Like everything these days, nothing worked out as planned.
You see, I got to see an episode of the NBC sitcom "Indebted" filmed before it even was on the air. It's a long story how I wound up there but I was a guest of recurring guest star Richard Kind for the sixth or seventh episode. That was back in November...BP. Before Pandemic. Meanwhile, the show wasn't going to premiere until February.
So I knew nothing about this until I walked into that Sony Studios sound stage. All I had was that Fran Drescher was part of the cast. Gulp. I was never a fan of "The Nanny" and oh, that voice.
What I found that day was a thoroughly clever and simple sitcom concept filmed in front of a very appreciative live audience. Mom and Dad (Drescher and Steven Weber) had blown through their life savings and were forced to uncomfortably move in with their son, his wife, and two kids. Plus Mom and Dad had another daughter in the picture...a gay dog groomer. In the world of high concepts, this was as uncomplicated as it could be. A Jewish version of "Everybody Loves Raymond."
At that filming, it all worked. The cast was very good. Fran blended into the ensemble very well. Up in those bleachers, there was very genuine laughter...the type you used to hear on shows like "Raymond" or "Frasier" or "Murphy Brown." I was at the latter a lot back in the day. I know what a real comic reaction sounds like.
When I spoke to Richard Kind after the filming to thank him for the special entry, even he remarked how surprisingly funny the show was. I couldn't wait for this to premiere a few months later.
When I saw the pilot and Episode 1, I was confused by how muted the studio laughter was. You could barely tell there was a live audience. It sounded completely artificial. And even worse...there was a minimum of things to laugh at in the script.
Okay, I thought. There are always issues with a pilot. I mean, I had seen an episode further down the road and the writers and cast had a better grasp of the concept's tone.
But it never really did. And when I saw the final air product of what I had seen filmed, I was shocked. What had played out so wonderfully with regales of guffaws in the studio audience was flat and unfunny. Plus the laughter I had heard all around me was missing. Once again, it sounded like a phony laugh track on air.
To make matters worse, an entire scene that I remember was missing. It was dialogue between the daughter-in-law and the sister that required some significant on-set rewriting. Perhaps it never really worked and they cut it as a result. Or maybe it was a time issue. Whatever the case, its exclusion resulted in a major plot gap where something that happened in the next scene made zero sense.
Who the heck is minding the store here?
I can't believe how completely different the air product looked and sounded compared to what I saw on set.
Ultimately, I watched every one of the twelve episodes and was completely disappointed by this huge missed opportunity. What had happened? I have no clue.
Indeed, "Indebted" never really scored great ratings. But, with production shut down and no upfront in place, the show might have a shot at a second season simply because the sets are already built and probably stored. They could quickly go into production if need be.
If a second season does materialize, I can only hope that they somehow can recapture the magic I saw on that November Friday night.
What are the odds really?
Dinner last night: Leftover meat loaf and Brussels sprouts.
No comments:
Post a Comment