10 Questions for Jeannie Tate

By 02/28/2008
10 Questions for Jeannie Tate

Jeannie Tate, the boisterous soccer mom who hosts a talk show from her minivan, has single-handedly given new meaning to the idea of “mobile entertainment.”  The self-proclaimed super-mom incoporates a talk show into her daily routine as she whizzes around town picking up her dry-cleaning and dropping the boys off at soccer practice.

The brain-child of Liz Cackowski and Maggie Carey from the Head in the Oven production company, and created with Warner Bros Studio 2.0, The Jeannie Tate Show launched in September 2007 and has hosted a handful of celebrity and musical guests against the backdrop of cloth bucket-seats, a Curves-style gym, her kids’ soccer game and the Burger King drive-thru. In her most recent post, Jeannie shoots on-location at a Hillary rally. In light of her rising popularity (Jeannie’s, not Hillary’s) Tilzy.TV decided to ask a few questions of the world’s only soccer-mom-in-a-minivan-hosting-an-internet-talk-show star. Through email, we interviewed the “real-life Jeannie Tate.”

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TILZY.TV: Your show is really something. Even though the format breaks the mold in a lot of ways, would you say that you’ve been influenced by any so-called “traditional” talk show hosts?

JEANNIE TATE: Even though my show is shot during the day, I like to think of it as a late night talk show. Like Leno! He’s so funny. I have my jokes, my interviews, my musical guests or stand-ups. I’m just like him, except in a minivan. Or like Ellen, maybe I should start dancing up to my van.

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TTV: Some of your celebrity guests seem a little put off by the show’s “set.” Has that impacted your game plan for the show moving forward? (Even though Rob Riggle was obviously psyched to be in the minivan, both Bill Hader and Rashida Jones seemed less-than-thrilled with their interviews.)

JT: That’s Hollywood for ya! No I would never change my studio to fit their needs. If you can’t be comfortable in a minivan, you can’t be comfortable anywhere!

TTV: Speaking of your show’s unconventional backdrops, we learned that you recently shot at a campaign rally for Presidential hopeful, Hilary Clinton. How’d that go?

JT: It was life changing. I love her so much. I can’t wait to say “Mrs. President!” And I love her hair. I tell my hairdresser, “Give me the Hillary.”

TTV: Has seeing a woman like Hillary (incidentally, who was also publicly humiliated by her unfaithful husband) run for a big political office given Ms. Jeannie Tate any ideas?

JT: I would love to run for something. I think I’ll start with PTA next year. And I will banner the heck out of my town. And for the record, I was not “publicly humiliated.” He was.

TTV: So, it looks like choosey moms choose Burger King. Any chance they might sponsor your show? If you were a spokesperson for them, would you have a particular sandwich you would want to plug?

JT: My sandwich at The King would be The Queen and it would have zero trans-fats!

TTV: Your kids, Oliver and Max, are often with you in the show. Are you ever worried that they might grow up too fast, being flung into the entertainment world at such a young age?

JT: I do worry about that ’cause you read about all those child stars who grew up to be junkies and low-lifes. I try to keep them off the camera as much as possible, but they’re just so darn cute!

TTV: What about Tina? She’s obviously troubled. Do you ever think that if you paid more attention to her, or maybe stop referring to her as your “chemically-dependent stepdaughter,” that she might be a little more receptive to you and what you have to offer?

JT: No.

TTV: On your Website, you have some video of a stand-up comedy performance that you gave at an NYC Open Mic. Were you happy with the experience? Any chance this might become a regular thing?

JT: I had a blast doing stand-up. And it went really well too. But I can’t be making trips into the city that often. Have to be home for the kids. But I do keep a joke log.

TTV: Word on the street is that you just got back from Italy. What was that all about?

JT: Russell surprised me with a trip to Tuscany. So romantic. And I talked to many nice Italians on the streets of Sienna. I liked Europe, but I missed my Large Diet Cokes.

TTV: Finally, what’s one piece of advice that you would like to share with other aspiring “Super-Moms?”

JT: Always have a bottle of Pino Grigio in the fridge.

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