Real-Life Decision Making -- Solution
You decide to go with option two.
This is the real-life decision made by Jonathan Bird, who hosted and produced
a television series about marine life for the Massachusetts Corporation for
Educational Telecommunications (MCET).
Bird and the crew got together one weekend and assembled a fake mad scientist's
laboratory. "We did pre-recorded segments and taped them all in one day,"
he says.
Bird played the dual role of narrator and mad scientist, outfitted with
big hair and a beard. "I would go to the mad scientist [except, of course,
I was the mad scientist] and I would always catch him doing something stupid,
like having his finger stuck in a beaker or doing the hokey-pokey with his
assistant." As the scientist, Bird discussed a subject related
to the theme of one of the episodes.
The beauty of this option is that Bird was able to elicit the crew's
wholehearted participation. "They were really enthusiastic about the idea
of doing something pre-recorded and not just churning out another live show.
And because they knew the set wouldn't have to be disassembled and reassembled,
they got more into it."
Several even brought props. "One segment was on jellyfish, so we made a
big deal out of jello-fish, and one crewmember brought in a jello-fish she
had made." He adds that another advantage was that the set didn't need
to be too robust, since it would only be used one time.