Back in August, we wrote about Shit My Dad Says, the Twitter account of a 28-year-old guy named Justin who literally just tweeted out things his dad said. At the time, he already had over 100,000 followers on Twitter, now he has over 700,000. And now he just landed a TV deal.
Yes, you read that right. A 20-something just landed a TV deal thanks to his Twitter account. Again, not a website, not a book (though there is a book in the works too), just a Twitter account.
The TV industry blog The Live Feed reports that CBS is working with Justin (whose last name is Halpern) to create the show along with Will & Grace creators David Kohan and Max Mutchnick. Halpern will write it along with another writer, Patrick Schumacker. Warner Brothers will produce it.
Here’s the best line from The Live Feed’s story:
The comedy’s title will change if it gets on the air.
I would think so.
Below, some other recent gems (obviously, some NSFW):
Lol. I follow this guy. Its all hilarious.
“Son, no one gives a sh*t about all the things your cell phone does. You didn’t invent it, you just bought it. Anybody can do that.”
It also rules that the ONLY person he’s following is Geordie from Star Trek
+1
+1
if only those things his dad said were actually things his dad said. props to a guy making up a bunch of BS and getting recognized for it. if its really things his dad says, should his dad get the deal?
Regardless of the semantics, someone is very talented in that family
Things my mom says – “No the cat isn’t winking at you. You’re looking at its asshole.”
GIVE ME MY DEAL!
Will be interesting to see what kind of show could develop from this. I always thought the best part was the short bites. He’s obviously a funny/creative writer though – well done!
Haha there are some funny comments on there..but a TV deal? c’mon.
I’ve been missing out on these tweets! 700,001 followers now..
I’ve been following this dude for a while and he’s hilarious. To be honest though, I wonder how this little bit of content was enough to earn the guy a TV deal though. Maybe it was just enough to get someone interested in him and he was smooth enough to take it from there? Who knows.
his dad did all the talking, i’m sure :)
You can find the best of @shitmydadsays over at favstar.fm http://favstar....s/shitmydadsays
Yeah, NCIS could use a little zing.
don’t worry MG, you’ll get there one day
No… just NO. Yes, his tweets are funny (sometimes hilarious) but landing a TV deal is just going too far.
Undoubtedly he only landed it due to his high number of followers and his average-Joe appearance. Oh well – I can only hope that the show is somewhat decent.
“his high number of followers and his average-Joe appearance”
Um, you realise he won’t actually be *in* the show, right?
crazy overnight success story . i remember when that account barely had any followers.
I find myself constantly telling people about the huge value of Twitter. That I follow people in my industry like Om, Tim O’Reilly, Designer Depot, to name just three of hundreds of very valuable people that tweet (is there a word for that – twitterer?). I said things like if knowledge is power then what could be more valuable? …
This however tops it all off, and is far more likely to appeal to the masses! Nice post MG!
yeah…this guy jumped the shark the second he was written about the first time.
it is definitely now ’shit my dad says’ (that isn’t that funny) or ’shit my dad maybe would say’ (because people are watching.)
I would bet that it went the other way around and this is another Mary Digbe or that YouTube guitar girl who got signed a music deal… only to find out that she was already signed and had an album coming out and was using youtube as a promotion. B/C of the very little content I’m guessing that the twitter account is part of the marketing plan on a already developed story.
congrats to Justin but i have to wonder…72 tweets gets you a TV deal…maybe I just need to start writing down the stuff my kids say, throw in some f-bombs and see what happens.
I remember that ….that was funny, in fact, I do follow, it reminds me of some of my old friends, the sayings alone, well, they just make u laugh!
saw this coming a long time ago.
bravo, justin.
Pretty hilarious! If Frank Costanza (of Seinfeld) was a real person, he would say these …. on the top of his voice!
I was thinking of the same thing. Somehow reminded me of Seinfeld/Curb your enthusiasm.
Shit Larry David Would Say!
It’s crazy how many people don’t realize this account is fake. The content is funny, yes, but I guarantee 100% that it’s not real. I’d bet a good amount of money on that fact.
If it’s fake, then it’s actually significantly more valuable as a TV deal, since that means that the guy can write new lines without having to wait for his dad to say them.
If the account is real and he’s just a scribe for his dad, then it’s not clear why they didn’t make the deal with the dad.
+1
Seems to me it’s the dad that has the gift of comedy. He should be the writer. Justin better take good care of daddy and make sure he doesn’t get a heart attack or something.
Hahah…awesome. I love that Twitter account. One of my more recent favs is:
I now say that to my smug iPhone friends. They have no retort.
Well I hate to rain on this old geezer’s parade, but not everyone can afford an iPhone and the overpriced AT&T contract.
Clearly ure one of those iPhone users that are so full of smug, it ends up messing up with their vision, comprehension and logic. He said ANYONE, not EVERYONE. There is a distinction between the 2.
Even if the show fails, which it probably will, the money is still his. Yet another brilliant idea that I hate someone for.
When I heard about his book deal a few weeks ago, I actually thought at the time that I could see this as a sitcom, but not a book. Well, he’s got both. Ha. I’m sure he had to write up a treatment in addition to just the tweets. This could totally work if it’s written well. It’s a great premise, and timely. Almost 30 year old dude living with his crabby/wise/hilarious 70-something dad. Lots of story potential.
yes, a great premise.
have you seen frasier lately? i hear you can still catch it in reruns.
I’m so sorry but I have never found this funny in the least. I am totally happy that the guy got a deal. Super cool news. But I don’t get it.
Could be I’m British :/
It’s OK; I don’t get it either.
Same here. Completely overrated if you ask me.
I’m British. It’s funny.
If it’s real, the dad is consistently brilliant. If it’s fake then Justin Halpern is a dialogue and character genius.
Dont worry, most the world doesn’t get British humor either…
“I’m 29. I live with my 73-year-old dad. He is awesome. I just write down shit that he says.”
His dad must be very proud of him. What a freaky world :|
I’d be. He got both a book and tv deal writing on a twitter account for 3 months before he was 30. Not exactly Mark Zuckerburg, but what have you done?
I can tell my kids that I didn’t make fun of my own father. IF this father/son thing is real. Still don’t think so. Why his dad didn’t get a deal? Weird, weird.
Totally fake, which explains why Justin gets the writing gig and not his dad.
Although, if it is real, a reality show just following his dad around Hollywood would be gold.
I’d love to see the episode that ends up based on this tweet:
“Does anyone your age know how to comb their f**king hair? It looks like two squirrels crawled on their head and started f**king.”
Remedial Google skills will tell you they’re all real.
http://latimesb...ys-twitter.html
http://www.goog...=justin+halpern
This is all well and good but aren’t we all really more curious as to when http://www.whoisthisgirl.com will get a tv deal?
Been following for a while too. Sometimes, the best part of my day is when I get a text message to my phone and it’s one of those crazy Dad statements. I don’t turn on device updates for some of my close friends, but for this one, it helps a bad case of the Monday’s evaporate.
OK, reading this I thought “you have to be kidding me” and I predicted the downfall of American culture and whatnot. But then I actually read the damn tweets, and you know what, they’re hilarious, enough to convince me to subscribe. Don’t know how they’ll translate to a TV show though.
i follow him too, he is COMIC GOLD! finally something on TV that might actually watch becos it really is funny! He rocks.
I am sure his Dad his extremely talented .I like this
“The baby will talk when he talks, relax. It ain’t like he knows the cure for cancer and he just ain’t spitting it out.”
awesome story, looking forward to seeing the tv show!
The guy writes great stuff…a show about nothing earnt Seinfeld a fortune and $88m last year.
According to this site: http://www.cele...itynetworth.com Jerry Seinfeld’s net worth is worth $300 million!
Is that possible? It also says Larry David’s net worth is like $300 mill. Dayumm
The direct links:
http://www.cele...nfeld-networth/
http://www.cele...avid-net-worth/
And holy crap did you know Julia Louis-Dreyfus was a billionaire??? WTF!
http://www.cele...yfus-net-worth/
I’m not sure why anyone would say that landing a TV deal from a twitter account is outrageous. It seems perfectly in sync with the way TV has functioned for years. In any case, a TV deal and actually making a show that makes money are very different things.
There’s no way that I could have done this with what my dad says. I’d have been banned from everywhere.
Gotta love parents.
congrats justin. i thought it was just a bookdeal but this is pretty awesome albeit a lot crazy. your dad is the best. make sure he’s happy and healthy and do tell the rest of us how he feels about this new show. can you make sure it’s a lot less will and grace (loved that show) and more like seinfeld, curb your entusiasm, arrested development, everyone loves raymond kinda show? thanks in advance.
It is very funny whether it’s real or not. And though we’ve seen this show twice before: Sanford & Son and Frazier, both were hits in their day.
More utter and complete crap for television. TV continues to solidify its No. 1 position as nothing more than furniture.
in this same vein, I think kevjumba on YouTube is funnier, and his father is funny. we’ve seen cantankerous dads on sitcoms before. it won’t last.
I’m so excited for this. Awesome stuff.
Just started my own. It’s an idea I had for years, but this inspired me.
https://twitter...m/negativecards
Billy Mays got a TV show, too.
There is another twitter (and facebook page) that is pretty funny do. The writer claims they were inspired by the stuff on shitmydadsays. They author/tweeter whatever started putting down the shit his/her students say. It cracks me and my neice up (she’s 12) check it out!
The twitter http://www.twit...shitmypupilssay
facebook
http://www.face...ay/178491952619