Tracy Newman (the Groundlings, "Cheers", "Ellen")

Tracy Newman joins me to discuss the first time she picked up a guitar; folk music; her favorite childhood movie "Hans Christan Anderson"; Danny Kaye; George Carlin; Jeff Altman; going to college; going to New York; The Limelighters; Italy; performing at the Bitter End; performing at the Improv; becoming a teacher at the Groundlings; Rodney Dangerfield; dating Rodney Dangerfield; The Groundlings being the feeding ground for SNL; Heidi Gardner; being a founding member; teaching improv; Phil Hartman; non-show business Groundlings; teaching Tress MacNeille, Paul Reubens, and Conan O'Brien; thinking Conan was too raw for Late Night when he got it; Promise of Love TV movie; Valerie Bertinelli & Eddie Van Halen; making an experimental short "True Bliss" with then husband James E. Dean; teaming up with Jonathan Stark; film looping; studying sitcoms to write a spec script;  getting hired on Cheers for season 11; her episodes, including, Rebecca's Lover - Not! with Harvey Fierstein; people not knowing Ellen was gay; daytime TV; writing "The Puppy Episode" where Ellen comes out; writing an Ellen for Mary Tyler Moore; winning an Emmy, a Peabody, and a PETA Award; appearing on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson; beating Peter Mehlman for an Emmy but not a Writer's Guild Award; paying for her Peabody; Hollywood Walk of Fame; meeting famous people in LA; Lowell Ganz; being asked to show-run Hiller & Diller by him and Babaloo Mandel; writing various pilots; Bob's bad timeslot but great cast; creating According to Jim and Soul Man; hiring Jim Belushi, her song "Carpool'

A performance of Carpool follows the interview.

To buy Tracy Newman's albums visit Tracy Newman and the Reinforcements - I Just See You - Amazon.com Music