A series of concepts, episode guides etc, from when I ran a fantasy television network on several message boards including YOTN (Your Own Television Network) and New Era Television.
If I get any feedback on the concepts I will use that to decide whi...
One of the things I often did for my fictional network was to pick up pilots produced by other networks that I thought were interesting enough to develop. One such project was 13 Graves which Fox brought to pilot but didn't pick up for the Fall 2006-07 season. I felt it had more of a summer feel to it so I picked it up for the Summer of 2007. My fictional network was supposed to be a bit of an underdog, so picking up other major network cancellations or pilots was a great way to save money. Also from a personal stand point I would follow the entertainment news of all the scripts and pilots, so could become invested in concepts. It was also a great way to save myself from having to create so many original concepts.
The biggest problem of course was the lack of information available on the internet about the show concept, scripts, etc. Of course if I didn't have the information that also meant that others in the game didn't have it either.
So here is an accumulation of what I knew about the show when picking it up.
13 Graves (FOX)DEVELOPMENT HISTORY: 1/17/06 - 3/22/06STATUS: previously in development (2006-2007 season)DEVELOPMENT STAGE: ordered to pilotDESCRIPTION: drama about an ex-treasure hunter (matthew lillard) whose search for his missing brother puts him in the hunt for spanish conquistador francisco pizzaro's fabled incan gold
Anthony 'Treach' Criss as Inglewood Jake Eric Stonestreet as Andrew Guillermo Díaz as Manny Rodriguez Katheryn Winnick as Briony Becker Luke Goss as Gary Domino Matthew Lillard as Matthew McQueen Max Perlich as Russell Norman Reedus as Norman Robert Forster as Reverend Tom Rochelle Aytes as Karen
CREW INFORMATION: Dominic Cena · as DIR/CO-EP J.H. Wyman· as CRTR/EP Reid Shane· as EP
I added the following crew
Mary Kay Kelly as Associate Producer
Roee Sharon as Co-Producer
Roxann Dawson as Director
Steven Kane as Writer
Amanda Segel as Writer
GENRE(S): · drama STUDIO INFORMATION: · 20th Century Fox Television
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I didn't actually develop episode guides for this show, but when I was playing around with Chatgpt this year, I fed it what little info I had and asked it to produce a 12 episode guide. It came up with the following.
Season 1 generated by ChatGPT
1.01 "The Missing McQueen" - After his brother disappears while on a treasure hunt in South America, Matthew McQueen returns to the U.S. to find him, only to discover that he's not the only one interested in the treasure.
1.02 "The Incan Connection" - McQueen teams up with Inglewood Jake, a former associate of his brother's, to track down the Incan artifact that could lead them to the treasure.
1.03 "The Relic Hunters" - McQueen and Jake come into conflict with a rival treasure hunting team, led by Gary Domino, who will stop at nothing to get their hands on the treasure.
1.04 "The Conquistador's Map" - McQueen and his team acquire a map supposedly created by Francisco Pizzaro himself, leading them deep into the South American jungle.
1.05 "The Jungle's Fury" - The team struggles to survive in the dangerous jungle, while being hunted by both rival treasure hunters and unknown forces.
1.06 "The Cursed City" - McQueen and his team stumble upon an ancient Incan city that is said to be cursed, and must navigate its deadly traps and puzzles to find the treasure.
1.07 "The Betrayal" - McQueen's team faces betrayal from within their own ranks, as one member reveals their true motivations for being on the treasure hunt.
1.08 "The Lost Temple" - McQueen and Jake uncover a hidden temple that holds the key to the treasure's location, but find themselves trapped inside with dangerous guardians.
1.09 "The Price of Greed" - McQueen and his team must make a difficult decision when the true cost of the treasure is revealed.
1.10 "The Final Showdown" - McQueen and his team confront their rivals in a final battle for the treasure, but not everyone will make it out alive.
1.11 "The Truth Revealed" - McQueen discovers the shocking truth about his brother's disappearance and the true nature of the treasure they were seeking.
1.12 "The Legacy" - McQueen and the surviving members of his team reflect on the journey they've been on and what they've learned, as they decide what to do with the treasure they've found.
So, this was all and good. But having revived this concept I decided to give the internet one more search for media to use (remember last time was in the stone age of 2007). Voila, amazingly I found the pilot on youtube which was posted literally around a month ago! What amazing timing!
I watched it and you should too! Its not great, but really, it was good for the time. TV was moving away from the episodic shows to serials, and Fox was trying all kinds while trying to appeal to a younger demographic. These viewers, and the types of shows, are now considered binge viewing. 13 Graves kind of reminded me of other Fox shows especially Freakylinks, which I really wanted to love, even though it was bad.
This amazing find of course would change the episodes I would have written. Chatgpt tends to be very simple minded and formulaic. It also tends to use general story descriptions like , "main character makes a decision that effects everyone in his family" without discussing what that decision actually was. This does tend to be the way shows' episode guides are done originally, to entice viewers, but later, historical records, tend to be more specific and provide spoilers.
The general outline by Chatgpt is "okay", but it is for a general treasure hunting show. It really doesn't discuss the fact there are 13 graves. Hummm...13 graves...13 episodes...not sure what the show was originally planning but could they have been doing 1 grave per episode? The outline also pretty much ignores the main female lead Briony Becker (later changed to Gillian Becker).
One thing I want to point out about this show is the AMAZING f'n cast.
First off Matthew Lillard (or Shaggy as I will always think of him), is amazing. He has great range, everything from nerd to suave, to psycho. Add in Billy Drago, Robert Forster, Udo Kier, Max Perlich, and Norman Reedus!! (before he was THE Norman Reedus), and Eric Stonestreet (two years later he would make it big as Cam on Modern Family). The female lead played by Katheryn Winnick (Vikings, Big Sky) would have been her first big break as well.
I'm pretty sure if this show had been picked up I would have watched it. Fox did pick up Standoff and another serial that year Vanished that was good, but didn't last.
