 |
 The cast of Sit Down, Shut Up (left to right): Happy the custodian (voice of Tom Kenny), Helen Klench (Cheri Oteri), Willard Deutschebog (Henry Winkler), Ennis Hofftard (Will Arnett), Sue Sezno (Kenan Thompson), Andrew Legustambos (Nick Kroll), Miracle Grohe (Kristin Chenoweth), Miracle's unnamed baby, Larry Littlejunk (Jason Bateman) and Stuart Proszakian (Will Forte). The series debuts Sunday on Global and Fox. |
As Arthur (The Fonz) Fonzarelli on Happy Days, Henry Winkler once was the epitome of cool.
But as the voice of Willard Deutschebog in the new animated series Sit Down, Shut up, Winkler is as un-cool as you can get. Willard's life can be summed up in his catch phrase: "If I believed in reincarnation, I'd kill myself tonight."
In some ways, Winkler's role in Sit Down, Shut Up -- which premieres Sunday on Global and Fox -- merely continues the humiliations he suffered as lawyer Barry Zuckerkorn in Arrested Development.
And it's no coincidence that both Sit Down, Shut Up and Arrested Development come from the creative mind of writer and executive producer Mitch Hurwitz.
So what did Winkler ever do to Hurwitz, huh? Or is there merely something inherently hilarious about presenting the former Fonz as a total loser?
"(Hurwitz) has tapped into my soul," Winkler said.
|
"I see Mitch not only as a genius writing comedy, but he's also a psychologist. I think he found the real Henry.
"Playing Barry, that was out there. But Willard has such a hard time. He takes a lot of medicine.
"There might be (something automatically funny about embarrassing the Fonz), but I think I'm able to bring that kind of character alive without making fun of him. That's what I'm able to do as a professional, and thankfully Mitch sees it."
Sit Down, Shut Up focuses on the staff at a Florida high school. It's based on a live-action show from Australia and features a unique animated look in that the backgrounds are real settings.
A number of Arrested Development folks have reunited for Sit Down, Shut Up.
Besides Winkler and Hurwitz, there's Jason Bateman as Larry Littlejunk and Will Arnett as Ennis Hofftard.
The other main voices in Sit Down, Shut Up belong to Saturday Night Live products Kenan Thompson as Sue Sezno, Will Forte as Stuart Proszakian and Cheri Oteri as Helen Klench; multi-talented Kristin Chenoweth as Miracle Grohe; Nick Kroll as Andrew Legustambos; and Tom Kenny -- the voice of SpongeBob SquarePants -- as Happy the custodian.
Winkler won a Daytime Emmy Award in 2005 for his voice work as Norville on the PBS kids' show Clifford's Puppy Days. But both as Barry Zuckerkorn and Willard Deutschebog, Winkler has a way of conveying comedic desperation that brings to mind Woody Allen.
"That makes me feel great, it really does," said Winkler, 63.
"What I do is, I try to please the genius. Mitch (Hurwitz) is one of the three geniuses I've worked with so far in my life -- Garry Marshall (creator of Happy Days), Adam Sandler (who co-starred with Winkler in The Waterboy) and now Mitch. It's just the truth."
Sometimes when actors embody iconic characters early in their careers, they spend the rest of their lives wrestling with it. But Winkler found a way to navigate those choppy waters.
"Absolutely, I was type-cast," Winkler said. "People would say, 'We love Henry, but you know, he's the Fonz,' and I would not get work because of that.
"But you have to figure it out. For a while I started to produce. And the fact is, you're in charge, and the only thing you can control is your own life.
"I never wanted to be a flash in the pan. I never wanted you to say, 'I wonder where he is now?' I'm a happy guy and I'm a grateful guy, because it could have gone another way."
Speaking of Winkler's ongoing career, he is scheduled to be part of the supposedly upcoming and incessantly talked-about Arrested Development movie.
"Well, Mitch says I am," Winkler said. "We're going to find out whether he's a liar.
"I'm hoping we find Barry in a karaoke bar dressed in chiffon."
Well, if that's the case, there's a good chance Willard Deutschebog will be there, too.