I recently had a very small role in an independent pilot. The goal with these things is to shoot your own pilot and try to get a network to buy it after the fact. You wouldn't believe the caliber of talent you can sometimes get to do these things. It would be like going to a pick up basketball game and seeing Michael Jordan there. Jordan loves playing b-ball so it makes sense he would jump in on a street game from time to time.
On this production, they were able to get Ray Parker Junior to co-star. Ray Parker Junior wrote and sang the Ghostbusters Movie theme song. He was uber cool. And best of all he still loves the Ghostbusters song. You can say "Who you gonna call?!" and he will say "Ghostbusters!" That's cool. It's probably incredibly old for him but he won't deny you your fun…A true gentleman. Jimmy Walker won't say DYN-O-MITE! Henry Winkler would rather not say Ehhhhhh! Now all I need to hear is that Shucky Ducky won't say Quack Quack.
These catch phrases mean so much more to us. They conjure up memories of times long gone. We can never go back to grade school but we can say "What you talkin' about Willis?!" Where were you when you first heard "I'm Rick James Bitch!"?
Why the Peanut costumes? Long Story. Let's hope the pilot gets picked up so you can see why.
On this production, they were able to get Ray Parker Junior to co-star. Ray Parker Junior wrote and sang the Ghostbusters Movie theme song. He was uber cool. And best of all he still loves the Ghostbusters song. You can say "Who you gonna call?!" and he will say "Ghostbusters!" That's cool. It's probably incredibly old for him but he won't deny you your fun…A true gentleman. Jimmy Walker won't say DYN-O-MITE! Henry Winkler would rather not say Ehhhhhh! Now all I need to hear is that Shucky Ducky won't say Quack Quack.
These catch phrases mean so much more to us. They conjure up memories of times long gone. We can never go back to grade school but we can say "What you talkin' about Willis?!" Where were you when you first heard "I'm Rick James Bitch!"?
Why the Peanut costumes? Long Story. Let's hope the pilot gets picked up so you can see why.
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2 comments:
Now that's an interesting take on catchphrases.
I can understand why Mr. Chappelle took such a strong disliking to the Rick James phrase, as it had the effect of reducing everything he'd done to one line. And I can see how it can become frustrating to someone who wants people to see his work beyond the phrase.
Your take on it is interesting because of course you face the real possibility that you might get a catchphrase stuck to you at some point in your career. The stuff I've seen you do is pretty hook-free, but when you get your first major recurring role (and that was not a typo...I said "when," not "if"), the catchphrase question may become less academic.
But that will be a good problem.
Good luck with the pilot!
Ghostbusters always takes a back seat to the fine music Mr. Parker put forth with his group, Raydio. "You Can't Change That" and "Jack & Jill" were a couple of the most played 45s I owned when I was kid.
xok
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