$5.15/Hr. (2004) (TV)

Director:

Richard Linklater

Writers:

Richard Linklater
Rodney Rothman

Genre:

Comedy | Drama

Plot:

An ensemble comedy focused on the bizarre, underpaid employees of Grammaw's Home Cookin'. |

Plot Keywords:

Money In Title | Title Ends With Period | Number In Title

Cast

Peter Atherton	...	Customer #1
Mitch Baker
Johnny Bartee	...	Trucker
David Bewley	...	Vice President
Michelle Biloon	...	Restaurant Patron
Frank Brantley	...	Restaurant Patron
Brian Decaro		(as Brian Stanton)
Chamblee Ferguson	...	Vice President
America Ferrera
Erick Garibay	...	Convenience store customer
Eric Hernandez	...	Focus Group Extra
Preston Jones	...	Frat Daddy
Lindsay Kent	...	Diner Customer
Kathy Lamkin	...	Customer #2
Jaime Medeles	...	Alfonso
Clark Middleton
Patricia Miller	...	Dishwasher
Angela Rawna	...	Vice President (2004)
Retta	...	Joy
Brenna Rivas	...	Driver
Christopher Ryan	...	Quick Cash Clerk
Keri Safran	...	Brandy
Spencer Scott	...	Brian Watson
William Lee Scott
Maverick Shaw	...	Waiter
Nicole Taylor	...	Waitress (as Nicole Lin Taylor)
Bill Wise
Missy Yager
Austin Chittim	...	Drunk Frat Guy (uncredited)
Frank Matthews	...	Truck Driver (uncredited)
Curtis Wayne	...	Restaurant Patron (uncredited)

Directed by
Richard Linklater

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Richard Linklater
Rodney Rothman

Produced by
Richard Linklater	....	producer
David Miner	....	producer
Rodney Rothman	....	executive producer
Erwin Stoff	....	producer
Anne Walker-McBay	....	producer

Film Editing by
Sandra Adair

Casting by
Wendy O'Brien
John Papsidera
Beth Sepko

Production Design by
Bruce Curtis

Costume Design by
Kari Perkins

Makeup Department
Catherine Conrad	....	hair department head
Terri Ewton	....	key hair stylist
Diane Hardin	....	key makeup artist
Paula Mixon	....	hair stylist: video background
Paula Mixon	....	makeup artist: video background
Darylin Nagy	....	makeup department head

Production Management
Dominic Cancilla	....	production supervisor
Susan Kirr	....	unit production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Katie Tull	....	second second assistant director

Art Department
Brad Blei	....	set dresser
Jack Colmenero	....	set dresser
Craig Denham	....	graphic designer
Melanie Ferguson	....	on-set dresser
Erick Garibay	....	assistant property master
Ellen Lampl	....	graphic designer
King Orba	....	property master (as Mark Wallace)

Sound Department
Wayne Bell	....	sound effects editor
Ajae Clearway	....	dialogue editor
Tom Hammond	....	sound re-recording mixer
Tom Hammond	....	supervising sound editor
Justin Hennard	....	sound effects editor
Brad Warren	....	audio engineer: video background

Camera and Electrical Department
Roger Basquette	....	video assist operator
Matt Cowan	....	best boy grip
Jeff Culbertson	....	camera operator: video background
Enrique Garcia	....	camera operator: video background
Courtney Harrell	....	grip
Matt Lankes	....	still photographer
Scott McCauley	....	gaffer: video background
P.K. Munson	....	"a" camera focus puller
Craig Napps	....	assistant camera: video background
Robert Rendon	....	second assistant camera
Phillip Renke	....	grip
Wally Rowell	....	electrician
Joe Bob Struble	....	electric/grip intern
Steve Urban	....	grip
Joseph Vasquez	....	dolly grip
Aaron Atom Vyvial	....	key grip
Ralph Watson	....	Steadicam operator

Casting Department
Kevin Kray	....	casting assistant

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Melanie Armstrong Fletcher	....	key set costumer

Editorial Department
Mark Bullard	....	assistant post-production supervisor
Christopher Roldan	....	assistant editor
Jim Stedman	....	editor: video background

Transportation Department
Russell E. Scott	....	picture cars/driver

Other crew
Peter Atherton	....	location manager
Shannon Blackburn	....	production secretary
Mia Cevallos	....	liaison: Chapman
Susan E. Denison	....	stand-in: Missy Yager
Brian Franklin	....	key set production assistant
Marshall Hopkins	....	production assistant
John Johns	....	video playback engineer
Sara Johnson	....	assistant: Richard Linklater (as Sara Greene)
Stephen Light	....	assistant production coordinator
Riley Malone	....	assistant location manager
Glen Moorman	....	production assistant
Andrew Poppoon	....	location assistant
Brooke Satrazemis	....	script supervisor
Danna Stedman	....	producer: video background
Jim Stedman	....	director: video background
Jim Stedman	....	producer: video background
Dustin Weaver	....	location assistant
Wade Couturiaux	....	office intern (uncredited)

Production Companies

• Home Box Office (HBO)

Distributors

• Home Box Office (HBO) (USA)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Filming Locations:

Austin, Texas, USA

Company:

Home Box Office (HBO)

Great pilot! A shame it was never picked up!

Like so many Linklater projects, $5.15/Hr. thrives off of character development. The characters in this show just so happen to be minimum wage workers, just trying to get by with too few shifts and payday loans. That's the basic premise of the show--following around eight or so employees working the "third shift" at a restaurant chain called "Grammaw's Kitchen" that looks like a low-grade "Denny's." But more than the everyday occurrences for these characters, the show opens up the context, integrating the crazy logic of corporate mandates and consumer debt into the text.

I would have loved to have seen where this show would have gone had it been given the opportunity to go there. The actors (particularly America Ferrera of "Ugly Betty") portray three dimensional characters in complex situations; but is it a surprise that HBO (funded by the subscriptions of wealthy viewers) was unwilling to take this on? Not in the least. It's so sad how the perspectives of those doing the most menial of jobs get filed away in some studio back lot.