The Animal Room - Pilot

In 1987, TV stations ran commercials asking parents, “It’s 10 o’clock! Do you know where your children are?” It is Ronald Regan’s America – Yuppies rule and punks rebel against the stupefying boredom of suburbia. Based on true stories from a wildlife rescue program, a group of losers, geeks and gifted kids negotiate coming of age, drugs, fighting back, and love. The characters: Fourteen-year-old Billy Grier moved to the big city from the swamps of Florida and has no friends, no life and only his pet red rat snake for company. When his snake gets sick, he takes it to a place that might be able to help – The Animal Room. Officially, the “Wildlife Rescue Program” at the Breezewater Science Museum cares for injured wild animals that are protected by state law. In reality, most of the animals are exotic pets that were abandoned or mistreated by their owners. The teens that volunteer there are similar. The Animal Room is run by Luke Lewenston, a dyed-in-the-wool hippie that cares for orphans and injured animals of all species, including the teenagers that volunteer there. Paul is a punk-rock environmentalist who is angry at everything. Chopper is too-cool-for-school and is abused by his parents. Cass and Hilary are sisters with an overbearing cop as a father. Billy’s parents don’t care what he does as long as no one calls the police. They all share a love for the animals and somehow manage to find friendship while blowing up construction equipment, breaking bones and scaring the shit out of the general public.