Hello there. You're about to watch an episode
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That means there's some news and some jokes on the way.
So if you like laughing and news,
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♪ ♪
ANNOUNCER: Coming to you from New York City,
the only city in America,
it's The Daily Show.
Tonight...
the skies are mask-free,
Jordan Klepper is overseas,
and Pamela Adlon.
This is The Daily Show with Trevor Noah.
(cheering and applause)
What's going on, everybody? Welcome to The Daily Show.
I'm Trevor Noah. Thank you so much for tuning in.
Thank you for coming out in person!
Thank you for being here!
Take a seat. Take a seat. Let's get into it.
It's gonna be really fun.
Pamela Adlon is our guest tonight,
here to talk about her hilarious show Better Things.
Jordan Klepper decided to visit Trump fans in Hungary,
which I didn't even know was a thing.
And today, in headlines, we're gonna be talking
about the story that's got everybody going.
And, no, I'm not talking about Drake and Taylor Swift.
We're talking about the end of masks.
So let's do this, people.
Let's jump straight into today's headlines.
-(cheering and applause) -♪ ♪
All right, for two years now,
if you've wanted to travel by train, plane,
or dong-shaped spaceship,
there's one thing you needed to have.
One, a ticket, obviously.
And, two, you needed to wear a mask.
Well, yesterday, a federal judge decided
that it's time to take our masks off.
NEWSMAN: This morning, a sight we haven't seen
in more than a year--
travelers maskless on planes and walking through airports
after a major reversal.
A federal judge in Florida striking down the mask mandate
on public transportation.
The Biden administration saying masks are no longer required
on planes, trains, buses, and transportation hubs.
Now United, American, Delta,
Southwest, JetBlue, and Alaska Airlines confirming
they will no longer make passengers mask up.
It's fantastic news.
♪ We are the champions... ♪
NEWSMAN 2: Queen's "We Are the Champions" played on loop
from behind the Sacramento International Airport's
Southwest ticketing counter today.
And you can see some staff still choosing
to wear a face covering.
Others did not.
-I love it. -I like seeing everybody's face.
-You know, forget what people look like. Mwah. -Aw.
Aw!
Yo, I'm actually so happy for that lady, you know?
Yeah. But-but I will say, if you forget what your friends
and family look like in the time that you're at the airport,
you need to get that checked. Yeah.
Or you're spending too much time at the airport.
What are you doing?
"Oh, another delay? Whoa! Who are you?!"
But that's right, people. As of yesterday,
masks are no longer required on flights in America.
And not just flights.
Amtrak has said you don't have to wear masks on its trains.
Right? Uber has announced that you don't have to wear masks
in their cars, but you do still have to smile politely
when the driver tells you what he thinks about politics.
And various cities have said you no longer have to wear masks
on their subways or their buses.
Right. Although, here in New York,
the MTA is standing firm.
They've said you still have to wear a mask
on the New York City Subway.
Yeah, which has nothing to do with COVID.
It's just an extra layer of protection
for when you fall asleep and you wake up to find
a stranger licking you.
Very common on the F train.
But, from now on, when you travel in most places,
masks are optional.
Which a lot of people are happy about. Right?
Which makes sense. Because let's be honest, people,
traveling with masks sucks. Right?
Your face gets sweaty. Right?
You can't pretend it's somebody else's breath that stinks.
Yeah? It always feels like
someone's using a tiny dull saw
on the back of your ears just to cut them off.
There's a lot of reasons to not like masks,
is what I'm saying.
But what a lot of people are unhappy about is how
and when this rule was changed.
You see, when they first put in the mask mandate, right,
when they first put it in place, they told us
when the change would go into effect
so people could prepare.
But for some reason, this rule change happened
in the middle of people's flights.
NEWSWOMAN: A midflight announcement
for travelers across the country tonight.
Cheers up in the air as airline crews got word
that the national mask mandate was struck down.
Flight attendants on one Southwest flight
collecting the masks from people excited to ditch them.
(cheers and applause)
♪ Throw away your mask! ♪
(cheering)
(cheers and applause)
-I have so many questions. -(laughter)
First of all, why are people cheering like that?
People are cheering like they just said
you can take two bags of chips instead of one.
"What?! Hell, yeah!
I'm glad I paid another $300 for Economy Plus. Yeah!"
And also, that flight attendant who was singing--
what was that?
It was, like, the worst version of "The Lion King."
♪ Nants ingonyama ♪
♪ Put your mask in here! ♪
That celebration looked like Mardi Gras in the sky.
And all types of people were celebrating--
Black, white, old, young, everyone.
Actually, if you zoom in on that picture, you can even...
Wait, wait. Would you zoom in a little bit more?
A little closer?
Now, enhance, enhance.
Ah, yeah.
-(laughter) -Yeah.
Everyone was celebrating.
(applause)
It's a big deal.
So, yes,
many people were celebrating on planes.
You know, they were happy about the mask change.
But many other passengers were silently pissed off,
which I totally get.
'Cause, look, I don't care what you think of masks.
You have to admit, it is insane
to change a safety rule in the middle of a flight, people.
Just as a general rule, nothing should change midflight, ever.
-(laughter) -Nothing.
I don't want the cost changing, all right?
I don't want the cabin pressure changing.
I definitely don't want my seat changing,
yeah, so that you can sit next to your wife.
Look, man, you're smothering her, Alan, okay?
She booked separate seats for a reason. Read the signs!
This is why your marriage is in trouble.
The point is...
Did you get sad for a fake Alan?
One of you was like, "Oh, Alan."
(laughter)
Look, man, the point is, a lot of people
only booked that flight in the first place
because they felt safe knowing that everyone had to wear masks.
Okay? You can't just flip that
while people are already on the plane.
You've got to give people a chance to decide
if this is something they want to do.
It's crazy, you know? Like, you can't... you...
Like, it's a safety... This would be like
if a roller coaster decided to change its safety policies
when you're already on the ride.
(laughter)
(Noah laughs)
MAN (over P.A.): Attention, passengers. A judge has ruled
that we no longer need the safety bars.
What? What? Oh! Oh! Oh, oh, shit. Oh, shit!
-Enjoy your ride. -(whimpering)
Mommy! Mommy! Mommy! Mommy! Mommy!
(groaning)
(applause)
(continues groaning)
That was a true story.
So, look, if you were angry the rule changed midflight,
I think you have every right to be. All right?
We wore masks for, what, two years on planes?
I think people could have waited one more day.
One more day. You know, people were acting like they were
suffocating in their seats. (inhales sharply, gasps)
"Ah, yes...! Yes! I'll have a Coke, please."
Now, because masks in America have somehow turned into a
political battle, a lot of people weren't just angry at
the judge who made this ruling, or at the airlines who
instantly allowed the change. No, a lot of people online
are angry at the flight attendants and at the pilots
who are celebrating the change.
But, look, I don't agree with it, and I'll tell you why.
People forget that flight attendants weren't just happy
about the masks coming off because of politics.
No, a lot of them were happy because of the way
people react to masks, and the fact that it has turned their
everyday lives basically into UFC.
(indistinct shouting) -ANCHOR: Fights over wearing a mask
on a plane have overwhelmingly made up the number of
unruly passengers on flights.
Thousands, since the start pandemic.
MEN: (clamoring, shouting) ATTENDANT: Stay down, man!
-Stay down! -PASSENGERS: (overlapping yelling)
WOMAN: (shouting) ...off the plane!
PASSENGERS: (overlapping shouts)
WOMAN: We don't stand up until we have... (indistinct shouts)
Yeah, two years of that.
I don't even know what was going on. Like, are those people's
masks made of cocaine? What was going on there?
You know, it's actually amazing that humans can invent
jet airplanes to fly around the planet, you know? But then,
inside those technological marvels, we're just
wild animals. You know? Because nobody, nobody should be acting
that way over a mask. The only time it's appropriate to have
that level of emotion on a flight
is if the plane is crashing. All right?
Or if the inflight entertainment is stuck on Morbius.
I mean, then... yeah. Then you can throw punches.
You throw those punches. But as for the flight attendants,
they already have to deal with so much shit. I get why
they are happy. Think of all the other things they have to do.
Huh? Doing overhead Tetris with our giant bags,
they're helping parents with screaming kids,
they're giving people barf bags and they have to
collect the barf bags back.
Yeah, so, forgive them if they're happy that they no
longer have to be the bouncers of the sky, okay?
They're humans.
And here's what I think people need to understand about this:
when it comes to wearing masks, not everyone is
having the same experience that you are. Remember that.
Yeah, you hate the mask because it makes you break out.
Someone else likes the mask because
they're immunocompromised and acne is the least of their
problems. And some people don't really care.
Yeah, so they'll wear it if they have to
and they won't if they don't. That's the truth.
And I'm just saying, I can see this from everyone's side.
From maskers' side, from anti-maskers' side.
Even COVID's side. You know? Yeah, no, no! Hey!
If you, if you want to infect people, that's your truth.
That's your truth. Because I can understand why people
are happy that they no longer have to spend a six-hour flight
feeling like a broke-ass Bane.
And I also get why people want to keep wearing masks.
My hope is that we can get to a point where we're not
villainizing each other over a tiny piece of cloth.
What are we doing? Huh? It's not sustainable for people to have
so much hate for each other like this.
"Oh, I hate you wearing the mask, take it off!"
"Nyeh, put it-- I hate you, I hate you, I hate you."
No. No one had power to change what the airlines did,
no one had power to do what the judge did.
We-we're not those people. You know?
We should be saving our anger for the real enemy...
all those people who think that a tuna sandwich is appropriate
to eat on a plane. That's who we fight. Together.
(cheers and applause)
N-95 isn't going to save you from that.
All right, enough about the masks. Let's move on to
something that everyone loves.
It's time to check in on today's lotto numbers
-with Dulce Sloan, everybody! -(cheers, applause)
Hello!
Ah, I'm so excited! So excited! Look at that face!
-Look at that face! -Mwah!
Oh, man. How you doing today, Dulce?
-What up, Negro? -Oh, man, I am so excited, Dulce.
Ready to do the lotto?
Yeah. I got my scratch-offs. I went to the corner store.
You know. Ready to do this lotto, baby.
Hey, hey. Big win.
Wh-What... I don't understand. What are those?
Scratch-off tickets. Lottery.
What are you... I don't understand. What are you...
-What are you... -I came to do the lotto.
You told me we were gonna watch me do the lotto.
I bought the lottery tickets.
No. No, no, no, no, no. No, Dulcé, I sent you an email
saying we needed you to do lotto on the show.
I am doing lotto on the show.
No. Dulcé, why would we pay for you to do lottery on the...
why would we watch you doing that?
Because you support Black women. What are you talking about?
(cheering and applause)
Y-Yes. Yes.
-See? -No.
Hey, blessings, baby. Blessings.
No, no.
-No, Dulcé, I-I wanted you to do the l... -Mm.
Like, the lottery. Like, you know, on the news,
and then you do the thing. We brought the machine.
That's the machine. Why do you think there's a machine there?
That's not gum?
This ain't a big gumball machine?
-No, it's not, Dulcé. -Son of a bitch.
No. That's where the numbers are gonna pop up.
You're gonna do the thing, tell us what the numbers are.
And then, you know, we know who won.
What do you think I am,
a 50-year-old white woman in Florida?
Why am I pulling lotto numbers on TV?
Because that's what they do.
Dulcé, please, just do the numbers.
-That's what it... You know? -All right, fine.
I work here. Cool. You know. Uh...
Start the machine!
-(laughter) -♪ ♪
Oh, yeah.
-Oh, yeah! -(cheering and applause)
Okay. Ooh! Okay.
Okay. Okay. Okay.
Okay. We got it. We got it.
-Okay. -All right.
All right!
-(whooping and applause) -What?
Wait, there's-there's no number on the ball.
There's supposed to be a number on the ball.
Is it?
What, you didn't put the numbers on the balls?
I'm supposed to put the numbers on the balls?
I sent this to you in the email.
I was supposed to read that whole email?!
Dulcé, who doesn't read a whole e... It's one email.
Listen, you know, if you want a number, I can get...
What number you want? What's your ticket say?
No, I don't... I don't want...
You can't just ask me for a number. What are you...?
Look, I know about numbers, man. I can count to a thousand.
In Spanish, bro.
-That's actually impressive. -Now... Thank you.
Just give me a number. What you want?
Oh, I don't know. 15?
Eleven.
(laughter)
You know what, Dulcé, this is... this is broken.
You can't... You can't... We won't get numbers now.
-This is a failure. -No, no, no, no, no.
Listen, listen, listen. I got it, I got it, I got it.
You want numbers on balls.
I just want the balls.
So, uh, screw it.
Uh, start the machine!
-♪ ♪ -No, but, Dulcé, you see,
-the thing... the thing doesn't work. -What?
-The thing doesn't work if you don't... -No, no, no!
Listen, it's good. It's good.
-Oh! Okay. -No, no, no. No, Dulcé.
-Ow! Ow! Ow! -The thing... Whoa! Dulcé,
what are you... Dulcé!
No, stop! Stop the thing.
(cheering and applause)
Listen!
Hey, man.
Look!
It's all the numbers. Everybody wins!
Look under your seats! Everybody wins!
-(cheering and applause) -No, don't cheer for her.
Nobody wins. Terms and conditions apply.
Dulcé Sloan, everybody. All right, when we come back,
Jordan Klepper fingers the globe.
You don't want to miss it. No money.
There's no money. No. No.
(cheering and applause)
Welcome back. Welcome back to The Daily Show.
Oh, take a seat! Take a seat!
Oh, I don't know why you guys stood. Damn.
One of the most fascinating and terrifying countries
in the world right now is Hungary,
which has slid from a reliable democracy
into something more like a dictatorship.
And, honestly, that sounded pretty familiar to us.
So we sent Jordan Klepper there
to finger the pulse of America's possible future.
♪ ♪
(heart beating)
KLEPPER: Recently, I hopped a plane to Hungary,
a nation classified as only partly free
and one American conservatives can't get enough of,
maybe because of stuff like this.
Fa-- Joe Biden?
But the thing that united conservatives
all over the planet were the culture wars.
And at CPAC in Florida,
they were fighting hard in their battle against wokism.
-"Awake not..."? -Woke.
I mean, "awake not woke" would be more along the lines
of knowing our history, right, being awake and--
'Cause woke is all, "I-I know all the bad things
"and you have to feel some type of way about it
-and yada yada yada." Well... -Empathy and those things.
...guess what, yeah, I'm not wearing that.
You don't need to care about other people.
No, I need to care about other people, 'cause you can be awake
-and you can care about other people... -Mm-hmm, mm-hmm.
...but you can still have a backbone about your convictions.
-Does that make sense? -What-- No.
What is the phrase here? Uh, "awake not woke"?
That doesn't mean that we want to silence people.
That means that we want to be respectful to everybody.
This is-- this is a universal respect.
Right, you're not-- you're not-- Republican Party's
not trying to silence people.
-No. -You're not saying, "Don't say 'gay.'"
No. Not at all, as a matter of fact.
I mean, they're enacting legislation
that says "don't say gay."
But, emotionally, they're not saying that?
And while GOP snowflakes complain about silencing,
conservative state legislatures across the country
are punishing the LGBTQ community for,
you know, existing.
And the GOP is now looking to Hungary for inspiration,
because the woke wars have been raging there since 2010,
when the conservative autocrat Victor Orbán took over.
He outlawed helping Middle Eastern migrants flee war,
the constitution was amended to make marriage
between one man and one woman,
and people like children's book editor Boldizsar Nagy
felt the sting of Orbán's policies
when he published a story that dared to show
the world of LGBTQ animals.
For example, there is a story
about a deer who is a trans boy.
He was born into a female body,
and he wants to have antlers, as well,
like the other guys.
Then he realizes that it won't grow.
Other friends help him, and in the end,
they made antlers from branches.
In America, we tell kinder stories about deers.
Like, deers go out into the woods,
and their mother gets shot by a hunter.
(laughing): Yeah, I've heard.
-Just more kid-appropriate storytelling. -Yeah.
KLEPPER: But government reaction
turned out to inspire even bigger nightmares
than those ghoulish fairy tales.
A public shredding by a member of parliament
sparked action by Prime Minister Orbán.
Because of the book, uh, the prime minister said
that LGBTQ people are harmful for kids.
They did a child protection act, which says that
you cannot even sell LGBTQ topic books
if the shop is in 200 meters
from any churches or schools.
Priests can't go and find a book like this.
They need to stay pure and open up the bible
and read stories about 40-year-olds
-(bleep) kids, you know? -Yeah.
These are priests. They have to stay moral.
This is the kind of law
American conservatives would love,
as soon as they figure out how far 200 meters is.
But Orbán's government wasn't just banning books.
They also tried to erase the identity
of an entire group of people.
The Orbán government denies the existence
and the possibility of existence of trans people,
considers this as, um, at best, as an illness.
And they insist that there's no such thing as gender,
and, therefore, there's no need
for a gender studies education,
and abolished gender studies programs.
So that gig doesn't exist in Hungary anymore.
Nope, not anymore.
That's kind of America right now.
There's no more racism, so why are we studying it
or even looking at its history?
Yeah, it is quite reminiscent, I must admit.
KLEPPER: But gender studies professor Eva Fodor's job
wasn't the only one canceled.
In fact, all of Central European University,
a highly-respected international institution in Budapest,
was targeted by the Orbán administration.
Unfortunately, in 2017,
the government launched a vicious political attack
against the university,
and passed a new piece of legislation
which just did not allow the university to function
as a university in Budapest anymore.
So the university had to pack up,
leave this beautiful campus behind,
and move to Vienna and keep, you know, offering
the U.S.-accredited degrees there.
They shipped your job overseas?
Well, over the Danube.
They shipped your job over river.
While American conservatives complain
about elite liberal academics,
Hungarian conservatives literally send them packing.
Today, CEU is an empty campus where no learning takes place,
so, basically, Ohio State.
So, I'm grabbing my backpack,
Eurail Pass and motion sickness tablets
and heading to Vienna, home to CEU's new campus,
to see what sort of sinister, liberal college voodoo
their students are up to.
Are you guys doing some evil shit here?
-(chuckles) Maybe. -I'm not sure.
I mean, what do you mean by "evil shit'?
How would you find it?
Like liberal college evil shit?
Definitely. Definitely.
We like to talk about gender and feminism,
and we like to talk about, uh, liberal values
and democracy and...
-That's just Brooklyn shit. -Well, maybe the Brooklyn shit
kind of learned it from all over the world.
Appropriating? That's also Brooklyn shit.
-Yeah. -That's also Brooklyn shit. Exactly.
KLEPPER: What the Orbán government did
to higher education is a truly harrowing international story.
But as an American, I still have one question:
how does this affect me?
I think when we think about what could happen
to American democracy, we lack imagination.
We think the only way that it could crumble
is if it becomes a civil war, like the 1800s in America.
What does the slide towards authoritarianism look like,
and what should we be on the lookout for back in America?
You know the story about the frog,
that if you put the frog into water
and you gently heat the water?
The point is that if you're...
if you're sliding gradually into something,
you barely recognize that you're...
that you're moving, and you sim...
You-you just end somewhere. You...
Something... Things become natural.
Things that you... would have been unheard of a few years ago
become acceptable and actually the normal part of life.
We don't cook frogs. I think that's the French.
Chicken sandwiches, that's our thing.
So if you could make that metaphor
more chicken sandwich-based,
I think it would really connect to our audience.
-I'll work on that. -KLEPPER: Please do.
More on this deep-fried fall of democracy Thursday.
(cheering and applause)
Thank you so much for that, Jordan.
All right, when we come back,
Pamela Adlon is joining us,
so stay tuned.
(cheering and applause)
(chuckles)
Welcome back to The Daily Show.
My guest tonight is Emmy Award-winning actor,
writer, director, and producer Pamela Adlon.
She's here to talk about the final season
of her hit show Better Things.
Did you ever make a decision that you couldn't go back on?
-(shuddering) -Yes.
Three of 'em.
(shudders)
(exhales sharply, sniffles)
Mom! I love you so much!
-I love you! (sobbing, kissing) -Okay. Mwah. Okay.
(licking)
Okay. (groans)
-(grunts) -Mom.
(breathing heavily)
Do... not... die!
Oh.
'Kay.
Please welcome Pamela Adlon!
-(cheering and applause) -♪ ♪
(chuckles)
-Welcome. -Thank you.
(cheering)
Thank you.
-This is so cool. -Welcome to the show.
This is cool, right?
I'm on The Daily Show with Trevor Noah.
-This is crazy! -Are you kidding me?
I watched you on Californication.
One of my favorite shows of all time.
I'm sitting opposite you right now.
It is great to have you here.
-Congratulations on... -Thank you.
Is it-- is it bittersweet, the final season of the show?
It, uh... It... (sighs)
I feel happy. I feel grateful.
I'm, you know, obviously doing press for the finale
and, um, you know, it-it's-it's...
it's a big accomplishment.
I'm a woman. I'm in my 50s.
-I'm a single mom. I have three daughters. -Mm-hmm.
Uh, I'm the writer, director, star, creator of the show.
-So it's kind of a weird... -(cheering and applause)
Wow.
And...
So, um, you know,
I-I'm-I'm doing the-the press
and people keep asking me,
-"Are you sad? Is it bittersweet?" -Mm-hmm.
And I just feel extremely excited and grateful that I'm,
you know, a-at this place in my life that I have,
uh, these-these jobs
and that I can provide for my family
-and keep going and keep working, hopefully. -Right.
And I like to tell people that,
you know, don't be so myopic in your life. You know?
Just think about other things that you want to do, you know?
It's, uh... it's extremely important
-to, uh, love what you do. -Yeah.
But sometimes it's not possible.
Uh, and you got to kind of cool your heels
and wait to do the thing that you love
-to make money from doing the thing you love. -Oh.
My mom would say it-- She would say, "When God closes one door,
-he opens another." -Oh, yeah.
That's essentially what she would say.
-Yeah. -But I like your one, 'cause it's more like
it's on me. I was like, "When is God opening the door?"
Yeah. Well, I mean, that's exactly what I'm saying.
It's-it's... You-you know, I used to--
I was just an actor
and I would wait for the phone to ring
and-and I thought that that's how it was supposed to be...
That's fascinating. And now you create the work
-that you want to be in. -Yes.
And it's not-- it's not just creating the work.
-It's creating fantastic work. Because your show... -Thank you.
...you're playing-- You know, on the page, it would be like,
"Oh, what a story. A single mom with her three children."
-Oh, yes. -And it's-- And you watch it.
I mean, we saw it just even in the clip.
You're dealing with everything-- kids and drugs
-and love and life... -Yeah.
...and virginity and cooking and working hard.
-Yeah. -It's-it's just everything.
It's funny. It's sad. There's moments of heart.
And I found myself going, "Is this-- is this you
"taking from your life? Or do you, like, expand
on what your life w-wasn't, in a-- in a weird way?"
Like, do you go, "This is the exaggerated version of my life"?
Well, I like to-- I like to say
that my character, Sam, is me in a cape.
-So it's like the ultra version of me. -Right.
So she's like...
I always... (stammers) It's that conversation you have
with yourself when you're in the car or on the bus
or you're driving home and you're like,
"Oh, I wish I had said that!" You know?
-"Oh..." You know? -(laughs)
Or "That would have been so bad if this happened."
And your mind goes through it, and, um...
-Or "I wish I had done this with my kids." -Mm.
You know, but when you're a parent,
it's exhausting anyway.
And even if you have a partner, and so I don't have a partner,
and I raised three girls by myself.
And so, um,
I was always looking for ways to be a better parent.
And I feel like now that I'm older,
and my kids are more grown,
that I'm-I'm a better parent now.
And I wish I could go back and apply the things
that I've learned, or I've written into my show, so...
Do they ever watch the show?
Or do you ever show them, like, an episode, and you'd be like,
"See, that's what I wanted to do"?
-Um, no. -(laughter)
Oh, that... like, that's credit?
-Yeah, yeah. You should be like... -Oh, yeah.
"See, that's-that's a... you see?" Yeah.
Look, I would have done that.
-(laughter) -And I want you to know that...
Uh, I don't think that holds.
Like, uh, yeah.
Um, it's-it's an homage,
and it's really, uh... It's been a journey
'cause I started it seven years ago,
-and all my kids were still living at home. -Right, right.
And now, two-two are gone, and, um, it's just...
it's graduations. It's the way your life goes.
And, you know, there's no such thing as an antihero.
-Like, when I hear that term... -Hmm.
that kind of drives me crazy
because an antihero is a human being.
-Oh, I like that. -You know?
And so, when you say, Sam's an antihero
because, like, early on, it was, like,
you know, she would try things,
she would do, like, sex things, or whatever,
and now, not-sex things, or, you know, um...
This is a great way to describe it. Everyone
who hasn't watched is now, like...
Now you're gonna watch, 'cause you're like,
"Wait, wait, wait. What? The sex things
-and the not-sex things?" -Let me explain.
Don't explain. Don't explain.
That's how people watch your show.
Don't. No. Yeah. Serves you right.
You didn't watch. Now, you don't know the sex things,
and you don't know the not-sex things.
She's in the corner like, "Yeah."
That's what you want. I love that.
I'm just going to leave it at that.
It's all, um...
I wanted to ask you this about the show.
It's, like, you know, there's so much heart in the show
that it feels like it transcends
what's happening on camera.
And I've heard some stories about set.
I've heard some stories about how you make the show.
One of the... one of the stories I heard
that intrigued me had to do with food on set.
So, you know, when I was... when I was reading up
on your life story, I didn't realize
that you had been acting since you were a child.
And when you were young, you would eat all the food
that was in a scene which, like, a lot of actors don't.
You would actually eat it, which you...
'cause you didn't want to waste it.
Yes, well, I did... Well, there's another reason,
which is that I...
You know, I grew up watching television.
-My father was a writer-producer. -Uh-huh.
And I'm, like, a sound stage baby.
And, um, I love television.
And I want it to be authentic.
-Oh. -And I desperately want the characters to be real.
So, when I would see people, like, pushing, like,
-the peas around on the plate, or... -(phone chimes)
-Your phone. Uh, on the... -(laughter)
I hear. It's like an emergency alert.
Should we wait? Are you...? No.
Um, it could be your ring. I don't know.
Um, like, if they push their food around on a plate,
-it drives me crazy. -Yeah. Right, so, my...
Like, put the food in your mouth and eat the (bleep) food.
The food is so intricate.
Like, you have scenes where your character's,
-like, cooking. -We cook it. I'm cooking the food.
But it's... That looks like real food.
Yes, I'm cooking the food. I'm cooking the food.
-So you're seeing... -So do you guys eat the food?
Yeah. So, uh, a lot of times we get to...
Um, one scene, one of my kids on the show-- she, um...
Actually, her character loses her virginity...
-Right. -In the show.
And, um, it's-it's...
It's a very, like, um... It's a conscious choice.
And there's-there's, like, these tough conversations
that happen in the show.
And how does this lady,
this mom of these three kids,
-deal with this on-on their own? -Mm-hmm.
And they get through it, and they talk about it.
And then they go downstairs,
and her daughter, who just told her this,
makes her peppermint ice cream from scratch.
She just want... You know, Sam says,
"I really want Chr... peppermint Christmas ice cream."
And that's where they don't have the ingredients,
-and they start making it. Right. -And we just did it.
And she breaks up the peppermint,
and we take out the ice cream
and then put some agave in it, some cocoa, like...
You know, made it up on the spot.
And then the whole crew lined up.
-They-they wanted some of the ice cream. -(laughs)
-But, um, yeah. -I love the idea of this.
-I'm just gonna do my groceries at The Daily Show. -Yes.
Who's gonna start, like, making jokes?
(chuckles) That reminds me of Himalayan sea salt.
(laughs): Exact... Maldon sea salt flakes.
Um, uh, I-I...
Living a world... Living in a world that's not myopic,
it means, I mean, you know, you act,
you write, you direct. You do everything.
What's next? Final season, so what would you like to do?
What's, like, a pipe dream, a crazy idea,
or just something you think you'll do?
Well, I'd like to continue working.
I-I love to work.
Um, I like to, um, mentor.
I like to... I-I...
Having, uh, job fairs for people because, uh...
So, there's this whole thing, you know?
People are like, "Oh, I want to be in the business.
"I want to be, uh, a host
-or an actor or a director or a writer." -Hmm.
There are so many other jobs,
and, uh, I'd like people to know what they are.
Like, why is post
uh, just, uh, you know, the same kind of people,
-which is, like, all-all old white guys. -Right. Right.
-Or young white guys. Like... (laughs) -(laughs)
Well, it's oftentimes referrals, right?
-Yeah. They refer to each other. -Yeah.
-They have a whole, uh, network. -Yes. Yes.
But I'd like to show people,
young people, uh, what jobs there are available.
And, you know, instead of, like,
you know, young kids wanting to play football...
-Like, young boys, like, that's what they want to do. -Mm-hmm.
And myopic in that way.
What if you can't play sports?
-There are so many jobs that you can do... -I like that.
...in my industry
that are so cool, uh, to learn about.
Being a gaffer, a key grip,
a rigger, a stuntperson.
And I like to, uh, educate people
about that kind of thing.
-Well... -(cheering and applause)
I think you can do anything you want to do.
Congratulations on an amazing show.
-Thank you for being here. -Thank you so much.
Really wonderful having you.
People, the series finale of Better Things
airs Monday, April 25th, at 10:00 p.m.
on FX and streaming on Hulu.
We're gonna take a quick break,
-but we'll be right back after this. -Thank you.
(cheering and applause)
Thank you very much.
Well, that's our show for tonight.
But before we go, before we go,
nearly 4,000 homes have been destroyed
and more than 40,000 people have been displaced
by the floods and the mudslides happening in South Africa.
Now, Gift of the Givers
is a South African-based disaster relief organization
that are on the ground helping those people
who are affected by the floods.
So, if you want to help them in the work that they're doing
to act fast and to save lives,
then please donate at the link below.
Anything you can give will help.
Until tomorrow, stay safe out there.
And remember, if you're still anxious about flying,
you can always drive.
Nobody's ever died in a car.
Now, here it is, Your Moment of Zen.
♪ ♪
Say hello to my little friend.
-(overlapping chatter) -Oh, Chucky.
-Wait, hey. -Hey, no. Hey.
Chuck, don't do it.
-(laughs) -All right, watch out.
Defend yourself with a pussy willow, Kenny.
-Didn't I say don't move? Didn't I say don't move? -Oh!
-Back up. -There's a guy who's really into me.
Don't do this to me!
-End of the Dyngus Day. -Oh, man.
-Yeah. -Come on.
Who got this? Me, that's who!
-Come here! Come here! -I'm good.
-Why would y'all give this to him? -Come here!