The James D.T.J. & Friends 1/2 Hour
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The James D.T.J. & Friends 1/2 Hour was a television series that followed the structure of that of a cable-access program, chronicling the adventures and exploits of a daydreamer and his friends and family as they went through high school in a small town in the Central Coast of California. The series was part sketch comedy, part sitcom, and part improvisational comedy. A majority of the cast acted 'as themselves' (with the exception of a handful of character actors, animals, and puppets on the program), and most of the individual dialogue in each episode was completely improvised on the part of the cast. A staple of the entire series was James D.T.J.'s frequent appearances as varying dual role guest characters on the program. Aside from acting as himself, the host, James also played the roles of 'Phillip Bredinboccer'(who joined the cast in Season Two), 'Grampa Joe', 'Pa Chiggins', 'Kipp Derringer', 'J.P. Grizzwald', 'Melbourne Hunter', and was the voice and sole puppeteer of 'Groany.' But perhaps the strangest aspect of the series' history is the way it has been presented to the public.
Originally devised by James D.T.J. (Creator, Host, Director, and Head Writer for all Three Seasons) to be a mere local cable-access program, the series began production under the realms of Cabacsas Studios (shortened production name for that particular branch of Calbe-Access) and Aquila Films (recently redubbed 'DuskDrive Films'), D.T.J.'s production company. However certain restrictions, time-constraints, and power-struggles at Cabacsas studios, caused D.T.J. to produce the series solely under Aquila Films, independently, where the series held firm throughout all three of its seasons. However the series has reached its greatest number of viewers in three ways:
- on the series' official web-site (maintained by James D.T.J., himself),
- on the series' page on the ever-popular web-hosting site, MySpace, and
- on DVD.
Aquila Films released all three seasons of the series onto Special Edition DVD box set in June of 2006- available primarily through the series' official web-site. Thus the television series lives on in obscurity.
[edit] Series Synopsis
[edit] Season One
Originally airing in December of 2003, Season One of the series mainly involved its original cast encountering adventures that would be considered typical of today's teenaged youth. More often than not, the cast wound up in predicaments at school, or in mishaps with their parents. The original cast was as follows: James D.T.J., Cody Rhess, Katie Winnewisser, Seth Hansen, Brianna Wilson, and Kendall Miller.
[edit] Season Two
In Season Two of the series, the cast began experimenting with their imaginations. Short films wherein the castmembers portrayed different characters frequented the second season. Added to the cast line-up for Season Two was Bobby Ross, the puppeteered character 'Groany', Susie Spitoon, the dog Holly, Phillip Bredinboccer, and Jack the Monkey.
[edit] Season Three
The series finally became complete in its third and final season- which began with a series of episodes which introduced a whole supporting cast of new characters (Grampa Joe, Reverend Michael Shaw, The Mystic Wise-man, Bob and Doug Mackenzie, and the emo kid). Widely considered the most popular season, Season Three focuses more on the individual characters of the series, and their interactions with one another. A staple of the season became the experimental pairing of two obligatory characters (i.e. Kendall Miller and Groany; Katie Winnewisser and Phillip Bredinboccer; Grampa Joe and Reverend Michael Shaw) for specific sketches. This continued until the series' end in August of 2005, when James D.T.J. decided it was time to close up shop on the series altogether.
[edit] Characters
[edit] James D.T.J.
James was literally in charge of the series throughout its entire run. He did everything from producing the series, to directing its music. James is also a known voice-actor, and made a habit of playing many other roles throughout the series- all of which demonstrated his ability to create characters, each completely different from the next. Currently James is developing a sequel series to the original one with former castmate Seth Hansen. James also continues film work with his film and television production company, DuskDrive Films (formerly Aquila Films).
[edit] Cody Rhees
Cody Rhees began as the series' primary camera-operator, but within the first three episodes, Cody wound up appearing in front of the camera more than behind it. Since the series' end in 2006, Cody is pursuing a career as a Game Programmer in Southern California.
[edit] Katie Winnewisser
Katie Winnewisser was the only other castmember to also be on the writing staff of the series. She was also the only female castmember- until Brianna Wilson joined the cast later in Season One.
[edit] Seth Hansen
Seth Hansen, although not on the writing staff, helped develop many of the series' most populat sketches, and even directed a number of episodes throughout Seasons One and Two (Seth was also the only other person besides James to direct an episode). Seth and James still work together today.
[edit] Brianna Wilson
Brianna Wilson appeared in the series the least of the entire cast. For varying reasons, she was unable to arrive at different shoots, and at one stage in the series' history was in danger of being removed from the show altogether. But James enjoyed the subtle humor that Brianna brought to the show's chemistry, and let her remain as a main castmember, despite her few appearances.
[edit] Kendall Miller
Often pegged as the 'Scape-Goat' or 'Guinea Pig' of the series, Kendall was always the castmember volunteered for any stunt the cast was interested in. On the regular segment 'James and Katie's Science Corner' (Season One), Kendall was the test subject for every single experiment attempted. Currently Kendall is pursuing a career in music- a skill he was able to showcase on the series in Season Three.
[edit] Susie Spitoon
'Susie Spitoon' was a stereotyped character of a country bumpkin that James designed to poke fun at himself and the rest of the inhabitants of his rural hometown, Templeton (in which the series is set). And when it came to who would portray the character, James turned to his long-time friend. character actress Stephanie Strejan- who remained with the series until the end of Season Two, when personal difficulties forced her to leave the cast (the only person in the series' history to ever do so).
[edit] Bobby Ross
Bobby Ross essentially invited himself to join the series' cast. As a friend of practically the entire original cast, Bobby occasionally hung around as the series was being filmed. One day he decided to jump into the action and convinced the camera operator to roll film as Bobby improvised a series of monologues. James was so entertained by this that he immediately signed Bobby on to have his own segment on Season One of the series: 'Heart to Haert with Bobby Ross'. By Season Two, James decided to see if Bobby could hold his own in an actual full-length sketch. So Bobby Ross made his cast debut in the incredibly popular 'Superheroes' episode of the series. Bobby was immediately invited to join the main cast, where he remained until the series end.
[edit] Groany
Designed after a childhood toy of James', Groany was the only 'puppet' ever to appear in the series. Voiced and operated by James D.T.J., Groany became known as the series' unofficial mascot, and pretty much had the frustrated attitude that James would only ever convey through a puppet.
[edit] Phillip Bredinboccer
Phillip Bredinboccer was explained as being James' identical British Cousin- but was obviously James himself in a dual-role. Originally introduced in a ssingle sketch, the pompous self-involved Phillip became so popular that James brought him back again and again, until he was added to the main cast in Season Two.
[edit] Holly
Holly is james' dog, and was added to the series' main line-up for two main reasons- 1) she had appeared in the background of numerous sketches, so James decided to credit her, and 2) James thought it would interesting to actually make an animal with minimal appearances a main character in the series.
[edit] Jack the Monkey
'Jack the Monkey' (merely a man in a Gorilla Costume) was originally a quick joke James had developed for the fourth episode of the series, 'All-Nighters'. For the next two seasons, Jack the Monkey appeared in the background, and occasionally foreground, of many episodes- for the sole reason that James found an obligatory gorilla amusing. However upon realization of just how many times the gorilla had actually appeared, James decided to introduce a name for the ape, and actually develop its character a little. Thus Jack the Monkey became one of the family.
[edit] Grampa Joe
'Grampa Joe' was a character James jad done in his stand-up act and personal life for years, and by the second to last episode of Season Two, it had finally occurred to James to place Grampa Joe in the show, in a cameo appearance in 'Cody 4 President'. The small role gained such immediate popularty that james made the old man the featured character in the second episode of Season Three, 'Meet Grampa Joe'. The character appeared throughout the remainder of the series and was hands-down the most popular character the show had ever seen.
[edit] Reverend Michael Shaw
'Reverend Michael Shaw' was portrayed by classical actor Michael Cava, a good friend of James'. Originally just a guest star for the series, Michael Cava as brought back to reprise his role as 'Reverend Shaw' (named for the character in the musical Footloose, wherein Michael Cava was originally discovered) in a hat-trick of episodes, including the two-part series finale.
[edit] The Mystic Wise-Man
Up-and-coming independent filmmaker Ashkin Heydarypour (head of Damavandi Ltd.) had been a friend of James' for years, and had wanted to do a guest spot on the show from day one. And although he only appeared in a single epidoe, Ashkin's portrayal of 'The Mystic Wise-Man' was one the most memorable guest appearances in the series' history.
[edit] Bob and Doug Mackenzie
Portrayed by the brothers Chris and Jeff Martinez (of the musical group 'Kung-Fu Janitor') portrayed 'Bob and Doug Mackenzie' throughout the entire Third Season. Mild controversy insued when it was realized that the characters of two Canadian Brothers were quite similar to the characters of 'Bob and Doug McKenzie' (portrayed by Rick Moranis and Dave Thomas of SCTV). However it was later concluded that the only similarity between the two sets of brothers was the fact that they were both Canadian brothers- however, with the same name. It was also concluded that James had no prior knowledge of the original Bob and Doug, and that Chris and jeff, when improvising the characters, had not used better judgement and accidentally used the exact same names of the characters they were parodying. Since the new characters already had an impact of the series, and the fact that the names were spelled differently from the original characters' names, 'Bob and Doug Mackenzie' were not forced to change their names in the series. All worked out fine, and no one suffered from the brief misunderstanding.
[edit] the emo kid
A parody of the new slang term 'emo', 'the emo kid' was portrayed by musician Brandon Pascal (of 'The Pants') in the series third to last episode, entitled 'XiXwannaXbeXemoX' after the popular Kung-Fu Janitor song.
[edit] Music
Kung-Fu Janitor hailing from Watsonville California, Kung-Fu Janitor was the series' official 'show band' as James often referred to them. Composed of Jeff, Chris, and Gregg Martinez, Kung-Fu Janitor's music was featured in almost every episode of the series.
James D.T.J. Although a majority of Kung-Fu Janitor's music on the show was their original work, they also played original songs and music by James D.T.J. (the most memorable pieces were those written by James, and performed by Jeff of Kung-Fu Janitor, acoustically).
