The Sitcom Trials 2012 Page 17

Can anyone post a review i.e. do they need to be in the comp?

Anyone can read and review I believe.

The more the merrier I guess. Also, assuming you are not associated with any of the writers, I'm sure an independent view would be welcome.

I'm not entering or voting on this particular Sitcom Trials, but just wanted to say best of luck to all the writers. And I hope your feedback is as constructive and thoughtful as those posted so far.

Alan

Quote: Rhys Dee @ July 12 2012, 10:09 AM BST

Can anyone post a review i.e. do they need to be in the comp?

View original

Anyone can post reviews, yes please. Preferably read and vote on as many scripts as you can, that would be better than just receiving one review on one script.

I'm still getting through them, a few more still to read but, dammit, I'm going to read and review every single one.

Kev F

Hooray, I've posted my reviews of every single script (over on the Sitsvac forum http://tv.groups.yahoo.com/group/SitsVac/message/10793 which is where most votes have appeared so far).

Thanks everyone who's voting, keep them coming. All votes that are in by the time I start counting tomorrow (Sunday) morning will be counted.

Kev F
Producer
The Sitcom Trials

Sitcom Trials Votes.

This is all I manged to get through, I'm afraid. Well done to everyone who took part, and especially to those who managed to read all of the scripts.

You Banker!: It's mine and I think it's good, so YES.

Wingman: I didn't care enough about the characters, the premise didn't feel fresh. NO

WHITECOATS: Opening felt contrived and was difficult to follow. NO.

Wat's Ethics: Good premise, but script let it down by having people talk about stuff that happened in the past. NO.

Warthogs: Promising premise, snappy dialogue, yet the pace felt oddly slow and they were talking about stuff rather than doing stuff. Still, MAYBE.

Very Friendly Fire: Not believable or plausible enough. The Mogadishu/Morgan's chippy didn't work for me, so that rather stuffed the whole thing. NO.

The Thrift Collection: Nice premise, good dialogue, plot moves along and the characters kept my interest. It's too bloody long for this competition though. Still, in comparison to some of the entries this does stand out so: YES.

The Fifth Horseman: Nice dialogue, the premise felt a little too Terry Pratchett-like for my taste, but still a good script. YES.

The Night Club Faux Pas: I didn't like the narrator, and it all felt a little bit ramshackle. NO.

The End of the Line: Started off well but the plot went round in circles. THe dialogue and characters were good, though. MAYBE.

The Alternative Route: Some good dialogue, but an overreliance on "rude" stuff diminished the effect. Plot didn't seem to go anywhere. NO.

Steven and Mohammed: Hard work trying to read this. The synopsis didn't help. NO.

Status Quo: More effort needs putting into original characters and plot. The nosebleed/tampon thing just felt like a cheap attempt at shock humour. NO.

Stanburg: A great premise and I loved the SASS joke, but where was the plot? MAYBE

Serenity Now: Some nice stuff here but I didn't really get into it. Needs a stronger sense of direction. MAYBE.

Second Cousin of God: Didn't feel like a sitcom, I wasn't interested in the characters. NO.

Postdocs: Nice dialogue and characters, but plot was quite slow moving. MAYBE.

Sitcom Trials Manchester Script Voting Results:
Here are the results of the votes totted up for the Manchester Sitcom Trials. Thanks to the very many of you voted, I counted 28 sets of votes. Here are the results, totted up so that a Yes vote gives 2 points, a Maybe gives 1 point, and a No give minus one point. (The totals with an asterisk beside them is the total if the author's vote for their own script is included)

Games Night by Ed Campbell 21
Post Docs by Eoin Carney (*21) 19
Thrift Collection by Graeme & Nicky Knowles 15
End of the Line by Oliver Ley (*16) 14

Audition by Jonathan Kirby 11
You Banker by Richard Dowling (*13) 11
Cooper by Neil Tollfree 10
Serenity Now 9
Deliverance (*10) 8
Making Heavy Weather 6
Spanner In Works 5
Status Quo 5
Mr Nice Guy (*6) 4
Home School 3
Be The Stath (*4) 2
Flying Pigs 2
Fifth Horseman 1
Night Club Faux Pas 1
Wat's Ethics 1

Weekend with Wogan (*2) 0
Alternative Route (*2) 0
Cally Park Station -1
Hijacked -1
Apocalypse -3
Stanburg -3
Second Cousin of God -4
Midsummer night ikea -5
Benched -5
Doodlebugs (*-3) -5
Guided By Voices -5
Whitecoats -6
Wing Man (*-4) -6
Neighbours Wife -7
Very Friendly Fire -7
Warthogs (*-6) -8
Shake Money Maker -12
Diamond Life -12
Please Die Carefully -12
The Neighbour -13
Steven & Mohammed (*-12) -14

I would say this gives us four clear winners - Games Night, Post Docs, Thrift Collection and End Of The Line to be included in the show this Friday in Manchester. I will now confer with producer and performer Michelle as to what that 5th script will be. We will make a decision based on a look at the performability etc of the scripts which came a very close 5th. Stay tuned for updates, the writers will be notified as soon as a decision is made.

The totalled up votes are here in the files http://tv.groups.yahoo.com/group/SitsVac/files/Manchester%20Sitcom%20Trials%202012/ if anyone would like to correct my vote totalling (which was done manually).

Thanks for voting all those who did, it was a big ask this month.

Kev F Sutherland
Producer
The Sitcom Trials

Well done everyone!

Well done to the winners, some scripts I'm very happy to be beaten by.

Well done also to all who took part and thanks to all who provided feedback. If you get a chance to watch this years trial (even if you didn't win) then go down and support the competition.

Kev: Has the writer of the 5th script been notified yet? Just wondering if I'm still in with a chance.

Quote: evan rubivellian @ July 17 2012, 10:34 AM BST

Kev: Has the writer of the 5th script been notified yet? Just wondering if I'm still in with a chance.

View original

I'm just discussing this with Michelle. It's a matter of the performability of either Audition or You Banker. I'm suggesting we do You Banker because Audition has already been performed in Bristol. Keep your fingers crossed, hoping for a decision today.

Kev F

Kev,
I noticed that it's ordered based on votes excluding the writer's own vote. In the rules, it does say you can vote for your own script which I always think is a nice idea as it encourages voting.

So, could you clarify. Is voting for your own script not counted?

Quote: Trinder @ July 18 2012, 6:48 AM BST

Kev,
I noticed that it's ordered based on votes excluding the writer's own vote. In the rules, it does say you can vote for your own script which I always think is a nice idea as it encourages voting.

So, could you clarify. Is voting for your own script not counted?

View original

Voting for your own script is fine, and honest. I think everyone can see why I put that vote to one side when voting is close.

And, much to Evan Rubivellian & Jonathan Kirby's dismay, the final line up for Manchester on Friday includes neither You Banker nor Audition (tied in 5th place, you will remember). The Manchester team are including an in-house production in the running order (what some people on this list rather unfairly call a "ringer"). Which means they will be performing just the top 4 from the online voting selection:

Games Night by Ed Campbell
Post Docs by Eoin Carney
Thrift Collection by Graeme & Nicky Knowles
End of the Line by Oliver Ley

Tickets are on sale now: http://tinyurl.com/TrialsManc

Show starts 8pm at the Lass O'Gowrie, Charles Street, Manchester. Tickets are only £3 so it would be a good idea to book in advance otherwise they might all have gone (I believe three of the writers are coming, with their free "plus ones", which already accounts for 12 percent of capacity. If they all bring 3 friends we're half full.)

Manchester Sitcom Trials result

Thanks to everyone who took part in and attended last night's Manchester Sitcom Trials at the Lass O'Gowrie. A packed show full of the highest quality of scripts, a video and photos will follow a little later*. Here are the results.

The running order was:

Thrift Collection by Graeme & Nicky Knowles
My Best Mate by Bob Ferris
End Of The Line by Oliver Ley
Post Docs by Eoin Carney
Games Night by Ed Campbell

And the audience vote, which is just a bit of fun that decides which sitcom's ending they're going to see, gave us..... a tie. Yes, in joint first place were End Of The Line and Games Night. (In deference to Oliver, the writer of EOTL who'd travelled over from Yorkshire to see his script performed, the cast delivered the ending of that on the night).

So congratulations to all the writers and tremendous work by all of the cast. The next Manchester Sitcom Trials will most likely be in October as part of the Manchester Comedy Festival, keep watching this space for news.

*I write this from my Manchester hotel room having performed not only the Sitcom Trials but then the Scottish Falsetto Sock Puppet Theatre in Manchester last night, and today I'm playing with the Socks at the Splendour Festival in Nottingham in the afternoon, then doing another Socks Edinburgh preview in Guildford at night, so editing and uploading will have a wee wait. It'll happen, stay tuned.