Judd Apatow Needs Your Favorite Norm Macdonald Memories for a New Documentary
It’s been a little more than three years since Norm Macdonald passed away, and while the comedy world certainly hasn’t been shy about paying their respects to the late Weekend Update anchor, it seems that he’ll soon be receiving an even more comprehensive tribute.
Writer, director and karaoke star Judd Apatow recently revealed on Instagram that he is currently working on a documentary about Norm for Netflix. He’s also appealing to his followers to send in photos and/or videos of Macdonald to a dedicated email address. “If you just know about any interviews or interesting videos you think we may not have heard about or be able to find ourselves — that would also be very helpful,” Apatow wrote, adding: “Or just tell us your favorite Norm moments.”
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In recent years, Apatow has proven himself to be a top documentarian, specifically with his films and series that honor legendary comedians who are no longer with us. Most recently, he co-directed the short film Bob and Don: A Love Story with Michael Bonfiglio, which was all about the long friendship between Don Rickles and Bob Newhart. Before that, he made George Carlin’s American Dream, again with Bonfiglio.
But the best of the bunch, arguably, was 2018’s The Zen Diaries of Garry Shandling. The two-part HBO documentary chronicled Shandling’s life while also providing new insights thanks to its use of Shandling’s unreleased personal writing. The touching tribute to his friend and collaborator might just be Apatow’s most personal film — not counting the movies that literally star his wife and kids.
While Apatow obviously wasn’t as close with Macdonald as he was to Shandling, Norm play himself briefly in Apatow’s Funny People.
As a documentary subject, Macdonald may be trickier than most to pin down. After all, this is a guy whose “memoir” is an elaborately-conceived, hilarious work of fiction. He constantly defied categorization and seemingly didn’t love to divulge too many personal details. Case in point: He once penned a lengthy, earnest, poetic account of the weekend he spent hanging out with Bob Dylan, posted it to Twitter, then deleted the entire thing with no explanation.
If Apatow’s Instagram post is any indication, the backbone of the movie might be funny clips and amusing anecdotes. While the Shandling doc was able utilize his diaries, the Macdonald project has countless hours of footage of Macdonald performing stand-up, appearing on Saturday Night Live, hosting podcasts, guesting on talk shows and acting in the Larry Flynt biopic, which is a thing that really happened.
If you do have a clip, photo or story to share, you can send it to NormMacdonalddoc@gmail.com. Keep in mind, there’s no need to send them the "Moth” joke, they’ve definitely got that covered.
