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Randy Hodgins and Steve McLellan’s lifelong love of comedy was kindled when they met more than 40 years ago in graduate school in Seattle. While managing family and professional work responsibilities, they hosted a one hour comedy radio program on Saturday mornings for 10 years on a small radio station in Olympia, WA and also co-authored two books on northwest popular culture – Seattle on Film (1995) and Wet and Wired (2000). Stuck at home during the early days of the pandemic with hundreds of comedy albums, cassettes and CD’s gathering dust on their shelves, they launched Laugh Tracks Legends of Comedy in May 2020, a weekly mini-program featuring a different comedy icon, with biographical bits and a nice slice of the comedy that made them famous. From standup stars, to stellar sketch teams, to novelty music maestros -- they are all part of our Legends.
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Tuesday Jul 29, 2025
Tuesday Jul 29, 2025
Say hello to this week's Legend Rob Reiner -- director, actor, writer, producer, activist and all-around mensch. Son of comedy legend Carl Reiner, Rob found his own path in Hollywood first as a writer for the Smothers Brothers, then with a breakout role in All in the Family, then as a movie director and actor. Rob practically invented the "mockumentary" format in the 1980s with This Is Spinal Tap (and boy are we eager for the sequel). His run of directorial credits in the 1980s is a murderer's row of classics and his periodic on-screen appearances are always welcome. And Rob still has no problem speaking his mind! As always, find extended clips below and thanks for sharing our shows!
Want more Rob?
As we have all recently learned again the crew at South Park has no boundaries on their satire so when Rob popped up as an antismoking activist the South Park crew was there. Ouch! https://youtu.be/VvpK998H6Kk?si=1dsnRgFfKG-cR9Up
All in the Family was a stunning departure from typical sitcom fare when it debuted in 1971 and the full volume battles between Rob's uber-liberal Michael Stivic and his bigoted father-in-law Archie Bunker (played by Carroll O'Connor) were a highlight. https://youtu.be/7toc7JDoFPk?si=RSS05fOj5Ohqrh2_
This is Spinal Tap was a cult classic from the start, one of the first "mockumentary" films of that era. A sequel is about to come out (over 40 years later!) and fans are salivating. Here's a short clip of one of the classic bits from the original.https://youtu.be/uMSV4OteqBE?si=_C8dkCvCrYrbK1iN
Rob doesn't appear on camera that often but when he does it's a gem such as this clip from Sleepless in Seattle in which Rob explains to Tom Hanks the realities of dating in the 1990s.https://youtu.be/CVwwYxZzlSM?si=kVCQFe1JlKY9GoUI
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