It’s pretty rare for a commercial character to inspire a full-fledged TV series. On Tuesday, the Geico Caveman joins this dubious fraternity, when the sitcom “Cavemen” premieres on ABC. But hey, if it actually takes off, we might be seeing a rush to emulate its success. And naturally, we have a few commercial characters and treatment ideas for the network suits.
Ben and the Duck
* Starring: Ben Affleck and the Aflac Insurance duck
* Premise: Affleck plays himself in this comedy about an actor-turned-insurance-agent whose life is turned upside-down by a talking duck that keeps screaming, “Aff-fleck!” anytime someone says Ben’s name.
* Wacky neighbor: Ben’s real-life younger brother, Casey, who infuriates Ben by continually cracking up at the duck’s tired joke
* Pilot: After one too many quacks, Ben has the duck fired, and he can finally work in peace. Until he learns that the duck’s replacement is the dancing Six Flags guy, who’s constantly accompanied by that infernal song. Ben quickly gets the duck rehired, thus ensuring the continuation of zany high jinks.
Call Me
* Starring: Catherine Zeta-Jones and Paul “Can You Hear Me Now?” Marcarelli
* Premise: In the spirit of James Carville and Mary Matalin, can a marriage between diametrically opposed cell phone users work? To complicate the household even more, their tween daughter, the text-happy, rebellious Beth Ann, refuses to let go of her Cingular plan.
* Wacky neighbor: Beth Ann’s BFF, Jill
* Pilot: Catherine goes through the roof when her Verizon hubby brings his 62 million-strong network home for dinner.
Two Geeks and a Gecko
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* Starring: Justin “Hi, I’m Mac” Long, John “I’m a PC” Hodgman and the Geico gecko
* Premise: Think “Two and a Half Men” with reptiles, in the digital age. Hip, laid-back Mac spends most of his time trying to get the stodgy PC to loosen up. Their pet gecko provides voiceover narration.
* Wacky neighbor: Tomb raider Lara Croft, who shows up periodically to give the guys lessons in backflips and archery
* Pilot: Gecko walks in to discover PC wearing a hula skirt and slurring along loudly to “Purple Rain,” while Mac tries to talk him down. It turns out PC has come down with a nasty virus.