At the age of 18, Corbin Allred is starring in the new ABC series "Teen Angel" - his second network sitcom. But there is one drawback to the job, according to the recent Hillcrest High graduate.
The show is shot in Los Angeles. And he'd just as soon be home in Sandy."I've been coming here for five years - summers and pilot seasons - and I could never get used to it," Allred said. "Home is always home."
Actually, he's rather ambivalent about moving to Burbank, where he's taken an apartment.
"When I'm home for a couple of months, it's like - man, I'm itching to go to work. I want to go to L.A.," Allred said. "When I'm here for a couple of days, I'm itching to go home.
"The atmosphere is totally different here. When I'm working here, I'm fine. I've got something to do. I've got a job, I go to bed, I get up and go to work - whatever. But when I'm not working here, the whole attitude of people is different.
"I like Utah. Utah is always going to be my home."
Actually, "Teen Angel," which premieres Friday at 8:30 p.m. on Ch. 4, is a case of good news coming out of bad news - in a rather roundabout fashion. Allred was a co-star in the UPN sitcom "Social Studies" last season, a show that didn't exactly turn out the way Allred and his family had hoped.
"I had no idea," he said. "I was hoping for the best."
But "Social Studies" ended up being a good deal more raunchy than he had been led to believe.
"There were things in there that I was asked to say and do that I said, flat out, that my character didn't do this," Allred said. "I disagreed with a lot of the content. I mean, calling somebody a virgin as if that was something bad to be? I completely disagreed with that."
And Allred's stand isn't just posturing for a critic from Utah. In a press conference attended by hundreds of TV critics from across the country, he told them that he believes actors should be "an example of whatever your morals might be, whatever you feel that you would like to help somebody with. . . . You are going to be seen by a lot of people, and you want to set a good example."
And, at this point, he's a good deal more comfortable in "Teen Angel" than he was in "Social Studies." After playing a teenage con-man and hustler in his last series, this time around Allred plays Steve, a shy teenager whose best friend, Marty (Mike Damus) chokes to death on a hamburger and returns to Earth as Steve's guardian angel. It's light and silly - a show aimed at young viewers.
"The character that I was in `Social Studies' was so opposite of me that it was hard to always be that character," Allred said. "And this one - even though there are some differences - it's much more comfortable."
He isn't the only member of his family that's happy about the change.
"We can actually tell people in our (LDS Church) ward to watch this show," said Corbin's mother, Diane. "We didn't do that with `Social Studies.' "
Actually, getting the part in "Teen Angel" turned out to be a bit complicated. Allred was the first choice of the producers, but he was still under contract to "Social Studies" at the time. Although that show was on hiatus and had not been renewed, those producers refused to release Allred from his contract.
Oddly enough, the original "Teen Angel" pilot was shot with Jordan Brower - another member of the "Social Studies" cast - in the role of Steve. Then, when "SS" was officially canceled, Allred was hired, the "Teen Angel" pilot was reshot and Brower was shifted to a different role on the series - he's the cool guy at school.
"It ended up working out really well," Allred said. "And Jordan was given another part, so nobody ended up unhappy or dumped or anything like that. You know, the business is so cruel and that happens too often."
It's also a business that's full of people with a lot of preconceived notions about a young Mormon kid from Utah.
"They ask me all the religious stuff from Utah. They assume that I'm LDS and polygamist or something like that," Allred said. "And I just educate people one at a time. . . . I just think once people get to know me they know I'm a normal kid. Just because I'm from Utah I'm not any different. I'm not from another planet."
Although people's ignorance is sometimes amazing.
"People don't know where Utah is," he said. "I've had (people ask), `Where is Utah? Is that in Nevada?' "
As if to prove the point, a reporter from a teen magazine asked Allred if he has to deal with "negative stereotypes about having seven girlfriends."
"It's pathetic," Allred said.
(Moments later, the same middle-aged woman said, "Let me officially say hi," as she reached in to give Allred a kiss. "It's a weird place," the young actor said after she left, looking a bit taken aback.)
And what with silly polygamy questions still being asked, getting people to understand about going on an LDS mission is all but impossible. "It's definitely something I want to do," said Allred, whose older brother is currently serving a mission.
Allred said that even if "Teen Angel" is picked up for a second season, he may leave to go on a mission. It's a matter he's already raised with the studio and the producers.
"No, they don't get it. They think it's a matter of money - that I could just give more money to the church or something," he said.
For a young man on his second TV series, Allred is amazingly unaffected. At an ABC party loaded with stars and executives and journalists, he's feeling a bit out of place.
"It's a little bit frou-frou for me," he said. "Isn't there someplace we could go shoot some pool or something?"
And the whole Hollywood scene doesn't hold much appeal for Allred, which is one of the reasons he plans to spend his off time back here in Utah. (A normal sitcom schedule is three weeks on and one week off.)
He's also unaffected enough to know that, even back in Utah, there are some people in Utah who are convinced that fame and fortune has gone to his head.
"There's always the kids who are going to have a bad attitude about it," Allred said. "There's always the kids who are going to give you a hard time. No matter how nice you are, they think you're cocky or you think you're better than anybody else. You have people who never paid attention to you before, and then they find out you're an actor and all of a sudden they become your friend. And you're like, `Where were you last year when I wasn't doing anything?'
"But my friends, they're just the kind of guys who are like, `Hey, you did a movie? That's cool. Let's go (rock) climbing.' They're that kind of people. They know what I do. It's not a big deal to them."
And, rather refreshingly, Allred doesn't act like he's a big deal either. He's a rather normal 18-year-old - instead of heading off to college, he headed off for Hollywood. And his mom came along to help him get settled into his apartment before she returned to Sandy.
"I've got to learn how to wash clothes and iron. But, other than that, I'm OK," Allred said.