The Rendezvous, television series pitch/Episode loglines

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Anitque National television.
The Rendezvous Tavern with strategically designed look-out windows.
The Rendezvous Bar was wired into four other roadhouses with warning buzzers to alert them of impending police raids.
The Edgewater Thomas Inn was a high-class blind-pig in Riverside with secret passageways and hidden wine cellars.
Bertha Thomas was the eccentric roadhouse pioneer who ran the Edgewater Thomas Inn.

Based on The Rendezvous, screenplay, an unpublished feature script by Jason Carswell.

A logline (aka elevator pitch) is a one or two line plot summary.

First, the overarching series logline:

Respecting life, sacrifice, and a diamond treasure, The Rendezvous, a dramatic television series, centers around a fictional Black family's circumstances and drama across three generations working at a local historical roadhouse through three Windsor-Detroit intense events - rum-running of the 1920s, war-time riots of 1943, and the "peace"-time riots of 1967 in "Motown". Without being preachy or pedantic, issues like prejudice, domestic abuse, organized crime, fairness and ethics, personal autonomy, musical trends, and motor vehicles are fairly addressed and dramatized in evolving morals and culture across the decades.

The following episode outlines combined together may be considered the overarching series treatment - and/or an alternative 2024 treatment for The Rendezvous, screenplay.

Work in progress

At present, 12 or 13 episodes of about 10 minutes each (plus credits), would add up to 120 to 130 minutes - like a movie, but not.

Rather than directly adapt The Rendezvous screenplay, an unpublished feature screenplay by Jason Carswell, after many years of not looking at my script or copious notes I'm going to first outline (and maybe draft a longer treatment of) the story, in part from memory yet new in part, to fit this series format and dramatically limit the number of settings (and in preparation for a stage play version), to see what new gems may turn up before polishing begins. Instead of shooting around Windsor and Detroit, for this new economic revision (more appropriate for a stage play) locations have been reduced essentially to the family home, The Rendezvous roadhouse tavern, and a couple wide open exterior winter scenes. Both locations might simply be shot only as interiors, but could be improved by utilizing exteriors for shot diversity.

It's worth noting that through the eras, in addition to the family thread of principal characters (focused on in these outlines), are many reoccurring supporting roles, appearances, and background characters.

Historical accuracy

Great care was taken to have as few anachronisms as possible in developing The Rendezvous screenplay. In developing this television series we should try too, but may find more liberty in the oldest third taking place between 1922 and 1929, undefined by not mentioning dates or current events.

The road now known as Riverside Drive East would have been a primitive road until it evolved from dirt to gravel then its current Tarmacadam surface, as would the road surface markings. Further local timeline research is required to apply to this story's three eras. Similarly, the interior and exterior of The Rendezvous Tavern evolved over time, as did the owners.

Copyrights

  1. Jason Carswell grew up on Lake St. Clair at 11080 Riverside Drive, half-way between Sand Point Beach and The Rendezvous Tavern at the border of Windsor and Tecumseh, Ontario (across the lake from Grosse Pointe).
  2. Jason Carswell developed this story over decades into this original fictional story based in a lot of anecdotal and factual research.
  3. Jason Carswell is obviously sharing this story online on his Projex.Wiki website.
  4. Jason Carswell does not have an army of lawyers to protect this intellectual property.
  5. Jason Carswell requests that anyone who "borrows" elements or further develops his content would contact and include him in their projects, lucrative or not.

If recollections are correct, after decades of consideration and research the first draft of The Rendezvous, screenplay was finally started in 2010 or 2011 in Windsor and Dwight, Muskoka.

It might be worth noting that The Rendezvous, screenplay has been mentioned countless times in passing on SaidIt, including here and here on 2019-06-18. My focus then was on Bittersweet Seeds, screenplay, which was clearly then as now, a far more important and necessary near-future cautionary tale to develop.



☑ Episode 1 - Sinking (1922 winter)

From the blustery winter outdoors, boys burst into The Rendezvous roadhouse tavern with alarming news.

Venturing out onto the frozen Lake St. Clair, the men and boys find a stuck old jalopy weighed down with whisky perilously in danger of plunging into the frozen depths.

Despite several attempts with different ideas, the subtle and not-so-subtle racist men in various states of sobriety finally free the vehicle to continue its smugglers' journey - thanks to the clever logical ideas of Cliff Sands, the (fictional) Black employee of the (historical) Rendezvous.

Through the door, "You won't believe what happened..."

☑ Episode 2 - Inciting (1943 June)

Through the door, "You won't believe what happened..."

We follow Cliff and Clay as they weave through the animated discussions at The Rendezvous. Topics include the ongoing world war, rising tensions at home, the many variables, circumstances, and escalating problems, as well as unfounded rumours circulating.

Some lads invite Clay to go along on a trip to Belle Isle to see first hand what all the hubbub is about. "Pack for war. Not that war."

Cliff insists he go along, just in case...

☐ Episode 3 - Grinding (1967 July)

- Auto grind

-

+ cliffhanger

Episode 4 - Conflicting (1922, 1943, 1967)

☑ Episode 4a - Arguing (1922 winter)

At home, Cliff's wife, Rose, incessantly challenges his manhood for failing to better stand up to the racists and get a pay raise.

"Why did I even tell you?..." Tensions rise.

She clips him with a cast iron pan and his response begins by smashing her head that creates a large hole in the kitchen wall as their children witness in horror.

Ruby, the girl and Clay, the boy...

☑ Episode 4b - Dishing (1943 June)

Same place later, same framing, Clay, the man...

...is being assaulted at home by his pregnant wife, furious that he's off "to have fun picking fights in another country" leaving her alone, suffering.

Tensions rise. Dishes fly and smash. Punches fly. Cliff steps in, "You can be a better man, and father, than I ever was." The children are watching.

Clay, the man, "We can talk about this later. We have to go."

☐ Episode 4c - Denying (1967 July)

Clay, the old man, "We can talk about this later. We have to go." 

- watches his son, Rocky, maintain self-discipline.
- we have more important things to fight about

-

+ cliffhanger

☑ Episode 5 - Warning (1922 winter)

Touring musician Fats Waller is tickling the ivories at The Rendezvous as patrons drink.

Some fellas are setting up an important meeting that will soon take place at The Rendezvous. "So I says to him, see, I says, 'Handy to be so near the river's current that'll sweep away your trash.' You see?" They also talk about their jeweler friends in Manhattan, their media connections, their influence, and the next big thing to invest in before the market explosion - diamonds.

Cliff serves other patrons whose discussion covers the troubled finances of the proposed bridge.

Peter and Clay come down from the upstairs lookout to announce the looming arrival of police, but skeptics wonder if they're just saying that for the reward of fries - and then the wire-light alarms everyone into panic mode. 

A Toronto financier hired to sell its securities instead stole the money, ran off and ultimately committed suicide in a jail cell after being convicted of murdering a drugstore clerk. The bridge boosters turned to Joseph A. Bower, a New Yorker who specialized in rescuing mismanaged companies. Bower succeeded in raising the necessary $12 million. “The only way things can be done today,” said Henry Ford, who backed the project, “is by private business.”
The notion of private ownership for such a crucial piece of infrastructure was alarming to political leaders from the start. The mayor of Detroit, John Smith, sued to stop the project, but Detroit held a plebiscite in 1927, and voters favoured letting private funds build and own the bridge by a margin of 8 to 1. “I bow to the will of the people,” said mayor Smith. “They want a bridge and they must have a bridge.”
~ Macleans.ca: Land of the freeloaders: The battle for a new cross-border bridge, 2015-05-21

☑ Episode 6 - Tensing (1943 June)

At The Rendezvous, the guys, and some women, plan their boat ride over to Belle Isle Park to see first hand what all the noise is about (and witness history).

Over food, accusations, inflammations, rumours, and a range of viewpoints are exchanged, but ultimately a consensus is reached and plans are outlined.

Progressively groups peel away to their boats. Cliff expresses unheeded concerns as the last group checks their weapons before leaving the roadhouse tavern.

☐ Episode 7 - Frustrating (1967 July)

- Seeds of discontent

-

+ cliffhanger

Episode 8 - Drinking (1922, 1943, 1967)

☑ Episode 8a - Misbehaving (1922 winter)

Everyone pitches in to clean up and the entire bar rotates to hide the blind pig in the wall as the fellas manage an unnoticed getaway.

Fats starts adlibbing what would become one of his famous tunes [The 1929 Ain't Misbehavin' will enter the American public domain on January 1, 2025.], as the police enter asking knowing questions that are only rewarded with fries, like the boys, along with a subtle bribe.

After the police take their sweet time leaving, before re-setting the speakeasy bar, the bootleggers take flasks from their boots, "We need a drink!"

☑ Episode 8b - Heartbreaking (1943 June)

Bursting in, "We need a drink!"

Most of the boaters who left to Belle Isle Park return, some mildly wounded, and some only stay briefly before heading home, to work, or elsewhere.

Having witnessed the beginning of the riot, different folks have different reflections, perspectives, and opinions on things. Rumours and war stories abound.

All the while Cliff, has not been doing well, clutching his left arm - since the tense conflict on the island. His health takes a turn for the worse and a doctor is sent for.

Gasping for Clay, Cliff manages to sputter out, "The kitchen... the wall...," before passing out as Clay misinterprets his meaning.

☑ Episode 8c - Singing (1967 July)

[Post-cliffhanger:] "You Keep Me Hangin' On*, from the girls about Motown. Thank you! Folks, The Supremes will take a short break and be back with Love Is Here and Now You're Gone*.

Drama ensues as a drunken Florence Ballard shows up to confront Diana Ross, Mary Wilson, and the new member, Cindy Birdsong, about kicking her out of the group as well as the recent name change to "Diana Ross & the Supremes".

They finally convince her to go not even a mile up the road to the house on the lake where they always stay the night, asking Clay's son, Rocky, to escort her there safely.

"And now - The Supremes' newest track, out any day now... Reflections*!" [As cliffhanger closing.]

[* Copyrighted songs can be mentioned, and perhaps the rights to play them can be obtained.] 

Potential dialogue:
- "I saw you win the [Detroit/Windsor] Freedom Fest in '60!" "They performed supremely."
- Pun: "You can't hurry, love."
- Future hits: "Love Child", "Ain't No Mountain High Enough", "Do You Know Where You're Going To?"

☐ Episode 9 - Thriving

Optional 1800s bonus episode.
- Reflections echoes
- Family tree
-

+ cliffhanger

☐ Episode 10 - Tanking (1967 July)

- tanks in Detroit
- tanks a lot

-

Crying people...

☑ Episode 11 - Lamenting (1943 June)

Crying people...

The Rendezvous is hosting the wake for Cliff Sands where people express their sentiments, stories, and regrets about the trip to Belle Isle, the trauma of those riots, the outcomes, and overall despondence at the chaos raging in the wider World War II.

"Is there any hope left for this world?"

"Sure, there's always room for improvement. Things here may seem dark, but overall things are getting better. Just think of where we've been..."

☐ Episode 12 - Rendezvousing (1922 winter)

"How you been?" 

- Gangsters rendezvous

-

+ cliffhanger

Episode 13 - Generating (1922, 1943, 1967)

☑ Episode 13a - Healing (1922 winter)

Through the soft thick snowfall Cliff trudges home alone, in the dark.

Cliff finishes patching up the wall, he quietly tidies the kitchen, and puts his tools away.

Cliff slips into bed, Rose rolls over, and they embrace in silence.

Sins are forgiven.

☐ Episode 13b - Enriching (1943 June)

- awaken
- real riches

-

+ cliffhanger

☐ Episode 13c - Shining (1967 July)

- Diamonds!

-

+ cliffhanger



Reference

Wikipedia links, unless otherwise noted:

1922

  • Ain't Misbehavin' (song)
    "Ain't Misbehavin'" is a 1929 stride jazz/early swing song. Andy Razaf wrote the lyrics to a score by Thomas "Fats" Waller and Harry Brooks for the Broadway musical comedy play Connie's Hot Chocolates (opened June 20, 1929). As a work from 1929 with its copyright renewed, it will enter the American public domain on January 1, 2025.
  • Boardwalk Empire, an HBO television series, 2010-2014

1943

  • 1943 Detroit race riot, Sunday June 20 - Tuesday June 22, 1943
    • Belle Isle Park
    • MacArthur Bridge (Detroit), 1923+, replaced an iron bridge with wooden decking that accidentally caught fire and was destroyed in 1915. The bridge, popularly known as the Belle Isle Bridge, was originally named the George Washington Bridge and renamed the Douglas MacArthur Bridge after General Douglas MacArthur in 1942.

1967

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