J Ryan Returns To Talk About Jay Leno’s Garage & More

this is Steve Wier I used to write for the David Letterman show this is Mike Chism who spent entire life dreaming of being on the David Letterman show and will never happen watch his podcast instead welcome once again to the Letterman podcast my name is Mike Chisum uh okay Jay Ryan's come back and uh for those who have listened to or watched this show first and foremost thank you uh we appreciate that very much uh like share subscribe all of that crap um but but Jay is of course you know our community the community that we're building here um with the Letterman podcast that is steadily growing and and it's so cool to see that happen we're we're we're two and a half years in getting close to three years you know this in 2025 we'll have the three-y year anniversary of this thing and and uh um our community is really really important and I love that uh Jay Ryan has been there from the very beginning he was part of um the he was an architect in in in this show whether he likes it or not no and and I say that kind of glibly but uh but I just I I love this guy I feel like he's a brother from another mother and you know relationships with Brothers um you know they have all sorts of different facets to them my relationship with Jay is just like that we haven't caught up in a while and um you know not just you know his his his Letterman stories are fantastic um not just because of the the stealing of the microphone all that sort of stuff the the fake intern story is still one of the most precious stories to me of Letterman lore of that that he was he worked for you know uh as a fake intern for worldwide PS for a few weeks he's told that on previous episodes um in the car Community uh good VI Vibes Breakfast Club um you can follow Jay uh at Porsche life11 and then of course he is the host of on The Late Night playset um he's got Dave's old set and it is such a it's such a I love his show um because it was a show that he would do with his wife as she was uh going through Ms Nicole and we lost Nicole not too long ago this is Jay's second appearance I think since since we lost her and it's the first time we've caught up in a while um he went on a trip across uh America after she passed away and and and um I highly recommend uh checking out the Instagram where he he he went to all sorts of different uh places within pop culture uh on this journey that he took but we get together we catch up uh the first thing we talk about of course is the La fires he's down right in the heart of it um the night of the the worst night of the LA fires when when things were really happening I mean he sent me a text a video um from his from his patio watching a new fire startup in in Studio City and and and it's just um we so we talk about that and how things are affected in LA right now he goes through a lot of that stuff we of course talk about some Letterman stuff he spent some time yesterday at J Jay Leno's garage um and and and we go through some of the different things that have been happening in the Letterman Universe we catch up um it's just a great conversation with one of the founding members of the Letterman podcast Community uh Letterman podcast is one sponsor one sponsor only that is hellodd deli.com go to Hello deli.com uh for official Late Show with David Letterman merchandise like mugs and hats and shirts and all that sort of stuff you can also go to the official Letterman at Letterman store as well um but uh yeah I'm just really really happy to catch up with my friend uh Jay Ryan I hope you enjoy being part of the conversation yeah that's actually one thing I want to start this thing with uh Jay Ryan I'm so happy to see you uh we're both turning into old men at the same time and we haven't compared notes and simultaneously there are two things happening both have the Beards I love the beard and I don't know when you're gonna pull the trigger and get rid of the beard but I love it I did it already I'm sorry I did it yesterday oh it's trimmed that's the this is whatever yeah it was a it was a big huge bushy mess but then we had went over to Jay Lena's garage yesterday so I didn't want to look like like crazy and then also we had Magnus on the show last night Magnus Walker who has a giant beard so no matter what I had next to him it would have been inferior so I just figured I'd buzz it buzz it down to whatever the normal three is or whatever this whatever this Don Johnson look is well it look I'm it's you look great uh here's the other thing uh I they haven't arrived yet I've still got the glasses that you have uh met me with uh and and I've used but uh in a few days uh my my progressives my bifocals arrive and uh that is that is happening I know same thing with you that's that where we're we're losing the battle of vision when it comes to uh aging right now you're going through the same thing I am it's harder in the studio it's not so bad just walking around um y I mean I'm okay right now but somehow when you're in the studio and all the lights are in your eyes then I can't read the phone or anything I'm doing all this uh for me it was on the trip it was on the road trip my aunt I visited my aunt in p penia and she saw me doing you know the the 40 reach or 50 reach or whatever however age you are y she goes just do me a favor and try these and I did and I was like God damn it of course I needed them I probably needed them a few years ago I don't need them all the time but sometimes when I usually when I'm fatigued if I've been on the phone too much or uh in the case of the road trip I was just driving with that thousand yards stair looking out at the Horizon for x amount of hours a day yep and then you you get into your hotel room and you try to look at your phone and you're like what the hell yeah um I I I had been getting by with zooming things on my phone whether it was on the Kindle or whether it was you know being able to zoom things and I was kind of Getting By but then I got the zi book The Carson uh Carson the Magnificent and reading it and I wanted to inhale the book and I'm used to being able to do that when a book that I love comes out I or or want to love I inhale it and I could not I could not do it and uh that was what made me oh okay let's get them checked and sure enough yep you're an old man Mike you're getting the bifocal here we go and uh they'll be here in a couple of days so I'm very excited about that because then I can read again uh it's really good to see you it's good to see you too and your old glasses and my old glasses um before we get into anything here um and I appreciate very very much I I I haven't watched uh magnus's um uh episode yet but but Phil you and Phil um I thought did a really amazing thoughtful job uh talking about the state of La where I'm from we've been through the fires we've we've had um not 12,000 but we're also you know much smaller populace wise hundreds and hundreds of structures have burned in my area there's a fire season where I live uh we know what it's like um last week watching your episode with him I thought you captured all the feelings I had a bunch of PTSD feelings of how you uh everything from the survivors guilt to um just the cloud of of energy that hangs over um after a disaster happens like this where we are right now um on the 30th of January how are things in LA right now from a fire perspective are things under control how what's the mood um is it still more the same no I mean it's it's a saga right because we none of us we were on the air three weeks ago on a Tuesday night doing a show we didn't know what was going to be but I was just on the air talking to people and sure enough there was breaking news so I covered it like we were the news it was kind of crazy I just I saw saw it in the background so every once in a while I just kind of throw to it and we were watching the start of this thing that none of us knew would become like a three-week long Saga yeah um in Elliot sort of felt like uh Co a little bit where it was kind of like everything was fine and then it wasn't and now we don't know what to do that sort of was a little bit of PTSD um you know we've had a little bit of rain and snow up in the higher elevations um since since all of this so that has helped obviously a bit um helped peace of mind I think it's helped the energy around here I think it's helped take people's stress level down when it's happening um whether or not it's your town when it's happening in all these strange places and Pockets there was no Rhyme or Reason to it so while you weren't on fire or evacuating right now that didn't mean you wouldn't be in 15 minutes it was it was a weird there was everybody was on edge and I would say that that's probably gone away a bit um but for the people who have suffered losses that's what we were trying to say is not gone that energy is felt everywhere because just because of the sheer number I don't care how many millions of people are in La when you lose 10,000 12,000 whatever it is however many thousands of uh structures homes everybody knows someone yep you know everyone is affected somehow if not directly indirectly um so it's it's it's strange there was I don't know after maybe five days of like you know you're glued to it just it was just like Co where it was like all you had to you could only stay home and watch TV to figure out what was going on out there or we I would go out to the pool deck and you know it's a 360 view of the San Fernando Valley so you've got all of the hills and all the surrounding so I oh there's the Palisades oh there's the eaten one oh there's the Hollywood there's the Studio City one it was very very strange but you couldn't do anything about it you know you just had to kind of stay put um I don't know I don't know it's it's a it's a terrible time I've got i a I think because of social media and because of Good Vibes and you know car community and stuff like that I know a lot more people that I ever have in my life and dozens isn't enough it's somewhere between 50 and 100 people that I know that I've lost everything you know one home multiple homes garage with cars businesses um it's kind of crazy and then after like five days of that craziness I went down to San Diego to go see Nicole's brother was in town and uh that's only a couple hours away so I I made sure to go see them despite the situation and then you get out of town and it's like business as usual I mean it was on the news down there but like you could go outside you couldn't smell the smoke it was it was wild only a few hundred miles away crazy it's yeah it's it's it's extremely isolating when it comes to that we've gone through the same thing um you know in 03 we had a really uh you know bad one and then and then two years ago again the same thing and and for us it's happened in you know the tail endend of the summer and then fall and and we talk about containment and and when the new cycle kind of ends and it moves on to something else whatever everyone else is paying attention to our reality is oh no this fire okay we may have the fire lines so people are safe but it's not until winter that this fire will actually go out like it's going to be going for on and on that's still happening like it's not like all these fires are out um but it's no longer raining Ash and yeah I think the fires are out I think I think the containment is a is a is sort it confuses some people I actually had to ask some US Forest Service firefighter friends to say what is the deal what does that mean they uh and we talked about this on the show last night so if you watch the Magnus show you here again but uh they apparently have to dig a trench around the entire perimeter of the fire in order to call it contained yeah so that number that we're watching sometimes it goes up quickly sometimes it goes up slowly is is is Manpower we're looking at it really has less to do with the fire itself the burning of the fire um it's more like an official designation of of you know how they do things uh which I was fascinated by I didn't know that yeah you learn a lot uh you you definitely learn a lot when stuff like this is happening um so all I meant by that was like we still may not be at at zero contain or 100% containment but I I I mean I think the fires are out I don't know how they could have we've got mudslides are our problem now you know because of all the the rain and stuff uh last week all the the precipitation snow and rain and you think think about the old Carson joke the mud slides are putting out the fires um yeah it's all I thought about I can't make it anymore because one politically correctness plus nobody remembers Johnny Carson which is a total bummer for me me too living in the living in the wrong generation oh my gosh me too um so so uh put it in perspective is good VI like we're Thursday night we're recording this is Good Vibes happening tomorrow morning it is first first one since though so we've been out for wet a month I guess it's going to be very interesting to see you know Good Vibes is this community that you have and and the energy there is so amazing uh I believe that many people are going to be comforted and uh it'll be a nice measure of support for many people having that event tomorrow I hope you're right I mean that's I need it they're not alone yeah absolutely and you need it there there you go um you're back on the air good uh late night playset is back on the air again and uh every Tuesday it's been happening three three weeks in a row um how's it feeling I think it's more than that I think it's four it's since I've been back in town um it's okay I don't know what I'm doing it feels like Square One in some ways because the show that we were doing is no more there's no reason for it it doesn't have a purpose uh yet I'm still here so you know the first one back was kind of talking about that like I don't need to be here anymore uh this was originally for her and then it turned into some uh you you know a deep seated apology to David Letterman for some misgivings for my childhood but we you know Nicole's not here anymore and I already said sorry Dave so um I couldn't figure out what why I would keep doing it so uh but other people whenever I would say that to a friend they would always say oh well you got to keep doing it and I said but you but yeah but you love me you're my friend like you of course you're saying that but like what's the point of the thing why do it um and and so we posed that to the audience and then it turned out that um that they needed it and then that gave me some motivation because I used to do things for Nicole and she's not here anymore and I'm not motivated enough to do things for myself maybe motivated isn't the right word but you know what I mean I I uh whether it's the self- Loa deep inside me or um or the classic performers uh uh uh what do you call that when you have impostor syndrome yeah you know I think all of those things factor in but if I'm doing something for somebody else I have all of the motivation in the world all of the energy uh I can summon it from the universe to do something for somebody else um so that's where we're going with it we're letting the audience tell us what we want to do or what what we should do say right you know what I mean the audience will tell us what they want 100% yeah and and and I'm grateful for that uh really grateful that that that's happening for you for a variety of reasons I think that the creative in you I I you know I've watched your Evolution as you have um you know both for the theme of the show but also you I I feel like you really enjoy doing it if there's people out there who do appreciate I think I think it's reciprocal to a point um I don't know that's just my my observation would you would you agree with that well yeah but it's another ver I think you said better what I was trying to say like I'm not I I'm not as I'm not as good behind the desk if it's for me because that who we've seen that story we've heard that story like what move on what's next yeah but if the guy behind the desk is performing a service like the professionals do whether it's in entertainment news you know whatever their purpose is um then there's a reason to do it then then I'm motivated to be good at it I'm motivated to put effort into it I'm motivated to use my energy to make myself better you know to to to be better for the audience um the viewer um I don't know it's a work in progress just like me I you know I'm I'm back but I'm not my mind is still a mess I don't know what I'm doing or why I'm doing it yeah so for somebody like our audience to say you know but we want you to do this and here's why and you know um not only is that good to hear but it then sometimes Spurs my creativity to then be like oh okay if that's the Avenue you want like maybe I could I can I can help I can come up with more things down that path or whatever I don't know um I really don't put much thought into it that's the truth like this conversation is way more thought than I've ever put into it like it's sort of I treat our show like um well the shows without a guest which I would I we're figuring that out um the shows where it's just me and the audience talking to camera and going through comments and stuff like that those are very interesting to me and I treat those like standup um but what I mean by that is uh how I would do stand up I treat that those like stand up in that I don't I'm not good with material I'm not good with what's the Cadence and the pacing of this joke I'm good with sharing a story come along with me on this ride I guarantee it's going to take you places and that's what those you know one-on-one shows feel like for me uh there's probably a little bit of prep done for the guest shows just because you got to figure out what the hell you're going to talk about but um you don't know what's going to happen what people are going to bring on those one-on-one talk to camera shows and that is very fascinating to me it's not a it's not something we ever really leaned into I joked about it a lot about doing like a Frasier call-in show you know yep um not that I'm a psychiatrist but just to to talk to somebody yeah and uh and it's funny if you joke about something enough it it seems to man is that word again manifest itself in your life it's true though oh it's of course it is you put it out there you get it back there you go yeah yeah for sure uh you know it's funny for me as a member of the audience who loves your show also you know I always my take on it um and I haven't shared this take with you here because you know one of the things that you and I have kind of said okay let's let's say for the podcast this kind of a thing and I haven't I haven't said this to you but to me watching you and Nicole use the show as something to maybe tether to or a flag to be planted that you know oh we weren't we weren't doing well today but we gathered it up for the show and in the show there was genuine laughter there were genuine moments of insight where you both kind of rose up and brought yourselves out and and and um you know the show was a I don't know a support a measure of support for you but also Al the community who loves you uh not just the audience that you've garnered and created here but the gvbc audience and and and and everybody love that it was it was one of those things with her being gone to me and knowing and knowing also the future project that's happening the ranch um and the idea that you know the playset will potentially or a version of it will transform itself uh and reinvent itself up there this is a yeah or there'll be some show up there I don't know at this point who knows if it'll be the David Letterman set whatever yeah there'll be there'll be some kind of live podcasty thing up there yeah and this here uh the previous Incarnation was so much about healing and dealing um well we love you and to see you be able to heal and deal now using this to me makes a lot of sense again as somebody who loves you but loves the show as well and then also to transition over to whatever the new the new normal is going to be there to me that just makes sense um so again that's my that's my two cents on it I don't know I'm sure a lot of people have expressed similar sentiments I we talked about this a little bit on the show last night we I think for me that you know we're just a muscle and um you know you don't necessarily want to go to the gym or yoga or Pilates or whatever your workout of choice is you may not necessarily want to go for a run but when you do go to the gym go to yoga go to Pilates go for the run you inevitably feel better afterwards so it sort of feels like that uh I would I made the probably therapy it's probably a little bit of therapy for me especially those one-on-one shows because uh while I tend to share a little bit about whatever I'm going through really it's it's more about talking to the other people and then sometimes that's nice to just know that you're not the only one with problems yeah um oh man you're preaching to the choir on that one I I the power of you're not alone and I mean the specific unique problems okay fine you know the it's it's situational for each person but uh the commonality of you're not alone you're other people are going through stuff and things like that no it's all good all good looks gorgeous I kicked the camera sorry but the idea that you're not alone is a powerful notion um sometimes even a life-saving notion I'm not I'm not you know being hyperbolous when I say that like no I know not in my case thank God but but yeah uh yeah I mean there yeah you're right there i' say for every suicide in the world ever you know you wish there was something you could have done so um yeah I agree yeah yeah and and and and people who are um living that quiet life of desperation um sometimes the key to that right there is just knowing that you're not alone you're not the only one going through this right now and and you can save yourself a lot of strife just with that one concept and I'm certain that uh that your show um has expressed that for people over and over and over again over the years I know I certainly felt it every time I was part of it um because people commenting and they would talk about you know um you know react they would react to What Nicole was going through that vulnerability to what you were going through the vulnerability of of of of being the uh the other side of that coin and and people would you know want to either open up or or talk about the idea of the communal spirit and that's what you have just just done organically the universe has just said hey Jay you're a pi Piper you can build a community and I think that's a strength of the communities that you build I it's funny you bring that up struggling with that lately um I would say prior to the trip I felt I mean it's no secret Nicole was my better half she was if this thing is a is a team and we were each half it wasn't 50/50 she was the better half I am aware of that so I think that I was really struggling with once there wasn't a Nicole and the team of whatever Jay it's just the Jay show now and when when Jay was part of a show and the other partner was the stronger half now it's just the weaker half show I think I was afraid that they wouldn't be there anymore maybe wouldn't like me as much I don't know all the probably everything that you ever fear as a kid on the high school or you know what I mean at the I think I think all of that um and somewhere along this journey um it's come to light that uh you know that that's not the case and that that these supporters the viewer the gbpc attendee um the Instagram subscriber whatever it happens to be um they seem to be getting something out of this relationship which with just Jay just the weaker part um I like to think that my uh beautiful wife Nicole God Rest Your Soul by the way I said that earlier today for the first time and I realized that those were not just words that's real uh I would like to than that she's giving me strength currently to make me better every day so that I can be better for the viewer the television audience the Instagram subscriber the GBP attendee and so I'm trying I'm trying I want to be better so um for our for our viewers or listeners who um may not have heard any of your return shows Oren or watched your return shows yet um I'll ask the question I know the answer she's still talking to you she's still with you she's still strong as ever yeah I don't know how any of this works yeah I still feel connected to her of course I still talk to her I mean I still live in the same place you know what I mean so like everything is a reminder yeah and for the last you know month we've been somewhat cooped up here I haven't been going out and doing as many things because we haven't had as many things to do so yeah I still talk to her all the time I mean I don't know what that I don't know if that says something about her being around or if that says something about me and the kind of person I am and what I believe but yeah I I talk to her several times a day yeah she's I guess you know we've talked about this before is she still pranking you is she still do you still feel her uh you know Mis almost mischievousness the that that Spirit there or on the trip this is one of the questions I wanted to ask uh because that was very strong before the trip and I'm curious if on the trip there were any measures of releasing the God Rest Your Soul like what you just said you know God Rest um is there was there any releasing that happened on that trip as far as that was concerned uh I think I thought so a couple times yeah first of all I was gone a long time I was gone way longer than I thought I'd be and uh you know a month trip is plenty that's that would be a long time and I intended to gone a month I was gone like two and a half weeks it was 10 weeks so um yeah it happened a bunch but none of it was permanent because the moment I came back here it all you know so did the emotions and I came back right before the holidays literally a couple days before Christmas yeah so uh after just spending Thanksgiving and her birthday with her parents and her family so there's a lot to this there's so many facets it's like you can't unpack on a podcast no you know I mean you'd need to do a podcast series just on this yes um and and and you know and perhaps a measure of what late night playset is now is that series uh at least to a to a it feels well especially what I'm intending to do but no no but I mean how much of what has happened did you intend to do I think I think one of the things very little that's that's one of the that's but I've been that way my whole life and people have always sort of been like but why don't you plan I I I say but what what is the first thing you said to me that started this conversation wow you've had such an amazing life um right it's because I live it that way uh all in on the edge um no net that's how I do things I don't know another way it is incredibly stressful sometimes but I would imagine like a a gambling addict like but when you get that payoff oh it feels so good you know and that's what you're doing it for and the truth is if you believe then it does you usually work out nothing's perfect but it does usually work out and that's how I do things yeah um so one day at a time man more than ever before well and you take it you know I mean you know and we've talked about this before um both in private and probably on on on camera as well you know when you go through the uh the really tough stuff in life you know uh the idea the platitude of of of just take it one day at a time is one thing you know don't plan too much man plans God laughs all these adages right but then when it gets really really hard sometimes the idea that you're clinging to not just taking it one day at a time but maybe one hour at a time or even one minute at a time or I'm just going from moment to moment to moment that is uh again something that I think um is a testament to one of the messages you've always kind of put out there um that's a lesson life taught us so we you know we preached it yeah that's when Nicole was alive is how we fig you know what I mean that's just we had to survive moment to moment yeah uh but now that that has um you know changed now that your wife's dead I heard passing there it is there's the dark humor and you know all the episodes you've put out uh the dark humor has been there and and and and that's that's oh so that's probably her I mean I have that sense of humor too that's why we hit it off but I mean like she probably gives me the confidence to do the Zinger in those cases because I know she'd be okay with it I know she'd be laughing you'd hear the you know from her on that one she thrived there all of her old clients you know live in that place so yep it's comfortable for her so are the fires withstanding in La you know changing and and the whole industry changing for that matter as well have any uh any projects anything coming up other than the ranch um you know you you were working on some stuff beforehand I was I'm no longer working on some stuff but I'm also working on a bunch of other stuff so like I don't know I exactly what you're talking about um but there was a at one point I was going to do a car show and uh that looked pretty good for a while and it looks like that may have gone away but in its place will be at least two other car shows that I will be hosting um with different people um but you know we'll I'm happy to come back when uh when those things are a little more real yep but yeah I mean there there are definitely things coming up I'm working on all sorts of stuff behind the scenes it's kind of over woman plus the ranch which is you know for many people would be a full-time you know my entire world kind of a project as well so I I totally agree with you and and obviously you're right there uh unfortunat I mean so the point of the road trip was uh not the point but like one of the biggest Catalyst for me was to get my mind right so that I could attack this Ranch thing you know solid when I got back yeah and then I was gone longer than I thought I'd be and then there's the holidays and then there's a month of fires so like I have really been in a bit of a holding pattern with the ran the whole team has um so I've been doing all of this other stuff in the meantime because that's what you have to do I'm not gonna twiddle my thumbs yeah but I haven't actually been doing as much rant stuff because we haven't been able to get up there and all the behind the scenes is difficult yeah I'm very curious to see if in any way the well-known California Bureau bureaucracy will be in any way lightened because of the fire situ situation where we somehow May benefit of that which would be nice oh I sure hope so talking to some of my uh friends from from your area um you know and hearing their opinions and hearing them sound off on things and whatnot and someh who have uh you know been those people who have bought a place in belir or bought a place in one of these spots and they buy the place and they literally gut it and and and and renovate and that renovation takes four years because of red tape and things like that that happen and and yeah I mean they'd be lucky at four years if you're talking to business sometimes it's 10 to 20 years which is like that's why Nobody Does it yeah yeah exactly and so now we're talking about epic rebuilding on a massive scale um for people and and one would hope that that that you know the wheels would be greased a little bit for that and again I just want to say anybody who has lost I mean everybody's feeling it of course but anybody who has lost just just know that western Canada our hearts are going out to you we we we we so oh it's such a devastating thing uh I'm grateful that there AR isn't a bigger loss of life and I know that that's small condolences for people um many times you know but and it's now that the dust settling I think people are getting to that you know whatever happened most of it's just stuff surprisingly considering the amount of Destruction and Devastation I don't mean to make light it's any life lost is not okay but um it's it's it's kind of amazing that only x amount of lives were lost considering the catastrophic disruption exactly and I mean like that night um and I know what it's like to be in a place where it's raining flaming Ash literally it feels like apocalyptic hell it is described in many films or books that's what it feels like and that night like that night you sent me a video you had a video of the you I think you took it of from the pool deck that was the smallest fire that La had but it started while I was out on the pool deck I mean I'm T I'm saying oh here's the smoke from that one here's the smoke from that one and then I I look over and I was like wait a second yeah and sure enough and you know I went inside checked the news sure enough that's it's right there so um and then that the truthfully it got a lot worse than that I mean that was really not that I think it was two nights later maybe the original Palisades fire the fire that started it all the fire that burned all the to the coast why all the Malibu Mansions are gone that one burned all the way towards us till it was at the top of the hill that's crazy it's crazy it's crazy um it's a lot of distance takes me a very long time to drive to the ocean in Malibu yet the fire got here I mean it took it a couple days but that's amazing awful and amazing yeah the geography I I'm getting to know the geography of of of of of La uh proper uh a little bit better but like I'm sitting there talking to Hillary Rollins who lives in Santa Monica oh she was right there yeah okay yeah and at first when it she's just south just southeast of the whole situation yes and you're like oh Santa Monica it won't it couldn't possibly people would think oh there's no way it's going to get that far down or uh you know talking to Steve Steve Wier who's like got a a tie an emotional tie to the Magic Castle which is you know a block up from Hollywood Boulevard and well which and then one night there was a Hollywood fire that Magnus and I talked about because they had to pack the car um yeah yeah so that's that's my point is the conditions were such that it didn't matter that the fires weren't near you one could be near you in five minutes another one it could have been caused from those other ones there was a lot of rumors about arsonists I mean there's like sorts of stuff going on I think once la was on fire there were a few people that were probably pretty happy to see it burn I hate hearing that sentence and knowing it's I don't mean it from me I just you know uh Eat the Rich you know I've read I've read so many uh uh it was gut-wrenching watching some of the stuff on social media when we in this city were hurting when people were making it about polit but both both sides this there's no judgment here making things about politics and and um and uh stop it just it felt a little inapo it felt a little uh too soon they say too soon it was way too soon like it may be out of your news cycle but it's a little too soon to theorize while shit's still burning down here and new fires were starting every day I went last Wednesday to Malibu with Phil we went to pick up a name drop I had to pick up Jerry Seinfeld's old uh 1982 Porche 911 SC Target uh because I'm storing it uh in our garage because the uh the the owner the current owners lost their home so that day we were driving there and we're there's only one way in and out of Malibu so you know it 40 minutes to get there but then it was another 40 minutes just to get down the one single Road into Malibu and while we were there the wind started tearing through the canyon it was a the windows were open for a minute and uh and I said holy do you feel that and he fed it too and sure enough driving back that night another huge fire started and I actually was driving back and I I was like this this looks like another fire and I went to the news and it was a huge freaking fire so they kept coming up it's not like it wasn't one thing it was everywhere everything everywhere all at once anyway whatever I I know you didn't call me to talk about fires I'm sorry but no well it doesn't matter you're you're we're GNA my dad was a firefighter so all of these things are kind of sensitive to me he taught me about fire safety at an extremely early age and I'm like still very very I take it very seriously still to this day yeah so um to have stuff just so out of control where even the firefighters are be like this is this is Way Beyond us you could have every firefighter in the world here right now there's nothing they could do no um it was weird um just and by the way that was going on here I mean like the conditions were such that on the same pool deck I keep talking about on the third floor the furniture was blowing around from the 100 mph winds yeah sofas sofas that weigh a couple hundred pounds were going from one side to the other because it was like a tractor trailer truck just caught the wind and got moved so like I don't know you talk about such bummer that they people yeah that where was the water where were all these things yes totally you're right you're right about all of it but God was also Throwing Fire yes for lack of a better like this was bigger than us yes yes um and not to not to to make light of it or anything like that but but these little you know anecdotes or things that come out of it uh have you heard of any um you talked about you know Jerry's former Porsche that was saved um any any story you're you're deep into the car Community um and there are some awesome Miracle stories there we go and I was going to ask if there's any stories that that are of note when I say that uh mind there are but unfortunately they're so few compared to the losses what are some of the losses that that that that we hear uh like rare cars I mean you've got you've got rare cars all around you in your circle that that you've seen you've photographed they've been up to gvbc you've been on and stuff and any any some some favorite cars are gone okay what are some note ones that we could say rest in peace to these these cars here I I don't know who's I don't know who's been public about their situ situations I will say on the opposite side of that uh for the ones that were saved you know I have a friend Dam Damon McCarthy works for McCarthy Studios Paul McCarthy Studios his father Paul McCarthy is a very famous political artist um they have massive Studios downtown that were fine however Paul McCarthy the father Who's the artist Damon McCarthy my friend who's the son his sister uh and someone else all lost their houses on the because they're all in the same area of Altadena they all lost their houses uh the their first Studio which was is now Damon's full-time Studio that's a mile and a half down the street and in town y That's gone oh um and the house literally I mean like all of there you've seen the results it's not like oh we had a fire at the house things are gone it's just there's nothing there anymore cratered but on the same piece of property his garage with all of his collector cars in it still standing man with no damage to the collector yeah I mean he's since moved them all out of that area they're in a safe place but uh they survived the fire why and why did the House burn down on the same piece of property no I did yeah uh that's something that that that when we had our big one in o0 in 03 um that was a piece of Education that we as a populace uh gained uh the indiscriminate nature the randomness of it uh you know Gone Gone Gone standing Gone Gone tornado rules yeah there you oh that's a good way of putting it yep well just because that's what it looks like why is this side of the street gone and this side of the street has the flowers are still blooming like what the is that all about excuse my language uh there's there's a lot of that and I think people are trying to reconcile and then some you know some people it's the opposite they lost their garage but it's a miracle that that you know most of their home is still there right I know a couple of those um yeah I I know a lot of famous people my ex fiance lost their her house um in the Palisades um previous to Nicole and um I know so many famous people yeah that would be that would be tough um yeah it's it's atrocious it's it's it's a lot it's it's the type of thing you can't zoom in and think about it's too it's too big it's like how big is the universe like oh I don't know it's the same kind of thing yeah unmanageable yeah um now to keep it on carding I am talking bling today sorry it's it's grateful to blather with you my friend um yeah crazy week yesterday you you alluded to it earlier I want to ask you about it that's one of the reasons why I thought if you had a a slot today we could talk about you went to Jay Leno's garage and not your first time there but your most recent time there and and and and again hey I'm I'm grateful from a from a from an auto standpoint that that place didn't go up can you imagine if that place went up and the history of of of um you know I think he's a caretaker in many ways of of of some pretty precious uh things to a lot of people um in addition to being right there at Burbank Airport and being protected by Homeland Security I think he also owns more than one fire truck so I think Jay is going to be okay I think the I think their garage will be all right I'd like to know if anyone else talks about Jay Leno as much on the Letterman podcast because I I I'm not I mean I don't I don't mean to be the the guy who still knows Jay Leno on the letter in the Letterman podcast like Gabe's coming back on and every time Gabe comes on we touch on it or or there's no because there's there's I'm so conflicted I'm so conflicted about it because I grew up such a lifelong Letterman yes like I think you remember that Howard Stern was on one time and he was what's the I'm on your team and you don't even care and there was that whole thing I kind of probably my whole childhood you know I read the books and I was there for all of this stuff and I probably um you know just became such a Dave guy that I'm still conflicted to be to have a personal relationship with Jay Leno and the only reason I do is because my wife did before me but then he was so nice to me that it's sort of like undeniable yeah and I've watched him be so nice to other people in the car community and I don't just mean the kind of nice that Letterman would talk about that like make sure your photograph when you're changing somebody's Tire kind of nice I mean like secret nice stuff that I won't talk about here stuff that he doesn't want you to know yes and stuff that Dave would do stuff that Johnny did um so like I'm old enough to know that nothing's black and white and um I still think that Dave should have gotten the tonight's show and not Jay Leno but I'm also kind of over it because aren't we all yeah and at the same time glad that he didn't thing same thing yeah same thing same same story um and at the same time I mean it's not the story without Leno and and and and I'm a little more on Conan's side than Dave's I feel like yes again back to Howard Howard Woods was on Conan before that deal he's like you think that's happen in five years you're crazy that's never goingon to work out and he was right uh I I'm a little bit of I'm more on that camp yes you know what I mean is what it is but he's such a damn nice guy and he's never been anything nice but nice to me and has been really more than nice to me I mean he came here and did our little our little show and uh I don't know I I I I'm conflicted with my positive feelings about Jay Leno because he is such a good guy to me and and uh an ear for you right as the time as Nicole passed I mean you know he's one of the first people to text and I didn't see it I was on the mountain for breakfast club with her parents because it was the day after and so there were like 20 different texts and when I got down I I I couldn't get to it by the time I got home there's no reception up there so I didn't see these things until we got back down to uh to the real world and there were like 20 so I just kind of was Harding them and as soon as I harded his literally I put the phone down and it rang because he called back he was so upset and it was the same thing uh yesterday same exact thing oh how you doing you know but buddy how are you doing exactly you took the words out of my mouth like that's my was one of my questions because at the end of the day uh what however you're still on you're no people who aren't over it whatever you don't want one of them gone you you still want there to be them both here and both doing yes thank you so I think we all still want to see them together I still somehow I really believe that despite the whatever animosity may have once been there we all still agree that they were the best together yes uh and I think we'd like to see that again so there are by the way here's an invitation come on come on both of you oh there we go hey yeah safe space ABS safe space there are a few people who listen to this show uh religiously whether they uh want to or not they still do it uh who will screaming it will not happen you know screaming that oh no love to see it happen I agree but here's the thing as much as I think they're I don't know who you're talking about specifically but as much as a a naysayer about seeing Jay and Dave together again I think I think there's a lot of Truth to that but then I just go to the Super Bowl commercial like sorry man there's already a precedent yep there's already a precedent and and I don't know what it's like from Dave's side but I do consider Dave a pretty enlightened individual especially at this age and I don't think he's above it I don't think he thinks he's above it I think if it was right he would consider it what do I know I am nobody this you can't take any of this to the bank my inition is usually pretty good and I think I think my my buddy Jay Leno hilarious so not true but I think Jay Lena would do it so yeah oh well I think that goes without saying I think that goes would all have to be very very right I mean it's almost it is weird to speculate it now out of nowhere but if it were thought about and actually processed I bet I bet it could be put put together I could I I bet it could be put together and let me tell you something I don't think there would be a higher ratings get in the world today in the world of entertainment I think it would have been a lot higher five years ago but I still think that there's a lot of people who would be very very interested in it um I agree and I don't I to I I feel like um I mean you're right I mean so what do you think nowadays they'd rather see Chris Rock and Will Smith makeup is that what you're saying is too old of a feud I think there's enough of us around and they're both still alive and they're both still working it's not like Johnny where he disappeared that's right U I'm very grateful that both of those guys um you know took the wisdom of of seeing what happened with Johnny and and saying okay we're going to go a different direction I I'm I'm grateful that both have have done that a few weeks ago you could call it wisdom I think it's different person noties yeah I mean Jay is a worker Jay is Jay is a blue collar literal and figurative worker and uh and I don't I think Dave is is surrounded by good people and Dave's creative and I feel like uh yeah Dave was never gonna go away somehow I wasn't afraid of Dave going away maybe I'm maybe I'm that but I didn't think he would Al Franken uh a few weeks beforehand went on the show and and and said hey Dave you know he wanted to say some things before Dave went off and became an eccentric recluse and that was the joke that was the Johnny way right yeah yeah and and I guess you know what maybe you're right you know what but maybe that's the obvious choice everyone would have assumed that of David Letterman and that's to do the thing that you expect is not David Letterman yeah that's a great he's an absurdist yes uh a little note about the Super Bowl commercial a few weeks ago we had a page on a former paig on who's a standup now and he's just great Pages now nice named Eric Schmidt and he was a pagee at the time of the Super Bowl commercial yeah he's a standup now as well and he's uh great guy just a great guy uh but at the time of the Super Bowl commercial person you might yeah I'm you know you've got a lot of people in the comedy world not just the cars world so so you might is Don Giller here tonight is he with us or no uh he's not okay so what was the Super Bowl commercial 2009 from my recollection or maybe eight no nine it would have been January I think it was 2010 because it was 2010 I think he had The Tonight Show back back already when he J yeah oh that would make sense yeah I feel like it was 2010 um but anyway yeah um and and and he was a pagee at the time and and you know the whole thing about the lore about this the security how secret uh you know this event was nobody knew about it and it was the most amazing you know they brought in Leno with a with a with with a with a with a mask and and or a beard some things like that Oprah same thing nobody saw it nobody saw he was telling a story about how the pages went to the page bar which wasn't the same bar that everybody else went to it wasn't um you know McGees because uh they wanted the cheaper beers because the pages weren't paid anything and they so the pages go to the page Sullivan right it was Sullivans at the time uh bar Barcelona I think is the the bar it was called um and two of the pages walked in they said huh weirdest thing we just saw Jay Leno go so the everyone you know the commercial happens and Barack Obama you know watching it in the White House like hey find out what happened there like you know everyone it's like the surprise of the century and no Pages were actually like yeah I'm sure Jay Leno just came into the edel theater as we were leaving um I just thought that was very I thought that was funny the pages many times have the best stories um but at the same time I I do want to ask how J well you're right about that the pages are I mean that's that's why I have my stories I wasn't the pagee but I was I was nobody and pages are kind of no no offense to any pages but like in the grand scheme of what the show's do the pages come and go so they're just bodies doing a job yep and with that you become a literal fly on the wall I mean in most cases pages are literally standing against the wall and they're just if they're smart if they're there for the right reasons they're taking it all in so yep that makes a lot of sense to me yeah um I just found that very very Charming because I mean you know um the security was so tight on that and it was a secret that was kept extremely well and yet uh still uh the people who were those you know Prof invisible flies on the wall you know it wasn't unnoticed by everybody uh but how is I do want to get to how is Jay like how did he see him is he physically okay is he yeah he's great he's he's doing great I mean you know he's we had to we've talked about some other stuff that isn't so great but uh but he's he's doing great yeah yeah and our our thoughts are with him on on that stuff as well um I me you know he was very concerned withle obviously he was very very concerned with Nicole he was uh shooting an episode of his television show uh garage so um we did not get a a ton of time yeah um but it was neat to uh you know it's one thing that jaylena knows you but I still feel like absolutely nobody because in my mind that's I'm still absolutely nobody I'm the fly on the wall that you can't even see me I'm just another guy in a late show jacket don't even pay any attention um it's very weird that you know you go over there and he's got what a dozen or 20 employees at the at his hug huge you know Museum and then the show has another 10 or a dozen uh crew people you know production people and look to the gate and my name gets the gate open like my legit me me they didn't know who my friend was was driving like oh Jay Ron oh okay they open the gate they're like does he know you're coming I said no he's just been saying to stop bying whatever he oh because we're shooting the show it's not really a great time like oh I'm sorry and I feel it feels like oh we're being set up to like this is not you're not you probably only get five minutes not only were we there for hours but everybody knew who I was they all wanted to talk about nuks and Good Vibes and it was so bizarre that any idea who I am it blows my mind it really does it's it's a very very strange world I really thought all of this was because they all knew Nicole I really I I really in my heart believed it I was like she G now what do I do and it's so bizarre um to even conceive that like I'll be okay at the end I still don't feel okay you know so of course um but this helps a little bit well it's a weird a little bit because you can write a different future than you thought you could yes a minute ago because like oh well you're not where you thought you were or whatever your perception you've been in a bubble for so long whatever you know I feel like I'm talking in r tonight are you understanding what I'm saying it's been a long couple weeks and I'm all caffeinated and stuff yeah but I've been reading I've been reading Dr Seuss to my granddaughter all the time so I understand uh it's fine it's all good I understand it perfectly so I am speaking of riddles great yeah yeah it's great uh can you talk about the car that was featured on the show are you can you talk about what they featured that night and or that that recording some of the another coincidence somebody I knew hilarious I walked in and I was like Randy it was Randy Carlson bug and box from uh well boxes his handle on Instagram but he hosted a show on whatever it was called back then velocity or Discovery Motors or whatever the whatever the discovery TV channel is uh called carology where he would kind of go find barn finds and stuff um he's been on our show a couple times fantastic guy but they're bringing us into where they were shooting whatever and I was like Randy big hug and everything it was just it's exactly what I'm talking about it was so bizarre I used to look in the window in this world and be like ah wouldn't that be neat if if I could be inside or whatever and um and now I can I I don't know that's very strange it's I'm still getting used to the new normal yeah nothing is what I thought it was did you see a lot of uh Tonight Show stuff that that was that was there so it's overwhelming to be at jaylen's garage if you're a car fan um it's overwhelming because there's way too much to look at there are so many layers it's been there for so long he's been collecting for so long it's ever grown growing um so it can it can be too much to process to take it sensory overload um so I noticed some old Tonight Show you know me and sets and production design and art Direction and Kathleen anchors from the Letterman days uh so I just I noticed I noticed one thing and then that led I go well if there's one thing and then it just sent me on a goose chase of looking at all these old signage that I recognize I know where they all were on all the different iterations from different uh sets keep in mind I was a hardcore Dave fan but I watched it all I know you know this about me but your audience probably doesn't I watched every talk show imaginable and this was the 90s when CNBC was the Talk Show Network and all of that there were probably 50 or 60 talk shows on every goddamn day everybody who used to have a sitcom had a daytime talk show from Theo from freaking the hux to uh and Tempest had her own show speaking of which the other the the other the other girl for the hux Y uh but you know Ricky Lake and Richard Bay if you were on the east coast and um so like I watched Leno not for the content but just to see what they were doing Y and not not regularly but like just check-ins worked for Conan and Lena was the lead in and and and I mean you get it's in the same I told you that I it was I loved I love to say I worked at Conan because people love Conan so much now but the truth is at the time we all thought it wasn't going to work it was the first year yeah so it's a different memory than like people who worked on the the TBS Conan where he he came back swinging after losing The Tonight Show and whatever you know yeah or somebody who had made late night a success after 10 years or whatever I mean he really made it a Powerhouse show um I feel like when Andy left he he found his own voice and um and turned it into something and uh but I wasn't there for any of that I didn't see any of that I watched it on television like everybody else but the part I was actually part of was rough and it wasn't Dave and that's all anybody compared it to Y same space same kind of show not Dave yep yep crazy I know I told you this but I think people don't really realize because it always gets written up that they were on like three Monon renewals or whatever yep I you not we were on one week renewals yeah yep we were on week to week and as NBC crew because technically I'd like to say I worked on Conan because when I was a kid I didn't know the difference because I was working on the Conan o Brian late night show but I really worked for NBC you know both as an intern and then as a production assistant and audio assist and whatever else I did it was all really for NBC where they would place you on wherever it just so happened that like oh I was placed on Conan or whatever show it happened to be uh and we all I was there with the old-timers that were there when Dave was there yes the old Union guys who were behind the camera and stage stage hands yep yes and in this case the audio guy specifically I was really really tight with and um you know they were just waiting it was a waiting game it he wasn't gonna succeed the show wasn't good this this was what was going on within the building poor Conan I give him so much credit to this day for overcoming all of that despite what happened with The Tonight Show and everything else I give him so much credit for overcoming all that um for anybody who wants to go further down the rabbit hole a few weeks ago we had a guy by the name of Andrew bus on who was the uh uh the author of the oral history of of Conan uh starting late night uh that appeared in Vanity Fair last year um and he go went through all this and he talked to all of the principles involved and basically the story ended um very close to the night that Dave came on as a guest and and Andrew talk to all of these people now who reminisced about that first year and the and exactly the time talking about and when the Turning Point happened and I to me it's as as fascinating uh lore as Dave not getting the The Tonight Show to me all of it is connected and it's every bit is fascinating on all all measures especially that especially Dave coming on that that one moment he we talked a lot about that one moment Dave reminisced about it um Conan reminisced about it and when he compared the oral histories together they lined up perfectly you know that famous joke where where where where Dave how did you get this show and Conan how did you get this show yeah and he did the perfect I would say even almost Letterman esque like quip but completely what was his response I can't remember I there was a a talk show have your own talk contest I came in fourth um which was the line that he responded back to and and I mean that was it and he genuinely made Dave laugh with I came in forth and I came in Forth is a great that's a good joke yeah that is a good joke I just watched the shanding documentary again the other day where they go through all that as well with the Dana Carvey and everybody who was going to get late night after uh Dave announced his move to CBS yep and uh it was neat to go back there again and remember those times because you know I my whole thing my whole life in that world started right after yep um yeah it's neat I would love to go back I I didn't do it on this trip I I any time I was in the city it was to go to the hospital uh you know to see some friends um who were recuperating but uh um I think next time I would like to try to make a point to get up into NBC again and see uh and see what's going on you know see it all again I see what the Kelly Clarkson Studio looks like now see what F's like across the hall now they have changed everything over there I mean I was in a when I was there it was a painted tidied up version of what Dave left NBC was the hallways were it was all the same wires hanging out of the ceiling it's things half painted you know yeah um very very rough a working space and uh and now good Lord whenever I see a clip of it on either Jimmy's social media or whatever anytime I see that sixf floor hallway I can't believe how sparkly clean it is there's no equipment anywhere anymore it's like it's crazy Dave's comment on on exactly what you're talking about because recently he was there for whatever reason it was I forget what he was referring to what was he there for he might have been there when Paul the night Paul was performing or whatever he was there and and and Jimmy oh for darling love on The Tonight Show maybe that might might have been that it might have been before that it might be a year ago or whatever year and a half ago but he said Dave was like we' had none of this he goes I love your lenium I love your uh you know he just coveted that he said you know we didn't have any of this stuff and um yeah it's a very different animal now but like certain things remain like uh there's at least two I think I think it might only be two folks who work for the current incarnation of late night um that were at the original incarnation of late night and um and who's still there uh uh uh uh uh Wally fiston is one he wasn't there at late night oh yeah we've had him on the show he talked about all the times that he was Q guard guy at late night um there were many times on late night but not from day one like a barar no no no no no I'm I'm sorry but incarnation of the franchise and are now working for the current Incarnation totally gotcha I'm sorry yeah and J Johnson's the other one that who was uh wal yeah that's a good one yeah not throughout though these aren't well Wally stayed at NBC no Jay obviously went over with Dave and then came back um once once uh Late Show finished its run uh but the Pickle's still there the the the pickle the giant pickle has made its way it started in the or one of the original writer rooms and it's still in the offices of late night so there are little Echoes teeny tiny Echoes but is a completely uh this is something I wanted to talk about and it's a good segue it's like you've done this before um the medium that we have is can I ask a question before you get there yeah what do the do you know who's where are the offices for late night now do you know what floor they're on or where I'd be curious that because the offices you can't really change too too much you know what I mean like it's on a separ floor a separate floor the studio I'm curious who's in uh right of course I'm curious who is in Dave's old offices because even Conan wasn't when they move when Conan when I was on the show Conan was in the old offices but then they moved shortly thereafter NBC did something they were redoing stuff and they moved him to another place and so then they weren't in the same offices anymore it's a great question and we can find that answer out for sure I can I doesn't matter I was just curious yeah because those two Corner offices you know the cor the one looking South yeah uh was on the 14th floor uh on overlooking Sixth Avenue was Dave's office across from B Paran and then the other Corner was uh uh you know they said it was Paul Shavers but I think it was actually Morty's office if I'm not mistaken oh interesting I think Paul Shaver's office was over there but I'm pretty sure it was Morty's office it was Dave's if you might know the answer to this I don't know but I think it was was it Dave's where they had to replace the window with loose site with the bulletproof loose site because of the that was Dave's actual office right yeah and that was still there when I was there too because I went up to go look at it oh that's fantastic see this is where you and I Bond because that was in the 90s I I would imagine whenever they redid that off the thing that I just talked about when they moved Conan's people I would imagine they probably changed it then okay and what talking that was definitely Conan's first office up there and the assistant the assistant office was Lori Diamond's old office and whatever yeah at first okay um yeah I love I love that symmetry I so that's kind of why I was asking about that's what that's literally why I asked the question oh that's fantastic uh but to go into you know you know everything is new everything is we've watched this this medium that that that uh uh you know we care about so much has fragmented has changed the entire um everything is changing television is changing but then some things uh you know that were old become new again um I believe that giant uh beautiful television that you have in the in the living room that's a Samsung TV is it not no it's not I wish it was for the for the Letterman Channel yeah GNA ask I was gonna ask now none of none of our I don't have own a Samsung TV and and we've already we already have all newish TVs so it's like I can't go buy one just because oh for some reason I had my head that it was a Samsung yeah I was gonna ask you about that it's it's so funny that this these these fast channels now exist um I wish there were an app for the Samsung TV that you could download because there's an app for every other freaking thing that I don't want yeah and then here's one thing I actually would use and do want and I can't do it uh same thing I when I when I found out about it I I reached out to them and I railed the fact okay now I have to buy an effing Samsung TV I said because and and their answer is yeah yeah that's what we want you to do that's why we paid all the money for these YouTube these Letterman clips isn't it funny though that um you know you and I growing up uh especially you and I growing up in our in our time like I remember the time where it was a challenge for me to watch Late Night with David Letterman simply because of my age and then the invention of the VCR and me being able to learn how to use the time recorder of the VCR so I would at least be able to get to watch late night but back then you can't predict anything you don't know who's going to be on uh commercials you're watching commercials now we've got a fast Channel where you don't know to be I I didn't have any you you you looped me into your experience there and that was none of that was my experience just just FYI you watched all of Late Night with David Letterman real time every single night correct it's why I was a bad student it was much more important to me right I was going and doing a show I couldn't watch it the next day I needed that information tonight so I could go the next day to go do my show at the high school okay okay I see um you know what I mean like to me it was I I couldn't yes we had VCRs and I probably recorded it anyway but I always stayed up and watch yeah I thought we had talked about that before but but my point is you and I remember when the VCR became a part of our lives uh otherwise it was just appointment television you saw what you saw you remembered what you remembered and that was kind of it that's kind of what I got gray on my beard yeah yeah me too but the fast Channel now same thing you don't record anything you don't know really what's going to be coming on there are commercials there that you can't fast forward you you watch it and it's funny how the old has become new again and is using sort of a similar um medium to what we saw back in the day and I just think that that's fascinating that that's what uh um you know Letterman's one of Letterman's current incarnations is is something very similar to back in the day obviously curated and changed uh a little bit but it's it's it's fascinating to me the rise of these uh these digital channels that exist that is kind of a throwback to old TV yeah I mean I don't access to the Letterman one but I I do have Apple TV so you got tub and Hobie or what any of those and so there's like a Johnny Carson channel on Antenna TV and you know I know what you're talking about um I'm not as delighted to watch it the way I used to with commercials and everything else as you are but uh but I mean that's how the world works right it's everything's a pendulum and um you know this is also the only business I've ever known um I I don't exist in the real world I don't understand it that's why I'm so fascinated about about what's going on you know nowadays with me and my life I I I still can't believe it's happening because I was always the kid peering in or alone you know in my room yeah um yeah I I don't know I don't know it'll be very interesting to see once I someday own a Samsung TV um yeah me too and I I I can't wait for that it's it's comfort food I mean you want to have something on in the background while you're so you haven't even seen it yet you little I've seen a little bit I don't have a Samsung TV but I have friends who do so I have seen I I've seen it I know how the format works I understand that so that's more you're you're nostalgic about the hey I'm going to come over your house and watch it because it's on your you have HBO and I don't so I'm gonna go like that makes sense to me I I literally did that with a friend that you you just nailed it I totally did that with a friend so that's the Nostalgia you're cashing in on not the fact that we're watching it on television with commercials okay I get you I definitely get you yeah and and I mean bringing you back in a lot of ways totally I mean back then you couldn't predict like there's so much that's predictable now in the experience of watching this medium whatever in whatever way you watch it's so predictable including like fast forwarding commercials and things like that well watching you know these cure rated content you don't know what's coming up next uh the commercials are random they kind of show up the way it does on YouTube and things like that and it's just to me yeah it was it is charming and it does bring back some of that that feeling of being a kid it does it does do that and as you know I'm I'm delighted by such things so you know I enjoy that um one they did it for you Mike they oh absolutely Walter told me he said we're doing this just for Mike chisen and uh and and Mike doesn't know to Samsung TV but I but I will I've been looking at him we went to Costco the other day and one of those OLS I'm like hey candy you know you either need to buy a Samsung TV or change the name of your podcast get in or get out Cho pick a side what are you doing have you talked to Barbara gains lately uh not about that not about that um no I haven't talked to Barbara lately um I think that you are a super fan of everything and I feel like you could host a podcast that's the superan I think it should be the Mike Chism Super Fan podcast and then sometimes it's Letterman sometimes it's sneakers sometimes it's superheroes I think you know you've got a lot of interests and you have a tremendous amount of enthusiasm wrapped around each one of those interests I mean you could do an awful lot with Mike's a fan of everything podcast in a good way I mean that in a good way I wish I had your enthusiasm for life I appreciate that mean that from my heart I know you do I know I appreciate that um well and and now we've our our our Dynamic has has has gone long enough to know that like like you know I remember you talking to Candy it was either when we were on your show or maybe it was before we record it might actually have been recorded on our episode on on Late Night playset where you kind of talk to Candy a little bit and say okay is he like this all the like you picked her brain a little bit and she's like oh yeah no no no this is him like this is you know and have to you're hard I mean you have to take some responsib you have to acknowledge you're hard to read sometimes right or no I don't know I have no idea if I'm hard to read or not I'm just me and I just try and throw it out there I I do know that um you know growing up probably maybe one person out of 10 flat out is repelled by me because they think I'm fake or because they don't like the enthusiasm it's just a rubs them the wrong way for whatever reason a repelling yeah it's like magnets that that don't connect but they they they will never connect they have to repel from each other probably one out of 10 there's probably two or three out of 10 that would look and go is this guy for real and they watch for a long time and and your see to see yeah well kind of to see that yeah and then there's probably you know five out of 10 people that I've just they like you right off I get along with because I'm a relationship guy I like to I love to connect with people I love to listen I am I am fascinated by many naturally you know I've got a Natural Curiosity about this stuff so so yeah and and it's funny because I've noticed that in the Letterman world too and I'm not going to say anything obviously specifically about anybody but like every once in a while I'll run into somebody in the Letterman World who's like but it's very few and far between but even in the Letterman world there's one out of 10 of those people maybe maybe it's even less than that um that that have that same opinion of me it's like oh the repelling oh oh I didn't know which one you were talking sorry so many opinions uh I mean I I mean you know people are people you know no two are alike so um it's whatever I I wouldn't worry about it too much I just whatever we were talking about a minute ago seemed a little more poignant yeah I feel like I think you know we used to talk on the phone and at some point I switched I preferred to talk on the podcast because I I think this is going back to what you were talking about with candy me talking to candy on the show saying is he really likeed this I think that I don't know how much you want to talk about this do you want to talk about this for it yeah I I think remember there was that I don't listen to Howard Stern at all and this is the third time I'm bringing up Howard Stern in this cont in this conversation uh he was on Dave a long long time ago Y and somehow it came up at Point um you know about how they used to talk on the phone late at night and whatever and then they'd sto doing that because Howard would then go talk about it on the air or whatever he betrayed yeah that's how Dave felt or whatever I think that was something like that would been nuts and bolts there uh I don't feel like you've ever betrayed my trust in any way shape or form I don't think that's really in your I mean if you ever do I don't think it'll be on purpose that doesn't seem to be your yeah that's not your that's not who you are yeah um but there was like when we would talk on the phone you know started the the dynamic of that you didn't have a show when we were when our friendship began I had the men's ment Wellness podcast I had he cast which where it started not the Letterman podcast no uh no set no screen use stuff no microphone none of that stuff nope and so we would have convers and you were helping us with our show so we would have conversations that I thought were like writers room type conversations where okay we're just spitballing we're throwing things around and uh we'll pick it up next time our our next time we converse or whatever and then you know either make a decision about that or whatever the heck and it felt like we were not on the same page there it felt like you would either spring into action because you're Mr action guy instead of like I'm Mr think about it guy you know what I mean let's massage this for a little bit and then it felt like um it felt like we didn't always have the same takeaways from our conversations and think I would then get sometimes frustrated not bad frustrated but like confused frustrated like what the and Nicole would too because it was really more I think she pointed it out to me about whatever it was both of us and and and none of this is bad by the way I mean obviously we're here right yeah uh but it but it as for why the transition happened to let's have a record of all of our conversations so that at the very least even if we leave with a different perspective there is a video record where I can at least go back and look at if yeah to find out where we went wrong or where the because a lot of times I'd be like okay cool so we're yes okay we're on the same page and we both would feel like we were and then we weren't yeah and it was like well how the hell did that happen so that was the only reason that's a very long explanation I didn't I don't want you to think that like I don't like talking to you on the phone or anything oh God no no no no I also at the same time was getting more and more busy and Nicole was you know what I mean like life life Chang at the same time well and and let's be like every once in a while something big would come up with you know involving somebody or or or whatever and we would compare notes about holy did you see that this was happening with you know the Letterman set or something like that where we would connect about other things uh behind the scenes where we would never say it on camera as well like that would happen sometimes too here's weird things like I told you I want to give you that microphone as long as you don't put it on your desk the show and since I gave it to you it's only been on your desk on the show you know what I mean there's weird things remember that I don't remember know why it's not a big deal it's not a big deal but that's the kind of thing I'm talking about I wanted you to have it but you having it there on your desk makes makes makes that one feel it it's like it just there was a whole thing I thought I was adding it to the props in the back but at the same time once I thought about it I thought you gave the guy a gift let him do whatever the hell he wants with it and that's where I landed I don't care what you do I want Mike to be happy but like there was all these little things that would would like get frustrating in the moment and then at the time I was dealing with Nicole and whatever and just didn't have the the time to just know it's not personal it was like we never had time to really just get it organized I hear you does that make sense yeah okay like I I hear you too feel free to cut all this out no no I'm not cutting any of it out the perspective I have like and and for me okay to to flip it it's not just Jay that has the the the confusion on that I do too because in my mind this show is named this show because of something you were very like I think you should start call it the Letterman podcast I think you should and your and your recollection of it is very different well I know my intentions I might have said the words you were saying but you were talking about this is where I'm living in a writer's room and you're like we're going to print I'm like we're nowhere near ready for print we're just spitballing yes and a perfect example of what your previous for me you were describing what your show was going to be you asked me to be part of it I like I don't know what you're talking about tell me what it looks like yeah and then you described it yeah and I said oh okay so like Mark malov does the Carson podcast you're G to do the Letterman podcast I'm talking about from a descriptive standpoint yeah there is no way in a million years I would ever tell you to name your show the Letterman podcast yeah like like and that is not the takeaway that I had like literally I thought you said Mark malov ending the the the Carson podcast you should start that's what I heard so I immediately go to Shey and I'm like hey what do you think about about doing it this way what's the worst thing could happen that's what he said like nothing and so it wasn't you know I after credit because I I'm so careful to not use Letterman anything in any of our stuff right because I'm I'm just I I feel like I I've my whole life whether I had to sneak my way in or not I've always felt like an honorary pancer I wanted it that bad that I went and did the goddamn job for free for a while okay so uh when they they wouldn't take me so I just started showing up y um so like I just have always sort of operated under like well my Moto sappari is sort of like shy of Steal sneaking in and stealing David lman microphone as a kid shy of that um he always been like all right I need to do things at the level of pants especially because I always thought one day I would get the attention of pants and they would want to do something with me whatever that was like my little child hey it's like everything I like one day I'll get on Tonight Show and Johnny you'll like me and then I'll be I'll have a career and yeah um it was probably some version of that so I'm really careful and I also like when Barbara gain said I'll do your show if you change the name I would have said okay like you'll never have to bring it up again it's already done and that's me I'm I was still you know what I mean I don't know what I would do now but I still feel like if you well it doesn't matter it sounds like I'm trying to tell you what I think you did was wrong which is not true it's none of my business what you it's not what you would have done though no I understand it's a milon years but that's good I mean why would we I don't want to be the same as you and you the same as me yeah but I don't want credit for it either because I never would have told you to do that because if we had the conver I thought we'd have a conversation further it was like you had a a a theme song and a jingle and everything the next week and a logo like you did it so quick you moved so fast um that it was like you couldn't back up the bus yeah you know what I mean like you had a website and everything immediately well and and and you know that wasn't anything again nothing to do with you on that you know part of that was when Rick and I would talk about uh the other cat and I've mentioned this on the show I forget about the Shey connection yeah I always forget about that too well he was the one where that that that's like again I've got i' I read the email the other day and I mean because I you know I miss him every day I don't know how many I was just talking to Steve Wier about it I I went and saw Steve Wier in Seattle uh actually I want to tell you about what we what I just went and saw Monday night in Seattle but so Steve Wier was flown from New York to Seattle to be part of something you were in the States you were in the states and you didn't you didn't say hello for I was there for one day um and I'll talk about it in a second but but I was talking to Steve about it and and and I mean I I don't know how many humans think about Rick sheckman every single day I know I'm one of them um and and and um there are probably more well Alex bet but checky was such a yes I know that there there probably are more but but but I think about him every single day anyway because of because this show does not exist without Rick and and and I said to Rick and this is after our conversation after like it was probably actually part of that that that that because I felt such a um a push and I said to him because Rick was a cynophile and and and and I said to him I said look I said if I'm gonna do what should I do this or could I do this and he goes what's the Worst That Could Happen ah who who cares give it a shot that's what he said I said okay but if I am going to do this I said I need a Tom Heen like I need a consiliary that's what I need like and and and and he instantly said I will be that for you and he's the one that set me up with some of these people from the beginning and the The credibility like you know I wouldn't have done it without him like and I mean I appreciate I appreciate the fact that you did encourage me and you did encourage me um in a big way and and and and fuel the enthusiasm and I and I love that but it was ultimately like again when you threw that what I considered to be an idea out there and I went to Rick with it that was the conversation and I was saying to Steve the other day I I just reread that email again with Rick and I I miss him every single day um I'm sorry buddy I know that's still a loss for you I'm sorry I didn't mean to no no no it's okay but but at the end of the day um you know that it went through different you know I felt his permission was permission that I felt was was was enough and and he would tell me um about like CU I want to be very careful how I say this I don't want to it's a little bit like levels of high school and I don't even want to say the popular kids versus the not popular kids it's like the kids who are in grade 12 versus the kids who are in grade nine maybe and Rick Rick was a hierarchy you mean a hierarchy yes but I don't want I just want to be very careful not to say that you know it was jocks versus preps I don't I don't want to make make it like that but Rick was in that that high level he was in the level that would hang out with you know Barbara or Jerry or you know the these people and and Rick would go out for lunch this is like when the podcast was maybe six or seven episodes long they would go out for lunch together and Rick would send me pictures of them and and one lunch they even brought a a cardboard cut out of Dave with that at at the lunch and he would talk to that whole group about Mike Chisum doing the Letterman podcast yeah and you know so so I don't feel that same dis ease that you're feeling about the Letterman podcast that you do because of that like like I hear you I only feel that way about any affiliation that I have with naming it when I know it's an issue because that was not my intention I understand you took it that way so that's that's the only point I was trying to make there I get my disease is because of my childhood and you know what I mean like I didn't come into this thing clean because I was I had my own problems yeah um so like I'm aware that that's that's always behind me yeah um I don't yeah I don't know I don't think it ever would have come up again if she didn't if you didn't ask Barbara to be on the you know what I mean like I never would have brought it up again if she didn't if her response to you wasn't well it depends are you gonna change the name of your show what she how to go she said will you be will you do my podcast uh yeah I I I asked Barbara Gaines if she would would would come on the show and she said I think it was like not I tell you what but it was that it was that um Cadence for sure I'll I'll tell you what like I'll give you a bargain yeah yeah here's a deal we'll make a deal yeah um if you change the name of the show I'll come on and and and she even gave a couple suggestions that I thought thought were no but then I received oh you didn't tell me that she gave you alts she did dude um oh and you didn't take one good for you good for you I I didn't oh I'll tell you this I can't even imagine that's such an opportunity that I wish I had yeah I I would have entertained a phone call I would have entertained a phone call to talk about it and consider it um and and so my response was I'm I'm trying to figure out if you're serious or joking I I did I did one of those like I'm trying to figure out because I mean gauge the level of she's got this crazy awesome eccentric mind that I really do appreciate about her right like I do like when I met her on the street that that that that day and we talked about it and you know rert literally introduced me to her as oh this is Mike he host the Letterman podcast and oh and she I think her first question was do you get paid for that I think that was her first question that's when I met her this is long before that conversation uh the email conversation but anyway um or do you make a living doing that I think is what she said um but anyway then she then she said you know she gave a couple suggestions or whatever I would have bantered that around now I'll if she would have given me the same suggestion that somebody else gave me later on um I probably would have said yes immediately like I probably would have said I have never said that one out loud and I would appreciate if we don't because I'm still in my mind I won't say it I won't say but do you know where that came from do you know why I do you know why I made that suggestion because this whole situation bothered me so much that I was losing sleep over it and I had to come up with some sort of resolution in the world whether it got taken or not yeah that would be good for everybody that would be the name by the way me you Barbara the pants people like all of those things and literally like other things have in my life I got the vision of like oh here's how you change it so simply without changing it but you're changing it you know etc etc so I won't say it but that one uh that one I would take credit for because I feel like it was solving a problem on multiple levels hopefully more to come on that I love that I love that you say that there uh because I do think it's fantastic and there's also another it's a perfect it's a perfect it goes back to what I was saying about you as a person too and who you are as a host and then it then it it to me as a pack this is me and my producer hat now not my host hat um it feels like the whole package makes more sense oh as a palatable watchable like oh this is I understand this content and there's layers to it too there's a couple other layers that are there as well that I love about like I still think it's genius and I'm still like it's like a it's it's like a round that I know is in the chamber you know in case there's one last yeah I'm I'm going to when the duck comes up I'll I'll fire it immediately because I I love it like I love it and so but I'm just I just always figured it was lip service and you were being nice in the moment and then never did it so that you it probably didn't like the idea and then I never brought it up again because I didn't want to offend you or insult you further I thought maybe I insulted you I have a mockup somewhere I'll try and get the mo I have no no no no there's a mock up somewhere of of of the change um no I love I love it um but anyway yeah so so uh perhaps that one day you I don't mean to be ambiguous in the show everybody sorry about that uh you know but but one sorry everyone sorry I'm sorry uh can I tell you what I did processes process I get you're not the first to talk about process versus process I'm not making fun by the way I love it I know oh yeah the Canadian part is a is a part and by the way there are people who work for worldwide pants and are still actively working for worldwide pants that are totally fine with the letter podcast I've checked into it and they're they're they're okay with it they are you wouldn't be operating at 10x amount of episodes if it were a big problem ex but when it comes to the people that I would be trying to impress within that organization yeah sometimes you swing and sometimes you miss um can I tell you what I did on Monday night I think you'll like this I really think you'll like this can I tell you I didn't see yeah you're priming the pump but sure oh well no I do does this mean anything to you do you do you know Gold Rush Charlie Chaplain oh yeah I remember that okay but I don't I mean I don't know anything about it it's a a uh well obviously a silent uh uh short right uh it's one of it's a feature it's okay an hour long I think an hour and a bit long it's wow okay it's one of Charlie Chet's most uh famous movie I Didn't I haven't seen a lot of that stuff but I I do celebrate I like it I like the history okay uh so the reason I'm hanging out with Steve W was hanging out with Steve Wier one on Monday night um who was perhaps not the same level of copile that that that that Rick was but it was something that they bond over uh uh Steve Wier of course you know worked for a season season and a half uh on late night but it was the very first one discovered Calbert DeForest um glass breaking glass breaking was his gag you know so so and and a few other um you know parts of the show that were uh taken to the very end became integral yeah very much so thank you for that yes uh but also great friends with Rick Rick introduced us and has uh wrote for Robert Klein and a bunch of other things and now he writes essays for Criterion he's he's a copile and he and Rick are very uh were very uh that was one of the things that connected them well they in Seattle at the Paramount Theater um which is well over a hundred years old uh they have a thing called Silent Movie Mondays once a quarter and what will do is they will play one of these restored Classics and have a symphony or an orchestra doing the audio of the silent film live and it's a beautiful experience and Steve was flown out not only to introduce the movie but then also to do a Q&A uh as a as an expert about movie afterwards and yeah so Monday night I was in Seattle doing that with him and George Meyer who is a legendary uh writer for late night what what did you do what was your role how how did you get involved in this I'm Steve's friend and I said are you're coming to Seattle I can drive down to Seattle he's like oh and I said I want to be your I want to be your entourage I want to be with you you do this and um the Wii threw me there I didn't mean to I didn't mean to please continue the we throws a lot of people that word um no so so I know what you mean but that's not what I meant I was not trying to make that joke I couldn't resist I'm sorry I have to this may be something you just do rest on the the comfort of the royal Wii um but but I got to meet George Meyer and George thought maybe you were introducing the thing or something when you said we and we got to do this thing I thought maybe you were like you know part of the thing no no no no no um I just you're there supporting your friend I I got to watch Stephen his glory and literally you know uh uh this film historian who was they talking to him about it and he knows everything about this movie and it was just fascinating to watch and and I was sitting beside George Meyer we were watching this because he he he knows Steve well and I mean George Meyer um Letterman this uh Saturday Night Live ran The Simpsons some have said that is responsible really for the for the voice the voice of The Simpsons you know early on in the tone of it um it was just a really really cool experience and and I just want to give a shout out to my my boy Steve Wier and again that's every time I talk to Steve I think about Rick a lot and and tonight our conversation you made me think about Rick a lot again because you brought back it's almost three years for this thing you know and and and um for this show or for Rick's uh for how long has Rick been Rick will be two two years on March 10th on March 10th it'll be two years since he passed um and congratulations on three years on the show but I'm sorry about Rick for two years it's a it's a I don't know how to feel about that exchange well good stuff and bad stuff it was during an episode of the show that I actually realized like real time with a guest um that I had been doing the show longer with Rick gone than Rick here oh yeah yeah and and that that that up my mind for a while um I know thing I was 36 years old when I was with Nicole and I it was the first year that my dad was gone longer than he was here yeah and then it's like that forever on so obviously you're it's the same kind of a similar yeah um Milestone I think it's just something you think about when you hit it doesn't stay with you but like oh wow it's an eye opener yeah and and there are sometimes that I I I feel there are times at the show that I still feel uh I feel rudderless sometimes um I'm getting past it now but when Rick was here I had a Rudder he gave me notes almost every episode and and and um and and then you know suddenly he's not there uh two weeks before he passed I mean we're on Alex Bennett show every week we did a panel show with Alex BN I mean I've got the footage and Rick was just gushing about he was gushing about Felicia Collins episode when I had her on and he's just gushing about it just was on her Instagram earlier today because I love her so much it something down at that wherever you went and saw Will and Paul she's Cutting Room oh bit oh maybe they're at The Cutting Room they're at The Cutting Room doing the sly in the Family Stone thing and yes that's what I was thinking of also doing the bit yeah um and actually I threw out to her uh I just said hey let's get you and will on here at the same time and talk about some of these gigs and she's like yeah let's do it so so that's actually something we're currently working on to happen for a future episode um I obviously love everybody in that b but Nicole loved Felicia so much because she was so blown up she didn't she didn't know she couldn't see the forest for the trees but when I took Nicole to go see the world's most dangerous band right after in here in LA right after um the the Late Show had ended like a year after the late show ended they did a little tour and they did LA and um I can't remember how or ever but I ended up getting his front row Center tickets and we were we were you know in the experience and uh Nicole was blown away by a couple facets of it and the biggest one was Felicia Collins she had she had no idea how goddamn talented Felicia Collins is and I was like they're all they're all insanely talented but she she is really something that voice is phenomenal yeah yeah um and and and and her ability to obviously her musical ability is insane as well but I mean I just am blown away by all of her Talent fantastic well and and here's here's one of the cool things about the show that I I just I love I've gotten to tell some of these people that I appreciate so much one of the things that I appreciate about them one of the things with Felicia is I got a chance to tell her hey just so you know Felicia my wife candy thinks you might be the coolest human being on the planet she thinks you are the coolest and and and um you know I got a chance to tell Felicia that and and and as you know there's a special kind of Joy when you're able to meet some of these people that you have affection for and you're able to actually express some of these things that that normally you would just be a fleeting thought perhaps and that was a really I love being able to say that I I've been able to say that and and Candi does think Felicia is one of the coolest human beings walking the plan and she is she's so badass in so many ways I love Felicia she's great I like people who are you know authentic she's very authentic yeah oh yeah yeah very very much so um I I have one question that I've wanted to ask you it's not to do with any of the stuff we've been talking about um have you watched the Steve Martin documentary no um not not because I don't want to see it uh in fact I think it's on Apple TV so I already have it yep um when it came out was not a good time um so it just we literally just missed the cycle of it all um uh it it came up in my queue the other day because I just watched the Gary shanding one which I I I and own um so it's it's it's around I'll get to it um I haven't yet okay um I mean I you know I celebrate Steve Martin I he was the host of the first SNL I ever went to go be in the audience of um really him and Eric him and Eric Clapton hell of a show I swear to God see and speaking of front row Center me and my girlfriend at the time sit in front row Center in 8h uh because I you know had worked downstairs at Conan told the guy whatever the heck I kind of talk my way into him they like okay go ahead uh sound familiar and um yeah Steve Marton and uh and Eric Clon and it was also it was it must have been a season a season premiere because I remember I remember watching them it was the old set do you remember the old set that kind of had a yeah it was y yellow yep for the and the just two brown doors there was no steps or anything like that yep um was like from the 80s into the 90s until the will faral era yep um it used to say Saturday Night Live on the on the like the top part of the house if the set was a house yes exactly so in the center of that we watched them spray paint like with a stencil the 15 in for the oh it must have been maybe it was 20 no I I I feel like it was 15 I think I know5 so this would have been this would have been before 95 so yeah maybe been 20 for me oh it might have been 20 yeah it might have been okay and Eric clapped my goodness that's a that's that's too late no but it must have been it had been 20 do you know if Eric wonderful did did Eric Clon do wonderful tonight do you know if he did that song if that was one of the songs he did that's the right time yeah it was uh it would have been the time frame when like unplugged would have come out like a couple years before like he might have done Tears in Heaven or something like that okay okay I can't remember what he played I don't I wasn't I didn't care that's the saddest part is like I'm so much more impressed that I saw ER now than I was that night right I was there for everything else yeah well of course and it's Steve Martin on SNL that's that's legendary even at that time never mind where we are now and actually maybe one of the last things that we can kind of talk about uh now um you and I I love that you and I go ahead I know what you're gonna ask of course throw it out there are you excited for it are you excited for SML 50 oh is that I didn't know what you were gonna ask uh I am but I got more excited about it right before the if I'd seen the movie I thought you were asking if I'd seen the movie oh oh oh oh gotcha no I mean I yeah that too but but um you know SNL 50 coming I'm I'm still I loved snl40 I still think about it and can't believe that boohemoth of a special happened uh it was tremendous I I I'm very curious about what SNL 50 is going to look like well I don't disagree with you uh I don't disagree with you um yeah I don't know it it should be very interesting that was a very big blowout I don't know how you top it I feel like the only way to top it is with it's going to be I it's going to be a show is the way I I think this 50 is GNA be a show I don't know why I'm picturing you remember the cheers cheers finale with Jay Leno at the so for some reason I'm picturing that for this one it feels like all bets are off um also everyone thought Lauren would be gone by now you know what I mean like he's still there I don't know what's going on I don't know it'll be great I can't wait to see it wish I was there yeah wish I worked on it this all this time I did speaking of documentaries I just watched The Jerry Springer uh documentary did you see that one yet I watched it um I mean you know it's sad and disturbing but also again I knew a lot of that stuff already and um it was very interesting to me that the producer they're following for the majority of this uh documentary is actually the son of the production designer from Saturday night lives so you've got some guy who's doing like the highest Pinnacle of what television can be and you got this doing like the lowest of low just trying to get by you know what I mean he's just it's a job oh I found that very very interesting my take away from that was I had so much empathy for that guy like that was my that was the guy that I had did the right thing in the end totally totally sorry cut you off no no no no no that was exactly right it exactly right um that's I how I saw it too and and I mean however are you going to get your father's approval being in the business and I mean again Springer at that time number one show it was crazy it was you know talk about Behemoth that's what Springer was during that time and that Heyday but man this will this will bring me back to the movie and then there's your segue to close it out everything you just said is right but it wasn't about like the whole oh the highest Echelon versus the lowest Echelon the lowest Echelon was the highest rated show you're right but when it comes down to what it takes to make a TV show there still to this day is isn't anything like Saturday Night Live what they pull off every single week on Saturday Night Live is impossible and they have done it every week for 50 or you know however many shows for 50 years um it's hard to describe but as I loved the movie I didn't think I was going to like it I only finally saw it recently I thought having worked there there's no way to get it I saw some behind the scenes stuff when they were you know shooting and recreating the set and they were explaining things that they had done and I'm looking at it I go this is like the firehouse from the goddamn Ghostbusters movie you're saying all this stuff but it's not over there in the frame and I was like hesitant to I thought I wouldn't like it uh I watched it loved it I've watched it twice um I would say if there was a critique to make it would be that in all of that Calamity if you if anybody hasn't seen the movie The Saturday night movie is literally the 90 minutes leading up to the first sat night life in a realish time it's not exactly but it's like in a in a realish I thought it was like 24 sort of yeah I mean it could be I just I don't know but my point is yeah the only thing I would say my only critique would be that as crazy as it is in all of that it's so much more so in real life like this was a slowedd Down movie version of what happens every week let alone the first week which I was not there for and can't even imagine so it kind of if anything it's a testament to really what SNL is as a machine which is why I think my standards are so high when it comes to this yeah this is all so important to me because I learned from those types of people at 30 Rock where it was the best of the best the top of their game yep and you had to be in order to survive in that environment and it's funny how the movie gets that right too the the the difference between the creatives and the show people versus the NBC crew people the old bitter guys they got that so well because all of those guys all of the naysayers in the beginning who weren't helping with the bricks and everything those were all the guys that were telling me Conan does it's not gonna happen this will be the last week you know what I mean it's precious to me that you feel that way about that show that that that is a that's a huge endorsement um for for how Jason wman got it right and and I I love that I love that so much um I appreciate you also the biggest thing I would say about that too I think the casting um I was worried about how am I gonna watch somebody else be chubby Chase how am I gonna watch someone else be Dan akroy Jane curtain and so on uh that's the easiest disbelief to suspend the casting is so good in that movie those the cast they chose are so good individually and as a whole yeah uh that it was very easy to believe the environment yeah I had the same worry and the suspension of disbelief um for it left me 20 seconds into the movie you know I say oh that's okay and I just I just accepted it I got to the point where I you know saw as each person was introduced uh on the screen I was like oh I accepted it immediately because I think the pacing of it uh was so compelling I think you had to you had to accept it because you keep thinking the movie is gonna start and you realize it started 20 minutes ago yes it happens before you and it happened by the way I it was done and I watched it again a couple nights later and the same thing happened I go oh I can't wait for this to start oh it started it started before I even knew it we're already in it and it's not going to let me go until we go live yep it's is really really neat from a a storytelling standpoint yeah I totally totally very impressive um there are things I don't like there are super easy fixes of things I used to look at all the time that I'm like oh why isn't that there you know oh they did such a great job of everything around it why is that one thing missing things like that which of course that was my complaint with the Ghostbuster movie but I am a very small audience on that you took the words right out my mouth that is the stuff that is your uh unique perspective on these things that you love so much again um because you know is it Dave that you worship well it's kind of it's kind of like Kathleen anchors that you Worship in some ways you know like and and and the art that Dave was so good at yeah and it's it's the Unseen stuff people are following the numbers and the magic is not there that's not where you'll find it it's in between all of the metrics you're looking all the boxes you're trying to check yeah the magic that you're trying to recreate is in between them it'll never fit in a box you can't put it there no um don't get me started on that Ai and I'll tell you another thing coming through where are my reading glasses where my bifocals are almost here I'm so excited uh yeah we are becoming old men and it's interesting um uh seeing some of these things from our perspective now and and and and you know I remember um I remember the conversation Conan's referenced it a couple of times the conversation where Johnny said this and I believe Bob Hope said it as well um when you know talking about Show Business and they're like what are you talking about show business is gone these people are gone these people are you know who they thought was Show Business you know the Jackie gleon and the and you know all the Masters are gone and it's weird I remember when Rickles went somebody said that was the last one I think it was Bob newart personally but from that because was more recent and he was the last one for me but of that generation like they're all gone yeah yeah um and and and feeling that with what my and and I remember somebody saying to it was to Johnny or to Bob hoper saying well what are you talking about there's Tom Cruz and Tom Hanston to all these other people who who they thought was their kind of show business but it's not and now that's happening in our in to to to to the people that we look up to and and and it's it's interesting it's interesting becoming old it's it's just interesting it's an interesting Journey um I'm sure feeling it sometimes when it comes to perspective and uh but I've decided to say I'm going to enjoy the ride very very much while the little ones look up at me and they say you're just an old man yeah no no no no no no you know come watch come watch uh Billy eyh and by the way I love Billy eish I think she's fantastic I I really really do but they worship these Mega stars that I just don't see in the same regard as these Mega stars that in my opin or or these influences uh to me you know yeah I mean because they're not ours they're not our Idols yeah they're the next generation's Idols yeah yeah I hear you I definitely hear you for me it's not a recent problem um you know Gary shanling nor McDonald I mean those those that's when it started for me with Robin Williams before that you know that's when it started for for me for the great of our our Idols our Idols that we look up to yeah and that's what it's happening more and more and more and to the point where you're going who's left you know and there still are some don't get me wrong but luckily there's a lot left but um I definitely take your point yeah yeah we've still got a lot of time I appreciate you saying I haven heard that buzzer yet optimism I appreciate the opp I mean it I mean it the world is my world anyway is changing and it's getting uh it's getting brighter not that it's getting bright but it's getting brighter I think because it was dark for so long so I'm a little more even though I don't know what to do and I'm like one day at a time literally one day at a time it's getting a little more brighter and more optimistic than I than I was a few months ago yeah this whole thing still sucks but like you know I can see how my world is different now and how that will be good for me and whatever we all do together in the future me and the community and this is another one of those moments where somebody is going through something or whatever and they're looking and if they've watched your last episode and maybe the one before it and now they see you now it's they're like okay I'm not alone and it it actually you know it gets better might be a little too cliche and a little incorrect on that but we move on um and and and other lights show up maybe not as bright as the ones we just lost but other lights are there and and and it does go on um and I appreciate I hope you're right about that yeah I hope you're right about that that's Nicole's parents I still talk to them very regularly and I that was a comment they made the other day the last time we talk over the weekend yeah um they hadn't whatever they they'd been watching the shows they hadn't they weren't fully caught up but the mom's comment was uh I said I don't know what we're doing I don't know I don't know what this thing is anymore you know she was my my reason for all of it and um the mom seemed to think that giving other people a safe place to talk about things that you can't necessarily always talk about you know what she described was more of like your he cast type of situation than my little late night playset here but it doesn't matter it doesn't matter what the it doesn't matter and um and I think I used to get caught up in the details and I think you get caught up in the details and I don't think the details matter at the end of the day yeah yeah don't hold on so and I think yeah and Nicole was always trying to teach me that but you know a creative loves all their little details and they gotta oh I've got an option here I'm gonna do all my little details well it's the perspective and and and and to hear that every once in a while hey are you holding on too tight even just as a as a uh as a litmus test am I holding yeah it's a good it's a great you answer I don't even care yeah yeah you know um I appreciate that I I love you man and I'm glad that has this been the longest podcast ever I feel like we I really talked for two much no uh I believe Matt Roberts is the longest one we went over three hours with Matt I think that was oh wow okay this is what 2 hours how long has this been this is two hours I don't even know you and I might have actually gone longer on one on a previous episode as well but uh but we had a lot to catch up on we had a lot to you know to talk about and and I'm I'm I'm grateful that we've had this moment um again this morning it just kind of hit me like a thunderbolt hey I wonder if he's got a hole in his schedule tonight and it was it was literally you know if the universe wills it we can do this tonight and it worked out and I'm very very happy that it did um thank you for being I really appreciate you having me yeah thank you for being you as well um I I appreciate you having me I appreciate your audience having me they're always so nice in the comments when I'm here and I I you know uh despite the name or any kind of feathers you may have ruffled with it I appreciate that you're doing a really good thing here and I I definitely support you you know that you know that I want you to know that are you kidding me like the support you have given me and and the insights and all of that uh you will never know how much you'll never I I appreciate you um and and and maybe I say it so much that it becomes almost even watered down I need to say this you have no idea how much I love and appreciate you and Nicole of course but I like I I godamn I appreciate you so much Jay and uh I I I can't wait to you know I'm going to try and massage my schedule on Tuesday night so I can at least somehow take part whatever that looks like in what your new normal is going to become because I'm so excited that you're uh you're at this place where you're you're getting in front of the camera again and I'm I'm I'm so grateful for it and uh I know a lot of people have reached out to me and said hey Jay's put out shows again like Rob Kates and some of these other people are so excited that you're doing it and thanks to you guys to Rob and anybody who has that's really really awesome Irene like like love you and are so grateful yeah yeah so so thanks I really thought they'd all drop off when Nicole wasn't here so it means the world that they're still here yeah no um let's close the audience is growing that's the weird thing you know come back and then it's all actually happening now like all we tried so hard for so long and then you you stop trying and they're all like ah perfect exactly what we wanted the hell life doesn't make any sense what's the algorithm yeah some help me yeah um hey hey you you know it you know the algorithm you've got it you've already mastered it and you know it live it while you got it and that's what uh that's what we're doing you know in this this weird world that we that we are live it while you got it uh this has been another episode of the Letterman podcast with Mike Chism that's Jay Ryan uh late night playset um at Porsche life11 is the uh where you follow the one1 yeah please follow por show life11 we're trying to actually grow all our social media which is uh really for a first time so late night playset is the show please like And subscribe yep we're trying to put out good stuff write a comment and let us know uh suggestions like the whole world is a suggestion box to me right now so I'm I am wide open more than I've ever been that's amazing um thank you so much this has been another episode of the Letterman podcast with Mike Chisum coincidentally I am Mike Chisum thank you and good night thanks everybody overcoat and Underpants