Jim O’Heir has almost 200 acting credits to his name, appearing on dozens of iconic TV shows like ‘ER,’ ‘Friends,’ and ‘Better Call Saul.’ But as he reveals in this episode, he almost turned down the role of Jerry Gergich on ‘Parks and Recreation’ because his agents worried it was too small. O’Heir writes about his fateful decision to take a chance on what could have remained a “background” part in his new book ‘Welcome to Pawnee,’ which is part memoir, part oral history and all around love letter to the show that changed his life. The veteran character actor shares stories about auditioning for Ron Swanson, finding out he and Retta had been elevated to series regulars just of Paul Schneider (Mark Brendanawicz) had been let go, learning that Christie Brinkley had been cast as his wife, and why he believes the show is still comforting people in dark times nearly a decade after it went off the air. Plus, O’Heir delivers perhaps the all-time greatest answer to our final question: What’s a memory from your career that you laugh about now but really was not funny when it happened?

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For better or worse, Timothy Simons will probably always be best known for the first TV role he ever booked: the cravenly odious political climber Jonah Ryan on HBO’s ‘Veep.’ He could have been typecast as a lanky creep forever, but in the years since that show ended, Simons has managed to have a surprisingly varied acting career, most notably with his role as rom-com sidekick Sasha in this fall’s Netflix hit ‘Nobody Wants This.’ In this episode, Simons talks about finding the nuance in what could have been a one-note character and reacts to the controversy around the show’s depiction of its Jewish female characters. He also looks back on what it what like to begin his career opposite a comedy legend like Julia Louis-Dreyfus and reveals the disturbing similarities between Jonah Ryan and America’s next vice president, JD Vance. 

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The Last Laugh listeners, please enjoy this excerpt from the latest episode of The Daily Beast's new podcast! In the aftermath of Donald Trump’s victory in the 2024 election, co-host Samantha Bee has some tough talk for President Joe Biden and his team and comedian Michael Ian Black has news for everyone.

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Jenny Slate has never been a traditional stand-up comic. And after a lengthy hiatus that followed her 2019 Netflix special ‘Stage Fright’ and included both a global pandemic and the birth of her daughter, she wasn’t sure she’d ever get up in front of an audience again. “I didn’t have a system in place for how to get back up on stage. I didn’t know how to do that,” she says in this episode. But now, as she puts out her latest hour ‘Seasoned Professional’, Slate breaks down how she made her way back in front of the mic and why she decided to get so intimately personal in the special. Slate reflects on how her one unfortunate season as a ‘Saturday Night Live’ cast member has informed the rest of her career, from finding the right kind of community on projects like ‘Kroll Show’ and ‘Bob’s Burgers’ to learning how to make her own unlikely success with ‘Marcel the Shell With Shoes On.’ And she discusses what it was like to pass the torch of her mixed race character on ‘Big Mouth’ to Ayo Edebiri, why she’s not sure ‘Obvious Child,’ her comedy film about abortion, would hit viewers in the same way 10 years later, and a lot more.

This episode was originally published on February 21, 2024.

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Seth Meyers knows his show is likely to change based on the results of the presidential race. But with the election just days away, the comedian, ‘Saturday Night Live’ alum and host of NBC’s ‘Late Night’ is doing his best to stay in the present and take each new insane development as it comes. In this episode, Meyers talks about how he ended up releasing a stand-up special (‘Dad Man Walking’ on Max) that has nothing to do with politics so close to the election and goes deep on where his is at head on the stakes of Trump vs. Harris right now. The comedian also shares thoughts about his infamous ice cream date with Joe Biden, why he regrets platforming JD Vance on his show, how SNL’s reliance on guest stars has changed the show since he was in the cast, and so much more.

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For the past 30 years or so, Bruce Eric Kaplan has toiled away as a staff writer on some of the best television series ever produced, including ‘Seinfeld,’ ‘Six Feet Under,’ and ‘Girls.’ But as he writes in his new book ‘They Went Another Way: A Hollywood Memoir’—and discusses in this bonus episode—Kaplan has never managed to get his own show past the pilot stage. And it’s not for lack of trying. Kaplan has written more unproduced pilots than anyone else he knows, and tells the story of how the Hollywood system has slowly beaten him down in hilarious fashion in the new book. He also reveals some details about his new gig as co-showrunner for Season 2 of the Netflix hit rom-com ‘Nobody Wants This,’ shares what it was like to join ‘Seinfeld’ in its final season, and so much more. 

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The Last Laugh listeners, please enjoy this excerpt from the latest episode of The Daily Beast's new podcast! With less than two weeks until Election Day, Joanna Coles and Samantha Bee are joined by political strategist James Carville for intel—and an insider’s take—on the state of the presidential race.

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“I’m glad to be here. We have a lot to laugh about,” Kathy Griffin says at the top of her triumphant return to the podcast after a very eventful five years since her last appearance. In this episode, Griffin breaks down how she turned some of the most traumatic experiences of her life into jokes for her new “My Life on the PTSD-List” tour, which hits Carnegie Hall this week. The legendary comedian, who finally has her voice back after a botched lung cancer surgery, is still climbing out the “cancellation” that followed her infamous 2017 photo in which she posed holding up a Trump mask covered in fake blood. And since Hollywood may have left her behind—for now—she has no qualms sharing her unfiltered thoughts on everyone from Elon Musk and Donald Trump to Larry David and Jerry Seinfeld to Cheryl Hines and Ellen DeGeneres. 

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The Last Laugh listeners, please enjoy this excerpt from the latest episode of The Daily Beast's new podcast! This week, guest John Oliver and co-host Samantha Bee take a trip down late-night TV memory lane, sharing fun times and lessons learned from their time as correspondents on ‘The Daily Show.’ Joanna Coles and Sam dive deep into the Beast’s exclusive story of the consultant making serious bank on Trump’s campaign payroll, and obsess over Kanye West’s sexploits as well as other, unrelated sex toys. 

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Fresh off his surprise Emmy Award win for Season 5 of ‘Fargo,’ actor and comedian Lamorne Morris joins this week’s episode of The Last Laugh to break down his scene-stealing performance as the “elder statesman” of the original SNL cast in Jason Reitman’s new film ‘Saturday Night.’ Morris, who portrays Garrett Morris (no relation) in the movie, discusses what it was like to enter the fictionalized world of SNL more than a decade after he auditioned for the show (and didn’t get it). He also reveals how his ‘New Girl’ character Winston’s “kind eyes” helped land him his Emmy-winning role on ‘Fargo,’ tells the full story about how he almost missed out on the sitcom that has defined his career to date, and explains his running joke with ‘New Girl’ cast mate Jake Johnson about a potential reunion. 

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The Last Laugh listeners, please enjoy this excerpt from the third episode of The Daily Beast's new podcast! This week, Joanna Coles and Samantha Bee talk all things Melania and share the latest scoop on Silicon Valley with Jessica Lessin, CEO of The Information. Sam shares her experiences with menopause and Joanna talks celeb sightings at opening night of the new Robert Downey Jr. play on Broadway.

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