1 00:00:08,275 --> 00:00:12,789 In comedy, we try to get laughs because that's how we survive. 2 00:00:12,813 --> 00:00:14,824 You get paid to be a certain guy. 3 00:00:14,848 --> 00:00:17,227 They don't want to see me doing Othello. 4 00:00:17,251 --> 00:00:20,897 My wife says when I put this bad boy on, I turn into a wild, 5 00:00:20,921 --> 00:00:23,500 hairy, disgusting ape. Wuh! 6 00:00:23,524 --> 00:00:26,503 Comedians, we tend to talk about our failures, not our successes. 7 00:00:26,527 --> 00:00:29,172 I wish I could walk in there and tell my boss off and quit. 8 00:00:29,196 --> 00:00:30,840 You're self-employed, Mr. Carlin. 9 00:00:30,864 --> 00:00:32,230 I know. 10 00:00:37,304 --> 00:00:40,650 I was a trailblazer, too. I made the trail wider. 11 00:00:40,674 --> 00:00:42,819 I'm going on a diet, Dan, I'm startin' right now. 12 00:00:42,843 --> 00:00:46,289 Go. I'll be here when you get back. 13 00:00:46,313 --> 00:00:50,093 Every morning I get clean clothes and an apple. 14 00:00:50,117 --> 00:00:51,244 And I'm happy. 15 00:01:01,228 --> 00:01:04,040 "Pioneers of Television" was made possible by 16 00:01:04,064 --> 00:01:06,342 contributions to your PBS station 17 00:01:06,366 --> 00:01:08,335 from viewers like you. 18 00:01:09,636 --> 00:01:13,383 They paid their dues by taking a chance. 19 00:01:13,407 --> 00:01:17,020 When I first stepped on stage as a comedian, 20 00:01:17,044 --> 00:01:21,457 I really had no idea if I was funny or not, I mean none. 21 00:01:21,481 --> 00:01:24,994 You know, sometimes audiences don't laugh, did you know that? 22 00:01:25,018 --> 00:01:26,796 I know that. 23 00:01:26,820 --> 00:01:28,831 In the beginning of standup, 24 00:01:28,855 --> 00:01:31,568 it's the hardest thing in the world, 25 00:01:31,592 --> 00:01:33,403 because you are not good. 26 00:01:33,427 --> 00:01:38,174 It takes thirty years to make a great standup comic; it does. 27 00:01:38,198 --> 00:01:39,876 Are you a housewife, too? 28 00:01:39,900 --> 00:01:43,413 I hate that word and I hate the word "homemaker," too. 29 00:01:43,437 --> 00:01:46,015 I wanna be called "domestic goddess." 30 00:01:46,039 --> 00:01:48,351 They brought their characters to life 31 00:01:48,375 --> 00:01:49,819 in our favorite sitcoms. 32 00:01:49,843 --> 00:01:54,190 The character is about 85% me, 33 00:01:54,214 --> 00:02:01,064 the other 15% being an extremely sick mind. 34 00:02:01,088 --> 00:02:04,734 Emily, this may come as a shock to you, but... 35 00:02:04,758 --> 00:02:08,671 in high school I was considered great looking. 36 00:02:08,695 --> 00:02:10,527 You're kidding! 37 00:02:12,265 --> 00:02:15,845 I cannot tell you and describe it beautifully, 38 00:02:15,869 --> 00:02:18,247 the camaraderie we had. 39 00:02:18,271 --> 00:02:21,184 ♪ I want you by my side ♪ 40 00:02:21,208 --> 00:02:26,289 ♪ And I want you to keep, oh, keep me satisfied ♪ 41 00:02:26,313 --> 00:02:29,359 Through drive, intelligence and creativity, 42 00:02:29,383 --> 00:02:32,562 they've kept us laughing decade after decade. 43 00:02:32,586 --> 00:02:35,198 Because funny is smart, for the most part. 44 00:02:35,222 --> 00:02:38,234 It's pretty hard to be funny and a complete moron. 45 00:02:38,258 --> 00:02:41,204 Nothing matches better than vanilla and chocolate. 46 00:02:41,228 --> 00:02:43,106 And yet, still somehow, 47 00:02:43,130 --> 00:02:45,141 racial harmony eludes us. 48 00:02:45,165 --> 00:02:47,577 I got a goal in mind. I want to do Johnny Carson. 49 00:02:47,601 --> 00:02:49,345 I want to sit there on that desk. 50 00:02:49,369 --> 00:02:51,948 I want him to do this and invite me over to his desk. 51 00:02:51,972 --> 00:02:56,419 In my core, I felt like this is what I was kind of meant to do. 52 00:02:56,443 --> 00:02:57,654 This is what I do the best. 53 00:02:57,678 --> 00:03:00,123 - Oh, now I don't love you. - You don't say it. 54 00:03:00,147 --> 00:03:01,124 - I do. - No, you don't. 55 00:03:01,148 --> 00:03:02,692 - I do. - When do you say it? 56 00:03:02,716 --> 00:03:05,995 With my eyes! 57 00:03:06,019 --> 00:03:10,133 What people think of me is often not what I am. 58 00:03:10,157 --> 00:03:15,371 Together, these standup comics redefined the American sitcom. 59 00:03:15,395 --> 00:03:19,059 They are the pioneers of television. 60 00:03:25,539 --> 00:03:28,985 In the spring of 19 7 6, Jerry Seinfeld 61 00:03:29,009 --> 00:03:33,022 told a joke on stage for the very first time. 62 00:03:33,046 --> 00:03:37,293 I really had no idea if I was funny or not, I mean none. 63 00:03:37,317 --> 00:03:39,162 A shower is the only break you get, isn't it? 64 00:03:39,186 --> 00:03:40,963 When you're asleep, people can bother you. 65 00:03:40,987 --> 00:03:42,565 In the shower, they can't get to you. 66 00:03:42,589 --> 00:03:44,400 They call up, "I'm sorry we can't reach him. 67 00:03:44,424 --> 00:03:46,469 He's in the shower. There's nothing anyone can do. 68 00:03:46,493 --> 00:03:48,237 He's five feet away, we can't talk to him, 69 00:03:48,261 --> 00:03:50,173 we can't get a message, we can't do anything." 70 00:03:50,197 --> 00:03:52,775 You come out, "I can't talk now, I just got out." 71 00:03:52,799 --> 00:03:54,243 This got a huge laugh. 72 00:03:54,267 --> 00:04:00,149 And I was so shocked, I was just shocked. 73 00:04:00,173 --> 00:04:01,484 I was shocked. 74 00:04:01,508 --> 00:04:03,519 I heard this laugh just hit me 75 00:04:03,543 --> 00:04:06,089 like a bucket of water in the face. 76 00:04:06,113 --> 00:04:07,824 That's what it felt like. 77 00:04:07,848 --> 00:04:09,492 From that moment forward, 78 00:04:09,516 --> 00:04:12,862 Jerry Seinfeld's singular focus was standup comedy. 79 00:04:12,886 --> 00:04:14,664 I go, "I want to be in this life." 80 00:04:14,688 --> 00:04:18,267 And this is really the key aspect of a comedian... 81 00:04:18,291 --> 00:04:21,871 Is that you want to be this 82 00:04:21,895 --> 00:04:25,374 and you don't care about anything else. 83 00:04:25,398 --> 00:04:27,844 Five years later, Seinfeld reached 84 00:04:27,868 --> 00:04:29,846 the holy grail for standups... 85 00:04:29,870 --> 00:04:32,715 A shot on Johnny Carson's "Tonight Show." 86 00:04:32,739 --> 00:04:35,618 To get asked to be on that show was like, 87 00:04:35,642 --> 00:04:38,554 "Do you want to play in the World Series?" 88 00:04:38,578 --> 00:04:41,958 Have you ever seen the guy who's got the record 89 00:04:41,982 --> 00:04:44,026 for fattest man in the world? 90 00:04:44,050 --> 00:04:49,132 It's an amazing thing... Bob Hughes, 1400 pounds. 91 00:04:49,156 --> 00:04:53,269 Ladies and gentleman, the man has let himself go. 92 00:04:53,293 --> 00:04:57,240 I used to feel bad talking about him on stage, 93 00:04:57,264 --> 00:05:00,777 'cause somebody... but you could weigh a thousand pounds 94 00:05:00,801 --> 00:05:04,213 and go, "He's not talking about me! 95 00:05:04,237 --> 00:05:07,730 This is a man with a serious weight problem." 96 00:05:12,913 --> 00:05:15,158 It went well. It went well. 97 00:05:15,182 --> 00:05:18,461 I had a different image of it in my mind. 98 00:05:18,485 --> 00:05:22,064 I had never been in front of 500 people before 99 00:05:22,088 --> 00:05:25,635 and that was the biggest audience I had ever seen 100 00:05:25,659 --> 00:05:26,769 at that time. 101 00:05:26,793 --> 00:05:29,272 So, I was nervous for a million reasons, 102 00:05:29,296 --> 00:05:31,607 but that was very overwhelming to me. 103 00:05:31,631 --> 00:05:34,911 You're so in shock at the time. 104 00:05:34,935 --> 00:05:36,579 Jerry Seinfeld. Thank you, Jerry. 105 00:05:36,603 --> 00:05:38,047 Take a bow. 106 00:05:38,071 --> 00:05:41,150 He was saying, "Great job, Jerry," as I left. 107 00:05:41,174 --> 00:05:42,985 And he gives you the big "OK" sign, 108 00:05:43,009 --> 00:05:44,754 which was a very valuable thing... 109 00:05:44,778 --> 00:05:46,789 We'll be back in a moment. 110 00:05:46,813 --> 00:05:48,658 That I realized, oh, he liked me. 111 00:05:48,682 --> 00:05:50,126 He liked what I was doing. 112 00:05:50,150 --> 00:05:53,896 The success of Seinfeld's talk show appearances led 113 00:05:53,920 --> 00:05:57,633 to a meeting at NBC to discuss a potential sitcom. 114 00:05:57,657 --> 00:05:59,235 They called me in and they said, 115 00:05:59,259 --> 00:06:01,170 "What is it that you have in mind?" 116 00:06:01,194 --> 00:06:02,572 And I said, "Nothing. 117 00:06:02,596 --> 00:06:05,508 I don't have anything. I didn't have anything in mind." 118 00:06:05,532 --> 00:06:08,444 I actually believed maybe they had something in mind 119 00:06:08,468 --> 00:06:11,514 since they had the big building with the logo on it... 120 00:06:11,538 --> 00:06:14,016 I thought, "Maybe that's what they do here. 121 00:06:14,040 --> 00:06:17,220 Maybe they come up with TV shows and they take talented people 122 00:06:17,244 --> 00:06:20,256 and say, "We have a show for you," but they don't do that. 123 00:06:20,280 --> 00:06:21,757 They don't do that. 124 00:06:21,781 --> 00:06:25,895 Jerry may not have had an idea for a sitcom, 125 00:06:25,919 --> 00:06:29,031 but his friend Larry David did. 126 00:06:29,055 --> 00:06:32,635 Before long, the two comics had worked up a premise. 127 00:06:32,659 --> 00:06:36,806 The whole show came from the way Larry and I related 128 00:06:36,830 --> 00:06:40,810 and that's why I asked him to work with me on it. 129 00:06:40,834 --> 00:06:44,180 Because I liked the sound of the conversations 130 00:06:44,204 --> 00:06:45,514 that he and I would have. 131 00:06:45,538 --> 00:06:47,617 And he had a lot more ideas than I had 132 00:06:47,641 --> 00:06:49,852 about what we should do and shouldn't do. 133 00:06:49,876 --> 00:06:52,889 So he really helped structure the whole thing. 134 00:06:52,913 --> 00:06:55,858 The first decision was to create a scenario 135 00:06:55,882 --> 00:06:58,794 that wasn't too far from Jerry's own life, 136 00:06:58,818 --> 00:07:02,365 a New York standup comedian who hung out with his friends. 137 00:07:02,389 --> 00:07:06,502 There's nothing, pretty much, that TV Jerry would do 138 00:07:06,526 --> 00:07:08,070 that I wouldn't do and vice versa. 139 00:07:08,094 --> 00:07:11,173 But "TV Jerry" wasn't as successful or smart 140 00:07:11,197 --> 00:07:13,910 as real Jerry, and that was the source 141 00:07:13,934 --> 00:07:15,878 of much of the series' humor. 142 00:07:15,902 --> 00:07:18,147 What happened Tuesday night? 143 00:07:18,171 --> 00:07:20,504 I saw your act. 144 00:07:23,043 --> 00:07:25,988 My act? What does that have to do with anything? 145 00:07:26,012 --> 00:07:31,527 Well, to be honest, it just didn't make it for me. 146 00:07:31,551 --> 00:07:34,316 It was just so much fluff. 147 00:07:35,722 --> 00:07:38,000 I can't believe this. So what are you saying? 148 00:07:38,024 --> 00:07:41,070 You didn't like my act, so that's it? 149 00:07:41,094 --> 00:07:44,674 I can't be with someone if I don't respect what they do. 150 00:07:44,698 --> 00:07:46,676 You're a cashier! 151 00:07:46,700 --> 00:07:49,211 For Jerry Seinfeld, the cluelessness 152 00:07:49,235 --> 00:07:52,415 of the sitcom characters is what made them funny. 153 00:07:52,439 --> 00:07:54,383 Go talk to her. 154 00:07:54,407 --> 00:07:58,654 Elaine, bald men with no jobs and no money 155 00:07:58,678 --> 00:08:04,393 who live with their parents don't approach strange women. 156 00:08:04,417 --> 00:08:06,429 Well, here's your chance to try the opposite. 157 00:08:06,453 --> 00:08:08,764 Instead of tuna salad and being intimidated by women, 158 00:08:08,788 --> 00:08:10,633 chicken salad and going right up to them. 159 00:08:10,657 --> 00:08:13,235 That is one of my favorite lines of the show, 160 00:08:13,259 --> 00:08:16,238 when I say to George, "If everything you do is wrong, 161 00:08:16,262 --> 00:08:18,708 then the opposite would have to be right." 162 00:08:18,732 --> 00:08:20,943 I should do the opposite. 163 00:08:20,967 --> 00:08:23,079 If every instinct you have is wrong, 164 00:08:23,103 --> 00:08:26,882 then the opposite would have to be right. 165 00:08:26,906 --> 00:08:28,751 It's just completely stupid, you know. 166 00:08:28,775 --> 00:08:30,453 But he's stupid so he believes it. 167 00:08:30,477 --> 00:08:34,924 Yes, I will do the opposite. 168 00:08:34,948 --> 00:08:36,692 I used to sit here and do nothing 169 00:08:36,716 --> 00:08:38,694 and regret it for the rest of the day. 170 00:08:38,718 --> 00:08:40,363 So now I will do the opposite. 171 00:08:40,387 --> 00:08:45,668 It sounded good, you know, but it doesn't make any sense. 172 00:08:45,692 --> 00:08:47,636 My name is George. 173 00:08:47,660 --> 00:08:50,630 I'm unemployed and I live with my parents. 174 00:08:53,266 --> 00:08:55,745 I'm Victoria. Hi. 175 00:08:55,769 --> 00:08:58,280 What I love about that is that 176 00:08:58,304 --> 00:09:00,483 that's an eternal comedic device. 177 00:09:00,507 --> 00:09:03,919 Two idiots trying to work something out. 178 00:09:03,943 --> 00:09:04,920 It can't be done, huh? 179 00:09:04,944 --> 00:09:07,089 The switch? 180 00:09:07,113 --> 00:09:09,291 The switch. 181 00:09:09,315 --> 00:09:11,293 Can't be done. 182 00:09:11,317 --> 00:09:12,862 I wonder. 183 00:09:12,886 --> 00:09:16,098 That is an ancient comedic device. 184 00:09:16,122 --> 00:09:18,501 Do you realize, in the entire history 185 00:09:18,525 --> 00:09:22,204 of western civilization, no one has successfully accomplished 186 00:09:22,228 --> 00:09:23,506 the roommate switch? 187 00:09:23,530 --> 00:09:26,308 In the middle ages you could get locked up 188 00:09:26,332 --> 00:09:27,843 for even suggesting it. 189 00:09:27,867 --> 00:09:31,247 They didn't have roommates in the middle ages. 190 00:09:31,271 --> 00:09:33,082 If two guys are stupid, 191 00:09:33,106 --> 00:09:37,153 watching them try and be smart is going to be funny. 192 00:09:37,177 --> 00:09:39,355 If you haven't got the stomach for this, 193 00:09:39,379 --> 00:09:41,991 let's get it out right now and I'll go on my own. 194 00:09:42,015 --> 00:09:45,561 If not, you can get on board and we can get to work. 195 00:09:45,585 --> 00:09:47,730 Now what's it gonna be? 196 00:09:47,754 --> 00:09:51,634 Alright, dammit, I'm in. 197 00:09:51,658 --> 00:09:53,836 I couldn't do it without you. 198 00:09:53,860 --> 00:09:55,971 The Seinfeld sitcom was known 199 00:09:55,995 --> 00:09:59,108 for its seemingly unconnected storylines 200 00:09:59,132 --> 00:10:00,876 that merged at the end. 201 00:10:00,900 --> 00:10:04,580 When Kramer was hitting golf balls on the beach, 202 00:10:04,604 --> 00:10:07,783 George was pretending to be a marine biologist. 203 00:10:07,807 --> 00:10:09,452 What's going on over here? 204 00:10:09,476 --> 00:10:11,353 There's a beached whale. She's dying. 205 00:10:11,377 --> 00:10:13,471 Is anyone here a marine biologist? 206 00:10:15,415 --> 00:10:17,526 We were doing those stories before we saw 207 00:10:17,550 --> 00:10:19,662 that there was a connection between them. 208 00:10:19,686 --> 00:10:22,698 That, what if the distress of the whale 209 00:10:22,722 --> 00:10:25,367 was caused by Kramer's golf ball? 210 00:10:25,391 --> 00:10:28,304 A huge tidal wave lifted me, tossed me like a cork, 211 00:10:28,328 --> 00:10:30,639 and I found myself right on top of him, 212 00:10:30,663 --> 00:10:32,441 face to face with the blow hole. 213 00:10:32,465 --> 00:10:34,877 I could barely see from the waves 214 00:10:34,901 --> 00:10:38,481 crashing down upon me but I knew something was there. 215 00:10:38,505 --> 00:10:42,084 So I reached my hand in, felt around 216 00:10:42,108 --> 00:10:44,100 and pulled out the obstruction. 217 00:10:50,316 --> 00:10:54,830 We were way, way deep into making that show. 218 00:10:54,854 --> 00:10:57,433 We might not have even noticed it. 219 00:10:57,457 --> 00:11:00,136 Just, somebody went, "Wait a minute. 220 00:11:00,160 --> 00:11:03,939 What if that's what the whale's problem was?" 221 00:11:03,963 --> 00:11:07,525 What is that? A Titleist? 222 00:11:09,569 --> 00:11:11,247 A hole in one, huh? 223 00:11:11,271 --> 00:11:12,815 We wrote that the night before 224 00:11:12,839 --> 00:11:15,284 and just laughed ourselves silly writing that. 225 00:11:15,308 --> 00:11:19,488 But that's about my most favorite thing 226 00:11:19,512 --> 00:11:21,572 that we ever stumbled upon. 227 00:11:23,483 --> 00:11:26,795 No show of the era produced more water cooler talk 228 00:11:26,819 --> 00:11:29,932 than Seinfeld, knitting countless catchphrases 229 00:11:29,956 --> 00:11:31,467 into the American fabric. 230 00:11:31,491 --> 00:11:32,835 You mean shrinkage? 231 00:11:32,859 --> 00:11:34,837 Yes. 232 00:11:34,861 --> 00:11:37,239 Significant shrinkage. 233 00:11:37,263 --> 00:11:41,110 He recycled this gift. He's a re-gifter. 234 00:11:41,134 --> 00:11:43,445 So you're still master of your domain? 235 00:11:43,469 --> 00:11:46,815 Yes, yes I am master of my domain. 236 00:11:46,839 --> 00:11:48,951 I met this lawyer, we went out to dinner, 237 00:11:48,975 --> 00:11:51,487 I had the lobster bisque, we went back to my place, 238 00:11:51,511 --> 00:11:54,538 yadda, yadda, yadda... I never heard from him again. 239 00:11:55,949 --> 00:11:58,160 But you "yadda yadda'd" over the best part. 240 00:11:58,184 --> 00:12:01,197 No, I mentioned the bisque. 241 00:12:01,221 --> 00:12:04,800 Coming up with a half-hour of memorable comedy 242 00:12:04,824 --> 00:12:08,771 each week isn't easy, especially for a standup comic 243 00:12:08,795 --> 00:12:11,607 who isn't used to managing people. 244 00:12:11,631 --> 00:12:14,577 The difference between the stand-up and a sitcom 245 00:12:14,601 --> 00:12:18,180 is you're going from the least collaborative medium there is 246 00:12:18,204 --> 00:12:20,115 to the most collaborative. 247 00:12:20,139 --> 00:12:21,784 The reason you become a comedian is 248 00:12:21,808 --> 00:12:23,152 you're not a good collaborator. 249 00:12:23,176 --> 00:12:24,887 You're not good with people. 250 00:12:24,911 --> 00:12:27,923 You're not good in social situations 251 00:12:27,947 --> 00:12:30,059 or professional situations. 252 00:12:30,083 --> 00:12:32,461 You're not really good at anything but that. 253 00:12:32,485 --> 00:12:35,297 When Seinfeld ended its network run, 254 00:12:35,321 --> 00:12:39,201 Jerry was content to leave behind the team environment 255 00:12:39,225 --> 00:12:41,437 and return to his first love, standup. 256 00:12:41,461 --> 00:12:43,172 I just can't drive around there. 257 00:12:43,196 --> 00:12:45,207 You know how the old people drive, 258 00:12:45,231 --> 00:12:46,875 they drive slow, they sit low. 259 00:12:46,899 --> 00:12:48,744 That is their motto. 260 00:12:48,768 --> 00:12:51,814 The state flag of Florida should be just a steering wheel 261 00:12:51,838 --> 00:12:54,205 with a hat and two knuckles on it. 262 00:12:58,344 --> 00:13:00,589 People always say, "Why don't you do another sitcom?" 263 00:13:00,613 --> 00:13:05,027 I think, "If I could do another sitcom that good, 264 00:13:05,051 --> 00:13:08,430 yeah, sure I'd do it." 265 00:13:08,454 --> 00:13:10,923 You can't. I mean, I can't. 266 00:13:11,024 --> 00:13:13,769 Often forgotten in the Seinfeld saga 267 00:13:13,793 --> 00:13:16,805 is the story of the series' first years, 268 00:13:16,829 --> 00:13:18,874 when it was almost cancelled, 269 00:13:18,898 --> 00:13:20,309 crushed in its time slot 270 00:13:20,333 --> 00:13:22,578 by the other '90s powerhouse sitcom, 271 00:13:22,602 --> 00:13:25,347 which also starred a standup comic who had brought 272 00:13:25,371 --> 00:13:27,203 his act to television. 273 00:13:30,043 --> 00:13:33,389 Fall of 1984. 274 00:13:33,413 --> 00:13:36,225 At the Goodyear Tire Company in Akron, Ohio, 275 00:13:36,249 --> 00:13:39,795 a local comic has been hired to tell a few jokes 276 00:13:39,819 --> 00:13:42,965 at a sales dinner, but no one's laughing. 277 00:13:42,989 --> 00:13:46,402 No one's even listening to a guy named Tim Allen. 278 00:13:46,426 --> 00:13:47,603 No one was listening. 279 00:13:47,627 --> 00:13:49,538 All these guys were just eating their steaks 280 00:13:49,562 --> 00:13:51,573 and talking and smoking at the time and it was, 281 00:13:51,597 --> 00:13:52,875 "Arr, arr, arr..." 282 00:13:52,899 --> 00:13:55,311 Don't think your old man grunts, give him a steak. 283 00:13:55,335 --> 00:13:58,714 "Honey, you like that?" "Mm, uh, mm, uh, mm, uh... 284 00:13:58,738 --> 00:14:00,983 Arr, arr, arr, arr, arr! Eh, eh, eh, eh!" 285 00:14:01,007 --> 00:14:02,918 "You want the butter or the salt?" 286 00:14:02,942 --> 00:14:04,420 "Arr, arr, arr!" 287 00:14:04,444 --> 00:14:06,255 I decided, perhaps, that would be 288 00:14:06,279 --> 00:14:08,757 the only way to get their attention, if I talked 289 00:14:08,781 --> 00:14:11,160 like men talk when they're grumbling, they're, 290 00:14:11,184 --> 00:14:14,363 "roa, grr, arr, arr"... And I started doing that, 291 00:14:14,387 --> 00:14:17,433 and it was clear that that was a very big deal, 292 00:14:17,457 --> 00:14:20,757 'cause I got drunk salesmen, smoking, going, "Arr?" 293 00:14:22,562 --> 00:14:25,040 Tim Allen recognized that success in comedy 294 00:14:25,064 --> 00:14:27,776 would mean expanding beyond his Midwestern base. 295 00:14:27,800 --> 00:14:30,279 So he transitioned to Los Angeles, 296 00:14:30,303 --> 00:14:32,514 where his career accelerated, 297 00:14:32,538 --> 00:14:35,284 including a Showtime special and packed houses 298 00:14:35,308 --> 00:14:36,952 at bigger and bigger venues. 299 00:14:36,976 --> 00:14:38,487 Men like doing things women don't like. 300 00:14:38,511 --> 00:14:40,556 Go to a guy's house and say, "Did you build that table?" 301 00:14:40,580 --> 00:14:41,957 "Yeah." 302 00:14:41,981 --> 00:14:45,694 Go to a woman's house and say, "Did you make that dress?" 303 00:14:45,718 --> 00:14:48,030 She'll knife you right in the heart. 304 00:14:48,054 --> 00:14:52,368 By 1990, Tim Allen was offered his own sitcom, 305 00:14:52,392 --> 00:14:55,070 by the head of Disney... Jeffrey Katzenberg. 306 00:14:55,094 --> 00:14:57,373 Allen said no. 307 00:14:57,397 --> 00:14:59,742 Katzenberg offered a different sitcom. 308 00:14:59,766 --> 00:15:01,443 Allen said no again. 309 00:15:01,467 --> 00:15:03,645 I had had a career touring. 310 00:15:03,669 --> 00:15:05,147 I was making great money, 311 00:15:05,171 --> 00:15:07,449 and really doing what I wanted to do, 312 00:15:07,473 --> 00:15:08,951 so I didn't need the gig. 313 00:15:08,975 --> 00:15:12,755 So when Jeffrey called, he said, "We want to offer you this," 314 00:15:12,779 --> 00:15:15,057 I said, "Well, I don't think so." 315 00:15:15,081 --> 00:15:17,092 And if you don't know Jeffrey Katzenberg, 316 00:15:17,116 --> 00:15:19,395 I'll tell you, he doesn't like being said no to, 317 00:15:19,419 --> 00:15:21,897 especially when he's being nice and sweet like he is. 318 00:15:21,921 --> 00:15:24,133 And he said... he called me at home, he said, 319 00:15:24,157 --> 00:15:26,835 "Maybe you didn't hear me." I said, "Yeah, I heard you." 320 00:15:26,859 --> 00:15:29,505 What Tim Allen wanted was to create 321 00:15:29,529 --> 00:15:33,375 his own show from scratch, based on his standup persona. 322 00:15:33,399 --> 00:15:37,146 Katzenberg agreed, and Allen's sitcom began to take shape. 323 00:15:37,170 --> 00:15:40,983 I like "This Old House" a lot, so start with that. 324 00:15:41,007 --> 00:15:45,187 But make me just a jerk, always screwing up his work, 325 00:15:45,211 --> 00:15:47,556 and then I want a neighbor that you can't see. 326 00:15:47,580 --> 00:15:49,792 Somehow, I had neighbors in my life that were like, 327 00:15:49,816 --> 00:15:51,693 on acre plots in Michigan, I never even... 328 00:15:51,717 --> 00:15:53,429 I still don't know what he looks like. 329 00:15:53,453 --> 00:15:56,265 - Wilson? - Howdy, neighbor. 330 00:15:56,289 --> 00:15:59,701 Always, from his car to his house, "Hey, Paul." 331 00:15:59,725 --> 00:16:02,571 And he'd have groceries by his... I never saw him. 332 00:16:02,595 --> 00:16:04,840 Still, to this day, he's still there, 333 00:16:04,864 --> 00:16:08,110 I still own that same house. I wanted that and three boys. 334 00:16:08,134 --> 00:16:09,945 Sunday! Sunday! Sunday! 335 00:16:09,969 --> 00:16:15,284 Truckenstein vs. Fordzilla at the Silver Dome! 336 00:16:15,308 --> 00:16:17,619 The biggest monster truck rally in Detroit history! 337 00:16:17,643 --> 00:16:20,689 Sunday, Sunday, Sunday! 338 00:16:20,713 --> 00:16:22,724 What will I wear? 339 00:16:22,748 --> 00:16:24,526 I didn't get you a ticket, honey. 340 00:16:24,550 --> 00:16:27,463 House to myself 341 00:16:27,487 --> 00:16:31,400 on Sunday, Sunday, Sunday! 342 00:16:31,424 --> 00:16:34,937 ABC still wasn't sure Allen could translate 343 00:16:34,961 --> 00:16:38,407 his standup persona to a sitcom character, 344 00:16:38,431 --> 00:16:40,275 so they sent him to an acting coach. 345 00:16:40,299 --> 00:16:42,978 We went through all these, "Oh, please," 346 00:16:43,002 --> 00:16:46,582 all this Shakespeare, and I had to beg and cry and emote, 347 00:16:46,606 --> 00:16:48,817 and it was like, "What are we doing?" 348 00:16:48,841 --> 00:16:50,786 He said, "To be honest with you, 349 00:16:50,810 --> 00:16:52,855 they're wondering if you can memorize. 350 00:16:52,879 --> 00:16:54,490 That's all they want to know is, 351 00:16:54,514 --> 00:16:56,592 are you a person that can't memorize?" 352 00:16:56,616 --> 00:16:57,993 Which means it's a problem, 353 00:16:58,017 --> 00:16:59,995 because it's 40 new pages every day. 354 00:17:00,019 --> 00:17:03,699 Tim Allen soon proved he could memorize 355 00:17:03,723 --> 00:17:05,634 and he could act. 356 00:17:05,658 --> 00:17:08,437 But like all standups, he knew he'd get his best performance 357 00:17:08,461 --> 00:17:09,771 in front of a live audience. 358 00:17:09,795 --> 00:17:12,975 In a television show, you got the audience, 359 00:17:12,999 --> 00:17:14,610 but it's manipulated. 360 00:17:14,634 --> 00:17:16,278 You only get one try. 361 00:17:16,302 --> 00:17:19,515 As soon as you give the audience where the joke lands, 362 00:17:19,539 --> 00:17:21,383 then you do the second take, it's phony, 363 00:17:21,407 --> 00:17:24,119 because they know, "Oh, this is where we're supposed to laugh." 364 00:17:24,143 --> 00:17:26,255 "Home Improvement" was a success 365 00:17:26,279 --> 00:17:28,824 from the first episode and grew to become 366 00:17:28,848 --> 00:17:33,595 one of the most popular television shows of the 1990s. 367 00:17:33,619 --> 00:17:36,532 But Tim Allen had one goal left unfulfilled. 368 00:17:36,556 --> 00:17:41,003 Like all comics of the era, he wanted to do standup 369 00:17:41,027 --> 00:17:43,105 on Johnny Carson's "Tonight Show." 370 00:17:43,129 --> 00:17:45,140 Now, he'd finally get his chance. 371 00:17:45,164 --> 00:17:46,642 I bombed. 372 00:17:46,666 --> 00:17:49,344 I went on there and didn't have my glasses, which I wear. 373 00:17:49,368 --> 00:17:51,513 He said, "Do you see where you're standing?" 374 00:17:51,537 --> 00:17:53,315 He just quickly opened the curtain, 375 00:17:53,339 --> 00:17:55,317 and I lied because I wanted to be a pro. 376 00:17:55,341 --> 00:17:57,886 I said, "Yeah"... I had no idea where he was pointing. 377 00:17:57,910 --> 00:18:00,622 So when they opened the curtain, I walked out and stopped. 378 00:18:00,646 --> 00:18:03,559 There's booms moving and cameras adjusting, because I didn't... 379 00:18:03,583 --> 00:18:05,694 And that took me, I go, "Whoa, what's happening?" 380 00:18:05,718 --> 00:18:07,930 This is his first appearance with us on the "Tonight Show." 381 00:18:07,954 --> 00:18:09,031 Would you welcome Tim Allen. 382 00:18:09,055 --> 00:18:11,354 Tim Allen! 383 00:18:17,330 --> 00:18:20,742 Oh! Hi, there. Thank you for having me, nice to be here. 384 00:18:20,766 --> 00:18:24,012 And had to start my act, I got off on the wrong foot, 385 00:18:24,036 --> 00:18:26,315 and I just died, it was just death. 386 00:18:26,339 --> 00:18:28,483 Why do you listen to shop teachers? 387 00:18:28,507 --> 00:18:31,153 Half of them are missing fingers, am I wrong? 388 00:18:31,177 --> 00:18:33,021 Hey, boys, watch that sabre saw. 389 00:18:33,045 --> 00:18:35,657 It'll kick back on you, I'm not kiddin' ya. 390 00:18:35,681 --> 00:18:38,794 I'm not kiddin' around, I'll tell you that right now! 391 00:18:38,818 --> 00:18:41,396 Let me pass out those test papers, there you go. 392 00:18:41,420 --> 00:18:44,366 Thank you all very much. I'm Tim Allen. 393 00:18:44,390 --> 00:18:46,234 Then Johnny, he sits down, 394 00:18:46,258 --> 00:18:47,903 and in between the break, he said, 395 00:18:47,927 --> 00:18:49,605 "You got to be funnier than that." 396 00:18:49,629 --> 00:18:53,375 Tim Allen recovered from the "Tonight Show" misstep, 397 00:18:53,399 --> 00:18:55,243 and by November 1994 398 00:18:55,267 --> 00:18:59,414 he had the number-one TV show, number-one book, 399 00:18:59,438 --> 00:19:02,217 and number-one movie, simultaneously... 400 00:19:02,241 --> 00:19:04,853 An unprecedented accomplishment. 401 00:19:04,877 --> 00:19:06,254 Tim, do you ever listen to me? 402 00:19:06,278 --> 00:19:08,757 It was the last thing I said to you in bed last night. 403 00:19:08,781 --> 00:19:11,159 No, I believe, if you recall, the last thing 404 00:19:11,183 --> 00:19:15,052 you said to me in bed last night was, "No!" 405 00:19:20,459 --> 00:19:22,621 You're thinking of tonight. 406 00:19:27,333 --> 00:19:29,978 Throughout the series' eight year run, 407 00:19:30,002 --> 00:19:32,314 Allen fought for good stories, 408 00:19:32,338 --> 00:19:34,850 believing comedy would flow from the situation, 409 00:19:34,874 --> 00:19:36,218 not the other way around. 410 00:19:36,242 --> 00:19:39,621 It's called a situation comedy. 411 00:19:39,645 --> 00:19:43,158 It's not a comedy situation. 412 00:19:43,182 --> 00:19:44,993 So it can't be bit to bit to bit. 413 00:19:45,017 --> 00:19:48,430 Yellow, see... the sun is yellow and heats the ground. 414 00:19:48,454 --> 00:19:50,616 That's how they name stuff. 415 00:19:55,728 --> 00:19:57,594 Is that car running? 416 00:20:01,133 --> 00:20:04,046 Tim Allen's role as one of America's favorite dads 417 00:20:04,070 --> 00:20:06,448 led to movie roles playing Santa Claus, 418 00:20:06,472 --> 00:20:08,950 and other "good guys" and father figures. 419 00:20:08,974 --> 00:20:11,853 But he came to learn that it was hard to escape 420 00:20:11,877 --> 00:20:14,923 the goofy dad persona he had so carefully developed 421 00:20:14,947 --> 00:20:16,324 on "Home Improvement." 422 00:20:16,348 --> 00:20:17,993 Even when parts were offered, 423 00:20:18,017 --> 00:20:20,462 he thought twice about venturing too far. 424 00:20:20,486 --> 00:20:22,431 You get paid to be a certain guy. 425 00:20:22,455 --> 00:20:24,686 They don't want to see me doing Othello. 426 00:20:25,758 --> 00:20:28,057 Tim Allen built a career drawing humor 427 00:20:28,094 --> 00:20:31,139 from his take on the American dad. 428 00:20:31,163 --> 00:20:33,642 At the same time, another breakthrough comic 429 00:20:33,666 --> 00:20:36,226 was doing the same thing for the American mom. 430 00:20:38,170 --> 00:20:41,049 Growing up in Salt Lake City, young Roseanne Barr 431 00:20:41,073 --> 00:20:43,485 didn't spend much time with her father, 432 00:20:43,509 --> 00:20:45,787 but they did watch TV together, 433 00:20:45,811 --> 00:20:47,622 whenever a comic was on. 434 00:20:47,646 --> 00:20:51,460 My father wanted to be a standup comic himself. 435 00:20:51,484 --> 00:20:55,697 He understood comedy like almost nobody else I've ever met since. 436 00:20:55,721 --> 00:20:58,700 By her mid 20s, Roseanne found herself working 437 00:20:58,724 --> 00:21:01,303 as a waitress at Bennigan's in Denver, 438 00:21:01,327 --> 00:21:05,140 married, with three children, and very little money. 439 00:21:05,164 --> 00:21:08,977 One night, she signed up for an open mike at a local club 440 00:21:09,001 --> 00:21:10,579 and suddenly everything changed. 441 00:21:10,603 --> 00:21:11,747 The first time I got 442 00:21:11,771 --> 00:21:13,648 a laugh from an audience, 443 00:21:13,672 --> 00:21:16,818 I was totally hooked and had to continue. 444 00:21:16,842 --> 00:21:18,653 It's hard to be married a long time 445 00:21:18,677 --> 00:21:20,522 and everything like that, you know. 446 00:21:20,546 --> 00:21:22,591 It's really hard and everything but they do bug you. 447 00:21:22,615 --> 00:21:24,526 This is what gets me, is that they always think 448 00:21:24,550 --> 00:21:26,895 that you're going to be the one that cleans everything, huh? 449 00:21:26,919 --> 00:21:29,998 Like they think that's your destiny to clean. 450 00:21:30,022 --> 00:21:32,501 And I guess their destiny is to have a couch 451 00:21:32,525 --> 00:21:34,721 surgically implanted on their behind. 452 00:21:36,629 --> 00:21:41,443 It energizes you to go, "They're going to love this," 453 00:21:41,467 --> 00:21:45,514 and it's like, boom, you're giving them a gift. 454 00:21:45,538 --> 00:21:48,650 You may marry the man of your dreams, ladies, 455 00:21:48,674 --> 00:21:52,487 but 14 years later, you're married to a couch that burps. 456 00:21:55,281 --> 00:21:59,060 And they give you a gift back by laughing at it. 457 00:21:59,084 --> 00:22:01,163 So it's like you want to give. 458 00:22:01,187 --> 00:22:04,733 And it's a cool give and take thing, 459 00:22:04,757 --> 00:22:06,501 an exchange of energy. 460 00:22:06,525 --> 00:22:09,070 Roseanne spent the next few years honing her act, 461 00:22:09,094 --> 00:22:10,939 perfecting her standup character. 462 00:22:10,963 --> 00:22:13,208 It's really fun to do that, 463 00:22:13,232 --> 00:22:17,813 and to be inside your brain when it's working like that, 464 00:22:17,837 --> 00:22:20,448 you're going to feel very alive. 465 00:22:20,472 --> 00:22:25,086 In 1985, Roseanne moved to Los Angeles 466 00:22:25,110 --> 00:22:28,356 and her career accelerated like no one's before. 467 00:22:28,380 --> 00:22:31,159 It was like, wow. It was instantaneous. 468 00:22:31,183 --> 00:22:32,627 My first time on stage, 469 00:22:32,651 --> 00:22:37,666 I did five minutes for Mitzi Shore at the Comedy Store 470 00:22:37,690 --> 00:22:42,938 on Sunset Boulevard and that night she took me 471 00:22:42,962 --> 00:22:45,907 into the main room and told me to do 20. 472 00:22:45,931 --> 00:22:51,746 Within weeks, Roseanne Barr was booked on the "Tonight Show." 473 00:22:51,770 --> 00:22:53,782 Have you ever noticed that fat people 474 00:22:53,806 --> 00:22:55,350 don't think like skinny people? 475 00:22:55,374 --> 00:22:57,152 We have our own way of thinking. 476 00:22:57,176 --> 00:22:59,788 Like, did you ever ask a fat person for directions? 477 00:22:59,812 --> 00:23:02,224 'Cause that is when the difference in thinking 478 00:23:02,248 --> 00:23:03,458 really shows, you know. 479 00:23:03,482 --> 00:23:05,594 'Cause you go up to them on the street and ask 'em 480 00:23:05,618 --> 00:23:07,629 where something is and they tell you like this. 481 00:23:07,653 --> 00:23:10,265 "Well, go down here to Arby's..." 482 00:23:15,961 --> 00:23:18,273 My first time on the "Tonight Show"... 483 00:23:18,297 --> 00:23:20,308 That was just a dream come true, 484 00:23:20,332 --> 00:23:22,444 and it went almost exactly the way 485 00:23:22,468 --> 00:23:24,112 I hoped and dreamed it would. 486 00:23:24,136 --> 00:23:29,150 It was just a life-changing, exciting, fantastic night. 487 00:23:29,174 --> 00:23:32,320 But it's good that I'm fat, though, because I'm a mom, 488 00:23:32,344 --> 00:23:34,823 and fat moms are better than skinny moms. 489 00:23:34,847 --> 00:23:37,092 'Cause what do you want when you're depressed? 490 00:23:37,116 --> 00:23:39,728 Some skinny mom, "Well, why don't you jog around awhile 491 00:23:39,752 --> 00:23:41,930 and that'll release adrenaline in your blood 492 00:23:41,954 --> 00:23:44,799 and you'll better cope with stress?" 493 00:23:44,823 --> 00:23:48,069 Or some fat mom, "Well, let's have pudding, 494 00:23:48,093 --> 00:23:49,704 Oreos and marshmallows." 495 00:23:51,563 --> 00:23:53,041 He asked me, 496 00:23:53,065 --> 00:23:55,143 "Do you write your own material?" 497 00:23:55,167 --> 00:23:56,978 And I said, "Yeah," and he said, 498 00:23:57,002 --> 00:23:59,447 "Well, it's very good and I'm telling you 499 00:23:59,471 --> 00:24:02,851 you're going to be the biggest woman ever in standup comedy 500 00:24:02,875 --> 00:24:05,520 and you have my personal guarantee for that." 501 00:24:05,544 --> 00:24:09,658 I was like, "Duh!" I was agog. 502 00:24:09,682 --> 00:24:14,729 It wasn't long before Roseanne had a deal to do a sitcom, 503 00:24:14,753 --> 00:24:17,966 but she was determined to create something different, 504 00:24:17,990 --> 00:24:20,869 to make a statement, to influence the culture. 505 00:24:20,893 --> 00:24:24,306 When I used to watch all those television shows and sitcoms 506 00:24:24,330 --> 00:24:27,375 myself in my home and just go, "You've got to be..." 507 00:24:27,399 --> 00:24:30,011 I don't want to swear, but you've got to be 508 00:24:30,035 --> 00:24:31,579 me with this crap. 509 00:24:31,603 --> 00:24:32,881 And it made me angry. 510 00:24:32,905 --> 00:24:35,917 From day one, Roseanne had to fight hard 511 00:24:35,941 --> 00:24:38,887 for her vision of TV's Roseanne Connor. 512 00:24:38,911 --> 00:24:42,123 It came from here, 513 00:24:42,147 --> 00:24:47,395 and I didn't want to turn it over to anybody 514 00:24:47,419 --> 00:24:49,965 who had no idea what it was about. 515 00:24:49,989 --> 00:24:52,067 To the show's early writers, 516 00:24:52,091 --> 00:24:55,804 a feminist character was intrinsically anti-male, 517 00:24:55,828 --> 00:24:58,406 but Roseanne's take on the women's movement 518 00:24:58,430 --> 00:24:59,607 was very different. 519 00:24:59,631 --> 00:25:01,109 They thought that 520 00:25:01,133 --> 00:25:05,880 saying something feminist or something pro-woman 521 00:25:05,904 --> 00:25:10,385 was the opposite of saying something pro man and it isn't. 522 00:25:10,409 --> 00:25:14,022 It isn't at all; in fact, it's almost the opposite. 523 00:25:14,046 --> 00:25:15,457 The issue nearly came to blows 524 00:25:15,481 --> 00:25:17,659 when shooting this scene in the first season. 525 00:25:17,683 --> 00:25:20,161 Tell me, miss. 526 00:25:20,185 --> 00:25:22,931 Will you still respect me in the morning? 527 00:25:22,955 --> 00:25:25,800 The writers wanted the Roseanne Connor character 528 00:25:25,824 --> 00:25:28,636 to make a disparaging remark about her husband. 529 00:25:28,660 --> 00:25:31,072 Roseanne Barr refused. 530 00:25:31,096 --> 00:25:33,675 They wanted me to say those lines, but I was like, 531 00:25:33,699 --> 00:25:37,012 "That isn't how women talk. 532 00:25:37,036 --> 00:25:38,980 I don't even know any men that talk that way 533 00:25:39,004 --> 00:25:40,281 besides Archie Bunker." 534 00:25:40,305 --> 00:25:44,352 After stopping production for a time, Roseanne won 535 00:25:44,376 --> 00:25:46,254 and the scene was softened. 536 00:25:46,278 --> 00:25:49,491 I'll respect you in the morning, in the afternoon 537 00:25:49,515 --> 00:25:51,526 and especially at night. 538 00:25:55,788 --> 00:25:58,166 These people went to Yale and Harvard. 539 00:25:58,190 --> 00:26:01,202 A lot of them didn't even know what lunchmeat was. 540 00:26:01,226 --> 00:26:02,871 And I remember them saying, 541 00:26:02,895 --> 00:26:05,073 "What is that? What is lunchmeat?" 542 00:26:05,097 --> 00:26:08,109 And I say, "It's that square meat that's pressed." 543 00:26:08,133 --> 00:26:09,911 They'd be like... 544 00:26:09,935 --> 00:26:13,281 So there was a lot of class issues like that. 545 00:26:13,305 --> 00:26:15,517 Why don't you stack them sandwiches on a plate for me? 546 00:26:15,541 --> 00:26:17,719 I've got to go to Andy J. And get some chips and soda 547 00:26:17,743 --> 00:26:19,220 and all kinds of other stuff. 548 00:26:19,244 --> 00:26:23,958 I see flat meat and I see bread but I don't see no sandwiches. 549 00:26:23,982 --> 00:26:25,693 Oh, boing! 550 00:26:25,717 --> 00:26:29,564 Did you want me to make them sandwiches? 551 00:26:29,588 --> 00:26:31,066 Oh, could you? 552 00:26:31,090 --> 00:26:32,333 Oh, are you kidding? 553 00:26:32,357 --> 00:26:34,335 I've been standing behind a counter 554 00:26:34,359 --> 00:26:37,338 preparing food for people all day and I will say right now 555 00:26:37,362 --> 00:26:39,574 there is nothing more I'd rather do than 556 00:26:39,598 --> 00:26:41,109 make sandwiches for you, Dan. 557 00:26:41,133 --> 00:26:43,311 Why then, we're both in heaven. 558 00:26:43,335 --> 00:26:47,582 By the thirteenth episode, Roseanne had won control 559 00:26:47,606 --> 00:26:48,983 of her show, 560 00:26:49,007 --> 00:26:51,352 a new vision of working- class women and their families. 561 00:26:51,376 --> 00:26:52,854 The thing that was different 562 00:26:52,878 --> 00:26:57,092 about the show was that it dealt with class in America, 563 00:26:57,116 --> 00:26:59,894 class issues and women and class, 564 00:26:59,918 --> 00:27:02,897 and women in their families and working class families. 565 00:27:02,921 --> 00:27:05,333 None of that was ever on TV before, really. 566 00:27:05,357 --> 00:27:06,968 Okay, tell Dwight to tell Dad that... 567 00:27:06,992 --> 00:27:08,870 You're not writing this down at all, are you? 568 00:27:08,894 --> 00:27:12,574 - Yes I am. - Becky! 569 00:27:12,598 --> 00:27:14,742 All right. 570 00:27:14,766 --> 00:27:16,244 Okay, tell Dwight 571 00:27:16,268 --> 00:27:18,113 to tell dad that I got overtime tonight 572 00:27:18,137 --> 00:27:20,048 so he has to pick up dinner for you kids. 573 00:27:20,072 --> 00:27:21,549 Great! Can we get Chipper Chicken? 574 00:27:21,573 --> 00:27:25,386 You can get Happy Hamster for all I care. 575 00:27:25,410 --> 00:27:27,789 The series tackled a range of issues 576 00:27:27,813 --> 00:27:30,158 television had largely neglected... 577 00:27:30,182 --> 00:27:32,927 Unemployment, alcoholism, domestic violence, 578 00:27:32,951 --> 00:27:35,463 teen pregnancy, and gay rights. 579 00:27:35,487 --> 00:27:38,166 One of the best ones that I like the most 580 00:27:38,190 --> 00:27:41,970 for breaking through things was where Darlene got her period. 581 00:27:41,994 --> 00:27:45,406 What are you throwing all your stuff away for? 582 00:27:45,430 --> 00:27:47,609 These are girls' things, Darlene. 583 00:27:47,633 --> 00:27:49,310 As long as a girl uses 'em. 584 00:27:49,334 --> 00:27:51,212 You love all this stuff. 585 00:27:51,236 --> 00:27:53,882 That's reason enough to keep it. 586 00:27:53,906 --> 00:27:56,784 I'm probably going to start throwing 587 00:27:56,808 --> 00:27:58,586 like a girl now anyway. 588 00:27:58,610 --> 00:28:01,055 Definitely. And, since you got your period, 589 00:28:01,079 --> 00:28:03,480 you're going to be throwing a lot farther. 590 00:28:05,617 --> 00:28:08,496 Roseanne topped the ratings in its first year, 591 00:28:08,520 --> 00:28:11,099 and stayed popular for all nine seasons, 592 00:28:11,123 --> 00:28:14,702 offering a unique perspective on American life. 593 00:28:14,726 --> 00:28:17,405 You mean you don't want to spend a delightful Sunday 594 00:28:17,429 --> 00:28:18,740 with mumsy and popsy? 595 00:28:18,764 --> 00:28:22,610 The two most boring people on the face of the earth? 596 00:28:22,634 --> 00:28:24,612 Sunday around here is death. 597 00:28:24,636 --> 00:28:27,415 Will Dad have a third cup of coffee? 598 00:28:27,439 --> 00:28:30,118 Will mom get off the sofa by noon? 599 00:28:30,142 --> 00:28:32,921 Will you get the hell out of my house? 600 00:28:32,945 --> 00:28:34,622 I did what I came to do. 601 00:28:34,646 --> 00:28:38,293 I accomplished everything that I wanted to accomplish 602 00:28:38,317 --> 00:28:39,661 with my comedy. 603 00:28:39,685 --> 00:28:43,765 I wanted to tear down some walls and make some roads bigger 604 00:28:43,789 --> 00:28:46,258 and move the center left, and I did. 605 00:28:48,193 --> 00:28:51,839 In Roseanne's final years, another landmark family comedy 606 00:28:51,863 --> 00:28:53,474 was making its premiere, 607 00:28:53,498 --> 00:28:56,044 but the center of this show wasn't a strong woman, 608 00:28:56,068 --> 00:28:58,913 it was a rather needy man... 609 00:28:58,937 --> 00:29:01,182 The lovable but helpless Ray Barone. 610 00:29:01,206 --> 00:29:02,850 Live from New York, 611 00:29:02,874 --> 00:29:04,900 it's Saturday night! 612 00:29:08,780 --> 00:29:12,093 In 19 7 5, "Saturday Night Live" premiered 613 00:29:12,117 --> 00:29:14,796 and that gave one young teenager an idea. 614 00:29:14,820 --> 00:29:17,332 In the basement of his local church, 615 00:29:17,356 --> 00:29:21,035 he and a few friends put on their own sketch comedy show. 616 00:29:21,059 --> 00:29:23,705 The leader of this troupe was Ray Romano. 617 00:29:23,729 --> 00:29:26,674 We wrote our own sketches, did our own props, our own makeup. 618 00:29:26,698 --> 00:29:30,411 It was a success for us. We heard laughs. 619 00:29:30,435 --> 00:29:34,148 That was really where I got the bug. 620 00:29:34,172 --> 00:29:37,752 In his early 20s, Romano took the next step, 621 00:29:37,776 --> 00:29:40,021 trying standup at audition night 622 00:29:40,045 --> 00:29:41,689 at the Improv in New York. 623 00:29:41,713 --> 00:29:43,491 In the beginning of standup, 624 00:29:43,515 --> 00:29:45,860 it's the hardest thing in the world 625 00:29:45,884 --> 00:29:48,329 because you are not good. 626 00:29:48,353 --> 00:29:51,733 His second attempt at standup went so poorly, 627 00:29:51,757 --> 00:29:53,735 Ray Romano quit comedy entirely. 628 00:29:53,759 --> 00:29:56,371 He studied accounting, worked odd jobs, 629 00:29:56,395 --> 00:29:57,705 and watched sports, 630 00:29:57,729 --> 00:29:59,774 while still living in his parents' basement. 631 00:29:59,798 --> 00:30:02,076 It's Italian mother and all of that. 632 00:30:02,100 --> 00:30:04,245 They're fine with you living home. 633 00:30:04,269 --> 00:30:06,547 They're not trying to push you away. 634 00:30:06,571 --> 00:30:09,450 Finally, two years after bombing on stage, 635 00:30:09,474 --> 00:30:12,186 he worked up the nerve to try it again. 636 00:30:12,210 --> 00:30:16,157 I was so depressed, I got off the stage 637 00:30:16,181 --> 00:30:17,892 and I went home. 638 00:30:17,916 --> 00:30:21,396 To show you how devastating it was to me, 639 00:30:21,420 --> 00:30:24,899 I went upstairs and I woke up my mother and father and said, 640 00:30:24,923 --> 00:30:28,536 "Why'd you leave?" 641 00:30:28,560 --> 00:30:31,606 When you're new, it's just flop, sweat 642 00:30:31,630 --> 00:30:34,742 and you speed up and you forget things. 643 00:30:34,766 --> 00:30:39,047 Eventually, Ray Romano started getting consistent laughs, 644 00:30:39,071 --> 00:30:41,949 but it took time to develop his comic persona. 645 00:30:41,973 --> 00:30:45,320 I was doing material that I would never do now. 646 00:30:45,344 --> 00:30:48,256 I was doing impressions, weird, goofy impressions. 647 00:30:48,280 --> 00:30:50,124 I was putting hats on and glasses. 648 00:30:50,148 --> 00:30:52,794 They were getting crazy laughs, 649 00:30:52,818 --> 00:30:59,133 but as I grew, those things, I evolved and I found my voice. 650 00:30:59,157 --> 00:31:01,769 After six years of honing his act, 651 00:31:01,793 --> 00:31:05,340 Ray Romano began landing spots on comedy specials. 652 00:31:05,364 --> 00:31:08,876 I have a three year-old daughter and twin one year-old boys. 653 00:31:08,900 --> 00:31:10,545 That's the correct response. 654 00:31:10,569 --> 00:31:11,846 Good, I'm glad. 655 00:31:11,870 --> 00:31:15,950 Normally, single people clap. "Oh, twins. Yay." 656 00:31:15,974 --> 00:31:21,255 Parents are, "Oh, that could have been us, oh, my god!" 657 00:31:21,279 --> 00:31:25,426 Standup comics who break through on the marquee shows 658 00:31:25,450 --> 00:31:28,730 often land sitcoms, but Ray Romano wasn't 659 00:31:28,754 --> 00:31:30,231 getting any calls. 660 00:31:30,255 --> 00:31:33,301 The weeks and months ticked by. 661 00:31:33,325 --> 00:31:35,837 Four years later, still no sitcom. 662 00:31:35,861 --> 00:31:39,540 Then Ray made an appearance on the David Letterman show. 663 00:31:39,564 --> 00:31:41,843 And no one really wants to talk to you on the phone 664 00:31:41,867 --> 00:31:43,611 when you've got kids running around. 665 00:31:43,635 --> 00:31:46,147 Every business call I try to make, I screw up eventually. 666 00:31:46,171 --> 00:31:49,650 "Oh, yeah, the 15th is fine. I just need to know... 667 00:31:49,674 --> 00:31:53,121 Where do you think you're going with that cookie?! 668 00:31:53,145 --> 00:31:56,691 Put the cookie down! 669 00:31:56,715 --> 00:31:58,993 Not you. Sorry. 670 00:31:59,017 --> 00:32:02,029 Sorry. I didn't mean to scare you. 671 00:32:02,053 --> 00:32:06,000 Oh, I didn't know you were eating a cookie. 672 00:32:06,024 --> 00:32:08,002 Take it easy." 673 00:32:08,026 --> 00:32:09,137 Click. 674 00:32:09,161 --> 00:32:12,573 I had a really good set on Letterman. 675 00:32:12,597 --> 00:32:15,476 And, afterwards, 676 00:32:15,500 --> 00:32:18,813 I just thought, "Well, here's the next thing." 677 00:32:18,837 --> 00:32:22,216 Letterman's... there it is, producers, anybody. 678 00:32:22,240 --> 00:32:24,952 You know, I don't know what else I can do. 679 00:32:24,976 --> 00:32:29,991 If people aren't going to bite now, that's all right. 680 00:32:30,015 --> 00:32:34,362 The next week, the call came in. 681 00:32:34,386 --> 00:32:36,431 My wife came out in the backyard, 682 00:32:36,455 --> 00:32:39,867 I was in the backyard, and said, "It's the Letterman people." 683 00:32:39,891 --> 00:32:42,937 I pulled up my pants... Because it's in Queens, 684 00:32:42,961 --> 00:32:45,540 it's an alley way, I'm relaxing. 685 00:32:45,564 --> 00:32:49,610 David Letterman's production company offered a TV deal. 686 00:32:49,634 --> 00:32:51,112 Ray Romano 687 00:32:51,136 --> 00:32:53,047 was about to make the transition 688 00:32:53,071 --> 00:32:54,549 from standup to sitcom. 689 00:32:54,573 --> 00:32:57,251 We shuffle 'em here, 690 00:32:57,275 --> 00:33:00,421 twist him like this, 691 00:33:00,445 --> 00:33:06,828 give him a flippity floo, and over here. 692 00:33:06,852 --> 00:33:09,030 We put him back over here. 693 00:33:09,054 --> 00:33:11,432 Keeping your eye on him? 694 00:33:11,456 --> 00:33:13,401 Okay. Where's Gregory? 695 00:33:13,425 --> 00:33:15,770 Aha! 696 00:33:15,794 --> 00:33:18,239 C'mon, it's easy. 697 00:33:18,263 --> 00:33:21,976 Which one's Gregory? 698 00:33:22,000 --> 00:33:24,579 Okay, don't tell your mother about this. 699 00:33:24,603 --> 00:33:26,380 Ray's sitcom character 700 00:33:26,404 --> 00:33:29,617 wasn't too far from his standup persona. 701 00:33:29,641 --> 00:33:33,321 But co-creator Phil Rosenthal added one extra dimension... 702 00:33:33,345 --> 00:33:37,058 Hovering parents, played by Peter Boyle and Doris Roberts. 703 00:33:37,082 --> 00:33:39,560 Had I not met Phil, I don't think the show 704 00:33:39,584 --> 00:33:44,232 is as "parent heavy." 705 00:33:44,256 --> 00:33:48,269 And if that happens, maybe we're not here. 706 00:33:48,293 --> 00:33:51,806 You're talking to George Lopez for an hour, 707 00:33:51,830 --> 00:33:53,174 which is not a bad thing. 708 00:33:53,198 --> 00:33:57,345 Do you know that the fruit keeps coming month after month? 709 00:33:57,369 --> 00:33:59,347 He's got us in some kind of a cult. 710 00:33:59,371 --> 00:34:02,183 It's not a cult, Ma, it's a club. 711 00:34:02,207 --> 00:34:05,152 What do you mean, month after month? 712 00:34:05,176 --> 00:34:06,735 For how long? 713 00:34:09,681 --> 00:34:11,092 A year. 714 00:34:11,116 --> 00:34:13,327 My God, are you out of your mind? 715 00:34:13,351 --> 00:34:16,764 Sorry, I'm so sorry, Dad. 716 00:34:16,788 --> 00:34:21,068 They got me an acting coach actually in the beginning. 717 00:34:21,092 --> 00:34:22,937 It was funny because they told me, 718 00:34:22,961 --> 00:34:24,472 "Do you want an acting coach?" 719 00:34:24,496 --> 00:34:28,910 I went, "Well, I guess," you know. 720 00:34:28,934 --> 00:34:31,812 They were like, "Because people are going to be 721 00:34:31,836 --> 00:34:33,347 talking back to you now. 722 00:34:33,371 --> 00:34:36,984 You're not just on stage waiting for the laughs to die down." 723 00:34:37,008 --> 00:34:39,854 Because Ray Romano was largely unknown, 724 00:34:39,878 --> 00:34:43,257 the first episodes faced an unusual challenge... 725 00:34:43,281 --> 00:34:45,860 Finding willing viewers for the studio audience. 726 00:34:45,884 --> 00:34:48,429 They would get the audience by paying them. 727 00:34:48,453 --> 00:34:51,666 They would go to the elderly homes 728 00:34:51,690 --> 00:34:53,801 and they would... I'm not kidding... 729 00:34:53,825 --> 00:34:56,337 And rehab centers, and that was our audience. 730 00:34:56,361 --> 00:34:57,738 Yes. 731 00:34:57,762 --> 00:35:00,308 For Romano, 732 00:35:00,332 --> 00:35:02,109 the biggest challenge of a sitcom was 733 00:35:02,133 --> 00:35:03,911 letting someone else write his lines. 734 00:35:03,935 --> 00:35:06,881 It was hard for me to accept that somebody else 735 00:35:06,905 --> 00:35:09,417 was going to write stuff for me to say. 736 00:35:09,441 --> 00:35:12,954 It was hard for me... 737 00:35:12,978 --> 00:35:15,222 like, saying somebody else's words 738 00:35:15,246 --> 00:35:18,759 and getting a laugh from it, didn't feel like I earned it. 739 00:35:18,783 --> 00:35:20,394 "Everybody Loves Raymond" 740 00:35:20,418 --> 00:35:22,930 was a ratings success from the start, 741 00:35:22,954 --> 00:35:25,499 but it wasn't until the fourth episode 742 00:35:25,523 --> 00:35:28,469 that Ray Romano felt the show started to gel. 743 00:35:28,493 --> 00:35:30,371 It was a show about IQ, 744 00:35:30,395 --> 00:35:35,643 and how I was really hoping I had a higher IQ than my wife. 745 00:35:35,667 --> 00:35:40,715 And my brother was giving an IQ test to the parents and to us. 746 00:35:40,739 --> 00:35:42,883 I need you to take an IQ test. 747 00:35:42,907 --> 00:35:44,251 What? 748 00:35:44,275 --> 00:35:45,786 An IQ test. 749 00:35:45,810 --> 00:35:48,289 I'm taking a criminal psychology class 750 00:35:48,313 --> 00:35:52,059 to make lieutenant and I have to learn how to give an IQ test. 751 00:35:52,083 --> 00:35:58,599 Ah, I think he wants me to steal third. 752 00:35:58,623 --> 00:36:04,438 It was just, I thought, at that time, our funniest episode. 753 00:36:04,462 --> 00:36:07,575 I want you to know I think I might have 754 00:36:07,599 --> 00:36:09,944 made a mistake with your test result. 755 00:36:09,968 --> 00:36:11,612 Jumbled 'em. 756 00:36:11,636 --> 00:36:13,648 What do you mean? 757 00:36:13,672 --> 00:36:16,784 Well, actually, Raymond, you were the one who scored 758 00:36:16,808 --> 00:36:18,452 one standard deviation higher than Debra. 759 00:36:18,476 --> 00:36:20,274 What? 760 00:36:22,647 --> 00:36:24,616 Good night! 761 00:36:28,853 --> 00:36:31,632 And we just hit things and we hit our stride. 762 00:36:31,656 --> 00:36:34,535 And it was at that moment where I just thought, 763 00:36:34,559 --> 00:36:35,636 this might work. 764 00:36:35,660 --> 00:36:40,428 Well, now it's a happy marriage. 765 00:36:48,840 --> 00:36:50,918 There was another one where Phil 766 00:36:50,942 --> 00:36:53,721 wanted me to kiss Peter Boyle on the head 767 00:36:53,745 --> 00:36:56,123 and I had a hard time with it. 768 00:36:56,147 --> 00:36:58,480 I go, "I don't think he would do that." 769 00:37:01,219 --> 00:37:03,330 To his credit, he made me do it 770 00:37:03,354 --> 00:37:04,932 and it was a great moment. 771 00:37:04,956 --> 00:37:09,603 Romano played Ray Barone for nine seasons. 772 00:37:09,627 --> 00:37:12,807 When the series wrapped, he was ready for a new challenge. 773 00:37:12,831 --> 00:37:17,211 Under every comedian there's a lot of angst in there. 774 00:37:17,235 --> 00:37:19,380 There's a lot of stuff he's working out. 775 00:37:19,404 --> 00:37:22,516 So why not work it out through drama also? 776 00:37:22,540 --> 00:37:23,984 Get to kiss a few women. 777 00:37:24,008 --> 00:37:26,787 You go around all mopey, talking about getting back with Sonya. 778 00:37:26,811 --> 00:37:29,457 Look, if you want any chance of saving your marriage... 779 00:37:29,481 --> 00:37:32,393 There is no chance. There's no chance, okay? 780 00:37:32,417 --> 00:37:35,830 I talked to her today and asked if we should see other people, 781 00:37:35,854 --> 00:37:37,288 she said, "Yes," okay? 782 00:37:40,091 --> 00:37:42,903 You guys, you know, you guys are always telling me to move on. 783 00:37:42,927 --> 00:37:45,272 I'm moving on, so there's nothing you can do. 784 00:37:45,296 --> 00:37:46,640 We're seeing other people, 785 00:37:46,664 --> 00:37:48,642 so I can do whatever the hell I want. 786 00:37:48,666 --> 00:37:53,180 Ray Romano has won accolades for his dramatic roles, 787 00:37:53,204 --> 00:37:56,417 but like his peers, he can't resist the opportunity 788 00:37:56,441 --> 00:37:58,753 to return to his roots, to stand alone 789 00:37:58,777 --> 00:38:01,388 in front of an audience and make them laugh. 790 00:38:01,412 --> 00:38:06,694 There is a rush to it that is fulfilling 791 00:38:06,718 --> 00:38:08,629 and a little bit addictive. 792 00:38:08,653 --> 00:38:12,500 And... 793 00:38:12,524 --> 00:38:15,392 for me, it's either that or hookers. 794 00:38:17,495 --> 00:38:19,006 The husband and wife duo 795 00:38:19,030 --> 00:38:21,642 at the core of "Everybody Loves Raymond" 796 00:38:21,666 --> 00:38:24,211 was an echo of the very first TV sitcom 797 00:38:24,235 --> 00:38:27,314 based on a standup act, the husband and wife team 798 00:38:27,338 --> 00:38:29,583 of George Burns and Gracie Allen. 799 00:38:29,607 --> 00:38:31,485 I wouldn't let this get out of the house 800 00:38:31,509 --> 00:38:33,220 because you're gonna be laughed at. 801 00:38:33,244 --> 00:38:34,488 Aah, let 'em laugh. 802 00:38:34,512 --> 00:38:36,891 They laugh at all intelligent women. 803 00:38:36,915 --> 00:38:38,492 They even laughed at Joan of Arc, 804 00:38:38,516 --> 00:38:40,508 but she went right ahead and built it. 805 00:38:44,455 --> 00:38:46,467 Built, built what? 806 00:38:46,491 --> 00:38:48,936 The Ark. 807 00:38:48,960 --> 00:38:51,138 The Ark was built by a man. 808 00:38:51,162 --> 00:38:53,774 The person who built the Ark was a woman. 809 00:38:53,798 --> 00:38:55,209 Noah. 810 00:38:55,233 --> 00:38:58,412 How could I know her? She's been dead for years. 811 00:38:58,436 --> 00:39:03,250 Like George Burns, Jack Benny translated his standup routine 812 00:39:03,274 --> 00:39:05,486 to television in the 1950s. 813 00:39:05,510 --> 00:39:08,789 He would just go, "Well..." and we'd be screaming. 814 00:39:08,813 --> 00:39:11,525 Well, on the page, that's not a joke. 815 00:39:11,549 --> 00:39:15,229 But it was a way he delivered everything and his timing. 816 00:39:15,253 --> 00:39:16,931 Well, while you're thinking, do you mind 817 00:39:16,955 --> 00:39:18,732 if I look over the clauses in the contract? 818 00:39:18,756 --> 00:39:21,368 Let's see, well, here. 819 00:39:21,392 --> 00:39:22,703 Thank you. 820 00:39:22,727 --> 00:39:24,457 There it is, right there. 821 00:39:28,867 --> 00:39:31,512 Hmm. 822 00:39:31,536 --> 00:39:34,062 Hmm. 823 00:39:35,506 --> 00:39:39,420 Jack Benny was a standup comedian. 824 00:39:39,444 --> 00:39:44,058 George Burns was a standup comedian. 825 00:39:44,082 --> 00:39:49,029 But their television shows became 826 00:39:49,053 --> 00:39:51,599 just extensions of their radio shows. 827 00:39:51,623 --> 00:39:57,471 Standups were largely absent from TV sitcoms in the 1960s, 828 00:39:57,495 --> 00:40:00,374 but in the 1970s, the idea got a reboot 829 00:40:00,398 --> 00:40:04,245 when an established comic was offered his own TV sitcom, 830 00:40:04,269 --> 00:40:07,014 a comedian who first stepped on stage 831 00:40:07,038 --> 00:40:11,237 more than a decade earlier in Chicago. 832 00:40:13,878 --> 00:40:16,423 In the 1950s, a Chicago accountant 833 00:40:16,447 --> 00:40:18,926 began to dream of something more. 834 00:40:18,950 --> 00:40:21,462 Next to his adding machine and ledger book, 835 00:40:21,486 --> 00:40:24,565 he kept a notebook, where he'd jot down funny thoughts. 836 00:40:24,589 --> 00:40:26,834 The accountant's name was Bob Newhart. 837 00:40:26,858 --> 00:40:28,869 I wasn't thinking of stand-up or anything, 838 00:40:28,893 --> 00:40:31,005 I'd just get these ideas and write them down. 839 00:40:31,029 --> 00:40:34,174 Bob quit accounting to pursue comedy, 840 00:40:34,198 --> 00:40:36,510 but things weren't happening. 841 00:40:36,534 --> 00:40:37,845 Years passed. 842 00:40:37,869 --> 00:40:40,848 I was thinking to myself, "You have really screwed up, 843 00:40:40,872 --> 00:40:43,484 you really have, you've screwed up your life." 844 00:40:43,508 --> 00:40:45,920 Eventually a record company agreed 845 00:40:45,944 --> 00:40:48,322 to record some of Bob's routines, 846 00:40:48,346 --> 00:40:50,291 but even that was a challenge. 847 00:40:50,315 --> 00:40:54,061 They said, "Okay, we'll record you at your next night club." 848 00:40:54,085 --> 00:40:56,130 And I said, "Well, see, we have a problem there. 849 00:40:56,154 --> 00:40:57,665 I've never played in a night club." 850 00:40:57,689 --> 00:41:01,201 When "The Button-Down Mind of Bob Newhart" was released, 851 00:41:01,225 --> 00:41:04,071 it instantly shot to the top of the charts, 852 00:41:04,095 --> 00:41:07,508 knocking Elvis Presley out of the number one position. 853 00:41:07,532 --> 00:41:10,110 "Now, what's the first thing we're going to do 854 00:41:10,134 --> 00:41:11,612 before we pull out into traffic? 855 00:41:11,636 --> 00:41:15,716 What did Mr. Adams do before he let you pull out into traffic? 856 00:41:15,740 --> 00:41:19,687 Well, I mean besides praying, let's say." 857 00:41:19,711 --> 00:41:23,757 It was thrust upon me and I wasn't really ready for it. 858 00:41:23,781 --> 00:41:31,732 So I had to learn my craft as I was appearing 859 00:41:31,756 --> 00:41:34,401 in front of 3,000, 4,000, 5,000 people. 860 00:41:34,425 --> 00:41:40,331 Uh, looking back on the Mutiny... 861 00:41:42,400 --> 00:41:45,679 I think a lot of the trouble there stemmed 862 00:41:45,703 --> 00:41:47,982 from the fact that you men weren't coming to me 863 00:41:48,006 --> 00:41:49,383 with your problems. 864 00:41:49,407 --> 00:41:52,553 Uh, as I explained to you before we started out, 865 00:41:52,577 --> 00:41:56,023 the door to my office is always open. 866 00:41:56,047 --> 00:41:59,793 Uh, I think you know why it's always open. 867 00:41:59,817 --> 00:42:01,495 Uh, that was stolen... 868 00:42:04,322 --> 00:42:07,101 When Newhart was offered a sitcom in 19 7 2, 869 00:42:07,125 --> 00:42:09,003 the producers wanted a setting 870 00:42:09,027 --> 00:42:12,306 that would maximize Bob's ability to "listen funny." 871 00:42:12,330 --> 00:42:16,477 The first idea... make him a psychiatrist. 872 00:42:16,501 --> 00:42:20,381 And I felt, well, I don't know, psychiatrists kind of deal 873 00:42:20,405 --> 00:42:22,549 with seriously disturbed people, 874 00:42:22,573 --> 00:42:25,152 and much as I would personally like 875 00:42:25,176 --> 00:42:26,787 to get humor out of it, 876 00:42:26,811 --> 00:42:30,224 I didn't think it was right for television. 877 00:42:30,248 --> 00:42:32,860 So the character was made a psychologist, 878 00:42:32,884 --> 00:42:35,162 which still gave Bob plenty of room 879 00:42:35,186 --> 00:42:37,297 to react to unusual characters. 880 00:42:37,321 --> 00:42:38,799 One time, 881 00:42:38,823 --> 00:42:42,836 Jack Riley created that great character Mr. Carlin, 882 00:42:42,860 --> 00:42:45,639 and I was having a conversation with him. 883 00:42:45,663 --> 00:42:47,674 I said, "How did last week go?" 884 00:42:47,698 --> 00:42:50,511 I only had one problem this week. 885 00:42:50,535 --> 00:42:53,514 Well, why don't you tell me about it? 886 00:42:53,538 --> 00:42:56,850 He said, "Saturday, I was possessed by the devil." 887 00:42:56,874 --> 00:43:01,221 Yesterday morning, I was possessed by the devil. 888 00:43:01,245 --> 00:43:04,391 And of course, being a psychologist, I would say, 889 00:43:04,415 --> 00:43:07,694 "Well, do you want to go with that, Mr. Carlin?" 890 00:43:07,718 --> 00:43:10,864 I'm glad we wrestled that exorcism thing 891 00:43:10,888 --> 00:43:12,733 out for you, Mr. Carlin. 892 00:43:12,757 --> 00:43:16,570 It was cold in there. 893 00:43:16,594 --> 00:43:19,573 From the beginning, Newhart was insistent 894 00:43:19,597 --> 00:43:22,709 his sitcom character not have any children, 895 00:43:22,733 --> 00:43:25,379 but the producers pushed back, creating a script 896 00:43:25,403 --> 00:43:26,847 where Bob becomes a father. 897 00:43:26,871 --> 00:43:29,316 And I said, "I read the script," and he said, 898 00:43:29,340 --> 00:43:30,717 "Oh, how did you like it?" 899 00:43:30,741 --> 00:43:32,319 And I said, "It's very funny." 900 00:43:32,343 --> 00:43:34,988 He said, "Oh, we weren't sure you were going to like it." 901 00:43:35,012 --> 00:43:38,459 I said, "No, there are a lot of good jokes." 902 00:43:38,483 --> 00:43:42,529 I said, "Who are you going to get to play Bob?" 903 00:43:42,553 --> 00:43:43,997 He said, "Okay." 904 00:43:44,021 --> 00:43:47,668 Newhart was equally strident in protecting 905 00:43:47,692 --> 00:43:49,336 his unique speaking cadence, 906 00:43:49,360 --> 00:43:51,405 when producer Lorenzo Music asked Bob 907 00:43:51,429 --> 00:43:53,440 to pick up the pace of his dialogue. 908 00:43:53,464 --> 00:43:54,942 He said, 909 00:43:54,966 --> 00:43:59,546 "Bob, could you run some of the speeches together? 910 00:43:59,570 --> 00:44:02,883 Because the show is running long." 911 00:44:02,907 --> 00:44:06,353 And I said, "Lorenzo, this stammer has gotten me a home 912 00:44:06,377 --> 00:44:09,523 in Beverly Hills, and I'm not about to change it." 913 00:44:09,547 --> 00:44:12,493 W-What can I do for you? 914 00:44:12,517 --> 00:44:15,629 Uh, M-Mr. Johnson, smiling and whistling while you work 915 00:44:15,653 --> 00:44:17,231 doesn't seem to be a problem 916 00:44:17,255 --> 00:44:20,901 you should see a psychologist about. 917 00:44:20,925 --> 00:44:23,190 You drive a hearse? 918 00:44:24,929 --> 00:44:28,308 That's the way I talk. It's not like an affectation. 919 00:44:28,332 --> 00:44:30,744 It isn't something I created for the character. 920 00:44:30,768 --> 00:44:31,879 That's the way I talk. 921 00:44:31,903 --> 00:44:35,582 "The Bob Newhart Show" ended in 19 7 8, 922 00:44:35,606 --> 00:44:40,554 but four years later, Bob returned with a new sitcom. 923 00:44:40,578 --> 00:44:45,058 The setting was different, but the formula was the same: 924 00:44:45,082 --> 00:44:47,628 Bob reacting to a range of oddball characters. 925 00:44:47,652 --> 00:44:48,996 What are you confused about? 926 00:44:49,020 --> 00:44:52,013 Love and lust. 927 00:45:01,899 --> 00:45:03,731 See if I have a dictionary. 928 00:45:06,437 --> 00:45:08,782 He was funniest when he was reacting. 929 00:45:08,806 --> 00:45:12,152 Whatever you did was funnier if Bob was in the scene. 930 00:45:12,176 --> 00:45:17,624 Do you know what it's like to feel wild desire? 931 00:45:17,648 --> 00:45:20,027 Boiling passion? 932 00:45:20,051 --> 00:45:23,215 To want carnal knowledge of a total stranger? 933 00:45:25,189 --> 00:45:28,669 S-Sort, sort of, sort of. 934 00:45:28,693 --> 00:45:32,172 For Newhart, the studio audience 935 00:45:32,196 --> 00:45:34,575 was key to each episode's success, 936 00:45:34,599 --> 00:45:38,278 a partner of sorts in making decisions about what's funny. 937 00:45:38,302 --> 00:45:41,682 The writing was better and the actors were better 938 00:45:41,706 --> 00:45:43,684 because of the live audience. 939 00:45:43,708 --> 00:45:47,688 And the first time we used 940 00:45:47,712 --> 00:45:49,356 Larry, Darryl, and Darryl... 941 00:45:49,380 --> 00:45:52,159 Hi, I'm Larry. This is my brother, Darryl. 942 00:45:52,183 --> 00:45:54,584 That's my other brother, Darryl. 943 00:46:00,157 --> 00:46:01,501 How ya doin'? 944 00:46:01,525 --> 00:46:06,506 "I threw my back out last week crawling under houses." 945 00:46:06,530 --> 00:46:09,910 I throw'd my back out last week crawlin' under a house. 946 00:46:09,934 --> 00:46:11,979 Sounds like a tough job. 947 00:46:12,003 --> 00:46:16,216 He said, "It wasn't work, I enjoy crawling under houses." 948 00:46:16,240 --> 00:46:18,485 So... 949 00:46:18,509 --> 00:46:20,842 It wasn't a job, I just like crawling under houses. 950 00:46:24,949 --> 00:46:27,060 And then when they leave, they get another 20 seconds. 951 00:46:27,084 --> 00:46:31,098 I wish there was some way of making this up to you. 952 00:46:31,122 --> 00:46:33,634 Dick, there was that dead possum out by the well. 953 00:46:33,658 --> 00:46:35,035 We'll take it! 954 00:46:35,059 --> 00:46:37,271 Darryl! Darryl! 955 00:46:44,535 --> 00:46:47,014 Without a live audience, we wouldn't have known that. 956 00:46:47,038 --> 00:46:48,849 Because immediately after the show, 957 00:46:48,873 --> 00:46:50,350 I went to the writers and said, 958 00:46:50,374 --> 00:46:53,220 "You know, let's write another script with these guys in it. 959 00:46:53,244 --> 00:46:54,576 The audience loved them." 960 00:46:56,614 --> 00:46:59,326 The most prominent standup of the television era 961 00:46:59,350 --> 00:47:01,828 also created the most popular sitcom 962 00:47:01,852 --> 00:47:04,631 of TV's first half-century... Bill Cosby. 963 00:47:04,655 --> 00:47:10,604 He had comedic power and energy and skill 964 00:47:10,628 --> 00:47:15,309 in such huge quantities 965 00:47:15,333 --> 00:47:18,478 that he kind of blew everybody else away. 966 00:47:18,502 --> 00:47:21,515 Cosby started in standup in the 1960s, 967 00:47:21,539 --> 00:47:23,417 but his breakthrough came 968 00:47:23,441 --> 00:47:26,620 when his first comedy album was released. 969 00:47:26,644 --> 00:47:27,954 It just struck a nerve. 970 00:47:27,978 --> 00:47:30,857 It was observational, relatable humor. 971 00:47:30,881 --> 00:47:32,426 It was about family. 972 00:47:32,450 --> 00:47:34,895 There is no pain in the world greater 973 00:47:34,919 --> 00:47:37,764 than the pain a man gets when he goes out on a date, 974 00:47:37,788 --> 00:47:40,334 plants his date down in the seat in the movie, 975 00:47:40,358 --> 00:47:43,637 puts his arm around the chair in the movie and leaves it there 976 00:47:43,661 --> 00:47:46,573 for two and a half hours. 977 00:47:46,597 --> 00:47:48,241 The blood from his fingertips 978 00:47:48,265 --> 00:47:50,310 drains to the center of his chest. 979 00:47:50,334 --> 00:47:51,611 "What are you doing?" 980 00:47:51,635 --> 00:47:54,414 "I'm trying to save my wrist, what do you think?" 981 00:47:54,438 --> 00:47:58,685 It was kind of an epiphany of, "Wow! 982 00:47:58,709 --> 00:48:02,155 This is so..." 983 00:48:02,179 --> 00:48:04,691 I connected with something so much, 984 00:48:04,715 --> 00:48:06,727 and it made me laugh so much. 985 00:48:06,751 --> 00:48:09,262 I remember we would just listen to it all the time. 986 00:48:09,286 --> 00:48:13,400 Yeah, he was kind of, I guess, if I had to pick a person 987 00:48:13,424 --> 00:48:14,735 who inspired me to do stand-up, 988 00:48:14,759 --> 00:48:16,728 it would be him and listening to that album. 989 00:48:18,596 --> 00:48:23,043 Bill Cosby's first try at a sitcom lasted just two years. 990 00:48:23,067 --> 00:48:25,846 More than a decade later, he'd try again, 991 00:48:25,870 --> 00:48:29,383 this time creating one of the biggest hits of all time, 992 00:48:29,407 --> 00:48:30,984 "The Cosby Show." 993 00:48:31,008 --> 00:48:33,854 Now, get your utensils, alright? 994 00:48:33,878 --> 00:48:38,191 Alright... 995 00:48:38,215 --> 00:48:41,185 you see, what we've got... 996 00:48:44,355 --> 00:48:46,133 Dad! 997 00:48:46,157 --> 00:48:49,469 Carve, not hack. 998 00:48:49,493 --> 00:48:51,905 Cosby changed, he changed everything to me. 999 00:48:51,929 --> 00:48:54,274 Number one, he was a really funny guy 1000 00:48:54,298 --> 00:48:57,144 that I'd seen... "I Spy" on up in his career... 1001 00:48:57,168 --> 00:48:59,713 All of the sudden, he played a great dad. 1002 00:48:59,737 --> 00:49:03,650 Vanessa, come here. 1003 00:49:03,674 --> 00:49:06,920 Come here! 1004 00:49:06,944 --> 00:49:09,175 Here! Here! Here! 1005 00:49:11,615 --> 00:49:14,194 See, there is there. This is here. 1006 00:49:14,218 --> 00:49:15,395 Come here. 1007 00:49:15,419 --> 00:49:17,497 Dad, Denise pushed us out of the bathroom 1008 00:49:17,521 --> 00:49:19,332 and so the shampoo's in Rudy's eyes 1009 00:49:19,356 --> 00:49:21,835 and she won't let me rinse it off like Mom said to 1010 00:49:21,859 --> 00:49:23,837 and now Rudy might be blinded for life. 1011 00:49:23,861 --> 00:49:26,695 If she is, can we get a dog? 1012 00:49:28,566 --> 00:49:31,511 Number one, he was funny, he was subtle, 1013 00:49:31,535 --> 00:49:34,314 and if you noticed, I think Cosby was 1014 00:49:34,338 --> 00:49:36,082 giving everybody else the comedy. 1015 00:49:36,106 --> 00:49:39,386 Boys come by the house and I bark. 1016 00:49:39,410 --> 00:49:42,255 Pretty soon, boys come by and they say, 1017 00:49:42,279 --> 00:49:45,125 "Old Yeller lives up there." 1018 00:49:45,149 --> 00:49:48,361 All I'm saying is that some good ones come by 1019 00:49:48,385 --> 00:49:50,230 and some bad ones come by. 1020 00:49:50,254 --> 00:49:53,366 That's who I am, Old Yeller. That's my job. 1021 00:49:53,390 --> 00:49:57,237 Cliff, you know at the end of that movie... 1022 00:49:57,261 --> 00:49:59,560 they shot Old Yeller. 1023 00:50:03,834 --> 00:50:07,080 As with all of his work, Cosby was trying to do more 1024 00:50:07,104 --> 00:50:08,548 than just entertain, 1025 00:50:08,572 --> 00:50:11,585 he wanted his sitcom to make a difference. 1026 00:50:11,609 --> 00:50:14,387 To make a TV series and make stories 1027 00:50:14,411 --> 00:50:17,157 from your monologues, 1028 00:50:17,181 --> 00:50:19,726 but these things would... 1029 00:50:19,750 --> 00:50:23,029 The adjustment would be to consciously 1030 00:50:23,053 --> 00:50:26,066 raise the awareness of the viewer. 1031 00:50:26,090 --> 00:50:28,568 In other words, what you're writing, what you're writing, 1032 00:50:28,592 --> 00:50:29,970 and what you're saying. 1033 00:50:29,994 --> 00:50:34,007 Cosby's decision to present an affluent black family 1034 00:50:34,031 --> 00:50:35,942 was criticized by some who wanted to see 1035 00:50:35,966 --> 00:50:37,477 a more typical setting. 1036 00:50:37,501 --> 00:50:40,413 But the critics were vastly outnumbered by the audience, 1037 00:50:40,437 --> 00:50:41,681 who made the show 1038 00:50:41,705 --> 00:50:43,183 number one for years. 1039 00:50:43,207 --> 00:50:44,618 Do you know what I think a zerbut is? 1040 00:50:44,642 --> 00:50:46,152 I just remembered. 1041 00:50:46,176 --> 00:50:47,921 A zerbut is this. 1042 00:50:49,780 --> 00:50:50,957 That's a zerbut! Yeah! 1043 00:50:51,982 --> 00:50:54,661 Right! I zerbut you. 1044 00:50:56,120 --> 00:50:57,163 I zerbut you! 1045 00:51:04,161 --> 00:51:07,107 Standup comedy isn't a job, it's a life. 1046 00:51:07,131 --> 00:51:10,810 While many comics are most famous for their sitcoms, 1047 00:51:10,834 --> 00:51:14,381 in the end they always return to the place they started, 1048 00:51:14,405 --> 00:51:19,286 in front of an audience, alone, in search of one more laugh. 1049 00:51:19,310 --> 00:51:22,822 You don't really think about, "why do I do this?" 1050 00:51:22,846 --> 00:51:24,958 It's just, this is what I do. 1051 00:51:24,982 --> 00:51:28,395 It's like fish, I'm going to swim, you know. 1052 00:51:29,520 --> 00:51:31,464 It's literally working without a wire, 1053 00:51:31,488 --> 00:51:32,666 that's what I feel like. 1054 00:51:32,690 --> 00:51:34,768 You're up on the high wire and this and that. 1055 00:51:34,792 --> 00:51:37,470 You don't have a band to cut to, you don't have any other... 1056 00:51:37,494 --> 00:51:38,772 No one else to help you out. 1057 00:51:38,796 --> 00:51:41,174 So it's a very independent art. 1058 00:51:41,198 --> 00:51:44,077 That's why I say, that one night at the Sands, 1059 00:51:44,101 --> 00:51:47,280 I became a stand-up comic, because I said to myself, 1060 00:51:47,304 --> 00:51:50,317 "It doesn't matter what happens, I'll handle it." 1061 00:51:50,341 --> 00:51:53,653 The thing that's most gratifying or touching, whatever, 1062 00:51:53,677 --> 00:51:56,389 is a lot of people do come up to me and say, 1063 00:51:56,413 --> 00:51:58,592 "You were my mom, you raised me." 1064 00:51:58,616 --> 00:52:01,595 I thank God for standup comedy 1065 00:52:01,619 --> 00:52:06,433 because it kind of set me on my path, you know? 1066 00:52:06,457 --> 00:52:10,758 Actually, I found something that I was passionate about. 1067 00:52:12,796 --> 00:52:19,760 They are the pioneers of television. 1068 00:54:18,322 --> 00:54:20,500 It's not hard to get a laugh. 1069 00:54:20,524 --> 00:54:25,538 It's hard to get a laugh at 8:00 on Tuesday 1070 00:54:25,562 --> 00:54:28,208 'cause that's when the show is. 1071 00:54:28,232 --> 00:54:30,944 That's what's hard. 1072 00:54:30,968 --> 00:54:34,114 A lot of people say funny things all the time 1073 00:54:34,138 --> 00:54:36,216 and get big laughs. 1074 00:54:36,240 --> 00:54:38,451 Everyone has gotten a laugh. 1075 00:54:38,475 --> 00:54:40,019 Almost. 1076 00:54:40,043 --> 00:54:41,287 You know, and... 1077 00:54:41,311 --> 00:54:44,691 Socially, wherever. 1078 00:54:44,715 --> 00:54:47,360 The hard part is doing it at a time and place 1079 00:54:47,384 --> 00:54:49,295 of someone else's choosing. 1080 00:54:49,319 --> 00:54:50,630 That's the profession, 1081 00:54:50,654 --> 00:54:57,470 and that takes many, many, many years. 1082 00:54:57,494 --> 00:55:00,073 For more insider features about your favorite TV stars, 1083 00:55:00,097 --> 00:55:02,408 stories you won't hear anywhere else, 1084 00:55:02,432 --> 00:55:06,392 visit pbs.org.