Using Energy and Resources from Space to Raise Living Standards of Across Earth
While Expanding Free Independent Human Societies Throughout the Universe

Episodes

"The opening of the space frontier, the creation of a spacefaring civilization, is thus the critical task facing our age. Compared to it, all other human enterprises of the present day are of trivial significance. Our success in this endeavor will determine whether we stand at the beginning of human history or the end." 
Zubrin


Home = smart, curious, interesting, insightful, engaging, sarcastic, rebellious, clever, progressive, indignant, political, passionate, righteous, principled, caring, conflicted, vivid - fun AND funny : )  (Think Julia Dreyfus.)

NOT The Big Bang Theory. Richard Feynman is NOT Sheldon Cooper. JPL scientists are NOT socially awkward. They date beautiful gorgeous intelligent women. They have a sense of real humor - not corny slapstick, not gags, not easy to write clichés of Star Trek/Comic Con cheesy idiot wussery. 

The real problem is - after engaging characters interact in clever witty ways - the purpose of the show still remains: what is the result in our actual real world after viewers turn off their screens? Are fans spending worthwhile time watching Home? Are they better for it? Should their personal time have been spent on iTunesU or The Khan Academy, or The Edge? Is this show a distraction from edifying media? Does it embolden a purposeful, constructive, scientifically literate life?  

Let's write a thoughtful, intelligent, non-dystopian, optimistic, fun, positive, interesting, educational, dramatic comedy set in space about joyful human potentials. Let's contextualize scientific endeavors in a healthy human perspective, which nurtures and celebrates scientists and engineers to encourage contemporary Isaac Newtons to fulfill their potentials. That might be worthwhile.
cold open teaser—Act I—Act II—Act IIIAct IVAct Vtag

Standalone 22 Minute Episode Formula (with Serial Elements)
Teaser similar to the cheerful opening sequence of Friends: Home's theme song accompanies images similar to the Astronomy Pic of the Day, with quick upbeat stills of persons on Mars and Earth working hard, sharing jokes, hanging out, having fun making humankind a spacefaring species.
Act 1 Intro Story Scenes here are 1-3 minute set-ups of the main "A & B" narratives.
Story A Situational comedy hook or inciting incident similar to Seinfeld, Friends, Frasier, The Big Bang Theory, Cheers, Curb Your Enthusiasm, The Office, M*A*S*H*, Silicon Valley, etc. Basic humanity.
Story B Funny science or engineering theme: workplace event or humorous observation of normal human activity made more interesting and fun by scientific literacy and engineering empowerment. 
Commercial Breaks should fall after viewers' curiosity has peaked at the end of each act. The point of hooks in Act X are to ensure viewers stick around for Act Y. (This is hard to achieve if you do not outline story arcs with breaks.)
Act 2 Build Story Create obstacles, reversals, surprises, interesting relationships, refine and elaborate main story points. Viewers learn about your characters, their backgrounds and quirks.
Act 3 Combine Story Narratives converge as characters use wit, knowledge, and luck to overcome obstacles, settle conflicts, and climax challenges.  
Act 4 Quick Flash Scenes Flesh out secondary characters and non-narrative points with quick independent gags.  Resolve storylines or pass on to future episodes.
Act 5 Mini-Cosmos Cool "I ♡ Space" Curiosity in ~20 seconds. Through a voice-over, dream sequence, or Skype classroom lesson broadcast from Mars characters convey an interesting fact, image, or discovery about our Universe.
Tag Final Brief Narrative Callback after credits. Usually a quick witty gag tied to main comedic story points, often punctuated by a final flash shot - like inside jokes to the episode: a moment which says "gotcha", "they were right/wrong after all", "told you so",  "ah ha", "see" or "who would have guessed," etc...



Style and Tone...Let's make Home an intelligent, professional, weekly, fun family advertisement for Amazon's uplifting positive brand. Home's actors and audience are from the same smart, tech savvy, progressive, hip demographic as Amazon's ideal lifelong customers. Space is the new Silicon Valley. By redefining space exploration and development as cool and vital for the future of humanity, we will reenforce the point of Amazon and Blue Origin.

Think of Home as produced with the same professional quality and tone as Amazon's "We're the People with the Smile on the Box" advertising campaign. Imagine an uplifting, positive and entertaining dramedy about the coolest subject of our time: Space. We are Generation Mars.


We can promote education in engineering and the sciences. Two takeaways for the audience each episode must be: (1) science, scientists, and engineers are cool; (2) investing in space exploration and development is worth hard-earned taxes.

Home's aesthetic is meant to introduce the public to advertising subsidized space-exploration. Please mention sponsors often. To be clear: the more cash this series makes the better it will be - do not disdain creative ad placement (for example, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d36wUmJGzvA ; ) Our sponsors are not the corporate bad guys. Hopefully.


"The idea of seeing the Earth from the moon created a planetary level consciousness that didn't exist before. The simple fact is that, when you live and work on another world - when you have people who live and work on another world - it is going to create changes whose real effect we cannot predict right now. No one would have predicted by going to the moon we would have a whole new appreciation for the fragility of the Earth - simply because of its appearance over a stark barren landscape in the blackness of space. Now that was one picture. Now think of how our societal consciousness will change, when you actually have a whole community of people living on another world. And I think it will change, it will have an effect - it will probably have an effects that we can't fully predict right now. But there's no doubt that it will have a profound effect on the consciousness of humanity on this planet." Paul Spudis

The show is meant to work in concert with Amazon and Blue Origin to develop space for the benefit of humanity. It is important near-term endeavors in our solar system be seen as essential to the progress of our society - for all humanity worldwide. Home can serve as a vehicle to advance one of the most technically sophisticated, ambitious, competent and cool NewSpace companies: Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin. Home will generate funds for our future endeavors in space...nothing happens without Amazon, so, think of every way you can to promote their business in your writing. No kidding, sell Amazon. We generate funds for space exploration when Amazon makes money as a result of this show.

Scripts and Drafts Archive: http://FactualFiction.com/home/scripts/archive.html
Final Draft Template: (coming soon)
Home Subreddit (ranked public feedback & suggestions): http://www.reddit.com/r/homeOnMars



The series Love wrote.
First Season Summaries

Episode 1   The Pilot Episode   (asteroid mining, S.T.E.M.entrepreneurship, why explore)
Main characters explain the value of Martian settlement, near-Earth asteroid mining, and realistic science-literate entertainment. We begin with residents of the Amaze research settlement gathered in a kitchen-living room similar to the main set of Friends. At every two year launch window each resident must decide to either stay or use emergency vehicles for Earth-return. Despite their eccentricities, neuroses, odd quirks and screw-ups, under no circumstances will any resident of Amaze abandon their grand, noble, heartfelt goal to expand human civilization off-Earth.
      Our story moves to the for-profit entrepreneurial company on Earth co-ordinating a constellation of commercial space endeavors: Blue Origin. Founded by Jeff Bezos in 2000, Blue has become the Microsoft/Apple/Google - the Amazon - of space, leader of the next 'dot-com' revolution: space exploration, commerce, and settlement. A new security-guard (and "syfy" fanatic) beginning work at Blue is introduced to this - purposeful, profitable, invaluable - commercial and humanitarian frontier. It may take him a while to understand for-profit space endeavors - he'll spend a few episodes looking for Klingons around corners - but in some distant season even he too could be a spacefaring hero. The story then returns to Amaze - the research settlement on Mars - to further develop our main characters - particularly luck-prone, talent-challenged Yuuto. Telerobotic operators and other Blue employees are also introduced on Earth. The episode ends at Seattle's Museum of Flight as politicians, NASA administrators, entrepreneurs and space advocates "from around the universe" announce that the first pioneer research scientists on Mars have decided to stay for at least another two years.
Mini-Cosmos Ending: Near Earth Discoveries

Episode 2   A$teroid$ Baby   (aesthetics of science, asteroid mining, entrepreneurship, politicians, psychology)
When intensive telerobotic mining begins on 'boulders' taken from a passing near Earth asteroid the politician Rich stages a press conference with both himself and the telerobotics crew (appearing via Skype in Houston "like a rocket band touring at lightspeed"). We also see footage from various drop zones across Earth where precious metal tailings leftover from asteroid mines deorbit. The politician lauds plans to refuel satellites with water while distributing gold worldwide as a "free by-product for wiring houses", until he "realizes precious metals may eventually be cheaper than gravel". This leads to a misplaced but animated concern about keeping strip mines in the business of lobbying, if not mining. 
     Asteroid activities encounter engineering snafus until Yuuto, who is misperceived as the most experienced teleoperator working for Blue Origin (albeit from Mars), saves the day by accident. Again. Volunteer "tourist-repair persons" also travel to Blue's orbiting boulders in low Earth orbit to "have fun doing something useful". Thus begins our nightwatchman's obsession with becoming a billionaire so he can go into space on a souped-up custom rocket of his own manufacture. 
Mini-Cosmos Ending: Pale Blue Dot

Episode 3   GreenSpace   (3D printing, ecology, greenhouses, recycling, tourism)
Jack's anxiety about six wealthy philanthropists - several of whom have dated his wife - launching on a trip to Mars leads him to overcompensate by "3D printing single-stage to orbit rockets in his spare time". Although intended to place telemining robots from the Martian surface onto Phobos, their real purpose is to prove to Sonita his "techno-charity character - like Gates, me, and Bezos".
     Meanwhile Hank, the "Greenhouse Guy", starts a meaningful conversation about what progress is - in the context of making their "fixer-upper planet" habitable. A thoughtful debate begins - now from a "native Martian perspective" - among settlers enjoying life beneath its surface. Maybe terraforming might not be as big a deal as their earlier Earth-selves believed? Most are surprised to feel a sincere love for Mars, as is: the still as of yet unexplored vast exotic frontier surrounding them, its potential native microbial ecosystems, and the general aesthetics and challenges of life off-Earth. We also follow a Skype conversation between Jo, the sensible "West Texas Pistol" at Blue's Van Horn spaceport, and the semi-foolish but well-intentioned "Boss", Reggie, in Kent…all of which is overheard by the Genius, the actual boss of Blue Origin, standing off-screen beside the Pistol. After posturing in futile office politics, Reggie agrees with Jo without having to outright  "conform to the genius's over-caffeinated bet-the-company psychoses". Reg tries to get Jo to acknowledge his "brilliant insight into the weaknesses of Blue's hallucinogenic business plan" until the Genius laughs off-screen after being called a "star gazing stuntman". At this point Reggie - who is terrified of all-things-Genius - gasps, fumbles, and bails off Skype - grateful to have a job with benefits "til sundown". In the end Reg keeps his job, everyone has a good laugh, and Reg makes long-overdue appointments with every doctor in town (before his insurance is "terminated by those West Texas daredevils playing craps with my kingdom in Kent"). 
Mini-Cosmos Ending: NASA Samples Enceladus Spray

Episode 4   In-Laws From Earth   (entrepreneurship, language, risk aversion, tourism, value of science)
From the Amaze settlement Sonita prepares a party for her parents in New Dehli to celebrate their 40th anniversary. This leads her insecure husband Jack to "invest in improvements concerning my relationship with Sonita's highly complicated traditional Indian family". He begins reading Indian history on Wikipedia while watching dating advice from Bollywood pop-stars on YouTube. His West-Indian friends from America are counter-productive via Skype and advice from international Amaze residents only adds further dissonance. Yuuto and Hank insist upon standing off-screen to mime moral support when Jack attempts Skype-bonding with Sonita's parents. During the call advice from Hank and Yuuto transforms Jack into a hybrid Japanese-hippie, which leaves Sonita's parents, neighbors, and extended family - all of whom are watching from New Delhi - confused and confounded. Jack finally tries to convince his in-laws he is genetically modifying himself to be "sub-continent Brahmin". They try to explain they are Sikh - not Hindu - and that it is "what is inside" they don't "recognize" - but, by this point Hank, Yuuto, and especially Jack have had so much to drink they barely remember why they called. "Ignorance is an infinite natural resource on Mars too," Sonita's professorial father declares. With that Jack no longer attempts to have his marriage "arranged after the fact". The last words his in-laws hear from him for months are pieces of a live-mic conversation with Hank and Yuuto: "Why was New Delhi called 'New' Delihi if it was original - where's Old Delhi? Like, York - New York, England - New England - Delhi....what?" (Inspired by M*A*S*H episode "The Party" in which members of the 4077th try to arrange a party for their stateside families.)
     Meanwhile back on Earth the security guard "can't stand to pay rent for a place merely to sleep", so he moves into a basement storage closet at Blue. This becomes a continuing inside-joke of the show as the guard appears in background shots wearing slippers and a bathrobe, ordering coffee, watching split-screen tv on the front desk's security monitors - all while "off-duty". He adamantly refuses to give his salary to "some lucky landlady with a bed". The Boss is too afraid he'll "come back with a backpack full of bullets" so everyone pretends it's perfectly normal for the nightwatchman to "live downstairs somewhere in the Mars sim". Eventually he'll move into a simulation hab used to test Martian equipment, because, "the closet didn't have a refrigerator - at all - and this hab has the coolest fridge I've  ever seen. I don't even think they make these fridges for civilians." With the prospect our guard may be preparing for Mars we end the episode. 
Mini-Cosmos Ending: Hubble Deep Field

Episode 5   Can't Somebody Name Something After Me?   (entrepreneurship, politicians, tourism)
To distract press from an ethics investigation after a tell-all exposé by former staffers, Rich, the Politician, expresses disdain for everything "Earth". While preparing for his own personal retirement on Mars - possibly earlier than expected - Rich begs settlers to acknowledge his support by naming high-profile Martian landmarks after him. (Inspired by M*A*S*H episode "The Trial of Henry Blake".) Separately, our nightwatchman Wayne realizes for the first time Blue is not creating props for bad Hollywood sy-fy but building "stuff for space, real space - up there in space! I'm not kidding - I've got to make sure they do it right, boy, now this's become serious". 
     On Mars a landing occurs with six more persons. Hank, Jack, and Yuuto consider opening a bar in anticipation of 60 additional residents arriving within two years. Blue Origin also tests cosmic radiation protection for longterm deep space missions to the Outer Planets as well as basic above ground human activities at Amaze. 
Mini-Cosmos Ending: Beamed Propulsion

Episode 6   Match.mars   (entrepreneurship, scientific method, why explore)
Amazings (residents of the Amaze research settlement) encourage Julia (whose husband died in transit prior to this show's start) to dream of a family again by using online dating to find a "guy willing to travel across the universe". To raise interest in her profile Julia skypes with Conan O'Brien on Late NightShe ends up falling in love with a marine biologist who has never himself been interested in exploring space, but, understands it is important. Meanwhile Jack updates his vain sketchy pre-Sonita Match profile "just in case". He then finds Sonita's old profile, which describes someone nothing like her real-self, and, describes the person she was looking for as someone very unlike Jack. This leads him to question if he really knows her - until Jack learns her parents wrote the profile to find her an alternative to Jack. Also via the interplanetary internet Yuutoko attracts an online stalker, which leads Yuuto to join Anonymous to discover her stalker is actually her manipulative overprotective dad. 
     Back on Earth the barista Lola makes an off-hand statement that "We need to mature out of asexual Apollo-era test-pilot paradigms...space is for lovers."…which the nightwatchman Wayne misinterprets - highly - as a pass at him. This initiates Wayne's intense study of astrology in an attempt to "speak her language of the stars".
Mini-Cosmos Ending: Interplanetary Super-Highway  

Episode 7   Clash of the Titans   (earth launch, value of frontier)
Engineers at Amaze discover a large pure water-ice reservoir frozen just below the surface of a nearby crater basin. NASA finally sends a crew to Mars: hot-tempered, uptight, officious...they are totally dysfunctional. They're forced to work on the surface, live in their rovers, and in general avoid infecting the settlement with contrived aggressive hierarchical "pseudo-miliarty Star Trek structure" before leaving at the end of their mere 31 day stay. Even Frank turns on his former colleagues after a bio pic morphs into a story about work of his they co-opted. (Inspired by the M*A*S*H episode "Major Ego".)
     On Earth, Lola the Barista is offered a black and white Carl Sagan poster, which she holds off on, because..."Who wants to sip liquids beneath some creepy dude with weird hair? Black and white photos were before my time...I'll google him". As she does, finding new value in both Sagan and her position at Blue.
Mini-Cosmos Ending: Europa Robotic Diver

Episode 8   Amazon Prime Movie Night   (evolution, exophiles, Mars in fiction, S.T.E.M., value of science)
A bottle episode spent entirely in three rovers crossing to a new robotically constructed settlement. During the trip Yuuto reprograms Siri with Wolfram Alpha to autocorrect his life, live. "Like spell-checking, but for my whole existence, while living it." Whenever he gets near Yuutoko he's warned away but "Psyri" edges him near Priscilla, "the Prude". Priscilla acts years younger, blossoms to life, and bubbles with vivacity when Psyri insists Yuuto flirt with her. To Yuutoko's amusement Yuuto confesses "I don't know what's best for me - Psyri does!" To which Jack replies "If you don't know what's best for you how do you know Siri's best for you?" "It's a computer! It's calculating what's best for me!" "But you programmed it!" "I don't know who to trust…how many ulterior motives can a computer program have?" "All of them. Infinite. All wrong. You programmed them." "That's no different than me in the first place so why is that worse?!" "If it were human it would go to sleep and forget ninety percent of its bad ideas. This obsessive Siristein you programmed with your mistakes doesn't sleep, doesn't dream, doesn't drink. It keeps your bad ideas alive forever. It has no appetites, no diversions, no organic instincts whatsoever. Never trust anything that doesn't drink instinctually Yuuto. Especially code."
      Scientific surveys and engineering challenges are punctuated by extensive commentary on Star Wars and "other sci-fi obscenities", which most everyone agrees have set unrealistic expectations for space exploration, hobbled near-term real-world commercial settlement of our solar system, and made space fearful and loathed. As Hank says, "Who wouldn't be disappointed not being able to fly here in a Millennium Falcon? Space isn't that fun yet. We are, space isn't. We're the closest thing to Space Pirates. Look at us. We have no weapons and there's nothing to steal." Later, Jack pisses off Sonita by spoiling the ending to The Sound of Music, after which it is downhill in their rover. "How could I have known you've never seen the Sound of Music?" "It was made before I was born!" "You've had three decades to watch it! That's my favorite movie. I have a right to talk about it." Soon Yuuto and Yuutoko cannot stop singing, humming, miming its songs - to each other and by extension everyone in "the vans". "It is no longer my favorite movie, that's for sure." The show ends with Jack, Yuuto, and Hank taking oaths of omertà to their new venture: space piracy...because, "The only thing cooler than being an asteroid miner is a space pirate building Millennium Falcons on Mars." "If one would show up. I am so ready to take off." (Their rovers by the way are decked out like Hot Rod Gals http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=au5xm3sqaZA)
Mini-Cosmos Ending: You Are Stardust

Episode 9  Homemakers   (ecology, music, radiation, risk aversion, Penny4NASA)
For Frank life at the new "Weirdsville Station" has become too "communistic" (of course he is under the impression he does most of the 'meaningful' work). An argument about hairstyling versus haircuts leads Amazings to adopt experimental semi-ridiculous mechanisms for allocating 'commonwealth occupations'. Jack, Yuuto, and Hank have their massive greenhouse distillery up and running, which does not reduce revolutionary fervor - instead it establishes a "confrontational political economy with several covert revolutionary elements". Sonita for example negotiates with everyone for raita (Indian yogurt which no one likes). Yuuto can't even pronounce raita but with his share makes an elaborate trade for all the hot sauce on Mars, locking up years' worth. This makes him worry others will lose their taste for spices altogether, so he plans to dole it out strategically. Jack worries "yogurt stuffed Sonita" will be 'unhealthy' and "without sauce, less hot". In jest Jack offers his "yogurt-filled-wife" in exchange for part of Yuuto's hot sauce reservoir. This does not translate well. 
     On Earth IKEA designers only half-kidding insist their interior layouts not be altered by people without taste, even those on another planet (Frank/Jack). 'Humanizing Mars' is the name of a new reality tv show (boycotted by Jack "I'm too real for television. Earthling's aren't ready for 'The Jack'."). Reggie separates settlement residents into "reality teams" to introduce an artificial division he can control from Earth. Unfortunately deciding who should be on which team almost creates more trouble than Frank's libertarian revolution. In protest Jack and Frank become teams unto themselves. 
Mini-Cosmos Ending: Penny4NASA

Episode 10 Yuuto Loses His Touch, Almost   (exphiles, lava tubes, religious tolerance, spinoffs)
Hank, Jack, and Yuuto fear their space hooch brewery will be discovered by a small industry of doctors on Earth "obsessed with tracking every closed-loop calorie". To disguise their brewery they begin massive fermentation operations for which the rest of the settlement is enlisted to make everything from kimchee and soy sauce to sauerkraut and sourdoughFrank starts pickling things with such vengeance Jack believes he must be "fermenting up a pond-sized hooch tank himself somewhere". On a more sober note Celia records a message for her parents describing life at Amaze, recounting her frustrations at not being able to do more to understand Mars (Inspired by the M*A*S*H episodes "Dear Dad It's Christmastime" and "Dear Sis").
     Earthside, Jo ("West Texas Pistol"), leads Rich through a congressional hearing on the value of Mars science, settlements, and research. Non-comedic characters give straightforward Skype reports on lava tubes, underground caverns, and other potential Martian ecosystems - although as of yet the settlement has explored little more of Mars than "a single crater the size of D.C." After Reggie recruits Lola to think up clever things for him to tweet, Wayne, our friendly nightwatchman, learns Lola will assist Reggie at Comic-Con. Wayne attends disguised as a variety of sci-fi characters. (This could involve actual on-site filming with fans.) Reggie, Lola, and others from Blue wander around Comic-Con haunted by Wayne in various guises.
 Mini-Cosmos Ending: 100 Year Starship

Bonus Episode 11 Aqua-couture   (anti-puritanism, aquaculture, curiosity)
On Mars an underground 'Walden Pond' opens for business, complete with willows and songbirds. Hank and Flora spend most of their off-hours on its banks, while Yuutoko and Yuuto groom moss islands to resemble a gorgeous World Heritage Site in Kyoto (Saiho-ji).  Frank insists that future residents familiarized themselves with A1 sauce during preparations for Mars, so newcomers will stop asking for portions of his reserve. When Celia becomes embarrassed by her husband's stinginess, she recruits Flora to help her blend ingredients from their greenhouses into 'Mars A1'. In appreciation Frank asks Jack to help 3D print a fiddle as a surprise birthday gift for Celia. She's elated, but still corrects both Frank and Jack: "It's called a violin. Hobos fiddle." After a bit of practice she's even more ecstatic to realize she hasn't forgotten much...always a perfectionist she takes it upon herself to print a Stradivarius
     On a banal note, Jack learns "what happens on Mars - is broadcast throughout the entire damn universe!" An intergalactic youtube sensation of bloopers, screwups and outtakes from several years of Amaze-based reality tv shows threatens the settlement's reputation - until Rich, "the Politician", enlists detectives to track down its author: a 14-year-old hacker. She changes the tone of her blog covering Amaze after being promised a free suborbital flight when she turns eighteen. Rick is offered a promotion which may take him away from day-to-day telerobotic activities in space (flying police drones over "the Northeastern Metropolis"). We end this show with Celia's rendition of Bach's Violin Sonata No. 1 in G minor resonating throughout Amaze.
Mini-Cosmos Ending: Ceres

Second Season Summaries

Episode 12 Bigfoot Yeti   (evolution, drake equation, philosophy of science, why explore)
Hank and Yuuto use an old telerobotic surface rover covered in rags to trick Frank into thinking he sees something "out there". Fake alien fossils are placed in a rock sample of frozen clays but discovered by Jack before Hank and Yuuto let him in on their latest 'Frank Prank'. The "Mars Shark" becomes a phenomenon on Earth - even the President calls to congratulate Jack and Frank - only to be told, several times, the fossils are a practical joke. Perplexed, she doesn't believe this. In fact the President (an aged Amy Poehler) continues to believe NASA hides evidence of life on Mars from her, wondering aloud whether "these platinum bearing asteroids even exist. Why, after all mine them for water if they're made of platinum? We have a planet of water."
     On a more serious note a potential underground ecosystem is discovered similar to "Cueva de los Cristales" in Mexico. Research scientists from Amaze and Blue explore methane plumes through tele-robonautic spelunking. To the great chagrin of Frank, Yuuto is named Time's Person of the Year, in part after his "elaborate thoroughly researched work proving fossils were in fact settlement refuse". (Inspired by the M*A*S*H episode "Chief Surgeon Who?".)
Mini-Cosmos Ending: Zheng He

Episode 13 Billionaires Want My Wife!   (classics, marriage, mars landing, radiation, recycling, S.T.E.M.)
Zillionaires Jack has worried about for the last half-year finally arrive. One is a guy who bought (round-trip) tickets with his wife after winning a Power Ball lottery; another couple was finalists in a worldwide reality tv contest; the third pair is two ridiculously attractive women whose only interest is settling Mars, not other women, or men, or Jack. The new residents are not the "ruthless super-geniuses" Jack feared would "enslave" him. Julia's fiancée also arrives and is treated to a bachelor party and a practical joke (inspired in part by the M*A*S*H episode "Margaret's Marriage"). Celia begins a Zumba "total body transformation regimen" to prepare for hosting a rival reality show "based in reality".
     On our current home, Earth, the nightwatchman Wayne starts his own tour company of Blue's headquarters as a second job after-hours. Somewhere in his mind he conflates Blue and his off-the-books tour company as one in the same. "Its crazy people drive here to see it. Two tours a day, fifteen, twenty people each. Keeps me alive. Well more than alive it's like two grand a week." HIs inability to impress Lola with his new found wealth leads Wayne to suspect his young hipster art school love-interest "might not yet fully understand why men are still necessary"
Mini-Cosmos Ending: SETI

Episode 14 In Russia We...   (anti-puritanism, international relations, S.T.E.M., penny4NASA)
Hank, Jack, and Yuuto feel guilty wasting time drinking space hooch in their hideout so they decide to socialize while building retirement habs for sale to future settlers [this is a serious, legit idea within the space advocacy community]. Apparently advance sales of "Florida, on Mars" reveal retirement community residences are most appealing to "debauched sheiks seeking tax havens and Russian mafia using the market in Martian property to launder petro-Rubles".  Meanwhile Yuutoko and Sonita lead a S.T.E.M. seminar via Skype during which Jack, Frank, Julia, and Celia unpack a new Robonaut. To everyone's surprise (and Jack's delight) it is the first 'female' robonaut.  (Inspired by the M*A*S*H episode "Letters" during which staff of the 4077th answer questions from school children.)
     Back on our current home the telerobotics crew places consoles above treadmills after Lola warns them "sitting is the new smoking". Sunlight mirrors "for vitamin D" are also installed in Blue's cafe. We end with Jack, Hank, and Yuuto programming the "naughty robonautress" to serve them in their swamp hideout.
Mini-Cosmos Ending: Kenyan Spacesuit

Episode 15 A Native Martian Holiday   (entrepreneurship, frugality, IPO, overview effect, work ethic)
Deciding on a secular native Martian holiday divorced from ethnocentrism, national traditions, and religion is...pretty damn simple. Jack and Sonita spinoff holidays hourly. Their favorite becomes 'Surprise Day' - no one knows when it occurs or what it celebrates - but it's the "happiest day of the universe" (and can instantly be called into being by any Amazing at anytime without notice). They also rule out holidays named after humans, especially politicians, even though Rich, "the Politician", still claims to have a secret holiday named after him. "As the first president of Mars in absentia". 
     On Earth the nightwatchman Wayne becomes obsessed with cooking up new names for use off-Earth by designing a random syllable generator (a pair of old 20 sided dice from Dungeon and Dragons days). When Lola the Barista quips "just don't name any of the ships the Ishimuri, if you catch my drift", Wayne takes it upon himself to sift through employee lists for Issac Clarke, Weyland, Yutani, and others from his database "to prevent Earth from going grey goo".
 Mini-Cosmos Ending: Vegan Meat

Episode 16 I Banish Ye from My So-Called Sub-Settlement   (denmark, mars launch, simple living, S.T.E.M.)
A bottle episode inspired by "The Taming of the Shrew". Jack passes out after a party celebrating the anniversary of their first landing.  He's strapped to a bed in a new hab decorated like a hospital room on Earth. When he wakes up he is led to believe Julia became his wife and she, along with a few others, escorted him back to Earth in a medically induced coma following an accident. He's glad to be alive but when told Sunita died he becomes inconsolable. To everyone's surprise his love for her is genuine and deep. Even he learns how much he loves her. "One of the oldest human needs is having someone wonder where you are when you don't come home." When everyone reveals the hoax our show ends with Jack relieved Sonita is still alive, grateful Mars hasn't been abandoned, and...more insistent than ever that Julia become his 'second' wife....
 Mini-Cosmos Ending: Astrology

Episode 17 Europa Robotic Sub   (aesthetics of science, europa, work ethic)
Imagery sent from a robotic sub melting through Europa's ice mantel captures the imagination of adventurers on Mars and Earth. (We depict a private/public advertising-subsidized Europa mission - with support from Blue, SpaceX, Virgin Galactic, National Geographic and other real-world commercial organizations to inspire funding for real-world exploration (with cooperative publicity from Penny4NASA, ESA, Roscosmos, JAXA, etc).) Jack anticipates Mars becoming "crowded" with thousands of "followers", so, he proposes spare tailings from mining Phobos and Deimos be used to construct a vehicle for human exploration of the outer-solar system. This starts a debate about whether most people came to America to explore or for "cheap food, cool cars, and safe beds". On Earth Jane introduces the president of the United States as Keynote speaker at an Interplanetary Mars Society convention. 
Mini-Cosmos Ending: Historic Impact Events

Episode 18 Where's the Utopian Nudists at?   (libertarian, why explore)
Right-wing sociologists interested in promoting the fidelity of marriage via Amaze interview each of our main characters. Ceila, the Prude, caught up in their promotion of marriage, lies about being pregnant. This escalates into an interplanetary conspiracy she believes necessary to jump-start childbearing before her "traitorous body absorbs the eggs". Jack blows up during his interview and confronts "pro-family fascists" with his own spontaneously conceived philosophy of "aggressive utopian nudity". Claiming, among other things, "his plan is to designate everywhere clothing optional with fenced in fortified Prudist Camps".
     A more serious endeavor involves flying new unmanned drones at low elevation over long distances from Amaze to Martian poles, through Valles Marineris, even dipping into large surface pits. Unfortunately a wanna-be-alpha runs this new program of exploration. He intends to be first at anything which hasn't been done yet. Apparently this will also include a divorce, or at least interplanetary marriage therapy. In the meantime in order to lead the first human expeditions to various destinations this character insists upon taking over Jack's legitimate effort to 3D print a single stage to orbit rocket. Fortunately after found faking data he becomes the first person sent back to Earth. Without his wife. (Inspired by  M*A*S*H "Blood and Guts", in which a visiting reporter makes up stories to glorify war.)
Mini-Cosmos Ending: The American Enlightenment 

Episode 19 Surprise!   (classics, economics, S.T.E.M.)
We see much of this episode through the eyes of Blue's eccentric nightwatchman, Wayne, who mistakes emergency rescue spheres - complete with life-like mannequins - for 'human recycling equipment'. When he discovers these "pods in the attic" he takes it upon himself to set up surveillance, suspecting the company may be cover for aliens or a cult. The Barista sets him straight, for the time being. (Though Lola herself may be a "high-functioning replicant programmed to seduce".)
    Jack goes into debt - Earth account negative - after investing in a propulsion technique ahead of its time. He's kicked out by Sonita, being forced sleep in commons areas. As a joke Yuuto off-handedly asks if Jack would mind if he flirted with his wife now that they've broken up. Yuuto's wife Yuutoko overhears this, albeit incompletely, and kicks him out too. Hank and Flora conspire to reconcile both couples when confronted with the prospect Yuuto and Jack may hang out 
in their greenhouses forever. The show ends with Wayne the nightwatchman moving into rescue spheres on Blue's rooftop (rather than his earlier home among basement mockup habs).
           Mini-Cosmos Ending: The Cosmic Calendar

Episode 20 NASA Mac and Cheese. No Please, Seriously.   (advertising, feminism, hygiene, marriage)
The favorite food of everyone on Mars is Kraft Macaroni and Cheese. Even for the French. Issues arise when transhab Earth-Mars cyclers arrive to restock the settlement…minus Mac n' Cheese. (Drawing inspiration from the M*A*S*H episode "Adam's Rib" in which Hawkeye orders spareribs from a restaurant in Chicago after becoming sick of the same food served in their mess.) Jack, Yuuto, and Hank go so far as to create a fake imaginary settler to requisition additional supplies; Reggie is aghast to learn someone has stowed aboard a trip without purchasing a ticket, but, this impresses Rich to no end (fueling hope he may actually retire on Mars). Things spiral out of control as every human in the universe thinks they've interacted with the fake settler, especially important sponsors. (Inspired by the M*A*S*H episode "Tuttle", during which Hawkeye makes up an officer named Tuttle to requisition supplies for a nun.)  
     Jane, "the Activist Chick" working at Blue, brings the show back to Earth during an ISDC conference at her alma mater the Colorado School of Mines. Celia becomes so worked up about a scientifically-illiterate President's priorities that she posts a personal rant on YouTube coinciding with the conference. (Inspired by the M*A*S*H episode "Give 'em Hell Hawkeye" in which a frustrated Hawkeye writes to Truman about the insanity of war.)
           Mini-Cosmos Ending: Terraforming

Episode 21 Recall Franké Petition   (why explorepoliticians)
After becoming the unwitting star in a satirical viral video created by The Onion, Frank snaps. He grows a beard and spends his nights in greenhouses of a "highly advanced Chihuahua colony oppressed by humans". In particular Frank disparages McArthur Awards because they have no formal application and "are run by an anonymous clique of competence cheating cut-throats". He grows a beard "to develop a personality recognizable on Earth if we ever have to bail out of this place. People would greet me in grocery stores by name because they're buying cereal with my face on the box". Jack understands this sentiment, as in, "No kidding, I want the jury to be like, 'That guy's cool. He's from Mars I don't care if he's not exactly innocent I want him to marry my daughter and be my best friend. Free him or else.'"
     In order to return Frank to settlement life, Earthling doctors suggest he be placed in a position of authority to enhance his self-esteem. The next morning, the first day with Frank in charge is unlike anything anyone on Mars has experienced. A general alarm gets Mars in shape fast. Frank runs a tight ship until no on can stand it any longer - roughly noon that day. The M*A*S*H episodes "Abyssinia Henry" and "Henry, Please Come Home" inspire this storyline. Frank's "gung-ho", militarily strict, whistle-happy attitude clashes head-on with Jack's lack of respect for anything not obviously necessary to science and settlement.) 
Mini-Cosmos Ending: Philosophy of Engineering  

Bonus Episode 22 Babies "R" Us   (anti-puritanism, breastfeeding, IVF, family)
To commemorate the first human conception on Mars, Amaze residents plant an oak beneath a multistoried domed enclosure on the surface. Cilia is impregnated via IVF (she wants a "full batch" and asks Julia to "toss a few extra ones in for good luck. Something of the quintuplets range"). While Cilia looks forward to an instant family, Frank is happy to get the puking and sleepless nights over at one go. (Inspired by 'Friends' episode "The One Where Rachel Has a Baby".)
     On Earth 60 persons leave low-Earth orbit in a new high-capacity transhab. Blue announces plans to establish a new research settlement on Ceres. After Lola introduces Wayne to Nietzsche via pop-Nihilist pamphlets, he writes Friedrich a letter about the excess levity at Blue. (Inspired by t
he M*A*S*H episode "Dear Sigmund" in which Sidney Freeman writes to Sigmund Freud about the craziness of the 4077th.)
Mini-Cosmos Ending: Panspermia



Off-Season
Documentary crews follow cast, writers, and researchers through real-world companies, events, launches, conferences and so on to reenforce space-industry awareness, maintain fan interest, advertise commercial and public projects and other endeavors cooperating with our show, etc.  Material can be repurposed for a documentary episode similar to The West Wing's "Half of a Windowless Closet", Season 3, Episode 18: http://thewestwingclub.com/ww/The-West-Wing-Season-03-Episode-18_v1062

Future Seasons...
Episode Points of View
Time lapsed episode through the eyes of persons traveling from Earth to Mars. (Inspired by M*A*S*H's 7th season show "Point of View" http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0638385/ )

Episode Family Album
Flashbacks through the lives of each main character beginning with their interest in space - if any - through hiring at Blue to time of show. (Similar to Episode 2, Season 2 of "The West Wing")

Episode Home Sweet Home 
Several new LGBT couples on Mars adopt children.

Episode There Were No Survivors
The first Earth-Mars Cycler return flight disintegrates; characters leaving the show were aboard. (Inspired by M*A*S*H episode "Abyssinia, Henry" http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abyssinia,_Henry )

Miscellaneous Episodes (no worries...this show can continue as long as it takes):
  • Bottle episode: we interview private non-governmental pioneers interested in paying their way to join settlements on Mars. Fortunately interest exceeds residences. Amazings are glad excess demand permits filtering of would-be settlers (from a vet who insists he can only eat C-rations to lawyers for an anonymous investment banker researching non-extradition territories).
  • Arguments arise over the best scientific objectives: geology, biology, caves, lava tubes, etc; whether new pioneers deorbit near regions with caves or subterranean lakes or in the easiest, safest regions for basic hab construction. 
  • Fun-loving senior settlers arrive with the intent of devoting their last useful years to working in high-radiation environments on the Martian surface.    
  • Inspired by the M*A*S*H episode "Dear Comrade": Frank's new research partner is actually a "spy" sent by entrenched old-school interests in the space community to determine how Amaze "really" functions as a hybrid private-public endeavor. Even after the informant confesses his real identity to both NewSpace advocates at NASA and pioneers at Amaze no one still understands precisely how the settlement functions. 
  • An Earth-Mars transfer with dozens of couples of various genders develops into the worst case scenario: they arrive in tears, not speaking with each other, some wanting to return immediately, some threatening to "blow up the nearest hab"...a lot of spare hot women...Jack couldn't be happier, or, so he thinks.
  • A dictator from the developing world skims exorbitant spaceport "landing fees" from the sale of platinum group regolith deorbited after asteroid water-ice mining. To quell an international fiasco which could risk his own projects, Rich, "the Politician", makes an emergency visit to teach the short-sighted dictator how to "milk space for a lifetime". 
  • Julia bets Hank if something happens he must shave. Flora is delighted since she has never seen him beardless. She conspires with Julia to ensure Hank shaves. When he does lose, he shaves, and, is basically a different person (for a few shows).
  • While cleaning Jack mistakenly incinerates a family heirloom of Julia's which "traveled on covered wagon across America!!"
  • Inspired by M*A*S*H episode "The Young and the Restless": Frank and Jack are envious of a brilliant young newly arrived scientist. (Also similar to the M*A*S*H episode "Stars and Stripes", involving a professional clash-of-egos over publishing research.) 
  • Inspired by the M*A*S*H episode "Bottle Fatigue", Jack, Yuuto, and Hank shut down "the Swamp". Their new self-righteousness drives everyone else to drink. Celia oversees Frank's creation of an emergency space hooch brewery. 
  • Inspired by Season 3, Episode 18 of "The West Wing"...real-world scientists and space community activists are interviewed 'out of show' touring real workplace environments similar to scenes depicted in previous episodes.  
  • The Free Independent Democratic Commonwealths of Mars are inducted into the United Nations. The Amaze Research settlement and its spin-offs declare their independence from each other and (as has always been the case) from Earth.
  • Someone is raped, murdered, deranged; couples divorce; a settlement is sabotaged, hacked, poisoned, segregated.
  • Inspired by M*A*S*H episode "April's Fools"...an episode entirely built upon practical jokes, including the mini-cosmos/War of the Worlds theme of the episode itself. 
  • A "no-nonsense hard-nosed disciplinarian" from a johnny-come-lately risk-adverse by-the-book academic consortium tries to co-opt Blue's research activities, both Earthside and on Mars. To preserve his influence Rich let's private enterprise take him to the school of "Fail Fast and Often".
  • Inspired by M*A*S*H episode "Life Time" and the show 24...real-time narration of 24 non-neurotic hours in a normal settlement.
  • Identical twins arrive...only no one tells Jack. (Inspired by Shakespeare's "Comedy of Errors" and "Twelfth Night".)
  • Amazings must put aside their differences in an emergency evacuation of a satellite settlement; crowded but jovial conditions, based upon the M*A*S*H episodes "Bug Out" and "Comrades in Arms".   
  • A newly arrived playboy hires Jack to help him seduce others' wives, while also testing his own relationship with Sonita...based upon Shakespeare's "Merry Wives of Windsor". 
  • Inspired by M*A*S*H episode "Divided We Stand"...an academic over-qualified pair of psychiatrists sent to support the maturing 100+ person settlements create as many issues as they bring. 
  • After a defensive IAMA in which Jack exaggerates his qualifications for having been sent to Mars, a Norwegian kid discovers Jack basically has no qualifications whatsoever. In fact, that Jack may have lied on his resume to Blue and that Yuuto has no real identity to speak of..."unless he is a fishmonger named Turtle Helper".
  • Real-world entertainers - singers, comedians, movie stars - visit Mars as paying tourists to "entertain and explore". Similar to the M*A*S*H episode "Showtime".
  • China undergoes a peaceful revolution inspired by the freedoms independent Chinese pioneers enjoy. 
  • Julia discovers Jack's old will (written long before leaving Earth). Its frank cowardice provides endless entertainment. Inspired by M*A*S*H episode "Where There's a Will, There's a War".
  • Inspired by the M*A*S*H episode "Temporary Duty", a boorish engineer and a fun-loving scientist (odd neurotic characters from a satellite settlement) switch places temporarily with a few of the odd main characters at Amaze. They can't switch back fast enough.
  • Lola's friends are involved in a front page Seattle Times cosplay exposé.
  • Inspired by what is considered one of the most moving M*A*S*H episodes, "Merry Christmas, Charles", Blue employees in Africa wrestle with contrasts between their enabling technologies and issues they cannot solve. 
  • Wedding & landing anniversaries, birthdays, [secular] Earthside holidays reinterpreted: Valentine's, Mother's day, etc.
  • When Blue makes a payday mistake Frank and others owe Jack money. Inspired by M*A*S*H's "Merchant of Korea" 
  • Rich tries to bribe his way onto Mars..."in the good settlement, not some tube buried under nowhere". 
  • Inspired by M*A*S*H episode "No Sweat"...a hot night without temperature control gets everyone irritated. 
  • Julia's mom dies...she questions whether spending funds on cancer research would have been wiser than settling Mars, then, questions why she thought this was an either-or decision in the first place. 
  • Inspired by the M*A*S*H episode "A Smattering of Intelligence"...a pair of right-wing undercover, aggressive, evangelists seek "security risks" within Amaze, and, try to recruit Frank and Celia to institutionalize their first-class wing-nut agenda.
  • Contrast stagnant opportunities in "The Other America" with advancements enabled by space-exploration - and still significant social injustices in need of attention.
  • Someone needs long-term medical attention, eye-glasses, dental work, hip replacement, or cancer treatment. Inspired by M*A*S*H episodes "The Red/White Blues" and "The Tooth Shall Set You Free".
  • Amazings defend a LGBT couple discriminated against by new arrivals; a parent of one of the bigots receives care at a hospital on Earth from a jovial, gay, professional male nurse. Minds change.
  • Inspired by the M*A*S*H episode "The Billfold Syndrome", Jack, Yuuto, Hank and even Frank are given the silent treatment.
  • An episode focusing upon the lives of children at research settlements: kindergarten, Kindle games, robotic teachers, greenhouse excursions, science experiments, music lessons, painting, and FUN.
  • Hank and Flora record a documentary for their parents describing Amaze in terms of social justice and progressive humanitarian purpose, in part a defense of the more light-hearted non-scientiic irresponsible antics of pioneers (inspired in part by M*A*S*H's "The Winchester Tapes").
  • Risking (and earning) whatever awards he may desire Frank takes on "The Competitor" with heartfelt passion, which surprises and impresses everyone except Celia (who has loved Frank's principled dedication all along).
  • A "Senility Squadron" arrives: pioneers in their 70s intend to work for the benefit of Mars settlement with joy, jocularity, and a je-ne-se-quai of space-enthusiasts "retiring" on Mars at the end of their lives.
  • Inspired by the M*A*S*H episode "Follies of the Living - Concerns of the Dead": delirious from a high fever Yuuto dreams of meeting famous explorers: Zheng He, Marco Polo, even warning Columbus of native American genocide.   
  • Islamic settlers from Dubai arrive. They go out of their way to integrate themselves as progressive role-models to their co-relgionists on Earth. Offering a tolerant, non-judgemental perspective in contrast to Islamic fundamentalists, they are welcomed throughout Amaze. Likewise other religions. 
  • Inspired by the M*A*S*H episode "Potter's Retirement": someone is spying on Blue, reporting back private personal issues to international reporters. Reggie considers retirement when his 'command' is questioned. 
  • An atomic terrorist event occurs in the United States. Houston evaporates. A humanitarian disaster - leading to spiritual introspection both at Blue and Amaze - also threatens financial support for Martian settlement.
  • Someone has stolen nearly all the medical painkillers on Mars, even replacing them with bogus liquids. We create an episode on drug abuse and over-regulation based in part upon the M*A*S*H episode "Dr. Winchester and Mr. Hyde".
  • Julia is the subject of a university conference. Charges are made regarding her "command" of early stages of settlement.
  • Pioneers declare a filmmaker's documentary about Amaze to be biased, if not outright hostile. They make their own positive propaganda (an opportunity to address some of the inevitable blowback from even within the space-advocacy community).
  • Jack and Sonita have to put up with newcomers who are even crazier than they are (based upon "Major Topper" a M*A*S*H episode). Amazings conspire to ship these newcomers off to another settlement as soon as possible.
  • Tempers flare when settlers, Blue coordinators, and NASA administrators debate science vs settlement objectives: where to send robotic rovers, whether to equip rovers with construction capability, whether to mine Phobos and Diemos, whether habs for future settlers should be constructed over objectives of exploratory basic science.
  • Inspired by M*A*S*H episode "Out of Sight, Out of Mind": character is temporarily blinded on Mars "the first time I was really afraid". 
  • Inspired by the M*A*S*H episode "A War for All Seasons", we see a time-lapse of pioneers working, building, constructing, exploring, and raising kids over the course of several years.
  • Friends episodes: "The One With Ross' New Girlfriend", "The One With The Butt", "The One With The Monkey", etc.
  • Seinfeld episodes: "The Bird", "The Revenge", "The Mango", "The Apartment", "The Fix Up", "The Robbery", etc.

  • ...this show can go on and on...until humans settle Mars...



~Twentieth Season ; )

Episode X This show won't end until...
Series segues into reality-TV coverage of the first Mars settlement in the actual world (Mars OneX). Reporters interview members of Amaze both in and out of character, along with pioneers taking off for Mars - to start humanity's first real-world research settlement. Finally. (Operated by Blue.) 
      A few children in the show return to Earth to pursue lives Earthside. They "witness" the first real-world launch of humans to Mars
(In part this episode is inspired by M*A*S*H's "The Interview" http://www.emmytvlegends.org/interviews/shows/mash-the-interview )

D.O.N.E.

This show isn't perfect. It may generate as much initial negative press as positive - detractors of near-term Mars settlement abound even within the space community. We will hear "the moon should be 'colonized' first", "Earth gravity is law", "cosmic radiation - high-velocity particulate iron nuclei - will scramble brains"...and of course everyone will wonder why a story set in space is positive and uplifting rather than dystopian and depressing. Why not be funny though? Have you already laughed enough? When was the last time you thought of space exploration as fun???  This is our time. This is Generation Mars. 

Theme Keywords (use CTRL/Command+F to find an episode of interest): advertising, aesthetics of science, anti-puritanism, aquaculture, asteroid mining, breastfeeding, classics, earth launch, ecology, economics, entrepreneurship, evolution, exophiles, feminism, greenhouses, hygiene, international relations, language, marriage, mars landing, mars launch, music, optimism, phil of science, politics, radiation, recycling, religious tolerance, risk aversion, S.T.E.M., SciFi, simple living, spinoffs, tourism, why explore, work ethic.

"It's quite fun to do the impossible." 
Walt Disney

Story 'Rules' by Our Muse Emma Coats! (@lawnrocket)