Grandfathered Set Visit with John Stamos & Cast

I was invited as media to cover this event. All opinions are my own.

It’s always an amazing feeling when invited for press trips to LA. Every event is an experience that I’ll never forget! During “The Good Dinosaur” coverage in November we also visited the set of Fox’s new hit comedy, “Grandfathered.” While there we had the opportunity to interview the cast, including John Stamos. I mean, who would miss an opportunity like that? 😉

Grandfathered’s cast includes: John Stamos as Jimmy Martino, Paget Brewster as Sara, Josh Peck as Gerald, Christina Milian as Vanessa, Kelly Jenrette as Annelise, and Ravi Patel as Ravi.

Yep, there I am – sitting at John’s feet!! From the moment we stepped on set, John Stamos was “on.” He was full of energy, even offering to pour a few drinks for us ladies while he stood behind the set “bar.” Of course he was kidding! We then disbursed into a few groups for interviews, settling into one of the booths at Jimmy’s restaurant.

Our first interview was with Josh Peck and Christina Milian who play parents of a young daughter, Edie, on the show. When asking Christina about having a wide range of fans, she shares that she’s always believed in growing an audience. Adding [acting] has been her dream since she was little, and believes being a good example has got her to where she is today. Josh and Christina both mentioned the “brilliant” casting who selected this group of actors for the show, and how that plays a pivotal role in their audience base.

When asking about their characters, Josh shares that he aspires to be like Gerald “who doesn’t feel the need to bend or mold into social norms.” Adding that in real life, he’s very close to his mom, talking with her often. Christina mentions that it takes work to juggle a career and parenting, just like all the other moms out there. Adding, “it takes a village.” When making choices regarding roles or opportunities in the industry, her daughter comes first.

Next we sat down with Kelly Jenrette and Ravi Patel who work at Jimmy’s (John Stamos) restaurant. While Ravi plays a cook on Grandfathered, he admits he doesn’t really cook in real life – adding that he recently got married and his wife doesn’t really trust him in the kitchen. Ravi was a big jokester during the interview, mentioning what attracted him to the show was that they wanted him for a role. He described the show as sweet and having real characters and funny.

Our final interview was with Paget Brewster and John Stamos who play the parents of Gerald. John is a long time bachelor who only recently found out he had a son (Gerald) and granddaughter (Edie). When asked about getting involved with the comedy show, John shares that he loves being on TV and wanted to return to what he enjoys most. He met with writer, Danny Chun, who ran the premise of the show by John and it went from there. He spoke about the long time success of Full House and how Grandfathered is an unconventional show that has similar energy.

Paget’s role was originally not in the script, but John felt it was necessary to find a real actress that was beautiful and talented and not afraid to play the role of a mom and grandmother. Paget mentioned that she didn’t think she would get the role, adding that she imagined them getting a younger actress that could appear older, but that she had such a great time during the casting process with John.

We asked John about aging and still looking darn good while doing it. He said he doesn’t really have a secret. He tries to keep his life stress-free, he works out, and he meditates and prays every day. About being in the industry this long, John says that he’s #grateful. He gives credit to his parents for keeping him humble. Paget shared that acting can be the greatest job ever, if you’re surrounded by the right people who you enjoy and trust. When Paget started asking around about John, everyone she came across in the industry said he was “salt of the earth.”

As you can imagine, the time we spent on set was memorable and a lot of fun. We ended with taking a group shot (pictured above). Days later, I received a special email from John Stamos – no kidding! He thanked us for stopping by the set and wished us a happy holidays. Now that’s class!

Grandfathered airs on Fox Tuesdays at 8:30 pm ET/PT

See the next episode today, January 5th, with guest star Dr. Phil McGraw (who I’m also a really big fan of)! 

The episode surrounds Jimmy being tricked into visiting the doctors after Sara and Gerald find out he hasn’t seen one in over 10 years. The routine physical doesn’t go so routine when there’s an unsettling discovery. Meanwhile, Gerald and Vanessa stress over Edie’s upcoming surgery and Annelise and Ravi stumble upon Jimmy’s secret safe in the all-new “Perfect Physical Specimen” episode of Grandfathered.

 

Don’t forget to tune in tonight to watch the latest episode of Grandfathered!