David Cassidy on the Web
Shaun Cassidy Talks about Ruby and the Rockits
His Latest Project is a Family Affair
July 26, 2009
By Francine Brokaw
http://prime-time-sitcoms.suite101.com
"I wanted to do a show that had brothers," he states. Shaun has three brothers who are all part of this show in one form or another.
Shaun Cassidy was once a teen idol, back in the 1970s. He also starred as Joe Hardy in The Hardy Boys TV series. He is a singer, actor, writer, and producer, and his latest project is Ruby and the Rockits on ABC Family.
A Throwback to the Sitcoms of the Past
"This duo thing is really funny because most of them don't get along, and yet they're stuck working together. You know, Oates doesn't do very well without Hall. Garfunkel without Simon. And I just think that's a funny dynamic, especially if you've got brothers, because there's all this history that you can mine for laughs and emotion, or whatever. I pitched that to ABC and they said, 'Well, we really don't do the old school family comedies any more.'" He explains, "This is sort of a throw back to Cosby and Family Ties and it's not really aimed at kids and it's not completely aimed at adults, it's for really for everybody." He said that ABC told him that their other network, ABC Family would be best suited for his new show. "They don't really do the Cosby like stuff on network anymore."
Shaun went to the network and, as he explains, "I actually pitched it with my brothers. And we went in with David and Patrick and initially David was going to be the dad and Pat was going to be the one. And they saw David and Pat and they said, hmm, and it turns out, they were right."
A Brotherly Dynamic On and Off the Set
Shaun Cassidy has given up acting and is more comfortable these days on the other side of the camera. "David and I worked together, like, fifteen years ago on Broadway in a show called Blood Brothers, which is the last time I acted. And I didn't even want to do that, frankly. But I had a great time and whatever. But, you know, we're drawing on autobiographical stuff in this show and we're kind of making fun of ourselves. And I'm not in the show, but I'm still making fun of myself because I'm in that dynamic, with the brother. I'm Patrick's older brother and David's younger brother and I've basically played both parts."
Cassidy is extremely comfortable talking about his life, work, and family. "My dirty little secret is I actually wrote a comedy. The first thing I ever wrote was a half hour comedy called Fear of Family. It did not sell. And the second script I wrote was American Gothic, which did, so that sort of set me on that path of doing a little more of the heightened drama stuff, which I love doing, and I will continue to do. But, the opportunity arose for Patrick and David and Ryan, he's our set dresser, to all work together, and here we are. And I have some very talented people in the comedy area, a lot more experienced than I."
Alexa Vega is Ruby
Alexa Vega, the young star selected to play Ruby, David's daughter in the show, is an actor for which Shaun Cassidy says he has tremendous admiration. "She's really an extraordinary actor. She's, I mean, she's like Meryl Streep-good, and I know that's saying a lot, but she came in and she just had this, (let's just say) she's a very old person, old soul, and great comedy chops, really, just a really truthful actor."
In the show, David plays a singer who just discovered he has a fifteen-year-old daughter. He's not father material and every week he makes many mistakes when it comes to his daughter Ruby. And Shaun describes the character on a father scale as "maybe after Homer Simpson."
Ruby and the Rockits airs Tuesday nights on ABC Family.
