“Fish Out of Water” follows the main character Sheriff McGills, a fish out of his element in a western town. The klutzy but determined sheriff spends each episode bumbling his way to victory against various evil plots and random villains presented in the ‘villain of the week’ style format. The primary villain, Weasel, also contributes to the chaos by either recruiting outsider outlaws to confront the Sheriff or by enacting his own silly schemes. There is an added emphasis on the theme of overcoming expectations and stereotypes and being who you want to be rather than what society says you have to be.
The entire show is presented in a lighthearted way, reminiscent of the Looney Tunes crossed with Phineas and Ferb meets Blazing Saddles.
The target audience is for children aged 8-16, although Fish Out of Water should contain elements that make the show enjoyable for older viewers as well. There is no gender demographic, as it should be suitable for boys, girls, and everything in between.
Each episode should be approximately 15-20 minutes long, as is standard with television shows. On a broadcast network, with ads breaking up the show, each entry should fit into a half an hour block of time.
Sheriff Mcgills is a goldfish that works as a sheriff in the western town of Shady Springs. He is a goldfish with a heart of gold, wearing a glass dome over his head to breathe (think Spongebob at Sandy’s house or Minion from Megamind). His forgetfulness, clumsiness, and naivety often causes him more problems, but also often provides him with solutions to said issues via sheer circumstance/ luck. Although he is intelligent, remarkably so for a goldfish, McGills can be forgetful and dense- book smart, not necessarily street smart.
Wanting to make a name for himself as well as see the world beyond his home pond, the Sheriff responded to an ad in a newspaper that blew into the lake where he lived. The ad was for the position of Sheriff in Shady Springs requesting anyone apply (and soon). Confusing the town for another pond/ ocean area, McGills accepts and makes his way there, only to discover that the town is in the middle of a desert. Never one to give up, he soldiers on, determined to become the greatest sheriff the town has ever seen, and prove to all that he isn’t just a fish out of water or useless, dumb goldfish.
Missy is by far the prettiest animal for miles around, and she knows it. Despite only male peacocks having beautiful feathers, Missy identifies as female, eschewing traditional gender roles in favor of being true to herself. She is a strong, if jaded, character that has a policy of only giving respect to those she deems worthy. Seemingly cold and aloof, she adopts the facade of a diva to protect herself, a facade that she is quick to drop while in the company of a select few. Missy has a soft spot for characters that try their best to do good, and will covertly help/look out for said characters behind the scenes. She’s used to being kidnapped and can always rescue herself single handedly, but recently has taken to seeing how McGills executes his own rescue missions.
Missy was born the only boy in a large brood, growing up with her peahen sisters most of her life. She found herself often wondering why her parents felt the need to push her so hard to be something she wasn’t- after all, isn’t beauty unisex? She enjoyed looking pretty, dressing up, dancing, singing, and acting, and wasn’t about to let the world’s bias keep her from living her dream. After years of trying to make it in big cities, she finally opted to work her way up- make a name for herself in Shady Springs, and grow her talents and reputation before trying again. For better or for worse, her reputation and looks have made her the go-to animal to kidnap and hold for ransom among outlaws. To say that she is over the whole ‘damsel in distress’ trope would be a huge understatement, so she took extra time to perfect her powers of kicking butt and self defense to keep kidnappings minimal and manageable.
A wandering wildebeest that enjoys the company of Sheriff McGills, eventually deciding to be his right-hand horse. Water doesn’t make any noises, choosing to passively observe most of the time before stepping in to help whenever it’s needed. The most observant of the cast, he has keen insight that characters can rely on should they bother to slow down and figure out what Water tries to nonverbally tell them. Next to Missy, Water has a level of steady reliability and competence that acts as a foil to the spontaneous and overzealous Sheriff.
While wandering the desert alone that isolates the town of Shady Springs, he happened upon a lost McGills also plodding through the desert. Originally distrustful of the fish out of water, circumstances required them to work together to find the town before they both died of dehydration. After some particularly harrowing moments along the journey, they came to appreciate each other and form a pretty great team. Sheriff McGills gave the name Water to the wildebeest, after concluding that his newfound partner was as important to him as the element. They have been a dynamic duo ever since.
Weasel tries his absolute hardest to emulate his personal hero, the famous outlaw known as Golden Tooth. Golden Tooth, a ferocious wolf with a reputation for his cunning and cruelty presents the antithesis of how a ‘cute’ panda like Weasel would be perceived. Ultimately, Weasel’s villainy is largely petty and mundane as he is primarily acting against his father’s wishes and attempting to be known as anything other than cute and wholesome. His ideas of what is evil are derived from an extremely strict and cold upbringing, rather than the harsh realities known by the actually evil characters that periodically appear. Think Batman’s Joker from the 1960’s and Dr. Doofenshmirtz from Phineas and Ferb.
Weasel calls Shady Springs home only because he was forced to live there by his wealthy, absent father(pictured below) in a move similar to sending a problem child away to a boarding school. Shady Springs, being far enough away from the prim and proper society Weasel was subjected to allows him to create his own identity. While growing up Weasel had a terrible and lonely childhood, where he eventually latched onto the sensationalized reports of the legendary outlaw Golden Tooth and wanted to grow up to be like him. Scary, rebellious, and free to do whatever he liked, who wouldn’t want to live like that? Weasel’s ultimate goal is to meet his hero and join his crime posse, or at least earn their respect.
golden retriever ragtime player
bullfrog general store owner
gopher mayor & his wife
sage badger
Mouse Priest
Platypus Sawbones
Turkey vulture undertaker (they/them)
Racoon Miner
Alpaca Tailor
Armadillo dynamite dude
Billy goat hillbilly
Rooster conductor
Roadrunner pony express
Rival postal service coyote
Chipmunk banker
Chameleon gambler (his color change is his tell)
Alligator teacher
Woodpecker railroad worker
famous wolf outlaw
Rattlesnake snake oil salesman
Glory, Grace, Goody, Goldy, Jiji
Eddie & Freddie
Moose headhunter mercenary
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➢ ➢ Boot Hill/ Pet Cemetery ➢
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➢ Missy’s Room
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➢ ➢ The Train Yard ➢ The Depot
➢ ➢ Pastor’s place
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➢ Cactus Forests ➢ Moonshine Operation ➢ Spooky Abandoned Cabin ➢ ➢ Outlaw Outlook ➢ Geysers ➢ Critter’s Canyon ➢ ➢ Weasel’s Lair ➢ The Pit ➢ Crystal Caverns
➢ ➢ Money Vault
The pilot episode that introduces us to the Sheriff as well as the town. It will establish the main characters and their roles/ personalities, as well as a few of the supporting characters. The episode will be longer, or a 2-part deal, as the main conflict involves having the Sheriff to-be ‘prove himself’ before he can get the badge.
Missy’s sister(a peahen) comes to town for a visit and reveals a thing or two about Missy’s character, primarily the difference between a Peahen and a Peacock. She urges Missy to “stop pretending” and to act more like how He(Missy) ought to, which Missy(uses She pronouns) declines. The main moral of the episode is about acceptance and tolerance, but also being able to put your foot down and stand up for yourself, as well as the importance of having good friends that like you for who you are and are always down to punch homophobes/racists in the face.
A run in with a particularly hungry goat leaves the Sheriff hatless and exposed to the scorching desert sun. The gang teams up to find a suitable replacement to keep Sheriff’s bowl from evaporating and sloshing over.
In a major mix up Water has been kidnapped and conscripted into the service of a rodeo, to be one of the bucking broncs during a fair. Sheriff goes undercover to rescue both Water and the other horses, ultimately having to win the tournament to free his friend.
Missy’s longtime mentor and friend Max, the golden retriever ragtime player, prepares to play for some talent scouts that have come to Shady Springs looking for new stars. Thinking that he needs some new tunes to ‘get with the times’, Max struggles to succeed playing on an electric keyboard modern music. But does he really need a change in tune when he can play classic ragtime so well?
After a particularly crushing defeat of his latest terrible scheme, Weasel declares that McGills owes most all his victories to his mount, Water. Determined to prove Weasel wrong, the sheriff chooses to undertake an arrest alone out by the desert bluffs.
Two possum brothers arrive at Shady Springs and attempt to scam the town by having one fake a fatal accident in the town square. Accusing the townsfolk of the murder, one demands that they pay for the funeral, while the other plays possum. It’s up to the sheriff to sniff out and put a stop to their scheme.
Wanting to encourage a down on his luck prospector, Sheriff McGills places one of his golden scales in the prospector’s pan while he’s distracted, making it seem like he found gold. Renewed and cocky over his new ‘find’, the prospector takes it to another level with the bragging, making McGills wonder if he made a mistake.
A bunch of troublemaking geese descend on the town of Shady Springs and cause chaos. The sheriff manages to chase them out of town, but he’ll have to catch them before he can arrest them- a seemingly impossible feat.
A series of unfortunate accidents have happened across Shady Springs, prompting Weasel to take credit for the circumstantial pandemonium. But when major disaster strikes leaving the whole town helpless, Weasel switches sides for a little while and comes to the town’s rescue.
In an attempt to unnerve the sheriff of Shady Springs, a band of bandits spread the rumor that the legendary wolf outlaw GoldenTooth has his sights set on their town. Weasel overhears this and does everything in his power to prepare to meet his idol and impress him.