Interviews

Josh Gates is the host of Destination Truth. Season four premiers on Syfy tonight on its new night – Thursday, September 9 at 9pm.

How did Destination Truth and your part in it come about?

Gates: Yeah, it was started by a guy named Neil Mandt, who’s a producer here in Hollywood and a guy that I happened to know. And he had a concept for the show and the channel was looking for a show that could sit alongside Ghost Hunters, and they needed a host. And Neil said, “You should meet this guy Josh. He loves to travel.”

And I met the channel and that was really the genesis of it. They wanted somebody that was first and foremost a guy that was a traveler and not necessary a guy that was a monster hunter, or a guy that was a paranormal expert.

They kind of wanted someone that was just willing to go and look, and the kind of be someone the viewer could identify with and go and ask these questions, and go and look in these dark corners and sort of see what was there.

So, that’s really how it started and as a guy who loved to travel before the show, you know, it’s been an amazing job for me because it’s allowed me to travel for a living, which is, you know, a pretty great deal.

What got you started in traveling and exploring?

Gates: I think my parents probably got me started. My father, who is retired now, was a deep sea diver for his entire career. So as a kid growing up, my father was always working overseas, and then coming home from these really exotic places.

And, as a little kid he would be working in Africa somewhere or in the Middle East and would come home with gifts and stories, and I think from an early age had this sense that, “Wow, there’s kind of a big world out there.” And my mother’s British, and so we would go over to Europe every year to visit our family over there.

And so, I was kind of flying around on planes and hanging out in my parents shadow, who are both people that had traveled a lot, and I think that’s really what got me into it. And then got hooked on Indiana Jones and things like that and just decided that that was something I really wanted to get into was seeing the world, exploring the world.

According to press releases, you’re going to be doing an underwater paranormal investigation.

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During a recent set visit on the set of Psych, various other media outlets and I were able to interview Saladin Patterson and Gordon Mark. Saladin Patterson is one of the writers for Psych. And Gordon Mark is a producer on the show. We were able to visit them in the production office and sit down and discuss what happens behind the scenes.

We heard that you were just on the phone with the network. What kind of feedback does the network give you about the episodes?

Saladin Patterson: This is being recorded, right? [kidding]… Very sizeable notes. These were notes about an episode that James Roday and I are co-writing and he’s directing. It’s going to be our Christmas episode. And it was Jeff Wachtel just chiming in with character notes, things about how the characters are represented. The network cares a lot about protecting the images and the characters that we’ve grown to love so that the fans feel like they’re still part of the family, and things like that. So those are mainly the types of notes he had.

As the show has grown on, Gus has become more of an equal partner for Shawn. Dulé said that he thinks it was planned all along. Is that the case?

Saladin Patterson: You know, it’s probably a combination of things. This is season five, so we want to explore more and more stories, and see our characters in more in different situations. So because of that we tend to think, okay, what haven’t we seen in terms of for each individual character, and what haven’t we seen in terms of between the characters? So some of that’s just for every show you’re normally going to look for more things to play.

A lot of it also is as we’ve grown with the show, and as James and Dulé also bring so much to the table with their own personal chemistry, we’ve all seen the Gus character evolve more and more. And we all are playing more to Dulé’s strengths as an actor, you know, his ability to bring more to the table.

But also, as we get to know more and more about the character, funny things come up and we say, “Hey, that’s kind of a funny thing for the Gus character, and we should run with it – explore this.” Specifically, though, like the tap-dancing, that’s again something where we have access to a phenomenal dancer in Dulé, and we’ve been looking for a while to kind of showcase those skills. So it’s a combination of a lot of things.

How many episodes per season do the writers take a lead on?

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James Roday was a lot of fun to interview during a recent set visit on the set of Psych. James plays Shawn Spencer, fake Psychic detective with a keen observational skills and a penchant for goofing off. While the real James loves pop culture and films, he is serious about his job on set. Whether it be acting, directing, or writing (or all at once), James is incredibly busy and incredibly talented.

Which role have you found the most challenging – writing, directing, acting?

James: I think directing is definitely the most challenging, because it’s sort of like my newest toy, that I know the least about. And at least, especially within the context of Psych, I feel like the acting is sort of second nature at this point. I mean, I don’t think there’s a whole lot left to throw at Shawn that he’s not going to know what to do with.

And then the writing [is] just a fun collaboration. It’s like, having a putt putt course behind your house. You just go out and mess around, and that’s fun. But the directing is something that I’ve always been very serious about. I take the opportunities very seriously. I really want to get better. I want to be able to go back and watch each episode and see that I’m moving in the right direction.

Do you think it’s a natural progression for an actor in a long running TV series to turn to directing?

James: I think it depends. I mean, I think sometimes a show will run so long that it’s sort of a like a “What the hey,” situation. “Let me see if this is something I might be interested in doing,” and if you run long enough, you might get a shot. For me, you know, it’s something that I’ve known I’ve wanted to do for a really long time. And it was just matter of getting the opportunity and making the most of it.

And then there are some actors that I don’t think have any interest in directing. I mean, if you ask Dulé, when is he directing, his answer is probably “never.” He’s just not inclined. But I grew up a cinephile, and I love movies. And I love European cinema. I love different styles. And I love having my breath taken away in a movie theatre the way I love being transported when I see live theatre.

I heard that there’s going to be a Twin Peaks themed episode.

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