So I'm working on this thing that is centred around a television show type thing, but almost all the action is winding up being things unrelated to the actual television aspect(lotsa travelling to before/bitching after stuff though).
I'm just wondering if you go with an odd sort of plot like that, would it be pretty important to focus on the actual workplace.
30 Rock hardly mentions the show.
A tip from this book I have about sitcom (I assume it is a sitcom?)
The "sit" in sitcom means situations the characters find themselves in, not the setting. The setting is primarily just the way the characters meet.
But of course there's no reason you can't keep it all about the workplace if you want to.
Nobody's interested in the workplace, it's the people that's in it we want to watch. You want to actively-avoid plots concerning how the TV station is run and concentrate on the characters' stories. Workplace sitcoms are rarely about the day-to-day runnings of the place.
Quote: Griff @ May 18 2009, 9:20 AM BSTAlso while there's no hard and fast rules, be aware that anything set in the world of the media is going to be very hard to sell. I've heard this from everyone from Lucy Lumsden (BBC Controller of Comedy Commissioning) to Marc Blake (author and lecturer on sitcom, who regularly talks to prodcos about what they do and don't want.) "TV about TV" is very much seen as a negative. Yes, I know "Moving Wallpaper" and "30 Rock" and "Studio 60" all got made. But still.
I'd echo this. And the shows about TV or the industry do tend to be pitched by writers/performers within the industry with an existing track record. And of the shows Griff mentioned, Studio 60 was cancelled after one season, and Moving Wallpaper and 30 Rock have both struggled to find an audience despite being quality products.
Thanks for help everyone.
Yeah I sorta presumed that, but there's no way I'd even bother submitting anything anywhere at this point so I just see this as an easy way of trying out a large plethora of things.
Quote: Lee Henman @ May 18 2009, 1:57 AM BSTNobody's interested in the workplace, it's the people that's in it we want to watch. You want to actively-avoid plots concerning how the TV station is run and concentrate on the characters' stories. Workplace sitcoms are rarely about the day-to-day runnings of the place.
The setting is always a good place to inspire a few unique jokes.
Quote: chipolata @ May 18 2009, 10:16 AM BSTI'd echo this. And the shows about TV or the industry do tend to be pitched by writers/performers within the industry with an existing track record. And of the shows Griff mentioned, Studio 60 was cancelled after one season, and Moving Wallpaper and 30 Rock have both struggled to find an audience despite being quality products.
30 Rock may not be a massive ratings hit and but it is a very popular sitcom and one that is a critical success.
But I'd echo what others have said, writing about TV for TV is probably a bad idea as a starting point. Not only has it been done a lot but it is very risky for a new writer.
Quote: Griff @ May 18 2009, 8:49 PM BSTApart from anything else, it's quite likely that the person reading your script knows more about that world than you do. Which is a bad position to be in.
That's why it's safer to just write about relationships. 
The variety involved, switching of writing styles for different parts of it and stuff like that make it a good way of practicing. Do people just submit the first thing they type up left, right and centre? ...seems odd to me.
Quote: Chappers @ May 18 2009, 3:50 PM BSTThe setting is always a good place to inspire a few unique jokes.
Yeah, obviously. You can't have a sitcom set in say a a corner shop without some of the humour coming from customers etc.
But making the comedy about the setting itself is a trap many new writers fall into. Done it myself and been told off for it.
Quote: Griff @ May 18 2009, 8:49 PM BSTApart from anything else, it's quite likely that the person reading your script knows more about that world than you do. Which is a bad position to be in.
Yeah but that pretty much rules me out from writing about anything.
Quote: Dolly Dagger @ May 18 2009, 8:51 PM BSTThat's why it's safer to just write about relationships.
He could be f**ked on that front too. 
Quote: Marc P @ May 19 2009, 9:04 AM BSTYeah but that pretty much rules me out from writing about anything.
Don't do yourself down. Since Richard Whitely's untimely demise you're the countries leading authority on puns.
Well that's something.
Quote: sardines @ May 18 2009, 12:57 AM BSTSo I'm working on this thing that is centred around a television show type thing, but almost all the action is winding up being things unrelated to the actual television aspect(lotsa travelling to before/bitching after stuff though).
I'm just wondering if you go with an odd sort of plot like that, would it be pretty important to focus on the actual workplace.
A sitcom about a media of any type will never get made.
I may be in a surreal universe but I distinctly remember Drop the dead donkey and also something with a cetain Dexter (Lock stock 2 barrels) in it possibly called Press Gang or something.