It’s been mostly a quiet week, fortunately. The show I work on celebrated its 200th episode being in production, so we all got together – cast, crew, network executives, and the media – and we ate cake and made a toast with some sparkling cider. It was a really cool moment to be a part of this milestone, which has been a culmination of a lot of hard work by a lot of smart people for nine years.
Our hallways are lined with giant collages of photos from every season, with the occasional framed 8×10 of other big events scattered in the mix. I always notice the two photos on the wall from the 100th celebration and imagine how exciting that moment in time must have been. It used to be that 100 episodes was not only an indicator that a show was probably pretty popular, but it also opened the door for syndication. At that rate, a station could play a different rerun every week for almost two years without repeating an episode. And syndicating a popular show is apparently a lot cheaper than creating and producing a new one.
As for my employing show, syndication has been, in part, attributed to its immense success. One network plays our episodes nearly 24 hours a day, every day. There is a certain character-driven appeal, and the subject matter bounces back and forth with ease from being entertaining and serious. We have heard stories of our crew traveling and meeting new people who are fans of the show. When asked what the big draw is, the usual response seems to be that they “just love the characters.” Other shows in the same vein can be difficult to watch when they just take themselves way too seriously, all the time.
My interest in audio post production will likely pull me away from working on and around set one day. But right now, it’s hard to imagine being a part of any other adventure, and it’s been awesome sharing the experience with such a great group of people.