Q&A; WITH DENNIS MILLER : ‘I Like Incredibly Bad TV’

Last year, Dennis Miller became the celebrated martyr of late-night television. Though his talk show could be uneven, it was widely lauded for its smarts and distinctive point of view.

Nonetheless, the syndicated program was given only nine months to find its footing. Many stations scheduled it in lousy time slots, and it had particular problems luring A-list guests, which resulted in a very public feud teaming Miller and Arsenio Hall against the booking policies of “The Tonight Show” under the Jay Leno regime.

The show’s reputation seems to have improved with time. In the wake of the cancellation, however, Miller has taken steps to escape the day-to-day trappings of show business. His L.A. home is for sale; Miller and his family have moved 100 miles north of the city.

But Miller, a “Saturday Night Live” regular for six years, has emerged from behind his talk-show desk to return to stand-up comedy. Expect his trademark, quixotic, pop-culture references and many sweeps of his hand through his hair when he performs Friday with Rita Rudner at the Universal Amphitheatre.

Miller, who had a supporting role in the 1990 movie “Madhouse,” continues to audition for films.

And he’s even considering a return to the talk-show fray, this time with a weekly series on HBO. Otherwise, he keeps his trips to Los Angeles short and infrequent. “I come into L.A. now like the Amish people in ‘Witness,’ ” he said. “I tell my wife, ‘Keep your hands on the seed bag!”’

*

Q: The word is, you’re thinking of moving to Paris.

A: We did go for six weeks. But my wife is pregnant, and we wanted to have the kid here. We considered spending more time there, but you know what, it taught me that I’m an American. It’s weird, you know?

There’s going there for vacation, and there’s going there for a sojourn, and there’s moving there. And moving there, at some point, you’re starting to get a jones for the theme to ESPN’s “SportsCenter.” You know what I mean? They’re covering cricket. Cricket? Where’s the game?

*

Q: Was the possible move out of frustration with show biz and the cancellation of the talk show?

A: You never go to Paris out of frustration. But there’s a certain rhythm to show business, too, that you’d best not fight. (David) Letterman told me when he got canceled the first time, he said “It’s your turn to get to the back of the line for a while, and if you do that with a certain degree of aplomb, you’re always cycled back in.” But if you kick and scream, you might have to sit there and have Olivier drill a hole in your front tooth.

I liked the show. A year later, people still want to talk about it. It needed cultivating, it needed a little more time. It wasn’t given that time. It’s gone now. Now if I talk about it too much, unsolicited--I don’t mind if people bring it up--but if I bring it up, I look like a whiner. I thought it was a good show, I thought they took it off too quickly.

*

Q: Any thoughts on what you could’ve done to save it?

A: I was scared (expletive)-less, like anyone is when they’re in that sort of blast site. It’s like when the Army used to ask GIs to witness nuclear tests with nothing but a pair of Ray-Bans on from 40 feet, that’s what doing a talk show’s like--this wind peeling your head back: “I don’t know that I should be here. Is this safe, general?”--it became easier . . . I felt honest out there, I felt in the moment. I’d watch “Crossfire” until five (minutes) to 5 in my underwear, then crawl into my suit, walk to the other side of the curtain and start talking.

*

Q: Do you follow talk shows today?

A: I don’t watch them as much as I used to. Quite frankly, I didn’t watch them that much when I was on, because you get sick of them. . . . It’s lost its allure for me now. I don’t pine for it.

*

Q: Have you considered talking with Leno and clearing the air?

A: No, and I don’t think he has either. It’s not a big day-to-day in either of our lives, I’m sure. Jay’s got a successful show, I’m sure he doesn’t bat an eye about me, and likewise. We were friends who obviously didn’t know each other as well as we thought, and got thrown into a competitive situation.

*

Q: For some people, the show might have been a little strange, because you’d do this smart, hip monologue, then have a guest like Katey Sagal from “Married . . . With Children” on, and say, “I love your show, I love your work.” Do you like that show?

A: Yeah, I do. I’ve somehow got hooked into this thing where (people think) I have a real highbrow sense of aesthetics. But I am the basest of base television children raised in this country. Ed (O’Neill) is a friend of mine, and I think the show makes me laugh a lot because I know Ed and how erudite he is, and when I watch him being this slob, it makes me howl.

I like incredibly bad TV. I’m fascinated by infomercials. So when you’re talking about high-brow tastes, I like all this (expletive) stuff. I watch these infomercials, these people who I know are getting paid $35 to sit in the crowd, and I watch to see which ones are really trying to look authentic and look bewildered by the Enamo-blaster. I wonder, do the people who make them really think that the people at home really think that it’s really a talk show they’ve happened onto and that the audience is really bedazzled by this? And if that is the case, if that’s true, then I’m not leaving the (expletive) house.

*

Q: Do you watch “Saturday Night Live”?

A: I haven’t watched it at all. (David) Spade makes me laugh, he’s a good friend, and (Chris) Farley makes me laugh. But when you get out of there, it’s time to move on. It’s like college--if you come back the year after you graduate, you’re cool, but if you start hanging out there too much, you’re a bit creepy.

*

Q: Did you enjoy your film experience?

A: I can’t do those readings. I can go on TV in front of millions of people live and not have a nerve in my body. But I literally am almost vomitous before I go to a reading. . . . I’ve done maybe seven readings in my life, and if any of them are on tape, trust me, they’re archival material. We should put them in that satellite and send them up--beautiful stuff.

I went in for a thing called “Dream Team,” and there were two parts available. One was an autistic kid who was from a mental hospital, and the other was for a sadistic cop named Petrocelli or something. I read for the two parts--I did the autistic kid first. I don’t know what the (expletive) I did, I went white with fear. And then they wanted me to do Petrocelli, and I said, “OK, now Petrocelli is probably gonna look a lot like the autistic kid.” And it was--the sadistic cop was exactly the same as the autistic kid.

*

Q: If you had a buzz-style haircut, what would your onstage nervous tic be?

A: It would be weird--I’d start rubbing my head raw, like Arnold at the end of “T2.” You’d start seeing the chromium underlayer.