A Zombie Extra's First Day on Set

Caged behind a chain-link fence on the set of a zombie drama, Steve, a background zombie who has been on the show since season one, explains to a nervous newcomer that the real prize for an extra is a featured lunge and the pay bump that comes with it. When the assistant director, Jerry, hands that very lunge to the rookie instead, Steve swallows his pride and offers encouragement through gritted teeth. Take after take, the newcomer wrecks the shot with a squeaky greeting to Obama, a Muppet-like warble and finally a brain-eating threat that ends with the word "zombie", while the director gently steers star Mack through notes about ambivalence and urgency. Steve keeps volunteering himself and pointing out every mistake, but when the director finally orders the bad extra removed, it is Steve who gets sent off, and the rookie's last take, a zombie asking what to do about bathroom breaks, is hailed as genius.