Dave Foley is known best for his TV work in “The Kids in the Hall” and “NewsRadio”. He is currently co-starring with Kevin Dillon and David Hornsby in CBS’s new comedy “How to Be a Gentleman”. Media Mikes had a chance to chat with Dave about his new show, his work with “The Kids in the Hall” and what he has planned upcoming.
Mike Gencarelli: Tell us about your role of Jerry in “How to Be a Gentleman”?
Dave Foley: The show is created by David Hornsby. He was the writer, producer and performer in “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia”. He writes a column for men in a Maxim style magazine and I play Jerry his editor. Jerry is a man around 50, who is scared of losing his job and trying to stay relevant to his 25 year old boss.
MG: You are no stranger to comedy, how do you feel this show differs from your other comedy work?
DF: It’s actually has more similarities to shows like “NewsRadio” or “Kids in the Hall”. It is a really strong ensemble of great performers. Everyone in the cast is really funny. Behind that just like “NewsRadio”, it has a great writing staff. To me I have been very fortunate to be able to continue working with great actors and writers.
MG: Switching to sci-fi, tell us about your work on the season finale of “Eureka”, a
ny plans to come back?
DF: I was hoping to come back but they just announced they have already shot the rest of the episodes for their final season. I was a big fan of that show and was good friends with Matthew Hastings, one of the producers and directors on the show. I kept bugging him to get me a part in the show. I really wanted to be on it because I was such a fan. So about a year later, we finally made it happen…he had a script and I wasn’t busy. It was really fun.
MG: What are your feeling about Kevin McDonald and Scott Thompson going on tour this year?
DF: It’s a great show and I actually opened for them when they did the show in L.A. They are both doing stand up but then they come together throughout the show and do bits. It goes back and forth. It is hilarious.
MG: Do you ever see yourself working again under “The Kids in the Hall”?
DF: Yeah I would love to. We were trying to get a tour together for this Fall as well, but now I got this job with “How To Be a Gentleman”. But we want to keep touring with each other for as many years as we can and also more smaller “Kids” projects down the road. We definitely want to keep “The Kids in the Hall” part of our creative lives.
MG: I really enjoyed the mini-series feel for “Death Comes to Town”.
DF: It started out we were trying to come up with movie ideas. So this idea came up and Kevin (McDonald) and Bruce (McCulloch) were developing it. They came back and said it would work better as a mini-series. We had no plans of ever doing television together again, since we already did a pretty good sketch show. So we figured a mini-series with a narrative was the way to go and thought it would be fun.
MG: How do you compare doing voice work to live action work, do you prefer one over another?
DF: There are different challenges. Working with voice work it is all in your head and your relying very heavily on your director in order to know what the other actors have done, what the story is and the what are the visuals. They paint the scene in your head for you and then you have to act the best you can and make it seem real. In my case, make it funny. Unlike when you are on a movie set, you have props, other actors and sets. So it can be very different.
MG: Tell us what you like most about working on “Dan Vs.” and what can we expect from season two this October?
DF: It is really fun. A lot of the time I get to be in the studio with Curtis Armstrong and Paget Brewster. The three of us get to work together and that doesn’t usually happen with animation. I think as the show goes along Dan becomes increasingly sociopathic and dangerous [laughs]. I think 
some of the scripts are getting a little weirder and absurd as we go along, but it is keeping to the same tone. I enjoy it quite a bit.
MG: Any plans upcoming for another “Prep and Landing” special?
DF: Yes in fact, there is going to be a new “Prep and Landing” special this Christmas. Rob Riggle is going to do a voice on it also. It is a new story and it is going to be on this Christmas, so it is really exciting.
MG: You have been involved with Pixar before with “A Bug’s Life”, any truth to your involvement with “Monsters University”?
DF: Yes I am doing once of the voice, that is correct. I have already been up to San Francisco to record, so I am very excited for that.
