STBD 5-8: Revealed!

It's not every day that a local politician has the self-confidence AND self-deprecation to lampoon himself on a weekly web sitcom, but that's exactly what Pittsburgh City Councilman Bill Peduto did in this week's episode of Something to Be Desired.

The Making of "The Mathis / Peduto Debate" involved:

- 4 (loosely) scripted pages

- 90% improvisation

- 45 minutes of raw footage

- 1 three-hour shoot

- 7+ hours of editing

Fun Facts, Scene by Scene:

* The seed for this episode was planted way back in June, when Mr. Peduto was initially introduced to STBD by his friends who work in social media (via the iJustine / Matthew Ebel episode). He mentioned that he'd like to make a cameo appearance, but we weren't sure how to include him in the flow of the show. However, when we hit upon the Mathis 4 Mayor idea, a debate with Peduto seemed like a natural opportunity...

* The entire episode was filmed in the basement of The Art Institute of Pittsburgh, which houses a TV studio for the video production students.

* When Roger (Chadd Zivic) pops in on Bill to prep him for the sound check, Bill is perusing Reform Pittsburgh, the videoblog / political activism site he co-authors.

* Roger's lanyard is the same one STBD creator Justin Kownacki wore at PodCamp Boston 2 two weekends ago. (We suspected it would come in handy again...)

* Moderator Jill Wright is portrayed by Dawn Papuga, co-host of the literary blog / podcast Lyrique Tragedy.

* The Coalition of Ethical Voters is a fictional organization created by STBD fan Brendan Butt, who devised the first (and, thus far, only) Mathis "smear campaign" video.

* The debate itself was almost entirely improvised, and filmed out of order. The responses to Jill's questions are not always the intended responses, nor were the exchanges between Mathis and Peduto always filmed concurrently. Editing creates a whole 'nother reality, folks...

* Actor Rick Hertzig (aka Glenn) volunteered his time to keep track of continuity during the debate. His notes during the improvised sessions enabled Dawn to craft her questions after the candidates had already given their answers.

* The bra-laden cup holder Rich (Erik Schark) lovingly strokes while Peduto introduces himself is the same cupholder Rich lovingly strokes in Episode 5-5, when he and Tabitha (Courtney Jenkins) are filming his campaign ads. In reality, that cupholder remained in Justin Kownacki's car for a month, awaiting its return engagement...

* Nearly all of Tabitha, Liz (Jennifer Koegler) and Roger's dialogue in the booth was improvised as well.

* We would have turned on the TV screens in the booth, but none of us knew how and there were no technologists in the building. Thus, we decided not to break anything.

* Rich's reference to Planet Unicorn is an homage to the greatest web series ever (besides STBD). Rich can actually be heard singing the theme song to himself when he walks in on Caroline (Ann Turiano) and Tabitha in this year's STBD Halloween Special flashback.

* The ending, in which Peduto quits politics altogether, was actually Peduto's idea, suggested at the beginning of filming. He thought it satirically echoed his withdrawal from this year's actual mayoral race.