Pitching a TV idea....

[Professor Zoom]

I was disappointed 17th Precinct never got picked up. It sounded interesting.

I read the pilot. to be honest, I'm not surprised it didn't get picked up. Not on NBC anyway. It was pretty out there. While it looked like a procedural, trying to create a world where literally there was no science, and in fact, science and technology were going to be the "bad guys"? That was going to be a big pill to swallow.

I think for the most part the reason certain shows go forward and others (most likely more interesting) is that TV is a risk averse business. They want something that will help sell the show (it's a cop show, it's based on a show from Europe, it's based on best selling novels.)

 

[Australis]

What I was trying to say, only shorter,

 

[Tom Hendricks]

I've had two TV series swirling around in my head for a long time. I've done no real development on them, considered writing treatments and scripts for them but life always seamed to get in the way.

1st one is set in a PR firm that handles high profile clients. So they are usually always putting out fires or trying to keep clients in the public view. I imaged that the clients would be from across the spectrum of celebrities. So including Actors, Musicians, Athletes and the like. I also imagined that this would leave open lots of room to have real celebrities guest star as themselves or maybe versions of themselves. I imagined it as a drama with a slight hint of comedy.

2nd one is police show set on an Native American Reservation. The story would focus on a member of the tribe who left the Reservation, became a police officer in a large city but has to return home after the murder of their father, who was the chief of police. They return to investigate their fathers murder, joining the Reservation police force and reconnecting with their grandfather. Imagined as an hour long police procedural, a drama with a little bit of mystery. The circumstance of the fathers death, the why and who killed him would be a thread throughout the first season. The idea is to show the current situation on many Reservations and the police force made up of Native Americans and non-natives striving to maintain Law & Order.

 

[Australis]

1st one is set in a PR firm that handles high profile clients. So they are usually always putting out fires or trying to keep clients in the public view. I imaged that the clients would be from across the spectrum of celebrities. So including Actors, Musicians, Athletes and the like. I also imagined that this would leave open lots of room to have real celebrities guest star as themselves or maybe versions of themselves. I imagined it as a drama with a slight hint of comedy.

Stephen Fry did something like this called 'Absolute Power'
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Absolute_Power_%28comedy%29

I've got a feeling I've seen or heard something like the second one.

You sure someone hasn't been monitoring your thoughts?

 

[sojourner]

The second one sounds a bit like Longmire and Thunderheart.

 

[Taylirious]

A friendly extraterrestrial crash lands in the garage of the suburban middle-class family.

 

[Tom Hendricks]

1st one is set in a PR firm that handles high profile clients. So they are usually always putting out fires or trying to keep clients in the public view. I imaged that the clients would be from across the spectrum of celebrities. So including Actors, Musicians, Athletes and the like. I also imagined that this would leave open lots of room to have real celebrities guest star as themselves or maybe versions of themselves. I imagined it as a drama with a slight hint of comedy.

Stephen Fry did something like this called 'Absolute Power'
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Absolute_Power_%28comedy%29

I've got a feeling I've seen or heard something like the second one.

You sure someone hasn't been monitoring your thoughts?

The second one sounds a bit like Longmire and Thunderheart.

While I know who Stephen Fry is, mostly because of the kids show Pocoyo. I have never heard of that show. Both of these "pitches" are at least 10 years old if not older.

While the germination for my Reservation police show is definitely from ThunderHeart, it is without the more mystical aspects of the movie. So it would be more in tune with Law & Order. While I saw some promos for Longmire, so I am aware of its existence. I'm totally oblivious to the actual storyline. I think I will check it out, see what's up.

 

[Warped9]

I, too, have an idea for a space opera. Presently I'm trying to write it as a novel. It is inspired by the shows I've really liked (TOS Star Trek and Babylon 5) only I've tried to put things in a different context.

- There is no known FTL. Set eight hundred years or so ahead everyone is using fast relativistic travel in hand with time dilation, induced hibernation and longer life span. The five or six year voyage is actually about two hundred years back home.
- Alien life has been found on other worlds including complex animal life, but no alien intelligence...yet. That will be the significance of this voyage as the contacts with alien intelligence will impact on the belief of many that after finding no solid evidence of intelligence over the centuries many believe humanity was indeed alone and special.
- Different science fiction concepts could be explored as different species find different ways to survive and exist. Also trying to find novel ways to address new and familiar ideas.
- The series concept was also meant to evolve so that the first season is interstellar exploration and contact and the second season is interstellar war. The third season would be something else.

 

[JirinPanthosa]

There are some great TV shows on right now but they're sure not on networks.

It is true, the ideas pitched here are specifically targeted at people who grew up loving TV space operas and now want space operas that appeal to their current age. But Battlestar Galactica survived four seasons on that chunk of the audience. I think a lot of these ideas would be great for Netflix series.

The trouble with networks right now is the shows with good writing start off with bad ratings then gradually grow through word of mouth. You miss a lot of important information when you miss an episode and to get into the show you need to catch up on Netflix first. Networks just aren't willing to take those risks, and would rather design the show around the star power and a central gimmick then worry about the writing later. Writing is interchangeable to networks, and they don't want to challenge or risk offending anyone or require any kind of investment.

The boutique networks are willing to take those risks because their brand appeal is designed around quality and they attract far more viewers through buzz and word of mouth than by their advertising.

I think a grownup space opera like the ones various people have pitched could easily get BSG ratings, and given enough time, even Breaking Bad ratings. If they had good writers. But the big networks are drooling at the prospect of cutting writers out of the creative process entirely.

So in short, yes, we are not more creative than TV writers. Just, networks aren't hiring any.

 

[lennier1]

How about something to expand on an idea from one of the Austin Powers movies?
A comedy, told from the perspective of a henchman in the private army of some James Bond type villain. Probably wouldn't last more than a single season, but think of the opportunities!

 

[JirinPanthosa]

How about something to expand on an idea from one of the Austin Powers movies?
A comedy, told from the perspective of a henchman in the private army of some James Bond type villain. Probably wouldn't last more than a single season, but think of the opportunities!

I actually think something like that might work as a Pixar style movie. A guy who's watching the space heroes on TV dreaming he was them. But he's just a regular family man and when he tries to join the fleet he fails the exams. So, he sneaks on board the ship posing as a janitor. Then when enemies attack he happens to be cleaning a fighter when it auto-launches. Opportunities for heroism ensue, the rest of the story pretty much writes itself.

 

[lennier1]

How about something to expand on an idea from one of the Austin Powers movies?
A comedy, told from the perspective of a henchman in the private army of some James Bond type villain. Probably wouldn't last more than a single season, but think of the opportunities!

I actually think something like that might work as a Pixar style movie. A guy who's watching the space heroes on TV dreaming he was them. But he's just a regular family man and when he tries to join the fleet he fails the exams. So, he sneaks on board the ship posing as a janitor. Then when enemies attack he happens to be cleaning a fighter when it auto-launches. Opportunities for heroism ensue, the rest of the story pretty much writes itself.

I'm more looking for the combination.

The parts itself have already been done in some form and shape, though in two ways. The Pixar-style "henchman" story was Igor.
The "fish out of water" part is closer to an old German Trek fanfilm series from the 1990s where due to a misunderstanding some absolute moron from a starbase's cleaning crew is mistaken for the captain of the new flagship and stumbles from one adventure into the next, more than once posing more of a threat to the ship than any of the enemies they encounter. Another example for the latter would be The Irresponsible Captain Tylor (clip 2).

 

[sojourner]

How about something to expand on an idea from one of the Austin Powers movies?
A comedy, told from the perspective of a henchman in the private army of some James Bond type villain. Probably wouldn't last more than a single season, but think of the opportunities!

Ahem, Venture Bros.

 

[Australis]

While I know who Stephen Fry is, mostly because of the kids show Pocoyo. I have never heard of that show.

Go now and look up some of the stuff he's done: QI, BlackAdder, A Bit of Fry and Laurie (with Hugh Laurie), Stephen Fry in America, Jeeves and Wooster, Wilde (film), narrator for the HHGG film, many others. One of the smartest people you'd ever encounter. Absolute Power is wickedly funny and very satirical.

 

[lennier1]

How about something to expand on an idea from one of the Austin Powers movies?
A comedy, told from the perspective of a henchman in the private army of some James Bond type villain. Probably wouldn't last more than a single season, but think of the opportunities!

Ahem, Venture Bros.

The lame Johnny Quest parody that made me want to puke out all of last month's meals within a matter of seconds? What about it?

 

[Tom Hendricks]

While I know who Stephen Fry is, mostly because of the kids show Pocoyo. I have never heard of that show.

Go now and look up some of the stuff he's done: QI, BlackAdder, A Bit of Fry and Laurie (with Hugh Laurie), Stephen Fry in America, Jeeves and Wooster, Wilde (film), narrator for the HHGG film, many others. One of the smartest people you'd ever encounter. Absolute Power is wickedly funny and very satirical.

Wasn't he the head of the Television Station in V is for Vendetta?

 

[sojourner]

How about something to expand on an idea from one of the Austin Powers movies?
A comedy, told from the perspective of a henchman in the private army of some James Bond type villain. Probably wouldn't last more than a single season, but think of the opportunities!

Ahem, Venture Bros.

The lame Johnny Quest parody that made me want to puke out all of last month's meals within a matter of seconds? What about it?

It's pretty close to your idea and funny as hell already. Sorry if you saw a bad episode or just don't get it.

 

[Australis]

While I know who Stephen Fry is, mostly because of the kids show Pocoyo. I have never heard of that show.

Go now and look up some of the stuff he's done: QI, BlackAdder, A Bit of Fry and Laurie (with Hugh Laurie), Stephen Fry in America, Jeeves and Wooster, Wilde (film), narrator for the HHGG film, many others. One of the smartest people you'd ever encounter. Absolute Power is wickedly funny and very satirical.

Wasn't he the head of the Television Station in V is for Vendetta?

<Wikipedia> Yes, that's correct, completely forgot that, haven't watched that movie recently (probably should).

 

[sojourner]

He was actually more of a Graham Norton-ish talk show host in V for Vendetta.

 

[JirinPanthosa]

I wonder if any network would consider a show with a format like Twilight Zone, only with fantasy-in-modernity themes.

If it had good writers, they could probably do some really thought provoking original stuff, and without that pesky viewer investment networks hate.

Since this is a pitch thread, I will pitch a pilot. A guy who is nerdy and really good at math and really into fantasy, and is also really introverted and lonely meets the woman of his fantasies. He gradually realizes nobody else can see her, and she explains to him that she is a spirit of the universe come to bond with him and protect him. This makes him feel really special, as a fan of fantasy his entire life he gets to be 'The one' and have the perfect woman. Then he gradually realizes he feels tired more and more, his ability to do math diminishes. And she convinces him to isolate himself from the world and be only with her. Then at the end when he is so tired he can barely stand up he realizes what she really is is...a parasite, come to feed off his mind.

Probably copying a few different things there, but what isn't?