Hollywood stars Ted Danson and Mary Steenburgen, a celebrity couple, made their way from their home in California to Michigan recently in support of a political candidate and spent a night in Detroit\u2019s Westin Book Cadillac Hotel.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a pretty glamorous hotel, actually. It\u2019s lovely,\u201d Danson told me by telephone. But the hotel is about all he and his Academy Award-winning wife got to experience during their quick stop in the Motor City. \u201cWe were driven around a bit and things were pointed out, but in truth we got to see very little, but we\u2019re happy to be here.\u201d<\/p>\n
Geez, not even time for a hot dog at Lafayette or American Coney Island \u2013 each right across the street from their hotel!<\/p>\n
Danson who came to fame playing Sam Malone on TV\u2019s \u201cCheers\u201d could have asked Kristen Bell, his new co-star on NBC\u2019s \u201cThe Good Place,\u201d and her actor husband Dax Shepard, for local tips since they are both Detroit-area natives.<\/p>\n
\u201cKristen and her husband are both very loyal Detroiters. They love Detroit,\u201d said Danson.<\/p>\n
Danson and his wife appear as themselves regularly on Larry David\u2019s HBO \u201cCurb Your Enthusiasm\u201d show.<\/p>\n
\u201cI refuse to talk about Larry David,\u201d Danson joked. \u201cI\u2019d love to try to insult him publicly but he is one of the sweetest, biggest-hearted people I know. And he is a genius. He turned the concept of a situation comedy on its\u2019 ear.\u201d<\/p>\n
Steenburgen may have won a Supporting Actress Oscar for her role in \u201cMelvyn and Howard,\u201d and worked with the likes of Woody Allen, Oliver Stone, Vince Vaughn, and Johnny Depp, but lately she is often asked about her role as funnyman Will Ferrell\u2019s mother in the slapstick \u201cStep Brothers.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat film was one of the greatest jobs of my life because I basically went to work all day and developed my stomach muscles trying to keep my laughs on the inside instead of the outside, but I was the worst giggler on the set,\u201d Steenburgen admitted. The wacky John C. Reilly played the other stepbrother. \u201cThose guys were so brilliant and funny. It was a pleasure to work with those silly, wonderful men.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mornings on the \u201cStep Brothers\u201d set were spent filming scripted material. \u201cBut the afternoons were spent improvising, she revealed. \u201cYou never knew what was coming at you!\u201d<\/p>\n
Michael Patrick Shiels may be contacted at\u00a0<\/em>InviteYourself@aol.com<\/em><\/a>\u00a0or via TravelTattler.com\u00a0His talk show can be heard weekday mornings in\u00a0Lansing\u00a0on 92.1 FM.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"