New Rules with Patrick Warburton of Rules of Engagement

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by Troy Rogers

Rules of Engagement returns to the CBS line-up on Monday, March 1 at 8:30pm for its fourth season, as series stars Patrick Warburton, Megyn Price, and David Spade welcome former third season recurring guest actor Adhir Kalyan into the Rules of Engagement family as a series regular. In the fourth season premiere, "Flirting," Patrick Warburton as Jeff Bingham takes the advice of David Spade's Russell character and flirts with a colleague only to unexpectedly find out that she's open to a fling.

Ahead of the fourth season premiere of Rules of Engagement, we snagged a few minutes with Patrick Warburton to get his view on engagement in relation to Rules characters Adam and Jennifer and whether Warburton has any friends in real life like David Spade's Russell. Also, Patrick Warburton gave journalists a few healthy words of advice on relationships and whether the dynamics of Rules of Engagement are all too familiar.

THE DEADBOLT: What's the best part for you, looking at a couple like Adam and Jennifer, since you've already lived through the engagement phase?

WARBURTON: I guess it's the anticipation of everything that's going to blow up in his face [laughs]. I don't know if that's me or Jeff. You know, when you look at it with just sort of the wisdom and knowledge of your life experience that you've acquired and you know that they're in a state of ignorance, an ignorant bliss, let's call it that. I don't want to be totally pessimistic, but you know that they're going to be hitting major bumps in the road that they don't see coming and you can observe from the sidelines.

THE DEADBOLT: Do you and your wife have any friends in real life like Russell?

WARBURTON: Well, not that bad. Would David Spade count? Can David Spade be my answer [laughs]?

THE DEADBOLT: [laughs] Sure, why not?

WARBURTON: Yeah. We both went out to the Super Bowl together, only I flew commercial and had a transfer in Atlanta and he flew in a private jet from Sony with his buddies Adam Sandler and Kevin James who he just did a movie with. I said, "What's it going to be like in Miami this week David? Since you're with your big shot friends, is it going to be like The Breakfast Club? Are you going to ignore me in the hallway? Are you going to snub me because you're with your big star friends?"

Of course he reminded me that our friendship entirely depends upon the ratings of our TV show. You might laugh, but it's true. Yeah, I saw about five minutes of that douchebag in Miami. But come on, do I love him? Of course I love Davey, he's my buddy. But it's funny how all of our lives do somewhat reflect the characters we play.

Other Conference Call Highlights:

Patrick Wharburton on the advice he'd give to newlywed guys for diffusing an argument with a new spouse:

"Think before you speak. I think what guys, just because of our nature, sometimes we men tend to sound a little bit less sensitive and caring and a little bit more aggressive, because that's where we go and to perhaps try to just monitor that. I mean, this might sound sort of ambiguous, but oftentimes I find that if I want to be heard, I have to really be careful of the tone I use and the way I present my argument, because if I get too riled up, if you get too riled up, she just won't listen to you. She's just going to be put off by the tone of your voice. So that's like the first thing I think I'd go to.

Wharburton on whether he and his wife have "date night" and what they do spice up their marriage:

"Not enough. I believe that really is important to do. We're trying to figure out what to do now because we haven't done anything like that in months and months. One of the kids is swimming, one of them is in baseball, all four of them are in school, and my wife is even going to school. So it's tough. Our paths all cross in the morning and our paths all cross in the evening. But if you can [have] out time at least a night a week aside where you just go out to dinner and watch a movie together, I think that's important. We always feel like it's a good thing when we do it.

Patrick Wharburton on whether the dynamics between Jeff and Audrey are accurate or if he has input on changes:

WARBURTON: Yeah, that happens at times. I can't recall any real moments with that this last season. The writers have really seemed to key into all of the characters. The storylines were fun and I don't think we did too much tampering with stuff this last season. We were all just, I believe, pleased as a cast with the writing. And our new cast member, Adhir [Kalyan], really turned out to be a great addition. I was pushing for him last year when he was doing some guest spots.

I'm not saying I was the only cast member, but I do remember talking to Doug [Robinson] and Tom [Hertz], saying this guy is great and if we could have him on more shows that would be a fantastic thing. I think everybody is very pleased that he became a season regular and I believe the show has a much better balance with the six characters we have now, as opposed to the five we once had. Adhir and David work really well together and it's great conflict.