Photo Credit: Anchor Bay Entertainment

AnnaLynne McCord is known best for her role in the CW series “90210”, playing the role of Naomi Clark. She is also known for the role of Eden Lord on the FX series “Nip/Tuck”. Last year she delivered a fantastic role in the terribly disturbing horror film “Excision”. This year, she returns to the horror/thriller genre again with the film “Scorned”, which co-stars Billy Zane. Media Mikes had a chance to chat with AnnaLynne about her roles and what we can expect from her in TNT’s “Dallas” this season.

Mike Gencarelli: After “Excision” last year and now “Scorned”, what do you enjoy most about playing these kinds of twisted characters?
AnnaLynne McCord: Doing “Excision” was a dream role for me. It was incredible in its own right. So when “Scorned” came down the pipeline and it sounded like a similar character but it had more of that campy Friday-night-fun-horror deal to it. It was one of those films that we didn’t think it was going to come together until the 11th hour. Literally, I was doing a film in Vegas and I was heading to the airport not knowing if I was going back to LA or heading to Ohio. When I got to Ohio, I was shocked at how much of a small town it was. I was wondering if I flew had overseas since there was no cell reception in the entire town. I had to drive over the bridge, which literally brought me into Kentucky in order to get service. Who can be without their cellphone these days, it’s terrifying. We need to make a horror movie about that [laughs].But it was a very fun film to shoot and we kept it light.

MG: How was getting to beat the shit out of Billy Zane?
AM: Yeah, I enjoyed that. I enjoyed that perhaps too much [laughs].

MG: The film is quite brutal; was it difficult performing the torture scenes?
AM: When we really went there with some of these scenes, I learned the difference between filming and reality. Even when I saw the first screener, when I go to hobble Billy’s ankle, it was crazy thinking that I did that. I know I hit a log underneath his foot. I know I didn’t actually hit him but watching it was tough. It was still fun though. The cool thing about being a crazy sadistic character is that you get to be a nice person in real life. I get all of my anger out on other people…and I get paid for it [laughs].

MG: How do you get inside of the head of characters like Sadie?
AM: It is a very interesting transition for me. Obviously, I don’t do around torturing or murdering people otherwise you would be talking to me from a prison cell right now [laughs]. So there is a bit of embellishment. The key for playing any role is you have to decide for yourself before the project begins that you have absolutely no judgment over that character. That way you are able to look back and understand their psyche. As an actor you have to put on their shoes and have full acceptance of what they are doing and think “If I was her, why does my entire environment depend on me doing this”. It is interesting to think about a character who is doing something that is evil and have to look at them with empathy and compassion in order to get inside of them and be who they are. So that is really the process for actors, if they are good actors [laughs], to prepare when playing a role like Sadie.

MG: What drew you to work on the TV show “Dallas”?
AM: I think it has to be the storytelling. I know one of the showrunners, Mike Robin, from my work on “Nip/Tuck”. He called and link up again for “Dallas”. The showrunners sat down with me and explained the arc for the character and told me that their focus on the show was to tell stories. They wanted to have real genuine storytelling. For me, I thought it was so nice to hear. It was a nice transition for me as well between films and getting to tip-toe back into TV. I really loved that the fact that writers were so committed to have great storytelling.

MG: What can we expect from your character Heather this season?
AM: It was cool because for once I get to play a nice girl. She is a strong female role. The dynamics between her character and Christopher is really fun. She comes on strong like a tornado and hurricane all wrapped into one. So her energy is definitely a force to be reckoned with. I think that that dynamic is something that Christopher really likes about her. He is in this family that lies to everyone all the time and he has this one “creature” that comes in saying [in Southern accent] “I am going to tell you so much of the truth; you won’t be able to handle it”. He finds a way to handle it and it really becomes this great dynamic. I just finished wrapping up the season with episode 10, so it has been great. I can’t wait for everyone to see it.

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You might know him by the name Jesse “The Body” Ventura or Governor Jesse Ventura, the former pro-wrestler and Minnesota governor has a new online TV series on Ora.TV called “Off the Grid”,a daily political news show, starting January 27th, 2014. If you want to know what happens when the mainstream media is owned by the corporations and isn’t diligently investigating or reporting the news? Then you are going to want to turn in to this show at www.ora.tv/offthegrid. Media Mikes had a chance to ask him a few questions about the show and about the rumors of him running for President in 2016.

Mike Gencarelli: Tell us what we can expect from your online TV series “Off the Grid”?
Jesse Ventura: Tune in to find out! Every episode will feature news you won’t hear anywhere else. Mainstream media is too focused on entertainment. We hear more about when an actress trips in a dress during an award show than the fact that the majority of Congress only works three days a week. The main focus of my show is the hypocrisy of America’s political leaders – nothing and no one is off limits. I am “Off the Grid” in the sense that I don’t have anyone telling me what to report or how to report. All I am interested in reporting is the truth.

MG: How did you end up getting involved with Ora.TV?
JV: Through Larry King. After I went on Larry’s show [Politicking] he told me that Ora TV gives him the freedom to report what he wants and that greatly appealed to me.

MG: What do you think the benefits are of working in internet TV?
JV: My show is being produced at undisclosed locations in Mexico, so I can avoid any threats of government censorship. That’s the true benefit of internet TV. I give the people the news they want to hear and I don’t have to worry about corporations or big brother getting in the way and censoring me.

MG: Tell us how you plan to interact fans on social media like Facebook and Twitter?
JV: The show will have several features which will allow me to answer questions from Facebook and Twitter fans. There will be an #AskJesse segment where I’ll answer any questions fans have and they’ll also be able to suggest questions to ask my upcoming guests too. There’s more information about this on my blog: http://OffTheGridBlog.ora.tv

MG: Can you talk to us about the rumors of you running for President in 2016?
JV: I’ll be addressing those rumors on my show, but again, running for president as an independent comes down to two things: ballot access in all 50 states and participation in the debates. Like I say, if I can debate ’em, I can beat ’em.

Here is some Media Mikes exclusive content from “Off the Grid”

Here is the first episode of “Off the Grid”

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Here is a teaser video for FX’s highly anticipated new series, “THE STRAIN”, which premieres July 2014 only on FX. The series is based on the book of the same name by Guillermo del Toro and Chuck Hogan.

It stars Corey Stoll, David Bradley, Kevin Durand, Mía Maestro, Jonathan Hyde, Richard Sammel, Javier Botet, Miguel Gomez, Natalie Brown, Jack Kesy, Sean Astin, Robert Maillet, Francis Capra and Melanie Merkosky

Karl Pilkington is known best for his work with Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant. He has worked on shows like “An Idiot Abroad” and “Derek”. His latest show “The Moaning of Life” has him traveling yet again all over the world on a journey of self-discovery. The new series premieres on The Science Channel on Saturday Jan 18 at 10pm EST. Media Mikes had a chance to chat with Karl about his new show and what we can expect.

Mike Gencarelli: After the second season of “An Idiot Abroad”, you said “no more traveling” then you came back for a short (no pun intended, sorry Warwick) third season and now you are off on adventures again with “The Moaning of Life”; what was the driving force for this new series?
Karl Pilkington: I suppose the fact that I had turned forty and have not gone the route a lot of people normally go by this point in their lives. Most people are married with kids by my age but I’ve never fancied. People have said to me ‘Oh you’re going to regret not having kids’ but then what if I did have one and then regret it. There’s always two sides isn’t there. They say ‘it’s life changing’, but so is losing a leg. So I traveled the world to see how other countries treat these big decisions in life. The other reason I did it is I have to pay my bills and it’s a way of making money.

MG: Some of the topics you cover are “Marriage”, “Happiness”, “Kids”, “Vocation and Money” and “Death”; which of these were the most eye-opening or life changing experience for you?
KP: They all had there moments but the death episode was mad. It’s probably the most interesting thing I’ve ever done and will never forget. I had never been to a funeral so the one I went to in Ghana was to be my first. I ended up getting really involved and helped make up a woman called Comfort. I also visited a cemetery in Manila where the bodies are given a grave for five years. After that five years the lease needs to be extended, if the family don’t wish to pay the money or don’t have it to extend the lease the body has to be removed to make way for a new dead body. I walked around the cemetery like a traffic warden inspecting the dates before finding one that had to be moved. I helped chisel away at a tomb and popped the remains in a bag that would then be passed onto family.

MG: How has it been working with The Science Channel for the second time now after “An Idiot Abroad”?
KP: They’re okay. I got some good chocolates from them for Christmas. Massive it was. Like a bargain bucket from KFC full of chocolates.

MG: What was your biggest challenge that you experienced during this series in “The Moaning of Life”?
In the episode about “Happiness” I met with the Raramuri in Mexico who are a tribe who can run long distances and get happiness from it. Some have been known to run for 48 hours. I ran about 25 miles. I ended up winning a goat for my effort which I thought was a nice gift until it kept me awake all night bleating outside my tent. I set it free the next day as I think I’d have had problems taking it home. it’s not something you could class as hand luggage is it.

MG: Was it relieving to travel without being told what to do by Ricky and Stephen?
KP: Yeah it was a lot different. I enjoyed my travels a lot more. I stayed in hotels that had their own toilet this time. Proper luxury.

MG: After the events in the Philippines last year, did it make you reflect differently on your time spent there?
KP: No. A bad situation is bad no matter if you’ve visited it or not. Most places I’ve visited have had some kind of natural disaster at some point.

MG: Tell us about how the show translates into your latest book “The Moaning of Life: The Worldly Wisdom of Karl Pilkington”?
KP: The book is the hardest thing I do, but it’s the thing I’m always most proud of. It’s a chance to empty all my thoughts of my travels which there isn’t always time for in the TV program. I go away for around nine days and what happens is then crammed into forty five minutes. I suppose the TV program is like a postcard where there is little space to tell the full story, so lot’s of things happen that the viewer doesn’t get to hear about so it all goes in the book.

MG: Is a second series in the cards for “The Moaning of Life”; if not what do you have planned next?
KP: I want to spend some time at home. I haven’t had time to unpack properly yet. A few jobs on the house need doing. I need to repaint the chimney and a few window frames so that will keep me busy for a while. Let’s see if people enjoy watching it, if they don’t there will be no more. There’s another good thing about not having kids, there’s less pressure on earning money.

Nick Swardson is probably best known for his role in “Grandma’s Boy” and cameo appearances in numerous Happy Madison films, but a quick look at his career shows that he’s an incredibly busy guy. For people who aren’t familiar with Swardson’s work, he started doing stand-up at age 18 and since then has gone on to produce, write and act. Die hard fans have known this for years that he’s constantly writing, acting and working on fresh material for his stand-up. Media Mikes had the chance to catch up with Nick and ask him about the numerous TV and movie projects he’s been working on for 2014, as well as a new comedy special.

Jeremy Werner: It looks like you got a busy year ahead of you…especially this month. Let’s start off with “Back in the Day” which comes out on January 17th. How did you land the role of Ron?
Nick Swardson: Michael Rosenbaum, the director/writer, is a buddy of mine and he just called me up and he’s like, “Man I got this passion project I’m doing. It’s low budget. We have no money.” He goes, “It’s a great character. You’ll kill it. We’ll shoot in Indiana. It’d be fucking great to have you.” So he sent me the script and I thought it was a really funny character and it was something different than what I’ve done in the past. Ya know, it wasn’t a crazy character. It was a grounded, real dude. So I was pretty stoked. So as a favor to Michael too, I wanted to help him out. So I did it.

JW: Was there anything you had to differently than in past roles?
NS: It was just a lot more understated. I didn’t have to come in to the scene and be insane. This role is also based on a real guy so I was kind of interested to play a real dude…and I talked to Michael a lot about what this guy was like. So it was fun to play a real person.

JW: Was it a role that he had you in mind for the entire time he was writing it?
NS: He had the script for like 10 years. He had it for a long time. So I don’t know who he had initially envisioned, but he called me first.

JW: Now also this month, you have a big release on TV. “Chozen” premieres January 13th on FX and you play Troy. What can you tell us about that character?
NS: Troy plays Chozen’s nerdy, minion friend. He kind of saves him from bullies and so they become pals. Chozen shows him this whole world of sex and drugs. It’s pretty funny. The show’s pretty crazy..it’s one of the craziest things I’ve done and I’ve done a lot of crazy shit. Working with Danny McBride is awesome. His company is amazing. I love all the “Eastbound and Down” guys…it’s FX, so they really push the envelope.

JW: As a comedian, does voice acting provide you a lot of opportunities to improvise or are you restricted?
NS: No. I’m never restricted in anything I do. I only do projects where I can bring a lot to the table. I use to get fired just because I improvised a lot. It’s the main thing I do, I love improvising.

JW: I’ve read that usually in voice acting, you’re just kind of in a booth on your own. Who were you able to bounce jokes and ideas off of with your character?
NS: Usually you’re all alone…you’re just sitting in a booth and the producers are in the other room, so you just kind of run with it. They’ll give you a thumbs up if it’s good or they’ll do the heads up and tell you if it works. They’ll just feed you ideas…but it’s a great gig.

JW: Later this year you’ll also be voicing a character in the animated movie, “Hell & Back”. You actually voiced a character in the kid’s movie “Bolt”, but based on the premise I was reading…this is not a kid’s movie.
NS: (Laughs) Yeah, that’s pretty insane. It’s stop motion, so it looks like a kid’s movie. So if a kid saw it on TV he’d be like, “Oh! I wanna see this!” But it’s a hard, hard ‘R’. That’s another project that me and Danny McBride are both in with TJ Miller and Mila Kunis. It’s a great cast and that one’s gonna be really awesome. We’re finishing that up this week. I’ve got like one more record session…we’re really excited about that.

JW: Now with all these projects, are you working on any comedy specials this year?
NS: Yeah, I’ve been developing for the last two years, a new hour special and a new tour. So we’re looking to tour in the Spring…early Summer. Shoot the special maybe sometime in the Summer. It’s definitely in the works. It’s been a long time coming, but I’m really excited..it’s coming together really well.

JW: Anything you can tell us about it?
NS: It’s just more stories, drinking jokes and it’s nothing too out of the box. I’m not all of a sudden really political. If you’re a fan of mine, you’ll be happy with it. The new hour’s going really well. I think the title of it is gonna be, ‘Taste It’.

JW: I know last year you were talking about a show you were working on called “Bro-Sassin”. How is that coming along?
NS: Bro-Sassin’s done. It didn’t fly. The network just didn’t get it. They thought it was gonna be too expensive…so they kind of backed off it, which bums me out, man. I wrote the pilot and it was really funny. People loved it, I’m gonna save the idea for a movie. I sold a new show to FX. My own show with the director of “Grandma’s Boy” and Danny McBride’s producing it. It’s called “Game On”. It’s like the office of a video game company…so we’re developing the pilot right now.

JW: Does that have any connections to “Grandma’s Boy”?
NS: Not really.

JW: Looks like you got a lot of stuff going on, is there anything else you’re working on for later this year?
NS: A lot of it depends on the pilot with FX and shooting that, seeing if we get picked up. That’s the primary focus right now. I’m developing two other feature scripts. So if this FX pilot grows, I’m gonna jump into an idea I sold to Sandler and Happy Madison and I’ll hopefully write that next Fall and start developing that.

PJ Byrne is known best for his scene stealing roles in films like “Final Destination 5”, “Horrible Bosses” and most recently in Martin Scorsese’s “The Wolf of Wall Street”. He is also the voice of Bolin in Nickelodeon’s hit animated show “The Legend of Korra”. PJ is not only a great actor but also a great personal friend and Media Mikes got to chat with him about about his role in “The Wolf of Wall Street” and his new show on CBS “Intelligence”, which premieres on January 7th.

Mike Gencarelli: Tell us about how you got involved with “The Wolf of Wall Street”?
PJ Byrne: Having gone to Boston College as finance major, this was one of those movies that I had been tracking for a while. I wanted to make sure that I got an audition for this film. Mr. Scorsese wasn’t going to be at the auditions and they would be held in New York not Los Angeles, so I decided to put myself on tape and improvise my own monologue. So I came up with this monologue with me calling up a guy and finding out that he passed away from his wife and I end up selling her like $100,000 dollars’ worth of stock, just to show how manipulative these guys where. Mr. Scorsese saw it, loved it and asked me to come out to New York to audition. So I went there and was freaking out but he is just the coolest guy there is man. He put me at ease, I improvised some more and next thing I know I am in the movie and for the part I wanted, which was even better.

MG: What was it like working a legendary director like Martin Scorsese?
PJB: It was a really special experience. He is this great iconic director that if you are lucky you get to work with as an actor. The thing with these iconic directors is that they are also great communicators. They give you the confidence to go out and do anything you want but at the same time they also prepare you so well during that process. At the end of the day, he realized that he wasn’t in from of the camera we were and he just let us do our thing. That was the greatest gift that he could give. The trust he gave me and confidence he gave me to sort of unleash because a lot of the things I did was improvised, which is a scary world in its own but I have been doing it for a while now. It is also scary in the sense that these guys are extremely unethical and crazy guys, so I have to leave PJ at the door and go in and become this character.

MG: How can you address the reactions about people saying that the film is glorifying these characters?
PJB: You want people in America to know how bad these guys are, so you want really get into these characters and portray them correctly. So if anyone ever calls you on the phone, be aware since these people are out to get your money. This is a great way to tell people to be very aware and to raise your radar and in this film, we do it in an interesting way. Removing the fact that this is an artistic movie, we really break down what these guys are doing and how they are taught to sell. Not saying that all guys that sell you stocks are bad but this movie is aimed to raise your awareness to watch and realize who is handling your money. If I learned anything in college is that, first, there is no such thing as a free lunch and second, no one cares more about your money than you do. I think it is important for people to watch this movie so it is seared into their brain.

MG: How does it feel to be called a “scene stealer” in your films?
PJB: I guess it is flattering to be called that but I do not go into a scene thinking that I am going to steal this scene. I think it is a lot of preparation, especially when you are improvising. I did all my work and I know my character. If you wanted me to sell a cupcake, I was so prepared for this guy and I could have sold anything in that moment, using “Wolf” as an example. So that is one thing, the other is coming armed with not necessarily jokes but different approaches to the role. Let’s say I prepared like twenty things and I only use two, I am still fully armed and ready. The third piece of preparing is being ready to roll with it and see where any of it goes. What you prepared might not be useful at all since the director and actors might be thinking about something else. But since you know the character so well, you are ready to go any which way. In the film, there is a bunch of stuff that I prepared for and then there are other parts we just went with. I had no idea that Jonah (Hill) was going to do the part of “Don’t look him in the eyes” and we ended up just riffing off that. I had that horrible line the first time that we see Margo (Robbie) and the line that came out of my mouth even scared me, which was “She is so hot, I would let her give me AIDS”. As horrible as that line is that is exactly who these guys were though. It is inappropriate because the time period is inappropriate with AIDS but is something that is going to stick in your head. This goes back to the idea of glorifying them; this was there to show that these are bad dudes and to be wary of them. So it is not just about scene stealer, it is about being prepared when going into a role.

MG: Let’s talk about your new TV show on CBS called “Intelligence”, tell us what we can expect?
PJB: After doing “The Wolf of Wall Street” and I have done a lot of comedies, you can’t plan this but I have always thought in the back of my head that I would love to do a drama. This came along and everything worked out and I feel just blessed to be a part of it. Everyone involved is really cool and I love the premise. This show is great mixture of “Homeland” meets “The Bourne Identity”. Being a guy that loved watching James Bond as a kid and in this I get to be the Q character a bit was very appealing. I also have this family relationship since Josh’s character who is considered a brother to me and having that conflict there was also interesting.

MG: Can you give us a run down about your character, Nelson Cassidy?
PJB: I am a computer genius in the show. I can do anything that Josh’s character can do on the computer…except he can do it 1.6 billion times faster because he has a microchip in his brain. So that is very annoying to me. My father created this chip and Josh’s character and he looks to him as his own son as he is a brother to me…except Josh is incredibly handsome and I am not as good looking, so that is a point of contention. I can get into fights but he is a trained Delta Force guy, so he can kick ass better than me…and that is annoying. So there is a lot of that brotherly jealously going on if you will [laughs]. But he is my brother and I have his back and we are always there for each other and that is a cool part of the show. When you have that family aspect when working on a show and you play a scene with a person you know or a co-worker you have to be more delicate. But when it involves your brother you can go from 0 to 10 right away and to me that is much more interesting. Another aspect of the character that I love is that I am not just behind a computer; I actually get to be put into the field. I had to shoot guns, save people and pull bombs out of bodies, so it is awesome from that perspective. The last aspect that I loved about the show is that I am like the person at home watching being thrown into this world where Josh’s character is the complete opposite and trained to be in this world. Meghan Ory’s character Riley is Secret Service, so she is also trained to be in this world. Same goes for the character Lillian, who is played by Marg Helgenberger. I just happen to be this super genius and by default I was just thrown into this world. So I do not know how to be a “super-agent” and I had to slowly transition into it and I found that to be a lot of fun to play out.

MG: What else do you have going on for 2014?
PJB: I’ve got this show right now. So this is the first time that I haven’t had to do pilot season, which is a little scary but still comforting. I get to go off now and go into the movie world. I got something brewing but I can’t say officially yet. I have a little window now to shoot something because if the show gets picked up then we go back to work in June. Then I still have “The Legend of Korra”, which is coming back for its third season and let me tell you…it is awesome! We are currently doing ADR and I have seen it all and fans are going to freak out since it’s that good. I am so proud to be a part of that show. So for now be sure to tune in to “Intelligence” on CBS and watch out for some other great projects in the works this year.

On Monday January 13th, FX will debut its animated comedy, Chozen from the creators of Archer and Eastbound and Down. Chozen stars Bobby Moynihan as the eponymous openly gay rapper who’s fresh out of a ten year prison sentence and looking to make it big on the music scene while getting revenge on those who put him in the slammer. I got to catch up with stars Moynihan and Method Man along with creator Grant Dekernion and executive producer Tom Brady at this year’s New York Comic Con.

Bobby Moynihan (this writer’s favorite Saturday Night Live cast member) was eager to join the cast of the show,  “I got the thing that said ‘do you want to put yourself on tape for this?’ where I had the drawing of all the characters and I saw—I was a big Archer fan—so I saw that and it was just like ‘I want to do this.’…I called my agents every single day. Like 9 o’clock in the morning, ‘hey found anything out about Chozen?’” This isn’t to say Moynihan identifies with the brash character, “he just says and does whatever he wants…he walks in the room, his sister’s having sex with somebody and he’s just like, [dropping into Chozen’s voice] ‘Ooh, you havin’ sex? Good for you!’ He’s just pumped about things. I feel like I would be like ‘Oh my god, I’m so sorry! I apologize!’ And then never talk to my sister again…Just everything he’s thinking is just out there.” The comedian did add a personal touch to how he sees Chozen spending his time in jail though. “In my mind he just spent a lot of time aggressively going after taking what he wanted and just watching Lost…I keep saying it so hopefully it will come out. I’m a weird Lost nerd…I want to do a whole episode where it’s just him in jail watching Lost.” Would Chozen then have enjoyed that drama’s finale? “YES. YES” Moynihan says emphatically of his cartoon alter ego before adding, “It was perfect, I truly loved it.”

Moynihan is also a talented improvisational comedian, notably appearing recently on IFC’s Comedy Bang! Bang! as murderous orphan Fourvel (it’s one less than Fievel). “I didn’t really have much other than the name [and] that one joke” Moynihan says, “Just being able to improvise with Scott [Aukerman] and Paul F. Tompkins was a blast.” Fortunately we’ll get to hear Moynihan improvise in Chozen as well—“I feel very very lucky. It’s a lot of fun improvising and a lot of ‘oh my god, that was crazy, don’t use that…I don’t want the people to hear the fact that I said those things!”

Method Man plays Phantasm, the villainous ex-band mate of Chozen who was responsible in setting up the drug bust that puts Chozen behind bars. The rapper maintains that the sleazy voice he lends to Phantasm “comes from a family member named Daddio…you know, he smokes these backwoods cigars and it’s gotten to the point where his voice is so low you can’t even hear him!” Despite his background however, Method Man maintains he’s not behind the musical writing of the series “since I’m playing a character and not Method Man, no, I will not” although he’s not ruling it out adding, “if they gave me a shot to, maybe.”

 Behind the songwriting, and singing voice of Chozen is creator Grant Dekernion who was asked if we can expect more musical acts to come on the show in the future, he explained: “Obviously we got Method Man which blew my mind—and that’s definitely helped us open doors. You know, we’re hoping later this season we might see some more musical acts, I think once the show comes out and people get behind it and see what it’s about, that’s definitely something we can play with in the future. But I think just a lot of people are just curious to see it.”

Both Dekernion and executive producer Tom Brady are particularly excited to be creating the show for the FX network. “Been doing this a little while and you know, I’ve been part of shows that have been on networks and different cable shows and stuff and this is the right show for the right network” says Brady. “The content, the subject matter, FX seems to invest in voices. In this case, Grant’s, from his brain. And if they buy into it, they support it, they let you grow and they nurture it.” Other FX hits include It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia and The League. Of the creative teams behind those shows, Brady adds “we’ve heard them talk about how supportive FX has been and them finding what identity those shows have, so that’s been kind of cool for us to think ‘hey, maybe we could be like that.’”

Check out Chozen Monday January 13^th at 10:30pm on FX.

Arthur Rankin, Jr. is part of the duo team Rankin/Bass. He is a legend and does not need any introduction. Rankin/Bass created the timeless holiday specials “Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer”, “Frosty the Snowman”, “The Year Without Santa Claus” and “Santa Claus is Coming to Town”, just to name a few. Media Mikes had a once in a lifetime chance to chat with Arthur about his work and how it has and will continue to entertain generation after generation. This interview originally was posted March 2012 but I wanted to revisit this post for the holiday season!

Mike Gencarelli: Let’s start with “Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer.” Why do you think this special has become timeless after almost 50 years?
Arthur Rankin, Jr.: I really don’t have an answer to that. I think because it was the first special of its kind…I think that, in looking for something to watch for Christmas, parents put their children in front of the television. And the word went out that this was a nice show, etc., etc, etc. and so next year it had a bigger audience. And as the audience grew, so did the children that watched it. They grew up to become mothers. And they grew up to become grandmothers! And they also put their children and grandchildren in front of the television set. That’s been going on for all of these years. It’s a pattern. That’s why Disney keeps re-releasing it’s old pictures. Because there’s an audience. The theatre may have a child whose having his first experience with the film while his grandmother is having her fourth or fifth experience with it. And that’s what our audience consists of. It’s a memory of life. To many people, “Rudolph” means Christmas.

MG: Why did you choose to work with stop motion animation, which you refer to as “animagic,” as opposed to conventional animation?
AR: A trade delegation had come to America from Japan. There was one gentleman who represented the steel industry…another who was in textiles. And a third who represented their motion picture industry. The motion picture representative had a studio he wanted to promote. He asked a friend of his in Washington D.C. if he could be introduced to one of America’s foremost animators. And by mistake he was led to me (laughs). We got along very well. He had been born in the U.S. and after he graduated college he went back to Japan. We became close friends. He invited me to come over, look at his studios, and tell him what I thought. I did. I went over, toured the studios and saw an example of stop motion, which hadn’t been done in a long time and not in any great depth. I was very taken by it…I thought it was a new approach. Of course I got to re-design it but I used the technique. We started out making some short films and they turned out very well. I made a series that I syndicated about Pinocchio. And then Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer lit up his nose. I lived in Greenwich Village at the time and my neighbor down the block (Johnny Marks) had actually written the song. I called him up and told him that there was a character there that would make a nice Christmas show. He was reluctant to do it at the time – do you know what ASCAP is? (NOTE: ASCAP is the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers. It is through this group that songwriters earn their royalties). “Rudolph” was a very successful song at Christmas time and he was afraid to jeopardize that income by doing anything with the song. I finally convinced him that the show would promote the song more. I took my idea to General Electric and they sponsored it. They put it on NBC for the first time in a spot they had used for “The College Bowl” – Sunday afternoon at 4:00. (NOTE: “The General Electric College Bowl” could best be described as the collegiate version of “Jeopardy.” It ran on NBC from 1959-1970). Now normally no one is watching television on Sunday afternoon at 4:00 but they were that day…”Rudolph” earned the highest rating of the week. And the rest is, “let’s have some more of those!”

MG: Your next Christmas project was “Frosty the Snowman,” which took a more traditional animation route. Why not stop motion?
AR: Because the subject lent itself better to the medium. Besides, by then I had several other films in production at my studio in Japan. I had no more room! We were into doing a feature in stop motion.

MG: You created so many great specials over the years. One of my favorites is “The Year without a Santa Claus.” Can you share any fun stories from that production?
AR: There’s a man who wrote a book about the motion picture industry. He said, “Remember one thing…nobody knows anything!” (NOTE: The book Mr. Rankin is referring to is “Adventures in the Screen Trade,” written by Academy Award winning screenwriter William Goldman. It is a must read for anyone curious about the inner workings of Hollywood). And it’s true. You never know when you’re going to have a hit. There was a time when you could put Barbra Streisand up against a curtain and have her sing and you’d have to lock the doors because she had so many fans. And then time goes on. It is true. In this business you take your best shot. That’s what I did. I rounded up all of the Christmas songs I thought could be made into a Christmas show…we acquired the rights to almost all of the ones that I wanted.

MG: In today’s world of television ratings are everything. Were these specials successful? Did any disappoint?
AR: All of them were successful in their original run. That’s why they’re still on the air today. Warner Brothers distributes them for me. All during the Christmas season they run my shows. And they pay for that (laughs). A penny here…a penny there.

MG: What has happened to the puppets, sets and props used in these productions?
AR: Well what happened is that after awhile those things wear out. They have wire armature inside…they have faces made out of plastic that has been carved. The clothes were made by little ladies but, just like people that work too hard, they fall apart. Of course we always had a couple of standbys waiting. I have here in my home Rudolph pulling Frosty on a sleigh.

MG: Besides time constraints, what was one of the most difficult aspects of creating these specials?
AR: When we did “Year Without a Santa Claus” we had to invent new characters. We had these two brothers, Heat Miser and Cold Miser. They just jumped off the screen and became cult figures. And we just came up with them one afternoon while designing the picture…”let’s do this…Mother Nature has two sons and they don’t get along…one’s in charge of heat…OK, put that in.” (laughs)

MG: How did creating your feature film, “Mad Monster Party,” compare versus working on the television specials?
AR: First off, it was the first time it had ever been done in a long time. Not since Abbot and Costello met Frankenstein. And I thought I would be able to take so many more liberties with the stop motion process.
I concocted the idea and then got a couple of boys from “Mad” magazine (Harvey Kurtzman, who created the magazine, and Len Korobkin) to write it with me.

MG: “Mad Monster Party” was showcased in Rick Goldschmidt’s recent book “The Enchanted World of Rankin/Bass.” How did you come to work with him?
AR: He called me one day. He had gotten an introduction from some one. And he was very knowledgeable. I usually don’t encourage people to do these things. First off, I can’t figure out why the hell they’re so interested. (laughs) But Rick had an awful lot of details. He sent me an outline of what the book would be like. He lives outside Chicago and I flew up to meet him. One of the rooms in his house is like a shrine. He had everything…things I had thrown out years ago. Old storyboards….he still gives me things he’s found that I had forgotten ever existed. He was very enthusiastic and wanted to do the book. So I told him “o.k.” but told him not to do the story of Arthur and Jules (Bass). You do stories on the pictures (the various specials/films). You have photos to go along with them and you’ve got a portfolio. He did that and it worked. It’s a great record of our work over the years.

MG: Have you ever considered writing your own memoirs?
AR: I’ve considered it because it’s been suggested before. But if I did it I’d want it to be straight…a lot of my old friends are still alive and what I might say about them wouldn’t be…(laughs)

MG: I read that you attempted to re-create “Mad Monster Party” using computer generated effects. What ever happened to that?
AR: We did. We made a test and it looked good. I went around Hollywood to the studios to see if they wanted to do it. Two of the studios said yes. But I was given to secondary people to deal with and I had to leave. It was no good. A studio will take your work away from you and do it themselves. They’ll rewrite. When I acquired the rights to “The King and I,” that was a very difficult property to acquire. I had to convince the families of (Richard) Rogers and (Oscar) Hammerstein that I knew what I was talking about. And I did. I wrote a script and they liked it. I was going to make that picture with my own investment with a co-partner in Japan. We were all set to do it. Then Warner Brothers calls up. They say “you don’t have to pay for it…we’ll pay you to do it for us.” “For us” meant here comes fourteen people that think they can do it better then I do. I’m not very proud of that picture. They changed a lot of the script and I was embarrassed for the Rogers and Hammerstein estate. (NOTE: The 1999 film, which was co-produced by Mr. Rankin’s production company, was both a financial and critical failure. The estates of Rogers and Hammerstein have since refused to allow any of their shows to become animated features).

MG: This coming year there are no less than three stop motion films being released, including Tim Burton’s “Frankenweenie.” Do you think this process will continue to inspire?
AR: You’d think there were a lot of people that could do stop motion but they just don’t exist. This is the tech age. Computer animation…those with a technical background find it much faster. Stop motion animation is a devilish job. I’ll tell you how we worked. We would have a figure…or a group of figures…on a stage in miniature. Each figure had a human person assigned to it. And the way you get it to work…the camera clicks off one frame…the human person goes up and changes the figure ever so slightly…microscopically. The camera clicks off another frame. The human person goes over and changes it again. If a character is lifting a glass to his lips, you may have as many as 250 “motions.” The human person didn’t have anything on a computer. He knew in his mind what he had to do. Just like as if he was an actor. And we’d have to finish the scene in one day. There was no taking a break or going home for dinner and coming back the next day. We would try to start a scene as early in the morning as possible because we knew we could be working late into the evening…all night if necessary if the scene wasn’t finished.

MG: Have you ever considered returning to the business to produce or direct again?
AR: Not this Christmas, but next, I’m going to do a play in Bermuda. Everyone asks me why I’m doing it in Bermuda. We have a wonderful theater here…the Town Hall Theater. It seats around 700 people. Much bigger then many of the off-Broadway theaters with great acoustics. And if I say I want to do a Christmas play they’ll throw open the doors for me. It’s wonderful to have such cooperation. And anybody who works on the play, both on and back stage, works for nothing. All box office proceeds go to whatever charity I choose. Everybody jumps in. It’s what keeps me kicking my heels!

MG: This interview wouldn’t be complete without asking if you have a favorite project and, if so, why?
AR: I don’t have a favorite. They’re all my children. I don’t want to sound self-serving but they have remained in the public’s hearts for decades. It’s like a great painting by van Gogh or Reubens. There work is still in the public eye…the public has recognized their work for centuries. Maybe the measure of success is longevity. Things that last must be better then things that don’t!

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Nobody needs to tell us what TVs How I Met Your Mother has done for its core cast – Jason Segel, Neil Patrick Harris, Alyson Hannigan, Cobie Smulders and Josh Radnor – but what about the supporting cast of TV’s most popular half-hour? Well, they’re doing crazy good too!

LYNDSY FONSECA (‘Ted’s Daughter’)
Though her part on the show is a fairly thankless part, Fonseca’s seemingly done quite well out of having the series on her resume. In recent years, the 26-year-old has starred in such movies as Kick-Ass 2 and Hot Tub Time Machine, and also played a lead role on the series Nikita.

CHARLIE AMOIA (‘Wendy the Waitress’)
Amoia, whose comic timing on the series is amazing, displays her versatility in the dramatic short She, playing a depressed young woman who finds an unlikely friend in a rescued dog. The film played at festivals, and has also been featured in several major magazines. Amoia will also be seen in several diverse feature films, including Fat.

JOE MANGANIELLO (‘Brad Morris’)
Though he only did a few episodes (the first in 2006), Manganiello’s appearance on How I Met Your Mother was enough to get him on the radar of near every TV network in town. The actor has played Bon Temps’ resident werewolf on HBO hit True Blood for the past few years, and next appears opposite Arnold Schwarzenegger in a big-time flick called Sabotage.

JAMES VAN DER BEEK (‘Simon’)
Though he was already well-known at that stage (for Dawson’s Creek), former TV heartthrob Van Der Beek wasn’t known for his comedy work. His 2006 appearance on the sitcom changed all that, and before too long he was headlining his own half-hour sitcom – well, a starring role on one anyway (Don’t Trust the B*itch in Apartment 23). Van Der Beek recently returned to the show to reprise the character.

CRISITN MILOTI (‘The Mother’)
Ok, so Cristin only recently made her first appearance on the show but all of a sudden she’s gone from ‘who is that?’ to ‘the How I Met Your Mother actress that’s now appearing opposite Leonardo DiCaprio in The Wolf of Wall Street’. Can only imagine the ‘Mother’ gig helped the 28-year-old actress get the gig.

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You might not known E.G. Daily’s face but you definitely know her voice since she has voiced numerous animated characters including Tommy Pickles in “Rugrats”. She is also known for her role of Dottie in “Pee Wee’s Big Adventure”. Besides acting, she is also a singer and was a contestant on season five of NBC’s “The Voice” with Team Blake. Media Mikes had a chance to chat with E.G. about her experience on the show and the return of “The Powerpuff Girls”.

Mike Gencarelli: Tell us about how you decided to audition for NBC’s “The Voice”?
E.G. Daily: I’ve been hosting an online music show called “Balcony TV”, which I got to sing on. After I did a few of them, the same person that contacted me for that told me that she got me an audition for “The Voice”. I didn’t think that they would have me on that show due to my career to date. I went in just for fun and prepared three cover songs. The next thing I know I got a call back. There is a 50,000 people process for this show. So over months and months I kept being called back for the next audition and the next audition and finally I got asked to do the blind audition, which was down to the final 150 people. It was a very incredible process. I don’t know how it happened. I was just doing what I loved and the next thing I know I was singing “Breath” in front of America.

MG: Tell us about the highlight for you on the show?
EGD: I have to say it was singing “Breathe” on my blind audition since that was such a magical moment for me. I went months and months of not knowing anything and putting myself on the line and to actually get a chance to be on a team with these talent artists was amazing. You can see it on my face as well if you watch that performance (see below for video), I was like “Wow, this is crazy”.

MG: How do you feel about the finale results for season 5?
EGD: Tessanne (Chin) was actually my roommate, so I have so much love for her. All of them, I was close with Jacquie and her mother as well. I think Tessanne is such a solid human being, has such a beautiful soul and is such a great singer. I am very happy and proud for her.

MG: Tell us about what we can expect for return of “The Powerpuff Girls” in 2014?
EGD: I can’t say much about it because that it is a special episode and premieres on January 20th. I have done a couple of special things for “The Powerpuff Girls”, but I can’t say what they are besides that it is going to be really cool. The fans are going nutty about it and I think it is going to be really great. This could be the launch of a lot of things for “The Powerpuff Girls” since fans are very hungry for more of that show.

MG: What else do you have planned for 2014?
EGD: I have been in the studio a lot recently. If you look up E.G. Daily on iTunes, there is tons of great music available right now. There is a record I put out there a while back called “Tearing Down the Walls” that is so beautiful. There is a recent video out there called “Somebody’s Loving You”, which is great. I am recording some new songs right now that I will be putting up soon as well. I have a trip planned to the East Coast in the beginning of next year for a personal appearance. I also have a ton of animation like “Julius Jr.” which is coming to Nick Jr. next year. I am have super busy and it has been awesome. So a lot of great things coming up and be sure to check egdaily.com for all upcoming news.

Antonio Fargas is probably best known for his work on the popular 70’s television series “Starsky and Hutch.” As “businessman” Huggy Bear, his character had his ear to the street and often assisted the title characters in solving their cases. But Huggy Bear is only the tip of an iceberg that’s been forming for over five decades.

From episodic television to film to the stage, Fargas has carved out an impressive career by any standards. This coming Sunday, December 1, he appears alongside Bruce Boxleitner on the Up TV presentation of the holiday film, “Silver Bells.” While promoting the film Mr. Fargas took time out to discuss his new film, his musical career and a father’s pride.

Mike Smith: Can you give our readers a quick introduction to your upcoming film, “Silver Bells?”
Antonio Fargas: (laughs) Certainly. Well, after working for 53 years I finally find myself in a Christmas story. “Silver Bells” will remind you a lot of “A Christmas Carol,” where a man with some anger management issues can’t appreciate the benefits of what Christmas is about. Through his anger management classes and his having to do community service with the Salvation Army, he has an encounter with me. I take him on a journey, like the ghosts took Scrooge, through the process of softening his heart and opening him up to the spirit of Christmas. It’s a wonderful, feel good story.

MS: What attracted you to the project?
AF: That I was asked (laughs). No, I loved the challenge of the character. Being a character actor I got to do the dirty work when I was younger. But now, being older, I get to do characters like grandfathers, which is another acting opportunity. I feel that I can put my craft to work and tell the story. You’ve got myself and Bruce Boxleitner…two veterans who were cast to take a journey. It just seemed like the right time.

MS: You mentioned you’ve been working for 53 years…you’ve been successful in both television and film. Do you have a preference?
AF: I think there are two pure mediums. There’s theater, the well where it all started for me. I’ve had many great opportunities to work in the theater. And then there’s…well I used to say thirty-five millimeter film…but now it’s just movies. And television is really somewhere in between, though now they’re both treated as movies, what with shooting in digital and trying to get high definition. I love the craft of acting as it applies to theater but there is also television acting and film acting, where you have to employ a whole new set of techniques. I love segueing between the two. I love theater…that’s number one in my life…but I certainly appreciate the magic of film…the different departments that it takes to put a film together. I call it a “marriage” when a film is started and, at the end, it’s almost like a divorce or a death. Really, I love being an artist and being able to create. It’s like the painter with his canvas, or the man who spins the pizza dough and throws it up in the air. It’s all about being part of the creation.

MS: You’ve sung on film in the past and even played Cab Calloway on stage. Did you ever consider pursuing a musical career?
AF: I’m actually involved in a project called The New Jump Blues, which you can catch on YouTube. I’m doing a lot of Cab Calloway-type of performing. Music has always been a part of my life. But I’ve always had a fear of singing in public. I’m great in the shower, like everybody else (laughs). I’m thinking of teaching an acting class for singers because each song is really an acting experience. (You can check out Mr. Fargas and the New Jump Blues here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bb6Q0Pf8Ezg)

MS: Prouder moment: winning an award for your work or watching Justin score a touchdown? (NOTE: Mr Fargas’ son, Justin, was a star college running back and played several years for the Oakland Raiders)
AF: (laughs) Oh boy! You know, just being on the stage of life is very rewarding. Watching Justin…he was a warrior, like me. He went out there and gave his all. And before every game he would run down to the end zone and get on his knees and pray. That’s one of the things they rarely show on television. After games, when the teams have spent the game beating their brains in, players from both teams would kneel down together and pray. Seeing that was the most rewarding thing for me. I’m very proud of him. Thank you for asking.

MS: What do you have planned after “Silver Bells” premieres?
AF: I have no idea (laughs). I live in Las Vegas and, in my community, I’m directing two plays with two different theater groups. That’s where my focus is at the moment. But I’m sure that, after a 53 year career, something else is coming!

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Brendon Small is the mastermind behind Adult Swim’s hit TV series “Metalocalypse” and the virtual band that has spawned from it Dethklok. It has been 15 months since the close of the fourth season for “Metalocalypse”. With fans wanting more after the cliffhanger from the finale, we finally get “Metalocalypse: The Doomstar Requiem- A Klok Opera”. The special is a one-hour rock opera featuring a fifty-piece orchestra. Media Mikes had a chance to chat with Brendon again to discuss the music behind “The Doomstar Requiem” and the future of “Metalocalypse”.

Mike Gencarelli: Tell us about your decision to turn “Metalocalpyse” into a one-hour rock opera featuring a fifty-piece orchestra?
Brendon Small: I had been toying with the idea of a rock opera going back to season three. You can see there is an episode called “Rehabklok”. It is what we called a troubled episode. We have one every once in a while were the humor isn’t working or the story isn’t tracking. So usually what I will do is go in and up root the story and try and fix it and sometimes that is done through music. So for this case I decided to write everything that this character was going through with the subtext and text and make it into a miniature rock opera. So I really like that. I grew up on musical theatre. Two of my two favorite things are music and stories. So if you can combine the two of them then for me that is a really fun place to play around in. This is part comedy, part super drama and part action, which is what “Metalocalpyse” is, so I thought it was be fun to make to really dark and really stupid and tell the story of the rescue of Toki Wartooth.

MG: How did you end up collaborating with Emmy winning composer Bear McCreary?
BS: I met Bear at a dinner a few years ago at the dinner with Scott Ian of Anthrax. I was familiar with Bear from his work on “Battlestar Galactica”. I studied a little bit of film scoring back when I was in school, so it was something that I always wanted to do. I do a ton of scoring with “Metalocalpyse” but nothing with string or bass stuff. So I always wished that I could make it sound better. Bear had liked the music from “Metalocalpyse” a lot. He usually has big budgets to play with so he can conduct a 90 piece orchestra on an NBC show. I work in cable cartoons and there is no budget for orchestral stuff. TV shows are weird since you are not in complete control of how long they are on which is up to the network. But I knew I had a shot to this one thing and I wanted to do it right and find a way to afford an orchestra. So I called up Bear and tried to get some price quotes and find out the cheapest way to do this in order to make it sound like a movie. So we went back and forth but ended up finding a way to do it. For the first time ever, I put my own money up for a TV special because I thought that it was important for me musically and that it would be an interesting project. I am not sure if I am going to make the money back but I think it was worth a shot.

MG: Give us an idea about your development process?
BS: The most important part for me is the writing and discussion behind what is going to happen on the show. In this case, it is a one-hour long special. So what I did was that I sat with Mark Brooks and Janine Ditullio, the co-writers, in a room for about two weeks. I came to the table with a bunch of the story already planned out including the big flashback for Toki. I wanted to pick up where Dethklok left off but make them have a story of selfishness, selflessness and the feeling of being brothers. After those two weeks, we developed on that and came out with a 15-page outline. I had an idea of what I wanted to music to sound like. In one part, I related to “Jesus Christ Superstar” and then the next part I was thinking about “Les Miz”. There was even a part where I thought about Annie when she went to live with Daddy Warbucks and that was energy and emotional behind that part. I took that and went into my own studio and figured by April 15th I had to have an hour long opera written and I did. In fact, it was much easier than I thought it would be. It was the easiest music to write since I knew what was the emotional center was of each piece and that indicates what the tempo is and so on. I just wanted to keep your ear excited the whole time you were listening. The other thing I like to do when I write music is that when it is over you want to listen to it again. I want to be an audience of the audience as well. I want to be able to enjoy it myself as if I am listening to somebody else’s music.

MG: Where you concerned about delivering this different kind of sound for the series?
BS: That is the thing, I think that people that are familiar enough with the show. They know that Dethklok music is not the only music that shows up in the show. There is Toki’s world, Snakes N’ Barrels, Dr. Rockzo and just stuff that has nothing to do with heavy metal at all. I love metal but I also have an iPod that is always on shuffle. The way that I have always worked with the music on the show is that when Dethklok doesn’t have a song playing it is something that is contradicting to metal, so that the metal sounds heavier when it is on. So if I were to make a full rock opera with a full piece metal band the ear will get fatigued and it wouldn’t work. What I need was a little demarcation end points, a little rest and a few different styles of music to keep your ear excited and for you to keep it on a loop. I wanted to write an album that you leave in your CD player for month. So I think that contradicting stylistically or tempo-wise has always been the easiest thing to do and has always worked when I was writing. So no, this might not be what Dethklok sounds like but it is what “Metalocalpyse” sounds like. I wanted to make sure that people know that this is not a Dethklok album, this is a “Metalocalpyse” rock opera with a 50-piece orchestra.

MG: How was it working with special musical guests like Jack Black?
BS: When I did this thing I didn’t want to be limited by anybody’s range, so you will notice that I did about 95% of the whole thing myself. I wrote for my range of vocals. I can make a lot of different sounds with my voice. So I did everybody from Ishnifus Meaddle to Magnus Hammersmith to Nathan Explosion, Skwisgaar Skwigelf, Pickles and William Murderface. I did all their voices and sang all their songs. I wanted to make sure I had some other voices here and there like Raya Yarbrough, who did Abigail’s voice. Malcolm McDowell and Mark Hamill were in there since I wanted to populate it with a couple of other people. I am able to mask my voice pretty well but at some points you can hear that it is the same guy, which is fine though. Jack Black is an insanely talented superstar. He has got one of the coolest rock voices out there. He really does. I think Tenacious D’s music is some of the best. He was really cool and just completely got the idea of this project. That is also what I love about Tenacious D is that they have this sort of rock opera mixed style with classic rock. I gave him a clip of what he would be doing and I thought it was cool because it reminded me of Andrew Lloyd Webber and classic rock on the vocals. After listening, he drove right over and went into the studio and just belted it out his part and was just super fun to work with.

MG: Many people were speculation this would be the end of “Metalocalyse” but we got left with a cliffhanger, so is it safe to assume we have more to come?
BS: It is funny because I have a Twitter account and I was just laughing watching people say how sad that this was going to be the last episode. I was sitting there thinking that maybe they knew something that I didn’t [laughs]. This is not the last episode of the show. It does have the word “requiem” in it, which is like the end of something. It is very much the end of a few characters since there are a few important deaths in this special. It is “The Doomstar Requiem”, which is a big part of where the story continues from this point and I needed to introduce that. Basically this whole one hour special was to address how we ended things with season four and this was the solution. The whole story was to take these narcissistic assholes and have them care about each other and that was the whole show from the very beginning. You watch from the first episode, they claim to not care about anything and slowly started to in season three and four. They are constantly fighting themselves. It’s their head vs. their heart, the whole time. So it is funny that people made up that scenario online. I am lucky always if I get another season and as that is not always up to me. All I can do is back the project that I have sold and in this case it was “The Doomstar Requiem” and of course I have more story to tell but I couldn’t fit it all in there. But there is still more to come! So if you want to support Dethklok and want more in the future, be sure to purchase the album on iTunes and spread the word!

Paul Teutul Sr. is the President and CEO of Orange County Choppers, which he formed in 1999. He was introduced to the world of reality TV in 2002 with “American Chopper”, which aired for many years on Discovery Channel and later on TLC. Paul returns to TV with this latest show “Orange County Choppers”, which premieres on CMT on November 16th. The show has him continuing to do what he does best…making bikes. Media Mikes had a chance to chat with Paul about his new show and his love for what he does.

Mike Gencarelli: How does “Orange County Choppers” differ from “American Chopper”?
Paul Teutul Sr.: One word. Freedom.

MG: Tell us about this freedom with working with CMT this time around on “Orange County Choppers”?
PT: What the cool part is that when the station decided to take us on they wanted this to show who we are and for us to do what we do. They didn’t ask us to fill this certain format or change this or that. They told us to build some cool bikes and just go crazy.

MG: What are some highlights that we can expect from this season?
PT: First of all, I think you are going to see a different style of bikes, not major but I want to go more basic this time. Even though we do themed bikes, I want the bikes to actually look like bikes, not crazy but still cool looking. I think some of the bikes we did in the past stopped looking like actually bikes…

MG: Well some people want over the top and people want old school, I understand that…
PT: Absolutely and there is a balance there. I think for me personally, I just want to build some really cool bikes and I want some more hands-on work.

MG: You have been on TV for over a decade now, what do you enjoy most about reality TV?
PT: I enjoy it most because it IS reality TV. You come into work in the morning and you do pretty much exactly what you would do whether the team is there or not. I think if it was scripted it would have been gone a long time ago. I tell people it is like a form of discipline also since when you are filming you have to make certain commitments. I think that this is good and it helps discipline yourself. I am 64 years old, so I can pretty much come and go as much as I want. But I love the shop and I love building bikes, so I will always do that regardless whether the filming crew is here or not. There was though about a six month gap from when we stopped with Discovery and started filming with CMT, so we came to work and it just felt different. It was like “Where did everyone go?”.

MG: You weren’t the only ones going through withdrawal Paul! We were all there with you man!
PT: Oh yeah! You know what is funny we have been on Twitter and everyone just seems so excited to see the show. They are like junkies, they need their fix! [laughs]

MG: What is your favorite activity related to owning OCC?
PT: Hmm…that is a great question Mike. I guess there are multiple answers to that. I guess it is honestly the freedom to being able to do whatever you really want to do. It is a business but it is also an opportunity to reach out to people and do good things and that is very important to me to be able to do those kind of things.

MG: Now for the opposite, I have ask what is your least favorite activity related to owning OCC?
PT: Paying the bills…[laughs]
MG: You are a business owners for sure, I would have said payroll myself!
PT: Well, it is all part of it. [laughs]

MG: What was your all time favorite build?
PT: It has to be the POW/MIA bike. That was my favorite.
MG: Yeah, that was a great bike!

MG: What do you like to do most when you are not on camera?
PT: I’ll tell you what my life is…building bikes, riding bikes, fishing and working out. [laughs] That is it!

MG: You got into to this business to build choppers, do you get to do what motivated you as much as you would like? Or is it just a business now?
PT: You know what Mike, around the shop here it is a little difficult. But I have a shop at home and I build at least three choppers a year out of my home shop. But I build the kind of bikes that I would want. I build the regular David Mann, 60’s/70’s-type choppers that are streched out with springer foot ends. That is what I do all winter, I build bikes.

MG: If you could have one thing that you don’t have now, what would that be?
PT: Wow, these are some good tough questions Mike! [laughs] You know I am a big car collector and I am always on the look out to buy another car. I have some of the Vette 01Z and the Camaro ZL1 and stuff like that. I am not a Ferrai or Lamborgini guy. I am not sure…but it will definitely be a car. I have to admit, I am very blessed I got a lot more in life that I ever expected. So I don’t have a lot of needs.

Sleepy Hollow returns to Fox this Monday after a brief World-Series-imposed break from the schedule. The new hit series follows Lieutenant Abbie Mills (Nicole Beharie), a cop in the small town of Sleepy Hollow, who finds herself partnered up with resurrected Revolutionary War soldier Ichabod Crane (Tom Mison). They’re on a mission to stop the four horsemen of the apocalypse lead by Death in the form of the Headless Horseman. So far the characters have encountered all manner of witches, demons, history and folklore from the Biblical Revelations to the lost colony of Roanoke. Sleepy Hollow marked Fox’s highest premiere ratings since 2006 and was renewed for a second season in the beginning of October. I sat down with the cast and creators of the show at New York Comic Con to discuss the supernatural drama.

Creator Alex Kurtzman spoke about the origin of the show, “the initial idea was just a modern take on The Legend of Sleepy Hollow. It was something that’s never really been presented or approached in modern context, so that was fascinating to all of us and…when we came to the idea of blending that legend with Revelations and it seemed crazy, but can it possibly work? And that was where it all started. And can we put these things together and have something really compelling?”

Tom Mison added about his approach to the show, “Lots of people wonder whether how much we went back to the original short story, which was something I’d read a long time ago, but when we got the script for the pilot it was so vastly different to that or anything that I could begin to research. I just let that script speak for itself, really.”

Co-creator Len Wiseman is best known for helming the female-led Underworld film franchise, a trend which continues here. Not only is Lieutenant Mills leading the case, but as the series has gone along, viewers have seen how Ichabod’s wife Katrina (played by Katia Winter) revealed to be a witch caught in purgatory, has played an integral role in leading the case from beyond the grave. Additionally Mills has in recent episodes enlisted her sister Jenny in determining the fate of humanity. The cast spoke about having kick ass women taking the lead on the show.

“I think it’s kind of ground breaking what’s going on” said Nicole Beharie. “First of all, they brought in Abby and Abby is a hero sort of unbeknownst to herself. Like, she didn’t know that all these things were going to happen to her and that she had all these powers to sort of draw upon. And then she also finds out, when she reconnects with her sister that her sister has all of this information and these resources. And then we find out that Katrina is this witch that has all these–I love that all these women in the show actually are an integral part of saving the world. There not just there as like a piece to sort of move the story on. And they’re not just batting eyelashes, like we’re helping to make the thing happen–If not making the thing happen. I personally think, if you look at all the episodes, okay? I threw the book, I saved the guy, so yeah that’s really a big part of it and I’m honored to be a part of it. And also you know, it’s a diverse cast too, so that’s ace.”

Mison was attracted by this aspect of the show. “One of the things when I read the pilot that made it appeal to me so much was that you have the two female leads who aren’t defined by a man. You have Abby who, she’s just a strong modern woman with important things on her mind and [Katrina’s] well, a witch, who’s far more powerful than her pathetic mortal husband. And you don’t see it enough. All too often, scripts are–the women are the girlfriend or the daughter and they have very little to do other than support the male characters’ stories. Whereas this from the start and throughout, the female characters have been rounded and clear individuals. And that’s–hats off to the show for doing that.”

A great deal of fun on the show is derived from Mison’s 18^th Century Crane dealing with the modern world, including its ladies. Not only does Crane seem to connect with Mill’s sister Jenny, but in one fan favorite moment, Ichabod advised a tearful OnStar representative about romance while being locked in his  21^st Century car.

Mison commented on this trend, “I’ve not really thought about that! That in every episode, there’s a new girl who Ichabod kind of semi-flirts with. Just because the wife’s in purgatory…[Ichabod and Jenny] seem to be kindred spirits, she’s ballsy and she fights for what she believes is right…But then I think there was a very tender connection with Yolanda, the OnStar lady and I’d like to see her become a recurring character. She could be like Ziggy from Quantum Leap! She could, anytime he needs advice but can’t find Katrina, he just goes and talks to Yolanda….maybe.” On-screen wife Winter remained quiet, “No? Everyone completely disagrees!”

Meanwhile, Crane’s wardrobe has yet to be updated as he assimilates the modern era, since he’s in the same outfit five episodes along. Mison laughed and defended his character’s jacket “that he’s worn for two-hundred fifty years?…Uh, it’s a nice coat though, at least!” A moment later he added “That will be addressed in some way or other” while another member of the press rooted for a good pair of jeans.

Of course this wouldn’t be Sleepy Hollow without its legendary Horseman and other supernatural elements running around. Everyone involved with the show had a lot to say on that monstrous aspect of the show.

“Okay, I’m 5’1″.” Beharie began on the topic of the giant Headless Horseman, “In the next few episodes, I run down stairs, he’s like chasing me with an axe. And I’m a little person, he’s a big guy. Like in real life, the guy who plays the horseman. So I’m scared by the Horseman. He’s on horses and I’m in heels.”

Having the Horseman on set is likely due to Wiseman’s preference for practical effects wherever possible. He said “Tv lends itself to practical effects due to its schedule and time. It’s a bit of a double edged sword but we try to–and you don’t really have time for elaborate visual effects. You don’t have a load of time for practical, but if you plan ahead, it’s the perfect platform for practical and it’s one of the things that Alex and I both are fans of, like the movies that we grew up on, to be able to have an actual–if you have a creature on the episode. If it actually really is a creature, whether it’s Hellraiser or Pumpkinhead or you know, these, I think there’s just more of a connection to it and I miss that. You don’t see that on television a lot.”

Orlando Jones, who plays Mills’s boss Captain Irving, brought up some other demonic foes as scarier “The show is crazy because the Horseman’s there! It’s not like it’s CGI, and she’s right, he’s like 6’6″ and when he’s swinging an axe you know…but I’m sorry…the Sandman and the Blurry [a recurring horned demon that only appears blurry to viewers so far]? Come on, I’m sorry. That’s just weird!” When Beharie agreed about the Sandman, Jones went on, “Homeboy turns into dust? I ain’t with that. It’s creepy, for me. I mean honestly.”

The Sandman they’re referring to was a chilling creation defeated by Abbie in the third episode, Kurtzman elaborated on what set him apart from being just a demon-on-the-week. “Sandman was literally a manifestation of Abby’s past. And of her guilt and something she hadn’t dealt with. And so we really try and take the approach with our monsters, is not just having them be random monsters but actually echo something very important in our characters and what they’re going through.”

Speaking on future monsters, Wiseman and Kurtzman teased their versions of the classic characters such as a gollem and a scarecrow while Beharie assured us we’d see plenty more of the Horseman.

As for future plot spoilers, the cast was a bit more hesitant with Mison saying “there are things that I can’t say because I’ll get in trouble. And then there are things that I don’t want to say because they’re such nice twists that I want you to enjoy them when they come. But it’s all about Katrina. The more Katrina comes back, the more revelations there are not only about Ichabod but about the fate of humanity. So keep your eyes on her, really.” Jones later added ominously about his own character, “I think the best description for Irving is assume I know everything.”

Sleepy Hollow airs Mondays at 9pm on Fox.

Photography by Elizabeth Phillips

Michael Beasley has appeared on a number of television series and films ranging from “American Reunion” to “Flight” starring Denzel Washington. Michael currently plays the role of Jimmy Cliff on the final season of the hit HBO series “Eastbound and Down” and also has a role in the upcoming film “Last Vegas” starring Morgan Freeman, Michael Douglas and Robert Di Nero. Media Mikes spoke with Michael recently about his work on the series and about some of his other upcoming work.

Adam Lawton: How did you first become involved with “Eastbound and Down”?
Michael Beasley: I had auditioned for the show a few different times prior to this season. Those auditions were for different characters though. This time around there was a few different roles that I auditioned for. They weren’t sure the show was going to come back as they were working on a deal with HBO at the time. Over the course of several months they brought me in to audition for a couple different roles and what ultimately happened was that two of the roles were combined in to the character of “Jimmy Cliff”. Being I was already a fan of the show I was very excited to get this role.

AL: What has it been like working with the cast and crew from the show?
MB: It has been amazing! This really was a dream job for me. Danny McBride, Jody Hill and everyone involved with the show treat you like family once you walk on the set. It was like I knew everyone for years. They created this energy that was very easy to work in while on set. They allowed us to really play with the characters was just great. From a comedic stand point just being able to watch Danny and Jody work was incredible. I couldn’t figure out hey they were able to come up with some of the stuff they did.

AL: Being you were allowed to work with the character a bit how much of what we see is you and how much is what you were given in the script?
MB: We work with great scripts. Basically if we feel we can add something that day to the scene they allow us to do that. A lot of the stuff people are seeing right now is improvisation but there is also a lot scripted material in there as well. There is definitely a balance of both.

AL: How has working on this series compared to that of “Magic City”?
MB: It was different in the sense that HBO allowed those guys to really push the envelope as it relates to their artistic work. I loved working on “Magic City” because I love that era. The clothing and fashion is really great. I thought that show was written really well and am kind of upset we weren’t able to do a third season.

AL: What can you tell us about your appearance in the film “Last Vegas”?
MB: I had auditioned for the role of a bouncer and when I first got on set I was making sure that I was minding my p’s and q’s because of who was all there. I didn’t want to mess things up. (Laughs) I made sure I got the scene down real well and I also did some improv as well. The director Jon Turtletaub loved what I did and the energy I had with everyone that he had production contact me about doing some more scenes. I started with just one scene and ended up doing 8 or 9. It was an amazing experience.

AL: For you personally what do you feel is the biggest difference working on features as compared to television sitcoms?
MB: Any set I go to I try and absorb everything. Each time I work I learn more and more about both sides of the camera. I want learn what the actors may need as well as what the directors may need as well. Everything is about team work so I want to be able to help everyone make the best product we can. Each set I am on I can take something from that to the next. I have been able to work with a lot of great people and have been able to take some great skills from those experiences.

AL: Do you have any other projects set to come out that we can be watching for?
MB: I just shot a film title “The Squeeze”. It’s a golf movie schedule to come out sometime in 2014. We did a lot of improv work while we were shooting that it should be really funny. I did a couple episodes of “Single Ladies” on Vh1 that will air in January and you can also see me in the pilot for “Line of Sight”.