Series Idea
I swear, this will be the greatest show of all time. ARE YOU LISTENING, NETWORKS?!
Inspired, as most modern ideas are, by Star Trek (specifically, this confusing and possibly doctored image), the series follows the adventures of George Washington, Ben Franklin, and Thomas Jefferson.
With the Royal Proclamation of 1763 following the bloodbath of the French and Indian War, a ragtag group of recently released prisoners of war try to make their way through the Ohio Country. At the outset, the group is attacked, and every soldier is slaughtered—except, miraculously, for George Washington (dream casting: Chuck Norris), who struggles on his own toward the treacherous mountains of Appalachia. In a small village just short of the mountains, Washington gets into a fight at a local tavern. It nearly results in his death, but he’s saved by 20-year-old Thomas Jefferson, whose cold logical reasoning upsets the villagers.
Jefferson introduces Washington to his traveling companion, wisecracking scientist Ben Franklin. Together, the three of them set out on an adventure. All have a common goal: to return home. Franklin to Boston, Washington to Mount Vernon, and Jefferson to the College of William and Mary, where he intends to study law.
Each week in their travels, the trio solves a mystery by way of martial-arts violence, Washington has sex with a go-go dancer or two, and the stakes are often raised when they get into wacky trouble from Washington’s devil-may-care ways and Jefferson’s warlock-like sacrilegious rationality. They often escape from their problems thanks to Ben Franklin’s MacGyver-like abilities to create complex explosives using ordinary items.
Come on, this show has everything! A perfect archetypal trio of main characters, violence and excitement, steamy sexual conquests, a weekly “franchise,” and an ultimate goal. The only thing it lacks is a constant pursuer. I’d suggest somebody like an aging Joe Don Baker as a military tracker. Through Washington’s failure at Fort Necessity, this tracker spent years tortured at an Indian encampment. When he was finally released, the tracker made the decision to hunt Washington down and kill him.
The tracker won’t be featured every week, but there will always be the fear that he’s right on their trail, ready to pounce.
So there, we have an ultimate villain and a potential story arc. And it’s edutainment! It teaches you while you learn! Look at all the history, right there in one TV show. And it will be 100% historically accurate, if you ignore the entire premise of the series and possibly an overwhelming number of errors caused by the constraints of a television budget and schedule.
Posted by Stan on April 12, 2006 11:31 AM | Permalink | Creative Works! | Digg It
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I’m with you except for the part where Washington gets the go-go dancers. Come on, haven’t you seen 1776*? Clearly Franklin is the ladies man of that bunch.
Posted by Kuru | July 4, 2006 4:33 PM | Reply
You make a good point. However, I’ll point out that there’s a 13-year gap between this series’ inciting incident. As part of my commitment to long-term character growth over the course of the series, it is my intention to have Washington start out as the roguish ladies’ man. Franklin’s bitterness at his sexual prowess (or lack thereof) will lead to resentment and conflict—the stuff of great drama!
Over the course of the series, he will convince Washington first to help him out with tips, then gradually assume Washington’s ladies’ man role. Especially once they finally make it to Virginia—I anticipate this happening either at the end of season four or five (I anticipate this being the longest-running series in the history of television, so we will have more than enough time to develop Franklin’s smoooothness, especially as we approach the “revolution years” starting in season 12), where Washington will finally return to his wife and—worse yet—the longtime object of his affection, Sally Fairfax. Wounded by her marriage to another man, Washington will decide not to stay at home with his own wife but to continue on with his friends, having adventures throughout the old colonies.
You might be saying to yourself, “Wow, you really thought this through.” I’m proud to state that I came up with this entire series idea in three minutes, scrawling it—as I often do—on a cocktail napkin just before last call. And when you pointed out a potential hole in my story, I got out my mental patching trowel and another belt of whiskey to fill in that hole. To quote Muhammad Ali, who himself was paraphrasing the great philosopher Roger Bacon, “I am the greatest!”
Posted by Stan | July 4, 2006 6:12 PM | Reply