Pitch a TV show...

I was watching Jim Gaffigan's last comedy special and wondering how in the fuck this guy does not have a half-hour comedy show somewhat based on his real life (5 kids...).

I know there are precious few family sitcoms these days, but ones that are done right usually do pretty well. Even ones that are only OK (Last Man Standing) get multiple seasons and even bad ones (According to Jim, Yes Dear...) make it to syndication.

I know most reality shows are dirt cheap, but there are a few comics out there who seem to be perfect for TV shows.

I heard Brian Regan interviewed recently and he said he has no interest in doing a "family" show.

Gaffigan, to me, seems like a goldmine. He works clean, has a HUGE following and is funny as fuck.

 

Newspaper editor with 23 years experience and a few demons throws it all away and finds himself behind the counter of a Vermont art gallery, managing the place while telling stories about people who frequent said Vermont art gallery, and himself. Hilarity ensues.

 

"Hi, Bob."

 

I always wanted to write an Entourage-type show featuring Africian Americans as they follow one of their friends who was drafted to the NBA out of high school.
I guess we could now make it a period piece and set it in 1997 or something like that.
As a white middle-aged Canadian, it's not really in my wheelhouse, but it would be interesting to watch.
I would pitch it as, 'a black Entrourage, but with basketball instead of the movies.'

 

Give Kyle Kinane a sitcom. Dive bar in LA, cabbie in Vegas, renegade substitute teacher, who cares what the situation is, just give him a show and let him run with it.

 

I saw Kyle open for Patton Oswalt awhile back. He was hilarious.

I could see that working if it was an ensemble cast.

The other comedian (who isn't as obvious as Gaffigan) who I think would be great on a sitcom is Bert Kreischer. I sat next to him on a flight from NY to Atlanta and then to Tallahassee over a decade ago and it was one of the most entertaining flights I'd ever been on. The guy was just a huge ball of energy and he told me that Rolling Stone had done a story on him and that Van Wilder was based on his life.

He wasn't that well-known then, but now he does some travel channel stuff and is pretty hilarious.

 

Saw Al Madrigal a while back and a lot of his standup could also adapt easily into a family sitcom.

 

Gaffigan has shot at least one pilot based on material from his book.

http://www.deadline.com/tag/jim-gaffigan/

Another idea - Guy runs a gift store/coffee shop in an out-of-the-way small town that draws tourists from the world over because a super-famous celebrity who died in a plane crash was born there. Store owner is a distant cousin, female lead who works at the store claims to have once slept with the celebrity (for extra tips)..., the twist? The famous celebrity may not be dead...and may not have been born there.

Not really on topic - but I'm reading John Adams by McCullough and I read a passage of a trip Adams and Thomas Jefferson took through the English countryside while Adams was the ambassador to England and Jefferson ambassador to France during the Articles of Confederation era - pretty much a road trip visiting gardens and Stratford-on-Avon etc. - there wasn't a lot either wrote of the trip, but I would really like to see that made into a movie. I couldn't help but wonder what was discussed. I'd pitch it as a cross between Sideways and My Dinner with Andre.

 

Steve Coogan's and Rob Brydon's TV series/edited into movie The Trip is much this concept.

 

One idea I had was for either Travel Channel or Animal Planet. It's a guy and his dog traveling around the country, going to pet-friendly vacation spots. Hotels the accept dogs, activities you can do with your pet. Some places have dog friendly malls and beaches. Great parks, obviously. Restaurants with pet-friendly outdoor dining.

 

You could probably get one madcap season out of OOP Bingo.

 

My series arc runs only six episodes because I'll be canceled by then anyway.