Zach Stone Is Gonna Be Famous is a MTV mockumentary sitcom created by Bo Burnham and Dan Lagana that aired for one season from May 2 to June 29, 2013.
Burnham stars as Zach Stone, an 18-year-old Boston high school graduate with his eyes set on fame and fortune. Instead of going to college, he spends his life savings on hiring a camera crew from MTV to film his daily life (or, as he calls it, his "pre-celebrity" life) and his attempts to become famous, giving himself the entire summer break to do so before his friends and Love Interest Amy leave for college.
There's only one problem with that plan — Zach has no real talent. As a result, his endless schemes to get noticed are executed with very little in the way of foresight, knowledge, or self-awareness, much to the chagrin of (and often at the cost of) those around him. Cringeworthy hilarity ensues.
Commissioned by MTV in 2010, the show's premise was inspired by a study that asked graduating high schoolers about their desired careers, with 40% simply choosing "famous". While the show is undoubtedly satirical, Burnham initially planned for the show to be darker in tone, with Zach's hubris receiving swift and harsh comeuppances. However, in the process of writing the character, he came to interpret Zach as a sympathetic product of the culture surrounding him, with his behavior being informed as much by short-sightedness as a genuine belief that fame will be a fix-all solution to his problems and insecurities.
The show ran for a 12-episode first season, and was cancelled due to low ratings three days before the season finished airing. However, it experienced renewed interest following Burnham's later professional success, and more directly gained a resurgence in popularity after the release of his 2021 special Inside. On December 24, 2021, the show was added
to Netflix US.
Tropes associated with the show include:
- Aside Glance: Zach's family and friends frequently take to the camera whenever Zach does something stupid. The final shot of the series is even one of Amy doing this.
- Attention Whore: The motive behind Zach’s search for fame, hence the name of the show.
- Aw, Look! They Really Do Love Each Other: Zach and his brother.
- Banister Slide: In the first episode, Zach tries to do this, only to break it.
- Bittersweet Ending: The finale ends with Zach speaking candidly in a live news studio interview about how his pursuits of fame have affected those around him, and ultimately confessing his love for Amy and leaving the interview to tell her in person. They get together to finally begin a relationship, and Zach states that he doesn't need to be famous as much as he needs to be with her. However, the two are suddenly mobbed by a small group who are now fans of Zach's following his appearance on the news. Zach immediately basks in his fame, singing his theme song and signing an autograph, and we pan over to Amy, whose smile for Zach slowly turns into an unhappy, disappointed look at the camera. While Zach has finally found both fame and love, it's left ambiguous whether he's truly learned anything or is regressing back to his old self, and whether he's chosen his fans over Amy.
- Call-Back:
- In the first episode, Zach makes an attempt to slide down the wooden banister on his staircase, only to break it. In a subsequent episode, the banister is shown to be put back together with duck tape.
- Also, during the pilot's theme song, Zach knocks some mail from his mother's hands. In the second episode's theme, he tries the same, but she quickly moves it away.
- The finale's theme song is a modified recreation of the first episode's.
- Couch Gag: Each episode features a different theme song (while still using the same melody) related to Zach's scheme in the episodes, with a new intro.
- Cringe Comedy: A specialty of the series, as Zack's schemes and on-screen persona paint him as a Know-Nothing Know-It-All with zero self-awareness. The first episode involves a funeral for a distant relative Zach doesn't remember; his key priority is to take the spotlight for himself in every way possible, including dressing up as the deceased older lady. It only gets worse from there.
- Dumbass Has a Point: Zach makes a few good points, like when he talks about how a person with no talent could become famous and how celebrity chefs are known more for their personality than their skill.
- "Eureka!" Moment: How Zach's ideas often come to him, usually forming the end of an episode's cold open. These occur through chance happenings like Greg getting scared by a dog and Amy saying she'd pay money to see his reaction again, or Zach's parents admonishing Andy for being out late and saying that he could've wound up on the news missing. Zach has a similar reaction each time — looking and grinning at the camera, and possibly saying that he needs to write a new theme song — and as the show progresses, those around him grow aware of it and react with chagrin.
- Everyone Can See It: Zach's family and friends can see the sexual tension between Zach and Amy.
- "Fawlty Towers" Plot: "Zach Stone is Gonna Be a Famous Chef".
- Green-Eyed Monster: Nick gets jealous and has an argument with Amy when she plans to spend the night with Zach (and several others) in the "haunted" house.
- I'm Standing Right Here: Zach calls the boom operator "fat" in one episode, and the camera pans to his unhappy face.
- Idiosyncratic Episode Naming: Most episodes are titled "Zach Stone Is Gonna ___".
- Irony: Zach spends the entire show hopping from one paper-thin persona to the next in his pursuit of fame, trying to plant himself in media-ready situations or act like characters/people he's seen in the media. When he finally ends up on the news in the finale, he has a rare moment of candid honesty, owning up to the effect his behavior has had on those around him and confessing his genuine love for Amy. He leaves in the middle of the interview to tell her in person, and the two are then mobbed by a group of dozens who are now Zach's fans, having been won over by the love story between them. For all of Zach's efforts to act like someone he's not to become famous, he chooses to be honest while on the biggest platform he's ever been given and throws his shot at fame away to be with Amy, only to end up finally becoming famous as a direct result of that.
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Despite how his search for fame comes off as self-centered, Zach does have redeeming qualities. For instance:
- Planning his parent’s 25th anniversary dinner after the Zachelor contestants ruined it.
- Helping Greg pack for college after Greg called him out for his selfishness in an attempt to rescue him.
- Like Brother and Sister: Zach and Amy, as stated by Amy to Nick.
- Oblivious to Love: Zach to Amy (and vice versa when she starts dating Nick).
- Running Gag:
- Various locations having names ending with "hole".
- Zach putting duct tape over various logos and posters, as he doesn't have the rights to use them.
- Straight Man: Pretty much everyone when paired with Zach. However, he also becomes one to others, such as his boss and the female contestants in "Zach Stone is Gonna Be the Zachelor".
- Surprisingly Realistic Outcome: Zach being the character he is doesn't go without consequences from those around him. His camera crew starts looking for other jobs due to his poor treatment of them, his father argues with his mother over her entertaining his delusions, and his best friend at one point gets fed up and calls him out on his always prioritizing himself.
- "The Reason You Suck" Speech: Both Andy and Greg give these speeches to Zach.
- Waxing Lyrical: In "Zach Stone Is Gonna Be Scary", Zach recites some of the lyrics of the theme song of The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air when introducing the legend of the "haunted" house.
- Zany Scheme: Zach's attempts to be famous come across this way.
