What I've Decided Already:
Show Title: BEEFERS
Show Log line: All in one day, a young Philly kid fails out of school, gets disowned by family, dumped by his fiance, and runs a gambling debt beyond hope. Solution: Con your way into a job at the cruddiest steakhouse in all of Dallas and wait for the coast to clear.
Through Line - The through line is a longer explanation of what the story is about, the universe of show, story arcs and themes. This is you explanation of the show if someone were to sit you down and ask for some more details.
I'm trying to set up the story so that the main character is a fish out of water in a place he doesn't necessarily want to be but he has to stay. All that stuff in the log line about getting dumped and failing out do not have to be shown (and in fact will probably come out of the log line in the next draft) but I am trying to set-up the desperate nature of his plight. I like it when conflict comes about that forces a character through circumstance or changes to face something they would normally walk away from. They way to do that and make it somewhat funny (I believe) is to take this main guy and screw him into a set-up that he isn't comfortable with but must deal with anyway.
For the purpose of this posting, I am going to name the character Johnny Doe...
Johnny gets the job as the junior assistant manager at the Beefers Steakhouse in suburban Dallas by lying through his teeth about his restaurant qualifications. Not that the job required much in terms of restaurant qualifications, it seemed the hiring manager was more concerned about whether or not Johnny could "work Thursday night". Beefers is a small chain steak restaurant with about a dozen locations throughout Texas boasting an obvious western theme. The franchise nature of the restaurant means that most of the thought process has gone out of this business and its location makes it a nearly indestructable moneymaker despite the incompetence of everyone involved. It's one of those restaurants where you have a tray, you order your beef, load up on salad, grab pudding cup, and wait for your steak to be cooked.
Johnny's job is to run the later shifts when most of the older managers have gone home. That means he's in charge of the herd of waitresses, the doofus dishwasher, the conniving cook and the old franchise owner and his wife.
Johnny doesn't want to be there. His personal situation has forced him into a tight spot where he needs to work, he needs to lay low, so he needs to do what he can to keep the job. But it is out of no personal interest in the restaurant business, the frachise business, or any management aspirations that he is strapping on a horrible tie and going to work. His waitresses are a combination of old, old, old (been there forever), young, young, young, (want to be there less than Johnny), none of which listen to a word he says. His lead cook has tons of secrets of his own, the day cook is nearly psychotic, the weekend cook is an insane Gordon Ramsey wannabe. The cook is young, burned-out high school stoner with a maleable brain and questionable judgement.
The crux of the conflict is that Johnny has no desire to stay, but is trying to make it work anyway. His earnestness is only to ensure he keeps his job. He was in college, he had dreams, he wants a lot out of life. However, the longer he stays at Beefers, the more settled he gets, and the more he comes to somewhat enjoy his new gig.
Secondary conflicts are Johnny's northeastern roots. He isn't southern, he isn't Texan, and he certainly isn't down with the southern drawl. He's fast when everyone else is more deliberate. They give him crud and he doesn't even realize it.
Secondary conflict: The gamblers and the people from his past keep popping up to mess with his new life in Beefers.
Perhaps a relationship with one of the waitresses that starts out somewhat as a conquest and begins to develop into a relationship. This could be another tie to the restaurant that Johnny develops.
It's North vs. South, Cool vs. Uncool, Snotty vs. Grounded...
I'll have to think on this more tonight. Please email any suggestions.
TOMORROW: A first draft of the characters.
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