They say imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. If that's the case, not only are those who set out to recreate the Perfect Strangers theme song flattering the original show, they're flattering those who have come before them! On the heels of the brilliant and accurate Perfect Strangers: Seattle Intro created by The Baggy Pants, The Super Secret Project, a hilarious comedic entity, has offered up their entry into this ever-growing video phenomenon! First, have a look at Perfect Strangers Boston! Then read our exclusive interview with the SSP below!
Perfect
Strangers: Boston
And
the side by side comparison with the original Perfect Strangers Intro:
P.S. Online: What was your inspiration for doing Perfect Strangers Boston?
Super
Secret Project: We saw the Seattle version by "The Baggy Pants"
and thought it was just great. We took it as a call to create one for
every US city. As soon as we saw the Seattle remake, we just started
batting around ideas about where we could shoot the one for Boston. Billy
didn't feel like wearing shorts in January and neither of us owned a tux, so we
decided to play up the Boston / New York rivalry a little bit. Oh yeah,
and we had nothing better to do.
P.S. Online: Were you, or are you, fans of Perfect Strangers?
Super Secret Project: We live by the creed "When you rolling out the dough, just be sure you roll it slow."
P.S. Online: How did you go about scouting locations for the shoot?
Super Secret Project: We both went to Emerson, which is right in the heart of Boston's downtown, so we were pretty familiar with what would work to stand in for the original shots. Google Maps helped a lot, too. After we had a rough edit of the video, one of our "Supervising Producers", Tim Brenner went out and reshot some stuff (the opening shot of city, the Boston highway sign) and improved the production value a great deal.
P.S. Online: How long did it take you to shoot it?
Super Secret
Project: Most of it was shot
in one day, but getting the "Beantown Or Burst" shot was annoying, as
we ended up shooting it twice. The first time we had him in a pickup
truck, and it came off a bit weak. For everything though, I'd say 10 hours
total . . . We also recorded a new version of the song (with thick Boston
accents) that in the end, didn't really work, so we stuck with the original.
P.S. Online: How much money did it cost to film?
Super Secret Project: It didn't cost any real money for us to film, however I am pretty sure I broke the clutch of my Aunt's Mustang during the shoot. So when I get the bill for that, I will let you know.
P.S. Online: Any funny stories to share about your experience making PSB?
Super Secret Project: It was just cold. There was a lot of "wait, why are we doing this again"? Also, when the clutch of the Mustang went out, and it broke down, Billy was on an overpass about a mile up the road, waiting for it to go under. And it never did.
P.S. Online: Tell us about the SSP, your background and how you got into making these humorous videos!
Super Secret
Project: We started making
videos together after our producer, Darby DeChristopher and I began working
together at a video production house in Cambridge, Mass. One of the SSP
members, Keith Brown, who is out in LA, and I had written a feature called
"Vacationland" and when Darby and I realized we had access to all
kinds of gear, we all decided it could work as a short. We cast Billy in
the lead, filmed it for about 100 bucks, and once it was done, and YouTube came
along, we just started knocking them out. Zach Braff showed a video we
made about him called "Ode To Zach Braff" on "The Tonight
Show" after that, and it kind of kickstarted the whole thing.
P.S. Online: What do you hope your PSB video will achieve in terms of making a difference in the world? ; )
Super Secret Project: Our hope is that this video single-handedly eradicates poverty worldwide and brings world peace to the whole, um, world.
P.S. Online: Do you have any upcoming projects you would like to plug?
Super Secret
Project: As always, we are
working on more videos. You can check them out at our YouTube
Channel.
You
can visit the Super Secret Project's Website by clicking here!
(Please note
there is adult-oriented materials on the SSP's websites!)