When I was born, very healthy, gorgeous newborn, I was named Darlene Clementine. Time goes on, the minutes are ticking by, and my mom's like, What's that grunting? Looked in the tray of afterbirth. Oopsie-daisy, there's another baby, which is my twin darling.

On this episode of the Commercial Break. Do you understand any of Christopher Nolan's films? Do you understand Inception, Tenet, Dunkirk, any of them?

So I've not seen any of those. No. Okay.

You should just stay out of the fray then.

So I'm going to say, no, I don't.

You know?

Actors sure love working with them. Yes, they do.

I'm sure if you got a phone call from Christopher Nolan, you wouldn't turn it back on.

Of course. I do it and not understand it the whole time and be totally fine.

The next episode of the Commercial Break starts now. 2:30 in the morning. Oh, yeah, cats and cats. Welcome back to the Commercial Break. I'm Brian Green, and this is the dear friend of mine and the co-host of this podcast, at least for the foreseeable future, Kristin Joy Holden. Bestie, you, Kristin.

Best to you, Brian.

Best to you out there in the podcast universe. T-c-b, T-C-B Infomercial Day with Wendy McClendon Covey, and we're so excited to have her because there is no woman on this earth that I had a bigger, consistent crush on than Wendy. I'm not going to share that with her because I don't want her to leave immediately. But I'll share it now before she gets on air because she'll probably never hear it. But man, Sergeant Clementine from Reno, 911, was at the top of my teenage boy list of ladies who just, I don't know, something about her just got me every time I saw her on Reno, 911. She's awesome. You've seen her on Reno 911?

She's awesome. Yeah, bridesmaid.

She was the really funny friend. Mother and the Goldberg. She just ended a huge run on the Goldbergs, and now she's going to be on a new NBC show, I think it's something about the doctor's office. We'll figure it out. We'll talk to her about it this fall. She's on Big City Greens, too. Oh, yeah. She's the mom. We've had four people from Big City Greens. I know.

I love that.

It's crazy.

I'm a big hit with my nephews.

I'm going to try and get the Bluey people on here. That's what I really want. I want to pick that guy's brain, the creator of Bluey. But anyway, Big City Green is also a huge smash hit for adults and children on a Disney channel. And so we're super excited to have her in. This is one of those dream guests. It really is. I know that not every Everybody in the crowd may be super familiar with Reno 911. If you're not, you should be, quite frankly. I think it is a criminally under conversated about television show when it comes to great comedies in the 20th and 21st century.

I need to go back and watch it, really. I've watched a few episodes. Oh, my God, Grissy. Got it under my radar.

No, they're all classic. They're so good. People say The Office, and I like The Office. Don't get me wrong, I'm a big fan of The Office. But Reno 911, a mock you entry-style show about the Reno Sheriff's Department and the bumbling idiots who are there making arrests and pulling people over and all that. It is just way too fun. It's criminally funny. It's criminally funny. It's so good. She She is one of the stars of the show. She made that show just as much as Officer Dangle, Officer Dangle. Dangle. Sheriff Dangle. That's right. We are super grateful to have her in here today. I can't wait. Yeah. In just a few minutes, that'll come up. Until then, I wanted to talk about Jojo Siwa. Do you know Jojo Siwa? Are you hearing about this?

I've been hearing about her for a while now. She was a big Nickelodian or Disney star.

Disney, I think. Disney star. A lot of these... Listen, Disney and Nickelodian, unfortunately for Nickelodian's past, I did finish that whole series, by the way. It was very disturbing, actually. Disney and Nickelodian, they're like pipeline lines for future stars and actresses. A lot of those people will just be child.

A lot of the singers, especially, too.

Well, I think Justin and Brittany came from the Mickey Mouse Club, the rehashed version of the Mickey Mouse Club. A lot of... Miley Cyrus, of course, had her own show on Disney for a long time. Hannah Montana, very popular show. And so did Jojo Siwa. Jojo Siwa is now trying to make that incredibly awkward transition into adulthood in front of the cameras. A lot of them have it, yeah. She put out a video where she is doing some very strange dancing and trying to act like an adult. Basically, she changed her image altogether. She went from fresh and fruity Rudy Toody to very hard core, sexualized, wearing weird outfits, grinding on people, making strange epileptic type dance moves. I mean, it's really, quite frankly, weird. I don't think it's as weird as some people are saying. I just think it's a young lady who's trying to figure out her way in the world. The video probably wasn't 100% her idea. There's probably some director and producers that told her, Okay, go ahead and shake like an epileptic on and grind on this girl. I mean, who cares at the end of the day? There are lots of bad music videos I feel for Jojo on this one.

I know she's getting a ton of hate right now, but I feel for her a little bit. It's going to be an awkward transition phase for any human being. I know she chooses to put herself out there in the spotlight, so it takes away a little bit of the empathy that I have for her. She chooses to do this. She chooses to put herself out there like this. But I feel for the girl a little bit in the sense that if someone had filmed me between 19 and 25 years old, trust me, Jojo Siwa would have looked like Madonna compared to the things that I went... She would have looked like a God compared to the things I went through and the things that I did and the weird epileptic movements I made while making love. I still make those. It's weird.

Yes. Or to think about you as six, seven, eight years old, and then all of a sudden to transition to 16.

Yeah, it's weird. To grow up in front of the cameras, it's got to be a surreal experience. Really? So here's why I'm bringing up Jojo. Not only was she on the Disney channel also, so there's some connection with Big City Greens. But then she was at Disney World for her 21st birthday, and she was drinking around Epcot, which is something that people do because they'd stop at every country, they get a drink. My father-in-law has done it, and trust me, it's hard to make it all the way around the Disney World, all around Epcot Lake without getting super shit-face. Yeah, you're stopping at 12 different countries and having mixed alcohol. I mean, it's- In the sun. Yeah, in the sun in Florida, around screaming children and miserable human beings. All you can see is Mickey Mouse ears everywhere. It's a little... It can be unnerving, right? And then you're going to get drunk. And maybe Disney The world is much better when you're drunk. I liked it when I was drunk. I liked it when I was sober, but I never went all the way around Epcot drinking everything. And so it's a tradition for people who are into Disney, and Jojo comes from the Disney family.

So people were like, Why is she going to do this for her 21st birthday? Where did you go for your 21st birthday? The local pub and drink bar mat shots? I mean, come on, who cares? Who cares where she's at for her 21st birthday? But she is incredibly intoxicated, and she is sitting around a table. She has no security around her or anything. She's sitting around a table wearing a forklift driver's vest, like a bright yellow, bright orange vest. You know what I'm talking about? You know, cut off jeans down to her knees. I mean, she looks a little ragged for Joja Siwa, but okay, that's her new look and I'll whatever. And then she is sitting around a table singing her new song, trying to get young kids and older people alike to join in. To join in. Sing along with her song, but no one knew as the lyrics. She's trying to convince them they know the song. She's like, You know the lyrics? Sing the lyrics. And people are like,. And she's like, Come on, sing the lyrics. And so she has to start singing herself, but no one could follow up because no one knows the lyrics.

It is terribly awkward. It's a A little bit cringy. Listen, at least she's drunk. At least she's drunk. Yeah, there's that. At least she's not sober trying to do that.

At least she was drunk. There's that. Was it just somebody standing off to the side that was filming it?

Of course, because assholes can't leave anything alone. They got to film Jojo Siwa. The person behind the camera is actually making fun of her like three feet from her. It's like, Come on, really? I mean, listen, I make fun of a a lot of people on this show. I do it all the time, and a lot of people make fun of me. They do it all the time, too. Trust me, it works both ways. If you could see that phone that I have in this studio, you would know that it works both ways. As a matter of fact, our latest review says, I have no idea Why?

Where the funny is or something.

Yeah, I have no idea where the funny is in this show, but I actually like it when I'm doing stuff in the background, two random people talking about nothing. I mean, and five stars, by the way. So if that's the best we got, we know what it's like to get haters. We have them all over the place. But I just feel like a super little bit of empathy for Jojo Siwa because I'm like, Oh, poor girls just trying to make her way in the world. And by the way, Brittany went through it, Madonna went through it. Every child actor that has gone through this, Jason Bateman went through it. Everybody has gone through this weird, strange, Drew Barrymore went through it. They all went through it and they made it out on the other end fine. I don't know if I could say the same about Jojo. It seems like she's not handling it so well. But it's her 21st birthday. She's getting shit hammer. Who cares? Let her have some fun. Yeah, and then everybody's got a videotaper and people are making fun of her straight to her face. Do we have no tact left?

No. Take her video and break it down and make fun of her that way like we do. And that way She wanted to feel so guilty about doing it right in front of her face.

Yeah, I know. People don't care.

Oh, man. Poor Jojo. I'm a... I'm team Jojo. Team Jojo. Team Jojo. Of course we are. Let her live. Yeah. The person everybody else hates a commercial is like, Team Jojo. Let her live. Let her be over sexualized for a few minutes. She'll calm down. She'll figure it out. She needs a good agent. That's what she needs. She needs a better agent. Because the agent would say, Maybe you should go away for five years and then come back as this new hyper sexualized person. Because going straight from Disney channel to, wearing a thong and grinding on people, maybe that's not the best look. Maybe we should just give it a few days and let it happen. But Hey, look, maybe we'll talk about this on the end of the... After we talk to Wendy, but Brit-Brit, our good friend Brit-Brit. Yeah. Things aren't looking so good for Brit-Brit. I told you, I told you, I will be right about this. I do not think... Do I do not think anybody should be held against their will. I do not think anybody's money should be held against their will. I do not think that conservatorships should be taken lightly at all.

But I think that her family, especially her father, may have understood something that we don't understand. Now there are many people in her inner circle, it's bubbling up to the top, that are saying drugs, alcohol, bad people, taking advantage of Brittany because she really doesn't know what's going on and she needs some help. It seems like that. It's good to be right about one or two. This might be my fourth thing on the show that I'm actually right about. Wendy Covey is a superstar comedic actress. Yes, she is. We love her to death, and we've been so excited about doing this interview with her. She was Clementine in Reno, 911. She was the mother in Goldberg's, as we mentioned. She is going to be in... Is it St. James? What's the name of that show? Hold on one second. I want to make sure that I get this right, because they don't come on here for their health. It's not like Wendy said, Oh, I really want to talk to the commercial break. I know. I really, really, really want to talk to the commercial break. I think it is.

It's something about the hospital, right?

Yeah, it's something about St. James Hospital. Well, let's ask her. We'll ask her. Before I get it wrong, we'll ask her. She'll tell us when it premieres. It's going to be a brand new sitcom that's starting this fall. We're excited to have her in. She's going to talk about that, and hopefully we'll get to ask her a lot of other questions. I love Wendy. She's my teenage crush. Should I tell her? Should I be like, Dear Wendy?

I think you should fanboy a little bit.

Should I fanboy a little bit? Yeah. Okay. I'm going to be Jojo Siwa in this interview, and we'll act strange and make epileptic seizures to Wendy. Okay. Sounds like a plan. Let's do this. Chrissy, I got an idea. Yes. Let's go into our awkward transition phase. Why don't I cut to a break? And after I cut from that break, we'll have Wendy here with us through the magic of podcasting. Let's do it. And we can talk to her for a couple of minutes about her life, love, and the pursuit of happiness. All right. We'll be back.

What? Oh, hi. It's Christina again, here to remind you to go to tcbpodcast. Com for all things audio, video, and T-C-B-D-O. Give us a follow on Instagram at the Commercial Break and on TikTok at T-C-B Podcast. And guess what? We have a new phone number. I know what you're thinking, but I promise this is the last TCB phone number you will ever have to remember. So call us and leave us a voicemail or text us at 212 433 3TCB. Once more for the people in the back, that's 212 433 3TCB. Oh, and check out our YouTube channel at youtube. Com/thecommercialbreak. That's all for now. Let's listen to our sponsors and get back to the show.

This show is sponsored by Betterhelp. It is hard to believe that half the year is gone, and each year seems to go by faster and faster. But at this halfway point, I think it's a good time to stop, look at some of the accomplishments. And of course, it's also important to check in and see what progress I can make for the other half of the year. One of the people who's been instrumental in helping me do this and stay focused on the tasks that feel important in my life is my therapist. We talk about therapy a lot here on the show. Christie and I are big proponents of it. We do not shy away from sharing our excitement around therapy because it really does work. Therapy can help you smooth out the rough spots in your life, but it can also be a place where you can stop for an hour and think about the things that you are doing right. I've said it before, and I'll say it again, therapy is awesome in the bad times, it is awesome in the good times, and everything in between. And so if you're thinking about starting therapy or you've had therapy in the past, and maybe you're thinking about re-engaging a therapist, might I suggest you try our sponsor, Betterhelp?

It's entirely online. It's designed to be convenient, flexible, and it's suited to your schedule. All you have to do is fill out a brief questionnaire, and then you get matched with a licensed therapist. The great news is you can switch therapists at any time for any reason, no additional charge. So go ahead and take a moment. Visit betterhelp. Com/commercial today to get 10% off your first month. That's Betterhelp, H-E-L-P. Com/commercial. They'll give you 10% off your first month for a Commercial Break listener. It works if you work it. Give it a try. Betterhelp. Com/commercial. And thank you to Better Help for being a continuing supporter of the Commercial Break. I'm Tanksynatra. And I'm Investigator Slater. And together, we co-host a podcast called Psychopedia, which is a true crime podcast infused with comedy making it a crimety. Each week, Investigator Slater brings us a wild and thoroughly researched true crime case. I'm here to digest it all and react just like you probably are right there on the other side of the microphone. Somehow, I've got to present each case with the detail and respect it deserves.

While also cracking up at Tank's perfectly-timed humor and thought-provoking questions.

Listen to and follow Psychopedia on the free Auticy app or wherever you get your podcasts. And joining us from New Orleans is Wendy right now. Hi, Wendy. Hello, Wendy.

Hello, gorgeous ones.

What an audit. What an audit. The battery will get you everywhere, Wendy. You look gorgeous.

I love your bang.

Oh, you're so nice. I've been chopping them myself, and sometimes they work, and Sometimes they don't.

Wait, you cut your own hair?

That's what you have to do with bangs.

Sometimes I cut my own hair.

I cut my own hair, too. But it's a tremendously easier job than I'm sure cutting banks is.

Yeah, you're just like a razor.

I don't recommend it.

I cut my kid's hair and my dog's hair. Other than that, I'm staying away from it. Yeah, but I don't cut the girls' hair anymore because they're so finicky about it. Even at the young age, they're like, I want my ponytail. I want my buns.

My mom used to cut my hair. Growing up, and she would always get the bangs too short, and we would always be so upset with her.

Always. And also the fiskers, like the cloth cutting scissors. Yes. The chunkiest scissors you can find in the market.

Come on. I know.

Wow. Okay, we got to ask a question because we were just talking about this, and I want to see where you stand on this. Do you understand any of Christopher Nolan's films? Do you understand Inception, Tenet, Dunkirk, any of them?

So I've not seen any of those. No. Wendy.

You should just stay out of the fray then.

So I'm going to say, No, I don't. The doctors sure love working with them.

Yes, they do. I'm sure if you got a phone call from Christopher Norland, you wouldn't turn it down.

Oh, of course. I do it and not understand it the whole time and be totally fine.

There you go. That's the way to approach it.

You know what? We're dying for a viral moment. I think we just got one. Wendy has never seen a Christopher Norland That's crazy. Please. You are in three... Christie and I were talking about this before you came on. You are in three of the most iconic roles. I'm so grateful that you're here because these three- That's an honor, really. It's an honor, honestly. I'm honored. The Goldberg's Bridesmaids and the criminally undermentioned when talking about the best comedy shows ever, Reno 911. Oh, why? Which is, like, those are three incredibly iconic roles. Was Reno 911 your very first major television role?

It was.

And it's been on for 20 years, consistently, constantly? Twenty years. Isn't that crazy?

Twenty years.

That's crazy. How did you get the job with Reno 911? How did you get the role?

It's funny. Some magazine, I think it was cracked, just did a big long article with all of us, anyone that they could find that had ever been part of it, on how this all came together. This is my version. They had done a pilot for Fox. Fox sat on it for two years and never did anything with it. No. Then they presented it to Comedy Central because they had been on Comedy Central before on the state, had good relationships with them, and said, Hey, what do you think about this improvised cop show? They said, Great. Yeah, let's do it. Well, one of the other deputies from the first pilot, she was on something else, so they needed to look for someone who could improvise. The casting director's assistant saw me when I was understudying someone else in some other comedy show.

No way.

That's like an inception moment.

That is an inception moment. If you had seen the movie, you'd know.

It was at a time when I personally was like, maybe I'm just not getting anywhere in this business. Maybe I need to just make my piece with the fact that I did just get into the Groundline Theater, which is no small feed.

No, it's huge.

But I didn't have a real agent. I didn't have anything going for me. I would go to the theater for rehearsals and stuff and hear everybody talking about all these auditions they went on, and I was like, We're not doing it on anything. Anyway, I I made my peace with it and was like, Okay, look, maybe I will never make any money doing this, but this is my life now. I have this opportunity at the Groundlings. This doesn't happen for everybody. It happens for very few people. So I got to take this chance and just keep working, keep doing my thing. And even if nothing ever works out, I will have an interesting life doing this.

It's a story that That very few people in their life will be able to say. It's an exclusive club to be in the grand mix.

Exactly. Very exclusive club. So I made my piece with it and was ready to throw my head shots off the pier. And then I got this call. Oh, we saw you in this weird little show you were doing, so let's bring you in. And it was one of those nightmare situations, not for me at the time, but for most people, they would find it a nightmare, that everyone can hear what you're doing in the audition room because the walls are so thin.

Yeah, that's got to be terribly stressful and anxiety-inducing. Yeah.

So I could hear what everybody's doing, and I'm thinking, Well, that's not funny at all. They want a sexy cop, and I don't know that I can play that, but I can play someone who thinks she's sexy. I think that's funnier.

Smart.

So I I did that. And while I was in the waiting room, sometimes there's someone who is known for trying to psych people out of their auditions. I've heard of that. Some people just come into the audition room and they come up to you and they just start talking to you, but making you lose your confidence or lose your concentration. And someone was doing that to me.

They were playing head games with you.

Playing head games with me. But the thing is, it's improv. So play all the games you want. Once I go in there, none of this means anything. I don't even know what they're going to ask me to do.

Sure.

I'm not forgetting any lines, you bitch.

Dipshit.

I went in, I did my thing, and then I got a call that night. Okay, that was amazing. Come in the next time, do the exact same thing. And I did. And then I called my manager and I said, Hey, I think I booked a pilot.

Whoa.

And she was like, What? I didn't know you went out for a pilot.

Do you have a new manager? Yes.

Okay, good.

Just checking.

Yeah. Anyway, The rest is history. We did our dumb little thing, and it should be noted that this paid so little money that I had another job.

I had an office job while I was doing it. You had an office job while you were doing Reno 911?

I had an office job up until I got the Goldbergs.

You are kidding me.

That's how things pay. Yeah.

Even five, six seasons. I mean, listen, I understand it's Comedy Central. It's not ABC, right? There's different budgets, and it's an improv show. You're probably working on very little budget every episode.

And it's basic cable.

And it's basic cable. But you would think that it would pay you enough to at least live, like a living wage.

I guess I could have, but I didn't want to take that chance.

Yeah, fair enough. I didn't want to take it.

I did buy a brand new Honda for cash.

There you go.

It was good for you.

All through everything else I did, rules of engagement, bridesmaids, up until the Gold and I wouldn't have quit, but the journal folded. I was working for a social work journal at Cal State, Long Beach. Anyway, that happened. Who knew this thing would never be off the air?

I know.

It doesn't pay residuals.

I was just about to ask, does it pay residuals? It does not? No.

Wendy, that's criminal. The movies do. Then when Quibi came out, I don't know if you remember that four months period.

It was 15 minutes long. It lasted for 15 minutes.

Just like every episode of every show.

Yeah, that's right.

They brought us back, and it was insane.

Yeah, they were paying you a lot of money.

To try to get back into that headspace while I'm on another show playing the complete opposite character.

We banged out, what, two or three more movies.

Yeah. There's so many movies, and there's so many episodes of that show. Do you think you'll go back to the well with Reno 911? I don't know who Who would pay for such a thing at this point.

We're lucky that we did that. Comedy Central ended up buying all the Quibi stuff or the Roku channel. It's airing somewhere. I don't know. I mean, if they call me, of course I'll go back, but I don't... That's a hard call because so many of us are working. It's really hard to schedule everybody together. Sure.

Everyone's moved on and it's like, you got to get everybody's time, and then does everybody want to do it, and are the characters still relevant? Listen, I would say yay, because I could watch Reno 911 and the Goldbergs back to back to back for the rest of my life and probably be highly entertained. And the thing I love about Reno 911 and your character, Clementine, and the way you interact with Dangle, is that honestly, every time I watch an episode, you pick up something different, something funny that is just subversive or you didn't notice in the first one. It's got so many little funny that I think you miss on the first watch, but you get on the second one. It's an iconic role. I mean, I can imagine. When you are on the Goldbergs, which is not Basic Cable, which is biggest network in the world, Disney owned all this other stuff. And you're working a day job or a night job or whatever it is in the office. Does that lead to some interesting conversations with people in the office? Or is it just like- Yeah.

Now, by the time the Goldberg started, I had quit my job.

You moved on. Okay, got you.

Because there was no time. I can imagine. There was no time. I can imagine. I missed birthdays, I didn't take vacations. I was tired. Yeah, bad. But yeah, I was doing so much with my other stuff. The great thing about this job is that I could come and go whenever I wanted. Nobody cared when I came in or if I came in, just as long as I did my work and turned it in.

Oh, brilliant.

It was only a 20-hour a week thing. I would be skulking around there late at night photocopying things and turning things in, answering mail. And sometimes there would be professors there working on their own stuff. I remember this one guy says, Oh, you're the one that's an actress or something? Yeah. Are you in that new bridesmaids thing? Yeah. Oh, I hear it's terrible.

Oh, my God. What?

Oh, my God. Who says that to somebody? First of all- Wait, who's your name, sir?

And who the fuck says that after actually Seeing Bridesmaids. It was a runaway hit. It's the funniest fucking movie ever. I know. I swear to God, it is.

It was just like, I don't know what's going to happen with it. I mean, it didn't get great reviews in the beginning. It really didn't. It was a very polarizing review-wise, but the box office said differently.

And I could watch that movie anytime. In fact, it popped up just the other day on something I was watching, and I was like, Yep, I want to keep watching the whole entire rest of it.

Well, this is so stupid, but have you seen the DVD extras?

I have not seen the DVD extras.

Well, let me delight you with this information. There is three more hours of movie. What? There are entire characters that were cut out.

Really?

It was very ambitious, and the whole thing was just way too damn long. There's deleted scenes, all kinds of fun stuff. So if you are looking for something else- Oh, God, I've got to I'm looking for something else.

And I have a DVD player still. Okay.

Yeah, so do I. I think a lot lives on YouTube as well.

Okay, I'm going to watch that. Thank you for that tip.

Were you and Kristin Wig, were you were in Groundlings together, right? Or you were in the same class The other one? Yeah.

Me and Kristin and the other writer, Annie Mummalo and Melissa. Mccarthy. Yeah. We were all at the groundlings at the same time. Maya was I think her picture was still on the wall, but she wasn't performing with us. She was on SNL. We all met at someone else's wedding shower, but nobody else remembered that. I will never forget it because it was at Melissa's house or Melissa's apartment, but she wasn't there because she was filming Gilmore Girls. Oh, my God. We were all there, and Kristen and I were broke. I mean, not broke, but we didn't This was all like, Oh, my God, we're just trying to get somewhere. Sure. We were still very much in the, I got to scrape some money together to buy a wig for this next performance. Sure.

Oh, we get it, Wendy. We get it.

We're in the trenches with the wigs and everything. Yes, we are. Wigs and everything. Yeah. So, yeah, that happened. And then, I mean, the rest is history. But I was also there with Mikaela Watkins.

Yeah.

And Nat Faxon, Jim Rosh, from When You...

Oh, yeah.

Yeah. Yeah.

I mean, it's the Groundlings. It's like the Groundlings is an incubator for extraordinary comic talent, right? I'm sure there are so many names that we could mention and associated with the Groundlings that have gone on to do some of the most hilarious work.

Jennifer Coolidge.

She's brilliant. When you go to do Bridesmaids, does Kristin call you up as she say, Hey, listen, I want you to take this role in Bridesmaids, or does she make you audition? No, we all had to audition.

We had to audition.

Damn it, Kristin. Damn it, I thought you weren't cool.

She and Annie called us in probably 2007 to do the table read.

Okay? Wow.

Yeah. Movies It's going to take a while. They do. And we all did that. It was fun. And then when it came back, came time to like, Oh, this might actually happen. Yeah, I was just thrilled that they thought of me. Sure. To come in. My grandpa had just died, and I went in. I was not feeling funny. It was on a Saturday or some ridiculous thing, and I'm just like, Yes, I'll go in. I didn't want to. I wanted to cancel and sulk. But I went in and we improvised something, and I thought, Oh, well, that's really nice that they let me come in.

Sure.

Then I got called back, and I went in, and there were all these big-name people waiting for me, and I thought, Well, I'm not going to get it. But again, very nice that they brought me back. Then Kristin and Annie did that thing where they called me up and they're like, Look, you did the best you could. I just wanted you to know that we want you to do it. But they played it out when they dragged it out. I'm thinking, Just get to the bloody point. I didn't get it. But I did. Listen, I just thought, Oh, we're making a fun movie with Judd Apatow. Who knows? Whatever. Maybe I'll get to make some more movies. You never know how anything's going to go.

No, absolutely.

What a mature attitude to take when you're in the trenches, right? Because I imagine that acting, especially, but just like comedy, you're going to get up there. Sometimes you're going to flail around, you're going fail. There's going to be a lot more failure than there will be successes. And anybody who's had probably any longevity in any entertainment venture knows that. The failures lead to some minor successes that then lead to something that blows up. And bridesmaids It may not have gotten great reviews, but obviously anyone who's seen it knows it's fucking hilarious, right? And it's a classic comedy movie now. But what a mature attitude to take. Like, Hey, listen, if I get it, I get it. And if I don't, it was nice. I'm grateful for the opportunity to walk in and sharpen my teeth just a little bit more. Probably for your mental health.

That's why you have to look at everything. If you place so much importance on every audition, you're going to go insane. Yeah, exactly. The thing is, you're not going to get most of them, but they'll remember you for something else if you were good. If you can take direction. There's so much of it that has nothing to do with you, and you can't even think about it. If you want to stay in it for the long term, that's how you have to think about things.

Question about both Reno, 911, and Bridesmaids. Those are largely improv projects, right? Is that why there's three and a half hours of extra movie that's not on there? They just kept take and take. Okay, let's try this. Okay, let's try this line. Okay, now let's put them in this situation, and then we'll whittle it there.

Or the takes just keep going on and on and on because everyone's firing on all cylinders, and there's no way you can use all that.

No. Yeah.

There was a written script for Bridesmaids. If you read it, which I have not in a long time, there's a lot... I mean, you're going to not recognize a lot of it. Sure. But I couldn't tell you how much ended up... What the percentages ended up being of improv and scripted in the film. But Reno, literally, all we ever got was a couple of sentences. Yeah.

Did you film a large majority of that in Reno? We filmed none of it in Reno. It was all in LA? Yeah. Yeah, okay. Interesting. That's interesting.

Because if we had gone there- You never would have survived.

No. No.

How many people do you think would have made it to the set in the morning? Right, exactly. Or gambled away their paychecks. That's right.

Oh, my gosh. Do you Did you audition for the Goldbergs, or did they call you for that role?

They called me for that because I was on a show called Rules of Engagement. They brought me in for a one-off, and I did 14 episodes or something like that. I ended up staying a lot, playing Liz, the Crazy Cat Lady with one long boom. Yes. Which was really, really fun. It was the production company and a really cool couple of producers, Annette Davis and Doug Robinson. They were helping produce the Goldbergs, and I weirdly look a lot like Adam's mom.

Beverly.

In real life.

Yeah.

Now, that show was originally called How the Bleep Am I Normal? It wasn't called the Goldbergs. And Then it was called the Goldens.

The Goldens.

Then the President of ABC at the time said, Just call them the Goldbergs.

Best move ever.

If someone has a problem that a non-Jew was playing a Jew, that's how that came about. I don't even think we mentioned Hanukah or anything until season three. That's become a wee bit of an issue in the past couple of years. But that's how that happened. Sorry about that. Did you expect that? There you go. I did okay with that role.

Yeah, exactly.

More than okay. When you were reading the Goldbergs, when they call you up and they say, Here's the script, and check it out, and do you think you can do this? You're so good in that role. As a young man watching Reno 911, I have a little crush on Clementine, right? But then when I see you as Beverly, you're totally my mom. It's so weird that you play these two opposites, but it's so good. Did the part really resonate with you? Did you expect it to become such a hit?

Well, again, I was just like, I'm so happy to do this. I really hope it goes on forever. But the thing that made me say, Oh, I'm doing this one, is the video package that they sent me of the home movies. Then I was like, Oh, I know this lady. I get it. I got it big time. Because my mom was a smother as well, a Baptist smother, but very much like, Act first, apologize later. Everyone's out to get you. I am your sanctuary. I will do anything for you. That's just good parenting. I'm sorry. I agree. There's worse things in life than to have a mother that loves you for God's sake.

I was watching a video, and they were talking about the difference between nurturing and smothering and how that affects children as they grow up.

The psychiatrist who had written a book on this particular show said, It doesn't matter. There is no difference. What makes a child independent, able to work in the world is the love that is shown. It doesn't matter if they're smothering or if they're nurturing. It's almost the same thing. What matters is, do they have a safe place to the fall? Do they put guardrails? And do they know they can always turn to somebody when they need help? He's like, that's what makes an independent person. Can they go out on their own? But do they know they have a soft place to fall? Exactly. They're your biggest chiller. We all know that. Yeah, my mother was like that, too. I think that's a pretty common, you know.

It's a pretty common thing. And then And to be at like, comic-Con and have... It's not like a lot, this happened a lot, but it happened enough for me to get a little freaked out by it. People coming up, I wish I had a mom like you.

I know. That's very bad.

When you go to these comic cons, is it to like, just some people are like, totally freaky about it? They're like, Oh, my God. I'm sure there's freaky people. There's got to be. I mean, there's freaky people everywhere.

I mean, I'm sure.

Well, that's the interesting thing. I haven't gone to a comic Con since before COVID, but it's such an interesting phenomenon. It really is. That people will pay so much money to buy these bobbleheads or dress in character and just let their freak flags fly. But they love it, and you find that they know your show better than you do a lot of times. If you get lazy with the continuity and you think no one's going to notice, you're wrong. They're not going to notice, and they will be very specific about what you did that was incorrect. It's like, Okay, well, that's good to know. That's good feedback. People are paying attention. Yeah, that's true.

Did you realize in episode number 14 that the glass moved from the left to the right in scene 32? It's like, Okay, dude, settle down. It's just a television show.

Exactly.

It is weird, though, to have this- To keep you on your toes. It is weird to have this phenomenon where, you know, comic Con, when I was a child and comic-con was just When I was in a teenager, and comic Con was just getting started, Common Con and Dragon Con and all this stuff, it really appealed to a certain sci-fi or horror sect of the population. People who are really into this Star Trek and Wars and stuff like that. Now it's expanded, and there are so many mainstream television shows where all of these characters, where actresses like you or actors in other movies, they can go and they can make a few extra bucks and talk to the fans one-on-one, and those people go crazy for it. Yeah, it's a good tribe. They have Bravo Con, for God's sake. Bravo Con. I think that's their own thing, too.

Don't get me started. Do not get me started.

Do Do you watch Bravo? What's that? Do you watch Bravo? Are you like a Bravo?

I quit cold turkey in 2014 because I... No, when was the shutdown? 2020.

2020.

Yeah, four years ago. I was so into it, and then I became so ashamed of myself.

Like, Why do I care? I did the same thing. Now, I have since picked back up on a couple of them, but Yeah, I couldn't watch any of that stuff. I was like, this is so outside of reality, and it made me feel icky.

You really watch people drink the Kool-Aid and start to love their Fame and start to do anything they can to stay making those little paychecks for reality TV and then get podcasts. I don't know. It's not my thing anymore.

Listen, when I I first saw Real Housewives of Atlanta so many years back when it came on. We're in Atlanta, by the way. We're in Atlanta, by the way. Okay.

I've spent a lot of time in Atlanta.

They're not in Atlanta. They're not technically in Atlanta. Most of them are not wives, and they're not living in their own houses. What is real about this? There's nothing real about this. It's all just manufactured drama. Then we know somebody who was on one of the seasons, and it was- It was surreal. It was surreal and not real. It was like, Oh, my gosh, this is just so crazy. For sure. You are now a part of a television show that is another huge hit. We've had a number of these, the voice actresses and actors on the show from Big City Greens on Disney.

How fun.

It's so fun.

We had Paul Sheer.

We did have Paul Sheer. Who was the other one? I don't know who was the other one.

But you've got to be the third one. You're the mom, right?

I'm the motorcycle mom. Four years in a movie or two movies. We had a Christmas movie and Spacecation, which comes out on June sixth.

Spacecation, June sixth. I'm marking my calendar.

Yeah, that's all my nephews.

I know I can keep my kids occupied for 90 minutes. Right.

And the actress who plays the Grandma. Yeah. Grandma is the favorite. Artimus Hebdonny. He was also in the Groundlings at the same time as me, and she played Lunch Lady Doris on the Goldbergs. Oh, wow. And she has a coffee house out here in Nola. No way. No way. Yeah, small world, right? What?

That is It's the same. When you read for Big City Greens, I know every animation is different, but when you read for Big City Greens, is it a group read? Are you in the same room? Are you bouncing off each other? Or is it just I just do my parts and someone else that comes and does their parts?

The only time I've ever gotten to be in the room with other actors is for Bob's Burgers.

Okay. Is that right?

I think that's right. Yeah. I go I go in and I do my stuff all by myself.

And do you enjoy the voice work?

I love it. It's so fun and it's so gratifying when you finally see it. Yeah.

I can't imagine.

Yeah, because really, when you see it, or when you're in the booth, most of the time, it's just the animatic. It's just the rough drawings, and you're doing it to scratch. So someone else has dubbed in your voice as a place saver, so they need you to come in and bring life to it. It's fun, but it's a challenge because a lot of times the physicality is stuff that you would never do in real life. You don't know how to fall off a motorcycle and catch a pizza in your mouth. That might take a while to get that right. But that's, again, what makes it so fun. These little challenges like, Okay, can I play this off? I really don't know what I'm doing. There's times when I've punched my own stomach or you've got to run so you can get that panting going or whatever. But it's the most fun. Big City Greens is adorable. It's such a cute show.

It is. I know. How did it work? I know my nephews were introducing me to it a little while back with a live. It was a hockey game.

It was a hockey game. That's what my kids have been watching.

We're doing a simultaneously.

It was a live. I don't think the actual... I think there were two sportscasters that were animated. Then they had a live hockey game that was actually on another, I think on ABC. Then they put, I guess, what they did was they had the characters playing out the live hockey game while it was going on. Then they had two separate sportscasters that were animated that were calling it for children. Oh, my gosh.

Yeah. That's adorable, and I know nothing about that. This is the first time hearing about that. But what a great opportunity for cross-planation.

I know, right? Now you're in the no.

Between Big City Greens and Bluey, the other show that's on Disney currently making adults crazy. So many adults talking about Big City Greens, so many adults talking about Bluey, and we've been talking a lot about how animation is just on another level these days. Most of them are shows that adults and children can watch, and each of us gets something out of it, right? Right. And Big City Greens is one of those. So I thank you for making a watchable animation show with my children.

I'm going to thank the Houghton Brothers for you because I just show up and do my thing. I like the way that The kids have good relationships with their divorced parents, and their divorced parents are not sniping in each other all the time.

They're not at each other all the time. Yeah, it just didn't work out.

Whatever. We can still live and have a good time.

It's a sassy little show with a little bit of moral nuggets in there that you can appreciate that your children are absorbing or hope that they're absorbing. Tell us about the television show coming out. When's St. Dennis coming out?

St. Dennis is coming out in, I'm going to say the fall.

Okay. I don't have an air date yet. They haven't told us.

They'll probably tell us at the upfronts in a couple of weeks.

What about, too, the Vicky White story really quick?

Thank you for asking about that.

I mean, it was so fascinating. It was so riveting. Tell us about playing that part.

Okay. A couple A couple of years ago, we were doing one more season of the Goldbergs, and I was offered a development deal by Sony, and we were talking about the kinds of things I'd like to do. I said, I don't know if you guys are watching the news right now, but have you seen that blonde prison guard that died and she was sneaking her boyfriend out and blah, blah, blah? I think I could play her, and I think that story is pretty juicy. It is. And in pretty short order, it was set up.

Wow.

And it was set up for a lifetime, which I was like, Oh, I never saw myself doing a lifetime movie I'm not sure, but whatever.

I was half serious when I said I wanted to do it.

So they got some screenwriters, and we looked at samples and read their treatment, and I loved their take on it because My take was the same way, which is I don't think that she was coerced into anything. You cannot coerce a woman in her 50s to do anything she doesn't want to do. Very true. I think she snapped. She was sick of doing everything the right way for so long with no reward. And someone saw her and loved her, and she went off the deep end.

Exactly.

That's what I think happened. I think the 11 days that they were on the run were probably the best of her adult life.

Yeah.

That's an interesting take, and I think you might be right about that. Yeah.

And there is no logic in it because love is not a logical emotion.

Yeah, an infatuation.

I think we can point to times in our own lives where we did dumb things and we can just watch the news.

Yeah.

Exactly.

Or watch Reel Housewide. Yeah. But I think that... Because this was not a bad person, and she was an employee of the year so many years in a row. She took care of her ex-husband who had Parkinson's. She took care of him until the day he died. He died in January. She's dead in April.

Wow. Wow.

She snapped.

She snapped, yeah, for sure.

We filmed that last summer, last June, just in time for the strike to happen. For the strike, come on. We finished It was a mission time for the strike, but the strike kept going on, so we couldn't promote it when it came out.

It's still available on Amazon.

It's still available, and I'm really proud of it. I think we did a good job of making a non-lifetime lifetime movie. Exactly. That's so true. Not like I'm trying to dis lifetime. No, I get it. They have a certain flavor.

Yeah, they do have a certain flavor.

Yeah, you think of a certain thing. This is a little grittier than that.

It is.

I'm proud of us.

I loved it.

This is no lifetime Christmas movie. I'll tell you that much right now. Doesn't Hallmark really have the- They do.

Monopoly on the Christmas movies?

They do. I'm getting my channels mixed up.

I think there's a convention. I think there's a convention. You know there's a convention. Hallmark, yes.

And it's in July.

Exactly.

Christmas. Walmart Christmas.

Walmart Christmas Con.

It's the day after Easter.

All right. Tell us about I'll take Dennis real quick, because I want to make sure that people tune in. It's coming out in fall. Yes.

That one came about in an interesting way as well. Tell us. This was on a Wednesday. I'll never forget. On a Wednesday, I get a call from one of our producers on the Goldbergs, and I know what this is about. We're not coming back. We're not coming back. I'm like, Oh. But it's 10 years.

It's 10 years. You can't understand.

It's 10 years. The kids are aging. It's hard to write story lines. I get it. Yeah.

It's nothing lasts that long anymore. So we had a great run, but it is bittersweet to say goodbye to your work family. Family. And I'm talking every last grip, every makeup artist, our props guys I still text with. I love those people.

Yeah. Ten years of your life is a long time.

And this is the part where I rudely interrupt the interview to explain to you that the last two and a half minutes of our conversation with Wendy was not recorded for whatever reason, probably because we're really bad at technology, but maybe it wasn't our fault, question mark. Let me recap what happened in the last couple of minutes of that conversation. Wendy explained she really loved her time in the Goldbergs and that no show runs that long anymore. So the last episode that they filmed together, everyone was crying and had a really sad time because they loved each other and they'd been around each other for almost a decade. Then I fanboyed out a little bit, told Wendy how much I loved her. She said, all the shucks. I felt embarrassed because her husband was standing in the room. I quickly wrapped up the interview, said goodbye, and it sounded something like this. Bye, Wendy. Thanks for coming. Bye, guys. Really enjoyed it. See you later. Goodbye. So now that you have the rest of the story and my apologies to you and to Wendy, let's take a short break and we'll be back.

What? Oh, hi. It's Christina again. Here to remind you to go to tcbpodcast. Com for all things audio, video, and T-C-B-D-O. Give us a follow on Instagram at the Commercial Break and on TikTok. Talk at TCV podcast. And guess what? We have a new phone number. I know what you're thinking, but I promise this is the last TCV phone number you will ever have to remember. So call us and leave us a voicemail or text us at 212-433-2. Com. 3tcb. Once more for the people in the back, that's 212-433-3TCB. Oh, and check out our YouTube channel at youtube. Com/thecommercialbreak. That's all for now. Let's listen to our sponsors and get back to the show.

Love Wendy. Wendy. I got my fan boeing in control. I feel proud of myself. I did not Jojo Seewal all over I'm proud of you, too. I love Wendy. Now you've heard it straight from her mouth, and now I'm going to tell you straight from the website, St. Dennis Medical premieres this fall, and it's a mockumentary about an underfunded, understaffed hospital, and Wendy plays like the executive director of the hospital. It's from the same guy who wrote Superstore and American Auto, both, I think, good shows that were canceled, but good shows in their own right. Oh, yeah. But I Everything she touches turns to gold. I know. She was in Bridesmaids. You heard the story? They filmed over 37,000 hours for Bridesmaids. I know.

I have to go out.

You can see it on the DVD. I have to go out and buy it. I know.

I haven't bought a DVD in forever either, but I would buy that to see the outtakes.

I have this soft spot in my heart for Bridesmaids. Not only do I think it's one of the funniest movies ever created, it is really like a breakout- It is. Comedy hit who made the careers of a lot of people, solidified the careers of a lot of people. But It also is the first American comedy movie that Astrid was laughing out loud. Oh, I love that. Yeah, because you know, comedy is different everywhere you go, and there are certain things are funny. And comedy, when they say real estate is local, I think comedy is local, too. Americans have their certain brand of comedy, and in the UK they do, and everywhere around the West, Spaniards have their own version. The Venezuelans do, too, and the Latin Americans do also. And so the comedy is not always the same. And if culturally, it's not easy to pick up on some of those things if you're not embedded in it. But Astrid, I'll never forget, she had just moved here and Bridesmaids had come out and it was on whatever premium channel, HBO or whatever, and we watched it, and she was laughing out loud. She's like, This is a really funny movie, and I get it.

I understand it.

Jeff loves it, too. We just caught it a couple of months ago, I think, on TV. And whenever it's on, I just keep watching it. Jon Ham's in it, too.

Yeah, Jon Ham's in it. That's right. And then that Irish guy. I do love that Irish guy. He has a television show called like, Ronny's Boy or something. It's on Amazon. On Moony, or I can't remember what it is, but it's only got two seasons, which sucks. I wish they had more seasons of it. But it's such a fucking funny movie. And if that, like if what they came up with was an hour and 45 minutes, and they really filmed five hours of material, I would love to see that five hours of material. Me too. I really would. Anyway, thank you to Wendy for coming. Make sure you tune in to Big City Greens, and then make sure also that you tune in to St. Dennis Medical coming on this fall. We don't have a specific date for the premiere But I'm sure you will stay tuned and watch NBC because you're likely to plug your cable back in because all the streaming channels are doing whatever the fuck they're doing. I don't even know.

Well, Peacock streams NBC stuff. Oh, that's true.

Yeah, you can go to Peacock. But I don't know What's going on? Now I got to go to Netflix to watch the HBO shit, and then I turn on- It's all over the place.

You were just talking about that, and it made me realize it, too. When I was on another streaming service, I'm like, Oh, wait, that was on something else a while back, and now it's over here and there and everywhere.

Wasn't the in the city, one of the biggest comedy hits for HBO in history? It was one of the most popular television shows in history or something like that, and now it's on Netflix. I don't get it. I can't watch it on HBO, but I can watch it over on Netflix. I don't get it. I really don't understand. How is that even possible? I don't know. Maybe we should ask Jojo Siwa.

There's buying and selling going on.

Science. Science. Jojo Siwa. I'll put a little sex in there and then maybe a song or two. Go to Disney World. Stop at all the countries in Epcot and I am. Jojo Siwa as an adult. Sexualize her now. Jojo Siwa. She'll be the biggest pop star ever.

Probably.

Mark my words. I was thinking about it when we were on break. I was thinking about Jojo Siwa, and I was thinking about Miley Cyrus. I remember when Wrecking Ball came out, and she was humping the ball, and everyone was like, Oh, that's fucked up. She's like, What the fuck is going on? But the song was a nugget, and everybody fucking loved it. Now it's a mainstay of dance clubs. What happened to Miley Cyrus? She became the biggest pop star ever. She's hugely successful. She's hugely successful, does things her own way. So maybe Jojo is just taking notes from Miley Cyrus.

Yeah, just go completely opposite.

Yeah, maybe she's just being a little bit more awkward about it. But anyway, team Jojo over here. We're team Jojo Ceewa. So, Jojo, you want to come on drunk or not drunk, preferably drunk, come on the show. We'd be happy to have you. You want to smash right into adult life? I'll give you a training course. Yes, you could. You two can be one step away from bankruptcy. It's science. With your very own podcast. Now you're famous, you need a podcast. Yeah, you can show the ropes. Every celebrity now has a podcast. Did you know that? Yes, I do. Every single one of them. Yes, I do. Every day I read that podcast news and a new celebrity has a new podcast. We don't have a fighting chance. No. Thanks for listening. I hope you tune in for a very, very long time. All right. There you go. Wendy. Yeah, Wendy, man. I'm still a little shell shocked. And by the way, Wendy looks just as good now as she did back then.

I know. I know. I just have some bangs, too, that I really like.

Good jeans or good docs, Chrissy.

Yeah, both.

I didn't have the balls to ask her. You got to go watch Reno 911. I will. Watch it from head to I've got a watch list now. As she said, there's five or six movies out there. I didn't even know. I've watched two of them. Watch the episodes. The movies are good, but the episodes are where classic comedy happens. Classic country of 94, 96, seven, the legend. The old legend. I actually turned on my radio in the car for the first we were talking about it, and I was like, Let me check and see what's doing on that radio, that FM and that AM dial.

I don't even know how to turn on the radio with my car.

We'll be on again tomorrow in case you turn on your radio dial and decide you need something else. We'll be on again tomorrow just for you. All right, TCB podcast. That's where you go to find out more information about the show, all the show notes, all the links to Wendy's stuff. It'll all be there. So go to the show notes on your favorite podcast player. You can also download the free Odyssey app, the home of the commercial break. The free Odyssey app. There is no charge. We don't have a premium version of this. There's no premium version of this show. But you can download that and listen to us on the Odyssey app if you're so inclined. We also would love to give you your free TCB sticker. Go to the website, hit the Contact Us button, drop down menu, I want my free sticker. Give us your address, and away it will go. Promise it'll get there in 7-12 months, sometime. We'll figure it out. At some point. We can pay for the postage. We'll send it to you. 212-4333-tcb. That's 212-433-3822. We'd like you on the show. So if you want to come on, Leave us a message and tell us you want to come on.

Give us some information about what you'd like to talk about, and someone will get back to you. You can also leave questions, comments, concerns, content, ideas via text or voicemail. To that line, rings right here in the studio. Add the Commercial Break on Instagram. T-c-b podcast on TikTok and youtube. Com/thecommercialbreak. Thanks, Dr. Phil. Okay, Christie, I guess that's all I can do for today.

I think so.

But I will tell you that I love you. I love you. Best to you. Best to Best to you, Wendy, and those of you out there in the podcast universe. Until next time, Christie and I always say, we do say, and we must say, goodbye.