Super Pancake Bros. Super Trivia!

This entry is for fancakes only.  If you're a nerd like me, then you buy DVDs not only for the movies/TV shows, but so you can watch all the special features.  I've learned a lot about cinematography from the Breaking Bad commentaries, how special effect shots can be achieved practically (and by practically I mean if you have millions of dollars) by watching the documentaries on The Dark Knight Rises DVD, and handfuls of editing tricks from commentaries and special features on the James Bond films.  Yep, I'm a nerd.  So in the spirit of my nerdiness, and knowing that there has to be at least a few fancakes out there who are at least somewhat as nerdy as me, I'd like to share some trivia from the first five episodes of the second series of The Super Pancake Bros. Super Show.

And if you haven't seen all those episodes yet, well, what's the matter with you?

Alright, ready?  Here it comes!

SPBSS #11

We had decided on our attire for the "Robo-Fantasy" scene while it was appropriately cold for a Northeast PA autumn.  Of course, the day we filmed it was randomly about 85 degrees.  I'm surprised you can't see the sweat on screen.  Also, I borrowed my flannel shirt for the scene from my dad.

The "Tie" scene was filmed on the fly about five minutes after we came up with the idea.  S.M. was attempting to put on a tie for a different scene, and after he flubbed the job for real, I started taunting him to be a jerk, just like in the scene.  We both laughed hard enough to decided to film it and put it in the show.

In the "Mountaintop Mountain" commercial, originally I had no intention of using the stock footage shot of skier falling down, but as I was about to trim the shot I couldn't stop laughing at the dude.  I felt that I had to include it in the commercial, or I'd forever regret it.  I didn't want to regret a fake ski resort commercial.

SPBSS #12

I feel like we really nailed the interview style seen on local news shows in the "Breaking News" segment.  In fact, my character's testimony, "I seen a gang of teenagers." is taken right from an actual local news clip that I saw online.  The person on the actual news did have a little bit more to say, but essentially that's all they had to offer in the way of insight.  "I seen a gang of teenagers!"  Golly.

If you're a fan of The Super Mario Bros. Super Show from the late 80s/early 90s, then you know that not only that's where we got our title, but that going to a preview of a cartoon that is shown on Fridays was a regular part of the show.  They would show previews for the upcoming episode of Legend of Zelda.  The games are awesome, the show was... not.  We improvised the dialog for the cartoon clips I put together right as we were watching it together for the first time.

I love green olives, and I specifically included the gag of consuming way too many green olives as an excuse to eat a lot of them.  It worked out to my benefit at first, but by the end of filming those scenes I had a wicked case of salt burps.  Uuuuuuuurp!

SPBSS #13

This episode, in which S.M. is a genie, is actually a sequel to an episode of our original web show, At Home with the Pancakes.  In that episode I wished to be a sharp dresser, and S.M. granted the wish with a snazzy, long coat and a derby hat.  Then I wished for a way to make people feel positive just by pointing at them; S.M. granted this wish by giving me a giant foam finger.  And my last wish... I couldn't remember what it was and wasted my wish by wishing to know what I wished for.  You guessed it, I was going to wish for world peace.  I just can't seem to get that one right.

If you couldn't tell, we were legitimately drunk in the drinking scene.  I had actually started filling the whiskey bottle with water in an attempt to sober up.  I downed two bottles of water-from-a-whiskey-bottle.  That seemed to do the trick.  Thankfully, I didn't end up puking like in the episode.

My wish for more dance numbers in the show pays off immediately in the episode, but it also pays off again later in the series.  You'll have to watch them all to find out when!  Trust me, it will be glorious.

SPBSS #14

One of our favorite acting cohorts, Don McGlynn, appears in this episode as our Uncle Bernie.  This makes him the second person, after Maggie Pancake, to make two appearances on the show.  Not only that, but he'll be appearing again in the Series 2 finale.  Not with an eyepatch though, so don't be disappointed when you see him on there without an eyepatch.

The creepy character, Hank, that stalks S.M. did not have a name when we started filming.  He was named by Don on the spot as we were filming.

The pill that S.M. takes is filled with sugar.  Mmmmmm, placebo pill...

SPBSS #15

"The Pool Episode" came about exactly how we play it on screen; we wanted to figure out a way to do a whole episode without getting out of the pool.  Unfortunately, once we had settled on the idea, the weather was uncooperative.  It's not nearly as sunny or warm in the episode as it had been any other day we filmed at S.M.'s parents' house (which is where the pool is).  In the scene in which we discuss making a whole episode in the pool, you can see S.M. shivering and hear a slight quiver in his voice during some lines.

Originally, when S.M. hits me with the ball, I had wanted to stumble and fall off the side of the pool into the yard.  We couldn't do this due to the pool being surrounded by a large patch of gravel, so we settled on having me fall into a chair on the deck.  I love doing physical comedy and would have loved taking the fall off the side of the pool, but onto gravel?  No thanks; I'm not Mic Foley.

We didn't realize when we filmed that we hadn't actually filmed enough to fill up a whole episode, hence "The Best of the Pool Episode" commercial.  Typically I put commercials in when there's not enough stuff in the episode to hit six minutes, but too much stuff to squeeze in another whole scene.  I didn't want to do a commercial that wasn't pool-related, so the idea for a "Best of" compilation from a single episode struck me.  I thought the idea was far too stupid to ignore, S.M. dug it when I ran it past him, and now you get to watch it!  You lucky duck!  Lucky pool duck with a thermometer on the bottom!

Well, nerd, you've read all the trivia.  Now you can rewatch all the episodes with these trivia facts in mind for a much richer viewing experience.  Or just watch them again because they're stupid and funny, and it's good to take six minutes out of your day to laugh instead of worrying about all the crap you have to put up with in this life.

Until next time, Paisanos!