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Neil Patrick Harris On Being Pranked: "My Bulls**t Meter Is Very Quick"

"I’m not a good guy to get punked," says the host of NBC's "Best Time Ever."

He's got five Emmys and a Tony, has become the go-to man for hosting awards shows and has a picture-perfect home life with husband David Burtka and their adorable children.

What more could Neil Patrick Harris want?

Oh, just to reinvent the prime-time variety show.

That's what he's doing next week with NBC's Best Time Ever With Neil Patrick Harris, an hourlong show based on the long-running UK series Ant & Dec's Saturday Night Takeaway. It's a combination of performances, pranks, contests, giveaways and surprises (like Harris popping up unannounced at a real wedding).

And, yes, it's 100% live.

What will viewers see? Why bring back the variety format? Is doing a show like this anything like being on Broadway?

I sat down with the infinitely talented star to find out all that and more.


Did you watch variety shows as a kid?

Oh, absolutely. The Merv Griffin Show was fantastic. That was old-school variety to me: Midday, easy, breezy, super casual. It’s not that time anymore in terms of TV content and I get that. We need things in short bursts.

I don't think there’s anything wrong with that. I do it—I don’t often watch an entire episode of Jimmy Fallon but if there’s a fun clip that I can click on and see, I’ll watch that every time, right? And so that’s kind of the world that we’re in. And that’s in the back of my head putting a show like this together because I want to make sure that we don’t spend too much time on one thing.

Best Time Ever will feature a lot of pranks and stunts. Are you fair game yourself, or have you let it be known you're "off limits?"

That’s a very, very good question [laughs]. I’ve given them lots of opportunity to do things that make me uncomfortable, but I’m overly aware of a situation when I come into it. My bullshit meter is very quick and I can sniff out an agenda pretty fast—whether it’s someone who’s trying to befriend me because they want something out of me or whether it’s actor people who are pretending to be real valet guys. I’m always looking around.

A few years back, I was asked if I wanted to go get some free sunglasses. I said, "sure, that’s a great idea." They said "you’re going to go to such-and-such place"—it was the back of a building and there were boxes everywhere, and some people opening all these boxes. The whole time I’m standing with good posture with a quarter-smile on my face because I’m positive Ashton Kutcher is going to come bursting out after someone with a hockey mask will try and murder me.

Then none of that happened. It was actually sunglasses.

I’m glad it had a happy ending.

Yeah. I’m not a good guy to get punked.

Is there a message you want people to take away from Best Time Ever?

It’s hilariously message-free. I just want to provide an hour’s worth of amusement with no agenda. Too many people, myself included, spend most of their day stressed about 50 things simultaneously. I think it’s around dinner time that you wouldn't mind a respite, where you can sit and just have a laugh—maybe with the person that you’re yelling at or getting yelled at.

It's like a trip to the state fair. What messaging do you need at the state fair?

You need a little escape.

Yeah. Escapism.

Anything else on the horizon?

I’m doing a couple days on a movie called Downsizing. It's Alexander Payne’s movie—I haven’t filmed it yet but I’m very excited about that.

And I’m telling the story of Jesus at Epcot Center for three days in November or December. It’s called The Candlelight Processional and it’s a giant thing at Epcot. It’s like 50 minutes long and there’s an orchestra, two children’s choirs and you stand at a lectern with the Voices of Liberty and the Epcot Choir and I talk about the birth of the baby in the manger. It’s very exciting.

Oh, and I think the porn comes out this year. It’s Pay-Per-View so, fingers crossed. Or rather, legs crossed.

Best Time Ever With Neil Patrick Harris premieres September 15 at 10pm on NBC. 

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