Speaking in his writers’ room (as witnessed by Vulture), the host revealed that before the first episode of Everybody’s Live With John Mulaney he had “the funniest call with Netflix,” in which they expressed concern over the premiere having guests like Fred Armisen and Joan Baez instead of talent more buzzy and exciting. “‘This is not the show we sold,'” Mulaney describes an unnamed executive saying. “It was great to see someone kind of apoplectic—like, Oh honey, do you know what you bought? And then they go, ‘We don’t even understand what this rundown means!'” Referencing one of the premiere’s taped bits, he said, “I’m like, Yeah, you think you’ll feel better when I explain ‘telescope murder’? If I walk you through that it’s a Body Double parody, you’ll feel better about the spend?“
Unfortunately for Netflix, the premiere (with Armisen, Baez, Michael Keaton, personal finance columnist Jessica Roy, and musical guest Cypress Hill) seems to be pretty much exactly what they sold. Need we tap the “never be relevant” sign again? What he’s done so far is pretty in keeping with what he did on Everybody’s In L.A. “No one knows” what caliber guest would have been relevant enough to please the Netflix powers that be, Mulaney said. Just for good measure, he exposed these execs for mistakenly thinking the legendary folk artist’s name was “Jo Ann Baez.”
It’s unlikely this taunting will push Netflix out of the Mulaney business; surely they’ve put up with more for less. Even if his antics did sour the relationship, it probably wouldn’t bother the Saturday Night Live alum too much. He’s “not looking to stay on for 30 years” with Everybody’s Live, and has plenty of other irons in the fire: an upcoming stand-up tour, a film shoot, a show in development with his friend, the lawyer and self-described “extreme centrist” Neal Katyal, and possibly a stage version of the Documentary Now! episode “Original Cast Album: Co-Op,” Vulture reports. If Everybody’s Live fell through, Mulaney would be just fine. He has described it as “a really fun experiment,” joking at Netflix’s own event, “Not since Harry and Meghan has Netflix given more money to someone without a specific plan.” Or as he said in his writer’s room: “The show’s not good, guys. That’s the thing about the show, is it’s not like, Oh, this is awesome! It’s great, but it’s not good.”
