By Jamie Ruby

Sean Hayes, who is probably best known for his work on Will & Grace, stars in the new NBC sitcom Sean Saves the World. In the series Sean plays a gay divorced father who struggles to balance time for his career, as well as his teenage daughter, Ellie (Samantha Isler), who moves in. He wants to be the best dad ever, which is difficult with his new pushy boss as well as his mother, who thinks she knows best.

Hayes talked to the press recently about his new series which debuts on NBC on October 3rd.

Hayes talked to SciFi Vision about using improvisation for the series. "Every person says this and in every interview you guys ask, we always say we have the best writing team. But we really, really do have the cream of the crop writers in town and they are of the highest caliber. So what they write is pretty close to genius and sometimes it is genius and most of the time it is genius.

"But with that being said, they are fine with us improvising and having a good time and playing around on set to come up with fun new stuff just to add to the greatness that they’ve written. So it’s really fun and freeing to do that. And a lot of times it ends up in the show."

The actor also talked to the site about some of the challenges working on the series. "I have a little bit of a control factor going on, and for me to release the control is a big step for me and a very healthy step for me. So that was a challenge and I’ve overcome it all ready and so it’s great.

"And the challenge, in addition to that it’s just being funny every week. I don’t know that people really get how hard it is - nor is it their job to get how hard it is. Their job is just to be entertained.

"But it’s a lot of work to be funny, but it’s also [enjoyable]."

Another thing Hayes discussed with SciFi Vision is some of the guest stars they have coming up. "We just shot an episode last night with Stacy Keach playing Tomorrow Lennon’s character, Max’s father. And he is stunningly hilarious, he is so funny and perfect for the role. I mean it’s one of those pieces of the puzzle that kind of fit perfectly and so we’re excited about that.

"We’ve only shot three episodes since the pilot...so really that’s the only big guest star that you would know maybe. Robert Gant played a date of mine. He was on Queer As Folk for many, many years.

"But you know, the show is up and running October 3rd. So once we find our legging I’m sure I’ll get some of my friends to come on."

Lastly Hayes told the site about a scene he was excited for people to see. "The one we’re working on now is very funny. There is a wonderful scene where Max and I, my boss, are in a dance competition, because my mom and I are fighting. It’s very funny."

You can catch Hayes new series October 3rd on FOX.

NBC Conference Call
Sean Saves the World star Sean Hayes
September 4, 2013
6:00 pm ET

SEAN HAYES: Hi everybody.

QUESTION: Yes, talk to me a little bit about your character. We know he’s single from the pilot episode. Is he going to stay single? Is that what you would like to see or are we going to see him out there in the dating world? What can we plan on seeing on this show?

SEAN HAYES: He’s going to open a concubine and - no, of course the goal is for him to move forward and evolve as the show goes on and that includes more dating, and hopefully sooner than later, settling down with somebody and including that person into our family and mine and his.

QUESTION: Megan Hilty wasn’t in the pilot but we know she’s a part of this show. Can you talk about who her character will be and what she herself adds to this show as Megan Hilty?

SEAN HAYES: Yes, well she is actually in the pilot because we reshot those things but maybe not the version you saw.

QUESTION: Oh nice, okay.

SEAN HAYES: Yes, so she is in the pilot now.

And she’s fantastic. We were so fortunate to get her and to have her come on board to share her talent. And I’m excited for our viewers who are fans of hers from either Smash or Broadway or anywhere, to see on a large scale her comedy chops, which are brilliant.

And she is just a delight to have around and adds so much comedy to the team. So we’re very lucky to get her.

QUESTION: Can you talk about landing Linda for the sitcom? She looks great.

SEAN HAYES: That was actually the title we had at first, Landing Linda. And then we just switched it to Sean Saves the World because that sounded too dirty.

Landing Linda is actually a great title. She is a living legend. A lot of people don’t know her extensive success on stage and on Broadway. We’ve got a lot of theater folks on the show which I think is a huge factor in cultivating a hit sitcom. Sitcoms are multicams, I should say, are the [closest] things related to theater.

And so in that sense, we are so fortunate to get Linda onboard. Tony Award-winning Linda Lavin who you could give literally any line to and she would get a huge laugh.

So aside from being incredibly talented and gifted in zingers and playing the truth of scenes, she is also an incredibly warm, down-to-earth person and we’ve developed this wonderful working relationship where I actually do feel like it’s my real mom. Of course, nobody can take the place of my real mom but she certainly comes close.

QUESTION: Are there musical numbers? There are always talented musical people.

SEAN HAYES: I know, right? I mean, my gosh, that would be fantastic. I always think it’s funny when people can’t sing, but if we ever do get the opportunity, it would be great to showcase all of this talent on the show that has more than one threat going on besides acting.

QUESTION: Are you coming home [to Chicago] for the holidays?

SEAN HAYES: I am not. I will come home for other things but I think this year I’m not coming home for - I might though, I don’t know. I would love too; I miss Chicago tremendously and all my friends live there and a lot of family.

QUESTION: So the series announcement mentions Pinterest in it and I see the show has its own account. How addicted to Pinterest are you and what is your favorite board to pin too?

SEAN HAYES: Oh my gosh, can I be honest?

QUESTION: Yes, please do.

SEAN HAYES: I don’t know anything about Pinterest.

QUESTION: Oh my gosh.

SEAN HAYES: I can barely do Twitter. But I’m starting now to get more involved in Twitter. But I suppose - what, is Pinterest? Just like Twitter but pictures, right?

QUESTION: Yes, like a digital scrapbook. You have to do it, it’s so fun.

SEAN HAYES: Well I do WhoSay and so a lot of those collages of photos are on WhoSay.

QUESTION: Okay.

SEAN HAYES: After a while they all kind of blend into each other, don’t they? All these social media things?

QUESTION: Yes, it’s a blast.

SEAN HAYES: But I’m excited to start Pinterest. But I’ll give you another question or they’ll give you another question I hope.

QUESTION: Hillary Clinton said, “It takes a village to raise a child.” What would you tell her, it just takes one Sean?

SEAN HAYES: It takes one great pantsuit.

QUESTION: Would you ever consider telling everyone in NBC to make a Hollywood Game Night app with all the games?

SEAN HAYES: I think we’re working on that. It’s been tossed around. But we’re in kind of a time crunch for the second season to start. So if we can get to it I would love that; I think it’s a great idea.

QUESTION: What is more exhausting to you? A full week’s worth of work on your new show or a week on Broadway?

SEAN HAYES: Oh, hands down, Broadway. Broadway is the most difficult thing or it’s one of the most difficult things any actor can do. And if you haven’t tried it, it’s also the most rewarding and most enjoyable at that.

But if you haven’t tried it, you should, if you’re an actor. It’s grueling but it’s wonderful - it’s like going to the gym and how great you feel after.

QUESTION: Do you think you’re going to try it again?

SEAN HAYES: Yes, I’m sure I will. I don’t know about a musical, but if the right one comes along and the timing is right, like anything - never say never. But I would really like to do a play and I’m working on something now to possibly do next year.

QUESTION: You have inspired so many people starting off with your role of Jack in Will & Grace. Who are some people that inspire you?

SEAN HAYES: Oh, that’s such a great question. Well, my comedy idols growing up were Marty Short and Steve Martin. And my music idols classically were Mozart, for sure.

And then in pop music Andy Bell, which is a blast from the past. I just met him the other day and I was like, “Oh, I forgot what an influence you were on me as a singer,” for like Broadway and stuff.

But as far as comedy goes, definitely Marty Short, and anybody funny; anybody hilarious. I loved Carol Burnett and Tim Conway, and I was a big fan of sketch comedy so any sketch artist I loved. Eddie Murphy, you know, when he was on SNL and all those guys.

QUESTION: You’ve done producing, Broadway, acting. Have you considered writing a book and telling us all about your life?

SEAN HAYES: And definitely Peter Sellers by-the-way. He’s another...

QUESTION: Oh wonderful.

SEAN HAYES: Have I thought about writing a book?

QUESTION: Yes.

SEAN HAYES: Yes, but I don’t know if this is the time or the place. I don’t know how to write. I’m kidding!

No, writing a book? Yes, that’s always a tricky thing. The answer is no, I’m not going to write one right now but maybe someday. I just feel like you have to have something that you want to say to the world as opposed to just writing about yourself or people to read more about you, because you can get that on Twitter or Facebook.

QUESTION: With all the shows that you’re producing right now on television, what made this project the right thing to return to television with?

SEAN HAYES: Well, everything is about timing. And I know a lot of friends and fans had been saying, “When are you coming back to TV? When are you coming back to TV?” which is a wonderful thing to hear.

And then the network asked, “When are you coming back to TV?” And like everything, it’s about timing, and so all these things just came in line.

And when I met with Victor Fresco, the creator of this show, we were tossing around ideas and we landed on this one. And I was like, “Yes, I’ve never seen that character on TV before, a single gay dad raising a family,” or raising his daughter, actually.

And so to me, television is all about characters you haven’t seen and relationships you haven’t seen. And this one I haven’t seen yet so I thought that was interesting.

QUESTION: And it turns out great.

SEAN HAYES: Thank you.

QUESTION: Your shows with Hazy Mills are more along the lines of the traditional sitcoms. Do you find that that needs to return to television? Or why do your shows have that great traditional sitcom feel?

SEAN HAYES: Well first of all, thank you. And I don’t know that we concentrate on what’s traditional or whatever the opposite of traditional is. I think if traditional means funny then yes, we focus on that. But I don’t think it ever matters how many cameras there are or what style the show is, it just has to be good and it has to be funny.

And one of our things we concentrate on at Hazy Mills Productions is does it fall under the umbrella of, A, it’s something we’d want to see, and B, everything has to have an undercurrent of comedy. Even in Grimm there are comedy moments just to give it some breath between the scary moments. So everything we do has to have some kind of comedy to it.

But you know, I’d love to see multi - multicams are huge on CBS, that’s for sure. So they’ve never really gone away, it’s just the bad ones have gone away. The good ones stay for a long time. So hopefully - knock on wood - we can get into the good-ones business.

QUESTION: Now that you’re a successful producer, when you’re reading stuff as an actor, has it changed your perspective in how you pick parts...?

SEAN HAYES: Oh, sure, sure, sure; of course it helps. I think in order to be a better anything, you must be educated. So as an actor, to be a better actor, I think you should just know a little bit about as much as you can.

If I knew a little bit about directing and acting and producing and writing and line producing and craft services and all of it, I think it makes you, first of all, appreciate how lucky you are and appreciate, more importantly, the people who work around you.

I think a lot of the times when you’re a young actor like I was, I was dumb and a lot of people still believe. And I should say maybe naive in that I was unaware of my surroundings and what went in to making a machine of a show, because I believe every show is a machine that you build by hiring the right people and all the parts have to work together.

So I think I’m more self-aware now of what goes into making a good machine.

QUESTION: Besides your own shows, is there a show you just cannot live without right now?

...

SEAN HAYES: What is that show? Everybody asks me that and I love watching what - I love watching Veep; I think it’s really funny. And I love Through the Wormhole with Morgan Freeman. Isn’t that one of the best shows?

And of course Grimm. I’m not just saying this. If I had nothing to do with it, Grimm would be my favorite show.

QUESTION: Besides laughing, what would you like people to take from this show? Because to me, much like The New Normal, this is a very groundbreaking show. Would you want them to take a different message from it?

SEAN HAYES: Absolutely not. If that’s a byproduct of their viewing experience, fantastic. But it’s definitely not in the forefront of our minds when creating this show week-to-week. It’s making people laugh and telling great stories.

I think with me playing a gay dad, the gay part should be the fifth most interesting thing about the character. It definitely doesn’t need to be focused on that, just like in real life.

So if it’s groundbreaking for being extra funny, great. But there is no agenda here other than to be funny.

QUESTION: So why did you decide on the title?

SEAN HAYES: That was actually the first title that Victor came up with; Victor Fresco, the showrunner.

I hate coming up with titles and he just loved the irony of my character thinking the weight of the world, quite literally, was on my shoulders, and balancing all of the crazy people in my life, in my own world, which feels like the entire world is on your shoulders.

So I think that’s just the thought of it. And it’s kind of fun for my name to be in the title. And it just seemed that the title fit the show perfectly for what my character goes through every week.

SCIFI VISION: Hi, thanks so much for talking with us today.

SEAN HAYES: Of course. I love sci-fi, that's for sure.

SCIFI VISION: Me too. Is there room for improv in this role? It seems like there could definitely be.

SEAN HAYES: Yes definitely, of course. Seriously, every person says this and in every interview you guys ask, we always say we have the best writing team. But we really, really do have the cream of the crop writers in town and they are of the highest caliber. So what they write is pretty close to genius and sometimes it is genius and most of the time it is genius.

But with that being said, they are fine with us improvising and having a good time and playing around on set to come up with fun new stuff just to add to the greatness that they’ve written. So it’s really fun and freeing to do that. And a lot of times it ends up in the show.

SCIFI VISION: And what do you find the most challenging?

SEAN HAYES: About this show?

SCIFI VISION: Yes.

SEAN HAYES: Because I was going to say like spaceships and things.

SCIFI VISION: Yes, that too.

SEAN HAYES: But what I find most challenging about this show? I have a little bit of a control factor going on, and for me to release the control is a big step for me and a very healthy step for me. So that was a challenge and I’ve overcome it already and so it’s great.

And the challenge, in addition to that it’s just being funny every week. I don’t know that people really get how hard it is - nor is it their job to get how hard it is. Their job is just to be entertained.

But it’s a lot of work to be funny, but it's also...

SCIFI VISION: Well you make it look effortless.

SEAN HAYES: Well thank you, but it’s also enjoyable I must say.

QUESTION: I was just wondering about the casting of Megan Hilty and what was it about her that made you want to have her on the show? And how much did your work with her in Smash influence the decision to cast her?

SEAN HAYES: Megan Hilty is phenomenal. Of course working with her on Smash was amazing and a wonderful, fulfilling opportunity for me. And I knew that she was hilarious. I don’t know that America knows that yet because Smash was a drama. So I’m excited that America gets to see Megan be funny and hilarious and a way they’ve never seen her be before.

So there was no really - you know, there were many talented girls that read for the part. But when she came in she just nailed it; she just was it. And as they often say, a lot of people don’t have it and she does.

QUESTION: Had you known her prior to Smash or no?

SEAN HAYES: I did; in certain circles, social situations and a couple - she actually auditioned for me when I produced another show for the CW so I knew of her talent. But we didn’t know each other very well, but in-school friends, I would say. But now we’re out-of-school friends as well.

QUESTION: What was the show that she auditioned for on CW?

SEAN HAYES: It was called Eight Days A Week and Anna Chlumsky, who is on Veep, was in it. And I’ve known Anna since she was nine years old.

And who else was in it? Johnny Lewis - you remember that guy who killed his landlady? So sad, he was in it. And Christina Milian, and it got picked up by the CW and then we never heard back from them.

QUESTION: Oh, really?

SEAN HAYES: Yes, this was years ago.

QUESTION: But Megan wasn’t cast in that one.

SEAN HAYES: No; unfortunately no. But she came in and read and I made her sing “Popular” in a voice of a chicken.

QUESTION: How does it feel to be back in a leading role on TV?

SEAN HAYES: It feels great being in my first leading role on TV. Yes, it feels great. It feels familiar, which I love, but yet it feels new and there’s forward movement in me as a person and me as an actor, and hopefully America will see that.

It’s definitely a different character than I’ve played before. This is a real leading-man kind of role in that he’s a responsible, grounded person with the voice of reason to the rest of the characters.

QUESTION: Because you’re an EP and also the star, you clearly have placed a lot of confidence in this project. What exactly did you see in Sean Saves the World that gave you so much faith in it?

SEAN HAYES: I said it before and I don’t know if you heard, and forgive me if I’m repeating myself, but I think when you’re making TV you always look for, as much as you can, you always look for new characters that you haven’t seen before and new relationships that you haven’t seen before.

And so to me, I’ve never seen a single gay father on TV dealing with these kinds of things that are very relatable to America, but also in a kind of different way.

QUESTION: But you also said that was only the fifth most important part of the show though.

SEAN HAYES: Right, very good. Oh, I love a challenge.

QUESTION: Is it clearly on the forefront of the show or does it take the backseat?

SEAN HAYES: No, absolutely not. Just to clarify, the characteristic of the man being gay is the fifth most interesting thing. But on a day-to-day level in society dealing with these kinds of issues are within my daughter’s life and my life and our life together and now it’s our life outside of it and at work and all of those things, I’ve never seen that on TV.

QUESTION: And what do you think that says about modern TV audiences?

SEAN HAYES: Well, they’ve definitely progressed in a great way. I think, with the success of social media, the world is being moved faster than ever and only to benefit the education of America to everything, and the world.

And so I don’t know that this is that shocking a character anymore as the gay thing goes, but the situations in which a single gay father is in is new.

QUESTION: I know you are such a busy person, but what do you like to do for leisure? What do you do on a day off?

SEAN HAYES: I never have a day off, which I love, and I don’t do a lot of leisure. I just hang out with friends and go out to dinner; it’s pretty boring.

I find tremendous joy in filling every hour of the day in the entertainment business in whatever that may be.

QUESTION: My question actually has to do with Hot in Cleveland and your part in it. I know that Victoria Chase is extraordinarily flamboyant and has to make her grandiose entrances and everything. And it reminds me a lot of Jack on Will & Grace.

Do you think that she’s kind of like the female counterpart of what Jack would have been?

SEAN HAYES: Absolutely not. I never really thought of that. I think Wendie Malick does a genius job of her character. I never thought of the two only because it’s two completely different shows, two completely different show creators and showrunners, until you said that.

I can see how the drama of the characters is maybe similar.

QUESTION: It’s very over the top, it’s like you guys were always so powerful and always had something big to say even if it was just that you had to go to the bathroom. You had to announce it in grandiose way.

Is that your personality in real life as well?

SEAN HAYES: Not necessarily, not necessarily. In real life, I’m much more demure, much more laid back, low key. I like quiet, I like stability.

QUESTION: Okay, tell me about Sami Isler. She’s from Tulsa. And how did you cast her? What did you see in her, what is it like to work with her? And did no one ever tell you not to work with kids?

SEAN HAYES: Well, Sami Isler is fantastic, and she came in and read and right away we all agreed she’s the one.

She actually is so unbelievably talented and her instincts are huge. I don’t know where she learned them. That’s why they’re called instincts, I suppose. But it’s one of those uncanny things where she was born to do it.

And we saw so many girls over such a long time, and she was the only one that wasn’t very - that didn’t have that expected Hollywood take on the character. She didn’t seem like a Hollywood young actress. She seems like a very, very real person.

And then when you meet her, she is gorgeous and funny and super smart and very well mannered and just really seems to have it all together. And kudos to her parents for doing such a great job.

And we laugh so hard, and we actually respect each other and ask each other, “Is this funny or is that funny?” And she gets it and she’s great.

And so when you say, “Did anybody ever tell me not to work with children?” I may have thought differently until I had Sami.

She is the greatest and I really, really have an affection for her as a real father would. I just care about her and respect her.

QUESTION: Has comedic timing always been something that came natural to you or have you had to work at it?

SEAN HAYES: I think I watched a lot of TV growing up. I watched a lot of SNL and Carol Burnett and all those 70’s sitcoms; Three’s Company, Facts of Life, all those things. And then a lot of movies; Peter Sellers movies, a lot of Steve Martin movies, a lot of Marty Short stuff.

So I think I learned from observing, and I think I learned from - I’m the youngest of five kids in my family growing up so I think I was an observer more than anything.

And I studied music since I was five years old. And as you may or may not know, there are many similarities in music as there is in comedy. You have rhythm and beat and musicality in both music and comedy.

So I think that’s the very long answer to your short question.

QUESTION: What do you think it is about Sean Saves the World that will really make people want to tune in and watch?

SEAN HAYES: It’s funny - question mark? I think people miss the sensibility of Frasier and Will & Grace and Cheers and Seinfeld and all the NBC comedies. And I think if you missed that sensibility on television, you’ll hopefully get it again with Sean Saves the World.

QUESTION: You mentioned this is your first leading role as an actor. I was curious about the difference (unintelligible) and how you mentally prepare for being a leading man as opposed to a supporting character?

SEAN HAYES: In TV it’s my first leading role.

QUESTION: Right.

SEAN HAYES: Yes, I think - what do I do to mentally prepare as the lead of a show?

QUESTION: Right, versus being a supporting character.

SEAN HAYES: Yes, I think it’s the same. I mean you definitely set a tone, and I didn’t want to set any other tone being the lead on my show as I was a supporting character,which is to come in and have fun, because if you have fun, everybody else will have fun. And if you have fun the audience will have fun.

And it’s almost like you’re hosting a party every week. If the host is upset or has anxiety or is nervous, then everybody else will feed off of that. But if the host is having a good time, then everybody else will.

QUESTION: So now that you are the executive producer of this show that you are staring in, are you going to take a big part in casting your boyfriends?

SEAN HAYES: Funny. No different than - there’s a lot of people that weigh in all decisions. So being an Executive Producer on any show just means your opinion holds some kind of weight, which is always nice. You just throw your opinion into the ring with everybody else’s and it actually counts for something as opposed to nothing.

QUESTION: Okay, and then can you preview your shows that are coming up? Like when we can expect from the second season of Hollywood Game Night, what’s coming up for Grimm? And is that shocking moment at the end of Hot In Cleveland tonight going to play through next season?

SEAN HAYES: Well that I can’t reveal, you’ll have to watch and see.

Grimm, as you know, ended with Nick in a coffin because he got zombie-fied. But he will quickly render his Grimm abilities in order to keep doing the show Grimm. But you will see how that plays out with (Adalind), that’s very exciting.

And then there was - oh, Hollywood Game Night. Hollywood Game Night, we’re just starting to cast now, and a lot of people who were on the first season has already inquired to come back, so that’s great. Amy Poehler said she’d like to come back and a bunch of others, so that’s exciting.

And now it will be easier to show new people what the show is like, so we’re already getting lots and lots of calls; it’s great.

QUESTION: You started producing just before you left Will & Grace, and I was wondering if part of the impetus of that was that you thought maybe no one else would hire you after that job.

And the other thing I wanted to know is what does producing bring to you that you don’t get from acting?

SEAN HAYES: Well first of all, I love your faith in me.

QUESTION: Well, I should tell you, yours is one of the two comedies that I recommend my readers to watch.

SEAN HAYES: No, I’m completely joking with you. That’s very sweet; thanks. I was just teasing.

But I think - no, to be honest if I’m self-aware, which I always try to be and sometimes to a fault. But I knew this faith of identifiable sitcom stars, you know, in identifiable roles that - I don’t want to say iconic. Other people are using that word, not me.

QUESTION: Right, but it wasn’t an iconic role and that’s why you might have had the thought.

SEAN HAYES: Right. My role models are Woody Harrelson, Tom Hanks, Robin Williams, Will Smith, who all starred in iconic TV roles. So I guess I - you know, I’m friends with Tom Hanks and I saw what he did with Play Tone and I thought, “That would be really neat.” And I saw how he always had a Plan B.

And so I started, towards the end of Will & Grace, knowing all of this, I thought, “Hey, he’s a big influence on me, Tom, and why not try to emulate what he’s tried?” And we’re still trying because they’re pretty fantastic, but we’re still a young company.

And so it was kind of my Plan B which has now turned into a Plan A-1, just because I still love acting and I love producing.

And I knew once the show was over, I needed to know what my place in this business was. How do I remain in this business? And if you love anything, you’re in it for the long haul. So I wasn’t looking to get rich quick or be successful right away. I was in it for the long haul, so whatever that took to be a producer and produce what I love, then that’s what it’s going to take.

QUESTION: And do you get something from producing that acting doesn’t give you?

SEAN HAYES: Oh yes; definitely. I mean acting, you get the thrill of an audience reacting to you immediately. And if it’s in film, you get the thrill in immersing yourself into whatever role, TV or film making.

But producing, there is a release that comes from not having to be the face of a success or failure. Producing also excites my brain in a way about having my hands in a lot of pots, and a lot of my opinions matter about creating a machine, meaning a show.

And a lot of times acting doesn’t get that. So acting is more internal and producing is more external in a way.

QUESTION: Playing a dad, this is something kind of new, a little bit done before for you. But did you approach this with more research? Did you borrow some friends’ kids and try to get into their heads? Or specifically the aspect of playing a dad, how did you prepare for that?

SEAN HAYES: Well, I was somewhat of a surrogate dad to one of my nieces for a year or two and that helped a lot. She is exactly the same age as Sami Isler, who plays - Samantha Isler, who plays my daughter. So I called upon that.

But I’ve always wanted to be a father in some respects, and other respects not. But I like the parenting thing, and everybody thinks they can parent other kids better. “Well you know, if I was that kid’s parent I would do this.” And I get to fulfill that fantasy by being on a television show being a parent.

QUESTION: Right. Well totally switching gears, you mentioned how great it is to work with Megan and Linda. Who else would you like to see maybe somewhere down the line?

SEAN HAYES: To come on the show?

QUESTION: Yes.

SEAN HAYES: Well the cast is set, so that’s our cast. But as far as guess stars go, gosh, anybody. I’m going to get my friend Ben Affleck on the show if it’s the last thing I do.

SCIFI VISION: I was just going to ask about who you wanted to have on this show. Can you talk about some of the guest stars that will be coming up?

SEAN HAYES: Yes, we just shot an episode last night with Stacy Keach playing Tomorrow Lennon’s character, Max’s father. And he is stunningly hilarious, he is so funny and perfect for the role. It’s one of those pieces of the puzzle that fit perfectly and so we’re excited about that.

We’ve only shot three episodes since the pilot, three episodes. And let me see who else is on, of course they all run together after a while. Who else is on?

No, we’ve only shot four episodes so really that’s the only big guest star that you would know maybe. Robert Gant played a date of mine. He was on Queer As Folk for many, many years.

But the show is up and running October 3rd. So once we find our legging I’m sure I’ll get some of my friends to come on.

SCIFI VISION: Awesome. Is there a particular scene that you’re excited for people to see that’s coming up that you can talk about without spoiling too much?

SEAN HAYES: Well, the one we’re working on now is very funny. There is a wonderful scene where Max and I, my boss, are in a dance competition, because my mom and I are fighting. It’s very funny.

QUESTION: Where did you draw your inspiration from TV dads? There’s so many different approaches to how dads are acted on TV.

SEAN HAYES: Yes, I didn’t really think of watching or learning about other TV dads. I just, like I said, drew my inspiration from my own experience with one of my nieces and then just being an observer of all of my friends that do have children.

There is so much more you can learn from an outsider rather than being in it. So I try to take what I learn from watching them and apply it to this role.

QUESTION: Wonderful. And who is your favorite TV dad of all time?

SEAN HAYES: Oh my gosh, that’s such a great question. That’s an overwhelming question. It’s like what’s your favorite song?

I liked Archie Bunker, Bill Cosby, [Cliff] Huxtable, right? Who is another great TV dad? Gosh, I don’t know. It’s a good question, I’d have to think about that.

Those are two good answers, right?

Archie Bunker and Bill Cosby or [Cliff] Huxtable.