Some Time With... Karen Miller! (Part 1)

How do I do this again?

Okay, so I have to press record recording audio recording an audiobox.

I'll worry about later. I'm gonna buy you.

My Google doc. I've got Jody up there.

Okay.

I think I think we know what we're doing now. It's like it's literally I'm like, have.

We done this before?

It's a brand new every single time.

Oh boy, some days it's just a little harder to start the engine than others.

True.

True? Do we always start at ten or sometimes? Is it ten thirty?

What? Our guests are just very organized and they come at ten fifteen because we're supposed to be doing intros and stuff.

Oh right, right? Always early? Of course, Karen's are on.

Time, right, She's not on time, She's fifteen minutes early.

She's so, which is according to my husband and a lot of people, that is on time. Yeah, yeah, on time is late, and or yeah early is on time and on time is late.

I'm like, oh, that doesn't apply to me.

I'm yeah, it's a window, you know what I mean, Like a little seven to ten minute window.

Anyway, Hi, ab Hi, what's up?

Nothing, I'm getting ready to go to Italy soon, very excited.

It's this month. Why did I think it was November? Wow, it's coming up.

It's coming up.

I know.

I'm very excited. Do you have your are you packed? Do you have your clothing all laid out? Do you have your dual lingo Max or whatever? To learn you're Italian?

No?

No, I should just bring be with me and be like you're my translator the duelingo Max.

No.

I actually I went to Shannon's yesterday, huh and borrowed a bunch of like some clothes and stuff and tried to figure out what I was wearing to the wedding and everything. And the best part was that the wedding's black tie. And and I sprung this on Mescal. I was like, hey, babe, I think you need a new suit. And then I looked and I was like because I wasn't even one hundred percent sure, And I.

Was like, oh, it's black tie.

And he was like what I ducks, I don't get. This is a man who does not like to get dressed up.

Okay, No.

On in the middle of the store, I was like, you have to you actually have to try the whole thing on.

Why.

I was like, you gotta put the shirt on with the jacket with you know, I get it a good sport. It's like, I mean, it's not his favorite thing to do. So anyway, I get it. I get it. I appreciate it while I'm like, okay, So here's the themes, like there's three night yeah and right right, I mean I

Yes, and denim shorts, and they're always very loud.

So you're gonna have to You're gonna have to like take it down if you not.

Just Jodie, but I feel like the only but Italians are passionate and that right, there's very Did they gesticulate a lot in that regard?

I might be okay, in was a gesticulating it's gonna be me and.

The scal traveling together. He is much quieter than I am. So when I'm you know, not around my people, the call of the wild is much quieter. In fact, he actually came out here this morning to the office to sit and I came out.

I was like, oh, hey, babe, I.

Need, you know, to do some stuff out here, and he was like, oh, it was just so loud in there. I was like, it was me and b this morning, like a discussing. She was asking if I wanted a bagel from the kitchen to the living room, and he was like, I just it was too early. I just couldn't deal. It's like, okay, he is not quiet. I was like, how did you How did you know what you were doing? Like, yeah, he's a I don't know how he lives in that house.

I mean, I love it. It's right. It's the balance. It's the balance that you need. Do you guys tap each other out?

Indeed, well, let me intro let me let Karen the amazing Karen.

Enough of our pre show chatter.

I know, I can't wait to I can't say excited.

To see Karen to her. I haven't talked here for so long.

All right, here we go, Hey there, fan Ritos and Welcome to an all new episode of How Rude Tanertos. Today, we're going to dive into the magic that happened behind the scenes of Full House, and our guest is someone who was there from the very beginning, starting as Jeff Franklin's assistant and working her way up to producer.

It's none other than Karen Miller.

Yay, we are going to pick Karen's brain about Full House, plus her time on Disney, NBC, UNI, Versual and beyond. So let's give a big welcome to Karen Kay Miller.

I care Karen, Mie.

It's so good to see you about.

Beautiful, so good to see you too.

You still have that megawatt smile, like it's just so comforting to see you.

Yes, I was just reminiscing with myself about just, I mean, growing up together like we all did.

We grew up in every way.

Yeah, yep, yep, we were.

Yeah.

We were the kids and the parents and the uncles and aunts and we were all just one big family.

You know, we say it over and over, but it's true. We were, We were, it still are we still are a family.

Why am I talking as absolutely?

I know, just so many many happy memories good times.

Yes, tears, all right, I mean yeah, we were. It's just so wild to think, like, you know, we we looked at everyone around us is like these adults, you know what I mean, and who were like adulting and and doing I can't believe I just used that millennial word, but you know that we're like doing things, responsible things and whatever. And now like looking back on them as Andrey and I are in our forties and realizing everyone was like in their mid twenties, like twenties, we were

Like It's just crazy.

I mean we really literally grew up together.

Because I look back and I think, wow, they gave me that job and I was so young and I didn't know what I was doing. And I also thought, wow, the parents are so old, but they were me five years older than me, Like they were not that right.

Right, Oh no, I look at them now, I'm like, oh, our parents were young. They were younger than than we are now, and yet I think of them as older than I am now, Like, oh, does it make sense?

I'm like no, no, no, no.

My mom was has always been My mom has always been mom Age and it's just you know, and it's just so wild to think.

I mean, it was like just just hanging out with both your moms and Barbara just amazing. I mean we would sit, we would sit together on like the day bed as I remember it.

Yes, oh yes, I had the I had the day bed in my room. My mom loved her into your design lash and she and so she let it shine in my dressing room. Every year I got to pick something new, and I believe we had a.

A oh what was it.

I think there was a Mickey Mouse theme, like maybe second season or something. But yeah, I had that Red David and everyone would come and hang out in my room even which is hilarious because that was how it was on Fuller.

But yeah, oh yes, yeah, my room was like the party room.

But Jody had Dave's old dressing room, okay, and so yeah it was just like open door. The door's always open in Joe's dressing room.

But this was like even like like the first set we were on at like Sony and I remember like my mom would just have the door open. I remember playing scategories in there. Who else would Colleen, Oh my gosh.

Yeah, we would just hang out and we would and they'd had.

A monitor in the dressing room so that moms could watch. But yeah, there were moments where you were like, oh gosh, oh yeah, yeah, do we need to go to to do we need to go out front?

And actually like.

Right, and well, and that that did happen a couple of times.

Bob and Dave and John have remembered it.

Very well, because yeah, you'd forget completely the kids aren't physically there, but oh there was Yeah.

Well I was always very very impressed by both of you and Cantae because I mean, you guys were always off script. You you knew your lines, and you knew the other cast members lines they in particular, and you knew everyone's mind. Incredible, but the others were on script probably right up until we actually shot the scene. But that was always incredibly impressive, just the way in which you showed up to set.

And well, Andrey can tell you that that has been a letdown as I've gotten older.

That's yeah, that ship sailed in fuller. We were on script while they were roly, were like right right in the kitchen.

Island a piece of well then we then we became Bob and started shoving it in every possible drawer, behind a pillow, under a under a couch cushion. And I think, you know, as in a you just you just got less brain space. So you know, as a kid, you're like, I can remember everything.

I just got space.

And I think it was Badge Bonner also to just be like I got over you. You probably also felt like you had to show up in a different way, right, like there was.

Well exactly as a kid, you know, like I can't show up and be the thing that everyone's waiting on. You know, like as an adult you sort of have more leeway because you're in a little bit more control, But you don't ever want to be the kid on set that doesn't know what they're doing, because you know, I think there's weirdly always that unspoken thing of like the kids are more replaceable, the kids and the.

Dog, right, and we had all of it, oh did we?

I mean that was kids and dogs and more kids and more dogs and don't work elephants we.

Had the elephants in a living room. We had horses walking upstairs, turtles, dogs with Bonner with turtles and bags.

We had sewing and sorry bring it all.

So many things get into the pepper Mill episode.

That donkey, that donkey, Oh dear, yeah.

Oh what good times?

Going back to like the beginning, because you said that, you know, you started really young and you felt like you didn't know what you were doing.

How how did you like wind up?

Well?

I with I was? I was.

I had my first job out of college. I had gotten on a soap opera called Capital, and I thought like my career as made like they never canceled. They never canceled in those days. And so I started as a script supervisor. I worked my way up to an ad, I gotten the director skilled, became an ap and then the show got canceled, which again never happens. So so

Can you do it?

And I was like, well, I mean I've got I'm going to go play tennis tomorrow.

I mean ridiculous. And so she's like, just could you just do me a favor? Help me out? So I'm like okay, fine.

So I show up the next day and the pilot is full house and the exec producer is Jeff Franklin and Miller Boyette and the rest is history. I mean literally right place, right time. We did the pilot. It was an amazing experience.

It was incredible that was this the original pilot with John Hoos is.

The original pilot Jeff.

Jeff then didn't have an assistant, and so he said, well, what are you doing? You want to just hang out? Just can you do this while we wait to see if the show's going to get picked up?

And so we.

Did and we He had an office at Laura mar and I was there with him, and then we got the green light and then he.

Said, well will you stay?

And I was like okay, And then we had that conversation that becomes awkward because I had come off of something. I'd come off of it being an AP, and I was like, well, I don't really want to do I mean, I like your desk, but I don't only want to do.

It is and yeah, a little over qualified had.

Already been hired as the AP, and so they kind of made up a title and it was a production manager. I mean it's a legitimate title, but it was necessary perhaps for that. But they were like, right, you're a production manager and it's a catch all. You know, you'll work with Don Vanatta And so yeah, that was my start, but I mean really amazing, and so in every way

Any of us, I mean any of us.

Thirty five years later, the legacy of this show just wow.

We all got so I.

Knew that, I mean I knew. I think we all knew that. It didn't get any and it doesn't get any better than that that. It literally was an amazing environment that we were all nurtured and protected, and we laughed all the time, and we had these amazing legitimate friendships that again you can get on a set, but it's.

Not always it is right, it's not and it's not always the way it is like across the ball.

Really, I mean it like top to bottom.

Everybody really enjoyed me, and there was no like strata to it, you know what I mean. Like again, like you guys were producers and writers and hanging out with the moms and having lunch, and the adult cast were kind of our families and they were and like the wardrobe people were. It was just going to it really was a weird, magical little.

Stamoses on the weekends and having.

Party, yeah, and everybody bringing something and just hanging out.

And our big our big back to our big family reunion, back to back to work barbecues, you know, I mean we talked about all just.

The just the best and and authentically so I mean really, you know, many of us got married, had kids, got divorced.

During that time.

Yeah, and yeah, I just I have so many happy, wayful memories of all of it. And and again, you know, I don't think any of us ever took it for granted.

And I'm it was.

Remarkable in every in every way, and you know, I definitely think it came from Bob and Tom and Jeff because you create an environment on set, and you know, I mean it was work. It was a lot of work. It was happen in the early days.

You had a lot of network.

We all worked, we all and we all worked hard, and we all you know, did stuff. But like even the story that you mentioned where you said, you know, look, I started as Jeff's assistant and I was helping out, but then I had the conversation like, hey, I'm actually kind of more and he was like, okay, well let's make up.

You know. That's and that truly is.

Like that's Jeff where he's like, okay, well, let's figure out how to to keep good quality people and like make it worth everyone, you know, make it worth people's time and make it enjoy And that really did set the tone because it was there was not nobody on set that it was like, oh, don't talk to you. You can't talk tobout it, right, And that's so often

And I think it's I mean again, I feel like it was, you know, it was something that was such a part of our lives, and then we took it and modeled the rest of our.

Careers and continued to do so off of that, which again.

Well, yeah, because I think we all realized like, wait, you can do it, like it doesn't have to be some miserable, like shaming, ego grinding experience, Like we can have fun and do our jobs.

And even I mean, you know the Miller boyet that that era of where they came from and what they did right in their careers, and the Gary Marshall piece of it, you know, the camp Gary just the way that, yeah, they instilled in all of us this work hard and play hard.

And also and take care of each other.

And I remember, and this is my memory of it.

I could have been completely I might have missed this, but I seem to remember that. So Mary Kay and Ashley one loved dance, one loved horseback riding, Bob and Tom wanted them to have that experience.

They did it before they came to set. Also, remember in school.

You guys obviously went to school while you were on set. But that he brought in Bill Ny, the science guy.

No, I don't know if it was Bill, it was No, that was Glenn.

Okay, this is a tutor, but he was a like a chemistry teacher, and so he would do all sorts of experiments.

We had the best teachers. They let us go to.

School in the morning, like I got to go to public school in Orange Care and come in in the afternoon because it was able to work with the schedule. And yeah, they really gave us opportunities to be like normal people.

And I think again it sets the tone for you.

It had to have been hard, right, Like I can't imagine having that level just because your life is so different and you have an adult responsibility, right right, But I also think probably being surrounded by what really is your family and your extended family, and then also some.

Sense of normal.

So yeah, however that's defined in those days, I think it created an environment where it was healthy.

Yeah, No, truly it was.

There were definitely you know, there's challenges growing up in this business, but there's challenges just growing up anyway.

But yeah, there's definitely unique things that come with it. But like our.

Our real families and our our show families like just blended and complemented each other so well. And and I think, you know, when I think back on it, too, we had a lot of really wonderful, powerful women. Oh yes, on our set, yes, in our production team, as producers, as teachers, as our moms, as what like. There were awesome, no nonsense women. And like you know, you said you were really young when you started this, Like what was it?

It was it was hard.

Like what was that experience like for you kind of coming up in the ranks. And I'm sure it could have been much different had you not wound up in a relatively you know, safe working environment.

So my father was in the business. My dad was was in television like station management, and then he went on to produce The Mike Douglas Show and The John Davidson and so I was around it, but in a very it wasn't Hollywood at that point. It was it was small stations around the country, and then it was in Philly, and then then they moved to LA and so I was around it, and I think I was also. I mean, I was born in the Midwest. I was

As is always the case, right, Yeah, of strong women, you find the strong ones that will help lift you up, and then you find the ones that are also going to punch you in face nine.

And strong men who were incredibly supportive. I mean those early days of those writers, in the continuation of in some cases many, but in the after first couple of seasons we lost quite a few, but really super great men that were mentors and and you know, became friends as well, and so yeah, it was it was not easy.

I mean I I.

Had my son Christopher, when I was on I was actually in a mix and I was walking back. It was around eleven eleven thirty and I was walking back to the office and my water broke and it was my first child. And I was like, oh, well, that's that's not great. And I called my doctor and she was like, all right, just go home and we'll talk in the morning. So my parents were out of town. My parents were in Palm Springs. I think my dad

And it's really interesting because you know, nobody does that to Dank.

Nobody's like, oh, well, they have kids, they can't travel.

It's like, I mean, you know, there were times where Chris just went on location with me. There were times where he said there were He was in the show at least a couple of times. Yeah, yeah, he was in the He was in the when Jesse took the boys to school for the first time and crawls underneath the desk.

He's he all delayed, and then he sinks back in and.

Underneath the desk and they make eye contact.

Anders scream stranger, Stranger.

I was so so Joel was directing that episode, and I was like, oh, please don't let him yell at my child, please, I mean, because you know.

You're they're pressure that.

And Christopher was not an actor or right, he was playing one in that particular moment, and and I also wanted to create, you know, an environment for Christopher that.

Was fun, so he didn't feel the I was like, go have fun.

But I was just like hiding in the background, just you know, please please, you know, please get your line. And he did, and you know, and it's all there and and now it's a fun fact for him when he's doing he's doing like an icebreaker with somebody or a work or something no one ever expects.

So that was I love that He's like, I was actually in full House one.

Yeah, Jodi and I can relate to that because our daughters were on Fuller a couple of episodes of Fuller and suddenly we became these stage moms were like, first of all, how do you get a.

Work from it?

Because we had no idea how to do it work. We were like, oh what I got to do?

Yeah, and then we're like paperwork and we were like what do we do with this? We were literally in my dressing room calling our moms, calling our moms and going like, what do you fill out for this? And when they were like, oh, yeah, yeah, we're asking the onset teachers what we do, like yeah, we all of a sudden we're like we don't know. And then we're standing there watching the monitor and we see them in the background and we're.

Like, look alive, look alive, Look come on be a.

Party, like like say it and each other in the and we're like, oh yeah, I get I get it.

And it's so funny.

I mean, it's so amazing to have that experience and and to be on the other side of it, and you know, and something that you just grew up with and just was very normal.

Those are those are very.

I just remember them most anxious moments. Whenever whenever, and my parents were on an episode. My parents were on the Christmas episode. You'll see them.

If you watch the episode, you will see my.

Father which one which Christmas?

I think it was in the like season.

Two or three when we may read out the when the when we the plane got.

Stuck in the airport.

We did the.

Season in that one if you watched the episode again by any for any reason, is in like literally this lime green ski jacket, which evidently was the color of the season at that moment.

It was the eighties. Everything was dayre.

And he found the camera. I mean, I was like, oh my god, Dad, you He.

Literally was stop you're pulling focus.

He was crossing.

He's literally I mean he might as well have been the guest star of it, right.

He was like, I am gonna find every shot to be he was Yeah.

I mean I I saw the cut of it. I was like, oh my god, please don't let anyone know that that was my father, my mother.

I love it. They just hear, Yeah, all of our parents have been in the show.

Yeah, so that was Those were funny, funny, funny time. So literally a family affair. My daughter Olivia never in never in an episode.

Oh when was she born during the run of the show, where as she was.

Born in ninety seven.

Okay, and she was born in ninety seven, so no, never fan. You know, she came to the twenty fifth reunion Chrystal the party, right, but no, she was, she was she missed those those heydays.

But so fun.

I love that your daughters were in the show. That that is amazing. Did they did they enjoy it? Did they do they like the sad?

Is it boring?

It was Zoe in Felicity. Zoe was very much like she was like, that was fine. It was kind of boring though. Did you to sit around all day? And I was like, yeah, yeah, it's a lot of yeah and wait.

Felicity was very excited about it, but she did realize, Wow, this is hard work, like her call time was seven.

Yeah, she's like, this is so early.

And then yeah, it's a lot of and they were treated so well, like they went to hair and makeup, they got to hang out.

Yeah, they weren't with the hurd of other extras like a special.

Yes, I love that.

So that was short lived. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

I think they've both were like, yeah, we're me while my younger one.

I don't think she she didn't get to be I don't think she ever did any extra because she was a lot younger than everybody else. Yeah, so she was I think she was kind of too little for any of the any of the scenes. But yeah, she probably would have been great, and she would have been pulling focus in all like can you settle down in the background there?

And I mean yeah, so if you watch an episode, you'll see my dad and my mom.

Oh so glove now, well now we have to go back. That's there's our everywhere you look for that.

At the best.

I mean, it just makes me smile. It makes me smile, and it's also nice to have that, right, it's nice to have it on tape. Yeah, yeah, exactly, do you still because I okay, good?

I have them, you do them.

I have them on DVD.

Some I have a box somewhere when I took all of the vhs and had them transferred.

Over to DVD, which I should have just waited.

But but I think in those DVDs. I've got the gag reels somewhere.

But I like it.

I will I will search those because I have them. I did the same thing. I like, put Chris's episode My Parents episode on dB. Right, I went to the tape thing the vhs right right, So I have those and I you may not remember this, but I remember being in the edit bay at the end of the season and Jeff cutting the gag reel with Don Vanatta and Jeff and Jeff insisting that we use love Shack by the B fifty twos.

Do you remember that?

And I was like, oh, Jeff, like, is that is that the most appropriate song for for a full But it was yeah, and you know, it was the song of you know, I'm gonna say the song was yeah, yeah, so.

We it was the Big fifty two. Is they sing about lobsters? You know what I mean, who knows what they're really talking about?

Yeah?

So yeah, so that that But I have I mean, I yes, so I will find those. And also I feel like you maybe already talked about this, but I feel like both of your moms created that cookbook. Remember that was like the Okay, it was like the Red full House.

That was so if I remember correctly, the Red full House Cookbook was a classroom project that we did that. I think Adria and our moms kind of well, I know our moms contributed, but I think it was we came up with an idea that we were going to create a full house cookbook, a full house family cookbook from producers and actors. Everybody could contribute if they wanted to, and our moms were in charge of, like I think, getting some the recipes together and helping Adria put it together.

I can't remember.

Did we sell copies of it for like, for charity or did we just create it and give it out.

I can't that. I can't remember.

I seem to remember you guys just created it.

I remember it's in a red because I still it's an.

We us. My mom uses it all the time.

Robin, Donn Rob and Donnie's Oh absolutely.

I'm Donny chicken Wings.

I remember I think it could it have been a Christmas present or something.

That might have been it.

It might have been a Christmas thing that we did, like from are like from us, like our class or whatever.

It was amazing, it was so oh it's great good. And you also got a little bit of everyone's personality.

Yeah, I think we had.

I think Dave submitted like a woodchuck, phizzy Woodchuck fizzy. Bob had something in there about how to make ice cubes.

Bob had egg and bread, how to make egg and bread.

Egg and bread.

No, no, no, First of all, egg and bread is delicious, and he made it for me when I would spend weekends at his.

House with the kids. Egg and bread.

And you take the egg and you chop it out with the little thing in the middle, and then you put the egg in the middle.

Yeah, oh that sounds the classic.

It's classic.

Yeah, I'm gonna have to go back then and and look at that particular.

Yeah, there's it.

But Dave put a few in. Dave and Bob put a few, and that are just ridiculous. Sherry Barber put in, uh, chicken and rice which you have made for years, family biscuits and chocolate gravy. The chocolate great like chocolate sauce with the on the biscuits.

Oh yeah, there's like he's in there or was that? No?

No, Barbara's a secret, Barbara, top secret, top secret, under under like lock and key. I think Candice knows the recipe. Now, yes she does, but she won't say. But she can't say. It's passed down like yeah, so it'll get passed.

Down to Natasha. But then Natasha's got.

To keep it a secret too, right, Well, she did she make it on Fuller House? Did can't?

Oh? Yeah?

Oh yeah? She would make it every Friday.

She'd make cookies because all our parents came to every Fuller taping on Fridays and she would make the cookies and bring them a bess.

All right.

That wraps up Part one of our interview with the wonderful Karen Miller. She played such a big role in both of our full House journeys, so to have her on with us today is incredibly special, and we're going to have more that we're going to talk to Karen about. So join us this Friday for part two of our interview with her, and make sure you're following us on Instagram at how Rude Podcast.

Excuse Me?

Old Please do you need to do you need any swig?

My dad says, swig a swig of water. Let's try that again.

Yeah, we had enjoyed our conversation with Peter and so much right, we enjoyed.

It was so great that I have I'm parched, but yes, please send us emails at Howard Podcast at gmail dot com. Follow us on Instagram at Howard podcast. Make sure that you're liking and subscribing to the podcast wherever you're listening to it, and you, guys know the deal. We will see you next time for another great interview. And remember the world is small. The house is full of terrible notes from executives.

Just take the note in the room.

Take the notes.

Take the note in the room.

That's good advice.