Bear City

T. Sean, the mastermind behind “Bear City,” answers frequently asked questions…

How did Bear City start?

I had written a few sketches with bears in them for SNL. (Bearologist/Winona Ryder – Radioactive Bears – Robert DeNiro) Tom Davis was guest writing at SNL and we wrote a sketch about a bear who becomes the CEO of a corporation and is corrupted by power and has to testify before congress (it didn’t get on). But we sat around talking about how funny Bears are and how great it would be to have a giant battle scene with hundreds of bears charging down a hill at each other or an entire city full of Bears. A short time later Bear City was born.

Where is Bear City?

It’s outside of Centerville, Texas. But we film it in Glendale, Ca.

Where do you get all the Bear Costumes?

I rent them from about 5 different costume shops and SNL gives me three bear suits and the Tonight Show helps out with a couple. It’s amazing how the different suits have developed their own personalities. Everybody has their favorite. My wife, Kitty, loves the most realistic looking Bear, (Bear who gets fired in Day at the Office, Bear who uses the handicapped toilet, Mom Bear in Mom Goes Shopping), my favorite is the suit that sits on the throne at the end and I know a lot of people who love the one with the big eyes.

What about the Theme Song? Bear city, bear bear city.

I told my friend Brady Harris, who’s a songwriter, (bradyharris.com) I needed a song for the opening and I was thinking something like “Bear City, Bear Bear City” and a couple days later he brought me a copy of this kick ass theme song… and now I’m songwriter. I think it’s a great theme song because it’s happy sounding and once it gets in your head, it doesn’t come out.

How many episodes of Bear City have you filmed?

We’ve filmed 15 episodes so far, 7 have appeared on Saturday Night Live. I hope to have a Bear City DVD with all the episodes on it soon.

So you film Bear City in Glendale?

Yes. My buddy Matt Van Buren, who I call the burning bush of production, helped me throw a crew together. He introduced me to my costume person, Jasmine Kostraba when I shot a commercial for the Summer Olympics. Matt introduced me to my cameraman Kenny Lane and me and Kenny hit it off immediately. My AD is a friend of mine, Elizabeth Holder, who I worked with when I directed my first short film for Saturday Night Live about a kid with male pattern baldness, called Harold. Those are the people who’ve worked on all three shoots.

What’s your thing with Bears?

I think it comes from watching the Andy Williams show as a kid. They had this bear that always wanted milk and cookies and it was my favorite part of the show. That’s where my obsession with Bears started. It’s either that or the time I was at the Boy Scout Jamboree when a guy in a Smokey the Bear outfit touched me in my swimsuit area.

Are Bears suits funnier than Gorilla suits?

That you even ask that question, tells me you know nothing about comedy.

Will we see any other animals in Bear City?

We filmed an episode called Rabbit Town that has people in Rabbit suits and Bear suits. At one point, there are 48 people in animal suits running around. It’s amazing.

Do you think gay marriages should be legal?

I don’t really know what that has to do with bears, it sounds like your setting me up to do a bit from my stand up, so that said, I have no problem with gay marriage, partly because two consenting adults should able to get married if they want to, but the main reason I support gay marriage is because it’s not like I’m losing anything. If there was a shortage on something I enjoy, like chocolate chip ice cream, I’d be the first to say “homos can’t eat chocolate chip ice cream, it’s immoral” but since it doesn’t affect me, I don’t care.

Do you like to go fishing?

No, not really.

When was the last time you went fishing?

I don’t know, probably 6 years ago.

Did you catch anything?

I don’t remember. I don’t think so.

Is that why you hate fishing? You should really give it another shot because it’s very relaxing.

I don’t hate fishing I just don’t fish. I didn’t know there was going to be so many questions about fishing.

You don’t have to get snippy. Oh brother, now that I think about it, you don’t have the right temperament to go fishing.

I have nothing against fishing, It was completely enjoyable the last time I went, it’s just I don’t live that close to water. I apologize if I was snippy; I just thought we were going to talk about Bear City.

Fine. What’s next for Bear City?

I’ve written a full length Bear City movie. It focuses on the students at Bear City High School.

(Sarcastically) That sounds real commercial.

Actually it’s very commercial. Haven’t you ever watched a movie on a plane without the headphones? You can tell exactly what’s going on. This movie will have some narration by Fred Willard, but the bears will talk in “Grrs” instead of English, but other than that, they’ll do whatever humans do.

How did you get Fred Willard to do the voice-over?

I met Fred when I was writing for the Tonight Show and asked him to do a bit on the show. After that, we became friends, and I joined a sketch group called the MoHo’s that he and his wife Mary run in Los Angeles.

Who are the kids who get eaten during the opening credits?

Olivia and Nicholas. They’re neighbors of mine, very hip kids. They’re credited as Cynthia Davis and Rex Banter. Cynthia Davis is my sister’s name, and Rex Banter is just a corny sounding soap opera name that makes me laugh.

Who plays the Bears?

Most of the bears are played by people from the MoHo’s sketch group. They’re really good actors and that’s crucial. You think being funny in a bear suit would be easy, but it’s not. You have to get across emotions and ideas without language or facial expressions. It’s very difficult. My brothers John and Pat also flew out from Texas to play bears.

In the movie Bear City will there be any bears fishing?

I don’t have anything in the script yet, but maybe.

You could do it in the evolution part in the opening. You know where the bear is going to the bathroom in the woods and then it dissolves to a bear sitting on the toilet, you could show a bear catching salmon as the jump up stream and then dissolve to a bear fishing with a rod and reel.

That’s not a bad idea. It might even be funnier if we dissolve to a bear in the fish department of a supermarket pointing at a fish behind the glass.

Boy, you really do hate fishing.

Okay, no more questions.

THE END.

If a Bear City question you’ve asked frequently wasn’t answered above, leave it below!