Tips on Comedy and Sitcoms

(page 1 of 2)

(Excerpts and quotes from Writing Television Sitcoms by Evan S. Smith

publisher: The Berkely Publishing Group, 1999)
CHARACTERISTICS OF COMEDY:
1.

2.
3.
4.

5.
6.

Incongruity: When a thought or action is incongruous (incompatible); When you put two dissimilar elements of a story together
(for example, a noisy character in a library; a sloppy person and a neat person living together; an ugly girl giving makeup tips to
a pretty girl; etc.) It is a twist that exploits similarities and differences to turn a simple situation into a funny predicament or a
boring character into a comic figure, or a normal response into a punch line. The situation builds tension followed by a release.
Surprise: Reel the audience in with a realistic setup, and then hit them with a surprise twist at the end. You delay the payoff,
the punch line, until the end, or at least until you have set the audience up for the laugh.
Truth: If the humor contains a shred of truth that the audience can relate to or recognize, then it will be funnier, and the humor
will seem clever. Know your audience.
Aggression: Telling jokes is a great way to vent. Humor provides an outlet for anger and frustrations by allowing people to take
verbal jabs at things that cause stress in peoples lives, the government, school, authority figures, family, etc. It does not always
have to be obvious; sometimes not mentioning the target but just alluding to a trait of the target is enough. Of course, it again
has to be something the audience can relate to or identify with.
Brevity: In the words of Shakespeares Hamlet, Brevity is the soul of wit. Less is more. Humor must be lean.
THE IMPORTANCE OF TENSION: All of the above, and all humor, in some way depend on an underlying process of
establishing, building and then releasing tension.

CHARACTERISTICS OF SUCCESSFUL SITCOM COMEDY:

1. Seamless humor: Humorous situations should flow naturally in a story. It should not seem forced or seem stuck in just to make
a joke. Characters should have dialogue that sounds like something they would say. Dialogue should not just be one liners that
are forced. Any humor should be true to the overall premise of the show.
2. Consistency: Figure out the amount, style and types of humor that are appropriate for your story and keep it consistent.
3. Escalation: Comedic tension, predicaments, etc. should escalate toward a comedic climax toward the end.

TRADITIONAL SITCOM FORMAT:

A.
B.
C.
D.

E.
F.

G.
H.
I.

Act one: Opening Scenea short setup of the premise, plant some scenes, get a laugh or a few.
Credits/theme song
Spots
Act Two:
Introduce Plot A
---Develop plot A through a series of escalating beats throughout the act
Introduce Plot B
---Develop plot B through a series of escalating beats.
(Can go back and forth between plots; plots can overlap, etc.)
Escalate the drama and the comedic tension.
Build to a CLIFFHANGER at the end of act two. (A twist or turning point)action, decision, etc. that sends the plot
toward a new direction (usually a funny or intriguing one) that will hold the audiences attention; make them want to
come back after the commercials.
Spots
Act Three:
In some way, tie back to Act Two to reorient the audience. Usually related to the cliffhanger in some way.
Escalate Plot A with more beats (rising action; rising drama; rising comedic tension)
---bring Plot A to a climax, usually the high point of comedy; could be a confrontation; could confront
whatever predicament character is in, etc. At this point, the story can go no where else but resolution.
---Resolution of Plot A.
Escalate Plot B with more beats, if appropriate for your story.
----Resolution of Plot B..sometimes can merge with plot A.
Spots
Ending/ final scene/ closing: Plots are already resolved; this scene usually gets one more laugh, and is in some way related to
one or both of the plots. This is not crucial to the plots, but just an add-on to wrap up or get a laugh.
Closing credits and theme song.

Tips on Comedy and Sitcoms (page 2 of 2)

(Excerpts and quotes from Writing Television Sitcoms by Evan S. Smith)

TIPS FOR WRITING AND PRODUCING A SUCCESSFUL SITCOM COMEDY:

1. Four ways to integrate seamless comedy into your story premise:
Predicaments: (unpleasantly difficult, perplexing or dangerous situation): Design an escalating series of predicaments
into the story, and the incongruity in each situation will generate comedic tensions, which will be compounded by each
subsequent larger predicament. The audience has to be cued that they are dealing with comedy and then the tension will
produce laughs. If you build in a sustained premise, then it can produce jokes for scene after scene until the
predicament is resolved. A continuing unresolved predicament leaves the viewer hanging and creates anticipation and
an underlying suspense that builds as the viewer anticipates the payoff. Examples:
A.
B.
C.
D.
E.
F.
G.
H.

The Big Lie: A character tells a lie in a weak moment and that leads to a bigger lie and then a bigger lie and keeps
escalating (creating tension) until it all backfires.
The Big Secret: A lead character discovers a secret about another character, but somehow is prohibited from revealing
the info; this too escalates.
The Misunderstanding: A character misunderstands something he has over heard or seen, or something he is told, and
then gets into trouble when he acts on that info.
A Rock and a Hard Place: A lead character must choose between two very good things or two very bad things.
The Surefire Scheme: The scheme usually leads to a series of escalating problems, bad decisions and foolish risks, and
by end usually backfires.
Something that Rocks the Boat: All is normal until some unexpected event occurs (an old girlfriend comes back, etc)
and then escalating tensions arise until a final confrontation or showdown.
Time Bomb: a race against time; characters have to accomplish some impossible goal by an approaching deadline. The
harder they try, the worse things get.
Trapped in Space: The lead characters get themselves trapped in a small space.

Character Mix: Some characters are funny in any situation, but when creating a cast of characters, pay attention to the
mix. Characters should not duplicate each other but rather complement each other, contributing something different
to the mix. Characters reactions to each other can be central to the comedy. Funny characters lead to comedy, but so
can character relationships. Some ways to create character humor:
A.
B.
C.
D.
E.

Role Reversal: A character is forced to take on a role that is contrary to her nature
Fish Out of Water: Put a character(s) in an environment where she/they dont belong.
Odd Coupling: Create characters who are opposite but must share the same space.
Romantic tension: Create characters who need to be together but perhaps never get there.
Pretense: Character pretends to be something she is not (usually doomed to exposure and humiliation.)

Style of Comedy: How much and what type of humor is appropriate for the script.(develop your show style)
Casting: Play to the actors strengths. Sometimes consider casting opposite type.

2.

The Setup: The goal is to set up the audience with a scenario that seems reasonable, logical or ordinary. Then usually have to
develop with dialogue or beats and then to give the twist or punch line which creates the humor. Sometimes the fundamental
joke structure is: setup, more setup, punch line. Can even space it out throughout a scene or episode.

3.

Punch Lines: (the twist, surprises, etc.):

Put the punch line last.
Dont go past the joke. If the punch line is verbal, then it usually comes at the end of what the person is saying. If
there are several jokes in a speech, then put in pauses to separate the jokes.
Topping a Joke: Sometimes one joke leads to another and another..
Running Gags: Tell a joke in an early scene and then come back to it two or three times, perhaps having character say
exact same line in different circumstances, OR different characters recite same line in different scenes.

4.

Funny Actions:
Mannerisms: Characters may become known for certain traits which audiences come to expect.
Stage Business: Character might fiddle with something or be doing something else that seems unrelated to what is going on
in the scene, but that defines character or is setting up an upcoming joke or helps set tone of the scene.
A Take: A character is surprised and responds with a look or a funny reaction or expression. Sometimes a simple
physical response is all that is needed for the punch line.
Slapstick: Falling, dropping, whacking, etc. Can be humorous if set up and build, or common character trait, etc.
Funny Visuals: many forms of sight gags.
Funny Sounds
Alliteration: starting several words in the same phrase with the same sounds

5.

Some definitions:
Beats: A moment, a discovery or an incident that alters the main characters goals or increases a storys
dramatic tension. Things that happen to forward the storylines / plots.
Scene: A segment of a story that occurs in one location over one period of time.

Sequence: A series of consecutive scenes that feature one continuous action (like a chase)