Wendell Wright struggles to fit in taking late night calls for The Stuff Network alongside his outrageous colleagues while secretly dreaming of one day inventing a product he can showcase to the world.
Third Shift is a half hour comedy series about a Shark Tank like inventor who dreams of selling his products on the Stuff Network however he lacks the self-confidence to become an entrepreneur. The closest he could get to his dream is working late-night selling
the products aired on the Stuff Network.
While on his quest to find entrepreneurial spirit, he works around a character filled team each on their own journeys of self-acceptance, this is the Third Shift.
Wendell Wright struggles to fit in taking late night calls for The Stuff Network alongside his outrageous colleagues while secretly dreaming of one day inventing a product he can showcase to the world.
Comparables include Silicon Valley, I Love that For You, and Mythic Quest.
Below is a pilot summary.
Wendell - an aspiring inventor - hasn’t closed a sale in weeks. His time is spent empathetically listening to Jerry who talks forever and never buys. Alec, the brilliantly incompetent sales manager has two big announcements at the weekly meeting…
• Team Leader - Jackson - starts tonight. He’s a big shot from a rival company whose mission is to shape everyone up with ruthless sales tactics.
• The general manager is now the owner’s 23-year-old son Ian who was recently expelled from college for burning down his frat house.
Ian crashes the meeting and makes his intent known:
He plans to automate purchasing so he can get his nights back for that sweet club life. He announces if they don’t hit their sales numbers, there will be layoffs.
Jackson attempts to train but Willow, the earth-loving single mom of four isn’t on board. She won’t compromise her integrity for a sale.
Other characters…
Molly - HR - has anxiety about everything.
Ruby the office manager dreams of Broadway and has no concept of physical boundaries.
Damien the non-binary sales rep with an advertising background feels stuck.
Mike the army vet treats everything like a mission.
On the final night of the month, despite everyone’s best efforts, they are short of Ian’s sales quota with minutes to go.
Jerry calls, Wendell tells him everything and because he likes Wendell, Jerry orders enough products to hit their goal. The third shift is safe for now.
John Gearries and Rich Baker are a comedy writing duo that keep the laughs coming. They met at The Second City doing improv and decided to combine forces to create the production company Stronger Entertainment.
Third Shift, the web series, was the first project they took on and it won numerous awards prompting the creators to write the TV pilot you see here on this project page.