Arts & Culture
“If you have time to lean, you have time to clean;” Grocery sitcom hits STV April 23
The Pointer
ataub878@uwsp.edu
“Paper or plastic?” This age- old question is asked by grocery employees everywhere, but it doesn’t matter at all if there are no bags left in the store! And yes, they did check in back.
Stuffing groceries into wine and produce bags, drama, humor and creative characters come together in Student Television’s first sitcom about a grocery store, “Aisle 5,” which made its debut Thursday, April 23 in the Dreyfus University Center Theater.
Friends and fans joined the cast and crew in the unveiling of two of five hilarious episodes which had everyone in the audience laughing.
“It was a riot,” said spectator Ben Wetherbee, who added that he “can’t wait to see more.”
The inspiration behind this TV series is a former grocer with a bigger dream than bagging week-old lettuce and two percent milk.
Having worked in a grocery store for three years, creator/co-writer Kacie Otto often thought that a grocery store would be the perfect setting for a sitcom and with the help of producer/director of “Aisle 5,” John Lendved, this thought has become a reality.
To make this happen, the pair went to work writing the script, auditioning actors, filming and editing until they were, according to Otto, “completely satisfied.”
“It’s so weird to think that this vague idea flickering through my mind became a reality,” Otto told spectators at the debut of the experience she called “fun, intense, and exhausting.”
Filming at a grocery store in Milladore, Wis., store owner Bob Mancl was quite the host, allowing a team of college kids to take over his store for a few nights.
“He pretty much just said ‘Don’t break anything,’” Otto said. “He was extremely gracious and welcoming.”
With actors sleeping on shelves and in aisles during the 6 p.m. to 4 a.m. filming of the show, Otto and Lendved had their hands full.
“They worked their buns off; I am so proud,” said Tiffany Gonzales, who Otto said served as an “editor, publicist and role model” throughout the show.
Aiming to make two more seasons with five episodes each, Otto and Lendved are eager to build a bigger audience at Point, and joked that they wouldn’t mind a call from NBC when The Office runs out of steam!
