VIDEO EXCLUSIVE: ‘Super Troopers’ Stars Kevin Heffernan & Steve Lemme On New TV Series ‘Tacoma F.D.’

Kevin Heffernan and Steve Lemme are best known for their iconic roles in the 2001 cult comedy film Super Troopers, and now they have created and star in a new comedy television series called Tacoma F.D.  

The pair of actors and members of the Broken Lizard comedy troupe discussed their new show exclusively with uInterview.

“The new series is Tacoma F.D., [and] basically we decided we wanted to do Super Troopers in a fire station,” said Heffernan. “That was the plan and that require mustaches, which we are now stuck with for life, and it required new uniforms. So the idea was to just take the same fun and hijinks and same humor [as Super Troopers] and put it into that different world.

Heffernan and Lemme, who are both 50 years old, play brothers-in-law Chief Terry McConky and Captain Eddie Penisi, respectively on Tacoma F.D. 

Lemme explained the similarities their new characters bear to their characters from Super Troopers. 

“Basically, it’s [Rod] Farva if he’s given some authority and becomes your chief,” Lemme said of Heffernan’s character Chief McConky, adding that McConky is ultimately not as “insane” as Trooper Farva.

“But we do see you alone a lot and you talk to yourself a lot in this show,” Lemme added about Heffernan, drawing a laugh from his co-star, who simply responded, “as I do in real life.”

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Lemme also revealed his character is a “scoundrel” who is loosely based on Heffernan’s cousin, a real-life firefighter who served as a technical consultant on Tacoma F.D. Although their characters started off as equals, Lemme explained, Heffernan’s character is now the real chief who is giving orders.

Lemme described what he considered one of the funniest scenes he and Heffernan shot for the series.

“One of my favorite things was when we were shooting the firefighter charity beefcake calendar episode, and it’s the scene where we’re trying out all the various oils you can put on your body to make yourself shimmery,” Lemme said. “[We tried] shimmery vs. shiny vs. slimy and I really think it deteriorated into the absurd.”

He continued as Heffernan laughed alongside him: “You wanna go with a linseed oil, you don’t want it to be too shiny because then it overpowers. You just want to have a nice shimmer.”

Tacoma P.D. airs Thursdays at 10:30 p.m. ET/PT on TruTV. 

Full interview transcript below:

Q: What’s the premise of Tacoma F.D.?

A: Heffernan: The new series is Tacoma F.D. I mean, basically, we decided we wanted to do Super Troopers in a fire station. That was the plan and that required mustaches, which we are now stuck with for life, and it required new uniforms. So the idea was just to take the same fun and high-jinks and the same humor and put it into that that different world.

Lemme: What he said.

Q: Who are you character’s on the show?

A: Lemme: Kevin plays Fire Chief Terence McConkey, he’s Terry McConkey and basically it’s Farva [from Super Troopers] if he’s given some authority and becomes your chief… but you know probably Farva-light, like you’re not insane like Farva but we do see you alone a lot and and you talk to yourself a lot in this show, as you do in real life. Actually, you know what’s funny: I actually saw you at a buffet yesterday, you and I were at, you know, the airport. You’re at a buffet and I realized at a buffet is where you do talk to yourself. You were at the buffet and I was like 20 feet away and you were like, “hmm they got salami and they got,” and I was like “Who is he talking to?”

My character is captain Eddie Panisse and McConkey and Panisse are brothers-in-law. I’m more of like a scallywag, I’m a bit of a scoundrel. I’m actually kind of loosely based on Kevin’s real-life cousin, who’s a real firefighter and our technical consultant, Bill Heffernan Lieutenant of the West Haven Fire Department. So I’m a bit of a scoundrel and we’re brothers-in-law and he’s married to my sister and so that means we were rookies together so now that he’s a chief I’m having a tough time taking orders from him and he’s having a tough time getting me to do what he wants. Also he is conflicted because he still wants to be one of the the crew, but now he’s in charge and so while we’re doing our shenanigans, he’s, you know, trying to squash it even though he really wants to be partaking.

Q: What’s been the funniest moment on set?

A: Lemme: I mean there are so many funny things that we’ve done. I think, you know, one of my favorite things was when we were shooting the Firefighter Charity Beefcake Calendar episode and it’s the scene where we’re trying out all the various oils you can put on your body to make yourself shimmery versus shiny versus slimy. I think it really kind of deteriorated into the absurd. You want to go with a Linseed oil, you don’t want it to be too shiny because then it overpowers. You just want to have a nice shimmer, you know… something that accentuates without overpowering.

Q: Do you have a new team for the show?

A: Heffernan: What’s kind of cool for us is that, you know, we have a usual group of guys that we work with in terms of making our movies [like] Super Troopers and Beerfest and this time, we brought in new people that we had never worked with before. There’s that “feeling out” process where you’re trying to figure out, you know, how far they can go and what their comedy chops are. The real fun part of it was discovering this kind of other group of people who improvised and did all this funny stuff and we came up with this great funny material with this new group of people. That’s what I like the most.