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That mightve been the end were it not for COVID and a few other snags.
you might guess what happened next.
And then COVID shut it all down.
Meanwhile, there was no clear timetable for Broadways reopening, and Pierce was once again open.
He familiarized himself with Lancashires work and came away impressed.
I had seen her show when I was a kid.
I knew thatSaturday Night Liveparody with Dan Aykroyd.
I had seen Meryl and Stanleys movie.
So it wasnt like I thought,Oh, I want to be in the show about Julia Child.
It was the script and the story of these two people.
They were such an interesting, complicated couple.
They had this very modern relationship but were also very much people of their time.
They also accused him of being homosexual.
In reading other peoples accounts of him, they talk about him as a ladies man.
So I think it really upset him, partially because of his personal attitude toward homosexuality at the time.
It added insult to injury.
He had an affair with a Kennedy?Not one ofthoseKennedys.
She introduced him to this world of French culture and jazz and music.
She was an amazingly cosmopolitan woman, and I think he was completely smitten and adored her.
Then she died young and he was bereft.
This was before Julia, right?
Not an extramarital affair …I am 150 percent sure he was faithful.
Ive never read anything that suggests they had an open marriage.
I think they were deeply devoted to each other.
He went many years after Edith died before he found Julia.
There were so many great story lines for Paul during the first season ofJulia.
From my research, he could be very prickly and stubborn.
But well be back filming probably sometime in July.
You shoot on location in Boston, right?We do.
Last year, we were there May through September, and it was great.
All of the Paul and Julia Child archives are at theSchlesinger Library at Harvard.
It was a piece I had never seen before.
It was really fantastic, kind of a cubist landscape.
Are you always as meticulous with your research when playing real-life characters?
Let me change the subject pretty dramatically.
2022 actually marks the 25th anniversary of a major milestone in your career, David.What is it?
You co-hosted the 1997 CableACE awards with …[Laughs.]
It was with Sela Ward fromSisters.Oh, right!
So I am assuming there is a connection somewhere.
The Emmys survived, but the CableACEs did not survive my hosting.
Ive always felt bad about that.
Did you enjoy those gigs back in the day?You know, I actually did.
I remember working with Jenna Elfman becausewe ended up doing an interpretive dance.
We thought it the most absurd thing to do.
We thought it was time for the Emmys to stoop that low.
It was so shocking, which was the point.
It was meant to be hard-edged.
It was my first sitcom and I remember having the best time.
We were a spring replacement.
You wonder if that was because it was a Norman Lear show.
I would love to see it again.
Thats why it holds up.
ButFrasiers a different thing.
Its not, I dont know, do something else while the TVs on in the background.
Its a very smart show.
If people arent talking about it, thats okay because the people who love it justloveit.
And it has proved itself generation after generation after generation.
It doesnt seem bound to its era, in my opinion.
So Im okay with how its doing and what its legacy is.
And, in the great scheme of things, its a television show.
Thats one I love that I still havent finished it yet.
It may be because I love it so much I dont want it to end.
Some of the Marvel things.
So I watch things in small bites, but Im not really watching sitcoms.
Im drawn to other stuff now.
So my focus was elsewhere.
But Im not a writer.
I love those characters, but I dont miss them.
But in terms of the Paramount+ project, your mind is open to the idea?Yeah.
Im not going to do that again.
Its too valuable to me.
They didnt bring along theCheersgang to make a new show.
Its always perilous when you bring back such treasured things.
So I think its equally a mistake to be precious and feel like,Well, its holy scripture.
What if we did something wrong?I dont look at it that way, either.
Its more personal for me.
