Wayfarer’s Moon: Behind the Magic: Part 2

I already have a commercial already written, narrated by Mike Rowe from Dirty Jobs, who’s now the go-to-guy for reality show narration.

Deep in the northwest, two men, nay, two nerds, create a fair-to-middlin’ webcomic. It’s called: Wayfarer’s Moon.

Watch them work!

Shot of Leigh and Jason in a living room
Jason: So, baboon guys?
Leigh: Definitely.

Watch them live!

Shot of Leigh rolling a die, as Jason watches from behind a DM’s screen.
Leigh: A 10! With my bonuses, that makes a 14!
Jason: You miss.
Leigh: Wait! I forgot to add in the +2 from my Hip-Waders of Ultimate Angling! That makes a 16!
Jason: Fine. You hit. Congratulations, the goldfish is dead.
Leigh: Whoooot!
Jason: You do realize it was a regular, ordinary goldfish. In a bowl.
Leigh: Who cares? I loot the corpse!

Watch them go to cons!

Shot of Leigh and Jason at their booth. Leigh is sitting there, sketching. Jason is standing, his arms folded. Jason shifts position. Leigh coughs. Nothing else happens.

Watch them FIGHT!

Leigh: For the last time! Stop putting holes in the walls!
Jason: But there might be ninjas in there!
Leigh: Doing what? Stealing our insulation?
Jason: Maybe.

Join us every Tuesday at 8:00 and see the magic that is . . . Wayfarer’s Moon!
Music swells.

I would totally watch this.

Cheers,
-Jason

Wayfarer’s Moon: Behind the Magic: Part 1

The other day I noticed there was yet another new fishing reality show on. It’s called Swords: Live the Life or something (possibly: Swords: Damn, They’re Huge or Swords: Fish of Doom or Swords: Our Next Stab At a Profitable Reality Show).

Now, don’t get me wrong: I totally respect the people that go out there and do these amazingly dangerous jobs. My dad was a contractor and I grew up on construction sites and dug a LOT of trenches over the years. I know exactly what hard, manual labor is like. I just don’t think we necessarily need a new reality show about fish.

Then I had a marvelous idea: They should do a reality show about Wayfarer’s Moon! Cameras would follow us around, recording our every move, our every argument, our every passing reference to bodily functions.

It would, I most humbly assert, rock.

Possible titles could include:

Wayfarer’s Moon: Behind the Magic, Such As It Is
Wayfarer’s Moon: What’s That Smell?
Wayfarer’s Moon: Scraping the Bottom of the Barrel for Possible Reality Show Hooks
Wayfarer’s Moon: The Clash of Titans! (I particularly like this one)
Wayfarer’s Moon: Bows, Boobs, and Blood
Wayfarer’s Moon: Two Nerds. One Comic. Zero Calories.
Wayfarer’s Moon: Wow, I Have No Idea What the Execs Were Smoking
Wayfarer’s Moon: More Fun Than Dental Torture!

Tomorrow: Part 2

Reality Politics: Part 2

Here’s my idea. We find a log cabin somewhere in the middle of nowhere. We mike and camera everything in a ten-mile radius around it, including the outdoor toilet.

The cabin will be simple, with no electricity or running water, but it will be stocked with a week’s worth of food and the tools and supplies necessary to survive and provide food.

We take the two candidates and dump them there for three months.

Then, as a nation, we watch them.

The first week, maybe, they’ll be able to keep ‘on message’ so to speak, but once the food starts to run out and they have to start fending for themselves, we’ll get to see the REAL candidates.

We’ll see who whines and pouts, who shirks work or doesn’t do their fair share. We’ll see who isn’t afraid to kill spiders or go out and get dinner. We’ll see which one of them can really lead and which one can’t take it.

At the end of the three months, they get to come out and one week later, we hold an open forum so they can answer questions about what they did and why. Then, we vote.

Like my dad used to say: ‘You don’t know a man ‘till you’ve seen him get in a bar fight in- Dammit! Fire stays outside the house!’

Dad didn’t get to finish saying very often.

Cheers,
-Jason

Educational TV

So, has anyone noticed that educational TV seems to becoming a lot less educational?

I am talking about the Discovery Channel, History Channel, and The Learning Channel. While I watch pretty much zero network TV, I do flip between these on a regular basis and have noticed a trend.

What is the newest show on Discovery? A reality show about Lobster fisherman. What is the show that seems to be on most evenings? Deadliest Catch, a reality show about crab fisherman.

Discovery is not alone here. History has Ice Road Truckers. The Learning Channel has American Chopper (which I admit to enjoying – I like seeing the bikes being built), Miami Ink and now, LA Ink.

Granted, these shows are a minority among those being offered. The History Channel alone has so many WWII shows that I keep expecting Nazi Germany: The Shoelaces of the Third Reich to show up. The Discovery Channel also has that perennial favorite: Shark Week.

You know what I would love? Besides being fed fajitas by supermodels? If the History Channel and Discovery Channel combined forces to produce Nazi Shark Week. I do not care if it was about actual Nazi Sharks (der PanzerTigerhai), Nazis being fed to sharks, or the forbidden love between a Nazi and a shark. Nazi + Shark = television greatness.

Anyway, back to the topic at hand. I realize that these networks need viewers as much as anyone else. I also realize that reality shows are the thing right now. Could they just, you know, try and make them a bit more informative? Human Weapon is a good example of a show that provides entertainment (people hitting each other) with information (how hitting people in one way hurts more that hitting people other ways).

Barring that, they really need to go with Nazi Shark Week. Or American Chomper, a show about building motorcycles while being attacked by sharks. Or Miami Inked, where they try and tattoo a squid.

Cheers,
-Jason