good evening from los angeles. i'm tavis smiley. never before have a father and son been jointly honored with a hand and foot print ceremonyny outside hollywood's iconic and famed chinese theater. next week carl and rob reiner will be the first. before they do, the three of us will talk about their long and successful careers as well as their latest projects. carl has two new books coming out including one for kids, while rob has a pair of new films, both starring woody harrell son, one on l.b.j., the other about the iraq war called "shock and awe." glad you joined us. you're in for a treat because carl and rob reiner are coming up right now. ♪ ♪

♪ ♪ and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. ♪ ♪ how fortunate am i? i'm pleased to welcome two comedy legends to the program.

like spinal tap, when harry met sally and the list goes on and on. as i said at the top, next week they will be honored with a hand and footprint ceremony at the world famous chinese theater during the annual classic file many festival. mr. reiner and mr. reiner, an honor to have you both on. >> it is great to be here. you mentioned we're actually the first father and son -- >> together, yes. >> -- together, because you know kirk douglas and michael douglas have been but they were separated. >> how cool that? >> it is ridiculously cool. >> it is -- all i keep thinking is the people not knowing it like my wife. >> yeah. >> who made this person. >> yeah. >> and my father and parents, they were so show business, in love with show business, and that's the only sad thing. >> if you go on the hollywood walk of fame, we both have -- >> stars.

>> and they're right next to each other. >> right next to each other. >> so that's it. with the handprints, the footprints, always together. >> and my father did go to hollywood and stand on the one when i got it. he took a picture of it. >> how cool is that? >> it is unbelievable. >> what do you -- i mean to your father's point, you had no control over being born in this family. you were just fortunate. >> none whatsoever. >> you were fortunate. >> none whatsoever. >> you were fortunate, blessed to come into this union. what do you make of the good fortune of being born into this family, rob? >> well, lots of laughs. >> yeah. >> it is like, you know, the great thing is that the funniest people in the world -- and if you look at anything you laughed at in the second half of the 20th century, you can look to the group of people that my dad was a part of. it was mel brooks, it was sid cesar, it was neil simon, you know, larry gelbard, woody allen, joe stein, you know, all of the greatest, funniest

people, and they all were people that were in the house. so, you know, people always asked, what is it like growing up? i said, it is not as funny at other people's houses, you know. >> by the way, and the fact that robby has a photographic memory, he remembers every thing since he was this big, but the amazing thing is when we were doing these -- the 2000 year old man was born in the living room, we were doing it for years. he was this big and he used to sit there and laugh and we didn't understand how he understood what we were doing but he did. >> he got it. >> matter of fact, at one point he gave us a joke. he was 16 at the time. he said, i have a joke for you. we said, sure. he came through. >> well, it was -- i mean it was the craziest thing because, you know, i love -- to me i idolized my father, mel brooks. >> sure. >> and the idea that they would

even listen to me for a second, i walk into the room and they were actually working out a routine. it was either for the sullivan show or for hollywood palace, it was one of the performances. i said, i got an idea for a joke. it is the derivation of applause. they said, what is it? i said, well, you know, thousands of years ago if you liked something, the way you showed your appreciation is you would go, oh, is that good! wow! but if you really love something, you could kill yourself. so the first guy, bernie was looking around, nobody was looking, he pulled his held out and went like that, and that was the applause. they used that joke and it was the greatest thrill for me. >> you were writing jokes at 16? >> well, you know, i wrote that joke anyway. >> no, when he was very young you worked on the smothers brothers show with steve martin. >> yeah, when i was 21. >> i was about to ask you, rob, how you were never intimidated by this greatness around you, but if you were starting that early you were not intimidated,

you never had to fight that battle. >> i was completely intimidated, all the time. he was nice to me. when i was a teenager he would let me come down during the summers when i was off to go and watch them do "the dig van dyke show" when i was 14, 15, 16, and i would sit there and watch them create the shows and it was brilliance. it was cutting-edge television at that time. i would go to his office -- i don't know if you knew this, but he would be on the stage working out with the actors or making changes in the script, and i would sit up there and i would sit behind his desk and go, there's no way, how do i ever -- i can't compete with this. you know, this is a guy that won 12 emmys, he wrote in the first few seasons, he would write 20 to 25 scripts a year just by himself. i mean it was, you know, the one thing that i love about this hollywood, i'm literally following in his footsteps. >> yeah, but wait a second --

>> literally. >> literally. >> he is doing much more than following in footsteps. i have -- my favorite pictures of all time, i have them in my head. i watch them often. when somebody hasn't seen them, i will say, you've got to see this. the count of monte cristo, worst villains, and in that top five "random harvest" with greer garcon and ronald cohen, "the princess bride." any time you're depressed, just put on that. "when harry met sally," two things you will never forget, and he made an actor out of his mother. >> great line, great line. >> it is one of the top five lines of all time in movies. >> i wrote about that. i said, she's one better than humphrey bogart. because of that, she started

getting acting jobs. she said, if i'm going to act i better -- she went to the actor's studio at 50 years old. >> that's funny. >> at 50 years old. >> the flip side, rob, of being intimidated is how you have responded to the extent you had to, to persons who said you have gotten all of the access, you got all of this because -- >> well, you do get -- there's no question about it, you get access if you have that name, but you -- it is also, like they say, the door opens, you know, but the door can close real quick and real hard if you don't have something to deliver. speaking of kirk douglas and michael douglas, i've had conversations with michael, you know. we're friends and we've done a couple of movies together. >> sure. >> and you can count on one hand the people whose parents achieved at a very high level, whose children also achieved. you know, kirk and michael, i mean the fondas, you know, it is not that many. you know, it is a very small club.

so it is tremendously difficult to maintain or to be able to achieve. >> i feel very lucky because we -- i have three children. i said my wife raised three great children and one great husband, and it is true because i was eight years -- she was eight years older than i, and when i was 20 she was 28. said it wasn't going to work, it only work for 65 years. but the three children, him being one, lucas reiner is a world-renowned painter. my daughter is a doctor of psychiatry, written books on analysis that is world wild. she just went through the world giving lectures. three of the -- that's all, that's the only thing that matters in this world, what you send out to the world in children. by the way, when i talk about what he's done, i went to his office one time and i saw these posters. out of 12 or -- how many pictures? >> 20 now. >> 20 now. there's two duds, two duds.

>> more than two duds. >> no. there may be some people that didn't make, but they were all valid, sensational movies. >> every time -- i've been fortunate to have you guys here a couple of times on this show together, more times separately. but the thing i always take away, i just can literally -- when you guys leave here, i could fly from here to new york unaided. i could just -- >> really? >> -- levitate. >> really? maybe we should do more of that. it will cut down on carbon emissions. >> yeah, yeah. >> and we can save the planet. >> yeah, i walked into that chin up, booty out. the reason why i say that though is because it is such a beautiful thing to see how much of your father -- we know you love your dad. how much your father loves you and is proud of you because every one of us -- i don't want to get emotional here. every one of us wants to make our moms and dads proud. it must be something special for you to see your dad live this long. 95 years young. >> it is amazing.

>> to know your dad is as proud as he can be. >> he is the greatest role model you could possibly have. you know, he is not only talent and a great worth ethic and all of this, but there's a humility there. he would never push his fame out there or anything like that, and i saw how he handled that. so that -- that's the best thing i got from him, is just a great role model. and the fact that at 95 he still gets up every day. look, he's sitting there with a book in his hand and he writes every day. see the segue? >> yes, i did. >> i didn't mean to though. >> no, your dad taught you well, man. so i love this book, and i just mention at the top much the show, you have not one but two more books coming out. >> you know, i want to -- this is a public service i want to do now. >> please, take it away. >> i was on the conan o'brien show two weeks ago. >> yeah. >> i was coming down the stairs and i fell down a flight of stairs.

>> it is a true story? >> true story. >> oh. >> and as i fell i said, conan, i'm not -- i screamed cone an's name. i didn't hurt myself. i got right up, and this is a public service. i'm not kidding. when i was about 25 years old, i slipped on an icy stairway. i hurt my back. >> right. >> went to a therapist, and he said to me, for the rest of your life do not get out of bed until you do the following stretches, and he gave me stretches to do. and i swear, this is a public service, i'm giving it to you now, too, do not get out of bed until you do stretches in case you fall down a flight of stairs. okay. here it is. here. this is a graphic diary, by the way. i asked mel, i said, does anybody -- be interested in a graphic diary? which means every mundane thing i did from the morning i wake up -- >> here is mel. >> yeah, here is mel. i said, is anybody interested in

the mundane things? he said, samuel did a diary in 1600s so i added 900 pictures, that's the only difference. so here it is, here it is. >> even the stretches. >> here it is. these are the exercises i do, and i did these this morning. >> before you get out of bed? >> before i get out of bed. >> wow. >> you do them on both sides and you twist your. >> look how limber he is. >> it is insane. >> there they are. >> i'm watching this because i want to get to 95, too. >> i'm not kidding. >> i'm watching. i'm watching, man. >> these are all stretches i do to this day, and a couple of them -- here, like this. one of these was on a billboard. >> that's limber right here. >> yeah. >> good lord. >> you want to talk limber, look at this. i can still put my legs and bend all the way over. >> gee. >> anyway, that's -- >> that's unbelievable. >> a public service. >> there you go.

>> if you do those, you live to 95. >> and a public service, you call randomcontent.com, i will personally autograph a book to you. >> this is the trick to making it to 95, doing these stretches every morning? >> yes, i do. matter of fact, the new book which has been sent out, mel brooks gives me titles, i told him when i finished this, what do i do now? he said, write a book called too busy to die. and i just -- >> and you did? >> i just finished it. it is out to the publisher's. >> do you have a children's book coming out? >> a children's book which i wrote a while back, but i held it back. it is called, "you say god bless you for sneezing and farting." my little granddaughter, lucas's daughter when she was four years old, she passed wind. she said to her little friend leo -- they're going to kindergarten -- don't you say god bless? he said, no you only say god bless you for sneezing. she said, no, you say it for sneezing and farting and we'll

ask the teacher. they asked the teacher. >> what do you do for your mind? stretching is to your body, what do you do for your mind? >> you keep thinking. i wake up with thoughts. now i'm waking up with tweets, anti-trump tweets. he tweets every day. >> i follow every day. >> today's tweet was about -- he was talking about win, win, win, we're going to win, we're going to win, we're going to win so much that we're -- >> sick of winning. >> yeah. i said -- no, i said with him talking about win, win, win, made me feel that i wouldn't mind that but we're losing, losing, losing, but he's winning, winning, winning and we're losing, losing, losing. >> he's not winning at all. >> speaking of trump, rob, i read this story and you have to explain this to me.

steve bannon gets a check -- this is a true story. >> i know where you're going. this is true. >> steve bannon we know from mr. trump's white house, gets a check every year, every month, however they go out, for "seinfeld." steve bannon gets a check for the tv series "seinfeld." here now rob reiner to tell us how it happened. >> it is so humiliating and upsetting to me. i had no idea. one of the investors castle rock was westinghouse, they put $50 million, and when we were owned by ted turner and he sold us to warner and westinghouse was thinking we will call in the debt and be done. bannon was advising westinghouse and he said, no, no, stay in there. at that point "seinfeld" was worth nothing. it was not a hit at all. he said stay in. they said, well, if you think it

is so good why don't you forego your consulting fee and you keep a piece of "seinfeld" too and he did and that's what happened. i never met the guy and i don't know it. so he did that. and then my wife took the picture on the cover of "the art of the deal," she is a photographer. so we both feel in some way responsible for this man! i mean it is horrible. >> so your wife took the photo, and had you not sold castle rock -- >> then steve bannon -- yeah, terrible. >> what scares me about this is the number of people who may stop watching "seinfeld" reruns. >> oh, no, please. >> because of steve bannon. how did your wife end up taking the picture? >> this is years ago, before i met her. she was a photographer. she took covers of magazines and things and she was hired to take a picture of donald trump. >> so what do you make of "the art of the deal" he did last week on healthcare? >> beautiful, huh! moving class.

just worked out perfectly, didn't it? >> he's working very hard now to take away everything from poor people. >> oh, yeah. >> so that rich people can get a tax break. >> yeah. >> that's very -- >> this is the most scary time in our country in terms of leadership. we have a person who is clearly mentally unstable, who has no understanding of government or policy, has no desire to know about it, is an egomaniac and a pathological liar. it is really scary what is happening in the country. >> and to go from having the smartest president we've had since way back to this guy, it is like it is crazy. >> it is crazy. >> it is nuts. i mean i feel so sorry for obama. i can't believe how he must feel today. >> what would -- what kind of arguments would archie and meathead be having in this era of trump? >> here is an interesting thing. all during the campaign right up until the election people asked

me that question, you know, what would be going on? i said we would be arguing the same thing. archie is a patriot. he would not like the fact that an enemy power was invading our country and trying to take things over. he would diverge from trump on that. the fact there are not more republicans that are outraged about the fact the russians came in here and done this and trump is not saying anything about it, it is not only suspicious but bad for the country. >> i want to ask what you would make of that, which you answered to some degree, but it seems to me washington is engaged in business as usual, whatever it is, while this dark cloud of this foreign entity and whatever impact it might have had on our election, will get off the ground, whether the investigation will happen or not happen, who is going to happen i do not know. but it seems to me there's something wrong about business being had as usual with this

cloud hanging over our country. >> yes, it is very scary. two things. one is clearly the republicans only care about holding on to their seats. a certain point if that cloud starts causing rain to happen, they'll run in doors. they will run for the hills because their seats will be in jeopardy. that's sad we have to wait that long for that to happen. but the other thing is when you have a potentially illegitimate president making decisions like on judge gorsuch, which will have maybe 30-year ramifications, there's something wrong with that. i mean it is one thing to fool around with policy and, you know, they can't get healthcare off the ground or taxes, you know, tax reform or infrastructure, but the minute they start, you know, putting somebody like judge gorsuch -- i'm not saying he is not qualified. i'm not saying he is not a great jurist or whatever. i don't agree with him on a lot of things, but that's not right that a president should have that right, who could be illegitimate and also have done

things that are illegal. >> and that on top of a congress who wouldn't give the last guy a hearing, that's another conversation. >> that's another conversation all together, and that to me is all about -- i hate to say it. it is all about obama not wanting to give him anything. we were talking about this before we came on the air. this is like all of these feelings that have been submerged for such a long time in this country have been unleashed in terms of racism and all of the feelings that they had about not feeling obama was legitimate because he wasn't born -- you know, he wasn't born in america, all of that is about delegitimizing an african-american person and everything that followed from that. we're not going to let him have anything. we won't let him have -- he is not a legitimate president. so that's what they've done, and

unfortunately they're continuing to do it. >> mr. reiner, they say -- >> you know what i was thinking n talk.ing about, you hear my gs a long time ago somebody -- he's been very understanding of what is going on politically in the world always. they asked him to run for office, for governor, and we all thought it was great because he could run the country, there's no question about it. >> ronald reagan did it, rob reiner could have done it. >> meathead versus the terminator. >> tell them why you decided not to run. >> we had a serious discussion in our house to talk about. the family -- michelle and i have three kids and we talked about it. and, you know, i make a joke but it was true. i poll 40% in my own family. i figured if i couldn't carry my family i probably shouldn't do it. >> they say the more things change, the more things stay the same. when you live 95 years you have seen so much of what is good and bad about america, like how do you process this moment after all you have seen and gone through?

>> it is scary because it is the first time i have seen anything like this in the white house. we've had people we didn't agree with -- nixon and the bushes -- but we lived with it. this we cannot live with. allen alda's grandson wrote a little film where people wake up in the morning. on the back of everybody's head, you go about your business but this kid woke up and he started to scream because he realized that trump was his president. he goes about his business, brushes his seat, go to the toilet, ahhhh. we all have that. i turn on nbc, he is still there. people walk in the street nicely doing their things, two people meet in the market, they're all screaming. in the back of our held, no matter what you do, you go about your business but in the back of your head, trump! >> i couldn't have said it better myself. rob, quickly in 30 seconds. you have two films coming out. both with woody? >> both with woody.

one is l.b.j., woody harrell son plays l.b.j. with jennifer jason lee and richard jenkins. there's another film called "shock and awe" which is about the runnup to iraq. i play a part, there's jessica beal. >> i saw that movie, by the way. there's an actor who plays the part, i could not believe -- i haven't seen him acting for a long time. i could not believe the depth of his acting and the reality of it. i was blown away. it turns out it was him playing the lead. i'm not kidding. >> i love it. >> he jumped in -- >> he didn't think it was that good. >> he jumped in at the last minute. somebody fell out. >> your daddy loves you, man. that's all you can ask for. next week these guys will be the first father/son team together to get their hand and feet cemented outside of the chinese theater in hollywood. congratulations in advance. tcm, thanks for doing that. glad they're honoring you guys.

>> thanks for having us. >> keep writing these books, my friend. >> i'm going to try. >> we will be in new york city to commemorate the 50th anniversary of dr. king's most controversial speech, "beyond vietnam" delivered five decades ago at the riverside church in new york. next week all five nights of this show dedicated to looking back on that speech and where america is on poverty, racism in new york city. until then, keep watching and as always keep the faith. for more information on today's show, visit tavis smiley at pbs.org. >> hi, i'm tavis smiley. join me from new york next week as we commemorate the 50th anniversary of dr. king's "beyond vietnam speech." that's next time. see you then. ♪

♪ and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. ♪ thank you. ♪ ♪ thank you. ♪ be more, pbs.

- today on america's test kitchen, bridget cooks milk braised pork loin, jack challenges chris to a tasting of apricot preserves, gadget guru lisa reviews apple corers, and julia prepares roasted pears with dried apricots and pistachios. america's test kitchen is brought to you by dcs. dcs: manufacturers of professionally styled indoor and outdoor kitchen equipment.