A year in the life of "The Last Of The Americans."

(Scene begins with a smartwatch screen and a finger as it taps the screen, and the 1994 American Gladiators plays as the scene cuts to a hand as it taps an app on his phone, as it opens a portal.) 

(It cuts to James and the characters he’s played until it cut to his face and the credit of “James Faraci” is shown as it cuts to “The Last Of The Americans'” current iteration then slides away to different images of Paulo Fonseca, Brenda Fonseca, Rebecca Yaun, Nick Yaun and the characters they’ve played until it cut to their faces. The credits of “Paulo and Brenda Fonseca, Rebecca and Nick Yaun” are shown, then slide away to different images of Doug Yaun and Crosslyn Castillo, Nick Lopez and Jessica Lopez-Barkl, and the characters they’ve played, until it cuts to their faces.) 

(After that, the credits “Doug Yaun and Crosslyn Castillo, Nick Lopez and Jessica Lopez-Barkl” are shown, as it then slides away to different images of Andrew Beach, Eric Kurtzke, Renee Miller, and Olivia Horvath. Following this, the credits of “Andrew Beach, Eric Kurtzke, Renee Miller, Olivia Horvath” are shown as the 0:00-0:21 mark of the theme song plays.) 

(Everything becomes a swirl of reds, whites, and blues, as the credits “Produced by First Choice Entertainment Productions in association with Manic-Expression.com"; “Executive Producers: James Faraci, Paulo Fonseca, Brenda Fonseca, Rebecca Yaun, Nick Yaun, Eric Kurtzke, Renee Miller, Andrew Beach & Olivia Horvath”; “Editing by Eric Kurtzke and James Faraci”; “Written and Directed by James Faraci” are shown, as the 0:21-0:26 mark of the theme song plays.) 

(We then see an image of James as he jumps through the portal and lands with half of his team on his right. The other half on his left is on a black background. Finally, the title “THE LAST OF THE AMERICANS” is shown Lazer etched into Titanium as the last six seconds of the American Gladiators 1994 theme song plays.) 

(The Scene changes to James in his office.)

TLOTA:
I'm James Faraci, The Last Of The Americans, and what you are about to see has been compiled from behind the scenes, not only from this year but also from some years past. A lot of bloopers, a lot of secrets will be revealed. This is a documentary entitled "A Year in the Life of The Last Of The Americans." 

(Cut to every single intro of James Faraci The Last Of The Americans, as they intercut to the right time and pace with the 1994 American Gladiators theme song as it goes to the logo and the words "A Year in the life of..." then cutting to behind the scenes of The Last Of The Americans as James does a voiceover.)

James Faraci (V.O.):
For many people in our industry, their calendar year starts in January. For me, it starts now in December, at the time I am working on this, I am also working on next year's schedule. Meanwhile, back around this time, I was working on the following reviews: Deadpool, LOGAN, Deadpool 2, LOKI, and Deadpool & Wolverine. In all the reviews that I have, everyone starts with a production meeting two weeks before we really get into the production. The work schedule is a six-day work week. The ONLY day I never work is Sunday. That day belongs to me going to Church. (Cut to the footage as James gets everyone together)

James Faraci:
Can everyone have my attention, PLEASE! I need to set everything up. (Everyone gathers) Okay, listen up, we're going to start pre-production today. Rehearse all your lines as I prep the props and set all the stunts for the three months we will be filming, starting Monday through Saturday, beginning January 7th of next year. Save for today, I am going to film the cold open and cold closing for the Top Ten Behind The Scenes of The Last Of The Americans, and Hunter, David, and Linkara. (Camera pans to Hunter Deno)

James Faraci (Audio only):
We're going to film the cold ending of The Top Ten Last Of The Americans Behind The scenes and the cold opening for the "Deadpool" review today, so be ready to film the part where you will be kicking my ass after lunch. Everyone else, be prepared to film that today after Lunch. (Cut to James)

James Faraci:
We will film "LOGAN" and the rest of the three-month block, starting with all the effects and green-screen shots on Tuesday over two days, and the story portions that don't need computer effects after starting on Friday. We have to have the final shots in the can by the 22nd of January. Now, if any of the guests wish to join us after the three-month block, raise your hands now. (Camera pans to Crosslyn Castillo, and James says Okay. Cut back to James.) We will also have to be done by the 25th, by the 28th, I have to be in Connecticut for a College Theatre Festival, as you can see by some of the props and people joining us are Jessica Lopez-Barkl, Nick Lopez, Kyra Lee, and several other cast and crew from the show "Carburetor: A Ghost Sonata" are here and will be using this place to store props, costumes, and sets. I have offered several of these people employment after the show as part of "The Last Of The Americans." So you will be seeing them more over the next few weeks as we share space and time.

James Faraci (V.O.):
We got lucky that everything went off without a problem, and we got everything on schedule. For those wondering, the blood we use is a mix of Cranberry Juice (not cranberry juice cocktail) and Pomegranate Juice, with unflavored gelatin and Simple Syrup. The glass that David hit was made from Isomalt and could be appropriately broken. I also test all the equipment using a reverse bungee principle, as Hunter, Crosslyn, and Ellie felt in the take I used in the intro for the "Deadpool & Wolverine" review. (Cut to an outtake that, while not injuring Hunter Deno, Crosslyn Castillo, or Ellie Jimenez, left them a little surprised when they were tossed up, and landing, and James shouts, "Cut! Get the medical kit." Cut to a few minutes later as Hunter Deno is looking and seeing a scrape on her leg.)

Olivia Horvath:
So how's your leg? 

Hunter Deno:
It doesn't hurt as badly; the ice spray reduced the sting.

James Faraci (V.O.):
When someone is injured during filming, they get minor scrapes. I get the short end of the stick often enough. (Cut to outtakes from The Producers two-part review, The ten best seasons of Power Rangers, Rocky Horror Picture Show review, The Super Mario Bros. Movie Review, Dr. Horrible's Sing Along Blog, Star Wars: The Force Awakens Review, Ghostbusters (2016), and The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 2 as James does a voiceover.)

James Faraci (V.O.):
Between all the bumps and bruises from the review of The Producers two-parter, primarily from the "Entertain" musical number, the moment I jumped wrong in my review of "The Force Awakens," then of course in the "Rocky Horror Picture Show" that wasn't make-up, Taylor and Marcella really had to build up the anger and let me have it, Of course, Alex DeCourville really clocked me in the back of the skull during the review of "Dr. Horrible's Sing Along Blog," looking back I can't say I don't blame him. Then came the moment in which I had to fall off the Rainbow Bridge during the "Super Mario Bros." movie. We were elevated by two feet off the ground; however, I fell and landed in an above-ground pool meant for me, Paulo, and Ed. Anyone who says that landing in water doesn't hurt needs to be checked for brain damage because I hit the water first, followed by Paulo, who landed on my rib cage, and Ed landed feet first on my butt! And in case you're wondering, yes, Sean CW Johnson, aka Carter "The Power Ranger who has more facts about him than Chuck Norris" Grayson, walloped me with the V-Lancer and Rescue Bird! However, I digress. (Cut to behind the scenes of "The Last Of The Americans" in 2025 and the ride to Connecticut as James does a voiceover.)

James Faraci (V.O.):
After filming the Deadpool Trilogy and re-rehearsing "Carburetor," everyone from both shows, save for Hunter, Linkara, ERod, and Ellie, hit the road to Connecticut as I headed to the Kennedy Center American Theater Festival. I decided to relax and perform for some of the people at an event. (Show footage of James singing "Walking In Memphis" and promoting "Carburetor." Cut to after the performance.)

Kyra Lee:
He can really sing! Holy Shit!

Rebecca Yaun:
Well, if you guys have seen the reviews, James has sung well.

Joe Colon:
Yeah, but not to that extent we heard tonight. (Cut to the time at the Festival as James does a voiceover.)

James Faraci (V.O.):
While I relaxed and worked on "Carburetor," I almost forgot to wish my friend Chris Lee Moore a Happy Birthday, but I got the cast of "Carburetor" to join me in sending him a video wishing him the best. We went, and with endless promotion from me and everyone from The Last Of The Americans, we had a packed house. By Groundhog Day, we were back, and I was working on the Spring workload. By February 15th, I was getting ready with an idea for an April 1st release. I ran it by certain people I was going to satire. They were on board and willing to help with the writing and the sets for the reviews. The Death Battle between Garfield and Bugs Bunny and the reviews of TV TRASH, The Blockbuster Buster Honest Review of Blake's 7, Trainwreckords: Pink Floyd The Final Cut, and the Wrestling With Wregret episode of Dixie Carter were filmed over four days.  The storyline portion took three days: being in a harness under the clothes I wear, being dropped repeatedly, and, at one drop, nearly missing the crash mat. Especially when it was revealed that Crosslyn was joining the team. We finished three days ahead of schedule. However, by March, I had gotten word from the landlord that we had to get out of the building by the end of the lease, which happened to be by August 1st, not because we were troublesome tenants, far from it. Apparently, the building had to be rebuilt due to structural issues and could no longer accommodate us. (Cut to James as he gathers everyone for a meeting)

James Faraci:
So here's the schedule. We have to do the "Venom: The Last Dance" review and cold opening in three days, We're also going to have to do the "Three Men and a Baby," "Batman V Superman: Dawn Of Justice," the "Ten Back To The Future" moments," "Connect The Plots," "Family Feud," "Dial Of Destiny" and "Thunderbolts" done no later than the 4th of July. Rebecca... (Camera cuts to Rebecca Yaun), We need to find a new place by the middle of July, somewhere between the New York State/Pennsylvania border. So we can shoot the workloads for September, November, and December. (Cut back to James)  

James Faraci:
 In October, which is "Monstertober," we will be filming in Roscoe, Margaretville, and Downsville by September 12th at the latest. (Cut to behind the scenes of 2025 as James does a voiceover)

James Faraci (V.O.):
Production had to revert to pre-COVID, pre-pandemic scheduling, which made me cautious. Thankfully, we were careful and managed to get most of the work done without incident. The only problem was the "Batman V Superman: Dawn Of Justice" Review." It was a problem because my original crossover partner was unavailable; thankfully, Antoni Matteo Garcia came in at the last minute and improved the script beyond what I had initially set up. We filmed the crossover in one day! The shortest time I ever had to film, and it showed, as though you could see in the background when I'm talking to Olivia; you could see Paulo and Brenda starting to move costumes out. By the time we had finished "Reality Checkout," I had to rearrange the schedule and start filming in the new studio, and finish up in the old studio, because just days before we had to get out, I had decided to check out the 2025 Superman movie. I had Paulo and Doug come in to double-check everything when I told them that I needed them to be David Zaslav and Zack Snyder. So, all the recreated footage for that movie was shot in the new studio, while Paulo, Doug, and I had filmed the main body of the review in the old studio, and Steve was there in both places. By the time the Thunderbolts review was released, we had finished the workloads for September and November in the new studio, just in time for Kyra to leave and for Jessica Lopez-Barkl and her husband Nick Lopez to join the team. This showed one big problem with the tent pole review in November, which was meant to be a review of "Food Network's Thanksgiving Live": no one recorded the show, and my requests to my fellow Manic-Expression.com members went unanswered. So I had to go back to the Alton Brown well one last time. However, another incident that delayed the filming of Monstertober by a week was the Bob Ross cold open sketch. We only had one take for the ending, which was not the way I had hoped it would, because Nick Lopez actually hit me with the easel and rendered me unconscious for an hour. And this wasn't the first accident; in this behind-the-scenes footage from the 2025 Superman review, I went a little nuts. Again, the glass is made of Isomalt, so it shouldn't have hurt. The problem? It was made twice as thick as I had for the parameters when I made the glass for other projects, which led to Andrew Beach, who was playing Lex Luthor, getting a concussion. I had to bench him from filming until he was medically cleared, which he was, thankfully, in time for him to work on the Christmas Gift Guide. By the time I was ready to film the Monstertober workload, my reviews for "Sinners" and "Late Night With The Devil" were filmed in one day, and Andrew was able to do a light workload for Monstertober. Then came the story portion. Filming took until October 11th, by the time we finished in the Roscoe, Margaretville, and Downsville, and we recorded the review of "The Day The Earth Blew Up" the same day the "Sinners" review was posted. And now we're going to go through some of the elements that go into these reviews. 

(Cut to every single intro of James Faraci, The Last Of The Americans, as they intercut to the right time and pace with the 1994 American Gladiators theme song as it goes to the logo, and then a card showing the word "Writing" then to writing sessions with everyone in the same room as James does a voiceover.)

James Faraci (V.O.):
While I do come up with the basic skeleton of the script, I also ask the team to contribute lines, jokes, or anything they can to help the production writing-wise. 

James Faraci:
So, what would work is talking about Roger Waters and his political stance.

Todd Nathanson (Via Zoom):
If I ever talked about this album, I would have to talk about Roger Waters. However, I also would have to talk about the problems with the recording, in which David and Nick decided to bail as Roger choked the life out of the band, and how the others became more successful under the Pink Floyd name.

James Faraci:
Well, I was planning on it after talking after "The Final Cut" tanked sales-wise. What else do I need from you? Keyboard/piano work for the "The Final Cut" title track when I do the end credits.

Todd Nathanson (Via Zoom):
Will do.  (Cut to a later point with James talking to Eric as James does a voiceover)

James Faraci (V.O.):
Sometimes it happens during research-based production.

Eric Kurtzke:
So you confused Richard Dawson for someone else.

James Faraci:
Yep, I mistook him for the actor who played the Grandpa from "Charles In Charge." I still don't know his name.

Eric Kurtzke:
Found it, James Callahan, he was also in "M*A*S*H" in the episode "Sometimes You Hear The Bullet." 

James Faraci:
That's great to know. I was planning on adding a new segment entitled "First Season" sometime in the near future, and I could use it. Because, from what I heard, "M*A*S*H" was not a success at the start of the series run, had it not been for Summer Reruns and Emmy wins, then Fred Silverman put the second season up with "ALL IN THE FAMILY" that the series didn't take off as the long-lasting series it became.

James Faraci (V.O.):
And as strong the writing is as it is, I also allow for improvising, and it happens often during the next segment 

(Cut to every single intro of James Faraci, The Last Of The Americans, as they intercut to the right time and pace with the 1994 American Gladiators theme song as it goes to the logo, and then a card showing the word "Filming and Editing" then to filming of several reviews as James does a voiceover.)

James Faraci (V.O.):
As I said several times, Filming Pre-COVID, Pre-Pandemic was three days. One day for Story and Sketch filming, one day for the review portion, and the third day was for pick-ups and reshoots. Post-pandemic, I doubled the days to six days, so I could allow more time for refining the shots. The second-longest review I had to shoot was "The Disaster Artist," and it wasn't because it was the first one back with the team in full strength post-pandemic. What had happened was Tommy Wiseau! I had to go over everything with him, and every day, shooting was equivalent to being waterboarded! Greg Sestero made the days shorter as he spoon-fed EVERYTHING I had planned for Greg to sing "The Lumberjack Song" by Monty Python, and what came out of Tommy's mouth about the song's context nearly landed him in prison for what he said about the LGBTQIA+ Community. Now, please understand I am a straight male, and an ally to the LGBTQIA+ Community. So if someone, I don't care who they are, if you come with prejudice and bigotry, you are not welcome in my world. Because I measure a person by the quality of their work, the quality of who they are on the inside, not who they are on the outside. I don't care about politics. I couldn't give a damn if someone is mentally or physically disabled; they are safe, and they are welcome to be a part of the series and my life. But I digress, the longest one is a tie between every single re-enacted review. However, I still have one thing I do when I film, since I brought my team in: Eric and I get to work on editing the footage using the script as a guide, including color and lighting correction. Something that helped while I was working on the "Thunderbolts*: The New Avengers." What also helped was knowing what else was necessary while filming.

(Cut to every single intro of James Faraci, The Last Of The Americans, as they intercut to the right time and pace with the 1994 American Gladiators theme song as it goes to the logo, and then a card showing the word "Costumes and Make-up" then to everyone getting in costume as James does a voiceover.)

James Faraci (V.O.):
A lot of time and effort goes into the costumes and practical effects-based make-up. The make-up is done by Olivia, and she is just a fantastic human, especially for putting up with me. Renee is a master at finding or working with me on getting the costumes right. Some of the costumes are repurposed from other projects or other pieces. That Superman suit Nick Lopez is wearing? Semi-handmade. The logo and the cape were designed to be both comic- and movie-accurate. The Deadpool suit was initially put on Campbell Dodson, and fortunately, the hemming was adjustable, and I could resew it to fit Paulo Fonseca. And now we come to Crosslyn dressed as Hawkgirl. Those were wings and the top from Rachel Herrick, FKA Adorkable Rachel, who played my guardian angel in my review of "It's a Very, Merry Muppet Christmas." And as I said earlier, the blood is a mix of cranberry and pomegranate juice, unflavored gelatin, and Simple syrup. The skin-based make-up, where someone has to look alien or like Elemento, does take time to get right with molds, silicone, latex, and makeup. The Slime we used in the Ghostbusters 2016 review was a mix of green apple powder, simple syrup, and unflavored gelatin for viscosity. However, even with the right people involved, I could write a masterpiece, and if someone is trying too hard and delivers a bad performance. It is the one bad apple that spoils the bunch. Which is why when I do bring people in, I know that they are hard workers and talented thespians. AKA...

(Cut to every single intro of James Faraci, The Last Of The Americans, as they intercut to the right time and pace with the 1994 American Gladiators theme song as it goes to the logo, and then a card showing the word "The team," then to headshots of everyone as James does a voiceover.)

James Faraci (V.O.):
Bringing Paulo and Rebecca into the show was easy since I knew them from Church. However, Rebecca wanted to get her husband in, and Paulo wanted Brenda involved in the production. I wanted to wait until they could commit their schedules around their other jobs. As a matter of fact, I make sure that production doesn't mess with anyone's lives outside of "The Last Of The Americans." Andrew Beach had been my next-door neighbor, and he is talented, so when I decided to bring more of a team onto the show, I asked Andrew and my other friend, Eric Neil Kurtzke, to join the production. Then there is Renee Miller, who has been a longtime friend since my school days. I didn't know how good she was with the costumes and some make-up. Olivia and I met during the days of CONtv as we talked together. She had talked about being a make-up artist, and I said I needed one, and she has been indispensable since the first day she signed on. Next up is Doug Yaun, whom I've known since church, and I needed to replace three for the price of one. Backstory time, initially the lineup was also John Ross Santos, who (in real life) had passed away for some time. Had I known, I wouldn't have made him a character in the show. Mike Santos was John's brother, and I was sure that when I discovered what really happened with John, he would not want anything to do with me. And now the most problematic of the three Doug had to replace. Ed Champion, the less said, the better. Nick Lopez and his wife, Jessica Lopez-Barkl. I had seen the two of them at the College I've been a part of since 2021. When the College closed down the Theater Department, I chose to bring them on Part-time as well. Now onto Crosslyn Castillo. We met through Instagram, and she told me about herself and Ellie Jimenez through other connections, and I talked about using the two of them in a storyline that would either revive a project or be its death knell. Sadly, it was the latter. It was around this time I had also met Hunter Deno from "Power Rangers" and she had a great reference from David Yost AKA the original Blue Power Ranger; "Billy Cranston." (Cut to behind the scenes footage of Ellie, Crosslyn, and Hunter Deno as they get ready to work with James as he is not in the room and they're getting ready to become Mermaids with Olivia Horvath filming and James does a voiceover.)

James Faraci (V.O.):
As a point of being a gentleman, I am never in the same room as a woman, as they get dressed in general, without knocking.

Olivia Horvath (Audio only):
You three are gorgeous, Hunter. Are you okay?

Hunter Deno:
I just never thought I would look good as a mermaid, and I can barely swim as is.

Crosslyn Castillo:
We'll train you.

Ellie Jimenez:
And I learned on the job, so I can help any way I can. (Everyone embraces each other.)

James Faraci (V.O.):
Now there is something I never showed that not many are willing to show. Some alternate takes. (Cut to every single intro of James Faraci, The Last Of The Americans, as they intercut to the right time and pace with the 1994 American Gladiators theme song as it goes to the logo, and then a card showing the word "Alternate Takes," then to the Alternate Takes as James does a voiceover.)

James Faraci (V.O.):
For many, 2020 was the worst year of their lives, myself included. I had initially had James and Julia Alexa Miller reunite, showing a glimmer of hope. But it would be less realistic than the world we live in. But this wasn't the first alternate take. In the "Rocky Horror" review, I had Marcella and Taylor with different dresses from different eras. Then there was "The Producers" musical review, as it would've been with me looking at the reviews with the team in Tallycost and Flume's office, and it being a bigger brawl. However, I needed some time for people to change out of their own characters and turn into the suitable satirical versions of the characters from the movie and musical. Then we come to the "Dr. Horrible" review, which had me taking the shot meant for "Jenny"; however, everyone felt it was more true for "Jenny," much like the character Felicia Day played in "Dr. Horrible," who died to die. Now we come to the "Cool Like Keanu" review trilogy. Had I not decided to blindly hang on to some blind hope of things getting better, then the Cool Like Keanu trilogy would've ended with Julia Alexa Miller quickly being seen by Chad Narducci then disappearing into the water, becoming a mermaid and swimming away with me looking out into the snowy horizon of the future and deciding to end it and any hope for a movie and ending "The Last Of The Americans" once and for all. Speaking of the death knell of my film, the ending of the Kevin Smith trilogy I did last year was meant to revive hope that the movie would be made. That is, until Julia Alexa Miller's real life shattered the fantasy, and I am happy for her (in real life). That meant the original ending you're seeing of me. Julia Alexa Miller fighting to get back to my neck of the woods, escaping the pod and destroying the Digital Doppelganger of me and us having the happy ending was scrapped, once again going into the reality of my life that the woman I am meant to spend the rest of my days, doesn't exist and that the movie I would write for her as a love letter to her will not happen, at least the way I had hoped for. Boy, this job takes a lot from me. (Cut to clips of reviews done and behind-the-scenes of "The Last Of The Americans" as James does a voiceover.)

James Faraci (V.O.):
But that doesn't mean I don't like this job. I love getting my opinions out without fear of reprisal, with people enjoying my work and me in a somewhat joyful, creative aplomb. It's a part of me, and I know "The Last Of The Americans" will reach more people through my thoughts on pop culture. (Cut to James in his office)

TLOTA:
And with that, we end the 2025 season. The 2026 season, as much as I will be bringing out the usual stuff like "The Different Cuts," "Reality Checkout," "In Defense Of..." A top ten here and there, a crossover, there is one thing that I am doing, because it will be this country's 250th, and hopefully not the last, birthday of this country as we check out all year long! ("America F- Yeah!" plays in the background.) Icons of entertainment and America itself! I'm James Faraci, The Last Of The Americans, and get ready to celebrate this country's icons, whether everyone wants to or not!