Dead Drunk Detective: Out for the Count

October 3rd is a date best known because of Mean Girls, but it is also a significant one for this show. Monday 3rd October 2016 - four years ago today - is when Dead Drunk Detective made its debut! Listeners were treated to a double bill of 'Out for the Count' (the first script I ever wrote about Johnny Stumbles) and 'What Sup, Doc?'.

I recently revisited the pilot for the first time in a while and had a few stray observations. If you don't want spoilers, listen to the episode (each one is only ten minutes long), then return for some trivia.

Most sitcoms tend to make the initial outing an introduction of sorts. This is usually in the form a character rocking up at a new place and being introduced to the rest of the cast. There is no such handholding with Dead Drunk Detective. The monologue over the theme tune is all you get in terms of setting up the world, then we jump straight into a case of the week.

I have already covered how many show staples were established in the pilot, but omitted the plight of poor Hairy Potter. This is the first of many cases in which the nicest guy in town is the target of a crime. Why do so many crooks try to mess around this sweetheart? Most perpetrators don't even know he's a werewolf! Maybe life is just unfair. In reality though, it's an excuse for me to cast Steff in as many episodes as possible.

In contrast, one thing I don't use past episode one is a group denouement. Gathering all the suspects in a room to show off your smarts is a very Johnny Stumbles move, but it is more reminiscent of Agatha Christie than noir. Staging such a scene is also, in terms of production, a logistical nightmare. We had five actors and four mics, thus necessitating the cast to repeatedly lean in and out between lines. From series one onwards, I try (key word: try) to largely keep scenes to four people.

Similarly out of place is Dracula's retelling of the shooting. This speech is the closest in style to I'm Sorry I'll Read That Again, the radio show I wanted to emulate. Primarily a joke run where lines alternate between setup and punchline, it does however establish his penchant for posing existential questions. As the series went on, I tried to develop not only my own creative voice, but write more gags that come from character instead of having everyone sound like identical joke delivery machines.

Speaking of which, Kate's reading of Betty's 'quelle surprise' without the French pronunciation is an ad-lib. This is why you pick fantastically funny people for you cast - they will always find extra jokes.