Reborn Tycoon Rise

""Growing Pains"!" Mike Eisner took it and saw the prominent title at a glance.

Xu Zhi said: "This is a sitcom. You can take a look at the plot settings later. I am very optimistic about this story setting, so I bought the copyright at a high price."

Mike Eisner nodded, opened the script, and read it carefully.

The structure of the story is very simple. It mainly tells the daily life of the Seaver family living in Long Island, a suburb of New York City. His father, Jason Seaver, is a psychiatrist, and his mother, Maggie Seaver, was a journalist before. After I had my child, I quit my job and became a full-time mother, and I have been a stay-at-home mom ever since.

The eldest son Michael Silver is a handsome, humorous teenager who is very popular among teenage girls and is also the protagonist of the story. The second daughter, Carol Seaver, is a top academic with very good grades but low emotional intelligence. Although the youngest son Ben Seaver is young, he is quirky and admires his elder brother Michael very much.

The story begins with the mother Maggie not willing to be a full-time mother for the rest of her life, and decided to return to her job as a reporter and make a career. His father, Jason, also supported his wife. As a freelancer, he could work anywhere, so he moved his clinic back to his study room at home, where he could work and take care of his children.

The whole family has undergone tremendous changes. A father who can't take care of the family, a mother who goes out to work but can't worry about the family, Michael who makes trouble everywhere, Kailuo who has a low emotional intelligence and Ben who is the youngest and most worried about her mother. kindness. Everyone has to get used to the new way of life.

Mike Eisner quickly finished reading the setting and the storyline of the first three episodes, and he had a lot of laughs.

After closing the entire script, he said: "Boss, sitcoms have not been popular in recent years. People seem to be tired of this kind of plot."

Xu Zhi shook his head and said: "You are wrong. People are just tired of sitcoms without any new ideas. In fact, this is true for any type of TV show or movie. The first one becomes popular, and then there are a lot of follow-up movies. It cannot be It is said that there is no innovation, but the stories are always of the same type, and people will naturally get bored after watching too much.

As long as there are new ideas, new stories, and new interesting characters, you can achieve good results even with repeated themes. "

Sitcoms were born very early in the United States. In 1926, before the birth of television, radio sitcoms were already broadcast on WGN Radio in Chicago. In the 1950s, sitcoms moved to the new media of television, forming two categories: "family dramas" and "work dramas". kind.

In the 1960s, sitcoms entered their golden age. Low costs and high ratings made sitcoms the favorite of many TV stations. However, things must be reversed, and a large amount of homogeneous content appeared, which eventually led to the emergence of sitcoms starting in the mid-1970s. Ratings began to decline and entered a period of depression.

In 1983, no sitcom ranked among the top 10 most-watched television sitcoms. At that time, the three major television giants in the United States all declared that the sitcom was about to die.

In the original history, it was not until 1985 that "Growing Pains" was a great success in its first year of broadcasting, reversing the comedy's defeat. By 1987, the ratings entered the top five in the United States, and it has maintained extremely high success ever since.

Xu Zhi continued: "This "Growing Pains" focuses on family drama, but the core story is not the parents, but three children. The main target user group is teenagers aged 10-18, which is Disney Channel's Weaknesses in ratings can just make up for this shortcoming.”

Disney's previous movies and animation programs were either children's programs such as Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck, or adult love stories. There was an insufficient customer base for teenagers, and Michael Silver, the protagonist of "Growing Pains", was on TV After the fire, it became a national idol at that time, which is in line with Disney's current strategic needs.

"Okay, then I will immediately arrange for people to prepare to shoot this TV show." Mike Eisner said. It is just a sitcom. As long as no big-name stars are hired, the cost is very low. Even if it fails, given Disney's current size , it is of no importance at all.

"No rush." ​​Xu Zhi took out a business card and said, "This "Growing Pains" was conceived by a young playwright, Neo Mullins. I have bought the copyright. You can arrange for someone to write it. He invited us to join our company to participate in the early preparations of this TV series and assume the position of chief screenwriter."

"Is this person too young?" Mike Eisner took a look at the business card and said, "He is only 26 years old, and his experience may not be enough to control a sitcom."

"It doesn't matter. He doesn't have the right to decide the plot. It's just that this story was conceived by him and is based on his own family story when he was a child. Just refer to his opinions." Xu Zhi said with a smile.

Mike Eisner nodded and said, "Okay, that's no problem."

"That's it for now. I will leave the United States right away. Once the list of starring roles is finalized, send it to me via fax." Xu Zhi added.

Mike Eisner paused and thought of a question: "Boss, are you planning to start filming this TV series this year?"

"Yes, is there any problem?" Xu Zhi asked.

Mike Eisner said: "It's September now, most TVs will start broadcasting, and we have just started preparations, and the time will be tight."

Xu Zhi shook his head and said: "It's a little tight, but it's not too late. The story is ready, and the background building is simple. If the funds are available, it can be built in a month. As for the actors, I personally think Alan Thicke is more suitable for Jason." For the role of Seaver and Maggie, Joanna Kerns is good, but as for the three children, especially the protagonist Michael, they need to be carefully selected."

In his previous life, Xu Zhi particularly liked the American TV series "Growing Pains". He knew all the protagonists in it, but he knew the faces of the three children, but didn't know their names. It was not impossible to find them in the vast sea of ​​people. It's possible, but it's not necessary. This approach itself would be very strange. These actors should also be young actors who have been in the industry for a long time. If they are really capable and come to participate in the selection, there is a high probability that they will be rejected by the crew. Selected.

The actor who plays Seaver's parents is already quite famous. Alan Thicke is a famous Canadian talk show host. The talk show "The Alan Thicke Show" he hosted broke the ratings record in Canada, and even It is also very popular in the United States. Joanna Kerns is not as famous, but she has also appeared in many American TV series. It is normal for Xu Zhi to know their names.

"I also know Alan Thicke. His image is indeed very good and he is well-known. However, for such a sudden invitation, I don't know if he has any schedule." Mike Eisner thought for a while and said.

Xu Zhi said with a smile: "Alan Thicke has been developing in Canada. As far as I know, he also hopes to come to the United States to start a new career. I think he will not refuse this opportunity.

Of course, if there is really a schedule conflict, then we will buy his company directly. Canada is also one of our main markets anyway. "