For a long time networks just wanted to buy imitations of other shows - i.e. Curb (the Enthusiasm or the Office). The word gets out that "Hey, we want to buy something like that" and every comedy producer just starts dreaming up ideas like that.
B. J. PorterAndy Kindler. Andy's set - somehow he slayed that night. But something weird about it that wasn't translating for the CD. I don't know what it was. But we listened to it and it wasn't the greatest audio recording - I mean, the quality of it was good. But we didn't want to put it on the record because it doesn't represent what Andy does.
B. J. PorterAnd with this show we're trying to be a little sillier. We can do a piece like one we wrote the other day called "Ghost Busters Busters". Where would never do that in a million years on Mr. Show, but somehow on this show it's silly and stupid and a little more disposable, so we can do something like that.
B. J. PorterBrian Posehn went up at 4:45 in the morning. And he gets lost at a certain point. I don't know if we kept him getting lost on the CD. That joke isn't as technically well delivered as I'm sure it is in his Comedy Central special. But the whole disk has this looseness and flavor to it where anything can happen that a lot of people will prefer.
B. J. PorterThere's so many variables in comedy. Comedy is not this thing that's a performance like a play. It's really an interaction with every single person in the room. And if there's a weirdness in the room for any people, be it something the comedians did at the top of the set or be it the mixture of the people isn't right, something can go awry. So it's really great to see you proven wrong about someone.
B. J. PorterAnd there's a period where everyone's buying those and it's really bad because no one is Larry David or Ricky Gervais. And then they don't work and networks stop wanting to buy them, but because they wanted to buy them before the producer wanted to make them, the producers are still hanging on to wanting to make them.
B. J. Porter