‘Man With A Plan’s’ Kevin Nealon On Season 4 Premiere: ‘A Lot Of Emotional Heart Strings’

Man With A Plan returns with an all-new season this Thursday, April 2nd at 8:30 PM ET/PT, only on CBS and streaming on CBS All Access. Starring Kevin Nealon and Matt LeBlanc as brothers, Man With A Plan also features Liza Snyder and Stacy Keach.

CBS Local’s Matt Weiss caught up with Nealon to discuss the show’s fourth season, playing Don Burns and working alongside Matt LeBlanc.

MW: Good morning Kevin, how are you today? 

KN: Good, how are you? 

MW: Doing well, excited to talk to you today about Man With A Plan, series premier coming up on Thursday. It’s so cool to see you and Matt LeBlanc together as someone who grew up on 90s and early 2000’s TV so my first question is what it’s like to work on set together? 

KN: Glad you like the show. It’s funny working with Matt LeBlanc because we both play dumb really well. A lot of times he’ll tell me, ‘I made a lot of money playing dumb.’ It’s really fun to work with him and also, he’s so intuitive about sitcoms and he knows so much about character structure and what works and what doesn’t work; coming from someone who plays dumb he’s a really smart guy. 

MW: You play brothers, Don and Adam. Could you tell us a little about Don in your own words, who is this character to you, what are you trying to do when you portray him? 

KN: It’s funny, you know, Don Burns is a guy who loves his family, he loves his brother, but he’s just not into working, he’s always looking for the quickest way out and the best way to get out of doing work. He’s not really great with advice because his motive is to not work that much. 

MW:  Season four with the show coming up, you’ve all had a lot of success obviously but take me back before the pilot episode. What got you excited about this show, what made you want to jump on board? 

KN: It was so interesting, a friend of mine got the script to read to play as Matt LeBlanc’s wife on the show and I said this is great you would be perfect for the role. She didn’t get it eventually, but I said ‘Do you mind if I read the script?’ So, I read the script and I called her the next day and said wow this is a really good script you know, I like the characters and you know, I would watch this show.

Which is a lot to say because I’m not a big fan of watching a lot of TV. A couple of weeks later I got a call to have a chemistry read with Matt LeBlanc for this very show and I think that was kind of coincidental, ironic. 

MW: Yeah and look at you four seasons later so it all worked out. 

KN: Yeah it really did work out. I just enjoy it, it’s a great schedule, it keeps me home. As a stand-up you’re used to working on the road a lot, this is kind of a nice break. The show is really good, people are coming up to me all the time telling me how much they love it, how they discovered it, I’m happy about that. 

MW: Awesome. Last question before I let you go. What are you most excited about for the season as a whole? And a part two to that, what are you most excited about Don’s particular journey in this new season? 

KN: First and foremost, I’m excited it’s coming back April 2nd on CBS. And as far as my character, Don, I like to see how he evolves on the show. Also, my relationship with Matt LeBlanc and my wife played by Kali Rocha. Occasionally I’ll say to Matt I think my character is a little too dumb and he says that we’ll keep an eye on that. But I think it’s kind of reset level now where just when you think he can’t be any dumber he does something more dumb. [laughs] 

MW: So that’s what we’re looking forward to, more stupidity in season four. 

KN: [laughs] Yes. But there’s also a lot of emotional heart strings to the show. It really touches a lot of different areas. Which is fun to watch. 

MW: Well I’ll make sure to tune in on Thursday. It was a pleasure to talk to you, stay well. 

KN: Thanks buddy and I also have Hiking With Kevin, which is on YouTube on Thursday. This is my season finale this Thursday, April 2nd, with Kim Bassinger, so that’s a fun hike. 

MW: Great, a busy Thursday night filled with plenty of Kevin Nealon. All the best!

KN: Same to you man!

Man With A Plan returns this Thursday, April 2nd at 8:30 PM ET/PT only on CBS and streaming on CBS All Access. Check your local listings for more information.