BEST OF: Jimmy Kimmel on His Career in Comedy!

Summary

Podcast Summary: The Al Franken Podcast

Episode: BEST OF: Jimmy Kimmel on His Career in Comedy!
Release Date: December 28, 2025
Guest: Jimmy Kimmel
Host: Al Franken

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Episode Overview

This special “Best Of” episode features a 2020 conversation between Al Franken and late night host Jimmy Kimmel, focusing on Kimmel's journey in comedy, his background in radio, the evolution of "Jimmy Kimmel Live," and the intersection between comedy and politics—especially how Kimmel’s personal experiences brought him into the public healthcare debate. The discussion ranges from the challenges of making late night television, reflections on the changing political climate, behind-the-scenes tales of booking guests, advice for aspiring comedy writers, and Kimmel's thoughts on hosting the Oscars. The episode is peppered with candid and funny moments, giving listeners a window into the realities of comedic success, public responsibility, and the enduring value of humor.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Jimmy Kimmel’s Radio Roots and Early Comedy Influences

[05:19–08:17]

• Kimmel started in radio while still in college and spent over a decade as a morning show host, learning to love the long-format medium.
• He describes the “luxury” disc jockeys feel hearing their own voice on the microphone, and how the ability to “talk over the music intro” was coveted for more airtime.
• Radio, he notes, taught him the skills of keeping an audience engaged in real-time and the importance of stretching content.

"Most disc jockeys… they wind up speaking like something other than a human being because they’re listening too closely to their own voice."
— Jimmy Kimmel [05:41]

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2. The Evolution and Challenges of "Jimmy Kimmel Live"

[09:39–13:30, 26:02–34:57]

• The show's early years were described as “a mess”—a lack of guest interest, inexperience among staff, and Kimmel's naive belief he could radically reinvent the late-night format.
• Frequent guest shortages led him to rely on comedians like Sarah Silverman and Adam Carolla.
• Kimmel discusses TV audience expectations and learning the “hard lesson” that while you can innovate on late night, you can’t abandon the core format entirely.

“That was my first big mistake: I was so focused on making the show different, I didn’t focus on making it good.”
— Jimmy Kimmel [32:07]

• Over time, the show developed its character through recurring comedy bits and loyal writing staff, slowly building stability and confidence.

“Those… go to comedy bits… are like the buoys you can cling on to. If you don’t have those things, you’re just paddling for your life.”
— Jimmy Kimmel [33:51]

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3. Guest Selection, the Art of Interviewing, and Celebrity Interactions

[08:50–10:58; 51:31–54:16]

• Kimmel outlines the difference between good and bad guests: Good guests expand on questions; bad ones are “great at depositions.”
• He’s “super interested in people and the specifics of their jobs,” often engaging with audience members about their lives off-camera, which Franken points out makes him an empathetic interviewer.
• The hazards of booking: Early on, he sometimes didn’t even have a guest for the night’s taping.
• Tales from co-hosting experiments (Monica Lewinsky, Mike Tyson) and instances where the guest would refuse to discuss expected topics.

“I am super interested in people and their jobs and the specifics of their jobs.”
— Jimmy Kimmel [51:39]

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4. Comedy and Politics: Personal and Societal Impact

[13:34–23:32; 42:01–44:50; 63:38–64:20]

• Early in his late-night career, Kimmel intentionally avoided overtly political or serious content, preferring to lampoon the “silly stuff.”
• The birth of his son, Billy, with a congenital heart condition, transformed his civic perspective. His emotional monologue about healthcare solidified his participation in the public policy debate, especially around the Affordable Care Act.

"It just hit me like, wow, this is such a burden on these people... Could you imagine if this hospital wasn’t here to pay their medical bills? ...I do try to, when something bad happens to me... at least I have a funny story; at least I have something I can talk about on the air."
— Jimmy Kimmel [15:31]

• Franken credits Kimmel’s “raw humanity” with influencing the national debate about healthcare, especially regarding pre-existing conditions.
• Both express frustration with the current divisiveness, and share skepticism for abolishing private insurance in universal healthcare.

“This idea… 150 million Americans have private insurance, and a lot of them really like their private insurance.”
— Al Franken [22:00]

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5. Behind the Curtain: Writing for Late Night and the State of Comedy

[34:57–41:11]

• Kimmel and Franken swap philosophies on how to choose writers—original voice vs. formula fulfillment.
• They bemoan the new “track” of professional comedy writing, compared to when only innately funny people gravitated to the work.
• Kimmel values perspective: “Would I put this on the air?” is his sieve for writers’ submissions.
• Both dislike that comedy writing is now seen as just a “job,” with some people in it who simply “figured out how to be funny enough to fake it.”

“Some of the people that work on my show are just the funniest person in almost every room they’re in… And you can’t teach that.”
— Jimmy Kimmel [38:31]

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6. Career Commitment, Persistence, and the Necessity of Comedy

[41:12–45:00]

• Discussing the necessity of truly “having to be a comedian” (quoting Dana Carvey).
• Kimmel recounts being fired repeatedly from radio jobs across the country, supporting a young family, and never seriously considering a Plan B.

“There is no Plan B. There is just this plan.”
— Jimmy Kimmel [43:03]

• He acknowledges the “preposterous” nature of comedians’ pay compared to other professions, showing gratitude for the work but awareness of its privileged status.

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7. Late Night Landscape, Late Show History, and the Oscars

[25:54–34:57; 57:12–60:20]

• Kimmel reflects on the evolution from the era of a single late-night king (Carson) to a more competitive and crowded market.
• The stress of the early years gives way to confidence and gratitude for being allowed to grow the show.
• On hosting the Oscars: He saw it as a major milestone, focusing on jokes but ensuring unscripted moments could still happen (e.g., tour bus and movie theater surprises, Jet Ski prize for the shortest speech).
• Kimmel finds “perverse” enjoyment in the risk of bombing.

“If ever you’re going to do a lot of work, that’s the time... you don’t want to end up on a ‘worst Oscar host’ list.”
— Jimmy Kimmel [59:33]

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8. Influences and Reflections on Fame

[61:12–63:56]

• Cites Letterman and Howard Stern as biggest influences, with nods to Steve Martin, Bill Murray, Richard Pryor, and even Franken (“people used to call me Al Franken all the time” [61:36]).
• Kimmel recalls personal highlights, like learning Richard Pryor was a fan of one of his shows.
• Observes that fame doesn’t always transfer into political awareness: even top figures like Mike Bloomberg sometimes don’t recognize him.

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On the grind of late night:
  "I don’t want to do anything that I have to do. And some nights, it’s harder to do than others. And of course, the president makes it even more of a burden..."
  — Jimmy Kimmel [10:36]

• On comedy as a necessity, not a choice:
  “No one should be a comedian unless they have to be a comedian.” — Dana Carvey, quoted by Al Franken [42:01]
  “I think so too.” — Jimmy Kimmel

• On the risk of innovation:
  “I was so focused on making the show different, I didn’t focus on making it good.”
  — Jimmy Kimmel [32:07]

• On the luxury and luck of being paid to be funny:
  “I sometimes still look at my house and go, geez, I can’t believe they gave me this for telling jokes. It’s crazy.”
  — Jimmy Kimmel [44:35]

• On the realities of comedy writing:
  “There are a lot of writers that are just smart people who decided they want to be a comedy writer, and… they figured out how to be funny enough that they can kind of fake it.”
  — Jimmy Kimmel [37:31]

• A moment of humility:
  “The truth is, we always did pretty well in the ratings, and even though the show was genuinely terrible… We did okay in the ratings, so.”
  — Jimmy Kimmel [33:10]

• On real curiosity in interviews:
  “I’m super interested in people… their jobs… and I always want to know what they do and where they’re from…”
  — Jimmy Kimmel [51:39]

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Timestamps for Important Segments

• 05:19 — Kimmel on his radio roots and early radio lessons
• 09:39 — The woes of bad guests and importance of guest selection
• 13:34 — Avoiding politics, then the Billy healthcare story
• 15:31 — Kimmel describes his perspective in the hospital, calling for empathy in health care
• 26:02 — The history and landscape of late night TV and starting "Jimmy Kimmel Live"
• 32:07 — Lessons learned in late night: the risk of being “different”
• 34:57 — The process and philosophy of hiring comedy writers
• 41:12 — On necessity and persistence in becoming a comedian
• 43:03 — Kimmel on not having a Plan B
• 57:12 — Hosting the Oscars, approach and unique segments
• 61:12 — Biggest comedic influences and a surprising story about Richard Pryor

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Overall Tone & Final Thoughts

The conversation balances insider humor, industry wisdom, political seriousness, and humility. Both Kimmel and Franken are candid and unguarded, giving listeners insight into what it really takes to succeed in comedy—and the grittier, not-so-glamorous roads that lead from local radio to the Oscars stage. There’s an undercurrent of social responsibility, especially regarding the role comedy can play in healthcare debates and public discourse. At its heart, the episode is a testament to the resilience, luck, and curiosity required to make a lasting impact in American satire and television, while never losing sight of the privilege—and responsibility—of making people laugh.

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For listeners seeking laughter, industry secrets, and earnest reflections on the intersection of public life and comedy, this "Best Of" episode delivers it all.

Transcript

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[Podcast Host 1]

Hey everybody, we got a great one today, you know, for a change, because it's the best of Jimmy Kimmel from 20 20. We talk about Jimmy's years in radio and the rough start to Jimmy Kimmel Live got off to way back in 2003. Now again, this one is from 2020, five years before Jimmy's show was suspended this past September. You'll remember that Jimmy made some remarks in his monologue about the assassination of Charlie Kirk. He had condemned the shooting, of course, but criticized MAGA's reaction to it. Well, Brennan Carr, Trump's chair of the FCC, threatened ABC and its affiliate stations. We can do this the easy way or the hard way, he said. The hard way, he explained, would be the revocation of broadcast licenses from abc, its parent company Disney, and their affiliate owned station. So Disney ABC suspended Jimmy Kimmel Live. The suspension caused a huge backlash and six days later Disney ABC reinstated Jimmy. I was heartened of course, by the backlash and that Disney reversed itself. But my God this whole situation showed how dangerous Trump and his lackeys like Carr are to our democracy. Not long before the Kimmel suspension, cbs, which is owned by Paramount and needed the FTC and the FCC to approve its merger with Skydance, announced that it was dropping Stephen Colbert at the end of the season, which Trump celebrated and then warned that Kimmel was next. If an administration can use its regulatory power to silence late night satire and commentary, we will be turning into Hungary. Now, this wasn't the first time Kimmel and Trump clashed. There was a precursor to this. They had some bad blood. You may recall that in 2017, Jimmy's son Billy was born with an extremely serious heart defect which required life saving surgery. And at that time, Trump was in his first term and was trying to get rid of the ACA with its protections for people with pre existing conditions and its ban on lifetime caps. And on his show, Jimmy took issue with that and that was the source of some bad blood. But mainly Jimmy and I talk about comedy. So we'll be right back with my conversation with Jimmy Kimmel. It's a great one for a change, you know, because it's a best of as Peter and I take a little.

[Podcast Host 2]

Break for the holidays.

[Podcast Host 1]

Hi, everybody. We got a great one today, you know, for a change.

[SpinQuest Disclaimer Voice]

But we'll see, we'll see.

[Podcast Host 2]

No, I swear it's going to be a great one.

[SpinQuest Disclaimer Voice]

Oh, is someone else coming in?

[Podcast Host 2]

Yeah, Jimmy Kimmel's with me. I'm going to be doing your show tomorrow night. Thank you for one, doing this and then having me on Jimmy Kimmel Live.

[SpinQuest Disclaimer Voice]

Thanks for doing it. I feel like I maybe pushed my way onto your podcast. I don't get enough time on the show to talk. And you're interested to talk to you. Yeah, Yeah.

[Podcast Host 2]

I wanted to talk to you about the show, doing the show, it was funny when, when we just started this a minute ago, you said, I don't feel comfortable doing this without headphones.

[SpinQuest Disclaimer Voice]

I like headphones. Cans, as we call them, and radio cans.

[Podcast Host 1]

Okay, so you did radio.

[Podcast Host 2]

And of course you want to hear how you sound on the mic.

[SpinQuest Disclaimer Voice]

It's half the fun is luxuriating in your beautiful voice, listening to yourself. Most. That's why most disc jockeys, they, they wind up speaking like something other than a human being because they're listening too closely to their own voice.

[Podcast Host 2]

Well, it's, yeah, it's great to be able to know how to use mic, isn't it?

[SpinQuest Disclaimer Voice]

It really is.

[Podcast Host 2]

And we're talking here with, with Jimmy Kimmel.

[SpinQuest Disclaimer Voice]

Yeah, you Sound like you're playing album track on KLOS.

[Podcast Host 2]

Yeah.

[SpinQuest Disclaimer Voice]

11 o' clock at night.

[Podcast Host 2]

But how long did you do radio?

[SpinQuest Disclaimer Voice]

I. I did it professionally for 12 years. I did it for free for a few years leading up to that.

[Podcast Host 2]

What was it?

[SpinQuest Disclaimer Voice]

I did it in college.

[Podcast Host 2]

Okay.

[SpinQuest Disclaimer Voice]

I just call in to a disc jockey when I was in high school. There's a guy on the air in the afternoons and I. And do characters on his show.

[Podcast Host 2]

So you love radio?

[SpinQuest Disclaimer Voice]

I love it, yeah.

[Podcast Host 2]

Love radio. And how long. When you did your 12 years, what was the format of your show? Were you like a three hour show or you. What did you do?

[SpinQuest Disclaimer Voice]

Always a morning show, four and a half or five hours starting at 5:30am.

[Podcast Host 2]

So you got used to the long format?

[SpinQuest Disclaimer Voice]

Yeah.

[Podcast Host 2]

But you had commercials?

[SpinQuest Disclaimer Voice]

Commercials, songs. Oh yeah. Wasn't talk radio, but you know, we play four or five songs an hour. So we talked a little bit. Never enough. We always wanted to talk more.

[Podcast Host 2]

Okay. What was your taste in music? What did you play?

[SpinQuest Disclaimer Voice]

It wasn't about that. I got. No, I had, you know, in my era of radio, the disc jockeys were not allowed to pick the song. Oh really?

[Podcast Host 2]

Okay.

[SpinQuest Disclaimer Voice]

The most you'd get to pick is every once in a while there'd be like a one song per hour that you could pick from, from a certain category. And we'd always pick the song that had the longest intro. So the intro is when the music plays before the singing starts. And you just want the most time that you can talk. So if there was like a 35 second intro, that's the song you'd go for.

[Podcast Host 2]

You mean you talk over the intro?

[SpinQuest Disclaimer Voice]

You talk over the intro? Yeah.

[Podcast Host 2]

Because you were just hungry to be on, to be talking.

[SpinQuest Disclaimer Voice]

Just you wanted to do a bit or something like that. You just needed time. It's. It's harder to do things, I think in a short time period than it is a lot for me anyway. It is. That's why I was saying. Oh yeah. You know, it's. Well to condense it down to like eight minutes kind of.

[Podcast Host 2]

It's the old thing. Like if you want me to talk for two hours, I can do it right now. But if you want me to come up with something brilliant that's three minutes long, you have to give me a week.

[SpinQuest Disclaimer Voice]

Yeah.

[Podcast Host 2]

You know what I mean?

[SpinQuest Disclaimer Voice]

Everything.

[Podcast Host 2]

Yeah, yeah. And so are you. Are you frustrated on your show ever that you don't get enough time?

[SpinQuest Disclaimer Voice]

Sometimes. Sometimes it's too long. It depends on who's there. There are times when I look over at the clock and I'll go.

[Podcast Host 1]

Huh?

[SpinQuest Disclaimer Voice]

Really? Four more minutes.

[Podcast Host 2]

Okay. Okay. Well, that means you have to interview a variety of different kinds of folks. Mainly celebrities.

[SpinQuest Disclaimer Voice]

Primarily celebrities, yes.

[Podcast Host 2]

What is the formula for a good guest and the formula for a bad guest?

[SpinQuest Disclaimer Voice]

If you really want to boil it down, Good guests will expand with their answers and a bad guest will give you one word answers. It's like the difference between a deposition and a conversation. Some of the worst guests would give great depositions. Yes.

[Podcast Host 2]

They would follow their lawyer's instructions.

[SpinQuest Disclaimer Voice]

Yes. Precisely. Yes.

[Podcast Host 2]

And I, I. Since you were in radio, I knew that the audio on this one was going to be good. Oh, yeah.

[SpinQuest Disclaimer Voice]

I mean, I think it's the best you've ever had. Even better than John Mayer. That's saying a lot.

[Podcast Host 2]

Okay, so you do the show called Jimmy Kimmel Live.

[SpinQuest Disclaimer Voice]

Yes.

[Podcast Host 2]

And you tape it live.

[SpinQuest Disclaimer Voice]

It was live at one time, the first two years we were alive.

[Podcast Host 2]

Oh, oh, I see.

[SpinQuest Disclaimer Voice]

And then we had some issues with the standards and practices, the sensors being able to keep up with some of the guests who would curse or whatever. And some of the affiliates.

[Podcast Host 2]

A seven second delay or something.

[SpinQuest Disclaimer Voice]

They did. But that works if you curse once. If you continue cursing in rapid fire, it. They can't catch up to it.

[Podcast Host 2]

So. And who is the guiltiest party?

[SpinQuest Disclaimer Voice]

There was an actor named Thomas Jane who was the Punisher, and he came on the show and he just started cursing and. Which was okay by me. I didn't, it didn't bother me. But it got on the air. And even though it's late at night, the affiliates are weird about that stuff.

[Podcast Host 2]

Okay, so you do it five days a week. When does it become a burden or a grind? And when is it, thank God I'm doing this.

[SpinQuest Disclaimer Voice]

I'll let you know when we get to thank God I'm doing this. I'll call you. It's just, it's more about. It's nothing to do with the show. It's just my personality. I don't want to do anything that I have to do. And some nights it's harder to do than others. And of course, the president makes it even more of a burden and more grueling sometimes.

[Podcast Host 2]

Is that because you feel the necessity to.

[SpinQuest Disclaimer Voice]

Yeah, I just feel like a news person or something for the first time, even though I know that that's not what I am.

[Podcast Host 2]

It's hard not to talk about this guy, but it's also hard to talk about this guy in a way that's different from way other people are doing.

[SpinQuest Disclaimer Voice]

Yeah, it is. Yeah.

[Podcast Host 2]

So it's a kind of a conundrum, which is. I mean, I've had so many people go, like, you know what you should do? You should do a thing on Trump.

[SpinQuest Disclaimer Voice]

I get a lot of that.

[Podcast Host 2]

Yeah.

[SpinQuest Disclaimer Voice]

And, you know, less now than I got, I'd say a year ago. But it's. You get a lot of it. And some people are just sick of hearing it about. In him, and they just don't want to hear about it. And they're just like, hey, why do you. What happened to the fun? What happened to the show? And for me, I always. My philosophy, if for lack of a better term, was to talk about the news of the day. That's always what I did when I was on the radio. Of course, you weave personal stuff in, but it was to talk about the news of the day. And this is what everyone talks about all the time, incessantly.

[Podcast Host 2]

I think there's a national anxiety and divisiveness that we haven't seen. It's just gotten worse and worse and worse. And I've been really disappointed watching the impeachment things because basically now the Republicans have in the Senate, my former colleagues have basically enough of them said, okay, well, he, he did it, but it's not enough to impeach.

[SpinQuest Disclaimer Voice]

Yeah, yeah, well, what is then? What could be enough?

[Podcast Host 2]

It is actually shaking down a foreign leader with our tax dollars and their country is at war with Russia.

[SpinQuest Disclaimer Voice]

Their lives are at risk. They have no choice but to play along with him.

[Podcast Host 2]

Right. And it was all about interfering with our election. If that's not impeachable, what standards are we setting?

[SpinQuest Disclaimer Voice]

I just, I am so curious as to.

[Podcast Host 2]

But we're having a conversation that, that, that you're hearing all the time. And I try to get away from basically the news of the day on this because you just hear it all the time. So I want to talk about you and politics. You pretty much, I think, studiously avoided taking political stances.

[SpinQuest Disclaimer Voice]

Well, I was focused on the silly stuff, you know.

[Podcast Host 2]

Right.

[SpinQuest Disclaimer Voice]

George Bush can't get through the door or, you know, you know, just the silly stuff. Nothing particularly serious.

[Ad Voice 1]

Serious.

[Podcast Host 2]

I think you do a late night show and you wanted to have as big an audience as possible. And that's not what you were. You weren't a political satirist. And then what happened with Billy, what happened with your son happened.

[SpinQuest Disclaimer Voice]

Right.

[Podcast Host 2]

And I think that had a very big effect on the debate at the time and a very helpful one. You've probably been told this maybe a lot, but what happened, you were so raw. You had, you know, yeah, it had something happened to you which was terrifying. You're staring at the possibility that your newborn wouldn't make it right, but you had the sort of human capacity to understand that, well, at least I have the resources I don't have to live with in addition to being scared to death about the outcome. But at least I know I can pay for it. And at the time, the Republicans in, in Congress and the President were working on legislation that would have made it possible for insurance companies to impose lifetime caps and to shrink Medicaid, take away Medicaid expansion. You put yourself in the shoes of someone who didn't have the resources and knew that in addition to looking at the possibility that your son wouldn't make it, in addition to that, you thought, these people won't know if they can actually pay for it.

[SpinQuest Disclaimer Voice]

You know, what really hit me more than anything is I was at Children's Hospital in Los Angeles and there are many families, many low income families there. And you see each other and you see everybody in the elevator and in the cafeteria. And what really was interesting to me was like watching these moms and dads come in from work. They were coming to the hospital from work, and there I was sitting in the hospital all day because my employer was good enough to say, you can stay home. But a lot of these people, and if they're not at work, they don't get paid. And if they don't get paid, they can't take care of their whole family. And it just hit me like, wow, this is such a burden on, on these people. And on top of that, could you imagine if this hospital wasn't here to pay their medical bills, to take care of? I mean, how do you do anything? I mean, even just from a practical standpoint, how does a family contribute to society if they're struggling to keep their child alive? That's obviously the most important thing to all of us as human beings. And then it just so happened that this was an issue which is, it still is crazy to me that even was an issue, that there would even be anyone who would be against that. I, I don't think most Americans are. I know just from talking to people, Republicans and Democrats alike, that, you know, if your neighbor's child or your neighbor is ill, you want to help that person. You want to pitch in and help. And it just seems so crazy. And I do try to. When something bad happens to me, and this usually is, it's usually something dumb like I get a flat tire and I go, all right, well at least I have a funny story. At least I have something I can talk about on the air. And that's a great position to be in because you can make something good out of something bad. And I was sitting in the hospital for a long time and I was thinking, well what can I. Yeah.

[Podcast Host 2]

And you came back and you're hilarious.

[SpinQuest Disclaimer Voice]

But I just really, my goal was to raise money for the hospital. But then all this other stuff started happening and it became bigger than that and, and I never imagined that it would be such a big thing and so many people would see it and respond to it. But I think, you know, I don't know if I believe that there's a reason for everything. I've never believed that in my life. I probably still don't. But if ever there was in my personal life, if ever there was proof of that, this situation would be it for me.

[Podcast Host 2]

It was the. Your rawness and the humanity that affected people, obviously. But it was right in the middle. It was what may of I think.

[SpinQuest Disclaimer Voice]

17, the beginning of May probably came back to work.

[Podcast Host 2]

Okay. That was a crucial time because they were talking about repealing and replacing Obamacare and what they were coming up with would have allowed states to write regulations where insurance companies would not have to respect people's pre existing conditions. Conditions which if a kid like Billy that he will. He'll have a pre existing condition. Yeah. His entire life.

[SpinQuest Disclaimer Voice]

And he's probably hit his lifetime cap already if that was a thing and probably already hit it.

[Podcast Host 2]

Oh yeah. I mean absolutely. And now the president is talking about repealing. He's instructed his Justice Department to join the suit. They have joined the suit that would repeal the Affordable Care Act. Yeah. And the president does not know anything about health care. Remember when it went down he said who knew health care was complicated.

[SpinQuest Disclaimer Voice]

He thinks he can just call his doctor and say give me a great report. And his. And his health is perfect.

[Podcast Host 2]

He's the healthiest man who's ever run for president. But with they were doing at that time, it would would have been lifetime caps would have gone. Protection for having a pre existing condition would have gone. But it wasn't like Billy should be blamed for his pre existing. You know, it wasn't like he was smoking in the womb.

[Ad Voice 1]

Right.

[SpinQuest Disclaimer Voice]

It's not like he, he didn't get driving insurance because he had 12 tickets.

[Podcast Host 2]

It's or you know, he wasn't eating a lot of saturated fat in the. Well, unless your wife.

[SpinQuest Disclaimer Voice]

No, she's pretty healthy.

[Podcast Host 2]

Yeah.

[SpinQuest Disclaimer Voice]

If I'd carried him. Yes, it was definitely, it would have been our fault.

[Podcast Host 2]

It's unfathomable to me where they're going.

[Podcast Host 1]

And where they're still going.

[Podcast Host 2]

And this is what kind of bothers me. I think, you know, Democrats in thus far have been having a real debate on how to get the universal, which we need to do. And I think that's a very good discussion. But the focus we really should be putting on is what happens if we re elect this guy and what happens with health care. Right.

[SpinQuest Disclaimer Voice]

What you want is for everybody to be covered. What's crazy to me is that they don't think about what I think is the reality. What if they are, what if they were successful in killing the Affordable Care act and then people started getting, you know, people get sick as they do and they didn't have insurance coverage. And you know, you have one co worker who has a situation like that with their child or even them themselves, and people say, yeah, now I can't get insurance. And then everybody goes, wait a minute, Trump came in and we used to have insurance and now this person. It would be a political disaster.

[Podcast Host 2]

Well, it was a political disaster. In 18, he lost 41 seats in the House. And what I worry about is in this discussion of how to get the universal that we're having on the Democratic side that we're, we're talking about things like single payer with no private insurance, which no other country has. No, every other developed country has private insurance.

[SpinQuest Disclaimer Voice]

That's an unelectable position, I think.

[Podcast Host 2]

Well, I, I kind of think so too. Yeah. And fine, let's have that discussion about single payer versus not single payer. But this idea. I mean, 150 million Americans have private insurance and a lot of them really like their private insurance. I, I wrote the piece of the Affordable Care act that put the biggest cap on the amount of profits insurance companies. It's called the medical loss ratio. And Americans get like this year, last year got $1.5 billion back from insurance companies because they didn't meet the threshold that I said you can, you have to spend 80% of your premiums on actual healthcare and not on administrative costs or marketing. There's only two countries in the world that allows pharmaceutical companies to add both advertise and deduct the cost of the advertising. So the taxpayer pays for their advertising. Which is the other New Zealand.

[SpinQuest Disclaimer Voice]

Really?

[Podcast Host 2]

And I have no idea why.

[SpinQuest Disclaimer Voice]

Probably left over from Old Zealand.

[Podcast Host 2]

That's the kind of political satire, that's.

[SpinQuest Disclaimer Voice]

What you can expect from me. That's where I really shine.

[Podcast Host 2]

Okay, we have to, we have to.

[SpinQuest Disclaimer Voice]

Break for a commercial.

[Podcast Host 2]

And here it is.

[Podcast Host 1]

If you're buying gifts for everyone else this season, maybe it's time to get yourself something you'll actually use. Like a mattress that helps you sleep better.

[Podcast Host 2]

I love to sleep.

[Podcast Host 1]

I love to get a good seven to nine hours every night. And I found out what really helps is a good bed with good sheets and a good pillow. And there's enough in the world to keep you up at night. Your bedding shouldn't be one of them. That's why I'd like to tell you about Ghostbed. Ghostbed is a family run company focused on quality, comfort and cooling. All in an effort to help people like you and me sleep better. Their mattresses are made from premium materials to help regulate temperature throughout the night so that you don't wake up overheated. And they're built to last, backed by a 20 to 25 year warranty. You also get 100 one night sleep trial to make sure that it's the right fit for you. And here is the best part. Ghostbed mattresses cost up to 50% less than comparable brands. So you're getting real quality at a fair price. I've gotten to check out their great bedding. The Ghost sheets are made of Supima cotton with Tencel fibers specially designed to keep you cool at night while also prioritizing durability and resisting allergens and bacteria growth. The Ghost pillow is a memory foam pillow that promotes cooling. Plus right now, during Ghostbed's Cyber Monday sale, you'll get 25% off site wide. For a limited time, just go to ghostbed.com Franken and use promo code Franken at checkout. That's ghostbed.com Franken promo code Franken. Upgrade your sleep with Ghostbed, the makers of the coolest beds in the world.

[Podcast Host 2]

Let me, let me talk about just the landscape of late night tv because there was a time when it was Carson.

[SpinQuest Disclaimer Voice]

You mean Johnny?

[Podcast Host 2]

Yes. Okay. It was kind of just him.

[SpinQuest Disclaimer Voice]

Yeah.

[Podcast Host 2]

I mean you had Cavett come on. Or you had. Remember Joey Bishop did a show.

[SpinQuest Disclaimer Voice]

Joey Bishop?

[Podcast Host 2]

Yeah.

[SpinQuest Disclaimer Voice]

Yeah. Regis was his announcer on that show.

[Podcast Host 2]

That's right.

[SpinQuest Disclaimer Voice]

Joan Rivers.

[Podcast Host 2]

Yeah.

[Podcast Host 1]

Did she?

[SpinQuest Disclaimer Voice]

Alan Thicke. The thick of the night.

[Podcast Host 2]

Wow.

[SpinQuest Disclaimer Voice]

Rick D's had a show for a little while.

[Podcast Host 2]

These are all just proof that it was Carson. Yeah, right. It puts less pressure on you, doesn't the landscape of late night tv?

[SpinQuest Disclaimer Voice]

You mean having more guys on the air? Yes. Sure. Yeah. Because you don't have to. It used to be like a. It was like boxing. The only one could survive Johnny or whoever. Of course it was Johnny and Dave. But Dave was under Johnny's umbrella.

[Podcast Host 1]

Right.

[SpinQuest Disclaimer Voice]

Letterman came like when I was a kid, people think, because I had a license plate that said late night on it. And people think, oh, you, you always wanted to be a talk show host, but that is not true at all. I just love David Letterman. Sure, I wanted to put him on the back of my car. And I never imagined that there would be other shows. Really. That concept for me became a real thing when Letterman went against Leto. So that was, you know, something that I never even thought about. And even then it just seemed like, all right, well, okay, now and Leno.

[Podcast Host 1]

Yeah.

[Podcast Host 2]

But I mean, this I would think makes the job a little. Just less pressure.

[SpinQuest Disclaimer Voice]

Yeah, there's. There's not. I don't experience a ton of pressure at the beginning. I experienced a tremendous amount of pressure. Huge amounts of pressure.

[Podcast Host 2]

What, when you went first went on how long ago?

[SpinQuest Disclaimer Voice]

I went on 17 years ago.

[Ad Voice 1]

Wow.

[SpinQuest Disclaimer Voice]

Yeah, 2003.

[Podcast Host 2]

Okay, so what was the terrain then?

[SpinQuest Disclaimer Voice]

It was Letterman and Leno, Conan and Craig Kilborn.

[Podcast Host 2]

Oh, that's right. Yeah.

[SpinQuest Disclaimer Voice]

And then Nightline was on at 11:30 on ABC and they put me on after Nightline for an hour. So I was on in the middle of. Of those shows.

[Podcast Host 2]

And how long did. Did Nightline last in that spot?

[SpinQuest Disclaimer Voice]

I think I was on seven years before they flipped then. Now Nightline is on after our show. So they flipped us.

[Podcast Host 2]

It's so weird because Nightline pre cable, 24 hour cable.

[SpinQuest Disclaimer Voice]

Yeah.

[Podcast Host 2]

Was kind of an indispensable show to.

[SpinQuest Disclaimer Voice]

Watch even when I started, you know, there. When in wartime, we got preempted a lot with Nightline. It was. But I think, yeah. Having being able to turn on a cable channel at any time.

[Podcast Host 2]

Yeah. By the time Nightline would come on after 24 hour cable, it had been rehashed and rehashed and rehashed. But before all of that, Nightline was the first time you got to really hear a good summary of what had happened.

[SpinQuest Disclaimer Voice]

Right. And Ted Koppel being there too.

[Podcast Host 2]

Yeah.

[SpinQuest Disclaimer Voice]

Added a lot.

[Podcast Host 2]

Yeah, he was. He was the guy.

[SpinQuest Disclaimer Voice]

Yeah.

[Podcast Host 2]

Yeah. So now you just go in and try to be as funny as you can.

[SpinQuest Disclaimer Voice]

Yeah. I had no idea what I was doing. I had no one on. On my staff, with the exception of one or two people, had ever done anything in late night before. It was a mess. None of the celebrities knew who I was. Those who did did not want to be around me. There were many nights, many, many nights that it was 5pm and we had no guest for the show that night.

[Podcast Host 2]

Jesus.

[SpinQuest Disclaimer Voice]

We just, I just, you know, I was dating Sarah Silverman at the time.

[Podcast Host 2]

And Sarah would come on if she had no word.

[SpinQuest Disclaimer Voice]

You got you to come on and she would. Or Adam Caroller just. I just have to rely on my friends.

[Podcast Host 2]

Is Sarah amazing? Yes, she really is. She's brave, isn't she? Like the.

[SpinQuest Disclaimer Voice]

She is more than anything. She is the most supportive and genuine. Like she. Most comedians aren't so happy for each other. She is like genuinely, no kidding around, happy for the success of others.

[Podcast Host 2]

Yeah. She's a wonderful, wonderful friend and, and courageous and. And really funny.

[SpinQuest Disclaimer Voice]

Yes.

[Podcast Host 2]

Makes a difference when you're a comedian.

[SpinQuest Disclaimer Voice]

Yes, it's, it's, it's the ideal scenario.

[Podcast Host 2]

So. Yeah. So she would just come on.

[SpinQuest Disclaimer Voice]

Yes, she'd come on, be like, all right, well, here we go.

[Podcast Host 2]

Okay, here I go. And, and, you know, the comedians like to really get their shit together for a, an appearance.

[SpinQuest Disclaimer Voice]

Yeah, yeah. Not on my show. Nobody worried about it. It was very, very loose. First, like year I didn't. I had nothing prepared for the monologue. I would just go out there. My first show was after the Super Bowl. I had no jokes. I had 12 writers and no jokes.

[Podcast Host 2]

Now how did that happen? How did you staff up with such a thin staff?

[SpinQuest Disclaimer Voice]

Well, we didn't think of it as thin at the time. You know, it seemed like a lot of writers.

[Podcast Host 2]

Well, I'm in thin in terms of the talent or the experience.

[SpinQuest Disclaimer Voice]

It was by design. It was like, I don't know, I just figured, well, maybe I'll just do this like Regis does. I don't. It didn't occur to me to have a real monologue. I would go out there, I'd sit down. I wanted to make the show different. And that was my first big mistake is I was so focused on making the show different, I didn't focus on making it good. And we really wanted to do things differently from the ways other people were doing them. And what you learn, at least what I learned, is that there's an expectation. And it's a weird thing, but when you do a late night show, America expects you to walk out on stage and stand there and tell some jokes and then go sit down and maybe tell some more jokes and then welcome some guests. And you can mess with it to a certain extent, but if you mess with it too much, they don't see it as a late night talk show. It's something else. And when it's something else, then you've. You've lost. And so that's the lesson I had to learn over a long and painful period of time.

[Podcast Host 2]

Well, it's amazing, actually, that you got to do that.

[SpinQuest Disclaimer Voice]

It is.

[Podcast Host 2]

It really is that ABC gave you that was it. They gave you that freedom or that.

[SpinQuest Disclaimer Voice]

They just, you know, I think so many of the executives at ABC got fired those. The first five years. It was like a revolving door. And I don't think I was ever at the top of anyone's list of things to fix. You know, those executives are judged by prime time. Sure. And the effort that it would take to, like, figure something else out when probably was too much for them. And the truth is, we always did pretty well in the ratings. And even though the show was genuinely terrible, I mean, I look like that is my vision of hell is looking back at being forced to watch the first year of shows one after the other. We did okay in the ratings, so.

[Podcast Host 2]

Well, you must have been doing something right.

[SpinQuest Disclaimer Voice]

I don't know what we're doing right. If you go back, you can't really find anything. It was really tough going.

[Podcast Host 2]

Well, I think people don't realize how long it takes TV shows to find.

[SpinQuest Disclaimer Voice]

It takes a long time.

[Podcast Host 2]

The Simpsons, the first year Homer sounded like Walter Mathau. Yeah, right.

[SpinQuest Disclaimer Voice]

Yeah.

[Podcast Host 2]

You know, I mean, people don't realize how long it takes the show to really, you know, find something like unnecessary censorship.

[SpinQuest Disclaimer Voice]

Yeah. Things like that, where you have regular bits. Those are your. Those are like, if you go out for a long swim, those are the buoys that you can cling on to. You go, okay, at least I know on Wednesday I have this. And then maybe another couple of months go by and you're like, okay, now I know I have something on Monday and something on Wednesday. And it just, like, keeps you alive, it really having those. Those go to comedy bits that, you know will work at least. Okay. It gives you some confidence. It gives you a base to stand on. And if. When you don't have those things, you are just paddling for your life. Now the challenge is you don't want to feel too comfortable. Now the challenge is, okay, yeah, these things work, but we can't just keep doing those same things. We have to mix it up. And then you get new riders. You know, writers are always kind of coming and going and. And they want to do the show that they've seen. But, you know, the reality is you want people coming in with. With new ideas, not versions of Your old ideas.

[Podcast Host 1]

Well, when you.

[Podcast Host 2]

Okay, let's. So how do you choose a writer? Do you read?

[Podcast Host 1]

Do you read it?

[Podcast Host 2]

Or does your producer read their work, Their submission?

[SpinQuest Disclaimer Voice]

The head writers will read the stuff and they whittle it down, and then I will. Yes. I will always read their submissions. And I just.

[Podcast Host 2]

So what are you looking for? I mean, you know, at snl, when we get new, you know, thinking of new writers, the thing I wanted was an original voice.

[SpinQuest Disclaimer Voice]

Yes. I like, I like to hear, you know, it's funny because sometimes I have to remind, like, we have a writer who's a single woman and she's dating or whatever, and for whatever reason, she doesn't think to include those experiences in her packet because it's, you know, it's not something that, That I married, but.

[Podcast Host 2]

And a man.

[SpinQuest Disclaimer Voice]

But I love hearing that perspective because it gives me. I can speak about that stuff. Not from my own point of view, but I can still make something out of it. And so I like to get different perspectives. But what I look for in a packet more than anything is, would I put this on the air? Would I put this joke on the air? And I put a little star next to it. If it's something I would put on the air, and if there are enough of them, I just kind of add them up at the end and I go, who has the most? And somebody has a lot of them.

[Podcast Host 2]

I, I, I just, I remember, you know, at times when I was producing on the show, and at a certain point we stopped reading submissions unless they were submitted by an agent. We did that pretty early. But still, what you look for is an original voice. Now it's different in sketch, I think, a little bit different than what you're.

[SpinQuest Disclaimer Voice]

Doing because there's more variety there. Yeah. I'm the same character every night that people are writing for.

[Podcast Host 2]

And a joke is a joke.

[SpinQuest Disclaimer Voice]

Yeah.

[Podcast Host 2]

I mean, a great joke is a great joke, and you don't necessarily need a new perspective. Right. But you wanna, you know, at snl, you had a Jack Handy.

[SpinQuest Disclaimer Voice]

Yeah.

[Podcast Host 2]

Who had, like, an amazing voice.

[SpinQuest Disclaimer Voice]

That's great. Yeah. Strange.

[Podcast Host 2]

Yeah. I'd have to read, like, submissions of somebody's nephew. Right, right. And then I talked to them and they'd go like, well, it has a premise and it fulfills the premise. And I'm going like, oh, boy.

[SpinQuest Disclaimer Voice]

There are a lot of writers that are just smart people who decided they want to be a comedy writer. And they figured. They figured out how to be funny enough that they can kind of fake it.

[Podcast Host 2]

This is A big problem in comedy right now.

[SpinQuest Disclaimer Voice]

Yeah.

[Podcast Host 2]

Because, you know, I'm 68 years old, and when I started, no one thought, you know, what to be a great living comedy writing.

[SpinQuest Disclaimer Voice]

Right.

[Podcast Host 2]

You know, no one, like, was going, like, yeah, that looks like a really viable. You know, that's. That's a little like being, you know, a torch lawyer. I mean, it's just, if you're lucky.

[SpinQuest Disclaimer Voice]

Joey Adams would pay you 25 bucks or something for a joke. Right.

[Podcast Host 2]

And then now it's become like, oh, you know, comedy writer.

[SpinQuest Disclaimer Voice]

It's a job now. Yeah. It's something that sounds good on Tinder.

[Podcast Host 2]

And I could. And I can figure that out.

[SpinQuest Disclaimer Voice]

Yeah.

[Podcast Host 2]

And no, no, you got to really kind of people that are.

[SpinQuest Disclaimer Voice]

That are just funny is. You know, some of the guys that are. That work on my show and women that work on my show are just funny people. They're not particularly well educated. Some of them. They are just. But they are the funniest person in almost every room they're in.

[Podcast Host 2]

You can't be funny.

[SpinQuest Disclaimer Voice]

You just can. And it's just like, you know, sometimes I think we always had an underdog mentality at our show. Like, well, these Harvard guys, they think they're so smart, you know, but we'll see who's funnier. If only there was a funny contest of some kind. And they go, oh, yes, there is the show.

[Podcast Host 2]

It's called the show. There is a funny contest.

[SpinQuest Disclaimer Voice]

Well, why aren't we winning that? Maybe we should have gone to college.

[Podcast Host 2]

I would have. Sometimes I would, you know, somebody's nephew or somebody. A lot of people would just come up to me and say, how do you be a comedy writer? And I. I want to be a comedy writer. And I said, I would always say, are you writing comedy? And very often they'd say no. And then I'd say, you. And then if they. They laughed. There's some kind of hope. I remember I had one young man who I said, are you writing comedy? He said, well, no, I don't have time because I'm. I'm on the varsity basketball team at Columbia. And I went, okay, let me ask you something. If someone said, I want to be a pro basketball player, and I said to you, damn, do you play basketball?

[SpinQuest Disclaimer Voice]

No, I'm writing jokes all day.

[Podcast Host 2]

I'm writing jokes all day. I go, just, are you tracking me?

[SpinQuest Disclaimer Voice]

It is funny how little respect people. Well, people don't have a tremendous amount of respect for funny people in general. I mean, I'm sure you experienced that. And you probably. I know you went to great lengths to position yourself as something other than a funny guy, than a comedian when you're running for office.

[Podcast Host 2]

Right?

[SpinQuest Disclaimer Voice]

I mean, that the.

[Podcast Host 2]

Oh, yeah, we.

[SpinQuest Disclaimer Voice]

You kept the jokes pretty, pretty tight to your vest for a long time.

[Podcast Host 2]

Oh, yeah, I just had to. Does not be funny.

[SpinQuest Disclaimer Voice]

And you know, every teacher in school, if you're the funny guy in the. In class, you're subject to a certain amount of abuse and derision.

[Podcast Host 2]

Did you get kicked out of the class in Stanley Hall?

[SpinQuest Disclaimer Voice]

Yes, many times. Many times.

[Podcast Host 2]

Me too.

[SpinQuest Disclaimer Voice]

I actually, one of my teachers told me she was going to get me expelled from college, and I said, well, you can't do that. You can't kick somebody out of college. She said, yeah, we can. I said, what do you mean? It became more of an interesting point to me than anything. I said, so you could actually, you could tell them? She said, yes, yeah, absolutely. You're. You're, you know, people are here to learn. And when she said that to me, and I swear to God, I'm not exaggerating it anyway, it was, it was a total revelation. It never occurred to me that people were there to learn. I just, I thought, oh, we're all here because our parents will be mad if we're not. And we have to get through this together, just like we did the sixth grade.

[Podcast Host 2]

It sounds like you weren't a particularly serious student.

[SpinQuest Disclaimer Voice]

I was not. No, I was not.

[Podcast Host 2]

Now, Dana Carvey once said to me, no one should be a comedian unless they have to be a comedian. And I think that's actually true.

[SpinQuest Disclaimer Voice]

I think so, too. Yeah, I think that's correct.

[Podcast Host 2]

You know, every, every comedian, every comedy writer I know, that's really good. It's just they had to do that.

[SpinQuest Disclaimer Voice]

I was fired from many of my radio jobs, almost all of them. And, and it sounds funny, but it was definitely not funny at the time. You know, I have two older kids and, you know, I had my daughter when I was 24, and I'd get fired from these jobs 10 months in, 11 months in. Once I lasted 18 months. And that was like a.

[Podcast Host 2]

Now where were you going from city to city or.

[SpinQuest Disclaimer Voice]

I was going from city to city. I went from Vegas to Phoenix to Seattle, back to Phoenix, to Tampa, to Palm Springs, to Tucson to la. That was my radio journey.

[Podcast Host 2]

And. And this is when you had kids.

[SpinQuest Disclaimer Voice]

I had kids for three quarters of the time, and it was not fun. And at a certain point, you know, my ex wife was like, hey, what's. What's the plan B? And I said, There's, There is no plan B. There is only. There is just this plan.

[Podcast Host 2]

Plan B is, I guess, divorce.

[SpinQuest Disclaimer Voice]

Yeah, that was plan B. That turned out to be plan B.

[Podcast Host 2]

What's plan B?

[SpinQuest Disclaimer Voice]

Well, in about 13 years, we're going to get divorced the minute we can afford separate residences.

[Podcast Host 2]

That's plan B.

[SpinQuest Disclaimer Voice]

That was plan B. Yeah, but, but it, but yeah, I, I, you know, I honestly, I think, sometimes I think what would I do if, if I, if I wasn't doing radio or television or whatever? And the only thing I could really come up with was I could probably install AV systems. That would be something that, that I'd be pretty good at.

[Podcast Host 2]

I bet you could sell thermal pumps.

[SpinQuest Disclaimer Voice]

I don't think I could sell anything. I'm not like when I was in Little league and you had to sell the box of chocolates. I go to my grandma's house, I go to my aunt, and that was it. And the chocolates would sit there, my parents would get mad.

[Podcast Host 2]

Grandma, you don't really have to buy these.

[SpinQuest Disclaimer Voice]

Grandma, you're 200 pounds overweight. Just buy this whole box of chocolate.

[Podcast Host 2]

Oh, yeah, isn't it? But it's nice that this job exists.

[SpinQuest Disclaimer Voice]

Oh, thank God. Thank God they pay you for this. It is still. I sometimes still will just, like, look at my house and go, geez, I can't believe they gave me this for telling jokes. It's crazy.

[Podcast Host 2]

But you paid your dues.

[SpinQuest Disclaimer Voice]

Yeah, I did. But, I mean, you know, we know that it's preposterous. I mean, it's not at all fair what we make compared to what other people make for their jobs.

[Podcast Host 2]

I mean, what do you mean? We're sad.

[SpinQuest Disclaimer Voice]

You know what I mean? I mean, it's, it's, it's work and it can be a grind and all those things, and it's competitive and everything, but. Yeah, but it, it definitely is. It pays better than, than it should.

[Podcast Host 2]

We're going to take a break for a moment. We'll be right back.

[Podcast Host 1]

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[SpinQuest Disclaimer Voice]

Now.

[Podcast Host 1]

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[Podcast Host 2]

Wow.

[Podcast Host 1]

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[Podcast Host 2]

So I have a story about you met my son. We were at all the Way, which was the show about LBJ that Brian Cranston was in. Yes, that's where we. Where you met my son. And you were with Howard Stern. Yes, you were sitting with him and right in front of us. So we said hi and then we went backstage to Bryan Cranston. Won a Tony for that. So we went back to tell him how great he was. And of course after doing a show like that, you usually shower and he, he would. And so we had some time to kill right while we were backstage. And so when my son heard that you were doing this and you were. That I was doing your show, he said, you know, that night Jimmy like asked me what I did and, and then he was interested in it. And dad, you know, I've met a lot of celebrities and not many really have ever asked me what I Did or seemed interested in it. And he just wanted to say.

[Podcast Host 1]

You.

[Podcast Host 2]

Know, he's a good guy.

[SpinQuest Disclaimer Voice]

Isn't that sad, though? That.

[Ad Voice 1]

It is.

[Podcast Host 1]

And it is.

[SpinQuest Disclaimer Voice]

I have a weird thing. I am super interested in people and their jobs and the specifics of their jobs. And I get to. I get to talk about that every night during the commercial breaks because I'll speak to the audience, and I always want to know what they do and where they're from, and I'm curious, like, where the name of their town came from, and they never know and the quirks of their jobs. And it's funny because I get in these conversations with people sometimes when I'm out and about, and I'll get into an intense conversation with someone about their job, and frequently people will say to me, why are you asking me about this? You don't care about my job.

[Podcast Host 2]

And I'll just.

[SpinQuest Disclaimer Voice]

I go, like, wow, why would you. Why would you think that? Because. Just because. You think just because my job. I deal with famous people. That I don't. That.

[Podcast Host 2]

That. That.

[SpinQuest Disclaimer Voice]

Eliminate. That whitewashes what you do. I mean, it's not. I mean, I'm curious about how. How customers react to, you know, waiters and how, you know, working in a factory that makes plastic tabs, how that.

[Podcast Host 2]

Goes, and thermal pumps. I keep coming back to thermal.

[SpinQuest Disclaimer Voice]

All that stuff is interesting. It is interesting to me.

[Podcast Host 2]

Well, that probably is what makes you a good interviewer.

[SpinQuest Disclaimer Voice]

I guess you have to have an element of curiosity.

[Podcast Host 2]

Not really, but I think you do fake it.

[SpinQuest Disclaimer Voice]

I think you do.

[Podcast Host 2]

No, you're. You're right.

[SpinQuest Disclaimer Voice]

I think you have to have it, because if you. If you're faking it, it's just, you know, you could tell people are faking it. There has to be something real there. The problem is sometimes the jobs that you're interviewing people about are. Are exactly the same. You know, it's like, oh, so you're an actor. You know, that might be exciting at a cocktail party, but when you've interviewed 40 actors in a row, it's not as interesting.

[Podcast Host 2]

Tell me about a. A bad interview with an actor. Have you had any?

[SpinQuest Disclaimer Voice]

I've had probably less than most people would think, because most people. Most actors who are on the show, they want to do well, you know, they. That's why they're there. They want to be liked. They want you to go see their project occasionally. Sometimes guys are just, like, totally out of it. And you go, how is. How does this person act? Like, how does this person get a script? Even, like, how do they get the door open to bring it into their house? They're so. This person is so crazy. I mean I've had actors get up and wander around the studio during the commercial break. It's like, what is happening?

[Podcast Host 2]

Well, they're an artist. Maybe they're an artist.

[SpinQuest Disclaimer Voice]

I mean you get guys that are genuinely crazy people who continue to work and you just say, wow, I just don't believe this person is that talented that anyone should have to deal with this. And eventually those people do disappear. I've had some, especially in the early days. I used to have a co host every night and those co hosts varied wildly. Monica Lewinsky was my co host one week. Mike Tyson was my co host one week.

[Podcast Host 2]

Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa.

[SpinQuest Disclaimer Voice]

The great thing, Monica Lewinsky, who was very nice.

[Podcast Host 2]

She seems like a very nice person.

[SpinQuest Disclaimer Voice]

She was a very nice person. But she did not want to. We learned that she did not want to talk about President Clinton at all after she had arrived for the first show. So.

[Podcast Host 2]

Well, of course not.

[SpinQuest Disclaimer Voice]

That left hand. That left me with handbags to talk about.

[Podcast Host 2]

Oh yeah.

[SpinQuest Disclaimer Voice]

And, and that was, and it was a long time ago, you know. And so.

[Podcast Host 2]

No. So the person who booked her.

[SpinQuest Disclaimer Voice]

Yeah. Didn't really, you know, they're like, oh, this would be great for Monica. And then they show up and she's like. And you know, I mean, I respect that. Of course, you know, I, I'm not going to force that honor. She doesn't want to talk about it. But also I thought she knew that that was part of why we were interested in having her as a co host on the show.

[Podcast Host 2]

See, that's why you have, you know, a producer.

[SpinQuest Disclaimer Voice]

Oh, the show was a mess at that time.

[Podcast Host 2]

Knows to say, Monica, can you guess why we're having you?

[SpinQuest Disclaimer Voice]

That was weird. And I had a few, you know, sometimes I would have trouble even getting the attention of my guests. Like the co host would be more interesting to them and I wouldn't be able to get a question in. And that is hum. That is genuinely humiliating where a conversation just starts without you and you're the host of the show and you're not in it and it's, it's just like I remember not.

[Podcast Host 2]

So where was your co host? Where in the set co host would.

[SpinQuest Disclaimer Voice]

Sit on the couch. So co would sit next to me at the beginning and then move down the couch as the guest and we would build these couches. You know, I always, I thought, oh, wouldn't it be great if we bring all these weird different people together? And so it was like Anna Nicole Smith and Evander Holyfield sitting next to each other, each one of them going like, who is this person? And. And then a wrestler and, you know, just like, just crazy combinations. And then every once in a while, we'd get a real celebrity on the show. And, like, it was like we didn't know what to do, you know, and then. But then they would be bookended by weird and D list celebrities or reality show, Joe Millionaire or something like that.

[Podcast Host 2]

Let me ask you about the Oscars.

[SpinQuest Disclaimer Voice]

Yes.

[Podcast Host 2]

It's kind of like the pinnacle of hosting something, isn't it?

[SpinQuest Disclaimer Voice]

I think it was. It was.

[Podcast Host 1]

Yeah.

[Podcast Host 2]

It wasn't so long on Globes, I guess.

[SpinQuest Disclaimer Voice]

I think it's still the Oscars. They just haven't had a host for the last couple of years. I think they'll eventually go back to. To having a host, but that was a big deal for me. Yeah, it represented, well, a couple things. I mean, first of all, to be asked to host the Oscars, you've arrived. Pretty good sign that things are going well. But also, they were on my network, and I was really not considered to host them until, like, the last few years. So even just not having the confidence of your own network is not a great sign.

[Podcast Host 2]

So how do you approach that?

[SpinQuest Disclaimer Voice]

It's all about the jokes, I think, you know.

[Podcast Host 2]

Well, that would seem to be. That seemed to be your approach to the whole thing, which is, I'm going to go out there and tell jokes.

[SpinQuest Disclaimer Voice]

The thing that I wanted to make sure of when I hosted the Oscars was that it wasn't 100% scripted, and we left some room for something unscripted to happen. And so we had a few situations like that throughout each of the shows. One of them, I tricked a tour bus. They thought they were coming in to look at the. The museum, and they wound up inside the theater during the Oscar broadcast. And the other one was, that's a great idea.

[Podcast Host 2]

How did that.

[SpinQuest Disclaimer Voice]

It was fun. It was.

[Podcast Host 2]

It was.

[SpinQuest Disclaimer Voice]

Yeah. It was the looks. I mean, it was. It was great. And then the other one was, well, once. Well, one of the Oscars, I gave away a Jet Ski to whoever gave the shortest speech. And it was fun. The, you know, the actors playing along, like, going on and on, going, I'm sorry, I know I'm not gonna get the Jet Ski, you know, and bringing up the joke as it went. But the other one was we had people in a movie theater watching a movie, and we interrupted the movie on screen, and then we walked across the Way to the movie theater. I brought, like, 20, you know, academy Award nominees into this movie theater where an audience was watching the film.

[Podcast Host 2]

Seems like a lot of work.

[SpinQuest Disclaimer Voice]

It is a lot.

[Podcast Host 2]

A lot of effort to do it.

[SpinQuest Disclaimer Voice]

But if ever you're going to do a lot of work, that's the time.

[Podcast Host 2]

Yeah.

[SpinQuest Disclaimer Voice]

Because the rest of your life, you will have to look at lists of who was the best Oscar host and who was the worst. And you just wanted.

[Podcast Host 2]

It seems like, okay, it's a commitment. This better work. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. That's what I'm saying.

[SpinQuest Disclaimer Voice]

But that's part of the fun. You know, maybe it won't. And a certain perverse part of me enjoys bombing. I. There's something about it that.

[Podcast Host 2]

And that's a good. That's. Thank God.

[SpinQuest Disclaimer Voice]

Yeah.

[Podcast Host 2]

I've made a career of it. Because early on, you had to get some pleasure out of the thing.

[SpinQuest Disclaimer Voice]

I do have the ability to. To look at myself, to kind of step outside of my body and laugh at myself. Like, I think I look at this. That is.

[Podcast Host 2]

That is something that I think a lot of comedians, it's probably a survival skill, but it's also. I, I sometimes the funniest. The thing you remember most is the time you died.

[Podcast Host 1]

Yeah.

[Podcast Host 2]

Right at the beginning of my career when I was doing stuff with Tom Davis, we did a. Just an event with old Jews and, man, oh, man, it was. At one point I just had to stop and tell some Myron Cohen jokes. And that worked, but I. Tom didn't know Myron Cohen jokes. I did.

[SpinQuest Disclaimer Voice]

Well, Tom was lucky you were there.

[Podcast Host 2]

Yeah. So who were your influences?

[SpinQuest Disclaimer Voice]

Letterman and Howard Stern are my. Probably my two biggest influences. But, I mean, you were one of them, by the way. We. There was a time in our lives, a crossover time, where we could have been twins. I wore round glasses. We had the same hair. People used to call me Al Franken all the time. Really? Yes. And Steve Martin, Bill Murray, you know, all the guys. Richard Pryor people you. You might imagine.

[Podcast Host 2]

Yeah. Well, you're a lot like Prior, but I didn't.

[SpinQuest Disclaimer Voice]

I didn't look at it in a way like. Like, these are the guys I want to be like. I just. These are the guys I thought were funny. I. That I love. One of. One of the thrills of my life was Richard Pryor towards the end of his life when he was. He was very sick. Loved this show that I produced called Crank Anchors on Comedy Central. And his wife called us and asked us to send him all the episodes that hadn't Aired because he wanted to see them. And he was like, not, not well. And they didn't think he was going to make it. I was like, wow, Richard Pryor is calling and asking for a show that, that I made. That's a, that's as, as great accomplishment as, as I. Unless it was a prank, a cranky prank being played on us.

[Podcast Host 2]

When I was running for the Senate and I met Harry Reid, who was majority leader at the time, he just said to me, now, what do you do for a living? And I don't think he knew the comedy was written.

[SpinQuest Disclaimer Voice]

Isn't that crazy? Well, you know, by the way, he represents Las Vegas.

[Podcast Host 2]

Yes, he does. He's a great guy, I gotta say. I gotta say, Harry is a treasure.

[SpinQuest Disclaimer Voice]

Mike Bloomberg. When I did the White House correspondence dinner, when I hosted it, I met Mike Bloomberg. This is years ago afterwards, and he's. Yes. Oh, that was, that was funny. What do you do? I said, well, I, I host a, a late night talk show. You know, where does, where is that? Where would I see that? I was like, what's on abc? I've been on for quite some time with this. I was like, wow, I'm kind of impressed. This, this guy doesn't have any idea of who I am or what I do.

[Podcast Host 2]

Well, he was busy.

[SpinQuest Disclaimer Voice]

I know. I, I guess so. But, you know, most people aren't quite that busy. I mean, most people, like, you know, maybe they get in the cab and they'll see me in the back. I guess he's not getting into cabs.

[Podcast Host 2]

But yeah, I think as mayor, probably getting around a different way.

[SpinQuest Disclaimer Voice]

Yeah.

[Podcast Host 2]

Well, thank you. And. And again, healthcare is an enormous issue in this, and I really do wish that our candidates would focus on, on what would happen.

[SpinQuest Disclaimer Voice]

Maybe they will. Maybe they will. Maybe once they're through strangling each other, they will focus on that.

[Podcast Host 2]

Well, obviously part of the process is explaining who you are and why you're differentiating yourself from the others, but, man, it's about differentiating yourself from this, this pathological.

[SpinQuest Disclaimer Voice]

You mean, you mean Trump?

[Podcast Host 2]

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Well, thank you.

[Podcast Host 1]

Well, I hope you enjoyed listening. That beautiful music is by Leo Kottke.

[Podcast Host 2]

The great Leo Kottke. I want to thank Peter Ogburn for producing this podcast.

[Podcast Host 1]

We'll talk again next week.

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