Bliss it’s not. Sheriff ThistleWaite has a complex relationship with the community of Bliss and it becomes more complicated when there’s a crime to be solved.

SYNOPSIS:

FATTY (SHERIFF DOUGLAS WORTHINGTON THISTLEWAITE) Written by Angelina Carkic 6/45 Totterdell St. Reg, No. WGAW 1712086 Belconnen, ACT Australia, 2617 Phone Number 612 62533692 E-mail carkic@bigpond.com BLISS PILOT: ONE HOUR TV DRAMA DETECTIVE/CRIME /MYSTERY LOGLINE: When the Sheriff of a small Vermont community is ordered to put his tiny force of misfits on horseback, his exploits and ‘eccentric’ behaviour bring an influx of tourists and along with it, new crimes. Bliss, a community of eccentrics, nestled in a green valley of Vermont, has a fiscal problem. Not enough tax revenue to keep the community going. Hoping to bring tourists, the town council puts the five members of their police force into unique uniforms and on horseback. The Sheriff, DOUGLAS WORTHINGTON THISTLEWAITE, AKA FATTY, (40), tall, heavy set, ‘a heart attack waiting to happen’, has a secret and his coping mechanisms have made him distant. He procrastinates from involvement in police work and exhibits what the townsfolk call ‘grumpiness’. They watch him, comment on his behaviour and shield him from outsiders. Comfortable in his cocoon of inactivity Fatty occupies himself with paving crackers with cheese whiz, sorting paperclips or, chasing ‘that gopher’ in his meticulous garden. (But still waters run deep.) When he’s tricked and thrown by his horse and laughed at by the citizens watching the spill "something wakes in Fatty. Something dark replaces the lethargy”. To regain his self respect he needs to rescue two teenage escapees from the posse. The sheriff’s true nature slowly emerges and we and the town watch as Fatty’s exploits gain notoriety. Tourists arrive and with them the outside world. Unique is the nature of the citizens. Each one larger than life, eccentrics, caricatures, who view the sheriff as eccentric. But ironically he is the one true real person in this mix. Though a serious genre, through the nature of this melange, subtle humour abounds and Fatty grounds us in reality. The aim of this show is to entertain by taking a serious genre, the dramatic investigative story and adding a touch of humour and surrealism in the eccentric nature of the citizens of ‘Bliss’. It is intended to appeal to a wide demographic. THE PILOT EPISODE DOUGLAS WORTHINGTON THISTLWAITE, AKA FATTY, (Atticus Finch meets Buford T. Justice, meets Inspector Montalbano), (not yet 40), tall, heavy set, (John Goodman type), complacent with his role as the sheriff of BLISS Vermont ‘where little happens and everything happens’, is challenged by his long time friend State Trooper CHARLES JONES, (40), to join in a manhunt. It’s suspected they are headed his way through the State Forest. Fatty is reluctant to get involved. Wanted posters landing on his desk and a call from Jones can’t budge him. It isn't until the five eccentric members of the town council; badly needing money in the city's coffers, put their small police force into unique costumes and on horseback that something happens to Fatty's view of himself. Tricked and thrown by his horse, laughed at by the citizens, "the spill shakes something loose. Something dark replaces the lethargy." He needs to reclaim his self respect. Realizing the boys are in danger from the posse he responds to the call to action. He becomes proactive making decisions and acting on them. He evolves from a complacent ineffectual person into a proactive surprisingly competent initiator who motivates, plans and entices the person he believes to be the real murderer into compromising himself. He and his deputies GREYHAWKE, (30s), shifty, silent, and CAESAR PLUM, (25), a wannabe Casanova, set off early and intercept the teenage escapees. Fatty literally holds the posse and troopers at gunpoint and pilfers the boys away to his own jail. Jones warns Fatty that he’ll face charges if he doesn’t hand them over right away. Confiscating all their guns and horses, including the trooper’s, they head for Bliss. Troopers and SWAT surround his police station. In his office, he watches Jones and the boy’s reactions to him. Something isn’t right with his long-time friend. In the meantime a Gothic girl, too young, tweets, ‘Yeah, for real. Indians on warpath. Check it out!’, “This is soo cool. This’ll go viral”. – A journalist from Pittsburgh publishes his exploits. The city council’s plan is working. Tourists arrive. Not convinced with the evidence against the teenagers, Fatty visits a roadhouse, entices his suspect into visiting the crime scene to look for his’ missing lighter’. He asks Jones for his help to entrap HOPPER but Jones’s backup doesn’t show up and Fatty appears to be alone. Hopper and his brother-in-law Gary show. Gary has a Magnum revolver, a shot is fired, immediately followed by a second shot. Gary crumples to the ground. Hopper surrenders. He’s not armed, but he too is shot. Fatty whirls on Jones, his Glock 23 raised. Jones, deeply troubled, reveals ‘why he did it’. He’s confusing the past with the present and Fatty realizes the crime that haunts his existence may have been done by Jones. But Jones is no longer lucid and he may never know for sure. In that final twist, Fatty’s next in Jones’s gunsights. Sorry, but not really surprised, Fatty warns Jones he doesn’t miss. Jones believing Fatty’s ten years of inactivity has made him unable to shoot straight, attempts to shoot. Fatty’s shot is true and rips the gun from Jones’s grip. A struggle, a couple more shots, a struggle, Fatty’s backup, deputy GreyHawke is down, Jones scrabbles to reach the gun, Fatty dropkicks it from his hand, twists the arm till the shoulder pops and mercilessly cuffs Jones. Fatty survives a hearing emerging with a commendation and is greeted by a welcoming crowd and Mayor OZGOOD making speeches. He avoids the welcome committee rushing into the station to the sanctuary of his office. The treasured photograph comes out of his cracker drawer and replaces the football on his desk. For the first time a troubled smile appears..