The estranged father of Hank and Evan, Eddie (Henry Winkler) has recently turned up in the Hamptons, claiming that he's there to set things right with his sons. While Evan welcomes the return of his charmingly roguish, though somewhat unreliable father, Hank has a little more difficulty letting bygones be bygones; after all, this is a man who blew all the family's money, walked out on the boys and their dying mother, then twenty years later disappeared with their HankMed money. With that track record, it's little wonder Hank still questions his father's motives.

But despite his less-than-warm welcome from Hank, Eddie is determined to work his way back into his boys' lives. The consummate schmoozer is already making himself at home in the Hamptons, shacking up in a luxurious beachside mansion, networking on the golf course, and striking up a romance with HankMed client Ms. Newberg. Like it or not, Hank may just have to get used to the idea that Eddie will be sticking around for a while. But whether the two can ever repair their strained relationship remains to be seen.

PCM had a chance to speak with Henry Winkler and speak with him about his role on Royal Pains.

So I wanted to ask you how did you initially get involved with working on Royal Pains?

The producer, Andrew, was sitting at dinner and next to him was my dentist and his wife. They overheard them talking that they're looking for the father for Royal Pains. My dentist's wife was a fan; she said, "Oh, you know who it should be? Henry Winkler." A little while later I had breakfast with Michael and Andrew who run the show, brilliantly I might add and they asked me if I would join the cast and I embarrassed myself in the restaurant.You know what, my wife and I watched every episode; we were appointment television viewers of the show before I ever got the call to see if I was interested.

What do you find the most challenging about bringing your character of Eddie to life on screen?

That's a good question. If I had to pick something, the challenge is to make sure that I am toe-to-toe with Mark and Paolo, Jill and Reshma because they are really good; they are the real deal and I want to carry my weight.

Obviously Eddie is not a character that you're actually like in real life, but are there ways that you're similar to Eddie and in what ways are you?

All right, let's see. If I'm similar to Eddie, I love my children, I am misunderstood, I am annoying, I have not borrowed $50,000 from my children and then not repaid them. I have not turned my children into the FBI. Aside from that, it's, I'm so close.

It was just announced a few weeks ago that you were awarded the Order of the British Empire so how it made you feel?

I got a letter that said, "You must keep this a secret. If the Queen decides to give you an award, would you accept it?" I said, "Can I say yes I would." I would be okay with that. And then six weeks later I get a letter saying, "The Queen of England has graciously agreed to confer on Henry Winkler the order of the British Empire," for the work that I do in England also with children who learn differently. My books, Hank Zipzer: The World's Greatest Underachiever that I co-write with Lynne Oliver, are also popular in the UK and I go over there to tour for the books and I've spoken to, oh, I want to say a hundred thousand students over there also. And so, my work with children who learn differently is what got me to this wonderful honor. The Queen.

Well, there's such great chemistry between you and, and Hank and of course, Paolo and, really when you're interacting with them it's like a true father figure.

Yeah, what you see, honestly, what you see is what you get. You cannot lie; the camera does not lie. And we had so far the most wonderful time together and we don't talk about it a lot; you do it once for the crew, , you go through a scene then for the camera placement; you go through the scene for where you're going to be in the room, how you're going to move together. You go and you put your makeup on, you go put your costume on. You come back and then you shoot it two or three times and out of that come these unbelievably wonderful scenes. I honestly believe that some of the best work I've done on television are the scenes that I have done with Mark, you know, they are so emotional and layered but also it's great writing.

You know everybody says that when I meet them on the plane or in an airport of some place in America, people talk to me about Royal Pains and they always talk about how much they enjoy everybody talking to each other. It makes me happy.

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