At work or at play, he prefers to wing it

THE writing’s on the wall: Unscripted shows are hot, and David Alan Grier hosts an improvisational take on the genre Monday night at 9 on NBC. “Thank God You’re Here” is not only the show’s title, it’s the improv hook. Monday’s guests -- Jennifer Coolidge, Wayne Knight, Bryan Cranston and Joel McHale -- walk unaware into setups, hear the line directed at them by an actor, and the guest takes it from there. “We’ve taped six, and they’ve come out great,” said Grier. “Very fun.”

Kind of like the Hollywood resident’s weekends, which are unscripted as well.

An odorous start

The first thing I do at the end of the workday is take my two smelly dogs for a long hike through Fryman Canyon. After that I might get a massage at Burke Williams or over the hill at a Thai place. A legitimate one. I’d get as many minutes as possible. I’d want deep tissue, but I switched from shiatsu to Swedish because I don’t want them sticking their elbows into my lumps and knots. I always get a female attendant, ideally with the hands of a martial artist and the face and body of Carmen Electra. After that, I like to have dinner at Jar on Beverly Boulevard. Those people know what they’re doing. They take pea pods you can buy for a dollar a bushel at the farmers market, call them pea tendrils and charge you $13. Anybody who has the guts to do that has my money. So I’ll have that and a glass of Pinot, or if I’m feeling heavier, I’ll make it Cabernet. And because of the massage I’d probably be nodding off at dinner, so after Jar, it would be right home for me.

Fighting words

On Saturday morning I’d get up early for some surfing and then go work out with my trainer at a private gym. We usually get into a fight -- sometimes she cries because I don’t do what she tells me to do. Then I’ll pick up some wine and cheese for Sunday at the Cheese Store of Silver Lake. You see how everything eventually leads to alcohol? By then I’ve done too much, and I pass out. Or maybe I’d watch motorcycle racing on TV and then pass out. When I get up, I’d go on a gallery crawl in Culver City and see some new art. LAXART, a nonprofit art space, not a gallery, does shows with a lot of artists that I know and collect. I also like Susanne Vielmetter’s Los Angeles Projects, and Sandroni Rey on La Cienega. Then I’d go to the House of Blues and see Corinne Bailey Rae. That way I can eat dinner and listen to great music all at one place.

Ahead of the strollers

On Sunday my housekeeper comes at 7 or 8 in the morning, so I get out and go to the Studio City Farmers Market. You have to go early because (1) the fruits and vegetables are fresh, and (2) the baby strollers show up around 9. You really don’t want to be down there then. It’s like the 101 Freeway at rush hour with all these desperate postpartum moms with the babies. Afterward I’d get my Sunday Times at Laurel Canyon Country Store, plus a cup of cappuccino and maybe one of the apple turnovers that Lily sells in front of the store. I sit out there and eat and read, but not too long because the hippies start to freak me out. Then I go back home, and my house is clean, and I crash. Later I might cook the pea tendrils I bought for a dollar, heavy on the garlic, with some pig snouts and neck bones. You think I’m kidding, but I’m not; I got an old cookbook by Jane Grigson about cooking extremities, and I’m really into it. More the cooking than the eating. I always end my weekend watching “The Sopranos,” “Rome” or “The L Word.”

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-- Mark Sachs