‘Heil Honey, I’m Home!’
A man strides into his apartment and raises his right arm.
Heil, honey, Im home!
he shouts at his wife, whos bustling around in the kitchen.
The series attempted to spoof American sitcoms of the 1950s likeI Love Lucywhile using 1937 Berlin as a backdrop.
Among the pilots high low?
Here, he reflects on the controversial conceit.
[Laughs] I just like big, high-concept shows that take a risk.
When they work, you’re free to carry them off with a real flair.
It happened very quickly.
What were your goals in creating the show?One was to laugh at bullies.
[Laughs] Another goal was looking at the sitcom genre.
This show was staged like it was the 1950s.
We had to ape the American sitcom brilliantly be American andnotbe American.
But he cries out for it.
Everyone was aware of the sensitivities; the last thing we wanted was to offend.
I dont think we entirely delivered.
Theres an awful lot Id do differently…
Like what?It felt corny.
Theyre aghast [at the characters making a show about Hitler]and then they start to laugh.
We stopped short of it.
With 25 years of hindsight, I think I would have made the Goldensteins more aware of the situation.
Their dilemma in 1938 is, should they leave Berlin?
Theres a genuine, dramatic tension there, and I dont think we got that.
We could have underplayed the comedy with the Goldensteins and let the true drama come out a bit more.
So, in other words, no drunken conga line?Exactly.
The slapsticky stuff made it… dumb.
Its not clever, its not subtle, its not smart, its just dumb.
What we wanted was satire.
There were tensions backstage and people started questioning [the story], and it became more awkward.
People started looking over their shoulders.
It was like flying into a storm.
You were playing this game with the audience; you wanted them to dislike it andthenlike it.
Maybe if we had a little longer [to write], we might have looked at things more.
God, there are so many ifs and buts to all this, talking this through is like therapy.
Now, there probably would be headlines and certainly heads would roll.
And I said, Oh my God, I cant explain.
It was like running uphill, it just left an unpleasant taste in my mouth.
How do you feel today about it?I dont resent it.
What would it look like if you did it again?I dont think the premise would be different.
You could see the guy playing Hitler as himself, and you could have a much richer debate.
I always thought that was a possibility, to do the show within a show.
Sounds a bit like30 Rock, the idea of watching the behind-the-scenes comedy.Exactly.
You could put the explanation and more of a defense into what theyre doing.
You mentioned doing a sitcom about Trump.
What do you thinkiscomedys role in skewering politicians?Ive watchedSaturday Night Live, and I love it.
Theyre great and theyre also obviously provoking Trump.
The fact that he can be bothered to comment and say its rubbish means its working.
Weve got the same thing here with our government.
you oughta laugh at them.
In a way, [comedies] make the government stronger.
If a comedian could bring the government down, then it was probably not much of a government.
Ive certainly never felt embarrassed by it because I know the motives were good.
I never felt we were trying to belittle that at all.
But to not get it right,thatwas frustrating.
It was fun, but it came at a price, and I wish I could do it again.
