SlagA
Wednesday 31st January 2007 4:44pm [Edited]
Blackwood
5,335 posts
Script editors are a good idea.
Another idea for the pot: Badge rightly suggests that some sketches here have been transformed by the 'committee' throwing in ideas. Off top of head Monolis' 'Dog alone in house' sketch was transformed from confused and below par (because of the surrounding confusion) into a new level by several suggested ideas. Although the idea of 'committee' could have negative connotations, it may be positive too. At this stage we can keep all options open until we settle on a distinct shape / format etc
Some ideas for the pot:
Maybe create a pool solely for submissions: if a sketch is agreed to be worthy (by a method yet to be decided), it goes through but if it is below or not quite there, perhaps move it to a holding pool where others can pitch ideas and let's see if the sketch can transform into a new level and make the cut. If at the end of a rewrite, it still isn't there or the original author disagrees with the suggestions, we can bump it off the list.
What about another theme idea. (think taking the 'committee' to a new tangent here) Each show has many different sketches BUT in amongst them we have one short sketch set-up and then each writer pitches a short different end to the set-up? (Variations on a theme in art terms) For example, the number of better cat on passenger seat endings that were suggested (it also happened with a few of the 'committee' possible ends to sitcom-er sketches in this forum). We can also interactive this bit and have viewers vote on the best end. This has to be short and sweet tho. And the TV people love phone-ins (ching ching)
I would still tend to the idea of each writer getting something in, even if it was agreed that a rewrite or a script editor had to overhaul it. The reasons I'm keen on this:
Equity. If everyone is going to get something in, then possible grumbles of 'fix' aren't going to be well-founded. If a writer is excluded, there will be grumbles.
Subjectivity - What's funny for us, isn't funny to everyone else. How often has a pool of writers agreed that this line is a 'zinger' and the audience thought it was a minger? Just look in the Sitcom discussion threads for examples. We'll be just as capable of making the same errors of 'judgement'
Diversity - every style, and taste, represented by the pool will appear at some point. It'll increase our chances of hitting everyone's funny bone at some point in the pilot. If it's all surreal or all Character then we'll narrow our chances.
Perhaps if a rejected writer is told that if they can rewrite a sketch at under a suggested time / length (or agree to a script edit) then it'll go in. We can think of more elegant solutions to accomodate everyone.
All of us on this forum are now known to each other. Most of the names in this thread have been here for a while, and in the case of newbies they were in on the forum before the show idea grew. However, I think we need to restrict new guys, or put them through a pool submission stage until they've demonstrated stickability. We don't want floods of new people signing up to Sitcom just because they've heard that there's the potential carrot on the end of a sketch show stick.
