The Spring 2012 season finale brought the cast and crew of Duck TV together one last time in Lillis 282 to watch the final episodes, indulge in pizza, mingle with friends, and say goodbye to executive producers Virginia Rice and Richard Stutsman.
Ten minutes before the screening was supposed to start, the team was informed that no food or drink would be allowed inside the classroom. Lucas Stewart, who had spent time earlier that day ordering pizzas, expressed his annoyance. “We prepared it all, displayed it all in Lillis 282, and…some guy comes in who’s apparently watching on the security camera and says ‘no food in this room’.”
Quickly, Stewart ordered the team to move the food and drinks outside. The hallway turned into a party and people were still able to enjoy their food.
As the food dwindled, people began entering the room, bringing with them energy and excitement.
Almost every seat in the room was filled and as Richard announced the start of the finale, everyone broke into a round of applause. Each show entertained the audience, begging laughter, gasps and applause.
The last show ended and the lights came on again. Time for awards. Duck TV adviser Rebecca Force herself made a guest appearance, bowing and smiling as the audience cheered her to the front of the room. “Congratulations, thank you very much. It’s really been a pleasure and an honor to be your adviser,” she said.
She awarded the Force Award for the best episode of the finale award to Rap City. “Rap City’s my life, I said I’d say it twice!” someone shouted, referencing a line in their last show. The room erupted in applause and laughter.
Next, she awarded the Overall Force Award to Quarter Life Crisis. The show also won the Audience Award for best show.
The show was written primarily by Peter Gallagher and Sean Roney, who also acts. “Winning awards is good,” producer and actor Halden Hoodenpyl smiled. Roney added, “It validates all our work.”
When asked what qualities of their show allowed them to win, Hoodenpyl, Roney, Gallagher and producer Alex McLeod spouted off a number of things: underwater cameras, lightning, editing, and original music.
Hoodenpyl said that every episode, they wanted to have one thing to focus on that would impress their audience. “The first episode we had getting struck by lightning and we had props like wrapping Frank up and putting him in a wheelchair,” explained Roney. “Designing props in the third episode – we had to design rats that explode blood.” The amount of time and thought put into their show obviously paid off.
Another fun award was the Ryan Hoefle Award for an actor who appears in the most shows. Ironically, it was awarded to David Rodriguez, Hoefle’s partner in crime in their comedy show, Fumblerooski. Rodriguez initially expressed interest in doing more on Duck TV. “I love what I do and I do what I love,” Rodriguez said. He then started thinking about ways to get onto multiple segments. “I joked about showing up to sets, kinda sneaking up in the background, reading a newspaper and them not knowing I was there,” he laughed. “Just trying to get on as many credit rolls as possible,” Hoefle explained.
“I was totally left in the dark about the whole award thing,” Hoefle continued, “but I thought it was hilarious and couldn’t have gone to a better guy.”
Both Hoefle and Rodriguez are appreciative of the executive producer’s efforts on Duck TV and will miss the two execs who are leaving.
“I got to be very good friends with producers, especially Virginia,” Ryan Hoefle said. “Richard oversaw our show. He definitely helped out a lot in the improvement of my show personally. Virginia’s energy can get anyone excited about anything. It’s a good combination to have and definitely the guys next year have some pretty big shoes to fill.”
With the number of shows and improvements among all of them that happened over the course of the term, it is safe to say that the Spring 2012 season of Duck TV was a success.
Stay tuned for the fall.