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NYCC 2015: Whoooaa! “Regular Show” Roundtable with J.G. Quintel and Sean Szeles; and Paula Spence, William Salyers, and Sam Marin

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QUESTION: You mentioned the Dome Episode and that’s a very Benson-centric episode. Are there going to be any more secondary characters, like Pops or Muscle Man episodes that you’ve recorded already or coming down in season 7.

SAM MARIN: Uh…yes. (laughter). But yeah, there are some really fun ones. Probably some of the most fun ones that I liked the most from my characters coming up.

PAULA SPENCE: Yeah. We’re working on two right now.

WILLIAM SALYERS: Can I just tell you, I think this was long enough ago that I can say this. One of my favorite Pops moments in the episode was when the guys walked in on him naked.

PAULA SPENCE: He had a shower cap on.

WILLIAM SALYERS: Yeah. Just that whole …the awkwardness that ensued from that. I just loved that. His face and the way they went back and forth.

SAM MARIN: That one’s a fun one.

Regular Show Married and BrokeTOONZONE NEWS: Sam, I have a specific voiceover question for you because it seems like Pops and Benson and Muscle Man go to really big extremes, vocally. How do you keep from killing your voice doing that?

SAM MARIN: I’ve gotten better at doing it It used to kill my voice all the time, but now not so much, unless there’s a lot of yelling or things like that. And if there is, I’ll just get some hot water during our break or something and …honey and tea. That helps. But …yeah, it used to be a problem, but now not as much. Rarely.

WILLIAM SALYERS: Remember the green apples from the old days?

SAM MARIN: Yeah. I used to have to stop all the time, I think, to get me water or something. Because Muscle Man would really tear up my throat.

PAULA SPENCE: He’s mellowed out now that he’s married…

SAM MARIN: Yeah! (Laughter) That’s it!

TOONZONE NEWS: Was that your idea? “Hey, let’s get Muscle Man married! It’ll be easier on my voice!” (laughter)

SAM MARIN: No, it just sort of happened. You find a place that could make him easier as you practice doing it.

QUESTION: When you guys are recording, you have scripts, but do you…ad lib, but pitch your own lines or if something comes natural, just reading it off it comes off a new way?

WILLIAM SALYERS: We can, and we have. Again, the format doesn’t allow for huge departure, but yeah. It’s not like film. There’s relatively little expense if we rattle off a line and they don’t like it. They’re like, “That’s funny. Don’t do that.” But then sometimes, we’ll say, “Hey, what if we say this instead of this?” There are those moments when somebody either on either side of the glass says, “Hey, I think this will be better.” And J.G. often likes the suggestion and will change it.

QUESTION: In the last couple of years, raccoons have become more popular for whatever reason.

WILLIAM SALYERS: Me. It’s because of me.

Regular Show Expert or LiarQUESTION: Guardians of the Galaxy and the internet in general seem to have coalesced around raccoons.

WILLIAM SALYERS: One weird thing about raccoons is that I was doing a con in New Zealand, and people kept walking up and saying, “Love Rigby.” “Oh, thanks, man.” “He’s my favorite squirrel.” And I’m like, “He’s a raccoon.” I found out they don’t have raccoons in New Zealand, and I didn’t know that. I thought they were sort of ubiquitous. But no.

And, true story, I was attacked by a raccoon when I was a kid. He was a pet raccoon, and I was trying to be friendly, and he was less than friendly. But that’s my revenge now, is I make raccoons look like butts. (laughter).

PAULA SPENCE: I want to know who had a raccoon for a pet.

WILLIAM SALYERS: My family was traveling, and we were staying at a campground, and they had this pet raccoon that was chained to a stake. He seemed friendly. And my father said “You know, they’re really smart. If you hide a cookie in your shirt, they’ll ferret it out.” And I was like, “That sounds GREAT, Dad!” So I got a cookie and I hid it in my shirt. I was telling this story once, and somebody asked if my father was trying to get rid of me. So I sat down and, you know, where the raccoon could get to me. He starts looking for the cookie, and I was like, “He’s so cute!”

…”RAAAAAARHRHR!!!!” And he just went for it and I screamed and grabbed him, and he put his hind legs on my hind legs and his forepaws on my arms, and he was just like, “graraagahgah” and I was trying to shove him away. He ended up getting to keep that shirt. So that’s my raccoon story.

QUESTION: And your father didn’t try to help you?

WILLIAM SALYERS: He did. He came out. But raccoons are deceptively strong. Rigby aside (laughter), My dad came out and tried to get the raccoon off, but we very quickly opted to let him have the shirt. And the cookie. Now I admire them from afar.


Toonzone News would like to thank J.G. Quintel, Sean Szeles, Paula Spence, William Salyers, and Sam Marin for taking the time to talk with us, and to Cartoon Network PR for arranging the roundtable. Regular Show: The Movie is available now on DVD and digital download services; new episodes of Regular Show season 7 are premiering now on Cartoon Network.