Adam de la Pena is one of the minds behind Minoriteam, the Adult Swim series about a team of super heroes whose powers are based on their stereotypes. Before that, however, you may have seen Adam as Gary Busey's pal and occasional foil on the insane Comedy Central series I'm with Busey. He's also worked behind the scenes as a writer on such programs as The Man Show and Crank Yankers.

I spoke with Adam yesterday about Minoriteam, racism, writing for puppets, and knowing when it's okay to say no to Gary Busey:

Adam F: What was the driving force behind Minoriteam? Did you want it simply to be funny or to really make a point about race?

Adam D: My thing is, I come from a background where I love TV. I watch as much TV as I can. My favorite show is Magnum PI. So, I really want [to make it] the funniest show I can in general. The point we're making with the show doesn't matter unless it's funny. I don't like preaching to people. I don't like having some sort of crazy overriding political agenda.

One, personally, it just sticks you in a hole where you're like "I believe THIS." You're going to believe that your whole life? You're eighteen, and when you're fifty you're going to believe that, too? So I think that's the most important thing. If it's not funny then it's not interesting to me and I don't really care about it. I'm really more interested in nonsense. A huge influence [of mine] would be Monty Python and Kids in the Hall. British comedy in general.

The shows have to be funny and they have to be ridiculous. That's where the heroes' flaws come into play, and The White Shadow is definitely this ridiculous organization. The guy's a complete idiot and the guys he has working for him aren't much smarter, either.