A few weeks ago, Thomas Lennon visited Oak Park. He and I have Oak Park in common -- he grew up there and I work there now, writing for the local Oak Leaves Newspaper. Lennon works in Hollywood, most recently portraying Lt. Jim Dangle on the Comedy Central show "Reno 911!" You know, the guy in the short-shorts.

Knowing that I'd interviewed Lennon before, the producer of the village's local television channel, VOP-TV, asked if I could arrange an on-camera interview. Before I knew it, I was mic'd up and standing next to Lennon in a hallway at Oak Park-River Forest High School. I purposefully didn't prepare any questions so it'd be extra-casual. You can see it here:

So yes -- my first steps toward becoming an anchor on Inside Edition.

No, no. That won't happen. But it was quite an honor, because Lennon was an original member of the early '90s sketch comedy group The State. Their show pretty much defined my sense of humor in high school. 

I've done lots of other video interviews before, but always for the web. I have to admit, it was pretty cool knowing my first foray into television was alongside someone I'd watched on TV as a kid.