Robert Wuhl has been a familiar face on HBO for more than 20 years. He made his episodic debut as the titular character on the 1996 sports comedy Arliss. More recently, he hosted Assume the Position with Mr. Wuhl, a special series exposing American history for what it would’ve been categorized as today — gossip mag fodder. Then, there are his character roles in Batman and Bull Durham. The guy’s been around, and today on WTF, we got to hear his story.
Maron’s Unsettling intro
Maron started this episode off with a somber intro. Not entirely unusual, but there was something a bit more melancholy about this one. He eluded to lady trouble, adding a cryptic comment about having “the talk” with Jessica, his girlfriend. I hope he’s just mining some of that old-school angst for dramatic effect. It saddens me to think he’s losing out to his relationship demons again. Would really like to see him win one. Anyway, the show kind of hit the ground with that dark cloud hanging over it.
Needless to say, it took me a second to fall in step with the Wuhl conversation. But I did, and his stories were great, particularly if you’re a fan of ’80s Hollywood. He has a colorful background in standup, making his bones with Jerry Seinfeld, Paul Reiser, and Larry Miller, to name a few. And he wrote for Rodney Dangerfield and Billy Crystal.
He was more than ready to give his life story too. Maron was happy to indulge him, but skillfully steered him back to more relatable Rodney tales and life as a joke writer for the Oscars.
Overall, it was good episode. And Wuhl’s history special does sound interesting. Can’t help being worried about Maron though. I hope things work out.
