Meet The Man Behind The Cat

Scott Stone

David Stanley

Life can be hectic when you're the producer of a successful reality show, and few lives are more hectic than that of Scott Stone, co-producer of ABC's highly successful The Mole. In addition to his continuing work on Comedy Central's The Man Show and PAX-TV's Shop 'til You Drop, Scott is currently busy putting the finishing touches on ABC's new reality smash, The Cat. ABC News' Marc Goodman caught up with Scott in Prague, where he was busy making arrangements for an upcoming segment of The Cat, to ask him about the show's new format.

Marc: Scott, my first question is one that is no doubt on all your viewers' minds. Why the switch from The Mole to The Cat?

Scott: We're obviously very proud of The Mole and the reception our viewers gave the first two seasons and the celebrity edition. However, we discovered that some viewers found The Mole too confusing. Many have written to us to complain that it is too difficult to spot The Mole from home, especially since a lot of people don't know what a mole actually looks like. Others felt that we had somehow defrauded them when The Mole turned out to not actually be a mole, but a human.

Marc: And why pick a cat rather than, say, an emu?

Scott: Well, obviously, we had to go with an animal that people were familiar enough with that they could easily identify it, so that limited our choices. Also, a lot of people aren't aware of this, but my co-producer and friend, David Stanley, is in fact, a cat. So obviously the species is one that's close to his heart. And naturally this meant that The Dog was right out.

Marc: What other species were considered?

Scott: Not too many, actually. The Cat was virtually a lock from the outset. The Fish came up a few times, but we determined that limited us a bit in terms of the kind of challenges we could stage. We bandied around The Mouse for a while, but there was a fear that The Mouse might easily be trampled, or even eaten by David or one of the other cats in the production crew.

Marc: But it seems as though making a cat the focus of the show would greatly limit you as well, don't you think? After all, there's only so much that a cat can do.

Scott: Don't tell David that! (laughs) Seriously, though, when you think about it, a cat is the ideal foil for a team of humans working together. For instance, during the Fireman's Brigade challenge, while everyone else was working hard passing buckets back and forth, The Cat was no use at all. In fact, he spent the whole challenge batting around a bottle cap that someone had dropped on the floor. He -- or she, I don't want to give too much away here -- single-handedly cost the group $40,000 on that one.

Marc: Aren't you concerned that some of your more intelligent viewers will identify which contestant is The Cat almost instantly?

Scott: David and I are convinced that won't be a problem.

Marc: So it sounds like the switch has worked out well so far, then?

Scott: It's worked out better than we could have hoped. One of the hallmarks of our previous seasons was the fun of watching players who were not The Mole try to throw other players off by making them think that they really were The Mole. Which is one thing when The Mole is another human, but something else completely when you're dealing with The Cat. Peter actually threw his back out trying to lick his own groin. Though some of us are still not convinced that was meant to be subterfuge.

Marc: I understand that same kind of exuberance has sometimes made your role as producer more challenging as well?

Scott: Let's just say that most people's jobs don't include having to explain to the authorities in Monaco why a 38-year old woman just dug a hole on the beach and defecated in it.

Marc: Scott, I know you have to get going, so I just have one last question. Who is... The Cat?

Scott: You'll have to tune in to find that out, Marc! But I'll give you a hint: it's not me. (laughs)