Like many of us, the Oxygen network is looking for a “fabulous, funny lady.” And fabulous, funny lady Molly Shannon is guiding the search.
Oxygen’s Create-a-Series comedy competition invites women to submit a three- to five-minute concept video and two-page treatment for a series that’s “bold, sassy, surprising, unapologetic, confident and exude[s] your unique personality.” Oxygen staffers will make the initial cuts, and then the top five entrants will be flown to New York to pitch their projects to Molly Shannon and a panel of judges.
Senior VP of marketing Cynthia Ashworth puts it thusly:
“We are all about funny and outrageous women, and we’re really looking for women with an original comic voice.”
If I were single, I’d be using some version of that in my online profile. Ashworth also notes that Molly Shannon is “a fantastic embodiment of the type of comedy we would love to have in this competition.” Again, how ready-made is that for online dating? “The following women are fantastic embodiments of the type of girlfriend I would love to have compete for me.” Just insert a link to the AfterEllen.com Hot 100, and you’re done.
The lucky Create-a-Series winner will get a $75,000 budget to produce a show for Oxygen’s broadband channel, SheDidWhat.tv (not to be confused with the AfterEllen.com talk show She Said What?). Wait. Only $75,000? Hmm. The winner also gets a showrunner, some marketing and – maybe – the chance to put the series on the Oxygen cable channel. Meh. Clearly the real motivator here is the chance to meet Molly.
I think the Oxygen folks should have started with a Name-a-Contest competition, because “Create-a-Series” is kind of lame. Doesn’t it sound like something you’d do with your kids on a Saturday afternoon? It’s like Create-a-Cookie or Create-a-T-Shirt or Put-Some-Plastic-in-the-Oven-and-End-Up-With-a-Keychain.
The Create-a-Series contest runs through Aug. 31 (read the FAQ here). If you enter, let us know, and if you get to meet Molly, tell her she rocks!
