The Michigan Daily - Wednesday, September 30, 1998 - 11
sitcom creators discuss boys, girls, pizza and TV

By Michael Galloway
TV/New Media Editor
"Well, it was supposed to have been
poetic."
That was how series creator Rick
Wiener justified the cornball description
BC's web page of how he and Kenny
wartz came up with the idea for "Two
Guys, a Girl & a Pizza Place."A mid-sea-
son replacement last year, this show about
two college grads who work at a pizza
place and their female neighbor enjoyed a
mild success and was renewed for this
season.
Although it wasn't far from the truth
that these former writers for "Mad About
You," as the Website says: "looked at
each, looked at themselves, and the idea



Two Guys, A
amr, & a Pizza
ABC
'Tonight at 8:30 p.m.

was born," Wiener
and Schwartz
explained how
they came up with
the ideas for Berg
(played by Ryan
Reynolds), Pete
(Richard Ruccolo)
and Sharon
(Traylor Howard).
"We figured it
would be easier if
we were rewriting
if (the show) was
based on us. We'd

Courtesy of ABC
The cast of "Two Guys, a Girl & a Pizza Place" recreates the antics of the writers.

whose name is Sharon."
The two still hang out with Sharon
Stauss. who comes for every filming
and upon whom Traylor Howard's char-
acter is based, the quick-tempered Sharon
Caner, who loves the money she makes
selling chemicals but has to live with the
knowledge that her company is destroy-
ing the planet. So what do Schwartz and
Wiener think of their fictional counter-
ports?
"The actors on the show are great, and
we found out that in real life they're both
similar to us, Wiener said. "It's really
funny because Rich, who plays Pete, is so
much like me. And Ryan is very Berg-
like. They're both great guys, and we
actually hang out with them when we're
not shooting" Schwartz said.
Hanging out with Reynolds, Ruccolo
and Howard also has given the two writ-
ers some prime material. "When you're
out with your buddies, they screw up.
And then we're like, 'That is so funny.
We're going to put that in the show,
Schwartz said. Now, last season had two
characters in addition to Berg, Pete and
Sharon. Bill, the owner of the Pizza Place,
and the loveable Mr. Bauer, played by
"M*A*S*H*" star David Ogden Stiers, a
regular patron who believed he was living
out a movie role each week. Stiers perfor-
mance was a highlight of most every
episode that'll be missed.
"Bill is basically vacationing in
Florida. We're centering the show on the
three (main characters)' Schwartz said.
"ABC wanted us to focus strictly on
them. So that's what we did," Wiener said.
Mr. Bauer also seemed to meet his end by
the corporate axe.
"We miss Mr. Bauer as well, but it was
thought that the character had run his
course by the forces that be," Wiener said.
The cast has had a new addition, a love

interest for Berg named Ashley (Suzanne
Cryer, known for her "yada, yada" on
"Scinfeld").
"We wanted to bring people into their
lives and get them all into relationships,
Wiener said. "So we thought for Berg,
who's someone who has always been a
real lady's man, that he should meet his
match and get someone who was unac-
ceptable to him. And that would keep
things interesting"

"Cause Berg loves a challenge,"
Schwartz added. Both Schwartz and
Wiener are happy with the creative free-
dom and opportunity they have with
"Two Guys, a Girl, and a Pizza Place,"
although they were both really thankful
for their start on "Mad About You."
"'Mad About You' was our start,"
Schwartz said. "It was a great place to
work. I mean, shit, you're working with
Helen Hunt."

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know what we'd
Wiener said.
"Webd come up with a Berg line;'
chwartz said, "and say, 'OK, Rick, what
ould you say there, tough guy?' 'Uhh, I
-s I'd say this.' 'Perfect.' We'd put it
iown. So on some level we did draw from
own lives, because you write what
(know and we know ourselves"
The characters of Michael "Berg"
Bergen, an arrogant student who never
tudies and still is at the top of his class,

and his roommate Pete Dunville, an archi-
tecture student who stresses enough for
both of them, are based on Wiener and
Schwartz respectively. There's a great
comic chemistry between the two of
them, with Pete more the straight man and
Berg giving the punchlines, which
Reynolds does extremely well.
Wiener and Schwartz didn't meet in
college like Pete and Berg, though.
"Actually, we met on 'Mad About
You,"' Schwartz said. "That was our writ-
ing job before this ... We met first season,
and we were both writing assistants work-
ing for our boss, Danny Jacobson. Then
we both became staff writers, and we
started hanging out. When Danny got a
deal at 20th Century Fox, he just told Fox,
You know, I got these two writers at
"Mad About You" I wouldn't mind bring-

ing over.' We're like, 'Alright, we'll go.
We'll go for the ride. Why not?' We went
over, and they made a little development
deal for us. Then they kind of said, 'Okay,
see you guys later,' and Rick and I won-
dered what the hell we were going to do
now ... Rick has this fantastic place on
Manhattan Beach, and we'd sit on his
back stoop and try to figure (it) out. And
we were thinking about it on the back
stoop;' Wiener said. "We said there had to
be a stoop on the show, where people sit
and talk:"
"We threw a thousand ideas out,
Schwartz said. "But then we asked our-
selves what would be the easiest thing to
do. The easiest thing to do would be to
write about us. And Berg's very much ...
Rick's very much Berg-like, and me,
more Pete. We have a best friend out here

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q 1 I I I I il I I I 1 I

.Mega
Man's
back
"Mega Man
Legends"
%ny Playstation
Capcom
So you played all the "Mega
Man" scric on all platforms. You
beat everything from the evil Dr.
Wily in the original "Mega Man"
1o the sinister Sigma in "Mega
:pan X4." You sit at home, bored,
*aiting for the next challenge.
-Well, wait no longer. "Mega Man
Legends" has arrived.
"Legends" is the next game in
the popular Japanese "Rockman"
series, the game's actual name that
originated across the Pacific
because he shot rocks, not energy
bails, out of his forearms. Anyway,
the blue bomber is back, this time
on a search to find an inex-
haustible energy source. Big bad
;Jbots and large underground
caves are only part of the chal-
lenge in this unique game.
"Legends" is unlike any other
"Mega Man" in the series because
it's not a side-scrolling
action/adventuregame.
"Legends" is best described as a
combination of "Super Mario 64"
and "Tomb Raider." It has a
jwique RPG (role playing game)
'el to it since you can collect
money and buy enhancements for
your arm. This is definitely a new
approach for the series, and
Capcom deserves credit for giv-
ing it a shot. The result, however,
is only mediocre.
The control takes a while to get
into, but once you're used to it, it's
not that bad. I was pissed off at
first by how awkward it is to
A ove, but once I figured out how
strafe and run in circles, I
couldn't really complain. The
graphics are only OK, especially
compared to other games out right
now. It would've been great two
years ago, but now it could use
some improvement. Also, the
opening sequence for the game
could be more interesting, and the
~,eing story segment just does-
t grab you at all. You'll be sitting
there like, "When is this over?" A
little computer rendered graphics
could help too. The game isn't too
difficult, which is good for
younger players. The music is
mediocre at best. Personally, I
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