Lisa Corrao

One of the 2 hosts of The Jerk Show.  She's the new one in the show.  Lisa got this job because the former co-host's name was Lisa and she mysteriously disappeared.  They only interviewed Lisa's for the position because they already bought mugs and t-shirts and other merch...otherwise Mitch would have to pay for all of that stuff out of his own pocket.   (maybe show interviews of other Lisa's...hookers, crackheads, etc)

She's the small, bubbly one who always tries to cheer up Mitch.  She is a teacher turned stand-up comic.  Lisa is thrilled to have her own radio show (Mitch doesn't share her enthusiasm for it).  Ever the optimist, she often walks in on Mitch about to commit suicide.  She'll give him a pep talk and then immediately follow it with accidently doing something mean to Mitch.

 She's very pretty but has a poor self-image and can't tell when guys are hitting on her.  She is also very clumsy and incredible ADD.  Thinks she's great at everything, but usually sucks (ex: basketball).  Has a terrible memory.  She seems very bubbly, nice and sweet on the surface, although she has repressed rage and is sometimes on the verge of snapping.  Even though she seems really nice, she is also pretty self-centered.  She is a perfectionist but sucks at a lot of things.  She is a smart-ass and often says stuff that she shouldn't.  She has a child, but nobody ever sees her (maybe when it comes up, flash to a child locked in a car in the parking lot).   She's a feminist when it suits her, and is often a hypocrite on this topic.  It definitely seems that she has some underlying scorn for men. 

During comedian interviews, Lisa writes down rules about comedy that she's just learned.  I would like to have scenes/flashbacks of performing in clubs or in hell gigs.

More details...

She is the worst dancer and singer on the planet but thinks she's good at both.  She is often accidentally racist.  We may have it that Forrest, one of "The Hammers" is in love with her but can't express himself in any way other than being a complete jerk. 

Mitch Phillips

One of the 2 hosts of The Jerk Show.  He's been in the radio business since the 80's and is burnt out.  He's always negative and says smart-ass remarks under his breath.  He can wear a smile for the show, but as soon as they wrap, he's suicidal again.  He is always on the verge of suicide...Lisa often walks in on suicide attempts.  Sometimes he starts to feel Lisa's enthusiasm, but as soon as he does, something bad always happens.  He has a small dog named Lisa.  He may have a fetish for girls named Lisa, that will always be alluded to.  He got this job because his dad was a famous radio dj named Flipper Phillips.  He can never live up to his dad's legacy.

(He got that nick name/radio name in the 1960's as the first DJ to conduct a one on one radio interview with Flipper the dolphin from TV). It was the model for talk shows and interviewers for decades. Books have been written on it, classed are taught in journalism schools. Oprah, Barbara Walters, Larry King all modeled themselves on Flipper Phillips groundbreaking dolphin interview that changed the media world.

Mitch has always been unfairly compared and contrasted to his "great" dad, and Mitch has never been able to live up to those comparisons or expectations. Mitch tries to be a competent talk show radio host, but his career has never gotten past working at small radio and tv stations. But through it all, the humor and humanity of a guy trying to be entertaining shines through.

(flashback idea: Mitch's past interviews - young energetic Mitch trying to match/outdo his dad's fame by interviewing different animals <gorillas, giraffes, leopards> and gets attacked/mauled / crapped on or just ignored by the animal. it always goes badly)

Mitch has a bad habit of often forcing himself to be funny in the form or using hacky catchphrases in conversations with Lisa and guests ... the result of Mitch saying something hacky ("That's what she said!") will always result in awkward pause... a long silence - really long - where the animated characters freeze - maybe blink, until Lisa resumes the conversation.

When Mitch hears the word "ratings" he immediately has an odd reaction like an eye twitch or wetting his pants.

Casey Peruski

The Jerk Show's faithful intern.  Casey is a local stand-up comedian who is their intern.  He tries really hard, but he's terrible at his job.  It turns out that he is a career intern, and has interned for many other companies acquiring a skill-set from each one along the way.  He comes from a lineage of interns and he got this job because his dad used to intern for Mitch's dad, Flipper Phillips.

A very enthusiastic intern/whipping boy. He does the weather and traffic, and everything else that needs to get done. He’s talented and lazy when comes to himself but not others, should be further in his career. Has a positive attitude but never progresses past intern

Interned for WWE, Howard Stern, Chuck e Cheese, Cinnan bun, Good Year Blimp, etc and has learned a little something from every past job.

Also Stand up comic that runs a crappy open mic in town that can later be the setting for future scenes.

Station Manager

Always angry that The Jerk Show's ratings are low.  He seems like he might be a Nazi.  He constantly compares The Jerk Show to the station's successful show, "The Toolbox."

THE HAMMERS

Forrest "The Hammer" Shaw and Dave "Also The Hammer" Williamson are the hosts of the station's sports show, which is also their most popular show, "The Toolbox."  They are dumb, obnoxious, douchey, sexist, and condescending.  Plus, they are terrible interviewers (ex: "do you think you gave 120% or 150% in that game?).  They are the jocks and the station manager, and everybody else, loves them...they are the golden boys.  They have great ratings and major sponsors, like DeWalt and Home Depot, etc...they may even have patches and other merch from their sponsors.  Their intern never says a word.  He just sits in the corner and gets a football thrown at his head.  It might be funny if nobody even knows his name and maybe he gets a raise in pay even though he doesn't do anything, while Casey works hard for no money.

They always go to strip clubs, even for breakfast and lunch buffets.  Dave wears wrist bands for no reason.

 

HOMELESS GUY

This is Bumpy Johnson, a homeless guy who sits in front of the station.  Everyday, when Mitch and Lisa walk into the station, they drop a dollar into his hat and he begins to sing about The Jerk Show.  He constantly has flies buzzing around him and keeps various things, including pets in his beard.  At the end of every episode, he explains a wise moral that's been learned (close-up on his face, slowly zooming out until he makes his point), when he's done he does something a crazy homeless person would do (ex: pee in a jar).  The pictures above are of comedian, Adrian Mesa, who will be the voice of Bumpy.  He doesn't have to look like him though.  I definitely want him to have a long beard and be as stereotypically homeless as possible.

GUESTS

Every episode will have a special guest, who is a guest on the radio show.  It should always be a stand-up comedian.  The pilot episode's special guest is Al Jackson.  He's in town to do a comedy benefit for the Humane Society so that they can euthanize more animals.  "We're the most humane society of all the societies...last year alone, we killed 4 million kittens so that they would not grow up to possibly experience a difficult life."

THE DUCK

Casey adopts a duck.  Since we have no budget, he is going to train the duck to be the "dump duck"...to quack over curse words after we get fined by the FCC.