Here’s the latest from the crossroads of faith, media & culture: 08/26/24

Better off Ted. TV vet Ted McGinley is known for his long-running roles in such classic series as Happy Days, The Love Boat and Married…with Children. In all three of those cases he successfully stepped in after a prominent original cast member exited. These days he’s perhaps hotter than ever as he continues make his mark on the medium with a starring role opposite Roma Downey in the Amazon Prime family series The Baxters and a recurring role on the Apple+ dramedy Shrinking. His new film The Engagement Plan starts streaming on Great American Pure Flix tomorrow and premieres on the Great American Family linear channel Saturday September 7th at 8:00 PM ET.

JWK: So, what drew you to do Engagement Plan?

Ted McGinley: Honestly, I was getting ready to do another film which was a much edgier difficult project and I felt I needed something like this before I went into the other one – like I had to do something good for the world. I just feel like it’s a sweet, loving, tender, adorable little movie. It’s not gonna change the world but it literally is a beautiful little story. It was a fun character. I mean my character Ed is a great character. I got to have a lot of fun with him.

JWK: He’s a scruffier, shaggier kind of character than you usually play.

TM: Yes. It’s funny. I was doing a western after this and part of the deal was I had to keep my beard and my hair had to be longer. When they said “Yes” I was so excited because I was afraid I was afraid they would say no – but, you know, he’s an American farmer. He’s a very unique, interesting guy. He just is who he is which is really fun. Then, of course, Faith Ford is playing my wife who is like one of my oldest best friends. We’ve played husband and wife many times. Judd Nelson was also gonna be in it so I was like “Oh, this is gonna be fun.”

JWK: You and Faith Ford were also married in the sitcom Hope & Faith, right?

TM: Yes, with Kelly Ripa – and we played married in another film…We’ve worked together a lot. She’s just very cozy to work with.

JWK: Why is that?

TM: We’re good friends. I think people know we work really well together and it’s a believable couple. It’s like these two could really be married. You know, when you’re playing husband and wife it takes a long time sometimes to get to know people…With Faith it’s like “Okay, here we go.” It makes life so much easier. She’s great! My wife knows Faith very well. I know her husband really well. We’re all friends. It just makes everything seamless.

JWK: So, besides Faith Ford, religious faith also plays into the film. What are your thoughts on faith?

TM: I’ve kind of made it a rule that I don’t talk about my own faith. My faith is mine. It’s one thing that I don’t necessarily put out – but I have found life is so lonely without faith. There are so many before I walk on stage – (or) when I was competing as an athlete – where I always felt like somebody had my back. It’s just been proven to be true to me. I love it. I think if you’re a person who lives in nature and lives off the land, it’s pretty evident. God is all over nature.

JWK: You have been quoted as saying that you like to like the characters that you play. What is it about Ed Jones, your character in this movie, that you like?

TM: He’s such a great guy. If you look at his two daughters, they’re spectacular. They’re so wonderful. They’re sweet, innocent, adorable, honest and love the Lord. I mean they’re a faithful family. He and his wife did a great job with these two. I love those two girls. I thought they both did an amazing job. It was an unusual cast in that it was really fun to go to work every day. We enjoyed ourselves, we had a lot of fun and we always got the work done. It was super cool. What was (your) question?

JWK: It was about what you liked about your character.

TM: I think you can’t help but like Ed. I mean even the scene where he comes out with the shotgun, he’s not gonna do anything. He means business but he is a decent, honorable man who loves both his daughters more than anything. You’re not just gonna walk in and take them.

JWK: Do you think it’s a positive thing for our culture to see characters like that portrayed on screen?

TM: I believe it is. I believe there are people who think that that’s not the case – but I do think it’s positive. I think he’s a positive role model. When you look at him and you realize where he comes from, how he lives, how he exists and then you see how loving that family is (it’s clear that) something is working in that family. I think it’s really interesting when you take a guy like Ed, my character. He would struggle in a lot of other places – but if you see him as a whole with his family you see that whatever is going on in that home on that property really is working. These are all lovely people. To their credit, when Wade’s parents come into town, they’re out there but you notice that they find room for each other. It’s a little judgemental but it’s a kind of surface judgement – like “Wow! They’re so different from us.” But they learn to respect everyone. I thought that was kind of lovely.

JWK: Have you ever had the experience of playing a character you don’t like – and how is that different?

TM: Yeah. I’ve played killers that are hard to love – bad guys!…What I try to find is just some humanity or something that (pushed) that human to do what he does – whether it’s an injury, whether it’s a scar, whatever that is from early on in their life. I guess that’s what I’m saying. I really enjoy going to work when I’m looking forward to playing a character. Some of those characters are – I hate to say it – so far out there that it’s fun for me because it’s such a departure – but the work itself, on a day-to-day basis, can be extremely draining and difficult. Not like this. We went to work and laughed every day! It was fantastic!

JWK: How long did the shoot take?

TM: We were there for probably three weeks or a month, maybe. In the middle of it we had a hurricane and we all had to shut down and run for our lives – which was a lot of fun. Jack Schumacher who stars in it had just come off of Top Gun. He was, at first, very, very serious. As the film went along, he realized Judd, myself, Faith…we were all just gonna have fun. He turned out to be the funniest guy on the set. He was fantastic. I just thought the casting was really good.

JWK: You’ve done a lot of TV series over the years – and have sort of unfairly been labeled the “jump the shark” guy who comes in when a show is in its last days. I’ve done some research. That’s not really true. When you came onto Happy Days the show ran, I think, four more seasons, same thing for The Love Boat. When you joined the case of Married…with Children it ran for about eight more seasons, which was most of its run.

TM: Just to come into a show in our business is a gift! It’s really hard to do – but if you come into multiple shows over and over it’s a different thing. I never put any stock in it. I was not a fan of the guy (who came up with the phrase). He ended up selling out. The truth is each show I went on to stayed stayed at least an additional three or four years. So, it’s not true.

JWK: It’s not true. Those shows actually lasted several seasons after you came aboard.

TM: Yeah. Anyway, it’s old.

JWK: What is it like to step into an ongoing series?

TM: It’s very difficult because everybody there knows there’s a new character coming. Everybody sort of has their lane. The healthier the show is, the more people are willing to let you come into their lane a little. Does that make any sense?

JWK: Oh, yeah.

TM: If it’s not a healthy show, they make it very difficult. I would say, when I went into Married…with Children or I went into The Love Boat, they were so kind and welcoming. They were just fantastic to bring me in and let me be a part of it.

JWK: And Happy Days?

TM: Happy Days was sort of an out-of-body experience because I had never done anything. I literally was the guy who ran home to watch the show every (week) post workout…I would hope that I could get home in time to watch the show – and then, literally, I’m on the show. That one I was just trying to survive. (By the time) that show was in its third season, Henry Winkler was the biggest star in the world. (When I joined in the eighth season) I was like “What am I doing here? I shouldn’t be here.” That was tough. I had a lot to learn and I had to learn it quick.

JWK: You’ve also done other shows – like Hope & Faith with Faith Ford and, currently, The Baxters with Roma Downey. How is it different to be part of the original cast of a show? Is it different to be on a show from the outset? Is that a different experience?

TM: Yes because it’s really fun to create the character (from the beginning) and have time to sort of watch it develop. When you come in onto a show that’s already rolling there’s less time. You have to get right into it. It is extremely difficult – but when you are are in the very beginning – when even the writers are still trying to out who this character is – it’s different. You get a little more time to kind of chew on things, to discover – and everybody discovers together. It is fun. I’ve been on both sides – where I’ve been on the show from the beginning and then a new character comes in and you’re like, well, you know. So, I understand what it’s like when a new character comes in and everybody’s watching and thinking “I don’t know if I like that” or “I do.” You know, it’s tricky.

JWK: By the way, I’ve read all about your career. It’s a very interesting career. I’m dating myself here but you were in a 1983 sitcom pilot called Herndon with Michael Richards.

TM: Yeah.

JWK: I remember watching it. They aired the pilot even though it didn’t sell.

TM: Really?

JWK: Yeah. I still remember it as being one of the funniest unsold pilots I had ever seen. Do you have any recollection of that?

TM: Garry Marshall directed it. Lowell Ganz and Babaloo Mandel, two of the biggest television writers and film writers, wrote it. Michael Richards did a backflip. Somebody had moved a couch from where he had been doing this fall out of a chair. He went right into it and broke three ribs – doing kind of what he did on Seinfeld, to be honest with you. If you looked at that, he did the same thing. There were a lot of pratfalls, a lot of that kind of stuff.

JWK: It was actually very funny. I remember it.

TM: Yeah. It was a great concept. I thought it was super fun. I mean that was a great gig. It was the second or third year (that I was doing) Happy Days that they pitched that. I got that because of Happy Days.

JWK: What was Michael Richards like to work with?

TM: He was great!…He was very quiet and kind of shy. He had come off of doing kind of new stand-up. He was very unique. He ended up kind of doing that character as Kramer. I mean that same physical quality that he has he did on both shows.

JWK: Getting back to The Engagement Plan, you do seem to have embraced the faith-themed genre even though you, of course, do lots of other things as well. You seem to have an affinity for the subject matter.

TM: I think it has an important place in our world. I think that there’s an audience that’s really hungry for faith-forward family films. I think Great American Pure Flix and Great American Media are putting things on that you can leave your house and your kids with the babysitter and say “Anything on that channel is good. We’re good with anything there.” That’s pretty cool. A lot of the other projects I do are far from faith-based but that doesn’t mean I don’t really love doing a faith-forward project. It makes me feel good. I like feeding that part of myself.

Note: Just for fun, you can watch Herndon here.
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The Lord of the Rings saga continues with Season 2 of Rings of Power. New episodes drop tomorrow on Prime Video. Check out the preview below.

John W. Kennedy is a writer, producer and media development consultant specializing in television and movie projects that uphold positive timeless values, including trust in God.