Introduction
Sunday 18th October 2009
Well, we're finally off and running. Having produced The Sitcom Trials for two years, we've branched off on our own. We had a great time producing The Sitcom Trials, and we're really pleased to see James Parker pick up where we left off. There's space for all of us out there, and healthy competition never hurt anyone. As Mike Southon, our brilliant business mentor, told us "If you're the only person trading in a market, you need to ask yourself why."
We send respect and good wishes to all those involved in The Sitcom Trials, Sitcom Saturday and any other groups involved in making situation comedies bigger, brighter and funnier.
We thought we'd use this first blog to answer some questions that have come up on the British Comedy Guide forum.
Some people have asked why the short-listed candidates need to write a second episode.
The answer is: we want to provide our directors with as much decent material to work with as possible. With two 15-minute episodes, the director, in consultation with the writer, may feel the second episode is better, or that the first was funnier, or they may want to combine elements of both.
We also want the authors we showcase to prove that they're not 'one-trick ponies' and that the sitcom they've written has got potential for a series.
Another question we've been asked is about staging. Ok, think of the stage as this: bare, apart from a table and a couple of chairs. You can have three chairs. And you can make three chairs into a sofa. And, if we all use our imaginations, we can pretend one of the chairs is the bow of a ship, and the captain of the ship can put his foot up on it and look out to sea. We may have to pretend there's a sea.
As Simon always says, "Don't be remembered for your set. And don't let stage management win the awards." We've got wonderful stage management, but we're showcasing actors and writers. Keep it simple.
The Smoking Room used chairs. You could do a whole episode of Porridge using chairs. Chairs are good. We like chairs.
Also, child actors. I don't mean we like child actors, oh... you know what I mean. The problem with child actors is that they have chaperones which cost lots of money.
And adult actors probably wouldn't want to play a child, because they won't get cast as a child by casting directors who've got money because they use child actors.
I know it's restricting not to have access to child actors, especially if you're pitching a family sitcom, which is what the BBC are especially looking for at the moment and which is being under-pitched. But it's a chance to use your creativity. You may have to refer to a child who's coming home from school, or is asleep upstairs or is having a sleepover, or is at his grandparents' for the weekend.
We never saw Maris in Frasier or Mrs Mainwaring in Dad's Army, but we had perfect descriptions of them, so it may be the same for your sitcom sprog.