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7th Heaven's Stephen Collins Makes Every Second Count
Stephen Collins courtesy Hallmark Channel
Reverend Camden saddles up in Every Second Counts (premiering Saturday at 9 pm/ET), a Hallmark Channel original about a retired rodeo champion who wagers more than he should on his daughter's (Kyle XY's Magda Apanowicz) own success at the sport. TVGuide.com spoke with Stephen Collins about this latest foray into family-friendly fare, ruling the Broadway stage in Spamalot, and the prospects for a 7th Heaven reunion. — Matt Webb Mitovich
TVGuide.com: Most people chill out in the summer, but you seem to be keeping busy....
Stephen Collins: When Mike Nichols calls and says, "Do you want to come to Broadway?," if you're me, you go, "Uh, yeah." It's very exciting. And as it happens, the movie is coming out now, too.
TVGuide.com: Was being "out on the range" a big draw of Every Second Counts?
Collins: When I read the script I just loved the character. He's flawed, but his heart is in the right place. When I read a script, a big "yes" starts to form in my gut... or not. I had an immediate sense of what I might do with it. It's so different from anything I've done lately. There was just a truthfulness in the writing….
TVGuide.com: Every father-daughter relationship doesn’t have a neat little bow tied on it.
Collins: Yeah, and he's also kind of a wreck, this guy. His body is broken-down, he doesn’t have a lot of education, but he cares tremendously about his daughter. He's doing things wrong that he doesn’t realize are wrong. The movie is about him coming to grips with the fact that his daughter has grown up. He doesn’t realize that yet. She doesn’t realize that yet.
TVGuide.com: I feel like Hallmark Channel should get some "lifetime achievement award" for specializing in these family-oriented projects.
Collins: Nobody else is doing it. It's interesting what they’ve done. It's harder and harder in the TV landscape to have a voice….
TVGuide.com: Yet they’ve held firm to the "Hallmark Presents" brand that we grew up knowing.
Collins: Family stuff, it's not sexy, it doesn’t tend to get people's attention, but boy, Hallmark Channel is one of the most successful stories in television right now.
TVGuide.com: They actually would make a logical host for any 7th Heaven reunion movie.
Collins: That actually is probably where it'd be most likely to happen....
TVGuide.com: I don't see the CW freeing up an hour or two for you guys.
Collins: I don't think the CW really "got" 7th Heaven. I don't think they understood what they had, because they sort of inherited us. But you're probably right, that if there were to be a reunion — which it'd make all the sense in the world for there to be — Hallmark Channel would be a great place for it.
TVGuide.com: Has there been any talk of a follow-up movie? Have you heard anything from [series creator] Brenda Hampton?
Collins: We talked about it before the series ended, and I think had the WB stayed in existence they probably would have made those deals before the show ended. I hope it happens. It'd be fun to go back there.
TVGuide.com: How did you prepare to play King Arthur in Spamalot?
Collins: For the first time in my life, I learned the words and music before rehearsals started. I dared not try to learn the part, the music and the staging in two weeks. But if I know the words and music, I have a chance. Arthur's on stage almost the whole play.
TVGuide.com: Is Python humor in your wheelhouse?
Collins: You know, many, many years ago, I ran into Chevy Chase – I had worked with him on the National Lampoon Radio Hour – and it was just a few weeks after Saturday Night Live premiered. He said, "We thought of you for doing the news on [SNL]. But we heard you were doing All the President's Men, so we thought you would never do it." [Laughs] You never know how the chips are going to fall.
TVGuide.com: But you came out of All the President's Men with a similarly special experience.
Collins: Oh, that was amazing. But what happens – and even though I've done nothing but comedy on stage — is you get tagged as a serious actor. But I've always loved Monty Python humor.
TVGuide.com: Does Arthur get a big showstopper?
Collins: He sings in a bunch of songs, but there's one number, "I'm All Alone," which he sings... alone. The brilliant thing about that number is he doesn't realize he's not alone. It's poignant and funny at the same time.
TVGuide.com: Your Spamalot run ends in mid-September, freeing you up for plum prime-time TV guest-star roles.....
Collins: Who knows! I've found that all attempts to plan a career are thwarted. You have to just roll with the punches.
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Jul 10, 2008 7:43 PM
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Isn't Stephen Collins great?
I for one would really like a 7th Heaven reunion movie to made .. but, would also really want ALL the original cast to be in it (and not just a teeny cameo, like what Jessica Biel did for the series finale ... although I was glad that she appeared in the episode at all, considering she was under no contractual obligation).
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Jul 11, 2008 3:51 AM
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A 7th Heaven reunion would be cool. Let's just wait a couple of more years, so that Charlie and Savannah are a bit older. :o)
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Jul 11, 2008 5:46 AM
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Oh. My. God. Seriously. Let this craptastic show freaking die. It was good in the beginning, but eventually turned into a flaming pile of buffalo chips. It's only been off the air for what two years? I really like Stephen Collins, but COME ON.
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Jul 11, 2008 11:54 AM
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The show run it's course. Have a reunion in 5 years.
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Jul 11, 2008 12:04 PM
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Who needs a 7th Heaven reunion? Just watch The Secret Life of the American Teenager. It's practically the same freaking show, just add teen pregnancy! It's like they moved out the Camdens and added another set of vacant, one dimensional characters in their place. Complete with the close up shot of the outside of a house before going in and the silly music before a scene starts.
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Jul 11, 2008 1:15 PM
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You're kidding me, right? It's only been gone for like a week, it seems. Why not have a reunion of a good TV show like The O.C.?
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Jul 12, 2008 12:31 AM
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A 7th Heaven reunion would be great! It would be better to wait another year or so, though, so the younger kids are a bit older and into more "stuff."
I'll certainly tune in!
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Jul 12, 2008 8:29 AM
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i hope they have a reunion movie. i miss the show and the characters. i would watch it. keep fingers crossed the have a movie or two.
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Jul 12, 2008 6:26 PM
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You need to bring 7th Heaven back on. It is a great show with great acting.
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Jul 20, 2008 8:53 PM
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ok they all went on a road trip while lucy moved to a small town so why not say they visited lucy cause she was having another baby and Lucy decieded to stay home with Savannah and the new baby and Dad took over so his daughter could be a mom.who knows. I want it back!
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Jul 20, 2008 9:31 PM
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that's quite the switch from his 7th Heaven" days ehh??
tvstar
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Aug 5, 2008 10:52 PM
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