Every once in a while comes a show pitch (“give it to me in 20 words or less”) that perfectly reflects the time the show was created in. According to Variety, ABC has greenlit a show called The 16th Minute, which chronicles five people who achieved fleeting fame and what happens afterwards.
This is a great concept in a world where YouTube hits reign supreme, and every day some new “personality” is being created. I mean, for a week, everyone wanted to know about “Hiccup Girl,” who went on the Today show and told her story about not being able to stop hiccupping for months. But after she was cured, she went back to her regular life. But do people still call her “Hiccup Girl” in her home town? Does she sit at home and keep track of her views on the internet and how many times videos of herself are email to others. And when Chris “Leave Britney Alone” Crocker gets nothing out of that TV deal he just got, does he “slum it” and go back to the web?
The 16th Minute will focus on five guys who have all become minor celebrities for various reasons. Some of the characters include a guy who was lost in the woods for five days and survived, another entered med school at 15, and another had a commercial catchphrase that was all over TV (like Bart Simpson when he was the “I Didn’t Do It” kid). The friends meet during a TV show’s “Where Are They Now?” segment.
The show is the work of former Will and Grace executive producer and current How I Met Your Mother consultant Greg Malins (maybe all that time with Neil Patrick Harris is why one of the 16th Minute characters is Doogie Howser-esque).
The 16th Minute sounds like the Anti-Entourage, but instead of buds soaking in their fame, these guy will probably hate every second of it. It has a great concept, and as long as people keep getting development deals out of bedroom testimonials, the show will be on. And it does have a good chance of getting on air, since, well, this is the network of Cavemen.
