0:00:02 > 0:00:04Television is most certainly here to stay.
0:00:28 > 0:00:31New eyes, new vision for the world.
0:01:01 > 0:01:03Primetime is the showcase
0:01:03 > 0:01:06for the best that American television can be.
0:01:06 > 0:01:08And so, when America sits down to watch,
0:01:08 > 0:01:12it demands more than stock characters going through the motions.
0:01:12 > 0:01:14To flourish in primetime,
0:01:14 > 0:01:18these shows have to reflect America in all its individuality,
0:01:18 > 0:01:20diversity and eccentricity.
0:01:20 > 0:01:24And that's how some of the most high-risk characters
0:01:24 > 0:01:26in the primetime crowd are born.
0:01:26 > 0:01:28This is the awkward squad,
0:01:28 > 0:01:31the ones who can't, or won't,
0:01:31 > 0:01:33or aren't allowed to fit in.
0:01:33 > 0:01:36Geeks, freaks, misfits.
0:01:36 > 0:01:40But though they may march to a different drummer,
0:01:40 > 0:01:46in primetime, they become one of us and we become one of them.
0:01:50 > 0:01:52Hey.
0:01:53 > 0:01:56I think TV has always been a fantastic medium
0:01:56 > 0:02:01for taking characters who, yeah, they're outrageous....
0:02:01 > 0:02:03I'm passing a gallstone as we speak.
0:02:03 > 0:02:06..they're slightly inappropriate.
0:02:06 > 0:02:08People who are socially awkward
0:02:08 > 0:02:11or people who are missing an etiquette or a filter.
0:02:11 > 0:02:14Schlubs. Nerds. Weirdos.
0:02:14 > 0:02:16It's not a normal person.
0:02:16 > 0:02:23Someone who has almost zero self-awareness. Kind of zero wisdom.
0:02:23 > 0:02:27Expressing things that they've thought of, but would never say.
0:02:27 > 0:02:30Someone who doesn't fit into the world that the audience belongs to.
0:02:30 > 0:02:35In television, for some reason, they've all found homes.
0:02:35 > 0:02:40Whether you are pushing that to comedic extremes for laughs
0:02:40 > 0:02:45or reaching for a kind of drama, both things are appealing.
0:02:45 > 0:02:48They are, in fact, misfits with a capital M.
0:02:48 > 0:02:54It's fun to see institutions undone in some sort of inappropriate way
0:02:54 > 0:02:58by somebody who just dares to be there doing it.
0:03:05 > 0:03:09Comedy by its very nature is derisive.
0:03:09 > 0:03:12You are picking on somebody - some body.
0:03:12 > 0:03:14It doesn't matter who it is.
0:03:14 > 0:03:17It can be an ethnicity, it can be a physical feature,
0:03:17 > 0:03:20it can be bald people, fat people, short people. I've got all three.
0:03:20 > 0:03:24It can be just about anything, but in order to get a laugh,
0:03:24 > 0:03:28you are actually pointing at and shining a light on
0:03:28 > 0:03:33some sort of either generic or specific foible.
0:03:33 > 0:03:38When you do it with the misfit, and the misfit doesn't crumble,
0:03:38 > 0:03:40everybody feels better.
0:03:40 > 0:03:43Knock off that smile. Tighten up that face.
0:03:43 > 0:03:47I want to see them lips white, I want to see them tight.
0:03:47 > 0:03:50"That guy has it worse than me, he's being treated worse than me. And he's not dying."
0:03:50 > 0:03:55- I don't like you. Do you like me?- Yes, sir.
0:03:55 > 0:03:57Misfits in television shows,
0:03:57 > 0:03:59that's like every show I ever watched.
0:03:59 > 0:04:01You can't be too careful these days.
0:04:01 > 0:04:04There are a lot of strange people in this world.
0:04:04 > 0:04:07I'm a big fan of just the classic TV shows.
0:04:07 > 0:04:09What does that sign say?
0:04:09 > 0:04:12It says Beverly Hills!
0:04:12 > 0:04:14Did you hear that, Granny?
0:04:14 > 0:04:17I don't even care what the episode is about,
0:04:17 > 0:04:20I just like to see those characters be those characters.
0:04:20 > 0:04:23Gilligan was a misfit. He was this kind of knucklehead.
0:04:23 > 0:04:25I'll save you!
0:04:27 > 0:04:29Corporal Agarn in F Troop was an idiot.
0:04:33 > 0:04:35There have been so many versions
0:04:35 > 0:04:40of a certain kind of a comedy character who just doesn't get it
0:04:40 > 0:04:42and in an exaggerated, comedic way,
0:04:42 > 0:04:46kind of relates to how a lot of us feel. That's what's funny.
0:04:50 > 0:04:56People love a character who is needy or hapless
0:04:56 > 0:04:59or is kind of evil or horny or greedy.
0:05:02 > 0:05:04I'll get it. Allez-oop!
0:05:04 > 0:05:11Gomez Addams, he was horny and greedy and multilingual.
0:05:11 > 0:05:13That was living, mon ami.
0:05:15 > 0:05:16Whoooo-oooh! Tish!
0:05:16 > 0:05:19When you speak French, you drive me wild.
0:05:19 > 0:05:21Speak some more French.
0:05:21 > 0:05:22Anything. Tout alors!
0:05:22 > 0:05:26La plume de ma tante! Mademoiselle from Armentieres! Anything!
0:05:26 > 0:05:30When I was a little boy,
0:05:30 > 0:05:33I was probably bothered by my strangeness.
0:05:34 > 0:05:38And one day, someone laughed
0:05:38 > 0:05:42and I thought, "You know, let's go for it."
0:05:46 > 0:05:51- Wonderful.- For a minute there, I thought I was going to miss.
0:06:01 > 0:06:04The Addams Family was a world that operated by its own set of rules.
0:06:04 > 0:06:07People talked a certain way, there was a certain style.
0:06:07 > 0:06:09BELL RINGS
0:06:09 > 0:06:11There was a certain mystery,
0:06:11 > 0:06:13you just never knew what was going to happen next.
0:06:13 > 0:06:17It's kind of like Alice In Wonderland in the form of a TV show.
0:06:21 > 0:06:24These businessmen, always in such a hurry.
0:06:26 > 0:06:32When we look at the '40s, '50s, '60s,
0:06:32 > 0:06:36the '40s were filled with war and its aftermath.
0:06:36 > 0:06:40The '50s, everybody wanted to be very straight.
0:06:44 > 0:06:48There were efforts to force conformity.
0:06:50 > 0:06:55'Yes, indeed, both Don and Sue look like the kind of people you would like to know, don't they?'
0:06:55 > 0:06:59The ordinary '50s television family, they're unnatural.
0:06:59 > 0:07:03The people were a little bit phoney. A little too perfect.
0:07:04 > 0:07:08A little too stiff. And they begged for loosening up.
0:07:10 > 0:07:14The premise of the Addams Family was they were insane,
0:07:14 > 0:07:16but tried to live this suburban life.
0:07:16 > 0:07:20I think some of them were in different states of being alive.
0:07:22 > 0:07:23Was Lurch alive?
0:07:23 > 0:07:26They're misfits, but they have a confidence about who they are
0:07:26 > 0:07:28and the fact that they are so different.
0:07:28 > 0:07:31You just absolutely adore those characters.
0:07:31 > 0:07:35While they seem to have a strange exterior,
0:07:35 > 0:07:40underneath, they are the healthiest family on television.
0:07:40 > 0:07:44Parents really doing something with the children.
0:07:47 > 0:07:50Sending a rocket through the roof.
0:07:50 > 0:07:52It went right through Uncle Fester's room.
0:07:52 > 0:07:54Too bad he's not home, he'd have got a bang out of it.
0:07:54 > 0:07:56That's an activity.
0:07:56 > 0:08:01Any show, I don't care if it's Star Trek, or a Western, or a cop show,
0:08:01 > 0:08:06or set in the office or set in the taxi depot, is about a family.
0:08:11 > 0:08:14Taxi was amazing in who it brought together.
0:08:14 > 0:08:16Thank you very much.
0:08:20 > 0:08:22You had this melting pot of all these different characters.
0:08:22 > 0:08:25They weren't a family, but they became a family.
0:08:30 > 0:08:32Taxi was about this family of misfits
0:08:32 > 0:08:37who had dreams that were greater than working in this garage.
0:08:37 > 0:08:38It's going to be OK.
0:08:38 > 0:08:42Take your application to the counter and they'll give you the test.
0:08:42 > 0:08:45It was this beautiful metaphor for life.
0:08:45 > 0:08:46< Pssst.
0:08:49 > 0:08:52(What does a yellow light mean?)
0:08:52 > 0:08:54(Slow down.)
0:08:54 > 0:08:55OK.
0:08:56 > 0:08:57What ...
0:08:57 > 0:08:59does...?
0:09:01 > 0:09:05You look at that show and there's a wild card, a crazy character.
0:09:05 > 0:09:07Your friend Wheeler is a loser, Reiger!
0:09:07 > 0:09:10And I'm going to tell him he's a loser!
0:09:10 > 0:09:13And I'm going to love telling him he's a loser!
0:09:13 > 0:09:17Louie De Palma is like the gnat that's always in somebody's ear.
0:09:17 > 0:09:21The guy that's really pushing and egging him on.
0:09:21 > 0:09:25You never saw anybody on television be that nasty.
0:09:25 > 0:09:29This is the worst boss, teacher, friend, relative.
0:09:29 > 0:09:34The reveal of him in the pilot, yelling these nasty things, and that cage opens and he comes down...
0:09:34 > 0:09:38Hold everything! OK, I'm going to get tough with you guys.
0:09:38 > 0:09:40LAUGHTER
0:09:52 > 0:09:54Ye-eah!
0:09:54 > 0:09:56Mostly broadcast networks were strongly suggesting
0:09:56 > 0:09:58that every character needed to be likeable
0:09:58 > 0:10:01and they can't do anything that is going to upset anybody
0:10:01 > 0:10:02because we need to root for them.
0:10:05 > 0:10:09I always use Louie De Palma's example of...when I get the note,
0:10:09 > 0:10:12"This character is not likeable."
0:10:12 > 0:10:14"Really? Have you seen the show Taxi?
0:10:14 > 0:10:19"Did you see Louie De Palma? Was he likeable to you?"
0:10:19 > 0:10:20He was lovable.
0:10:20 > 0:10:22Because he was really funny.
0:10:22 > 0:10:25They played up just how unlikeable he really was.
0:10:25 > 0:10:27Just a great, great sitcom villain.
0:10:27 > 0:10:32And then they did a brilliant thing where they began showing episodes
0:10:32 > 0:10:35where you began to sympathise with him.
0:10:35 > 0:10:40I would be on my way to some event and I would have to change.
0:10:40 > 0:10:43He's peeping at Elaine's character
0:10:43 > 0:10:45dressing in the locker room and gets caught.
0:10:45 > 0:10:49- It's absolutely untrue.- Oh, yeah? So why are your eyes tearing?
0:10:49 > 0:10:51Because I'm hurt.
0:10:51 > 0:10:55I'm hurt that you would even think that I could do such an awful thing.
0:10:55 > 0:10:56So how come only one eye is tearing?
0:10:56 > 0:10:59Well, it's not the end of the world.
0:10:59 > 0:11:03It's like, "I'm sorry." And I go, "Haven't you ever been violated?"
0:11:03 > 0:11:05And he tells this heartbreaking story
0:11:05 > 0:11:08of having to buy clothes in the children's section.
0:11:08 > 0:11:11The only way I can get anything to fit me is, er...
0:11:13 > 0:11:17..I have to go to a men's store
0:11:17 > 0:11:21and walk straight to the boy's department.
0:11:21 > 0:11:25That made me feel for him in such an interesting way.
0:11:25 > 0:11:29He says, "Is that how I made you feel?" And I say, "Kind of."
0:11:29 > 0:11:32So then we had this really sweet moment.
0:11:32 > 0:11:34God, I'm sorry.
0:11:38 > 0:11:40It's OK.
0:11:42 > 0:11:44And of course, he grabs me on the butt.
0:11:44 > 0:11:47I think misfit characters succeed
0:11:47 > 0:11:50when they say something very true,
0:11:50 > 0:11:54almost by accident, about everybody who fits.
0:11:56 > 0:12:00Comedy often is meant to provoke, to agitate a little bit,
0:12:00 > 0:12:02to push some buttons.
0:12:02 > 0:12:07Certain characters entertain us in that way and they actually,
0:12:07 > 0:12:10in their own way, they do provoke some thought.
0:12:15 > 0:12:17Using misfits to break taboos,
0:12:17 > 0:12:21to shout the things that the mainstream thinks but never says,
0:12:21 > 0:12:23was deployed to greatest effect in a sitcom
0:12:23 > 0:12:27that, according to its creators, was about nothing.
0:12:29 > 0:12:31What's the matter?
0:12:33 > 0:12:34My mother caught me.
0:12:36 > 0:12:38- Caught you? Doing what?- You know.
0:12:42 > 0:12:43I was alone...
0:12:45 > 0:12:48If the misfit can ask the question that nobody else can
0:12:48 > 0:12:50because they're either dumber
0:12:50 > 0:12:53or from other land or whatever it may be,
0:12:53 > 0:12:56then clearly the Seinfeld four could talk about masturbation
0:12:56 > 0:13:00when nobody else on television could talk about masturbation.
0:13:00 > 0:13:04I tell you this, I am never doing that again.
0:13:04 > 0:13:08What? In your mother's house or altogether?
0:13:08 > 0:13:10- Altogether.- Give me a break.
0:13:13 > 0:13:17- You don't think I can?- No chance! - You think you could?
0:13:17 > 0:13:20Well, I know I could hold out longer than you.
0:13:21 > 0:13:22Care to make it interesting?
0:13:26 > 0:13:28It was absolutely brand-new territory.
0:13:28 > 0:13:31I was convinced they would not let us get away with it.
0:13:31 > 0:13:35The Contest had us absolutely scratching our heads going,
0:13:35 > 0:13:40"OK, no-one gave us advance warning of this."
0:13:40 > 0:13:44NBC had no inkling that The Contest was coming
0:13:44 > 0:13:49because I didn't disclose it until the day of the read-through.
0:13:49 > 0:13:54Everybody was madly trying to get up to speed with the subject matter
0:13:54 > 0:13:56and, "Can we do it, should we do it?"
0:13:56 > 0:13:58Did you make it through the night?
0:13:58 > 0:14:01Yes, I'm proud to say I did.
0:14:01 > 0:14:05- So you're still master of your domain?- Yes. Yes, I am.
0:14:05 > 0:14:08Master of my domain.
0:14:08 > 0:14:10I worked myself up into this lather
0:14:10 > 0:14:14where I was actually intending to quit the show
0:14:14 > 0:14:16if they did not put it on the air.
0:14:16 > 0:14:20- There is a naked woman across the street.- Where?
0:14:20 > 0:14:23- Second floor from the top. See the window on the left?- Wow.
0:14:25 > 0:14:28"I'm quitting, I'm going to quit. If they don't let me do this, I'm done."
0:14:30 > 0:14:31I'm out.
0:14:34 > 0:14:37I was shocked when they said,
0:14:37 > 0:14:39"Hey, we love it. Just have a couple of things."
0:14:39 > 0:14:43- You're out?- Wow, that was fast!
0:14:56 > 0:15:00Seinfeld was an experiment. It didn't have traditional structure.
0:15:00 > 0:15:03It certainly didn't have traditional characters.
0:15:05 > 0:15:10Writers somehow felt they had to present characters that were
0:15:10 > 0:15:15more honourable, more respectful and somehow they weren't nearly as real.
0:15:17 > 0:15:20It used to be that the misfits had a certain..."I am who I am,
0:15:20 > 0:15:24"but I have to fit into the real world."
0:15:24 > 0:15:28The Beverly Hillbillies did try to adjust to Beverly Hills.
0:15:28 > 0:15:33The Seinfeldians and, you know...
0:15:33 > 0:15:36the newer groups are not trying.
0:15:36 > 0:15:39The world has to work according to them.
0:15:41 > 0:15:45I'm not sure television dared to do that before.
0:15:45 > 0:15:48PROLONGED BELCHING
0:15:53 > 0:15:55We like to think of ourselves
0:15:55 > 0:15:58and our society as being a lot smarter than it is, maybe.
0:15:58 > 0:16:01Do you want to be expelled outright?
0:16:01 > 0:16:02Er...
0:16:02 > 0:16:04Kicked out of school for good?
0:16:04 > 0:16:07Condemned to a life of stupidity?
0:16:07 > 0:16:10- Er...OK.- Yeah, me too.
0:16:10 > 0:16:12When can we start?
0:16:14 > 0:16:15I remember reading a statistic,
0:16:15 > 0:16:19it was something like 30 percent of high school students in America
0:16:19 > 0:16:24can't locate the United States on a globe if it's not marked,
0:16:24 > 0:16:27and people being horrified and surprised and I was thinking,
0:16:27 > 0:16:29"Yeah, that sounds about right."
0:16:29 > 0:16:31Now, remember the rules.
0:16:31 > 0:16:34I throw it at you, then you throw it at me.
0:16:34 > 0:16:38I don't get it. How do you win?
0:16:51 > 0:16:55It is easy and good practice to use the misfit
0:16:55 > 0:16:59which is, again, the person that is lesser than us,
0:16:59 > 0:17:03they're the ones we can look down on in some way, that is the misfit,
0:17:03 > 0:17:06to use them, as Shakespeare said, hold the mirror up to society,
0:17:06 > 0:17:08and ask people to take a look at themselves.
0:17:08 > 0:17:10What do we do now?
0:17:11 > 0:17:13Er, we could do homework.
0:17:13 > 0:17:16THEY LAUGH
0:17:22 > 0:17:28Audiences can connect with that behaviour because we are flawed.
0:17:28 > 0:17:34We are all flawed and, in fact, the offensive, creative material
0:17:34 > 0:17:37is that which doesn't acknowledge our flaws,
0:17:37 > 0:17:40where people behave well and are perfect.
0:17:40 > 0:17:42Would you like a copy of my butt?
0:17:42 > 0:17:46A lot of the '80s television was very kind of, um, there was
0:17:46 > 0:17:49a lot of very goody-goody stuff.
0:17:49 > 0:17:54I mean, I liked The Cosby Show, but everybody's going to Princeton
0:17:54 > 0:17:55and everybody is smart and good.
0:17:55 > 0:17:57Beavis and Butthead to me,
0:17:57 > 0:18:00maybe it was partially a reaction to all of that.
0:18:00 > 0:18:02And now you should be able to see
0:18:02 > 0:18:05the inherent beauty of the Dewey decimal system.
0:18:05 > 0:18:08- I see the beauty.- Oh, yes.
0:18:08 > 0:18:10Some characters have no desire
0:18:10 > 0:18:14to get better, or they're just stupid. They're just dumb
0:18:14 > 0:18:16and they just can't get it.
0:18:16 > 0:18:18Cracks me up.
0:18:29 > 0:18:30DISTORTED SPEECH
0:19:05 > 0:19:11Mark Frost and I got together and would have coffees...
0:19:11 > 0:19:15I think we started at Du Par's on Ventura Boulevard.
0:19:17 > 0:19:18And...
0:19:18 > 0:19:24Somewhere along the line, this idea came of this kind of setting
0:19:24 > 0:19:29in a small town in North Western United States of America.
0:19:31 > 0:19:34Twin Peaks, this town has a mood.
0:19:34 > 0:19:36It's near the woods.
0:19:37 > 0:19:41It's a small town bunch, so there's people in a diner,
0:19:41 > 0:19:43people at a gas station, people in school.
0:19:43 > 0:19:44BELL RINGS
0:19:44 > 0:19:48They're all normal, but just like when you get to know people,
0:19:48 > 0:19:51you discover many, many, many peculiarities.
0:19:56 > 0:20:00- Who's the lady with the log? - They call her Margaret.
0:20:00 > 0:20:02My log has something to tell you.
0:20:02 > 0:20:04Do you know it?
0:20:05 > 0:20:08I don't believe we've been introduced.
0:20:20 > 0:20:23Creating these people and this world, it's just,
0:20:23 > 0:20:26you know, first blush, that's just insanity.
0:20:35 > 0:20:39You could say we all have a television set in our brain.
0:20:39 > 0:20:42And you can turn the channels and see what comes on.
0:20:42 > 0:20:46You just, it's just there. There it is.
0:20:46 > 0:20:50It's not as crystal clear as the story,
0:20:50 > 0:20:52finally when it's finished,
0:20:52 > 0:20:55but it's like that, it's so much like that.
0:20:55 > 0:20:59David Lynch's use of Americana,
0:20:59 > 0:21:04that disparity between the dark underbelly
0:21:04 > 0:21:07between our expectation of what that world is like
0:21:07 > 0:21:10and what it's really like, you know, there are murders in small towns,
0:21:10 > 0:21:13people have been killing teenagers and jealous wives
0:21:13 > 0:21:15and drug use and all of that,
0:21:15 > 0:21:19behind that Norman Rockwell painting for ever, he just zeroed in on that.
0:21:19 > 0:21:23In my dream, Sarah Palmer has a vision of her daughter's killer.
0:21:23 > 0:21:24Deputy Hawks gets this picture.
0:21:24 > 0:21:28I got a phone call from a one-armed man named Mike.
0:21:28 > 0:21:31- The killer's name was Bob. - Like in Bobby?
0:21:31 > 0:21:34No, it's a different Mike and a different Bob.
0:21:34 > 0:21:36They lived above a convenience store.
0:21:36 > 0:21:39They had a tattoo, "Fire...
0:21:39 > 0:21:41"Walk with me."
0:21:41 > 0:21:44Twin Peaks is a constant frame of reference in writers' rooms.
0:21:44 > 0:21:46You will constantly hear people bring it up.
0:21:47 > 0:21:49What?
0:21:51 > 0:21:55The feeling of it was just...
0:21:55 > 0:21:57You felt it viscerally.
0:21:57 > 0:22:01Twin Peaks was not that you felt emotions like sadness or happiness,
0:22:01 > 0:22:06you just felt this visceral feeling of dread and strangeness.
0:22:08 > 0:22:11The dream sequences...
0:22:11 > 0:22:14You know, I just... I give up.
0:22:32 > 0:22:34'I bow down to that.
0:22:34 > 0:22:37'I couldn't, I could not believe those dreams.'
0:22:37 > 0:22:40They just seemed like real dreams.
0:22:40 > 0:22:41Nightmares.
0:22:44 > 0:22:47And we did a lot of dream sequences on The Sopranos,
0:22:47 > 0:22:48we never got close to that.
0:22:51 > 0:22:53'Twin Peaks showed that outsider-dom
0:22:53 > 0:22:57'could be fuel for drama as well as comedy.'
0:22:57 > 0:23:00It's so heartening that Twin Peaks is now considered a classic,
0:23:00 > 0:23:03because it's one of those shows that is so strange
0:23:03 > 0:23:07you wouldn't have thought audiences would be able to swallow,
0:23:07 > 0:23:10you know, surrealism in prime-time television and they did
0:23:10 > 0:23:11and they loved it.
0:23:15 > 0:23:20'I really, am not really interested in characters who AREN'T outsiders.'
0:23:20 > 0:23:23I think I sort of grew up with an outsider's perspective
0:23:23 > 0:23:26for a variety of reasons and I still have it.
0:23:26 > 0:23:29As a writer, I love writing about characters who are misfits,
0:23:29 > 0:23:32whether they know that they are misfits or not.
0:23:32 > 0:23:35I find characters who are insiders who are getting it right,
0:23:35 > 0:23:37who are doing the right thing, who are
0:23:37 > 0:23:41well-adjusted and organised, and motivated....
0:23:41 > 0:23:42Life's winners are...
0:23:42 > 0:23:44not that interesting to me.
0:23:44 > 0:23:47I just think they're really boring.
0:23:48 > 0:23:51Stop, stop.
0:23:51 > 0:23:55'David Fisher in Six Feet Under is a gay man,'
0:23:55 > 0:23:57afraid to acknowledge who he is, so he's living
0:23:57 > 0:23:59in a sort of outside bubble.
0:24:02 > 0:24:05I'm gay, so of course I take those struggles seriously.
0:24:05 > 0:24:07Please, God, help me.
0:24:07 > 0:24:09Take this pain away, please.
0:24:09 > 0:24:12Fill this loneliness with your love.
0:24:22 > 0:24:24'I felt a sense of responsibility
0:24:24 > 0:24:26'when I was cast in the role of David because I did recognise'
0:24:26 > 0:24:30he was totally unique at that point...
0:24:30 > 0:24:33a fully fleshed out, central...
0:24:33 > 0:24:38gay character with a... a complex relationship,
0:24:38 > 0:24:43a complex relationship to his work, to his family, to his sexuality.
0:24:43 > 0:24:46He wasn't incidentally gay, he wasn't comic relief,
0:24:46 > 0:24:49he wasn't the neighbour upstairs with the little dog.
0:24:49 > 0:24:51He was David. He was,
0:24:51 > 0:24:54he was right there in the middle of it all.
0:24:54 > 0:24:55Mom?
0:24:55 > 0:24:56Mmm?
0:24:56 > 0:24:59You do have to write what you know, because then you can bring this,
0:24:59 > 0:25:03you bring a knowledge to it and a depth to it
0:25:03 > 0:25:05because those emotions are real.
0:25:05 > 0:25:07Are you OK?
0:25:08 > 0:25:11I have a terrible headache.
0:25:11 > 0:25:13Well, maybe we can talk later.
0:25:13 > 0:25:15What?
0:25:15 > 0:25:16What?
0:25:17 > 0:25:19I'm gay.
0:25:23 > 0:25:26My relationship with death and characters' relationship
0:25:26 > 0:25:29with their own mortality has been a big theme for me.
0:25:29 > 0:25:31My sister was killed in a car accident
0:25:31 > 0:25:35when I was 13 years old and that sort of, you know, cut my life in half.
0:25:35 > 0:25:39I've been very fortunate in that I have been able to...
0:25:39 > 0:25:42you know, focus that through my work.
0:25:51 > 0:25:57'TV writers today have seized on the drama of the minority position.
0:25:57 > 0:25:59'Maybe that's because so many Americans these days
0:25:59 > 0:26:02'feel that they're in a minority of one.
0:26:03 > 0:26:06'Prime time has a reassuring message...
0:26:06 > 0:26:10'Everyone's got rights and even a vampire's got feelings.'
0:26:10 > 0:26:14Humans are usually more squeamish about vampires than you are.
0:26:16 > 0:26:19Who am I to be squeamish about something out of the ordinary?
0:26:19 > 0:26:22I always think it's interesting when somebody has a knee-jerk
0:26:22 > 0:26:27reaction of fear towards something that is different.
0:26:27 > 0:26:28What do you have? A death wish?
0:26:28 > 0:26:29No, I don't have a death wish,
0:26:29 > 0:26:33I just happen to think that judging an entire group of people based on
0:26:33 > 0:26:36the actions of a few individuals within that group is morally wrong.
0:26:36 > 0:26:38Well, I will not let you put yourself
0:26:38 > 0:26:39or this bar in danger, I won't.
0:26:43 > 0:26:47I guess that is why horror as a genre can be such a potent
0:26:47 > 0:26:50arena in which to explore these kinds of things.
0:26:50 > 0:26:53Vampires often turn on those that trust them, you know?
0:26:56 > 0:26:59We don't have human values like you.
0:26:59 > 0:27:01Well, humans turn on those who trust them, too.
0:27:13 > 0:27:15True Blood is about what is normal
0:27:15 > 0:27:18and why do we fear people who are different than we are?
0:27:18 > 0:27:22The American people, they know these are creatures of Satan. Demons.
0:27:22 > 0:27:24Literally, they have no soul.
0:27:24 > 0:27:28But Reverend Newman, you must be aware of polls that show consistently
0:27:28 > 0:27:31- growing support for vampire rights? - Those polls are fixed.
0:27:32 > 0:27:35It challenges the idea of what's normal.
0:27:35 > 0:27:38But what's your idea on a world where there's vampires
0:27:38 > 0:27:42and werewolves and shape shifters.
0:27:42 > 0:27:43BARKS
0:27:43 > 0:27:45There is a running theme in the show about vampires
0:27:45 > 0:27:49struggling for assimilation, which I think makes it fun to
0:27:49 > 0:27:54sort of look at that struggle in a way that is not really earnest
0:27:54 > 0:27:57or heartfelt about the real struggles that minorities face.
0:27:57 > 0:28:00A lot of Americans don't think that you people deserve
0:28:00 > 0:28:03- special rights. - They are the same rights you have.
0:28:03 > 0:28:06- I'm just saying there is a reason things are the way they are.- Yeah?
0:28:06 > 0:28:08It is called injustice.
0:28:12 > 0:28:13It is a supernatural world.
0:28:13 > 0:28:16It makes you think about how often people don't feel
0:28:16 > 0:28:18exactly in synch with everyone else.
0:28:20 > 0:28:24It's about being an outsider, being different.
0:28:24 > 0:28:27The big theme in my work is the struggle to be
0:28:27 > 0:28:30authentic in an increasingly inauthentic world.
0:28:33 > 0:28:37United States of Tara is about a woman who is a wife and mother
0:28:37 > 0:28:40who also happens to have dissociative identity disorder.
0:28:40 > 0:28:42Which is also known as multiple personalities.
0:28:44 > 0:28:45SHE SIGHS
0:28:49 > 0:28:53Oh, God. Oh, Jesus Christ, it's happening again.
0:28:53 > 0:28:56It's happening, I'm losing time again.
0:28:56 > 0:28:59There are a lot of rules pertaining to mothers on television.
0:28:59 > 0:29:03People like to see good mothers. And it's a note that you get a lot.
0:29:03 > 0:29:05I'm, I want to, I want to up my medication but I don't want
0:29:05 > 0:29:08Max to think that there is anything wrong with me.
0:29:08 > 0:29:11So, to me it was kind of revolutionary to be able to
0:29:11 > 0:29:15say this woman is deeply flawed and she is also a good mother.
0:29:15 > 0:29:16Deal with that.
0:29:16 > 0:29:17I want my real mother
0:29:17 > 0:29:21and only my real mother and none of you other freaks. Just her.
0:29:21 > 0:29:23Everybody else, go away.
0:29:25 > 0:29:28Tara obviously realises that she is unusual.
0:29:28 > 0:29:31She is definitely struggling to fit in.
0:29:33 > 0:29:37We always jokingly call ourselves a traumatic comedy,
0:29:37 > 0:29:39because it is a funny show
0:29:39 > 0:29:42but it is rooted in something that is really quite disturbing.
0:29:42 > 0:29:45Wonderful, now I have got Tab on my dress.
0:29:45 > 0:29:48There is this belief that characters on television need to be extra
0:29:48 > 0:29:50relatable and extra sympathetic
0:29:50 > 0:29:53because they are coming into your home week after week.
0:29:53 > 0:29:56The idea of normal has definitely been skewed.
0:29:56 > 0:30:00I think now we are realising that abnormal is normal.
0:30:03 > 0:30:06We really are in the age of the nerds.
0:30:06 > 0:30:07The people that we all look up to,
0:30:07 > 0:30:10someone like Bill Gates,
0:30:10 > 0:30:13you know, one of the most famous Americans.
0:30:13 > 0:30:18He is this dorky kid from Seattle with a computer start-up.
0:30:18 > 0:30:22The nerds are kind of revered in new and different ways.
0:30:24 > 0:30:28I mean, you ask people like, oh, are you really popular
0:30:28 > 0:30:30and you fit in and you got along with everyone?
0:30:30 > 0:30:33It is a pretty small percentage of people that go, yeah!
0:30:33 > 0:30:36We relate to that - it is a universal experience.
0:30:37 > 0:30:40- You should get one of these. - No, thank you.
0:30:40 > 0:30:44I grew up in suburban Seattle as quite a nerd.
0:30:44 > 0:30:46For instance in my sophomore year of high school
0:30:46 > 0:30:50I was playing Dungeons and Dragons, I was on the debate club, Model United
0:30:50 > 0:30:54Nations, computer club, marching band where I played the bells.
0:30:54 > 0:30:56BELL RINGS
0:30:56 > 0:30:57Whoosh.
0:30:57 > 0:31:01I know that nerd world pretty well.
0:31:07 > 0:31:10America and Britain, as someone once said,
0:31:10 > 0:31:13our two nations divided by a common language.
0:31:13 > 0:31:18And so the translation of Wernham Hogg in Slough into Dunder Mifflin
0:31:18 > 0:31:23in Scranton, Pennsylvania was always going to be a major undertaking.
0:31:24 > 0:31:28Not least was the delicate question of how you turn a plonker...
0:31:28 > 0:31:31Pow, pow, pow...
0:31:31 > 0:31:32..Into a nerd.
0:31:37 > 0:31:39Dwight to me is the most bizarre character. I mean,
0:31:39 > 0:31:42he could exist in so many different times.
0:31:42 > 0:31:43One of the great things
0:31:43 > 0:31:48that we did was to incorporate some of Rainn's life story.
0:31:48 > 0:31:50PUFFS
0:31:50 > 0:31:55He brought in, I remember a photo album of relatives of his who
0:31:55 > 0:31:57were pretty rural.
0:31:57 > 0:31:58And that helped -
0:31:58 > 0:32:02we passed that around and we really saw what his stock was.
0:32:02 > 0:32:03When we discover,
0:32:03 > 0:32:08on around season two or three that Dwight is actually a farmer.
0:32:08 > 0:32:10Welcome to Schrute Farm!
0:32:10 > 0:32:13It all clicks, it all falls into place, because I don't know how much
0:32:13 > 0:32:16time you have spent with farmers, they are kind of weird people.
0:32:16 > 0:32:18We think, oh, farmers are salt of the earth, you know.
0:32:18 > 0:32:20I have a lot of family that are farmers.
0:32:20 > 0:32:23Not really salt of the earth, they kind of are,
0:32:23 > 0:32:25but they can be just weirdos.
0:32:25 > 0:32:28And just as you have planted your seed in the ground,
0:32:28 > 0:32:32I am going to plant my seed in you.
0:32:32 > 0:32:37The nerd, the social misfit, the antagonist,
0:32:37 > 0:32:44the clannish person that comes from a very Germanic love of rules.
0:32:44 > 0:32:47I have decided to shun Andy Bernard for the next three years.
0:32:47 > 0:32:51Which I'm looking forward to. It is an Amish technique.
0:32:51 > 0:32:53It is like slapping someone with silence.
0:32:53 > 0:32:54I love The Office characters.
0:32:54 > 0:32:58I think they are, they are all of us and none of us at the same time.
0:32:58 > 0:33:00HE PUFFS
0:33:00 > 0:33:06- OK, you know what? How much is that?- It's only 25 bucks.- Wow.
0:33:06 > 0:33:08Um...OK.
0:33:11 > 0:33:13AIR HISSING
0:33:16 > 0:33:18I used to make this joke where I said, you know,
0:33:18 > 0:33:20I love The Bourne Identity.
0:33:22 > 0:33:25But I would like it more if it starred George Wendt.
0:33:25 > 0:33:29- Norm from Cheers.- Why don't you sit down, Norm?
0:33:29 > 0:33:31LAUGHTER
0:33:32 > 0:33:37I just think that it is funny to see people trying to succeed in life
0:33:37 > 0:33:39and they have bigger obstacles.
0:33:41 > 0:33:44Man, I hate high school.
0:33:45 > 0:33:48# I don't give a damn about reputation... #
0:33:48 > 0:33:53I had a friend recently, whose son is very nerdy,
0:33:53 > 0:33:55doesn't really fit in school.
0:33:55 > 0:33:58I had my DVD box of Freaks And Geeks, I was like, I tell you what,
0:33:58 > 0:34:01I will give you this box, you sit down with your son,
0:34:01 > 0:34:04you watch Freaks And Geeks from beginning to end,
0:34:04 > 0:34:08watch all 17 episodes, and I guarantee you things will change.
0:34:08 > 0:34:11High school is a time that one has to start to face
0:34:11 > 0:34:13whether they fit in society.
0:34:13 > 0:34:15Why are you always the one who is out of step?
0:34:17 > 0:34:21Is there something the matter with you? What makes you the outsider?
0:34:23 > 0:34:27That's what I always found interesting about high school,
0:34:27 > 0:34:30it is this kind of great social, I don't know,
0:34:30 > 0:34:34experiment in which you lump all these kids into a building
0:34:34 > 0:34:38and the only thing we all have in common is we are the same age.
0:34:39 > 0:34:43Well, if you were one of the popular people in high school,
0:34:43 > 0:34:47you were in the centre of the action and you weren't observing it and
0:34:47 > 0:34:51you weren't having thoughts about it really, because you were living it.
0:34:51 > 0:34:56And the envy and resentment and all these emotions
0:34:56 > 0:35:02kind of make the creative person want to do a satirical take on it.
0:35:03 > 0:35:05You are dead, weird.
0:35:09 > 0:35:12I'm sick of being called a geek.
0:35:12 > 0:35:15I mean, what is so geeky about us anyways? We are just guys.
0:35:16 > 0:35:19To me, it is all about rooting interests.
0:35:19 > 0:35:23You want to root for the person who has the least chance to succeed.
0:35:29 > 0:35:34Freaks And Geeks was my attempt to recreate my actual experiences in high school.
0:35:48 > 0:35:50Paul Feig grew up as a nerd in Michigan,
0:35:50 > 0:35:56so he wanted to make a high school show that was about what his high school life was about,
0:35:56 > 0:36:00which was a lot of beatings, apparently, a lot of humiliation.
0:36:02 > 0:36:05Oh, I'm sorry, did I crush your twinkies(?)
0:36:05 > 0:36:08What I did was on the first day I created this questionnaire
0:36:08 > 0:36:10that I handed out to the writers and it said,
0:36:10 > 0:36:13"What was the most humiliating thing that ever happened to you in high school?
0:36:13 > 0:36:15"What is the worst drug you took?
0:36:15 > 0:36:17"What's the maddest your parents ever got at you?"
0:36:17 > 0:36:19We literally sat in a room for two weeks
0:36:19 > 0:36:23and just told personal stories and mined that for the whole season.
0:36:23 > 0:36:28It became a collective spewing of pain.
0:36:28 > 0:36:30Buy this garment and I guarantee you will be
0:36:30 > 0:36:33perceived as a man of distinction by the ladies.
0:36:33 > 0:36:37The Parisian jumpsuit was actually something that I really did.
0:36:39 > 0:36:41He claims that when he was a kid,
0:36:41 > 0:36:44he thought it would be cool to have this Parisian night suit.
0:36:44 > 0:36:46I think he wore it and he was humiliated.
0:36:46 > 0:36:50The minute I walked in the door I knew I had made a horrendous
0:36:50 > 0:36:54mistake and I was stuck in that thing all day and I couldn't get out.
0:36:54 > 0:36:56It does seem that you have to go through
0:36:56 > 0:37:00a bath of pain to become a professional comedy writer.
0:37:00 > 0:37:05Most stories ended with, and he was humiliated.
0:37:05 > 0:37:08(COUGHING) Homo! Homo! Homo!
0:37:08 > 0:37:10Homo! Homo! Homo!
0:37:10 > 0:37:15Hey, hey, hey! Now, Sam wearing something different
0:37:15 > 0:37:19to express his individuality makes him a homo?
0:37:19 > 0:37:25Well, then, I guess we should all be proud to be homos.
0:37:25 > 0:37:26Now, you go ahead, Sam.
0:37:26 > 0:37:28Problems we have as teenagers,
0:37:28 > 0:37:31we continue to have through our whole lives of trying to figure out,
0:37:31 > 0:37:34who am I? How do I fit in? What am I doing? Am I doing the right thing?
0:37:34 > 0:37:36It seems like everything turned out all right.
0:37:36 > 0:37:40But when I go and drop off my kids at school,
0:37:40 > 0:37:42just even interacting with the parents,
0:37:42 > 0:37:47I feel as goofy and worthless as I did when I was 11 years old.
0:37:47 > 0:37:50I can feel that while people are APPLAUDING me.
0:37:50 > 0:37:53You know, in the middle of it I can just go, I'm a piece of crap.
0:37:53 > 0:37:54CHEERING
0:37:55 > 0:38:00People assume that if you succeed in this business,
0:38:00 > 0:38:04let's say like a Letterman or a Leno, and have tremendous success that
0:38:04 > 0:38:09you'd have every reason to think that you are going to be secure.
0:38:09 > 0:38:13How do you feel about that Haiti situation?
0:38:13 > 0:38:16Erm...where's that?
0:38:17 > 0:38:21- That is right next to the Dominican Republic.- Oh, right, right.
0:38:21 > 0:38:24That's a great shop.
0:38:27 > 0:38:30Those people are inconceivably insecure.
0:38:30 > 0:38:36That curtain is a perfect metaphor for how someone wants to be
0:38:36 > 0:38:39seen when they come through the curtain, it's like how we are in
0:38:39 > 0:38:41life when we want people to think of us a certain way,
0:38:41 > 0:38:44and then on the other side of the curtain is
0:38:44 > 0:38:46when we are our real selves.
0:38:46 > 0:38:48It's all over. You did good. You did good.
0:38:48 > 0:38:52Oh, God. I hope we beat Leno.
0:38:52 > 0:38:55What he's doing, how he's doing it, how he's saying the line,
0:38:55 > 0:39:00it is just...just the vanity of the whole thing.
0:39:00 > 0:39:04It is just the inflation of ego that needs to be deflated.
0:39:04 > 0:39:07Beverley, somebody has been sitting in my chair.
0:39:07 > 0:39:09Did they also eat your porridge too?
0:39:09 > 0:39:12- You know, like Goldilocks And The Three Bears?- Oh, right.
0:39:12 > 0:39:15Beverley, somebody has been sitting in my chair. Would you please
0:39:15 > 0:39:17- send out a memo to tell them not to? - I certainly will.
0:39:17 > 0:39:18Thank you.
0:39:18 > 0:39:23'Going past the joke into what is a character'
0:39:23 > 0:39:28and these are very vain characters and very driven and very human.
0:39:32 > 0:39:35Which one of these do you like the most?
0:39:35 > 0:39:38- Oh, this one.- Yeah, me too. Yeah, me too.
0:39:51 > 0:39:54Larry Sanders is one of showbiz's sacred monsters -
0:39:54 > 0:39:57attractive and repulsive in equal measure.
0:39:57 > 0:40:01A rampant egotist with low self-esteem.
0:40:01 > 0:40:04An insider with all the insecurities of an outsider.
0:40:04 > 0:40:07'I played myself when I came on the show.'
0:40:07 > 0:40:09I had had sex with his wife after they got separated
0:40:09 > 0:40:11and he found out about it.
0:40:11 > 0:40:14Listen, you don't have a problem that she and I, you know,
0:40:14 > 0:40:17- after your divorce? - No, I have no problem with that.
0:40:17 > 0:40:19The phrase be my guest comes to mind. Know what I mean?
0:40:19 > 0:40:22- Everything is OK with you and me? - It couldn't be better.
0:40:22 > 0:40:24- I'm thrilled you're here. - Fantastic.- Don't worry about it.
0:40:24 > 0:40:27Listen, let's not bring this thing about Francine up on the show,
0:40:27 > 0:40:29- all right?- Wouldn't dream of it, Larr.
0:40:29 > 0:40:32And try to talk up when you're out there on the air.
0:40:32 > 0:40:34'Rip Torn was his boss'
0:40:34 > 0:40:36and when they broke for commercial,
0:40:36 > 0:40:39'Garry looked at me and said, "I'll be right back,"
0:40:39 > 0:40:41'and he walked over to Rip, and he said,'
0:40:41 > 0:40:46"Every time I look at him, I keep seeing him having sex with Francine
0:40:46 > 0:40:52"and Francine is on top," and Rip Torn goes, "The lazy bastard!"
0:40:52 > 0:40:55And I just remember that they...
0:40:55 > 0:40:58'That show...I mean, Larry just has this'
0:40:58 > 0:41:01really sophisticated level of patheticness.
0:41:01 > 0:41:06- Larry, you and I have something in common.- Yes. Yes, we do.
0:41:06 > 0:41:09LAUGHTER
0:41:09 > 0:41:12A lot of you probably don't know that Alec and I...
0:41:12 > 0:41:15Well, Alec used to actually date my ex-wife Francine.
0:41:15 > 0:41:18AUDIENCE: Oooh!
0:41:18 > 0:41:23No, I was referring to our charity work with multiple sclerosis.
0:41:23 > 0:41:25LAUGHTER
0:41:25 > 0:41:27I know.
0:41:27 > 0:41:29People would say, "He's such a fool."
0:41:29 > 0:41:32I never thought he was a fool. I just thought he was terribly needy.
0:41:32 > 0:41:34Let's take a little commercial break.
0:41:35 > 0:41:38I was there for about five years and everything I learned
0:41:38 > 0:41:41about storytelling
0:41:41 > 0:41:43I mainly learned from being around Garry,
0:41:43 > 0:41:48and Garry used to say that The Larry Sanders Show is about
0:41:48 > 0:41:52a group of people who love each other but show business gets in the way.
0:41:52 > 0:41:54'So that was the secret.
0:41:54 > 0:41:56'Those characters were all seeking love.'
0:41:56 > 0:42:01They're just covering it because it is not safe.
0:42:01 > 0:42:03- What's wrong?- Oh, nothing.
0:42:03 > 0:42:06Nothing. It's not you it's just...
0:42:06 > 0:42:08'It's safe to have an audience'
0:42:08 > 0:42:12and you just... There's only so much of yourself that they can reject.
0:42:12 > 0:42:15Maybe we should watch a little TV.
0:42:15 > 0:42:20'But getting that love from a camera...'
0:42:20 > 0:42:24- HE LAUGHS - ..is awfully desperate.
0:42:26 > 0:42:30For the iGeneration - that lonely crowd, each one lost
0:42:30 > 0:42:33in an I world of their own invention -
0:42:33 > 0:42:35dysfunction is the new funny.
0:42:36 > 0:42:39There's certain elements of comedy that always...
0:42:39 > 0:42:42They always have to be there. Narcissism is one of them.
0:42:43 > 0:42:48Every character needs to have a fatal flaw,
0:42:48 > 0:42:51or a series of fatal flaws.
0:42:51 > 0:42:54It's an inability to see something about themselves.
0:42:54 > 0:42:57The very definition of narcissism is you can't see beyond
0:42:57 > 0:43:00the tip of your own nose. The centre of the universe is you and only you
0:43:00 > 0:43:02and everything else revolves around you.
0:43:02 > 0:43:05Take it back! If I wanted something your thumb touched,
0:43:05 > 0:43:07I'd eat the inside of your ear!
0:43:07 > 0:43:10I would say Arrested Development was very heavily informed
0:43:10 > 0:43:14by the idea of narcissism as kind of a modern problem.
0:43:16 > 0:43:19Every one of those characters was self-involved and they had
0:43:19 > 0:43:23gotten there because they had had the finances to do that.
0:43:23 > 0:43:27Bluth Development Company president George Bluth was arrested tonight
0:43:27 > 0:43:32for defrauding investors using the company as his personal piggy bank.
0:43:32 > 0:43:33It's all about greed.
0:43:33 > 0:43:35It is how do I look, what do I have?
0:43:37 > 0:43:41At the time, the big story in the news was Enron and WorldCom.
0:43:41 > 0:43:43And they were just ugly, public
0:43:43 > 0:43:46meltdowns where well-to-do
0:43:46 > 0:43:51families were fighting each other, suing each other,
0:43:51 > 0:43:54stealing from each other, lying about each other
0:43:54 > 0:43:58and it was just horrible, and we thought it was pretty funny.
0:43:58 > 0:44:01They are going to keep Dad in prison at least
0:44:01 > 0:44:03until this all gets sorted out.
0:44:03 > 0:44:07Also the attorney said they are going to have to put a halt on the company's expense account.
0:44:07 > 0:44:09THEY GASP
0:44:09 > 0:44:10Interesting, I would have expected that
0:44:10 > 0:44:12after they're keeping Dad in jail.
0:44:23 > 0:44:25It's interesting to think whether narcissism
0:44:25 > 0:44:27will always be funny in comedy.
0:44:27 > 0:44:30It might be a temporal thing, it might be right now.
0:44:30 > 0:44:32I am absolutely consumed about narcissism.
0:44:32 > 0:44:36It does seem to be a very, very strong voice in comedy right now.
0:44:36 > 0:44:40I think this stuff about Twitter and Facebook is very odd.
0:44:40 > 0:44:42I don't think it's about communication.
0:44:44 > 0:44:46I don't think it's about communication
0:44:46 > 0:44:48when you say, "I've just bought a grape."
0:44:51 > 0:44:53Who cares if you bought a grape?
0:44:53 > 0:44:56Narcissists never have any idea that they're, you know,
0:44:56 > 0:44:57that they're raging assholes.
0:44:59 > 0:45:03They have their logic, they see the world a particular way
0:45:03 > 0:45:06and if you are as gifted as Mitch Hurwitz is,
0:45:06 > 0:45:11you can present that in a way that is somehow still not only funny
0:45:11 > 0:45:14but kind of appealing, kind of winning.
0:45:14 > 0:45:16You've seen George Bluth on videotape.
0:45:16 > 0:45:19You have got to learn to be alone.
0:45:19 > 0:45:22I cheated and I lied and I whored around.
0:45:22 > 0:45:26Caged Wisdom changed my life.
0:45:26 > 0:45:29Now is your chance to own the entire George Bluth...
0:45:29 > 0:45:32A lot of the comedy came from people truly not understanding
0:45:32 > 0:45:35why their behaviour was antisocial.
0:45:39 > 0:45:40I'm Jack Donaghy,
0:45:40 > 0:45:43new VP of development for NBC/GE/Universal/Kmart.
0:45:43 > 0:45:45We own Kmart now?
0:45:45 > 0:45:48No. So why are you dressed like we do?
0:45:48 > 0:45:53When a narcissist is not a sociopath,
0:45:53 > 0:45:57not beyond redemption, not incapable of functioning in the world,
0:45:57 > 0:46:00but is still a narcissist, still kind of out for number one.
0:46:00 > 0:46:03I'll call Rebecca. Is she at the White House line? Great.
0:46:03 > 0:46:07Tell them I need a 4am tee off time.
0:46:07 > 0:46:09Five inches, but it's thick.
0:46:21 > 0:46:25There is a correlation with how normal people relate
0:46:25 > 0:46:30and interact, but it doesn't jibe completely.
0:46:30 > 0:46:33I just swung by to see if we were still on for tonight.
0:46:33 > 0:46:37- Oh, yeah, of course. - Good. See you tonight.
0:46:37 > 0:46:40It is pretty interesting to see that somebody kind of vaguely
0:46:40 > 0:46:44knows where the out of bounds lines are
0:46:44 > 0:46:47and manages to stay on the playing field.
0:46:47 > 0:46:50Well, well, well. Lemon, Steven is a good man,
0:46:50 > 0:46:52he is on partner track at Dewey and he is a Black.
0:46:52 > 0:46:55A black? That is offensive!
0:46:55 > 0:46:59No, no, that's his last name. Steven Black.
0:46:59 > 0:47:02- Good family.- Oh, yeah, of course. - Remarkable people, the Blacks.
0:47:02 > 0:47:05Musical, very athletic, not very good swimmers.
0:47:05 > 0:47:10Again I'm talking about the family. Black is African-American now.
0:47:10 > 0:47:12Well, I don't care about that.
0:47:12 > 0:47:15Well, I know that is the type of thing we tell ourselves but trust me,
0:47:15 > 0:47:19when I was dating Condoleezza, there were genuine cultural tensions.
0:47:19 > 0:47:22I mean, we would go to the movies and she would yell at the screen.
0:47:25 > 0:47:28You know, Jack views sensitivity to other people,
0:47:28 > 0:47:32I don't know where... "I have just exactly the right amount I need."
0:47:32 > 0:47:33I call.
0:47:33 > 0:47:35'There is a level of self-awareness that he could obtain'
0:47:35 > 0:47:37that is a greater level of self-awareness.
0:47:37 > 0:47:39He doesn't care about that.
0:47:39 > 0:47:43And I will see that with... this thing.
0:47:48 > 0:47:52- I call.- A pair of Jacks. - Ace high.
0:47:52 > 0:47:53Three cowboys.
0:47:55 > 0:48:01Oh, my God, my wedding ring. Oh, my God. Oh, my God. Oh, my God.
0:48:01 > 0:48:04- You should all learn from Pete's mistake.- My wife is going to kill me!
0:48:04 > 0:48:08I think for Jack, America is like this big golf course,
0:48:08 > 0:48:12and you play 18 holes and you have a good score,
0:48:12 > 0:48:15and, "I want to go to the clubhouse and I want to put my feet up
0:48:15 > 0:48:17"and I want to have a drink and I just don't want to have to
0:48:17 > 0:48:23"worry about poor people and racism and pollution and recycling.
0:48:23 > 0:48:27"I played a great round of golf and I want to sit back
0:48:27 > 0:48:28"and savour my victory."
0:48:28 > 0:48:31That has been the evolution of the misfit, is that they no
0:48:31 > 0:48:35longer think little of themselves or think that they are odd.
0:48:35 > 0:48:36They take it on.
0:48:38 > 0:48:42The crown prince of misfits is Larry David,
0:48:42 > 0:48:45a character played by, er...Larry David,
0:48:45 > 0:48:49one of the creators of that grand opera of outsiderdom Seinfeld.
0:48:49 > 0:48:54For Larry, being in a majority of one is the only way to roll.
0:48:57 > 0:48:58Smile!
0:49:00 > 0:49:02Hey, mind your own business! How about that?
0:49:02 > 0:49:07"Larry", the character, sees himself as being right...
0:49:07 > 0:49:09"I'm right, you're wrong."
0:49:09 > 0:49:12..in almost all situations.
0:49:14 > 0:49:16What is that banana thing?
0:49:16 > 0:49:19These people they come here, and they get ten samples, you know?
0:49:19 > 0:49:22And it's not right for the woman working back there.
0:49:22 > 0:49:24She's got better things to do than just scooping out samples for them.
0:49:24 > 0:49:26They're awesome!
0:49:26 > 0:49:30He doesn't like to follow conventions.
0:49:32 > 0:49:35- You've got a long wait. - Oh, could I try the tiramisu?
0:49:35 > 0:49:38It's good. That's a good one. That's a good one. Get that. Get that.
0:49:38 > 0:49:41- I think I will. Thank you.- Get that.
0:49:41 > 0:49:44- And I think I'd like to try the banana, please.- Banana?!
0:49:44 > 0:49:47It might taste like, let me guess, a banana?!
0:49:47 > 0:49:52On the show, I have the freedom to say anything that I want,
0:49:52 > 0:49:56anything that occurs to me, anything that I would never say in my life.
0:49:56 > 0:49:59- You're like a sample abuser. - What is the matter with you?
0:49:59 > 0:50:01You are abusing your sampling privileges.
0:50:01 > 0:50:03One sample, two samples the most.
0:50:03 > 0:50:06- You can't just go on sample after sample.- Yes, I can!- No, you can't!
0:50:06 > 0:50:09You know what? I'm just going to have the plain vanilla, please.
0:50:09 > 0:50:15- Thank you.- Oh, a decision has been made! We got vanilla! Enjoy.
0:50:15 > 0:50:17Thank you.
0:50:17 > 0:50:19That's not really who Larry is,
0:50:19 > 0:50:22but I think it's like who Larry might like to be.
0:50:22 > 0:50:25Vanilla! She winds up with vanilla, you've got to be kidding me!
0:50:27 > 0:50:29How is the vanilla?
0:50:40 > 0:50:44The person on the show is the real person.
0:50:44 > 0:50:49This is the fraud, this one is the fake, this one's fake
0:50:49 > 0:50:52and that one is real and it is as simple as that.
0:50:52 > 0:50:55If you don't relate to a character, at first you just say,
0:50:55 > 0:50:59"Oh, that's just a jerk. Just a jerk."
0:50:59 > 0:51:01But if you stay with it long enough,
0:51:01 > 0:51:05at some point I will guarantee you that the writing of that show
0:51:05 > 0:51:09is designed to force you to relate.
0:51:09 > 0:51:12A little travelling tip - try not to wear shorts.
0:51:12 > 0:51:16It's not all that attractive to look at for five hours. Honestly.
0:51:16 > 0:51:18- Are you kidding?- No, I am not.
0:51:18 > 0:51:21I wear these on every flight when I travel because
0:51:21 > 0:51:24it is very comfortable. These planes, if you notice, get very hot.
0:51:24 > 0:51:27I'm sorry, I did not see where I had to check with the person
0:51:27 > 0:51:29I am sitting next to what I should wear.
0:51:29 > 0:51:32I am comfortable in pyjamas but I don't wear pyjamas on a plane.
0:51:32 > 0:51:35I like to sing, I like to whistle, I like to play the bongos
0:51:35 > 0:51:38on my leg, I like to imitate horses, but I don't do it, OK?
0:51:38 > 0:51:40- Because there is somebody sitting next to me.- OK.
0:51:42 > 0:51:46Larry's gift in life is that everything offends him,
0:51:46 > 0:51:50everything challenges him, everything diminishes him.
0:51:50 > 0:51:52He perceives everything as a threat.
0:51:52 > 0:51:57- HE LAUGHS - Not everything offends me.
0:51:57 > 0:52:00There is not a moment where you think that Larry David
0:52:00 > 0:52:03the character on Curb Your Enthusiasm is over-thinking
0:52:03 > 0:52:04what he is going to say and who he is going to be.
0:52:04 > 0:52:07He walks through life and he has an experience and he reacts to it.
0:52:07 > 0:52:12- It is not long distance even if it is in India.- So I am on the 14th hole.
0:52:12 > 0:52:14OK, Lloyd has got these great Cuban cigars,
0:52:14 > 0:52:16so we are smoking the cigars.
0:52:16 > 0:52:20The Larry in Curb has actually become the bull in a china closet.
0:52:20 > 0:52:24..I was trying to brush my teeth with an apple, it was horrible.
0:52:24 > 0:52:29- Horrible.- Excuse me, who are you talking to?- Myself.
0:52:29 > 0:52:32- Well, you are doing it really loud. - Oh, really?- Yes.
0:52:32 > 0:52:36- You're kind of talking loud yourself.- To a person!
0:52:36 > 0:52:37What's the difference?
0:52:37 > 0:52:39'Instead of being the guy that walks into a situation'
0:52:39 > 0:52:43perceiving some sort of an attack that was never there,
0:52:43 > 0:52:46Larry on Curb now walks into situations and ignites the flame.
0:52:46 > 0:52:49To the outside observer it is the same level of annoyance.
0:52:49 > 0:52:51I need to talk to my friend, I can barely hear him.
0:52:51 > 0:52:55If you talk lower to your friend, I'll talk lower to my other self.
0:52:55 > 0:52:57- Great. Good plan. - All right.- Jesus Christ.
0:52:57 > 0:53:00What a schmuck! He's been talking on his cellphone...
0:53:00 > 0:53:04Sometimes, there are these outsiders who you would label as misfits
0:53:04 > 0:53:11or dysfunctional, but really peel it away and you keep finding
0:53:11 > 0:53:16very, very human relatable
0:53:16 > 0:53:19aspects of that misfit's personality.
0:53:22 > 0:53:24BELL RINGS
0:53:24 > 0:53:27- She's got my vote. - She's such an inspiration.
0:53:27 > 0:53:30It is nice to see someone like me on a poster for a change.
0:53:30 > 0:53:34I have two boys, 14 and 16, and everybody is a freaking geek now.
0:53:34 > 0:53:35It is great.
0:53:35 > 0:53:38- What are you doing? - Hey, I am running for prom queen.
0:53:38 > 0:53:41- As a joke, right? - Does it look like I am joking?
0:53:41 > 0:53:44When your name appears on that ballot, everyone will think it's a
0:53:44 > 0:53:46laugh riot and you may just get enough votes to win.
0:53:46 > 0:53:48That is sort of the idea.
0:53:48 > 0:53:53Look at what Glee has done. The normal kids are the oddball ones.
0:53:53 > 0:53:54Hit it.
0:53:54 > 0:53:57# ..Disabilities left you outcast Bullied or teased
0:53:57 > 0:54:01# Rejoice and love yourself today Cos baby you were born this way... #
0:54:02 > 0:54:06I think if you scratch anybody, we are all the misfits,
0:54:06 > 0:54:08we are all the stranger.
0:54:10 > 0:54:15There has been an evolution that is reflected on television that
0:54:15 > 0:54:19people are starting to understand that humans are flawed.
0:54:19 > 0:54:22That is why we like the oddball, the outsider.
0:54:24 > 0:54:27There isn't as much emphasis on conformity as there used to be.
0:54:27 > 0:54:30Now it is almost cool to be weird.
0:54:30 > 0:54:33I don't even know what a misfit is any more.
0:54:36 > 0:54:39# ..Right track Baby I was born this way... #
0:54:39 > 0:54:43How many people actually relate to Brad Pitt?
0:54:43 > 0:54:46You know, how many people look at him and go, "That's me!"
0:54:55 > 0:54:58Thank heaven Thing is still normal.
0:55:00 > 0:55:04In great storytelling, you feel close to the world, you feel close
0:55:04 > 0:55:07to humanity and that is why we like these shows
0:55:07 > 0:55:10because it reflects most people's struggle.
0:55:12 > 0:55:16It has to have some element of truth that we recognise.
0:55:16 > 0:55:17I had a pretty dysfunctional family
0:55:17 > 0:55:21and we didn't really talk too much or interact too much, but the
0:55:21 > 0:55:25thing that did bring us together was gathering around the television
0:55:25 > 0:55:29after our dinners were done and watching television comedies.
0:55:30 > 0:55:33That was really, really important to me,
0:55:33 > 0:55:36the family sitting round and laughing together.
0:55:38 > 0:55:42There is just something very intimate about watching television.
0:55:42 > 0:55:44It is in your house, it is this far away from you,
0:55:44 > 0:55:47you are in a relationship with what is happening on the screen.
0:55:49 > 0:55:51It can, at its best bring, people together
0:55:51 > 0:55:52and help define a culture.
0:55:52 > 0:55:56We strive all our lives as writers, artists, actors
0:55:56 > 0:55:59to connect with other people through what we do.
0:56:00 > 0:56:04TV at its best connects with you directly,
0:56:04 > 0:56:09personally because it is a small box in your house.
0:56:09 > 0:56:13Maybe even in your room, maybe next to your bed.
0:56:13 > 0:56:16There is no more intimate connection that you have with anything
0:56:16 > 0:56:18other than the people next to you.
0:56:20 > 0:56:22But the TV, because of its size
0:56:22 > 0:56:27and because of the smaller nature of the stories that are being
0:56:27 > 0:56:31told for the small screen, actually get in a little deeper sometimes.
0:56:57 > 0:57:00Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd