-Our next guest is a very funny actress you know from shows
such as "Cougar Town" and "Freaks and Geeks."
She stars in the second season of "Girls5eva,"
which is streaming now on Peacock.
Let's take a look.
-Kev.
I'm going on a tour. You're gonna stay with Stevia.
-No, I'm not to be trusted!
-You'll figure it out.
Just like I had to when you went to Tampa.
-Ugh! -Hey!
Listen to me.
Be her best friend, not her parent.
Win her heart through possessions.
And find out what she's up to by posing as an older, very cool,
CGI shapewear CEO on TikTok.
I'll give you the account and the password I made up.
Also -- -Can I get paper?
-Please welcome back to the show
our friend Busy Philipps, everybody!
♪♪ [ Cheers and applause ]
♪♪
Welcome to the show, Busy. -Hi!
-I'm so happy to have you back.
-Oh, my God, I'm so happy to be here.
-And you're a New Yorker this time.
-This is it, Seth. I live in New York.
-You live in New York City now. -I do!
[ Cheers and applause ]
-We last talked via Zoom in 2020,
and you were still a Los Angelino.
-Here's what I'm gonna say. -Yeah.
-None of this was on my bingo card.
-Okay. -If you had paid anyone that
knows me millions of dollars to say, "Will Busy ever live
in New York," they would say no. -Yeah.
-And they would lose the bet, but here we are.
Because Tina Fey called me and said,
"Do you want to do this TV show?"
And I was like, "Yeah, obviously."
-And then you -- I mean, you could have gone back
in between seasons. You dug it!
Admit you dig it. -Here's what I'm gonna say.
We have teens now, like preteen teenagers.
-Yeah. -And I really feel like New York
offers a thing that Los Angeles doesn't,
which isn't to say that L.A. doesn't have culture, but...
[ Laughter ]
...it's just a different culture.
Do you know what I mean?
-I think the thing about New York culture is if you just
walk down the street, you're gonna get a fair share of it.
-You get it. I've gotten it in my face.
-Yep. -I've gotten it on my shoes.
I kicked a rat once, I mean. -You did?
Did you apologize? -Oh, always.
I'm like, "Sir, sir, I'm so sorry, sir."
-Because the rats in your neighborhood know
the other rats, and then if you get a bad reputation --
-Yeah.
-Now, your kids, Birdie and Cricket.
-Yes. -So, they are enjoying it?
-Yeah, they love it. -Okay. They don't miss L.A.?
-No, they actually, like, don't miss L.A.
-That's really nice. -Yeah, it is nice.
-I've asked about this. Have you introduced them to past work?
I mean, do they watch "Girls5eva"?
-Yeah. Well, no. Well, okay.
So, you guys know -- I mean,
I've been an actor since I was like a kid, basically.
I was 19 years old when I did "Freaks and Geeks."
[ Cheers and applause ]
I am about to turn 43!
And that's true.
That's true, I'm about to turn 43.
Do you find that, like -- I just almost said 41 because I turned
40 right before the pandemic, and in my head I just was like,
"I'm about to turn 41."
And you wouldn't have known, and I could have just done it.
-Yeah. [ Laughter ]
-Anyway. -They should have passed a law
that none of the birthdays during the pandemic counted.
-I don't think they did! -Yeah.
-I mean, they didn't count. -Everybody's like,
"Forgive student loans." Forgive my two birthdays!
[ Laughter ] -Seth!
Forgive my two birthdays.
So, I'm about to turn 41, I've been acting since I was 19,
and I have these two kids.
And I've been trying -- My kids love TV.
They love shows.
And Birdie, especially if you have a teenager,
you know this -- like, they love to watch old shows.
And I'm like, "Guess what I'm on."
[ Laughter ]
I'm on "Dawson's Creek" and "Freaks and Geeks."
[ Cheers and applause ]
Not interested. Not interested.
-No, really? -No, no.
-Because they don't like the show
or because they don't want to see you?
-It's me. -Okay.
-100% it's me.
I tried to show Cricket,
who's our almost 9-year-old, "Girls5eva."
She watched it for two seconds. You guys just saw the clip.
I hope you're watching the show because it's really funny.
And she said, "Your voice is really weird on this.
I don't like it at all."
And I was like, "Okay."
But so anyways, so Birdie's been like, emphatically no.
Has watched -- The last time we talked, it was Birdie's birthday
in the pandemic, and I got all my friends who are on
"Brooklyn Nine-Nine" to, like,
do a little video for Birdie at home.
That's because I've been in TV since I was a child.
I know everyone. -That's very nice.
-Anyway.
And like, yeah, so she's watched "The Office,"
"Brooklyn Nine-Nine," "Parks and Rec."
She loves you. She loves everyone except for,
like, hasn't watched anything I'm on.
[ Laughter ]
And I've tried, and she won't do it,
and then last night -- they won't do it.
Last night, Birdie had a friend over.
And I invited them to come down for dinner, and they did
and of course sat in front of the TV.
And I was, like, preparing things in the kitchen
and then I heard the theme from "Freaks and Geeks."
-Wow. [ Audience oohs ]
-And I was like, "Is it happening?"
[ Laughter ]
Like, "Be cool, be cool."
"What are you guys watching?!"
[ Laughter ]
And Birdie was like, "Bevan wanted to see you on TV,
so we turned on 'Freaks and Geeks.'"
And I was like, "That's cool, yeah."
[ Laughter ]
"And it was so weird.
That's me. I was 19, g--"
And Birdie goes -- and I'm not kidding you --
"You talk really weird on this show."
[ Laughter ]
And I was like, "Okay."
And so anyway, they watched it, and then at a certain point,
the girl came to do my nails for your show.
And I was like, "Okay, I got to go get my nails done."
And Birdie just took the controller
and was like, "We've seen enough."
[ Laughter ]
-You got to wait for you to leave.
You were leaving the room anyway!
Wait for you to leave. -It was the point!
You know, the cruelty is the point!
-Oh, yes!
I hope -- Well, you know, hopefully she's gonna look past
the fact that she hates seeing you on TV to watch me tonight
and will hear that you're being very mean to your mother.
[ Laughter ]
Now, you know, one of --
We talked about culture, but obviously Broadway.
And I'm wondering if Birdie or Cricket likes going to
Broadway shows and if you take them.
-Well, I would, but again, it's been a pandemic.
And so, and I've been on a TV show
and I don't want to get people sick with COVID.
-Right, of course.
-But I did -- Like, things are opening back up
and we actually got COVID,
so now I feel a little bit better about it.
And you know that feel--
I mean, you all know that feeling, right?
[ Laughter ]
-Well, the right after is pretty not bad.
-Well, that's what it -- that's where we're at.
-Oh, you're the right after.
Oh, my God, live your best life, yeah.
-So, I've been wanting to see "A Strange Loop,"
which is this amazing show that just won a Tony.
-Yeah. [ Applause ]
-And I knew nothing about it, but I was like,
"Just got to see the show," and so I bought tickets
and I'm like, "Birdie, we're going to the show
on Saturday night," and I saw on Instagram
that Sara Bareilles, who's on "Girls5eva" with me
and also is just a big star in her own right,
and I just follow her on Instagram for that reason,
was at the show, and so I texted her, "Oh, I'm so excited.
I'm taking Birdie tonight."
And Sara wrote back, "Dot, dot, dot."
And I was like, "What's that mean?"
And Sara was like, "Do you know what it's about, babe?
It's, like, pretty mature."
And I was like, "Well, Birdie's like a teenager.
It's going to be fine."
And then Sara calls me and she's like,
"Uh, no, Busy. Um...
Like, in the show, in the first song, they say there's going to
be butt[bleep] onstage."
[ Audience ohhs ] [ Laughter ]
They deliver!
[ Laughter ]
-They don't over-promise. -They don't disappoint!
And I was like, "Oh.
Oh, no. Well, what do I do?"
Well, Birdie watches "Bridgerton," but not with me.
[ Laughter ] So I had this whole dilemma.
And so then I was like, you know what?
Communication is key.
I'm like, "Birdie, the show that I'm really excited
to take you to, this is the situation.
Sara Bareilles told me that this happens onstage,"
and Birdie's like, "Yeah, no, we're good.
I'm not going to go to that with you."
-Yeah. [ Laughter ]
That was it? -And that was it.
And then I took my friend, and it was great.
-That's great. -And it's an amazing show.
-Alright. That's great. But maybe not for new teenagers.
-Well, I would just say that like we don't watch "Bridgerton"
sitting next to each other. Do you know what I mean?
-Yeah. -No child, no matter how, like,
evolved and communicative you are with your teenagers,
wants to watch sex with your mom,
even if your mom is me and you're so cool.
[ Laughter ]
-Well, if there's any message to take away, let it be that.
That's parenting advice from Busy Philipps, everybody!
"Girls5eva" is available now on Peacock.
We'll be right back with more "Late Night."