As far as Geico pitchmen go, I'm partial to the gecko, but I know people love them some cavemen ads. They love them so much that ABC is developing a single-camera sitcom based on the characters to be penned by Joe Lawson, the advertising copywriter who created the spots. The show will feature three of our early human ancestors battling prejudice as they try to live ordinary lives in Atlanta. (That means their respective cribs are only going to get nicer.)As a former anthropology teacher, I'm curious to hear the origin story of these particular cavemen. Despite the lowered brow, they're clearly bipedal and have mastered the use of simple tools. Could they be Neanderthal descents? Or, maybe I'm barking up the wrong fossilized evidence tree. Do you think they'd be offended if I asked whether or not they know Cha-Ka?
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
3-02-2007 @ 2:11PM
Haunt said...
I should probably be ashamed to admit this, but I think this could actually be funny. I love these commercials, and thought the Caveman Crib website was hilarious.
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3-02-2007 @ 2:22PM
B said...
Unfrozen caveman sitcom?
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3-02-2007 @ 2:28PM
scott said...
yeah this could actually be a good idea... surprisingly.
everyone i know loves those commercials.
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3-02-2007 @ 2:50PM
Bill said...
I applaud their decision to keep it realistic and set this in Atlanta. As we all know from watching tv and movies, prejudice in all its forms (even apparently anti-cavemanism) has been eliminated in every part of the country except for the south.
http://popculturejunk.blogspot.com
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3-02-2007 @ 2:51PM
imdennycrane said...
I'd watch it. It could be really funny or just a blatant attempt to capitalize on their popularity. Nothing wrong with that, mind you.
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3-02-2007 @ 2:54PM
Ben Clark said...
I hope this is one of those pilots that, if not picked up, is "leaked" onto YouTube. If they do it right, this could be hilarious -- but executives may not "get it."
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3-02-2007 @ 3:06PM
Curt said...
This will be the funniest thing since or the stupidest thing since ... there will be no middle ground.
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3-02-2007 @ 3:06PM
Porchland said...
If they play the caveman shtick like in the commercials and the web site -- an elitist, oppressed minority -- it has huge potential. No origin story, though; just pick up on a Tuesday or whatever and roll with it.
The Phil Hartman caveman lawyer sketches years ago on SNL were really funny but more of a one-note gag.
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3-02-2007 @ 3:35PM
MacGuffin said...
I love the GEICO Caveman commercials . . . they always make me laugh . . . but I'm not sure that would translate into a 22-episode-a-season sitcom.
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3-02-2007 @ 3:38PM
Haunt said...
I wouldn't read too much into the decision to set it in Atlanta. I mean it could be a stereotype about southern bigotry, or it could just as easily be about Atlanta being one of the more "accepting" cities these days (there's a huge gay community there if I'm not mistaken). Maybe the cavemen live there because it's more tolerant.
Or more likely it was a relatively arbitrary decision having more to do with all the play the city has been getting in recent music and media. Seems to me that every other hip hop song these days is from, about, or set in Atlanta...
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3-02-2007 @ 3:44PM
David said...
I think this idea has potential. We're so sorely in need of good sitcoms. There are so few good ones today.
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3-02-2007 @ 3:44PM
DramaInBama said...
"Despite the lowered brow, they're clearly bipedal and have mastered the use of simple tools"
They might be too advanced to live in the South
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3-02-2007 @ 3:45PM
gwangi said...
Baby Bob anyone?
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3-02-2007 @ 3:48PM
Paul said...
Wow are they that desperate for new ideas. I doubt this will last more than an episode or two.
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3-02-2007 @ 3:50PM
David said...
Now we just need to get the lizard and the duck on the show and we will be all set!
I don't see a problem with this, be funny to watch the show and then watch them on the commerical breaks too. :)
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3-02-2007 @ 4:09PM
Wes Rand said...
Guess I must be in the minority because I find the cavemen commercials unbearable. And this is coming from someone who loved the unfrozen caveman lawyer bits.
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3-02-2007 @ 4:14PM
Big News said...
This script opens with a dream sequence of one of the cavemen being chased through a mall and being shot by a santa clause... he's then recounting this dream to the other cavemen and the racist says: "You dreamt you were a jew?" End of cold open.
As a whole, the script is simply not funny and it's insulting that someone would waste money to make this pilot.
I wish I was kidding about the above.
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3-02-2007 @ 4:43PM
Sy said...
I can see ABC milking this thing to the max. They could start with the two cavemen in their prehistoric setting ...maybe 2-5 episodes. They could poke fun of the global cooling debate back then. Of course, eventually they would show them being frozen and just in time for sweep week, they would be brought back to life in modern Atlanta.
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3-02-2007 @ 5:01PM
Nonchalant Savant said...
Ugh (if you'll pardon the pun).
I like the ads too, but they're only 30 seconds long. Stretching this bit out to 23 minutes - for 24 episodes?
Yabba-dabba-don't.
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3-02-2007 @ 5:17PM
Haunt said...
I think the best route to take would be to not even mention the anachronism of cavemen living in modern Atlanta. I mean of course it will have to be mentioned, 'cause that's kinda the whole premise of the joke. But I think the writers should avoid doing flashbacks or anything that shows the same characters back in prehistory... anything that has to come up with an explanation of how they got from there/then to here/now (e.g. frozen in blocks of ice or anything else equally cheesy). It should be like Brian the talking dog and Stewie the talking baby from 'Family Guy'... it just IS and isn't discussed how unusual it is.
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