Stephen Falk is the creator/executive producer/showrunner of the upcoming comedy series You’re The Worst, which debuts July 17th on FX. Additionally, Falk is a writer and co-executive producer on Netflix’s original drama series, Orange Is The New Black, and was previously a writer and co-executive producer on Showtime’s Weeds. He was also the creator/executive producer/showrunner of the NBC comedy series, Next Caller. (We wrote about him detailing that heartbreaking experience here.) You can follow Falk ton Twitter here and on Tumblr here.
Stephen was nice enough to take a few minutes out of his busy schedule recently to answer a few questions from us.
1. You walk into a bar. What do your order from the bartender?
Since I’m a very complex person with subtle mood shifts, it could be anything according to my whim! Guinness, vodka martini, scotch, and red wine are the usual suspects.
2. Who is your favorite person to follow on Twitter?
There are many, but my newest favorite is Natasha Lyonne. Her Twitter is a pretty good synthesis of the enthusiastic, wry, silly, hyperactive, weird force she is as a human.
3. What’s currently waiting for you on your DVR/TiVO?
A combo of trash movies I missed in the theatre, series I’ve lost interest in, new series I haven’t had time to watch, and endless episodes of Treehouse Masters, MLB network shows, Anthony Bourdain, and Law & Order: SVU (my girlfriend, not me; women love murder).
4. It’s your last meal — what are you going out with?
Carbonara. Short ribs. Wine. Sourdough bread. Artichoke. Ben & Jerry’s Chubby Hubby. Skittles.
5. What websites do you visit on a regular basis?
Gawker. Hollywood Reporter. ESPN. Grantland. IsAbeVigodaStillAlive.
6. What’s the most frequently played song on your iPod?
Probably the song I’m using for the main titles of my show, which I can’t name right now because we’re still in negotiations. “When I Was Drinking,” by Hem is probably right up there.
7. The first face that comes to mind when you think “punchable”?
Dick Cheney or The Dodgers mascot.
8. What’s your favorite meme?
I was tickled by “Sad Keanu” in a dangerous way.
9. Dogs or cats?
Cover my cat’s ears, but dogs, obviously. What a stupid f*cking question.
10. Best concert of your life was…?
Prince, Purple Rain. I was like 10. I didn’t understand why the short naked man was air-humping his guitar, but I dug it.
11. What book are you most likely to give as a gift?
Something about murder for my girlfriend. Something about baseball or murder for my Mom. Something about murder for my sister. (As I said, women love murder.)
12. What’s the nicest thing anyone has ever done for you?
An ex made me get a dog. That turned out to be a pretty good decision. My girlfriend gave me a table-top Ms Pac Man game recently. That was a good one.
13. South Park or Family Guy?
(See the second half of my response to “Dogs or Cats?” above.)
14. You have an entire day to do whatever you want. What would you do?
I haven’t had one in so long it would probably be really boring shit like watching TV, reading, hiking with the dog, seeing a movie, playing pinball at an arcade, going to a bar with friends.
15. What movie can you not resist watching if it’s on?
Ferris Bueller’s Day Off. Raising Arizona. Goodfellas.
16. What’s your favorite sports team or teams?
SF Giants. I’m also partial to the Oakland A’s, being a Bay Area kid and one lacking the wide-held belief that a person has to choose. Also, I recently picked a Premiere League soccer team at random: Stoke City, baby.
17. Where did you eat the best meal of your life?
At a small hotel restaurant in San Quirico d’Orcia, Italy which we stumbled upon in the rain. It’s called Trattoria Al Vecchio Forno. I just looked it up for you. You’re welcome!
18. The last movie you saw in a theater?
I see tons of movies and, being an obsessive, have a Word doc of every movie I’ve seen in the theatre since 1990 and who I saw it with. The last one was the Keira Knightly / Mark Ruffalo thing called Begin Again. Before that, Obvious Child, which I loved, and, before that, 22 Jump Street at the drive-in theatre. Due to having my nerdtastic list, I can also tell you the first movie I saw in, say, 1994. (It was Demolition Man.) (According to my document, I saw it with “Ali, Jeff, Dan, Derek, and Mike H.” I have no idea who Mike H. is.)
19. Who was your first celebrity crush?
Cyndi Lauper. Phylicia Rashad. Mary Lou Retton.
20. What would you cook if Nic Cage was coming to your house for dinner?
I would ask for my 14 dollars back for Ghost Rider, then I would give it back to him for all the enjoyment he’s given me over the years. Then I’d take him to an Italian restaurant and try to get him drunk so I could find out what was really going on with the hair.
Here’s the trailer for You’re the Worst…
PREVIOUSLY: Comedian Kurt Metzger
