WEBVTT

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BRITTANY JONES-COOPER: Last
time I saw you on the screen

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was in "Sunnyside."

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I watched the whole
first season of that.

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KAL PENN: Thank you.

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BRITTANY JONES-COOPER: I know
you co-created that show.

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And it's no longer
on the air, but I

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know that was a big
endeavor for you

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to co-create something
and star in it.

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So I want to know on
the backside of it, just

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what was that experience like?

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How did you grow in it?

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What did you learn from it?
KAL PENN: Yeah.

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Thank you for the question.

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So the show is--

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the entire first
season is on Hulu.

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So folks can still watch it.

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And the cast is amazing.

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They're mostly stand-up comics.

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And I co-created it with
Matt Murray, who comes

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from the Mike Schur world.

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And it was awesome.

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I mean, it was an idea
that I had initially had,

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like, five years ago.

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And then Matt and I collaborated
into its current form.

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We hired the most
diverse writers room,

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my understanding is, in
the history of Hollywood,

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the most diverse
cast on network TV,

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I mean, things that we're
deeply, deeply proud of.

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But that also, I think,
gave us really interesting,

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fun plot lines.

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So it's a story about--

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essentially it's about
a group of immigrants

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living in Sunnyside, Queens.

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And I play a dysfunctional
city councilman

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who got kicked out of
office for being drunk

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and trying to bribe a cop.

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So it's sort of those--
like, those worlds

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all coming into one.

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It's essentially the setup for
this weird group of friends.

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But the fact that, you know--

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most of the writers were
either immigrants themselves

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or have immigrant
family members.

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The cast is very diverse.

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And it was all cast
organically, right?

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Like, we wanted to go for
the best actor, period.

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All of which is to say
that between the improv

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and the writing skills
that people had,

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it was a really,
really fun season.

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So I'm glad it's
going to live on Hulu.

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And I would love to do something
like that all over again.

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BRITTANY JONES-COOPER: Yeah,
the jokes and the pacing

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on this show were just really--

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you-- you almost had to--
you had to pay attention.

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KAL PENN: Yeah.

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You have to pay attention
or watch it again, yeah.

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[LAUGHING]

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BRITTANY JONES-COOPER:
Yeah, absolutely.

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[THEME MUSIC PLAYING]

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