Uh-huh.

Um, her name is, her show is named How's That because Lisa and I, after we did season two, there was never, like, a mandate to come back.

We were just kinda like, the, everybody thought we did a good job and that was that.

Now, HBO was h- kind of happy with it, but every now and then over the last 11 years, 10 years, Lisa and I would have lunch and we go, "Oh, what's Valerie doing?" And we go, "Maybe there's a, something to come back for." We never really came up with an idea that was a big enough machine to come back.

We had funny things like Chicago, which we put in the first episode, Valerie's stars in Chicago, like, 'cause all the Real Housewives did.

Yeah

... we're still gonna negotiate in three years 'cause of AI.

And the minute that popped into my mind, I said, "And then three years later we have- we're at AI, and Valerie's cast in the first multi-cam written about AI." And Lisa went click, and then we started talking about it would be a b- bed and breakfast, like a typical sitcom, but it would-- We thought it was gonna be all about, like, she's a Luddite and she doesn't understand technology, and Lisa, within two minutes, did a monologue as the proprietress, and she went, "I don't know what I'm-- I'm doing everything I can.

Yeah

... to Valerie about how complicated it is to be a writer.

But a lot of times, even Abby Jacobson, who is a writer and plays Mary, said she felt honored to be able to stand up for someone who wasn't going to, as she said, "Build the scaffold that takes away your business." So I mean, there's a lot of that, but also we're not on a soapbox because it's a comedy.

But what I keep hearing from people is, "It feels like it was written yesterday."

Wow, that's possible

I mean, I tell writers all the time that there's only one path, and it's yours.

And don't think you have to have somebody else's path, because they can all be very personal to them.

Don't compare yourself path-wise to anybody else, and it's easier said than done, but it's a valuable lesson.

That's true.

You know, like when you fall apart, when you come back together, what's legitimate? You know, we've done many, many stories where the women fell apart.

Um, at one point in the movie after Miranda held the secret that she told Big to not get married, she sent Carrie yellow flower, yellow roses and saying, you know, "You have to forgive me."

Yes.

And I, one of the few nights I wasn't on set, and it was very late, and they were shooting the scene where Miranda just keeps cutting the cake smaller and smaller and smaller, but he saw I, I've committed myself to the Betty Crocker clinic, and he ran with it so that he had Cynthia in a, like, stylized moment-

Right.

And he accepts it, and she actually says to him at that scene, which I love.

What I love about being able to write a show for years and grow the characters and in a city, you can put so much of real life in it.

Like, the ideas, I've never seen another scene, show where characters have to wait in line for a table.

But he's definitely worn down, right? 'Cause he doesn't even-

That, you know, but, like, literally, that is the joy of being able to write Sex and the City when it was on HBO, because they were 30 minutes, no commercials.

You could get a lot of story in.

Everyone could have a story.

Yes.

And also, there's another weird surprise there, is when her Emmy breaks, PDP is so... upset that Valerie chooses to take care of him first.

There's a big difference between season one of this show and this season, because when they get that pickup from Brandon for season two, they're all excited and Frank says, "You did this for us.

You." That's everyone recognizing she's the hero.

She executive produced.

She made it happen.

And what does Valerie do? She, "You, you, you, you, you." She gives it back to them.

... and it's a nice set, that fits easy folks.

Right?

True.

Completely true.

What happens to Valerie in this episode was one of the first sort of mission statements for the series that we had this season, which is Valerie becomes the most hated person in Hollywood because of AI for a show that no one's ever seen.

That was, like, where we were trying to get, that w- we thought it'd be funny if Valerie was caught in, in a tornado of blame.

So let's start with the Tommy of it all.

Yeah, the Tom- the wisdom of Tommy, the idea that Tommy is somebody who is 85 and seen it all and done it all, was so, uh, potent to the idea of the character, and that he gets in there and he's just, like, doing his thing with his toupee that he thinks makes him look 70.

And he's doing, he's familiar.

And now, her discovering that it's up to her.

It's a gear shift.

What is the story about AI and actually making this series? Five is about what could happen if you took writers away.

Now that I think about it, it's more Valerie, like, "I don't want this." She's, like, in a room saying, "Learn my lines," which [laughs] one of my favorite line readings that I've, uh...

You know, every now and then, Lisa will say something I've never heard a rhythm out of Valerie.

And when she's in the room and she's talking about the candles, and she goes-

Yeah.

We, we know the power of Paulie, if, if I say that, the power of Paulie.

So at what point did you decide, yes, we're going to do this? We

always met every couple of months or years or weeks.

I don't remember.

Minutes.

And would have a conversation and it would always come around to, what do you think Valerie's doing now? And there was never a mandate from HBO to do it.

We all ended beautifully in the second season.

We were like, that was great.

Yeah, it's just how

Yeah.

And I remember it being so off-beat, and her personality, her energy being so unique that I was im- immediately taken with her.

And I met her afterwards 'cause I had another friend that was a Groundling.

And then over the years, um, we got to know each other better because I was doing a show on a studio.

I was running a show.

And Lisa, you were on Mad About You.

Just a phony actress

... maybe, and maybe we'll do something, and she did a phony actress character, and it so-Began the idea of, uh, the energy around Valerie for me.