I know they're not. Oh, now they're recording.

Hour ago. Can we be honest now about this is our first moment as podcasters? Can I be honest about how nervous I've been, like, several days in a row and then waking up this morning, I'm literally shaking.

Here's the conversation in my head the last couple of days. It goes like this. Well, Woody, you know, how have you been?

No, no, that sucks.

That sucks. So, Woody looking. No shit.

Because you'd think it's gonna be, like, stilted, like, self conscious, because. Which, in a way, it is.

But so far, the idea of doing a podcast together, it was kind of interesting at first, but I didn't know what that could mean or anything. And then we got together, we sat around a fire and talked and all of that. And one of the things you said was, the reason why I said yes is so we could hang out together. And that really is the truth. Wanting to hang out with each other, because I know you from 30 years ago really well, or as much as one does, you know, in that situation, pretty, pretty well.

Pretty well.

But I don't know the 30 years since then, really. I mean, we would touch bases once or twice a year, and we'd hang out once a year or something. So I'm really looking forward to that. And I'm really looking forward to meeting your friends, you know, the people you've worked with, because you have been very prolific, and it'll be fun to meet them because I don't know most of them. And I want to introduce you to my friends that I've worked with.

Is prolific a euphemism for whorish? Oh, no.

Welcome to where everybody knows your name with me, Ted Danson and Woody Harrelson. Sometimes. Okay, here we go. As you heard earlier, not only are we going to catch up on life since cheers, but we're also introducing each other to the friends that we've made since then. Like the title says, this podcast is a place to be known. Anyway, Woody's gonna be popping in and out of this show when he isn't in some far off land doing a play or meditating or milking an oat. And I don't mean goat. I mean oat. So sometimes it'll be both of us interviewing our guests, and other times, it'll be me. This week, I have Woody with me, and we're talking to one of the funniest people alive, Will Arnett. But let me set this up before we start here. Woody was showing me right before Will came one of his favorite scenes from the Fox sitcom Arrested development, which will stars in as the Bluth family's magician son, Job. And Woody was going, absolutely well, you'll see this. But absolutely crazy over the scene from season four where job proposes to his girlfriend. And that's why you hear us talking about this at the start.

Will is such a lovely guy, and we were able to get into so much cool stuff. Canadian origins, how he works from a place of mischief, which is weird to me. I work from shame. But anyway. And even his love of cheers. So, without further ado, here's a guy Woody and I both love. Meet Will Arnett.

This is really trippy, and I'll tell you why that I'm here. First of all, Ted, we don't know each other, but I obviously, like the rest of America, feel like I know you. Well, Woody and I have known each other for a number of years. Not super well, but well enough that he. And as you know, Woody's one of those guys. As soon as you see him walk in the room, you feel better.

Yes.

Right? It's true. Thank you. And I watched you guys watching arrested development in here when I was out there.

Yeah.

And, Ted, what you don't know is I saw that he was watching the scene.

My favorite.

Which is what? He's favorite scene. I know because he's told me. And we were once in the south of France, and Woody, he reenacted the scene to me at Bono's house. That's a true story, right?

Yeah, that's true.

To the point that Bono was, like, mad that we weren't coming to the table. Do you remember? He was like, guys, come on. You could do it at the table. True story.

My favorite thing, dude, I just love. I think it's one of the greatest moments in the history of television. It's one of the funniest things I've ever seen.

Was that one take, by the way, do you think?

Oh, yeah.

Yeah.

I think I told you it was one of the worst days of my life.

Yeah. Like, you were having some real struggle.

I was having a real struggle. I was in the middle of getting divorced, and I had one of those awful days. We shot that up in, like, Santa Clarita. And on the way up there, I pulled my car to the side of the road. Cause I was crying so hard. True story. And I was like. I was like, I can't do this. How the. How can I go and do this, right? And then I got there, and Mitch Hurwitz, who created and wrote rest of elm is a brilliant guy. I got there, and he's just such a sweetheart of a guy. He was like, yeah, you're going to be okay, man. Let's just, let's just get, you know, first of all, he's also like, yeah, we got to get on the clock. We got to get the day right guy. And then that scene ended up happening, and it couldn't have gone better.

There was a good deal of improv in the show or because, well, you did a lot of improvising in that scene. I mean, you're like, you did just the thing of like, yeah, what? What?

Oh, here he goes. Now I know what Bono was thinking.

These questions. What is it? What these.

Should, should I should, should the guy, it was such a.

Here he goes.

Here he goes.

Woody says 32, $32. It's my favorite. I've done it a million times in front of people who are like, what the fuck is this guy doing? Like, even if they've watched it, they don't remember and it's out of context.

They're like, come on, man. You know, that scene was a combination of, first of all, we had, and you guys have been there before, where it had the benefit of such great writing. So I was the beneficiary of that all the time on that show. And that particular gag of job stuttering, this should, should was a callback to a thing that he used to have from a few seasons before. So I get there to do that scene. The only thing that sort of occurred to me in the moment and that I improvised in the moment was the idea that I was wearing her house coat and she was wearing my shirt. So I thought it was kind of funny if I started saying should and I started making her. The value of, usually it came from a bit where I used to say in the old show, in the earlier episode, should the guy in the 45, should the guy in the $4500 suit take it from the guy who hasn't made that much in a month? And then I'm mad, right? And I'm pumping myself up and I thought it'd be funny if she's wearing my shirt, that I start pumping up her shirt and also devaluing her frock that I'm wearing.

Anyway, one of the great episodes of television ever.

Well, so this is what I want. Thank you. I mean, and also on behalf of Mitch Hurwitz, I'm lucky to have been a part of it, but I. What I want to talk to you guys about and talk about great episodes of tv, I think, you know, and, Woody, I think I've told you that I'm maybe the world's sort of preeminent cheers fan of all time. A fucking all time. I am.

Thank you.

I have spent the last few months working on this. On this thing, and I was like, I got to go back and rewatch as much cheers as I can because I was always such a fan, and I've been watching all these episodes for the last few months. Well, long before I knew I was going to be here with you guys.

Not to prepare, but because of something you're about to go do.

Yeah. Because for me, it's the gold standard of television sitcoms. It was. It. And I made my son watch this scene last night. My twelve year old, who's a funny kid, Abel. And I said, come watch this scene, because it is the perfect meeting of great writing, great directing, and tremendous performance. And it was episode 25, season four, which is so crazy. Episode 25.

You do have a great memory. Go on.

Well, I just saw it last night. In fairness, there's so many great moments in it. You and Shelley Long, Ted, have this huge argument, and she's going to quit. She's had it. You're dating the woman who's the politician, and she's told you she's jealous, and she's told you to get rid of Diane. And Shelley long goes. And you guys are all standing there, and Shelly. And I've mentioned this scene to Jimmy before because I think to me, you guys go. You have this huge argument, and she storms out of your office, and you're at the bar, and you come out to the bar, and Shelley long goes to the top, she goes to the door, and carla is standing just at one of the tables, but behind there's a little divide. There's sort of like, divide. Coat rack, door. Carla's standing there, real permanent, and Shelly long gives this long winded sort of farewell to the troops. But, lo, I've tried my best, and etcetera, etcetera. And so yet, you shall never see Diane chambers in cheers again. I bid you farewell. And everybody's like, what? And she walks out the door, and then the door opens a little bit, and her hand comes in, and she starts reaching for her coat at the coat rack, and Rhea Perlman grabs the coat rack and just pulls it a little bit, and she's just said, you'll never see me again, hand.

And she falls into frame, and Rhea Perlman goes, hey, look, everybody, it's Diane. Odds are pretty good.

That was Jimmy's. Bits, too. Jimmy is the best at physical bits.

So good at physical bits. But also you have to have people who are willing and able to do it. And so much of the time, everybody in that cast just delivered. I can't believe it. I watch that and I just. I marvel at it. I think, like, that to me, feels perfect. Like when you hear a song that has that perfect melody and you're like. And it gets you in a place of like, really, really satisfies you. Watching cheers really satisfies me. I go, yep. The rhythm is perfect. The thing, the delivery is perfect of the line. Just all of it.

Even the set was great. The set was amazing because we got to do theater. We could. Everyone was alive. Everyone was on camera, in the background or in front or whatever.

Incredible. And even if you had to go to the back thing and you had to go to your office, you had all those pieces and it was all right there.

And it's all lit.

And it's all lit. And you came in what, season four? At the start of season four, which I just rewatched that episode of your.

First episode, after losing kind of the heart and soul, Nick Colasado, who died, and he was the heart and soul of cheers. And in walks Woody. And in 5 seconds, it's captured everybody's heart. It was really amazing.

It really is. Yeah.

Woody, that's nice of you to say.

I imagine you seem very. You keep winking at me now. It wasn't true. No, I'm kidding.

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I did.

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He's watching the pennies. He watches your roof.

He's watching the pennies.

Yeah. How's the service been since switching?

I can tell you, I put it to a test because I live in a canyon, and service is, you know, usually drops out like mad. And I haven't had any dropouts, so that's pretty cool.

That's a good stress test, being in a canyon. Canyon, yeah. Like, literally canyon.

Literally.

You're at the bottom of this huge.

Not huge, but, you know, big enough to. Are you trying to get me to tell you where I live?

Can you post the address on the screen? Let's. Yeah, let's get Ted's address up there.

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So we're here to learn, because you do have one of the best podcasts, dude.

I think I've heard. I've watched or heard over 100 episodes.

Really?

Without question. Yeah. I mean, like, literally, I have to wait for the next one to come out in order to. Because I've heard everything. Wow. I love it, you guys. Tippy top of the tippy top. So great, man. It's so funny. And also great interviewers. You know, like, you really do great interviews, even though supposedly two of you don't know the guy. Coming up, we legit.

We legit. Don't. Sure. I'm.

Hey, listen, you gotta stay with that narrative.

I will tell you, this morning, we had. I did one this morning and I was worried that I logged on too early. And I thought. I actually thought, I don't want to see the person because I like the surprise. And then I don't feel, you know, when you don't know who it is, you don't feel compelled to do anything other than just be in the moment and have a conversation.

What do you think we should be focusing on as new podcasters? If you had any advice, seriously, because.

I don't believe anybody would ask me for advice.

I'm writing the snap.

It's going to be short. When we started doing it, we just wanted to talk to each other and have fun, and that was kind of really it just to kind of screw around. And we couldn't believe that people wanted to hear that. And I think one of the things that made it maybe work was the fact that we are just very open about what's going on in our lives. And if you do that and you're not putting on a Persona, you know, whether that's good, bad or, you know, indifferent, it's. It works. And so you have moments, all of us, and also, you need to have really good editor who calls you and says, hey, last week you said, blah, blah, blah. Are you sure? I'm like, yeah, yeah, no, don't cut that.

Cut that. Now, you guys aren't in the room together, are you?

We're never in the room.

Well, see, that's where we're different.

Yeah. I learned the energy. It's nice.

It is nice. It really is. Yeah.

For us. I'm not saying we're better than you guys. I'm just saying we're in the room.

It feels like you're saying you're better than us.

Well, you're not in the room.

It feels like it's a long way to say you're better. The advantage that we have, that you guys have is that you've known each other a long time.

And that's why I think we both wanted to do this, was because we knew each other so well for eight years that we were on the show together. But then 30 years have gone by, and we'd see each other once or twice a year because of life and all of that. So I don't really know Woody. I know my heart and how much I love him, but I haven't really caught up with them. And so this is, like, this great.

We haven't covered years, let me be honest.

And just a real thin slice, Ted, do you think Woody's changed?

This is one of those awkward moments he's bound to have. Yeah.

Yeah. No doubt.

He's bound to have.

No doubt. In a good. In a good way.

Good, good way. Yeah.

Thanks for that question.

No, I mean, yeah, I like the.

Honesty of the integrity.

Sure. I don't have a ton of integrity, but it comes out every once in a while. God, I just want to talk about cheers. I know you guys are going to be bummed out if all I want to do is talk about cheers.

I want to talk about you a little bit, because I wanted to ask you about your mom, who was supportive of you. You know, that's pretty rare. A lot of moms are going to be like, there's no way you're going in the show, but you're not going to be an actor.

My parents were very. I grew up fairly. I mean, canadian, but fairly conservative ish. My dad for many years was a corporate lawyer, and then he went into business for, you know, one of his clients. But my mom always. I think that she. She had done some theater in Toronto, even when after she'd had kids, she'd done some stuff, kind of what you would be considered to be sort of off Broadway. And so when I showed an inclination for this and nothing else, when it turned out I was good at nothing except for goofing off, I think that they were like, okay, great. Well, at least he's interested in this. Let's that support him. And I got to give it so credit. Yeah. To my mom and to my dad, too, because this was really far away from what he did. Right.

He was. He was like, at work at Molson.

He did. At the end of his career, he was. Yeah, he ran.

He's like a corporate lawyer.

He was a corporate lawyer, and then he was on the board of Molson. Then he ended up being. Yeah. CEO of Molson at.

So none of your family had any kind of. Well, you said your mom, but no real. You didn't have an example in your family of, oh, this is about.

Not really. I had my cousins. My mom's cousin and her husband were quite accomplished theater actors and television and film in Canada, Nancy park and her husband Joe. And so I got to see a little bit of that. And they were always at the Shakespeare festival and Shaw festival up in and around Toronto, and very accomplished actors. But in terms of this kind of the major leagues. Showbiz. No. You know, I moved to New York in. In 1990 when I was 20, and I didn't know a single person. And so it was. Yeah, it was scary, you know, in a way. But I also was really excited about. About getting out into the world. I'd gone to college for half a year, and I quit because I thought I just. I saw people going down the same route, and I was like, I don't want to go and do that. I don't want to be a lawyer. I don't want to be an investment banker. I don't want. And a lot of people I knew had. Have gone to do that. And by the way, that's what they enjoy, so that's great. And I remember my buddy Jimmy Vallely.

I don't know if you know Jimmy. I quote him all the time. He's actually you're talking about. He's a writer. Yeah, yeah.

The great, super funny, crazy Jim Valley.

Yeah. Good friend of Bill Mars.

Yeah, yeah.

And he's Mitch Herbert's writing partner.

He's genius.

A genius guy. He said. He said so many funny things to me over the years. I actually told a story about Jim Valley on Conan's podcast a couple of years ago. That. Because he knows. But anyway, Jimmy said, yeah, it always.

Circles back to Conan, but go ahead.

I know it does.

Yeah, yeah.

He's everywhere. He's watching us through these cameras. Yeah. He said to me, he said, you know, there's a lot of people say, you know, you got nothing left to lose if you. If you come from nothing. And you. You try out showbiz. And he was like, I think it's the opposite. You might as well. He's like, you again, I'm not puffing myself up. But he was like, you had more of a path and a thing that you could have gone down, and you decided to take a. Take a leap and do. And try to do this. And I think that that's probably a lot scarier.

And it was something to take a chance.

But I'm just saying, like, if you'd gone left instead of right, I always think about how much your life changes just based on things that you might not even think were good at the time. Like, you got kicked out of a boarding school for being a troublemaker, which brought you to the school where you got into theaters, right?

Absolutely right.

So you probably thought at the time you got kicked. What?

Can you be more specific about the removal from borders?

Well, I was asked not to return. And I know it seems like semantics, but it's really important to me. You know what's funny? He said all years later, they would include me in the alumni list. And I'm like, oh, oh, now you love me. Oh, no, please. Yeah, I was just a, you know, I was a pain in the ass kid. I was a smart ass. And I was, you know, smoking butts and drinking beers and doing whatever, and they didn't like that in high school. Yeah. Yeah, it was Canada, man.

Right.

You know, anything kind of goes. And so I left there, and I moved back to Toronto, and I ended up getting into theater a little bit in Toronto and kind of understanding that there was a whole world out there that was the beginning.

And.

Yeah, you never know. I've told this story a million times. I got fired off a. I did a pilot at CB's in 2000, 212.

Years after moving to New York, twelve years out.

And I'd done a few pilots before that, four or five up to that point. And sort of pilots and indie films in New York that were kind of didn't really go anywhere but just grinding it out. Grinding it out. Broke, broke, broke, broke, broke. And I get this pilot and it gets picked up to series, and they call me, say, you're not getting picked up. You're not going to series with it. Yeah, they're firing you. And that role doesn't exist anymore. And have a good one. And I was so bummed out. And that was the summer of 2002, and Amy had been on SNL. That was just the tail end of her first year.

And you guys were together.

We were together in New York. So I was like, you know what? Screw it. So I ended up starting to do this play, and I was in rehearsal for this play with the new group, and I just thought, you know what? I'm just. I'm done. I'm never going to do tv again. Boy, they're going to be really bummed that I'm not doing tv. The world's going to be so upset. And I got a call from the woman who is the same casting director from the pilot. She'd written me a letter when I got fired, saying, I think they made a mistake. Deb Burilski, I don't know if anybody remembers her. Amazing casting director and tv out here in LA. It's really sweet lady. And she wrote me this book, really nice handwritten notes. And I think that, you know, don't take it too hard. I think you're a great kid and blah, blah, blah guy or whatever. And six months later, she calls my manager and she said, I'm casting this show and I think that will would be great for it. And he said, you know, he's going to do this play. And I think that he doesn't.

He's still so sort of butthurt from last year. And I'd been on pilots that almost went, I've been on shows that are canceled after two episodes. I'd been like, you know, just nonstop for years. For years. And I was like, fuck it. I can't take it again, man. I just, you know, your nervous system gets to a point. You just feel like never going to happen. And she said, please, just have him read this thing. And I told the producers he'd be great. And it was arrested development.

Wow.

And if I hadn't been fired, going to your point, if I hadn't been fired that year before, I wouldn't have been available because that show ended up being on the air for a few years. I wouldn't have been able to be available for the thing I was destined for me, that I thought destined to do.

What was that audition process like? What was you getting arrested development?

Like again? I was like, yeah, all right. Yeah, I guess I'll go read for this in LA. I was in New York, so they faxed me. I got the pages faxed to me. I didn't even have a full script. And just like a character or a sort of a description summary of the plot, I was like, okay, yeah, all right. And I remember I took the subway up to read and I came home that was like on a, let's say, like on a Wednesday. By Thursday or Friday, they called and said it was the same studio of the show that I'd been canceled before. Not saying network, that was CB's, but it was same studio. It was 20th. So I did know the people. And it was the third year in a row I was up for something at 20th. And they called and they said, yeah, they want to bring you in. They want you to come to California and read for the studio at least and probably test for the network. And for people who don't know, what you do is you guys know, you sign a contract before you go in for your final network test, a five year contract so that if they like.

What you did, you can't hold them up.

You can't hold them up. They can't go, we want you for the job. You go, great. Well, now I want a million dollars an episode. They're like, no, you sign for whatever it is you negotiate before your final thing, which really messes with you when you're kind of a broke young actor because you've signed a contract and you see the dollar amount, you're broken. You're like, that money is so close to me now. I may be going to get out of this apartment so soon. So I flew out to LA and I remember I read and it was the Russo brothers who've gone on to make all the great Avengers movies and stuff. And it was the Russos and Mitch Irwoods and another actor. And there were a couple other actors reading for the part at that point. And then eventually, when we went to network the next, a couple days later on the Monday, it was me, and I've told this before, and a guy who I have respect a lot and I think is amazing, Rainn Wilson and Alan Ruck from succession, right? Isn't he a succession Alan Rock. I haven't watched that, but I know that he plays the brother on that.

He's great.

Yeah, he's great. So it was the three of us reading for that, for that part of job. Un arrested and I had a miserable cold. Another one of those things that helped me keep out of my head because I was just so miserable that I couldn't.

How long did you have to wait to find out?

I went in red, Alan went in after me. I'd gone into like flash water my face because I was feeling kind of terrible. And as I came out, Mitch came out. And again, I've told this before, and I don't mean to belaborator, you know, Kaziman, he doesn't care, I'm sure. But Rain was still waiting and Mitch Hurwitz came out. He goes, it's. You got it to like that.

To you.

To me. And I said, cool. Rain is. Still. Hasn't gone in yet. He's right there. The other guy, I didn't know him at the time. Yeah, I knew him because he'd done 6ft under and I thought he was cool, but anyway.

But that was the first time he saw you in person, Mitch?

Yeah, that weekend was the first time.

Wow.

And he was like. It was so funny. It was such a me. I just immediately we just bonded, you know? And we're still close to this day, but it was. You've had that too. I'm sure you guys have it right here. Like, you just meet and you have this thing and you're like. We're speaking the same language, which is really cool, right?

Yeah, for sure. I remember coming in to do that. You know, Teddy comes in, he's got like, he had like some, I don't know, coke or something, but something bad. Fast food container. You're like drinking out of it. You're just so regrettable. Now, I don't remember the cigarette, but I. But you were just so cool. And, hey, how you doing? You know, and. And the ease with which you could just pick up the script and just be fucking great. And I was in awe of you. I still am. And then were you doing.

I do buy it. I very legit. It's funny you mentioned Ted's ease because I watch. I watch not just the blocking in cheers, but I watch the body language and everybody, because. And everybody's character is so well defined on Cheers. That's what's so beautiful. But I was written really, really well written. Ted, you had so many different ways. First of all, you're a tall man. And you're taller than everybody else in the cast. And you often had to be at the bar or against the bar. So you had different ways of leaning and getting low. So you were at the same angle. So you'd lean. Your ease with which you popped open the soda water was just phenomenal. You would do it in ways that. I just watch him work. You know what I mean? Yeah, absolutely. Remember he did that. He'd sort of. He'd start talking and blah, blah, blah. And then he'd lean, and then he'd lean against the thing.

But you know what made that easy for all of us to do is we were always on camera, always on that stage for an entire episode. Rarely were you not active.

Right.

Even if the scene didn't revolve around.

You because it's so.

So you lived on that stage. You really did. You really did make it in your home.

And all by the ease with which you moved and everything, you looked like a great athlete, which I tell you was great acting.

Yeah.

I mean, that's nothing. Great act.

Is that true as a kid? As a kid, come baseball time, it was. No, no, no. We had Ted last time. You have to take them this time.

No. Is that true?

No. True. Basketball, I loved. I thought I was going to be a basketball player. Went to Stanford, tried. Didn't try out. I walked to the court and didn't even step onto the court and looked around and went, oh, shit. Okay. All right, plan b.

Can we help you with something, sir? Like, no, no, no. I'm getting sure that's all the debts. That's so funny. It's kind of like. It's like. It's like Henry. When you meet Henry Winkler and you're like, the first time, you're like, oh, here's the Fonz. He's like, now, what can I get you? What are you doing? Sit over here. Let me get you a chair. And you're like, jesus, I want to meet the Fonz, man. You know what I mean? Sure.

He's the sweetest guy.

He's the sweetest man I know. I think. Yeah. God, there's so many things about that. I can't believe that you did move like an athlete so well, Jimmy Burrows.

Helped me really, by saying. And it got me a lot of close ups too. Just reach down and grab yourself periodically in the nuts. And, you know, athletes, for some reason, touch themselves a lot.

Did he really?

He did say that, yeah. Yeah.

I see. I heard a new. Speaking of new thing last night, like, a term.

Bde.

Have you guys heard of it?

Bde?

No.

Big dick energy.

Sure, yeah. Yeah.

I don't know if you're able to say things like that.

Big dick.

Cool.

I always think, yes, I've heard of it.

But, I mean, he has that.

Can you pump in?

He's a real camera over there. Go ahead, Woody. I'm sorry I interrupted.

I mean, he's a real lead man.

Yeah, no, he had the BD for sure on that show, and I have BSE.

I'm trying to know.

Big snuggle energy.

Hey.

The lady's working.

It's working.

Yeah.

Can I ask another silly acting question? Where do you. If you had to say, where do you work from? What, inside of you? I work from shame, basically.

Is that true?

For some strange reason, I got a lot of shame, and it serves me well as far as energizing me. I'm kind of being funny, but not completely. There's something to that. Where do you work from? Do you know what I mean?

Yeah, I think I work from the same place that got me kicked out of boarding school, which is mischief.

Yeah.

Yeah. I find mischief to be really fun, and I don't really. I'm not really blue in that way, but I like when there are constraints on me. It's funny you say that about in a straight thing. I like it even comedically. I like being in a situation that you're not supposed to say something and seeing how far you can. I can.

Yeah.

That's why I used to love being on talk shows. I used to love going on Conan all the time. You are a master on Letterman. It was. But it was fun because I know what that line is and what is acceptable and what can you infer before standards and practices cut your bit? I got. Now I want to get into it. What was it like being on the number one sitcom in the world back in the eighties, where there was no social media, there was no TMZ bullshit? Was it just the fucking best?

It was really fun.

It was, yeah, it was, right?

Yeah, yeah, it really. Yeah, it was rock and roll.

You're allowed to say it. You're. This is a safe space.

Yeah.

Well, he was quite tied up in a way, but, yeah, it was rock and roll.

Marriage.

Oh, you were married? Okay.

Kids?

Yeah, yeah. Been there. Sure. Still, you guys were on cheers like one of the great companies of all time. Again, in a time where there were people weren't out to pull you down. Now, the game is, let's put people up there and let's see. Let's get the snipers out and see who can take the best for a shot at them.

Right?

It wasn't like that back then. Right.

It's gotten very cynical.

If it was, if it were, then we didn't know about it like we do now. Yeah. You know what our saving grace is? We had Jimmy, Les and Glenn. We had writing. We had cast members that were all really interesting and everyone was so whatever, that if someone was an asshole for a week, they couldn't last being an asshole, because everyone would turn and go, hey, knock it off. So we didn't. Well, I guess we did get high and mighty, didn't we? A little bit.

Well, you never did that. I saw. I felt like I did, you know, that's the worst thing about fame, you know? It's great. Yeah, it's fantastic. Everybody coming up. You're great, man. You're great. And then as soon as you start believing it, oh, there's the slippery slope.

It's great when you're standing in line somewhere and they're like, hey, come on in.

Right?

Yeah, that's when it's great. And like you said, yeah, it's great. What's terrible about somebody saying, hey, man, I love you. I think that you're the greatest. Like, that's amazing. It feels really good. But you're right. I always think about, there are certain sort of comedians or comedic actors. I think about who people go, what happened to that guy? And I always think that the moment that you think that you've got it all figured out is the moment you've lost it. And I always think that to myself, you've never got it. You're never going to have, because there is no it. It's a constantly.

Right.

The world and everything is constantly changing. And you've got to sort of stay open and, and keep looking for new ways to. Ted, I think about this, about what you've done all the time. Both you guys have gone from there, from cheers. You've had no fewer than five hit television shows since then that I can think of yet. Becker. Good place you have damages. Damages. I forgot about damages. The one with the board to death. Bored of death. I love that one with Zach.

And, yeah, this is great podcast, by the way.

No, but it's true. And you made all those movies, you.

Know, all those curb episodes. Not curb episodes.

Made tons of movies in between. Woody, you made a million movies and limited series and comedies and dramas. And I get the sense that both you guys don't feel like you've got it figured out. So maybe you had a moment where you thought you were a big shot, but I don't buy it.

But it's a little bit of the actor's illness. You never think you're good enough. You always feel a little bit like an imposter. You always don't think you're going to get another job. I mean, I don't think that goes away. Let me. Let's heap some praise onto you.

Oh, yeah. Before you heap the praise, can I ask you guys a question?

Yeah.

Do you want to go to have.

That thing when you're, like, in a room with a bunch of Hollywood types and you feel kind of like the.

It's my life.

Yeah.

You don't feel like you belong? Like, you were just saying, like, totally.

I used to imagine that I had a. You walk into these parties and I felt like there was a number on a piece of paper that stuck to my back, my, you know, ranking in Hollywood. Come on.

Really? Yes.

And you'd sit there and you'd reach around and go, fuck 1200. Really? I'm the 1200?

No, you never had that?

Not really.

Like, I belong in this room, and not only do I belong, everybody loves me.

Not only do I belong, but these fucking people are the worst. They're so untalented. I can't believe how lucky all these motherfuckers are. This person can barely read. This person can barely speak.

That's so healthy.

I love that I own this room.

I fucking kill it. No, you do have those things. I mean, I've gone through very. Again, I think that it's one of the benefits of getting older that I just put less value on shit like that. And there was a time coming off arrested development, if I'm being totally honest, where I thought that I was going to have, where I had a lot of opportunity and I felt like I squandered it. Which reminds me, I got to fire my manager today. And I've had those moments where I was like, I could have had this or I could have had that, and I didn't. And I always remind myself that I'm on my path. The universe is always taking care of me. So whatever that's going to be. And I don't know what is coming for me, but it's fucking great. And it is right around the corner. And, you know, I know that because it always has been. So I just gotta bank on that. It's the only thing that's kind of the only faith I really have.

You and Dax shepherd, to me, are both brilliant. Sobriety, I think, plays a big part in who you are, and it does with Dax. I'm assuming you talk freely about it, and if not, I apologize.

No, no, I do. I do.

But what it gives you, besides your natural, brilliant, funny, fast mind, you also have a humility and a curiosity about you.

That's really cool, man, but deep down, a quitter.

But.

Thank you. Usually, my. I was laying pipe for Woody. I knew. I knew he was going to be there.

It's so true. It's so true. So lame. I know. It is true. Well, I think, you know, I've had my ass kicked a couple times in every different way. And, yeah, I've talked about my sobriety, and I've made this show flaked with sort of about it and about my. And I talked openly about going back out again and all that kind of stuff. And life is complicated. It's not a straight line. I'm learning as I go. I'm half of the bag now, you know? Be so good if I think he's drinking.

I'm so sorry I brought it up. I'm so sorry.

No wonder you felt so uncomfortable when Teddy brought up the sobriety.

Yeah, man, I'm really stubborn. I'm really stubborn.

Love some bright.

I love it. Maybe sometimes my confidence is unwarranted, you know, like, undeserved. But at the same time, I do really just think about, like, you know, it's that stupid thing of, like, we're all just people, and so those people that we sort of put on the thing, we think this. Or you go into a social situation, I'm like, I guarantee you they're thinking about the number ranking system worse than you are always. Yeah, I bet Ted's a great ad in any social situation.

Well, you would be. You would think by comparison. But he does start to fade into the. Just. Yeah, if he gets a little high or, you know, you start to just back off of the.

I literally, the other day, told Woody that I would join him for lunch, but you go ahead. I'll catch up with you. Which is what I said every night at Cheers. At the end of cheers, I'll catch up. And I never did. I just went home. Home. And you literally thought I wasn't gonna come to lunch the other day.

I didn't think you were coming. Remember when you came in? I'm like, he actually came. This is the first time this has ever happened.

Why? Because they were all going out after and getting drinks and having fun, and you just went home. I just.

Maybe it's not shame that I work from. It's fear. I work from fear.

But we hung a little while after the show. We'd played foosball and have a drink and whatever, but then. Then it'd be like, we're going to this place to, like, a bar. And he'd be like, yeah, no, I'm coming. I'll see you.

I guess I could claim I had two very young children that I had to wake up for, so that's. That's just mature excuse.

What are you still. I remember, used to be an Ojai guy. I'd heard that. Are you still no high guy?

Very much. Mary raised her kids up there. She was married to Malcolm McDowell. They had their two kids, Charlie and Lily.

And.

Yeah, we've all.

And then Charlie is with the Lily, and then Lily is with Charlie.

Wait, what happened?

Mary has two kids, Lily and Charlie. Lily got married to Charlie Walton. So it was Lily, Charlie, Charlie. And then Charlie McDowell met and married Lily Collins. So now it's Charlie, Lily, Charlie, Lily.

Isn't that wild?

Yeah, wild.

A lot of fun. Confusion.

That's so great. You're from California, right?

Kinda, yeah. Born. But then Arizona.

I've googled you. I've googled you. Thank you. A few times. I always say to people when they say, like, so what's your thing? I go, you haven't fucking googled me, motherfucker.

Let me ask you this.

Have you beat me?

This is truth. Yeah. Have you googled yourself recently?

No, and I have not. And that came up recently. And somebody I have before, of course. And I've looked at my Wikipedia. We talked about this because Thoreau. We always talk about Thoreau's Wikipedia, and Kimmel has changed both Thoreau and Krasinski's Wikipedia before.

You can just go on and change it.

Yeah, I think so. Like, it'll last for, like, an hour. I think he did it to Thoreau. Forget what he did. I think he said that he was a crier when he ejaculated. And I'm just using medical terms now just so I won't get in trouble. And it lasted for, like, a couple hours or something, but long enough. Woody, are you here now?

You mean in the room?

I don't understand the question. You're always like, you're here now. I'm here now. Ted's here now.

All right. Like, are you in Hawaii? You're in Hawaii a lot these days. You still doing that?

Oh, I'm Texas and Hawaii.

Texas and away.

Now you say Texas like you were born and raised in Texas. You're not was.

I was born in Texas. You thought that because, listen, my character was from Indiana.

Sure.

I wasn't waiting. I did go to college. Hanover. The Harvard of the man west.

Seriously, where'd you grow up?

I grew up in Texas and Ohio.

Where in Texas?

Midland. I was born and grew up in Houston, starting.

Damn, Woody, I didn't know that.

Yeah, no, it's fine. It doesn't matter. Everybody thinks I'm from Indiana or something, but that's.

What was the town that you was at? Hanover. This is a town that Woody's from in cheers. Yeah, it's Hanover news. Well, it was.

They had it called Po dunk or something, and I said, can we call it Hanover? Because that's where I went to college. And they were like, yeah, sure.

Yeah. They're like, what? Yeah, man, whatever you want. Kelly, Kelly, Kelly, Kelly, kelly, kelly, kelly, Kelly.

One of my favorite moments, right? One of my favorite.

Oh, Woody, I love that, too.

So fucking great. So I love that. And then I used to love the episode where you and Coach go back to college and he and it.

Coach.

Oh, when I went.

Yeah, yeah. Whoa. When those guys memorized, he had this Albania, Albania border on the Adriatic. Your land is mostly mountainous and your chief export is chrome. I know that from the eighties. I remember that.

Amazing.

Fucked up. There must have been a lot of years where you didn't see each other. Were there? Or would you always stay?

We'd, like, see each other once a year, twice a year, or, you know, at least every other year, you know, like, sometimes you're just like, he's doing his thing, I'm doing my thing, and, you know, isn't that weird how you. Someone who you love, you worked with, you had the greatest time of your life, your family, and then suddenly, now it's like, I haven't seen you, what, five years? How often does that happen?

You've had that. I've had that. It's weird. And I remember Krasinski, I remember when the office ended, it was really a tough time for him because they were so. They've done it for eight years or whatever. And I remember watching him go through that in that way of being. I was like, trying to. How do you. You're with these people all the time in a very pressure packed situation. You know, you've got. Everything you do is being consumed by everybody, being watched by everybody, and that bonds you, and it's great, and it's very emotional. And then it's over, like you said. And then you're like, all right, see you later. WAit.

Yeah.

You know, your intention is to see them later, not much later, and then suddenly, you know, you do a few projects, and it's like, oh, two years went by.

Yeah, life. Life HAPPENS. But I think that's why it's great that you guys are doing this in this part.

Me, too. That's, I think, really why we are quite psyched, and I want to meet, you know, I'm really looking forward. Woody knew you, so it was, and I didn't. And so Woody gets to introduce me to you, you to me. And I really love that idea of meeting his friends and doing this.

I was so excited ABOut coming here. I can't even Tell you guys. I mean, really, apart from having to drive east, you know? And I don't want to bring. I don't want to belabor it. I don't want to bring it up.

You know, east of the four or five. That's pretty rare.

I mean, it's very rare for me, you guys, I hate driving, but I did drive here in a brand new GMC Sierra. I have to mention it just, if.

We have to keep that in a great vehicle.

It's a tremendous vehicle.

Do they have electric?

The new GMC all electric is coming out this year.

Oh, but that's not what you're driving.

Not yet.

You're pushing out some fumes.

Yeah, well, I'm just. You know, I'm just like.

I'm.

You're working stiff, man.

You gotta promote.

I gotta promote working stuff.

What is your. What is your yearly. I mean, what are you pulling down? Just curious.

My yearly income?

Well, yeah.

I mean, I don't know. I mean, let me just think. Carry the zero. Let me just count the zeros one more time. I lost comma. I got that sweet podcast money, man, you know? Yeah.

We don't know about. We're gonna. He's gonna probably. Conan's gonna sack us if.

Yeah. After the year or right before the end of the year, because I. You. You don't make money the first year. That's what they told us. Yeah, I don't know if that's.

Did you make money the first year?

Yeah. Moment one. Listen, what did they tell you guys?

We're getting.

Wow.

No, you're not getting fucked. No, no.

Conan group. They're all together. These are Conan people, by the way.

No, I know.

You know what I mean? You don't want to say anything negative.

How come they're saying wrap it up now.

No, it's okay. You know, it's okay. The Conan people is they. And I brought this up before. They all have such a tough time working for him. So they're fine. They're always going to be on our side, right? Having to work for Conan.

Oh, no, he's mean. He's mean.

He's rough.

Rough.

That dude is real.

But you're eping a lot of shit.

Yeah, man, I got my fingers. And listen, everybody, how do you do the pitch?

What do you do? You go in there and you say, you have to do this, because. And you give them one line.

I walk in and I just go there. I look at these executive. I go, look, here's the deal. Everybody's going to wet their beak on this one, okay? And that's their language. And they're like, okay, we're in. We're in. We like the guys suggesting that we're going to wet our beaks. No, you know, it's been. Yeah, it's been fun kind of doing other stuff. And I do this lego stuff, and we're doing. We're producing all these.

Doing Murderville, which I really love that you improvise it. Yeah, it's great.

Murderville, based on this english format, murder and success. Phil, we had a lot of luck. And bring that over. The great Tom Davis. Let us kind of bring it over here and try our hand at doing a version of it. And what it is is a. We bring a guest on and they have no idea what's going to happen. And I play this cop, Terry Seattle. We're trying to solve a murder every episode. It's crazy. We had. Conan came and did it. We had. God, we had so many awesome people. Marshawn lynch, my buddy Marshawn, whom I adore.

What is their job? Is their job to be straight and try to figure it out. Yeah, yeah.

And we go from set to set. We have it all pre rigged. We have all the sets built on one stage, and we just take them through and they have no idea what's going to happen.

You mean you shoot it all in one go?

Well, the first take is the most important because that's the. Yeah, we'll do a second take sometimes for exits and entrances and stuff like that. Really, it's that first take of getting their first reaction. You find a clue. We walk in and we see a body that's been, like, impaled or whatever, and you're like, what do you think's happening? What should we do? And they're like, I don't know. And, you know, crazy shit happens.

Do you keep them giggling? Laughing?

Yeah, all of it. Yeah. Yeah.

People break up all the time.

Yeah, it's a crazy show.

Is there anything else you'd like to plug before you go? I mean, you know, this is never going to air, but would you plug it?

This is not going to air.

We didn't decide if we even do or, I mean, Conan hadn't decided whether to access.

There's no. There's nothing. Nothing else for me to promote other than just, you know, kindness and generosity and spirit. An open spirit.

See, I took that to heart. He's laughing, but I.

Just. So great you're here, and I have such admiration for you, dude. I mean, you know, a guy who got about 52 pilots canceled and kicked out of school. Shows.

School.

You know, you're a guy who's definitely should be a loser by all intents and purpose, right?

Of course, on paper, I'm a loser.

Yeah. In the. Just the bare bones of it. On paper, the architecture of it. But then, boom, you know, you just keep succeeding.

You can't kill a weed. That's what I always attribute it to. You can't kill a weed.

You are so kind and sweet to come here.

Yeah, man.

No, it's so great. And I know we opened with it. I'm such a fan of, and you know this. I'm such a fan of both you guys. You can tell when the people are the. Like I said before, when they're like, oh, we're speaking the same language. And at least spiritually or not to sound too kind of out there, but I've always got that from you guys. And I've always admired you guys and really looked up to you guys as much older gentlemen. But I put all jokes aside, I've truly admired what both of you guys have done, for real, for a guy like me. Super inspirational and aspirational, too. So thank you. I mean it.

Thank you.

I mean it.

Thanks.

Yeah, and vice versa, dude. I love what you're doing, and you've made me laugh a zillion times. I love flake, too.

Oh, thanks, bro.

I mean, everything you do, you're amazing, man. I really just. You just fill the screen, you light it up. The camera loves you, and you're just always fucking crushing it. And so thank you. And thank you for the funniest thing I've ever seen on television. To this day, I still go crazy for that. And by the way, anytime you want to come to my dispensary the woods, 8271 Santa Monica Boulevard. You're welcome.

I'd love to come by.

Sobriety.

Yeah, it's really good. I'm going to bring my sponsor.

Sit there. Bring your sponsor.

You don't have CBD, right? You got CBD.

By the way, if you get hot box, that's not the same as in, baby.

That's right. You get a pass and CBD. CBD is okay. I'm not. I'm not like a holy roller when it comes to that stuff. CBD's okay.

Let me ask you, are you a hugger?

Yeah. You want. Are we gonna hug?

Let's hug it out.

Yeah, hug it out. And also, next time I see you, I feel like I can hug you.

You can always hug me. Are you kidding?

There you go. Thanks so much to Will Arnett for being such an amazing guest and an even better person. I have to admit I was a little nervous because he is so fast and so funny that I was a little intimidated when I thought about sitting down and talking to him, and I wasn't and he wasn't. It was a real treat. So thank you, Will. That's it for this week's show. Special thanks to Woody for being here and thanks to our friends at Team Coco. If you like this episode, tell a friend, or better yet, subscribe to this show wherever you get your podcasts. You can leave us a review on Apple Podcasts. If you're feeling generous and the key word there is generous, we will have more for you next time. Where everybody knows your name.

See ya.

You've been listening to where everybody knows your name with Ted Danson and Woody Harrelson. Sometimes. The show is produced by me, Nick Liao. Executive producers are Adam Sacks, Colin Anderson, Jeff Ross and myself. Sarah Fedorovich is our supervising producer. Our senior producer is Matt Apodaka. Engineering and mixing by Joanna Samuel with support from Eduardo Perez. Research by Alyssa Grall. Talent booking by Paula Davis and Gina Bautista. Our theme is by Woody Harrelson, Antony Guen, Mary Steenburgen and John Osborne. Special thanks to Willy Navarre. We'll have more for you next time where everybody knows your name.

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