MR.TV PODCAST: Recent Episodes
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A love letter to television shows from the past including Stickin' Around, Beakman's World, and much more!
If you were glued to your TV set during the 1990's, you might remember this commercial where a guy talks about his problems with acne. He mentions how people think he has it because he eats too many chocolate bars or that doesn't wash his face.
What you might not know is that the guy in the commercial was a real person who wanted to share his story about his skin condition in an authentic way.
Tim Hamilton, the director behind the commercial, remembers meeting the young man and tells us about how he used a film technique and a documentary style to make him comfortable on camera.
Link to the commercial: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6T2olgjnDWY
We're talking with Big Wolf on Campus co-creator Peter A. Knight about how he and Christopher Briggs created this memorable late 90's TV series, but also about the many pitfalls laying in wait for them as young show producers.
Senta Moses Mikan joins the MR.TV podcast to talk about her role as Phoebe on Beakman's World. She was the show's third and final co-host, and had some incredible experiences including a close encounter with a lion.
Paul Zaloom who played Beakman on Beakman's World joins the MR.TV Podcast to talk about how he got the role on the show, his international fame, and why making the show again would be tough.
"It was a character that demanded all of me not just a part of me," says Scott Cohen about his character Wolf from the 10th Kingdom.
Wolf is a barely contained explosion of a character. He has complex motivations, he's at times hilarious and at other threatening, but he's the real heart and soul of the 10th Kingdom.
Scott joins the podcast to talk about how he got the role, the toll 9 months of travel took on him, and his hope that one day there'll be a sequel.
The 10th Kingdom originally aired in 2000 on NBC. It starred Kimberly Williams-Paisley as Virginia, a waitress who gets sucked into the world of the 9 Kingdoms. These kingdoms are based on the fairytales, but not the ones we might have grown up with. Creator Simon Moore wanted to take viewers into a world well past its happily ever after to examine the darker roots of the tales. What soon discover is that Virginia has a dark past of her own that she's about to uncover.
Simon joins us this episode to talk about the creation of the show, the reception it received, and why he's still hopeful on creating a sequel with actor Scott Cohen.
On today’s episode, we're talking with the co-creators of Superhuman Samurai Syber-Squad, Jymn Magon and Mark Zaslove. We talk about the frenetic pace of the show’s production, why they never watch the shows they produce, creative freedom at DIC, and why creators aren’t quite as involved as you might think.
On today’s episode, we chatting with G Beaudin who played Malcolm Frink on Superhuman Samurai Syber-Squad. We talk about his audition for the role, how Rocky Horror Picture show helped him get it, and how overwhelming fan reaction became.
Brianne Banigan Eleanor Leary sat face-to-face with Judy Price, the Queen’s of children's television production at CBS with a pilot in her hand for The Sticklers, a show about a dysfunctional family trying to get by. Judy told her to play the tape and they sat in silence as the VHS played.
“She stood up from her desk, leaned in, and said, ‘I like this.” And then she went around the desk and said, ‘I want this.’,” says Brianne who had been sweating bullets while the show played. It was unheard of for Judy to green light projects right away, so work began on what would become Stickin’ Around.
Brianne joins us this episode to talk about how The Sticklers became Stickin’ Around, how her childhood informed its characters, and how in television production a “No” is only a “No” until it becomes a “Yes.”
Stickin’ Around’s stick figure aesthetic was, “An illusion in simplicity,” says Robin Steele, co-creator of Stickin’ Around.
In fact, the show, which aired from 1996 to 1998, was on the forefront of digital animation production, but the origins of the aesthetic goes back to his work on Stick Figure Theatre on MTV's Liquid Television.
Robin joins us this episode to talk about how he joined the showed, the complexity of a stick-figure aesthetic, how the themes of the show developed during production, and what it takes for a show to come back for a reboot.
Did you know Nanalan is a real place? In fact, "Nana Land" is what Jamie Shannon called his grandmother's backyard when he was a kid and his time spent there as a kid directly inspired the creation of his puppet show that played on YTV, Nickelodeon, and CBC.
Jamie joins us this episode to talk about inspiring wonder in kids, what happens when you switch broadcasters, and how this show helped launch a number of successful shows like Mr. Meaty and Big and Small.
Steve Schnier remembers dancing down the hallways at his day job when his producer John Delmage called him to say Freaky Stories had found its financing.
Starring Larry de bug and Maurice the Maggot, Freaky presented four cartoons per episodes to kids around the world with writing inspired by tales of Schnier's family.
In our interview, we get into the creation of the show, why puppetry really "sucks", and why the show ended after three seasons.
Mr. Bumpy’s design sprang forth from Ken Pontac’s mind like Athena from Zeus. Pontac says his big features and even bigger personality were designed to make him an exciting character to animate.
We talk about friendship and its role in a production, dealing with writing constraints, and the legacy of the show.
A transcript of this episode is on its way!
David Ichioka remembers the feeling of infinite possibility while looking out onto the soundstage that would become the set for Bump in the Night. It's a memory that has few equals although meeting him wife on set, he says, eclipses it.
For a transcript of this episode, please click here: Transcript