How Can I Make My Pilot Sitcom Script FUNNIER?
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 7 ก.พ. 2025
- Why you should start in the middle of your pilot sitcom script.
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I've been wanting to make "gag" comics, but I kept writing the beginning and feeling it was taking forever to get the the status quo. Thank you so much for this!
Haha, I was totally going to start my pilot on her first day of work. Thanks for this!
It can be done - but I think it's very hard to make the main character active. So I personally would avoid it. It could be someone else's first day and your protagonist has to show them around, or deal with them in some way.
@thesituationroom9026 So if my character with in an animated cartoon & starting a super hero revolution, against a grimdark empire. Would it be decided to start at thier 1st hijacking, for the revolution or with the event that triggered the revolution?
Because I've been stuck for like a year working on the latter, so maybe I'll try the former
More useful stuff and although you've said this a thousand times on the podcast the way you've summarised it here made it really hit home. Nice lighting BTW! 👍🏻
Thanks Mike! I appreciate the encouragement!
What's the name of the podcast?
@@kingsleyabunene9106 Sitcom Geeks. We've finished now, but there are 222 episodes to catch up on!
I just watched the pilot for the US series 'Just Shoot Me', and it was really bizarre in exactly this respect. It starts in the middle, with the main character working at a television station, and it works instantly. But after a couple of minutes, she's fired - and the rest of the show is about her starting a new job!
HA! Thanks for pointing that out, David. Yes, breaking the rules can work if you're experienced and already have a deal with the network, etc. But if you're starting out, start in the middle and stay there, I reckon.
Bluestone looks pretty good I’ll have to check that out. I hope you keep making videos. Good stuff
Thanks for the encouragement. Really appreciate it!
I enjoyed bluestone, I enjoyed this……in like Flynn! No arsing around, no wasting time telling us what this video is going to be all about then going about it…..eventually, noice one!
Glad you enjoyed it!
MASH is probably the most famous sitcom to do that. It doesn't start with the beginning of the war and no new person comes to the 4077th. Hawkeye is already clashing with Frank and trying to acheive a goal.
this is an amazing video, thanks for the knowledge! I will be submitting some scripts this year. Also, if I were you, I'd ask your parents about where exactly you were born because there's a high chance you are the long-lost twin of Dr Todd Grande.
Thanks for the comment. I guess I look a little like that Todd Grande guy. But no, not related!
Man, I could’ve used your advice a year ago! (& now)
Well, better late than never? But thanks for commenting.
I really loved it❤❤❤❤❤❤ would use your wisdom ❤
So do you need to have a completed Pilot script before you can pitch a sitcom? Also, do you need one to get an Agent?
Anyone? I've asked this question under 5 different videos in the last week, and nobody has answered me yet.
Not if you are already well established. If not, why the hell would someone give you a TV show without a word written? 🤔
Hey. Sorry not to reply sooner. If you don't have a track record, yes, you need to write a whole script. An idea for sitcom isn't really enough, since it's all in the execution - which goes for attracting an agent or a producer. If it's any consolation, I'm pretty well established and I'm finding that people are just demanding or expecting scripts more and more, unwilling to commit development money just on an idea.
@@GaryTongue-zn5di I've actually been working on a sitcom for years.
@@thesituationroom9026 Thanks for that. I've been working on a sitcom for years, on and off, just writing ideas down, so I won't have any problem writing a pilot. By the way, when a writer gets the green light to write a full series, how long does he/she usually get to complete it? Oh, and can they suggest actors that they have in mind to play certain characters?
I need help. 😊
You and me both!
The Nanny
You have a different definition of sitcom when you kill someone on their first day at work. In the States we refer to that as a tragedy.
Ha. Yes, in Bluestone 42, we shot someone to demonstrate the world - that this was an active, hostile war situation, where our lead characters had to be careful or they would go the same way. THis isn't Bilko/Phil Silvers show. So we created an unlikeable guy whom we didn't mind being shot in the context of the show. (And I got to meet Mike McShane, a career highlight and he is LOVELY).
You wrote for Miranda? How do I block this channel
Thank you so much for taking the trouble to post that. Hope you feel better soon.
@@thesituationroom9026 Lol.
"Start in the middle" is the most mindlessly overdone thing in video media, today.
Allow me to correct.
*Arrive Late, leave early.
What do you know? Your British! The British aren't funny, except Rowan Atkinson!
You were probably being mean, but I'm going to agree with you in the sense that for me, American is natural language of situation comedy. It has a really good rhythm to it. I was brought up watching MASH and Cheers, so that's probably why I think that.