Carmen Finestra

"Cosby Show" producer and "Home Improvement" creator Carmen Finestra joined me to talk about his comedy upbringing; his first job filling in for Herve Villechaize; Joe Cates; making funny fire warnings; Johnny Cash & Friends; his first sketch is ruined when Johnny reads the cue cards wrong; meeting Steve Martin & Jim Varney; Sha Na Na; Chico & The Man; The Harvey Korman Show; Joe & Valerie; Mel & Susan Together; The King of Kensington; The Love Boat residuals; working with Johnny Cash & Andy Kaufman; Good Times; Highcliffe Manor; writing with Steve Martin & Jack Handy; Angie; Hank Aaron; Ladies Man; Harvey Miller; Twilight Theater; Pat Proft & Neal Israel; It's Not Easy; Punky Brewster; how Brandon was trained; getting hired for The Cosby Show; how Cosby worked; President Reagan learns not to preempt Cosby; how Cosby led to the success of Family Ties, Cheers, and Night Court; the Slumber Party episode and Peter; Danny Kaye; Red Buttons; Say Hello to Goodbye set a ratings recordhe guest stars; Anthony Quinn; Sammy Davis, Jr.; Earle Hyman, Roscoe Lee Browne, and Christopher Plummer do Shakespeare; The Muppets ; Sonia Braga; Tim Allen gets Carmen and Matt's idea for a sitcom; Home Improvement is cast and cast again; Carmen re-imagines Thunder Alley for Ed Asner, Buddies for Dave Chapelle and Soul Man for Dan Aykroyd;