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Where Everybody Knows Your Name with Ted Danson and Woody Harrelson (sometimes)
Carol Burnett
00:52:15
This week we’re visited by one of Ted Danson’s personal heroes, the great Carol Burnett! Carol talks with Ted about her break into show business, her return on season 2 of Palm Royale, spiritual experiences, her love of word games, navigating fame at this stage of her career, and more. Like watching your podcasts? Visit http://youtube.com/teamcoco to see full episodes. Carol’s favorite Cosmo 2oz of Ketel One 1oz of fresh squeezed lime juice 1/2oz of Cointreau 1/2oz of simple syrup 1/4-1/2oz of cranberry juice cocktail Instructions: Combine all ingredients in a cocktail shaker with ice, shake until chilled, strain into a glass, and serve with an orange twist. Special thanks to The Grill on the Alley for the recipe and to bar director Kenzo Han of Firstborn.
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- [00:00]
A
Public lands are under siege as the administration and its allies in Congress are trying to strip protections from cherished landscapes, threatening clean water, wildlife habitats and our freedom to explore nature. If we don't act now, future generations could lose the places that define us. The Wilderness Society fights to protect the lands that we all share and love. Donate now While gifts are triple matched to help defend public lands. Visit wilderness.org donation just lie there for all day.
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B
It was, as I said, it was a good gig.
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A
Welcome back to where everybody knows your name, Carol Burnett. What do you say about someone who has given us so much? I have been blessed to be able to spend time with her and it just makes me smile and laugh every time I think about every minute I've spent with her. From Annie to the Carol Burnett show to Mama's Family. She's won the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the Mark Twain Prize, multiple Emmys, Golden Globes, Tony's. She's also a best selling author and I want to talk to her about a book she wrote about her late daughter called Carrie and Me. She's currently in Palm Royale. The second season is streaming on Apple tv. She's magnificent in it. She was nominated for the first season. Here is one of my heroes, Carol Burnett.
- [01:45]
B
I get a lot of mail and sometimes from even teenagers because they see our show in reruns and so forth. But the things that make me the happiest is when somebody will say, you know, we weren't feeling well and we saw Tim Conway and Harvey break up and do this and watch a show. And like, that's one of the few times I saw my mother laugh or my grandmother, whatever. And that's. That just, you never know.
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A
You don't. Ripples.
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B
Absolutely.
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A
Yeah. I think I also told you this once that I grew up without a tv. I didn't have a television. My family didn't have a TV until Cheers came on. And then they decided, well, we'll get a tv. But they put, they put this religious tapestry over it when they weren't watching Chairs.
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B
Oh, my goodness.
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A
I don't know. So I missed growing up with you, but I obviously caught up over the years and I've just spent the last 48 hours because Mary's not in town. First off, I didn't see Palm Royale until 48 hours ago and I binged it.
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B
Oh, the first season.
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A
Yes, it is amazing.
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B
Wait till you see the second.
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A
I can't wait.
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B
Yeah. It's premiering this month on the 15th. It's, it's wild. It's absolutely off the wall. There's a lot of music and production numbers and surprises, lots of secrets, and finally I get to talk.
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A
Well, you came out a little bit in the last couple of two or three episodes. And because I was talking to you, I went back and spent a day watching Carol Burnett show from, like, your first episode, which was such a hoot because there you were, a little girl.
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B
You were a little girl.
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A
How old were you?
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B
34.
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A
No, you weren't.
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B
I was 34 when we started.
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A
Yeah.
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B
Wow, you looked 1967.
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A
That's amazing. Yeah, that's amazing. So I binged, like, hours of it.
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B
So did you see the full hours with the music and everything?
- [03:58]
A
Not all of them, but yes, I did. I did. Oh, yeah. No, the guests. You had Jim Neighbors for your first one.
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B
Jim always was the first one. All 11 seasons. And we do. We would have. I mean, I grew up with my grandmother. We didn't have a television. Of course, there wasn't television when I was a kid. But we would go to the movies in the 40s. And so my favorites were Betty Grable and Mickey Rooney and Judy Garland and all. All of the. And later on that, to have my own show. Betty Grable was one of my first guests. I read that Betty Grable and Bing Crosby and people that my grandmother and I used to see in the movies. It's like dreams come true. I never knew I was ever going to be a performer. Had no idea I wanted to be a journalist.
- [04:57]
A
No, I didn't read that. I didn't catch that.
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B
Yeah, I was editor of my junior high school paper in Hollywood High, and I went to UCLA because I wanted to major in journalism. And so I got there, and there was no major in journalism at ucla, so I could take a course in journalism and join the school paper, which I did. So I looked through the catalog, and there was a major called Theater Arts English. And then there was Theater Arts Film. Theater Arts Theater. Theater Arts Design. So I saw Theater Arts English. Well, I could take the playwriting courses because I wanted to write.
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A
Right.
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B
Well, I didn't know that as a freshman, whether you wanted to write or you wanted to be a director, you wanted to design costume. You had to take an acting course. I was terrified what I've got. And I came in late, so other people had paired off, and I was the odd one. And I had to. The teacher gave me two monologues. She said, okay, pick one. One was from the Country Girl, a play, and another from a play called the Mad Woman of Chaillot. And so I picked the Mad Woman one because it was shorter. So I remember we got up and we had to do our scenes, and I was the last one. And the other kids were great. I mean, they were crying and they could do all this. Wow. You know, I got up and I went, this is a monologue from the Mad Woman of Chaylet. I had no idea. It didn't even occur to me to read it, to know what I was doing. She gave me a D minus. She said, the only reason you're not getting an F is because you memorized it. So then, I don't know. God, the next. What? Okay, we had to do some more scenes. And I teamed up with this boy, this guy named Dick Danute was his name. And we did a scene from Noel Coward's Red Peppers, which. And then we sang. Has anybody Seen our ship? The HMS Peculiar. It was seeing all those Betty Grable movies.
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A
Yes.
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B
Well, okay, I'll be Betty Grable with a Cockney accent. And I did it, and I got an A. And then I had another scene that I did later where I played a hillbilly woman. And I just had a couple of lines, but when I entered and I. I remember I said, I'm back. And everybody laughed. And I thought, I think I like this. And it was all an accident. Had there been a school of major in journalism, I wouldn't be sitting here talking to you like this now. Yeah, you know, it was just like. And all of a sudden I thought, I. I want to do this. And then later, a guy came up to me on campus from the music department, said, can you sing? And my grandmother, mother and I used to sit in the kitchen and play the ukulele and harmonize, but I never really. So he put me in a chorus of South Pacific.
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A
Having seen your acting scene or no. Yeah.
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B
He said, but can you carry it to.
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A
Can we interrupt just one second? I didn't know whether you'd be, you know, need a little refreshment or not, but. This is Kenzo Hahn.
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B
Oh, no. This is your very own Cosmos.
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A
Where did he get that from? He went to the Grill.
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B
Oh, no.
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A
And found out everything about them. And he's a professional and one of the best.
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B
That's hysterical. Thank you.
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A
Thank you so much. Really appreciate that.
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B
That is funny.
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A
Now, you don't have to if you don't want to, but it is there as a symbol of love and appreciation.
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B
Well, I have to do this.
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A
Okay, me too.
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B
Cheers. Cheers.
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A
Oh, God, that really is good, y'. All. That really Is lovely. We'll get back to that in a minute. Let me just do my one little teeny story that's very similar which was hearing a laugh is what I wanted to be a basketball player. I went to Stanford. There was no way I was going to be a basketball player. I was not good enough. But it was my dream. Very sad. Asked the girl out, would you come have coffee with me? She finally said yes. Halfway through the first cup, she said, I have to go to an audition. I think I thought she was making it up. But anyway, I went with her and to stay in the room, I had to make something up because it was a Bertolt Brecht play and I just made something up and I heard someone laugh and it was just like, oh, hello. It's not basketball, but, oh, this is wonderful. Right. Wait. So back to you. Somebody comes and says, can you sing?
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B
Yeah. And I said I could carry a tune. And they were doing. It was a musical comedy department at ucla. And so they were doing a scene from South Pacific. And this wonderful girl was playing Nellie Forbush. And I was one of the nurses. And she was singing, I'm gonna wash that man. Well, I got so brave, I started to belt. Sing loud. And I had never sung loud in my life. And he said, wait a minute, wait a minute. He said, I'm taking you out. You're too loud. I said, I'm sorry. He said, but I want you to do a scene where you play Adelaide in Guys and Dolls where she sings Adelaide's Lament where she has a cold.
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A
What is.
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B
Some of the person can develop a cold?
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A
Yeah. Oh, yes, yes. Sorry.
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B
And I said, well, if she has a cold and if I hit a clam and it's not good, I can blame it on the fact that she's got a cold. So I sang that.
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A
Yeah.
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B
And it went great. And I was hooked from then on.
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A
And was it at that period where somebody saw you a couple and said, in essence, we want to back you?
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B
Well, the musical comedy department, there were nine of us in it. And our professor, Dr. Popper and his wife were going to San Diego for a party, black tie affair. And he said, you know what? Instead of you just doing the scenes, you know, at ucla why don't you kids come down and be the entertainment for the party and I'll grade you. Well, okay. So went down and I'm living with my grandmother. And our rent was $30 a month, a dollar a day, and we could barely afford that. We were poor anyway, so we all get down to the party. And we did about six scenes. I did a scene from Annie, get your gun. Then afterwards, I went to the hors d' oeuvre table, and I have a purse and I'm stealing hors d', oeuvres, wrapping up to take home to my grandmother. There's a pattern. I'm busted. And it was this gentleman and his wife. And he said, like, very what. What do you want to do with your life? And I said, well, someday I want to go to New York and be in musical comedy on Broadway. Aren't you there now? I said, well, I'd like to, but I. I'm worried. I'm trying to save enough money some, you know. And he said, I'll lend you the money. And I. I thought it was the champagne talking, right? And his wife said, no, he means it. He gives me his card and he said, be in my office Monday morning. So we got down there, nine o'. Clock. He had. He had a big office in La Jolla and went in and he said, I'm gonna lend you a thousand dollars. Now, I read, $30. A thousand dollars. Be like a million dollars today, you know, I couldn't believe it. And he's. There's stipulations. You must use this money to go to New York. You must, if you're successful, pay me back five years. In five years, no interest. You must never reveal my name.
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A
Oh, wow.
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B
And if you are successful, you must promise to help others out.
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A
What an interesting man.
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B
Yep. And I came home and I showed my grandmother all this money. I thought she was going to have a heart attack. And she said, you can't go to New York. We can use that money. But I said, nanny, that was one of the stipulations. I have to go to New York. And so I did. I was really stupid dead. I mean, I was so nice. I was 20, 21. I get on the plane, I have no idea where I'm going to stay when I get to New York. It was like Mickey and Judy, okay?
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A
My father has a mom.
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B
All of a sudden, I'll land and I'll get a part in a Broadway show.
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A
Yeah, yeah.
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B
So on the plane, I was reading the New Yorker and there was an ad for the Algonquin Hotel.
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A
Oh, wow.
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B
You know, and I thought, oh, wow. Well, maybe I had a little money left over from having to buy the tickets, having to buy a suitcase and stuff. So I had about maybe $400 left out of the thousand. And I checked into the Algonquin and the Guy said, that'll be $9. And I said, for the week? He said, no, for the night. Again, $9. When our rent was $1 a day, I thought, oh, my God, that's okay. Anyway, so I went. I had a room, and it's the first time I had ever slept in a bed. I always slept on the couch with my grandmother. We had one room. There was a bed and a closet. I used to hang my clothes on the bathroom shower rack. I'd always go to school a little damp. So anyway, I think, oh, wow. And then I called home and my grandmother started crying. Come home.
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A
Come home.
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B
I just got here, you know, and it. All right, you're gonna be dead in a week. Your blood's too thin.
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A
That's.
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B
Hello. Anyway, so I hung up and I turned the radio. It started rain, and I always loved rain. Not torrential, but rain. Turned on, the radio started rain. Swear to God. It said, hurricane Carol is hitting New York.
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A
That's great.
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B
August 1954. Look it up.
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A
That's amazing.
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B
Well, there's some kind of a sign. And I had one phone number in my wallet. And it was of the girl who was the lead in the South Pacific scene. She'd come to New York. She was ahead of me a year early and said, if you're ever in New York, here's my phone number.
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A
And was she.
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B
So I called her.
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A
Making it.
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B
No, I called her. She said, where are you? I said, the next morning I called, oh, my God. Get out of there. What are you going to come up here. Where's here? She said, come up. I meant live at the rehearsal club on 54th Street. And it was a club for young women interested, want to be in the theater. Very much on the up and up. It had a house, mother and rules.
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A
And all of that kind of Katharine Hepburn, the movie.
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B
That's what it was about.
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A
Oh, wow.
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B
The Rehearsal Club. And they called it Spotlight at the theater, I think. But the movie was based on the Rehearsal Club, which had been there forever. There were about 25 women, young women. And Ms. Carlton said, well, you're luck. You're in luck. You have. We have one cot available. And there was a big room and it was called the Transit Room. And there were four cots, five cots. It was. Each had a dresser and one closet, one bathroom, five women. And so that was my. And $18 a week, room and board.
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A
Pretty good.
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B
Well, some good. As your rich ladies in New York sponsored it, which is why the rent was so low. And that saved my life. 54th, 54th, between 5th and 6th.
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A
Oh, so really safe for you all.
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B
Oh yeah. And the rules were no men allowed above the parlor. And you can't stay out all night. You have to follow the and you have to be actively pursuing your what you want. You can have a part time job to pay, help pay the rent. But you have have to prove you're going, making the rounds, trying to get auditions.
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A
It was many years, not many, but years later. But it sounds so, so familiar. How did you wake up the next morning and look for a job? Not a job, but a part?
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B
Well, there was a newspaper called Show Business and it would say when there would be a cattle call or something. You can't get into anything unless you have an agent. And you can't get an agent unless you're in something. It's catch 22. So with one of the girls who was one of my roommates, we took a part time job checking hats at a lady's tea room, Susan Palmer's tea room. And she would work three days a week, I would work three. And we shared our tips. So we each averaged about $30 a week. So it was part time. So then I could look for.
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A
Right.
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B
So finally I got in to see an agent and I showed him my scrapbook of UCLA rave review. It was like he's gonna care. And he said, oh, let me know you in something. How do I get into. And he said, go put on your own show.
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A
He did. Why?
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B
Went back to the club. I called a meeting of all the girls. It's by Mickey Rooney and Judy Garland. I said, girls, we're going to put on a show and we're going to call it the rehearsal club review. And everybody's going to do their thing and we're going to invite every agent, producer, director in town. We wrote it, we presented the first act to the rich ladies who sponsored the club. And they gave us $200 to rent the Carl Fisher Concert hall two nights. We sent out penny postcards to every agent prod saying, you're always saying, let us know when you're in something. Well, we're in something and this penny postcard is your ticket. Come and see us. We did it, put on a show and three of us got agents.
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A
That's fantastic.
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B
But it's, it's the movies that, you know, when I was growing up, they were never cynical. It was always the good guys made it. You want to put on a show, you'll wind up on Broadway. It was like nothing was impossible.
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A
I remember having an acting teacher saying this is a really hard My first acting teacher was at Stanford before I transferred to Carnegie Mellon, and he was an upset actor who became a teacher because it didn't quite work out. And so he had this negative thing. And I remember out of nowhere was no, you know, license to be saying anything, said, oh, you shouldn't say that. There's some people here who really want to become actors. You shouldn't be negative.
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B
Right?
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A
You know, you do. You do make your way.
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B
That's right.
- [22:12]
A
Yeah. I just learned about a serious but rare heart condition called attr Cardiac Amyloidosis or attrcm. If you have ATTR cm, you may experience symptoms related to heart failure like breathlessness and swelling of the legs, but also have issues that seem unrelated, like carpal tunnel. There's a treatment option that may help called Atruby or Acharamatis. Atruby is a prescription medicine used to treat adults with ATTR CM to reduce death and hospitalization due to heart issues. In a study, Atruby helped slow the progression of ATTR CM and reduced heart related hospitalizations by 50% when compared to people not receiving ATRUBE. Tell your doctor if you're pregnant, plan to become pregnant, or are breastfeeding and and about the medications you take. The most common side effects were mild and included diarrhea and abdominal pain. If you have ATTR CM, talk to your cardiologist about ATTRUBY or visit ATTRUBY.com that's ATT R U B-Y.com to learn more. Brought to you by Bridge Bio, where everybody knows your name with Ted Danson and Woody Harrelson sometimes is brought to you by Progressive Insurance. Do you ever find yourself playing the budgeting game? Well, with the name your price tool from Progressive, you can find options that fit your budget and potentially lower your bills. Try it@progressive.com Progressive Casualty Insurance Company and affiliates Price and coverage match limited by state law, not available in all states. Public lands are under siege as the administration and its allies in Congress are trying to strip protections from cherished landscapes, threatening clean water, wildlife habitats and our freedom to explore nature. If we don't act now, future generations could lose the places that define us. The Wilderness Society fights to protect the lands that we all share and love. Donate now while gifts are triple matched to help defend public lands. Visit wilderness.org donation.
- [24:41]
B
I remember falling in love with you.
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A
Now we're going to get down to it.
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B
By the way, in Body Heat. Yeah, I have to say you are my favorite person in it. Everybody was great. But you.
- [24:56]
A
When you were dancing, the dancing got you.
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B
And I waited to see who is, and it said dancing. And I thought, that's perfect. But I just. You fractured me in that movie. I thought it was. That was a long time ago.
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A
We have to just stop for a minute because part of me right now is pretending to be a podcaster, but I'm just going to. I can't believe that I'm sitting here talking to you.
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B
Carol, come on.
- [25:25]
A
No, for real. And that night, for those of you who don't follow the awards, I was given the Carol Burnett Award at the Golden Globes. I was sick as a dog. I don't think I remember that.
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B
You wouldn't let me hug you.
- [25:42]
A
Yeah. But I was on steroids, which I highly recommend for a good time. I was just on top of it. But I remember saying something in my kind of prepared remarks about you, and you shouted from the table, I love you. And it's like something that was a moment that, you know, you can't.
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B
Well, I meant it. And I mean it still.
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A
I know. And I mean, I know because I. You do. I do believe you. And you've made it. You were very sweet and very clear every time I see you. But I love you so much, Carol Burnell. Let me. Ooh. And off for a second while we're into the compliment phase. Your performance, Norma, is amazing.
- [26:30]
B
Well, thank you.
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A
And you do get big. Well, I'm assuming you got huge laughs. I was laughing out loud, and I was just studying it and looking. And you would do one little thing because you were in a coma. Yeah, but you would get laughs from me in the middle of your coma. And then it just kept building. One of my favorites was F. Yeah. With the K sound.
- [26:56]
B
Exactly.
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A
Slightly delayed, but you're really wonderful actor. Really, really good. Because I had also binged Carol Burnett show, which is, you know, nothing's sacred. You're, you know, you can be as big as you want. It's very funny. It can be broad. It can be funny. It can be moving and all of that. And then watched you in this, and it was like, wow, I'm glad you were nominated. I'm sorry you didn't win, but that must be a hoot.
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B
Yeah, it was a good gig.
- [27:27]
A
Yeah, still is.
- [27:29]
B
Oh, yeah. But I had to laugh when they called me to do it, you know, I said, well, you're going to do this series. This is two years ago. And I said, who's. Who's in it? And he said, Kristen Wiig. Alison Chani, Laura Dern, Ricky Martin. I said, stop. I'm in. I don't care what you want me to do, I'm in. I want to lock eyeballs with those people and get in the sandbox and play. And they said, well, in the first four, four or five episodes, you're in a coma. Oh, okay. So I'd get up, go to the motor home, get in the car, and go right back to bed.
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A
Yeah.
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B
Just lie there for all day. It was, as I said, it was a good gig.
- [28:15]
A
It's really a wonderful performance. Clearly, you get your, you know, you.
- [28:19]
B
Thank you.
- [28:19]
A
You make progress through your coma. Well, I probably shouldn't do. Some people haven't seen it, so I won't do a spoiler alert. But you. You get to take on a lot of wonderful things as your Como and.
- [28:34]
B
Be with some wonderful people.
- [28:36]
A
You know what I love, too, was watching Laura Dern and Bruce Dern and their scenes.
- [28:44]
B
That's sweet.
- [28:45]
A
So sweet. He's a lovely actor.
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B
Yeah. And, you know, unfortunately, her mother died yesterday. Diane. Yeah. And Laura was with her.
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A
I didn't know that.
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B
Yeah. Well, we had dinner with them a couple of months ago with Laura and Diane. Such fun. And Laura is one of the sweetest human beings on the face of this earth.
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A
Yeah, she is. She is just wise, a dynamo.
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B
Soulful.
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A
Soulful. And she gives in the middle of everything that's going on to her life. She let us honor her in New York for the Oceana event.
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B
Oh, that's wonderful.
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A
And when you get honored, it usually means people are making use of your fame to help raise money. So it's lovely, but it's also work. And she was so generous and sweet. Yeah. Just a moment about Diane.
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B
Yeah.
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A
Wonderful actor. What?
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B
I think two or three times she was nominated.
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A
Yes. What a character.
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B
And funny.
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A
Yep. Intentional and unintentional.
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B
Yeah.
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A
You know. Oh, she was. Well, I'm so sorry. I feel like we should be celebrating her, but there'll be time for that. That's very sad.
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B
Here's to Diane.
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A
Yeah. Diane.
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B
Yeah.
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A
Yeah. Well, much love. Yeah. Thank you for telling me that. Anyway.
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B
Yeah. I'm sorry I threw you with that.
- [30:26]
A
No, no, I'm glad you told me. And I think it's very sweet to be saying how wonderful. Partially. I'm going to imagine that Lars is such a good actress. She had two wonderful actors. Bruce.
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B
She sure inherited it, you know, it's in her DNA.
- [30:42]
A
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
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B
And she was. I loved doing scenes with her. And there's a major spoiler Coming up in the second season. Yeah.
- [30:53]
A
How fantastic. Yeah, that's really a great show. And I can't wait to see the next one.
- [30:59]
B
Well, the costumes.
- [31:00]
A
Vicky's in it.
- [31:01]
B
Yeah.
- [31:02]
A
I think that was in the press.
- [31:04]
B
Yeah. You can tell that I can't say who she's playing, but I can because they don't want me to do spoilers, you know. But it was so great because last year, when we knew we were gonna have a second season, I planned on calling Abe Sylvia, who's a creator and the director of Palmer, to ask him if you think there might be something for Vicki in the second season. And before I could make that call, he called me and said, you know, I'm thinking of hiring Vicki. Would you like.
- [31:38]
A
I'm not kidding.
- [31:39]
B
I can't believe it. I was going to suggest it. So we were on the same page and it was such fun to see her and be with her again.
- [31:50]
A
There was a couple of other people that were mentioned in the new cast, which lends to the singing and dancing thing.
- [31:56]
B
Patti LuPone. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And John Stamos is in it and he's got a very funny scene. He is very funny.
- [32:06]
A
Yeah. He's a lovely actor too.
- [32:08]
B
Yeah, It's a great cast.
- [32:10]
A
Yeah, that's great.
- [32:11]
B
Ricky Martin could be sweeter.
- [32:13]
A
Sorry, I didn't realize Ricky was such a good actor.
- [32:16]
B
He's very fantastic and he's very kind and sweet and unassuming in life because.
- [32:25]
A
He was that way in his performance in life. Well, that's pretty good. That he can take who he is and make it stay there when he's.
- [32:34]
B
Acting is probably the sweetest one in the whole group.
- [32:37]
A
Yes.
- [32:37]
B
Everybody else has got problems. Yeah. There are a lot of secrets.
- [32:45]
A
Yeah. I mean, it's very gossipy and not means it's funny. So the mean spiritedness is funny because.
- [32:55]
B
Exactly.
- [32:56]
A
They're over the top, meaning, you know, and silly. But it's subtle. Then it also moves into this very moving, touching area too. For all of these people you had chalked off as just mean. You go, oh, wait a minute.
- [33:09]
B
Well, that's the fun of the second season. You start to find out why people are behaving the way they are and in a way, forgiving them.
- [33:18]
A
Yeah.
- [33:19]
B
You know, it's really good writing.
- [33:21]
A
I love the whale stuff.
- [33:25]
B
I come up with that. I don't know. I fell in love with a whale.
- [33:29]
A
But you, you buy it.
- [33:30]
B
I know. Yeah.
- [33:31]
A
Yeah. Allison Janney is wonderful.
- [33:34]
B
Allison and I, we. We're very close. We wordle.
- [33:39]
A
Oh, well, you're talking my language. Mary and I wordle every morning.
- [33:44]
B
Do you Spelling bee?
- [33:45]
A
We do wordle. We do connections and spelling bee.
- [33:49]
B
That's Brian and me. That's what we do.
- [33:51]
A
Your marriage will last.
- [33:53]
B
We. We. Yeah, we start with connections and then we go to wordle and then we.
- [33:59]
A
Go to spelling bee, which truthfully, after having gone through the other two, is my favorite spelling bee. I do love.
- [34:06]
B
I do too.
- [34:07]
A
I love spellings. Now, here's what you probably don't do. Mary and I do it together.
- [34:14]
B
So do Brian.
- [34:14]
A
Oh, good.
- [34:15]
B
See, we tag team. Yeah. Yes.
- [34:18]
A
It's much more fun.
- [34:19]
B
Oh, yeah, absolutely. I think maybe. I'm not sure, but we may have the record of getting it in one try.
- [34:29]
A
Oh, wordle. That only happened to us once when it was our word that we always do. You use the same word.
- [34:38]
B
Oh, we change every time. Brian comes up with a different word every day.
- [34:43]
A
Okay, we'll try it.
- [34:46]
B
And it's an accident. You know that. Yeah, it's an accident. We got audio bacon clown.
- [34:54]
A
Oh, wait, these are all first tries.
- [34:56]
B
Audio bacon clown, crown stash, towel and talon.
- [35:04]
A
I don't want to be divisive in your marriage, but should you check to see whether Brian has a connection with the new York times back in New York?
- [35:13]
B
There is no way you can cheat with that. It's a total, total luck and accident. Because that doesn't take brains. It's just luck.
- [35:22]
A
Yeah, yeah.
- [35:22]
B
What takes brains is once you get a word and then you get it.
- [35:26]
A
In two, that's good.
- [35:28]
B
You know, two or three.
- [35:28]
A
Mary does. I can logic my way through it. Sometimes Mary has one of these leap. That's intuitive. It's not always there. She doesn't claim it all the time, but it'll be in the second try and it'll be so far from what the letters look like it should be. And she'll go, oh, I think it's not enough. She does that a lot. Do people have any idea what we're talking about? I'm good. Yeah.
- [35:55]
B
Well, then Brian goes on to do.
- [35:57]
A
I didn't mean to malign him. I believe. I believe.
- [36:00]
B
You know, the reason we got stash, for instance, is my mother had a parakeet and my kid's sister. No, my kid's sister had the parakeet and wanted to name it tweety. And my mother. Oh, for goodness sakes. Every parakeet in the world named tweety. Let's call him stache. So I was telling that to Brian that morning. I said, that he said, okay, let's put in stache.
- [36:32]
A
Oh, my God.
- [36:34]
B
So it's like, woo, woo.
- [36:35]
A
Yeah. You have some woo woo woo in you, don't you?
- [36:39]
B
Yeah.
- [36:40]
A
Yeah, you do. So does Mary. I believe in woo woo woo, but I think my brain's a little too slow or literal. But she's full. I love that you described that you and Carrie, your daughter, found out that you both later in life found out that you both have experienced leaving your bodies when you were around the same age, 12 or 13.
- [37:08]
B
Married to.
- [37:10]
A
No, Mary. Actually, I talked about this with her last night. I have. I had one that was genuine.
- [37:17]
B
What happened?
- [37:17]
A
I was announcing that my friend who was an environmental lawyer, Bobby Solnick, and I.
- [37:24]
B
How old were you?
- [37:27]
A
39.
- [37:29]
B
Oh, so you were an adult.
- [37:31]
A
Yeah. And we were announcing in Washington D.C. at the Capitol, in one of those wood panel looks like the most important kind of press room you could ever be in. And all of the California congressmen and senators were standing behind me, very sweetly supporting because people weren't talking about oceans back then that much. This was in mid-80s and I was giving my this is what we're going to do speech. I was reading it and I was literally 20, 30ft above. It was a huge room looking down, looking down, saw myself reading. And it was probably a count of three. And then I went, oh, for God's sake, you're reading you better. But it was unmistakably one of those things where my brain goes, some part of you knew this was going to be an important part of your life. Because it's what I've done for the rest of my life from that moment on. And, you know, take note.
- [38:36]
B
Why?
- [38:36]
A
Because it's an important moment. But I loved reading that.
- [38:39]
B
I could. What I did as a kid, I would lock myself that. We had a little dressing room off of the main living room. My grandmother and I would sit and I would just look into my eyes. Just focus and focus and focus. And I would go up here and look down. And then I got scared. And as soon as I got scared, I. I would say, what is this about? What is this about? As soon as I did that, it would come back.
- [39:12]
A
Yeah.
- [39:14]
B
And I could do that. And I stopped doing it. I can't do it.
- [39:17]
A
So this was.
- [39:18]
B
I was.
- [39:18]
A
Was the first time accidental? You discovered it?
- [39:21]
B
Yeah, I was just kind of staring and. And all of a sudden I just left.
- [39:27]
A
Left.
- [39:27]
B
But saw yourself over my right shoulder.
- [39:30]
A
And then you could recreate that. That's amazing.
- [39:33]
B
Yeah. If ever I wanted to, I Could lock myself. And then I go, here we go. And wow. And then I got scared that maybe someday I would be able to not come back. Pop out down into myself.
- [39:45]
A
How did you discover that you and Carrie both had that? She came to me at 12, when I was young.
- [39:51]
B
She said, I, I, I, I think she might have been a year or two younger. And she. Mom, something really weird happened. And I what? And she said I left my body and I could see myself. Like, don't worry, you know? Yeah, it happens. Yeah, there's. There's a lot of weird stuff that.
- [40:11]
A
I mean, I think we say my two senses. We sometimes say weird stuff because it feels like you don't want. It's because it's real. From my point of view, it's real.
- [40:23]
B
Listen to what they're talking about. You're crazy.
- [40:25]
A
But that's all right. You don't have to believe it out there, but. And we've had Mary and I have had many. Mostly around Mary, you know, because she's very much open and in touch and all of that. But you had an experience after Carrie passed away and you were wondering whether or not. Do I continue, do I have the courage or the whatever to continue with the play you both wrote. And you were in Chicago.
- [40:54]
B
Yeah. Well, I said a prayer on the plane going to Chicago for the tryouts of our play called Hollywood Arms. And Brian was with me. And I just said, carrie, I don't know if I can finish this play without you. Please give me a sign. Let me know you're with me. So we land, go to the hotel and go in. And on the coffee table there's this huge array of birds of paradise. And I looked at the card and it was from our director, Hal Prince, who's in the hotel. And he said, can't wait to start rehearsals tomorrow. Welcome to Chicago. Love, Hal. So I picked up and I called. I said, how did you know about the Birds of Paradise? He said, what do you mean? I just called down, said, send up something exotic or whatever. I said, birds of paradise were Carrie's favorite flower. And she had one tattooed on her shoulder, a bird of paradise. So then the next night, Brian and Hal and I went out to dinner in Chicago. And the Meredith brought a bottle of champagne over, complimentary. And on the label. One of the names on the label was Louise, and that was my mother's name and Carrie's middle name.
- [42:22]
A
Yeah.
- [42:25]
B
Okay, she's with me. It really opened me up. Okay. Something's there.
- [42:35]
A
I don't mean I firmly believe in that. And I've experienced. We're having a James von Prague. I don't know if you know who he is. He's written several. He's a medium and he's written several books called Talking to Heaven, I think or something like that. And Mary and I were in a film about him based loosely on him. So we were around him a lot and everything. But now too many things happened that would make. It would be too hard to explain. It'd be too hard to be.
- [43:10]
B
Nobody else knew but you.
- [43:12]
A
Yes.
- [43:12]
B
Right.
- [43:13]
A
Yes. And there was. Yes. I won't go into it right now, but there were things where Mary.
- [43:19]
B
Who.
- [43:21]
A
Because you don't know. We don't know.
- [43:23]
B
Of course not.
- [43:24]
A
And that's what faith is. Or being curious. But it'd be too hard to try to explain it away as some literal thing.
- [43:36]
B
Exactly.
- [43:36]
A
Oh, I see what happened. Go for it. I'm happy for it to be whatever.
- [43:41]
B
A medium called me when we got to New York to open the play. And he said, I. Your daughter has gotten in touch with me and wants me to give you a message, some messages. And he said, can I come and visit? And he said, I'm not charging. I just want to impart all of this to you and please don't say who. Who I am. And we got there, I think he asked for something of mine to hold. And he said, Carrie wants you to know that she's fine. And I go, yeah, you can say that about anything. And I. So then he said, I'm going to tell. Ask things that only you would know so that you know that I am in touch with her. So he said she had a dog. It's the initial P. And now I'm thinking way back when we were little, we had a dog named Phoebe, which would begin with a P. And I said, Phoebe. And he said, no, no. And then it dawned on me. She had a Great Dane she named Peewee. I couldn't even remember that. And he came up with that, which is. He said, that's only because I. I want you to know she is in touch with me.
- [45:08]
A
Right.
- [45:09]
B
And there were a couple of other things too. She said that the set of Hollywood Arms. She said, they've moved the set from when it was before from. She said, from stage right to stage left. There was a bed, pull down bed and. Absolutely correct.
- [45:28]
A
Yeah. Why? You know, I don't know why, but I love it. I do too. And I'm okay with whatever belief systems are out there. I'm fine. Because it's not like, it changes my job every day, which is to wake up and be kind and nurturing and full of love and joy. That's my job. And knowing that or experiencing that doesn't change that. So I'm wonderfully curious, you know, and I can't. Part of me can't wait. Part of me can't. Part of me can. Part of me can wait. Amazon is known for its products, but I also really love their customer reviews. This holiday season, Amazon is bringing the most creative and outrageous customer reviews into the spotlight as part of their Amazon five star theater. Here's a review Zachary writes, When I am dead and civilization eventually collapses, this spatula will remain. It will be the only rune uncovered by some unknown species of the future upon which they base their assumptions of our existence. Eggs. They will posit these extinct people liked to eat their eggs scrambled, omeletted and fried. They loved to eat eggs, and this was their primary tool for cooking them. Now come, let us teleport to the Intergalactic Museum and put this device in the Milky Way exhibit. Five stars. Whatever you're looking for this holiday, find the perfect gift on Amazon. As the holidays creep up and schedules get packed, Home Chef is here to keep your meals balanced and easy. With so many options for delivery, you can stick to a routine that feels good without sacrificing flavor or wasting time on takeout and grocery runs. Home Chef is rated number one by users of other meal kits for quality, convenience, value, taste and recipe ease. I actually can tell you from experience that Home Chef is super convenient and several people on our team are big fans. Our engineer, Jo is a big fan of the farmhouse fried chicken. Maybe next time she can share with us. For a limited time, Home Chef is offering our listeners 50% off and free shipping for your first box, plus free dessert for life. Go to homechef.com Ted and Woody that's homechef.com Ted and woody for 50% off your first box and free dessert for life. Homechef.com Ted and Woody must be an active subscriber to receive free dessert. I'm so glad we had this time together. Yes. You're not. You're not free yet.
- [48:33]
B
Oh, I know. How bad.
- [48:34]
A
I have a few more questions. First off, Brian, I've watched you two or three evenings of being out with you and I love your relationship. It feels very nurturing and kind together. And do you mind just saying, how was that? Where was that? How did that happen? Who met?
- [48:54]
B
Who made the first musician?
- [48:55]
A
I know.
- [48:56]
B
So we were doing a show 32 years ago in Long beach. And he was the contractor for the.
- [49:07]
A
Orchestra, which means he puts them together.
- [49:10]
B
Yeah. And that's how we met. And just go back. Justice.
- [49:17]
A
Yeah. We got friendly.
- [49:21]
B
Yeah.
- [49:21]
A
That's great. So and. And that was it. From that. From that moment on, you guys were together.
- [49:27]
B
Yeah.
- [49:28]
A
How wonderful. That's fantastic.
- [49:31]
B
Yeah.
- [49:32]
A
What else do I want to ask you? I don't want to let you go. Let me stall by having a sip. That is awfully good. Did you recognize it as yours?
- [49:44]
B
Of course. It's the color.
- [49:46]
A
Interesting.
- [49:47]
B
It's kind of a little darker than bubblegum pink.
- [49:51]
A
Yeah. I don't have to keep you here longer?
- [49:56]
B
No.
- [49:56]
A
I am so grateful to be talking to you.
- [50:01]
B
Honey. I'm grateful you asked me.
- [50:04]
A
I do have one that Mary was asking. What is fame like now for you? Because people recognize you everywhere. Is it still an opportunity to give something to that person?
- [50:23]
B
Of course.
- [50:23]
A
Or is it.
- [50:24]
B
Yeah, of course. You know, I'm very fortunate because to be as old as I am, I didn't have all. All the problems that somebody like, God bless her, Jennifer Aniston, and these, you know, with the paparazzi, where they have to have security and all of this. We. We were okay. You know, when I was doing my show, and I always remembered. Well, I can tell this story. I was a big fan of the movies. My grandmother and I, we lived a block north of Hollywood Boulevard, and when there would be a premiere, if the grandma's Chinese or Pantages or the Egyptians, we would traipse down there and hang over the ropes to watch all the movie stars coming and going, you know? And aside from Betty Grable, Linda Darnell. Now, a lot of people may not remember her, but I adored her. She was so beautiful. And she was from Texas, and I was born in Texas, and so I. In fact, I think I wrote to 20th Century Fox and got a picture of her. So this one time, we're hanging over the ropes at a premiere, and she got out of her limo and is walking because. And Nanny. I'm nine years old. Nanny, it's Linda Tarnish. My grandmother grabs her by the arm. Linda, Nanny took no prisoner. Linda, give this little girl your autograph. She loves you. Just give her your autograph. Well, she couldn't have been sweeter. And she said, what's your name, sweetheart? And I told her. And I'm looking up at her, and I noticed that her nostrils didn't match. It was just a little millimeter off. That was her only flaw. But I do remember how sweet she was. And that means so much to, you know, people who are nice and they come up and say, you know, we watch your show and we love. Would you mind taking a picture? Or if they're very sweet and not pushy, I'm very happy to do it. And especially with little kids, because from Annie and from reruns and stuff, a lot of little kids, and they couldn't be sweeter, right?
- [53:11]
A
Yeah, I got. Because of the Good Place, which I did about five or six years ago with Mike Shore. And it's just a wonderful show. It's very bright. And each new group of young teenagers that 12, 13, 14, coming up watch it because their parents remember watching it kind of thing. And it's just so sweet to have people come up to you and just.
- [53:38]
B
Say, you made me happy when I was sad. As we said before, you never know who you're going to reach and how.
- [53:49]
A
I had a stupid thought, but it's. The memory of my stupid thought is very vivid. I said this and it sounds so lame, actually. We'll cut if it's too lame. I want to shake hands with everybody in the world was a thought I had. Now I don't really, but I want to greet and say, hi, we are all one to as many people as I possibly can. I really like that idea. Why I'm doing these podcasts is I did it with Woody. It started off with Woody, you'll notice sometimes you would love him, or maybe you do know him and love him, but he does this naturally in life. He has people and he just has massive amount of friends, real friends.
- [54:39]
B
Wonderful.
- [54:39]
A
I don't. Because for some reason, it's good. I'm not a bad thing. I want to go home to Mary as fast as I can because that's where my joy is. And so I love my relationships at work, while we're working. But then. Do you want to go have a beer? You know.
- [54:57]
B
Gotcha. Yeah.
- [54:58]
A
Yeah. So this allows me to sit. I'd be too nervous or silly or shy or full of false humility to cross the room. Although I did once cross the room, some green room we were all waiting in. And I remember getting down. You were sitting down. So I got down on my knees to say hi to you. That's a vivid memory I have of you. But I. I wouldn't do this, talk to you for an hour. But now we have a format, and I absolutely loved it.
- [55:26]
B
I love being with you, honey.
- [55:29]
A
Yeah. Yeah, Lovely.
- [55:31]
B
Love you.
- [55:39]
A
Thank you so much, Carol, for being here and spending time with us. Total honor. Please do yourself a favor everybody, and pick up her book that we discussed. It's called Carrie and A Mother and Daughter Story. And check out Palm Royale on Apple tv. Special thanks to bar director Kenzo Hahn for making Carol's Cosmo for us. The recipe is in the episode notes. Kenzo was recently named one of the best new bartenders in the US by punch. You can try their original cocktails yourself at a restaurant called Firstborn here in Los Angeles. That's all for our show this week. Special thanks to our friends at Team Coco. Subscribe and review on Apple Podcasts if you're in a mood or a good mood. If you like watching your podcast, visit YouTube.com teamcoco See you next time. Where everybody knows.
- [56:43]
B
You've been listening to where everybody knows your name with Ted Danson and Woody Harrelson sometimes. The show is produced by me, Nick Leow. Our executive producers are Adam Sachs, Jeff Ross and myself. Sarah Fedorovich is our supervising producer. Engineering and mixing by Joanna Samuel with support from Eduardo Perez, research by Alyssa Grohl talent booking by Paula Davis and Gina Bautista. Our theme music is by Woody Harrelson, Antony Genn, Mary Steenbergen and John Osborne.
- [57:20]
A
This holiday season, find something extraordinary.
- [57:23]
C
The Genesis Signature Event is your moment.
- [57:25]
A
To experience power you can feel and every Genesis. Genesis comes with SiriusXM three months of ad, free music plus sports news and.
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C
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