Stan Against Evil, IFC’s funny and frightful drama, debuts season three on Oct. 31, fittingly enough. John C. McGinley’s Stan and Janet Varney’s Evie accidentally opened a portal to the past, allowing 17th century demons a way in to their otherwise quaint Willard’s Mill village.
McGinley, also a producer, spoke about creator Dana Gould painting himself into a corner at the end of season two. “Stan and Evie navigate their personal hells and come back to the land of the living,” he said. “Dana pulled it off. He absolutely pulled it off.”
McGinley and Gould are “obsessed” with striking the right mix of comedy and horror, said McGinley. He singled out An American Werewolf in London and Ash vs. Evil Dead, along with Stan Against Evil, as those that pull it off. “I can’t tell you how hard it is to stay in that piece of real estate,” McGinley said.
The season has eight episodes. McGinley promises big stuff. “Stan and Evie have really complex emotional arcs,” he said.
McGinley will also be seen in the documentary Brothers in Arms, about the making of famed film Platoon. That comes out Nov. 13.
True to character, McGinley is psyched for Halloween. “I’ll get a Stan mask, put on some flannel and go out as Stan,” he said, noting that it’s “twice as funny” when Stan dons a Stan mask.
McGinley’s fondest Halloween memories are actually of the night before, when some mischief would go down. “Toilet-papering trees, soaping windows, throwing eggs at cars,” he said of his Jersey childhood.
The fun continues on Heritage Hunters, about a team of craftsmen who hunt for history-rich stuff to transform into memorable pieces — shelves, tables, bars — for clients’ homes. It starts Nov. 4 on DIY. Michael “Bug” Deakin hosts, and heads up the team of salvage experts.
“What I really want to show everybody,” Deakin said, “is the beauty inherent in a great piece of wood.”
Heritage Hunters depicts Deakin and Co. repurposing redwood board-and-batten walls, oak barrel staves from a local winery and fragments of Amish barns into kitchen islands, dining tables, porch spindles and exposed ceiling beams. “Everything has a story and we rewrite it when we make it into something new,” said Deakin.
The premiere shows Bug and his crew salvaging bleacher boards from Golden Gate Park’s Polo Fields and remaking them into kitchen shelves. He has a dozen of the boards left. “I’m saving them for a table for myself,” said Deakin.
Bug said all of his crew members are artists in their own rights. “I run my business like a family,” he said. “Therefore, at times we are dysfunctional.”
