John Lehr - 10 Items or Less

January 20, 2008 Jeff Bayer

John Lehr would like to thank you and make sure you come again. The creator and star of “10 Items or Less,” the TBS sitcom about a local grocery store, is beginning the second season of the show. The comedy is almost all improv with no character dialogue written beforehand. Lehr has a history of TV -- and film and stage, for that matter -- and spent time in Chicago, attending Northwestern and performing improv. His wife, author Jennifer Lehr of “Ill-equipped for a Life of Sex: A Memoir,” is pregnant with their second child, and though he loves parenthood, Lehr vows his resolution this year “is to not have any more children. I’m getting it cut. Whatever it takes, I’m done.”

We sat down at the Four Seasons and talked about the sitcom and his time in Chicago, and I even gave him a quiz about his “10 Items” character Leslie Pool.

Bayer: You’ve done a lot of TV shows in your career. What is the difference between network shows and doing this show on TBS? Lehr: In a lot of ways, not that much. The bottom line is, it’s commercial television and you have to sell ad time, and it has to appeal to a wide demo so that ad companies will want to buy bundles of ads. … That being said, there is something about TBS, about Turner, that I really like. It was the only place I wanted to take the show. Maybe because they’re in Atlanta and not in Hollywood, (but) there is a different vibe with them. There’s a lot of room for discussion. In Hollywood, making television, they talk about it like they’re curing cancer. Also, I didn’t want to make a show that communicated only to people in LA and New York. Reaching people in this area means a lot to me; this is where I am from. Bayer: What level of the show is scripted? Lehr: It’s very much like “Spinal Tap” - it’s like my all-time favorite movie. Which (means), as a writer, there is no dialogue. Scripts are about 12 pages long, single spaces. There is a location slug and tons of description. But, here’s the thing, nobody but me in the cast sees the script. We’re trying to get at the spontaneous humor like when you’re with your buddies and you say something super funny, but if it’s typed up it might lose something. I see it almost like I’m a basketball coach and I’m making up plays. The cast loves it because they don’t have to memorize anything. They don’t even have to read anything. Bayer: I was thinking about this, and I don’t mean it in a bad way, I already told you I’m a fan of the show … Are you going to be the funniest show on TV? Lehr: I hope so. Bayer: “Scrubs” has a handful of new episodes left, otherwise I don’t think any sitcoms have any episodes left. Lehr: Maybe we will be. Maybe we’ll be the only comedy on TV. You should be working on our team. Bayer: You’ve done a lot in your career as a performer on stage, TV, movies and as a writer. … Do you consider one of those your best? Lehr: Improv is my thing. I’ve kind of had to divide myself into a writer and an actor to make a living. I was poorly raised probably or something is messed up psychologically, but I am really good at improvisation. Being in that situation and just blithering crap that people seem to laugh at is just what I am good at and I love to do it. Bayer: While you attended Northwestern, did you go to Second City at the same time? Lehr: No, I went to Northwestern for speech education. I wanted to teach theater and speech. And then the “Meow Show” was a campus improv show. Then when I got out, I auditioned for Second City and didn’t get in. So I took classes from them. And I ended up working at this theater company called ED, which for its time did some pretty ground-breaking improv. Got rave reviews and sold out shows. Bayer: Living in Chicago the whole time? Lehr: Yeah, Wrightwood and Racine. Living with a bunch of artists. It was nice then, but it wasn’t like it is now. Bayer: So, “Kicking and Screaming” (by Noah Baumbach) is one of my favorite films. You have to tell me something from that experience. Lehr: I was in all those movies (“Mr. Jealousy,” “Highball”), had the long hair. I was out of control at that time, personally. Carlos Jacott, who was in all of those movies too, and I were both in ED. And Noah and Carlos went to college together back East. So Noah would come out and see the shows. He was this nerdy writer working on this script. And then he sold it and asked me to do it. It was a total joy. Bayer: With “Kicking and Screaming” did you have any hunch it would garner a cult following? Lehr: No. No. If I was to say yes I would be totally lying to you. It felt like a solid project. Noah knew what he was doing and he is so good with actors. Eric Stolz was in that and my very first scene. I remember I had to go up and hug him. He was brought in to do the film, I believe, to help with the financing. He was shooting “Rob Roy,” so he had to fly in and do that scene. And my first scene is with this big movie star, Eric “f**king Stolz” and they said, when you hug him, don’t cover his face. So I’m really nervous, with one line. Eric comes in, and I hug him and say, “Gosh, I hope I didn’t block your light.” And he said, “Listen, all these people, it’s their job to film us.” And that really changed everything for me and I began to stop worrying about hitting all my marks. Bayer: You ready for a quiz? Lehr: Sure. Bayer: OK, Leslie Pool’s (his character from “10 Items or Less”) hometown? Lehr: Well … Bayer: This is on Leslie Pool’s bio on your Web site. Lehr: Oh really? Well, it’s outside Dayton. Does it say that? Bayer: Dayton, Oh. Good job. Lehr: But I like it outside Dayton. Bayer: Next, your astrological sign? Lehr: Leslie’s?! Well, mine is Sagittarius. Is his Sagittarius? Bayer: No it’s Gemini. Bayer: What are Leslie Pool’s traits? I’ll give you two, talkative and social. There are three others. Lehr: Talkative and social? (at this point Lehr looks bewildered) Bayer: As executive producer I’m surprised you don’t know … Lehr: Creator! Leslie has a bio on TBS.com? Bayer: Yes. He’s also nervous, scattered and detached. Lehr: No. I don’t think he would be aware he’s nervous. Bayer: Are you making a call after this? Lehr: Yes I am. I’m going to make some changes … but I can’t. The writer’s strike. It’s hard. It kills me. Bayer: There’s more. Current occupation? Lehr: For Leslie’s, oh (confident) owner manager. Bayer: Chairman and CEO, you’re wrong again. Lehr: Oh (he groans), see … Bayer: Greens and Grains, how long has the store existed? Lehr: Oh, generations, I’m going to say 75 years. Bayer: Nope, wrong. 1954. Lehr: What, no this is terrible, it’s been around much longer than that. Bayer: Dream occupation? Lehr: Um … Motivational speaker. Bayer: Nice. Lehr: Is it? Oh good.