Last February, one of the most exciting satcoms of the last few years came down to Apple TV Plus. Created by Every Day in Philadelphia teams Rob McElhenney, Charlie Day, and Megan Ganz, Legendary Quest: Raven's banquet he pours out the disadvantages of life in a dev game – from boarish auteurs to crunch to boxing robberies – in a comedy setting at work.
McElhenney stars as Ian, the creative director of egomaniacal behind the world's most famous MMORPG. Below him are a group of well-heeled performers, including his EP David (David Hornsby), Brad, the head of the money-making cutthroat (Danny Pudi), failed sci-fi-writing-game-script-writer CW Longbottom (F. Murray Abraham), on-the-fringes game explorer Rachel (Ashly Burch) and Poppy (Charlotte Nicdao), a lead engineer who works overtime to bring any of Ian's frustrating, often seemingly violent ideas into perspective. Amid the spread of teens and downsides, the game – and the team behind it – is constantly evolving. And with that simple idea, McElhenney, Day, and Ganz have released 10 episodes that can easily fill Parks and RecreationA hole-in-the-heart of viewers.
While McElhenney's rock-star nerd is full of energy, Nicdao is a real treat for Mythic Seeking. A new experience in academia, the Australian actor is making all thanks for a series of jumps, ranging from jokes made of funny jokes to more difficult things involving well-known sports traps. In the hope of enjoying the success of Season 1, which is out now on Apple TV Plus, Polygon sat down with Nicdao to talk about working with comedy actors on his first sitcom.
Season 1 is Poppy's roller coaster. He fights Ian in his place in the creative cosmos, is tired of daily daydreaming outside, and feels overwhelmed by the company he's fundamentally committed to. Without investing too much in the future, how can you create this first season of Poppy, and where it is in season 2?
I can't say much more, but one of the last moments (of season 1) shows that maybe Poppy is getting the happy ending she always wished. But, of course, life doesn't work that way, especially if you live in a less toxic work environment. And I think he has his poisonous tendencies! Season 2 really explores this relationship between him and Ian. Both are kind of glamorous and both are kind of ugly.
That is one of the most interesting aspects of the show. While it reflects the toxic tendencies of the male-dominated industry, all the characters have their own traits and bad qualities.
I think we have a tendency to regard characters like Poppy as a kind of underdog. She is the only woman on the payroll team in the company, so she should be a saint. We are a root, so he must be perfect. And when you look at most of his behavior, he's actually not – he treats his staff a lot the way Ian treated him. He is selfish in the way he goes about his interests, and he does not see all the same things that exist for the whole team, in terms of major problems for the company, which are the problems the toy industry is facing in the real world.
And so I think it was important that Megan and Rob and all of our writers address the issue that is not just about the "beautiful young woman that should be brought up, and then she does." So much for the misconception that you are probably a genius who takes great care of their work and in some ways blurts out that you are human.
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There are many & # 39; sides to play & # 39; and Mythic Seeking he touches them all. Where do you come from in terms of the knowledge of the world, and are there still deep people?
It was a scary thing to get me close because I wouldn't consider myself a fan of the game before the show. But it was the most fun research I have ever done. I bought a Nintendo Switch and just sat on the couch for days.
It was really fun to find that land because I had only one idea of what it was. After I started to learn more about it, I realized that the appealing thing about gambling is the attractiveness to me in terms of participation, which when you put yourself in this fantasy world, you get to play the wrong character & # 39; See for yourself, and see what decision-making in the world brings you.
We also had Ubisoft as a producer on the show. So, obviously, the amazing people involved from Ubisoft were very knowledgeable and we had people in consultation every day to make sure things were right. And one of our members, Asily Burch, a writer and illustrator, is really in that world. You have been part of the world for a long time. He is a great celebrity in that space, and it was a pleasure to be with him. I would be bullied at his cart and would be like, "Tell me more."
What did Asily tell you?
There are a few things I found to be very important. One of them was that he introduced me to the game Stardew Valley
But the other thing he said that really stuck with me was that … I think unfortunately there is little tendency to think of the game community as having a mistake, sometimes. And he has been talking to me about how successful his experience in that country is that people just love sports, and they love the people who make them, and they love the people that appeal to them. And we went out to the PAX meeting in San Antonio, and he was like, “You just wait, this is the first time it's a space full of people who love sports, and you're going to be kind of excited and listening to that space. ”And I was exactly that. I'm probably ashamed to admit it, because it probably wasn't what I expected. But he was right. You are a very active community and I found it very special to be a part of it.
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Did you work with someone directly at Ubisoft to find out more about Poppy as a character?
I started interviewing a woman who is a program presenter, and she helped me a lot in developing the character because … I don't really understand what it was like to code. As I thought I liked the picture of the green screen in the middle Matrix in my head. "That's code, right?"
She was really helpful, not only explaining what that job was to me, but also why someone chose to do it. He also told me that when he was a teenager, he loved repairing cars, but it was an expensive sport. Then, in her teenage years, she would find a computer and start writing things. And you meant it was kind of like that: You built these tools, then you could just take things apart and put them together, and basically create whatever you want, and all you need is your computer and brain. You don't have to buy anything. And I thought that was really cool. That was a big part of that helped me find Poppy's enthusiasm, that job.
Rob and Charlie go back, gone It's always sunny they were together, and they did it all in the show. Megan has worked with them, so is getting involved in that encounter a challenge? If the documents were solid or needed input the same way they would It's always sunny?
It certainly was a partnership, and from the beginning. The streaming process was a long time for me, and in the end, we were actually just trying to figure out how to make me a Poppy character. They've invited me to the writers' room to read something and jump on some ideas and improve something, and I've never been given that kind of opportunity. I was shocked. But it was also a great example of doing the rest of the show. The writers' room door remains open. Of course, I was really intimidated by Rob, when we started working together, especially because the energy of our characters meant that we went too far, and I was like, "You're my boss!" But he's one of the most gifted artists I've ever had the privilege of working with, and he made my job really easy, really.
Like Megan, I knew how it worked, I was a passionate person, and when I got into my first exam exams where she was, I kind of avoided being spotted, because I loved her so much. And it's really good now to be able to like, get into season 2 and feel like all these people in my books. I think we got our line in the first season, but I think it's really exciting to feel like we're heading into season 2, and everyone has this confidence and really knows what we're doing. I really know morals.
You get a bunch of funny body parts when you have 1. Did you have a lovely time that you were struggling to go as hot as you needed?
A scene in the motion picture studio was very exciting. All they had written in the text was, in a way, Poppy doing a strange little dance, which I think is very based on … I do a lot of short set dances. And I ended up taking that and I said, Oh, so he's going to keep doing this little mysterious dance of the whole incident, and make that choice. And at the end of it … it took hours to shoot this thing, and I was in this skin of the staircase swinging around. I am not fit, I am weak and bitter. Rob would say, "You chose to do this for this event." I was tired. That was completely my fault.
Disclosure: Polygon has given its permission to use its name Legendary Quest: Raven's banquet, but never had any editorial involvement with the show.
