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WARNING: THIS ARTICLE CONTAINS SPOILERS FOR ROOMIES- SEASONS 1 AND 2. YOU’VE BEEN WARNED! The first episode of the second season of Roomies began production on Sunday, September 10th, 2006. The episode was penned in the summer by Chad Troftgruben and Josh Nichols. In my opinion, it’s the best episode of Roomies yet, even outranking the classic “Console Race” and “Changes” episodes from last season. I feel we are starting to get a feel for the characters. And the new plotlines range from clever to completely outrageous. But with two characters like Steven (Bennett Gackle) and Joseph (Josh Nichols) running the show, that was bound to happen. It can be argued that due to Chris’ (Ivan Mazala) untimely demise (see Episode 5 of Season 1), the middle ground between absurd and serious was ripped out. However, I feel that this will allow Erin (Lydia Johnson) and Nicole (Kim Finnicum) to fill that gap while Kayla (Amy Tichy) can continue in her annoying ways. 
The Roomies are back for an all new season!On Sunday we filmed all of the scenes with Joseph and Steven. It took up the majority of the day. We started with their arrival at the school and went in chronological order from there. There is a part where Steven flashes back to last semester when Joseph questions him about their room. To make it humorous, we filmed this in the exact same spot. The only differences are the two characters are wearing different clothes and instead of unpacking, Joseph is packing things up for their trip. Speaking of the luggage, poor Joseph has to carry all the bags around for almost the entire episode. Even when Joseph becomes handicapped (more on that later), Steven just throws the bags at Joseph for him to carry. This definitely shows off the relationship these two friends have. After Steven flashes back, realizing he forgot to reserve the room, he starts to lead Joseph on all the way till the end of the episode. And with this being the longest script we’ve written, it’s an interesting ride. 
Joseph (Josh Nichols) struggles to get his bags out of the car.The next thing we filmed was the “Joseph goes blind” scene. In this particular scene, Steven continues to lead Joseph on about the imaginary room. When Joseph starts to complain about getting tired of wandering around, Steven punches Joseph in the face to knock his glasses off. As Joseph lies on the floor in pain crying, Steven says he did it to save Joseph from a deadly “Spider-Fly” (which is where we got this episode’s title from - “The Legend of Spider-Fly”). Joseph is fooled yet again, and some more antics ensue, such as Steven making Joseph carry the bags, Steven almost getting beat up by a menacing red head (sigh), and Joseph feeling up a complete stranger. 
Steven (Bennett Gackle) saves Joseph from the dreaded Spider-Fly.Up next was the wagon scene. This was a bit difficult. Basically, this scene takes place after Steven and Joseph eat over at Erin and Kayla’s house. During that scene Joseph eats a bit too much and passes out. So Steven borrows a little red wagon from Erin to wheel Joseph around in. Anyway, we had to film this scene probably four separate times. It was a bit hard to choreograph at first. The scene was a bit long, so it was harder to memorize lines, and Steven had to walk over a curb at just the right moment. Not to mention I had a hard time filming, for I had to walk backwards and keep the right distance between myself and the characters. Luckily Brandon Pelling, the assistant director for this episode, was there to help guide me so I didn’t run into a tree or something. We tried like four different locations until we finally found one that was suitable. In the end though, it worked out pretty good. And of course we confused people as they drove by (which is always fun :D). 
Steven tries to buy time.Up next was the sleeping under the stars scene. This is a funny one due to the last two lines. Basically Steven convinces Joseph to camp out for the night. Hoping this will buy him sometime, Steven and Joseph sleep under the stairs of the King Pavilion, which is located on our campus. The next morning, a startling discovery is made as Joseph runs towards Steven and yells at him, telling him that the cops are coming because they were illegally sleeping on school property. Originally the script called for Joseph to jump into the wagon and Steven grabs it and pulls him away. However, this was changed. Now, Joseph jumps into the wagon trying to drive it, and Steven kicks him and the wagon takes off down the hill. It’s a pretty humorous scene. 
Steven and Joseph sleep under the stars (Note: stars to be added in post-production).Next we drove to Rocky Butte Park to film the final scene for the day. On the way there we filmed some clips with Joseph and Steven in the car for the cold open. Arriving at Rocky Butte, things got a bit hairy. I had about 5 minutes of tape left, and so after trying the scene a few times, I just shot close ups of the actors and they just did one line at a time. This is a cheap way to do it, however due to the circumstances, this was the only way I thought it could effectively get done. The scene went fine though. And the funniest part is obviously when Joseph whips out the can of “Beans in a Can”. We are actually making mock commercials for this product. I’ll keep that as a surprise for now though. 
Beans in a freaking can!And that was it. We packed up, went home, and ate cheese goodums. Overall, it was a great start to the second season. I had a lot of fun doing it. And it was sure nice to get back into the swing of things. Stay tuned for more Roomies - Season 2 production notes |
