TV is fun!

Of course you all know this, but it's a significant enough cultural moment to warrant a mention from me. Those cavemen from the Geico commercials are getting their own ABC TV show in the fall. Honestly. As far as I know, it's a comedy, hopefully something like those "Unfrozen Caveman Lawyer" skits that Phil Hartman used to do on SNL and, since those commercials kinda were like the "Unfrozen Caveman Lawyer" skits anyway, I think we can assume it will be. For the three or four weeks it airs. I'm being unfair, of course, I like the commercials. And I might even be willing to watch it once. Just to find out how they'd possibly attempt to pull this off. But the big thing is the precedent this might set:


Think about it -- Caveman commercial characters getting their own show. Is this the beginning of a potential trend? Because, man if it is, I'm stoked. Just think about the shows we could see in the not too distant future if TV commercials spawned themselves into full-length TV programs.

The obvious one for me is one I've been pushing for years. I mean, Kevin (not Bacon) and I essentially have the first season or two of this one already plotted out and, really, it's fantastic. It's a sitcom that features those two guys from Hanes ads....the hoops star and the well-connected actor? Yep, Kevin Bacon and Michael Jordan living together, throwing their underwear at other. It certainly would be great fun. Let's call it -- "Six Degrees of Michael Jordan" or something. Y'know, it's got that crazy rock 'n roller Kevin Bacon and that straight-laced businessman Michael Jordan living together in a modest apartment. Uh oh! Insert comic hijinx here!

Speaking of buddy-oriented TV shows...I think this would be worth watching: a sit-com revolving around the adventures of those guys from the Sonic ads, you know, the guys that just sit in their cars and talk to each other. We'd be able to have a large cast, too, since those ads occasionally feature different people, too. But only two people in the car at a time. It's very high concept. We might try to throw somebody peeking in from the backseat, but that's something best saved for a game-changing season finale or something. If we make it a sitcom and do away with some of the product placement so inherent within the commercials themselves, it might be tricky to explain why these people are always in their cars, but whatever. Why do we even need to explain? Just hand those guys a couple of burgers and watch 'em do funny stuff! That's a hit!

Or maybe a show that revolves around that guy who can't try his girlfriend's chicken sandwich at Wendy's even though he's sitting right across from her because he's really NOT sitting right across from her because he's really at the big game and managed to create a hologram of himself to make her THINK he was hanging out with her (thus consciously choosing some non-specified other activity over eating the product being advertised. Makes perfect sense). But, really, I want to see these two in their natural element. He's probably able to make some wacky-cool gadgets and, clearly, they have a healthy relationship built on truth and trust, so that would be fun.

Or what about that super annoying Filet-o-Fish ad that McDonald's has got going. I've only seen it once -- it's two F-o-F sandwiches having a conversation, sort of. One sandwich says "Filet-o-Fish" and the other pronounces it in a slightly different way thus prompting the first to repeat it in the original way and thus prompting the second Filet-o-Fish to repeat again the same way it did the first time. And this keeps going for, like, the entire half-minute of the ad or, more accurately, the rest of your life. So, yeah, I'd like to see a tv show built around the concept of two breaded fish sandwiches with oddly shaped pieces of cheese on them talking to each other. When I saw this ad, I thought, "wow that's an awful ad. Why would this make anyone want to eat that?" And then I remembered it was for a Filet-o-Fish and, really, who eats those anyway? Maybe McDonald's has done an amazing job of tapping into that particular segment of their customer base -- the 26 people who actually eat Filet-o-Fish sandwiches--and knows exactly what gets those people going. Man, I really miss when Burger King used to call their fish sandwich "The Whaler." Who thought that was a good idea. Maybe fast-food fish sandwiches are just forever doomed.

Anyway, what do you guys think? Any TV spots that are ready for a prime-time shot? Share with me, shall you? Goodness knows, I need some feedback to keep from being distracted by the outside world and not updating my blog!