Hanging around the bus terminal, the local security guy put this thought in my head. What goes on at the terminal would be a great sitcom, like a Friends TV sitcom.
He got me thinking about this. I came up with a basic concept, flow of characters and meaningful message from the episodes. It needed, I felt, some unusual characters to bring comic variety and a core who made the story each week.
Here's the characters... of course not based on any one real person. Some traits may be similar to some at the terminal, although they are fictitious for the story. Being a bus patron, these ideas came to me while on bus runs across town.
The Cast of Characters
Three Bus Drivers
Sweet Samuel. Samuel expresses himself very effeminately. Most think he is gay, but he is not. He handles situation with a lot of outrageous drama. It's all drama with Sweet Samuel but the way he handles irritating bus patrons, with his over the top emotional style, keeps them in line... that's all Samuel. His wife comes by once in awhile. She is 3 times bigger than Samuel, and quite the dominating female around Samuel. He is short, slender, and moves quite girlishly.
Dashing Danica. Danica wanted to be a race car driver and everyone thinks she changed her name to resemble a famous one. She didn't make it as a race car driver, although some stories coming back to the station indicate she uses her acumen in driving skills in ways to control patrons not in line on her bus. She is always on schedule and with her ability to maneuver through traffic she has an unprecedented ability to make up time. She is tall, slender, jet black hair and wears her bus uniform in a way that makes her look like the NASCAR race driver she dreams of being. She walks with a cocky strut.
Bob. There is no drama with Bob. Bob is quite boring. Bob reminds you of a frog. He looks like a big frog in the way he drives, talks like a frog, and handles all situations in a very undramatic way. He gets the job done in as few words as possible, and many like the relief boring Bob gives them... after being on Samuel's and Danica's bus.
There is much drama in Samuel's everyday activity. Dashing Danica pulls off driving stunts that rumor has nearly got her fired several times but no passenger would ever speak against her. And Bob is such a contrast, his frog-like actions create a dramatic juxtaposition with his associate drivers.
Sweet Samuel, Dashing Danica, and Bob each have their bus following and have taken turns being Driver of the Year. The older crowd likes Sweet Samuel; trendy/college, Dashing Danica; and corporate culture, Bob.
The Security Guard
Alex, the Security guard. After failing his psychology comps three times, he took the job as a security guard. His manner in handling disturbances is hilarious. Everyone likes Alex. He is always smiling and joking with the patrons. He is known to make really tough bad dudes come to tears as he gets them talking about mom, and if mom held them enough as a baby. They break down crying after Alex leads them into dealing with their inner child. Almost always giving Alex a big hug, weeping on his shoulder for understanding, he tells them to come back anytime and "we can talk more."
Alex also has resolved many couple conflicts at the terminal, including those who erupt with love disputes. Couples start coming from everywhere to ride the bus just so they can talk to Alex.
The Regular Passenger
Pete the Priest. Pete is not really a priest but gets tagged the name because of his Spiritual insights. He actually was thrown out of Theological Seminary because he accused its leadership of being hypocrites in a paper he wrote. Everyone likes Pete. His quiet, pleasant manner draws many to him.
The 4 Professionals
Then the core group. Four professional people show up every Saturday night at the terminal...a criminal lawyer, a corporation CPA, an ad agency copy writer, and a high school theater
teacher. They are on a mission. They always dress down, looking for a prime suspect.
They find unusual people that probably can't get a job anywhere, and turn them into marketable, in-demand people.
The Storyline
The 4 professionals started hanging out there because they found out that Randy's Ribs, the best rib restaurant in the city, gives their left-over ribs to a mission Friday night.
The mission comes by the bus terminal on Saturday night to feed the hungry... Randy's Ribs.
A dinner for 4 at Randy's cost $40 for the group special. The 4 professionals find out that the same ribs are given out by the mission every Saturday night, then “why are we paying $40 when we can get them for free.”
So on a dare to each other, they go to the bus terminal and dress poor and act homeless to get Randy's Ribs free. Ironically, the mission thinks the poor and needy are at the bus terminal, when in fact it is not the case anymore. So the 4 professionals, guiltlessly, take advantage of this market profile miss-read by the mission.
While at the terminal, they start observing the variety of people there. Again on a dare they decide to pick some "interesting" folks and sell them to the professional venues they know as a rare, highly sought after talent in their field.
Their dialogue creates the theme for the rest of the sitcoms.
What if we took music lover Larry who comes by the terminal with his big headphones on, groovin in his comical, special style to his music, and sold him to the music world contacts they know as the best talent spotter in the area. Larry is comical to look at. He is short, a little stocky, hip hopping in his own world, gyrating to the music.
They become fascinated with how different he is. What is so fanatical, after they get done with Larry, they turn him into being the talk of the industry.
They spot Harry, the guy who always wears a bicycle helmet, but they never saw him with a
bicycle. He becomes an invention genius. The 4 professionals coach him and introduce him to an innovation company to be part of their think-tank group. Harry talks a whole lot, and has an opinion, unusual one, on almost everything. They sell this as his genius.
Alex and Pete the Priest provide the 4 professionals with psychological and Spiritual insights they have on the subjects the 4 professionals target.
So the set up... the character bus drivers, counseling guard, the priestly passenger, the 4 professionals.
The bus drivers create short comedy vignettes, Alex the guard and Pete the Priest add to it, and the profiling by the 4 professional, dressed down, create the core theme for each episode.
The Communication Objective
The communications objective is to change our view of people and prejudice.
With the right connections, the right coaching, the right group around us,
anyone can be somebody in life.
Even though it is a sitcom with hilarious, outrageous scenes created around the
bus drivers, the security guard, the priest, and the 4 professionals with the schemes they come up with, each episode ends with a surprise on how the unlikely subject changes.
When they build their subject up to be a superstar, an expert in their field, the 4 professionals are surprised themselves what they just did for this person. When people believe in you and act convinced, it's amazing how the person, within, rises to the occasion.
The moral here ... the bus culture is an opportunity to create such unbelievable transformation. If those with social change interests partnered with public transit, we could change the character competence of our world.
To follow, some possible episodes for Sweet Samuel, Dashing Danica, Bob, with Alex and Pete and the 4 professionals.
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