New science-y show thing. / by Daniel Stephens

Two and a half years ago when we were finishing the pilot episode of 26 Words (the Robot episode linked here) we had no idea what kind of craziness lay in store for us. And someday I will write a post detailing the paths that unfolded before us once we unleashed this lovely beast. One of the most wonderful and serendipitous outcomes was winning best writing and best comedy at the Stareable Festival in Brooklyn in 2019. That win opened more doors than I could have ever imagined. One such door was to our manager who then opened ever more doors. A door bonanza, you could say.

A door bonanza.

Our super-human (especially so since he could navigate the nuttiness that is Mark and Daniel) manager introduced us to a producer who had shown interest in another project we were working on, Pale Blue Dot. He had some useful feedback regarding that project but ultimately what he was really interested in was talking with us about something new. Something wonderful (watch 2010). He had seen 26 Words and felt that we might be just the right gaggle of nut-jobs to come up with a coherent way to adapt a certain book he had always wanted to turn into a television series. Not a book either of us would have read, but something that perhaps we would enjoy adapting into a veritable visual feast.

A televisual feast

But what was this book? What is it we were supposed to adapt? We were atwitter with anticipation. He mentioned the book and I immediately spat out “I read it when it came out and have wanted to turn that into a televisual feast for the last decade.” Aghast that one of us had even heard of said book and more-so that we might have considered it as a fine fit for the small screen, our new-found friend began to tell us the deets. He had a connection with the author’s agent and believed that he might have a good home for the show.

And here we are. Another incredibly explosion from the serendipity bomb that has been 26 Words. Of course, it’s early in the process and anything could happen; but perhaps something truly wonderful might transpire and we’ll see this thing through to the end-zone. And wouldn’t that just be a spiffy treat of treats.