00:00Welcome to Meet Your Nominee. I'm Mariah Gullow from The Hollywood Reporter, and I'm here with Derek Waters from Junk History.
00:06Hi, how are you? Thank you for having me back.
00:09Yeah, congratulations.
00:11Oh, thank you very much.
00:12You are once again nominated for Outstanding Variety Sketch Series.
00:15Somehow. Somebody fooled another person, and somehow I'm still here.
00:20So we were talking off-camera about your other nominees, all of the competition in your category. It's kind of amazing.
00:28Yeah, I mean, people are always saying, like, oh, I don't care if I win, it's just cool to be nominated.
00:34No, that's really true.
00:36Like, to know that we're in the same, almost collaboration of, like, you know, Amy Sedaris, I mean, who's going to beat that?
00:45Sarah Silverman, I love her so, so much.
00:48Tracy Ullman, Saturday Night Live, and Portlandia.
00:51I mean, it's just like, oh, you're considering us to be in the same category as those guys?
00:57That's so cool.
00:58I'm so, so lucky.
01:00It's a great group.
01:01It's my favorite group.
01:03I wish we all hung out.
01:07What does Emmy Night look like for you?
01:09Because you've done it before.
01:12Yes.
01:13It's a lot of sweat.
01:13Do you enjoy it?
01:15Yes, it would be hard to say.
01:17No, I don't enjoy it.
01:18I'm nervous, you know, and it's like, obviously, like, winning and losing is like a whole thing on its own, but just like going to something that you grew up watching and knowing how many people are watching.
01:33But it's just like, wow, I got invited to the ball.
01:37Just knowing, like, no one's going to ask me to leave is like a pretty cool feeling.
01:41Yeah.
01:42Yeah.
01:42I'm going to eat before, though.
01:44Oh, good idea.
01:45Yeah.
01:46I, we were interviewing Ted Danson, and he said that there was, back in the day, you used to bring all your food and fill all your pockets with food.
01:54That, yeah, why don't they bring that back?
01:56Fanny packs.
01:57Fanny packs for the Emmys.
01:59Yeah.
02:00Yeah.
02:01I guess a power bar.
02:02Yeah.
02:03Not a burrito or anything like that.
02:04Just keep it compact.
02:05Yeah.
02:06Or, yeah, maybe something that smells bad to get people to leave, like, oh, we won because everyone left because we brought that smelly burrito.
02:14Cool.
02:15Is there anyone you want to dance with at the after party?
02:18Dance with?
02:19Oh, my gosh.
02:21I don't know.
02:22I mean, I'm not much of a dancer, so I'll just say my girlfriend.
02:28There you go.
02:29Yeah.
02:30Yeah.
02:30As long as I'm invited to an after party, I like to dance with her.
02:34Yeah.
02:35Yeah.
02:35Excellent.
02:36So let's talk a little bit about season five.
02:39Oh, yes.
02:40You've said before that you've always wanted the show through the seasons to evolve.
02:45How did it evolve in season five?
02:48Evolvement is like trying to continue to find the stories that I wish we were taught in school or just that I have no idea why I don't know about them until now.
02:58You know, to evolve in that way, but also do different types of episodes.
03:04So it's like we did one called Drunk Mystery.
03:06Right.
03:06Yeah.
03:07Tell us a little bit about Drunk Mystery.
03:09Well, I loved and still love Unsolved Mysteries.
03:12That's one of my all-time favorite shows.
03:14And so I thought it would be fun to have Robert Stack sound alike doing a voiceover as I lip-sunk the Robert Stack and we did three stories that were Unsolved Mysteries.
03:28So it's like keeping the same concept but letting the show prove like history is all different types of things.
03:36And it's just the main thing that I want to see in general are just good stories, you know, and finding good stories.
03:43But, you know, I still want to do the cool historical stories as well.
03:49Yeah.
03:49Got to hit the classics.
03:50Got to hit the classics.
03:51Get that Ben Franks in there.
03:53Get that A.B. Lincoln in there.
03:55You know, you got to get the classics in there.
03:57Yeah.
03:58With Drunk Mystery, the last story, the Circleville letters, I believe, there was a speculation at the end about you kind of solved the mystery.
04:08You had the narrator solve the mystery.
04:11Well.
04:11It was an interesting twist.
04:13Well, I got to be careful with this because I didn't solve it, you know.
04:21That person's still alive.
04:22I'm just, it was a theory.
04:24It was a possible theory that this is how it could have happened.
04:29But that one was neat because it actually was a story on Unsolved Mysteries.
04:34So there was reenactment within the reenactment.
04:37Just for all my meta-comedy fans.
04:40Yeah.
04:40You always played characters throughout the season.
04:46You had some really interesting characters this season.
04:48You were everything from William Shatner all the way to...
04:52Robert Stack.
04:53But I know what you mean.
04:54Oh, no.
04:54It was William Shatner as well.
04:55William Shatner.
04:56Sorry.
04:56And you were also Hitler.
04:59Yes.
04:59So how did that come to be?
05:00How did you decide to play Hitler?
05:03Many auditions.
05:05No.
05:05It was, I don't know.
05:07You know, when you're playing somebody or when you have a story that involves somebody so bad,
05:13I want, the audience knows that I know that's a bad guy.
05:19So I felt more comfortable having me play that part than having somebody, me going like,
05:27hey, you really remind me of Hitler.
05:29The only other person I've had play Hitler is Weird Al just because how are you not going to smile looking at Weird Al?
05:36It's like, yes, Hitler was awful, but he did exist.
05:38Like, I do need to, like, have him in some stories to show what the people that were against him and how they took him down eventually.
05:50Yes.
05:50And you've had some amazing costuming on your show.
05:53It's been nominated as well for Emmys before.
05:55And won, yeah.
05:56That was our one Emmy we've won.
05:58Yeah.
05:58So are there any particular time periods that you like to dress in?
06:03Oh, well, that's a good question.
06:05I am a baby in many different ways.
06:08But one is, like, wool I'm not a big fan of.
06:11Yes.
06:11So, but we're doing stories about baseball this upcoming, so I love, like, oh, I get to wear, like, baseball uniforms.
06:19Those I like.
06:20I don't know.
06:21Even though it's heavy outfit like the Revolutionary War, I just think are fun outfits.
06:27Yeah.
06:27Yeah.
06:28It's funny to think people actually wore these outfits.
06:31Yeah.
06:32Yeah, but it's fun.
06:34I like them all.
06:35Yeah.
06:36Do you ever find yourself gravitating towards any particular moment in history?
06:41Is there a time period that you just see amazing stories coming out of over and over again?
06:48It's a great question.
06:49But there really is, like, it's more like there's just certain types of people.
06:55And I can't say there was a certain time where there were more people standing up for realizing stuff wasn't right, because there always has been stuff that isn't right.
07:06And it's just finding moments throughout history where there were those types of people that were sticking out for saying, like, hey, this isn't right.
07:15I'm going to make my voice heard.
07:17It's trying to find those people, if that makes sense, more than a time period.
07:22Yeah.
07:22Trying to find the heroes and the heroines.
07:24Yeah, exactly.
07:25I like that.
07:26Yes.
07:27Do you, I assume that a lot of people are pitching historic events to you quite often.
07:35Have you ever gotten a good pitch from somebody out of the blue, or is it more kind of within your creative circle?
07:42Oh, that's hard.
07:43Every pitch I've ever gotten is a good pitch.
07:46I like every story, and I just can't get them all in there.
07:49But just keep picking us up, and we'll make more stories.
07:54Yeah, a lot of it's from my friends or researchers that I found.
07:59But, you know, when people come up and say, oh, you should do this, and whether it's good or not, it's, like, better than them saying, like, hey, I hate your show.
08:07So I just accept that as, like, I just take it as gratitude and say thank you.
08:13Do you have any narrators in the past season that you were really excited about or surprised or had a great interaction with?
08:24Well, Tiffany had to become, I mean, she's always been Tiffany Haddish, but, like, she was just on the brink of hitting it.
08:31And I just had so much fun with her, and we met once before, and I just couldn't stop smiling.
08:37And those are the type of people that I just love having tell stories because whether you, you know, and I feel like this in the show or any kind of documentary-type world is when somebody's telling you something that they believe in and love, like, whether you believe in it or not, you just can't help but, like, smile and, like, be intrigued by their passion.
08:57And that's what I've always wanted the show to stay true to is just passionate people talking about something they're passionate about.
09:04Yeah.
09:05And do you have some dream narrators or dream players that you're still wanting to include?
09:12Always.
09:13Yeah, yeah.
09:14You know, I'll always aim for Bill Murray.
09:18I'll always want to work with him.
09:20I'll always want Eddie Vedder to be in the show because Pearl Jam's my favorite.
09:25And, yeah, but I also am, like, so lucky with everyone that we've gotten because everyone that does the show, it's a cable show that everyone works for scale, and they come and work a whole day for very little money, and I'm very thankful for that because I don't always want to work in low budget, but it does prove that when everyone's there, they're there for one purpose, and that's, like, just for the project or the story.
09:52So I humbly think that's why the show's lived as long as it has.
09:57Yeah.
09:58Have you ever asked for Ken Burns to come on?
10:01I want to, yeah, we're doing a baseball episode, and I was like, it would be really cool to play catch with Ken Burns in the episode.
10:10But I don't know if he would want to get drunk, but I was at something recently, and I was very close to him, and I just couldn't build up the courage to ask him.
10:20Because it seems very uncomfortable to just say, hey, would you like to get drunk with me and we'll film it?
10:26Like, how do you open up with that?
10:28You know, like, it's a very hard question to ask somebody.
10:32But, no, I would be completely honored to do anything with Ken Burns.
10:37Have you ever kind of made that leap towards somebody, hey, would you like to get drunk with me on camera, and had it successfully work out?
10:45Like, you got a good response.
10:47Well, Bob Odenkirk's one of my all-time heroes, and he did it last year, and that was a dream come true because he rarely drinks.
10:57And, like, I don't know, you're put in the most vulnerable state of, like, okay, I'm trusting you with, like, me being drunk, and that you're not going to edit this in a way of exploiting me.
11:08And I do think that's why we've gotten great people is because I would never exploit anyone, you know.
11:15And you've said before that the footage that you get that we get to see, that's basically all you've got.
11:22Everything that is left on the cutting room floor is not usable.
11:26Yeah, the other six hours is nothing, like, for anyone to see.
11:32And not because there's anything to hide.
11:34It's just, like, it takes a long time to tell a story, sober or not, you know.
11:38But, you know, adding alcohol to it makes it even harder, you know.
11:42Yeah, yeah.
11:43Yeah.
11:44Now, the events of the past two years with the election that happened have been historical and insane.
11:53Mm-hmm.
11:54Would you do anything that's very close to present day?
11:59Mm-hmm.
12:00There, you know, there's a couple rules that I have, like, for the show.
12:06And one of them is there's got to be an ending.
12:09And right now, I hope it's coming soon.
12:14But there needs to be an ending to tell a story.
12:17And so, but I have found stories that have a common thread to the present day that, you know.
12:24And that's also something, like, we thrive on is, like, not being a preachy show or, you know.
12:29It's like the stories may have political moments, but that the show isn't political.
12:35It's just saying, like, hey, this is a story that happened.
12:37And it might have something, there might be some similarities that happened that are still happening now.
12:42But this is something that happened a while ago.
12:44Take it for what it is, you know.
12:45Right.
12:46Like all great history programming, there needs to be a level of objectiveness to it.
12:50Exactly.
12:51Yes.
12:51Yes.
12:52Yeah.
12:52And something to learn from.
12:54Yeah.
12:55Wonderful.
12:56Well, Derek Waters, thank you so much for being here.
12:58Oh, thank you so much for having me.
12:59See you on Emmys night.
13:00Oh, yes, please.
13:01Yes, please.
13:02Are you going to go?
13:03Um, yes.
13:04Yes.
13:05Yes, you are.
13:06Yes.
13:07I'll be at the after parties.
13:08Okay, well, that's the fun part.
13:10Yeah.
13:10That's the fun part.
13:11Thank you for having me.
13:14Yeah.
13:15Oh, much better.
13:16Emmys.
13:16Emmys.
13:17Emmys.
