A superstar gourmet chef gets convicted of tax evasion, and is sentenced (by a judge who couldnt get a table at the chef's restaurant) to a supermax prison where he must work in the kitchens.

That article is such a good story that it's actually hard to come with a bad spin on it! But here goes: A former US President buys his dream home in (let's say) beautiful Switzerland - only to find out that the Secret Service agent who failed to stop him getting shot and wounded in an assassination attempt has made millions on the stock markets and now lives in the mansion next door. The regret-filled former bodyguard starts trying to 'make up for' his failure, but everything he does comically backfires, slowly driving the Pres half-crazy, until the Pres decides there's only one thing left to do - assassinate his (former) bodyguard...

That's actually not a bad idea. I think a pitch sold last year where a celebrity chef got busted for something and ended up at a dump in the South? If anyone remembers that deal, please post here. But JL, that is certainly a high concept maximizing the FOOW (Fish-Out-Of-Water) dynamic. It's like The Shawshank Redemption meets Ratatouille.

Thanks Scott. Maybe I have to try harder to think of a bad idea. It goes against my natural instincts :P I already did one FOOW prison thriller spec (DOWNFALL, on the blacklist). I'm not going back to prison again. Too depressing. Haha

I like it!

"Has there ever been a comedy about the Vietnam War?" 'Good Morning, Vietnam'. With Robin Williams doing a great performance as a DJ. An instant classic. 'Air America'. Rober Downey, Jr. is the best!

Carlos, how could I forget that! Of course. Thanks for reminding me.

I was just about to mention those two, too! What if you had Ken Jeong and his dad (or lover) George Takei... actually, it would be more comedic if it were lover... living next to a Patton-type cold war vet who was tired of all the sausage-packed bikini brief parties and Cher music and they had a battle of wits and pranks a la Grumpy Old Men. Add in Jack Black in boxers and a smoking robe who's their sloppy gay pool boy who insists on singing all the instrumental parts of ABBA and Queen while cleaning the pool and keeps flirting with the Patton guy over the fence while he's trimming his hedges or something. After a number of booby trap games and extra sudsy car washes in the driveway, it all comes to a resolute head when they both have a remote controlled airplane battle and Mr. Patton is thoroughly impressed with Jeong's and Takei's skills and they bond over that and the fact that they were all in the Navy... who'da thunk.

and they end up getting Mr. Patton in on the bikini brief party fest at the end :)

Ha, some good stuff there, Despina. I like mixing things up with other potential prejudices such as sexual orientation. Could put the warriors on equal footing and the defensive together against a world that is changing all around them.

The original story gave me tingles BUT calling on Despina's grumpy old men; The reunion between the two men is a big peace propaganda event, to lay the ghosts and prejudices of the war to rest. When they meet on stage, the gunman who nodded, reveals in a whisper, he ran out of bullets. He just came to finish the job. A clumsy battle ensues between the two old men. This leads to a heated exchange between the presidents of the two countries, a rallying of both nations, strained relations between the two countries and it looks like war is about to break out again.

Oh that's brilliant! I can picture the old men smiling and shaking hands and one leans in and whispers "I ran out of bullets..." while still smiling and waving for the cameras. The look on the other guy's face turns from happy to wtf drop-jaw.. and then an awkward slow-mo cane/walker fight ensues.