Jerry Jones Speaks

22:04Rich Eisen:And the director occasionally would come up to me and say, very, very seriously, he would say, that's very funny.

22:14Rich Eisen:Now, normally you're into me, so tell your face. Exactly. It's so funny to your face, right? Exactly, exactly. But obviously, it's a serious endeavor to make somebody laugh. Yeah. And certainly, this sense of humor, it's been around a long time, and you want to pay homage to the original while you're also creating your own new thing. Yeah, and Liam Neeson is fantastic at that sort of deadpan, dry humor. He just delivers it. very seriously. And maybe at times his character might be a little naive or bumbling, but he's got a course that he's taking, and it's a serious one. Well, that was Leslie Nielsen, right?

23:01Rich Eisen:I mean, Leslie Nielsen was a serious actor. And a lot of the things that, you know, Police Squad and the Naked Gun was sending up, you know what I mean? And so he kind of traded off of that. And then obviously became known for that, right? So Liam is known mostly for his dramatic work. And so now you're kind of trading off on that sort of thing. And it's pretty cool to see. Is this the first time you've worked with him? It's the third time I've worked with him. Okay. Which was good because it was comfortable. We know each other. So we could be in these ridiculous situations and recover. Every now and again, during a break or whatever it is, you'd say, would you like a piece of chocolate?

23:45Rich Eisen:And I'd have some chocolate. and we'd chat and then we'd start again. So we felt comfortable and easy with each other. The other incredible performance, I believe, in Naked Gun is Pamela Anderson. It's great to see her there too. It was just exquisite. And she falls into the femme fatale archetype. The Priscilla Presley of this equation as well. Just to, again, bring back the people who were in the original film. Yes, yes. And I guess you could take it further back to the film noir. Yeah, those those those characters that we understand from from the early film noir, which which my father was very much part of.

24:26Rich Eisen:You know, he directed John Houston, directed The Maltese Fault. I am very well aware of that. I would love to go down that wormhole a little bit with you and put a pin in that because I definitely want to talk about all of that. But yes, the film noir or the dragnet type stuff is exactly what, you know, Police Squad was sending up. Airplane was sending up a lot of those, you know, those disaster films of the 60s, like the Poseidon Adventure and obviously Airport. Yeah, exactly. That's what that was sending up. And I know that Seth MacFarlane was a huge fan of the Airplane films, which is why he's now behind bringing this back to the screen right now.

25:05Rich Eisen:Yes, and it's Seth who had the keen eye of seeing Liam playing. So he's the one who casted him in this thing. Yes. So you got a script and you were like, I'm in? Absolutely. It was that quick. It was that quick? Yeah. Were you a fan of the original? Yes. Okay. Absolutely. I mean, right? I read it. I laughed out loud when I read it, and I knew that Liam was involved. I was a fan of the old police squads, too. The six episodes that were on ABC. Yes. And it was kind of wild that network television was like, okay, let's try this one out. And that's where Frank Drebin was born, was on network television.

25:43Rich Eisen:And I just remember a line from it where he's undercover, Frank Drebin's undercover, and he's a guy who's undercover working as a locksmith. And he breaks into the bad guy's office, and the bad guy says, who are you? And how'd you get in here? And he says, well, I'm the locksmith and I'm the locksmith. And that's it. And I'd like, that's what this is all about, right? And you just deadpan it. Yes. And Leslie Nielsen would just nail it every time. Yes. That's exactly it. And I love it again. This film, this, this film is back and it nails it. And it's great to have you here on the rich eyes and show to, to help talk about it.

26:27Rich Eisen:The naked gun to get available in theaters nationwide next week, August 1st. Now, you just mentioned who your dad is, John Houston, as legendary as they come. What's your first memory of being around a movie set or show business that you remember? Yeah, one of my first memories was he was making a film based on a rather well-known book called The Bible. Yes. And he was... I've heard of it. He was dressed up as Noah, beard and all, and he had the animals walking side by side. The Ark was there in full glory in Italy, a film produced by Dino De Laurentiis. And that was my father. And he occasionally would sit on the director's chair and smoke a cigar, and he was the coolest dude you could imagine.

27:29Rich Eisen:If we'd imagine, right. And he also did the voiceover for God. And I guess one's fathers are gods, in a sense, but never quite. In the beginning. I remember, sure. Yeah, and that was, yeah, that was so, I spent a lot of time with him on film sets and would observe and learn. What did he teach you? That you even take into your roles all the time? Yeah, I mean, I guess quite simply choose the right story, choose the right script, and cast it properly. Sounds simple, right? Yeah, yeah. As far as I had a Super 8 camera, I was filming everywhere when I was a kid. He went, stop it, stop it, stop doing that.

28:13Rich Eisen:What's wrong? Because when you look from left to right, what do you do? You blink. That's a cut. So think about how you're going to be piecing this together. Don't just shoot wildly. Oh, that's interesting. And it's a good advice for life, really, as well. Concentrate on what it is you're trying to say and forget all the nonsense in between. Were you ever starstruck by anybody that your dad was directing? Or you remember? I was lucky enough to meet all these people over dinner or at his house. And it wasn't a sort of Hollywood situation. He lived in Ireland, and so it didn't have all that sort of glitter around.

28:55Rich Eisen:Your dad lived in Ireland? Yeah, in Galway, in Southern Ireland. And he would just fly back to the United States to direct a film or act or anything like that? Yeah, that's right. And then later he lived in Mexico. But the one actor that I was completely starstruck by was Ava Gardner. And I met her, not with my father, but with my mother over lunch. and I was all of 12. I can imagine being awestruck by Ava Gardner as a 12-year-old boy. That's for sure, Danny. And after lunch, I said to my mother, I said, I think I'm in love. And she slapped me in the back of my head and she said, of course you are.

29:45Rich Eisen:It's Ava Gardner for Christ's sake.

29:50Rich Eisen:Yeah. It makes complete and total sense. One of the things, again, I took a class on film noir back in college. Obviously, The Maltese Falcon is one of the first films you're going to see. Was that one of the first films your dad directed? It was his first film. It was his first. I mean, for that to be, okay, we're going to direct a brilliant film with Humphrey Bogart and, you know, with Sidney Green Street, right, and Peter Lorre, and it's going to be a classic to come out of the gates like that. My gosh, that's incredible. You know, it's unreal. My grandfather was also in it briefly for a second.

30:32Rich Eisen:Is that right? Walter Houston. Okay. And he carries the Falcon in, wrapped in newspaper. Mm-hmm. And he had a brief, brief moment, brief moment in it. but it when they made it the term film noir wasn't invented yet it was invented by some French critic who coined the phrase film noir because of the way your dad shot it because some of it was in the light some of it was in the shadow it was difficult to see some things and he was purposeful as what was not seen and the hardball detective which is I guess finally now reincarnated That's Frank Trevin. That's a naked gun.

31:15Rich Eisen:I didn't see Humphrey bump into things or run over things. Right, right, right. You know, or eat too many hot dogs on the body cam. You know, like, that's too bad. I didn't see that. It's funny. It's developed so much over the years, has it not? That is funny, no doubt. And then another moment for your dad playing. you can't even call Noah Cross the bad guy in Chinatown I mean what he did in that movie is up there with anything else that he's ever done I think one of the great villains of all time 100 % and I was I remember being quite troubled watching it because that is also my father I literally should ask you a follow up question it's like your son Yeah.

32:06Rich Eisen:Again, anybody who hasn't seen Chinatown, I guess it's spoiler alert. I mean, you know, if you haven't seen it, you know, in 50 plus years. That said, though, I mean, awful, an awful human being. And I'm wondering what you were like as a kid watching your dad do this sort of thing up there. Slightly preoccupied, but everything was OK. But with Akiva Schaefer, when we made Naked Gun, I remember him saying, I want each frame, if you were to freeze it to have the beauty of a Chinatown and to have that sort of photography. And, you know, we're talking about film noir. Film noir later turned into sort of a Chinatown which would have much more color, had a technicolor, had all that beauty, this scrumptious L.A.

32:51Rich Eisen:beauty to it, palm trees, et cetera. Were you on the set for Chinatown? I wasn't. I wasn't. Thankfully. I took a shot. I know I was about to say, I took a shot at that just to be around, obviously, Faye Dunaway and Jack Nicholson and Roman Polanski and your dad in that role. My gosh, that movie's perfect. There's not a frame or anything, and your dad's acting in that. Oh, my gosh, unbelievable. The way he eats that fish. Oh, yes. And it's rare that the actor's actually eating. All of that, and just the way, again, that he said at the end, not to spoil it, like, she's mine, too. Like, it was as creepy as they possibly can come, you know, in that movie.

33:35Rich Eisen:And then the final line, it's Chinatown. Yeah, and then the sprawling, you know, final shot as well. Exactly. Look at us. We're talking films right here on The Rich Eisen Show. Before I let you go, as well, we had Kevin Costner here. It might have been his first or his second appearance here in support for Yellowstone, which had not really come out yet. And nobody had any idea what was about to be born when Yellowstone hit the screen. I'm wondering because you were in the first two seasons of Yellowstone what was that like to you to be on the set of something that was you can't even call it a rocket ship taking off about whatever's happened in the Taylor Sheridan world from that.

34:17Rich Eisen:What was it like to be part of that in the very beginning? As you say Rich, we didn't know if it was going to be successful or not I remember one of the first scenes I did with Kevin we hadn't seen each other in many years. He met my father regarding a film called Revenge. Oh, yeah. It was later directed by Tony Scott. And so my character in Yellowstone is very much the guy who's trying to bring money to that particular area and develop it. So I'm in a golf cart. He's on a horse and this wire is separated. us yes and we're recalling that we're recalling that period in time when when uh when he when he met my met my father and that was it was great to see him again um and um he's just such a cool guy so warm and and um and uh understated you know um so over the over this bob wire thing um and um and uh but we had we had we had no idea um if it was going to become successful or not And then years later, those characters just beat the living daylights out of me.

35:34Rich Eisen:My God, your character, I mean, you know, you got hung, but then cut down. I know, exactly. Right? Again and again and again. I mean, just to say, for instance, did you know that going in, that your character was going to be pummeled? I didn't quite know. No, I didn't. I didn't. But I was delighted to serve the pummeling. I'm sure. Your character is exactly what the Dutton family was trying to keep out of their world. Correct. That was the center of the conflict of the first season of Yellowstone. You and Kevin Costner's characters were essentially what gave birth in many ways to whatever else has happened.

36:23Rich Eisen:That's right. You know, like 100 percent. I'm not just saying that because you're sitting here. And it is unbelievable. It was truly groundbreaking, you know, because it kind of felt like it since we're we're recalling things from the past, obviously, with the naked gun. It was kind of like Dallas, if you remember that, you know, with J.R. Ewing. Yes. And the family around it. Whereas, obviously, Dutton, you know, his character wasn't exactly as dastardly as as J.R. Ewing. But it was certain, you know, family values about what what they're trying to maintain traditionally on a ranch. Yeah. For a business, a family business.

37:02Rich Eisen:And I kind of got that sense. Yeah. And that helped that helped me draw me in. Yes. To Yellowstone. Yes. It first began. Yes. Yeah. He exactly. He's a sort of godfather of sort, I suppose. Right. Maybe doing things that are not not all that great and doing them in support of his family and the land. Right. Yeah. And then. when I finished working on Yellowstone a few years later I'm in England washing my mother's car with a sponge full of soap suds I got a call and I grabbed my phone and it's Kevin and he goes hey Dan, how are you doing? I'm okay. I'm making a film that I've been wanting to make for years.

37:47Rich Eisen:It's in many chapters and And it's called Horizon, and I'd love you to be part of it. Absolutely. In. Certainly. I mean, the man's got an Oscar for Dance of the Wolves. He's got an eye for that sort of thing, obviously, in the beautiful landscape. Yeah. He's into that, too. He's all about that. He's all about the pageantry and the hard work and the tilling of the land and getting into that sort of history. That's right. And it's epic. It's epic. Absolutely. And we've got this first chapter out, and there are other chapters to come. To come. And this dream. I remember driving to set. It was Moab by the Colorado River.

38:36Rich Eisen:And I saw this sort of figure of a man reflected in the light that was bouncing off of the water from the river. And it was Kevin and I could see this dream being realized as he turned and faced me and we started the day's work. Damn. That's drama. It's a beautiful thing to see. You were talking about Field of Dreams earlier when we met. Yes. And this is an epic dream which is coming true for him. And it's so great to see. That's cool. Be part of. That is great. Before I let you go, what was it like with Succession? Succession is great. It's the most, how can I say it, unpleasant group of characters.

39:29Rich Eisen:And the dialogue is wicked, you know, and great to be part of that kind of writing. You're not wrong. I remember when it first came out, we were like, let's see what this show is. And two or three episodes in, we're like, there's nobody I like on this program. There's like not a soul that's redeemable or that I'm interested in. But I'll give it another couple of episodes. And it just took off like a rocket ship. And it's one of the funniest dramas I've ever seen to make me laugh out loud. You got a good line that was written for you that you were particularly pleased about? I don't. Anything in a scene that you were in?

40:09Rich Eisen:I don't know, but you're right. It's wickedly funny. Oh, my gosh. And working with Brian Cox was a dream because he has that sort of Scottish wicked humor which translates perfectly into the character. I should say so. Danny, what a pleasure having you here on this program. The Naked Gun is, again, available in theaters nationwide this uh next week friday august 1st um frank dreven is back and as you can see he's fully armed leo neeson and the naked gun is in theaters on august 1st we're back on the rich eisen show in a moment rich eisen here with some advice if high interest credit card debt is grinding you down it might be time to call an audible with a sofi personal loan it consolidates your debt into one low monthly payment with no fees required and with as soon as the same day funding you can make the right play fast.

41:04Rich Eisen:Call an audible on your debt today at SoFi.com slash debt play. Loans originated by SoFi Bank NA, member FDIC, terms and conditions apply, NMLS 696891. Fast funds terms apply at SoFi.com slash debt play. Rich Eisen here. Running a small business means every hire matters. A bad hire costs time and money, but the right one helps your business grow. The challenge? Finding that person without sorting through resumes. That's where LinkedIn Hiring Pro comes in. It screens candidates so you can focus on conversations with qualified talent. With Hiring Pro, you can hire with confidence and build the team you need.

41:39Rich Eisen:Join the 2.7 million small businesses using LinkedIn to hire. Get started by posting your job for free at linkedin.com slash eisen. Terms and conditions apply. Okay. We have reached the portion of training camp where the Dallas Cowboys are in. And Jerry Jones is meeting with the media, which means a step and repeat of the Cowboys star and their sponsor behind Jerry with the aviators talking about somebody hasn't signed yet. And we know he's going to. And we know he has to. And he knows he has to. And he knows he's going to. But he hasn't yet. Honestly. Tell me that's not almost every training camp now, right?

42:21Rich Eisen:I mean, this is like a step and repeat in real life. Right. It's not just what's behind him. This is like step and repeat. Rinse the whole thing. All right. Jerry was asked if he's frustrated by not having Micah Parsons signed yet. Roll tape. Not at all. I have we do. And I don't mean this. I have things undone, dangling participles. I bet I have 20 of them every day in some pretty serious areas. You can't have it all done at the same time. It doesn't work that way. And so this is just a part of it. We've got again, I want to mention that we've got we're here with everybody. under contract. Two years ago, we were here, and I think Zach Martin wasn't here.

43:03He had a situation, although he had a contract, so you worked through that. I was looking at this documentary, and I spent some time going back in the Emmett Smith negotiation, and what was going on there. There's nothing new about what we're talking about here today relative to contracts. That's been going on a long time. Now, if you say, well, if you don't get him in, are you going to lose the first two games, and then go on to win the Super Bowl? Well, we'll take that. I am not the least concerned about having any dangling participles out here on a contract anywhere.

43:39Rich Eisen:It would have been great if he actually dangled a participle at the end of that soundbite. But he did not. Word of the day. Okay. It's his money. It's his cap. That's all. It's his money. It's his team. And he had this to say about negotiating with Micah. Of all of the people that I've sat down with as a player, of all the players that I've ever negotiated with, Michael Parson is as savvy and knowledgeable and understanding of his financial business relative to football as any player I've ever been around. Did we get a new player? No, I'm sure he's, let's just give him the benefit of the doubt.

44:19Rich Eisen:He's probably thinking of Irv. Remember Irv talked about his negotiation? I'm sure people will jump on that like Jerry's didn't say the name of the guy he's going to pay $45 million a year to well he may have buried the dangling participle he claimed to not know his agent that's true maybe he don't know the player that's why he hasn't signed him because he can't find him on the roster

44:46Rich Eisen:he's going to sign him it's going to be generationally enriching it's going to be market setting Yeah, we all know this. Let's just get to it, Jerry. I know. Let's just get to it. What are we doing? And again, it's going to wind up maybe costing them somebody on special teams here or there. I don't know what it's going to – or it won't matter. And he's going to win Defensive Player of the Year. Dax can come back and look great. Brian Schottenheimer is going to be Coach of the Year, and they do go to the Super Bowl. How's that for a way to end today's program? It would be amazing.

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