Henry Winkler Loves Bringing Cake To The “Barry” Crew (w/ Bill Hader) | Conan O'Brien Needs A Friend

the best thing that I've learned over. the years when you're writing it and. shooting it and then editing it just. keeps changing each time and then what I. always do and it drives everybody nuts. but it's true as I'll sit down and say. okay okay so we just we just saw the. latest episode of Barry you go to a bar. and you're sitting with your friend and. your friend goes oh you just watched. latest episode of Barry yes and they go. what's it about what do you saying you. know what I mean and it's like well it's.

about a guy and like that order in K. that of the the information is how we. should probably lay the story out and. it'll be interesting is they'll tell the. story and it's going smoothly and then. you'll go that's great but you've never. once mentioned Fuchs so we got to go. back and make it so he's he's you can't. talk about it without mentioning him or. you'll you know you'll talk about the. whole thing like that's great but you. never mind once mentioned Barry which. happened season two we had a whole. episode that I wasn't in right and Alec.

Berg and I went you're not in the show. you know my favorite episode yeah it's. my favorite episode he goes you're in. two scenes that's the only one I've seen. oh yeah that's the Emmy winner yeah I. thought Henry was buried. I'm Barry people are always like what's. it like working with Henry Winkler and. it really is all about the cake that he. brings to set oh he just brings bundt. cake I'm like Henry you're losing your. mind in this scene and you're on the. verge and he's like and then after that. can I give the the crew the bundt cake.

Robert wisdom is gonna scream at you and. make you cry and he's like right right. well I have the coffee in the front okay. right over and he has a story about. everything right over in this corner you. know Gene Charlotte attacked me. or whatever it is you know he wasn't. attacking he was one of the first. celebrities I saw when I came out to LA. with Greg Daniels in 1985 we went to. something and one of the first.

celebrities not the but one of the first. celebrities and you have to remember. um you guys are too young but but Happy. Days in the 70s was the biggest thing in. the world and the Fonz was the biggest. part of Happy Days and you know in my. school in my English class there was a. big poster of The Fawns on the wall the. teacher had put it up just to like try. and pacify us he was such a big thing. so I get to La this will calm them down.

they still calm them down hey how do we. calm these children down maybe Farrah. Fawcett and they're like yes here's a. picture of Abraham Lincoln. here's one of the Three Stooges no The. Fawns cool. look at them sir we went to some event. and uh I couldn't believe it but it was. everyone was going to their cars and. like this big almost like a station.

wagon pulled up that the valley is. brought up a station wagon and it was. raining really hard and the when one of. the windows had been left open and um. Henry Winkler came out to claim the car. and his wife was getting in the car and. he opened up the back seat and he took. like this big Rag and started wiping the. water off the back seat and I thought. what's The Fawns doing yeah he's some. schlub wiping water off the back seat of. a station wagon yeah what happened he. jumped in the car quickly went eight.

it is him. no he's the sweetest guy on the planet. very sweet very nice guy and and and so. he's a guy that you can also when you. you know I was I would on set be kind of. overwhelmed or whatever he would always. be like I just want you to know you're. doing a wonderful job and he would walk. away that's sweet you know it's. interesting that. uh my son and I are. such Barry Fanatics that we. last year decided we need to go back and.

re-watch them all. this was we did that before the last. season so we went back and watched all. of them again and what struck me was how. there's an arc to the tone of the show. that's very organic it's a compliment. but if you watch the first Berry. secondary third Berry it's. um it's much lighter and then and and. it's almost when you start down this. path.

and I'm I was loving it the tone starts. to gradually change. but it's subtle and now if you look at. where we are now you can't believe the. ark you can't believe where you started. which to me is a real achievement yeah. that I mean that kind of was. you know when you're writing it you kind. of start with this kind of. idea that is kind of on bait on the face. of it could be a very kind of glib idea. and then when you try to do it.

realistically you kind of move on and. then it's finding it and you go oh this. is like you know this is the tone of the. show and I think there's just some. touchstones I mean one in season one was. when Barry is in the car with his friend. Chris and he has a choice to like kill. him or not and he kills him and there's. no joke after that and I remember being. in the edit and going Allied Berg. directed that episode and we were going. well the next scene is like a comedy. scene you know what do we do to well. let's just put it in there and see what.

happens and it didn't hurt anything you. know and it was like oh that's. interesting we can do that so it was a. bit like having some sort of machine. that you went well it's still we're. still afloat you know we're on a boat. and we're trying all these things and we. haven't sunk yet so let's try that you. know we can go in that direction. but a thing I always thought of as we. were moving forward was um the movie. Rosemary's Baby if you watch that movie. starts off very purposely like a Doris. Day movie yep it starts off there's.

nothing you know. uh uh overtly creepy about it it's like. a very nice couple buying a place you. know an apartment you know uh and at the. Dakota and it kind of moves forward and. then as it's happening the tone starts. to slowly shift you know in a way and I. so that that's always stuck with me in. that to what you're talking about but. then I don't know about you you've. experienced this too when you're writing. something you're kind of like it's how. you meet people too it's like we're.

writing a character and you're meeting. all these characters and it's how you. meet somebody it's kind of superficial. and you have your initial take on them. or impression of them and then as you. hang out with them you start to get to. know them better and they've just become. you know slowly and increasingly more. complicated you know and it's just. trusting that and then also I think the. other thing I'll say is when you're. dealing with murder. it was very hard for me to be funny. about it you know it could be strange.

but it was hard for me to. um have someone get you know the Janice. Moss character get killed and then kind. of forget about it and I was like no no. when she dies that's for the whole show. like you can never forget about her. every episode she's mentioned because I. think that's what happens when someone. loses somebody and so you would be in. the writer's room and everybody's going. what was the comedy you know and it was. like no no but we gotta hold on to that. we have to hold on to that and just and. just trust that it'll work but also.

is it a comedy why does it have to be a. comedy yeah that's true yeah I get. that's funny you say that because I just. did it but I do bris I just I've been. doing a ton of press so I'm a little. tired but uh so I was the last piece of. press you did literally it was the last. thing you want to know I'm more. impressed you know I have more press. left. oh I've done just about every shitty. thing you can think of like I'm scraping.

the bottom of the barrel. they reintroduced the shows that were. canceled I went I went to I just did. Regis I just did regions I just went to. Bonnie Hunt's house. Bonnie let me tell you about Barry and. she said I don't have a show and I was. like listen Katie Couric she doesn't. want to hear all these people. they don't know they don't know me. I said why why didn't you get the. episode. I saw you on Hannity yeah.

I was like look look at my look at me. when you talk to somebody. when you talk to a man you look at him. no but but uh but it is a thing you get. a lot of which is uh is this a comedy or. not and it's like ah we're just telling. a story it's so funny because this. season of Barry starts off in this very. dark place. and then I'm not giving anything away.

but at one point. uh NoHo Hank is uh with his partner and. they have a cut to him and he's wearing. this hat and these glasses and I lost it. it's such a funny anivers and so to me. this idea that. things can be incredibly dark but then. you can you and to me it makes the funny. much funnier yeah also if it it what we.

learned was that as long as it stayed. within that character where you would. say well NoHo Hank this is what he would. wear in Santa Fe yes yeah you know this. is what he would want to wear that's. what he's wearing which we always. thought was very funny so it's always. like when it comes out of honesty it. kind of works and the things that. wouldn't work was when we would I would. you know hand of God you know comedy. nerd try to come in and create something. that wasn't coming organically out of a. situation or the characters and that was.

usually the stuff we would lose.