I really set out to do this traditional looking and traditional sounding multi-cam sitcom, but then make the world as elastic as an animated show could be. Make the world as surreal as we wanted it to be.

Why do people shush animals? Theyve never spoken

I have tons of jokes with moments in them over the years in stand-up that don't get a laugh but I love them so they stay.

I was just trying to blend the standup that I do almost with like the visual sketch stuff that I did on "Saturday Night Live." And so in terms of how elastic in the world is, we'll see what we can get away with [in John Mulaney show].

I was always the squarest person in the cool room, and alternatively, sometimes the weirder person at the mainstream table.

On Friday night, it was fun [to know] that if you bombed, or whatever was going on, that you'd be on TV at 11. It was a cool feeling, and you'd get a couple hundred dollars.

I'm a very straightforward person. But that's fine for a comedian. Because a lot of times you're talking about everyone else.