If CBS can come up with better title than $#*! My Dad Says based on the one joke twitter stream of @shitmydadsays, they will have a hit on their hands – at least with the “coveted” 18-34 male demo.
I have some thoughts.
First, the concept: Random comments a 74-year-old dad says to his 29-year-old son still living at home who then posted select comments on Twitter is the basis for this sit-com. William Shattner plays the super-geezer. Yes, a sit-com based on curmudgeonly man making smart-ass comments to family members.
How many OTHER sit-coms can you think of based on this premise? (In no particular order…)
- Munsters
- The Bob Newhart Show
- Bosom Buddies
- Make Room for Daddy
- Two and a half men
- Happy Days
- King of Queens
- Bill Cosby Show
- That 70′s Show
- All in the Family
- The Bernie Mac Show
And that’s just a few I can think of off the top of my head.
This type of sitcom has been done TO DEATH.
Second, the title: $#*! My Dad Says. Apparently CBS is courting the print Tee Vee critics only. The Tee Vee critics will blab “Dollar Sign, Pound Sign, Asterisk, Exclamation Point, My Dad Says was exceedingly putrid…” or “Bleep My Dad Says was overly ageist…” or “The new CBS TV show that has a dirty word in the title that can’t be uttered on Tee Vee was riotously average…”
Third, the content: @ShitMyDadSays is funny because it’s profane. Profanity doesn’t usually do well in primetime.
- “I don’t want your advice, you’re 27 fucking years old…Fine. I don’t want your advice, you’re 29 fucking years old.” 3:18 PM May 11th via ShitMyDadSays.com
- “It’s Los Angeles, son. It’s the epicenter of the asshole earthquake. They’d fuck you twice if they had another dick.” 4:04 PM Apr 20th via ShitMyDadSays.com
- “Stop trying so hard. He doesn’t like you. Jesus, don’t kiss an ass if it’s in the process of shitting on you.” 5:03 PM Apr 26th via ShitMyDadSays.com
- “You seen my cell phone?…What’s it look like? Like two horses fucking. It’s a phone, son. It looks like a phone.” 10:44 AM May 3rd via ShitMyDadSays.com
- “YOU, a published writer?..Internet don’t count. Any asshole can throw shit up on there.” (Book On Sale Today!) http://tinyurl.com/yc79h4l 9:11 AM May 4th via web
A group that wants to protect us from making our own choices on what is on the airways owned by the public, is already having a shit-fit.
“We’re talking here not about a Twitter feed, we’re talking about broadcast television that requires a license to use the airwaves,” Winter said. “There are an infinite number of alternatives that CBS could have chosen but its desire to shock and offend is crystal clear in this decision.”
Hard to argue with that last statement. CBS surely is airing $#*! My Dad Says just to shock and offend.
Sex and violence does really well in prime time. But profanity is getting a foot-hold, and if anyone can sneak in a “shit” or better in a sit-com, it will be William Shattner.
Fourth, Tee Vee writers are just bat-shit crazy to work Twitter into their dialogue so the characters seem current. To be able to write a whole season Tee Vee based on a social network that a huge majority of people don’t care about, or use, is the epitome of Hollywood self-indulgence.
Fifth, $#*! My Dad Says stars William Shattner. William Shattner and Betty White are the heroes of the 18-34 demographic right now. By next fall, who knows? But the internet says they are hot, so they are hot. But the 18-34 demographic is also the demo that is not watching television. They are tweeting!
Sixth, $#*! My Dad Says isn’t funny. It’s predictable. Watch the preview below. Compared the tweets, it is just so lame. (And you know they have pulled the best lines for the promos – they always do.)
Shit Denny Crane Says would be much funnier.
