Sometimes I get these really weird ideas for a sitcom that’s not. Like it’s meant to be some kind of artistic statement instead of something stupid and/or funny, but could just appear as stupid alone and I don’t know what the statement is about anyway. And it’s also potentially something that I don’t know has been done and probably for good reason.
So the idea starts with the promos that show up when a network is about to premiere a new show, saying it’s going to be the best thing ever but it often at most lasts one or maybe two seasons. In these promos, it’s just going to look like a regular modern sitcom, random selected clips of fictional life antics picked as the “best” “jokes” and so on.
Then the show itself starts, and it’s just the camera facing a couch that’s facing a TV, a usual sitcom apartment living room kinda setup. The main character who was featured in all the previews apparently has just gotten some bad news off-camera or gets it from the TV itself, then after sitting down they just shoot themselves in the head and die in a realistic way. None of this is portrayed as humorous because it isn’t.
This ends up being the premise of the show, it’s just a full season of watching this corpse rot while the TV is stuck on because for whatever reason nobody thinks to check on this person. Each episode is another month later in decomposition and covers about a week with time skipping between commercial breaks. Maybe there’s hints about what’s going on in the timeline with what’s heard on the TV during the segment shown, or various parts of the room in increasing disrepair. Maybe also the corpse is eventually removed toward the end so it’s just the empty couch, and maybe there’s a ghost sometimes visible somewhere like in those Paranormal Activity movies that I haven’t seen because I don’t feel like watching a security camera for a couple hours like that, implied to be the character’s stuck in the room.
Meanwhile the commercial bumpers and previews for the next episode just continue to show the sitcom that’s not being shown with the main character alive and making random jokes or whatever happens in sitcoms, and that itself might also be a clue into the main show, being the life previously lived before the actual show started and hints toward what led to their death.
I don’t entirely know where I get these ideas, but it may have had something to do with remembering some kinda short-lived reboot show I saw a glimpse of once as well as some anime horror game I’ve heard of, and alongside other thoughts I have about murder, it’s a bit concerning. If someone actually has done this kind of show idea or at least also come up with it, I’d like to know who and what other things they’ve done. I’m just working through things right now. Cleaning and organizing also helps put my mind at ease for a bit to try to think more clearly about what I need to do.