Thanks to THE WALKING DEAD and its movie/TV/web offspring, the zombie horror subgenre has never been more popular – or more parodied – than it is now. One of the best zombie spoofs has been the Streamy Award-nominated series BAD TIMING, and its complete 19 episode second season (all on its web site and YouTube channel) offers enough laughs, love and mystery to entertain those who like their comedy with brains. In other words, I mean smart comedy – not actual brains.
Created by and starring Youtube star Andy Goldenberg (a.k.a. “Goldentusk”), season 2 of BAD TIMING resumes the hilariously epic story of timid yet lovelorn ex-IT specialist Andy Silverberg (played by Goldenberg). Having lost his girlfriend/former co-worker Eve (Aqueela Zoll) to her dashing new flame Kevin (Michael Wayne Foster), Andy’s desperate efforts to escape the undead are comically interrupted by the arrival of his grating mother Phyllis (played by Lisa Raggio).
Ever the concerned parent/matchmaker, Phyllis hopes that a young woman named Sam (Becca Leigh Gellman) could be the perfect new romance for the last man on Earth. While frequently at each other’s throats, Andy, Phyllis and Sam will have to survive themselves while ensuring that they don’t end up becoming brain food for others. Before season 2 of the series made its online debut, it premiered before an enthusiastic audience in Los Angeles on September 28th.
L-R: Andy Silverberg (played by Andy Goldenberg) finds himself unexpectedly confronted by zombie Dead Mona (Alexis Codding) in season 2 of BAD TIMING. Photo courtesy Youtube’s Goldentusk.
Unlike many web series, BAD TIMING was first birthed in a period where neither zombies nor scripted new media content were as influential as they are in 2017.
“I workshopped it with my improv/sketch group as a sketch at The Second City (comedy training center) in Los Angeles,” says Goldenberg. “At that time, it was about a supermodel and an awkward loser on a deserted island, and how they both felt differently about being trapped in that situation.”
The storyline itself goes back even further. “The original concept (of BAD TIMING) came from my experiences in middle school where classmates would joke about who they wanted to be stranded with on a deserted island,” Goldenberg notes. “Many answers always involved some sort of supermodel, but I always countered that the supermodel would want to stay on the other end of the island.”
Frustrated at the paucity of attractive acting roles, Goldenberg took BAD TIMING into the digital realm by making it a showcase for his talents. While the original staged version of the concept ultimately didn’t debut at Second City, viewers would first see the new BAD TIMING when it reached Youtube in 2014.
“There are no small parts,” he explains. “Obviously, I am grateful for every job I book, but I’d rather play the lead role in a show I’ve created specifically to highlight my strengths than the cashier who gives the series regular their change. The only difference is that one of those jobs gives me the money and the opportunity to create the other job.”
The other job, in this case, was turning BAD TIMING from merely a staged character study of two disparate would-be lovers into a filmed story about said lovers. The difference, adds Goldenberg, is that the new BAD TIMING is about two people who end up fighting for their lives when zombies invade. “I transitioned the original BAD TIMING idea about two people on a deserted island to take place in the desert after a zombie apocalypse for a short film contest. I expanded the film to a series of episodes to act as a demo reel, of sorts.”
Goldenberg would get a lot of assistance in making BAD TIMING into the career opportunity of his dreams. “My sister, Lauren Goldenberg, helped me flesh out my monologues into dialogues between all the different characters. My producer Cameron Fife helped arrange the crew and the filming, along with fellow producer Michael Wickham, and director/producer Brandon Ravet.”
Behind the scenes of BAD TIMING. L-R: Director Cameron Fife, actor/creator Andy Goldenberg (behind the camera), and actor Zac Titus. Photo courtesy Youtube’s Goldentusk.
Filming of BAD TIMING’s sophomore season took place over 6 days, and its production quality remained consistent from that of its first season. Spirits were high among cast and crew.
“Thanks to my amazing production team on both seasons, I wouldn’t say there was any significant improvement,” Goldenberg recalls. “Everyone on set for such a low-budget indie passion project maintained positive attitudes and strong work ethic both seasons. If anything, the new season was exported at 4k, which is higher resolution than the first season.”
Every web series succeeds solely because of its viewers, and Goldenberg knows that fans of BAD TIMING have helped it to reach its greatest heights. With Goldenberg hoping to wrap up its story through a third and final season, the actor strives to make future episodes as hysterical and impactful as those from its first 2 seasons.
“There’s a moment at the climax of the second season where the audience at the premiere reacted in exactly the way that you would hope them to, and if everyone watching has the same reaction, then I believe the second season is successful and a third season becomes exciting,” Goldenberg replies. “The fact that any indie production goes from development to completion is astounding.”
(NOTE: Goldenberg says that season 2 of BAD TIMING is not currently closed-captioned, but it will be in the future.)
ON THE WEB: http://www.badtimingshow.com
YOUTUBE (Andy Goldenberg’s official channel): https://www.youtube.com/user/Goldentusk
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