Episode published: Monday 02/02/2026
Michael: Hey everybody, welcome to another episode of Every Day is Groundhog Day (Except for the Days When It's Not), the only podcast devoted to the holiday, Groundhog Day. I'm your host, Michael, from countdowntogroundhogday.com. Well, it's Groundhog Day again. I hope you're having a great time celebrating today, however you're celebrating. At Countdown to Groundhog Day, we'll be updating our list of all of the different Groundhog Day prognosticators' predictions as they come in, so be sure to check that out. As we wind down this season of the podcast, I'm excited to release the second part of my interview with Groundhog Day actor, Stephen Tobolowsky. If you haven't listened to the first part, you should check THAT out and then check THIS out.
Michael: Could you talk a little bit about working on the set, working with Bill Murray?
Stephen Tobolowsky: I want to go from the backwards, forwards. When we did the Jeep commercial, like, many years after Groundhog Day, but redoing the Groundhog Day scene exactly, they had our same outfits, they had the same clothes still, after all those years. So, Bill and I were staying in the same hotel that night, and we met around dinnertime, and he said, 'Stephen, do you remember anything about the shooting of Groundhog Day?' I said, 'Oh yeah, Bill, I remember a lot.' And he says, 'I don't. I don't remember. To me, it was just this war that we were getting through.' You know, I said, 'Well, everything was on you.' And he says, 'Well, tell me what you remember from the shoot.' That night, I sat at the table and just told him some of these stories about what I remembered from the shoot. I think while we were shooting, there was so much on Bill, and he believed in the movie a great deal. He was always involved with every scene. There was no goofin' off, there was no nothing. I think the... [laughs] The only scene he wasn't really a boss of was when he was driving the car with the groundhog in there because that groundhog, man, it was a force to be reckoned with, and Bill was stuck in there with the beast. That was pretty hysterical. We all enjoyed those outtakes. But it was all such... Some movie shoots just have a flow to it. Groundhog Day started, stopped, and then was a war. So many scenes were being rewritten, and the ideas in it were being crystallized and redone, and we had so little time to shoot. There was this mad feeling of improvisation that went through the whole shoot. By the end, we were all just like, 'What just happened?' It wasn't like any movie I ever remember having done before, or after, or since. It was like a one-month improvisation we were doing. But certainly, Bill and Harold Ramis, and Danny's script is so good, and any changes we made with the script were all through Danny and Harold Ramis. So, nobody was at war with the piece itself, I guess I want to say, is the one thing I recall. The movie was important to everybody that was shooting it, Bill and Andie, everybody believed in it a great deal. You know, I go back to Woodstock for the last three years on Groundhog Day, and I'm going again this year. Last year, I let the groundhog out of the cage, you know, and then the professional groundhog guy picks it up and holds it. That event, when we first did it years ago, we had, you know, a couple hundred people there. Last year, when we did it, I bet you there were 5,000 people there at dawn, standing around the damn cage with the groundhog, and me saying, 'Ladies and gentlemen! The seer of all seers...' you know? And then the guy pulls the groundhog out. I was saying to myself, this is the power of art. Not the power of groundhog, not the power of fable. The reason why we went from this holiday where 200 people would get up at dawn to see what the groundhog said, to 5,000, to people, like, coming there at dawn and dancing and playing music on violins and every, this celebration, this explosion that happens in Woodstock, it's because of art, it's because of the movie, not the event. And I just keep reminding myself, the movie Groundhog Day is an example of the power of art. Yeah, the movie made a lot of money because it's a great comedy. But the reason it's a forever movie is because it is a story well told. And as humans, we like a story well told, and that is why, I think, the movie and the times will continue to grow.
Michael: So, I did want to talk about Woodstock. I was going to ask about how many times you had been there. You said you've been there the last three years?
Stephen Tobolowsky: I think the last three, and I'm coming again this year.
Michael: And you're coming this year. So, that's great. I did talk to somebody a few years back from the town, and they had very nice things to say about you. And what you said about the 5,000 people, that's just in Woodstock. I mean, Woodstock had no groundhog connection before this movie. If you talk about Punxsutawney, I think they have something like 40,000 people and growing, at that ceremony.
Stephen Tobolowsky: I've just got to say, I went to Punxsutawney one year. The Punxsutawney Groundhog Day is completely different than the Woodstock Groundhog Day. Punxsutawney happens at dawn in the woods, and it's, like, this primal sort of thing, and there's thousands of people there. It's very magical and prehistoric. Whereas in Woodstock, it's more of a celebration of the movie. You know, they do the tour of where the kid fell out of the tree, and this is where Ned walked with Bill, and this is where Bill Murray jumped off of the roof; they show all the spots of the movie. So, it has a jollier sort of feeling to it than the other, where you're in the woods. I mean, it's holy. It is amazing to go to that other Woodstock.
Michael: I was going to ask about that too. So, you said you've been to Punxsutawney. I assume it was after the movie?
Stephen Tobolowsky: Yes, yes, it was after the movie. It was awesome. But I've got to say, 4:00 a.m., I was one of the guys on stage walking with the elders. So, you know, the elders walk through the crowd, and smoke is rising from the mountain, and it's pitch black, and then there are lights and torches and stuff, and then you go on stage, and then they pull the groundhog out. [quivering, intense voice] 'Hello, groundhog! Have you seen your shadow?' Yeah, you know, it's very, very Lord of the Rings kind of thing, it's very spooky. And it gets so hushed when you have those thousands of people standing in the mountains, waiting to hear what the groundhog says. It's just amazing. So yes, that was quite amazing. And Woodstock is more like a carnival; it's more like a festival. Everybody's having a great time and laughing and joking, and it's like a tailgate party. A ton of fun.
Michael: I get asked every so often if I've ever been to Punxsutawney, and I'm like, I don't know if I have it in me to get up at 2:00 in the morning. I mean, I have this Groundhog Day website and this podcast, but I don't know, to be one of, like, 40,000 people, they're not going to let me on the stage. So, I'm like, euhhh, I'm going to go to some of the smaller ones that are closer, where, you know, I don't have to wake up at dawn and freeze. Maybe when I was younger, I probably should have done it.
Stephen Tobolowsky: Last year, I went to Chicago too. So, I did Woodstock, and we did the whole dawn thing, then I got on my chariot and went to Chicago, and right on the kind of pier thing there, we brought the same damn groundhog that was just at the Woodstock thing. Just put him in a truck, drove them to Chicago, and we had about 200 people there in Chicago. So, it's like a new thing, and everybody was gathering there, was very excited to see the groundhog seeing or not seeing his shadow.
Michael: Yeah. There, they call it Chicago Harry, I believe, right?
Stephen Tobolowsky: Something like that, yeah.
Michael: After Harold Ramis, I believe.
Stephen Tobolowsky: Something like that, yeah.
Michael: So yeah, when I talked to Danny Rubin, he mentioned he had gone to Punxsutawney before the movie, him and Bill Murray went, I think that might have been it. But he was like, yeah, there were a couple of hundred people there. It wasn't even in the thousands. So, this movie has definitely just blown this holiday out.
Stephen Tobolowsky: It's crazy. It's crazy in Woodstock. It is crazy. The celebration goes on for three days. All the bars have Groundhog Day specials, people are dancing in the street. It is just joy. Just, like, three days of absolute, reckless joy. And yeah, Punxsutawney is again a holy place, it's very kind of sacred, and again, thousands of people in a mountain at dawn. It's really amazing, amazing, but it's not a huge fest. I mean, it's not, like, raucous.
Michael: So, a few more questions, and you could stop me at any point. Have you seen the Groundhog Day musical?
Stephen Tobolowsky: Yes, I did. Yes, I did. I saw the Groundhog Day musical in Woodstock.
Michael: Okay. This past year?
Stephen Tobolowsky: Yes. I dug it. I thought they did an amazing job. [laughs] You know, I thought it had lovely songs. I saw a very good cast do it. I found it very enjoyable, very enjoyable.
Michael: I haven't seen it. I do have the cast recording, so I have kind of an idea of how it goes. Unfortunately, when it was on Broadway, I was like, 'Oh, this will run for years!' And it didn't. My kids were so young at that point that, like, trying to go to a Broadway play was an undertaking. Unfortunately, it was in and out within a couple months. So, I do hope to see it. But my understanding is, like, there's more of, you know, some of the, the minor characters kind of get a little more of a spotlight. Like, maybe Ned... I think Ned has his own song, at least a song.
Stephen Tobolowsky: A song, yeah!
Michael: So, I think that's really great, and I'm glad you did get to see it. I'm glad you liked it. Have you ever given it any thought, like, what did Ned do after that February 2nd? What does he go on to do? Have you ever given any thought, like, what's Ned's life beyond that?
Stephen Tobolowsky: Well, I think because of the scene that we all wrote together, you know, it was the greatest day of my life. I had the greatest selling thing in my life, that, for once in my life, I felt like a success. What I take away is the evolution of Ned as somebody who was always like, 'He's got cooties in high school,' to 'Oh god, not him again,' to somebody who could come home to his wife and his family and go, like, 'Honey, we made it!' So, I think the Ned story is very hopeful and very happy. It's a very happy story. So, I felt very good about that.
Michael: So, there is a wife. So, maybe there are little Neds running around as well.
Stephen Tobolowsky: Yeah! Little Neds, yeah.
Michael: All right, good to hear. I know you've said that Ned is the role that you're most recognized for. I think I've heard you say that. Is that still the case?
Stephen Tobolowsky: Pretty much. You know, a lot of times... When I was doing One Day at a Time, everybody was recognizing me from One Day at a Time because that was so great. And people recognized me all the time for The Goldbergs as the principal, you know, they recognize me for that everywhere. But I've got to say, Ned is still probably number one that people go, 'Oh my god, it's Ned.' This is an amusing story, but I think it's to your point. I've always loved playing the piano. It's because I was in love with Claire Richards when I was in first, second, third grade. She could play the piano like a genius, and she was beautiful, and all I wanted to do was play the piano like Claire. So, my whole life I've taken piano lessons, and I'm not that good. But you know, I could play a little Chopin, I could play a little Beethoven, all this. Anyway, I'm with my wife, Annie, and I see this ad in Piano magazine that Alfred Brendel is going to hold a seminar for 150 pianists from all over the world to come and study the sonatas of Beethoven. So, I said to Annie, 'Do you think I could just apply? I mean, I could apply,' and I wrote on my application. I'm an actor. I don't play the piano very well. I love Alfred Brendel, and I've been in a lot of movies.' So, they accepted me. Out of 200 people around the world, I'm accepted. So, at the end of this study, we go see the great man Alfred Brendel play at Carnegie Hall, and then we each get to go backstage one at a time to meet him. And so, I come back, and you don't shake a pianist's hand, you just go, 'That was wonderful.' And Alfred Brendel is looking at me and goes, 'Are you in my class?' And I go, 'Yes, sir.' He goes, 'But you're Ned!' And I go, 'Yes, sir.' 'You're Ned, and you're here?' [chuckles] I go, 'Well, I've always loved you, and I've always loved the piano and Beethoven, so I thought I'd give it a try. They let me in because I was Ned.' He says, 'Well, it's good to see you, Ned.'
Michael: Oh, wow.
Stephen Tobolowsky: So, Groundhog Day has opened many a door for me.
Michael: That's amazing. And if I haven't expressed it enough, it's such a great movie, one that I love so much. You know, this is something that will live on forever, and your portrayal of Ned, I was just... I don't know how much you know about the Punxsutawney lore of Punxsutawney Phil, but there's only ever been one Punxsutawney Phil. I don't know if you know that.
Stephen Tobolowsky: No.
Michael: They give him a magical elixir of life every year. So, they have this ceremony. There's the big ceremony in February, Groundhog Day, but then in the summer, they do this Groundhog Picnic. And at the Groundhog Picnic, they give the groundhog this elixir of life, I think it's made of dandelion juice or something like that, [Stephen laughs] and every sip that Phil takes gives him seven years. This is the legend. So, I was just at this ceremony. I'm not going to do the, you know, middle of winter, 2:00 a.m., but I can, I can handle 1:00 p.m. on a September afternoon. It's a much smaller ceremony. But even there, there were people quoting Ned Ryerson saying 'Bing!' and like somebody had pictures of Ned. [Stephen laughs] So, it's like, such a classic character. Very impactful.
Stephen Tobolowsky: And, you know, this I just thought of, which I got a call after Groundhog Day came out from the head of the Academy, you know, for the Academy Awards and all that. And the president of the Academy said, 'Stephen, you're not a member,' and I go, 'Well, God. No, sir. No, sir.' He says, 'Well, you are now, you're a member.' I go, 'I am?' 'Yes. Because of Ned, you are a member, officially. Thank you.' And so, because of Ned, the Academy Awards invited me to be a member, you know, to be a member of the voting Academy. I always felt that came from Groundhog Day. Magical movie.
Michael: Can we talk a little bit about the Jeep commercial? Like, how did that come about? I know you mentioned that you were talking to Bill.
Stephen Tobolowsky: I was doing, I was doing One Day at a Time at Sony Studios, and then I get this phone call, and they said that they're going to fly the whole cast out to Woodstock, and we were going to do the scene for Jeep. I'm working with Norman Lear here, and Rita Morena, and we're doing One Day at a Time. It means the world to me, doing One Day at a Time, and I said I had just heard about this, and the head of Sony says, 'Oh, I know. You're going, you're going.' And I go 'But I have-' He says, 'Don't worry about the show. You're going, you have to go and do this, and then come back and do the show. Don't worry about it. We've heard all about it. We've got all prepared. It's important for us that you do this.' So, you know, there's so much goodwill that comes with this movie that other people, you know, like the folks at Sony, who are all wonderful, all were wonderful, just were touched by the wonder of this, and making sure that I stayed in the Groundhog Day loop and didn't lose out.
Michael: Oh, that's great. So, One Day at a Time, you got four seasons. Is there any chance of that coming back, or is that kind of at this point?
Stephen Tobolowsky: I don't think so because what happens is everybody ends up doing other things. Justina is, you know, she's the key to it all; Rita is the key. You know, everybody is off doing other things or just, you know, involved in other projects now. That's the tricky thing about when you get off the merry-go-round, when you're in a studio show, is that there are other merry-go-rounds going, and a lot of them now aren't in California. So now, not only are you involved in other shows, but you're moving to another state to work. So, you know, these things are like little joys when they're like One Day at a Time, a show that's that good, and you just have to go, 'Thank God. Thank God we had it.' We had the opportunity. We had Norman Lear. We had our great directors, and we had Mike and Gloria's writers and producers. So, we just had such a great group that, you know, that doesn't happen that often. You just, you have to appreciate it.
Michael: All right, one more thing and I'll let you go. You played a character named Sandy Ryerson on Glee. If I remember correctly, you said that that's completely coincidental, that last name? Or do you not know for sure?
Stephen Tobolowsky: I don't know for sure, but I don't think it's coincidental. I think Ryan did that on purpose, you know, just to have an echo to the Groundhog Day thing.
Michael: I mean, it's not that common a last name.
Stephen Tobolowsky: No!
Michael: So, I was like, that has to be! But then I felt like I saw or heard, maybe you or maybe him, like, 'No, that's just the name the character was.'
Stephen Tobolowsky: Oh. Well, maybe that's what Ryan said, but I think, again, it's too weird of a name, and so, you know, it had to have been just a little tip of the hat to Ned.
Michael: Okay. Well, I really appreciate your time. If there's anything else you wanted to say, anything you wanted to plug... I'm sure you've got some things coming out.
Stephen Tobolowsky: I don't think so. I would say I'm lucky in that a lot of the things I've done, you could still see on Netflix and wherever they are. I'm not going to be doing any new sitcoms or anything now. I think Lopez vs Lopez has ended, and George is not doing that anymore. So, you know, I'm generally just looking at, you never know what's going to come up. I certainly have a few things still coming forward, but, you know, as you said at the beginning, I have just fallen into so much luck and love in this industry that I've been very blessed, and very happy to have had the right parts at the right time and worked with wonderful, wonderful people along the way. So, that little kid who was playing, 'Let's make movies on the street,' when I was seven, the little kid, you know, he had his dream come true when we make movies for real now. And it was just about as much fun as when we were kids. [laughs] It's about the same. Not a whole lot different except this one pays the rent.
Michael: Netflix comes to you and says, 'Limited series, A Day in the Life of Ned Ryerson.' What do you say?
Stephen Tobolowsky: Oh, well, I'd say, '[fake coughs] Of course, sir.' You know, Netflix, we had such a great relationship with all those people at Netflix, and I have a lot of respect for all of them. They were all great to us and great to work with. So yeah, if Netflix came and wanted to do the story of a little kid wanting to make movies in the street, let's play making movies, I'd say, 'Yes, sir. I will supervise and be the executive producer of that.' Yes.
Michael: Okay. Well, thanks so much for taking so much time today. I really appreciate it. If there's nothing else, I'll let you go and enjoy the rest of your Sunday.
Stephen Tobolowsky: I will. I've got a cat here to pet. You know, that takes a lot of work, it just never ends, so I'll be here. Thanks for asking. It's a great movie to talk about and a great movie to enjoy over and over again.
Michael: Thanks so much.
Stephen Tobolowsky: Bye-bye.
Michael: And that's the second part of the interview. Thanks to Stephen Tobolowsky once again for taking so much time to speak with me about his time on Groundhog Day, his career as an actor, and so much more. And thanks to you, listeners, for joining me for another season of Every Day is Groundhog Day (Except for the Days When It's Not). Hope you have a great Groundhog Day. And of course, happy birthday to Rich Sommer, Rich Sommer's wife and other family members, Shakira, Christie Brinkley, Steven Charleston, maybe, Brent Spiner, Paul Mescal, and every other Groundhog Day baby out there. Music for this show was written by the mysterious Breakmaster Cylinder. Show artwork is by Tom Mike Hill. Transcripts are provided by Aveline Malek. If you want to learn more about Groundhog Day, visit CountdownToGroundhogDay.com. Any feedback or voice messages about the show can be sent to podcast@countdowntogroundhogday.com. Thanks for listening. Talk to you next time!
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Stephen Tobolowsky: And an addendum to our earlier conversation in how to pronounce my last name. There's a story that you should know, is that I never knew how to pronounce my last name. Is it [phonetic] Tabal-aw-ski, Tabal-ow-ski, Tabla-ski? So, I asked members of my family who are no longer with us, and my uncle, Nathan, said, 'Well, you could say whatever you want because it's not really your name anyway.' And I was going, 'What? It's not my name.' No, no, no, no! See, grandfather came over from Poland to the United States in, like, 1870s, 1880s, around in there, and he immigrated not through Ellis Island, but through Galveston, Texas. And the man guarding Galveston, Texas, said, 'And who are you?' And my grandfather said, in his Yiddish way, 'I'm Abram from Tobolsk.' And the guy couldn't understand what he was saying and just thought, instead of saying, 'I'm Abram from Tobolsk,' he says, 'Okay, well, from now on, you're Abram Tobolosky.' So, our last name really isn't Tobolosky, but that was just the guard at the border of Galveston, Texas, christened my grandfather, and here I am today.
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Transcribed by Aveline Malek.