The other day, I had a friend send me a video of a Seinfeld parody [1] where the characters are from Mario Bros. Since the AI thing has become so prolific and it’s increasingly obvious people are just throwing anything at the wall in an attempt to “go viral”, my first thought was, “that looks AI generated.” Then I thought, “I wonder what an AI would write.” So I used a phone app [2] to prompt it as follows:
Write a script to a scene from a Super Mario TV Show in the style of Seinfeld.
…and here’s the clever thing it came up with…
INT. MONKFISH CAFE - DAY Jerry and George are sitting at a table in Monkfish Cafe, a small local diner in the Mushroom Kingdom. They are engrossed in conversation. JERRY You know, George, I've been thinking. With all these weird creatures, castles, and mushrooms, who's in charge in this Mushroom Kingdom? GEORGE (sarcastically) Oh, there's a mushroom KINGDOM alright! I've seen castles, I've seen lava pits... but I've yet to see an actual KING! Jerry chuckles and looks around the cafe. JERRY And what's with all these weirdly dressed plumbers? What's the deal with that? GEORGE I don't know, Jerry. All I see are people running around, jumping on turtles, breaking bricks with their heads. It's like everyone is obsessed with-- what's that guy's name again? Mario? JERRY Oh, Mario. He's like a superhero around here. I mean, just look at his mustache. Who wears a mustache like that anymore? GEORGE It's like he's retroactively keeping the mustache industry alive, single-handedly. But seriously, he jumps, he collects coins... that's it? I mean, toadstools, pipes -- it's all a bit convoluted, don't you think? JERRY Oh, and those power-ups. Mushrooms that make you grow, flowers that throw fireballs... I have enough problems just taking my daily vitamins. George glances at a waitress dressed as Princess Peach walking by. GEORGE (smirking) Speaking of power-ups, how about Princess Peach? She's always getting kidnapped by Bowser. I'd be surprised if she hadn't racked up enough frequent kidnapper miles to get a free flight by now. JERRY (smiling) Yeah, and time after time, Mario rushes in to save her. It's like the Mushroom Kingdom's very own Groundhog Day. But hey, at least Luigi gets a break. No one ever kidnaps him. GEORGE (centering himself) You know, Jerry, sometimes I feel like I'm living in the Mushroom Kingdom. Life throws absurdity at us, and we just have to roll with the punches. JERRY (nods) Yeah, we could all use a little Mario composure, jumping hurdles and sliding under fireballs. Just then, Kramer bursts into the cafe, dressed in a flamboyant Koopa Troopa costume. KRAMER (excited) Hey, you won't believe this! I found a Warp Pipe in Central Park! I'm telling you, Jerry, I've discovered a whole new shortcut to work! Jerry and George exchange an amused glance. Kramer sits down with them, and they continue to discuss the peculiarities of life in the Mushroom Kingdom, Mario's heroic antics, and how they sometimes wish they had a superpower or two. All the while, the absurdity of their own lives mirrors that of the Mushroom Kingdom. FADE OUT.
There are some good zingers in there and I’m impressed by the “creativity” of the neural network. What I think it shows most is how formulaic a show like Seinfeld really was. Hell, in college, we were tasked with writing a few scenes from that show and we came up with something like this. That was part of the charm of the old sitcoms, but also the primary drawback. Older sci-fi suffers from the same thing. Eventually that formula runs it’s course and has to be set down for awhile.