Marry Me's Casey Wilson, Ken Marino and Creator David Caspe Preview Their New Romantic Comedy
Happy endings do happen! Shortly after the cancellation of the ABC comedy Happy Endings, star Casey Wilson married show creator David Caspe. Now he's given her the coolest wedding present ever — a new television series! Wilson and one-time Happy guest Ken Marino (Party Down) star as Annie and Jake, a newly engaged couple we already want to spend the rest of our lives with. NBC apparently agrees: It's given the show the plum post-Voice time slot.
TV Guide Magazine: The series begins with the world's worst proposal. How did you pop the question, David?
Caspe: Funny enough, I did make a big plan where I had our families come out, we had a caterer, and we all surprised her. Well, the plan was to surprise her, but she showed up in full hair and makeup, so I think she knew.
Wilson: I did. David is a wonderful writer but a horrible actor. And he told me, like, five months beforehand, "Hey, on August 30th, let's just stay home and watch TV!" [Laughs]
Caspe: I had this whole thing planned. I'd orchestrated it perfectly. Then I got down on one knee and realized the one thing I had not planned was what I was going to say. I had nothing.
Wilson: I like to think he just assumed he'd be inspired.
Caspe: So I stood up and then I got back down. I was like, "I can do better than that."
Wilson: And still he had nothing.
TV Guide Magazine: And you said yes to this man?
Wilson: I did!
TV Guide Magazine: How different are Jake and Annie from you two?
Wilson: Just because the pilot was loosely based on us...I mean, I hope there are some differences between Annie and me.
Caspe: Why? I like Annie.
Wilson: She's a nice girl. She's sweeter than I am.
Caspe: No, you're very sweet. You're my wife!
TV Guide Magazine: Casey, is David like Jake?
Wilson: I think so. David is very laid-back, rational, moral, and very nice. I am much more all over the place.
TV Guide Magazine: Ken, you've been married for a few years now. How are you as a husband?
Marino: I am even more of a mess. My wife [writer Erica Oyama] is a saint!
TV Guide Magazine: Jake and Annie have been dating for six years. How long did you and your wife date before you got hitched?
Marino: A little less than two years. I proposed after about a year. I knew she was the lady for me. So I was like, "I'm not letting her get away! I'm gonna propose, and hopefully she says yes — then I can put babies in her."
TV Guide Magazine: So the opposite of Jake.
Marino: [Laughs] We got engaged and immediately started figuring out when we wanted to get married. I helped out when I could. I wasn't a groomzilla. I said things I thought were important. Like "We better have a lot of food." "Good music is nice." "The wedding itself should be short and fun." Oh, and "Yes, dear, whatever you want."
TV Guide Magazine: Did you guys know each other before Ken's guest spot on Happy Endings? [He played Penny's psychologist beau, Dr. Rick Rickman.]
Marino: We run in the same circles. Then she did a small part on Burning Love [the E! series Oyama created]. So I knew her, but not that well until this project.
Wilson: That was it. And he'd worked with [actress] June Diane Raphael, who is my best friend. I just felt like I knew him.
Caspe: I love Ken. He's so f---ing funny and I have wanted to work with him forever. He was the first guy we thought of, so thank God he said yes.
TV Guide Magazine: Why do you have such great chemistry?
Wilson: Ken and I have made love many, many times. Not on screen. Just recreationally. [Laughs]
Caspe: In a pilot where you have the girl screaming at the guy the whole time, you need someone with strength, not a pushover who is just getting screamed at. Ken never seems like a pushover.
TV Guide Magazine: Given your extensive comedy backgrounds, it seems like this entire show could be improvised.
Marino: We like to riff or improvise, and they let us do that, but even if they didn't, I would feel real confident with the show because it's so well written.
TV Guide Magazine: Are you pulling any of the plots from your own lives?
Caspe: Can we talk about your points?
Wilson: Fine.
Caspe: Casey is counting [Weight Watchers] points, and it is causing us some problems. She is on edge to a level that is shocking. She's screaming at me...
Wilson: We go to dinner and I am like a monster. [Laughs]
TV Guide Magazine: So Annie's doing some dieting before the wedding?
Caspe: Oh, yes.
TV Guide Magazine: So many women diet themselves crazy once they get engaged.
Wilson: When I got engaged, I was like, "I need to lose weight." But I had already been on television in front of millions of people, so why was I just now thinking that? It's so sad.
TV Guide Magazine: Will this first season take us through every moment leading up to Annie and Jake's wedding?
Caspe: The show is not really structured like that. It's truthfully just stories about this couple and their friends.
TV Guide Magazine: You know it's called Marry Me, right?
Caspe: It's the same situation with Happy Endings. The show was never about them! [Laughs]
Marry Me premieres Tuesday, Oct. 14 at 9/8c on NBC.
