The Rascal, a fast-paced, action-packed comedy on Crackle, achieves what few other web series do–- it fires off action and laughs at lightening speed, while looking convincingly high-budget. Even in the rare times when one location may double as Los Angeles in one instance and Dubai in the next, The Rascal still manages to make you laugh.
Ever since The Rascal was featured as a Tuesday pick, we’ve loyally followed this small-time criminal on his big-time escapades, and through his twisted love triangle of romance. Monday, September 1st will bring the season finale of The Rascal to Crackle. The Rascal himself, aka Jay Rondot, gave us a recap on the show, and a hint at what’s to come.
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w was The Rascal born?
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Jay Rondot: Because it was the internet, we (Jay works with director and writer, Ross Novie) really wanted to come up with something fast-paced, and it kind of came out of 24. There’s so many high points that keep building on each other. It just gets more and more insane, and we thought it would be fun to do something about a bad guy about a bad guy going from small time to big time, building on this hyper-kinetic pace, and wondered what a show would be like with all high points. But once we made a series out of it, we slowed it down a little. But we really liked the idea of, “holy shit, what? It just got more insane, it just keeps escalating.”
TF: The Rascal has a unique home-base–a lab inside of a semi-truck. Where did he acquire such a thing?
Rondot: We thought it was funny if we played him like a small business man, who is starting out with not much. And it’s hard enough trying to start a small business, let alone in the criminal world where it’s hard to find good help, and people stab you in the back. So we thought it would be funny if we had this scientist–the one guy who could potentially crack the code to nuclear fusion, which is The Rascal’s big chance at the high-end criminal world. If he can crack that, he can get in the high-level criminal game. This is the one guy who says he can do it, we don’t know if he can do it, but he’s all The Rascal can afford. And we thought, what if this guy was totally extravagant, and just spends all The Rascal’s money on flamboyant good times, and that’s where the truck came from. We also remembered back to Knight Rider when they cruised around in a semi-truck which was a mobile lab, which is ridiculous.
TF: Your production looks like it has a decent budget. How do you accomplish that? Or do you actually have a big budget?
Rondot: Our budget is on par with the other shows on Crackle. But we did set out to do something that feels big, and epic, and to get as much budget on that screen as possible.
TF: How did the Cynthia Fiesta character come about?
Rondot: We thought it would be nice to have a female character just as diabolical as the guys. We wanted a woman to place between Shep, who’s supposed to be good, but he’s really bad. Actually he’s a son of a bitch. He’s blowing stuff up. He loves collateral damage. And then, you have The Rascal, and he’s just trying to get by. And Cynthia creates this great love triangle, and she’s got a thing for bad guys. That’s her MO. She actually probably got into this to meet guys. Amy Hathaway who plays Cynthia is someone I have known for awhile, and I always thought she was really good. And we needed someone who balanced comedy and playing it straight, and I knew she could do that.
TF: Fred Savage has a fun cameo appearance. How did Fred get involved?
Rondot: Ross worked with Fred a long time ago, and they became friends. We also really like the idea that you always hear about all the bad stuff celebs are doing, but like what if Fred Savage is not out getting drunk, but is actually financing an illegal diamond mine. Fred did such a great job. We did another video with Fred called With the Stars. And it’s us sitting with Fred on a couch watching the show Dancing With the Stars. (Note: The With the Stars series can be seen on their Rondovie website. )
TF: Finally, can you give us any insight into the finale?
Rondot: Well, Shep and The Rascal have teamed up. In Episode 12 they are really takin’ care of business together. Shep has always wanted to be the bad guy, and he really gets the freedom he’s always wanted. In the criminal world, he’s a free man. And he’s helping The Rascal get the Fusion deal settled.
