Do you ever find yourself thinking "agggghhh! I can't do that in my script because it dosen't stick to all the sitcom rules I've read up about"?
I do!
However, after gorging myself on sitcoms recently, I've suddenly realised that even the very best sitcoms don't necessarily stick to 'the rules' all the time. I guess rules are there to be slightly bent at times. Saying that, I still fully support the 'each scene must push the plot forwards' rule.
Yeah, rules are made to be broken... that's why my dads a shit policemen.
Just go with the flow and put it on here then we'll tell you its wrong and make you do it again, but seriously just do what feels right and you should be ok as long as its funny.
Paul's correct. As long as it's funny and doesn't have any fat on it.
There's a nagging suspicion that we must keep in mind that sitcoms are not made the way we think they are.
There are many variables involved in making a sitcom that have nothing to do with the writers.
Our job is to present the company with a world & characters & funny lines. From then on it's out of our hands. They can and will do whatever they want with the world & characters.
It's a large collaborative effort involving producers, director, actors, consultants, and writers. And the bottom line is money. It's a gamble to create & develop & produce a sitcom.
How many of us will never have a sitcom accepted?
How many of us will have a sitcom accepted that won't make it to the pilot stage?
How many of us will have a sitcom accepted, made into a pilot, but not picked up?
How many of us will have a sitcom accepted, made into a pilot, picked up but only the first 2 episodes are shown and then the series is cancelled due to piss poor ratings?
All those different moments of seeming victory adding up to zilcho.
Like Pop Idol: All the happy tears as they advance through the rounds as if they've won the final, but most won't win the final.
Sounding negative here...don't mean to. But I'm feeling it, brothers. Feeling that oppressive crush of doubts; the mountain looms large and my stone is heavy...Most of us here will never get a sitcom made; it's probably a statistical certainty. Most give up after a couple of years of rejections from 20-something readers making £6.80 an hour.
That's not to say we shouldn't be giving it our best shot because the thing is, you can't win if you don't play.
Since the end is uncertain, we best be enjoying how we are playing. Don't give a f**k about trends; write what amuses you. If you convey it clearly & simply enough, that amusement will reach the audience. If you don't get your scripts/sitcom accepted, at least you enjoyed writing them. You enjoyed passing the time in that way.
On the other hand, the garden wouldn't be choking with viney weed and bramble if you weren't upstairs writing stuff no one will ever publish or produce. You probably wouldn't smoke as many fags in a day either. Your wife would nag you less about how you never wanna go anywhere, and she would threaten less often to "smash that f**ken computer".
It's the frying pan or the fire, gents (and ladies).
F**ked if we do; f**ked if we don't. And I mean f**ked by a cactus.
Yeah, write want you want to see on television and use these so called "rules" as guidelines to structure it, but don't be afraid to go over the lines: Be the Picasso.
Sitcom rules suck. And they also don't exist.
Look what Elton/Mayall/Mayer did with The Young Ones. Broke all the rules and ended up brilliantly.
Doesn't mean that the companies will like it any better, but I couldn't write if I had to stick to rules. Make it funny, that should be all that matters.
I was reading a sitcom writing "how to" book last night. It expressed the importance of the "three acts." I then switched to reading the "Royale Family" scripts. Oops, now where did that three act rule go to? Each episode barely had 3 scenes, let alone 3 acts. 
The "rules" are merely guidelines to be smudged.
The best thing to do is not try to nbe like anyone - just be yourself. Then if it works - great!
Don't get me started on the 'three acts' - that's based on an old play-writing system that was abandoned by playwrights in the 50s. The continued use of it is why so many Hollywood movies are predictable and bad.
Wise words, skibby, BTW.
Make up your own rules and then completely ignore them. Write what seems right. Do it your own way.