Hi, guys, welcome to That's Messed Up an SVU podcast. This is a very special episode where Lisa and I just wanted to take a minute and obviously recognize the passing of a man, a myth, a legend, Richard Balzer, who played John Munch on SVU for thirteen plus seasons with little recurring comebacks.
Yeah, and we all just love him so much, and it's been so nice to see everyone posting photos and videos.
Yes, I mean we obviously you guys know how our podcast works were usually in the time machine. We're currently in a hotel room together, and we didn't want to wait like three weeks to react to this or to like let you guys know that we're thinking about it, So we decided to just put out this little sort of celebration episode just quickly to talk about him and see and you know, it has been really sweet how everyone's been coming together sharing memories and pictures and and just.
Fin and Munch are what we talk about so much in the early years, and the humor that they brought and the little comedic moments and Ie looks and rolls, and you know, he knew. We talked about this yesterday on stage, like he knew how to talk shit in every language, Yeah, just a little sass.
Yeah, like fully cursed a woman in Greek, knows how a little bit of Yiddish, a little bit of Russian probably, and he.
Has a soft spot, you know, he's connected with certain victims and yeah, really was there for Marley mat Malin. Yeah, and got slapped by Carol Kine.
That's definitely a highlight for me, Like.
The Jennifer Esposito episode, the Marley Mattlin episode, the episode where Legacy where he goes and reads the Little Girl after and he talks about his neighbor he had growing up that he never helped and he just was had such amazing range where he could go from the like there's literally this iconic scene everybody's been sharing online where he it's called hysteria and he talks about like women being tree for hysteria in like the eighteen hundreds, and
then he basically spells out the word orgasm and it's like a huge joke in court, and he goes from these moments of being like so knowledgeable but funny into the really like deep, sweet sensitive moments of relating to victims and stuff, and I just thought the guy had range.
Yeah, and you know what else had of range?
His glasses, Yes, a lot of different shades of tint.
Yeah.
I'm glad that he was alive for the Transitions lenses phase of Society.
And I hope you know that Munch ended up in Maryland with a bar.
You know, he did so on the last episode, on the most recent episode, which is so crazy and a lot of you have mentioned this in the comments the episode Dutch Tears, which was the Finn centric episode, Like Finn got a full episode that was really all about
him and he was like the main character. He talks to Kevin Kane, the new character who plays Bruno, about my old partner he works hired, he bought his own bar back in Maryland, and he used to always use humor as a way to like deflect and blah blah blah. And it was like crazy because it was like, oh, wow, he's like totally talking about Munch. I think actually Kevin Kane even says Munch's name at one point and then
and then he passed away like two days later. It was like really really wild that they sort of gave him like one last mention on the series and then he died.
I wonder if they knew, and just you know, he posted like he had the best week of his life and then this horrible news and just to remember to celebrate when the highs are high, because.
The lows are coming.
Yeah, and so don't be humble, fucking go have fun and celebrate your big wins.
Yeah, And I like everyone's like everyone was like no, oh no. I mean, he did have health problems for a long time. I hope he's not in any pain now. And he also was living the like end of his life in I think Boseles, France. I'm sorry if I'm saying it wrong, like France with a bunch of dogs and like great food. Like we talk about this at our live shows, but Diana Neil came on to our New York show was talking all about how when she went to visit Bellzer in France, he had like drawers
of condoms and joints. And I think he was about like living life and enjoying it and his.
Last words were fuck you, motherfucker.
So like, I just think he lived a really cool life and I hope that the end of it was you know, even though he had health problems. I hope he sort of enjoyed his last days. He used to live in my neighborhood on the Upper West Side. I used to see him with his dog reading outside this cafe on my block, and I never wanted to bother him, so I never said anything. But I'm glad I've seen him in the wild.
At least. He's such a cool dude.
Yeah, I'm also, what's the memory I have is when like Cragan's in trouble so, oh it's nine, it's alternate, Yeah, it's Cynthia Nixon episode. But he gets like paint all over his outfit, so he has to put on am and then he like fucks up huge because everyone went on a man chase for this baby who ended up not being real, and then Craigan had to come back and be like you're done, You're done, munch. And it also is cool that he wore that white suit, so we have like.
Such a yeah, I fancy episode was called Wonderland Story and that's where he wears his white and everybody's telling jokes about his ex wife's white ex wives and stuff, so he gets like a good send off.
But then he's back.
He gets to meet Noah, like I did love that scene. Like a lot of people have been posting that too, Like, you guys got to stop posting these montages where there's sad music over it. They're making me cry.
Oh it's the crap.
Wait tell them the cute little Munch thing with Noah that Noah maybe Noah goes by Munch.
Oh yeah, it goes by Munch and it's so adorable.
This is such a funny Nate Munch.
Oh.
Yeah.
So if you have a fig milkshake in your town, go get one and one out and big shakes. Make a fig shake at your house. Send us photos of your fig shakes. Which what I even where do you even get one?
I mean it feels like it's something you would get at like a Jewish DELI doesn't it like and am I just yeah, like egg creams or something where I'm like, I don't want this, right, I don't want an cream.
I think I want this.
But I love a cherry lime Ricky. Yeah, that's another New York I also just love.
Like I guess it's like, obviously when somebody passes away, you're not gonna hear a ton of negative stuff, but you just everybody seems like they loved him, like he was this uber mench and he just was cool and nice like all the cast members, Danny Pino, Kelly Giddish, like all of them. Danny Pino won't stop posting. I mean, he's like writing poems and like well.
And comics too, Like a lot of older comics are posting photos with him, and he's really respected in the comedy community out outside of the Dick Wolf universe.
Yeah, I hope it's like like in terms of the show, I hope it's like a little bit of a like just everybody posting all of his funny moments and stuff is a little bit of a remembrance that the show used to have a little bit more lightness to it. And hopefully I feel like with Kevin Kane's character, they're trying to bring back some jokes.
But listen, we can't get started.
I really don't like the New Girl and Octavity together, I mean, and this is what Mounch would want us talking shit about new cast members. And so I'm sure I'll grow to love them, but I really hate their over acting.
I don't know, it just really bothers me. But I'm sure I'll love it we'll get more into it that on a regular episode. But yeah, I mean, we're just posting this so that you guys know that we're feeling sad with you, and of course we and be present.
You know.
Another thing I loved about him is they.
Were like, hey, can you please just film a scene please, just for a five hundredth and he's like, nah.
I don't have Wi Fi. Yeah, and I love that. Yes, that's what I mean.
Like, I think he was like living in France with good food, dogs, like just life on his terms in his final years, you know, And I think that's really great. And everybody just has such an outpouring of love and respect for him, and I think we are just joining our voices to that chorus.
Of people that are obsessed with him.
Yeah, it would be wild for us to just go multi episodes without any talking about it, because even in our live shows, like anytime we mentioned him. Now, it's like he is such a big part of these episodes.
So we're never gonna stop talking about Munch.
Yeah, he lives on through this amazing character that he played, and we're going to say through this amazing podcast and relaxed chart. No, this character he played because people are like, no, he was on homicide. He was on an episode of X Files as much like he's This character has spanned multiple.
It's eleven eleven. Make a wish.
It's eleven eleven, and our wish is for us all to remember Belzer forever and all the amazing contributions he made, and he'd really created a character that I think is.
Unmatched, truly unmatched.
And I mean, yeah, guys, this mini for letting us do a little minisode.
Hopefully we'll do minisodes in the future for more joyous events and things.
But yeah, you know, sometimes, but.
We'll post this on our Instagram that's messed up pod and just you know, feel free to share munch memories in the comments or whatever. I feel like it's nice for people to share, you know, I don't know, happy memories. Your favorite conspiracy is yeah, your favorite conspiracy theories, et cetera.
I like that.
Yeah, go spy on someone. I mean, okay, people are like it suckx he never got to do the podcast. I'm like, he was never going to do the podcast. He was truly living without Wi Fi in on like the fringes of France. But I do want to know like, I guess we can will ask Neil Bear. We'll have like Neil Bear back. But like how much Munch was like.
Was him?
Because I didn't know that bells were in real life? Was a big conspiracy theorist. I always knew Munch was.
Yeah, I also knew he would not do the pod, but I definitely still had the fantasy of like smoking a joint with him. But then my friend texted me, now he's smoking a joint with God.
Oh and people keep writing that him and Jurie or Boker hanging out in heaven together, and I really like that idea, his son wrote. Warbox Son wrote that and was like, you guys are probably giving each other hell right now up in heaven, Like and I love that.
So oh I didn't see that. I love that box Son is kind of cute. FYI. Everybody is a neo baby or what's he doing?
An actor? Musician, you know, kind of doing everything? And he his biocos and yes, I'm Jerry warbox On. At least he's not high. Yeah, yeah, so I guess I don't know Lisa's or anything else you want to add. We love you, guys, Thank you for listening. Thanks for all of you've been writing like sweet messages that the podcast it makes you has helped you through getting like you know, I don't know that. We're all on like our Instagram page commiserating about this guy we all loved.
Yeah, and have some fun today and and should be present and enjoy your good moments.
Yeah, We'll see you guys at our next big, jumbo sized regular episode, Jumbo bye bye