10

LIVE ON TAPE EPISODE LOGS

- It’s taken 10 shows, but this is where the Guy/Arnie dynamic is finally reached. There’s a lot of fun interaction between them. Also the show has moved up another notch in improvement. Of these first 12 episodes of LoT, I think this is the best of the bunch, with show #12 “Buster & Pete” a close second.

- The morning we taped this episode, I brought in a few (4) beers to use as props for Arnie and Guy. We started taping at 9:30 am and by 10:15 John had finished them off (unknown to me). John then sent someone out for a 12-pack and started on those-- I thought he was just nursing the same beer, boy was I wrong. By the end of the three-hour session John was fairly... um, “at ease”. If you watch closely you can tell Arnie’s extra loopy in this show- but it works well. As I recall we had a lot of fun shooting that morning. However... after the taping session, I got in big trouble when our Production Manager went to the General Manager and complained about the drinking that went on during the shoot-- making it sound much worse than it was. Things weren’t fun then. Eh, but it all blew over in a few days.

- The whole idea of using the news desk as a landing strip for airplanes came about through the fact that the desk Joel Poppen (one of the station’s engineers) had built was too damn long! He did a great job, but a little too great. So we did a couple of shows making fun of the giant desk and then Joel I think felt motivated to shorten it.

- The Noise, was a skit developed just for my friend Larry Brennan. He used to always make this annoyingly loud sound, for no other reason than to draw attention to himself, so I wrote him into the show.

- The “Science Bits” skits were derived from extra footage from “Great Conspiracies in Science”. Brandon Lovested wrote the “Great Conspiracies in Science” which were very clever pieces, but they had a tendency to be a little esoteric for our audience. These shorter bits worked well and were great short pieces to drop in the show.

CREDITS

Costumes Provided By: Circa 21 & The Showbusiness

Producer - Thomas Hart

Directors - Greg Baldwin,Thomas Hart

Writer - Thomas Hart

PLAYERS

Don Bargmann Jr.

Larry Brennan

Pat Flaherty

Patti Flaherty

Jennifer Hanson

Thomas Hart

John Horvath

Rob Humphrey

Brandon Lovested

Merlin Nelson Jr.

Jim Peterson

Studio Camera Operators - Don Bargmann Jr., Steve Elliott

Sound - Denise Hollmer

Prompter - Sue Passe

Smoke Provided By: Rob “Let’s go to a bar!” Humphrey

Go to bed, it’s late.

Live on Tape (Show #10)

“CAPTAIN SEABILGE AND HIS FLYING RAIDERS”

Airdate: September 5th 1987

(28:37)

MOVIE - “Trancers”

SYNOPSIS - Arnie has talked Guy into flying an old style monoplane. His plan is to get Guy to successfully complete an outside loop and then join Captain Seabilge and His Flying Raiders as a barnstormer. After repeated attempts, Guy is unsuccessful. While his plane plummets earthward, Arnie finishes the paperwork on the flight insurance he took out on Guy. Luckily, Guy survives the crash.

Arnie wants him to give it another try, but Guy resists. When a special report comes in, Arnie rushes Guy over to the newsdesk. Guy’s special report is interrupted repeatedly when naval aircraft begin landing on the shows enormous newsdesk. Arnie thought the show could make a few extra bucks by renting the newsdesk out as a landing strip to the Navy.

Eventually Arnie gets Guy’s plane back together and when Captain Seabilge shows up, he convinces Guy to give it another shot. This time Guy is victorious and completes the loop! The Captain is very impressed, but doesn’t understand why Arnie called him out to watch the stunt. Guy and Arnie find out that the Captain’s act is slightly different than they anticipated.

“Oh the humanity of it all!”

-Ken, of Ken and Barbie fame

Science Bits #1

Dr. Alan Chadwick explains a common misconception about how some people think that the weather is affect by trains. Yes trains.

NOTES AND POINTLESS INFORMATION

MOMENTS FROM THE EPISODE

SKITS AND BITS

Arnie haves himself a beer--

“This desk is enormous!”

Guy survives the plane crash!

Guy struggles to read a special report between fighter jets landing on the newsdesk.

--and another--

Ken has a bad candle experience while at dinner.

Capt. Seabilge and Ensign Sump arrive!

Not “raiders”, TATERS! Capt. Seabilge and his flying taters!

Barbie and Ken

The famous couple makes the rounds in the Quad Cities, experiencing the night life and even showing up for an interview on the show! When Arnie’s questioning delves into the couple’s sex life, it dredges up painful memories about an affair that Barbie had with G.I. Joe-- causing the two dolls storm off the set.

LIVE ON TAPE FIRSTS!

News Reporter Zippy Spamhammer’s first report!

Zippy reports live from the airport about the arrival of two super-star celebs to the Quad Cities--- Ken & Barbie! Zippy keeps the audience updated throughout the episode with the jet-setting adventures of the plastic toy duo.

Zippy (Merlin Nelson) was to become a long-suffering regular on the show, taking lots of abuse from E.J. Crackerhorn.

Science Bits #2

The esteemed Dr. Chadwick comments on what effects water has on weather--- it turns out that water does play an important role in the whole weather cycle, except for the drinking water on the levee in Davenport, IA--- it just makes him sick.