Dana Gould Pitched a Zombieland TV Show Before Zombieland

In today’s edition of Tales From The TV Script Graveyard (let’s make that a thing), we have former Simpsons writer and comedian Dana Gould and his quest to embrace his horror junkie roots and his love for comedy.

Gould will have that dream realized when Stan Against Evil, his new series on IFC, debuts tonight at 10 p.m. Long before before he enlisted John C. McGinley to play Stan, a curmodgeon of an evil dead slayer, Gould was pitching a number of different television scripts. One of them in particular he held onto for awhile, and on a set visit over the summer, he admitted to us that he nearly struck gold before a genre TV boom. Think a Zombieland-eqse TV show before Zombieland, the hit 2009 film that is still getting sequel consideration.

In referencing the origins of Stan Against Evil, Gould laid out his vision for the now totally (un)dead series.

“I originally, years and years ago, pitched to Comedy Central a show that was basically Zombieland but before Zombieland,” Gould said. “The idea of the cast of Seinfeld in the world of Dawn of the Dead, where it was small stories about friends and there was a zombie apocalypse in the background.”

Comedy Central passed on the pitch, and within a few years, the zombie genre exploded.

“After that came Zombieland, The Walking Dead, all that other stuff. And that always gnawed at me like a toothache. That’s one of those projects you wake up every couple days and say ‘Shit!’” he said.

Gould stayed true to his vision of a funny horror show, and IFC gave him the freedom to play with demons, ghosts, ghouls, and the undead as he wished.

“I really believed that I could do a comedy horror show, and so it took a long time for me to just ferment the right ingredient, which was basically, what if my dad was Buffy the Vampire?” Gould said of Stan Against Evil.

He found the right ingredient, but he may still be a little salty about his Zombieland show.  

“I didn’t take [Stan Against Evil] to Comedy Central for very good reason,” he joked.