Robert Smigel (and Triumph the Insult Comic Dog)

Hello, my name is Triumph The Insult comic Dog, and I'm very proud to be Mark Maron's friend.

You look good. I'm feeling neurotic. I've been feeling a little neurotic lately.

Are we good?

We're good.

Are we good? We're good, that's your sketch phrase. I love that.

Wait a minute.

You're not Mark.

I'm Conan, my name's Conan.

ConAn O'DOnnell Yes, yes, yes, the guy I carried on my back for how many years?

It was at least ten, it was a decade.

It was about ten.

It was about ten, yeah.

Yeah, I peaked around 2009. Let me see, here I'm six, let me change my notes.

Okay, 2009 2009..

If you average between six and the Wiener Circle sketch, it comes out in 2009.

Very nice, okay?

Starting over, my name is Triumph, the Insult comic Dog, and I'm proud to be Conan O'Brien's friend. And like most of his friends, I'm not real.

No, it's great.

No, you got the podcast and now look at you, you're on satellite radio.

No, it all makes total sense.

It's like that old saying, why get your milk for free when you could rent the cow for $21?

So impressive.

No, listen, folks, he's a complicated man, complicated man, the comedian with a dark side. You know, you're like Pagliacci, the clown, and that's just for how much makeup you have on.

I love this man.

I love this man. Conan gave me a career, he gave me a career back then, he helped me grow up, He also helped me through some very hard times.

I kid.

That's a stereotype.

Terrible. That is an unfair stereotype. Not all Armenians have hairy backs. there's Armenian toddlers up to six months, no hair.

Welcome to Conan. O'Brien needs a friend, Sona Massessian joining me. How are you Sona? I am?

I'm joining.

That's very nice. Okay, you're not talking to a lawyer here, it's all okay. And, of course, Matt Gorley.

Okay.

I shouldn't have said that that's a lie and I'll get in trouble for that. But a lot of fun stuff is going to be on there. But a new thing we're going to be doing also is taking I'm going to take some live calls.

Oh, from anyone.

From anybody in the world. Yeah, so this is like, without a net. yes, without a net.

People can ask you anything.

Anything they want. And here's the best part I'm not wearing clothes as I take the questions. Sorry, you said, that's the best part, yeah.

He's the nerd, I'm the nerd.

I'm going to go home, I'm filled with shame, Eliza, what happened? I made the wrong reference to the X-men. Apparently, Cyclops helmet does not work as shades.

It controls his laser eyes.

That's right, not a helmet that goes without saying, right? yeah?

Yeah, it's his glasses, but he controls the lasers that come out of his eyes.

I'm thinking of, who's the guy with Magneto? Thank you, that's the helmet, thank you. I mean, don't just look at me that way.

The refrigerator doesn't control him.

No, I love the idea that he's like, just about to do something really cool. And then he gets too close to the refrigerator and wha-tang. And then someone comes by and puts a to-do list on him Buy milk, get more ham.

He's like, God damn it, you have to know these things. What if someone calls your radio station and asks you about X-men stuff? what if Ian McKellen...?

Well, I will just.

Your call-in show?

It's a call-in show and it's just going to be like this, except instead of you two showbiz phonies, it's real people, real humans we should call in.

I want to call in.

Real people with souls. You probably have forgotten what that looked like, Sony, you sold your soul to the devil long ago to get this sweet Conan gig.

What's that say about you, though? You sold your soul, too, a long time ago?

I sure did. Yeah to NBC, Oh, yeah.

Have you recorded one of these yet?

Yeah, oh cool.

Was it fun?

It was fun, it was really good. Okay, Mr. Groose, you were there.

What's the phone number?

Why do you keep asking me things I don't know the answer to?

Because I want to see you scramble, okay?

Oh, what's the molecular weight of strontium? Just curious, Do you have that with you?

Why did you bring up Magneto and Cyclops when you don't know anything about the two of them?

I know kind of about some of the X-men, you have to reference them correctly. Look, I don't know a lot about the X-men. I know that there's a wolverine. Yeah, what kind of bones he got.

Seeing what, how much I enjoy it.

Well, I always knew how much you enjoyed it.

And the giggling from the incessant giggling, yes.

Because that's crazy to me that I haven't seen you do it.

That is so weird, because I'm always everybody else has.

Now triumph, please, but to see you do it....

Right, I'm always behind you.

Yeah, I kind of was like, there's no Santa Claus now.

You've ruined it for the children.

We have to.

I know.

The eyes of the dog.

They're just dead and crazy at the same time.

Yes, everything.

A lot of writers help me always.

The voice was always a crazy choice.

Well, it all came out of this insane directive we created for the show. And it was a mantra that I drove the writers crazy with, which was just like, We're not going to do any found humor, right? I was obsessed with. We're not going to copy Dave Letterman because we worship this guy. Even when we were at Saturday Night Live, we secretly knew that Dave's show was the coolest show on TV. As much as I loved Conan and believed in him, I just thought nobody can do stuff that Dave's doing, including remotes, which shows what a shitty producer I was.

I remember even before the show started, we would talk a lot about, almost like we had these rules. And a lot of it was don't do anything that Dave had done. But also, I didn't think that was as big a worry because we both loved cartoons too much.

No, we were naturally suited to what we wanted to do.

We naturally wanted to do very silly, strange things, but even when we used to do actual items. And it was the first piece we ever did on the show, which was our shot across the bow. Because Jay would do the thing where he'd go, Oh, and I see this here. It was just real ads from Sears and Roebuck.

In fairness, that was small-town news from Dave. Jay borrowed it.

I borrowed it, I just borrowed it, it's all fine, Dave can have it back.

We borrow.

Dave can have it back, he just can't do the Tonight show.

But he can have it back any time he wants.

He can have it any time he wants.

I like doing Jay's Dave invented headlines all of a sudden.

He did No, no, no, you do it because I'm, you know, whatever.

But that was the first bit we did, and yeah, Lauren really wanted that on the first show. Yeah, Lauren Michaels, Lauren Michaels from television.

And now from everything.

I'm everywhere.

I make clothes.

I'm right here, hi everybody.

I'm right here. Do you have my leisure suit?

CoNan Do you really want to go with those sneakers?

I want to take people back in time to when I first met you would be 1988, the very beginning of 1988. My writing partner, Greg Daniels and I get hired to come in to work at SNL. We're petrified. And I remembered finding there was just this natural thing where I gravitated towards you. And Bob Odenkirk, who's now the Jacqueline Van Damme?

I always knew, we always knew.

We always knew that guy, that guy's going to have a John Wick franchise.

He's going to have a stuntman.

And then we started naturally just all goofing around together and then I think the thing that was really life changing for me is that. You a few years before had done a show in Chicago, a stage show and the writer's strike hit. And you and Odenkirk were talking. And you said, Hey, we might go to Chicago and do a stage show. With sketches that are too weird to get on SNL.

No, I still feel like my years in Chicago before I even got Saturday Night Live are, professionally, in some way, the happiest years of my whole life. Just being in total control of your own show, and I love the city of Chicago too, obviously. But yeah, no, we loved you so much when we met you. you're such a funny guy.

We did it in Chicago in 1988.

Yes, yes, it was all based on this Jetsons concept in the 60s that 60s kids grew up with, which was the idea that, like, the space age is coming. Like, by the year 2000, it had so much mystique to it. And then, as we got closer to the year 2000, it was quite clear that it was going to be very disappointing.

Well, then the awkward thing was doing it still. I mean, late night, despite everyone's predictions, kept going and going and going and lasted and actually started, you know, worked. And then we were doing it. And then it is the year 2000..

The year 2004.

And then we kept thinking, Do we need to change, like in the distant future? And I said, No, no, it's just got to still be in the year 2000..

It's so funny that it never changed.

And then it's like, in 2006, I'm like, it's time to look into the future, all the way to the year 2000. But it's a good problem to have. Ah, yeah, so we did that show together.

I only connected with a few writers in my years there, like, really connected in different ways. Dana was one of them, Dana Carvey. And as a performer, almost, because I love doing silly voices and impressions.

I was because over the years people have said your biggest comedic influences. And it's so cool to say, well, I would watch, you know, old clips of Ernie Kovacs and that really. And it's like, No, it's not true. Nothing inspired me more than Warner Brothers cartoons. Oh, good. And so that the idea of anything can be alive, which then Paul Reubens used so brilliantly in Pee-wee's Playhouse, Oh yeah.

Anthropomorphize. This is a thing I've done a thousand times in comedy and I can never pronounce it.

Anthropomorphize.

Anthropomorphize.

And the even the word anthropomorphize can be a character. Hi, I'm anthropomorphizing. What's up, anthropomorphize?

Why are you so damn hard to pronounce?

That's just me, I guess.

But we so flash forward, I go and do the simpsons and then, and it's too hard to explain. But all these crazy things happen, it's really the equivalent of me being in a cornfield and getting hit by a meteor. But all these things happen where suddenly they say, Hey, you're going to replace David Letterman, the guy you idolize, who I said many times cannot be replaced. I said it's impossible to replace him, so I pity the guy who replaces him. I'm on a record saying that.

And I was salivating to replace him. Yeah, we had totally different dreams because he was hired to produce this show, yeah, but his dream was not that.

I think that's the saddest thing I've ever heard anybody say.

I was a pathetic nerd.

Did you have a big poster of Pat Weaver? I do, I do understand.

He understands, No, I would go to the Museum of Broadcasting or whatever, radio and television and revel in these old. Like Dave Garraway talking to a chimp on the Today show in the 50s.

But what was interesting is so they came. They said to me, Okay, you're going to do this, and I said it, then I say it now. I said, I can do this if I do it with Robert, Yeah.

I don't think I ever heard that, I know you said, you told me you wanted me to do it.

I know I didn't tell you I wanted you to do it, I said you have to do it. And then I remembered there was stuff about, well, Robert's contract, we're not sure.

Oh, Lorne just didn't want me to leave.

No, I know, but I was yelling at NBC, give him, you know, like, give him, take stuff from me and give it to him. Like, we have to do this together because I knew then I had a shot and it's true. Don't get self-conscious because I'm complimenting you. Take the paper away.

It was the best, it was my dream job, and I was working with you, It was just like the best guy I could work with. And I have to confess, when he first told me, And you know this, you remember the conversation.

Hey, guess what me too, but I'll never. I'll remember this very clearly. You were like, Gee, I don't know, because if.

That's a hard way to break into show business. That's what I said to you.

It's going to be hard for anybody. The only person it wouldn't have been hard for is, I think Gary Shandling. Gary Shandling was a name they were betting on. And if he had done it, it would have been absolutely brilliant from day one. Of course, of course.

And he'll be cheap.

And he'll, Oh, trust me, you'll get him for nothing. And so they.

My salary non-negotiable.

Knock me.

So I remember talking to you, and you were rightly.

I was shumbly.

You were shumbly, you were saying, Yeah, I don't know, I don't know, I don't. And then, in the background, I heard, like, a Charlie Brown parent voice go, and I said, What was that? and you said, Oh, that was Michelle.

But that was the fear the first year.

The fear was the first year was, who's the famous national joke?

I have to say also that, like, so, then I did hesitate a tiny bit. It was like a few hours. I was like, Wow, man, I don't know, man, if he can do it, I just he's never been on TV. And then I just thought to myself, So like, you know, we both love performing.

But then I had I never once celebrated, like, I end up I audition, they think about it and then they give it to me, and never. I was always scared and always filled with the sense of responsibility.

I remember so then he had that audition, which was incredible, I mean, I guess it was. And then I asked him about it and he said, Well, I had nothing to lose. And and he was like, in front of, I don't know how many people were in that room.

I don't know, it was a tiny no, so that was a good size, I don't know.

And he interviewed Jason Alexander and Mimi Rogers, and his Mimi Rogers interview was just like, professional, hysterical. And then I just turned on a dime. I was like, this guy is going to be enormous, and then he was so funny and hilarious when we assembled writers.

Yeah.

We're like, everybody's going to have a pompadour within six months. I really believe this. I was like, everybody's going to want to have long, skinny pants. I was positive.

And so everyone's going to be one. I have kind of like, ambivalent, ambiguous gender.

He stayed nervous, but the rest of us were so confident and it was great because it made us try everything. We were fearless. We tried every idea and obviously some went to shit. But it's still the proudest achievement of my whole career. Easily is how much stuff we did generate.

If you look at the first two years, that's the thing that I'm stunned, well, even if you worked at the first three weeks.

There's so much material that you did Forever Late Night Show.

We did the clutch cargo in the year 2000, the actual items, there's so many things, but then we kept. We never stopped trying new things. And I remember people used to who were in the business would say, I mean, I remember even David Letterman saying, That's insane. Because we would. We were basically trying to do Saturday Night live every night.

Yes.

Which is impossible. And then, finally, you could smell the smoke of, like, the gears grinding.

Yes.

People going insane, no one's sleeping.

It's funny because, like so many, I think I've told you this story. So, like in 19. And it was a lot of. It stemmed from people on the staff who just didn't believe in us. Some people, some people really believe. You know, like Frank's back there and Paula, and but then, you know, like, so in 1999 or 90 or 2009, I visited the Fallon set. And yeah, cause back then when we did it, people were like, it's every night live, we're doing over here.

Bill Tull was a legendary prop master who looked just see if you want a visual. Bill Tull started with us and was with us for years and years, and years and years, and Bill Tull looked like a Nordic God. I mean, very tall, incredible build, incredibly handsome face, yeah.

Yeah.

But long, uh, long white hair, yeah. And he looked like he could, you could put him in a thor costume, and he could say, you trespass here.

I mean, he had that amazing voice, too, yeah.

But he would do anything, do anything.

And at that point in the show, like, you know, sometimes it felt like we were almost at war. Cause there were people on the staff who just were like, why are we doing this fucking key screen behind the band or whatever?

Weird thing, all this weird stuff.

And then there were people like Frank, like who would do anything? And Kate. And think of idea I got something for Alex Rocco, you're going to love it, whatever.

The Stanley Cup has come to life and is dancing around in our studio.

And of course, because I was, uh, you know, a big baby, I. I wanted the giant Stanley Cup. But to have like tidy whiteys visible at the bottom, so the legs are really cute, but he's wearing tidy whiteys and it's kind of disturbing. Yeah, so, but I had this idea literally at like two in the morning. And like, Brian Leach from the Rangers was going to be on the show the next day.

That's not going to happen.

You can't do that. Yeah, then I call Bill Tull, he's like, Okay, yeah, okay.

It goes up there, which is, by the way, anyone who doesn't know, one of the most swanky, swanky. Yes, like incredible elite places, people, rich people have their weddings in the rainbow, so he goes to the Rainbow Rainbow.

You guys got a you guys got a silver bowl, I need it for a guy wearing underwear, Stanley Cup thing. And so the guy gets the manager of the place. And like, Well, we kind of need that bowl. Listen, what can I do? how can I get the silver bowl?

He's, I I call, Chills the Warrior, because he's still. I shoot things. Now. I'm in different countries for this thing I'm doing for HBO Max, and yeah, he's another one chills. He was there.

And then he just talks about this matter of factly on. It's the best episode of Inside Conan, you should listen to it. Bill and his partner, John Rao and I, you know, the whole point is that, like, it was such a struggle. That first year is the best job, most exciting job I ever had, but it was such a struggle. Network doubting us, and we had.

You know what, I remembered very clearly. If there are five things you need to have a successful television show, meaning the networks behind you, the critics like you, the numbers are strong. And then, like a couple of things, we had, none of those things we had, absolutely. I remembered sitting around, going, let's see what are the things you need? And then making a list of the five and going, Nope, nope, nope, nope, nope, nope.

And those were network executives.

They were worried I didn't get the message. It'll make them stronger. It's okay, he's over there.

My getaway car needs a better driver.

I remember that walking out one day to do the warmups, I would do the warmup before the show and I came out to do the warmup. And the minute the crowd saw me, they were, Yes, yeah, whoa. And I was looking behind me, like, Is Jerry Seinfeld standing behind me?

It was interesting all these people who were criticizing you. I realized now they were not the audience, but they were a lot. We did have Dave, who came on to the show, yeah.

That was the biggest thing that ever happened. Yeah, that was February of 94..

That was huge, yes, and he had the. He said it backstage and then he said it to your face, which is what really mattered on television. How great the show was, yeah.

And I'd say, you know, um, and not to embarrass him, because I know he's right outside this door, cause he still works with us. But you know, Jason Shalemi, who you mentioned, is the same kind of person who started with us as an intern. But I swear to God, if he, if Jason thought it was, if he sensed that it was important for us. Doing something comedically, whether it's now for the podcast or for a travel show, I'm doing for HBO Max, whatever, and it involved him getting shot at. It's just Max now, yeah.

It's actually quality, it's not pornography, yeah.

When you just say Max, people think, Oh, well, it's people fucking.

So I can whack off to this. Yeah, I've never been able to whack off to Conan. This is exciting.

He's really evolved, like they say, his porn is so creative. All the all the furniture in the room is talking, too.

Oh, I love it.

But no, if Jason thought it was important and he, you know, I was just with him. We were shooting in South America. And he's like, I think if he thought this was important to me or somehow important to the comedy. But it involved him running across a firing line where actual ammunition is being shot. He would do it, which is my point is that he's stupid. No, my point is that it's he makes you like this.

The last day I was on the show, I had to give a speech, which was painful as can be. So I loved the show so much. And I remember saying, I thanked everybody. And I said, there are people in this room who have said Conan and I have inspired them to do great work. And I just wanted to tell everybody you, you inspired us.

So many people who.

They have your back and it makes all the difference in the world.

And I do think in light of it's, it's a great message too that people, you know, in the light of all these strikes and everything. And people say, well, it just comes down to commerce and money, and yes, is money part of it? Of course it is, but when you see the level of when. When people get excited creatively, and then other people around them, whether it's people working cameras, pulling cables, but they're excited too.

And you don't share it with anybody.

Before which is, you triumph comes out of this, you know, sketch doing on the show, and you come, you come in with this dog whose talent is? He's an insult comic. And then I think, what we have to do, which I have to give you credit for two things. The choice of the puppet is exceptional.

Hey, you over there. what are you? sock, you know? I mean, Yeah, hey, well, I mean, yeah. Is that even a country?

Don't write it down, that's really good. Armenia diarrhea. Yeah, but anyway, what I'm saying is that's what anybody else would have done.

I had grandparents that were first generation immigrants, you know, who, who escaped Russia during, and they actually emigrated to China first. To be so proud of what you've.

Done, we must escape persecution.

So that future generations may be able to watch to witness a realistic looking puppet have sex with a live animal on television. Oh yes, what is this television? Well, it's going to be a thing in this, starting with a Milton burn. They're trying to kill us, but if we can escape, then maybe one of our grandchildren will contribute, will turn us into a horny puppet.

So, our version of that?

Our version is Make it up. Yep, yeah, so that's well.

So I remember that, that, that, and then I remember early on, before there were remotes, we'd have guests on and Triumph would roast them, yes.

We would always like catharsis for the audience.

Yeah, and and and so triumph would be over behind this little stand, and then and. And. I would have interviewed the guests already, and then they go after the guest, and I'll never forget guests would say yes to it.

It's the height of the first couple of years of America.

Maybe the first year of American.

He was like, the biggest thing.

He was huge, he was huge and he comes on the show and we said, Do you mind? and he went, Oh no, you know, please, whatever, whatever it is, you chaps, do go ahead. I'll just be here with my too tight t-shirt.

So funny. And then later I saw him afterward and I was like, was that okay? and he? He had come to understand by then? He was like, No, this is a. This would be good for me in some way, we'll be able to show that I can laugh at myself.

And blood came out of his ear, with blood in it. But then you go to do a remote Westminster dog show and, of course, I think Chalemi goes with you.

That was the first one, was Jordan, was Jordan. And we couldn't get in first because apparently Andy had done something at Westminster that they didn't like, so they weren't going to let us in. And I was like, Okay, I guess we'll never do it. And if I'd never done it, maybe I would have never done a remote because that was the obvious one to do.

Real dogs.

Cause I've been, I've been sort of doing it on the show, but here's all these dogs and I loved it. But so then Jordan, like, creates this scam like we gave. He printed out all these fake NBC passes, he broke the law and he figured out a side entrance.

We tip our cap now to a man I professionally loathe.

But actually, it was the first thing on the show that did, cause before YouTube, there was something called I filmed Blair. We'll know this, cause he's pathetic. Yes, that's true.

What makes it so nice is that cause I'm the same way. If I think I've hurt someone's feelings, I don't sleep for like, two days. If I think they really got, you know, and so, um, I'm just saying that to appear nice, but you must never sleep, I sleep like a baby.

No, you know how he solved that. It was like an aversion therapy. He decided to be mean to everybody and that way he got numb to it, yeah.

Yeah, my son, I'm just everybody. And so, um. But I think the magic of that was all the people in line who you're making fun of for being. Never seeing a woman. Or, you know, whatever, whatever, which button do you push? have your mother come pick you up, whatever?

They're like the funniest straight men that you could ask for, and the fact that they're enjoying it just made it like just a mutual pooper. And poopy United as one.

There are so many, you know, I mean, this is the thing where it gets tricky because I could reminisce with you about all of this for maybe 15 hours and we would only scratch the surface. But something I just want to make sure that I, I, I, I get in here, that I state that you've gone on. You know, we worked together all those years, and then we've continued to work together. We keep, we come back together, we work, we just did.

It was the best.

It was nice to see that come around and you've been doing all this amazing work in comedy for all these years. But I I have to celebrate that. Leo, you wrote this movie, Leo, and it's an Adam Sandler animated film. And I saw it the other night and I my I was completely blown away. It is obviously funny, which I knew it would be, but it's also so sweet and so nuanced and and has a great message.

Sandy Wernick got it. I don't know, I think we got a red line this time. Let me give it a look to the lawyers and then we'll get back to that.

He was really funny, cause I called him. He ended up calling me after I wrote him. No, no, not Sandy Wernick, but Adam after I told him I texted him.

Connie, I'll write him a letter. Those people love me.

And I went as a joke and I was like, It's okay, Adam, he's like, it's already done.

I took care of it, buddy. I'm going to send it to every engineering school.

And I'm saying, no, no.

No, Adam, he's like, these are my people.

He was, I was crying, I was laughing so hard.

Don't worry, Connie is going to be great. Oh, he's the best.

Yeah, he's the best I was, you know, it was so funny, cause he does. The voice he does in this for Leo is so unique.

It's kind of Bernie.

Yeah, it's yes, it's Bernie Brillstein, the famous manager that we all knew and worked with. What I do know is people don't understand that as an animation, the voice is everything.

It's like cranky and warm at the same time.

Yeah.

It's funny, cause, like when I had written it and we were about to do a table read. And I had told him a couple of days early. I kind of see him like a Peter Falk kind of thing. And then, like, right before the read through, he says, Hey buddy, I think I want to do Bernie. I was like, Oh, okay, go go for it, and then he killed it with the Bernie.

Remember, remember during look well.

So Bernie was an executive producer of Look Well, because Conan was with Brillstein.

And let me back up, cause I just sometimes we go fast and I want to bring people up to speed. Yes, but Robert came to me once when we were at SNL and he said, Cause we both love the 60 series batman Adam West.

And then that was your name. Yeah, it was great.

And then we go on this quest to get Adam West to do it, and he does it. We make it, and there's a lot of. That's a whole saga in and of itself, cause no one wanted us to make it the network, but then finally got it.

And he's Santa Claus, cowardly lion.

Like Santa Claus, Cowardly Lion, he wears all Black, cause he thinks it's slimming.

It's fucking slimming, it's fucking slimming.

So anyway, we're we're in his office and he's telling us this thing is going to go through the roof.

Adam is going to dash through the fucking roof.

It's going to be huge, it's going to be big, it's going to be. And he's in the midst of this long rant about how he knows show business, he knows TV.

And then, and then, he starts sabotaging. This is the best cause. He also managed. LORNE MICHAELS Yeah.

Lawrence's big meal ticket and he's like, I can't find his ass with three hands and and and it's just, But anyway, the point is you and I are sitting there.

These kids, yes.

And all we hear is what? And the first thing he said was.

It's the first thing you screened after lunch.

People are digesting.

I'll never forget sitting there, listening to that.

Fucking Sue Mangers told me this 45 years ago, You fucking idiots have no fucking clue.

So we, uh. I saw you today for the first time in person since Leo came out and I felt emotional. Because, yeah, I'm so happy for you, you're my friend. But also I was saying, you and I have collaborated on so much stuff. And there's. There's a lot of noise out there and I'm very proud of the stuff we've worked on together. But I saw this thing and I thought, Oh, this is going to be a movie that kids are watching and with their parents, cause it's really funny.

It feels like the first thing I've ever done that everyone agreed on at the same time. Like, you know, our show was amazing and we loved it more than anything, and there was an audience that got it. There's always, and I've had, you know, and then a little segments that I've done, like the cartoons on SNL. But any independent project that I've done, even the ones that were successful, like the Zohan or Right Hotel Transylvania.

It's everyone's coming together.

It's never happened to me in my whole career, so it's like, it's just weird.

And it's four years. You've been working on this, for four years, you've been telling me about it, and I've been saying enough with the talking. Where is it?

I know I. It was maddening and I would like go on Zoom meetings like, you know, because, like, first, you animate it to like black and white drawings.

Animatics.

Animatics. And we tested it and it did great, and it's like, great, now, make it do the whole thing over. And that was like the creative process, working with board artists.

You know, we, we. The other thing I should point out is you write the music in this. There's a lot of, there's a lot of, there's a lot of really great songs in it. Oh, that's nice, and but it's. It was fun for me because you and I one thing we always had in common was we always wanted sketches to turn into songs.

That was like the first.

We wanted it to have a song.

And Lauren was like, Can't it just be because Don Pardo for years would just be on? Now? Another episode of short-term memory, man?

Yeah.

And we were literally said, Can't it just be an hour? and we were like.

No, it has to be, and and Odenkirk and and and Greg Daniels were working on this too. But we wanted. We were like, No, no, it has to be a song. Mr. Short-term memory, Yes.

He'll frustrate you.

But he'll never know.

It was one of those things, it was like the first one. Yeah, I I love the elegance of that first line, and but then that became like a a plague on the show.

Every character, everything had to have it.

Everything had a jingle. But yes, um, naturally I, I would have to. The the biggest thrill of this movie, on some level, is just the balls to write songs and music. Like, I was so scared to do it on one hand, but then I, like, I knew a composer, this Bill, brilliant composer David Yazbek. I can't even play a musical instrument. I just sang these into garage band and like, and then I sent them to him and I was like, Did he suck?

And I was like the song at the end, with all the children saying how old they are.

When I was 10.

Into the next age.

Thank you, amazing. Yeah, that's that's my favorite, and, um, yeah, I love it because it's funny.

That's a great that I love the drone, oh.

The drone's amazing.

He eats when he goes full Bridget Jones and starts eating the chocolate ice cream.

I love that, thank you. But so Rowey. So there, when my dad passed away, my kids used to, like, laugh at the idea of death. I don't know if you have a similar.

But my kids will do well.

You know?

Get over the shock.

And then it's like, realize how funny it is after your own parents die. No, so so, Rowey. They would, they would like death, man, that, what is that all about? And they'd giggle about how weird it is. When they were like four, and then, like, my dad passed away when they were eight, and he had a long illness and a beautiful, long life.

Well, it's a absolutely beautiful movie, it's nice when it all comes together. I'm looking at this. Leo has had crazy 34.6 million views in its first six days.

I don't know what that means, but it sounds like a lot.

That's the biggest debut ever for a Netflix animated film. So that's, I mean, as long as you have a big piece of the merch, you're okay.

Oops.

Somehow, I do.

Lorne Somewhere in Maine.

Somewhere in Maine, a blueberry farm just got a little bigger.

It's a blueberry farm, right, yeah?

It's a massive blueberry farm. And also this is like, we have to do it because we all do Lorne voices and make Lorne jokes. But you and I would be completely unknown to anyone, everybody, if it weren't for Lorne Michaels.

Oh, without a doubt.

We love, we love him to death.

We love him to death.

But we love doing his voice.

Doing his voice, the blueberries.

And then he has a giant blueberry farm in Maine, so it's like, you know, the.

The the blueberries, Um, we don't sell the blueberries because they're ripe, we sell them because it's 1130 on Saturday night.

Well, Robert, I should probably wrap this up, but there's going to be a part two at some point. Cause, uh, but thank you for doing this. I love you. You changed my life. You keep changing it, ruining it, but also making it better.

Making and changing it back.