TV Show Proposal

A blog is a good format for ideas that will never be developed further. Here is an idea for a TV show that is as good as any in development, but because I have no clout or capability in the realm of broadcasting, this is as far as it will ever go.

"Ten-Dollar Haircut! and The Handbag Violator"

This is a two-part show. For starters, there is a hand-painted sign on Kearney Street here in Springfield. It is poorly painted on a little sign like you normally see for garage sales. It says "$10 Haircut" with an arrow pointing back into a crappy neighborhood. This is where you start. Each "contestant" drives here and has to get said haircut. Of course the obvious glee comes when we subject upper-class women to the Ten Dollar Haircut, but actually it will be nice to see people from all walks of life enter this experience. Maybe our hearts will be warmed when a homeless man is shorn of his scraggle and he feels social pride again. Maybe we'll laugh when some rich bitch protests her new do. Then again, maybe the Ten Dollar hairstylist will prove to be masterful and hip to current fashion. If this haircutter turns out to be a bland character, maybe we find a place with $5 haircuts.

As time allows, the people getting haircuts will turn their handbags and/or wallets over to the Handbag Violator, a guy named David Hohner. I recently saw him sort through the contents of a girl's purse at a restaurant. She watched as he verbalized lots of assumptions about her, drawn from whatever came out of her purse. Some of it was true, some not, but it was all pretty amusing just because he fearlessly jumped to conclusions about a person he'd just met. It was presented with confidence, like, "Here's a ziploc baggie with some Tylenol and napkins in it, so you're organized and like to keep things clean." He could tell if someone had kids or not, if they had pets, how wealthy they were, etc. At the time I called it Purse Rape, but now I prefer Handbag Violator, and David had a talent for it.

So there you have two handy ways to make low-budget reality TV with minimal cast, crew, or resources.