Having four teenagers in the family is difficult enough, but in a mixed race family the issues and obstacles are compounded.

SYNOPSIS:

The show alternately focuses on a different member or members of the family as they deal with situations that are unique to mixed race children as well as situations that are common to all pre-teens and teenagers. The stories in episodic format are sometimes mildly controversial, yet always uplifting and inspiring. Some relate to current events and headlines that affect all American families. There are occasional open displays of affection between Mom and Dad and it’s clear that they are deeply in love and that the family is stable and caring even though the kids sometimes pick on each other as brothers and sisters typically do. Most episodes are fictional, but several are based on current and historic events, other cultures, and today's headlines. The stories show the funny side of life in the Tyler household. During each show Mom, Dad, and the kids face and overcome obstacles in their world in which members of the family are taught to treat all people as equals and with respect, even though the rules are sometimes bent a little to achieve their goals. The stories are laugh out loud funny, not cartoonish or stupid/crude funny. They offer value to kids’ lives as well as some good, honest laughter. Each week the Tylers, with the protagonist for that episode being a member of the family, will encounter a new and unexpected obstacle in their goal of living a happy and rewarding life as a family. One or more family members will work to overcome the obstacle(s), always in a comedic way that will delight the audience. Other characters, both friends and foes, relatives, classmates, and neighbors will appear in various episodes. The ridiculousness of racism is a significant part of some stories, but the stories are not “preachy”. Racial bias and bigotry will sometimes rear their ugly heads and there will be some difficult racial situations with which the Tylers will have to deal, but they will be handled in a rational, intelligent and humorous manner. Because they are racially mixed, they face some obstacles that are unique to mixed families, but most of the stories will deal with topics that every family must deal with and with which the entire audience can easily identify. Richard's story ideas come from submitted ideas from readers, his three mixed-race grand-daughters, his own mixed race family, and news headlines. Richard's scripts are well-written and highly marketable. He is easy to work with and highly collaborative. He makes great business decisions, has the skills to create on demand and will actively promote his own career. Plus he can make you money! LOGLINES OF EPISODES GIRLS ARE PEOPLE TOO An egotistical teen is unsure how to get a girlfriend until his chauvinistic brother tells him to treat three new neighbor girls like a herd of cattle, much to the chagrin of their sisters. THAT ELUSIVE GIFT FOR DAD A super-rare gift for her dad’s birthday is found and then lost as a teenaged girl scrambles to find it, eventually enlisting her extortionist brother to go dumpster-diving to retrieve it. GREAT SCOT! A cousin from Scotland comes to town with his ‘pipes, kilts, and his recipe for Haggis for a Scottish Festival as the boys go frantic with questions about men wearing skirts and marrying their sheep. Baah! HAMLET AND THE 3 LITTLE PIGGIES Some like it, some hate it, but a budding teenaged playwright is dead-set on combining Shakespeare and the Brothers Grimm into a unique school play over the objections of his principal and teacher. JOHNNY’S FIRST FLIGHT The neighbor girls’ airline pilot father takes them and the neighbor boy for a ride in his private plane. The egotistical teen is not as brave as he brags and he panics with each bump as the girls try to convince him that they won’t crash. SKATING ON THIN ICE A troupe of junior figure skating champions unexpectedly meets our family when a pretty girl figure skater and ice dancer is flung into the audience and lands on the youngest son’s lap, teaching him that there is more than one way to meet a girl. JACK UNFRIENDED Unfriended on Facebook, a teenaged boy must not only uncover the reason for the unfriendings, but then he must enlist his mom’s help to undo the damage when he learns that her actions were the cause. MONEY, HONEY! A teen and his girlfriend find a briefcase belonging to bank robbers that’s full of cash and they go on the spending spree of the century only to be found by the bad guys who are determined to get the money back. THE GIRL WRESTLER Despite warnings from his friends, a chauvinistic teen assumes that the new wrestler in school is a guy who’s out to steal his girlfriend. He challenges the newbie to a wrestling duel, only to discover too late that the new kid is a national champion girl wrestler. JACK AND JOHNNY’S CAFÉ Disasters rule the day when our two heroes try to surprise their parents with an anniversary meal. They engage in a battle royal with the kitchen. All seems lost until their sister comes to the rescue. JAM UP AND JELLY TIGHT A racially mixed family meets racism head-on when their 12-year old daughter is called a “mutt” by the mean girls and is kept from achieving her goals until mom jumps in to show them the error of their ways. THE BILL OF SALE (based on a true story) The reactions by the kids range from tears to jokes when they see their ancestor’s original bill of sale. To better understand the nightmare of slavery, the kids are “sold” in a mock slave auction. HARRY HEDGEHOG A creative writing student’s desire to write about a pair of hedgehogs, one black, one white, clashes with her racist principal, forcing the student to use all her wits to get it accepted. Then she discovers that the white hedgehog is pregnant! When she compares the hedgehogs to her own family her principal is sent over the edge. THE INVITATION (from today's headlines) An invitation to a high school class reunion says it’s open to all alums, but the white and black former students must attend in different rooms at a local hotel. A racially mixed family receives an invitation and goes into its anti-racism mode à la Charles Dickens’ "A Christmas Carol". DRIVE A BEAGLE TODAY A teenaged girl’s car dies a horrible, lingering death and to raise money to buy a new one, she and her friends scheme to get one in exchange for starring in TV ads for a car dealer: “Buy a car, get a free year’s supply of bagels.” Until the bagels overwhelm them and they have trouble saying the lines and drive the director crazy. BEWARE THE EXPLODING PEANUT BUTTER The kids’ grandmother discovers that their dad’s family at one time owned their mom’s family and the kids’ try to find information about the intervening generations with hilarious results. WHY IS BECHUANALAND PINK? (featuring 12-year old Johnny Tyler as Moshapa IV, Principal Chief of the Tswana Tribe of Botswana) A tween’s 6th grade world geography teacher gives her an assignment to write a paper describing an African country, Botswana, which she cannot find in her grandfather’s atlas. She finds Bechuanaland instead, leading to the burning question: “Why is Bechuanaland Pink”? LOVE MAKES YOU FEEL LIKE A MOLE JUST COMING OUT OF THE GROUND A teenaged mixed race girl dates a popular boy from her school until his father forbids him from dating a “colored” girl. Her family and the boy’s Mom rally around her to change the father’s mind only to discover that the father likes the girl and said nothing of the sort. Copyright 2013 Richard Welch