A few weeks ago, my friends and I set out on a quest to create an intro for a sitcom that doesn’t exist. Why? Mostly for the hilarious challenge to use every sitcom intro cliche in the book. Here are our rules of thumb:

1. Open with random shots of transportation, a skyline, and a helicopter view of a house you aren’t actually filming in.
2. Use the homeliest italic yellow font you can find. The sling font seemed just about perfect.
3. Shoot at 60 frames per second. In theory it should look smoother and better than the 24 fps used in films, but we’ve come to associate 60 fps with low-grade cheese.
4. Write nostalgic lyrics that are generic enough to be swapped in for any other family sitcom.
5. Cast a vibrant family of characters, including a well-meaning but easily flustered father, a saucy elderly relative, a teen girl heartthrob, a teen guy heartthrob, and an irritating vagrant who happens to show up at the house in every episode.

Part of the Family

Created by Mitchell Johnson, Oanh Vu, and Charlie McCarron.

Starring:
Alex Adams-Leytes
Mike Mellas
Gwen Wasmund
Alex Johnson
Oanh Vu
Buttercup

And Featuring:
Bill Blatzheim on vocals

We created this video for MNKino #34: Stranger.