Judd Apatow has become something of an unofficial historian of American comedy. Between documentaries about Garry Shandling, George Carlin, Mel Brooks, and most recently Norm Macdonald and Maria Bamford, the filmmaker behind “The 40-Year-Old Virgin” and “Knocked Up” has spent much of his recent career celebrating the comedians who shaped his sensibilities. And apparently, he’s not running out of subjects anytime soon.
Appearing on The Daily Beast’s “Obsessed: The Podcast,” Apatow discussed plans for a documentary about “Comic Relief,” the legendary HBO charity event that brought together some of the biggest names in comedy during the 1980s. He also reiterated his long-standing interest in making a documentary about the late Harold Ramis, another comedy giant whose life and career he’d love to explore.
“I think we’re going to do a documentary about Comic Relief, which was my first job in 1986,” Apatow said.
For those unfamiliar, “Comic Relief” was a star-studded comedy telethon that launched on HBO in 1986, hosted by Robin Williams, Billy Crystal, and Whoopi Goldberg, with proceeds benefiting people experiencing homelessness. The event became a showcase for major comedians and emerging talents, bringing together stand-up, sketches, and celebrity appearances for a good cause.
And according to Apatow, the documentary could feature some pretty remarkable material that’s been sitting in the archives for decades.
“Similar to ‘The Greatest Night in Pop,’ you know, there was this telethon, and there had never been an all-comedians telethon on HBO that Robin Williams, Billy Crystal, and Whoopi Goldberg hosted, and we just found an enormous amount of rehearsal footage.”
That archival discovery is especially exciting because Apatow himself was there early in his career. He was 18 when he worked on the original event, and apparently, some of the footage captures him wandering around behind the scenes.
“In some of the footage, you see me as an 18-year-old walking around in the background,” he recalled.
And he’s not the only future comedy heavyweight lurking in the footage.
“Conan O’Brien actually worked as, like, an escort,” Apatow explained, describing how the production assigned people to accompany celebrities around. “I think he was with Estelle Getty. And so you see him walking by in the background.”
In a separate Los Angeles Times interview, Apatow elaborated on his personal connection to the project and what he hopes the film will explore.
“I was a PA on the show and in the office, and worked there for free for a few years when I went to college,” he explained. “We’re going to tell the story of them figuring out how to make that show.”
In other words, rather than simply assembling a greatest-hits collection of classic comedy performances, Apatow wants to explore how the original telethon came together, with all the chaos, creativity, and personalities that presumably went into pulling it off.
Meanwhile, another comedy legend Apatow would still love to tackle is Harold Ramis. Asked about his dream documentary subject, Apatow didn’t hesitate. “You know, I always wanted to do Harold Ramis,” he said.
The late filmmaker, who died in 2014, directed some of the most influential American comedies of the last several decades, including “Caddyshack,” “National Lampoon’s Vacation,” and “Groundhog Day,” and co-wrote and starred in “Ghostbusters.” His collaborations with Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, SCTV and the broader Chicago comedy scene helped define a particular era of Hollywood comedy.
Apatow has expressed this ambition before, telling The Playlist in a 2023 interview that he’d most like to see Ramis receive the documentary treatment.
“Harold Ramis certainly deserves a documentary,” Apatow said then. “And he was such an interesting person and had so many stories and theories. He was very rabbinical with the people that he worked with. He loved to share his way of looking at the world.”
Three years later, that interest evidently hasn’t faded, although Apatow offered no indication that a Ramis documentary is actively in development.
Apatow may have a larger reason for keeping returning to these projects. Speaking with the Los Angeles Times, Apatow reflected on what first drew him to documentary filmmaking.
“Making these films was sparked by doing the documentary about Garry Shandling, because he was my close friend and in a lot of ways I didn’t fully understand him,” Apatow said. “It was a form of grieving to make this really deep documentary about his life and everything he was going through and trying to express. And it just went on from there.”
That curiosity has led to a remarkably busy stretch. His documentary “Norm: The Tale of Norm Macdonald” debuted on Netflix October 16, and “Paralyzed by Hope: The Maria Bamford Story,” which he co-directed with Neil Berkeley, arrived last week, on October 23. The latter follows Bamford over several years, exploring her personal life, mental health struggles, and distinctive approach to comedy.
And he’s not stopping there. During an October 16 appearance on The Ringer’s “The Big Picture” podcast, Apatow shared an update on another project.
“I’m just finishing up a documentary about Billy Strings with my friend Chris Wilcher. We’re directing it together,” Apatow said.
Apatow previously discussed the Strings project earlier this year, but it now appears close to completion. Neither it nor “Comic Relief” has an announced release date or distributor, while the Harold Ramis documentary remains a dream project. Either way, for now, Apatow has plenty on his plate.
