TV Star Does Central New York 'Drive-By'

Joel McHale, the comedian, erstwhile host of TV's Talk Soup and star of the sitcom Community, was stranded this week in Rochester after a stand-up gig in Alfred. Bad weather had cancelled his flight to New York City and he needed to get there for his scheduled appearance on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon.

So, McHale did what any of us would do under the circumstances: he got himself an Uber. His driver, John Costello, had been employed by Uber for only about six months when he pulled up and saw his client. Then, the fateful exchange occurred:

McHale said, Hey can you drive me to Manhattan.

Costello said, F*** yeah.

So, the adventure began. Off they went on the New York State Thruway, in a driving rain, passing right through Utica, of course, on what should have been about a five-and-a-half hour trip. Unfortunately, Costello was going a little too fast at one point and got pulled over for speeding, so the drive took a little longer than normal.

The cop recognized McHale from his appearance in the movie Ted, but still issued the ticket to Costello.

When all was said and done, McHale got to NYC for his guest slot on NBC, he paid $700 for the trip, tipped Costello $200, and even paid for the gas. No word on the ticket.

But, the two are buds for life. McHale sat in the front seat with Costello and they talked and joked the whole trip.