How Topher Grace is bitten by a ‘shark’ in meta episode of ABC sitcom
“Home Economics” adds another notch to its metaverse-ian belt with guest star Mark Cuban — who plays a pivotal role in Wednesday night’s episode (9:30 on ABC).
“He’s made cameos [before] and this was an idea our writers had and we thought it was a great use of our show,” series star Topher Grace, 43, told The Post.
Cuban plays himself in the episode, in which Tom (Grace) and his sister, Sarah (Caitlin McGee), try to cheer up their wealthy kid brother, Connor (Jimmy Tatro), who runs a private equity firm and is depressed after his girlfriend, JoJo (Tetona Jackson) left town to pursue her dreams. Tom figures he and Sarah will bring a copy of the much-maligned 1996 movie “Dunston Checks In” — Connor’s “second favorite movie where a monkey wears clothes” — over to his house for a sibling bonding session.
When they arrive, Connor tries to get rid of them, feigning drowsiness — when, in fact, he’s hosting a high-stakes ($800 ante) poker game that includes Cuban, who’s friends with goofy family friend Spags (Dustin Ybarra) in a “no one saw that coming” twist.
After some arm-twisting, Connor lets Tom and Sarah join the game — and Connor, after some awkward moments (Sarah, too), ends up bonding with Cuban, who’s impressed with his in-the-works novel.
“Tom is jealous of his little brother as it is when he finds out he’s in the 1 percent of the 1 percent, and not only does he have this poker group but he doesn’t know about it,” Grace said. “One of the writers said, ‘What if Mark Cuban was in the episode? Do you think he’d do it? Let’s ask him.’ Not only did he come and do it, but he was a total pro and had all his lines memorized and even showed up in a beat-up old car when I thought he’d helicopter in.
“He’s a normal guy and started improvising some jokes that were funny and made it into the show,” he said “We didn’t expect him to say yes [to the cameo]; he’s probably within one of the three or four most famous billionaires in the world, which points to why he’s so successful — he’s got a real adventurous spirit. He totally surpassed out expectations. It was such a cool twist.”
A subplot in the episode centers around Marina (Karla Souza), Denise (Sasheer Zamata) and Camila (Chloe Jo Rountree) who fear there’s a ghost in the house.
It couldn’t have hurt the cause that Cuban co-hosts “Shark Tank” which, like “Home Economics,” airs on ABC.
“I’m the biggest ‘Shark Tank’ fan there is,” Grace said. “Me and my wife [Ashley Hinshaw] are both actors and we feel like we understand the business … we have no idea what’s going on … I’ve watched every episode the way people binge other shows, and to be able to sit next to [Cuban] and ask him any question about [‘Shark Tank’] and talk to him for a couple of days was great.”
“Home Economics” made news a few weeks back in an episode about social media influencers that featured an ad for a [fictional] ABC called “Influencer Lagoon.” The spot quickly gained traction on social media, including being posted on YouTube.
“Some of the producers said, ‘Maybe we should shoot some promo stuff’ [for ‘Influence Lagoon’] and they sent it to ABC and the same people that cut ads for ‘The Bachelor,’” Grace said. “We put it at the front of the [‘Home Economics’] episode — it starts with the ad, then fades to black and then the episode starts — and people thought it was an ad between ‘The Conners’ and our show.
“ABC actually aired it during ‘The Bachelor’ and it was seeded on Reddit and some publications picked it up,” he said. “People hosting this fake show were doing interviews on ‘Entertainment Tonight.’”
There’s no word, yet, on whether “Home Economics” will return for a third season.
“I love the end of our season,” Grace said. “It kind of comes to a head whether Tom publishes his book. Rhys Darby plays the publisher and the writers found a very inventive way to figure that all out. It’s not exactly what you think. It’s very meta.
“Not only is the book the same title as the show, but the font you see on the cover of Tom’s book is the same font we used in our logo, and the art on the book is a version of the billboards that we had this year.
“Every character weighs in on this book — even in the class Tom teaches at college — but they’re really talking about the show,” he said. “One of Tom’s students says, ‘I can’t tell — is the brother [Connor] a doofus or a tech genius? I don’t get it. How does he have so much money?’”
