Fox's 'Grinder' gives thanks for guests Jason Alexander, Timothy Olyphant
For Thanksgiving, The Grinder might give its own thanks for some top guest-star treats: Seinfeld's Jason Alexander and Justified's Timothy Olyphant.
In Tuesday's episode (Fox, 8:30 p.m. ET/PT), "Giving Thanks, Getting Justice," the critically acclaimed freshman comedy about a Hollywood fish out of water shows its appreciation for the show-within-a-show that keeps on giving: the legal procedural, also called The Grinder, that Dean Sanderson Jr. (Rob Lowe) starred in before moving back to Idaho to be with his family.
The episode explores Dean's departure from the TV show that made him a household name, focusing on his creative arguments with creator Cliff Beamis (Alexander) and a soul-searching discussion – on the beach, no less – with Olyphant, who plays himself. Alexander and Olyphant will be back next week, too, as Cliff travels to Boise, where Dean has been trying to use his TV lawyer skills to help his brother, attorney and family man Stewart (Fred Savage).
Despite modest ratings, Fox has shown support for the comedy, ordering a full season of episodes, and it could get a ratings boost starting Jan. 5 when it moves to a later slot, 9:30 p.m. ET/PT, and gets a stronger lead-in, Brooklyn Nine-Nine. Upcoming episodes will feature a mini-West Wing reunion for Lowe, with Richard Schiff appearing as Gordon Stutz, Mitch's mentor on the legal show. Tony Sirico, who played Paulie on The Sopranos, will also guest star, portraying a convict on death row.
Alexander immediately looked into appearing on the show after seeing the "terrific" pilot.
"It's a really funny, smart show. I'm not an easy audience, but they make me laugh every week," he says. "The whole send-up of Hollywood, television and celebrity that they do through Rob's character is great but, for me, the heart of the show is this unbelievably great comedic chemistry between Rob and Fred. The pushed persona that Rob is pulling off beautifully juxtaposed (against) Fred's hapless Everyman strikes this really funny chord."
Alexander was intrigued by the role of Cliff, a swaggering, blustery guy with an Indiana Jones complex who tries to handle Dean when he argues against the program's formulaic approach.
"It's not the sort of thing I normally get asked to do. There's sort of a man's man quality to him, a danger they wanted" along with a "faux macho thing," says Alexander, whose character just wants Dean to take off his shirt, make out with a colleague and win the episode's legal case.
"Cliff sort of embodies the lowest-common-denominator factor of what television can be: 'Let's just give the audience what they want. There's a little beefcake for the girls. Let's not worry about story.' Rob's character is the guy who wants to be the actor and talk about issues. It's this clash of Hollywood ideologies," he says.
Grinder co-creators Andrew Mogel and Jarrad Paul say they love writing plots and dialogue for the legal procedural part of the show. The internal Grinder features Mitch Grinder – his full name, Mitchard, may be the funniest TV name since The Simpsons came up with Bort – employing stock dialogue and familiar tropes (ripping off a human-like mask to reveal himself). That experience leads real-life Dean to use distant stares to suggest depth and to walk out of a room to emphasize an incisive comment that really isn't.
Mogel, sounding a bit lawyerly himself, says they're not ridiculing procedurals. "We don't think of it as making fun as much as paying homage."
He adds: "We love building that (procedural drama) world out. Once we meet Cliff Beamis, the creator, then we want to know about his relationship with (Dean) and why Dean left the show."
Mogel and Paul say they write the procedural drama scenes with special care, trying to make them reflect real shows and avoiding spoof. Many episodes open with a scene from the faux Grinder, setting up that week's show, and the creators also play with the idea of procedural spinoffs. In an upcoming episode, a bearded Mitch will be on the run, trying to start a new life à la The Bourne Identity and the show's creators say it would be fun to feature Dean's TV show in a full episode.
Lowe is essential to making the humor work, Paul says. "He can do so much. He's done these one-hour (dramas), so he knows those moves yet he's also done comedy. There's no one else for this part."