Wow. Could this be the first huge TV hit via @twitter?
The absolutely hilarious @ShitMyDadSays has been optioned as a TV pilot, and what initially seemed like a horrible idea, of transforming web site text into primetime TV, has turned into something utterly captivating with the casting of William Shatner as the sort-of-senile / sort-of-ingeniously-cranky father who apparently has no qualms in getting in his son’s face. (More at Techland: The All-Time Top 10 Ice Planets)
Depending on how Shatner plays the guy – flighty, grouchy, aloof, raging – this show could have at the core a perfect central comedian. And depending on how they build a world around him – with some sort of wide-eyed Jim Halpert-like son looking aghast at his pa, and no doubt a wife that rolls her eyes in disbelief – I think the creators could indeed come up with a solid 22 minutes of comedy for a weekly must-see.
Then again, it will take much more than Shatner to turn a Twitter feed into a standalone TV event. And I’m sure David Kohan and Max Mutchnick, the creators of Will & Grace who have been brought on here as executive producers, understand that as well.
But still, I can already hear a slate of great crabby punch lines, being delivered as part-Captain Kirk, part-crazy Boston Legal lawyer and part-Priceline dude.
This is gonna be fun.
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