5/16/07
Okay, I'd like to stake a claim for Greg Humphreys and myself, and possibly Ann as well. "Ghost Chimp M.D." came from a late-night shit-talking session occurring sometime in December 1994. I posted it in a review on CitySearch in 1996, then mentioned it in the blog several times over the years. And last night it was on the Craig Ferguson show! How do these things happen, I wonder? I mean, besides the Hundredth Monkey Effect?
For the record, we also came up with "Make Room For Larry" (also all over the internet for some reason), and another series that featured a dumpster as a character.
Look, I'm not saying these are brilliant.
I'm just sayin'.
I can vouch for Ghost Chimp's origins.
The other quote I always associate with Greg is
"I don't know, the jail?" in response to the Thin Lizzy "Tonight's there gonna be a jailbreak, somewhere in this town"
I remember it as "Leave Room For Larry". But yeah, I was there for Ghost Chimp. The fact that it's the one we remember means there was about 17 funnier ideas that night that were so bad, they just wouldn't stick in our heads.
The Thin Lizzy thing is brilliant! I mean, how many jails ARE there in that town? Damn, you have some smart friends.
I will again reinforce the verity of Ian's claim. "Ghost Chimp, M.D." was born one night at the farmhouse in 1994 (maybe '95). The main character's refrain, spoken at the end of each episode, was to be, "Aaaand I woulda gotten away with it if it weren't for you lousy kids!"
I also gotta remind everyone of the true name of the Larry sitcom (which was to star someone--anyone--formerly on the cast of M*A*S*H) which was "Too Close for Larry."
One of the 17 too-bad-to-be-remembered (except by...me) ones was about a spunky kid with a good heart who worked in a clock shop. The name? "Nick, of Time."
while we're at it, i would like to claim ownership of my own personal terrible tv show idea. "Abra Cadaver" is about a mortician who is also a magician and his lovely assistant, who is dead.
Would Justin Time be Nick's brother?
>>The main character's refrain, spoken at the end of each episode, was to be, "Aaaand I woulda gotten away with it if it weren't for you lousy kids!"
That was funny in 1994, but as Ian has noted, all of our nostalgia has since then been splattered all over VH1 and everywhere else (especially Wayne's World) and sigh, it's not as exciting anymore.
Who was it that said that the show "Life Goes On" should have been called "That's Retarded!"
I cannot stop laughing at that Thin Lizzy line. Good stuff.
Craig Ferguson, eh? Damn! That's what I get for watching Conan.
Old Well... maybe we should use this as an excuse to come up with more wildly ridiculous concepts for laughs, ala Abra Cadaver. Later co-option by comedy writers will be the icing on the cake.
I had no idea of its origins but I happened to catch the Ghost Chimp M.D. reference last night and wondered what it was all about.
So are you saying that your idea somehow found its way to Craig Ferguson? Do you know any of his writers? Or do your friends know any of his writers?
If it makes you feel any better, a friend of mine who grew up above a funeral home wrote a script based on the experience and pitched it to a number of people (including HBO) about 10 years ago. No one bit but magically a show called Six Feet Under appeared on HBO no long after his meetings. I'm just sayin'.
i vote for the talking dumpster one!
would it be a soft and adorable fuzzy talking dumpster that has a lot of one-liners?
or would it be a magical oracle type dumpster that provides wisdom and the moral lesson of the show?
how about a show called "nerds" that follows a nerdy kid and his fellow outcasts from pre-school all the way through high school showing how they are tormented and tortured in new and different ways each year throughout childhood but then in the finale goodbye episode they all get amazing jobs and become rich and internet-famous?
actually i wouldn't mind just the pre-school part, i'd kind of like to see a really good updated version of the our gang/little rascals show, where all the kids are weird or twisted cartoonish characters and they are in their own weird play-world, with grown-up humor, not a kids show. the name would be a sickly sweet preschool name like "Kiddie Korner" or "Busy Bees" or "Huggy House" or something.
ok, actually i still like the dumpster one.
xuxe, i would love an our gang remake/update! thats a good idea. it was a huge favorite of mine growing up. loved the rube goldberg contraptions and the "let's put on a show!" episodes - "leeaarrn to crooon.."
totally! :)
and you know what really freaks me out is that my 7 year old son loves them, he likes to give me the play-by-play of what happened in the episode-
he'll be like "and then, you know the kid who keeps saying 'o-tay'..."
and i'm like, "you mean buckwheat?"those conversations are a trip!
there has to be a sitcom pilot made out of this......http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=1f4_1179038976
It's on youtube!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5wZc9Ol5q2U
god, this is so weird.