Believable Comedy

I get confused by TV companies saying that comedy/characters should be believable.
I always thought that, a sitcom particularly, is life heightened and there to make us laugh.
For instance 'Last Of The Summer Wine' is not believable but very funny imo. The things the three pensioners get up to would never happen in real life. Similarly, 'Gimmi, Gimmi' is not believable but also very funny. 'My Family' does not even raise a chuckle with me and I would not class that as a sitcom but rather a half hour of light entertainment. Many years ago the 'Young Ones' was not believable, to me, and so on.
So does anyone know what is meant by 'believable' when mostly the sitcoms I've seen are not.
Is it just another 'rejection' excuse?

Another example is Shameless although not a sitcom more a comedy/drama is not always believable. The scene where Paddy shot his gun in the pub was very funny but not believable and the worst scene to me in the whole series was the dream sequence in the last episode. So what is this....it must be believable?

Believable of the character in question.

No one like Basil Fawlty could believably run a hotel, but within the premise of the sitcom all of Basil's actions and reactions are believable.

Are the character and the situation true to themselves and the world which the inhabit?

Are the actions/reactions of those around the character true to world they inhabit.

Any piece of writing only works if the characters and the universe created for them tally...

Dr Who is believable for the same reason as Shameless, Dads Army, Hello Hello, Poldark and every other TV hit, good writing with situations and characters true to the concept...

kjs

Delighted, and surprised to see you're a Young One's fan.

I think "believable," is short hand in the same way as "wacky" is. It means simple minded unchallenging comedy, for the mythical average punter most producers are after. e.g. bunch of mates sharing a flat, guy running a hotel, that's believable.

It's also lazy, and symptomatic of comedy produced by people who don't love it. Red dwarf may have been set in space, but it's bickering characters had a highly believable set if interactions.

I've always thought that one of the signs of a good sitcom is a consistent world. And I think a believable character fits that, believable as part of that world.

But Kjs, I have had comments like the story isn't believable and neither are the characters, even though the characters were in their 'universe' that I had created for them.
If Fawlty Towers was sent to the beeb today, they would say 'the story is not believable and neither are the characters, I do not believe a hotel would be run like that'

It means believable in their own context. So Basil Fawlty wouldn't decide to run the Marathon, purely to raise money for a children's charity etc. That wouln't be true to character. Whilst if he hit a sheep whilst driving, you would believe that mutton would be on the menu that night.

I wrote a sitcom about five unemployed friends living in a flat. a couple of actors a designer etc. The eldest a gay and a designer had rich friends and one of the rich ones asked could the five arrange a party for business friends and he would give them 10k to pay for it all etc. i got that no one would hand over that sort of money and I don't believe that this would happen etc

Then, sorry BB .... And I'm not being nasty or trying to wind you up... that is down to the quality of the writing...

kjs

Quote: bushbaby @ April 17 2008, 9:31 AM BST

But Kjs, I have had comments like the story isn't believable and neither are the characters, even though the characters were in their 'universe' that I had created for them.
If Fawlty Towers was sent to the beeb today, they would say 'the story is not believable and neither are the characters, I do not believe a hotel would be run like that'

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Quote: KJSmyling @ April 17 2008, 9:36 AM BST

Then, sorry BB .... And I'm not being nasty or trying to wind you up... that is down to the quality of the writing...

kjs

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It's not Kjs because my massage parlour one would have been accepted but it was too risque at the time. My two spec scripts would have been accepted but Carolyne won't let anyone else write for Royle Family. I've had Andy Harris and Campbell the director of RF ringing me up asking if I have anything else.
It seems the beeb are the biggest culprits in saying 'it's not believable'

If my Grandmother had wheels she's be a wagon.

Believeable means in the Colereidge sense.. i.e. the willing suspension of disbelief.

Quote: KJSmyling @ April 17 2008, 9:37 AM BST

Then, sorry BB .... And I'm not being nasty or trying to wind you up... that is down to the quality of the writing...

kjs

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I wouldn't agree with that comment at all. The appreciation of comedy is purely subjective and one man's meat...

I've read that John Cleese couldn't get anybody interested in Fawlty Towers to begin with. The Beatles were turned down by every record company before getting signed.

So much of this business is the right thing landing on the right desk or screen at the right time.

Quote: KJSmyling @ April 17 2008, 9:37 AM BST

Then, sorry BB .... And I'm not being nasty or trying to wind you up... that is down to the quality of the writing...

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Don't think that's true. TBH, Bushbaby the premise of the story seems a bit like the "winning the pools" theme but better disguised. The negative feedback you recieved about asking 5 people to organise a party for 10K rings true (when a professional company could do it better and money is clearly no obstacle to the rich friend).

If you believe in the characters amend / rewrite the plot.

Yeah, I'd agree that the premise isn't very believable.

It was just a quick description. It is believable when the rich gay friend [who gives the 10k] fancies the pants off the designer and wants desperately to get in 'em and wants to give him an income but for him to work for it, and 10k is peanuts to a millionaire and would cost at least double with a company. The fun in this is when the five try arranging the party [they do a different theme each time, the first one being a caribbean theme] on a tight budget to then have some left for themselves. But there's never owt left because things always turn out disasterously

You can have the most outlandish plot or surreal situation, but if the characters are written well enough, and are grounded in a genuine reality, then it will get made. probably the best example currently would be the mighty boosh.