# An ORIGINAL Idea for a TV Show? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 13, 2004, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-original-idea-for-a-tv-show/229059 "2004-02-13T16:37:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![AncientHumanoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ancienthumanoid/32/278_2.png) [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2014, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-original-idea-for-a-tv-show/229059/81 "2014-04-18T22:25:14Z")
One had Arnold, the other had Arnold and Arnold. ---
**Author:** ![Maserschmidt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/maserschmidt/32/18829_2.png) [@Maserschmidt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maserschmidt)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2014, 11:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-original-idea-for-a-tv-show/229059/82 "2014-04-18T23:19:16Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > What about a show featuring a message board thread that has been in cryogenic suspension for over ten years, then suddenly revived? Cryogenic suspension? How about instead a brutal _mass banning_ engineered by a mysterious character named “M”, resulting in a brave new world of circled wagons and rocks in quarries? Ah, never mind…it requires too much suspension of disbelief. ---
**Author:** ![BrotherCadfael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@BrotherCadfael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrotherCadfael)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2014, 1:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-original-idea-for-a-tv-show/229059/83 "2014-04-19T01:16:58Z")
> [@Sage\_Rat](#): > > Here’s something that certainly hasn’t been done: > > Ace McAwesome and his team of talented do-gooders pick a business each week and protect it from shoplifters, employee theft, spurious lawsuits, and unions. [Pinkerton](http://www.tv.com/shows/pinkerton/). ---
**Author:** ![BrotherCadfael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@BrotherCadfael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrotherCadfael)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2014, 1:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-original-idea-for-a-tv-show/229059/84 "2014-04-19T01:19:18Z")
> [@SciFiSam](#): > > 1. “Home.” A show about living on a terraformed planet so far from Earth that there’s no contact with Earth beyond the DVDs they constantly watch (the adults like Friends and The Big Bang Theory and the kids are very confused by Sesame Street, thinking that Big Bird was real), and the fact that the progenitors were in stasis when they left 21st-century Earth so act like our compatriats would do, with all their morals and norms. > > The terraforming has not gone particularly well and people actually die now and then, but there is hope for the future. There are no emergency food drops and there never will be. For all they know, everyone on Earth is dead. Life is hard. Crops fail or thrive in unexpected ways - some good, some bad. The kids always wonder why their parents left Earth and sometimes their parents do too, but there’s no going back. Roughly the plot of Niven & Pournelle’s _Legacy of Herot_. Not a TV show, but the example does show how hard it is to be truly new. ---
**Author:** ![buddha\_david](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ee7513/32.png) [@buddha\_david](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/buddha_david)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2014, 1:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-original-idea-for-a-tv-show/229059/85 "2014-04-19T01:44:18Z")
> [@Lumpy](#): > > In the near future, Russia-or-China-or-India has 100 nuclear weapons stolen from a stockpile, which are sold on the international black market. A few months later one of them goes off in an American city, killing hundreds of thousands of people and causing billions of dollars of economic loss. In response, a constitutional amendment is passed allowing the Supreme Court to issue special warrants that bypass the Bill of Rights. > > The show revolves around an ultra-elite agent of a newly-formed task force charged with preventing nuclear terrorism (sort of like _True Lies_). This agent is one of only five people in the United States entrusted to be issued the Supreme Court’s carte-blanche warrants, and who report directly to the President of the United States. Every week we see him tracking down leads to the whereabouts of the other 99 nukes, and balancing the ethical dilemmas of being the ultimate bad-boy cop. > > I picture one scene from the pilot episode. Our Hero is grilling some suspicious character who keeps squealing about “you can’t do this to me” and finally our hero shows him a copy of the SCOTUS warrant and says: “You see this? This is a warrant signed by the Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court. It means you have no rights I don’t want to give you. It means that if I think that doing so will prevent the detonation of a nuclear weapon on American soil, I can strap you to a table and give you an icepick lobotomy!” [It’s](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/24_%28TV_series%29) [been](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4b0RuFJZtGc) [done.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=08uJanZEeMo) ---
**Author:** ![Duke\_of\_York](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f6c823/32.png) [@Duke\_of\_York](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duke_of_York)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2014, 2:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-original-idea-for-a-tv-show/229059/86 "2014-04-19T02:04:42Z")
> [@The\_Hamster\_King](#): > > I think I’ve mentioned this idea on the board before: > > _Titanic, the TV series_ > > Every week the boat sinks. There’s a cast of regulars in major roles like the captain or the head purser. But every week there’s a new group of guest stars and a new story that unfolds aboard the sinking ship. Sometimes the guest stars live and sometimes they die – you never can be sure how an episode will play out. And you plan the episodes out in advance so sometimes you see something happening in the background that doesn’t make any sense until you see a later episode. > > It’s like _The Love Boat_. But it sinks. I like it. With the help of “flash backs” you could also cover stories pre sailing day too. ---
**Author:** ![SciFiSam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/47e85d/32.png) [@SciFiSam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SciFiSam)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2014, 11:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-original-idea-for-a-tv-show/229059/87 "2014-04-19T11:43:22Z")
> [@BrotherCadfael](#): > > Roughly the plot of Niven & Pournelle’s _Legacy of Herot_. Not a TV show, but the example does show how hard it is to be truly new. I just looked that up and it doesn’t sound very similar at all, but I’m sure there is some book out there that is close to my outline. No TV show, though, so I guess it would be new. ---
**Author:** ![Ranger\_Jeff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranger_jeff/32/2065_2.png) [@Ranger\_Jeff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranger_Jeff)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2014, 1:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-original-idea-for-a-tv-show/229059/88 "2014-04-19T13:34:08Z")
I don’t have an idea for a series, but I have an idea for a recurring bit in a sit com or dramatic series. It would be background music coming to the forefront and the actors dealing with it. A. During a conversation, the actors become aware of the background music, look around puzzled, then one of them gets up and turns off the stereo. II. Some of the cast are walking outside in a determined fashion to do something or other. The background music is “Eye of the Tiger” or something like that. They stop, look around, and wait for the flatbed truck with the band performing on it to drive by and the music to fade out. 1. Cast member hires someone to walk 12 feet behind him with a ghettoblaster playing “Theme From Shaft.” 2. During a sad moment, they become aware of “Hearts and Flowers” being played on a violin in the background. One of them gets up, walks off camera, the music stops, and the cast member returns holding a violinist by the ear and walks the musician to the door and tosses him outside. Similar scenes with a string quartet, jazz, rock, or blues ensemble practicing in the kitchen. Or off camera until the actors notice the music and the camera pans over to the group playing in the other corner of the bedroom, living room, etc. Or the cast noticing someone with a boom box playing the music and turning it off. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2014, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-original-idea-for-a-tv-show/229059/89 "2014-04-19T15:49:44Z")
[Just Scraping By](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=638752) is about as original as it gets, starting on post #62 ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2014, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-original-idea-for-a-tv-show/229059/90 "2014-04-19T16:31:13Z")
> [@Ranger\_Jeff](#): > > I don’t have an idea for a series, but I have an idea for a recurring bit in a sit com or dramatic series. It would be background music coming to the forefront and the actors dealing with it. > > A. During a conversation, the actors become aware of the background music, look around puzzled, then one of them gets up and turns off the stereo. [Kinda like this](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Et8dayGD2vk)? ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2014, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-original-idea-for-a-tv-show/229059/91 "2014-04-19T17:16:12Z")
There’s actually a lot of examples of Left the Background Music On. ---
**Author:** ![Superdude](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/superdude/32/13450_2.png) [@Superdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superdude)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2014, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-original-idea-for-a-tv-show/229059/92 "2014-04-19T17:20:48Z")
I feel I should put forth Dave Barry’s idea: > [@](#): > > “I have come up with a sure-fire concept for a hit television show, > which would be called `A Live Celebrity Gets Eaten by a Shark’.” ---
**Author:** ![scruffycat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scruffycat/32/200_2.png) [@scruffycat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scruffycat)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2014, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-original-idea-for-a-tv-show/229059/93 "2014-04-19T17:20:59Z")
Monkey tennis ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2014, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-original-idea-for-a-tv-show/229059/94 "2014-04-19T17:44:00Z")
> [@KneadToKnow](#): > > There’s actually a lot of examples of Left the Background Music On. Not listed there (that I saw) but there’s an episode of Family guy where Peter had his own theme music that the other characters could hear, much trouble ensues because of it. ---
**Author:** ![Mislav](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/77aa72/32.png) [@Mislav](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mislav)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2014, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-original-idea-for-a-tv-show/229059/95 "2014-04-19T18:09:00Z")
> [@Mislav](#): > > I did come up with ideas for first several episodes. I doubt that cases are more original than those shown in an original CSI, but I would like to know what you guys think. > **Episode 1** > Case 1: Two friends are hiking together, but relaxing hiking trip turns into a nightmare after a masked gunman shots the girl and wounds the boy. Who would do such a thing and how is that linked to an accidental death of a well known criminal-that may not be accidental at all? > Case 2: A young man on a date with his new girlfriend goes to use the bathroom and never returns: somebody followed him inside and stabbed him to death. But who? > **Episode 2** > Case 1: A teenage boy is found dead in his neighbour’s yard, next to a swimming pool, bludgeoned to death. Victim, his neighbour, claims that she was swimming in the familie’s swimming pool late at night and that he attacked her when she went to get dressed, trying to rape her, leaving her no choice but to kill him in self defense. However, some of the evidence doesn’t add up, making the self defense story very unlikely. The case turns out to be even more complicated when a rookie police officer who was originally called to a scene dies on that crime scene-apparently in a tragic accident. > Case 2: A woman was raped and beaten, then simply left on an abandoned field near the highway. She has no recollection of the crime and the attacker did his best not to leave any evidence, so our team needs to do their best to catch him. > **Episode 3** > Case 1: Three people were apparently murdered in a local High school overnight: body of a teenage girl found stuffed in a locker belonging to a student with a bad reputation (she was shot to death); gym teacher found bludgeoned to death in a gym; and a young unidentified woman found stabbed to death in the school’s garden, gun found on the ground near her body. What happened there that night? Are the deaths connected? > Case 2: In 1988, serial killer serving five consecutive life sentences in a federal prison was stabbed the death. The case was never solved. Now, almost thirty years later, our team needs to reopen the case and find a killer after a new DNA evidence is found. Also, I like to think that that show could have ninety minutes long episodes and still have twenty four episodes per season, but I know that they would have to reduce it to like ten episodes per season. Unless they make two part episodes, each forty five minutes long, although I don’t see it being good that way. ---
**Author:** ![etv78](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d78d45/32.png) [@etv78](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/etv78)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2014, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-original-idea-for-a-tv-show/229059/96 "2014-04-20T15:10:30Z")
> [@SciFiSam](#): > > 1. “My Two Moms.” An ordinary sitcom with two mothers, co-parents in a lesbian relationship. Nothing groundbreaking about that except the two mums as central characters, which I don’t think has actually been done before. _awaits link refuting this_ Having the two parents both be female would change things a little, just enough to make it different, but it would also mostly be about normal family stuff. > > 2. “Home.” A show about living on a terraformed planet so far from Earth that there’s no contact with Earth beyond the DVDs they constantly watch (the adults like Friends and The BFamily. ang Theory and the kids are very confused by Sesame Street, thinking that Big Bird was real), and the fact that the progenitors were in stasis when they left 21st-century Earth so act like our compatriats would do, with all their morals and norms. > > The terraforming has not gone particularly well and people actually die now and then, but there is hope for the future. There are no emergency food drops and there never will be. For all they know, everyone on Earth is dead. Life is hard. Crops fail or thrive in unexpected ways - some good, some bad. The kids always wonder why their parents left Earth and sometimes their parents do too, but there’s no going back. > > Most of the people on the ship were scientists, farmers, people who’d be expected to do well in such an environment, but for a wildcard you could throw in a stowaway and his/her kid. They shouldn’t be unexpectedly and unrealistically more capable than all the people chosen for their capabilities, though; they’re just there to provide an audience surrogate. And they always they know that they’re the most expendable. Sam-Your 1st idea airs on ABC Family. It’s called “The Fosters”. ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2014, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-original-idea-for-a-tv-show/229059/97 "2014-04-20T16:04:19Z")
Ranger Jeff writes: \> 3. Cast member hires someone to walk 12 feet behind him with a ghettoblaster \> playing “Theme From Shaft.” That’s a running joke in the movie _I’m Gonna Git You Sucka_, including this final scene: [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/e3oeAlOtbkE/hqdefault.jpg "Theme Music....Every Good Hero Should Have Some") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e3oeAlOtbkE) ---
**Author:** ![Andy\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2014, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-original-idea-for-a-tv-show/229059/98 "2014-04-20T17:46:16Z")
I managed to dredge this up from my memory [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/On\_the\_television:](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/On_the_television:) Basically, it’s a sketch comedy show, “reviewing” imaginary television shows (I particularly remember Angie Dickinson in “Crystal Balls: New Age Detective” [CRYSTAL BALLS NEW AGE DETECTIVE from ON THE TELEVISION - YouTube](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VLVNSogEDNU)) ---
**Author:** ![Oglomott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/oglomott/32/3543_2.png) [@Oglomott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oglomott)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2014, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-original-idea-for-a-tv-show/229059/99 "2014-04-20T19:22:20Z")
Celebrity Exhumation. Reality show that visits a celebrity’s grave where they open it up and let people view the remains. I imagine getting permission from descendants or the estate would prove difficult. Maybe if they paid them… I bet the ratings would be high for the morbidly curious. “Next week on Celebrity Exhumation; W.C. Fields”. You wanted original, right? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![marshmallow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/df705f/32.png) [@marshmallow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/marshmallow)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2014, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-original-idea-for-a-tv-show/229059/100 "2014-04-20T20:18:39Z")
A down on his luck drug dealer becomes a chemist teacher. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-original-idea-for-a-tv-show/229059.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-original-idea-for-a-tv-show/229059.md?page=6)