March 26, 2026
He could have been Steve… He could have been Mr. Pussy…He DID kiss Charlotte and then this happened...
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RSS Feed Picture this… you get cast in the biggest show on television, you get to makeout with Kristin Davis, you tell all your friends and family to watch. And then, the night is finally here and everyone you know is watching and then…NOTHING. Your moment with Charlotte is…GONE…CUT…NOTHING NADA BUPKIS!
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00:00:01
Speaker 1: Hi, I'm Kristin Davis, and I want to know are you a Charlotte? Hi? Everybody, welcome back to Are You a Charlotte? Today we have a very fun episode of Catching up with Friends. We are talking to Jason McDonald, who played a character named Emerson in season two episode thirteen Games People Play, where he filmed a storyline with me that got fully cut out, and he has some really great memories. I think I flirted a lot with him. I'm not sure. He's a really really interesting guy. I'm going to try to find this footage and share it with all of us, but in the meantime, I'm going to put the polaroids he had of us way way, way, way way back up on the Instagram for everyone to see. This is a fun walk down memory lane with Jason McDonald. Hello, Hey, Chris, are you I'm all right? How are you?
00:01:02
Speaker 2: I'm good? It's been you know how many years?
00:01:05
Speaker 1: Twenty twenty five, twenty five, yeah, something like that. Yes, I mean you need to tell us everything. Okay, Okay, Jason McDonald. Everyone who emailed us very sweetly with some memories that I cannot wait to hear.
00:01:22
Speaker 2: And they're very different from your memories, I'm sure, but it was. It was like the first big booking of my career. So I was so excited to work with you.
00:01:31
Speaker 1: Oh wow, yeah.
00:01:32
Speaker 2: I mean I'd done soap operators and commercials in the theater and stuff, but it was like my birth And I remember auditioning. I didn't audition season one, but they started bringing me in season two and I had auditioned what's the role Steve Brady?
00:01:47
Speaker 1: No way to be fine?
00:01:50
Speaker 2: What was his name?
00:01:51
Speaker 1: David?
00:01:52
Speaker 2: David? And he was great? He was Terri. Yes. Yes, It's funny because I was working at a restaurant in so and Jenny Bicks came in for dinner and sat at the bar whereas bartending, and she was like, oh my god, we just saw you for like that role.
00:02:08
Speaker 1: I was thinking, wow, so what happened?
00:02:11
Speaker 2: Oh well, I didn't get that roll. Then I understood I auditioned for mister Pussy.
00:02:16
Speaker 1: Oh my god, so you auditioned for so many important parts? Wow? I know.
00:02:24
Speaker 2: And then when I ended up getting which was Emerson on that episode games People Play right that Jenny wrote, and they cut our whole storyline.
00:02:33
Speaker 1: And why what did we do? Tell me everything? Because I don't have a clear memory.
00:02:37
Speaker 2: Okay. So it was a bridge party. It was Upper east Side bridge party. We were bridge partners, okay. And then it was like this, you know, high end, upper east Side, preppy bunch of people, and you and I were making eyes across the room from each other, and then we ended up being partners. And then someone accused us of cheating. And then we went around the corner and you put me up against the book shelf and kissed me. Yeah, you don't remember this. We should talk to Jenny, okay, read it?
00:03:12
Speaker 1: Yes, yes, okay, So this is very bold of Charlotte. I'm impressed. Okay, good, okay. Wow.
00:03:20
Speaker 2: And then whoever the host? This is so weird that I remember this? Why do remember this?
00:03:24
Speaker 1: The character?
00:03:25
Speaker 2: The character's name was Mimi Ousenbach, remember that? And your and your I think the VEO was like, was Sarah's character saying, and Charlotte got kicked out of Mimi Ausenbock's Upper east Side apartment for kissing Emerson against the book shelve or so it was something like that.
00:03:47
Speaker 1: Wow, kind of like clue, like like games people play like in the study with the you know exactly whatever.
00:03:57
Speaker 2: Wow, that was my memory and I was, and you were so freaking kind like we shot really late that night. That was m we were and you had your dog there, and remember my.
00:04:09
Speaker 1: Gold My Golden was there. Yeah.
00:04:13
Speaker 2: And I met Cynthia because you guys were good friends, and she was there doing something and we hung out. We hung out in your dressing room and we talked.
00:04:24
Speaker 1: I know, right, it was like, I was so glad. I was so glad. So you had a late night, silver silver cup night with us. Yeah, we had many. That That's fun times. That's fun times. Did we work like all night? Was it one of those like really bad Yeah?
00:04:39
Speaker 2: No, I think we wrapped it like six or something. Yeah.
00:04:42
Speaker 1: Yeah.
00:04:42
Speaker 2: I remember the van taking me into the city and it was it was like light out already.
00:04:48
Speaker 1: Yep, yep. That that was how we rolled. That was how we rolled. Wow, So we did we Was that just the one day that we filmed or did we film more than once?
00:04:57
Speaker 2: Yeah? That was it. That was my one day on the cutting room floor.
00:05:02
Speaker 1: I'm so sad. I'm so sad for us what happens.
00:05:07
Speaker 2: You know, it's been a good story for me for the past twenty five years. It was good.
00:05:11
Speaker 1: I'm so glad. I'm so glad. I mean, it makes me wonder. When I watched the episode, I did feel like, gosh, what happened to my storyline? I had some vague memory, but I didn't remember this. But I do remember Bridge, do you know what I mean? Like, I remember, but I didn't know what was that episode. And I think I'm going to just take a guess that we had John bon Jovi and therefore, yeah, you know, it's never really no one can compete with John bon Jovie. That would be my guess. But it's also it was such an interesting I liked the games people played storyline, you know what I'm saying, and that would have been fun to have another version of that. So I wonder I'm gonna ask Jenny because I do feel like there was at one point people would tell me that if you had gotten the collection of DVDs, that there were some omitted scenes that had been on the DVDs. So I'm curious if we could get a hold of that and find out that would be really fun to watch.
00:06:07
Speaker 2: Yeah, I had said something to Jenny when we were I was on her show Welcome to Flatch for two weeks.
00:06:11
Speaker 1: Yeah, tell us about that this is so incredible. So wait, you meet her the first time. You're a waiter, right, yeah, love it, You're a bartender, got it, got it, got it?
00:06:22
Speaker 2: And then you fast forward to twenty twenty and I auditioned for this Fox comedy called what was called This Country at the time, and I saw and when I got the audition, I saw ep was Jenny Bicks. I was like, so in my submission notes from my audition for that show, I was like, hey, Jenny, or let Jenny know that I played Emerson in her episode and twenty years ago that fun. When I did my chemistry read, which we did over Skype, Wow, Jenny was like hi, jasaon like like nothing change. It was like she remembered.
00:06:52
Speaker 1: I love it. No, Jenny's amazing, amazing, amazing. We have a few people that we cast in Sex and the City that ended up on her other shows, which I love she. I think she just has a catalog of people she likes in her mind and then she's able to put them in other other shows, which is like such a joy.
00:07:11
Speaker 2: Yeah. There was a guy that guest starret on Welcome to Flatch who was had been on men and Trees like.
00:07:15
Speaker 1: She from Yeah, yeah, yeah, she's the best she was.
00:07:19
Speaker 2: And then then when we you know, when I booked that show and we met for the table reading the fittings and the photos and all that, she was like, you look the same, No, but thank you. Yeah she's lovely. But here's here's a story, Kristen.
00:07:35
Speaker 1: So tell me.
00:07:36
Speaker 2: No one tells you when you're cut out of something.
00:07:39
Speaker 1: I know, so sad, so sad.
00:07:41
Speaker 2: So I had some friends over to watch the episode and no, it's not a sad story. But a month or two later, I was walking up Columbus Avenue and there was this Golden retriever outside of store and I stopped to pet it, and you were in the store and came out and you started talking. I was like hey, and you're like, oh my god. And that in that moment you said, you said it wasn't us, It wasn't us. They didn't cut the storyline because of us.
00:08:11
Speaker 1: Oh thank god.
00:08:12
Speaker 2: It was a timing time thing or something, or they felt like they're writing, you know, didn't land or something. But I think it was the John bon Jovi thing.
00:08:19
Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean probably, And probably if it was the John bun Jovi thing, they might not have said to me it was the John Bunjovi thing. But I probably you know, would have figured that out eventually. But I do think time wise, I mean a lot of times you would know, like you would have there would be like the A plot, B plot, C plot, D plot because there were four of us, right and you would know, oh, this is my week to have the D plot meaning smaller, But usually it existed. I'm just guessing that John bun Jovi, you know, one out or whatever in terms of minutes minutes on screen. But I'm glad that we saw each other on Columbusy. There are things that I just don't remember. Sometimes I remember like tiny minutia, sometimes nothing. So I'm glad. I'm glad that my goal, who's named Cali, was like the connector. She was a very sweet girl, very sweet girl. So where are you now?
00:09:08
Speaker 2: In Park Slope in Brooklyn?
00:09:09
Speaker 1: Oh cool? I love Parkslop so much.
00:09:12
Speaker 2: Yeah, we're right on the park. So it's really really nice.
00:09:15
Speaker 1: Oh my god, incredible. When we were doing and just like that. The first year that we went back to do it, which was right after COVID, I took my kids with me and so we went I was trying to find a place that was like, you know, big enough and fine enough and whatever. And we got a place that was a couple blocks from the park and they went every day to that park. They knew every inch. And then the next time I took them, we were going to the village and I said, you, guys, I found this incredible brownstone in the village and they were like, oh, what about Park Slope. They were like terrorized that we weren't going to be in Brooklyn again. And I said, no, no, it's gonna be okay, it's the village and they were like, no, no, mommy, no, park Slope. We have to be in Park Slope. They love it so much.
00:09:57
Speaker 2: Yeah, it's great. We have three dogs, so it's really cool.
00:09:59
Speaker 1: Yeah. Oh, you're living the life. That's so nice.
00:10:16
Speaker 2: No.
00:10:16
Speaker 1: Wait, there was a something in your bio about an acting school in Atlanta.
00:10:22
Speaker 2: Yeah. I was in Atlanta for a few years and opened an acting studio down there. But I'm teaching here in Brooklyn now at Terry Nickerbocker Studio.
00:10:30
Speaker 1: Yeah, I know, Terry nicker Rocker. That's cool.
00:10:33
Speaker 2: Yeah, and I teach on camera, so fantastic.
00:10:38
Speaker 1: You know, on camera is so important because almost no one teaches that.
00:10:42
Speaker 2: Yeah. Yeah, with self tapes being the thing.
00:10:45
Speaker 1: Now, oh my god.
00:10:47
Speaker 2: And these kids who had Terry Nickerbocker, I call them kids. They're in their twenties, but I understand, you know, so they have no clue there. They've been studying speech and voice and movement and all of the Meisner and they have no clue how to do a self tape or how to work on sets.
00:11:02
Speaker 1: So yeah, this was me for sure. We didn't have to self tape when I was coming up, but I mean, the whole camera thing, you were just like, what's happening. Yeah, it's a lot to learn. But now with the self tape part of me, I feel like the self tape seems nice because you have creative control. But then the thing that worries me about them all with the self tape is that you're also not getting that immediate feedback in the room.
00:11:26
Speaker 2: Yeah. And it's funny because I remember your show and I would go out to Silver Cup to audition and it was was a Jennifer.
00:11:32
Speaker 1: McNamara was that Yeah, she's incredible and.
00:11:35
Speaker 2: She's so wonderful, and you know, just to be in the room and get feedback, and I knew they liked me, you know, they kept bringing me back for stuff, and that you don't have that anymore, you really don't.
00:11:46
Speaker 1: Yeah, that's upsetting.
00:11:48
Speaker 2: So here's a funny one, Kristen. So I get caught out of the season two. Season three, they brought me back in for a few roles and I didn't book them. Oh well, well you had a new showrunner, right, Darren Starr was gone by season three, right, and it was a new showrunner, is that correct?
00:12:02
Speaker 1: Well, I mean he'd been around since season one as a writer, but yes, Michael Patrick was then in charge. Yeah, yeah, I mean he was, really he was. I mean it defends who you ask, right, Like I remember, I've I felt like Darren had already kind of left, Like when I see like this, this episode that we're rewatching this week is two seventeen, which is kind of late in the third season, and Darren wrote it. But I think at this point he was kind of coming and going, whereas Michael Patrick was just only like fully focused on us and writing, directing, executive producing, and then he you know, goes on to win Emmys and do movies and all the things. Right, But Darren, I think Darren loves to create, right, that's his main thing that he loves. And he has self described himself as a shark where he needs to keep moving, so he, you know, he's always trying to find the next thing. And I don't know that he enjoys the going on and on season after season so much, you know what I mean.
00:13:04
Speaker 2: Yeah, it's funny because what season are they on Emily in Paris? Like season eight or season five? Right?
00:13:09
Speaker 1: So I think, yeah, yeah, I mean, and I think it's great that he stayed. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, it's funny.
00:13:15
Speaker 2: I got in a room in front of him and a callback for something years after Sex and the City, and he was like, you're familiar to me, Well let me tell you a story. And he was like, I have zero recollection of that. I'm like, I'm sure, I'm sure you I'm sure.
00:13:31
Speaker 1: I don't know. I can't believe they didn't bring you back in season season four, whatever it was.
00:13:38
Speaker 2: I moved to LA shortly after that, so I was kind of like out of the New York loop. But did your producers show you the photos that I have from us? No? Oh my god, this is crazy. We you and I had all this downtime for some reason, and you grabbed a polaroid from wardrobe. I love I found them a few years ago. What scanned them?
00:14:03
Speaker 1: Oh my god, they're adorable. I'm seeing them now. We're going to put them on the Instagram. Wow, we look young, my good Lord in Heaven. I mean, you know, we're like, we look like we're twenty.
00:14:17
Speaker 2: Yeah.
00:14:18
Speaker 1: Yeah, maybe that's why I love polaroids. They have that weird kind of like seventies appeal to them. Funny.
00:14:25
Speaker 2: Isn't that funny that I'd found those and I showed that Jen. I showed them to Jenny when we're working on flash and she was like, how do you have these photos? And I was like, wow, I had these polaroids and I scanned them.
00:14:36
Speaker 1: Like I love it so much. I love it so much. Now take me back a little bit to your life, Like what were you doing at this point in time when these pictures were taken? Like were you were you still bartending? Were you acting? Like? Were you what were you into?
00:14:54
Speaker 2: Like I was. I did a bunch of a lot of commercials, but still bartended. And then I did you know? All my children one went to live as real turns guiding like I did them allow the New York so, you know, and I recurred on I recurred on as Real Turns and Another World. But I wasn't getting much traction in TV and films. So then my agency here opened an office in La so I moved out there for six years.
00:15:17
Speaker 1: Got it?
00:15:17
Speaker 2: But you know, I was just that, you know, that actor. I had gone to Circleman Square Theater school. I graduated and knew nothing about TV and film and it was just kind of like bungling along. And you know, I just will always remember how kind you were to me as a as a sort of a green actor. You know, you were so glad.
00:15:36
Speaker 1: I'm getting the feeling. And I don't know what was going on in my personal life. I'm getting a feeling of mine. I had a little crush, okay, because I don't know. I can't think of another actor who game on a show that I took polaroids of, Like, uh, what was going on? And I also like, I I can't leave another actor where I pushed them up against the thing and kissed them. I'm sure that was in the script, like you live the other way around, do you know what I mean? But it's all very interesting and apparently I fumbled the ball somewhere, so you know, not my my fault, my back.
00:16:11
Speaker 2: Because I was I was married at the time.
00:16:14
Speaker 1: Okay, okay, well that's good then.
00:16:16
Speaker 2: And I'm telling you, Kristen. Two weeks after we shot my wife at the time, my ex wife, she said to me, she said, so are you still in love with Kristen Davis? It's still it's still going on. Yeah, yeah, Okay, this.
00:16:34
Speaker 1: Is all very fascinating. It's like the road not taken, you know what I'm saying. This is sad though. Okay, so wait, let's get this straight now. I need clarity. You were married when you came on the show, married to polaroid pictures of you, and apparently flirted a lot with you, to the point where your wife at the time then said, are you still alone with Christi Davis? But then also you guys broke up. Yeah, so my timing was just basically, I am so sad about this now and you live on the park in Park Slope, which I just feel like you've had a wonderful life, so I'm happy. I'm happy that it all worked out and you've got remarried. You're you're remarried Okay, got it. I'm glad. I'm glad that it's all worked out for you.
00:17:19
Speaker 2: I got remarried this past Christmas Eve.
00:17:21
Speaker 1: Oh congratulations, that's nice.
00:17:24
Speaker 2: And we got the full New York Times of Bows column.
00:17:26
Speaker 1: It was, oh my god, Oh you're really living like the life. Wow. Wow, I'm impressed. And you have three dogs, so that's even more impressive. I love it. This is really fascinating. I am so glad you emailed us. Wow, wow, and wow. Where are the polaroids?
00:17:46
Speaker 2: I mean I have them on my phone, call on my computer, but I know good special physical copies. I don't know where they are, but got it, got it, got it.
00:17:53
Speaker 1: But somewhere you had found them and smartly taking a picture of them. Could We're going to put them on the Instagram for everyone to see our young selves. That's really fun. And now I'm sad. I want to find the footage of the scene scenes scenes.
00:18:06
Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean I do.
00:18:07
Speaker 1: I vaguely remember Bridge and I just thought it was coming, Like sometimes when I'm watching the show, I think, oh, yeah, it's coming, you know what I mean, because it's in my mind. But then I don't. I can't place where it should be. You know, in chronological order, they had.
00:18:20
Speaker 2: A bridge expert on set, like who taught us how to play.
00:18:25
Speaker 1: Pretty hard?
00:18:26
Speaker 2: None of us.
00:18:28
Speaker 1: I'm sure we didn't care. I'm sure we didn't care. We would have an expert for everything, Like if Sarah and I even had to do like two steps of a dance, we'd have like our choreographer there. Like we were so nervous about everything. But I'm glad we didn't actually care. I do remember someone trying to teach us British. I also remember someone trying to teach us Majong, which is also like horribly that that's.
00:18:48
Speaker 2: Hard, yeah, really hard. That's kind of hard to fake, right, so.
00:18:51
Speaker 1: Really hard to fake, really hard to fake. Though, I think there was right like they had the writers had written it, one of them had played it and had written lines that if you said the lines properly, you would sound like you knew what you were doing. Okay, you know, Okay, I remember both of them. I was just like, oh no, I'm really bad at games. Okay. Wow, Well, I'm just really sorry. I just want to apologize for all of us. I feel bad. I know you're over it, but I feel bad because as an actor it's just so painful, Like you try to get these parts, you try to get these parts, you get these parts, you're excited, you go, you do the best you can do, and you're just waiting for them to come on and then it's gone. Yeah, that's sad.
00:19:32
Speaker 2: It was. It was at the time, it was a little rough, and you know, I had had made postcards made like on Sex and the City and like mailed them out to people like, oh my god.
00:19:44
Speaker 1: Anyway, he's really upsetting thing. But at least you got to be on Jenny's other show, so so yay for Jenny. Yay for Jenny.
00:19:51
Speaker 2: And she was amazing, and you know that show was such a such a little gem that no one watched, but it was really great.
00:19:59
Speaker 1: This happens right, Yeah.
00:20:00
Speaker 2: It's funny. I moved to la like I said, shortly after we did our episode, and I had Sex and the City on my resume, and you know, back in those days, you always went in person, and I remember like cassing Gert would be like, oh, what did you play on Sex in the City. So I feel like so I finally just took it off my resume because I was like, I can't I can't tell him. Yeah, well I did this great role with Kristian Davis, and I got caught and here are the polaroids. Here are the polaroids.
00:20:25
Speaker 1: Now, yeah, we need to find these scenes and post them like as a little vignette, you know, like as their own little vignette. Wouldn't that be fun. I'm going to try to do it. I am going to try to do it, darn it, because I feel bad. I feel really bad. But I think you should put us back in your many, many eighty five credits. Good lord, You've been on everything ever made, and I'm just sad that that somehow our little storyline just wasn't meant to be. It's tragic, so tragic it was.
00:20:58
Speaker 2: Yeah, it was a brief romance, I know, a.
00:21:01
Speaker 1: Brief brief romance. But it sounds fun, more fun than the other things that Charlotte was up to in this in this era, you know what I mean. Usually it was like some embarrassing something at that at that phase.
00:21:14
Speaker 2: Yeah, well like mister pussy.
00:21:16
Speaker 1: Right exactly, mortifying, mortifying. So wait, what was the ending? So I push you up against the bookcase and we kiss, and then what happened?
00:21:24
Speaker 2: And then the host of the thing finds us and it's like leave, you have to leave now, there's none of this. You know, this won't be tolerated or something I.
00:21:30
Speaker 1: Don't know, and that's it.
00:21:32
Speaker 2: We had to just skulk out of the bridge party again and then I was done. Gosh was cooked.
00:21:38
Speaker 1: We were like embarrassed school children.
00:21:41
Speaker 2: We should ask Jenny because there might have been a subplot that she had a thing for me, that's why, and you kissing me?
00:21:46
Speaker 1: Was like, hey, yeah, it could have happened. I don't think she was with her her now husband at that point. I'm going to find out. I did talk to Jenny for the LA episodes and she was talking about how I believe her words were tragically single. All of the writers were at this point, so they were just using all of their stuff from real life, you know, in the show, which of course makes her a good show. But I'm going to ask her now.
00:22:10
Speaker 2: I didn't mean Jenny had it. I meant the character that had a thing for me. I'm like, no, I would never.
00:22:15
Speaker 1: No, No, I know, I know, but I mean I do think it's a way to, you know, exercise unfulfilled things. Yes, indeed, yes, indeed, I mean I do think it's kind of amazing that you met her in a restaurant and then ended up on our show and then many many, many many years later ended up on her show. I love it so much. Yeah, it's amazing.
00:22:37
Speaker 2: And that that Zoom Chemistry reader on Sky Chemistry Read I did with her and Paul Figue it was like so.
00:22:44
Speaker 1: Much fun, so so great.
00:22:46
Speaker 2: That's the best.
00:22:48
Speaker 1: What a great guy.
00:22:49
Speaker 2: But the combo of those two were just such a joy to work with and they're wonderful.
00:22:54
Speaker 1: Paul. It is also good friends with Michael Patrick, our show runner who took over that you were saying after Darren left, and they have houses in Arrowhead, like Arrowhead, and we were up there and we ran into Paul and I was like, what a crazy little world. I love. I love these creative people, you know.
00:23:10
Speaker 2: Yeah, he's his style, like the way he dresses.
00:23:13
Speaker 1: Oh my god, it's I know, he's super fascinating. Jason. I'm just so happy you emailed us because this is like an unfound you know, gem, Like thank god you are here to tell us the things that I don't always remember, because it's like that shadow memory where you're like I feel like there's something missing, Like sometimes I'll watch a show, there's something missing here and we need to find the footage. So now we're going to be on a new, a new journey of trying to uncover this footage. Yeah, it must exist, right, I think it must exist somewhere. The question is did it end up on those DVDs? Because that would be interesting because there have been a couple times where people will say, oh, X, Y or Z is on the DVD, and I'll just be shocked because I don't think I ever. I think at that point in time when the DVDs came out, I was just kind of trying, like I wasn't really in a rewatching type of a mindset, you know, I was just trying to keep moving forward, you know. Yeah, but now many years later, it's fun to rewatch.
00:24:21
Speaker 2: Did you rewatch the early stuff before you started the second iteration? No?
00:24:26
Speaker 1: Uh uh no, no, because it never would have entered my mind, Like for me, because you know, we've played these characters for so long, and because we're all still friends in life, so there was like a through line even when we weren't publicly you know, filming or whatever. It never entered my mind that I needed to catch up you know what I'm saying. Yeah, sure, I think it would have been interesting to do so, because as I'm rewatching now, I mean, there's so much I don't remember. But I also feel like one of the things that I think is interesting about playing a character for this long, which is so rare of course, is that you know, you change and grow, and the character changes and grows with you to some extent. Right, Like, it's not like I am Charlotte and Charlotte is me, but we're all all of us who are continuing on. We were I think thirty three when we started the show or something roughly like that, and you know now and just like that was into our fifties and we're all living our lives too, so like, you don't necessarily need to match everything. And this is part of what people would get upset about, right, like, oh, that character would never do that. No, people change and grow. That's life. That's the joy of life. You know, you don't need to be like didactically committed to well, Charlotte wore her hair like this when she was forty, so she would wear her hair like this. I mean, that's not how life is, you know. Yeah, and thank god, right, it would be boring if it was that way.
00:25:53
Speaker 2: It's funny how people can really get into the nitty rideo itself, right, and I think they know, but you're absolute right, we change, we grow.
00:26:02
Speaker 1: We change, we grow, and I mean, like kind of our essence might not you know, it's an interesting thing, like I think that. I mean, I think also for us. The thing that's interesting too is like, because we have been friends this whole time, we don't have to second guess things as much as I think you would if you somehow were operating in a vacuum where you weren't in touch with the people. You know what I'm saying, Like as a fan, we're like a family group where we all see each other, you know, in New York or in La or I went to Lake Harrow ahead with Michael Patrick. Whatever. You don't what I'm saying. Different things, different things. We've got kids, We've got all different things, right, But it creates a through line and a connectedness that can't be manufactured or changed really, right, Like it's just fundamental in a way.
00:26:48
Speaker 2: And then you develop a shorthand with those people.
00:26:50
Speaker 1: Right, yes, exactly exactly, and then the writing does so much right, But they kind of write for us at this point, you know, So it's it's all very interesting. I mean, at some point I hope I will get some objectivity about it, and just like that, I'm not quite there yet. It doesn't I don't feel finished with the whole thing, right. But on the other hand, I'm now looking back, so I'm getting gaining some perspective, some interesting perspective on looking back at our at our earlier, earlier incarnations.
00:27:20
Speaker 2: You know. Yeah, I have one more memory about that night that we tell me.
00:27:25
Speaker 1: I can't wait.
00:27:28
Speaker 2: I remember we broke for dinner at like two am or something, and they served like sliced turkey. It was like a Thanksgiving type and you were like and you were like, oh my god, trip to fen. We're all going to be asleep. We're not. I'm not going to eat this.
00:27:43
Speaker 1: So what did I get? Did I get?
00:27:45
Speaker 2: Oh? Yeah, I mean I I think we ended up having something else. But you're like, don't eat the turkey. Don't eat the turkey.
00:27:51
Speaker 1: Those are the weird things, you know, when you're working all night, you have to like do some weird things to stay perky, you know, like you have to have some rules. And I guess no, Turkey is a pretty good rule. At that point in time, we saw Sunrise, you know, two or three times a week, Thursday, Friday, probably definitely sometimes Wednesday, depending on the week and how we were doing, Like it was super super nightty hours. But that was just how we had to do it, partly because sometimes we had the you know, exterior night scenes. But then we'd get so turned around that even if we didn't, like you said, we were fully at Silver Cup, right, So there we are, fully in the studio until sunrise, which you would never hear about now, Like I don't feel like anyone does that now.
00:28:39
Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean everyone's so money conscious now, and well, you guys are shooting on film, right, I mean it.
00:28:46
Speaker 1: Was It's a totally thing, so totally different thing. I do much slower process the olden days. Man slower in some ways and then not because I remember back then we shot a lot more pages than we do when we would work most recently, Yeah, because we had to, Like we would do crazy things like if we were out somewhere location wise, because locations in New York are so expensive. All of us remember that they would have like those really big lights and we would like roll them down the streets, like we'd have one location on one corner and then another location on the other corner. We just roll the lights down the sidewalk in New York like crazy times. And I remember at one point when we were going back to it just like that, Sarah and I had this conversation of, you know, wouldn't be great to go back to wait the way that we used to film, and we used to film so fast and you know, so kind of gorilla filmmaking in the streets, and we didn't do that. I don't even know. I don't even know if we could do that, because I know Michael Patrick and I talked one time too. I think when you look back, certainly at the first season and the second season of the show, there's some times where the like the special effects and the lighting they're not great. You know, it's kind of like charming, nostalgic to look at, but they're not like amazing, right. But I think once we made the films, then everyone's expectations of what it would look like visually really just bumped up. But also even in this third season, like when I watched the third season of the show, our visuals are like wow, you know, I mean they're wow in a way of the time, right, like long lenses in the city. It was kind of like our seventies you know, you know Scorsese type, you know, vibe going on. But and we obviously couldn't keep that going either. But I love it so much. But I think once we did the films, we really we really got high expectations, I guess in terms of our visuals, and we couldn't really go back. But it would have been nice to go back just in terms of being quick. But I just don't know if you can do it that way these days, you know. Yeah, it's a different time.
00:30:53
Speaker 2: It is. You know. It was part of the fun thing for me working on Welcome to Flat which with Jenny and Paul, was that, you know, there was a lot of improv and there was a lot of just you know, we would do a couple of takes as scripted and Paul be like, okay, just just you know, let's just have fun with this. Amazing and that felt so different to me, especially for a network half hour comedy that was like unheard of. Yeah, but because it was Paul and Jenny, yeah, they were they were given free reign, and we had so much fun and so much stuff that ended up on the show was just like stuff that happened in the moment, and wow, that felt really like, Wow, this is special.
00:31:31
Speaker 1: I need to watch this show. I somehow did not watch it either, which I don't know where. I was like, how can I miss Jenny's whole show?
00:31:37
Speaker 2: I know, two seasons.
00:31:39
Speaker 1: Two seasons amazing.
00:31:41
Speaker 2: It just kind of went under the radar, And I.
00:31:44
Speaker 1: Feel like that's also a problem of where we are right now. There's so much stuff. Yeah, and you can't like focus, you know. Yeah, Yeah, I loved it.
00:31:54
Speaker 2: The strike. The strike killed us because we have gotten We would have been renewed for a third season that definitively, but that strike just messed up the timeline and everything.
00:32:04
Speaker 1: So that's so sad.
00:32:05
Speaker 2: But it was such a joy to get to work with Jenny Bicks again, and to work with her, like, you know, over multiple episodes was really really fun.
00:32:13
Speaker 1: I love Jenny and her writing.
00:32:14
Speaker 2: Her writing so good, her writing your show on that show just the best.
00:32:20
Speaker 1: I know. She's great. She's great. We have her on the podcast any time I can get her on.
00:32:24
Speaker 2: Sure, she's up in Maine most of the time, isn't she.
00:32:27
Speaker 1: She is the last time we skyped or whatever, you know whatever, one of the things. Thank god, I'm not sure of the technical, but yes, yes, she's living her fabulous life but also writing and you know, doing great.
00:32:39
Speaker 2: Yeah.
00:32:40
Speaker 1: Good, well you our joy and I'm just so sad that we're not immortalized in our show together.
00:32:46
Speaker 2: May exists, maybe maybe I'm going.
00:32:48
Speaker 1: To find it. I'm going to.
00:32:49
Speaker 2: I'm going to.
00:32:50
Speaker 1: I'll keep you posted. And thank you for saving those polaroids or taking pictures of those polaroids or whatever. I love it crazy, amazing.
00:32:57
Speaker 2: Well, thanks for having me. I'm so excited to be on here and just to get to reconnect with you and me too.
00:33:04
Speaker 1: Thanks for emailing. All right, all right, have a great day. Bye, thank you, Bye,
Speaker 1: Hi, I'm Kristin Davis, and I want to know are you a Charlotte? Hi? Everybody, welcome back to Are You a Charlotte? Today we have a very fun episode of Catching up with Friends. We are talking to Jason McDonald, who played a character named Emerson in season two episode thirteen Games People Play, where he filmed a storyline with me that got fully cut out, and he has some really great memories. I think I flirted a lot with him. I'm not sure. He's a really really interesting guy. I'm going to try to find this footage and share it with all of us, but in the meantime, I'm going to put the polaroids he had of us way way, way, way way back up on the Instagram for everyone to see. This is a fun walk down memory lane with Jason McDonald. Hello, Hey, Chris, are you I'm all right? How are you?
00:01:02
Speaker 2: I'm good? It's been you know how many years?
00:01:05
Speaker 1: Twenty twenty five, twenty five, yeah, something like that. Yes, I mean you need to tell us everything. Okay, Okay, Jason McDonald. Everyone who emailed us very sweetly with some memories that I cannot wait to hear.
00:01:22
Speaker 2: And they're very different from your memories, I'm sure, but it was. It was like the first big booking of my career. So I was so excited to work with you.
00:01:31
Speaker 1: Oh wow, yeah.
00:01:32
Speaker 2: I mean I'd done soap operators and commercials in the theater and stuff, but it was like my birth And I remember auditioning. I didn't audition season one, but they started bringing me in season two and I had auditioned what's the role Steve Brady?
00:01:47
Speaker 1: No way to be fine?
00:01:50
Speaker 2: What was his name?
00:01:51
Speaker 1: David?
00:01:52
Speaker 2: David? And he was great? He was Terri. Yes. Yes, It's funny because I was working at a restaurant in so and Jenny Bicks came in for dinner and sat at the bar whereas bartending, and she was like, oh my god, we just saw you for like that role.
00:02:08
Speaker 1: I was thinking, wow, so what happened?
00:02:11
Speaker 2: Oh well, I didn't get that roll. Then I understood I auditioned for mister Pussy.
00:02:16
Speaker 1: Oh my god, so you auditioned for so many important parts? Wow? I know.
00:02:24
Speaker 2: And then when I ended up getting which was Emerson on that episode games People Play right that Jenny wrote, and they cut our whole storyline.
00:02:33
Speaker 1: And why what did we do? Tell me everything? Because I don't have a clear memory.
00:02:37
Speaker 2: Okay. So it was a bridge party. It was Upper east Side bridge party. We were bridge partners, okay. And then it was like this, you know, high end, upper east Side, preppy bunch of people, and you and I were making eyes across the room from each other, and then we ended up being partners. And then someone accused us of cheating. And then we went around the corner and you put me up against the book shelf and kissed me. Yeah, you don't remember this. We should talk to Jenny, okay, read it?
00:03:12
Speaker 1: Yes, yes, okay, So this is very bold of Charlotte. I'm impressed. Okay, good, okay. Wow.
00:03:20
Speaker 2: And then whoever the host? This is so weird that I remember this? Why do remember this?
00:03:24
Speaker 1: The character?
00:03:25
Speaker 2: The character's name was Mimi Ousenbach, remember that? And your and your I think the VEO was like, was Sarah's character saying, and Charlotte got kicked out of Mimi Ausenbock's Upper east Side apartment for kissing Emerson against the book shelve or so it was something like that.
00:03:47
Speaker 1: Wow, kind of like clue, like like games people play like in the study with the you know exactly whatever.
00:03:57
Speaker 2: Wow, that was my memory and I was, and you were so freaking kind like we shot really late that night. That was m we were and you had your dog there, and remember my.
00:04:09
Speaker 1: Gold My Golden was there. Yeah.
00:04:13
Speaker 2: And I met Cynthia because you guys were good friends, and she was there doing something and we hung out. We hung out in your dressing room and we talked.
00:04:24
Speaker 1: I know, right, it was like, I was so glad. I was so glad. So you had a late night, silver silver cup night with us. Yeah, we had many. That That's fun times. That's fun times. Did we work like all night? Was it one of those like really bad Yeah?
00:04:39
Speaker 2: No, I think we wrapped it like six or something. Yeah.
00:04:42
Speaker 1: Yeah.
00:04:42
Speaker 2: I remember the van taking me into the city and it was it was like light out already.
00:04:48
Speaker 1: Yep, yep. That that was how we rolled. That was how we rolled. Wow, So we did we Was that just the one day that we filmed or did we film more than once?
00:04:57
Speaker 2: Yeah? That was it. That was my one day on the cutting room floor.
00:05:02
Speaker 1: I'm so sad. I'm so sad for us what happens.
00:05:07
Speaker 2: You know, it's been a good story for me for the past twenty five years. It was good.
00:05:11
Speaker 1: I'm so glad. I'm so glad. I mean, it makes me wonder. When I watched the episode, I did feel like, gosh, what happened to my storyline? I had some vague memory, but I didn't remember this. But I do remember Bridge, do you know what I mean? Like, I remember, but I didn't know what was that episode. And I think I'm going to just take a guess that we had John bon Jovi and therefore, yeah, you know, it's never really no one can compete with John bon Jovie. That would be my guess. But it's also it was such an interesting I liked the games people played storyline, you know what I'm saying, and that would have been fun to have another version of that. So I wonder I'm gonna ask Jenny because I do feel like there was at one point people would tell me that if you had gotten the collection of DVDs, that there were some omitted scenes that had been on the DVDs. So I'm curious if we could get a hold of that and find out that would be really fun to watch.
00:06:07
Speaker 2: Yeah, I had said something to Jenny when we were I was on her show Welcome to Flatch for two weeks.
00:06:11
Speaker 1: Yeah, tell us about that this is so incredible. So wait, you meet her the first time. You're a waiter, right, yeah, love it, You're a bartender, got it, got it, got it?
00:06:22
Speaker 2: And then you fast forward to twenty twenty and I auditioned for this Fox comedy called what was called This Country at the time, and I saw and when I got the audition, I saw ep was Jenny Bicks. I was like, so in my submission notes from my audition for that show, I was like, hey, Jenny, or let Jenny know that I played Emerson in her episode and twenty years ago that fun. When I did my chemistry read, which we did over Skype, Wow, Jenny was like hi, jasaon like like nothing change. It was like she remembered.
00:06:52
Speaker 1: I love it. No, Jenny's amazing, amazing, amazing. We have a few people that we cast in Sex and the City that ended up on her other shows, which I love she. I think she just has a catalog of people she likes in her mind and then she's able to put them in other other shows, which is like such a joy.
00:07:11
Speaker 2: Yeah. There was a guy that guest starret on Welcome to Flatch who was had been on men and Trees like.
00:07:15
Speaker 1: She from Yeah, yeah, yeah, she's the best she was.
00:07:19
Speaker 2: And then then when we you know, when I booked that show and we met for the table reading the fittings and the photos and all that, she was like, you look the same, No, but thank you. Yeah she's lovely. But here's here's a story, Kristen.
00:07:35
Speaker 1: So tell me.
00:07:36
Speaker 2: No one tells you when you're cut out of something.
00:07:39
Speaker 1: I know, so sad, so sad.
00:07:41
Speaker 2: So I had some friends over to watch the episode and no, it's not a sad story. But a month or two later, I was walking up Columbus Avenue and there was this Golden retriever outside of store and I stopped to pet it, and you were in the store and came out and you started talking. I was like hey, and you're like, oh my god. And that in that moment you said, you said it wasn't us, It wasn't us. They didn't cut the storyline because of us.
00:08:11
Speaker 1: Oh thank god.
00:08:12
Speaker 2: It was a timing time thing or something, or they felt like they're writing, you know, didn't land or something. But I think it was the John bon Jovi thing.
00:08:19
Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean probably, And probably if it was the John bun Jovi thing, they might not have said to me it was the John Bunjovi thing. But I probably you know, would have figured that out eventually. But I do think time wise, I mean a lot of times you would know, like you would have there would be like the A plot, B plot, C plot, D plot because there were four of us, right and you would know, oh, this is my week to have the D plot meaning smaller, But usually it existed. I'm just guessing that John bun Jovi, you know, one out or whatever in terms of minutes minutes on screen. But I'm glad that we saw each other on Columbusy. There are things that I just don't remember. Sometimes I remember like tiny minutia, sometimes nothing. So I'm glad. I'm glad that my goal, who's named Cali, was like the connector. She was a very sweet girl, very sweet girl. So where are you now?
00:09:08
Speaker 2: In Park Slope in Brooklyn?
00:09:09
Speaker 1: Oh cool? I love Parkslop so much.
00:09:12
Speaker 2: Yeah, we're right on the park. So it's really really nice.
00:09:15
Speaker 1: Oh my god, incredible. When we were doing and just like that. The first year that we went back to do it, which was right after COVID, I took my kids with me and so we went I was trying to find a place that was like, you know, big enough and fine enough and whatever. And we got a place that was a couple blocks from the park and they went every day to that park. They knew every inch. And then the next time I took them, we were going to the village and I said, you, guys, I found this incredible brownstone in the village and they were like, oh, what about Park Slope. They were like terrorized that we weren't going to be in Brooklyn again. And I said, no, no, it's gonna be okay, it's the village and they were like, no, no, mommy, no, park Slope. We have to be in Park Slope. They love it so much.
00:09:57
Speaker 2: Yeah, it's great. We have three dogs, so it's really cool.
00:09:59
Speaker 1: Yeah. Oh, you're living the life. That's so nice.
00:10:16
Speaker 2: No.
00:10:16
Speaker 1: Wait, there was a something in your bio about an acting school in Atlanta.
00:10:22
Speaker 2: Yeah. I was in Atlanta for a few years and opened an acting studio down there. But I'm teaching here in Brooklyn now at Terry Nickerbocker Studio.
00:10:30
Speaker 1: Yeah, I know, Terry nicker Rocker. That's cool.
00:10:33
Speaker 2: Yeah, and I teach on camera, so fantastic.
00:10:38
Speaker 1: You know, on camera is so important because almost no one teaches that.
00:10:42
Speaker 2: Yeah. Yeah, with self tapes being the thing.
00:10:45
Speaker 1: Now, oh my god.
00:10:47
Speaker 2: And these kids who had Terry Nickerbocker, I call them kids. They're in their twenties, but I understand, you know, so they have no clue there. They've been studying speech and voice and movement and all of the Meisner and they have no clue how to do a self tape or how to work on sets.
00:11:02
Speaker 1: So yeah, this was me for sure. We didn't have to self tape when I was coming up, but I mean, the whole camera thing, you were just like, what's happening. Yeah, it's a lot to learn. But now with the self tape part of me, I feel like the self tape seems nice because you have creative control. But then the thing that worries me about them all with the self tape is that you're also not getting that immediate feedback in the room.
00:11:26
Speaker 2: Yeah. And it's funny because I remember your show and I would go out to Silver Cup to audition and it was was a Jennifer.
00:11:32
Speaker 1: McNamara was that Yeah, she's incredible and.
00:11:35
Speaker 2: She's so wonderful, and you know, just to be in the room and get feedback, and I knew they liked me, you know, they kept bringing me back for stuff, and that you don't have that anymore, you really don't.
00:11:46
Speaker 1: Yeah, that's upsetting.
00:11:48
Speaker 2: So here's a funny one, Kristen. So I get caught out of the season two. Season three, they brought me back in for a few roles and I didn't book them. Oh well, well you had a new showrunner, right, Darren Starr was gone by season three, right, and it was a new showrunner, is that correct?
00:12:02
Speaker 1: Well, I mean he'd been around since season one as a writer, but yes, Michael Patrick was then in charge. Yeah, yeah, I mean he was, really he was. I mean it defends who you ask, right, Like I remember, I've I felt like Darren had already kind of left, Like when I see like this, this episode that we're rewatching this week is two seventeen, which is kind of late in the third season, and Darren wrote it. But I think at this point he was kind of coming and going, whereas Michael Patrick was just only like fully focused on us and writing, directing, executive producing, and then he you know, goes on to win Emmys and do movies and all the things. Right, But Darren, I think Darren loves to create, right, that's his main thing that he loves. And he has self described himself as a shark where he needs to keep moving, so he, you know, he's always trying to find the next thing. And I don't know that he enjoys the going on and on season after season so much, you know what I mean.
00:13:04
Speaker 2: Yeah, it's funny because what season are they on Emily in Paris? Like season eight or season five? Right?
00:13:09
Speaker 1: So I think, yeah, yeah, I mean, and I think it's great that he stayed. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, it's funny.
00:13:15
Speaker 2: I got in a room in front of him and a callback for something years after Sex and the City, and he was like, you're familiar to me, Well let me tell you a story. And he was like, I have zero recollection of that. I'm like, I'm sure, I'm sure you I'm sure.
00:13:31
Speaker 1: I don't know. I can't believe they didn't bring you back in season season four, whatever it was.
00:13:38
Speaker 2: I moved to LA shortly after that, so I was kind of like out of the New York loop. But did your producers show you the photos that I have from us? No? Oh my god, this is crazy. We you and I had all this downtime for some reason, and you grabbed a polaroid from wardrobe. I love I found them a few years ago. What scanned them?
00:14:03
Speaker 1: Oh my god, they're adorable. I'm seeing them now. We're going to put them on the Instagram. Wow, we look young, my good Lord in Heaven. I mean, you know, we're like, we look like we're twenty.
00:14:17
Speaker 2: Yeah.
00:14:18
Speaker 1: Yeah, maybe that's why I love polaroids. They have that weird kind of like seventies appeal to them. Funny.
00:14:25
Speaker 2: Isn't that funny that I'd found those and I showed that Jen. I showed them to Jenny when we're working on flash and she was like, how do you have these photos? And I was like, wow, I had these polaroids and I scanned them.
00:14:36
Speaker 1: Like I love it so much. I love it so much. Now take me back a little bit to your life, Like what were you doing at this point in time when these pictures were taken? Like were you were you still bartending? Were you acting? Like? Were you what were you into?
00:14:54
Speaker 2: Like I was. I did a bunch of a lot of commercials, but still bartended. And then I did you know? All my children one went to live as real turns guiding like I did them allow the New York so, you know, and I recurred on I recurred on as Real Turns and Another World. But I wasn't getting much traction in TV and films. So then my agency here opened an office in La so I moved out there for six years.
00:15:17
Speaker 1: Got it?
00:15:17
Speaker 2: But you know, I was just that, you know, that actor. I had gone to Circleman Square Theater school. I graduated and knew nothing about TV and film and it was just kind of like bungling along. And you know, I just will always remember how kind you were to me as a as a sort of a green actor. You know, you were so glad.
00:15:36
Speaker 1: I'm getting the feeling. And I don't know what was going on in my personal life. I'm getting a feeling of mine. I had a little crush, okay, because I don't know. I can't think of another actor who game on a show that I took polaroids of, Like, uh, what was going on? And I also like, I I can't leave another actor where I pushed them up against the thing and kissed them. I'm sure that was in the script, like you live the other way around, do you know what I mean? But it's all very interesting and apparently I fumbled the ball somewhere, so you know, not my my fault, my back.
00:16:11
Speaker 2: Because I was I was married at the time.
00:16:14
Speaker 1: Okay, okay, well that's good then.
00:16:16
Speaker 2: And I'm telling you, Kristen. Two weeks after we shot my wife at the time, my ex wife, she said to me, she said, so are you still in love with Kristen Davis? It's still it's still going on. Yeah, yeah, Okay, this.
00:16:34
Speaker 1: Is all very fascinating. It's like the road not taken, you know what I'm saying. This is sad though. Okay, so wait, let's get this straight now. I need clarity. You were married when you came on the show, married to polaroid pictures of you, and apparently flirted a lot with you, to the point where your wife at the time then said, are you still alone with Christi Davis? But then also you guys broke up. Yeah, so my timing was just basically, I am so sad about this now and you live on the park in Park Slope, which I just feel like you've had a wonderful life, so I'm happy. I'm happy that it all worked out and you've got remarried. You're you're remarried Okay, got it. I'm glad. I'm glad that it's all worked out for you.
00:17:19
Speaker 2: I got remarried this past Christmas Eve.
00:17:21
Speaker 1: Oh congratulations, that's nice.
00:17:24
Speaker 2: And we got the full New York Times of Bows column.
00:17:26
Speaker 1: It was, oh my god, Oh you're really living like the life. Wow. Wow, I'm impressed. And you have three dogs, so that's even more impressive. I love it. This is really fascinating. I am so glad you emailed us. Wow, wow, and wow. Where are the polaroids?
00:17:46
Speaker 2: I mean I have them on my phone, call on my computer, but I know good special physical copies. I don't know where they are, but got it, got it, got it.
00:17:53
Speaker 1: But somewhere you had found them and smartly taking a picture of them. Could We're going to put them on the Instagram for everyone to see our young selves. That's really fun. And now I'm sad. I want to find the footage of the scene scenes scenes.
00:18:06
Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean I do.
00:18:07
Speaker 1: I vaguely remember Bridge and I just thought it was coming, Like sometimes when I'm watching the show, I think, oh, yeah, it's coming, you know what I mean, because it's in my mind. But then I don't. I can't place where it should be. You know, in chronological order, they had.
00:18:20
Speaker 2: A bridge expert on set, like who taught us how to play.
00:18:25
Speaker 1: Pretty hard?
00:18:26
Speaker 2: None of us.
00:18:28
Speaker 1: I'm sure we didn't care. I'm sure we didn't care. We would have an expert for everything, Like if Sarah and I even had to do like two steps of a dance, we'd have like our choreographer there. Like we were so nervous about everything. But I'm glad we didn't actually care. I do remember someone trying to teach us British. I also remember someone trying to teach us Majong, which is also like horribly that that's.
00:18:48
Speaker 2: Hard, yeah, really hard. That's kind of hard to fake, right, so.
00:18:51
Speaker 1: Really hard to fake, really hard to fake. Though, I think there was right like they had the writers had written it, one of them had played it and had written lines that if you said the lines properly, you would sound like you knew what you were doing. Okay, you know, Okay, I remember both of them. I was just like, oh no, I'm really bad at games. Okay. Wow, Well, I'm just really sorry. I just want to apologize for all of us. I feel bad. I know you're over it, but I feel bad because as an actor it's just so painful, Like you try to get these parts, you try to get these parts, you get these parts, you're excited, you go, you do the best you can do, and you're just waiting for them to come on and then it's gone. Yeah, that's sad.
00:19:32
Speaker 2: It was. It was at the time, it was a little rough, and you know, I had had made postcards made like on Sex and the City and like mailed them out to people like, oh my god.
00:19:44
Speaker 1: Anyway, he's really upsetting thing. But at least you got to be on Jenny's other show, so so yay for Jenny. Yay for Jenny.
00:19:51
Speaker 2: And she was amazing, and you know that show was such a such a little gem that no one watched, but it was really great.
00:19:59
Speaker 1: This happens right, Yeah.
00:20:00
Speaker 2: It's funny. I moved to la like I said, shortly after we did our episode, and I had Sex and the City on my resume, and you know, back in those days, you always went in person, and I remember like cassing Gert would be like, oh, what did you play on Sex in the City. So I feel like so I finally just took it off my resume because I was like, I can't I can't tell him. Yeah, well I did this great role with Kristian Davis, and I got caught and here are the polaroids. Here are the polaroids.
00:20:25
Speaker 1: Now, yeah, we need to find these scenes and post them like as a little vignette, you know, like as their own little vignette. Wouldn't that be fun. I'm going to try to do it. I am going to try to do it, darn it, because I feel bad. I feel really bad. But I think you should put us back in your many, many eighty five credits. Good lord, You've been on everything ever made, and I'm just sad that that somehow our little storyline just wasn't meant to be. It's tragic, so tragic it was.
00:20:58
Speaker 2: Yeah, it was a brief romance, I know, a.
00:21:01
Speaker 1: Brief brief romance. But it sounds fun, more fun than the other things that Charlotte was up to in this in this era, you know what I mean. Usually it was like some embarrassing something at that at that phase.
00:21:14
Speaker 2: Yeah, well like mister pussy.
00:21:16
Speaker 1: Right exactly, mortifying, mortifying. So wait, what was the ending? So I push you up against the bookcase and we kiss, and then what happened?
00:21:24
Speaker 2: And then the host of the thing finds us and it's like leave, you have to leave now, there's none of this. You know, this won't be tolerated or something I.
00:21:30
Speaker 1: Don't know, and that's it.
00:21:32
Speaker 2: We had to just skulk out of the bridge party again and then I was done. Gosh was cooked.
00:21:38
Speaker 1: We were like embarrassed school children.
00:21:41
Speaker 2: We should ask Jenny because there might have been a subplot that she had a thing for me, that's why, and you kissing me?
00:21:46
Speaker 1: Was like, hey, yeah, it could have happened. I don't think she was with her her now husband at that point. I'm going to find out. I did talk to Jenny for the LA episodes and she was talking about how I believe her words were tragically single. All of the writers were at this point, so they were just using all of their stuff from real life, you know, in the show, which of course makes her a good show. But I'm going to ask her now.
00:22:10
Speaker 2: I didn't mean Jenny had it. I meant the character that had a thing for me. I'm like, no, I would never.
00:22:15
Speaker 1: No, No, I know, I know, but I mean I do think it's a way to, you know, exercise unfulfilled things. Yes, indeed, yes, indeed, I mean I do think it's kind of amazing that you met her in a restaurant and then ended up on our show and then many many, many many years later ended up on her show. I love it so much. Yeah, it's amazing.
00:22:37
Speaker 2: And that that Zoom Chemistry reader on Sky Chemistry Read I did with her and Paul Figue it was like so.
00:22:44
Speaker 1: Much fun, so so great.
00:22:46
Speaker 2: That's the best.
00:22:48
Speaker 1: What a great guy.
00:22:49
Speaker 2: But the combo of those two were just such a joy to work with and they're wonderful.
00:22:54
Speaker 1: Paul. It is also good friends with Michael Patrick, our show runner who took over that you were saying after Darren left, and they have houses in Arrowhead, like Arrowhead, and we were up there and we ran into Paul and I was like, what a crazy little world. I love. I love these creative people, you know.
00:23:10
Speaker 2: Yeah, he's his style, like the way he dresses.
00:23:13
Speaker 1: Oh my god, it's I know, he's super fascinating. Jason. I'm just so happy you emailed us because this is like an unfound you know, gem, Like thank god you are here to tell us the things that I don't always remember, because it's like that shadow memory where you're like I feel like there's something missing, Like sometimes I'll watch a show, there's something missing here and we need to find the footage. So now we're going to be on a new, a new journey of trying to uncover this footage. Yeah, it must exist, right, I think it must exist somewhere. The question is did it end up on those DVDs? Because that would be interesting because there have been a couple times where people will say, oh, X, Y or Z is on the DVD, and I'll just be shocked because I don't think I ever. I think at that point in time when the DVDs came out, I was just kind of trying, like I wasn't really in a rewatching type of a mindset, you know, I was just trying to keep moving forward, you know. Yeah, but now many years later, it's fun to rewatch.
00:24:21
Speaker 2: Did you rewatch the early stuff before you started the second iteration? No?
00:24:26
Speaker 1: Uh uh no, no, because it never would have entered my mind, Like for me, because you know, we've played these characters for so long, and because we're all still friends in life, so there was like a through line even when we weren't publicly you know, filming or whatever. It never entered my mind that I needed to catch up you know what I'm saying. Yeah, sure, I think it would have been interesting to do so, because as I'm rewatching now, I mean, there's so much I don't remember. But I also feel like one of the things that I think is interesting about playing a character for this long, which is so rare of course, is that you know, you change and grow, and the character changes and grows with you to some extent. Right, Like, it's not like I am Charlotte and Charlotte is me, but we're all all of us who are continuing on. We were I think thirty three when we started the show or something roughly like that, and you know now and just like that was into our fifties and we're all living our lives too, so like, you don't necessarily need to match everything. And this is part of what people would get upset about, right, like, oh, that character would never do that. No, people change and grow. That's life. That's the joy of life. You know, you don't need to be like didactically committed to well, Charlotte wore her hair like this when she was forty, so she would wear her hair like this. I mean, that's not how life is, you know. Yeah, and thank god, right, it would be boring if it was that way.
00:25:53
Speaker 2: It's funny how people can really get into the nitty rideo itself, right, and I think they know, but you're absolute right, we change, we grow.
00:26:02
Speaker 1: We change, we grow, and I mean, like kind of our essence might not you know, it's an interesting thing, like I think that. I mean, I think also for us. The thing that's interesting too is like, because we have been friends this whole time, we don't have to second guess things as much as I think you would if you somehow were operating in a vacuum where you weren't in touch with the people. You know what I'm saying, Like as a fan, we're like a family group where we all see each other, you know, in New York or in La or I went to Lake Harrow ahead with Michael Patrick. Whatever. You don't what I'm saying. Different things, different things. We've got kids, We've got all different things, right, But it creates a through line and a connectedness that can't be manufactured or changed really, right, Like it's just fundamental in a way.
00:26:48
Speaker 2: And then you develop a shorthand with those people.
00:26:50
Speaker 1: Right, yes, exactly exactly, and then the writing does so much right, But they kind of write for us at this point, you know, So it's it's all very interesting. I mean, at some point I hope I will get some objectivity about it, and just like that, I'm not quite there yet. It doesn't I don't feel finished with the whole thing, right. But on the other hand, I'm now looking back, so I'm getting gaining some perspective, some interesting perspective on looking back at our at our earlier, earlier incarnations.
00:27:20
Speaker 2: You know. Yeah, I have one more memory about that night that we tell me.
00:27:25
Speaker 1: I can't wait.
00:27:28
Speaker 2: I remember we broke for dinner at like two am or something, and they served like sliced turkey. It was like a Thanksgiving type and you were like and you were like, oh my god, trip to fen. We're all going to be asleep. We're not. I'm not going to eat this.
00:27:43
Speaker 1: So what did I get? Did I get?
00:27:45
Speaker 2: Oh? Yeah, I mean I I think we ended up having something else. But you're like, don't eat the turkey. Don't eat the turkey.
00:27:51
Speaker 1: Those are the weird things, you know, when you're working all night, you have to like do some weird things to stay perky, you know, like you have to have some rules. And I guess no, Turkey is a pretty good rule. At that point in time, we saw Sunrise, you know, two or three times a week, Thursday, Friday, probably definitely sometimes Wednesday, depending on the week and how we were doing, Like it was super super nightty hours. But that was just how we had to do it, partly because sometimes we had the you know, exterior night scenes. But then we'd get so turned around that even if we didn't, like you said, we were fully at Silver Cup, right, So there we are, fully in the studio until sunrise, which you would never hear about now, Like I don't feel like anyone does that now.
00:28:39
Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean everyone's so money conscious now, and well, you guys are shooting on film, right, I mean it.
00:28:46
Speaker 1: Was It's a totally thing, so totally different thing. I do much slower process the olden days. Man slower in some ways and then not because I remember back then we shot a lot more pages than we do when we would work most recently, Yeah, because we had to, Like we would do crazy things like if we were out somewhere location wise, because locations in New York are so expensive. All of us remember that they would have like those really big lights and we would like roll them down the streets, like we'd have one location on one corner and then another location on the other corner. We just roll the lights down the sidewalk in New York like crazy times. And I remember at one point when we were going back to it just like that, Sarah and I had this conversation of, you know, wouldn't be great to go back to wait the way that we used to film, and we used to film so fast and you know, so kind of gorilla filmmaking in the streets, and we didn't do that. I don't even know. I don't even know if we could do that, because I know Michael Patrick and I talked one time too. I think when you look back, certainly at the first season and the second season of the show, there's some times where the like the special effects and the lighting they're not great. You know, it's kind of like charming, nostalgic to look at, but they're not like amazing, right. But I think once we made the films, then everyone's expectations of what it would look like visually really just bumped up. But also even in this third season, like when I watched the third season of the show, our visuals are like wow, you know, I mean they're wow in a way of the time, right, like long lenses in the city. It was kind of like our seventies you know, you know Scorsese type, you know, vibe going on. But and we obviously couldn't keep that going either. But I love it so much. But I think once we did the films, we really we really got high expectations, I guess in terms of our visuals, and we couldn't really go back. But it would have been nice to go back just in terms of being quick. But I just don't know if you can do it that way these days, you know. Yeah, it's a different time.
00:30:53
Speaker 2: It is. You know. It was part of the fun thing for me working on Welcome to Flat which with Jenny and Paul, was that, you know, there was a lot of improv and there was a lot of just you know, we would do a couple of takes as scripted and Paul be like, okay, just just you know, let's just have fun with this. Amazing and that felt so different to me, especially for a network half hour comedy that was like unheard of. Yeah, but because it was Paul and Jenny, yeah, they were they were given free reign, and we had so much fun and so much stuff that ended up on the show was just like stuff that happened in the moment, and wow, that felt really like, Wow, this is special.
00:31:31
Speaker 1: I need to watch this show. I somehow did not watch it either, which I don't know where. I was like, how can I miss Jenny's whole show?
00:31:37
Speaker 2: I know, two seasons.
00:31:39
Speaker 1: Two seasons amazing.
00:31:41
Speaker 2: It just kind of went under the radar, And I.
00:31:44
Speaker 1: Feel like that's also a problem of where we are right now. There's so much stuff. Yeah, and you can't like focus, you know. Yeah, Yeah, I loved it.
00:31:54
Speaker 2: The strike. The strike killed us because we have gotten We would have been renewed for a third season that definitively, but that strike just messed up the timeline and everything.
00:32:04
Speaker 1: So that's so sad.
00:32:05
Speaker 2: But it was such a joy to get to work with Jenny Bicks again, and to work with her, like, you know, over multiple episodes was really really fun.
00:32:13
Speaker 1: I love Jenny and her writing.
00:32:14
Speaker 2: Her writing so good, her writing your show on that show just the best.
00:32:20
Speaker 1: I know. She's great. She's great. We have her on the podcast any time I can get her on.
00:32:24
Speaker 2: Sure, she's up in Maine most of the time, isn't she.
00:32:27
Speaker 1: She is the last time we skyped or whatever, you know whatever, one of the things. Thank god, I'm not sure of the technical, but yes, yes, she's living her fabulous life but also writing and you know, doing great.
00:32:39
Speaker 2: Yeah.
00:32:40
Speaker 1: Good, well you our joy and I'm just so sad that we're not immortalized in our show together.
00:32:46
Speaker 2: May exists, maybe maybe I'm going.
00:32:48
Speaker 1: To find it. I'm going to.
00:32:49
Speaker 2: I'm going to.
00:32:50
Speaker 1: I'll keep you posted. And thank you for saving those polaroids or taking pictures of those polaroids or whatever. I love it crazy, amazing.
00:32:57
Speaker 2: Well, thanks for having me. I'm so excited to be on here and just to get to reconnect with you and me too.
00:33:04
Speaker 1: Thanks for emailing. All right, all right, have a great day. Bye, thank you, Bye,