. >> rose: because you were shier than they were? >> a little shier than the chicago gang. >> some would say less needy. (laughter) a little more confident... >> i know what i'm doing, i don't need to talk. >> that was probably more what it was, yeah. >> these guys thought i was the new straight man. >> >> rose: oh, they did? >> let me preface that, the handsome straight man. >> rose: let me add to that, the tall handsome straight man. how about tall handsome leading man straight man. >> okay. >> we thought he was an icon right off the bat. >> rose: well, heed that potential. >> that's what we... >> we said most likely to be an icon, yeah. >> rose: so you started writing skits for him, in combination with him. >> you write for everyone. you write cold opens, you write for the cast in general. it wasn't until late in our first year that he and i started writing together. i want dodd a sketch about vh-1 storytellers and i had an idea it was about a singer that had pop songs and they had dark stories behind them and we wanted to do neil