Retirement Plan Pilot

“One ring to rule them all. One ring to find them. One ring to rule them all and in the darkness bind them”. Linda, a sweet, mousy, former school teacher and Tolkien fan is reading these words when her husband, John, discovers the wedding ring her ex-husband gave her and proceeds to blow up the house as he attempts to destroy the ring. Insurance refuses to pay out because of the circumstances of the accident, and due to a clerical error, John’s ex-wife is named as the beneficiary. Linda must now turn to her adult children for help as she navigates grief and the possibility of homelessness.

In the meantime, her adult children’s lives are also exploding. Her eldest daughter, Haley, who has a penchant for bad boys and is currently bartending in a small city, is about to be evicted from her apartment with her eight year old son, Noah, after her latest boyfriend leaves her. Linda’s successful, orderly son, Charles, is reeling after losing everything except a shih tzu named Lord Byron, in a divorce he did not see coming. Linda’s third child, Kitty (Charles’s twin) is now their only hope. Linda, Charles, Kitty and Noah. Kitty lives on a former farm she inherited on an artist’s colony that the characters don’t know is about to be lost because of past due taxes.

The series follows the four family members, trapped together in this doomed artists’ colony, as they try to navigate problems brought on by the possible loss of the farm not only to the state, but to Linda’s ex-husband who, like Golem, covets the ring, the land, and the affection of his former spouse and adult children. The colony provides the background along with a host of other characters including an invisible JRR Tolkien, and Linda’s deceased husband, John. Both of whom Linda consults with on a regular basis. In addition to the invisible assistance, all four characters interact with a host of real people living in the colony including a token nudist, potential cult leaders, and aspiring artists.