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CNN Live Today
Damon Wayans Discusses Hit Show "My Wife and Kids"
Aired September 20, 2002 - 10:40 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Well, consider it the follies of fatherhood and a sitcom that any dad can tell you almost disguises some reality on TV. The broadcast networks are rolling out their fall schedules and part of the curtain raising for ABC will be "My Wife and Kids."
Damon Wayans not only stars in that sitcom, he also serves as its co-creator and executive producer.
Hey, how are you doing?
He joins us from New York.
Good to see you.
DAMON WAYANS, ACTOR: Good to see you.
WHITFIELD: Well congratulations on your second season now and People's Choice awards for the show and for yourself.
WAYANS: Thank you. Thank you. This is the third season.
WHITFIELD: The third season? OK, heading into the third season. Well congratulations on that. I know it must feel good.
Rolling in there with this kind of momentum, let's talk about this season starting out. You being a family man yourself, how much of the character that we're seeing as dad mimics or perhaps personifies what your daddyhood is like?
WAYANS: Well, I think the -- It's the 8:00 version of me. There's the HBO version, which my kids live.
WHITFIELD: But not quite clean enough for ABC's network prime time?
WAYANS: I don't know if it is so much clean enough, as just honest enough. You know, it is hard to be -- they say they want honest, but, you know, they want you to clean it up and you know, make it cute and honest.
WAYANS: OK, well family vacations, they can be, you know, a whole barrel of laughs or it can be a real big headache.
And we're going to be getting an inside look at your family vacation as they are in Hawaii. We saw one little clip of, you know, your daughter in the show, hula dancing, not something you really wanted to see.
WAYANS: No.
WHITFIELD: Let's take another quick look at a portion of that Hawaii trip.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN: OK. I'm all set.
WAYANS: Jay, what is all this?
UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN: All of this is our luggage, all the stuff we're going to need for Hawaii.
WAYANS: We are going to be visiting Hawaii, not going to conquer it.
Jay, look how I packed.
I got everything right in this little thing. These are the criticals, OK? I have a couple of pair of pants, a couple of shirts, Hawaiian shirt, Wizard jersey, hat. That's it. The criticals.
UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN: The reason why you can afford to pack like that is because I pack all the crap you forget right in here.
This is all your clothes right here.
WAYANS: You know what, we're going to leave that right here and I'm going to show you that I can get by with just the criticals.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: As in part creator of this show, the -- you know, how much do you think about how to make this as universal of a topic for each episode as possible? Because you really do have an incredibly wide span audience, particularly a lot of families who say, You know what? This show, I can really identify with, because it is a lot like my family.
WAYANS: Well, the approach we take in the writer's room, is you know what? Bring me a real story. If you bring me a real story, then we can embellish it and make it fun and make it funnier and make it more universal.
But it is really about being specific, finding the minutia of the character, the minutia of character.
WHITFIELD: You say that so well. Yes, there's lots of minutia of the character. We really get a chance to know your characters inside and out.
You know, you really have done an awful lot, not just in, you know, television, but in the big screen as well. You still seem to find a way at in which to straddle both the big screen and television. Did you -- When you went into or came back into television with this show in particular, did you feel like this is something you were going to kind of do part-time? You really wanted to move or contain or move in the direction of the big screen and you found that this is really taking off all over again?
WAYANS: Well, I'm a straddler. I like to straddle.
WHITFIELD: It doesn't seem like you're struggling too hard.
WAYANS: Right now, I'm trying to really focus on my show. Because these are like the critical years for my show. And then, you know, eventually I would like to go back to making movies and making movies with my family. That's the goal.
WHITFIELD: Bringing your family into the pictures like your brothers once again?
WAYANS: No, work with, like, Keenan and Shawn and Marlon because they've had really successful movies where I've had "Blankman."
WHITFIELD: Yes, well we all miss seeing you all together. Especially like in "In Living Color." I mean, everybody remembers those days. I don't -- it seems like wherever you go in your career, people always want to come back to, Oh, those days of "In Living Color," we loved that show.
WAYANS: I loved that show. I miss doing it. And right now is a great time for sketch show. I wish we were doing it.
WHITFIELD: All right well maybe there will be another opportunity. I'm sure if you just let folks know, they'll present an avenue for you. Or you guys create your own avenue, you all are trailblazers.
All right, Damon Wayans.
Good to see you.
WAYANS: Good to see you. Thank you, Fredricka.
WHITFIELD: All right.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Aired September 20, 2002 - 10:40 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Well, consider it the follies of fatherhood and a sitcom that any dad can tell you almost disguises some reality on TV. The broadcast networks are rolling out their fall schedules and part of the curtain raising for ABC will be "My Wife and Kids."
Damon Wayans not only stars in that sitcom, he also serves as its co-creator and executive producer.
Hey, how are you doing?
He joins us from New York.
Good to see you.
DAMON WAYANS, ACTOR: Good to see you.
WHITFIELD: Well congratulations on your second season now and People's Choice awards for the show and for yourself.
WAYANS: Thank you. Thank you. This is the third season.
WHITFIELD: The third season? OK, heading into the third season. Well congratulations on that. I know it must feel good.
Rolling in there with this kind of momentum, let's talk about this season starting out. You being a family man yourself, how much of the character that we're seeing as dad mimics or perhaps personifies what your daddyhood is like?
WAYANS: Well, I think the -- It's the 8:00 version of me. There's the HBO version, which my kids live.
WHITFIELD: But not quite clean enough for ABC's network prime time?
WAYANS: I don't know if it is so much clean enough, as just honest enough. You know, it is hard to be -- they say they want honest, but, you know, they want you to clean it up and you know, make it cute and honest.
WAYANS: OK, well family vacations, they can be, you know, a whole barrel of laughs or it can be a real big headache.
And we're going to be getting an inside look at your family vacation as they are in Hawaii. We saw one little clip of, you know, your daughter in the show, hula dancing, not something you really wanted to see.
WAYANS: No.
WHITFIELD: Let's take another quick look at a portion of that Hawaii trip.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN: OK. I'm all set.
WAYANS: Jay, what is all this?
UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN: All of this is our luggage, all the stuff we're going to need for Hawaii.
WAYANS: We are going to be visiting Hawaii, not going to conquer it.
Jay, look how I packed.
I got everything right in this little thing. These are the criticals, OK? I have a couple of pair of pants, a couple of shirts, Hawaiian shirt, Wizard jersey, hat. That's it. The criticals.
UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN: The reason why you can afford to pack like that is because I pack all the crap you forget right in here.
This is all your clothes right here.
WAYANS: You know what, we're going to leave that right here and I'm going to show you that I can get by with just the criticals.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: As in part creator of this show, the -- you know, how much do you think about how to make this as universal of a topic for each episode as possible? Because you really do have an incredibly wide span audience, particularly a lot of families who say, You know what? This show, I can really identify with, because it is a lot like my family.
WAYANS: Well, the approach we take in the writer's room, is you know what? Bring me a real story. If you bring me a real story, then we can embellish it and make it fun and make it funnier and make it more universal.
But it is really about being specific, finding the minutia of the character, the minutia of character.
WHITFIELD: You say that so well. Yes, there's lots of minutia of the character. We really get a chance to know your characters inside and out.
You know, you really have done an awful lot, not just in, you know, television, but in the big screen as well. You still seem to find a way at in which to straddle both the big screen and television. Did you -- When you went into or came back into television with this show in particular, did you feel like this is something you were going to kind of do part-time? You really wanted to move or contain or move in the direction of the big screen and you found that this is really taking off all over again?
WAYANS: Well, I'm a straddler. I like to straddle.
WHITFIELD: It doesn't seem like you're struggling too hard.
WAYANS: Right now, I'm trying to really focus on my show. Because these are like the critical years for my show. And then, you know, eventually I would like to go back to making movies and making movies with my family. That's the goal.
WHITFIELD: Bringing your family into the pictures like your brothers once again?
WAYANS: No, work with, like, Keenan and Shawn and Marlon because they've had really successful movies where I've had "Blankman."
WHITFIELD: Yes, well we all miss seeing you all together. Especially like in "In Living Color." I mean, everybody remembers those days. I don't -- it seems like wherever you go in your career, people always want to come back to, Oh, those days of "In Living Color," we loved that show.
WAYANS: I loved that show. I miss doing it. And right now is a great time for sketch show. I wish we were doing it.
WHITFIELD: All right well maybe there will be another opportunity. I'm sure if you just let folks know, they'll present an avenue for you. Or you guys create your own avenue, you all are trailblazers.
All right, Damon Wayans.
Good to see you.
WAYANS: Good to see you. Thank you, Fredricka.
WHITFIELD: All right.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
