I actually think the writing with Erlich gets funnier and funnier the more inessential and irrelevant he becomes. If you wanted Erlich to be essential to the group, did you have any conversations with the showrunners, Mike Judge or Alec Berg, about possibly moving in that direction? They feel like they’re friends with him.” And although that makes for a terrible time at the airport because everybody high-fives me, grabbing your ass on the way to your f-ing plane to Omaha, Nebraska, to do stand-up comedy - these people want to know, “Do you really want to walk from what many would say is the cushiest situation in television? The platinum age of television?” And I said, “Yeah, I think that would be really interesting.” If you’re going to be unsafe and unstable, then let’s see what happens. We’ll have more time to spend in New York.” And even when I thought of leaving, she said, “Look, man, this is a character people love. I was sick of telling my wife in earnest, “I’m going to slow down the schedule. That’s what we need right now in a post-religious, post-meaning society. It’s about things that are interesting and funny. It’s certainly not about fame, which is destructing my relationships with my family. It’s not about money, it’s not about any of that stuff. That’s sort of the impetus behind everything I do: It just makes me laugh. If they had truly had enough of him, which is what they’re always saying, then why wouldn’t he just exit? What if they’re really suddenly like, he’s gone? Now what? Who does Richard have to complain about? Who is f-ing up their situation? Where is that confidence in the show? Where is that blowhard that everybody needs? Who is able to be negging without Thomas Middleditch being like, “I’ll kill you, you little slut.” So that all interested me, and most of all it made me laugh really hard. And so I thought it would be really interesting if suddenly they were able to rid themselves of him. He’s conned his way into the whole situation. I mean, he calls him a “fat loser.” You don’t say that to a friend. His only friend is Jian Yang, and Jian Yang f-ing hates him. You don’t think Erlich belonged in the show? I read something today that I thought was really sweet, which was that Erlich as a character never really belonged. All these other characters will change and grow. And so I thought, what if suddenly the whole thing changed? Where’s the guy at the house? He’s gone. That’s Seinfeld, where Alec Berg used to work. If they fail, then they succeed, and then if they succeed, they fail. The only thing that you can talk down about the show and about Alec Berg, the showrunner for the first couple years, is that it’s cyclical. I also think it’s interesting to leave a comedy at its height, one that is known for being cyclical. They’d written a potential exit - an organic exit - and I just thought it was so funny. Why was leaving Erlich in a Tibetan drug house the right ending for your character? So they were like, “Let’s make this easier for both of us.” And I was like, “I think this is an amazing opportunity.” People joke about it but I’m the hardest-working man in show business, maybe. Even the most successful comedy next to Veep on HBO was like this thing that I had to - I’m doing stand-up and I come back and I didn’t sleep at all. Why were the producers going to reduce your role in the first place?īecause they had to move the production schedule around. Don’t you want three more years of solid acting work and don’t you want to be a famous television actor?” And I was like, “No, not really.” I’d like to parasail into the Cannes Film Festival for The Emoji Movie because that’s the next new funny thing that will make people laugh. Everybody was like, “What the f- are you talking about? You’re on this successful show. They said, “We just wanted you to have more time to do all of the things you’re doing.” And I said, “Well, the best way for me to be involved in the show is by no longer being on it.” I swear to God, that’s why the internet broke. What? What do you mean?” And that was so good of them. They came to me and said, “Look, we’re not going to pick up your contingency because we want to offer you doing five episodes out of the 10, or three episodes.” And then I said, “Oh perfect, I had been wanting to ask if you guys would be open to me leaving the show.” And then they suddenly said, “Wait, no, what? You can do whatever. How did you manage to leave the show mid-run? Didn’t you have a contract that would keep you on the series? 'Silicon Valley's' Mike Judge Talks Season 4 Finale, the End of Erlich and Six-Season Plan
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