The Badger Herald

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Chris Hardwick still alive and kickin’

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Also by Matthew Rodbard:

Five for The Sights (April 3, 2003)
Five for OK GO (October 10, 2002)
Five for Mark Mallman (September 26, 2002)
Tammy Ealom: a real 'Dressy Bessy' (May 9, 2002)
Electric Mayhem: Rodbard's last hurrah (May 9, 2002)

by Matthew Rodbard

Wednesday, November 7, 2001

Chris Hardwick was rollin’ high in the mid-1990s. There were the hundreds of make-up caked, faux-actresses passing along their numbers during the always intriguing walk of shame. There was Jenny and her fabulous cheetah prints. And Jacinda; who can forget the RW4 Aussie model/crusher? Then it all went away. No show, no love on the outback. No VMAs. But recently things have gotten better for the 31-year-old host of Shipmates, the Blind Date/Love Boat concoction of a reality show. Speaking from his brand new SoHo digs, Hardwick spoke about Roger Lodge, sitcom television, and being dissed by Carmen Elektra.

Badger Herald: You’re not really on the ships during your parts of the show. Aren’t you just in a studio?

Chris Hardwick: Ah, yeah. We shoot those in New York

BH: So why not go on the ships? I mean, you’re destined to get some easy play.

CH: I thought it was a good idea at first, but then our producer said that if I start going on the ships, I’ll have to go on every cruise. I reconsidered after that.

BH: How did you get involved with the project?

CH: The studio who does the show is Columbia Tri Star, and I did a sitcom for them a few years ago on UPN.

BH: I missed that one.

CH: Most people did. It was called Guys Like Us. It came out the year that had like four shows about two young guys raising a kid.

BH: Like Three Men and a Baby, minus a man?

CH: Yes, I was the crazy roommate. So we did that for a year, and then it went away.

BH: You just moved to New York. Where’s your crib?

CH: [timidly] SoHo.

BH: Ah, that must have been hard to land.

CH: It was surprisingly easy. I am actually subletting from a guy that I know in LA.

BH: How is Shipmates different from the other reality crap clogging the TV?

CH: I like to think that we don’t take ourselves as seriously as the other shows. There is not really as much of that fake drama.

BH: How absurd is reality television?

CH: I’m not a huge fan of it. There has been this interesting shift. Reality television has been the soap operas of the late ’90s. I mean, look at the soap operas today. Everyone has brought in a supernatural element. They don’t know what to do, so they bring in witchcraft or vampires. It’s not the doctor banging the nurse anymore, it’s who slept with the vampire.

BH: Do you have a good relationship with MTV right now?

CH: Not really. It’s kind of nonexistent.

BH: Do you at least hang out with Jenny [McCarthy] still?

CH: I saw Jenny at the [MTV] 20th-anniversary party, so we partied then, but we really don’t hang out.

BH: Did you like working with her better than that other person with the large breasts?

CH: I knew Jenny the best. I didn’t really know Carmen [Elektra] that well. We never hung out. When I saw Carmen at the 20th-anniversary party, I don’t think she knew who I was. She was walking by and I said, “hey, how’s it going?” And she gave me one of those blank stares with a half “hi.” Maybe I cut my hair or something.

BH: Can you kick Roger Lodge’s ass?

CH: Don’t know, it looks like he is in pretty good shape. I don’t know what his background is, but mine is standup. He seems like a straight host. Really, what we both do is direct traffic and slip obnoxious comments in when need be. You put a gorilla in a top hat, and they can host our shows.

BH: Are you still dating that girl from the Real World?

CH: No, Jacinda and I broke up a few years ago.

BH: How the hell did you hook up with her? It was like a Flintstones meets the Jetsons type crossover.

CH: We had a mutual friend at MTV. She never thought it would last four years.

BH: Did you watch her on TV and know you wanted a piece?

CH: I only watched one season, the L.A. season, and refused to watch it again. It made me so mad. I actually watched Jacinda for a month. She was back in Australia. I don’t recommend that, especially the episode where her boyfriend at the time went on the show.

BH: Did MTV ever approach you to do TRL when they were writing that show?

CH: No, I was long gone before that. Once you don’t work there anymore, their attitude is that they are done with you. They won’t give you tickets to the award shows.

BH: You can’t score tickets to the VMAs?

CH: [laughing] Since I just moved to New York I actually requested for some tickets to the VMAs, and I got a message back saying that I can buy them for $600. My show made your station millions of dollars.

BH: Who of note have you been bangin’ these days?

CH: I’m actually not dating anyone right now.

BH: AH! I expect more from Chris Hardwick.

Look for Chris’ stand-up special, November 30th on Comedy Central.