Joel Madison (Roseanne, Jackie Thomas Show, creator Malcolm & Eddie)

Jay Madison joined me to discuss growing up in Madison, Wisconsin; watching superhero shows an d old movies; Al in the Family; Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman and Fernwood 2Night; WC Fields; starting stand up in San Diego and moving to Minnesota; meeting Louie Anderson, Roseanne, and Tom Arnold; starting to write with Judd Apatow; rewriting a movie with Judd; getting hired at Roseanne; appearing at Evening at the Improv and Star Search; writing "Bird is the Word", the Vegas episodes and the episodes about Dan's father on Roseanne; Ned Beatty & Shelley Winters; Barry Rubinowitz; writing the Chris Farley ep of Jackie Thomas; working with Chuck Lorre & Bonnie Bramlett; making the show more authentic; nobody can be poor on TV; UPN made Malcolm & Eddie rich; doing Jackie Thomas, Herman's Head and Greg Kinnear in a three-year stretch; working on Fresh Prince; creating Malcolm & Eddie; Richard Pryor guest stars; "Strike" episode of Jackie Thomas with Norm MacDonald, Bill Maher, and Seinfeld bashing; Tom Arnold's great at playing dumb guys; picking up Gary Coleman; ABC wanted to renew but balked when Tom & Roseanne wanted to control slot; Tom's role on show was larger than supposed to be; Phil Leeds; Jackie Thomas writers based on real people; Michael Boatman's character was based on William Lucas Walker; Red Buttons; his acting career; Naked Gun 33 1/3; being on Fresh Prince; Bridesmaids; writing for Americas Funniest Home Videos; My Big Redneck Wedding and its spinoffs; doing stand up for fun; comics who don't change with times; when reality doesn't need punching up; stand up is a night time game; knowing when to hang it up; his writing disability which made it hard to type scripts before computers; Franken & Davis