July 8, 2007

Inland man's 'Quest' for answers puts him on TV

By JANET ZIMMERMAN
The Press-Enterprise

There's no such thing as a stupid question, if you ask Joel Greene.

As host of public television's "Curiosity Quest," he makes it his job to answer queries on everything from the inner workings of roller coasters and recycling plants to the making of Legos and doughnuts.

His Southern California explorations are based on questions from viewers, most of them children ages 5 to 10. On any given day, he might be driving a skip loader, encountering thousands of honey bees or sailing aloft in a hot-air balloon.

"It's a pretty fun gig," said Greene, of Rancho Cucamonga, a 32-year-old with boyish good looks and a made-for-TV smile.

Greene's show is like Huell Howser for kids. It started out on local cable five years ago and now airs on KVCR, the Inland area's PBS affiliate.

Starting in September, the show will air on public stations in Orange County and Las Vegas. A PBS distributor recently picked up "Curiosity Quest," which could extend its reach nationwide.

"Curiosity Quest" was borne of Greene's day job doing historical re-enactments for Southern California fourth- and fifth-graders. For the last 11 years, in 150 shows a year, the history buff has impersonated Paul Revere, a prospector and a mission padre.

"I wanted to entertain and perform and I wanted to make a living doing it," said Greene, who is talkative, enthusiastic and rarely scripts his shows.

The Cal State Fullerton grad noticed that after his school appearances, students had plenty of questions about a host of topics. Many of them came to him in the form of letters.

That's when Greene came up with the idea for a TV show where he could delve into the topics in-depth. So he taped a mini-pilot on panning for gold, showed it to cable stations and was on his way.

He gets more than a dozen letters a day for possible quests. The first quest he did was about how doughnuts are made. At Krispy Kreme, he answered the burning question "Why do doughnuts have holes in the middle?"

"I love learning about what I'm talking about," Greene said.

That has included BMX biking, firefighting, flying a police helicopter, visiting a tiger rescue sanctuary and racing a go-kart. Greene jumps into every situation.

Most recently he answered a Hesperia boy's question about what tractors do and why they're so big.

At an Irvine construction site, he hopped aboard a skip loader and helped grade the land for a parking lot.

"Whoo-hoo-hoo," he said, bouncing on the seat in his hard hat and bright orange vest.

As part of each show, Greene goes to different locations and quizzes youngsters on a question of the day having to do with that quest, usually something that elicits humorous answers.

All trips are arranged by the show's producer, Melissa Cockrell, who is also the sister of Greene's wife of nine years.

"He has so much energy I'm here to keep him focused. He wants to do everything," Cockrell said. "I think it comes across on the show -- his passion. He's always wanted to do this."

Greene is the reason Mirna Gomez, of San Bernardino, and her two young daughters tune into the show every week.

"He's a crazy guy," said Gomez, who appreciates the show's educational value.

The family met Greene on location after Gomez's 7-year-old daughter Breana wrote in urging him to answer her questions about ceramics. Breana got to sit down with Greene at a pottery wheel and paint a figurine of a horse, her favorite animal.

"She was a little shy at first, then she got comfortable," Gomez said. "Her hands were covered with clay and she just wiped them right on Joel."