Joel McHale, star of Animal Control and host of Crime Scene Kitchen and House of Villains, discusses some of the shows that helped define him.
The show that changed my life as a kid: Monty Python’s Flying Circus
There are so many, but Monty Python's Flying Circus really changed my life. I was like, “Oh, people can just be silly all the time.” The show is absurd, and that is where my brain was: Anything can happen, and you don't have to wear a suit to work every day. You can just be halfway nuts, and that's okay. Between this and Sanford and Son, I was a very happy child.
The shows I would have loved to work on: The X-Files and The Honeymooners
Growing up in the ‘90s, I would be home to watch The X-Files or have it recorded every week on Fridays. And then I got to be on the reboot, and I couldn't believe it. Every day I was just — I'd look at the script, and I'd look at my name, and I was like, “This is insanity.”
Also, The Honeymooners. Watching Jackie Gleason and that whole crew do live television when it was just starting — it seems thrilling. Those were just these pioneering days where you can't believe what's happening: “We're going to turn this on, and it's going to be live to everyone.”
The shows I can watch over and over: Battlestar Galactica (2004) and Star Trek: The Next Generation
I think Battlestar Galactica is extraordinary, and I think it pays off. The way that show rolled itself out, I think, was just absolutely genius. I could just watch and watch and watch. I think I've gone through it twice.
When I was in high school, there were eight periods to choose from, and you could basically choose your day as long as you had all the classes you needed to take. I worked my entire schedule so I could show up to school at 9 a.m. when most people started at 7. I worked my schedule so I could watch reruns of Star Trek: The Next Generation. That show, man, I could watch that over and over. And then when they restored it [in 2012], I was just like, “Oh, this is the greatest thing in my life.” And my son, who's now 19 and is on the autism spectrum — that show is so important to him, because you fall in love with these characters. And Gene Roddenberry's universe — every week you’re like, “Where are we going now?”
The show I’d love to see brought back for one more season: Game of Thrones
The ending was not very satisfying. And I understand they have their creative choices and all that stuff. But maybe we just do a redo and do one more season and, I don't know, fix it all up. I'm not really sure. I don't have the most intelligent response. But I'd say, yeah, just do a redo.
The shows that were formative for me as a teenager: Cheers and Twin Peaks
As a teen, Cheers was pretty important. It brought the whole family together, and it was like watching an all-star game every week. It was just a perfect show. So, that's the family one. And then high school is when The X-Files began.
I would say probably Twin Peaks after that. It’s a perfect first season, and the world of it I’m still so in love with, and the feeling of it. Also, I grew up in Seattle, so between that and The X-Files, it was like they were made for me. They were like, “Oh, we're going to do this in your backyard.” I have become friends with Kyle MacLachlan and still cannot … it’s like, “Hey, man, that show was really great,” and he’s like, “Oh, yeah, thanks man.” Like, yeah. Yeah. Okay, great.
The shows I wish I could rewatch for the very first time: Survivor, The Singing Detective, Fargo
The first season of Survivor was so unexpected, and the drama that unfolded with Richard Hatch was … I was part of the 54 million people who tuned in on a random Tuesday on a dead August night.
If I had to rewatch a scripted show, I would say The Singing Detective with Michael Gambon is one of the most perfect things. It's a miniseries, only one season. I think it's eight episodes.
And I would say the first or second season of Fargo is right up there. I’m watching season five now. When Jon Hamm took his shirt off, and he had pierced nipples …. Look, I would have pierced my nipples to be on that show. There are episodes where if you just pulled them out, they could be an Oscar-winning two-hour movie, easily. Fargo is just a masterpiece.
The show that is must-watch weekly viewing for me: What We Do in the Shadows
I don't watch much in real time, because I'm never around. But when I’m home, my 19-year-old son and my wife and I — I have a 16-year-old as well, but he doesn't watch it with us — we watch What We Do in the Shadows. That show is a masterpiece. It’s so funny, so well done. I fall to my knees and wave up and down in worship. I've gotten to know Harvey Guillén, and I was like, "I don't think you understand how much I like the show you're on."
The shows I consider to be way ahead of their time: Wonder Showzen and The Boys
Wonder Showzen was so odd, and so funny, and just inspiring in a way that I was like, “How did this get on television? How did they get it through?” As soon as it was available, I bought the box set.
And I think The Boys is a masterpiece, and I think it should get every Emmy nomination and whatever other awards they're giving out. The combination of comedy and action and emotion. To have a comedy with the swagger that it has — I am just kind of astonished when I watch it. I'm like, “Shit, I wish I had thought of something like that.”
