a sitcom set in a abortion clinic

Well why the hell not? Something like scrubs only with more cable sentimentalities. Funny but it will make you think.

Our heroine Jillian is a flaky young nurse who moves to a new town in the mid west for a fresh start away from her clingy boyfriend and to doge her gambling debt back in LA. She start a job at only Family planning centre in the countie just to pay the bills and soon finds out she has bitten off more than she can chew.

The show will consist of Jillian’s wacky attempts to win the approval of her boss the snarky Dr Fairchild and Bella the passionate Christian protester in between this there will touching moments where Jillian will talk to clients about why they want to bring about a delayed period' and the odd dramatic complication.

Do you think it has potential?

edited 22nd Nov '10 8:05:23 PM by joeyjojo

No fetus can beat us! God help me, I'd probably watch it.

that whould make a good tagline.

Or maybe, "You rape it, we scrape it"?

...Oh boy, probably not.

The Sarah Silverman Program. Only one episode, but still...

edited 22nd Nov '10 11:31:34 PM by newtonthenewt

This sounds like something that would air on Adult Swim or Comedy Central.

yes, i really doubt a major network will touch it.

Have one straight person. Someone who is honestly freaked out by the job and all the kooky stuff you will be doing.

So how's high school going, everybody in this thread?

So how's high school going, everybody in this thread?

Over and done with, thank you very much. Graduated with honors in the top 5% of a class of 200 and currently a sophomore at a college that is an approved HSK testing facility.

As for the show, so long as the comedy doesn't feel awkward with all the obvious, uh, situations that are bound to arise around an abortion clinic it could work well. You'd need a good writer and good actors, and I'd need to see something of it first before I could judge, but it could definitely work. Scrubs got away with a lot of jokes featuring dead and dying people.

The biggest hurdle is going to be having comedy that's not too dark though. Abortion's a sensitive issue (if the last thread was anything to go by) and some people are bound to be offended at making fun of it. The trick's minimizing that number. But there will always be that group that hates it no matter what purely because it is set in an abortion clinic. God forbid you should try to humanize doctors baby murderers.

The premise would definitely make people pay attention though. Make it more enjoyable than deplorable, and there will be no such thing as bad publicity.

^ Agreed with above. Two ways to play it. Adult Swim comedy, or Dead Like Me tragicomedy. Use it well.

I was joking. I thought a show based entirely on shock humor sounded immature, is what I was driving at.

But I admit, that was a little judgmental of me.

Suggestion: Have one character who is morally pro-life but is too lazy to find work elsewhere and too complacent to resist doing their job.

That’s understandable, but not what I was going to aim for. While hopefully the premise’s shock value will draw viewers, The focus will be more on interpersonal relationships and workplace humour than dead baby jokes.

Come for the outrage. Stay for the laughs

edited 24th Nov '10 9:30:34 PM by joeyjojo

you could get some mileage out of the disposing of medical waste

Actually, i'm not sure about that. I just saw the title and thought of the film 'Dumplings'

ew... Despite what bill o'reilly tells you the average abortionist rarely collects up the fruit of his labour at the end of the day and bakes a nice casserole.

edited 24th Nov '10 2:48:37 AM by joeyjojo

well, of course not, that would be unsanitary (who's Bill O'Reilly? and why should i give a crap what someone i've never heard of says, they're obviously not important)

• ADDENDUM* Oh, that's Bill O'Reilly! one blowhard looks and sounds like another

edited 24th Nov '10 9:25:30 AM by pathfinder

Uhm, anyways, I think it would be interesting to focus on the type of people that come into the abortion clinic. There should be one person that is always protesting, but seems to spend more time talking with the main cast and getting coffee with them and being part of the main story's antics.

OK, who does go to abortion clinics (i'm a guy, how would i know) i'll just run out a list, each has many many variations that can be mined for a while beore the story gets stale. it'll probably come across as blunt and insensitive, but...

you've got the young and silly

you got the young and 'victimised'

you've got the 'having a baby now is not convenient'

you've got the 'no, my baby has a defect. out damn spot!'

you've got the 'i did everything right, how am i pregnant?'

there's the 'i don't need any more children'

and 'it's not my husband/partner/boyfriend's baby. Oops'

and mix and match the ones already listed to get more

you've got a whole big pit of regret to mine for all it's worth there

have you given any consideration to the 'tone' of the sitcom. sitcom usually implies funny, and i'm concerned that there's not enough there for a 'light comedy' sitcom, but plenty for a darker sitcom

Example "sitcom set in a bookshop" light sitcom 'Stacked'. awful awful steaming pile. Dark "sitcom set in a bookshop" 'Black Books' successful, funny and popular

edited 24th Nov '10 9:34:21 AM by pathfinder

How about an antiabortionist that winds up getting an abortion, getting hired, and becoming part of the main cast?

This sounds so frakking awesome. I'd totally watch it. Of course, you could probably only find it on the internet... or Adult Swim.

Man i'm getting a lot of great feedback here, I'll definitely make use of some of the ideas.

There is plenty of room for Character Development, say introducing a broad stereotype of cold hearted abortion doctor or religious fruitcake and slowly peel back at their motivation and humanize them. Such as a Pro Life protester slowly becoming fond with the clinic staff over the course of the show and less judgemental of the clientele.

As said the good thing about being set in a day clinic is that you have a wide collection of Patient of the Week with interesting stories to pick from.

edited 25th Nov '10 12:00:21 AM by joeyjojo

I'm sure it sounds like a cliche, but some bits about people with strong intellectual opinions being confronted with their real-world consequences would go over well.

Examples: A militant pro-lifer having to deal with a girl who wants to abort a baby that is the result of rape. A pro-choice nut finding out he/she was put up for adoption (in the absence of available abortion). A moderate trying to help an individual, who gets confronted with uncaring extremists from either/both sides.

The point is "at what cost our beliefs?"

It's easy to hold an opinion, but getting confronted with the human cost can cause even the most ardent to re-evaluate.

practically writes itself doesn't it? =)

You chould go for a triple whammy and have a prolife women considering aborting a possibly abnormal fetus after unwitting comiting Brother–Sister Incest because her mother placed her up for adoption. But that might be bordering on camp.

Also, make sure to have at LEAST one patient getting an abortion for her OWN health.