"Growing pains!" Mike Eisner took over, and at first glance he saw the headline.

Xu Zhi said: "This is a sitcom, you can take a look at the plot setting behind, I am very optimistic about this story setting, so I bought the copyright at a high price." ”

Mike Eisner nodded, opened the script, and read it carefully.

The structure of the story is simple, and it mainly tells the story of the daily life of the Seaver family, who live on Long Island, a suburb of New York City, with Jason Sever's father being a psychiatrist and her mother Maggie Sever, a former journalist, who quit her job to become a stay-at-home mother after the family had a child.

The eldest son, Michael Seaver, is a handsome, humorous teenager who is very popular with teenage girls and is the protagonist of the story. The second daughter, Kelor Sifo, is a top student with very good grades but low emotional intelligence. The youngest son, Benn Sever, is a young man, but he is eccentric and adores his older brother Michael.

At the beginning of the story, her mother was unwilling to be a full-time mother for the rest of her life, and decided to return to her position as a journalist and make a career. And his father, Jason, also supported his wife, as a freelancer, he could work anywhere, so he moved his clinic back to his home study, where he could work and take care of his children.

The whole family has changed dramatically, a father who can't take care of the family, a mother who goes out to work but can't worry about the family, a Michael who causes trouble everywhere, a Kairol with low emotional intelligence, and Benn, the youngest who worries his mother the most. Everyone had to get used to the new way of life.

Mike Eisner quickly finished reading the setting and the storyline of the first three episodes, and there were a lot of laughs.

After closing the entire script, he said: "Boss, in recent years, sitcoms have not been popular, and the people seem to be tired of this kind of plot. ”

Xu Zhi shook his head and said: "You're wrong, the people are just tired of sitcoms without any new ideas, in fact, this is the case with any type of TV show or movie, the first one is popular, and then a bunch of follow-up works, it can't be said that there is no innovation, but the story is always those types, and people are naturally tired of watching it when they watch it too much."

As long as there are new ideas, new stories, and new interesting characters, then the repetitive subject matter can also be filmed with a good result. ”

Sitcoms were born very early in the United States, in 1926, before the birth of television, radio sitcoms had been broadcast on Chicago WGN radio, and in the 50s, sitcoms switched to new television media, forming two categories: "family drama" and "work drama".

In the 60s, sitcoms entered a golden age, and the low cost and high ratings made sitcoms the favorite of many TV stations, but things must be reversed, and a large number of homogeneous content appeared, which eventually led to the fact that from the mid-70s, the ratings of sitcoms began to decline and entered a depression period.

In 1983, no sitcom made it to the top 10 of the television ratings charts. At that time, the three major American TV giants asserted that the sitcom was about to die.

In the original history, until 1985, "Growing Pains" was a huge success in its first year of airing, reversing the failure of comedy, and by '87, the ratings entered the top five in the United States, and it has maintained a very high success ever since.

Xu Zhi continued: "This "Growing Pains" focuses on family dramas, but the core story is not parents, but three children, and the main target user group is teenagers aged 10-18. ”

Disney's previous film and animation programs were either children's programs such as Mickey Mouse Donald Duck, or adult love stories, and the customer base of teenagers was insufficient, and Michael Seaver, the protagonist of "Growing Pains", became a national idol at that time after the TV fire, which is very in line with Disney's current strategic needs.

"Okay, then I'll arrange for someone to prepare for the filming of this TV immediately. Mike Eisner said that a sitcom is just a sitcom, as long as you don't invite big-name stars, the cost is very low, even if it fails, with Disney's current size, it doesn't matter at all.

"There's no hurry. Xu Zhi took out a business card and said: "This "Growing Pains" was conceived by a young playwright Neo Malins, I have bought the copyright, and you arranged for someone to invite him to our company to participate in the preliminary preparation of this TV series and take on the position of chief screenwriter." ”

"Isn't this guy too young?" Mike Eisner said after glancing at his business card, "I'm only 26 years old, and I'm afraid my experience is not enough to handle a sitcom." ”

"It doesn't matter, he won't have the right to decide the plot, it's just that the story was conceived by him, and it's based on the story of his own childhood family, just refer to his opinion. Xu Zhi said with a smile.

Mike Eisner nodded, "Okay, that's fine. ”

"That's for now, I'll leave the U.S. right away, and fax me when the list of leading actors is finalized. Xu Zhi added.

Mike Eisner paused and thought of a question: "Boss, are you going to start filming this TV series this year?"

"Yes, is there any problem?" asked Xu Zhi.

"It's already September, and most of the TV is going to be playing, and we're just starting to prepare, so we're going to be tight," Mike Eisner said. ”

Xu Zhi shook his head and said: "It's a bit tight, but it's not too late, the story is ready, the background building is simple, and it can be built in a month if the funds are in place, as for the actors, I personally think Alan Sick is more in line with the role of Jason Seaver, Maggie's Joanna Coens is good, as for the 3 children, especially the protagonist Michael, they need to be well chosen." ”

In his previous life, Xu Zhi especially liked the American drama "Growing Pains", he knew all the protagonists and actors in it, but he knew the faces of the 3 children, but he didn't know the names, there was a vast sea of people, and it was not impossible to find them, but there was no need for this, this approach itself would be very strange, these actors should also be young actors who have been in the industry for a long time, if they are really capable and come to participate in the selection, there is a great probability that they will still be selected by the crew.

Alan Sikh is a famous talk show host in Canada, and his talk show "The Alan Sikh Show" has broken the ratings record of the whole of Canada, and it is even very popular in the United States. Joanna Coens is a little less famous, but she has also starred in many American dramas, and it is normal for Xu Zhi to know their names.

"I also know Alan Sikh, his image is indeed very good, and he is also well-known, but with such a sudden invitation, I don't know if he has a schedule. Mike Eisner thought for a moment and said.

Xu Zhi smiled: "Alan Sick has been developing in Canada, and as far as I know, he also hopes to come to the United States for a new career, and I don't think he will refuse this opportunity."

Of course, if there is a schedule conflict, then just buy his company, Canada is also one of our main markets anyway. ”