Kyle Chandler and Fisher Stevens on...
Fox Thing in the Morning
10/27/1997

Fox Thing in the Morning, WFLD Fox 32, Chicago
“Coffee with” segment October 27, 1997
Hosts: Bob Sirott , Marianne Murciano
Guest: Kyle Chandler, Fisher Stevens
(Local time and temperature: 7:32 am, 32 degrees Fahrenheit.)

Bob: 7:32, Coffee with time. This morning something a little different. Filming going on, this morning, in Chicago. Before we take you to Soldier Field, let’s look at a little clip from the opening of this program as seen on CBS Saturday Nights - Early Edition.

{show clip of the Early Edition opening theme thingy with Fisher’s voice-over}

Bob: Kyle Chandler and Fisher Stevens on duty this morning in the Bears’ locker room in Soldier Field, where, ah, something interesting is about to take place, looks like it is already.

{Fisher is sprinkling “Gold Bond” powder on an unsuspecting Kyle. Fisher wearing jeans, black T-shirt, jacket and hat. Kyle wearing white/gray Georgia hooded sweatshirt, black sweatpants, tennies. They are sitting together on a bench type thingy in the Bears’ locker room.}

Bob: Hi. Hi, boys. How are ya?

Marianne: Good Morning.

Kyle: Good Morning

{Kyle discovers what Fisher is doing, starts flailing arms around trying to brush the powder off}

Fisher: Hi, good morning Marianne and Bob. We’re just getting ready to, ah, go on, ah, do our, ah, do the shoot. We’re using some of the Bears’ players, ah, products - Gold Bond.

Marianne: I think that goes into shoes, by the way.

Fisher: The what?

Marianne: The shoes. I think that goes inside shoes, doesn’t it? On the feet?

Fisher: Oh, yeah. You’re right. Sorry about that, Kyle.

{Fisher brushes the stuff off of Kyle, while Kyle wears kind of an exasperated expression}

Bob: First of all, congratulations, ah, Kyle - we’ve had you, ah, we’ve had coffee with you on the show before, we’ve mentioned this to you. Glad to see, ah, that the show is a hit, because as we talked about last time, very, very good program. A cut above the usual stuff that you see on TV. Great acting, great writing, great directing, congratulations.

Kyle: Thank you very much. I owe it all to this man. {grabs Fisher around the shoulders}

Bob: Yeah. Fisher.

Marianne: Yeah? In what way?

Kyle: It’s just, just <shrug>.

Fisher: Cause I act, write, and direct all the shows. {Kyle nods}

Marianne: OK.

Bob: You’re sort of, ah, Fisher, the lovable, ah, what? Kyle, how would you fill in that blank? He’s the lovable...

{Fisher puts his head on Kyle’s shoulder and bats his eyes at him. Kyle kinda nudges Fisher back off}

Kyle: He’s the lovable... {struggles to come up with something} ...guy.

Bob: Lovable guy. For morning TV, he’s just the lovable guy.

Kyle: Yeah.

Bob: But, ah, you, ah, Fisher, always want to, ah, take the information from tomorrow’s paper and put it to no good, while Kyle wants to put it to the good of mankind.

Fisher: Right. Basically it’s, the characters are kinda based on Kyle and myself. Kyle basically wants to do good {Kyle nods} and I basically am up to no good. {Kyle nods and smiles} so...

Marianne: And, ah, “Go Bears,” what are you guys gonna do with the Bears?

Fisher: Well, we’re gonna teach them how to win a game and, ah, pray, you know, maybe, maybe this show will be, ah, maybe this show will, ah...

{woman in red coat comes on screen with a cup of coffee and some creamer packets for Kyle}

Kyle: Thank you.

Fisher: ...bring some good luck to the Bears tonight against Miami.

Bob: By the way, this is how it’s done in show business.

Fisher: Yeah, Kyle gets coffee, I get nothing. That’s pretty much the extent of Early Edition around here.

{a towel is tossed at Kyle from off-camera}

Bob: Alright, so you’re gonna go on the field, and you’re gonna film the scene and, ah, Kyle’s, somehow you get, you get to play for the Bears? Is that what happens?

Kyle: Well, we both do. We both, ah, end up going in there, and, ah, ah, towards the end of, towards the end of the show, it’s gonna be a good show, and, I, I do wanna say thank you to the Bears organization for lettin’ us do this and everything, it’s very generous, {door slamming noise off-camera} very generous of them and, ah,

Fisher: I hope they beat Miami, cause I, ah, I took the Bears tonight.

{Kyle laughs and takes a sip of the coffee. He continues sipping through the rest of the interview.}

Bob: Oh, you know what? You guys may actually, ah, end up playing for the Bears for real, if things keep going the way they’re going this season.

Fisher: Yeah. Kyle’s got a gun on him. He can throw the ball.

Bob: Oh, yeah?

Fisher: Some people think he throws better than, ah, Rick Mirer.

Bob: Oh, good.

Fisher: Yeah.

Bob: We’ll be looking at that. So you gotta go up and, well, actually the weather’s clearing up, so you’ll, you’ll be OK. So what’s gonna happen here in a little while? You’ll go upstairs and, ah, you’ll be out in the field all day today?

Kyle: We’re gonna be in a , a... first we gotta climb out of a hot tub for one of the scenes.

Fisher: Yeah, we have to kind of, ah, kidnap the kicker and the quarterback, and that’s when we put on their jerseys and go out and win a game for ‘em finally, in the show.

Marianne: Is that true?

Fisher: Yeah, yeah. Because Kyle reads that there’s some problems with, ah, the players, and we hafta kind of save, ah, I actually help him this time, ah, save the, ah, the players right here, who are coming in this morning as you can see. {the actor “players” walk past on the way to their lockers}

Bob: Now these are the guys who will be playing Chicago Bears, but again, if it works out, ah, Wannstedt {Bears head coach} will actually draft them.

Fisher: That’s right. These guys, they played actually for the, ah, they played for a team up in Canada, way up, in Banff.

Bob: Uh-huh.

{Fisher and Kyle can be heard laughing in the background as the camera is showing the “players”}

Marianne: And, um, and um, how long will it take to shoot this whole scene, and when is it gonna air?

Fisher: I think it takes, the, the, the, the episode will take 8 days, ah, this will probably be on, ah, well they might play it tonight if we do pretty well, instead of the Miami game, you’ll see us in there. {laughs from all}

Bob: But odds are, we’ll be seeing this on a Saturday night down the road a little bit.

Fisher: Yeah, probably around Thanksgiving.

Kyle: Yeah.

Bob: Yeah. Well, good timing, with football fever in the air around that day.

Fisher: Yeah.

Bob: So these guys, ah, they’re extras, but they actually did play a little football?

Fisher: Yeah, some of them.

Kyle: That’s right.

Fisher: A couple of them were in a, a few of the ah, hard core porno films that you’ll see.

Bob: Oh, that’s nice.

Marianne: Do you, do, ah,

Fisher: That number 22, you might have seen him acting with, ah, Traci Lords before she was...

{Camera has been on the “players” during this. You can hear Kyle laughing again}

Marianne: So, ah, did, now, back to you guys, did you get any sort of special football training? Or...

Kyle: No. {Still laughing. Fisher trying to suppress his laughter}

Marianne: ...just watch a lot of games?

Fisher: Ummmm. Not football training, but we were trained in, ah, other areas. No, ah, actually I was ah, I was taught how to kick a field goal, and, ah,

Bob: Who showed you how to do that?

Fisher: The ah, the ah, a guy, one of the guys who works with the Bears organization.

Bob: Um-hmm. Not one of the players, one of the coaches?

Fisher: One of the coaches, yeah.

Bob: Uh-huh.

Marianne: Oh.

Fisher: Ahh, and ah, {to Kyle} did you do anything with them?

Kyle: No. No, I played a little high school football, so...

Fisher: Yeah, he doesn’t need it.

Kyle: ...I don’t know what I’m doing, either.

Marianne: So you know what to do. So, what do you guys do for fun in Chicago, by the way?

Fisher: Ahhh...

Marianne: You know, when you’re not working.

Kyle: Sleep.

Bob: Yeah, cause you’re here all the time, right? Very little is filmed in Southern California, right?

Kyle: Everything’s here.

Bob: Everything.

Kyle: The whole show’s shot here.

Bob: Yeah, we like that.

Marianne: Yeah, so...

Kyle: Yeah.

Marianne: ...so for fun you sleep?

Kyle: Yeah.

Fisher: That’s Kyle. Kyle sleeps.

Marianne: That *is* fun.

Fisher: I ah, I don’t sleep. I, ah, I go out trying to, ah, find out, ah, what’s going on in town. I see a lot of music here. This is a great music town.

Marianne: What kind of music do you like?

Fisher: Ahhh....blues and, ah, jazz and, ah, it’s definitely, ah, always something going on. See a lot of movies, ah, I try and, you know, go get a free meal from Kyle and his wife, ah, try and have ‘em cook for me. I haven’t been too successful with that.

Kyle: We spend our time avoiding him.

Marianne: Kyle, are you, are you a cook?

Kyle: Am I a cook?

Marianne: Yeah.

Kyle: No, I’m an actor. I play a character on TV.

Marianne: Besides being an actor. He says that he...gets meals from you and your wife.

Fisher: I try. No, I, I have been unsuccessful. Ah, but, ah, what else is there to do? {to Kyle} What else do we do here?

Kyle: {Thinks. Looks like is about to say something}

Fisher: Oh, I go, I go to New York a lot.

Bob: And you don’t remember, ah, do you Fisher - we played softball with you...

Fisher: Oh, yeah. That charity team.

Bob: Yeah.

Fisher: With, ah, Steve Kerr (?) and Ron Hartman (?).

Bob: Yeah.

Fisher: Oh, that’s something I definitely do, is I go to a lot of Bulls’ games.

Bob: Yeah. Yeah, well, listen. It’s great that you’re here in Chicago, ah, I guess we *were* supposed to be on the field now, right? But because of the weather, they’ve changed the schedule a little bit this morning?

Fisher: Yeah.

Kyle: The tarp is frozen to the grass, so they can’t pull it up. They gotta wait until the sun reaches over and, ah, warms it up a little bit. {he says while adding creamer to the coffee}

Bob: Ah-hah. So then you’ll move up there, so that’s why you’re doing the whirlpool scene first.

Fisher: Yeah. You should film that. You should see Kyle in the whirlpool, that’s a great sight.

Kyle: That’s gonna be a funny scene.

Bob: Alright, we’ll put our little, we’ll keep our camera there.

Fisher: Get the little hidden camera in there, yeah, and...

Bob: OK. During the morning we’ll look in on you over there. And again, congratulations. It’s the, ah, highest, it was the highest rated new drama last year and number on in it’s time slot Saturday night, CBS, Early Edition, a really, really good show.

Kyle: Thank you very much.

Fisher: Thank you.

Bob: Now, hopefully they won’t, now this is kinda nutty, you guys playing for the Bears. Hopefully the scripts, you know, aren’t getting too, ah, fantastical, if you know what I mean.

Fisher: Ahhh...

Kyle: Tune in, you’ll see. It’s a pretty darn good show.

Fisher: I think this is, ah, this, this one’s pretty good, yeah, we’re pretty excited. Actually my camp counselor, I lived in Chicago when I was a kid, and I went to a little, ah, day camp, and, ah, my camp counselor is now the executive producer of this show.

Kyle: {referring to the camp} Called “juvenile.”

Fisher: Ironically enough. {reaches for the Gold Bond powder again after the “juvenile” comment}

Marianne: Oh, that’s interesting. Hey, so do you guys ever, like say, you read a script and say, no way - I am not doing that?

Kyle: Once.

{Kyle and Fisher look at each other to confirm}

Bob: What did they want you to do?

Fisher: They wanted us to ride an elephant on the tarmac at O’Hare.

Kyle: {laughs and nods} It’s true. It’s true.

Fisher: Yeah.

Marianne: And you said no?

Kyle: Running from monkeys with the bubonic plague.

Fisher: Yeah, it’s true, yeah.

Kyle: So, no, we *don’t* get too fanciful.

Fisher: There were some serious, ah, I think they were all taking some serious drugs in Hollywood when they wrote that one.

Bob: Yeah. Well that’s too dangerous, too. You know...

Fisher: Yeah.

Bob: ...that looks bad on your resume, injured falling from elephant at O’Hare, whereas...

Marianne: Chased by monkeys.

Bob: ...whereas, if you’re injured playing football at Soldier Field, that’s good.

Fisher: Yeah, this is fine, cause you know, we look good doing it at least.

Bob: Here comes the box-o-mugs, a little custom, ah, for being on the show.

Fisher: Oh, all right.

{someone brings out a box with mugs in it. Kyle and Fisher each grab one out of the box}

Bob: A little coffee cup for your trouble, boys.

Fisher: Thank you very much.

Kyle: Alright, thanks.

Bob: What do you got there? Oh, Motorola.

Fisher: StarTAC.

Kyle: StarTAC, alright!

Marianne: Oh, those are great phones.

Fisher: Yeah, but, you know...

Kyle: Little Motorola signature.

Fisher: ...do I get a discount? Cause I just spent a fortune on my StarTAC.

Bob: Well, now you will. Ah, they’re in the area. The factory is here.

Fisher: Oh, good. Are they?

Bob: I’m sure they’re watching the show.

Fisher: Oh, oh yeah. Are they? {he says with an expression of “duh”}

Bob: And you know, you guys call yourselves Hollywood actors? Well, you don’t even walk around with a phone.

Fisher: Yeah.

Bob: Come on.

Fisher: It’s true.

Kyle: I can’t afford one, myself.

Bob: Fisher Stevens. Kyle Chandler. Early Edition. Ah, have *another* great season. We’ll be watching.

Kyle: Thank you very much. That’s very nice of you.

Fisher: Thank you very much, guys. Good luck, good luck to the Bears.

Bob: OK.

{End of interview. Time is now 7:41 am, temperature still showing 32 degrees Fahrenheit.}

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