Billy Crystal Finds His ‘Great Treasure in Life’ With ‘The Comedians’
Comedy’s newest odd couple, Billy Crystal and Josh Gad, joined forces Monday night — despite their on-camera squabbles in “The Comedians” — to present their upcoming FX series at the Los Angeles premiere party and screening.
“Some of the great treasures in your life, you find when you’re not looking for something,” Crystal said at the screening, held at the Broad Stage, where FX president John Landgraf introduced Gad as the “comedic yin” to Crystal’s “comedic yang,” and Martin Short was spotted chatting with guest star Steven Weber in the audience.
“The Comedians” follows the old school/new school duo as they’re paired together to star in a new latenight sketch comedy show, much to Crystal’s dismay. Presented as a show-within-a-show, the mockumentary-style series, based on a Swedish format, sees Crystal and Gad playing exaggerated versions of themselves, heightened by hilariously self-deprecating jokes.
“To think of all the people we considered to play Billy Crystal and Josh Gad, you really are absolutely so fantastic,” exec producer and showrunner Ben Wexler joked at the premiere, where two episodes were shown.
After the screening, the cast celebrated blocks away at a poolside cabana bash at the Viceroy Hotel in Santa Monica. When Gad arrived, alongside exec producer and showrunner Matt Nix, the star was bombarded by partygoers at the soirée’s entrance, all eager to congratulate him on the show. Schmoozing with industryites over cocktails and grilled skewers — and, of course, to celebrate the Passover season, an abundance of grilled cheese, sandwiches, crostinis, pizza and more bready noshes — Wexler chatted with Variety, sharing that pizza also happens to be a favorite on-set snack for Crystal and the cast.
“When I say it’s a dream come true, it’s literally a dream come true,” Wexler said at the screening. “I wake up every morning and think, ‘How the f–k’ did that happen?’ It is so much fun collaborating with these guys.”
Crystal agrees: “I want to be in something, at this point in my life and at this point in my career, that can be funny and challenging, and get the best people to make this vision happen” he said. “And we did.”
“The Comedians” premieres Thursday, April 9, at 10 p.m. on FX.
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