S02E01 - Sand Hill Shuffle
No: 9 | Season: 2 Episode: 1 | Air Date: 12-Apr-15 | Ratings: 2.13
Summary
When the Pied Piper team learned of Peter Gregory's death, it lead to uncertainty as to whether Raviga would invest in their series A funding. Erlich and Richard set out to pitch their company to a number of venture capitalist firms who were interested in funding them. They were elated to find they were even more successful with each meeting, as Erlich discovered that being rude lead to higher offers. At the end of the day, Raviga's new managing partner Laurie Bream offered them the best offer, which Richard tentatively decided to accept. However, after speaking to Monica and then Javeed, who was once a Silicon Valley success story, but now he is broke and alone, Richard decided to accept Raviga funding, but only a lower and more realistic amount. At the end of the episode it was revealed that Gavin Belson (Hooli) was suing Pied Piper, which put the entire plan in jeopardy.
Director and Writers
Director: Mike Judge
Written by: Clay Tarver
Quotes
Erlich: Ooh, the Winklevoss twins. Look at them. They're like two genetically enhanced Ken dolls.
Erlich: Line 'em up nuts to butts.
Erlich: One of you is the least attractive person I've ever seen, and I'm not gonna say who.
Music
"Stretch Your Face" by Tobacco (Opening title music)
"Blockbuster Night Part 1" by Run The Jewels (End-credits music.)
Notes and Trivia
The actor who played Peter Gregory, Christopher Evan Welch, actually passed away from cancer halfway through the production of the first season. His death wasn't originally intended to be announced until the actor passed. Later, Mike Judge decided they would write it into the story.
The epsiode title, "Sand Hill Shuffle", is a reference to Sand Hill Road, an arterial road in Menlo Park, California, notable for its concentration of venture capital companies.
According to DVD commentary, Thomas Middleditch improvised the line, "I was gonna say if you had, you'd have to show me yours, too." (His reaction to Monica seeing him going to the bathroom, and saying she never saw anything.)
According to Mike Judge, when they were brainstorming for the term "Datageddon", another option on the table was "Judgement Da-ta" .
Suzanne Cryer who plays "Laurie Bream", the new CEO of Raviga, played "Marcy" in the the "Seinfeld" episode "The Yada Yada". Seinfeld is also where Executive Producer Alec Berg began his career.
There was a deleted plot-point after the scene where Richard meets Javeed for drinks, where Richard calls an Uber and it turns out that Javeed is the driver.
On the DVD commentary, Mike Judge explained that Christopher Even Welch's mother had asked that they try to make Peter Gregory's death humorous.
The opening scene was shot in ATT Park, the actual San Francisco Giants stadium, marking only the second scene in the series that was actually shot in the San Francisco Bay area. The day they shot there was a deluge of rain and rain puddles on the field were removed digitally.
The scene where Monica explains Peter's death to Erlich and Richard was the first scene shot in season two.
As well as in the opening scene, Tyler Winklevoss can also be seen as a mourner at the wake.
Thomas Middleditch improvised his lines when Richard returned to Stern Taylor and gave the angry speech. Also, T.J. Miller improvised most of his lines when he was "negging" the venture capital firms.
Ehrlich's shirt says 01000010011010010111010001100011011011110110100101101110. This is "Bitcoin" in binary.
According to Mike Judge, the doves released at Peter Gregory's funeral were actually white homing pigeons, which are used in television/movies because they tend to return.
In the 67th Primetime Emmy Awards (2015), Mike Judge was nominated for "Outstanding Directing for a Comedy Series" for the episode "Sand Hill Shuffle".
Goofs
None
Locations
The Stern Taylor party at the baseball field was actually fimed at AT&T Park, the home of the San Francisco Giants.
The establishing shot of the restaurant exterior taken when Richard meets Javeed for drinks was taken at Reposado, 236 Hamilton Ave, Palo Alto, CA. The interior scenes were shot in studio in Los Angeles.
Cast
| Starring | Thomas Middleditch | Richard Hendricks |
| Starring | T.J. Miller | Erlich Bachman |
| Starring | Josh Brener | Nelson 'Big Head' Bighetti (credit only) |
| Starring | Martin Starr | Bertram Gilfoyle |
| Starring | Kumail Nanjiani | Dinesh Chugtai |
| Starring | Amanda Crew | Monica Hall |
| Starring | Zach Woods | Donald 'Jared' Dunn |
| Starring | Matt Ross | Gavin Belson |
| Starring | Suzanne Cryer | Laurie Bream |
| Starring | Jimmy O. Yang | Jian Yang |
| Guest Starring | Alexander Chaplin | Venture Capitalist |
| Guest Starring | Aly Mawji | Aly Dutta |
| Guest Starring | Jack Plotnick | |
| Guest Starring | Charan Prabhakar | Javeed |
| Guest Starring | David Rees Snell | Ross Loma Capital Executive |
| Guest Starring | Brian Tichnell | Jason |
| Co-Starring | Tyler Beede | Himself (Pitcher) |
| Co-Starring | Mark Bloom | Wood Opal Venture Capitalist |
| Co-Starring | Diane Chernansky | Heidi Evans |
| Co-Starring | Taylor Coffman | Marketing Executive |
| Co-Starring | Bruce Robert Cole | Medoa VC |
| Co-Starring | John Colella | Coleman Blair VC |
| Co-Starring | Skyler Blaine Ewing | Himself (Catcher) |
| Co-Starring | Angela Gulner | |
| Co-Starring | Jeff Holman | George Silver |
| Co-Starring | Bella Popa | Nicole Stein |
| Co-Starring | Pete Punito | Thornston Graves VC |
| Co-Starring | Justin Rosenstein | Himself |
| Co-Starring | Evan Spiegel | Himself |
| Co-Starring | Cameron Winklevoss | Himself |
| Co-Starring | Tyler Winklevoss | Himself |