Production
Knowing he had a deal with Fox, Titus wanted "Dad is Dead" to be the pilot. After the series ended, Titus commented that, if one watches Norman Rockwell is Bleeding, and then "Dad is Dead", the latter essentially "rapes" the former.
Because Kenny and Hargrove came from live theater, and Titus from live comedy, it was a unanimous decision that the live story would be shot in real time, like a play, in as few takes as possible; as cues for the editors in post-production, so they could incorporate flashbacks and action in the neutral space, the action would pause briefly, and then resume. Episodes were blocked and rehearsed extensively, and shot on Friday every week.
The cast also had different methods of working. Being a comedian, Titus knew where the joke would be and never explored anything else. Zack Ward had difficulty finding the joke during rehearsals, but Kenny realized that he was looking for where the funny could be, and knew that Ward would nail it when the episode was filmed. Watros asked Titus to point out where the joke was, and promised she would hit her mark. During breaks in rehearsal, Shatraw would work by himself on set, looking for specific quirks or actions that Tommy would do or take.
The season two episode "The Last Noelle" is one of Titus' favorites, and is based on his relationship with an abusive ex-girlfriend.
In most episodes, there was a reference to fire (usually the threat of someone or something being set on fire, as well as Titus's story of how he drunkenly fell into a bonfire and nearly died when he was a teenager) and/or guns, as a running gag.
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Famous quotes containing the word production:
“The myth of unlimited production brings war in its train as inevitably as clouds announce a storm.”
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“Every production of an artist should be the expression of an adventure of his soul.”
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“It is part of the educator’s responsibility to see equally to two things: First, that the problem grows out of the conditions of the experience being had in the present, and that it is within the range of the capacity of students; and, secondly, that it is such that it arouses in the learner an active quest for information and for production of new ideas. The new facts and new ideas thus obtained become the ground for further experiences in which new problems are presented.”
—John Dewey (1859–1952)