Quote: Oldrocker @ July 20 2009, 11:39 PM BSTI've always had this thought, that Devid Renwick must have gone Z - A rather then A - Z when writing OFITG.
It seems impossible to arrive where he does by just going forward?
But then, I'm not a writer and this could be commonplace for all I know.
The same of course applies to jonathan Creek.
Quote: Chappers @ July 20 2009, 5:03 PM BSTIt's really worth £3. Very twisted at times.
Are you referring to One Foot or Love Soup. I'm on about Love Soup. One Foot was very twisted, but not watched Love Soup, but if it is twisted and got that One Foot genius, then I was a fool not to have brought it. I've never seen Jonathan Creek, but seen the odd clip and it looks interesting and something else I'd like to watch.
He was talking about Love Soup, and you are a fool!
But a very sexy fool.
Quote: Marc P @ July 21 2009, 10:04 AM BSTThe ending is a very good place to start.
I can't plot out things much at all before I start to write. I have a general idea of what might be good story and then write and re-write, see what crops up, then find ways to link the strands convincingly, to give me a decent and (hopefully) funny conclusion.
You're right to say that all sitcom plots (and one might indeed say all dramatic writing) is contrived, but the knack is to fool the viewer into not noticing it. DR is very good at this, but sometimes I feel he uses the "everyone's mad" get-out clause a little too often to justify the developments in his plots.
Quote: chipolata @ July 21 2009, 10:27 AM BSTWhat's Mitch up top nowadays?
He recently co-wrote a US pilot for the Thick of It. Set in Congress with Oliver Platt in the Malcolm Tucker role it was directed by Chris Guest and featured a lot of his gang like Mike McKean. No US network would commission this show, they must have been mad with that amount of talent on board.
Brass is clever. Probably why it wasn't a big hit.
Peep Show is clever, Nighty Night I thought was clever, the original Reggie Perrin ofcourse, and The Young Ones I thought was fiendishly clever.
Oh you changed this to high brow, in that case I'll say To The Manor Born for a sitcom. I think the most high brow, not to say arch comedy series I've seen is The Irish RM, a comedy drama, I doubt if it would even get that listing today, but I remember it being incredibly subtle and complex in its quiet comedy, a shame stuff like that doesn't get made today.
Changed? No, that's what it always was. 
Peep Show 
Love it. Really clever idea - as someone who looks more like Jez but has Mark's personality, it's like watching a docu on my life.
Top cast too - DM, RW and MK - masters.
Got to be 'Question Time' or 'Today in Parliament'. They always crack me up.
I reckon the one that springs immediately to mind has to be Pulling it's so poignantly hilarious! Amazing well written and performed by all the principal actors. The BBC didn't know a good thing when they saw it the idiots. Instead they persist in commissioning terrible comedy like Gavin & Stacey or anything with Horne and Corden in it!