As I continue procrastinating and thus planning more about possible TV show ideas (not just Freeman!), I've given some thought about some of the characters on Freeman, a sitcom about PhD life.
Thus far, I've only mentioned our "protagonist", Freeman; an older male PhD student (between 25-30) who is in the final years of his PhD. Being older and wiser, he provides words of wisdom on Phd-ness to those in the lower years, although occasionally has adult child tendencies. Fulfils the Wisecracker type role, similar to Jerry Seinfield.
But there is a whole cast of main and support and characters that will eventually be introduced. Let me firstly introduce you to the person closest to my heart (literally); Nam.
Nam: a younger male PhD student than Freeman and in the initial stages of his PhD. In some respects, the protégé of Freeman as he lacks confidence, knowledge and experience of the world. Could be a possible male Liz Lemon, as he likes to sing songs (which is really just singing the name of object/topic to the same tune) about Buster, the departmental cluster, or his supervisor. When he's alone of course.
Much of the humour lies in the relationship between Freeman and Nam, the most apparent being the almost race/culture/maturity reversal between the two. For example, Nam, despite being of Chinese ethnicity, shows no traces of the associated race traits, whilst Freeman, seems to have acquired these traits whilst being Jewish. Nam thus dislikes Freeman's slurping of hot beverages (but secretly finds it comforting as it reminds him of home...).
By the end of the series, when Freeman eventually finishes his PhD, Nam will of course have transformed into a confident person and become the mentor to a similar type of person probably. Might be offered a spin-off although who wants to watch a near identical show to Freeman... If the show however does continue with Nam in Freeman's role, mentoring a urban streetwise kid say, it is clearly a sign that the show has jumped the shark.
Thus far, I've only mentioned our "protagonist", Freeman; an older male PhD student (between 25-30) who is in the final years of his PhD. Being older and wiser, he provides words of wisdom on Phd-ness to those in the lower years, although occasionally has adult child tendencies. Fulfils the Wisecracker type role, similar to Jerry Seinfield.
But there is a whole cast of main and support and characters that will eventually be introduced. Let me firstly introduce you to the person closest to my heart (literally); Nam.
Nam: a younger male PhD student than Freeman and in the initial stages of his PhD. In some respects, the protégé of Freeman as he lacks confidence, knowledge and experience of the world. Could be a possible male Liz Lemon, as he likes to sing songs (which is really just singing the name of object/topic to the same tune) about Buster, the departmental cluster, or his supervisor. When he's alone of course.
Much of the humour lies in the relationship between Freeman and Nam, the most apparent being the almost race/culture/maturity reversal between the two. For example, Nam, despite being of Chinese ethnicity, shows no traces of the associated race traits, whilst Freeman, seems to have acquired these traits whilst being Jewish. Nam thus dislikes Freeman's slurping of hot beverages (but secretly finds it comforting as it reminds him of home...).
By the end of the series, when Freeman eventually finishes his PhD, Nam will of course have transformed into a confident person and become the mentor to a similar type of person probably. Might be offered a spin-off although who wants to watch a near identical show to Freeman... If the show however does continue with Nam in Freeman's role, mentoring a urban streetwise kid say, it is clearly a sign that the show has jumped the shark.
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