Vanity Fair: I wonder if you felt reluctant doing another multi-cam sitcom. Your history with the format has not been the most fortuitous, if that’s
Vanity Fair: I wonder if you felt reluctant doing another multi-cam sitcom. Your history with the format has not been the most fortuitous, if that’s sheltered to say?
Nathan Lane: Yes, it’s been dicey. The Mickey Rooney show doesn’t count—that was his show, and I was in my early 20s. Then I did a show [1998’s Encore! Encore!] with the people who created Frasier, which seemed like a good idea because they won the Emmy five times in a row for best comedy. But as it turned out, they had an idea that I didn’t like, I had an idea they didn’t like, and then because I wanted to please everybody, I agreed to what we eventually wound up doing—me being an opera singer who loses his voice, and goes to live with his mother and sister in Napa Valley, where they run a winery. By the time you finished explaining the premise, people had already gotten up and left the table.
The other one [2003’s Charlie Lawrence] had an idea that had some potential: I was a former actor who wound up running for Congress and getting in. But it had no support from the horrible Les Moonves [former chairman of CBS]. That son of a bitch just tortured me about this show that they were anxious for me to do. Jeffrey Richman developed two different scripts, and this was the one they favored; we did it, and then Les was rather unpleasant about it. I remember him calling me and saying, “Nathan, I don’t love it, but I don’t hate it.” I said, “Well, that’s not really an endorsement. Perhaps don’t put it on the air if you feel that way, because guess who’s going to be blamed?” He said, “No, no. I’ll promote it.” He did not promote it, and it didn’t do well in the ratings. It played a second week, and then it started to go up in the ratings—and he took it off the air.
Why were you in such regular contact with Moonves about this show?
Well, I had a deal with CBS to develop a show, and they wanted me to star. It was after The Producers—there was another moment of, “Gee, this guy seems funny. Perhaps he should do one of these kinds of shows.” So I tried. I tried again and it didn’t work. But when these things work, it’s like winning the lottery. Certainly with [Mid-Century Modern], it felt like we’d been doing it for a long time. When we started, it felt very comfortable—maybe because we all came from the theater, so we’re all kindred spirits that way.
The multi-cam has taken a lot of raps, like, “Oh, it’s dated.” I heard Larry David saying, “It doesn’t work anymore.” You did Seinfeld! What are you talking about? It can work if the writing is good and the people doing it know what they’re doing. It’s great fun. I hadn’t done it in so long…. Because of my past [with multi-cams], I avoided it. I just thought, “Well, this wasn’t meant to be.” But it always seemed like I was right for that kind of comedy, in front of a live audience. And this is really because of Ryan Murphy. When he said it was the “gay Golden Girls,” I rolled my eyes. Then he sent it to me and I read it, and it was really, really entertaining and astute.
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