Phil Kellard and Tom Moore (Tonight Show / SNL / Thicke of the Night / Hooperman / Doogie Howser MD)

Published: April 22, 2022, 7 p.m.

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Phil and Tom talk about early influences (Phil - Marx Brothers, Preston Sturges, Tom - Little Rascals, Bob Newhart, Johnny Carson, Woody Allen); Tom\'s father being head of ABC; taking ratings books to school; having Elizabeth Montgomery over for dinner); Phil gets the acting bug in high school and becomes a playwright in San Fransisco; Tom breaks his leg and watches Johnny Carson every night and dreams of being a writer; Tonight Show position opens up; Johnny\'s writers are  not segregated; Tom writes desk pieces; Phil wrote for Hollywood Squares; Phil on having to write for each character; infamous lunch break; Saturday night is biggest night for TV; Tom writes for Cos; Phil writes for Perry Como & Andy Williams; both write for Rock \'n\' America; Tom writes for Richard Pryor Show; Richard throws out all sketches written in pre-production; working with Richard Pryor; various sketches; Paul Mooney; Thicke of the Night; Ralph the runner; writer Jeremy Stevens car gets crushed by Robin Thicke; massive ton of unused sketches; Arnie Kogan; Alan Thicke make sure theme song plays in and out of commercials to get royalties; Fernwood Tonight; Norman Lear; Fred Willard; being head writer for 7 episodes of Saturday Night Live; Charles Rocket; small staff and budget hinders show; Michael O\'Donoghue; Tom writes a sketch for Eddie Murphy; Phil and Tom officially become a writing team on The Redd Foxx Show (1986); Sinbad, Pamela Segall Adlon, recurring cast changes; learning about writing a sitcom on the fly; writing on of the most popular episodes of My Two Dads; Dick Butkus; Hooperman; John Ritter; writing their best script - Hooperman episode "Who Do You Truss"; Doogie Howser, MD; Mayim Bialik\'s first tv role; Drexell\'s Class; introducing America to Tupac, Jason Biggs, and Brittany Murphy; Drexell getting canceled and moving on to the show that replaced it, Martin; working with Martin Lawrence; The Wayans Brothers; "Detroit" John Witherspoon; Phil teaches pilot writing at UCLA Extension Campus; why writers need to create show Bibles today; Tom being retired; the famous Pat McCormick helicopter and streaking stories; 

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