PALEY CENTER FOR MEDIA, THE: INSIDE MEDIA: AN EVENING WITH HAPPY ENDINGS {LONG VERSION}
Summary
One in a series of evenings and special screenings presented as part of The Paley Center for Media's Inside Media events. Held at the Paley Center in Los Angeles, this evening celebrates “Happy Endings,” the comedy series about six Chicago friends trying to keep their group together after a romantic upheaval.
Host Betsy Scolnik (vice-president, The Paley Center for Media) offers opening remarks and introduces the moderator, actor/director Fred Savage. Savage speaks briefly about his lifelong friendship with the show’s creators before bringing creator and executive producer David Caspe and executive producer Jonathan Groff to the stage. Caspe and Groff introduce the episode “Mein Coming Out,” which is then screened in its entirety. (For synopsis and credits, see ACCNUM 106468.)
Following the screening, Savage introduces the panelists: Caspe; Groff; and cast members Elisha Cuthbert (Alex Kerkovich), Casey Wilson (Penny Hartz), Adam Pally (Max Blum), Damon Wayans, Jr. (Brad Williams), Eliza Coupe (Jane Williams), and Zachary Knighton (Dave Rose).
The panelists discuss topics which include: the cast’s initial auditions, which involved reading for more than one part; Pally’s “great pilot season” and how he chose between several shows; how the show is designed to maximize the six characters’ screentime; the actors’ tendencies to change the dialogue; the strong collaborative environment between the actors and the writers; the actors’ talent for finding the appropriate “rhythm” of the show; the cast’s ongoing suggestions for funny lines for one another; the show’s opening at the “lowest point” of several characters’ lives; the inescapable comparisons to “Friends,” also focusing on six buddies and opening with a runaway wedding; the pilot’s original “misdirection” that fooled audiences too successfully; the challenge of redeeming the character of Alex, who left Dave at the altar; Wilson’s convincing recitation of Italian in one episode, despite not speaking the language; the cast's disastrous first Television Critics Association panel, in which Pally frustrated questioners with his comedic answers; “scathing” early reviews of the show; how the show felt like an “elaborate in-joke” before finally premiering and gaining a following; and the actors’ recollection of being noticed by fans for the first time.
Questions from the audience then lead to a discussion of the following topics among others: Wayans’ enjoyable experience working in an episode with his father, Damon Wayans Sr.; the show’s habit of “coining words” and the desire not to make it “annoying”; Wilson’s season on “Saturday Night Live” and comparisons of the shows’ styles; hints about season two, including a role for Megan Mullally; the crew's desire to overlap with the audience of the popular “Modern Family”; the strong relationship between the characters of Brad and Jane and their actors’ real-life camaraderie; how "executive meddling" led to the show’s non-chronological airing; ABC’s desire to air “funnier” episodes first to gain an audience; the non-stereotypical gay character of Max, based on a friend of Caspe’s; the real-life basis for the “squatter” episode; the many bad dates suffered by the character of Penny, who is on “just the right side of desperate”; the dance scene in the sixth episode, choreographed by Anne Fletcher; whether Pally will make another “Funny or Die” video; Savage’s role as a childhood “hero” of Pally’s; and whether the show’s adult themes require being “dialed back” for the “hygienic” ABC.
Details
- NETWORK: N/A
- DATE: August 29, 2011 7:00 PM
- RUNNING TIME: 1:20:09
- COLOR/B&W: Color
- CATALOG ID: 106302
- GENRE: Seminars
- SUBJECT HEADING: N/A
- SERIES RUN: N/A
- COMMERCIALS: N/A
CREDITS
- Betsy Scolnik … Host
- Fred Savage … Moderator
- David Caspe … Panelist
- Jonathan Groff … Panelist
- Eliza Coupe … Panelist
- Elisha Cuthbert … Panelist
- Zachary Knighton … Panelist
- Adam Pally … Panelist
- Damon Wayans, Jr. … Panelist
- Casey Wilson … Panelist
- Anne Fletcher
- Megan Mullally
- Damon Wayans, Sr.