GEICO Cavemen to ABC Sitcom
from variety
ABC developing 'Cavemen'
Comedy pilot based on Geico ads
By MICHAEL SCHNEIDER
Winner for most unusual piece of development this pilot season goes to ABC, which has turned a series of quirky Geico commercials into a comedy project.
"Cavemen" will revolve around three pre-historic men who must battle prejudice as they attempt to live as normal thirtysomethings in modern Atlanta. Project, from ABC TV Studio, is penned by Joe Lawson. Daniel Rappaport, Guymon Cassady, Will Speck and Josh Gordon are exec producers, while Speck and Gordon will also direct.
The single-camera laffer pilot is based on the Geico ads that promote the
www.geico.com website as so user-friendly that even "a caveman could do it." The spots follow cavemen in modern settings, reacting in offense to the derogatory slogan. Other blurbs include the modern
cavemen reacting to the offending slogan in other locales, such as a restaurant and an airport.
Lawson wrote the spots, which was created by the Richmond, Calif.-based Martin Agency. Jeff Daniel Phillips and Ben Weber play the cavemen in the Geico ads; no word if they'll make the transformation to the TV project.
Few TV shows have come out of the commercial sphere; more frequently, TV characters (think "ALF") live on in 30-second spots long after their shows are canceled. But it's not without precedence: The 2002 CBS comedy "Baby Bob" revolved around a talking baby character that was first seen in a series of dot.com ads. After the Eye canceled "Baby Bob," the character returned to its commercial roots, spending time as a pitchman (pitchbaby?) for Quizno's Subs.
