John Mulaney says Werner Herzog and David Lynch both passed on Everybody’s In L.A.

John Mulaney’s recent live Netflix event series Everybody’s In L.A. was, if nothing else, a pretty singular expression of the comedian’s interests: Local television, comedy, the endlessly garrulous anxieties of the great Richard Kind. Mulaney hasn’t talked in any serious way yet about whether he might someday try to recreate his experimental blend of talk show, variety series, and just sheer local access weirdness—demurring about whether the show could be recreated in another city, potentially—but he has revealed at least a few “No”s he got while casting the thing: Directors David Lynch and Werner Herzog, both of whom passed on appearing on the series, to what is now, instantly, our enduring regret.

Per Deadline, Mulaney says both directors passed on appearing on the program in ways that were “nice,” but also extremely accurate to their particular brands: Herzog asserted “I have to keep away from the comedians.” (Possibly, if we might theorize, because the man is aware of how easily his whole public persona could tip over into self-parody if he isn’t careful with it.) Lynch, meanwhile, gave basically the perfect response: “I don’t understand what this is. I’m working on new art and I have to keep my eye on the donut.”

It’s not like Mulaney didn’t still fill out a pretty insane roster of talent for the show, including buddies Bill Hader and Pete Davidson, Jerry Seinfeld, David Letterman, our close personal friend John Carpenter, and also a whole bunch of local Los Angeles experts in the various things Mulaney gets periodically obsessed with. We’re still not entirely sure how successful the project was overall—it was both interesting and hideously messy pretty much by design—but we can’t let ourselves get distracted by that; we must keep our eye on the donut at all times.