Drake & Josh Reunion on Grandfathered: Drake Bell Teases ‘Tons of Inside Jokes’

It’s 2004 all over again on Tuesday’s Grandfathered (Fox, 8:30/7:30c) when Josh Peck‘s former Drake & Josh co-star Drake Bell pops by for a long-overdue reunion — and you’ll need a separate basket for all the Easter eggs they’re dropping.

“At the end of each scene, they would go, ‘Hey, are there any Drake & Josh inside jokes to put in here?'” Bell tells TVLine. “I don’t know what they’ll choose to air, but we definitely shot tons of inside jokes. … I hope there’s somewhere online where you can see all of the clips we shot, even if they didn’t make it into the episode.”

Below, Bell outlines tonight’s episode, talks about where Drake and Josh might be today, and how he’d love to reprise his classic role on camera.

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TVLINE | Let’s start from the beginning: How did this reunion come about?
I was out on tour last year, just sitting in my hotel room, then Josh called me and was like, “I’ve been talking to the producers. We think the fans would really love it if we got together.” We’d been talking about getting together for a while, but we didn’t have the opportunity. He was like, “Would that be something you’re into?” And I was like, “Are you kidding me, dude? Of course. Let’s do it.” I loved it, it was great.

TVLINE | And did you fall right back into your old rhythm as soon as you got there?
That was interesting. Josh was like, “It’s been so long since we’ve worked together. We hang out, but we haven’t been on screen together. I wonder if we still have that chemistry.” Honestly, the second we sat down to do the first scene, it was like we’d done it yesterday. We fell right into our natural rhythm of ad-libbing and bouncing off each other.

TVLINE | Your characters’ dynamic is a little different this time around, no?
Oh, yeah, it’s totally different than Drake & Josh, which I appreciate. I play this Silicon Valley entrepreneur who’s looking to invest in things; Josh’s character created an app, so he’s looking to my character to see if he’d like to invest. It’s fun, because I kind of get to be a jerk. I poke a lot at Josh.

TVLINE | Is this a one-and-done thing, or could we see you back on the show?
I would love that. Working with Josh is so fun and so easy. We don’t even have to work. So, yes, I’d love to continue working with him in any fashion.

TVLINE | What about a full-blown Drake & Josh reunion? Would you be down?
I would love to, and I know Josh would. We’re like a family. I’m writing a show with Jonathan Goldstein, who played our dad on the show. Yvette [Nicole Brown], Jonathan, Miranda [Cosgrove] — we all keep in touch, so I think if the opportunity arose, we’d all be like, “Heck yeah.” It’d be so much fun to get back together and see where Drake Parker and Josh Nichols are at 28 years old, you know?

TVLINE | With Drake still living at home, of course.
[Laughs] Exactly. Josh went off to college and got some great job, then we flash back to Drake still living with his parents. That’s how it should start: Josh is coming back for a vacation with his daughter and his wife, then Drake comes down from upstairs in the same clothes from the show.

Will you be tuning in for tonight’s Drake & Josh reunion? Drop a comment with your thoughts below.