WASHINGTON — “Do you understand the words that are coming out of my mouth?” With just a dozen little words, a pop culture fixture was born.
Now, CBS revives the “Rush Hour” film franchise (1998-2007) for the new TV action-comedy “Rush Hour” (2016), which premieres Thursday in a pilot directed by Jon Turteltaub (“National Treasure”) and a series created by Bill Lawrence (“Scrubs”) and Blake McCormick (“Cougar Town”).
The buddy-cop series once again follows the odd-couple pairing of a maverick LAPD detective and a by-the-book detective from Hong Kong who butt heads when they are partnered together.
Actor/comedian Justin Hires takes over the role of Det. James Carter, made famous by Chris Tucker, while actor/martial artist Jon Foo takes over the role of Det. Lee, made famous by Jackie Chan.
“I always tell people that he’s a natural introvert and I’m a natural extrovert. We are the perfect yin and yang, and I think that’s why our chemistry is so great on and off camera. It’s like that perfect odd couple that creates nothing but high energy and comedic gold,” Hires tells WTOP.
“I’m a huge fan of the franchise … It’s important for everyone to know that we’re not doing a Chris Tucker and Jackie Chan impression. It’s not an imitation. We’re doing Det. Carter and Det. Lee … The success of this show really depended on if we could make these characters our own, ’cause nobody wants to see us to Chris and Jackie, they already did it, they did it brilliantly,” Hires says.
Still, Hires says it’s a dream come true to now be forever tied to Tucker.
“Chris Tucker is literally one of the reasons I got into comedy. I saw him in the movie ‘Friday’ when I was in elementary school or something, and I thought he was literally one of the funniest people I’d ever seen in my life when I saw that movie. I was like, ‘If I can be half as funny as that guy, maybe I can have a career in Hollywood,’ and that’s what I am, half as funny,” Hires jokes.
After growing up in Florida, Hires began dabbling in stand-up comedy while attending Clark Atlanta University in Georgia, where he majored in Mass Comm: Radio, TV & Film. There, he interned at a radio station, Atlanta’s V103, which he actually hit the day after dropping by WTOP.
“Talk about coming full circle. I went from being an intern there to now being able to be a guest on that station. But I realized that (in) Atlanta, the market was only so big. And I realized the actors there I felt were only getting certain roles, like guest-star roles and recurring roles, and I realized if I ever wanted to be the lead on a show, I saw that the casting was happening in Los Angeles. So I just had to believe in myself and leap out on faith and move out to Los Angeles to pursue that dream,” he says.
So in 2007, he packed up and made the move to Los Angeles where his dreams were realized.
“I went to the Comedy Store my first time … and guess who’s on stage? Chris Rock. I was like, holy crap, this is meant to be, because he is one of my stand-up comedian idols. For that to be the first person I saw on a stage in Los Angeles, I was like, yo, this is meant to be. Then I went headfirst into it.”
Enter “Rush Hour,” a show he almost didn’t get. He originally couldn’t audition because he was attached to do a different pilot for a different network alongside Ken Jeong (“The Hangover”).
“They had to do some recasting on that show, so we were both kind of open, and he went off and got his show picked up on his network (ABC’s ‘Dr. Ken’), and then I was able to then audition for ‘Rush Hour’ for CBS and everything worked out. He got his show, I got my show, he’s making more money ’cause he owns his show. He’s the E.P. (executive producer) on his show,” Hires jokes.
While Jeong’s show is a multicamera sitcom, Hires’ “Rush Hour” blends laughs and thrills.
“Some episodes are more dramatic than others, some episodes are funnier than others, so it really just depends on the case, it depends on if a joke is appropriate. We wanted to make sure that with my character definitely that I was grounded so that we could sustain 13 episodes. It’s one thing to be the loud, wisecracking dude for an hour and 30 minutes, and it’s another thing to do it for 13 episodes.”
Indeed, comedy for a TV show requires entirely different pacing than a movie.
“You don’t want to burn out on me being like, ‘Hey everybody!’ And they’re like, ‘Alright, calm down. Why the hell you so excited? You’re eating lunch on this scene. Why is he so excited in this scene? There’s a dead man on the floor.’ ‘Look at the chalk!’ ‘What is Carter on?’ ‘He’s sniffing the chalk!'”
In addition to the comedy in “Rush Hour,” prepare for plenty of action.
“We got explosions, we got shootouts, we got chases. The production value on this show is great … I have no idea what detectives we are, because most detectives have a specific thing they do. We do robbers, we do murders, theft, we cover the full spectrum of criminal activity and we’re damn good at what we do. We solve them cases! At the end of that episode, that case is solved!”
Along the way, the city of Los Angeles plays a vital character.
“We shut down Long Beach Highway on the first day of school. We’re a-holes. We’re like, ‘Forget the kids! We gotta shoot this show!” The city really plays like another character. People get to see Venice Beach, they get to see downtown, they get to see like the Disney Concert Hall, the streets and alleys of Los Angeles. You really feel like you’re in the city when you’re watching this show,” Hires says.
The show is certainly in good company. It’s airing as part of CBS’ Thursday night comedy block, alongside hits like “The Big Bang Theory,” “Life in Pieces” and lead-in show “2 Broke Girls.”
“I think that’s the No. 1 watched day of television, so that let us know that CBS really believed in this product … When you have somebody like Bill Lawrence, you really feel like you’re in great hands. This is somebody with a very high success rate with television, so he leads us. All you can hope for is that you put your best foot forward and people embrace what you’re doing, but when you’re in the hands of Warner Brothers, CBS and Bill Lawrence, I mean that’s a recipe for success,” Hires says.
If you enjoy Hires on “Rush Hour,” you can also check out his standup soon in Maryland.
He’ll appear at the Baltimore Comedy Factory from April 14-16.
“Watch ‘Rush Hour’ first,” he jokes. “Get to know me, enjoy the show, tell your friends about it.”
“Rush Hour” airs at 10 p.m. Thursdays on CBS. Listen to the full interview with Justin Hires below:
