TV tweets

UNITED STATES: What do you do if your father swears a lot? You might put his words on Twitter. Who knows? A TV station might like the idea, and turn it into a show.

In their competition for audiences, both new and traditional media have to be increasingly innovative. The broadcasting station CBS went online for inspiration, and is now basing a new TV series on a popular Twitter page.

The Twitter page is written by Justin Halpern, who posts his dad’s comments on day-to-day events. The comments are funny, and sometimes almost inspiring, despite the generous use of profanity (or perhaps because of it). 

Tweets include: “You worry too much. Eat some bacon..."

Some of the more family-friendly tweets include: “You worry too much. Eat some bacon... What? No, I got no idea if it'll make you feel better, I just made too much bacon,” and “I just want silence. Jesus, it doesn't mean I don't like you. It just means right now, I like silence more.”

A suggested title of the show, “Bleep My Dad Says”, shows that many swear words will be taken out of the dialogues. “When a voice is so strong and distinct in 140 characters, you can see great potential for what it could be in a 22-minute episode,” an CBS spokesperson told The New York Times.

Halpern has already published his father’s words as part of a family memoir, called Sh*t My Dad Says. It was at 8th place on the New York Times bestseller list in mid-May.