Another Twitter feed gets a TV deal from CBS
Shawn Norris
After a good showing with their first crack at turning a Twitter feed into a television show with “Bleep My Dad Says,” CBS has given a script deal to a guy that secretly writes about what his drunken roommate is doing all day. I’m sure this is tentatively titled “College.”
The CBS version of “Don’t Tell Steve” is about man who deals with an immature roommate. Like “$#*! My Dad Says,” the Twitter feed’s premise is a guy who secretly Tweets the actions of somebody he lives with (in this case, his jobless, drunken roommate). The feed has drawn more than 13,000 followers.
Now “Bleep My Dad Says” had quite a following before CBS offered the Twitter feed a production deal, that’s why this idea seems like such an odd project. When you have over a million people on your feed you already know you have an built-in audience and publicity machine. But at 13,000 followers, it seems like the folks at CBS could have at least looked around at other (much funnier) Twitter feeds. I mean these tweets are pretty lame and aren’t even that funny.
Steve is in his suit humming that song “Billionaire” while eating a breakfast of toasted Eggos with chocolate chips and a Redbull
Steve: “I think tonight is a sake bomb night” Me: “What are we celebrating?” Steve: “Sake bombs.” If you’re drinking tonight, drink to Steve
Steve: “I want a job where they have company retreats where everyone gets hammered and I bone some accountant’s wife on a golf course”
I thought they already had a show where a douchey roommate got drunk all day and slept with some accountant’s wife on a golfcourse. Add a midget with almost no social skills and you have the entire premise of “Two and Half Men.” What more do you need than that for a green light?
CBS TV Studios and Katalyst will produce the project. Andrew Waller and Mike Gagerman are the writer-supervising producers. Ashton Kutcher, who has an astounding 5.8 million followers on the popular social media site, and his producing partner Jason Goldberg, along with Karey Burke are executive producers.
And there is the kicker. Millions of followers that will cling to Ashton Kutcher’s every word will tune into watch when he inevitably tweets all the promos for it. Hard to believe that Twitter has become such a big deal in the television industry — but I can’t figure out if it’s for better or for worse. Call me a “hater,” but I know that there are much more talented people in the world that can articulate themselves in more than 140 characters that deserve TV deals over this guy. But then again, I wouldn’t expect executives to worry about creativity when they already think they have an audience.
Another Twitter feed gets CBS comedy deal [THR]
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