Day Two: Back to Basics - Urban Numina Script

Okay today I'm focusing on getting back to basics. I've opened up a new Word document for all my brainstorming for this show. Today's main reference books will be The Coffee Break Screenwriter, My Story Can Beat Up Your Story and Byte-Sized Television.


Now Byte-Sized Television mentions that a good series concept needs to suggest a whole series worth of episodes. I think the problem I had yesterday was that I was sticking too closely to a film format where I'm telling one story. In a series, I'm going to want to tell a number of stories about a particular situation or group of characters. There can be a serialised greater story that lies over the top of all that - but the set up should suggest a lot of stories.

Let's try this:

When a lonely gay guy releases a forgotten deity of love, he thinks he finally has the edge to find the man of his dreams only to then discover that the deity's ideas of love are out of sorts with the modern world. Now he must decide whether he should teach the god about modern love or try to learn about love from a deity from another time.

It still feels a bit fiddly, but I like the central conceit that's developing here. A battle of wills between Deus and Devon over what constitutes love. Will Devon listen to Deus, and maybe find the man of his dreams or will he show Deus that love is something other than Deus believes it to be.

It does still need something more to it though.

So what is going to be the show's central question? This will be the one question that every episode the show would try to answer to varying degrees.

So maybe the question will be - Will Devon meet a guy, fall in love and come to believe in Deus' ideals on love? Each episode would answer this question differently. One episode might be a no, no, no. Another might be yes, no, no. Or yes, no, yes. Or other degrees of these combinations.

The interesting twist is not making the show about Devon and Deus as a couple, but Deus as Devon's mentor/genie. Deus helps Devon out by giving Devon unique powers or granting miracles to help Devon meet guys and win them over.

I'm liking this set up.

So there is my central question - and the first foundation for my comedy.