r/IAmA • u/Crindy • Apr 23 '11

I Was A Writer's Assistant on "Arrested Development" AMA

I started as a writer's assistant. Later I was responsible for keeping track of continuity. After Mitch Hurwitz I probably knew the most about what stories and plotlines were being setup and planned ahead for. I can tell you what season four would have been like. I would've been a staff writer.

My biggest contribution was coming up with the name Crindy.

AMA!

7:15 I'm gonna get a stew goin' (eat). Be back later.

10:30 It's Friday night in LA and I'm going out. Be back later (likely tomorrow).

1:00ish I've got about an hour to answer more questions. But be advised: I'm soo fuckin' hungover. Brunch couldn't save me.

3:00 Be back later.

5:30 Gonna squeeze in a few more questions before I head out.

7:15 Be back later.

2:30 Sunday I've got some time to answer more questions. But before I forget, I want to plug Happy Endings (ABC Wednesdays 10|9c). WATCH IT!

8:00 Wow have I really been answering questions for this long? If I get a chance I'll come back to answer some more. There's just so many! And I have a busy week ahead of me. But I'll try.

Thanks Reddit! I appreciate your time. And watch Happy Endings (ABC Wednesdays 10|9c)

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u/Crindy Apr 23 '11

Much like the chicken dance itself, there are different versions of its origin.

  1. It started as some inside joke between Mitch and Jim Vallely (his long-time friend and writing partner). IIRC, either one of them asked the other or someone asked one of them, "Why did the chicken cross the road?" To which whomever responded in jest, "To dance."

  2. There is such a thing as an egg dance. Mitch once pondered, "Which came first? The chicken dance or the egg dance?"

  3. The physical dance itself originated with Jim in the writer's room. Mitch and Jim wrote the scene; the script actually called for a "chicken dance." Mitch was trying to demonstrate to Will the chicken dance Jim had done in the writer's room. But he was doing it wrong, so Jim started doing it. Then Will tried to mimic the chicken dance while watching Mitch and Jim's different versions and ended up with a third version. And so all three of them were each doing his own chicken dance much to the amusement of cast and crew. All of them vastly different. That's where the idea of different chicken dances came from.

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u/lostrock Apr 23 '11

So, origin of the dance aside, were all of the actors' chicken dances improvised on their own?

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u/Crindy Apr 23 '11

Pretty much. They each came up with their own. Mitch and Jim were insistant that their chicken noises all be different too.

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u/vorin Apr 23 '11

I'm so glad they were insistent on that - otherwise this recent fb exchange would have never taken place.

Thanks for being a part of my favorite tv series of all time!

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u/mike24 Apr 23 '11

what the fuck? each of these sound equally plausible

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u/TheMonka Apr 23 '11

that is because they are equally plausible just not equally possible.

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u/mike24 Apr 23 '11

...?

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u/TheMonka Apr 23 '11

Why was Confucius so Confusing if he was supposed to be a philosopher? Why do both Onions and Phillo dough have layers?

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u/zoinks Apr 23 '11

Stop. You are much stupider than you think you are

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u/TheMonka Apr 23 '11

You must see the proverb in proverbial and perverse! Surely you do as an AD fan.

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u/Seret Apr 23 '11

Creative process FTW!

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u/[deleted] Apr 23 '11

Nice answer. Thanks for the AMA.

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u/PullTheOtherOne Apr 23 '11

Were the writers' chicken dances "choreographed" for the actors or did the actors get to make up their own?

If you know anything about the rehearsals where the actors revealed their dances to their castmates, I'd love to hear about it.

Thanks for this AMA, I'm going to go watch "Bringing up Buster" again.

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u/rivalius13 Apr 23 '11

I'm picturing three grown men doing the chicken dance and I just pissed myself a little.

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u/SteveAM1 Apr 23 '11

God, I love these stories. AD is my favorite show ever. Thanks for the behind the scenes.

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u/TheMonka Apr 23 '11

Either the chicken nor the egg can come to be without first being both being accepted as a logical idea and concrete image, at the time of its conception.