Producer sings new tune for CBS with ‘Monkey’

By Cynthia Littleton

LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) – Writer-producer Michael
Rauch never thought he’d have two primetime shows on his hands
this year.

But in August just as he launched his first series, the ABC
Family drama “Beautiful People,” CBS handed him an
eight-episode midseason pickup of the comedy-drama “Love
Monkey,” much to his surprise.

“In my mind when I wrote the pilot, I felt very free
creatively because I was thinking, ‘They’re never going to make
this show,”‘ Rauch says.

CBS, however, begged to differ. “Love Monkey,” based on
Kyle Smith’s 2004 guy-lit novel of the same name, is slated to
bow January 17 in the 10 p.m. Tuesday berth. And the day after
he wraps production on “Love Monkey” in New York next month,
Rauch will get on a plane to Toronto to begin production on the
second season of “Beautiful People.”

It’s all big change of pace for Rauch, who gained attention
in Hollywood as the writer-director of the 2000 indie feature
“In the Weeds,” though he is hardly complaining. His TV career
has gone from bubbling up to boiling over in the past year.
Best of all, he’s done it on his own terms, with both shows.
“Love Monkey” is a major tonal departure for CBS, revolving
around the romantic misadventures of a thirtysomething record
label guy in New York who finds himself looking for love in all
the wrong places.

“Even after we got picked up, I was kind of afraid that
there would be a big meeting and (CBS executives) would say,
‘We love the pilot, but now we’ve got to open Episode 2 on a
dead body, and we’ll bring in a forensic pathologist who also
loves music,” Rauch says. “But it never happened. From CBS,
(producers) Paramount and Sony on down, the creative support on
this show could not have been better.”

“Love Monkey” is grounded by the strength of Tom Cavanagh,
the former “Ed” star who is a perfect fit in the role of the
earnest, Dylan-quoting Tom Farrell. (“When you ain’t got
nothin’, you got nothin’ to lose,” Farrell quotes during the
pilot from “Like a Rolling Stone” after he loses his job at
Goliath Music.) The supporting cast, which includes Judy Greer,
Jason Priestley and Larenz Tate, also manages to break out of
the typical quirky-friends mold, particularly Greer in her role
as Farrell’s platonic best friend, Bran.

Rauch, an inveterate New Yorker and graduate of Columbia
University Film School, admits he fell for Smith’s novel
because in so many ways he is the lead character, from the
location of his apartment to his commitment-phobic love life.
Rauch tweaked the setting of the novel by transforming Farrell
from a tabloid journalist to a music devotee, a character
inspired by Nic Harcourt, host of public radio’s influential
“Morning Becomes Eclectic” program and a co-producer on “Love
Monkey” as well as an old friend of Rauch’s who lived the A&R
guy club-hopping life for years.

Authenticity is important to Rauch and his fellow executive
producers, Mark Johnson and John Wirth. Music from a wide range
of artists is woven into the storytelling, and the series is
shot on location in New York, usually in locales far removed
from the familiar glitz and glamour of Manhattan.

“We’re trying to keep every episode feeling like a mini
independent film,” Rauch says. “This is a show that is all
about passion. Tom has a passion for music and a longing to
find love. And it’s the same for (the production team).
Television is such a difficult, tough business to succeed in.
You don’t get into it unless you’re passionate about it.”

Reuters/Hollywood Reporter