How much time passed between production and airing? (The Most Toys)

[Chilli]

When comparing some dates yesterday, I encountered something odd.

Compare: Wikipedia article on The Most Toys ...

Original air date 5 May 1990

David Rappaport, a well-known British actor and little person, had originally been cast for the part of Kivas Fajo. Rappaport struggled with depression in his life, and committed suicide in 1990, shortly after having filmed some scenes as Fajo. Saul Rubinek was then asked to take over the role, but some early production photographs show Rappaport in the role.

Wikipedia article on David Rappaport

On May 2, 1990, he committed suicide by shooting himself in the chest in Laurel Canyon Park in the San Fernando Valley, California.

These dates strike me as highly .. odd. He commited suicide on 2 May 1990 (a Wednesday) .. was replaced .. and the finished episode aired three days later on Saturday? Is one of these dates off, or were episodes really aired the day after filiming ended, assuming that they filmed Monday through Friday? Which strikes me as .. unlikely.

 

[Corran Horn]

Re: How much time passed between production and airing? (The Most Toys

Memory Alpha says 7 May 1990 for the airdate. I'd have to look through the TNG Companion to see if this is any clearer.

I found this, which is a little more likely scenario...

On March 4th, 1990, David tried to off himself by locking himself in his garage, with the engine of his VW running. He placed a hose from the exhaust pipe, in through the window. Somehow police were notified, and he was found unconscious. He was hospitalized for carbon monoxide poisoning, but released.

Maybe they found Saul R after the first suicide attempt?

 

[doubleohfive]

Re: How much time passed between production and airing? (The Most Toys

The TNG Companion says Rubinek was hired after Rappaport's suicide.

Next Generation was syndicated show, so it aired at different times on different dates. Just because Joe Blow saw it on Friday at 8pm in San Diego, doesn't mean it wouldn't air at 6pm on Sunday in Annapolis.

Being that Wikipedia is primarily user-generated-content-based, it's entirely possible whoever input that airdate referenced their own local schedule.

According the TNG Companion, the original "airdate" (i.e. the week the episode was first broadcast) was "First aired week of May 7, 1990."

Further, it states that Rappaport committed suicide "over the weekend, after two days of filming" implying that those shoot days were Thursday and Friday beforehand (or, if they are speaking strictly about Rappaport's scenes, they could have been anytime that prior week). Rubinek was in for costume fitting the following Monday and ready to go by noon.

The companion also says promotional photos of Rappaport as Kivas Fajo had already been sent out, so they're probably floating around the 'net somewhere...

All that said, because the show was syndicated, it's possible there was quite a bit of time between lensing and the subsequent airing of the episode.

 

[Doug Otte]

Re: How much time passed between production and airing? (The Most Toys

I thought Rappaport was replaced after his first attempt.

Doug

 

[Christopher]

Re: How much time passed between production and airing? (The Most Toys

Well, I can confirm the airdate from my own notes which I took at the time; I was keeping a pencil-and-paper episode list that I updated weekly, and "The Most Toys" aired in my market on May 11, 1990.

But it would definitely take several weeks at least to do filming and post-production on a TNG episode, probably between one and two months. Shooting all of Rubinek's scenes, doing editing, scoring, and post-production, and getting the show to air in just five days would be a physical impossibility.

If the date given for Rappaport's death is correct, then the story about his replacement on TNG must be wrong. I'd say Corran Horn's suggestion is a plausible one -- that the TNG Companion confused the first attempt on March 4 with the final one on May 2, and that Rappaport was replaced after the March attempt.

And here's evidence to support that: May 2, 1990 was a Wednesday, which doesn't fit the reference to it happening "over the weekend" in the TNG Companion. But March 4, 1990 was a Sunday.

 

[JoeD80]

Re: How much time passed between production and airing? (The Most Toys

Likely the filming was around the March date, since the final draft script of "The Most Toys" is dated February 25, 1990.

 

[doubleohfive]

Re: How much time passed between production and airing? (The Most Toys

And here's evidence to support that: May 2, 1990 was a Wednesday, which doesn't fit the reference to it happening "over the weekend" in the TNG Companion. But March 4, 1990 was a Sunday.

The other possibility being that the "two days of filming" the production did complete with Rappaport (occurred the week before he committed suicide) simply weren't done on the Thursday and Friday beforehand. It's entirely possible they shot on Wednesday and Thursday and took Friday off.

Just theorizing here. If there's anything I've learned since working in the biz it's that there is sometimes simply no rhyme or reason to production scheduling.

 

[Christopher]

Re: How much time passed between production and airing? (The Most Toys

^That doesn't even make sense. The day Rappaport killed himself was a Wednesday. How could he then have shot on Wednesday and Thursday? Besides, we've already established that it's an absolute impossibility that they could've filmed the episode and gotten it to air in only five days. The logical conclusion is that Rappaport was replaced by Rubinek after his March 4 attempted suicide -- a date that perfectly fits the "over the weekend" description -- and that the TNG Companion mistakenly confused this with his actual suicide in May.

 

[doubleohfive]

Re: How much time passed between production and airing? (The Most Toys

Hmm. I missed the part about his death being a Wednesday. I was going by Nemecek's assertion in the Companion that they got two days of shooting done and then Rappaport killed himself over the weekend. This, coupled with my understanding (and, frankly, practical experience) with how television shows are run led to my previous post.

Note also that I never suggested they shot the show and aired it five days later. That supposition came from someone else in the thread.

My mistake.

 

[Christopher]

Re: How much time passed between production and airing? (The Most Toys

Hmm. I missed the part about his death being a Wednesday. I was going by Nemecek's assertion in the Companion that they got two days of shooting done and then Rappaport killed himself over the weekend. This, coupled with my understanding (and, frankly, practical experience) with how television shows are run led to my previous post.

Yes, that's exactly my point. Nemecek's reference to the weekend is inconsistent with the date of death, but is consistent with the date of Rappaport's earlier suicide attempt. Therefore, Nemecek probably mistook the earlier incident for the latter one.

 

[doubleohfive]

Re: How much time passed between production and airing? (The Most Toys

I'm agreeing with you. Then again, given the number of typos, errors, and generally incorrect information I've noticed in that companion over the years, I'm not surprised something like this kind of confusion would happen. Oh well.

 

[Doug Otte]

Re: How much time passed between production and airing? (The Most Toys

Hmmm. I'm looking at Nemecek's Companion right now (2003 revised edition). He writes: "But Rappaport attempted suicide over the weekend after two days of filming and was hospitalized. Shortly afterward he died as a result of a second attempt." He then goes on to relate how Rubinek took the role on the Monday.

I don't see any problem or discrepancy here. I guess if you're skimming it too fast you might get the impression that Rappaport's second attempt was a few days later. Maybe Nemecek clarified himself for the revised edition.

Doug

 

[Christopher]

Re: How much time passed between production and airing? (The Most Toys

I should've checked the text myself. The 1995 revised edition says the same thing. Since doubleohfive's initial post on the subject doesn't give a full quote, I can't tell what it might've said in the edition he's using. Perhaps this is simply a case of not reading carefully enough, and Nemecek got it right the first time.

 

[doubleohfive]

Re: How much time passed between production and airing? (The Most Toys

^Being that its me, I'd say that's definitely possible.

I have the red-covered Companion, btw, that covers everything up to Generations.

 

[Christopher]

Re: How much time passed between production and airing? (The Most Toys

That sounds like the same edition I have. So I guess we can let Nemecek off the hook here. He reported it accurately, if not precisely.

 

[Trek Survivor]

Re: How much time passed between production and airing? (The Most Toys

This has been reported on before. There's even a Berman quote (I thought it was from the Companion - obviously not - perhaps from Gross and Altman's "Captain's Logs" companion then) that says after Rappaport's FIRST suicide attempt, they had to recast. It even says something to the effect of "a second suicide attempt was later successful."

In other words, guy tries to commit suicide, they recast (and feel bad about it, apparently) and then he successfully kills himself - coincidentally, a few days before the episode airs.

Question answered!