Quote: sootyj @ March 6 2011, 11:04 PM GMTWhat was the last genuinely orginal comedy anyone saw?
I don't think there's a good answer to that, everything owes some sort of debt to things that have come before.
The Sitcom Mission 2011 Page 36
Quote: Griff @ March 6 2011, 11:07 PM GMTAnyway, this isn't the place for this discussion. I merely opine that I would be interested to hear what Simon and Declan consider to be the current batch of cliches, based on a reading of 1200 new sitcom scripts.
I'm still surprised that two people did the human zoo thing. I can't see that ever making it on to TV.
I haven't actually entered this, but looking at the prize, maybe I should have.
Pointless whimsy?
Jinsy is ripping off Cromagnon shitting in his hand and smearing it on the cave walls whilst going "Oook ook!"
The great shows feel fresh and new even if they are heavily influenced by other stuff. Modern Family being a case in point.
I suppose you could say Modern Family and Malcolm in the Middle cover roughly the same gags and themes. It's the settings and characters that change.
I've only just caught up on this thread after a busy week away. 1200 entries eh, and only half a dozen will be performed? Maybe the pressure on us to announce an Autumn season of The Sitcom Trials really is becoming overwhelming.
In anticipation of this likelihood, the Sitcom Trials website has had a revamp, at http://sitcomtrials.co.uk. Nothing much new there, but it looks prettier than ever before. Stay tuned for news (joining the Trials Facebook group would be the best way of hearing first, the links are at sitcomtrials.co.uk )
Happy script reading, Dec, Si & team. That remains the one thing I aim never to do myself.
Kev F Sutherland
Executive Producer & Keeper Of The Flame
The Sitcom Trials
http://sitcomtrials.co.uk
(For some reason that link won't work from this forum, so paste it into your browser or try http://utproductions.co.uk/trials08.html )
Quote: Griff @ March 6 2011, 11:15 PM GMTExactly. But Modern Family isn't full of clams.
But it's also not the sort of show likely to have clams. They strike me as the more obvious lines you'd get in a studio audience sitcom. Predictable but reliable laugh-winners.
Quote: Kev F @ March 6 2011, 11:18 PM GMTHappy script reading, Dec, Si & team. That remains the one thing I aim never to do myself.
Er..why not?
How else are you going to exercise quality control?
Quote: sootyj @ March 6 2011, 11:04 PM GMTWhat was the last genuinely orginal comedy anyone saw?
Not a new sitcom, but new to me, Garth Marenghi's Darkplace. I've never seen a parody do anything like that before.
Quote: Griff @ March 7 2011, 12:08 AM GMTWhy would he care about quality control? What difference does it make to Kev whether he stages 32 good sitcoms or 32 poor ones? As long as the writers turf out and buy tickets for all their mates he might as well just pick out the first 32 he gets sent. If I was him I'd base my selection on postcode just to be sure of a good turnout.
Quote: sootyj @ March 6 2011, 11:04 PM GMTWhat was the last genuinely orginal comedy anyone saw?
Just to add to this, on the Peep Show special at Christmas the producers were saying that in series 1 they went heavily with the POV cams to make the show feel different to what else was out there and to stand out from the pack. However, once they'd got noticed they ditched them and made a better sitcom without them.
I feel Pete vs Life (anyone with me?) might turn out like that. Great sitcom with the original twist being the sports commentators. Unfortunately the analysts are by far the weakest part of the show so that might become a less important part if there is a series 2.
Shit .......I had a line with reference to a wheelchair, on the upside they can't send the script back covered in skid marks or spit like the BBC thank God for electronic mail.
All the best for those still in it or think their still in it !
P.s I posted something about comedy theatre groups in the writers forum no one has replied I usually take this personally but im masking the social rejection with my anti-depressants and my Paul Mckenna 'change your life in seven days' book which really works it took three days of reading before it dawned on me this book is bolloxs and I burnt it, I never looked back .
Quote: StephenM @ March 7 2011, 12:59 AM GMTJust to add to this, on the Peep Show special at Christmas the producers were saying that in series 1 they went heavily with the POV cams to make the show feel different to what else was out there and to stand out from the pack. However, once they'd got noticed they ditched them and made a better sitcom without them.
Isn't every single scene in Peep Show POV camera? I mean *every* *single* *scene*.
Dan
Quote: Andrea Waters @ March 6 2011, 11:56 PM GMTEr..why not?
How else are you going to exercise quality control?
Sorry, forgive me for not being very clear. When I said I won't be doing script reading that's because that's something I abandoned, personally, about ten years ago when the Sitcom Trials was in its infancy.
I then established the online peer-reviewed method of selecting scripts, whereby everyone who entered a script (and other members of the online group) were invited to read, review, and vote on every script in contention. This very quickly established which were hot and which were not and enabled us to draw up a shortlist of scripts to consider for performance, without me having to read the vast bulk of them. I confess I did occasionally dive into the reading, but I wasn't personally obliged to, and if I did, my vote was no more important than any of the others reading the scripts.
Of course that was when we were producing monthly shows which had about 60 scripts in contention. Whether the same method would work for an annual season with over a thousand scripts to go through (and a thousand potential script readers... hmmm, must give this some more thought....)
Kev F http://sitcomtrials.co.uk
Quote: Griff @ March 7 2011, 12:08 AM GMTWhy would he care about quality control? What difference does it make to Kev whether he stages 32 good sitcoms or 32 poor ones? As long as the writers turf out and buy tickets for all their mates he might as well just pick out the first 32 he gets sent. If I was him I'd base my selection on postcode just to be sure of a good turnout.
That, too, is a brilliant idea. In practice, of course, if you deliver a poor quality show where none of the sitcoms being performed is in any way entertaining, people will never come to the show again.
Which was, of course, the starting point for The Sitcom Trials in 1999. Its predecessor, which I ran from 95, Situations Vacant, showcased complete sitcoms on stage, some as short as 10 minutes, but the headline one was the full 30 mins. And, inevitably, we hit the snag that sometimes, just sometimes, a script would fall flat on its arse and the audience would have to suffer through half an hour of their lives they'd never get back.
Hence the Sitcom Trials, with the audience voting and controlling the outcome of the show, therefore have a reason to remain engaged. Plus the Pitch Fest, their suggestions read out at every link (this was often funnier than the sitcoms in contention and the audience knew that), and of course the eternal promise that "you're never more than 10 minutes away from something you might prefer".
As for selecting the scripts by postcode and thus ensuring bums on seats, that only became a factor when the Trials returned under Dec & Si in 2007 and was run as a prize-winning tournament. When James (Parker) produced the excellent 2009 season he was very diligent in ensuring a good spread of scripts and performing teams across the shows so there was always a banker in every bunch (or maybe this was just luck, I prefer to credit it to James's good judgement). Before that (99-06) the show had been more about script development, with writers contributing regularly to the show, as well as scripts coming in from new contributors, and every month or week's show was a self-contained competitive showcase.
Still, that postcode idea's a goer. Someone ought to try that.
Quote: swerytd @ March 7 2011, 9:40 AM GMTIsn't every single scene in Peep Show POV camera? I mean *every* *single* *scene*.
Dan
I'll admit that on it's own my comment own seems a little odd. Unfortunately the special isn't on 4od to watch but have a look at a series 1 vs. series 7 to see the difference between the head-cams in series 1 and the fly-on-the-wall feel of series 7.
And now I've had time to think about it, the most original sitcom of the last few years? Flight of the Conchords. Original feel and original use of music video style footage. And probably one of the best sitcoms around.