GEICO Cavemen Slated to Become an ABC TV Sitcom

Or should I say... GEICO Cavemen slated to become a TV sitcom?

It's true! Those insulted cavemen from the Geico Insurance commercials have a sitcom in development with ABC.

The cavemen ad campaign came about in 2005, with characters created by the Martin Agency, the same people behind the proposed Caveman sitcom. The premise of the Geico commercials is simple... and kind of strange. 2 cavemen, played by Ben Weber and Jeff Daniel Phillips are for, whatever reason, alive and well today, and are offended by Geico's claim that geico.com is "so easy, a caveman could do it."

The initial commercial, which was simple and to the "point" spawned at least 3 additional commercials, including my personal favorite (in a love to hate kind of way) that shows the Geico spokesperson who originally made the claim that geico.com was so easy a caveman could use it apologizing to the cavemen while browsing a menu at a fancy restaurant. Like in every commercial, the caveman is disgusted and that's the big laugh. At least, I think that's what they're going for.

Like all things that annoy me to death, I figured the supposed-to-be-long-dead-yet-here-they-are-bugging-the-crap-out-of-me-cavemen's days were limited. Apparently, I was wrong, and evidently, I'm in the minority wanting them to go away.

This year Geico launched a website, a highly interactive one at that, taking place in the cavemen's apartment. This website, located at http://www.cavemanscrib.com invites you in and lets you play around with things in the apartment, including changing the music on the iPod, knocking the power out trying to microwave some dip, and even walking into the bathroom while a caveman is taking a shower. It's like I've died and gone to Heaven, let me tell you. I'm sure there's even more to do at the caveman's crib; I couldn't stomach sticking around any longer to find out.

The Internet and commercials, though, do not true annoyance make. Surely, a sitcom based on the caveman characters couldn't be a reality. Couldn't be... but is.

ABC isn't just talking about it, they already ordered the pilot. The tentatively named "Cavemen" is one of 14 pilots being produced by Touchstone Television for the 2007 spring season. I think it bears repeating... the pilot will indeed be written by Martin Agency, the creators of the cavemen for the Geico commercials.

The plot of the new Cavemen sitcom is not exactly a long shot from the commercials - they are Neanderthals who live in modern times (Atlanta, 2007 to be exact) who don't wish to be treated any differently than the rest of us. And isn't that just completely understandable... after all, they're only supposed to be DEAD.

And there it is: The evolution from commercial, to website, to sitcom. I wonder if it's those Nielsen families that are responsible for all this...

At any rate, how long do you think this show can pull off the same caveman reaction to the same modern day prejudice? Will Geico advertising be sprinkled throughout the show, making it less a sitcom and more a really long, painful commercial?

On the upside, if they're ever at a loss for guest stars, perhaps they could get the gecko to make a nice cameo!

As much as I'd stay away from this show if it were on, I'm morbidly curious to see if it does get picked up. It's the masochist in me, I'm tellin' ya!