“Fluid” is an LGBTQ animated comedy series that follows Dave Davidson, a neurotic, sexually fluid self-saboteur who has terrible judgment when it comes to dating.
"The Orgy" (Proof of Concept)
Animatic Storyboard
Main Characters
Dave is an insecure bisexual who tries way too hard to win the affection of the man or woman he’s currently pursuing, constantly leading to schemes, farces, and situations in which he is in way over his head.
DAVE
Granny Dave is Dave’s hot blooded nymphomaniac grandmother — and also his roommate. While she is Dave’s best friend and confidant, she’s also prone to throwing him under the bus if it suits her interest.
GRANNY DAVE
DR. BEARENSTEIN
Dr. Bearenstein is Dave's paternal STD doctor who Dave sees so often that Dr. Bearenstein allotted him a custom pricing system dubbed "The Infinity Package." Philosophical, earnest, and existential, Dr. Bearenstein is desperately trying to find meaning in life and will experiment with everything from hobbies to near-death experiences in order to feel some sense of purpose.
FIN
Fin is Dave's successful and cutthroat ex-husband. They got married because Fin's company announced an incentive to promote LGBTQ employees. So Fin married Dave, got the promotion, then promptly got a divorce and sued Dave for alimony. In complete contrast to the romantic Dave, Fin is aromantic and operates purely from a place of fiscal-sexuality – he’ll do anyone for the right price.
BECKY
Becky is Dave’s unstable neighbor. Despite her spirituality and cheery facade, she’s selfish, petty and vengeful – she has a vision of what it looks like to be living her best life, and if anyone harshes her mellow, she will happily ruin their life. But, she will always say Namaste before doing so.
PROPOSED CAST
Ian Nelson
"DAVE"
Jennifer Coolidge
"GRANNY DAVE"
George Takei
"DR. BEARENSTEIN"
Forrest Goodluck
"FIN"
Tyra Banks
"BECKY"
Creators
Eli Bock
Eli Bock is an accomplished writer, animator, and animation director whose credits include being an animation director for MTV's "Great Party Story Ever," an animator for Syfy's "Magical Girl Friendship Squad," and an animator for Cartuna's "Human Kind Of" and "Loafy." Eli has also animated for Snapchat, Amazon, Facebook, and Comedy Central. His latest work includes an animated pilot from Ilana Glazer and Abbi Jacobson, which is currently in post-production.
Co-creator Ian Nelson plays the lead role of "Dave." Ian has acted in over twenty television shows and blockbuster films including "The Hunger Games," "The Boy Next Door" with Jennifer Lopez, "The Judge" with Robert Downey Jr, MTV's "Teen Wolf," IFC's Comedy Bang! Bang!," and Peacock's comedy series show-run by Paul Reiser, "There's Johnny." Ian is also the President of 4205 Productions, where he writes, directs, and produces commercials and music videos - including an upcoming music video for Oscar-nominated actress, Abigail Breslin.
Ian Nelson
Half-Hour Outline of the Pilot
The Orgy
After a routine STD screening at DR. BEARENSTEIN’s office, DAVE meets a hunky guy named JOHN typing away on his phone in the waiting room. Upon chatting it up, Dave discovers that John is having trouble getting people to come to a “group event” that night at his house. Without hesitating or even getting the full details, Dave happily offers to “come party.”
That evening, Dave arrives at John's house only to find that John's "party" is actually an orgy. Thrown off his game by this sudden twist, Dave embarasses himself and fails to make any meaningful impression with John.
When leaving the orgy, John disinvites Dave to future gatherings, implying Dave is not “the orgy type.” However, Dave insists to John that his poor performance was simply “away game jitters.” Dave then invites John to Dave’s house next week for the orgy that Dave hosts, which is promised to be even bigger and better than John’s typical orgy. Of course, Dave is just bullshitting in order to get another chance with John, but John is intrigued by Dave’s lies and agrees to come.
Back at home, Dave strategizes with his grandmother, GRANNY DAVE on how to stage an elaborate orgy on his turf.​​
CUE MONTAGE of Dave and Granny Dave canvasing their neighborhood, going door-to-door passing out fliers.
Along the way, the two stop by to see FIN (Dave's ex-husband) so Dave can drop off his alimony check — as well as ask Fin if he’ll come to the orgy and play the role of “orgy shepherd” in order to herd the other orgy-goers away from John, to ensure that Dave has John all to himself.
In exchange for Fin’s orgy shepherding services, Dave offers triple alimony payments next month, and Fin agrees. So with Fin on board, the plan for Dave’s grand orgy is all set.
The following day, the orgy begins – and it’s going great. Big turnout and Dave has John all to himself because whenever any orgy patrons try to slide up towards John, Fin tackles them out of the way (which Fin plays off as a frisky sex pounce).
Dave and John are really starting to form a meaningful connection, until the doorbell rings.
​
Dave exits his room and heads to the front door to see his neighbor, BECKY, who is passive-aggressively brandishing a decibel meter. She insists that her cat is trying to sleep and that Dave needs to quiet down whatever “fresh hell” is happening in his flat… or else. Becky’s threat reads loud and clear, and Dave is terrified of his orgy getting ruined.
Dave returns to the bedroom and immediately starts going around the orgy shushing everybody – much to John’s distaste.
Dave sidles up back to John and tries to resume their conversation, but Dave keeps interrupting the conversation to go shush the loud moaners. As such, while Dave is busy trying to explain “silent thrusting,” to somebody, John’s attention drifts towards Fin, who is currently pinning down a girl who must have gotten a little too close to John. In stark contrast to Dave’s librarian-esque behavior, Fin’s obvious sexual dominance attracts John. So John edges up to Fin and gives him a “hey daddy.”
Dave clocks that and is horrified – Dave grabs Fin and pulls him aside: “Hey, great job today, Fin. I’ll take it from here." Dave hands Fin a check, and Fin exits the bedroom, happy to have cinched that triple alimony payment.
Dave heaves a sigh of relief, then turns back towards the orgy, but he doesn’t see John. He squints his eyes searching through the giant pile of bodies, “John, you there?” From the body pile, a couple voices pipe up: “Yeah?” “Right here!” “Over here!” Dave is going to have to be more specific: “No no, I'm looking for John Musk!”
Hearing John’s last name, Fin barges back into the bedroom. “Did you just say Musk?”
​
Upon discovering that John may or may not be related to billionaire Elon Musk, Fin has no desire to pass up the opportunity to woo a potential nepo-baby. Fin hands Dave back his check: “Screw your triple alimony payment, Dave,” Fin says, “I’m going after Tesla.”
And thus, a battle for John’s attention ensues between Dave and Fin: They attempt to chat up John while both Dave and Fin try to shut each other up by shoving various body parts into each others’ mouths. “Suck on my nipple, Dave.” “No, you eat my ass, Fin!”
Flustered and losing the war, Dave exits the bedroom to discuss a game plan with Granny Dave, who is busy baking phallic cookies for all the orgy patrons in the kitchen.
Feeling like he can’t beat Fin, Dave decides to abort the orgy. However, Granny Dave points out that John will hate Dave if Dave is the reason the orgy is canceled – rather, a better plan is to find a way to get Fin to be the one to ruin the orgy and pin it all on him. Dave has an idea.
Dave re-enters the bedroom to find Fin and John making out. Dave smugly walks over and encourages the two lovebirds. In fact, Dave tells John that he used to be married to Fin, and that Dave knows just the thing that really gets Fin off. Dave whispers the particular sex act in John’s ear, and John eagerly starts performing it on Fin off-camera.
While this is happening, Dave is conspicuously announcing to the room in a loud-whisper: “Remember everybody, we have to keep it down! Nobody here wants to be the asshole that gets the orgy canceled.” However, Fin can’t hold it in – whatever mysterious sex act John is doing to him off-camera results in Fin EXPLODING in the loudest, longest, decibel-heightening orgasm imaginable.
Just then, Becky breaks down the door to the bedroom, wielding a spray bottle filled with cat piss. She points it at Fin: “YOU! LOUD-ASS MOTHERFUCKER!” She douses Fin, then everyone else at the orgy. Becky demands, “EVERYBODY GO THE FUCK HOME. ORGY’S OVER.” Drenched in pungent piss, John is furious with Fin – but before leaving, John kisses Dave on the cheek and says, “It was a great orgy, Dave. ‘Til that asshole ruined it. Call me.”
The next day, Dave and John are holding hands in Dr. Bearenstein’s waiting room, flirting with each other. Dave amorously suggests another orgy next week, to which John agrees.
​
Just then, Dr. Bearenstein enters and explains that both Dave and John tested negative for everything… except for feline chlamydia.
John then slowly removes his hand from Dave’s hand and turns to glare at him. Dave whimpers, “Soo… same time next week?”
​
We end on a final scene of Dave at home with Granny Dave – the two are discussing plans on how to win John back after Dave was blamed for the feline STD. “John said nothing like that ever happens at his orgies,” Dave explains. “Well, maybe he’d forgive you if one of his orgies had an animal STD incident too,” Granny Dave posits. “Maybe we could plant some squirrel gonorrhea on his bedsheets?” “Fuck yeah. Let’s go to the park.”
Synopses For Other Season 1 Eps
The Circumcision
Realizing the end of Dave’s unemployment benefits are rapidly approaching, Dave decides to get a job delivering for Grubhub. While on the job, Dave is picking up an order from Canter’s Deli, where he meets a gorgeous orthodox waitress named Shayna. The two hit it off and go on a few dates. However, when Dave accidentally prepares a beautiful dinner of shellfish and pork for Shayna, Shayna quickly realizes that Dave may not actually be as Jewish as his name and appearance had let on. As such, Shayna is doubting the relationship – but not wanting to lose Shayna, Dave decides to commit to reconnecting with his faith and embrace his Jewish heritage. So Dave gradually becomes more and more orthodox, turning Shayna on so much that she’s finally willing to have sex with him. However, when they finally get into the bedroom, Shayna is horrified to find out that Dave is uncircumcised – she explains to Dave that the only way she’ll continue seeing him is if Dave gets circumcised. Given a lot to think about, Dave discusses his dilemma with Granny Dave. Being the sex-positive humanitarian that she is, Granny Dave is horrified that Dave is even considering mutilating his genitalia and reducing his penis’ pleasure receptors. However, Dave doesn’t want to lose Shayna, so Dave is faced with a crisis: Does he side with his faith and girlfriend, or does he side with sexual pleasure and his grandmother?
The Wedding
After receiving a last minute invite to his ex-girlfriend Alexa’s wedding, our painfully single protagonist scrambles to find a date to be his plus one in an effort to prove his smug ex wrong: After all, when Alexa dumped Dave, she vowed that he was “unlovable” and would “most certainly die alone.” Not wanting to give Alexa the satisfaction of being right, Dave exhausts himself on a series of Tinder dates in hopes of scrounging up a plus one — but each date winds up being worse than the last. So, out of options, Dave has to once again bribe his ex-husband Fin to come to Alexa’s wedding and pretend to be his husband — to which Fin agrees. However, once the “happy couple” arrives at the wedding, the farce proves to be more difficult than expected when Dave meets Brie, a girl who’s an extremely perfect match for him. Dave is interested in pursuing Brie, but faces a real conundrum: How does he continue trying to convince Alexa that Fin is Dave’s current husband, while also successfully wooing Brie?
The Stray Gay
One of Dave’s inauspicious Tinder dates from the previous episode — Gary — shows up unexpectedly at Dave’s door, homeless and begging to crash. Apparently, Gary's Christian, right-wing parents threw him out when they found all the hardcore gay porn saved to his laptop. Dave pities Gary, takes him in, and even shows the ashamed closet-case the ropes of being gay. However, as Gary comes into his own, he rapidly develops into a tyrannical queen, hosting late night orgies by the pool and blasting Europop late into the night. When Dave attempts to kick Gary out, Gary insists that the bisexual Dave is a “fake-gay” and is merely being homophobic. Gary demands he be allowed to continue living at the apartment, lest he press charges on Dave for hate crimes. As such, Dave and Granny Dave have to concoct a scheme to oust Gary from the apartment without getting into any litigious trouble.
The Crossing Guard
Dave has a crush on Lou, a crossing guard in Dave’s neighborhood. Dave really wants to win over Lou, so he asks Granny Dave if she’ll pretend to be a feeble old lady so Dave can help her cross the street and look like a hero in Lou’s eyes. However things go horribly wrong when Granny Dave develops feelings for Lou and sabotages Dave’s plan. From there, Dave and Granny Dave go toe-to-toe, dueling to win Lou’s heart. Their schemes escalate to the point where they must agree to a ceasefire lest there be mutually assured destruction. To help mediate the situation, Dave and Granny Dave attend family counseling with Dr. Bearenstein to help iron out a treaty. However, the two are ultimately completely unable to come to terms, and Granny Dave decides she’s had enough of Dave’s selfishness and decides to move out, and instead go live with her geriatric gal pal Melinda over in Rancho Cucamonga. With Granny Dave out of his way, Dave is able to secure his date with Lou. While Dave is initially pleased to have everything now going his way, Dave quickly realizes how much he misses his grandmother – and that his date with this milquetoast crossing guard is actually less interesting and enjoyable than the competition for Lou that he shared with his grandmother. As such, Dave heads over to Rancho Cucamonga to apologize to Granny Dave and convince her to come home.
The Ghost
Melinda, Granny Dave’s gal pal from the previous episode, unexpectedly dies of natural causes. So Dave and Granny Dave attend Melinda’s funeral, where Granny Dave meets Leonard, Melinda’s husband. Granny Dave and Leonard quickly hit it off, and soon enough become intimate. However, despite her hot, steamy sex with Leonard, Granny Dave is having trouble reaching orgasm. So she becomes convinced that she’s being haunted by the ghost of Melinda — that Melinda is obstructing her orgasms from the afterlife. However, in the end, it turns out that Granny Dave just really loved Melinda and is simply having trouble grappling with her feelings of guilt from fucking her dead friend’s husband. Meanwhile, Dave has been on-edge ever since Melinda’s funeral – he’s spending more time examining his face for wrinkles in the mirror and feeling hyper-aware of all the cracks and stiffness in his joints. More aware of the inevitability of death than ever, Dave consults with Dr. Bearenstein on how to stay young. Dr. Bearenstein explains that the best way to feel alive is by engaging in high-risk activities like bungee jumping and sky-diving. He invites Dave to go along with him, which Dave initially loves, but Dave quickly acquires an insatiable appetite for laughing in the face of death which extreme sports no longer satisfy.
The Phobia
Dave is dating Randi, an incredible girl who happens to be egregiously homophobic. Disgusted by anti-queer people, Granny Dave begs Dave to break up with this girl, but Dave thinks he can make it work by hiding his sexual fluidity from Randi. Granny Dave begrudgingly promises to keep Dave’s secret, but wanting what’s best for her grandson, she concots ways to “out” Dave to Randi without explicitly saying he’s queer – such as by hiring a fleet of sexy speedo boys to arouse Dave in front of Randi. When that doesn’t work, Granny Dave gifts Dave a neon green dildo that stains Dave’s butthole glow-in-the-dark – now Dave must hide his glowing sphincter from Randi lest she learns Dave enjoys buttplay. Despite this, Dave somehow manages to avoid detection from Randi long enough for Randi to ask Dave to move in with her. Thrilled to escape Granny Dave’s constant threats against his relationship, Dave does indeed move in with Randi. Finally having the time to come out to Randi at his own pace, Dave starts inching towards finally telling her the truth. However, he’s met with constant homophobic remarks from Randi whenever Dave starts hinting at the truth about his sexual fluidity. Realizing Dave may have made a huge mistake by pursuing Randi, Dave starts to have a panic attack, because he's in too deep with Randi and just wants out. However, Dave is saved when Fin suddenly shows up unannounced at Randi’s house, banging on the door yelling that Dave owes Fin his alimony payment. Realizing that Dave was once married to Fin, Randi promptly dumps Dave and throws him out the front door. Dave happily pays Fin and thanks him for saving the day.
The Release
Granny Dave is astonished by a heavily-televised scandal about a man named Jerome Williamson who was wrongfully imprisoned. She decides to take her fury to the picket lines where she is seen screaming “Fuck the police! Fuck the police!” However, while marching, she notices Police Chief Carson watching from the sidelines. So Granny Dave adjusts her hair, fixes her makeup, then heads over – Granny Dave plans to literally fuck the police in order to free Jerome Williamson. Granny Dave seduces Chief Carson, but refuses to ever let him “finish,” constantly blue balling the old man. One night, Chief Carson is desperate for sexual release, so Granny Dave explains that the only way he’s getting release is if Jerome Williamson gets release too. And indeed he does, as the next morning Granny Dave sees the wrongful imprisonment overturned. However, following that, a breaking news story informs Granny Dave that there’s been another blatant case of wrongful imprisonment. And just then, Chief Carson shows up at her door, explaining that their sex last night was the best sex of his life. So Granny Dave gets stuck in a cycle where she has to keep dating the Police Chief in order to free these innocent civilians, but Chief Carson’s sexual release is so satisfying that he just keeps locking up more civilians in order to keep Granny Dave coming back. Meanwhile, Dave discusses the recent cases of wrongful imprisonment with Becky, who points out that black citizens are held to an unfair standard in the American criminal justice system. Dave is skeptical of this, but quickly learns his lesson when he finds himself getting away scott-free after committing the same crimes that imprisoned Jerome Williamson and so many other black citizens.
The Streak
While Dave is getting treated for gonorrhea at Dr. Bearenstein’s office, Dr. Bearenstein asks Dave to recall his last several sexual partners. Dave does so – “Damien, Vincent, Trey, Ross, Francisco…” Off the cuff, Dr. Bearenstein mentions that Dave, "sure has been seeing a lot of guys lately." While Dr. Bearenstein was merely making a harmless observation, Dave leaves the clinic feeling haunted by this realization – Dave has been dating a lot of men lately… Is Dave still sexually fluid? Or is he really just gay? As such, Dave has a bit of an existential crisis. This conundrum is amplified when Dave delivers a Grubhub delivery to Zane, a gorgeous stud who Dave hits it off with – Zane even gives Dave his number. And as much as Dave would love to hang out with Zane again, he decides that he should really “get a girl in the mix” first, so that he can end his gay streak and feel good about his sexual fluidity again. As such, Dave desperately goes around LA searching for a girl to briefly date before going after Zane again. But it all goes wrong when Dave goes on a date with a girl named Jessie, who just lost her mother. Empathizing with the pain Jessie must be feeling, Dave feels like he can't stop dating Jessie even though all he can think about is Zane. In the end, Dave realizes that he should let himself love who he loves and not be limited by any labels or sexual patterns, so he promptly breaks things off with Jessie and goes on his merry way.
The Trip
While Dave is at a routine STD screening, Dr. Bearenstein explains that this summer he’s going to be too busy to make use of his timeshare in Palm Springs due to a very important medical conference on a new strain of hyper-contagious syphilis. As such, Dr. Bearenstein selflessly offers the timeshare to Dave and Granny Dave. The two happily agree, but quickly find themselves utterly bored when they arrive, as the entire town of the usually-hedonistic Palm Springs is quarantining due to the aforementioned hyper-contagious syphilis outbreak. With nothing else to do, Granny Dave reveals her “emergency stash” of ayahuasca (that she keeps hidden in her coin purse) and suggests that she and Dave head to Joshua Tree to trip. The two do indeed trip in Joshua Tree, however, Dave’s psychedelic experience takes a dangerously introspective turn when he’s visited by the “ghosts” of all of his exes from across the season so far — from Alexa to Zane. Dave has in-depth conversations with each of his former flames, as they attempt to pinpoint what exactly went wrong and whose fault it really was: Is Dave too wishy washy? Why does he date around so much? Is he doomed to be single forever? But just before the trip ends, a thought crystallizes: The only person aside from his grandmother who Dave really enjoys being with is Fin. Dave wonders if he isn't over his ex-husband and decides to rekindle that romance.
The Remarriage
After last episode's realization, Dave starts pursuing Fin again. However, Dave is met with resistance, as Fin seemingly has no interest in Dave anymore, much to Dave’s dejection. However, Dave is reminded of why Fin married Dave in the first place: Fin's company, Blank Enterprises, was seeking to promote LGBTQ employees to the C-suite, so Fin married Dave to get the promotion. As such, Dave concocts a plan to send a series of emails to Blank Enterprises posing as a wealthy investor who would love to do business, but doesn’t want to do business with the company if any of the executives are divorced, as "a broken home is a broken business." Dave’s plan comes to fruition when Fin suddenly calls up Dave, telling him he’s a fool for ever breaking up with him. Dave knows that Fin is lying, but Dave thinks that by remarrying Fin, Dave will get the chance to show Fin that they are meant to be. Soon, the two remarry, and Dave and Granny Dave move into Fin’s house to pose as Fin's fake family so that Fin can keep his job. Dave is feeling optimistic about their future together. However in private, Fin confides in Granny Dave that though he’ll do anything to succeed in business, he’s positive that he doesn’t want to be with Dave… or anyone for that matter, as Fin has discovered that he is asexual. The season ends revealing that Dave overheard the entire conversation.
Sample Arcs for Future Seasons
Season 2
Season 2 sees Dave continue trying to win over the asexual Fin. But Dave soon comes to the revelation that Fin's asexuality is an unconquerable obstacle, and Dave is forced to grapple with the reality that Fin is simply somebody Dave can never have a future with. However, things complicate when Dave meets Fin's hostile boss, Yoshi, who takes a great liking to Dave and tells Fin, "If you ever break up with this boy again, you're fired." At home that night, Dave and Fin agree that their marriage is 100% a sham, but Fin begs Dave to stay just a little longer until Fin can figure out a way to exit the marriage while keeping his job. Much of season 2 will involve Dave still searching for love with new characters, but he’ll have to do so on the down-low for fear of getting Fin fired. In the end of the season, the farce comes crumbling down when Dave develops feelings for Yoshi. Subsequently, Fin loses his job and his house, and Dave and Granny Dave move back into their original apartment.
Season 3
After Granny Dave’s on-again-off-again geriatric boyfriend Leonard dies, Leonard’s granddaughter, Carla, becomes suspicious of Granny Dave’s involvement in his death, especially with the revelation that Leonard left Granny Dave everything he had in his will. As such, throughout the season, while Dave continues to search for love in all the wrong places, a trial regarding Granny Dave’s innocence will be going on in the background. The down-on-his-luck Fin convinces Dave and Granny Dave to let him be their lawyer in the trial, in exchange for Leonard's inheritance. Throughout the season, not only do we see Fin fighting for Granny Dave's freedom, but we also see a taboo romance blossom between Dave and the prosecutor, Carla.
Season 4
This season will differ from the others, because in season four, Dave only has one romantic interest. After watching a movie about cyborg ninjas in outer space, Dave develops a parasocial obsession with the star of the film, an actor named Rocko Oblongata. Dave convinces himself that Rocko is the love of his life — and much of the season will consist of Dave’s tenacious efforts to find a way to meet this celebrity and form a relationship with him. In Season 4, we'll also meet Madeline, Dave's new neighbor, who crushes hard on Dave. So while Dave is fawning after Rocko, Madeline is fawning after Dave. However, despite Madeline's infatuation with Dave, he feels nothing for her. This makes Dave question his obsessive tendencies and why he only chases after people who are unattainable and who don't love him back. After some intensive therapy sessions with Dr. Bearenstein, we learn that Dave was abandoned by his mom and had to be raised by Granny Dave — and that's why Dave has trouble forming normal, healthy relationships. With this discovery, Dave comes to the conclusion that he needs to make a change in life or else his greatest fear of never finding love will be realized. So he decides to abandon his quest for Rocko and for once in his life: try to have a healthy relationship — and why not start with Madeline?
Season 5, 6, 7, and Beyond
We believe that there are endless stories to tell with Dave and Granny Dave, as well as the supporting cast of desperate misfits. We have endless narrative concepts for these very flawed, very proactive characters, and believe that a comedy like this has the life and legs to go on for many years to come.