AOL Talks To David Spade on "Rules of Engagement"

[JamesG]

Rules of Engagement returned to the CBS lineup last week and star David Spade is back as Russell, a man whose single life is juxtaposed against those of his happily coupled pals Jeff and Audrey (Patrick Warburton and Megan Pryce) and Adam and Jennifer (Oliver Hudson and Biance Kajlich).



The laid-back Spade recently sat down with AOL TV to weigh in on Russell now being in a relationship of sorts (Adhir Kalyan, as Russell's assistant Timmy is now full time with the show), Jaime Pressly's upcoming guest gig and those unwarranted shots he took over being in an ad for DirecTV last year with deceased pal Chris Farley.



Why do you think you guys haven't been back until now?

I think that whenever CBS runs out of episodes of other shows, they throw us back on. They probably evaluate every ratings situation.

How did the show do? It's tricky. I think we usually do well, but that's over my head.





The show's mid-season status and the writers' strike in 2008 have resulted in abbreviated seasons.
Would you prefer to do a full season?

Yeah, the strike screwed up our first full season. I will say that I have liked every episode we've done. Maybe that's because the writers have to write 13 episodes instead of 22.

The stories are strong. We've added Timmy. He's been to fun to play off of. We've had a great time.





Adhir is great. People loved him on Aliens in America.

Do you think he was added to Rules partially because of the success of the nerd characters on The Big Bang Theory?

Maybe. We had him on for a few episodes last year to play Russell's assistant. He's not allowed to hire women anymore because he's been sued so many times in the past.

Timmy being here breaks up my character. Russell's not just chasing girls. It's a new element for me. The couples have each other and I have him to mess with now.





What kind of duties does Russell have for Timmy?

I put him in horrible situations. I leave my phone at a girl's house and I tell him you have to go get it for me. I walk in and it's a Bible study group; he says it can't be the right place. It is. He gets engaged and I fall for his chick.

It's all horribly selfish. He hangs in there with me and we have a good time. The show's always been funny. I'm glad it found a new way to get even better.





What can you tell us about Jaime's character?

Jeff and Audrey, the older couple -- which I'm sure they just love being called -- are looking for a surrogate. They talk to Jaime's character about being the surrogate and then I start dating her.

It gets awkward. We don't use a lot of guest stars, but if it fits, it's nice.





Russell had a great line in the pilot to his married pals -- "I'm going to go do whatever I want -- all the time."

I loved that line. I thought this is perfect. "I'm going to go do whatever I want -- all the time."

But then I get jealous they're married. And they're jealous that I'm single.





So what's the show's message -- be happy whether you're single or in a relationship?

Yeah. I feel like in real life that being single can create problems. If I had a real job and had to go to business dinners and didn't have a wife ... you can't bring a different girl each time because it gets weird. You have to fit in.

I believe people get married for that reason. "Look! I'm a couple!"



It's probably not the reason to get married.

I don't think it is, but listen we can't all be in love like Khloe Kardashian.





There were some criticism of the DirecTV commercial you did because it incorporated a clip of your pal Chris Farley, even though his family had given his usage a greenlight.

It was tough taking a beating; I didn't see it coming. It snowballed into an angry mob.

After it aired it was like, "Wait. What are we mad about?" I get that everyone has their own opinion but it was flattering to have 'Tommy Boy' be a part of the commercials.

I thought Chris would have been flattered, too. How can people be made when his family is like, "I love it!"

http://insidetv.aol.com/2010/03/08/d...of-engagement/