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Q&A: 'Detroiters' star Sam Richardson celebrates Motor City, 'Veep'

Motor City ad men Sam Duvet (Sam Richardson) and Tim Cramblin (Tim Robinson) are back for Season 2 of Comedy Central's "Detroiters" Thursday (10 EDT/PDT) and, believe it or not, these anti-Don Drapers and their sophomoric ad agency, Cramblin Duvet, are on a client hot streak.

“There’s some sort of divine intervention going on there,” Richardson jokes.

Real-life friends Richardson and Robinson continue to celebrate their hometown, as bickering buddies Sam and Tim woo a big client, the Michigan Science Center; produce an ad with legendary Detroit news anchor Mort Crim, the inspiration for Will Ferrell's Ron Burgundy; and try a tough-guy commercial makeover on a meek lawyer ("SNL" alum and fellow Detroiter Tim Meadows). Sam gets to pursue romance this season, too.

Like Cramblin Duvet, Richardson's also on a hot streak with "Detroiters"; the final season of "Veep," scheduled to begin filming in August; and an upcoming YouTube series, "Now We Here," with Adam Pally and Jay Pharoah.

Richardson, 34, spoke to USA TODAY about his "lucky and blessed" career.

Question: What does Detroit mean to you?

Sam Richardson: A city going through such a decline and through so many hardships could have packed up and been done, but there's an indomitable will and it keeps on growing. The city really can't be put down, and I love that. … It's even in the comedy world. Tim and I come from Second City Detroit. When we went to Second City Chicago, we had a different mindset, because we'd come from the harder comedy scene. We made it work in a place where people were like, 'Oh, sketch comedy. What's this?' We went to Chicago and said, 'We know how to make any audience appreciate us.' We were very successful because of that Detroit spirit.

Q: How important was it to film in Detroit?

Richardson: When we were pitching it, we said, 'It has to be here.' The city of Detroit is like the third character in the show. To shoot anywhere else would be false to us. All the background actors are from Detroit. We shoot at the Michigan Science Center, (island park) Belle Isle, all those places that are iconically Detroit to us.

Q: On "Detroiters" you've had guest stars with Michigan ties, including Keegan-Michael Key ("Key & Peele"), Crim, former Detroit Piston Rick Mahorn and, this season, Meadows and Mary Lynn Rajskub ("24"). Any plans to bring on Tim Allen, whose "Home Improvement" and its show-within-a-show, "Tool Time," were set in suburban Detroit?

Richardson: I know he's a Detroit guy. We haven't talked to him but we got Richard Karn (of "Improvement"). Something we wanted to do in the first season was have ("Detroiters") exist in the same universe as "Home Improvement." A show that we watched would have been "Tool Time" and maybe we'd see Tim "The Tool Man" Taylor. I think legally, it was too hard to cross that bridge.

Q: Are you more like Sam Duvet or Richard Splett of "Veep"?

Richardson: I'm more Sam than I am Richard. Sam Duvet is like me but turned up: more vain and dumber. … Richard is guileless and Sam is tactless, but both of them, at the core, are very sweet. There's not an ounce of animosity in Richard. Sam can get angry and fly off the handle, but that part is like childlike anger.

Q: Can you talk about the final season of "Veep"?

Richardson: Honestly, I'm not even sure what's going on, because as (real-world) politics go nuts, it's hard to know what stays and what goes. … Julia had her cancer scare and we're so glad that she's fine and now she's back. What an incredibly powerful person she is. That pushed (the show's filming schedule) a little bit. With that much time, stories can't sit, especially about politics.

Q: How did it feel to share so many scenes last season with Louis-Dreyfus, playing the ex-president’s chief of staff?

Richardson: Working with Julia was incredible. I learn so much about comedy acting from her. Of course, she's one of the greatest of all time. I attribute most of my learning over the past few years (to) Julia, watching her, emulating her. I also think we play very well together, so it's really fun.

Q: How does nice, polite Richard survive among so many nasty, cynical people?

Richardson: He lives in blind spots. He has the perfect amount of competency to get him through any situation and can (repel) outrageous abuse like water off a duck's back.