OFF-TOPIC: NEW FOX TV SHOW STARS A MUSTANG!

[MrMustang1965]

Charlie Finn is no bubblehead. He just plays one on TV. A star of Fox's wacky new sitcom "Life on a Stick," the Lake Bluff native and Lake Forest High School grad will return to his alma mater Monday to screen the show's pilot, visit former teachers and impart wisdom to aspiring young actors.

"God knows if I can do it, they can," Finn, 24, said recently from California, where he was seriously jonesing for a real hot dog -- preferably one from the venerable North Side stand Wiener's Circle, with a sprinkling of celery salt and all the fixins. One from some crappy mall quickie joint like the one where his character, Fred, toils, just wouldn't cut it.

Neither would sub-par fare from a random shack in Cali. When it comes to dogs, the edible kind, they're clueless out there.

"I think they put fruit and granola on them," Finn joked. "And they're made of, like, tofu or something."

During a particularly memorable visit to the Circle, he recalls, a companion of his was subjected to the eatery's legendary -- and typically harmless -- verbal abuse.

"They smell your fear in that place," Finn said. "I once took a girl there who didn't know [about it]. She had red hair, and they were making fun of her. They were calling her Carrot Top and Big Red and stuff. We left and I think I saw a tear in her eye. It was harsh. But I think she's stronger because of it."

In high school, Finn floated between disparate cliques. Extracurriculars included varsity tennis and writing for the school's literary magazine. "I had a blast," he said. "I was friends with a lot of jocks, but I was just sort of the class clown. Whoever would give me attention, that's probably who I hung out with."

On the acting front, he studied for a brief time at Second City, put in a few months at Annoyance Theater, and even took some classes with improv guru Del Close at ImprovOlympic.

"That was such a treat," he said of the time with Close, who died in 1999. "He's a legend. I was intimidated, because he was very straightforward and didn't beat around the bush."

Close's main actorly note: avoid overly literal characterizations. "I guess that's really helped me out," Finn said. "Even in life -- to just kind of lighten up a little bit."

After high school, Finn set off for Southern Methodist University in Texas, where he studied English and honed his writing chops. A summer internship with late-night quipster Conan O'Brien came courtesy of Finn's improv teacher, Jimmy Carrane, a pal of O'Brien sidekick and Chicago-bred thespian Andy Richter. Then it was back to business.

While steeped in studies, Finn came to feel a slight kinship with aspiring author Amory Blaine, the privileged, self-absorbed and ultimately isolated protagonist of F. Scott Fitzgerald's This Side of Paradise, which quickly became Finn's second favorite novel next to The Great Gatsby.

"I could relate to him because there was a similar socio-economic background," Finn said. "At the time when I was reading it, I was in college and I remember I was so inundated with all these intellectual ideas and feeling overwhelmed with them and [wondering] how I could apply these ideas to [myself]." He was, he said, "feeling alone at the time."

Finn's aloneness was magnified when he shoved off for Hollywood following graduation. Initially, he flopped at the Thousand Oaks home of a friend's grandparents before getting a dinky, "depressing" studio of his own on Hollywood's Beachwood Drive. He soon secured employment with The Gap at Beverly Center. "Those," he said, "were humbling times." Much of the next year was spent "schlepping around."

Then, purely by chance, he ran into Chicago-born "Dukes of Hazzard" director Jay Chandrasekhar on a sidewalk outside the L.A. branch of ImprovOlympic, where he'd enrolled to meet hometown folks and resume his thespianic education. They got to talking, discovered their shared roots and, long story short, Chandrasekhar put Finn in an NBC pilot he was shooting. It never got picked up, but a small part in Chandrasekhar's film "Super Troopers" followed, as did a recurring guest shot on "Andy Richter Controls the Universe."

"Life on a Stick," though, is Finn's biggest break yet. And he's digging the gig for as long as it lasts.

"First of all, it's a dream schedule," he said. "We work three weeks and then we're off for a week. Monday through Wednesday, it's a pretty light workload. I mean, it really doesn't get any better than that. And hopefully, if it's funny and I get more exposure, it'll open up more doors for me."

But no matter how famous he gets, no matter how big his posse grows, Finn will always be a hot dog-chomping, Cubs-loving Chicagoan at heart. In fact, for the team's home opener in April, he's gathering with Chi-town buddies, one of whom is flying in deep-dish pizza from Daleyville for the occasion. Sweet.

"Whatever we can do," Finn said, "to re-create the atmosphere here."

http://www.suntimes.com/output/entertai ... inn20.html

[Grider]

First of all Chuck Finn ain't 24. He's 30, maybe 29.

Regardless, he's a pretty hilarious guy. Most of my funniest stories in college involve Finn in some form or fashion. I'm glad to see his new show is getting alot of publicity. He's been at this acting thing pretty seriously for some time, and now it seems to really be paying off for him.

[rich_alum]

I miss CLUB FINN.

[Grider]

I miss CLUB FINN.

Ah yes...club Finn. Thems was good times.