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January 23/24, 2004 Trip To 'Stuckeyville' (by 'M') On Friday, January 23rd a group of Ed heads got together at Hennessy's restaurant in Northvale, NJ for one of our Ed get togethers. We knew it was also one of the last days of filming for the season as well, and noticed some activity going on next door at Stuckeybowl prior to our dinner engagement. At any rate we had a wonderful time together talking about the show, and just being together in general. After dinner was over, four of us, D., E., G., and M., all decided out of curiosity to see if anything was happening at Stuckeybowl again. We noticed that all the prop trucks and production vans were gone, so at one point we just decided to drive around and see if we could find one of the towns where they usually film the show, not thinking that there would actually be filming going on. However, once we drove to this town nearby the set, we discovered it was the same town that they use for some of the exterior shots for when the cast is walking down the street, talking, etc. We noticed the "IL Portico" shop that Molly and Carol walk by a lot, and the post office where Ed catches up with Danny DeVito's character last season. As we made our way further down a street, we noticed the bright lights and the trailers as well as many vans and trucks in this certain area and knew that we either just missed a filming or were just about to catch one. D. parked her vehicle on a side road and G., E., D., and myself all made our way over to the general area of the hub of activity. I approached a couple of people and asked them about the protocol of watching a film shoot. We were told that as long as we stayed out of the way and didn't approach the actors, we would be able to watch as long as we wished. At this point they were just setting up the equipment and getting things ready for the scene. After about 15 minutes, D., E., and G. went back to get G.'s car and I stayed there in case anything interesting happened. I found out that I was standing by the wardrobe tent because I noticed someone that looked like Michael Genadry in a disguise walking out of the tent down to the filming area. Soon after that I heard the words "Action" (later discovering that Rob Burnett was directing the episode), and was able to watch the filming from a distance. I found out that it was a scene with the highschool kids so it was Justin Long and MIchael Genadry shooting the scene from what I could tell. Eventually D., & G., came back. E., unfortunately had to go home. But by the time they came back they were well into the scene. It was several takes, which seemed even longer in the cold. They had to stop for various things like outside noises of trucks going by, etc. It really gave us insight as to what it takes to get through a scene, no matter how small it might be. Eventually they were through with the scene and got what they needed from it. We still hung around not knowing if we would even see any of the cast. But soon after the crew was dispersing, we noticed Justin Long walking by. G. happened to have met him from a previous event in Westfield at an auction he did, so when she called out to him he recognized her and came over and started talking to us. He introduced himself to me and D. and just started talking to us about various things. He already knew G., so when he turned to me to talk, I had no idea what to say, so I said "Would You Like to Buy a Goose?", one of his lines from 'The Stars Align' episode. He said "Hey I said that! That's from the show!" I am not sure if he was freaked out by it or if he thought it was funny, but he could tell I at least was a fan of "Ed". Eventually Michael Genadry joined our conversation and both were very friendly and down to earth. They really make you feel like you already know them. Justin talked to us about some of the projects he has been working on. He mentioned a movie with Ben Stiller called "Dodgeball" in which he has a substantial voice-over part. He seemed to have had a great time working on that movie by the way he was talking about it. He also mentioned one called "Anchorman" with Will Farrell and Vince Vaughn and we talked a bit about his work on "Jeepers Creepers" and in "Crossroads" with Britney Spears. He mentioned that he probably will not be back on "Ed" if it is renewed, which is unfortunate, but he mentioned some possible future projects he is to be working on and we definitely won't be seeing the last of him, but probably not much of Warren Cheswick. When speaking to Michael I mentioned to him that we have all been watching his interviews about his surgery. I told him how I loved the Star Wars kid parody and he said that he really had no idea what it was all about. We also talked about his recent wedding. I mentioned to both of them how we miss B&B writing the show and that the viewers can tell when they haven't written an episode and that we wish they would write more. We were told that B&B are working on a new NBC project which is taking up much of their time these days. At some point when we were talking about this issue, Justin mentioned that Rob Burnett was on the set directing and kind of looked around for him, possibly to call him over to us to talk, but he wasn't in ear shot. It would have been a good experience if we would have been able to talk to one of the creators, but I am sure they had a lot of work to do. The actor that plays "Jimmy Ressler", named Wallace was also on the set, but he didn't really stick around too much likely because of the cold but we chatted with him a little bit too. At one point a woman named Barb came over and talked to us as well. She was really fun and seemed to have a great relationship with Justin and Michael because of the way they were joking around. G. had met her previously so she already seemed to recognize someone in our group. We all asked about the future of the show and neither Justin nor Michael seemed to have a definite answer except that they will find out for sure in May. So as far as cancellation goes, if they don't know, it's probably safe to say that no one knows yet. Eventually Justin and Michael were needed in another tent, presumably to talk to Rob Burnett and for editing. So we said our goodbyes to them and thanked them for the amount of time they spent talking to us. It may have only been 15 or 20 minutes altogether, but it was probably eons in hollywood minutes :) They were very nice to spend so much time with us and to answer our questions about the show. It really is an example once again of how wonderful these cast members and crew are to care so much about their fans. All in all it was a great experience to see what all goes into filming a scene, no matter how short it may be, and speaking with Justin and Michael was definitely a plus. Another great experience to add to a list of Edventures. :) (Webmaster's note: Thanks to M. for this report and photos, and to G. for the photos & call.) |
