THE WEDDING BAND star Kathryn Fiore talks “Mother of the Bride” and what comes next!

© Adam Hendershott

TBS’ latest comedy, THE WEDDING BAND, has quietly been providing fun and music to Saturday nights since it premiered in November. The show follows a group of grown men who play in a band called “Mother of the Bride” for weddings, parties, and as in last week’s episode, adult proms, while dealing with their lives inside and outside of the band. The cast is charming, the writing is extremely sharp, and I can’t help but fall in love with it a little more each week.

To celebrate tonight’s all new episode, called “Get Down On It,” I spent some time chatting with Kathryn Fiore, who plays Ingrid, a detective and wife of guitar player Eddie.  We talked about why she loves the show as much as I do, what songs she loves, and when she gets to be a part of “Mother of the Bride,” plus, what’s coming up for Ingrid and the show?

I wondered what it was about the show that you love, that got you involved, and what you love about playing Ingrid?
When I read the script, the first thing that stood out is that it was laugh out loud funny,and not a lot of scripts are.  It was so well-written,and I loved the character of Ingrid because of the relationship with Eddie. It’s such a unique husband and wife relationship that you don’t get to see on TV much. They’re really in love, and they really hvae a lot of fun together.  You don’t see that a lot.  You usually see the hen-pecked husband and the nagging wife, and I thought it was such a cute, fun relationship, and that really, really got me interested in doing the project.

That stands out to me, too – there are episodes where they clearly should have an argument, Eddie takes the kids to strip club, but there is that love, that something small like that isn’t the straw that breaks any camels backs.
Yeah, we really try to bring the element into every episode.  Like, of course you get frustrated with your husband, but she loves him, and she loves that he’s in a band, and she loves that he’s passionate about what he does, and I think that’s at the heart of their relationship, rather than you know, conflict, or disrupt.  I just love the two of them. They’re so darn cute!

Did you know Peter [Cambor] beforehand?  Seems like a natural fit, the two of you.
It’s funny, we had never met until the audition.  I tell you, we walked into that room together, and sat down.  It was like we had known each other forever.  We don’t even have to work at it; it’s just there. And he’s such a dream to work with.

You mentioned the show being laugh out loud funny, and what surprised me when watching is that it’s not in your face, slapstick; it’s a really smart humor that I enjoy.
Yeah, I think that that’s true.  I think that the show is very smart, and I think that the comedy is very real. Even though some of the antics the boys get into are extreme, I think it’s very grounded in reality, and I think the relationships are so clear, and part of that has to do with the one hour format.  You’re able to have all the laughs and also have the realism as well!

What can you tease for us about what we can see in upcoming episodes, and what to expect?
This week is a very funny episode, where a boy band is thrown into the mix, and the guys have to play a gig with this outrageous boy band, so we’re making fun of those One Direction types of bands and it’s really funny [laughs].  The week after that, Jenny Wade’s character and I may or may not have to pretend to be lesbians to seduce Gary Cole, so that’s coming.  There’s a lot of fun episodes coming up.

I like that the whole cast works so well in different pairings!
Yeah I love the episodes where we all get to interact!  It’s so much fun.  I hadn’t really, until the episode where we’re playing lesbian girlfriends [laughs], Jenny and I hadn’t really been able to do any scenes together, so it was really fun to get to work with her.

I’ve seen such overall positive reviews, ratings seem great.  Have fans and the network been responding well?
People seem to really love it.  Right before it premiered, we got incredible reviews in The New York Times, The LA Times, and Variety, which, is unheard of, for a new show, specifically The New York Times, they never like any comedies.  That was a surprise, and the network’s been very supportive.  So we’re all keeping our fingers crossed that we get to do it again because it’s a dream job for all of us!

Talking about the band itself, and the music we’ve gotten to see week after week – how does Ingrid get involved?  Will we see you at more shows? 
I think there are a few episodes where she’s watching them play.  This week’s episode coming up, the boys kind of enlist her detective skills in their antics, so she’s going to be with the boys a lot in this week’s episode.  So far, she hasn’t joined the band, but I’m kind of hoping for a Lucy and Ricky, can I sing in the band episode?

Do you have a favorite song or genre that they’ve done? 
It’s so funny – someone just asked me that, and I said every time they do something else, that becomes my new favorite.  I love all of the songs; the arrangements are so great, and it’s so original, and people are really loving the music.  It’s available on iTunes and a lot of people have been buying it, so that’s really cool.

I found myself, songs that I know I’ve heard before – the arrangements are different enough that I’m going out and buying a song that I wouldn’t have maybe purchased before!
Yeah, yeah!!

I hope that we get to see the show continue – everything I’ve heard, everyone watching is talking about how great it is.
Everybody seems to love it, and the response on Twitter and Facebook and all of that has just been amazing.  I hope we get to keep going.

What else besides THE WEDDING BAND do you have coming up that we can look forward to?
In January, I have a movie coming out that has the longest title in history, like I should nap after I say the title.  It’s “Thirty Nights of Paranormal Activity with the Devil Inside the Girl with the Dragon Tattoo” and it’s just a silly comedy, spoof movie, making fun of all the horror movies that are out right now, like “Paranormal Activity” and the like.  It’s a very raunchy, silly comedy that I had a lot of doing.  I think it’s just a fun date night movie.

Is there a role out there that you would like to write for yourself, like to play, beyond what you’ve gotten to play?  A Golden Goose so to speak?
That’s a good question!  I love playing Ingrid so much that it’s hard to imagine playing anyone else.  It’s the perfect balance; you get to the do the mom and the wife stuff and you also get to do the cop stuff.  So I love playing her so much.  I will say doing all the crime scene stuff with Ingrid has made me think that I would love to do some sort of HOMELAND type of show.  It’s really fun getting to have a badge and a gun [laughs].

You mention HOMELAND – are there other shows that you’re watching when you get a minute to put something on the DVR?
We’re heavily into HOMELAND and THE WALKING DEAD.  I am obsessed, and almost had a heart attack.  It just had its sort of mid-season finale, and it’s not coming back until February, and I don’t know what I’m going to do without the show.  I’m panicking!

THE WEDDING BAND airs Saturday nights at 10/9c on TBS.  Be sure to check it out – if you’ve missed any of the episodes, find them on TBS.com!