A ruthless Texas senator hires a Machiavellian maniac to build an empire for his three children through a clandestine network of unsavory characters and mobsters.  

SYNOPSIS:

Type: Mid-budget Television Series

"The weak are always anxious for justice and equality. The strong pay no heed to either"

The Roman-à-clef saga, chronicles the Wagner family under patriarch Senator Jack Wagner, focusing on the transformation of his young daughter, Dior Wagner, from reluctant family outsider to ruthless politico.

Being the only series to sweep us behind the scenes of the mysterious club known as the US Senate, where committees are an imperious force, and whose chairman, unless weak, is emperor, Lord follows two parallel stories contrasting our protagonists on their ascent to, and descent from, power—a juxtaposition between Jack’s protégé, Cole Eastland, and the senator himself.

THEME: power corrupts, right v wrong, family redemption. AUDIENCE: 25+ TONE: dark, dramatic slow burn. CAST: a tapestry of characters both real and imagined with ages ranging from 20 to 70. Although the period is male dominated, the series’ strong-willed and ambition-driven characters like Elizabeth Wagner, Brooke Davenport and Senator Sophia Townsend often outshine their male counterparts. COMPS: Lord spans from 1959-80s, giving it a historical whisper like The Crown mixed with a family saga of Succession twisted into a political version of Sopranos topped with Deadwood-like true stories.

The Trader kicks off the series by detonating a political atom bomb. When one of Jack’s aides, Ray McKigney (father of 6), is arrested in a YMCA restroom with another man, it forces Jack to promote Cole. As the episode unfolds, we learn Cole coordinated this play, and although not as dramatic, parallels Michael Corleone murdering Sollozzo; an initiation of a young man into another world, foreshadows the immense evil under Cole’s polished veneer.

Lord has legs to go many seasons in a multitude of directions. With Season One, Cole not only upended Jack’s world, he must find who set him up, locate a missing classified file before Jack’s nemesis, Marshall Harris, and save Jack’s leadership vote. Meanwhile, Brooke Davenport, who will evolve in a classic hero’s arc, lands the press secretary position, but later discovers Cole strong-armed the congressman. Cole and Brooke become romantic. Cole and mob start a vending machine scheme, which later serves as Cole’s demise. In Season Two, Jack faces undercutting from the Senate’s old-timers, while being challenged by a young congressman. Brooke becomes close to Jack’s son, Joe, while Cole sleeps with his daughter, Dior. Elizabeth Wagner confronts Jack about the murder of agriculture investigator, while Marshall Harris discovers Jack’s forgotten son in a lunatic asylum. In Season Three, desiring to increase his power and amass a war chest, Jack stretches his tentacles into the Chicago mob and Hollywood elite. Ray McKigney plots revenge on Cole with Marshall Harris. Senator Sophia Townsend challenges Jack for Senate Leader. Marshall Harris is accused of murdering a high-end Hollywood prostitute while the mob forces Jack into political hell.

This is a serious genre piece, and I want to give the audience a thrill every week with driving tension and dark humor.

LORD OF THE SENATE - DRAMATIC TELEVISION SERIES