Bob Odenkirk is known best for his role in “Mr. Show” and “Breaking Bad”. Bob has recently released his new pilot on Adult Swim called “Let’s Do This!”. Media Mikes had a chance to chat with Bob about his new pilot and it’s chances to have the show turn into a series.
Mike Gencarelli: How did you originally come up with the idea for “Let’s Do This!”?
Bob Odenkirk: I played Robert Evans on “Mr. Show” and also on “The Bill Maher Show”. I loved his air of confidence and swagger. I find that guy funny and I like playing him. I think there is more life to a guy like him. This guy is a hybrid of him and some other people I have played. The other inspiration I had was from a movie I love called “American Movie”. I love people making movies especially those small companies with not much money but with a dream where people are sort of giving their time freely. It’s easy to discount or write those people off but the fact is everybody in Hollywood is on a continuum with those people. It’s not like there are legitimate people in Hollywood and then illegitimate people. We are all illegitimate. We are all just making it up. Even the people with lots of money and big companies behind them are doing that. Look at that film “John Carter”. That film was a massive bust! There was a very respected director driving that thing. He is a really smart guy who was working really hard. I am sure probably having years to work on it and think about it he thought it was going to be great. I am sure he had to tell lots of people, lots of times that this film was going to be great. Who is he when you compare him to Cal Gold? He is the same! In this case his dream is just as looney.
MG: Can you tell us about the road to getting it aired on Adult Swim?
BO: We made the show and while doing so it evolved. During the course of editing we found that the real fun lay in the crew that I put together. This included Fortune Feimster and John Ennis. The real fun was back stage shooting the movie. That part of the show was kind of improvised and put into a later edit. I don’t know how Adult Swim feels about it as a show? Obviously it didn’t go to series. Well at least not yet. We sat and thought about it for awhile and I just wanted them to show it to people and give everyone a chance to watch it. What happened was we showed the short at a benefit and there were kids in the audience. We showed just the Harry Potter film and not the story around it and, they loved it! Watching it with the audience I thought people would really like it. I called Mike at Adult Swim and asked if he would run it and he said yes. What happens next? I don’t know. Mike Lazzo remains the coolest executive in Hollywood. I am not just saying that to kiss his ass. Most executives wouldn’t show the show if it didn’t go. They would not want people to see it because if they liked it then they would look bad for not ordering it to series already. There would be this embarrassment factor. Mike said to just let people see it. I don’t know what will happen next.
MG: Is there anything fans can do to help?
BO: I don’t know. Maybe just continue to like the show and talk about it. They could write a comment about wanting more to be made. I don’t know how often they read comments like that. I think that positive feedback helps and will probably make the executives at Adult Swim see that there is maybe life in the show. The other part is my job. I want to do the character again as I really like him. I started tweeting as Cal Gold. Honestly I really think the next part is for me to approach Mike Lazzo and Adult Swim with some ideas of what we could do next if he wanted to. I want to approach him with something more interesting than just a series. I would to give him some really specific episodes of what we would like to prank on and what movies are coming out in the next year. I want to give him a really targeted idea of what we want to do then allow him to make a decision from there.
MG: Do you currently have any other scripts written?
BO: We do. We have a lot of stuff we have written. This is all part of a process that I am discovering. This show was basically set aside as we thought that we had done it and it didn’t make it on the air. Now we are starting to see that there might be other things we could do with the show. I don’t know if we would go back to the scripts that we had so much than to think of new ways to make the most of it. The thing I keep getting comments on is the scene where we are shooting in a parking garage and Paul Rust has to lose the car and, he is kissing my ass. People really liked that part. I think I would look to create episodes that would allow us to create and make that crazy stuff happen. Watch the show, give it a lot of hits and if you like it say so. That’s all anyone can really do. It’s up to me to pitch a journey for it.
MG: Have you ever considered doing the show as a web series?
BO: Yes! I absolutely would. I have “Breaking Bad” starting up so there is that aspect to things as well. I don’t have maybe as much time as other people to do shows. I have to have something that is within my abilities to do. That will be part of me re-thinking things now that it has been shown. I am thinking a show an episode would have Cal talking to the camera and we get out with the crew shooting. Then we would have a trailer for something. I really want to have fun with movies that are set to come out.
Click here to view Bob’s latest pilot “Let’s Do This!” on AdultSwim.com
To follow Bob’s character Cal Gold on Twitter go to @CalGoldberg