Greg Kinnear

Summary

Podcast Summary: "Greg Kinnear" Episode of Where Everybody Knows Your Name

Introduction In the July 30, 2025 episode of Where Everybody Knows Your Name, hosts Ted Danson and Woody Harrelson reconnect with the esteemed actor Greg Kinnear. The conversation delves into Kinnear's illustrious career, his experiences working alongside Danson, and personal anecdotes that highlight their enduring friendship since their days on the iconic sitcom Cheers.

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Early Career and “Talk Soup” Ted Danson begins by reminiscing about his brief stint hosting Talk Soup. Reflecting on the challenges of juggling acting with hosting responsibilities, Danson admits, “[02:58] I did it for a few years and then had to leave because of movie commitments.” Kinnear expresses skepticism about the show's existence, leading to a humorous exchange where Danson clarifies his time on the show despite the absence of records.

Interactions with Industry Legends The duo shares memorable interactions with industry heavyweights. Danson recounts his encounter with Johnny Carson, describing Carson as “the sweetest, most nurturing person I've ever done a talk show with” despite his intimidating pre-interview style ([03:32]). Kinnear adds, “Mary Steenburgen actually dropped out because Carson scared her,” highlighting Carson's formidable presence.

“Little Miss Sunshine” Insights A significant portion of the discussion centers around the critically acclaimed film Little Miss Sunshine. Kinnear praises the ensemble cast, stating, “[30:24] What a cast. Everybody was just so perfect.” Danson echoes this sentiment, emphasizing the quality of the script and the depth of the characters: “[31:02] I did not think Little Miss Sunshine was a shit script. It was a good script, and rehearsals made its brilliance evident.”

They delve into specific scenes, such as the poignant moment where Steve Carell's character reveals his struggles, with Danson noting, “[33:05] That is just such an amazing scene.” The hosts discuss the collaborative environment during rehearsals, which allowed actors to fully develop their roles and contribute meaningfully to the film’s success.

Transition to Current Projects Kinnear shifts the conversation to his current work on the Apple TV series Smoke, highlighting its positive reception and collaborative nature. Danson shares his enthusiasm for the project, mentioning, “[45:04] It’s doing really well for Apple, and it’s great fun to do.” They discuss the show's intricate storytelling and the involvement of esteemed writer Dennis Lehane, reinforcing the high caliber of the production.

Personal Reflections and Family Life The conversation takes a more personal turn as Danson and Kinnear discuss their families and the balance between work and home life. Danson reflects on the importance of maintaining strong family bonds despite a hectic career: “[38:08] There's nothing better for the first [years] till they get to about 9 or 10.” Kinnear shares insights into his blended family dynamics, emphasizing the joys and challenges that come with it.

Challenges in the Acting World Both actors candidly discuss the pressures and uncertainties within the acting industry. Danson speaks about his initial struggles and rejections, stating, “[15:00] It's just like this. Not as good as this. And then he said, I don't want you to act. If you're going to act, don't come back.” Kinnear relates by sharing his own experiences of facing skepticism and pushing through to achieve success.

Theater Experiences and COVID-19 Impact Danson touches upon his brief foray into theater, lamenting the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on live performances: “[52:14] It was a great show destroyed by me.” He expresses regret over the lost opportunity to fully engage with the theatrical experience, highlighting the resilience required to navigate such unforeseen challenges.

Closing Remarks and Future Endeavors As the episode wraps up, Danson and Kinnear reflect on their enduring friendship and mutual respect. They express excitement about future projects and remain optimistic about the evolving landscape of the entertainment industry. Danson concludes with, “[60:12] It's great to do this. I really enjoyed it,” underscoring the genuine connection fostered through their collaborative dialogue.

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Notable Quotes

• Ted Danson ([03:32]): "Johnny Carson was the sweetest, most nurturing person I've ever done a talk show with."
• Greg Kinnear ([30:24]): "What a cast. Everybody was just so perfect."
• Ted Danson ([31:02]): "I did not think Little Miss Sunshine was a shit script. It was a good script, and rehearsals made its brilliance evident."
• Ted Danson ([38:08]): "There's nothing better for the first [years] till they get to about 9 or 10."

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Conclusion This episode of Where Everybody Knows Your Name offers an intimate glimpse into the lives of Greg Kinnear and Ted Danson, showcasing their professional journeys, personal growth, and the cherished bond that has withstood the test of time. Through engaging anecdotes and heartfelt reflections, listeners gain a deeper appreciation for the artistry and dedication that define these celebrated actors.

Transcript

[Kelly Ripa]

Hey there, it's Kelly Ripa. And if you've been listening to my podcast, we are knee deep in season three. And if you haven't heard it, it's time to get on board. After years of interviewing celebs on camera, I finally get to bring you the real conversations that take place when the cameras aren't rolling. Where else are you going to hear Michelle Obama talk about keeping her girls out of Page Six? Hilaria Baldwin's hilarious reaction to Alec running for office? Or Jeremy Renner's lucid hallucinations about Jamie Foxx? Nowhere else. It's raw, it's honest, and best of all, it's off camera. And believe me, that's where you get the good stuff. So download. Let's talk off camera with Kelly Ripa now, wherever you get your podcasts.

[Ted Danson]

I don't know what sort of suggestion you're making, Ted, but I did not think Little Miss Sunshine was a shit script.

[Greg Kinnear]

Welcome back to where everybody knows your name. Today I get to meet and talk with Greg Kinnear, an incredibly talented actor who I've admired for a long time from afar. I'm really looking forward to this. He's been in so many of my favorite movies. Think as good as it gets, Little Miss Sunshine, you've got Mail stuck on you, Sabrina, Green Zone, and many more. He's currently starring in the Apple TV series Smoke. Meet Greg Canal. I think I was on your show, Late Night with Greg Canal.

[Ted Danson]

Were you?

[Greg Kinnear]

I think they say so on the Internet, but I could not find proof of.

[Ted Danson]

Oh, my God. You know, I did. I did a. A year and a half of it and we had so many people and I never kept any sort of record. All of the tapes are gone. I don't. There's no sense. There's no proof that I ever did.

[Greg Kinnear]

This show or that I did.

[Ted Danson]

Or that you did. Yeah, but my guess is that we. Yes, maybe you did come on and we did have a wonderful conversation. It was amazing.

[Greg Kinnear]

Who came on after you? Who took over that slot?

[Ted Danson]

Well, I, I did that for. For like a year and a half and went into Don Almayer to beg and plead to leave because I had gotten a movie and I was just. Couldn't do both. Blankman or as Good as it Gets. Well, I had done. I had done Sabrina as a talk show host and then I did another movie and they let me kind of come in and do multiple tapings in a day, which is why I don't remember anything because we do like five half hour interviews in A day. And then when I got that movie, part of it was in New York and it was just too crazy. So I. They let me out of it at that time. But, um, but I did have a lot of people on and I enjoyed it. It was, it was fun.

[Greg Kinnear]

Listen, if I could remember it, I. So it's a real good chance that neither one that it didn't happen.

[Ted Danson]

This is so great.

[Greg Kinnear]

I know two people.

[Ted Danson]

I think have we.

[Greg Kinnear]

I don't remember Carson either, so. Exactly.

[Ted Danson]

Wow. Did you do Carson once?

[Greg Kinnear]

That is.

[Ted Danson]

Where. Where did.

[Greg Kinnear]

Damn it.

[Ted Danson]

At what point were you doing Johnny Carson? That's a bad Johnny Carson.

[Greg Kinnear]

Right about there.

[Ted Danson]

Was it the end of Cheers? Kind of during his wrap up.

[Greg Kinnear]

The beginning of Cheers.

[Ted Danson]

Oh, beginning.

[Greg Kinnear]

And he had, well, first four years because it went on so long. Four years, still beginning. He had a guide that would interview you pre interview. And I'm blanking on his name. But he was so scary. He was renowned. He would say, nope, that story doesn't have an end. You need a beginning, middle and an end. And he would terrify you to the point where you came out, you thought Johnny was going to eat you for lunch. And he was the sweetest, most nurturing, I think, person I've ever done a talk show with.

[Ted Danson]

Well, sure, but he'd already put you through the meat grinder with the other guy. He had. The bad cop would come in and beat the hell out of you.

[Greg Kinnear]

Mary. My wife, Mary Steenburgen actually dropped out. Went, oh, this is. Yeah, I'm sorry, can't do this. Because the guy scared her so much.

[Ted Danson]

Right, right. I. I took. I. The only time I saw him in person was my. My parents. My mom and dad were in town and I was working at some like, low budget film company and a buddy of mine worked at Warner Brothers and he was able to get us tickets. And I went to one taping of the Tonight show with my mom and my dad and Harrison Ford was the guest that night. And Harrison, you know, well, he wasn't exactly playing to the crowd. I mean, he was. Hello.

[Greg Kinnear]

You know, and probably smid Stone. Possible, possible, possible.

[Ted Danson]

But it was. I remember thinking, my God, this is just such a small set. It's such a, you know, strange thing. And I remember thinking, this whole show is not working. This is going to be talked about for years to come as the Tonight show episode that just. It didn't work. It just didn't. Johnny was kind of off and they're gonna study it in film school. And then I went home and watched It. That night. And I was like, damn, that was a great show. All the stuff. It was a different energy being in the room. I felt. So you must have had that.

[Greg Kinnear]

They didn't play to the audience as much. They play very small to the camera.

[Ted Danson]

Right, right. Which was, of course, made it more powerful for the audience.

[Greg Kinnear]

But let me go back a second first. I'm going to fluff you up a little bit, which is also true. You're one of my favorite kinds of actors because you are. To me, you're like a leading man, character actor. And you're one of those people who, even if you're playing the second or third person, who is like the interference to the love affair of the other two or something, you have such integrity for your characters that I just find you charming and totally 100% believable. Thank you. Thank you. Yeah. And you've been in some of my favorite films. I. I was listening to an interview. You're actually like, in the billions of dollars, the films you've been in. Yeah. That's pretty cool.

[Ted Danson]

Yeah, but there's people who have done better. But. But I've made some. Well, I've been in some stuff that's made some money.

[Greg Kinnear]

Yeah. Not me film wise. But anyway. No, you've.

[Ted Danson]

You've not really made your mark and show business.

[Greg Kinnear]

Ted. Yeah. Why don't I go there? Sorry. I'm huge, by the way.

[Ted Danson]

I'm going to fluff you up in a second on.

[Greg Kinnear]

Okay, me first.

[Ted Danson]

Yeah. Okay, go ahead.

[Greg Kinnear]

But thank you. That'll give me.

[Ted Danson]

I only have about an hour for this, but go ahead.

[Greg Kinnear]

I want to go back. So you're traveling around as a kid because your dad was in the State Department.

[Ted Danson]

Yeah.

[Greg Kinnear]

So you were in Beirut.

[Ted Danson]

Yes.

[Greg Kinnear]

When it was gorgeous and beautiful and Paris, like. And then you were also there when the war started.

[Ted Danson]

That's right.

[Greg Kinnear]

How old were you?

[Ted Danson]

I was 12, so.

[Greg Kinnear]

Wow. So that's. Young man absorbing it all.

[Ted Danson]

That's right.

[Greg Kinnear]

1977. I mean, stupid question, but that was.

[Ted Danson]

It was. It was. It was quite, Quite amazing. And I. I still count. You know, my dad worked with the American Embassy and it. It turned out to be a great blessing in my life. Not so much for Beirut because we weren't there that long. We were evacuated probably six, seven months after we were there to Greece.

[Greg Kinnear]

Right. To Athens.

[Ted Danson]

We had to go slum it in Athens for the next six years.

[Greg Kinnear]

What year was that, roughly?

[Ted Danson]

That was seven. Well, we got there in like 76 through 80.

[Greg Kinnear]

So after the King and Queen and Revolution kind of thing.

[Ted Danson]

Yes, well, the Shah and. Are you talking about Iran?

[Greg Kinnear]

No, in Greece. Greece.

[Ted Danson]

Oh yeah. You had Papandreou was out. You had karma. Lis, if you know your grit. Exactly. Selenica. I might have said a bad word there. I, I don't. I only know a few, like basically curse words, so I had to drop some of those in. But I can get around in a cab without getting really, all that. Too much.

[Greg Kinnear]

Yeah, actually we were there for six weeks because my father was an archaeologist and he wanted to drive around all the archaeological sites in the Peloponnese and. Yeah, Sparta and all that. Yeah, and we did. And it was amazing.

[Ted Danson]

Yeah, we, we, we toured around a lot and just, you know, my mom would load us up and take us to places, but it was Mykonos. I had been to Mykonos. I'd taken a ferry to a bunch of different islands. All my friends, if you had a, if we had a three day weekend, we're going somewhere, Spetsis or wherever we could go to make trouble. And, and it was, it was a great, great blessing. But listen, Lebanon was, was beautiful, but it was, I. You know, you hear the Paris of the Middle East, I didn't see Paris in Beirut, but I did see a gorgeous country with lovely people. The Lebanese people are amazing. And, and they had coexisted this kind of Muslim Christian faction for years. And, and it just kind of broke down all in the course of probably about two or three months. And once the fighting started, it just, you know, escalated and eventually, as I say, my dad got reassigned and then got to grow up over in Athens.

[Greg Kinnear]

What a blessing, though, I think for a parent to be able to give their children the visceral realization that there are other people involved in this world and life than those who look just like us, you know, and sound just like us.

[Ted Danson]

Yeah, no, it was truly, I mean, like, it was just a gift. And I have a lot of really good friends who, some in LA actually, and just that we all had this experience together and we still talk about it and nobody is anything short of incredibly grateful as a kid to have had that. I mean, there was some, you know, there's times when you're, you know, you can lose perspective. And of course, there were times where I probably wasn't as appreciating as much as I should have, but mostly I feel like I was like, wow, this is pretty great.

[Greg Kinnear]

Yeah, well done. So in Athens, in high school, you did your first talk show.

[Ted Danson]

Yeah.

[Greg Kinnear]

How does one know? I mean that to me, Is almost like saying, I'm going to do. Stand up. It's bold. It's a bold move. I'm going to sit down. You are bold, Ted. I'm seeing it right now in front of me.

[Ted Danson]

I'm bold.

[Greg Kinnear]

No, no, you just lost me. What?

[Ted Danson]

Ted, hold on for a second. I'm bold. Am I to you or should I play to the camera? You don't give me any direct.

[Greg Kinnear]

God, I'm gonna have to start covering. All right, all right. I don't really know him that well, to be honest.

[Ted Danson]

We spent a wonderful half hour of television. Who? Come on.

[Greg Kinnear]

How did you go? Oh, you know what? I'm gonna do a talk. I'm gonna do a radio show.

[Ted Danson]

You know, there was a guy, God bless him, He. He was graduating. He was a year or two ahead of me, I guess, in high school. And his name was Tanner Parsons. Hello, Tanner. And just. I don't know why. I mean, I wasn't exactly the class cut up or anything, but I was, you know, I was kind of.

[Greg Kinnear]

I mean, I did.

[Ted Danson]

It wasn't like theater kid, but I did a lacking. And I was kind of like, joke around a little bit. But for whatever reason, this guy came up to me one day at lunch and said, hey, I'm graduating. And I was like, yeah, well, congratulations on that. And he said. He goes, I do this show, which I kind of knew about, actually, if I'm. I think I did know about the show because it was kind of a thing. He had a weekly radio show at the armed Forces Air base in Athens, which has since been closed down, and it played all over Athens. And, you know, it was pretty good output on that station. And they had this one little hour that they devoted to one kid at the American community school, ACS Athens, that would do this show called School Days. And he was graduating. He said, you want to do it? And I said, hell, yeah. So I went down there. He gave me kind of a run through. It was kind of like this. You'd be happy. She wanted me to wear these because you wear. You would wear these.

[Greg Kinnear]

Sounds sexier. Admit it.

[Ted Danson]

Damn it. Hold on now. Hold on now. Afrts Athens, Greg Kinnear with you on school days, along with Ted Danson. Ted, it's 75 degrees out. Beautiful, high, thin clouds. How are you feeling?

[Greg Kinnear]

Oh, my God. You're good.

[Ted Danson]

Thanks.

[Greg Kinnear]

Yeah.

[Ted Danson]

And then we play. Then we play some Bee Gees.

[Greg Kinnear]

So it was a music and. But you had to fill some of it with what, Life experiences or jokes.

[Ted Danson]

Yeah, exactly. Or what a Little, A little bit of, you know, talking about what was happening at, at our little school and maybe read a few announcements and played some music and tried to be funny and, and I, it was a low bar. I mean, I, you know, but it was exciting.

[Greg Kinnear]

We were in show business.

[Ted Danson]

I was, I was just suddenly in show business.

[Greg Kinnear]

Yeah.

[Ted Danson]

And, and there was a guy there, Kevin Andall great guy. He was a naval officer who was one of the DJs there. And he was like, greg, this is how you have to do it. He kind of walked me through. And so, you know, I eventually got pretty good at it and, and I did it for a few years.

[Greg Kinnear]

Okay, you leave Athens and where do you go?

[Ted Danson]

Arizona. I went to University of Arizona in Tucson? Yeah.

[Greg Kinnear]

My dad taught there.

[Ted Danson]

Did he really?

[Greg Kinnear]

Yeah. Professor.

[Ted Danson]

Oh, God, please tell me this is. I'm not being punked. Was I in one of your dad's classes?

[Greg Kinnear]

Yep.

[Ted Danson]

Oh, God.

[Greg Kinnear]

Can you get him on the phone?

[Ted Danson]

No. He never wants to talk to me again.

[Greg Kinnear]

I promise you. Okay.

[Ted Danson]

That's amazing. Wait, your dad was in Tucson? Yeah, at the U of A, probably.

[Greg Kinnear]

When? What year were you there?

[Ted Danson]

Roughly eight. The early 80s to mid-80s.

[Greg Kinnear]

We were long gone. Okay, so what are you doing there? Did you go? I can't remember.

[Ted Danson]

I went. I went there for three or four years. I started as a drama major. I had a drama teacher who kind of said, you know, came in and said, you know, less than 1% of you will ever make a living acting.

[Greg Kinnear]

And mine said that too.

[Ted Danson]

Yeah. Did you seriously?

[Greg Kinnear]

It's mean. Yes.

[Ted Danson]

Literally, kind of like mean spirited, angry.

[Greg Kinnear]

I actually called him out.

[Ted Danson]

I wouldn't call him out. I was. I remember thinking, that's what it has to be. But I, I don't know. I, I, now that I look back on it, it was like, are you crazy? This is how you introduce this concept to these.

[Greg Kinnear]

And we're going to study with you because you're, you know.

[Ted Danson]

Right. I was enough for me. I mean, it really changed the course. But it's funny. Yeah. Yours. Similar situation.

[Greg Kinnear]

This is cutthroat. This is. This is horrible. You'll have lots of disappointments. And I. Literally no reason, because I'd been in. I had fallen in love with acting three months before that. Before that, nothing. And I remember saying, no, you shouldn't say that. There are people here who really, really love acting and really want to do this. You should be encouraging us or something.

[Ted Danson]

And you stayed with it.

[Greg Kinnear]

I did, yeah. Well, I did. Craig. I mean, come on, man.

[Ted Danson]

Yeah.

[Greg Kinnear]

Cheers.

[Ted Danson]

No, I'm saying. I'm saying, God, how many times are going to hit that today? No, I'm joking. I'm saying, like, you stayed with it in I. Because the whole acting thing came way later for me because honestly, I really did feel like, you know, listen, I also didn't need a lot to push me off the bubble. I did. I hadn't fallen in love with. I hadn't had an experience where I was like, oh, my God, this is an incredible outlet. I hadn't, you know, I had done some high school stuff. I hadn't done anything in college. In fact, I auditioned for one show, didn't get it. Hang in there, you know, So I just didn't have anything that was right. Was grounded at that point. So even more vulnerable to somebody who wasn't encouraging and saying, you know, why are you interested in this? What can you do? So good that you stayed with it, Ted.

[Greg Kinnear]

Thank you.

[Kelly Ripa]

Hey there, it's Kelly Ripa. And if you've been listening to my podcast, we. We are knee deep in season three, and if you haven't heard it, it's time to get on board. After years of interviewing celebs on camera, I finally get to bring you the real conversations that take place when the cameras aren't rolling. Where else are you going to hear Michelle Obama talk about keeping her girls out of Page Six? Hilaria Baldwin's hilarious reaction to Alec running for office? Or Jeremy Renner's lucid hallucinations about Jamie Fox? Nowhere else. It's raw, it's honest, and best of all, it's off camera. And believe me, that's where you get the good stuff. So download. Let's talk off camera with Kelly Rippa now. Wherever you get your podcasts, sometimes an.

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[Greg Kinnear]

Talk Soup. What happened between there and Talk Soup?

[Ted Danson]

Right. So I, I did that and, and, and then I came out to la. I don't, I don't know why. I had a few friends out here. I worked at this, a couple of different jobs, odd jobs as we all do. I sold light bulbs and I, you know, worked at a low budget film company and I in the marketing department. Nothing to do with film, nothing to do with what we get to do. And, and I, while I was there, I got an audition through friend of a friend into MTV in New York. So I went to MTV. Remember how cool MTV was?

[Greg Kinnear]

Huge.

[Ted Danson]

J.J. johnson.

[Greg Kinnear]

Yes.

[Ted Danson]

And Martha Quinn. And you know, it was like kind of the height of all that. And I got an opportunity to go there and, and sit on the stairs and audition and say hey everybody, I'm gonna. So with that audition, I didn't get the job but I got a nice tape out of it that said MTV audition. It looked very official. A few, I think maybe six months later there was a channel starting up here in town called Movie Time. Before E was E, it was called Movie Time. Low budget film. You know, they would basically just show behind the scenes footage or anything we can get our hands on. And they hired these five hosts. I was one of them. Did that for three years and then Talk Soup. That, that still wasn't Talk Soup. Oh, I Talk Soup. I was like almost 30 when I did that show. So, so that came in like. Yeah, late 90s. Yeah. Or I'm sorry, early 90s. Yeah, I can. And then, so E. So Movie Time became E. All this consortium of companies. Remember when there was cable television everywhere and it was still trying to find its way. And sure they Cable ace awards, but they didn't really know what they were doing. I, you know, this, this kind of obscure Channel was absorbed by Warner Brothers and all these companies and they turned it into E. And when they did, they. They changed the look and the name and all the hosts got fired. Long, long continuing story of me getting fired. Got fired, Went off and produced some stuff. Came back a year later on Talk Soup. And that was, you know, kind of early 90s. And did that for. For three years. When you guys were wrapping up Cheers is when I was doing the show.

[Greg Kinnear]

I remember it was. And it was kind of surprise, surprising. It was like, wait, what is this? Who is that? Yeah. That was a moment for you, right?

[Ted Danson]

Yep. Yeah.

[Greg Kinnear]

Not acting yet. No, but it was a moment.

[Ted Danson]

It's like playing a part of a host who looks at daytime talk shows.

[Greg Kinnear]

But you were funny. You were very funny. So what I'm trying to get to is how the fuck did you turn around and get. I mean, some of the most.

[Ted Danson]

It's in there. It's gotta be in there somewhere.

[Greg Kinnear]

No, it is. But you went. I know Blankman, but you went Sidney Pollack.

[Ted Danson]

Yeah.

[Greg Kinnear]

That wasn't that long from Talk Soup, was it?

[Ted Danson]

No, it wasn't. I started Talk Soup and I did it for a year and a half. Bob Costas was leaving later, which was on at 1:30 in the morning, late at night. And that was a talk show which apparently you came on and I talked to you and we had a great conversation.

[Greg Kinnear]

Unbelievable.

[Ted Danson]

And while I was doing that show and doing Talk Soup, Sidney Pollock called my agent. There was a lovely woman named Lindsay Duran who worked with Sidney. She had seen me on Talk Soup and then he had caught. Somehow caught my show at 1:30 in the morning. And he was looking to cast Harrison Ford's brother. And he was like, listen, I just. Why don't you come in and talk to me? You're from Logansport, Indiana. I'm from Lafayette, Indiana, about literally 10 miles down the road from each other. I just come in.

[Greg Kinnear]

Yeah.

[Ted Danson]

And I was like, okay, I'll go in and I'll find some time for Sidney Pollock. I mean, I can squeeze that in. And I went in and I had a great conversation with it. Great conversation with him and a great.

[Greg Kinnear]

Did you read?

[Ted Danson]

Not the first time. He just talked to me and he. He asked me about acting. And I told him it was just like this. Not as good as this. And. And then he said, well, look, why don't you. Why don't you come back in a few weeks? You know, I'll send you a few pages and we'll just read through it. And I don't want you to act. He said, I don't want you to act. If you're going to act, don't come back. And I was like, I'm not gonna act. And then I went back. Yeah, a few weeks later, and he read Sabrina. It was just at his desk. I mean, he just literally read off the page. And I read it. We did it a couple of times. He said, try it a little bit this, try a little bit that. And then he was like, great, thanks for coming. And that was the end of it. I was asked back again. And this time, right away, Right away it was no, I was like this. I was like, every time I left, I was thinking, great to meet Sidney Pollock. That's as far as it's ever gonna go. Then. Great to have gotten to read with Sidney Pollock. That's as far as it's ever gonna go. And then I get the call, they were gonna put it on tape. And, you know, I think, you know, David, the great David Rubin, I believe, shot it and we just kind of put it on tape.

[Greg Kinnear]

And then once again. With Sidney or no.

[Ted Danson]

Yeah, with Sidney. Yeah, he was him doing it. And then, and then, and then I didn't hear anything for months and months and months. And I had a phone in the green room before I went out to do the late night talk show. There was a phone in the green room which never rang, ever. Never got a call there. And the entire time I was there, I'd be down there, they're loading an audience. I was always very nervous. And on this particular day, the phone rings and I pick it up. And my agent at the time, Greg Lipstone, says, are you sitting down? And I said, no, I'm standing up. I'm walking out to interview John La Roquette, who's just been introduced.

[Greg Kinnear]

It sure wasn't me.

[Ted Danson]

It might have been you.

[Greg Kinnear]

Okay, go ahead.

[Ted Danson]

Well, maybe. Because I definitely was a deer in headlights for that whole interview. But I went out after this news and I believe it was John, and tried to get through the interview and did my thing. But I was quite floored by what I just heard. And I even still, I think when it was over, I was like, well, this isn't really gonna happen. And it all happened. So that was my first thing.

[Greg Kinnear]

That's amazing. All roads and Blankman was before that. But no one saw that.

[Ted Danson]

No one saw that. I didn't play. I basically played because I was doing talks. If I played like a talk show, I was kind of doing a Jerry Springer and they gave me like two Lines. And, And I talked. It wasn't. It was nothing. And I played like a. One time a buddy of mine put me in to be a news reporter on something. So I had been in front of a camera, but I hadn't done any.

[Greg Kinnear]

Yeah. Was Sidney Pollock to you what he was to all of us? I mean, he was our hero. I mean, he was just doing astounding films. He came, I think, out of the neighborhood playhouse as an actor.

[Ted Danson]

That's right.

[Greg Kinnear]

So if you're gonna read with somebody. Oh, you were reading with a really good actor, even if he was doing a woman.

[Ted Danson]

I know, I know. And. And in one of my, you know, my favorite moments of all time was that scene with Dustin Hoffman and Tootsie where he's. You're not a tomato. You know, the, the. I can play a tomato. You know, they have that great scene. And so I was able to fanboy, you know, with him and Nancy Marchand and Harrison Ford. There were a lot of great people did that.

[Greg Kinnear]

Nancy.

[Ted Danson]

Wow. Richard Krena. The great Richard Krena.

[Greg Kinnear]

He. He was one of the first people to hire me. He was also a director.

[Ted Danson]

Oh, I didn't know that. I didn't know that.

[Greg Kinnear]

Yeah.

[Ted Danson]

Wow.

[Greg Kinnear]

Yeah. Really sweet man.

[Ted Danson]

Yeah, really sweet man.

[Greg Kinnear]

Of course, the thing he directed got me literally blacklisted at NBC from Fred Silverman for a couple years.

[Ted Danson]

Why? What did you.

[Greg Kinnear]

I. I guess I wasn't good. I guess. And he. The person I was playing against. Did you.

[Ted Danson]

Did you think you were. You seriously, you didn't think you were good in it?

[Greg Kinnear]

No, I. I think I was fine. But it didn't go for whatever reason. And he had chosen this young girl as someone he just really wanted to promote. Loved her. And when it first started.

[Ted Danson]

Grenor or Silverman.

[Greg Kinnear]

No, Fred Silverman wanted this young Aunt Jimmy to play my daughter.

[Ted Danson]

I see.

[Greg Kinnear]

And when we started thinking about it, but it got delayed enough. It was a good father daughter image. Then she grew and it became less and less of an interesting, acceptable kind of pairing. It was bizarre as a father daughter investigating team. Private investigating. Anyway.

[Ted Danson]

Yeah. Because the time of that is. There is kind of a.

[Greg Kinnear]

Yes.

[Ted Danson]

They took. I think it was John and Val. Will could tell this better. Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Ferris. But they were trying to get Little Miss Sunshine made for years and. And I, They. They tried to get funding and the funding fell out. And they talked to me a little bit throughout it, but it just didn't seem like this was going to happen. And finally it was funded by the producer Famously. Who? Who? Mark Turtle Tower. We just put up, I think, $7 million to fund the movie, and that's why it happened. But John and Val were obsessed with the whole thing. They were going out of their mind because Abigail, our little sweet Abigail, was getting older every single year. And in a way, there's a version of that movie where she could have been two years younger than she was. And there's a way. I mean, it all times out. Serendipity, of course. Of course. But that issue of, like, timing in terms of casting and acting, it's a thing.

[Greg Kinnear]

Yeah. My thing turned out. Later, he left. He left and I got Cheers. So life is good, but you moved to one of my favorite films. I started watching it again because I knew I was going to be talking to you. Little Miss Sunshine. It was just brilliant.

[Ted Danson]

Yeah, it's great.

[Greg Kinnear]

It's amazing. And what a cast. Everybody was just so perfect.

[Ted Danson]

Didn't know it. I read it and I thought it was Michael Arndt's script that shows you what I know won the Academy Award. I remember reading it and thinking, this is. I didn't think it was a bad script. I want to be clear.

[Greg Kinnear]

Yeah.

[Ted Danson]

I don't know what sort of suggestion you're making, Ted, but I did not think Little Miss Sunshine was a shit script. I do remember reading it and thinking, like, this is good. This is good. I thought it was a good script, but I didn't know how good it was. And none of that was clear to me until we kind of got into rehearsal on it and. And all of a sudden, I saw Carell being this guy, and I saw, you know, Paul, who. I was an incredible genius actor. Young actor, who I had actually worked with prior, but just in a. He had a little part, and I just. Suddenly, he was off the charts. Abigail, you know, Alan. Alan, you know, and Tony, who I'd worked with before, you know, I knew she was gonna be great, but it just. It was all the parts. And then actually, we had, like, a week or a couple weeks of rehearsal on that movie. We normally. You don't really get that very often in anything, so it was a real gift.

[Greg Kinnear]

Did you. Because it was a roadshow. Ish. Were you able to shoot in sequence, do you remember?

[Ted Danson]

Yeah. It wasn't in. It wasn't in sequence. No, no. We started. We did start. We did open at the house. We did open. So if you remember, they kind of start at the house and it gets into a conversation about, you know, taking. Taking this road trip and who's gonna Watch Frank and can Grandpa come? And, you know, all of that dynamic. That dynamic was like a play. And that's probably 15, 20 minutes. We did start with that, but then I think as we got into the car and the sequences we went to, it did have to bounce around a.

[Greg Kinnear]

Little off the scene where Steve. You try to stop Steve from describing that he had tried to kill himself. And why is that part of that opening sequence you're talking about?

[Ted Danson]

Yeah, yeah, that's in there.

[Greg Kinnear]

That is just such an amazing scene.

[Ted Danson]

Yeah. Frank. Frank. Don't tell him, Frank.

[Greg Kinnear]

No, no, don't. Yeah.

[Ted Danson]

Yep.

[Greg Kinnear]

Wow. You love being an actor. Yeah, I do.

[Ted Danson]

Yeah. I mean, I think, you know, I love when you. When you find something good. And this is a good moment to talk about your new show, which, you know, I saw, you know, on Netflix, and it's. You are so great in that. That show. And in terms of the. You know, there's so much nuance in it, you know, with the kind of the.

[Greg Kinnear]

The.

[Ted Danson]

The history you have and kind of your own, you know, your. Your own sort of fears that are established early on and your own kind of vulnerability. And then it's funny as hell. It's written so well.

[Greg Kinnear]

So well.

[Ted Danson]

And. Yeah, man. Man on the inside.

[Greg Kinnear]

Yeah. Mike Shore, who did the Good Place and.

[Ted Danson]

Yeah.

[Greg Kinnear]

So many other things. He started, basically started, I think, with the office.

[Ted Danson]

Yeah. And I've been told you don't introduce him to any other actors. You keep him all pretty much literally.

[Greg Kinnear]

That's what I was told.

[Ted Danson]

Like, if you wanted to just throw.

[Greg Kinnear]

A guy a bone or something.

[Ted Danson]

I'm just saying, you don't have to.

[Greg Kinnear]

Now, you know, I don't think you're right.

[Ted Danson]

No, of course not. I understand. And I wouldn't suggest otherwise.

[Greg Kinnear]

I mean, I will suggest.

[Ted Danson]

No, no, no, no.

[Greg Kinnear]

Actually, let me tell him.

[Ted Danson]

Keep him to yourself.

[Greg Kinnear]

I would if I was told you can only work with Mike Scher for the rest of whatever you got. Yeah, I. That actually is my plan. I would love to work just with him. I love that he's doing something purposeful. He's doing something where I get to be 77 plus and still get to play the tall guy. And it's a blessing. And he's talking about good stuff.

[Ted Danson]

Well, talking about good stuff. Yes. And then also. Yeah. And just the rhythms and the storytelling. Never at the expense. Always allowing for the joke, but never reaching. It's just. What a gift.

[Greg Kinnear]

I mean, Mary and I just finished the second season. Do you know, have you ever met my wife, Mary? Steenburgen. I don't know if you.

[Ted Danson]

I think she did come on my talk show.

[Greg Kinnear]

Oh, great. And you remember her, I'm sure. Right? Great. Just great.

[Ted Danson]

Maybe I don't remember the guys.

[Greg Kinnear]

Yeah, maybe that's it. Because we wouldn't go out with you afterwards.

[Ted Danson]

No, I do think Mary might have come. I don't know. It's all.

[Greg Kinnear]

It is a blur when you've done.

[Ted Danson]

You know, it's a blur. People are going to think this is crazy. Crazy. But you do know, right?

[Greg Kinnear]

Oh my God.

[Ted Danson]

Yes, we're allowed this.

[Greg Kinnear]

It is not just age, but when you've done, you know, you've worked with how many guest stars or.

[Ted Danson]

Yeah.

[Greg Kinnear]

You know, over the years it's like.

[Ted Danson]

Yes, It's a million things flying past the.

[Greg Kinnear]

And I am a little self. Centered. Self absorbed.

[Ted Danson]

A better word again. Okay, the director. Interesting.

[Greg Kinnear]

Okay, remind me, did you like my work? Oh, good. Yes, I do.

[Ted Danson]

You did. What is your name, sir? Interesting. And where are you? Which before we get to where you're from, what of my work did you like? Interesting, interesting.

[Greg Kinnear]

When did you get married in all of this?

[Ted Danson]

I married in Helen in 1999. Yeah, it's 1999. So we just came up on 26. Six years.

[Greg Kinnear]

Well done.

[Ted Danson]

Thank you very much.

[Greg Kinnear]

30. We're. We're approaching. No, 30. We're doing 30 in October.

[Ted Danson]

Yeah, well, we dated for five years before five. It's a long. As the kids point out. It's a long drag out.

[Greg Kinnear]

Yeah.

[Ted Danson]

Get to it a little bit. But yeah, so I. So I guess we're in the 30 range.

[Greg Kinnear]

Well done. Yeah, thank you.

[Ted Danson]

Very lucky.

[Greg Kinnear]

British.

[Ted Danson]

Yes, British. Beautiful.

[Greg Kinnear]

Does she still have her passport? And can.

[Ted Danson]

Everybody in the family has two passports other than me.

[Greg Kinnear]

Oh, you're screwed.

[Ted Danson]

So I'm screwed. So we get there and everybody just goes through that line and I. They'll see me in 45 minutes. Kind of coming through. The loser. The loser.

[Greg Kinnear]

Yeah. I'm buying a lot of Canadian stickers for my bags for our trip coming up. Yeah, it was like the 60s again. Yeah. No, no, I'm Canadian. No, no, I'm Canadian. Yeah, Canadian. So. And you have three kids?

[Ted Danson]

Three kids. Three. Three daughters.

[Greg Kinnear]

That's pretty cool. We have. Between us, I just have women around me. We have three daughters and one boy.

[Ted Danson]

Wow.

[Greg Kinnear]

Yeah. But we are a blended family. Yeah.

[Ted Danson]

Okay.

[Greg Kinnear]

We came in that way. So when you look at your resume, you basically haven't stopped working. More or less. You haven't stopped working. So did kids come with you in the Beginning.

[Ted Danson]

Or they did.

[Greg Kinnear]

The whole family.

[Ted Danson]

Yeah, they did. It was. It was really. Yeah. I, you know, I have so many friends who. They have. They'll have kids and they're always, you know, like, how's this work exactly? And I feel like I'm fairly well equipped to tell them that it does work, and it works great. There's nothing better for the first till they get to about 9 or 10.

[Greg Kinnear]

And then their friends are so much more important.

[Ted Danson]

So much more important. Important. Am I being generous with nine or ten, do you think? Did you expect me to go earlier?

[Greg Kinnear]

Seven. I thought seven. Okay.

[Ted Danson]

Okay.

[Greg Kinnear]

I know.

[Ted Danson]

I think I've added two or three years out of just like, they love me. But, yeah, it's probably. I think you're right. It's probably like. It's probably like seven or eight, but.

[Greg Kinnear]

But it.

[Ted Danson]

But it works great for that. And then.

[Greg Kinnear]

And then you pick up and get a house wherever you're shooting and the whole clan would go.

[Ted Danson]

Yes. Yeah. Savannah, England, various cities in Canada, New York, you know. Yeah. Just kind of buzz around and it's great. Great for them. Great experience.

[Greg Kinnear]

Yeah, great experience. And you knew that because you got.

[Ted Danson]

Yeah, I wish. My greatest. My biggest regret. We did take him to. I did a movie with Paul Greengrass called Green Zone years ago with Matt Damon, and we shot that over in Europe, and we were there for a while and we brought them over, and that was great. But I. I love that film.

[Greg Kinnear]

That was a great film. Thank you.

[Ted Danson]

Thank you.

[Greg Kinnear]

And there's an example of you weren't exactly the hero.

[Ted Danson]

No, I wasn't.

[Greg Kinnear]

But you have so much fucking integrity when you work in that. You don't. There's never a. You never sell out your character one iota, which sometimes is a bad acting temptation.

[Ted Danson]

Right. And you know, what does that mean? To show the audience that if it's.

[Greg Kinnear]

Comedy, there's a slight wink where I know I'm being funny.

[Ted Danson]

Right.

[Greg Kinnear]

Or I'm not really this.

[Ted Danson]

I'm Right.

[Greg Kinnear]

You know.

[Ted Danson]

Right.

[Greg Kinnear]

I'm a manly man. I'm not this silly person I'm playing.

[Ted Danson]

That would be horrible.

[Greg Kinnear]

Yeah, no, it's hard.

[Ted Danson]

There must be. But is there like a YouTube of, like, winks, like bad winks, where there's got to be the 10 worst winks.

[Greg Kinnear]

Judged by one of the worst, Mr. Danson?

[Ted Danson]

Well, no, I'm not. Not by you, but. But I'm sure somebody in this world has made an assembly of. Of these moments that I would be. I would want to see.

[Greg Kinnear]

This is a better a Better way to say this.

[Ted Danson]

I think you're in trouble now.

[Greg Kinnear]

No, no, I think it's better that I. That you see, sometimes people walk in and you go, well, they're not the lead and they're not going to have. They're probably going to have a part that's. You can they walk in with that on their shoulders. You walk in as the fucking lead.

[Ted Danson]

Yeah.

[Greg Kinnear]

Even though it turns out you're not. You have that energy, and that's what I admire. That's what I'm talking about.

[Ted Danson]

Thank you. Yeah, thanks.

[Greg Kinnear]

Yeah. And it was a really good movie for that time, especially where we were all feeling that.

[Ted Danson]

Yes.

[Greg Kinnear]

And then you went on. Was with Matt and Pete Farrelly.

[Ted Danson]

Yes.

[Greg Kinnear]

Was that before or after.

[Ted Danson]

That was before. Oh, during that run of Siamese twins movies where everybody was making them in town and it was like Volcano. Really. We got caught up in the enthusiasm and made our own. Our own conjoined twin movie. Yeah, it's a classic.

[Greg Kinnear]

No, do you stay in touch, Pizza friend?

[Ted Danson]

Oh, yeah. Pete's great. Yeah. He's like. It was so funny because he would. He would come up to us and be like, you know what? You know, why are you guys. You know, you're.

[Greg Kinnear]

You're.

[Ted Danson]

You're doing. You're doing the. It was just funny because he would come up to give you direction, and he would be talking to Matt and I would be like this.

[Greg Kinnear]

And then.

[Ted Danson]

And then I'm like, anything for me. And he'd be like, yeah, yeah, just try to. And then Matt say, what about.

[Greg Kinnear]

What about the thing?

[Ted Danson]

So literally, that was the. I did massive back damage on that show.

[Greg Kinnear]

How were you connected? Just wardrobe.

[Ted Danson]

Oh, it was a very scientific process, as you would expect from the Fairley brothers.

[Greg Kinnear]

You know, we.

[Ted Danson]

We went over two belts.

[Greg Kinnear]

Yeah.

[Ted Danson]

We went to their office and they got like a piece of Velcro and wrapped it us around and put a shirt over us and said, yeah, we'll do it like that. And. And I was like, yeah, yeah, Pete. That's my. I do Pete. You know, I do this. Pete knows I did this. But my Pete Fairly impersonation is. I only say one thing. Pete Fairly.

[Greg Kinnear]

That's good.

[Ted Danson]

Pete Fairly. I don't know where it comes from.

[Greg Kinnear]

Boston.

[Ted Danson]

Yeah. I love Pete and Bobby. They. They. They're. They were lovely to work with and funny as hell.

[Greg Kinnear]

Yeah.

[Ted Danson]

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[Greg Kinnear]

I think we need to talk a little bit about Smoke.

[Ted Danson]

Okay.

[Greg Kinnear]

Because that's out there.

[Ted Danson]

Yeah.

[Greg Kinnear]

Still drawing a lot of big crowd numbers kind of thing. So tell me about it.

[Ted Danson]

I think it's number two.

[Greg Kinnear]

I only got to, like, get into it a little ways.

[Ted Danson]

Okay. That's all right. It's nine episodes. It's Dennis Lehane. Yeah. Who's wonderful author, a great novelist, and a great showrunner as well. I mean, I worked with him on Blackbird and Taryn and, you know, showrunner.

[Greg Kinnear]

So he wrote all the scripts and was there. Didn't direct or did direct.

[Ted Danson]

Didn't direct.

[Greg Kinnear]

But there for all of your.

[Ted Danson]

He's there. Yeah, he's there. He's there. He's not. You know, I don't, you know, he's the hand behind it all and was both with Blackbird and with Smoke.

[Greg Kinnear]

I'm devoured his books for years and.

[Ted Danson]

His books are great. So I'm just such a fan. Just on a. On a reading level. Have you read Little Mercies, by the way? Just came out.

[Greg Kinnear]

No.

[Ted Danson]

Fantastic. It's so Good. I'll give you a little summer read. Tip. So he just is. He's just great. And. And in this, I play Harvey Engelhardt, who's the chief of this west coast town. There's been some. We have an arson investigator played by Taryn Edgerton. And, you know, there's been. You know, there's been a little bit more arson activity in the town than kind of at any other time. It's unusual what's going on. So much so that a police officer, played by Journey Smollett, who's wonderful, is brought in as well to kind of help out in this arson. Ongoing arson investigation. And that's kind of the setup for it. It's great fun. I really didn't get to work with Taran in Blackbird. I get to work with him a lot more in this show. Great cast. John Legazamo, and. Yeah, it's just a great group of people, and we're. And I think the show's. Yeah, it's doing really well for Apple, and it's great fun to do.

[Greg Kinnear]

That's great. I'm gonna watch it.

[Ted Danson]

Yeah.

[Greg Kinnear]

And you and Taran had just worked together.

[Ted Danson]

Well, we did the other show probably a few years ago, so. But I didn't really. As I say, I didn't have any. You know, when you get to work with an actor, but you don't really get to work with them. Like you and me in that interview.

[Greg Kinnear]

Oh, no.

[Ted Danson]

Curb. Yeah, right. We have to talk about Curb. We actually worked together, but we didn't really work.

[Greg Kinnear]

I watched you work.

[Ted Danson]

I watched you sit in the chair watching me work.

[Greg Kinnear]

Thank you. Which I do well.

[Ted Danson]

Yes.

[Greg Kinnear]

I throw focus.

[Ted Danson]

Oh, my God.

[Greg Kinnear]

I was trained.

[Ted Danson]

This guy is fully invested in your performance. In my. Me.

[Greg Kinnear]

Did you. Sorry, I don't want to. We'll go to a Curb in a second, but Smoke looks really good. And I watched about an hour, and I'm sorry that I didn't get to watch.

[Ted Danson]

No, no, we'll hook you.

[Greg Kinnear]

Yeah. But it's very cool.

[Ted Danson]

Thanks.

[Greg Kinnear]

All right. Kirb. Oh, God, that guy. So how did that happen? Did he.

[Ted Danson]

That happened. You know, there's been a couple of funny. I know Larry socially, just not as well as you, but I know him through.

[Greg Kinnear]

I don't know him socially at all.

[Ted Danson]

Two best friends I know and probably vacation together regularly. I know him from golf a little bit and through a couple of friends, and there's just been a couple of funny times where, you know, maybe we joked about me, you know, doing the show at this Point or that point. And it just never happened. And, you know, either schedule wise or else he didn't want me. And then they were doing the finale and. Yeah, I don't know exactly how it came out, but, you know, did you.

[Greg Kinnear]

Know way early in the season that you were going to be in the finale?

[Ted Danson]

Yeah, pretty early. And then I talked to Jeff Schaefer, so.

[Greg Kinnear]

Awesome.

[Ted Danson]

And kind of got the lowdown on, you know, kind of doing the Lawyer who Roasts Larry.

[Greg Kinnear]

You had to work your ass off. You were hired to be an actor.

[Ted Danson]

I was hired to be an actor. Like, I finally. This is, like. This is a curse of mine in the sense that I gotta do, you know, I can't imagine. I've played golf with Jim Burroughs, who's told me and kind of enlightened me on what a unbelievable experience would happen on those Thursday nights, you know, and like, you know, when you guys are doing a show and just the energy of that. I did an episode of Friends. My daughter was born the day I was going on to the show. I was so excited to go in and do the big rock star thing and have that experience. And of course, foiled by, you know, the kids and birthing of children and whatnot. So I missed that. So this was kind of similar to that in the sense that I thought I was gonna, you know, get the experience. And, you know, it. I was. I was gonna actually get on Curb and do the thing that everybody gets to do, which is, you know, do the riff and not learn lines. And you. Man, I wanna. Why should I get more water? I want some more. You know, when you get a. You know, and you get a. Just riff and. And of course, I had the opposite job where I actually had to say.

[Greg Kinnear]

You were really good.

[Ted Danson]

Meaningful.

[Greg Kinnear]

You were really good at that.

[Ted Danson]

No, thanks.

[Greg Kinnear]

So you. You learned well, which leads me also to theater. Dear God. Man, you got balls. You really do. Off you went. Have you done a lot of theater?

[Ted Danson]

No.

[Greg Kinnear]

Any theater?

[Ted Danson]

No.

[Greg Kinnear]

How did they know you could do it? We're talking about you playing Atticus Finch.

[Ted Danson]

I don't know. It came from Scott Rudin and he reached out and.

[Greg Kinnear]

I'm sorry, I didn't see it.

[Ted Danson]

I bet it was amazing. You and millions like you. Because we got blown up by Covid. So we did. I didn't. I did very. I did. Literally, when I say a handful of shows, I mean a handful. And we. We had. And then they closed it and it's never opened again. I shut the show. The greatest show, the greatest successful play. Of all time destroyed by me. No, it never, it never resurfaced. And I hope, I don't know, I've heard they, there's. I don't know what the politics of it all are in terms of not re. Positioning that kind of four quadrant. Great, right. You know, beautiful show that Aaron wrote. Him and Scott. I don't know. But at any rate, it's a, it's a.

[Greg Kinnear]

Did you have enough of it under your belt that you felt.

[Ted Danson]

You know, I got the whole experience of. It's funny, Larry was saying to me, because he had just done his play.

[Greg Kinnear]

Which he hated, actually hated.

[Ted Danson]

And he told, he told, he goes, let me understand this. You got to rehearse it, they put your name in lights, you got to go to the show, you do it and then you're done. You didn't have to stick around for six months. He was like, that's the greatest gig of all time. And maybe he's right. I don't know how I would have felt about it if I.

[Greg Kinnear]

It's hard, it's hard, you know, to keep it.

[Ted Danson]

The stamina and all this stuff. I never got the experience of that. Had the family there on opening night and got the whole, you know, fun of it. But. But it was also a shame to, to not get the full run of it. But, but I, I love the show and I, I love what Aaron did with the show.

[Greg Kinnear]

One of Mary's dear friends later in life was Gregory Peck. And to that day, I always thing about.

[Ted Danson]

Did you ever meet him?

[Greg Kinnear]

I did. I got to hug the man.

[Ted Danson]

Wow. Did he know you.

[Greg Kinnear]

I'm hug you too. When this.

[Ted Danson]

Did he know you were gonna hug him or was he like, hey, you're coming out.

[Greg Kinnear]

Know it either, man.

[Ted Danson]

You just come, I come. So I'll be doing this.

[Greg Kinnear]

Are you, you're not a hugger, are you?

[Ted Danson]

Get in here, Ted.

[Greg Kinnear]

No, that's not true. He loved it.

[Ted Danson]

I'm a hugger. We're gonna hug it out. Come on.

[Greg Kinnear]

Thanks, man. I'm sorry that didn't happen because I bet you would. You were great. I'll bet for that part.

[Ted Danson]

I felt it felt, it felt great. And as I say, I love the show and I love the. I mean, they had a wonderful cast, we had great people to work with. And obviously it's at the Schubert. You've got, you know, 1400 beautiful seats. I mean, it's wow. If you're gonna do a show. That's right.

[Greg Kinnear]

Did you do a handful? Did you do.

[Ted Danson]

Yeah, like a hand like, literally a handful of shows. And some of them were like, kind of test shows before we did the premiere. And then we did. We had like a couple of shows. What was happening right before. Cause I was taking over. Jeff had come back. It was late in 22, and I was gonna do that, that stretch, that 13 weeks leading into the new year. And I just couldn't do it because I was doing some. I was doing. I was doing. Working with Lehane, and. And so Jeff came back to reprise his original performance and just came in and did 13 weeks, which brought him to, I don't know, January 3rd or something like that. And then the new crew, including me, is taking over at that point. So the rehearsal was kind of November, December ish. And I was going in and hanging with Jeff just back in the green room and watching him.

[Greg Kinnear]

Who.

[Ted Danson]

And he was off the charts, amazing at this and knew it so well at that time, he'd be like, now you're going to hear a gun. You'd hear the gun, you know, and he just walked me through backstage, all of the pre game setup for the show, which was really interesting to see. And then for the three nights or whatever, we did this every night. Somebody would come in and hand him a piece of paper, and he'd be like, oh, we just lost three more crew people. And these Covid cases were popping in crazily. And I remember at one point he says, I feel like I'm on the last chopper out of Saigon. And I was like, yeah. And sure enough, once a week later, we started the show and just lost. We ended up finishing with 22 people, including yours truly with COVID Oh, I got it. I did. I did two audience shows and then had Covid.

[Greg Kinnear]

Wow, that's early Covid. That's scary.

[Ted Danson]

Yeah.

[Greg Kinnear]

Who knows?

[Ted Danson]

And that was the second bout. Remember when New York had started a heat? You know, there was the first one. And you know that we all went through in 21.

[Greg Kinnear]

Yes. But we.

[Ted Danson]

And then, if you remember, we made it through the year and then kind of seemed like 22. We were all gonna be okay. And then at the end of 22, it was like, no, we're not all gonna be okay. And it was right back again. Yeah. Would you practice voice at work or anything? You got to do cheers before a show. Would you just walk out and anything to it beforehand?

[Greg Kinnear]

We were young and very rock and roll. And it was. No, it was. None of it was not disciplined theater like moments. And by about the fifth or sixth year, you also knew that any mistake you made, the audience would love. And there'd be huge laughter, almost to.

[Ted Danson]

The point where it's hard not to make a mistake.

[Greg Kinnear]

Not to. Yeah. And we also. People would say, how do you keep something fresh after 10, 11 years? And you did it by not really learning your lines.

[Ted Danson]

Right. You know, the more you. That is a tricky spot.

[Greg Kinnear]

Right.

[Ted Danson]

Where if you know something too well, it makes the engineering of it just so much harder and. And effortful to try to deliver versus, if you. I get the notion of just the less you know, the better theater usually is.

[Greg Kinnear]

You rehearse and you go on these peaks and, oh, I got it. And then you suck for a long. Then I got it, and you suck. And hopefully you peak on opening night and it's like, oh. And then you keep discovering as you go. But for Jimmy Burroughs, who you play golf with, used to say, I'm training comedy commandos. You only have to. I don't care what you do during the week, just show up for shoot night. You know, just that way. Be there in that moment. I mean, that's the fun. Amazing thing about acting. For me, it's 50, 50 at best, that I will really be there in the moment as opposed to going, oh, I'm cooking now. Look at me. Or something. That's not genuinely being surprised by what you're going to do.

[Ted Danson]

Right. And do you miss. What about an audience? Do you miss that thing?

[Greg Kinnear]

Too scared to do that now.

[Ted Danson]

Really?

[Greg Kinnear]

Yeah.

[Ted Danson]

Wow.

[Greg Kinnear]

Yeah, I think. Got anything for us?

[Ted Danson]

I'm going to look. Dancing in Kinnear.

[Greg Kinnear]

No, Too scared.

[Ted Danson]

They're back.

[Greg Kinnear]

They're back. Can you look back and think of when you complimented me in this podcast? I don't think so.

[Ted Danson]

I think I can. I believe. No.

[Greg Kinnear]

Did you?

[Ted Danson]

Yeah. A man on the inside.

[Greg Kinnear]

Okay.

[Ted Danson]

Okay. That kind of blows your whole thing, right?

[Greg Kinnear]

I've forgotten that already.

[Ted Danson]

I was told to read that, too. I hit it all. You have. Long Covid. Eternally Long Covid. Eternal Covid. Hey, where the hell's Woody Harrelson, by the way?

[Greg Kinnear]

Hey, him. I mean, he, you know.

[Ted Danson]

Oh, he's such a big star. I am such a big star. I'm Woody Harrelson. Look at me.

[Greg Kinnear]

You're Larry David doing Woody Harrelson. That was good.

[Ted Danson]

That's Larry.

[Greg Kinnear]

Yeah. Oh, okay.

[Ted Danson]

I think we all picked up on the nuance of that, so I'm glad you saw it, but I was afraid people were gonna miss.

[Greg Kinnear]

He's working. He comes when he can.

[Ted Danson]

It was me doing Larry doing Woody.

[Greg Kinnear]

Yes.

[Ted Danson]

Yeah, Right.

[Greg Kinnear]

Yes, yes.

[Ted Danson]

It's great to do this. I really enjoyed it. Thank you.

[Greg Kinnear]

I'm so glad I got to catch up with you. Clearly we didn't talk to each other in the past.

[Ted Danson]

No.

[Greg Kinnear]

But thank you.

[Ted Danson]

This was really nice. Thank you. Thank you.

[Greg Kinnear]

That was the delightful winsome Greg Kinnear. Catch him in Smoke out now on Apple tv. Plus the winsome Greg Kinnear. I think he'll like that. That's all for our show this week. Special thanks to our friends at Team Coco. If you've enjoyed this episode, send it to someone you love, subscribe on your favorite podcast app and maybe give us a great rating and a review on Apple Podcasts if you're so moved. If you like watching your podcasts, all our full length episodes are on YouTube. Visit YouTube.comteamcoco See you next time. Everybody knows your name.

[Ted Danson]

You've been listening to Where Everybody Knows yous Name with Ted Danson and Woody Harrelson Sometimes. The show is produced by me, Nick Liao. Our executive producers are Adam Sachs, Jeff Ross, and myself. Sarah Fetter 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, Anthony Genn, Mary Steenbergen, and John Osborne.

[Kelly Ripa]

Hey there, it's Kelly Ripa. And have you been listening to my podcast? We are knee deep in season three and if you haven't heard it, it's time to get on board. After years of interviewing celebs on camera, I finally get to bring you the real conversations that take place when the cameras aren't rolling. Where else are you going to hear Michelle Obama talk about keeping her girls out of Page Six? Hilaria Baldwin's hilarious reaction to Alec running for office, or Jeremy Renner's lucid hallucinations about Jamie Foxx? Nowhere else. It's raw, it's honest, and best of all, it's off camera. And believe me, that's where you get the good stuff. So download. Let's talk off Camera with Kelly Rippa now. Wherever you get your podcasts, did you.

[Ted Danson]

Know 39% of teen drivers admit to texting while driving?

[Greg Kinnear]

Even scarier, those who text are more.

[Ted Danson]

Likely to speed and run red lights. Shockingly, 94% know it's dangerous, but do it anyway. As a parent, you can't always be in the car, but you can stay connected to their safety with greenlight infin driving reports. Monitor their driving habits, see if they're using their phone, speeding and more.

[Greg Kinnear]

These reports provide real data for meaningful conversations about safety.

[Ted Danson]

Plus, with weekly updates, you can track their progress over time.

[Greg Kinnear]

Help keep your teens safe.

[Ted Danson]

Sign up for Greenlight [e-mail] podcast.