Have audiences finally returned to theaters? Plus: Hear from the stars of ‘The Wonder Years’

It’s another week of the summer movie season, meaning another big movie is on the way. This time it’s “Transformers: Rise of the Beasts” that will be trying to knock “Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse” out of the top spot.

“Spider-Man,” along with “The Little Mermaid,” “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3,” “Fast X” and “The Super Mario Bros. Movie” have collectively grossed more than $1.3 billion which begs the question: Are movie theaters finally back to pre-pandemic levels?

Co-hosts Terry Lipshetz and Bruce Miller discuss the topic before moving into things to watch, including the low-budget film “To Leslie” that raised eyebrows when Andrea Riseborough was nominated for an Oscar. That film is now on Netflix. “The Full Monty,” a series that reunites the case of the film 25 years later, comes to streaming on June 14.

 Also coming on June 14 is the second season of “The Wonder Years,” a reboot of the original series that aired 114 episodes between 1988 and 1993. While Fred Savage, the star of the original series who was a producer on the new program, is not back for season two, hear interviews Bruce has with all four of the main stars.

We first hear from Elisha “EJ” Williams, who plays the son Dean Williams along with Dulé Hill, who plays his father, Bill. We then hear from Saycon Sengbloh, who plays Dean’s mother Lillian, and Laura Kariuki, who plays Dean’s sister Kim.

And, in a plot twist only available on Streamed & Screened, Terry shares that he went to high school with Dulé Hill, who was a child star who got his big break on Broadway in “The Tap Dance Kid.” Both graduated from Sayreville War Memorial High School, and photographic evidence is available in the 1993 yearbook, although Hill goes by Karim Hill in the listing.

Summer blockbusters and series finales

Streamed & Screened is a podcast about movies and TV hosted by Bruce Miller, a longtime entertainment reporter who is now the editor of the Sioux City Journal in Iowa and Terry Lipshetz, a senior producer for Lee Enterprises based in Madison, Wisconsin.

Note: The following transcript was created by Adobe Premiere and may contain misspellings and other inaccuracies as it was generated automatically:

Welcome everyone to another episode of Streamed and screened and entertainment podcasts about movies and TV from Lee Enterprises. I’m Terry Lipshetz, a senior producer at Lee and co-host of the program with Bruce Miller, editor of the Sioux City Journal and a longtime entertainment reporter. We are not even into the dog days of summer yet, Bruce, but it’s heating up, and I am.

I’ll tell you, I went to see Spider-Man across the Spider-Verse over the weekend, and I had a tough time getting a seat. Now, that’s surprising because normally in summertime you can barely you can get it. You don’t have to worry about getting a seat. And normally that buying your tickets in advance thing was, I thought a dog. I didn’t think it worked at all.

I didn’t think I needed to do all that. And this week I went to the theater and they said, Well, we just have a couple of seats left. And I thought, really, there’s like 40 performances of this thing, and I’m going to have to sit, like, near this screen and I did. It was like the second row. And I thought, Oh my God, this is what those immersive art exhibits must be like, you know, like where you go to then go and you’re surrounded by it.

That’s what it seemed like for me. But I think I think the numbers are there now to prove that people are going back to the theaters. Yeah, I want to ask you about that because I was looking this weekend. The big one is going to be Transformers Rise of the Beat. So DEADLINE is reporting that the expectation sounds is that worldwide it should do at least 155 million and domestically it could be in the 70 million.

Now, it might not knock off Spider-Man, but it’s going to be, you know, top two, top three. Absolutely. This week, which is kind of interesting. I was looking at the box office. Now this is just the U.S. domestic box office through the weekend of June two through four. And last week, Spider-Man did 120 million in the U.S. Little Mermaid through two weeks, 187 million Guardians of the Galaxy through five weeks, 323 million Best Acts or Fast ten 128 million through three weeks.

And even Super Mario, which is it feels long in the tooth at this point, but it’s been out nine weeks and it just keeps on cranking and money 566 million. So those five movies alone over $1.3 billion U.S. are movie theaters back. I think so. I really do. And Mario Brothers is going to DVD right away. I think next week is DVD week for that.

So you look at that and you say people must really want to get out of the house. I think they’re eager to see something in a different environment. And we’ll see with Transformers, because it doesn’t really have names with it anymore. These are people who are, you know, also in the cast. And if it does really well, then that says, A, they want to get out and be the franchise is stronger than the participants in the franchise.

So what happens with that? I you know that I don’t like those films. I don’t like the Transformer films. I think they’re stupid and I think the toys were stupid back when they came out, too. But this does have an audience and we’ll see. It could you know, it might be the film world’s equivalent of a monster truck show.

I don’t like that movie either, but it’s people go see it. I mean, it’s kind of like the Fast and Furious franchise, which I enjoy, but a lot of people hate it. But it’s just one where, you know, I think you’re either into it or you’re not, and it just has an audience and people keep going back into it.

Now, we talked a while back. You had it brought up the idea that maybe movie theaters, it’s going to be a little bit more of an event that people aren’t necessarily going to go for the smaller films. Are you still thinking that is? I do, because I think that there is no place for them. And even if they do get in the theaters, they’re going to get one theater in a Cineplex.

They’re not going to get ten screens. It’s unreal. Now, when you go to the movies and you may see four movies listed, and that’s because they’ve sucked up all the screens. So I think I think you’ve got to have a reason. And if you’re if you bought into a franchise like Transformers, you’re going to say, Oh, yeah, yeah, you’re kind of getting a guarantee.

We’re going to get something that we know is going to entertain us. We know it’s going to be special or big, and we know that we’re going to come out of there saying we didn’t waste our money. Whereas if you’re taking a risk on something you haven’t seen, good luck. It’s it my equivalent to this is like going to Broadway.

You will go to Wicked because you know, it’s big. You know, it’s something that people like, you know, that people will tell you. Yeah, there’s a lot there for you to see. So it’s kind of a guarantee, but you’re probably not going to take a risk on an unknown quantity until it becomes something like that. So I think that’s what we’re seeing with the with the movie business is they’re looking for guarantees and they will go back to those old wells and see what they can, what they can dredge up.

And now, if the writers strike keeps going on, you know, maybe they will start remaking old films with old scripts. I think the numbers also bear out your theory, too, because, you know, Spider-Man 120 million. So that’s that’s a really solid opening. But Little Mermaid in only its second week, had already kind of crashed to 41 million. And number three in the theater last week was the Boogeyman, which opened last week to only 12.4 million guardians, was down to 10.7 million.

Fast X was at 9.6 and even Super Mario at fifth place, $3.4 million. That’s hardly anything, right? When you go to the movies, how much does it cost if you take the family? I mean, tickets alone, you’re looking if we can go to a matinee, we might get lucky and it’ll only be maybe $30, but it’s really pushing 40.

And then on top of that, once you add in popcorn or anything, you’re looking at 60, 70 bucks. So it’s not cheap. You see where it has to be a commitment that, you know, is going to bring results or you get grandma to take the kids. You know, I mean, there’s there’s some kind of a trade off there, but you’re not going to take a risk on something that you’re not sure that people are talking about or they, you know, is going to be something you’ll like.

Right. Or if you have a loyalty card. So that’s part of I think the advantage for me with the family is, you know, okay, we’ll go. But those 60 bucks I might spend will equate to 20,000 points, which will get me a $5 reward certificate a little bit quicker. Do you ever bring in candy? No, Bruce, I would never I would never bring in because that would be dishonest.

And we are supposed to. Of course, I bring in Candy. What do you. Well, you know, I would I would really be worried if I was hauling kids with and, you know, our kids can get restless when the movies get a little dull and you think, oh, I got to get them something to eat. But it’s a porch, and you pay what, upwards of ten, $10 and up for popcorn.

And that’s a lot just to try and say, I’m quieting you down with this. So I would always have M&Ms in a pocket. You know, all that out. And here you go, kid. We’re shutting up now. We invested the last time I was at the theater for $20 is a little cheaper because I was a loyalty member of AMC because it’s normally about 25, but $20 for the annual bucket of popcorn.

And so you get 20 bucks, you get the one fill of popcorn, and then you can get it refilled once for free, and then you can bring that bucket back the next time you come. And then you just pay for it once. So you pay your $8 or $10, whatever popcorn costs, and then you can bring it back up for another free refill.

So it gets substantially cheaper every time you go, you know, to bring that bucket. So I think we’re kind of like, All right, kids, we’re going to just get popcorn. If you want to get a slushie or something, that’s fine. We’ll get a drink. But we’re bringing the bucket back with us and we’re going to save a few bucks.

That way is the bucket tab like Jurassic Park Outfitters? How big is it? Real old. No, it’s it is designed it says the year 2023 on it. So that way, you know, when I go on January 1st then I’m stuck having to buy the new bucket. But yeah it’s it is it has some design of something. Oh this is a good one.

We can use it. It’s refillable. Right. Exactly. Yeah. It’s just strange because whatever the lights start going down after the previews have been on in the theater, you can hear. Yeah. Where they’re opening up cans of pop that they’ve gotten because they spend the money on on the drink and I will buy the drink. I you know what I finally get?

I get a junior combo at my theater, which is basically a kid’s pack. Oh, because it’s enough popcorn and it’s enough drink. And then I think they also throw in some gummy bears or something like that. Well, it’s nice, and it’s actually cheaper than buying one of anything. If I bought a one small drink, this is still cheaper than that.

It’s enough to keep me occupied, but it’s not so much. And I. I fully admit I’m hauling in a kids thing. Okay, so don’t make fun of me. But that’s. That’s how I roll. Yeah. I’ve been known to go through colors and just get myself a kids meal because you get a free ice cream coupon with it, too.

When I was able to eat McDonald’s, I always got the Happy Meal because I wanted the toy. Exactly. Exactly. Yeah. No, I had one other question, though. Or at least an observation. And this was a Super Mario Brothers, because we talked also about that dual release, right, where you release a movie straight to theaters. But then you also simultaneously go to two streaming.

And I think we agreed a few weeks ago that that that’s not a feasible option, especially with some of these bigger movies, at least because it’s going to drain the theater gate. But I did find it interesting was Super Mario, you can already stream it. We went with our with our family. We headed down over Memorial Day weekend to visit friends in Illinois.

And my daughters are the same age as our friends daughter. And, you know, we’re out playing cards and having a good time. And, you know, the kids are watching TV and all of a sudden I start hearing the songs from Mario Brothers, the movie. And I look in and they’re renting it because I saw it with my daughter, one of my daughters, but my other one didn’t see it and their friend hadn’t seen it either.

So they’re having a good time watching Super Mario. And this is, you know, three weeks ago or so where the movie is still going strong in the theaters, but it’s already available for streaming. So is that do you think that’s the compromise, is that, you know, it’s going to come to streaming sooner than before, but not necessarily day of?

I think they’re going to try and extend as much time as they can before they cut off their their own notes, because I think they want to get that money that you can get in theaters, even though they you know, do we care? Not really. But it does say it’s a yet. But you know, what you don’t know is your kids are probably in the liquor in the other room.

They’re there. They’re opening up all the alcohol that they’ve got in the other room and they’re enjoying Mario at home. So it’s it’s even better. But no, I don’t truthfully, as much as they tried to say that these things are going to kill all that, I don’t think so. I think what you’re going to see is smaller films are going to be taken over by streaming services and it’s blockbusters that are going to be in theaters.

That’s how it’s going to squirreled out. And, you know, this week, Netflix just started showing to Leslie and to Leslie was this if you remember back at Oscar time, Andrea Riseborough was nominated for best actress. And they all said, well, where did this movie come from? And it made like $27,000 in the theaters, but it had this kind of email chain on her friend chain from among a lot of actors who said, nominate her, nominate her.

And it brought up a whole controversy with the Academy about how you can campaign. But the movie is on Netflix now and you must see it. It is really good. And she is incredible. And I think that’s one of those ones that maybe we missed because we’re so busy looking for the big get that you don’t see the little films that should be seen.

And it’s a marvel of and she is really, really good. What was the premise of that film again? You said, Well, she won a lottery. She won like a Powerball, whatever it might have banned. And it was like 190, $180 million or $800,000. So it’s enough that it would make your life a little different, but it doesn’t change your life.

It was 180 million, which I hope to win tonight on the Powerball. It would change your life. But with this, it’s just enough. And I say to her, what we what do you plan to do? And oh, I’m going to open up a restaurant and my son wants a guitar and we’re going to do all this. Well, then flash forward and you see that she blew through all the money and she’s alcoholic and she really doesn’t have anywhere to go.

Her son is now, I think he’s 20 when she sees him again and she just tries to crash in his house and she makes all these false promises about, yeah, I’m going to I’m going to get a job and I’m going to be clean and I’m not going to do it. And you just see how she keeps trying to hoodwink people into thinking that she’s changing.

And then there is something that happens that that maybe changes there. But a fascinating, fascinating character study and she does a beautiful job. So I don’t think it was one of those wasted campaigns for best actress. But it’s nice to see that we finally get to see this film because back when the nominees were out, I looked everywhere for that movie and I couldn’t find it on any streaming service.

So it must have been just distributed to Academy members so they could vote on it. I’ll have to add that to my to watch list, because now that the the family has done with school for the year, it’s it’s time to ramp up to streaming. My wife can stay up later than 830 at night now so put this one down and another thing to do all those event films, look how long they’re going.

Spider-Man into the Spider-Verse was 2 hours in like 20 minutes. And a lot of these little films that are on streaming services, 90 minutes, maybe 2 hours maybe. And I think that’s another consideration. You know, when you’re going out, you’re making it an event. So. All right, I’ll sit for two and a half hours, unless you’re to Avatar, and then you’ve got to go to the bathroom three times.

Anything else coming out now on to streaming or TV because we have the writers strike on. There are some problems in getting new product for next fall. So you know, that next fall is going to be a lot of reality and a lot of game shows. But there are series that were scheduled that are starting to come out.

I think I did. I mentioned to you last week that I watched all of the Righteous Gemstones and that’s coming on HBO, but also coming is Full Monty. And this is a look at the characters from The Full Monty after that film and what happened. It’s not old men who are going to strip. It’s not that at all.

It’s like, how were their lives affected by that moment? And it’s very, very interesting. A little maybe a little darker than you think and how they affect their family and their and their show. So that’s a new one that I would look for. And then coming this next week on broadcast television, the Wonder Years, and this is the rebooted Wonder Years where it’s about a black family.

But it also no longer has Fred Savage as a producer. Fred Savage was the star of the First Wonder Years, and then he was a producer of this Wonder Years. And then there was some kind of some discussion about maybe he was overstepping his place as a producer, but they just decided it would be better for the show not to have him as a producer anymore.

So he’s not. And I do think there is a shift. I do think there’s a change in the tone of the series. It’s still set in the late sixties, but there is just another another quality to it that isn’t so wonder years like the first one. It still has the narrator, It still has the kids at a certain age, kind of reflecting about what that time was.

But you’re getting a different perspective. And what I love about this is because it is a black family, you’re seeing the civil rights movement from a different perspective. And and they’re still a lot of fun in it. You know, Patti LaBelle comes on as a the mother of Dulé Hill and she’s the choir director at their church. And she runs that choir like a drill sergeant.

She has every know you’re doing a role, you’re not weird. And they you think that they just given a performance of a lifetime and she’s we really had a lot of problems today. So she becomes this kind of force that the choir is not all that thrilled with. And yeah. And her the mother in the wonder years, who is her daughter in law, and she becomes the soloist and how that affects all the rest of them.

Very fascinating. But it’s a different perspective because I, you know, not having grown up in the black church system and what that that kind of power was for the choir director, I think that’s really fun to see. And it’s an interesting look at everything. And then when you couple that with she’s the mother of the dad in the Wonder Years, that adds a little more to it is Patti LaBelle.

Now she just making a guest appearance or is she going to be a regular? She’s in a couple of episodes. I think you would class fires recurring, but she hasn’t in every week. She’s in this one. It comes early in the run and you’ll see her, you know, doing the choir. And then there’s another episode where they come back.

But there’s there’s resolution to all of this. And it’s fun to see her kind of mom, you know, as much as Dad thinks he’s in charge, Mom is the one who rules the roost. So you have a couple of interviews with stars this week. Can you talk a little bit about that? Yes. I talked with Dulé Hill and E.J. Williams, who play the dad and then the young boy in one interview and then I talked with Saycon or Saycon you decide how to say it?

But I remember her essay song because it’s a French name. And when she was she was actually at the Donna Reed Film Festival in 1996, I want to say. And she won it. And that was here in Iowa. And I’ve followed her career over the years, but she plays the mother. And then there’s also the young woman who plays her daughter in the other interview.

So we have two interviews, but you have a connection to do a HBO now, Do you remember it was on West Wing, and I know him as this dramatic actor. And the thing I was really shocked when I started reading things about his past is that he was in the Tap Dance kid on Broadway. And I went back and looked in all my files, and I found the playbill that he was in the tap dance.

And I saw him as a kid who that. And he is from Sayreville, New Jersey. So you obviously do these interviews in advance and you send them to me. And then, of course, I listen to them before we have these conversations so we can have a coherent, intelligent conversation. So I’m listening to it and and you’re talking to him about, you know, like your own personal wonder years, right?

And growing up and and that type of thing. And Dulé starts talking about, well, you know, when I was growing up in Sayreville, New Jersey, and then I’m like, wait, wait, wait, what did you just say? Did he just say Sayreville? So I had to stop it, backed it up, listen again. And sure enough, so I started looking and I was going back through all the information.

But he was when he was growing up, his first name is actually Karim, so it’s Karim Dulé Hill. And I believe he went by Karim in school and he’s a year older than me. He graduated class in 1993 from Sayreville High School. I graduated from class 94. Our public library keeps your books on file. So I went back and just like, checked.

And there sure enough, there’s Karim Hill, looks just like Dulé Hill. And it’s just, you know, a little bit of a baby face because he’s he’s so much younger, 30 years younger. But it looks like if you looked at him, you would know, Oh, yeah, that that is Dulé Hill. And then I did like vaguely remember, like I remember that face, you know, So I don’t know because we were a year apart.

I don’t know if we really had very many classes together. We probably interacted at some point, you know, and the way with high school classes where you might have a little bit of the blending of the classes, where you might have something where freshmen and sophomores are kind of in it or juniors and seniors. So we probably crossed paths.

But I do remember at that time, while a few years earlier, the big talk of the town was like, Hey, there’s this kid who’s part of the tap dance kid, and he was on TV and and I was talking even with because I went back and looked at his credits. He played the character Larry Seifert on Ballers, which was one of my favorite shows on HBO with Dwayne Johnson.

I’m like, Oh, yeah, I know exactly who he is. He was in the movie Holes with Sigourney Weaver and Jon Voight. My daughters watch that in the last year, and I were having dinner last night and I’m like, Hey, girls, you remember that movie whole? Yeah, yeah, we remember. You remember the character Sam, The Onion Man from Holes?

And they’re like, Yeah, well, I went to high school with him. What? So it’s you. You went to school with everybody because there’s the Jon Bon Jovi is from Sayreville, New Jersey. So there’s been times where I’ve I’ve met him one time. His youngest brother is about two years older than me. And I remember seeing his his youngest brother was a little bit of a rock star in middle school.

And there was one time there was like a little crowd around him. And it was it was a couple of years after Slippery When Wet Went wild. So. So he you know, I remember those moments, but I didn’t really know him at all. Dave Sabo from the guitarist from the hair metal band Skid Row is from Sayreville. So there’s been these these small, you know, pockets of celebs.

We’ve had a few athletes that have made it big. I played Little League baseball with the son of Tom Kelly, the former manager of the Minnesota Twins. So, yeah, it’s these little crazy connections. But yeah, it took me until this week’s to realize that that Dulé Hill was in, you know, a year ahead of me at my high school.

And it just I completely missed that, you know, my encounter. I mean, certainly I interviewed him during the years of West Wing, but I never, ever thought that he had a musical background, a musical theater background. And then I saw him on Broadway in a show called After Midnight, and he was dancing Up a storm. And I thought, where was this talent?

Where did this come from? Well, then you look back in his credits and he was a child phenom back in the day doing all these things. He was also in bring in Denise, bring in the funk, which, by the way, is coming back to Broadway. So, you know, who knows how they can have these different identities wherever they might land.

But if do we want to run the the interview with Dulé and A.J.? Yeah, sounds good. So we’ll listen now to E.J. Williams and Dulé Hill. I must ask you two, why has it taken us so long to get this second season? I have been waiting and waiting and waiting and where? Wherever you bet. And, well, it’s an experiment called absence Makes the heart grow fonder.

If you let people wait long enough, then they really will hopefully be just ready for right at the right time. And that’s where we are right now this summer. I think the anticipated help, too. I mean, what is being on you could still binge the first season. And now that we have, you know, a day we’re coming back, it all makes sense.

So that’s definitely one to, you know, the thing that struck me funny about all this is that both of you really haven’t had the Wonder Years kind of childhoods having been involved in the entertainment business. I’m assuming that you didn’t get that kind of, if you will, nuclear thing because you were busy working. Well, I mean, everybody’s wonder years are different in my opinion.

You know, everybody’s childhood, not everybody lives the same way. You know, you have some kids who aren’t even in the entertainment business and are still homeschooled. So one person’s normalcy is in another person’s normalcy. So I think for me, because, you know, I’m the only kid here I did, the wonder years are still happening. They’re just happening differently.

And, you know, you experience things just at a different level, you know? So I’m still experiencing school, except my school’s in a trailer. It’s not in a classroom with, you know, 30, 60 kids. I’m still going to graduate middle school. I’m still going to graduate high school. I graduated elementary. I still went to kindergarten. You know, So the the years are the years are still going.

Time is still moving. And you just got to appreciate it while it’s here, man. You know, I like to say that kids on television grow up faster than kids. You are in the entertainment space, which I know it’s not true, but it seems like that, you know, a lot of times, you know, four seasons, you people coming back say, man, you look older.

And, you know, to me I’m like, do I like it? It’s because, you know, when people see you on television so much, they’re looking at it. And then when you So the Wonder Years are definitely still happening. It just looks different from what we do here is like, you were on Broadway, for God’s sakes. I was an outgoing.

I’ll say, I don’t know what you just talking about. I mean, I’m only 15 years old, so there’s two kids and I don’t know what he’s talking about. I’m aware you got that from, first of all. But nobody but I will say I started I was doing the stage in New York, but I did have that nuclear family.

I it was always there in the midst of when that was the Broadway experience on a stage experience was added on to it. I came along that was added on to what was already there. But I have so many memories of growing up in my hometown in several New Jersey, with my cousins, with my friends, riding the bike in the park, getting into trouble.

You know, all these stories that we had in the Wonder years. I can relate to all of that. My parents telling me to stay out of growing folk’s business and all that kind of stuff and E.J. is right way is different. Because once I started doing theater growing up, that was an added thing. But the core of it is the same.

The root of it is the saying, which is about family. It’s about them. When they tell you that your mother is Patti LaBelle, how does that land move? Oh, my God. Well, it’s like a piece of delicious pie, sweetie, But it is. Well, you know, you can’t ask for a better mother than Patti LaBelle to be able to share the screen with an icon.

A legend such as Miss Patti is something that I don’t think any of us take lightly. She brought such magnificent energy to the role and to this set. Just being the light that she is. And I think the audiences are really going to enjoy what she brings to the Williams family because, you know, the matriarch is always the matriarch, and she really had to apologize to anybody.

So when she comes, she’s got to really have her way. She captures the rules aspect of the game. It’s very much you listen to her or else you’re in trouble. I think that’s great. I love when you guys get to go to New York. I wanted that to last longer. Is there a chance that you would go back or do more episodes where you go to New York again?

I mean, you never know. The thing about scripted television is, you know, writers have endless imagine, imagine. And so you never know where story could land. We’ve been talking about New York since the first since the first season. You know, with Bill getting his job, finding out it’s in New York, even with Lillian’s opportunity of her going further away in Alabama, being away from home, you know, so the possibilities are endless.

You never know what a pencil or a pen can do for a person. So, I mean, going back to New York wouldn’t be a bad idea. You never know how this story would play out. But in terms of the episodes, I mean, it was great. You see that experience and you see people in the different different worlds. So, you know, you have Dean outside of school, outside of state.

He’s in a place he’s never been before, you know, meeting new people, seeing different things he hasn’t seen before. So, I mean, you never know. How was it for the two of you working together, you know, pretty intensely in that episode? Was it good to be able to bond a little bit more, or what was that like? Oh, definitely.

I mean, I learned a lot from Dulé. I mean, I started the show when I was 11, you know, I’m 14, even even facial hair tips. You know, I ask him, how does he ever feel hair? It’s known his size because I feel like I’m it you know, I I’ve learned so much from him. So, I mean, you don’t the bond only grows stronger.

I mean, I’ve gotten a lot of great advice from delayed delays. He’s a great person. He’s a he’s a gentle soul. He’s a genuine person. So, I mean, being with DeLay is great. And even even filming, I mean, the filming chemistry is just it’s a laugh on set, man. So it’s one big job even though do like you learned from him but that I was loving him.

Yeah. They persistent in achieving your goal. That’s what I learned from Jay. He really had this goal of being a hilarious comedian, and he keeps on working at it. Even at first you don’t succeed. Try and try again. And again and again and again. Okay. You see a little of yourself in him at all? Yeah, I can. I can definitely see that just because of the fact of being a young I started as a young actor or young artists in his journey and seeing where he is.

But a lot of things that I can relate to, I wouldn’t even go so far as to say I see myself reflected because I think that takes away from the gift that is the uniqueness that is him. But I do admire the journey that he’s on and the way that he’s handling the success that he is having and navigating this crazy business called Show, because it is a hard industry to keep your feet on the ground.

And Jay and his and his family has done a phenomenal job in staying connected to the real world. And for that, in the midst of his brilliance, I applaud him for that. Well, where will Bill’s career go? I mean, certainly this writing gig in New York is something that opens things up. And then he has the school where where will he land?

And that’s something, you know, we’ll have to see over time. I mean, you mentioned before about will he go back to New York? I think Sally Patterson probably have a better grasp as to whether we will ever get back to New York. But Bill is always trying to balance his passion versus his responsibilities. And I think you know what?

He’s an artist, so I think he will continue to always keep trying to achieve this, this untouchable thing. It’s always so close this this fame to stardom, the success in terms of music. And I think we’ll see how that plays itself out. At the same time, he is also very thrilled to be able to still do what he loves to do.

If he can’t do it in this way, he’s going to do it another way. And that’s where I think the teaching comes in, can always affect young minds and to Echo would relate to that is a where he said it’s always that one step. I think he’s definitely right even trying to find the laughter and all the seriousness, you know, and the best example I have is when he’s in New York, concrete jungle where dreams are made of.

We all know where that song is now. But just think that one line that he said was stupid could have made the Williams family rich. So yeah, you know, so I think you’re right. You’re always reaching for a goal and trying is the best thing. Well, now your costar got a singing episode. Do you get a dancing episode?

Will there be something like that at some point? You know, You know, we’ve talked about it. I think if the show is blessed to be able to afforded the opportunity to have many seasons, I would not be surprised 1 to 1 thing about the way the show’s cracked it is that Dean has a whole imagine it. It is.

His imagination is vast. So if Bill was going to show up dancing anyway, I think it would be in the midst of one of Deen’s flights of Fancy and hopefully we said if we’re afforded enough seasons that I think you might see Bill do a soft. She were too. You know that was the biggest surprise I had about you do was that I did not know that you were a singer dancer Broadway person because I had watched all these TV shows.

And then I remembered I had seen you in tap dance get I even looked up the the wow. You know, And I thought, oh, my God, here’s what happened to that kid. And I’m wondering if with E.J., you say, where will his career go? I mean, the like I always say, possibilities are always endless. I’m never trying to say no in one box to be in the industry.

They call it typecast it. But, you know, in real life, you know, you never want to stick to one thing unless that one thing you’re doing is absolute, which you love. I love the entertainment in Charlotte. Put a smile on people’s faces. You know, people, even as my jokes as Dulé was saying, people may not like my jokes, especially him, but it puts smiles on people’s faces and that’s all that really matters to me.

So whether that be outside of the entertainment industry or like I am right now inside, the entertainment industry put smiles on people’s faces, is my passion. It’s what I love to do. So and you know, career, you can do that in any career. So I mean, you never know I think I will say be I think the sky is the limit for E.J. because I said before he’s very talented as an actor, but he’s also very brilliant in his mind.

And he I’m going to say it now, but he’s also very gifted with even with the basketball. So I think wherever he wants to go, he’s at a point in life where he has multiple roles that he can it he can take. And it will be very interesting to see what happens 15, 20 years. And then my amazing comedic jokes, I mean, he’s in the things that I say that he’s very gifted at.

I mean, I don’t know about, you know, some things you just you just don’t have something. She does not call for you saying I’m saying the damn thing. She just being better left undone, right. All right. Thanks, Bruce, for that interview. And now we have one with Saycon Sengbloh and Laura Kariuki. Yeah, they played the mother and daughter on the Wonder Years and say, Con or as I call them, pronounce it say say song, because I that’s how I remember that she pronounced it back when she was in Iowa.

So maybe things have changed. She talks about working with Patti LaBelle. Come on, Patti LaBelle is your mother in law. That has to be something. And and then her path, too, was a lot different than then. Laura’s in terms of getting a career going and what they’re doing. She was big Broadway as well. She had she was in all the big shows.

She was in Aida, she was in Wicked. She was in hair. When they did the revival of Air. But then she got Tony nominations for a play and not a musical. So she really in the two years she was on the TV series Scandal and a couple of others, she hasn’t been singing. This is kind of her big shot at putting her singing on TV.

And when you see that choir episode, you’ll go, Oh my God, what a voice. She needs to be doing more singing. Her last film role was in respect. She played Aretha Franklin’s sister and they were together singing, but it wasn’t like an Aretha solo. So yeah, it’s fun to hear what they have to say. You’ll enjoy their whole.

How long had they been talking to you about doing a music episode? Well, did a little music in the first season as well, because, you know, Dooley’s character plays a music teacher and he right leader. And then of course, I’m a singer and, you know, I moonlight in between my accounting, Lillian’s singing, but you know that Miss Patti LaBelle was coming.

It was like Patti’s coming to town. Like, I mean, I was lot more excited than even a kid waiting for Santa Claus. It was it was the best thing ever to get to sing with Patti LaBelle. Did you ask her any advice? You know, I actually did. I can’t share all of that. I asked Patti some personal advice.

You know, you know, she is the ultimate glamor diva, a singing domestic goddess, of course. Right. So she brings so much history and allure with her career that, you know, of course, I had to I had to pick her ear a little bit. We did a Broadway show together years ago called Fela, So and I didn’t get to talk with her as much.

I think I was more shy. So it was really nice to to be all grown up and get to experience. Mr. LaBelle Well, and may I just tell you, it’s one of my favorite episodes because I really think it brings your character out. I think she she really comes into her own. Did you start in a in a church choir?

Was that how you started singing? Incidentally, I started in the choir in middle school. I was singing in middle school choirs. I sang a little bit in church. Vivian much loved her. She she does all the church singing in my family and she pulls me in from time to time. But I started off singing in, you know, the chorus, the middle school and the show choir, jazz hands all.

Well, it was meant to be, right? Yes. And we have to. Laura is kind of shy about her singing, but Ann is a beautiful singer as well. We got to get her to sing. And I think there’s an opening in the choir, right? Yeah. Oh, Lord. You do have if you get fun with and Jackie, which I think is just the coolest, because we all need an Aunt Jackie in our lives somewhere, Right?

Well, how is it being rebellious? Is that a fun part of this character? It’s one of the best parts of this character. I feel like Laura myself, I’ve I’ve always been a pretty by the books girl and not really rebellious. So getting to play a character who sticks up for herself, like to her parents kind of does what she wants to do, still being respectful.

But, you know, she’s got she’s a rebellious little girl. So Kim is very, very fun to play. And the fan favorite word is shenanigans. Shenanigans up to some generic. Right. But her her clothes, she gets to have the coolest clothes, the coolest wardrobe. I, I want to take everything home. I would wear most of that stuff now. Kim has such cool and it’s even in the jewelry and the skirts and the boots and oh, I love her fashion.

But Suzanne, you don’t get those kind of clothes. You get it looks like polyester. You get a lot of polyester to wear. You know what? You know what I get? I get those waist control girdles. You know, I love it. I you know, I’m a fan of Dita Von Teese and she’s all, you know, the whole burlesque glamor, the bodysuits and all that.

So. So I love I love all that waist control as one of my favorite things. I love the vintage vibes of it all. So we have fun. But yet every day Laura comes on set and just shut the down. Every time she comes in and we’re like, because she’s she’s given like a supermodel vibe. She wants right legs.

You can’t deny it. You cannot deny Laura and her boots and her starts. She’s undeniable. How did you two bond on this show? And with with the guys, too. But how did you become that kind of mother daughter relationship? Because it seems stronger this year. You know, I think we’re closer. We’re probably closer to each other then. Then we hang out with each other.

We have a little molly-mae. Laura would be like, You want to get dinner? So say me a little text message. So I think we’ve just had a nice opportunity to spend time or the pandemic is not pandemic ing as much. So we were able to be together more, I think just life and being actresses. And, you know, we sneak off to the corner and have a little talk, you know, wouldn’t say yes or so I feel like all of us season one already, like bonded super well together and then season two just expanded even more.

There’s Laura asked you advice or not. Yes icon like she’s been in the industry so I’m very very fresh so I will always ask for advice, whatever I need. And she’s helped me a lot with a lot of any of the press from her. You know, she this is like her second gig. It’s like she got two major TV shows coming right out of school.

So, like, I’m telling her, just take the bull by the horns and work girl as this time period ring true it all for you. I mean, you see things that you guys can relate to because it is against your it isn’t really your time period. Oh, 100%. And I think that’s what makes our show really, really beautiful is, yes, it’s taking place in the 1960s, but a lot of people are still having boy issues.

People are still having arguments with their parents. People are still dealing with the world. Then, as we are now, things are very, very still very, very relevant. No matter the time period. Yeah, a lot of serious topics. Even Roe v Wade, which was happening in that era originally, and now it’s become a topic again. The the the life issues.

Life doesn’t stop life. And, you know, from from the sixties decade to the 2020s decade it’s it’s it’s a powerful thing to to be a human being in this world having lived through that era, I, I could relate to a lot of things that you guys are doing. But it surprised me how totally different it is from the first wonder years.

I mean, it is a total different show, but it’s things that I related to because I had black friends during that time and I remember them pulling back, if you will, when they’re with around people who were not black. And they would just there would be a different attitude. And I see that in this show as well, where there’s just you know, it’s a little I’m not going to confront you about this and I’ll just pull back.

Do you see that as well? I it’s just that’s interesting. You spoke about pulling back. You know, the civil rights movement was very strong in the late sixties, in the early to mid to late, you know, I mean. Right. So much happening in this country. And we did also have a resurgence of people fighting for their rights, for equal and fair treatment in life and not being unfairly targeted.

I don’t know about pulling back. I guess it depends on who you’re around and and what’s going on. But definitely a lot of things that that happened in that era are still in a place of change is still happening. But also love is still happening. Choose and picket in a college is still happening. All the things that that that happened on the original Wonder Years in terms of family dynamic, that real family dynamic is here our show as well.

And you know, I look at it like like Star Trek, there’s just different universes. You know, there’s different different worlds and different people, you know, But I could I could see so many different ways that the Wonder Years could appear with different types of families. Right. I’m so glad you’re back. I really missed you. And I. Let’s get singing.

Come on. That’s that’s the bottom line here. The choir is in session. Oh, yeah. We had a lot fun in the church. Just even in between scenes, some of the costars and the guest stars. There was one lady who she was in the choir and she was just like the the the characters who were in some of those scenes and watching them interact with Miss LaBelle was just, Oh, it was awesome.

All right, Bruce, thank you again for those interviews. So it looks like I’ve got to actually reach out to Dulé Hill, get caught up, you know, since we were such good friends in high school. And just see. Come on. Exactly. Exactly. So just about your shared wonder years. Right. Exactly. Growing up in Sayreville, New Jersey, these are our wonder years.

Oh, yeah. Maybe I’ll say, Weren’t you that kid? I hate it. I think you hit it in school, you know, And then you go, Oh, no, no, that wasn’t me. That was my brother. That was my brother. Right. But, you know, next week we’ve got Father’s Day coming up and maybe we need to talk about fathers next week.

Yeah, we can do that. Yeah, well, if you’ve got an idea about Father’s Day, maybe it’s our week. Maybe. All right, Bruce, thanks again. And thank you all for listening to streamed and screened.