I've been working on a character development .

Basically as personal creative outlet.

Creating screen play for a hoarder .

Past present and a ten year - ten season - progression .

Starting with a return from The military

Has mother you love to hate.

Has a creepy friend you hate to love.

He has problem with hoards From Many sources.

Every episode build his hoard.

Many characters contribute ,
His family, his friends, his neighbors, his work, his town store managers. .

Everyone likes him. But he is a lifelong hoarder.

So there are opportunity to have serious therapists and counselor S weigh in as life goes on .

Many other ideas come to mind making not just about the hoarding. But into the many characters he is in contact with. The many different types of hoarders that live in a small town.

And a terrible real life events of disasters that happen to this very real town. Real events , but the characters are made up.

So far I've mapped out 6 seasons of 26 episodes each and the 10th season where the Conclusion is a as epic as it gets ,

I'm obsessed with thinking about it.

But it's poorly written, and not very funny .
So I won't go into details. . But many of the stories of my life are in it. Many stranger than fiction shocking events . Put into a story line .

2 ex wives
Crazy family of hoarders.
Weirdo friends neighbors

And relationships with other hoarders that touch on the human side their problems.
From collectors to outright filth. Good times and bad times . I think if it were ever made into a TV series it would truly be the train wreck that you have to binge watch.

From success stories and evictions. There are stories there I think would best be told by hoarders themselves.

Please wish me luck , and add your 2 cents maybe I'll be inspired by you

I'll try to see if I can spin this a Little.
You know Instead of putting things in useful places.

I don't think it would work as a Main character.
But as a support friend.

As a character that has everything. In an uncanny way. Like pulling something out a hat.

Please understand that were just as sensitive as everyone else , probably even more so.
Only reason why I venture into the humor is because since the show had put a spot light on us . Being called a hoarder is as hurtful as a racial slur.

I'd like it if there were not a spot light just on the hoard, but the emotions that contribute to .

Especially at the different levels . A hoard doesn't just magically appear.

Steve Martin In jerk had a scene where. All he needed is this chair . But he kept adding things to keep. It was funny.

Trash day can be weird for me.

Almost like the trash cans have their own personality of their own. One I hate , kick punch and spit at. But the others are friendly.
No I don't hear them talking to me. But I can Imagine it a peculiarities if the little can around d the house could talk to hoarder. . What weird things they say.

A Constant. Hey , hey , psst , psssst.
Or being bit .

It could be funny if after a character development as neighbor character . The trash day talks. I don't know about you. I seem to talk to my neighbors more on trash day.
Imagine e looking g over at me while. Start stabbing my trash can and muttering things A a about my mother.
Or making weird contraptions to get the can to the curb like an crazy invented.

Being friends with the trash guys , and the trash guys keep asking if got anything this week and I keep trying change the subject.

A hoarding magician. That keeps trying to make thi GA disappear. But it Instead it just bri GA in more.

I think I would enjoy exploring ideas about this.
In the movie family vacation. National lampoons . There's an extended family member. Cousin Eddie.

I can see a guy like that becoming a hoarder.
.....
This is rough draft please excuse the unrelated ideas as they pop in my head about 90 times faster than I can type them.

My actual mother. Is a compulsive shopper. She has a large house with no trash in it. She's a germ a phone. Every inch of house is occupied with objects. Not so much as clutter, but for instance every inch of space has some things there .

My brother came over one day. He spent the night and had a coke can on the table next to where he was sleeping. He woke up with her standing over him like Faye dunaway. Asked him when he was going to clean it up. The dismay he expressed at looking around a plethora of clutter and she was focused the spot he put his coaster.
Further she would batship crazy when we used the wrong cans. One was for food the other was packaging . A 55yo woman freaking out on a 40yo man for not knowing how to use a trash can.

Oh gowd. I remember o e morning when I stayed at house when I was 30 she woke me up by hit my foot.
Crazy eyes telling to get up and iron my shirts.

I guess that's not funny , except she reminds me of a Kathy Bates when she does that.
-----
My jack ass brother that can do no wrong . Loves to take her favorite knock knacks and hide them .
Honest to god she becomes demonic towards me demanding I stop stealing from her or she'll call the cops. And yes. She has reported me as a thief in her house . I mean for god sake she's gives my daughter a box of all this crap at least 2 times a month. I see it as mental illnesses. But I believe others would find it interesting , maybe not funny.
Don't even get started on the pictures.
I swear she can talk herself into a mad. Going through my personal grade school pictures she started muttering g something and tried to spank me for it. Those pictures are 40 years old.
My brother encourages her and ags her on. It's not at all funny of you had look that much rage in the eye. But I think if it we're In a comedy. It be like a punch line.

I'll add more . But I got to go I've got some license plates to hang on the wall.

Heres another interesting quote i saw on the internet...its not really humor, but...
~He who buys what he does not need steals from himself~Swedish Proverb~ ....hmmm....

Heres another interesting quote i saw on the internet...its not really humor, but...
~He who buys what he does not need steals from himself~Swedish Proverb~ ....hmmm....

I just saw this on the internet & my toothache hadnt hurt all day except from laughing at this ~Cleaning up is just putting stuff in less obvious places~ ha ha ha ;D

Hey, ShedTheShame?
Ive been trying to remember how my main hoarder-friend and i discovered we shared that problem. It was through a mutual friend; a guy i briefly dated that i first heard the term 'hoarder'from when he was at my house! She and i had many other things in common. I cant remember how the subject first came up, tho? We tried to help each other with our houses, but it never worked very well. We ended up each finding other help with our projects; her's a disciplined house cleaner, and me another hoarder, happy to take loads of my junk as his treasure, and also my wonderful new boyfriend who has beautified my yard!
We definitely helped each other through humor and understanding tho!
As far as the 'pioneer days', i kind of do live in that...im in the wild west where many folks live quite rugged...i like camping...its a good thing...ha ha

Oh my gosh, Anonymoniker. I feel for you. I hope it doesn't get freezing cold where you live. I admire you for being able to maintain a sense of humor through it all.

This is exactly what I'm talking about for the show idea. the general public doesn't know what compulsive hoarders go through to keep up appearances.

When I shared my "secret" with some close friends, their reaction was complete surprise. "You? But you don't look like a hoarder. And you're so together." HA. People apparently have an image in their mind of what a hoarder looks like, as if we go to the supermarket dressed in a housecoat and wearing rollers in our hair.

If we lived in the pioneer days, we'd be golden because we know how to survive with the bare minimum! Living in a world of excess makes it extra challenging for us. I get so frustrated with all the commercial crap thrown at us 24/7 to buy, buy, buy! Junk mail, catalogs, coupons, flyers. It's a never-ending onslaught of crap I don't want to have to deal with.

You mentioned that you have several hoarder friends and you all joke about it. May I ask how you met? Did you meet because you shared the hoarding condition? Or were you friends first and then later it came up: "Hey, I'm a hoarder, too!"

BTW. I did check out the Batman hoarder comic. Funny stuff 😉

Yes, laughing at the awkward situations we get ourselves into, especially trying to hide our 'secret' is certainly often full of humor!
I actually went straight from sudden, severe poverty into a hoarder situation, mainly cuz everything fell apart and cuz i felt i couldnt afford to get rid of anything?! For instance, i had to chuckle when i read your suggestion for where to start: the kitchen sink, because i havent had running water in my kitchen sink for 5 years...my kitchen sink is outside! ...i actually like camping! ....its a good thing, too! Its better to laugh at it than get freaked out! 😀

Hi, Anonymoniker --

I'm not currently doing standup, and when I did... I didn't do material about my compulsive hoarding. For one thing, I don't think I was aware at the time that I had compulsive hoarding. And even if I did -- no way I'd have been brave enough to stand up on stage and tell jokes about it to strangers.

To me, the public perception of hoarding is largely based on what they see on TV shows. Unfortunately, TV shows tend to go for the really extreme cases. Hence, the jokes people make about dead, flat cats 🙁

Sadly, many (if not most) of us are left to self-diagnose and try to figure our own way out of this mental health issue while hiding in shame.

There's such a wide spectrum of people with hoarding issues, and that really needs to be part of the public discourse. I think most people with this disorder would agree how important it is to get help sooner rather than later. The disorder gets progressively worse over time if something isn't done to try to curtail it somehow.

My hope is also to show that those who have compulsive hoarding issues are flesh and blood human beings, with feelings and humor and talents. For years I've discounted myself as damaged goods because of this disorder. It's taken a long time for me to be able to say that I'm a person with many things to offer. I'm not all about my hoarding.

Agree with you that people are intrigued with hoarding these days. Need to take that opportunity to shed more light on what the disorder is really like and how the people who have it aren't living as they are because they want to.

Lord knows I've done things because of my hoarding that have gotten me into awkward situations. That's the humor I'm going for: not laughing at the disorder, but at situations a hoarder can find him/herself in as a result of their hoarding behavior or while trying to keep their living situation a "secret."

Hope others are as interested as you are in seeing a show like this ^_^

I would love to see/hear your stand-up on hoarding! My limited impression of the mainstream's attitude on hoarding is kind is kind of bleak?! I dont have tv & my internet is limited. I can use up a month's worth of data in a few hours of watching YouTube! I was already embarrassed about my home before i ever even heard the term 'hoarder'and when i had a guy i was dating to my place he started using that word and told me about the tv shows?!! I googled it and took the quiz, falling on the boarder of being a hoarder & in a full panick, threw out stuff i shouldnt have, only to later retrieve a lot of it from my garbage pile! I have several hoarder friends and we make jokes about it all the time! There is certainly a fine line between fun & insult...i guess?!? Even if i could, i would not watch the tv shows about it! All tv these days freaks me out! Every show seems to be about rejection & failure! Those talent shows are! I do think people are intrigued with hoarding these days! It wasnt long ago that 'collectors' were considered fascinating characters! Id love to know more about your angle on this subject! Im constantly trying to adjust my approach to my own situation to make myself more accepting of it as well as find the humor in it!

Thanks for your enthusiasm, Anonymoniker!

I've had this idea for a show based on my real life for quite a while, and it wasn't until a year ago that I decided my compulsive hoarding needed to be in the show.

I'm sure you understand how vulnerable that notion is -- to come out of the hoarding closet. (Although, our closets are so jam-packed... we couldn't literally get into the closet if we tried.)

My goal is to show some of the real challenges of this disorder and how we lead secret lives to keep people from finding out.

I find the public perception of compulsive hoarding to be very disheartening. Many people think, "Hoarders are circus freaks. Where are the dead flat cats??" No wonder we go to such efforts to keep our situations under wraps.

It's one thing to find the humor in a very complex disorder. It's another to make fun of a very complex disorder. I hope to do the former.

Here's an animated short about compulsive hoarding that I didn't find funny, but the commenters did. What I found most irritating was the PSA-ish message they posted at the end after making fun of the condition. What the hell??

"The Compulsive Hoarder" animation

It's an extremely long shot, getting this show idea to someone who might be interested. But I'm going to try my best.

Hope I can count on folks here to support it if I get any momentum, because Hollywood is a business, and as a business they're only interested in an idea that will get a LOT of viewers!

Wishing a hopeful 2016 to you.

WOW?!! I really think a show like that could be hilarious!!! I dont know any Hollywood people or anything, but i wish you all the luck possible in doing this project! Have you seen the Batman Hoarder comic? I love the idea of comedy on this subject! Please keep us updated, and maybe let us in on some of your ideas? Only if youre comfortable with it? 😀

Can't believe I came across this thread! I'm in the entertainment field and have done standup comedy.

I've actually written a sitcom script in which the main character has compulsive hoarding disorder. (I have it myself, and they always say, "Write what you know.")

Problem is... I don't have connections to producers.

Any suggestions?

YEA!!!! NO DELAY!!!! THANK YOU, COREY!!!

YEA, Karl!!!
I have a notebook that i use to(and should again?) think of & record at least one humorous thing that happened that day. Some of my humor about my hoarding might be considered insulting to others? Its easier to make fun of one's self? It is a wonderful idea tho, just to begin to LOOK for the humor!!! Im going to try to do this as well!!! 😀

I don't have enough material for a regular feature, but every now and then I come up with an idea for a joke situation featuring a hoarder. (I'd go with comic strip format rather than a TV show.)

Saw it. Hee-hee-hee!

My other post on this didnt make it. Id suggested yall google 'Hoarder Batman comics'and my 'challenge'to you is, try reading them without laughing so hard you wet your pants?!! ha ha haha ha ha ;D

When dealing with clutter/hoarding or almost any other challenges we face in life
it is always better when we can keep our sense of humor about some of the situations that arise. 😀

And honestly, somethings can be downright funny.

Laughter does help get us through.

Thank you! Wonder who could get it rolling, then. You? 🙂

I LOVE THIS IDEA!!!
A few years ago when i was going through severe poverty and depression, i found writing funny rhymes about it helped me see it in better light! It was very theraputic and fun!!!
Great suggestion AbiYah!!! 😀 😀 😀