December 18, 2025 • 50 mins
Delishees, feast on an on-track/off-track conversation about the legacy of Rob and Michelle Reiner with Jon Francois' old friend Laura Greenfield. We'll talk the Reiners, Dick Van Dyke's 100th birthday, and somehow fish oil will get lumped in!
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Episode Transcript
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(00:03):
All right, delicious. Grab a plate and feast on the
delicious culture. I am your host, John Francois.
We're having quite a meal this week the the tragic death of Rob
and Michelle Reiner. And I wanted a moment to like,
reflect on their legacy. And I thought, who better to do
this with than a big fan of bothof them, especially Rob Reiner,
(00:27):
my good friend Laura Greenfield from my home state of
Connecticut, who I've known since 2013.
It's like what, 12 going on? Years crazy, I know.
How can that be? Yeah, we've done public access
television. College.
I don't know. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
I So what? Happened.
That's where we left off, kind of.
(00:49):
Right. Yeah, I was in college and now
I'm 34. Can you believe it?
Unbelievable. I know, yeah.
So Laura and I have done Laura and I have done public access
TV, we've done community radio together over the course of our
13 year friendship. And yeah, she she loves Rob
(01:09):
Reiner, as do I. But I I know that you
specifically you grew up with him as he was at the peak of his
career. So I feel like more to say than
I do about his legacy and his highlights.
First off, to get it out of the way, I think the latest that we
no, I think his son Nick was just, he made his court
appearance. Oh, did he?
(01:30):
OK, I understand. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
So, so Nick has been charged with murder.
It looks like the LAPD is basically saying that the son
Nick killed Rob and and Michelle.
So. That's.
Pretty much confirmed. Yeah, I know, I know.
So. Deep breath.
I know, I know, I know, I know. It's it's, it's, it's there's a
lot that can be said. But what I will say, a lot has
(01:53):
been said about Rob. Have you heard much about what
Michelle Reiner brought to the table?
I, I this encouraged me to do itlike a kind of a deep dive into
who she was in relation to herself and in relation to her
relationship with Rob. I'm not much help there.
I don't know. I remember when he was married
to Penny Marshall. Yeah, yeah.
(02:14):
The day and then had their daughter and and I thought that
was and I remember Penny Marshall when she was on The Odd
Couple. Yeah, or what was it?
Laverne and Shirley and. Before that, that that came
before Laverne and Shirley. She was, she was Myrna, I think
what her name was. She was the secretary, Oscar's
secretary. Got it.
(02:34):
Something like that. But she was on there before
Laverne and Shirley came out. Yeah, and I know that sort of
the trajectory of Rob's love life from his relationship with
Penny Marshall, and then he got divorced from her and then he
was single for like 10 years. I know that sort of formed the
basis of one of his most known movies that he directed, When
Harry Met Sally. I love that movie.
(02:57):
I know it's the greatest, probably the greatest ROM ROM
com. I'm always like, I'm a scroller.
I wish I weren't, but I'm ATV scroller because there's nothing
there. So I keep thinking the more I
go, something will appear and they're really big into showing
a lot of 80s move. The same ones, of course,
repeatedly, basically the same or whatever channels are we
getting. We're getting The Breakfast Club
ad nauseam and plenty that are absolutely wonderful.
(03:19):
Whatever movies, but we're seeing them constantly and what
happened? I know whenever Ali's been on TV
and things like that. And I thought, I wonder now if
they're going to start throwing some of these things out there.
But it seems, you know, it's just kind of the same, like
we're stuck in this one particular era of like movies
and whatnot. And like, we just kind of
(03:39):
bypassed the 90s, I guess, and went on to Marvel.
I know it's quite a job, quite the.
Job, that's another story, but yeah.
But what's? His name, What's his name?
But I was going to call it Reiner from All in the Family,
too. I was a kid growing up on that.
Yeah, in the. 70s and this wholeI and I can remember the whole
(04:00):
Archie meeting and even as a kidI may not have not understood
everything you're talking about but it was like anybody can get
what's going on in the conflict with these two.
I love him because he had a tie dye T-shirt that was good with
me so. Yeah, I I would think because
all in the family like you, you had Archie Bunker, the
conservative father, you had hisson-in-law played by Rob Reiner,
(04:24):
who was the sort of the hippie dippie, anti Vietnam War person
and yeah, and Rob represented. Yeah, Robert.
Presented and they just clashed like they couldn't see on
anything. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
And, and that was sort of, God, I would arguably say that that
was that that was sort of a precursor to the political
discourse that we just have now where it's like liberal versus
(04:48):
conservative. And how can we debate our points
and get fiery with each other and then somehow not kill each
other at the end of the day? Well.
That was makes me think of and the difference in the times 95
was American president. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
And the the the I can't believe I almost used the word
discourse. I don't use that ever.
You said it. It's such an academic word.
(05:10):
It's OK. I just don't know.
But anyway, and what they're talking about and you had to be
the president and and it was so 90s.
It was very, in that time, very reflective of Clinton and Hope
and Obama coming up and, and very positive and getting over
the the weapons of mass destruction that hadn't been
there at all anyway, and this positive thing.
(05:31):
And then it was just like we, wejust kind of what happened since
then and what, what are we talking about now?
And I don't want to talk about, it's so stupid.
I know, I know, I know. But he did and but he did so in
a way that was, you know, you can you can relate.
He put it in a story where, yeah, it's goofy and it's funny
and it's you know, but it was clever to me.
(05:53):
It that's just clever and it's anice way to eat something.
But and then he does the good men, you know, 1 government 1
was like so big David. Now he's dropping almost over
over 10 years later and that kind of environment and whatnot.
So I liked it. He was he did different things.
I mean he he felt a lot and he said what he meant, but he
wasn't out there screaming and yelling.
(06:14):
He did so quietly. Yeah, yeah, absolutely.
So let's let's let's kind of backtrack and let's maybe give
context to, for example, like When Harry Met Sally.
I know that, like I said, Rob had his relationship with Penny
Marshall. He broke up with her and then
had that divorce. And I know that the original
ending of When Harry Met Sally was going to be like Harry and
(06:36):
Sally, like they never got together.
They would meet like years laterand meet and and never see each
other again after that because Rob, Rob thought that, OK, you
fall in love and. Then that was it.
You. Just don't.
You break up and then that was it.
But then Michelle came into his life and that relationship
blossoms and he and and she was the one that encouraged him to
(06:57):
change the ending to that. Where they have the happy idea,
Where, where, where they go for best friends to lovers forever.
Famous beginning of your life tostart right now.
Yeah, yeah, yeah. The beginning.
Yeah, yeah, yeah. The, the, the thing about when
you want to like, what is it? You, you when you figure out you
want to spend the rest of your life with somebody, you want the
rest of your life to start rightnow.
(07:19):
Yeah. So many, I, my former husband,
that was, that was one that we watched any number of times.
And we had with any kind of movies, we'd have movie
references and something would come up or whatever and we'd
quote something from whatever itwas.
It is like movie reference, whatmovie, blah, blah.
Yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
(07:39):
And. He was good for that, you know.
He was. He was, yeah, so much.
And have you seen the Nora Ephron movie Mixed Nuts?
Because I know Michelle was in that movie.
Yeah, she was. Yeah.
I'm, I'm finding out like she she was.
So she was a well known photographer.
She, I heard. Not like this.
I didn't know she was an actress.
(08:00):
I didn't know that. So she probably like had a small
part in a film. I don't think she was like a
real legit. Like gotcha actress.
Right. Yeah, No, she collaborated with
Rob on a few films. I know she did some photography
work on the movie Misery with Kathy Bates.
Oh, I can't watch that. Oh, is it too?
Is it terrible? Oh, I'm just too sensitive.
No, it's really good. It would just freak me out.
I mean, all I know is just goingto crack them on the knees
(08:22):
without a hammer. I can't.
I can't even. I can't unexperience that.
Yeah, yeah, Yeah, it was. Just too much for me, but we
don't. We don't have to expand on this
too much, but Sally did. She was responsible for the
cover picture of The Art of the Deal, a book which was kind of
spearheaded by our current the Commander in Chief.
(08:44):
Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. I don't remember if I made this
up or not, but I could have sworn back in the day when my
uncle was writing all of these heavy hitter ghost written books
that Trump asked him and I thinkhe said no.
Oh, really? Yeah.
I don't know if that's true or not, but no, I'm telling the
whole world, but I don't know. I haven't.
(09:05):
Mentioned. Names.
Yeah, yeah, it's OK. I could be totally making it up.
I just, it just seems like something from my way prior life
that I seem to remember something.
Right, right. Michelle had.
So Michelle had a hand in producing the Albert Brooks
documentary on HBO Max, which I highly recommend you see if you
have HBO Max. I don't.
Because Albert Brooks, I don't know if you know him and Rob,
(09:25):
they were high school best friends.
And Rob directed that documentary.
And yeah, and Albert also the brother of Bob Einstein, the
late Bob Einstein, who was superDave for Dave Osborne.
Yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
But yeah, no, Albert Brooks, I mean, obviously he was just a a
wonderful. He still is alive.
He's a wonderful. Spending on that broadcast news.
(09:47):
Yeah, Broadcast news. Yep, Yep.
He used to do the short films for SNL back in the in in the
Yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
First season back, Yeah. He did a really funny short
video where it's like, oh, here's how you can become a
clown in clown school or some shit like that.
I highly recommend. It's a great satirical video.
Michelle Reiner also produced Spinal Tap 2.
(10:07):
Did you see the Spinal Tap or Spinal Tap 2 I?
Don't even believe. I haven't seen Spinal Tap, which
is kind of crazy, but no, it's like I feel, I mean, I know of
it. I know the three guys.
I know, you know, I see it around.
I just never saw the whole thing.
I don't know why. It was one of those.
So it. What's funny is that there are
two particular Rob Reiner moviesthat were shown in my classes
(10:29):
back in high school. And I think it was just one of
those, like date. Yeah.
It was just one of those days off where the teacher didn't
want to do anything. And they were like, oh, here's a
movie. Here's a movie that maybe.
Yeah, yeah. Here's a movie where we could
just watch on a day off or maybeyou can learn something from it.
And I remember my 21st century history class, they showed us
This is Spinal Tap, which prettymuch launched the mockumentary
(10:51):
format. Right, Right.
Yeah. Satirical documentary of this
British pop rock band. And then a science class.
And this was probably unrelated to science.
I think the teacher, it was justlike the end of the semester and
he wanted a day off. He showed us The Princess Bride,
which why wasn't it too? Princess Bride wasn't my cup of
tea, but I'll go hard any day. For well, I didn't expect it to
(11:13):
be and I was surprised that it that I did.
I liked it. And then I went to watch it
another time and I was like, no,once was enough.
Yeah, fantasy is not my cup of tea.
Delve deeper. But just because, you know,
Billy Crystal was so funny doingthe thing, Yeah.
And I'll watch. I'll watch the things.
I'll tape things, even if they're commercials or whatever,
just so I can Fast forward and see the parts I want.
(11:34):
Right, Reasonable enough. Reasonable enough.
I know that Michelle Reiner alsohelped produce there.
There was a Christian nationalism documentary that Rob
did like 2 years ago called God and Country.
And I heard and I heard the podcast interview he did where
he promoted that on Armchair. Yeah, yeah.
So I know, I know Michelle helped him produce that.
(11:56):
And then there's much that can be said about the political
activism that they did together.I mean, they essentially founded
the American Foundation for Equal Rights, which was sort of
foundational and eventually, like, leading into marriage
equality being a law of the landin the Supreme Court.
So yeah, I just, I don't know. I just want to give that brief
shout out to Michelle because I know a lot can be said about
Robin, what he's doing. It's all valid, of course.
(12:18):
Yeah. But Michelle also contributed to
both his legacy and to her own. So.
Yeah. There's stuff he doesn't succeed
like that if this marriage thingisn't working, so something has
to be OK. That's my.
Feeling a man is nothing withouthis woman says.
No, I didn't say no. I'm saying if you know, if
you're all stressed out and it'snot, you know, maybe some people
(12:40):
like to work under chaos. I don't know.
I right, I think I used to, but not anymore.
I'm just too tired. Yeah, yeah.
That's enough. I want I just peace.
Peace is my goal. Yeah, so, so let's, let's, let's
talk a little bit about All in the Family, cuz I remember
watching a few episodes back in,I don't know, high school.
And it's one of those shows thatwill be talked about forever
(13:02):
because of course, Norman Lear was wonderful and saying, all
right, let's take this tried andtrue format of the sitcom and
let's use it to expose what's actually going on in America.
He's the 70s, much like the 60s were a pretty tense time.
You know, we had a Vietnam War going on, we had women's rights.
Just take your pick. We a lot of the stuff that's
relevant today. We had the rights were.
(13:23):
Especially relevant. They would, yeah.
Yeah. Right.
Because what equal rights was a bad thing?
I don't know. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Because I know the Equal Rights Amendment that did not get
passed. It was attempted back in the
70s. Because they were afraid this is
this is what they were saying atthe time is because then you'd
have to use the same bathroom. So we can't have that.
Boy, yeah. This has been the biggest fear
(13:43):
of of of democracy and equality in our countries.
Who's going to use what bathroom?
Yeah, yeah. But yeah, talk to me a little
bit about like your personal experience growing up watching
All in the Family 'cause it was my God.
I, I think the, the either one of the early episodes or the
(14:04):
first episode kind of opens withArchie reading a newspaper item
about all these Vietnam War protesters and he's saying they
should all be shot dead. And then you know.
Meathead. Yeah.
Yeah, yeah, Meathead is like, well, this is an illegal and a
moral war, so I understand them protesting.
It's just this back and forth where it's like, oh wow, like
for. Loud.
It was just loud. They weren't.
(14:24):
It just kept rising and rising and and.
So for you, growing up in the 70s, did you enjoy that?
Were you overwhelmed by that? Like what was your reaction to
watching that as you were growing up?
I don't know, I don't remember what it was.
Some in that exact era when thisis on TV that's going on because
I I would be in the kitchen withmy mom and we had a radio in
there. We're listening to it and I
(14:46):
guess the news came on and aboutwar or something like that.
And I asked her a question or something and I think she said
something about Vietnam. And I said, well, I just hope I,
I, I'm not alive during a wartime and not knowing this was
going on at that time. But then I would see because we,
we don't have the visual. It's like really hard for
(15:08):
anybody that that has grown up post 2000 or anything to imagine
that we have one TV in the houseand it has three channels and
two independent channels and youhave to get up and change the
channel. Nobody has a remote, nobody's
cable. The only cable was in Florida
and they got The Weather Channel.
That's about it. And it sounds like this is a
(15:28):
completely ancient time, but it didn't feel like it.
You know, everything wasn't hard.
We had everything. We had big wheels, we had blah,
blah, blah. But it's, it's I just knew.
I don't know if I knew exactly what they were talking about.
I just knew This, this, this just this.
I didn't know if it was hatred or just anger or just both or
what was going on. But it was just always this men
(15:49):
blowing up women trying to calm down, calm down and and and and
everything that came from the the the whole he Sammy Davis
kisses him on the cheek was those kind of moments and says
that's just it. That was just like history, that
everything that just. Yeah, Sammy Davis kissing
Archie. Yeah.
Yeah, black man kissing a white man on the cheek.
(16:10):
Incredible. I mean, just to get him.
And you're all rooting at the time.
Even as a kid, I'm going, I'm clapping and laughing and
knowing that was somehow a good thing.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. But it was it was that and then
it got carried and like the Arthur came from all in the
family and then. Mod was 1.
Of the spinos, I just recently saw an episode about bipolar and
(16:33):
her talking about that I didn't know.
Who knew? I didn't know back then that's
what you were talking about because I was watching that too.
Yeah, Norman Lear shows did not shy.
And hold back. Yeah, and as a protection to
Rob, he obviously had. Yeah, you hear to me, right?
He just did a lot, a lot of the same issues, but in this softer,
gentler way. When with the movies that he
subsequent. Yeah, it wasn't.
(16:53):
Yeah, face kind of thing. I just think he, I don't know.
Yeah, you take a movie like Stand By Me, for example, that
really deals with a certain coming of age and the
difficulties of, you know, emotions and growing up as a
child and the relationship that you have with your parents and
stuff like that, something like that.
Obviously When Harry Met Sally, there's, you know, the
trajectory of, you know, gettingto know this member of the
(17:15):
opposite sex and then you becomebest friends and romance and
this and that and the American president.
I mean, the, you know, the, the scandal, the, the tensions that
can come from running the Oval Office, that that was a
precursor to The West Wing pretty much because I know Aaron
Sorkin wrote that script that Rob Reiner directed.
Right, right. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, you're
right. A few good men.
(17:36):
I mean, you can't handle the truth.
Comes on I watch it if I'm and there it is I'll stop every time
and just TuneIn to wherever it'sat because it's so good yeah
listening to everything and and the I was going to say the
lyrics of the dialogue and just the courtroom itself and the
wood and the shots on it and it's just so so amazingly put
(17:58):
together and it's like I just feel it and I hate how it sounds
all old but they're not making them like that or not you're not
right not that kind of an interesting thought kind of
people aren't driving cars off of buildings movie.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. It's it's.
And he did both those kinds of those sweet romantic comedies
(18:19):
and then he sat in in, you know,that style.
And I like you know, maybe did both equally as well.
Yeah, and I think when he was when, when Rob, Rob Reiner was
in all of the family, I think they're especially as the show
got big and was #1 for like 5 years, 40 million people
watching a night, there was thisperception that, oh, crap, I'm
going to be boxed in as an actor.
And I remember him talking in interviews about like how for
(18:40):
the longest time he wanted to bea director, to be a able to have
that chance. And then I think it wasn't
until, I think it wasn't until 1984 that he started directing
with This is Spinal Tap. Yeah, I don't remember seeing
him in anything after All in TheFamily other than spots in his
own movie. Yeah, he was committed to the
vision of being behind the scenes and and directing I.
(19:00):
Mean that I can see, that I can imagine.
Yeah, it's actually, he wanted to be like his dad, Carl Reiner,
in the sense of like, all right,I want to be sensual in the
behind the scenes creative process of it all.
Because as as Carl Reiner created the Dick Van Dyke Show,
he was a part of the legendary Your Show of Shows with Sid
Caesar, which was I think the first of its kind in terms of
(19:21):
satirical sketch comedy. Yeah, right, right.
Yeah, Yeah. There's a heart warming thing
where Rob told his dad that he wants to change his name and it
his dad is like, oh, OK, I guessyou want to change your last
name. And Rob was like, no, I want to
change my name to Carl, which ishis dad's first name.
So he really, really, really committed to observing his dad
(19:44):
writing, directing, like really being a part of the creative
process of television, film and wanting to be like that.
And that is in stark contrast towhat was going on with his son,
Nick Reiner, who seems to have it.
It seems like someone who's struggling with an identity
crisis and was trying to figure out himself under the big shadow
(20:06):
of his dad. And then?
I can't imagine. I don't know what that's like.
Yeah, yeah. I mean, yeah, obviously much has
been said about his drug addiction and his homelessness,
so who who knows what? Well, it's.
Sad no matter what. I mean, it's just, you know,
that's just too sad. It's one thing to hate your
parents. It's another thing to eat.
It's another thing to murder then Laura, yeah.
(20:28):
But even stabbing versus a gun, I mean, you'd have to stand back
and it's not as up close and personal.
I mean, that's some got to be some rage or whatever taking
over. And that's just was that I don't
know, I can't help think that, but that's just, I don't know, I
mean. All we know is what bits of
information we get from. The.
(20:49):
News. So to me, it sounds like Rob and
Michelle were very loving parents.
Like any parent, like they see that their son is struggling and
they want to do all that they can to get him help.
You know, with parents that are very protective, that can
sometimes be to a fault. Sometimes you just kind of got
to let go and say, all right, your, your kid has all the
(21:11):
tools, they're grown and, and ifthey can't help themselves, then
there's not much you can do. So I think there was that.
It seems like they're. Lying to enabling, yeah.
Yeah, yeah. Like for example.
It's oversimplified, but really there's, you know.
Yeah, like so a deck. So this keeps getting talked
about in articles, but a decade ago Rob directed a movie that I
(21:34):
think Nick Reiner wrote. It was like a semi
autobiographical. Yeah, yeah, I.
Saw that about about his struggles and you all you have
to do is just see in interviews that Rob and Nick did promoting
the movie together that there seems to be this sort of tense
disconnect like Rob like he's he's just his usual charismatic
personality. He'll say like, oh, this is what
(21:55):
we learned. And and I I feel like I better
understand my son and the process of this movie.
And I can kind of tell by the way Nick is.
Saying it, I can imagine the kidshrinking away.
Yeah, because. He's larger than life, and he's
handling his questions as he always has.
And yeah. And, and this is for me, this is
(22:16):
what I learned and whatever as opposed to kind of turning it to
him, which it really should be. Give give him a shot.
Let him try. Yeah.
Like like Nick, like Nick is telling his story, but it's
obviously under like the large presence of like.
Interrupts like me, I understandand the and then I have to catch
myself. Sometimes I go oops, I'm sorry.
(22:37):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. So yeah, it's just it's, it's a
very conflicting it as with mostparent and child relationships,
it it's, it could be very complicated when it comes to the
parent. And the child.
Not hearing each other out, the child especially struggling at
things that the parent wants to understand and solve but maybe
(22:58):
cannot. Yeah.
You can't fix them. Yeah, yeah, I.
Hope to help. And, and did you hear about
like, I think the night before the murderer, Rob, Michelle and
Nick were at Conan? O'Brien School.
Day party. I'm, I look and maybe you don't
know this much about Conan, but he's already had a terrible past
(23:18):
year already because I think at the end of 2024, going into
2025, both his parents died within a week of each other
within a week. And then his house was one of
the many that got affected by the Los Angeles fires earlier
this year. So I can only imagine like Rob
and Nick, they're arguing very loudly at this party.
And of course Rob is like leaving because Nick is just
(23:41):
being weird around people and you know, people trying to have
their privacy and Nick is just like staring at them and all
that stuff. So you they all leave and then
the next day you read in the paper that like, oh crap, like
Rob and Michelle are no more andNick is allegedly responsible
for it. I was also thinking about Conan
in that respect, because it's like shit, like it's not.
(24:01):
It's already enough that you've had the year that you've had it.
It's kind of over the top. Yeah, it's it's a lot.
It's a lot. But have you rewatched anything
of Rob Reiner's, anything he directed ever since the news
came out? No, I have.
I'm trying to think. I have at least a couple things
on DVR. I have the president, the
(24:22):
American president, and yeah, and a few good men, at least I
think. And I do.
And even if it's not on, I do watch it again and again.
I try not to, but I haven't. I I've been scrolling and I
haven't seen anything coming on yet, which is surprising me.
What it isn't, which is almost alittle overkill, is on YouTube,
(24:43):
which I love. I spent tons of time there.
I learned all kinds of quick little 5 minute things about
whatever. I'm very careful about what I
click so because I don't want toget 7500 new things on the one
thing I was interested in for 30.
You will regardless, Laura. Exactly, I know.
So before I do, I think hard, but they've got some every time
(25:03):
as you're scrolling, you have like the three in a row.
And I feel like it's a slot machine because everywhere I'm
looking and everything is something of, of, of Rob Reiner,
Robin, Michelle, of course. And I get it.
But it's like overkill much I mean.
You know. Just because there's a part and
it's like I, I, I, if we can work, take something from it and
(25:24):
learn from an intensely horrible, tragic situation,
which it is, it's a tragedy. The guy, I mean, the kids got
whatever is wrong with them for whatever reason.
That's the bottom line. For whatever reason, it wasn't
able to be healed, contained, modified, managed, whatever.
And, and this is what happened. Now the only thing I do mean
(25:45):
that we can help to get is to prevent it again.
Can we? Nobody knows.
I feel insulted after a while. Not insulted, but after a while
it's just like Jesus, leave it alone.
Don't try and dissect every single OK and 30 minutes before
and this happened in this year and this.
Yeah, yeah, the detail minute byminute of what happened.
We the people really shouldn't need to know all that much.
(26:08):
I just as a fan, of course you're interested and you want
to know and whatever, but it's just kind of, and there's been
so much. There's been so much all year.
Anyway. That's a lot.
Honestly, I just prefer to see alittle more prayer than my
nosiness. Hey, I mean.
But that's me. What I will say the, the, the
positive coverage we've seen, I mean, the amount of people that
(26:28):
have left flowers on Rob's Hollywood Walk of Fame.
Yeah, I mean, that's nice, of course.
Yeah, yeah. And look, maybe it might be
overkill. I wouldn't mind if say, Turner
Classic Movies did like a day ofall Rob Reiner.
Yeah, I was. That's appropriate.
And they kind of did that when Robert Redford, who I'm like
still still lost without, but shoot or something like that, I
(26:54):
don't remember. No, it's okay.
I want. I want When Harry Met Sally.
I want misery. I wanted to get to a point.
Yeah, I really want When Harry Met Sally again.
Come on, bring it out. Yeah, I watched that back in
college and this was already like, well, after the movie that
came out. I think at that point the movie
was like 20 years old and. Came out in 88 I think.
(27:15):
No, No 98. Are you kidding me?
No, it came out in 8089. OK, well I said 88.
I was cool. No, no, you said OK, you said 98
and then you said. 88, I said 80.
Eight. OK.
No, no. You first said 98 and then you
said 88. I remember.
I I heard you. OK, well it was AI misspoke.
That's not what I meant. It's OK.
It's OK. I know what you.
Mean yeah, we can have another lesson on the movies of 98 if
(27:36):
you want, but that'd be our nextstep.
But no, no, I mean, I think I I just for for someone like me
back in college and and Kyle waswhen I was younger, I was sort.
Of no, I know what you were back.
In I, I, I, I would say for as long as I can remember, I was
always like in love with the idea of being in love.
I was sort of a romantic at heart sometimes, sometimes to an
(27:57):
unhealthy fault. You know that so when Harry Met
Sally was just like right up my alley when it happened because
because I always wanted that like, Oh my God.
We started off as best friends that can talk about anything and
then we became lovers. In reality, it's not, it doesn't
always work out that way. And that's, that's fine.
I met, I met my wife on a datingapp and here we are 5-6 years
(28:18):
later. It's great.
But when Harry Met Sally, I justwatched that for the first time
back in college, and I just remember being like, that's
going to be my woman's story. We had it on VHS.
Yeah, want their dream partner to loudly fake an orgasm in a
(28:38):
restaurant and then have some old lady say I'll have what
she's having afterwards. Like who wouldn't want that?
And the old lady was his mother.Yeah, yeah.
Estelle Ryder. Yeah.
Carl's wife, Carl's wife. Absolutely.
Oh my God. Yeah, that was they both
(28:59):
weren't. The first choice for those
roles, I think maybe it was. I think like Tom Hanks was
considered for it, which makes sense because I know Tom Hanks
did like a string of romantic comedies in the 90s with me.
(29:20):
When when sleepless in Seattle, which?
Yeah, which which Rob Reiner appeared in.
Yeah, yes. And I always picture that, the
scene with the two of them walking down the street and
they're talking about their butts.
Yeah, Rob Reiner says. How's mine?
And he goes all right, I guess. That's so funny.
Speaking of butts, I know that there was plenty shown in The
Wolf of Wall Street, which Rob Reiner also appeared in, to
(29:44):
connect that together. I.
Started to watch that and I couldn't take it.
I'm like, how long is this goingto go on for?
Four hours? I can't do it.
Well Laura, it's Martin Scorsese. 4 Hours is probably
considered a short movie. That's true, yeah.
Yeah, yeah. But yes, yeah, a lot of nudity,
a lot of cocaine. And four hours of that is Wolf
on Wall Street. Yeah, yeah.
(30:05):
Right, right, right. It's a good movie.
I recommend it. But if you don't have 3 or 4
hours to spare, I understand you're.
Not watching? Yeah.
Just not gonna. Well, I won't make it.
I can't even watch it. I mean, I don't watch anything.
I know this kind of thing has hurt my attention span in a huge
way. I didn't have the great to begin
with, But now, because everything gets shorter and
shorter and shorter, if I don't see it in like, minutes, well,
what's your point? Get on it.
(30:26):
What is it? Yeah, yeah. 2 hour movie is
amazing for me anymore but now everything is like 3 hours and
more. They just kind of keep making
them longer. Wait, wait, wait.
OK, OK, You know what? I don't know how familiar you
are with streaming services, buta lot of stuff is like 90
minutes now if you if you look at the streamers.
Well, yeah, that's the streamer thing, but that's a financial
(30:47):
thing and that's another story. I don't.
I don't. Know yeah yeah yeah yeah every
now and then you'll you'll get the two or two plus hour movie
but like I'm seeing a lot of 90 minute movies these days anyway
can we go back to Tushy's for a second but I.
Remember, I should go right ahead if you if you no.
Because I was I Oh, God, no. Fuck.
I forgot about it. No, we had.
Oh, yeah, Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
(31:08):
Oh. Oh.
Rob Reiner grabbed Mary Tyler Moore's butt.
Have you heard that story? No.
Oh. So this was a story that he
often told So. No way.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. So Rob was a teenager when his
dad, Carl was like, producing the Dick Van Dyke Show.
And you got to imagine, like when the hormones are bubbling
as a 14 year old, you see, you see like a 25 year old Mary
(31:29):
Tyler Moore and Capri pants and you're in the tushy.
Yeah, yeah. So Rob had a a moment, which is
which now obviously doesn't holdup, where where he grabbed Mary
Tyler Moore's tushy. Of course, Mary Tyler Moore was
unpleasantly surprised. She reports that to Carl.
Carl is telling Rob like, hey, don't do that again.
And then I think like years later for like a Dick Van Dyke
(31:50):
reunion special, Rob and Mary were amusingly talking about
that situation. And I, I guess I, I guess out of
a joke, like Rob grabbed Mary's tush again as they were much
older. And Mary is said in response
jokingly, Oh, Rob. Which is like a reference to
her, her character with Dick VanDyke on the Dick Van Dyke show.
Yeah, hey, Dick Van Dyke is 100 years old.
(32:15):
I know. That's really cool.
I'm so glad I was a little concerned because they because
last year they were making a bigdeal out of it and you make this
big, huge deal when he's 99. I'm sorry.
I just don't want you to jinx it, please.
Yeah. So if someone asked him like,
what role would he like to play?And I don't think it's out of
reason he wants to play Scrooge.I know.
(32:37):
I think that I I can absolutely see that.
I saw that too, yeah. And that's the easiest thing to
qualify for. Just be an old man.
And stop smiling so much. Yeah, can.
Can you call Dick Van Dyke and have him come on the podcast so
we can interview him? If I could, I would.
Cuz what I cuz I want to live till 100 so there there's that
(32:57):
and also. You have to live to be 100 / 100
actually. And also you want you want to
live to be over 100, is that what?
You said I had an aunt. I had a great aunt that lived to
be 100. Oh like like she died at 100 or
did she go over 100? I think she went over.
I'm pretty sure she made like the one O 1 or maybe 2 tops.
I was in Florida at the time, but I came up here for her 100th
(33:18):
birthday. And the stories that I always
hear from these people that turn100, what's your secret?
Oh, I had I had a glass of wine and raw butter every day.
Yeah, barbecue and and. Yeah, yeah.
Yeah, it's always like the weirdest fucking I had raw eggs
and a piece of chocolate every day.
(33:38):
No, she worked. This is my thing, she and
between my grandmother, I don't know the legend has it and she's
shorter than me. She's a short little lady.
Legend hasn't she never got married.
She was a model in New York at at 411 or something.
I don't know. While they were shorter than
but, and, and then, but by the time I know her, of course she's
old, old. And, but she had a maternity
(34:01):
store that she ran and I used towalk to it all the time and go
hang out there and, and she would give me clothes, which of
course is ridiculous because thematernity clothes and they're
huge and I'm a little, little child, but I love to watch her
help the people. And she wouldn't, She had a
bulletin board with pictures of the babies and the mummies and
all these people and then come back and give her cookies and
(34:22):
whatever. And it was awesome.
And I just think that that kept her going forever.
I don't know. I don't know how old she was
when she stopped, but I know sheshe kept it going a long time.
I don't know. Maybe in close to 90, I don't
know for sure. I think like when I see people
like. Love what she was doing, you
know so. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah,
yeah. That those kind of people,
(34:43):
people like Dick Van Dyke, who lives that long.
My main thing especially like seeing, like the exuberant
spirit that he has in his personalways get a little bit morbid
in my head because I think, wow,like, literally all of your
peers are gone. Like you, you're one of the few
of your generation left standing.
And I know you have, you have younger family members.
(35:03):
I get that. But I don't know, I just always
wonder if there's sort of a sense of melancholy, a sense of
like deep reflection when you'reliving that long and then you
see all the people that you cameup with or worked with or
whatever just gone. Like I I guess like that's just
what I wonder when. No, I can see.
I, I mean, I, I've had these things.
(35:25):
I'm not at that age, but I've seen, I'm seeing the people that
I grew up adoring, you know, whether in movies or music or
this or whatever. A lot of them are, are going
back. It seems the other half are
still 80 years old and they're touring.
So I can't figure out, is that the host?
Which I thought could be totallyamazing and awesome.
(35:46):
You know, Clapton might really be God, I'm just kidding.
But 80 Ringo's out there, 80 there's just like that whole
thing, you know, people but you wouldn't think would have
lasted. Keith Richards.
Yeah. Paul McCartney's still.
Around list all of us, but I just think the only thing I can
get is that it just is the spirit and you have to find it.
(36:07):
You have to fight. You can't it can't just be he's
got it because he has everythingand so he's so happy they make
it and just it doesn't mean having everything.
It means how many of a lot of the really the ones that the
Centurions, they're very poor. They're not rich people that
live to be these ages. They live on very low means.
(36:27):
And they know how it is to be OKwith all that, that and they get
by. That's kind of how I see it.
And saying Dick Van Dyke, you know, why does he make it?
I mean, who makes people smile more?
And while he's, you know, while he misses people, he may miss
people and friends. He has this, this, this what
looks like to be awarded for relationship with his wife and
this huge family. Yeah.
(36:48):
So, you know, you can't go there, there you, you, you have
to look back with gratitude. And it's a, it's a, it's a
Doctor Seuss paraphrase, which is the, you know, don't be,
don't be sad because it's over. Be happy because it happened.
But it's really true. It really you have to be, I mean
every cliche after that, kind of.
(37:08):
Do you think Rob Reiner would have lived until 100 had he not
gone out the way he did? I don't I how old was he when he
78? He was like 78.
It's a long time. Away.
I know, right? I think about like.
I mean, my my first instinct is why not as far as the spirit?
And if he's happy and you're positive and you go on that
ring, that's great. Doesn't mean life isn't hard and
(37:30):
that whatever, but you keep going, get up every day.
Hey, I don't see why not, but itseems like more people are doing
it. But that's hard for me to
imagine. I've seen it done and even my
aunt, to be honest, at 100 wasn't really you didn't really
want to see it. It was kind of a sad 100.
Now he's he's more of AI can still move and I can move around
(37:51):
and he wasn't and there are that's a different story.
I don't want to be here just to be here.
T47 is when Rob Reiner would have been 100.
Yeah, I I think I would have been 50-6 years old by the time
he saw him just to. Give you perspective.
Wow, I just thought you brought up Mary Tyler Moore show.
I just saw the I just saw the the last episode the other day.
(38:12):
I just happened to catch it as I'm whatever with the and it was
like the end and and I'll miss you most of all Scarecrow.
Yeah, also also a wonderful watch for my college days.
I I watched the entire. Series did you?
Yeah, yeah, yeah. He's.
I wanted that hair. I wanted to flip that hair.
My mom put those paint rollers in my head.
(38:33):
Yeah, sleep on them at her. Yeah, well, so she she had her
particular style and sense of humor in the Dick Van Dyke Show
to the Mary Tyler Moore Show with all of her hairstyles.
And I know humor befitting up that time.
Her wearing the capris, those onon Dick Van Dyke, that was like
a moment in history, fashion history or on TV at that time.
(38:53):
I hate to be more of it again. Sometimes when I think of of the
of the Mary Tyler Moore show in the cast and everything, that
it's just like, oh God, nobody from that cast is alive now, but
he's gone. I know I do I.
Know it's just weird to think about because like I know it
makes sense it's 50 years ago but I.
Was gonna say I mean it was black and white TV so put that
in reference. That wasn't even before color.
(39:14):
Well, Dick Van Dyke was black and white.
Mary Tyler Moore was color. Yeah.
Yeah, that and white, yeah, thatwas.
But Dick Van Dyke was was black and white where that's all
started so but. Also, that's just bizarre.
He's like from the black and. White days.
And he's still alive with us. Yeah, but no, no, I mean, I
think from the Dick Van Dyke Show cast, Dick is the only one
that's still alive from that entire group.
The. One that I was feeling sad for
was was Mel Brooks, because he'slike the last one of his.
(39:37):
I forgot. Yeah.
I think he just turned on 102. Yeah.
Yeah. And no, because he had a very
close friendship with Rob's dad,Carl.
Right, the car rider. I I remember cuz Jerry Seinfeld
when he did the comedians in Cars getting coffee show and he
had his guest on Mel Brooks. He visited the apartment of Mel
Brooks where him and Carl had a ritual of watching Jeopardy in
(39:58):
their later years together. Like they were really close
friends. Oh yeah.
Same thing with Mel. It's like Carl passed away like
five years ago and I just wonder, like who's Mel's
Jeopardy friend now? You should be the the Jeopardy
friend. Oh, I'm.
The worst I should be. Yeah.
That could be the the Jewish Jeopardy friend, Yeah, that
knows nothing. What's that?
(40:19):
No, no, no. I was just going to say Judd
Apatow is producing a Mel Brooksdocumentary.
So that that's, that's going to be awesome to see.
Oh cool. Yeah, I mean, there was already
one produced, but Judd is going to do a different one, I guess.
That's cool. He was married to in Bancroft
and and and at first I'm on the outside looking in, you know, I
(40:40):
mean, I just think of hers. She is just, you know, reeks of
glamour and this and that the sleekness and and and it's like,
look at this couple. How cool is that?
I just love to see how they are together just as they get along,
because they just seem all did, which who knows whether they
really are not. I just just by looks, which
(41:00):
means nothing, but I just just one of those.
Just what is it like with with them and having coffee in the
morning? Yeah, I you know, what do you
talk about? With what do you talk about?
What, what? What are his?
What are his days like then withAnne Bancroft?
What are his days like these days?
It's definitely gonna. Work.
You don't survive that long without having a strategy,
conscious or not, but have some kind of way of being that keeps
(41:24):
you going. I mean, I think you have to have
some kind of purpose, no matter how big or small, whether it's
just to get up in the morning and put your feet on the floor.
Raw cookie dough dipped in whiskey with a little butter on
the side. That's how you live until 120.
Ah, well, this was great. Reminiscing about Rob Reiner and
a million other things. Rob Reiner.
(41:45):
There is no way for me to stay on track here.
No, no, no, no, no, no. It's me too.
I mean you, you. It's it goes both ways.
Association and then. This.
Yeah, once. Once we talk, it's like jazz in
the 50s. Yeah, we're like, I don't know,
take your pick, Coltrane, Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie,
all the jazz greats. We're just poop, poop, poop,
(42:08):
poop, poop, poop without the hard drugs.
Thank you. God.
Anywho. Well, this was great.
We got to do this again, Laura. Yes, this was really fun.
Yeah. Yeah, maybe next time on when
it's when it's there's not a murder involved, so it's not so
sad. Yeah, yeah.
Oh, yeah. It's weird.
(42:29):
It's weird. But you've become my old
celebrity death friend, which means that anytime an old
celebrity dies, I'm like, oh, let me text Laura like to
concentrate about this because you're the only friend that I
know that I could commiserate with about this.
Like what's really stupid? You have to write.
I have to write that down. Well, you'll have this on top,
my old pretty death friend. Yeah, like, think about it.
(42:50):
Anytime I reached out to you, it's like Laura Bob Barker has
died. Oh, Laura Bob Newhart has died.
Laura Robert Redford has died. What is so stupid?
I I do this. I mean, I have all my life.
It's one big monologue, but because when there's nobody here
and I just come home for work, Ido my dad.
And when these things happen andit's just like, you know, like
(43:10):
when referring, I'm like, nobody's going to understand how
I feel about this. Because this isn't just like,
no, this is just like it is, it's, it's, it's all kinds of
things mixed up together. It's not just anybody.
It's not just and it's not like I know them.
It's not like I even look at hiswork on a daily basis.
It doesn't matter. I'm just knowing that he's off
(43:31):
this planet, how that makes me feel because of what he does for
the planet and why I care so much.
And you're right. And I'm just like, I know I have
been sitting around. Who could I call?
Who could I go good? I feel bad, sorry.
I shouldn't have. But now, from now on, you're
going to be my deaf friend. Yeah, yeah, sure, sure.
I know. Yeah, yeah, it's but but we'll.
(43:54):
Oh my gosh. Oh yeah.
And then Anthony Geary. Oh yeah, yeah, yeah, Luke from
General Hospital pile. That on on top talk about where
you we I split classes to get home to not miss the 1st 15
minutes of of at that time hospital 11 jail TV can't Nope,
no recording, no nothing whatever you had to get there.
Yeah, and the, and the Anthony death was like kind of stuck
(44:18):
right under the shadow of the Rob and Michelle death for a
little bit, but then like once, a couple days later, he got more
attention that he deserved. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
He I I've never watched General Hospital or the.
Loop storyline. But.
I started just because of course, TV guy being home from
school like in junior high. And then when there's nothing on
(44:39):
TV, it's like cereal. What's a cereal?
That's what they call them cereals.
And I tried this. I tried it and then I'm a
General Hospital, like what is this?
And so I just started watching and then, you know, blah blah,
30 years later stopped. But those ice Princess days,
those were the. Those Yeah, Elizabeth Taylor
(45:00):
made a cameo. So ridiculous that you had to
love it. It was just so.
And the world stopped. It felt that way.
It wasn't just like just the kids and it was people in
offices and this. It just felt like the world
stopped at 3:00. Yeah, when Luke and Laura got
married. And yeah, and I missed it.
I was working that day. Wait, didn't their relationship
start when he. That was all kinds of Yeah, that
(45:21):
was very well. Controversial.
Very controversial. Yes, it was.
Some of us had a problem with that.
Understandably. There were a lot of letters.
Yeah, yeah. But that.
Town, he was a mobster. He came to town to work for
Frank Smith, the big mobster, and and then he opens this disco
(45:41):
and then Laura comes to want to work at the disco, which is so
silly and. When you think about it, yeah,
you. Know thing was and she looks
like she's like 9 she's very young and he's older I don't
know how much, but pretty much inappropriately older at that
time and that was the whole yeahand then just go and it was
(46:02):
just. Well, I gotta give I, I, I don't
know if they, I don't know if there's a catalog of like all
the 9000 episodes of General Hospital on a streaming service,
but. Probably, yeah.
I don't know. I know it was forever and then
I'd come and go and then it's like, and you know how horrible
and stupid, You always know it'shorrible and stupid, but it was
fun. At least it was kind of.
(46:23):
And then it just got so, Oh my gosh, or, or I changed.
It's totally possible. And I will from time to time
just check in and go who's there?
Who's still there? And who was this and?
Well didn't Anthony leave the show and come back as like
Luke's look alike cousin or someshit like that?
Briefly, yeah, that wasn't yeah,but he would come and go just
kind. That's yeah.
(46:43):
Which I wrote in for the character, which worked with his
character. It was.
He was that kind of guy anyway, so.
And then he kind of like stayed at a certain point consistently
up until like 2015, 2015 is when?
He left. Yeah.
I don't remember when. Yeah, by that point, I'm.
I'm kind. Of yeah, you checked out and
you're like fuck this, this is this.
Is sometimes it was just like, you know, you just watch
something for nostalgia's sake and it's fun.
(47:04):
It's like, no, I can't even thisisn't even fun for that.
This is not fun. Yeah, yeah, well, great times
were had talking about. No, no, you're fine.
You're fine. Hi for you listening, find the
delicious culture wherever you get your podcasts.
Apple, Spotify, iheart, Amazon is SiriusXM, wherever you get
your podcasts. Delicious.
Laura's like, wait, what the fuck?
(47:27):
It's the deliciousculture@gmail.com at
the Delicious culture on Instagram to TikTok and YouTube.
You can follow me on TikTok at John Francois Presents.
Laura, since you are my fabulousguest, what do you want to
promote? Do you want to promote how fish
oil can make you live until 102?Yeah.
I know, right? No.
(47:48):
What would you like to promote that?
Reminded me of a song on Doctor Demento.
Used to be a radio guy on Saturday nights way back when.
He was totally goofy, blah blah blah.
And there was, I don't know where it came from, but there's
some great time. Fish heads, fish heads Roly,
Poly fish heads, fish heads, fish.
We talk. About fish oil, made you think
(48:09):
about that. So that made me go to the fish
head. I fish heads.
Yeah. Well, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Made no sense at all. It's just that free association
thing. OK, so so.
It wasn't the value. I don't really have anything.
Oh yes, I would like to promote.Really.
Do you want to promote peace on her?
Peace, damn it. Peace, yeah.
Be the peace I love. It's just all.
I'm really tired of all the cliches.
(48:30):
Yeah, and the kind of music. I'm tired of every damn cliche.
Peace. Just one word.
Peace. Love, peace and fish oil.
Put that on a bumper sticker. The new one, That's awesome.
I know. Yeah, that would be great.
All right, Yeah. So, Laurae, promoting peace.
I promote it as well because we don't have enough of it.
(48:50):
I'm trying to come up with something to promote.
No, no, you're good. You're good.
I think that peace is what you do and also and also frenzy and
also, may I say peace and compassion to yourself if you
are really stressed and you use McDonald's as relief from your
stress because that's what happened to me today.
(49:11):
So it's. Oh, it happens.
Yeah, yeah. I have that kind of day where
it's like, Oh my God. If it's getting to you, find
quiet, go home. Yes, find balance it.
Why the hell has my TV been on all this time?
That's OK, that's the dumbest ass thing.
I was watching the football USF is on.
Oh. Cool, we're winning so far.
(49:32):
I can't believe my school is on TV.
It's great. Quiet in the car.
Quiet in the car with your 3 cheeseburgers, your small fries,
your six Nuggets and your coke. Feed yourself with something
opposite. If you're out there and I'm in
reach house on, I know of what Ispeak when there's loud noises
and loud people and bright lights and all of that kind of
(49:55):
thing. I know about, I know little
about people with sensory blah blah blahs because I don't even
know what it's called, but I know what I feel.
I come home and I, I may turn onTV, but I don't turn the sound
on forever. I really just find something
else. Find some music, you know, feed
yourself something to take yourself down.
You don't have to. Don't just try and rethink it
(50:16):
all the time. I shouldn't feel this way, blah,
blah blah. Give yourself, give your heart
some art. There you go.
And with that note, this is a saying that I have been saying
every episode or that my former Co host used to say every
episode. Because we're called the
delicious culture we want to letdeliciousness ring with.
(50:39):
That too. With fish oil and peace in our
in our oil. Loving fish oil.
All right, delicious. Grab a plate and feast on the
delicious culture. I am your host, John Francois.
We're having quite a meal this week the the tragic death of Rob
and Michelle Reiner. And I wanted a moment to like,
reflect on their legacy. And I thought, who better to do
this with than a big fan of bothof them, especially Rob Reiner,
(00:27):
my good friend Laura Greenfield from my home state of
Connecticut, who I've known since 2013.
It's like what, 12 going on? Years crazy, I know.
How can that be? Yeah, we've done public access
television. College.
I don't know. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
I So what? Happened.
That's where we left off, kind of.
(00:49):
Right. Yeah, I was in college and now
I'm 34. Can you believe it?
Unbelievable. I know, yeah.
So Laura and I have done Laura and I have done public access
TV, we've done community radio together over the course of our
13 year friendship. And yeah, she she loves Rob
(01:09):
Reiner, as do I. But I I know that you
specifically you grew up with him as he was at the peak of his
career. So I feel like more to say than
I do about his legacy and his highlights.
First off, to get it out of the way, I think the latest that we
no, I think his son Nick was just, he made his court
appearance. Oh, did he?
(01:30):
OK, I understand. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
So, so Nick has been charged with murder.
It looks like the LAPD is basically saying that the son
Nick killed Rob and and Michelle.
So. That's.
Pretty much confirmed. Yeah, I know, I know.
So. Deep breath.
I know, I know, I know, I know. It's it's, it's, it's there's a
lot that can be said. But what I will say, a lot has
(01:53):
been said about Rob. Have you heard much about what
Michelle Reiner brought to the table?
I, I this encouraged me to do itlike a kind of a deep dive into
who she was in relation to herself and in relation to her
relationship with Rob. I'm not much help there.
I don't know. I remember when he was married
to Penny Marshall. Yeah, yeah.
(02:14):
The day and then had their daughter and and I thought that
was and I remember Penny Marshall when she was on The Odd
Couple. Yeah, or what was it?
Laverne and Shirley and. Before that, that that came
before Laverne and Shirley. She was, she was Myrna, I think
what her name was. She was the secretary, Oscar's
secretary. Got it.
(02:34):
Something like that. But she was on there before
Laverne and Shirley came out. Yeah, and I know that sort of
the trajectory of Rob's love life from his relationship with
Penny Marshall, and then he got divorced from her and then he
was single for like 10 years. I know that sort of formed the
basis of one of his most known movies that he directed, When
Harry Met Sally. I love that movie.
(02:57):
I know it's the greatest, probably the greatest ROM ROM
com. I'm always like, I'm a scroller.
I wish I weren't, but I'm ATV scroller because there's nothing
there. So I keep thinking the more I
go, something will appear and they're really big into showing
a lot of 80s move. The same ones, of course,
repeatedly, basically the same or whatever channels are we
getting. We're getting The Breakfast Club
ad nauseam and plenty that are absolutely wonderful.
(03:19):
Whatever movies, but we're seeing them constantly and what
happened? I know whenever Ali's been on TV
and things like that. And I thought, I wonder now if
they're going to start throwing some of these things out there.
But it seems, you know, it's just kind of the same, like
we're stuck in this one particular era of like movies
and whatnot. And like, we just kind of
(03:39):
bypassed the 90s, I guess, and went on to Marvel.
I know it's quite a job, quite the.
Job, that's another story, but yeah.
But what's? His name, What's his name?
But I was going to call it Reiner from All in the Family,
too. I was a kid growing up on that.
Yeah, in the. 70s and this wholeI and I can remember the whole
(04:00):
Archie meeting and even as a kidI may not have not understood
everything you're talking about but it was like anybody can get
what's going on in the conflict with these two.
I love him because he had a tie dye T-shirt that was good with
me so. Yeah, I I would think because
all in the family like you, you had Archie Bunker, the
conservative father, you had hisson-in-law played by Rob Reiner,
(04:24):
who was the sort of the hippie dippie, anti Vietnam War person
and yeah, and Rob represented. Yeah, Robert.
Presented and they just clashed like they couldn't see on
anything. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
And, and that was sort of, God, I would arguably say that that
was that that was sort of a precursor to the political
discourse that we just have now where it's like liberal versus
(04:48):
conservative. And how can we debate our points
and get fiery with each other and then somehow not kill each
other at the end of the day? Well.
That was makes me think of and the difference in the times 95
was American president. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
And the the the I can't believe I almost used the word
discourse. I don't use that ever.
You said it. It's such an academic word.
(05:10):
It's OK. I just don't know.
But anyway, and what they're talking about and you had to be
the president and and it was so 90s.
It was very, in that time, very reflective of Clinton and Hope
and Obama coming up and, and very positive and getting over
the the weapons of mass destruction that hadn't been
there at all anyway, and this positive thing.
(05:31):
And then it was just like we, wejust kind of what happened since
then and what, what are we talking about now?
And I don't want to talk about, it's so stupid.
I know, I know, I know. But he did and but he did so in
a way that was, you know, you can you can relate.
He put it in a story where, yeah, it's goofy and it's funny
and it's you know, but it was clever to me.
(05:53):
It that's just clever and it's anice way to eat something.
But and then he does the good men, you know, 1 government 1
was like so big David. Now he's dropping almost over
over 10 years later and that kind of environment and whatnot.
So I liked it. He was he did different things.
I mean he he felt a lot and he said what he meant, but he
wasn't out there screaming and yelling.
(06:14):
He did so quietly. Yeah, yeah, absolutely.
So let's let's let's kind of backtrack and let's maybe give
context to, for example, like When Harry Met Sally.
I know that, like I said, Rob had his relationship with Penny
Marshall. He broke up with her and then
had that divorce. And I know that the original
ending of When Harry Met Sally was going to be like Harry and
(06:36):
Sally, like they never got together.
They would meet like years laterand meet and and never see each
other again after that because Rob, Rob thought that, OK, you
fall in love and. Then that was it.
You. Just don't.
You break up and then that was it.
But then Michelle came into his life and that relationship
blossoms and he and and she was the one that encouraged him to
(06:57):
change the ending to that. Where they have the happy idea,
Where, where, where they go for best friends to lovers forever.
Famous beginning of your life tostart right now.
Yeah, yeah, yeah. The beginning.
Yeah, yeah, yeah. The, the, the thing about when
you want to like, what is it? You, you when you figure out you
want to spend the rest of your life with somebody, you want the
rest of your life to start rightnow.
(07:19):
Yeah. So many, I, my former husband,
that was, that was one that we watched any number of times.
And we had with any kind of movies, we'd have movie
references and something would come up or whatever and we'd
quote something from whatever itwas.
It is like movie reference, whatmovie, blah, blah.
Yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
(07:39):
And. He was good for that, you know.
He was. He was, yeah, so much.
And have you seen the Nora Ephron movie Mixed Nuts?
Because I know Michelle was in that movie.
Yeah, she was. Yeah.
I'm, I'm finding out like she she was.
So she was a well known photographer.
She, I heard. Not like this.
I didn't know she was an actress.
(08:00):
I didn't know that. So she probably like had a small
part in a film. I don't think she was like a
real legit. Like gotcha actress.
Right. Yeah, No, she collaborated with
Rob on a few films. I know she did some photography
work on the movie Misery with Kathy Bates.
Oh, I can't watch that. Oh, is it too?
Is it terrible? Oh, I'm just too sensitive.
No, it's really good. It would just freak me out.
I mean, all I know is just goingto crack them on the knees
(08:22):
without a hammer. I can't.
I can't even. I can't unexperience that.
Yeah, yeah, Yeah, it was. Just too much for me, but we
don't. We don't have to expand on this
too much, but Sally did. She was responsible for the
cover picture of The Art of the Deal, a book which was kind of
spearheaded by our current the Commander in Chief.
(08:44):
Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. I don't remember if I made this
up or not, but I could have sworn back in the day when my
uncle was writing all of these heavy hitter ghost written books
that Trump asked him and I thinkhe said no.
Oh, really? Yeah.
I don't know if that's true or not, but no, I'm telling the
whole world, but I don't know. I haven't.
(09:05):
Mentioned. Names.
Yeah, yeah, it's OK. I could be totally making it up.
I just, it just seems like something from my way prior life
that I seem to remember something.
Right, right. Michelle had.
So Michelle had a hand in producing the Albert Brooks
documentary on HBO Max, which I highly recommend you see if you
have HBO Max. I don't.
Because Albert Brooks, I don't know if you know him and Rob,
(09:25):
they were high school best friends.
And Rob directed that documentary.
And yeah, and Albert also the brother of Bob Einstein, the
late Bob Einstein, who was superDave for Dave Osborne.
Yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
But yeah, no, Albert Brooks, I mean, obviously he was just a a
wonderful. He still is alive.
He's a wonderful. Spending on that broadcast news.
(09:47):
Yeah, Broadcast news. Yep, Yep.
He used to do the short films for SNL back in the in in the
Yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
First season back, Yeah. He did a really funny short
video where it's like, oh, here's how you can become a
clown in clown school or some shit like that.
I highly recommend. It's a great satirical video.
Michelle Reiner also produced Spinal Tap 2.
(10:07):
Did you see the Spinal Tap or Spinal Tap 2 I?
Don't even believe. I haven't seen Spinal Tap, which
is kind of crazy, but no, it's like I feel, I mean, I know of
it. I know the three guys.
I know, you know, I see it around.
I just never saw the whole thing.
I don't know why. It was one of those.
So it. What's funny is that there are
two particular Rob Reiner moviesthat were shown in my classes
(10:29):
back in high school. And I think it was just one of
those, like date. Yeah.
It was just one of those days off where the teacher didn't
want to do anything. And they were like, oh, here's a
movie. Here's a movie that maybe.
Yeah, yeah. Here's a movie where we could
just watch on a day off or maybeyou can learn something from it.
And I remember my 21st century history class, they showed us
This is Spinal Tap, which prettymuch launched the mockumentary
(10:51):
format. Right, Right.
Yeah. Satirical documentary of this
British pop rock band. And then a science class.
And this was probably unrelated to science.
I think the teacher, it was justlike the end of the semester and
he wanted a day off. He showed us The Princess Bride,
which why wasn't it too? Princess Bride wasn't my cup of
tea, but I'll go hard any day. For well, I didn't expect it to
(11:13):
be and I was surprised that it that I did.
I liked it. And then I went to watch it
another time and I was like, no,once was enough.
Yeah, fantasy is not my cup of tea.
Delve deeper. But just because, you know,
Billy Crystal was so funny doingthe thing, Yeah.
And I'll watch. I'll watch the things.
I'll tape things, even if they're commercials or whatever,
just so I can Fast forward and see the parts I want.
(11:34):
Right, Reasonable enough. Reasonable enough.
I know that Michelle Reiner alsohelped produce there.
There was a Christian nationalism documentary that Rob
did like 2 years ago called God and Country.
And I heard and I heard the podcast interview he did where
he promoted that on Armchair. Yeah, yeah.
So I know, I know Michelle helped him produce that.
(11:56):
And then there's much that can be said about the political
activism that they did together.I mean, they essentially founded
the American Foundation for Equal Rights, which was sort of
foundational and eventually, like, leading into marriage
equality being a law of the landin the Supreme Court.
So yeah, I just, I don't know. I just want to give that brief
shout out to Michelle because I know a lot can be said about
Robin, what he's doing. It's all valid, of course.
(12:18):
Yeah. But Michelle also contributed to
both his legacy and to her own. So.
Yeah. There's stuff he doesn't succeed
like that if this marriage thingisn't working, so something has
to be OK. That's my.
Feeling a man is nothing withouthis woman says.
No, I didn't say no. I'm saying if you know, if
you're all stressed out and it'snot, you know, maybe some people
(12:40):
like to work under chaos. I don't know.
I right, I think I used to, but not anymore.
I'm just too tired. Yeah, yeah.
That's enough. I want I just peace.
Peace is my goal. Yeah, so, so let's, let's, let's
talk a little bit about All in the Family, cuz I remember
watching a few episodes back in,I don't know, high school.
And it's one of those shows thatwill be talked about forever
(13:02):
because of course, Norman Lear was wonderful and saying, all
right, let's take this tried andtrue format of the sitcom and
let's use it to expose what's actually going on in America.
He's the 70s, much like the 60s were a pretty tense time.
You know, we had a Vietnam War going on, we had women's rights.
Just take your pick. We a lot of the stuff that's
relevant today. We had the rights were.
(13:23):
Especially relevant. They would, yeah.
Yeah. Right.
Because what equal rights was a bad thing?
I don't know. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Because I know the Equal Rights Amendment that did not get
passed. It was attempted back in the
70s. Because they were afraid this is
this is what they were saying atthe time is because then you'd
have to use the same bathroom. So we can't have that.
Boy, yeah. This has been the biggest fear
(13:43):
of of of democracy and equality in our countries.
Who's going to use what bathroom?
Yeah, yeah. But yeah, talk to me a little
bit about like your personal experience growing up watching
All in the Family 'cause it was my God.
I, I think the, the either one of the early episodes or the
(14:04):
first episode kind of opens withArchie reading a newspaper item
about all these Vietnam War protesters and he's saying they
should all be shot dead. And then you know.
Meathead. Yeah.
Yeah, yeah, Meathead is like, well, this is an illegal and a
moral war, so I understand them protesting.
It's just this back and forth where it's like, oh wow, like
for. Loud.
It was just loud. They weren't.
(14:24):
It just kept rising and rising and and.
So for you, growing up in the 70s, did you enjoy that?
Were you overwhelmed by that? Like what was your reaction to
watching that as you were growing up?
I don't know, I don't remember what it was.
Some in that exact era when thisis on TV that's going on because
I I would be in the kitchen withmy mom and we had a radio in
there. We're listening to it and I
(14:46):
guess the news came on and aboutwar or something like that.
And I asked her a question or something and I think she said
something about Vietnam. And I said, well, I just hope I,
I, I'm not alive during a wartime and not knowing this was
going on at that time. But then I would see because we,
we don't have the visual. It's like really hard for
(15:08):
anybody that that has grown up post 2000 or anything to imagine
that we have one TV in the houseand it has three channels and
two independent channels and youhave to get up and change the
channel. Nobody has a remote, nobody's
cable. The only cable was in Florida
and they got The Weather Channel.
That's about it. And it sounds like this is a
(15:28):
completely ancient time, but it didn't feel like it.
You know, everything wasn't hard.
We had everything. We had big wheels, we had blah,
blah, blah. But it's, it's I just knew.
I don't know if I knew exactly what they were talking about.
I just knew This, this, this just this.
I didn't know if it was hatred or just anger or just both or
what was going on. But it was just always this men
(15:49):
blowing up women trying to calm down, calm down and and and and
everything that came from the the the whole he Sammy Davis
kisses him on the cheek was those kind of moments and says
that's just it. That was just like history, that
everything that just. Yeah, Sammy Davis kissing
Archie. Yeah.
Yeah, black man kissing a white man on the cheek.
(16:10):
Incredible. I mean, just to get him.
And you're all rooting at the time.
Even as a kid, I'm going, I'm clapping and laughing and
knowing that was somehow a good thing.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. But it was it was that and then
it got carried and like the Arthur came from all in the
family and then. Mod was 1.
Of the spinos, I just recently saw an episode about bipolar and
(16:33):
her talking about that I didn't know.
Who knew? I didn't know back then that's
what you were talking about because I was watching that too.
Yeah, Norman Lear shows did not shy.
And hold back. Yeah, and as a protection to
Rob, he obviously had. Yeah, you hear to me, right?
He just did a lot, a lot of the same issues, but in this softer,
gentler way. When with the movies that he
subsequent. Yeah, it wasn't.
(16:53):
Yeah, face kind of thing. I just think he, I don't know.
Yeah, you take a movie like Stand By Me, for example, that
really deals with a certain coming of age and the
difficulties of, you know, emotions and growing up as a
child and the relationship that you have with your parents and
stuff like that, something like that.
Obviously When Harry Met Sally, there's, you know, the
trajectory of, you know, gettingto know this member of the
(17:15):
opposite sex and then you becomebest friends and romance and
this and that and the American president.
I mean, the, you know, the, the scandal, the, the tensions that
can come from running the Oval Office, that that was a
precursor to The West Wing pretty much because I know Aaron
Sorkin wrote that script that Rob Reiner directed.
Right, right. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, you're
right. A few good men.
(17:36):
I mean, you can't handle the truth.
Comes on I watch it if I'm and there it is I'll stop every time
and just TuneIn to wherever it'sat because it's so good yeah
listening to everything and and the I was going to say the
lyrics of the dialogue and just the courtroom itself and the
wood and the shots on it and it's just so so amazingly put
(17:58):
together and it's like I just feel it and I hate how it sounds
all old but they're not making them like that or not you're not
right not that kind of an interesting thought kind of
people aren't driving cars off of buildings movie.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. It's it's.
And he did both those kinds of those sweet romantic comedies
(18:19):
and then he sat in in, you know,that style.
And I like you know, maybe did both equally as well.
Yeah, and I think when he was when, when Rob, Rob Reiner was
in all of the family, I think they're especially as the show
got big and was #1 for like 5 years, 40 million people
watching a night, there was thisperception that, oh, crap, I'm
going to be boxed in as an actor.
And I remember him talking in interviews about like how for
(18:40):
the longest time he wanted to bea director, to be a able to have
that chance. And then I think it wasn't
until, I think it wasn't until 1984 that he started directing
with This is Spinal Tap. Yeah, I don't remember seeing
him in anything after All in TheFamily other than spots in his
own movie. Yeah, he was committed to the
vision of being behind the scenes and and directing I.
(19:00):
Mean that I can see, that I can imagine.
Yeah, it's actually, he wanted to be like his dad, Carl Reiner,
in the sense of like, all right,I want to be sensual in the
behind the scenes creative process of it all.
Because as as Carl Reiner created the Dick Van Dyke Show,
he was a part of the legendary Your Show of Shows with Sid
Caesar, which was I think the first of its kind in terms of
(19:21):
satirical sketch comedy. Yeah, right, right.
Yeah, Yeah. There's a heart warming thing
where Rob told his dad that he wants to change his name and it
his dad is like, oh, OK, I guessyou want to change your last
name. And Rob was like, no, I want to
change my name to Carl, which ishis dad's first name.
So he really, really, really committed to observing his dad
(19:44):
writing, directing, like really being a part of the creative
process of television, film and wanting to be like that.
And that is in stark contrast towhat was going on with his son,
Nick Reiner, who seems to have it.
It seems like someone who's struggling with an identity
crisis and was trying to figure out himself under the big shadow
(20:06):
of his dad. And then?
I can't imagine. I don't know what that's like.
Yeah, yeah. I mean, yeah, obviously much has
been said about his drug addiction and his homelessness,
so who who knows what? Well, it's.
Sad no matter what. I mean, it's just, you know,
that's just too sad. It's one thing to hate your
parents. It's another thing to eat.
It's another thing to murder then Laura, yeah.
(20:28):
But even stabbing versus a gun, I mean, you'd have to stand back
and it's not as up close and personal.
I mean, that's some got to be some rage or whatever taking
over. And that's just was that I don't
know, I can't help think that, but that's just, I don't know, I
mean. All we know is what bits of
information we get from. The.
(20:49):
News. So to me, it sounds like Rob and
Michelle were very loving parents.
Like any parent, like they see that their son is struggling and
they want to do all that they can to get him help.
You know, with parents that are very protective, that can
sometimes be to a fault. Sometimes you just kind of got
to let go and say, all right, your, your kid has all the
(21:11):
tools, they're grown and, and ifthey can't help themselves, then
there's not much you can do. So I think there was that.
It seems like they're. Lying to enabling, yeah.
Yeah, yeah. Like for example.
It's oversimplified, but really there's, you know.
Yeah, like so a deck. So this keeps getting talked
about in articles, but a decade ago Rob directed a movie that I
(21:34):
think Nick Reiner wrote. It was like a semi
autobiographical. Yeah, yeah, I.
Saw that about about his struggles and you all you have
to do is just see in interviews that Rob and Nick did promoting
the movie together that there seems to be this sort of tense
disconnect like Rob like he's he's just his usual charismatic
personality. He'll say like, oh, this is what
(21:55):
we learned. And and I I feel like I better
understand my son and the process of this movie.
And I can kind of tell by the way Nick is.
Saying it, I can imagine the kidshrinking away.
Yeah, because. He's larger than life, and he's
handling his questions as he always has.
And yeah. And, and this is for me, this is
(22:16):
what I learned and whatever as opposed to kind of turning it to
him, which it really should be. Give give him a shot.
Let him try. Yeah.
Like like Nick, like Nick is telling his story, but it's
obviously under like the large presence of like.
Interrupts like me, I understandand the and then I have to catch
myself. Sometimes I go oops, I'm sorry.
(22:37):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. So yeah, it's just it's, it's a
very conflicting it as with mostparent and child relationships,
it it's, it could be very complicated when it comes to the
parent. And the child.
Not hearing each other out, the child especially struggling at
things that the parent wants to understand and solve but maybe
(22:58):
cannot. Yeah.
You can't fix them. Yeah, yeah, I.
Hope to help. And, and did you hear about
like, I think the night before the murderer, Rob, Michelle and
Nick were at Conan? O'Brien School.
Day party. I'm, I look and maybe you don't
know this much about Conan, but he's already had a terrible past
(23:18):
year already because I think at the end of 2024, going into
2025, both his parents died within a week of each other
within a week. And then his house was one of
the many that got affected by the Los Angeles fires earlier
this year. So I can only imagine like Rob
and Nick, they're arguing very loudly at this party.
And of course Rob is like leaving because Nick is just
(23:41):
being weird around people and you know, people trying to have
their privacy and Nick is just like staring at them and all
that stuff. So you they all leave and then
the next day you read in the paper that like, oh crap, like
Rob and Michelle are no more andNick is allegedly responsible
for it. I was also thinking about Conan
in that respect, because it's like shit, like it's not.
(24:01):
It's already enough that you've had the year that you've had it.
It's kind of over the top. Yeah, it's it's a lot.
It's a lot. But have you rewatched anything
of Rob Reiner's, anything he directed ever since the news
came out? No, I have.
I'm trying to think. I have at least a couple things
on DVR. I have the president, the
(24:22):
American president, and yeah, and a few good men, at least I
think. And I do.
And even if it's not on, I do watch it again and again.
I try not to, but I haven't. I I've been scrolling and I
haven't seen anything coming on yet, which is surprising me.
What it isn't, which is almost alittle overkill, is on YouTube,
(24:43):
which I love. I spent tons of time there.
I learned all kinds of quick little 5 minute things about
whatever. I'm very careful about what I
click so because I don't want toget 7500 new things on the one
thing I was interested in for 30.
You will regardless, Laura. Exactly, I know.
So before I do, I think hard, but they've got some every time
(25:03):
as you're scrolling, you have like the three in a row.
And I feel like it's a slot machine because everywhere I'm
looking and everything is something of, of, of Rob Reiner,
Robin, Michelle, of course. And I get it.
But it's like overkill much I mean.
You know. Just because there's a part and
it's like I, I, I, if we can work, take something from it and
(25:24):
learn from an intensely horrible, tragic situation,
which it is, it's a tragedy. The guy, I mean, the kids got
whatever is wrong with them for whatever reason.
That's the bottom line. For whatever reason, it wasn't
able to be healed, contained, modified, managed, whatever.
And, and this is what happened. Now the only thing I do mean
(25:45):
that we can help to get is to prevent it again.
Can we? Nobody knows.
I feel insulted after a while. Not insulted, but after a while
it's just like Jesus, leave it alone.
Don't try and dissect every single OK and 30 minutes before
and this happened in this year and this.
Yeah, yeah, the detail minute byminute of what happened.
We the people really shouldn't need to know all that much.
(26:08):
I just as a fan, of course you're interested and you want
to know and whatever, but it's just kind of, and there's been
so much. There's been so much all year.
Anyway. That's a lot.
Honestly, I just prefer to see alittle more prayer than my
nosiness. Hey, I mean.
But that's me. What I will say the, the, the
positive coverage we've seen, I mean, the amount of people that
(26:28):
have left flowers on Rob's Hollywood Walk of Fame.
Yeah, I mean, that's nice, of course.
Yeah, yeah. And look, maybe it might be
overkill. I wouldn't mind if say, Turner
Classic Movies did like a day ofall Rob Reiner.
Yeah, I was. That's appropriate.
And they kind of did that when Robert Redford, who I'm like
still still lost without, but shoot or something like that, I
(26:54):
don't remember. No, it's okay.
I want. I want When Harry Met Sally.
I want misery. I wanted to get to a point.
Yeah, I really want When Harry Met Sally again.
Come on, bring it out. Yeah, I watched that back in
college and this was already like, well, after the movie that
came out. I think at that point the movie
was like 20 years old and. Came out in 88 I think.
(27:15):
No, No 98. Are you kidding me?
No, it came out in 8089. OK, well I said 88.
I was cool. No, no, you said OK, you said 98
and then you said. 88, I said 80.
Eight. OK.
No, no. You first said 98 and then you
said 88. I remember.
I I heard you. OK, well it was AI misspoke.
That's not what I meant. It's OK.
It's OK. I know what you.
Mean yeah, we can have another lesson on the movies of 98 if
(27:36):
you want, but that'd be our nextstep.
But no, no, I mean, I think I I just for for someone like me
back in college and and Kyle waswhen I was younger, I was sort.
Of no, I know what you were back.
In I, I, I, I would say for as long as I can remember, I was
always like in love with the idea of being in love.
I was sort of a romantic at heart sometimes, sometimes to an
(27:57):
unhealthy fault. You know that so when Harry Met
Sally was just like right up my alley when it happened because
because I always wanted that like, Oh my God.
We started off as best friends that can talk about anything and
then we became lovers. In reality, it's not, it doesn't
always work out that way. And that's, that's fine.
I met, I met my wife on a datingapp and here we are 5-6 years
(28:18):
later. It's great.
But when Harry Met Sally, I justwatched that for the first time
back in college, and I just remember being like, that's
going to be my woman's story. We had it on VHS.
Yeah, want their dream partner to loudly fake an orgasm in a
(28:38):
restaurant and then have some old lady say I'll have what
she's having afterwards. Like who wouldn't want that?
And the old lady was his mother.Yeah, yeah.
Estelle Ryder. Yeah.
Carl's wife, Carl's wife. Absolutely.
Oh my God. Yeah, that was they both
(28:59):
weren't. The first choice for those
roles, I think maybe it was. I think like Tom Hanks was
considered for it, which makes sense because I know Tom Hanks
did like a string of romantic comedies in the 90s with me.
(29:20):
When when sleepless in Seattle, which?
Yeah, which which Rob Reiner appeared in.
Yeah, yes. And I always picture that, the
scene with the two of them walking down the street and
they're talking about their butts.
Yeah, Rob Reiner says. How's mine?
And he goes all right, I guess. That's so funny.
Speaking of butts, I know that there was plenty shown in The
Wolf of Wall Street, which Rob Reiner also appeared in, to
(29:44):
connect that together. I.
Started to watch that and I couldn't take it.
I'm like, how long is this goingto go on for?
Four hours? I can't do it.
Well Laura, it's Martin Scorsese. 4 Hours is probably
considered a short movie. That's true, yeah.
Yeah, yeah. But yes, yeah, a lot of nudity,
a lot of cocaine. And four hours of that is Wolf
on Wall Street. Yeah, yeah.
(30:05):
Right, right, right. It's a good movie.
I recommend it. But if you don't have 3 or 4
hours to spare, I understand you're.
Not watching? Yeah.
Just not gonna. Well, I won't make it.
I can't even watch it. I mean, I don't watch anything.
I know this kind of thing has hurt my attention span in a huge
way. I didn't have the great to begin
with, But now, because everything gets shorter and
shorter and shorter, if I don't see it in like, minutes, well,
what's your point? Get on it.
(30:26):
What is it? Yeah, yeah. 2 hour movie is
amazing for me anymore but now everything is like 3 hours and
more. They just kind of keep making
them longer. Wait, wait, wait.
OK, OK, You know what? I don't know how familiar you
are with streaming services, buta lot of stuff is like 90
minutes now if you if you look at the streamers.
Well, yeah, that's the streamer thing, but that's a financial
(30:47):
thing and that's another story. I don't.
I don't. Know yeah yeah yeah yeah every
now and then you'll you'll get the two or two plus hour movie
but like I'm seeing a lot of 90 minute movies these days anyway
can we go back to Tushy's for a second but I.
Remember, I should go right ahead if you if you no.
Because I was I Oh, God, no. Fuck.
I forgot about it. No, we had.
Oh, yeah, Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
(31:08):
Oh. Oh.
Rob Reiner grabbed Mary Tyler Moore's butt.
Have you heard that story? No.
Oh. So this was a story that he
often told So. No way.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. So Rob was a teenager when his
dad, Carl was like, producing the Dick Van Dyke Show.
And you got to imagine, like when the hormones are bubbling
as a 14 year old, you see, you see like a 25 year old Mary
(31:29):
Tyler Moore and Capri pants and you're in the tushy.
Yeah, yeah. So Rob had a a moment, which is
which now obviously doesn't holdup, where where he grabbed Mary
Tyler Moore's tushy. Of course, Mary Tyler Moore was
unpleasantly surprised. She reports that to Carl.
Carl is telling Rob like, hey, don't do that again.
And then I think like years later for like a Dick Van Dyke
(31:50):
reunion special, Rob and Mary were amusingly talking about
that situation. And I, I guess I, I guess out of
a joke, like Rob grabbed Mary's tush again as they were much
older. And Mary is said in response
jokingly, Oh, Rob. Which is like a reference to
her, her character with Dick VanDyke on the Dick Van Dyke show.
Yeah, hey, Dick Van Dyke is 100 years old.
(32:15):
I know. That's really cool.
I'm so glad I was a little concerned because they because
last year they were making a bigdeal out of it and you make this
big, huge deal when he's 99. I'm sorry.
I just don't want you to jinx it, please.
Yeah. So if someone asked him like,
what role would he like to play?And I don't think it's out of
reason he wants to play Scrooge.I know.
(32:37):
I think that I I can absolutely see that.
I saw that too, yeah. And that's the easiest thing to
qualify for. Just be an old man.
And stop smiling so much. Yeah, can.
Can you call Dick Van Dyke and have him come on the podcast so
we can interview him? If I could, I would.
Cuz what I cuz I want to live till 100 so there there's that
(32:57):
and also. You have to live to be 100 / 100
actually. And also you want you want to
live to be over 100, is that what?
You said I had an aunt. I had a great aunt that lived to
be 100. Oh like like she died at 100 or
did she go over 100? I think she went over.
I'm pretty sure she made like the one O 1 or maybe 2 tops.
I was in Florida at the time, but I came up here for her 100th
(33:18):
birthday. And the stories that I always
hear from these people that turn100, what's your secret?
Oh, I had I had a glass of wine and raw butter every day.
Yeah, barbecue and and. Yeah, yeah.
Yeah, it's always like the weirdest fucking I had raw eggs
and a piece of chocolate every day.
(33:38):
No, she worked. This is my thing, she and
between my grandmother, I don't know the legend has it and she's
shorter than me. She's a short little lady.
Legend hasn't she never got married.
She was a model in New York at at 411 or something.
I don't know. While they were shorter than
but, and, and then, but by the time I know her, of course she's
old, old. And, but she had a maternity
(34:01):
store that she ran and I used towalk to it all the time and go
hang out there and, and she would give me clothes, which of
course is ridiculous because thematernity clothes and they're
huge and I'm a little, little child, but I love to watch her
help the people. And she wouldn't, She had a
bulletin board with pictures of the babies and the mummies and
all these people and then come back and give her cookies and
(34:22):
whatever. And it was awesome.
And I just think that that kept her going forever.
I don't know. I don't know how old she was
when she stopped, but I know sheshe kept it going a long time.
I don't know. Maybe in close to 90, I don't
know for sure. I think like when I see people
like. Love what she was doing, you
know so. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah,
yeah. That those kind of people,
(34:43):
people like Dick Van Dyke, who lives that long.
My main thing especially like seeing, like the exuberant
spirit that he has in his personalways get a little bit morbid
in my head because I think, wow,like, literally all of your
peers are gone. Like you, you're one of the few
of your generation left standing.
And I know you have, you have younger family members.
(35:03):
I get that. But I don't know, I just always
wonder if there's sort of a sense of melancholy, a sense of
like deep reflection when you'reliving that long and then you
see all the people that you cameup with or worked with or
whatever just gone. Like I I guess like that's just
what I wonder when. No, I can see.
I, I mean, I, I've had these things.
(35:25):
I'm not at that age, but I've seen, I'm seeing the people that
I grew up adoring, you know, whether in movies or music or
this or whatever. A lot of them are, are going
back. It seems the other half are
still 80 years old and they're touring.
So I can't figure out, is that the host?
Which I thought could be totallyamazing and awesome.
(35:46):
You know, Clapton might really be God, I'm just kidding.
But 80 Ringo's out there, 80 there's just like that whole
thing, you know, people but you wouldn't think would have
lasted. Keith Richards.
Yeah. Paul McCartney's still.
Around list all of us, but I just think the only thing I can
get is that it just is the spirit and you have to find it.
(36:07):
You have to fight. You can't it can't just be he's
got it because he has everythingand so he's so happy they make
it and just it doesn't mean having everything.
It means how many of a lot of the really the ones that the
Centurions, they're very poor. They're not rich people that
live to be these ages. They live on very low means.
(36:27):
And they know how it is to be OKwith all that, that and they get
by. That's kind of how I see it.
And saying Dick Van Dyke, you know, why does he make it?
I mean, who makes people smile more?
And while he's, you know, while he misses people, he may miss
people and friends. He has this, this, this what
looks like to be awarded for relationship with his wife and
this huge family. Yeah.
(36:48):
So, you know, you can't go there, there you, you, you have
to look back with gratitude. And it's a, it's a, it's a
Doctor Seuss paraphrase, which is the, you know, don't be,
don't be sad because it's over. Be happy because it happened.
But it's really true. It really you have to be, I mean
every cliche after that, kind of.
(37:08):
Do you think Rob Reiner would have lived until 100 had he not
gone out the way he did? I don't I how old was he when he
78? He was like 78.
It's a long time. Away.
I know, right? I think about like.
I mean, my my first instinct is why not as far as the spirit?
And if he's happy and you're positive and you go on that
ring, that's great. Doesn't mean life isn't hard and
(37:30):
that whatever, but you keep going, get up every day.
Hey, I don't see why not, but itseems like more people are doing
it. But that's hard for me to
imagine. I've seen it done and even my
aunt, to be honest, at 100 wasn't really you didn't really
want to see it. It was kind of a sad 100.
Now he's he's more of AI can still move and I can move around
(37:51):
and he wasn't and there are that's a different story.
I don't want to be here just to be here.
T47 is when Rob Reiner would have been 100.
Yeah, I I think I would have been 50-6 years old by the time
he saw him just to. Give you perspective.
Wow, I just thought you brought up Mary Tyler Moore show.
I just saw the I just saw the the last episode the other day.
(38:12):
I just happened to catch it as I'm whatever with the and it was
like the end and and I'll miss you most of all Scarecrow.
Yeah, also also a wonderful watch for my college days.
I I watched the entire. Series did you?
Yeah, yeah, yeah. He's.
I wanted that hair. I wanted to flip that hair.
My mom put those paint rollers in my head.
(38:33):
Yeah, sleep on them at her. Yeah, well, so she she had her
particular style and sense of humor in the Dick Van Dyke Show
to the Mary Tyler Moore Show with all of her hairstyles.
And I know humor befitting up that time.
Her wearing the capris, those onon Dick Van Dyke, that was like
a moment in history, fashion history or on TV at that time.
(38:53):
I hate to be more of it again. Sometimes when I think of of the
of the Mary Tyler Moore show in the cast and everything, that
it's just like, oh God, nobody from that cast is alive now, but
he's gone. I know I do I.
Know it's just weird to think about because like I know it
makes sense it's 50 years ago but I.
Was gonna say I mean it was black and white TV so put that
in reference. That wasn't even before color.
(39:14):
Well, Dick Van Dyke was black and white.
Mary Tyler Moore was color. Yeah.
Yeah, that and white, yeah, thatwas.
But Dick Van Dyke was was black and white where that's all
started so but. Also, that's just bizarre.
He's like from the black and. White days.
And he's still alive with us. Yeah, but no, no, I mean, I
think from the Dick Van Dyke Show cast, Dick is the only one
that's still alive from that entire group.
The. One that I was feeling sad for
was was Mel Brooks, because he'slike the last one of his.
(39:37):
I forgot. Yeah.
I think he just turned on 102. Yeah.
Yeah. And no, because he had a very
close friendship with Rob's dad,Carl.
Right, the car rider. I I remember cuz Jerry Seinfeld
when he did the comedians in Cars getting coffee show and he
had his guest on Mel Brooks. He visited the apartment of Mel
Brooks where him and Carl had a ritual of watching Jeopardy in
(39:58):
their later years together. Like they were really close
friends. Oh yeah.
Same thing with Mel. It's like Carl passed away like
five years ago and I just wonder, like who's Mel's
Jeopardy friend now? You should be the the Jeopardy
friend. Oh, I'm.
The worst I should be. Yeah.
That could be the the Jewish Jeopardy friend, Yeah, that
knows nothing. What's that?
(40:19):
No, no, no. I was just going to say Judd
Apatow is producing a Mel Brooksdocumentary.
So that that's, that's going to be awesome to see.
Oh cool. Yeah, I mean, there was already
one produced, but Judd is going to do a different one, I guess.
That's cool. He was married to in Bancroft
and and and at first I'm on the outside looking in, you know, I
(40:40):
mean, I just think of hers. She is just, you know, reeks of
glamour and this and that the sleekness and and and it's like,
look at this couple. How cool is that?
I just love to see how they are together just as they get along,
because they just seem all did, which who knows whether they
really are not. I just just by looks, which
(41:00):
means nothing, but I just just one of those.
Just what is it like with with them and having coffee in the
morning? Yeah, I you know, what do you
talk about? With what do you talk about?
What, what? What are his?
What are his days like then withAnne Bancroft?
What are his days like these days?
It's definitely gonna. Work.
You don't survive that long without having a strategy,
conscious or not, but have some kind of way of being that keeps
(41:24):
you going. I mean, I think you have to have
some kind of purpose, no matter how big or small, whether it's
just to get up in the morning and put your feet on the floor.
Raw cookie dough dipped in whiskey with a little butter on
the side. That's how you live until 120.
Ah, well, this was great. Reminiscing about Rob Reiner and
a million other things. Rob Reiner.
(41:45):
There is no way for me to stay on track here.
No, no, no, no, no, no. It's me too.
I mean you, you. It's it goes both ways.
Association and then. This.
Yeah, once. Once we talk, it's like jazz in
the 50s. Yeah, we're like, I don't know,
take your pick, Coltrane, Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie,
all the jazz greats. We're just poop, poop, poop,
(42:08):
poop, poop, poop without the hard drugs.
Thank you. God.
Anywho. Well, this was great.
We got to do this again, Laura. Yes, this was really fun.
Yeah. Yeah, maybe next time on when
it's when it's there's not a murder involved, so it's not so
sad. Yeah, yeah.
Oh, yeah. It's weird.
(42:29):
It's weird. But you've become my old
celebrity death friend, which means that anytime an old
celebrity dies, I'm like, oh, let me text Laura like to
concentrate about this because you're the only friend that I
know that I could commiserate with about this.
Like what's really stupid? You have to write.
I have to write that down. Well, you'll have this on top,
my old pretty death friend. Yeah, like, think about it.
(42:50):
Anytime I reached out to you, it's like Laura Bob Barker has
died. Oh, Laura Bob Newhart has died.
Laura Robert Redford has died. What is so stupid?
I I do this. I mean, I have all my life.
It's one big monologue, but because when there's nobody here
and I just come home for work, Ido my dad.
And when these things happen andit's just like, you know, like
(43:10):
when referring, I'm like, nobody's going to understand how
I feel about this. Because this isn't just like,
no, this is just like it is, it's, it's, it's all kinds of
things mixed up together. It's not just anybody.
It's not just and it's not like I know them.
It's not like I even look at hiswork on a daily basis.
It doesn't matter. I'm just knowing that he's off
(43:31):
this planet, how that makes me feel because of what he does for
the planet and why I care so much.
And you're right. And I'm just like, I know I have
been sitting around. Who could I call?
Who could I go good? I feel bad, sorry.
I shouldn't have. But now, from now on, you're
going to be my deaf friend. Yeah, yeah, sure, sure.
I know. Yeah, yeah, it's but but we'll.
(43:54):
Oh my gosh. Oh yeah.
And then Anthony Geary. Oh yeah, yeah, yeah, Luke from
General Hospital pile. That on on top talk about where
you we I split classes to get home to not miss the 1st 15
minutes of of at that time hospital 11 jail TV can't Nope,
no recording, no nothing whatever you had to get there.
Yeah, and the, and the Anthony death was like kind of stuck
(44:18):
right under the shadow of the Rob and Michelle death for a
little bit, but then like once, a couple days later, he got more
attention that he deserved. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
He I I've never watched General Hospital or the.
Loop storyline. But.
I started just because of course, TV guy being home from
school like in junior high. And then when there's nothing on
(44:39):
TV, it's like cereal. What's a cereal?
That's what they call them cereals.
And I tried this. I tried it and then I'm a
General Hospital, like what is this?
And so I just started watching and then, you know, blah blah,
30 years later stopped. But those ice Princess days,
those were the. Those Yeah, Elizabeth Taylor
(45:00):
made a cameo. So ridiculous that you had to
love it. It was just so.
And the world stopped. It felt that way.
It wasn't just like just the kids and it was people in
offices and this. It just felt like the world
stopped at 3:00. Yeah, when Luke and Laura got
married. And yeah, and I missed it.
I was working that day. Wait, didn't their relationship
start when he. That was all kinds of Yeah, that
(45:21):
was very well. Controversial.
Very controversial. Yes, it was.
Some of us had a problem with that.
Understandably. There were a lot of letters.
Yeah, yeah. But that.
Town, he was a mobster. He came to town to work for
Frank Smith, the big mobster, and and then he opens this disco
(45:41):
and then Laura comes to want to work at the disco, which is so
silly and. When you think about it, yeah,
you. Know thing was and she looks
like she's like 9 she's very young and he's older I don't
know how much, but pretty much inappropriately older at that
time and that was the whole yeahand then just go and it was
(46:02):
just. Well, I gotta give I, I, I don't
know if they, I don't know if there's a catalog of like all
the 9000 episodes of General Hospital on a streaming service,
but. Probably, yeah.
I don't know. I know it was forever and then
I'd come and go and then it's like, and you know how horrible
and stupid, You always know it'shorrible and stupid, but it was
fun. At least it was kind of.
(46:23):
And then it just got so, Oh my gosh, or, or I changed.
It's totally possible. And I will from time to time
just check in and go who's there?
Who's still there? And who was this and?
Well didn't Anthony leave the show and come back as like
Luke's look alike cousin or someshit like that?
Briefly, yeah, that wasn't yeah,but he would come and go just
kind. That's yeah.
(46:43):
Which I wrote in for the character, which worked with his
character. It was.
He was that kind of guy anyway, so.
And then he kind of like stayed at a certain point consistently
up until like 2015, 2015 is when?
He left. Yeah.
I don't remember when. Yeah, by that point, I'm.
I'm kind. Of yeah, you checked out and
you're like fuck this, this is this.
Is sometimes it was just like, you know, you just watch
something for nostalgia's sake and it's fun.
(47:04):
It's like, no, I can't even thisisn't even fun for that.
This is not fun. Yeah, yeah, well, great times
were had talking about. No, no, you're fine.
You're fine. Hi for you listening, find the
delicious culture wherever you get your podcasts.
Apple, Spotify, iheart, Amazon is SiriusXM, wherever you get
your podcasts. Delicious.
Laura's like, wait, what the fuck?
(47:27):
It's the deliciousculture@gmail.com at
the Delicious culture on Instagram to TikTok and YouTube.
You can follow me on TikTok at John Francois Presents.
Laura, since you are my fabulousguest, what do you want to
promote? Do you want to promote how fish
oil can make you live until 102?Yeah.
I know, right? No.
(47:48):
What would you like to promote that?
Reminded me of a song on Doctor Demento.
Used to be a radio guy on Saturday nights way back when.
He was totally goofy, blah blah blah.
And there was, I don't know where it came from, but there's
some great time. Fish heads, fish heads Roly,
Poly fish heads, fish heads, fish.
We talk. About fish oil, made you think
(48:09):
about that. So that made me go to the fish
head. I fish heads.
Yeah. Well, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Made no sense at all. It's just that free association
thing. OK, so so.
It wasn't the value. I don't really have anything.
Oh yes, I would like to promote.Really.
Do you want to promote peace on her?
Peace, damn it. Peace, yeah.
Be the peace I love. It's just all.
I'm really tired of all the cliches.
(48:30):
Yeah, and the kind of music. I'm tired of every damn cliche.
Peace. Just one word.
Peace. Love, peace and fish oil.
Put that on a bumper sticker. The new one, That's awesome.
I know. Yeah, that would be great.
All right, Yeah. So, Laurae, promoting peace.
I promote it as well because we don't have enough of it.
(48:50):
I'm trying to come up with something to promote.
No, no, you're good. You're good.
I think that peace is what you do and also and also frenzy and
also, may I say peace and compassion to yourself if you
are really stressed and you use McDonald's as relief from your
stress because that's what happened to me today.
(49:11):
So it's. Oh, it happens.
Yeah, yeah. I have that kind of day where
it's like, Oh my God. If it's getting to you, find
quiet, go home. Yes, find balance it.
Why the hell has my TV been on all this time?
That's OK, that's the dumbest ass thing.
I was watching the football USF is on.
Oh. Cool, we're winning so far.
(49:32):
I can't believe my school is on TV.
It's great. Quiet in the car.
Quiet in the car with your 3 cheeseburgers, your small fries,
your six Nuggets and your coke. Feed yourself with something
opposite. If you're out there and I'm in
reach house on, I know of what Ispeak when there's loud noises
and loud people and bright lights and all of that kind of
(49:55):
thing. I know about, I know little
about people with sensory blah blah blahs because I don't even
know what it's called, but I know what I feel.
I come home and I, I may turn onTV, but I don't turn the sound
on forever. I really just find something
else. Find some music, you know, feed
yourself something to take yourself down.
You don't have to. Don't just try and rethink it
(50:16):
all the time. I shouldn't feel this way, blah,
blah blah. Give yourself, give your heart
some art. There you go.
And with that note, this is a saying that I have been saying
every episode or that my former Co host used to say every
episode. Because we're called the
delicious culture we want to letdeliciousness ring with.
(50:39):
That too. With fish oil and peace in our
in our oil. Loving fish oil.
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The Bobby Bones Show
Listen to 'The Bobby Bones Show' by downloading the daily full replay.