The Gang Gets Whacked: Part 1 | Always Sunny Podcast – The Always Sunny Podcast
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Episode #35

The Gang Gets Whacked: Part 1

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35. The Gang Gets Whacked: Part 1

On the pod, the guys revisit The Gang Gets Whacked: Part 1 from It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia Season 3, Episode 12.

Glenn Howerton: Oh, okay. Okay.

Rob McElhenney: Well we're four minutes in to uh-after six o'clock, and uh, we're all here. Except uh, somebody’s missing.

Glenn: Well, Rob, are we all here? Are-are-are you really here? Right. Because I feel like you're, um--

Rob: Do I look it?

Glenn: You look a, you know-- Listen buddy, I, you don't ever-- I've never seen you look, uh, like the kind of tired where you look terrible, but I mean, I could just tell by the facial expressions you're making, the-the-the amount that you're blinking, uh, that you're struggling right now.

Rob: I'm struggling. Yeah.

Glenn: And it's hard to see your friend struggle. It's tough.

Rob: Thanks buddy.

Glenn: I don't like it.

Rob: Uh, yeah. Yeah.

Glenn: Um, why don't you tell everybody what you were just-- Why don't you tell everybody what you were just doing and why it was so important, and uh, and uh, let's just, you know, let's get into it.

Rob: Just get into it.

Glenn: Yeah. I-I'd like to know.

Rob: Well, it's-it's--

Glenn: I-I haven't talked to you since you were over there, so I'd like to know.

Rob: It's 6:00 AM here. Well, it's actually 6:05 in the morning. Um-

Glenn: Mm-hmm.

Rob: -Charlie's not here, but uh, but we're here-

Glenn: Yeah.

Rob: -and, uh, I'm a little foggy, because I just got back from Europe-

Glenn: Mm-hmm.

Rob: -um, doing a thing in Europe, and um-- Oh, Charlie's Chrome is out of date. He's got all sorts of, he's replacing it.

Glenn: Uh-oh. Yeah.

Rob: Um--

Glenn: That's okay. That's all right.

Rob: I just got right from Europe, and we have a lot going on, and then it's-it's 6:00 AM and uh, I'm just a little out of it, but I'll snap to it.

Glenn: Well, do you wanna tell- do you want to tell us what you were doing over there in, uh, Europa? Caesar–

Rob: Yeah. I was in Wales. I was- I was in London. I was in Wales-

Glenn: Mm-hmm.

Rob: -and, uh, I was watching football- watching football, soccer here in the United States and um, and then, uh, I did, actually, I did the- I did the podcast last week. You, I didn't-- And we missed you.

Glenn: I, thank you. I-I saw that, um, you know, it was interesting 'cause I-I saw you guys trying to go into a thing where you were, uh, you know, gonna give me shit for not being there 'cause I couldn't be there. Uh, but you know, there's just not that much shit you can really talk about me. I-I-I and you were trying, you were trying, and I-I appreciate that, because that would've been very funny, but then I think you very quickly realized like, "We love this guy. There's-there's nothing we can say that bad about him really," um, you know? [laughs]

Megan Ganz: I might have cut that, Glenn, I might have just cut that. [laughs]

Rob: Uh, yeah. We might’ve cut-cut all that. I'm gonna disable my video.

Megan: Do you not want your video?

Glenn: Dude, you can't disable your video, this is a video podcast.

Megan: Oh, okay.

Rob: I just feel very self-conscious. I feel like there's a camera pointed right in my face. I'll get past it. I'll get past it. I'm, these-these are all champagne problems. I'm not- I'm not really complaining. I just, I feel like shit and, um, you know, I'm gonna snap out of it. Glenn, you know me. I can-I can come into a room-

Glenn: It's--

Rob: -and f-feel real bad, but then I can- I can snap through it.

Glenn: You, listen, I've, I-I, you've always been good at that. So much better at that than me, sometimes it takes me hours, hours to warm up and uh, and uh, you know, cut snap out of it, so to speak. When I'm- when I'm in the kind of place that you're in right now.

Rob: You know what people probably love to hear. They-they turn on their podcast- they turn on the podcast 'cause they want to, they're driving to work, and-

Glenn: They want to hear people moaning?

Rob: -and it's 6:00 AM where they are, and they're like, they wanna hear- they want to hear TV stars moaning.

Megan: [laughs]

Rob: They wanna hear-

Glenn: Yeah, just whining.

Rob: -people fly back from Europe just complaining, right?

Glenn: Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Rob: So that's the kind of that'll snap me out of it.

Megan: [laughs]

Glenn: Oh boy. You're right.

Rob: Where I have just a little bit of perspective, and I'm like, you know? "Shut up."

Glenn: I just, yeah. You're like, "I just-

Rob: Shut up a little bitch.

Glenn: -I'm just, I'm-I'm tired. I just got back from Europe where I was watching the football team that I own, uh, play and, you know, and the first class I gotta look--

[laughter]

Glenn: You know, I don't wanna complain here, but, you know, it's just not first class, it's just not the same as private. You know, I, it's great- it's great.

[laughter]

Glenn: You know, and I had my- I had my own pod, but it was one of those pods in the middle, where you're right next to somebody else's pod. You know what I mean? It's, you wanna be on the pods on the side where you're just totally alone and isolated, you know, and I had a pod, and it was next to a guy, and I could hear him breathing and it just, I don't know, you guys, it's just, it’s rough."

Rob: And the flight attendant kept asking me, "Do you want something? Is there something else we can bring you, sir?" And I'm like, "Hey, leave me alone. Well, also, but wait, could you grab me a champagne? I mean, that'd be great."

Glenn: Yes. Yes. Literally champagne problems, where it's like, "Can I get you some more champagne?" And I'm like, "You're making this a problem. You- you keep bothering me, I'm trying to relax with my, well, hang on a second. Yes. I do want more. I'm just saying, don't every five seconds be-- Well, I'm not saying don't check on me. Definitely, check on me. I mean, I wanna make sure that the glass is at least half full, but if it's not-- if it's more than half full, then maybe just given it a sec. Okay?"

[laughter]

Rob: It's always half empty.

Glenn: Give me peace.

Rob: It's always half empty. That's, I think that's, is that-is that what we're getting to?

Megan: Mm-hmm.

Glenn: That is what we're getting to.

Rob: Anyway.

Charlie Day: Can you see me? Can people see and hear me?

Megan: Yes, so we can see- we can see you now, Charlie. Hi.

Charlie: So I don't know what the fuck happened. I went to do the same old-same old, and it goes, "You gotta use a newer Google Chrome," so I uploaded the thing off the fucking internet, and now my computer barely works.

Rob: Well, Charlie, we spent the first 12 minutes complaining, and um, and then realizing that the audience--

Charlie: Well, I'll tell some complaints. You want some extra complaints?

[laughter]

Glenn: Yeah. Just throw-throw-throw in some of your complaints. I-I-I think it's great.

Megan: [laughs]

Charlie: I can barely- I can barely see you guys. Why did it update it to like, if you want, we can update it and just not–

Glenn: And make it worse?

Charlie: -work your computer at all.

Glenn: Yeah, we've-we've up-- We've made--

Charlie: And-and-and worse--

Glenn: We've made it worse. Um, yeah.

Charlie: Fucking A man.

Rob: [laughs]

Glenn: Yeah. This is, I-I by the way, I-I'm loving this, because I feel like I'm always the one who's like tired in a bad mood and-- [laughs]

Rob: Well, it's-it's like a lot later for you right now.

Glenn: For me, this is like glorious .

Rob: And we, I love-I love this idea. Look, so I get up early anyway, but I-I-I generally don't get up and then get onto camera, and I think that's my, it doesn't matter. It's doesn't matter.

Glenn: Of course. Do you resent it a little bit? You resent it. Come on. Let's say it's okay. Hey, guys, people want to hear about this stuff. They do, you know?

Charlie: You know what they wanna hear about 'cause it's fucking hilarious. The Gang Gets Whacked.

[music]

Glenn: Boom.

Charlie: Boom, how about it?

Glenn: Boom. Eyes.

Megan: [laughs]

Glenn: I gotta- I gotta, I may as well since-since I just did boom eyes. I gotta throw a-a quick shout out to my buddy Greg Wiener who, uh, plays Bingo in the episode. One of my closest friends for a very long time, we-we, uh, were roommates together in Miami, Florida for a short period of time, and I just absolutely love that guy and I miss him, and I think he's great in the episode. Uh, the eyes bit, speaking of Boom Eyes, I believe that was a bit we came up with on the day. I don't think that was something that was in the script. I think that was something that we just realized on the day would be funny. I don't know.

Rob: The casting of Bingo, it was like the was like, was the first time where we really thought, well we're in season three-

Glenn: Uh-huh.

Rob: -and we see all these other shows- we see all these other shows, and they seem to be able to get stars on 'em to do just quick cameos, and we thought, "That'd be cool. Um, I guess are people watching the show?" It's hard to tell. There's no social media. We don't really, we don't really know. We don't trust the ratings that are being given to us 'cause they're being used as pieces of information to leverage against us during our negotiations. So-so-so are people watching the show? I don't know. Well, let's make some offers to some stars and see, you know, we have this funny character named Bingo.

Glenn: Wait-wait, can I- can I, do you, do you remember who we offered it to first?

Rob: Yes.

Glenn: 'Cause I think I re-- I think I remember.

Charlie: I-I do.

Rob: I do.

Glenn: Let's see if we all remember.

Charlie: I do.

Rob: Okay. Should we write it down on--

Glenn: Was this Sean Penn?

Rob: It was a Sean Penn. Yeah.

Charlie: I think it was Sean Penn. Yeah, yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[laughter]

Megan: [laughs] You did?

Glenn: No. [chuckles]

Rob: Yeah.

Charlie: I think we-- Was uh, "Let's start with Sean Penn."

Glenn: Yeah. We're working down to Greg Wiener.

[laughter]

Rob: Do you remember the progression? I remember the progression.

Glenn: No, I don't remember the progression. I just remember us going to Sean Penn [laughs] and I do remember thinking like, "He might do it. I mean, Danny's on the show. He might do it."

Charlie: He might have done it. You know, here's the thing. It might not have ever even gotten to him. You know, it's like the thing where you reach out to his reps and they're like, "No, he's not gonna do, uh, one scene on a basic cable show." Like, the only way to get to a guy like that is like a friend has to call a friend. Like Danny has to call him, and be like, "Hey, man--"

Rob: We did.

Glenn: I think we did have to trying to reach out to him.

Rob: Yeah. We did.

Glenn: Yeah. We did.

Charlie: We did? Okay.

Glenn: Yeah.

Charlie: And even then, I don't blame, he was like, uh, he's like [laughs] in fucking, you know, Haiti saving people's lives.

Glenn: Yeah.

Rob: I think it was but it was around the time that Entourage was on, and-and people were doing Entourage left and right. Now that's a show about the entertainment industry. Nevertheless, they did it.

Glenn: Mm-hmm.

Rob: So we didn't get Sean Penn-

Glenn: So what was--?

Rob: -and the- and the date was looming, and it was- it was getting close but we thought, "Okay, how about, okay, let's go to somebody else who-who would be, um, not a person necessarily of note, or of name, but somebody you've seen in a lot of movies, and he's a great actor-

Glenn: Mm-hmm.

Rob: -and we have a personal connection to him, and he would be great. He's not exactly Sean Penn, but he's fantastic," and do you know who that person was?

Glenn: Saul Rubinek

Rob: Louis Guzman.

Charlie: Louis Guzman. Louis Guzman, yeah.

Rob: We offered it to Louis Guzman.

Charlie: Yeah, 'cause I was- I was buddies with Louis, so I just texted him and Lou-Louis was like more willing to do it, and that was just a schedule thing, and then he just couldn't do it.

Rob: Yes.

Glenn: That's right.

Charlie: But Louis might have done it. Like, if he was in town and-and-and--

Glenn: Louis would've been amazing. He would've been amazing. I love that guy.

Charlie: Louis would've been amazing. Why have we not had him on the show?

Glenn: I don't know. It's crazy that we haven't 'cause we have a connection to him and he’s great--

Rob: Well, now, but now we're in a position where people say, "Hey, I love Sunny, can-can-can we, can I do, I'd love to do an episode?" And then we think about it, we talk about it, and then we maybe say, "Yeah, great, we're shooting at this period, are you available?" "No, man, I'm just not available," and it just never works, ever. Ever.

Glenn: Yeah. [laughs] But it's also- it's also, there's also rarely ever a guest star role on our show that would be worthy of those people's time. Right? So I, you know, I think of some of those people and I'm like, "I wanna put 'em on the show, but I wanna put them in something-

Rob: Yeah.

Glenn: -that's like, not just, you know, us--" Like the usual guest star, which is us being insane and, uh, you know, the person sitting across from us very grounded and real, like, what is happening? You know, well, literally saying, “What is that?”

Charlie: I will also say, I do think maybe it was a blessing in disguise, where from a creative standpoint, where, you know, when you have your pick, and anyone who's anyone can play the guy working out of a garage named Bingo. Right? You know, it becomes so top-heavy in a way where it can pull the audience out, where suddenly they're like, "Wait, holy shit. That's that guy. That's Sean Penn. That's Sean Penn. What is he doing on the show?"

Glenn: Absolutely. It was, it's always been fun to me to mostly populate the show with people you've either never seen, or-or-or-or don't have preconceived notions of, you know?

Megan: Yeah.

Charlie: Yeah. Sean Penn would've been good.

Rob: Sean Penn would've been good. This was the-the only- the only season really, where we had so many characters who played real characters. Like those gangsters are almost like cartoon- cartoon characters. They're so funny, but we very rarely do that.

Glenn: So funny.

Megan: Yeah. Do you guys remember casting those guys? Um, how you went about casting them?

Glenn: I think's the usual way. Uh, I-I think we look- I think we just looked at casting, right guys? I mean, we didn't know who those guys were. Um, I think we just cast who we found to be the funniest in their auditions. And then it was really interesting because I don't think the three of them knew each other, yet they instantly became like this like trio of like they were–

Rob: Paisan?

Glenn: –they were chat--

Rob: I believe is the word.

Glenn: What?

Rob: Paisan is the word.

Charlie: They instantly became paisans.

Glenn: Oh, okay. Yeah, yeah--

Rob: You guys keep talking. I'm gonna be right- I'm gonna be right back.

Glenn: Okay. All right. I don't think those guys knew each other, but they-they-they came together, and it was almost like they were a, like a comedy trio. Like almost instantly. [laughs] Look at this fucking guy. Holy shit. Wow.

Charlie: [laughs] That's a good move.

Glenn: That's some- that's some- that's some, uh,

Charlie: That's a good move.

Rob: This is how you do it.

Glenn: Yeah, that's not the kinda--

Charlie: You know what's funny? I thought about doing that same bit. I was like, if I had some really big mobster glasses, and I don't, I was like, but if I had big, like, kind of mobster glasses, I would wear 'em on-on the podcast--

Rob: This is more, yeah. It's this less of a gangster thing and more of, I'm just looking at myself in this camera and I feel like I wanna bash my-my own head into the- into the wall, so.

Megan: Oh, wow. Let's talk about that. Let's talk about that.

Rob: This is sort of me hiding.

Glenn: What do you think? You-you think you look puffy? You look puffy?

Charlie: I love you, Rob. You're handsome. You're talented.

[laughter]

Charlie: You're smart. And forgot about it. Huh? [laughs] Hey, forget about your stupid water face. Hey, forgot about it over here.

Rob: So this, for any of the creeps out there, and I'm-I'm wearing sunglasses now, and as I'm looking at it now, it truly is the-the, this was a look adopted by gangsters in the '30s and the '40s and the '50s. And when they got called in front of congressional hearings, they would- they would get called, there's this famous-famous guy named Joey Gallo, Crazy Joe Gallo. And he got called before Congress to-to testify in the Senate. And he wore these glasses like that almost look exactly like this. Now what-what sells gangster more than going into fucking testifying in front of the Senate, and not taking your sunglasses off.

Megan: [laughs]

Rob: And like I think he had like a toothpick, and he was like picking his- picking his teeth and putting on a show. [laughs]

Charlie: Yeah. I mean that was the, that's the most amazing thing about those hearings-

Rob: Yeah.

Charlie: -is the like defiant sarcasm.

Rob: Yeah, yeah, your honor.

Charlie: Like-like never heard of a gangster-

Rob: Laughs.

Charlie: -and then the whole room like kind of chuckles a little bit. And then they're like, like, "Sir, please take these proceedings seriously." Like, you know? Uh, what line of work are you in?

Rob: [laughs]

Charlie: “Construction.”

[laughter]

Charlie: “Sir, please say it with less sarcasm.”

[laughter]

Charlie: “A little less sarcasm, sir.” “Oh, like what?”

Rob: Yeah, they, I-I mean just open-open defiance and then, yeah, 'cause why not? What's-what's the worst-case scenario? Oh, wait, jail forever. Or, you know, you're getting–

Charlie: Yeah, yeah, yeah. “So why are you wearing the sunglasses?” “It's so bright. Would the glare off your pearly white skin.” [laughs] You know, these fucking. Why is it that there's like a charm to it? ‘Cause there is. There’s like a–

Rob: Well, 'cause they're living outside of social norm's. So it's-it's kind of- it's kind of exciting to get it for-

Charlie: Yeah.

Rob: -being on the outside and looking in.

Charlie: Don’t play by the rules.

Glenn: Yeah, we love- we love- we love, uh, rebellious behavior. We love rebels and we love any sort of form of rebellion.

Charlie: Yeah, Bonnie and Clyde kind of thing, like uh--

Glenn: Uh, it's baked into our culture here in-in America, you know, to-to, uh, to like rebels, and like, you know--?

Megan: Yeah, everybody wants to whack somebody off, and get away with it, right?

Glenn: Absolut-absolutely.

Charlie: No, that's, yeah. We're going right for that cheap joke in that episode. Just right in.

Megan: I love that joke.

Glenn: That's-that's-that's a joke that we, I don't think would make any more like, uh, you know, just talking about whacking us off. So stupid- so stupid, but funny.

Charlie: But funny, you know. Is this good lighting?

Megan: [laughs]

Charlie: Does this look good to you?

[laughter]

Charlie: That's fresh Morning sun.

Megan: [laughs]

Charlie: I'm gonna refresh my coffee. Maybe I'll grab some sunglasses too 'cause I actually need 'em I think.

Megan: D0 you?

[laughter]

Glenn: What the fuck?

Charlie: I'm just- I'm just loopy, man.

Glenn: This podcast- this podcast is--

Megan: Off the rails this one.

Glenn: We're gonna- we're gonna have to get this-- We're gonna have to whack this podcast. Um, since everybody's getting up, I'm gonna check to see who's knocking on my door.

Megan: Okay. I'm gonna leave this part in the podcast where none of you are here. Just, there we go.

Glenn: These are foggy as hell. These are foggy as fuck. Now, do you think that the- do you think that the sunglasses thing was a, uh, was a def, uh, defiance thing or was it like a recognition that, uh-- Okay, everybody's gone. I'm talking to myself.

Charlie: I'm here, I’m here.

Megan: [laughs]

Charlie: I'm here.

Rob: I-I went the opposite.

Megan: I'll put on my sunglasses too.

Glenn: What do you mean? Wait, and we, I can't even fuckin’ see you now.

Megan: Yeah, he turned off all the lights.

Glenn: What is happening?

Charlie: Now it's night.

Glenn: What are you doing?

Rob: [laughs] I took my sunglasses off, but I turned all the lights off, and I closed the shades.

Glenn: But the thing is-is like the original thing where we could see your face, your regular face was the best look.

Megan: Yeah.

Glenn: And then you put on sunglasses in a hat, and it-it actually made, I would argue you looked worse. It just looked weird. And now you just, now you look like you're in a fuckin’ found footage movie.

Rob: What was that movie, the Blair Witch Project?

Glenn: Yeah. You look like you're in the fuckin’ Blair Witch Project.

Charlie: Yeah, yeah. I mean, I'm getting Blair Witch vibe for sure. Turn the lights on. Forget about it.

Megan: Rob has like the most confidence of anybody, but then when he doesn't, he goes hard in the opposite direction, like, then he has none at all. It's very strange.

Glenn: Right. Well, he oscillates between extremes, doesn't he?

Megan: Yeah, that's true.

Charlie: Do you-- Glenn, do you think if I, my grandpa kept his last name, Dalejorno, I could have gotten cast in gangster movies?

Megan: Oh, yeah.

Charlie: Or I just looked too like Irish and they would've been like, "Nah, his name's Dalejorno, but he doesn't have that.

Rob: He doesn't have a stereotype.

Charlie: He doesn't look enough the part.

Glenn: I mean, you don't, yeah, you don't- you don't look- you don't look Italian for what- for, you know.

Charlie: Yeah. It’s the reason everyone else who got in there.

Glenn: But wait, how-how much- how much are you Italian? Like what? How many? Like half?

Charlie: Same as Robert De Niro, a quarter.

Glenn: Wait, De Niro is a quarter Italian?

Charlie: He’s a quarter, yeah. I have the same exact, like if you look up, oh, he is like the English and Italian and Irish, and it's the same like spread.

Glenn: Is he?

Charlie: Oh, boy. He looks Italian as hell.

Megan: [laughs]

Glenn: I-I-I never knew that.

Charlie: You know who's my favorite Italian actor, talking about gangster movies? Roberto Benigni. [laughs] I could watch Roberto Benigni do anything. Eat a salad.

Rob: I've only seen him-- He only did the one movie, didn't he? I mean, that I saw he did about, 500 Italian movies.

Glenn: Yeah, exactly. Like he--

Charlie: Uh, you could find him. Yeah, he did a couple like, um--

Megan: [laughs]

Charlie: -he did, um, not Christ. Yeah, maybe we do have to move these podcasts later. Jim Jarmusch. Uh, Jim Jarmusch movie Down By Law. He was really funny in that, remember when we started the episode complaining about shit?

Rob: Can't hear him at all. It's all dead. He's gone, right? Is this crazy? This is crazy. We-we should just stop.

Megan: [laughs]

*AD BREAK 19:18*

Charlie: Hey, everybody, it's time to subsidize Megan's rent again. Apparently, she's broke overseas, not gonna make it back to the States.

Megan: I put together a very sufficient UK travel fund, but I didn't convert it to pounds.

Rob: Sorry, Meg. Your dollars are only as valuable as the queen decrees,

Charlie: Right. So who's gonna float to the cash this time? How-how are you gonna get it?

Megan: Well, this time it's our friends at Liquid IV, who are fueling life's adventures with their delicious and super-efficient electrolyte delivery powder. Guys, did you know, there's a lot of research coming out that's staying hydrated is actually good for your health?

Charlie: What?

Rob: Wait a second, staying hydrated is good?

Charlie: Tell me more.

Rob: Well, there are two times that I find Liquid IV particularly helpful. The first is before or after a workout. I got three times the amount of electrolytes as traditional sports drinks, so it gives me that lift, and I think it tastes way better too. The other is, honestly, the other time is when I'm hungover. It really does work. If I’m hungover, I just–

Charlie: Right. After your single Manhattan, after your gigantic Manhattan you're gonna wanna use that Liquid IV too, right? So go grab Liquid IV in bulk, nationwide at Costco, or you can get 25% off when you go to LiquidIV.com and use the code Sunny at checkout.

Megan: That's 25% off anything you order when you use the promo code Sunny at LiquidIV.com.

Rob: Experience better hydration today at LiquidIV.com, promo code, Sunny.

*AD BREAK OVER 20:57*

Charlie: All right, those three guys like, first of all, the guy who played Lefty who in the second episode, not in the first episode was like-

Glenn: Mm.

Charlie: -"He's got very beautiful hands." What was his name? Nic–

Glenn: Ah, shoot, I don't remember his name, but he is so, he had this delivery that was felt so, he just felt, he feels like a very- He feels like a very real person. Like it doesn't seem, it weirdly doesn't feel like he's acting to me. It seems like a-

Charlie: Yeah, it was so relaxed and natural.

Glenn: Yeah, so relaxed and so natural.

Charlie: And I remember us kind of leaning into it and being like, "What is he- what is he doing?" And giving him more and more as we went, you know, like I don't think he had as much scripted.

Glenn: No.

Charlie: And then being like, "Hey, you know, can-can we actually give that to this guy, and have him say the thing like, and maybe use." You know, if you know, we may or may not–

Glenn: His rhythm, his rhythm in that little speech that he gives about Friday-

Charlie: Yeah.

Glenn: -is just so funny, you know, ending it like with a little beat and then, “and that's Friday.”

Charlie: “And that's Friday.”

Glenn: “And that's Friday.”

Charlie: It might've been those guys' decision to be eating the sandwiches, like his- like decision to come walking out eating the sandwiches.

Glenn: No, I think that was a Roselle. I think that was a Roselle thing. I think it was like, yeah, yeah, these guys just always be eating like lunch meats, deli sandwiches and lunch meats, like just a total stereo-- Like just the most stereotypical possible thing.

[laughter]

Glenn: Constantly be eating fucking deli meats. I very much enjoyed the, uh, the Tango and Cash bit at the, uh, at the beginning. Um-

Charlie: Yeah.

Glenn: -it's just, uh, just a great, uh, it's just- it just made me laugh. Although I will say, from a technical standpoint, Rob, um, if I had it to do all over again, and this is very technical, I would've let you get out a little bit more of Kurt Russell's name before cutting you off, you know?

Rob: Why?

Glenn: I just think it would've been a, just a- just a hair funnier-

Rob: Mm-hmm.

Glenn: -like 2% funnier if I just heard a little bit.

Charlie: For those who, and for those who don't know who starred in Tango and Cash-

Rob: You gotta get this, the specifics are important.

Glenn: Yeah.

Rob: But I-I like how we, um, we just got away from-- We would, every episode we would sort of reset and then show in the cold open what the problem was. So we would- we would suggest that, "Hey, we need money," right? Isn't that kind of what we're going for? It's like okay so we're saying-

Glenn: Yes.

Rob: -we need money to fix something.

Charlie: Uh, well we need flashlights.

Rob: Yeah, and-and then all of a sudden-

Charlie: Yeah.

Rob: -this opportunity for money comes into the bar. Um, which we just got rid of I guess pretty quickly after that, where we realized the audience just it doesn't- doesn't care that we need money in this particular episode.

Glenn: Well, in some ways it, who doesn't want money, right? So it-it would've been fine-

Charlie: Yeah.

Glenn: -to have us just talking about whatever the hell we wanted to talk about, and then have them come in and be like, "Look what we found." Like, why not?

Charlie: But I think we needed a couple seasons to get there narratively right? Or so the audience knows, "Okay, Frank really supports these guys, and-and like his whole thing in this is like, "I'm done bailing you out," right? "Fix your own damn lights."

Glenn: Right, right, we were setting that up.

Charlie: So like, yeah, and then by the time we got to the fourth season, we really didn't need to lay any of that. You know, the rules were established, Frank has the money, we have no money, we're bad with money.

Glenn: Well, it's also- it's also interesting to watch- to-to watch Frank be sort of the-the straight man, the moral compass in the episode, the one who's like-- You know what I mean? It's just- it's-it's so funny to think how far that character is coming, he does eventually, uh, you know, become my pimp, so, I mean, he gets there very quickly. He gets there very quickly.

[laughter]

Charlie: Yeah.

Glenn: Yeah, but it was--

Charlie: All that stuff is so good. How about the- how about the- How about the jockey? How about that actor?

Glenn: That guy was great.

Rob: Oh man. I think if I recall correctly, that was a standards and practices note, where he couldn't-- Buster couldn't do a line off your dick, and he couldn't do a line off your cock, but he could do a line off your boner.

Glenn: [laughs]

Charlie: Yeah, “and let Buster do a line off your boner.” Which was 10 times funnier. It's always funnier when they put us in a box, and we gotta come up with some other thing. I had no recollection of picking up the horse poop. What a stupid and fun joke, just like, you have a problem around horse poop, just like pick it up.

Glenn: “Normally we'd use a shovel for that, but uh, to each his own.”

Charlie: Jockey culture.

Rob: Jockey culture in which they're all just partying, and blowing rails, and fucking each other is fascinating.

Glenn: I-It's a great joke because it's not something that you associate with jockey's at all. It's like something we just completely invented, like that they're just partiers, um--

Charlie: Me confusing him with a lawn jockey is fun. Lawn jockeys are so messed up.

Glenn: Well, also the idea that the idea that- the idea that like, you know what a lawn jockey is, but you didn't know that jockeys were real. You just thought they were like lawn ornaments. You didn't know jockeys were even a thing. You know what I mean, like, um-

Charlie: A miniature man on a horse? The way that Frank convinces you to become a pimp, is also sort of a–

[laughter]

Glenn: Well, let's talk about that actor, the actor who plays the-the gigolo who-who recruits me.

Charlie: Yeah.

Rob: Yeah.

Glenn: That guy was so funny, man. He's so funny, I think he had done, I think he had done mostly soap operas at that- at that- up to that point. Like something makes me think-

Charlie: Yeah.

Glenn: -he was like a-a soap actor. Um, and I don't know, it was just another guy that we- I think just auditioned and um, but just the concept that he pays this guy. Well, he's gonna give him $20 and then he just stiffs him, gives him $10. And then he-he stiff him.

Charlie: And then he stiffs him.

Glenn: Yeah, and then I love- I love-

Charlie: Yeah.

Glenn: -that we stayed on that, we made the choice to stay on him, and let him go fully back to like putting the hairnet on, and starting to wash the dishes. You know, gives the guy like a little nod that he's working. It's just great.

Rob: Who else? Do you remember who that security guard is, Glenn? The guy that kicks us out, big Will.

Glenn: Oh yeah, big Will.

Rob: Yes, the guy- the guy that kicks us out-

Charlie: Big Will.

Rob: -is this, is, uh, is this guy named big Will. And he, I met him at Gold's Gym in Venice Beach, he was a trainer there, but he's a body builder.

Glenn: Yep, mm-hmm.

Rob: And man, I mean, if anybody has seen Pumping Iron or is into body building at all, they know of Venice Gold's, it's a famous gym that Arnold Schwarzenegger used to work at. And there's still-

Glenn: Yeah.

Rob: -I don't know, at any given moment, there's 15 to 20 body builders in there working out, and Will was amongst-amongst the biggest-

Glenn: Yes, yeah, professional-professional body builders who, you know, do what Schwarzenegger did like, you know, Mr. Universes and shit like that. Like, it's the, uh, what do they call it, the Mecca of body building?

Rob: Yeah. And so I remember the wardrobe department had tried to-- So we wanted to have him in a specific thing, because there was other security guards or whatever, so it was like a uniform and the wardrobe department couldn't find clothes that fit him. So they had to- they had to make his clothes.

Glenn: Yeah. Yeah. Well, let's not leave out the fact that big Will was also your trainer for a period of time at Gold's too. It's not just a guy that you knew.

Charlie: Oh, you trained with big Will?

Rob: Yes. Yeah, that's what he did, he was a- he was a trainer at Gold's. I wasn't necessarily going for his physique, but he was. He trained in all- he trained in all sorts of different body types, I suppose.

Glenn: I mean, the number of- the-the number of years it takes to pack on that much, uh, mass, you know, that's not just the kind of mass that- where you're ballooned up, you know, and then the second you stop, like two months later, you're back down, you know what I mean? Like the kind of mass where you're just layering on like dry meat.

Rob: Yeah. It's called bulk, bulk– a-a dirty bulk. A dirty bulk is when you put on weight by any means necessary. So, you're not, you're not concerning yourself. You're--

[laughter]

Charlie: “Now listen to me, listen to me, you put-- I'm telling you, you put on weight by any means necessary. You do whatever it takes, okay? I don't care if you gotta go to McDonald's from sunrise to sunset, you go.”

Rob: That's exactly what it means.

Charlie: By any means necessary.

Glenn: Well because it--

 

Charlie: “You got- you gotta kill a kid, chop him up, cook them up, eat them. Do it, do it, you got to get the weight on. Any means necessary.”

Rob: That is truly exactly what it means where you--

Charlie: “You're in a restaurant, you get up from your table, you see another table of people still haven't eaten, you gobble down their food quick, you get their leftovers, you get it in, and then you get the fuck outta there. Any means necessary.”

[laughter]

Charlie: I can do a whole episode on any means necessary. Frank and Charlie feeling as though they have to eat by any means necessary.

[laughter]

Rob: That's an episode. [laughs] Hey. Put it up on- Put it up a board.

Charlie: That's-- That would be a thing. That's how a thing goes.

Glenn: Meg can you get that on a card? Meg, can you hear us? Let's get that on a card.

Megan: Yeah, I’ll put–

Charlie: Put that on a card.

Megan: Yeah, I’ll put that down.

*AD BREAK 30:12*

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Megan: I took the quiz it's short but shockingly accurate. It's kind of a mattress matchmaker. I was paired with the perfect fit in under two minutes and have been sleeping happily ever since.

Charlie: Basically, Helix is the best and you, yes you, should own one. And lucky for you helix is offering up to $200 off all mattress orders, and two free pillows for our listeners at helixsleep.com/sunny.

*AD BREAK OVER 31:20*

Charlie: Well, to catch the audience up, I have an older computer that I like to write on. I just like the, honestly the feel of the keys they-- I think they can take the brunt of my two-finger hammering, uh-

[laughter]

Charlie: -which is basically how I-I type. [laughs] It's-it's amazing the amount of Sunny episodes that have been written like "Taka-taka-taka-taka." You know, like an old typewriter or something. Uh, I mean, Mary Elizabeth makes fun of me. She's like, "Are-are you trying to break the computer?"

[laughter]

Charlie: But I think I didn't break the computer until I uploaded the most recent version of uh, Google Chrome. And the computer was like, "Nope, not doing it, guy." And the whole thing sort of fell apart. But here we are, uh, trying to salvage what's left. Glenn obviously can't be here, because it's not his day off from the movie he's doing. So he's working. Uh, but Rob said he could be here, and now Rob is two minutes late. Okay. So I'm-I'm enjoying this. I'm enjoying the--

Megan: He said-- I remember when he said, "I guarantee you I will never be late."

Charlie: Okay. All right. And here he is folks.

Megan: “I will never be late.” [laughs]

Rob: I'm not late.

Charlie: Just two minutes.

Megan: You are two whole minutes late.

Charlie: The same amount of late I was. Rob is wearing his best, forget about it shirt. That's pretty good. Did you do that intentionally?

Rob: You know what? I had a shirt-- I have this shirt in my closet. I've had it in there for about a year. And I keep-- You know what? You have those- that clothing and you think like, "One day I'm going to wear that."

Charlie: Uh-huh.

Rob: And then I was doing a little cleaning- spring cleaning. I'm gonna get rid of a bunch of stuff in my closet.

Charlie: Mm-hmm.

Rob: And I looked at that shirt and I said, "No, I'm gonna-I'm gonna-I'm gonna wear that one day." And Kaitlin said, "You haven't worn it in a year, it's time to get it out of the closet."

Charlie: It's gotta go. Yeah, time to go. Mm-hmm.

Rob: And I said, "I'm gonna wear the shirt today." What do you think? Is it okay?

Charlie: Um, I like it.

Megan: Besides the shirt, did you-did you bring your mic, um, to this recording or--?

Charlie: While he sets up his mic I'll describe the shirt to the audience. So it's sort of, it's like [clears throat] bubblegum purple. Um--

[laughter]

Megan: Uh-huh. That's a great description of that.

Charlie: It has like-like a white, uh-white outline. So like an outline around the color-

Megan: Piping. Yeah. Yeah.

Charlie -outline, piping really. It's sort of a funny idea which is like, uh, like telling people like where the things are in case you don't see the color, we'll let you know the colors right here.

[laughter]

Charlie: And it has a bit of a-of a-of a Goomba kind of Italian flair to it, which I personally like. I feel like you could keep a pack of cigarettes in that front pocket. And, uh--

Megan: But-but could a mobster ever wear that color though? Is the question.

Charlie: Oh yeah, yeah. That's the thing about them.

Megan: Yeah, you think so.

Charlie: Yeah, a lot of--

Rob: The mobsters can wear whatever they want.

Charlie: Yeah, joyful colors.

Megan: That's true.

Charlie: There was a- there was a stewardess on the flight who was talking so closely to that little--

Rob: Flight attendant.

Charlie: Sorry, there was a flight attendant on the- on the genderless aircraft that were crossing the sky in. And uh--

Rob: No, airplanes are very clearly men. They're just giant dicks floating through the sky.

Charlie: Yeah, on the flying penis with wings. And, uh, the-the flight attendant, um, was talking so closely into the thing, and with such a heavy accent that it was completely, you couldn't make a single word of it. So it really sounded like, *flight attendant mumble noise*. And you're like, "Okay, that's amazing."

Rob: I feel like that's- that's a great imitation of everything you hear at an airport. Everywhere you go that's all you hear.

Charlie: Yeah, that's true. That's true.

Rob: You're sitting waiting the-in the jetway, or waiting for the flight just, *airport mumble noise*.

[laughter]

Charlie: Yeah, 'cause they've said it 1,000 times and they're over it.

[laughter]

Charlie: I think I-- Did I ever tell you about my time going to see, uh, Siegfried and Roy with Mary Elizabeth, and we were in Vegas and it was like their-- They said they're like, "This is our, you know, 60,000th show." And they were so over it, that you could tell they were saying the things just automatically. So they kind of said everything was a sigh like, "The power of magic, the power of life, the power of magic is on all of us touch sabers."

And then they would like touch their sabers, and they were kind of dance across the stage, like the power of- “the power of a tiger is the power as in you and me, cat on, touch saber.”

Megan: Wait, they would say that out loud?

Charlie: Yeah, they say it out loud. “Touch sabers.” Yeah, as if to be like, "Touch my fucking saber, Roy, or I swear to God if you don't touch my saber--" Of course the cat-- The cats eventually had enough of that shit.

Megan: Oh, yeah.

Rob: Oh, eah, yeah, cat- the big cats had enough. They had enough.

Charlie: Um, Rob cleaning out your closet was it a um--? Did you get as much satisfaction out of that as-as-as I do?

Rob: Oh, yeah.

Charlie: Like when I throw stuff away. It is the greatest feeling ever.

Rob: Yeah.

Charlie: I'm like, "Oh, why did I have this thing for so long?"

Rob: Yeah, it's one of those quality of life things that you know, every time you-- I-I-I look in my closet, and it's just a mess. And I'm-I'm thinking like, "One day I'm gonna- I'm gonna clean this. I'm going to get rid of half this stuff." And then I-I don't. And then over this past weekend, I decided I was just going to commit to it. And I did it. And I feel great. Not as good as Meg would feel if she organized her closet, because I think she-she enjoys that very much.

Megan: Yes, one time I did all my bathroom drawers. And I like put in little dividers in them. So like everything within the drawer was like divided, like every bobby pin was like in its special place. And then I took a photo of it when I was done 'cause it was so, so satisfying.

Charlie: There's- There's satisfaction in that.

Rob: I believe you sent that photo to me.

Megan: I probably did send it to you. Yeah.

Rob: Yeah. You were very--

Charlie: I recently did that as well. I mean, I was throwing out like a half a bottle of like some kind of like, uh, antibiotic-antibiotic I took and then stopped taking like in 2016 or something. I'm like, "Why do I still have this?" I get busy. You know, I get busy.

Rob: Yeah. Yeah. Somebody celebrated a birthday this week. Big news, big news.

Megan: Who's that?

Charlie: Megan, do you like birthdays, or they embarrass you?

Megan: Uh, I-I generally like birthdays, um, because usually I feel pretty accomplished by the time I like hit my birthday. Like it always helps if I'm like starting a new job right around my birthday. And for whatever reason for a lot of years working in TV, I would start a writer's room in June. So I was like, "Oh, it's like this-this thing of like, oh, you're-you're not the same as you were last year. You know, there's something new happening in your life." But this year was a little tough. I turned 38. And I was like-- I don't know why I was-- I guess it's because I finished a job, or like I'm coming to the end of Mythic Quest. And then I was like traveling, and I've just been like eating and drinking all the time. And like not exercising or doing anything. So it was kind of rough. But [clears throat] on my birthday, I, um, decided to jump rope for 38 minutes. And so I did that. Um, and that made me feel good, but my, uh, calves are still so sore that like when I go upstairs-- [laughs]

Charlie: Yeah, I would've settled for 38 jumps.

[laughter]

Charlie: I would've been like, "38 jumps is good."

Rob: Yeah. Let's stop-- let's-let's-- Can we stop-- Let's stop down on that for a second. That's psychotic. What she just described as psychotic. She doesn't jump rope on the regular. She just decided out of the blue, "On my 38th birthday, I'm going to jump rope for 38 minutes." Anybody who's ever jumped rope knows that after one minute you're exhausted.

Charlie: Yeah, actually you know what? That's extraordinary.

Rob: It's extraordinary.

Charlie: Yeah. Yeah, I once did it, had like I was doing a workout thing where it was like, "Okay," and then the guy like sent me like, "Hey, do some jump roping." And one-- And I think that it was like 10 minutes, and 10 minutes straight jump roping was awful.

[laughs]

Megan: Yeah, it's brutal.

Charlie: I was like, "Nah, I'm done. I'm-- Never again."

Megan: Um, I-It was really really brutal. Yeah, I have an ability to like, shut my brain off from my body, in that if my body is like, "This hurts." I'm like, "I don't have to listen to you." And uh, and just like keep going. So I just did that for 38 minutes.

Charlie: Mm-hmm.

Rob: Yeah, that's-that's-that's the Meg I know. I mean, that's-that's psychotic. She has the ability to just bear down on something. She has an-a goal. And she will-she will accomplish that goal, regardless of the physics, regardless of the reality of her health, regardless of whatever might stand in her way. So it does not surprise me that she did 38 minutes at all, and, uh-

Megan: Well, I tried to get on Sunny for--

Rob: -it's an amazing fete- it's an amazing fete.

Megan: I tried to get on Sunny for eight years, um, and I- and I did that. So, you know.

Charlie: Well, before you came on Sunny, uh, where did the gang get whacked, uh, episodes rank in your enjoyment of the show?

Megan: It was pretty- it was pretty high up there. I mean, my all time favorite is the gang gives Frank an intervention. Um, so I'm really excited-

Charlie: That's a good one.

Megan: -for when we get to that episode, 'cause I've probably watched that episode like 50 times. I love that episode. [laughs]

Charlie: We haven't discussed Danny's friend Cha Cha yet, right? 'Cause we haven't gotten to, uh-

Rob: Oh, no. We haven't.

Charlie: -the road-- but he-- he makes an appearance in this season.

Rob: Yes.

Charlie: And Cha Cha was--

Rob: Uh, he-he makes-- yeah, in the ro-- He makes an appearance in the road trip episode, right?

Charlie: Yeah.

Rob: Isn't that season-- Is that the next season or is that this season?

Megan: Oh, that must be next season.

Charlie: Yeah, he's the guy that we buy the pear from that has the sticker on it.

Rob: Yes. Yeah.

Megan: [laughs] I love that too.

Charlie: Um, and, [laughs] uh, Cha Cha was like Danny's old buddy who-who-- he met him because he was Tony Danza's f-fight promoter. Is that correct? I think that was what it was like, uh-

Rob: Yes. Yeah, he was in the flight game.

Charlie: -so in the Taxi days.

Rob: Yeah.

Charlie: And Cha Cha definitely was a connected guy.

Rob: Yeah. I-I think-

Charlie: -in some ways.

Rob: -we can talk- I think we can talk about this now because Cha cha's no longer with us, and I think it's okay, but I'm-- And he's-- he was never- he was never open about it, but it was-- I think it was pretty clear that Cha Cha- Cha Cha was connected. Cha Cha knew some people.

Charlie: I-- you know, I-I--

Rob: The best guy. He was the best- He was the best. He was the best.

Charlie: He was a nice guy, [laughs] yeah. And who knows too, like, uh, the-the thing-- the whole mafia thing, like, I pretty much only know what I know from movies and tv, you know, and, uh, maybe like one book that I read, but like, how much of it is- How much of it is in an-- like actual organization and how much of it is a-- is like communities of people so that there's overlap, right? Where it's like, um, you know, like a community in, let's say, Staten Island or Jersey, where, yes, like, you know, there's a group of very clearly people who have-- are in these organized crime families, and then there's, like, some people that it's like, maybe like Cha Cha, where it's like he knows everyone, he grew up with them. He might get a favor here and there, but he's not on the payroll.

Rob: That would be the difference between a-a-a made man and a connected guy. So the made men are like the actual-

Charlie: Oh, yeah.

Rob: -members of the family, and there- there used to be-- well, I guess- I guess they still exist, but the-the-the ma-- the five-- there's five major crime families in New York. And then- and then there's, like, all the ancillary people that are around it and connected to it, like maybe drug dealers on the streets or things like that, but-but the made members of the family, I think there would, de-depending on which family you were in, there was only like a couple hundred of them worldwide.

Charlie: Oh, Wow.

Megan: Rob probably knows-

Rob: Yeah.

Meg: -more about this because he reads more mafia books than me, but [clears throat] I once read a book about the history of the Cosa Nostra. Cosa Nostra, I said that right, right? And, um-

Rob: Yeah, Cosa Nostra.

Megan: -and how it started in Sicily. And there was a lot of overlap between it just being like a neighborhood thing, because basically what happened was Sicily just kept getting invaded by a bunch of different countries, and so they were changing governments, like, all of the time. So the people that lived there year round needed somebody that was, like, consistent that they could turn to. So there were usually these people within the town that were, like, you know, they're dons, for instance, that, like, oversaw the things that they needed in their community. And so it really grew out of, like, a need of consistency and having, you know, that neighborhood-like connection, and so it's always been from that and like, I don't know what the translation of that to New York was, but that's really where it came from. And then eventually it was, like, you know, there was lots of lemon groves in Sicily, which made a lot of money and there were people walking around being like, "God, it'd be a shame if these lemon groves all burnt to the ground. Maybe you should pay us to protect them," and, uh, there's a lot of that. [laughs]

Charlie: “I would hate to see it.”

Rob: But-but according to Cha Cha, whenever you-- the-the mafia ever came up, he would- he would always smirk and say, "What mafia? There's no mafia." So he never talked about it really, but then he would-

Charlie: Right.

Rob: -tell these crazy stories, crazy stories that were so f-funny, really. Um, I never heard any of, like, the violence or anything like that. It was more just like crazy. He-he used to throw-- he-he was in charge of putting on the firework show for the San Gennaro festival on Mulberry Street every year. Now-now, fireworks are illegal in New York City. Private citizens can't just set off firewo-fireworks. So not only did he have to transport them across state lines, but then he actually set them off. And one time he blew himself up. He blew- he blew himself up on Mulberry Street. [laughs] He said he was thrown from the street almost onto somebody's porch and into their living room. He had to go to the hospital.

Charlie: I bet.

Rob: Yeah, he blew him up-- he blew himself up.

Charlie: He was blown to safety. Blown to safety, blown onto someone's-

Megan: [laughs] Oh, yeah.

Charlie: -couch. "Oh, Cha Cha, what are you doing here?" Yeah. Uh, uh, you know, Danny though, I remember being-- specifically not wanting to do anything that was, for him, too stereotypical sort of mobster Italian, just wanting to say like, "Hey, I-I-I don't mind, you know, doing an episode where we talk about the-these characters that do exist, um, and these sort of types," but also he didn't wanna go down that route. So like, when we were writing it, you know, made sure that, like, it wasn't like-- and then Frank had some connections and a connected guy. Like, we avoid that pretty much completely in that storyline.

Rob: Yeah, Yeah. Well, we didn't wanna draw- draw on the-the-the stereotype of, like, all Italians being gangsters or something. I think that he was very conscious of that, which I think was more of a- more of an issue back in the '60s, '70s, '80s, like around that Godfather time when it was such a huge part of the popular culture. And-and I know that there was, like, the-the Italian American League that was- that was created in New York City to sort of combat that. There was a lot of, um, prejudice against Italians. Of course, that was started by a gangster, um, who was trying to throw people off the scent, Joe Colombo, who was the head of the Colombo crime family. You know what, let's not talk about any of this. Let's just cut all of this.

Charlie: Yeah, [laughs] yeah, yeah, cut-

Megan: Yeah, we're covered, though.

Charlie: -all this before we wind up, you know, in a–fuckin’–taking a cement bath, or something.

Megan: We're covered though, 'cause I'm actually Italian too, Charlie. Did you know that? My--

Charlie: Oh.

Megan: On my dad's side-

Charlie: There you go.

Megan: -his mother was born in Italy, um, and her name was Anne Delawless and her father's name was Caesar Delawless and her, um, and his wife's name was Concetta De Apolonio-

Rob: Nice.

Megan: -and they came over, literally through Ellis Island. So we're good. We're- we're totally.

Rob: We're good. We're good. We can talk about it.

Charlie: Delawless though. Wow. It was in their name to be lawless.

Megan: Oh, yeah. [laughs]

Charlie: Yeah. So, uh, yeah, but-but there was- there was prejudice against Italians, uh, because we were also like around World War II, we were in a war with Italy, you know.

Megan: Mm-hmm.

Charlie: So, um, it-- That's why my grandfather–uh, no, I guess it was my grandfather that officially changed his name from Dalejorno to Day, because it was, like, "Eh, let's just try to get rid of this Italian thing." Uh, but he couldn't change his nose and his face, but he did eventually-

[laughter]

Charlie: -through his-- through children. He just watered that down, and, uh-

Rob: [laughs] Homogenized-

Charlie: his dark hair.

Rob: -into the--

Charlie: Yeah. Mm-hmm.

Rob: Where's Glenn? Should we discuss that? He's not here?

Charlie: I mentioned it briefly before you popped on, but, um-- you know, we are-- we had technical difficulties. What are you gonna do about it?

Rob: Yeah.

Charlie: You know, the main thing is that the show goes on, you know, that-that someone can drive to work and be entertained. This is what- this is what we're-- this is the point of it. So if the entertainment is that, uh, none of us can get our computers to work, then that's what's funny, you know? I don't know.

Megan: Are you feeling better about your-

Charlie: But, no, Glenn-

Megan: -face today, Rob?

Charlie: -is in actor mode today.

Rob: I feel better today. Yeah. I feel-- well, it's- it's- it's not, it's not 5:00-- I-I-I was jet lagged and it was 5:40 in the morning. People don't wanna hear me complain, but, um, but I feel better today. Yeah.

Charlie: It's better not to do it at 5:00 in the morning, for sure.

Rob: Yeah, that's-- that was- that was tough.

Charlie: Unless we were all, like, in the same space at 5:00 in the morning, but until we can all be together again--

Rob: Yes. Yeah. That would be fun, but again, I think we've covered this too. I like the idea of somebody who's on their way to work right now. Uh, he's- he's driving there to work. It's- it's about 5:00 AM and he's hearing us complain about sitting in front of a computer and-and talking, uh, 'cause it's too early.

Charlie: Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.

Megan: I left all that in too. That's all there.

Rob: Oh, was that-

Charlie: Yeah. All the complaints..

Rob: -was that from that episode?

Megan: Yeah.

Rob: All the complaining. [laughs]

Megan: From this episode, yeah. So the beginning where it's just complaining, because Glenn did that funny run about champagne problems and you complaining about your pod being next to somebody else's pod on the plane.

[laughter]

Megan: It's funny. You'll see.

Charlie: By the way, I-I-- champa-- I-I don't like champagne. So champagne alone is a problem for me, you know what I mean?

Rob: Agreed. Agreed.

Charlie: I don't- I don't care for it.

Rob: I don't care for, uh--

Charlie: I don't-- you know, like-

Rob: I don't care for the taste.

Charlie: -maybe the first couple times I had it, I--

Rob: I don't care for the after taste.

Charlie: Oh, yeah. The first couple times I had it, I was like, "Wow, this is refreshing, and sparkly, and light and amazing," and then I was like, "This is like a cup of pure sugar."

Megan: You guys are wrong. It's delicious.

Charlie: You like the champagne?

Megan: A lot.

Rob: I think Meg was drinking champagne in the last episode.

Megan: I was.

Rob: She was.

Megan: I cut that out, though. [laughs]

Rob: No, fuck that. Wait a second. Megan--

Charlie: You cut out that you-- your-your alcoholic tendencies.

Rob: We've given too much power. We have abdicated too much power to Megan. She cuts out her drinking champagnes, but keeps in our champagne problems.

Megan: All right, you know what? I'll cut it in right now. I'll just cut in a-a series of every time I drink champagne. [laughs]

Rob: Okay, great, just a quick couple of cuts.

[music]

Charlie: I feel like there's one episode where you'd had some cocktails and people called you on it because they said you kept winking.

Megan: I did. Yeah. [laughs]

Charlie: You did. You actually were. Oh, that's Funny.

Megan: No, I-- Well, I said at-

Charlie: It's your tell.

Megan: -the beginning-- I-- Yeah, I said at- the beginning of The Newlywed Game that I-I had a couple, um, that I had a couple champagnes and people in the comments were like, "I could tell 'cause she was winking," and I totally was.

[laughter]

Charlie: That's great.

Rob: You can- I love that it's-it's involuntary, you can't stop.

Megan: I can't.

Rob: You can't stop-

Megan: Well-

Rob: -from winking.

Megan: -this may be transition to the question I had for you guys from this episode, which is, um, so in the episode, Charlie's talking about nose clams. He's trying to use that-

Megan: -as a-- uh, as a- as a winky, um, way to say, uh, cocaine. [clears throat] So I wanted to ask you guys, have you ever, like, used code, had to use code to get something, like coded language, or had it used with you that you either knew at the time or then, like, found out later?

Charlie: I mean, had to is a-- I-I-I think, like, maybe in high school, you know, you might have-- s-someone-- there might have been, like, uh, when you really used to have to, like, hide weed or whatever it was, you know, you maybe would've used code for that, but no, I don't think.

Rob: I had a-- we had a word–

Charlie: You mean aside from my work at the CIA? You mean aside-

[laughter]

Charlie: -from my whole-

Megan: Aside from that. [laughs]

Charlie: -covert operation I've been doing?

Rob: We had a-- uh, uh, we had a word in grade school that was sort of a catchall. And it started because, um, we stole a pack of, uh, of one of my friends' parent's Newports and we were smoking menthol cigarettes. This is 5h Grade, 6th Grade, just to be disgusting. I don't know what we were doing. And we were-- we would, like, smoke the cigarettes, but a-a-and then we were-- like, thought we were so cool. And then-- but we-we knew- we knew we couldn't call 'em cigarettes or Newports when we were talking about 'em so we called them Cinemax. And the reason we called them Cinemax was because Cinemax was a cable channel. Uh, does that even exist anymore, Cinemax?

Megan: I think so.

Charlie: Yeah, I think so. I think so.

Rob: Yeah, it was a ca-- yeah, it's a ca-- it wa-- Yeah, maybe it is, but it-it-it was a cable channel where, um, uh, he-- I didn't-- we didn't have cable, but I would go to his house and, like, late at night, Cinemax would turn into Skinemax, and it would be the time where you could see, like, naked people on-on-on TV. It would show all the softcore porn stuff. So then Ci-Ci-Cinemax became this catchall term for anything that was, whether-- a-a-any kind of, like, paraphernalia, uh, drug related. Not-not-- I wasn't into drugs, but like, even pot, um, drinking alcohol, cigarettes, nude-nude magazines, everything became Cinemax.

Megan: It does still exist, Cinemax, by the way.

Rob: It does?

Megan: But yeah, that's totally what I remember it being. Apparently, it was, like, launched in the early '80s so that's what it was known for then.

Rob: Yeah, softco-- like, softcore porn. Yeah.

Charlie: I just had a memory. I don't know what made me think of this, but my-my buddy, Aaron, uh, lived in my neighborhood, and his neighbor had to, like-like disappeared in the middle of the night. I remember this was a story that it was like, there was a couple that had been living there and they were really shady, and then they, like, took off and the cops were there and-and no one's seen them, right. And, uh, so of course, as kids do, we're like, "Great, let's go sneak into their house and see what's going on."

[laughter]

Charlie: So-so we-we-we [laughs] snuck into the house and we were poking around. And it was weird as shit. There was, like, a bunch of wigs, like a bunch of, like, wigs. And we found, like, a couple, like, different, like, IDs for, like, the same person and knives, and, like, a pack of Parliament cigarettes. So we're like, "Well, let's try one of these." Awful, didn't care for it, you know. We were maybe too young to get hooked on that, but, like, just be like, take a puff. And then that eerie feeling of like, "We should get outta here." [chuckles] But yeah, things that you might like-- you-- how many times you might have, like, crossed with someone who's, like, a real-life gangster and just, of course, you don't know, right?

Megan: Mm-hmm.

Charlie: Like, you have no idea. Well, Whitey Bilger, whatever his name. Bul-Bulger?

Rob: Bulger.

Charlie: Bo--

Rob: Whitey Bulger. Yeah.

Charlie: Whitey Bulger? Yeah, Bulger was living out here-

Rob: He lived in- he lived in Santa Monica.

Charlie: -in Santa Monica.

Rob: He-- Yeah.

Charlie: Yeah, just hangin' out.

Rob: You know, that-that area, we-we run, Meg, sometimes, down in San Vicente.

Megan: Yeah.

Rob: He lived in one of those apartments there. Absolutely.

Megan: I know. It's-it's crazy.

Rob: I wonder how many times you've crossed path-- cro-crossed paths with someone who's murdered someone else, or like a serial killer or something?

Charlie: Serial killer-

Megan: I always think--

Charlie: -I bet that's rare because I think they're-

Rob: Yeah, rare.

Charlie: -they're not too common.

Megan: I always think-

Charlie: But uh--

Megan: -you know, how people say, like, "If I got to talk to God, I would ask him, like, what's the--" or her, sorry.

Rob: Ah, God.

Megan: Um, where, uh-- [laughs]

Rob: I almost had you there.

Megan: Don't do that. Um, where, like, "Why do bad things happen to good people?" Or, "What's the meaning of life?" And everything. And I would always ask questions like that, which is like, "What's the crazy--" like, "Have I ever been right next to a serial killer?" Or, "What's the closest I've ever been to being murdered and then didn't get murdered?" Like, things like that.

Charlie: “Well, I thought about having you murdered a couple times, you know, like, uh-

[laughter]

Charlie: -I thought it'd be funny. Uh, then I thought it'd be sad. It'd be, like, really sad for your friends.”

Megan: [laughs] And then I thought it'd just be interesting.

Charlie: Uh, then you started getting famous, and I thought, "Well, it'd be a good story, right? A good story. Uh, then one day, you know, you were kind of, like, you made a joke about me. And I was like, "Fuck you. I'll have her murdered." Uh, but mostly, I just forgot about it, you know. I had a whole list of things I was dealing with, and, uh, forgot to have you chopped up, so, uh," I mean.

[laughter]

Charlie: Christ, I mean, [chuckles] there's so many things you can ask God, but like, "Why are people-- why? How is this part of your plan? The fuck are you doing-

[laughter]

Charlie: -bitch."

[laughter]

Megan: Yeah, child leukemia. What's that about? Why?

Charlie: Leukemia to little kids? You fuckin' bitch.

[laughter]

Charlie: If it's a woman, if it's a man, it's still a bitch.

Megan: Yeah. [chuckles]

Charlie: Um, oh, God. I have the fear of the lightning bolt now. You know what I mean? That's the upbringing, like, "Oh, I made a joke, I'm gonna get blasted."

[laughter]

Charlie: Uh, that’s how they get you.

Megan: So, God is Zeus. In your mind, God is Zeus. He throws lightning bolts then.

Charlie: Most definitely. Where do you--

Rob: Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Charlie: Where else do you think lightning bolts come from?

[laughter]

Charlie: Uh, yeah, I don't know. I crossed paths with some crazies. Weird–What else? Uh, we lost-- We lost Ray Liotta.

Rob: Oh, yeah.

Charlie: Speaking of people who played gangsters.

Megan: Oh, yeah.

Charlie: And, uh--

Rob: And you-you, Charlie, you've -you've worked with-with Ray.

Charlie: I had the pleasure of working with Ray on my movie yet to be released. And, uh, he was jazzed on it, man. He was-- I had shown him it and he was really excited, I think, to be in a comedy. And, you know, he had said-- I don't know if he'd ever seen the show, but he had said he would love to have been on Sunny. So he was like, "Why don't you have me on your TV show sometime?" I was like, "Absolutely." We'll think of something for him, so-

Rob: Oh, God. Amazing.

Charlie: -I'm sorry to see him go.

Megan: You could have asked him instead of Sean Penn. Maybe he would've done it.

Charlie: At the time, no.

Rob: Yes. No, not at the time.

Charlie: At the time- at the time, we probably could not have cast him either, but, um--

Rob: Well, we would've tried and he would've turned it down.

Charlie: That is the funny thing too. I do sort of feel like people are like, "Yeah, I'd love to do your show," and then you can't. Remember, we had that with Sam Jackson where I feel like-

Rob: Yeah.

Charlie: -Rob, you and I bumped into him or something, and-

Rob: Yeah.

Charlie: -he really like-- he said he really liked the show.

Rob: Yeah.

Charlie: And then, so we tried to reach out to him for something. And it's like, we couldn't even get past the walls. And I'm like, "God, don't tell me the guy won't do it." The guy answers the phone like, "I'm in, who's calling?"

[laughter]

Charlie: Right, that’s it. That's basically, you know. "What is it? What are you selling? Credit cards, I am in."

[laughter]

Charlie: "I am in."

Rob: [laughs]

Charlie: "What's on the plane? What's on the plane?"

[laughter]

Charlie: "Oh, hell yeah, I'm in. Fuckin' snakes on a pla-- I'm-I'm in. Who is this?"

[laughter]

Rob: I literally saw-- I-I was with Jason, uh, Bateman, and his phone rang, and I swear to God, as a bit, but also he a-- he actually answered it this way. The phone was ringing, I said, "Are you gonna answer that?" He took it outta his pocket, he goes, "Yes, I'll do it. I'll do it. What is it?"

[laughter]

Rob: "Yes, I'll do it. I'll do it. Hi, it's Jason."

[laughter]

Charlie: Sam Jackson, man. I feel like really-- You know, there are certain stars that sort of open the doors for people to say, "You can do a bunch of-- You can do bunch of things and still survive it." And he's one-

Rob: Yeah.

Charlie: -of 'em, man, where he was like, "No, I'm-- Fuck you. Yeah, I'm gonna do the credit card commercial, and-and I'm gonna keep working with Quentin," or whoever, you know. Like, what a talent, what a talent, Sam Jackson.

Rob: Opening the doors. Charlie, you're one of those guys. You're one of those guys.

Charlie: Yeah.

Rob: You're show-

Charlie: Yeah.

Rob: -showing people you can do everything.

Charlie: That's right.

Rob: I saw you in--

Charlie: You can do it all now.

Rob: -I saw you in a green suit-

Charlie: Yeah, buddy.

Rob: -on the NBA playoffs.

Charlie: Yeah.

Rob: Pretty sweet.

Charlie: Paying for the re-shoots of that film.

[laughter]

Rob: Hell yeah.

Charlie: Courtesy of Mountain Dew. I love it.

Rob: It's a funny spot.

Megan: What are your favorite mobster movies, guys? You wanna talk about that?

Rob: I mean, Good-Goodfellas.

Charlie: I mean, Goodfellas is hard to- hard to-- Goodfellas is a masterpiece.

Rob: I-I think I've seen-- Yeah, I think I've seen Goodfellas more than an-any other movie maybe. Uh, 'cause that's- that's a movie that's-- if it's on and you're flipping through the channels, I'll just stop-

Charlie: Yeah.

Rob: -and watch it no matter what.

Charlie: And Casino is pretty great as well but-

Rob: Casino is pretty great.

Charlie: -Goodfellas is just amazing. And The Godfather movies.

Rob: And I watched The Godfather-- Yeah, I watched The Godfathers-

Charlie: 1 and 2.

Rob: -at least once a year. Yeah, 1 and 2, I'll watch them at least once a year.

Charlie: And, uh, My Cousin Vinny. [chuckles]

Megan: I love that movie. [chuckles]

Rob: My Cousin Vinny is great.

Charlie: Married To The Mob, Analyze This. I mean, come on, there's so many. [chuckles]

Megan: [laughs] There's so many.

Charlie: There's so many good ones.

Rob: But I think Goodfellas--

Megan: I'm re-watching The Sopranos right now, which is also fantastic.

Rob: Mm-hmm.

Charlie: Mm-hmm. I know. Good mobster stuff. Uh, I have-- There's a nostalgia I have watching these episodes for the ti-- where we were as people filming them. Uh, you know-

Rob: Mm-hmm.

Charlie: -the-- Just seeing the mobsters outside in the street, um, at the end of this first part episode and that really wide shot. Was that Fred or was that Shakman?

Megan: I think this was Matt Shakman, but I'll look it up.

Rob: I think it's Shakman.

Charlie: I think it might have been Shakman too. Um, and just, you know, just the filming in Philly, how fun it was, but also that, like, this was everything. We really didn't have anything else going on. And I do really miss the sort of, uh, streamline nature of that, which is that our attention was fully-- Look, this last season of Sunny, we weren't thinking about other things. Once we're in, we're in, you know.

Rob: Mm-hmm.

Charlie: But at the same time, not only were-were we in, but we had everything riding on it, and I do miss that. Like, there-there's something so-- And you can only do that once. You can only do that early in your career 'cause if it works and then you're successful, you'll never have that thing again of, like, just, like, the combination of the excitement of getting the opportunity, the excitement of having something to really prove, and then the-- just the newness of it all. The newness of like, "Wow, we-we, you know, we're-we're locking down locations, and we're--" Was it Shakman who did it?

Megan: It was, yeah. It was Shakman.

Charlie: Yeah, and, like, this guy is pitching a shot from, like, across the street and we really haven't done something like that yet, and this is really interesting and--

Megan: I love that high-angle shot he has when you do the eyes, boom, and then you guys are shot from, like, above the whole time, you and Dee, where you're like looking up into the camera.

Charlie: You know what's funny? I watched that again thinking that was a mistake. Thinking that that would've played better-

Megan: Oh, I thought that was so funny.

Charlie: -with-with-without our faces facing the camera, but that--

Megan: No, because of that moment, not to argue with you about your own show, but because of that moment between you and Dee, where you're arguing with each other about, like, you saying nose clams. It's more like you're in your own world 'cause we're on your faces and we can't see him as opposed to, like, from his perspective, which would have--

Charlie: I-I agree with-with that in terms of, like, why it's shot that way, but I actually feel like it moves the intent-- this is a weird sort of just thinking in my head, but it moves the intent to specifically to the point of view and that that argument might play better from-from, uh–

Megan: Bingos. Bingos point of–

Charlie: –his point of view where he has these two people staring up at the sky arguing with one another, as opposed to the audience's point of view where you get to see what they're- what they're looking at, but--

Megan: You know what? Let's reshoot it. Let's reshoot it. [chuckles]

Charlie: I don't wanna reshoot it but--

Rob: I think- I think I remember this conversation happening on set. I think I remember you having-- saying this to-to-to Shakman. You know what's interesting, how often that happens--

Charlie: That's very possible.

Rob: Yeah-yeah, how often that happens where-where, um, even in the podcast, sometimes I'll listen back to the podcast and I'll-I'll start-- you'll say something and I'll start laughing, and then I hear myself in the podcast laughing, 'cause of course, I still find the same thing funny, but I'll do the same thing with the- with the episodes, where I'll feel a certain way about how something was shot and then I'll remember back to the time where we were there on set and maybe feeling the same exact way. It-it-it-it carries over a decade later. You still feel the same way, even though you're wrong.

Charlie: That's funny. I'm probably-probably wrong, but it's something that probably in the editing room, if-- it-- probably the way we decided on that, is we probably looked at it the other way in the editing room, if we had the coverage, and we said, "Yeah, it's actually better to jump up there 'cause they're up-- they're looking up there for so long."

Rob: Mm-hmm.

Charlie: But I-- it's almost like I feel like I don't like when the camera tips the joke in a way, which is like, stay in the same coverage, but just where they're looking has changed, but yeah, maybe it just would've been too much of their chins and it wouldn't have been funny. I don't know.

Megan: Like-like in Dumpster Baby, when it's, like, from the baby's perspective, you guys were talking about that. Like, from the baby's POV, it was, like, too jokey of you.

Rob: Mm-hmm.

Charlie: Mm-hmm.

Megan: But I had a question actually about that moment because, like, there's a whole exchange between, um, Charlie and Dee, where-where you're-you're talking about nose clams and she's like, "It's confusing." And you're like, "It's not confusing." It's like-- And there's a reference to, like, we discussed this. Was that one of those instances where you had a scene before that Bingo scene where you guys talked about how you were going to talk to Bingo and then you cut it?

Rob: Oh.

Charlie: Almost 100%, yeah.

Rob: Yes, yes.

Charlie: Most likely. It sounds like the kind of scenes we write all the time and then just get to the editing room and you're like, "Well, something has to go," and you're like, "The-the-the audience will know what's happening. We don't have to have a scene saying we're gonna- we're gonna have this argument," and then--

Rob: I wonder if it would be fun if we could go back-- we could ask our post-production team to go back into the archives and find some of those scenes, 'cause most likely they were edited and then we cut them last minute to take some of those scenes that we felt were unnecessary to the story, and again, generally deleted scenes are boring to watch because there's a reason they didn't make it into the show, but I wonder if after all of this time has passed, it might be kind of a cool way to look back at the show and what didn't make it in and why, and kind of talk about that. We could have a whole podcast episode about that too.

Megan: It could be the-the cut that cut.

Rob: Yeah. Cut that, cut that, cut that, cut.

Charlie: Well, it's like every episode's different, you know. I-I feel like I remember some of these earlier ones, like the molested episode or something, we cut down like under time, but then under time was the best version, you know.

Rob: Mm-hmm.

Charlie: And then some, we were like, "Oh, there's no way to-to get out," you know, just depending--

Rob: It's- it's amazing how often you're watching something and it feels long, but you look at the run time and it's only 20 minutes and then you can watch something else that's 40 minutes long and it feels like you're ripping through it 'cause you're so engaged all the way through.

Charlie: Yeah, in fact, on this one specifically, did we clear that it was gonna be a two-part episode with the- with the network while in the writing process? Or was it something that in the editing room, we had to break up into two episodes because we're like, "There's too much content here?" I don't remember, to tell you the truth.

Rob: I don't remember either. I know that that's happened a few times, where we broke a story that was too long, but we love the story--

Charlie: Mac and Charlie die, was-was that, where we were like, "Oh, this is too long," and then we went and we shot more scenes?

Rob: Yeah, we shot more scenes. That's exactly what happened.

Megan: Really?

Rob: We shot more scenes. We had a new editor come in, Tim Roche, who's been with us from-from that point forward, and then we realized, "Oh, all we need to do is supplement this second half of this story and we can have- we can have this be two-two episodes instead of one." And I believe that's when we brought the glo- the glory hall-- hole into it. And the-- and Jan and the- and the roommate.

Charlie: I know the whole orgy storyline was part of what was added into that, for sure-

Rob: Yeah, yeah.

Charlie: -but I think the glory hole thing was in from the beginning.

Rob: That was from the beginning, yeah.

Charlie: I think it-it had to have been.

Rob: I-I definitely remember- I-I definitely remember an index card being up on the wall for a full year that just said glory hole. We-we-we were gonna find a way to put that into an episode.

Charlie: That was the scene, and we're getting ahead of ourselves, but I-I feel like that's the episode where we found Frank. You know what I mean? Where we really found-- like-like Frank's sort of- [chuckles] Frank's sort of casual attitude about the buffet at the orgy, and we were like, "Okay, this is the guy." You know what I mean? He's a little bit more like business-business, angry business guy in these first few seasons and then-

Rob: Yeah.

Charlie: -just sort of like, uh--

Megan: "It's interfering with my nosh," Isn't that what he says?

[laughter]

Charlie: Yeah, sort of like casual, like, deli-deli meat guy, is who he became.

[laughter]

Megan: Also that whole thing with him and the Charlie-like mannequin thing that he's kind of carrying around 'cause he misses you so much. That's sweet.

Charlie: Yeah, but the whole pimping Dennis out in this one is-is great. Oh, bu-but we have- we have a whole other half to talk about-

Rob: Yeah.

Charlie: -to get to.

Rob: Yeah.

Megan: Mm-hmm.

Rob: And a-a-as I remember it, the second episode is funnier than the first, save for the stuff with the jockey with-with Buster, 'cause that scene, that is one of the best jokes that we've done the entire season, I think, is doing a line of Buster's bo-- [laughs] Buster's boner. That made me laugh.

Charlie: I kind of forgot it. When we were-

Rob: Me too.

Charlie: -when I was re-watching it, I had sort of forgotten that that's where it went, and uh, I was very pleased. [laughs]

Megan: And then you just, like, look at him and then you just leave. [laughs] You know that’s–

Charlie: Yeah, yeah, you know, there's no, um--

Rob: What are you gonna-- You're- you're either gonna do it or you're gonna leave.

Charlie: Yeah.

[End Credits]

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