The Sitcom Mission 2012 Page 71

Hope to see some BCGers at the show tonight.

Just had confirmation that Myfanwy Moore, Commissioning Editor, ITV Comedy, will be on the judging panel at the Grand Final, along with Lucy Lumsden (Sky TV) and Sarah Farrell (Comedy Central).

Quote: simon wright @ April 6 2012, 11:42 AM BST

We're constantly tweaking the voting system to try to make sure that it's the fairest possible system.

We're open to ideas; what do you suggest?

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I saw one where you voted for your top two plays out of six on in an evening (might have been three), but place was irrelevant. So first place got a point, as did second, as did third (if there was one!). Position only came into play in the event of a tie. Seemed quite a good system, though audience votes are always open to abuse.

Does anyone know the results for the April 12 gig?

Fuller report to come, but the two going through to the Semi-finals are:

Medicine to Follow by Steve Keyworth and Mark Clompus
Help Yourself by Natalie Johnson

Congratulations to them and commiserations to:

Nathan Robinson for Urban Guerrillas
Phillip Barron for Julian and Declan

There's still tickets left for this coming Thursday. We sold nearly 20 tickets on the door this week, so make sure you're not disappointed by booking in advance. https://www.comedy.co.uk/sitcom_mission/shows/

And Quarter-final 4 on Thursday 26 April is nearly sold out, so be quick.

Cheers, Declan

UPDATED: There are two tickets left for the 26th.

UPDATED: There is one ticket left for the 26th.

UPDATED: APRIL 26TH NOW SOLD OUT!!!

There's a few seats left for tonight... and then it's the Semi-finals as next week's Quarter-finals is sold out.

Appearing tonight (amongst many other hugely talented people) are the very funny Helen Lederer in Dying For A Happy Ending; multi-talented Jon Glover and Jean Marlow in Doing It For The Kids and the wonderful Miranda Hennessey in The Staff.

And we'd like to thank BBC Comedy Commissioning Executive Editor Gregor Sharp for joining the judging panel on May 2nd.

Cheers, Declan

Since neither Declan or Simon has posted yet, I don't want to spoil the result of last night's show but my sitcom was in contention and it was a really good night. I had a fantastic cast and seeing it performed live is great to see what works and where the laughs come (thankfully there were a lot!).

The whole thing has been a positive experience - especially being asked to do several re-writes (one each by Declan, Simon and Hat Trick) as most of the really big laughs came from things that were added in then. The actors also gave great suggestions about the script and bought their own costumes and props - it surprised me how enthusiastic they were.

It was also a top notch venue - fantastic pub and fabulous hosts, all my mates who came had a great time. So if you haven't got a ticket for the next one. I really recommend you get a ticket for the semis as I can only see the standard will get even higher.

Quote: mightywombat @ April 20 2012, 4:19 PM BST

Since neither Declan or Simon has posted yet, I don't want to spoil the result of last night's show but my sitcom was in contention and it was a really good night. I had a fantastic cast and seeing it performed live is great to see what works and where the laughs come (thankfully there were a lot!).

The whole thing has been a positive experience - especially being asked to do several re-writes (one each by Declan, Simon and Hat Trick) as most of the really big laughs came from things that were added in then. The actors also gave great suggestions about the script and bought their own costumes and props - it surprised me how enthusiastic they were.

It was also a top notch venue - fantastic pub and fabulous hosts, all my mates who came had a great time. So if you haven't got a ticket for the next one. I really recommend you get a ticket for the semis as I can only see the standard will get even higher.

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Congrads to you and your cast/crew.

What time do the shows finish? I'm coming down for 26th and need to book a train home.

Last Thursday it was all done by 10pm, but the performances had finished by 9.30pm . There's two sitcoms, then an interval, then the next two, then everyone votes and the hosts entertain everyone while the votes are counted...

Thanks Mightywombat. I'll work on those timings and book up. Congrats on your achievement this year by the way, sounds like a great experience.

Hi all

Sorry for the radio silence, as you can probably imagine, things are a tad hectic in Sitcom Mission Towers right now.

So, where were we?

Ok, last week's 3rd Quarter-final.

A couple of technical hiccups with this one which meant that the cast of Ian Clarke's Doing It For The Kids was performed radio style. However, the sitcom was lifted by brilliant can-do bravura performances from the actors and it got good laughs all round.

Next up was Tracey McCoy's Dying for a Happy Ending, which featured fab performances and included the fantastic Helen Lederer as the psychotherapist from hell.

After the break it was Emma Cochrane's The Staff, which is a delightful ensemble piece about a TOWIE-esque footballer's wife and her scheming sister, which included a show-stopping back-of-the-net goal celebration set piece from former pro footballer Dave Seymour as the charmless Danny.

Last on was Welcome to Wolf Country by Chris Allsop and Stuart Gidden, this time with a stand-out cameo from Barnaby Ferris as disgusting landlord Tolga who makes Rigsby look like a saint.

We had 70 in, which is our biggest crowd so far. Masters of Ceremony were Steve McNeil and Sam Pamphilon who were excellent as ever.

Going through to the Semi-finals on the audience vote is Welcome to Wolf Country, and we decided to put both The Staff and Dying for a Happy Ending through as well.

Commiserations to Ian Clarke who will be back bigger and better next year. Ian is an excellent example of a writer who keeps going. Last year he made the 32 with Laboratory Conditions and this year got to the 16 with Doing It For The Kids. We very much look forward to reading his entry next year.

As for this Thursday, we've got a cracking show in store. If you've got a ticket, well done. If you haven't, sorry, it's a sell-out.

Tickets are selling well for the Semi-finals at the New Diorama Theatre and the Friday 7.30 Grand Final show is nearly a quarter sold already, even though nobody knows which sitcoms are going to be in it.

You can buy tickets for the New Diorama shows here:

http://newdiorama.com/whats-on-at-new-diorama.aspx?id=129

We've had a few regulars at the shows this year - you know who you are - and it's great to have your support. Well done for investing your time and energy into finding out what works and what doesn't in this format, your writing will only improve as a result.

The line-up of judges for the Grand Final currently looks like this:

Lucy Lumsden (Head of Comedy, Sky TV)
Sarah Farrell (Director of Content, Comedy Central)
Myfanwy Moore (Commissioning Editor, Scripted Comedy, ITV)
Gregor Sharp (Executive Editor, Comedy Commissioning, BBC TV)
Paul Schlesinger (Producer, Hat Trick Productions)

which is pretty much an industry definition of top brass of comedy.

If you can make it, we look forward to seeing you at a show.

Cheers, Declan

Completely packed house. We just managed to squeeze Stephen Mangan in.

Still got room for you though, if you want to come along to the shows at the New Diorama.

Just to let you know there are 8 seats left for the first Semi-final on Monday and 10 left for the second Semi-final on Tuesday.

We hope to see some BCGers at the live shows. Come and see what we liked, it might help to improve your chances next year.

Cheers, Declan

UPDATE: BOTH SEMI-FINALS NOW SOLD OUT.

Are the industry shows sold out too?

Industry shows for both days still have tickets available.