Narrative
The series available on YouTube is a taster of how the concept could translate into a relationship comedy with magical creatures thrown in.
A Scripted Narrative
The Logline
The world’s most (in)famous magical creatures and fantastical beasties reveal their most intimate secrets and gossip in this hilarious ‘hard hitting’ comedy chat show hosted by Toby Vanilla.
Synopsis
In a world where magical creatures live side by side with humans, TV host Toby Vanilla has a celebrity magical creature as a guest on his show every week to quiz them about their dating lives. Imagine 30 Rock meets Jimmy Kimmel and each guest is a celebrity magical creature.
The variety of the guests provides surprise and fun in each of the episodes, but the heart and comedy of the show for viewers lie in the recurring characters who return weekly in every episode.
It’s a traditional relationship comedy like Love, Sex In The City or New Girl, in a world where magical creatures exist alongside humans.
The Main Characters
Toby Vanilla
Toby Vanilla likes to think he’s a massive celebrity and acts accordingly: like a douchebag. Deep down he’s actually kind and gentle. Very, very, very deep down. He has a love of all things British and likes to pretend to be from England. Really he’s just a hick from North Carolina.
Troy Lockhills
Toby Vanilla’s personal make-up artist. He’s his number one confidante, essentially Toby’s work spouse. Troy knows all the gossip about everyone and loves to dish the gossip when he can. Which is always… He can’t have a single conversation without some form of gossip.
Helen Vasey
Toby’s new boss, Helen Vasey, is a divorced mother of two. She’s cash-strapped and frustrated. She accepted what appeared to be an easy job as the lead producer of How To Date A Magical Creature because she needed the money, but her dream gig is to be producing Oscar-winning documentaries. She tries to be the boss but is really a complete pushover who tries to mother her staff.
Alison Stane
Alison, Assistant Producer on How To Date A Magical Creature, is desperate to appear like a completely normal human being. Because she isn’t a completely normal human being. She lied to the HR department about being a werewolf out of fear they would discriminate against her. She’s a nervous nelly who speaks too fast in constant fear of being found out. She works harder than anyone else to fit in.
Melissa Cunningham
Melissa is Toby’s girlfriend who gets dumped by Toby for being too clingy and needy. The problem for Toby is the reason she became needy and clingy is she was already accidentally pregnant with Toby’s child. Toby is stuck with Melissa in her life whether he likes it or not.
Charlie
Charlie is a labrador Toby rescued from the Animal Rescue Center. He’s one of the most intelligent animals on the planet, and oftentimes Toby could swear Charlie is communicating with him a like a human best friend.
Episode Guide
Episode 1
Toby interviews The Grim Reaper
Episode 1 Logline:
The taping of the first episode of the second season of How To Date A Magical Creature brings Toby some unexpected surprises as he grapples with a new boss, Death (literally) and the bombshell he’s about to become a father just after dumping his girlfriend.
Episode 1 Outline:
Toby is having a great day. He finally freed himself from his clingy girlfriend that morning, and now he’s back in the studio to film the second season of his surprise hit show How To Date A Magical Creature. His new dog Charlie is with him, and he couldn’t be more excited to have scooped a more famous guest than The Grim Reaper himself.
His great mood completely dashed once he’s in the make-up chair: Toby finds out through his trusty make-up artist that his perfect and malleable boss who let him get away with everything got fired for gross misconduct. Replacing him is Helen Vasey, a hard-ass intent on making her mark and cutting costs where she can. After all, she needs to prove her worth for her new boss. Out are Toby’s expensive lattes and chauffeur-driven cars. In are decaf Subway coffees and public transportation.
Assistant Producer Alison hooks up with a handsome man named Charlie who she runs into in Toby’s dressing room. It turns out Charlie was only temporarily human: he’s Charlie as in Charlie who is Toby Vanilla’s dog. Charlie had accidentally ingested anti-werewolf potion that Alison was meant to drink after a delivery mix-up.
Toby has a strange encounter with a leprechaun while in the bathroom before they go live for episode 1. The leprechaun reveals to him that The Grim Reaper is planning on using the show to launch his own brand of tequila, ‘Till Death Do Us Part’. Apparently The Grim Reaper wants to kill Toby to generate as much publicity as possible around the brand and kickstart his sales.
The leprechaun grants Toby a favour and promises he won’t die, but Toby needs to be beware of The Grim Reaper as he always collects what he wants… Eventually.
As the leprechaun correctly predicted, The Grim Reaper kills Toby live on air. But just like the leprechaun promised to arrange, Toby death isn’t accepted by God. He’s sent back to Earth alive much to the Grim Reaper’s dismay and shock. Relieved to be alive, Helen and the production are glad they still have a host and he didn’t die live on air.
Heading back to his duplex apartment, grateful to be alive, Toby finds Melissa waiting for him in his living room. It turns out she’s pregnant and he’s the Dad.
As they watch the sunset from his balcony, Toby promises Melissa everything will be okay. Even though they’re not together anymore, he’ll be there as a Dad. But can he have her key back to his apartment?
Episode 2
Toby interviews Mermaid Pam
Episode 2 Logline:
Toby interviews Mermaid Pam, but is facing a difficulties at home as Melissa moves back. Meanwhile his dog Charlie seems to go missing a lot.
Episode 2 Outline:
Toby is all set to interview Mermaid Pam, famous for her appearance in The Real Housefish of the Pacific. But Toby is so distracted by the fact he’s about to become a Dad he can barely concentrate on Mermaid Pam, and completely misses how outrageously flirty she is.
Helen is on a tight leash from the network, seen as Toby officially died on her watch during episode one. She’s worried Mermaid Pam’s revealing outfit will be the straw that breaks the camel’s back and the network deem the show too risky and cancel it immediately.
Alison continues her burgeoning love affair with Charlie and supplies him with more anti-werewolf potion. She gets the potion from her mother who’s a witch. Alison’s mother thinks Alison is just stocking up for a rainy day. Alison though is finding it harder and harder to conceal the true nature of her race.
Melissa is suffering from severe nausea and and morning sickness, and fully expects Toby to help. It turns out that because Melissa is half-elf, half-human, her pregnancy is accelerated. As in speeded up at a meteoric speed: she’ll be giving birth in less than eight weeks. With her family too far away to help, Toby reluctantly agrees she can move back in to his duplex strictly as it’s more convenient.
The stress of having to look after Melissa is taking a toll at work and Toby can barely concentrate. Helen begins to get worried her biggest asset, Toby, who needs to be on top form, is starting to lose it.
Episode 3
Toby interviews the Queen Jacintha of the Werewolves
Episode 3 Logline:
XXX.
Episode 3 Outline:
It’s a big deal in the studio today. Queen Jacintha of the Werewolves is due for an appearance. It’s the first time in the show’s history that a member of a royal family will be interviewed by Toby. Toby gets coached in royal werewolf etiquette to prepare for the interview, while Alison is assigned as Queen Jacintha’s ‘go-to’ person for anything she needs from the moment she steps into the building until the moment she leaves the building.
Immediately Queen Jacintha recognises Alison as a fellow werewolf, and flirts outrageously with Alison without a care in the world. Charlie makes it clear he’s very unhappy.
Helen suspects Alison is hiding something and confronts her. After all, werewolves are known to only date within their own kind, and Queen Jacintha would never ever date someone who isn’t a werewolf….
Alison can’t hide it anymore and her secret life as a werewolf is no longer a secret at work. Helen is surprisingly understanding of Alison’s situation. And is more upset that Alison didn’t feel comfortable telling her in the first place.
Toby goes home to find his apartment in pieces. Has he been burgled? As he’s about to call the police he sees Melissa on the couch, eyes closed and not moving. Oh no is she dead!?
Turns out that a side-effect of being pregnant when you have elf blood inside you is that you ‘sleep destroy”: you literally destroy everything in your path without even realizing what’s happening, which is then followed by a ‘dead sleep’. A sleep so deep you can be mistaken for being dead. Absolute nightmare. Melissa reassures Toby this is very rare and won’t happen again.
Episode 4
Toby Vanilla interviews The Invisible Man
Episode 4 Logline:
XXX.
Episode 4 Outline:
To everyone’s surprise, The Invisible Man actually shows up for the interview. They’re under strict instructions from his ‘people’ though about what Toby can and can’t ask:
- No questions about his penis.
- No questions about his hair. He isn’t bald. He has a full head of hair but you just can’t see it.
- No questions about where or not he has ever dated The Invisible Woman. Not that anyone would ever know for sure anyway.
Miraculously, the interview goes well.
Melissa is halfway through her pregnancy, and her mother arrives to surprise her. It turns out her mother wasn’t too far away to visit: Melissa just didn’t want her involved. But the elf shaman in their town sensed Melissa’s pregnancy, and her mother jumped on the first jet she could hire. It turns out her mother is descended from Elf royalty, and is very very very rich.
She brings with her an entourage of helpers and carers for Melissa, and rents out every single other apartment in the building Toby lives ‘for privacy’ reasons.
When Toby returns from what turned out to be his most successful interview yet, he’s flabbergasted as he realizes his life is about to become very very different.
While sipping a mojito on his balcony watching the sunset with Charlie at his side, Toby ponders what it would have been like to live free of any commitment, and wonders whether if he had followed his dreams as a kid to become a tap dance champions whether he would have made it.
He wakes up in bed to a very different room to the one he usually sleeps in. Next to him lies a very beautiful man. He freaks out and runs into the bathroom. Should he call the police? The man in his bed is fast asleep and snoring loudly.
Toby walks around the apartment. There are photos of him everywhere with this man. They seem really happy. A couple who have been together for seemingly a very long time. There is a grand piano in the corner of the gigantic living room. That’s when he realises he’s in a three-floor mansion.
There are trophies everywhere: trophies celebrating Toby the international tap dancing star. What the hell is going on?
Then out of nowhere The Grim Reaper is at the piano singing a perfect rendition of ‘Imagine’ by John Lennon. What the ‘F’??
The Grim Reaper offers Toby a deal: tell him how he was able to escape death, and the life that Toby had always wanted, the life of an international tap dancing star, that of a multi-millionaire, will be his forever.
If he doesn’t, his life as he knows will be destroyed forever. No one is taking The Grim Reaper seriously anymore and it’s embarrassing.
Toby doesn’t know what to do. But what he does know is he could never betray the leprechaun’s trust. Even if it meant not giving in to The Grim Reaper. Because if he broke the leprechaun’s trust…. he did not even want to think about what that would mean.
Suddenly Toby opens his eyes and we’re back where we were: on the balcony with Charlie. Scared, Toby gets up and turns to head back inside. As he does he catches a glimpse of the reflection of the Grim Reaper in the door. Toby turns around scared out of his mind. Nothing to be seen… He turns to Charlie:
“You’re lucky you’re a dog, you don’t have to deal with adult crap. You just eat and get cuddled and take a shit wherever you like.”
Melissa comes in looking awful. She hugs Toby and thanks him for everything. It’s a beautiful moment and Toby starts to be grateful for the life he has. Just then Melissa vomits all over his Prada shirt…
Episode 5
Toby interviews Santa Claus
Episode 5 Logline:
XXX.
Episode 5 Outline:
Toby is freaking out about his encounter with The Grim Reaper. He doesn’t have a way of getting in touch with the leprechaun though. The leprechaun was very clear: he’ll be in touch when he can. Toby does the rounds of all the dodgy magical creature hangouts to get information on how to contact the leprechaun without success.
Melissa is now almost fully at term, and her mother is preparing for the birth.
Toby interviews Santa, but finds out he’s on Santa’s “shit list”. That’s why he receives gift cards for Christmas.
Alison breaks off her affair with Charlie after catching him flirting with the receptionist. Charlie doesn’t understand – in the dog world everybody flirts with everyone.
Meanwhile Helen asks Toby to cut costs even further as their budget is being squeezed.
Melissa’s mother insist on doing a ‘practice run’ for the delivery of the baby. Toby reluctantly agrees and according to Melissa’s mother they are woefully underprepared for the real thing which could happen any day now…
As Toby relaxes on his balcony and enjoys the sunset, he realises Charlie is nowhere to be seen. His tracker says he’s alive and and his heart beating faster than ever. But why is he at Alison’s house? Toby texts Alison who replies that yes she took Charlie home as Toby was busy. Weird things Toby, but thanks Alison for the help. Agrees Alison can be a dogsitter.
Episode 6
Toby becomes a Dad
Episode 6 Logline:
XXX.
Episode 6 Outline:
Tensions are running high as reality hits Toby he’s about to become a Dad. He was so wrapped up in his own world he completely forgot to tell his family who had to find out through the gossip columns.
Charlie proposes to Alison who happily accepts. Charlie asks if there’s a way to become permanently human which Alison is reluctant to perform. It involves a complicated transferrence ceremony.
Alison does have to break the news to Toby who’s shocked and has no idea how to respond. Charlie asks Toby to be his best man.
Toby is about to reply but has to rush to the hospital as Melissa is already there. Melissa unexpectedly gives birth to twins.
What happens in Season 2?
- The Logline
Toby Vanilla is back as the host of How To Date A Magical Creature where the world’s most (in)famous magical creatures and fantastical beasties reveal their most intimate secrets and gossip in this hilarious ‘hard hitting’ comedy.
Who are the new characters?
- Sam – Toby and Melissa’s newborn son.
- Tim Neckpoint – Helen Vasey’s boyfriend.
- Luke Sinclair – an ambitious producer who’s after Alison’s job.
- Richard Sugarcoat – the new head of the network is determined to make his mark.
Season 2 Outline
After a very public breakdown, Toby Vanilla is dumped by the network in favour of a younger and more appealing presenter who is just generally more jolly. As an extra kick in the teeth, it’s Melissa’s boyfriend.
Toby’s son is now six months and as he tried to get his life back on track Toby sets up his own online channel on a similar format to How To Date A Magical Creature.
Toby and Melissa rediscover their respect for each other as they look to look after their newborn son.
Youtube