Love and Brains

[clocketpatch]

The TV show meme. All you have to do is respond with "I surrendered" for a shiny prompt of your very own.

jjpor 's prompt was low-budget sitcom set during a zombie apocalypse and I've done the best I can by it. I'm rubbish at casting actual actors, so I'm leaving that part blank. If anyone has any ideas I'd gladly welcome them.

Also posted to isurrendered right here

 

 

Love and Brains was first conceived as a five minute holiday skit for the popular comedy show David’s Not Blinking. Fans loved the concept and the skit became a regular part of the show, usually running right before the credits. Almost every skit ended with the lovable suburbanite family being mauled to death by the undead. The three to five minutes before the ketchup violence were filled with clever satire and highly quotable comedy. The show’s most famous line: “Dad! He’s eating my leg!” comes from this period, passing into everyday conversation and being parodied by several contemporary shows.

David’s Not Blinking experienced soaring ratings, with many watchers turning in only for the Love and Brains segment. Many fans actively disliked David’s other skits and stand-up routines.

In 2004, the Network purchased the rights for Love and Brains and announced plans to create 24x 30 minute episodes. The initial fan response was jubilation, but this quickly dimmed when it was revealed that the cast would be almost completely different. New characters were added while others had their roles reduced. Fan favourite Zompy the Zombie was dropped entirely, being judged “too camp for real television”.

When season one of Love and Brains aired in 2005 the response was mixed. Many felt that the Network had missed the point. The higher budget transformed the formerly silly gore sequences into something entirely different. Deaths were reserved for guests stars and zombies with the main cast members coming through most episodes unscathed. Fans deserted in droves and bitter rants over took the online forums.

The show went on an eighteen month hiatus and might well have been cancelled permanently if Bill Candol, the writer who originally conceived the skit for David’s Not Blinking, had not stepped in and argued with the Network execs. After much battling to convince them that the show was still viable, Bill won Love and Brains a late night timeslot and a greatly reduced budget.

The show aired for three more seasons which are regarded, by the fans, as the sitcom’s glory period. The humour was darker, the gore less realistic but plentiful. Several watch groups complained about the show’s lack of morals. Especially controversial was episode 12: “Does she want me or my pancreas?” in season four. The gore and brief nudity launched a debate which eventually ended in the show’s cancellation by skittish network execs. Several fans started an anti-censorship petition as a result, but, according to Bill:

“It was time. The jokes were getting thin. There’s only so many times you can have a zombie rip someone’s skull open to suck their brains out with a milkshake straw before it stops being funny.”

The circumstances behind the zombie apocalypse were never fully explained, though the most widely accept fan theory is that Nigel was somehow responsible. This was hinted at several times in season two and again during the finale.

Most of the show’s episodes centred around Robert’s crazy plans, gathering supplies, defending the family house from zombie attacks, or meeting up with other survivors.

From season two onwards the show's theme was Zombie Prostitute by Voltaire.

 

Key characters in the sitcom version were:

 

Robert Bingley, 48

The patriarch of the Bingley family. Robert’s constant trigger happy plans to defend his family, save the world, and be an American hero usually ended up causing more harm than good.

 

Dolly Keller-Jane-Bingley, 42 (she claims 38)

Robert’s sometimes-ex-wife (three time over! Five by the season finale…). The only reason she stays with Robert is the threat of death if she tries to go it alone. Her constant threats that she’ll be “walking out for good this time” formed a running joke for the series.

 

Papa Bingley, 81

Robert’s aging father. Appearing in every episode, he spends most of his time on screen sleeping. The few times he wakes up he is usually mistaken for a zombie – sometimes by the zombies themselves!

 

Jenna Bingley, 11

Robert and Dolly’s youngest daughter. Jenna is smooth and smart, she’s also fiercely angry at the zombie hoard for destroying her chances at being a pop star. Her high pitched scream is a weapon all on its own.

 

Blain Bingley, 15

Robert and Dolly’s son. He’s none too bright but very loyal. He follows his father into trouble and usually ends up being very nearly mauled by the undead. His repertoire of fart jokes strained most fan’s patience, but many found his doomed-from-the-start relationships with various girls (human, zombie, and otherwise) endearing. He was disemboweled in the season three episode: “Under the blood red knives” but brought back briefly as a zombie in the season four episode “Dead boy walking”. He also appeared as a part of the undead mob in the finale.

 

Shelly Lark, 22

Robert and Dolly’s oldest daughter. She’s inherited all of her mother’s snark. She’s also inherited all of her marital difficulties, but she pretends otherwise whenever her parents are around in an attempt to show them up. She was a waitress before the zombies. Now she runs a pub out of the mini bar in her parent’ basement. Her family form the base of her cliental, but other survivors show up from time to time, most notably Johnny the Postman. Where she acquired the alcohol to stock the bar remains a hotly debated mystery.

 

Nigel Lark, 34

Shelly’s Scottish super genius husband. He worked as a microbiologist for the mysterious ZoGene corporation prior to the outbreak. He often vanishes for episodes at a time. When he is around he fights with Shelly constantly and belittles her father’s intelligence. There is a long standing grudge between Nigel and Robert, but they will help each other when the going gets tough. Nigel’s obsession is finding a cure to the “Zo-Zee-Bee Virus”. He often bribes Blain and Jenna into venturing into dangerous places to find ingredients for his experiments.

 

Missy Davidson, 39

Dolly’s younger sister and a former soap opera star. She occasionally shows up to gossip with her sister or sit at Shelly’s bar. She gives Jenna terrible advice about men, make-up, and how to follow her dreams – “On your back honey. Just do the backward crawl all the way to glory, and don’t mind the smell.” She is turned into a zombie off-screen at the beginning of season four and is part of the mob which devours the family in the finale.

 

Johnny the Postman, 28

Constantly cheerful and upbeat, Johnny delivers mail between survivors and zombies alike. If he’s noticed that something has gone terribly wrong with the world he isn’t letting on.

 

  

 

Comments

[everloyal.livejournal.com]

...

Um.

I cannot believe that you actually made that work. I can believe in this show's existence! Unfortunately, like you, I am at a loss in regards to casting. I'm deeply amused at this whole concept, though. XD

It would make a fantastic webseries.

[everloyal.livejournal.com]

Oh yes, and also "I surrendered". ;D

[clocketpatch]

There is another world, hidden just out of sight, sometimes you'll glimpse it out of the corner of your eye, in a dream the second before you wake, or when you line two mirrors up and stare into infinitely. This other world, for good or ill, is about to invade and absorb our own, but no one knows, yet...