Pioneers of Television (2008–…): Season 4, Episode 4 - Acting Funny - full transcript

Since this is PBS,
good luck using this.

You should be TV star!

Oh, no, too much pressure

and you have to
get up too early.

I don't think there's
anyone here who isn't aware

that this is a little
special moment in time.

For once,
I am not going to be Jan Brady.

I'm going to be Marsha, damn it.

Oh, my nose!

I came out to be funny.

Here I am!



I don't think anybody else

on the show was
trying to do that.

Pure dyn-o-mite!

Oh, god, I wish Ethel
was here to see this.

I'm willing to be silly
and dumb and foolish

and fall on my ass.

Why on earth you'd
want to go out with a man

you know nothing about.

Hello.

Oh.

I got lucky.
I won the lottery.

Pioneers of Television
was made possible

by contributions to
your PBS station

from viewers like you.



Thank you.

Their performances
made us laugh.

It's still in people's
consciousness from that time.

You know, people,
"Didi-didi."

"You mean nanu-nanu."
"Yeah, that's it."

Nanu-nanu!

Oh!

I grew up in a house where
we watched a lot of comedy

and we would then go around
and imitate it.

- You think I'm funny?
- You're funny!

You think so?
'Cause people say I'm funny,

but it's like, aaagh,
I don't see it, you know?

You got to get messy in comedy.

It's got to be ugly.

You've got to take the pie.

I rate it "D" for dyn-o-mite!

Their acting skills
amused a generation.

I didn't think about
being funny in those days.

Just thought about
being an actress.

Physical pieces
that I would put in,

and by the time it
got to showtime,

we were so excited
it present it.

What can I do
to make you like me?

Get off the stage.

It's two crazy guys, you know,

that have just been released
from a major hospital.

Sometimes method acting
can be like urinating

in brown corduroy pants...

You feel fabulous,
we see nothing.

You have to think,
"I know what this is about,

but how can I do it in
a more interesting

or fresher way?"

I really admire you,

for having the nerve
to stay here

after that
humiliating experience.

Together they brought
comedy acting

to the television age.

They are the pioneers
of television.

In the late 19 7 0s,

Robin Williams
took television by storm

with a different
approach to comedy,

a manic style he showcased
on Mork & Mindy.

So, you're from outer space.

Yes, you mind if I take
a few pictures

for the folks
on the home planet?

They'd like to get
some postcards.

No.

Okay, watch the blookie.

It came at a time when people
were going, "What's this?"

And we got lucky, and then it
was just this thing of...

It became every Thursday night,
people going...

They wanted to see
how crazy it would be.

- Like to buy a record?
- I'm just kind of browsing.

Let's offer you a special deal,
new from Hotel,

Marcel Marceau's greatest hits.

Who can ever forget
"Man Ascending an Escalator"?

"Man Watching the World's
Largest Staircase"?

There he goes walking
across it now.

Let's just forget the vinyl
see the other exciting things

you get free with this...
Look, it can be a hand glove.

It also can dice, slice,
and make julienne fries.

It can also be a party favor,
a King Tut hat, who knew?

Also a puppet for
a two-dimensional child.

Hi, Mom, nice to have you home.

Long before his breakout hit,
Robin Williams had spent years

honing his skills,
beginning with a class

he took in a new kind of
comedy performance

called improvisation.

And it was this beginning
of getting laughs,

especially around improvising,
which I went,

"Literally can create it
there in that space?"

They went, "Yep."
"Okay, let's do this."

The response to his
early comedy performances

in San Francisco
encouraged Williams

to take the next step...

Moving to Los Angeles
to try his luck in clubs

and improv groups,
gradually working out the bits

that would later
make him a star.

My god, Nanook of Norinne.

My god!

This is a lovely...
Look at this thing.

Right now there's a whole
bunch of animals going,

"Is it cold? Jesus!"

Woo!

It's the idea of, you know,
just starting off with concepts

and then just building
off of that,

and weirdly, a lot of times just
playing off the audience.

Oh! I guess you couldn't
afford the bottom fur.

I feel like Liberace right now,
going, "Just leave me

with the candelabra, damn you,
leave me the candelabra."

This is wonderful.

Robin's wearing the lovely pants
from Hefty Bag.

♪ La da di da ♪

Took a while to kind of
just get the feeling of,

"Okay, try this, try these,"
and essentially these characters

were jumping around,
a lot of different characters.

There was a little kid,
a kind of pretentious little...

I remember I did a character
called Little Andrew,

"Who was very, very intelligent.

A long time before the iPad,

I was basically
downloading information."

"How?"
"Psychically.

Don't make me hurt you."

But it was just, you know,
some people would like it,

other people, you're like,
"Whoa, what is this?"

One was a Russian
stand-up comedian

kind of a takeoff
named Nicky Lenin

who did "suppressions."

A Soviet poem
of pain and suffering.

Little robin upon my windowsill
with tiny breast of red.

I brought the window slowly down
and crushed the sucker's head.

He's gone, but sometimes works.

Soviet ventriloquism.
Johnny, you happy to be here?

Delighted!

At small comedy clubs like this,

audiences are
notoriously fickle,

but Williams learned
from each performance.

I remember there was one show
we did at a club

and it was the opening night
of this club

and the mics all broke
and the sound system went out

and the guy went,
"What are we going to do?

What are we going to do?"
"I can talk loud."

And that was the first time,
and that kind of

also determined my style
of just being off-mic

and not a standing target
working the whole audience

and using that ability
to project my voice

to kind of change
the perspective in the room,

so that was the beginning
of using literally

one of those skills.

Coming over here,
it's nice to wander back.

Thank you.

Oh, we're just
going to work on this,

we're going to
tease it a little.

Just look at it.

How about those 49ers?

You think they're ever
going to work again?

I don't know.
Let's look over there.

Let's just look over here
just a second.

Okay, we're going to put
a little up here,

Hare Krishna, Hare... sorry.

Right now she's going,
"I worked all day on that!"

Ooh, more smoke.
I want to die.

When it works,
there's nothing better.

When it doesn't work,
there's nothing worse.

Hence the metaphor is
you kill or die.

There's no in between.

The metaphors are pretty brutal.

"You killed."

Or "you maimed."

You know, then when you
don't do well, "You died."

Forward to Intellect,
saving warning Sequence 2,

save your ass at any cost.

Phase in Sequence 2,
dynamite opening response B.

Phase in amlac
opening sequence B,

amlac phase in now.

Hey, nice to be here.

That's a routine
I actually developed

that was called
"what goes on inside

a comic's mind
when you've bombing,"

and it's come inside my mind,
and it was literally

the desperation of
looking for material

and trying to find
the right joke

and eventually getting it out.

You go blue just because that's
the only way to get out of it.

Move on to dynamite
second routine 1B,

phase in now, amlac phase in
opening response 1B,

amlac C, sequence A.

How 'bout that walking, eh?

Mayday, mayday, mayday!

And then finally your
id comes up, like,

"Let me go, I can talk to 'em.

They're just... just let it go,
I've got some stuff."

No, not you.
"Nah, hah hah!

Talk about your mother!"

You're not ready,
you're not ready.

ABC saw William's act,
and, in 19 7 8,

fast-tracked a new sitcom
in which he'd play an alien.

Critics were skeptical
of the premise,

but Mork & Mindy was a big hit.

Ring! Ring!

Please get the telephone.

Oh, phone.

Primitive means of
audio communication.

I wonder what it looks like.

Hello!

Hello?

I killed it.

It struck a chord because
it was so kind of out of

left field in that way,
but it was a blast.

The first year was crazy fun.

Ah!

I'm going home, mama!

Hey! Don't take away
my gusto!

Ah, help me, I'm melting!

Mork & Mindy was performed
in front of a studio audience,

a long-standing technique
that especially benefits

comedians like Williams,
who need the feedback

of an audience reaction.

People forget that Chaplin,
when he did a lot of his movies,

was performing
in front of people,

that they sometimes
would have...

A lot of the silent comedians
would have, like...

Because there was no soundtrack,
they'd have an audience there.

They knew where the laughs were.

Or he would take it out
as stage productions.

Like, the Marx Brothers
did all of their movies

as stage productions first

so they knew where
all the laughs were.

Television couldn't contain
Robin Williams,

and soon he was
starring in movies

like Good Morning, Vietnam.

Good morning, Vietnam!

Hey, this is not a test,
this is rock and roll!

Director Barry Levinson
took advantage of Williams'

improvisational skills
by secretly filming him

from a distance as he
interacted with locals.

There'd be just Thai kids
and different people kind of

and we'd be talking
and he'd just say,

"Start rolling," and wouldn't
let anybody know,

and you'd get wonderful stuff
with just the people

and just regular folks.

It's no big deal.

Look,
♪ How loving can you feel ♪

♪ When you got
that moment when ♪

♪ Don't you know that
time can be that-a way ♪

♪ Wacka-wack,
wacka-wack, wacka-wack ♪

We ended up playing
with a grapefruit

instead of a baseball,
and there was one actor,

"This is not a real baseball,
I have seen a real baseball."

And he just started
arguing with me,

and Barry said, you know,
"Keep rolling."

It was wonderful,
'cause he was like,

"No, it's a baseball."

"No, it's not a baseball.
This is a piece of fruit."

It's much smaller
and harder than this one.

You've got me there, Wilk,
because, I'm sorry,

we have no budget, you see,
and I've got to get on a plane

and we have to do with
what we can.

Give me your hand.
Thank you.

- Thank you all the same.
- Thank you all the same.

Williams would go on
to play a wide range

of both comic
and serious roles in films,

winning an Academy Award
for Good Will Hunting.

But for many, he remains
the iconic Mork from Ork.

It still is that thing,
even after winning

an Academy Award,
for like a week,

people going, "Hey,
Good Will Hunting, way to go."

Two weeks later,
"Hey, Mork!"

It doesn't change.

By the fourth season
of Mork & Mindy,

the producers decided
to add a new character,

played by the only comedian
who could match

Robin Williams'
spontaneous comic energy...

Jonathan Winters.

I don't like you, Freddy.

Don't like you, Junior.

You wonder if I am different.

I am twisted
and bent out of shape

because you took my parents

from me!

In many ways,
Jonathan Winters had

paved the way for Robin Williams

as television's first
improvisational genius.

I know you're bitter
because you had to leave

that plush job there
in the Pentagon.

Yeah, it's cuckoo.

Cut that jazz out.

Let's face it,
it's sort of a challenge for...

It's sort of...
Hope you didn't get any on you.

It's sort of man against
the jungle, you might say.

You know, malaria, yellow fever.

Animals.
No offense, Rodney.

You see, I'll be
shoving off before long,

and, look, you're into me
for 200 now.

Keep your hands out of there.

He made it possible

for me to think that
you can do anything.

He made it possible
to do voices,

characters, sound effects,
and all those different things

that just open the world up.

He was morphing
before the technology.

So it was a bit...
That was, for me,

like the beginning of,
like, wow.

Tell me, Mr. Groundhog,

do you predict six miserable,

lousy weeks of weather
ahead of us or not?

I don't know anything
about the weather, Jack.

I can tell you that it's

a crummy hole
I live in down there.

It's rotten, it's damp,
the missus is about

he ugliest broad
I have ever seen.

Now, Robin Williams
said to me one time,

"Pops, you're my mentor,"
and I said, "No, don't...

Listen, don't say 'mentor.'

In Ohio, they think
that's a salve.

Say 'idol.'
Everybody gets that.

I love 'idol.'

See, mentor's... that's like
a pharmaceutical thing.

Put that on your skin."

Jonathan Winters'
comedy skills ran deep.

As a boy in Dayton, Ohio,
he listened to his grandfather

joke about the town celebrities,

Wilbur and Orville Wright.

And I met
Orville Wright when I was a kid.

My grandfather went to school
with these guys,

and he said they
were devoid of any humor,

they were not funny.

I went like to this to them
and I said, you know,

"How's the airplane, Orville?"

As a young man,

Winters hoped to
become an artist,

but his wife set him
on a different track.

My wife said, "Enough.

Your art isn't that good.

I'm going to tell you,
I love you," this and that.

"You don't have a style,
and you've got to have a style.

As a performer in
the music business and acting,

you've got to have a style."

And I didn't have a style.

Winters went to New York

and developed his unique
improvisational style.

Soon he was a regular
on the talk show circuit.

He has a plan to save Cuba.
Listen to this.

Please tell them.

Well, my plan is this, Jack.

From one Jack to another,

it has been my feeling
right along,

and I tried to get Congress
to go along with me,

my friends.

Lyndon, who I saw
about a year ago.

Jonathan Winters was
almost unknown

until he had
the Jack Paar experience,

and people who came on that show
became suddenly known.

Did you ever undress
in front of a dog?

Um...

I'll tell you...

You think about that
for a minute.

I don't know, people,
you know, it's funny.

A bird somehow
doesn't count, right?

Or a cat.

But a dog, they really stare.

If Jack Paar liked
what you were doing,

you know, the rest of the guests
could come back the next night.

I'd just come out of the shower
and here was my dog.

You know they can talk, right?

So when they look at you like...

Yeah, and wagged her little tail

and went out and told
her friends what she'd seen.

I remember seeing him...
Watching him with my father.

My dad was kind of, you know,
very kind of quiet like this,

and Jonathan did a thing
where he came on one time

on The Tonight Show
with Jack Paar

and came out and said...

And Jack said,
"What are you?"

What are you?

I'm the Voice of Spring!

I bring you some little goodies
from the forest.

And I saw my dad
lose it and I went,

"Okay, this guy,
I like this guy."

Where did you decide to do this?

This is something new.

Well, I've been to the forest,
and the...

You've been on Third Avenue,
is where you've been.

Weeee!

Took me 45 minutes
to get that in there.

I'm sorry, in the forest,
we don't care.

At each performance,
Winters would morph into

a collection of characters,
all funny, all spontaneous.

That was very touching,
boys and girls.

Excuse me while I shed a tear.

I don't want to do it
in front of you.

Aw!

Oh...

Ah!

Ah, just a little medicine.

"And the boys said, 'No, no.'
Jeez, I'll tell it."

"I am not from Paris,
I am from Bordeaux."

"And we seen this light up there
and it was a huge saucer."

"I have a marvelous appetite.

You can tell that
by looking at me."

"Oh, god, I wish Ethel
was here to see this."

"Take me to your leader!
Take me to your leader!"

"And did you take him
to your leader?"

"I didn't know who
my leader was."

"Stop that, boy."

In 1956, Jonathan Winters
got his own television show,

the first-ever series
broadcast in color.

It didn't last long,
but he was back in 1967

with another series
showcasing his comic genius.

Margaret, if you'd be kind
enough to plug in that

new electric knife
that you gave me,

there's a special turkey here.

Would you plug it in,
sweetheart?

Thppt! Oh!

I'm sorry, Uncle Willie!

Try to stand, will ya?

Cut your tie off,
didn't it? Aw!

When we're talking about
improvisation,

it's a little scary.

It's always scary.

A lot of you people have asked
why my strange headdress.

Well, don't ask anymore.

Ppt, ppt.

When you saw him on his show
where he would come out with

a box of stuff
and just take out something.

One time, I remember,
he came out and said,

"My name is Tommin Turney,

I come from the country
of Tangwai.

Our country is 400 yards wide
and 20 miles long."

And then they said,
"What is your chief export?"

"Mainly rope."

It was like...
And he just started

building these things.

Give him a hat,
he could go for days.

It's not easy here on this
bloody ship, is it, matey?

- Is it?
- It's not easy, sir.

'Course it isn't.

You want to go that route again?

Lock and load the cannon.

That's the cannon right there.

- Yes, sir.
- See, I've been drinking, too.

I can't help.

These are all different from
this afternoon.

You bet they are.

And he'd make these things up,

but then when it came time
to do it again

on the live show
after the dress rehearsal,

he wasn't as good
because he wanted...

He didn't want to do
the same thing,

and the time he did it first
was the funniest.

That was the first thing that
came in his head, boom,

and he did it and it was great.

Let's... let's play swords.

I didn't have to do anything

except just stand there
and laugh at him.

I'd sing a song
and supposedly I don't know

that he's behind me doing
all kinds of crazy things.

♪ I'm starry-eyed ♪

♪ And vaguely discontented ♪

♪ Like a nightingale ♪

Cracker.

It was silly for me

to sing it in dress rehearsal
and for him to do it because,

again, he was funnier
doing it the first time

than he was the second time.

The reason a lot of these guys,
Andy and Dean and Steve

and Jack had chosen me was
a very dangerous thing,

but thank god, they would say,

if they were here today
to say it,

I would bet on this,
one thing about Winters,

you never knew what he was
going to say or do.

When we had Jonathan on,
it was amazing,

because he and I...
They would just do these things

like, "Jonathan
and Robin riff here."

I was kicked out of Santa, sir.
They found me in a dress.

Doesn't make any difference.
They found you in what?

A gown.

Ah, gown's better.

One time we did

a World War I takeoff.

They shot for like 45 minutes
to the point where

the cameras were
running out of film.

They were like machine gunners
at Guadalcanal.

I'm out!

Get a gunner to camera three!

And were just riffing.

They're coming, father, look!

Thousands of Huns,
Germans, Bosch!

Germans and Bosch!
What's the Bosch?

- Small soup with beets.
- I suppose.

And then eventually they would
cut it down to five minutes.

Ow, ow, my hand, my hand!

I'm sorry, sorry, take it out!

I'm hurt, I'm hurt!

I know you are,
but you've killed

the old man with
four fingers in his head!

Well, it's two crazy guys,
you know,

that had just been released
from a major hospital,

and, "Ha, ha, ha,
we're on the playground now,

you'll never get us.

We can get in that Jeep
and roll away, bye-bye."

And he is on full throttle.

I mean, I can be
on full throttle,

but I found out what
full throttle can do to you.

It can... you can end up
hitting the pylon

rather than going around it.

Um... the thing to me,
Robin is like a great air show.

Looks like
the bloody war's over.

- No, sir.
- What a shame.

And no action.

You know, I can't...
No, it's my medallions.

There we are.

It would take him literally
sometimes 30 minutes

to get from his car to
the set on Mork & Mindy

because he would stop
and perform for everybody.

The guys that comes up now,
"Did I see you on television?"

Of course, a lot of
times I will say,

"I'm Leland Buckhorn
and I'm a bronco buster,

a bronco rider."

"No, that's not it."

"Oh, yes, it is.
I'm Leland Buckhorn.

And I'm busting my
whole thing down here

and riding them Brahman bulls.

It's just terrible for me.

I can't do it no more."

And have the woman
turn to her husband,

"Eddie, I told you
it wasn't him."

Jonathan Winters,
as everyone knows,

is some kind of a...

savant or something.

I mean, I don't know.

He just never stopped.
He was always

in some character.

I just think he felt
so comfortable there.

Writing for
an improvisational performer

like Jonathan Winters
was a challenge

because Winters liked to
work out his own bits.

They would give him
stuff to say that if

he didn't think was funny,
he couldn't memorize it.

Jonathan, please.

Just do the lines.

What we've talked about
for five days, okay?

Because he's so
naturally funny that

I think it was like
tissue rejection.

They would write him stuff
to say and just, pbbt,

you know, and he'd go,
"I don't... no."

You got six to seven
writers on the show, okay?

This one scene here
in the second act, please,

let's just do it.

Tomorrow we'll do it.

Why can't we do it now, man?

I'd like to get it started...
You know,

I want to get this thing going.

There's going to be some
big changes all week.

I know that, okay.

Now, Tuesday,
Wednesday, Thursday,

skipping... you're fighting
for your life.

I'm fighting
to get in some more.

I want to do a thing with
a window out here with the kids.

What window?

The break front.

It's a fake window, okay?

Can you get that?
You're getting 60,000 bucks.

A fake window.

Phew, medication.

There we go.

Because he's so
instinctually funny

that you just want to go,
"Let him go.

Let him free-range.
We'll be there."

You know, then when they did,
it would work.

What made Jonathan Winters
and Robin Williams unique

was their ability
to create comedy

from nothing instantaneously.

Improvisational masters
can conceive, write,

and perform a line all in
the blink of an eye.

At the other end of
the spectrum are performers

who focus on preparation,
getting into their roles,

carefully crafting the delivery
of each funny word.

Among the most honored of these
formally trained comedy actors

is Cloris Leachman,
who's won more

acting Emmy Awards
than anyone else.

In 1946, Cloris Leachman nearly
won the Miss America contest,

but beauty pageants
weren't her goal.

She wanted to act,
a dream since she

stepped onstage as a little girl

and learned her first
lesson about comedy.

I, like, twirled and did...
And I slipped

and fell flat on my ass,
and I was horrified.

And everybody laughed.

And it changed, I'm sure,

my outlook for
the rest of my life,

that it's okay to fall
flat on your ass.

The audience is with you.

They're right there
with you and for you.

Studying under Elia Kazan
at the famed Actors Studio,

Leachman learned the techniques
of dramatic acting,

which she then
applied to comedy.

Kazan emphasized using objects

in a scene instead of
using your face.

Well, gee, you know,
he would have you

do something with an object that
would show how you're feeling.

We're gonna get this business
deal on its feet, all right,

and then the feet's gonna be
right on your neck.

Now, that's a damn lie!

Now, listen, this outfit
is going to go through,

but the arrangement has
got to be between you and me.

So I said, "I need something,"
and the prop department said,

"Well, what do you need?"
"Well, I don't know,

I... a candy?"

So they gave me
this bowl on a stem

with wrapped candy covered.

My goodness, let's not grobble.

Yeah, let's not fight about

anything silly like old Maureen.

I mean, what the hell.

Crack.

I cracked it.

Oh, yes, it got a big laugh.

That's the sort of thing
that's wonderful,

to use objects.

Throughout her career,
Leachman has been careful

not to play stock
comic characters.

Instead, she works to make
each performance unique.

It's so easy

to do clichés.

We all know what... in fact,

some actors who think they're
really good and they aren't,

they think they're good because
they know their clichés.

Oh, I know, you stand this way
or you don't cry

or you do or whatever
at this point.

It's all clichés.

So you have to think,
"I know what this is about,

but how can I do it in
a more interesting

or fresher way?"

Cloris Leachman's
breakthrough role on television

came as Phyllis on
The Mary Tyler Moore Show.

So this is the newsroom?

Yeah, this is it.
Morning, Gordy.

Hi, Mary, how are you?

Oh, Gordy, I'd like you to meet

Phyllis Lindstrom,
my new assistant.

This is Gordy Howard,
our weatherman.

Gordy, I just want to
say one thing.

I'd love you to
come over for dinner

so we can really
get to know each other.

I mean as human beings.

Because we're going to be
working together.

Yeah, uh-huh.

Gordy and I really hit it off.

Leachman's comic nemesis
on the show

was Valerie Harper's Rhoda.

We loved each other.
We were great friends.

We'd go to lunch every day
and decide what

we were going to do
so we wouldn't take

so much time on the set,
'cause Mary and Jay,

the director, they'd do it
and that's the end of it.

Rhoda, you'll give me
an honest opinion, won't you?

Uh, not necessarily, Phyllis.

Well, listen, I'll taste it.

Give it a try here.

I love this pie.

So it's come down to this.

I've become such
an object of pity

that even Rhoda is being kind.

No!

The Phyllis character
was eventually spun off

into her own show,

but with a different cast,
the comedy dynamic changed.

Lars proposed to
somebody before me?

Oh, he must have known her
long before he knew me.

Oh, no, dear,
I think he was going out

with both of you
at the same time.

When you take a character
out of a group

like The Mary Tyler Moore Show,
it's not a character.

It's only defined by
the people around you.

So it was tricky,
and each week I thought,

"Who am I going to
be this week?"

It was a little tricky.
Isn't that interesting?

Always looking to stretch
her comic skills,

Leachman took movie roles,

including an iconic turn

as Frau Blucher
in Young Frankenstein.

That was your cigar smoldering
in the ashtray!

Yes!

And it was you who left
my grandfather's book out

for me to find!

- Yes!
- So that I would...

Yes!

And you and Victor were...

Yes! Yes! Say it!

He was my boyfriend!

And then Mel Brooks gave me
a one line reading,

and all I've ever done with him.

I said, "Stay close
to the candles.

The staircase
can be treacherous."

He gave me this line reading.

"Stay close to the candles.

The staircase
can be treacherous."

That means a couple of
people have died already.

Isn't that funny?

Stay close to the candles.

The staircase
can be treacherous.

In High Anxiety,

director Mel Brooks
suggested Leachman

play the role of Nurse Diesel

just like she had
played Frau Blucher,

but the actress
had another idea.

He said,

"Oh, well, how do you
want to play it?"

And I said, "I don't know,
but I'm so hateful and evil,

I don't want anybody
to recognize me,

and I think they know my smile
from The Mary Tyler Moore Show,

so I think maybe if
I don't smile,

and I kind of talk like that."

Nurse Diesel!

Are you all right?

Yes.

We heard some weird noises
emanating from the room.

We were... worried.

Weird noises?

It was the TV.

Sorry it disturbed you.

I've turned it down.

Is there anything else?
It is rather late.

Leachman's acting skills
were so strong,

she could play an over-the-top
comic role

for Mel Brooks one day
and an intensely serious role

for Peter Bogdanovich the next.

What am I doing
apologizing to you?

Why am I
always apologizing to you,

you little bastard?

In The Last Picture Show,
Leachman played Ruth Popper,

the role that would earn her
an Academy Award

thanks to the power
of this scene.

I haven't done anything wrong.

Why can't I quit apologizing?

You're the one
ought to be sorry!

I wouldn't still be
in my bathrobe

if it hadn't been for you.

I'd have had
my clothes on hours ago.

You're the one made me quit
caring if I got dressed or not!

As she got older,
Cloris Leachman found herself

back on television,
continuing to create

a unique character
for each role.

You do this to torture me?
To hurt me?

You don't like Christmas music?

It sounds like
the song they sang

when they would ride
through the villages

and throw the babies
into the fire.

They sang "Jingle Bells"?

They sang something.

I have a... a knitting needle,

my grandson's here,
perfectly lovely darling boy.

And I get mad...
I don't know what...

I stab him with my
knitting needle in his thigh,

and he goes, "Ow!"

Ow! God, what the hell
is wrong with you?

You like pushing me.
That's what happens

when you push, big, tough guy.

Oh, and I...
And because he goes on about it,

I jiggle... I... oh!
I'm just horrible...

Isn't that terrible?

You shouldn't even be
allowed to be a grandma!

Are you finished?

Yes! I am... Ow! Ah!

Ah!

Oh! I am so sorry.

I should have kissed your
boo-boos and made them better.

It's always been a big challenge
not to repeat myself

and not to do clichés.

Even a script will say,
"She comes and sits,"

and, oh,
you don't want to sit, then.

You find out a way
to do something else

or maybe start to sit and not
or get on one leg or lean.

You've lost your mind
and you're never lucid

for very long, so listen up.

I understand, go, let's do this.

We'd like you to quit smoking.

What are you talking about?

You guys aren't
letting me smoke, are you?

I quit smoking in 1971.

- You did?
- Yeah.

I quit when Virginia was born.

You quit smoking for me?

If you're Virginia, yeah.

I wanted to live long enough to
see what you'd grow up to be.

Doesn't look like
it was worth the wait.

Well, I think it's fun to
bring comedy to serious things

and bring
serious things to comedy.

And we won't let you
smoke anymore.

In fact, since you're quitting,

no one in this house
is going to smoke anymore.

Oh...

Good luck with that.

For a versatile actor
like Cloris Leachman,

the subtle nuances
of each character

were the key
to her performances.

But another group of
comedy actors

were quite happy to
play it big and broad

in iconic roles
that audiences loved.

Junior. Junior!

Junior.

Don't stop me now, Mama!

I'm past the point of no return!

Jimmy Walker played just
one role on television,

yet few actors have shot to
prominence more quickly

or created more controversy
than Walker did

on a show called Good Times.

I came on to be funny.

That was my plan of attack.

A black family should have
a black symbol.

If Mama sees that there,
she's gonna kill you.

Jesus may have your soul,
but Mama gonna have your behind.

When I come out,
I want nuclear bomb comedy,

and I don't think
anybody else on the show...

They're actors,
so they're thinking,

"We're acting."
I came out as a stand-up.

Different deal.

And, Junior, don't think of
taking mail that ain't ours.

I don't take things, Mama,
I find them.

Then don't find any mail
that ain't ours.

God didn't make man to steal.

Then how come he gave us
more pockets than hands?

Producer Norman Lear
had designed Good Times

as a vehicle to portray

the African American experience,

but Jimmy Walker's character
became so popular so fast,

he changed
the direction of the show.

Overnight, Walker's
comic catchphrase

became part of
the national vocabulary.

Dyn-o-mite!

"Dyn-o-mite" made
Jimmy Walker famous,

but the very
first time he used it,

Walker wasn't so sure.

Director John Rich, he said,

"I want you to do it like this,"

and I went, "John,
that's a little silly.

That's... to just have
somebody stand up

and say 'dynamite'
in the middle of the show?"

He says, "This thing is
going to be big."

Dyn-o-mite!

Jimmy Walker's outsized acting
was popular from the start,

but backstage,
controversy was brewing.

I thought that they...
We had lost the focus,

which was the family as a whole

and not just, you know,
buffooning.

Today hasn't been a good day in
the chicken delivering business.

Well, what happened?
Somebody rip off the coleslaw?

No, worse than that.

I lost my job.

You lost your job?

Oh, honey, what happened?

What, did they catch you
finger-licking again?

And I made it clear
as to what my feelings were,

that, you know,
how much more of the...

How many more chicken hats
and how... you know,

how long can we do this?

As talent, I don't think

Norman Lear agrees with
anything that I've ever done.

I think that Norman felt that
his show was hijacked,

his idea, what he wanted to do,

and I think to this day,
he still regrets that.

Sometimes we would
have a moment,

and Norman Lear
would always say,

"Well, didn't that moment
feel much better than

that tomfoolery
you're always doing?"

And I would go, "No.

That's it.
I'm here for laughs.

If you need a laugh,
let me bring it.

I'm coming in on
the big Boeing 707.

I'm trying to kill."

For Walker, sitcoms
should be about laughs,

and the way to get laughs
is to play it big.

In any sitcom you do,
someone has to be the guy

to take the pie.

But that I mean that person
has to be the one

that you look to laughs.

You've got to commit,

snot's got to
come out your nose,

your eyes got to water,

you've got to
have hands flapping.

You've got to
get messy in comedy.

It's got to be ugly.

You've got to take the pie.

Somebody... and the person
that takes the pie

usually is going to surface,
'cause that's where

the person...
That's where people gravitate.

Much of Jimmy Walker's appeal
came from his ability

to use his wiry frame
for comic effect.

It's part of a long tradition
of TV actors

best known for
their physical comedy,

a group that
includes Art Carney,

Don Knotts, Penny Marshall,

John Ritter,
and Michael Richards.

Man, these are tight!

Squinch your hips in!

I am squinching my hips!

Squinch 'em!

It's not gonna work.
It's not gonna work.

Let me just think
for a second here.

You'd better get me...

Here, get me...
Get me... get me...

Oh, hold on, hold on.

Hold it, look.

You're gonna need the jaws of
life to get out of those things.

Among television's
all-time most-gifted

physical performers,
Dick Van Dyke.

The Dick Van Dyke Show.

Starring Dick Van Dyke.

He missed the ottoman sometimes

and sometimes he tripped
over the ottoman.

Loved it. I just loved it.
Still love it.

And Clarksville!

That's our train!

As a boy, Dick Van Dyke spent
hours in the movie theater

carefully studying his
favorite physical comics.

If there was a Laurel & Hardy,

my mother would
have to come and get me,

because I would sit through two
or three runnings of it.

I just loved those guys.

Come on, Stan!

This is the last train today!

Come on!

Van Dyke got his first chance
to showcase his skills

on national television
on Pat Boone's variety show

in 1958.

Van Dyke's physical skills
were unlike any other

comedy performer on television.

That same year,
Van Dyke landed a guest shot

on Phil Silvers' show
and buzz began to build.

They had me on that show
playing a hillbilly

who could pitch with both hands.

Got any more throws like that?

Yeah, I've got one
I call my bender.

Your bender.

Yeah, that's in case
of a squirrel

a-hiding behind a tree.

I'll show it to you.

Wait, hold on.
The target's over there.

I know.

He knows, he knows.

A fastball,
a change of pace, a curve,

it's too good to be true!

I could kill a squirrel
with either hand,

and he tried to sell me
to the Yankees.

As a pitcher.

Did you say Yankees?
- Yeah.

Now, listen, now,
keep this as a surprise, Hank.

You're going to get a tryout
with the New York Yankees!

Oh, I don't reckon
I can do that, sergeant.

My daddy wouldn't hold still
for me being on

the same side with the Yankees.

Oh, wait a minute, what is this?

The Civil War's been over
90 years!

Well, I'm sorry, sergeant,
but my pappy says

General Lee give up too soon.

Dick Van Dyke is a very
adroit man with comedy.

He can do physical comedy

and he does
spoken comedy very well.

Dick Van Dyke landed
his own sitcom in 1961,

but the first scripts
weren't written

to take advantage of
his physical comedy skills,

and so Van Dyke would try to
work in bits each week.

We did a lot of improv
during the week of rehearsal,

physical pieces
that I would put in,

and by the time
it got to showtime,

we were so excited
to present it.

♪ Everybody ♪

♪ And now you're
doing the twist ♪

♪ Everybody ♪

♪ You're gonna be
getting a kiss ♪

He will break into a tap dance
at the drop of a hat

and he can do card tricks
and he can do impressions.

He's just wonderful,
but he doesn't flaunt it.

Physical comedy always has
the potential for injury,

and The Dick Van Dyke Show
was no exception.

Today's modern-day comedian

comes out in front
of his audience

and talks to them
in a relaxed... oh!

I'd sometimes come in
on a Saturday

to come up with something...

Laughing at people in pain
is a manifestation of

a deep-seated hostility.

Thank goodness we have
reached a point

in our civilization today
where we no longer laugh

at people destroying themselves.

It was one of
my favorite things.

I'm very happy to say

that you'd have to look
all over the world

to find someone who would laugh
at a man, say, falling down.

Oh, no!

It did hurt.
I didn't do it right.

But it's funny to look at.

The Dick Van Dyke Show
was performed

in front of a live audience,

because even for
physical comedians,

the feedback of
an audience is key.

I just don't see how people
do comedy shows

without an audience,
because they do half the work.

They're the ones that
give you the timing.

You go with their reaction.

And I can't work
without an audience.

At the very end of the show,
I didn't handle myself too well

with that Patrick rat.

Aw. He got you to say
something embarrassing,

didn't he?
What was it?

I said Alan Brady is bald.

I just don't understand how
people can not have that,

you know, that interplay,
'cause that's what makes comedy.

Oh, without an audience,

I don't know
what I would have done.

An audience may have been
critical for Dick Van Dyke,

but the more recent crop
of television comedians

have eliminated
the studio audience altogether.

They represent a new kind
of comedy actor,

confident in the writing,

less worried about
instant feedback.

Among the most successful,
Tina Fey.

I'm not over it,
and now I'm wearing this!

What is the deal with my life?

Are you imitating me?

No! This is what
I sound like when I cry!

I think I'm a little insulted!

You're insulted?
I'm crying!

Well, it's mostly this kind of
single-camera approach

is just what's
in fashion right now.

I think you can make a very good
comedy in front of an audience.

I don't... some people I feel
think there's a stigma to it,

that it's too easy,
but you look at shows

like Cheers and...
Well, only Cheers, I guess.

Like many modern TV comedians,
Tina Fey learned her craft

at Chicago's Second City
through performances that

taught her how to deal
with success and failure.

Kevin, as a former
Miss Tennessee,

there's two things I know.

One of them is that
the children are our future,

and the other is that people
respond to friendliness,

and that is why
a friendly company...

- Is a successful company.
- Yee-ha.

The high feeling of when
something actually goes well

is great, but almost
more valuable is the...

The thrilling free fall
of when it goes terribly

and just goes terribly
and then you sort of realize,

"Well, we didn't die.
Let's just start again."

That is I think the thing
that's the best for you

and performers to experience.

At Saturday Night Live,
Fey was hired as a writer

and didn't join the cast
for three years.

Two days before Britney Spears'
HBO concert from Las Vegas,

someone broke into
her dressing room and stole

the white Elvis-inspired
rhinestone jump suit that

she wore to promote the event,
and you know what?

I'm not giving it back.

I'm keeping it now.
It's mine.

When Fey got her own show,
30 Rock,

it retained
a writer-centric approach.

Okay, are we going to talk
about this like adults,

or are you just going to
throw thing at me?

Okay, fine,
get it out of your system.

All right, nothing
that plugs in, you guys!

Nothing that could
really hurt me!

There's a lot of work
in that writers' room

to think about those jokes
and those bits and that story.

But that focus on writing
doesn't minimize

Fey's respect for actors
who can make an audience laugh.

Going into something
and I know where the jokes are,

and when the joke's
well-executed,

that will make me laugh,
but also when there's

a little nuance of performance
that is sort of

an extra gift from the actor...
Just a small facial thing

or a rhythmic thing...
That is...

That is just an, you know,
an unforeseen gift,

'cause you go in...
Mostly as a writer,

you go into it hoping, like,

"Yeah, nobody
screw up my jokes."

For Tina Fey,
comedy acting combines

the preparation of a writer

and the spontaneity
of an improv performer.

There's a lot of talk about

relaxed readiness,
and so I think there's

a lot of preparation,
preparation, preparation,

and then you want to be in
a state of relaxed readiness

so that if something
spontaneous does happen,

you're there and you're capable
of seizing that moment,

but I think you get there
with a lot of prep work.

My god, Lemon, what is that?

This is how I cry now!

Ever since you made me get
that off-brand eye surgery!

Lemon, what have we done to you?

It's okay.

Go home and get some rest.
I'll take the hit.

I can't let you do that for me.

Let him go.

Like all accomplished
comedy actors,

Tina Fey recognizes that
the best comedy

is a reflection of reality,
performances that tell a truth

while they make us laugh.

I think that's the biggest thing

you can teach someone,

is to play real characters
that they know, or real...

Or to portray the world
as they see it

and not the way they think
the audience expects it.

You know, we used to...
Amy Poehler and I

used to tour together
for the Second City,

and we would do
these old sketches

that were handed to us
that a lot of times

were just a way for
the girlfriend,

the waitress to
come in and be like,

"Honey, well what's this?"
Well, I would never do that,

so let's change...
Let's make up new ones.

Good evening,
my fellow Americans.

I was so excited when I was told
Senator Clinton and I

would be addressing you tonight.

And I was told I would be
addressing you alone.

There is no single path
to acting funny.

TV has a long history
of physical comedians,

method actors, and improvisers.

Each performer is unique,
but together,

they've kept us laughing
for 50 years.

Is it rewarding? Yeah.

But is it hard work?
Oh, yeah.

And as you get older,
it's like it's harder work.

I had heart surgery halfway
through the last tour.

You know, almost killed you.

I'm back!
Hee hee, way to go!

I'm getting letters from
third generation now from...

That show is still
running around the world,

and I get letters from kids
who enjoy the show.

Good feeling.

That is fun,
to remind yourself that...

That jokes can be enjoyed
by a live audience.

If the audience doesn't laugh,
then it's not funny.

The end of it.

There's no more discussion.

I'd love to know what's next.

I can't wait, so exciting.

It really is exciting.

How often, how often
can you say to yourself

watching whatever scene it is

that puts you on the floor
and you say, "God,

I don't know when I laughed
as much as I did tonight"?

That's how rare it is.

They are the pioneers
of television.

Have I done a lot of
Shakespearean plays? No.

But could I?

With help
and the right director.

You could, dear boy.

Don't be afraid to enunciate.

I met Laurence Olivier when I
did the first Academy Awards,

and they said, "Mr. Olivier,
this is Robin Williams."

"Hello," and he said,
"Are you wearing makeup?"

And I said,
"Yes, Mr. Olivier."

And he said, "Don't.
It makes you look effeminate."

Thank you, Larry.

Kept that in mind.

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