Jay Baruchel is the star of FXX’s newest comedy series, Man Seeking Woman, and it’s unlike anything you’ve ever seen. The surreal series navigates the newly single world of Josh Greenberg as he tries to pull his life together after a bad breakup, and the literal and figurative insanity of that task.

The actor is coming off back-to-back hit films with This is the End and How to Train Your Dragon 2 and is making his return to TV after his early career work on the cult favorite Undeclared. In a recent conference call with journalists Baruchel did his best to explain to audiences just what they can expect from his quirky, bizarre new series Man Seeking Woman. Check out the highlights below:

_____________________________________________________________________________________

First off, I just wanted to say never stop doing How to Train Your Dragon movies. They’re the best.

Thanks, man.

Did you develop Man Seeking Woman or was the project brought to you?

No, no, no. It was just one of those really fortuitous things. I got a call from my manager and [he] said, there’s this really awesome dude called Simon Rich and he wrote an amazing pilot based on his book of short stories and they think you could be the guy. I read it and it was one of these things where, the best way I can describe it is it had the sort of too-good-to-be-true kind of vibe to it. Sort of like when when I meet a girl that I find attractive, I just right away assume that there’s got to be something more to it.

When I read it, it made me laugh out loud and that doesn’t happen very often. I had this burning urge to be a part of it. It was just like when you read something really good, the clock starts ticking. As soon as you read it, you’re just like oh, no, okay, alright; I’ve got to get this going. Let’s find a way to do this. So, I’m just so bloody grateful that it found its way to me because it’s one of the greatest things I’ve ever been a part of in any medium. So, yes, it was just randomly a script that got sent to me. They were cool enough to have faith and believe that I could do this and we made something pretty funny, I think.

Were you looking for a TV project and is the off-the-wall, non-standard style of the show what appealed to you?

Well, yes. I mean, that’s definitely part of why it appealed to me but, to answer your first question, I wasn’t looking for anything. I really wasn’t. I’ve been fortunate enough to have been kept quite busy with my other gig, which is writing stuff with my friend, Jesse. I had sort of told my people, we don’t need to hunt stuff down because I’m quite busy as it is. That being said, if awesome stuff comes to us, or finds its way to us, then I’m not an idiot. I’ll go out to read it.

So, yes, like I said, I wasn’t jonesing to do anything in particular and I just read this awesome script and that was that. Yes, I loved how strange it was and how truthful it was and how definitive and unique it was. You know, the sort of highest compliment that can [be paid] is that it felt like something that came out of my head. As [crazy] as that sounds, it’s just like you don’t often get to read stuff, as an actor, that feels like it’s something you would have thought of and this felt like that to me. So, yes, I leapt at the chance.

Why was the decision made to have the characters all have straight reactions to the heightened reality going on around them, as if it was all normal, and do you think that benefits the show?

Yes, I think that the more sort of grounded and real or naturalistic, whatever word you want to use to describe it, the more that we keep our reactions in that realm, the crazier stuff we can do. I think if everybody was firing on all cylinders and constantly acknowledging the insanity in front of us the whole time, there would be no place for this show to go and it would wear itself out pretty quick.

I also think those two tones, kind of, they play defense against one another as well as heightening one another. I think our show can go all the crazier because of how small and intimate and real it is, and vice versa as well. So, yes, I think there is a massive benefit and I think the show would be way less funny if everybody was going crazy all the time.

Do you see any parts of yourself or any parallelisms between you and your character?

Oh, always. Not just for him, but, ideally, for every character I play. I think if I don’t find a way to see part of myself in any character I play then I’m not doing my job completely. And with some guys I play, it can hit closer to home than others. I made it through the minefield that is being single in your 20s somehow. So I have, let’s just say, I have plenty of experiences to draw upon for this. A lot of, yes, a lot of victories, defeats, ambitions, malaise, all sorts of – I have the whole panacea of living experiences I’d like to think that I can mine for this. But, yes, hopefully, any part I play has at least a part of me in him.

Do you think the show uncovers the myths of dating or is it wanting to explore awkward truths, or a little bit of both?

Yes. I mean, I think it probably leans more to the second than the first, although we do try to sort of hit the nail on the head with some stuff. That being said, it’s not meant to be a guide of any sort so much as it is meant to be, you know, when you’re sitting amongst friends at a party and everyone just starts sort of venting and comparing shit experiences. It’s meant to be that, but it’s also meant to be a celebration of the beautiful stuff, too.

So it’s like romance for lack of a better word – this whole stupid thing, there’s nothing like it. You’re happier than you’ll be ever be. You’re sadder than you’ll ever be and, often, stuff in the middle. It’s something that applies to each and every single one of us and so I like to think that when people see this thing they will see at least one thing they went through. Ideally, a whole bunch of things they went through, because this show is about human nature and what it is to be single and to be one of these social animals we call humans.

Have you worked with Simon Rich on developing the characters? Also, is it a scripted show or is there some leeway to improv?

To answer the second question, if we shot the entire show word-perfect, it would be every bit as funny as it is now, I think. But I think that’s part of Simon’s genius. He slaves over his choice of words and his choice of punctuation. That being said, he knows that this is a collaborative medium, so he always wants us to find our own way into stuff, too.

So what you have is, I think, a pretty lovely balance of pretty strong, structured storytelling with some pretty incredible jokes, fused with our riffs, a bunch of which make it into the finished product. But this is Simon’s baby. My job on set is to help him tell his story and to do my best to breathe life into this character he wrote.

I’m always chiming in. Whether or not they’re just humoring me, or actually listening to anything I say, I always chime in on any set I have. I just can’t help it. It’s the way my mind and my mouth work, so I’m always pitching ideas and pitching jokes for myself and for other people. Again, whether or not they get used and whether or not they’re just humoring me is another question. But, no, we have a pretty amazing staff of writers on this show so we’re well covered.

Is there an overall character/story arc other than seeking love or is it more just slices of life throughout the season?

Yes, both. I mean, there’s definitely both. Again, without giving away sort of the stuff that we know, also they keep me in the dark about certain stuff, too. I think Simon Rich is the only person who knows exactly the complete arc of the show right now. We kind of know where we want him to get to but the other thing is living and dating.

These are cyclical things, right? Whereas a movie ends in three acts and a lesson is learned, and that’s very finite, you sometimes have to learn the same lesson. You sometimes find your place and think you’ve got it, only to realize that it wasn’t meant to be and all these different things. So, yes, without sounding too much like it’s a cop-out answer, really both. Yes, definitely both.

The show is very unique and very bizarre. Are you concerned at all that it might go over the head of some general viewers because it is just so different?

You know, I have the same problem. Yes, but I have that same concern on any gig I do because I have yet to figure out the metric, the formula, to what is going to be successful and what’s going to connect to people or not, you know, because there are movies, or TV shows, that are resounding successes that really just don’t speak to me at all and, conversely, there are things that everyone hates that I seem to like. Then there is some stuff that everyone likes that I like.

So what I was saying is, I have no clue. I did wonder if, yes, it might be too specific for some people, but I think that’s a good thing. That’s a cool thing. I think when you try to make something for everyone you will ultimately make something for no one. I think we have been very definitive and specific and we’ve been true to our vision and our ideas and we’ve done the best show that we could do and whether or not the degree to which it becomes a success, I have no clue, but that’s beside the point. You want to do cool stuff and you hope that people dig it. I know that whatever happens, we did something pretty spectacular.

Are you looking forward to hearing about people’s reactions when they realize how crazy and “out there” some the sequences are?

Yes, man, really. I can’t wait for the world to see it, and everything that means. So that means, hopefully, they find themselves surprised at how much they end up giving a shit about the plot and the characters. I am really excited to see the world react to, yes, how fucking weird everything is.

Yes, I’m so thoroughly convinced that there’s really nothing like it on television and I think it will find its own little spot, because I don’t know that any of the promos that we’ve aired yet, or anything we’ve shown about our show, I don’t know that any of it does it justice. It’s the kind of thing that you won’t know what it’s like until you watch it. So, yes, next week can’t come soon enough, man.

What were some of your favorite moments of filming Man Seeking Woman?

Oh, geez, I just don’t know how many of them are appropriate for this conversation, but I’ll say I got to be around some pretty talented, pretty funny people for three months, including Eric Andre. He’s just a force of nature and I basically got to see him do – I mean, the man is just, he’s devoid of shame and has just a surplus of courage and will do anything. This includes walking around downtown Toronto in -10 Celsius weather completely naked, running from our set to the craft truck and everywhere in between. Again, I don’t know that favorite is maybe the right word to use to describe that anecdote, but definitely most memorable.

Have any of your own experiences been incorporated or are there any that you hope will, should there be a future season?

Oh, yes, definitely. I’ll say that this first season, there’s stuff that happens to Josh that happened to me, but without Simon knowing that. I think that’s kind of part of the fun and part of the point of the show is that we find a way to distill these kind of universal experiences and truths into these really messed up little half hours.

Yes, you can’t be on the set of our show and not join in the complaint fest at some point, right? Just given the nature of what our show is about, there is definitely a bit of group therapy to it where, yes, considering the subject matter, everyone can’t help but chime in with all their own experiences, some of which are funnier than others and some of which we hope to find a way to make fun of next year.

How does it feel playing with this version of reality in Man Seeking Woman on the small screen after just having played with surreal things in reality on the big screen in This Is The End?

Oh, yes, that’s neat. I hadn’t actually thought of that. Yes, I guess maybe it just sort of speaks to my taste and what I find interesting and the generation I was a part of, or I am a part of, I should say. I love cartoons, I guess. The Simpsons is pretty much one of my top three favorite things ever, in any format, and so, to me, Man Seeking Woman, at times, feels like a live action version of The Simpsons.

The answer to your question, what’s it like is, I adore it. It’s just– you never get bored. There’s always something new and interesting to find a way to play with and all acting, professional or otherwise, seem to come out of, seem to be born out of play acting when you’re a kid, whether you play house, or cops and robbers, or whatever. When you get to find a way, in adulthood, to show up to work every day with monsters, and aliens, and Hitler, and all sorts of crazy nonsense, yes, you feel like a kid again.

_____________________________________________________________________________________

Man Seeking Woman premieres Wednesday, January 14 at 10:30 PM ET/PT only on FXX.