Suburgatory by Emily Kapnek (outline)

Good single-cam series pilot. Outline on next page...

ACT ONE: P.1-13
 
INT. VARIOUS LOCATIONS
We meet Tessa through voice over, and we’re introduced to the suburban moms.
 
EXT. SUBURBAN STREET – DAY
A conversation between Tessa and George as their U HAUL barrels down the street.
 
INT. U-HAUL – CONTINUOUS
George and Tessa continue their conversatio        n re: moms.
 
FLASHBACK
We learn why George decided it was time for Tessa to leave NYC.
 
BACK TO U HAUL
Tessa explains, in V.O., more about why they moved.
 
EXT. ALTMAN HOUSE – MOMENTS LATER
Tessa and George look up at the house. She hates it. There’s also a way to perky neighbor.
 
INT. TESSA’S BEDROOM – MORNING
Tessa wakes up. Odd. No sirens.
 
INT. GEORGE’S ROOM- MORNING
George has a similar reaction, then accidentally yells across the neighborhood that he has no wife.
 
INT. KITCHEN – MOMENTS LATER
George and Tessa talk. We set up school. We also set up his meeting at the country club, as George assures Tessa that it’s probably much fancier than it sounds.
 
EXT. COUNTRY CLUB – DAY
George pulls up. It’s very fancy.
 
INT. COUNTRY CLUB – CONTINOUS
George meets Noah. We learn more about why he moved here. We also learn that the women in the suburbs dig George. Most importantly, we learn that George really wants to find a good female influence for his daughter.
 
EXT. SUBURBAN STREET – DAY
Tessa walks to school. More voice over. Tessa then meets some dudes in a car and is pegged by a sugar free red bull. The act ends as she realizes, “My descent into Suburgatory had officially begun.”
 
 
ACT TWO: P. 13-19
 
INT. ROYCE HOME – DAY
Dallas welcomes George – who we learn is an architect – into her home. George makes a strange first impression, as his city instincts kick.
 
INT. DALIA’S BEDROOM – CONTINOUS
George learns about Dallas’ daughter, and what the construction project is. Ultimately, he arranges for he and Tessa to join Dallas and her daughter at the mall later. The scene ends with Dallas’ assurance that “Everyone loves Dalia.”
 
INT. HIGHSCHOOL HALLWAY – AT THAT MOMENT
Dalia meets Tessa. It’s contentious. We then learn that Dalia is Tessa’s assigned “buddy.”
 
EXT. HIGHSCHOOL HALLWAY – ELSEWHERE – CONTINUOUS
Tessa and Dalia walk the halls, learning that suburgatory definitely extends into the school. But then Tessa ducks into a bathroom.
 
INT. GIRLS BATHROOM – HOURS LATER
We learn through V.O. that Tessa’s been in the bathroom for a pretty long time. Tessa tries to make a friend with a down trodden girl, but she too calls Tessa a lesbian.

 ACT THREE: P. 20-36
 
EXT. SUBURBAN STREETS – DAY
Tessa is on her way to the train station when she’s picked up by George, Dallas and Dalia.
 
INT. CLOTHING STORE – LATER
It’s horrible for Tessa, and even George is basically having a panic attack in the mall. Tessa feels trapped, but is stuck.
 
INT. DRESSING ROOM – CONTINOUS
Tessa and Dalia have a conversation about where Tessa’s mom is. (She’s not dead, she’s… Gone.)
 
FLASHBACK
A Kramer Vs. Kramer reference explains quickly what’s up with the mom.
 
BACK IN THE DRESSING ROOM
Tessa and Dalia bond, kind of.
 
INT. JAGUAR – LATER
They all ride home. The kids are distracted. Dallas is dumb.
 
EXT. ALTMAN HOUSE – LATER
Tessa is whisked away by Sheila, as Dallas explains to George that she told Sheila about Tessa’s need for motherly love.
 
INT. RUMPUS ROOM – MOMENTS LATER
Sheila is awkwardly trying to mom. We also learn that Llisa and the Escalade D-Bag are her kids.
 
EXT. ALTMAN HOUSE – LATER
George confides in Noah. He doesn’t think this is going well with Tessa. Maybe Noah’s daughter, Jenna, can help?
 
INT. TESSA’S ROOM – LATER
Tessa is a druggy, boozey, grades obsessed girl. Tessa says, “I don’t think I’m cut out for the suburbs.”
 
INT. DINING ROOM – CONTINUOUS
George, Tessa, Jenna and Noah eat pot roast together. George and Tessa get in a huge fight. Tessa doesn’t need all these moms, she just needs George to be her dad.
 
INT. BREAKFAST ROOM – DAY
George and Tessa read passive aggressive books. Then Lisa comes over with an olive branch disguised as a breast exam pamphlet. Maybe things are looking up…
 
INT. TESSA’S ROOM – DAY
Construction noises inside. Then it’s revealed that there’s a subway sign in there.  That little moment is all that’s needed for reconciliation, “A sign that he was trying to see things from my perspective. So maybe I could try too.”
 
EXT. ALTMAN HOUSE – DAY
Tessa gets on the bike that George bought her. Turns out, he needs to teach her how to ride. And it’s a sweet moment.
 
INT. LIVING ROOM – THAT NIGHT
George and Tessa are laid up from their bike accident, and the moms are swarming the waters. Tessa realizes, “It’s not just me who’s stuck in Suburgatory. Dad is trapped here too…” She then vows that they are in it together. And that maybe the moms actually do have some good in them.

TAG
 
EXT. MANHATTAN STREET – DAY
Gladys the prostitute receives clothes in the mail from Tessa. It’s the clothes from A & F.


GENERAL LESSONS
This is an interesting technique. It opens Act Two…
 
TIGHT ON the inside of a refrigerator. It is STOCKED with Sugar-Free Redbull. A TAN and MANICURED hand reaches inside and plucks one. We hear a DOORBELL ring. DALLAS (O.S.) Coming! REVERSE ANGLE ON-- DALLAS ROYCE, 40, with giant lips full of Juvederm and sizable fake breasts. She pads towards the front door in her miniature exercise clothing. We are--
 

• V.O. introduces us to the suburbs. Most notably, in this show about a girl with no mom, we see the millions of suburban mothers.
• We learn:
  • Tessa moved here from Manhattan
  • She grew up with just her dad
  • Why they moved from NYC to the burbs. (What she did, what his reasons were. How she feels about it…)
  • George doesn’t have a wife
  • How Tessa views this place as a prison