Alyson Hannigan

On Friday, April 2, 2004, I went to see the taping of a new NBC sitcom called "Americana," starring Alyson Hannigan ("Buffy the Vampire Slayer," "American Pie,") and Michael Landes ("Lois and Clark," "Special Unit Two.") The episode was directed by David Schwimmer ("Friends") and was filmed at CBS in Studio City.

The show is set in Boston. Andrea (Alyson Hannigan) is a vice president in a company that sells high end hardware and reproductions of Americana. The standing set has Andrea’s apartment on the left, and the office of Americana Home and Hardware on the right, with an outdoor set in the middle. It’s a gorgeous set, with lots of funky antiques; it was designed by the same guy who did the "Friends" set. The items they sell in the Americana catalog were a standing joke throughout the pilot, and one item was a major prop for the biggest scene.

The core of the story is Andrea’s relationship with her brother, Ben (Michael Landes). Supporting characters are her boss, David (Colin Fergusson); the wacky billionaire who owns Americana Home and Hardware (Scott Cullen); Maggie and Greg, who work in the office; and a teenager named Kevin who has a crush on Andrea and walks her big, funky looking dog.

The basic plot went as follows:

1. Andrea tells Maggie that she and her boss David got drunk and slept together the night before. We’re introduced to David, and we can tell immediately that it meant more to Andrea than it did to him.

2. That evening, in Andrea’s apartment, her estranged brother Ben shows up with a fake fiance and tries to scam Andrea out of their grandmother’s engagement ring.

3. The next day, Andrea finds Ben sacked out in her office and they argue, mostly outside while on a seesaw together.

4. Ben does a flip analysis of a penknife for the Americana catalog and manages to scam a job offer out of David.

5. That evening, Andrea and Ben argue about the job offer. It is revealed that Ben is addicted to gambling and owes someone a lot of money, but Ben, something of a free spirit, instead accuses Andrea of "selling out."

6. The wacky billionaire who owns the company shows up at the office for a big presentation, and Andrea discovers that David has just become engaged to the billionaire’s daughter. Andrea loses her temper and almost blows the presentation. Ben comforts and inspires her, and she impresses billionaire boss instead of losing her job.

7. The estranged siblings make up, and Ben decides to stick around.

What I liked the most were Andrea’s monologues. The show began with Andrea talking to an empty chair; she had gotten drunk and slept with her boss David the night before, and she was rehearsing what she was going to say to him. She does these monologues throughout, and they’re very cute. Alyson Hannigan is a professional; she did each take with exactly the same emphasis, hitting all of her lines perfectly — she only blew them once.

THE "LIVE AUDIENCE"

This episode was directed by an informal-looking David Schwimmer, which was a thrill for me because "Friends" is the only sitcom I watch on a regular basis. There were about a hundred people milling around on the set, and it was hard to tell what any of them were actually doing. We were told they would run through each scene twice, but in fact they did most of them three times. There were fairly long breaks and discussion in between, and a lot of "huddles" where the director, the actors, and others were talking about stuff that we couldn’t hear. The scenes were shot in order so that the audience could follow the plot.

The CBS web site says to arrive at least ninety minutes early, but most of the audience was already there by that time, and I almost didn’t get a seat. As luck would have it, I was in line with another Buffy fan that I’d seen at the Wolfram & Hart party — Heather the vampire. (Hi, Heather!)

The taping lasted over four hours. This was on top of the two hours we spent in line waiting, and being herded through the CBS lot by pages. Going to a taping is like being stuck in a plane on a runway while the tower keeps telling you that it won’t be much longer. The studio was freezing cold (take your parka and your mittens), and by the time they got to the curtain call, my knees were locked in position.

The audience babysitter was a guy named Jim, who entertained us between takes, answered our questions, and tried valiantly to keep us enthused. A disc jockey in the back played loud music and sound effects to back Jim up. As time dragged on, the audience got bored and restless, and Jim actually threw us candy and tee shirts. I don’t know what they pay these guys, but whatever it is, it isn’t enough.

One thing that surprised me was that during second or third take, the actors would do a different, and often much funnier, line. It certainly makes sense, because the new line always got a bigger laugh from the increasingly numb studio audience.

WRAP-UP

This pilot hasn’t been sold yet; it will be shown to the brass. It’s uncertain whether or not it will be on NBC’s fall schedule.

I’m not much of a sitcom person, but I thought "Americana" was pretty much par for the course. It was funny and fairly well written, with the standard laughs and double-entendres, but it wasn’t innovative or surprising. What it does have is Alyson Hannigan. She is an outstanding actress, with an extremely expressive face and winning manner. If the show catches on, it will be because of Hannigan; she’s the star. I was also very impressed by Michael Landes as well; he and Hannigan have good acting chemistry. It’s almost too bad they’re playing brother and sister.