Access Blogs
Our Interns First Set Visit Experience
The very first time I ever went to a set I was a senior in college. I was interning at KYW in Philadelphia with a lady named Trudy Haynes. We went to the set of "Money For Nothing," starring John Cusack, which happened to be filming in town. Trudy let me ask John a few questions and being the rookie that I was I went right for the "Better Off Dead" and "Sixteen Candles" references and John politely said he hated talking about that stuff. Ooops! No hard feelings though since John did ask me on a date (but I had a boyfriend at the time). I wish I remembered more about the actual experience of watching the production but since I didn't write it down I have forgotten everything but the John moments.
So, since I took our intern Joanna Clay (above left, with Chevy Chase) on her first set visit ever to NBC's "Community" this week I thought it might be a great idea to actually have her write down her experience to share. In ten or so years she can look back and remember it. So here is Joanna's recap:
I'm a fan of NBC sitcoms. When "The Office", "Parks and Recreation" or "30 Rock" are on my roommates must walk around barefoot and speak in hushed voices. It's serious. When I heard NBC had a new series lined up for their comedy Thursdays and THEN I heard Access was going, I knew I had to get the scoop.
This is the first time I've ever gotten to go on a set. Let's just say it was pretty exciting. When I got there I was like "Hey, I look like I could be in college..." Well, I am in college. I'm sure that's a problem they get with set visits, people trying to get a role in their show. Whatever. It could have been my big break!
I give props to the prop department. No pun intended. The blackboards, the floors...everything looked thirty years old, even though they were still nailing boards when we were there. I walked around, reading all the flyers on the walls. It looked so real. I seriously almost called for guitar lessons.
The cast was awesome and hilarious. I especially loved Joel McHale, Danny Pudi and Ken Jeong. Joel and Danny have this camaraderie. They can never stop acting. During Danny's interview Joel actually came over, picked him up in his arms and ran into a classroom, slamming the door behind him. These guys have too much fun at work. I literally could not stop crying while Laura was talking to Ken. He won our "Rising Star" award and he decided Laura should award him this red umbrella he found on the ground. When she handed it to him he started doing that silent scream, where his face looks absolutely pained and awful and no sound comes out. I was dying. That man is absolutely hilarious.
Of course no one can forget the legend - Chevy Chase. I got a picture with him! Not only is it intimidating because it's Chevy but also because he is SO tall. "Vacation" did not do him justice. Before his interview he walked around noting that his Gucci loafers " farted " when he walked. Apparently, he is a big fan of the fart jokes. Not gonna lie, I laughed.
Laura is a patient gal because set visits can be very long. You have to wait between takes and makeup/hair touchups and then an actor will come over and give you a few minutes for an interview. Sometimes we even got stopped in the middle of an interview (if production needed the actor back) and she would have to come back to it an hour later. Regardless, it went by pretty quickly (maybe due to my discovery of the snack table).
All in all, I give the day five stars! It was so much fun being able to hang around on set with the actors and also learn from Laura who wowed me with her journalism chops. I can't wait for my next Access exclusive!
Thanks Laura!