All due respect to PARKS & RECREATION, but the funniest show currently airing on television is David Cross's THE INCREASINGLY POOR DECISIONS OF TODD MARGARET. Developed for Britain's Channel 4, the series stars Cross as a low-level corporate employee sent to the U.K. to sell a wretched energy drink called Thunder Muscle. At the beginning of the first season, we learn that Todd is being charged with everything from consorting with terrorists to the distribution of child pornography; we then flash back to fourteen days earlier, as he is improbably plucked from his windowless storage-room of an office by his impulsive boss (Will Arnett) to bring Thunder Muscle to the good people of England. Upon arriving in London, the culturally ignorant Todd sets about embarrassing himself in increasingly wince-worthy fashion.
And yet this is not a fish-out-of-water sitcom; had Todd been sent to, say, Lincoln, Nebraska, he would've certainly failed just as catastrophically. The British setting only exacerbates Todd's incompetence - and rather than admit he's in a bit over his head, his instinct is to cover his lack of expertise with lies. Unfortunately, Todd is a frequent and awful liar.
The first season of THE INCREASINGLY POOR DECISIONS OF TODD MARGARET is now available on DVD, while the second season debuted two weeks ago on IFC. If you're new to the show, catching up is easy; the narrative's half-hour length and day-to-day progression lends itself to one six-episode viewing. If you're a fan of Cross's comedy, it's a must-watch. Aside from his stand-up, he hasn't had this unfiltered a vehicle for his sensibility since MR. SHOW.
I recently talked to Cross about the creation of TODD MARGARET, and how writing for British television is much more creatively freeing than slugging it out for American networks. We also discussed his stand-up, collaborating with The Smith's Johnny Marr (who scores TODD MARGARET), and when we can expect ARRESTED DEVELOPMENT to go back before cameras.
Mr. Beaks: The great thing about this show is that I could identify your voice right away. This seems to be your sensibility uncompromised. In doing this show, did you feel liberated?
David Cross: Yes. Much like at the end of PAPILLON. (Beaks laughs) I suppose so. I had come directly from doing a show that was not seen by anyone. It was a fairly unpleasant experience due to constant interference - which was FREAK SHOW, an animated show I did with Jon Benjamin. This was literally the next thing I did; I did FREAK SHOW and then I went to London to work on TODD MARGARET. It was pretty much the exact opposite experience; it was whatever I wanted to do. And this was before IFC got involved. This was initially just for Channel 4. And, you know, it's British television; it wasn't the BBC, so they were like, "Whatever you want to do." They had three notes, and were just like, "Eh, no problem." So I was encouraged to do whatever I wanted to do. I guess the proper word was "respected"?
Beaks: What a novel idea.
Beaks: Working within the six-episode format, is that preferable to the twenty-plus show network format? Do you welcome those constraints?
Cross: Absolutely. "Constraint" does not play any part of it. The biggest difference is that I could write every episode before we shot it. Going into this show, when it was just me and a production company in London, it was pitched and sold on the idea that it's a finite story; it has a beginning, middle and end, and we are going to get to that end at the end of fourteen days. The first series starts with the courtroom and flashes back, and we get up to that point and a little bit beyond it. That's what's really liberating: the idea that I get to tell this story without any extraneous... I don't have to extend anyone's reason to be there or any of that stuff. That's what makes this show a bit different - certainly a bit different from any comedy show I know of offhand in the States. It has a beginning, middle and end. It's not artificially inflated. And to do it in this format was the absolute best. If I could, I would always do it that way. As I said, we got to write every single episode before we shot a frame, and then we shot everything before we edited it. The nature of the show, which has a lot of flashbacks and hints and clues... it's not just a simple comedy show, like, "Hey, watch this doofus get in this crazy mix-up this time!" There's a cause and effect to everything, and we learn that things aren't always what we assume they were, and people aren't who we assume them to be. And the fact that every episode takes place the next day, it's like, "Oh, it's Sunday! The banks aren't open! How are we going to have him get money?" All of those logic things, we were able to address those in the writers room. And then sometimes... there were a number of times in both series, where we'd be shooting and be like, "Holy shit! We spaced on this! He got those clothes, but he doesn't have a phone, so how does he get this information?" So while we were shooting we were able to go back and put in these little things.
Beaks: Did you have to decide ahead of time how much of a buffoon Todd was going to be? Was there a balance to be struck between him being clueless, yet not too much of a cartoon character?
Cross: I don't think we consciously addressed that in the writers room, but I suppose we had an eye towards that without really thinking about it. I think we just trusted ourselves to make it logical. That was a big issue we had: we wanted it to be very funny, but it had to be logical. Like "Why would Alice ever give this guy another thought? Why would she not call the police and go, 'There's this crazy American who's harassing me'?" We had to keep it in a logical framework, but it's also comedy. Sometimes you've got to sit there and go, "It doesn't matter! It's a deaf tour! It's fucking funny, so don't worry about it!"
Beaks: Was there an edict to avoid fish-out-of-water gags as much as possible?
Cross: Yes. From the very beginning, when I was working with the producers at [RDF Media], which is the company that first approached me about the concept, their basic idea was, "Hey, we want you to work with a Brit writer-producer to create a show that you're in, and that is shot and takes place in the UK for British television that could also be aired in the States." So before there was a story, we were all in agreement that this wouldn't simply be, "Gosh, you guys drive on the left! You have coffee instead of tea! You call an elevator a 'lift'!" That's boring. It's stupid and pedestrian, and it's been done a million times. There are a couple of those things in the beginning that the other writer and I weren't crazy about. I mean, we wrote it, but it was just like, "Well, we've got to get this out of the way." We have a couple of those ideas, but we quickly go from that to laying out the story. So it's not just fish-out-of-water. Nobody wanted that. You'd run out of ideas.
Also, it's fucking 2011! Everybody knows all of this shit already! If it was 1960, you might be, "Oh, really? I didn't know that." But everybody knows British culture at this point.
Beaks: As a Smiths fan, I've got to say it's awesome that you got Johnny Marr to do the music.
Cross: Oh, my god! And he's so fucking good! The score in episode six... we didn't write it to be poignant at all, but in editing and using Johnny's music, it turns out that episode six really has a few "Oh, that's sad!" kind of moments that we never intended. His score for episode six is pretty amazing. He's great. What a fucking honor and a thrill. The title song is so great. And he's a super cool guy, too.
Beaks: Louis C.K. just released a new comedy special online, for which he's charging five dollars. He says he hopes to use the money he makes from this to perhaps finance a film. Have you considered doing something like that? You certainly have the fan base, and I think a lot of people would be willing to kick in some cash to support it.
Cross: Definitely. The more I know about what Louis did - and I'm kind of still learning about it. I still don't have a complete grasp of the business model. But it sounds great. A lot of what I've done over the years kind of leans toward that idea and ideal, and the more I learn about it, the more brilliant it seems. It's obviously the way to go. There's no interference from anyone. Hopefully, it's the future of how things are done.
Beaks: With everything that's been going on with these Republican debates and entering an election year, it would seem like you'd have a lot of material to work with. Have you started compiling new material?
Cross: I have just started to get back out on stage. I have no real solid material. I guess it's the process I've always taken, which is to go up on stage with little pieces of paper with notes on them, things that I thought of. Because I've never written comedy. I'm just not very good at it. It's not my forte at all. I'm better at taking a thought and kind of working it out on stage, and that's eventually what you see when I do a special or CD or something like that.
I unfortunately don't have the ability or talent that other people do, where they focus on multiple things. So when I was doing TODD MARGARET and living in London for the last two years, that's all I was focusing on. Everything I saw, I saw through the lens of TODD MARGARET. I wasn't looking at things as a stand-up. But I'm starting to get back into that. I have a few jokes and stories... and I'll eventually compile enough material to get back out there and do full hour-and-a-half shows. Unfortunately, I feel very strongly about the idea that everything that's happening with the Republicans and the Tea Party... I've already said it, or it's being said on a daily basis by THE DAILY SHOW or Colbert or Bill Maher in better or more articulate ways. By the time you'd hear my bit, it's safe to say you'd think, "Yeah, somebody already mentioned that." I'm trying to come up with stuff that's not about the Republicans or the Tea Party or the Democrats or even Occupy Wall Street. It's all been said already. There's nothing new I can add to the conversation.
Beaks: Do you know when you're going to start shooting the new ARRESTED DEVELOPMENT episodes?
Cross: I don't know, but I can't wait to know. I wish I did. I know the hope is that we can shoot them in the summer. Mitch and Jim have to write everything first. The biggest hurdle is everyone's deal - not even the actors, but the studios and the producers. But I believe that hurdle has been... hurdled without any damage to the scrotal sac. But those guys have to write them now, and the hope is that they can be shot in the summer. I can't wait. It's such a fun character to do, and such an amazing group of people to work with. I'm looking forward to it as much as anyone else.
Season two of THE INCREASINGLY POOR DECISIONS OF TODD MARGARET airs Fridays at 10:30 PM/9:30 central on IFC. Season one is currently available on DVD. Watch it.
Faithfully submitted,
