Former "Daily Show" correspondent puts a twisted spin on the family sitcom with "The Detour"; at CinemaCon in Las Vegas, vendors tease movie theater ideas, including a robotic bar; L.A. theater veteran Diane Rodriguez takes her expertise to a national stage.
Jason Jones on 'The Detour': 'When you get TV-MA rating ... everything's on the table'
In the TBS comedy "The Detour," a girl gets her first period in a strip bar, voluminous vomit destroys the interior of a mini-van, and the parents of pre-teens give one of the most uncensored birds-and-the-bees talks ever seen on television.
All of the above sprang from the creative minds of former "Daily Show" correspondents — and married couple — Jason Jones and Samantha Bee. The two have three children of their own and Jones tells The Frame that they are "parents first and comedians second." But as co-creators of "The Detour," they clearly tap both sides of their identities.
The show stars Jones as a father of pre-teen twins (a girl and a boy), with his on-screen wife played by Natalie Zea. The first season involves the family going on a road trip that, not surprisingly, takes a detour or ... four. Jones is the show runner and Bee was one of the writers on the first season. Meanwhile, she is the star of her own weekly late night show, "Full Frontal," (you can hear The Frame interview with that series' show runner here), for which Jones is an executive producer. Both shows air Monday nights on TBS.
When Jones joined The Frame's Senior Producer Oscar Garza in our studio, he painted a picture of playing "Family Feud" with Samantha Bee and their three kids, but he refused to perform his Steve Harvey impersonation for us. He also revealed (exclusive?) that season two of "The Detour" will shoot in New York so that he can be present for the live tapings of "Full Frontal."
You can hear the interview by clicking the play button at the top of this page. Below are some highlights.
Interview Highlights:
When you and your wife, Samantha Bee, started thinking about leaving "The Daily Show," what sort of projects did you want to do? Did you have "The Detour" in mind already?
We had been pitching and selling shows like this for a long time — I think this was the ninth that we had sold. We pitched double that. [laughs] But they were always with networks, so this was our first cable experience, and networks would always say to us, Eh, your sensibility's all off. But when we went to a cable network they went, Oh, your sensibility's just right, it's just perfect! So it's been an ongoing process.
By the time you sold this show, what had you figured out about pitching and navigating the TV business?
Nothing. I still don't know anything about it, honestly. [laughs] It changes every day! I'm in a nice groove right now because the people I'm working with are fantastic and trust me, but should that regime change, I'll be met with other people who might say, No, the show should be about teenagers and vampires and zombies. Where's that show?
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(Left to right: Jason Jones, Liam Carroll, Ashley Gerasimovich, and Natalie Zea star in "The Detour")
"The Detour" has been renewed for a second season, and you're moving the show to New York?
You've officially got the first scoop. Season two will take place in New York, yes.
Which is where you live and work, correct? That's convenient.
It's convenient, but we also designed the show in a way that it would never be in the same place twice. I like the idea of movement, or detours, if you will. And as the show goes on, you'll see that, while it appears in the first episode as a "National Lampoon's Vacation" kind of show, it's nothing quite like that at all. [laughs] I won't use the "detour" pun again, but it'll take a radical departure from what you think it is.
You and Samantha have three kids, and I've read that some of this series is inspired by real events...
"Inspired" is the right word. You take a germ of an idea that happens in real life, and then you exploit it for comedic purposes.
Because I was going to say, there are some fairly outlandish things that happen in this show, and I hope they haven't happened to you. [laughs] I'm thinking about episode four and kids getting violently sick in the car.
[laughs] That actually has happened. Since we've had kids, we've had three mini-vans, and within the first week, all of them have been christened by vomit. So that has happened to us, yes. And as any parent would know, that happens all the time. Again, we take that level of truth and then blow it up to ridiculous proportions in the show.
I didn't mean to bring up vomit as the first example of what's on the show, because it's more than broad comedy. When you were looking to cast your on-screen wife and children, was there a part of you that was looking for people similar to Samantha and your own kids?
My wife's character, Robin, is maybe 40 percent of who Sam is, and then we stretch her a little further. But I was really just looking for people who could act well, who could say my lines of dialogue. [laughs]
It seems like a fairly risqué show for a 9 pm time slot on a basic cable channel. Have you had much interaction with the TBS Standards and Practices folks?
You know what? No, I haven't. [laughs] When you get a TV-MA rating, everything's on the table, so it's like, Oh, really, I get to do this? I don't think they said no to me once.
So do you find yourself thinking, Well, we've gotten away with everything so far, so let's see how far we can push it?
No, I don't frame comedy that way. I don't want to push things as far as they can go to shock people. I sit in a place that I think is funny — if I think it's funny, my buddies think it's funny, my wife thinks it's funny, then I know there are more people that will find it funny.
There's so much of your personality and tone in the script, so how did you recruit your writers, knowing you had such a firm handle on the show?
I brought two of the main guys over from "The Daily Show," so they've been working with me for five or so years. They're exceptionally funny and knew my voice, because they share my voice.
When you were on "The Daily Show," did you have designated writers that worked only with you?
No, not at all. There was a bigger writing team, but the relationship that correspondents forge on that show is with the producer. When we'd go and shoot field pieces, they're the writer/producer and we are a writer/performer. Together, we're this unbreakable team, and these two guys were two of my favorites on the show, so I brought them with me.
And they stepped up — the network was worried in the beginning, like, Well, they've never written for a sitcom before. It actually worked out well because they hadn't, and I think that's why the show feels a little more original than most sitcoms out there.
There's a scene in the first season of your show where you and your wife talk to your kids about sex. Those young actors are exposed to a lot in this series, both language and content-wise. So how was the casting handled? How do you interact with their parents?
Their parents are the coolest ever. There are two moms who are every day with them, and yeah, we have a very frank discussion about the consistency of a certain male fluid. I'm trying to be delicate here. [laughs] They read the script and went, Oh, I didn't think I had to have this talk. [laughs]
The boy's older — he's 13, she's 11 — so he knew that stuff, but she hadn't heard any of it, so her mom needed to have that conversation with her. Which is good — I was forcing her mom to do her job! Don't be like me — I learned it at school from some dummy on the playground. Be the cool mom that teaches her kids at a young age.
How do you and Sam bring your humor into your life with your kids? Is there a part of you that turns off your satire when you're at home?
Well, yes and no. At home, we're parents first and comedians second. [laughs] Certainly, I keep it on a lot more than she does at home because they look at her to do chores for them ... those entitled children. Mom, wash my track pants! I have to wear these tomorrow!
They won't ask me to wash anything, but they will ask me to entertain them. So we'll play "Family Feud" at home. And if I'm not bringing my full Steve Harvey impression, they'll be disappointed.
Cocktail carts, luxury seats & 4DX: How movie theaters are competing for your attention
CinemaCon is the annual Las Vegas-based gathering of film studio execs, theater owners and exhibitors.
Movie ticket sales have been essentially flat in the U.S. for the past few years, so The Frame’s host, John Horn, visited the CinemaCon exhibit floor to get an idea of how theater owners are hoping to keep you going back to the multiplex. Hint: they may have to spend money to make money.
Figueras International Seating
This seat looks like something you'd see in the first class cabin of a very fancy airplane. What does it do?
It has two independent engines, one for the footrest and one for the backrest, that are completely independent.
So on this one, the back reclines, and if I push this, my footrest comes up. If it's a really boring movie, I guess I could just fall asleep and take a nice nap?
Definitely. Many people sleep, and in some cinemas they pass out blankets, so what else? Sleep, relax, whatever it is — people come to entertainment to try to forget their realities.
If I'm buying a hundred of these for my cinema, what's the best deal you could make me for these chairs right here?
Around $2,000 each.
[laughs] Do I get a free popcorn with that?
You get free popcorn and drinks. [laughs]
4DX
I'm here with Brandon Choi in the 4DX demo theater. Brandon, explain a little bit what 4DX does.
4DX is a synchronization of environmental effects such as rain, fog, lightning, thunder, rainstorms, snow ... plus you have all these motion movements — back and forth, up and down, and left and right.
Is the idea to create something in a movie theater that you can't replicate anywhere else?
We were thinking to come up with something that would really bring people back to the cinema. This is something really unique and you can't copy it elsewhere, so I think it's important to experience it.
I can barely hold on to my microphone in here! Now, if I'm a theater owner and I've got a 200-seat auditorium, will it cost me more or less than a million bucks to do a conversion?
It should be less than a million bucks, but it all depends on the layout of the cinema and the installation itself.
SmarTender
We're here with Scott Behnke and the SmarTender, which is an automated beverage system? Robotic bar?
Robotic bar, there you go. It's an automated liquor pouring system, and this particular machine has about 650 recipes. As soon as I put the different combinations of liquor and mixers in, we have 448 available.
Let me see a Tom Collins.
I can press "Tom Collins," you'll see the alcohol pour ... when it has multiple liquors, it pours it individually. There are 16 different pours, so there's no cross-contamination — your Bacardi doesn't taste like vodka, your tequila won't taste like rum.
Is the idea that this goes into the higher-end theaters that have a liquor license?
Yes. I've worked with Regal Cinemas so they can develop a consistent menu throughout all Regals. When we deliver this machine to them, their software and hardware's already set-up, and everything's done.
Can I taste that Tom Collins? Oh, wow, that's a really good Tom Collins. That's really good.
Theater artist Diane Rodriguez on the role of activism on- and off-stage
The National Council on the Arts is the advisory group that oversees the National Endowment for the Arts, the arts agency of the federal government. Members of the council are appointed by the president and they include artists, activists and philanthropists.
One of President Obama’s recent appointees is Diane Rodriguez. She’s been an influential member of L.A.’s — and the nation’s — theater community for many years. She’s currently associate artistic director at the Center Theatre Group, which operates the Ahmanson Theatre, the Mark Taper Forum and the Kirk Douglas Theatre.
When Rodriguez joined Frame host John Horn at KPCC's 2016 Leadership Circle Brunch, she talked about mistaken priorities in America's theater system, and how she tries to balance her past in grassroots theater with her current work, which occurs on a national scale.
Interview Highlights:
How do you manage now to keep one foot in your past in grassroots community theater, while also working on a national level, not only at the Center Theater Group but also with other arts organizations? Why is it important to have both?
This is a big conversation that we have nationally. We're talking about non-profit theater — theater institutions nationwide are based on that non-profit model. That model has a mission. If our theaters are not adhering to that mission, then they're not doing their job.
Even at Center Theatre Group, and so many theaters across the country, you'll sit at artistic staff meetings and talk about the box office. We worry, because we have to stay alive that way, but yet we always have to pull ourselves out of that conversation and talk about how we're achieving our mission.
What happens is that, in non-profit theater, we've become more about giving people privilege. We have development departments that take up the whole top floor of our area to serve the donors. That's so wrong. And yet, you're giving your money because you believe in the trajectory of how this company, this organization, serves the community.
So instead of you being a VIP because you give money, the VIP should be that person who walks into the door and has never attended the theater before. That's the VIP. And it's just a different way of looking at the non-profit structure.
So what does that mean when you're figuring out your programming? You obviously have donors and subscribers, and they're often interested in seeing a certain kind of show. And then you have what you want to do, which might be a little more challenging or political. Often, those shows are not one and the same. So how do you go about putting together a season that will satisfy that constituency while doing something that's more interesting and provocative?
I've been at [CTG] for 21 years now, and I started as a resident artist and the director of the Latino Theater Initiative. And I just didn't [understand] the Ahmanson. Now, I have totally embraced it, because I understand that the work that we do there sustains us and feeds the other two theaters. I'm able to do more adventurous work at the Douglas, and even at the Taper, if the Ahmanson's doing well.
There's probably a well-known bias from East Coast people in the theater community against the West Coast, especially from people on Broadway who might say, What you're doing is somehow inferior or not as good as what we're doing. What's the specific problem with that bias, and what would you say to people who don't appreciate the breadth and depth of theater in L.A.?
[laughs] I go to New York all the time, and currently you'll hear from artists on the ground that they can't even afford to live there any more. So many people are making their way out here, so I feel like, just real estate-wise, we have a lot to offer and people are realizing that.
The small theater scene in Los Angeles is enormous. There's over 250 small theaters, and they're going through a transformation as we speak. It's not an easy one, but I believe that what will come out of it will only be better and we'll only have stronger companies.
We have theater companies and presenters like Kristy Edmunds at UCLA and Mark Murphy at REDCAT. These two individuals are highly respected nationally, and they bring the top talent to Los Angeles, while also nurturing the top talent here. So I just feel like we're really burgeoning and everyone's looking to us for the new work that's actually going to the stages in New York.