COMEDY WITH A CAUSE
‘Harold & Kumar’ star hosting series on key issues
Kal Penn had a pretty good reason for wanting his character written out of “House” smack in the middle of the hit medical drama’s successful run.
The White House gave him a better offer.
In 2009, Penn spent most of the next two years working for the Obama administration in the White House Office of Public Engagement, serving as a liaison with the AsianAmerican and Pacific Islander communities. It wasn’t a whim or an experiment; Penn believed in the cause.
More than a decade later, the Indian-American actor best known for the “Harold and Kumar” movies has returned to politics — as a TV host.
“Kal Penn Approves This
Message,” a six-episode, unscripted Freeform series that premiered Tuesday, combines a comedic opening monologue presented by Penn, field pieces and a sitdown interview with a featured guest. One episode covers health care, another the election of judges.
Created by Penn and his writing partner Romen Borsellino, the show is aimed at millennial and Gen Z voters and meant to present both sides of hot-button issues.
“What we wanted to do was view the issues from the context of what they mean to people. We’re not a show that pits somebody’s fact against somebody else’s opinion,” the 43-year-old New Jersey native told the Daily News. “That’s a common tactic that people use to get someone to yell and scream and sell more ad space. It works well for TV,
it’s just not the show we’re making.”
Instead, he said, “Approves This Message” wants to show everyone’s perspective, comparing it to a combination of “The Daily Show” and “CBS Sunday Morning.” An episode about the environment, for example, will feature young progressives as well as evangelical Christians.
“One approaches this from science, one approaches this from faith. Both are working together for the same goal,” Penn told The News. “In this world of polarization and chaos, there are people who are tuning out all of the noise and instead focusing on ‘what do we want to get done together, and how do we want to get it done?’ They disagree on every other issue, but that’s OK because they’re working together on this one particular issue. To me, success is highlighting stories like that and celebrating who we are.”
Ultimately, Penn said, “Approves This Message” is about filtering out the noise and focusing on what’s right and what matters. Sometimes that’s as simple as voter empowerment, the theme of the hourlong finale.
“We’d like the takeaway to be something that’s actionable for the viewer,” Penn said. “Why is it important to vote? If I care about this issue, what can I do to learn more about it? And if I don’t personally care about this issue, have I at least understood why other people might?
“When we say nonpartisan, that’s really what this means: It’s not a political show. It’s a show about issues.”