Saturday Night Live Writer & Producer Jim Downey

Рет қаралды 20,009

Al Franken

6 ай бұрын

Al & Jim On How They Tried to Reward the Audience for Knowing Stuff but Not Punish Them for Not

Пікірлер: 87

@annaoeste2470 6 ай бұрын

What a fun and entertaining discussion among friends, for a change. 😊

@paulgrieger8182 6 ай бұрын

On Monday morning, in Homeroom, all anyone would talk about was, "Oh my God - did you see Saturday Night Live!?"

@LollieVox 5 ай бұрын

❤😂❤ exactly!! Still do!

@scrubjay93 6 ай бұрын

I was in high school when SNL began. I used to occasionally drag my stereo turntable/8-track player into the TV room and record the show on 8-track tapes. EVERYONE watched the show back then. 😊 Thank you Al and Jim for great memories and stories💚 The laughs are very welcome, especially yours Al!

@robincosta8973 6 ай бұрын

Thank you for a conversation filled with humor and NO TRUMP or politics. Such a joy. I'm 70 and was a big fan of Saturday Night Live back in the day.

@blacknrd05 6 ай бұрын

Eh here's hoping you're not a trump supporter

@robincosta8973 6 ай бұрын

@@blacknrd05 Your hopes have been realized.

@tomcarl8021 5 ай бұрын

@@blacknrd05Trump 2024

@christheghostwriter 4 ай бұрын

Hey, everyone, I found the high school dropout! @@tomcarl8021

@GABABQ2756 6 ай бұрын

Thanks Al for interviewing Jim. I haven’t seen him in years. One of the smartest guys I knew in grade school.

@jackcrassus168 6 ай бұрын

That’s really interesting. You should watch the Jim Downey episode of Conan O’Brien needs a friend, and his episode of Fly on the Wall with Dana Carvey & David Spade. I miss Norm and love listening to all Jim Downey stories

@mikeyoungblood1642 4 ай бұрын

And it’s proof we can have different political beliefs but ignore them in the name of funny and fun

@NoSacredCowFla 6 ай бұрын

Thanks enjoyed it. It was a good one, for a change.😉

@maryroseart 6 ай бұрын

Thank you, this is really a fun one!!

@paulgrieger8182 6 ай бұрын

The unscrupulous toy seller was "Irwin Mainway." I'll never forget it. "Bag O' Glass." Genius. And the interviewer was Candice Bergen.

@christheghostwriter 4 ай бұрын

They did the character more than once, and I think Jane Curtin did the second one

@AndreaCuchetto 6 ай бұрын

Will Farrell as Bush, batting around a ball of yarn above his head like a cat, is my absolute favorite impression!

@francismorra4229 6 ай бұрын

Hi Al, I am a native Floridian. I agree with you wholeheartedly about the role that Florida played in the 2000 Presidential Election and the 5-4 decision in Bush v. Gore that enabled Bush to become the President. "Officially", Bush won Florida by 537 votes. The world was profoundly changed and not for the better as a result of Bush v. Gore.

@splunge743 6 ай бұрын

I doubt that there would have been a 911 and therefore Iraq war.

@secef316 5 ай бұрын

If only Gore had balls like Trump. We might have been spared Bush, 9/11, Iraq, Obama and ISIS

@splunge743 5 ай бұрын

@@secef316You mean by balls, denying the election?

@secef316 4 ай бұрын

Elections should be always denied when they're bullshit. Gore could have prevented a lot of suffering if he was more of a man.@@splunge743

@luciafidalgo296 6 ай бұрын

Thank you Al and Jim! Please do more of these. So great to hear the back stories.

@azarml 6 ай бұрын

snl began when I was in jr high. I quickly fell in love with the show. It was brilliant. I remember parties would stop when SNL came on.

@mattjames7272 6 ай бұрын

What a great interview!

@neilh9442 4 ай бұрын

Whether comedy or politics, I always vote Al. Because he's good enough & smart enough, an doggone it, people like him.

@lucibjlb 6 ай бұрын

Having been a huge fan of SNL (still am), particularly back when it first started, I so enjoyed listening to this episode. You guys were blessed to have been part of its heyday and early success. Love it!! Thank you!

@jenn976 4 ай бұрын

Thanks for this!! Great stuff.

@marklong8608 5 ай бұрын

Jim wrote so many great things over so many decades... lifetime Emmy? Reunion show with all those comedians? Mark Twain Prize? Kennedy center honor? Someone get on it.

@dondevice8182 4 ай бұрын

“Invisible Pedestrian” it’s for my money, the single greatest gag in SNL history.

@johnathanh2660 6 ай бұрын

A couple of old(ish) men remembering being teenage boys!

@Oldleftiehere 6 ай бұрын

The Change Bank isn’t a bad idea. Someone ought to get right on that. 😂

@LollieVox 5 ай бұрын

Awe didn’t want it to end… ❤

@dawnoleary4907 6 ай бұрын

Oh what a cutie picture 😍

@Catherine-gt3cr 6 ай бұрын

6 minutes in & I'm frustrated Al won't let guest finish sentence. I STILL don't know what the guest was TRYING to say

@Catherine-gt3cr 6 ай бұрын

Al, you're strong enough, you're good enough.... now just practice being a good LISTENER. 💜💜💜

@jaggedstarrPI 5 ай бұрын

Run, Mr. Franken. Run, run again! We so need your voice in the national discussion. Please consider...?

@user-st4fj2ii2h 10 күн бұрын

Great pod, thank you

@thecuriousquest 4 ай бұрын

Good honest dialogue about their experiences and intentions

@GDMFSOBlarg 5 ай бұрын

I love you you are one of my favorite people on the face of the Earth the one problem in this life that you have is stamping down on definitive if you would only wax poetic and literally your self-help character was all about waxing poetically but saying really biting things so my only criticism to you and I really wish you were a representative of our country I respect you immensely and nobody talks enough about how much Integrity you had by even quitting I didn't want you to but it showed respect to this country very few acknowledged I love you I know you wanted to do well by our country please continue your political life but go for it No Holds Barred I want a record of somebody that said it was insane and God willing it will be saved

@GDMFSOBlarg 5 ай бұрын

I'm basically an atheist but yeah now it's all good I'm just curious to see what it would look like if you jumped into the house😂 it wouldn't be the worst thing we need more figures

@bertski60 6 ай бұрын

this canuck loves you AF!

@bertski60 6 ай бұрын

by the way....i saw you on colin nealon's hike, where you briefly came across that canadian hiker who i admit was a bit chatty. i have to say i was a bit disappointed about your reply to a canadian it had something to do with poutine. sorry....it was the typical response i'd expect. i was a bit disappointed but still love you and what you stand for. never mind this bitchy, critical canadian. we're pretty fucking touchy. : )

@lydiasharp6070 6 ай бұрын

Great time guys…thanks so much!

@enerjohnsavior3227 6 ай бұрын

Hi Al! My daughter just moved to LA with an entertainment writing degree and is getting ready to take an improv class at Groundlings. Not sure how much she knows about this whole story - I can't tell it well - but it sure is fun to hear you guys tell it!

@jaelo2314 6 ай бұрын

Im in the room where it happened. Or didn't. But i enjoyed your conversation immensely

@ingridgoree4558 Ай бұрын

First Citywide Change Bank has been, and always will be, one of the best and funniest fake commercials of all time. I will die on this hill. "...we're not going to give you 2,000 nickels."

@stringlarson1247 4 ай бұрын

That was fun, for a change. Nice antidote to the Anne Applebaum episode, which, while brilliant AF, required this one to wash it down.

@lucibjlb 6 ай бұрын

Also, I went to John Marshall High School with both Mark and Steve O'Donnell. They were a year behind me. They were brilliant even back then. I remember getting into trouble during dress rehearsals because Mark would make me laugh so hard. He was the type of guy who was super reserved and quiet, so he never got into trouble. I was the rowdy one (plus the drama teacher didn't like me much). Who knew he was hysterically funny like his brother? Anyway, I think he was a writer on SNL during the 1981-1982 season. Naturally, I was jealous. Loved both of them!

@nunyabiz1780 5 ай бұрын

So happy he found work. I loved him as Pat on SNL

@CharlieTWilbury 5 ай бұрын

lol!

@bonniekane8547 5 ай бұрын

Al: this was TRULY, the best one ever!!!

@adamcoe 5 ай бұрын

I paused this and watched the Bush-Gore debate they were talking about and it is if anything, funnier than I remember. "One of the keys to the lockbox..." dear god. Jim Downey should be kept alive for the next 200 years by any means available to science so he can continue to write sketches

@leonardstilwell1894 10 күн бұрын

What does Jim mean by "cell phone joke" when talking about the typical OJ joke on Weekend Update?

@donovanmedieval 5 ай бұрын

I rememberJack Handy's "Deep Thoughts" being on The Comedy Channel, in 1990; apparently voiced by himself. Did he write for SNL, then for The Comedy Channel, then SNL again?

@gjnelsondotcom 6 ай бұрын

Tenth!

@hibob418 5 ай бұрын

Well you obviously missed the reference to the contrast of the Bush/Gore election and what we’re going through now. (Roughly 2 minute mark) Downey is an unsung hero, and one of the great political satirists of our age, you just didn’t know it came from him.

@YABBAHEY1 6 ай бұрын

Whole keggers would cease when SNL was due to come on. Minute it was over back to Steely Dan, Pink Floyd, Zeppelin, Framton , Jethro Tull, etc.. cranked to 11 (Built by the same audio smith as Spinal Tap's, no way you say ? no really man) Nothing ever came close to the original cast. "Hello, I'm Al Franken, & your not"

@scrubjay93 6 ай бұрын

Good times!

@donovanmedieval 5 ай бұрын

My favorite "talking heads commercial" sketch was with Roseanne was a help center operator for I think a credit card, and Phil Hartman was a rich idiot customer.

@wyskass861 5 ай бұрын

Downey calling Franken "more partisan, than ideological", seems like a strong low key insult, to his principles

@donovanmedieval 5 ай бұрын

I thought Chevy Chase's Gerald Ford was just meant to be silly; but later I learned he really did have a few stumbles.

@sepitheroth 5 ай бұрын

this is great. i'd like seeing the interaction between the two of you even better. but if you didn't want to show the video, you could have Robert Smigel animate some ambiguously gay duo to go along with this interview.

@stevehofer3482 5 ай бұрын

I like this one better than Jim’s interview on fly on the wall.

@secef316 5 ай бұрын

But not the one on Conan Needs a Friend... "no I mean Jeff Epstein, the New York financier!"

@JosephAguado 6 ай бұрын

Can you get Bernie on the podcast? Can't think of another jew with whom Al should connect with.

@davidwitzany5852 6 ай бұрын

3:50

@jackcrassus168 6 ай бұрын

That has to be Leo Kottke, right? I haven’t listened to him in years. I should remedy that.

@jackcrassus168 6 ай бұрын

I knew it! He is the greatest guitarist, it’s as distinctive as a voice!!

@donovanmedieval 5 ай бұрын

They should have switched Don Olmeyer with Dick Ebersole.

@monaferrell9403 6 ай бұрын

Barbara Bush was a sweet old granny type? In what universe? 😮

@baronepam 6 ай бұрын

I used to listen to Barbara's radio show. She read stories for children. Sunday mornings. It really was a sweet Grandma-ish thing.

@miguelvelez7221 6 ай бұрын

It's called PR. BTS she was a consummate political wife with her own fiefdom but in public she was mostly demure with a little bit of sass.

@6sfo 4 ай бұрын

Barbara Bush was so popular that they put her face on the $1 bill.

@RD2564 3 ай бұрын

54:48 "Ohlmeyer was more of a bullying type", a direct, in your face type, a German ... Ohlmeyer was very German. Lovely interview, I'm enjoying it a great deal.