'Dinner & a Movie'
Ingredients:
One organic co-host, Paul Gilmartin
One organic co-host/chef, Claud Mann
One fresh co-host, Lisa Kushell
One slightly aged movie
One meal, loosely themed to featured movie
Three cups wacky banter
1. Mix original co-hosts with Kushell.
2. Add wacky banter.
3. Spice liberally with ironic jabs and good-natured ribbing. Let sit.
4. Add meal and featured movie.
5. Combine with hosts.
6. Bake at 8 p.m. Mondays on TBS Superstation (Cox cable channel 7) for two hours.
7. Serve hot.
The recipe for "Dinner & a Movie" is relatively easy to follow, one reason the TBS show has been a popular dish for eight years now.
The format is simple enough:
Two comedic co-hosts (Gilmartin and Kushell) along with Mann, plan and cook a meal during breaks in a featured flick.
The meals are always tied to the movie:
The idea of combining movies and eats into a two-hour TV show works so well, it's little wonder no one thought of it earlier.
Still, even Gilmartin is surprised at "Dinner & a Movie's" success.
"It's pretty amazing. I'm really proud that we've stayed on as long as we have," Gilmartin, 39, said in a recent interview from the "Dinner & a Movie" production offices in Burbank, Calif.
"I think we've kind of opened a lot of people's eyes in the business as to what you can do with interstitial programming what they call it when you are hosting a program but you're not the main program; you're between the movie and a TV commercial. I think we've done a good job of taking a medium and doing a lot with it."
"Dinner & a Movie" originally aired on Friday nights, until nearly two years ago when the three-in-one cooking/comedy/movie program was pitted against ABC's "Monday Night Football."
Even with the new night and increased competition, however, "Dinner & a Movie" has continued to draw an audience. The show attracts more women viewers than men, making it the perfect counter-programming vehicle to the male-oriented, prime-time NFL showcase.
"A lot of people were kind of bummed when we moved from Friday because our show feels like a Friday-night show," Gilmartin said. "But I trust that (the network brass) knows what they're doing and if it's not working, they can always move us back to Fridays."
Kushell was one of the those Friday night viewers -- sort of.
Perhaps best known as a regular cast member of Fox's "Mad TV" during 1997-'98, Kushell was fond of "Dinner & a Movie" before she took over for original co-host Annabelle Gurwitch this year.
"I would come across it and leave it on, but I would go out for the night. So I wasn't very familiar with the show," Kushell, 30, said from the "Dinner & a Movie" studios. "But everyone knows the show. Everyone's seen it, to varying degrees."
Stepping in as a replacement host, however, was not easy for Kushell.
One of the bigger factors in "Dinner & a Movie's" success had always been the chemistry between Gilmartin and Gurwitch.
The co-hosts seemed playfully at odds with each other, even a bit flirtatious.
"It took me at least a year to figure out how to relate to Annabelle," Gilmartin said. "Annabelle and I always had a love-hate relationship. That's the reason they cast us; we clashed in the audition.
"I thought they were crazy when they cast us. That's what took me time. I wanted to hide that tension instead of using it."
Then the actress left the show to "move on to bigger and better things," as Gilmartin put it.
So the challenge was finding that type of chemistry again. And on Kushell's first audition for "Dinner & a Movie," the chemistry was not there.
"Paul had to leave because he got really sick," she said. "So my first audition was with Claud the chef and Larry (Del La Guardia) the repairman."
But it didn't matter to Kushell who was there. She felt an immediate connection to the show.
"It sounds silly, but I really felt like I belonged there," she said. "The second time I was on the show, I felt like I was coming home."
Two months later, Kushell learned she landed the gig full time.
She has since taped several episodes of "Dinner & a Movie," the new season of which began Monday. Over the weekend she appeared in a cooking demonstration with chef Mann at the Fourth Annual Taste of Vegas Art- Cuisine-Music Festival at Clark County Government Amphitheater.
Gilmartin said he is still building his relationship with Kushell and determining how best to play off their chemistry.
However, he says, they are off to a great start. While both co-hosts are married, recently Gilmartin and his wife and Kushell and her husband met for dinner.
"I think it's pretty weird when you want to spend time outside of work with someone you work with," Gilmartin said.
And, he said, that's the secret behind the show's success. Everyone genuinely likes each other.
"It's a very rare working environment for television because ... we get along so well and there isn't a lot of ego clashing. Everybody is just really concerned with putting on the funniest show."
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