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Jon Parker, who is the popular teen at Calvin Coolidge High School, faces many difficulties on his first day of his sophomore year: his evil younger sister announces she is attending the same high school he is attending, a tough principal, who watches him after reminding Jon about a situation that he caused last year and finally, Jon finds out that his secret crush was talking to another guy.
SYNOPSIS:
This sitcom has the humor of "Airplane!", "Police Squad" and "Angie Tribecca".
In a fictitious suburb of Philadelphia, it is the first day of high school for sixteen year old Jon Parker (who also tells the story via voiceover) and it starts with him having breakfast with his family: Ted Parker, Jon's father and an ad executive at a local ad agency, Carol Parker, a nurse at the local hospital and Connie Parker, Jon's fifteen year old sister and the proverbial thorn in his side. Jon's parents ask Jon if he is happy about the first day of the new school year and of course, Jon is not looking forward to it. Then, he really protests when his parents reveal that Connie will be starting her freshman year at Calvin Coolidge High School, the same high school Jon is starting his sophomore year. Jon continues to verbally protest Connie going to his high school, for fear his reputation at school will be tarnished if his fellow students knew about this. Later, Connie spills the beans about Jon's crush, Shyanne Michaels, a girl Jon has known since kindergarten, will also be attending Calvin Coolidge High. Then, his parents completely embarrass Jon by telling him about the days when they attended the same high school when they were kids and go overboard when they reveal that they were dating during their high school years.
As the parents drive the brother and sister to school, Jon and Connie get out of the car and enter the high school. Then, Jon tells Connie to get lost for fear that someone he knows might find out that he is related to her and that she is a freshman. As she leaves him, Paul Kendall, a sixteen year old nerd and Jon's childhood friend since kindergarten, sees Jon and the two reunite and have a discussion about what they did over the summer. Seconds later, they run into Dave Porter, a sixteen year old, who loves playing an electric guitar and enjoys listening to rhythm and blues music and who has known Jon and Paul since kindergarten. Then, Jon and Dave have a discussion about what they did over the summer. Then, quite to their surprise, they see Shyanne Michaels walking toward them through the hall and then, when she stands in front of them, Dave and Paul leave them alone and Jon and Shyanne reminisce about their days in kindergarten and greet each other on their first day as sophomores. Later, Shyanne finds out that Jon still has a crush on her and tells him that she knows about it. Jon finally admits this and asks her to be his girlfriend and she happily agrees.
Just then, Ed Tucker, a ruthless principal, makes the announcement for the students and faculty to meet in the school's auditorium. In the auditorium, the students and faculty are seated. Then, Tucker stands on stage and tells the entire auditorium about what is and isn't expected in his high school.
Then, Jon, who is in Tucker's office, because Tucker ordered him there. Tucker tells Jon that he will be watching him and makes sure that he doesn't get into trouble like he did in the spring of last year. Of course, Jon didn't think that what he did to solve the situation in question was that bad and Tucker reminds him that what he did was that bad, in fact, it ruined two students lives at the school to the point where they had to transfer to another school in another state.
Then, as Jon leaves Tucker's office, he goes to Mitchell's algebra class. As Mitchell explains the curriculum of his class, he notices Jon staring at Shyanne, who sits in the adjacent desk next to him. Mitchell, who is not happy, calls out Jon and accuses him of having an interest that is not algebra related. Jon tries to assure him that Mitchell's accusation is not true and tries to explain his actions, but Mitchell interrupts him and tells him that there will be no excuses in his class and then, he tells the entire class that if they slack off in his class in any way, he will give them detention.
After the last class ends, the students are in the hall. Among them, Jon, happy that the school day is over thinks about Shyanne and then, he is shocked when he sees her talking to another male student! Hurt and upset, Jon leaves the school.
Back at the Parker's house, Jon is in his bedroom, still hurt by Shyanne's deception. Then, he goes into a conversation with Katie Holmes (in a cameo) in a scene spoofing "Dawson's Creek". Jon and Katie talk to each other about relationships: Jon talks about his situation with Shyanne and Katie (in a spoof of her "Dawson's Creek" character, Joey Potter) talks about her relationship with "Dawson" (although she doesn't say the character's name). Then, she tells Jon to talk to Shyanne. Jon agrees and decides to do just that. Then, the scene is on a television screen and Jon turns off the television via remote control (The scene was actually a dream sequence.) and decides to take a hint from what he just watched.
The next day in school, Jon walks through the crowded hall and then, Paul and Dave join him and the three boys walk with him through the hall and talk about his situation with Shyanne. After the conversation ends, Paul and Dave leave Jon and he walks over to his locker and sees a note from Shyanne. He reads it to himself and then, he sees Shyanne standing in front of him. Shyanne tells Jon that she wants to talk to him and suggests that they have the talk in the gym.
Seconds later, Jon and Shyanne enter the gym, which is totally empty. Shyanne starts the conversation by saying that she needs to make a confession and states that she had been talking to another guy. Jon tells her that he knew and saw her talking to the guy. She explains and tells Jon that the guy she was talking to was her ex-boyfriend and how he tried to get her to go out with him again, but she turned him down. Jon looks at Shyanne in silence and he smiles when Shyanne tells him that she wants to go out with him and she loves him. Then, Jon and Shyanne embrace and give each other a passionate kiss.
Then, Paul and Dave enter the gym and smile as they see the couple kissing. Then, they walk over to the couple and the four friends reunite again and they promise to be friends throughout the school year and they leave the gym and go to their homeroom classes and begin their day at school.
Rated this logline
Barry A.A. Dillinger Thank you for your comment and rating.
Jon, I want you to know that I rated your logline, NOT your script or synopsis. The logline needs help to better present your film. Think of the logline like when you're on Netflix, looking for a new film to watch and you're reading a description of the film. Based on that description, you can make a quick determination of what interests you. If the description (or logline) doesn't spark your curiosity, you move on to the next one.
As for your synopsis, you certainly have some excellent ideas. I would urge you to re-work the logline to give a more succinct breakdown of the plot, as a whole, and go from there. Great job on the storyline, by the way. Keep plugging along! Looking forward to seeing more from you!
Barry A.A. Dillinger Thanks for the explanation. I will definitely rewrite the logline. Thanks for the input.
My pleasure!
Barry A.A. Dillinger I do have to admit: I do sometimes have trouble when it comes to loglines. I will look at some YouTube videos on the topic to make writing loglines a little bit better.
You could do that, Jon, or you could also just keep browsing and reading loglines here that are rated 5s and 4s. Even some 3s are quite good. While there are some that you see that are rated lower, it doesn't always mean that, overall, they're bad...it just means that not everyone always agrees that a logline is good or bad. However, if you concentrate on only reading 3s, 4s, and 5s, you should begin to see a pattern in the way they're written and be able to emulate them.
Rated this logline
Hi Jon, I can see what you're going for with the story, and the logline you have so far is improving. I would say to bring this up to a 4 or 5-star logline, it would be beneficial concentrating on the core elements of a strong logline -- world/setting, protagonist, goal, conflict and stakes -- and condense into 25-30 words if you can, to really sell the idea as succinctly but excitingly as you can. Hope this helps!
Rated this logline
Rated this logline