TV Tango: What character traits do you share with your character, Stuart?

David Alan Basche: My character, Stuart, is thankfully much more neurotic than I am. He's like Woody Allen, off-the-charts neurotic; I'm only mildly neurotic. He's kind of a crazy neat-freak, and I'm only borderline obsessive-compulsive neat-freak. There are a couple of definite similarities -- some I'm proud of, some I'm ashamed of, and all of them are funny.

I'm not ashamed of those, but at some point I have to stop wiping my kid's face and just let her make a mess. At some point you just have to leave all the toys on the floor, and know that even when you put them away, they're all going to get messed up again.

TV Tango: Will your character, Stuart, ever learn anything from Phil about being around women, or is he destined to a life of socially awkward romantic interactions?

David Alan Basche: A few episodes ago Stuart got really lucky. The fact that the woman turned out to be a prostitute turned out to be a minor detail.

What's great about the show is that these three guys have something to learn from one another. Wayne Knight's character, Haskel, can definitely teach the other guys to not sweat the small stuff, take it easy, relax, and be comfortable. Donald's character, Phil, can definitely teach the other two that you have to celebrate life and you have to be positive and anything you can set your mind to, you can do. At some point we'll figure out what Stuart teaches the other two guys, but probably not until Season 2.

TV Tango: Will anything romantically happen between Stuart and Deanna, his hygenist, even though she thinks he's gay? That's the only woman he's not awkward around.

David Alan Basche: That's very true. That's a good observation. The dental hygenist is really the only character that there seems, right now, could be anything that happens. Our fingers are really crossed for a second season and TV Land has been really supportive, and a storyline like that is one that I would love to see go in any direction -- as long as it goes in some kind of direction.

We also haven't met Stuart's ex-wife, and we haven't met Haskel's ex-wife. In one episode we do meet Phil's ex-wife. It will be interesting to see what happens with the relationships, in particular with these guys and their conquests.

TV Tango: Do you really speak Serbian?

David Alan Basche: I do now, because I learned it for the episode ("Lost in Translation"). It was really fun, incredibly challenging and incredibly terrifying, which is usually the stuff I like to do.

The producers came to me and said, "We have a storyline. It's a little bit of a Cyrano de Bergerac storyline. How do you feel about other languages? Do you speak anything." I said, "Well, I speak some Spanish, but I'm very good with accents and dialects. I can pick that stuff up quickly if I have the time to learn it." They asked, "How 'bout a week?" And I said, "OK, let's try it."

Originally, they said "How's Portuguese sound?" And I said, "Oh, good. It's similar to Spanish." Well, of course, they came back with the farthest thing from my mind, which was a Slavic language. I mean, it couldn't have been worse, but I think it couldn't have been funnier.

Ana, the actress who played Tatiana, the Serbian lingerie model, was really great, and she helped me. We had a great dialect coach. First I learned the Serbian, and then I listened to a tape of someone else speaking the Serbian -- so I could get the intonation -- and then I wrote out the translation and then I wrote it phonetically. I sort of had all the different ways to learn it all together.

TV Tango: Your character, Stuart, was forced to sell something on eBay. What personal item have you sold on eBay?

David Alan Basche: [Laughs] You know, I tried selling stuff on eBay, and I don't have the stomach for it. When we were building our townhouse in Harlem, we changed our minds about some of the fixtures when we were renovating; so we said, "If we can't return it, what are we going to do?" We were lucky enough to have Dwell magazine come in and be part of the renovation because they were interested in my wife [Alysia Reiner] and her ideas for designing green and building green. You know, two actors building green in Harlem.

The point is, we got other things and we had to get rid of some things we had already purchased. Everybody kept saying, "Just go on eBay!" Now, I'm sure eBay is great and I'm sure eBay is easy, but I was a novice and I tried to sell a rain showerhead. Unbeknownst to me, the thing weighed about 12.5 pounds, and I did not include shipping. I'm pretty sure after shipping and handling, I lost money. I'm pretty sure I paid them to take this showerhead off my hands.

TV Tango: When you and your wife built green, what was the most impressive thing you included in your design?

David Alan Basche: For us, the most impressive thing is that we included us. We actually had a hand in it. We had an architect, but Alysia really designed all the fixtures and all the finishes. In some ways, what we ended up most impressed with was (a) we didn't get divorced and we actually had a great time doing it and (b) the place kind of feels like us.

As for the most technologically green thing, we have hot-water radiant heat in the whole building. It's not just a heated bathroom floor, all the floors are heated. That was labor-intensive to put in, but it's incredibly efficient, really environmentally friendly and toasty warm on your feet.

TV Tango: How much input do you get in scripts/lines? When you say things like "DDS" stands for "Divorced Dentist Stuart" ("Lost in Translation")?

David Alan Basche: [Laughs] We're really lucky on two counts with THE EXES. On the first count, all the writers -- everybody in that writing room -- there's very little ego amongst them. They really just want the show to be funny, to have people watch and really enjoy it. We definitely get some input into our lines in that sense. If we read it and it's not funny and they know it's not funny, we can kind of pitch them, "Hey, what about this?" They're really open to us bringing our own comedy to the table.

On the second count, TV Land has really been of the most supportive places that I ever worked. They just send a couple guys to their network run-through, and they don't give a whole ton of notes. They trust the actors to be funny and know their characters. They trust the writers to fix anything that doesn't work, and the director to bring it together. I get the sense that TV Land feels like they hired the right people and they just let them do their jobs. In entertainment, that's a glorious place to be.

Part of that is the shows they're writing are classic comedies. They're remaking the classic sitcom; so they have a really good model of what they want it to be. They want it to have heart, but they want people to laugh their asses off.

TV Tango: In another interview you said about your castmates, "The hazing sucked, but the clubhouse is cool." What can you say about the hazing?

David Alan Basche: [Laughs] You know, you gotta keep up with these guys.

Wayne Knight, for god's sakes, all those years on SEINFELD and HOT IN CLEVELAND -- Wayne's been in everything. And he's so smart and so fast that often you get left in his comedic dust.

Sometimes he and Donald will gang up on me a little bit if I stutter or can't get the line out. Or if it's not funny, sometimes I hear Donald doing crickets in the background or Wayne will get his phone out. They tease me. I've been around the block a bit, but amongst those guys I'm sort of the new kid on the block.

Everyday I go into work with them, I'm excited to see what are they going to do today. What crazy thing is Wayne going to do today? What deadpan delivery is Wayne going to do today? What line is Donald going to dance and sing on? I know he's going to do a little something, but where's it going to be?

TV Tango: And it is an impressive cast, spanning more than 20 years of sitcom history. What's the best story they've shared with you about their careers?

David Alan Basche: There's a lot of stories. I think Andy Cadiff, our director, tells the best stories because he's been around for a little while. There were definitely some great stories.

There were some Andy Dick stories that circulated. I think all of us have worked with him -- or rather watched him crash and burn on one of our sets.

It's hard for me to immediately think of a great story, but you're right, it is a 20-year span and how can there not be great stories with Kristen telling stories about John Lithgow, Donald telling stories about Zach Braff and Wayne telling stories about Jerry [Seinfeld]. It really is fantastic.

TV Tango: Speaking of theater, since you finished filming Season 1 of THE EXES, what's the most recent thing you've been on stage for?

David Alan Basche: You know, I'm a New Yorker and I was shooting in L.A. for almost four months, and I was flying back every weekend to see my wife and daughter. I was tired. I came back and it was November, and I just slipped right into the holidays. It was awesome. I just kind of hung out with the family and did the holiday thing.

I'm enjoying my time on THE EXES and we should know soon enough about the future of the show, and hoping very much that I won't have to start auditioning again. Hopefully I have a job in the Spring.

TV Tango: During your career, you hit the LAW & ORDER trifecta -- appearing on the mothership thrice, SVU once and CRIMINAL INTENT twice. When are you going to be on SVU again so you can say you've done them all twice?

David Alan Basche: That's true. I don't know. They have this unwritten rule that you can't be in the same franchise in the same year. I think I did my SVU last year. I certainly could come around again, that's a good point.

Let's call my agent! Let me write that down. Call SVU. PS: Email Mariska [Hargitay].

TV Tango: Besides THE EXES, what TV series are on your DVR these days?

David Alan Basche: Besides THE EXES, HOT IN CLEVELAND is on my DVR because who can get enough of Betty White? Not me.

JUSTIFIED. I haven't had a chance to watch it [new season] yet; it's literally on my DVR. I'm excited to see it.

SOUTHLAND. Great show. So glad there was some way, even though it switched networks, to keep it going. I think it's one of the best dramas on television. I really do.

What else? GOOD WIFE, a great New York production.

TV Tango: If you could play any fictional character, present or past, which one would you play?

David Alan Basche: It might just be right where I'm at right now and this answer may be because of my feelings about THE EXES and how much I'm enjoying this character of Stuart, but I'm going to go with Jack Lemmon in THE ODD COUPLE. I feel like Stuart is similar to that Felix Unger character. That would be a ball. That would be fun!

I watched Jack Lemmon and a lot of the Tony Randall episodes, so I'm trying to update it a little bit. Make it a little more chic geek and a little more modern.

TV Tango: If you could be on one competition reality TV series, which one would you choose?

David Alan Basche: [With a lot of thought] I'm gonna swing away from the sensationalist ones, and I'm going to go with IRON CHEF. And not the American remake, which is horrible, but the original IRON CHEF. I would love to be on that.

My wife and I are funny. When we're cooking in the kitchen, she'll knead something and yell, "Fuku-san" and I'll yell "Yes?" It's very funny. And we love IRON CHEF.

I would love to just stand there with some squid or something and go to town. That would be awesome.

I first saw it like six or seven years ago. I don't think it was on Food Network at the time; I think it may have been on Asian broadcast. I just fell in love with the show. It was just fantastic. I love to cook and it's really fun to watch what they do with the main ingredients, but on an acting level, watching the dinner afterward and listening to the voiceover work of the people who are trying to portray these very famous Japanese actors or politicians or sports figures, that's really fun.