The Film and Production Society of Binghamton (FPS) put on a four-episode show titled “The Johnny Charisma Show.” The show is a drama with comedic elements that show the natural destruction of a man due to circumstance.

“The Johnny Charisma Show” follows a failed comedian, Johnny Charisma, who is starting his own late-night show and his sidekick, Logan Kelso. Logan is a barista who is hired by Johnny out of nowhere to help his career as a late-night host start-up. Each episode is filled with unique special guests that help to show the true nature behind Johnny and his eventual downfall. The show comments on the struggles of normal people and shows how situations can affect the way people act and perceive themselves.

Aryan Joshi, the showrunner and a junior majoring in economics, explained how he created this show to make something he has wanted to see in the TV world.

“It’s a show that makes commentary on masculinity, celebrities and mental health struggles,” Joshi wrote in an email. “It tells the story of a bad person made worse by the circumstances around him. I’m hoping that other people find those concepts to be just as interesting as I do and appreciate the effort to tell a story through a unique lens.”

Joshi further explained how the show’s script and his ideas for creating this unique show came to life on screen.

“Making the script and details come to life was a long, long task, but I made the script knowing the limited resources we have as college students,” Joshi wrote. “The entire project is filmed in-universe, from cameras that exist in that world, but not with a horror tag associated with it.”

The cast of “The Johnny Charisma Show” consists of many talented Binghamton University students who used their skills to perfectly portray the characters that Joshi envisioned for the show and wrote them out to be. The three main characters of the show include Johnny, a failed stand-up comedian who is creating his own late-night show — played by Jack Harkins, a senior majoring in cinema — Logan, a barista who is hired to help start up the late-night show and Luma Astrella, played by Katherine Quinn, a first-year graduate student studying film and English.

Harkins described his experience playing the “bad guy” or antagonist of a show, as Johnny Charisma becomes the antagonist because of the situations his life has put him through.

“My experience playing Johnny has been really fun,” Harkins said. “Playing an unlikable character is so unique to what I’ve done in the past. The way I’ve been portraying him is with a lot of research on talk show hosts, especially those who have been shown in an unlikable light. Those people are in such unique positions, so having those few examples is really useful to know where the character is coming from.”

Harkins also mentioned how he approached the mindset of such a complex character.

“Getting all the knowledge of the character, their headspace and everything they’ve been through, is essential to acting and helps immensely with portraying those emotions,” Harkins said.

Kate Ivanov, a senior majoring in psychology, also touched upon the casting of the show.

“The casting for this show has been better than we could have ever hoped,” Ivanov wrote in an email. “[Harkins], who plays Johnny Charisma, could not be any more perfect for the role. He captures the charisma and charm that is necessary for the character while upholding all of his flaws and negative attributes that cultivate his complexity.”

The set copies that of any regular old late-night show and even the backstage of a late-night show. The show is supposed to be timeless and ambiguous, so they created a set with a bright and rich red curtain, a city skyline, a couch, a desk and a sparkly blue backdrop.

Ivanov talked about the making of the show when it comes to the set, costumes and humor.

“Costume progression reflects internal changes within the characters,” Ivanov wrote. “As Kelso becomes more confident, his outfits become more casual. As Johnny experiences a decline, the humor becomes darker. The nature of the show requires lighting and setting to stay the same, so we were limited in that aspect.”

Although this show is mostly drama, the darkness and lightness of its humor are a huge aspect of it. Ivanov discussed the complexity of the show’s humor.

“Sometimes, the humor is dark, as we are faced with a twisted main character who slips out of his late-night show star persona from time to time,” Ivanov wrote. “Overall, Johnny Charisma will have you both laughing with and at the characters — something that was important when writing the script.”

“The Johnny Charisma Show” can be viewed on FPS’s YouTube channel free of charge and is the perfect show for anyone who needs a little drama and humor.