Obama to 1600 Penn creators: “I better not see this on TV!” PODCAST INTERVIEW

Mr. Media is recorded live before a studio audience of everyone who has played the President of the United States in recent years, including Bill Pullman, Morgan Freeman, Dennis Haysbert and George W. Bush… in the NEW new media capital of the world… St. Petersburg, Florida!

 

Sometimes, as a father, the best weapon in your arsenal is the hug.

That’s the advice a four-star general offers to the President of the United States… on a new NBC sitcom called “1600 Penn.”

It’s a very funny moment in the show. And it really puts you on notice: What did executive producer and co-creator Jon Lovett hear and when did he hear it?

Lovett, before going to Hollywood, was a real-life speechwriter for President Obama in America’s other dream factory, Washington, D.C.

JASON WINER podcast excerpt: “We went to the White House last week and screened ‘1600 Penn’ for the President and his staff. It was a wild experience! Jon Lovett was there for three years working in the Administration and his former boss, the President, is quite proud of the young man.” 

So some of the real fun of “1600 Penn” is likely to be deciding what is based on truth, what is make-believe, and what is the stuff Lovett wished were going on at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue — The White House.

It also gives Jason Winer, Lovett’s co-creator and executive producer of the show, an unusually deep resource and partner in crime for a comedy that is as politically erudite as it is emotionally awkward. Winer knows awkward and funny: he directed the pilot of “Modern Family” and many episodes since, as well as several “New Girl” installments.

“1600 Penn,” which airs Thursdays at 9:30 p.m., stars Josh Gad from the Broadway hit “Book of Mormon,” frequent presidential impersonator Bill Pullman, and former “Dharma & Gregg” star Jenna Elfman. It’s a quirky mix of “30 Rock” and “Arrested Development,” with a little of “The West Wing” thrown in.

Jason Winer Twitter • Official 1600 Penn website

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