OK, I did it, I just submitted
Hard Core Lego to
The Next Macguyver contest for TV series ideas about women engineers.
I seriously doubt I will ever hear back because a, it's not really targeted at teenagers, and b, the way I wrote it up it's way way too cynical and political to play on TV, and c, I did not put in much effort on polish, and d, I don't actually want to win because being a TV showrunner kinda sounds like my idea of hell. But I figured I owed it to Josie & Co. just for the amount of private joy they've given me by existing in my head.
Anyway here's what I submitted, for the curious:
Title: Josie and the Cybercats
Logline:
The winningest-ever team of the All-California College Robotics Bowl went their separate ways after graduation - and all separately found the world of corporate engineering deadly dull. After a reunion for a charity expo, they decide to go on an extended tour giving robotics shows at fairs and schools- and solving problems with the power of engineering. But it's not always simple to leave a life behind, and the conflicts that split them up in the first place haven't gone way.
Characters:
Dr. Josefina Box was the star of the jr. robotics leagues, but struggled through a PhD. She feels trapped between the vivacious winner everyone expects, and the lying failure she is.
Mindy Parker did top-secret work until she suddenly left- with all its secrets.
Tyrika Jones is a bridge inspector with a fairytale life, but she's glad to go help her friends and share the gospel of infrustructure maintenance.
Hana Lee abandoned the sciences when she became a writer, but her ambitions didn't change.
Pilot:
Josie's old teammates all get an email, out of nowhere, asking them to reunite for a rally at their old school, where their first robotics coach is being fired due to cuts in STEM funding. They each take some time decide if they want to go back, but in the end, all three turn up- to find that things are not what they seem.
Josie's throwing tantrums, there's no prep for the show, and their old coach is MIA. It was Josie spinning lies to get her team together one last time. One final screaming fight ends it- but first, they want to find their coach.
She's in a trailer park, where she's been tutoring since being laid off years ago, and she points out that the funding cuts are still real, so why not do something anyway? They pool their skills and put on a robotics expo that gets enough buzz that even the governor responds.
High on triumph, Josie suggests they take the show on the road for a six-month tour, and the others agree that it's the worst idea they've ever heard, let's do it.
Episode Synopses:
At the big-city STEM high school, they bring out their undefeated battlebot and challenge all comers - only to be immediately brought down by a twelve year-old-girl exploiting a weakness she couldn't possibly have known about. Is there a traitor in the ranks of the Cybercats? Is it actually worth being that upset over being beat by a twelve-year-old?
At a rural county fair, Hana gets cornered in the robotics tent by a freak talking about how there's something in the water and mysterious machinery in the hills. But after people at the fair get sick, Mindy gets very quiet. Is there something to the rumors, and can she fix it without betraying her oaths?
Josie's cousin's inner-city school keeps shiftily refusing all of their offers to visit. Finally, Josie and Tyrika go incognito, only to discover that the building is literally falling apart, and the administration is hiding the extent of the problems. Can they train the kids to be tiny infrastructure-inspecting spies and bring down the administration before the roof itself comes down?
The deadline is May 1. If I have time in the next two days (spoiler: I do not have time in the next two days) I'm tempted to write up some version of the Kid Avengers On A Spaceship thingy, which is probably closer to what they expect anyway. But you all should all submit something too!
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I am totally on board with this. WOMAN ENGINEERS, be still ùy beating heart.
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My kids' FIRST Robotics team was regularly beaten by The Space Cookies, which was a localish Girl Scouts Robotics team sponsored by NASA/Ames.
OTOH, Cookies! Yay!
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I would say it's sort of cheating if you're sponsored by NASA but then I went to a spy camp that was sponsored by the NSA. :P
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INFRASTRUCTURE
YES DO THIS
Re: YES DO THIS
(I was going to use "It's like SPN but with robots instead of ghosts" as my logline but apparently that's not how you do loglines these days, sigh.)
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I say - if you win and have to go - have D on the phone as your 'phone-a-friend'/partner to be your guide. XD
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