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Writing a MAGA-Themed TV Show
In 2019, an old producer friend named James called to say he was working on a MAGA-themed comedy series to pitch to a streaming network. We hadn’t spoken in years but he’d seen one of my articles online about Starbucks baristas wearing pronoun nametags. The story made him laugh and convinced him I’d become an anti-woke writer. I’d previously worked with James as a script consultant and he wanted to pay me for feedback on his new project. He believed audiences were finally ready for Pro-MAGA content.
James emailed me the pilot script. It was called Fossil Feuds and was about a petroleum company executive named Doug trying to dig an oil well in the Florida Everglades. His nemesis was a female environmental activist named Lily who opposed the dredging in order to save an endangered frog. The two characters were polar opposites with divergent goals. But they were attracted to each other and the comedy derived from their futile efforts to prove each other wrong.
The script wasn’t bad. The characters were original and their mutual animosity felt authentic. On their first date, Doug takes Lily to a steak house only to learn she’s vegan. He orders a ribeye while she reaches into her purse for a container of quinoa. While he eats, she lectures Doug on the carbon footprint of meat. He waits until she’s finished then informs her that her plastic container is made of petroleum…
