See Post from May 10 about Omega Station - Interesting new comment

Post Halloween Greetings!

I receive an email when someone posts a comment (which is something I think you can sign up for).  Anyway, I just received an interesting comment from the May 10, 2009 post about the Omega Station from someone who was still working there when it closed.  I thought it had actually closed earlier than 1997.

His comment brings up an interesting thought.  With technology changing so quickly in the past decade or so, data storage space getting smaller and smaller, digital having replaced analog, etc., how much of this former technology is actually being saved or preserved?  I realize there are at least 2 schools of thought on the practicality and purpose for saving anything outdated--those for and those against!  As a set decorator we always have a problem with both current "high tech" as well as retro-outdated technology.  Wanting current high tech means it is most likely being used which means having 100 film technicians around tends to be a bit disruptive.  On very RARE occasions they used to let us film inside the FAA headquarters inside Diamond Head Crater (now moved) which looked like a James Bond film set with all the radar screens and scopes glowing in the distance.  We sometimes filmed a Magnum episode at this high tech Japanese / American business place that had those old giant reel-to-reel tape storage machines the size of a refrigerator.  Those old giant machines with all the dials and switches and red lights made for great background set dressing.  It wasn't even all that difficult to rig something up with parts from Radioshack and some stainless steel Formica back then.

Set Dressing would also get stuck with surveillance van interiors as well.  You know, giant reel to reel tape decks, mixers, amps, dangling wires, headphones, clip boards and coffee mugs that barely fit into a large milk truck.  I think the last time I was asked to do one I said, I hate to tell you but an entire surveillance van would now fit into a briefcase--that's how long ago that was.  Today, it would probably fit into an i-pod along WITH the i-pod.  Now in the films and CSI shows, they seem to use a lot of plexiglass and projections and strange colored lights in the background as an attempt to make up for the formerly clunky hardware that actually did something in the background other than glow mysteriously or flash strange computer generated charts and graphs.

The bigger problem is finding the old technology when you want it now--particularly in Hawaii where we don't have basements or old warehouses to store things, but do have salt air and rust.  There are a couple of prop houses in L.A. that carry some of the old technology items for retro sets, but as a society, we generally embrace the trend towards miniaturization and advanced technology.  Even the collection of 78's I have are waiting to go onto cd's so I can get rid of the records.  Given that my last Cuisinart coffee maker only lasted 3 years, the new one broke after 3 weeks and I am about to buy my 2nd weed wacker this year, it's probably good that we keep moving forward since so much of the craftsmanship now doesn't allow for much permanence anyway.  Anyone remember having to go to the drug store to test a tube from the TV or radio that had already lasted more than a decade?

So just some ramblings about technology sets.  I haven't posted on my flickr site for awhile, but I got carried away with visitors and Halloween and looking for work.  

Aloha,  Rick

Answer to Question, Ebay Item, More on Flickr......stuff!

                                                          I did post an item on ebay (ending tomorrow) that is related to Magnum.  It's a framed print that Archie Bacon, the show's art director for many years, gave me.  I used it in that episode of Paniolo, but I can't find it in a photo.  Anyway, it's never really had a home since I haven't had an office in 3 years so I thought it could go to a better one.  Someone from Austria has asked about shipping--which I haven't looked up yet.  Actually, it's virtually impossible to tell exact shipping on something that's larger than 14" because of all that "dimensional weight" stuff now and then even more complicated with the foreign aspect.  I know about 5 years ago it was $60 to send a similarly sized item to England so I would guess foreign shipping is going to be at least $100 now.  Just come on over and pick it up!                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      I went to the official opening of what is now being called "Barbarian Princess" last night at the Hawaii Theatre.  It's the first film ever done about the Hawaiian monarchy or the overthrow of it.  From my standpoint, it is also the first and last Victorian period film done here since there is no longer any large source for antique items here without shipping them in.  There are various Hawaiian groups who have been objecting to the use of the term "Barbarian" in reference to Princess Ka'iulani.  Just about everyone watching the movie last night changed their mind if they hadn't already understood that the barbarian reference was from opposition newspaper items of the time who sought to discredit the monarchy during the overthrow in 1893.  I spent a couple of days doing a photo display of the sets and some of the crew during filming for the theatre lobby.  Considering they premiered it on Princess Ka'iulani's birthday you think they might have done something a little more.  Anyway, it sold out and they are already on their 3rd showing as part of the Hawaii International Film Festival.  Unfortunately the film remains unsold and undistributed so don't look for it at your neighborhood 20-plex any time soon.

I went ahead and put in some photos of Princess Ka'iulani in with the set photos as a way of showing her "non-barbarian" aspects and the fact that the movie does certainly honor her.  I didn't see any protesters last night, but there were enough police around to have  intimidated anyone to not even jaywalk--a $120 fine btw.  Someone did ask a question after the movie about when were they doing to drop the "Barbarian" from the title and the director gave a great response and the audience cheered him so I think the title is here to stay.

Mike's question is the first comment under the last post about changes in set decorating now with HD and DVD availability.  I know I've covered this topic before because I did at one point compare doing Magnum with LOST and the "scrutiny" aspects made possible today with DVD stop action and enlargement certainly do contribute to the detail that decorators go to now.  However, I just happened to catch the last half of the 1960's "Time Machine" that was on this morning on TCM.  I remembered seeing that when I was a kid and thought it was such an amazing film.  What I saw today looked like some cheesey amateur production of a low budget student film!  I didn't have to stop any action or enlarge anything to make that determination.  This was a full on Disney (I think) feature film release when it came out in the 60's and yet today it wouldn't fly with any 8 year old.  A lot of it is that we have also become more sophisticated as a society and the level of visual sophistication has increased as well.  Many of the big "spectacle" films of the 50's and 60's look pretty tame now compared to when we so impressed when Moses parted the Red Sea (film shown backwards).  Some things hold up--"The Birds" come to mind.  However, Alfred Hitchcock was aware that our own minds could create better horror than he could on the screen so many of his "effects" were created in our own minds--like when Janet Leigh took her shower with Hershey's chocolate syrup in "Psycho."  Today they have to show the steel knife blade ripping the flesh and red blood squirting out of an artery before anyone is shocked--especially an 8 year old!  So I think the increase in set dressing details today has as much to do with technology (and the ability to scrutinize) as it does with our expectations as viewers.  It certainly doesn't have anything to do with larger budgets!!!

Aloha,  Rick

I continue to post more photos each day on my career pics  http://www.flickr.com/photos/rick_romer

Locations and Higgins' Den Questions Answered

Mike and Susie have both asked separate questions under the previous posts which I will attempt to answer here.

First, I have been posting a lot more career photos on my flickr site  http://www.flickr.com/photos/rick_romer/   The photo editing tools are great and I'm getting pretty fast at fixing and loading the photos but I still have a couple hundred to go so check back from time to time!  Deciding on categories is the hardest part so I've been using a lot of key word tags.  They are also showing up in google now under my name.  As impressed as I am with what we were able to do here in Hawaii over years past, I am also saddened that most of those sets could not be done today because we have lost so many of those sources.  Well, at least they will live on in cyberspace for awhile!

I heard via a non-LOST source that they are going to auction off items at the end.  Very smart if that is true since $10 lamps I bought at the Salvation Army that would normally have gone into a dumpster will probably bring hundreds since they were used in Hurley's House.  Instead of paying for dumpsters, they can make tens of thousands.  Those lamps were really ugly, though!

Mike asked about the"valuable" ivory tusk on the bookshelf in Higgins' den--see his photo link in the previous post comment.  Well, that ivory tusk is a valuable as all of the small green jade carvings that were also in his den!  Genuine plastic!  It's all about location, location, location.  Put something on a pedestal or put a picture light over a painting or on a bookshelf in an estate set and presto it's ivory and jade!  Looking at the photo of the den set and then looking at a photo of Jack's father's den set on LOST yesterday when I got another call:  "Where did you get his desk?" really reminds me of how standards have changed in set dressing.  The sophistication and layers and detail in sets today compared to 30 years ago is amazing.  People are more consumer aware, have seen more / sophisticated, and have TV sets with larger size and clarity.  Although the plastic tusk and figurines would still look good today!   Those 2 ordinary looking bronze-like vases on the mantel are actually old Chinese gourds that were grown inside a  mold and then hand painted.

I'm not sure I understood Susie's question about locations and elements in her comment 2 posts ago.  Unfortunately I never really used tag labels for these posts so I could just put in "locations" and go back and see what I've said in other previous posts.  I know I did discuss the perils of using your own home as a film location (another bubble burst!).  But here are some more observations regarding locations and set dressing:

DISTANT LOCATIONS:  If you're going to be dressing sets a long ways away from your normal, resident studio location (anywhere from 50 miles to another state), there is that tendency to want to take everything with you.  I've seen many a container of set dressing arrive from L.A. between features from "The Brady Bunch" to Bruce Willis epics "just in case" the decorator might need them.  In the case of the Brady Bunch, the decorator used more of the things I helped him find here than were shipped over which made me feel good.  The decorator on the Bruce Willis epic had a budget that allowed him to practically empty every L.A. prop house of all gilt furniture, chandeliers, and expensive looking items involving a dozen containers or more.  I was only worthy of being a laborer to unload them, so I know first hand!  Ironically, even though most of the items weren't used in the Nigerian presidential palace set, the ones that were used were never seen since the entire set (the first 20 minutes of the film) were cut out since Mr. Willis wasn't in any of the scenes.  That meant no one even saw the 240 shades I put on the light bulbs of the 5' high chandeliers that the bad guys ran by once.

So, way distant locations do represent a challenge even when you do have the money.  Having basic supplies, a resourceful crew, common sense and checking out the location ahead of time for sources is always best.  Being able to knock on a stranger's door and politely asking to rent their dining room set is also a good skill to have.

LOCATION SETS:  that allow normal access to familiar sources are less of a problem.  Private homes present the biggest challenge--particularly if the family is living there and  a full redress is required.  Knowing the abuse than can happen when a film company is there (and you're not) should be a consideration when deciding to use the owner's furniture or objects as key pieces.  As cool as it is to be able to say to your friends, "Meryl Streep sat right here on my sofa!", you might instead be pointing out the stain that someone made on it when something leaked or the damage that was done when something fell.  The good news is that any reputable company would have purchased a new sofa--assuming it was replaceable. I always prefer a blank slate if there is to be a lot of filming done inside someone's home especially if they are "virgins."  There are some homes who rent out often enough that know the pitfalls and aren't overly worried.  There are also those nightmare locations that begin with the owner saying to us "No one told us you were going to take out all our furniture and crash a car through the picture window" and the location manager's cell phone is conveniently out of range in the jungle somewhere.  Set dressers are the first to arrive and the last to leave.  We discretely advise that perhaps their collection of porn we find under the bed might be better off elsewhere or also not mention the bug and rodent graveyard under their sectional after we move it for the first time in 3 years.  This is why having an experienced crew is so important.  As the set dressing crew is also responsible for restoring afterwards, it's always handy to have at least a location assistant at the site.  We are blamed for all sorts of scrapes, and dings, and chips that may or may not have been caused by our film company.  In many cases, replacing food in an unplugged (because of sound) refrigerator or finding broken window glass behind the drapes get dumped on the poor guys who are just trying to put the furniture back in the room.  

STUDIO SETS:  Permanent Sets - Swing Sets  Permanent sets on a soundstage are set dressers best friends.  Other than basic maintenance and restoring after shooting, all we do is cover and uncover them.  The more permanent sets the better.  In case of rain, sickness, script problems, these sets are just sitting there waiting to be filmed.  There may be a lot of pain and angst creating them in the first place, but they can last for years and leave time for other sets.  Magnum was really great for that reason.  Even when other temporary sets were added, the style of the permanent sets was so strong that it was easy just to plug into that look.

Technically there can be swing sets that are "permanent" in that they are taken down when not in use and then set up again if used infrequently.  Even Rick's bar set was considered a swing location set as it always required dressing at the beach location.  Swing sets can just be new sets that are created in space on the soundstage for the particular episode--sometimes even inside permanent sets.  We frequently did that once the large living room set was built and often incorporated actual walls from the permanent set.

Well, that's enough rambling on a question I'm not sure I even understood!

The "Cooler Kings" pilot that was supposed to be prepping this month seems to have cooled and another project may be taking its place.  Funny how "The Circle of Life" from "Lion King" just popped into my head.  Maybe because 2 years ago I was halfway through being the lead male dresser for 99 performances--or maybe because the projects just keep almost coming and then fade away?

Aloha,  Rick

I'm on flickr!

It takes awhile, but my career photos are now showing up on flickr http://www.flickr.com/photos/rick_romer/  It's sort of a poor man's website, but it's about time I started putting my stuff online.  I made a mistake making my categories too specific and too small.  There doesn't seem to be any way to change or regroup them now.  I'm making the group categories larger now.  I've been listing them by kinds of sets rather than by specific projects and then using tags to allow you to find specific projects.  I have a TV next to my computer that helps break the monotony--although watching 3 Esther Williams movies in a row on TCM was a bit much.

I haven't gotten to any Magnum photos yet.  They are going to premier what is now being called "Barbarian Princess" at the Hawaii Theatre next week so I'm still putting up those photos.  I didn't realize I was making the photos too small so I did go back and change some.  Flickr has a great editing too so I can fix the photos before posting.  This is sounding like a commercial.  Well, it's something until I get a real website going.

Aloha,  Rick

What I Ate For Breakfast......

Has it come to this?  Is this going to become one of those blogs where I post what I ate for breakfast and then people comment "mmmmm, yummy"?  Well, I hope not!  It's just that I have basically mined my mind of Magnum memories with 25 years having passed since I was in my 2nd season on the show.  Most of the questions that have been emailed to me recently involved watches, rings, sunglasses used on the show.  Those all fall into props and outside my area as the Set Decorator.  So I don't really have anything new or even old to add to my working on the show that hasn't been written about somewhere in this blog.  Of course, pertinent questions about the show are always welcome.   Do I also need to mention again I don't have anything from the show left, Eve is not giving tours, and there is no secret stash of Magnum furniture?  

News from the home front includes the Governor deciding to completely eliminate the Hawaii State Film Office at the end of the month!  It's absurdity rivals the city building its billion dollar monorail that doesn't go anywhere.  With tourism listed as our major "industry" in a year of cutbacks everywhere, it is expected the State is looking to save money.  Our already poor public education system (with the highest percentage of students attending private schools in the nation) is furloughing teachers, programs being cut, and others being planned.  Eliminating a proven money making department that has made getting permits easier and solving problems before they arise is unfortunate.  The State also all but eliminated the film tax credit which was directly responsible for the work I had in 2008 in a double blow to the industry.  While the film / TV industry isn't tied directly to the economy in general, investment in the business is.  Given the lack of government support of the industry here, the plantation mentality of the legislature, the bad economy and the false belief that all the good workers are on "LOST", there does not appear there will be any work until mid 2010.  Currently there is another Lifetime film going on but the Jerry Bruckheimer pilot has been postponed again.  I'm not sure there could be any more nails in this coffin right now.  I guess if professional mourners were paid, I might consider continuing to wait for the phone to ring.  The reality is that I have had some success in other areas and I'm continuing to pursue work in them for now.

I hope that within a week or so I will have most of my past work online.  Until I can get rickromer.com up and running, I think doing flickr albums of my photos is a good start.  Working in a field where photos are the only evidence of my work sometimes makes it more difficult to convince others how good I am!  Present tense, of course.

So I'm not sure if this really counts as a posting or just a rant?  If neither works for you, I did enjoy a bowl of granola, a mug of coffee and a glass of carrot juice.  Mmmmm, yummy!

I'm Still Here!

Ironically, not posting for a month I had 3 new followers sign up!  I wrote an article about this blog for the Hawaii Film and Video Magazine (www.hawaiifilmandvideo.com) and I was quoted in our local union newsletter so this probably wasn't a good time not to post anything for a month.  However, any new viewers have a lot of catching up to do so this posting if really for you regulars.

The big news is that I am just about done with scanning hundreds of set photos on most of the projects I have done here and in L.A.--theatre, special events, as well as film and television.  Ultimately these will wind up on rickromer.com which I now own--at least for a couple of years anyway.  In the meantime, my work may just wind up on another blog or picasa web album.  I need to do something to get my work and experience out there.  The 3 categories will be Special Events, Theatre / Stage, and then TV / Film Design Projects.  There's really nothing I can do about getting film or TV work here--particularly when there isn't any.  Ok, I did just turn down being the production designer for an independent film project about skateboarding for $10 an hour (flat rate for everyone).  This was actually a union job that is a new, extra, ultra low rate for low budget films.  Given that I would have to pay someone else $40 an hour to do the construction I am doing on my house--even unemployment pays better than $10 an hour.  I know, "do it for art", well, I'll save that for someone who needs the experience (and the abuse).

Speaking of abuse, this photo is from an African bar set.  It's either from "E.R." or "LOST" that I did at Kualoa Ranch a few years ago.  The rattan bar stools are from Rick's bar set and the round table was the one in Higgin's den.  There might even be a couple of "Hawaii 5-0" things (the wooden beaded curtain for sure) and I know there are some "Baywatch Hawaii" pieces as well.  Most of these things were in storage at the State's Hawaii Film Studio and available for rent.  I'm probably the only person who remembers their origins.  I just wanted to show you that the few abused Magnum things that have survived the termites, purges, and thefts are either very obscure or virtually unrecognizable.   Even without termites, most of us aren't going to stay the same 25 years later either.

Our really wonderful film commissioner, Donnie Dawson, had her photo (more like a mugshot) on the front page of the Honolulu Advertiser as one of the hundreds of people whose job may be up due to budget cuts.  There is an attitude among many of the plantation mentality legislators here that we don't need to do anything to encourage film or TV work in Hawaii--that it will always come here anyway.  I guess they don't know that Canada and Australia will give you back a major portion of your expenses as a rebate if you film in their country and many other states will give you major tax or facility benefits.  Ok, pardon my political frustration, but I am working very hard on getting a job that actually gives back some creative satisfaction and not what is happening to the film / TV industry.

And last but not least, to answer Susie's question regarding my watching the show, watching to see how things looked when it aired was a little late.  I mean, what could I do about it after 20 million other people had seen it?  What I mainly watched the show for was to see what they did actually show (or not) so I could use the item(s) again.  I do remember once watching a show and noticing that the color orange really jumped off the screen so I normally avoided it--it used to be an "in" color.  Also, something I learned and continue to do:  use dark books in dark bookcases and light books in light bookcases!  Doing otherwise makes the contrast really jump out.  As far as the treehouse goes, I don't remember the treehouse, but it would have been built by the construction department and I probably wouldn't have had anything in it anyway.  I was much happier talking with Gwen Verdon.

Again, many thanks for your encouraging comments.  I'll let you know when I get my career photos up and running!  Maybe some day my career will do the same.

Aloha,  Rick

Never Discussed New Magnum Topic......... SCRIPTS!

Thanks to another excellent email question from Alexandre of Normandy who always has good questions even if I can't always understand his English!  I've never really talked about Magnum scripts before--or any scripts for that matter.

Of all the creative areas such as music, painting, architecture, etc. writing / scripts are probably the most abused art form!  A lot of people don't realize that when a person creates a story in a script, it's not "chiseled in stone."  Is there such a thing as written on water?  Basically once a script is sold to a company, it becomes the property of that company and the scriptwriter is paid like when you pay Home Depot for a sheet of plywood.  Home Depot doesn't have any say in what you do to their former property.  You take the plywood home and cut it up into pieces to make it work for you.  Well, they do the same thing with a script--only there are lots of carpenters doing the cutting:  The director cuts, changes, rewrites according to his/her "vision," the producer changes the script for image, liability or just because they can, and finally the actor changes the script because "My character would never say that line!"  The script could even be changed because the right location couldn't be found, the weather changed, or the time of day changed.  So you have a creative work that has many hands molding it.  Most people wouldn't think of adding another palm tree to a painting or tell a composer to change the key to B-flat, but scripts seem to be fair game for a lot of input.  That said, you can't do without them!

In episodic TV (like Magnum), right about the time you start filming an episode, a new script arrives in your box.  Given that you are up to your neck with the current show, there is a real temptation to just leave the script where it is for awhile.  However, it's not going to go away so it's in your best interest to read it asap for any possible "Are they out of their minds??!!"  problems waiting and to give a heads up if you see an advance problem for your department.  On Magnum there were some directors where I automatically doubled my budget regardless of the script requirements! 

  Before you even finish the new script, colored pages will appear in your box again--these are revisions.  I forget the color sequence they have for 1st revision, 2nd revision, 3rd, 4th, etc. but it's something like blue pages, pink pages, green pages, yellow pages--whatever.  Sometimes they will just say "Pinks are out" (which means they're in!) and that means more revisions.  Sometimes these revisions are dialogue and they have changed "I can't go now." to "I can't go there now."  This generates a new script cover sheet, contents sheet, and then the actual page with the dialogue change--and another tree gives its life for this valuable contribution to society.  Of course they don't tell you what the actual changes are (you have to read them), but 95% of the time, it didn't affect me.  In the pre-cell phone (pager only dark ages), I was once stuck in rush hour traffic on a freeway in L.A.  My pager went off with the production office number and the dreaded "911" following.  Fearing an emergency, I got off the freeway in a not so good area, found a pay phone, realized I was standing in a puddle of urine, called the production office only to find out that they had put "green pages" in my box!  I needed to know this NOW???  This is why P.A.'s (production assistants) are sometimes found wearing concrete shoes and not on land.  So as each new color comes out, you dutifully take your old pages out and put your new pages in your 3 ring binder.  Then they will issue a new, revised entire script and you start all over again with more revisions.  I think we're up to losing a forest by now!   It's very embarrassing to be at  production meeting where we PAINFULLY go through the entire script page by page (while your entire crew is waiting for you to dress a set at a distant location) and discover while everyone else has turned to their blue page, you are still have the old pink page and obviously not with the program.  Wow, I am getting pretty detailed with all this!  Moving on...........

On most shows, the scripts arrive mysteriously from a mainland production office--by mail or eventually fax on Magnum--by the internet now.  However, Magnum was blessed with having a resident writer / story editor / eternally nice person named Chris Abbott-Fish.  (I think the Fish name has since swum away).  She wrote several scripts and rewrote others in residence at the studio. If there was ever a problem with a script, it could be handled (usually) quickly in house.  I always enjoyed our infrequent meetings, but if anyone ever had a smile on their face at that studio it was her.

While I have no script writer inclinations or experience--there is a sort of template they stick to.  God knows I could never stick to any formula the way I go on and on.  There are things like "conflict" and "resolution" and other standard items that need to happen between commercial breaks.  This is nothing new.  I remember in college studying Greek drama and the professor used "Bonanza" as an example of Greek tragedy.  When he broke it down into protagonist and antagonist and the other aspects of Greek theatre that I have since forgotten, there is a formula that is followed to some degree.  Obviously you have to be a good writer to make it original, unique and interesting.  Of course a few "f-words" and a couple of car explosions with really loud dialogue seems to help.  Yeah, I know.........

So while we were shooting a current script, the next script would come out--it would be rare to have a 3rd one at the same time.  Sometimes if there was a really difficult one, there might be a partial script, but rarely.  Casting or production obviously had scripts before the worker bees got them.  We would be too busy prepping the next episode to be able to deal with more than one ahead anyway.  Each script had a cover sheet with all the usual info:  writer, producer, director, production company, name episode number, dates, warnings, etc.  Each script page would have the scene number on the left and ride side of the page and the page number at the top right corner.  Basic action comments HE HOLDS UP HIS HAT or camera CLOSE UP ON HAND or location / time EXT. SURF SHACK - LATER are indicated along with the actual dialogue. A MOW (movie of the week) script is about 100 pages.  An episodic TV script is around 60 pages.  You hear "page count" as a reference to how many pages are supposed to be shot that day.  If you have a 64 page, 1 hour script with an 8 day schedule, you better be shooting 8 pages a day.  That's a lot for a 12 hour day and you better not have any company moves within that day.  So you  might have a 6 page day or an 8 page day depending on what they are filming.  Some pages can go to 2nd unit.  That means an entirely different and smaller film crew will go out and film the Ferrari driving up to the Kamehameha Club with a stand-in driving.  Or a close-up of the bad guys shoes climbing the stairs (also a stand in) or the car crash, etc.  Basically any photography not involving principal actors--or at least it's not supposed to be (but often is).

Feature films might only do 2 or 3 pages a day and have a 150 page script.  And you wonder why you pay $10 to see a crappy movie?  It's not all going to Nicole.  A TV show with  lot of permanent sets can go faster--the lights may already be in place and it's a routine for the actors.  TV sitcoms with only 1 or 2 sets often do a taping in one night in front of a live audience--or at least they used to.  These are sometimes called "3 camera shows" where they might actually be using 3 cameras at the same time--a wide shot "master," a close up, and maybe a side shot or a "2 shot."  Obviously nothing is live / "one take" anymore so even if they mess up in front of an actual studio audience, they can always do another take or two and still finish on time more or less.

Ok, drifting off of scripts now so I guess it's time to close another time busting block buster of a blog post that sort of had something to do with "Magnum, P.I."!

Aloha,  Rick

P.S. Keep in mind that a "One Hour" script is really only about 50 minutes or even less for commercials.  As was once said to me, "TV shows are the filler between commercials."  That reminds of of a t-shirt I never wore to work:  "Theatre is Art.  Television is Furniture"  Well, that was before the digital era so I may have to draw you a picture to explain.