From the outset, RJ Berger, the lead character of the new MTV series “The Hard Times of RJ Berger,” is the type of kid destined for every torture known to teens – wedgies, name-calling, pranks. Yet despite his obvious status as a loser, RJ – played by Secaucus native Paul Iacono, 21 – is a loveable square everybody can relate to.
Thanks to an aggressive marketing campaign from MTV Productions, “Berger” is being poised to be the premier teen angst show of Generation Next. TV critics have labeled the show “darkly humorous” in the tradition of independent filmmaker Todd Solondz.
The 12-episode series debuted Sunday, June 6, and now runs every Monday night.
“I was really excited to see that MTV was stepping up its game and moving into the scripted realm.” – Paul Iacono
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Having lived through an awkward phase of his own while growing up, Iacono explained the new show’s appeal last week.
“Even though the situations are over the top and zany, the characters are relatable,” said Iacono. “It was absolutely the right fit from the very start.”
Iacono landed the part of RJ after exhaustive auditioning for various new pilots.
“These characters are very easy for me to relate to because RJ is an insecure kid and I went through a really insecure phase of my life, especially in middle school,” he said. “For the show, I’m drawing on that sense of vulnerability – and then heightening it for comedy.”
Something different
In “Fame” Iacono played a budding filmmaker and student at New York City’s Professional Performing Arts School, from which Iacono himself graduated in 2006. Before that, he attended Clarendon School and Secaucus Middle School.
After working on that project, the actor was looking for something different in his next role.
“I was interested in playing a character that was the opposite of what I had done in ‘Fame,’ ” said Iacono, the son of Secaucus resident Michele Iacono and former Town Administrator Anthony Iacono. “And RJ Berger is the complete opposite of that. He’s introverted. He’s extremely insecure, wears his heart on his sleeve, doesn’t know how to talk to girls. He barely has any friends.”
Still, RJ is no downer – far from it, says Berger’s star.
“Our show is sort of like the modern day ‘Wonder Years,’ with a raunchy vocabulary, much like ‘Superbad,’ ” Iacono said.
In fact, there is a bit of a twist in RJ Berger’s hard life – near the beginning of the series, it is revealed that Berger is anatomically well-endowed, a plot device the writers work to “Berger’s” advantage.
“We’re appealing to the teen audience because we are speaking their language,” Iacono said. “We’re talking about sex in a very open, sometimes raunchy, way. And I think that they will be able to relate to that.”
The actor said the show is also a nice “re-introduction to scripted” comedy after so much reality television.
“We’re speaking to the same generation of kids that has grown up with reality TV, and for some of them, that’s all they’ve known as their main source of television entertainment,” Iacono said. “I think this is a great way to reintroduce them to a scripted format. I think it’s exciting that MTV is moving away from reality [TV] and into a scripted format because there are so many narratives, so many stories that need to be told that are not being told at the moment.”
Pen to paper
The actor hopes to eventually be among the playwrites and screenwriters who get to tell some of those stories and narratives. Last year, in an interview with the Reporter before the release of “Fame,” Iacono discussed a theater script he planned to have workshopped in New York.
But between “Fame,” the endless auditions, and now “Berger,” Iacono said last week that writing has taken a temporary backseat to his blooming acting career.
“Hopefully this summer I’ll have some free time to center myself and focus on that,” he said.
In the meantime, he is happy to bring RJ into the lives of millions of teenage viewers each week.
“It’s just a fun, good show,” said Iacono.
“Berger” airs Monday nights at 10 p.m.
E-mail E. Assata Wright at awright@hudsonreporter.com.