Striking Tom Arnold has four ex-wives and two kids: ‘I have to work forever’

Tom Arnold is on the cellphone to speak about his upcoming collection — and concerning the ongoing labor strife in Hollywood.

Arnold performs a manipulative, sleazy producer within the mockumentary comedy “Underdeveloped,” premiering Sept. 8 on free streamer Tubi.

He’s additionally a member of each the Writers Guild of America and SAG-AFTRA, each of which stay on strike.

“On Friday [Aug. 18] I’m going to strike with the ‘Roseanne’ writers. We’re all assembly on the outdated studio,” mentioned Arnold, 64, who not solely wrote for and appeared on ABC’s “Roseanne,” which premiered in 1988, however was married to collection star Roseanne Barr from 1990-94. “Once I moved right here [to LA] in 1988 to put in writing for ‘Roseanne,’ as quickly as I get right here there was a writers strike so I actually needed to scramble as a result of I wasn’t within the guild but.

“I’m going to see a whole lot of buddies on the picket line [Friday] from the Midwest who I delivered to ‘Roseanne’ to put in writing.”

Arnold is allowed to talk freely and to publicize “Underdeveloped” underneath a particular waiver granted to the independently produced collection, created by star Brian A. Metcalf and co-starring Thomas Ian Nicholas (“American Pie”), who’s additionally an government producer. The present was shot final December.

“It’s difficult,” he mentioned. “I feel the technique of the union is that we’re going to indicate what these unbiased, small teams pays and put extra strain, hopefully, on the larger studios.

“We simply wish to determine the streaming stuff [on the SAG-AFTRA side]; the studios have been reticent to inform us how many individuals are watching their reveals,” he mentioned. “A few of these studio heads, you go, ‘That man’s the satan.’ The man over at Discovery [David Zaslav] made $500 million the last few years and a man like [ABC’s] Bob Iger, who I’ve identified since he began — he used to come back over and attempt to assist me get Roseanne out of the home, like ‘What’s the sport plan?’ — he’s referred to as an excellent man however he sounds horrible when he’s on CNBC saying, ‘Properly, that is the worst time they might have struck.’

“He makes $100 million a year [with an incentive bonus],” Arnold mentioned. “We’re conscious of that … and if issues are so dangerous, why is he getting $100 million a yr?

“I really feel good that we’ve got good folks negotiating … and I’m additionally grateful with the larger earners in our unions stepping up,” he mentioned. “These are people who aren’t movie-studio-boss-wealthy however they don’t have to fret and that’s what we’ve got to do — deal with the brand new folks and people who find themselves struggling and typically we’ve got to sacrifice … hopefully it will all be resolved appropriately and we’ll all meet within the center.

“I’m a single dad — my youngsters are 7 and 10 — and I’ve 4 ex-wives so I’ve to work ceaselessly.”

“Underdeveloped” is Arnold’s entree into the mockumentary format. He performs Ralph, a studio chief who grudgingly hires his brother-in-law, Stan (Metcalf) — who’s bought zero expertise however loads of enthusiasm — to run one of many studio’s lesser divisions. Ralph pairs Stan with Joe (Anderson), who anticipated to get the job … and who harbors an enormous grudge.

The ensemble comedy’s solid additionally consists of David Koechner, Mark Pellegrino, David Henrie, Kelly Arjen (additionally an government producer), Samm Levine, Lulu Jovovich and Shelley Regner.

“Ralph is an enormous persona,” Arnold mentioned. “He’s form of like the large film and TV studio heads in actual life — very shady and a little bit grasping, and also you see that throughout the construction of the present.

“Greed is an enormous factor [in ‘Underdeveloped’] and there are a few higher-ups who’re nefarious folks,” he mentioned. “Ralph believes that getting credit score for somebody for his or her work is a lot better than paying them. It’s like, ‘You’ll be in cost; you gained’t be paid such as you’re in cost, however the status of being in cost.

“I feel a whole lot of bosses in a whole lot of locations attempt to promote that to folks — ‘You gained’t get the cash or the title however you’ll be my man.’”

Tom Arnold will even co-star within the upcoming (Aug. 31) Lifetime film trilogy “As Luck Would Have It” reverse Jackèe Harry and Mea Wilkerson.