All language subtitles for Hart to Heart s04e02 George Lopez.eng

[ Theme music plays ]

**

>> There's very few entertainers
who can sell out arenas

or sell hit TV shows
with just one name.

That name is Lopez,

and it simply translates
into comedy success.

Kind of like I can
only be talking about one man.

You should know.

Please show some love
to George Lopez.

Come on out, man.
-Alright!

[Applause]
-How you doing?

-Kev.
-Good to see you.

-Good to see you.
-Good to see you.

Sit down.

First and foremost,
man, thank you.

-Of course.
-I appreciate you coming on.

-Yeah.
-We drink wine, George.

-Is this your brand of wine?
-You know what?

This isn't my brand.
I do have wine,

but this is not it.
-Mr. Hart, Mr. Lopez,

a wonderful
single-vineyard Syrah.

Just about three hours north
from here,

San Luis Obispo County...
-Mm.

-...which is
the great Edna Valley.

-You damn right it is.
-Yes, indeed.

May I pour you a taste?
-I've seen a lot of wine poured,

but never with
a dude in a parka.

-[ Chuckling ] That's right,
that's right, that's right.

-Usually, they got...but...
-Mmm.

-But they got wine,
I mean, really kind of,

you know, um...
-Yes, absolutely.

-Oh, you can --
You send 'em back?

-Well, I just,
I make sure it's good,

If it ain't what
it's supposed to be...

Give it a taste,
give it a little swirl.

-Spice, leather, nutmeg,
vanilla.

-Huh?
-It's fantastic.

A lot of earth.
Great minerality.

-Man, well, you talking
your shit, ain't you?

-Indeed.
-Get outta here, D.

Get outta here man.
Talking that sommelier shit.

-Are you a somme-- sommelier?
-Yeah. Sommelier.

-Yeah?
-Yeah.

-Where did you get
your appreciation of wine?

-You know what? Dinner.

Going out to dinner with people

that really had, like,
a real love for it.

Like, that's where my love
for it came from,

and it hasn't stopped.
-Yeah. I like that.

I think -- You know,
I think in, like,

being a person of,
you know, this kind of career

where you create, like,

sometimes a lot of people
feel uncomfortable sitting

in a place for like an hour
or two and talking about stuff.

You know, you kind of get that
trigger to cut out or whatever.

-Yeah.
-But I think, you know,

when you're working and you're
able to enjoy conversation

and sit around and drink wine,
I think it's another level

that I don't think a lot
of entertainers

can really appreciate the shit
that's happening to 'em,

in the moment,
or where they've been

and what they've done, I think.
-Mm.

Well, you know,
that's a great segue

to get to where I want to
start off, man.

When we're talking about
where they've been

and what they've done,
I said,

"This is about giving flowers."
I gotta talk to you, man,

and simply celebrate you,
at the top of this,

by saying what
a phenomenal career

that you have put together...
-Aww.

-...and that you still
are currently putting together.

You know, you're not
a comedy-club act.

You're a real arena act.
You have been a real arena act.

And I think, through the years,

even by getting down
to the place of comedy specials

and transferring that
over to sitcoms...

-Yeah.
-...and not just one,

but being able to do it twice,
late night.

Like, you've
crossed the bridge

and acted as, like -- acted as
a nice merger of --

of community
that is misunderstood

but, "Through my voice you'll
get a better understanding."

-Yeah.
-You've done a great job

of storytelling
on behalf of the culture.

-Thank you.
-And to do that at a high level

and have success,
I mean, that's a big win man.

So, congrats,
first and foremost.

-Thank you very much.
That's very kind.

I don't think
anybody's ever said that to me.

-Well, I mean it. I mean it.

It's not an accident
that you are where you are

and that you've been here
for this long.

I want to know, why comedy,
though, George?

It's always easier
to talk about the success of it,

but what is it that drove you
to comedy?

What made you start
with stand-up?

Or was that even the first thing
you started with,

or was it something else before?

-You know,
so, I grew up in San Fernando.

It's probably like maybe
8 miles away from here.

I'm an only child.
I didn't know my father.

My mom wasn't well mentally.

My grandma was
pretty hard on me.

And, um, I don't think
that I'm related

to the people
that I grew up around.

I know I'm my mom's son,
but I never knew my father.

But I think my father took off
because...

I -- I don't think I'm his son.

I don't think I know
who my father is.

But there was somebody,
a photographer, in San Fernando,

that everybody --
he was darker, creative,

and my father was very
like Ralph Fiennes,

like a Chicano Ralph Fiennes --

Very skinny, man.
One picture --

We have a lot of pictures
and I'm like --

there's no way
that you would look at somebody

and say, you know, with that --

even the bone structure
that's like,

"That's not that dude's kid,
clearly."

-Okay, okay.
-So, my mom used to --

was not mentally, uh, well
and couldn't read.

-Okay.
-And when they would have

those open houses
in elementary school

and, you know,
the parents would come in

and they'd sign their name,
you know,

I would always keep my mom
from writing her name.

She couldn't write.
-Okay.

-It was really kind of, like,
thing --

so I remember I told her,
"Just put a X" you know?

"The fucking X will pass
as a signature."

-Okay.
-I mean, amazing

how you could steal
somebody -- you know,

you go home and try --
you practice the X.

So she would -- I mean, it's
all fucking embarrassing

and it really hurts man.
You know,

like your mom would
put an X in there, man.

You'd be like, "Who wrote X,
you know, here, you know?"

And I think, of all
of the things that hurt,

I think that's where
maybe the comedy came from.

You know?
-Yeah.

-When I was 7, you know,
we went to the court in LA.

My grandmother, you know,
was a working woman.

My mom, you know, not smart,

so you know, she had to take
the stand to have --

I think they were going to
declare my father legally dead.

So, in the car, my grandmother
said, "Hey, Freida,

when we're driving up there
and you get on the stand,

look at me,"
'cause she wouldn't

really understand --
"Look at me,

and I'll tell you --
by nodding my head

or go like that,
I'll tell you how to answer.

So, you know, the lawyer
would say, you know,

'Is your name Frieda?,'
it's a yes."

And there's
like a lawyer comes across

and is standing by
where my grandmother is.

He says, "Well, you're here
for the sole custody

of George Lopez?"
She says "No."

And she says,
"So, are you here

because you want to keep
your custody of George Lopez?"

She says,
"No, I don't think so."

And my grandmother's, you know,
looking like this, man.

It's al l-- So they
stop the proceedings

and you know, say
"Hey, you know,

she's really kinda not able to,
you know, speak correctly."

And then they just did it
through the nuts-and-bolt stuff.

But I was like, "Shit."
I mean, it was like that.

-Real pain, real trauma
attached to...

-You know, that stuff was --
-...things you control.

-Yeah, man.

And you know, not to make
anybody feel bad for anybody,

but you know,
those are all of the --

Like in this wood, man,
they're all of the things

that make that piece
of wood beautiful,

knots and lines
and twists and stuff.

-Yeah.
-So, being an only child,

and being really ignored
and introverted,

I think those things
just led me to, like,

TV and drawing and
stuff like that.

And we would listen to
Richard Pryor albums.

I think the main thing, kind of,

was that my friends had
older brothers,

so they would bring
Richard Pryor around,

or, you know, Cheech & Chong,
or George Carlin and stuff.

So we'd sit around
and listen to that.

And I think, out of the fact,
Kev, you know,

you don't have a lot,
so the humor is to deflect.

You know, it's like,
"Hey, where's your jacket?"

"Oh no,
I'm not wearing my jacket.

It's freezing.
No fucking jacket."

-Yeah.
-You know? And all that stuff.

So, I think, more of a bounce.
-Well, humor is your weapon.

-It's totally a weapon.
-Humor's your weapon

at that point.
You know what I mean?

-Yeah, and you know,
you're, you know,

fucking introverted and, uh,
you know, um, shy.

And you know,
I was always the kid

that would have to be taken
by one of the parents

to the Little League game,
or walk back.

You know, so you're --
So I think all of those things

lead to the beautiful place.

I mean, I had friends
that had both parents,

and you know, were really
kind of very disconnected early,

and I think I just connected to
being, you know, safe.

You know, even though
my grandfather was

not my biological grandfather,
you know,

he -- oh, fuck it, man,
he would get drunk.

And you know they pick on,
you know -- "Who are you?"

And you know,
he didn't speak English.

And then when he was drinking,
he'd be like,

"Who do you think you are?"
I'm like, "The fuck is..."

[ Laughter ]
And he'd go "George! George."

Why?
I look at my grandmother.

So, he would, um --

He would flick me, man,
in my temple.

He'd make me stand
in front of him,

and he'd flick me on my temple
right here.

Like, just hitting me, man.
I was just like, "Fuck, dude."

And, uh, when, uh, he died,

when the guy came
and said,

"Does anybody want to
say a farewell?"

Uh...

And I went over there
and I went...

-Flicked him.
-In the temple.

-Flicked him
in the goddamn temple.

Here's what I get from
everything you just said, man.

Like, you're talking
about, of course, trauma.

You're talking about...
-Yeah.

-...like, a real place of memory
where you know and understand,

like, "Yo, my humor
comes from the fact

that I had nothing else
to kinda hold on to

or fall back on.
-Mm-hmm.

-"So the idea of the laugh,
well, that was my crutch,

that was my support tool,
that helped me stand-up,

even helped me
become accepted."

At what age do you think
that you really got

a handle on understanding,
"Okay, I'm funny.

I'm a personality that,
although I may be an introvert,

although I'm a little reserved,

when I do let it out,
people do love to be around me"?

When do you think
that started to come into play?

-My friend Ernie Auriano,
my first friend, you know,

he went to Kennedy High School
that's out here,

and there was a guy
whose name was Don Nielson.

He was doing stand-up as a --

you know, Chappelle did stand-up
when he was like 15 or 16.

-Yeah.
-And this dude went

to Kennedy High School.
Think he was in 11th grade.

And he was, you know,
going to the Comedy Store

in Westwood at that time.
-Okay.

And they wrote about him
in the school paper,

but another school.
You know?

So, Ernie went to that school
and he brought it to me,

and he said
"Hey, look at this dude, man.

Like, he's doing stand-up
in high school.

You know, we should, you know,
try to write some stuff

and go down there."
-Wow.

-So, we said,
"Yeah, you know, let..."

So we tried to write some stuff,

and the strike happened in '79.

And then,
when the strike was over,

went to the Comedy Store,

and we went there early
to sign up and stuff.

So, I went up there
and went onstage

for the first time in Westwood,

and not very good
the first time.

Not very good the second time.
-[ Chuckling ]

-And then I went and kind of
redid some stuff, you know?

A set is just three minutes.

Three minutes,
is a fucking hour.

And the third time,
I got put in there

like at 9:00, 10:00
in the morn-- at night.

Prime time.
Guy comes by, "You're next."

And I was like, "Fucking next?"
Go up there.

I don't even know
what I'm doing.

You're just on a ride, you know,
just people are laughing.

All this stuff, like this,
and they're laughing,

and Freddie Prinze
had passed.

You know, it's the accents
and you know.

There was a -- You know,
remember PSA Airlines?

You know,
that had the smile, right?

So my last joke was,

"You know the PSA?
They fly to Mexico, you know?

They have the smile.

You could tell which planes
go to Mexico,

because the smile has
a gold tooth."

-[Laughs]
-'79.

-That was it?
That was the punchline?

-That was in '79.
"Good night."

And fuck it,
they were [Inaudible], you know?

-Did you fall in love
with the spotlight?

Did you fall in love
with the laugh there?

-Yeah.
You know, that third time

that it happened,
and you know,

really kinda just holding on,
and maybe it was

probably the most incredible
feeling that I've ever had,

and I was with the guy
I grew up with, you know?

And I tape-recorded it,
you know.

I had, like, a tape recorder.
I still tape all the shows.

And we were, like, running
the street, up and down,

like stray dogs, man,
looking for a place to...

So, we sat across from
the Comedy Store,

at this orthopedic thing,
and we sat on the steps,

and just played it over
and over and over, man.

It's like --
And I don't think that --

You know I've done
better, longer

for the last,
you know, 40 years.

But I don't think
that there's anything

that has affected me so much...
-40 years?

-...as -- 42, 43.
-43 years in comedy?

-I started, I was 18.
I was still in high school.

-Holy shit man.
-Yeah.

It's insane.

But let's pause here
for a second.

Let's take a break.
Hey, when welcome back,

we'll have more "Hart to Heart"
with George Lopez.

Don't go nowhere.
How old are you now, George?

Hey!
How you doing man?

Long time, big guy.
You look good.

-Take some pictures in there.
-Thanks.

-Alright, here we go.
Look up, right this way.

Big smile. Good.
One, two, and three.

Love it. Done.

**

**

-A couple shots.

[Inaudible]
Here we go. Good.

Alright, good, perfect.
Love it. Nice.

-Welcome back
to "Hart to Heart."

Still talking to George Lopez.

So, after, of course,
going onstage the first time,

what was the consistency?

Like, how often were
you going up?

-Bam. That's a good question.

You know, I went for
the summer of '79, on and off.

But then, what I realized
that I had was,

I quit when shit got tough.

And it was
no matter what it was.

You know, if it was, you know,
karate classes,

or my grandmother
paid for some accordion --

the fucking accordion.

Who wants to fucking
play the accordion?

So, all the kids
in the neighborhood

signed up for accordion.
You had to go rent an accordion.

And, yeah,
I went to Granada Hills.

I had to lug this fucking thing
up the stair,

like a block of fucking ice,
to go in there and try to learn

how to play that
fucking accordion.

So, maybe, out of 10 lessons...
[ Laughter ]

...I maybe took three,
and then

if I ever asked my grandmother
for anything, she's like,

"The fucking accordion?!"
You know,

the fucking accordion
for my whole life, man.

"Grandmother, can I play
Little League?"

"Why don't you fucking learn
how to play that accordion

and then play Little League?"
[ Laughter ]

So, for seven lessons
on the fucking accordion,

she probably saved herself
$50,000 over the years.

So I quit, right?

So, my high school baseball,
where I played baseball,

and we were supposed
to have a car wash.

We had to sell tickets.
And I was a fucking introv--

I'm not gonna fucking
sell tickets.

So, he goes, "Hey, I need that
money for the car wash tickets,"

and I'm like,
"I didn't sell any."

So I go in there, and he's like,
"Where's the money at?"

And I said, "I didn't sell
any tickets, man.

I'm not a fucking salesman."

And he was like,
"Well, you owe me $275."

I go, "I'm not paying you $275."

So he bought like a batting cage
and all that stuff.

So, he got in my face,
and he's like,

"So, you're gonna use
all this equipment for free,

and I expect..."
I said, "Well I didn't know."

So we end up nose-to-nose,
and he says to me,

"You know,
you're a fucking quitter.

And when shit gets tough,
you fucking pack it in."

Story of my review --
"Fucking pack it."

We're like this.
I'm like -- I just turned 18,

and we're nose-to-nose --
with my baseball coach,

who I had been with three years.

-Yeah.
-And he's like,

"You know, I want to see where
you are in fucking 10 years,

because when you fucking quit,
you'll never get anywhere.

You pack it in and fucking quit.

Come back in 10 years and
let me know how you're doing."

I said, "Fuck you."
I turned around,

my friends were like [Gasps].

So I started to play golf.

And it's very frustrating, and
when it got to be tough, I quit.

-Wow.
-Said to all these dudes,

"Hey, I'm gonna take off, man."
"Where you going?"

"Out. You know,
I have to go do something."

But I knew I was--

so it didn't dawn on me
until one time I was playing

and those guys were
still playing.

We're having a good time.
I don't know what I'm doing.

And, uh, I quit
because I wasn't playing well,

and I look over
and those guys were having fun.

And I was like, "Man,"
and then I was driving

along the street,
and almost like in the movies,

where the dude comes in
the corner your head,

and I realized
that the coach was right.

Like, I quit
when shit got tough.

I quit on people,
I quit on family,

I quit on sports,
I quit on the shit that I love,

because it was tough.

I didn't have a father to say,
"Hey, man, you know,

when it gets tough
it's gonna get good," you know?

And I went to, uh --

I was probably out
of high school for five years,

and I went to the school and
waited till practice was over,

was collecting the bases
like I always did,

and I walked across that field
and he saw me, and he's like,

"Is that my third bases?"
"Hey, Coach, what's up?"

He goes,
"What are you doing here?"

And I say, "Man, you know,
I just came to tell you

I'm sorry for the way
I acted when I was here."

He's like, "What?"
I said, "Yeah, you know,

I fucking treated you bad,
disrespected you,

and you know, you said that
I was a quitter, all that shit."

I said, "You know what, man?
You're right, you know?

I just came to tell you,
apologize, and you're right.

It really changed my life."
So he said,

"You came to tell me that you
were sorry for the way you be--"

I said, "Yeah."
Fucking shook my hand.

He goes, "You know,
might be hope for you yet."

And you know, Kev,
I don't think that --

Uh, I don't think
I could have gone forward...

-Yeah.
-...without telling that guy

that I was sorry...
-That's huge, man.

-...because I was so flagrant
and so disrespectful

to somebody
who was a teacher.

You know, have respect
for teachers.

But, I just --
If the fucker lived in New York,

I would have probably gone
to New York.

It was just no way that I
would have continued my life

or been good at anything

if I didn't tell that guy
that he was right about me.

-When you say that,
when you say,

"If I didn't tell that guy" --
right? --

and he was right about you...
-Yeah.

-...at that point, you're making
a conscious effort to go,

reach out to him,
and say, like, "Hey, man,

I did some wrong things,
but you were right."

-Yeah.
-Was that moment a moment

where you said,
"But the quitting stops today"?

-Yeah.
You know, I was dating a woman

that was older than me,
like 13 years older.

I always liked
the older women, you know?

And older white women,
like, kinda like,

you know,
a Morgan Fairchild thing.

-Okay. Right.
-So...

-A hump in the back,
not humping --

-Like that, yeah.
-Okay, alright, I got it.

-So, um...
[ Laughter ]

So, you know, I was at a time

where my grandfather asked me
for the key to the house back.

Said, "You didn't live here
anymore.

You know, give me the key.

You have to knock
when you come over."

So I was living with
my friend Arnold, on his couch.

And it was my birthday,
April 23, 1984.

I lost my job.

I was living
on my friend's couch.

Had already done stand-up,
you know, maybe 50 times

over the last, you know,
five years.

And I would stop and thing.

But you know, when I was 18,
they would put me on first.

There was nobody there,
then, you know,

'cause the alcohol is still --
so, that morning,

when I woke up at like 6:15,
it was a Monday.

And I was just --
I had no job, had no money.

And I was like, "Man, you know,
what the fuck would I --

What do I wantto do?"

It was like,
"I want to do stand-up."

So, in that duplex,
back on that dude's couch,

I said,
"I'm going tonight,

and I'm not gonna quit
no matter what happens.

If I make it, I make it,
and if I don't make it,

I'm not gonna quit."

I don't really have quit
at anything since, you know?

And went back there that night.
Those guys see me,

"Man, we thought you died man.
What the fuck you doing here?"

Kinda those jokes were
a little bit dated, but I went.

And I started to keep going
and keep going and keep going.

And that was all part
of that thing

after I talked to the coach.
-What was the first moment

of, like, real success,
where you said, "Oh, fuck,

I can do this
at the highest level,

I can actually get there"?

I was at the Capital City
Comedy Club in Austin,

and Chappelle had been
there the week before.

And Sandra Bullock
lived in Austin,

and she went to see Chappelle.

And the manager of the club
said to me,

"Sandra Bullock is gonna come
to the second show."

And I was, you know,
fucking drinking and shit.

I was like,

"Man, I don't want fucking
Sandra Bullock to come see me."

So I, fucking dressing room,
I went up like this,

I said, "Please, whatever,

don't allow Sandra Bullock

to come
to the second show."

Because she would have seen
a guy that didn't have an act.

It was just fucking drinking,
trying to get through it.

-Why not your best?
-So, not at my best, you know?

And before the show started,
the first guy was up,

"She's not coming."
I said, "Oh, my God," you know?

And then, two years later,
somebody saw me

for an idea that somebody had.
Didn't know who it was.

And it was Sandra Bullock.

So, Sandra Bullock came
to see me two years later.

I was pretty much dry,
not drinking as much,

really on a better path.

And saw me at The Improv,
and she -- backstage,

she was like, "Wow, I mean,
can we sit and talk, you know,

about maybe there's an idea?"

I think their idea, at first,
was, like, maybe for teenagers,

and the parents were
secondary figures, you know.

And she's like, "I think there
might be something different."

So, I went to
her production company,

we sat there,
maybe like three hours.

-Wow.
-And then, she had a snort.

You know, Miss Congeniality
stuff.

And then she was walking me out
after like three hours.

She's like, "Ring me?"
I said, "Hey, you know,

whatever happens, yes or not,

whatever, you know.

It hasn't been ever done
successfully.

I just want to tell you
right now,

thank you for just being
interested in me."

-Yeah.
-And she was like,

"You know, why don't you
just worry about being funny,

and you let me worry
about the business stuff?"

And nobody ever said
that to me, man.

-Wow.
-So, meeting her -- I mean,

you know,
the manifestation of things,

you know,
when people manifest things.

I mean, I've been manifesting
things my whole life,

and didn't really realize it
until maybe the last 10 years.

But you know, she became
my, you know --

fucking, I'll say it --
like a fairy godmother, man.

That just took me and didn't
allow anybody to say no to me.

-Wow.
-And then we went to go see --

the first meeting we had
was with Bruce Elford.

And Bruce Elford was like,
"Yeah, let's go see George."

And so I'm at the Ice House,
loved it,

Stu Bloomberg was
the president of ABC.

Last time, like, maybe
Roseanne was there.

And Tim Allen.
It was really comedy-centric.

You know, like, good --
You know, the talent mattered.

He was the last president there.
So, he came to see me,

and it was like, "Fuck,
that's fucking hilarious."

And said,
"Let's bring, you know,

Peter Roth from Warner Bros.
in there."

-Wow.
-So, they go "Do 25."

That was at the Ice House.
So, just killing it, man.

And told the sound guy, I said,
"Give me the light at 20."

Fucking just hammering,
way up here.

And the light went on,
and it's like Ali,

when you know
that you can do this shit

and you know that you --
-In your zone.

When you're in your zone.
-You knew what was left, yeah.

-Yeah.
-And killed 'em. Hugs.

Went out next day.
Next day, I flew to Houston.

I was gonna do a club.
Called me at 11:30.

It's like 1:30 in Houston.
Just landed.

He goes, "Are you sitting down?"
I said, "Yeah."

"Hey, ABC bought
13 episodes of the show.

No pilot, no thing.
13 on the air."

-Get the fuck outta here.
-And I was like "What?"

"13. Congratulations, man,
you have a television show."

"The fuck?"
Fucking driver's right there.

I said, "Hey, man."

He looks up,
you can see his eyes.

It's like, "I got
a television show on ABC."

"Aw, fuck."
His fucking eyes went up.

"Fucking guy.
Bullshit, motherfucker."

[ Laughter ]
And he was like,

"Fuckin' -- Yeah, alright."
So, but...

-George --
-I mean, I was in, man.

-George, do you understand
how insane that is?

Do you understand how insane?
-Yeah.

You know, there was a thing,
you know, the --

So, that was 2001.

So, 9/11, in September,

really was gonna be the start
of the new season of shows,

and all that stuff.
But I mean, you know,

remember everybody was just
not into laughing.

A lot of drama,
a lot of hour shows.

And I wasn't in that thing,

but we were writing
the pilot at that time.

So, I mean,
that's another thing.

I mean, if I had gone you know,
there, the timing of it,

and then the pilot looked
pretty good,

and then they say, "We'll
go ahead and start casting it,"

we found some good actors,

and then,
in the beginning of the year,

Sandra and I and Bruce
and everybody, ABC people,

went to Warner Bros.,
in the office.

And sitting around
the big table,

and they said,
"So, here's the dilemma.

With everything that's happened,
you know,

there's an opportunity
to go mid-season,

or there's an opportunity
to wait till September."

Mm-hmm.
-And they said, "You know,

what are the pros and cons
of it?

You know,
if you wait till September,

you have more time to develop
and all this stuff, you know?"

And then Bruce said,
"You know, but if we start now,

we probably won't be able to do,
you know, 13 shows.

Maybe six, you know,
four, whatever, you know?"

So Sandra's like, "Well,
why don't we let George decide?"

And everybody looked at me,
they go,

"So, what do you want to do?
You want to go now?

Or do you want to
go in September?"

And I was like -- and
I'd always been kind of thing,

like, you know, I was like,
"Fuck it, let's go now."

-Get outta here, man.

-And I think
that was maybe the --

you know, some people start
to help me make decisions,

but I was always from a place
where, when I grew up it's like,

"Let's just do it now,
instead of waiting,"

so I was already
kind of in my personality

that that's what I would do.

And maybe the biggest thing --
the best decision I've made.

-Wow. Let's stop right here.

Guys, we're gonna take
a quick break.

We'll be right back with
more George Lopez after this.

**

-Hold this right down here.

**

Do you have
any funny traditions or rituals

before a stand-up show?

-Asleep by 3:00,
and I double-tie my shoes.

**

**

-Welcome back, guys.
This is "Hart to Heart,"

and I'm still talking
to George Lopez.

So, George, the dope thing
about this conversation

is, like, I can see,
through your stories,

where your confidence in self
started to change

because somebody was
showing confidence in you.

-Yeah.
I was a huge, you know,

"Chico and the Man,"
Freddie Prinze,

like, since I was
an only child watching TV.

So, when I saw him in 1973,
"Chico and the Man,"

it's like really very connected,
like you see somebody like that.

The most, maybe, like,
love at first sight

become the same.
My friends had girlfriends,

all this stuff,
but every Friday night,

me and Ernie would go watch TV,
you know, watch that stuff.

So, you know,
he committed suicide

when I was in 10th grade,
and, uh,

I was fuckin' really kind of,
you know, distraught.

But I didn't know the dude.

And I would go over to his,
uh...

When I was still in high school,
I would go to Forest Lawn,

and I would go to his crypt
and I would talk to him.

I would say, "You know,
kinda trying to do this thing.

You know, thank you for --"
It's kinda --

I don't know,
I would just go there, right?

So, um,
I went over there one time,

and the headstone was
a little bit loose, you know?

Headstone was
a little bit loose.

So I wiggled the headstone,
and I broke it off.

So, it was broken, you know?

And I took the headstone
with me.

I stole the headstone
from Forest Lawn, you know?

-Okay.
-Uh, uh...

-That's --
-It's theft.

-It's theft.
-A felony?

-That's definitely stealing
at the highest level.

-Maybe the statute
of limitations might be over.

[ Laughter ]
So that's how fuckin' weird

and crazy the thing was,
you know?

Mm-hmm.

-And then, I go to Thrifty's--

I'm still at high school --

and I look at The Globe,

and there's a picture
of Freddie Prinze

with his mom holding
the picture,

and it said, "Grave robbers are
trying to steal my son's body."

-Oh, Jesus Christ.
-And I'm like...

-Oh, Jesus Christ.
[ Laughter ]

-..."Fuck, that's me.
Fuckin' grave robbers."

And then the mom's all worried,
the thing,

they call security in there,
they replaced the thing.

I'm like, "Fuck man, that's
in the fuckin' National --

There's that fuckin' boy
that's the bat,

and his mom,"
You know? So...

-National news.
-Fuckin' national news.

-Yes, yes.
-So...

-This is gonna be
a big thing coming out,

that you took
the fuckin' headstone.

You know, this has been
the biggest mystery

for years George.
There's articles about this,

and right now,
you just confessed

[Laughs] to taking
the headstone, George.

-That would be
like Whitey Bulger...

-Yeah. [ Laughs ]
-...of fuckin' headstones.

Fuckin' 30 years later,
ass gets arrested --

-30 years later.
-What the fuck?

I took a headstone, man.
[ Laughter ]

"Whose headstone?"
"Freddie Prinze."

"Who's that?"
So...

everywhere I went,
I took it with me.

-Yeah.
-And when I would get drunk,

you know,
Mexicans get all sentimental.

They drink, "I --
I don't want to live!"

Or fuck, you know?
-[ Laughs ]

-"I don't want to live!"
All the kids watching cartoons.

"I don't want to live!"
So when I would drink

with my friend,
I'd start crying.

I would yell "Freddie!,"
and they were like,

"Hey, man,
this motherfucker's crazy, man.

You don't even know this dude.
He's like crying."

But, I mean, really --
-He was

a real, like inspiration.
-Oh, man, I mean...

-A true, like, idol.
Like, somebody you idolize.

-For a kid that grew up alone,
you know.

So, when I buy a house
in Toluca Lake,

when the show first started,
three houses over,

Freddie Prinze Jr. lives there.

So, when we move in,
this woman comes over.

Kathy's talking to Ann --
I'm married -- talking to Ann.

"You know,
your husband's coming --

I'm a widow, but
my husband was a comedian, too."

Goes, "Oh, who?"

"I was married
to Freddie Prinze."

She's like,
"George loves Freddie Prinze.

I think he stole his head--
I don't know, maybe."

She says, "What?"
You know, like they knew, right?

So, when I go home,

she goes, "Guess
who lives three houses up?

Kathy Prinze."

And I said --
I talked to her, I said,

"You didn't tell her I stole
the fuckin' headstone, did you?"

She goes, "No, no,
we didn't even bring that up."

You know, fuckin' told her.
-[Laughs]

-So we became friends.
Junior and I became friends.

And as the show progressed,
you know, on the air,

and you know, no show had ever
gotten near with a Latino lead.

-Never.
-Never.

-Never.
-So, we're going --

I was at a Steve Edwards,
like, Hollywood-star revealing.

We're going close to a hundred,

and that little dude
Johnny Grant

that was the unofficial
mayor of Hollywood,

he did all the star ceremonies,
and he looks at me,

and he goes "Hey, man,
I think maybe it's time

we put you
in the, you know, Walk,

with
the big thing coming up."

And I said, "Well,
I'm not going in

until Freddie Prinze goes in."
And he looks at us,

and goes,
"I think Freddie is in."

And he looks at the girl,
and she's like, "I don't know."

He goes, "Well, I tell you what.
We'll check and see if he's in."

I said, "Well, he's not in."
"But, we'll see,

and then, you know,
we'll reach out to you.

We'll let you know,
like, in a week."

So then, three days later,
he calls and said, "He's not in.

But if you would like to sponsor
him to be in, you can."

-Wow.
-So I paid the $10,000...

-Wow.
-...for him to be in.

They flew out his family
from New York

and flew out all the friends
he went to,

all the people
that worked with him,

Della Reese, all the actors from
"Chico and the Man" were there.

Junior was there,
the widow was there,

I was there,
and my Ann was there.

And Freddie Jr. was
on the phone,

and he said to me,
"Hey, my grandma

wants to talk to you."
It's Freddie Prinze's mom.

So, she's in Puerto Rico.
She was a little older.

So, I said, "Hello, Maria."
She goes,

"Oh, George, thank you so much,

you know,
for taking care of my Freddie.

Everybody forgets my Freddie.
You don't forget my Freddie."

[Inaudible]

She goes, "You know,
if my Freddie was alive,

you and my Freddie
would be like best friends."

-Oh, my God.
-It's like "Wow, man,

this is fucking crazy."
So, I mean --

I took the headstone,
but that still happened.

-That's huge. What do you mean?

-I don't think I'd get that
fuckin' star out of the ground.

It's hard to get
that fuckin' thing out.

-Well, no,
you can't take the star.

You can't take the star,
but you sponsored the star.

-But, I mean, I paid my --
Yeah, I paid my --

for taking it,

and whatever that metal
did for me,

or brass,
whatever it did for me,

to be able to go back,
you know, 20 --

I don't know, 20 fuckin',
25 years later and do that,

uh, out of mess.
You know?

That's another situation
where I couldn't have gone in.

I said, "I'm not going in
until he goes in."

And I don't know, I mean --
-It's such a --

-I didn't even have the
credibility with most people.

"Fuck him."
But with, you know, my coach

or Freddie, people like that,
I had ultimate respect.

More respect for the people
that maybe I grew up around,

because I just knew
how flippant, you know,

they could be.
Like, doesn't mean, you know...

-Wow.
Alright, George,

stopping again
to pay some bills.

You already know what it is.
It's "Hart to Heart."

I got George Lopez, man.
The conversation is insane.

Please stick around.
We'll be right back.

**

**

-Welcome back.

This is "Hart to Heart,"
and I'm talking to George Lopez.

Let's just highlight,
like, a couple of things here.

First of all,
you said it briefly,

but you went past it so fast.

There's never been a Latin
version of what this is or was.

You were the first
to crack the code.

-Right.
-And not only cracking the code,

you became a highlight
for what was the Friday night

that people were gravitating
towards.

-Right, right.
-When that whole TGIF

and all of that stuff started,
you were the highlight.

So, now the conversation
of the Latin market

is the conversation
that ABC is a part of,

because you're the face.

Alright, George,
well, we now say you're a star.

How do you handle that?
-You know what?

I think I was, uh --

I was a little bit affected,
maybe,

in the 2004, '05, you know,
till like '07.

You know, a little bit maybe,
you know,

because it's hard not to swell
or be confident.

And you know, I, um --

When you walk out,
everybody knows you,

knows your name is
George Lopez.

Everybody knows George.
So, to start to do arenas,

you go from like maybe
a theater to an arena,

I remember Barack Obama in 2008
had been to the Toyota Center,

and they said, "He
put 17,000 people in here."

And I said, "How many
did I put in here?"

"18,5000."
"And they paid?"

"Yeah."
His were you had tickets to go.

They didn't sell tickets.
So it was kinda like that.

So you felt like, again,
to the analogy of a fighter,

that the shows were good.
They weren't, you know --

I wasn't just
going through the motions.

Like, I still worked hard at it,

because really the one thing
that I could rely on,

that showed me some results,
you know,

they showed their love,
they came to the thing

to work into it,
and all that stuff.

And then I remember
Chris Rock said George Carlin

or, I think, Seinfeld
did some HBO specials live.

And I remember Chris said like,
"I don't know how they

do that shit live, man.
It's scary."

So I said, "Well what could
make stand-up maybe harder?"

You know?
And I did four specials live.

And the one I did
in San Antonio,

"Tall, Dark & Chicano,"
in 2009,

was 85 minutes live.
-Mm-mm-mm.

-I don't think
I could do that shit.

I couldn't do that shit now.

-What's the one
you did in Long Beach?

-The one I did in Long Beach
was "Why You Crying?" --

like, the first one.
So, Richard Pryor,

25 years later, I went in there
and did that there.

-And your love and admiration
for Richard is bar none.

I mean, I would like to say,
the way

that you're talking
about Freddie Prinze.

-Yeah. So, Richard Pryor,
same thing, you know?

'79, "Live in Long Beach,"

Ernie had the
"Live in Long Beach" cassette.

We ran a copy watch
in my house man,

and my grandmother said,
[Speaking Spanish]

Like, "You don't get tired
of watching that guy?"

And I would say "No."
And I mean, literally,

she'd go to work at 7:45
in the morning

and come back at 4:30
in the afternoon,

that thing would still be on.
-Still be on?

-And she's looking at me,
she's like, you know...

And I don't even know
what it did.

It just was just on, right?

So, um,

I used to work almost nearby
where Richard Pryor lived,

and I would go by his house.
I missed him.

Just, like, see the tail end
of this canary Rolls-Royce,

you know, going in there.

So he's always kind of around,
but elusive, you know?

And then me and Ernie,
you know,

went to the Comedy Store
in like '80,

and there's this
canary yellow Rolls-Royce

in front of, like,
the original room

and the main room there,
and it's just idling.

And I think everybody was like,

"That's Richard Pryor,
you know."

So Ernie said,
"Go over and say hello."

So we're walking over there,
you know, kinda creeping up,

and I look
into the driver's thing,

and he's got
a microcassette recorder

and he's rewinding it
and you can hear audience,

you can hear him.
He's by himself.

-Wow. He's going over his shit?
-He's going through

a microcassette.
So I back up.

And he goes, "Did you say hi?"
And I said, "No, no, no."

I really kinda seen
all I needed to see.

I mean, all I needed to see
was that, you know?

And when I found out
that he had M.S.,

in the '90s -- early '90s --
didn't know him.

I went to Best Buy and
I bought him satellite radio

with a three-year subscription

because he was gonna
be bedridden.

I said, "Maybe have some music,
some comedy in the room."

So I don't know how I did it,
but he got it, you know?

Sent me a card,
like "Thank you," you know.

And they were like,
"How did you get that?"

I said, "I love him, you know?"

And that was -- Phew.
-You're -- You're --

-I don't think anybody knows --
really knows this shit.

They don't know this
about me, man.

-I didn't.
And talking to you, man,

I'm not only engulfed
in what you're saying --

D, can we get
some more wine, please?

-And it's all true, man.
Like --

-Well, here's
what I'm gonna say.

-'Cause you -- Motherfuckers
forget about people, man.

It's like --
-I was about to say that.

-It's not fucking --
It's not good, man.

-No.
-You just move on from one --

You know, it's just --
And it's what it is.

But if you're looking for,
you know --

if you're looking for
loyal people,

you're not gonna find 'em,
really, in this business.

Like, you have to have a loyalty
to what you do

and to, you know, the people
that are important to you.

But, you know, people --
Aw, like...

-Well, here's
what I want to say

that I'm getting it.
And it's like, I caught myself.

I was -- I was about to
bitch up a little bit

because you're --
you got a good heart.

You got a --
You got a good heart, man.

And you know, we're in a space

where those with
are seldom, like, talked about.

-Right.
-And your level

of love and appreciation
for people

that you haven't even met...
-Right.

-...that you haven't even had
an encounter with,

but you hold -- you hold, like,
this thing with them

because they're inspiring
or motivating or...

-Right.
-...generating something

for you.
-Right.

-And for that alone,
you're going back

and you're just like,
"I just want to be able

to give a portion..."
-Yeah.

-"...of care in some
way, shape, or form."

-When I was -- I used to wet
the bed when I was a kid.

You know, fuckin' wet the bed.
I didn't know why.

And you know, my grandma
would make fun of me.

"I'm gonna put your mattress,
flip it over, you know,

like fuckin' French toast or --
you know, they do French toast.

-[Laughs]

-Fuckin' -- Fuckin' said
my mattress looked like

French toast, man.

And instead of getting,
like, you know --

Instead of getting, you know,
some support...

[ Laughter ]
--...fuckin' "French toast!"

And it did look like
French toast.

A fucking square,
a big brown thing,

and then when this Butterworth
fuckin' other thing.

I mean nasty, man.

And I mean,
I pissed everywhere in a --

-[ Laughing ]
-In a fucking pull-out couch

that you pull out your, uh --
Man.

And fuck, man, you wet the bed,

you can't have anybody
staying...

-[ Coughing ]

-When I was doing it
on the round,

if I ever had to bring a girl
back to the hotel,

I was fucking
pissing the bed, man.

You get some water
and put it there.

"Hey, fuck, I guess we were
pretty wild last night, huh?"

[ Laughter ]

Fucking goddamn French toast
in the middle of the night.

-[ Laughing ]

-I mean you couldn't --
you couldn't tru--

You know, you couldn't tru--
You couldn't trust.

You know, but I had --
I was born early,

so the urine --
they didn't mature, you know?

But nobody ever told me
I was born early.

Why wouldn't they
fuckin' tell me?

"When's my birthday?"
"April 23rd.

Supposed to be born in June."

[ Laughter ]

"How much did I weigh
when I was born?"

"Like a little, como--
like 9 ounces."

You know?
-[ Laughing ]

-"They took you all out
in a fuckin' Ziploc bag.

There's a fuckin'--
So, everything -- everything --

-[ Continues laughing ]
-Everything was

fuckin' detrimen--
Hey, hey, hey, listen.

I went to a New Year's Eve party
at my friend Arnold's house,

and I pissed.
-[ Laughing ]

-And -- And you know what I did?

I had to go --

I don't know
how the fuck I did it.

I went over there
and flipped the mattress over.

I don't know how the fuck.

Goddamn fucking cat burglar
in the day,

flipping the mattress over?
"We've been robbed."

-"What did they take?"
"They didn't take anything.

I think the dude just --
He just rotated our mattresses.

I don't know what the fuck..."
-[ Laughs ]

-I mean, do you know
what it's like

to wake up all fucking pissed?

And like, "Hey, we're leaving."

And then you're pulling away
from the house, you're like,

"I pissed in their bed,
in the room they didn't use."

And you're like, "Man, I gotta
fuckin' get back in there,

I gotta flip
that fuckin' mattress over."

-[ Laughs ]

-I don't know how the fuck
I got in their house.

And you know,
when you get it right here,

and you go "Ugh"
and you gotta get it up?

And then pull it? Fuck, man.
[ Laughter ]

I had to fuckin'
replace the sheets.

How did I fuckin' know where
they kept their fuckin' sheets?

-[ Laughs ]
-Man, I mean,

taking a headstone
was something,

but going into a house
you only been in once,

the night before,
and flipping their mattress

and making it look
like I had left

and been a good guest?
-[ Laughs ]

-[ Inaudible ]
-Fuckin' A, man.

And I couldn't leave it,
I couldn't leave it.

Be like, "Hey, did George piss?"

I said, "Why do I have to piss
in the bed?"

"You're the only one that's
fuckin' slept in it

in two years."

-I'm fucking laughing
at George saying,

"How do I know
where they keep the sheets?"

[ Laughter ]
"I gotta change the sheets.

I can't just flip the mattress."
-How the fuck

did I get in there?
-"I gotta make the bed.

Y'all gotta help me find
the sheets,

or else they gonna know
I did it."

He had to go find new sheets
and make the bed up.

[ Laughs ] It was...
-And still make it look like,

you know,
it's all natural you know?

-Fuckin' George, man.
-Man.

-You're -- You're great, George.
I gotta -- I gotta go.

I want to segue to another
amazing part of conversation,

and I'm confident
that it will be here.

But let's pause here
for a second.

Let's take a break.
Hey, when we come back,

we'll have more "Hart to Heart"
with George Lopez.

Don't go nowhere.

**

**

**

-Welcome back, guys.
This is "Hart to Heart,"

and I'm still talking
to George Lopez.

The "Lopez Show" --
"George Lopez" --

-Yeah.
-...it comes to an end.

Right?
-Yeah.

-The sitcom stops. right?
-Yeah.

-An amazing run that it had.
-Yep.

-Like, you know,
when you talk about television,

you talk about
Television Hall of Fame.

If it ever does present itself,
it's for sure in there.

People that do it once,
I'm blown away by.

-Right.
-Right?

But then you have
these fucking phenomenons

that are able to get back to TV
and get an amazing run again,

and it's insane.

I'm gonna name a couple
that I know.

Tim Allen, right?
Tim Allen did it and he stopped,

and then Tim Allen came back
and did it again.

Uh, "Doogie Howser," right?
-Mm-mm.

Fuckin' --
-Fuckin' Neil Patrick Harris.

-Neil Patrick Harris did it,

then he came back
and he did it again, right?

There's not a lot of people
that have done it.

-Right.

-You come back
to television.

-Right.
-Currently on TV.

And your daughter's
a part of the goddamn...

-I know, man.

-Your daughter's a part
of the show with you.

-Mayan, yeah.

-How -- How did
the second show come about?

Was this something
that you said,

"You know what I'm gonna go do
and I'm gonna develop"?

Did it come about, like,
in another way?

-No.
-How did this one happen?

-So, in 2000, I think,
nine years on the road,

and I was really kinda
suffering back pain

and it's over,
so I went to the doctor,

and I had advanced
kidney disease.

I had kidney disease.
I wasn't aware.

-I remember this.
-So, in '98, the doctor said,

"Hey, man, you know,
you got advanced kidney disease.

You probably have 50%
in both kidneys."

And Ann was in there,
and then the doctor said,

"You know, you're gonna
probably need a transplant

by the time you're 44.

Maybe five --
maybe three or four years."

And then Ann goes,
"I'll give him one of mine."

Just like, "Ann, give me..."

So I said, "Well,
I'll still feel good,

you know, until then."
He goes, "No, no."

He goes, "You know what's
gonna happen is, you know,

light bulb right now,
and light bulb's gonna dim

and start to dim
and start to dim.

It's not gonna hurt,
but your movements,

you'll start to --"
-Things are gonna start to fail?

-Yeah.
So, um, I did.

I was starting to really --
Nobody really knew,

and Ann was
the only person tested.

And she matched.

And you know, I went to Cedars,

and you know, those cholosare,
like, X-ray technicians

and, you know,
they do ultrasounds.

They just put gel on your back
and they just really

kinda going...
"Hey, what's up, eh?

We'll do a little fuckin' --
right now, ultrasound."

Going like that, you know?

"Fuck, you still like
the Dodgers or what?"

So, on the screen,
he's going like this,

and you would normally see
a kidney, right?

So he's laughing,
"fuckin', chinga" like this.

And then he goes silent.
You know, he goes silent.

And he gets up
and he walks out on us.

"The doctor wants to see you."

So I go in there,
and the doctor says,

"I don't know
how you're walking around."

I said, "What do you mean?"

He goes, "Your kidneys don't
even show up on the ultrasound."

-Geez.
-I said "What do you mean?"

He goes, "You know,
the kidney's, like, this big.

Yours are like this.
Like that.

You be like this,
you're like that."

It's February of 2005.
"You're gonna need a kidney.

You're gonna need a --"
Ann said, "I want to be tested."

She got tested, it matched.

And she went to an astrologer --

some lady in fucking Miami.

I'm down to like 18%.
You know?

You know, you can't --
When you sleep,

you don't rest,
because your blood's tainted.

So you could sleep 12 hours and
wake up and still be exhausted.

So it's really tough man.

And she said, "Why don't we go
see this lady, this astrologer?"

And we were gonna do it
in, like, the middle of March.

Season was over.
Go in there, get it done.

That fuckin' astrologer,
the lady goes,

"How's April 19th?"
I said, "Bitch,

that's a fuckin' eight weeks,
six weeks away.

Dying."

April 19th.

So, we go see the
kidney doctor at Cedars,

and, um -- Louis Cohen.

And he goes, "So, what day
are we looking at?"

And Ann goes, "April 19th."

Doctor goes,
"That's my birthday.

I do my best work
on my birthday."

So, every year on April 19th,

I been sending him flowers
since 2005.

Almost 19 years,
every year on his birthday.

And I put in the card, like,

"Now all my problems are
fuckin' mental" or, you know,

"Been trying to make
this thing quit, and it won't,"

like, "That's funny, man.
Happy birthday."

So, I mean, since 2005,
every year,

I send him flowers
on his birthday.

-He's retired.
-George -- George, man...

-He's retired.

So -- So -- So -- So,

when I went in there,
I said, "Listen, man,

I don't want to fuckin' be the
poster boy for kidney disease.

I don't want to be a --
I don't want to do anything.

All I want to do is get better
and go back to work.

You know,
I'm not trying to do P--

none of that shit, right?"
So, [Clears throat]

when I got it done,
the 19th of April, 20th,

I was kind of --
I woke up the morning

of April 21st in Cedars,
probably 6:45 in the morning.

Opened my eyes,

and I felt better
than I had ever felt in my life.

Pumping good blood,
kidneys working,

everything's good.
Clear.

They bring some food.
I bite into a bagel,

fuckin' start crying, man.
Like, "What's the..."

I never -- you know, your
taste buds, all that shit.

And at that moment,
I decided

that I was gonna help
people who were sick,

and I was not gonna turn
my back on people who were well.

That's when we started
doing the Foundation.

Probably raised maybe
$20 million

over all these years.
And kids --

for kids that have
kidney disease

and stuff like that.
And a camp that we, you know,

military families
and all that stuff.

So we've done a lot of good
out of that thing.

And you know,
I don't really --

When I go to places
and do things,

I do stuff with my school.

If I go to a hospital
and talk to kids,

like, I never bring any cameras.

I never really kind of look
for any publicity out of it.

I just do it.
-Wow.

George, let's stop right here
for a second.

I want to take a quick break,
pay some bills.

Guys, we'll be right back with
more "Hart to Heart" after this.

They canceled us.

I remember we were at up-fronts.

So, they're
about to announce it.

And before I go onstage,
you're like, "Kevin, hold up."

-Oh, no.
-And I'm like,

"Yeah, what's up?"
And you're like,

"They're gonna
come talk to you."

-Oh, God.
"Okay, you guys, come on.

Kevin, you're up."
"Wait, what?

"Yeah, no,
they're not gonna do it."

-But you know, man,
I think your thing was

to be bigger than that.
-Absolutely. I mean --

-In your arena tour,
around the world,

did you come out of the ground
like Michael Jackson?

-Yeah.
-Fuckin' amazing.

-[ Laughs ]
Like Michael Jackson.

-Fuckin' amazing.

**

**

-Welcome back.

This is "Hart to Heart,"
and I'm talking to George Lopez.

George, this is honestly
mind-blowing.

Your stories, your journey,
the full-circle moments.

-Yeah.
-Man, like, I'm not sure

people have ever heard you
talk like this,

but I'm so glad
that they get to hear.

-No, thank you man. I mean --
-Like, it's --

-Do you remember when
I'd do your promos for your show

when your show was on ABC?
-Yes, I remember when I had --

I will give you
the best story ever.

I'm so aware of what
the "George Lopez" show" is,

and everybody watching,
because this is

when I got my first sitcom,
called "The Big House."

And "The Big House"
was my big break.

"I can't believe it.
I finally got a TV show.

This is gonna be amazing."

Well, naturally, on ABC,
well they want to pair

the, you know,
diverse look of color together.

So, the "George Lopez" show
was a hit,

so George and I
were doing promos...

-Yep.

-...for our shows being
in the same lineup.

You're talking
about 20 years ago.

-I went over there and saw you,
did commercials with your crew.

Yeah.
-20 years ago, George.

20 years ago,
young K. Hart is on set.

-Yep.
-And I remember you

taking a break,
walking from set,

and we came over
to knock out promos.

And I walked away and I'm like,
"Damn, that's George Lopez.

Like, George Lopez
just did a spot with me,

for me to promote my show.
I got -- This is gonna last."

Now, granted,
my sitcom life was short-lived,

and they canceled me
at the up-fronts,

and I never saw
the light of day.

[ Laughter]

But it's
a different success story.

-But, I mean, it's a step up.
-Absolutely.

-Yeah.
-Absolutely.

I can't -- I can't end it
without just, like,

giving you a moment
just to talk about --

-Can I talk about
the Richard Pryor thing?

-No, like your --
Oh, go ahead.

-Can I talk about
the Richard Pryor thing?

-Please, please.
-So, in Peoria,

you know, Richard Pryor came,
hos, gambling,

prostitution, you know,
burning himself --

So Peoria really doesn't want
anything to do

with Richard Pryor
through the '80s and '90s.

-Mm-hmm.

-And they never acknowledged
him, anything like that.

So when he started to get ill,
you know, their asses

got Preston Jackson
to do a --

they approved a statue
to do for Richard Pryor,

in Peoria, on the corner
where his dad had the pool hall,

brothel thing, all that.

Now it's kind of been --
But they have this corner there.

And I say, "Let's..."--

"Let's, um --"

Told my guy Nick,
"Let's do a show, man,

here at the Comedy Store,
wherever,

try to raise some money
for Richard Pryor."

Everybody says no.

And then I asked Ced.

He was like,
"Yo, I'm in St. Louis."

He said yes.

I asked D.L.
Was in Seattle.

He had two shows
that were already sold out.

He canceled those shows
and flew to Peoria.

And Charlie was alive,
and Charlie was there.

-Yeah, Eddie Griffin, you got,
too?

-Eddie Griffin,
and you know, Mike Epps.

-Mm-hmm.
-So we did the night,

and we made the money
that we needed, plus.

So, with the money that we made,

they completed
Richard Pryor's statute.

It's completely done over there.
So I did that, too.

-Man, and you are -- you are
a guy full of goodwill.

-Man, I don't even know --
I mean, you're like,

"How does this dude
that I watched all day,

and my grandmother --"
you know, I knew him.

I would go see him
when he wasn't well,

And I mean, I don't know, Kev.

I just --
You know, it's crazy, man,

'cause you know,
time goes by so fast.

But I don't think
that the love or the respect

that I had for
Richard Pryor or Freddie Prinze

has diminished at all

in any of the things
that I've done.

-40-plus years.
-You know, so to be

"Lopez vs. Lopez,"
you know, with Mayan,

I mean, it's amaz--

I mean, you look at your kid,
I see her --

You know, I remember when
she was little, 7, 8,

always very funny, you know.
And I see her as a woman,

and it's just like, you want
to tell her about this kid

that --
she's the kid, you know?

And I think that, I don't know,
wherever the power comes from,

but to be able to drive to NBC

and to be able to see her,
like, today,

I remember me and Ernie

went to the Country Club
in Reseda

to go watch boxing
in the early '80s.

And the singer from Van Halen
was there,

and Michael J. Fox was there.

And "Back to the Future"
was out,

and he had "Family Ties" on NBC.

So, I mean, he was
a fucking top --

But he's a little dude,
you know.

So I look at Ernie and I said,
"Hey, man, what's it like

to have a fuckin'
number-one movie

and have a fuckin' show on TV?"

So, in August,
"Blue Beetle" was number one,

and I had a show on NBC.
-[ Chuckles ]

-Manifestation.

-Manifestation, George.
Manifestation.

-I even said in the car,
"What do you have to do

to get a franchise movie?"
And DC,

like, they call,
like, the next week."

-Manifestation.
-Manifestation.

-George Lopez.
-And put it out there.

-I am honored.
-Man, thank you, Kev.

-You hear me?
I am honored...

-Thank you, man.
-...to have had

the conversation
we have had today.

I have such a better
understanding of who you are...

-Thank you. I appreciate it.
-...than what I did.

Forever a fan...
-Thank you. Likewise.

-...I will be.
And I just want to say, man,

the flowers, at the top,
that I gave

of just saying who you are
and what you are...

-Thank you.
-...I'm not the only one

that feels that way.
You've done so much

for the craft of comedy...
-Yeah.

-...and the doors that you've
opened for so many of us

to be able to have
the idea and understanding

of what a television show is,
of what a TV career looks like,

and honestly the revolving door
of doing it.

And you can do it again.
-Right.

-It stems from those that have
done it well, and you are that.

Thank you for
coming on "Hart to Heart."

-Thank you, brother.
-Here's to you.

Cheers. George Lopez.
-Thank you, man.

[Applause]
-Holy shit.

-Right on. Thank you.

-Mmm-mmm-mmm.

Pow!
-Crazy, right?

-Hey.
-Man.

-Pow.
-Mind blown?

I mean...
-What the fuck, dude?

-I don't even know, man.
-Read the book.

[ Indistinct conversation ]

**

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