Ramy Youssef
Appearances
The Daily
'The Interview': Ramy Youssef Is Just Trying to Be ‘Emotionally Correct’
Yeah, well, I think that I'm always dancing around it. I think at the end of the day, it's like I'm an entertainer who works with entertainers. And there is this obligation... to, for me, there's an obligation to be emotionally correct. My obligation above all is to try and hit what something feels like right on the head. Like that's my nail that I'm trying to hit.
The Daily
'The Interview': Ramy Youssef Is Just Trying to Be ‘Emotionally Correct’
The nail I don't want to be asked to hit is to spread facts and information. I don't want that obligation. So it's like, you know, in my stand up special, I talk about Palestine. Am I like going through every single thing and like debunking, you know, hey, this thing you heard in the news is false. Hey, this thing was worded wrong. Hey, this thing.
The Daily
'The Interview': Ramy Youssef Is Just Trying to Be ‘Emotionally Correct’
It's not exactly the financial crisis, but it's a financial crisis.
The Daily
'The Interview': Ramy Youssef Is Just Trying to Be ‘Emotionally Correct’
No, that's I'm actually talking actually about my dating life. And while I'm doing that and talking about that, you know, emotional experience, I'm also bringing in this really big thing because it's always kind of about the emotional thing first and foremost, and then how that fits into the larger thing. And that's a very clear line for me.
The Daily
'The Interview': Ramy Youssef Is Just Trying to Be ‘Emotionally Correct’
Incredibly, incredibly surreal because when we started making that show, the average American did not know the difference between Palestine and Pakistan. It all kind of just sounded the same. And now, you know, it's the global conversation. So I think there's that level of being surreal. And then the clear line for us was,
The Daily
'The Interview': Ramy Youssef Is Just Trying to Be ‘Emotionally Correct’
And getting to work with Jesse Armstrong, who, you know, I've been a fan of forever. I mean, I think when I was in high school, it was, you know, we were illegally downloading Peep Show, you know, and then now, you know, obviously I've been such a huge fan of Succession and to get to be, you know, in this really small cast of his first film that he's directing, it's really special.
The Daily
'The Interview': Ramy Youssef Is Just Trying to Be ‘Emotionally Correct’
We're going to keep this about the characters and to the thing we said earlier. I'm not about to get into like a news debate about it. It's just like, this is what these guys are going. This is what it looks like when you don't have your papers. We're going to show you what these courts look like. And it's funny because it's tender.
The Daily
'The Interview': Ramy Youssef Is Just Trying to Be ‘Emotionally Correct’
And we're going to show you, you know, what it looks like to fight so hard to go back to your homeland. And then, you know, what ends up happening that's totally out of your control. in a way that's really tender. And so, uh, it only just refined our guiding principles in, in terms of like, okay, more people are at the table for the conversation.
The Daily
'The Interview': Ramy Youssef Is Just Trying to Be ‘Emotionally Correct’
We actually can do less explaining and we can just do more character work and, you know, like we don't have to round it out, uh, as much because, you know, everyone's is, is, is aware on a level, at least everyone who's going to tune in, you know, it kind of has an idea going in.
The Daily
'The Interview': Ramy Youssef Is Just Trying to Be ‘Emotionally Correct’
A lot of times it's just like, you know, people that I know who, you know, I mean, places I've been, places I have a personal connection to. I have so many friends in Palestine. It would just be, I've been there so many times. It would be, it just doesn't make sense. It's like, it's like as if something was happening. It's like, how do you not talk about it?
The Daily
'The Interview': Ramy Youssef Is Just Trying to Be ‘Emotionally Correct’
You know, my best friend in the world is disabled and has muscular dystrophy. And we've done so many things for the Muscular Dystrophy Association over the years. And, you know, there is this part of the way that I was raised where I saw my parents, even when they were struggling financially. financially, always gave charity. That's just how I was raised. It was like, that was never a question.
The Daily
'The Interview': Ramy Youssef Is Just Trying to Be ‘Emotionally Correct’
That was a expense in the way that food was. It was like, yeah, we also have to do charity. And so you see you're like, it'd be it's a really funny thing. Like, my dad is such an open heart. So we got to give charity. And he's kind of stressed about it. You But it's like it's just like the reality of it. And there's something about that that is very intertwined with how I view the world.
The Daily
'The Interview': Ramy Youssef Is Just Trying to Be ‘Emotionally Correct’
Like that's a given, you know. And I think part of the joke, though, is just that feeling of the of the pressure of, you know, every, every, every single thing.
The Daily
'The Interview': Ramy Youssef Is Just Trying to Be ‘Emotionally Correct’
No. It's more nerve-wracking to not say something. It's more nerve-wracking to try to shield yourself from whatever criticism is going to come. And plenty of it has come. But I get more tense if I'm sitting quietly trying to stay safe. And what I said is... Completely inoffensive.
The Daily
'The Interview': Ramy Youssef Is Just Trying to Be ‘Emotionally Correct’
That's the other thing is like people are sensitive about it or people might say, well, why didn't you say this or why didn't you do that? But on the whole, there's nothing controversial about any of it.
The Daily
'The Interview': Ramy Youssef Is Just Trying to Be ‘Emotionally Correct’
Yeah. I mean, look, there are false equivalencies in terms of power. That's what people are talking about. They're talking about dynamics of power. And so when you look at Gaza, you're talking about a place where their water and electricity are controlled. So even the framing of the You know, I'm like, all right, whatever, call it whatever you want to call it.
The Daily
'The Interview': Ramy Youssef Is Just Trying to Be ‘Emotionally Correct’
It's super surreal. Yeah. Yeah.
The Daily
'The Interview': Ramy Youssef Is Just Trying to Be ‘Emotionally Correct’
It's like it's yes, there are two sides who are fighting, but there there's a massive power imbalance. And that is just unequivocally true. And so and even me saying.
The Daily
'The Interview': Ramy Youssef Is Just Trying to Be ‘Emotionally Correct’
I mean, I just said it's literally literal power. Like they could literally turn off the electricity. They could turn off the water. They can turn off what aid is getting in. So so it's like, you know, it's like being in a wrestling match with someone where you're controlling the other guy's calories and how much water he gets.
The Daily
'The Interview': Ramy Youssef Is Just Trying to Be ‘Emotionally Correct’
And, you know, it's like, OK, he sneaks a few power bars in that you didn't know about. You know, it's not it's it's just it's its own thing. But where I stand from is like. I know so many people with kids. I hope to have kids. So for me to say all of that in one sentence, nobody wants there to be people getting bombed indiscriminately and nobody wants there to be hostages.
The Daily
'The Interview': Ramy Youssef Is Just Trying to Be ‘Emotionally Correct’
So there's nothing controversial for me in saying it. It is just when you're not saying everything that everyone wants to hear, they get upset. But anything I've said, I could, you know... I mean, jokes are one thing, but anything I've said sincerely, it's just like, I could tattoo it to myself because it's not even... There's no problem.
The Daily
'The Interview': Ramy Youssef Is Just Trying to Be ‘Emotionally Correct’
Like, I don't have... That's why I'm not afraid because it's like I... What did I say? Stop killing kids? Oh my God, this guy's crazy. What? Like, it's not like... It's not a thing.
The Daily
'The Interview': Ramy Youssef Is Just Trying to Be ‘Emotionally Correct’
Well, I mean... It's interesting to even think about like what comedy even is anymore, right? Because more people are watching TikTok and Instagram reels than a sitcom.
The Daily
'The Interview': Ramy Youssef Is Just Trying to Be ‘Emotionally Correct’
Look, you're interviewing me, and there are people who you wouldn't interview who have way more views than I do, like literal views of people watching their stuff, you know, because they kind of specifically go at the online game, right? And I'm not even being self-deprecating. No, I know. The point that I'm more trying to make is that, you know, the individual voice that
The Daily
'The Interview': Ramy Youssef Is Just Trying to Be ‘Emotionally Correct’
Yeah, there's just so much depth. I mean, I think that there's, you know, he's someone who is brilliant at that mix of, you know, wit and being topical, talking about things that, you know, could feel like really dense news headlines and somehow making them about, you know, character dynamics, making them about friendships, making them about families.
The Daily
'The Interview': Ramy Youssef Is Just Trying to Be ‘Emotionally Correct’
has like more outlets than ever and is in a way trusted more than ever. So it's like the individual, whether it's the individual podcaster or the individual comedian or the individual online content creator, is having their moment right now. And so I think that does spill into comedy. I think that does spill into comedians.
The Daily
'The Interview': Ramy Youssef Is Just Trying to Be ‘Emotionally Correct’
But if you look at the comedians too, who, um, people are really like feel that big catharsis with, it's still kind of our like legacy people, like who, who've been doing it for so long, who have, you know, whether it be like John, you know, Stuart, Oliver, Chappelle, you know, guys, you know, people who've like really been, um,
The Daily
'The Interview': Ramy Youssef Is Just Trying to Be ‘Emotionally Correct’
around, you know, that people are like, oh, wow, yeah, you know, they're still talking about this stuff. I'm really curious what they think about this thing.
The Daily
'The Interview': Ramy Youssef Is Just Trying to Be ‘Emotionally Correct’
Honestly, no. Mainly because, you know, I live in New York. I still live near all my friends who I grew up with. I'm in a group chat with like 15 of my buddies who I went to high school and college with. Only two of them have seen poor things or seen...
The Daily
'The Interview': Ramy Youssef Is Just Trying to Be ‘Emotionally Correct’
half of my work like they don't they're just like they're not like I'm around a lot of people who are like dude like oh cool like do your thing or whatever but I also think the nature of um Hollywood, the nature of, you know, I don't think that television and film is as much of a separator in terms of experience as before. And I think I mostly view that as there's a lot of pros to that.
The Daily
'The Interview': Ramy Youssef Is Just Trying to Be ‘Emotionally Correct’
Like a lot of people have access to creativity. A lot of people have access to cameras. A lot of people, again, like the social media stuff we were talking about.
The Daily
'The Interview': Ramy Youssef Is Just Trying to Be ‘Emotionally Correct’
Yeah. And I think that that's interesting. I mean, it's like, you know, I don't, And I purposely used the word interesting, which is a word that like... Can mean many things. It can mean many things. It can mean nothing even. But I will say I'm curious about it.
The Daily
'The Interview': Ramy Youssef Is Just Trying to Be ‘Emotionally Correct’
I find it... I'm more peaked towards something like positive than judgmental because the possibilities for conversations that we've gotten to have are just undeniably larger. And I think that that's always good. And, you know, even if it's bumpy, you know, in the middle. But yeah, I don't... I feel...
The Daily
'The Interview': Ramy Youssef Is Just Trying to Be ‘Emotionally Correct’
you know just as connected and and again i think like when some of what we were talking about earlier i i just know too many people going through really really real things and and you just try to be there for them and empathize with them and and you also really just sit in the reality of like anyone who's got anything good going on knows the reality that it could not be that way tomorrow you know
The Daily
'The Interview': Ramy Youssef Is Just Trying to Be ‘Emotionally Correct’
Yeah, a lot. I mean, I'm, you know, it's really interesting. Just I, you know, just started my wife and I just kind of being like, oh, we, you know. should we have kids? And just even the, you know, as we kind of start to, so many of my friends are having kids and you think about being in charge of another person, like entire livelihood. You're like in your 30s, right? Yeah, I'm in my 30s.
The Daily
'The Interview': Ramy Youssef Is Just Trying to Be ‘Emotionally Correct’
And so it's just kind of like you go, oh, wow, like that, the idea of not being a kid and just someone's kid, but like all of that, as I kind of start to, you know, really broach that and kind of start to really be like, oh yeah, like... You know, when I started making my show, I was 26. And I'm 34 now. So it's like...
The Daily
'The Interview': Ramy Youssef Is Just Trying to Be ‘Emotionally Correct’
that's a lot of time, but I, and then I'm like, oh yeah, like, I think I still kind of view myself as a kid, but not really. Like I am an adult. And so there is that, that aspect of it is, is really so new and just kind of really like figuring out, you know, oh yeah, like when does self-discovery, I mean, arguably it's always happening, but at a certain point it's got to transition into like
The Daily
'The Interview': Ramy Youssef Is Just Trying to Be ‘Emotionally Correct’
hey, this is what I do. This kind of is who I am. And there's something about the solidifying of at least parts of it that feel necessary. And so I think that is something I've really been exploring a lot on stage that has been very fun and different and new for me.
The Daily
'The Interview': Ramy Youssef Is Just Trying to Be ‘Emotionally Correct’
And it's the kind of work I'm very attracted to. And then it's been an even richer experience, obviously, getting to help bring one of his scripts to life.
The Daily
'The Interview': Ramy Youssef Is Just Trying to Be ‘Emotionally Correct’
Yes. On the way, it will happen. Yeah. Brace yourself. Yeah.
The Daily
'The Interview': Ramy Youssef Is Just Trying to Be ‘Emotionally Correct’
I try as much as possible to be in a position of, okay, here's what I know. Here's the larger thing I'm trying to solve. And then honestly kind of like beg people to help me. Just be like, please, please help me. How do we do this? Can we do this together?
The Daily
'The Interview': Ramy Youssef Is Just Trying to Be ‘Emotionally Correct’
Hey, are you all right? I heard you were not feeling well.
The Daily
'The Interview': Ramy Youssef Is Just Trying to Be ‘Emotionally Correct’
Oh my God, I'm so sorry. It's totally fine. I'm hoping it was elective surgery that was cosmetic that you both wanted.
The Daily
'The Interview': Ramy Youssef Is Just Trying to Be ‘Emotionally Correct’
Well, I'm glad you're better.
The Daily
'The Interview': Ramy Youssef Is Just Trying to Be ‘Emotionally Correct’
You're kind of like right on the money because it's like I think that without giving away too much, there's like this video tech on our on our shoot, Andre, who actually loads our phones. So they feel like real phones with real headlines. And I've been having this experience where it's like I go home at the end of the day and I'm looking at my phone and I'm like, wait, is this Andre's phone?
The Daily
'The Interview': Ramy Youssef Is Just Trying to Be ‘Emotionally Correct’
Are these headlines real? So much of, yeah, so much of what's occurring in real life and kind of how this confluence of, you know, government and tech and all these things, yeah, is, you know, again, without going too much into it, is like what's happening, you know, and what we're portraying. And so it's been so, yeah, so surreal. Yeah.
The Daily
'The Interview': Ramy Youssef Is Just Trying to Be ‘Emotionally Correct’
Yeah, it's amazing. I mean, I think, you know, on one level, like from a technical point of view, um, to get to be an actor for someone with a vision like your ghost or Jesse, it's just really cool because you're only doing one thing, you know? And I think, um,
The Daily
'The Interview': Ramy Youssef Is Just Trying to Be ‘Emotionally Correct’
A lot of the opportunities that I have been able to have, I'm very much doing so many different parts of it because that was just how it went. I tried many years just being an auditioning actor and that wasn't exactly... No one ever knew what to do with me. It was always kind of like, well, you're not... You know, you're not in, you know, you're not this Indian character we wrote.
The Daily
'The Interview': Ramy Youssef Is Just Trying to Be ‘Emotionally Correct’
We don't know if you're the friend or the leading guy. It was always all of that stuff. And so I kind of was very much feeling like I wanted to create a specific frequency. And I've been very lucky to get to do that, again, with a lot of support. But then... To get to now be at a place where people understand what it is that I do and are excited to do it.
The Daily
'The Interview': Ramy Youssef Is Just Trying to Be ‘Emotionally Correct’
It is very freeing to kind of show up and focus on one thing and also to help somebody else's vision. And I really like that. Not even just as an actor, but as in the creative process. I just really like seeing... pieces of art that should exist, get to exist.
The Daily
'The Interview': Ramy Youssef Is Just Trying to Be ‘Emotionally Correct’
You know, I think one of the strangest things, you know, when we were making, you know, my first show, Rami, it was called Rami truly out of, like, lack of a better option that any of us could find. I mean, I really did not want that, mainly because I also knew half the people would pronounce it Rami. But I was really like, something about this isn't exactly how I work.
The Daily
'The Interview': Ramy Youssef Is Just Trying to Be ‘Emotionally Correct’
And I think the best stories... are serving a philosophy. And I've certainly felt that with your ghost. And I felt that with Jesse. And it's the way that I like to work as well, where you're not feeling this. There's none of this. I'm the director energy or I'm the star energy. It's a bunch of people kind of almost coming together saying, okay, we got together to talk about this.
The Daily
'The Interview': Ramy Youssef Is Just Trying to Be ‘Emotionally Correct’
this one idea, you know, that's, what's exciting about making something is, is that process is like the reach, you know? And, and, and, and I think that's also what's kind of been this really interesting thing.
The Daily
'The Interview': Ramy Youssef Is Just Trying to Be ‘Emotionally Correct’
You know, I have friends in tech who've messaged me lately, you know, with some of the stuff saying, you know, dude, like, look at this, you know, AI movies, you can make the entire movie with AI. You know, I was like, I want to make the movie. Like I want to struggle with it and I want to reach, and I want to do it with a group of people because like,
The Daily
'The Interview': Ramy Youssef Is Just Trying to Be ‘Emotionally Correct’
You know, there's this spiritual connection that just does something totally different. And I think, you know, yeah, that link you're drawing, I don't know that I would have even framed it that way. But as you asked the question, I'm like, oh, yeah, there is this kinship in all of these things. And, you know, certainly this animated show that we're about to put out was...
The Daily
'The Interview': Ramy Youssef Is Just Trying to Be ‘Emotionally Correct’
maybe even the biggest group effort I've been a part of because so much of it was out of my hands in terms of, you know, the design stuff and the animation stuff.
The Daily
'The Interview': Ramy Youssef Is Just Trying to Be ‘Emotionally Correct’
You know, to get to work with Mona Chalabi, to get to work with all these animators who kind of, you know, so many of the best jokes we have are visual ones that I was surprised by when I was watching back things that they interpreted from the script. And so, yeah, that style of working is kind of the only way I want to work ever.
The Daily
'The Interview': Ramy Youssef Is Just Trying to Be ‘Emotionally Correct’
You know, I think that the thing that compelled me is, you know, the family in this show, they already have a lot going on before that happens. Pretty much the entire pilot, it's just this family comedy about a family you've never really seen in an animated space. And for me, though, to kind of bring in the events of the early 2000s felt...
The Daily
'The Interview': Ramy Youssef Is Just Trying to Be ‘Emotionally Correct’
Honestly, like there probably wouldn't be a project if she didn't say yes. Because I was like, you know, I had written, at that point I had written the pilot with Pam who came from the South Park world and is such a great comedic collaborator. And then I felt, okay, but as we go into making this, the visual world that we want, when I look at Mona Chalabi's work, she's so good at,
The Daily
'The Interview': Ramy Youssef Is Just Trying to Be ‘Emotionally Correct’
like you said, at breaking down these really wild statistics or questions and actually making them really poppy and colorful and something that you want to look at before you even know what you're looking at. It just kind of grabs your eye. And I felt there was already kind of this kinship with what she was doing to what I thought was the medium of animation could do for this particular story.
The Daily
'The Interview': Ramy Youssef Is Just Trying to Be ‘Emotionally Correct’
And so, you know, I try to really kind of As much as possible, be in a position of, okay, here's what I know. Here's the larger thing I'm trying to solve. And then honestly kind of like beg people to help me. Just be like, please, please help me. How do we do this? Can we do this together? That's actually how we even got the soundtrack for our show. There's this kid, Moaz Dawad.
The Daily
'The Interview': Ramy Youssef Is Just Trying to Be ‘Emotionally Correct’
I mean, I call him a kid. He's my age. But he scored the entire show. from his apartment in Alexandria, Egypt, and would drive into Cairo to find session musicians to fill the pieces that he didn't know. But I had heard like one track of his, and I said, dude, you know, you can do this whole thing. And he was like, no, I can't. And I just kind of begged him.
The Daily
'The Interview': Ramy Youssef Is Just Trying to Be ‘Emotionally Correct’
And then he kind of created this sound that was, you know, unbelievable.
The Daily
'The Interview': Ramy Youssef Is Just Trying to Be ‘Emotionally Correct’
um so yeah so the music happened in kind of two parts there's the score of the show and then the other piece of the music was um you know i was doing these voices which i've not done a lot of character work you know i tend to play things even in my stand-up more grounded and conversational and then i got in the booth and i really found these voices and then while i was there
The Daily
'The Interview': Ramy Youssef Is Just Trying to Be ‘Emotionally Correct’
We were doing the voiceover work in a variety of studios as I was traveling. But one particular studio in Brooklyn had a bunch of guitars there in-house and a piano in-house. And I had played music in high school. I mean, I grew up in the New Jersey emo scene. So we all kind of picked up a guitar and wore tight pants and tried to do that thing for at least everyone had a stint.
The Daily
'The Interview': Ramy Youssef Is Just Trying to Be ‘Emotionally Correct’
And, you know, so I knew some guitar, but I kind of picked it up and I had just found the voice of the dad, Hussein Hussein. And I was like, you know, what would it sound like if Hussein made music? And this was like between setups and I just started playing. And then I wrote this song kind of spontaneously about Hussein.
The Daily
'The Interview': Ramy Youssef Is Just Trying to Be ‘Emotionally Correct’
you know, him at his halal cart and how he, you know, used to be a doctor, but now he can't be a doctor in America and he just has to sell meat. And I wrote this track, Money for the Meat, and then it became this element of the show that, you know, is really, you know, truly one of my favorites. And we kind of, you know, I ended up writing like
The Daily
'The Interview': Ramy Youssef Is Just Trying to Be ‘Emotionally Correct’
Yeah, Spies in the Mosque, you know, like a Backstreet Boys bop about surveillance, basically. And so, you know, we and then we kind of made an album and added a really funny, like just a fun element. And, you know, I actually was like, I was I was talking, I had this really fun day where I I got to do a bucket list goal of playing basketball with Adam Sandler.
The Daily
'The Interview': Ramy Youssef Is Just Trying to Be ‘Emotionally Correct’
And I was talking to him about. Is he good? He's amazing. I mean, he's great. I mean, he fouls a lot and he's like very aggressive, but he's great. Okay. He'd probably tell you I foul too much too.
The Daily
'The Interview': Ramy Youssef Is Just Trying to Be ‘Emotionally Correct’
important in the sense that, you know, it's something we talk about all the time. It's part of what we're currently experiencing. It's never gone away. And it's also never really been explored in media outside of a few, you know, points of view. And so when I think about how long these themes have been directly a part of my life and the lives of people that I know to get to, you
The Daily
'The Interview': Ramy Youssef Is Just Trying to Be ‘Emotionally Correct’
But I was talking to him about how when I was a kid, you know, hearing his like Hanukkah song and hearing all that music that he made was so wild because it was like out of the pattern of just hearing Christmas songs. And so, you know, and I was telling him about this thing almost in a way like feeling like it felt very exciting to me to kind of get to make these songs.
The Daily
'The Interview': Ramy Youssef Is Just Trying to Be ‘Emotionally Correct’
And in our second season, we actually have like, we make a bit of like a, you know, Ramadan Eid song that kind of, that comes out. But this idea of hearing these animated jingles from a totally different perspective and different voice, I remember seeing that Sandler Hanukkah stuff and just going, whoa, this is very different.
The Daily
'The Interview': Ramy Youssef Is Just Trying to Be ‘Emotionally Correct’
And then it was very exciting to kind of get to tap into something like that here. And also totally by accident. Again, like not a goal going in, but then felt like this really organic thing that the character found.
The Daily
'The Interview': Ramy Youssef Is Just Trying to Be ‘Emotionally Correct’
I mean, he was so hyped and so supportive and like, yeah, it was really, yeah, it was so cool. I mean, I've been a fan of him forever. Who won? It was a two-on-two game and I wasn't on his team. I think we split games, but I think ultimately, I think he might have won, but I must have lost because I can't remember because I think I would, I think if I had won, I'd be, I'd confidently say I won.
The Daily
'The Interview': Ramy Youssef Is Just Trying to Be ‘Emotionally Correct’
I'm pretty sure I lost.
The Daily
'The Interview': Ramy Youssef Is Just Trying to Be ‘Emotionally Correct’
a period of time that I don't think has escaped us in any way, unfortunately. And to get to do it in a style that is somewhat, you know, familiar in terms of trotting on political things that can feel a little difficult and undercuts them, right, and doesn't make them feel so volatile. To get to give this kind of family that treatment, is really exciting.
The Daily
'The Interview': Ramy Youssef Is Just Trying to Be ‘Emotionally Correct’
And to go into this and at this through a totally unexpected and very silly lens. And maybe that's where that hope feeling comes from because it's so unfiltered and it's so wild. And it's one of the craziest things I've gotten to be a part of and one of the most inappropriate things I've gotten to be a part of. Yet, there's a lot of love and care, I think, for the subjects involved, right?
The Daily
'The Interview': Ramy Youssef Is Just Trying to Be ‘Emotionally Correct’
Because it's meant to be something that finds the heart in the midst of kind of all the stuff.
The Daily
'The Interview': Ramy Youssef Is Just Trying to Be ‘Emotionally Correct’
You know, I think that, you know, I'm really lucky that I grew up with, you know, strong parents who did have a sense of self. And it was almost because they did have a sense of self. I was able to see this piece of it that felt important. kind of scared and desperate, right? And I don't think that was the defining experience.
The Daily
'The Interview': Ramy Youssef Is Just Trying to Be ‘Emotionally Correct’
It's almost because it wasn't, I'm able to kind of look at it from the side and go, oh, wow, it's really interesting how pervasive that is in my community. I see it come up in my family. I see it come up mainly in myself. And I'm usually interested in making self-reflective work, you know, because it's the only thing I can speak for.
The Daily
'The Interview': Ramy Youssef Is Just Trying to Be ‘Emotionally Correct’
You know, making work about other people or joking about other people has never really been funny to me because it's like, I don't even know who you are, really. Like, I know who you present. And I know who I present and I know the gap, those gaps.
The Daily
'The Interview': Ramy Youssef Is Just Trying to Be ‘Emotionally Correct’
And I think this show, you know, one of my favorite things about wanting to do an animated thing is, you know, I initially had this idea that it would be amazing to see an animated family that looked different when they were inside the house and when they were outside of the house, which I think is just. universally human. I mean, like yourself being like, oh, reminds me of my immigrant family.
The Daily
'The Interview': Ramy Youssef Is Just Trying to Be ‘Emotionally Correct’
But then, you know, really just people who are Italians from New Jersey being like, man, I really know that feeling. That's like, I feel like I got to be a different person. The second I step out my front door, the second I get on my front lawn and show the world something and hide something about who I am.
The Daily
'The Interview': Ramy Youssef Is Just Trying to Be ‘Emotionally Correct’
Changing his clothing, changing his voice, you know, and then the family kind of does this like through the whole series. If they're, you know, leaving the house, you know, the daughter, her curly hair becomes straight immediately, you know, like she's got to straighten it.
The Daily
'The Interview': Ramy Youssef Is Just Trying to Be ‘Emotionally Correct’
And, you know, our dad's beard turns into a mustache immediately because, oh, my God, I can't be viewed as this, you know, fully bearded man. You know, Rumi immediately hides all his curly hair with a hat, which I always did as a kid and continue to do into adulthood out of habit. But it's like that that presentation happens. you know, that you're kind of picking up on.
The Daily
'The Interview': Ramy Youssef Is Just Trying to Be ‘Emotionally Correct’
It's a very human thing, and I think that's what excites me about the show. And, you know, if you ask me, like, really what the show is about, it's about people trying to figure out how to be themselves in the middle of all of that. It happens to be set in the early 2000s, but it is about right now in this really eerie way. It is about right now, and it's about people who are...
The Daily
'The Interview': Ramy Youssef Is Just Trying to Be ‘Emotionally Correct’
you know, in a lot of ways also to dealing just with the financial burdens of capitalism and just, you know, man, like I got to stretch who I am in order to make a living. And I got to stretch who I am in order to kind of like move, move forward and move through and, and to get to do that in such a silly way with like music and jokes and, and crazy, you know, characters.
The Daily
'The Interview': Ramy Youssef Is Just Trying to Be ‘Emotionally Correct’
There is big musical numbers.
The Daily
'The Interview': Ramy Youssef Is Just Trying to Be ‘Emotionally Correct’
It's kind of just how like any conversation works, right? I've always felt things kind of open up when you're willing to be vulnerable with people. And I think the act of just making it clear that you're putting yourself under the microscope is universal in and of itself because I think, you know,
The Daily
'The Interview': Ramy Youssef Is Just Trying to Be ‘Emotionally Correct’
I think people are really genuinely good and introspective and kind of walk around all day going, should I have said that? Should I have done that? Should I have worn this shirt? And I think that's what ends up making it a connection point.
The Daily
'The Interview': Ramy Youssef Is Just Trying to Be ‘Emotionally Correct’
Uh, I think I'm reacting to, uh, when we put out Rami on Hulu, I remember seeing a headline that was like Muslims, here's the show for you. And then like my heart sinking and going, no, no, this is not, we are 2 billion people. And like a lot of them are not going to like what I'm doing and they shouldn't because I am, you know, a guy from New Jersey who thinks this type of thing is funny.
The Daily
'The Interview': Ramy Youssef Is Just Trying to Be ‘Emotionally Correct’
And I think, you know, putting the representation warning for me was a really cathartic thing of just being like, listen, I, this is not funny.
The Daily
'The Interview': Ramy Youssef Is Just Trying to Be ‘Emotionally Correct’
speaking in mass at all i'm not like i know you guys didn't elect me and there's no like i'm just this is this is stuff that you know makes me laugh in a way of of expression that a lot of people you know that i worked with all really dug um but putting that card there uh you know was very cathartic for me, almost to just be like, hey, I agree with you.
The Daily
'The Interview': Ramy Youssef Is Just Trying to Be ‘Emotionally Correct’
You know, I don't think this is not a slice of what it's like for everybody, but it is a slice of what it's like for some people. And it is the sense of humor that it is for some people. And I think part of the conversation that I'm trying to crack open a little bit here is like,
The Daily
'The Interview': Ramy Youssef Is Just Trying to Be ‘Emotionally Correct’
we have really great writers in my rooms and who bring amazing perspectives to the female characters, you know, on any of the shows that I've worked on. But it's also like, we haven't had media that's being fully driven by a female voice. That's going to crack open a whole other slice of this.
The Daily
'The Interview': Ramy Youssef Is Just Trying to Be ‘Emotionally Correct’
We haven't had media that, you know, happens mainly in, let's say the Gulf or mainly in the Middle East that cracks through into kind of like the Hollywood point of view in a meaningful way. And, And so I think those things are all going to continue to kind of foster a global conversation, you know.
The Daily
'The Interview': Ramy Youssef Is Just Trying to Be ‘Emotionally Correct’
And so part of the representation card is like, I'm really aware of how small the global conversation is when it is radiating from New Jersey.
The Daily
'The Interview': Ramy Youssef Is Just Trying to Be ‘Emotionally Correct’
You know what? I think it is pretty Egyptian. And I think that 100%. And actually, I don't think any of our representation warnings said that it doesn't represent Egyptians. So yeah, it probably does represent Egyptians. It's probably, there's a certain Egyptian sarcasm, dark humor that is all over my family that, you know, everything's Everything said through the lens of a joke.
The Daily
'The Interview': Ramy Youssef Is Just Trying to Be ‘Emotionally Correct’
And, you know, everything is like, has this. It's like, you know, nothing. There's no moment that can go by. It's a grandpa. I love you so much. I can't wait to see you next week. If I'm alive.
The Daily
'The Interview': Ramy Youssef Is Just Trying to Be ‘Emotionally Correct’
I think my way of handling that kind of goes back to the work being self-reflective above all. You know, I'm never really like... I'm not satirizing the culture so much as I am looking at the way people behave, right? So it's like, I think the father in our show is a lot of people's fathers.
The Daily
'The Interview': Ramy Youssef Is Just Trying to Be ‘Emotionally Correct’
You know, we open up our pilot with him handing out his family these small electrical bills that show the output that everyone is spending in the house, that shows how much shower water they're using and how much GameCube is being played and all these things. And he's just so... worried about getting his family through under budget, you know?
The Daily
'The Interview': Ramy Youssef Is Just Trying to Be ‘Emotionally Correct’
And I think that the things that hit on the sensitivities that you're talking about, I try to take a more tender approach towards, um, while kind of surrounding it with a lot of other, you know, uh, I like that word tenderness.
The Daily
'The Interview': Ramy Youssef Is Just Trying to Be ‘Emotionally Correct’
Thank you for having me.
The Daily
'The Interview': Ramy Youssef Is Just Trying to Be ‘Emotionally Correct’
at various levels has made me laugh and has given me a release but when it comes to what i participate in and what i do uh there's just always a level of implication that i'll put myself through uh to kind of say hey like i please don't ever think i'm laughing at you i'm laughing at myself and so um i think that's where it's also very liberating because it's like you know you're gonna watch it if you dig it and if you don't you're just gonna watch something else
The Daily
'The Interview': Ramy Youssef Is Just Trying to Be ‘Emotionally Correct’
I mean, I think that's kind of like the velocity of anything, right? Like bad news spreads faster than good news. You know, no one's like, hey, we recycled a lot. There's not really a headline. You know, I mean, talk to any Netflix executive. Any Netflix exec secretly will be like, hey, can you throw a murder into your show? Can you throw some sexual assault in?
The Daily
'The Interview': Ramy Youssef Is Just Trying to Be ‘Emotionally Correct’
Because then people are going to click through. But it's also like, you know, people used to get together to watch public hangings. I don't know. We're like, we're sick.
The Daily
'The Interview': Ramy Youssef Is Just Trying to Be ‘Emotionally Correct’
I mean, they're not explicitly asking, but they would never mind.
The Daily
'The Interview': Ramy Youssef Is Just Trying to Be ‘Emotionally Correct’
Yeah, for sure. Yeah, that's that. Yeah, for sure. Because I could be a fan of it and I can kind of see it. And but but I kind of it's just not interesting to me.
The Daily Show: Ears Edition
Jon Stewart on Wrongful Deportation and How Trump Fails to Deliver | Ramy Youssef
I'm so happy to be here with you. Thank you for having me.
The Daily Show: Ears Edition
Jon Stewart on Wrongful Deportation and How Trump Fails to Deliver | Ramy Youssef
Yeah, of course.
The Daily Show: Ears Edition
Jon Stewart on Wrongful Deportation and How Trump Fails to Deliver | Ramy Youssef
The show's hilarious. Thank you. No, I, you know, it was something that we felt was only possible to do in animation. It's actually, it's really wild, too, because we've been making the show for so many years. And I don't think there's ever been a week in America's history where immigrants feel the need to say, hey, we are number one happy family USA. Right.
The Daily Show: Ears Edition
Jon Stewart on Wrongful Deportation and How Trump Fails to Deliver | Ramy Youssef
And that is what this family feels compelled to do in 2001. And we kind of have this show coming out in this moment where it's all colliding in this wild way.
The Daily Show: Ears Edition
Jon Stewart on Wrongful Deportation and How Trump Fails to Deliver | Ramy Youssef
We started making it during, we pitched it during Trump 1. And then it's coming out now in the sequel.
The Daily Show: Ears Edition
Jon Stewart on Wrongful Deportation and How Trump Fails to Deliver | Ramy Youssef
He seemed happier back then, yeah? He did? He did. He was, like, smiling more. Like, he seems really stressed now. Like, all the clips you were showing, I was like, you know, you're like, oh, man, he looks kind of sad. Like, I don't think he likes what he's doing either. That may be the most charitable thing I've ever heard. I always try to see it from the other point of view, even if it's his.
The Daily Show: Ears Edition
Jon Stewart on Wrongful Deportation and How Trump Fails to Deliver | Ramy Youssef
And I'm like, he looks stressed. Like, he doesn't look good.
The Daily Show: Ears Edition
Jon Stewart on Wrongful Deportation and How Trump Fails to Deliver | Ramy Youssef
I think he might. I mean, they're kissing his ass, and he obviously has, like, body image issues. He's lying about the weight and the height. And then, like... No. And then... And then, like, you know, Jon Stewart's over here talking about a front butt and stuff. No.
The Daily Show: Ears Edition
Jon Stewart on Wrongful Deportation and How Trump Fails to Deliver | Ramy Youssef
No, I don't think you did. And he's going through, I believe he's going through something physical. And he happens to be the president of the United States. And I think we got to just kind of look at it from every angle.
The Daily Show: Ears Edition
Jon Stewart on Wrongful Deportation and How Trump Fails to Deliver | Ramy Youssef
Dude, I think, I mean, that Putin shot, it's got to hurt. I think there's a reason he got off X and created his own social media platform. Right. Where he could, you know, control how people are seeing him. Just say, are you on, truth? Oh, yeah, I got at Rami from the beginning just to make sure that... And you actually, any Arab name you can just get on Truth. It's really easy.
The Daily Show: Ears Edition
Jon Stewart on Wrongful Deportation and How Trump Fails to Deliver | Ramy Youssef
Like, as of... Like, it's available. Like, you can... Cheap. They get them cheap. You could get at Muhammad right now. 100%. Every spelling is available on Truth, yeah. It's pretty... I am really hoping... It's a very limited audience base that's on there, yeah.
The Daily Show: Ears Edition
Jon Stewart on Wrongful Deportation and How Trump Fails to Deliver | Ramy Youssef
I mean, it's really hard. I mean, you know, like, being creative, and we've talked about this with, like, stand-up and stuff. It's like, I love being in rooms with people, and so being online can feel, yeah, really crazy, and so... No, I go on and look at, like, sports stuff, like LeBron stuff, but that's pretty much it, yeah.
The Daily Show: Ears Edition
Jon Stewart on Wrongful Deportation and How Trump Fails to Deliver | Ramy Youssef
You know what's crazy is that I get called a Jew. Do you really? Yeah. Like, I put, I had this, like, New York Times thing, and, like, it was, like, the thing, and there's stuff where people are like, oh, why do you have a, and then someone just writes, another Jew. And I was like, whoa. That's how much Jews control show business.
The Daily Show: Ears Edition
Jon Stewart on Wrongful Deportation and How Trump Fails to Deliver | Ramy Youssef
Yeah, he's like an undercut. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And now I'm here with you.
The Daily Show: Ears Edition
Jon Stewart on Wrongful Deportation and How Trump Fails to Deliver | Ramy Youssef
Yeah, but we got, like, a really bad end with our, like, Islamophobia is so weak. It's phobia. Well, yeah, because it's like arachnophobia. It just sounds like, oh, yeah, you had a weird Islamic experience as a kid, huh? You got a little Islamophobia.
The Daily Show: Ears Edition
Jon Stewart on Wrongful Deportation and How Trump Fails to Deliver | Ramy Youssef
No, no, but you can get over it. Just, like, try some halal meat. And then, like, you'll get over it. Like, you know, it's like Islamophobia. It's like a shellfish allergy. It's like, oh, yeah, no, like, no, he doesn't want any. He has Islamophobia. Like, it sounds so benign. Anti-Semitism is like, whoa, like, dude, like, what? What are you on about?
The Daily Show: Ears Edition
Jon Stewart on Wrongful Deportation and How Trump Fails to Deliver | Ramy Youssef
You know, so I think even from just on a real word language level, we're at an incredible disadvantage. I never thought of it that way. Yeah. And that's because you're Islamophobic. And that's like wild. That's wild because it's just wild because we know each other.
The Daily Show: Ears Edition
Jon Stewart on Wrongful Deportation and How Trump Fails to Deliver | Ramy Youssef
Yeah, I mean, going out, I mean, it's the best. It's so fun, and then it becomes, you know, we made this animated show that's, like, filled with, you know, those, like, thoughts you have in a notebook when you're going to do stand-up, and you're like, maybe this will work, maybe it won't.
The Daily Show: Ears Edition
Jon Stewart on Wrongful Deportation and How Trump Fails to Deliver | Ramy Youssef
And then we get to make this incredible show with so many characters that get to say all this stuff that, you know, You don't need, like, the rate is so fast, and that's what's been so fun.
The Daily Show: Ears Edition
Jon Stewart on Wrongful Deportation and How Trump Fails to Deliver | Ramy Youssef
It's such a great detail. It's, like, loaded with so many little details and music and kind of the ability to, like, you know, do things that, you know, when I grew up, my grandmother was always watching TV. Like, you try to talk to her, and she's just at the TV watching her shows.
The Daily Show: Ears Edition
Jon Stewart on Wrongful Deportation and How Trump Fails to Deliver | Ramy Youssef
And then you go to make an animated show, and it's like, okay, so the grandmother is always going to have her TV with her everywhere. And we build this show where everywhere she goes, she's dragging this cart that has her television. Like, she's at a funeral. And she's watching her shows. And that's the kind of stuff you can't do in live action.
The Daily Show: Ears Edition
Jon Stewart on Wrongful Deportation and How Trump Fails to Deliver | Ramy Youssef
Oh, yeah. I mean, like, I always had this fascination. My dad grew up in the city, you know? I grew up with my dad working in the city. And it was so funny to me when you go through Midtown and you see the news ticker on the Fox News building and it's saying all these horrible headlines about Muslim countries and Muslim people.
The Daily Show: Ears Edition
Jon Stewart on Wrongful Deportation and How Trump Fails to Deliver | Ramy Youssef
And then you kind of look right down and there's the halal cart right on the corner of it. And you see all the guys with the Fox badges buying food from the halal car guy. And I was like, man, this guy's got the best hustle. Because he knows, like, they're in there and they're saying all this stuff about Muslim people.
The Daily Show: Ears Edition
Jon Stewart on Wrongful Deportation and How Trump Fails to Deliver | Ramy Youssef
But then there's that, like, guilty part of them on their lunch break that's like, let me try a little halal. And he's right there to make the buck. And so when we started making this show, I had always been so fascinated by that guy there. And that becomes the dad in the show. He is the guy who's selling Halal meat.
The Daily Show: Ears Edition
Jon Stewart on Wrongful Deportation and How Trump Fails to Deliver | Ramy Youssef
I play the dad as well. Yeah, yeah. And the music. Do you do music? Yeah, I write these songs.
The Daily Show: Ears Edition
Jon Stewart on Wrongful Deportation and How Trump Fails to Deliver | Ramy Youssef
I am music. Are you music? Yeah. And I think that's important.
The Daily Show: Ears Edition
Jon Stewart on Wrongful Deportation and How Trump Fails to Deliver | Ramy Youssef
I don't know. In high school, I played guitar, but I never really, you know... You didn't know each other for a long time.
The Daily Show: Ears Edition
Jon Stewart on Wrongful Deportation and How Trump Fails to Deliver | Ramy Youssef
Dude.
The Daily Show: Ears Edition
Jon Stewart on Wrongful Deportation and How Trump Fails to Deliver | Ramy Youssef
It's really, it was so much fun. Yeah, it is like one of my favorite parts of the show, getting to do that.
The Daily Show: Ears Edition
Jon Stewart on Wrongful Deportation and How Trump Fails to Deliver | Ramy Youssef
Why don't you just say, isn't it wonderful that we're keeping criminals out of our country? Why can't you just say that? Why do you go over and over? And that's why nobody watches you anymore.
The Daily Show: Ears Edition
Jon Stewart on Wrongful Deportation and How Trump Fails to Deliver | Ramy Youssef
We got the show coming out this week. I got to do this crazy cool movie, Mountainhead, that's coming out next month, written by Jesse Armstrong. We did Succession. It was so fun. Yeah, it's very, very fun. It's a very... Multi-hyphenate. It's really exciting. And, yeah, our friend Steve Carell's in it, and he's, like, honestly such a joy.
The Daily Show: Ears Edition
Jon Stewart on Wrongful Deportation and How Trump Fails to Deliver | Ramy Youssef
He told me he likes so many stories about you that, yeah, I'm very...
The Daily Show: Ears Edition
Jon Stewart on Wrongful Deportation and How Trump Fails to Deliver | Ramy Youssef
No, I loved it.
The Daily Show: Ears Edition
Jon Stewart on Wrongful Deportation and How Trump Fails to Deliver | Ramy Youssef
No, and it's like, he's just, yeah, he's so inspiring. And he's like, the way he kind of picks up a character, and he's like such a true film actor, too. Right. So you get to bounce off him, and it's just unbelievable.
The Daily Show: Ears Edition
Jon Stewart on Wrongful Deportation and How Trump Fails to Deliver | Ramy Youssef
Your moment is now. This is a first. We've had women, but we've never had three of them right here. Four and three men. Look who we have. You guys feel a little bit mistreated? That's good. I like it.
The Daily Show: Ears Edition
Jon Stewart on Wrongful Deportation and How Trump Fails to Deliver | Ramy Youssef
If it's a homegrown criminal, I have no problem. I'm talking about really bad people, really bad people.
The Daily Show: Ears Edition
Jon Stewart on Wrongful Deportation and How Trump Fails to Deliver | Ramy Youssef
Is that from Mar-a-Lago? That's actually their gold, all gold. Look. And you know, it's angels. They're angels.
The Daily Show: Ears Edition
Jon Stewart on Wrongful Deportation and How Trump Fails to Deliver | Ramy Youssef
Throughout the years, people have tried to come up with a gold paint that would look like gold, and they've never been able to do it. Can't do it. You've never been able to. Look at that look. You've never been able to match gold with gold paint. That's why it's gold.
The Daily Show: Ears Edition
Jon Stewart on Wrongful Deportation and How Trump Fails to Deliver | Ramy Youssef
We're pulling all that out and putting the money toward the infrastructure, not the social movement from the last administration.
The Daily Show: Ears Edition
Jon Stewart on Wrongful Deportation and How Trump Fails to Deliver | Ramy Youssef
Good steel, right, as opposed to green paper mache. LAUGHTER OK, thanks. Great job. LAUGHTER LAUGHTER
The Daily Show: Ears Edition
Jon Stewart on Wrongful Deportation and How Trump Fails to Deliver | Ramy Youssef
I took a cognitive test and I don't know what to tell you other than I got every answer right. Can you tell us about the cognitive test? Is that a man, human, person, camera, TV? It's a... I think it's a pretty well-known test. Whatever it is, I got everyone. I got it all right.
The Daily Show: Ears Edition
Jon Stewart on Wrongful Deportation and How Trump Fails to Deliver | Ramy Youssef
A congresswoman introduced a bill to add President Trump to Mount Rushmore.
The Daily Show: Ears Edition
TDS Time Machine | Arab American Heritage Month
Good. It's too much distance, but I feel like we should have been closer. But what are we gonna do?
The Daily Show: Ears Edition
TDS Time Machine | Arab American Heritage Month
No, and it still really shocks me. Like there are definitely moments where people are talking about the show a lot. It's getting a lot of recognition. People are excited about it. And I'm like, guys, this is a show about like an Arab Muslim dude that watches too much porn. Like I can't believe that this many people are looking at it.
The Daily Show: Ears Edition
TDS Time Machine | Arab American Heritage Month
The thing that's probably most overwhelming is the international love. Because I think like here it's like awesome, you know, whatever. We got publicists and all this. But for me, when my aunt calls me and she's like, Egypt watching the show. And I'm like, have you seen it? And she's like, not yet. And I'm like, thank God. But she's like, I hear the kids are watching it. I'm like, good.
The Daily Show: Ears Edition
TDS Time Machine | Arab American Heritage Month
Just let them watch it. That's really special.
The Daily Show: Ears Edition
TDS Time Machine | Arab American Heritage Month
Yeah, I mean, that's kind of the-the tightrope walk that we're constantly walking with this show, because we-we haven't really had any chance at seeing ourselves on screen, um, in a story that doesn't involve explosives or national security. To your question about was I nervous, well, I'm really nervous, because I know that Muslims are such a vast group of people.
The Daily Show: Ears Edition
TDS Time Machine | Arab American Heritage Month
People even say like, what does the Muslim community think about your show? And I'm like, it's not a pop band. Like there are a lot of different Muslim communities. Like it's not just this one thing.
The Daily Show: Ears Edition
TDS Time Machine | Arab American Heritage Month
this one thing and so um we you know kind of made the choice pretty early on that like we're not going to try and check all the boxes you know this isn't a census this isn't a totality of something that can't be encompassed really this is just the story um of this family and and we're really going to kind of humanize them by watching them deal with their problems in the way that everyone does
The Daily Show: Ears Edition
TDS Time Machine | Arab American Heritage Month
I remember being in the back of a cab in Cairo in 2015 and this guy just being like, he's a strong man. And I was like, whoa, all right. I think we're just used to dictators and he just kind of matches the vibe. But he's not what we need. We know he's not. And I think most of us feel that on a certain, you know, with a certain clarity.
The Daily Show: Ears Edition
TDS Time Machine | Arab American Heritage Month
And I think something that I really wanted to do in making a story about a family we hadn't seen before was, I wanted to be clear that I'm not trying to make something that's some sort of like PR hit to make us look good and make it seem like, hey, we deserve to be in this country. Give us a shot. Like, look how cute we are on Rami on Hulu. That's not a real portrayal.
The Daily Show: Ears Edition
TDS Time Machine | Arab American Heritage Month
That's like propaganda in and of itself. For me, it's how do I make something that is challenging my character, that is putting him in situations where he's seeing his own biases, he's seeing his flaws, and that really gets highlighted when he goes to Cairo.
The Daily Show: Ears Edition
TDS Time Machine | Arab American Heritage Month
Because I think the show is more about someone trying to fill the gap between who they want to be and who they actually are than it is a show about Muslims.
The Daily Show: Ears Edition
TDS Time Machine | Arab American Heritage Month
Well, in terms of him getting his own show, that was just straight up him bullying me into it. He was like, you have the power to produce something now. And this is going to be the first thing you do. And so that that there's not really there's no option there for me. But, you know, I've known Steve since we were in third grade. You know, we grew up five minutes from each other.
The Daily Show: Ears Edition
TDS Time Machine | Arab American Heritage Month
We went to school together. We actually learned how to make things together in high school. And I think what was really exciting for us in the show is so many times in sitcoms you see an ethnic best friend. And in this show, we're predominantly with an Arab cast that's speaking Arabic. And we're like, all right, I guess we're gonna have to have the white best friend.
The Daily Show: Ears Edition
TDS Time Machine | Arab American Heritage Month
But it was really funny to kind of pitch him as the white best friend. And he also has muscular dystrophy, but really what he is is he's the white best friend. And also in a show where the lead character believes in God, it's really interesting to have someone who doesn't and his reasoning is very rooted in something where he's like, well, why would I believe that if this is how I am?
The Daily Show: Ears Edition
TDS Time Machine | Arab American Heritage Month
And then in making something for him, what's really cool is Again, flipping this idea where, OK, now we have in my show, I think he's a disservice. I love my show. And I'm also like, we don't do enough for him. He's just the disabled best friend. I want to make a show where what would it look like where able bodied people are the side characters.
The Daily Show: Ears Edition
TDS Time Machine | Arab American Heritage Month
And now we get to flip this again and we get to see a totally wholly new perspective. And so we're putting together we're developing the show with Apple. And so, yeah, it's a world that we're really excited to crack open.