Rowan grad continues to have HBO success

One year ago, East Brunswick native Steve Dildarian was just another Rowan graduate trying to put his stamp on the world. Now, he’s mid-way through the second season of his HBO cartoon, “The Life and Times of Tim.”

Dildarian, a 1991 communications graduate from then-Glassboro State College, is responsible for comedy’s newest cult character, Tim: a young New Yorker who can’t seem to catch a break and is always finding some new, unnecessary way to embarrass himself.

When the show premiered in 2008 Dildarian, 40, was unsure of how viewers would react to his awkward character and crazy group of friends.

“I really had no expectations because I’ve never been in this situation. I mean, I’d never even worked on TV,” Dildarian said.

Before “The Life and Times of Tim” aired, Dildarian made a name for himself as the creator of many successful commercials. His famous “Budweiser Lizards” Lou and Frankie were a staple in the 1999 Superbowl commercials. Dildarian also wrote and narrated the “Budweiser Clydesdale” commercial for the 2004 Superbowl.
His new television success was a relief for the sitcom newcomer.

“In general, I’m surprised, because the whole time I’m dreading that I work on it for so long and no one likes it,” Dildarian said. “But slowly but surely, people watched it and it became more and more popular.”

“The Life and Times of Tim” has made its mark with the help of blogs and groups on the Internet.

“At first we didn’t know how the show would go over and slowly but surely we started to really develop a loyal following. It’s a small cult following, it’s not like the ratings are amazing,” Dildarian said. “It’s amazing, looking at the Facebook page and all the people on Twitter. You can see that the hardcore fans are just really into this thing.”

Dildarian credits the media explosion for the the show to the initial reaction that it received after the first season aired.

“We were really lucky to get really nice reviews.” Dildarian said. “So, a lot of these really important newspapers really wrote it up well.”

The positive reviews didn’t stop with the first season. The San Francisco Chronicle’s review of the newest season called the show a “brilliant take on one man’s repeated bad decisions.”

The New York Post joined in on the praises, saying, “The more Tim endures, the more hilarious this classic comedy gets.”

Season two, which aired in the beginning of this year, brings several new changes for the show and for Dildarian’s cast. The show’s second season also features some celebrity guest voices, including comedians Aziz Ansari, Cheri Oteri and Bonnie Hunt.

“We brought some more writers in this year because it’s a lot of work,” Dildarian said. “We tried to build on the world of season one, give the textures a little more texture and back-story. You learn more about these people; they aren’t just one-note characters. Season one is all about Tim’s problems and here we get into other people’s problems.”

As season two begins to wrap up, Dildarian says he is using the time to relax in his current home, San Francisco.

“I mean we put so much work into this. It’s pretty much all that happened in my life,” Dildarian said. “But it’s seven days a week. On the one hand it’s exciting, you know, but on the other hand it’s a lot of work.

“We’re always writing and recording. I mean, we just finished writing, so for the first time now I can breath and relax. I’m just trying to catch my breath. For me right now I’m not thinking about anything.”

While he is not immediately focused on the future, Dildarian hopes to take his success and run with it.

“I’m lucky enough that I’ve gotten this far. It definitely opened a lot of doors from me,” Dildarian said. “Hopefully it just keeps going from what we’ve done so far. I’d love to write a screenplay [for] a live action TV show. Sometimes, even though I love it, it gets a little much to only write Tim dialogue day in and day out.”

Fans can catch “The Life and Times of Tim” Friday nights on HBO at 9:30 p.m. or visit the show’s Web site at hbo.com/tim.