Well, dear readers, Sami’s premiere has premiered and so far the reaction is really wonderful. I’ve gotten a lot of messages, e-mails, and such, and it’s so heartening to hear that people are laughing and that all the reasons I wanted to do this are why people seem to be enjoying it, which is basically that’s it’s a throwback to the kinds of sitcoms I loved. Sami texted me and said she’s loving it – remember, she had not seen a single episode until yesterday. So, we must keep spreading the news and the word, not necessarily in that order. The more viewers we get, the better. One interesting report was from film preservationist extraordinaire Robert H Harris, who binged it yesterday and wrote me the sweetest e-mail and boy did he love Sami herself. And he made a post about it at the Home Theatre Forum and we got some new viewers from there, which was so thoughtful of him. It’s fun to hear what people’s favorite bits were and which songs they liked. I, myself, binged it right after it went live, just to make sure everything was as it should be. I began on the TV but something is goofy with episode three, which won’t load properly on the TV for whatever reason – the other episodes all load fine – but I checked it on the computer and the phone and it’s fine and dandy, so I don’t know what that’s about. Having to keep mum about the stuff IN the series was so hard. We do have a very short but funny blooper reel we’ll be sharing soon, and there’ll now be some clips up on TikTok and YouTube and Instagram. So, here’s a little anecdote – I’ve been waiting twenty years to bring back the pie fight, but you can’t just do it arbitrarily. But the minute I came up with the idea for the show, I knew the pie fight would be in episode two and I knew just how to set it up. It had to be planned out very carefully. I knew that no one would actually “throw” a pie, that we’d cut to the thrower just as the were delivering it to the face of the receiver. All of the set-up shots of the party had to be done first and when we’d get to the actual throw, we’d cut, then do whatever other coverage we had to before moving on. Once all those scenes were covered and done, only then did we begin with the pies. We shot that sequence in a huge rehearsal hall and created the party space in the middle of it with curtains, tables, and pies. Once we began throwing, the floors were covered with paper as we couldn’t really deal with any kind of cleanup if it got on anything. The curtains were all ours and could be tossed after we finished.
We had fifty pies, consisting of a pre-made crust, pudding, and Cool Whip, which, as you can see, worked perfectly, in terms of goo and consistency. First we shot all the throws that happen at the dessert table and we carefully went in order because there were no take twos. Alas, when we got to the shot where the woman throws the pie at the mean guy who ducks so it hits an innocent bystander, and then we reverse the shot and he gives the mean guy is pie in the face – well, the best laid plans. We positioned him perfectly and all he had to do was put the pie in the guy’s face We rolled, I said action, and as he put the pie in the face he also moved to his left and completely blocked the shot, camera-wise. It was the only mishap, but we had to wait twenty minutes while the actor was cleaned up. The next take he stood still and all was well. Then we just went around the room and I’d choose the victims. The final shot was the wide shot of pie pandemonium Just before we did it, Sami came up to me and asked if she could eat a big piece of cake during the melee. I said of course and that was a wonderful capper to the scene. I always love when actors have great ideas.
I’ll have more behind-the-scenes anecdotes. Meanwhile, if you weren’t around yesterday here, once again, is the direct link to the show.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0B6GRK789
I did manage to watch a motion picture last night, another David Cronenberg film, The Brood, which I hadn’t seen in quite some time. I don’t like it as much as Scanners from that period, but it’s a very effective horror film, and features one really wacky gross-out scene with Samantha Eggar. It’s completely weird and completely Cronenberg in full body horror mode. The actors are all very good – Art Hindle, Oliver Reed, and the poor little girl who has to endure so much, Cindy Hinds. She was also in The Dead Zone for Cronenberg, then didn’t do anything much until her final imdb credit in 2006. I found a weird video interview she did last year and she looks great and seems very happy and she said it was a lot of fun shooting The Brood so it’s good she wasn’t traumatized for life.
Yesterday was fun in its own way. I got about six hours of sleep, got up, answered e-mails, came here to read the lovely comments, got some more e-mails about the show, including one from film preservationist Robert A. Harris, who told me he really enjoyed it and boy was he taken with Sami herself. He was nice enough to post about it on the Home Theatre Forum and he piqued a few people’s interest. I went to Gelson’s and got two onion rolls (first time they haven’t been out of them in ages) and tuna, came home and made two tuna sandwiches and ate them all up and they were great and just right. I spent the rest of the day just cruising Facebook and Instagram. Then I watched The Brood. At around nine, I was hungry, so I made the little bit of penne that was left from the other day – with a little butter and cheese and that was quite good. The rest you know because here we are, almost ready for these here notes to be posted.
Today, I’ll be up when I’m up, I’m hoping the galley will arrive so I can approve it and get that show on the road, then I’ll keep monitoring the Sami stuff and hopefully some Amazon reviews will start showing up. I’ll see if anything’s at the mail place, I’ll eat something fun at some point, and then do whatever needs doing, after which I can watch, listen, and relax.
The rest of the week is more of the same. Tomorrow, I do the radio show with Donald Feltham, and Thursday we’re casting for the workshop of the new play.
Well, dear readers, I must take the day, I must do the things I do, I must, for example, be up when I’m up, hope the galley arrives so it can be approved, monitor the Sami stuff, eat, see if anything’s at the mail place, do whatever needs doing, and then watch, listen, and relax. Today’s topic of discussion: Would love to hear what things in Sami made you happiest or made you laugh or whatever. Let’s have loads of lovely postings, shall we, whilst I hit the road to dreamland, so happy that the premiere has premiered and the reaction thus far has been so wonderful.