I am sure that at least some of the people involved in, say, High School Musical were IN a high school musical, but they still have people working on and building sets and costumes, on-stage, after school BEFORE the show is cast

I seem to recall in highschool we started working on the new set before the show was cast. Between constructing and striking the sets, (we did 3 plays a year, generally one comedy, one drama and one musical)the tech crew had a lot less downtime than the actors did.

I figure that someone, somewhere, is being irritated every moment. For example, Matlock was theoretically set in Atlanta, and one of the few I saw had the plot revolve around the time of a brownout. Uh, no. Georgia's never had a brownout, and many utilities have policies against them. In Georgia, the emergency plan is taking selected large industries out of service and then rolling blackouts. The latter has only been done once, in an underserved part of northwest Georgia, and that was long after Matlock. Probably 80% of the people who worked at electric utilities sprained their eyes from rolling.

Also, the layout of downtown and the courts was All Wrong.

I seem to recall in highschool we started working on the new set before the show was cast.

That doesn't work so well with costumes, though.

Not exactly Firefly news, but I thought I'd share. Fresh off the news wires:

NEW YORK (AP) — Laurence Fishburne and his wife, Gina Torres, are expecting their first child, the actor’s spokesman, Alan Nierob, said Monday.

Nierob had no other details. Fishburne, who has two children from a previous marriage, and Torres were married in 2002.

Fishburne, 45, was nominated for an Oscar for 1993’s “What’s Love Got to Do With It.” His screen credits also include “Apocalypse Now,” “The Matrix” and “Bobby,” directed by Emilio Estevez.

Torres, 38, stars in Fox’s “Standoff,” about hostage negotiators. She will co-star opposite Chris Rock in the upcoming movie “I Think I Love My Wife.”

That doesn't work so well with costumes, though.

Very true, and that's a legitimate gripe. I was just pointing out that some highschools (or at least mine) do start working on the tech before the show is actually cast. YHSMV.

Though costumes for us were generally either rented or assembled by the actors themselves. We didn't have a costume designer of any sort. I think theatre was ridiculously low on the extra curricular budget. When the highschool constructed a new building (and during each consequtive add-on) no space was set aside for the theatre, which meant everything was done in the old highschool building. The stage there had no flyspace and very little in the way of wings. It made set construction and scenery changes interesting, to say the least.

I loved watching Crimetime after Primetime on CBS, I'd watch that and the late showing of Highlander on USA. And I enjoyed Silk Stalkings even though it was obviously in some weird AU Florida where there are rocky cliffs and California coastlines. I about died laughing when they went up to "Tallahassee". X Files did an episode that was set around here and they actually came down and filmed some on location.

I've found I like The Closer despite Kyra Sedgewicks bizarre accent.

That is going to be one beautiful child.

Congratulations to Gina and family.

Shows that are set in DC but that don't use the actual Metro are the only ones that really bug me. No excuses!

There is a new film coming out with Chris!always thebadguy!Cooper that uses the for real tunnels. Good on em.

That IS important. People who have not taken classes will do what they have seen on tv.

I'm always afraid of that when I see it done badly. Plus, I find the drama really ramps up when they show it right. I had thought, in Firefly's pilot when they're all floating in with the goods in the beginning, that an opportunity for more tension was lost: that there seemed to be no danger of the crew floating off into space what with no lines or jet thingies. (I'm trying to bring it back around to topic!)

She will co-star opposite Chris Rock in the upcoming movie “I Think I Love My Wife.”

I don't think I can to watch this. Fleets of space cannibals and psychic teenage assassins I can handle, but Chris Rock being able to land Gina Torres as his wife just involves too much disbelief for me to suspend.