It seems the older I get, the more I enjoy television shows aimed at young people. Case in point: Switched at Birth, ABC Family’s newest original drama, which premiered on June 6. The series won me over from the very first episode, and it now ranks at the top of my regrettably short Must See TV list.

If you haven’t had the pleasure of watching Switched at Birth yet, the series revolves around teenagers Daphne Vasquez (Katie Leclerc) and Bay Kennish (Vanessa Marano). Even-tempered “good girl” Daphne has been deaf since she was a toddler due to meningitis, and moody Bay is a talented artist with a rebellious streak. Despite those differences, both girls are intelligent, down-to-earth, family-oriented, and basically kind people.

After they learn the hospital where they were born sent them home with the other girl’s family by mistake, their parents decide to live near each other in order to get to know their respective biological daughter. The proximity helps the families accomplish that goal while highlighting the contrasts and similarities between them.

George Lopez veteran Constance Marie plays Daphne’s mother Regina Vasquez. When she spoke with reporters earlier this month, Marie emphasized how important it is that Switched at Birth seamlessly “merges the hearing world with the deaf community,” with her character Regina serving as a bridge between the two.

Since the deaf community is fifteen million strong, the fact that [the show] merges those two seamlessly is a huge gift to America. If you go into the other [important] things, Switched at Birth calls into question the nature versus nurture question — the racial differences, cultural differences, socioeconomic differences in families. How, no matter if you’re a single parent family, a two-parent family, you have money, no money, you’re Puerto Rican or you’re white, everybody’s got issues. And the conflict comes from that. It is just a melting pot of drama.

Although she appears to have lengthy signing experience on the show, Marie had to learn American Sign Language, or ASL, to prepare for her role as a hearing person strongly involved in the deaf community. Anthony Natale, a certified sign language instructor, helped her acquire and polish her signing skills, which also have to pass muster with her fellow cast members Leclerc, Sean Berdy (Emmett), and Marlee Matlin (Melody), who are all both deaf and fluent in ASL.

I really was blessed to be able to work with Anthony Natale about three weeks before we started production. I didn’t know anything about ASL. I watched a tremendous amount of documentaries and I have a wonderful ASL instructor who came and literally beat me into submission.

I say that in a loving way, but really, I had to hunker down and essentially learn a language that I had no clue about. It’s so funny because in my Mommy and Me group with my young baby, all the moms — every single mom — taught their child sign language, except for me. And, of course, I’m the one who ends up having to do a TV series where I have to become fluent in sign language in a matter of weeks.

Regina is more than just a mother, however. As a single woman, she also has a personal life outside motherhood that will evidently heat up sometime soon. Viewers witnessed a little of that personal side in recent episodes, which found Regina developing mutual interest in a wealthy acquaintance of the Kennishes.

I just have to say that the episodes that we have coming up, Regina gets busy. I guess that’s my heavy-handed way of saying she gets to go out on dates and things.

She also has big secrets to be revealed. There’s so much stuff coming down the pike, it’s unbelievable. These shows are just getting better and better, and more complex, and I think we won’t leave anybody unfulfilled, that’s for sure.

I bet some of those secrets will involve Bay’s unidentified biological father, a forbidden topic in the Vasquez household whom viewers have not met yet. Whether we ever learn who he is or not, Marie believes another valuable aspect of Switched at Birth is that the series demonstrates families are not about perfection.

I hope viewers learn, number one, that deaf people are just like everybody else, except they speak fabulously with their hands. I [also] hope they question what a family really is, and how it doesn’t necessarily have to be, like, the perfect mom and dad and 2.5 children. How families are completely different, but yet, the love underneath that is the most important thing, however you skin that family cat.

Watch Switched at Birth Mondays this summer on ABC Family at 9pm ET. I always do.

Basic cable’s ABC Family premieres the original movie Cyberbully on July 17 at 8pm ET. Part of the network’s summer-long Delete Digital Drama collaboration with Seventeen magazine, the film stars Emily Osment (Hannah Montana) as the increasingly distressed bullied party, high school student Taylor Hillridge.

Seventeen-year-old Taylor becomes a tortured victim of online bullying when she uses her new computer to attempt making friends on the Internet. Yet, instead of achieving the desired results, which include helping her deal with typical teenage anguish and her parents’ recent divorce, Taylor’s foray into the Wild Wild Web leads to unexpected betrayal, emotional pain, and further social isolation.

The cast of Cyberbully contains plenty of familiar television talent. Performers include Kay Panabaker, last seen on canceled ABC superhero series No Ordinary Family, as Taylor’s best friend Samantha Caldone; The O.C. veteran Kelly Rowan as Taylor’s mother Kris; and Being Human regular Meaghan Rath as Cheyenne Mortenson.

Star Osment recently provided some insight into the main theme of Cyberbully during a group interview with reporters. Her words make it clear she finds the subject matter very important, and she has sensible advice for young people who find themselves the target of meanspirited online behavior.

When asked about her personal experience with bullying — especially given her status as a celebrity, the type of person online haters love to hate on most — Osment replied she discussed the issue with her own mother, a sixth-grade teacher, and Cyberbully producer Joe Rice:

I spoke with [my mother] for a long time about what she sees in her school, and it’s frightening. It’s very sad. And I spoke with Joe Rice a very long time when I read the script, and I loved it for many reasons. One was because I knew this was a character that has an arc. She starts at one place and she drags through this mud a little bit, and then she comes out somewhere else. To play a role like that is an opportunity I haven’t had before, and I was jumping at the opportunity.

Plus, this is a campaign that needs to have more publicity surrounding it. Cyberbullying is a topic that is very hot right now. I know that Michelle Obama has a campaign that she is doing on it. Seventeen magazine obviously is doing a huge campaign right now with Delete Digital Drama. With this StompOutBullying.org that I’m an ambassador for, there is just so much we’re doing.

Osment also feels Cyberbully is not just a movie for teens or kids, and she believes parents should watch it with their children.

If you’re having trouble at home with a kid who’s being bullied and you don’t know how to help them, Kelly Rowan does an excellent job of playing this mother who is caught between a divorce and her job and two kids. And she’s so stressed, which a lot of mothers in America sadly are, but she does a great job of showing how she doesn’t really know how to help in the beginning and then she becomes supermom.

As for what young victims of bullying can do to avoid continuing harassment, Osment offers a few on-target suggestions:

If you’re being bullied, the best thing to do is to hit ‘Delete.’ That’s truly as simple as it is. If you’re seeing negative things online, try and get yourself away from it. And if you can’t get away from it, then you take yourself offline.

We’re very lucky we live in a generation where we have the opportunities that we do with electronics and technology, and we can use it anywhere we want pretty much. But this is our chance to sort of change the direction in which we’re going with the Internet and make it turn right a little bit, and we’ll be a little bit happier.

Hit rookie ABC Family series Pretty Little Liars has definitely struck a chord with viewers. Based on the young adult set of novels by author Sara Shepard, the teen-oriented drama focuses on four high school students as they attempt to determine who is harassing them electronically following the alleged death of their best friend.

The show continues to perform better than well in the ratings after half a season, no doubt in part because of the four attractive stars: Troian Bellisario (Spencer), Ashley Benson (Hanna), Lucy Hale (Aria), and Shay Mitchell (Emily). Although the male members of the cast don’t get anywhere near as much coverage as the leading ladies, they play a sizable role in the action as the mystery of the all-knowing persecutor referred to simply as “A” unfolds.

Brant Daugherty portrays bad boy Noel Kahn, a fellow Rosewood High student whose attitude takes a turn for the creepy and worse when he discovers a huge secret Aria has been hiding. The 26-year-old actor recently devoted a bit of his time to answering questions about his role on the show and where he thinks it’s heading. Read on for the good stuff, some of which may be spoiler-y if you haven’t been keeping up with the series this winter.

On “A” and how Noel fits into that situation: I honestly have no idea who ["A"] is. I’ve been watching and following [the show] with the fans, trying to figure it all out. And God knows they don’t tell me anything about that, but I’m right there with everyone. As far as how Noel fits into that, you’ve got to look at his motives and the situation he was put in. He may not necessarily be working maliciously as “A,” but he’s still got a bone to pick, and he’s still trying to figure things out for himself. Ultimately, at the end there, at the end of Episode 13 ["Know Your Frenemies"], he becomes a victim himself, which adds another interesting twist to it, I think.

On the evolution of his character Noel Kahn: Well, we’ve already seen a pretty dramatic turn in how we view Noel and the sides of him that we’re seeing. In the future, I think, we’re just kind of see how he’s going to relate to these four girls and what interaction he’s going to have. As far as specifics, I’m afraid I can’t delve too much into that. But he is a character in Rosewood, and we’re going to see a bit of him around town and everything. It’s mainly just how he relates to these four girls, and when they’re ready for him, he’ll be around.

On what’s most enjoyable about playing Noel: It has to be his duality. When I was first on the show during the last ten episodes, Noel was this great stand-up guy. They would talk about how perfect he is and he’s got a great life, and all these great things happening for him. Then just suddenly, he just flips completely, and then you’re never really sure what to make of him after that. Is he lying? Is he telling the truth? Who is he lying to? Why is he lying? I think when I sat down and talked to Marlene [King] and Oliver [Goldstick], the executive producers, about this transition, they were so excited to see how this played out, and I was right there with them. I couldn’t wait to show this side of the character.

On Noel taking advantage of Aria and Ezra’s relationship by trying to coerce the teacher into giving him a better grade: I wouldn’t say that he’s taking advantage of it. I think that he’s lashing out a little bit. I think maybe “trying to get back at Ezra” would be a better term. I feel like he thinks Ezra has taken advantage of Aria more than Noel is taking advantage of Ezra or Aria. Aria’s asked him not to do anything, so he’s struggling with how he’s going to handle the situation and ultimately try to get a dig in at Ezra the only way he knows how — intellectually, through his work.

On the reaction of fans to Noel’s transition from sweet guy trying to win over Aria to bad guy: You can always tell where the fans allegiances lie by how they react to the situation. Some of them are just furious and hate me and can’t believe this dark turn I’ve taken and the way that I’m hurting their poor, dear Ezra. Some of them love it, on the opposite end. Some of them are kind of rooting me on, and they’re like, “Yes! Get him! Get him!” So, it’s been interesting to see the kind of double nature of the fans that way. [It's] great, honestly, because coming in, I wasn’t sure if I’d ever win anyone away from Ezra. But I got a couple of them, and I’m happy with that.

On what makes viewers watch Pretty Little Liars: In a short answer, it has to be the four pretty little liars themselves. I think they so accurately depict sort of America right now for these young girls with their struggles and the lies that they have to tell and the secrets they keep. Especially hitting things like eating disorders in the last couple episodes and hitting things like coming out to your parents, the gay teenager. These things really resonate with the youth in the world today, and I think it’s exploring storylines like that that keep us coming back every week.

On how he was cast as Noel: That was quite a process actually. I had to fight for that one. I auditioned for the pilot to play Ezra. I was too young for that. Then, I auditioned again a couple of months later to play Toby, which was a fun audition. I had a blast with that one, I’m sure you could imagine. Toby’s quite a character. They liked me and wanted to keep seeing me and find me a fit on the show. And then Noel came up, and Noel and I just clicked. We get each other. I auditioned for the part and just a couple of days later, I was on set with the cast and the crew.

Lucky, lucky dude. Tune in to Pretty Little Liars Mondays on ABC Family at 8pm ET.

It’s almost time to make it work again, Project Runway aficionados. The long-running fashion reality series kicks off its eighth season tonight, July 29, at 9pm ET with the premiere “And Sew It Begins,” a fresh crop of aspiring designers, and a new 90-minute running length. However, despite the expected changes, viewers will still have the advantage of knowledgeable insight from resident guru Tim Gunn, as always.

The Lifetime show’s signature mentor recently devoted some time to answering questions about what Project Runway has in store for fans this summer. Continue reading to learn a bit about the latest contestants, their relationship with Gunn, and a few other interesting tidbits, including the origin of his trademark phrase “make it work,” which has become synonymous with the Emmy-winning series.

What can we expect to see more of in Project Runway‘s new 90-minute format?

TIM GUNN: I haven’t seen a cut of the show yet. I honestly don’t know how the additional time is being filled. I will say this, though: based on seven seasons of experience, we have so much content that never ever reaches the air that it should not be an issue for the editors and the producers in general to fill that time.

When I reflect upon season seven, we barely see the Q&A between the judges and the designers.We barely hear anything out of the deliberation. You get a sound bite, when in fact the Q&A and the deliberation go on anywhere from four to six hours. So, you think about it — if you just want to be a fly on the wall, it’s very easy to fill in that time.

Frankly, I’ll say, somewhat egotistically, I feel the same way about my critiques in the work room. You would think that I check in with four designers, sometimes only three, when, in fact, I’m giving equal time to everybody. So, there’s a lot of material that never reaches the air that now our 90-minute format conceivably can.

Season Eight now has 17 designers, the most in the series’ history. Have you seen a significant difference in working with more contestants? Are there certain challenges that come along with this increase?

TIM GUNN: For me, yes. Even when it’s 16 people and it’s so many designers and just making the rounds of the work room takes forever. And I have to tell you, I end up being, in some ways, spent and just exhausted physically and mentally because it’s a lot of work for me to really understand what each individual designer is attempting to achieve and then how to speak to them about my view of how successful this is or not and what I believe would benefit them. It requires a lot of brain searching and conjuring up former experiences.

How does having 17 designers change the dynamic of the show? Will it just be one extra elimination or does it change the whole thing?

TIM GUNN: Well, we’re so close to the show, maybe I’m giving something away, but that’s alright. What Heidi and I say is that our intention was to have 16 designers for Season Eight. We couldn’t make up our mind once we got it down to 17 about who should go, so we’re using the first challenge to determine that. So, in a way, the first episode is the last stage of the audition process.

How would you describe the Season Eight cast dynamic and how they relate to each other?

TIM GUNN: They are very respectful of each other and disarmingly willing to help each other. We have a couple of speed demons who are sewing prodigies who offer up their services to other designers, and I kept thinking, “Well, this dynamic’s going to change.” I mean the fewer designers there are, the more competitive they’re going to feel with each other, and, in fact, if anything, they’ve become closer.

From where I sit as the mentor, it’s very sweet and touching. I hope our audience doesn’t want a lot of blood-spill because, with a couple of exceptions, they’re not going to see very much of that. Though there is a group, a team challenge, when we have more team members than we’ve ever had in the history of Project Runway, I mean in terms of number of people on the teams.

There is someone who reveals him- or herself — again, I don’t want to give away gender — as being this big bossy boots, and it will be interesting to see how people respond to that episode because there was not to be a team leader among the team members. It was to be a collaborative democracy. In the case of one of the teams, it was not.

So, that was an aspect of that individual’s character that I can’t say that I was totally surprised by because I knew certain things about that individual that had been revealed earlier in the season. But I was floored that there wasn’t a giant retaliation from the team. So, later in the challenge, I retaliate. I couldn’t stand it any longer.

Are there any breakout personalities in the season? Are there are any who stand out to you as larger-than-life personalities, like Season One contestant Austin Scarlett and Season Two contestant Santino Rice?

TIM GUNN: Oh, yes. Well, there’s only one Santino, and I say the same about each individual designer. They have their own DNA. I will tell you this, too, because I reacted this way at the very beginning of the season. There are some people about whom the audience will think, “Oh, they just put them on there for television.”

In fact, they really are who they are. That individual is that individual, and the work that they do is exceptional. So, even I, at the very beginning, was a little jaded and a little cynical, like, “Oh, come on.” Though I saw everyone at the auditions, I don’t know who will actually end up on the show and I stand corrected. Their talent is unimpugnable.

How do you feel this season’s group compares to the previous ones?

TIM GUNN: It’s a very interesting group, and in terms of the chemistry among them, one that I’ve never really experienced in a prior season. It’s for this reason, they’re very fragile. They’re fragile in terms of their emotional well-being. They’re fragile in terms of their ego. So, I always felt as though I was tiptoeing around glass that I didn’t want to break while still delivering what I’m responsible for delivering and what’s good for them, [namely] a truth-telling session in the work room and an opportunity for them to look anew critically and analytically at their work.

And I will also say I don’t know of a prior season when I have felt such profound fondness for everyone, even one designer with whom I have a serious antipathy at the beginning of the season. It dissipates, and we become pals later. It was very hard. We just wrapped this week, and it was very hard to say goodbye to them.

If you could just use three different words to describe this season, what would they be?

TIM GUNN: Oh dear. “Hot” because New York has never been hotter, and we’ve spent a lot of time outdoors. I’m trying to search for something that doesn’t sound banal.

Well, I’ll use another word: “Emotional.” I’m probably more emotional this season than I’ve ever been. It has to do with how hard everyone’s working and how — I’m welling up right now — how lovely everyone is. They’re a great group. Oh, I know. Let me use another word. So, we have hot and emotional.

“Frustrating,” and it goes back to the judging. I’ve always had my blog both to talk about the outcomes, because people don’t hear me talk about the final looks, but also to vent a bit. In a way I’m glad to have this on-camera time in this beat of the show to just say how I feel about what happened.

In fact, the producers had wanted me to step into the judges’ circle, and I refused to do that. It’s “No. I’m not going to.” I don’t want to do anything to either undermine them or to potentially influence their decision making in a future challenge. They need to do what they do, and I respect what they do. I believe in the separation of church and state, so I do not engage with them.

Do you still keep in touch with past designers from previous seasons?

TIM GUNN: I do. I mean, as much as they want to keep in touch with me. I’m very careful not to force myself upon anyone, but the designers do get back in touch with me either about professional advice or they just want to have a cup of coffee or a glass of wine, and I’m thrilled to see them.

It’s frustrating when people don’t take your advice or your suggestions, but you always seem to remain pretty cool. How do you do that?

TIM GUNN: Well, it comes through 29 years of teaching and knowing that with some degree of frequency, I’ll leave the classroom just to give the students a little bit of breathing space and I figure that they’re probably trash talking about me. My refrain during these 30 minutes is going to be I haven’t seen it, so I don’t know how it’s going to play out.

There’s a designer this season who takes it upon him- or herself — I don’t want to reveal a gender — to walk around to the designers after I’ve done my critique to add comments about this designer’s viewpoint of whether I gave each designer good advice or bad advice and what this particular designer would advise them to do. And I reached a point where I will say I became rather frustrated by it because I thought I don’t want this individual to be undermining what I say.

So, at one point when I’m leaving the work room, I declare it to the entire room: “Listen to your own voice. You may have someone coming up to you suggesting that that individual knows better than you what you should be doing with your work, but that individual’s not responsible for your presentation of your work on the runway. So, in fact, if you’re recalibrating your thinking based on what this person’s telling you, I would advise against it.”

Where did your catch phrase “make it work” come from? Is that something that you started saying while teaching?

TIM GUNN: Oh, absolutely. It came from my classrooms and, in fact, I even remember the first time I used it. This was the senior year class and the course I was teaching was Concept Development, and it works in tandem with a course in which the students actually execute their collection. I had a student who— It was March [and] she was going to throw the entire collection away, literally and metaphorically, and start a new one.

I said, “We are presenting these collections in four weeks. You’re looking at five months of work, and you’re saying you’re going to get rid of it and start all over again?” I said, “You’re not. You’re going to look at the situation at hand, offer up a diagnosis for what’s wrong, a prescription, and then a prescription for how to make it work. You’ve got to make this work. You’re not going to start all over again. Period.”

This was many years ago this happened. I find that with students that they then end up having this incredible resource within themselves for how to problem-solve as they move forward as opposed to just starting all over again. And, okay, it works, but do you know why? So, it’s a very useful lesson.

On Project Runway it’s nothing if not “make it work,” because as I’m always saying to the designers, once we leave mood, that’s it. Whatever you have is what you have, and you’re not going shopping again. You’re not retooling this. It’s “make it work” time.

Yale graduate, In Living Color alum, and Chocolate News creator David Alan Grier is heading back to the tube tonight, June 28, to host a TBS standup-comedy special called David Alan Grier: Comedy You Can Believe In.

The program is part of the cable network’s A “Very Funny” Festival: Just for Laughs, a series of comedy events that were filmed around Chicago from June 17 to 21 and that are currently airing in hourlong presentations hosted by well-known comedy veterans.

Former Saturday Night Live player Martin Short got things off to a rousing start on Friday, followed by daytime talker Ellen DeGeneres on Saturday, and now, tonight, Grier. Like the others, the third presentation features a number of talented comics doing their thing to make viewers laugh, such as Grier’s old friend Mark Curry from the 1992–1997 ABC sitcom Hangin’ with Mr. Cooper and former Last Comic Standing competitor Ralph Harris.

I had the chance to throw a few questions Grier’s way during an interview in support of the special. The bulk of the Q&A is live at the comedy-TV website Comedy Centric, with a teaser below to whet your appetite and motivate you to click on over for the rest of the goods. And don’t forget to check out David Alan Grier: Comedy You Can Believe In on TBS at 10pm ET tonight when you’re all done.

Did training in Shakespeare at Yale in any way help you prepare for the type of comedy you do now?

DAVID ALAN GRIER: I’m going to say yes and no. Probably yes when I’m having a really bad night where you just have to persevere and keep going. Did it help me? Yeah. I think so. I never imagined my career would go through the travails that it has.

I mean, there was a point where my goal was to be like in the chorus of a Bus Set truck production of a play because I thought, “Wow, what fun.” You ride in a bus across the country with other actors and you act every night. So, thankfully my goals were a lot higher than that, but I feel like I’ve had a great career.

Well, you are classically trained. You went to Yale. And I know that you want to do more drama, so I’m curious about The Nation.

DAVID ALAN GRIER: Okay, look. People ask me about that, the Wikipedia thing [Wikipedia states without citing a source that Grier is set to play controversial Nation of Islam figure Louis Farrakhan in a musical, then quotes the following remark attributed to Grier: "It has always been a dream of mine to take the controversy filled life of Minister Farrakhan and incorporate song and intricate dance routines. I really feel this could be my career defining role"]. The best I can gather is I was making a joke that someone put in there as verbatim.

That’s hilarious.

DAVID ALAN GRIER: Read it. It is material. Come on. Everybody tells me about The Nation, the Louis Farrakhan musical, because I was trying to think of something bizarre that would never actually happen, and now by way of the Internet, people actually think I am doing it.

It might need to happen now.

DAVID ALAN GRIER: Yes. Yes it might. Yes. Exactly. I’m backed into yet another interesting project.

One of the recurring yet unforgettable characters on USA Network’s latest hit dramedy, the Hamptons-set medical series Royal Pains, is Ms. Newberg, played by stage veteran Christine Ebersole.

We first meet the colorful and wealthy resident during the pilot when Mark Feuerstein ‘s main character Dr. Hank Lawson resolves her problem with a “flat tire,” which turns out to be a deflated breast implant that leaves her with a lopsided chest right before an important gathering.

Ms. Newberg is also notable for being the first person in the elite Long Island enclave to retain Hank’s services on an as-needed basis — or probably more like “as-wanted” when it comes to demanding Ms. Newberg — with a lucrative ongoing contract.

Christine Ebersole is currently appearing alongside the likes of Angela Lansbury and Rupert Everett in the Broadway revival of the Noel Coward farce Blithe Spirit. She’s also the proud owner of two Best Actress Tony awards in the musical category, the first for 42nd Street and the second for Grey Gardens.

So, of course, it was a huge thrill when Ebersole recently agreed to answer questions about her current television role. Keep reading to learn what she revealed.

Is there anything you could tell us about the upcoming stories involving your character and any other characters on the show?

CHRISTINE EBERSOLE: [On the July 16th episode], I give a bark mitzvah to my dog. My dog has a bark mitzvah, and all the guests come down with a mysterious ailment … then hijinks ensue. This is comedy at its finest.

How did you get the role of Ms. Newberg on Royal Pains, and what about the series convinced you to accept the role?

CHRISTINE EBERSOLE: Well, I was offered the role. I didn’t have to audition, which is always nice. And what drew me to the role is I think she’s a very outspoken and kind of larger than life character, and [I get] to play somebody rich. That’s always fun.

And the great thing about doing the show is the locations that we get to visit are really just extraordinary. I get to see all these beautiful things. And to be a part of a comedy and to be working with the people that I’m working with is just a really rarified air.

So, it didn’t take much convincing when I read the script. I saw that it was such an intelligent, funny script, and with really well developed characters. And so it was kind of an easy decision.

Do you have any experience dealing with concierges doctors?

CHRISTINE EBERSOLE: No, but I can say that, you know, because I’m 56, when I was in the ’50s, that’s when doctors made house calls. Doctors did make house calls back then. You didn’t have to be rich to get them either.

So, in a way, this is sort of like the old days, but now it’s just only afforded to the rich. But you also have to remember that Hank Lawson is very sort of reluctant to be a concierge doctor because his job is to really service the people. I mean, all people, not just rich people. So, that’s why he’s sort of reluctant.

But that’s what I think is great about the series is that it also shows you, you know, his humanity in terms of those people that can’t afford that kind of thing. He serves them, as well.

You mentioned that your character is going to be having a bark mitzvah for your dog.

CHRISTINE EBERSOLE: I know. It’s so funny. It’s such a great episode. And the dogs are so cute in their little yarmulkes.

So, you could say Ms. Newberg’s a little bit eccentric.

CHRISTINE EBERSOLE: She’s very eccentric, yes.

Where do you draw inspiration from for the character of Ms. Newberg? I know you’ve had a lot of Broadway roles. Do any of those help you out with this character?

CHRISTINE EBERSOLE: Well, I think there are people in life that are sort of wealthy, eccentric, that you sort of draw from your imagination, and I think that’s really kind of what acting really is. It’s imagination, and I can certainly draw on a couple of people that I know personally that I won’t mention any names, but people that are very wealthy and sort of eccentric.

And I think money allows that sort of eccentricity because you can do things that other people normally can’t do, like have a bark mitzvah for your dog and have hundreds of people come over, and sit poolside, and have the rabbi read from the Torah. So, yes, I think it’s from life. It’s just sort of drawing from life and my imagination.

Ms. Newberg is kind of mysterious to us so far. Is there anything you can tell us about her personal life beyond the fact that she has a dog and a lot of money?

CHRISTINE EBERSOLE: You know, these kinds of things you find out sort of piecemeal because when they draw up the characters, they don’t— You don’t necessarily always have all the information about the back story on the character, and these things sort of unfold as the episodes are presented.

But I did find out that I have a 22-year-old granddaughter [played by Kerry Bishé of the Fox/Ron Moore movie Virtuality], and I’m a dowager, I believe. In other words, I believe I’m a widow, and my husband was Jewish and had a lot of money. So, we had agreed to raise all the children Jewish, and I guess the dogs are included.

How do you enjoy filming in the Hamptons?

CHRISTINE EBERSOLE: You know, [it's] fantastic. Can you imagine? I mean, it’s such a fun fantasy fulfilled where you have a location of a house that sits on the ocean, and it’s just this big mansion with a private beach, and it’s mine for the day, you know. So, it’s pretty great.

It’s always a treat to watch you perform. We get you at night in the show Blithe Spirit and then on TV in Royal Pains. How are you balancing that schedule?

CHRISTINE EBERSOLE: Well, it’s pretty intense because I think really pretty much for the last month, I’ve been working literally seven days a week. So, my next day off is June 22, which is my daughter’s 13th birthday. So, I’m really looking forward to that.

I go do the show at night, finish around 10:30, and then go to the hotel. Get there by 11:00, and then get picked up at 6:00 to be taken out to Long Island to work all day, and then come back in and do the show at night.

So, it’s been pretty intense, but all great stuff. So, I’m very, very grateful that I’m able to participate in these different venues. But it doesn’t come without its challenges. I haven’t had a day off, so I’m really looking forward to June 22nd.

You were, a long time ago, on Ryan’s Hope. Do you have any anecdotes or anything interesting that you remember from being on that show?

CHRISTINE EBERSOLE: Well, it’s a funny pattern, I think, that’s been set with me because when I was doing Ryan’s Hope, I was doing Oklahoma. So, I would get up and shoot the soap opera all day long and then go and play Ado Annie on Broadway at night. And that was 30 years ago, so I’m still doing the same thing.

NBC has another new series premiering tonight, June 24, at 10pm, the adventure drama aptly titled The Philanthropist. To help spread the word about the show, which was notably filmed in locations all around the world, executive producer Tom Fontana and star James Purefoy recently set aside time to answer burning questions. I don’t think I or the others present during the interview realized just how informative the session would turn out to be.

Emmy and Peabody Award-winning Fontana is well known for his creative efforts on influential television shows like St. Elsewhere, Homicide: Life on the Street, and Oz, while English actor Purefoy is probably best known in the United States for his role as Mark Antony in the acclaimed HBO historic drama Rome.

In The Philanthropist, Purefoy plays cocky, globe-trotting billionaire Teddy Rist, who loses his son and eventually decides to devote himself to bettering the world because doing so is the only thing that makes him feel again.

Joining Purefoy in the regular cast are Jesse L. Martin (Law & Order) as Rist’s business partner, fellow billionaire, and friend Philip Maidstone, and Neve Campbell (Party of Five) as Philip’s wife Olivia, who manages the charitable foundation the two billionaires established. The 4400‘s Lindy Booth, The Wire‘s Michael Kenneth Williams, The Starter Wife‘s Krista Allen, and newcomer James Albrecht also star.

During the Q&A, both Fontana and Purefoy gave up the goods on the show’s premise and the main character’s motivations, in addition to the origins of The Philanthropist and its relationship to real-life entrepreneur and philanthropist Bobby Sager, who, along with his family, travels the world in order to help ordinary people achieve great things.

So, grab a cup of coffee or whatever refreshment and enjoy the following interview. It’s on the long side, but it’s also one of the best I’ve ever had the privilege to participate in.

Incidentally, I’ve watched the pilot episode, enjoyed it very much, and highly recommend The Philanthropist to anybody looking for one more entertaining series to add to their personal summer lineup. A bonus is the series’ underlying positive message.

The character of Teddy Rist seems like sort of a novel approach at presenting a sort of a modern-day “do-gooder” or modern-day sort of hero, action hero. What do you like about the character? James, from your perspective as an actor, and Tom, from your creative point of view, where did the idea for this guy come from?

TOM FONTANA: Well, first of all, the role that James is playing is inspired by an actual philanthropist, a man named Bobby Sager who was a businessman, earned a lot of money, and at one point decided that he was going to go all over the world and try to fix things. And the character that James plays isn’t actually Bobby.

We obviously fictionalized the circumstances of his life. But the heart of what Bobby believes and Teddy Rist believes is that the solution to the world’s— A lot of the world’s problems have to do with generating for people who are living, you know, below standards, that they should have a certain sense of dignity about their lives. And that the best way for them to have dignity about their lives is through them creating a situation where they can either create a business or have jobs that generate income and also, you know, benefit the others.

Bobby’s line to me when I first met him was, “Yeah you can teach a man to fish, but if you teach a man to fish, all he’s going to eat is fish. But if you teach him how to package the fish and market the fish and ship the fish, he can also get some potatoes and some meat and some other things.” So, at his heart, he’s a capitalist, and this is true of Teddy Rist, a capitalist who is trying to fix the world in an innovative way.

JAMES PUREFOY: Yeah. That’s kind of it really. You know, to me, playing the part only really made sense to me when I met Bobby Sager and spent a bit of time with him. And this is a man who, as Tom has said, has made a great deal of money but now spends ten months of every year flying around the world to invariably very poor places because his money can work best and have the greatest effect in those places. But he also demands a very high return.

It’s not just about charity. He doesn’t just give money away; he invests in projects. So, for an example, he has invested in microenterprises in Rwanda, where he’s brought women whose husbands are in prison for the genocide together with women whose husbands were killed by the genocide and created a microenterprise with those women.

So, he brought two very polarized communities together and created a business with them of making jewelry, weaving baskets that he will then help market and sell overseas or [in] local markets or local capital cities, whatever. So, that actually has a massive effect on that group of women in Rwanda.

And, also, he talks about very just similar, small things. It’s about looking people in the eye and engaging with them and making people who feel often quite invisible, make them feel visible and seen.

So, you know, it’s what he calls concrete baby steps. And that’s a shot all the way through the show. Teddy Rist does concrete baby steps all the way through. And they may be tiny small things or they may be very big things, but they’re always conscious things.

I’m a big fan of Jesse L. Martin and Neve Campbell. What’s it been like working with those two?

JAMES PUREFOY: Well, great. They’re very, very committed to the job and they’ve been out with me and the rest of the cast in, you know, South Africa and Czech Republic; for seven months we’ve been out there. And I think it has all had to all of us a profound change on our lives because this wasn’t a series that used Africa as a backdrop. Or it wasn’t just, you know, nice scenery. It was about those people right there on the ground.

So, those are the people we were engaging with on, you know, a very, very personal level. And so a philosophy as a series shot through us, as well, so that we would try and make sure production left things often for people that improve their lives. So, just by us being there, there would have been something that would’ve happened in the very small, often rural communities that we were in where we would’ve left something behind. I think we’ve had schools built, for example.

I know we’ve had schools built because I helped. I’m very heavily involved in getting those done. Or very small things, you know. We were filming in a little man’s house one day. He had a rolled up mattress on the floor, and our art department created a very small rural hotel there.

And he had two kids. So, in the room that we were filming, which was a three-bed room, we made sure production left behind the beds and the wardrobes. That made a massive difference in that man’s life. You should’ve seen the look on his face at the end of the day. Fantastic.

Is all the action going to be centered in Nigeria?

TOM FONTANA: No, no, no. It goes all over the world. We have episodes set in Paris, Kosovo, Kashmir, Haiti.

JAMES PUREFOY: Burma.

TOM FONTANA: San Diego, California. Brahma. The idea is that Teddy is a character who will go anywhere, partially for business reasons and then partially because his heart goes where the rest of him goes.

James, you do a lot of your stunts yourself, a very physical role for you.

JAMES PUREFOY: I was until I was banned by production from doing any more because I kept hurting myself. I really did injure myself. I had a seven centimeter tear in a hamstring, which forced the hamstring into a rather unsightly bulge behind my knee.

That was rather unpleasant. And then I had a— And then I was running across a frozen road in a street in northern Czech Republic about 2 o’clock in the morning, slipped on black ice. All the tendons on my ankle came off with bone attached. And so that had to be operated on, set right and then, you know, I was wound up and sent back into combat.

TOM FONTANA: And I have to tell you James did the most extraordinary thing. We needed to do some reshooting, and he was in London having his extremities taken care of, and he very voluntarily, very willingly came back to South Africa to do this week of reshoots when he should’ve been on his butt taking care of himself.

He came back to shooting, and it was a remarkable thing because it would’ve put the production very, very much behind and very much over budget if he had been the least bit of a diva and said, you know, “Screw you guys. I’m staying in London.” But he got on a plane, flew with a bad leg, worked the week.

JAMES PUREFOY: I got injections in my stomach. If you’ve just had an operation, you have to have— It’s very dangerous to fly, so they are worried about you getting deep vein thrombosis. So, one of the scenes we would often have is my lovely assistant Renee just going like, “Come on, James, come on. It’s time to have your injection.” And I’d have to lift up my shirt, and she’d ram a hypodermic needle into my stomach.

TOM FONTANA: The only sad part is he wouldn’t share the drugs with the rest of us.

If you had unlimited funds, James, you personally, like this character, what would you do? What would you do with it?

JAMES PUREFOY: You know if I had unlimited funds— I’ve been so affected by what Bobby does and what the work that Bobby does, and if anybody gets a chance, go to www.teamsager.org and just have a look at him. There’s lots of video on there of him. He’s an extraordinary man. And I would love to imagine that I would embark on an adventurous life like he’s had.

Because it just makes sense, so much sense what he does. And it takes a man with a huge and elephantine heart to do what he does. And in a hard, tough world that we live in, for a billionaire to spend ten months of his year in the most inhospitable places on earth, on his own, often dealing with the shit— He’s, you know, breathtaking, really breathtaking.

How did this project originally come about. Did Bobby come to you guys? Did you go to him?

TOM FONTANA: Bobby is friends with Charlie Corwin, who’s one of the other executive producers, and Jim Chovenin, who also was one of the co-creators with Charlie and I. And they had an idea that this might work as a series. And Charlie, who’s an old friend of mine, came to see me, and he knew I had written this pilot for NBC many years ago about a charitable organization loosely based on the American Red Cross.

And he said, “I know you’ve always wanted to do something about charity and giving.” And he said, “Let me tell you this idea.” And, I don’t know. He may have gotten five words out of his mouth where I went, like, you know, “Holy shit! That’s an idea. I was completely wrong with my other idea. This is the idea to do.” And from that moment on I was totally committed to doing the show.

Teddy’s described as sort of an adrenaline junkie who puts his money skills to good use bargaining with drug barons and whatnot. Throughout the season, what kind of situations will we see him in? He’s not just dealing with drug barons all the time, is he?

JAMES PUREFOY: No, he’s not just dealing with drug barons. One of the most extraordinary things that happened when we were shooting is there is an episode that [takes place in] Burma. And he is accepting, as you do, a Man of the Year award and thinks he is going to get a bunch of sophomore questions from the floor. And a rather attractive journalist that he picks on because he’s shallow like that— He [gives] this girl the last question, and she accuses him of doing business in Burma.

And the British Human Rights Charity is going to put him on the “dirty list.” And he goes back into the office the following day completely [nonplussed] by this and finds out that in fact, yes, his company, through a Chinese residuary company, has been doing business in Burma.

Olivia, played by Neve Campbell, who is a kind of a moral conscious in the company, says that it’s disgusting that we’re doing that. And I say okay, hang on. What about if I were to go to Myanmar, go to Yangon, and if I were to break into the leader of the Democratic movement’s house, who is in real life known as Aung San Suu Kyi, but on our show is Mai Lynn Wei.

But it’s very, you know, thinly disguised, fictionalized account of that. What if I was going to break into her house and ask her whether or not we should be doing business, American companies should be doing business in Burma. So, if that happens, we do the episode. He nearly gets caught. He gets chased away by Burmese soldiers.

Two weeks later from when we actually wrapped that episode, that gentleman — John Yettow, I believe his name is — did break into Aung San Suu Kyi’s house. And he’s now standing trial with her for that crime.

TOM FONTANA: This was the first time in the history of television where we were— The story is ripped from tomorrow’s headlines.

JAMES PUREFOY: Yes, we stole this lot from tomorrow’s headlines.

TOM FONTANA: It’s going to look like we stole the plot, but the truth of it is we’re thinking of suing the guys for plagiarism for going off and doing our idea.

JAMES PUREFOY: Yeah, we’re kind of convinced he’s actually an agent of the Burmese government.

You know, [Teddy] goes into those situations, and he tries to deal with the moral dilemma often. And, yes, it’s drug dealers. I mean if a drug dealer can get him and some vaccine to a village, he has no qualms at all about using that person because of the greater good that that person’s helicopter can give him.

JAMES PUREFOY: And because…

TOM FONTANA: …in his experience, he can also meet with a leader of the country who is just as corrupt as a drug dealer. So, he doesn’t make any moral judgments about the people that he comes into contact with. He just sees them as an opportunity. If he can use them to do good, then he interacts with them. And if they get in his way, then he figures out a way to get over, up, or around them.

What is the reality level of the tone of the show? Homicide: Life on the Street was obviously very, very realistic. The Philanthropist is based on a specific person but sounds like it may have a slightly more adventurous tone.

TOM FONTANA: Well, I would say besides the fact that the character Teddy Rist is inspired by a real human being who does go out into the world and puts himself in jeopardy constantly to try to do good, we’re not using actually any specific incidents in Bobby Segar’s life to do this in the show. But the level of danger that he puts himself into is much more than I would do, so it is realistic in that regard.

And the other thing that’s realistic about it is all the stories we’re doing are stories about what is really happening in these countries right now. So, [Teddy] doesn’t visit, you know, mythical countries like, you know, Fergustan, or where, you know, [we just made] something up and then just kind of fashioned a reality for Teddy.

And, so, in that regard, it’s also realistically based. The specific incidents are things that are possible. Whether they would, you know, happen in the sequence that we lay them out? I don’t know. But I never can tell that anyway. It’s as realistic, if not more realistic than Oz was.

JAMES PUREFOY: I think the other important thing is that, you know, in terms of, you know, the economic temperature that is around in the world at the moment. This is not something that is ignored in any way, shape, or form. There are constant references to bailouts [and] to credit crunch, too. You know, Teddy, do you really need to take the jet? You know, does he pay for it himself? I mean it’s very much rooted in the financial, economic reality that is present right now.

What is the key to playing the character?

JAMES PUREFOY: I think probably the key is that Teddy is totally unafraid about looking people in the eye. Now I know that sounds like a really small thing, but it’s about engaging with every single person that he meets on a very conscious level.

And it doesn’t matter who it is, whether they’re the leaders of the country or the generals of the country or the poorest people in the country. It’s about his heart being open to every single one of these people that he comes across and dealing with them in a very immediate way. So, that’s, I think, probably for me the key.

It’s also to do with, you know, the massive amount of pain that he was going through at the beginning of the series. He’s lost his son before the series starts, and he has this gigantic void where his son was and his love for his son. And it was a void that a lot of people when they go through grief, they try and deal with grief by burying their feelings under drugs and alcohol and womanizing and that kind of thing. And that’s what he was doing.

And then he found something that made him feel good, and it just happened to be helping people. And Bobby talks about it. He says this is not a huggie, hippy feeling. It’s about how he feels when he does it. It’s entirely selfish with Bobby. He does it because it enriches his life. It makes his life better, and it makes him more interesting and more valued and more textured and just better. And that’s, I think, a big part of what Teddy’s about. Because it makes him feel good, what he does.

When you are filming on location and you are filming real-life crises and poverty and things like that, how do you avoid what could be viewed as exploiting the situation? How difficult is that to hit the right tone when you’re looking at and dealing with real life, reality?

JAMES PUREFOY: Well for me, you know, I mean because I’m not a producer on the show, I’m not responsible for where the money goes, where’s it spent. But for me it’s just about being present, present on set. Talking to people, not behaving like a big TV star. And you imagine a big TV star might behave: locking themselves in the trailer and only coming out for their scenes and treating people with selfishness and disrespect. It’s about going to the set and engaging with every single person that you meet in front of that camera.

Or going and knocking on their trailer door and asking if you can go through the scene with them. It’s, you know, it’s just again is, you know, my whole experience on this job is shot true, was shot true with Bobby’s philosophy of being open-hearted and being non-judgmental and taking every single person as they come and listening to their story and listening to them and working with them rather than at them.

TOM FONTANA: Well, I would say that we did everything we could to make sure that we left as small a carbon imprint as we could. And also, you know, as James was saying, treat people with dignity and respect. We did a screening of the pilot in…

JAMES PUREFOY: Caleche.

TOM FONTANA: Yeah, and you want to talk about that, James, because you were there?

JAMES PUREFOY: Peter Horton, he directed the episode of the pilot, and a big chunk of it was shot in Caleche, which is a huge informal settlement on the edge of Cape Town. About one million people live there, mainly in shacks. And they have an extraordinary sense of community.

They were unbelievably helpful to us. And when we finished the pilot and we finished cutting it and putting it all together, we had a screening of it in a— I’m going to say church hall, but that is not going to give the idea of what this place was.

It was more just like a very big shack that was used as a church. And we had about 150, maybe 175 people come. We just put up notices around the place, around where we’d shot, and said please come if you were involved in this. And they came and they enjoyed it immensely.

I mean it’s slightly troubling for me because every time— The closer I got to death, the funnier they found it. Bites I got from snakes, that just rocked their socks off. They thought it was hilarious.

But, you know, I think that it was just us going back there, even though we’d only been here, you know, we’d been there six months previously. And it felt like maybe we’d just gone, and we’d arrive one day, we shot for a few days, and then we left. Well, we didn’t. We went back and showed what they’d done. And I think just tiny little things, you know, that, again, concrete baby steps about making people feel not ripped off but valued and thanked.

For a viewer, obviously, the first goal of a TV show is to entertain people. But it sounds like you do think that viewers can take away a larger message and perhaps be inspired to create change in their own community and their own environment. Do you think there’ll be a larger message people might take away from a show like this?

JAMES PUREFOY: Oh, I really hope so. I do hope and I think it’s time for a TV show like this. I’d like to imagine that your president would very much approve of this show. I would like to imagine that President Obama would be very happy about the engagement process that this show is talking about. About, you know, about lots of different countries that Americans may not be that familiar with. And there are problems and people in those countries that have problems just like people in America do. And anything that brings us together rather than polarizes us has got to be a good thing.

TOM FONTANA: I agree with everything James just said. I don’t want people to think that this show is preachy because we have really gone out of our way to not be preachy. The heart of this show is its humanity and its humor. And it is embodied in Teddy Rist.

JAMES PUREFOY: When most of the things that happen on this show, when they happen to Teddy, they’re happening for the first time. It’s not like he knows what’s going to happen. So, it’s not like he’s got any position to preach from.

TOM FONTANA: Right. And his character is so flawed that he doesn’t feel he has a moral high ground to preach to anybody. He’s experiencing it, as James was saying, he’s experiencing it, and he’s trying to assess it himself. So, it’s not like, you know, a show like Touched by an Angel, which I’m not criticizing. I’m just saying that was a show that very specifically had, you know, things to say.

Whereas this speaks much more about the search in each of us to be the best human beings we can and do as much as we can. At one point, Jesse Martin’s character says, “You know, there are things to be fixed in Nigeria, but there are also things to be fixed around the corner.” They live in New York. And I think that’s the heart of it. Any of us can— You don’t have to be Teddy Rist, you don’t have to be a billionaire to affect change. All you have to do is want to affect change and you can.

You were just mentioning the different things you guys did on shoots: the screening, providing beds for the villager, those kinds of things. Did being on location make you feel more giving than ever?

JAMES PUREFOY: I swear. Yes, absolutely, absolutely. I was talking to Neve about it the other day. A fund that we’d just given, between a whole bunch of us, like three or four of us, we raised like $8000, which would have bought four school rooms. Because, much to my astonishment, in Cape Town, in South Africa in general, when they have winter, they really do have winter. It’s not like “African-style” winter, but it’s winter. And it rains, and it’s windy and misty and cold.

And a lot of kids just go to school in a field or in a yard. And there are no rooms and there are no walls and there is no protection. So, yeah. We were doing that. And we’ve done a whole bunch of other things. And I said, “You know, I think I might actually be going home making a loss on this show.”

I’ve become very heavily involved in a charity there for street children for the MyLife Project, which, again, is not really a charity. It’s a movement about giving street children dignity back and visibility back and trying to create leaders out of them. And a bunch of those kids have come out of that project and were now grips and sparks on our show and the hardest working, the best grips and sparks on our show.

And it was only us talking to them that I found out about where they come from. And a lot them were doing glue and crack and God knows what else and drinking the cheapest alcohol and living a hand-to-mouth existence.

Teddy is sort of a philanthropist, but he’s not quite the definition of a normal, ordinary man in an extraordinary situation. He’s kind of an extraordinary guy in a very different situation. So, from both James’ point of view as the actor and Tom as the overseer, is Teddy really a hero?

TOM FONTANA: A hero is a word that I always have a tough time with. I think that Teddy [probably isn't] a classic television hero, but maybe a hero for the age of Obama, maybe a hero for, you know, 2009 because he, you know, he’s not a guy who gets into fights. He doesn’t shoot a gun once during the entire series. He’s not a classic television hero.

What makes him — and I hesitate to even use the word “heroic” — but what makes him maybe courageous is that he has this willingness to try anything to get the goal that he’s set for himself accomplished. And the goal that he’s setting for himself is to help other people. But as James said earlier, it’s also, you know, there’s a certain amount of selfishness involved in it. So, I think one of my concerns about this show is that it doesn’t play by the same kind of television rules for a hero…

JAMES PUREFOY: We’re hoping that we’re creating new television rules though, aren’t we?

TOM FONTANA: Yeah, that’s the attempt. It’s just that I get nervous because I think that some people might watch it and go, “Well, wait. He’s not a doctor, he’s not a lawyer, he’s not a cop.”

JAMES PUREFOY: And where’s the gun?

TOM FONTANA: “Where’s the gun? Where’s the stethoscope?” So, I don’t know.

JAMES PUREFOY: I’ve got something here right in front of me, which I love this quote. It’s Nelson Mandela. When he was asked about who his heroes are, he said, “My hero is not necessarily the president of a country or a prime minister. It is somebody who is prepared to give human beings hope that there is a future for him or her. Those are my heroes.”

TOM FONTANA: Wow, that’s great.

So, from that perspective, since you have said Teddy is a little bit self-serving in a way, is he still the protagonist?

TOM FONTANA: Yes, hopefully.

JAMES PUREFOY: Well, hopefully, yes. You know, it’s not about vanity for him. It’s not about having his name in lights. He seeks no publicity at all for what he does. So, he’s doing it kind of undercover in a way, and it’s self-serving in the sense that it makes him feel good.

What made you, Tom, decide that this was the time to take on a show like this, with this sort of heart and kind of a different tone to it?

TOM FONTANA: Well, I think, you know, you probably know my work well enough to know that I’m always doing something that is going to get me into trouble and not be exactly what people expect. So, when I first heard about Bobby Sager and what he does and the places he goes and the people’s lives he touches, I just thought, you know, if that isn’t a great character to put on television, then I don’t know what a great character for television is.

Often with North American or British productions or Western sort of thinking, we tend to simplify things, and not in a way that favors us. We tend to go into it with the attitude that just by the accident of our birth in the West, we somehow are morally more bankrupt than other places in the world, and that other people in the world who struggle somehow just are sort of automatically more noble. Is that something you accept, or do you play with that at all to understand that there are good people and bad people in the West and there are good people and bad people in every country you go to, as well?

JAMES PUREFOY: You wait. Just watch every episode. You’ll see plenty of bad people in those countries that we go to. Plenty of them.

TOM FONTANA: Yeah. I think that part of this is that Teddy definitely learns something about himself through interacting with the people he comes into contact with, both the good people and the bad. But he also does teach, you know, in the sense that he leaves something behind that is intrinsically American capitalism. I mean, you know, his background is commerce, and nobody does that better than us, [although] I think the Chinese might be catching up.

JAMES PUREFOY: But he also uses his commerce imaginatively. One of our episodes is set in Kosovo, which is a very, very complex situation. But what he does — and he’s none to popular when he suggests it to the local population — in Kosovo there is a mineral called Halisite, which is used to make crockery and crash helmets and pills, you know, tablets for taking pharmaceutical drugs. And in Kosovo, there is a gigantic deposit of Halisite to make these things with. And it’s quite rare in the world to have a big deposit in any one country.

He goes there. There’s a 59.5 percent unemployment in the place that he goes to. And the people there are the Serbian Christians and the Albanian Muslims who obviously had a very nasty war against each other for a long period of time. So, there’s a great deal of animosity and polarization between them.

And he calls a town hall meeting and he says to them that he will help supply electricity, because they don’t have much, and fresh water, which they don’t have much, and flushing toilets, which they have very few of. And you help them with their housing by starting up a mine, which will bring the Halisite out of the ground. But he will only do it if they work together.

So, that’s the kind of thing that Bobby does all the time, where you go into a community which is very, very torn apart and polarized and try and bring people together through the business of actually what they’re going to do with their lives, the actual business of their lives, their employment. And he says, “If you don’t like it, I can get on a plane and piss off right home right now.”

I guess that speaks to his character, and it’s how you sort of sell it, as well. About the first 2/3 of the first episode, I wasn’t 100 percent sure I liked Teddy.

JAMES PUREFOY: No, I don’t think you should. I think that he’s a growing character who’s finding out about himself. He’s incredibly arrogant. There are moments in the first episode where I wince. Where I go, “Oh, Jesus Christ, that is such a rude thing to say to somebody.”

I think he’s sitting there chatting to Dr. Chim Abollo, trying to get her involved, and he’s just sort of ignoring her and ordering more bourbon and that kind of stuff. But, you know, if we don’t start from a point of view that he is, you know, a brash Western capitalist going and thinking he’s got all the answers. But, of course, the answers don’t lie with him. They lie often with the people on the ground. And, you know, there are some bad people there and some good people there like anywhere.

I recently had the fun opportunity to chat with sitcom star Jay Harrington about his rookie ABC comedy Better Off Ted. The series and its top-notch cast (Isabella Acres, Andrea Anders, Malcolm Barrett, Portia de Rossi, and Jonathan Slavin) return tonight, June 23, at 9:30pm ET to begin a summer run of new episodes, and I don’t think any fan of the show is happier about that than I am.

When ABC announced back in May that it was renewing the series for a second season, the news stunned many viewers who were thrilled to see a network giving a well-made, entertaining show time to succeed for once instead of insisting on unrealistically high ratings right out of the gate.

So, with that great fortune in mind, I asked Jay Harrington a variety of questions, ranging from general “what’s coming up next” nosiness to how he feels about the fact that television writers at the Los Angeles Times and the New York Times have suggested him for a comedy lead actor Emmy nomination for his performance as likable and competent Ted Crisp, head of the research and development department at zany scientific corporation Veridian Dynamics. Read on to learn his responses, some of which include spoilers.

Congratulations on Better Off Ted‘s renewal. Did you and the rest of the show’s cast and crew see a second season coming, or was ABC’s decision as much of a surprise to you all as it was to us fans?

JAY HARRINGTON: I think I am a little bit more with you as a fan just because I have watched the way things have been going these days with shows getting a quick shot and that’s it. I was surprised we got picked up, but knowing what we have been doing each week with the quality of the episodes, I was surprised but hopeful. We did okay with numbers and ratings, we were consistent, [and] we kept the audience that was given.

I believe there are six episodes left in the first season that will begin airing on June 23. Are there any major developments coming up on the show that you can discuss a little?

JAY HARRINGTON: Yes, I will give you one that’s specifically about a superstitious character. We get to see a little bit of her personal side with technology that develops face definitions. When you scan a photo into a computer, it will show you any place that person has been or lived in recent history. We use [the character] as one example in the meeting, and it turns out she’s been moonlighting at a job, and it’s really quite funny.

Will Ted and Linda (Andrea Anders) stop playing games and finally hook up?

JAY HARRINGTON: Ted is going to true up to his one office affair rule for a little while longer. [Linda] does break up with her boyfriend, you know, and there are real feelings there. But it’s a relationship we’re definitely going to take into account next season.

You’ve acted on a lot of television shows, many comedies, so you have plenty of experience with the medium and the genre. Why did you decide to join the cast of Better Off Ted. What was so special or attractive about the series, besides the paycheck, of course?

JAY HARRINGTON: I’d say it’s the most original concept I ever read to date, where characters speak to the camera. I really like that [Ted] is a single dad raising a daughter in a corporate world that may not be in his moral agenda. But he had to do right [by his daughter]. And I was certainly attracted to that quality of the character and talking to the camera. Having the wackiness around was a lot of fun to play with each week.

It must feel pretty good to learn that several TV writers are already supporting an Emmy nomination for your work on Better Off Ted. What was your reaction when you heard that news?

JAY HARRINGTON: It does. I was completely shocked because I go [to the Better Off Ted sets] to do the work, I know that what [the writers] write is really good stuff, the quality is certainly there. To hear your name in the mix with people I watch myself was really— I was touched by that.

I don’t see [an Emmy nomination] happening at this point, but it’s nice to be mentioned. It’s nice to be recognized for doing something that comes from what [series creator and executive producer] Victor Fresco writes. That I am doing it any bit of justice is a good feeling.

One of my favorite characters on the show is your on-screen daughter Rose, who’s played by adorable child actress Isabella Acres. She really does seem smarter and wiser than the grown-ups a lot of the time, including Ted. How do you establish such a good rapport with a cast member that young?

JAY HARRINGTON: She is so good. (laughs) I think that’s probably true in real life with most eight-year-olds when they see their parents involved in a world they don’t understand. It applies to her acting, as well.

She’s so unsocialized as a person; when you give her a bunch of lines to memorize, she just does it, whereas an adult, we materialize our own experiences. And when you ask me to act sad, there are a million places I can go to to bring me to a place of being sad, whether it’s a death or a breakup. When you’re eight and you act sad, it’s usually because you didn’t get candy. It’s usually simple values [kids that age] have, so it’s fun to work with her.

I don’t know if work on the second season of Better Off Ted has started yet, but are you aware of any upcoming changes or developments that you can share?

JAY HARRINGTON: I wish I could. We don’t shoot until August. I went to see the writers the other day. They just began breaking story ideas, so there’s really nothing there.

Well, we fans are just going to have to be patient and wait for the second season to get underway. In the meantime, check out current new episodes of Better Off Ted, starting tonight with “You Are the Boss of Me.”

Never watched before? Then take a look at the following series-premiere preview video to get an idea of what the comedy is about, catch up on full episodes at the Better Off Ted website, and start tuning in when the sitcom returns. It’s never too late to get into a great show.

USA Network’s entertaining U.S. Marshal dramedy In Plain Sight kicked off its current second season on April 19. The series stars Mary McCormack (The West Wing, Murder One) as central character Mary Shannon, but longtime fans realize her trusted partner Marshall Mann — yours truly’s favorite character — is just as integral to the show’s impressive success.

Stage veteran Fred Weller (Law & Order: Criminal Intent, Missing Persons) is the talented actor who brings Marshall to life during each episode, and as the following interview demonstrates, the real man behind the fictional marshal seems just as fun — and funny — off-screen as his alter ego definitely is on-screen. How cool is that?

How is the overall tone of In Plain Sight‘s second season different from Season One?

FRED WELLER: Well, the drama is ratcheting up between— You’ll see the Mary/Marshall drama increase. Raphael (Cristián de la Fuente) figures very largely. Probably bigger. Raphael probably is bigger this season, whereas last season, I think Mary’s mom (Lesley Ann Warren) was sort of more a key figure, and Brandi (Nichole Hiltz). I think Raphael, in this season, is going to be a bigger component. Without giving anything away, some big events will go down.

How is Mary’s post-traumatic stress affecting Marshall?

FRED WELLER: Well, it’s one more occasion to evoke Marshall’s affection for her, his simmering romantic feelings. In a way, it helps him to be able to be there for her and to try to strengthen the bond between them, but it also concerns him because he is truly concerned about her well being and does want the best for her.

But it enables them to bond and enables him to come in and try to be the knight in shining armor. It’s right up his alley. He dabbles in psychology. He dabbles in every other field. He’s ever the dilettante, so it enables them to bond. So, like, of course, there’s good and bad for Marshall.

Speaking of his feelings for her, how does Marshall feel towards Raphael?

FRED WELLER: He feels competitive towards him. On the one hand, I think he’s also somewhat dismissive of him. I don’t think he takes their relationship seriously.

Raphael is a big, handsome guy, so there is a lot to be jealous of. But he’s a nice guy, so Marshall’s— Whatever resentments and jealousies he has — and he does have them — he’s got to keep a lid on them. He’s got to keep them repressed.

How will Marshall and Dershowitz’s relationship evolve this season?

FRED WELLER: They will become closer. You’ll find out— Well, I think we, actually, you already saw on the first episode that Marshall and Dershowitz (Todd Williams) bonded over the near-death experience. They’re hanging out a lot, but we’ll actually take a road trip to Philadelphia to help out, in an unofficial capacity, an aging mobster go back to his son’s funeral, and that mobster will be played by Martin Landau.

So, Todd and I had quite a great episode together, working with Martin Landau, who’s an amazing person and really loves to socialize and tell stories about all the many great directors he’s worked with. So, that was a wonderful experience.

How fun is it playing not just any old lawman but a U.S. Marshal? Have you learned anything that helps you in your real life?

FRED WELLER: It’s really fun to play a lawman who, in theory, has jurisdiction anywhere in the country. Also, an undercover lawman is, I think, an especially cool thing to play because you’ve got an inherent inner— Well, not a conflict, but an interesting dynamic that you are enforcing the law but, at the same time, trying to appear like you’re not.

Our technical advisor, who is the head of WitSec in California, is on the set every day now, and one of his favorite reminders is that you’re always scanning the horizon for danger. In fact, we poke fun at him whenever he walks over to the set. We just say, “ABS, ABS,” which stands for “always be scanning.”

I don’t know if I’ve learned anything I’ve applied to my life. My life is pretty safe. I don’t have too many run-ins with unsavory characters, but when I do, I plan to really scan the hell out of them.

We know tons about Mary and her family but very little about Marshall. Are you just as in the dark about his background, or do you know some details you can share with us?

FRED WELLER: Well, I’d love to see more on the air. We think about it and secretly joke on the set about what his apartment must look like with all his myriad interests. We hypothesize about what musical instrument he plays. There must be one, and it must be weird. I’m thinking the bassoon, sometimes a French horn. Does he have a bird? I don’t know.

I do conjecture about his family life. All we know about his family life is he is a fifth generation U.S. Marshal. I imagine his father was a hard-ass and his mother was an intellectual, but this is just conjecture.

The creator might decide something else, something I think is even better. He never ceases to surprise and amaze, I think, with his ideas. He’s a great writer, David Maples, and I’m sure what we do learn about Marshall’s personal life, it’ll be interesting.

What scenario would you like to see Marshall in that he’s not been in yet?

FRED WELLER: Well, I’d like to meet his parents, or one of them. But David likes the mystery of Marshall. He’s said as much. He likes to just discover little tidbits of weirdness that emerge through the course of the story, rather than making the story about Marshall.

But I’m sure at some point we’ll see a little more about where he comes from. He claims to have gone to college at the University of Albuquerque and to have been the star of the badminton team there, for example. Does that mean he’s from Albuquerque? I don’t know. I’ll have to sit down and just write out everything that we know about him sometime and his various interests.

How does this role challenge you?

FRED WELLER: Well, it’s challenging for the same reason that it’s fun in that it requires comedic and emotional ability. Now, my emotions are not as … as frequently as are Mary’s. Her character is in emotional turmoil much of the time. But at least a couple times a season, and certainly more times this season than last, Marshall is in some kind of emotional turmoil. And any time that you’re asked as an actor to exhibit some state that is out of control or should appear out of control, it’s a little more challenging.

And then I think comedy is an exacting science. You don’t want to blow the humor if it’s there. If you do it wrong, it’s either funny or it’s not. So, the fact that it’s a little, has comedy and emotion, is what makes it rich, and it’s also what makes it challenging. You don’t want to disappoint. You don’t want to when you’ve got such great material. It’s important to rise to it and get it right.

You mentioned Marshall being a bit of a dilettante. Which of his many interests is your personal favorite and why.

FRED WELLER: Well, let’s see. I suppose my favorite would be his medical ability because it’s so far removed from anything I can do. The fact that he can patch up his own bullet wound to his lung, it’s an interest that I think would be useful, and it’s removed from my own fields of interests.

I’m a little more of a music and literature person. My big brother is a man of science, an electrical engineer, and I always really admired him growing up. He had this strange capacity that didn’t seem to come from anyone in the family.

It was just something that he was born with, and he was always intrigued by how things worked and just had an aptitude for it. And everybody else in the family is basically literature and arts. So, that, to me, is fun because I get to pretend that I have that aptitude.

How did you get the part of Marshall? Did you audition, or were you given the part?

FRED WELLER: No, I auditioned. In fact, I went to Los Angeles for pilot season. I had been in New York, and I still live in New York. And for years, I had been avoiding going out to Los Angeles for pilot season because it’s quite a grind. You audition for five TV shows a day.

And so I’d been doing mostly theater and indie film out of New York, and I hadn’t been for pilot season in, I don’t know, six, seven years. And so I just went out, and it went well for me.

And this was the best pilot that I read, and I was fortunate enough to go to network for, I think, half a dozen people wanted me to go. So, this was, I think, the second thing I went for, and I was very excited to get it because, well, it’s not your average TV show.

Do you have any other projects coming up?

FRED WELLER: No, not really. I’m putting together, I’m editing a short film that I wrote and directed, with Mary actually acting in it. Mary and I both act in it, and [I'm] putting it together and now I’m hopefully going to submit it to festivals. That’s all I’ve got right now. I believe it’s going to be called The Sheriff of King’s County.

Have you brought your kids to the set, and do you have any interesting tales from their adventures there?

FRED WELLER: I brought my daughter to the set a few times. She’s not yet as sophisticated as Mary’s kids around the set. Mary’s kids will actually say, “Shh, we’re rolling.” She’s not really at that level. Let me see. Do I have any child-related anecdotes? Gosh, maybe one will come to me. She—

Well, she’s a little bit of a social butterfly, something that I want to nip in the bud if I can. I’m hoping to eventually groom her into a very bookish child who doesn’t date boys at all, but, at the moment, she loves just being around crowds of people.

So, that was basically my experience of her being on the set. [It] was just one more setting in which I was concerned that she might get to be popular in school, and I want to avoid that at all costs. She just loves crowds and people, and she seems most content when she’s away from home and around a bunch of people who aren’t her parents.

Does that mean you’d shy away from letting her have an acting career?

FRED WELLER: I’m going to try to keep the secret from her that I’m an actor at all. It’s going to be tough. Obviously, you want to have publicity as an actor, but I’m going to try to persuade her I’m a professor of something. Maybe, I don’t know, something really nerdy [like] comparative literature. I don’t know. I haven’t figured it out yet. I’ve got to figure it out before she really masters the alphabet.

The second season of In Plain Sight, USA Network’s most recent runaway dramedy hit, begins this Sunday, April 19, at 10pm ET, with the premiere episode “Gilted Lily.”

To help the show’s many fans get ready for the latest adventures of U.S. Marshal Mary Shannon (Mary McCormack)), series star Cristián de la Fuente recently took the time to answer writers’ questions, all the way from his native country Chile. How’s that for dedication and graciousness?

Continue below to learn what’s on the horizon for de la Fuente’s character Raphael Ramirez during the new season, as well as a bit about the actor’s background. If you think Raphael is a great guy, just wait to you read how great the man who brings him to life is, too.

How did you come to get this part and why did you decide you were going to take it?

CRISTIÁN DE LA FUENTE: I auditioned for it, and my agent sent me the script, and I read it and I loved it. But Raphael was first written as Devin and was supposed to be an American. And I called my agent and I said, “You know, I love this role. Can you call them and see if they could see me, because you know I think I can play this role?”

Besides, nowadays if you look at all the baseball players, probably 70 percent of them have Latino names. So, then it’s not a big stretch to go from Raphael Ramirez to Latino.

But I said, like, maybe let’s try to give it a shot. And then I got this job, and then they changed it from Devin to Raphael because it had to be more believable than me named Devin. I don’t think it would have worked.

What do you like most about your character?

CRISTIÁN DE LA FUENTE: Raphael, I think, goes against all the stereotypes. It’s like he’s not the typical Latin lover. He’s not the typical Latino. As a joke always I think we’ve made history in television and film, because on the last episode of the first season, on the season finale, I think it’s the first time that you see a Latino character with a lot of kilograms of drugs and instead of starting dealing them, he threw them away.

I think that’s the first time that’s happened in TV, that Latinos are not portrayed as drug dealers, but people that you know they have good hearts and they want the best for their family and their loved ones. And I think that’s the beauty about Raphael. He’s really in love with Mary and he’s a nice guy, and I think he’s going to do always the right thing, and it’s great to play those kinds of roles nowadays.

Do you ever get to offer input on your character?

CRISTIÁN DE LA FUENTE: We do a meeting before the season. We meet with all the writers, and there are a lot of things about myself that are in the character. And one of the things that I really appreciate and I’m very thankful for from the show and especially from David Maples, the creator, is that in many jobs that I’ve done, they always say, “Okay, you have to take care of your accent.” And I can work on it. I can go to an accent coach and speak more Mexican or speak less Mexican or speak normal or try to even do a neutral.

In this case, In Plain Sight, David was like, “No, you can embrace your accent.” And even though there are some episodes that other characters— Like, especially Brandi, played by Nichole Hiltz. She makes fun of my accent and she doesn’t understand some of the things that I’m trying to say. I was able to embrace that and to let it go and be more natural instead of trying to hide it. That’s something that I really appreciate from the show and from David especially.

What has been your favorite scene to film so far, either past or future that we haven’t seen yet?

CRISTIÁN DE LA FUENTE: Well, from the first season, there was this scene in the last episode when I go to Mary’s house and I’m drunk. And I’m trying to convince her to have a better relationship with her sister, with Brandi. That scene I think especially was challenging because to play drunk is tough, and also it was very emotional.

And on this season, there was a very beautiful scene in one of the episodes towards the middle of the season where I proposed again, and where I explain to Mary why I want to marry her and why I feel the way I feel towards her. I think that was really nice, mostly like the scenes when the character is vulnerable. I think those are beautiful scenes that you can really open yourself and do a better job.

What’s the biggest difference between the first and the second season, either with the show on the whole or just in your character and your relationship with Mary?

CRISTIÁN DE LA FUENTE: Well, with my character, he’s going to switch his career. He’s going to start working with something different. And in the relationship with Mary, we’ll get to a point that Mary’s going to have to decide if she wants to get married to Raphael or not. So, I think those are two big changes that is going to happen to Raphael in the relationship and to Mary also.

Where are you hoping to see Mary and Raphael’s relationship go? Are we going to see him kind of run out of patience with her indecision with things?

CRISTIÁN DE LA FUENTE: Mary’s very hard to deal with — Mary the character. Because Mary McCormack, I love her.

I also love the other one in different ways. But Raph would like to marry her and have a family, but it’s tough. Mary is hard to get, and she’s a little bit afraid of commitment. In the ideal world, which doesn’t exist, not even in fiction, Raphael would like to marry her and have children and be happy. But he’s going to try to do everything in his power, and hopefully Mary’s going to try to do something, too.

Mary is very headstrong, confident, independent. Raphael really loves Mary, but do you think that marrying Mary would ultimately be good for Raphael?

CRISTIÁN DE LA FUENTE: I don’t know what’s really going happen in the future because one of the things that David likes to do is keep the show like real life.

We kind of have an idea what’s going to happen tomorrow, but we really don’t know what’s going to happen tomorrow, and the same thing happens in the show. We kind of have an idea what’s going to happen in the next episode, but we have no idea really what’s going to happen.

I think Raphael really wants to marry Mary, but in order for that to happen, Mary would have to change. And I don’t think she’s really willing to do it. Because many times in relationships — and that has happened to me myself in personal life — we fall in love with somebody, and there are things we don’t like about that person and hope that they’re going to change at sometime and it never happens.

That, at the end of the day, is the reason why you end up breaking up with them. So, I learned that the things that you don’t like about somebody, they have to really be so little that you’re willing to live the rest of your life with them.

That’s what needs to happen. At this moment, the things that really bother Raphael about Mary are not that big, and at the end of the day, he knows that she’s this beautiful, sensitive woman under that tough uniform and the tough job and the tough personality. So, if she allows [herself] to be loved, then I think they can be really happy.

How did you get started in acting?

CRISTIÁN DE LA FUENTE: I got started 17 years ago in Chile, where I am right now. Thanks to the technology, I’m having this conference from Chile.

I’ve always wanted to be an actor, and my dad wanted me to be a civil engineer because actors don’t make money here in Chile. They don’t ride in limousines and live in big mansions. Actors here, we live in normal houses, and sometimes there are actors that have to ride the bus because they don’t have a car. You do this because you love it. It’s not, “Oh my gosh, I’m going to get to make $20 million a picture.” So my dad was really afraid of me being an actor.

But then I got to a point that I decided, “Why am I going to be an engineer if that’s not what I really love to do?” And that’s when I decided to go to a network and apply for a job doing a show, and I was part of the show. And then after that, they offered me the option of studying [acting] all the afternoons while I was working in the mornings, and I did that. And that was how it really started.

Did your father ever turn around and become proud of you? What does he think now?

CRISTIÁN DE LA FUENTE: I think one of the biggest compliments that I had from my father was the day that he died. He was in his bed, he was sick, and they asked him, “Do you want me to turn the TV off?” And he said, “No, I want to watch Cristiàn and then I want to fall asleep.”

So, he watched my show, then he turned off the TV and he passed away. So, I think that, at the end of the day, was the biggest compliment that I can have from my father.

Do you have any new projects coming up?

CRISTIÁN DE LA FUENTE: Not yet. My biggest project after the show is done is vacation with my wife and my daughter, try to spend some time with them, because, thank God, I’ve been working a lot.

And then start looking for the next one. Try to see if we can squeeze in a movie or two and keep our fingers crossed and hopefully have a third season of In Plain Sight. But that depends on the viewers. So, hopefully, they’ll watch the show, they will like it, and then we’ll have a third season.