Throng

Freddie
Friday, 1 June, 7.30pm

Freddie Prinze Jr stars as a single-guy chef who struggles to maintain his thriving bachelor lifestyle in a house full of women.

Freddie Moreno (Prinze), a head chef at a trendy Chicago eatery, was making the most of the bachelor lifestyle - hanging out with his likeminded best friend and neighbour, Chris (Brian Austin Green - Beverly Hills 90210) and looking for love in every club in town.
However, after the death of his older brother and the collapse of his sister's marriage, good-hearted Freddie took in his impulsive sister-in-law, Allison; his pragmatic sister, Sofia, complete with her 13-year-old daughter, Zoey; and their irascible Grandma, who refuses to speak English and only responds in Spanish - even though she understands every word. Freddie soon discovers that four women to every man are great odds when you're a single guy out on the town - but not ideal when it comes to your living situation.

With this self-titled comedy, Freddie Prinze Jr. (at 29) became the youngest executive producer in the history of ABC. The show itself is inspired by Freddie's real experiences growing up with his mother and Puerto Rican grandmother, and the friendship between Freddie and Chris is loosely based on the lives of Prinze and his lifelong friend Conrad Jackson, who is also one of the creators.

Prinze admits that there is a certain amount of pressure being a young executive producer, as well as starring in and writing a TV show. "I try to be two steps ahead; I want to do good. I don't want to let my family or people who depend on me down. I'm either going to be the smartest 29-year-old or the dumbest. We'll find out very soon."

There are upsides though. He is having a ball working with co-star Brian Austin Green. "I just love him. The first time he read for the show, that was it. Everyone knew who was getting the part. He was so funny and had such an interesting take on this guy's philosophy on life."

Prinze says that playing a master cook wasn't that much of a stretch either as his mother was a chef. "My mother was incredible chef, mostly Italian dishes. I love cooking and like her, I'm very good with veal." Being proficient in the kitchen has worked out well for Prinze as he insists food was the way to his wife Sarah Michelle Gellar's (of Buffy stardom) heart. "She absolutely married me because I can cook."

In the series premiere, Freddie and Chris take a new approach to meeting women. After a series of unsuccessful dates with spoiled rich girls, the two decide to find "down to earth" women at a Laundromat in their old neighborhood. But when Freddie dates the woman that he and his family think could be a perfect match for him, he ends up with more than he bargained for.