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Dumb It Down

Apr 19, 202342 min
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Episode description

A former member of Menudo is claiming music honcho, Jose Menendez, sexually assaulted him when he was underage...Bill Hader and Ali Wong reunite...Netflix series "Beef" is underwhelming...Jonathan Majors' career is imploding after his domestic violence arrest...Charlie Sheen reunites with Chuck Lorre on a new HBO Max series...The long and winding road to get "Dumb and Dumber" made.

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Transcript

From workhouse connect in AJ Benze fame, He'd like to be walked on a leash and play really dirty, kinky sex games. He's the guy put the cock in the peacock network. Okay, bitch, Hey, everybody AJ Benze here with fame is a bitch. This is your free show for Wednesday, April nineteen, twenty twenty three. Sorry, it's been a hectic night before and a hectic day before. I'm taking this at two pm Pacific time.

I apologize. I didn't think it would take this long, but oh man, I was told I had to move out of a double bedroom in this hotel and go across the hotel to a single bedroom that happened in like Baula. Fox had to go to the car rental place to get the wife another rental car for until whatever the hell hell cars done getting fixed at whatever shop it's at. If somebody loose ends, I'm going been so money's flying out of my ass every which way. But I said, let me get home

and do the free show for you good people. And then nice zero four one nine, two two three. Not the greatest date, but guess what is a great date? Today is the day that we can talk about. The Menendez brothers case is back in the news because an ex member of Menudo is now saying well basically backing the brothers claim that their father was a pedophile and sexually abused him. The ex member's name is Roy Rosello. He was part of a hugely popular boy band from the eighties. There's a new docuse

series that's the airing on Peacock Network. It's titled Menendez plus Nuno Cohen Boys Betrayed. I don't like the title, but I think it'll be fantastic to watch. I'm getting all tired of all these networks to have the plus signed Peacock plus AMC plus Bravo plus ESPN plus Disney plus. Some of them are really good shows up, but I can't stay want to doing once they are

they are nine dollaring us to death. Okay, I don't know how much I used to have, like you know, Netflix, Amazon, and then I went for Hulu, which I could really but the way they make these shows, there's always a show you don't want to miss on a streaming platform you don't have, so you sign it for that one, you gotta cancel it again because there's nothing else going on. I'm like, I want to

I cancel Amazon Prime. I'm just a Netflix guy right now. Not crazy in love with what's on Netflix. Not enough of the stuff I want to look for. But there is something interesting that I tried to look at. I can't do it. It's the Indian version of Ray Donovan. It's called Ray News something. I don't know. He's an Indian actor. They're only Indian actors and some subtitles, some not. But you know, Ray Donovan just ended. You can't tell me you're going to improve upon that show.

It's just it was one of the best TV programs I've ever watched in my life. And what to an half years three years later, you know Bally Will's gonna do their own interpretation of it then, more than welcome to do it. And it's very popular on Netflix because they are now on Netflix is I'll get to the show in a second. Netflix is on admission now to no longer have you share your Netflix accounts, but your kid or your husband and your wife or your friend, that's all gonna end very quickly. Now

they're giving you an option. Look, if there's two people who are auctioning with you, we'll charge them eight bucks apiece. You still got to pay the thirteen fourteen bucks, but no more. We all have the Netflix account because right now I share with five people, my stepson, Rocko, Roxy and Logo, and it's like, you know, we're all just one payment. The Netflix is looking at the big picture, going, oh man, we could have so much more dope. Especially in countries like Indian China.

They have to they have to price it differently because you know, they're not going to charge people whatever. I don't even know his Netflix fifteen dollars yet a thirty. I don't even know what it is. But I have it, can't not have it anyhow. Big bombshell from former Minudo member Roy Russello. He says that Jose Menendez drugged and secturally assaulted him before he was brutally killed alongside his wife by his sons, their sons, Lyle and Eric.

I worked on this story a lot at the Daily News. It was a national story, probably international in some aspects. I went to the trial out in La not a long time, but a few times. Met Robert Rand who's an author who wrote a great book about them, then The Brothers, one of his books I think was turned into a TV series or show that I do a series, and nice guy knows an awful lot about this stuff, and he's the person who told me, and he's not lying, he

said. Ricky Martin was on tape explaining that Jose Menendez sexually assaulted him. And I think at the time his manager was Benny Medina, who was very powerful, popular man. J Low's manager. Benny's had a lot of people. He's gay himself, and he did not want that information that Ricky so bravely gave to a well it was to Robert rant And at the end of the day, all the stuff he had that really would have been such a

bombshell, it went nowhere. It just went nowhere. Now with the nuts thing about this incident is how exactly Roy claims to have known Jose during the time of this incident. But you know, it's not outside the realm of possibility if the guy was a sex and a pedophile the way he treated his kids, If you are to believe their testimony in which they crowed, I mean I was there when they cried. I mean I saw veins in their

forehead pop out when they were explaining what happened to them. The Menendez Murder was one of the first podcast I did way back, almost six years ago. The show was very different back then, and I was such a neophyte at it. It probably sounds ridiculous today. I wish I could take back the first forty fifty shows I did and redo them. But it is what it is. You know, it's a new field and you got to feel

it out. But you know, when you see two brothers on the stand with such agony on their faces, I don't think you can coach that. I don't think you can instill that in somebody who doesn't have great acting ability, and the Menendez brothers did not. And I believe what they said about their dad, you know. And you gotta remember Lyleman and has worked as an executive in the music business during the eighties and nineties. He was very

tight with the Latin community. And look, the fact that he was the way it's alleged he was is the biggest open secret in the music industry. Everybody's talked about this, mentioned it brought it up, then it dies down. Well, May second will get to be able to stream Rossello's story from

Peacock, but from the trailers and promos that were released this week. There's no doubt that this guy is leveling a very serious allegation that seems due more or less jibe with what Lyle and Eric also claimed about their dad in the

nineties, that he would sexually abuse them for years during their childhood. I mean, the lynchpin of their defense, really, what it boiled down to was telling the jury that they lived in fear from the US and they only killed their parents after claiming their dad threaten threatened them when they said they would expose what he'd done, and the mother was like, you know, just a shit heead didn't want to know, didn't want to hear. She put

her head in the ground when the kids would complain. There was one time, but one of their brothers had white short I think it was Eric. I forget which brother. One of them had white shorts on. His father had allegedly done something to his anus and there was a red spot and the mother didn't want to know about it. What mother doesn't want to know about

a red blood spot on your kid's ass. Fucking people are unbelievable. So I believe this story wholeheartedly because I remember what those kids said that the father would take them into the bathroom and tell them there's nothing wrong with being with another man or your father, because this is what Greek soldiers did before war. They got together, and men with men and women with women. It's

totally natural. He just drilled this into the head. Not to mention what he drilled into their butts, because I remember hearing stories about him putting electric ructure toothbrushes, anything he could find he put inside them like a real piece of shit. So I'm all for this story coming out. And you know, no one really is ever publicly back this story that jose might have sexually

abused minus everybody's thought about it in Hollywood. Some have the goods, like Robert Rand, But the question is will it have any impact on the Menendez brothers taste because their lawyers, they'll lawyers have been trying for years to secure a new trial. They've had a few unsuccessful appeals. But I'm telling you right now, I got a hunch, and I'm good with hunches. I gotta hunch this news we'll have them getting that appeal, and dare I say,

released from prison? That's the way I feel. Let's move on to some comedians. I was gonna say comics and comedians. I said. Anyhow, Bill Hayder, who I love on from Saturday Night Live, is officially dating the Asian comic Ali Wong, comic actress whatever, just like Bill Hayter is a comic and actor whatever director to This all began when Hayter confirmed he was in a new relationship and mentioned he had a girlfriend in some interview with

an outlet called Collider. When they asked about his plans for upcoming projects, he said his girlfriend had been encouraging him to take a vacation. They after letting him know that it's been almost a decade since he's had any rest and relaxation, and it's been confirmed he was talking about Ali Wong as his girlfriend. So they went to San Francisco for a vacation. That doesn't really count though, So now he's going to have a true vacation to take her someplace.

But she's been busy. He's busy acting and directing in the HBO series Barry. Ali Wong is now in the Netflix series Beef. I'll get to that in a second. But these two were together before they were together. They previously said that their romance last fall was a Rebound because it came on the heels of her divorce from Justin Hakuta and Bill Haters split from Anna Kendrick. Bill Harida must have something special. You know, you just gotta make

chicks laugh. He's knocking down some some good looking women. He has done it. He really has these asto guys you like at a steady stream of big TV and movie stars coming in, they go to a steady stream of events and parties and people just love to laugh. And Bill Hayter is one of the funniest bastards I've ever seen. But I'm only doing this piece simply because I don't get Ali Wong at all. Yes, she's pretties, I'll give you that. But I tried to watch that show Beef on Netflix.

Have you seen this? I think Netflix puts that high nineties on so many shows that not just not warranted, but they want you to jump on a show right away, keep that streaming platform going. Have you seen this show Beef? It's supposed to be such a great show and a funny show. I don't know what to say it. Bottom line is this, and judge me all you want. I can't get into two Asians as the stars in

any movie or TV series. It's really hard for me to do that, which is weird because I watched I Loved Our Are, the Bollywood movie that was out and was up for and I won the Oscar for Best Song. I love that movie. I guess I like Indian culture better than Asian culture. I don't know what it is, but obviously it's a cultural thing. I'm just very different than Chinese people, like with just different. Italians are different. Like the girlfriend is of Ukrainian, Slovenian and a Spanish background.

She deals with anger very differently than I do. My anger goes outwork. I'm a passionate Sicilian Nabolidon. My anger goes out the Sicilian part of me wants to strangle you. The Napolidon part wants to hug you and say I'm sorry. So you're gonna get old of that. In ten minutes from me, the girlfriend retreats and goes back in her body, in her head, she's getting mad and her eyes literally become a little green. It's a it's

an unbelievable effect. And her face goes dead. And I made a joke last time, I said, you looked like one of those miserable women who live in Eastern Bloc countries and they're poor, and they eat hot rocks in water for soup, you know, hot rocks soup. Just trying to make her laugh, and she laughed. So the other day I see a picture of Milania. I saw a video of Milannia and Donald Trump where Donald Trump said one of the funniest, most embarrassing things I've ever heard. Two years

back. He said, and then we're gonna go to what do we love? What do he? I couldn't believe he said this. He was so happy he said it. Melania went back into her anger face. So I put a picture up and I sent it to the girlfriend of Milannia's stone cole face and no stone cold face, and they make the same face with him in Granted, Melania has had more reasons to be angry when her husband's shocking

up everywhere. Don't get me start. There's a new troup that's gonna start that he supposedly raped the the writer Eejeene Carol, the columnist that's still hanging around. I guess I know Eugene Carol. That's not his look. I know he's a dog. I know the girls he's messed with and been with. But Eejen Carol is looking for No. It's just no. I don't buy it. I don't buy it anyhow. I don't. I can't get behind two Asians. I can't get like that whole Asian cast, like everything

everywhere, all at once. I can't do it. I watched it, it was it was a bothersome to me. I did love Squid Game, loved it all Korean. I really can't tell at that point. I know the difference between a Chinese name and a Japanese name, but you put Ali Wong and the other guy that stars that are on screen, I don't know what they are, you know, I don't. It doesn't it just hit

me right, you know? I do like Aquafina, the comedian, Aquafina, the actress who that that shows she has about living in Queens, New York and living with her grandmother. She's very funny, and the way they have the old lady being so clueless and a pain less makes this very enjoyable for me. Other than that, yeah, I like I like Split Game a lot. Parasite That was okay about Parasite, but there's an Asian invasion going on and I'm not against them getting getting more work. That's funny,

but I just couldn't get behind this beef show. It all stems around the two stars getting into a ridiculous case of road rage and it keeps escalating. Sounds like a funny idea, but I just I don't find Alley Wang funny. And I know Bill Hayter would know funny, but I don't know, you know. On the other hand, Bill Hayter is so funny and so good that I could see him in anything. And if you haven't seen the

HBO series Barry, you guys start binging that tonight. I always find it very interesting that all he's comedic actors, or a big percentage of them, can also do dramatic turns that are so powerful. Yeah, we've seen Jamie Foxx do it time and again. Adam Sandler has it down. Pat Will Ferrell can do drama. Chris Rock. I don't think Chris Rock does a good job of drama. I think he's a terrible actor in a great comic can't help it. His eyes never look honest to me when he's being in

a dramatic show. He looks like he wants to tell a joke more than the line he's got that he has to say doesn't work. But it's it's rare when a dramatic actor can do comedy, because comedy is harder. I mean Christopher Walking, but he wasn't a stand up comic, but he can do comedy. Robert de Niro wasn't a stand up comic, but he's done

several turns in comedy and been very funny at it. There is, while I'm on the topic of Bill Hayes, there's a very it's a funny story that Billy Bill Hayes is a huge fan of Keith Morriston, the guy that does the narration for some date Line episodes. Doing that guy, Oh that

pesky DNA. He drags everything out. Every read is so dramatic. We went to three one five Valley stream Drive found something like, you know, so Bill Hayter does him to a t. So people at the show date Line had seen Hayter's spot on impression of Morriston, so one day they called him down to their office. You know, it's all NBC, and they asked if he could do a couple of voiceovers on date Line because Morriston wasn't able to record anything. He was sick and Bill Hader couldn't believe it,

and they said, look, just come down. We know you're impression is spot on. Just come down. There's like two lines few to read beat Keith Morriston. Nobody would ever believe those lines didn't come from him ability to can't believe it because he loves Keith Marrison like like almost like on the level of a rock star, loves him. So he goes down and does in the vo booth and then across Morrison walks in. It was all is set up because they know how obsessed Bill Hayter was and is for Keith Morrison.

He said he almost had tears in his eyes meeting Morrison. It's funny. You can go to YouTube and type in Morrison's favorite Keith Morrison's best narrations. There's all sorts of stuff there. This one YouTube video that has him reading a portion of the twenty twenty two phone book three eighty Mainstream for eighty six,

Empire Avenue two two two eight, white Water Lane. He does this, It's just it's I love it. Moving on, guys, there's been a lot of action in the big actor Jonathan Major's life Major has got in some trouble with a girl. His girlfriend physical trouble a few weeks back, and all sorts of things began happening to him. First he was told, you can't attend the met gallup, can't go to the met Ball. Now his talent manager, Entertainment three sixty has dropped him. That came three weeks

after he was arrested on domestic violence charges in New York City. This guy is currently in Creed three and Aunt Man and the Wasp Fantamania, and his departure was due to issues surrounding this guy's personal behavior. I hit it on the head when I first thought to see him. Why am I so good at this? I knew this guy was a problem as soon as I saw him. He comes across thuggish, not just because he's muscular. He just comes to cross buggish, even though he went to Yale drama School. Can't

hide it for me, Bro, you just can't. So not only his representation three sixty dropped him, but the PR firm he works, but the lead company also said, look at leading some space that happened in the last month. This is also some minor elements to this too. Majors and the fashion House. Valentino mutually agreed that he would not be attending the met Galla this year. Big deal, Big deal. This guy shot. He just shot his second season of Marvel Disney plus his series Loki, in which he

is the uber villain Kang, the Conqueror. That's not going to go before the cameras and avengers the Kang Dynasty quite some time. But I haven't heard so far any conversations that are taking place in the Marvel camp to say they might want to drop him from the Marvel Comic universe. That would be the biggest boat. But going back to March twenty fifth, this guy was arrested

over domestic dispute with his thirty year old girlfriend. They don't give her name, obviously, but she was taken to the hospital with minor injuries to her head and neck. Called fingerprints and Majors has to appear before a judge May eighth. He's facing multiple accounts of arrastment and assault from the New York City DA. Of course, his defense attorneys are saying he is completely innocent and

is probably the victim of an altercation with a woman he knows. We are quickly gathering and presenting evidence the district attorney with the expectation that all charges will be dropped imminently. That was back on March twenty seventh. Okay, it's three and a half weeks or so. Nothing's happened. No charges have been

dropped when the defense attorney also said. The evidence includes video footage from the vehicle where this episode took place, witness testimony from the driver and others who both saw and heard the episode, and most importantly, two written statements from the woman recanting these allegations. The problem is his attorney released a bunch of text messages to the press. Obviously they redacted the woman's identity, but she

took blame for the fight. Some of that text messages. Some of those text message to say, please let me know you're okay when you get this. They assured me that you won't be charged. They said they had to arrest you his protocol when they saw the injuries on me and they knew we had a fight. I'm so angry that they did this, and I'm sorry you're in this position. I'm going to make sure nothing happens about this to you. I told him it was my fault for trying to grab your phone.

I only just got out of the hospital. Now just call me when you're done. I love you. You know it's a very tricky thing. But I'll tell you something before I go on. If anything, those text messages do more damage. I know. It's proof that you know, she apologized, but so what she comes off and you read these things as the typical victim suffering from Stockholm syndrome. She says she grabbed his phone and his response was to strangle her. I know what happened. He looked at a

text message from another girl. She flipped out and grabbed a phone and got crazy in the backseat and he put hands on it. It's not good, but this is some fall from grace. This was the fastest meteoric rise and fall I've seen Anyhow, guys in the midst of such a His career right now is insane. In twenty twenty three, Long Creed three and Aunt Man The Wasp of a combined gross of seven forty five million at the box office.

He also got rave reviews at a Sundance for playing this mentally disturbed amateur bodybuilder and something called magazine Dreams. Disney acquired that right out of the festival beat a bunch of bidders that's coming out December of twenty twenty three. Disney isn't likely to make a move or comment on this until season two of Lowky Airs because he's the big star. But the timetable would definitely move up if formal charges get filed, or if he pleads guilty, or if the video

is sufficiently damning. But given how strongly the agent and the attorneys came out in his defense, I thought this would already have all blown over and been a non issue. But it looks like everyone is jumping ship even before the court date suggest otherwise. Look, his attorney was all over the news saying that the charges would quickly be dropped. No, the only thing dropped so

far is Major's representation and more opportunities in different films. So congrats on getting roided up, taken all of steroids an HGH for your movie career, and then having life imitate art. That's where this comes from. Yeah, girl texted him. Yeah, he looked at it. The girls saw it. She screamed. He tried to shut her up, put hands on it. You can't do that. I think the drivers said that the girl actually had passed out, which meant he choked her. She could have faked it or

he could have choked her. It's all the look. Whatever cops are called to a domestic dispute, it happened to me too. There was no noe whould have put a hands on each other? What's there was nothing to do with hands. It was about my voice being loud. That's why cops were called. Because I was loud. And when everybody split or my kids were gonna go with their aunt and my wife was gonna go with sister, I said, I'm on Rocko with me, and I pulled Rocko toward me and

my index finger and pulling him toward me. In a moment of such extreme anxiety and stress, I put a fingerprint on his upper shoulder, lower neck, like I said to me, a bud stay with daddy, stayed with daddy. Well, police saw that and they have to get you know, the people who take care of children A volved. It was awful all for one fingerprint. Now, Jonathan Major sounds like he did a hell of a lot more so. Never liked him, don't like him in movies, got

some things coming out. Something else was called something about the guy in my basement, crazy ast movie. He might be a decent actor. I just don't like the guy and I always knew he'd be a problem and I'm right again. And by the way, time heals all wounds. I never thought

for a second Charlie Sheen would be out of television forever. It's been twelve years years, but now Charlie Sheen and Chuck Lorie, the showrunner for Two and a Half Men and many other shows, are getting back in business together. They're gonna work together on Chuck Laurie's first HBO Max comedy series, How to Be a Bookie. This sounds very promising, guys. It's being called

one of the most anticipated new series of the year. Charlie Sheen has a recurring role single camera comedy My Favorite, headlined by Sebastian Maniscalco, who's like unbelievably funny, and Chuck Laurie behind it as a showrunner and writer. Jesus Christ. It's a big TV comeback for Charlie Sheen. He's also attached to something called Rambalan from Entourage's Doug Ellen, which has been shopped around, but I know someone the sort of pilot for this and they stay the script should

have stayed buried. Not good. But Charlie Sheen and Chuck Laurie man eight year collaboration, one of the most successful comedy series of the past twenty five years, Two and a Half Men, Sheen and Laurie. But they butted ahead. Charlie was getting after a while, you just can't let him keep getting hot. It got to a point where Chuck Laurie said, fuck this, this is my life. I mean, I have to create and work every day, and I can't work with some of these irresponsible as is.

Charlie got carried away. Back in twenty eleven, a law came to an end. Charlie had that tiger blood public meltdown and was ripping Chuck Laurie in Newass all over the press. One hundred million dollar lawsuit was filed against Chuck Laurie was eventually settled. But that's how bad things got. But now, if you've seen Charlie recently, he's last five six years, he's taking responsibility

for his crazy shit, his crazy antics. He's expressed regret over two and a half exiting Two and a half Men, and he wants to make and he did make amends with Chuck Lorie, and that's a good thing because he has been a top comedy showrunner for a long ass time. And how to be a book he sounds great, So Chuck Lorie's writing it along with someone named Nick McKay. Sebastian Maniscalco plays a veteran bookmaker who's struggling to survive the

impending legalization of sports gambling. I swear I know people. I know guys like this. You got unstable clients, You've got families up your ass, you've got coworkers you can't work with, and a lifestyle that bounces you all over the place, trying to get money, trying to contact people. Going to be set in LA and apparently it's going to take place in the ritchie

rich neighborhoods and the ghettos of LA because gambling is widespread. I'll tell you right now, if they would, if this would be the perfect time to reboot Too and a Half Men with Sheen back as Charlie. Are you kidding me, especially now with everything becoming so super PC politically correct, you bring back Trollie and John Cryer. It would be so refreshing. This country would welcome that show back. With open arms, like they welcomed Rosanne back with

open arms. But we know what happened there, you know, I mean, I know we're not allowed to say the same things we used to say and see in sitcoms. But they'd probably have to be a trans writer in the writer's room, maybe an Asian, somebody handicap perhaps, because that'lly riders rooms are now, even though two men Laurie and Bikay would essentially be riding

the whole series. They need that representation in rider's rooms now. I've been saying it forever, and I got friends who show runners would tell me that's exactly what happens. We got people who wrote on a blog in college, but if they're gay or trans, or handicapped or whatever the hell, they have to be hired because a representation diversity, inclusion, equity bullshit. Speaking of that crazy non PC role, I watched Dumb and Dumber two two mornings

ago. There were so many jokes in there you just cannot get away with anymore. There's one scene, if you remember, there was a Stephen Hawking type character and he had the voice box that shit, and he said something to Jim Carrey's character and Jim saw the guy in the chair with the voice box and it sounded all garbled, and Carrie did like a jump like jump scared. He was like, what the fuck is that? He laughed so hard the guy and he said, is that ship coming from you? You

can't say to them. You can't ask a handicapped person with a neuron disease, is that shit coming from you? Motor neuron disease. First of all, they wouldn't even be able to write a character in the movie who resembled Stephen Hawking and had motor neuron disease. Nowadays you can't do it anymore. Lloyd, But Lloyd was funny and dumb and the Lloyd's the kind of person who thinks he can, you know, Jim Carrey thought he could always buy

by the bar and get a chick. But Harry, you know, Harry was different, a lot less secure, and didn't not really have an approach women. There's one point where he does at a party, he delivers one of the best dumb and dumber lines, but he does it in a completely innocent manner. When the character played by Lauren Holly is standing alone, Harry walks up and says, nice set of hooters you got there. You can't write that. Even though he meant a pair of owls she was looking at

in a cage, you still can't write it. They would never allow it. You go back and look at Matt Damon and something about Mary speaking of Farrelly brothers. And you know when Matt Damon's playing tackle football with Cameron Diaz's mentally retarded brother and his friends, and Matt Damon scores, not Matt Damon, Matt Dylan. Matt Dylan scores a touchdown running in like eighty yards and they can't catch him, and he says out loud in the end zone,

special, my ass it's over. Can't do that. Such funny movies gross out, un PC look nineteen ninety four. You have to remember we had Forrest Gump, Pulp Fiction, Shawshank Redemption. But it was also the year where Jim Carrey did that movie Trifecta that you know, one Minute's fire Marshal

Bill on a living Color and he's an absolute superstar. Aspantur pet Detective in February, the Mask in July, and then Dumb and Dumber in December that we haven't seen that since it's the damn shame we can't see movies written like up a forty year old virginal wedding crash. There's all school, so many great films that writers wouldn't even dare hand in because they might lose their livelihood. But there's a lot of history to Dumb and Dummer. With Pete Farrelly

and his brother Bobby. There was the first movie years beforehand, Peter Farrelly and his friends and his frequent writing partner Bennett Gellen. They wrote a screenplay about two not very bright funeral home employees, which was eventually given to Eddie Murphy's production company, but it languished there and nothing got done. Then they were joined by Bobby Farrelly and they wrote Dragnet two, a sequel for the comedy starring Tom Hanks and Dan Ackroy. They say it's the best script ever.

It went nowhere, didn't get made either, just crazy. Then they're looking forward to Dumb and Dummer and at one point they thought Nick Cage and Gary Ulman could be in those roles. But they go back to the drawing board because no one's bining this stuff, and they come up with another story about two dimwitted buddies Harold and Lloyd, who set off for daring a loss briefcase to some rich guy who owned it. They called it go West.

They called it a power tool, is not a toy. But they changed the titles because they couldn't get agents to deliver a script that was called dumb and dumber to their clients. Nobody wanted to read it. It's the nature of this business. And by the way, New Line Cinema, you know, they were already nervous letting the Farrelies direct their their script, first time

directors directing their script. They didn't want Jeff Daniels to play Harry. He wasn't an obvious choice because he hadn't done any out and out comedies before that in his career. But he was always kind of funny in his roles. You know, I could go back and look at something Wild. There's a funny ask at him there with ray Leota. Great movie, but the Farrellies

and you know, once they read together. Jim Carrey also fought for Jeff Daniels to be hard because Jeff Daniels gets up there and you don't know what he's gonna do until he sees what the other actors gonna do. He's very good at reacting. Jeff Daniels, he's actually a genius at that. Go look at the newsroom. Oh my god, that was so phenomenal. That

what a great show. That was so um. Yeah, Daniels was not the obvious choice because he hadn't done any big comedies, so they really wanted him badly, and then Jim Carrey wanted him, and then it thought it to become an easier job to get him on board. But yeah, I'm

sure you've heard the story about Jim Carrey writing himself at check. It was nineteen ninety Jim Carrey wrote himself at check for ten million dollars for acting services rent by Thanksgiving nineteen ninety five, And he showed some reporters that check he wrote in nineteen ninety four, and that came right before the news of his seven million dollar paid day hit the press. So that's a remarkable thing for him to have done and then made happen. He said he when he wrote

the check, it wasn't about the money. It was a message to himself that if he was making that kind of money, he knew he had to be one of the top guys and the only worry he had then was with everybody talking about his salary, is that he worried that people would start thinking of him as a check and not a character. He didn't want people to, you know, be unable to lose themselves in their mood in his movies

because all they were thinking about is the money he was being paid. But you know, I mean, Martin Short and Steve Martin turned down the role of Lloyd, and Harris Chris Elliott rob Lowe were considered for Harry. I mean, it's unbelievable when you think about the Mocking Nations. A movie script goes through before it's finally done, and when you got the people, then you still gotta go out and make it and make sure everything's good on set.

And Jeff Daniels agents didn't want to play something called Dumb and Dunner. They were begging him not to do it. You know, he said there were He said there were three agents on the phone the night before he was to fly to do wardrobe for Dumb and Dunner, and the three of them one in New York and two in LA and the guys in La going, we're gonna come to your house and stop you right now. I'm gonna stop you. You're not gonna do this movie. You're a serious, important actor.

We're trying to get you the Oscars. You keep defeating us. Stop doing this shit. It's gonna be the end of your career. They said, Jim Carrey, comedic genius, with all due respect, he's gonna wipe you off the screen. So just say no. We'll take care of it. And Jeff Daniels said, if this is a mistake, it's my mistake. And he turned and went off to do wardrobe. And boy oh boy, didn't work out the way that they thought it would. It's really great.

I love stories like that because it's what I always tell you guys, and what you have to remember in this business. Nobody knows anything, but sometimes you get lightning in a bottle and you run with it and it turns out to be a masterpiece. And that's what a lot of those movies were back in those days. I don't see that happened too often, but I do know that all those crazy things still go on with casting and studio heads and first time directors and riot. It's a mess. It's a mess.

I know. They make a lot of money, but they also go through a hell of a lot of bullshit to get to that money. So caught them a little bit of slat, especially the guys behind the scene. That's it, that's by show. That's your free show for Wednesday, April nineteen, twenty twenty three. I'll talk to You is Friday Take It. Thank you for listening. Fame as a Bitch is an aj Benza Workhouse Connect production

featuring the endless wisdom, insightful commentary, and sometimes fucked up perspective. Aj Benza executive producer Mike Agavino

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