-My first guest is an Emmy-nominated actor
who stars in the very funny new show "Intelligence,"
which is available now on Peacock.
Here is the one and only David Schwimmer!
Hey! -Whoo!
-It's so good to see you, buddy. How are you doing?
-I'm good. I'm good.
-Yeah, like all of us. -Living the dream.
-Yeah, just trying to do it, yeah.
Well, you're making people laugh,
which is why you're on our show. Thank you so much for coming on.
I want to talk about your show, "Intelligence."
This is the first sitcom that you've done since "Friends."
I mean, I can just imagine what goes through your mind
when you're thinking about this. I mean, that's such a high bar.
Do you compare all of your --
like, everything that gets offered to you to "Friends?"
-I mean, I try not to, honestly.
I guess I've just been waiting for what I feel is
kind of an original idea and a character that
excites me and challenges me.
You know, but the one thing I guess I would say,
in terms of that bar that was set so high on "Friends"
is the collaborative spirit on that set.
And so, I do try to make sure that at least whatever show
I'm gonna sign up for has that same --
that same spirit, that kind of collaborative spirit,
and, as much as possible, no ego onset.
And luckily, that's what I found with Nick Mohammed,
who writes this show, "Intelligence,"
and stars with me in the show.
That's what I found in this show, so it's --
So far, it's a blast.
-Is it true that you recently turned down Ross?
I mean, you probably have been asked these questions
a million times -- I'm sorry -- but is that real?
-That's real, yeah. -How? Walk me through this.
-Yeah. So I -- I had, um...
I had a miserable experience
on my first job as a series regular
just before "Friends."
Like, about a year and a half before.
And luckily, that show only went like --
We only made 12 episodes, and then it was cancelled.
But I felt like -- talk about collaborative process.
I felt like I was not invited to play.
Not -- No -- My ideas were not interesting
or listened to, or --
-You were just someone reading someone else's lines.
Like, just read it and get out of the way, yeah.
-Basically, I felt like a prop.
They say, "Just kind of shut up and say the line."
And I felt like, "Well..." And you know this, I think.
Like, when you -- when you sign up for a show,
you're committing to five or six years of your life.
-Yeah. -And at that point, I thought,
"This is horrible.
I feel like it's a prison sentence.
I mean, that's an exaggeration, but it just wasn't fun.
And so when that show was cancelled -- thank goodness --
I -- I was like, "I'm never doing another sitcom."
-Yeah. -And I moved back to Chicago,
and I was doing theater with my company,
and I got the call from my agent about "Friends,"
and I just said, "No, I'm not -- I'm not doing it."
-Wow. And did you know
David Crane and Marta Kauffman?
-Yeah. Well, and this is what eventually happened.
I got a call from Jim Burrows while I was in Chicago, who,
legendary director of, you know, "Taxi," "Cheers," "Frasier,"
and he was gonna direct the pilot of "Friends,"
which he did, and he said,
"You got to come out and meet everyone."
And I was like, "I can't say no to this guy.
He's, like, a legend." -Sure.
-So I went out, and that's when Marta and David
told me that they had written Ross with my voice in mind.
And I was like, "What are you talking about?"
And they reminded me I had auditioned for them
a year before.
They had written the show about six New Yorkers
living in the same apartment building, called "Couples,"
and I didn't get -- it was down to me
and my buddy Johnny Silverman, who was cast.
-I love him. -Yeah, anyway, that show,
they made the pilot, but it didn't go to series.
And then, a year or more later, they -- they created "Friends."
And so, when I heard that they wrote this part with me in mind,
I was like, "Okay. Yeah, let's -- I feel --
Yeah, let's do this."
It's the biggest compliment ever.
-I don't think anyone could ever picture anyone else doing it.
There was talk of a reunion special with all of you guys
getting together and maybe talk of you guys
quarantining together to make sure that the reunion happened.
Is any of this true or no?
You guys can stay at my apartment if you want to.
-Oh, that's so sweet.
They're all in L.A. They're all in L.A., so...
I'll come over, anyway, just for...
[ Both laugh ] -Good, you're invited, yeah.
No problem. I'll leave the key with the doorman.
-Yeah. The hope is that we're --
this reunion special, which we would love to shoot,
you know, it's unscripted.
It's basically a really fun interview
and then some other surprise bits.
But it's supposed to happen maybe in August,
the middle of August, but, honestly,
we're gonna wait and see another week or two
if we all determine it's really safe enough to do.
And if not, then we'll wait until it's safe, so...
-I remember -- Probably you don't remember,
but I hung out with you in London.
I think we were both doing parts in "Band of Brothers."
You had a bigger part than I had,
but we went out to go see the Lennox Lewis fight.
And this was after "Friends" but, man,
you were the biggest star in that whole arena.
-Yeah. I mean, I don't think I was
a bigger draw than Lennox Lewis, but...
[ Both laugh ] -That night you were.
I think people were just screaming.
-I'm not sure if the people would pay to see me fight
that night, or you and I fight.
-No, that would be so lame. Oh, my God.
-Maybe if we were the undercard. Maybe that would have been --
-[ Laughing ] But were people --
What do people yell out the most to you
when you get your quote, when you go to, like,
an event or you go out?
-Um...
"Hey, good-looking." No, it's...
It's, you know, obviously, there's gonna be those people
who feel compelled to yell "Pivot" or,
"You were on a break."
You know, people are so passionately divided
about whether or not, you know, they were on a break.
-Yeah, this is a giant thing.
People get -- They have their sides.
Can you say what right now as you, David Schwimmer,
where do you -- were they on a break,
or were they not on a break?
-Yeah, it's not even a question, they were on a break.
-[ Laughing, clapping ]
I love the way you delivered that.
It's perfect. "It's not even a question."
Can you stick around?
I want to talk about your new show.
-Hmm. Okay. -[ Laughs ]