I recently visited my friend in Los Angeles who worked in the sound department of the new NBC TV show, "Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip". Since my time was limited and would not have much time to visit, he asked if I would like to join him for lunch on the lot of the Warner Brothers studio set. I jumped at the chance, since Aaron Sorkin is one of my favorite talents in Hollywood, and I have always loved his work in film and TV.
On the "jungle" set, a wilderness area on one corner of the lot, they had created the Pahrump, Nevada sheriff's station and John Goodman was playing the sheriff. Someone apparently gets in trouble and the producer has to bail him out. (If you don't watch the show, the story points may not mean anything to you, so I won't dwell on those.) Since they are shooting many episodes ahead, this segment will air in a future show.
John Goodman looked like... well, John Goodman, but a little heavier (I know, I know...) and a little older. He seemed to have a little trouble getting around, and my friend and I couldn't quite figure out if it was his general state of health or his character.
They finished the scene and called lunch, and we adjourned to the grill (it was too late in the afternoon and the famed commissary was closed) for a chat and a quick meal.
Then it was on to the very impressive interior set on Stage 19 where they would be shooting the "show within a show" scenes that make the program so much fun to watch.
The set is amazing. It is an actual working studio and set of a tv show. The control room, the monitors, the microphones, everything actually worked, adding to the realism of the set. It also contains the bleachers the audience sit in for the "show". I would think the set alone cost a mint, and the art director must have had a great time (or a nightmare) putting it all together.
Bradley Whitford, Matt Perry, Aaron Sorkin, Tim Busfield (also directing the episode), D.L. Hugely, and others were all present. They rehearsed and shot a few scenes and before I knew it, I had to run to my next appointment. My friend hoped he would be done shooting fairly soon and we could have a beer together later. As the schedule sometimes works, he didn't wrap until 1:30am! So much for the beer.
I left the next day to return to Washington D.C., where I currently live, and now have a great time watching the show now that I have been on the set. It adds an additional layer to the show, knowing I stood on the very place Matt Perry and Brad (we're now on a first name basis!) Whitley make the viewers laugh.