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Story Pitches & Ideas

Jeff Benjamin & Evan Archer
October 30, 1986

Simon vs. Simon (brief overview)/ Hear No Evil/Suggested Area /

Simon vs. Simon (long draft) Act 1 / Act II / Act III / Act IV / Tag

1) "Simon vs. Simon"

(brief overview)

A look-alike-Simon robot is developed by a competing toy company for nefarious reasons. Their ingenious plan to take over the Bream Toy Company sees Simon being kidnapped during a tumultuous press conference & replaced with the robotic simon who is programmed to enter Simon's workshop & screw up all of Simon's newest toy products in order to discredit Bream Toys & lead them into bankruptcy. Tilly & Alex sense something is different, but at first shrug it off as a passing mood. Simon, meanwhile, - while in captivity - is forced to watch the robotic Simon set about to destroy his good name & reputation via a tele-visual sensor device behind the robotic Simon's eyes. Remembering his own credo: "Make the best of the worst", Simon plots an ingenious escape & returns home to confront & disable his robotic counter-part. With Alex's help, & with little time to spare, Simon has to stop his friends at the Bream Toy Co. from selling out to the evil head of the competing toy company by posing as the Robotic Simon & creating a bunch of robotic Evil-Owner-look-alikes to throw the sale into complete chaos.

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2) "Hear No Evil"

A wealthy, eccentric widow who is deaf appeals to Simon who develops a super-hearing aide hidden in a beautiful set of earrings. Meanwhile, her butler - deep in gambling debts - is forced by the head of a gambling syndicate to crack her safe & steal her jewelry. When this fails & they end up with paste jewelry, they play hardball & kidnap her granddaughter to force her to fork over the real jewels.

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3) Suggested Area:

Simon has ability to shrink people. (Note: did not go any further as area was deemed inappropriate for show)

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Simon vs. Simon

(long draft)

FLETCHER DROOD, the President of Drrod Toys, enters his research lab. The future of his company depends upon the Top Secret project being assembled there.

Over the din of a skeletal robot beating out a rythm on a drum kit, Drood pontificates to his engineers:

Drood Toys has been relegated to a distant second place in the toy wars behind Bream Toys with the endless stream of Simon McKay's inventions. For Fletcher Drood, the only way out of second is to put Bream out of business first!

After receiving a Mayor's Citation for his support of Bream Toys, the employer of so many Special People, Simon gives a short speech about how these people should inspire all of us. Remember, he says, don't let tough situations get you down, make trying circumstances work for you! Human beings are surprise packages, he says, & one of life's delights is surprising yourself by doing something you thought was impossible.

When Alex's attention is distracted by a beautiful woman, a TV news crew descends on Simon. They soon leave, lugging a large equipment case.

(They have kidnapped Simon, to be known henceforth as Real Simon, & replaced him with Drood's robot, the one taking drum leassons earlier, known henceforth as Robot Simon.)

At dinner that night Simon is not himself (he is, of course, Robot Simon) He's not into sweets, he plays nasty practical jokes. All Tillie can figure is he's got a touch of a bug.

She packs him off to bed with a hot chocolate & an extra blanket. As Robot Simon snuggles into a nice comfy bed we go to:

END OF ACT I:

A dank room, Real Simon tied to a chair, surrounded by a cordon of evil Go-bot sentries. One of them shoots an innocent moth out of the air with an exploding dart. Just to let Real Simon know they mean business.

(Though they are curious about his behavior, Alex & Tillie do not know that REal Simon has been kidnapped until he returns home.)

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ACT II:

Mr. Bream announces to his assembled staff that he has found investors who's injection of funds will insure that Bream Toys will avoid Drood's takeover bid. A demonstration by Simon of his upcoming toys will cement the deal.

IN OUR FIRST ACTION SEQUENCE: Robot Simon gives a disastrous demonstration. Toys blow up, careen out of control; the investors are blinded by smoke, attacked by suddenly vicious teddy bears. They march out. The deal is off.

At a control console in Drood's laboratory, men watch the debacle on television monitors receiving signals from Robot Simon's eyes. They communicate with him via audio/video/data transmissions.

Drood's men warn Real Simon that the robot is rigged with explosives. He'd better give them the proper responses to inquires Alex & Tillie make of Robot Simon or his house & his friends with it are history!

Back in his cell, Simon is furious. He blames Tillie for not reminding him to take his bag & Alex for not guarding him properly. He rans & raves to himself. He kicks the wall.

Violet, the Bream employee spokeswoman, comes to plead for Simon's help. Bream's advertising is being sabotaged, merchandise is disappearing, their stock is dropping by the minute. Drood is poised to take control. Robot Simon tells her he's got better things to do.

At Drood's lab, Real Simon watches in anguish as Violet calls the Robot she thinks is him a turncoat & an opportunist for using disabled people like her to make his fortune, then discarding them like so much litter. Real Simon's heart is breaking when Drood hits him with the coup de grace:

END OF ACT II:

Drood tells Real Simont that in 24 hours there will be a ceremony in which Mr. Bream will sign over Bream Toys to Drood. And there's nothing Real Simon can do about it!

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ACT III:

Simon is sitting on the edge of a packing crate, out of ideas, feeling utterly helpless, when a brid flies through the barred window. She lights on the crate beside Simon.

From it she takes a beak full of wood shavings & flies out. Simon follows her to the window.

He watches her build her nest from the things she's found in this bleak industrial area. His own words come back to him:

When you can't do what you want to do, don't blame cirucmstances. Make circumstances work for you! Necessity is the mother of invention. So invent! He flashes into action.

Using his imagination as a blueprint, the everyday objects he finds in the room for parts & his hands as tools, he fashions two eccentric looking helicopters with spring loaded launchers rigged to fire match-missiles.

Later, when a guard appears with Real Simon's dinner, he's surprised to find the room empty. Suddenly dual helicopters flash up from behind a crate!

IN OUR SECOND ACTION SEQUENCE: The helicopters zoom around the lab firing lit matches, causing tremendous havoc, under cover of which Simon makes his escape.

END OF ACT III:

Disheveled & bone weary, Simon finally reaches his house. He opens the front door to find - himself! Who slams the door in his face!

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ACT IV:

Real Simon knows he must keep away from the robot if he's not to tip off Drood that he's made it home. He sneaks into the kitchen, to Alex & Tillie's great relief.

Tillie's rarin' to go after Robot Simon with a cleaver, but Real Simon explains that Drood must believe that the real simon is missing & that Robot Simon is still accepted as real by Alex & Tillie.

Later that night, Alex awakens Robot Simon & tells him there's trouble in the Workshop. Real Simon knows that Drood's night man always falls asleep & won't monitor what's about to happen.

Alex lures Robot Simon into a Radio Shielding Cage, cutting him off from Drood's transmissions, incapacitating him.

Real Simon rushes in. Racing the coming dawn, knowing the new shift is about to take over at Drood's lab & his plan will be discovered, he quickly disassembles the robot.

At Drood's lab, the mroning man watches Simon's POV of himself brushing his teeth, washing his face, etc. Nothing out fo the ordinary except:

At Simon's house we find Simon with a miniature video camera strapped to his forehead like a miner's light. Robot Simon's transceiving equipment is clipped to his belt.

Over the transceiver Simon gets word that his is to accompany Drood to the trasfer of ownership ceremony at Bream Toys. There's a moment of concern, but Simon cleverly realizes this will fit right into his plans.

At curbside, Simon, minus the camera, produces a chauffeurs hat, telling Drood that he deserves to arrive in chauffeur-driven style.

Simon does everything he can to delay them. He's ultra careful to wait for pedestrians, etc. Drood becomes more & more furious.

At Bream Toys, the transfer ceremony is already in progress.

"Drood" & Mr. Bream sign the papers. Simon, Violet, Alex & Tillie look on. Video cameras record the event.

There's a commotion in the back of the room. Real Drood bursts in, but stops when he sees himself already in the front of the room! With his cap pulled low, Simon quickly maks his way to the front. In a flash he replaces the shell of Robot Simon.

Simon gives the signal & a dozen more Droods appear from corners of the room. "Drood" announces from the podium that the look-alikes are a demonstration of the "Ultimask", the first product from the new company.

Since they are all mimicking the hysterical Real Drood, nobody pays the least attention to him.

"Drood" reads the newly signed agreement. To Real Drood's shock, he hears himself promis never to attempt another take-over of Bream or any other toy company. He further promises that he will disband Drood Toys as soon as he finds new jobs for all of its employees.

As the crowd of Bream employees cheers, Violet plants a kiss on Simon's cheek & we FREEZE.

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THE TAG:

Here we reveal that "Drood" was actually Alex in a mask & "Alex" was Violet's husband in a mask. We'll wrap up a subplot or two, & Simon will offer final, humorous words about making the most out of trying circumstances.

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Page from The Michael Berk Collection

Page Property of Michael Berk, Douglas Schwartz, Jim Staahl, & Jim Fisher

email: themgt@thewizardtvfansite.com

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