Quote: catskillz @ December 11 2008, 10:49 AM GMTOh, and while we're on the subject, I didn't see the last episode of The Sopranos, but I heard that was a real disappointment.
Having an ending that's pants doesn't really mean you can "have a great sitcom with no ending" though.
Quote: Griff @ December 11 2008, 10:54 AM GMTThe last episode of the Sopranos was fantastic, I thought.
I'm talking about the actual ending, rather than the whole episode. I heard the picture just faded out, with Tony sat on a bed with a gun in his hands. Most people were probably expecting a bit more excitement, e.g. a shoot-out. Like I said, I didn't see it.
Quote: Pete @ December 11 2008, 10:57 AM GMTHaving an ending that's pants doesn't really mean you can "have a great sitcom with no ending" though.
I didn't say "no ending". I said the ending doesn't have to be particularly good. Remember how Spike Milligan and Monty Python eschewed proper endings for their sketches? I believe a brilliant sitcom could also get away with this. That doesn't necessarily mean I'd do it myself, though.
Quote: catskillz @ December 11 2008, 10:49 AM GMTWell, off the top of my head, the ending of the first series of I'm Alan Partridge wasn't very imaginative. The bloke who took over from Tony Heirs dies, just as he's about to give Alan a second series, even though Heirs himself had just died, a few days earlier. Oh, and don't forget, Knowing Me, Knowing You had also ended with someone dying (or maybe it was the Christmas special, or both, I forget).
Oh, and while we're on the subject, I didn't see the last episode of The Sopranos, but I heard that was a real disappointment.
Perhaps the ending of I'm Alan Partridge wasn't terribly imaginative but it was satisfying. That's the key word I think. For six episodes we watched everything go wrong for the man so it felt great seeing one thing finally go right. Even if series 2 showed that things didn't pan out exactly right.
And, without giving anything away, I really enjoyed the ending of The Sopranos.
Quote: catskillz @ December 11 2008, 11:03 AM GMTI'm talking about the actual ending, rather than the whole episode. I heard the picture just faded out, with Tony sat on a bed with a gun in his hands.
You heard wrong.
Quote: catskillz @ December 11 2008, 11:03 AM GMTI'm talking about the actual ending, rather than the whole episode. I heard the picture just faded out, with Tony sat on a bed with a gun in his hands.
I think that was the ending to the penultimate episode, where Tony's crew were being bumped off and attacked left, right and centre.
Names are dead important to me too. I'll spend weeks getting the right one. I also look for a name that has potential for shortening and nickname.
Agree with Pete that sometimes you have to take what a writer says as simply part of the mythos they want to build around themselves.
Which sounds most impressive:
I write 20 hour days, cry over plots, beat myself up for months on the edits, and I win a BAFTA.
Or:
I do hardly any work, write on the fly, all instinctively, and I won a BAFTA too, without even trying.
I know which version I'd peddle. Whether it was true or not. 
I don't watch films, TV shows for the ending, but for the journey throughout them.
It's been a long time since this quote, but...
anyone else tried reading the script for Survivors on Writers Room and contemplated chopping off their own head with a hacksaw?
Yeah, I thought it was pretty bad too.
But Mr Hodges, being established, doesn't need to try hard any more.
I wonder what happened to that lesbian dwarf who won Fame Academy one year?
Was she really a dwarf? Only saw her from shoulders up.
Never watched Fame Academy , but my other 'arf got me to buy her the CD when it came out.
The weird thing about names is, I think, we probably all spend ages thinking of getting them right. I may get into a little dilemma regarding my "active" sitcom because the name of the lead character is also the title of the show. But now, having had to do several rewrites on the pilot and months on, I can't imagine my lead having any other name. I think my producers will come round to this point of view, but it has been a past note of contention. Can't think what else I would name him though at this point, just because I think of my character and that IS his name now!
Quote: catskillz @ December 11 2008, 10:49 AM GMTWell, off the top of my head, the ending of the first series of I'm Alan Partridge wasn't very imaginative. The bloke who took over from Tony Heirs dies, just as he's about to give Alan a second series, even though Heirs himself had just died, a few days earlier. Oh, and don't forget, Knowing Me, Knowing You had also ended with someone dying (or maybe it was the Christmas special, or both, I forget).
Knowing Me Knowing You ended with Alan helping the police with their enquiries following his fatal shooting of a guest . . . he got a reprieve for Knowing Me Knowing Yule which then ended with him killing his TV carrer by assaulting the comissioning director of BBC TV with his fist up a turkey . . . which then led to possibly the best "pitch" scene with the same character in I'm Alan Partridge . . ."Monkey Tennis?".
Quote: Mikey J @ December 14 2008, 2:22 AM GMTWas she really a dwarf? Only saw her from shoulders up.
No, she wasn't really a dwarf!
I just watched this and have to say, not expecting to learn anything new, that I was completely wrong!
I was absolutely astonished to discover that Prince Edward is one of the co-writers on Peep Show!
Quote: Marc P @ December 16 2008, 4:26 PM GMTI just watched this and have to say, not expecting to learn anything new, that I was completely wrong!
I was absolutely astoished to discover that Prince Edward is one of the co-writers on Peep Show!
Quote: Leevil @ December 10 2008, 7:54 PM GMT37 is just too old generally.
Shit. Better go and order my coffin. 
I usually come up with first names pretty instantly which helps me visualise the characters, but I take an age over surnames. They've got to be right.
I know it's been two months since the last comment on the thread, but I've just remembered, didn't Steve Coogan also have a character die (I think he was also shot), at the end of the Paul and Pauline Calf episode, in which Pauline married "Fat" Bob?
Yep. It was Spiros, played by Patrick Marber.
