MONDO EXTRAS

CB: So you found that more of a challenge, then.

PK: I guess…his voice is so strong, it's also easily imitated -- not easily equaled, necessarily, but you can get the ring of the show. There would be nothing worse than writing a show that's neither here nor there, where you come in and you go, "I just don't even know where this is coming from." Whereas Chuck, love it or hate it, has the same quality -- I read it and felt like I'd be ready to jump in with an episode, and I just finished shooting my first episode, and I'm hoping my read is right! [laughs] I'm hoping I'll have scenes like the pilot, and it was really, really fun to write.

CB: Cool! So it seems like with a new show, one of the things that goes with the job is waiting for news about renewal.

PK: Right.

CB: Are there any standards about when the network has to let you know about ordering more scripts?

PK: I'm not sure if it's set in stone, or if it's just a matter of not wanting to sort of derail the production train. Like right now, we've turned in Episode 7 and we've broken 8 and 9…

CB: Was the initial commitment thirteen?

PK: Um, twelve plus the pilot. By the time my episode, 1-05, airs, which is six chronologically, we'll definitely know, so if worse comes to worst, I've still got another writing sample.

CB: [laughs] Is there any pressure for you to do things that you think will get the network to order more scripts, or is it just a question of doing the best you can?

PK: It's really just doing the best we can. And the studio has been, like, extremely excited about the show, as has the network, so there are times you think, oh my God, nothing can stop us, we're totally a hit. But then you think, maybe we're so shitty that they're just not even getting involved. That's like, the five percent paranoid part of you. But I do feel like we've got a fighting chance…the back nine, it feels like -- I would be surprised if we didn't get it, and NBC has shown faith in shows like Friday Night Lights, so I'd be pretty shocked if we didn't get those sort of numbers at least. But I remember when the first Veronica Mars aired, and Jed Seidel, who was the co-EP and like, sort of the senior writer beneath Rob, saw the numbers, and I was like, "What does it mean? What does it mean? I don't understand Nielsens." And he was just like, you know, "Oh my God, this is like, the worst thing I've ever seen."