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A Personal Thing For All To See: Lisa Kudrow Explains The Origins of “Web Therapy”

More from Ora: A Personal Thing For All To See: Lisa Kudrow Explains The Origins of “Web Therapy”

Dan Bucatinsky knows how to push Lisa Kudrow’s buttons

Larry King NowFeb 17 '17

Dan Bucatinsky – who runs a successful production company with Lisa Kudrow – explains how their partnership began, and the best way to push her buttons.

Larry King: How did you and Lisa Kudrow get together to form a partnership?

Dan Bucatinsky: Well, Lisa Kudrow starred in a film that my husband wrote and directed, called ‘The Opposite Sex,’ and back in 1997 when they were shooting, she came to set, I was there, we instantly bonded over the fact that we went to the same college, Vassar College. We crossed over two years—

Larry King: That was an all-female college.

Dan Bucatinsky: It was, it went co-ed in ’69 or ’70. I always joked that I was the only guy there, but no, by the time I was there it was almost 50-50. But Lisa and I did not cross paths even though we had some friends in common, and we didn’t really truly meet and become friends till we met on Don’s film. And Lisa and her husband and Don and I became friends, and we would socialize together. Pretty soon we were spendingFridaynights in her dressing room at ‘Friends,’ watching the show, chatting with her, playing Dominoes, and eating all the food. And over time, I made a film a few years after called ‘All Over the Guy,’ an independent film that I starred in and I wrote, and Lisa played a cameo in the film. And soon after that, she was offered the opportunity to start a production company, and in those days, they would offer TV stars what they used to call “vanity deals.” Where they didn’t really expect much from them, but here’s an office and some assistance and we’re on the Warner Brothers lot. And Lisa called me and said, “I don’t wanna just do a regular company, I’d love to work with you. I wanna write, work with another actor, another writer, and everyone told us not to do it, all of her people said “don’t do it,” all of my people said “don’t do it,” and we did it anyway. And we’ve been in business for 14 years, we produced ‘The Comeback’ and ‘Web Therapy’ and now, almost eight seasons of ‘Who Do You Think You Are?’ and we remain the best of friends.

Larry King: What’s the easiest way to annoy Lisa Kudrow?

Dan Bucatinsky: Oh my god.

Larry King: How do you push her buttons?

Dan Bucatinsky: The easiest way to annoy Lisa Kudrow is to tell her you bought her a ticket to a Broadway show. And it’s a musical. And that she has to go see it.

Larry King: She hates musicals?

Dan Bucatinsky: She’s not somebody that wants to go to a Broadway show, let me put it that way.

Larry King: She didn’t like ‘La La Land’?

Dan Bucatinsky: I don’t know if she liked ‘La La Land,’ that’s a film, I think she was able to watch that in some relative privacy. I don’t know if she liked ‘La La Land,’ I know that we joke a lot about musicals in particular, and I think it would annoy her if I made her go.

Larry King: What’s her genius? She’s really a genius.

Dan Bucatinsky: She is a genius. She is one of the smartest people I’ve ever met, she is razor-focused, she is unbelievably smart, and has an amazing sense about character and story. I’m a writer, and I often turn to Lisa because she can get inside of a character like nobody.

Larry King: Do you have something on your bucket list?

Dan Bucatinsky: I wanna be in a Broadway musical. I wanna push Lisa Kudrow’s buttons and make her come see me in a Broadway musical.

Larry King: And if she won’t go?

Dan Bucatinsky: She’ll go, she’ll go, if I’m in it she’ll go.

Larry King:Watch new episodes of ‘Larry King Now’Monday,Wednesday, andFridayon demand on Ora TV and Hulu.


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