Versatile actor Jim O’Heir takes a detour from Pawnee to Kansas City Monday night in a guest-starring role on ABC Family’s “Switched at Birth.”
O’Heir, who plays put-upon good guy Gary/Jerry/Terry Gergich on NBC’s “Parks and Recreation,” enters the “Switched at Birth” world as the father of Tank (Max Adler), who invites his dad to dinner to meet Tank’s girlfriend, Bay (Vanessa Marano). The only problem? Bay broke up with Tank a while back — but son wants to show dad that everything in his life is hunky-dory.
“Basically I think Tank lied to me,” says O’Heir. “He told me he’s still with this girl, that his grades are OK and I’m under the impression that I’m having an amazing dinner to meet my boy’s new girlfriend and hear how amazing his life is. It’s all revealed to be bull and I get upset and storm out.”
O’Heir says he’s very emotional about the seventh and final season of “Parks & Rec,” which begins shooting in mid-August. “A bunch of us — me, Aubrey Plaza, Retta — were together the other night for the premiere of [‘Parks & Rec’ co-star] Chris Pratt’s movie, ‘Guardians of the Galaxy,’ and we were getting emotional just talking about the show. The ending is going to be tough, but it makes sense at every level,” he says. “Seven seasons later we still love each other and stay in touch. I go for beers and ribs with the camera operators.
“I’m dreading it, yet I’m looking forward to see what’s done with the show and the storylines, since we’re jumping ahead three years,” he says. The writers of “Parks & Rec” have famously changed the name of O’Heir’s schlubby character several times over the course of the series. “When we last left he was ‘Terry,’ but I don’t know what it will be in a couple of weeks when we start shooting again,” he says. “I hope everyone gets a fun storyline to wrap things up, like they did on ‘The Office.’ ”
O’Heir (managed by Lynda Bensky) will also be seen opposite Colin O’Donoghue in the ABC movie “Dust Storm,” and is heading to Chicago to film an indie movie called “Mind Over Mindy.”
Talented guy.
Last, but not least…
‘Annedroids” creator JJ Johnson on his new live-action adventure series, premiering Friday on Amazon Prime Instant Video: “ ‘Annedroids’ takes place in a kind of ‘secret garden of science,’ a junkyard environment where it’s not unusual to see a 16-foot, claw-like android helping an 11-year-old schoolgirl scientist build a harrier jet pack for an injured pigeon”…
A big Happy Birthday to funnyman Professor Irwin Corey, who turns 100 on July 29. There will be a party for Irwin that day at The Actors’ Temple (West 47th) from 6 to 9 p.m.