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#45 The Adventures of Bryan Behar

Join us as we dive deep into the incredible career of writer and producer Bryan Behar, and uncover the truth about TV consumption and the future of sitcoms in Hollywood – all in one incredible conversation between two long-time friends.

My guest, Bryan Behar, and I discuss:

  • Bryan Behar, a writer and producer, joins the podcast to discuss his incredible 25-year career in television.
  • Behar was a showrunner for two seasons of the Fuller House reboot, which he discusses along with other shows he has worked on, including Andy Richter Controls the Universe, 8 Simple Rules, The New Adventures of Old Christine, Last Man Standing, and Kirstie.
  • Behar shares his insights on the state of TV consumption, including a debate on the merits of weekly episode releases vs binge-watching entire new seasons in one sitting.
  • Behar advocates for Hollywood to re-embrace multi-camera sitcoms.
  • This is a fantastic conversation between two long-time friends who finally make the time to hear each other’s voices.

You’re going to love my conversation with Bryan Behar

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Hashtag Fun: Jeff dives into recent trends and reads some of his favorite tweets from trending hashtags. The hashtag featured in this episode is #AddATvShowToAMovie

Social Media: Jeff scratches the surface on Twitter spaces. Twitter’s answer to Clubhouse!

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Announcer 0:00

Looking to sound like you know what's going on in the world, pop culture, social strategy, comedy and other funny stuff. Well join the club and settle in for the Jeff Dwoskin show. It's not the podcast we deserve. But the podcast we all need with your host, Jeff Dwoskin.

Jeff Dwoskin 0:16

All right, Andy, thank you so much for that amazing introduction. You get the show going each and every week. And this week is no exception. Welcome, everybody to Episode 45 of live from Detroit, the Jeff Dwoskin show. So great to have you. As always. I am your host, Jeff Dwoskin. And we have an amazing show for you today. Yes, we do executive producer and show runner of Fuller House in so many other great shows, is here to talk with us. Bryan Behar. That's right. Bryan's here. That's exciting. It's coming up real soon, the special episode because Bryan's actually sponsoring the episode as well. So that's really exciting and new for us. So listen for that coming up. And our great conversation coming up shortly after that. It's gonna be exciting. And you know, what else is exciting? all the shows that I've guested on this past week or so? That's right, Jeff Dwoskin is everywhere. I'm everywhere. You can catch me on the Fandom effect the successful screenwriter. And coming up soon, with the cast of some nobodies Zack and Dylan we tape chess show. I know that sounds exciting, doesn't it? It was it was really fun can see these shows on my YouTube channel. Just search the Jeff Dwoskin show on YouTube. And I have a whole playlist dedicated to shows that I've been on, you can check them out there.

And since you're already hanging out on YouTube, you can also check out crossing the streams. That's a live show I do every Wednesday at 9:30pm Eastern Time with a bunch of great friends of mine. And we have rotating guests and we talk about shows you should be streaming since you're already on YouTube, and you're already hanging out on my channel because of what I just said earlier. Make sure you subscribe to the YouTube channel. hit the little bell for notifications. And when we go live, you'll get a little notice and you can watch us live. How cool is that? Jeff Dwoskin live with his buddies. That's right. It's a hilarious show. Lots of great information. You're gonna love it. You're gonna love it. And it's interactive, meaning you can talk to us and we'll talk back at you what you talk to us. Yes, it's interactive. It's fine. You're gonna love it. Mark your calendars. Wednesday 9:30pm Eastern Time, go to YouTube subscribe notifications, we will send you all the details. See you there.

I do want to thank everyone who has followed and liked my podcast on their favorite podcast app whether it be Apple podcasts, Google podcasts, Spotify, Audible, humbly, podchaser, castbox, whatever podcast app you love. Thank you. It's no longer subscribed to a podcast by the way. It's now follow in like, follow my podcasts on Apple. They got rid of the word subscribe. People thought Wait a minute. Do I have to pay for this? And no, it's absolutely free. 100% free. That's right. You're like wait a minute. I'm getting this for free. I would pay so much money. I know. I know. But it's gonna it's free. Enjoy it because it's free. do me this favor. tell all your friends how much you love the podcast say Hey, friends. Hey, family. Hey, guy getting to his car in the parking lot at the grocery store. I just happened to be at you should be listening to a live from the droid, the Jeff Dwoskin show. It's a podcast. Yeah, yeah, that's right. I'm gonna stand and then stand over them while they click follow. And don't leave until they do that. I appreciate that. Thank you very much. And if you can get them to sign up for my mailing list, which you can do at jeffisfunny.com, you should do it. Also, that'd be an extra bonus. But either one's great. Thank you so much. I appreciate each and every one of you. Thank you.

And now it's time for the social media tip. Alright, coming up in the interview with Bryan Behar. We talked a little bit about Twitter. Towards the end, he talks about how much of an impact playing hashtag games and hashtag roundup had on him and his Twitter experience. So that's cool. So so I'm excited for you to hear that testimonial. But also, I just wanted to point out for those of you who are not on clubhouse, maybe you have an android or just haven't checked out clubhouse haven't gotten an invite yet. Because they're in beta, it's starting to come to Twitter. It's called Twitter spaces. However, I just got access to it. If you hold down that little compose button, it's only on mobile, and it's only on iOS. And I think it's rolling out to Android soon. If it already hasn't been the only way to know if you have it is if you click the Compose button. It's like that little blue round thing that floats in the bottom right hand of your app that looks like a little feather because you know people write with feathers now as they did in the olden days. But if you click on it, you can click on spaces and you can create your own but also in the area where they show fleets. If you see like these weird purple circles up there, that's a space it's going on and you can join in so the whole audio experience talking Town Hall type thing is coming Went to Twitter. And hopefully they'll advance the UI and Twitter and make it very usable and a competitor to clubhouse to include us all. So I just wanted to mention that keep an eye out for that. Check it out. It's pretty cool. It's great way to connect with people. And that's the social media too.

I do want to thank everyone who supports the sponsors week after week after week. I can't thank you enough. It means so much to me in the show. It's how we keep the lights on folks. It's how we keep the lights on every time you support a sponsor. They tell the world they usually be sponsoring live from Detroit: the Jeff Dwoskin show and they just come a knockin and I can't thank you enough. This week's sponsor the special one I've already introduced you to Bryan Be our guest today. What did you know Bryan Behar has a special remote control available for your television. That's right. It's called the BB remote control set. That's right, just hand over the BB remote control to whoever's in charge of the TV. When they try and watch a show. It'll choose a show that Bryan Behar was a part of instead of the one they want to watch. That's right. Suddenly, you're watching Andrew Richter saves the universe. Sit back and enjoy 8 simple rules. Time to watch The New Adventures of Old Christine. Hey, time to get ready for last man standing. Well what do you know, Fuller House is on. That's right now with the Bryan Behar remote control you can enjoy all of Bryan Behar's catalog any time of day, all day every day available at Amazon, Costco, and wherever fine remote controls are sold. All right, well definitely check that out because and you're gonna want it especially after hearing my interview with Bryan Behar and all the great shows he's been a part of very excited to help him promote his product. Alright, and now I'm excited to share with everyone my conversation I had with Bryan Behar.

Alright, ladies and gentlemen, I'm excited to welcome to the show producer writer, Bryan Behar. How are you, Bryan?

Bryan Behar 6:54

I'm great. Thank you for having me. It's a pleasure. We've never actually spoken even though people will naturally assume we went to Hebrew school together because we've texted somebody for so many years. But this is the first time I've never heard your voice. So it's very exciting.

Jeff Dwoskin 7:08

Yes, Bryan and I are long time Twitter friends. We've been tweeting together for many, many years. And this is the first time we've actually heard each other's voices so

Bryan Behar 7:23

and I'm afraid that Jeff's a little alarmed at how how deep and rich my baritone is it's often compared to 70 soul singer Lou Rawls but not by anyone under 60 years old. So I hope I've not scared anyone off with it. But yes, it true. We have become actual Twitter friends. It is it is possible.

Jeff Dwoskin 7:41

Yeah, it totally is. And your voice is soothing. And I find it relaxing. And I may play it back when I try to sleep at night.

Bryan Behar 7:50

I haven't worked in I haven't worked in a few months. So I am open for any jobs at at a quiet storm FM station. I am in fact open for anything. So happy to be here and happy to serve you.

Jeff Dwoskin 8:04

You have been a part of a lot of cool TV shows. Let's maybe talk about some of the Bryan Behar's Greatest Hits.

Bryan Behar 8:12

I Well, most people don't describe it. I often describe that I've been on every failed show since the 90s. But as I've gotten older and start to look at my IMDB page when I try to fall asleep at night, I'm like oh, there were actually some some good successful shows I've been on. I counted this morning cuz I knew I'd be talking to you 21 shows, I think in the last 25 years, ask away whatever whatever you want to know, within my legal limits. I can I'll tell you all I can

Jeff Dwoskin 8:40

that's actually an amazing amount of shows to be a part of can't wait to dive in. You're also Emmy nominated. Have you been nominated for more than the one me just the one. This one?

Bryan Behar 8:52

Yeah, just one that was ironically for Fuller House which was not a huge, critically acclaimed show. But we moved it into the to the kids family category and that got us nominated. But I should mention, you know, the show aired its final episode about a year ago but literally right before I came on with you today I got a notification that Fuller House was nominated for Favorite family show for the Nickelodeon Kids Choice Award. And the Candace Cameron Bray was nominated for Best Actress and that's for any TV show. Even in our swan song. It's still resonating with kids. When you take a show like Fuller House, you're not expecting that to be the sort of the mother lode of a majority of your awards have come from just sort of shows that if you find your lane and appeal to appeal to who has shows meant to appeal for you'll sort of get rewarded for it. That's a show I didn't you know, I had not really known a lot about the original full house. I mean, my my kids were obsessed I had I had a daughter who watched it almost on a continuous loop and Nick at night. I myself had never seen it before taking this job. So I didn't know how addictive it was but it really is like Math for kids. I mean, children love it. At some point I stopped biting it and just really sort of gave in and began to understand its magic and its allure and kids really, really respond.

Jeff Dwoskin 10:12

The Full House is a good tease. But let's end with that. Also. Let's go back in time. Yes, sir. And talk about some of the older shows you got it. So you've done a lot. And again, but before I forget, congratulations on the Emmy nomination. That's one more than I have. So you're one up on me on the Emmys and most people probably

Bryan Behar 10:31

as you know, I was thrilled to be nominated. Oh, we lost this as of yesterday. So that was incredibly humbling.

Jeff Dwoskin 10:36

You lost this as mystery.

Bryan Behar 10:38

I thought it was like a big shot getting all dressed up and taking a you know, the Netflix limo to the Emmys and walking the red carpet. And then we lost. We lost a big bird and Grover, but it was Kids TV category and they've kind of had the stranglehold on it, but I like that that's my archnemesis not Parks and Recreation or 30. Rock I Waterloo. Is it Sesame Street?

Jeff Dwoskin 11:02

Well, if you're gonna lose to anyone, there's worse people you can lose to then then beg burn,

Bryan Behar 11:07

I would have probably voted for them too, if I'm being totally honest.

Jeff Dwoskin 11:11

So Andy Richter controls the universe. Yes, sir. And director, Conan O'Brien's sidekick gets his own TV show. What was Andy like to work with? I remember that I remember joining that show it but it didn't. It didn't last, it was just a one season thing.

Bryan Behar 11:27

Like many of the shows on my resume, that was one that like we had incredibly high hopes for the pilot was amazing. And in fact, you know, written by Victor fresco, that was nominated for an Emmy that year, I think, Best Writing. So like that was considered one of the best five scripts in sitcoms in the whole year. And this was sort of like right at the beginning of the single camera craze, you know, I think so we were nominated that year, just to give you some context. And then we were nominated that year against the pilot for Malcolm in the Middle. So these were like sort of Fox's first foray outside of animation and into single camera. And it was like a really cool, adventurous show, like really obscure jokes and cutaways and really fast paced. And Andy was great. You know, for people who only knew him as Conan sidekick, I think it was a real eye opener that he definitely had the potential to be a TV star, the show went two years, but it just never clicked as sort of a ratings hit. I think Malcolm was probably more in line with shows like The Simpsons and family guy just in terms of being even though the single camera and not animated, they were still family shows. And Andy Richter was a show set in a workplace with just a lot of fantasy sequences. So probably the most prestigious show that I've been on in terms of like, critical acclaim and cult following is one that people ask me about all the time really has kind of a disproportionate following relative to the actual numbers it did when it was all very proud to have been part of it.

Jeff Dwoskin 13:08

I think if you're going to create a show, and it doesn't succeed, or you know, it doesn't last as long sometimes shows don't last. And it's not because they were necessarily bad, right? Just maybe they didn't catch on. And maybe something distracted the public at that point. But it's to me, like, what you just described is, is how I think of Firefly or freezing geeks. Right? It was very short lived, but people still talk about it. And there's a million other shows that would have just as many episodes as those that no one could ever name ever. So it's like it's an interesting like, for some people to talk about a show that was so short lived. I think that's and I'm sure you would have loved for it to go on and made

Bryan Behar 13:46

absolutely but you know, you're you're 100% right that like you can be on a canceled show that is an embarrassment or you could be on a canceled show that as a rabid cult following. And obviously, you know, you know which one I prefer. And especially in this in the new streaming era, there's no shortages of new and burgeoning platforms where shows like you know, the ones you mentioned, like Freaks and Geeks and Firefly are always going to find new homes and new platforms and the new a bit and new abilities to reach audiences in many ways as if they were brand new shows the concern of the audience in what is brand new is of a far lesser concern than it was 1520 years ago. I think you can look at your Netflix menu and be faced with things that came out on Friday and things that came out 10 years ago, there's not that much to distinguish it and I think the audience's will embrace both equally as a new way of consuming television that I think will give a nice after life to shows that deserve. You know, there's plenty of shows which you'll never see again and rightfully so, but like, you know, a show like Andy Richter, I think we'll probably find a place and they'll always be kind of disaffected teams, or like, Hey, I like that show more than what's current On the network, that's an exciting, an exciting opportunity.

Jeff Dwoskin 15:03

It's interesting when DVDs came out and they somebody accidentally discovered they could put entire shows on DVD, and that sort of lit and created certain popularities of shows that no one had ever seen before and even brought back Family Guy.

Bryan Behar 15:19

That's exactly what I was gonna mention is that's a show that has been twice canceled. I don't think Fox realize the, you know, sort of the creative powderkeg they were sitting on until they saw the sort of those the first week numbers from DVD sales, and they realized, like, perhaps what was not being reflected in sort of the week to week numbers, and, you know, like, sort of the old way that the Nielsen's had done, the ratings was just sort of the enthusiasm level, how rabid those fans were, it was not people who were just as kind of passively watching it, but people who were completely obsessed and and now that's 20 years later, I mean, I'm when I was on Andy Richter, we had some writers to adjust left Family Guy, because it had been recently cancelled. And now 20 years later, that show is still a juggernaut. And you know, with all you know, with all the stuff macfarlanes, various spin offs as well. And I don't think any of those would have happened, you know, we're not for the exact dynamic that you described in terms of the release of the DVD.

Jeff Dwoskin 16:18

Right. And now with streaming, it's all there you don't have to worry about Blockbuster Video. Blockbuster Video is a place people used to get videos for those listening Thank you The they

Bryan Behar 16:28

don't know you do need to explain I mean, I all of my references are 60 years old. But guys like us take for granted for sometimes that people know what we're talking about. And Andy Richter was on it was on a network called Fox. They still have that right?

Jeff Dwoskin 16:41

I think so.

Bryan Behar 16:43

I haven't been on TV since so long that I forget what's around right. So

Jeff Dwoskin 16:47

it's a maybe there's always a chance it could light up again. But then sometimes it's with like, with the rest of development, you realize you really can't go back home.

Bryan Behar 16:56

I mean, they try but again, no one would have provided that opportunity. Had Netflix come around. You know, like that was a show that was beloved by critics discerning sit, you know, comedy nerds, and no one else. I was in the category of comedy nerd. I own the rest of development on DVD seen every episode, you know, I was obsessed. I don't think you know, had if these new platforms didn't come around. I don't think there would have been that reboot. Now. Whether it reached the level of expectations for its most diehard fans, I can't say. But I thought it was a cool effort. I'm glad they got the chance. And now they know not to do it again. But yeah, it

Jeff Dwoskin 17:35

was funny because my daughter had just started watching Arrested Development. And then season four came out. And she didn't realize like you said earlier to exact your exact point. Time wasn't a factor in her watching it. She just knew it was a show that dad said was funny. So she's sitting there watching episode series, one, two, and three, and then four, she can't figure out why everyone looks different.

Bryan Behar 17:58

But think about it. That was the only obstacle that was the only thing that she had to contend with like this new generation, especially the way they consume television has such instant gratification. I mean, it's almost we've now become the old ultra Cockers telling people about oh, you know, back when we were kids. A there were only three channels and B you had to wait. I had to wait until Friday night at eight o'clock to watch The Brady Bunch go into the Partridge Family. There was no other way of saying it. There was no on demand. There was no streaming there. You know, there were no DVDs. There was a show you like just not once a week during the season and you were screwed in the summer. The flipside is, I distinctly remember being four and five years old, and being obsessed with the Brady Bunch and not being able to wait for Friday night to come soon enough. There was something magical about it. I'm sure there's new versions of that. But you know, for me, it definitely created more demand more anticipation, more excitement. I yearned to see a new episode of my favorite sitcom even then I was pretty hooked.

Jeff Dwoskin 19:05

Yeah, I was talking about that on Facebook recently, always posting reflecting on one division and one division is you know, releasing weekly, and everyone's talking about it weekly. And everyone's examining that episode. And I was making the case I was like weekly release is better for new shows than dropping an entire season all at once. If you drop a season all at once. You can't discuss it with anyone unless they actually already saw it. Somebody is going to watch the whole thing and ruin it for you. And I never understood why a Netflix rizona would want to do that because everyone stops talking about it a week and a half later. It's done. Like with one division Disney plus is gonna get two months at least eight episodes of week after week after week renewed interest in a show versus a flash and burn Kimmy Schmidt now what's out everyone? Oh, next Friday. No one's talking about you

Bryan Behar 19:56

know, I mean, I definitely see merit to both I discovered the same phenomena. You were going through, I think I was a year behind on Amazon's the boys but that you know that really like dark superheroes show the sweeping youth culture. So I blazed through and banished the first season. And then I'm started the second season. And then it was like, it kind of just stopped. I was like, What the fuck just happened? Like, we you mean I have to wait week to week but then it like you said it really enabled me to miss it and to talk about it and to read recaps and not have it spoiled. And it felt like how TV used to be the flip side and I guess this is not even an argument for bingeing. But what I have found a having run Fuller House but also as a consumer of a lot of Netflix and Amazon and Apple shows is I will watch a show in two days be thoroughly obsessed and engrossed, which is something you couldn't do in the week to week model. But the flip side is I will watch a show and then be done in two days. And then it's gone even with the farewell to for house which which I know will speak about maybe a little more later. There we had so much anticipation building towards the finale, even that people talked about it and tweeted about it and wrote articles about it that weekend. And that was it. So even the show's finale didn't really have that much of a communicative afterlife beyond the that initial burst that comes with a one weekend binge. And that's, that's too bad. Like you said, I miss missing a show and I missed talking about a show. And I missed predicting how it's gonna, how it's gonna end what was interesting, like he knows when you can mix it, like I was so behind on breaking bad, but I was able to catch up before the last two seasons. So I had sort of the best of both worlds I was able to binge it and be fully engrossed, you know, really sort of wonder what the next week would bring. And that I found that to be a kind of a delightful mix.

Jeff Dwoskin 21:53

Yes, I actually I had the exact experience and we banished Breaking Bad. And I watched the last eight episodes live me as they were aired.

Bryan Behar 22:02

That's exactly right. That's exactly yeah, that's I might have had a few more episodes I think I had the last two years. But who knows whether I would have been as obsessed with it had I watched it week to week when it first came out. And I have no idea why I did it. Even if I think we're just less aware of like this sort of prestige TV even 10 years ago, like I would watch The Sopranos when it came out that night. And I would watch bad men somehow breaking bad I missed I missed the wire when it came out, which is my favorite show of all time. I missed Deadwood when it first came out. So like I think there was just fewer people talking about prestige television that's also become a sort of a niche of entertainment journalism that has grown, you know, as the streaming world has grown.

Jeff Dwoskin 22:46

Exactly I but I agree with you as well, they the it's nice to be able to binge, a show that you haven't seen so you can catch up. Do you love that, that week to week, it's nice to be able to talk to people about a show and really kind of embrace it. Alright, let's talk about other cool shows you been a part of. So I'm here. So here's the cool when you were on you were on eight simple rules. So that was the john Ritter show he he unfortunately passed away. And then you came on board after john Ritter had passed away. So that's correct. I was

Bryan Behar 23:18

there for Season Three of three.

Jeff Dwoskin 23:20

So that involved the transition because they decided to keep the show going. But obviously, it had to change and evolve relatively quickly.

Bryan Behar 23:29

And it was really sort of bold, that they were able to carry on, you know, there is not a long history of shows the rabl to even get another season and a half, like it's overrules did after their lead and passed on in the middle of production. So a I give just huge kudos to that cast and crew. You know, like there were still most of people there were people who had worked with john Ritter, and we're carrying on in his absence. So like, I had the luxury and a lot of the writers season three had the luxury of coming in from the outside. So as sad as it was, it wasn't someone who we we grew up, we grew up watching, but we didn't know him personally. So we were able to have just sort of a little more objectivity how to carry out the show, but I think most of the big decisions were made prior to my arrival, and I was just talking about it with someone actually, a couple days ago. What I found most interesting is that didn't attempt to replace john Ritter per se, with like an equal swap. This was not Jared Goff for Matthew Stafford use the parlux that you might not understand. When john Ritter first died and I was just reading about it in Entertainment Weekly. There was talk should they bring in Henry Winkler should they bring in Tony Danza. The thought was you need to bring in another beloved 70s or 80s, his dad or beloved sitcom figure to take that role? And what they ended up doing instead is they kind of just sort of created a new dynamic they brought in James Gunn. Her as the grandfather Suzanne Pleshette as the grand mother David Spade just I don't even know what his role was, but he was he basically played David Spade snarky cousin. I remember Pamela Anderson was on for a handful of episodes. So they were able to sort of in the composite rebuild the family without sort of doing a disservice or really disrespecting the memory of john returners. Give them a ton of credit, but it was definitely you were definitely aware that you were coming into a sad place. You know, even coming into season three, the sadness was still palpable, you know, because you're still dealing you're still writing episodes about people who lost their father and also knowing that those actors, many of whom were children had lost their TV father who they had grown just as close to so it was a really interesting experience sort of just parachute into not having been part of the original.

Jeff Dwoskin 25:52

The original entity that Cassie remained from the original you Katie Seagal Kaley whose last name I cannot pronounce but she went on to the Big Bang Theory of killing Coco

Coco and she's now in flight attendant. Correct. I mean, Katie Seagal is she's an she's an incredible actress. It's It's funny how her and oh no real. It's funny how her and Ed O'Neill both from Married with Children, you know, white trash couple. He didn't realize at the time how stellar both they were.

Bryan Behar 26:21

Yeah. Because when you're watching a library with children, you kind of if you hadn't seen them somewhere else you assume that's just who they were. Katie single was a an incredible actress and being the focus of the show then shifted, you know, where she had sort of been sitcom wife to john Ritter, and it was his journey, navigating parenthood and his daughters growing up and starting to date. It then became a show about how does Katie Seagal as a single mom, keep this family together after the loss of the patriarch? You know, she was able to completely you know, the thrust of the show just completely changes midway and you know, obviously this one was sort of a force majeure situation, you know, where you had no choice? No, she's awesome. And Kaley Cuoco, you knew was going to be a big deal. But I don't know that anyone anyone could have anticipated just how gifted a comic actress she's become. I mean, she's really, sitcoms aren't as big as they were when friends were on, but she's probably the closest equivalent we have to Jennifer Aniston right now, in terms of that kind of breakout female star. I've worked with a ton, but she's turned into a real sensation.

Jeff Dwoskin 27:27

Speaking of huge sensations, you worked with Julia Louise Dreyfus, and The New Adventures of Old Christine, which is yet another one of her Emmy Award winning

Bryan Behar 27:39

roles. Yes, it seems like everything she touches us except for watching Alli which I wasn't done. No. I mean, even when I was with her there I I was describing her as the Michael Jordan of sitcoms. I mean, I think she you don't you don't even have to break it down by gender. She's She's that good. You know, she is as skilled and as funny and as nice she's truly made for this form. Like I have no idea whether she could be you know, comic lead and in movies, but in the half hour sitcoms like she's definitely the best that I've ever seen.

Jeff Dwoskin 28:11

I think she's she's one of the most Emmys for the most different characters. I think she's one for three different characters. I think that was Can she set a record recently?

Bryan Behar 28:20

I think she did. Veep was brilliant prior to Veep, you know, having seen her in Seinfeld and worked with her on old Christine, you're like wow, she's she's done it already. You know, I never thought there would be something that were that even elevated her game you know, as much as I like old crusty like Veep is a whole other level of just absurdist and it got even more absurd you know, once the original creators left and they brought in new head show runners and like it just went totally off the rails in a good way I thought in his last two or three seasons that's definitely one of my all time faves in terms of just pure brutal joke deli.

Jeff Dwoskin 28:57

Right so then you worked on the original run of Last Man Standing

Bryan Behar 29:01

Yes, in many of these cases I worked on either the first season and not the rest or just the last so yes, I was on the I was on first season of last man standing and that's a show that was kind of a slow starter it's never been a ratings giant but it always does way better than you think it's never been critically acclaimed because he has kind of a you know, middle American appeal that like doesn't get written up a lot about in in the New Yorker or the New York Times or deadline Hollywood but like he has his style and he has his fan base and they love it when you bring it up like it that's like so long ago to me that was 10 years ago, and that's a show that's still on the air in first run. But again, it went off the air and and I think they saw how well as it did in syndication and they brought it back which I would say never happens but we've already talked about it happening with family guys. So you know obviously does

Jeff Dwoskin 29:56

happen occasionally had read and again, who knows what's true When you read it, it was the success of the Roseanne reboot that got them thinking about bringing Tim Allen back because it was very similar demographic.

Bryan Behar 30:09

I believe that to be true. I also believe that in the post 2016 election world Hollywood in the TV business is nothing if not a copycat business trying to understand after the fact why something worked. And I think Roseanne came back because Trump was elected. And then last man standing came back because Roseanne was so usually successful, but truth be told, and I wouldn't you know, I have no skin in the game. I wasn't there when Last Man Standing was canceled. But the truth was that other than Modern Family Last Man Standing was the second highest rated sitcom on ABC when it was canceled. And this was a head of fancier shows. I mean, I Goldbergs comes to mind Fresh Off the Boat, there was just a lot of really kind of more hipster critically acclaimed shows that may have done may or may not have done better on the demographic like last man standings household and 18 to 49 numbers were better than all these other shows that they kept. It just wasn't as cool have a show. And my guess is it was probably more expensive to make by season seven or eight. But you know, shows get cancelled for all sorts of weird reasons. And I think that one was just TV executives don't talk about multi cam sitcoms anymore. Just to be clear, multi cams means, you know, those shows that are filled in front of an audience where you hear laughter versus single camera shows which are filmed as if they were a movie. That's the really the big distinction. And the TV business in the last 1015 years has really moved away from the multi cams and toward the stigall camps, I think much with their own peril. That might be for another day

Jeff Dwoskin 31:52

deep dive into camera, the amount of cameras you should use in another episode. Okay. Well,

Bryan Behar 31:58

I do I mean, you're laughing at me and rightfully so. But you know, it's not really a camera discussion so much as it is, I think that the TV business has moved away from what works in the history of the sitcom, a multi cam audience show has been the number one comedy on the air every year for the last 60 years, except for one year when mash was. And yet I would say 80 to 90% of the comedies that are made these days are single camera because they're cooler. And now you have a generation of kids streaming that are used to it so I think that maybe now that's it's found its niche, but like you know a show like the office, which is beloved it does gangbusters on dreaming platforms. Was it the giant blockbuster that it is now during first run? I think it really was Modern Family was the first actual breakout single camera hit, I don't get to decide what shows are on the air, sadly enough, it looks like the move is diminta single camera and I got a I got a roll of that.

Jeff Dwoskin 32:59

One day, you're going to change that I know you because they're going to listen to this episode, and they're gonna play back and they're gonna be like, wait, Jeff and Bryan. I think they were on to something they were all just

Bryan Behar 33:08

lovely. I mean, we're you know, I mean, we're sort of huge influencers, especially in the entertainment industry. And people listen exactly as we speak. there's a there's a certain resonance that comes with it. And I like to think we're gonna change television just with this one interview.

Jeff Dwoskin 33:24

I think we might we might you don't know if two Jews can't change television who can

Bryan Behar 33:30

like where are they going to find two Jews at the television business?

Jeff Dwoskin 33:33

Okay, so you also worked on Kirstie. And that was with Michael Richards. So now you've worked with half the Seinfeld crew?

Bryan Behar 33:41

Did I ever work with Jason Alexander? He was on an episode of Kirstie.

Jeff Dwoskin 33:46

Okay, well, I'm gonna I'm gonna say the guest starring doesn't count. So I mean, like, full time.

Bryan Behar 33:50

All right, you're the commish, man. You're the big marker. So I'm gonna defer to you. But yes, I have worked full time with two of the four. As you may have noticed, never on the show that they're most famous for. Although Christine got their old Christine let her let her have us but Kirsty was one we had big hopes for there was a veritable All Star team because you had Rhea Perlman who had Kirstie Alley you and Michael Richards, and this was on TV Land had coming on the heels of Hot in Cleveland, I think they thought like we can sort of recapture that magic of gathering a bunch of familiar faces from other shows make sort of another All Star ensemble, sometimes it clicks. In this case, the ratings would indicate perhaps a bit, but we tried. We tried. You know, there's a there's an old aphorism about television, the television, television doesn't use our television create stars. So a show like Kirstie kind of went against the accepted wisdom. gathering a bunch of people you know, from elsewhere may have been inherently doomed. Where's the show like friends? Now they're household names, but at the time, they were six complete unknowns, you know, the only one anyone knew was really Really was Courtney Cox and that was from the Bruce Springsteen dancing in the dark video and like a guest spot on family ties, but that was it everyone else we're just kind of journeymen actors and actresses tried to get cast on pilots

Jeff Dwoskin 35:14

I feel I need to defend Courtney Cox She was also on misfits

Bryan Behar 35:17

okay. I don't know what Miss Woods is on I've turned it over the bike to you if you could tell me what that is.

Jeff Dwoskin 35:23

Sound like x many type show.

Bryan Behar 35:25

I thought you were gonna defend the dancing in the dark video. But you're more of a Born to Run guy

Jeff Dwoskin 35:30

come over by neuron guy. Exactly.

Bryan Behar 35:32

I read his tweets people. Not too fancy to see what he's still up to.

Jeff Dwoskin 35:37

And I appreciate that. Alright, so now we're back to Fuller House. You mentioned earlier you didn't really watch Full House did you have to kind of binge it to catch up Fuller House and I have to admit I never fully Watch full house. It was just one of those shows that just never was on my radar either. Fuller House takes place later. It kind of takes on with the kids. The original cast Bob Saget. JOHN Stamos. Dave Calais, they're there but they then take kind of a backseat to the the kids new life. But I imagine all there's a lot of tropes there and stuff like that callbacks, all that kind of good stuff. So how did you immerse yourself in full house and then kind of move forward with Fuller House?

Bryan Behar 36:16

Funny story. Like I said, I had never seen it. And I got a call from my agent saying, we got to a meeting at Fuller House, the Full House reboot. Now as hard as it is to imagine, just five, six years later, remember, there had been no reboots at the time. This was really the first of the major let's bring back an original cast. Old sitcoms had been made into theatricals. There was the Brady Bunch movie in The Beverly Hillbillies movie. But nobody had really tried using the original cast just years and years later now it's become so prevalent in large part because of the success of like two shows we've mentioned Fuller House and the Roseanne reboot the became the Connors so I had no interest for me that was like full house was like a TGI f show. I was too old to have understood. So I'm like, I'm not doing it. And I remember my daughter who basically said to me, like, you're doing this, because this is going to be a hit. And I was like, seriously, and she sat me down. And we watched a handful of full houses enough that I could, you know, at least sound up to speed and you know, in the show meeting, and you know, over time, I didn't, I didn't watch a ton of them, you know, because once we were there you were, you know, you're dealing with, you know, with a lot of new characters. And I was able, you know, I'm not the world's smartest man, but I was able to pick up on some of the subtle recurring jokes that they had brought over from the original show. That said, we definitely tried in all earnestness, like incredibly hard to honor the legacy of the first show what I have found in my time, sort of in the full house, Fuller House universe, for those, not everyone watches it, like you or me. But for those who that it is an important show, too. It's an incredibly important show. This is definitely a series in which I don't know how wide the appeal was. But it's incredibly deep in terms of obsession, I found it in two places with kids, even now loving the new one as much as they love the old one. And with 30 to 40 year old women who grew up watching the first one and love the new one for all of its nostalgic value. And those words are sort of our to audience sweet spots. And we went like really out of our way, especially in the final season to really immerse ourselves in the legacies in trying to like bring through all the through lines of even the ones that had been begun. You know, I don't want to give any spoilers but you know, there's a lot of through lines that began even in the original series that were played out in sort of culminated in the final season of Fuller House. So that was, it was cool to find myself in the entire universe that I knew nothing about, but over time to really kind of appreciate it and enjoy it.

Jeff Dwoskin 39:00

Any thoughts on the Becky situation?

Bryan Behar 39:03

or dare you? I guess I didn't say don't ask me that. No, I'll try. I'll try to answer them.

Jeff Dwoskin 39:10

We don't we don't have you know,

Bryan Behar 39:11

I don't know.

I listen, I said I'm an open book I live. I said I'm an open book. And that gave him like severe limitations. Now, I didn't do that. She's an incredibly sweet person. The irony is of all those legacy people. She was by far the nicest to my partner and I would we became the show runners of Fuller House in season four. All I can't really speak to it, any of the sort of the inside machinations of why she was not in season five, other than to say the decision was not in my hands. And those were, those were the kind of way above my paygrade calls that were made at the at the studio and network level. But obviously in a perfect world it would have been great to have at Becky as a character and Laurie as a person on set for Season Five, you know, for reasons that I'm sure your audience is aware that was sort of just not plausible. Gotcha.

Jeff Dwoskin 40:06

Yeah, that was great. Sorry. I had to ask the hard hitting questions.

Bryan Behar 40:10

I didn't know that I was dealing with Edward R. Murrow here. What else you

Jeff Dwoskin 40:13

got it I was. I was I was funny because Bob Saget played just the loving perfect rated g father but his his stand up itself is anything but

Bryan Behar 40:24

do you know Bob from your stand up days of you? If you are Dave Dave's a.

Jeff Dwoskin 40:28

I've worked with Dave Coulier. Right. Dave is from Michigan. I worked with him at Mark Ridley's comedy castle. I got to open for him. And he was a super cool dude.

Bryan Behar 40:37

Yes, very sweet.

Jeff Dwoskin 40:39

I've never met Bob Saget. But I mean, I know. I've seen his standout by Oh no, no, I've seen Bob Saget. Actually, I haven't seen Bob say once and it live. I didn't meet him or anything like that. But to say them so you? Yeah,

Bryan Behar 40:49

he's not suddenly daddy cat or offstage? No, his personality is a lot funnier and darker and closer to his post Full House stand up life than it was to his daddy 10 or TGI F. America's dad, which is ironic, though, that after years of distancing himself from that really sacrum persona, that when he came back and couldn't have been sweeter in terms of really kind of embracing the character again, and he had a lot more perspective on it, and a lot more perspective on what Danny Tanner means to people and would fall in Fuller House means to people so he, I mean, he's still like a persnickety fella. You know, there's no question about that he, you know, he definitely can make your life hard. But he's a guy who, who really, when the cameras were rolling, really loved playing Danny Tanner in a way that he might not have appreciated as much the first go around. And I thought that was kind of a a lovely transformation. And an example of sort of emotional growth that that was nice to see. He's even added Danny Tanner bits into his stand up, he's no longer running from it. And I understand why he did if you're a x rated comic, and you're only known for the most g rated role, you know, that's a huge disconnect. It seems like a lot of that sort of inner jus eggs had kind of worked itself out over the years.

Jeff Dwoskin 42:11

I think I've kept you long enough. I appreciate all your time. This has been great. I've My only regret that we haven't talked sooner having known each other for so long. You're fascinating. your perspective on things is incredible. And you've done a lot and it's very impressive,

Bryan Behar 42:26

thrilled to come on. And have you have you remind me that like it has not all been for not I've been a huge admirer of yours for a long time both you know, the ability to merge comedy with entrepreneurship are those are sort of two areas that usually remain under the kind of separate parallel paths but rarely, rarely the twain do they meet so you've been always been someone of great interest to me. I'm glad we finally got to talk to you to stop you on Twitter. You can add anyone who wants to stalk me on Twitter, I'm still I'm still there.

Jeff Dwoskin 42:58

Tell everyone where they can keep up with the on the socials on Twitter. It's

Bryan Behar 43:01

at Bryan Behar I should be hitting 186,000 followers by the end of this broadcast. I think today's a big day. Not that I doubt that I check every day. But you know, I only bring it up because you knew me when I was at I think less than 2000 and I really was sort of floundering on social media but your hashtag games and hashtag ground up and and all the things that you do, you know, all these sort of opportunities and platforms you provide on Twitter was really a great entree for me into learning how to navigate social media, which was really foreign to me and I i've been stuck it under 1000 followers for a year and a half, two years. So by virtue of sort of the games and opportunities you provided, I was able to meet a ton of really interesting people and sort of build my follower base that way and yeah, it's much appreciated. I don't I don't know if I don't know if people ever thank you for for what you do. But it meant a lot to me because I was I was a little lost. And that was also a little depressed. And I turned to your games as a as both a way of seeking solace and, and finding community online at a time when you know what I definitely did not have it. Sorry if I got a little artist there. I've been meaning to say it for a long time. So now I've said it.

Jeff Dwoskin 44:20

I'm not crying. You're crying. No, I do. I appreciate all those kind words. It was it's so sweet. And so nice to hear it I it's one of those things like you don't need to hear it. But when someone says it, it's really really nice to hear it so thank thank you very much.

All right, how fun was that? If you love Fuller House or any of Bryan Behar's shows get on Twitter right now. Send them a tweet say I love your stuff. I love what you do. Bryan, keep doing it and tell him you heard them on live from Detroit, the Jeff Dwoskin show he'll get a kick out of it so will I.

And you know what time it is now, folks. It's time for the hashtag round up hashtag of the week. That's right is where we spotlight Amazing hashtag game from the many many games from hashtag ground up hashtag ground up app is totally free and available the Google Play Store and iTunes App Store and you can follow us on Twitter at hashtag round up and play along and one day one of your tweets may show up on live from Detroit the Jeff Dwoskin show this week's hashtag #AddATvShowToAMovie. That's right The ultimate TV movie hashtag mashup maybe Bryan I'll hear one of these and turn it into a real TV movie. How exciting would that be? This comes from Mile High tags a weekly game on hashtag roundup hosted by super fan Jerry and Whoppie Cat all right here we go: #AddATvShowToAMovie

Sesame Street card Named Desire The Big Lebowski theory the Romper Room to grow girls named Thelma and Louise haha these are all great hashtag add a TV show to movie master chef and Commander 50 Shades of Grey anatomy The Big Bang Theory of Everything. Animal House Hunters Dirty Dancing with the Stars. The Golden Girls Gone Wild. The Man from UNCLE buck, The Man in the Iron Chef mask, broadcast news radio all great #AddATvShowToAMovie tweets. And finally godfather knows best Oh, right. Those are some great #AddATvShowToAMovie tweets. Again, they'll be retweeted at Jeff Dwoskin show and in the show notes show these tweeter some love and retweet their tweets and play along at hashtag Roundup. And one day when your tweets may be on live from Detroit, the Jeff Dwoskin show. I can't believe it. But we're at the end of another episode. This has been Episode 45. I want to thank my guest, Bryan Behar, for joining me. Thank you all for coming back week after week. It means the world to me, and I'll see you next week.

Announcer 47:03

Thanks so much for listening to this episode of the Jeff Dwoskin show with your host Jeff Dwoskin. Now go repeat everything you've heard and sound like a genius. catch us online at the JeffDwoskinshow.com or follow us on Twitter @JeffDwoskinShow and we'll see you next time.

Transcribed by https://otter.ai

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