Q&A: Executive Producer Joe Schneier Talks 'Tickle'

On Tuesday, August 13, Discovery is launching "Tickle," a spin-off of the series "Moonshiners." "Tickle" stars the memorable moonshiner of the same name and it's fair to say that the show is quite a bit goofier than its parent series.

I recently spoke with Joe Scheier, who works on "Moonshiners" and is the executive producer of "Tickle." He talks about the filming process and the challenges of producing a show around someone whose life is a bit erratic.

Q: Tickle was a real distinctive character on "Moonshiners" and that's even more the case on his show. And I think a lot of viewers see him and the way that he comes off on camera and they think that there is no way that this can be accurate. There's a lot of skepticism from viewers about shows such as this. Now after talking to him, it's pretty clear Tickle is....well, Tickle. But you can you walk me through the production process of the show and how you decide what gets on camera?

A: Well, Moonshiners is a VERY real show. We have to be careful on that show for a variety of reasons. But in the off-season, with Tickle, we don't have the same kind of concerns. Because we can just see what he's up to and what he's doing and go from there. But at the end of the d, it's just Tickle.

Q: The scene in the first episode that made me scratch my head the most was the one in which Tickle is out in the woods and he comes across someone else's hidden stash of moonshine. He proceeds to steal it and he's concerned that the owner of the moonshine will realize that he's the one who took it. But on the other hand, everything he does is being aired on TV, so his secret won't be secret for long.

A: Tickle can't keep a secret. And we have 12 episodes and we are going to get into that for sure. It really wouldn't work on the show if we said "Hey, Tickle has a secret..here you go world, here it is." But we were pretty sure he would be found out pretty quickly and sure enough, he was found out pretty quickly. And over the course of the twelve episodes you'll see what happens.

In fact, there's a bit of an honor code among moonshiners, but that honor code can go out the window pretty quickly. But it's through the force of his personality that he can navigate through that. Tickle is very fortunate that he has a great personality and that people do like him. But you don't take someone else's stash and he is going to learn a couple of lessons about that over the course of the season.

Q: It seems like one of the biggest challenges of doing a show like this is that Tickle is not a professional actor. He's not even a seasoned reality show veteran. How do you handle a guy who is a bit unpredictable and may or may not be in the mood to be followed around by a camera on any given day?

A: For this show especially it was a bit of a 24/7 experience following him around. We were in the town where he lives, we were holed up in hotel nearby and we just followed him around. He did not need to work this off-season in the same way he had to work in the past. Just because now he has a bit more disposable income. And eventually we realized that this was really the crux of the show. There were a lot of things he wanted to do, and it was neat to be in a situation where you really don't have to work. So it's then "Well, what do you want to do today? What can we follow you around and capture."

And the crazy thing about Tickle is that he's very well rounded. But he's a little bit of a Renaissance man when it comes to his breadth of knowledge. There are all sorts of things he likes to do. He loves cooking, for instance. And he's pretty good at it. Although, to be honest, a lot of his recipes involve putting moonshine on things. But you quickly realize that he's read some cook books and he remembers the recipes.

He's also well-versed on history. One of the things that we're doing over the course of the season is that he loves American history, he's obsessed with certain parts of American history. So he put together a tour for some of the locals-for some of the senior citizens in town. And he told us about it and we told him, "Let us know when you're doing this, we'll follow you around with a camera." And it's hysterical. About 80 percent of what he says is true, but you end up thinking "How did he know this?" But the other twenty percent is just ridiculous. It's just things he half-remembers. But he can talk. He can talk himself into a circle and sometimes that's what happened on the tour.

So all of this really became the crux of the show as the season went on. It was "Tickle, what do you want to do today? And then we would just follow him around. It just kept getting funnier and funnier.

Q: I guess it's almost like a guy who's won the lottery. It's not the same kind of financial impact as winning the lottery, but the show comes down to: what does this guy who has a few extra bucks in his pocket decide to do with himself every day?

A: That's exactly it. And it's the same thing with Howard and Moe, his two buddies. They've been friends for a long time, he's grown up with them. And they are his partners in real life. So when Tickle is doing well, they're doing well. The fact that he had a couple of yahoos that he runs around with was great. It was like, "let's set them loose and see what kind of trouble they can get into."

Q: So how long did you follow Tickle around before you had enough footage for the episodes?

A: It was a long process. We started over the winter and there was a lot of stuff on the cutting room floor. Because this week he might have some great scheme to do something and the next week he might just want to go to Taco Bell. So maybe that second week won't be on the show (laughs).

We started filming in January and they're pretty much done now. Moonshine season is starting to pick up and he's a lot less available. And obviously the rules change once you get into the moonshining part of the filming.

Q: When I talked to Tickle, one of the thing he mentioned was that his girlfriend is not all that excited by the prospect of this show.

A: Oh, she's not. Dana is...well, what you see on the show is Dana. They have a relationship that is very much like the Andy Capp. They're together and they love each other. But Dana will give Tickle a few pieces of her mind if she thinks he needs it. Now most of the time he deserves it. And it's funny, they've gotten to a place where it works for them. When a couple can be so vocal towards each other and still have a good relationship and a good family, then you know they've got something good there.

Q: I wanted to ask you one last somewhat unrelated question. I've read several pieces from fellow TV critics recently that focus on shows set in rural America like "Moonshiners" and "Duck Dynasty." And their premise is that shows like that are basically on the air because they give America someone to laugh at. But I have an opposite theory, which is that these shows reflect a part of America you don't see on broadcast television. They're heightened versions of reality, but at the end of the day they are shows about people that are very familiar to many Americans.

A: I think you've hit the nail on the head. There are a lot of people out there who aren't being served by the shows and the people that they see on broadcast television. At the end of the day there are a lot of people out there who don't want to watch another show about a bunch of twenty-somethings living in a high rise in Manhattan who are looking to hook up. They're not into one sex joke after another. And that's where shows like "Tickle" are helping to fill that void.