Episode 282

From the wonderfully eccentric guests of Late Night with David Letterman to the groundbreaking political satire of The Daily Show, Madeleine Smithberg has spent her career finding the funny in  unexpected places. 

As a longtime Letterman segment producer and co-creator of The Daily Show, Madeleine helped shape two of television's most influential comedy institutions. She joins Weezy and Lisa to share behind-the-scenes stories of her remarkable career and to discuss her upcoming book, Finding the Funny.

Madeleine's comedic education began early, growing up in a Jewish-Catholic household where humor was a family tradition and where her father introduced her to the great silent-film comedians. 

By age nine, she was so obsessed with The Dick Van Dyke Show that she feigned illness for six weeks to stay home and watch reruns. After college and a semester abroad, her Italian fluency landed her a TV career that eventually opened an unexpected door into Late Night with David Letterman. In a seismic existential collision, she learned she'd landed the job the moment her boyfriend broke up with her. The ensuing 'emotional rainbow,’ as she describes it, ended with a pot of comedy gold.

At Letterman, Madeleine developed a preternatural instinct for what would amuse and delight Dave, scouring the globe for peculiar hobbies, personalities, obsessions, and stories that could forge indelible television. 

She recalls the pre-internet challenge of guest scouting to uncover avid bee enthusiasts, monkey, sheep and turtle trainers,  and folks who collect buttons, hair, nuts, and potato chips 

She also offers insights on working with animal expert Jack Hanna, the unpredictable nature of civilian and animal guests, and the memorable occasion when a flock of sheep wandered into  the neighboring news set.

Madeleine then takes us inside the creation of The Daily Show, which she developed with fellow comedy trailblazer Lizz Winstead. She reveals how Comedy Central executive Doug Herzog persuaded her to take the leap by promising a full year on the air without requiring a pilot, and how the network gave her the freedom to assemble an extraordinary team of comedic talent which came to include Jon Stewart, Stephen Colbert, Steve Correll and Mo Rocca. She then shares how her cat gets credit for the show's signature closing feature, a “Moment of Zen.”

From a childhood spent studying television comedy to a career devoted to reinventing it, her story is a celebration of curiosity, creative risk-taking, and the art of finding humor in the ordinary and extraordinary. Plus, we explore Lisa's viral social media posts and what's feeding Weezy's reality competition series obsession!