Family Affairs

Logline: The upscale McCallister family from Orange County, California, struggles to adapt after DNA tests taken on a whim reveal their family is more complicated than they imagined.

Series Bible

Pilot Episode

Scene 1: Candy McCallister, a bitchy 50-year-old “Karen-type” discovers that her recently deceased father is not her biological dad when she gets the results of her DNA test.

Scene 2: FLASHBACK - At a book club gathering, women curious to ascertain their ethnicity spit in vials and register online for their DNA tests.

Scene 3: At a family meeting, Candy breaks the news, and her eccentric 75-year-old mother, Carol Carmichael, denies the results. Candy’s three daughters - Coral (25), Claire (23), and Cassidy (19) have mixed reactions. Curtis McCallister, Candy’s husband, thinks she is making too much of a big deal over this discovery.

“Get a grip, Candy. Your dad will always be your dad. This new guy was just a sperm donor.”

“Shut up, Curtis, my entire life has been a fake. I don’t even know who I am anymore.”

Scene 4: Candy reaches out to her half-brother, Mike Rutherford, (mid-40s), who she matched with on her DNA test, and he agrees to set up a meeting with their father, Tom, (late-70s).

Episode 2

Scene 1: The meeting between Candy and her biological father, Tom Rutherford, goes well, but his daughter Tanya, (mid-40s), refuses to meet and sends Candy a nasty email.

Scene 2: After hearing about the meeting, Carol admits to having an affair with her former coworker and calls him on the phone.

Scene 3: Candy shares her DNA surprise with her book club. Another book club member discovered that she was donor conceived.

Scene 4: Candy’s youngest daughter, Cassidy, spits into a vial to take her own DNA test.

Episode 3

Scene 1: Carol and her old flame Tom Rutherford meet for lunch, and there are still sparks between them.

Scene 2: Cassidy gets her DNA results and discovers that - like her mom - she is also an NPE (not parent expected). Worse than that, when she reviews the results with her boyfriend Mark, he see his cousin Marty listed as a match to Cassidy and realizes that they are second cousins. Cassidy’s father, Larry Shapiro, is their former neighbor.

Scene 3: Cassidy messages Larry Shapiro, but he refuses to have any contact with her.

Scene 4: Curtis McCallister is so shaken up that he moves out of the house.

As he leaves, Candy yells after him, “Who’s making a big deal now? Larry was just a sperm donor!”

Episode 4

Scene 1: Mark arranges a meeting between Cassidy and his cousins, David and Marty, who are in their mid-20s. They all hit it off, and the boys are happy to have a younger sister. When they leave, Mark kisses Cassidy on the cheek.

“I will always love you, Cassidy. You are the most amazing woman I’ve ever been with.”

“Too bad we are cousins.”

“We will always be friends - the best of friends.”

“And you will always know me in a way no other “friend” ever will.

Scene 2: Coral and Claire take their own DNA tests to confirm that Curtis is their biological father.

Scene 3: Carol and Tom go on another date, and when Candy finds out, she throws a fit. Carol admits that she was always attracted to Tom, but her husband Paul was the love of her life. She tells Candy that she seduced Tom in an attempt to get pregnant. After five years of marriage without conceiving, she was desperate, and fortunately, her plan paid off and she was finally able to become a mother - her lifelong dream. She would do it all over again.

Scene 4: Larry Shapiro, a CPA from Lake Forest, shows up at Curtis McCallister’s KIA dealership in Costa Mesa.

Episode 5

Scene 1: Larry and Curtis discuss the situation in Curtis’s office.

“I’m guessing you are not here to trade in your Mercedes,” said Curtis.

“It’s been a long time,” said Larry. “When your daughter was born, I had a suspicion. She had the same eyes as Marty. I just knew.”

“So that’s why you moved and broke off all contact?”

“Pretty much. It seemed like the best move for all involved - to keep our families together.”

“And now?” asked Curtis.

“I’ve spoken to Lanie, and the boys obviously know. They’ve met Cassidy.”

“And you?”

“She’ll always be your little girl, Curtis, but I do want to get to know her. With your permission, of course.”

Scene 2: Tanya, accompanied by her brother Mike, finally agrees to meet Candy. The meeting begins on a good note. The women strongly resemble each other physically, but have opposite personalities. While Candy could star in the “Real Housewives of Orange County,” Tanya is a down-to-earth high school English teacher from San Clemente, who is married to a surf shop owner. When her father Tom shows up with Carol on his arm, both women have a meltdown.

Scene 3: Curtis and Cassidy take a walk on the Newport Beach pier to discuss their relationship. Curtis reassures Cassidy that his love for her will never change; she will always be his baby girl. Cassidy explains that she now understands how her mother felt when she got her results - how confusing and unsettling that type of news is. She is devastated that Curtis is not her biological father and that she is not a “real” McCallister.

Scene 4: Coral and Claire get their DNA results.

Episode 6

Scene 1: Coral and Claire confirm that Curtis is their biological father and Cassidy is their half-sister. They also find a half-brother, Tyrone Harris, who is half-Black.

Scene 2: Candy and Tanya meet again and make an effort to have a relationship. They discuss their common interests, favorite foods, and struggles as teenagers. They bond as parents who love their children dearly.

Scene 3: Cassidy and Larry finally meet at a restaurant. He explains how at a neighborhood New Year’s Eve party everyone had been drinking heavily. After Curtis and Lanie passed out, he and Candy started making out and one thing led to another. When he saw Cassidy as an infant, he became convinced she was his and decided the best thing for both families was to move out of the neighborhood. After his son did DNA testing, Larry assumed the truth would eventually come out. When he told Lanie, she was angry, but after 30 years of a mostly happy marriage, she was able to forgive him.

Scene 4: Coral and Claire meet Curtis at his hotel room and share the news about Tyrone. Curtis is silent for over a minute and then he tells the girls about his trip to New Orleans during Mardi Gras and the beautiful Black woman he hooked up with. Together, they message Tyrone on the DNA website.

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NOTE: This show has the potential to be a huge hit. As more and more people explore DNA testing, families are being disrupted. The diverse and quirky characters in "Family Affairs" have enormous potential to keep this series interesting and engaging. The setting in modern-day Orange County, California, will cheap and easy to film.

Potential Storylines:

• Curtis and Larry become best buddies again.
• Cassidy experiences Jewish holidays with her new family;
• Tom is a real "tomcat" with more surprises along the way.
• Cassidy and Mark are still attracted to each other, despite being cousins.
• With this many diverse characters, the possibilities are endless.

(c) Joyce O'Day 2023. All Rights Reserved.