Slimed!: An Oral History of Nickelodeon's Golden Age Read Online Free Page B

then I probably would have changed certain things. It was more about the people who cared about me wanting me to take care of myself. But I was chillin’. What can I say? I like hamburgers.
    TREVOR EYSTER: At the time, Bower’s defense mechanism maybe was a rough exterior. I was the “brainiac” sharing a dressing room with him, and one day he came out and said, “I just took the biggest shit of my life! I swear to God, it was
this
size!” Ewww! Gross! To a geek, it was something I just absolutely couldn’t relate to. I tried to politely laugh.
    DANNY COOKSEY: Michael Bower didn’t have to make a joke, because he was there and he would go for it. He was like Chris Farley.
    MEGAN BERWICK: There was this girl on set, one of the extras. And she was really pretty. And snobby, too. Michael goes up to her and says, “I thought you were really, really pretty . . . until I got to know you.” You can’t tell a girl that! But that’s just the way he was.
    MICHAEL BOWER: They enjoyed me, but I don’t think they got my humor, because I was sort of a weird, fat kid. Tim Eyster and me, we had contradicting egos. Now that I know he was a homosexual . . . I got that vibe back then. I was eighteen, nineteen, and knew something was different. But he was very talkative and techie and . . . very
Jewish
. He was analyzing
everything
. And I’m one of those free spirits: “Just let it happen.” That was a conflict, sharing a room with him.
    TREVOR EYSTER: I felt very ostracized. For me, going through that geeky, nerdy, awkward prepubescent phase happened in front of the camera. Whether in high school or on set, I was this lanky—well,
lanky
would imply
tall
, and I wasn’t even tall—awkward-bowl-haircut mama’s boy with glasses that had a kinda high voice.
    HEIDI LUCAS: I don’t want to say I was Tim’s protector, because by no means did I go out of my way to protect him . . . but I felt like a big sister. Almost. He made me smile in a very innocent way. If he tried a joke and it didn’t work, who cares? It’s just Tim.
    MEGAN BERWICK: Tim drove me
insane
. He was used to being the youngest, and I was younger than him, so there was all this funny competiveness between us. But at the same time, he just
annoyed
me. Like a little brother annoys you. Arghh! I didn’t hang out with him. I hung out with all the other kids. I mean, he’s a really nice guy, but . . .
    VENUS DEMILO: Tim was hyperactive and he was the youngest person in a group of kids. He was still part of the group. We all liked each other. But we might have picked on him more. He was kinda nerdy.
    TREVOR EYSTER: It was really tough. What complicated it for me was that I was going through a sexual identity crisis. I’m probably the only cast member who doesn’t qualify as straight. Turns out Danny Cooksey was cordial when he needed to be, but we’re in the bathroom and I hear them talking about thinking I’m a “fag,” you know? Later on, it turned out I met a girl who knocked my socks off, and I realized I didn’t bat for the
other
team 100 percent either. Which was a whole different realization much later.
    RICK GALLOWAY: Things were a little cliquey on
Welcome Freshmen
. Chris Lobban and Dave Rhoden got along real well. Jill Setter and Jocelyn Steiner got along really well. So that left me as kind of the oddball of the group.
    DAVE RHODEN: Dude, I was a
total
dick
to Rick Galloway. I owe that guy so many apologies. I was probably trying to overcompensate for being a nerd, and Rick was a dude that we always picked on. The worst thing I ever did was we were in our little break room and we were eating dinner one night and Jill Setter was talking about how her school was doing an adopt-a-whale program and I turned to Rick and said, “How does it feel?” Because Rick was a little chunky back then. And he got up and cried; he left. I didn’t know . . . that Rick had been
adopted
.
    BOB MITTENTHAL: Rick was a handful. He was