History of Comedy (2017–…): Season 1, Episode 3 - The Comedy of Real Life - full transcript

To understand humanity is
to understand the sweet, lovely,

wonderful foolishness
of the human condition.

The best comedy comes
from your living experience.

Every comic sees the world
through a prism

that the average person
doesn't see through.

All we do is point out
the obvious, really,

and then twist it somewhere.

I just can't believe
the way people are.

What is it with humanity?

What kind of a world
do we live in?

You're not alone, ultimately.



I think that's what
the comic's saying.

Reality is the fodder for comedy
because it's what we have.

So where else can we find comedy
if not in real life?

As opposed to what, fake life?

You know.

Life is real.
Yeah, we got that.

First, a philosophical question.

Have you ever noticed
when you're driving

that anyone who's driving
slower than you is an idiot?

And anyone driving faster
than you is a maniac!

You see a million things
a day in your life,

and they all go
on the back burner

of your six-burner Wolf,
ridiculously priced mind.

A comedian comes out and brings
it to the front burner.



I don't like
other people's showers.

There's always a problem
with temperature adjustment.

There's always a little hair
stuck on the wall.

And you want to get rid of it,
but you don't want to touch it.

I don't know how it got up
that high in the first place.

Real life is funny
because it's relatable, period.

That's it.

And people are at home
watching something relatable,

that will make them laugh
because they go,

"That happened to me, too."

Remember when you were a kid
and you'd go on vacation?

You'd be, like, "Why is dad
always in a bad mood?"

Now I understand.

Don't! No!

Hyah!

Is this Grandma?

Yeah, she's still alive.

Why is the family
a good place to look for humor?

Was that it?

Where else --
Where else is it?

Maybe you should ask Santa
for a new family?

I don't want a new family.
I don't want any family.

Families suck.

Do you ever notice
where you trip on something,

when you're walking,
and you go, "What was that?"

Well, that was your family.

Would you forget
the paper?

They put their foot out.

Just don't get
so ahead of yourself.

Anybody got them mothers
that would hit you with a shoe?

I had a mother that would
throw a shoe at you

at the drop of a dime

and fuck you up
wherever she was aiming.

I don't want to give you
the wrong impression of my dad.

He never hit us.

He carried a gun.

He never shot us.
He just --

When I started,
I just did fat jokes.

I didn't know
other families had that

insanity that I grew up with.

"Yeah, Mom told me
to tell you today.

You're adopted."

"You're ruining
this whole family."

That's why we laugh.

That's why the family sitcom
has always prevailed.

I could just crawl
into a hole and die!

That's the second hole
she's crawled into in two days.

In the '50s, you get
these sitcoms that, frankly,

aren't really trying
to be that funny.

Boy, nobody can
make pancakes like Mom.

Nobody can eat
'em like Pop.

These shows are presented
by soap sellers, car sellers.

They wanted their product
to be nice, with no sharp edges,

so they couldn't
be that daring.

Very sort of white-bread
portrayals of family

were what the public wanted
to see at that time,

but in the '70s,
all of that changed.

The comedy grew out
of transgression.

Shows like "All in the Family"

showed a different side
of that nuclear family.

Do you realize
how many boring things

I gotta do in a single day
that drive me crazy?

I gotta get up.
I gotta brush my teeth.

I have to shave,
and I hate to shave.

There are mornings
when I stand there,

debating with that mirror,

should I shave,
or should I cut my throat?

But I shave.

You know, it's too bad
you always lose that argument.

What was it about
"All in the Family"

that was so different
from the things

that had come before?

I wasn't aware at the time
there was anything different.

I was writing out
of my own experience.

I grew up with a father
much like Archie Bunker

who insisted that I was

the laziest white kid
he ever met.

You are a meathead.

What did you call me?

A meathead --
dead from the neck up.

Meat. Head.

Norman Lear blows the lid off
what a family sitcom is.

Archie!

Out of the way, Edith.

We were writing
about what we knew,

what was happening
our families --

up the street, down the street,

across the street
from each other,

and that's how we got
to the real problems.

I think it's time we had
a brother-to-brother talk.

Or to put it delicately,

a talk about the birds
and the bees.

Well, I have to study
right now.

I'll teach you about sex
some other time, okay?

Norman Lear gave you
"All in the Family."

He gave you "Good Times."
He gave you "The Jeffersons."

He gave you different
looks of what real,

niched versions
of the American family

were in different segments
of this country.

Well, he married into one
of them mixed-up families.

What do you mean,
mixed-up?

Zebra city.

He's white.
She's black.

The kids
are medium-rare.

It was basically
all flawed characters,

but that was what
was good about it.

People could relate
to the fact

that these were not perfect
human beings, far from it.

You could draw
a line right there.

That's where
it started to change,

and that paved the way
for everything that came after.

I'm going to get married
when I'm 23.

23.

And I'll have
a husband named Bud.

Husband named Bud?

Bud what?

Bud Huxtable.

"The Cosby Show," in the '80s,
normalizes the black experience

in a way that was
super important.

That felt more like my family

than when I heard what the myth
of the black family was.

How do you expect to get into
college with grades like this?

No problem.

See, I'm not going
to college.

Damn right.

We had "Cosby Show,"
"Family Ties."

We had the Seavers.

And those families were saying
we're all basically the same.

It was a more
conservative era,

and so you had these
upper-middle-class households

who don't worry
about money,

are able to, like, balance
their careers and their kids,

and then in comes "Roseanne."

I'm sorry.

What do you want me to do,
throw myself off a bridge?

Yeah, and take your brother
and sister with you.

Are you ever sorry
we got married?

Every second of my life.

We're used to a certain amount
of slickness in our sitcoms,

but "Roseanne"
got rid of all of that,

mostly because she was
never that kind of performer.

This was not "The Cosby Show."

They were letting it all hang
out and letting it be funny.

You're being
totally unfair

just 'cause I don't want to eat
your stinkin' beans!

Wrong.
I am being totally unfair

because that is my job!

Now, you sit down and have
a nice dinner with your family.

- I hate you.
- Hey!

I say disown her.

I wanted to do a show

that was about real people,
that wasn't about,

"Honey, bathroom bowl
needs cleaning."

I wanted to do a show that was,
like, just the joy

and the horror of, like, life.

Every person from a family
recognizes all that stuff.

Human beings are
a huge pain in the ass.

How any of them get along
with any others of them...

Knock it off!

...they really don't, actually.

Sometimes, I just --
I don't know what to do.

Sometimes I just want
to smack you!

You're stuck with your family.

There's nothing
you can do about them,

and you put up with stuff
from your family

that you wouldn't put up
with from anybody else.

What do you mean,
he don't eat no meat?

That's okay.
That's okay.

I make lamb.

Come.

Anything that you find
horrifying as a kid,

just write it down

because when you're older,
you can make money off it.

You used to scream all night,
we didn't feed you.

You turned out fine.

I didn't turn out fine!
I'm a fat comedian with OCD.

I get up in front of strangers
and talk about my dick.

This is not good parenting.

I feel like I was
just here a minute ago.

I know what you mean,
but you'll get used to it.

Everybody does,
eventually.

The workplace is something
we all have to endure

in some way or another.

I gotta get out of here.
I think I'm gonna lose it.

Sounds like somebody's
got a case of the Mondays.

You can go to work on a TV show,

you can go to work
in an insurance office,

you're still gonna
have a boss,

you're gonna have
a pain-in-the-ass worker,

you got somebody maybe
you're attracted to,

and you gotta deal with that.

So, this is a human experience

that transcends all generations.

Comedy's about
an imbalance in power.

Everybody who's ever had a job
realizes it's a power imbalance

the minute that they get there.

I'm the new vice president
of East Coast Television

and Microwave Oven Programming.

That sounds like you
program microwave ovens.

I like you.

You have the boldness
of a much younger woman.

So, you go to work,
and your boss is an asshole.

If you write a joke about him,
and everyone laughs at him...

- Is that decaf?
- No, no, it's regular.

...suddenly, you go from being
his victim to being his captor.

The joke is refiguring
the scales of justice.

When you were dismissing
some of the staff,

did you intend
to fire me, too?

Especially me.

I wanted to check.

I'm very sorry
I troubled you,

you little runt!

Early sitcoms were
just about home life,

and I used to make the joke
all the time,

in "Ozzie and Harriet,"

you know, what did Ozzie do
for a living?

And then Van Dyke
was the first time

you saw his home life
and his work life.

Is that
the comedy spot?

No, bubble-head,
this is a comedy spot.

- Rob!
- Buddy.

- Sally.
- Mel.

- Rob!
- Sally!

Buddy!

Go ahead, Curly, it's your turn.
Say, "Rob."

Rob!

Wonderful, wonderful.

Somebody asked me to do
a situation comedy

after I finished being
on the "Show of Shows"

because situation comedies
weren't very good.

They didn't mirror life.

I asked myself,
what piece of ground

do I stand on that
nobody else stands on?

Well, I worked
as an actor/writer

on a variety show,

and I write about
what happens at home.

And at home, I talk about
what goes on at the office.

Are you doing this because
you're afraid of Alan?

No, I'm doing it because
I respect Alan Brady.

A man of his caliber
has great firing power.

Geez.

It was a hybrid
of family life/work life,

and you cared about them
like a family

because you saw them
together every day.

They were a family.

Afternoon, everybody.

Norm! Norm!
Norm!  Norm!

Hey, Mr. Peterson,

there's a cold one
waiting for you.

I know.
And if she calls, I'm not here.

On TV, family short
of transcends blood.

You recognize
that family system,

that family dynamic even
if it's not biological.

Sure, things didn't
go your way.

Sure, we're
a little disappointed,

but we'll get over it.

What's important here
is that you tried

to do the wrong thing.

Hey, that's right.
I did, didn't I?

- Sammy! Sammy!
- Sammy! Sammy!

You have certain
archetypes in the bar,

in the office, in the workplace,
in the taxi company.

They're there because
they are real

and they're honest
and they're true

and we all recognize them.

I don't deserve this.

You know? God damn it,
I don't, but you do.

Because you are all losers!

Every motherfucking
one of you.

Loser.

Loser!

The worst word you can hear

when you're trying
to make a comedy

is "likable" from the suits.

It's not believable
if everybody's likable.

We're not!

What's happened
to the old idea

of doing something
for your fellow man,

of service?

- I mean, today, people just --
- Mr. Fawlty!

Yes, I'm coming, I'm coming!
Wait a moment!

There's no comedy in likable.

I always go to Louie De Palma

on "Taxi,"
played by Danny DeVito.

Sunshine Cab!

Hey, crazy lady,
gimme a break here!

It's Ma.

This was a troll -- mean,
said the worst possible things.

Is that likable? No.

Is it lovable? Yes.

Why? He's really funny.

This guy does the best
Ali G impersonation.

I --

I can't.
You do it.

Go on.

I- I don't.
I think you mean someone else.

Sorry.

No, it's not you.
It's the other one.

The other --
The other what?

Um...

Paki?

That's racist.

I think the thing that
made "The Office"

successful with Ricky Gervais

was the realism was more
relationship-oriented

and commented on
the mundaneness of situations

that we all find ourselves in.

If I have to work with him
for another day,

I'm just -- I will --
I will slit my throat.

You won't do it
like that, though.

You get the knife in
behind the windpipe,

pull it down,
like that.

Or I could just apply
for another job.

The jokes or the stories or
the emotion isn't from the work.

It's from the people
who work together.

All right.
Where to first?

Your mother's butt.

All you need to relate
is the human connection,

the believability

that these people
live together,

know each other,
love each other.

And it's that love
underneath that allows

for all kinds of behavior.

I, um --
I can't argue with this.

"Puberty usually begins
between the ages of 11 and 14,

when profound
hormonal changes occur.

The onset of these changes

is the function
of a small gland

called the pituitary.

This gland sends chemical
signals throughout the body,

most notably resulting
in height increase

and hair growth
in the genital area.

Hey! Hey! Knock it off.

Think this is funny?

Just try me.

Okay.

People love
coming-of-age comedy

because it's innocence
to not innocence, you know?

Obstacles to growing up,

obstacles to maturing
are always really hilarious

because most of the time
things did not go well.

You don't know how to deal
with the emotions of it,

the physical aspects of it,

and so it's just gonna be
very embarrassing.

Fred, she's gotten
her boobies.

I'd better go get
my magnifying glass.

When I was in high school
and my mother said to me,

"Some day you'll look back
on all this and laugh."

I didn't realize it would
take like 20 years.

But ultimately, she was right.

My two front teeth
didn't fall out

until I was in fifth grade.

Which is late.

And that same week,
I got my period.

Which is early.

Any stage of life,

if you tell a story honestly,
it can be funny.

That's what people
connect with.

Everybody's been 12 years old.

Everybody knows
what that feels like.

Were you typical?

Yeah, I was typical
of a --

of a, I guess a young,
budding future pervert.

Ever been sitting around

when you was young, man,
and just sitting in class,

and your dick get hard
for nothing?

You'll be just sitting there,
and your dick say,

"Hey, what's going on in here?"

That's when your teacher said,

"Mr. Murphy, want to come work
out this problem on the board?"

We're just trying to figure out
how to be humans,

and your body's changing.

And you're becoming aware
of how it's changing,

and sex is just this crazy,
mysterious thing.

Jim?

Well, we'll just
tell your mother

that we ate it all.

Let's face it, all
of these unpleasant subjects,

one way of dealing
with them is humor.

I can't believe this.
They fucking forgot my birthday.

John Hughes captured
many different eras of life,

but he was one
of the great storytellers

about being
a high school student.

He took his teenage characters

incredibly seriously --
all of them.

I loathe the bus.

"Sixteen Candles"
was a revelation to me as a kid

because I thought,
"I'm Anthony Michael Hall.

That's who I am."

All right.

I knew you'd come around.

It epitomizes
what it's like to be 15, 14,

you know, a freshman.

You know, he's anxious to be
at the senior parties,

anxious to be
with this girl, you know.

That guy, who's normally
made fun of in other movies,

is a hero in this movie.

Farmer Ted is, you know,
you could argue,

the lead of that flick
for a lot of us.

Very nice.

We're five minutes and --

I'm at a loss.

Prior to John Hughes,

most of the comedies
weren't aimed at us.

The teenager to us
in the movies

was Olivia Newton-John
and John Travolta.

These kids, when they were
in high school looked like,

you know, my parents.

It was kind of like he woke up
one day and was like,

"This is an entirely
underserved audience here.

Let's make movies about them,
for them, on their level,

talking the way they talk,

using actors
that look their age."

I think one of the mistakes

that is commonly made
in Hollywood teenage pictures

is that they're going
for the bucks,

and they're not going
for the heart.

I think he's very honest,

and that he doesn't try
to show us

for something that we're not.

He took the simplest
of canvasses

and ones we were
all familiar with.

- Bueller?
- Growing up...

- Bueller.
- ...staying home from school,

the sneaky stuff
we like to pull off.

Life moves pretty fast.

You don't stop
and look around once in a while,

you could miss it.

John was obsessed

with sort of the middle-American
outlook on life.

There is no clearer expression
of John's affection

for what is a flawed society,
but he loves it.

All right, that's it.

I'm gonna be right
outside those doors.

The next time
I have to come in here,

I'm cracking skulls.

He celebrated the normalcy
in all of us.

He made it bigger.
He made the attention an event.

He made oddballs okay.

And we're all pretty bizarre.

Some of us are just better
at hiding it, that's all.

God.

Because he has cracked the code

with the teen audience,
others that followed realized,

"You don't have
to talk down to 'em,

you can talk up to 'em,
or talk right at their level."

Man, I hate high school.

On "Freaks and Geeks,"

what was important
to everybody at the show

was that it realistic.

My God!

All right, come on, guys,
let's go!

Would somebody
please tell me

what's supposed to be
fun about this?

Paul Feig wrote characters
that were more authentic.

He really,
more than anyone else,

to me, understands,

really, what it was like
and hasn't forgotten

what it was like
to feel like an outcast.

Homo.

Hey, hey, hey!

Now -- Now, if Sam wearing
something different to express

his individuality
makes him a homo,

well, then, I guess

we should all be proud
to be homos.

Now, you go ahead, Sam.

Paul had this idea

that he wanted to see
a high school show

about the kids
no one ever talked about.

You're dead, Weir.

That was very different
for network television.

What seemed bizarre to them --

Why did they fail
all the time?

And we just thought,
because you fail all the time.

It was that simple.

I guess we live
on the same floor.

If you live
on this floor.

I don't know
where you live. I --

What I love about Judd Apatow

is that he took the smartness
of the John Hughes

but let the kids be a little
less articulate about it.

They're a little more lost.

They're not quite
as sure of themselves.

It's just not fair

that they get to flaunt
that stuff, you know,

when like, I have to hide
every erection I get.

I mean, just imagine if girls
weren't weirded out

by our boners
and stuff and just,

like, wanted to see them.

I mean, that's the world
I want to one day live in.

No matter how much we try
to add new viewpoints to it,

we're still the same people
reacting to the same change,

and there's something
really startling about that.

Boop, boop, boop.

If you get to the heart of it,
beyond all the funny,

and find out
there's a ticking, living,

breathing heart there
that you can identify with,

you've got the audience.

I love you.

I love you.

Women know what men want.
Men know what men want.

What do we want?

We want women.
That's it.

It's the only thing we know
for sure, it really is.

We want women.
How do we get them?

We don't know about that.
We don't know.

The reason relationships
are such a fertile area

for comedy is
because what's --

what do you look for in life

anything more than love,
except maybe money?

And money's just
so not funny.

How man women's purses
are about five pounds heavier

in case you do sleep elsewhere
this evening?

You guys may think
we're being spontaneous,

but women have to pack
for these events, boy.

Whether you're in a very
insanely committed relationship,

or you've been dating somebody
for a couple of days,

you can recognize
the ridiculousness

of this situation.

Like, we go through
an awful lot...

...you know, just to get naked
with people.

The only time I get hit on
is last call at the bar.

What a weird time
of night, right?

The lights go on,

it just feels real rapey
all of a sudden.

You see some dude
in a full blackout

just walking at me
like a zombie,

just pointing at his own dick,
like, "Here."

I'm like,
"I'll get us a cab."

Romance is a great
source for comedy

because everybody wants it.

Also, romance gives people
instant vulnerability.

It's a situation where
stakes are really high,

and whenever the stakes
are really high,

funny shit's gonna happen.

Did you want to see
some brochures?

This is so awkward.
I really want you to leave,

but I don't know how to say it
without sounding like a dick.

The idea that
human beings couple up,

you know, for good,
it's ridiculous.

Imagine if marriage
didn't exist.

You're a guy, and you ask
a woman to get married.

You'd be like,
"Hey, so, you know,

we've been hanging out
together all the time,

spending a lot of time
together and everything."

"Yeah, yeah, I know."

"I want to keep
doing that till you're dead."

It doesn't really make sense.

Because of that,
it's rife with comedy.

That takes courage
to go on a date,

for both sides.

Two very different
kinds of courage.

The male courage,
traditionally speaking,

is that he decided to ask.

He went up to a random woman
who he has no idea

if she's gonna like him or not,

and he walked up to her,
terrified.

Everything in your body's
telling you,

"Just go the fuck home
and jerk off.

Don't do this."

It's a hilarious subject
because it's awkward,

and it makes you feel great
or makes you feel terrible.

Are you breaking up
with me?

You know, I can't believe
I even thought of getting

back together with you.

We are so over.

Fine by me!

If I had a terrible breakup,

I would just come and wail
about the breakup,

and I think because it was
so real and honest,

it related to people.

It's actually really
comforting to realize

that something that is just
truly troubling in your life

could be great
fodder for comedy.

Now, those were the days

when people knew
how to be in love.

You're a basket case.

They knew it.

Time, distance,
nothing could separate them

because they knew
it was right,

it was real, it was --

A movie.

That's your problem.
You don't want to be in love.

You want to be in love
in a movie.

We have a love-hate relationship
with romantic comedies

because it sets these ideals

that you could never reach,
but love is so relatable,

you immediately empathize
with one of the people,

and you feel like
you're falling in love.

Did you put that
breakfast burrito on my desk?

I just thought
you might be hungry.

That's why I love you.

I love you, too.

Yeah.

Yeah, you're right,
I needed that.

The cliché about
romantic comedies

is it's boy meets girl,
boy gets girl,

boy loses girl,
boy gets girl back.

There's no new stories,
in that respect.

It's just, what's your take
on the old story?

Alvy?

Let's face it.

You know, I don't think
our relationship is working.

I know.

A relationship, I think,
is like a shark.

You know, it has to constantly
move forward, or it dies.

And I think what we got
on our hands is a dead shark.

"Annie Hall" was a game changer.

Woody said, "I want to do
a real film about real people,

where you could care
about the characters

and be somewhat
emotionally invested."

I think we better call
this relationship quits.

That's fine, that's fine,
that's great.

Well, I don't know
what I did wrong.

I mean,
I can't believe this.

Somewhere,
she cooled off to me.

Is -- Is it something
that I did?

Never something you do.
That's how people are.

Love fades.

Love fades?

God, that's
a depressing thought.

There's no, you know,

happy ending with
a neat bow tie at the end.

But ironically, "Annie Hall"

became one of
the funniest movies ever.

It changed so much about
the way people thought of,

you know, romantic comedies.

One of the summer's
surprise hit movies stars

Billy Crystal and Meg Ryan.

It's called
"When Harry met Sally."

Men and women
can't be friends

because the sex part
always gets in the way.

That's not true.

I have a number of men friends,
and there is no sex involved.

- No, you don't.
- Yes, I do.

- No, you don't.
- Yes, I do.

You only think you do.

You're saying
I'm having sex

with these men
without my knowledge?

No, what I'm saying is they
all want to have sex with you.

Nora Ephron wrote
"When Harry Met Sally,"

and she got a lot of help

from Reiner creating
the neurotic main character.

That's because he was
based on Rob Reiner.

"When Harry Met Sally"
was, you know,

it was an extension

of what I had been
through as a single person,

having been married
for 10 years

and then being single
for 10 years.

It was the experiences I had
with trying to get with women

and, you know,
the confusion of,

can you be friends with a woman?

If you have sex,
does it ruin the friendship?

Why can't we get past this?

I mean, are we gonna
carry this thing around forever?

Forever?
It just happened.

It happened
three weeks ago.

You know how a year to a person
is like seven years to a dog?

Yes.

Is one of us supposed
to be a dog in this scenario?

Rob Reiner's collaboration
with Nora Ephron,

they very much both
worked together

to have an equal female
and male perspective.

There are a lot
of desperate women

out there looking
for love.

Especially
over a certain age.

You know, it's easier
to get killed by a terrorist

than it is to get married
over the age of 40.

That is not true.
That statistic is not true.

That's right.
It's not true,

But it feels true.

Even a romantic comedy
where you know

what's gonna happen,

there's still something
satisfying about it.

I don't know why, but there's
still something that works.

I mean, that's why they use
the formula over and over.

I mean, love is the bottom line,

and there are so many billions
of ways to be with somebody.

It's never finished.

Relationship material
is never finished.

Frankly, I wish
I just had someone

I really cared about
that I could hold.

But I don't have
that person, so...

I'm just gonna jerk off
and go to bed.

Aren't people stupid?

Not us, it's the others.

You ever notice --

- Have you noticed --
- What is it with --

Why are hemorrhoids
called hemorrhoids,

and asteroids called asteroids?

Wouldn't it make more sense
if it was the other way around?

But then if that was true,
you wouldn't be a proctologist.

You'd be an astronaut.

There's so many things
that are distasteful

in life and stupid.

There are these rules
that everybody has to follow.

It's tedious,
so they deserve lampooning.

This was an awful morning.

Like, I get up this morning,

I put my maxi pad
on adhesive side up.

Come on, you've done it.

There is so much comedy
in the little details of life.

It's just taking
a magnifying glass

and throwing it out
to the audience.

Well, that's sort of my job,
to think about stuff

that a lot of us are too busy
for most of the time.

Little things
that occur to us.

We have universal ground,
you know.

Like, did you ever --

did you ever belch
and almost puke?

We think that we're alone,

and then a comedian steps
onstage and says,

"Have you ever noticed -- "
Kaboom, it explodes.

In that moment,
we all connect,

which is an amazing
charge, really.

It's kind of an adrenaline rush

to connect on
that kind of a level.

We have to fight
these battles.

We're all alone in the bathroom.

Alone!

Whatever goes wrong,
you have to handle it.

Did you ever flush
a toilet in a big party,

and the water starts coming up?

This is the most
frightening moment

in the life of a human being.

It's an illumination
on something

that was right in front of you.

It was right there, but yet,
when they bring it up --

It's the way they shine
the light on it.

What -- What are we doing?

What in God's name
are we doing?

What?

What -- What kind of
lives are these?

We're like children.
We're not men.

No, we're not.
We're not men.

We're pathetic,
you know that?

Yeah, like I don't know
that I'm pathetic.

"Seinfeld," you know,
initially was,

they called it
the show about nothing.

I mean, obviously,
it was not about nothing,

but that's what they called it.

The initial idea was Larry David
and Jerry had an idea

about just two guys hanging out
and talking about stuff.

Listen to this.

Marcy comes over,

and she tells me
that her ex-boyfriend

was over late last night,
and yada, yada, yada,

I'm really tired today."

What do you think
she was tired from?

Well, obviously,
the "yada, yada."

Larry David and Jerry Seinfeld,
those two minds together,

you know, that's just
comedy dynamite.

What do you think did it?

Can you take a step back
and say, "This made this show"?

I think it was the style
of the writing was fresh,

and I think it was
the strength of the cast.

The cast is
very, very strong,

and the writing had
a different sound to it.

The conversation
sounded different

than the other sitcoms
that you see.

So, you think
you're spongeworthy?

Yes, I think
I'm spongeworthy.

I think
I'm very spongeworthy.

I'm out there, Jerry,

and I'm lovin'
every minute of it!

The ideas were
seemingly insignificant,

where the comedy came from.

Usually small, quirky,
idiotic things.

Larry always carried this
little notepad in his pocket.

Whenever something would
happen that he thought

would make a good idea,
you know,

he'd write it down,

and eventually,
it would wind up in a show.

You mean shrinkage?

Yes!

Significant shrinkage.

It's a little thing
that I might notice

that I could expound on.

Expound on or expand on?

Expand on.

Both.

Both, expound and expand, yeah.

I got it.
No, no, no,
I'd like to pay for mine.

Now, Julie, Julie,
don't insult me.

What difference does it
make who pays for lunch?

It's totally meaningless.

Okay.
Thanks, George.

Here's your
big salad to go.

Thank you.

I remember I was editing
an episode with Larry,

and we took a break for dinner,

and he turned to the editor
and he said,

"Carol and I are gonna
get a bite.

Would you like something
from the restaurant?"

And she said, "Yeah, will you
bring me back a big salad?"

And when we got back
to the editing room,

I took the salad,
and I gave it to Janet.

Thank you, Julie.

You're very welcome.

And then, like,
two months later,

there's an episode that is
written called "The Big Salad."

She just took credit
for my salad.

- That's not right.
- No, it isn't.

I mean, I'm the one
that bought it.
Yes, you did.

Don't you think she should
have said something?

- She could have.
- I know.

It's, like, "I wonder
where that came from."

Right, that was me.
Perfect.

A lot of Larry's humor
is based on the difficulty

of just being out
in the world.

Smile.

And everything is a land mine

waiting for you to step on it.

Hey, mind your business.
How about that?

We all think that shit,

but Larry just points
it out, you know?

It's so great.

it's just material.

I know, but really,
look at these pants.

I've seen pants
bunch up before, yes.

I have never seen a bunch-up
like this in my life.

I have.
This is like a five-inch
bunch-up I got here.

"Curb Your Enthusiasm"
is brilliant.

Larry took the essence
of himself, of Larry David.

I mean, it's not exactly Larry,
but it's pretty damn close,

and when you get close
to the bone,

the audience can somehow
feel that that's real.

Get me off
the speakerphone, please!

Hold on.
Now you're off the speakerphone.

What's the matter
with you?

I thought I was having
a private conversation.

I didn't know anybody else
was in your car.

I think with "Curb,"

Larry gets to be
the full completion of himself.

It was the person
I'd like to be,

but social mores prevent me

from being that way
all the time.

Hey!

I'll call --
I'll call you back.

What -- What the hell
are you doing?

What the fuck
are you doing?

What am I doing?
What are you doing?

We decided that we should
walk this line

where people watching it
wouldn't quite be certain

if it was really a documentary
or if it was embellished,

but to play it as close
to real as possible.

And sure enough, there were
people who thought it was real.

When you walk through my door,
you play by my rules.

You take off
your fucking shoes!

My feet have a tendency

to get a little chilly
when I take my --

He's a psychotic.
Get him out of the house.

Get out!

I had no idea that,

until the show was on the air,

that anybody would ever
have to leave the room

because they couldn't
bear to watch a scene

because they were cringing as
to what was about to take place.

I kind of liked it, yeah.

Thank you for fixing
Judy's hair.

You're welcome.

Mommy! Mommy!

That bald man's
in the bathroom,

and there's something hard
in his pants!

Kick his ass!

Pervert!

Let's get him!

It always seems like
such a shame

to just dump this
in the trash.

Maybe birds would like
to make nests with it

or, I don't know,
maybe you boys

could use it
for school projects.

Arms up.

People love family comedies.

Dude.

And now it seems like
the family comedies they want

are, how strange can this
family possibly be?

And now I'm expected to climb
back on top of Kitty

and do my thing again.

I mean, this family runs
into problems,

it's, "Let's have Gob
**** our way out of it."
What is wrong with you?

- What is the matter with you?
- Hey, come on.

There's a lot more variety

in families represented
on television today

because it's represented
in real life.

- Okay, you're --
- He's our son.

- And my grandson.
- I'm his daughter.

- So, you're --
- His uncle.

I have to believe that,
for kids of today,

seeing that families can come

in all kinds of weird
permutations

has to be pretty great.

What the hell is that?

I had Andre do it
while we were gone.

We're floating above her,
always there to protect her.

Okay, well, that's reassuring,
right, Lily?

Yes, we tore you away
from everything you know,

but don't worry,
things are normal here.

Your fathers are
floating fairies.

A show such as "Modern Family"
or "Will & Grace" before that

really sped up
the conversation

about gay marriage
and people's tolerance.

Huge news!

I have met -- are you ready
for this? -- Mr. Right.

Well, Mr. Right Now, anyway.
Ba-dum-bum.

Good night, folks.
I'm here all week. Jack 2000!

He works over
at the Jumpin' Java --

you know the coffee shop
on 72nd -- and his name is Paul.

He is cute
with a capital "Q."

Seeing people
you don't normally get

to see makes you realize,

you should love them as
much as you love anybody else.

That's the finger.

Work in progress.

We're trying to actually say

that my family's
different than yours.

You know, but if you
look close enough,

you might see some things
that your family is, too.

Hey!

Why don't the boys
go with you?

- Yeah!
- No, no, not you.

You're way too precious to me.

Good. Because Junior
is the bad black person

who needs educating,

but after we get home,

he'll be a bona fide
Black Panther.

Actually, Dr. King had problems
with the Black Panthers.

Do you know who the Black
Panthers had a problem with?

I think television has a history

of helping us figure out
how to deal

with some very difficult
discussions

or changes in our time.

Listen, can we just close up
shop here a little bit?

The knees.

Your male privilege
is leaking all over the place.

The fearlessness of comedians
bringing up subject matter

that we're afraid to talk about

is a wonderful conduit
to starting a conversation.

First off,
up and owning it.

Yeah.

I don't wanna freak you out,

but I think that I may be
the voice of my generation.

Or at least a voice
of a generation.

There's a number
of amazingly great,

unique-voiced shows
that are on TV right now.

They are standing apart
from the wave of stuff

that's being thrown
at us all the time.

The guy said this was
their best selling thing,

by far, okay?

I'm just trying
to improve our sex lives.

Okay, well,
here's an idea.

How about you stop
rubbing your eye

every time you shove
your junk in me?
What?

Yeah, you're
always like...

It's distracting.

Now we're in this weird world
where there's a demand

that people take chances.

No one wants
generic stuff anymore.

I like Mama's better
because she makes good food.

And I love her more,
so I like being there more.

Okay.
All right, baby.

Louis C. K.,
he's tapped into things

that most people
don't tap into.

He's able to take
that sensibility

that he uses
so effectively onstage

and find a forum
to dramatize it.

All right,
go get on your PJs.

- Bye, Daddy.
- Okay, baby.

The more realistic
comedy gets,

the more drama is in them,
because real life

is not just drama
all the time,

and it's not just funny
all the time.

Why do you say
such hurtful things?

Because it's the only way
to get your attention.

That's why I have
a rage problem.

Shut up,
all of you!

Can I talk?
Is it my turn yet?

I've waited 45 years
to talk!

I screwed up my life!

I lost the best shitty job
I could find!

I'm mentally doomed!

Look at all of you!
It's all your fault!

You're all disasters!

I don't want to be
in this family anymore!

Wah, wah, wah.
What a baby.

What's great about comedy

is that comedy can't exist
unless it's true.

You don't laugh unless you know
there's an inherent truth to it.

My God.

I keep forgetting what
a freak show this family

is until somebody new comes in
and looks at us like that.

We all are human and fallible,

and we're crazy,
and we have foibles,

and we're all in it together.

There's nothing more interesting

than the foolishness
of the human condition.

It takes the comedian
to find the moment

that helps people
laugh at themselves.

If you're lucky in life,
you will have seen it,

done it, eaten it,

fucked it, you know,
all of it.

And now you can relive it
through storytelling

and from somebody's point
of view all over again.

Life is not that
complicated.

You get up, you go to work,
you eat three meals,

you take one good shit,
and you go back to bed.

What's the fuckin' mystery?

When you see these things,
do you keep track of them?

- I'm interested.
- I do.

I write them down
on a small pad.

Once I lost a pad, and it was --

it was the worst
experience of my life.

And you can
never get them back

because these incidents
where you get the thoughts,

it's -- it's very specific.

It never happens again.
It only happens that one time.

All those ideas -- gone.
They're still gone.

I've never thought of one
of those things again.