The so-called "celebreality" television genre has become an awfully crowded market these days, what with Celebrity Fit Club, Dancing with the Stars, My Fair Brady, Hogan Knows Best, Tori Spelling's So NoTORIous, Breaking up with Shannen Doherty and various other nostalgia-mining series that offer the great washed-up a last gasp of fame.
Given the high-stakes competition, you might think the producer of The Two Coreys would welcome a bit of media attention -- or at least refrain from throwing an invited reporter out of a properly arranged interview for simply asking what the show is about.
You'd be wrong.
From what we were able to glean, The Two Coreys is an improv sitcom that stars Corey Feldman and Corey Haim, the former teen-idol tag team who worked together on various films beginning with The Lost Boys. In the eighties, they were as ubiquitous as poufy perms and mirrored Ray-Bans.
After various struggles with addiction and long stretches of seclusion, the two old friends have reunited for this half-hour comedy, which is being produced by RDF USA (creator of Wife Swap). The eight-episode series, currently being shot in Vancouver, has been picked up by the A&E network in the United States and CanWest MediaWorks' TVtropolis in Canada.
According to Daily Variety, the unscripted show revolves around Feldman, who is living a comfortable suburban life with Susie (the woman he actually did marry on the set of The Surreal Life). Haim, who is portrayed as being broke and homeless, moves in temporarily and decides to stay. Assorted bedlam ensues.
"It's a caricature of ourselves and peoples' perceptions of us," Feldman, who is an executive producer, recently explained.
"It's beyond real -- it's a mad house," Haim interjected, in one of his few coherent sentences.
The interview took place at a rental house in a swish Vancouver suburb, where the two Coreys have indeed been living since production began in early December. The occasion was a free concert that Feldman and his band, the Truth Movement, were performing at a Vancouver nightclub later that evening. The concert was being filmed as part of the series.
Haim, who would be introducing the band, was clearly nervous.
"I puked beforehand," he said, referring to the first time he acted as emcee at a concert in Los Angeles. "It freaked me out, being onstage."
"Hopefully, that won't happen tonight," added Feldman, who had earlier described their comedic timing as "magical."
Haim has obviously come a long way since 2001, when he reportedly suffered a drug-induced stroke.
Feldman, who bounced from The Surreal Life to more respected work, including a starring role in the New York stage production Fatal Attraction: A Greek Tragedy, seems to have his life together.
"We want people to see us for who we really are," Haim said of their reasons for doing the show, before launching into a rambling tirade about potential detractors.
"The people are still going to badmouth us and think we're a . . . joke, you know what? Anyone who has a problem with it can switch channels. . . . It's really aggravating to my family and to me when people call me and go, 'What's with you working with that guy Feldman again?' What do you mean? He's my brother. What's with me working? It's a job. I'm a man. I need to get up and do something and be productive, go home and know I did something. I need to eat also. . . ."
Enter producer Jonathan Singer, who put an immediate end to the interview, cancelled the photo shoot, plus cancelled two additional interviews with other members of the media. He said he was worried about the interview going off topic and revealing too many secrets.
Perhaps it was just too much reality for one day.
Alexandra Gill