My Favorite Murder with Karen Kilgariff and Georgia Hardstark - Celebrity Hometowns with Megan Mullally

Episode Date: December 29, 2021

For a special treat, Karen and Georgia sit down with celebrity guests to hear their stories, from hometown murders to personal accounts of mayhem to legendary family lore. Today's guest is Megan Mullally.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

We at Wondery live, breathe and downright obsess over true crime and now we're launching the ultimate true crime fan experience, Exhibit C. Join now by following Wondery, Exhibit C on Facebook and listen to true crime on Wondery and Amazon Music, Exhibit C. It's truly criminal. Hello and welcome to my favorite murder. The Celebrity Hometown Edition. You know it, you love it, we hope by now because there's been a few. It's built now to the level that we are at, which is high level celebrity hometowning. High level podcasting too. It's really the pinnacle of entertainment, of hangouts, of Zoom calls. Vanity Fair calls it great. Hollywood Reporter says, but this one I think is very special in so many ways this episode.

So many ways. Our guest today plays clubs and colleges all over the country. You know her, of course, from Will and Grace. You know her from Party Down, which they're rebooting. Did you know that? They're rebooting Party Down. Amazing. You've seen her also. She does voices for Bob's Burgers. Oil Spill is my favorite song of all time, recorded. And then of The Great North, which is also on Fox. Please welcome the legendary Megan Mullally. Hi, cutest girls in the world. You know I loved your book so much, right? Thank you. I lost my mind when I heard that. Yeah, Karen and I have known each other for a while, but then I didn't know you, Georgia. And so it made me want to become inseparable best friends with both of you.

We're working on it. We're doing our very best. Even through a quarantine and a pandemic, we're going to stay in touch with you. That's right. I was trying to think when we met Karen, because I think there was a minor competition between me and Nick as to who met you first. He was trying to subtly claim that he did, and I would think I was trying to claim that I did. I feel like either of those meetings would have been at Largo, right? Yeah. Probably chances are. Or through a mutual friend who you used to write for, a female friend. Oh yes, yes, yes. Yes. That's right. Is this gossip time? Yes. Are you ready for gossip corner? Yes, always. Who's writing for who this season? All I know is that

one time Pat Noswald took me to see a play that you starred in on the West Side, which I would like to say give it up for me going to the West Side to watch live theater. Yeah, crazy. I know. But it was, and I know I've gushed to you about this already, but it was a play, and I believe it was called The Secretary or The Receptionist. The Receptionist. Yeah. And Georgia, when I tell you that Megan Mulally is the best actress of all time, I can't explain what I saw in that not gigantic theater on the West Side near a carpet remnant store. Wow. It was so fucking good and real and amazing, and it was just, it was like it made me miss seeing live theater. But then it also made me go like, you're just an unbelievably

talented person, Megan. It's just so exciting. It's exciting. That's really nice. I've basically officially retired from acting over the pandemic, and now I've been lured back in. But you know that, I'm glad you saw that play because it's a cool play. It's just a real short like one, it's like a long one act, I guess. Yeah. And I love that play. And actually, probably of all the things I've ever done, that might have been my favorite. Really? I loved it. Yeah, I loved doing it. It was so brilliant. Like the set almost looked to me like an 80s office, you know? Totally. Yeah. And Megan played the Receptionist. Did she have a name or was just the Receptionist? Beverly. Beverly was running things. Oh my God, I want to

see it. It was amazing. I think it'll ever be turned into like watchable, not in a 99 seat theater material. Probably not. You know, it's a little too good. Let's get it to FX. It had a real FX feel to it, don't you think? Absolutely. Yeah, it could be. We'll get Ryan Murphy to produce it and just really go for it. Did you guys watch Impeachment? I didn't see it. Oh, what? Was it amazing? It's the new Ryan Murphy thing about, yeah, about Bill Clinton. Yeah, I missed that. Monica Lewinsky. Yeah, it's pretty incredible. Does she come off as like redeemed as how we treated her? Well, yeah, it's mostly about the whole thing between Monica Lewinsky and Linda Tripp. And oh my God, I'm blanking on her name. Margot Martindale? No. Who plays Linda Tripp?

Sarah Paulson. Sarah Paulson. She is going to win every award ever invented. Her performance is off the chain. You can't even recognize her. They did all these prosthetics and stuff on her. You literally don't even know it's her. It's unreal. Oh my God. I have to write this down. She's so good. Is it one of those things that are like you're cringing while you want like succession where you're like, oh my God, this is making me uncomfortable. But yeah, yeah. So maybe that's why I skipped it, but that sounds incredible. But Ryan Murphy is so good about picking the thing that you desperately want to see, you know, like the whole OJ thing and now this. The OJ thing was perfection. Also, I didn't hear a lot of people talk about Ratchet in the

way I wanted them to because that series felt like doing drugs by watching TV. I was like, this is the way he set designs, like the way it all goes together and it like hypnotizes you. It's just, yeah, that guy's pretty. I didn't see that one. Yeah, it was nuts. It was, it was very, you know. And how does he, he's so prolific. He just like shows a year. That's crazy. He turns it out. Yeah. Yeah. He doesn't give a shit. Yeah. I saw him in a party once and he was wildly courting Joan, you know, from Dynasty, Joan. Joan Collins. Joan Collins. No. He was like, hi. And he was just, you know, he was like laser focused on Joan Collins who he then, I guess, she did something. She did one of the, I don't know, I don't watch the scary ones. The American Horror Story. I think

she did one of those. Yeah. Yeah. I dipped on those after the Lady Gaga season of the Haunted Hotel. I was just kind of like, there's so many things going on here. I can't, I'm overwhelmed. Oh yeah. I haven't seen House of Gucci out of you. Oh no. I would. I haven't seen it yet. Yeah. It's supposed to be fun. I just have no energy to track stuff down. Yeah. I want to see it. Yeah. It has to be delivered to my house and a manila on the rope to watch it. It will. It will be. Oh right. I can do, I can turn on Game of Thrones and that's about it. Like I just don't have much else in terms of scrolling power in my mind right now. I think House of Gucci is already on Netflix or something. I don't know. All right. Oh, I'll do it. Yeah. I'll totally

watch that. Do you not like scary movies and scary shows and stuff? No. But I have a very scary murder to talk to you about. You do. And I'm not scared of. I'm not scared of talking about. So you can do true crime but not like the scary jump at you stuff? Yeah. Yeah. We watch a lot of like, you know, true crime documentaries and stuff or not a lot, but we watch the ones that we hear that are good. Yeah. Yeah. And I've gone through periods of like getting sucked into date lines, you know, late at night. Very soothing at night. Yeah. But I, but then sometimes I'm like, oh, date line. Like I don't even want to see it. It scares me to even think about it. Totally. It's very intense. Yeah. It is. But I like your podcast because I like you guys and I like hearing

about, you know. Thanks. We break it to you kind of gently. Yeah. Yeah. Right. It's a little more of a, we're sitting around the kitchen table trying to just trying to tell you stuff we think you need to know. Totally. Yeah. It's important information to have. Yeah. Keith Morrison has a different approach. It's different. It hits you harder, I think. Yeah. I think so. The voice, I mean, then the, his voice is like, what is that voice? It's so hammy. He's a super narrator. He's like the ultimate narrator. I know. It's so over the top. Who does, who does cheaters? Because that one is also like, that like syndicated show where they would catch people in vans. Oh my God. The guy who narrates it is hilariously hammy. It might be that same guy. Hold on. I got it here.

Cheaters, TV show. George is coming in with the actual facts. Here I go. Joey Greco. That's not him. He was the host and then. There was an actual narrator. He got beaten up by one of the the cheating people. Yeah. He got like totally beaten up, like thrown around like a fucking ragdoll on one of the episodes. And then he quit the show and then he got somebody else. Oh my God. That's show mate. I couldn't watch it after a little while. It was just like. Oh, it's so depressing. Yeah. So depressing. Also hard enough to do man on the street style kind of pseudo new show like that. That's a lot of work. Yeah. Without being threatened personally. Like that's just ridiculous. I feel like I've seen episodes of that that I thought were faked. Yes. Oh yeah. Where I thought

that people were like, Oh no, you caught us. No. Yeah. We want to be on TV. But they're cheating out to the camera. Get out of here. Hair looks great. The only thing that makes me think it's not faked is people just look like total ass. So maybe that's yeah. I think that was before we realized you could Google anything and anyone's name for the rest of their lives. It'll show up like a job interview like, Hey, you're on cheaters. Let's check this out. Yeah. The permanence of online for real. It's too much. Really? Truly. Can we talk for one second about how they're rebooting party down and how that's what America needs right now? Yeah. I'm so excited about that because not only because it's a great show and it's the writing's great, but it's the

nicest cast in the history of and producers, nicest people in the world. And yeah, I'm really looking forward to that because I need it. Yeah. Palette cleanse. I can't believe I just thought it wasn't on since 2010, which feels impossible. But I think it's just because we've gone back to rewatch it. Yeah. Oh, so many freaking times because it's just like a joy on streaming. Like it keeps coming back where you're like, Oh, wait, I can watch it again. Yeah. Yeah. It was right after I did that play that you saw Karen. That's Oh, really? Yeah. I went to do that. Do you think the receptionist got you the role on party down? I'm pretty sure. Yeah. The kind of muscles that you started flexing. Yeah. Yeah. Totally.

Adam Scott's one of the first people I met in Los Angeles when I moved to town. He was in an acting class with my roommate. So he would hang out sometimes. Like that was her other group of friends when we were all, you know, feeling our Los Angeles oats. He just seemed like a regular guy was super nice and he really loved Mr. Show. So I would get him into the Mr. Show parties. So we kind of bonded forever. And then I just watched him like just skyrocket into major fame. And who he's like the most deserving, wonderful person. He's the best. Yeah. He's such a great guy. And Ken Marino. I mean, everybody on that show is so great. Martin Star. Yeah. Lizzie Kaplan can't do it, but everybody else is coming back. And Jane Lynch too, of course, because

she was the first season. Yeah. Oh my God. Yeah. She was the first season and I was the second season, not playing her role, but playing a role that kind of filled a gap that they needed filled. You know? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. She's great. So exciting. Very exciting. We're definitely going to talk about that when it happens. Okay. Do you want to tell us your hometown? Yeah. Okay. I think it's a really good one. It's crazy. It's a crazy. It's gross. It's really bad. Looking for a better cooking routine with meal planning, shopping and prepping handled. Hello Fresh has you covered. Hello Fresh makes home cooking easy and affordable. So you can stay on track and on budget in the new year. Hello Fresh meals are convenient,

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free shipping on your first box when you go to hellofresh.ca slash murder20 and use code murder20. Goodbye. Hey, I'm Mike Corey, the host of Wondery's podcast against the odds. In our next season, three masked men hijack a school bus full of children in the sleepy farm town of Chowchilla, California. They bury the children and their bus driver deep underground, planning to hold them for ransom. Local police and the FBI marshal a search effort, but the trail quickly runs dry as the air supply for the trapped children dwindles, a pair of unlikely heroes emerges. Follow against the odds wherever you get your podcasts. You can listen ad free on the Amazon music or Wondery app. So I went to a private school in Oklahoma City. It's very small. Like

when I graduated from high school, there were only like 69 people in my graduating class. If Nick heard me say the word 69, he'd go into a whole lot. Just his head comes in from the side. Nice. And I went there from first grade through high school, but I think seventh grade, this, I don't want to say the person's name because I'm not even going to say if it was a boy or girl because it's a really, really nice person was always friendly. So that this person comes into the school and proves themselves to be, you know, this extremely nice person who very shy and very sweet, but kind of in the popular group anyway, not that I was, but they were and really

sweet and remain so to this day. Okay. So in 1985, when we were, I think I was 26. So let me do the backstory first. So the crime happened in 1985, but when we were still in high school, we were probably sophomores in high school. This person's parents got a divorce. And I don't remember even hearing about that really. Maybe I, I mean, maybe I vaguely do, but there were no details. There was nothing. Well, it turns out that the reason that they got a divorce was that my friend's father had taken up with the babysitter who was 14. And so when she was 15 or 16, they got married. And they were married for almost nine years. They had two kids. And then in 1985, so the guy was a geologist and he was like, you know, like reasonably upper middle class, like reasonably well off. And

there was a oil boom in the late 70s. So he was making good money. And he put her through high school, college and drama school. Whoa. Oh, wait, I forgot to say when they met, she was 14 and he was 45. Okay. So in 1985, the marriage was on the rocks. They were getting a divorce. He had accused her of embezzling money from his oil exploration company that he had, whether that's true or not. I have no idea. I don't think it was. So what I heard specifically, I remember this vividly from my mother who had told me this, was that she decided that she wanted to move to New York and audition for Broadway shows because she was 25 and she had taken, you know, she went to drama school and she was doing theater locally in Oklahoma City, which honestly, like back then,

there was some good theater there. I don't know if there's still is or not, probably. Or yeah, I think there is. But it's surprisingly more than you would think. So they were about to get a divorce, but they were still living together. And on a certain morning, like in May of 1985, he took the kids out of the house in the morning. There were some workmen working around who reported this later, took these kids out and then came back to the house not too long after that. And then at around 10 a.m., he comes to the back door of the house and he yells out to the workmen, call the fire department and an ambulance. So the fire department gets there. The house is completely on fire. So they go in, they go out to the upstairs bedroom, which is completely on fire,

and they find this girl. This is like the most disturbing image in the whole thing draped over a couch. It burned over 95% of her body. The only thing not burned was a small area on the top of her head. Okay, so she's still alive. So the guy, the father of my friend, is this is my friend's father. My friend who's the sweetest, nicest person in the world. And totally quiet. And anyway, they find the father has also been burned on his arms and his chest and his face. They find the bathtub over two thirds full of water. There are bits of clothing floating in and it looks, it appears to have been used. So they get the girl to the hospital and they ask her questions. He says, so the guy, they find, you know, not right that minute, but I guess, or they found a

gas can and then they found flammable liquids on the floor and stuff. So the father of my friend says that it was suicide. Like I'm so who burns themselves. I mean, like if you're a monk and I don't know, but not people don't do that. And there are accounts of them like having fights. And she had told her father and a friend 10 days earlier that he threatened her with a gun and all this stuff. So gets to the hospital and she can't talk, but she nods yes or no. Like, was it suicide? No. Did he try to keep it? Was it, you know, your husband? Yes, all that. But then this is the craziest. So horrible and sad. She wrote with one finger. She spelled out with one finger on the bed sheet, the man's name, you know, fill in the blank, poured gas on me. And then I

wrapped in a blanket. She tried to wrap herself in a blanket to put out the fire. Oh my God. And then she died two days later. So then then the coroner's report said that he hit her on the head and then set her on fire. And then he caught on fire for a minute and put that out. And then he tried to burn the whole house down to cover it up. And he was convicted of first degree murder and arson in the first degree sentenced to life in prison. And then after about nine years in prison, he died of cancer, but he died in prison. And his sons tried to petition to get him out so that he didn't have to die in prison. But that was denied. Whoa. He so he died in 1994. Wow. I was going to say his poor kids, but just what a, what a mess. Yeah. Yeah, I don't understand how you, you know.

Yeah. Yeah, get through that or that that is somehow, because also knowing that he took the kids out, there's like a presence of mind there. Right. That's so chilling. I know, I know. And it's rare, like in Oklahoma City, because that's not the only friend of mine whose father set the house on fire with family members inside killing to killing the mother and a, and I think a brother. Oh my God, Megan. That is another person in my grade in my class of 69 people too. And then I had another friend whose father was a psycho analyst or something. And he was like supposedly performing experiments on his wife and he made her drink around your end, among other things. So it was like a crazy, wow. Wow. Never a dull moment. Yeah. For such a small school that is, that's a lot.

It's like crazy, you know. Yeah. Well, there's nothing else to do. Can I ask, was it a Catholic school? No, it was an Episcopal school, which isn't really religious at all. Yeah. Episcopals are like guitar mass. I went to Episcopal camp. It was so loosey-goosey. I was like, this is a religion for me. Yeah, it's a good one. Yeah. Karen, Karen, would I have explained something to you if it had been a Catholic school? Yeah, I don't know. I'm looking, I'm looking for answers. This is the kind of thing where it's like so awful and tragic and then it's not singular. Like that's beyond. So what's the pattern? Is there like a portal to hell in Oklahoma City? I don't know. I honestly think that, I mean, up until recently, there really wasn't very much

to do. And there weren't any good restaurants really, even or anything. So all you had to, all there was to do basically was drink and cheat on your spouse or drink and drive. I should clarify and cheat on your spouse. You know, to-go cups were, I think, legal. I mean, I don't, I just remember everybody had like booze in a to-go cup, like that you hook on your windshield of your car. I mean, the window of your, the driver's side window of your car. Yeah. So I don't know. I'm not really sure. Those drive-through liquor stores, I, I, you know, being from Southern California, the first time I saw it was I went to visit a friend in Florida and I was like, what are you talking about? And like the, that drive-through slushy alcohol.

Do you want a shot of Everclear than I was like, I'm sorry. Because you got to like manage your time, Crosley. You know what I mean? You can't just hang out some way. You can't hang out at Margaritaville. You have to get it going. That's true. Also, I've never heard of more people being sent to prison than, I don't know anybody in Los Angeles who's been sent to prison, but in Oklahoma City, there are a lot of people. And I think it's because it's an oil and gas town and people have a lot of money. I mean, hopefully not for long. I mean, I love Oklahoma City, but I'm just saying like, can't, we need to get rid of all of that and drive electric cars, et cetera. But I mean, I hope they

all find another great job that we're going to make on mine. But, you know, people live in this, you know, I don't know, there's a lot of money and that stakes are really high. And I think there was a lot of white collar crime. I mean, it's really, really crazy. Wow, that is so shocking. When did you leave Oklahoma City like right at a high school? All right. After high school. Yeah. 1977. Yeah. It was a borderline night time soap opera. I mean, like that kind of head. Totally. Like, I bet you there's, you know, if it was the 80s and people had money, I bet there's a little cocaine mixed in there too. Maybe. Yeah. Well, everybody was an alcoholic and maybe still are. I don't know. Yeah. Everybody's alcoholic. And I mean, all of my

parents, friends, my father, you know, just crazy drinking. I mean, yeah. And, you know, smoking, which that was like Mad Men, you know, Mad Men level, smoking. Yeah. With an oil derrick out the window. Like it's the same, the same thing, a different business, but this is basically the same setup. Yeah, totally. But my mom used to call it Peyton Place, which was the first soap opera back in like the 50s or something. And the cheating, the adultery was off the hook. Like you couldn't even keep track with a scorecard. I mean, it was. Wow. Yeah. Like, is it just bored? That's pure boredom, probably, right? Like, everyone's like the Wild West. Yeah. Yeah. That was just boredom mixed with alcohol. And that'll do it. And a little bit of a kind of a cowboy

sensibility, right? Like living, living for tonight. Well, I mean, yeah, I guess in that regard, yeah. But I mean, it was also the kind of thing where it was part of town where everybody was trying to be on the social spectrum, you know? So there's a lot of people with money who lived in big, you should see the houses in this part of Oklahoma City. I mean, I've never seen a neighborhood to rival, to rival it. Wow. It's insane. It is. I mean, and the lots are like, you know, four acres. I mean, they're just striking and just these big houses and yeah, so. States. Like oil, oil money, oil estate. Oil. You know, it was a lot of, but a lot of status and, you know, status seeking and social climbing and. Luckily, you got out of there and came to

Hollywood. You know, it's so funny though. Again, like all everybody we know here is so like normal. I know. Well, yeah. We don't know anybody who does drugs even. I mean, pot. Not anymore. Yeah. Right. Yeah. Not nothing. Nothing more than. Yeah. Well, I feel like it's a town of people who had the wherewithal to leave their crazy hometown immediately, you know what I mean? So it's like, well, at least it's those people congregating, the normal people from their crazy hometown that got out. Yeah. And when I first moved here when I was 26 in the 80s, it's like, if there ever was a kid who was trying to do that, trying to be Hollywood or like party a lot, we're all like, well, like they were always like, not cool. You didn't want to be around them, you know.

Well, because the most people are really serious about being here and trying to, like if you've taken the time and risen to some level to actually get here to think that you have a chance, then most people are treat what they're doing pretty seriously. And it's like, you have to go to bed 11 because I have to get up and do stuff tomorrow. Like, you know, I had to learn that. It took me a while to learn that though. Because I was like bars, 90s bars, smoking inside is my favorite. But that once I actually had a job, I was like, oh, I can't do any, I can't do anything anymore. Yeah. Yeah, there's nothing harder than working on a film or a television set. And if you have to, I mean, if it's single camera and you have to get

up at, you know, 430 in the morning and work 12 or 14 hours a day. So it's a lot. It's a lot. But it's a lot and beyond your toes. Yeah. Whoa, that's, that's not just like a passing hometown. That's like you, you're basically, your hometown is your hometown. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. It's like, take a look at Oklahoma City, everybody. It's like, we all talk about Seattle and the Pacific Northwest, but hold on a second. Turns out that's a lot to unpack. I know. I know. There are other things I could think of too, that crazy things, but yeah, just wow. That's what we're here for. Maybe you need to put together an anthology with Ryan Murphy about called like Oklahoma City. Yes. In 1981 or whatever. I know. Nobody would ever believe it. Let's get Ryan on the horn.

It's all come full circle. Yeah, for real. It always does on the celebrity hometown. Thank you so much for hanging out with us and doing this for us. It's so fun. We are huge fans. You are a fucking bright, shiny light. We love you. Joy. Oh, you guys, you too. The bright, shiny lights of murder. It feels good to get it out and just talk it through sometimes. Yay. Doesn't it? It does. It's so great to see you guys. Yeah. Hope to see you in real life soon. Yes, for sure. Yeah. We're going to do it. We're going to get it together. Yeah. We're absolutely going to. Thank you so much. Thanks Megan. Thank you. Bye. Bye. Elvis, do you want a cookie? This has been an exactly right production. Our producer is Hannah Kyle Creighton.

Our associate producer is Alejandra Keck, engineered and nixed by Andrew Ethan. Send us your hometowns at myfavoritmurder at gmail.com. Follow the show on Instagram and Facebook at myfavoritmurder and Twitter at myfavemurder. For more information about the podcast, live shows, merch, or to join the fan cult, go to myfavoritmurder.com. And please rate, review, and subscribe. Goodbye. Goodbye.