Neil Patrick Harris is no stranger to live television. The multi-talented entertainer has hosted the Oscars, the Emmys and the Tonys, which makes him the natural choice to host NBC's new variety hour, "Best Time Ever with Neil Patrick Harris" - not just because his name is in the title.
Based on the hit British series "Ant & Dec's Saturday Night Takeaway," Harris promises "Best Time Ever" to be unlike anything on American television today. It will feature A-list celebrities, stunts, comedy skits, performances, games, giveaways and hidden camera pranks. Simply put, anything can happen and it can happen to you.
Harris looked for a refreshing concept to pull him back to television after starring as ladies' man Barney Stinson for nine years on the hit CBS comedy "How I Met Your Mother." After viewing "Saturday Night Takeway," he knew he had found it.
"I was sent a full episode of the U.K. version, and I just loved it," Harris told Headlines & Global News and a small group of reporters at the Television Critics Association press tour last month. "It's got pieces of all different amusements. So you can include magic, competition stunts and an "end of the show" show where we finish with some big live thing that I've had to learn a special skill involving a bunch of people that do cool things."
Given the show's live format, the public couldn't express their opinion until the first episode aired. Harris entered opening night optimistic of a successful show.
"My hope is that you'll get to see a bunch of cool stuff. It's live, so you'll only really be able to reference it the next day after you've seen it. I really do think it will be fun and, I'm hoping, a little bit game‑changing," he said.
"Best Time Ever With Neil Patrick Harris" will air one more week at 10 p.m. on Tuesday, Sept. 22 before it moves to 8 p.m. on Oct. 13 on NBC.
Check out the rest of our conversation with Harris below.
Have you thought about how you would respond to someone pranking you?
I was on an episode of 'Punk'd' once where a friend took me mountain climbing and on my way back there was a bear in my car, an actual bear. I picked up on it very quickly, as soon as I saw an actor person in sweatpants looking concerned, I turned to David [Burtka] and said, 'I think I'm being punk'd.'
Did it make it to air?
Yes and I felt bad because I didn't want to pretend like I didn't know because I didn't want to look like a buffoon. But at the same time I didn't want to say, "I know I'm being punk'd," so I just made a bunch of bad bear puns.
During your test shows, you auditioned for 'The Voice' and conducted interviews with the judges. None of them knew it was really you?
They didn't know. They were thrown by the whole thing. It happened in the middle of the Blind Auditions so it was very unusual. They were sitting down to do an interview with an Austrian [me] who doesn't ask questions very well. They didn't think it was me and were just very confounded by the entire thing. I really played into that.
And you sang badly very well for your audition?
Well, thank you [laughs]. That was its own crazy thing because I didn't know if I should be singing in my Austrian accent because the audience hadn't met me and that would have been even stranger.
During those test shows, did you have people act surprise that really weren't surprised?
It's all gone pretty well actually, yet it's all a learning curve. Pranking the gang at 'The Voice' was very interesting because I wasn't sure how far I could take the line of questioning without them standing up and saying this is ridiculous. But at the same time if I'd asked them very generic questions that's not worth showing because they would have just answered the same way they would have any other question. I have to be Sasha Baron Cohen and know that I'm getting some kind of reaction from them but I can't go so far that they suspected something was going on.
How does the surprise work for viewers at home who are watching the show and all of a sudden they are on TV?
The one thing we need and have asked for on social media is for people to nominate whom they think would be good for something like this. In that scenario we would reach out to someone and hopefully they'll say, "Come and watch 'Best Time Ever' at my house for a party." So whom ever we are going to be talking to, it probably wouldn't be at their house. We will have a hidden camera near their [friend's] computer or television that they won't be able to see and a producer in another room. They won't know we are there. Then we'll throw to them to get an authentic reaction.
Are there elements that will be the same in every episode or will each show be totally different?
We are doing some elements for every show like, 'The End of the Show' show. We're doing a game show called 'Win Stuff' where someone will be randomly chosen from the audience to answer trivia questions and try to win a whole bunch of prizes, if not all of them. That could be $100,000 or just stuff that we'd love to give away. Some of it will be amazing like cars. Some could be toilet paper or dog food. It depends on what you choose [laughs].
Why is this show so good for your sensibility as a performer?
I think it fits into my skill set pretty strongly right now because I've done the live stuff and the hosting stuff. I love the spontaneity of it. I enjoy the challenge of seeing how it goes and I also have been doing random things in my life. I went from 'Gone Girl' to 'Hedwig' to the Oscars from 'How I Met Your Mother,' so I think I'm able to do all different things within an hour and it doesn't seem unfocused.
Who are some of your entertainment influences?
Ed Sullivan for sure and Ernie Kovacs was hysterical. 'Real People' was great and so was 'That's Incredible.' I love those shows and P.T. Barnum. I'm really just impressed by people that do singular things really well like contortion people. I just think it's fun to see them and when it's live there is nothing better. It's like theater. It makes me so happy because you can go to a place and have an experience happen before you. Also I think it's fun to be a tastemaker. We will be doing this 'Neil V's' segment where I will be in a competition against somebody else, it could be a guest announcer, a random celebrity or my sidekick, and we will do some crazy challenge like human bowling.
What do you mean by tastemaker?
I love being able to say, 'I saw this really great thing or ate at this really great restaurant and you should try it.' I just hope that that energy maintains itself. We'll probably have more of that in 'The End of the Show' show when I'm joining forces with a troupe of performers that I can say are people that I love and are great and watch while we do some cool stuff together.
In addition to being the host and producer, you're also the showrunner.
I think it's fun to be so invested because it's live and it's me standing there for all of it. I represent the show in every way so I want to know what the opening credits will be like and what the title logo will look like, what the level of celebrity is so it all kind of matches. What the content is, I think that's important. I really want people to set the remote control down, sit back and trust that for an hour I will show you something. Period.
You've had a successful career and have avoided being pigeonholed for the most part. Do you have a secret for that or did it just happen?
It's interesting because I was young and acting on a television show then I had to break out of that and figure out what to do next. Pigeonholing was something on my conscience. Then I ended up doing a bunch of different things - TV movies, theater, another movie and a TV show. Suddenly I was doing multiple things. Even when younger I was the kid in the band who played a bunch of instruments. My band teacher would say, "We need an oboe,' and I would say, "I'll learn an oboe."
I've been doing this for 27 years and I've been confronted with fear and being nervous about something, but when you do it and accomplish it you realize it wasn't as scary as you thought. I think that's what bucket lists are. A lot of people are terrified of jumping out of an airplane, but it's the anticipation of jumping out of the plane and what that means is terrifying. Once you do it, it's super awesome and super fun and you want to do it again.
[For me] that carries over from public speaking and award shows to coming out of the closet. There are a lot of things that start out as fearful. I wouldn't call myself brave. I've learned in all my years that it's fun to be able to challenge yourself and try things and I'm getting paid to do crazy fun stunts and learn skills I otherwise wouldn't.
Is the show aimed at kids?
No, but I think kids will like it. It's a wide berth and I am also hopeful because we are at 10 o'clock for two weeks then we move to eight o'clock and start off the night. The 10 o'clock shows will be topless [laughs], but I really think it's a fun way to start primetime while you're having dinner with your family. I hope it's something people get excited about and want to watch again and even more so, watch live. If you do, you'll win a bunch of stuff.
