Comedian Bobby Collins

Sandra Furton Gabriel joined me to discuss getting a backstage pass to John Lennon when her husband played in his band; other jobs in entertainment; being a booker for The Robert Klein Hour; Ringo Starr; getting the job at Letterman; hard to get guests at the beginning; Kathy Vespoli; Bob Costas and Marv Albert were in the building; Bill Murray; pre-interviews, being a witness to Andy Kaufman's will; Tom Selleck, Dr. Ruth, Alec Baldwin; Halloween kids become famous; being on screen; Parents Night; Paul Shaffer marries Kathy; Sandra books his NBC Radio Show; booking Michael J. Fox, Peter O´Toole, Pee Wee Herman, Brother Theodore; Levon Helm doesn't show up, Gerry Mulligan goes on instead; Sam Kinison didn't go on Joan Rivers Show, it became an episode; guests Art Donovan and Charles Grodin; Vegas wok; James Brown; economics of guest booking, Johnny Carson guests; feud with Arsenio; guests Hunter S. Thompson, Jon Waters, Rita Rudner, Gilbert Gottfried, Howard Stern, Cher, Sandra Bernhard, Crispin Glover, and Harvey Pekar; quirky guests, Thanksgiving shows; leaving to produce The Joan Rivers Show; creating The View but having it stolen by ABC; finding Sonya Fitzpatrick, the Pet Psychic

Chaz Jankel and I discuss his changing his name at 13; his neighborhood growing up; producing an album in Port Jefferson, NY; skiffle music; Lonnie Donnegan; being into Afro-American bands of the 60s and 70s; Mill Hill School; Jews in punk; St. Martin's School of the Arts; turning to music; buying a Wurlitzer electric piano; getting a call from Kilburn and the High Roads; meeting Ian Dury; writing songs together; "Sex and Drugs and Rock 'n' Roll"; popularizing that phrase; putting together and naming the Blockheads; Chaz's soul vs. Ian's pub band roots; Ian being institutionalized and marginalized with polio; his boarding school life was tough; Ornette Coleman inspiration; touring with Nick Lowe and Elvis Costello; Top of the Pops; how it easier to be #1 in a small country like England; "Hit Me With Your Rhythm Stick", a sure and long lasting hit; hits are rare; "Wake Up and Make Love with Me"; "Inbetweenies"; comedy; living and working in New York; me going to London in July at 106 degrees; grass came back to normal color; getting lost; satellite navigation; "Spasticus Autisticus; writing his autobiography; his bizarre appearance on American Bandstand; his dance and other hits; why Ian Dury and the Blockheads never came to the US

Bobby Collins joined me and discussed Ed Sullivan; Robert Klein; Long Island Comedy Clubs; first time doing stand up; his first five minutes; following Freddie Prinze; working for Calvin Klein; being Cher's opening act; doing the Tonight Show in three different eras; testing audiences; different types of theatres; Stand Up Spotlight; having a special needs daughter; Jay Leno's work ethic; CD's and DVD's; comedy being the equalizer; dogs; not hanging with other comedians; his grandkid; staying at so many different hotels; and dinner with Sinatra and Rickles

Allison Smith joined me to talk about The Honeymooners; being in love with the Annie soundtrack; her family finding out she could sing; getting in the kids chorus of Broadway's Evita; getting Annie; her co-stars John Schuck, Harve Presnell, Alice Ghostley, and Rita Rudner; never taking a vacation in three years; only missing shows to tape a Silver Spoons; favorite song is Maybe; performing for Pres. Reagan and at Kennedy Center; Night of 100 Stars; getting Kate & Allie; taping at the Ed Sullivan Theater; memorable episodes; working with Jane Curtin & Susan St. James; getting down to a 4 day week; her and Ari's characters; being in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade; game shows; spokesperson for Juvenile Diabetes; anti-smoking; Friday the 13th; working with Angela Lansbury; Spy Games; Buddy Faro; her recurring role on West Wing; guesting on X-Files, ER, Will & Grace; her role as Patricia Krenwinkle in Helter Skelter; guest starring on House, Nip / Tuck, Children's Hospital, Numb3rs, CSI and Family Guy; doing ADR and reading books on tape; owing a b&b called Stonover Farm; working with the Authors Guild; writing an autobiographical fiction novel; working with Save the World; performing in We Are the World in Philadelphia in Live Aid; bootleg copies of Annie; getting her voice back in shape to possibly record an album

John Moffitt joined me to discuss doing the school news on the radio; going to Your Show of Shows live; going to Dartmouth; wanting to be a pilot; getting into the NBC management program but getting drafted; teaching Morse code; learning TV production in the army; working with Joseph Papp; hired on the Ed Sullivan Show; making videos for Good Vibrations and Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds; Albert Brooks; Lily Tomlin special; turning down being the director of Saturday Night Live; producing and directing The Richard Pryor Show; censorship; Star Wars sketch; Robin Williams; Fridays; the cold open; Diner of the Living Dead; Nightline kills Fridays; getting angry letters from Ted Koppel after a sketch; Ronnie Horror Picture Show; and his 40 + year relationship with George Carlin

Ted Wass joined me to discuss watching horror movies as as a child; Lakewood Ohio; going to the Goodman School of Drama; going to NY; getting the role of Danny Zuko in Grease; being in the pilot for Handle with Care; reading the Soap pilot and wanting the role; his character arc; finding out Soap was cancelled while on Broadway; Soap protests; Danny with Chuck & Bob; playing a rabbi; recasting; working with Charles Lane, Eugene Roche, Richard Mulligan, and Billy Crystal; Triangle Shirtwaist Factory TV movie; doing made for TV movies with Valerie Bertinelli & Phoebe Cates; getting cast and shooting Curse of the Pink Panther; Oh, God You Devil with George Burns; Long Shot with Tim Conway and Harvey Korman; pilot "Mickey & Nora"; short-lived show "Men" co-starring Ving Rhames; turning down Blossom until he is allowed to direct; shadowing Bill Bixby and Jay Sandrich on "Soap"; directing himself; Blossom wins a Humanitas prize; his late wife, Janet Margolin; directing Norm MacDonald, Spin City, Less than Perfect; not wanting to be a "celebrity"; directing former TV son in Melissa & Joey; 2 Broke Girls; directing 3 John Leguizamo pilots; acting for the first time in almost 30 years playing Blossom daughter Mayim Bialik on her new show Call me Kat

Marlene Weisman joined me to discuss props she created; Steve Martin's Penis Beauty Cream; SNL Rerun Pills; Chris Rock's Guide for White People to Survive the Apollo; props done for Howard Stern; her diary; being remembered at the 50th ; growing up and watching Bewitched; going to college to be a graphic designer; Monty Python; being in a Xerox show with Keith Haring; working with Thomas Dolby; working for Stiff Records; Phil Hartman; taking a Graphic Design for TV class from SNL's Bob Pook; getting hired; Mike Myers and her bonded over That 60's Movie sketch; creating Wayne's World logo; her co-graphic artists Doug Zider, Ira Rappaport; and Kevin Frank; learning Paintbox; working Letterman Monday through Wednesday, and SNL Thursday through Saturday; getting the SNL graphic list on Thursday; Davey Wilson's Thursday production meetings; graphic coordinator Steve Koren, then Davey Wilson's son Tom; Natalie Cole's Unforgettable Album Cover; drawing the pictures for Simon; doing Night After Night with Allan Havey on three summer breaks; creating look of Sprockets; Jim Signorelli; Chris Farley's Folgers Crystals sketch; working from 9 am Friday to 1 am Sunday with a nap break; designing post-show party invites; creating logos for Happy Fun Ball, Nat X, Massive Head-wound Harry, I'm Chillin, and Bullet Hole Tampons; drawing the More to Come pictures on the Tonight Show sketches; importance of Polaroids; creating graphics and voicing a caller to Coffee Talk; her work with Al Franken (Stuart Smalley); Crystal Gravy; having to draw the Scream offstage during the live show in a game show sketch with Christopher Walken in 1990

Ian Maxtone-Graham joined me to discuss remembering the moon landing; Batman; writing humorous articles in high school and at Brown; getting hired on Not Necessarily the News; Motown Review; being head writer for Comedy Central game show Clash; getting hired at National Lampoon; asking Jack Handy to submit Deep Thoughts leads to him getting hired on SNL; Fred Wolf; Fetal Abuse Laugh-a-Thon with Victoria Jackson, Woody Harrelson, Phil Hartman & Jon Lovitz; Glenn Close Christmas monologue; working with her again on the Simpsons; best comedies also are dramatic; creation of the Hanukkah Song; working with Norm on Update; getting three pieces on Jason Alexander episode; favorite hosts; Bob Newhart; Norm's Charles Kuralt; leaving SNL to go to The Simpsons; becoming the Tall Man character; "Burns, Baby Burns" original idea; hard to write for Rodney; "City of NY vs. Homer Simpson"; donated a cel to the 9/11 Museum; 70's NY; "Trash of the Titans"; policy wonk vs. populist; "Blunder Years"; Paul Newman guest voice; Smithers back story; How I Wet Your Mother w/ David Byrne and Glenn Close; Dads; importance of graphics on SNL

Andy Robin joined me to discuss being "Penske material"; Candid Camera; Emergency; crooners; Paul Anka; being a Mets fan; writing for and editing Harvard Lampoon; rally for Dan Quayle;submitting for SNL; a sketch he wrote is similar to one going on that week; he gets hired by Jim Downey; writes a Godfather / George Bush sketch for Joe Mantegna; Dennis Miller disses Vanilla Ice; writing copy guy sketches with Robert Schneider; on air appearances; Jeremy Irons; cut for time Steven Seagal sketch; Sandler gets a spec Seinfeld script to Seinfeld; Larry Charles works with him on stories for "Junior Mint"; not knowing he was hired becomes an episode; raisins disappearing after his interview becomes part of an episode; Dolores; The Barber comes from his life; The Jimmy sneakers were worn by Alec Berg; "The Bottle Deposit" leads to a real life crime; "The Comeback" came from Peter Mehlman; The Slicer; "The Nap" came from prop masters indecisiveness; The Martin Short Show; Nathan Thurm; "The Puerto Rican Day Parade"; Martin Short's Bette Davis impression; Michael Richards Show was ruined by the network; original pilot by Michael Ritchie was really good; going into pyschiatry

Brent Forrester talks about writing for "The Ben Stiller Show", "Daddy Dearest", "The Simpsons", "Mr. Show", and "The Office"