 Soft dudes with attitudes Kinda prove it They've been in mellow Welcome everybody to another web show It is a very 90s-tastic web show today Meg is ready You may remember a show from the 90s called California Dreams And today I am lucky enough to be speaking to Jay Anthony Franke who played the very hardcore and very tough but very soft and vulnerable Jake Summers The show was brilliant, Jake Summers was brilliant, the music was brilliant Yes, you can buy the CD So I won't dilly-dally too much Ladies and gentlemen, Jay Anthony Franke Jay Anthony, thank you so much for chatting today I'm so excited to have you on the web show California Dreams was one of the biggest shows of the 90s And it's loved by so many today What was it like? Is it like to be part of something so iconic? Well, first of all, just the fact that we still have fans 30 years on We still have people saying, hey, I love what you did Or hey, you made my life better Or hey, you know, and I'm like, I made your what? I did what? How? What thing did happen? And they're like, well, I was going through a rough time And your character really taught me to love me for myself or who I am Or whatever it is Or simply just you made me laugh That in itself is really cool And then I keep hearing this iconic thing You know, when you're doing something You never think like, oh, this is going to be a thing Or it's, you know, this is going to be iconic I think maybe like once in a blue moon You hear people say that they're filming something They're like, oh crap, we are going to be, you know I don't know that we ever felt that way But we just knew at the time we were big It was hard to like go shopping Other than that, like it was just a good time It was a great time to be alive It was the early 90s Life was simpler and people couldn't get a hold of me Whenever the hell they wanted And, you know, I didn't carry around a computer in my pocket And I had a beaver, actually Prior to your role as Jake Summers You had roles on shows such as Married with Children Too bad because it was a real good one, too Where were you in your career at that time? Had you given yourself a time frame to achieve certain goals Or were you not putting too much pressure on yourself? Yeah, I feel like you're giving me way too much credit For the age I was at And I had plans and I wanted to accomplish things But I don't think I was capable of making long-term goals In fact, I'm certain I was incapable of making long-term goals I tended to view things as, hey, this is just kind of what's happening right now And this is what I'm doing and we'll see where I'm at tomorrow So I kind of had no goals per se Other than I don't want to do a regular job Which I'm doing now And I was right back then Yeah, just before I got this Before I got the iconic role of Jake Summers on the iconic California Dreams I had also gotten the role, I won't say which role But a role on a movie with John Waters was directing I called my manager and he said, I've got two calls in And you've got a job on this movie and you've got a job on this show So the problem is you have to pick one In retrospect, I would have liked to have argued for doing both But I was just kind of like, oh, I got to pick one, okay And we were talking about it and it was just like, okay The path I want to take is the one where I'm working next year And this is a series And who knows what's going to happen with this movie You just don't know, so this is a series It's possible this could go 10 years It's possible it could end next year But it's more than likely it'll go at least another four or five years Which I'm lucky for The path after the show was more of a self-preservation path I had to actually just kind of step away Just for my own sanity and health It kind of seems these days to be famous is a career goal Of its own for kids and teenagers And you developed this level of fame so quickly And so young What was that really like? What was it like to be that famous seemingly overnight? It was cool It was the thing you dreamed of As a young actor It was the thing you wanted It was the thing that you said, hey, when this goes away I'll know that life is over Or whatever But at the same time The limitations that are placed on you once that happens It's palpable, you feel it You're like, oh crap, I can't do this thing anymore I can't just go here and eat I can't go to Magic Mountain or Disneyland There's certain things that you just can't do anymore I can do that now But for a few years it was really rough It was awesome, I had arrived I enjoyed it at the same time I was like, where does this go from here? I don't know So what was it like when you found out that you could start going shopping again And go to Disneyland again? Was it sad in a way? Or was it a bit of a relief? It was both It was like, oh, this is nice And at the same time you're like, aww Aw, and then, you know, it's funny Somebody had remarked It was actually a couple years ago We had gone to a restaurant or something And a young woman who was the hostess at the restaurant Or something was extremely rude to me And somebody jokingly said Oh, they only knew that she was You know, who she was talking to back in the day Or if this had been back in the day She'd be, and I kind of thought about it I was like, ugh It's such a weird thing, fame There's a sadness when it goes There's a, oh wow, this is awesome when it's there Honestly, if I was to decide to get back into the business now I would like some sort of like Assemblance of, in between Just, you know, I'm doing my job And oh, hey, yeah, I'm having dinner Thank you, all right For me, one of the reasons California Dreams stood out from other shows At the time was the actual musical talents of the cast And you were, and still are, an amazing guitar player Did you have a chance to talk about your character, Jake Before filming to try and incorporate those talents Into the character at all? Well, the character was originally supposed to play guitar I remember the original script that I was auditioning with said Oh, I can't sing, I sound like a screech owl Or something like that And then I sang for the producer, Peter Engel And I think it was my second audition And he went, oh, he can sing, so all right We'll make it so Jake can sing I had already gotten the part But then I went into the studio They wanted to see what my voice sounded like And basically I just don't think I sounded poppy enough But if you listen to Leather and Loose He's singing and playing live I do remember that Ron Solomon Who wrote the Leather and Loose song Came up to me at the end of it Because he had just showed me how to do it real quick and took off And he came up to me at the end of filming And he said, oh, that was awesome I didn't think you had it in you But then the other stuff is The incredibly talented Barry Coffing Doing Jake's voice You can definitely tell There's a different dude singing Between some of the other songs and that And there's other times I've sang too Brentley also sang on the show live A few times as well But yeah, they talked about it It was implemented I did play guitar here and there Did sing once, twice, three times I think The cast of California Dreams Famously reunited on the Jimmy Fallon show In 2012 It's a great video What was that like and how did that all happen Come out to Australia Had been living here two years And then I got a call saying Hey, do you want to do a Jimmy Fallon He's doing a California Dreams reunion Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome the cast Of California Dreams I think I jokingly said what They couldn't get saved by the bell and it turned out that was the case They even brought Mr. Belding Played by Dennis Haskins on To be part of the bit Dennis, you weren't In California Dreams Don't you remember my catchphrase Hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, what is going on here And that was fun, it was good to see everybody Got to see some family while I was there as well Just flew into New York First thing I did was I got off the plane Got a huge New York pizza Because pizza here in Australia is different And then yeah, we filmed the bit And it was a great time Jimmy Fallon was awesome It was really good to see everybody And now you came from Australia I came out from Australia, yeah, very cool My pleasure, I moved to Australia Married my sweetheart Tracy and Just finished filming a pilot That I created and we'll see where that goes I think I saw Kelly's youngest daughter when she was That big And she had just had her So I had witnessed her as a young child Yeah, it was a good time and good to see everybody Have you seen many of the cast Since that reunion and could we Possibly look forward to a 2023 reunion They did do a I should say we but I wasn't there Did do a pop-up Sharkies Concert slash meet and greet I couldn't make it I think it was just the beginning of Covid Or something I talked to Jenny Kwan Probably most, she's still very lovely And awesome Michael and Brent Lee and William here and there And Aaron, but yeah, no, I'm in Australia So California dreams has been Such an important part of so many Childhoods in teen years Myself included, of course But what did you watch growing up What is your California dreams Wow, Kung Fu with David Carradine Every time he walked into place And they would start like, hey boy What are you doing, we're gonna kick your ass He'd just be like, I wish to harm no one I will stand for you And then he'd just be whooping everybody's ass It was like as a kid, this is great I think there was MB3 With Richard Blade Which was basically MTV before MTV And it was like an hour of Music television that you'd race Home from school to get to see And it was just the first music video With Erica 100, you know, the video killed the radius The whole deal Silver Spoons was a big deal That was with that Rick Schroeder Well, I'm sorry, Ricky Schroeder And Erin Gray Used to have a crush on her when I was a kid She's still looking great Wow, that's so long ago I'm a huge fan of Mash Even as a kid, I loved it, I love it as an adult If it's on, I don't care if it's five minutes left I'll watch it, 30 seconds left I'll watch it, so yeah, Mash was definitely The big one Definitely one of my favorite shows of all times Taxi Especially Andy Kaufman's stuff As Laka Gravis And Jim Magnatowski who got the I think it's the longest, still the longest Laugh ever in a sitcom Doing the The DMV skit, I don't know if you've seen that Lloyd is playing a Reverend Jim And he's in the DMV taking his driver's test And he has to get it because he's a taxi driver So he has to pass this test And they're all there to help him And he's cheating, he's like What do you do? Oh no, he says what does a yellow light mean? And they're like Slow down And he's like what What Does A yellow And then they're like slow down What What Duh And it's just this, it's like I don't know, three minutes straight Of the audience just losing their fricking minds Um, anyways, bright What does a yellow light mean? Slow down Okay Light D Slow down Okay Whoa One of the things I really like about your Instagram Is that you were clearly a dog lover Meg had to come and join and say hello And you are an advocate for Adopting rescue dogs Why is that important to you? Dogs can speak For themselves if you listen Or if you feel it Too many people don't and can't Or won't or whatever it is So Because they, so many people will not hear them Or Or even care, I just feel like it's important to I think part of it is not Just Dogs, I think it's like All animals They all need a voice, like You just look around the world and we're just If there's a hell For animals Here And we're at stewards We are the stewards Of hell, we are the caretakers Of hell for most animals on this planet We treat them like absolute shit Dogs It just so happens Look to us for much more than just Food So I don't know I just feel like I have to Say something, I have to speak up somehow And It's weird, like sometimes I'm like I really want to be putting all this It's depressing stuff It is depressing and I really want to Put this on my Instagram Talk to my wife about it and she's like Yeah, yeah, I do And at the same time, I don't want to depress people But at the same time, I have a voice It's not as loud as it used to be Or I'm sorry, it doesn't come across To as many people as it used to be But it still comes across a bit So I use it when I can and how I can How many dogs do you have? This is Shirley, by the way Say hi, she holds We have the two But that's also because most councils in Australia Especially in the suburbs Don't allow you to have any more than two Without special permission So we have two, if we could We'd have more We do plan on at some point Moving a little more rurally And then according to the wife We're going to have cows and chickens and pigs And 50 dogs and All kinds of crap So we'll see how that goes So what has your life been like Since California Dreams ended? Are you enjoying Australia? I walked away from the business On purpose I actually just said I got to go for a bit I was young I partied a lot Like a rock star, basically It was fun, but at the same time I was getting to a point where I was Not stopping I wasn't finding a balance between The party life and the regular life I walked away and then I started working In tech Working for video game development And publishing companies Did that for a very long time Then met Tracy and moved to Australia In 2008, there's actually An entire day of my life Lost, moving here The 28th Of October 2008 Didn't Does not exist for me at all I got it back when I went back for Jimmy Fallon And then I lost again When I came back And then I went back in 2016 To visit friends and family And do a little like six week Or eight week or whatever tour around the states And got it back And then came back and lost it again Unless I moved back That day will forever be lost to me As long as I keep coming back here Anyway, so yeah, got here And then I got A job working in video games Here again And now I'm not in video games anymore And I'm working for another tech company Doing some other stuff It's been good Australia is A very nice place I like I do, yep It's definitely an acquired taste For some people, I get it, but I like Guinness So it makes sense That I would like something like Vegemite Oh, I also like Scotch So yeah These things, yeah I like the good shit, so I can understand why The Bud Light drinkers wouldn't like something like Vegemite And then what else? There's really cool flora and fauna here One of the things I noticed When I moved to Australia was The Flora, it was just Even in places where Shit's been torn down And they replanted stuff, like 20, 30 years ago It still looks pretty primeval And it looks pretty old It's just a very different feeling here But how are you with Australian spiders? I don't have a problem with spiders I like them, actually I'm actually, because My wife is vegan I trap and Remove Dangerous spiders, other spiders You can be my roommate, I don't care So most spiders just get to live If I see them, you're fine But if it's something that's viciously venomous How am I, alright You get to move outside The wife used to want to kill spiders But now she's like, oh, okay, we gotta Yeah, she's gotten to A point where She's like that, and then also Snail-like snakes, too, so this is a great place If you could go back And give your pre- Jake Summers Self one piece of advice Knowing what you know now, what would That piece of advice be? Set a career path, like we talked about Earlier, set a career path Save your money Set clearly defined Goals Stick to them Stop partying so frickin' much All kinds of things Like, I'm Basically everything that happens Is just a journey to become who you are now And that's great Cause I do like who I am now At the same time, I would like myself Just as much if I had A lot of money now, too Or If I had allowed my career To pan out in a different way And I allowed it to Instead of going in Nuts like I did So, yeah, I would I don't know that I would listen to the advice I was giving myself Cause I was pretty stupid Back then, but But, yeah, that'd be the advice I would give Whether I would listen to it or not, I have no idea Have you managed to master the Australian accent yet? Uh, oh, there's hate seat in my Fuckin' eye rock Um, no, I have not It's so fucking hard, actually Sorry, pardon my I can do that Ocarish thing But like just daily Or basic conversational Australian accent is so hard And people and Australians are like Why is it so difficult? I'm like First of all, you guys make sounds Nobody else in the world makes Second of all, every one of you Sounds different Than the guy next to you And it's so different, and you live in the same city And you were born and raised in the same city But you men sound extremely different In their accents than women They have different inflections For things they do Oh, what is it? Home and no Oh, nay I'm getting hanged I like, nay, I like There's just such weird shit Like it's so hard at the same time Like it's a great accent, love y'all Sorry, I'm not insulting anybody It's a very difficult accent to master So no, I have not Here, I'll tell you a quick story When I first moved here I went to a party And The C word is pretty much thrown around here As both a Projorative And a term of Endearment And I went to this party and after a while These two blokes cooked their arms And they were drunk as shit And they were like, ah, John, you're a mad gun And I was like Thanks And then I could see that they were like, oh, this is a good thing So You can beat that out or whatever I don't know, but anyway I still like, when I say it, I'm like I've actually coined the word twint Just so I can say Something close without And mix it together And it doesn't sound as bad in my American Friends' sensibilities are not so wrecked When I say something, anyway So They said that to me And so I was like, okay, it's a term of Endearment, I guess So then I went to the store And I was driving, I was pulling into A parking lot And I'd say she was about middle aged Younger than I am now I'd say she was about 35, 40 She wasn't even near the crosswalk She was just getting close, getting to it And I'm starting to go through it And she yells out, yeah And I just was like, thanks And drove on And I was like, oh no, she didn't mean, oh, okay Yeah, all right, that was the bad one So what is next for you? Are we gonna see you on our screens again? I've been kind of talking to some people And kind of looking at some stuff And It's a possibility That That May happen I'm kind of doing some small Auditions here and there for some stuff Whether that happens or not We'll see I did do a Potential pilot Where I played Chief Anderson Which is basically like the What's his freaking name? Who is the boss In X-Files? I haven't seen it since the 90s But I think it was Walter Skinner And he's Yeah, so I was playing, I played that part For this thing, hopefully they can Shop that around, get it picked up by Netflix or something Something, some Company that's not fucking around with accounts And passwords and all that And get us Making the show, at the same time If it does get picked up Just because I was in That thing doesn't mean that they'd want Me for Another thing that they buy and produce They might be like, hey, that's great Let's get it with everybody, but that dude That's a possibility as well We'll see, I don't know Looking at it, haven't really Delved back into it yet But it's a possibility Jay Anthony, thank you so much for taking the time It's been an absolute pleasure And I really do hope we get a 2023 California Dreams reunion Maybe something we can cover on the web show You never know, Meg's excited Please everyone follow, like, subscribe, comment All of those fun things Because we have some more web shows coming up soon So stay tuned But in the meantime See you later