Night of the Zombie Wranglers

Title:

Night of the Zombie Wranglers

Genre:

Comedy - Supernatural - Mystery

Logline:

A pair of skeptical city dwellers get an education in the world of the supernatural when they are sentenced to spend 24-hours as Zombie Wranglers by a judge in a small New England town.

Summary:

Night of the Zombie Wranglers is a supernatural comedy like Ghosts on NBC and in comparison, to television of the 1960’s The Addams Family and The Munsters only using today’s technology and knowledge. Devin Night and Jason Harbinger, best friends since childhood become part of the 330-year old curse that lingers over the town of Disguise, MA. as they get caught speeding. Fulfilling their duties as Wranglers, they search for a way to break the curse to free the town and the Wranglers. Their attempts don’t go as planned.

Pilot Episode:

“More Tricks than Treats”

Synopsis:

Welcome to Disguise, MA the sign reads as a car speeds through the streets of the small New England town. Suddenly, a police car appears from nowhere and pulls the speeding car over. Smiling as he climbs out of his squad car Sheriff Bixby makes his way to the driver’s window. He leans down and his grin widens when he sees the two men inside. His night has just improved significantly.

After they get caught in the local speed trap Devin and Jason are sentenced to 24 hours and 42 minutes of community service. To begin at once. They are sworn-in as Zombie Wranglers using an ancient oath. Devin and Jason are introduced to Karl “with a K” an experienced Zombie Wrangler who is going to show them the ropes. He gives them each a “Zombie kit” which contains several 3-foot lengths of soft rope, a dozen cans of sardines, and a boombox containing a cassette tape of Anne Murray’s greatest hits.

“It makes the Zombies compliant,” Karl tells them.

They finish their training and are sent out to round-up some Zombies in a U-Haul truck.

“Just stick em in the back with a partially opened can of sardines. They are attracted to the smell and as long as the can is only partially open it will keep them occupied so they don’t try to escape when you put new ones in the back,” Karl explains.

Devin and Jason find their first Zombie when he wanders into the road, and they hit him with the truck.

Future episodes:

“Curses” – Devin and Jason find out they are now part of an ancient curse and must return every year to fulfill their duties as Zombie Wranglers or die. We meet Karl and the Wrangler “Wall of the Dead”. Parts of the ancient curse are explained, and Edgar makes his first appearance.

“The Night is so Young” – Devin meets Connie, a fellow wrangler and becomes smitten. He invites Connie to join him, and Jason catch zombies. She agrees. As they head out, they ask where her Zombie kit is, and she says she doesn’t have one. They offer to share theirs. They use a can of sardines to lure a small group of zombies out of a ravine and into the truck. Devin closes the back of the truck and turns to Jason and Connie; however, Connie is not there. They check the truck and find Connie staring at the partially opened can of sardines. It is then that they realize Connie is a zombie.

“The Witching Hour” – The sun has gone down, and the kids are out in force as ghosts, goblins, and ZOMBIES!!!! Making it difficult for the wranglers to catch the real zombies. Romance continues to blossom between Devin and Connie despite the fact that she is technically dead.

“Kathleen Elizabeth Wallace Smith” – Devin and Jason break into the courthouse to find the name of the witch. They realize that Sheriff Bixby is an ancestor of the man responsible for all of this.

“History of the Curse” – Devin narrates the story of the curse as we watch the scenes come to life in the form of flashbacks. Kathleen is portrayed by herself. Henry is portrayed by Sheriff Bixby. Edgar makes an appearance.

“What a Life” – Devin and Jason while searching for a clue to reverse the curse are trapped in a mausoleum under the local church with Karl and a rabid zombie that bites Jason. Karl tells his story, and the trio fends off the zombie and looks for a way out.

“Dead in the Night” – (season finale part 1) In a desperate attempt to save Jason’s life (he was cursed during one of the attempts to break the curse), Devin tracks down the witch who cursed the town wandering around a maze. He chases her through the muck in a Benny Hill type scene. He finally catches her. She tells him a riddle in which lies the clues to save Jason’s life. “You can save your friend,” she says. “But you will never save them all.” “Oh yes I will,” he replies as he cuts off her head.

“Dead in the Night” – (season finale part 2) As the time nears midnight the wranglers lead the zombies to the cemetery. Devin returns to the cemetery and shares the riddle with the rest of the wranglers. They are all perplexed until Connie suddenly realizes it’s the recipe for Maud’s chicken soup. Devin and Connie say good-bye (they have figured out she is a Zombie). Devin races to Jason and stops Jason from dumping out the soup. He tells Jason he has to eat some of the soup to live. They both look at it, the soup is a grayish-brown. There is only fifteen seconds until midnight, it’s almost too late. Jason drinks the soup and gags. He starts hacking and coughing, then slowly stands upright and his face has returned to normal. The two friends celebrate thinking they have saved Jason and broken the curse as it is now past midnight. They are interrupted by the Sheriff and Karl. “Don’t get too excited,” the Sheriff says. “Why not?” Devin asks. Karl steps further into the room followed by Connie and three other Zombies. “We have a new problem,” Karl states. (Cliffhanger until season 2)

Characters:

Devin Night – mid 30’s He works at his dad’s advertising agency though he really wants to be a scientist. He has a B.A. in Marketing with a minor in Anthropology. Educated and grounded, he doesn’t believe in ghosts, goblins, OR zombies! He does believe in love and tends to fall for every pretty face that looks his way.

Jason Harbinger – mid 30’s Has no real-life ambition, he followed Devin to college and got a degree in Communications which he puts to use at Devin’s father’s ad agency. And though he doesn’t try very hard, he is very good at his job.

Connie – early 30’s Connie is recently dead and doesn’t know she is dead. It takes a couple of years for the dead to realize they are dead. Connie had been a preschool teacher. Never married, she spent her living years looking for love unsuccessfully.

Sheriff Bixby – The 8th great-grandson of Henry Bixby. He was born in the late 1800’s, His wife was Maud Smith Bixby, the 8th great-granddaughter of Kathleen Elizabeth Wallace Smith. He has lived so long because every year when she returns from the dead, he eats her food. No matter how gross it is, he eats it! Physically he looks young, maybe in his 50’s, but when you look into his eyes there is worldliness that only the very old know.

Karl (with a K) - Experienced Zombie Wrangler Karl is tough on the outside, not letting people in. Think of him as an old military man, gnarled from battle, he has seen it all and begrudgingly shares his knowledge with the FNG’s. A man of the world, he grew up in Europe travelling all over the world with his family as his father was in the US Army. When he reached adulthood, he continued to travel the world not knowing howe to put down roots in one place. But then during one of his travels he met a woman who changed his world. He asked to marry her, but she was engaged to someone else. She returned to her hometown of Disguise to return her ring so she could marry Karl. But her fiancé was a jealous man and he killed her and himself. Karl attended her funeral and vowed to watch over her even in death. He tied himself to her and the town as he became a Zombie Wrangler and a resident of Disguise.

Supporting characters -

Edgar – a zombie so old he cannot communicate, and his left arm falls off randomly. Edgar is one of the ancestors of the original walking dead. When he was alive, he lived during the time when the curse was placed on the town.

Maud Smith Bixby – a zombie, she was a cook when she was alive so that’s what she does when she comes back to life. Only her secret ingredient now includes parts of herself. She is the 8th great granddaughter of Kathleen Elizabeth Wallace Smith and was married to Sheriff Bixby.

Kathleen Elizabeth Wallace Smith – the originator of the curse she was a woman scorned by her betrothed and run out of town by the people there in the 1660’s.

History of the Curse

Kathleen Elizabeth Wallace Smith, living in Disguise, MA was betrothed to a prominent businessman named Henry Alexander Bixby. Henry never loved Kathleen and, to be honest, found her quite unappealing. He left town the night before their wedding, leaving poor Kathleen alone at the altar. He returned several weeks later, on October 30th, with a young bride named Sally Mae Winters in tow.

Kathleen was furious and heartbroken. She called Henry out into the streets and demanded that he pay for his sins. Instead, Henry lied and told the townsfolk that Kathleen had been unfaithful (she had not) which broke their vows. He then demanded that she pay for her sins.

The townspeople turned on Kathleen (why wouldn’t they? She was a mere girl and Henry was a prominent businessman, surely, HE wouldn’t lie). They threw stones at Kathleen breaking bones and causing huge bleeding gouges in her skin as they drove her out of town.

Hiding in the nearby forest, Kathleen, beaten and broken, cursed the town and all who dared to live there. The town was appalled when, as the clock struck twelve that night, the dead rose from their graves. In terror, the townspeople attacked dismembering the dead.

At midnight, the dead disappeared into their graves once again, but the living ancestors were now dismembered. Anything that happens to the dead when they walk, happens to the living after the dead go back to “sleep”. The curse does not apply to children or animals.

So, then the townspeople began to designate people to watch over the dead. Except the dead would turn on them and it just got messy. So, they tried hiring outsiders, but the outsiders would leave after seeing the first zombie. So, the town got together and created their own curse for the zombie wranglers which tied those who took the job to do it or die.

Several years after the curse had been put into place, Henry died. His bride Sally, decided to return to her own hometown of Salem, Massachusetts. A few years later, she got very sick and died. When midnight struck on October 30th, Sally rose from her grave and wandered the streets. The townspeople reacted like any God-fearing person and set her on fire. Thus began the true beginning of the Salem witch trials. Of course, poor Sally was never seen again but when the people in Disguise heard of the trials, they knew they needed to keep all their dead buried within the city limits. It wasn’t safe out there!