Rob McElhenney on the ‘ethical and social responsibility’ of ‘Mythic Quest’ virtual episode on Apple TV+

When Rob McElhenney decided he wanted to do a virtual episode of one of his television series during the COVID-19 pandemic, there was no question that it would be his new Apple TV+ comedy “Mythic Quest” and not his long-running FXX sitcom “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia.”

“The thing about the ‘Mythic Quest’ characters is that, like the filmmakers, they believe in science and they respect the law. And so we could make an episode that we felt was socially responsible,” McElhenney tells Variety.

Danielle Turchiano for Variety:

The “Sunny” characters on the other hand, do not, he adds, which means the kind of episode the production team would have delivered would have been the opposite of what he did with “Mythic Quest.”

“I don’t know that it would be socially responsible to make right now. Maybe in about six months from now or a year, hopefully we’re going to see what the ‘Sunny’ characters were doing in quarantine, but I have a feeling it’s not what the ‘Mythic Quest’ characters were doing,” he continues.

“Mythic Quest: Quarantine,” the new half-hour, remotely-produced episode of “Mythic Quest: Raven’s Banquet” that acts as a special 10th episode in its first season, finds its characters months after its February finale left off, self-quarantining from the COVID-19 pandemic in their individual homes…

In order to film this episode remotely in the actors’ real-life residences, they were sent new iPhones, with which to film themselves and new Air Pods, through which to communicate with the other actors in the scene and McElhenney, who also directed. Depending on the scene being worked on, anywhere from 20 to 40 people logged into a Zoom meeting so they could see what was being shot. The various crew members would have their cameras and microphones off, McElhenney says, until one saw something in the frame that wasn’t quite right. Then he told them he trusted them to just jump in and say something so they could adjust as they went.

While McElhenney calls this episode “the most difficult production I’ve ever been a part of in 15 years of television,” he also says it’s the one of which he is the most proud.

MacDailyNews Note: Shot on iPhone! SPOILER ALERT: Do not read the full article you have not yet watched “Mythic Quest: Quarantine,” streaming now on Apple TV+.