My Life in Television
"Ok, I had this great idea. I was totally thinking about it on the drive home and I am convinced it can work."
"What is this idea?"
"I pitch a DadCentric TV show to HBO. It would be brilliant. Like Curb Your Enthusiasm with kids. We could do it semi-improv. Get three year olds and turn the cameras on them and let them talk about the shit that they talk about, pink eagles and pee and all that, and have the actors just go with it."
"But not everyone finds little kids funny."
"So? You think everyone found Sex and The City funny? Who watched that shit? Women in their 30's. That leaves a whole lot of people who didn't think it was funny. And yet it was a cultural phenomenon. Network shows about dads are not funny."
"That reminds me - a woman on my message board was telling us that her baby pooped on the floor and their dog ate it."
"See? That would not happen on Growing Pains. But that's pretty funny. In fact, if that was us, and the baby shit on the floor, we'd be placing bets. 'Oh, no, Zoe pooped on the floor. I got five bucks says Mick eats it.''Oh, yeah? Double or nothing says he pisses on it and then eats it.' That's funny. You think Alan Thicke would bet on his dog eating baby shit?"
"Do we know anyone who works in TV?"
"See, you're with me on this. I gotta call HBO before the writers' strike ends."
Funny you should mention this: there was a BBC sitcom last year called Outnumbered which included, amongst others, a 5 year old, 7 year old and 11 year old. Much of the younger childrens' dialogue was improvised.
Posted by: Pete | January 15, 2008 at 06:43 AM
Dude, you won't need writers. That kind of stuff writes itself.
Posted by: zoe's dad | January 15, 2008 at 06:51 AM
I had a similar idea for a comedy tour that featured comedians whose material was all about being a parent. Sort of a Blue Collar Comedy mixed with Dane Cook's Tourgasm concept. Louis CK could headline. I know a guy who's close with him. It could be an outcome of the DadCentric show? I'm telling you ...it would sellout every venue it played.
Posted by: Bill | January 15, 2008 at 09:52 AM
This is a great idea, particularly if you devote much of it to dads and their reaction. Keep us updated.
Posted by: Working Dad | January 15, 2008 at 01:40 PM
I think you're right...it would work.
Posted by: Darren | January 15, 2008 at 08:45 PM
Well, before you pitch it to HBO, why not put some video segments on YouTube, to gauge reactions?
Posted by: George Romaka | January 16, 2008 at 09:45 AM
Yeah, great idea, because you know, everyone thinks their own kids are so fucking smart and interesting.
Posted by: Anonim Ass | January 16, 2008 at 07:28 PM
Anonim Ass?
71.117.0.4
You're so "fucking smart", you should be able to figure out what that number is. I'll give you a hint. It rhymes with "your IP address".
Posted by: Jason | January 16, 2008 at 08:05 PM