Topher Grace gets bitten by a ‘shark’ in meta episode of his ABC sitcom

nypost.com:

Mark Cuban — who plays a pivotal role in Wednesday night’s episode (9:30 on ABC).“He’s made cameos [before] and this was an idea our writers had and we thought it was a great use of our show,” series star Topher Grace, 43, told The Post.Cuban plays himself in the episode, in which Tom (Grace) and his sister, Sarah (Caitlin McGee), try to cheer up their wealthy kid brother, Connor (Jimmy Tatro), who runs a private equity firm and is depressed after his girlfriend, JoJo (Tetona Jackson) left town to pursue her dreams.

Tom figures he and Sarah will bring a copy of the much-maligned 1996 movie “Dunston Checks In” — Connor’s “second favorite movie where a monkey wears clothes” — over to his house for a sibling bonding session.When they arrive, Connor tries to get rid of them, feigning drowsiness — when, in fact, he’s hosting a high-stakes ($800 ante) poker game that includes Cuban, who’s friends with goofy family friend Spags (Dustin Ybarra) in a “no one saw that coming” twist.

After some arm-twisting, Connor lets Tom and Sarah join the game — and Connor, after some awkward moments (Sarah, too), ends up bonding with Cuban, who’s impressed with his in-the-works novel.“Tom is jealous of his little brother as it is when he finds out he’s in the 1 percent of the 1 percent, and not only does he have this poker group but he doesn’t know about it,” Grace said. “One of the writers said, ‘What if Mark Cuban was in the episode?

Do you think he’d do it? Let’s ask him.’ Not only did he come and do it, but he was a total pro and had all his lines memorized and even showed up in a beat-up old car when I thought he’d helicopter in.“He’s a normal guy and started improvising some jokes that were funny and made it into the show,” he said “We.