By Brian Truitt, USA TODAY
Even with his new series Only in America (History, Tuesdays, 9 p.m. ET/PT) that showcases a land full of passionate individuals, Larry the Cable Guy isn't ready to change his name to Larry the History Teacher. At least not yet.
Disney/Pixar Animation Studi
Larry The Cable Guy (real name: Dan Whitney) gits-r-done every Tuesday night on the History Channel's Only in America.
Disney/Pixar Animation Studi
Larry The Cable Guy (real name: Dan Whitney) gits-r-done every Tuesday night on the History Channel's Only in America.
When he ventures out to do his standup comedy around the country, "I tell everybody about my show coming up and I go, 'Larry on history is like Charlie Sheen doing commercials for eHarmony.com,' " quips the bare-armed, trucker-hatted redneck jokester and alter ego of Nebraska native Dan Whitney, 48.
He spent years as a radio personality and a founding member of the Blue Collar Comedy Tour with Jeff Foxworthy? where the catchphrase "Git-R-Done" was honed to humorous effect ? and then had a star turn voicing the lovable tow truck Mater in Pixar's animated Cars. However, Only in America with Larry the Cable Guy (airing Tuesday nights on History) gives Larry the challenge of traveling the USA and reporting back about its many defining qualities.
Making and running moonshine in Georgia? Check. Finding out all he ever wanted to know and more about mules in Tennessee? Check. Heading to Las Vegas and headlining as a Larry the Cable Guy impersonator? Check and check.
"We're not that old of a country and everybody came here from another country," he says. "It was just really cool to see how it was all one basic theme: They came here because their parents or their grandparents knew that they had the opportunity in the United States of America, if they worked hard and didn't give up, to do anything they wanted to do. Not only did they do it, but they left it to their son, and they left it to their son."
There were many things that Larry visited that he figured would make for the worst show ever, only to turn out a lot more entertaining than expected ? like when he went to New York City and became a longshoreman for a day. "I said to my cameraman, 'If this comes out to be funny and informative, I deserve an Emmy, because I think it's the most frickin' boring thing I've ever done in my life,' " he says, laughing.
The show also gave him a chance to showcase both the quirky Larry persona and the real Dan Whitney. He says taking an etiquette class at the Emily Post Institute in Vermont let him really turn up the Larry character a lot. "You get them so frustrated. And then on the other hand, when I'm really seriously asking about their grandmother and how they got started and what's the history of it, then I get to revert more to myself and ask good questions.
"Just because I think it's kinda goofy that you have to have your fork on a certain side of the plate, to me that doesn't matter, but to them it does. That's where my self shines through, because I think that's really cool."
For the record, Larry thinks he'd be an OK history teacher. "I think the schools are a little more politically correct than I probably would be. I'd probably get in some trouble," says the comedian, who actually did teach a class about the Alamo to some kids in Minnesota for the show.
He also wants to expose his kids ? son Wyatt, 4, and daughter Reagan, 3 ? to some of the history he's learned on the show. (They're also very anxious to see the return of "Daddy Mater" when Cars 2 is released on June 24.) Their dad intends on taking them to the water park at the Wisconsin Dells one day ? where Larry tried his hand at water skiing while sitting on a couch ? but they did tag along when he visited Weeki Wachee Springs in Florida and dressed up as one of the attraction's famous mermaids.
"I told my wife, 'Honey, I've got to lose weight.' And she says, 'Well, don't lose weight till after the show because I've got to tell you, there's nothing funnier than a big, fat white guy in a mermaid suit,' " he says with a hearty belly laugh. "I said, 'Yeah, you're right. None of this stuff would have been funny if I was in shape.' "
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