But Bush, you must see that if 90% of you posts get that reaction, surely it must be the way they are written dictating how they are perceived? You are obviously not an unintelligent woman, so you must see how the reactions are sparked.
BBC's New Writing Initiatives Page 23
Quote: Marc P @ October 8 2010, 9:02 AM BSTSend my regards to John Foster.
Sadly I hardly get to see the guy! He teaches MA now 
I'm just a quivering undergrad! But he did send me a note of congrats the other day! I'll pass on the hellos 
Quote: Nat Wicks @ October 8 2010, 10:48 AM BSTBut Bush, you must see that if 90% of you posts get that reaction, surely it must be the way they are written dictating how they are perceived? You are obviously not an unintelligent woman, so you must see how the reactions are sparked.
90% don't, it's occasionally when I wish to get a point across, which as I said is usually a personal opinion, or a quip or two
Quote: bushbaby @ October 8 2010, 10:43 AM BSTI got to thinking about Joking Apart and how the beeb disapproved and that if they didn't think divorce proper to comedy, they wouldn't approve of mine and it would end up on the slush pile. So I tore that episode up and started again.
I don't think you should have done that. Instead of tearing the script up, you could have turned it over and user the other side. Better still you should do that I do which is to just leave the script on the computer - soft copy if you like - and only print it off when you need it. This will in the long run save both money and time.
Hope that helps.
Quote: bushbaby @ October 8 2010, 10:43 AM BSTA lot of my remarks are wit
Steady now.
Quote: don rushmore @ October 8 2010, 11:28 AM BSTSteady now.
I am when I'm not on the bottle of red
Quote: Sophie Petzal @ October 7 2010, 6:38 PM BSTSad you feel that way. Life is funny. The way we treat each other, the way we see the world, these little lies we call 'morals', the big game we call 'society'. Laughing at what we've never laughed at before is accepting that surely. Celebrating it...? It's not everyone's taste. I find it fascinating. Angela Carter said the most amazing thing: "Comedy is tragedy that happens to other people".
Might be a generational thing. I suppose I've grown up with the Office, The Thick of It etc...comedies which, in many ways aren't 'comedies' at all. Not in the 'with hillaaaarrrious consequences' sense of the word. A lot of the time you find yourself laughing at things which conventionally speaking aren't funny. But that's the beauty of it. Life is totally farcical, and the things we do and say to each other equally so. I love sitting in the living room listening to the absolute rubbish my housemates talk about and laugh away thinking, 'these aren't 'gags', but it sure is funny'. That's the style of comedy I like, 'people' stuff, not 'two cooky bisexual transvestite vampires buy a flat in Eltham with HILAARRRIOUS consequences' type of thing. Although I'm as partial to a good mindless giggle as the next person, and I have no right to say 'what is or isn't funny', because one's stuff is only as funny as the number of people laughing at it
And by it I mean the finished product, not the 'logline'
F**k it.
Exactly! Perfectly said - and most comedy commissioners would heartily agree with Sophie here.
Can't folk just be happy for someone's writing success? Folk really need to stop circling what they think such and such want from a script and just get down to writing it instead of firing back and forth badly veiled bitterness and then try and mask it with lazy quips which The Chuckle Brothers would balk at (these forums do a lot of that - ie. "oh so hilarious" wordplay that betrays whether some people's personal scriptwork is actually funny at all... to anyone). Can't folk just get on with writing what they find funny instead of trying to constantly prove they are in forums like this...? (sorry - rant over).
As Micheal Jacob has suggested, it is HOW something is done not what it is about. If someone ditched a divorce comedy script because they "heard" such-and-such a show was not favoured, then that is their loss and a slight suggestion that they had no confidence in the work anyway.
It is also worth thinking that writing comedy needs to be about now, not reworking old formats with contemporary dressing. Yes, the DEL BOY and STEPTOE templates would still work but the writing has to be about the now. THE OFFICE could not have been made in 1984, FAWLTY TOWERS could not have been made in 2009 and THE INBETWEENERS would not have maybe been so relevant in 2001. It is about timing... in all sorts of ways.
Again, I am happy for the writers [sigh] You've proved my point 2Christian typists.
I didn't 'hear' about the criticism about Joking Apart, I read it. I think it was said by Alan Jacobs or Jacoby but my memory fails me here, so please don't quote me on that, it's some years back.
I am a published/produced writer, why would I be sour lipped?
Neither am I a prude about any subject. I was/am excited about this comp, it's different and AGAIN writers, the best of luck. Your entries must have been superb because as Michael said, he was excited about the standard of writing in the comp.
Can we please put this to bed. It just goes on and on and becomes bullying.
One of my sitcoms that was a hair's breadth of getting accepted was set in a massage parlour but 'we' didn't see what went on, it revolved around one of the staff that dated the clients [tart] Whilst they liked it immensely, it was deemed too risque....see what I'm saying?
Sophie - well done and good luck with the rest of the scheme.
Quote: 2ChristianTypists @ October 8 2010, 11:56 AM BSTAs Micheal Jacob has suggested, it is HOW something is done not what it is about.
I've always believed that it's not the premise of what you write that counts but the content. My Family v Outnumbered, Only When I Laugh v Green Wing - same rough premise but completely different shows. I'm sure this has been pointed out in one form or other about a thousand million times before but it's still valid. To criticise something based on few lines outlining its premise is a bit crazy. Having said that, it's something we all do, well I do anyway if I'm being honest. And I hate myself for it.
I once got overly critical of my mum for her consistent, substandard cooking. So she said "Why don't you bloody well cook in future?" So I did and entered Masterchef, which I eventually won. The moral of that story is that it is perfectly OK to criticise other people because you probably are better than them.
Hope this also helps.
Quote: Not Dave Gorman @ October 8 2010, 12:26 PM BSTI've always believed that it's not the premise of what you write that counts but the content. My Family v Outnumbered, Only When I Laugh v Green Wing - same rough premise but completely different shows. I'm sure this has been pointed out in one form or other about a thousand million times before but it's still valid. To criticise something based on few lines outlining its premise is a bit crazy. Having said that, it's something we all do, well I do anyway if I'm being honest. And I hate myself for it.
I once got overly critical of my mum for her consistent, substandard cooking. So she said "Why don't you bloody well cook in future?" So I did and entered Masterchef, which I eventually won. The moral of that story is that it is perfectly OK to criticise other people because you probably are better than them.
Hope this also helps.
But surely to assume that makes you worse. You can say that and have respect now because you've achieved something, and well done, that is so cool! (Please cook me something I'm starving and only have grated cheese in the fridge...)
However, for people who may not have achieved a great honking credit like that, to criticise those that have...makes them look bitter. It's unfair technically, because everyone's opinion has merit, and they may well be far more talented than someone who has achieved quite a lot in their time. But it's just a matter of social aesthetic isn't it. But then again...I'd never encourage anyone to compare themselves to someone they know nothing of or about. Simply because it...well to me it just seems ignorant. But hey, like you say, we all do it.
I must admit that I was a little surprised that short list included premises that writers are generally advised to steer clear off - including one script that the author was advised by posters on here to abandon on the grounds that no-one would touch it. It is refreshing that, in this competition at least, the quality of the writing has won through over received wisdom.
Quote: Not Dave Gorman @ October 8 2010, 12:26 PM BSTI've always believed that it's not the premise of what you write that counts but the content. My Family v Outnumbered, Only When I Laugh v Green Wing - same rough premise but completely different shows. I'm sure this has been pointed out in one form or other about a thousand million times before but it's still valid. To criticise something based on few lines outlining its premise is a bit crazy. Having said that, it's something we all do, well I do anyway if I'm being honest. And I hate myself for it.
I once got overly critical of my mum for her consistent, substandard cooking. So she said "Why don't you bloody well cook in future?" So I did and entered Masterchef, which I eventually won. The moral of that story is that it is perfectly OK to criticise other people because you probably are better than them.
Hope this also helps.
Thanks Don but I'll say again, my criticism if it was criticism I said 'I wasn't impressed with two of the beeb's choices', it wasn't directed at the writers.
Have none of us ever criticized the beeb before?
Quote: Timbo @ October 8 2010, 12:33 PM BSTI must admit that I was a little surprised that short list included premises that writers are generally advised to steer clear off - including one script that the author was advised by posters on here to abandon on the grounds that no-one would touch it. It is refreshing that, in this competition at least, the quality of the writing has won through over received wisdom.
Or topicality. Some things work with one demographic or another, and demographic is a variable beast.
One would hope the BBC would be the vanguard of knowledge concerning demographic. Perhaps it's not so much hypocrisy or inconsistency in feedback as much as understanding the public mood and what comedy is going down well at what time.