I had the pleasure of speaking with Joe Nieves who plays Tom Diaz on the Disney Channel original show, Stuck in the Middle. Joe was a very gracious person to speak with. He and I talked about how he landed the role of Tom Diaz on the show. Joe is a dad as well who has had a career as an actor playing cops, bartenders and bad guys on dramas and some comedies – Joe was the bartender on “How I met Your Mother”. Joe was excited to land this role and described it as a blessing and a dream come true to play the father to seven kids on the show.

The nice thing about a show like Stuck in the Middle is that it is a true family show. There is something special for everyone to enjoy from kids to parents. It is important to me to watch shows where the parents are not portrayed as dumb. This is certainly not the case with Stuck in the Middle. Both parents are portrayed as smart. They may be exhausted and there may be times where it seems the kids are getting the better of their parents but it is clear that the parents are parents who are on top of what is happening in their home. I loved the episode where the parents seemingly went away for an overnight and the kids were home alone with the oldest daughter in charge. The kids got into so much trouble but the parents were away of everything that they were doing because they could see it on the security cameras. They even called to mess with the kids a bit.

I asked Joe what sort of Fatherhood skills he brought to the show. Joe tries to bring as much authenticity to his roles and to the role of Tom he brought with him the importance of being there for his kids, playing with them and being open to them. On the show he tries to make Tom be a playful dad and a lenient dad up to a certain point. While he is lenient he also has the family leadership to shut down the nonsense and be a dad who is respected by his children. That works because he is very respectful of his children.

What Joe has learned from being on the show and having seven kids on the show is that life gets messy sometimes. This is something that I have a hard time with myself. I can’t stand messes and want things to be picked up and put away and be orderly. I don’t think I could survive in the Diaz household. Another meaning for things get messy is that with seven kids sometimes things get overlooked, birthdays may get missed or feelings may get hurt. When that happens you can’t beat yourself up as a parent. Everything is gonna get straightened out everything is gonna be okay because the family knows that we all love each other and are going to stay together.

The cast does spend time together outside of filming and the chemistry with the cast is excellent. It really shows that they like each other. Joe talks about how the kids work so well together and look like a family. He had high praise for his costars and how well they work together.

I appreciated being able to spend a little time with Joe on the phone. He spoke with my friends over on the Dad Spotlight and also with the guys from the Life of Dad Show. You can check out their interviews as well. I for one am excited that Stuck in the Middle got picked up for a second season. I look forward to many more episodes of this fun family show.