Behind the Scenes of 'Everybody Hates Chris'

News & Notes producer Christopher Johnson worked on today's segment, recorded on the set of The CW's Everybody Hates Chris.

Here's his firsthand account of being on location:

When you live in or near Hollywood -- or anywhere else in Los Angeles, really -- you hear a lot about Hollywood and meet plenty of folks with their hearts set on being a part of "the Hollywood industry." But it's not everyday that I get to dive right into Hollywood central where all the soup -- and the money -- is actually made.

The cast of "Everybody Hates Chris."

The CW

Going to the set of Everybody Hates Chris was one of those days. A sunny, gorgeous late summer L.A. day, on top if it all.

From the gate, there was mild madness. Farai and I drove over in separate cars. I had a pass ready and waiting for me; Ms. Chideya did not.

After tracking down the PR woman for this taping, she summoned the right forces, we said some magic spell, and abracadabra!, the gates of Paramount studios opened for Farai to enter.
I've been on film and TV sites, and I still don't get the very unique sense of time by which they operate. Lots of hurry up and wait, indeed.

So we met Ali LeRoi, the co-creator and executive producer of the show. Nice guy, pretty funny ... but with a strange nervous tick: as he spoke casually with Farai outside the set, he pulled some cash out of his pocket and proceeded to carefully unfold and smooth out each bill, and stack it behind the next one. You know you're a money-maker when even your nervous habits involve fiddling with cold cash.

Ali LeRoi photographed in 2005.

Stephen Shugerman, Getty Images

He has a gorgeous office, covered with photos he's taken all over the world. The walls were lined with charts and grids and graphs and lines and names going every which way. Clearly, someone was doing some serious work in here. But LeRoi -- a tall, solid man with wrists coated in tasteful silver jewelry -- was calm and welcoming.

We eventually wandered over to the set -- a classic scene with lots of people just hanging around, watching. It's funny to see the people who make TV doing the same thing we do when we look at TV.

I learned a lot about myself, though, because on the set of a black show, the only person I recognized (and subsequently got star struck over) was Seinfeld alum Jason Alexander. He was directing. I wanted to go shake his hand. But he was busy. So I opted for just staring at him until he shot me an uncomfortable "Who's the freak?" smile.

The space was small, and crammed with bodies, props, equipment, and more bodies. We got a couple more interviews. It went by pretty fast.

But it was good to go and talk with folks who are just as committed to their craft as Farai and I. And I liked some of the things that Ali said about money, class, and power. Those scraps had to be thrown to the cutting room floor, unfortunately.

I can never go to one of those and not think, "Could I get into this world?" The scene is pretty seductive -- for material and creative reasons.

And, because then you'd get to say at that next L.A. party that you are "in the industry."

-- Christopher Johnson

Geoffrey Bennett

4:57 PM ET | 10-15-2007 | permalink

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