Will Ferrell, Vol. II

He's been making us laugh for decades, in countless classic SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE sketches, in classics like ELF and STEP-BROTHERS, and now in his new Netflix comedy, THE HAWK. And now he's front and center finally on Happy Sad Confused to talk about it all. SUPPORT THE SHOW BY SUPPORTING OUR SPONSORS! Rula -- Rula patients typically pay $15 per session when using insurance. Connect with quality therapists and mental health experts who specialize in you at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.rula.com/happy⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ #rulapod Quince -- Go to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Quince.com/HAPPYSAD ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠for free shipping and 365-day returns. Limited Time Offer–Get Huel today with my exclusive offer of 15% OFF online with my code happy15 at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠http://huel.com/happy15.⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ New Customers Only. Thank you to Huel for partnering and supporting our show! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Speaker names marked ? are inferred from speaking time and the show’s known hosts — they are not voice-verified.

• 0:00Speaker 00

  I had one guy go, "I don't care what they say. I think you're hilarious."

• 0:06Speaker 00

  I said, "Oh, thank you, but what are they saying?"

• 0:11Speaker 00

  He's like, "What?" "No, you said, 'I don't care what they say.'" "Well, who's they?" He's like, "Oh, no. Uh, uh, no, I didn't mean, I mean, I didn't mean it that way."

• 0:20Josh Horowitz?

  No, let's sit down and talk about it right now.

• 0:22Speaker 00

  No, I want to break it down. Who's they? Give me the list.

• 0:27Speaker 02

  Prepare your ears, humans. Happy, sad, confused, begins.

• 0:34Josh Horowitz?

  Hey, guys, it's Josh. Welcome to another edition of Happy Sad Confused. Today, an absolute icon is in the house. Will Ferrell. I'm not even going to list the resume. He is one of one, one of the greats of all time, talking about his new Netflix show, The Hawk. I'm so excited he's here today. Thanks, guys, as always, for checking out the podcast. Thanks for subscribing to us on YouTube, on Spotify, however you're enjoying these podcasts, but remember to hit that subscribe button if you haven't already. Before we get to Will, I'll remind you, guys, if you're a Patreon subscriber, you would have seen this already through the magic of time and space. It's early access only on Patreon, patreon.com/happysadconfused. We post all of our episodes early over there with bonus content,

• 1:16Josh Horowitz?

  access to autographed merch, access to our live events. Check it out, patreon.com/happysadconfused. Okay, let's talk Will Ferrell. I could talk about Will Ferrell till the end of time because he is, he surely might be my favorite comic performer of all time. No one makes me laugh like Will Ferrell, and I know I'm not alone in that. And I'm so pleased to say that Will is exactly who you want him to be. On camera, off camera, there's really not much difference. He's funny, he's sweet, he is just light in this universe. I've had the privilege of talking to Will many times over my years at MTV. He has done the podcast once before, but it was with Reese Witherspoon, like about a year and a half ago, I want to say,

• 1:57Josh Horowitz?

  for their film, You're Cordially Invited. So this is actually his solo Happy Sad Confused podcast debut. And he more than lived up to my expectations. We reminisce about our shared history, but more importantly, some of the greatest hits of Will's career, including, of course, Anchorman and Talladega Nights and Step Brothers. Too many to list. Of course, his SNL days. So many fantastic stories in this. And of course, needless to say, he is hysterical in this conversation. Check out his new show. It is called The Hawk. It adds to the pantheon of great Will Ferrell characters. It adds to the pantheon of great Will Ferrell sports characters. This is kind of a bad boy of golf. Very funny stuff and reteams him with some familiar folks like Luke Wilson,

• 2:40Josh Horowitz?

  like Chris Parnell, like Molly Shannon. Well, we're checking out on Netflix. Check it out right now, The Hawk. But for now, enjoy this. I'm so happy this finally happened. Will Ferrell, front and center, alone on Happy Sad Confused. Enjoy. Will?

• 2:56Speaker 00

  Hi, Josh.

• 2:56Josh Horowitz?

  It's so good to see you, man.

• 2:57Speaker 00

  Great to see you, too.

• 2:58Josh Horowitz?

  Uh, this is your first solo outing on Happy Sad Confused on the podcast.

• 3:03Speaker 00

  It is, yeah.

• 3:03Josh Horowitz?

  We dropped Reese, Reese Witherspoon. You were on last with her. I needed you all to myself today.

• 3:07Speaker 00

  I know. Um, yeah, I mean, look, I really enjoyed visiting with you with Reese, but

• 3:17Josh Horowitz?

  Big Bud.

• 3:18Speaker 00

  But this just, yeah, now I'm just

• 3:20Josh Horowitz?

  Yeah, you felt

• 3:20Speaker 00

  Now it's just me.

• 3:21Josh Horowitz?

  You felt

• 3:21Speaker 00

  Now it's just me.

• 3:22Josh Horowitz?

  Yeah, you're free.

• 3:24Josh Horowitz?

  And you got the dress code. Thank you for, very specific. We're going to talk about, had a lot of things, most notably your new show.

• 3:31Speaker 00

  Well, I love now with podcasts, people are like, "Oh, what are you going to wear?" I'm like

• 3:36Josh Horowitz?

  Like, wow, isn't it radio?

• 3:37Speaker 00

  Yeah, I'm going to wear a T-shirt. It says, "Very stable genius." Which, if you recall, that was a quote

• 3:45Josh Horowitz?

  Yes.

• 3:46Speaker 00

  From our president.

• 3:47Josh Horowitz?

  I do remember that.

• 3:48Speaker 00

  Yes.

• 3:49Josh Horowitz?

  You're a big supporter. You're rooting for the next term, right?

• 3:52Speaker 00

  Especially in Star Wars font.

• 3:54Josh Horowitz?

  Everything is better in Star Wars font.

• 3:57Josh Horowitz?

  Do you have like a funny wardrobe at a normal wardrobe at home that you like? Is there one closet that's like

• 4:02Speaker 00

  No, I haven't. My normal wardrobe also is my funny wardrobe.

• 4:06Josh Horowitz?

  There's no normal closet.

• 4:07Speaker 00

  Yeah, there's no normal. There's constantly, it, I think it started, it started in high school with my mother going, "Are you, are you meaning to wear that?" And I was like, "What?" "That shirt with those shorts and those shoes?"

• 4:22Josh Horowitz?

  This is an intentional choice that you're making. Your eyes are working.

• 4:25Speaker 00

  Okay, okay. She would never, that was her version of like, "That looks terrible," but she wouldn't discourage. She'd be like, "Okay."

• 4:32Josh Horowitz?

  And is it similar now, as your wife says?

• 4:34Speaker 00

  She's like, she's, she's so immune to it. Yeah.

• 4:38Josh Horowitz?

  Does she ever try to stop you when you go out with one of your like Buddy the Elf is going to go to the hockey game? Does she ever stop you at the door and be like, "Let's talk about this?"

• 4:46Speaker 00

  And that's why we are a match made in heaven. She encourage, she's like, she'll almost matter, in a matter of fact way, say, "Oh, that's really good. That's a great idea."

• 4:57Josh Horowitz?

  Yes.

• 4:58Speaker 00

  It's very clinical, though. She's not excited by it.

• 5:01Josh Horowitz?

  She's yes-anding you.

• 5:02Speaker 00

  Yeah, she's yes-anding, but she was an accomplice for the Buddy the Elf at the hockey game.

• 5:08Josh Horowitz?

  She agreed with, she said, "This is brilliant. This is"

• 5:10Speaker 00

  But she was also there, sitting next to me.

• 5:12Josh Horowitz?

  Oh, she was providing the cigs, like the whole, like

• 5:16Speaker 00

  Which are candy cigarettes, just so everyone knows.

• 5:18Josh Horowitz?

  Great, thank you.

• 5:22Speaker 00

  I was afraid, because I was afraid that the real, the stadium people would kick me, be like, "Put those away." You can't have real cigarettes

• 5:31Josh Horowitz?

  Right.

• 5:32Speaker 00

  in a stadium.

• 5:33Josh Horowitz?

  Yeah.

• 5:33Speaker 00

  So I made sure they were candy.

• 5:35Josh Horowitz?

  I was thinking ahead.

• 5:36Speaker 00

  And it fits into Buddy and

• 5:38Josh Horowitz?

  Did it, um, we talked, because the last time we talked, it was right after that.

• 5:41Speaker 00

  Yeah.

• 5:42Josh Horowitz?

  And you, you, you told the famous story that you were offered insane amounts of money to do the Elf sequel

• 5:47Speaker 00

  You're right.

• 5:48Josh Horowitz?

  that you turned down.

• 5:48Speaker 00

  Yeah.

• 5:49Josh Horowitz?

  Did this reignite anything? Did, did, did the studio come back to you and say, "Here's even more money?"

• 5:54Speaker 00

  Oh, no. Didn't hear a peep.

• 5:56Josh Horowitz?

  Really?

• 5:56Speaker 00

  Yeah. No.

• 5:58Josh Horowitz?

  Okay.

• 5:58Speaker 00

  No, that, that, that, that train has sailed.

• 6:01Josh Horowitz?

  Okay.

• 6:02Speaker 00

  But I think, I think for

• 6:04Josh Horowitz?

  For the best.

• 6:05Speaker 00

  For the best.

• 6:05Josh Horowitz?

  Yeah, it's a classic.

• 6:06Speaker 00

  Yeah.

• 6:08Josh Horowitz?

  Add to the pantheon, The Hawk.

• 6:10Speaker 00

  Yes.

• 6:11Josh Horowitz?

  There it is.

• 6:11Speaker 00

  Just making sure

• 6:14Speaker 00

  people know why I'm here.

• 6:15Josh Horowitz?

  You got the chest tattoo, too.

• 6:17Speaker 00

  To see you, of course.

• 6:19Josh Horowitz?

  Obviously. You make shows as an excuse to see me.

• 6:22Speaker 00

  This is very much, this is basically something Lonnie would do. My, my character, Lonnie Hawkins, The Hawk, for the entire, for probably 87% of the show, wears a visor that says his nickname on it because he is, he lives in mortal fear that someone won't recognize him.

• 6:44Josh Horowitz?

  He needs constant relevancy.

• 6:45Speaker 00

  Yeah.

• 6:46Josh Horowitz?

  Got to stay on top.

• 6:47Speaker 00

  He wants to make sure people know he's a, he's a pro golfer and his name is The Hawk.

• 6:51Josh Horowitz?

  He's the, the bad boy of, of golf.

• 6:53Speaker 00

  Yeah, he's a bad boy golf.

• 6:54Josh Horowitz?

  Is that an oxymoron? Because as I recall, the one that comes to mind is John Daly way back when, right? He was the guy.

• 6:59Speaker 00

  There's, there's very few of them. There's, and there are very few of them. There's really not, uh, and it's kind of one of the points of emphasis of the show is,

• 7:10Speaker 00

  Jimmy Tatro plays Lance, my son, and he's, he's, represents the current golfer today.

• 7:17Josh Horowitz?

  Right.

• 7:18Speaker 00

  Fitness focused, uh, they, they, they're really into nutrition and training and they wear monochromatic clothes. And they're very careful, um, they're very careful people because they have

• 7:36Speaker 00

  all the weight of all this sponsorship. And so there's, the PGA is devoid of personality right now. In, in a way. But I say that with love because the PGA was also a part of our show. So, thank you, PGA. Yeah, that's with love. I say it with love.

• 7:52Josh Horowitz?

  You suck, but I mean it in the best possible way.

• 7:55Speaker 00

  To their credit, they were like, "You know what? Have some fun at our expense." And so Lonnie represents, you know, what in my head was, were golfers in the 70s.

• 8:07Josh Horowitz?

  Right.

• 8:07Speaker 00

  Like seeking a cigarette in between holes, wearing loud clothes,

• 8:13Speaker 00

  having a few cocktails, you know, after playing, like at least, I don't even know if that really existed, but in my mind, you know

• 8:20Josh Horowitz?

  Your head canon, that's there, yeah.

• 8:21Speaker 00

  The Arnold Palmers and the Jack Nickels and the, and the Lee Trevinos and talking smack to each other. And so, that's, that's kind of the collision course of what our, our, our show's about.

• 8:31Josh Horowitz?

  It fits very much in the pantheon of your great characters. Because when I think of like the great comedy characters in your career, which there are many, they're kind of two buckets. It's kind of like the sweet earnest, you know, there's the Frank the Tank, there's the Buddy the Elf.

• 8:44Speaker 00

  Right.

• 8:44Josh Horowitz?

  Outnumbered significantly, I would say, by the ferocious narcissists,

• 8:49Speaker 00

  Right.

• 8:50Josh Horowitz?

  clueless assholes that if any, virtually any other actor played these roles, like if Daniel Day-Lewis is playing the roles you played, if he's playing Ron Burgundy, it's like, that guy is horrible. I never want to see him again.

• 9:04Speaker 00

  I remember how, early days, uh, I was so on Saturday Night Live, I was with my manager, we were kind of doing the rounds with the studios and, and we had a sit down with a very prominent head of a studio at that time, who, uh, we had this argument and, and I stood my ground. She was like, you know, comedy characters have to be likable.

• 9:29Josh Horowitz?

  Right.

• 9:29Speaker 00

  And I said, "You're wrong." And everyone went

• 9:34Josh Horowitz?

  No, it's in the book.

• 9:35Speaker 00

  Don't say that. Don't, I'm like, I've done, watched my work on SNL. I've played plenty of people.

• 9:41Josh Horowitz?

  Yeah.

• 9:42Speaker 00

  And I had just, in fact, the previous week's show, I'd written a sketch, um, which I'm pretty sure made it on, which was just myself and two kid extra, two kid actors. And we are, um, singing happy birthday to their grandmother

• 10:01Josh Horowitz?

  Right.

• 10:01Speaker 00

  on speakerphone. But they are not doing it right. And it just builds into me yelling at these children. Which, to your point, on paper, the math of that

• 10:12Josh Horowitz?

  That's

• 10:12Speaker 00

  looks horrible.

• 10:13Josh Horowitz?

  No.

• 10:14Speaker 00

  But it played like gangbusters. And I've been given that gift to be able to

• 10:19Josh Horowitz?

  That is one of your gifts.

• 10:20Speaker 00

  It to somehow make that funny and likable, I, I don't know. I don't know how.

• 10:26Josh Horowitz?

  Are both of those spectrums equally rewarding? Do you find them both like, that note fun to play?

• 10:33Speaker 00

  I mean, I loved, you know, the earnestness of like

• 10:37Speaker 00

  playing Buddy, the, the, you know, the kind of obnoxious enthusiasm was so much fun to play at the same time. Uh, and I, I kind of, I think I kind of, that through line carries through in the, the, a lot of the movies I've done with Mar, like the Daddy's Homes movies, I'm kind of that guy.

• 11:00Josh Horowitz?

  Yeah, yeah, yeah.

• 11:00Speaker 00

  And, uh, But then it's also just fun to, again, yell at children.

• 11:09Josh Horowitz?

  That's in your comedy 101 class. When in doubt, yell at a small child. The smaller and cuter, the better.

• 11:16Speaker 00

  Right. If you can.

• 11:18Josh Horowitz?

  Is it a sign of the times?

• 11:19Speaker 00

  And punch a baby. I punched a baby in the campaign. I forgot that.

• 11:22Josh Horowitz?

  Oh, yeah.

• 11:22Speaker 00

  Yeah.

• 11:23Josh Horowitz?

  That was sweet.

• 11:23Speaker 00

  It was sweet.

• 11:25Josh Horowitz?

  There should be more punching babies.

• 11:28Speaker 00

  I punched a baby and we slowed it down, slow-mo.

• 11:30Josh Horowitz?

  Right.

• 11:30Speaker 00

  Yeah.

• 11:31Josh Horowitz?

  Yeah.

• 11:31Speaker 00

  So you see the fist go into the jaw of the baby and...

• 11:34Josh Horowitz?

  It's the best use of CGI.

• 11:35Speaker 00

  It was fantastic. I remember, gosh, Chris Henchey, who's also helped create the show and has directed two of the episodes. Chris was a producer on that movie and that, getting that shot, it took all day to get the components of that. And the A.D. on that movie was like, "I don't know why we're doing this. It's gonna get cut out of the movie. You can't punch a baby." And I was like, "Yes, you can." "And we're gonna show you." And sure enough, one of the biggest laughs in that movie.

• 12:11Josh Horowitz?

  We'll be right back with more Happy, Sad, Confused.

• 12:16Speaker 03

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• 14:04Josh Horowitz?

  How much of your career is related to you being kind of like a frustrated athlete? Like, you were a major athlete growing up.

• 14:12Speaker 00

  Thank you.

• 14:14Speaker 00

  A major athlete at University High School in Irvine, California.

• 14:18Josh Horowitz?

  But you were good.

• 14:18Speaker 00

  That never won anything.

• 14:21Josh Horowitz?

  You averaged 1.6 points a game, I heard, or something, right?

• 14:24Speaker 00

  On the basketball team?

• 14:25Josh Horowitz?

  Yeah.

• 14:25Speaker 00

  I was the captain.

• 14:27Josh Horowitz?

  Why did they make you the captain at 1.6 points a game?

• 14:30Speaker 00

  Because of this.

• 14:31Josh Horowitz?

  Oh, sorry.

• 14:32Speaker 00

  Yes.

• 14:32Josh Horowitz?

  The leadership.

• 14:33Speaker 00

  The leadership.

• 14:34Josh Horowitz?

  Yeah. The aura, as the kids say today.

• 14:35Speaker 00

  The aura.

• 14:36Josh Horowitz?

  Yeah.

• 14:36Speaker 00

  I had a lot of aura, a lot of riz back then.

• 14:40Josh Horowitz?

  Two old men talking riz and aura today.

• 14:43Speaker 00

  Yeah, sports, you know, ever since the moment my, my amazing mother, Kay, signed me up for something called AYSO Soccer.

• 14:55Josh Horowitz?

  Okay.

• 14:56Speaker 00

  This is probably when I'm eight years old, so I'm gonna say 1975. And she's like, "I signed you up for this thing called soccer." I'm like, "Okay." And I, I just started playing sports and was kind of big for my, like, for my age. And was, found the team concept of working towards a common goal super satisfying.

• 15:26Josh Horowitz?

  Right.

• 15:28Speaker 00

  And I think that is why I love, I love the ensemble and I love,

• 15:37Speaker 00

  you know, and a lot of this work is teamwork, whether you're on a film set, shooting a TV show, working on a show like Saturday Night Live.

• 15:44Josh Horowitz?

  Sure.

• 15:45Speaker 00

  It was, it was as, it was as equally satisfying to be the centerpiece of a sketch, to drive the sketch. It was, it was just as much fun for me to come in and have one line.

• 16:02Josh Horowitz?

  I've heard you say that, like, that served you well, that you kind of made yourself available to everybody. You're like, "Yeah, great to put me in the lead." "I'm happy to walk in and..."

• 16:09Speaker 00

  100%. I made, I made a point to tell the writers because I could see, I could see, you know, some cast members, and it's a natural response, would be like, "Wait, that's it? That's all I'm gonna do in the sketch? Then I don't want to do it."

• 16:25Speaker 00

  And I, I was like, "Ooh, that could be a missed opportunity." So I made sure I told all the writers, like, I have no ego about that stuff. I will, I will, I will be an off-camera voice for you. I will record VO. I will, because if I, I know I can come into a situation and disrupt.

• 16:46Josh Horowitz?

  Yeah.

• 16:47Speaker 00

  And leave. And at the very least, I might break everyone.

• 16:54Josh Horowitz?

  Right.

• 16:55Speaker 00

  Because I'm gonna change it up between dress and air.

• 16:57Josh Horowitz?

  Sure.

• 17:00Speaker 00

  In fact, there was a sketch that, I think, someone had written in which it took place, it was a beach volleyball match.

• 17:12Josh Horowitz?

  Sure.

• 17:13Speaker 00

  And I don't, I can't remember the premise at all, but I literally was someone who every, every 30 seconds just said, "Beach volleyball."

• 17:27Speaker 00

  Then the sketch would go on, go on, and then I would just go, "Beach volleyball." And it started like Bill, it became a laugh point.

• 17:36Josh Horowitz?

  Right.

• 17:37Speaker 00

  And...

• 17:39Josh Horowitz?

  The dumber it got, the better it got.

• 17:40Speaker 00

  Yeah.

• 17:41Josh Horowitz?

  Yeah.

• 17:41Speaker 00

  Yeah.

• 17:41Josh Horowitz?

  Yeah.

• 17:42Speaker 00

  Yeah.

• 17:42Josh Horowitz?

  Well, sometimes, I mean, that, I even apply it to kind of the early film work, which, you know, you had some...

• 17:46Speaker 00

  By the way, was that good for sound?

• 17:49Josh Horowitz?

  Yeah. I see blood coming out of his ear.

• 17:52Josh Horowitz?

  But like, I think of like Austin Powers, and like, that was one of the first times I saw you on the big screen, and it's...

• 17:57Speaker 00

  And so much of that is all...

• 17:59Josh Horowitz?

  It's per, yeah, off-camera. I don't even see you.

• 18:01Speaker 00

  I'm very badly burned and I've fallen, yeah. Yeah.

• 18:04Josh Horowitz?

  Perfect.

• 18:04Speaker 00

  So...

• 18:05Josh Horowitz?

  I want to, I want to reference just our shared history because it's very meaningful to have you here because you really, and I had this experience with Danny recently when Danny Brad was here, like, I started MTV 20 years ago, 2006. And of course, you were killing it then, you're killing it now. And to like go on this journey, and you've always been the best, like, the absolute best to me.

• 18:25Speaker 00

  Well, likewise, you've always been...

• 18:27Josh Horowitz?

  Appreciate it.

• 18:28Speaker 00

  One of the best in terms of making it fun, but also having great questions.

• 18:33Josh Horowitz?

  Appreciate it.

• 18:34Speaker 00

  Very skilled.

• 18:35Josh Horowitz?

  So we've, we've gone on this crazy journey. Sometimes the other have been on your sets.

• 18:39Speaker 00

  Yeah.

• 18:39Josh Horowitz?

  We've done some weird sketches. One we always talk about, and probably like 1.1% of the audience knows what I'm gonna talk about, but I want to reference it because it's just fascinating. It's a fascinating moment in time.

• 18:48Speaker 00

  It is. Yeah.

• 18:50Josh Horowitz?

  In 2010, for the other guys,

• 18:52Speaker 00

  Yes.

• 18:52Josh Horowitz?

  you and Mark Wahlberg came into our studio at MTV. I had barely done any comedy sketches at the time, and I pitched you doing something called The Knife Show.

• 19:00Speaker 00

  Yes.

• 19:01Josh Horowitz?

  Which was a fully improvised sketch about knife enthusiasts. We have a photo. Can I, can I show Wahl the photo? Don't jog his memory? Oh, it's coming up. There it is.

• 19:14Josh Horowitz?

  So...

• 19:16Speaker 00

  Oh, gosh.

• 19:17Josh Horowitz?

  That was, they were real knives and swords. Why did you say yes to that? I mean, I guess we knew each other a little casually, then maybe you liked me well enough, but like, what was in your, do you have any recollection of?

• 19:31Speaker 00

  Look, they're, they're...

• 19:33Josh Horowitz?

  I was on a lot of drugs at the time.

• 19:34Speaker 00

  Yeah.

• 19:35Josh Horowitz?

  Yeah.

• 19:35Speaker 00

  No, it was, it was just audacious and not, like, to be pitched. So, you know, when you get, when you get kind of the rundown of what you're gonna do on a press schedule, and it's like, "Oh, yeah, Joshua, oh, yeah, oh, I remember that guy, yeah. He wants to do a thing called The Knife Show."

• 19:58Josh Horowitz?

  What?

• 19:59Speaker 00

  It'll be just, you guys will be just talking about knives. Done. Done. Yes. I think the best things are the simplest pitches, so...

• 20:09Josh Horowitz?

  Right.

• 20:10Speaker 00

  That, I was like, "I don't care where it goes."

• 20:13Josh Horowitz?

  Yeah.

• 20:13Speaker 00

  "I don't care what the structure is. This is insane, and yes, we're gonna do this." And I, I don't think Mark hesitated either.

• 20:22Josh Horowitz?

  Oh, no, he did not. He, he...

• 20:24Speaker 00

  Mark, yeah.

• 20:25Josh Horowitz?

  Mark, right. Knife in my eye. Here, this photo, like this photo.

• 20:30Josh Horowitz?

  That fear is real and, yeah. Thankfully, Mark is, you know, still in my life. I love Mark, but that was a really scary moment.

• 20:38Speaker 00

  But you're right. What were you thinking?

• 20:41Josh Horowitz?

  Very stupid.

• 20:41Speaker 00

  Of having real knives?

• 20:43Josh Horowitz?

  Very in love. But we're here today to tell the tale.

• 20:47Speaker 00

  And we...

• 20:48Josh Horowitz?

  Yeah.

• 20:49Speaker 00

  Were we, here's what I don't remember.

• 20:51Josh Horowitz?

  Okay.

• 20:51Speaker 00

  Was it presentational? Were we selling knives to the audience? Were we?

• 20:56Josh Horowitz?

  It was, um...

• 20:56Speaker 00

  Were we just discussing?

• 20:57Josh Horowitz?

  Just discussing knives. I'll send you the link. You should, you should watch it again. We still have it up on the interwebs. You should watch it. I watched it this morning, and it holds up in a bizarre way.

• 21:06Speaker 00

  I thought there was more of a, it's just a black backdrop?

• 21:09Josh Horowitz?

  Yeah.

• 21:11Josh Horowitz?

  No real, like a simple idea.

• 21:13Speaker 00

  And then I think that, that, that must have fueled the cosmic comedy universe because later,

• 21:21Josh Horowitz?

  Yeah.

• 21:23Speaker 00

  I think unbeknownst to the Jimmy Kimmel people...

• 21:25Josh Horowitz?

  I always wanted to bring this up with you.

• 21:26Speaker 00

  Gosling and I did The Knife Guys.

• 21:28Josh Horowitz?

  This was a sore point for me.

• 21:30Speaker 00

  I swear, they knew nothing of The Knife Show.

• 21:32Josh Horowitz?

  Okay.

• 21:35Josh Horowitz?

  I was like, Will is stealing my idea.

• 21:38Speaker 00

  You got, you know what? No one's seen this other thing.

• 21:43Josh Horowitz?

  True.

• 21:44Speaker 00

  Do you want to do a version?

• 21:46Josh Horowitz?

  No.

• 21:47Speaker 00

  And that was pitched independently.

• 21:50Josh Horowitz?

  That's so funny.

• 21:50Speaker 00

  Yeah.

• 21:51Josh Horowitz?

  It was out of the ether. It was the

• 21:53Speaker 00

  That was, yeah.

• 21:53Josh Horowitz?

  Knife ideas.

• 21:54Speaker 00

  Yeah.

• 21:54Josh Horowitz?

  Um, all right. So what you reference SNL, which of course was the formative seven years of your life, which it's, isn't it fascinating? Like you have a comedy resume in film that is unrivaled. Like, you know, you're up, you're at the top. SNL also will always define you in a way, right? Like, do you feel that? Do you feel like grateful that that still is kind of?

• 22:13Speaker 00

  Oh, my God. 100%. Uh, you know, to to have this, this comedy institution that, you know, you watched and, and thought to yourself, one day, God, that'd be cool if you could be, if I could do that.

• 22:28Josh Horowitz?

  Yeah.

• 22:29Speaker 00

  And, but yet never thought it would happen. It's too big of a, it's too big of an idea to, to really think about.

• 22:37Josh Horowitz?

  Are you surprised at the sketches that people still want to bring up to this day? That things like cowbell and Jeopardy and?

• 22:45Speaker 00

  I'm still surprised by all of it. It's because it's, it's a, it's a game of inches.

• 22:49Josh Horowitz?

  Yeah.

• 22:49Speaker 00

  Success and failure and whether you get, you know, there are a lot of funny people out there and the fact that

• 23:00Speaker 00

  Lauren took a chance on me and, um, or, or any of us, it's, it's truly remarkable. And the fact that that show still to this day uh, allows a certain amount of freedom that doesn't exist.

• 23:16Josh Horowitz?

  Right.

• 23:17Speaker 00

  Uh, in the, anywhere in the creative landscape of where you can, you know, there really isn't.

• 23:25Speaker 00

  There's a certain level of supervision, but for the most part you can write whatever you want and, and put it up at that read through table.

• 23:32Josh Horowitz?

  Right.

• 23:33Speaker 00

  So,

• 23:35Speaker 00

  and, you know, that's insane.

• 23:39Josh Horowitz?

  I, I find it so funny. That's like some of like, especially like the celebrity impressions you kind of did at the time were so specific and niche and yet they hold up like, I mean, to a generation today. I can't imagine they know who Harry Carey is or Robert Goulet.

• 23:54Speaker 00

  No.

• 23:55Josh Horowitz?

  And yet

• 23:55Speaker 00

  No.

• 23:56Josh Horowitz?

  even James Lipton, like

• 23:57Speaker 00

  Right.

• 23:58Josh Horowitz?

  They were so meaningful to us, but I'm sure they still play because they are so specific and odd.

• 24:04Speaker 00

  I guess, yeah. Um, it's, I mean, as Tom, they're slipping away, you know?

• 24:10Josh Horowitz?

  You think?

• 24:11Speaker 00

  I, I mean, I guess I occasionally get a, a shout out to Goulet.

• 24:18Speaker 00

  But it is, it's very specific, but that was kind of, that was kind of what, uh, I was more enamored with because I knew, I knew you, when you have someone like Daryl Hammond and the cast who's going to do all the big, important impersonations, I thought, oh, I should, I should really be, you know, work around the edges.

• 24:37Josh Horowitz?

  On the fringes, yeah.

• 24:37Speaker 00

  Yeah. And, and, and do just bizarre, obscure, people. That's why, that's, that's how like,

• 24:47Speaker 00

  Adam McKay and I were talking about like, sitting around talking about Neil Diamond's music. And, and then next thing I know, we're like, let's write up a Neil, I go, well, I, I've been, I've been kind of working on a Neil Diamond. Like, let's write it. Let's write a, a, a VH1, like behind the music of Neil Diamond where he is just unhinged with the way he talks about how he created the songs and then just go into

• 25:12Josh Horowitz?

  Yeah.

• 25:13Speaker 00

  his, uh, you know, very kind of benign pop kind of stuff. And, uh, so the, yeah, those were always intriguing to me.

• 25:22Josh Horowitz?

  Did, jumping into, and we're not going to cover nearly all the films, but I want to touch, touch on a bunch. So Zoolander, for instance. Are you welcome in Malaysia? Is there like a ban on you? You?

• 25:35Speaker 00

  I, uh, I need to go there to see.

• 25:38Josh Horowitz?

  We haven't tested it.

• 25:39Speaker 00

  I have yet to go to Malaysia.

• 25:40Josh Horowitz?

  Okay. You haven't gotten the invite.

• 25:41Speaker 00

  You would think I would have been there multiple times. I have not been invited by the government.

• 25:45Josh Horowitz?

  That's not on the press tour? That's weird.

• 25:49Speaker 00

  It should, it should be Philadelphia, New York, Toronto. And one quick stop in Malaysia.

• 25:56Josh Horowitz?

  Knife show in Malaysia?

• 25:58Speaker 00

  Let's, if, if you want to do the knife show in Malaysia.

• 26:01Josh Horowitz?

  Don't tempt me. Don't.

• 26:02Speaker 00

  We'll get Mark.

• 26:04Josh Horowitz?

  For no apparent reason.

• 26:05Speaker 00

  Right.

• 26:06Josh Horowitz?

  Is there, is there a country that has a very unusual relationship with you? Like, have you touched down in a certain country? Is there a certain film they love you for? Have you, have you tracked any?

• 26:15Speaker 00

  There was, well, speaking of Zoolander, the, I, the couple of times I've been to Italy,

• 26:21Speaker 00

  there has been, I remember I was in a cafe once and this woman was like, there he is. The Zoolander. I'm like, oh, well, no, I'm not the Zoolander, but yeah, but like the genius, the Zoolander. I was like, well, no, I'm, I'm Ugathu.

• 26:35Josh Horowitz?

  Yes, you know what I mean?

• 26:36Speaker 00

  Oh, that, that movie in particular.

• 26:41Josh Horowitz?

  The Italians love it.

• 26:42Speaker 00

  In your, yeah, the, the Italians, the Italians love it. Uh, I'm trying to think of, uh,

• 26:50Speaker 00

  yeah, I don't know. I don't know if there's

• 26:51Josh Horowitz?

  Yeah.

• 26:52Speaker 00

  I guess, I guess the French really put Anchorman on a pedestal.

• 26:58Josh Horowitz?

  Really?

• 26:58Speaker 00

  Yes.

• 26:59Josh Horowitz?

  Wise. Yeah.

• 27:00Speaker 00

  To where I was, I, uh, I forget what, what show that is, that's like their, their, it's like an interview chat show, but it's news specific.

• 27:12Josh Horowitz?

  Okay.

• 27:12Speaker 00

  And, um, and it's on like five nights a week at like six o'clock every night. And they had me on the panel once, which is so disconcerting because you have the translator in your ear, translating everything and

• 27:29Josh Horowitz?

  Yeah, there's that delay.

• 27:30Speaker 00

  But they were asking me all these esoteric questions about, tell me, Ron Burgundy, he represents

• 27:38Speaker 00

  current state of journalism, wouldn't you say? I'm like, exactly. Yes.

• 27:42Josh Horowitz?

  That's what we were going for.

• 27:43Speaker 00

  As Ron, almost. Uh, but yeah. So, yeah, the, the European, the, the foreign lens on some of this stuff is, is always interesting as, as to what, you know, they gravitate towards.

• 27:54Josh Horowitz?

  Since you bring up Anchorman, a couple of things I've never had a chance to ask you about. One is famously, it's, the script started as like a plane crash movie, is that?

• 28:02Speaker 00

  Yeah.

• 28:03Josh Horowitz?

  It was, it was kind of a comedic take on a live, which everybody needs.

• 28:07Speaker 00

  It was, it was the news team, uh, was fly, they were, it was the, the year was 1976, our bicentennial year. And they were, uh, they were at a big news conference in Philadelphia where all the, all the anchors were gathering to celebrate the bicentennial and they were flying, they were the flying there or flying and Ron asked to pilot the charter plane. He convinced the pilots that, no, I, look, give me, give me a hand. Uh, or I, I know what I'm doing. I have my pilot's license and immediately loses control of the plane and they, they crash land in the Rocky Mountains.

• 28:45Josh Horowitz?

  Huh.

• 28:45Speaker 00

  And then, yeah, the, it was, it was a survival movie.

• 28:48Josh Horowitz?

  Did that, how far did that get? Like, was there?

• 28:50Speaker 00

  You know what happened was that they, it was a midair collision

• 28:56Speaker 00

  between a cargo plane that was carrying, uh, the only cargo on the plane were Chinese throwing stars and, um, baboons. Which a lot of the baboons survived. So then throughout the film, they're trying to figure out how to survive and get off the mountain while being hunted by the baboons.

• 29:20Speaker 00

  So occasionally we'd have a scene and then

• 29:24Speaker 00

  a, a, an unknown news anchor from another station would be killed by a Chinese throwing star. We're like, take cover. They're on to us. And the whole time Veronica Corningstone is saying, you know, if we just head down, we can get back to like, I'm pretty sure there's a city down, no, we need to seek higher ground. And they, the men were not listening. And, uh,

• 29:52Josh Horowitz?

  I mean,

• 29:53Speaker 00

  needless to say.

• 29:54Josh Horowitz?

  I would have greenlit it, but.

• 29:55Speaker 00

  That. But here's a little, this is a true story. Um, Paul Thomas Anderson.

• 30:02Josh Horowitz?

  I was going to ask about this. What's the Paul Thomas Anderson Anchorman connection?

• 30:05Speaker 00

  So Paul came and guest wrote on the show while we were there for a couple of weeks.

• 30:10Josh Horowitz?

  SNL, right.

• 30:10Speaker 00

  He'd always been a huge SNL fan. He loved our cast. He, and, uh, he, he said to Adam and I, you guys, what? Do you have any scripts, like script thing that you, like, what if I produce something for you? Would, would, would you? What would you say to someone? Like, I could just be your 800 pound gorilla in the room and, and just you would, you could write anything you want. We're like, well, we do have something.

• 30:35Josh Horowitz?

  Do you like baboons in the jungle?

• 30:37Speaker 00

  Even Paul was like, huh.

• 30:41Speaker 00

  I like it, question mark?

• 30:45Speaker 00

  It was even too much for Paul. And so then we, they were like, maybe it should be just a little more conventional.

• 30:52Josh Horowitz?

  Right, yeah. That's what screams, Anchorman screams conventional to me. But by those standards, yes.

• 30:56Speaker 00

  Well, when you, when you think about where it started.

• 30:58Josh Horowitz?

  Sure, yes. Have you ever talked to Paul about being in one of his films since?

• 31:03Speaker 00

  I, I, I haven't gotten a call, so.

• 31:06Josh Horowitz?

  That baboon script really threw him.

• 31:08Speaker 00

  Paul, I'm ready.

• 31:12Josh Horowitz?

  Elf probably, correct me if I'm wrong, remains kind of the miracle of your career, right? Because like, if you're like 2% in the wrong direction, it's a career ender.

• 31:22Josh Horowitz?

  At what point did you?

• 31:23Speaker 00

  And I've expressed that many a time, yeah.

• 31:24Josh Horowitz?

  At what point did you know, was it not until the premiere, you saw a final cut, like, that it actually?

• 31:30Speaker 00

  Honestly, I mean, you, you, you know, I think

• 31:37Speaker 00

  true comedians,

• 31:40Speaker 00

  I don't know, I don't believe anyone who says, I knew it was gonna kill.

• 31:43Josh Horowitz?

  Right.

• 31:43Speaker 00

  I think true comedians, we always are like, I don't know, I think it's funny, you know? It's, it's just an educated guess. And, um, and yeah, there's always a part of your brain that's like, God, is this gonna work?

• 32:01Speaker 00

  So, that was lingering for, I don't, yeah, probably until I saw it with an audience. And, uh, and then it was, it was like, oh, I, I remember, I remember getting a call from my manager when they were doing some test screenings. And they did like a, like a, uh, back-to-back screenings with two different audiences. So they, they wanted to see how it was gonna play. So one, the one recruit was really more a family

• 32:32Josh Horowitz?

  Right.

• 32:32Speaker 00

  Uh, uh, recruit. And it played great. And they were really happy. And then he called me going, I'm looking at, I'm looking at the crowd that's lining up for the second screening. And it looks like a bunch of USC frat guys. And we're, I'm just telling you, we might get eviscerated, you know? And so that, and when that crowd liked the movie?

• 32:59Josh Horowitz?

  It played to both.

• 32:59Speaker 00

  Exactly. We were like, oh, okay. Ted Danson came and visited Mary Steenburgen on set one time. We're in Vancouver. He's like,

• 33:10Speaker 00

  in fact, he came the day, I have this memory of when we shoot, we were shooting the scene where, um, we're decorating the Christmas tree and I, uh, I bounce off the couch and put the star and then tear the whole thing down. And Ted was there that day and he was like, this thing's gonna be gigantic. I go, how do you know? Ted, really? Like, from your mouth to God's ears, you know? And he was like, no, you can just feel it. You can, I'm like, okay, all right. So.

• 33:41Josh Horowitz?

  Always trusting Ted.

• 33:42Speaker 00

  Always trusting Ted Danson.

• 33:43Josh Horowitz?

  And since then, you bring him on set, like, how we doing?

• 33:45Speaker 00

  Ted, how we doing? I'd get out of here. If I get, if Ted gives me the thumbs down.

• 33:50Josh Horowitz?

  On Holmes and Watson, he was like, I'm not sure.

• 33:52Speaker 00

  He'll just walk in and go, and then I'm like, oh, shoot, I signed the contract. I gotta finish it.

• 33:58Josh Horowitz?

  I mean, there's, there's a word conjecture that there was like creative issues on that film. Like, was there a difference of opinion on like, what the tone was gonna be? Behind the scenes, or?

• 34:08Speaker 00

  No, I think, I think there was just, um, uh, Joe, I, I was, I was always pushing for, uh,

• 34:20Speaker 00

  sillier comedy at times, a little more, um, uh, yeah, just, just, let's explore this out. John was very, you know, John really wanted us to, to, to, for it to have a really strong story and, and heart. And, you know, and.

• 34:40Josh Horowitz?

  Well, that push-pull clearly, that's why it works.

• 34:43Speaker 00

  And so, uh, I would,

• 34:48Speaker 00

  I would kind of go, you know, after we had kind of taken a couple passes at a scene of like, okay, I see what you're talking about now. And then I think John would let me do my thing. He'd be like, okay, I see what you're talking about. So, and, and I think that push-pull, yeah.

• 35:05Speaker 00

  Is what you see.

• 35:06Josh Horowitz?

  For, for Talladega Nights, are, are you tickled by the fact that if you ain't first, you're last has become, like, they took the wrong message from the film, some people, right? Like, that that is now kind of like an ethos for people.

• 35:17Speaker 00

  I know. I know. Yeah, it's, uh,

• 35:23Speaker 00

  it's, I know, it's, it's, it's hilarious that that actually has manifested itself now into the thing we're making fun of is now like a point of pride.

• 35:33Josh Horowitz?

  Well, that must be such a, I mean, that's a constant in your career where like, these things you'd make on these insular sets.

• 35:38Speaker 00

  Sure.

• 35:38Josh Horowitz?

  Then become like, part, like, like the Catalina wine mixer wasn't a thing and now it exists, right?

• 35:44Speaker 00

  Now it exists. Right. It's, uh, it's so strange. That, I, I haven't been to Malaysia. I also have not been to the real Catalina wine mixer.

• 35:53Josh Horowitz?

  I bet you've gotten that invite though.

• 35:54Speaker 00

  John, uh, numerous times.

• 35:57Josh Horowitz?

  You could be a VIP. You could run that place.

• 35:59Speaker 00

  And, uh, no, we would, that would not be a, that would be a afternoon of drunken selfies.

• 36:07Josh Horowitz?

  That's your dream. That's what you want.

• 36:09Speaker 00

  Right, yeah, I just want to be harassed by, yeah.

• 36:12Josh Horowitz?

  Maybe the most relatable, you have the most quotable career ever. One of my favorite moments is in Talladega Nights, which is the, I don't know what to do with my hands on the microphone. For somebody in this business that has to hold a microphone and have that sort of like, it's, was that scripted? Was that something?

• 36:28Speaker 00

  No, that was just, uh, on the day. And I was just, uh, I was just playing around with the, the concept of, of Ricky Bobby now being thrust into the spotlight is not very media savvy. And what are the other things I could play around with? Of, uh, of, you know, that could, that could show off how uncomfortable he was. And I just started going like, I don't know what to do with my hands. And, and the, the gentleman who's interviewing me is really, uh, I think, like a NASCAR reporter, like he, he, and he just played it straight. And I was amazed, like, you don't have to do anything, just keep them at your sides. And then I thought, oh no, that's,

• 37:12Speaker 00

  it's always so fun when you realize in the moment, oh, this is the game. This is the game right now. I'm gonna keep putting my hands in the frame. And to, to this guy's credit, he just kept moving them down. And we didn't.

• 37:27Josh Horowitz?

  Yeah, the gentleness of what she's trying to subtle.

• 37:31Speaker 00

  And I didn't tell him to do that. And we never discussed this. And so that was just, uh, that was just a, a moment of serendipity.

• 37:42Speaker 05

  More Happy Say Confused coming up.

• 37:48Speaker 06

  Steve Kubine and Nan McNamara's podcast from beneath the Hollywood sign.

• 37:53Speaker 02

  I pulls out a box and gives McAllister a ring, saying, here's something to remember me by. Daryl Zanuck hit the roof. Mary Astor has been keeping a diary. This torrid affair with George S. Kaufman is chronicled on a daily basis.

• 38:08Speaker 07

  Talking about the actors and actresses who won an Oscar on their very first film.

• 38:13Speaker 06

  Get your fix of old Hollywood on the podcast from beneath the Hollywood sign.

• 38:20Speaker 02

  I'm Anne Foster and I have never watched the show Spartacus, Blood and Sand. And I'm Gina Berry and I've watched this show numerous times. On our new podcast, Nefertv, we discuss TV shows and movies set in ancient history. This season, we are discussing Spartacus, Blood and Sand.

• 38:37Speaker 02

  Follow Nefertv, that's N-E-F-E-R TV, wherever you get your podcasts.

• 38:47Josh Horowitz?

  So Step Brothers feels like, this is like doubling down on you and John. Like, this is like apex stupidity in the best possible way. Um, I mean, I've talked to all of your, like Catherine and.

• 38:58Speaker 00

  And have, have you ever read the Roger Ebert review?

• 39:02Josh Horowitz?

  Oh, this is one he hated, right? Or no?

• 39:04Speaker 00

  It's the greatest review of all time.

• 39:06Josh Horowitz?

  What did he say?

• 39:07Speaker 00

  And they've, you have to search deep for it because they, I think they've scrubbed the actual, some of the elements out of it. Because the last time I found it, I was like, there seems to be stuff missing from it.

• 39:19Josh Horowitz?

  As you recall, it was pretty scathing?

• 39:21Speaker 00

  It was so, it was, um,

• 39:25Speaker 00

  it was just a, it was a call to action.

• 39:29Josh Horowitz?

  This is a moment in time.

• 39:30Speaker 00

  A CTA, as they say, in the social media world. It was a call to action. I think it, it starts with like, do not watch this film, do not support this type of filmmaking. Do not buy this film when it goes to DVD.

• 39:45Josh Horowitz?

  Right.

• 39:45Speaker 00

  Because then the studios will want to make more of this. And there was something like, uh, I was, then he referenced, he references writing Valley of the Dolls.

• 40:00Josh Horowitz?

  Right, he wrote.

• 40:00Speaker 00

  Yes.

• 40:01Josh Horowitz?

  That's Russ Meyer, yeah, yeah, yeah.

• 40:02Speaker 00

  And he was like, look, I, I am, I'm not a stranger to vulgarity in writing and I, I support the creator, but this is.

• 40:13Josh Horowitz?

  Beyond the pale.

• 40:14Speaker 00

  Exactly. And, and, and I, I swear, it was something, I, I remember something like, like, this is literally the, the, one of the signs of the fall of Western civilization, this movie. You hated it that much.

• 40:27Josh Horowitz?

  Did you ever interact with him after the fact? Did you ever get to talk to him about it? No?

• 40:30Speaker 00

  No.

• 40:30Josh Horowitz?

  No.

• 40:31Speaker 00

  I don't, I, I don't know if I ever, I mean, we met him once or twice in passing, but it was very, but, but it was a real badge of honor.

• 40:41Josh Horowitz?

  Do you ever get, I mean, you, you are received, I would imagine, with such love by people. Everybody wants, like, just, you bring a lightness to wherever you are. Does anybody ever say to your face, like, I don't find you funny? Like, you're not my cup of tea? Like?

• 40:54Speaker 00

  Uh, sure. I mean, it, it, you know, I have the benefit now of, of, and I'm so fortunate, like, so many of these films have been watched

• 41:05Speaker 00

  so many times that, uh, it's very rare that someone's gonna say something, you know, critical to me. But I did have this amazing experience.

• 41:21Speaker 00

  I was at a restaurant, I was walking to the bathroom and I just happened to be in lockstep with this woman who looks up and is like, "Oh, hi, how are you?" And I'm like, "I'm fine." And she's like, "Oh, gosh, great to meet you." I'm like, "Thank you." She's like, "Uh, you're very funny." And I'm like, "Well, that's very nice of you." She's like, "But you're no Larry David." And I go, "Oh, well, yeah." He, uh, well, hey, and I kinda chuckle, I'm like, "Are you kidding me? He's one of the best. He's a king." She's like, "Yeah, yeah." Anyway, she goes to the bathroom, I go to the men's room.

• 42:01Speaker 00

  I don't know, somehow I come out, she comes out at the same time. She wasn't waiting for me, literally. And then she picks up right where she's like, "I'm serious, you're no Larry David."

• 42:12Josh Horowitz?

  Was it a joke?

• 42:14Speaker 00

  Yeah, like, "You're not even close to him." And then I'm like, I, I was like, "Okay, oh, oh, we're going there."

• 42:22Josh Horowitz?

  Right.

• 42:22Speaker 00

  Uh, because I do have the ability to stand up for myself, that's surprising to people. So I was like, "You know what? I get it. You like Larry David. Why don't you go back to your table and shut up?" And she's like, "Oh!" And then I just was like, "Pew."

• 42:40Josh Horowitz?

  I would imagine like, yeah.

• 42:42Speaker 00

  It was hilarious. And then I was like, "Okay, if you're gonna really keep it up, then I'll get back in your face." Like, "I get it, you like Larry David. I do too." "You made your point, shut up." And then she was taking, like, and I know she was back. So I know the B-side of that was like, "I just met that buddy, the elf, he's an asshole."

• 43:02Josh Horowitz?

  Like, for context, she was an asshole twice. She doubled down.

• 43:05Speaker 00

  I just told him I love Larry Da- her version of her, "I just told him I love Larry David."

• 43:09Josh Horowitz?

  Yeah, yeah. People must be so shocked because like, they probably imagine you don't have the capacity for anger or frustration.

• 43:15Speaker 00

  Right. Or I'll, I'll, if I'm feeling cheeky, like, I've had moments where, I had one guy go, "I don't care what they say, I think you're hilarious." And I said, "Well, thank you, but what are they saying?" He's like, "What?" "No, you said, 'I don't care what they say.'" "Well, who's they?" He's like, "Oh, no. Uh, uh, no, I didn't mean, I mean, I didn't mean it that way."

• 43:44Josh Horowitz?

  No, let's sit down and talk about it, right?

• 43:46Speaker 00

  No, I wanna break it down. Who's they? Give me the list. And then...

• 43:53Josh Horowitz?

  It's always when you go the extra step, they're like, "Never mind, sorry." Um, throughout your career, so we talked about, obviously, the collaborations with John. But like, it's always fun to see you mix it up with someone, sometimes unlikely, sometimes complimentary, whether it's, you know, it's Wahlberg or Kevin Hart, et cetera. It's like that mix of you and another actor that really creates something really special. Um, because it strikes me, like, as many of those great collaborations as there have been, like, I started to think of the things that haven't been. Like, we've never seen you with, like, like, you and Sandler, or you and Stiller, I guess, haven't ever done like a two-hander, or, like, are there...

• 44:30Speaker 00

  It's funny too, because we both, um, I don't know, Sandler and I have texted for, we've been kinda circling, like, trying to like, like, Sandler's heart has been like, "Come on, buddy, we gotta figure something out before we can't move anymore."

• 44:48Josh Horowitz?

  It would be epic.

• 44:49Speaker 00

  So, I know, I, that's on my bucket list, and I would, and, and then reached out within the last couple of years as he's wanting to get a little bit more back into acting and doing comedy and stuff, so, uh, I, it's just, you know, it's, it's hard in that you, if you're thinking of other ideas, you know, like, as time keeps moving on and everyone has their own little universes, you would think it'd be an easy thing, and I don't know why it isn't. Uh, we're all just kinda like ships passing in the night, and then it's not till you're way far away from each other, you're like,

• 45:34Speaker 00

  "Wait, how have we not done a thing?" Uh, so, yeah.

• 45:37Josh Horowitz?

  Are you in Gosling?

• 45:38Speaker 00

  I'm trying.

• 45:39Josh Horowitz?

  Okay, no pressure.

• 45:41Speaker 00

  And I'm trying with Ryan, Ryan and I have a project together, and we're, it's, it's, it's, we're banging it into shape, and I would hope that...

• 45:49Josh Horowitz?

  That's an action comedy, that's tough guys.

• 45:51Speaker 00

  Yeah, it could be a really fun thing to do with him.

• 45:54Josh Horowitz?

  I mean, he's such an underrated, maybe not anymore, but people know, I mean, he's, as a comedic personality, he's amazing.

• 45:59Speaker 00

  I mean, I think that performance in Barbie is...

• 46:04Josh Horowitz?

  Talk about commitment and just...

• 46:05Speaker 00

  Epic, and how he was not, like, that's where comedy gets the short shrift, like, you think of a, like, that should win the Oscar, sorry. No, what other actor can do this? You know, like, Jim Carrey in The Grinch.

• 46:19Josh Horowitz?

  Exactly.

• 46:20Speaker 00

  Should win the Oscar. There's not...

• 46:22Josh Horowitz?

  Degree of difficulty.

• 46:23Speaker 00

  Degree of difficulty so high, uh, and I'm not saying, because I've been asked, like, should comedy have its own Oscar category? No. But...

• 46:36Josh Horowitz?

  Acknowledge that is...

• 46:37Speaker 00

  Acknowledge that, not every year, but occasionally, there's a performance that's, should win, you know?

• 46:44Josh Horowitz?

  What kind of stuff do you say no to? Like, do you get offered that doesn't, like, I mean, like, there's so many different, like, routes you could go down, I'm sure if you wanted to, whether it's like, being, I'm sure like franchises have come and want you to kinda like, you know, be the color in this weird franchise, or...

• 47:01Speaker 00

  It's usually that. It's usually the bigger kind of, uh, things that, you know, probably would work, and probably, uh, in terms of like a tent pole franchisey piece of IP.

• 47:17Josh Horowitz?

  But you don't need that at this point, first of all, from a career standpoint.

• 47:20Speaker 00

  I'm so lucky in that I don't, and I, I just, you know, as long as I have currency out there, I'd rather spend it in other places, and, and do things that are still feel adventurous, which is why I love this series so much. I brought it back to The Hawk. Thank you. Kaboom.

• 47:39Josh Horowitz?

  A professional always.

• 47:40Speaker 00

  Kaboom.

• 47:41Josh Horowitz?

  Do you get paid extra every time you reference it?

• 47:43Speaker 00

  Yeah, I do, yeah. Uh, Hawk on Netflix, July 16th. Boom. Uh, but, but that was, that was something I hadn't done. I hadn't been a lead in a, in a, in an episodic series, uh, purely, I mean, I'd, I did Shrink Next Door with Paul, but that's, that's more, that's probably more dramatic than comedy. Um, but to get to do this longer format, to get to live with a character over 10 seasons,

• 48:11Josh Horowitz?

  10 episodes.

• 48:12Speaker 00

  To get to create...

• 48:13Josh Horowitz?

  You already shot 10 seasons?

• 48:14Speaker 00

  I'm sorry, 10 episodes, sorry. In my mind, it kinda felt like 10 seasons. Wow.

• 48:21Josh Horowitz?

  No, but that is like, I mean, that's taking advantage of where the forum's at now. Because like, back in the day, this would have been a feature when like, but now there's an appetite for this kind of thing, which must be very rewarding. And you still get to play with all your friends, Molly's in it, Luke's back.

• 48:35Speaker 00

  Uh, Chris Parnell, uh, Fortune Feimster, David Gordon Green, Harper Steele and Chris Henchy writing, uh, great. Yeah, we just got to play every day, shooting out, shooting California, uh, it was a huge deal, and, uh, and create something that, uh, you know, has a distinct voice and tone, and is really swinging for the fences.

• 49:03Josh Horowitz?

  Yeah.

• 49:04Speaker 00

  And we're not really, we're, we're kinda moving forward without any regrets or trying to kinda...

• 49:10Josh Horowitz?

  Compromise.

• 49:10Speaker 00

  Yeah, exactly.

• 49:11Josh Horowitz?

  Well, speaking of series, I forgot to mention before, Danny McBride told me that relatively recently, you guys pitched the Ashley Shafer spinoff to HBO, and they said no.

• 49:22Speaker 00

  Oh, I didn't, I didn't even know that happened.

• 49:24Josh Horowitz?

  Really?

• 49:25Speaker 00

  No, Dan, this is as far as the information I got. I had only heard rumblings of Danny had, like, would, will be interested in returning. I was like, "Sure, I don't know what that means or whatever, but I never heard anything more."

• 49:42Josh Horowitz?

  I got it. Oh, it's got awkward.

• 49:45Speaker 00

  Wow. So they went, "Yep, see? Who knows?"

• 49:51Josh Horowitz?

  Never know. All right, I'm gonna challenge you as we go in towards the end. I can only do this with people that have amazing on-screen credits. Uh, you're gonna choose your, your favorite film and your own filmography, and bracket style, since you're such a sports enthusiast, I'm gonna pit them against each other.

• 50:05Speaker 00

  Whoa.

• 50:05Josh Horowitz?

  You ready?

• 50:06Speaker 00

  Okay.

• 50:06Josh Horowitz?

  Okay, so, Anchorman versus Blades of Glory.

• 50:10Speaker 00

  I'll put my hand on the crystal.

• 50:11Josh Horowitz?

  Yep, you brought your own crystal, thank you for that. Anchorman versus Blades of Glory.

• 50:16Speaker 00

  Ding ding. Uh, I, I love them both.

• 50:21Josh Horowitz?

  Yep.

• 50:22Speaker 00

  I'm gonna say, I'm just gonna say Anchorman because it was, uh, extremely hard to get made.

• 50:28Josh Horowitz?

  Okay.

• 50:29Speaker 00

  Yeah.

• 50:29Josh Horowitz?

  Elf versus The Other Guys?

• 50:33Speaker 00

  Come on.

• 50:33Josh Horowitz?

  I know, it gets good, right?

• 50:34Speaker 00

  Come on.

• 50:35Josh Horowitz?

  It's fun, yeah.

• 50:37Speaker 00

  Because The Other Guys has been such a sleeper, like, people now reference The Other Guy, like, they finally caught up to The Other Guys.

• 50:43Josh Horowitz?

  Yep.

• 50:43Speaker 00

  Uh, well, I'll just, I, I will have to say Elf because it's brought joy. It's brought joy.

• 50:53Josh Horowitz?

  I don't think that's the way you're supposed to say that word.

• 50:55Speaker 00

  To people. They don't even watch it during Christmas. They watch it year-round.

• 51:01Josh Horowitz?

  Why are you so angry?

• 51:03Speaker 00

  Because it brings joy.

• 51:05Josh Horowitz?

  Talladega Nights versus Old School?

• 51:09Speaker 00

  Ah.

• 51:12Josh Horowitz?

  This challenge melted Jack Black's brain. It's hard, I acknowledge, this is tough.

• 51:16Speaker 00

  It's so hard. Can I say something controversial?

• 51:22Josh Horowitz?

  Let's do it.

• 51:23Speaker 00

  I'm gonna say Old School.

• 51:24Josh Horowitz?

  Okay.

• 51:25Speaker 00

  Because Old School was not, hadn't even, it was in the can.

• 51:31Josh Horowitz?

  Right.

• 51:32Speaker 00

  They pushed the release date, which is always a good sign, uh, into February, no man's land of February. Back in the days where there were real release dates that meant something. And, but Old School became such a hit that it then led to the green light of Anchorman. And it led to all this momentum, and so, and Talladega Nights wouldn't have been made without Old School.

• 52:00Josh Horowitz?

  Great logic.

• 52:01Speaker 00

  There we go.

• 52:01Josh Horowitz?

  Step Brothers versus Zoolander?

• 52:04Speaker 00

  Oh, I, I mean, uh, Step Brothers was just, it was, I think we shot over, I wanna say, a million and a half feet of film on that movie, because there was so much improvising. That was just a pure joy.

• 52:19Josh Horowitz?

  Now, we pit the winners against each other, so it's gonna be Old School versus Step Brothers.

• 52:26Speaker 00

  I'll go Step Brothers.

• 52:27Josh Horowitz?

  Okay. Anchorman versus Elf.

• 52:37Josh Horowitz?

  Well, no, he's having a stroke, right on camera. What an exclusive we got.

• 52:41Speaker 00

  I'll go.

• 52:43Josh Horowitz?

  You got this.

• 52:44Speaker 00

  I'll go Anchorman.

• 52:44Josh Horowitz?

  Okay. And finally, it's Anchorman versus Step Brothers for all the marbles. Will.

• 52:52Speaker 00

  It's gonna Anchorman.

• 52:53Josh Horowitz?

  There it is.

• 52:54Speaker 00

  Yeah.

• 52:54Josh Horowitz?

  According to the man himself.

• 52:57Speaker 00

  I don't know if I'm right. I'm probably wrong.

• 53:00Josh Horowitz?

  You're right. And finally, happy second to profoundly random questions. Are you a dogs or cat? Are you a dog or cat person?

• 53:08Speaker 00

  Always dogs, never cats. Like, cats, no way.

• 53:12Josh Horowitz?

  Wow.

• 53:13Speaker 00

  Yeah.

• 53:13Josh Horowitz?

  Aggressively.

• 53:14Speaker 00

  Strong. Anti. I'm allergic to them.

• 53:17Josh Horowitz?

  Yep.

• 53:18Speaker 00

  I don't get it.

• 53:18Josh Horowitz?

  Yeah.

• 53:19Speaker 00

  I don't get.

• 53:19Josh Horowitz?

  This is what gets you canceled, just so you know.

• 53:21Speaker 00

  Affectionate. I'm dogs. Dogs, dogs, dogs.

• 53:26Josh Horowitz?

  Okay, I'm with you for the record.

• 53:28Speaker 00

  Dogs.

• 53:28Josh Horowitz?

  Okay.

• 53:29Speaker 00

  And joy, because they bring joy.

• 53:32Josh Horowitz?

  What do you collect?

• 53:34Speaker 00

  Antique pistols.

• 53:37Speaker 00

  Knives.

• 53:38Josh Horowitz?

  There it is. There it is.

• 53:40Speaker 00

  I have like a modest little watch collection.

• 53:43Josh Horowitz?

  Love it. Favorite video game of all time?

• 53:49Speaker 00

  I don't really.

• 53:50Josh Horowitz?

  That's okay. Back in the day, nothing.

• 53:51Speaker 00

  Back in the, oh, yeah. I'm gonna, I'm gonna go either Centipede or Galaga.

• 53:57Josh Horowitz?

  Yeah.

• 53:57Speaker 00

  Yeah.

• 53:58Josh Horowitz?

  Yeah.

• 53:58Speaker 00

  Okay.

• 53:59Josh Horowitz?

  Would you rather have a mouthful of bees or one bee in your butt?

• 54:02Speaker 00

  Wait, one bee in my butt?

• 54:03Josh Horowitz?

  Yeah. Why do you say that like it's a weird question?

• 54:06Speaker 00

  Mouthful of bees. I guess I would take one bee in the butt in case it didn't try to sting me.

• 54:13Josh Horowitz?

  Yeah.

• 54:14Speaker 00

  Mouthful of bees.

• 54:15Josh Horowitz?

  That's just a nasty situation. Yeah, yeah. Wallpaper on your phone?

• 54:21Josh Horowitz?

  The background, the background on your phone. Do you have a phone? Do they let you have a phone?

• 54:26Josh Horowitz?

  Mr. Stable Genius, very stable genius.

• 54:29Speaker 00

  My genius brain shorted out.

• 54:32Josh Horowitz?

  Let's see.

• 54:32Speaker 00

  Wallpaper. My phone is off.

• 54:34Josh Horowitz?

  Okay.

• 54:34Speaker 00

  I turned it off for courtesy.

• 54:35Josh Horowitz?

  Professional, yeah, yeah. If it were on.

• 54:37Speaker 00

  I had, if it were on, I have a photo of my wife and lovely kids.

• 54:41Josh Horowitz?

  That makes sense.

• 54:41Speaker 00

  At Wimbledon. Sports name drop.

• 54:45Josh Horowitz?

  Fancy man.

• 54:45Speaker 00

  Yep.

• 54:46Josh Horowitz?

  Last actor you were mistaken for, we're not doing Chad Smith, outside of Chad.

• 54:50Speaker 00

  Okay.

• 54:50Josh Horowitz?

  Last actor you're mistaken for, anybody?

• 54:54Josh Horowitz?

  Ever happen nowadays? There's only one, Will Ferrell.

• 54:57Speaker 00

  Thank you.

• 55:02Speaker 00

  It hasn't happened for a while, hasn't for a long time. But what's his face from MASH?

• 55:11Josh Horowitz?

  Oh, yeah. Mike Farrell?

• 55:13Speaker 00

  Not Mike Farrell.

• 55:15Josh Horowitz?

  Jamie Foxx?

• 55:16Speaker 00

  The guy after Mike Farrell.

• 55:18Josh Horowitz?

  Oh.

• 55:19Speaker 00

  The guy.

• 55:20Josh Horowitz?

  Klinger?

• 55:20Speaker 00

  The little? No.

• 55:23Josh Horowitz?

  A little rusty on my MASH.

• 55:24Speaker 00

  I know.

• 55:24Josh Horowitz?

  That's okay. That's okay. Worst noted director has ever given you?

• 55:32Speaker 00

  Hmm.

• 55:34Josh Horowitz?

  I mean, you've gotten some doozies of your, your old, Adam would throw everything at you, but.

• 55:39Speaker 00

  Worst note? It's probably when it's delivered in earnest.

• 55:44Josh Horowitz?

  Yeah.

• 55:45Speaker 00

  Just have fun with it.

• 55:46Josh Horowitz?

  Yeah.

• 55:47Speaker 00

  Yeah.

• 55:47Josh Horowitz?

  Yeah.

• 55:50Josh Horowitz?

  And finally, an actor who makes you happy on screen, you're immediately in a better mood. What comes to mind?

• 56:01Speaker 00

  An actor who makes me happy?

• 56:05Speaker 00

  I will say, I mean, there's, there's, there's so many. I'll say

• 56:13Speaker 00

  Jack Black.

• 56:14Josh Horowitz?

  Yeah.

• 56:14Speaker 00

  Yeah.

• 56:15Josh Horowitz?

  Movie that makes you sad?

• 56:16Speaker 00

  Oh.

• 56:19Speaker 00

  I haven't seen it in a long, long, long, long time, but but boy, did I cry my eyes out. An amazing Italian cinema Paradiso.

• 56:29Josh Horowitz?

  Comes up a lot. It's a great one.

• 56:31Speaker 00

  Does it?

• 56:31Josh Horowitz?

  It does.

• 56:32Speaker 00

  Yeah.

• 56:32Josh Horowitz?

  I always think of the score, the New York, New York any score.

• 56:35Speaker 00

  Holy.

• 56:36Josh Horowitz?

  Come on, come on. And a food that makes you confused, Will. You don't get it. Why do people eat that food? It brings you joy. I don't get it.

• 56:44Speaker 00

  Yeah.

• 56:45Josh Horowitz?

  What is it?

• 56:48Speaker 00

  We were talking about it, driving over here, frozen yogurt.

• 56:51Josh Horowitz?

  Off the fro yo. It's coming, it's coming back.

• 56:53Speaker 00

  I know. That's how we were talking about it. There's these Shishi frozen yogurt places that have like lines around them. I mean, I'm not anti, but.

• 57:01Josh Horowitz?

  Sounds like you're anti.

• 57:02Speaker 00

  Why such joy? Well, we're frozen yogurt.

• 57:05Josh Horowitz?

  So that's how you spend the rest of your day? You're just gonna go to these shops and heckle people?

• 57:08Speaker 00

  I'm gonna go, it's a sham.

• 57:11Josh Horowitz?

  Go watch The Hawk.

• 57:12Speaker 00

  Yeah.

• 57:13Josh Horowitz?

  Get off.

• 57:15Speaker 00

  I will. I will do that. You gave me my next good idea.

• 57:17Josh Horowitz?

  There you go. And I'll see you in Malaysia for the revival of The Night Show. I'm excited for this.

• 57:23Speaker 00

  I got some good, I got a good, a good list of restaurants.

• 57:27Josh Horowitz?

  Feel like this ends with us in a Malaysian jail, which would be a good story.

• 57:31Speaker 00

  Be a great story, right?

• 57:33Josh Horowitz?

  Um, it's always a pleasure. I thank you from the bottom of my heart.

• 57:36Speaker 00

  Oh, my gosh.

• 57:36Josh Horowitz?

  You're the best, truly.

• 57:38Speaker 00

  So great to talk to you, always.

• 57:39Josh Horowitz?

  Everybody, check out The Hawk. It's coming out on his birthday, so we have to watch it.

• 57:42Speaker 00

  You have, you kind of have to.

• 57:44Josh Horowitz?

  Like honor.

• 57:44Speaker 00

  If you don't, it'd be rude.

• 57:45Josh Horowitz?

  It would be, like that woman who said, he's no Larry David.

• 57:49Speaker 00

  By the way, if you're, if you tune in to watch The Hawk and you're looking for a Larry David style performance.

• 57:56Josh Horowitz?

  No, no.

• 57:56Speaker 00

  You're not gonna find it.

• 57:57Josh Horowitz?

  It's not Larry David level, but it's solid, Will Ferrell.

• 57:59Speaker 00

  If that woman who I met in Palm Springs is watching this, don't watch The Hawk. You're the only person I don't want to watch. Everyone else I want to watch. But you don't watch it because you already don't like me.

• 58:15Josh Horowitz?

  It's a good note to end on. Thank you, Will.

• 58:17Speaker 00

  Thank you.

• 58:20Speaker 02

  And so ends another edition of Happy, Sad, Confused. Remember to review, rate, and subscribe to this show on iTunes or wherever you get your podcasts. I'm a big podcast person. I'm Daisy Ridley, and I definitely wasn't. Did this by George.

• 58:37Speaker 04

  For eight years, we've been asking the same question over and over again. How did this happen? My name's Mandy. And I'm Melissa, and we're the hosts of Moms and Mysteries, the true crime podcast with over 55 million downloads. We're two Florida moms who are obsessed with mysteries. Each week, we do deep dives into fascinating true crime stories. We cover everything from infamous cases like Casey Anthony to the bizarre and complex crimes right here in our home state, like the shocking murder of FSU Professor Dan Markell. We bring you the facts, but with warmth and width you'd only get from two friends who have been hooked on mysteries since childhood. Join us for new episodes of Moms and Mysteries every Tuesday and Thursday. Listen to Moms and Mysteries on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.