Rob & Big Promise a Bigger (and Rob-bier?) Season 2

If you missed the first season of MTV's Rob & Big, you missed the chaotic lives of professional skateboarder Rob Dyrdek and his bodyguard/best friend Christopher "Big Black" Boykin. The hysterical duo live together in Hollywood, have a bulldog named Meaty, throw parties, and skate around town in this entertaining blend of The Odd Couple and Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous. The new season, which kicks off tonight at 10:30 pm/ET, features even more of their outrageous adventures, including the first episode in which the duo travel to the farm to buy a new pet — a miniature horse.

TVGuide.com: I saw the first episode, and I've still got to know: Why a miniature horse?
Rob Dyrdek: I can't for the life of me really think what sparked it, but for some reason I just got it in my head that I really needed a miniature horse.

TVGuide.com: Instead of a pony?
Rob: A pony would just be too big. There is something so mystical about a miniature horse. They seem like they are almost fake.

TVGuide.com: It looks about the size of a dog.
Rob: Yeah. It is incredible, though it is actually still livestock and quite different than a dog.

TVGuide.com: Chris, or Big — which do you prefer to be called?
Christopher "Big Black" Boykin: Big, please!

TVGuide.com: Do you ever try to talk Rob out of this stuff?
Big: Well, I pulled him over to the side and was like, "We're going to do this thing with a horse?" But when Rob gets his mind set, there is no changing it. So I just roll with it.

TVGuide.com: Have you named this new addition to your family?
Big: Mini!

TVGuide.com: I know you said that you were buying this pet as a friend for your dog, but is Meaty at all jealous that maybe Mini is stealing some of the attention?
Rob: Absolutely not. He still considers himself No. 1. He gets to run out, play in the pasture and then come back in the house, so he knows he's No. 1.

TVGuide.com: I just worry, because he's a little spoiled, and I don't want to see him upset.
Rob: Yeah, he's cocky.

TVGuide.com: Are you going to do a new family portrait to replace the one you did last season?
Rob: We've got a little something lined up that is family portrait-ish. Eventually I plan on adding Mini to the Death Row cover [parody] to complete the cycle. The horse will be Snoop Dogg.

TVGuide.com: The first episode has a lot of your cousin Drama in it, too. Is he an official member of the crew?
Rob: I think he does spend all day every day doing everything that I don't want to do, so he's in there a lot this season.

TVGuide.com: As long as he doesn't take away from your screen time.
Rob: No. It is Rob & Big, not "Rob & Big and Drama."

TVGuide.com: Big, last season we saw you struggle a lot with weight loss. Are you still working on that?
Big: Yeah. I lost 10 pounds. I feel like Michael Jordan right now. I could dunk.

TVGuide.com: Maybe you'll run the New York marathon or something.
Big: Never. [Laughs] I'd fall out in the first half mile.
Rob: More like after 200 feet.

TVGuide.com: How did you two originally meet?
Rob: It was just a phone call away. Destiny just put us together. I was looking for a bodyguard and made a phone call to a security agency, and there you have it. The rest is history.

TVGuide.com: You got your new best friend out of a phone book.
Rob: Yeah. Anyone could try it.

TVGuide.com: Do you really need a bodyguard?
Rob: I do my work in the streets where I'm constantly getting harassed by police and security guards, so it is just sort of a buffer zone for me.

TVGuide.com: Yeah, but you are skinny. You can outrun them.
Rob: It's not about outrunning them! It is about having them stand down to give me a couple more tries to get some tricks in.

TVGuide.com: How often do you get to skate?
Rob: Probably three or four times a week. It just depends on what I've got going on. I'll skate every day and then not skate for a week, depending on what happens with my schedule.

TVGuide.com: Is it less now that your cool backyard skate ramp has been demolished?
Rob: Not really. That thing wasn't very good. It was harder to skate than it looked; it was no big deal for me to get that thing out of there.

TVGuide.com: And now you basically have a farm next to your pool.
Rob: I've got a beautiful, beautiful pasture.

TVGuide.com: So who is in charge of cleaning that up?
Rob: That would be Drama on doodie duty.

TVGuide.com: Big, where can we buy your signature clothing?
Big: Right now we've got it at Pac Sun and on my website, www.bigblacksecurity.com. It is for people in the bigger sizes, 3X, 4X, 5X and 6X. Big guys who have man boobs and want to rock the shirt, they are more than welcome to go to the website. I'm down with everybody... all sizes, all shapes.

TVGuide.com: Rob, any new clothing or shoes from you?
Rob: I've got a lot going on. I sold half of my clothing line. I just partnered with Travis Barker and we opened a store in Venice Beach. I wrote and produced a feature film about skateboarding that I have coming out. My new signature shoes and sunglasses called "The Haymaker" are coming this month. A lot going on.

TVGuide.com: What's your movie about?
Rob: It's called Street Dreams. It is more or less a coming-of-age story about a young skateboarder trying to become sponsored.

TVGuide.com: Lots of cool tricks?
Rob: Yup.

TVGuide.com: Last season, you guys were motion-captured for a video game. Is that coming out soon?
Rob: That's coming out in September — Skate, from EA Sports. Very classic. I just got to see myself recently and it was looking really good.
Big: I saw myself on digifile earlier, but haven't seen myself since then.

TVGuide.com: Do you find yourself doing crazier stuff when you know the cameras are around, or is this a glimpse into your real lives?
Rob: I think we are not afraid to push it when the cameras are around because it just makes it so much more fun for us. It is fun to sit back and laugh about what we just did.

TVGuide.com: Any great parties this season?
Rob: No. Well, we celebrate Black Lavender, the 400-pound stripper....
Big: Extraordinaire.
Rob: There is a celebration around that, but I don't know if you'd call it a party. It is more of a man-in-a-thong party — if that is much of a party.

TVGuide.com: OK, then. We'll watch for that! Meaty's skateboarding skills have improved a lot, has he been practicing?
Rob: You know what? He practices when he can, but he's still not at the level I'd hoped he'd be at by this point. He's getting lazy. He's just not as committed as he was when he was young. He's spoiled and stuck-up now, he knows exactly who he is. He's a Hollywood bulldog.

TVGuide.com: Big, will we ever see you skating again?
Big: Nah, I officially announced my retirement a couple of months back. Me and Rob sat down and talked about it, and we decided that I need to retire now and get back to what I do.

TVGuide.com: Have you ever felt like you've had to save Rob's life?
Big: Nothing violent-wise. I probably gotta pull him away from the bar, but other than that....

TVGuide.com: Do you two ever get sick of each other?
Big: Nah.
Rob: We really don't. In our downtime we go our separate ways and get a little time to decompress and relax and spend time with the ladies.

TVGuide.com: Are they bigger fans now that you have an MTV show?
Rob: Well, I can speak for myself and say yes!

TVGuide.com: Did Meaty find a mom yet?
Rob: [Laughs] No! We're still casting that right now. It is a work in progress.

TVGuide.com: Big, you having any extra luck with the ladies?
Big: I've always had luck with the ladies. My weight speaks for itself. Women in America want a big warm guy to hold. My luck has always been there.

TVGuide.com: Any other crazy stuff we can expect this season?
Rob: A lot of hot skateboarding, a little bit of time travel, an exciting mini horse.... Just expect the unexpected, that's a fact.

TVGuide.com: Are you teaching Mini how to skateboard?
Rob: He's a little too frail. He just pulls me on the board.

TVGuide.com: Can you ride a mini horse?
Rob: Absolutely not. The guy's back would break in half. I imagine you could put a little 2-year-old on him or something.

TVGuide.com: Anything else exciting to look for?
Big: I've got a new song out in the streets called "22s and Man Boobs." It is gonna be hot. It will be a summer favorite.  

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