And just for the record, the title to this entry is not meant to be read in a sarcastic growl.
Here's the situation: I've come to realize that there are two possible ways of marketing this show. First, as half-hour episodes. I'm figuring that I can come up with 12, which would mean that those 12 would get four plays during the course of one year.
The second approach is to group them into four bundles of three. The set of scripts I've just finished (Plant Your Wagon) and the one I've just started work on (The Political Thing) are both three-episodes sets in themselves. Further, there are three scripts related to the characters of Jerry and George. I've written two other scripts that are related by the use of TV parodies that interrelate to the main story. The 12th script will use characters from both those earlier scripts, which will really tie that group together.
My thought is to try to market them as quarterly specials--perhaps in conjunction with pledge weeks. Does this make sense to anyone besides me and the Mrs? I figure that the stations would have two opportunities to insert pledge breaks, which I have to figure is a selling point, right?
On a related note, I think I'm going to change the name of the series to "Theater in a Box."
Unlike the General Election, each vote counts here. Let me know what you think. I'm interested.
10 comments:
Actually, I'm currently working on my pitch tto NPR and I've presented both as possibilities. I guess I'm just trying to make sure that neither one provokes a reader to think "What kind of loser talk is that?"
Unlike Hebrew National Hot Dogs, I have no problem with fillers. "Len Me Your Ears" definitely has a place in that. Thanks.
I'm actually thinking about recording discussions with members of the cast, too. I'm not talking interviews, but real honest-to-goodness conversations.
The CDs will be fillerized even if the broadcasts aren't.
Thanks, Robert. I tend to veer from naive optimism to abject craven fear to bloated self confidence, often within a few minutes. I'm preparing myself to storm another citadel, and think I'm just about ready to order the troops to join the fray.
I keep a quote from Fred Allen as my screen saver: "men do not fail--they give up trying."
Well, I just checked the US Patents and Trademarks office and they have "Theater in a Box" being a registered trademark owned by some lady in Idaho. perhaps I should stick with the easy way out and continue with Next in the Series, which I probably ought to trademark since it's available.
Roll with the punches, eh what?
When I read your initial post, even before I read any comments, I thought to myself, "Why not pitch it as available in either format?"
So as to fit any broadcaster's needs. Made with your mind in mind. I also think you should provide them with one-minute promo spots so that they can attract listeners to the program. Five witty, well-produced promos can be the first thing they listen to- even before they settle in to try the program and they will be "pre-sold" on what they are about to hear.
Mr. Moto
I like the promos idea. I'll have to drop that in the think tank and let it fester. It's at times like these that I wish I had someone onboard to deal with the business stuff. I'm great at the creative stuff, but on the business side I'm like a midget trying to hit a high-strung pinata.
Bitty Barly
Dear Dud (and I mean that in the best way possible),
I am going to trademark "Next in the Series," just out of spite, if nothing else. The titles you propose are interesting, and I'll have to check into the legalities involved as soon as my lawyer graduates from law school. (Groucho used to say that "It's not an old joke if you've never heard it before." I don't know why I brought that up now, but it's good to know.)
In one of my scripts, I have someone talk about watching The Saucy Channel on cable; has anyone used the title "Salacious Sedgewick's Saucy Cinema"?
Dudley Do-Right's brother, Seldom
I used the name Dud in memory of Dud of Dagenheim whho, with his pal Pete, used to discuss such strange things as Greta Garbo and Anna Magnianni climbing in their respective bedroom windows. Step relatives of the Man from Puckoon, I think.
I miss Dud and Pete and the Man from Puckoon.
well, Robert, when you start talking about Old Time Radio (OTR to those of us in the "know"), you're getting into a subject that is near and dear to my heart, and about which I am something of an expert. For example, I can tell you that Old Time Radios (OTRs) had dials on the front and gasless tubes inside that made the whole thing work. I also "know" that Ed Wynn invented the studio audience and that Jack Benny was sponsored by Lucky Strikes and then Jello.
Now, the thing that comes to my mind when I think of Dr. Episodic is the time the he swooned when he found out his Hooper ratings had dipped. This condition came to be known as having "The Dreadful Hoopers," and there are photos of Depression-era children living in iron lungs by reason of having "The Dreadful Hoopers." Of course, since "The Dreadful Hoopers" isn't a pneumatic disease, they were only in there becasue there was more room in an iron lung than there was in the one-room apartment they shared with their parents and 19 other assorted relatives.
Isn't there a Dr. Episodic newsgroup?
Robert,
I guess the firs thing I have to say is, "If the Episode Fits, then run it."
Having lived in the South for most of the last 22 years, I know a thing or two about revivalism. (As an aside, did you kow that H.L. Mencken went to a tent meeting one time? He wrote a great article about it.) The thing about revivalism is that it is an act of faith, something that one attends to despite the babbling towers that Babylon. Or is that "topless towers"? Next thing you know, they'll be lap-dancing towers. Such is the way things are going.
And speaking of revivalism and wheelchairs, isn't it possible that there was a miracle involved? Isn't it possible that the spirit of Katherine Kuhlman infested this young woman and got her to rise like the dough? Who was this Jane Dough? one wonders. And if she rose, was it on the third day of the pageant?
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