Eric Stonestreet is America’s favorite homosexual, even though he isn’t gay – not that there’s anything wrong with that. Stonestreet plays Cam on the hit television show “Modern Family” and has won two Emmy Awards for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series as a result.

But before the breakthrough role, Stonestreet spent over a decade acting on notable TV shows like “Monk,” “CSI,” “Malcom in the Middle,” “Party of Five” and “ER.” We had the chance to chat with Stonestreet recently about his new partnership with Swiffer, playing Cam on “Modern Family” and fielding questions about Sofia Vergara.

Is “Stonestreet” your real last name? Because that’s a badass last name.

“Yeah, it’s a pretty good last name. When I was a kid, I used to get made fun of for it.  And then I became an actor and everyone wanted to know if I made it up.”

It’s sort of like the Simpsons episode where Homer changes his name to “Max Power,” a real heavy-handed last name. You could be an NFL linebacker if the TV stuff doesn’t work out.

“Yes, absolutely perfect – for my age. A 42-year-old rookie middle linebacker.”

Tell me about your collaborative effort with Swiffer and the “Swiffer Effect” video with your mom.

“The Swiffer Effect campaign is letting people know that roles are changing in families and in respect to cleaning as well. With the Swiffer Effect, they’re trying to get the word out that Swiffer is more effective and more fun than the old dust pan and broom. So, they asked me to team up with my mom. Check out the viral video so people can see a little humor with their cleaning.”

Hashtag let’s go viral, Eric.

“Hashtag let’s do it.”

Can we talk about the groupies, Eric? Do women just throw themselves at you now that you’re everywhere?

“I guess you could say that, but I don’t really take advantage of it like most guys would. You have to keep a bit of a classy demeanor. But yeah, things changed once I got on TV.”

As far as the sexual aspect of your character Cam, how difficult is that to play as someone who isn’t gay?

“It’s not that much of a deal because I’m an actor and play all kinds of roles. The fact Cam is gay doesn’t have much to do with anything. I played bad guys on TV before, other guys before, so it’s a character I get to play and never really thought too much about it.”

How many Sofia Vergara questions do you field in an average day?

“Uh, well, so far five today.”

Are you on your average for this point of the day? Or are you low?

“When I’m doing media, that’s how it usually goes. But she is an awesome person, she’s a force. She’s a cool lady.”

You may or may not know this, but…Jonathan Banks is basically just as awesome as the character he plays on “Breaking Bad.” True story. I know this to be true because he proved it handily when he gave my daughter the chance to interview him in the midst of an interview he and I were doing for the Onion AV Club.

Funnily enough, though, while he and I clearly built a bit of a bond as a result of his conversation with myself and my daughter, we’d never actually met until earlier this month, when he attended the Television Critics Association Awards with some of his fellow “Breaking Bad” cast and crew members. I was giddy when I spotted him at the event, and I strolled over and said, “You and I have never met, but you’ve chatted with my daughter…”

His jaw dropped, and he said, “Son of a bitch.” Then a smile appeared on his face, he stuck out his hand, and he said, “How are you, brother? And how’s that little girl of yours doing? Oh, man, it is so good to finally meet you. Is your wife here? I need to say ‘hello’ to her, too!”

Yep. Jonathan Banks is awesome. Indeed, he’s so awesome that, although I couldn’t imagine he wouldn’t be up for doing a quick interview in the wake of Mike’s storyline coming to a conclusion on “Breaking Bad,” I still felt obliged to go through the proper channels to chat with him. As such, I sent a formal request to his manager, even as I admitted, “I realize there’s a pretty strong chance that he’s just going to say, ‘Well, if he knows how to get in touch with me, then tell him to get in touch with me, for chrissakes, but even so.”

Within 24 hours, I had a direct email from Mr. Banks, simply saying, “Call anytime.” And when I asked if he had a preferred time, explaining that I’d have an empty house from 8:30 AM EST onward because of my wife and daughter heading out to get their hair done, he said to call him at 8:30 AM EST…which was a little surprising, given that I knew he lived in California, but damned if he didn’t answer the phone right away.

Read the rest of this entry »

So…where were we?

Oh, fine, let’s go ahead and deal with the elephant in the room: it’s been nine months since Bullz-Eye doled out its last TV Power Rankings. What can we say? There were a lot of good shows on the air between May 2011 and February 2012, and somewhere around late October, it just kind of reached a point where we said, “You know what? It’s way more fun to watch TV than it is to write about it.” Eventually, though, the powers that be pried us off the couch (there’s still an indentation where we were sitting), set us back in front of the computer, and said, “Look, the readers demand to know Bullz-Eye’s take on the best shows of the past year* and, frankly, they’re starting to get a little belligerent about it.”

(*Rounded up for statistical purposes.)

So here we are, ready to offer up our list of the 25 best shows on television** as well as several shows bubbling just under our list, plus a new section called “Still Too New to Call,” where we praise shows that seem pretty damned good after their first few episodes but simply haven’t been around long enough for us to feel comfortable including them in the other two lists.

(**Okay, technically, it’s the 24 best shows on television plus one show that hasn’t been on since 2010, but we’re so excited about that particular show coming back that we included it, anyway.)

All told, we hope you’ll walk away from this piece either nodding your head in agreement or wondering why you haven’t been watching some of these shows. If not, however, there’s a perfectly good Comments section that’s just waiting for your opinions about what’s good on TV.

Everybody ready? Then let’s get this thing started…

Fact: if you believe that there is any show on television that’s better than “Breaking Bad,” you are wrong. Period. End of story. Although the show began with a concept that spoke to many a family man – if you knew you were going to die, to what lengths would you go to make sure that your family was provided for? – it has since evolved into so much more. Bryan Cranston and Aaron Paul continue to startle with the depth of their performances, but Giancarlo Esposito‘s work as the chillingly efficient Gus Fring was the kind of work that makes an actor’s career. With an end date now in sight, the series has grown more gripping than ever, and there’s little doubt that we’ll see Hank (Dean Norris) figure out what Walt (Cranston) has been doing behind the back of him and his fellow DEA agents. In other words, folks, for all the shit we’ve seen hit the fan so far, you ain’t seen nothin’ yet.

Yes, we know it hasn’t been on the air since 2010 (we covered that in the intro, you may remember), and, no, we don’t know any more about what to expect from the new season – which premieres on March 25 – than you do (series creator Matthew Weiner is notoriously tight-lipped, and we’re pretty sure he threatens to do terrible things to his cast’s pets if they leak anything to the press), but if we’re going to be doing these TV Power Rankings on an annual basis, then we’re forced to go with our instincts here and presume that “Mad Men” will continue to be as awesome in the future as it has been up to this point.

It’s a little hard to take the cynics seriously when they say that “Modern Family” isn’t as funny as it used to be when we continue to laugh so hard at each and every episodes. Admittedly, the storyline about Cam and Mitchell trying to adopt another baby has been a little hit-and-miss, and the idea of Claire running for public office seemed a lot funnier in concept than it has in execution, even with David Cross in tow. But the heart of the show continues to be the relationships between the three distinct family units – Cam and Mitchell, the Dunphys, and Jay and Gloria – and their respective kids. If things haven’t been quite as funny this year, so be it: it’s still funny, and we’re still watching.

Read the rest of this entry »