Question about non & original sitcom ideas... Page 2

Quote: Griff @ February 4 2009, 1:38 PM GMT

Tuumble - I kind of like your idea although you'd have to pick a period and stick to it I guess, if you're going to have a regular set of "backroom" characters. What year would you pick?

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I saw them as BBC staff so they could be working on one or several shows. I know it's getting ahead of myself but you could conceivably do one show per episode on a year-by-year basis.

1977 - Dad's Army
1978 - The Good Life
1979 - Fawlty Towers
1980 - Not the Nine O'clock News
1981 - Only Fools and Horses
1982 - The Young Ones

I quite like this list as it means you are seeing the change in comedy from cosy sitcom to anarchy. I better stop now - I'm threadjacking.

Quote: Matthew Stott @ February 4 2009, 1:45 PM GMT

Exactly, focus on character/relationships/tone/stories. If that's all working then, to me, the shop is incidental. If your saying, 'a sitcom set in a shop', I'm bored, it tells me nothing. Think about characters, relationships and tone.

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By which I mean the 'in a shop' bit isn't really an idea. It's the people in there and what they do that makes up the sitcom. Though obviously the setting for some 'classics' cast a long shadow and so will make it harder for you to get one off the ground set in a similar place. I think you're on safe grounds with a shop though really.

Quote: Tuumble @ February 4 2009, 1:50 PM GMT

I saw them as BBC staff so they could be working on one or several shows. I know it's getting ahead of myself but you could conceivably do one show per episode on a year-by-year basis.

1977 - Dad's Army
1978 - The Good Life
1979 - Fawlty Towers
1980 - Not the Nine O'clock News
1981 - Only Fools and Horses
1982 - The Young Ones

I quite like this list as it means you are seeing the change in comedy from cosy sitcom to anarchy. I better stop now - I'm threadjacking.

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As I've said to the main poster, do you have anything beyond this backdrop? Do you have an idea of tone/characters/ stories, or do you just have this window dressing so far? It could be a fun idea though.

Quote: Matthew Stott @ February 4 2009, 1:43 PM GMT

It's different enough though, 99 out of a hundred people would never make that connection. I imagine John Sullivan probably never made that connection!

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Call me the connector... 1 in a hundred - I'd take nothing less

Quote: Griff @ February 4 2009, 2:01 PM GMT

To be fair to Tuumble, I'd call it "high concept" rather than "window dressing".

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Mmm, not to me. From what he said it sounds like some fun background stuff to notice behind the main action. I may, of course, be wrong.

Quote: Tuumble @ February 4 2009, 1:50 PM GMT

I saw them as BBC staff so they could be working on one or several shows. I know it's getting ahead of myself but you could conceivably do one show per episode on a year-by-year basis.

1977 - Dad's Army
1978 - The Good Life
1979 - Fawlty Towers
1980 - Not the Nine O'clock News
1981 - Only Fools and Horses
1982 - The Young Ones

I quite like this list as it means you are seeing the change in comedy from cosy sitcom to anarchy. I better stop now - I'm threadjacking.

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Threadjacking or not, that is an amazing idea Tumble - just the sort of thing I could imagine BBC Four picking up as a kind of sideline to their comedian docudramas.

I've spent a while wanting to write a show that addressed the changing tones of British comedy but couldn't find the right format. Your idea would be perfect. You go for it, mate.

Quote: Griff @ February 4 2009, 2:07 PM GMT

Only time and Tuumble will tell.

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That should be his catchphrase. Or the title of his autobiography.

Quote: Matthew Stott @ February 4 2009, 1:43 PM GMT

It's different enough though, 99 out of a hundred people would never make that connection. I imagine John Sullivan probably never made that connection!

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I think also the dynamics between Del and Rodney, and between Dad and Harold are subtly different. Steptoe is essentially selfish, Del is essentially loving towards Rodney. I can't imagine Steptoe taking a beating from gangsters to spare Harold.

Quote: Tuumble @ February 4 2009, 1:50 PM GMT

I saw them as BBC staff so they could be working on one or several shows. I know it's getting ahead of myself but you could conceivably do one show per episode on a year-by-year basis.

1977 - Dad's Army
1978 - The Good Life
1979 - Fawlty Towers
1980 - Not the Nine O'clock News
1981 - Only Fools and Horses
1982 - The Young Ones

I quite like this list as it means you are seeing the change in comedy from cosy sitcom to anarchy. I better stop now - I'm threadjacking.

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I like this idea too, not sure about the above in terms of a different setting per week. I think you would have to stick with the one backdrop, but of course the most important thing is character. If your main focus was the backdrop then you have no show.

I don't understand the title of this thread.

That is all.

Sorry it was meant to read: Question about non & original sitcom ideas. Forget the 'and'.

.
Home to Roost - Yorkshire Television. 29 episodes 1985/90

Henry Willows' eldest child, Matthew arrives to live with him, after being thrown out by his mother.

Relative Strangers - Channel 4 19 episodes 1985/87

Fitz is surprised when 17-year-old John turns up, claiming to be the long-lost son he never knew he had.

Just do it!

Quote: Lord Meldrum @ February 5 2009, 10:09 AM GMT

Sorry it was meant to read: Question about non & original sitcom ideas. Forget the 'and'.

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Ah. Is a bit better. Have changed it for you.

I remember hearing one of the Not The 9 O'clock News team saying that in the early days, they were always worried that what they were writing was 'too Python', but after a while, they just gave up worrying. Looking back at those shows now, I think they stand up incredibly well.