Bill Murray is usually down to give you a “Bill Murray moment.”

Paramount A course called Ireland wasn’t supposed to be a Bill Murray TV show, but that’s pretty much what we got – not that Tom Coyne is complaining. (Murray is, a little.)

A course called Irelandan adaptation of Coyne’s 2009 book of the same name, will premiere Sunday on Paramount+. The six-episode series, running 30 minutes per episode, is as windy as the weather on the Irish coast. Its original intention was to retrace the journey chronicled in Coyne’s best-selling book – the golf writer once traveled the island playing every golf course it had to offer – but this version of A course called Ireland has become, as Murray sullenly laments in at least one episode addressed to a director, “The Bill Murray Fucking Show.”

Murray has time for almost anyone who wants a photo – it’s the production team that takes the professional videos he’d like to take the lens off of.

“I’m heavy on the show. For an executive producer, that’s about as heavy as it gets,” Murray said. The Hollywood Reporter. “I don’t want to complain about this. That’s when I filed a complaint. It’s too late to complain.”

I’m on a Zoom call with Murray, who is wandering the streets of Boston solo after sunset, and Coyne, who is sitting in a house in the Caribbean. Wearing a bob and without a care in the world, Murray speaks kindly but frankly about making his pal Coyne’s TV dream come true.

“I thought I was going to be an executive producer who would just show up and wait for the fresh croissants and stuff, not do much,” said Murray, who has only seen the first two episodes. “If it comes down to Tom’s book, I’ll be happy – I wasn’t happy that they made it a little too much about me.”

Coyne is cool with everything. He’s probably just relieved that he finally settled on this thing after 17 years of trying. I asked him if he thought the series was being made without the carrot of marketing it as a Bill Murray golf series.

“I’m realistic. I knew that when the producer bought it, a show starring Tom Coyne wasn’t going to be produced by Skydance Sports on Paramount+ and the BBC and all those things, right? I know that,” Coyne said. THR. “So, yes, Bill was a great help to me as a guest – as we imagined – during my travels in Ireland.”

“The show, as it goes on, naturally becomes more Bill-centric. But I’m not naive as to why that’s the case. Bill is amazing, and he’s amazing on the show,” he continued. “Whether it’s Bill Murray, Charles Barkley or Shaquille O’Neal, he’s somebody. It would never have been ‘The Tom Coyne Show’.”

(For what it’s worth: Skydance, I’d still watch.)

It looks like A course called Ireland could have featured Barkley or O’Neal – or Steph Curry, or Tom Holland or anyone, really.

“Every celebrity who plays golf was raised at some point,” Coyne said.

But Murray was the one that made the most sense. He and Coyne share Irish roots and already play a lot of golf together – they even own a course together. Murray, Coyne and Jason Kelce (Coyne of Philadelphia) own the historic 9-hole Sullivan County Golf Club in the Catskills. (Kelce is one of the guests in A course called Irelandwith Chris O’Dowd and some Murray brothers.)

“Bill is the kind of friend…he cares about people and knows he can bring something important to their lives,” Coyne said.

That’s exactly what Murray did here. There (Ireland), Murray saved his best moments for the locals. There was a time when Bill Murray Moments were right up there with Chuck Norris Facts in terms of Internet lore. Today, they have almost become the expectation of an adoring public who, even more than a selfie, want a story. I asked Murray if incorporating his near-mythical encounters had turned something special into a burden.

“If you’re living properly, it’s not a burden. But if you’re stuck in something else, then yes, it’s difficult,” Murray said. “It’s like another aspect of life. Something happens, and you get attached to something – or something attaches to you – and you’re not free… to operate as you wish.”

Cell phone cameras have also stolen some of the magic. Juggling these impromptu meetings can be “a game of catch sometimes,” Murray said.

“Sometimes someone throws one at you too hard and too close, and someone throws one at you that you just can’t reach,” he explained the metaphor. “And sometimes you throw one and it hits them in the nose.”

And sometimes you get a well-deserved mini-break from still being “on.” These moments are vital for rejuvenation, especially at age 75.

Other times you’re traveling for business purposes and that’s just the way it is.

“There he is again. He’s back,” Murray recalled as he headed toward his gate. “I had gone about four days without it. I felt pretty refreshed.”

“I had a lot of energy, so I found myself having these kinds of episodes with people at airports. They’re fun,” Murray said. “It’s not always difficult. It’s just a much higher number of events than in ordinary life. The percentages are the same, it’s just that the numbers are different.”

Maybe it’s just that Bill Murray is different.

A Course Called Ireland, produced by Skydance Sports and Stellify Media, premieres Sunday on Paramount+. In the UK, the series will air on BBC Two, BBC One Northern Ireland and BBC iPlayer.