Enter the 2021 TV version of the comedy, starring Josh Peck as U.S. Marshal Scott Turner, the son of Hanks’ character, who inherits a large, unruly dog after his father’s passing. Hooch isn’t anywhere near what Scott wants, but may turn out to be what he needs. “This kind of show is so special because it really covers everything that a family can enjoy,” says the former Drake & Josh star. “There’s something for everyone.” Funnily enough, Peck had never seen the complete movie prior to landing the audition, but, as soon as he knew he was going to read for the role, he sat down and watch it in its entirety. “I fell completely in love with it,” he says. “There were great movies from that decade between 1985-1995, The Sandlot and Goonies, just that really high quality, well-done family fare. Turner & Hooch fell right into that place for me.” Peck says he was so taken with the idea of playing the role of Hanks’ son, he gave little thought to what it meant to work with a canine co-star. “I heard someone say, I am sure it was after I signed the contract, ‘You know, Tom Hanks has said that Turner & Hooch was his most physically demanding roll ever,’ And I was like, ‘Wait! What? The guy from Cast Away says it’s his most physically demanding role?’ I was just so wrapped up in this idea of how cool it was that I was going to make this show for families while also adding the action-adventure aspect of the U.S. Marshal, the physical comedy and the rom-com.” But there is also a mystery element to it. Scott’s sister Laura (Lyndsy Fonseca) also draws him—unwillingly at first—into an investigation of their father’s death. Initially, they thought it was natural causes, but there is more to the story than that. “What we originally thought was it was a heart attack suffered by our father, who passed away six months prior, but then it seems it might have some nefarious circumstances,” Peck says. “Inevitably over the season, my sister and I have to team up together to actually uncover what really happened to our father and inevitably crack what is the biggest case of the season.” And then there is the love triangle. To whip Hooch into shape, Scott connects with a dog trainer named Erica (Vanessa Lengies) who is all goo-goo eyed over him, but he is clueless as to her interest in him as he is still nursing a broken heart. “He’s hopelessly in love with the girl that broke his heart,” Peck says. “Who can’t identify with that? Who doesn’t have that moment? Brooke, played by Becca Tobin, is everything Scott thinks he wants. She’s the assistant U.S. attorney, she’s really impressive and really has her life together. I think in the first season, Scott is living in those worlds, trying to embrace this new mess of a partner in Hooch, while also trying to be this completely buttoned up guy for Brooke.” Who is Scott Turner? As good as he seems to be at his job, is he that clueless at picking up clues from Erica? It is a great observation. When we meet Scott, he is this incredibly hyper-focused career man, ultra-ambitious. His apartment in psychotically clean and his best friend is a Roomba. Basically, he’s given this French mastiff, which becomes a wrecking ball for his life. The dog that he never wanted turns out to be the dog that he always needed inevitably. It helps turn his eyes outward. The dog trainer who’s coming to Scott’s aid in literally every episode, there’s some sparks there and maybe there’s an attraction. I just love the idea, and I think you’re in good shape when the audience is screaming for two characters to get together, but they’re completely hapless when it comes to that. How many dogs actually play Hooch because he seems to have a lot of skills, including slobbering? How do they make him slobber? French mastiffs naturally have very talented salivary glands. Getting him to slobber was not a stretch, getting him to do everything else was a challenge at times. We had five different Hooches, all with their own set of skills. Obie was our elder statesman. He’s 6 and he was really good at like sitting and looking cute and cocking his head. He wasn’t too nervous around sounds or crew people, which was great. Then we had Hammer who had one speed, which was pull my arm out of its socket when he had to pull me across the room. And then Mimi, who is our only female dog, was the special skills master. She could pick something up with her teeth, she could jump really high, whatever we needed that was really special, that was a job for Mimi. Episode 2 is an homage to Die Hard with the bare feet and slinging the gun across his chest while he’s wearing a beater undershirt. Is there going to be more of that? Yes. The third episode is an homage to Heat with the safe truck being captured. We even do an homage to Taken, which has me doing a very mediocre Liam Neeson impression, but there’s definitely four or five episodes with those kind of Easter eggs. Do you have fun with that stuff? Are you a film buff? I love it. It’s so cool. Die Hard, especially, because we have Reginald VelJohnson, who was in the original Turner & Hooch and Die Hard. In this way, you can take the great aspects of movies that are so loved and incorporate it into what is specifically Turner & Hooch. I think you like the Die Hard episode for the same reason I do. From the moment that the hotel gets overrun by the terrorists, it’s just nonstop action until the moment that the episode ends. You started out as a child actor. What are you most recognized for these days? I think it’s a mix of a show I did when I was a kid called Drake & Josh, I’ve done a lot of YouTube social media stuff over the last couple years, and what’s really sweet is that a lot of people have a soft spot for the show I made with John Stamos a few years ago called Grandfathered. A fellow reporter told me that John credits you with saving his life. Especially in your 30s, you never think you’re going to meet someone that’s going to become a dear, dear friend, especially when it’s John Stamos. But I think we were put together for a special reason years ago and our lives have sort of mirrored each other. We both got married around the same time, we both have little boys who are six months apart, and he’s just he’s a truly great friend. I feel lucky to know him. How did you know so young that acting was your calling, that it was what you wanted to do with your life? It’s a good question. I don’t know if I would exactly say it was my calling. I knew that it gave me a lot of joy. I grew up and I never knew my dad. I was an only child with a single mom. I grew up in New York City and my mom was this beautiful tigress who had to really hustle to provide for us. It left me with a lot of time to watch movies and television. That fantasy world was an escape for me. Becoming an actor was as close to jumping through the television as I could in joining that world that gave me so much joy and pleasure. I remember when I moved to California to do The Amanda Show when I was 14, people asked my mom, “How did you know that he would be successful? What a big thing to uproot your life and move 3,000 miles for your son." She said, “I didn’t know he would be successful. I knew that it gave him confidence and he loved it. Had it been an instrument or athletics or academics, I would have supported that, but it was this.” I guess over time, it chose me. How hard was it to make the transition, because a lot of people say that child actors don’t really act, which is why a lot of them don’t make the transition to adult actors? I was listening to Jeff Garlin, who is a buddy and someone I look up to, on a podcast the other day. He said, I do comedy for comedy’s sake. I do comedy for the love of it. I don’t do it to get a great reservation at a restaurant or for the billboard. I do it because I love it,” and I couldn’t agree more with that. I act because I truly love it and that’s been my fail safe. I’ve fallen into all of the obstacles that many young actors go through, especially kid actors, which is years of not working and having to breakout of a preconceived notion that people have of people like me. I think what saved me was I didn’t need the spotlight. I just needed to do what I love. That also drove me into working on the craft and going to acting school continuously, which I still do to this day, and realizing that nothing’s given and if you really want to operate on a high level you need to be able to shoot up and show up. I hope that by this point people feel like I transitioned, but you never know. Did Turner & Hooch film during COVID with protocols? It absolutely did. I booked this show in 2020, in January, so we got held until September of 2020 until we were able to start filming. It required us to go to Vancouver and quarantine for two weeks. Luckily, the Canadian government allowed us to shoot our show there. You start day one and everyone’s in visors and masks and social distancing and you go, “How will this ever work?” It was such a leap from what we’re all used to. Then within a few months, it’s so second nature that eventually, God willing, when we’re not wearing masks on set, I think I’ll probably find that weird. It’s amazing how we’re able to acclimate to all different circumstances no matter how it changes. My mom is 77, she’s lived a long life, and here I am 34, and my mom said, “Josh, this is the craziest thing I’ve ever lived through and I’m 77.” So, we’re all just adjusting to a very crazy time, and I was lucky to have work during it. Turner & Hooch is currently streaming on Disney+. Next: Tom Hanks Is Related to Honest Abe! 25 Interesting Facts About One of Our Fav Leading Men
