Life is like a sitcom… at least it was on our latest episode, when we welcomed three very humorous guests from the CBS show Accidentally On Purpose - actors Jon Foster and Nic Wright, and creator/producer/writer Claudia Lonow.
If you watch this show, you’ll be as happy and entertained as these guys. We swear. www.thestream.tv
Quick, what do you get when you mix two funny actors and an ex-actress and current producer/writer with lots of good war stories from her years in Hollywood? Uh, well, the latest episode of our show, that’s what.
Would you sell any of these people an above-ground pool? We didn't - but we would!
Stu, slipping a little too easily into his new persona of Tallahassee’s #1 above-ground pool salesman Stan Vereen, made a valiant attempt to sell our musical director John Fulron a Diamond Star 52″ with “little or no” money down.
Stan Vereen, Tallahasse's #1 above-ground pool salesman gets dressed for work... as a douche bag. *belt courtesy of 2006.
John Fulton got the news he was hoping for from the clinic. Disease free - for 24 more hours!
On camera, John turned down the offer, but his surreptitious passing of several large-denomination bills Stu’s way after the show suggests he might have subsequently changed his mind. Pool-less Jessie, meanwhile, was re-christened Tits Johnson for no good reason at all by Stan/Stu.
Claudia Lonow, creator of "Accidentally on Purpose" shares all - and we mean ALL her secrets. Just go to 22:00 minutes in to the show and you'll get it.
We have a sneaking suspicion that Claudia lacks easy access to a nice vinyl-lined backyard swimming facility or has ever spent quality time in Tallahassee. Despite these glaring character flaws, we were open-minded enough to welcome her as our first guest of the night. She talked about the genesis of Accidentally On Purpose, and its very long journey from book adaptation to story pitch to TV series. She also talked about her early years as an actress in Hollywood, when she played a role in the night-time soap Knots Landing, and at one point even made an appearance on The Tonight Show… tripping to the ground on her way to the guest chairs.
Once again, Stu tries his "I had a cameo on Dallas" pickup line on a guest. Once again, it fails.
In her actress days, Claudia also dated actors from CHiPS and Little House on the Prairie. Which was enough reason for us to grill her in the quiz segment of her appearance, “Bad Boyz“. Non-sympathetic characters from TV of that era were named and described, and she had to guess which show they appeared in. Facing slightly less pressure than she probably did after that stumble on The Tonight Show, Claudia nailed three out of the four questions (okay, there was a gimme - one Bad Boy was the man her character was married to on Knots Landing). Not content with grilling her about characters on 30-year old TV shows, we also put Claudia through our (not exactly) patented “59-Second Gauntlet“. She didn’t quite get all the questions, but managed to spill some very revealing tidbits about her past. We won’t get into it here, let’s just say we’re definitely buying this woman’s memoirs once they’re published.
Bucky, our newest P.A. is already sleeping on the job while Stu downloads a "make it funny" app for the show.
Given Claudia’s sterling performance in her quiz, we thought her colleagues Jon and Nic would nail the questionnaires we set up for them. BZZZT, wrong! With a strong handicap in favor of Canadian Nic, we pitted the two actors against each other in our contest “French Rock Band or Montreal Sex Shop?” But it was Jon who pulled off the major upset, taking the victory, or as they say in Quebec and in certain strange neighborhoods in Tallahassee, La Victoire.
Nic Wright with the "spoils" of his win on the show - pure, uncut Quebec Maple Syrup. *Made in Mexico. Jon Foster considers where he left his pomade. Oh yeah, Stu stole it.
Despite his painful loss, Nic didn’t slide into dejection, bitterness and eventual painkiller addiction. Instead he and Jon regaled Stan - I mean, Stu - with a tasty anecdote regarding Nic losing his twelve-gauge shotgun virginity (and nearly his shoulder) at an L.A. gun range with Jon. This activity was probably a little less challenging than Jon’s old pastime of noodling. For those many of you unfamiliar with noodling, it has something to do with looking for a good time in Iowa, catfish punching, river wading, and several days of fish leftovers for lunch.
Jon Foster quickly became our favorite person in the world by endorsing our show. Turns out, he was just covering a mustard stain. Great hair though.
We quizzed the boys a little more, raising the stakes substantially in our next test, “Ca-Nuck Buddy“, with a bottle of what Stu claimed was genuine 100% Canadian maple syrup. With much to play for, Nic took this one, guessing the identity of enough Canadian celebrities from a series of clues to claim the prize.
Finally, we ran our gentlemen guests through the “59 Second Gauntlet”. Despite enjoying a huge competitive advantage given that they had heard the very same questions only minutes earlier, Jon and Nic couldn’t quite make it to the end. Which was tragic, however at least Nic has that nice bottle of maple syrup to comfort and console him.
Are you suffering from anxiety and depression? So are we, but we're hiding our pain. That's ACTING!
Jon and Nic, by the way, have their own online talk show, and it’s remarkably free of Florida pool salesmen, pancake condiments or Canadian sex toys. Lunch with Nic and Jon comes to you every week or so on the AoP web site. And don’t forget to feast your eyes on Accidentally on Purpose itself, currently airing Monday nights at 8:30 on CBS.
We know you’re at work. You’re not supposed to be here anyway, so you might as well shirk some more by watching this show. www.thestream.tv
Clicker.com says we’re the best of 2009 in the live TV category. We didn’t even bribe them or anything.
More links: past shows, Feedburner, Twitter, iTunes, Zune, Facebook, LiveFromTheFuture.com, IMDB
Thanks to our sponsor DrinkEvo.com!
Living and working in Hollywood, as we sort of do, it sometimes feels like sci-fi and comic book devotees are taking over the world… or at least the entertainment industry. If planet Earth does get overrun by hordes of skinny people who watch too much Battlestar Galactica and can quote Spider-Man comics verbatim, the charge will very possibly be led by “Geekscape!”. This podcast is hosted by Jonathan, who has also branched out into… other online podcasts , namely as writer and correspondent of the Nar Williams-hosted “Heads Up”.
