It is true to say I have failed in that department spectacularly throughout my life! 
I've got a script but will the idea get pinched? Page 4
How do you find these vids, Soots?
I Google them.
What did you Google? Happy Talk?
Captain Sensible, I remember him from my youth
Quote: sootyj @ 7th January 2015, 11:01 PM GMTCaptain Sensible, I remember him from my youth
Did he tell you about Captain Sensible?
Well I've had some great feedback and I'm fully prepared to get the first draft of my script thrown back in my face.....and second and third. This has been a really helpful experience, thanks to you all. What I've created isn't just a run of the mill <yawn> sitcom, there are many factors to my idea that's more than just the script and a couple of gags. My script has many visual gags and a very particular way to be filmed for best effect. I've got the whole thing mapped out in my head - opening sequence, music, etc. Its all there. I just need to get it finished on paper and then mix with the right crowd to get it produced. I guess that's where the problem is. Getting your foot on that run.
That sitcom Not Going Out. Sorry its boring. There's nothing really original about it. Tired old format doing the rounds once again. My very humble opinion.
Quote: Stu Legend @ 7th January 2015, 9:03 PM GMTFor all I know your a 60 year old 25 stone bloke tapping away in your string vest and Y-fronts....
Yeah, whatever you do, don't let any old, over-weight writers near your script....
Careful sitcom is a surprisingly conservative genre.
Watch a supposedly surreal sitcom like Boosh or the Young Ones and then check out how, even they obey the rules. It's interesting how Not Going Out has been indentified in being so unusual in breaking the rules.
If you don't understand the rules, you'll get them wrong.
It's like giving out hats at Subway, it's not what the customers want.
Write a scene from your sitcom and stick it up. Get some sort of idea where you're going.
Quote: Stu Legend @ 8th January 2015, 9:41 AM GMTThat sitcom Not Going Out. Sorry its boring. There's nothing really original about it. Tired old format doing the rounds once again. My very humble opinion.
On that basis I retract my offer.
Good luck with the project, the first rung is finding out about form. Sitcoms are made in a certain way - and the overriding concern of any of them is how much they cost to make. I have no idea what makes your project different and without a script neither do you I guess, but things, like I say, are made in a certain way for a reason. Do a bit of research on that first would be my best advice. As I said earlier any TV project costs an awful lot of money and involves an awful lot of people. Remember your first rule of business, people aren't going to invest willy nilly. You have to give them an extremely sound business proposition in your script or they will bin it faster than you can change channels on the hugely successful Lee Mack. If people want a horse you will find it hard work selling them a penguin.
I think the true problem here is that everyone thinks that sitcoms is a formula that has to be followed with rules and boundaries. Its like saying "What are you doing man? Don't do it that way, we've never done it it that way. Why? No one questions it, its just the rules"
Sure there's a formula or even a pattern to follow but you must wonder from the path to stand out or how else do you become ground breaking?
I'm still enjoying the feedback. Sorry Mark P either you're a fan of Lee Mack or you're one of the writers. Sadly I'm not either one. I just don't find that programme my cuppa tea.
Quote: Lazzard @ 8th January 2015, 10:05 AM GMTYeah, whatever you do, don't let any old, over-weight writers near your script....
ha ha love that. Not what I meant, I was just poking fun at a standard World of War Craft character sat at home gaming and playing on that image. Its amazing how the written word can be read in so many ways. Especially when it's not written very well in my case.
I think you might be mistaking good writing with basic formulas. You can take any example of a successful show - ANY EXAMPLE - and breakdown the formula inside it.
These "rules and boundaries" aren't there to constrain you, they're not something to break. They're there to help you because they simply work and have done since storytelling began.
Not Going Out is no different to any other show. The dialogue might be based upon gag after gag but the underlying structure is still there. A show like that speaks with a different accent but the language is still the same.
Quote: Stu Legend @ 8th January 2015, 11:48 AM GMTI think the true problem here is that everyone thinks that sitcoms is a formula that has to be followed with rules and boundaries. Its like saying "What are you doing man? Don't do it that way, we've never done it it that way. Why? No one questions it, its just the rules"
Well no it just works, I mean that's it...they work. You really can't change that which you don't understand.
Yes people have written new stuff, different stuff. The Comic Strip followed the Youngones which were a collection of dramedies, short films and mock documentaries.
But none were sitcom.
Sitcom it's in the name. It's comedy about a situation
Quote: Stu Legend @ 8th January 2015, 11:48 AM GMTI think the true problem here is that everyone thinks that sitcoms is a formula that has to be followed with rules and boundaries. Its like saying "What are you doing man? Don't do it that way, we've never done it it that way. Why? No one questions it, its just the rules"
Sure there's a formula or even a pattern to follow but you must wonder from the path to stand out or how else do you become ground breaking?
I'm still enjoying the feedback. Sorry Mark P either you're a fan of Lee Mack or you're one of the writers. Sadly I'm not either one. I just don't find that programme my cuppa tea.
ha ha love that. Not what I meant, I was just poking fun at a standard World of War Craft character sat at home gaming and playing on that image. Its amazing how the written word can be read in so many ways. Especially when it's not written very well in my case.
I am a fan of professionalism and craft is all Stu.
And that isn't the problem here. Everybody questions everything all the time in TV. Like I said, for you you are just wasting your effort if a thing doesn't get made, there is a huge lot more at stake for a production company. Like you said yourself you're asking them companies to put their a very great deal of money where your mouth is. Usually if something hasn't been done before it is for a very good reason. And they know what those reasons are.... and so should you.
I am sorry to be giving you tough love here - but you are just speculating. This is an industry, it has no time for speculation. It has time for research, work, more work, craft, art and dedication.
A beef wellington has beef in it, sometimes with pate, encased in pastry. This is what people expect when they buy it. Expectations have been met and sometimes surpassed but the fabric of the product is maintained from expectation to actuality.
Genre is there for a reason likewise. There is no breaking of ground in drama or comedy. It has all been done before. What makes something original is the eye of the original artist. In this case the writer. His or her personal take on things. Technology makes new expressions of dramatic conceits possible but it does not re-invent the wheel of narrative. Anyone who says Peep Show's voice over commentary was unique, for example, needs to go back to school and study their Greek theatre.
This is not to tamp down your enthusiasm, merely advising you to find out some more about what the other side of the production process want. That luckily isn't too hard, asking questions here will provide you with a lot of information most probably. Some even from seasoned professionals with substantial bellies and a penchant for empty calories!
Main thing is to think like a professional and think about the industry as just that, an industry that reaches millions and has within it a body of people who have worked and work bloody hard to be in it. Think about how you present yourself and your project to them. It's a Dragons Den in so many ways.
But trust me, what you think is original isn't. What makes your work original is you. If you are not able to write it and you are not a producer or director, I would suggest leaving it alone. Like I say tough love, but fame costs and right here is where you start paying!
I have a lot of ideas about town planning but I have no intention of getting a degree in it so that my ideas may become manifest.
And no I didn't write Not Going Out, although I do stay in a lot.