When is a Zebra a Horse?

When it has no stripes.

When is my script The Dukes of Hazzard 2?

When I look at the one I'm currently writing ;(

I can't avoid it. I have to come to terms with it. My script is a Dukes of Hazzard movie, but there aren't many similarities:

There are two extra main characters to go alongside the Bo and Luke type (actually there isn't really a Bo and Luke type).
There's no Uncle Jessie in sight.
No Daisy Duke type.
No Boss Hogg.
There is no car taking a starring role.
No bumbling deputy.
No yokel car mechanic.
No corrupt local government.
No Boars Nest.
(I can go on but I'll stop there)

What it does involve is four *good ol' boys*, driving suped up cars around 1970's backwater southern USA. Oh and a sheriff who is always one step behind them.

No matter how long I make the above list, those last few sentences simply say "Dukes of Hazzard", so I've called a halt to the project.

Now, I'm thinking I should be screaming at the person who thought it a good idea to do a Dukes of Hazzard movie and release it about now, but I'm glad they did. It has been a blessing in disguise for me and I finally think I've moved up a level as a writer (not the cash earned this year level I'm sad to say). In the past I may have just thrown what I had written in the bin and sulked for a week, but this time I have taken it as a sort of a challenge. Whilst in Starbuck's (see my last post), I re-wrote the idea. I've moved the story on a few decades to the present time, cut the number of main characters by two, changed the location to New York, removed the sheriff, installed the FBI and added the Mafia. However the core of the story remains.

You may think "big deal", but I am really pleased with myself. As recent as a year ago, I often wondered what I would do if I managed to sell "3500 Miles from New York", and the person paying the money said "Great story, but I want it to take place twenty years in the future and involve submarines and a massive man eating spider! A great big hairy thing!". I would freak and say, but that isn't the story! It takes place where it takes place, and it takes place when it takes place, and it involves what it involves!. Now I feel I've gained the ability to take the core story and place it in a whole new screenplay recipe.

Anyway, enough posting, I've got some more back-story to write :)