Quote: simon wright @ November 6 2009, 3:50 PM GMT'Sc**thorpe'which as we all know contains a hidden word: Thor the God of thunder.
Sitcom (Com)Mission Page 13
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It didn't let me have Sc**thorpe!!!
I'm off to sulk
S
Over and out
GRIFF
No, I was only joking!
Anyway, you said it was fine.
I once auditioned for Puppetry Of The Penis. My Eiffel Tower was excellent.
Quote: Declan @ November 6 2009, 3:54 PM GMTGRIFF
No, I was only joking!
Anyway, you said it was fine.
Quote: Declan @ November 6 2009, 3:54 PM GMTI once auditioned for Puppetry Of The Penis. My Eiffel Tower was excellent.
He shows everybody at every workshop and no-one's ever actually guessed it. Nearest guess was The Gherkin.
Dam
Quote: swerytd @ November 6 2009, 3:56 PM GMTHe shows everybody at every workshop and no-one's ever actually guessed it. Nearest guess was The Gherkin.
Dam
Well if ever I saw a case of buttering up a judge...
I tried it before. Dec only said "He couldn't believe it wasn't butter..."
Dan
Yeah, Dan, and your sitcom Last Tango In Paris was not a good entry.
It was specifically written for the talent...
Dan
Next time take out the references to a knob of butter.
Quote: simon wright @ November 6 2009, 3:42 PM GMTDoes anybody know if 'Talking bollocks' really was the male riposte to the Vagina monologues?
Supposed to have been performed at Edinburgh.
Richard Herring did 'Talking Cock' which he said he worte after seeing The Vagina Monologues (or 'Twat Chat' as he called it).
Quote: Declan @ November 6 2009, 4:36 PM GMTNext time take out the references to a knob of butter.
Yeah, it was hard to cast that particular part...
Dan
Quote: simon wright @ November 6 2009, 3:35 PM GMTThe stuff I read on this forum (see above) is so often wittier than the sitcoms I see on TV.
Why? How can a room full of table writers (in one case) or writing partners honing their lines over months be so often less funny than Marc, Dan and Griff just riffing? Btw by 'riffing' I don't mean they smell. Well, only one of them...
I think it's Micheal's editing!
Quote: Declan @ November 6 2009, 12:46 PM GMTCaroline Raphael, comedy commissioner for Radio 4, told us that the first episode is easy - anyone can write that but can they write episode 5?
That is a bollocks statement, with respect. The best sitcoms are "locked" in terms of characters and format in episode 1. Great episode 1s/pilots are not easy to write at all, they are the hardest because they have to establish a set of characters and a premise which will be able to sustain x number of episodes. If you can write a great episode 1, you can write at least 5 more. (Bad pilot episodes are as easy/difficult to write as bad episode 5s.)
Rant over. 
Hi Tim
Don't shoot me, I'm just the messenger!
I quite agree, and I'd hold the first episodes of Friends and Dibley up as examples of great first episodes for their brevity of exposition and getting on with the story. Frasier too, although Cheers fans would already know the lead character.
We see so many first episodes where the "locking in" takes 14 pages out of the 15, with the New Character being shown around the office/workplace/shop by the Nice Character who tells New to look out for Nasty and then New sees Lovely but is too shy to do anything about it.
This is classic stuff and cliched for a reason, but lots of writers take so long over it, with great swathes of dialogue explaining each character's back story which could be done in a couple of lines and spread throughout the episode.
If you can get your exposition down to one tight scene, then your first episode won't feel like a first episode, and the story will power through. We'll also be more likely to tune in next week.
What we don't want to be showcasing is four episodes each evening of New Kid On The Block which take 14 minutes to set each premise up.
Can anyone else think of a great first episode of a radio or TV sitcom? Maybe we should do a poll. Would be really interested in the results.
Tim, what's your favourite?