Writer's Blog

Brendan Smith is one of the writers on 'My Boys.' He is a graduate of Northwestern University in Evanston, IL and lives in Silver Lake, CA with his dog Ozzy. He likes Iron Maiden, green chili cheeseburgers, and The Big Lebowski.

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Notes from the Writers' Room, Week Two

Hello, boys and girls. We finally made it. The “who’s on the plane” episode. And now we have our answer.

“Bobby? Bobby?! Bobby.”

Well said, Stephanie. I couldn’t have said it better myself. In fact, I think Steph summed up all of our reactions to the “Bobby” reveal, because she gave us three completely different reactions to P.J.’s decision in one beat. (Expertly delivered by Kellee Stewart, by the way. A total, total pro.)

“Bobby?” (I’m so excited to see you!)
“Bobby?! (Wait. She picked Bobby over… ?!)
“Bobby.” (Hmm. Not sure how I feel about this.)


The new question is… how do you feel about it? And how did you feel when Bobby said, “Dude, I just took Xanax and I gotta say… nighty night.”

KnowwhatI’msaying?

I should take a quick moment to mention that the “Season Two Premiere” was written by our fearless leader and big sister –- the boss with the sauce –- Betsy Thomas. Betsy created “My Boys”, in case you didn’t know, and is the show’s Executive Producer. Which basically means that… it’s her world and were just writing hacky jokes in it.

Hands down… the fastest writer on the staff. While you’re sitting in your office and struggling to come up with a decent joke for Mike or Kenny? Betsy’s just knocked out five new scripts. While you’re trying to figure out if P.J. should take Bobby or Brando or the botanist to Italy, Betsy’s just cranked out twelve new pilot ideas. It’s frightening to watch, actually. And impossible to keep up with.

Back to the premiere and a cool production note. We filmed the first part of the opening scene last year –- you know, when P.J. first arrives on the plane -- but filmed all the “Bobby” stuff this past April.

Which could only happen after we answered the big “who’s on the plane” question. And we didn’t do that until we started work on this new season! So if you re-watch last year’s finale, you’ll realize that Jordana was saying the “you made it” line to an empty seat.

Seriously. The whole thing was a complete mystery TO EVERYONE until we had the first official table read for episode 201. I mentioned Jordana’s encounter with a Los Angeles City barista in the last blog (the guy simply asked, “Who’s on the plane” as he slid her coffee order across the counter), but as you can see… she didn’t know.

We didn’t even know. I mean, we spent the first… I don’t know… two or three weeks of work on Season II trying to answer the big question. Two or three weeks of mind numbing, cupcake fueled debate about the big question. And I gotta tell you, dear reader, the Cute Cub had the early lead in the “P.J. stakes.” Not that it was a horse race, mind you, but there was a tremendous amount of discussion in those first few weeks of work and the Cute Cub had the early advantage. We all felt that there was some chemistry there, and room for cool stories with P.J. and her “boyfriend in Milwaukee.” But in the end, it just didn’t… feel right. So we went back to the drawing board.

There were some votes for Thorn, the swashbuckling journalist. However, it couldn’t “be” Thorn because Jeremy Sisto is the new detective dude on “Law & Order.” So Thorn was just like Trouty: Not available for work.

There were a few votes for Brendan, too. I know the pro-Brando brigades will be happy to hear that, but there was also some concern that we’d end up in “Ross & Rachel” territory if we put him on the plane.

The botanist? Michael Landes falls into the category of “nicest guy ever,” but there just wasn’t a lot of enthusiasm for the plant guy.

And then there was Bobby. And it felt right. And so we went with it. Hey, I know, I know. Some of you out there in fan-land were hoping for some, uh… wink, wink, nudge, nudge, eh, eh, eh? But, come on: It ain’t over yet. Right?

Or is it?

Random Notes

A. One of my favorite moments from the show happened right after the guys got kicked out of Crowley’s, when Kenny cried, “Where are we supposed to go now?!” Well, that’s a ridiculous Chicago question, Kenny. Because you’ve got about eight million options in P.J.’s neighborhood alone.

“Where are we supposed to go now?” I don’t know. You guys could easily walk to Guthrie’s or Toon’s or Cullen’s or Will’s Northwood Inn. You could take the Brown Line to The (Roscoe) Village Tap. You could take Andy’s new ride to Danny’s in Bucktown. So many places! So relax, Kenny.

Still, I get his anxiety, because we all love our “local.”

B. Good-bye, Lance. We hardly knew ye.

C. At some point early on, we all decided that Matthew McConaughey is the greatest “plane movie” actor of all time. Alright, alright.

D. The Dan Fogelberg Song that Mike was talking about? It’s called, “Same Old Lang Syne.” Please enjoy the first few lines:

Met my old lover in the grocery store
The snow was falling, Christmas eve
I stole behind her in the frozen foods
And I touched her on the sleeve.

Ah, the “Soft Hits of the 70’s.” Good times, good times.

E. We actually had a blast talking about the “Soft Hits” in the writers’ room, once we decided that Brendan’s rock station would switch to the soft hits. Yacht Rock, if you will. The good times ended, though, when I made everyone watch an England Dan and John Ford Coley song on YouTube. “I’d Really Love to See you Tonight.” Yeah, that was it. Betsy’s husband, the immensely talented Adrian Wenner (co-writer of the “Douchebag in the City” episode) absolutely lost it when I tossed that video up on room’s big screen thing. Yelled at me, screamed at me, told me to turn it off. Because he totally HATES that song.

I do, too –- I mean, I drove all the way to Albuquerque just to see Iron Maiden a few weeks ago –- but I think it’s totally awesome at the same time.

In no particular order, here are some of the “Soft Hits of the 70’s” that made us laugh/cringe in the writers’ room: Seals and Croft – “Summer Breeze”

America – “Tin Man”

Pablo Cruise – “Love Will Find A Way”

Ambrosia – “How Much I Feel”

Christopher Cross – “Arthur’s Theme”

Gerry Rafferty – “Baker Street”

Bread – “Baby I’m-A Want You”

Chuck Mangione – “Feels So Good”

Boz Scaggs – “Lido Shuffle”

I just took a time out from blog-writing and bought Boz Scaggs’ “Breakdown Dead Ahead”.

Good song, though.

F. While I’m thinking about it, here are some other great lines from episode 201:

“I helped a company rape a rainforest today.”

“Alright, alright.”

“We had nothing in common except not spending money.”

“Dude, did you just bust out the McConaughey?”

“Maybe we shouldn’t have goals.”

“C’mon, Terry. I wasn’t even that good!”

G. My least favorite line from tonight’s episode? “He’s fine, BRO-HAM.” Ugh! There’s that word! Bro-ham! Absolutely the douchiest word ever. No question. Nails on a chalkboard, or whatever.

H. Brendan’s first three t-shirts tonight, including the “Capitol Theatre” shirt and the “Radio Clyde” one, all came from the same company: Worn Free, a company that specializes in really cool vintage tees. They totally set up our wardrobe department with a bunch of great stuff, and deserve a “shout out.”

I. And last but not least, the “stewardess” on the plane was played by the lovely Loran Taylor. Loran has been working as Jordana Spiro’s “stand in” from day one, so it’s really cool to see her in the show.

Next up… episode 202 and something about a dinner party.

TTFN,
Brando

Click here to check out last week's blog.


The opinions expressed are solely those of the writer/speaker and do not necessarily represent the opinions of Turner Entertainment Networks, Inc.”