Studio comedy in demand from BBC

From Broadcast:

"The BBC is calling for more traditional studio-based sitcoms and wants to run around four a year on BBC2.

BBC comedy commissioning controller Lucy Lumsden revealed that of the 280 ideas for comedy shows she received from indies and in-house writers last year, just 18 were written for a studio audience.

Lumsden told a Writers' Guild of Great Britain panel event last night (12 February) that while slots are limited for audience sitcoms, "they're something we attach enormous importance to and there's a great appetite for them."

Lumsden said she was encouraged by the recent broadcast of a live edition of Two Pints of Lager on BBC3 and that the signing of a three-year deal with its creator Susan Dickson was a sign of this appetite.

BBC1 also recently recommissioned sitcoms After You've Gone and Not Going Out.

She said she was looking for "familiarity but also [shows that were] saying something new."

My Family writer Dave Cohen said many aspiring writers have preconceptions that audience sitcoms are expensive and that as very few appear to be made, tend not to bother pitching them."

so on the basis of the BBC getting 1,000 or so studio based sitcom scripts in the next month or two.......maybe the best idea is to buck the trend and write a location driven sitcom (or whatever the opposite is called)

So really are they saying ones that can be set in a studio? Mainly indoor scenes?

I'm not sure what to make of this, did BBC say why they want more studio sitcoms? Is there a serious demand for comedies in this format from the audience?

I'm concerned that they might be ignoring good ideas because it doesn't fit with their vision of what to show on telly.

Well I've been inspired by The I.T Crowd and a few others to write a studio sitcom, so this makes me very happy.

Quote: Cecil Van Percywinks @ February 13, 2008, 7:04 PM

I'm not sure what to make of this, did BBC say why they want more studio sitcoms? Is there a serious demand for comedies in this format from the audience?

I'm concerned that they might be ignoring good ideas because it doesn't fit with their vision of what to show on telly.

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The BBC want them because they're, comparitively, reasonably cheap to make. They're always good sellers internationally, as a format, and on DVD. And there's a huge audience.

Everything gets read, so there's no question of "good" ideas being ignored, but there's a lack of the studio-based shows which are the most attractive to producers and audiences.

Quote: David Chapman @ February 13, 2008, 5:48 PM

So really are they saying ones that can be set in a studio? Mainly indoor scenes?

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With an audience.

Both my pilots are studio sitcoms - and both have big interest in them. The BBC's stance on wanting more audience shows explains why.

Quote: Cecil Van Percywinks @ February 13, 2008, 7:04 PM

I'm not sure what to make of this, did BBC say why they want more studio sitcoms? Is there a serious demand for comedies in this format from the audience?

I'm concerned that they might be ignoring good ideas because it doesn't fit with their vision of what to show on telly.

View original

They've been on the lookout for audience-based comedy for a while now. Which pleases me immensely because there's nothing I like more than sticking two fingers up at the "laughter track snobs" who think that any tv comedy with audience laughter on it is insulting their intelligence. Well it's coming back now. Hooray for ha-ha, that's what I say.

Aaron agrees.

Who here prefers audience-sitcoms? I just feel they can be a bit templated because of the few sets you can have in the studio. Also they tend to be gag heavy.

BBC have had success with Gavin & Stacey, Office, Extras, Royal Family, The Thick of IT so I'm surprised they are wanting to step away from it.

I've been in the audience at a sitcom filming and all the scenes are not in the studio. Scenes done on location are shown on film to the audience, so every scene doesn't need to be written for studio

Quote: bushbaby @ February 14, 2008, 8:56 AM

I've been in the audience at a sitcom filming and all the scenes are not in the studio. Scenes done on location are shown on film to the audience, so every scene doesn't need to be written for studio

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I know but the majority are shot in the studio. As a writer you are told to limit on location filming for these comedies.

Quote: ContainsNuts @ February 14, 2008, 8:47 AM

Who here prefers audience-sitcoms?

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Me.

Quote: ContainsNuts @ February 14, 2008, 8:47 AM

Also they tend to be gag heavy.

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Good.

Quote: ContainsNuts @ February 14, 2008, 8:47 AM

BBC have had success with Gavin & Stacey, Office, Extras, Royal Family, The Thick of IT so I'm surprised they are wanting to step away from it.

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OOh, a change! Isn't that what writers are always complaining about? No change in what's being made? It's a pity that the audiences and the producers and the channels want to see what you, I assume, consider to be a retrogressive change.

Quote: Aaron @ February 14, 2008, 9:59 AM

OOh, a change! Isn't that what writers are always complaining about? No change in what's being made? It's a pity that the audiences and the producers and the channels want to see what you, I assume, consider to be a retrogressive change.

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Easy! I was just offering an opinion. Studio sitcoms have always been around at the BBC so its not really a change. There is always room for studio sitcoms but it just sounded like they were closing the door on other types which are still comparatively new compared to studio ones.

As good as The Office, Thick Of It, Extras etc are, I genuinely prefer to watch good audience-based sitcoms. Why? Because I LAUGH MORE!

One of the funniest scenes in any sitcom, ever, in my opinion was Victor Meldrew's "puppy phone". I cried laughing at that, and I'm certain that was partly-due to the audience's reaction. If there'd been no laughter track I'd've probably still laughed but certainly not as long and hard. Same goes for Delboy falling through the bar.

I get really pissed off when people snobbishly dismiss studio comedies as if they're outmoded and old hat. In my opinion they make the writer work harder. There's no better script editor than a studio audience. If the audience doesn't laugh, the joke wasn't funny. For me, non-audience comedy writing is akin to a stand-up telling jokes to an empty club. He has the luxury of never knowing if his jokes are shite or not.

I don't know, for me, a group of performers on a stage trying to make a group of other people laugh their tits off is the purest form of comedy. It's always been that way since Ug the Caveman stood up in front of his hairy mates and humorously drew a big knob on a gazelle cave-drawing.