Set against the backdrop of the 1886 Toledo Worlds Faire, travel back to a more civilized time of mustache wax and child labor. The steam powered engine has united the coastal elites in a network of steel, railroad ties, and dead immigrant laborers and the ‘86 Toledo Faire was supposed to be its victory lap: XXXX whiskey, cake, flapper girls, and the announcement that the newest steam engine could take you from New York to San Francisco in just 8 days! Until Jason Tuttle, a plucky upstart mechanic, unveils his internal combustion engine at the same Faire. Proving that Americans will choose the option that prioritizes power over cost and environmental concerns, suddenly, the old steam engine doesn’t seem as attractive. Now, it’s up The Steam Punks (tm) to do something truly stupid and incredibly futile: take on the Tuttles in an escalating series of pranks, shenanigans, and stunts to determine which locomotion will carry us into the 20th century.
Who will win? The railroad Barron backed steam machine, or the West Coast Choppers scion? Does it really matter when there is almost nothing factually accurate in this pitch? We’re betting that Millennial and Gen Z studio executives who couldn’t describe one tenth of the cultural references in We Didn’t Start the Fire won’t really be that interested in the correct people, places, or things. Soon to be cancelled for tax purposes, it’s Wild, Wild West meets West Side Story in this take of pranks and American ingenuity.