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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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”.

It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia began it’s ninth season this month on new network FXX.  Four episodes in and it’s clear that the gang from Paddy’s Pub is just as dysfunctional as fans have come to expect. Executive producer and writer, Glenn Howerton, who plays Dennis Reynolds, held a phone conference to talk about the show’s new season.

Seeing as last season’s opener played up a significant prop from Charlie and Frank’s apartment (a dog painted by Hitler), I wondered about something viewers can spot in Dennis and Mac’s home:

Lauren Damon: I love the fact that there’s a prominent Hulk hand on the TV in Dennis and Mac’s apartment. Is that Dennis’s, Mac’s, or is it just because everyone has anger management problems? 
Glenn Howerton: “I don’t know whose that is.  I mean, that’s one of those things where early on in the series we had a set decorator, they decorated the apartment to have all this stuff in it, and we just never changed it.  So, really, a lot of those things weren’t deliberate decisions at all.  The only deliberate decisions we’ve made, in terms of our apartment, were probably when you go into Mac’s room and you see that it’s pretty sparse, and there’s just this crucifix on the wall, and like a picture of his dad.  But, all that stuff, it’s just ridiculous because now, us being in like our mid-thirties, it looks like the apartment that, you know, two 19-year-olds would share together, which I actually think is kind of funny.”

Accidental Hulk hands aside, Howerton did reveal in a recent Reddit AMA that he would be interested in playing The Riddler from Batman if given the opportunity.

Have you ever pursued or been pursued, for any of those big budget superhero films?
Howerton: “Not really… Let’s see, I think ten years ago, I auditioned for the Superman reboot, and that was about like two years before that actually came out, the one with Brandon Routh.  But, that was before Sunny.  And then, I did audition recently for the Guardians of the Galaxy, to play the role that Chris Pratt is playing.  I know that the director of that movie, supposedly, is a big Sunny fan, which is cool.  But, usually, they’re already looking for some giant movie star to play those roles.

I certainly don’t have anything against doing something like that.  I have to admit, I really do enjoy playing bad guys, and extremely evil people, which is why it’s a lot of fun for me to play Dennis, or at least the challenge is making Dennis, you know, likable even though he’s such a despicable person.  I think playing something like The Riddler would definitely feel like it was in my wheelhouse.”

LD: One of my favorite things about Dennis, is that he such an incredible sociopath kind-of character, and I was wondering if you could talk about what do you think are some of the creepiest things he’s done in the series, and is there anything we can look forward to him getting up to in the rest of this season?
Howerton: “You know, it’s a funny question for me to try and answer because we do work very, very hard to—I guess you could argue that things like having the conversation about ‘the implication’ is pretty dark [from the season 6 episode “The Gang Buys a Boat”].  But, it’s weird, I get a little bit defensive about that, because in a way, for as dark as it is, I think the character does make it very, very clear that he wouldn’t ever actually hurt these women.  He just wants them to think that the possibility of them getting hurt is there, so he can get his way.  It’s still dark, but I’d say that’s one of the darker things.

Last season, in order to stay in character as playing this Ryan LeFevre personality that Dennis was playing, I almost—well, not me, but my character almost had sex with, like, a small Asian caddy, just to see how far he would be willing to take this whole thing.  So, yes, he’s definitely come very close to crossing some lines that you don’t really recover from, but, yes, there’s definitely going to be some more of that this year.  It’s sort of the nature of the character at this point.”

Howerton’s discussion came not only the morning after the primetime Emmy Awards, for which Sunny continued to be inexplicably unrecognized, but also on the heels of the season’s third episode “The Gang Tries Desperately to Win an Award” which saw the gang attempt to conform to ‘normal’ restaurant standards to impress the TV-Academy-like Philadelphia restaurant association. Watching Paddy’s Pub trying its hardest to conform to standard sitcom hangout tropes (Bright lights! Sassy quips!) was painfully hilarious and begged the question, what did Howerton think of actual “Best Comedy” winner, Modern Family?

Howerton: “Well, to be honest, I haven’t seen a ton of episodes of Modern Family.  But, the episodes I have seen, I think are great.  Because I work in comedy, I actually don’t enjoy watching most comedies just because it’s hard for me not to just sort of analyze it, break it down structurally, and be overly critical of it, you know what I mean?  Not for any other reason other than it’s what I do for a living.  I just don’t watch a lot of stuff.

But, the episodes I have seen of Modern Family, I’ve really enjoyed.  I think it’s a great show and I think it’s very, very difficult to consistently make a funny show on a network, A, because you have more restrictions, and, B, because you have to do more episodes per year.  I’m always very impressed by the fact that I’ve never watched an episode of that show where I wasn’t laughing consistently from start to finish, and I think that’s a hell of an achievement…There are other shows that have won multiple Emmys, and I won’t name any names, where I simply don’t understand why, and I would not put Modern Family in that category at all.  I think that’s a very funny, smart show.”

Why don’t you guys get Emmy love?
Howerton: “I’m the wrong person to ask.  I don’t know.  I mean, I don’t know if you saw the last week’s episode, but we did an entire episode, essentially, about that.  I’m not really entirely certain, all I’ve got are theories, and I’d be happy to spout them for you, but I don’t really know.  I mean, I think first impressions are huge in this business.  I think we started as a very, very small show, and I think we looked so low-budget and FX wasn’t known for comedies, and I don’t think people really paid any attention to us.  We didn’t have Danny [DeVito] on the show, and I think because it took so many years for it to grow its audience, it just, I don’t know.

I think that first impression of a low-budget, we-don’t-need-to-pay-attention-to-this-small- cable-comedy thing kind of stuck.  It seems like, though, the Emmys, in general, they really love cable dramas.  But, they don’t really seem to love cable comedies.  I could be wrong; I don’t pay that close attention to it.”

Probably some of the biggest news for this season actually involves huge cable drama Game of Thrones. Thrones writers David Benioff and D.B. Weiss came on board this year to do one episode titled “Flowers For Charlie” Howerton elaborated on how that came about:

Howerton: “They are actually massive, massive fans, and I think they just floated the idea that they had an idea for an episode, and they really wanted to write one, and we just thought let’s just see if that could work.  It’s really the only time where somebody from outside of our ‘organization’ has successfully written an episode, I’ll put it that way.  We took them through the process, and gave them the best shot.  We actually brought them into the room and broke the episode with them, and sent them off to write a draft, sort of incredibly shocked that they would even have the time or the energy to do it.  They came back with a great episode.  We, of course, did what we always do, and we had to do some re-writes, but really not that many.  It was pretty solid.”

Can you share with us any upcoming  guest stars?
Howerton: We’ve actually got Seann William Scott; he’s going to be in an episode.  Dude is super fun, super funny.  We’ve also got Josh Groban doing an episode; I think the week after that.  We’ve got a lot of fun people.  Then, of course, we have a lot of our recurring cast, the McPoyles, and Artemis, the Waitress.  We’ve also got Mary Lynn Rajskub from 24, she is going to be back of the show this year [as fan favorite ‘Gail the Snail’], too.

Finally, of course the big question is how much more Always Sunny can viewers expect?
Howerton: “We are definitely going to do one more after this, which I’m sure you know, and then it’s being tossed around the idea of doing more.  It is a question mark, but we’ll see.  We’re still having fun, I can tell you that.”

It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia airs every Wednesday at 10pm on FXX.

FXX launched on September 2^nd and specific cable listings for the new network can be found on GetFXX.com

Jeffrey Hornaday has work choreography with tons of great talent including Madonna and Michael Jackson, as well as tons of films including “Dick Tracy”, “Flashdance”, “A Chorus Line”. His latest film is  the Disney Channel film “Teen Beach Movie”, which he is toke on the role of both director and choreographer.  Media Mikes had a chance to chat with Jeffrey about “Teen Beach Movie” and its impact on pop culture this summer.

Mike Gencarelli: Tell us about how you became attached to the Disney Channel film “Teen Beach Movie”?
Jeffrey Hornaday: I had worked with Disney Channel before on a film called “Geek Charming”. It wasn’t a musical but it was a romantic comedy. It got really good ratings and I got nominated for a Director’s Guild Award. So we all came away very happy with how it went. So when this came up given Disney’s background and mine also with musicals, it was a natural fit.

MG: Tell us about your approach to making this a true summer film?
JH: When you look back at the old beach party movies from the 60’s, you think about those and get this sort of nostalgia and warmth. If you go back and look at them now, they are kind of flat [laughs]. The choreography is kids basically dancing a little at the beach. They are not full blown production numbers. We decided instead of trying to clone what those used to be, let’s do something that makes you feel like when you think about that nostalgia feeling. We sort of took the gloves off and gave ourself the right to go past what the original genre was. We really tried to tap into what it is feels like to think about those movies.

MG: Tell us about your approach to the music in the film?
JH: The music department was really great and wanted to approach it like a Broadway show. Rather than giving them a laundry list of catalog songs, we got together with the composers on number and really talked about it and work-shopped the ideas. It was really like we were putting on a Broadway show and that was really fun.

MG:  How was it taking on the role of both director and choreographer on this project?
JH: Because my background is in choreography in Los Angeles not Broadway, I learned about design choreography for camera, which is a very different world. I was lucky that I got to work with really good directors in the past. So it is kind of coming full circle and having more control it actually made the process easier to translate to someone who doesn’t have the choreography experience. I also had help with the choreography from a brilliant young guy, Christopher Scott, he was just incredible to work with. It was a great collaboration and we had this unspoken connection. He came into the project with a lot of ideas. That made it really fun and easier to share the load.

MG: What was your most challenging song to film?
JH: The physical aspect of just shooting on the beach was first a big challenge. Working with sand is not easy. It is hard enough to walk or even run on the beach yet alone dance. There is a number called “Crusin’ for a Brusin'”, which was challenging but in a fun way. There is a song from “West Side Story” called “Cool” and I had that as a prototype in my mind. You could really feel the cinematographer’s hand in the song and it was an homage to that. It was very carefully designed and quite the challenge.

MG: Let’s talk about the success of the film since it has aired on Disney Channel?
JH: It is hard to predict that type of success, especially in pop culture. I remember when I choreographed “Flashdance” at the time and we just thought we were doing this little movie but had no idea that it was going to touch a nerve on pop culture. The thing that was interesting to me was the connection of the old school American musical. You wonder about if the younger audience was going to be able to connect to this, especially since this film deals with aspects from the 60’s. But they have been really able to connect to it.

MG: Any plans to for a follow up to “Teen Beach Movie”?
JH: There has been no confirmation yet. I know that they are certainly thinking about it and their story department has it in development. It would be a no-brainer for me. So I am on-board. I am also currently writing a screenplay for Disney right now. It will have music but is also a contemporary piece. So I am hard at work right now.

Charles Baker plays the role of Skinny Pete in the popular AMC series “Breaking Bad”. The show is now in its 5th and final season and Charles took time out of his busy schedule to talk with Media Mikes about his experiences working on the show and how he turned a background character in to a recurring role on one of televisions hottest shows.

Adam Lawton: What was it that first drew you to the role of “Skinny Pete”?
Charles Baker: “Skinny Pete” wasn’t even a role when I first started on the show. He was originally just called “Skinny Stoner” and I was hired for only one episode during season 1. It was supposed to be just a day player role and what drew me to it was I was going to get to work on television. (Laughs) It was a job and people really didn’t know a lot about the show or anything like that. I had heard some things about the show but didn’t know how phenomenal it was going to be or that I was going to be a part of it.

AL: Being the role was written originally for a one time appearance were you allowed to provide any creative input or direction?
CB: Because of how things happened so consciously in season 1 they just told me they were going to bring me back for another episode and would see how things went. My first scene was very small so I came in with how I thought the role should be played and the director who worked on that episode had his own ideas about the role so what we created for that bit part kind of dictated my role for the rest of the series. A lot of times before each scene I would have to repeat one of my lines from that first episode as a way to get myself back into character. I would always have to repeat “Yo my pops is a contractor” in order for me to fall back into that speech pattern. Each time I was on the show I was working with a different director who would have their own idea for what they thought Skinny Pete was. A couple directors thought of him as a hardcore, mean, scary guy while a few others saw him has this lovable, goofy guy. However they saw the character was how they directed us. We would have to find a balance in their in order to keep consistency while still getting what they were asking for. That is how the many layers of Skinny Pete happened.

AL: Was it hard working with different directors all of the time?
CB: It was a challenge but I think it was a great learning experience. I love things like that where I have to find it in myself to make things like that work. It was better for me in the long run I think because I didn’t get stuck in a rut. I was able to give Skinny Pete more levels and layers to play with. For me it was a lot of fun and similar to an improve exercise.

AL: What do you think has been the roles biggest progression?
CB: He has kind of grown a little bit. Pete has started to follow in Jesse’s footsteps without having to learn all the harsh lessons Jesse had to learn. I think he has seen Jesse become more responsible up until the point where we see him start to be affected by the actions of his crew. You see Jesse start to become more of a business man than a thug. At the start of season 5 you see Pete acting similar in a scene between him and Badger at a music store. That’s a new step for Skinny Pete I think. He is actually taking something serious instead of just playing around.

AL: What do you think is in store for Skinny Pete as the show concludes?
CB: I wish I could tell you. I don’t even know what’s going on. That’s all part of the brilliance in how the show is shot and how tight security is. In the past If I had a scene where I don’t speak and I am just in the background I got to see that script so I knew what’s going on. With this last season they have been using a stand-in for scenes that I may or may not be in. They just didn’t tell me anything. (Laughs) If I had dialogue then it was just me. I am not even sure of what scenes I am in or not. I am ok with that because I am a huge fan of the show and I want to be surprised just like everyone else. I know Vince and the people who work on that show will never let me down. They don’t have to tell me what I am doing. They can put a blind fold on me, tell me what lines to say and I know it will be brilliant. I will trust them on that.

AL: What was it like for you working with Brian Cranston both as an actor and director?
CB: Brian is a wonderful person. Since the beginning he has been the leader and father figure of the show. Vince keeps a very tight hand on everything that happens but he is not always around during filming so Brian is the foundation and keeps everyone together. Having him direct was very natural since he has been such a guide through everything.

AL: What do you think you will miss most about playing the character?
CB: I am going to miss a lot of things. Every episode was a new adventure for me. They opened up a lot of things for Skinny Pete and gave him a lot of responsibility. To be able to sink your teeth in to a character for as long as all of have on “Breaking Bad” is great. This was a first for me as I had never played a recurring role on a series before. It was like creating an alter ego who becomes like a friend. I will certainly miss that and having a job. (Laughs)

AL: Can you tell us about some of your other upcoming/current projects?
CB: I currently have a small recurring role on the show “The Black List” with James Spader. I play a character by the name of “Grey”. He was originally called “The man in the grey flannel suit”. Luckily they shortened that down. I like to compare the role to if James Spader was Batman I would be his Alfred. I am his go to guy. It’s definitely a switch from that of Skinny Pete. Grey combs his hair and wears a suit. (Laughs) They say he drives a Bentley but I haven’t been able to do that yet. I also shot a pilot for NBC called “Murder in the First”. We are just waiting to hear if that’s going to go through. I really think it will because it’s a great show and cast. I worked on an independent film in Texas titled “Flutter” that I just saw a rough cut of the other day. It stars Lindsay Pulsipher from “Hatfields and McCoys”. From what I have seen of the film it is beautiful. I don’t know when it is coming out but I hope it is soon as I think people will really enjoy it. Lastly “Ain’t Them Bodies Saints” which stars Casey Affleck and Rooney Mara is out now and I have a role in that as well.

Photo Credit: DISNEY JUNIOR/TODD WAWRYCHUK

Kiara Muhammad is the voice actor, who gives live to the lovable Doc on Disney Junior’s hit series “Doc McStuffins”. The show recently completed its first season and has become a worldwide phenomenon from merchandise to phone apps. The series has already spawned a new short-form spin-off called “The Doc Files”, which starts airing on July 22nd. and recently released its first season soundtrack, “The Doc Is In”. Kiara took out some time to chat with Media Mikes about her work on the show, its new spin-off series and also what we can expect from season two this Fall.

Mike Gencarelli: How does it feel to have become such a big role model for kids?
Kiara Muhammad: It is pretty amazing. I didn’t realize that for some kids that “Doc McStuffins” is there favorite show on TV and they watch it every day. So I think it has just recently hit me that so many people like it.

MG: What do you enjoy most about voicing Doc McStuffins?
KM: I think that is it just really fun. I am able to have some freedom on the show. If there is a line that I change a little and they end up liking it better they will actually keep it that way. I think that is really cool and adds some nice freedom to the role. Also you don’t have to dress-up and wear make-up for the role. You can just go in your pajamas. So that is cool!

MG: When you record are you with the other actors?
KM: No actually, I am in the booth by myself. Chris (Nee), the creator and Maria (Estrada), the director are in the other room and they give me their direction while I am doing all of my lines.

MG: Do you get to see any animation while you are recording?
KM: Normally when I am doing a regular episode, there is not any animation. But if we were to go back and do a commercial they sometimes have the animation already done and I have to time my voice to the commercial.

MG: How does it feel to see all the show expanding from TV to the Disney Parks, stores and mobile apps?
KM:  It is pretty cool. I didn’t even know they had some of the stuff they do. I am at my grandmothers house right now and she has a Doc puzzle. I thought that was really cool.

MG: I love the songs in the show, do you enjoy singing on the show?
KM: I do love singing on this show. Michelle (Lewis) and Kay (Hanley) are really good. They wrote the songs and have done such a great job. My favorite was when we got to do a reggae song from the first season. It was a really diverse song and I loved it.

MG: Tell about about the new spin-off series “The Doc Files”?
KM: It is about Doc reviewing her day with the toys that she saw. It is really cool 2D animation. It looks different that the normal series. It is really cute.

MG: What can we expect from season two this Fall on Disney Junior?
KM: I think you just need to keep watching. Chris is just so great and has so many wonderful ideas about these toys and situations that can happen. There is going to be so many different things that you aren’t going to expect. So definitely stay tuned!

Photo Credit: ABC/BOB D’AMICO

Chris Nee is the creator, as well as writer and producer of Disney Junior hit series “Doc McStuffins”.  The show recently completed its first season and has become a worldwide phenomenon from merchandise to phone apps. The series has already spawned a new short-form spin-off called “The Doc Files”, which starts airing on July 22nd. and recently released its first season soundtrack, “The Doc Is In”. Media Mikes had a chance to chat with Chris about her work on the show and what we can expect from the spin-off, as well as the upcoming season two.

Mike Gencarelli: Let’s talk about the new short form spin-off series “The Doc Files”, what can we expect?
Chris Nee: What I think is exciting about this show is that we are able to go back and revisit our favorite toys from past episodes. Like Bella the Ballerina and Poppy, some of the toys that have been on the show and been big hits but we haven’t found a way to bring back in the actual season. So that has been exciting for us as writers. So we also able to bring back some of our favorite songs from season one, so that is also fantastic. For me what was exciting is seeing the show in a new visual style. Obviously they are shorts, but are are anxious to get more material on the air as we get ready for our big push for season two coming up. We are going this series in a 2D style and it is a really exciting way to open up the view of what this show is.

MG: How many episodes have been produced so far?
CN: We have done ten episodes so far of “The Doc Files”. Five are starting to air on July 22nd and five are being
tucked away and will air later in the year.

MG: Any challenges in doing from the regular series to the spin-off series?
CN: It is always hard for me to be short-winded (laughs). So getting my sensibility down to a three minute format was definitely difficult. For people that watch the show, I think that one of the things we do well is marry a lot of tones and make sure we are getting a lot of jokes in while still having emotion. It takes a full twelve minutes to do that usually. So this is like a haiku version of “Doc McStuffins”.

MG: Talk to us about the recently released soundtrack “The Doc Is In”?
CN: I think we got very lucky on this show by bringing in Michelle Lewis and Kay Hanley, our composers. They really haven’t done kids music before. I think you can hear that in the music, as it is incredibly catchy for kids but also for adults as well. I am really excited about the soundtrack. For me, I live and breath these shows and I have heard these songs so many times and you think I would be sick of them by now but when I popped in the CD, I was just so proud of them. I am excited that we were able to get all those songs together. In season two, we are looking to do some longer form songs. It is exciting stuff.

MG: How important do you feel music is to the show?
CN: I think it is a huge part of the process. A lot of our songs end up telling the lesson of the episode. I think it is a great way for us to get very specific with the lessons that we are trying to teach without them feeling too preachy in dialogue. Suddenly when you put them into a fun, boppy song, you can talk about drinking water or wearing glasses and it is very different. We thought to ourselves that if we were successful that every kid would think of our song when they go to wash their hands and will sing this song. So everyone one in a while we hit a topic and we are aiming for something bigger.

MG: In the mobile world, tell us about the recent “Doc McStuffins: Time For Your Check Up!” app?
CN: We spent a lot of time working with the app and tried to find a way to do something that is very unique to
the show. It would have been very easy to do an app with a game where Stuffy had to bang into things but we
really pushed the team we worked with to capitalize on what is different and great about the show. You can
actually use the app as a x-ray machine and a magnifying glass in order to do a check-up of your toys. It is
really different and not your typical app, which I think is really cool.

MG: Are you taken by the success of the show after just one season?
CN: It is pretty mind blowing I have to say. This was an original idea of mine influenced by my son who has asthma. I was setting out to do something personal for him and to see it take off like this is just totally astounding. I recently read some numbers that we were in 190 countries with 16 different languages and over 100 million unique viewers. I find that shocking. I just took a trip to Europe and there was “Doc McStuffins”merchandise on the shelves. I thought how is this possible, since it started as an idea I hope in the shower five years ago [laughs].

MG: What can we expect the upcoming second season of “Doc McStuffins” this Fall?
CN: I think it is just going to be a further diving into this world. We are exploring a bunch of medical topics that we didn’t get to in season one. It is a challenge to tell these stories in a toy-centric point of view. There was a couple of big obvious things that we didn’t do in season one, like wearing a helmet. So we are getting some of those episodes in. We are spending more time we our beloved group of core characters. There is some really wonderful and emotional stories with Lammie and Hallie. It’s suprising to think that we have only had one season on the air so far. Animation just takes a very long time. We have been very busy working on season two. I know people are dying for us to get season two out but for no lack of effort. It just takes that long to get a new season out there. We are closing in on that time and it is going to be very exciting to get the new world of the clinic out there.

I remember it like yesterday.  My friend Matt and I are talking to a friend of ours that manages one of the local theatres.  We tell him what movie we’re going to see and he tells us to take a handful of napkins in with us.  “That kid,” he tells us, “is going to rip your heart out.”  Boy did he.  The film was “The Champ” and the “kid” was Ricky Schroder.

Best known for his role in the popular 80s television show “Silver Spoons,” Ricky Schroder is the rare success story in Hollywood.  From early roles in “The Last Voyage of Noah’s Ark” with Elliot Gould and “The Earthling” with William Holden through acclaimed performances in “Lonesome Dove” and “NYPD Blue” (where he ripped my heart out again as Detective Danny Sorrenson), Schroder carved out a successful career in front of the camera.  But recently he has spent some time behind it, including directing and co-writing the new film “Our Wild Hearts,” which airs August 2 on the Hallmark Movie Channel.  Schroder also stars, as does his daughter Cambrie and his sons Luke and Holden, named after his “The Earthling” co-star.

While promoting “Our Wild Hearts,” Mr. Schroder spent some time with Media Mikes to talk about his new film, working with his family and the perils of fatherhood.

Mike Smith:  What was your inspiration in writing “Our Wild Hearts?”
Ricky Schroder:  My daughter (Cambrie) was my inspiration.  Honestly.  She’s been wanting to be an actress since she was six.  I knew that she would eventually pursue acting with or without me.  I wanted to be her first director because even though I knew she had a lot of potential and raw talent I also knew she needed to be directed in the right way.  I didn’t want her to be put in a situation where she couldn’t succeed.  I told my wife (Andrea – who co-produced and co-wrote the film with Mr. Schroeder) “let’s make a family film – come up with an idea.”  My wife and daughter came back to me with the concept of a dad who never knew he had a daughter, set on a ranch with wild mustangs.  They had me hooked!  I sat down and wrote the first draft.  My wife did a polish on the scenes featuring Willow (Cambrie Schroder) and her mom.  It was a great experience.  All of my family members – all six Schroeders –were on camera.  Everybody worked on the crew.  They did what was needed.  Carry sandbags…craft services…make up…wardrobe.  Whatever needed to be done my family pitched in.

MS:  You worked with your wife before as a producer but this was the first time you shared a writing credit with her.  What was that collaborative process like?
RS:  We would sit down and talk about plot and characters and I would write.  And when I was stuck on scenes I would give them to her and she would write them.  She focused more on Willow’s character – Willow with her mom, Willow in Malibu.  Sometimes I would have trouble finding Willow’s voice and she could find it easier.

MS:  You mentioned that your entire family is in the film.  What was it like, especially for the first time actors, to work with your kids?
RS:  It was a great experience.  I would love to work with them again.  I treated them as a performer and they treated me as a director.  It was a very professional dynamic.  There were lots of high stakes riding on this film and lots of people involved as well as a great partner company in Hallmark.  We knew this wasn’t a home movie.  We knew this was a real film that we were working on together and we all treated it as such.  The only time my “dad” instincts kicked in was when my daughter had to do a stunt on a horse.  I would feel the urge to pull her off a let the stunt lady do it.

MS:  Something you alluded to when we were talking before the interview…as that very rare child actor who has gone on to a successful transition to adulthood,  have you shared any advice with your children…especially Cambrie, who wants to pursue acting full time?
RS:  I didn’t really share advice like that.  Of course, if they ask questions I’ll certainly answer them.  I think my kids have learned more by watching their dad and the challenges and struggles I’ve had while pursuing my career.  Any actor always has trouble getting that next job.  My kids have seen that.  So when we got to make a movie together they really began to understand what dad was doing when he would leave for 14 hours a day.  When he would go on set and be around sixty people in a high pressure environment.  No wonder he was tired when he came home.  Things like that I don’t think they had any insight into until they saw it from my perspective.

MS:  You still continue to act but you’re also spending more time behind the camera.  Is that your preference now?  Is that something you want to pursue?
RS:  I love acting and I’m always going to act.  Hopefully there will always be good writing and I can get that opportunity.  I’ve been focused more on writing and directing recently because I felt like I needed a new challenge…a new frontier to explore.  To stay inspired.  To try new things and to have new experiences in my life.  I’ve done that.  I’ve done music videos, I’ve done movies.  I’ve never set out to say “I’m not going to act anymore.”  But I had a real desire to learn about the other parts of this job…of directing and writing and producing….that I didn’t understand.

MS:  What are you working on next?
RS:  I created a reality television show for the U.S. Army called “Starting Strong” that’s running now.  (NOTE:  Adam Lawton spoke to Mr. Schroder about this program recently – his interview can be found here).  I’m really proud of that.  It runs on FOX on Sunday mornings.  It’s done well so I’m hoping to get another order to make more of those.  I’m also writing a couple scripts – an independent feature and another television film.  I’ve also written a one-hour pilot I’m trying to get set up.  And in between all of that I still go out on auditions when I can.  I meet people, shake hands and try to get the best acting jobs I can

MS:  Thank you again for your time.  I hope your daughter feels better (right before phoning me one of Mr. Schroder’s daughters had fallen off her skateboard and injured her wrist).
RS:  Thank you.

MS:  One thing I’ve learned as a dad is that kids bounce.
RS:  Very true.

Long before Steven Bauer was a star I was a fan. I caught him on an early 80s HBO program profiling young actors and something about him just stood out. Then and there I made a conscious effort to follow any career he might have. It turns out he’s had a great one.
Born in Cuba, Bauer and his family fled the island in 1960 as Fidel Castro was coming into power. His father was a pilot and later flew missions for the C.I.A., including during the Bay of Pigs crisis. A talented musician, Bauer hoped to pursue a career as a singer. However, he discovered acting in junior college and hasn’t looked back. Best known for his star-making turn in “Scarface,” he has appeared in such films as “Running Scared,” “Primal Fear” and the Oscar-winning “Traffic.” On television he’s had roles in popular shows like “The Rockford Files,” “NYPD Blue,” “Burn Notice” and starred in the fourth season of “Wiseguy.” This coming Sunday you can catch Mr. Bauer in his new project, co-starring alongside Live Schreiber in the new Showtime presentation “Ray Donovan.”

While promoting his new show Mr. Bauer took the time to sit down with Media Mikes to talk about working with his idol, network television and why, three decades later, “Scarface” is still going strong!

Mike Smith: I have to tell you that I was a fan of yours before you even made it big. I caught you on an HBO special that was profiling up and coming actors in the early 80s when you were going by the name Rocky Bauer. It was all about you trying to make it as an actor. I remember going to see “Scarface” and when you first came on screen I leaned over to my wife and said, “Look, it’s Rocky Bauer!”
Steven Bauer: Oh my God, I’d forgotten about that show. It was called “So You Want to Be a Star.” (NOTE: I’m so glad Mr. Bauer remembered this show. I can find no mention of it ANYWHERE on the Internet. The show followed Mr. Bauer, Melanie Griffith and a third person – – I’m assuming they didn’t make it or I’d have remembered them – if I’m wrong and it was someone like Bruce Willis my apologies- – as they went through the rounds of auditions while trying to make a living as an actor. As someone that had those same dreams 30 years ago the show really resonated with me) That’s so funny. I remember the producers approached me…I don’t even know why they approached ME…I had already done a TV movie (“She’s In the Army Now” – a film from 1981 that starred up and coming stars Melanie Griffith, Jamie Lee Curtis and Kathleen Quinlan). That’s where I met Melanie (NOTE: Mr. Bauer and Melanie Griffith were married in 1982 and divorced in 1987 – they have a son, Alexander). I had also done the television series “From Here to Eternity” with William Devane (NOTE: the 1980 series, based on the Oscar-winning film, also gave early roles to such future stars as Kim Basinger, Michael Jeter and Don Johnson). Anyway they asked me if I wanted to be one of the people that they profiled. I said, “sure…I guess.” And I remember…it’s probably hoaky now…that I thought it was kind of cool then. They’d take shots of me studying a script. Doing my lines out loud. Which was weird because I never did stuff like that. Especially in profile. They’d say, “we need you to pose while you’re reading.” Melanie used to get a kick out of it. She’s in it too.

MS: I know. I can’t remember who the third person was but you and Melanie sure fit the bill.
SB: (laughs quite heartily) Wow. That’s funny.

MS: Give us a little info on your new show, “Ray Donovan.”
SB: I think it’s a great show. And I think it’s going to be one of the big ones…I have a pretty good eye for this stuff (laughs). Ray Donovan is a tough guy from Boston – Irish-Catholic – who moves his family to L.A. and goes to work for an agency that “fixes” the problems of celebrities and powerful people. His job is to take care of the situation before something like TMZ can expose it. His method is simple – whatever it takes. He can be brutal and very “take charge” but he can also be very compassionate. And that’s the interesting thing about the character that I think will distinguish him. He’s really complex. To his family he’s also an enigma because he’s not home a lot. His wife wants more out of life. They live in the suburbs and she wants to move to where the action is. So Ray Donovan is a guy with a lot of pressures. But he handles them well. I play Avi, one of his assistants. Avi is the action guy, especially when a situation requires a little “force.” It’s a very complex show…it’s about family and lifestyles…greed and corruption…weakness…betrayal…it’s really interesting. It’s very realistic. Very hard hitting. The writing is brilliant. And we don’t have to hold back because we’re on Showtime. The other actors and I have shared with the writers that we’re in a very fortunate situation to be part of the Showtime family. There isn’t any pressure to be politically correct. We don’t have to stay away from certain themes…we don’t have the restrictions of network television. We also don’t have the pressure of having to shoot for ratings. We don’t have to alter the content in order to garnish ratings. The show is going on the air and it’s going to play. And I know the audience will find it.

MS: Were those reasons part of what attracted you to the project?
SB: Yes! First of all, the writer, Ann Biderman, is an old friend. I was very fortunate to appear in one of her early films…one that was truly one of her shining moments…”Primal Fear” (NOTE: Ms. Biderman has also penned the screenplays for films like “Copycat” and “Public Enemies.” She also won an Emmy for writing an episode of “NYPD Blue”). I was fortunate to be in the film and I got to meet Ann. It turns out she’s also from Miami, as I am. She remembered me and asked me to audition for Avi. He’s not Hispanic, he’s Israeli. I’ve done three films in Israel so she knew I could do the accent. All of that appealed to me. I’ve had opportunities in the past to be on network television and they’ve been very frustrating and very, very sad. I told myself I’d never do that to myself again…take a job that had “conditions.” You put all of your heart and soul into something and then it just ends. It’s a horrible feeling. That happened to me on “Wiseguy.” I did nine shows but after they aired two the boss of the network decided the show wasn’t going to find an audience. HE decided. (NOTE: After three seasons as Vinnie Terranova, an undercover agent infiltrating organized crime, actor Ken Wahl opted to quit “Wiseguy.” When season four started Mr. Bauer starred as a former US Attorney who had been in contact with Terranova). There was no changing his mind. One day they just told us to stop working and go home. That’s just the worse thing in the world to hear. Showtime has some great people.

MS: You made your feature film debut as Manny Riberra in “Scarface.” So for your first movie your being directed by one of the best directors around (Brian De Palma) and acting with, arguably, one of the greatest actors EVER (Al Pacino). What was your first day on the set like?
SB: (laughs) It was an very auspicious debut! On the first day I remember being very, very focused. My training was solid and I was prepared, mentally. I had been in Hollywood…had gone back to New York. I was working for a living. I was three or four years into my acting career and I had no delusions of stardom. But I knew I had to get into a really good, creative situation. I wanted to make my film debut in something really strong…creatively strong. And I was fortunate because I was in the right place at the right time. They were looking for me. They were looking for ME. And I was ready to deliver. And the concept…to be put next to one of my idols…Pacino and Robert DeNiro were my idols…I’d say to myself, “Jesus, I want to be THEM. That’s who I want to be…that’s how good I want to be.” Now all of a sudden I’m working with Al Pacino. He was my partner. And he used me. As I was learning from him he was learning from me. I was able to offer him an insight into that culture. The Cuban culture. And so we would bounce off of each other perfectly. I didn’t have time…I couldn’t afford to be nervous.

MS: “Scarface” will celebrate its 30th Anniversary in December. Why do you think the film is still an important part of popular culture today?
SB: I think it’s because it’s very consistent in its tone. It has a very specific tone that’s humorous as well as heavy. It’s brutal but there is a weird sense of humor that we were able to find that has appealed to each generation. The only people it didn’t appeal to were the critics at the time it came out. But their thoughts were influenced by political correctness. At the time it was released there was a backlash against violence in films. So when “Scarface” was released there was a tremendous backlash from the journalistic corps. The people who saw the movie…the PEOPLE who saw the movie, even our peers…had a tremendously positive response. Put that up against the almost 90% negative response from the film critics. And those reviews killed us. It was such a blow. There was no Internet then. You couldn’t have that instant response from the audience…people blogging that this was an amazing movie. What we had were the newspapers saying “this is a piece of ****! These people should go back to film school and acting school.” It was terrible. It was so vicious and so personal. It’s amazing that it survived those years and now has basically been re-claimed by the Hip-Hop generation. It was brought back to the forefront of pop culture and then people started seeing it without the trappings and limitations…by the thought of the day. They saw that what it was was a really good movie and a really great depiction of the rise and fall of a very bad man. It’s really a very moral picture.

MS: You’ve done a lot of voice work for video games (“Scarface: The World is Yours,” “Behind Enemy Lines: Columbia”). Does that require a different “kind” of acting then film or television?
SB: Video games require a lot of energy and a lot of concentration. It’s not normal acting at all. Plus some of them are motion capture. You have to wear a suit of lights. It’s like nothing else. It’s more like pantomime. Plus it’s a big demand on your voice. I did one where I just worked for 20 minutes. But in those 20 minutes I had to do so much…calling out, shouting…it was redundant. “Get over here! Get over here now!” Having to scream it over and over. And nobody knows it’s me! What’s ironic is that I don’t play video games. But I’ll be out somewhere and someone will recognize my voice and say, “Hey man, you’re in that game!” Yep, that’s me.

MS: Besides “Ray Donovan,” what else do you have coming up?
SB: Well a couple of films that I’ve done recently are beginning to see the light of day. I had a film play at Cannes (“Five Thirteen”) that stars me, Tom Sizemore and Danny Trejo. It’s a great heist movie and I have a cool role in that. I’m also in a film that should get some attention at the Toronto Film Festival called “The Lookalike,” made by an Australian director named Richard Gray. It’s got a great cast – Gina Gershon, John Corbett, Justin Long – it’s really a dark, dark movie. I’ve also got a film coming out August 23rd which deals with MMA fighting called “Chavez Cage of Glory.” And Danny Trejo’s in that one too.

Since his film debut in “Back to the Future Part 2,” Elijah Wood has grown up before our eyes. From the young boy dealing with life in films like “North” and “The War” to the adult hobbit Frodo in Peter Jackson’s Academy Award winning “The Lord of the Rings” trilogy, he has never failed to impress an audience. This week he continues the third season of the highly popular television show “Wilfred,” which airs Thursday nights on FX. While promoting the show, Wood took some time to answer some questions.

Media Mikes: Do you sometimes have a hard time just holding it together and keeping a straight face when you film?
Elijah Wood: Oh yeah. I would say even more this season oddly enough than other seasons. For some reason I sort of busted up more this season because of what Jason [Gann] was doing than ever before. I’m so used to seeing him in the dog suit and to a certain degree the context of a lot of the situations I’m very used to but it still definitely serves to make me laugh. It’s a wonderful environment to work in. It’s something that all of us as a crew are kind of constantly laughing so it’s a pretty wonderful thing to go in to work to that every day.

MM: Do you think Wilfred should have a fixed ending point or can it just continue on indefinitely? EW: That’s a very good question. I think that the structure of the show that’s been created is such that it’s about a guy who is essentially in recovery and trying to figure out what his path in life is. This manifestation of ‘Wilfred’ has provided essentially a push for him to kind of figure that out. I think that can only really last for so long to believe that we are dealing with a man who is kind of struggling for answers to these questions and in this sort of existential question period of his life and in recovery. I don’t know that we can believe that for ten seasons. I think to a certain degree there has to be a resolve or a move in a certain direction, so I don’t know. I think…to the fairness of the construction of the show… I think it can only survive for so long. I would hate to make the show kind of carry on for too long and it not necessarily support what we’ve created, if that makes sense.

MM: Definitely. When you play Ryan, do you have in your mind an answer to why he sees Wilfred in order to help you play him?
EW: I do yeah. I have an idea. I’ve kind of made up my mind as to what I think Wilfred is. I don’t know that that’s reflective of what the character has decided though, and to a certain degree I think Ryan—when Ryan meets Wilfred in the first season it’s really within an episode in a way that he sort of accepts Wilfred’s existence. I think from there on out even though there are these questions and he does question what ‘Wilfred’ is—I think there’s a deeper level of acceptance and recognizing that ‘Wilfred’s’ purpose albeit uncertain as to where he’s manifesting from and what it means—his purpose is ultimately positive and that is helping him. I don’t know what Ryan has decided because I think Ryan is clearly questioning, but I have an idea. I think that perspective probably does help me in playing the character, but I think overall there’s just a sense of general acceptance for Ryan.

MM: When you approach a character, as far as developing it, do you take a different approach as opposed to when you’re working on a film and episodic television?
EW: Not really. I mean the only real difference between television and film—I mean there are a few I suppose, but predominantly it’s the pace to which you work. But the development of the character or the process for playing the character isn’t necessarily different. The other main difference between film and television is that you have the opportunity to flush out a character over a longer period of time whereas a film you’re confined to two hours, three hours, whatever it may be. But really it’s very much the same approach that you would take when you play a character in any medium I think.