Every few weeks I get an e-mail from someone who has what they think is a great idea for a TV series.  (And you know what?  Maybe they do have a great idea for a TV series.)  I got one of those e-mails today.  The person writing wanted me to read or listen to their idea and give them feedback.  Of course, what they really want is for me to tell them how to sell their idea to Hollywood.  The answer to the question “How do I sell my great idea for a TV series to Hollywood?” is simple.  You can’t.

In the last blog, I talked a little about how sitcoms and other TV series actually get on the air.  A TV series gets on the air because a very well-known television producer or a star pitches an idea to one of the TV networks.  Sometimes an idea originates at the network.  People who are not hot television producers or big-name stars can’t get in to meetings with TV network executives, and even if they could, the TV network executives would not buy their idea no matter how good it was.  TV network executives only buy ideas from established Hollywood players, or, in the case of a series like $#*! My Dad Says, the network buys an idea that is already nationally famous, and then turns the idea over to established Hollywood players.

If I had the opportunity to go in to any of the TV networks next week and pitch an idea for a TV series, do you know what I’d pitch?  I’d pitch one of my own ideas.  And so would any other writer or producer in Hollywood.  We all have a dozen ideas for TV series, and when we get the chance at a network pitch meeting, we pitch our own stuff.  Stars do the same thing.  I have met with dozens of stars over the years about developing series for them.  They all have their own ideas about what series they’d like to star in.  Most of them want to be executive producers and writers on the series as well. 

Even if I heard someone else’s idea and thought the idea was brilliant, I’d still pitch my own ideas because like any other writer or producer in Hollywood, I like my ideas best.  I worked hard for years to get to a point where I even have a shot at a network pitch meeting.  I’m certainly not going to bet all of my effort on someone else’s idea.  I’m going to bet on me, and so would absolutely every other writer and producer in town.

As I’ve written before, one of the great myths about Hollywood - a myth that no amount of reality can kill – is that Hollywood is desperate for new stars and fresh ideas.  Nothing could be further from the truth.  Hollywood has more ideas and more stars already than they know what to do with. 

If you are talented, determined and lucky enough to break into Hollywood as an actor or a writer, you immediately take your place at the back of a very long line.  If you’re good at what you do, then you start to move forward in the line.  Eventually, if you’re really talented and extraordinarily lucky, you end up in a spot where somebody in Hollywood is interested in your ideas.  Then, and only then, do you get a chance to pitch.

If you are not a Hollywood player, but you have what you think is a wonderful idea for a TV series, and you want a chance to pitch your idea to a Hollywood big-shot, I can tell you exactly how to do it.  First, break into show business at a very low level as a production assistant or writer or actor.  Work tirelessly for years.  Become really famous and successful.  Then suddenly everyone in Hollywood will be very interested in your idea.