NOW THAT THE SEASON OF FRIENDS wannabes (Partners, The Single Guy, Caroline in the City, etc.) is here, networks will soon be looking for fresh inspiration. One intriguing possibility: commercials. Last week, an MCI exec disclosed that the company may develop a series based on its Gramercy Press campaign, which followed a fictional old-line publishing house as it tried to adapt to the computer age. In 20 gauzily filmed "episodes," viewers learned to love the cast of characters: the likable receptionist, the crusty old editor, the dashing bestselling novelist.
If the MCI series succeeds, expect the dawn of a new genre. A natural second effort would be an adaptation of the long-running Taster's Choice commercials in which a woman of a certain age finds love with the man who came for a cup of instant Java and stayed long past dessert. Target audience: the Angela Lansbury crowd. Tentative title: Coffee, She Poured.
And why not a show based on those eerie Frosted Flakes ads? We can see it now: cereal lovers—their faces obscured by dark shadows—talking nervously about their strange encounters with sugarcoated wheat and rice. Yes, welcome to...The Chex Files.
Just imagine the possibilities—and the promos: James Garner is Jacoby.... Carroll O'Connor is Meyers in Whiplash, the first courtroom drama about personal-injury law. Maybe even PBS would get swept up in the rush to turn commercials into shows. Sunday evening would never be the same after...Thigh-Masterpiece Theater.
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