Dear Don and fellow Lounge Member I have a rather ambitious suggestion for keeping things going and to fill in the gap between shows.

Why don’t we have a weekly ‘show’ with members writing a 500 word or more storyline for each week?  Don, see who wants to do it (twelve people would be ideal) or six people and each can write two episodes and randomly assign weeks.

With all the excellent and creative writers we have on this site a weekly installment of our imaginations could be as close as we can get to enjoying the actual show.

The only drawback would be the same set up as when the world champion chess player Kasparof had a 'him vs the world' in an online match and everyone got to take a turn against him in a game.  There was no coordination of strategy for his opponents.  So it would be difficult to craft a story with an arch if we can’t all be in on it.  That could sort of work if you, Don, write the first and last episode and tie everything together or someone else could pull that task?

Like I said a very ambitious project but I am willing to do it, so we only need five more people.  Don you would just need to gather names post an update of who will be writing on what dates  or email people individually so we don’t know where the story will go IE WhiteBread will kill Betty within the first ten minutes.   ALSO since we would be submitting our own ideas no one should piss all over them with snide comments or it won’t be fun.

Add me to the list.  I should be able to find the time to hack something together.

Or it could be a "tack onto it" kind of project.  Each participant picks up the storyline where the last one ended, and continues it, with either the same set of characters, or moving on to a new chapter. 

Some guidelines would be needed (i.e., the tragic, untimely death of Betty by accidentally cutting off her own head while shaving her legs is NOT an option).  Continuity with the existing storyline would be required.  And if someone writes an "it was only a dream" sequence, they would be excommunicated from the group immediately.

do you mean post season three or something that might not have been covered earlier?  there was that gap in time between the end of season 1 and the start of season 2 where there's enough room to drive a herd of migrating wildebeest...

I like the idea, but I don't think I am as old as some of you...no disrespect.

I was born in 72.  While I am good with history I am not good enough with it to try and weave in historical events from the 60's.

If we are just doing, say, character developments, I think it would be fun, so that may be how I contribute.

Thanks.

Well I'm eleven years younger than you, crackbillionair, and I'm still confident in my abilities to come up with something!

The show usually covers a small block of time, so all you'd have to do is pick out a start date and an end date and research one or two noteworthy historical things that happened in between.  A lot of the time they don't even deal with specifics, though.  They obviously couldn't get through 1963 without touching on the fact Kennedy was shot, but you don't necessarily have to deal with any fine details.

Most of the time they use characters that are representational of the era, it seems.  We saw the Brat-pack like comedian back in early 1960, and that kind of phased out.  Then there's the the Bohemian Kinsey, who, if we're to see him again, will tell everyone he lived in the Village "before it was cool." 

In 1964, the first thing people are going to think of are The Beatles.  So maybe Pete suddenly starts combing his hair forward instead of backwards?  Subtle stuff. Heh.  But I expect that to be part of a story line pretty quickly, because Meet the Beatles was released on January 20th in North America and on February 1st they were at the top of the charts with "I Wanna Hold Your Hand." 

Also, type "1964" into a search on Wikipedia.  You'll get an annotated month-by-month list of all the noteworthy things that happened.

Yeah, you're right that they only touch on topical events but still, not willing to go the extra mile.

I got 11 yrs on you, as you say.  Time's shorter for me.  Plus I have 2 young children keeping me busy and 2 jobs...

Didn't mean for this to turn in to a sorry state of my affairs run down...LOL.

Did I mention I think the idea is lame?  I ain't writin' no fake show! LOL

James and Co. My apologies for not being a better host... I have been extremely busy with work and life's daily (unannounced) occurrences. I have had to put all my personal projects, including the MML, on hold. I need to provide some of you with an email to more conveniently reach me-- I would be dumb to not help in allowing more creativity come out of this site when people are willing and able.

I am off to Deutschland for a month but hopefully upon my return we can discuss the future and direction of the MML--I have been wanting to transform it into more of a website to provide more rich content.

As far as a fake show... obviously I do not have the time. For the time being I can setup up a forum which only select members and view and write in?  I would also encourage to not write a "fake script" but a real one and send it to Mr. Matthew Weiner. Some of the Season 3 scripts were not written well.

So, please bear with me. I can help in minor ways now and after new year attempt to help provide what those senior MML members want.

-Don

Don-

No worries - if there were six people chomping at the bit to write something it would be fun to pursue.  For now I will be content to just tell stories to the other voices in my head.

Seriously, thanks for creating and hosting this fantastic site.  Reading lounge members comments, opinions, and insights was almost as enjoyable as watching the show.   Have a wonderful Christmas and New Year.