Uh, what can we expect if we were to move forward from some of these stories?

Well, first of all, just as, as a producer, who wouldn't wanna continue all of these characters with these actors? At the same time, [clears throat] what Rolin has created is so unique and singular, I almost don't know how to borrow from it.

I'd love to be able to say, "Well, we can pick this character and we can do this or that." It just, this is such a gem unto itself that I'm, I struggle.

I'd love to have a real pat answer for that, but I don't.

Nevertheless, uh, we have not seen the end of any of these characters.

[upbeat music]

Mark, what was your reaction to seeing the takes of this?

Oh.

Uh, uh, first of all, I, I w- was, I didn't know when it was she.

Yeah.

And, uh, it was eerie as can be.

And as you can tell in the episode, when just a movement happens, a finger or, or just a piece, it's, it's, it's chilling.

Chilling.

It's yet, yet another moment where you just sit back.

And w- what do we have in, in each of these boxes?

These are all, this is all documentation that's in there that, you know, when she first come up missing poster, they're looking for newspaper articles, business records, and this is just, uh, some case reports.

You can see that, how this was wet.

A lot of that stuff got wet.

They had some pods out back.

They stored a lot of evidence.

They leak, and a lot of stuff got wet.

How come you can't call them suspects?

Mark, what was your reaction to seeing some of this stuff come together, like, particularly this episode?

This thing started with Anne Rice, the confluence of Anne Rice and Rollin and, and, and Daniel.

And there was so much that came, came at me almost sporadically.

Honestly, a lot of it didn't become clear until we st- we shot it-

Mm

... or until we rehearsed it, or until, you know, I'd hear the music and then I'd hear Sam, and then be there on the set and say, "Oh my God, that's what this is." And it was, it was really this epiphany, and it was the, for a producer, it's both scary as hell, and at the same time, you know, I'm there in, in ecstasy saying, "It doesn't get be- any better than this."

I get it.

Absolutely.

I'm

going to laugh.

Okay.

Justice for cabbage.

Come on.

[laughs]

I think it just sets the stage for so much, and it, it's, uh, it is a radically different show, but not.

Yeah.

It's characters and relationships that are steadfast.

And, uh, it's exciting.

Sounds pretty positive

... and a m- and a more balanced view of things.

A very pleasant email, uh, from someone saying they're from a production company, and, uh, we had a very nice phone call.

Very respectable.

And she s- I said, "Lookit, I'm not a Kamloops graves agitator," and I'm not.

Uh, I'm not a hard right conservative, and I'm not.

I said, "But I, and I don't wanna be totally lumped in with those folks, uh, but I'm just trying to restore McDonald's reputation and the statues with context and consultation and all of that stuff."

So wh- where was the red flag for you?

And I didn't come into the business till '87.

Right.

So Good Morning Vietnam is the first one we did together, and it was an out-and-out comedy.

Barry Levinson and I learned so much from the testing because it helped us understand what the audience was reacting to and what they were enjoying.

And there was a character played by J.T. Walsh who the audience loved to hate, and we realized they were so happy when he was on the screen because he always got his comeuppance.

And we thought, "Wait a minute.

There's a scene with J.T. we didn't have in the movie we cut out 'cause we didn't need," and put it back in, and lo and behold, our numbers went up.

What do you want people to know about you, Mark, that they don't know? And when I ask that question, you've done tons of interviews over the years, and I'd love to think that you're gonna walk out of this one going, "Oh, I think I've never really said that in an interview." What do we need to know about Mark Johnson? What's a, a secret or, or something that would be very telling to our audience?

What would you think?

Hmm.

I mean, all the seafood stuff, caviar, that comes for celebration.

Sure, steak.

Stuff like that.

But- Crab legs for me.

Just any kind, doesn't matter.

What do you got?

I guess first things first, and you don't have to tell me your age, but, uh, but what were you doing in 1982, and what do you remember about Covington that, that would be obviously different than today?

What I, I, I remember that, uh, downtown in 1982 was still really, uh, kind of quaint.

We were, we were actually, in 1982, I would say that we were closer to looking like we did in 1968 than we did in 1995.

The city of Covington had the same mayor, Ernest Cooper, in '68 that we had in '82.

We had, uh, Sheriff Pat Canulet, who I, I think, um, is a name that probably a lot of folks don't remember at, at this point.

Downtown, uh, down, down there by the Trailhead and, and Gibson Street.

If you, if you think of Mattina Bella and Dependable Glass and Abita Brewing, that's right along Gibson Street.

How, if somebody's listening to this podcast, they're not familiar with this area, how would you describe Covington today?