Conference ljsrv1::tv_chatter

RE                      <<< Note 176.0 by BUSY::KVILLANI >>>

>    The lady has a Phd in English, but due to some weird thing that
>    happens (which we have not idea yet what it will be) she loses her
>    job and can't find work. 

  This part is easy. English chairs at universities are few relative to the
number of English Phd's and with most "publish or parish" policies she'd get
canned if she failed to publish and get grants. 

>The stepmother legally
>    adopts her when her and her husband were still married. 

  This sounds like Rosie O'neal. Remember she was always dealing with her
ex husbands daughter from a previous marriage.

>She does not tell her husband or friends that she is
>    working in a bar because she feels that they will look down on her
>    because of all her credentials.

  This sounds a lot like Dian Chambers on Cheers. She was an English major
who couldn't find a job and ended up waitressing. Of course the fact that it's
been done before is a plus in TV land.

>seeing that you don't really see interracial marriages being
>    portrayed on TV, 

  This is not because no one's thought of it. It's a taboo that has scared the
networks in the past, but they might be ready to make the big step. 

>    What do you think we should call it? I thought of something like
>    to do with color, but not meaning the race. 

  How about "Squirming Rednecks". :*)}

  George

    RE: interracial marriages on tv
    
    The upstairs neighboors on the Jeffersons

    There was also a show on Fox called True Colors about an interracial
    second marriage.  It was the last show that Nancy Walker was in before
    she died.  So, the "colors" name may not be a good one.
    
    Cheryl

    Thanks everyone for your input.  I really had not remembered about the
    other interacial marriages.
    
    But do you think this idea has potential?  I think it could, but my
    friend REALLY whole-heartedly thinks it will be good. She kind of can
    picture the whole thing coming together which I can't yet.  I think
    it will but I have a few doubts.
    
    Would this be something that you think people would watch?   Is there
    anything we should add or delete to enhance it even more?  We got
    real stuck on what the stepmothers name should be. We wanted something
    kind of sophisticated but that you could get a nickname out of. And
    we cannot think for the life of us what last  name to use.
    
    We thought of Martha or Martina, and the nickname could be Marty. But
    we cant seem to fit a good last name with that.  We spent an our
    gong through the phone book, but nothing is really striking. Like with
    some shows, especially what Sharon Gless was in..
    
    Christine Cagney,  Fiona Rose O'Neill. Those sound good together.
    
    We wanted it to sound good, (OR) actually to sound stupid. We were
    going to use two last names, her maiden and married name. And we were
    getting silly about the whole thing the other night, and came up with
    
    Dunn-Doe, I know it sounds dumb, but imagine it on a degree
    
    Dr. Dunn-Doe.. ha! ha !  But we were afraid that if the network
    big-wigs seen the name they would think we were just dumb and not read
    the rest of the anaysis or script.
    
    With everyones permission, I would like to show your comments to my
    friend so she can see the feedback. If you would rather I don't, then
    I won't.
    
    Thanks again,
    Karen

  I don't see any reason why your ideas wouldn't work. Actually TV series live
or die based on how much people want to see the characters and how they react
to the writing. I really don't think that the situation makes all that much
difference in the ratings. 

  Don't get me wrong, I don't mean to imply that the characters or writing
have to be good, rather they have to have the right combination of quality and
entertainment that can find some audience. Often times it can be quite
horrible, but it has to be horrible in the right way (eg. Leave it to Beaver,
Quantum Leap, countless situation comedies, etc.) 

  There are some people who will watch based on what it is rather than how it's
done and those people tend to be the most vocal, but in the end it's writing
and characters that make the difference, so if your friend can turn a good
phrase (where "good" is something that people will want to hear), you should
have as good a shot with this story line as with any other.

  Feel free to use my notes on this issue,
  George 

    Karen, I'm surprised at you!  You didn't think of this one?!
    
    What about calling her Victoria, and nicname Tori ??? (As in Ms.
    Spelling).
    
    Holly
    

    I'll give it to ya as honestly as I can:
    
    It doesn't sound appealing. It sounds like a "Saturday Night" sit-com.
    Contrived, re-heated, re-cycled.
    
    TV comedy is changing (Tim Allen, Sienfeld, "Mad About You"), and this
    seems like what it's changing *from*.
    
    I wish I could get a better handle on just *why* it doesn't appeal to
    me, but I can't at this point. It just seems "80's"...
    
    Edd

  I think the trend today is to go with stand up comics as main characters
(ie. Seinfield, Sinbad, ...) and live audiences. This is not really a new idea
but it's becoming more common. Situation comedies with traditional actors
reading lines and canned laughter seems to be on the way out. 

  I believe part of the formula is for the standup comic to go out and "warm
up" the audience before the show. Newhart has been doing this for years. 

  This is why characters and writing are so important. In this example, for
instance, if the women playing the lead were a couple of standup comics and if
their characters had a bit of an edge it might work. Or it might work if the
main woman part were played by a star, like Murphy Brown, with really funny
eccentric characters in the other parts. 

  Bottom line, the situation means very little. It's how it's put together, how
the characters appeal to the audience (both studio and home), how they act, and
what they say that will make it fly or not fly. 

  George 

    George is on to something...
    
    Many of the shows I find funny (like the 3 I mentioned) aren't really
    about ANYTHING. (Allen's show is a little off of this curve, but not
    too far). They're simply about ordinary people reacting to life. 
    
    Edd

    You know something you guys are right.  I LOVE Roseanne, mostly because
    she jokes about everyday stuff...or sometimes vocolizes what we
    sometimes wish we could. 
    
    I mean, I figured this show would be something like that. It will show
    how the lady (Martha we'll say) deals with her patrons at the bar,
    deals with her home life, her step-daughter, her ex-husband, the
    biological flaky mother.... etc.  
    
    But, what you guys said is true. The "few" comedies I really enjoy
    are the ones that just make fun of everyday type stuff that we can
    all relate to.
    
    Hmmmm... See originally last year, we sat down to do the same thing. 
    We got as far as naming the characters, outlining their backgrounds,
    likes dislikes, etc. But we never continued to do it. That particular
    idea was based on two woman, early to mid twenty's sharing an apt.
    
    One came from a very rich family, and wanted to pursue acting, while
    her family expected her to go into their law firm. She told them she
    would not be and wanted to pursue acting. Meanwhile, she left the 
    house and hooked up with a roomate...  who is the opposite of
    everything.  The roomate is italian, tom-boyish from growing u p
    with all brothers, kind of on the tough side, etc. We figured it
    would kind of be similar to the Odd Couple.  And believe it or not,
    the only thing it would have in common with "Laverne and Shirley" or
    Kate and Allie is that they are both females sharing the rent. But
    they were going to be the oddest, most highly unlikely pair to be
    able to share an apartment.  It really sounded pretty good.  Maybe
    we would be better off to just continue that, because I had really
    seen potential there, more so than in this idea.
    
    I think I will suggest that to my friend.
    
    Thank you so much for replying, it really helps to get other peoples
    opinions before going through alllllll that work for nothing. I mean
    I respect practically everyones opinions in this file because we all
    enjoy television, and have some good imaginations ourselves.
    
    Thanks again,
    Karen