I Let My Fists Do The Talkin’

Watch Episode 1 on Channel102.net

Grenade practice was cancelled yesterday and I had no reason to go to Harold Night so for the first time in a dog’s age I was able to leave directly from work and go home while the sun was still shining.

I ate at Rickshaw Dumpling Bar on 23rd. It’s a less-kawaii, more Galleria food court version of Dumpling Man. It’s also too expensive, but finding places to eat near my work—despite coming to this area for theatre purposes every day for the last eight years—is difficult. (Cosi is a meal-time abortion. Fuck that place).

I bought $100 of “work clothes” at Old Navy so I could stop wearing the same outfit every day.

I got 98% done with the UCB Monthly Calendar. Have some Marvel bases yet to do. I’m teaching tonight so it will have to be a late night for me tonight to bust out that stuff.

I’m going to try and get a sandwich at Island Burger and Shake before class.

“My Wife the Ghost” did pretty well at the screening, but the competition was pretty fierce. A lot of people told me “You’ll be #1, totally,” but I didn’t totally buy into that. I think ours looked better than a lot of the other pilots but it’s not very flashy and the pacing is slow by design.

I posted this already on the Channel 102 boards, but Kirk was really adamant that we not “make fun of” the genre and cram it full of inappropriate jokes and swearing and naughtiness. I thought it was a fair cop, since I think the “”old sitcom” parody is done a lot (and by people with more skills and better budget than us… I’m looking at you, Nick at Night) and often done badly. So rather than parody, we tried to just make a show that could have been a real show 40 years ago if people hadn’t thought it through completely.

We came in 3rd, which is ok. Since I can find a dark cloud for every silver lining, I was egomaniacal enough to get snippy we didn’t come in 2nd (the 1st place slot was out of the question, I think, since “Gemberling” was such a hit). Even the ones that didn’t make it in were all at least half-good or had a couple of big laughs in them.

Kirk and I talked about Episode 2 today. Scheduling is going to be even harder for this one… getting everyone in the same room. My parents are putting the apartment on the market, so this may be the last one we shoot there. We decided we wanted to have every show end in a cliffhanger like the first one did, and a new character will be introduced every episode.

The second episode is going to finish the “Boss is coming over for dinner” arc. If #2 does well, we’ll either pick up one of two possible “cliffhangers” we’re debating (depending on whether one actor is available or another). If it bombs, we’re cancelled so it doesn’t matter. If we barely squeak by, I’m going to push that #3 be the “Reunion Special,” based on a truly cringeworthy Happy Days Reunion Special. It would be a creepy host harrassing the cast in old age makeup , some “behind the scenes” scandal and a jumble of clips of “My Wife the Ghost” over the years (the pilot episode with different actors, the color episodes of the late 60s, the All In The Family-era spin off “Shut Your Big Yap!” starring Harry Schwartz ).

I feel warmed up enough to start putting my effort into getting “Nyuu Yokku Girl Crush! 2040” ready for the June screening, which will be the mad flashy fast-paced thing that My Wife the Ghost isn’t.

I’m pretty much behind on all my graphic work right now, incidentally.

I’m actually excited for the premier of “My Wife the Ghost” at Channel 102. And a little nervous, too.

A cat scratched my hand on Saturday. It hurts a lot.

A recent project, logos that are alternatingly anime and Paul Frank-y.