Supernatural’s Top Ten Funniest Scenes – #9
#9 – Bugs Attack – “Bugs”
It’s not uncommon in the history of network television. Some of the funniest moments end up being the unintentional ones.
In the case of “Bugs,” and particularly the scene in the attic where the bugs inexplicably manage to chew through the cedar roof and attack all while Sam, Dean and family watch like morons with no line of defense but a can of bug spray and a lighter, the fright factor is so absurd it turns out funny. By the time the bugs do get through, which is pretty much in no time, all that’s left to do is flail arms and wait until dawn, which thank heavens comes two minutes later. I’ve seen sunrises before, and no, they don’t happen in seconds. It’s a wonder the show wasn’t cancelled after that.
The scene itself isn’t the real funny part though. It’s the stories told by Jensen Ackles, Jared Padalecki, and Kim Manners on filming that scene. Those interviews are infamous and funny as hell. “The Bee Story” is so legendary in fact, supernaturalwiki gave it it’s own page. Here is an excerpt from one interview:
Jensen: Jared and I responded well to him. He directed in a fashion that we really liked. It’s a set where guys can be guys. He was not someone who directed behind a screen by the telephone somewhere in L.A. like “do it over and over and lets close up and move on to the next set”. He was in there. A story about another episode that he directed, Bugs. This was a scene where we had to get into this tiny, little room with 65,000 bees. And the whole camera crew and the set crew got this full body bee outfits on and it is “Alright, Jared Jensen, hop on in.”
Jared: And don’t swat them, cause that makes them angry.
Jensen: And I’ll give it to Kim, he said, “You know what if you guys do not have bee suits on, I’m not either.” And he went in there in shorts and a t-shirt and a monitor and sat down on a box and directed us from inside the room with bees crawling all over our faces. It’s that kind of relationship with Kim.
What’s funniest of all those was after all that trouble, the bees didn’t even show up on the film. They had to CGI them in. Here is Kim Manners’ take:
“They bring in six hundred bees, or however many bees, and I was like ‘Oh my god, I can’t wait to see the dailies!` But you watch the dailies and you can’t tell there’s one bee in that room – they just don’t read on camera or they were too sluggish. (…) And you just start laughing because you put your crew in a room with hundreds of bees and then you can’t even tell if there are any bees on camera. It’s a bizarre job sometimes.”
You be the judge, but this scene is so bad I have to laugh. It certainly can’t be taken seriously.
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Top Ten Funniest Scenes – #10
You’re right – the best part of the Bugs episode is the behind-the-scenes stories. I’ve heard the Bee story told a few times and it never fails to make me laugh. Can’t wait for number eight.
I think the funniest commentary ever on Bugs was a gesture by Kim Manners during the Paley Festival panel: when Bugs was mentioned, Kim looked aside, made a face, and opened his mouth and pantomimed sticking his finger inside as if to make himself throw up. It was hilarious!
God, I miss Kim …