Paul W. Downs
Appearances
Fresh Air
'Hacks' Returns! With Jean Smart, Hannah Einbinder, Paul W. Downs
Debra, perfect timing. How are you, my favorite client?
Fresh Air
'Hacks' Returns! With Jean Smart, Hannah Einbinder, Paul W. Downs
Marty, yes, but I have a pitch. What if you hire a writer? I actually represent a very in-demand young woman. She wrote for a hit show, nominated for an Emmy.
Fresh Air
'Hacks' Returns! With Jean Smart, Hannah Einbinder, Paul W. Downs
Oh, 2015. If you can believe it. Yeah. So we were Jen Statsky, Lucia and Yellow and myself. We're driving from Boston to Portland, Maine. They were with me, helping me and writing jokes for the special episode.
Fresh Air
'Hacks' Returns! With Jean Smart, Hannah Einbinder, Paul W. Downs
And as we drove up, we were talking about our favorite comedians, most of whom are women, and how so many of those women just never had the same opportunities and just didn't get the same respect that a lot of their male counterparts did. And so we were just talking about that phenomenon. And the three of us also started comedy at the UCB Theater in New York, which is sort of an alt-comedy scene.
Fresh Air
'Hacks' Returns! With Jean Smart, Hannah Einbinder, Paul W. Downs
And we were also talking about this phenomenon of Cool comedy versus, you know, what young, cool comedians might consider hacky comedy. And so we just started talking about this phenomenon and thought, well, you know what would be a cool show is a show about sort of an icon of comedy who is misunderstood by someone of a younger generation.
Fresh Air
'Hacks' Returns! With Jean Smart, Hannah Einbinder, Paul W. Downs
And so we just, yeah, emailed each other the idea for the show and kept talking about it for four or five years before we pitched it.
Fresh Air
'Hacks' Returns! With Jean Smart, Hannah Einbinder, Paul W. Downs
Yeah, I mean, it's funny because we pitched this episode where Debra goes back to her alma mater for an honorary degree, but then some of her older material comes back to haunt her. We pitched that when we pitched the show. And we didn't have exactly the right moment for it.
Fresh Air
'Hacks' Returns! With Jean Smart, Hannah Einbinder, Paul W. Downs
I think this season, because she's on the precipice of a really big job and sort of the stakes of her career are more heightened than they have been, it was the perfect moment to do it. But also it's a scary thing because... I don't think we've ever wanted the show to be a show about, quote, cancel culture, you know, and also it's such a it's such a sort of minefield.
Fresh Air
'Hacks' Returns! With Jean Smart, Hannah Einbinder, Paul W. Downs
And, you know, to wrap your arms around it is tricky. And I think if we ever you know, we want to make a show that first makes people laugh. It's a comedy. But we also want to make a show that makes people think.
Fresh Air
'Hacks' Returns! With Jean Smart, Hannah Einbinder, Paul W. Downs
Because if we have the, honestly, if we have the opportunity to do that, we have this platform, it's like, why not make something that makes you talk with the people you've watched it with or makes you think about something and reframe something you've thought about in the past? Thank you very much.
Fresh Air
'Hacks' Returns! With Jean Smart, Hannah Einbinder, Paul W. Downs
Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.