Alright, This is where we exercise the theory of 6 degrees of Kevin Bacon. Supposedly, every one is like 6 degrees of separation from someone important. So, send a shout out and see if Kevin says “HI.” Or Jim Carrey and Morgan Freeman, as I would be very okay if they said, “HI.” OR Reeves. OR Olivia Newton John. I met her once though, and it didn’t go well, because my brain operates on Microsoft and it a system crash. God, or Freeman, I want a do over.
Alright, the pitch for a two new TV shows.
First show, kind of a fun parody of “quantum leap,” but instead of being a time traveler, Samuel Becket is traveling through the twilight zone, landing in all the past televisions shows. More specifically, he is landing in the ‘Jump the Shark” episodes, and his sidekick AL, operating as a hologram, has to educate him into how this show marked the series decline and how to get it back on track so it doesn’t go off the air. We could have so much fun with this given todays tech, either putting the actors into the old shows, or reviving past characters digitally. Worst case scenarios, it revives interest in past shows, but one could make an argument for this being fairly existential in terms of exploring archetypes.
the second televisions series, which is very similar to the first. Introducing the “Texas Dreamer.”
First episode introduces the two primary characters. One is a Neuro-theologist (yes, they have such entities) who is also a popular past life regression hypnotist, and atheist. (She doesn’t care if its really past lives, as long as it cures the patient.” The protagonist patient comes to her to be cured of something. Initially something isn’t important. He doesn’t buy into hypnotherapy either, but he was pressured into seeing this one. She hypnotizes and through the series we explore space and time through the eyes of the protagonist, and whether it’s ‘dreams’ or ‘regression sessions’ all the ‘alternative scenes,’ which could even be revisiting old TV shows that the protagonist had written himself into and incorporated into his psychological personality-architecture gets explore.
So the first flashback he is in Africa with girlfriend (who is always the good doctor) he tells her ‘don’t move’ cause he realizes he is being stalked by a lion and he runs, lion chases him because, well, he’s running, and he stops and lion catches him and take him over a cliff. Lots of running flash backs where he is being chased and finally therapist helps him have courage to change the flash back, and so he stands his ground to the lion, and the lion still runs up and grabs him, but it’s just big friendly hug because its Christian the lion!
And if you don’t know the story of Christian the lion, what way great way to learn about him. because the first episode sets of theme of facing fear, but also pushing love.
Now, the goal for me is to find a way to better organize this concept into a pitch, and then figure out who to send said pitch to, and then become part of a brain party meeting where we make a dozen first season episodes. Cause I know where it goes. The protagonist, the Texas Dreamer, we discover is actually in a coma, and scientist are trying to use new tech to wake people from coma, because he donated his body to science. The tech isn’t quite working. It only induces REM states. “The Texas Dreamer” is a one season show that got canceled, but the lead character is the high school sweetheart of the protagonist, and the so the real neuroscientist hire her to interact with the protagonist in his dream, trying to increase his level awareness in the dream so that he wakes up. And, in season three, next plot twist is that the protagonist was actually trying to wake high school sweetheart, because she is the one in the coma!
You may not know this, but they actually have the ability to record dreams and play them on a monitor using fMRI technology. This is an extension of that, and the dream format gives flexibility in plot contrivance to drive a lot of good scenarios, and variations on a theme. Yes, it’s just a plot contrivance for putting in an episode of star trek, or Gilligan’s island, or even Fantasy Island. OH! What if Roarke was God, and not Morgan Freeman? What if Jim Carrey plays the devil in recurring episodes! Did you see the MASK?
Anyway, this is my practice pitch where you help sort it out and tell me how I am crazy, or say, I have an agent friend that might help in this.
Or as my friend Sonja Kent might ask, how does your brain work?! well… Clearly this is how we get the neuroscientist to figure it out, at least in fiction, which is kind cathartic in a very Jung and archetypal way. Anyone know Seth McFarlane? I bet I would interact pretty well with his team!
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