Comic Jon Lovitz recalls sitcom days with 'genius' Joe Rogan in the '90s, says he's always been 'very honest'
Back when actor and comedian Jon Lovitz worked with Joe Rogan on a 1990s sitcom, he could tell the current podcast giant had the potential to be massive someday.
In an exclusive interview with Fox News Digital, Lovitz reminisced on working with Rogan on the set of NBC's "NewsRadio," saying that back then, he could tell the young UFC aficionado and small-screen actor had some serious talent and drive that would one day make him the top podcaster.
"I knew him 20 years ago. He's like a genius, you know, he's really, really smart. And he's also very, very opinionated. But his opinions are, you know, highly informed." Lovitz praised Rogan as "very articulate and… very honest."
Decades before "The Joe Rogan Experience" was the number one podcast in the world and one of, if not, the most influential platforms in media, Rogan was an up-and-coming actor who played Joe Garrelli on "NewsRadio," which aired for five seasons between 1995 and 1999.
The character is a handyman/electrician who is often coming up with his own homemade gadgets and seen spouting off conspiracy theories to his fictional coworkers at WNYX radio station, the sitcom's setting.
Legendary comedian and actor, Phil Hartman, also starred on the show, which was his first major TV role following his stint on "Saturday Night Live." Hartman played the fictional station's on-air anchor, Bill McNeal, for the show's first four seasons until the actor was murdered in 1998.
Hartman's "SNL" colleague, Lovitz, joined the "NewsRadio" cast following the actor's death, replacing the McNeal character as the fictional show's new on-air anchor, Max Lewis. During the fifth and final season of the show, Lovitz got to know Rogan, telling Fox News Digital that the actor had the budding talent and interests that made him into the household name he is today.
Lovitz, the co-host of his own comedy podcast alongside actress Charlotte McKinney, titled "What Do They Know?", acknowledged that Rogan has the "biggest" podcast today and explained why he believes he's earned it.
"He reads a lot and looks at everything, and he's a very interesting guy," the comedian said, also mentioning that he observed Rogan's fascination with the UFC take off.
The podcast host started working at the UFC as a backstage interviewer in 1997, while he was starring on "NewsRadio." Over the years, he became a co-commentator for the league and remains so today.
"And so he started doing his podcast, and I think around the same time he started doing the UFC. And I ran into him, I say, 'That was so smart of you to do the UFC,'" Lovitz said, recalling how he praised Rogan for making what the comedian thought was a savvy business venture.
However, Rogan told him it wasn't as much of a calculated business move as it was him simply leaning into one of his favorite pastimes.
"And he goes, 'No, I just' – the UFC wasn't huge when he started doing his podcast – he goes, 'I just did it, and then it kinda happened.'"
"And I think that's one reason why his thing is doing so good. He doesn't hold back, you know? He says what he really thinks," Lovitz added.
The comedian, who started doing standup after his stint on "SNL" in the late '80s, said that kind of honesty is the key to the connection between an audience and a standup comic.
"And so, even in standup comedy, that also happens. If you say how you really feel about something, all of a sudden the audience is dying laughing, and you realize, 'Oh they feel that way too. It's not just me."
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