Has anyone ever wanted to make a TV show and have it air on television? I'm sure most people did this as children. For instance, when I was a kid I wanted to see a show about a family of humanoid rhinos that lived in the suburbs.
A screenshot of Steve jumping off the platform.
I know, that just sounds stupid, but I was an imaginative boy. This is a little known fact, but Nickelodeon once had a phase where they would sometimes accept fan-made shows.
Let me explain. For a few months in 2012, Nickelodeon had decided that if a fan sent in their idea for a TV show and Nickelodeon liked it, they would actually turn it into a show. They never announced this, of course, they just did it secretly.
Few people actually did mail in suggestions, but there was one man named Homer Alexander. Homer was a
A screenshot of Steve hugging Creeper
guy, 23 years old at the time, who dreamed of becoming a TV writer. He got the idea to make a children's cartoon when he realized how much little kids loved his material. He thought he could get even more money from producing a funny, kid-friendly cartoon for a big channel like Nickelodeon.
Homer came up with a cartoon called "The MineCraft Show", since lots of kids play MineCraft. It was to be about a student named Steve, who believed he could solve crimes but unknowingly always made the matter worse, and there was Bart. A friendly Enderman who was a master at stealing blocks
There was also Cupa, a MineCraft style girl who wears a Creeper hoodie. The next was Creeper, Steve's pet Creeper, and at last, Alex. A lot like Steve, except for a red hoodie and he had a secret crush on Cupa. Homer wrote this idea down and wrote some little bios for the characters. He even came up with a recurring villain named The Enderman.
Soon, Homer Alexander had stapled together a 'packet' of papers including the plot description, character run-down, and even a teleplay for the first episode. Homer sent this packet to Nickelodeon Studios and waited desperately for a response, if one were even to be given. In about 3 weeks, Homer had gotten a reply from Nickelodeon. They had sent a letter claiming they loved the idea and they would be happy to create a cartoon from it. Homer was overjoyed. He was told to stop by Nickelodeon Studios so they could work on a few episodes.
Homer had arrived to the studio and met up with the people Nickelodeon decided would work on the show. Most of them seemed to be fresh out of college, and some of them just looked like they didn't want to be there. Homer wasn't sure if he wanted these people to be writing episodes, but he reluctantly agreed and asked what he would do with the show.
Steve after he burned himself.
Homer asked this question to the president of Nickelodeon. Fortunately, Homer had been expecting a response telling him that he would be executive producer, director, or writer of the show. The response he actually got made him happy. Nickelodeon had told him he would be the director. Homer was once again overjoyed, and finally they made the first episode. After writing the plot for the episode, some staff and two other interns were in the editing room along with the lead animators and sound editors for the final cut.
I was one of these animators.
We received a copy that was supposed to be "New Miner", but when the title card popped up saying "Alex's Fate Expires", we were confused. The episode started off with Alex being a big jerk to everyone, and trying to get Cupa to go on a date with him in a Johnny Bravo style. Alex ended up alone, everyone didn't want to be with him. Alex decided to commit suicide. Yes, he decided to commit suicide. He burned himself gruesomely, not using flint and steel, but using a unMineCraftly stool, Gasoline.
He poured it allover him and even in his eyes. He took a match (which Homer added to be more cool) and dropped it, and in instant he went up in flames screaming "DEATH IS WHAT I DESERVE". The camera cut to Alex slowly opening his eyes and looking around, he finds himself standing on a single platform, overlooking darkness. In the darkness he sees demons, all looking up at him, torturing the souls along the cursed grounds that Alex is encountering. The demons are calling for him to jump down. Alex looks above and sees a light, a light that was very beautiful and shiny. This would present Heaven and Hell. Alex, resigned to his fate, jumps and plunges down into the darkness. This is when the episode ends, and the traditional credits for the show are shown, parallel to Alex’s descent into the darkness.