www.idiotsite.com has a nice thing of updated news. I found this Colin interview that was on the site. The Drew Carey Show is said to have atleast one more season, I read that on idiotsite too. Here is that interview:
Making a ‘Mochrie’ of himself
By RYAN HEINZ
Eagle Staff Writer
Colin Mochrie very well could have been a marine biologist today had a friend not talked him into trying out for a high school play. He soon put all of his science classes behind him after he got his first laugh from an audience. From then on, the shy Canadian (who was born in Scotland) became a junkie for the reaction. Theatre school followed, as did his witnessing of a comedy improv demonstration.
"I thought, ‘Oh, this is even better. You don't have to really know anything.’ It worked out nicely," a soft-spoken Mochrie said via phone from Toronto.
Although you may have seen Colin in any number of things, chances are the one that sticks out is his recurring role on "Whose Line Is it Anyway?” He would be the slightly balding funnyman who's occasionally clad in a Hawaiian shirt and always hilarious alongside castmate/longtime friend Ryan Stiles. On Feb. 28, he and fellow Second City alum Andrew Currie will ride their mopeds into town "Easy Rider"-style for some definite comedic hijinks.
But until then, he waxed philosophic on the Conan O'Brien controversy in Canada, acting alongside a young Molly Ringwald and why Macomb makes him think of large black birds.
Eagle: In 1983, you made your big film breakthrough with a role in the modern classic "Spacehunter: Adventures in the Forbidden Zone."
Colin Mochrie: Yes, a true classic.
E: What were you most amazed by – working with Molly Ringwald during her prime, seeing yourself in 3-D or that the film actually recouped its expenses?
CM: Did it? Did it actually? [laughs] It seemed like it was a bit of a jinx production. I think the original director got fired and there seemed to be injuries to the stuntmen every day. We used to have a little pool as to who was going to get hurt that day. They didn't really treat the extras very well. The last shot of the shooting schedule was blowing up the world of Overdog, the bad guy. So, there was maybe like 300 of us and they said, "Just keep running and these little bombs will go off. Just don't step on them." But they wouldn't tell us where they were. So there was actually true panic in the last scene of that movie. But it was interesting. It was a long, tedious process because they had those giant 3-D movie cameras they were filming with and Molly Ringwald kept singing opera.
E: Sounds somewhat surreal.
CM: Yeah, but it was fun. Ryan (Stiles) was also there, so we played cards a lot.
E: Speaking of Ryan, that leads us to your true breakthrough with "Whose Line Is it Anyway?" You made your first appearance in 1991, which from what I understand, was kind of a flop.
CM: I was really frustrated after that first show because it was totally my fault that it didn't go well. Well, not totally, but I'd like to take some of the blame. One of the problems was I didn't meet some of the people I was working with until like two hours before the show, which is always a little difficult in improv. It helps if you know the people – like Ryan and I have been improvising (together) for 25 years, so it's really second nature now. Also, because it was in England, I was nervous and I thought, Are they going to get my stuff? I psyched myself out and it didn't go well. After that I just thought, Well, I guess that's it. But luckily they decided to shoot like four or five (episodes) in New York and they wanted some American performers. What was nice was the British performers went through the exact same thing I went through; they psyched themselves out. So that sort of relaxed me. For those shows I was paired with Ryan, who I'd known for a long time, so I was very comfortable with him. I felt like I was on my home turf and had some very good shows. It just sort of built from there.
E: You've mentioned knowing Ryan for more than a few decades now, and –
CM: Geez, it sounds worse when you put it that way. But yeah. [laughs]
E: After working so closely with him for such a long time, do you ever just find yourself wanting to kick him in the head?
CM: [pause] Interesting question. Yeah, I have wanted to kick him in the head. I think what helps is we never see each other and we never talk much. He lives in Los Angeles and I live in Toronto, so the only times we ever see each other is when we're doing shows. I guess it keeps it fresh that way. And he never calls me. I always leave messages on his machine, but [takes on sarcastic tone] he's a big star now, so he'll never call me back.
But when I see him, no matter how long of a time has passed, it's just like we saw each other yesterday. It's like one of those great friendships where we don't have to talk to keep in touch and be good friends.
E: "Whose Line" has obviously been very successful for you, but when sifting through your filmography, I noticed in 1995 you landed the coveted role of "Bus Driver" in an episode of "Kung Fu: The Legend Continues." Did you think to yourself then, Finally, after all of these years, I've made it – or were you just in too much awe of the legend himself, David Carradine, to think at all?
CM: Well, I was excited because it was one of the first roles I had offered (ITALICS) to me – like I didn't have to audition, so I thought it was the big time. It was basically because a friend of mine was one of the producers on the show. I never actually got to see David; I think he was in his trailer at some point or something. [laughs] But, you know, it was a day's work and I got to wear a bus drivers' uniform. I'm still surprised it didn't win any kind of awards for my portrayal. Who said showbusiness was fair?
E: Exactly. From what I understand, you're a pretty good cook. Have you ever thought about doing your own show – maybe like "Cooking with Colin" – or better yet, why not combine your improvising and culinary skills to give it a go on "The Iron Chef"?
CM: [cautiously] Yeah. [laughs] I've never thought about doing a cooking show because nothing is more horrifying to me than having to be myself in front of the camera. In "Whose Line" we are ourselves in a way, but we don't really dwell on that – we're just too busy doing sort of goofy things. If I had to talk to a camera and a studio audience while cooking, that would just sort of destroy the fun of cooking for me. It would make it a job.
E: Do you know much about the town of Macomb?
CM: No, nothing.
E: OK, well, when you hear the name Macomb, what do you expect to see when you roll into to town for your performance?
CM: You know what, I don't know why, but I feel as we drive up there's going to be lines of black birds just sitting on the roofs of buildings, staring at us as we drive in. I don't know why that is, but that was the first image when I heard the name. I don't know, maybe I thought of "macaw" or something.
E: It sounds like the start of a very weird Hitchcock film or something.
CM: It really does.
E: That's kind of creepy. Um, moving on, the Internet Movie Database has Captain Hair listed as your nickname. Yet, I can't help but notice your lack of a long, flowing mane. What gives?
CM: Well, it was one of the happy by-products of being on "Whose Line Is it Anyway?" We were doing sort of a superhero improv and the audience came up with my superhero name, which was Captain Hair. And this just tickled (ITALICS)everyone so much that it just sort of stuck. And of course, it was all (host) Drew (Carey) called me for like the next three shows. Every chance he got, he'd call me Captain Hair.
E: I'm sure you've heard about Conan O'Brien – while shooting on location for a week in Canada – getting flack for a Triumph the Insult Comic Dog skit making fun of the French. Do the French just have a poor sense of humor or was the joke just done in bad taste?
CM: Well, my thing is, you come across someone called Triumph the Insult Dog, you pretty much know what you're going to be getting. I think everyone's so sensitive these days. You know, everyone wants to be politically correct, which sometimes can be the death of comedy. If Triumph went up to a bunch of ethnic white guys, insulted them, then there wouldn't have been any outrage whatsoever. It would have been funny. But also up here, the politicians got hold of it and they love to sort of make a big ado about nothing. I mean, for me, the Janet Jackson thing – when that became a week of front-page news, I thought, My god people, there really are other things we could be working on instead when you think of the issues that affect the world today like war, poverty and illness. It's like the two things in the last 20 years that have upset people the most (are) Janet Jackson flashing her breast and when Classic Coke became New Coke. [laughs] I've never seen people come together so quickly for anything. I think everyone just sort of needs to take a pill — relax.
