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'Raising Hope' creator offers hints for new season

'Raising Hope' creator Greg Garcia talks inspiration for the show and Greyson Chance's appearance.

Your very own TV Addict was recently given the opportunity to sit down with creator Greg Garcia at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Los Angeles where he candidly talked about his inspiration for the show (鈥淩ich people are annoying鈥�), the genesis of tonight鈥檚 special guest star Greyson Chance (鈥淗e鈥檚 just amazing鈥�) and the series premiere you won鈥檛 see (鈥淚 was going to do an episode which basically said that she [Hope's mom] survived the execution.鈥�). See for yourself, after the jump.

Is it safe to assume that an Emmy nomination for the likes of Martha Plimpton and Cloris Leachman is also a victory for a writer such as yourself?

Greg Garcia: Anytime the show is recognized is fantastic. To get Martha [Plimpton] and Cloris [Leachman] nominated, it is great for the writers because that鈥檚 a representation of our work as well and just to be among the crowd that night when you鈥檙e watching the Emmys and you see, 鈥淥h RAISING HOPE, they鈥檙e nominated, I haven鈥檛 watched that show yet, maybe i鈥檒l check that out鈥� you never know. Anytime you can get more mentions is good, so it鈥檚 great, I鈥檓 thrilled for them and was saying look, I can look at every single category and make a case as to why we should be nominated in each one as can any showrunner of any show who loves their show. So we鈥檙e thrilled for them and hopefully there is more to come in the future for us.

What is your take on getting bumped from the plum post-GLEE timeslot this season. Do you think having a more compatible lead-in such as the NEW GIRL will work out in RAISING HOPE鈥檚 favor?

I think it will definitely work in our favor. I was thrilled to see that we were being moved to 9:30PM. I think the NEW GIRL is a better lead out for GLEE, I think a better lead in to us. i think it really kind of bridges that gap better than what we had and it is a very funny show. I saw it, Zooey Deschanel I鈥檇 watch her in anything, she鈥檚 absolutely charming. I tried to get her to play a role early on when we shot the pilot, I tried to get her to play the character that ultimately went to Bijou Phillips, who was fantastic by the way, I tried to get Zooey to do it early on. I think it will be great. I鈥檓 looking forward to it and I hope we do good numbers coming out of it.

Considering that the show is about your everyday lower-to-middle class family, do you ever find yourself wondering why more people aren鈥檛 tuning into this show that might be far more reflective of the actual average American family?

I don鈥檛 know. I don鈥檛 think too much about that. I鈥檝e always liked shows like ROSEANNE, that鈥檚 what I鈥檝e always been drawn to. But who鈥檚 to say, sometimes people want to watch shows that are relatable and other times they want to watch lifestyle porn. They want to watch ENTOURAGE because they don鈥檛 have that lifestyle and they want a window into that world. So I guess it just depends on the person. All I can say is that I feel like we have a nice core audience and I hope it keeps building as more people watch it.

Between RAISING HOPE and MY NAME IS EARL you seem to have a real fascination with the slightly less fortunate, financially speaking. Does that have something to do with how you grew up?

No, not really. I grew up when I was real little my dad drove a cab and it wasn鈥檛 like we had a ton of cash or anything like that, a lot of amy family has blue collar jobs, I worked for my Uncle鈥檚 lawn business growing up, like Burt鈥檚, it鈥檚 actually called 鈥楤etter Lawn Service鈥� in Arlington Virginia. My Uncles were mailman, worked for the gas company, blue collar, so I grew up kind of in that world. My friend lived in a trailer park and I would go into that trailer park and i was always fascinated by the trailer park, it was just more interesting to me. I knew poor people and rich people growing up, we were kind of middle class but I was always more interested in going to the trailer park then going to the nicer side of town. I just found those people easier to root for, rich people are annoying.

Internet sensation Greyson Chance guests on the season premiere in flashback form as a 14-year old Jimmy Chance. Was he the obvious choice based on his last name, or was that purely coincidental?

I didn鈥檛 even think about that until somebody pointed that out to me. Honestly, I don鈥檛 remember what their last name is on the show they just call each other by their first name. But we鈥檙e excited about Greyson. We got him for three episodes, the first one is the big one, he鈥檚 13 year old Jimmy in flashbacks, and there were two other episodes where he鈥檒l make smaller appearances, but right now it鈥檚 3 episodes and I鈥檓 looking forward to it. I went to see him with my kids to see him do a little concert at the Hard Rock Cafe, he鈥檚 just amazing. He just sits down at a piano and belts things out, it鈥檚 amazing.

Was there any concern about Chance鈥檚 availability based on his burgeoning music career? Which is to say, he might not be available for future flashbacks should you need him?

Well, we鈥檒l cross that bridge when we come to it. We didn鈥檛 do a lot of 13 year old flashbacks we tend to do a lot of 4 year old flashbacks because that鈥檚 my kid. And it鈥檚 my only chance to see him during the week because I work so hard, so when you see 4-year old Jimmy that鈥檚 my youngest. I hope he does get too big for us, he鈥檚 a sweet kid and I hope he takes off and goes to the moon with his career. That would be okay.

If we could go back to the show鈥檚 pilot for a moment, what was Fox鈥檚 reaction when you told them that you were planning on executing Baby Hope鈥檚 mom, was there any concern that the death penalty might be a bit of a buzz kill when launching a show?

We went back and forth with that really. When I pitched it we killed her then everybody was laughing and they were all cool with it. But then I went back to write the scripts and I was talking about it to my father-in-law. My father-in-law is a right wing guy and I was telling him the concept and he was like, 鈥淵ou can鈥檛 kill her off, you can鈥檛 have her die in the electric chair!鈥� And I was like, 鈥淥h Sh*t, if he doesn鈥檛 think we should die in the electric chair than maybe I鈥檓 making a mistake.鈥� So I actually wrote the pilot where she gets fried and she鈥檚 alive and they can鈥檛 fry her again because there鈥檚 laws against that. So we were going to keep her alive, and we shot all the scenes, tested the pilot and we just felt that the audience wasn鈥檛 interested in being back in prison, they wanted to be back at home with this family and the baby and looking forward I didn鈥檛 really know what I was going to do with her in prison. I鈥檓 not going to redeem her at some point because she鈥檚 killed people. So ultimately we decided to kill her. But on the DVD we have the whole pilot where she is alive so people can check it out, it鈥檚 fun.

I even toyed with at the end of last season, the season finale, we shot it, we have it, it鈥檚 also on the DVD, where Jimmy opens the door on his birthday and she鈥檚 standing there and she says, 鈥淲here鈥檚 my daughter?鈥� and he just throws up. And the idea was going to be at the beginning of the season I was going to do an episode which basically said that she survived the execution, they鈥檝e been hiding her and now she wants the baby back, but at the end of the first episode this year I was going to kill her again. The only reason we didn鈥檛 do it was that we were kind of thinking that over the summer we鈥檇 get some new viewers and then to do the whole thing in the first episode where we introduce this woman only to kill her again it was like maybe that鈥檚 a bad idea, maybe we should do a bread and butter episode of what this show is really like. So as much as I kind of dug the idea, we decided not to do it. But all that stuff is on the DVD

And finally, Jimmy鈥檚 love life. Are we going to see any movement in the Jimmy and Sabrina department this season?

He鈥檚 going to make some strides. We know when and if they鈥檙e going to get together. We made a conscious decision this season to sit down and make that plan. Look, it鈥檚 the only kind of secretive thing we have so I鈥檓 not going to say what it is. But I think last year we didn鈥檛 make a lot of progress with it, and you got to take these things kind of slow, but I do feel like because I didn鈥檛 exactly know where it would ultimately end up I was reticent to do certain things. But now we have more of a long term plan there will be some progress made and I hope people will enjoy it.

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