Most sitcoms these days (hell, always been never more egregiously so than now) are nothing more than slapped together elements ripped off from previously successful series: take a “Mary Richards-like character”, pair her off with a “Sam Malone-like character”, put them in a “Night Court-like” setting, give it a wacky spin…you get the idea.
So why bother with even trying to create a new name for these characters? Let’s play a game - take 4-6 characters each from a different sitcom, put them in the setting of yet another sitcom, and put a ‘wacky spin’ on it.
Example: Take Elaine from “Seinfeld”, Jan from “the Brady Bunch”, Laurie from “the Partridge Family”, Mackenzie Philips’ character (forgot her name) from “One Day at a Time”, Saffy from “Ab Fab” and Vanessa from “the Cosby Show” and put them all together in the Eastman Academy for Girls from “the Facts of Life.” The wacky spin is that the Eastman Academy doubles as school for young witches a la Harry Potter. And what do you get?
the Witches of Eastland: After getting out of jail, Elaine discovered that J. Peterman put a hit out on her (for ‘the Urban Sombrero’ cover) and she’s forced to go into the Witness Protection program. Elaine is given a job as a den mother at the Eastland Academy, and is in charge of Jan, Laurie, Mackenzie, Saffy & Vanessa. The trouble is that she’s supposed to be tutoring them in the Dark Arts of sorcery, but doesn’t know a thing about it. Hilariously wacky hijinks ensue as Elaine gives all sorts of bad advice to these novice witches about casting spells, finding the right man, etc. Every so often, Jackie from “That 70s Show” makes a guest appearance as a ‘popular girl’ in school who is the all-around nemesis of Elaine’s den of outcast bitches…I mean witches.
You get the idea.