1 November 2000
| Digital Dish Diva says: Welcome to MSN Live! Tonight we talk with J.J. Abrams and Matt Reeves who created the hit
series, Felicity.
J.J. Abrams says: Yo! Matt Reeves says: Yo! (with a hoarse voice) Digital Dish Diva says: Let's talk about tonight's show. I know we are in for some big surprises. J.J. Abrams says: Tonight we continue the story of Felicity having gotten drunk at a party and waking up in the bed of a student she doesn't know or remember and then has no idea that this has occurred. Felicity comes into this episode with enormous guilt and questions and it will all come to a head tonight. Digital Dish Diva says: sugar84 Asks: Did anyone inspire the character of Felicity? Are any of the characters based on real people? J.J. Abrams says: No one person in particular, but there was a girl in high school that I knew who was a very introverted girl and I remember around graduation time going up to her and telling her that we hadn't really met, but that I enjoyed being in school with her. It was an amalgam of various characters. Digital Dish Diva says: Sniglet_FFF Asks: Any plans for releasing a compilation of past Felicity episodes, behind-the-scenes footage and outtakes for home video? J.J. Abrams says: We would love to do that and the likelihood of that happening would increase if the show went on for another year at least. We have no plans at the moment to do that but I think it would be really fun to do. Digital Dish Diva says: KittyKat2113 Asks: Huge Sean lover here. He and Meghan are such a cute couple but will they be lasting as a couple for much longer? They seem to fight a lot. Matt Reeves says: Our feeling is that that is the dynamic of the relationship. That their tumultuousness is the basis of their relationship. So they may break up a lot but they always come back together, that's just their M.O. It shows their passion how much they break up and get back together. Digital Dish Diva says: gracefallen says: Do you guys write each episode? J.J. Abrams says: No, I do a pass. I work on every episode, I don't write every one from scratch. The first year I wrote over half and the second year I wrote fewer and this year I've written fewer still. It's been nice to write less because I can work more on the storyline. It's worked really well this year. Digital Dish Diva says: sosmooth3 Asks: J.J. and Matt, what can we Felicity fans do to insure that our beloved show stays on the air? Matt Reeves says: You can line up outside the WB. (laugh) J.J. Abrams says: I think it's hard because we have intense competition. The network responds to numbers, and we're doing better this year than we did last year. And in my mind the episodes this year are so great and if we don't get picked up for the remainder of this year or next year, I think that all the cast and crew will feel that this has been the best experience of our lives. And if we do get picked up, we'll have even better stories ahead. Matt Reeves says: And we want to thank everyone that has been watching. Digital Dish Diva says: nursekaren says: Hi Matt, J.J., did you know Keri was going to cut her hair? Did her haircut change the way you wrote for her? Matt Reeves says: Not only did we know she was going to cut her hair, despite all the stories, we were the ones that discussed the idea of her cutting her hair. It was the story line itself. One of the mistakes we made last year was breaking up Felicity and Ben too early. And we thought that would be something that someone would do after a breakup, something different. I think it did change storylines. She took stock of where she had gone to and cutting her hair expressed how she had lost her way. Digital Dish Diva says: Guest_jovi Asks: Where did the idea of the show come from? Any real life experiences of your lives in the show? J.J. Abrams says: Certainly a lot of the things we write about come from our experiences. This just came from me, creating a woman that wanted to go after a man, and once she gets away from her family, she realizes she has a perspective and needs to stay away so she can find out where she wants her life to go. Then it sort of got a life of it's own and became the organic thing it is now. Digital Dish Diva says: KittyKat2113 Asks: Hi J.J. and Matt, I hear that a new Felicity soundtrack was coming out. Will this be anytime soon? J.J. Abrams says: Actually we had some legal issues with some of the songs so it's on hold at the moment, but we hope to release one soon. I think the music we've had on the show this year, we've had some great songs. At Felicity.com we have a list of all the songs that are on. Digital Dish Diva says: Tuts3 Asks: How has the dynamic of the cast changed in the past two years? Which cast member do you think has changed the most? J.J. Abrams says: I think all the characters have changed somewhat. I think Meghan has changed the most, she was truly this ya know, cruel bitchy roommate. I think in terms of the actors, we've all been working together very closely, for about 3 years and we know each other so well there's this close familiarity that everyone has. It's one of those things if the show goes away, the best part would have been working with this cast and crew. Digital Dish Diva says: sosmooth3 Asks: Loved John Ritter as Ben's Dad, great acting on both parts, will he be back and for how many episodes and do they resolve their relationship? J.J. Abrams says: He's coming back in two weeks and it's a really shocking episode in which Ben's father has shown up because Ben has been badly injured. His father shows up and is very saddened by Ben's refusal to see him. In a scene where he goes to Felicity hoping to figure out a way to see his son, and he's so sad he cries and Felicity comforts him and in a moment of desperation and sadness, kisses her. It's a very shocking scene. Digital Dish Diva says: the_spoilerman Asks: Will there be a themed Thanksgiving & Christmas show? J.J. Abrams says: We actually are not doing a themed Thanksgiving show, but we are doing a themed Christmas show. Digital Dish Diva says: Tuts3 Asks: Do you actually take Internet fan comments to heart when writing the storylines or are fans just flattering themselves to think so? J.J. Abrams says: I think it is a crucial and insightful tool. I think television producers would be remiss to discard the comments of their fans. And the speed of which they can receive this feedback is great. Matt Reeves says: That is one of the first things we do after a show, we log on to see how everyone liked it and what they thought of it. Digital Dish Diva says: precious says: Do you actually film in a Dean & Deluca? Do they give you props? Do you make actual coffee in the Dean & Deluca scenes? J.J. Abrams says: We actually have a Dean & Deluca set so we don't actually go to Dean & Deluca. They did actually send us some props from one of their locations so we do have one of their coffee machines and all the coffee machines are operational. We're not always making the coffee, but we have made it. Digital Dish Diva says: Cutie_CheerGirl Asks: I love the show! How long does it take to make one episode of Felicity? J.J. Abrams says: A lifetime. (laughs) We shoot the episodes in either 7 or 8 days. They are written over 2 or 3 weeks and editorial takes about 3 weeks. Digital Dish Diva says: BabyJustine Asks: Why did Amy Jo Johnson leave the show? J.J. Abrams says: With Amy Jo, it was a mutual decision. It was one that was made because we had so many characters in the show and we felt we weren't giving her enough time, or wasting her in a way, and it wasn't fair to her. We just decided that for her to take a leave for a while was the right thing for her and the show and we have a plan for her to come back so it's not like she'll be gone forever. Matt Reeves says: The good thing was that because we knew she was leaving and coming back, we could give her a storyline she could really sink her teeth into. J.J. Abrams says: We love Amy Jo, she's the best. Digital Dish Diva says: Guest_Irisgoo Asks: What if you don't get picked up? Will you have a 2-hour finale to wrap things up? J.J. Abrams says: We probably won't, because we have a pretty explosive episode 11, which is the last one of this run. We're doing at least 2 more about that, and since the network hasn't made up it's mind yet, we have to keep pursuing as though it will keep going. We're all hoping we'll get picked up for some more. Until we're told otherwise, we want to keep moving ahead. For everyone that is concerned, it's helpful to tell your friends about the show and also tell the network and your local station that you love the show and hope it stays on. Digital Dish Diva says: J.J., Matt, thanks for joining us tonight on MSN Live. We will keep watching Felicity each week! Check out Felicity at 9pm! J.J. Abrams says: Thank you for watching, we hope you like the show tonight and we think the next round of episodes are some of our stronger stories and we hope you agree. Matt Reeves says: Thank you for watching. |