NATCHITOCHES - On the central Louisiana set of the pilot for a direct-to-DVD reboot of the popular late ’70s family drama “Eight is Enough," a jubilant cast comprising mostly Louisiana residents celebrated a wrap on the six-day shoot with social media updates, gags, party games and medical marijuana.
“The pilot was an absolute blast,” gushed cast member Stuart Bishop of Lafayette on his MySpace page, posting an on-set photo of himself donning the Superman outfit his character, 8-year-old Nicholas Bradford, wears in the climactic final scene. “The pilot is called ‘Equal Pay for Chores’ and it’s about the Bradford sisters being all PO’d about getting paid 66 cents for chores while the boys get a dollar. But then Dad explains that getting less than the boys encourages the girls to work harder and more efficiently, and to maybe outsource their chores to the Mexicans. And then they’re like all stoked about less pay for equal work!”
Starring in the roles of the Bradford sisters are Lenar Whitney, Valerie Hodges and Julie Stokes. Cast members portraying the Bradford boys, in addition to Bishop, are Blake Miguez, Chris Broadwater, Lance Harris and Alan Seabaugh. Coincidentally, the eight also serve on the House Labor & Industrial Relations Committee at the Capitol in Baton Rouge.
“I was like, ‘Damn, boy, this is so like real life,” Miguez said with unbridled enthusiasm by phone from Natchitoches. “I mean, the show is set in Sacramento, Calif., but the family stuff in the script, it’s like so Louisiana!”
*Parody; not to be taken seriously