TV INTERVIEW: TIM MEADOWS

From 'SNL' to Witty Professor on TBS's New Comedy, ‘Glory Daze’

By: Parimal M. Rohit

November 15, 2010

Tim Meadows has come a long way since the days of Saturday Night Live. Quite a mellow actor, Mr. Meadows is back on television again in the new TBS comedy series, Glory Daze, after landing some cool supporting and lead roles in films such as The Ladies' Man, Grown Ups, Mean Girls, and the forthcoming sequel, Mean Girls 2. In playing Professor Haines, Meadows interacts with a young cast--including Matt Bush, Drew Seeley, Hartley Sawyer, Kelly Blatz, and Julianna Guill--in cable television’s latest attempt to produce a nostalgic comedy series set in a 1980s college scene.

Mr. Meadows took a few minutes away from filming an episode of Glory Daze to chat exclusively with Buzzine about the show, Professor Haines, and Saturday Night Live.

Parimal Rohit: You went to college in the '80s. What was your college experience like? Did you experience anything like what we see in the show?

Tim Meadows: I didn’t really do the college thing. I went to Wayne State University in Detroit, which is a commuter college. It was basically like this job, where I drive to a college, go to work, take in the campus, and head back home.

PR: How is being on Glory Daze different from your other television experience, Saturday Night Live?

TM: I like the single-camera way of doing things instead of the multi-camera and live audience, like SNL, where there is a joke every … other … line. Of course, this is way less pressure than SNL, but there is still some pressure in wanting this show to do well, not knowing what is going to happen in editing, and a lot of things are out of your control.

PR: You play a professor on Glory Daze. What or who did you base your character on?

TM: In the pilots, I sort of developed my character on a young Cornell West, before he got really pissed off at things. As we kept filming episodes, we kept adding more things to the character, such as the reasons why he is angry. It’s not racial, but instead the character’s own life.

PR: How did you get involved with the show?

TM: I was given a script to read, and I think the first time I passed because I was up for something else. Then, a little later, they approached me again and they really wanted me to do this--it was going to be a minor role at first but going to be expanded as the show went on.

PR: What do you like most about the show?

PR: I really like the idea . After we did the pilot, the show got picked up and the script started to evolve with the characters. I really liked how everyone became involved with each other (in the story). (The characters) need (the professor) as much as he needs them. They needed the authority figure, and he needs them to show him what life is all about. As we started to get into that, things became really interesting.

TBS's 'Glory Daze' is on Tuesdays at 7:00pm