We're back with another "Baker's Dozen" and this time we have the creator of the new CBS hit comedy "How I Met Your Mother" Carter Bays! Carter tells us all about how he got his start, what the future of "How I Met Your Mother" might hold, and he tells us more than we ever needed to know about Will Forte from "Saturday Night Live." Enjoy!
1) You and your writing partner Craig Thomas started out writing on "The Late Show with David Letterman." How did you land that job?
Craig and I began our creative partnership when we were students at Wesleyan University, playing in a nine piece soul band in college called the Testostertones (it was nine dudes, I didn't pick the name). I was the singer and he was the drummer, and we played all sixties soul songs, Stax records stuff, Otis Redding, Sam and Dave, et cetera. Wesleyan is a very liberal, non-Greek-oriented school, so the fraternities that did exist really wanted the Animal House experience. We provided that. We were Wesleyan's Otis Day and the Knights (except that we're white guys).
Then we both ended up interning at MTV for a summer, in the series development department, and while we were there we collaborated on a few ideas for shows for MTV. None of our ideas went anywhere, but our boss, Jeremiah Bosgang, was really awesome and supportive, and also knew a guy who knew a guy. He got our stuff to an agent (Matt Rice, who's still our agent to this day), the agent hooked us up with a manager (Dave Miner, who's still our manager to this day) and together they got us an interview at Letterman. And the rest is history.
2) Did you ever have the urge to tell Dave that he should cut out doing any "bits" that involved his assistant Stephanie? That girl is a comedy vacuum.
All of my energy while I was there was focused on urging Dave to build an indoor waterslide in the theater. No dice.
3) When did you realize you wanted to be a TV comedy writer, and what were your favorite sitcoms growing up?
The first sitcom I truly loved was Alf. It was a first love, and like any first love, you see her years later and she's maybe not as hot as you remember, but still, you'd do her. I also loved Cheers, Seinfeld, the Simpsons, all the standards. But I didn't know I wanted to be a sitcom writer pretty much until my senior year of college, when I realized I was extremely educated and yet unqualified to do anything else.
4) "How I Met Your Mother" is a very funny show, and is CBS' newest big hit. How many seasons before the cast stays at home holding out for raises?
Thanks! I can only say I should be so lucky. Honestly, these five actors are amazing, and really good people to boot. They will be worth every penny when they're hugely overpaid TV superstars.
Carter is so excited to answer these questions he practically tears off his writing partner Craig's arm.
5) Bob Saget narrates the shows as Ted in the year 2030, but did you ever consider having Neil Patrick Harris sit at a word processor and have him type out the narration instead?
That would involve making our viewers read. And that's a comedy no-no.
6) Which of the inevitable stunt casting choices is most likely?
* James Franco visits his high school buddy Marshall (Jason Segel).
* Sarah Michelle Gellar stops by to see her cousin Lily (Alyson Hannigan).
* Barney (Neil Patrick Harris) tries to help his ex-convict friend Vinnie Delpino get back on his feet.
* The voice over guy from "America's Funniest Videos" inexplicably chimes in with "Lock in your votes" in one of the flash forward scenes.
If they're all inevitable then they're all equally likely! Ah ha! Checkmate, TV Advice Guy. Check. Mate.
7) What happens when "How I Met Your Mother" becomes a wild success and those kids in the year 2030 sequences are in their 20's by season 4?
That won't be a problem. We've removed their thyroids.
8) You also wrote material for the MTV Movie Awards. Is your ultimate goal to become the Bruce Vilanch for the younger generation?
Bruce Vilanch is the Bruce Vilanch for the younger generation.
9) You grew up in Shaker Heights, Ohio Did you know that 70 % of Shaker Heights is located within a historic district that is listed on the National Register of Historic Places? Which begs the question: Were you allowed to sit on the town benches, or where they all roped off with museum ropes?
I didn't bother with that crap, because the other 30 percent? Brothels. I miss Shaker.
10) What spec script did you write that was the one that got you your first big step (agent, job)? Looking back, does it still hold up?
We didn't write a spec script, it was actually a packet of material for Conan O'Brien. I did graphic layout at the school newspaper, so suffice it to say, that submission packet was pimped out. Color graphics, velo-binding, the works. And this was before that kind of software came prepackaged in every Macintosh on the market -- so it was pretty special. As far as the material itself, I honestly can't remember. But the presentation was and is sterling, in my estimation.
11) I heard that you guys have been working some seriously late hours over there at "How I Met Your Mother" doing rewrites into the wee hours. Are the network notes out of control, or is it your own personal quest for perfection that keeps you there till 4am?
Late hours? Who told you that? We have excellent hours. We're usually out by 6 PM. I have a dog. I can't leave him alone for long.
Carter denies working late hours, but this photo we obtained says otherwise.
12) If you could be adopted by any TV family (past or present) who would it be?
Well, Edward Stratton from Silver Spoons is the first name that leaps to mind -- I wouldn't say no to a racecar bed and a train in the living room. Or perhaps the A Team. They were like a family. A family with guns and a van. But really, what family isn't?
13) I'm going to list some names, you jot down some thoughts about them. (Example: Bob Saget = Always telling that damn Aristocrat joke.)
Wow, this is a potentially incendiary question. Here goes.
• Will Forte = A terrific guy.
• Seth McFarlane = Fantastic
• Stephanie Birkitt = You know, I want to keep talking about Will Forte.
• Mark Reisman = When I moved out to LA, Will let me stay on his couch. It was a mensch move.
• Les Moonves = Will is very handsome.
• Bill Kunstler = Will has a beautiful singing voice and a wonderful ear for harmony.
• Andy Richter = Will and Craig and I have often performed as a barbershop trio.
• David Letterman = Our signature number is "My Bonnie."
• Biff Henderson = But we also do a haunting "Amazing Grace"
• Nancy Tellem = We are available for weddings and bar mitzvahs.
Well that was fun, wasn't it? We here at TVadviceguy.com totally back "How I Met Your Mother," so make sure to check it out Monday nights at 8:30 on CBS. We'd like to thank Carter for taking time out of his busy schedule running a hit sitcom to answer our 13 silly questions. Very cool of him, even if he schooled us in question #6.
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