Fiction ...? or Fact!

That's Unbelievable! is a messy slapstick parody of non-fiction TV anthologies, inspired by the likes of Unsolved Mysteries (hosted by Robert Stack), Leonard Nimoy's In Search Of ..., Ripley's Believe It Or Not! (with Jack Palance), and That's Incredible! These were wonderful, intriguing documentaries that often showcased the odd, the unusual, the mysterious, and sometimes the just plain stupid, and are arguably the forerunners to today's reality-based shows. In this campy "mockumentary," our lovely hostess presents a full-hour show of four original short films, skits, and sketches that test the limits of the ridiculously incredible, which itself becomes another amazing story of bad TV production, on-screen misunderstandings, and behind-the-scenes anarchy. It's a show about a show about shows!

The goofy gorgeous lady pictured above is Ashlie Rhey, b-movie scream queen and featured Playboy model who has appeared in dozens of films, videos, magazines, and television spots. She's no slouch. In this production alone, she plays SIX different roles (full-blown characterizations, that is), takes forty-some-odd pies in the face in four different scenes, battles malfunctioning props and destructive sets, slips on a banana peel, gets zapped into a talking television, participates in a game show and is showered with confetti, confronts her exact double on a six-story rooftop, photographs and gets photographed, swindles senior citizens out of their apartment complex, finds her way into the pages of a comic series, hunts down a ghost in a haunted building, and plays master of ceremonies to a series of utter chaos. She demonstrates extraordinary humor, variety, grace, and natural ease in her performance. And she's such a ham!

Now, the premise behind That's Unbelievable! is that reality is often stranger than fiction. Indeed, while Deborah Daze tantalizes us with episodes of the bizarre and the miraculous, her real-world production set is littered with bits of unexplainable coincidences, outlandish pranks, and unbelievable stupidity. Deborah doesn't seem to know what's going to occur from one episode to the next (nay, from one minute to the next!). It just so happens that this episode of That's Unbelievable! features pies as its main theme -- and it was not exactly what Deborah had in mind. An outrageous, unpredictable mess? Or perhaps a deliberate, shameless tactic to boost ratings? We may never know ....

In the first chapter, "Price of Fortune," valley-girl Janine is persuaded by her talking TV set to escape into a fantasy world. She instantly lands herself as a contestant on a wacky game show (complete with theme music and audience reactions), where she must answer only one question correctly to win a free car; but for every question she gets wrong, a pie in the face comes her way! You might guess how many she gets wrong (those trick questions!). Her host is a Hollywood-talking drawback to the 70s, when men thought it was cool to wear unfettered afros and furniture-matching suits. Nevertheless, does Janine walk away a winner? Win what, exactly???

The second chapter, "Flip Side," has Ashlie portraying the opposite roles of Molly and Vena, who confront each other on the rooftop of a downtown office building. Good-girl Molly had long ago decided against becoming a model; but now, the model she never was has come back to haunt her, in the worldly, seductive form of Vena (apparently, she had her name changed in this "parallel universe"). What might it had been like? Molly always had a nagging curiosity to know. Now, she will find out! Vena herself snaps pictures of Molly against the nearby Dallas skyline. But has Molly gone a little too far with the slutty outfit and risque posing? Even Vena thinks so!

We begin the third chapter, "Pie Avenger," with Kathy Green scheming her way into a fortune. She sells bogus real-estate property ("That new owner's gonna have a hard time findin' that oil well ... 'cuz it ain't there!") and chasing elderly people out of their condo units (to make way for her cheesy shopping mall development). Yeah, not a nice person that Kathy Green -- and nobody will stop her! But alas! the Pie Avenger bravely arrives to deal out his own unconventional brand of justice -- slapstick style! This sketch was inspired by the classic superhero comic books and partly features the characters captured in stills with action, dialogue, and thought bubbles.

In the fourth and final chapter, "Ghost of Grisly Hotel," Ava Trench, world-renowned ghost hunter, investigates a haunting that has left the place adandoned for ten years. What could it have been? She meanders around giant columns, through large, echoing spaces, up dark stairways (the signs all say Don't Go There!). She discovers an inquiry mysteriously left by the hotel staff ... but no one ever responded. This place is really creepy! Finding herself trapped in a gloomy room by an invisible intruder, she witnesses a strange (and very absurd!) demonstration of supernatural shenanigans. Pies start sliding across the kitchen counter ... and ... what could possibly happen next!

The script took about a week to write. There were various influences, inspirations, and reference points going into this production. Pre-production required at least two months in order to find shooting locations, scavenge for hard-to-find props, design sets and shot sequences, shop for wardrobe, alter the script according to unforeseen developments, and coordinate schedules. Ashlie was targeted for the role fairly early on. We shot the footage in two consecutive days. One of our locations flaked out on us, so we had to shoot "Flip Side" in a completely different setting and make up a story with dialogue literally on the spot. I lost Ashlie about four times in traffic between locations. A fire alarm came on repeatedly during the making of "Pie Avenger." It's unbelievable this thing got made!

Editing was a fun task. Each "chapter" had its own particular set of quirks and challenges. Each one has a different "character." The soundtrack plays a significant role in That's Unbelievable! Mysterious downbeats and sizzling drones accompany Deborah's often futile attempts to be "serious." The music in general often "swamps" through the scene transitions and between peaks of action. But then comes the sudden, bombastic throbs and blasts with unexpected plot twists. Really weird combination of show tunes, comedy vamps, brooding horror beds, gripping suspense cues, and old-school hard rock. Good quality music, integrated with the action. The whole thing is like freakin' Wagner! Some interesting homemade special effects, also. CGI ... who needs it! And you won't find copyrighted video clips and other people's lines in this, either ... it's an original!

Hey ... it's almost like a regular TV show!