A Spirit of Love

About this Episode 

In this episode, we pay homage to Hallmark Christmas movies, but specifically movies that feature a supernatural element, like a ghost, or wish fulfillment. We performed this episode live and people watched via Facebook Live and Zoom. It was a ton of fun, and we told a nice little tale that probably involved more opium than most Hallmark Channel movies…

Links

List of Hallmark Channel Movies on Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Hallmark_Channel_Original_Movies

Time Codes

Segment 1 - Discussion the Genre Tropes: 06:25

Segment 2 - Creating the Movie Outline: 13:30

Segment 3 - Picking the Improv Comedy Games: 20:22

Start of show: 29:20

Improv Game - Movie Trailer in a Minute: 32:20

Improv Game -  One Word at a Time Typewriter: 34:30

Improv Game - Gibberish Switch: 43:28

Improv Game - Pardon: 52:06

Improv Game - Cutting Room: 1:04:05 

End of show, into announcements: 1:19:15

More Information About the Show, Mike, and Avish

Subscribe to the podcast: http://AvishAndMike.com/Subscribe/

Our Website: www.AvishAndMike.com

Our Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/143183833647812

Avish’s site: www.AvishParashar.com 

Mike’s site: www.MikeWorthMusic.com/

Transcription of the “Discussing the Genre Tropes” Segment (Unedited and Un-Cleaned up)

Avish Parashar: segment one discussing the genre tropes.

Avish Parashar: So now Mike and I are gonna spend five minutes and I have my iPhone with my timer and a little Christmas hat on it.

Avish Parashar: Yes, i'm going to set a timer for five minutes we're going to talk about the tropes cliches and commonalities of this genre.

Avish Parashar: And please feel free to chime in via the chat or commenting on the Facebook feed, if you have any cliches that we've missed what makes a hallmark movie a hallmark movie please add that we'd love to do it, but Mike, let me start with you, I know you just watched a couple here.

Mike Worth: What yeah yeah.

Avish Parashar: What when you think of a hallmark Christmas movie with the supernatural what comes to mind okay.

Mike Worth: So, first of all, of course, we're just gonna lean heavily into the whole Christmas thing Okay, but here's the difference there's two things that happened.

Mike Worth: And and and funny enough Sarah kind of alerted me to something yesterday, where she was like Oh, you could actually do it's a wonderful life mclouth done a horror movie but it's kind of in that the first drop is this, it is somebody who, through their decisions in life have.

Avish Parashar: fallen away from.

Avish Parashar: What makes Christmas magical.

Mike Worth: i'm not saying that they don't believe in Christmas, but there are prioritizing habits and or viewpoints that are like i'm christmasy like oh work instead of family, you know.

Mike Worth: Money instead of true relationships all that stuff and one of two things happens in the in this kind of trope.

Mike Worth: And they both need the same thing they both get in an alternate shot at a different reality that's kind of like what are the I think one of the big tropes right either they get the wish fulfillment.

Mike Worth: or they get an external thing like I think there's one that I haven't seen there's one more like an angel is basically designed to like steer the person kind of like three.

Avish Parashar: yeah and you know the.

Avish Parashar: supernatural the broad category and we can sub divide my matrix of hallmark movies.

Avish Parashar: In general Mike was talking about and I figured out if you take the y axis of dramatic slash sappy romantic.

Avish Parashar: And comedic and the X axis of supernatural versus non supernatural those are four basic hallmark movies so we've done the comedic the one that dropped today on our podcast called near miss kiss was just straight romantic comedic.

Mike Worth: Fine podcast.

Avish Parashar: yeah that was that was like hallmark movies, that we had a lot of fun with that.

Avish Parashar: But with the supernatural there's the wish fulfillment or ironic wish fulfillment yeah but there's also they can also be like ghosts and time displaced people so there's.

Avish Parashar: Before Christmas with a K, whereas.

Avish Parashar: 14th century night.

Avish Parashar: there's like.

Avish Parashar: I think it's called the spirit of Christmas, where a woman like has to like sell this manner, but when she gets there it's like haunted by a spirit, who she, of course, falls in love with, I believe that we were thinking more of the wish you know almost like.

Avish Parashar: it's a wonderful lifetime.

Mike Worth: Right right like the and again that that that's what I was saying, like if there's an angel something involved they're basically doing a wish fulfillment That was what your life would have been like if you have done that it's constant Nicolas cage thing, where he did the.

Avish Parashar: You know yeah man.

Avish Parashar: yeah yeah so alright so we've got a wish now.

Avish Parashar: The whoever the grantor of the wishes once in a while it's just done some reason but there's often like you said, like and it's always like a wise ass like an older person who's always like slyly.

Avish Parashar: You know, showing up throughout the story and kind of nudging them or winking at them are right.

Mike Worth: Now Now let me know, let me ask this and it's okay to be too in depth, for this one does that person have a vested interest in getting the conversion like they're an angel that needs to get its wings like it's a wonderful life or it's just I guess my job, like I do.

Avish Parashar: ya know usually it's just something like asshole who's like Oh, by the way.

Avish Parashar: If you're deciding is a family show we're pretty clean, but we do drop some language.

Mike Worth: yeah.

Mike Worth: We don't we don't get super naughty but like 13 and up was it but.

Avish Parashar: If you're like on a different coasts and you're watching this at work.

Avish Parashar: You know, we may drop some put.

Avish Parashar: Not a lot, but just you know.

Avish Parashar: But usually it's like yeah it's it's usually the person you never find out why they're doing it, I mean you, just like the spirit of Christmas right there like they're doing it to help this person who is almost always a female reconnect with her.

Avish Parashar: her family her right.

Avish Parashar: is almost always a reconnection right.

Avish Parashar: Like.

Avish Parashar: Well that's what it is it's never a person who like grew up and never like Christmas.

Mike Worth: Right right they had their childhood innocence and their love of all that is good, with Christmas and it fell away that's a huge trope.

Mike Worth: And in this what I don't think there's a dead relative in the first one there's always a dead relatives.

Mike Worth: In this yes everyone's still alive, because.

Mike Worth: You have to have.

Mike Worth: The strange people come back and reconnect.

Avish Parashar: Oh yeah yeah well it's when when it's an alternate life like if she's going to encounter everyone from a previous life and she's gonna want to connect with them, but they're like oh Where are you missing.

Avish Parashar: it's always a female leader like 99% of time, you know there's almost always a sassy sassy best friend or sister.

Mike Worth: yeah yeah exactly yeah like a who's the one from lower merion that I love Tina fey Tina fey be phenomenal that.

Mike Worth: it's basically.

Avish Parashar: Like the friend the fight again doesn't believe her.

Mike Worth: Right so so the here's the thing what is in the trope, why is the wish happening to show her alternate stuff Is it because she's broken something, and she has a chance to fix it.

Mike Worth: Because that's usually what I think it is usually it's like she's headed down a path where she's gonna make a decision it's.

Avish Parashar: going to.

Mike Worth: hurt a lot of people, or you know, create a structure that's you know anti Christmas.

Avish Parashar: yeah and that's our five minute timer.

Mike Worth: We don't care I don't care it's Tuesday we're going.

Avish Parashar: I don't know she's I mean there's almost always something to overcome there's some reason she lost touch and why she became so like career driven and material and into the city.

Avish Parashar: You know universe like cities bad small towns good i'm right but I don't know if it's like it could be that she broke something but and that can kind of come out of the improv I think.

Mike Worth: So last thing is her foils there's a man that she didn't settle down with because of one divergence, and when she goes to the which film he realized that he was a true love, what about the other guy that she's currently with it's your jerk or the just a bad fit.

Mike Worth: Because what.

Avish Parashar: I find with wish fulfillment she.

Avish Parashar: She ends up realizing she's in the right place to be oh Oh, she got her husband and her kids or whatever, and then.

Avish Parashar: She sees what our life could have been like actually taking the other path, but realizes oh no like I you know, like the one I saw not that long ago.

Avish Parashar: there's a lot of tension in the relationship in the marriage because, like he's busy with his career and this and that she's like I, but then she wakes up she longer with them.

Avish Parashar: So over the course of the movie she realizes Oh, she needs to be with the original guy, so I think when it's wishful phone.

Avish Parashar: yeah you know she's she's brought back to so she does maybe meet that one she didn't go wish that she always thought about but realized that he wasn't the best fit for.

Mike Worth: Okay okay well that makes sense we'll go with that one and.

Avish Parashar: or who knows it's improv so maybe everyone ends up dying by a giant bag of the.

Mike Worth: aliens aliens.

Avish Parashar: we've gone there before alright, so that we got some basic crops and again if anyone wants to add, please feel free to.

Avish Parashar: throw some in the comments are happy to to see what you got there and so now that brings us to segment two.

Transcription of the “Creating the Outline” Segment (Unedited and Un-Cleaned up)

Avish Parashar: Which is creating the outline, so we are now going to spend about five minutes, creating a high level outline for our story it's.

Avish Parashar: we're going to use a four X structure it's similar to three x storytelling fruchter we just break Act two into two parts right have you explain more and we get to that.

Avish Parashar: And this is just kind of a starting point it's improv comedy, which means we may veer from this, we may completely ignore it, but it's the basic it's kind of like our basic.

Mike Worth: flow and keeping us from going off kilter you know it keeps it like organized a little bit you know.

Avish Parashar: Exactly so.

Mike Worth: For you, the listener.

Avish Parashar: Five minutes starts now.

Avish Parashar: alright.

Mike Worth: So next one is pretty easy we're gonna.

Mike Worth: it's gonna be a female.

Avish Parashar: The main character is going to be female we established her her life satisfaction.

Mike Worth: And the hook is in act one of this kind of thing it's materialistic Lee satisfying but spiritually lacking does that make sense.

Avish Parashar: yeah she's successful she she has all the trappings I guess.

Avish Parashar: You know what it is like her life isn't she doesn't appreciate this is a little different from the non supernatural because he has them she doesn't appreciate it and understand what she has right.

Avish Parashar: Like in the in the non supernatural one she has it but it's missing something here what she's missing is really.

Avish Parashar: Like Maybe she needs to make some decisions and changes, but for the most part, like the stuff he's got his good she's just so.

Avish Parashar: Uncertain or resentful or sad she missed out on you know the other path.

Avish Parashar: So we see all the.

Mike Worth: yay and then they get nurtured like pummeling my head okay yeah so that that's that what does that mean okay so got us a rough that she's got everything she needs so she's actually supposed to be a pretty.

Avish Parashar: content and maybe not necessary everything like Maybe she is like gave up her career to just be a family person.

Avish Parashar: And then through the things she realizes that she didn't need to give it up, she read text her love of architecture, but yeah she don't have like everything but she's she's got a good life but there's some things there that are you know, causing her headaches problems.

Mike Worth: Okay, so oh yeah.

Avish Parashar: And I think it ends.

Avish Parashar: yeah act one will end with the wish being granted her encountering the person right, so we do need to meet some of these other people, the sassy friend the.

Avish Parashar: The angel.

Mike Worth: she'll be married right with family.

Avish Parashar: Probably doesn't have to be but.

Mike Worth: yeah let's let's not not as soon as I put on the on the table there, and so, at the end of the day, which he basically says she's now she's yeah she's got a comfortable of, say, I watched Christmas air force drop yesterday, so I went back to what's up a little bit off on that.

Avish Parashar: watching the wrong hallmark movies.

Mike Worth: So Charlie boy was great um no but you know I know you're saying what you're saying is this she's got a comfortable life.

Mike Worth: uh she's got the things that if you look at it through a external lens is like you've got a wonderful beautiful wonderful life she's like Oh, but I miss this chance because it's pivot point that I had.

Avish Parashar: In right and then she gets to see.

Avish Parashar: What life would have been like.

Mike Worth: Okay So yes, that's gonna be.

Avish Parashar: that's a pretty standard mentoring angel in Act two.

Avish Parashar: She wakes up and is in this new world so there's obviously the you know wtf she's like.

Avish Parashar: You know it's like the most these movies, a genie doesn't grand her the wishes Teller she just kind of wakes up and all of a sudden she's like oh yeah where Am I like this is row, this is my old high school flame is my husband now and.

Avish Parashar: So there's a lot of like discovery of this new of the wish fulfilled.

Mike Worth: yeah yeah and she's right into active is all about getting the crossing the threshold she's now in the Special World so we just want to basically described how different everything is and how maybe initially she kind of was like this is so cool.

Avish Parashar: i've got yes.

Avish Parashar: I think in this one she's just reacting and she's so happy to have all these things that she thought she needed in a previous life yeah oh.

Avish Parashar: she's happy there might be a little bit of conflict, you know he started.

Avish Parashar: You know, maybe she misses like her family her kid from a previous life but, overall I think she was like.

Mike Worth: Well funny but then we can do we enact to we can actually play what in the other version of the homework thing was act, one which is like oh she's got a great life but she's like doesn't have time for family and she's not doing.

Mike Worth: All these christmasy things that you used to do because she's so busy, and so it's like you kind of like take act one from you know near miss kiss and you make it act to have this, you can see i'm getting at where it's.

Avish Parashar: Like.

Mike Worth: she thinks she's happy it's like yeah we a lot of money, but you know.

Avish Parashar: So yeah alright, so it ends, I think, with.

Avish Parashar: Maybe the first challenge of this new life like you know things seem good, but then you realize oh like I don't have this oh now, I have to deal with this which i'd never had to do in my life yeah yeah.

Mike Worth: I got it I got it already I already have a conflict that i'm like I know it's it's improv interesting, but if you get an idea you got to like kind of like this long form, you can be a little bit.

Avish Parashar: Ly little way, maybe it'll come up maybe it won't but.

Avish Parashar: yeah so then.

Avish Parashar: I think in act three she kind of.

Avish Parashar: I think she kind of goes on a parallel path one is trying to get back to real life, like maybe trying to Maybe she goes to where her family was original family was and tries to meet them and connect with them yeah Maybe she tries to.

Avish Parashar: You know reconnect with angel to get out of this wish.

Avish Parashar: Plus she's got to deal with solving whatever issues and problems exist in the in the new.

Mike Worth: timeline yeah yeah and there's some crises there.

Avish Parashar: tries to tries to go back and tries to solve.

Mike Worth: This is a fairly complex, what did what did homework and so nuanced.

Avish Parashar: We might be adding maybe i've analyzed too much.

Avish Parashar: Maybe there's and then ideally this much nuance in them.

Mike Worth: Chinese brainwash someone to trigger him.

Mike Worth: candidate.

Avish Parashar: Other duck timer well.

Avish Parashar: Until we get.

Mike Worth: To act for is actually pretty straightforward, which is she does the following things she basically decides realizes your old life was amazing makes gestures.

Mike Worth: In her new life that are.

Avish Parashar: indicative.

Mike Worth: of her character from the old life.

Mike Worth: There by solving that timeline.

Mike Worth: And then the angel basically.

Mike Worth: says yeah you've learned your lesson and kind of brings her back to the.

Avish Parashar: yeah so she takes what she did in the new life and uses that to make changes in her old life and.

Mike Worth: And also, we appreciate that what she had is what she had.

Avish Parashar: Right that's kind of the dovetailing of the two lives is like Oh, I can do this, and this and here's how it lands and then she wakes up.

Mike Worth: yeah I like what you said about the idea of like her, like being like oh yeah I can actually take what I what I thought I gave up you know, like, I gave up the skill set to, and I can actually bring it in incorporate into my current LIFE and have the best of both worlds.

Mike Worth: yeah man look at my music.

Avish Parashar: You and yours go bad music.

Avish Parashar: Alright, so we got a pretty good outline like you said, we may or may not stick with that.