# Bob Illes (redo new Jan 2026 interview!)

Page: https://stenobird.com/podcast/ian-talks-comedy-140290/bob-illes-redo-new-jan-2026-interview
Text version: https://stenobird.com/podcast/ian-talks-comedy-140290/bob-illes-redo-new-jan-2026-interview.md
Podcast: [Ian Talks Comedy](https://stenobird.com/podcast/ian-talks-comedy-140290)
Published: 2026-01-17T14:00:00+00:00
Episode link: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/ian-fermaglich/episodes/Bob-Illes-redo-new-Jan-2026-interview-e3dlvgu
Audio file: https://anchor.fm/s/21d579e4/podcast/play/114015198/https%3A%2F%2Fd3ctxlq1ktw2nl.cloudfront.net%2Fstaging%2F2026-0-15%2F5a2708f9-f9bc-a4fb-5a8a-ffe0b75c08bc.mp3
Processing state: processed
JSON: https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/ian-talks-comedy-140290/episodes/bob-illes-redo-new-jan-2026-interview
Duration seconds: 4675

## Resource

Bob Illes joined me to talk about his new book Funny is Money with 39 anecdotes; growing up in South Central LA; early TV influences; meeting writing partner James R. Stein at USC; doing the Stein & Illes show; Digby Wolfe; winning a contest to write for Tennessee Ernie Ford; Mike Ovitz; hard to get a radio job; working on Tom Smothers Organic Show; writing monologues for Bill Cosby on The New Bill Cosby Show; friction between Cosby & George Schlatter; meeting Groucho; working with Pat McCormick; Aaron Ruben hiring them on Sanford & Son; the controversial "Lamont, is that You" episode; doing a pilot for Schlatter called Lampoon w/ Alan Katz & Pat Proft; Joe & Sons; One Day at a Time; getting dressed down by Norman Lear and his mea culpa; What's Happening !!; Fernwood Tonight; A New Kind of Family with Rob Lowe & Janet Jackson; Dick Clair; Pat McCormick; working on The Steve Allen Comedy Hour and making a bad impression on Catherine O'Hara; his friendship with Sherman Helmsley; Anthony Geary & Ron Glass; All in the Family on the Nixon tapes;

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## Transcript

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