Those of you who follow The Three Strike Rule know what a big fan I am of the TBS comedy, 10 Items or Less Thanks to my fellow Popdoser, Will, I had the opportunity to speak with John Lehr, the star and co-creator of — not to mention one of the producers and writers for — 10 Items or Less Needless to say, the guy has his cart full. The show had wrapped its second season before the writers strike began, and John was just about to leave on a well-deserved vacation. He was in New York doing publicity for the show when I caught up with him.

10 Items or Less is an improv-based half-hour ensemble comedy. Lehr stars as Leslie Pool, who has inherited his father’s Ohio grocery store, the Green & Grains. Determined to carry on his father’s legacy, despite knowing little about the grocery business, Pool oversees a crew of misfits while dealing with a competitive chain across the street.

The genesis for 10 Items or Less came out of an independent film Lehr starred in and co-produced, Memron. That film, which was an improv comedy, was co-written by Robert Hickey and Nancy Hower, who also directed. According to Lehr, these three decided that they “would like to do more of that kind of humor (improv). It felt like it was meant for TV.” They developed 10 Items or Less and pitched the idea to Sony, who prepared to shop it around. The first network they approached was TBS. The former Superstation was changing its image and starting to produce new, original comedies. Lehr was excited about finding a home on the cable channel. He said, “I grew up watching Superstation and it felt like our show would be a perfect fit. TBS is aimed at the whole country, not just New York and Los Angeles, and our show takes place in the Midwest. This seemed like a perfect fit.” (more…)