OpenAI’s talk show ‘TBPN’ shifts the Emmy category to variety series

2. Something you loved as a kid but can’t believe you were doing it now: Kudrow: “Candy dots. It’s just sugar!” King: “My grandmother used to make us something called ‘toast on the stove,’ which meant she would put a piece of white bread, slathered with butter, on the open gas jet, then take two scoops of sugar and put it on the toast. We would sit at a table, like characters from a Dickens novel, eat toast on the stove, and then probably go into a coma and take a nap.”

3. Go-to karaoke or sing-along song in the shower: Kurdrow: “It’s different every time. I always find it interesting, why am I thinking about this song today?” King: “I have to be careful because I don’t sing and I don’t think musically, so when I hear a song it gets stuck in my head. Now I still hear Adele: ‘Should I give up or show that I’m just going to keep chasing sidewalks.’ When we did the show, Lisa thought the lyrics were, “Should I give up or should I just keep chasing rainbows.” And I thought Valerie loved putting a twist on it, ‘chasing rainbows,’ but now that’s stuck in my head a lot.”

4. Give me an alternate title for your show: Both: “Raw images.” King says, “When we started our research, we got raw footage from the bootleg tapes of ‘The Osbornes,’ because I had someone who worked on the show that I knew. That color bar that we kept in the first season, that’s what started it all, because it had to be a montage done by the second editor, not the final cut, but raw footage was the first thing. Because it was all raw footage, and that’s how we defined what the show could be versus television, because we didn’t want to that it all looked polished. We wanted it to look good.”

Kudrow adds, “And how awkward would it really be!” King says, “All that downtime we saw watching the footage of ‘Osborne’ was just boring! And you could see people trying to get something going, and so ‘Raw Footage’ was the first title, and we also thought we were doing it with one camera. Carolyn Strauss at HBO was such a proponent, she said maybe you should try two cameras. “Now aren’t you glad you didn’t call it ‘Raw Footage’?” King is relieved: “Yes, because I don’t think ‘Raw Footage’ is coming back.”

5. What is your secret talent?:King: “I can move my ears.” Kudrow: “I don’t have one!”

6. Favorite ice cream flavor: King: “Chocolate chips mint.” Kudrow: “I don’t like ice cream! Too cold. Even as a kid I thought, why is this a treat? It’s milk! I hate milk. Only chocolate! That’s a treat. But frozen milk, that’s kind of nonsense.” So what is Kudrow’s favorite dessert? “I love chocolate chip cookies.” (“Friends” fans may note that on the show it was Ross who hated ice cream – because it was too cold.)

7. The one item you couldn’t live without: Kudrow: “There are too many! But Nicorette.” King: “My version of nicotine, which is television.”

8. What TV show from throughout history do you wish you were a cast member of?: King: I feel like there’s a magical, “Brigadoon”-esque bridge I would have liked to cross to get to “The Mary Tyler Moore Show.” That felt like something new and warm, and I bet she was a great #1. It had all these great writers, and it felt like a charmed circle. Kudrow: “When I was a kid, ‘The Brady Bunch.’ Or ‘The Partridge Family.’ I always thought, ‘what if I could be in the Partridge Family? Wouldn’t that be great?’ I wasn’t acting, it wasn’t even a possibility.”

9. Fictional character you relate to most: [Not asked]

10. Your favorite piece of advice: King: “I tell writers all the time that there is only one path, and that is yours. Don’t think you have to follow someone else’s path, because it can all be very personal to them. Don’t compare yourself to anyone else in terms of path, and that’s easier said than done, but it’s a valuable lesson. As you start down the path to writing and showrunning, look around and see how everyone else got there. But it doesn’t help, just keep going.”

Says Kudrow, “I had an acting teacher, and it was really just a cold reading class. It was about dealing with acting, auditioning, on TV and film, and it was something along those lines. Do what you do, and be your version of who that character is, and at least you did a good job. The rest is none of your business. That’s your only job, and it’s very simple, so you don’t have to take it personally.”

Variety’s “Awards Circuit” podcast, produced by Michael Schneider, is your one-stop listening place for lively conversations about the best in film and television. Each week, “Awards Circuit” features interviews with top film and TV talent and creatives; discussions and debates about awards races and industry headlines; and much more. Subscribe via Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, Spotify or wherever you get podcasts. New episodes are posted weekly.