Green Satori Inn: A Red County
A reality TV show with a recurring, animated docudramedy twist. One hyperconscious, green-minded vegan innkeeper. One upstate New York motel. A revolving door of unforgettable country characters.
The Real McCoys, in reverse.
After years of studying the classic rural comedies, from the Paul Henning CBS shows to every episode of The Andy Griffith Show and The Waltons, Marko binge-watched The Real McCoys and found the missing layer. His story is the Real McCoys, in reverse.
In the years he and his wife have owned their upstate New York motel, they've seen countless country characters come and go: con men, escaped felons, junkies, drunks, hunters, lumberjacks, bikers, pole dancers, and even a Cornell professor and a lady glider pilot just passing through.
He once ran side-by-side with a Schuyler County Sheriff through the backyard, chasing an escaped convict from Room 6. The convict ditched them, and was found asleep the next morning, passed out on a farmer's porch over a mile away. Good episode?
How the show works
- Like The Waltons: each week focuses on an interesting country character passing through the Finger Lakes, maybe a guest in the lone suite, who sparks a strong reaction, good or bad, from the long-term motel tenants and the townsfolk.
- Like The Twilight Zone: every weekly character is connected by a single theme. Will they experience a satori while staying at the Green Satori Inn? Or not? And, taking a page from Rod Serling himself, the innkeeper acts as the curator.
- Like Trailer Park Boys: a reality TV element ties together the working-class locals, the unemployed regulars and the fish-out-of-water tourists, with recurring characters and common-man cameos.
- Like I Love Lucy and Green Acres: at its heart is a married couple. He's a city dude who pines for stress-free country living. She speaks with a strong accent, misses shopping back home in Kaifeng and the malls in Tucson, and ultimately learns to love country life.
- Like All in the Family: heated political banter from BOTH sides, mirroring the issues of the times. Marko's over-the-top green-mindedness runs wholly contrary to the mindset of the tiny red county around him. Herein lies the ongoing conflict. The FUN!
The animated twist
The docudramedy follows an inventor/innkeeper who wants nothing more than to turn his long-term motel guests, past and present, into animated cartoon characters.
Why does it work? While writing the pitch, Marko was interrupted at least 27 times in three days. Picture a hyper ADHD dude who just wants to stay upstairs to write, play with his cats or learn a new animation program, and then: BEEP-BEEP-BEEP! He sprints downstairs. Instant fake-calm. "May I help you?" Add the veganism, the cardio, a dozen robocallers, and a motel plumbing emergency or two, and there's serious physical comedy here.
"My story is the Real McCoys, in reverse."
Marko Hansen
A reality TV producer who read the pitch said it's exactly the kind of content they're looking for. The full pitch deck is in development.