© Hayden Black

On the eve of the American premiere of brand new, half hour episodes of Goodnight Burbank – a webshow which has previously featured Rich Fulcher – TVO spoke to our friend Hayden Black about the launch of his enhanced version of the show.  

To find out what it was like writing for John Barrowman and how to film a high standard tv show in a garage… read on…

Good afternoon Hayden, welcome back to The Velvet onion. Could you explain how the idea for half hour episodes of GNB came about? Did you write them knowing they would be on TV one day?

Just over a year ago, I had two conversations that led to GNB becoming half-hours. The first was when Hulu threw out the idea (just the idea, no money) and the second was a trip to the UK where Channel 4 expressed some interest in a British version of the series for TV. They asked me a very good question that I had no idea how to answer which was “what does a half-hour version look like?” I realized the best way of answering that was to create it, and so I set about re-imagining the show and developing it into an original half-hour format. Something that could sustain interest for 30 mins, that was compelling and that was unique. God knows if I did it, but there you go.

How do differences in cultural references in Britain and America have an influence on your writing? Do you feel you can only use American ones?

I think the majority of what I wrote was “American” in nature because that’s where these episodes are intended to be viewed. But no matter how many times I shower, I’m still British – I’m still a Salford lad at heart – and so there are some uniquely British cultural references. For example, in Episode 6, I make up a language and had the actresses speak it in a Russian accent – and some of the words they used were “Jackanory” and “Hector’s House.” And the Irish immigration attorney in Ep4 is named Dave Allen after the legend himself. There’s also a reference to Salford in Ep5 by Juliet Landau. If American audiences get it, great. If not, I don’t worry as they’re throwaway references and it doesn’t require the audience understand it to get the greater joke – but I get a kick out of knowing the proverbial “3 people in the back row” will get it. That’s where I draw the line though – using obscure cultural references as main plot points is self-indulgent and I’m trying to create something that lots of people can enjoy, not JUST 3 people in the back row.

© Hayden Black

It was great writing for John Barrowman, especially getting to include references to Doctor Who and Torchwood. I think you guys will love hearing his “take” on those shows – it’s pretty unique!

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