httpss://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2_GTDi5W_Gw
Such was the case of Rob Lowe and his exquisite experiment, “The Grinder.” Indiewire spoke with the talented thespian a month before Fox axed the critically-hailed comedy, and – while we spoke again for the season finale – what he had to say at the time is relevant to what happened to “The Grinder.” We talked to him again after news of the cancellation hit, and the below interview represents a lightly edited transcript of those two conversations.
“The Grinder” may rest, but Lowe grinds on – and the time for his just reward is now.
The notion of a show as acclaimed, as original, with the level of talent in front of and behind the camera and that has done all this has done in its first year wouldn’t have a home anyw on television, it seems a little outrageous.
Would you consider making another show on broadcast TV after “The Grinder”?
When people talk about the state of network television, you have to ask yourself would Aaron Sorkin and the cast of “The West Wing” be on broadcast TV? And I think you have your answer.
Quite frankly, the reviews came in and people were so excited about what we were doing, our writers Jarrad Paul and Andy Mogul were kind of left to do what they really wanted to do, and I think the last half of the season is sort of w they saw the show going all along – which is, as you alluded to, slightly longer arcs and a little more serialized.
I think what we’re looking at is we’re looking at a real discussion of: Can an original concept that is smart, and silly, and meta, and truly a prestige comedy work today on a broadcast network? I don’t know if the natural home for that kind of comedy is broadcast anymore.
T are so many interesting storytellers and comedians and actors who will just completely and utterly migrate t if shows like “The Grinder” can’t work.
“As a person who started out playing sort of movie ingenues, to be at a point w I’m able to do Eddie Nero, Chris Traeger, and Dean – it’s sort of an actor’s dream. Whenever I’ve worked with great comic actors, whether it’s Amy Poehler, or Mike Meyers, or Chris Pratt, or Aziz Ansari, or Dana Carvey, or Chris Farley – you name it – the one thing they all have in common is that they’re fearless. And they’re bold, and they take big swings. And whether it’s Behind the Candelabra” or the characters you mentioned, they’re all big swing parts.