PASADENA, Calif. — Despite the fact that Sandra Bullock is one of the executive producers of the "George Lopez" show, it isn't exactly a career she was looking for.
"I had no extra time on my hands," she said. "We saw George, fell in love with him, thought this man has such an energy and ability to convey so many different things in a stand-up show — it should be on TV."
She soon hooked up with executive producer Bruce Helford (whose credits include "Drew Carey" and "Roseanne"). But she wasn't exactly ready for how quickly the project came together.
"I was sort of doing 12 things at one time. We didn't expect it to get picked up as quickly as it did. We thought it would be a longer process," she said. "But finding George, having an idea — our idea stunk. Once we saw George's (stand-up comedy) show, we said, 'His life is funnier.' "
Over Bullock's objections, Lopez told critics what that original idea was.
"It was 'Beverly Hills Latino,' " he said. "And I told Sandy when we first met, 'I don't want to be Jethro Bodinez for seven years.'"
"It wasn't my idea. It was another guy's," Bullock explained.
"We got rid of him," Lopez said.
Despite the initial misstep, Bullock remains highly involved behind the scenes at the sitcom.
"You should know that the level of Sandy's involvement is when we shoot the show, we have a live feed that goes directly to her when she was in New York so she could watch the show between takes when (she was shooting a film) and then be on the phone to call us with notes," Helford said. "I can tell you by the number of e-mails that I go through on a daily basis, Sandra is very involved."
Helford said he in no way resents her being actively involved.
"There are certainly actors that I would not want to have all this creative input," he said.
"Sometimes he doesn't want my creative input," Bullock interjected.
"One difference with Sandy is she does understand the big picture. . . . Her notes have been great," Helford said. "Her notes on character have been great. Her notes on the tone of the show have been very important."
Not that they always agree.
"Jokes are interesting because everyone's opinions of what's funny is completely different," Bullock said. "So we'll be arguing over what I think is not funny — Bruce will say, 'It's hilarious!' And he'll say something's not funny and I think it's the funniest thing in the world. It's the scrapping."
Working in TV's not like working on a movie, however.
"Well, television is drastically different from film in the sense that it is so bloody fast. I mean, I like fast, but only in some things," Bullock said. "It's nice to have the chance to develop the product. I'm used to things being slow and everyone arguing and collaborating. Television is super fast. And once you get used to the pace that if Bruce says, 'I need to know now,' it means he needs to know now, not in two weeks, which is more like film time.
"Plus, I started out in this business doing bad television — I always said if I could go back and do it well, it would really be nice. So it's sort of a guilty pleasure in repairing the damage I did as an actor."
Bullock starred in the short-lived 1990 sitcom version of "Working Girl" — a role she got when Nancy McKeon ("Facts of Life") dropped out of the project. And she's back working in TV a dozen years later "because television is amazing at what it does now. It's completely different than what it was when I did it," she said. "It's nice. I enjoy it. I mean, just because I manage to do OK in film doesn't mean that's where I'm going to stay." Which doesn't necessarily mean that she's looking for a career as a TV producer, either — she'll do it "as long as I love it. As long as I have the energy to stay up until 2 o'clock in the morning writing e-mails. As long as I obsess about something, that's how long I'll be doing it. And if I can't contribute anymore, I'll do something else."
But for now, she said, being a producer is "really rewarding."
"Most actors want it to be about them, but I kind of still get that letting it be about them," she said of the "George Lopez" cast. "They're great. It's a great show. The possibilities . . . are fantastic. So it's nice to see if that can be pulled off."
E-MAIL: pierce@desnews.com