Nick at Nite’s first animated series, Fatherhood, may have sprung from the mind and experiences of exec producer Bill Cosby, but real-life father of three Blair Underwood also brings a lot to this family comedy about the trials and tribulations of raising kids today. We spoke with the accomplished actor this morning about his starring role in the series, which returns with season two tonight, May 17, at 9:30 p.m. on Nick at Nite.
Having starred in such adult-aimed primetime series as L.A. Law, LAX and Sex and the City, Underwood is glad to have a show that his own kids can enjoy. He’s also thrilled to be working again with Cosby, since his first job in the industry was a part in The Cosby Show back in 1985.
Underwood provides the voice of Dr. Bindlebeep, a high school teacher busy raising three kids of his own. While the character design is strikingly reminiscent of a young Cosby, Underwood didn’t want to simply imitate the beloved comedian. Early meetings with Cosby before the start of the first season helped him find the character.
"When you’re a father, you have to constantly be straddling that line between being a disciplinarian and loving your kids," says Underwood. "Sometimes we err on the side of being too friendly with our kids, and sometimes we can be too stern. And what [Cosby] was saying as a through line was, ‘Make sure that whatever you’re doing, whatever you’re saying is coming from a place of love and that will inform the tone of the voice.’"
One thing that sets Fatherhood apart from most animated shows on the air is that none of the characters have super powers, secret identities or talking animal pals. The producers feel real-life situations are interesting enough, and have crafted a series the whole family can relate to. Likewise, the cast is charged with bringing to their roles a level of realism rarely found in animation.
"That was the challenge for me, initially, never having done an animated series," Underwood notes. "When I thought cartoon, I thought bigger than life. So I had to find that medium where it wasn’t too big but not as subtle as you would be on camera where you have your whole face, body and mannerisms to help communicate the story. So that’s ultimately what we were going for, letting the people be very naturalistic and the animation sells the rest."
While he himself has learned a lot from the first season, Underwood says the whole show in general has really hit its stride with the new episodes. He comments, "I saw the first episode yesterday for the first time–we’ve recorded all of them so far for the whole season–and what’s nice is, as much as the show worked last season to the extent that it did, I think its an even better show this year. The pace is faster, and we’re dealing with some obviously interesting family plotlines, but also more plotlines with the teenage daughter, Angie, who’s 16. In this very first episode, we deal with a boy doing homework at our home with Angie. Do you keep the door open? Do you keep the windows open? What do you do? So it’s a really fun perspective on how to raise kids."
Underwood recently completed a live-action romantic comedy titled Something New for Universal and Focus Features, and in July he’ll be starting work on Madea’s Family Reunion, a sequel to Tyler Perry’s hit comedy, Diary of a Mad Black Woman. His first animated feature, a superhero comedy titled The Golden Blaze, was released last week on DVD and VHS by Warner Home Video. The actor says he love doing animation voice work and hopes to do a lot more of it in the future.
"I’ll tell you, I’ve really got the bug with this whole animation deal," he remarks. "I haven’t told this to anybody, but so far I have two book deals with Simon & Shuster. One is a children’s book called Before I Got Here, which is about things that kids say that make you realize they remember another place and time before they came here. Then there’s a very different kind of book, an erotic thriller titled The Tennison Hardwick Mysteries. The third one, which I have not sold yet, is a children’s book and I’m working with [Fatherhood art director] Serge Michaels, who’s doing the illustration."
Underwood says he would love to see his children’s books eventually made into animated series or features, and will be actively pursuing those opportunities. Until then, you can watch Fatherhood on Tuesdays at 9:30 p.m. on Nick at Nite.
Produced at Nickelodeon Studios in Burbank, Calif., Fatherhood is directed by Jamie Mitchell and exec produced by Bill Cosby, Charles Kipps (Little Bill, Cosby Mysteries, Law & Order) and David Brokaw (Little Bill).
