Michael McDonald Recalls Having Track in Flop Film: 'Buzzing Genitals Was Drowning Out the Song' (Exclusive)

Mar. 15, 2025

Photo:Matt Winkelmeyer/Getty

Matt Winkelmeyer/Getty

Garry Shandling and Ben Kingsley in a scene from ‘What Planet Are You From?'.Everett Collection

Everett Collection

“Of course, they needed a mechanical device for genitals,” says McDonald, who cowrote his upcoming memoirWhat a Fool BelieveswithMad About YouactorPaul Reiser“So the buzzing genitals was drowning out the song and the scene.”“That’s what every songwriter dreams of, is having their song played behind a mechanical sexual act,” Reiser, 67, adds.

Reiser, who has been friends with McDonald for years, tells PEOPLE that the idea for the memoir initially stemmed from a joke.“I sort of made a joke,” Reiser recalls. “Because I would periodically ask Mike questions I didn’t understand about the Doobies, about him, and I said, jokingly, ‘You should write a book so I don’t have to bother you all the time.’ And he jokingly said, ‘I’ve thought about it, but I don’t know how you start that.’ Given that we both had [an] enormous amount of time on our hands with nowhere to be, we said, ‘Let’s see how this goes.’”

The two started writing the book together during the pandemic, with Reiser conducting interviews over Zoom. They unearthed many stories throughout the process, in addition to theWhat Planet Are You From?soundtrack anecdote, and McDonald says that working with Reiser, who is also a writer, was a great experience.

Michael McDonald and Paul Reiser.Timothy White; Dmitry Bocharov

Timothy White; Dmitry Bocharov

“You can imagine how fortunate I must feel. Not too many people get a co-writer on a book like this, a memoir of their life, who’s a consummate actor, producer, writer, author. I feel, ‘How did that even happen?’ It’s amazing," he says.

Never miss a story — sign up forPEOPLE’s free daily newsletterto stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from juicy celebrity news to compelling human-interest stories.Reiser and McDonald have also tossed around possibilities for future projects together. One idea, Reiser jokes, is publishinghismemoir next.“Mike’s going to write my story,” he says.“No,” McDonald says. “After all the work involved in this, I told him there’s no fat chance of that ever happening.”What a Fool Believeswill be published on May 21, 2024.

source: people.com