Getting the Solomons together for the first time in 20 years.
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Kristen Johnson:When we shot the final episode.
John Lithgow:Its beenthatlong.
But then they pitched you this, and you said yes.
I was never going to do a sitcom.
I was sort of ambushed byBonnie and Terry TurnerandMarcy Carsey and Tom Werner and Caryn Mandabachat this historic breakfast.
I sat down and saw the whole power structure of Carsey-Werner and I suddenly realized, Im being pitched.
It was such an incredible premise, and they had completely tailored it for my particular lunacy.
Theyd gotten a little glimpse of it when Id hostedSNLand were on the writing staff.
They changed my entire life in five minutes.
That was the beginning of the process of putting together the four of us.
French, your character defines the outer boundaries of how weird these people are going to be.
The great thing about it was they gave us a lot of latitude.
If you came up with an idea, they were open to it and its not always like that.
You could pitch them something and theyd either say yay or nay.
Gradually, they figured out how to write for you.
I felt like, Just go for it.
He was sort of going to be a perverted Urkel.
And then I went and did like, ten years in TV jail afterward.
No doctor parts for me!
He walked in, and we suddenly understood what was funny about Harry.
they just knew so brilliantly how to write for him.
They walked in and everybody else just dropped off the page.
I was trying to imagine what that must have been like as an adolescent.
Its exactly perfect, because being an adolescent, you feel like an alien.
You feel out of place all the time, and then the punch line is that feeling never stops.
It set me up on a good path for life.
When I watched the show, I was seeing it in reruns.
They knew all about doing that.
]KJ:You were really young!
I remember looking at it like, Oh, thats a possibility?
It was really a collaborative effort.
Obviously the writers Bonnie especially, and Christine Zander really loved writing for her.
I think they all did.
They loved writing for all of us, but I think there was something about writing this particular woman.
Melina Root, the costume designer, and Johnny Foam we all worked together to get the look right.
I said, I want her to kind of look like a hot lesbian.
It was this collaboration that kind of came together.
Honestly, Id never read a script like that.
I was just like, No one else can play this.
I have to do it.
So that was how that worked out.
But only later did I understand how feminine-stereotypically bendy she was if thats even a phrase.
You also spend a lot of time with the incredible Wayne Knight, who plays Don.
I dont know how it happened.
Playing the Donny and Sally scenes were just heaven.
Hes so fun to act with.
Wayne Knight: [From offstage, micd up.]
[Wayne Knight enters.
Hugs all around.]
Wayne Knight, everyone!
I am so pleased we kept the surprise.
Wayne, do you remember the process of auditioning for Don?
Had you seen the show?WK:It wasnt really like that, in a weird way.
I was doingSeinfeld
KJ:Whatsthat?
WK:Were on the CBS Radford lot, and Im walking this is a long story.
Terry Turner and I went to college together at the University of Georgia.
I was an undergraduate student; he was a graduate student.
We did a play together calledJimmy Shine.
He was so full of life at that time.
And I didnt think anything of it.
Then Im on the lot at Radford,3rd Rockhas started, and I run into Bonnie and Terry.
They say, You know, wed really love to write a show for you.
Im like, Hello?
We cant really do it.
I said, Theyre putting me on the front of the bus you fucking … And thats how.
KJ:I didnt mean it that way!
Like, young modely guys!
WK:I know how you meant it!
KJ:You know how I meant it!
So he comes on as Officer Don and right away it was chemistry!
You cant bottle it.
WK:Its strange, in that first scene, just like [growling sound].
What we figured out is that its like pheromones.
You could get into a room and justsensethat she was in the room.
KJ:We didnt even have to see each other.
How long did it take you to learn this dance?JL:Like 17 minutes.
Everything on3rd Rockhappened fast, and we had this fantastic choreographer.
Somebody, say her name.
FS:Marguerite Pomerhn-Derricks.
JL:She whipped this thing together so fast.
Shed done her research, she knew all about exactly how they stood and how they moved their feet.
It started with me, soecstatic.
We just thought he wassuchan asshole, so they wrote this episode where we basically got him.
Instead of the Lord of the Dance, it was the King of the Jig.
I went off to see him with Doctor Albright and came out so incredibly excited, all by myself.
And then the whole crowd was swirling with Irish dance, and Flatley was somewhere cursing us!
It was just great.
JL:You got to do the dustbin stomp.
When we strapped garbage can lids to our feet?
KJ:Oh yes!
JL:Marguerite did that one too.
Im curious if there were guest roles you were excited about.WK:Declan McManus!
JL:Billy Connolly!
WK:John Cleese.
JL:Christine Baranski.
FS:William Shatner was on the show.
Have you worked with the Shat?
No, my scene has not been Shat upon yet.
Have you worked with the Shat?
But he was really fun.
WK:Oh my God, I remember this!
FS:Im like, Oh, okay, and I sit down.
Then, it starts getting a little more heated, and Id never seen this from John.
Hes such a nice man it never happens.
And then its gettingreallyheated.
And then finally Shatner looks at me and says, Well what about you?
How doyouthink the scene should be done?
And I know Im going to see John every day, and Shatner will be gone on Monday.
So I go, Well, I think Johns way is the best way.
And then they both just start laughing at me and I realize its April Fools Day!
Did you notice that?
WK:But it dawned on youafterthe sixth year!
JL:I got them every year to the point where I really had to work hard.
And we roared at each other.
Bill considered it his greatest performance.
And everybody was just their faces were white, because wed already shot the preceding episode.
There was no way we were going to replace Bill Shatner.
And then we came out with a cake.
Part of what makes the show so special is the writers.
We have a special clip from a very well-known writer of the show.
When I was working there, I had just started writing.
I just thought,Oh, this is the way TV shows are.
I send you all the best, and I love you.
JL:Aw, what a wonderful pal.
He got to write for John Cleese and he createdPlanet Monkey World.I believe that was his first episode.
KJ:That was the one where you broke your foot, no?
JL:Could be!
But I do know that that young boy was writing comedy forJohn Cleese.
FS:Will looks like hammered shit now.
Somebody had to say it!
WK:Did he get a liver transplant recently?
He needs a hard wall to bounce off or he will not bounce.
Of course, they had worked extensively with Jane.
They had written theConeheadsmovie, and they were very good friends.
They called her up and brought her in, and we reshot a third of the pilot.
And suddenly,pop!
And that was the shot heard round the world.
That was the big punch line of the pilot episode, and it was all Jane.
She was the wall, and I was the tennis ball.
I do have another surprise.
We have somebody on Zoom who I think would like to say hello.Jane Curtin:Hi guys!
Im in the sun right now.
Its very bright in my house.
[Cheers and applause.]
Jane, thank you so much for joining us.
I was constantly trying not to laugh while working on that show because it was so damned funny.
Every moment of that particular show when John and Mary were interacting, I couldnt stop laughing.
To me, that was just the funniest thing in the world.
I loved being attached by pantyhose!
Everybody knew exactly what they were doing, and the writers had written exactly the right stuff for us.
People would just laugh themselves silly those days.
KJ:We never laughed going, Ooh, thats a stinker!
like, ever, right?
Every time we were like, Oh, thats thefunniestthing!
WK:Its very rare that you work on something where the table read is the reward.
Its not the starting-off place, its a reward.
Its like getting a cookie, you know?
You come in and youre like, Oh boy, here we go!
It was like that with the whole show.
You always set the tone: I am bringing it now!
And so we would all be like, Okay!
JL:Oh, God bless you, Joe.
But I tell you, there was a real method to that.
They have to run out and fix whatever doesnt work.
And these are the best comedy writers I mean, thebestcomedy writers.
FS:Our writers room was legendary.
They had to have everything when they left that.
Theyd go right off and have an hour-long notes session based on what we had done.
KJ:Its weird to do shows after and the actors bring maybe 20 percent to the rehearsals.
And thats not the case, and I miss it.
JGL:But itshouldbe.
KJ:It should be.
Those shows, you came in there and you read full out.
There were a couple people onSNLwho didnt, but everybody else did!
There is this desire to have this relationship work.
I remember being so struck by how much they were really hot for each other.
Jane, could you talk about when you came in?
But Im a really good cold-reader, so I can get what I need from the script.
It was right there: What I had to do and what Mary had to be.
I didnt see any other way of doing it it was on the page.
Thats the writers allowing me to do whatever I do to make that happen.
It was the writers that created Mary.
It had to have happened constantly.JL:Well, I think there was the farting episode.
That featured heavily in the blooper reel at the end of the season.
Jane is absolutely the best deadpan face in comedy.
Theres no question, just harkening way back to her and Chevy Chase.
But when she breaks, its like the Hoover Dam!
She is gone for the next 45 minutes!
And its really the most glorious moment in comedy acting, acting with her when she breaks.
That has got to be so satisfying.JL:Oh my God!
Well, she was farting, what can I tell you?
And she could not get through the scene without breaking.
Finally, she would get it andIwould break.
The studio audience just loved it.
Well, I can imagine.
Really?JC: No.
French, it seemed like in that turkey sceneFS:Oh yeah.
KJ:When you spit on the baby.
JGL:I totally lose it, and they picked it to be in the show!
Its totally embarrassing and unprofessional.
And we couldnt get over it.
Its still on film.
Theres so much physical comedy pratfalls and dances and these huge, physical scenes.
How did you rehearse?
Did you get hurt?
I never did get hurt, but …
I forget what we shot, but the next day, French had these gashes on his leg.
KJ:I know what that was.
It was me shoving you through that cornfield.
FS:Oh yeah, thatsright!
KJ:And I did it too harsh, and he fell down so hard!
I never had to do it with her!
Kristen will just slam your head down!
Hey, go ahead and slam my head on the table!
Oh hey, push me through the corn!
You got it, buddy!
Usually, when you saw a spider, youd leap into my arms!
Just boom, up in there!
It just happened like that.
Let me tell you about an actor named Buster Keaton.
You ever heard of him?
I had never heard of him!
These guys taught me so much.
He told me about who Buster Keaton was, and I went home and watched Buster Keaton movies.
By the way I dont know if anybody had the pleasure of seeing French in his Buster Keaton show.
I saw it twice.
But it definitely did teach me something about physical comedy and physical acting.
You take a stab at push it.
Its like playing a rough game of football or something.
You might get a little hurt, and you gotta make em laugh!
Can you just pick me up over your head and body slam me?
And she said, Yeah, Ill teach you how to do it.
And Im like, Oh!
And shes like, What?
I said, I dont think I did it right?
And she said Well, did it hurt?
and I said, Yeah, and she said, Well, you did it right!
Jane, did you have any stakes in what the end of this character was going to be?
That was Bonnie and Terrys call.
So it could go either way.
I didnt want to sway it.
I was up for anything.
It sort of made me sad that I would never see him again, but thats okay.
Jane Curtin, everyone.JC:Thank you, everybody.
FS:She looks like shit.
WK:Back on the sauce!
Where did the salutes come from?KJ:We came up with that.
One of the first five episodes, John and I were like, How should we do this?
I think it was in the writing.
And then John said, What if we do a backward one?
or something like that.
You did the head, and I did the arm.
We came up with it in rehearsals.
You know, Take care of the troops while Im gone, just something very martial.
I was really curious about that and3rd Rock From the Sunwas just not realatall.
I grew up here working on TV and commercials, and they all came from the theater.
Nowadays, when I speak to theater actors, I feel at home, actually.
I didnt know how to do that before spending all these years with them.
KJ:Joe was amazing as a 13-year-old.
I mean, he was so mature, so funny, so smart.
He was right there with me the whole time.
FS:He was kind of an old man in a young persons body.
KJ:And he also was cool off the set.
Just a great kid.
It wouldve been horrible.
JL:Again, I go back to the casting session where Joe came in.
I dont know what your recollection of it was, Joe.
I have to restrain myself from calling him Joey.
JGL:Call me Joey!
There was the funny little old man in a 13-year-olds body.
Joe says he has not done theater.
He almost assigned that to himself.
JGL:You all came to see it.
It meant so much.
FS:The thing is, he always had integrity.
KJ:Remember that?
FS:He was like, I dont wanna.
And James Anderson, the publicist, would be like, kindly, can you?
I dont wanna.
Joe goes, All right, fine, Ill do itonce.
Ive got my popcorn ready and I just cant wait!
I wanna ask you a few questions!
What do you want to say to your fans who watch the show?
And Joey goes, Well, you know, I appreciate that, and Im really proud of it.
And Im like, Okay, so far so good.
And he said, Well, what do you want to say to the readers of our magazine?
And theres this long pause, and then Joey goes, Why are you reading that?
Theres nothing in there!
Theres, like, a cover and then its just a bunch of pictures of kids!
I dont get it!
The guy keeps trying to ask Joe questions, and Joe keeps giving him the same thing!
Joey, whats your favorite color?
I hear all the air leave Joes body, and he goes, Ah, lets go with blue.
So whats your favorite color?JGL:The color of Frenchs eyes.
I had nothing to do with it.
I would walk in and theyd throw stuff on me.
Is it backstage?FS:Yeah, I would hope so!
[An event producer brings out Harry Solomons fur jacket.]
JL:Ah yeah!
[French puts it on.]
FS:I love it.
There were three of them, and I just walked off with one.
I didnt ask because I didnt want them to know.
KJ:Did you take thegnome, too?
KJ:Maybe I did.
FS:I think you took the gnome.
Why are you trying to frame me?
KJ:I dont know!
WK:Oh gnome you didnt!
Were there other things anyone took from set?JGL:I brought a thing I want to show.
This isnt actually from set, but this is from those days.
I have it here.
This is a CD.
This is something that French gave me for my birthday when I was 15 or something like that.
This isDoolittleby the Pixies.
I didnt know who the Pixies were, and he was like, I think youll like this.
The first time I ever heard that song was because you gave me this CD for my birthday.
FS:We started trading music.
It was always really fun.
Did anyone else take things from set?KJ:Yes, I took all of her pants.
WK:I have one pair!
KJ:Shut up!
They only fit for like six months after the show, and then I had to give them away.
But I loved her clothes.
Id still wear them today if I could fit into them.
She was a badass.
Oh, I took her boots!
She wore the same pair of boots for a year.
JL:As a matter of fact, Idohave something.
I have a pair of Sallys boots that fitme!
I should have worn them tonight!
JL:It was so great.
KJ:Just getting to do him
JL:And getting to doher!
I remember just being able to say like, Oh my God, Imgorgeous!
But I remember him being jealous about it, just being unable to walk in the heels.
It was really fun.
That was the key to it.
It was so wonderful.
Its a great episode.
KJ:It was fun.
Acting together with him as me and me as him was like, AH!
Wayne, it must have been very strange scenes to shoot?WK:Oh, not atall!
You know, John and I make out all the time anyway!
Thats what was part of the incredible joy of doing that show.
It literally was an alternate universe where people were actually nice and happened to be actors as well.
WK:Thats so funny because I feel the same way.
JL:We both wanted to be the bad cop, and wed argue!
Oh God, that was great.
Hes Ian, your son in real life!
KJ:He was so funny, too.
KJ:All those students were so great.
FS:Chris Hogan.
JL:And Dave DeLuise and Alissa Strudwick.
But oh my God, Mrs. Dubcek just one of the all-time greats.
JL:And, lest we forget, Simbi Khali.
There are all these episodes that take on really big, interesting, subversive, and thoughtful ideas.
Theres an episode about voting, there are episodes about race, gender.
Were there any you were particularly excited about?
I love examining things that we as human beings completely take for granted, like dreaming.
Aliens discovering, Whats this thing that happens when were asleep?
WK:Is this part of the dreaming?
JL:It won Emmy awards for cinematography and design and lighting.
It was just extraordinary.
Or mentioning Simbi Im not sure exactly how the plot worked.
I guess we enacted my sexual fantasies with Simbi.
And then the episode, Tipping.
Can you imagine what you have to go through to get a gun?
It was better written than that, but I was like,God!It still carries today!
So much of the things they navigated.
FS:Theres some great, kind of dangerous jokes.
Can you go get me some cigarettes?
And I go, Well, Ill get you a pack.
Youre smoking for two now.
It was just really thrown away, but I dont think you could do that anymore!
JL:It was a wonderful pendulum swing between very smart and very stupid.
Theres a Y2K episode, theres a Beanie Baby episode, which may be my favorite.
If3rd Rockwere on now, what would be topical for the Solomons?
Just imagine going through life going, Ooh, I could be writing about that for3rd Rockright now!
You would have to just depict it!
