Location, location, location
There may not be another cliché that makes me want to hurt people more than that stupid and wildly over simplified bit of real estate wisdom, but Jed's posts does get me to thinking of where would we place our Appalachian sitcom? I maintain that it would be best for an Appalachian supernatural-mystery show (Anne's idea) to move around thus visiting the ghosts as opposed to having the ghosts travel, but the place where a situation comedy is situated is of great importance. It is so important that in the rural sitcoms of past the name of the place has figured into the title of the show. The Andy Griffith Show jumped the shark and became Mayberry RFD. Petticoat Junction was the alias for the whistle stop near Hooterville which was also the town nearest the Douglas' farm of Green Acres. Not that we are completely comfortable with The Beverly Hillbillies, but the whole premise of that show is based on an Ozarks family from near Hooterville striking it rich and moving to Hollywood. Yeah I know, the Ozarks aren't exactly Appalachia but they are Appalachian if you know what I mean.
Where would we put our show? In many comedies like My Name is Earl, the audience is never really told where the story takes place, but since examining Appalachia and introducing the region to the rest of the world is point of our show it may be a good idea to actually place it in a specific state and then in a general area. Mayberry is loosely based on Mount Airy, NC and The Waltons takes place around the Virginia – North Carolina border.
My first instinct is to place the fictional town somewhere in the middle of western Virginia. This would put our story very near many other Appalachian states and take advantage of plots that had Old Time music tie-ins. The Crooked Road is a musical heritage area that runs through western Virginia so it would make sense that musical pilgrims would be frequenting the area. One would also assume that in the modern age of easy transportation, natives from Kentucky, West Virginia, Tennessee and North Carolina would be passing through the area also adding to the united Appalachian theme.
What do you all think?
Oh and Jed if you have time while you are not hanging precariously from some bridge by a half inch of nylon could you come up with an idea for a graphic for this page. It is pretty boring and you couldn't make it any worse.
