TMCC22 - The Car is the Star [CONCLUDED]

[TheYugo45GV]

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The Series

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With Boston, Massachusetts serving as the primary setting, Three Point Eight follows a vigilante, who in his one man manhunt for the arms dealer that killed his wife, often finds himself in a spot of bother with the police and the crooks. Throughout the series, with the help of his car, the vigilante solves various mysteries, takes down various criminals, and eventually tastes revenge when he finally tracks down the arms dealer.

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Genre: Crime and Mystery

Designed to appeal to young adult and adult audiences

Time Period: June to November 1981

Average Episode length: 35 - 60 minutes

Based on a 1957 Novel of the same name by author James Philips

Characters:

Protagonists:

Douglas Wainwright, a vengeful vigilante. Following his wife’s death, Douglas embarks on a journey to track down the notorious arms dealer who had her killed. With the help of a desperate police detective lieutenant, his car, his Irish landlord, some random street cat and a huge cache of weapons that somehow doesn’t get him arrested, he takes down various criminals, and solves cold cases.

Det. Ethan Brentwood, a no nonsense police detective. Having pulled out most of his hair (figuratively speaking) trying to hunt down David Marzil, the notorious arms dealer. He turns to Douglas for help in finding Marzil, in exchange for not arresting and charging Douglas with the countless offenses he has committed.

Declan O’Callaghan, Douglas’ landlord and good friend. A long time resident of the United States, Declan has made a good home for himself and has made a living off of renting out the apartment complex he owns. However, Declan used to be a brilliant Garda detective in the old country and as such, he makes a vital asset for Douglas and Ethan and often turns out to be a genius when solving crimes.

Mayland Paxton 3.8GT, a convertible “sports” car from Mayland Motors. It’s Douglas’ car, see below for more details.

Supporting:

Bingus, a stray sphynx cat that Douglas abducted while in an alleyway one night. Bingus often claws the bejesus out of anyone he lands on (out of fear) when he falls out of an air duct or when Douglas throws him at an unfortunate criminal.

Antagonists:

David Marzil, the notorious arms dealer who had Douglas’s wife killed and is the overarching antagonist in the show. In the Season 6 finale he is arrested by the FBI, but is set free by a corrupt agent in the first episode of Season 7, before he ends up being killed when Douglass drops a fully loaded shipping container on him.

Mr. Death, Marzil’s right hand man and hitman. He is the primary target in Seasons 1 and 2, he dies in Episode 2 of Season 3 after the vehicle he and some goons were using to pursue Douglas is hit by a train.

Professor Citrine, an evil sadist who works for Marzil and injects his victims with various chemicals and subjects them to gruelling psychological torture, he dies in Season 4 in episode 5 when Brentwood shoots him dead with a 12 guage shotgun after he opens fire on police officers.

Torrez, An ally of Marzil’s and a dangerously powerful criminal. He is the main antagonist of the whole show, he was the one who orchestrated the death of Douglas’ wife (S1, pilot), Declan’s attempted murder (S2 Ep.10), and Brentwood’s kidnapping (S5 Ep.8). He meets his demise at the end of Season 7 after his elaborate bank heist is foiled by Douglas, where he causes Torrez to crash the tow truck he was using to steal the bank’s vault on the Tobin bridge, leaving it precariously balancing over the side. After the intense showdown, Douglas notices that Torrez’s foot is entangled in a cable and he then kicks the tow truck, sending it, along with the bank vault and Torrez, falling into the river below.

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The Car

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Douglas’ 1977 Mayland Paxton 3.8GT is effectively a main character as well. Since the car is possessed by some sentient force, Douglas believes that his wife’s spirit is the paranormal force that has taken control of it to help him to hunt down those that separated them. One bit of comic relief that surrounds the car is that it always manages to run into Ethan (at low speed, usually making him stumble a little bit.) A second bit of comic relief exists when Doug is chasing some naysayer on foot, the car opens the door into the path of the said naysayer, either trapping them inside when they get in, or knocking them out, or simply knocking them to the ground. Now that it’s possessed by a spirit, the car feels much more responsive, and faster while also being able to drive itself.

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Show Overview

Season 1: Douglas’ Wife is gunned down by ruthless mercenaries, in what appeared to be a tragic accident where she ended up as collateral damage. Douglas is enraged and in total despair, but after discovering his Mayland Paxton is now sentient, believing that his wife’s spirit has possessed the car he vows to get revenge on those who took her from him. Eventually he kills the first victim, an infamous gang member who works for Marzil. Brentwood and the Boston Police find the body floating in the river near the MIT campus with multiple stab wounds and Brentwood begins his investigation. Meanwhile Declan scares off some vandals trying to graffiti the apartment building he owns. (6 Episodes)

Season 2: Brentwood discovers Douglas is behind the murders and he realizes that it could bring him Marzil. He confronts Doug, wagering Doug’s freedom for Marzil’s arrest. Marzil meanwhile discovers that various allies of his are disappearing or turning up dead, he begins hunting for the people responsible. Declan meanwhile has more issues with the local council and their new regulations, and is also almost killed at the end of the season when he’s attacked by a man in the apartment block’s courtyard. (8 Episodes)

Season 3: Marzil discovers that two of his goons attacked the wrong person and almost killed him, and he has them both eliminated after ejecting them from his organization to keep them quiet. Douglas kills Mr. Death, the right hand man via proxy after narrowly beating an incoming freight train causing the car Death was driving to be hit and destroyed, eliminating him as a threat. Declan continues to help Douglas and Ethan to track down Marzil. In the season finale, Brentwood is struck by a bullet in a drive-by shooting, ending up seriously wounded. The finale ends on a cliffhanger as the car that attacked them comes around for another pass before the credits roll. (10 Episodes)

Season 4: Episode one opens with the car coming around for a second pass, only for Doug to light it up with an M60 machine gun loaded with armor piercing rounds. All the occupants are killed and Ethan is whisked away to the hospital. Marzil finds out that the revenge attack failed and he becomes enraged and he redoubles his efforts to eliminate Douglas. “Professor” Citrine Marzil’s kidnapping expert has Doug abducted and begins his horrifying routine to try and torture Doug to death, until they hear gunshots where Citrine grabs a gun and goes outside into the hall to see what’s going. Douglas sees the “Professor” leave out the door with a gun in hand, followed by the sound of a shotgun blast and a body falling to the floor before Ethan arrives at the door. (13 Episodes)

Season 5: Doug and the Police close in on Marzil. They arrest over 150 men involved in his operations. However, right before they can catch Marzil, Ethan is kidnapped and the police then set their sights on rescuing him. Furious, Douglas, initiates a manhunt of his own. Ethan however remains missing in Episodes 9, 10 and 11 and Episode one of season six. (11 Episodes)

Season 6: In Episode Three, Ethan is rescued by Douglas before the police, and murders all but of one of Ethan’s captors, whom Doug savagely assaults. Managing to successfully extract the information on Marzil’s whereabouts from the survivor, Doug coldly executes him, and calls the emergency services to their location. Ethan is taken to the hospital while Douglas goes and stakes out Marzil’s headquarters in an industrial area near the airport, but it all goes wrong when he is discovered after having watched the place for 2 weeks. However right as Marzil and his goons are taking Douglas hostage, Ethan, along with the Boston Police and FBI shows up and has most of Marzil’s remaining men and Marzil himself arrested. (13 Episodes)

Season 7: The longest season spanning 16 episodes, is divided into two parts, the first 8 episodes follow Doug and Ethan’s pursuit of Marzil being sprung from prison by a corrupt FBI agent, who dies when Ethan runs him over with a Bricksley Grand Warden detective car. Eventually, the two catch up with Marzil, and just as they are about to arrest him he pulls a gun and tries to shoot Ethan but Douglas stabs Marzil in the chest with a bayonet and watches as he slowly dies. The next 8 Episodes follow them as they chase Torrez, a criminal mastermind who orchestrated everything that happens in the show to seek revenge on Douglas, but in the Three Point Eight Season Finale (S7, E16) Torrez meets his doom after Douglas sends him falling, along with a tow truck and bank vault he stole, from the Tobin Bridge. Following this Ethan lets Douglas go, and has him exonerated. Douglas then returns to his apartment complex and he returns to living his life.

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The .car file will come soon, expect Friday at the latest.

[DrDoomD1scord]

Genre:
Mystery, Comedy

Location:

California 1980-84

Time Aired:

Sept 1980 - June 1984
With 4 seasons
8 Episodes per season
20-30 minute long episodes

Characters:
TIO Eagle Hearse/Arthur Dragao, James Montgomery.

A short summary of the Series:

The story follows a Science fenatic by the name of James Montgomery. He was 26 years old in 1980 and had a fascination with the paranormal. One day he came across a special burgundy Tio Eagle TV-12 which was at one point turned into a hearse. James loved classic sports cars and was intrigued by the fact that someone had the audacity to turn a car like that into a hearse, And since the vehicle was in relatively okay condition and was only being sold for around $900 he bought it. The car was abandoned because the funeral home it had been for, shut down due to the owner going missing and it had no interest being bought out. After James had done some investigating the car had turned out to be possessed by the owner of the funeral home which was quite the spook. The man who had possessed the car was named Arthur Dragao and had died after an unknown accident inside the car. Arthur was unable to speak or communicate but he was able to control the Eagle. This came for some comedic moments so if (for example) James was chasing a target on foot, Arthur was able to intercept them in some of the most slapstick ways possible. Together they investigated mysteries in the California state. From supposed “aliens” to ghosts and ghouls and even disappearances of objects & people.

James:

James Montgomery was a young man who wanted to dedicate his life to science. He had gone to college in 1974-76 and did very well in his classes. When we first saw him in 1980 James was a friendly, yet impatient person who loved old cars. Which is why he bought the 63 Eagle.

Arthur and the Eagle:

When he was alive Arthur was a kind and caring man who was always there for people, hence why he started his funeral home in late 1969 at the age of 25. It was so he could be there for people at their lowest. Eventually in 1972 the business had turned so much of a profit that he was able to afford a very good business magnet and toy for himself. It was a 1963 Tio Eagle TR-12. A car he’d loved since he had first seen it. The car was converted to a hearse so it could attract customers. One night later that year he decided to take it for a drive. The car was found crashed in a ditch but Arthur was never seen again.

The Cars:

The Hero car used for the show was a heavily modified Tio Eagle TR-12. It was a relatively high production sports car built by a Canadian manufacturer and racing team called Tio Incorporated. The car featured a 4.7L V12 motor making 315HP to the rear wheels.

The car used for the show had a custom roof to make it look like a hearse. They modified the engine to have a quieter engine note by equipping it with mechanical fuel injection and more mufflers. It also had cast headers fitted instead of the factory tubular ones for cost cutting; sadly, these modifications had lowered the power down to about 276HP. The car was fitted with red headlight bulbs instead of the yellow faded halogens, netting & glass separating the Coffin area and cabin, a siren and loudspeaker, and a CB radio. There were over 20 cars used for the entire show all for varying uses. Sadly only 7 survived across all 4 seasons

[DrDoomD1scord]

(wouldn’t let me add the pics to the original post)

[AndiD]

2 days (and a bit) to go!

[oppositelock]

RED ZONE

The year is 1999. In the cool night sky over a west coast American metropolis, Hind helicopter gunships circle overhead scanning the desolate, trash strewn streets below.

Thirteen years have passed since the USSR unleashed SPECTRUM, a secret constellation of directed energy satellites, upon NATO. The West’s nuclear triad as well as it’s communications and surveillance systems were neutralized in seconds. Soon after, Soviet armored divisions were rolling off amphibious assault ships at the ports of Oakland and Long Beach. The invasion stalled at the Sierra Nevada mountains, leaving millions permanently trapped behind enemy lines in Occupied California.

Against this backdrop, Wyatt Brooks is no hero. He’s just a sharp eyed speed junkie trying to make a few redbucks and stay out of the gulag. His long nights consist of ripping along remote country roads in his GSI Vorare, evading blockades and moving messages and contraband for anyone with both the need and the means.

Assisting him in his dangerous business is MAVIS, short for Mobile Analog Vehicular Intelligence System. The brainchild of Wyatt’s neighbor and confidant Dr. Peter Cox, a former Lawrence Livermore scientist, MAVIS is both a smart mouthed female companion and omnipotent accomplice in crime. Except when she glitches out.

Things are going well for Wyatt until he accepts a dispatch from a mysterious and alluring woman, plunging him headlong into an underground world of subterfuge, deception and rebellion…

[AndiD]

Last ~18 hours to go!

I have complete entries from @Madrias, @Knugcab, @conan, @TheYugo45GV, @DrDoomD1scord and @oppositelock .

Anyone else working on this - get your stuff in!

[AndiD]

Okay, it looks like the update today changed at least some engine stuff - perfect timing.

Everyone who has submitted, you can check and resubmit your car until Wed 02 Nov 2022, 23:59pm AOE (anywhere-on-earth).

@Madrias, @Knugcab, @conan, @TheYugo45GV, @DrDoomD1scord and @oppositelock

[lotto77]

The Racer

Series pitch

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They say cars pick their drivers, but when ace rookie racer Bobby Rush encounters a yellow sports car that insists on him buying it, his eyes will be opened to a whole new world.

THE SERIES:
Set in present-day America, The Racer is a Sci-Fi, crime, and action blend centred around protagonist Bobby Rush, and his seemingly sentient car. Bobby is an up-and-coming racer from a small town, and wants to do things properly and buy his own car to take to the races. However when he goes to look for some proper American muscle, a yellow Planar Arios seemingly follows him, and weird happenings like other cars’ windows and tires blowing out occur all around him! Eventually tired of the strange events, he gives up and gives the strange import a go.

At the next race, the car refuses to start after being parked in a strange position, the result of which is Bobby overhearing illegal betting and race fixing going on! Realising he needs help, he enlists his friend Dan Hardell, a detective, and tech whizz Steven Ball to not only expose the crooks enabling crimes all around the race track, but also to find out just what’s happening with his car!

The rest of the series will continue with Bobby, Dan, Steve, and the Arios working together to bring the Mafia (led by head honcho Maurizio Bellano) to justice, and stop the illegal and dangerous street racing, race fixing, and drug running they’re pulling off.

THE CAR:
A 1971 Planar Arios EX-S, the import version of an Australian sports car that never quite caught on here in the states, which means it has the exotic appeal without the exotic pricetag. The bright yellow paint and exotic looks will make it stand out on screen, while the relatively quiet engine and large interior for a car its size will make it easier to work with on set.

In the show it will be sentient, although the reasons will be ambiguous. Hints will be dropped, with a few strange pieces of technology sprinkled throughout the car, but it will never be explored too deeply in the initial season. It will be a both helpful and humorous companion, with the car making noise to make itself known, swerving to avoid danger, breaking down both strategically and comedically, and even briefly driving itself.

[Madrias]

Just checked mine, stuff seemed normal-ish to me. Didn’t go over it with a fine tooth comb, but was still a turbo V6 and an automatic gearbox.

[AndiD]

Ok, resubmission window is closed, I’ll get to the judging over the next couple of days.

Stay tuned!

[AndiD]

Judging Round 1 (Bins)

Monday, May 29th, 1978
Executive Office, Eidolon Productions, Melrose Avenue, Los Angeles, CA

The week before, the initial pitches for an eventual TV series centred around a car were due. Eidolon Productions staff had been tasked with making an initial assessment and prepare an overview of the strengths and weaknesses of each pitch.

Present were
• Alexander Taylor, Eidolon’s CEO
• Angella Fontana, the Senior Executive Producer tasked with managing the pitch
• Gerald Edgar, Eidolon’s Senior Technical Advisor
• Kimberly Rider, Alexander’s trusted secretary

All four took a seat in the cosy meeting space next to the big window in Alexander’s spacious office. Kimberly had prepared fresh coffee for everyone, and Angella was armed with a sizable stack of papers, containing the pitches as well as the scribbled notes and assessments for each pitch she and her staff had made over the last days.

Alexander briefly brought the others up to speed as for the purpose of their discussion. “Gerald, what I would like from you is an initial assessment of the feasibility to put the pitch into production as an eventual series. And Kim, as usual, I am interested in your initial gut feeling as you seem to have a knack for anticipating the general public’s reaction. And take notes, of course.”

Gerald and Kimberly nodded, as Alexander signalled Angella to begin.

“We had seven submissions coming in from a range of freelance writers - not the biggest amount, but with a good variety. Aliens, crime fighting - quite a bit actually - mystery, the lot.”

“But no mystery crime-fighting aliens?” Gerald couldn’t resist.

Angella blinked. “No”, she replied. “Also a wide range of cars, two sports cars, two vans, a mundane compact, a luxury convertible and even a converted hearse. Some possessed by spirits, others equipped with this modern computer stuff, and one leaving it mysterious.”

“Nice”, commented Alexander. “Any ones that we can eliminate right away?”

“One, unfortunately”, Angella replied. “I had a car guy in my staff look at the spec sheets for the converted hearse. He said that during the conversions of the original sports car they must have made some very odd changes to the suspension, making it very low, rock hard in the rear, and extremely uncomfortable.” She paused for a second. “Also, the hearse would be way too small to fit adult-sized coffins in the back. And I don’t think we would want the unfortunate implications of that.”

Alexander nodded solemnly. “Yes, that one’s out, unfortunately. So six remain.”

To be continued…

@DrDoomD1scord

OOC: The TIO - Eagle TV-12 Hearse was part of a nice premise and I think using the odd van variants of the 60s sports cars for a hearse is a nifty idea. However, the suspension set-up looks like one of these weird Automation defaults with a 2.9 roll angle, a very low ride height, extremely hard rear springs and very soft dampeners, giving it a -75% comfort penalty with an overall stat of 0. A single click on ‘Normal’ would instantly give much saner stats. In addition, the car sits on the 2.4m wheelbase E-type body with an insanely long hood, leaving little space for the hearse passengers…

(Measured with a 0.8 scaled dummy)

[DrDoomD1scord]

Well damn. Kinda figured this’d be a low score and or bin for the hearse being small but I completely forgot about the suspension. It was originally tuned for Beamng and I guess I forgot to change that. GG’s everyone, I’m exited to see everyone’s results!

[AndiD]

Judging (Round 2, part 1)

Monday, May 29th, 1978
Executive Office, Eidolon Productions, Melrose Avenue, Los Angeles, CA

“Shall I go through the remaining six pitches, one by one?”, asked Angella.

Alexander nodded.

“Okay, the first submission is titled PIT Vipers @Madrias. It is set in a future timeline, in a place called Proudmore City. Basically, imagine The Big Rotten Apple New York meets Las Vegas a couple years in the future. The protagonist car is called SARA, a computerised van which can act on their own, but also serves as a mobile office for two bounty hunters - Caitlyn, a former police detective, and Michael, a computer expert.”

“So, essentially brawn, brains and machine?” asks Kimberly. Angella nods.

“That’ll make a good subtitle somewhere”, Alexander ponders. “Not sure about the proposed series title though, but that’s something we can easily change.”

Angella continues. “Over the course of the series they go up against the crime lord of Proudmore, a corrupt police chief, and lesser antagonists of the week. We also received some ideas for episodes, across multiple seasons even. All characters - including SARA, the car, have some quirks and foibles worked out as well.”

Gerald chimes in for the first time. “Alternate future, but not too far away. Always a bit difficult to get right but very much doable. Do we have a sketch of the van?”

“Some modest external modifications, no big deal. Filming might get a bit tricky in there, but we can work with that. Maybe make the rear windows opaque so that we can switch to an actual set for inside shots. But nothing impossible here.”

“The setting means we can emphasize action, but also add some real-world commentary here and there. And humor through the quirks. All things we can develop further.” Alexander looks to Kimberly.

“It shouldn’t be too dark, so that humorous aspect needs to be there indeed. Otherwise, I think there can be something for almost everyone - even those who are not too much into cars. Just have to make sure that people don’t get lost if they missed a few episodes.”

“Okay, that sounds good for a start. What’s next?”

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“ULTRA VIOLET” @Knugcab Angella opens with placing a page with colourised sketch of the main protagonist van on the coffee table. All three take a closer (and astonished) look.

“Let me guess. Aliens?” wonders Gerald.

Angella nods. “Aliens.”

“Do they abduct people?”

“Yes, but not to harm them, just to study them”, Angella explains. “Two accidentally land on Earth and transform into humans. The series will be mainly about them as fish out of water, trying to blend in in today’s California and youth culture. They might look like us but they have no idea about Earth or its people. The van is their mobile operations center where they can teleport in and out.”

“So it’s lighthearted, funny aliens?” Kimberly asks.

“Yes, primarily comedy but also with messages if we want to insert those. The teleport device in the van also allows us to expand the cast by simply having more and different aliens appear.”

Alexander does not appear overly convinced as he looks to Gerald.

“This one will be much easier to produce because it’s basically set in the present day and world. A few standard FX for teleporting and such, that’s it. Getting our hands on used VCV Dur-A-Vans should also be cheaper than having to modify current Minerva Travellers to look more futuristic. Otherwise, same comment as for the first, will probably be easier to film inside if we make it a regular set.”

“Does the van do anything specifically?” Alexander wants to know.

Angella has to look through her notes. “It’s not really specified. The emphasis is much more on the human - or alien - cast.”

Alexander nods. “Okay, what’s next?”

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“A Car Named Monroe”, Angella reads. @conan She places an photo of the car - probably taken from a magazine - on the table.

Gerald recognises the car “Well, that is a 1960s BKOO Monroe. So what’s the deal with this regular compact box?”

“It’s possessed by the spirit of a previous owner, an investigative journalist called James Monroe who was killed in it by some baddies. The car is aware of its - his - surroundings and can talk via the radio. It is driven by Kenneth Tolman, former LAPD detective, now private eye. He unsuccessfully investigated the journalist’s murder fifteen or so years ago and now happens to buy the car as they only thing he can afford. After Kenneth has gotten to grips with Monroe, the car, they go on and solve mysteries together, including the journalist’s murder case.”

“That’s intriguing… and easily relatable. Cop / detective buddy, just the buddy is a car. It takes place in LA in today?”

Angella nods.

Gerald doesn’t even get up from the relaxed position he has found in the coffee table chairs. “That’s one of the easiest things to produce then. PI with his car here today. Done. And there should still be a fair amount of these boxes on the used car market for cheap.”

Alexander looks to Kimberly.

“It should also be very easy to get into for anyone”, she asks. “Easier than some future city or aliens. The premise can be made clear during the intro, for people who just happen to watch a random episode.”

“We have to get the casting right, however. The lead - and the voice”, Alexander thinks out loud. “Nothing to fall back on there. But that again makes it cheaper to produce overall.” He pauses for a second. “That was the third out of six?”

Angella nods.

“Then let’s take a quick break, let’s refill the coffee pot and then we continue in ten minutes?”

[AndiD]

Judging (Round 2, part 2)

Monday, May 29th, 1978
Executive Office, Eidolon Productions, Melrose Avenue, Los Angeles, CA

Alexander, Angella, Gerald and Kimberly are back at the coffee table in Alexander’s office. Alexander gives the signal to start. “Next up?”

“Three Point Eight”, Angella reads out and adds. "That’s based on the car, a Mayland Paxton 3.8GT. " @TheYugo45GV

“Looks neat”, Alexander comments. “But what’s with people and their vague series titles today? What is the series about?”

“A man, called Douglas Wainwright, seeking revenge for his wife being killed by an arms dealer. The wife’s spirit does now inhabit the car. Douglas is helped by a police detective who cannot catch the arms dealer on his own, his former Irish-police landlord and a stray cat. The arms dealer has his right-hand hitman, evil scientist and is also working together with another criminal.”

“So basically regular people go against a James Bond-style crime posse?”

“Yes, and that’s actually a decent characterisation of the series. Very action focused, and definitely more gritty Connery-style than more humorous Moore-style. Some of the examples given by the author for the various antagonists’ fates are quite gruesome, actually.” Angella pauses. “And, no Bond girls in sight”, she adds tongue-in-cheek.

“Where is the setting?”, Gerald asks.

“Boston, MA.”

“That’s okay. As long as it is present day, it’s fine. Does the car do anything outrageous?”, does Gerald want to know.

Angella shakes her head. “The proposal doesn’t actually say much about the specific car abilities, or how it came to be. Only a few bits about some comic relief.”

Gerald again is his relaxed self. “On the production side, this is another easy thing. Although, if I remember, these Maylands were not the most reliable of cars, were they?”

“Not the most family friendly backdrop or storyline”, Kimberly notes. “Will definitely end up in some late night time slots.”

“Or we have to tone things down a fair bit… which would then be at odds with the whole premise. Speaking of it, the premise doesn’t really depend on the car, does it?”, Alexander ponders and pauses for a few seconds. “There are two more pitches?”

---

“Yes”, Angella responds. “The fifth is RED ZONE.” @oppositelock

“Now that’s a catchy title. Is it about communists?”, does Alexander want to know.

“Yes - so the plot is about a blockade runner in his fast car in Western USA… thirteen years after the USSR successfully invaded the US West Coast.”

The other three exchange slightly amused glances.

Angella continues. “The car has been computerised by the blockade runner’s neighbour, can speak - and snark. The basic premise is that Wyatt, the driver and protagonist, gets specific tasks from a mysterious woman that plunge ‘him headlong into an underground world of subterfuge, deception and rebellion’” She reads out the last words verbatim.

“That’s a great catchy teaser text right there”, Alexander comments. “Does the pitch go into further details what specific tasks or events could be?”

Angella shakes her head. “No, it outlines the main cast and the car, but that’s essentially it.”

Gerald chimes in. “So we have a desolate environment, fifteen or so years in the future, but California or so? What does the car look like? Can it do anything crazy?”

Angella drops a photo on the table and then quickly checks her notes. “No, the main emphasis seems to be on speaking - so commenting or strategizing. Maybe sensing things, too? The pitch is quite vague there as well.”

Gerald takes a closer look. “Looks the part, but not the easiest to film in the cramped interior. We’d also have to come up with a new look for the environment for fifteen years into a dark future.”

“For good or bad, we’d also be limited to paved roads - the car guys in my staff pointed out that this thing would not go far anywhere else”, Angella adds. “We also might have to train the lead actor a bit in handling this beast for filming.”

“And not sure in which shape our Californian roads would be after several years under Soviet occupation”, Alexander ponders. “Not racetrack quality, that’s for sure.” He takes Kimberly’s lack of visible reaction to the pitch as sufficient feedback from her and gives Angella the signal to move on to the last proposal.

---

“Last but not least, we have THE RACER.” @lotto77 This time, Angella puts the picture on the table right away.

“A sentient car which chooses its driver, green racing driver Bobby Rush. It’s left ambiguous why the car is sentient, but it can manipulate itself and the near environment like through magic. It has several quirks, cannot speak though - so it has to make itself known through other means.”

“Looks sleek - and unique”, Gerald comments.

“At the beginning, the car makes Bobby overhear the mafia arranging illegal betting and race fixing besides the track, and Bobby brings in two more people, a detective and a tech friend. They go on to hunt the bad guys with the help of the car, and they also have to figure out what’s up with the car. The series will center around them uncovering crimes in the wider area around the racing circuits and ultimately bringing the head honcho to justice.” Angella pauses. “Set in present-day America”, she adds anticipating Gerald’s next question.

“So this is about racing, but not really about racing but more like a yellow sports-car Herbie?” Kimberly asks. “If yes, then the title might put non-car people off.”

Angella nods. Gerald meanwhile has given the car on the photo a closer look. “Looks surprisingly spacious for a sports car. We can definitely film well in there. It’s a 1971 model, so it even if it was quite expensive back then, it should be pretty affordable by now. Otherwise, easy on my end.”

Alexander thinks out loud. “That it can’t speak might make things interesting - it worked well for the Herbie movies. And the younger lead actor especially allows for casting choices to appeal to a wide ranger of audiences compared to some of the other proposals.”

“A wider range of storylines, too. Doesn’t have to be just crime-focused in every episode”, Kimberly adds.

---

Alexander leans back and takes a sip of coffee. “So, after we have been through all proposals, and just going by your gut feelings - what is everyone’s favorite?”

Angella goes first. “I like the PIT Vipers very much, title notwithstanding. Bold premise, very detailed pitch, ambitious, yet balanced. Will certainly stand out… but also not the easiest to produce, but not overly difficult either.” @Madrias

Gerald is next. “I wouldn’t mind seeing THE RACER on the television screen, perhaps under a different title as well. The racing backdrop is nice, the main focus luckily elsewhere, no headaches for production and the car itself is iconic enough to stand out. ‘Yellow Herbie for the 1980s’ should also be easy to communicate to any skeptical network exec.” @lotto77

“For me, it’s A Car Named Monroe”, Kimberly states. “I am not a car person, but the idea of adding a twist to the traditional detective buddy show appeals to me. And it’s the easiest of all to produce, and probably also to explain to network execs and Joe Regular Viewer. Probably not Jane Regular Viewer though, although that may depend on who we cast as the lead.” @conan

Alexander has listened thoughtfully. “Yeah, no aliens or communists for me either. Or the violent Boston James Bond thing.” He pauses. “Thank you everyone, I’ll have a think. And please leave all the stuff here”, he points to Angella’s stack of papers and notes. “I’ll need this to make my final decision.”

OOC: As you can see, car characteristics hardly influenced the ultimate decisions about who went into the finals. A few things to note on that front, nonetheless:

• The GSI has 0 off-road and very low practicality, as well as a brake setup that severely impacts drivability. @oppositelock
• The VCV van has the worst practicality (because it was the Van, not the MPV variant - so I ignored that) but also the lowest drivability and comfort with very soft dampers and massive understeer. @Knugcab Realistic maybe, but not helping for a challenge…
• The Planar Arios was the most expensive of all - but with techpool 0, and with techpool 5 it is well in-line with the others @lotto77
• And while the Mayland had indeed the lowest reliability in the field, not by much, so Gerald’s comment above shouldn’t be overinterpreted. @TheYugo45GV

Otherwise, stay tuned for the finals over the next couple of days…

[AndiD]

Judging finale

Friday, June 16th, 1978
Boardroom, Eidolon Productions, Melrose Avenue, Los Angeles, CA

Alexander Taylor, Head of Eidolon Productions, had gathered his senior staff for the final working meeting of the quarter to decide which pitches for TV series to submit to which network for their consideration over summer.

“Next is the Car is the Star series”, he announced. “As you all know, we whittled down the proposals that we received down to three very suitable ones. These were all very good, but also very different, so ultimately it was down to a strategic decision bearing in mind our studio profile and its future as I envision it.”

He paused and looked over his gathered senior staff of producers, writers and advisors. “I have had conversations about the three pitches with almost all of you, so I don’t need to introduce the proposals again. These conversations were very helpful to help me reach my final decision.”

He paused. “Most of you agreed that A Car Named Monroe would be the easiest sell and also the most risk free to produce both for the networks and for us… which would be ideal for a different studio than ours. Also, some of you noted that, while the car itself would indeed be a good cornerstone of the series, it was not that iconic that it could become an immediately recognizable standout.”

He took a quick look at his notes. “Some of you were very much in favour of THE RACER, and I can fully see why. The concept is certainly more ambitious, with a larger cast, a more iconic car and a more varied backdrop. The setting would also give the most freedom to develop beyond just hunting the bad guys as initially outlined. However, it was also least defined of the three what the series would be actually about - or what the backstory of the car is for that matter. Again, this would be a good choice for a studio that seeks to push the boundaries just a little bit further.”

Another exchange of note sheets. “Finally, some of you had concerns that the PIT Vipers would be the hardest sell due to its very ambitious aim and also the hardest to produce due to quite complex near-future setting. However, it was also the most detailed in terms of the nuances that were already worked out, and I believe those can make the difference between a good and a great series. It was also the only remaining concept that dared to step out of established boundaries, for instance, integrating all the new fancy electronics into the premise in novel ways. It certainly was the only concept that could perhaps even shape the future for a genre of TV series. Moreover, and unlike the others, this concept can also perhaps shape the future in a different way, since it is not taking place in today’s California. This allows us the opportunity for some more in-depth commentary on political and social issues than we could with the other two concepts. One thing left to work out for sure is a more catchy title but that’s something we can certainly take care of when extending the pitch for a fully-fledged submission to the networks.”

To conclude, Alexander paused again for a second. “And that will be indeed one task left to us for the next days due to the unusual premise: to carefully craft our submission document. I believe it will be worth the effort and, if accepted, cement our studio’s position on the map even further. We’ll be keeping the other two pitches handy for potential future submissions to networks if this one falls through.”

OOC: Congratulations to @Madrias and the other two finalists - the decision for 1st, 2nd and 3rd was not easy, and Alexander’s explanations above mimic my own line of thoughts to come up with the final top 3 ranking.

Complete ranking to work out the next host, if necessary:

1. @Madrias
2. @lotto77
3. @conan
4. @Knugcab
5. @oppositelock
6. @TheYugo45GV

[Madrias]

I was not expecting that.

I will admit, while I do have an idea in mind (Sci-fi show, we need retro-futuristic-looking land craft), I’m not 100% sure I can host it. So, I’ll, unfortunately, have to step back and pass it on, because while I’d love to do it, running it as TMCC would probably be biting off more than I can chew. If I have time, I might run it as a one-shot.

[AndiD]

Ok - then next in line to host would be @lotto77

[lotto77]

I’m up for it, just gotta take a day or two to write everything up.