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Designing a modern sitcom
On Wednesday 31st December 1969 GMT at 7:00 PM GMT, jake28 said:
Heloooo I'm having trouble designing a new and unique(as possible) sitcom and need some ideas to get me going.
Im a complete no0b and have no ideas on what makes an effective location and situation and if this has to be believable or has to be socially appealing.
Please help! 
Thanks in advance!
On Wednesday 31st December 1969 GMT at 7:00 PM GMT, Aaron said:
Hi Jake, welcome to the site. I'm going to move this thread over to the Writers' Discussion forum, where you'll get a better response.
On Wednesday 31st December 1969 GMT at 7:00 PM GMT, manchester's trendy chorlton said:
Take a dollop of 'situation' and mix it up with 500g of characters. Add 3kg of swears, and season with a soussan of demographic suitable internal rupture triggers. Et voila, you've got a murder hit!
On Wednesday 31st December 1969 GMT at 7:00 PM GMT, jake28 said:
That wasnt helpful 
On Wednesday 31st December 1969 GMT at 7:00 PM GMT, SlagA said:
Oddly, the situation part of sitcom counts for little. It's the characters that make the show. After all, the writers of Red Dwarf say that it's just The Odd Couple but in space. And when Rimmer left, the chemistry of the show was fatally injured (imo). Lister NEEDS Rimmer and vice versa. Wherever they be set.
So get your characters first. Give them reasons to be allies and also enemies. Frasier and Niles are always trying to outdo each other but are allies when set against the 'uncultivated masses'
On Wednesday 31st December 1969 GMT at 7:00 PM GMT, ian_w said:
Quote: SlagA @ May 9 2008, 7:25 PM BSTOddly, the situation part of sitcom counts for little. It's the characters that make the show. After all, the writers of Red Dwarf say that it's just The Odd Couple but in space. And when Rimmer left, the chemistry of the show was fatally injured (imo). Lister NEEDS Rimmer and vice versa. Wherever they be set.
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But you could argue that you would at least need a situation which would isolate them and force them into close confinement. Situation is important imo since you are always responding adapting to your environment.
Didn't we have this debate already??
On Wednesday 31st December 1969 GMT at 7:00 PM GMT, SlagA said:
Quote: ian_w @ May 9 2008, 7:33 PM BSTBut you would at least need a situation which would isolate them and force them into close confinement.
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Agreed, that's where the 'situation' comes into play. But it's the characters that provide the show's dynamics and often create those very same situations because of who they are. The characters drive the story because they have a distinct and unique response to certain situations.
Maybe I've fudged the area between situation (the weekly dilemma) and premise (the world in which the characters live). If so, apologies.
On Wednesday 31st December 1969 GMT at 7:00 PM GMT, ian_w said:
Well, the mistake was mine then, as I assumed situation to mean the characters' world.
I suppose where the situation might come into play big time is when the show needs to market itself around the pilot/first series stage, when people will know nothing of the characters but may well be drawn into the show by the premise?
From my own experience, I was drawn to Red Dwarf as soon as I saw the trailors for it (as a kid), almost soley because it was set in a spaceship and I loved anything to do with space. If it was set on a desert island eg. I don't even know if I would've bothered watching.
So thinking about the situation is I think important when it comes to capturing an audience.
Actually maybe it's even more important than I think. I wonder how many RD fans for instance are also sci-fi fans?
On Wednesday 31st December 1969 GMT at 7:00 PM GMT, jake28 said:
Would it be easier to think of a location, then character, then situation?
On Wednesday 31st December 1969 GMT at 7:00 PM GMT, ian_w said:
Quote: jake28 @ May 9 2008, 8:02 PM BSTWould it be easier to think of a location, then character, then situation?
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I don't think anyone could really tell you what will be easier for you.
Just try both and see which one fits you.
On Wednesday 31st December 1969 GMT at 7:00 PM GMT, Stylo said:
The character should come first - it's a common misconception to think - 'Hey... there's never been a sitcom set in a roller disco before!' but if the characters you place there are flat then it's not gonna work. 9/10 times if you think up a couple of interesting people then the location/situation leaps out (imo)
* Hmmm... roller disco... that may just work...*
On Wednesday 31st December 1969 GMT at 7:00 PM GMT, Phill said:
I think the location, the situation and the characters are all interdependent with each other - they all have to mesh to make it work.
If it's a good idea then those three elements will arise from the basic premise, rather than thinking of one element first and then trying to shoehorn it into one of the others.
On Wednesday 31st December 1969 GMT at 7:00 PM GMT, bushbaby said:
I think jake should scrap the idea if he's no idea
On Wednesday 31st December 1969 GMT at 7:00 PM GMT, jake28 said:
It;s for a media exam :/
On Wednesday 31st December 1969 GMT at 7:00 PM GMT, Stylo said:
Look for inspiration in the people around you - day to day. Make people watching your new hobby; furtively listen in on strangers conversations. Tiny things that other people say can set the grey matter to work creating a character out of thin air.
I was at the gym the other week, and a special needs guy was on the exercise bike next to mine. His carer came to check on him:
Carer: You alright John?
John: Yeah... it's them others.
That's the sort of thing that inspires me to write comedy.
On Wednesday 31st December 1969 GMT at 7:00 PM GMT, bushbaby said:
Quote: jake28 @ May 9 2008, 8:48 PM BSTIt;s for a media exam :/
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Oh I see, well try this....
http://www.robinkelly.btinternet.co.uk/sitcom1.htm
On Wednesday 31st December 1969 GMT at 7:00 PM GMT, David Chapman said:
Welcome Jake.
If we had any good ideas we'd do them ourselves.
On Wednesday 31st December 1969 GMT at 7:00 PM GMT, Perry Nium said:
Hi Jake. Just to echo what's been said on here earlier - it's characters that make a sitcom, not the location. One of the biggest mistakes beginner writers make is setting their comedy in a dildo-manufacturing plant on Venus or something way-out like that, because they think the location has to be funny. It doesn't.
Look at Open All Hours. Set in a corner shop. Funny? No. But the relationship between Arkwright and Granville is very funny.
Friends. Set in a flat.
Ideal. Set in a flat.
Men Behaving Badly. set in a flat.
Frasier. Set in a flat.
I just wrote a sitcom that's set in a greasy spoon cafe on an industrial estate. Hardly groundbreaking stuff but it's had a decent response.
So for me, it's character first, then the "sit". It may help you to think of a main character's personality traits and then put him in a world where those traits can be explored. So for instance you might have an aristocratic character who's extremely rich and snobby, but loses all his money so he's now forced to live on a council sink estate amongst the chavs and scum. You could call it "The Castle Estate", then you've got a nice snappy title like "King Of The Castle". A decent title always inspires me for some reason (although that one's a bit punny and old-skool BBC but you know what I mean. The point is that by doing it this way, you've got something to work on.
Good luck!
On Wednesday 31st December 1969 GMT at 7:00 PM GMT, sootyj said:
As ever Perry the voice of sweet reason. The dialogue, pace, and character defines a soap.
Look at My Hero, he's a superhero! But has there ever been a more pedestrian sitcom?
COntrast to The Young Ones, 4 students in a flat share.
The more prosaic the setting, often the wilder the antics you can get upto.
In Friends you've got 6 chums, who meet at a few locations, who all have different lives.
Myabe Chandler is bullied at work, or Phoebe gets asked to do something dodgy at work what ever. There's multiple sources for story lines to come in.
Where as in My Hero he's a super hero, his wife isn't. Not much mileage left.
The wilder the initial setting, the narrower the options.
On Wednesday 31st December 1969 GMT at 7:00 PM GMT, Marc P said:
'Where as in My Hero he's a super hero, his wife isn't. Not much mileage left.'
Seemed to work pretty well for Bewitched.
And I dream of Genie.
Interstingly the supernatural/domestic setting of So Haunt Me and My Hero written by P Mendelsson is the same kind of premise - and he has written the Pilot for a new version of Bewitched starring Sheridan Smith.
On Wednesday 31st December 1969 GMT at 7:00 PM GMT, sootyj said:
Bewitched and I Dream of Genie
Were both quite convnetional with a twist.
e.g. I dream he's in the airforce, she's a house wife.
Bewitched she's got a huge extended family.
That siad neither were particularlt great shows, when compared with Leave it to Beaver, or the vasrly underrated Green Acres.
On Wednesday 31st December 1969 GMT at 7:00 PM GMT, Mark said:
Quote: jake28 @ May 9 2008, 8:48 PM BSTIt;s for a media exam :/
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Head to the library, borrow a copy of Marc Blake's book, sneak it into the exam with you... top marks coming your way!
(As a side note: how cool a topic for an exam is this! I had to write something dreary about free market economics in the newspaper industry, or something like that - not one chance to mention Basil Fawlty!)
On Wednesday 31st December 1969 GMT at 7:00 PM GMT, sootyj said:
The Mark Blake book is ace, and it's available as an ebook, I'll post the link when I find it.
Sitcom is a weirdly conservative format.
Conservative, and when successful quite minimalist in structure.
On Wednesday 31st December 1969 GMT at 7:00 PM GMT, David Chapman said:
I think you need a sit first - but what do I know?