On March 10-11, 36 university students enrolled in a situation comedy course will perform and video tape an episode of NBC's popular show "Friends" before a live audience at CU-Boulder's Irey Stage in the University Theatre.
This is the class's third year but the first time a show will be taped in front of an audience. Taping on Saturday is scheduled from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. and from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Sunday. The public is invited to watch the show.
The episode, titled "The One Where No One's Ready," is an Emmy award winning episode that takes place entirely in the apartment of characters Monica and Rachel and has no guest player. All of that went into consideration when Art Annecharico, the situation comedy course's adjunct professor, selected it from several "Friends" scripts.
"I chose this script because it is a simple, yet beautifully written and funny script, and just a delight to perform," said Annecharico.
Annecharico started the class because CU didn't have courses that taught production on dialogue and he wanted to give the students a real sense of how sit-coms are produced in Hollywood.
"Every step that we take is just like the steps that would be taken in L.A.," he said.
Students taking the class are from the School of Journalism and the departments of film studies and theatre and dance. Each student has a part in the episode. There are six actors, three directors, two producers, an art director and six cameramen. The other students are responsible for setting up camera positions, building set props, lighting and discussing how the show should run.
Annecharico, a 36-year veteran of the entertainment industry, is a two-time Emmy Award winner and has won six Laurel Awards for his work in advertising. He was the CEO and founder of The Arthur Co., which he sold to MCA in 1994 before retiring and moving to Colorado.