-Look at this guy. -Jimmy.
-Come on, man. -Home with Jimmy.
How are you? -[ Laughs ]
-Great to see you. -You look great, bud.
Come on. I'm so happy you are here.
-Oh, I've been so looking forward to this.
-There's somebody I wanted to introduce to you
that's really wanted to meet you for a long time.
-Oh. Is it Gary? -Yes! Gary!
-Yes, let me see him! Oh, my God.
-Up, up, get up. Come on.
Get up. Yeah.
-I finally get to meet him. Her.
-This is her. This is Gary.
-Oh, God, she's gorgeous.
Such a gentle soul.
Wonderful.
Does she make many appearances while you're at home?
-She made a couple, and it kind of
went to her head a little bit. She got really --
-A diva. A diva. -Yeah. Total diva.
But she already has a painting by you on our wall.
-I know. That's what spoils her.
You should never have done that. [ Laughs ]
-All right, Gary, you can go. Now you can go.
Good job.
-How old are your kids now?
-Winnie is 7 -- Winnie is 6, about to be 7 next month,
and Franny is 5.
They're really cute. They're really cute.
Yeah, it's the best thing in the world.
And are you about to become a grandfather again?
-Well, a third time, yes.
My daughter is about two weeks away.
We just spent a couple of weeks in Tucson
helping her feather the nest. It was great.
-I am sending her a book. -Oh, great!
How wonderful! [ Laughs ]
-She'll have it -- She'll have it --
She'll have it by next week. She won't even be able --
-Wonderful. -Oh, that's the best.
You must be the best grandfather.
-My older grandkids are now 12 and 15.
And I've been taking them
to Broadway shows their whole lives.
And more recently, I -- I've -- I've been --
You know, they're learning at home.
They're homeschooled during this terrible period.
So they gathered together a group of five kids,
and I've been giving them writing classes.
You know, assigning them E.B. White and George Orwell,
"Animal Farm," and -- -Yeah.
-You know, having them write little essays
and marking up their essays.
They range in age from 8 to 15.
-Speaking of writing, I think the last time
you were on the show, we talked about your book.
That ended up being a smash hit.
-It debuted at number three on "The New York Times"
non-fiction best-seller list
between Ronan Farrow and Rachel Maddow.
How 'bout that? [ Laughs ]
So they asked me to write another one.
I submitted the last poem
and the last illustration on June 1st.
-Do you remember what the last poem was?
-Yes. It's called "Trumpty Dumpty Wanted a Title."
The title of the book is "Trumpty Dumpty Wanted a Crown,"
and that's a thread that goes through it,
how Donald Trump, bit by bit, is acting more and more monarchic.
-What's the cover of this one look like?
-Oh, as a matter of fact, they just sent me
an advanced reader sample.
This is not the book. -Yep.
-This is -- But it does have the title,
and that's my illustration on the front,
if you can get a good look at it.
"Trumpty Dumpty Wanted a Crown."
And there he is.
-When is that gonna come out? Do you know yet or no?
-They just -- actually, I hit all my deadlines.
So they've moved up the publication date
to September 29th.
So I'll get on TV and recite all kinds of poems
for you and everybody else.
-Yeah, hopefully, we'll have you back.
I want to talk to you about what you have going on now,
which you always have something going on.
But "Perry Mason" on HBO.
-So good. So good.
Have you seen any of it? -Yes!
The world saw it.
It was the biggest debut in HBO in two years.
-It is so good. It is so good.
And it was so much fun to do.
You can imagine.
I mean, you look at all those great actors.
Acting with them was just such a joy.
-Yeah. -A great experience.
-And was it -- like, being in L.A.
in that period, that time period --
Was it the '30s? When was that?
-Yeah. Yeah. These two great writers,
Rolin Jones and Ron Fitzgerald, they took "Perry Mason,"
the classic '50s crime/law-and-order series,
and they took it back 20 years to the 1930s in Los Angeles
when Erle Stanley Gardner
actually wrote the "Perry Mason" stories.
And they wrote it in that mode, and we shot it in Los Angeles
in sort of the era of "Chinatown"
and "L.A. Confidential," that wonderful feeling.
But then, the sensibility of the series
takes it forward 50 years.
I mean, here's a -- here is a "Perry Mason" series
that deals with racial injustice and police brutality
and corruption in police and law.
And yet it has the feeling of a wonderful 1930s, like,
crime noir, directed by someone like Howard Hawks.
It's just a wonderful series.
And Matthew Rhys has completely reimagined it.
He sort of erased the memory of Raymond Burr forever.
-Well, I felt -- 'Cause I knew Raymond Burr,
I know "Perry Mason," the original TV series,
and I go, "Oh, yeah. I totally --"
And it's like, "Oh, not quite."
This is darker. -You watch the first 10 minutes
of this, and it's like jumping on a roller coaster
and saying, "Wait a minute.
I thought I was getting on a subway."
It's just great.
-I always love seeing you. I want to see you in person.
And I want you on before the book comes out,
because I need to talk to you whenever.
You have an open line to my Zoom.
Whatever you want to do, I'll give you social distance.
You can come to my house. You can live with us.
We love you.
-Jimmy, it's always great to do your show.
I'll come to 30 Rock with a mask on if you like.
-Yes! -And I am so delighted
to finally meet the subject of my art.
Gary. [ Laughs ] -Bye, bud.