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Transcript Speaker names marked ? are inferred from speaking time and the show’s known hosts — they are not voice-verified.
0:06 Adam Friedland? Hello folks, we're back again with our third installment of the Lost Episodes series. This week, our guest was Tom Fontana, who, as some of you know, probably none of you, oh, okay. This week, our guest was Tom Fontana, who created the show Oz on HBO, which was about a maximum-security prison. He also worked on the legendary television series Homicide Life on the Street. It's a really good interview. I don't know if you guys are gonna care, but he's a really good guy. And I think you could tell, this was recorded 20, what was it? 2023. 2023. It's interesting, because if you kind of match it with my arc, if you've been
0:49 Adam Friedland? following the series, this is when I decided to try and start being a good interviewer. And during the edit, we had to cut out me saying "to some extent." So at some points, I said it every single question, and at some points, I would say it up to three times during a question, "to some extent." I've become a better interviewer at this point, I think. He's a really good guy, really interesting conversation. I don't know if you guys are... Who fucking cares what you think, honestly? I'm growing with confidence every day. I am. You people have no idea how high I can fly. There's a story called Jonathan Livingston
1:33 Adam Friedland? Segal. Kobe Bryant was between his rookie and second year in the NBA. He was lifting weights at Gold's Gym in Venice Beach, California, or Marina Del Rey, California. I don't know why it's important that I remember that, because he said he had a boy's body, and he got a call, and he picked up his phone while he was at the gym, and the call said, "Kobe, it's Michael. I'd like you to come to Neverland." And he said, "This must be some sort of joke," and he hung up, and then he got a call back shortly thereafter. He said, "Kobe, I'm not shitting you. It's actually Michael." And so he went out to Neverland
2:13 Adam Friedland? Ranch and met fellow icon Michael Jackson. And he gave him a book called Jonathan Livingston Segal, about a bird who wanted to fly higher than any other bird.
2:27 Adam Friedland? And at some point, he would fly too high. I don't know, what's the story about? Can someone look that up? I've never actually read a book. Basically, Michael sat Kobe down and he said, "Listen, I see you, and I know that you're like me. You're different. And I know that they will give you everything and I know that they will take it away." And that is what society did to both those men. "I'm gaining confidence every week. And much like that seagull, Jonathan Livingston Seagull, in this child's book that Michael Jackson gave Kobe Bryant, I will fly so high that it might kill me."
3:03 Speaker 01 He flew faster. He wanted to fly faster and higher than any seagull before him. He was bored with squabbling over food. Jonathan is passionate about flight and pushes himself to do whatever he can.
3:13 Adam Friedland? And every other seagull made fun of him.
3:14 Speaker 01 Every other seagull made fun of him.
3:16 Adam Friedland? This is gonna be one of the funniest things that ever happens in American culture. A fool, a joke, a jester, a clown, will become one of the most important public intellectuals of our time. Kobe Bryant, Michael Jackson, Adam Friedland.
3:33 Adam Friedland? I used to watch Oz with my family. I used to watch Oz with my family when the... We'd watch Oz... On Sunday nights, we'd watch The Sopranos and then Oz. It was kind of the first prestige television series. It kind of did set everything in motion for like how television changed. It preceded The Sopranos. Were not for Oz, there would be no Blackish.
3:58 Adam Friedland? Next week, we conclude our series with the much anticipated Hasan Piker episode.
4:07 Adam Friedland? So stay tuned for that. And then, the rest is history. Strap in, guys.
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5:32 Adam Friedland? TAFS at checkout, save.
5:36 Adam Friedland? Our next guest is perhaps responsible for modern prestige television, I think.
5:44 Speaker 02 I thought you were gonna say the end of civilization as we know it.
5:48 Adam Friedland? Our next guest is responsible for a majority of modern day slurs in the American vernacular. Um, no. Uh, everyone, please welcome writer, producer, Tom Fontana. Normally, we do a big, we do a big walkout, but you were complaining that you're old and your knee hurts.
6:07 Speaker 02 I am old, I would have tripped on the thing and the face in the rug. It would have just, it would have been a great opening.
6:12 Adam Friedland? It would have been funny.
6:13 Speaker 02 I know.
6:14 Adam Friedland? Yeah.
6:14 Speaker 02 I'm a drama guy, I don't do funny.
6:16 Adam Friedland? You don't do comedy?
6:17 Speaker 02 No.
6:18 Adam Friedland? There were funny parts of Oz.
6:19 Speaker 02 There were. I actually thought it was the funniest show on television, but I was in the minority there.
6:25 Adam Friedland? I thought it was the sexiest show on television.
6:27 Speaker 02 Ah, good, good.
6:29 Adam Friedland? No, but I actually used to, I, we had, um, we had another guest.
6:34 Speaker 02 Ernie.
6:35 Adam Friedland? Ernie.
6:36 Speaker 02 I saw that one, yes.
6:37 Adam Friedland? Um, who was the warden, um, of Oz, and I told him when he was on the, I don't know if it actually made the episode, but I told him I used to watch it with my parents, uh, in, in Succession with The Sopranos. And, um, watching that amount of, uh, of prison rape with my mother was quite an experience. I think it's kind of like made me, uh, into the person I am today, for, for better or for worse.
7:00 Speaker 02 For better or for worse. Well, I, you know, my sweet Sicilian-American mother. I would call her every Sunday and she'd tell her what was going on. And I said, "Look, Ma, there's a show coming on that I did and you cannot watch it. Under no circumstances can you watch it." And she said, "What are you talking about? Of course I'm gonna watch it. You're my son and I love you. I'm gonna watch your show." I go, "Nah, you don't really, you don't really wanna watch it." And she argued and we argued and then she won, 'cause she's the mother. And I said, "Okay, watch it, but under two conditions. One is, we never speak of it. And number two, if a friend of yours says, 'Is that your son Tom's show? ' Deny me, okay?" So two weeks go by, nothing on the thing.
7:45 Speaker 02 And then, third Sunday, she says, "Can I ask you one question about us?" And I go, "Ma, we said we weren't gonna talk about it." And she goes, "Just one question." I go, "What?" She goes, "Are any more of those nice boys going to die?"
8:00 Speaker 02 That's my mother, was my mother.
8:01 Adam Friedland? I thought you were gonna say that she converted to the Nation of Islam.
8:06 Adam Friedland? It's funny, I had a similar experience. We used to do a podcast called Cum Town. Yeah, "Oh My God Is Right." And for like six months, I didn't tell my parents about it. And then my dad saw on the internet that I was on a podcast called Cum Town. We tried to choose, Nick chose what he thought was the worst, least appealing name for anything. And then we used to refer to ourselves as the Cum Boys. And my dad called me furiously one day and he said, "Do you think a woman will ever marry a Cum Boy?" And thus far, he's been proven correct.
8:39 Speaker 02 But after the women in America see this interview?
8:44 Adam Friedland? Yes.
8:45 Speaker 02 Your phone isn't gonna stop ringing.
8:46 Adam Friedland? Oh my God, I've gotten pretty much every guest laid thus far.
8:49 Speaker 02 Really?
8:50 Adam Friedland? Yeah, yeah, we're gonna be going to, we're gonna...
8:51 Speaker 02 I gave my dick to the Smithsonian.
8:53 Adam Friedland? Did you?
8:54 Speaker 02 So I don't, I don't have much, you know...
8:57 Adam Friedland? Well, I was gonna ask you...
8:58 Speaker 02 I could get it back, but...
9:00 Adam Friedland? It's so funny, it's, I was gonna ask you, actually, we brought up penises within, what was it? 30 seconds of this interview? But you must have seen probably over a thousand penises in the flesh in your life. Like a, basically like a penis doctor's amount of penises.
9:17 Speaker 02 I would say, and it's not like when actors came to audition, I made them drop their drawers and show me their penis. I sort of went on faith.
9:25 Adam Friedland? You did a casting cast.
9:27 Speaker 02 No, I did not. I did nothing other than judge their acting and, you know.
9:33 Adam Friedland? I understand the character that played Ata Bisi said that his audition was behind a hole. Where he put his, he put his member through it. But apparently he used to take his penis out a lot on set.
9:45 Speaker 02 Well, what was great about Atawali was that if it was in the script that it said, Ata Bisi takes out his penis, he would say, "I don't understand why I take out my penis in this scene." And I'd be like, "Well, if you don't want to take out your penis, don't take out your penis. I'm not going to force you to take out your penis."
10:02 Adam Friedland? Yeah.
10:03 Speaker 02 In the very next scene that we would shoot, that day, he would just take out his penis. It wasn't scripted.
10:10 Adam Friedland? He would just improv taking his penis out.
10:12 Speaker 02 Yeah, but he wouldn't do it in a scene where it was written. He would only do it in the scene after.
10:17 Adam Friedland? I've, I've tried to do that, but we don't have the, we're not shooting in, in 8K right now. So it wouldn't really pick up.
10:28 Speaker 02 Strike that from the record.
10:31 Speaker 02 Strike that from the record, Adam.
10:33 Adam Friedland? No, that's great. That's a nice prank to, you can really only do that on a, on a production where it's, where it's pretty much all male.
10:42 Speaker 02 Yes, yes. There were no, there were no women on the set at that particular moment.
10:47 Adam Friedland? Yes.
10:50 Adam Friedland? Especially in this day and age.
10:52 Speaker 02 Yeah, though, though, anyone who worked on it, we actually had, you know, sexual conversations with the cast and the crew. Even though it wasn't required at the time, because the, because it was so intense. We wanted to make sure everybody, I mean, I, I didn't want anybody to come on there and think. Oh, what did I get myself into? So I was very serious about making sure that people felt comfortable.
11:20 Adam Friedland? Yeah.
11:21 Speaker 02 What was remarkable to me is how many people felt comfortable taking out their penis.
11:25 Adam Friedland? Well, yeah, I mean, I think one thing that's interesting about the show is it was kind of at the forefront of having male nudity in popular media and homosexual sex.
11:37 Speaker 02 Well, we didn't just have homosexual sex. We had all kinds of sex.
11:41 Adam Friedland? Well, I kind of.
11:42 Speaker 02 No, we didn't have bestiality.
11:43 Adam Friedland? Yeah, yeah.
11:44 Speaker 02 If we had done another season.
11:46 Adam Friedland? You would have.
11:46 Speaker 02 That's where I would have gone.
11:48 Adam Friedland? You would have had, you would have had animal inmates perhaps?
11:50 Speaker 02 Yeah, I would have had like an anteater or something, you know?
11:53 Adam Friedland? That guy would have been the belle of the ball, let me tell you. Nowadays, there's this conversation about representation and like homicide was like, had some like, launched careers of like so many like famous black actors.
12:06 Speaker 02 We actually had, at one time, had more, a more diverse cast. We had more people of color than we had white people as regulars on the show.
12:19 Adam Friedland? Yeah.
12:19 Speaker 02 Because Barry Levinson, who's my business partner, and he comes from Baltimore, so he knows, he knows the territory. Our feeling was that the show, if we're gonna shoot a show in Baltimore, it needed to represent the town.
12:35 Adam Friedland? Yeah.
12:35 Speaker 02 And you couldn't just say, well, and look, they're all, there's all these white homicide detectives. It just felt dishonest, so.
12:42 Adam Friedland? Right. Do you think that homicide could be made nowadays? Because I think like, the nice, the interesting thing about that show is that things weren't, it wasn't like a car chase heavy program. It wasn't like sexy, it wasn't violent. It was, it was a procedural and it was like, there was a lot of conversation happening on
12:59 Speaker 02 It was a sloppy procedural because we, unlike Law and Order, which was running simultaneous while we were on.
13:09 Speaker 02 We didn't solve all the murders and we didn't actually do the law very well. We were just, we were more, we were more about the characters. That's what we really cared about was who are these, who are these men and women who face a dead body every day of their lives?
13:26 Adam Friedland? So, I mean, that, that kind of comes from your background, I think, probably. Because you came from the theater, so like, a lot of your, a lot of, from what I've been able to discern, I'm not a very intelligent person, but like, a lot of what you do is about, is about the people. It's not necessarily about like, getting from point A to point B, or like, twist endings,
13:44 Speaker 02 or like- Plot, plot has to come from character action, not from a writer's need to get to a story point.
13:55 Adam Friedland? Right, yeah, exactly. There would be no Sopranos, there would be no fucking Entourage if it weren't for you. Like, HBO was-
14:02 Speaker 02 Wait, is that something I'm supposed to be proud of?
14:05 Adam Friedland? I think so, it's an amazing show, I've seen every episode. I mean, I don't know if it's-
14:09 Speaker 02 Is that just wishful thinking on your part, that you're gonna have an entourage?
14:12 Adam Friedland? There would be no Sex in the City, were it not for you. Like, like, so many of the shittiest women in America have moved to the, to New York City because of you. It's true, so-
14:24 Speaker 02 I think Sarah Jessica said, that's her responsibility.
14:27 Adam Friedland? No, no, no, no, you were, you were the first, you were like, literally the first narrative, like, television program on HBO.
14:35 Speaker 02 Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. But, I don't, all I did was open the door for other creative people to do whatever shit they wanted to do. It's not like, it's not like David Chase looked at Oz and went, "I'm gonna do the New Jersey gangster version of Oz." He made his own, he had a story to tell, he had characters he wanted to write about, you know?
14:57 Adam Friedland? Okay, I'm hyping it up, and I'm saying like, what you created is, but it definitely has been emulated plenty of times, like, in terms of prestige narrative television. It is like, one of the major artistic mediums today. And like, Oz was kind of at the forefront of it.
15:10 Speaker 02 Well, I appreciate you saying that, and, and all I'm saying is that what, what we did with Oz was just have an opportunity to break all the rules, and we broke all the rules. So, that, all that said was to everyone else coming into HBO is, you can break all the rules too.
15:27 Adam Friedland? So you, in the opening credits of Oz, you got the tattoo that are-
15:31 Speaker 02 I did, indeed.
15:32 Adam Friedland? Can we see it?
15:32 Speaker 02 Uh, yes.
15:34 Adam Friedland? Let's see it. O Z. Okay, so that's interesting, because I was under the impression that you tattooed D R in front of it. During the recent Pennsylvania senatorial election.
15:49 Speaker 02 No, but I will tell you something. I met Dr. Oz once, and he asked me to take a photograph with him. And, well, me, he didn't care so much about. My arm and, and he, and he, he's like leaning in very goofily.
16:06 Adam Friedland? He's kind of like a schmuck.
16:08 Speaker 02 I didn't get to spend much time with him, so I don't really, I mean, he certainly came off as a schmuck, thank God, in Pennsylvania.
16:16 Adam Friedland? Yeah, yeah, yeah. One thing that's interesting to me about seeing, viewing you as a playwright, and then as someone that likes Oz, is that I think that those two, those two things are intrinsically linked, in my mind, right?
16:30 Speaker 02 I totally agree with you.
16:31 Adam Friedland? Like Oz is like a play.
16:32 Speaker 02 Yeah, I mean, it's basically one very large set, and the, you know, the Harold Perrinow character, Augustus Hill, is basically a Greek chorus, yeah.
16:43 Adam Friedland? The fact that it's one location, you have the flashback scenes, that it feels like a play because of that, but beyond that, it feels like a claustrophobic show. And to some extent, it mimics the, like, what incarceration is like for the audience.
16:57 Speaker 02 Yes, yes. That, that was the intention. To only escape from it in very short bursts of the flashbacks. And then, for Augustus Hill to be a kind of, not an escape so much as just a breath between one horrific act and another horrific act.
17:16 Adam Friedland? How it, like, did you have a Greek chorus in homicide, or was, it was more like detectives just talking about a cake?
17:22 Speaker 02 Yeah, the thing is, the thing is, in, you know, in a, with cops, they have to drive to the crime scene and back from the crime scene. So they have a lot of time to bullshit.
17:33 Adam Friedland? Right.
17:34 Speaker 02 And that was easy, that was fun to write. With, with, with a prison, they don't really get that personal.
17:45 Speaker 02 You know what I mean amongst each other?
17:47 Adam Friedland? No, it's all about like people acting like bigging themselves up.
17:51 Speaker 02 Yeah, and the more vulnerability you have, the more in danger you are.
17:56 Adam Friedland? Correct.
17:56 Speaker 02 So, um, so that, so I had to find another way to sort of, you know, show off.
18:03 Adam Friedland? I would be fucking eaten up on the inside.
18:06 Speaker 02 I, I would be too.
18:07 Adam Friedland? No, you'd be all right. I mean, I would, what would I do? Join the fucking Aryan Brotherhood? What does a Jewish guy do on the inside?
18:16 Speaker 02 Pray?
18:17 Adam Friedland? Pray? Why don't, why don't you tattle, why, people should tattle more, I feel like.
18:22 Speaker 02 Yeah?
18:23 Adam Friedland? I feel like if I'm getting raped every night, I'm just like, I'm gonna tattle tales. Why is it, oh, snitches get stitches, which, what, what's worse, getting raped in the ass repeat? I'd rather get stitches.
18:35 Speaker 02 But you could also get.
18:39 Speaker 02 Well, I, I, let's, let's just hope that you never have to go.
18:43 Adam Friedland? Oh, call me a snitch. Oh, boo hoo. Oh, I'm a snitch. Or at least I'm not getting brutalized every night.
18:51 Speaker 02 The thing is, you could snitch and it wouldn't necessarily change anything.
18:55 Adam Friedland? Oh, I'd snitch my way straight to the top.
18:57 Speaker 02 Really?
18:57 Adam Friedland? I'd be vice warden by the end of it. So you're currently on strike. You were telling us you're picketing for the WGA.
19:03 Speaker 02 I am, I am.
19:04 Adam Friedland? So one of the major sticking points of the strike right now is the influence of AI technology.
19:10 Speaker 02 Yes.
19:10 Adam Friedland? So we put, um, into ChatGPT.
19:14 Speaker 02 Oh, no.
19:16 Adam Friedland? We put, uh, write a short synopsis of a sequel to the hit HBO television Oz takes place in 2023. And I think you might be shit outlook. I don't know if you're gonna, I think you might be out of a job. You want me to, you want me to read it to you?
19:30 Speaker 02 Uh, not particularly, no.
19:32 Adam Friedland? Okay, but you, there's some good stuff in here. There's a character Jamal the Jester Jackson, who's a charismatic and street smart inmate, who becomes a focal point as he maneuvers through the complex power dynamics and various, of the various factions vying for control of Oswald State.
19:50 Speaker 02 That sounds like your character.
19:51 Adam Friedland? You, how could, you would have never been able to come up with Jamal the Jester Jackson. I mean, this is, the computer is taking our job.
20:00 Speaker 02 True, this is very true, and I'm very proud of the fact I would have never come up with that.
20:06 Adam Friedland? Why, why? This is gold right here. Black Joker, yeah.
20:12 Speaker 02 Black Joker.
20:13 Adam Friedland? That would be good. This is, even the name, how, you have never come up with this. Oz: Reckoning.
20:20 Speaker 02 Hmm, yes.
20:22 Adam Friedland? That's pretty good. That's pretty good. Here's one, I asked them to write it as a comedy. Okay. Um, Oz: Hilarious Havoc. They like alliteration, the computer. It delivers belly laughs while celebrating the enduring bonds formed within the unlikeliest of environments. That's pretty good. That's pretty good. Can you walk us through the musical episode? I think that's one of the best episodes of the entire series.
20:57 Speaker 02 Oh, well, thanks. Well, what happened was Harold Perrinow, who was playing Augustus Hill, called me and said, before the season started, and said he'd been offered a part in Matrix 3, 2, I don't know which number.
21:16 Adam Friedland? Was it also in a wheelchair in Matrix, or am I wrong? Or am I just confusing the two?
21:21 Speaker 02 I have to admit, I never saw Matrix.
21:25 Adam Friedland? You didn't see it?
21:26 Speaker 02 I was busy that week.
21:28 Adam Friedland? There's this guy Morpheus, and then there's this guy Neo, and he's the one.
21:32 Speaker 02 Hmm, the one what?
21:33 Adam Friedland? I don't know, just the one.
21:35 Speaker 02 Oh, okay.
21:36 Adam Friedland? And then he's fighting the robot, okay.
21:38 Speaker 02 All right.
21:39 Adam Friedland? And the robots are catchy, but he's...
21:40 Speaker 02 So Harold says, I got offered this part, but it shoots in New Zealand or some godforsaken place.
21:47 Adam Friedland? I think they shot in Australia, yeah.
21:48 Speaker 02 Yeah. So he says, look, I can work it out that I can do a bunch of Oz episodes, and then I'll be gone, and then I can come back and do a bunch of Oz episodes. And I said, great, I'll work around it. Because my attitude about actors is, about anybody, anybody in our business is, if there's an opportunity, they should be given the opportunity, they shouldn't be stuck. Working for me when they could be in godforsaken New Zealand shooting Matrix 12.
22:18 Adam Friedland? Why godforsaken? I think there are good people down there.
22:21 Speaker 02 No, I know, I'm just, I've never been and.
22:23 Adam Friedland? No, no, they're awful people you shouldn't go.
22:25 Speaker 02 Really?
22:25 Adam Friedland? They're terrible.
22:26 Speaker 02 I mean, they're all, they were all.
22:28 Adam Friedland? Australia, New Zealand is fine, Australia, you don't even get me started on those.
22:31 Speaker 02 Yeah, yeah, because they were all, they all were prisoners from England, right?
22:35 Adam Friedland? They're prisoners, it's like Oz the country.
22:37 Speaker 02 Yeah, Oz the country, which maybe that's our spinoff.
22:40 Adam Friedland? This is the spinoff.
22:41 Speaker 02 She?
22:42 Adam Friedland? Jewish Oz the country, and it's called Israel, and they have a controlled prison called Gaza.
22:47 Speaker 02 Oh, oh my god. Oh my god.
22:51 Adam Friedland? A little spicy, a little spicy, sorry. I forget that you work in Hollywood, so you're by de facto, you've been bar mitzvahed, so.
23:00 Speaker 02 I, I, yes.
23:02 Adam Friedland? Yeah.
23:02 Speaker 02 I mean, yes.
23:03 Adam Friedland? David, David Simon did your bar mitzvah.
23:06 Speaker 02 Yeah, yes.
23:07 Adam Friedland? Okay, so, okay, continue, so he said that he wanted to work on it, so then how the musical idea came up?
23:13 Speaker 02 So, so, I, every, so the episodes that he wasn't going to be around for, I had to figure out something to fill the, to fill the box, as we called it, so I thought, I'll do one that's a musical because I had J.K. Simmons, who before he was the most evil human being on the planet, he was a Broadway musical star. I had actually seen him play Captain Hook in Peter Pan.
23:42 Adam Friedland? Wow.
23:43 Speaker 02 And also he was in some other ones. Rita Moreno won an Oscar for West Side Story.
23:52 Adam Friedland? Yeah, Maria.
23:54 Speaker 02 Maria, Evan Seinfeld was the leader of a band called.
23:59 Adam Friedland? Oh, sorry.
24:00 Speaker 02 Biohazard.
24:00 Adam Friedland? No, oh, never mind.
24:03 Adam Friedland? That would have been good if you cast Jerry.
24:06 Speaker 02 Well, you know, you know about the Saturday Night Live episode.
24:10 Adam Friedland? No, no, no.
24:10 Speaker 02 Okay, so the year that after the, after Seinfeld went off.
24:14 Adam Friedland? Yeah.
24:15 Speaker 02 He was going to host the first evening of Saturday Night Live of the new season. And he came up with this idea that because they ended the show in prison.
24:25 Adam Friedland? Yeah, in the finale.
24:27 Speaker 02 Seinfeld would be sent to Oz.
24:30 Adam Friedland? Yeah.
24:30 Speaker 02 And, um, and they originally were going to do it with their guys playing. You know, they were going to do a set with the Oz set and they were going to do it with their guys playing the Oz characters. And Seinfeld said, no, I want to shoot it on the Oz set with the Oz actors.
24:45 Adam Friedland? Which was the Nabisco factory, correct?
24:47 Speaker 02 Originally, yes. But you should look at this.
24:50 Adam Friedland? I gotta watch it. Was it funny?
24:51 Speaker 02 Ye who has seen so many episodes of Oz, this is like the lost Jerry Seinfeld episode of Oz.
24:59 Adam Friedland? Well, can you imagine what the Nation of Islam would make, make of Kramer after what he said?
25:03 Speaker 02 Yeah, but that was, this was before that, so. This was before that.
25:08 Adam Friedland? That was before that.
25:09 Speaker 02 Yeah.
25:09 Adam Friedland? The joke is that they go to Oz and that Kramer has a racist.
25:14 Speaker 02 Got it. I got it.
25:16 Adam Friedland? Breakdown.
25:16 Speaker 02 I got it.
25:17 Adam Friedland? At the open mic night of Oswald Correctional Facility. And then he is shanked by the Nation of Islam.
25:25 Speaker 02 All right.
25:25 Adam Friedland? Yeah.
25:27 Speaker 02 Is that one of the AI-generated ideas?
25:29 Adam Friedland? Yes, it is. In fact, it just got a deal at Netflix.
25:34 Speaker 02 Really?
25:35 Adam Friedland? That idea, yeah. Racist Kramer Prison.
25:37 Speaker 02 Okay, good, good.
25:40 Adam Friedland? I think, um, just to like, if you'd like, we could talk a little bit about your later projects. And, um, we can, I know we're in the middle of a strike right now, so we can't like be pitching any.
25:51 Speaker 02 I can't, I can't really do too much promotion other than to say that I've got a couple of things that will come.
25:59 Adam Friedland? That are on the way.
26:00 Speaker 02 On the way, yes.
26:01 Adam Friedland? Do you have, as someone that's been an artist for 50 years, like half a century. Do you, what, what are your like lasting creative ambitions? Like what, what drives you like five decades into a career?
26:17 Speaker 02 I would say, as long as I can keep causing trouble and telling stories as honestly as I can tell them, then that's...
26:26 Adam Friedland? If you finish a project, how does it feel? Do you hate, like, what?
26:31 Speaker 02 I hate it while I'm writing it.
26:33 Adam Friedland? Right.
26:34 Speaker 02 I hate it while I'm writing it. Once I'm done with the final mix and the episode is complete, I never watch my old shows again.
26:46 Adam Friedland? I think that's a pretty consistent answer that a lot of people that have been working, you know, as consistently as you have give. Like Woody Allen, for instance, I don't think he's ever watched, after he locks picture, I don't think he watches.
26:58 Speaker 02 Is that right?
26:59 Adam Friedland? I don't think he watches anything.
27:00 Speaker 02 The fact that I'm now being compared to Woody Allen...
27:02 Adam Friedland? Well, you have a lot in common. You have a lot in common.
27:05 Speaker 02 Not...
27:06 Adam Friedland? Both friends with Jeffrey Epstein. What?
27:09 Speaker 02 I don't have a young wife.
27:11 Adam Friedland? Well...
27:13 Speaker 02 I don't.
27:15 Adam Friedland? You have an old wife?
27:16 Speaker 02 No, I have a, I'm a widower.
27:18 Adam Friedland? You're a widower?
27:19 Speaker 02 Yes. But you don't want to really talk about that. This is a comedy show.
27:24 Adam Friedland? I don't know. We don't know, we don't, we have moments of pathos.
27:29 Speaker 02 Really?
27:30 Adam Friedland? Yeah.
27:31 Speaker 02 Okay.
27:31 Adam Friedland? I've been mostly the guest, you're the first guest not to cry.
27:34 Speaker 02 Huh?
27:34 Adam Friedland? You're the first guest not to cry.
27:36 Speaker 02 Is that right?
27:36 Adam Friedland? Yeah.
27:38 Speaker 02 Okay, well, I can't fake it, so...
27:42 Speaker 02 If I was an actor, I would cry.
27:45 Adam Friedland? Would you?
27:45 Speaker 02 But I can't fake it, so...
27:47 Adam Friedland? But you have acted. You're a tattoo actor.
27:49 Speaker 02 I'm a main titles actor, yes.
27:52 Adam Friedland? You're a main titles tattoo actor?
27:54 Speaker 02 Yeah. I'm actually in the very last episode of Oz.
27:57 Adam Friedland? Are you? During the fire?
27:59 Speaker 02 I am, I'm in a hazmat suit and I walk up to the guard station and I turn off the lights.
28:07 Adam Friedland? Oh, kind of like, like in a sitcom where they like look back at the empty apartment and then they, and then they turn off the light and then they lock the door.
28:16 Speaker 02 Yes, like Mary Tyler Moore.
28:17 Adam Friedland? Yeah.
28:18 Speaker 02 That's who it was based on. Though if she'd have worn a hazmat suit, would have been much better.
28:23 Adam Friedland? I think so, too.
28:24 Speaker 02 Would have been funnier.
28:25 Adam Friedland? Hilarious.
28:25 Speaker 02 Yeah.
28:26 Adam Friedland? So, you, you gave Norman Lear his first job in show business?
28:31 Speaker 02 I actually baptized him.
28:33 Adam Friedland? You did?
28:34 Speaker 02 Yeah.
28:34 Adam Friedland? I thought it was one of us.
28:35 Speaker 02 Yeah, that's what happened. It didn't take.
28:37 Adam Friedland? He's still alive, too?
28:39 Speaker 02 He is great. Norman is awe inspiring and I honestly hope he lives forever because as long as he's alive, I'm not the oldest guy in show business.
28:51 Adam Friedland? You can't be the oldest guy. Mel Brooks is still alive.
28:53 Speaker 02 That's true.
28:54 Adam Friedland? I thought that, I thought that after Carl Reiner went, I thought he'd go.
28:59 Speaker 02 I know, because they were the great.
29:01 Adam Friedland? They'd hang out every single day.
29:02 Speaker 02 Yeah, watching, watching.
29:04 Adam Friedland? Like action movies.
29:06 Speaker 02 Yeah, with the TV tray.
29:09 Adam Friedland? Eating deli, watching action movies. Yeah, I think he said that their favorite movies were movies where they say, "Secure the perimeter."
29:17 Adam Friedland? Those are good movies.
29:19 Speaker 02 Do you know that?
29:19 Adam Friedland? I want to do that with my boys.
29:21 Speaker 02 Do you know that after Carl died, Mel Brooks, he asked if he could still go to the house and watch TV? And until they sold the house, they finally sold the house.
29:33 Adam Friedland? That is so funny.
29:34 Speaker 02 But he went over every night and watched TV and?
29:37 Adam Friedland? It was a good TV, maybe.
29:38 Speaker 02 Maybe better than the one he had.
29:40 Adam Friedland? Maybe better.
29:41 Speaker 02 The Fakka one he had.
29:42 Adam Friedland? Fakka TV, he has to go over there. There's no other TVs that he could buy. We are, we are a terrible people, us. My father is just like.
29:53 Speaker 02 Are you gonna cry? If you're gonna talk about your father, are you gonna cry?
29:56 Adam Friedland? My father's a widower, too. He's about to be here this week.
30:00 Speaker 02 Nice.
30:01 Adam Friedland? I have to go, I have to go, I have to go to singles bars with him. We have to go on the prowl. You want to come with us?
30:08 Speaker 02 I was gonna try to do Jack Benny.
30:09 Adam Friedland? Well, you're 71?
30:10 Speaker 02 Yes.
30:11 Adam Friedland? He's 71 as well.
30:12 Speaker 02 You're kidding?
30:12 Adam Friedland? You were born 1951?
30:14 Speaker 02 Yes.
30:14 Adam Friedland? Same as, so is my dad. What's your birthday?
30:16 Speaker 02 12th of September.
30:17 Adam Friedland? Oh, he's, he's next week.
30:21 Speaker 02 Well, he'll be older than me then, and I can't go out with people who are older than me.
30:24 Adam Friedland? What are you talking about? You guys are peers. You kind of look similar.
30:27 Speaker 02 Really?
30:28 Adam Friedland? He's a little bit shorter.
30:29 Speaker 02 Yeah.
30:30 Adam Friedland? I'm trying to set him up with a guy. Do you want to fuck my dad?
30:37 Speaker 02 You know?
30:38 Adam Friedland? No, you guys can be friends.
30:43 Adam Friedland? Sorry that I want you to have a new friend. Sorry, you have enough friends, because your friends were what? David Simon and fucking Dick Wolf and whoever. Is he dead, Dick Wolf?
30:51 Speaker 02 No, he's not dead.
30:55 Speaker 02 Oh my god.
30:56 Adam Friedland? My dad would love this, if you guys went out together, you're like...
30:59 Speaker 02 You just don't want to go out with him. You just don't want to take him to Singapore.
31:03 Adam Friedland? I'm not trying to pawn him off.
31:04 Speaker 02 Yes, you are. I can feel it.
31:05 Adam Friedland? He dresses like you. No, the three of us would go out. We'd be cut of a little bit of...
31:11 Speaker 02 Why are you yelling at me?
31:12 Adam Friedland? I don't know why I'm yelling at you. I'm a fan!
31:18 Adam Friedland? Alright, um, any, any final thoughts?
31:21 Speaker 02 Can I leave now?
31:21 Adam Friedland? Yeah, you can leave. You can go. Where are you going right now? To see a friend?
31:24 Speaker 02 I'm gonna go to see a friend of mine in the hospital. Because, listen...
31:28 Adam Friedland? Why you have to kill the vibe? Every time I ask a nice question...
31:30 Speaker 02 After this, going to the hospital will be more fun.
31:33 Adam Friedland? No, shut up.
31:35 Speaker 02 I'm just saying.
31:35 Adam Friedland? You've enjoyed this thoroughly.
31:37 Speaker 02 I, the best hour and a half of my life.
31:40 Adam Friedland? I really put the screws. No, it's less than an hour.
31:43 Speaker 02 I know, but it felt like an hour and a half.
31:45 Adam Friedland? Shut up. Tom Fontana, my best friend. My dad's best friend.
31:50 Speaker 02 Do you, do you actually add more applause? Because that sort of sounds pathetic.
31:55 Adam Friedland? No, no, no. That's the charm of the show, is that it's like, "Ohhh." Good episode, Adam. We've tricked another guest into being berated by you. Thank you so much, man.
32:07 Speaker 02 No, thank you.
32:08 Adam Friedland? You had fun?
32:09 Speaker 02 Yeah, I did, I did.
32:10 Adam Friedland? So this was better than Charlie Rose, or a little worse?
32:12 Speaker 02 Uh, Charlie Rose, you know, Charlie Rose had a, a cold.
Previous The Adam Friedland Show - Julian Casablancas Ft The Black Keys - The Lost Episodes Next HASAN PIKER | Politics Online, Fashion, Sex, Mr. Beast? Page updated November 4, 2026 · transcript and summary are machine-generated