YOU’RE HITTING A NICHE MARKET, I THINK THIS IS THE FIRST “BUDDY HORROR-COMEDY SITCOM” I’VE EVER HEARD OF.
It’s definitely hitting that market, but what’s been great about the screenings we’ve done, is that it’s not a horror-centric as people would think that it is. It’s very funny, and there’s a ton of heart to it as well. The best show to compare it to is really Friends. It’s Friends with a monster in the closet and occasional moments of violence. But even the violence is funny. It’s cartoonish.
SCHLOCKY.
Yeah, yeah. And the first episode is always the hardest because you have to set everybody up. . . . Last night we had everyone from senior citizens to 12-year-olds, and all of them were laughing, which was great.
SPEAKING OF MONSTERS IN THE CLOSET . . . GETTING ODERUS URUNGUS MUST HAVE BEEN A BIG COUP FOR YOU.
Yeah! As soon as I came up with the idea of the alien in the closet that only I could see, he was, of course, the first person I thought of, because I’ve always been a GWAR fan. When I sat down with him, he was the quickest yes I’ve ever gotten. I don’t even think I finished the sentence. I was like, “It’s a traditional sitcom, with a laugh track and a studio audience and you live in my closet. . . . ” And he’s like, “YUP.” And I was like, “Really?” And he says, “I’ve been waiting my whole life to do something like this, and the fact that you actually want to put Oderus on a TV show . . . how can I say no to this?” So, he’s just been so great about everything. And the promotion they’re doing — when you go see GWAR in concert now, the first thing they play is the trailer for Holliston, which is really funny.
IS HE A NICE GUY IN REAL LIFE?
Oh yeah, he’s totally nice. And speaking to that, Dee Snider, he’s the only one that almost didn’t happen. Simply because of his schedule, because he’s so busy. He’s been doing Broadway, he was writing a novel, he was doing Celebrity Apprentice at the time that we were shooting. But also, for him, he’s the only one who’s actually playing a character character. Because, in real life, he’s nothing like that. The rest of us are sort of playing lesser versions of ourselves. And he was a little worried about that, because he’s spent the last 20 years trying to let people know that he’s not that guy from Twisted Sister. And now, to put on those crazy outfits and that makeup, and basically cater to that image that people think he is was a little bit of a risk. But the fact that he owned it, and he had so much fun with it and made fun of it so much, I think that it’s really clear that he’s not like that in real life.
