If everything goes to schedule—no sure bet these days—we get to start it again a week from today.
That's right. One week from today—barring any kind of tragedy—we, for the first time in almost two years, get to start taping a new season of “High School Bowl”. After all the fits and starts of hoping we'd be able to do it last year, and then having the plug pulled at the last minute, I think we're all looking forward to getting back into the studio and spending a little time with the brightest young people on the planet.
At least I'M looking forward to it.
The guts of the show--smart kids and a dorky host—will remain the same. However, it'll look a bit different that it did when we wrapped up the previous season in the Before Times. A new set was built for the season that never was last year; now, that's been modified even more and, perhaps for the first times since the 70s, the show will now look “modern”. I've seen mock-ups of it, and I can't wait to see it in person.
I think people watching the show might really like it, too. It sure is...different, even though it's set up in a very familiar way.
Another big change that might occur? Well, there's a chance we'll all be masked up on camera. It's an NMU rule, and we're still seeing how that all falls out. All the students, of course, are seated close to each other, and while I'm more than six feet away from them, I do have to get in close for the mid-show interview segments. I don't mind wearing a mask—if nothing else, it means I could probably get away with not shaving before a show--and if it sets a good example for someone out there, I'm all for it.
As with the new set, we'll see how that all shakes out.
And finally, although people watching will have no idea at all, we're having to shoot the first couple of episodes in segments, and not necessarily in order. We shoot the first half of the first show on day one, and then the second half a week later, when we also shoot the second half of the third show. It goes on like this for most of October—for instance, we don't shoot the opening half of show two until week five—but the viewing audience should have no idea.
The only person to whom it really matters is me, if only because I have to make sure my clothes from one half of the show to the other match up.. Hopefully, the chart I made up actually works. Otherwise, you'll be sitting there wondering why I'm in a pink shirt for the first half of the show and a black one for the second.
And nobody wants that.
Like I said, one week from today we'll see if all this works. And, if I haven't mentioned yet, it's something to which I am really looking forward. Hopefully, it'll be as much fun as it was the first six years we were able to do it!
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