TV Talk: Billy Gardell talks about a ‘Secret Celebrity Renovation’ for Penn Hills friend’s mom

On the second-season premiere of CBS’s “Secret Celebrity Renovation” (8 p.m. Friday), Swissvale native Billy Gardell (“Bob (Hearts) Abishola”) assists in a makeover to the Penn Hills home of the mother of his friend/co-worker Joe O’Connell.

“After thinking about it, my best friend’s mom was just the perfect candidate,” Gardell said by phone this month from Los Angeles while waiting for his 19-year-old son at the DMV. “It was just a really lovely opportunity to do something super-special and say, ‘Thank you.’ The O’Connells are family to me and to do something for your best friend’s mom, it’s just a gift to be offered something like that.”

In May, Marianne O’Connell moved out of her home for two weeks with an inkling that designers might give her backyard patio a makeover.

Joe O’Connell was there to greet Gardell and Rob “Boston Rob” Mariano (“Survivor”), who joins host Nischelle Turner (“Entertainment Tonight”) as a regular on season two of the series.

“I thought they were gonna use me to work on the house, but they just wanted me to drive (my mom) away and they said I didn’t have to come back,” Joe O’Connell said. “So Billy was running a jackhammer on my (old childhood) patio and my mother and sister and I were out at Sam’s Club and I was complaining how tired I was from traveling and the time change while Billy did all that work.”

It was intended that Joe would appear at the end of the episode for the renovation’s reveal, but he tested positive for covid and couldn’t make the return trip.

“So now it will look like I passed away,” Joe said, laughing. “They should put up an ‘In Loving Memory’ (card) at the end of the episode).” (In a rough cut of the episode, Joe’s absence is explained away in narration saying he’s leaving for a “month-long vacation.”)

Gardell and Joe O’Connell met in the early ’90s when Joe worked in the kitchen of The Funny Bone in Monroeville, where Gardell performed stand-up comedy.

“He was the kitchen manager and we just hit it off and became super-fast friends,” Gardell recalled. “A bond formed and about three years later we decided to move to California together and come out here and chase this fantasy.”

O’Connell works as Gardell’s dialogue coach on “Bob (Hearts) Abishola,” warmed up the audience (pre-covid) and serves as Gardell’s stand-in on the CBS sitcom. When Gardell is on a stand-up comedy tour, O’Connell does a set as Gardell’s opening act.

Marianne and Joe have both been going to Thanksgiving at Gardell’s home for more than a decade after her husband died and before the pandemic hit, so Marianne knew Gardell well before taping “Secret Celebrity Renovation.”

“Billy is just Billy,” she said. “He’s down to earth. He’s genuine. He’s just very warm, just really a hometown person. There’s no pretense. He’s an everyman.”

Gardell calls Marianne “a ray of sunshine.”

“Nobody says hello to you like Mare does,” Gardell said. “She makes you feel like you’re the only person in the world when she says hello to you. You know how every neighborhood has a second mom? Mare falls in that category. She’s just always positive and she was always behind me and Joe heading out to California. She was a really positive force for us early on.”

Related:

• TV Talk: Swissvale native Billy Gardell grateful for ‘Bob (Hearts) Abishola’ success
• TV Talk: Billy Gardell back in town; Pitt history-maker featured in ‘Sky Blossom’

While the focus of the episode is on the renovations at Marianne’s house, there’s also an emphasis on Gardell’s ties to his hometown.

“Pittsburgh just always smells like hard work and family — and that’s it in that order,” Gardell says in the episode.

He trades Steelers-Patriots barbs with Mariano, who declares, “I feel like I’m in enemy territory,” before Mariano insults the Steelers. (Mariano is famously married to Beaver County native and fellow “Survivor” winner Amber Brkich.)

“Other than the Patriots stuff, I really like him,” Gardell says of Mariano in the episode.

Gardell takes Turner to ride the Jack Rabbit at Kennywood in the show and he visits Rocco’s Tavern in Swissvale, a favorite watering hole of Gardell’s late father. There, Mariano unveils a surprise that brings Billy Gardell to tears.

“My dad had a chair in there like Norm from ‘Cheers,’ ” Gardell said.

Between seasons of “Bob (Hearts) Abishola,” Gardell has been “working on my health and just taking it easy” (he’s lost 127 lbs. total). Gardell will be a guest in the Oct. 5 episode of Food Network’s Guy Fieri-hosted “Guy’s Ultimate Game Night” (debuts 8 p.m. Aug. 31). Production on new episodes of “Bob (Hearts) Abishola” begins Aug. 10.

“I always love that the television season for sitcoms starts the same time as football,” Gardell said. “That’s a good omen for me.”

The “Bob (Hearts) Abishola” season finale introduced a new character, a preacher played by Wilkinsburg native Jonathan Adams (“Last Man Standing,” “Dark Winds”) who Gardell expects will return.

“It was just like any Pittsburgher (I meet), it was the first thing out of his mouth, ‘Hey, I’m from Pittsburgh,’ ” Gardell said. “What a great guy. He did a phenomenal job and he’s a great addition to our show.”

In addition to Gardell’s episode, an upcoming, still-unscheduled episode of “Secret Celebrity Renovation” will feature Pittsburgh native Aaron Donald, a Penn Hills high school grad who played for the University of Pittsburgh and is now a defensive tackle for the Los Angeles Rams.

Kept/canceled

FX renewed “Mayans M.C.” for a fifth season to air in 2023.

Disney+ will revive the canceled Netflix series “Daredevil” with “Daredevil: Born Again” in 2024.

Netflix ordered a sequel to “The Gray Man” movie (with Ryan Gosling returning) as well as a spin-off film.

TBS canceled “Full Frontal with Samantha Bee” after seven seasons.

Channel surfing

After CNN fired him, Chris Cuomo has landed a new prime-time show on cable’s NewsNation that will begin in the fall. … The NFL announced the launch of subscription streaming service NFL+, offering out-of-market live preseason games and in-market regular/postseason games for mobile and tablet access only. … EW.com reports Ken Jennings and Mayim Bialik will continue to share “Jeopardy!” hosting duties for the foreseeable future.