(inspirational music)
- Hello, and welcome to Troubled Boys with Dr. Sophy,
where I, the world's best child psychiatrist,
will talk to troubled boys.
I take no prisoners,
and I'm not afraid to bitch you out.
And today, my guests, Michael and Johnno.
Hey boys, how are you?
- Good. - Okay, yeah.
- I think, the last time we met, we were talking
about issues of inadequacy and narcissism.
- Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
- Any thoughts?
- Well, my parents left me when I was born
because they didn't think I was good enough.
But I've definitely dealt with that,
and I feel like I'm better now because of it.
- Yeah. I think you definitely have.
You've dealt with it in a great way. I've witnessed it.
I mean, I honestly don't know why we're even here.
Life has been frickin' easy, honestly.
I get tan really easily. I have blond hair and blue eyes.
And every day is a blessing.
- Exactly my point.
(inspirational music)
- So tell me what your lives were like.
- Oh, I was born at Cedars-Sinai.
My parents left me the day after I was born.
So I always wanted to dress nice for someone to adopt me.
Pretty typical story after that.
I was adopted by two sociopaths who showed no emotion.
They probably said about five to six sentences, total,
in the 18 years I spent with them.
And then I left and it was off to Hollywood.
- I think that was a great summary, buddy.
My story is a little bit different.
I grew up with two loving parents.
They were and are still very stable.
Been together for 38 years next November.
Um... they...
Funny people, too. Just a warm, loving upbringing.
And they said, "Listen, Johnno. You can be
whoever you want to be." And I believed them,
and that's why I moved out to Hollywood.
And that's where we met.
- Oh, when we first met each other-
- Oh, man!
- People were going crazy.
- Oh my God. Every room we walked into,
people were like, "Hey, who are these guys?
And also, how are they so friggin' talented?"
- Talkin' talk shows, (indistinct) articles,
Vulture article.
We were opening shows, closing shows-
- We were doing all this kind of stuff.
And of course, most people know us
from our Amazon Prime show.
- And when you found each other, how did it make you feel?
- [Both] I feel like I was missing something my whole life,
and I finally found it.
- And how does that make you feel?
- I don't know.
- A lack of ability to express your emotions
due to lack of parental role modeling?
It's interesting.
Johnno, what do you think?
- I don't feel like it's okay to talk about.
- So the gifted life of your parents
obviously didn't allow you to accept anything negative
in your own life.
Now I think we're getting somewhere.
- I think I hate the people who raised me.
- I don't feel like I can do anything
without my parents' support.
- Parental imprinting.
- Sorry, let me drop a dime.
It all goes back to our parents?
- Yes.
- What about the fact I can't let things go?
- Parents.
- Why do I not feel like enough
even though everyone says I am?
- Because of something your parents did.
- I'm afraid I'll always be by myself.
- That goes back to your upbringing.
- And my parents upbrought me?
- Mm-hmm (affirmative).
- I don't care for oceans, rivers, dams, or streams.
- Maybe a trip your parents took you on?
- We were all caught in a riptide in St. Barts.
- What about my weak knees?
(silently mouths "parents")
- What about the fact that I blame my parents
for everything?
- Your parents?
- Oh hey, Mom and Dad.
- Hello, boys.
- Johnno.
- Michael. - Michael.
Don't you want to say hello?
- To Johnno's parents?
Hey, Johnno's mom.
Hey, Johnno's dad.
(Johnno's mom claps)
- They're your parents too.
- Surprise!
- Welcome to the family.
- What?
- What are you-
No, they're my parents.
- No, my parents left me.
- Yeah, what are you-
- [Mom] Stop.
- What are you talking about?
- [Dad] Can't resist.
- Can't stop him.
- After all these years.
- There's Mom? That's just-
What?
- So in 1987, I decided to do an experiment
with you two brothers,
to see if you could uphold your purpose
in life, growing up in two different environments.
- Wait, why did I get the crappy environment?
- How did you know what our purpose was in life?
- I'm the best child psychiatrist in the whole world.
- And you boys did it.
- We're very proud of you both.
- Yeah, I'm proud of you.
- Stop it, it's about the boys.
Mr. Friskmeister, I call him.
- Yeah, like the time we conceived you guys.
- Stop it!
Sorry, Dr. Sophy, you were saying?
- [Dad] We could, you know-
- Hey!
No!
- Parental imprinting.
- We're two identical strangers.
- Stop.
- No. You're not identical.
And you're not strangers.
Join us next week on Troubled Boys with Dr. Sophy,
where my guests will be the Estevezes and the Sheens.
(inspirational music)
- Do you- - Hey, hey, hey, please.
Dr. Sophy, you were saying?
(Dad whispering)
Hey!
Stop!
No. Don't. I know what-
Don't.
Oh, who am I kidding?
All right, all right.
(inspirational music ends)