Is Todd Margaret a character you've had in mind for a long time?
No. The character came about as a result of coming up with the story; a story that would satisfy the parameters of co-writing a show
with a British writer/producer for me to star in. And since there's no way I could pull off a British character realistically, the
story needed to have me be an American. So, it basically came from that.
Did you and co-writer Shaun Pye have to pay much attention to the fact that you were explicitly writing for British and
American broadcasts?
No, not really. Once in a while there would be something cultural or linguistic that we would make each other aware of, such as, 'We
wouldn't know what that is' or, 'we wouldn't say this we'd say that', but there was no effort to tailor it for a specific audience.
Other than those with extremely advanced, sophisticated senses of humor.
What impact does knowing that you will be playing the central character have on the writing process?
None really. Although I do like writing myself some good, fun, physical comedy set pieces.
There are some very funny moments of physical comedy. Is this difficult to do, and make work on screen?
Aha! I KNEW you'd ask that! See the above answer. It's not necessarily difficult but rather a bit time consuming. I enjoy it
actually. Although I'm still writing for a 30-year-old in great shape me as opposed to a 46-year-old alcoholic me.
Did you consider directing the series yourself?
Not really. I would have loved to but it's just too much to take on. We were in very capable hands with Alex Hardcastle, who was
fucking awesome to work with.
Did you know much about Channel 4 or its comedy output before you become involved in this project?
A bit. Peep Show and Nathan Barley are two of my all-time favourites and then, when I was in London working on TM, I became
acquainted with Shameless, which filled me with child like optimism as to what is and what could be.
What about British comedy in general? Do you keep up-to-date with what's going on, or have a detailed knowledge of classic
shows from over the years?
Absolutely. Anything Morris, Coogan and Iannuci is (was) my motto. Since then I've added Popper, Serafinowicz, Horgan, Brooker and
many, many others to the list.
