Movie Crush Classic: Paul Scheer on Beverly Hills Cop

Zza and sorry and Paul Shear, go find that. And then later on with things like The League, very funny show and one of my all time favorite shows, Children's Hospital. Paul has been around, and we get into it with his early stories which I just couldn't get enough of of his his early days in New York in the early formation of the Upright Citizens Brigade Theater and that whole crew that he was with back then who all

just went on to do great things. It's really amazing, such a talented group of people, um, who are just kids back then and they're all doing really great, great stuff still. And uh, Paul was Paul was great and he uh he came in here um to talk about Beverly Hills Cop, but also to talk about his new podcast, Unspooled. So not only does he have the great bad quote

unquote bad movie podcast How Did This Get Made? With his lovely wife June, Diane Raphael, and Jason manton Zukis, but um, he has a new show now called Unspooled, which takes a more uh not serious but uh I guess more of a serious critical eye at the at the top one movies of all time. So it's kind of kind of neat. He's clearly a huge, huge movie guy, and it was great to talk to him. I feel like we could have gone on for hours talking about all kinds of movies. But check out Unspoiled for sure

on the Airwolf Network and mid Roll. It's a really really good show and they're just getting cranking with it. So, um, there's some really good stuff out there. I'm a big fan already. And here we go with Paul Sheer on Beverly Hills cop I want to talk about your podcast too, but where um, well, actually, yeah, let's go ahead and talk about your your new show and the reason because you've been making how Did This Get Made for a while now. Yeah, it doesn't feel that long. But when

I look at the dates. I'm like, wow, we've been doing it for a long long time. Um, we only do two new episodes a month, so we're almost at two episodes. But I think we've also been doing this since like two thousand and eleven. I think it's yeah, I feel like it's been a while. Yeah. So know, we put out fewer episodes than most, even though I do the mini episodes every single week, so I feel

I'm always living it. But um, I think it keeps it fresh for us, and it also doesn't keep it like a grind, which is good for all of us because Jason, June and myself, like, we're all working actors and directors, writers, producers, you know, so we we can it's not our only job, which is it's a good respite from everything else. Yeah. I've tried to get Jason here a couple of times, and he's hip to do it, but just scheduled hadn't worked out yet. Yeah, he's right

now in New York shooting. John Wick three has the TikTok Man, which I am so, I mean, you can't get a better name, and I mean, come on, John Wick the best. That's great, But your new show, um, what was What was the impetus behind that to do something a little more serious. I mean, you're not serious, but well it's interesting. The new show is called Unspooled, and I'm doing it with Amy Nicholson, who is a

film critic that I really like. I was a fan of her show and when we were developing some shows back in the day for Wolf Pop, I really liked her because she is critical without being pretentious. She has opinions with um, but also her opinions aren't uh like, she's conversationally opinionated, which is a nice thing to do, like not to shut you down type of person. What was her background? Her background is um, I think she I mean, and this is where I'm a little bit hazy.

You know. She wrote for The l A Times, she wrote for MTV, she writes Rolling Stone like, so she's all over the board. I like her reviews because they feel very much like an appalling Kale reviewed. I mean, they feel very full and so um. I've always liked Amy, and we've done a couple episodes of her show and it's always a blast um. But this idea for Unspoiled came up because there's this a poster I was like, the hundred greatest movies of all time and uh, and

what you would do was you'd scratch one off. Yeah, as you watched it, and uh. And I looked at it was like, oh, I've seen a lot of these, and like all these lists, the Alamo Drafthouse Best Movies, the b m I List, like all these movies, I'm like, oh, I've seen these, and then you look at the list, well, I've seen a percentage of them. And then as I kind of thought about even even more, like yeah, I've

seen Taxi Driver. I don't remember Taxi Driver like I remember the thing that you're supposed to remember, like the meimable moments from it. And I was like, Oh, it would be really fun to watch these movies, and especially now in the sense that as I've now been creating stuff watching bad movies, I'd love to see what people put forward as good, great, you know, several films. And

so I was like, I want to do that. And I was like, well, why don't I do it as a podcast because it might be interesting to do it like that. And I partnered with Amy and we are kind of just doing that, having a non pretentious conversation kind of will have here today. I imagine we're we are just talking about film as people love film, people

are interested in it. We hopefully it will be a little bit educational, a little bit interesting, but it's really just um, it's kind of like a very relaxed film class where you can kind of check in and and hopefully yeah, and it's like to get people excited about watching movies because for me, we've only I think we're at this point, we've released about four or five that

we've recorded about ten. Um. I'm like so kind of inspired by all this stuff, and it's stuff that I've stayed away from, like yeah, like Citizen Kane, and I've talked to so many people who are like, yeah, I never saw it, and because it feels like homework when you realize it's not, it's good and you know. And and we just did swing Time, which is a fred freda stairge and Gerager and I've never seen one, and there's a lot of debate about does that belong on the A Fi top on top at might be better

than swing Time. Regardless of that, just to expose yourself to it is great. So I just find myself enjoying these movies. We watched French Connection a couple of weeks ago, such a great movie, and it was a movie that I had watched, and the only thing I remembered from it was they hid the drugs under like in the paneling like you know. But and I'm like, how did

I miss this entire movie? So in watching these movies that I hadn't seen or that I believed they saw, like, oh, there's a whole other movie here that I've just my brain is just kind of exercised out, So I don't know. It really is coming from the joy of just watching stuff and wanting to talk about stuff, and we get to interview interesting people who are you know, involved in some way. Yeah, and that's um even I've realized with

this show. For movies that I've seen, I mean some of these I've seen recorded one on Raising Arizona Estra. I've seen that movie five times probably, But there's something different when you watch it with a critical eye and take notes and things jump out of that you've never noticed. And to watch it more as a student of the movie has kind of been a fun experience. And imagine

you're kind of having that same thing. Yeah, you are watching it without being forced to kind of watch it or you know, or you're watching in the right situation. UM two thousand and one is a movie that I get. I understand why people like it, and my experience has been watching it. Were never really like WHOA this movie blew my mind? But for this podcast, I went to the arc Light Cinema out here in l do this road show the seventy million, and it blew my mind.

I have not stopped thinking about that movie since I saw it, and I was like, oh, like now I get it. Yeah, But it's funny because it's like I've you know, that movie to me is a very like uh stoner film in the sense that like, you know, people watch this now and it's midnight and whatever you've been doing before, and it's like, that's not exactly the way that that movie should be enjoyed, or at least for the first time. And and there's fun in you know, we do it all the time with how did this

get made? We're critically looking at like you know Mr. T Movie or you know, Hurricane Heist or whatever the thing is. So it is kind of refreshing for me just to be like, oh, every one of these movies is good and now it's like a little bit of a debate of does it belong there? Is it really good? And we're talking about this the other day. I don't know what you think about this, but like Platoon is like an interesting movie because I just watched that last night.

For one, I'm recording tomorrow. Yeah, so I watched that this week and I found myself incredibly kind of like wow, really moved by it, and especially the first half, like you know, like up until you know, kind of that famous moment with Wim Defoe's character he's kind of gunned down, you know, and and then from there the movie wasn't as like on the edge of my seat where I was. But you know, it's interesting. It doesn't mean it's a bad movie, doesn't belong on that list. Is it better

than Apocalypse now? It doesn't have to be just compared to Vietnam movies, like, but it's it's interesting, yeah, you know, and I think I've forgotten that. Well. It's it's funny because we're talking about it in the sense that when you talk talk about Vietnam films, or at least for the longest time, it's a pocalypse now and it's deer Hunter.

Very rarely is Platoon in like in that conversation. Um, But yet Platoon does something that I think no one ever did before, which was a kind of show Vietnam like the real way it's a Vietnam vet. It was like saying I was there, that is what I saw, And so for that, I was like, whoa, this blows my mind. And that probably opened the door for a lot of filmmakers to make these movies that they've made

about Iraq and PTSD and all this other stuff. But is I don't know, what did you think at the end of the day, because I'm curious, like two, because I went and really emotionally attached to it, and then as I talked about I'm like, oh, well, I wonder where it all falls, because like, again, the first half is really fantastic to me, and then it just sort of, I don't know, it becomes more of a movie or like, yeah, I mean that's the movie I saw a lot in college.

It was on our with my roommates, and I was on our VHS rotation for like a solid year. Um, and it's the first time I've seen it since. UM, And I remember we're thinking back then, even like Oliver Stone is so heavy handed with the voiceover with the letters home to Grandma and stuff. Um, and that always has bugged me about him, even though I really enjoy some of his movies. How he will explicitly say, like, by the way, here's the theme of the movie, and

I will literally tell it to you in a voiceover. H. So I didn't feel like it needed that stuff. But um, I think what didn't hit me before it was how much it was just a movie from the the grunts perspective. And I don't know how often we had seen that at that point, and showing like the factions within, Like I think at that point, probably you're not seeing you seem like the greediness of war of the you know, American soldiers fighting the enemy or the racial but you've

never seen like the bad version of that. And and that's interesting. There were two murders of fellow soldiers, yeah, you know, yeah, and and and and just the abuse of those people, like whether it's Charlie Sheen pointing that gun at you know, the really mentally handicapped young man in the village, and the raping of those girls in the village is like like oh, this is an anti American war film, which is interesting, um filmically or as

a film. It has this weird thing because you're saying, you're right, Like they cut from a scene of guys like smoking marijuana to another scene of guys playing cards listening to a song, basically saying we don't smoke marijuana, you know like that kind of yeah, um yeah, but it's it's interesting, but you know it's yeah, and you know that's a very eighties movie too, you know, it's

like this is the thing a hundred movies. Ship gets in there and we're talking about swing time, like sometimes a great example of I've had more reaction to that episode than others because like that's not the best rogers in a stare movie, and and why is it there? Why is it there? Like it's people across the border, like no, like top Hat is way better than It's interesting, but it's because maybe the Library of Congress put it in. You know. It's like so you all, you know, things

slide in and then they're locked in. So I it's been an interesting discussion. None of them are bad films, but it's sort of like, oh, we're just you know, it's not like we're there to be like, let's take down this list. It's bullshit. I think it's more to be like, let's talk about these films and look at them in a in a way that's critical but yet accessible. Yeah, and and I mean lists like that are all just tough and problematic and subjective anyway. Yeah, but it's a

cool way to tackle it for a podcast. I think, Yeah, well, thank you, you know, And I think that what we're trying to struggle with two is talking about and this

is interesting. Love to hear your opinion about this, Like where do you tackle a list that has a hundred films on it, none of them directed by women, you know, and that like that zero yes, zero, but yeah, you have you know, and then you have like some people who have some very problematic things to You have like a roman Plant Sky and you have a Woody Allen and it's like and uh and you have like Roman Plants being kicked out of the Academy, Like but now,

and that doesn't mean that that movie is not valid. I think a lot of people get very defensive about that, like because there's blackface and swing time too, It's like, well, that doesn't mean we can't watch it, like, but I think it's about like, well, if we are going to watch it, though, we have to have a discussion about the context we're watching these things in, because it's part of the dialogue now it has to be Yeah, yeah, for sure. I never really thought about that. Boy, no

women on that list. That's shocking, but also completely not surprising at all when you think about it so far. I have to say, like, also, uh, non white representation is very minimal on that list so far. I mean, maybe we'll get into it, but on the ten movies we've done, it's it's nil. I mean, you know, it's well, it's sort of an old school list. Yeah, two thousand seven is that when it came out? I mean, so, you know, lots changed in the best eleven years. Yeah, exactly.

I mean, hopefully there'll be a new list, and hopefully that list will move things around, you know, and and for the right ways. And I also believe it's like, let's bring in a movie that we hadn't been on

the list. I may have come out in nineteen fifty, like you know, because like ben Her moved down to a hundred, but it was up in the seventies or eighties like in the the original list, so you know, you know, uh, it's it's I just I think it's interesting because you also don't want to put on like you want to put Moonlight on that list now because it just came out. You need to have a little bit of distance through. How does it affect our culture? Uh?

Because yeah, you don't want it to be like the Academy Awards where it's very much like the flavor of the month and the way exactly right. Yeah, and so it's an interesting list. I hope they come up with

a new one. Yeah, it's um. What I'm gonna start doing is listening to your show and watching the movie beforehand, because I need someone to force my hand to watch a lot of these films because I'm getting to the age now and forty seven where I you know, I'm not struggling the drain, but I'm starting to think, like I need to I haven't seen fucking cassaplane, right, Yeah,

I need to do that and not watch The Hangover again. Well, we all have these movie holes, these like gaps in our you know, it's like we all do, every single one of us, I mean, you know, and and I feel like it's interesting to kind of follow them up. And also then when you see these movies, you go like, oh, like you know, apropot to what we're talking about today, Like watching French Connection, I was like, wow, this is

the genesis of the buddy cop. I mean, it's a different thing than what lethal weapon is, but you can see those seeds and and and I think that's kind of fun for me as a movie fan that is, you know, more prone to watch you know, John Wick or something like that. You know, you it's fun to go like, well, where did that, Like, where did that come from? Yeah? The genesis of these things? Yeah, I just I just watched Hotel Artemis the other night, and that Hotel Artemis is a new movie just came out,

directed by Drew Pierce and written by Drew Pierce. And this is a guy who I kind of came up in British comedy circle then got into writing these big, giant action movies. He wrote Iron Man three and the story for Mission Impossible, and uh, it's just kind have been attached to big, big projects and he wrote a script, got on the Blacklist and then made this indie movie. It stars Jodie Foster and Sterling, Kay Brown and Brian Tyree Henry and uh just a Jeff Goldblum, an assortment

of cool people. And what got me really excited about it was it's an indie movie that felt like the indie movies that were being made in the nineties, like by like Miramax, like you know that Quentin Tarantino being like, we support this person and you know, or it felt like what dust till Don felt like. You know, it's not for everybody. It's kind of like an elevated B movie that's cool and weird. And it's like I was saying,

it's like Ripo Man meets Barton Fink. You know, it's like this kind of you know um And it's like that to me is so exciting because I feel like indie film now has become uh like very mumble corey and kind of stuff, and it's so nice to kind of get out of that it's genre, which is horror and mumblecore. And it's like, oh, I want to see like the action, you know, like you know, and and I think like and the appreciation for all that, Like I like, you see that movie that reminds me of

Repo Man't watch Repo man again. I want to watch parton thing again. I think like, hopefully we fuel each other and be like, oh, if you see costa blanket back, Oh, now I appreciate this other movie for that, And I don't know, it kind of opens up a conversation within yourself. Yeah, because I mean they're I mean, how many stories are there? What do they say? Yeah, it's like like four stories, right are Yeah? Something looks so small and everything is

a variation on those themes. So, um, yeah, that's really cool. Where did you grow up? I grew up in Long Island, right outside of New York City, and um, you know, typical suburban life. Uh, nothing too exciting. I feel like as I've gotten older, you know, I moved to New York to go to n y U definitely more sheltered

in my community, which I imagine most people are. Uh. And that was you know, but my but my gateway out was my parents were divorced and my dad was a very um integral and like kind of getting me to see cool things, like he would tape Saturday Night Live for me before I was old enough to stay awake for it, and then we'd watch it on Sunday mornings.

You know, and he would, um, he had to VCRs and we tape stuff and one of the movie We're gonna talk about today, like he would tape it and uh and cut out like the nudity, you know, so I could see it and the violence in the beginning, but like he knew like I like certain stuff, and he like exposed me to it, and that was like a really for me, such a cool thing to kind of feel like that was my gateway to kind of

finding stuff. I didn't have brothers and sisters and um and the and the people I was growing up with like normal stuff. But I was definitely a latch key kid who watched a lot of TV, a lot of movies and you know, kind of was pulling all this stuff in. So my dad really kind of supported that was your Did you have an any ideas that you could be an actor and a writer or did that seem accessible at all to you? You know, yes and no. I feel like in the beginning, when you're youthful, you go, yeah,

like that's what I want to do. And then it just seemed to me by the time I went to college, because I was in like plays and I was writing things in school and and like one of my senior plays, like I wrote all the middle stuff, like basically a stand up comedy routine in between all these musical numbers, and I was like, I want to do this, UM, But then my parents are you have to get go

to college, you know. So I went to college. I went to there to study education, teaching, whatever, and I fell in line with this like Upright Systems Brigade Theater, which is an improv theater that was doing like kind of improv like every time this bill rings ding, you know, you have to change the last thing you said. The early days of UCB two, well this is a yeah,

this is Chicago ceiling. It's even pre UCB. They weren't even there, and so we were doing like I was doing, like not shitty improvably, but very basic short form improv. And everyone there, if they didn't have day jobs they were. They weren't even like I want an audition for movies

and I want audition for commercials. There was this kind of like a work of day element to it, and it just felt like, Oh, the best thing I could ever achieve is to get into the main stage of this company, and that will be that UM and then u CEB came to town and u CBS the Upright Systems Brigade kind of this punk rock comedy thing, you know,

five floors above a hardware store. When I first started seeing them, and they blew my mind one suggestion and they're doing these crazy improv sets and this is what was going on in Chicago, but we didn't feel it in New York. And there was so much buzz around them, and there were celebrities playing with them, and when I was watching them, celebrities that you know now we're all

playing with. It was Adam McKay and Tina Fey and Bryan Stack and Miriam Told and Stack like all these people that you would that you've seen in a million things, Rachel Trash, but they were just playing on Sunday, you know, and they've all grown to become But but celebrities were in the audience, and you felt cool as a five dollar ticket and you every Sunday night you go watch the show. And I was so like, I need to

get in here. And I got in and that's when my world kind of opened and it was like, oh, this is attainable, this is actually something I could do, and it was good at it and that it could be a career because like the UCB were creating their own shows. People I was going out with, not going out with, but like people I was peers with auditioning for commercials and you know they weren't. You just felt like, oh,

this is alive. And then you know SNL came to UCB and I got to be in that show and got to audition for SNL a handfull of time, Like just like opportunities were coming from being associated with this thing, so it didn't It was kind of a multi step process, like it was, you know, resigned going to college and going like, well I won't ever do this because my parents won't pay for that and uh and you know it's so hard. And then I got into this one thing. I was like, well, this will be where I am

and I'm happy with that's cool. And then it was like whoa, no this. You know, I I attribute everything good in my creative life and even my personal life to UCB because that's where I met my wife. Yeah, well who was in your who's in that crew? In your early crew? My early crew was people like Rob Riggle, you know from The Hangovers Jaily Show. Rob Quadry also from The Daily Show. Um, I'm trying to think of a rock human giant fan. Thanks so much. Yeah, yeah,

that was so just a fun show to do. Rob Hubile, Nick Kroll, John Mullaney like, um, you know, it's it's kind of like, uh, it's it's kind of everybody that is in comedy. You know, it's like and you're just kids exactly. We all came to New York, you know, like I went to Croll. I went to Georgetown because my friend Owen Burke, who runs uh Gary Sanchez Adam McKay's company, Like he was like, I want to go back to my school. And that's where I met Kroll

and John mullaney. You know, they were like a couple of years younger than us. And then you know, you just kind of paired up with people. So the original group that we were, uh, we actually all going back to New York for the Dell Close Marathon, which is a thing, and we're putting together one of the original groups, you know. But um, but yeah, it's all these people who have had tremendous success, whether it's Scott Armstrong who

wrote uh, you know, Old School and Elf. You know, it's it's directors, it's it's writers, Peyton Reid, you know, it's directing UCB and hanging out and yeah, he directed the show and it was one of my I think my first speaking line parts was and I love Peyton read because he directed, uh he directed mr show And I was like, now he's directing UCB and you know, so you just but these are all of our friends. We're all doing extra work for fourteen hours a day

on a UCB show. But it was all these people now that have achieved something, you know, from Chris GETHERERD to you know, all all across the board. It's crazy, man, I mean, there was so much talent. Uh it feels like I mean for a guy like me, who are who were fans of all you guys, like it seems like everybody went on to do great things. Well you know what, I think that the uc B and UH instilled in all of us this idea of throwing the

ladder back down right like you know. Uh so when they were on Conan and they were getting more successful, they were like, well just take all of our students, you know. So then all of a sudden, we're starting to do Conan. And then you know, when we got our opportunities, we would go like, well, who else is around?

Like if you look at the Human Giant twenty four hour marathon where we took over MTV for twenty four hours, if you look at those faces in that group, everyone that we brought there, they're all of our friends and each one of them is doing something very interesting creative. But it was like, it's because they are that was it? That?

That's that's we drew from. We were in stand ups, we were this is a community and at that point it's probably a community of like a couple hundred people, and so it was like, well, when we wanted to cast somebody funny, we had the perfect casting pool, right you know? Uh So that that's you know, I think the reason why you see a lot of cross pollination.

If you look at NTSF st SUV, which is a show I did for adult women, and show this hospital that everybody there, you have the Human Giant, that's everybody there. We are very often just using people to this day. You know, it's like who do I get in? There are my friends, and sometimes you have to be like who do I try to get in? I have to kind of break myself of that mold, you know, because it's sort of like I can kind of sometimes get

so cut off. But what I've been trying to do, Like when I did this show Drive Share last year with Humile, we just like pulled like the best and the brightest from like U c B l A, right, And that's so many amazing people, so many funny people. That's great because I was kind of wondering about that. It seems like, I mean, you CB has now become an institution, um, which is great, but there are so many people cycling through there, uh that are super talented.

But it's like it's not like the old days. You know, the old days, like you could go to a party at U c B party you knew everybody, everyone knew you. And now you go to a UCB party and you would have maybe one fourth of like you know, it's like we could all fit in a space at one point. Now it's just not that at all. And I imagine you guys are just like gods to these kids out here.

You know. You know what I would say, I would say, I don't even think they know us, honestly, but you know, because I think they probably know that we do stuff but not because of UCB. They have their own people that they came up, Like we had our people that we looked up to, and then they had people that below us it looked up to. You know, you're always

looking to the people ahead. And I think that, yes, we're there and we've done stuff, and I still do an improv show there, and but I I feel like the cool thing about u c B is it doesn't stand on history. It's like it's like, what are we doing? And that maybe the same attitude that we had, which is a very punk rock attitude. It's like, all right, the uc B, how can we best the u c B. We want to be as good or if not better, And then people would watch us and be like I

want to be like this. And you know, you had these factions even within UCB early on, and and like polite factions. They were like, you know, we were all friends, but it was sort of like I was on a group called Respectough. It was like me, Jack McBrayer, Rob Wriggle, Robert Hubile, uh, you know, if you handle other people.

And then there was another group called the Swarm, and that was like people like Andy Daly and uh and and Andrew se coundon people like that, and the they the Swarm took a very slow style of improvising, which was an element of UCB and the Four, and then we took the fast style of it. And then there were people who came after us and they're like, Oh, we're gonna go more respective, We're gonna go more Swarm. And then there's just like everyone just kept on building

off at each other. So you know, we were following something and they were copying us and they became So it's in a cool way. Everyone's kind of morphing on a new thing. So you don't even get to look that far down the line because I think you see,

he doesn't install pillars. There's not like there's not like a wall like at the Groundlings, or like these are the people who came before you and these are the Groundlings, right, You're just the next crew and that's it, you know, which is kind of I like it in the sense that you can define yourself in your own way. That's why even in our show that we do now, I play with people that are younger and came up in a way different time than us, just like oh yeah,

but we play similarly and you play good. So that's it. What are you doing now at u C Which it's called Facebook, which is a show that we started when you see Be Opened in l A, which I think now is over like twelve years ago. But um, the idea of it is, uh, we take a look at somebody's Facebook profile and then we improvise scenes based on it. And the reason why we just a random person. Yeah, so they have to sign in and uh and get on there. The reason why we started it. It was

started off actually as MySpace. So that's how long we've been doing it. Um. But because people didn't believe improv out here, we would do a show in New York. We can take one suggestion, we can go for an hour and no one would out it here. We had to kind of spoon feed improv right in the beginning we had believe they thought that yeah, and you know, and we we encountered that every now and then in New York, some people like will you write that? Will

you write that? And you know what you're gonna do? The like, no, we're improvising, that's what we're doing that. Well, no, you couldn't have done that, And it's like, no, that's

what we do. We have a Saturday at ten show, and um, handful of times people would like want their money back because they were told they were seeing improbably the dollar and it's improvly, but we it's a funny thing because then you tell people we improvise and then people are like, well, yeah, but how much the whole thing? And believe me, we've done some more than our share

of bad shows. We improvise like yeah, yeah, but um, I think we always joked that our improv is as a level where when we think we're having a bad show, it's still entertaining to an audience which has taken a while to get, you know, to get there. Um. But all that to be said, it was sort of like, uh, we were coming out to l A. They didn't really have an improving at the groundlings Second City had a very little footprint here, so we had to show them

like what we're doing is improvising. We're gonna bring a random person up from the audience. There's no and people still think we have plants, which is crazy. Bring a person up from the audience. We watched him log into their computer. We get on there and we start talking to him and then We interviewed them for about five seven minutes, and then we improvised minutes of scenes and we try to tie those scenes to what we've gotten out of there. So it just basically it's like it's

like a magic trick revealed. It's like here it is. You're wondering why we're talking in a dentist office. Well Sky said, he's a dentist, like you know, so we're trying to draw those lines. And we felt like that was really beneficial because it lets the audience in and say, oh, that's why they can kind of play along with you. It's like, oh, you know, like they're playing a bingo in a way, um and not saying thing bad about

l A audiences. But we wanted to develop a form that wasn't just give us a suggestion and let's go we you know, So that was our mentality. Yeah, I mean that's the ultimate compliment though, Like if those people that say that like he's a plant or you guys really right this right, they need to see bad improv because there is bad improv and uh, and I don't

want to like knock people. People are probably working on their their stuff, as as was I for many years too, and I mean still but when you see like you guys or um, I'm a big fan of the Convoy guys. Oh yeah, and these guys are great yeah or super ego and they're just like they're so tight and it's like a musical group, you know, when you work with each other, it probably does feel written if you're uninitiated,

as some you know, as an audience member. Well, I think people always say that about The League, like people are always surprised at the show. He did The League on FCS. Such a great show. Thanks We that was an improvised show. There was no script. It was curb style, like really we just had that yeah, we had a twelve page outline, so uh and I wrote a handful

of those episodes. Was really hard to write because you have to yeah, and you have to write, um, a scene that lets you know what you need to hit for the plot and give you ideas where you can be funny, but also we can get away from it. Like some of the best stuff in that show and was the things that we found in the moment, you know, and it's not one take and we're done. We're not doing like a Woody Harrelson lost in London kind of thing.

You know, we're doing a we're doing it like, oh, that was a funny bit about the corn, Like, let's do that again. And I'll say that to set you up in great take two. So you're almost like doing like three takes of a scene and by the time

you get the third take, it's a crafted thing. But it all was developed out of this improvised the cameras are running and we're using that and we're just refining it, you know, and like and that was one of the great things about our creators, Jeff and Jackie that they were able to, you know, just corral that and then kind of put you know, put us in there and use stuff. Stuff that we improvised would become integral to the show on our characters. It was great. I love

that show Man. There was every time I tried to turn someone onto it, I would have to explain to them that it was it was not about fantasy football. It was that was sort of a framework, I guess, but and you know, if you were also into fantasy football, there were great little things peppered in there. Yeah, but you certainly did not have to be a fan of football at all to love that show. Well, that was

our struggle all along. And I think as show grew, especially once it got on Netflix, people got more hip to it, especially women. And I found a lot of the show was marketed to like dudes, and in all the advertising campaign were like footballs and ref whistles, you know, and those sports announcer and I slightly misleading. Yeah, I would always argue, like, no, this is really about people

in their thirties just trying to be adults. Some have kids, some are single, summer divorce, and yes, they're the reason why they get together. There. You know, you don't have to hang out in a bar to like Cheers, you don't have to like you know, uh, you don't have to be a genius to like watch Big Bang Theory. It's it's like we've just given them a reason to exist together and um and to funk with each other

and yeah and so and so. As the show kind of went on, we found like that was a really cool thing and we and and so many people are I don't watch Fantasy football, they love the show, like great, you don't need to like our plots are very rarely like the reason I didn't know audition for the show was because I was like, I can't improvise about fancy

football there it's not about fantasy football. And so I almost missed an opportunity to do that show because I was like I would feel uncomfortable, like you know, talking about Lavon Bell or you know, like I can't I can't improvise and that like you don't have to. And then that was the benefit of it. If you'll indulge me a minute for Children's Hospital to one of my favorite shows, and it was just, um, just so it's kind of one of my favorite kinds of comedy that um.

I always described to my wife as as silly or dumb, but I mean that in the best way, Like dumb jokes to me can be an absurdist maybe is a better word. Yeah, Well, I mean I think if you look at like, you know, Rob Cordrey created that show with uh, David Wayne and David Wayne, when you look at what hot American summer, you know has that streak, and I think that they both kind of worked so well together, had set a tone so early on that

they just kind of nailed this thing. So when I've written episodes of that and I was on that show and uh, and you knew exactly what they wanted, but they were the they were also the arbiters of this. The final say and and Rob you know, really really had that tone and voice down and you're it's silly, it's dumb, it's weird, it's funny. It was so strange. Yeah, it's just a bizarre, great show. Yeah, and you know, I think really helped Adult Swim kind of put itself

on It's on the map. As far as doing live action, that was interesting and different. You know, Um, before that, I think they were tried taking a lot of shots and none of them worked. And then we got to kind of, uh, you know, get jump in there and they're kind of wake you get to do NTSF, which was again like kind of silly and a parody and fun and you know, get to do all this sort of fun stuff. But before that, there was no there is no outlets kind of do it. So Children's kind

of really blew out that path. Yeah. I mean I think everyone of sort of our age group grew up loving like the Airplane movies and stuff like Naked Gun, and it had been a long time like that kind of parody sort of went out of fashion, right and I think Children's Hospital. We were trying to pick that

up a little bit about that and a lot. We were always saying that, like the thing about Naked Gunn and Airplane was that they were funny movies that had big, crazy jokes in them, right, But it wasn't like the Waynes Brothers movies, which are so referential that like the way that you get the joke is because you saw Borats, you know that that joke or you saw the happening so and and no offense to that style of coming.

But we definitely went into the parody version of it instead of like and I don't know if it's maybe the better word is satire. But you know what, I love Police Squad and I loved you know, Airplane. But you didn't need to know anything more than the trope of it's a cop show, it's a plane thing and we're in And so that was something we always tried to do, is like, you know, we need to create

real characters, real stakes, real things, and do jokes around them. Yeah, and there was something about this sort of a stroke of genius I think to hit on that fifteen minute Oh yeah, link it was it was you never got tired of it because it literally was eleven minutes and twelve seconds of yeah, and a lot done in that eleven minutes. So it's crazy. Oh yeah, I mean I

found it. Actually, it's been hard to transition into yeah when you when when you are used to being so you're executing in you know, eleven pages an, A, B and C plot yea and and you know challenge and all that great stuff. You know, it's fun. That's great. Um, all right, so I guess we should get into Beverly Hills. Cop. Yeah, this was your your pick, which, um I think you did? You have another pick two that you were debating, was just the one I felt like, I remember that when

you asked me about it. I may have submitted to, but I don't remember the other one. I don't either. I've been I've been in this new phase, which has been not trying to be cool about what I like because like, there's like a thing that was going on with film Struck. It was like film Struck for what are you? And everyone would be like, well, I'm part you know, Before Sunrise, but also part uh, you know, Avengers, but also part this and and and you could tell

that everyone was trying to like check every box. And for me, and I'm not saying that everyone has to be this, but I was a kid of the eighties and for me, when my film Struck four kind of open my eyes because like, no, I Am Back to the Future, Empire Strikes Back, die Hard. Yeah, Like, those are the movies that I've watched the most that I don't know if they have defined me, but they are me. Like you know, it's like and I could only judge it by the movies I've watched the most times. And

those are the movies I watched the most times. I watched Raiders of Lost Art, die Hard, Back to the Future, you know these movies, and and Beverly Hills Cop is like a close fifth, and probably even maybe even gets into that four occasionally because it's like the movies I love that gri up on that I didn't have any I wasn't trying to be cool, like I like this and I'm gonna watch it into the ground. Uh. I was thirteen, the great Martin Bress who Midnight Run is

one of my all time favorite movies. Absolutely, Midnight Run to me is a perfect, perfect film and and another movie that doesn't get that much credit. And Martin Brest made these two kind of very interesting movies, and you know, yeah again you're get in this thing. We're like, oh yeah that Martin Midnight Run. Can talk about that forever, It's okay, Yeah, I mean Midnight Run is one of those where I cannot not watch it if I happened

upon it. It's such a great film, you know. To say about Martin Brest too, it's interesting because he also is the guy behind Geelie, which is the well that's what killed his career. And it's such a bummer because he also was behind these two you know, more than two seminal work. I mean, you know, and what I'm always impressed with this movie, uh in particular is you know, the whole story behind it was like Sylvester Stallone was supposed to this movie. Yeah. I read a little bit

about that, which is crazy to think about. Oh yeah, and so he I think that the the character name, I think it was acts. I think it was Axel Cobra or Cobretti ac Coretti. He took the Cobretti brought it over to Cobra and maybe some elements from Beverly Hills. Cop brought that over and then this movie just is kind of laying in waste. And any Murphy had this opening at SNL and it was like, can we get this thing going? And it was one of those let's slot him in and let's do this really quick, and

they did. And I think it's one of the reasons why I like this movie and why I kind of wanted to talk about it, because it shows that you can make a good cop movie without having to play up the comedy. You cast a funny person to make the funnies so funny. But it's like, if you were to make this today, you would have a lot of funny set pieces. You don't have funny set pieces. You have cop set pieces, and and there's a difference. And I think that's why these movies, or this movie in particular,

really works. It's like Eddie Murphy is just like just exploding with you know, kind of charm and it's just like peaque Eddie Murphy. Yeah, it is like post forty eight hours kind of coming into his own and he's a little bit older, but not that much, and he carries this movie on his shoulders. But you kind of just feel like, I don't know you you don't see that transition a lot. I think you see movies that that cater towards uh, you know, the cater towards the

comedy as well. It's a comedy, it's and you know that's why I think, I don't know, it's there's something about it that I was like, Oh, I love that. If they would have developed it for a year, would it have been as good? Right? Yeah, yeah, totally And he was And this is Eddie Murphy. Um, there's been a few times in like the modern era where you can kind of clearly say, like, this is the funniest person on the planet right now, and Eddie Murphy owned

that title for a while. Oh percent. I mean it's crazy to think the kids now or people now, I should say, our kids anymore. I don't know him as a comedian. They know him as like a Disney Dr Doolittle kind of guy. And it's I would give anything to see Eddie Murphy like back doing something just I don't even be like holding the gun and running around, but just creatively fulfilling. Like there was a pilot that I got to watch. It was the Beverly Hills Cop

TV show pilot that was done by Sean Ryan. I believe um and Eddie Murphy is in it as Axel Folly. The show is about his son and no offense to anyone in that movie or that TV show. But when Eddie Murphy comes on as Exel Folly, so this is this is like about two years ago. He runs circles around everyone. It's so exciting to see him just kill

this character. The one thing that's funny about it, in my opinion, is that there's a little bit more Eddie Murphy and Axel than in that version, because Axel's dressed real nice, you know, and uh st he he It looks like Eddie Murphy kind of like the metro version of Eddie Murphy that movie that he the narrow in a but the energy is there. It's the right He's

doing everything right. And all I could think of is the reason why this pilot didn't go is because you watch it and go, I want to see is more Eddie Murphy, Like I want to see him do the show. And he was just sort of a side set up character. Yeah he was. He was a dad and he would be in a handful of episodes. Judge Reinhold was going to be like the main guy. I think he'd become like the mayor Beverly Hills, you know, or or the police commissioner he had. He was like the big reveal

at the end. Um but yeah, you know, and and and Edie Murphy to me is you know Beverthill's Cop two and all these movies just he was my guy. And and I love Bill Murray and I love Steve Martin, but there was something about like those guys, feeling that those are my dad's guys, and he Murphy felt like my guy when I was growing up. We're roughly, you know, in the same age, you know, and delirious and raw like like like quote those by heart as a kid, like some of the funniest stand up I've ever seen.

And like I don't want to knock Eddie Murphy now, but it's just so hard to see someone that was the funniest person on the planet kind of not be that anymore. Well, you know what I think it is is like I feel like Eddie has all of it at his disposal, and it's almost like it's crazy because you look the nutty professor. I watched that recently again, I'm like, whoa this movie is fucking hilarious, Like he

kills that movie. And I think at a certain point he's just knocking out franchise franchise franchise, like big the biggest movie star. And then it's I don't think he's getting lazy because he's always good in it. But you may surround yourself, you may make yeah, and and I don't think that he's or everybody have spoken to when they talked about Eddie Murphy and they've dealt with Eddie Murphy is like, mentally he is with it. He knows

what is good, he knows what is solid. But I think in his mind is like, I will do these kid movies that pay me. I'm getting twenty million dollars twice a year, making forty million dollars and they're going to do great. I don't even have to worry about even promoting them. It's like the Adam Sandler model. If Adam Sandler went to go do kids movies and you know, I don't know there's but when you watch him in dream Girls, you're like, yeah, he's got it. He's got

it all, Like he's always got it. It's just like but not always in the right thing. Like I said, that Beverly Hills cop TV. Yeah, it's still there. It's not like and there's so many people we can point to that where at the heightened and not to call names, but like Chevy Chase, hilariously funny guy once at the top of his game, one of the funniest people in America. He doesn't got it, Like I don't think he I don't. I think when he gets it, it's a hit or miss.

Eddie Murphy is like, yeah, great, put me in the right thing and I'll just kill this for you. Yeah. And my as an amateur psychologist, always see Eddie Murphy and think, man, what he needs to do is do an hour stand up again and kind of go back to his roots and challenge himself. Yeah. Um, but why challenge yourself when you when you are that rich? But how many millions does he need? Like he's there? Well,

that that's why I think he's kind of retired. I mean he hasn't native movie in five or six years. I mean like he pops up like in like that movie, like that little drama film about the piano player left, but it's like he's not trying to do anything like after Norbit. Yeah, and I don't know if maybe if that's the calculated play where he's like, Okay, I need to disappear so when I come back, I'll be Eddie Murphy. I can't just be like Norbit and dream Girls in

the same year because it it recks the brand, you know. Yeah, and that's that's a big risk. I mean it's easy for me to say, go back up and do stand up again and challenge yourself, but like there's a lot at stake there because if he if it's not there,

then that tarnishes the brand. Well. It also is a different era because you know, Eddie didn't always write his own stand up, you know, especially when you talk about like Delirious, Like there's a lot of writers there, you know, Keen and ye Keen and Ivory Waynes is like a writer friend. Yeah, Like, I mean they're credited, so it's

not even a hidden thing, I feel like. And look, I think you talk to people like Apatow and Kevin Hart and all these people, like when you get to a certain level and you you are working with people and it's like here's a genesis, how about this or

how about that? And people help and it's uh, I've always heard that, you know, like because it's I think when you get to a level of celebrity that's so big, you can't just like work out at the clubs, like your your obligations preclude you from doing that, you know. And and Kevin Hart is the only example I can look at. Who's some guy who's like hustles out at the club. And Patton Oswal like gets out at the club. But Pat's not getting out five nights a week, Pats

getting We talked about this. I did his f y C. You know, he's getting out like once a month, a big show at Largo and once a week. Uh, like clubs around do you need somebody be like hey what about that? Maybe this you know, it's it's good. Uh So I had a Mumford physed shirt when I was in high school. I got one in my closet right now. It was a big deal. This movie is a big

deal to me. And uh it was cool seeing it as an adult now because so many things jump out at me, like what a good acting performance he gives comedy aside, Yeah there's some like legit good in this movie. Yeah he I mean, yeah, his friend gets killed. I mean the only you believe all that stuff. There's something so interesting about how gritty the movie is when it opens, like you you know, you're hearing a Glenn Fry, the heat is on you, and you're going through you know,

Detroit at a period of time where Detroit is. I mean, look, I don't think the troits sound much better right now, but but you know, you're you're capturing this vibe and and you you from the moment you get in and you hear those things like you're like, oh, this is different, Like this is not glossing. I think it does a great contrast to Beverly Hills. But you know, but that you're seeing this world and he fits so perfect. It

doesn't think a movie star in Detroit. Like when he's getting balled out by the police chief, he's great, actual police chief, that guy. I think I knew that. Uh, And he says, fuck uh, I don't know something like I don't think it makes my dickitch. That's it's amazing. And but when he's in that like it's the only time you have seen like a like a precinct that looked like a precinct, like all those cops, like it's like a communal like kind of Jim Locker Room, Like

everything about it feels real, tangible and real. And the fact that he's friends with this like former criminal who's coming back and stealing these barrel bonds, Like, I don't know, you're right, it just feels it doesn't feel like he's winking at it doesn't feel like he's above it. It feels like he's a part of this landscape. And when he goes to Beverly Hills. I think that's why it works so good, because he doesn't feel he feels like

the outcast. And if you were to make a big argument on Beverly's Cop two, which I also love, he's worked the system. He's he's in the system. He doesn't feel daunted by the system. Where here you feel like it has those elements of like, here's a black man walking around Beverly Hills, why is he there? And they basically pick him up, you know, like he's getting around he's a black guy in Beverly Hills. And and and and

then the movie is about race. It is it's it's out there in the front line, and it's like, well, that's cool too that they're playing that, like it's it's yeah, they're not shying away from that. I think that's kind of the Yeah, and I love his relationship with uh, well with both Mikey uh and the uh what was it Jenny Jenny and Jenny who is great and like one of those I don't know, you probably been doing this podcast, like see all these actresses that kind of disappear,

like these actors. Yeah, there's like they just do like one or two movies and they're gone. And it's such a bizarre world that we lived in in the eighties where it was like you are a leading lady and it disappeared, like you know, like very rarely is there the Gina Davis and Fletch that goes on to be like Gina Davis, Like you know, it's it's yeah, that's true.

You know, that's a good point, but you really believe that the nature of their relationship, like and Mikey at the beginning when he tells him he loves him, and yeah, those are some like those are some pretty like profound for this movie, profound moments and and you don't see it in a movie like this, like you would never see like Mikey's all drunk and he's kind of holding him by his head and and you know in stease of the whole idea, which is like he took the

hit for Acxel, like he's still a car. He went to jail, Axel didn't and Axel's now cop and Mikey is you know, not till Yeah, it's still kind of and so but it just shows you, like also economy, it's like you get, you get it all. You get these guys you get like you don't feel like he's like threatening and like I took this hit for you. You did it. He's drunkenly kind of telling him like I remember that, like you know, and he's there's a real like yeah, that guy who plays Mikey is actually

very good. Yeah he's really gonna great Sleeves Backs and the eighties Midnight Running another great you know, like you just you could smell these guys well, the great John Ashton from both of the Night Running this, he's so good in this, and you know how versatile John Ashton is because John Aston is one way and this one be and in another way in Midnight Run and there you don't even really like it's like, oh he's a good just a solid actor, like you just do it

because it's fully different performances, like I mean, one is a scumbag and one is like a very uptight He's not even the cool Beverly Hills cop. He's the uptight Beverly Hills cop. Like he punches Axel in the stomach and you believe, like you're gonna go oh, it's like, yeah, this is an asshole. Like well, I love that scene too, because, um, the cop thing sort of overrides all that because you know, he asked the police chief or not the chief, but

the head of the department asked he wants to press charges? Yeah, and actuals like no, man like like we're cops, Like, I'm not going to do that. Yeah, there's I don't know what's going on out here. Yeah, there's something about this movie. And because I'm a big cop movie fan. I love buddy cops. I love action movies that you know talking about like there's something about it that these are the unvarnished ones like the you know, I put Midnight Run in there too. They're not cough, but you

just they feel like they're They're just more gritty. They have an indie field to them, like lesa weapon. One is decidedly not versus all their sequels. Like there, it's grittier. It feels like these are car movie. Yeah, um, I mean,

and I know we're talking about relationships to bid. I do love the action sequences in this, Like that opening action sequence with a big cigarette truck just creaming around the streets of Detroit looks like the most dangerous stunt ever and it feels more exciting in many ways in a fast and furious movie because you know there's no c G I. That's a real truck. They demolish like fifty cars in that scene. Like that was an arrow where I mean again like the Blues Brothers arrow where

you're just like destroying cars because you could. And there's something so like like tactile about just watching this like this, you know is the you know, the semi just going down, cigarettes are flying and there's a real guy hanging onto that. These days there would be they would sit a front of computer and map it all out and what could be real And back then they were like, let's get fifty junkers and just fucking plow through them. Yeah, just

violently as we can. It's and there and like once you get like that's the opening of the movie and he's getting reprimanded the right way for that. It's like it's not like it's not you know, it's bad news. Yeah, and and of course Gil Hill is the chief here. It's a bit of a trope as the as the grumpy police chief as Inspector Todd, but he brought a profanity to it that just pushed it so far beyond

that trope. Well, here's the thing I agree with you and talking about what we're talking about before, like where does the copy begin? Like you know, sort of like die Hard. I can point to a million movies that do very similar things to die Hard that becomes tropes because of the die Hards, and we watch die Hard now that's a trope, is like but did they start that?

You know? And and and yeah, and like French connection has like a you know, a surily kind of uh boss, you know, but you know it's funny because we were our landscape now is a with what worked, Like Couple was the number one movie of like nineteen eighty was a eighthor you you know, so like that gets in green everyone who's writing movies movies like, oh well we need that, we need that cop, we need that guy to ball out Schwarzeninger, we need that guy to you know,

and and it becomes a copy of a copy of the copy of copy, and sometimes it works. And I agree he added a profanity, like it was so over the top, it's so crazy, and and and because he's a real guy, you also feel like it feels real because he's not like he's like, I'm taking your badge of gun, He's like what, Like, what the funk are you doing? Like, you know, I don't know they're uh. Victor Maitland one of the great uh eighties style driving proc now right, yea batties he was made it in

this movie. And the other scene that really got me, Um, you know Bronson Pinchot Pinchow, how do you pronounce that

pin show? Right? Yeah, yeah, I think so. His seeing as Sara was always like one of the funniest things as a kid to watch, But watching it now years later, for the first time in a while, I was like, man, Eddie Murphy is so generous as the straight guy in that scene and he is sitting back and like he's the biggest funniest movie star in the world or about to be, And he totally takes a back seat and says I'm gonna totally be the straight guy in the scene.

And again that like, I feel like Eddie Murphy like it's that thing that you forget. It's like he just lets someone hit a home run. He's enjoying it, and you see the like and and he's getting to hit home runs every other scene, like every scene. Basically, it feels like a cop movie that they were like, we can't really work on the script. We gotta go into

production like six weeks. So they're all right, so now you go to the country club and you can front Victor Maitland's like, and then Eddie Murphy w be like, um okay, great, So before I go in there, I'll do my little scene with the guy who wants the

country girl, and that would be the comedy. And it's almost like we should be writing cop movies like our comedy cop movies that I think the Heat feels very much like that, where the comedy is a part of the actual story and taking over because basically, like every scene of this movie, he's doing all the cop things you took. You could easily make an edit of this that has little to no jokes in it. Yeah, I mean that Sarah scene doesn't need to be in there,

but it's just fucking funny. It's like it's a sort of like a flourish on top of the scene. It's like and it's yeah, the movie functions, I guess maybe that's what I'm getting at, Like the movie functions perfectly

without any of those scenes. But those scenes are so additive to your experience of the movie because you're like, oh, I'm laughing now, all of a sudden, this guy's getting shot in the head and it's real and it's real, you know, it's like it feels real and and and especially Taggert and Rosewood, which is uh, you know John Ashton and and I'm gonna get they are. Yeah, they're

clues costs, but they're also not super cops. Like that's the other thing that no one's like, actually has a couple moves, but they're not doing anything to the movie. Call culminates in a shootout and a guy's mansion. It's not like a scarface like shootout. Yeah, it's not. It's not too big. I don't know. I like that, yeah for sure. Um and even uh, not to harp too much on that sers scene, but as the straight man. He's still being very funny. Oh absolutely, with his being small,

you know, going small with his reactions. It's very subtle. But I was just cracking up at Eddie Murphy in that scene. I agree, one of my favorite scenes. It's actually really funny in this movie as well. And it's a small performance and they don't know the actor's name, but they go to the warehouse to kind of look at stuff. He encounters a security guard. He has a

whole funny scene with that guy. But then they go to the file room and he's looking through the files and Eddie Murphy starts lashing at at this like one guy, a little bit of a nerdy guy, and he's like that your Porsche? Is that your Porsche out there? And he's like and he's like you know, because he's like basically it's like just chastising this guy. And and then they let him do his work and he's doing his work and the guy's like, no, sir, that's my Porsche.

I don't know who sports said it. And it's such a funny, like like it's just a great little moment and the movie allows and I think Martin Brest does this again in Midnight Run. Everyone gets like these like little things like Charles Groden never been as great as he is in that film. And and I would argue, you know, Martin Brest, Uh, I want to say, in the best play possible, hurt Robert de Niro's career and making him so funny in Midnight Run, because they'd be like, well,

he will be funny and a lot of things. And it's sort of like, no, if you use him right, he will be You're like, like I think Meet the Parents He's used perfectly and it is great. Uh, you know, Adventures a Rocky and Bullwinkle, you know, sure, but like and it's like like, I think by showing off that side of Denaria, he could be funny. And then and then you misuse him, and then you set the first

funny role he had Midnight Run. I feel like it has to be I think that was a big deal because it was it wasn't even like, uh, it wasn't even like he's you know, Charles Grodan is definitely leading the comedy. But but but it's all very kind of dead dead pan's and but they're I mean, looking back, it's funny like Groden and DeNiro are literally one of the great comedy duos in film history to me, because they were so great together at Midnight Run. Yeah they are.

I'm just looking up right now like we're Robert in because I'm pretty positive it's like my friends and I, uh, my friend Brett and I quote Midnight Run maybe more than any other film it is. I I watched that movie at least, you know, twice a year. I feel like it's such a great film, and you know, and I love showing it to people because it's a movie that and and this, and I'll say this about Beverly

Hill's Cop the same thing. I love showing this movie to people because their impression of what Eddie Murphy is is so different. And I remember showing this to my wife. She's like, wow, this is really good and you and it is. It's like it's it's it's a good performance. It's a good comedy performance. And it's a good action movie that actually has like a pretty solid mystery, like the way that like all these traps, you know, like you know, for whatever a cop movie is like you know,

it's small. I think that's the thing I really like about it too. It's like we're so used to you know, oh, they're transporting nuclear weapons or this. It's like, no, it's an art dealer who's like smuggling coke in It's like, it's not it's not, um it's a minor crime. It's a believable crime even though they're getting and it never

gets convoluted. You know, it's a pretty simple story, which is what you want because you want Eddie Murphy to come in there and have his pieces with the Banana Man and just like these little things that are peppered throughout the movie. Damon Wayne's also in a little part there's so funny and that debut screen debut and also arguably you know, this is a movie where you know

there are some problematic elements too. Yeah, but but but not as bad as not not terrible, but but yeah, like like that, Damon Wayne's caricature of a gay man is pretty uh intense. Yeah, this is the first time I just go back to de Narrow. He did a comedy because he was coming off of like Angel Heart and a lot of heavy ship. But once upon Time in America and the King of King of Comedy, Oh

King of Comedy is uh yeah, well darkest. But then after after Midnight Run, you're getting into where no angels and then you know, and then it just kind of kind of started at all, didn't it. Yeah, and then and then it's like Mad Dog and Glory, which is still a little straight, but he and like it's interesting to watch his career because I watched all these movies.

But yeah, it just started, like there's certainly these like little left field choices one of the other funny scenes, and again, like with the sage scene, like they definitely just pop these little things in there, Like Eddie Murphy could have gone to the restaurant to confront Victor Maitland and just gone straight in there, but no, he goes in there with the you know, the capricorn. Yeah, exactly, and it just like it makes the whole thing better.

Well just again, it's just showing how you can be additive without derailing a movie. And I think there's like there's a great thing for you know, like, to me, my number one movie in this like genre of what I love and try to aspire to. And this may have been the movie I've said, but I feel like I talked about it so many times. Is Ghostbusters like

Ghostbusters to me? Yeah, because Ghostbusters to me is a kind of a perfect movie in the sense that it is it works fully as like a sci fi film that has like really funny comedy beats like you know, um that are not distracting from the pot or not derailing the pot, not sung at your characters for the pot. And if it was so easy to do, we'd have a million of them. And we don't have a million Beverly Hills cops. We don't have a million Ghostbusters. It's

every now and then you get this thing. You're like, oh, that's good, like and I think like the Heat is the closest I've seen lately that kind of is a funny cop movie, but you know, there's still big things in it. But Ghostbusters is arguably people try so many times to capture what that is. But I think it's like partly is like keeping it small. But I think where in an era where everything has to be big, like you would never be able to make this movie.

Now this is an independent movie Beverlyll's cop at this point, like you know it because it would have they would have to be a house exploding, a free rate chase, like you can't just get away with throwing a guy through a plate glass window and it's a dialogue basis itself. Get rid of it. He goes like myself, they're a

blake glass window. But yeah, I do think that the movie, Like I mean, and I think one of the seminal scenes is we talked about before, like the idea of race, and like the idea that you know, he uses they are racially profiling him, and then he uses race against them, and and that's constantly the battle of the movie. It's like, you know, he's trying to count a room at the

Beverly Hills Hotel tonight. When you hear that, you're like, whoa. Yeah, So he's trying to get in there, and he uses race against them, and then the talent is using race against him to kind of minimize them, and everywhere he goes he works it to his advantage when he can. Yeah, it's status. It's like playing these status things and uh yeah,

I just I it's one of those movies. And I always try to find these movies, whether it's Galaxy Quest was Midnight Runs Cop, these movies that are a little bit lower um on the scale of like they're not like of reverence. Yes, people aren't sitting around and we like we talk about Platoon. It's like you're not putting them in the conversation of the greatest comedies of all time or the greatest action movies of all time. But there are great examples of these great movies that it's

so work and are fulfilling. I mean, you just watched it, uh you said the other night? Was it like? Did you enjoy your experience in watching? It was like a fun I had a blast and it was um. I think the reason one of the reasons some of these movies aren't included like that is it's so eighties R and um. It's so easy to to write it off for that reason if you don't really sit down and watch it, if you think, like you hear fucking neutron dance and the heat is on and all these and

it's actually kind of funny. It was a great time to be like a middle age black woman that's a performer, because I forgot like there were so many those just like a string of hits, so that like that soundtrack I owned and played so many times and it's still even have it as like a Spotify playlist on my phone. It's yeah, yeah, it's great and like, you know what I love about it too, It's eighties without being overtly eighties.

Like there's a scene where he's driving through Beverly Hills and he looks at this guy dressed as like basically Michael Jackson thriller, and it's like laughing at it because like it's almost like saying, like that's how certain people are living the eighties. But when you look at Detroit, yeah, it's just jeans and T shirts or you know, it's like it's there's nothing nothing eight there's they're not like

throwing eighties ship in there. It's like the music and everything he feels like that, but it just feels more along the lines of like Evand's aesthetic in an eighties movie, but with all the eighties trappings of those. You know, there's a million songs in it at every given point. And by the way, speaking of the best instrumental song of all time and the absolutely theme, yeah, I can't go without mentioning the great Herby Hancock. Oh it's Harold Faltmeyer.

Oh that's right, Yeah, that's right, Yeah, yeah, yeah, I had I think I just wrote down Herbie Hancock because I yeah, it's I mean, yeah, Harold Falter, Yeah right, and it's a great It's a top ten hit, wasn't it. Oh? Absolutely? And I remember Casey Cason listening to that on Sundays, so it's it was a huge it and it's great. And I've been told that the best when you have an earworm, like when you have a song you can't get out of your head, just hum that song and

it will knock it out. I've always heard Ring of Fire by Johnny Cash, so that's great. Alright, alright, so there we go. Um, but there's something crazy about that because that song came back only a handful of years ago form like whatever, like like it was like disco frog like like it was a E. M. D kind of song. Oh yeah, there's a zillion excel F like like tripped out crazy versions that became number one as well. I think it's crazy Frog's excel F became number one

for a little bit. Yeah, it's an iconic A lot here to like, a lot, yeah, a lot here to like and uh and then it's funny to me. I'm always saying, like, I love when you watch the sequels because that's when you start to like all right, they drive a little bit into different directions, and I still

love the sequel. I love it, and uh and the sequel has a very like it's Don Bruckheimer and uh so it has that kind of energy behind and it's the beginning of that energy, which is kind of like that movie kind of leads to a movie like The Rock, and then that The Rock leads to a movie like Transformer. You know, it's like, you know where it's the beginning step of that. So you still are like, I mean, look, they're running around with the cement truck there, and it's

a great sequence. Shoot, but you know it's like they're playing you know, they're going to Like the perfect example of the difference between one and two is they go to the Playboy man and in too and it's like okay, now that like sure, it's a funny sequence and he's talking to you Hefner, but it's like okay, yeah, and I love it. I'm just saying, if I'm looking at from a critical point of view, it's like that's where they kind of like edge that jump into the Shark.

And then when you go to the number three, it's like everything that was good and Eddie Murphy even feels like he forgot everything that was good in that movie. It's like actor Alizondo, No offense is in there now, and it's like, what the funk am I watching? And and I think one of the reasons it's so good is like Ronnie Cox man, he's so great, just an

amazing guy. I got to direct him. I directed an episode Children's Hospital with Ronnie cox and it was everything that I had to hold back, everything just because I want to talk to him about all of this stuff. And he's a great guy who will tell those stories. Deliverance, Deliverance, Robocuppy.

He's great. Uh. At the end of the day, though, what I realized watching it now in my middle age, like this is a movie about friendships, really, whether it's Mikey and Jenny or Taggert and Rosewood, like they have a very sweet they end up in a very sweet place as three like legit pals who you feel like would do anything to help each other at that point. I think one of the things that I love about Beverly Hill's coup too, it's a small little detail, um

is the picture of them fishing. It's on axles, like like like the cameras panning across Ronnie Cox's office, and it's just sort of like and you see, like, oh in the intern. Between these two movies, they all went fishing. They went on a fishing trip together, and I love it so like to me, by the way, my I had a pitch always. I mean, no one is asking, but my whole pitch for Beverly Hill's cup uh four, I always thought, yeah, I got it, And my my pitture was this, um it at least to get into it.

They're on one of their fishing trips. And again this also has to take you I'm not taking into a chord how old they all are right now. Um, but they're all on a fishing trip. But they're off the coast of Miami, and they see something happening out in the water while they're in there, and they go back to Miami. And so you take it out of Beverly Hills and you go to Miami and and and they go to Miami and they're now both fish out of water there because a Beverly Hills cop and you hopefully

act folly stolen from Detroit. And then you bring them and you bring them there to just another culture that would be interesting when you put them both as fish out of water, and I think that that's a you know, a certain point that always felt like, oh, that would be really cool way to finish it. Yeah, have you actually pitched that? No? I wish I could. I don't know who I feel like the people they're listening to

pitches for. I I got to like I Snake so much Beverly Hills cup stuff because I just love it. So I've gotten to read like Beverly Hills cop scripts that were optioned and were terrible like but I don't know if they're placeholders either. I don't know. It's like, well, this will be funny because of this, But bever Hill's Cup three just sucked it all up because they killed Gil Hill like they take away Paul Riser like you

you wreck the things that you want to see. And the thing that they love about Paul Riser and Gil Hill and the Detroit stuff is that they are you can check in on them and they're you know, they're they're not like they're not crucial, but they are. There's something really fun about those characters. I mean, has there ever been a third movie in a franchise that was very good. I guess you're right. I'm sure that someone

will you know, right into us and tell us. But wait, you know, and it's it's I think it's a rant. It's the only time you ever get that is like in an X Men first Class, you know, and Matthew Van But that's not a third that's that's a new director reboot. You know, it's and uh, you know, even with when I've been working I've been working on Galaxy Quest for TV. You know. My big thing with that has been and you know, for better for worse and dealing with a lot of different people and why they

think galax Quest works. It's like, we just can't do the same thing. You have to create something new because if you don't, you're just gonna spin out. You can't, you know. It's like this tough line of you know, that's why I think Aliens is a great sequel. I love Aliens. Uh it's not. It's of the same ilk as Alien. But it's not that I wouldn't even consider it's it's a spiritual sequel. It's like, you know, it's it's and that's how I think we should be making movies.

Like you don't have to be like, let's get him back to Beverly Hills, and there's another thing, and there's another you know. It's like that's the worst kind of sequeling is just literally recycling the same jokes in a different way, because it's like, well, what you what you want to see is these characters back, but you don't want to see the same It's a fine line. I don't know what, Like, what are the best sequels? I mean there's only a handful, not many. Yeah, it's like

they all just fizzle hard. Yeah, all right. We finished with a couple of segments you feel good about Beverly Hills, feel good? All right? What Ebert said? And then five questions. I always try and see what Roger Ebert said about some of these films. This movie, kid is a complete disappointment. He gave this one two and a half stars. Yeah, so he was a little off the mark. Here to me,

he says. When Murphy tries to move against Maitland, he comes up against the Beverly Hills cops, including an Abbott and Costello team supplies unnecessary pratt falls, successfully undermining the credibility of any police scene that threatens to work. But wait a minute, what's this movie about anyway? Is it

a comedy or an action picture? It's both. Audiences may expect a comedy, but the closing shootout scene is inspired by the machine gun massacre at the end of Scarface and the whole business with the cocaine so very very tired that when we see the Boss and his henchman in the warehouse, we feel like we switched to another movie, maybe a dozen other movies. So interesting way, Yeah, I

don't buy that. I think the thing that we like about it is that it does I think do tonal switches and something that we I think, you know, I think good films can I think one of the most exciting things is like those changes of tone, like can you pull that off? Can you go there? And can you go back? And I think it's something that probably now if you watch it to be like, oh this is in Yeah, I don't think it happened a lot.

Then we find a lot on Unspoiled, Uh, some of the biggest reviewers that you know, ripping on these films and pretty much all of them not then to say this is like one of the best films of all time. But whenever these movies are doing something big, whether it's two thousand and one, whether it's Citizen Kane, whether it's uh, you know. The only ones that have not gotten bad reviews really have been Swing Time and Ben Her, which

is funny because I arguably they're the most palatable. But when you're making something that's trying to do something different that you have not seen, people often come at them and like, no, no, it's not my perspective and uh and again talking to this guy who I know who wrote and directed uh, Hotel Artemis. It's interesting because they're billing it is John Wick, and people are coming and some of the reviews I read, they're like, well, it's not John Wick. It's like, well, it's not supposed to

be John Wick. It's more Barton Fink meets pepol Man. But if you go in with this preconceived notion, it's a very interesting thing that you don't change it by when you're watching. It's like, we can't you have a movie that twitches done. Doesn't have to be all action? Does it have to be all comedy? You know? Can you can you go in and out of both? I don't know, I think, which is interesting because I thought

forty eight hours did that. Well, forty eight hours is great, and forty eight hours is kind of the testing ground for this because it's like it is less comedic, I mean my remembrance of it, but like you get that bar scene, Like that bar scene is is is a great thing, and Eddie Murphy is dancing around, but it's like that's a pretty brutal end scene too. That's I love that beautifully shot alright. Five questions with Paul Sheer.

What's the first movie you remember seeing in the theater? Um? Well, I have an tell me if this counts drive in movie, The Jerk, So yeah, I remember my parents sneaking me into a drive in movie and and seeing the jerk from underneath the covers and probably falling asleep in the middle of it. Yeah. I saw Blazing Saddles that way when I was like four, so fun. Yeah, it's like, yeah, your parents want to go to see a movie and they're like, well, he can sleep in the back. I

thought that a few times with my kids. Uh. First R rated movie? M does that stand out? You know? I'll tell you that. I believe if it wasn't Beverly Hills cop Um the one that I felt most scandalous and watching is risky business, um, risky businesses like are We convinced my friend's mom to rent it for us, and she just saw like a kid with like a Lamborghini or with a portion, so she didn't understand that this is a movie about a guy like hiding her prostitute.

And that was like, whoa sexy? Is this? This is crazy? And I recently be watching it's a good movie. It's it's a good movie, you know. Um, but yeah, but that was like whoa sex Like it just felt like something big. Yeah, that's subway seeing. I mean, that's that's stuff, Yeah, very much. Rebecca de morn a man, Yeah, a lot of teenage boys in the eight said absolutely, it's so crazy. Yeah. Uh will you walk out of a bad movie? Do you remember doing so? Yeah? I contemplated walking out of

Last Action Euro when I saw it. I want to watch it again. I want to revisit it because I've actually think like, that wasn't a very good movie. Yeah right, It just it felt like it was trying to be one thing shame black. Huge fan of shame Black, love

shame Black. But that was like his attempt at kind of doing like a meta commentary on the Angry Peace Chief Captain all this, and I remember like sitting there and going, well I should leave, I don't know, And I got myself caught up and stuff like that, like Major League three. Also like in the theater, Um third movie again, I know the third movie major League one.

Great movie to um. But I kind of think if I've walked out, Oh well, yes, and I've talked about this before, but I I again a drive in, drove out of a drive in. Uh during Lady in the Water, a double screening of Later and the Lady in the Water and beer Fest. Uh, and we just took off. That's a commitment to when you're driving out. Oh yeah, that was like just watching everyone start as as we pull out of there. Sorry sorry, Uh. Number four I

tailored to the guests. So I'm gonna go with, um, what what classic comedy do you wish you could have been in? And maybe even character? Uh? Well, I love Ghostbusters. I mean Ghostbusters to me is great. Um. But just because we talked about that a little bit, maybe I'll say mm hmm, it's a good it's a good question, like what are they m hmm. It's funny because I

feel like in my grand ski. Oh all right, I'll say this, Uh, just because I've talked about ghost questions and I talked about all the time plane strains on the bills, I would love to have I would love to have been uh either one of those characters. Really, and it's it's a great Uh, it's a great movie. It's a great under appreciated film. Again, another movie hard to pull off, like those John Hughes movies. Wow, they are often copied and very rarely achieved. But yeah, that

plasm amobiles. I would give me either one. And I feel like I could do a take on either version. I mean, and no offense to those two guys because John Candy and Steve Martin are just like kind of the top of their game and such a great movie. Yeah. And then finally movie going one on one, what's your theater ritual? Where do you sit? What do you eat? Ohkay? Um? For me, I am uh, I've become a middle Well I'll tell you when I'm by myself. Um, it's a couple of things. So so it depends on what I'm

seeing the movie. If I'm seeing the movie and I know it's going to be packed, um, I am picking an aisle. I like being on the aisle. I like the freedom of the aisle. Uh. Not that I use it, but I just like I like being there. When I know I'm going to go see a movie during the middle of the day, I am going mid mid like mid mid like. So that's that's what I like. I've often I've been experimenting with way back last row. I like that as well. It's a nice place to kind

of be back row, right hand corner um uh. And I like it, yeah, because it's sort of like I'm like, oh, well, middle middles where everyone wants to sit so but back is actually really nice. I feel like you get like a real I saw the Last Jedi back Corner and it was great. I just felt like I was like, I don't know, it just felt like it was I just like that experience of like I could take it all in. It depends on the screen. Um. Sometimes with the stadium seating, the back row, you're like at the

top of the screen, which I don't love. Yeah. No, And it's it's all theater dependent. Um. Snack wise, if ideal, I'm going with twizzlers, not red vines, Twizzlers some more East coast than West Coast. Um, and I'm gonna take some peanut or regular Eminem's put them in my popcorn. It's a familiar movie. Yeah, I love that. Um And then you know, I feel like it's a movie. So I'll treat myself to like a whether it's Mr Pib or Dr Pepper kind of yeah, like yeah, like kind

of a cherry Coke. Now they've got those freestyle machines. Me and my life is great, you know, but up where, Yeah, well, what I really do right now because I feel like it's bad to drink that much sugar, I will give myself pretty much more than three quarters worth of like carbonated water and then just throw in a little bit of orange Fanta just to kind of top it off. And that's my that's my go to, my go to

but yeah, that's my um my thing. In lately, I have two kids, so going to see movies is a tricky proposition for my wife and I because we are It's like, it's not about getting the kids, it's about getting your kids in it. But it's also like when you can get out of the house and if you get and then we need to hit that seven seven thirty movie because the ten thirty movies are too you know,

it's like it's hard. So, Um, I've been seeing on movies during the day and I love it, loves sneaking out for two hours, and I finally might enjoy movies more now too that way, because I'm just sort of like fully engaged in my movie going experience. Yeah, and an arc light mid day matinee is yeah, like there's some serious film lovers in those in those rooms. Oh, I love it and I will recommend uh for you. Who I imagine how many kids you have? Uh with

one three year old daughter? Okay, great. So I like this thing out here in l A. It's called the I Pick Theater. It is a small theater um so each theater probably has less than forty seats um. And they have a full service bar and kind of restaurant. But the way the restaurant works is it's kind of like a step up from the Animal drafthouse. Um, you are in these giant relaxing like lazy boys. They can kind of go back and you really can get comfortable

in them. And they have a table built in and all the food they deliver and it's good food made by good chefs are you don't need a fork and knife, so it's all handheld food all kind like even if the nachos they're all individually and so you can kind of have a day. Nay, we have dinner, drinks, and a movie all in one. And I said to my wife, We've never had a bad movie experience that where we've seen so many, really without saying their names, terrible movies.

And I've left him that it was a great time. Right, Yeah, it's good stuff. Yeah. That that's that's my parenting tip. All right, thanks Paul, thank you so much. A lot of fun. It's so much fun. Thanks so much. All right, everybody, another one in the can. That was a lot of fun. Paul is h He's a very good conversationalist and that

was a lot of fun. I've never met him before, but we got along great and he's very easy to talk to and it was fun talking Beverly Hills Cop and hearing all those great stories about the early days of UCB and just that talented group of people that he came up with. And check out Unspoiled, check out how did This get made to great? Great other movie podcasts that Paul does and maybe who knows, maybe he'll ask me to be on one of them one day.

I can only hope you can follow him on Twitter at Paul Sheer p A U L S C H E R and uh. Check out the League, check out Human Giant, definitely check out Children's Hospital. All great Paul Sheer vehicles. All right, So that's it for this week. Everyone, Thanks for joining us, and until next time. As the sun sets slowly in the West, I bid you a

fine farewell movie. Crush is produced, engineered, edited, and soundtracked by Noel Brown and Ramsey Hunt at how Stuff Work Studios, Pont City Market, Atlanta, Georgia,