Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, March 31, 1995 TAG: 9503310046
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: 2 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: SCOTT WILLIAMS ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: NEW YORK LENGTH: Medium
``Being in a hit is really a new experience for me. I've never been in a hit - ever!'' said Thomas, who plays sweet, shy pharmacist Russell Norton, a perfect second banana for series star Brett Butler.
(The show is on Wednesdays at 9 p.m. on WSET-Channel 13).
Thomas is best known for his work in the ``SCTV'' troupe, where he and Rick Moranis became the beer-swilling, belching McKenzie Brothers, later immortalized in the cult film, ``Strange Brew.''
``We did it originally as a satire to insult the producers of `SCTV,' who had asked us to come up with something specifically Canadian,'' said Thomas, a native of St. Catherines, Ontario. ``Wouldn't you know it would become one of the biggest hits of the show?''
He and Moranis co-wrote, co-directed and co-starred in ``Strange Brew,'' but Thomas said he avoided the Hollywood career moves that launched fellow ``SCTV'' players Moranis, John Candy, Catherine O'Hara and Andrea Martin.
He wanted full control of his work, as they'd had in ``SCTV.''
``You get to a $40-million movie and they're never going to let you control it,'' he said. ``Some guy with tongueless loafers behind an executive desk is going to be calling the shots on what's funny and what isn't,'' he snorted. ``Like they ever had a waking funny thought in their lives!''
So it is that Thomas finds himself working on one of America's most popular situation comedies, where he's no longer the master of his own comedic destiny.
Or is he?
``They had me carping about my ex-wife all last year because they thought that was funny,'' said Thomas. ``I said, `I'm sick of this. I'm not going to do it any more.'''
He said he tries to portray Russell as a decent man.
``Yeah, there are jerks out there who will abandon you. There are other jerks who are wrong for you,'' he said. ``But then there are other guys who look like schmoes but are like rocks. They're solid and they're there.
``Don't panic. They're there,'' he said. ``Russell Norton is one of those guys who is dependable, who likes kids, who keeps his promises and who plays by the rules.
``So when they give me a thing to do where he doesn't act like that, I won't do it,'' he said. ``Honestly, I'm a subversive sitcom player. I really don't belong in the form.''
Thomas extends his ``subversion'' to his star and boss, Brett Butler.
``I can make her laugh. And I love that,'' he said. ``I'll change the lines on her. Not enough that it throws off the scene, but enough that it'll stop her in her tracks.''
He also makes up lines that he thinks are funnier than the script. He recalled a Christmas show where his line was, ``Grace, do you know how to program the VCR?''
``I just thought, `I don't have to say that. I don't WANT to say that!' So I came in and I said, `Grace, one of the wires on your cheese slicer broke.' She just went nuts. She laughed for about five minutes.''
Thomas always conforms to the script during its first read-through on Tuesday. Then, during rehearsals, he'll change a line. ``I usually wait until Thursday, because if I change it Tuesday, they're tired of it by Thursday.
``The directors get so mad at me!'' he said, beaming.
``If I have anything that I think is really funny, I'll save it until Friday,'' when the show is taped. ``So then the audience is roaring, Brett is roaring and what are they going to do, cut it? Say it stinks? It's funny! Everyone thinks it's funny.''
In May, he and `SCTV' alumnus Joe Flaherty start shooting a comedy special for cable's Showtime network about the final adventure of Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson. ``We're in the middle of writing it now,'' he said.
Not everyone knows that Thomas was an original co-executive producer, with Vin DeBona, of ``America's Funniest People.'' ``I helped put the show together, but I wanted it to be more than it was, and ultimately, I ended up again being a subversive element,'' he said.
Thomas continues his subversive ways next month as executive producer of an ABC pilot he describes as a ``combination of sitcom, quiz show and reality program.'' It's titled ``Family Challenge,'' where families compete in cooperative games - with a twist.
``We send some family member who thinks he's funny into a convenience store with instructions to make the clerk laugh,'' Thomas chortled. ``Of course, we've also paid the other guy 200 bucks not to laugh.''
by CNB