her a zero. Now, obviously, I know there are so many other things in this movie that are way more outlandish, but wow, just the complete lack of empathy on that teacher's part and he has a literal orphan in his class I found to be rather. Rather shocking. So, yeah, I had to bring that up.
- [12:16]
A
Okay, Anonymous, thanks for the call. Here's my response. She wasn't prepared for the test. She's supposed to have a calculator that's a zero, even though Gabby's mom runs the school. In fact, I don't think she should be given special treatment if Gabby gets to take the test even without a calculator or they give her a calculator. Isn't that favoritism because of the. Her. Her mom is the principal. I would have a problem with that. Gabby gets a zero. Now do I like it? Absolutely not. The villain Ashley is to blame. Now, I think we're meant to feel bad for her. If she had not gotten a zero, we wouldn't have felt the. The weight of Ashley's malice, you know, so absolutely story wise, I think for the story to make sense, Gabby gets a zero. But also in general, if my kid showed up at school without a calculator, like, hey, how is she going to write boobs upside down? First of all, right, how. How is she going to do that? That's number one. Second, how's she going to take the test? So here we go. Next up is Ethan from Sarasota. Now, first and first, mostly, I'm going to say This I don't like taking calls from Florida. Okay, not interested. I don't, I don't stand for it, but we're going to allow it. Now, Ethan, you are currently speaking for your state. If this is a good call, we will allow calls from Florida going forward. If not, this was it. And Ethan is to blame as to why we'll never take another call from Florida. Okay, great. Let's go.
- [13:51]
F
Hi, my name is Ethan and I'm actually from Sarasota, Florida. I'm a third generation here, actually. And I heard you guys talking about Circus island and you were conjecturing what this sailor circus thing could be about. And the truth is that we have a high school here and mascot is the Sailors. And attached to that is the training circus called the Sailor Circus. And they teach kids and adolescents all the way up the circus arts. And there are performances and camps. My kids actually doing a camp there this next couple of weeks and they learn trampoline and high wire and trapeze and silks. It's pretty rad, actually. But it's been here for ages. And I have no doubt that if the family was involved in circus in any way, they also knew the sailor circus. And I'm wondering if maybe Circus island is a love letter to Sarasota, Florida, which is a very strange thing to want to do a love letter too. But, you know, it's nice that we're in the news for that and not other things. Anyways, I love the show and figured I could add some context, so thanks so much, guys.
- [15:11]
A
Ethan, congratulations. We will now accept calls from Florida. That was a masterpiece in additive writing in regarding the show. That was.
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C
That's it.
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A
Context. Exactly what you said. Provide some context. The idea that there's a real circus school and that your kid goes to it. Awesome. I love that. That sounds really cool. And I love this bit of information because this is information that we not only don't have, but helps us understand the larger world. This isn't a, hey, did you know? Or you got it wrong, I'm scolding you or. Well, I thought it was. You know what I mean? Most of these are absolute dog shit. But this is the. This is the model. This is the platonic ideal of a correction and omission. Now that I'm saying it out loud. Correction is part of the problem we're asking to be corrected. When in fact, I think the assumption should be that we're always right. You know what I mean? So I think it should be instead of correction and omission it should be opinion and context, you know, because you're giving me your opinion. A lot of times this is just what you think is going on or what you thought was funny. And context is what we need, which is what Ethan from Sarasota is doing now. Ethan from Sarasota. Dynamite stuff. This is without a doubt the best. The best thing that's come from the Discord. Oh, wait a minute. This wasn't from the Discord. That's why it's good. Okay, and now I'm going to read these words. Also, I have some more Sarasota information from Sarasota native Sean McBee, who writes on Discord. So now we're back to the discord, huh? Okay, Sean McVie tells us, number one, the great Paul Reubens is an alumnus of Sarasota High School. Incredible. I mean, maybe one of the most genuinely humbling starstruck moments of my life was meeting Paul Rubens. And what a sweet, wonderful, thoughtful, kind, curious man he was. Incredible. Sean McBee. Number two. There's actually a neighborhood in town where all the houses are built with low counters because that's where little people in the circus originally settled down. Yes, I think we did we talk about this, that there was a Ringling Brothers like town or where. Where they would set up for the summer or something like that, for training or something like that. I think we did know that. That's very interesting. I agree. And then Sean McBee's number three is. Local lore says there's an old Sarasota law stating that you must pay the fare on a parking meter if you tie your elephant to it. Sean McBee. How often? How often? How often is that happening? It's not real. Come on, don't give me bullshit here. Maybe there maybe some funny story. At some point there was an elephant in town, but. But you can't tell me just because circus folk live there that they're.
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B
They.
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C
They.
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A
They eschew cars and ride around on elephants. Get fucked. Sean McBee. Okay, Sean McBee, asking you, are. Are you any relation to jazz virtuoso Cecil McBee? That would be my question. Although I'm sure McBee is a common last name. But I'm just curious. So moving on. Tim in Pennsylvania, what do you got for us on the phone?
- [18:39]
G
Hey, Paul, in the show, you talked about the origins of this movie, and I'm sure being in Sarasota near Ringling Brothers had some influence, but it goes back way further than that. In the 1980s, there was a show called Circus of the Stars. On cbs. For those that are younger than me, it took stars from movies and TV and put them into circus acts. And I was sure that one of the Lander sisters was on it. So after a bit of research, I found out that Judy was on it twice, in 1982 and 1983. And what circus event do you suppose she performed in? That's right. The trapeze. I had to dig a bit to find footage.
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B
It is on YouTube.
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G
But she performed with Todd Bridges, Barbie, Benton Leslie, A Letter, and Jamie Lynn Bauer. And she actually does some kind of cool tricks, although Todd was clearly the
- [19:26]
B
star of that show.
- [19:27]
G
Go find it on YouTube. It's worth the trip down memory lane.
- [19:31]
A
All right, Tim. In Pennsylvania, I mean, I, of course, remember Circus of the Stars. This was like. This is an era where there was a ton of, like, celebrities doing dumb shows on primetime network television that would be like this, where they would learn circus stuff or they would do daredevil stuff or stuff like this. And so this was one of them. Circus of the Stars. So let's take a look at this next. Judy Landers performing a super split with a half turn.
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F
Yep.
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A
Okay. This is straight trapeze. She's doing it in a bikini. Everybody's in bikinis. Okay.
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G
Yeah.
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A
I mean, look at this. She's absolutely crushing this. She can abso. Wow. She can absolutely do this. That was undeniably impressive. That's Judy Landers covering her hair for her next turn. And here's why. Oh, I see. They're covering her hair for the next turn because she's going to jump through a hoop of fire.
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C
Wow.
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A
This is cool. This helps me understand why the Lander sisters wanted to do Circus Island. They're clearly very activated by the circus. Now my question is.
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D
Wow. Wow.
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E
She did it.
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D
Wow.
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A
Great work. Impressive. You know, I'm certain this took some degree of. Of practice of learning, like, she's doing legitimate trapeze stuff. That is, I would think, very hard. So that's, I thought, very impressive. Anyway, next up, John Keller, who's one of our fans, put us in touch with someone who is actually not only in the movie, but he was one of the kids performing at Circus Camp. So let's go.
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C
Hey, how'd this get made? My name is Nathan Dietz. I'm actually in the Circus island movie that you guys did a podcast review on. And my friend John Keller, who's a good friend of mine, told me I should reach out and kind of give you guys my experience on it. I was a junior in high School. And we were in a circus program that was after school. And Christy Landers, who's in the movie, was a good friend of ours and was in the circus with us. Her mom, Judy, approached us and asked us if we'd be interested in being in this movie. And Judy and Audrey Landers are some of the nicest people you'll ever meet in your entire life. Sweetest, most kind hearted. And we were like, yeah, that'd be a great idea. So we actually got to miss, like two months worth of school just to be in this movie. And everybody you see in the movie was. We were all really tight niche. All the circus kids you see were all in the program together. We all grew up together. Charlie Barnett, who's the lead male character, was actually a friend of mine that we did musical theater with together. And it was awesome to have him in the movie. And then we got to meet Ed Marinero, who was, you know, it was really exciting and awesome to meet him. And we just got to spend two months playing around on circus equipment with friends and family and just having a great time. And we. I mean, we got treated like royalty for two months, you know, to the point where it was almost like a fairy tale. So thank you guys for, you know, watching the movie and taking some kind of interest in it. And it was a blast from the past. You know, 20 years ago seemed like it was just yesterday. So thank you so much.
- [22:47]
A
Wow. You know what? Boy, I love hearing that because I feel like so often on the show we are hearing from people who have either some background information on the movie, they were involved with the movie or something. And so, so, so many of the stories are overwhelmingly negative. You know, the. The filmmakers were. Were, you know, problematic or stealing money or all sorts of shenanigans going on. And, and boy, is it so heartening to hear that not only. Especially for a movie that had so many kids involved, that those kids, like you're saying, Nathan, were treated like royalty, that it felt like a camp, that it felt really, you know, important and special to them. And that the cre. That the filmmakers, the Landry sisters, were so generous to them, because that is incredible. What an opportunity and what an exciting thing to have happen in you to you and your friends in high school at that age. I think that's awesome and. And makes me feel, like, really great about the movie because there's a lot of the movie that looks, like, sketchy. It looks like a bunch of children, like, on a weird island. Like, you kind of are like, I hope doing like tumbling and jumping and circus stuff that you're like, I hope everybody's safe. I hope they're keeping everybody safe. Because on these lower budget movies, you know, I've been on lower budget movies where I'm like, I don't feel safe even remotely. And I'm a grown man who's nervous to advocate for myself. So it's awesome that they were. Not only had a great time, but were protected and felt wonderful about the movie. And I'm. I'm thrilled to be bringing attention to something that, for Nathan was an ultimately positive experience. I think that's dynamite. And it's great to hear that the Lander sisters treated them so well. Incredible. Okay, last call. This is, by the way, my favorite words on the show. Last call. Call from Craig in Ontario Now, Scott. Sorry, I thought we weren't doing any more Canadian calls. Yeah, I don't know how this one snuck in. I don't know what happened here.
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G
Do you want to.
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A
Do you want to skip it? Or should we give him the, you know, let's hear what he says and then we'll decide.
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D
Okay.
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A
If it feels too Canadian, we can get rid of it.
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B
Hey, Paul Craig from Hamilton, Ontario calling. Just wanted you to know that when I went on my local library's hoopla site to download some books today, I
- [25:12]
C
saw that Circus island was trending in the movie section.
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B
I can only put this down to
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A
the awesome influence that you, Jason and
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B
June have on the movie watching public. Love the show. Thanks.
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A
All right, you know what, Craig from Ontario, I'm going to allow this call to make it on the show. You're welcome. I'll be honest, mostly because, boy, did I appreciate the bird song in the background. I loved your qu. Your point was lovely. I'm so often, like, so delighted when I hear that the choice of movies we make alters the algorithms or jumps one of these weird movies into, like the. The. Into the lists for, like, you're saying hoopla or, you know, because people will talk about it as if, you know, the movies we choose then suddenly enter, you know, start trending on, like the. On Amazon prime or. Or where. Wherever it's streaming. And I love that. I love when our audience demonstrates their true power. If we really wanted to capture this audience and really attack a movie or elevate a movie, boy, I think we would be incredibly powerful. And this does give me an opportunity to once again, shout out the librarians. Shout out the libraries. Shout out the library apps. So there's hoopla that Craig in Ontario Mentioned there's Libby, which is another one. There's a bunch of different library apps. And not for nothing, your local library also, inexplicably, might still have DVDs for rent. That's still a thing. So, you know, don't feel like you have to sign up for every streamer just to get our movies. Don't feel like it's. You have to go pirate a movie. Support the library. Do the library. Let's all do the library. This is fantastic. I think everybody should be checking hoopla and other free library resources when we announce our movies, which I'm about to do very soon. So thank you, Craig from Ontario, for being one of the very few rational Canadians that I've ever spoken with. And by spoken with, I meant listen, to leave a message. And if I'm honest, I mostly chose the message because of the birds. I didn't open up my app to find out what birds they were. Yes, I have an app that tells me what bird song is playing. I'm 53, okay? They're telling me I gotta pick a winner from these. From these submissions. Boy, I don't know. Wait, I have to. Just the calls or everybody today for either the Discord comments or the callers.
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E
Whoever.
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A
Okay? So first of all, Discord. All Discords are out. There's no winners coming from Discord. I'm saying that with peace and love. Okay? N. You know what? Nathan gets it. Nathan gets it. Even though I suspect he's from Florida. Nathan gets it. Because what I loved was the first person positive experience for this movie I loved. This person's not just giving me context for the movie in general. They're giving me personal experience, context for the movie. And it puts the movie in an even better light that knowing that they all had a positive time. They got to skip school. They felt supported. They felt creatively engaged. Nathan, you win. And whoever recommended Nathan. John Keller. John Keller. Thank you for making Nathan reach out to us, because here's the thing. And boy, boy, are the super fans going to be mad. Nathan's not even a fan of the podcast. John Keller is. But Nathan gets the award, even though my sneaking suspicion is he's from Florida. Okay, that's it. Nathan won. And for everybody who's jealous that you didn't win, hey, try again. Great news. You can submit again, whether you've got a correction or an omission or, as I said earlier, an opinion or context, go to. Go to the Discord. You know where to find it. Or try leaving us a voicemail. At speak pipe what? Speakpipe.com backslash hdtgm. Once again, Scott, we should have easily identifiable phrases for each of these hyperlinks that are like a thing that we say that brings us to that thing that's like fucking call Paul. You know what I mean? And it's just fucking. If you enter fucking Call Paul in the Internet, it just brings you to the, to the voicemail box or whatever. Does that make sense? Yes, it does make sense. But you can also just click the links on our website. Scott, Scott, here's. Okay, you know what I'm going to do until further notice, go to birdfuck.com, leave a message for us on the doughboys website. Okay. Leave messages for us on the Doughboys thing. They'll send them to Scott. Okay, birdfuck.com for all your, all your issues. Okay, we're going to take one final break and when I come back, Paul and I will chat with Justin Halpern before I announce next week's movie. Be right back. Okay, we're back. And everybody knows on Tuesdays we re release classic episodes of the show that haven't been heard in a while. So I've got bangers for you guys. The next two coming out are home run episodes. There's whole episodes I don't remember at all. These two I very much remember one. Tough guys don't dance. This is some nuts level stuff. I cannot recommend it enough. And then of course one of our all time favorites, Jean Claude Van Damme. Plus incredible Dennis Rodman, also performance in this absolutely bananas movie, Double Team. Watch both movies, listen to both episodes. Keep checking in for our classic episodes that air every Tuesday. Before you know it, you'll have heard all the episodes. And I think we're at 400, Paul said recently, which is chilling. Okay, here's the deal. Now as I promised earlier, we're gonna talk to Justin Halpern. His book is called Get Lost. It comes out July 7, but you should all pre order it right now. That gives them information. In the data mining, data scraping, absolute awful world we live in now, these are the things that matter. So go and pre order Justin's book. Okay? Mike Hurth. Mike Hurth. Do you think that's my girth? Is what he's trying to do? Is he trying to do like a fake? Mike Girth? Mike Girth. Give us a good Just Chat theme, will ya? Chat, chat, chat, chat, chat, chat. Just chat.
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B
Just Chat.
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D
Justin, so excited to have you on Just Chat. What a pleasure.
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B
Thank you so much for having me. I'M big fans of you both.
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D
Justin, I feel like the one thing that you probably talk about a bunch when you're doing, like, any sort of interviews is, like, a little bit of your origin story, which is you. You are, like the first Twitter famous person that I think ever existed. By creating, like, shit, my dad says, like, that was. That took on a life that was truly, I mean, monumental. And what was that like for you to do something that was, like a fun bit that then just becomes, you know, this big thing?
- [33:01]
B
Well, I would. Yeah. I was, like, living with my parents when that happened. I was. I was literally living in a. My dad wouldn't put my childhood bedroom, like, he wouldn't let me, like, sleep. He wouldn't put a bed back in it. So I was on, like, an air mattress in the corner, and still all of his, like, shit was in there because he had taken over the room after I left. So it was. I didn't even really know what Twitter is. A friend told me to throw up these. It used to be my g. My g chat status of something my dad said that day so my friends could see it. And then my friend was like, you should put it up on Twitter. And it was like 2009, when, like, nobody even really was like. It was like, CNN International Kutcher. Race to a million followers was like, nobody really knew what it was. And then. And so I did put it on there, and for a week, there was only one porn bot following it.
- [33:52]
A
I love that it was. It was so early on in Twitter's existence, but porn bots already there. Already the earliest of early adopters.
- [34:02]
B
Yes, the two earliest adopters are porn bots and Paul Shear. And then. And then one day I woke up and there was like 3,000 followers. And literally by the end of the night, there was 30,000. And when I woke up in the morning, there was like 150,000 and, like, there was like 500,000. So I was. And I didn't even know how to check at replies at first. That's how little I knew about Twitter. So I didn't even understand what was happening, really. I was like, this must be a mistake or something like that. And then when I finally figured out how to check at reply, because I'm basically Luddite, I saw all the flooding of, like, holy shit, this is really connecting with people.
- [34:41]
D
And then was that, like, the moment where you were able to, like, take off as far as your career because you were writing for Maxim, you were writing magazine articles, right? You doing a whole bunch of stuff. And then this goes huge. You write a book that is, you know, it becomes a giant bestseller. But then was the goal always to kind of be writing for TV and doing that, like, kind of being in this comedy space?
- [35:08]
B
Yeah, I mean, that's what, like I have a writing partner, Patrick Schumacher. And we had been. I'd been. I'd been a waiter, so I'd been waiting tables for about five or six years at that point. And we had had a manager and we were trying to submit to places and all that kind of shit. And it. This was the thing that, like, when it took off, people were like, oh, do you have you. And we had a few scripts and we had. We were able to get representation and things like that sort of based off of it. So we were like dabbling around the outsides of the industry. We were trying to break in, but hadn't. But we were at least like, kind of understood the business a little bit.
- [35:45]
A
I feel like yours was one of the first pathways to this career that came through social media or came through Twitter maybe, like that idea that, that, that handle that, that, that your stuff, the. That went from like Paul's saying a Twitter feed to a book to then a sitcom like that, that was incredible to watch because at the time I felt like stuff just didn't work that way, you know?
- [36:12]
B
Absolutely.
- [36:13]
D
And what's so kind of fascinating is like, yes, your Twitter blew up. The book is number one for 11 weeks on the New York Times bestseller list, which is mind boggling as well.
- [36:26]
A
Like, that's huge as this is coming from another New York Times bestseller.
- [36:31]
D
I mean, this is it, right? This is it.
- [36:33]
A
I feel very. I feel really embarrassed to be Jason.
- [36:36]
D
You get. You'll get one out there.
- [36:40]
B
Yeah, it was. It was pretty crazy because what had initially happened, I went in the Twitter feed, took off one of the AT replies, was a book agent, and he was like, contact me. And I contacted him and he was like, here's what we do. We make a funny wall calendar, and it's got all your dad's tweets in it. And I was like, okay. But I also, like, I could write some essays in it that are like a memoir. And he was like, yeah, sure you can, bud. He's like, just. Just do the funny wall calendar. And I was like, well, hold on. Can I at least like, can I send you a couple sample essays of, like, what this would be like? And then I sent it to him and he was like, okay. And then.
- [37:20]
A
I love that you still went with him. You still were like, this guy believes in me.
- [37:25]
B
You know why I did? Because I was like, he's right. The smartest decision is to make this wall calendar. Like, who the am I? Like, you know, like, I, I was betting on myself, but I didn't want to go with any agent that would also bet on me.
- [37:38]
A
I mean, like. Like, how many people are currently in 2026 now being told, the next move calendar, you gotta. For the next season of Harley Quinn or for your book promotion coming up, we gotta get a calendar up.
- [37:55]
B
They were huge in 2009, though.
- [37:57]
D
Now, I will say this just because I do. I. I always found it interesting because you are a writer. You aren't just some person, Jeanette, who started doing this. It was like a funny thing, but you understood what you were making. Obviously, you wrote these great essays. But then when it comes time to make the show, you're involved, but it's not like your show technically, right? Or at this point. Or it's like, kind of like you're like. And that's. I just think that's a fascinating thing for people who may or may not know how this kind of stuff works.
- [38:24]
B
Yeah, so we, we took the. It was after the book proposal kind of went out, we started getting these incoming calls and we went to. We pitched it around a couple places and we went to Warner Brothers and they were like, we love this. And they're like, you guys know. You don't know what the fuck you're doing, right? And we were like, yes, we know. Like, we under. We totally understand. And they're like, okay, good, good, good, good, good. And so they're like, they're like, you can be a part of it, but you're not gonna. It's not gonna be your show. And. And thankfully, because I also was like, yeah, it shouldn't be our show. Like, I don't know what. I don't know what I'm doing. It'd be like somebody being like, oh, you're gonna drive this tractor. It's like, I've never driven a track. I don't know when I do that. So we were. We were on it and we got to be on it. And the show was very bad. It was a really bad show.
- [39:12]
D
The William Shatner is bleep. My dad says it became bleep.
- [39:15]
A
My dad says, yes, it became bleep.
- [39:17]
B
My dad say the funniest part was. So as it was, my dad hated the show. And he was like. And he would. And what? At one point he goes. He was like, Well, I was like, why is it so bad? And I was like, oh, well, you know, I'm like trying to kind of explain to him why. And like, he's like, but you're in the room. I'm like, yeah, I know I am in the room, but. And he's like, so what you're saying is it's. It's like watching somebody fuck your wife really badly. And I was like, I don't think. And I just got. I just got married.
- [39:48]
A
And you're like, I wish I could put that on the show.
- [39:51]
F
I know.
- [39:52]
B
I was also like, I don't think it's like that. Why would the badly part?
- [39:56]
D
Right? Yeah, no, yeah. It would just be watching somebody fuck your wife. Like, yeah, yeah,
- [40:02]
B
like.
- [40:02]
D
But I guess if they did it well, you'd be proud of it. You'd be like, hey, that's my wife.
- [40:06]
B
At least somebody's fucking my wife.
- [40:08]
G
Really?
- [40:08]
C
Well,
- [40:10]
D
now I know that. You know, we'll talk about Abbott, we'll talk about this new book coming up. But I also just want to get into this, into Harley, because you did this, you made this great show. It's so funny. And I feel like to work in the D.C. world at the point that you came in, which is like early 2020, how did you pull that off? Because this is like, I feel like there's a lot of energy around, like, oh, we don't do funny things. We gotta keep the character's integrity going on. But how do you pitch a funny version of in the Batman world with all these characters?
- [40:43]
A
Yeah, not only that, but like a hard R, hard funny show. Like a show that is an incredibly funny joke, dense sit animated sitcom, but that nonetheless still is like suffused with DC lore. You know what I mean? Like, it's great. What a magic trick.
- [41:05]
B
Well, here's how it happened was basically we. Warner's had come to us and said, hey, do you want to do an R rated animated Harley show? But they had no, they had no idea what it would be and they didn't know how it worked with dc. And so, like, as we were writing the scripts, the first script, like the pilot, people were getting kind of nervous because they were like, this is great. Like, what is this thing you're making? And D.C. was getting nervous and then all of the head people at D.C. got fired, like, laid off. And so I remember a moment when we were like, who do we send the pilot script to? It's done. And they were like, we don't know. We were like, there was Nobody in charge at that moment at dc. And so it was literally just us and, like, a couple Warner Brothers executives that we had known for a long time who were kind of like, I don't know, just like, make what you want. And it's the only time in my career that's ever happened. And it was literally just because we were in between. They hadn't hired somebody new yet, but there was nobody old there either. And we kind of just got to make this weird show that we loved. And I think the way we got. The only time DC ever. Like, there was one guy who was in charge of quality control at dc, and he was just like, you can't have Batman go down on Catwoman. That was like his line.
- [42:25]
A
He never would. I know he'd never do that, but
- [42:29]
D
any other sex would be fine. It just wasn't allowed to do that. That's hilarious.
- [42:34]
B
We couldn't show that. We couldn't show that. But, like, everything else they, like, let us do, basically. And. And the reason he said you couldn't do that is he's like, we gotta sell toys. Yeah, we can't. You can't imagine one of these toys going down on someone.
- [42:48]
A
So it's like,
- [42:51]
D
that's amazing that that is the only pushback the entire season series has had and you guys do.
- [42:57]
A
So.
- [42:58]
D
I mean, you have the episode that we just read. Like, you have Bane fucking buildings and coming around like it's.
- [43:05]
A
There's so much insane sex stuff in the show. Your Batman is a functional moron, which is absolutely hilarious. It is. And like, the. All of the villain, all of the petty soap opera nature of all the villains is all so fantastic. It's the best. I love that.
- [43:26]
B
Oh, thank you.
- [43:26]
D
Yeah, it' really, really good. Now, obviously, you go on to work with Quinta and make, I would argue, one of the biggest comedies in the last 10 years with Abbott Elementary. And the thing that I'm so amazed at with you is that show is so incredibly funny. You have an amazing cast, but you're knocking out 22 episodes a season. And it's like, I love it. And. And you don't ever look too stressed about it. I will say that, like, you. You. You retain a youthful nature. But I mean, that's a.
- [44:02]
A
That's like.
- [44:03]
D
That's so many. I mean, how many episodes have you done now? Is it always over 100?
- [44:07]
A
Right.
- [44:07]
B
It's like 93. So 107 episodes in. Yeah.
- [44:12]
G
Wow.
- [44:13]
D
How do you feel an episode, like, in the mid-90s now? Like. Like, do people have to remind, you know, we've done stuff like that. Or, like, is it. Do you have, like, a board of like. Like, I know that always Sunny. They have to have somebody check all the episodes to make sure they have not done the same plots.
- [44:30]
B
Yeah, well, there's, like. Because I forget him, like, two minutes after we make them.
- [44:34]
D
Right.
- [44:34]
B
So. But there's two different. There's a writer on the show who has, like, an encyclopedic knowledge of the show. And so we'll just kind of be like, joya, did we do this? And then she'll be like, yeah, we did this, or, no, we didn't do that. And then also sometimes it'll just be, like, a control F. And we'll search for, like, a word to see in all the scripts if we. If we've done it. But, yeah, it's been. It's been really. I mean, the fun thing about doing 22 is, like, you can do, like, a weird episode that has nothing to do with, like, the, like, overarching plot. Like, you can do kind of fun stuff.
- [45:08]
A
I love the Abbott Elementary Elseworlds episodes
- [45:11]
E
where
- [45:13]
A
they operate out of time and space from the rest of the show. Yes.
- [45:19]
D
Now can. Now the question is the janitor, Mr. Johnson, can he go down on anybody?
- [45:25]
B
As long as we don't make toys in Mr. Johnson.
- [45:29]
D
Now, I think one of the things that is so fun, like a side thing of Justin that is fascinating, is when you play sports with him. Tennis, pickleball. He's great. And it came out after I knew him for a while that Justin almost was a professional baseball player. You played baseball in college. You're an amazing pitcher, and you have this, like, kind of, like, hidden background of, like, before comedy writing, you were going into, like, that. That was kind of your career focus for a little bit.
- [46:00]
B
Yeah. I mean, I want to say I would never have made the major leagues. I thought I could, but in retrospect, I could not have. But at the time, that was what I wanted to do, and that's what I was doing in college. And then the third. My third. My junior year of college, I tore my ucl, which is like the ligament in your elbow that a lot of pitchers tear when they get Tommy John. But back in, like, 2001, when I tore it, the surgery wasn't as good, and you were kind of just like, I was never, like, a top prospect or anything like that, so. So for a guy like me to tear it, that was kind of like, end of your career, you.
- [46:36]
D
You were telling me One time you went to some sort of baseball camp, and you kind of almost realized, too, you're like, oh, yeah, yeah. No, this is not. I don't want to be doing this.
- [46:44]
B
Yeah, well, the fun thing about the thing people don't understand about baseball players is, like, it is the most dumb and MAGA group of people. Like, I always joke that if the MLB didn't exist, there would have been enough people at January 6th to overthrow the government. Because it's just like this group of just, like, meatheads that have just been, like, eating, like, beef and corn and, like, wherever they're from for a really long time. And I don't know, I just felt like it was like something that. It was. That coupled with. I'd go to these, like, showcases, and I would, like, be pitching next to somebody in a bullpen. There's a guy named Mark Pryor, who's the Dodgers pitching coach, who was, like, the number one pick, and we were pitching one time and bullpen next to each other in our. In our windups, like, lined up perfectly, and I hear his ball go, like. And then like, a second later, it's like. Like, mine. Oh, I'm not going to be a pro. This guy's way better than me.
- [47:38]
D
But what I do love is this kind of. All of this stuff kind of together forms your new book, Get Lost. So you go back to writing. This is a. This is. If this is not. These are not essays. These are. This is a full. You've written a full mystery that kind of combines bad dads, baseball comedy, and then a really fun mystery. So Get Lost is this new mystery book that you wrote. What was behind that, like, writing of. Yeah, just writing of a mystery book.
- [48:12]
B
Well, yeah, it was. It was funny because I had seen an article a while back that in this, like, small bar in Central California that was like, literally, like, the whole bar was like 1500 square feet. It was like a tiny dive bar. This guy had walked in the bar, and then there was only one entrance and one exit in the back, and there was cameras on both sides. This guy had walked into the bar and then never walked out. And no one ever found his body, and he was found again. So I was like, oh, wow. This, like, locked box mystery. And I got kind of interested in that idea. And then I started thinking about, like, you know, it's all about the characters. And I started thinking about these ideas of, like, parental figures and baseball and like. And also this idea of sometimes, like, you know, we all have sort of somebody in our Life that like everybody loves, but the people who know that person the best are like, well, that person's kind of a piece of shit. And. And I was like, what would that be like to be like the child of someone that like every. It's avuncular and everybody loves that person but you know that that person is actually a really bad parent. And so I sort of kind of messed around with these characters and put in. In this like mystery box and tried to kind of make something fun.
- [49:22]
D
You did. I read it. It's great. And I feel like I hate comparing things, but if you like stuff like Carl Hiaasen or Elmore Leonard, it feels like that it's very, very funny. But it's got this like great page turning energy to it and it just keeps you guessing the whole way through. And I love the conceit of this, which is like you have this dad who is this kind of asshole, but like a lovable asshole partnered up with his daughter to figure out where her mom, his ex wife has gone because there is. She has disappeared. And it was, you know, like it's always not nerve wracking but when someone asks you to read a book, you're like, okay, I hope I like, you know, like I'm gonna like it. I'm already in. But I just. Regardless of you writing it, it was such a fun read and it has that kind of that energy of those books that I really love that I feel like I don't.
- [50:13]
A
Well, I feel like we're also like wonderfully returning to like those kind of stories, you know, Like I feel like we're getting back into. And maybe it's just our generation is now, you know, populating our, our stuff with. With detective stories and with mysteries in a way that kind of fell off for a little while because I've been loving seeing so much of it populating TV shows again. There's a lot of PI stuff but like this is like to me sounds so funny because I love a A. I know this isn't like a lone wolf and cub type of, but like a father daughter. Like it makes me think of nice guys or something like that, you know?
- [50:52]
B
Yes.
- [50:53]
A
Like that's the Shane Black kind of vibe of fuck up dad and daughter who's trying to keep him on track is pretty terrific.
- [51:02]
B
No, it's funny you bring that up because when I was writing it, anytime I would get stuck and I would just feel like I have a little bit of writer's block, I put on nice guys and I would just watch it I probably watched it like six or seven times over the course of writing the book to just be like, oh, right. It's about these characters. It's about the banter between them. It's about this relationship, you know, And I think that Shane Black stuff, it's like, he does that so well. He understands why you're watching the movie and what you want to see.
- [51:28]
A
Well, and you care so much about those relationships. You don't just. What he does so well is make you care about those people at the center of it and their relationship to each other. Not just like, oh, how are they going to get out of this one? Or oh, no, it's really like, oh, it's character development inside of a forward moving, you know, dangerous crime plot.
- [51:48]
D
I love Shane Black and I. And I've heard some rumor that there is a lot of forward momentum right now on Nice Guys too, which would be great. Awesome. I think it's all about getting Ryan Gosling to just agree to do another one. But I think they all really want to do another one because, oh, it's such a.
- [52:10]
E
What?
- [52:10]
A
It's like one of the great comfort watches that and Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang are like, I've watched them dozens of times.
- [52:17]
B
They're so good.
- [52:17]
D
I think I could tell this story on air. It only puts people in good light. I got to watch a screening of something, and it was for me and Shane Black. And at the end, the creator was like, oh, do you have any notes? And the way Shane Black gave notes to me was like, Columbo. At the end of. At the end of a Columbo episode, he's like, one foot out the door and go, oh. And by the way. And then would like lay out the thing and then be like, okay, I gotta go. I really gotta go. And then lean back in and then. And it was so great to like, listen to him just kind of think about, you know, just creating tension and storytelling. What we watched was great. So it was just really like, just like little finessing touches. And he's so kind of dialed into it. But the image of him literally, like, standing in a doorway for over 45 minutes, like, I'm go. I'm. I'm walking out. I'm walking out. And no one was like, pulling him back in. He was pulling himself back in. So it was a great. It was just everything that I wanted from Shane Black.
- [53:28]
A
I love that.
- [53:28]
D
And not wanting to say too much around it. Cause I was like. I just was so nervous and in awe of him. So the book is Coming out. You could pre order it now. And by the way, if you don't know anything about book sales, it's very important to pre order. So as you're hearing this, you know, just get it, get it now. It's a great summer read, but it's a great anytime read. I think the mystery plays great and then to your point, like it. I think you have a very clear voice. It doesn't feel like it's copying anything. It just feels like you got this character. I love this dad and I love the daughter. And the fun thing about the daughter is she's not just a straight man to the dad.
- [54:08]
A
Do you have this, Justin? Do you feel like this is set up for as a series? Like, do you see this as like a series of books for these two characters? Or do you feel like this is a one and done?
- [54:18]
B
You know, I've thought about it. I'm not quite sure. I think like, if I thought that if I think that there's sort of more character development to do, like to see. Because really this is about just like the book gets to a place where, you know, I think it leaves it at the end a little open ended in terms of their relationship. And so I think it could. I think it kind of depends on like, oh, if I have that story that I really want to tell with these two people. I mean, I'm sure it's the same as you guys. It's like you're working on something and sometimes you're like, oh, I feel like there's more meat on this bone. Or you're like, you know what? This perfect complete story that I wanted to tell, I told it and I'm done with it. And it's, it's. You kind of have to feel it out. Yeah.
- [54:57]
D
Justin, you. You're going into also developing your other. Like, you've written more books than just shit. My dad says you wrote this book called I suck at Girls, which I also read and I talk about this chapter all the time where you worked at Hooters. You worked at a Hooters in San Diego?
- [55:18]
B
I did.
- [55:19]
D
And that just seems like such a funny, dumb place to work. But you were kind of working at the height of Hooter. Or is it height or it's.
- [55:29]
B
Yeah, it was the height of Hooters. It was one of the grossest places. I was a cook there and I was 19. I can briefly tell you this one story about why you should never go eat it at Hooters. It's just in a disgusting place and I remember, like, to the extent that one time I was, like, in our freezer. Broke in the middle of the night. So there was, like. By the time we came in, there was, like, seven hours where the food had just sort of, like, defrosted the food, the fridge, and the freezer. So. So I'm, like, taking out these wings, and they're like. They smell terrible, like, and they look bad, and I'm just gonna. I was, like, about to throw them in the trash, and my manager was like, whoa, what are you doing, bud? I was like, these are bad. And he's like, nah, let me show you a trick. And he, like, gets this big, like, paint bucket, and he dumps the wings in, and then he pours. He fills it with water, so the wings are now, like, floating in this water. And then he takes a cap full of bleach, and he pours it into. He pours it into the thing, and then he gets a spoon, and he stirs it around. Like, he's, like, making a witch's brew. And he's like, the bleach kills the germs. Fryer's gonna kill everything else. And it's like that. It was so nasty. Yeah, it was vile. It was vile. And, like, the funniest part about it was this Hooters. It was. It was there for the grand opening of it, and so it hadn't been open yet, so a bunch of people. It was in San Diego. A bunch of people applied, and many of them were, like, not English speakers who weren't from the country to be cooks, and they didn't know what Hooters was. And so then we go to our first day orientation after we've all been hired, and me and, like, all these other cooks walk in, and they were like, what the fuck kind of restaurant is this? All the waitresses and stuff there, too. Yeah.
- [57:14]
A
So funny.
- [57:15]
B
Disgusting place.
- [57:16]
D
I had a very uncomfortable experience, which was, you know, sometimes you're shooting different things in different places, and inevitably, you get out late from shooting, and you're like, I just want to eat something. And places are closed, and I forget where I was. And I looked on Yelp, and it was like, the only place open was this. This one spot. And I.
- [57:35]
F
It was like.
- [57:35]
D
It looked like just like a regular bar, like an Irish bar. And it was a Tilted Kilt.
- [57:40]
B
Sure, I'll go there.
- [57:41]
D
And Tilted Kilt is like, just another.
- [57:43]
A
Another one of them.
- [57:44]
D
And I went in there and alone, like, late night on a Tuesday. And I. And I. I needed to be like, Oh, I don't. I didn't know that. I'm like, I did. And it's uncomfortable because it's like, it's nothing like eating alone at, at a, a sex forward restaurant. I don't know. It's like, it's a very odd. It's an odd choice. It's an odd choice to be.
- [58:08]
A
I think those might. That category might be called Breastrants.
- [58:11]
B
Oh, I think, I think you're right.
- [58:15]
A
And I'm being sincere.
- [58:17]
D
Yeah, you are right.
- [58:18]
A
I don't think. I'm not trying to coin that because there's the other one that's called Twin Peaks, I believe.
- [58:25]
D
Oh my gosh. It's so funny that there's so many of them. It's such an odd, odd thing.
- [58:31]
A
And that the attraction of the chesty wait staff works in direct opposition to the bleach filled food. People are like, it is worth it. It is worth it to get that. To eat a little bleach.
- [58:51]
D
Oh, just a little. And by the way, the fire will kill it all. Justin, get lost. Get it now. What? Just real quick, before you go, what are like some things that you, you. You turned me on to the animated predator show. Are there anything else, Anything else you've been watching that you've liked or you've been into shows, movies, anything?
- [59:11]
B
Yes, I just watched the Dark wizard documentary on hbo. Max, have you guys watched that?
- [59:17]
D
Nope.
- [59:17]
B
Oh, it's about this, this like rock climbing base jumper from the. Did you watch it, Jason?
- [59:25]
A
No, but I heard a NPR story about it.
- [59:27]
B
It's really interesting. It's like, it starts out as this, like. Oh, it's a documentary about an extreme athlete. And then it kind of just really gets into like the demons that these guys battle and why they get into it. And it's only four episodes and like by the end of it, emotionally just like gut punched me in a great way. Yeah. So I was.
- [59:48]
A
Did you want. It's. It's in that same, I feel like, category as free solo, but. But more so than free solo even. Did you watch the one called the Alpinist?
- [59:58]
B
I did, yeah.
- [60:00]
A
It felt like it reminded me of that when they were talking about it on the radio.
- [60:04]
B
Yeah, it totally. It is. They're similar kinds of documentaries just in
- [60:08]
A
those types of personalities, you know, I mean, what they're. What they're talking about not in terms of the, the documentaries themselves, but these, these people that they're trying to figure out who are very difficult to figure
- [60:19]
B
out people and they don't want you to Figure them out.
- [60:21]
A
Right.
- [60:21]
B
What's so kind of interesting about it, Like.
- [60:24]
A
Well, that was the thing about the alpinist is that he stops showing up for his interview. He stops in the middle of it. He stops participating in the documentary. It's really interesting.
- [60:34]
B
They like, couldn't find him anywhere.
- [60:35]
A
Yeah.
- [60:36]
D
By the way, I just watched this weekend the Lorne Michaels documentary, Lorne.
- [60:41]
A
How was that?
- [60:42]
D
It's phenomenal. And I think the thing that is so interesting about it, to your point about not wanting to be in it, he obviously agreed to be in a documentary about him. He is not comfortable with it. You see him not being comfortable with it. He won't wear a microphone at certain points. So they just have like shots of him talking. You can't hear what he's saying. Cause they're kind of kept away. There are these like, beautiful little set moments where like, he's at dinner with Steve Martin and they're just chatting about something, but he's very aware of the camera. And I think that they get embedded with him enough that all of a sudden. And I've read a lot in the last year or so, you know, I read. I read the original SNL book, I read the new SNL book. And I've seen documentaries on Lorne Michaels. This is, I think, the best one. And what I realized is like, oh, Morgan Neville's like a real deal guy. Like, he, like. I think that documentaries have been like, diluted to a certain degree where it's just like.
- [61:41]
A
Because they're all like, the. The person being profiled is an executive producer and is participating and. Yeah, everything feels very safe and very like, PR coached, you know?
- [61:53]
D
Yeah. And he just really, it's. He did an amazing job, though. The funniest part of this was like, I was doing a book signing of my book at the. At the. lax. I was like, set up in one of the bookstores over there. And he approached me. He's like, hey, I'm a documentary filmmaker. I made this thing. And I was like, oh my gosh, I'm a fan. And he was like, yeah, I'm doing a thing on Lorne Michaels. Would you ever want to talk about. I was like, no, never. I would never want to. I was like. I just. I was like, I have a. I have no insight. And I would be. I, you know, I said I would feel like the wrath of it. Little did I realize that he was making this definitive documentary, which I would have nothing to add to it. But.
- [62:26]
A
But funny, though.
- [62:27]
D
I thought it was like. But The. It's just really well done. I'm. I was really.
- [62:32]
B
I'll definitely watch.
- [62:33]
D
Yeah, it's cool to capture someone who doesn't want to be captured. Like, there are moments where he.
- [62:40]
F
You could.
- [62:40]
D
They put it in the duck where he's walking away from, like, he's walking away from the camera. You see him, like, glance at it and it's like. And you. Turns out of the shot. Yeah, it's really, really, really well done,
- [62:52]
A
Justin, just because we're promoting your book here, amongst other things. But are there any authors or books that you want to shut out that are. That inform that kind of detective crime, that world? I know Paul mentioned Carl Hiason earlier. I don't know if that's big for you, any of that stuff that you want to shout out.
- [63:13]
B
Yeah, I mean, I love Carl Hiason and Elmore Leonard. I mean, I also read a bunch of Elmore Leonard before and during this and tried to, like, read enough that I was inspired, but not so much that I start, like, unknowingly aping what. What he's done, which is incredible. And I could never even ape that if I tried. Anyway, definitely those. I actually just read a book that I think you guys would really like. It's called Angel Down. It's by this guy, Daniel Kraus. I think he writes movies, too. I think he writes them with Guillermo del Toro. I think he's written some stuff. But it's basically this.
- [63:49]
F
This.
- [63:50]
B
This book about World War I. These. There's these guys in this little group. Are these soldiers in a little group hear some kind of, like, screaming out in the battlefield. And they're being told by the superior, you have to go and just put this person out of their misery. Just go up and shoot them. Because the screaming is, like, affecting the morale of the people in the face. And so they go. This group of five go. And they find this sort of, like, supernatural being making that screaming. And then it's just about what it does to the five of them when they, like, encounter this being. It's super cool. It. I think it ended up on, like, a bunch of best stuff lists.
- [64:26]
D
Yes, it's. Right now. It won the 2026 Pulitzer Prize for fiction.
- [64:31]
A
Oh, wow. Oh, cool.
- [64:33]
D
It's a. It. And they say it's a. A single unbroken sentence, like the whole novel. Is that. Is that. Yeah.
- [64:39]
E
Wow.
- [64:39]
D
That's.
- [64:41]
A
And wait, it's called say with. What's the title again?
- [64:43]
B
Angel Down.
- [64:44]
A
And is it part of the Gerard Butler White House? Down. Angel Has Fallen Is it part of that series? Is it part of the third?
- [64:54]
D
Oh, yeah, man. I'm definitely gonna read it. Justin Halpern, thank you so much for being here. Watch Abbott Elementary Get. Get lost. And. And who's reading your book, by the way, on audiobook? You got anybody good to read?
- [65:09]
B
Oh, yeah, I have no idea.
- [65:12]
A
Oh, wow.
- [65:13]
B
We do not know. And that's always.
- [65:16]
A
How is the position still open?
- [65:19]
B
I don't think so much.
- [65:21]
D
We can do it. We can do another.
- [65:25]
A
I'd love to do an audition, a vocal audition right now, Paul.
- [65:29]
B
I mean, you. Obviously they would want you to read your book. I made it clear that I should not read my own book is terrible, and I don't want to hear it for that many that long. So I was just like, go, go get whoever you're gonna go get.
- [65:41]
D
I remember when I was recording my book, the person who's recording me, they were amazing team. And they're like, oh, yeah, we just had. We just did Stephen Colbert and it's like, oh, did he just write a book? Like, no, no, he was reading the Pope's book. So it was like, Stephen Colbert, like, that's the Pope's voice. And that was the old Pope. That wasn't even the new. That wasn't even the Chicago one. Yeah, yeah, the old Pope said.
- [66:03]
A
I thought you meant the American Pope. No, it was American capital.
- [66:07]
D
It's like a funny thing. Yeah, the Pope was like, nah. Stephen Colbert. No, he'll. He'll do it. He'll knock it out for me. Heavy. Big shoes to fill. Anyway, thank you so much, Justin.
- [66:17]
A
Okay, well, thank you again to Justin. That was a great chat. We'll have a link to buy his book in the show notes and you can find a list of our recommendations in the show notes as well. If there's ever anything that Paul and I talk about or that we talk about with a guest, a show, a book, a comic, a podcast, a. A movie, anything at all, it will be listed in the show notes. Now it's finally time to announce our next movie and we'll be kicking off the. How did this get made? Extreme summer with a 2000 mountain climbing action flick, Vertical Limit, starring Chris O', Donnell, Bill Paxton, Robin Tunney. Boy, I had such a crush on Robin Tunney. Wow, wow, wow.
- [67:00]
D
Niagara. Niagara.
- [67:01]
A
Incredible movie. And I mean, one of the greats. Scott Glenn. Here's IMDb's breakdown of the plot. A climber must rescue his sister on the peak of K2, the second highest mountain in the world. This is great. You know, we did Drop Zone. We're. We're really leaning into extreme sports this summer, and that's gonna be something you're just gonna have to deal with. Rotten Tomatoes rates vertical limit at 49%. Now, here's the thing. I want to just say this out loud. Vertical Limit, the movie we're covering next week with Chris o' Donnell and Robin Tunney and. And everybody else I mentioned, is at 49% on rotten tomatoes. And I want to be clear. The movie is dog. It's bad. It's very bad. The house, the movie that I am in with Will Ferrell and Amy Poehler, last time I checked, was at 16% on rotten tomatoes. In what world. In what world is vertical limit at 49%? What's happening? This is an absolute travesty. Okay, about Vertical Limit. Critic Wesley Morris, who I like from the San Francisco Chronicle, wrote the mountain rescue movie. Vertical Limit doesn't just operate at the height of ludicrousness. It also puts marshmallow Chris o' Donnell in the business of saving lives. I like that. I like calling him a marshmallow because that's.
- [68:31]
D
That.
- [68:31]
A
That's about right. Okay, let's listen to the trailer. Scott. I don't want to listen to the trailer. You don't have to listen. You can have them listen to it. Make them suffer through that. 26,000ft Die on a rescue mission.
- [68:49]
B
You do exactly as I say.
- [68:51]
A
40 degrees below zero. Don't you think it's suicide? 22 hours to live. We just leave them up there.
- [68:57]
B
What do you call that?
- [69:02]
A
Discover the price of survival. Vertical Limit. You can stream Vertical limit on Netflix or rent it in all the usual places you rent movies, but most importantly, go to your library app. Guys, don't spend money on these movies. Now, you waited, and you're gonna be rewarded. This is a ba ba ba ba ba ba ba. New segment alert. Here we are. This is the new segment that I'm introducing here at the end of the show. And if you like it and you want more of this, it's always going to be at the very end. This segment is called 5 Songs to Add to your summer playlist. Here we go. And I'm gonna be up front. Some of these names I'm gonna get wrong, but I'm just gonna power through. My apologies to anybody whose name I'm mispronouncing, but I'm out here trying to promote new music that everybody can listen to, okay? And these are songs that are both for getting up, dancing around, enjoying the sun, but Also for chill nighttime summer drives. Okay, so here we go. Ralla Buccho by Antonio Carlos and Jakafi. This is part of the Jazz is Dead series that Adrian Young and Ali Shahid Muhammad do. All of the releases are incredible, but this one in particular is beautiful Brazilian music. That is dynamite. Okay, World of Trouble, the song by the Montvales. The song Love of the song by Joby Riccio. This one is a band called Coconut and the song is Remin on the Movers Tao Special Charles Brown and Sleepy Creek with the song I just want to talk to you Dulce Neves. The song is called Chichuba Tachiba. Ned Doheny get it up for Love Fabio Denaccimento and the Vitor Santos y Orchestra. Spring theme and last but not least, Telabe Gabria and Dalek Band. And this song I can really, I'm really gonna butcher it is Alibec Agnami. Those are five songs and don't get at me. I know it's more than five songs, but it's five songs to add to your spring or summer mix, depending on when this airs. So that's a new segment. That's it for Last Looks. If you listen on Apple podcasts or Spotify, please rate and review us. Also make sure you are following us and have automatic downloads turned on. It really helps the show. It helps the show when you write and review the show. It helps the show when you pass around the clips that we've been putting up on Instagram and TikTok and YouTube. It helps us help. It helps us expand the audience for the show, which we're always looking for. It always makes me happy when people help people find the show. It helps the show. And guess what? We appreciate it. At least Paul and June do. I could give a shit. Visit us on all social media at hdtgm. And of course, if you want to get at us, if you want to record any songs, just go to birdfuck.com leave it for the Doughboys. They'll figure out how to get it to us. And we're wrapping it up. Thanks to Scott, Sonny and Molly Reynolds, our producers, our engineer Casey Holford, our social media manager, Zoe Applebaum. And listen, we will of course always be thankful for and indebted to the one and only Avril Halle. It's absolutely almost impossible to do this without her. We miss her every day. We'll see you next week for Vertical Limit. As always, disconnect the discord. And wherever you are, eat shit.