While on the set of Get Smart a couple of months ago, we got to chit-chat with comedy superstar mega-supreme Dave Koechner about the fate of his The Naked Trucker and T-Bones Show on Comedy Central, which is based on a very funny and popular live musical act that he created with David "Gruber" Allen.
At one time, Koechner was working on a big screen adaptation of the stage show. We asked him about that, and about his upcoming film with Will Farrell...
(Note: it was almost pitch black in our interview space, so Koechner doesn't recognize me right away. We had previously done an episode of an on-line radio show that went a little bonkers... )
David Koechner: We'll see. We'll see. We'll have to see what kind of taste there is for it. Clearly there wasn't much taste for it on Tv. I think there were a couple of problems. We didn't necessarily introduce it well enough. You can't host a Tv show if people don't know who you are. And people didn't know who the characters were. For us to come into your home and say, "We're hosting a Tv show!" People were like, "Who the fuck are you? What do you mean you are hosting it? Guess what? No you are not, rube!" Then there was a mistake, I believe. They sold the show as blue collar. It certainly was not. And we tried to impress it upon them more than ever not to do that. But they did it. I think they just wanted to get the people's eyeballs on the show. "Who cares?" They said, "People will figure it out." No they won't. They were angry. They were confused. They didn't know what to make of it. Had you seen it before? Or did you just see it on television?
Yeah, I've been to the stage show a bunch.
David Koechner: So, you are not coming to it from the point of view of a novice either, huh? (He suddenly recognizes me in the pitch-black room) Oh, shit, you fucker! What's going on! (Laughs)
It's so dark in here, and its hard to recognize me with my moustache.
David Koechner: Right, right. And your hair is different, too. Well done! You could be in Get Smart, cause you are in disguise. Are you an agent?
I might be.
David Koechner: So, I don't know what went wrong with the Tv show. They certainly didn't get it.
I noticed that the DVD of the live show disappeared, too. You can't find that anywhere.
David Koechner: It's a CD.
I thought there was supposed to be a DVD, too.
David Koechner: There was supposed to be, but Comedy Central owns the rights to air the Naked Trucker and T-Bones: Live at the Troubadour. They own that piece of material, and Warner Brothers is not going to release the DVD until Comedy Central airs that as a special. Which I thought they would have aired before our series. It would have given people a great entree as to what was coming up. Again, I am not the head of a network. I am barely the head of my own family.
What's up next for you?
David Koechner: The Comebacks...Or, do you mean filming wise? Well, simultaneously, I just finishing shooting Semi-Pro with Will Ferrell. I was shuttling back and forth between those two films. As luck would have it, both schedules were able to accommodate one another. I also have a cameo in Balls of Fury.
David Koechner: I'm the commissioner of the ABA. It's pretty funny.
Is there anything new going on with Anchorman 2? Will Ferrell said that he had an idea for Ron and the gang to go to Europe as foreign correspondents.
David Koechner: I think he was joking. But I think that would be great. I would defiantly be up for it. Although, I clearly wouldn't be asked back due to the feud going on between me and Mr. Farrell. I assume Anchorman 2 is a joke. But that would be wonderful if that were so.
Do you ever see yourself going back to Tv?
David Koechner: Sure. Absolutely. I don't know what it would be, but I would like to create something and have it work. (Laughs) I have been doing some American Dad!s. They have a long lead time, so they haven't aired yet. I just play the one character. I think his name is Dick. Don't write about any of this, these guys will kill me. I'm the mystery voice. Yeah. There it is.
Steve Carell, Anne Hathaway, Dwayne Johnson, Alan Arkin, Terence Stamp, Terry Crews, David Koechner, James Caan, Masi Oka, Nate Torrence, Kenneth Davitian
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