On a Sunday in late February, members of the livestreaming network New York Television gathered in their Bushwick basement studio to shoot an episode of "Good Morning Hell," a comedic talk show about life after death. The space wasn't fully ready—it needed better lighting and more cameras but, after planning the shoot for nearly a month, two cameras started rolling anyway. NYTV's three-person crew, including Kaye Loggins, its founder, and Whitley Watson, a network executive, went live as two hosts, Chip Herbsuckle (Jordan DeFilippo) and Sebastian Clamchowder (James Azzaretti), both comedians, dressed in dark brown and beige suits with contrasting ties, started the episode by informing viewers of the day's guests: one of Santa's elves and a screenplay-writing gimp. With a burning city skyline on the green screen behind them, the guests proceeded to tell stories about how they got condemned to afterlives in hell.
It was the first time that NYTV, which launched earlier this year, rolled cameras in its new studio—which is in the same building as Loggins's home. A take on the classic morning talk show, the original plan was to air "GMH" once a month, but the lack of a permanent studio meant that they had only managed to air three three episodes over the past year. It took weeks to plan and tape episode four. The hardest part? Making sure the animated devil puppet was up and working seamlessly.
"I would rather just do it and learn on the job, and have it be rough around the edges, than wait until everything's perfect," Loggins told Hell Gate of filming in the unfinished space.