Quote: Judgement Dave @ October 16 2012, 6:13 PM BSTA lot of the news for weeks has been:
- paedophile TV presenters
- paedophile teachers
- kid abduction/murderThat doesn't help generate comedy gold since NJ won't touch that.
I did a war crimes one-liner as it seemed so much more upbeat...
Dan
I've only submitted a handful of one-liners for this series, and haven't posted any of them in the rejects thread - in fact I haven't even looked in the critique forum since the end of the last run!
I have my own reasons/excuses, which I won't bore you with, but it does seem to be reflective of a wider trend - I can't be arsed digging through the transcript of the web chat, but I'm sure they mentioned getting 300 emails for the week (I was shocked they didn't use the word 'only' in that sentence) - and that was for episode 2 or 3, whereas last series they got 400 for episode 6, and that was quite a bit less than any other week.
Conversely, I've enjoyed listening to this series a great deal more - it is a pity in some ways that they now have an Ed Milliband 'character' but in some ways I guess that's inevitable. That aside they've made great efforts to vary the sketches (remember when it was 90% interviews?) and I've found the jackapps, etc to be of a generally higher standard than in the past.
I've been submitting stuff for the last three series without much success but this series I've had one credit and two jokes that were used but didn't make the cut, I don't really think that the quality of my submissions has particularly improved this series so it might just be my strike rate has improved because there is slightly less competition.
I think because of the timing of this series there has been slightly more emphasise on political jokes because the party conferences have been going on for the last 3 or 4 weeks. A lot of other stories in the news such as Savile and the missing girl in Wales are clearly not subjects that lend themselves to topical humour on BBC radio.
Quote: Your Mum @ October 16 2012, 10:48 PM BSTyou kind of worry that they might cancel Newsjack if no one is writing for it, but maybe if noone is then maybe they should??
Just goes to show fewer people ARE interested in writing comedy than you think nowadays
Explains my success this series, anyway! 
Quote: Jinky @ October 16 2012, 3:59 PM BSTInteresting. I see a progression of...
Newsrevue -> Treason Show -> Newsjack
...as being the faltering little steps a baby bird has to take before it takes to the air and soars high above the valleys (or more likely gets eaten by a cat, if this image is going to be brutally honest).
Well if nothing else the comment of people not posting has got people posting.
I'm going to buck the trend and say I've been submitting each week for Newsjack, pretty much like I did every other series. There is some logic in what Jinky says (long time no see Jinky!) but I'd also add that there is some progression beyond just getting a credit. For example:
Credit on a series -> Multiple credits -> Full sketch with only minor tweaks -> Invited in on a Tuesday -> Become a commissioned writer
Certainly won't claim to have completed all that but at least it explains why I think there's something more to aim at beyond just getting 1 credit.
And given Newsjack is the only open-submission horse in town I'm not going to knock in. In fact wish there were a few more open-submission horses on offer, especially as it'll all be over in a week.
I do find Newsjack incredibly restrictive, although I do realise that an 'anything goes' open door sketch show could potentially be chaos. Generally speaking, some sort of restriction does help to give people a brief to work towards, which usually helps to filter and refine the content submitted.
However, it's not just that it's topical, there are also sub-restrictions in that. When I come up with something I find funny, I often can't find a way of fitting it into a Jack App, or a Correction etc. (I will freely admit this is as much to do with my writing skills as anything else). My trouble is that I can come up with sketches, but they just don't seem to fit into the programme.
I also find it very difficult to gauge the humour of the programme, despite listening to it every week for the last couple of years. I do realise that many people contribute, but I still would expect certain types of jokes and sketches to get broadcast. Some things I frankly just find stupid, other things really make me laugh - often in the same episode.
All said and done, I am not ungrateful, just frustrated at my own difficulty. I think another non-topical open door show along side this would be great. But then, a topical show will always need more writers.
Perhaps I should concentrate on Newsrevue which I have heard is a bit more liberal. And perhaps they get less material whenever Newjack is on air!
Edit: Sorry, only just read Jinky's post which more or less already said the same thing.
As one of the script editors has previously said, 'the news' is not really restrictive at all: there is always some angle you can cover and, given that Newsjack is hardly the most bitingest of satire, the silly (often tenuously news-connected) angle is the one that wins.
It is a development programme, as the Very Reverend Mawhinney alludes to, not just for writers, but also for solid writers making the jump to script editors and producers are also developed in the same way. I dare say the cast has also had a developmental aspect to it, and that's important.
Having said all that, at the end of the day, they are making an entertainment product and, having recently done the script editing role elsewhere, it's becoming evident that funny has to take precedence over 'clever' and 'interesting', and that does mean making a lot of sacrifices. A roomful of non-writers laughing sounds better in a recording than one person pissing themselves.
Dan
Hey everyone,
I have two tickets for tonight and for next Wednesday. If anyone's interested, just message me - thanks
Despite life getting busier - I've kept up with my personal target of submitting a sketch or two every episode, but have found it harder writing then previous series. I think in part it's because the headline news is more depressing then usual, which A) Gets your head into a less comedy friendly place when you start looking at news and B) Means you have to work harder to even find the news in the first place.
Format wise this series also seems kinda different to the last few - I know we all seemed to be getting tired of the interview format before, but they almost seem to have done away with it now; silly sketches themed on (non-depressing) news seems to be more the order of the day. And Ed Milliband bits. (Not all a bad thing, but it's hard to change what I think of as 'Newsjack')
Still, I'm (mostly) enjoying writing the stuff, even if I seem to have taken a back step on the 'success' count.
I've never felt restricted by NJ's submission guidelines, if anything I've had any creativity smashed out of me by the breadth of what potentially can be written.
Not being able to use sweary words or make a joke about paedophilia still leaves a lot to prod a gag stick at.
Not that this makes it any easier for me to consistently come up with material. I wanted to try and improve on the one credit and one 'nearly' in each of the last two series that I've had, and if I'm going to achieve that in series 7 then i'm leaving it very late.
Gawd - woke up this morning thinking it was Thursday and I've been jumping for the past hour every time an email arrives.
It's only Wednesday isn't it... not even recorded it yet have they.
I blame Obama/Romney for having their debate on Tuesday night when the first one was on a Wednesday.
Well at least I don't have to worry tomorrow.
But I do. I'm not unhappy with that.
Well done, Stephen. Fingers crossed!
Getting something recorded is still doing very well don't forget - or at least that's what I tell myself when I get cut - but without the money* or fame*...
*not very much of either really
I'm already waiting nervously by my computer...
