WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:02.779 Welcome to the Deep Dive. You know, if you ask 00:00:02.779 --> 00:00:05.299 someone to name the quintessential Paul Reiser 00:00:05.299 --> 00:00:08.279 role, their answer probably depends entirely 00:00:08.279 --> 00:00:11.519 on, well, when they grew up. Uh -huh. It really 00:00:11.519 --> 00:00:14.500 does. Because today we're taking a deep, insightful 00:00:14.500 --> 00:00:17.179 look at a career that's actually surprisingly 00:00:17.179 --> 00:00:20.179 tricky to pin down. It's a career defined by 00:00:20.179 --> 00:00:23.140 this extraordinary duality. Yeah, duality is 00:00:23.140 --> 00:00:24.699 the right word. When you look at Paul Reiser, 00:00:24.780 --> 00:00:28.050 you really see two... Almost, I mean, contradictory 00:00:28.050 --> 00:00:29.989 figures, don't you? Totally. You've got Paul 00:00:29.989 --> 00:00:32.710 Buckman warm, maybe a little neurotic, but just 00:00:32.710 --> 00:00:35.929 the lovable guy from Mad About You, quintessential 00:00:35.929 --> 00:00:39.009 90s TV. The ultimate sitcom husband, kind of. 00:00:39.109 --> 00:00:41.289 Right. And then simultaneously you have Carter 00:00:41.289 --> 00:00:45.009 Burke from Aliens, just this utterly cold corporate 00:00:45.009 --> 00:00:47.630 snake in this massive sci -fi context. Complete 00:00:47.630 --> 00:00:50.329 opposite. Exactly. And that ability to flip, 00:00:50.350 --> 00:00:52.390 you know, between genuine warmth and just pure 00:00:52.390 --> 00:00:54.869 deceit. That's really the core of his whole professional 00:00:54.869 --> 00:00:57.570 journey, I think. So our mission today for you 00:00:57.570 --> 00:01:00.829 listening is to dive into all the source material 00:01:00.829 --> 00:01:03.469 we have, the articles, interviews, production 00:01:03.469 --> 00:01:06.489 notes, everything, and really try to understand 00:01:06.489 --> 00:01:10.629 how one person managed to navigate, well, classic 00:01:10.629 --> 00:01:14.829 80s comedy, then absolutely dominate 90s television 00:01:14.829 --> 00:01:17.569 as a creator and writer. Which is huge. Only 00:01:17.569 --> 00:01:20.930 to then reemerge later on as this kind of... 00:01:21.730 --> 00:01:25.349 indispensable MVP in modern streaming hits. Thinking 00:01:25.349 --> 00:01:28.010 Stranger Things, The Boys. Yeah, it's quite the 00:01:28.010 --> 00:01:29.890 arc. We're tracking the full life cycle here. 00:01:29.989 --> 00:01:32.829 An actor, comedian, writer, born March 30, 1956. 00:01:32.930 --> 00:01:36.239 So what, 69 this year? Yep, 69. And his body 00:01:36.239 --> 00:01:38.599 of work gives us not just Mad About You, which 00:01:38.599 --> 00:01:39.799 is probably the first thing people think of, 00:01:39.840 --> 00:01:42.620 but also those key roles like Detective Jeffrey 00:01:42.620 --> 00:01:44.659 Friedman in the Beverly Hills Cop movies. Here, 00:01:44.659 --> 00:01:46.980 predict those. And yeah, absolutely. The unforgettable 00:01:46.980 --> 00:01:49.060 villainy of Carter Burke in Aliens. He's such 00:01:49.060 --> 00:01:51.599 a great villain. But the foundation for all of 00:01:51.599 --> 00:01:53.540 it, really, it still seems to come back to that 00:01:53.540 --> 00:01:56.019 rhythm and insight of his observational comedy. 00:01:56.200 --> 00:01:58.359 So let's maybe unpack the path that built that 00:01:58.359 --> 00:02:01.420 duality. Where did it start? OK, so to begin, 00:02:01.659 --> 00:02:03.620 yeah, we have to look at the roots. Where does 00:02:03.620 --> 00:02:06.120 that very particular comedic style come from? 00:02:06.239 --> 00:02:08.800 He was born in New York City in 1956. Right. 00:02:08.879 --> 00:02:11.699 NYC kid. And we know his family's background 00:02:11.699 --> 00:02:13.960 is Romanian Jewish descent, grew up with three 00:02:13.960 --> 00:02:16.639 sisters. You can already sort of feel that New 00:02:16.639 --> 00:02:19.120 York sensibility, that family dynamic informing 00:02:19.120 --> 00:02:22.819 the kind of humor he'd later use, you know, about 00:02:22.819 --> 00:02:25.340 relationships, marriage. Absolutely. That environment 00:02:25.340 --> 00:02:27.759 definitely shapes the voice. Yeah. But the the 00:02:27.759 --> 00:02:30.509 educational background. That's what really sets 00:02:30.509 --> 00:02:32.729 the stage for his creative range, I think. Okay. 00:02:32.889 --> 00:02:36.009 He went to the Eastside Hebrew Institute, then 00:02:36.009 --> 00:02:37.789 graduated from Stuyvesant High School, which 00:02:37.789 --> 00:02:40.770 is a pretty demanding academic environment in 00:02:40.770 --> 00:02:43.210 New York. Right. But then when he goes off to 00:02:43.210 --> 00:02:46.189 Binghamton University, he wasn't actually focusing 00:02:46.189 --> 00:02:48.610 on drama. I mean, he was involved in student 00:02:48.610 --> 00:02:50.610 theater, sure, him and little theater stuff in 00:02:50.610 --> 00:02:52.349 his dorm community. But that wasn't the major. 00:02:52.669 --> 00:02:55.530 No. And here's the critical detail you mentioned. 00:02:55.750 --> 00:02:58.240 Yeah. He majored in music. Yeah. Piano and composition. 00:02:58.560 --> 00:03:01.500 Exactly. Yeah. Piano and composition. That's 00:03:01.500 --> 00:03:04.620 a deep dive into creative structure, into timing. 00:03:04.780 --> 00:03:06.599 That's something people often miss when they 00:03:06.599 --> 00:03:09.460 just think comedian. For sure. The ability to 00:03:09.460 --> 00:03:12.840 compose, to time a joke. It feels related to 00:03:12.840 --> 00:03:15.000 timing a musical phrase, doesn't it? It really 00:03:15.000 --> 00:03:16.979 does. And that music background, it's like this 00:03:16.979 --> 00:03:19.300 thread that runs right through his biggest success 00:03:19.300 --> 00:03:21.500 later on. We definitely need to keep that in 00:03:21.500 --> 00:03:24.000 mind. Okay. But his actual performance career, 00:03:24.219 --> 00:03:27.099 that didn't launch from, you know. college stages. 00:03:27.240 --> 00:03:30.039 He really found his calling as a comedian, performing 00:03:30.039 --> 00:03:32.819 in New York clubs during his university summer 00:03:32.819 --> 00:03:36.259 breaks. Ah, the classic stand -up crucible. Totally. 00:03:36.319 --> 00:03:39.039 That intense, like, immediate feedback you get 00:03:39.039 --> 00:03:41.539 from a live audience night after night, that's 00:03:41.539 --> 00:03:43.879 where he really honed that sharp observational 00:03:43.879 --> 00:03:45.860 edge. And you can see how that polished stage 00:03:45.860 --> 00:03:47.759 presence then led more directly to his first 00:03:47.759 --> 00:03:51.060 really big cinematic break. We're talking 1982, 00:03:51.460 --> 00:03:53.919 the film Diner. Yeah. Barry Levinson directing. 00:03:54.099 --> 00:03:56.120 Diner was huge, yeah. It was a launchpad for 00:03:56.120 --> 00:03:58.460 so many actors. And Reiser played a key part 00:03:58.460 --> 00:04:01.599 model. Yeah. The character described in the sources 00:04:01.599 --> 00:04:04.500 as a closet stand -up comedian. Perfect casting 00:04:04.500 --> 00:04:06.860 then. It really was. It was the perfect way to 00:04:06.860 --> 00:04:09.879 bring his unique stand -up rhythm right onto 00:04:09.879 --> 00:04:12.460 the big screen. It showed he could deliver humor 00:04:12.460 --> 00:04:15.020 that felt really grounded, kind of spontaneous. 00:04:15.539 --> 00:04:17.259 But here's the connection I love, the really 00:04:17.259 --> 00:04:20.180 meta one, which tells you so much about Reiser's 00:04:20.180 --> 00:04:22.699 self -referential humor style. It's the name 00:04:22.699 --> 00:04:25.560 of his own production company, Nuance Productions. 00:04:25.560 --> 00:04:28.180 There's nuance. Why nuance? Especially for a 00:04:28.180 --> 00:04:30.980 comedian whose bread and butter became this broad, 00:04:31.040 --> 00:04:33.540 relatable relationship stuff. Yeah, it seems 00:04:33.540 --> 00:04:35.759 counterintuitive. Because it's an inside joke. 00:04:35.939 --> 00:04:37.819 It comes directly from his own film history. 00:04:38.379 --> 00:04:42.079 In Diner, his character... Model has this line 00:04:42.079 --> 00:04:43.660 where he's expressing how deeply uncomfortable 00:04:43.660 --> 00:04:46.160 he is with the word nuance. He hates the word. 00:04:46.300 --> 00:04:48.879 Hates it. Tries to avoid complexity. Yeah. And 00:04:48.879 --> 00:04:52.000 yet Reiser brands his whole professional creative 00:04:52.000 --> 00:04:55.040 life with that exact word his character couldn't 00:04:55.040 --> 00:04:56.779 stand. It's brilliant. It's like the subtle wink 00:04:56.779 --> 00:04:59.000 to us, right? Like, yeah, I'm the guy talking 00:04:59.000 --> 00:05:01.660 about olives in marriage, but don't underestimate 00:05:01.660 --> 00:05:04.819 me. There are layers here. Exactly. It signals 00:05:04.819 --> 00:05:07.300 right away that maybe his comedy is a bit more 00:05:07.300 --> 00:05:09.610 sophisticated than it looks on the surface. That 00:05:09.610 --> 00:05:11.449 really feels like the main takeaway from his 00:05:11.449 --> 00:05:13.430 early stuff, then. The Foundation isn't just 00:05:13.430 --> 00:05:16.209 telling jokes. It's a very specific, self -aware 00:05:16.209 --> 00:05:19.069 way of delivering them that always kind of plays 00:05:19.069 --> 00:05:21.009 with that line between being the everyday guy 00:05:21.009 --> 00:05:24.009 and the really sharp observer. Well put. That 00:05:24.009 --> 00:05:26.290 self -awareness is key. Okay, so after Diner, 00:05:26.389 --> 00:05:28.490 his film career doesn't just settle into one 00:05:28.490 --> 00:05:30.529 thing. It immediately splits, like we said, into 00:05:30.529 --> 00:05:33.990 these two radically different paths. The nice 00:05:33.990 --> 00:05:37.240 comedy guy and the, well, this... Sci -fi bad 00:05:37.240 --> 00:05:38.939 guy. Yeah, it's quite the split. The comedy path, 00:05:39.000 --> 00:05:40.639 that was definitely the buddy cop genre that 00:05:40.639 --> 00:05:43.620 was huge in the mid -80s. Primarily the Beverly 00:05:43.620 --> 00:05:46.180 Hills Cop franchise. Right. Detective Jeffrey 00:05:46.180 --> 00:05:48.319 Friedman. Detective Jeffrey Friedman. He's in 00:05:48.319 --> 00:05:50.800 the original, 1984, comes back for Beverly Hills 00:05:50.800 --> 00:05:54.759 Cop 2 in 87. And Friedman is, you know, the essential 00:05:54.759 --> 00:05:58.040 sidekick. He's the reliable, maybe slightly flustered 00:05:58.040 --> 00:06:01.019 guy. The foil. The foil, exactly. Providing that 00:06:01.019 --> 00:06:03.620 necessary comic relief against, you know, the 00:06:03.620 --> 00:06:06.439 whirlwind that is Eddie Murphy's Axel Foley. 00:06:06.540 --> 00:06:08.899 And he reprised it again just recently in 2024 00:06:08.899 --> 00:06:11.860 for Beverly Hills Cop, Axel F. So that character 00:06:11.860 --> 00:06:14.860 stuck with him. And that role is crucial, isn't 00:06:14.860 --> 00:06:17.939 it? For establishing that persona. The friendly, 00:06:18.019 --> 00:06:21.660 fast -talking. Guy you trust. The guy you want 00:06:21.660 --> 00:06:23.959 on your side. Absolutely. Which is precisely 00:06:23.959 --> 00:06:26.319 why his other big move around that same time 00:06:26.319 --> 00:06:29.240 into science fiction was so incredibly effective. 00:06:29.639 --> 00:06:33.519 We are talking 1986, James Cameron's Aliens. 00:06:33.560 --> 00:06:37.420 Aliens. And Reiser plays Carter Burke, the company 00:06:37.420 --> 00:06:39.560 man, the representative for Weyland -Yutani. 00:06:39.680 --> 00:06:42.620 And what makes Burke such a chilling, masterful 00:06:42.620 --> 00:06:45.519 villain is exactly what you just said. He's played 00:06:45.519 --> 00:06:47.779 by Paul Reiser. Yes. He doesn't look like, you 00:06:47.779 --> 00:06:50.019 know, a typical sci -fi monster or some military 00:06:50.019 --> 00:06:52.139 head. He looks like the guy who does your taxes. 00:06:52.300 --> 00:06:54.740 Or manages your department, yeah. Right. He delivers 00:06:54.740 --> 00:06:57.980 his, like, corporate evil with that same polished, 00:06:58.160 --> 00:07:00.800 approachable vibe he uses as Detective Friedman. 00:07:00.879 --> 00:07:03.079 It's so effective. It really is. Burke's villainy 00:07:03.079 --> 00:07:05.660 is it's bureaucratic. It's banal almost. He's 00:07:05.660 --> 00:07:08.279 not driven by some grand evil plan. He's driven 00:07:08.279 --> 00:07:10.660 by profit. Just the bottom line. The bottom line. 00:07:11.000 --> 00:07:13.959 Getting those xenomorph specimens back for bioweapons 00:07:13.959 --> 00:07:17.120 research. And he's perfectly willing to sacrifice 00:07:17.120 --> 00:07:20.120 everybody. The whole marine expedition, the colonists 00:07:20.120 --> 00:07:22.379 left at Hadley's Hope just to make sure he gets 00:07:22.379 --> 00:07:24.740 his payday. And the shock when he reveals his 00:07:24.740 --> 00:07:28.699 true colors, it lands so hard because as an audience, 00:07:28.740 --> 00:07:31.740 you trust Paul Reiser based on that comedic persona 00:07:31.740 --> 00:07:34.939 he'd built. Cameron weaponized his trustworthiness. 00:07:35.060 --> 00:07:37.120 Completely weaponized it, which makes it even 00:07:37.120 --> 00:07:39.439 more fascinating that now, what, nearly 40 years 00:07:39.439 --> 00:07:41.899 later, he's not letting that character go. No. 00:07:42.319 --> 00:07:44.480 The sources confirm he's revisiting Carter Burke 00:07:44.480 --> 00:07:48.279 in 2024, but in a totally different format, a 00:07:48.279 --> 00:07:51.339 new Marvel comic called Aliens What If? And here's 00:07:51.339 --> 00:07:54.300 where you see his commitment to creative ownership 00:07:54.300 --> 00:07:56.480 again. He's not just lending his likeness or 00:07:56.480 --> 00:07:58.959 whatever. He's co -writing the comic. Oh, writing 00:07:58.959 --> 00:08:02.540 it. Wow. Yeah. And the series explores this idea. 00:08:02.720 --> 00:08:05.360 What if Burke actually survived Hadley's Hope? 00:08:05.639 --> 00:08:08.500 Which, I mean, opens up totally new story possibilities 00:08:08.500 --> 00:08:10.860 for the ultimate company man. And the partnership 00:08:10.860 --> 00:08:12.839 behind the writing is, well, it's actually quite 00:08:12.839 --> 00:08:14.480 touching, isn't it? He's co -writing it with 00:08:14.480 --> 00:08:17.199 his own son, Leon Reiser. With his son, Leon, 00:08:17.360 --> 00:08:20.500 yeah. Art by Gu Villanova. It just beautifully 00:08:20.500 --> 00:08:23.379 ties together his most iconic genre role, his 00:08:23.379 --> 00:08:26.100 clear passion for writing, and his personal family 00:08:26.100 --> 00:08:28.819 life into this one kind of legacy project. It 00:08:28.819 --> 00:08:31.620 feels like a way of reclaiming Burke, maybe reshaping 00:08:31.620 --> 00:08:34.320 his narrative. I think so. It shows that Reiser 00:08:34.320 --> 00:08:36.600 sees his legacy as something active, something 00:08:36.600 --> 00:08:40.139 he can still mold and, importantly, share. He's 00:08:40.139 --> 00:08:42.740 literally passing down the creative reins for 00:08:42.740 --> 00:08:44.860 his most famous bad guy to the next generation, 00:08:45.039 --> 00:08:47.539 making sure the riser voice stays attached to 00:08:47.539 --> 00:08:50.000 it. That's incredible. Now, beyond those big 00:08:50.000 --> 00:08:52.759 80s franchises, he did keep taking film roles, 00:08:52.860 --> 00:08:55.179 right? Mid -career stuff like The Marrying Man 00:08:55.179 --> 00:08:58.419 in 91, Bye Bye Love in 95. Yeah, he kept working 00:08:58.419 --> 00:09:01.100 in film. But for a good decade there, let's be 00:09:01.100 --> 00:09:03.059 honest, his film work was pretty much overshadowed 00:09:03.059 --> 00:09:04.879 by his TV dominance. We'll get to that. Right. 00:09:04.980 --> 00:09:07.320 The next really big film moment, the one that 00:09:07.320 --> 00:09:10.000 truly showcased his dramatic range again, came 00:09:10.000 --> 00:09:12.299 quite a bit later. You're talking Whiplash, 2014. 00:09:12.960 --> 00:09:15.779 Whiplash, yeah. That was a crucial dramatic pivot. 00:09:15.879 --> 00:09:18.399 He wasn't the funny guy at all. He played Jim 00:09:18.399 --> 00:09:21.519 Neiman. the quiet, grounded, supportive father 00:09:21.519 --> 00:09:24.360 to Miles Teller's character, the aspiring drummer. 00:09:24.500 --> 00:09:27.379 Such a contrast to J .K. Simmons. Exactly. His 00:09:27.379 --> 00:09:29.860 performance was all nuanced, very restrained. 00:09:29.879 --> 00:09:33.320 It provided this anchor against the just volcanic 00:09:33.320 --> 00:09:35.379 drama coming from Simmons. It was definitive 00:09:35.379 --> 00:09:38.639 proof that the comedy persona was just one tool 00:09:38.639 --> 00:09:41.240 in his kit. He was a seriously versatile actor. 00:09:41.580 --> 00:09:43.960 And he seemed to leverage that resurgence, didn't 00:09:43.960 --> 00:09:46.179 he? Took on other notable dramatic film roles 00:09:46.179 --> 00:09:48.720 after that. Dr. Elliot Pellman in Concussion 00:09:48.720 --> 00:09:52.820 in 2015. Howard in Fatherhood in 2021. And showing 00:09:52.820 --> 00:09:54.980 that writing bug never left, he co -wrote and 00:09:54.980 --> 00:09:57.440 starred in a 2023 film called The Problem with 00:09:57.440 --> 00:10:00.000 People, playing a character named Barry. He never 00:10:00.000 --> 00:10:02.080 stopped being that creative force, that writer, 00:10:02.120 --> 00:10:04.519 even alongside the acting. Whether it was a smaller 00:10:04.519 --> 00:10:06.519 indie project or, you know, the massive network 00:10:06.519 --> 00:10:08.720 hits he had earlier, he kept both sides going. 00:10:09.070 --> 00:10:11.909 Okay, so while his film roles often gave us those 00:10:11.909 --> 00:10:14.990 surprising dramatic turns or that iconic villain, 00:10:15.190 --> 00:10:17.350 for most people, especially in the 90s, Paul 00:10:17.350 --> 00:10:20.110 Reiser was television. He owned the small screen. 00:10:20.309 --> 00:10:22.990 He really did. And his massive network success, 00:10:23.230 --> 00:10:25.830 it had this perfect little three -year runway 00:10:25.830 --> 00:10:28.090 leading up to it. You mean My Two Dads. Exactly. 00:10:28.190 --> 00:10:32.289 My Two Dads ran from 87 to 90. Reiser starred 00:10:32.289 --> 00:10:34.620 as Michael Taylor. Yeah. And the concept was 00:10:34.620 --> 00:10:38.860 just pure like high concept 80s sitcom. Two guys, 00:10:39.019 --> 00:10:41.580 one kid. Who's the dad? Right. He's one of two 00:10:41.580 --> 00:10:43.759 men who might be the biological father of this 00:10:43.759 --> 00:10:46.019 teenage girl. And now they both have to raise 00:10:46.019 --> 00:10:48.539 her together. He did 60 episodes of that. By 00:10:48.539 --> 00:10:50.779 the end, he'd absolutely mastered the rhythm, 00:10:50.820 --> 00:10:53.580 the demands of weekly network TV production. 00:10:53.759 --> 00:10:56.480 And that experience, that mastery leads directly 00:10:56.480 --> 00:10:58.820 into the phenomenon, Matt, about you. The phenomenon 00:10:58.820 --> 00:11:01.840 is right. Debut in 1992, ran for seven seasons 00:11:01.840 --> 00:11:04.759 on NBC. This show just became his creative high 00:11:04.759 --> 00:11:07.080 point. He played Paul Buckman, starring opposite 00:11:07.080 --> 00:11:09.200 the amazing Helen Hunt as Jamie Buckman. And 00:11:09.200 --> 00:11:11.899 the show is just about them, their marriage. 00:11:12.139 --> 00:11:15.840 Pretty much. Documenting the everyday, intimate, 00:11:15.960 --> 00:11:19.100 often funny, sometimes frustrating details of 00:11:19.100 --> 00:11:21.919 modern married life in New York City. Now, what's 00:11:21.919 --> 00:11:24.080 really key to understanding why Mad About You 00:11:24.080 --> 00:11:26.740 worked so well and lasted so long is the level 00:11:26.740 --> 00:11:29.320 of creative control Reiser had, right? Oh, absolutely 00:11:29.320 --> 00:11:32.919 crucial. He wasn't just the star showing up to 00:11:32.919 --> 00:11:35.379 say lines. He was the series co -creator. He 00:11:35.379 --> 00:11:37.500 was a principal writer. He was an executive producer. 00:11:37.820 --> 00:11:40.460 So his voice was everywhere. Completely. It allowed 00:11:40.460 --> 00:11:43.259 that unique, observational, comedic voice, the 00:11:43.259 --> 00:11:46.080 same one he'd honed back in those NYC stand -up 00:11:46.080 --> 00:11:47.960 clubs to define the show's entire narrative, 00:11:48.080 --> 00:11:50.399 its tone, everything. And the show was a monster 00:11:50.399 --> 00:11:53.759 hit. Critically and commercially. Huge. And financially. 00:11:53.940 --> 00:11:56.980 Well, by the final season, the negotiation benchmark 00:11:56.980 --> 00:12:00.480 was just staggering. Famously, both Reiser and 00:12:00.480 --> 00:12:04.200 Helen Hunt received $1 million per episode. A 00:12:04.200 --> 00:12:07.139 million dollars an episode in the late 90s. Yep. 00:12:07.279 --> 00:12:10.740 Which, you know, adjust that for inflation. You're 00:12:10.740 --> 00:12:14.240 looking at nearly $1 .9 million today per episode. 00:12:14.519 --> 00:12:16.720 That kind of money wasn't just about being rich. 00:12:16.759 --> 00:12:20.159 It was about power. It cemented him as an absolute 00:12:20.159 --> 00:12:23.000 top -tier creative force in network TV, gave 00:12:23.000 --> 00:12:25.779 him incredible leverage. And the awards followed 00:12:25.779 --> 00:12:27.879 that kind of success and influence, didn't they? 00:12:27.960 --> 00:12:31.080 They did. Nominations galore. Primetime Emmy 00:12:31.080 --> 00:12:33.980 nods for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series. 00:12:34.340 --> 00:12:38.779 Six years running. 94 through 99. Wow. Multiple 00:12:38.779 --> 00:12:41.399 Golden Globe nominations for Best Actor, Screen 00:12:41.399 --> 00:12:44.039 Actors Guild Awards. The industry recognized 00:12:44.039 --> 00:12:46.149 what they had. And here's where we circle back 00:12:46.149 --> 00:12:48.509 to that surprising detail from his college years, 00:12:48.710 --> 00:12:51.950 the music degree. Yes. See, it wasn't just some 00:12:51.950 --> 00:12:53.889 random thing he did. He was the co -composer 00:12:53.889 --> 00:12:55.769 of the show's theme song, The Final Frontier. 00:12:55.850 --> 00:12:57.590 The theme song everyone knows. That's the one. 00:12:57.669 --> 00:13:00.090 Worked with the producer Don Wassas on it. And 00:13:00.090 --> 00:13:02.029 because he's Paul Reiser and apparently does 00:13:02.029 --> 00:13:05.370 everything, he himself performed the piano part 00:13:05.370 --> 00:13:06.929 for the recording of that theme. That's such 00:13:06.929 --> 00:13:09.070 a telling detail, isn't it? The theme song isn't 00:13:09.070 --> 00:13:11.269 just some generic background music. It's literally 00:13:11.269 --> 00:13:14.539 an extension of his creative personality. Exactly. 00:13:14.559 --> 00:13:17.159 It brings this grounded, gentle, intimate feel 00:13:17.159 --> 00:13:20.700 to the whole show's soundscape. It perfectly 00:13:20.700 --> 00:13:23.100 mirrors the tone he was going for in the writing. 00:13:23.379 --> 00:13:25.600 The music and the comedy, for him, they were 00:13:25.600 --> 00:13:28.080 completely linked by his unique skill set. And 00:13:28.080 --> 00:13:30.460 the show's legacy proved pretty strong too, right? 00:13:30.539 --> 00:13:32.759 There was a revival. There was. The cultural 00:13:32.759 --> 00:13:35.000 footprint was definitely there. They struck a 00:13:35.000 --> 00:13:38.230 revival deal back in 2018. ended up being a 12 00:13:38.230 --> 00:13:40.710 -episode limited series picked up by Spectrum 00:13:40.710 --> 00:13:43.490 Originals in 2019. Okay. And then later it moved 00:13:43.490 --> 00:13:46.129 over to Amazon Prime Video in the fall of 2020. 00:13:46.809 --> 00:13:49.549 So, yeah, it proved that his specific brand of 00:13:49.549 --> 00:13:51.690 relationship comedy, it still had an audience, 00:13:51.710 --> 00:13:53.750 still resonated decades later. But, you know, 00:13:53.750 --> 00:13:56.309 success like that, it's got to be hard to follow 00:13:56.309 --> 00:13:58.269 up. Every creator faces that challenge, right? 00:13:58.679 --> 00:14:00.899 trying to recreate the magic. Absolutely. And 00:14:00.899 --> 00:14:03.259 Reiser tried the semi -autobiographical thing 00:14:03.259 --> 00:14:05.779 again, didn't he, in 2011 with the Paul Reiser 00:14:05.779 --> 00:14:09.039 show on NBC? He did. And this one, well, it's 00:14:09.039 --> 00:14:11.019 kind of a textbook case study in how comedic 00:14:11.019 --> 00:14:13.840 tastes can shift. Maybe. How so? Well, he had 00:14:13.840 --> 00:14:16.639 the same setup creatively. He scripted it, starred 00:14:16.639 --> 00:14:19.860 in it, served as creator, writer, executive producer, 00:14:20.080 --> 00:14:22.480 replicating that mad about you control structure. 00:14:23.000 --> 00:14:25.580 And the show was basically about, you know, a 00:14:25.580 --> 00:14:27.840 successful sitcom star named Paul Reiser navigating 00:14:27.840 --> 00:14:30.840 life after the peak fame. Sounds meta. Very meta. 00:14:31.039 --> 00:14:35.080 Yeah. But it just didn't land at all. It was 00:14:35.080 --> 00:14:37.379 a midseason replacement and NBC pulled it after 00:14:37.379 --> 00:14:40.460 only two episodes aired. Ouch. Two episodes. 00:14:40.639 --> 00:14:43.330 Yeah. Now. The sources mentioned external factors. 00:14:43.409 --> 00:14:45.409 Maybe NBC didn't give it enough lead time or 00:14:45.409 --> 00:14:47.309 promotion. Maybe the scheduling was bad. Sure. 00:14:47.389 --> 00:14:49.549 Network stuff. But you also have to look at the 00:14:49.549 --> 00:14:52.149 timing. 2011. Audiences had already had years 00:14:52.149 --> 00:14:54.950 of Seinfeld's observational metacomedy. And then 00:14:54.950 --> 00:14:57.789 Curb Your Enthusiasm took that semi -autobiographical 00:14:57.789 --> 00:15:00.750 into much edgier, more cringeworthy territory. 00:15:00.990 --> 00:15:03.570 Right. Larry David kind of cornered that market. 00:15:03.789 --> 00:15:06.549 He really did. So Reiser's gentler observational 00:15:06.549 --> 00:15:10.590 style focused on the relatively benign problems 00:15:10.590 --> 00:15:13.070 of post -sitcom fame. It maybe felt a little 00:15:13.070 --> 00:15:14.929 out of step, maybe even a bit self -indulgent 00:15:14.929 --> 00:15:17.289 for that specific moment in comedy. Interesting. 00:15:17.350 --> 00:15:19.110 Like the formula that made him huge suddenly 00:15:19.110 --> 00:15:22.269 felt dated. Possibly. It's an instance where 00:15:22.269 --> 00:15:25.049 the template that defines success became maybe 00:15:25.049 --> 00:15:28.330 a slight liability. His own quote about the cancellation 00:15:28.330 --> 00:15:30.970 is pretty darkly funny, though. He said something 00:15:30.970 --> 00:15:33.509 like, this is nice because you get to sit around 00:15:33.509 --> 00:15:37.490 and root for other shows to fail. Shows the brutal 00:15:37.490 --> 00:15:39.990 reality of network TV, especially after the golden 00:15:39.990 --> 00:15:42.649 age of sitcoms. Definitely. But the real story 00:15:42.649 --> 00:15:45.649 here, maybe, is the incredible comeback, the 00:15:45.649 --> 00:15:48.610 renaissance that followed that flop. If the 90s 00:15:48.610 --> 00:15:52.049 were his sitcom king era, the 2010s marked this 00:15:52.049 --> 00:15:54.269 major pivot into modern streaming and prestige 00:15:54.269 --> 00:15:57.259 drama. showcasing a whole new kind of quiet versatility. 00:15:57.460 --> 00:15:59.480 Yeah, he really reinvented himself again. Where 00:15:59.480 --> 00:16:01.080 did that start? You mentioned Red Oaks. That 00:16:01.080 --> 00:16:03.340 was part of it, yeah. Around 2014, he took a 00:16:03.340 --> 00:16:05.639 main role as Doug Getty in Red Oaks on Amazon. 00:16:06.059 --> 00:16:09.259 But his really big return to the national conversation 00:16:09.259 --> 00:16:12.279 came via Netflix. And interestingly, he used 00:16:12.279 --> 00:16:14.539 that built -in sense of trustworthiness. Again, 00:16:14.600 --> 00:16:16.360 the same thing that made Carter Burke so scary. 00:16:16.580 --> 00:16:19.320 You mean Dr. Sam Owens in Stranger Things? Exactly. 00:16:19.740 --> 00:16:23.159 He joined Stranger Things starting in 2017. played 00:16:23.159 --> 00:16:26.899 Dr. Owens across, what, 14 episodes so far? And 00:16:26.899 --> 00:16:30.299 the character is introduced as potentially villainous, 00:16:30.320 --> 00:16:32.159 right, given the lab coat and the government 00:16:32.159 --> 00:16:33.919 connection. Yeah, you're definitely suspicious 00:16:33.919 --> 00:16:37.000 at first. But ultimately, he acts more like a 00:16:37.000 --> 00:16:39.559 protective figure, showing all this complex moral 00:16:39.559 --> 00:16:42.679 shading. It was brilliant casting because it 00:16:42.679 --> 00:16:45.059 played against the audience's expectation, both 00:16:45.059 --> 00:16:47.580 from his nice guy image and his Burke villainy. 00:16:47.620 --> 00:16:50.259 It earned him a SAG nomination with the rest 00:16:50.259 --> 00:16:52.759 of the ensemble cast. And he found success in 00:16:52.759 --> 00:16:55.399 that prestige comedy drama world, too, didn't 00:16:55.399 --> 00:16:58.039 he? On The Kaminsky Method. Oh, hugely. Playing 00:16:58.039 --> 00:16:59.919 Martin Schneider, Mindy Kaminsky's boyfriend, 00:17:00.100 --> 00:17:01.879 in the last two seasons of The Kaminsky Method, 00:17:02.080 --> 00:17:04.839 that role felt like a perfect fit for his subtle, 00:17:04.940 --> 00:17:07.339 grounded style. And he got him recognized again, 00:17:07.460 --> 00:17:10.900 earned him a primetime Emmy nomination for Outstanding 00:17:10.900 --> 00:17:13.420 Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series. So serious, 00:17:13.420 --> 00:17:15.720 dramatic chops getting acknowledged again. Definitely. 00:17:15.940 --> 00:17:18.319 And just to prove he hadn't lost his taste for 00:17:18.319 --> 00:17:20.880 the wilder stuff, he shows up as the mysterious 00:17:26.210 --> 00:17:29.690 The legend. That was great. Wasn't it? Just two 00:17:29.690 --> 00:17:32.829 episodes initially in 2022, but he's set to reprise 00:17:32.829 --> 00:17:35.250 it in season five, which again shows him leaning 00:17:35.250 --> 00:17:37.349 right back into that absurdity and darkness of 00:17:37.349 --> 00:17:40.569 genre work. It completes the circle almost back 00:17:40.569 --> 00:17:42.730 to aliens and his ability to play characters 00:17:42.730 --> 00:17:44.869 living just outside the lines. And he rounded 00:17:44.869 --> 00:17:47.210 that period out with reboot as well. Yeah. Join 00:17:47.210 --> 00:17:50.410 the main cast of that meta comedy reboot as Gordon 00:17:50.410 --> 00:17:54.849 Gellman in 2022. So you look at that whole run 00:17:54.849 --> 00:17:58.750 from, say, 2014 onwards. It's an incredible multi 00:17:58.750 --> 00:18:02.089 -platform, multi -genre streak. Very few actors 00:18:02.089 --> 00:18:04.690 from that 90s sitcom peak have managed anything 00:18:04.690 --> 00:18:06.910 like it. OK, so we've established Paul Reiser 00:18:06.910 --> 00:18:09.430 as, well, actor, a comedian, a co -creator, a 00:18:09.430 --> 00:18:12.980 producer. Even a composer. But if you really 00:18:12.980 --> 00:18:14.859 want to get to the heart of that observational 00:18:14.859 --> 00:18:17.140 comedic voice, we absolutely have to spend some 00:18:17.140 --> 00:18:19.819 time on his literary career, specifically what 00:18:19.819 --> 00:18:22.000 you could call the Hood trilogy of books. Oh, 00:18:22.039 --> 00:18:24.660 absolutely. Those three books, Couplehood, Babyhood, 00:18:24.799 --> 00:18:27.359 and Familyhood, they are just essential if you 00:18:27.359 --> 00:18:29.500 want to understand the DNA of Mad About You. 00:18:29.619 --> 00:18:31.440 They're not just typical celebrity memoirs, are 00:18:31.440 --> 00:18:33.940 they? Not at all. They're collections of humorous 00:18:33.940 --> 00:18:36.920 essays, really sharply observed stuff built around 00:18:36.920 --> 00:18:39.339 major relationship milestones. And the first 00:18:39.339 --> 00:18:43.130 one? That one really seemed to hit a nerve culturally, 00:18:43.349 --> 00:18:45.910 didn't it? Focused on, like, the early days of 00:18:45.910 --> 00:18:48.529 being a couple. And it's famous for coining the 00:18:48.529 --> 00:18:51.349 olive theory. The olive theory. It's pure riser 00:18:51.349 --> 00:18:53.549 comedy, isn't it? Take some tiny, insignificant 00:18:53.549 --> 00:18:56.769 little detail and just blow it up into this grand 00:18:56.769 --> 00:18:59.250 theory of relationships. So what was the theory 00:18:59.250 --> 00:19:01.569 again? The basic idea is that a couple is perfectly 00:19:01.569 --> 00:19:03.930 matched if one partner hates olives and the other 00:19:03.930 --> 00:19:05.990 partner loves them. Because then there's no conflict 00:19:05.990 --> 00:19:08.309 over the olives. One person happily eats them 00:19:08.309 --> 00:19:11.319 all. Huh. Simple but brilliant. It's his way 00:19:11.319 --> 00:19:13.900 of framing compatibility and conflict resolution, 00:19:14.079 --> 00:19:17.160 not through, you know, big romantic gestures, 00:19:17.200 --> 00:19:20.720 but through these small, everyday alignments, 00:19:20.740 --> 00:19:22.480 how you fit together in the little moments. But 00:19:22.480 --> 00:19:24.480 what's maybe even funnier about Couplehood is 00:19:24.480 --> 00:19:26.880 how he played with the actual book itself, the 00:19:26.880 --> 00:19:29.480 publishing process. It starts on page 145, right? 00:19:29.720 --> 00:19:32.759 Yeah. That's such a legendary publishing story. 00:19:33.160 --> 00:19:35.539 Reiser himself explained it was totally deliberate. 00:19:36.129 --> 00:19:38.630 He did it to give the reader this false sense 00:19:38.630 --> 00:19:40.589 of accomplishment right from the start. Like 00:19:40.589 --> 00:19:42.710 you'd already made progress. Exactly. Make you 00:19:42.710 --> 00:19:44.329 feel like you were already so deep into the book 00:19:44.329 --> 00:19:47.210 you just had to finish it. It's hilarious, but 00:19:47.210 --> 00:19:49.089 it also shows this really savvy understanding 00:19:49.089 --> 00:19:53.130 of audience psychology, even in print form. Okay, 00:19:53.170 --> 00:19:56.089 so after couplehood comes babyhood. Applying 00:19:56.089 --> 00:19:58.470 that same lens to being a first -time father. 00:19:58.789 --> 00:20:01.569 Precisely. Taking that observational style and 00:20:01.569 --> 00:20:04.980 turning it inward. onto the chaos, the anxieties, 00:20:05.000 --> 00:20:07.539 the sheer weirdness and joy of new parenthood. 00:20:07.579 --> 00:20:09.519 And there's another funny anecdote connected 00:20:09.519 --> 00:20:11.400 to promoting that book, isn't there? Something 00:20:11.400 --> 00:20:14.039 about Letterman. Oh yeah, the prop book. When 00:20:14.039 --> 00:20:15.640 he went on The Late Show with David Letterman 00:20:15.640 --> 00:20:18.539 back in 96 to promote it, apparently he hadn't 00:20:18.539 --> 00:20:20.700 actually settled on the final title yet. So what 00:20:20.700 --> 00:20:23.480 did he do? So he brought this prop book onto 00:20:23.480 --> 00:20:27.480 the set. It was titled simply Book. And it had 00:20:27.480 --> 00:20:30.519 the exact same minimalist cover design as Couplehood. 00:20:30.640 --> 00:20:33.710 Just Book. That's fantastic. Isn't it? Just finding 00:20:33.710 --> 00:20:36.549 humor in the slightly absurd process of celebrity 00:20:36.549 --> 00:20:39.829 book promotion itself, that's peak riser. And 00:20:39.829 --> 00:20:41.569 then the trilogy rounded out with Familyhood 00:20:41.569 --> 00:20:45.029 in May 2011, continuing those humorous essays 00:20:45.029 --> 00:20:47.430 as his family grew up. Yeah, Familyhood kept 00:20:47.430 --> 00:20:51.430 that going. And look, his TV success often overshadows 00:20:51.430 --> 00:20:54.470 this, but these books were huge bestsellers. 00:20:54.490 --> 00:20:57.509 They sold millions of copies. It proved his narrative 00:20:57.509 --> 00:21:00.430 voice was incredibly powerful on its own, regardless 00:21:00.430 --> 00:21:03.029 of the medium. Okay, so author's another major 00:21:03.029 --> 00:21:05.029 pillar here. Now let's circle back again to that 00:21:05.029 --> 00:21:07.410 musical foundation we keep mentioning. The music 00:21:07.410 --> 00:21:10.609 major at Binghamton, co -writing The Final Frontier. 00:21:10.690 --> 00:21:12.910 Right, because it wasn't just like a thing he 00:21:12.910 --> 00:21:14.990 did in college and forgot about. He actually 00:21:14.990 --> 00:21:17.190 maintained a pretty serious professional musical 00:21:17.190 --> 00:21:19.509 life alongside everything else. Really? Like 00:21:19.509 --> 00:21:22.490 what? Well, for instance, in 2010, he collaborated 00:21:22.490 --> 00:21:25.009 with the singer Julia Fordham. They put out a 00:21:25.009 --> 00:21:27.609 whole CD album together called Unusual Suspects. 00:21:27.609 --> 00:21:30.410 An album? Wow. Did they perform it? They did. 00:21:30.509 --> 00:21:32.450 They subsequently toured acoustically together, 00:21:32.630 --> 00:21:35.329 which shows a real commitment to live musical 00:21:35.329 --> 00:21:38.269 performance, not just studio work. And there 00:21:38.269 --> 00:21:40.529 was a specific song on that album that stood 00:21:40.529 --> 00:21:43.009 out. Yeah, there's one track called Unsung Hero. 00:21:43.269 --> 00:21:46.069 And Reiser personally dedicated that song to 00:21:46.069 --> 00:21:47.910 American soldiers who were serving in Afghanistan 00:21:47.910 --> 00:21:50.730 at the time. Huh. That's interesting. It shows 00:21:50.730 --> 00:21:53.529 him stepping outside the pure comedy zone, using 00:21:53.529 --> 00:21:55.910 his music for something more like public advocacy 00:21:55.910 --> 00:21:58.670 or commentary. Exactly. Adds another layer to 00:21:58.670 --> 00:22:01.509 his public persona, doesn't it? And he also partnered 00:22:01.509 --> 00:22:04.230 with another big name, Melissa Manchester. A 00:22:04.230 --> 00:22:06.609 singer. Yeah. He co -wrote a song called Know 00:22:06.609 --> 00:22:09.349 They're There for her 2015 album You Gotta Love 00:22:09.349 --> 00:22:12.430 the Life. And this collaboration actually brings 00:22:12.430 --> 00:22:14.890 us right back to his stand -up roots in a really... 00:22:15.309 --> 00:22:18.130 cool, poignant way. How so? Well, there's this 00:22:18.130 --> 00:22:20.329 great story. It's documented in the book, I Killed. 00:22:20.549 --> 00:22:22.710 True stories of the road from America's Todd 00:22:22.710 --> 00:22:25.829 Comics. Turns out, way back, early in his career, 00:22:25.869 --> 00:22:28.190 before he was famous, Riser was actually Melissa 00:22:28.190 --> 00:22:30.910 Mantester's opening act. No way. Opening for 00:22:30.910 --> 00:22:33.549 a singer as a comedian? That's tough. Exactly. 00:22:33.829 --> 00:22:36.569 And apparently, she gave him this serious warning. 00:22:36.750 --> 00:22:38.970 Said music audiences were notoriously brutal 00:22:38.970 --> 00:22:41.289 towards comedians. Told him the last comic who 00:22:41.289 --> 00:22:43.509 opened for her had actually left the venue in 00:22:43.509 --> 00:22:46.220 tears. Oh, man. Man, talk about pressure. Right. 00:22:46.279 --> 00:22:48.640 And Reiser reflects on that warning in the chapter 00:22:48.640 --> 00:22:50.920 he wrote for that book. The chapter title is 00:22:50.920 --> 00:22:54.460 Perfect. Don't worry if they suck. Ah, love it. 00:22:54.599 --> 00:22:56.920 And he details the night that followed, where 00:22:56.920 --> 00:22:59.220 he apparently just bombed spectacularly at the 00:22:59.220 --> 00:23:01.920 Concord Hotel. It's such a great anecdote because 00:23:01.920 --> 00:23:04.619 it shows the vulnerability, the intense risk, 00:23:04.720 --> 00:23:06.759 and yeah, the humility you need for stand -up. 00:23:06.779 --> 00:23:09.480 That foundational discipline that really seems 00:23:09.480 --> 00:23:11.839 to fuel all the more polished successes that 00:23:11.839 --> 00:23:14.160 came later. You know, amidst all that chaos, 00:23:14.380 --> 00:23:17.559 the intense demands of network TV stardom, making 00:23:17.559 --> 00:23:20.319 movies, writing books, composing music, touring 00:23:20.319 --> 00:23:22.240 Riser's personal life seems to have remained 00:23:22.240 --> 00:23:25.240 remarkably stable, which may be acted as a necessary 00:23:25.240 --> 00:23:27.279 anchor through all those professional ups and 00:23:27.279 --> 00:23:29.579 downs. Yeah, that seems crucial sometimes. He 00:23:29.579 --> 00:23:32.380 married Paula Ravitz. When was it? August 21st, 00:23:32.380 --> 00:23:35.700 1988. Right, 1988. That's a full four years before. 00:23:35.799 --> 00:23:39.700 You even debuted. Ah, so the relationship predates 00:23:39.700 --> 00:23:41.940 the massive fame. Exactly. Yeah. And they have 00:23:41.940 --> 00:23:45.799 two sons. born in 1995 and 2000. You often find 00:23:45.799 --> 00:23:48.259 that stability established before hitting that 00:23:48.259 --> 00:23:51.180 peak level of fame is what allows someone to 00:23:51.180 --> 00:23:54.380 navigate it without, you know, major public drama 00:23:54.380 --> 00:23:57.140 or implosion. Makes sense. Now, there's also 00:23:57.140 --> 00:23:59.339 a significant aspect of his personal life that 00:23:59.339 --> 00:24:01.619 he's been quite public about related to advocacy, 00:24:01.759 --> 00:24:04.400 isn't there? Yes. His older son has cerebral 00:24:04.400 --> 00:24:06.539 palsy. And that's something Reiser has spoken 00:24:06.539 --> 00:24:08.279 about openly over the years, particularly at 00:24:08.279 --> 00:24:10.599 fundraisers and other events. Using his platform. 00:24:10.799 --> 00:24:12.759 Using his platform, yeah, to raise awareness, 00:24:12.880 --> 00:24:14.720 to raise financial support for the community. 00:24:15.200 --> 00:24:17.220 He chose to be open about the realities, the 00:24:17.220 --> 00:24:19.740 challenges and joys of parenting a child with 00:24:19.740 --> 00:24:21.980 special needs. That's commendable. And if we 00:24:21.980 --> 00:24:24.720 look back even further at his own parents, they 00:24:24.720 --> 00:24:27.339 seem pretty interesting, too. His mother, Helen 00:24:27.339 --> 00:24:30.339 Hollinger Reiser, she was a homemaker, but also 00:24:30.339 --> 00:24:32.180 one of the first women to graduate from Baruch 00:24:32.180 --> 00:24:34.349 College. That's right. which points to a certain 00:24:34.349 --> 00:24:37.849 trailblazing spirit, maybe. And his father, Samuel 00:24:37.849 --> 00:24:40.869 H. Reiser, he was a wholesale health food distributor 00:24:40.869 --> 00:24:44.130 and also served in the military. So sounds like 00:24:44.130 --> 00:24:47.210 a background with a strong sense of maybe professional 00:24:47.210 --> 00:24:50.309 drive and stability on both sides. You can see 00:24:50.309 --> 00:24:52.009 how that might influence his own work ethic. 00:24:52.150 --> 00:24:54.990 Definitely seems plausible. And then when you 00:24:54.990 --> 00:24:57.349 look at his extended family, his relatives, you 00:24:57.349 --> 00:25:00.150 find a couple other names with pretty major public 00:25:00.150 --> 00:25:03.680 profiles, which suggests... Maybe a deeper family 00:25:03.680 --> 00:25:07.319 tradition of intellectual or creative pursuits. 00:25:07.359 --> 00:25:10.180 Oh, yeah. Like who? Well, his cousin is Will 00:25:10.180 --> 00:25:12.279 Reiser. He's a successful screenwriter and producer. 00:25:12.519 --> 00:25:15.660 He wrote the film 50 -50 back in 2011. Oh, right. 00:25:15.839 --> 00:25:18.900 The comedy drama with Joseph Gordon -Levitt and 00:25:18.900 --> 00:25:20.960 Seth Rogen. That's the one. And interestingly, 00:25:21.160 --> 00:25:23.759 that film was semi -autobiographical, dealing 00:25:23.759 --> 00:25:27.000 with serious illness but using sharp humor. Shares 00:25:27.000 --> 00:25:28.859 that Reiser family trait, maybe, of blending 00:25:28.859 --> 00:25:31.240 personal drama and comedy. Huh. That's a neat 00:25:31.240 --> 00:25:33.319 connection. And there was another notable relative 00:25:33.319 --> 00:25:35.160 mention. Yeah, perhaps the most surprising one 00:25:35.160 --> 00:25:37.680 mentioned in the sources. His first cousin is 00:25:37.680 --> 00:25:40.039 Richard Epstein. The legal scholar. Richard Epstein. 00:25:40.180 --> 00:25:43.059 The very same. The renowned libertarian legal 00:25:43.059 --> 00:25:46.259 scholar. Wow. That really highlights a diverse 00:25:46.259 --> 00:25:48.940 family tree, doesn't it? Bridging high -level 00:25:48.940 --> 00:25:51.559 legal theory on one side and then creative endeavors 00:25:51.559 --> 00:25:54.400 like screenwriting and, well, Paul Reiser himself 00:25:54.400 --> 00:25:58.359 spanning sitcoms, essays, music, genre villainy. 00:25:58.359 --> 00:26:00.980 It really does. It reinforces this idea that 00:26:00.980 --> 00:26:02.920 his background is kind of steeped in these complex 00:26:02.920 --> 00:26:06.019 intellectual and professional worlds, even beyond 00:26:06.019 --> 00:26:08.210 show business. Okay, so let's try to pull all 00:26:08.210 --> 00:26:10.589 these threads together, synthesize what we've 00:26:10.589 --> 00:26:13.069 covered in this polarizer deep dive. We started 00:26:13.069 --> 00:26:15.630 with that foundational paradox, right? A stand 00:26:15.630 --> 00:26:19.390 -up comedian ranked, what was it, 77th? 77th 00:26:19.390 --> 00:26:21.569 on that Comedy Central list, yeah. Yeah. His 00:26:21.569 --> 00:26:23.750 material relying on that gentle observation, 00:26:23.990 --> 00:26:26.690 that relatability. And that skill, that observational 00:26:26.690 --> 00:26:29.349 acuity, it then lets him transition into being 00:26:29.349 --> 00:26:32.369 this, like... Creative mastermind, co -creator, 00:26:32.369 --> 00:26:34.750 writer, executive producer of Mad About You, 00:26:34.849 --> 00:26:37.509 one of the biggest sitcoms of the 90s, wielding 00:26:37.509 --> 00:26:40.289 huge creative and financial power. Massive power. 00:26:40.410 --> 00:26:42.470 But then at the same time, he maintains this 00:26:42.470 --> 00:26:45.670 film career defined by its shocking duality from 00:26:45.670 --> 00:26:47.710 the nice, funny sidekick in Beverly Hills Cop. 00:26:47.980 --> 00:26:52.059 to the absolutely chilling corporate evil of 00:26:52.059 --> 00:26:55.200 Carter Burke in Aliens. And that role, crucially, 00:26:55.359 --> 00:26:57.720 worked specifically because we, the audience, 00:26:57.980 --> 00:27:01.539 trusted the face of Paul Razor. We trusted him, 00:27:01.599 --> 00:27:04.500 and his versatility just kept expanding. He's 00:27:04.500 --> 00:27:06.240 a three -time published best -selling author. 00:27:06.380 --> 00:27:09.019 He's an accomplished musician who composed his 00:27:09.019 --> 00:27:11.779 own iconic theme song and toured professionally. 00:27:12.279 --> 00:27:14.480 And he showed this incredible ability to pivot 00:27:14.480 --> 00:27:16.980 again and again. Even from the failure of the 00:27:16.980 --> 00:27:19.460 Paul Reiser show, he comes back to become this 00:27:19.460 --> 00:27:22.519 indispensable figure in modern, high -quality 00:27:22.519 --> 00:27:25.140 streaming shows like The Kaminsky Method and 00:27:25.140 --> 00:27:27.500 Stranger Things, even The Boys. He doesn't just 00:27:27.500 --> 00:27:29.519 adapt to whatever the creative landscape is doing. 00:27:29.640 --> 00:27:32.380 He seems to actively master multiple creative 00:27:32.380 --> 00:27:34.819 roles within it. Actor, writer, producer, composer. 00:27:35.160 --> 00:27:36.960 What really stands out to me is how he blends 00:27:36.960 --> 00:27:38.740 those roles. Like you said, the writer informs 00:27:38.740 --> 00:27:40.720 the actor, the musician informs the composer, 00:27:40.740 --> 00:27:42.549 and maybe the father. informs the writer too. 00:27:42.710 --> 00:27:44.390 I think that's a great point. Which brings us 00:27:44.390 --> 00:27:46.809 right back to that final fascinating connection 00:27:46.809 --> 00:27:48.789 we talked about earlier. Here he is returning 00:27:48.789 --> 00:27:52.009 to his most iconic villain, Carter Burke, 38 00:27:52.009 --> 00:27:55.109 years after Aliens. And he chooses to explore 00:27:55.109 --> 00:27:58.230 that character's potential survival in a totally 00:27:58.230 --> 00:28:01.089 new medium, comics. And he's doing it co -writing 00:28:01.089 --> 00:28:03.839 with his own son, Leon. That act right there, 00:28:03.880 --> 00:28:06.660 that deliberate choice to share such a key piece 00:28:06.660 --> 00:28:09.700 of his professional history, his creative legacy 00:28:09.700 --> 00:28:12.759 with his own family. It does raise a really interesting 00:28:12.759 --> 00:28:14.920 question, doesn't it? Maybe for all creators 00:28:14.920 --> 00:28:17.259 listening. What's the question? Well, maybe it's 00:28:17.259 --> 00:28:20.140 this. Does the most successful or maybe the most 00:28:20.140 --> 00:28:23.619 satisfying stage of a long creative career involve 00:28:23.619 --> 00:28:25.940 not just looking back at your greatest hits, 00:28:26.039 --> 00:28:28.839 but actually sharing that exploration, sharing 00:28:28.839 --> 00:28:31.160 your most iconic roles, your deepest insights 00:28:31.160 --> 00:28:33.500 with the next generation, collaborating on the 00:28:33.500 --> 00:28:36.039 legacy? That's a fantastic thought to end on. 00:28:36.140 --> 00:28:38.299 It really seems that for Paul Reiser, the answer 00:28:38.299 --> 00:28:40.759 isn't just about maintaining a legacy he already 00:28:40.759 --> 00:28:43.420 built. It's about actively collaborating with 00:28:43.420 --> 00:28:45.940 the future, ensuring that his unique duality 00:28:45.839 --> 00:28:48.960 that blend of warmth and edge continues to surprise 00:28:48.960 --> 00:28:49.380 us all.