Just when you thought it was safe to go back to the 80s...my guest, Billy Van Zandt, will give you even more reasons to make that trip back in time!
He survived Jaws 2 (twice, in fact...they reshot his death scene \"in case you die,\" said the producer, who was dead serious) and went on to build an incredibly prolific comedy writing career that has stood the test of time.
And space - yep, Billy ALSO worked alongside Robert Wise and William Shatner in Star Trek: The Motion Picture (his character gets a mild scolding from Commander Uhura after he complains about Kirk taking over as captain, depriving Captain Will Decker of his first command...but giving all of us Star Trek fans exactly what we wanted to see - Captain Kirk, back on the bridge and in the center seat).
But I digress. Billy wrote for great 80s sitcoms Newhart and Anything But Love, and spent 46 years as writing partner (and on-again-off-again everything else) with the late Jane Milmore — 25 plays together, an \"ugly divorce\" that turned into a lifelong creative marriage, and a catalog that's now running all over the world, from a state theater in Warsaw to a converted IMAX in Mexico City.
We got into the Boomer Boys musical, talked a bit about his famous brother Stevie, he explains why he can't stand watching comedies for fun, and you'll hear a genuinely hilarious Sean Penn/Madonna wedding story (featuring aTom Cruise cameo).
He's also got two books out (Get in the Car, Jane and Because It's Funny) with a third, The Cracker Jack Man, hitting bookshelves this September.
Sponsored by Anthology for Books and Drive-by-Do-Gooders .
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