DISCLAIMER: This is a work of fiction solely expressing the views of the author. It does not constitute or imply the endorsement or or affiliation with any product, company, political candidate, or party. This was a 100% self-funded project.
What to do, what to do?
Rejected Parody Ideas
Should I repeat the formula? Should I parody another famous TV show theme song and repurpose it for the Pandemic?
By the time I started brainstorming an Animaniacs spoof, Dr. Amy Acton had moved on from her state health director post, and overall public sentiment had moved on from its short-lived consensus for anything dealing with the common good.
Ohio was now releasing weekly color-coded maps to show the comparative severity of COVID throughout the state.
Another sequel idea was a high-spirited game show called “What Color Is Your County?" with a Broadway showstopper-style song and dance number.
But no, I decided to develop a parody of the opening credits from an even older series than Laverne & Shirley. It was called The Six Million Dollar Man, on the air from 1973–1978.
I’d never even watched this show myself, but it sounded like a great idea!
Why? Well, Governor Mike DeWine had recently launched an incentive program to get Ohioans vaccinated called the VAX-A-MILLION Lottery, whereby five lucky recipients of the COVID vaccine would be chosen at random to also receive $1 million apiece.
Hence “The Five Million Dollar Man.” The rest, as they say, was history.
YouTube Views after One Year
Selected Artwork
Screenshots
Details
I tried to include tons of crazy details and sight gags. This highly technical computer readout happens to be an apple pie recipe from the Ohio First Lady.
In an effort to incentivize COVID vaccination, the fictional Governor fictitiously hurls vaccine syringes (and then bags of money) from high atop the Great American Tower at Queen City Square in Cincinnati ...
... while a local radio newsman reports from the scene, watching in horror as the falling objects hit the ground.
Before settling on “Who Wants To Get A Vaccine and then Possibly Become a Millionaire” as my fictitious alternate name for the Governor’s “Vax-A-Million” Lottery, I had a couple other ideas that I rejected.
Across the State
I enjoyed finding ways to work in cameo appearances of various places across our beloved Buckeye State.
Canton
Newark
Greenville
I started working in a few others but I had to cut them for time.
Youngstown
The old Warner Theater (now Powers Auditorium) in Y-town … where the Warner Bros. got their start!
Hocking Hills
Here the fictional Governor takes on the legendary Bigfoot.
Bryan
My favorite…. a fictitious encounter outside a classic candy company with its mascot being upstaged by the Governor (“Bring it on down to Lottoville”).
