Haven't done this in awhile but several of you have requested it. Today I'll show an episode of our CBS show ALMOST PERFECT and tomorrow I'll walk you through the thought process on how we broke the story and why we made the decisions we made.
A quick refresher on ALMOST PERFECT. It's about a high-powered woman in her 30s (Nancy Travis) who is a writer on a TV cop show. On the day she gets the job of her life (showrunner) she meets the guy of her life (Kevin Kilner) and both are a full-time job.
Final note: the show starts 25 seconds in. Enjoy and we'll see you in class tomorrow.
10 comments :
Nancy Travis is/was so underrated. She should'a been a star...
One of my all-time favorite lines from tv was when Nancy said 'Pay Attention To Me!' i can still picture her saying it...
It's interesting to me that there were "only" 12 scenes. It's kind of nuts that modern comedies can have up to 50 -- although I suppose they're largely flashback gags.
I totally thought that a) Kim would end up calling KFC and Mike would pretend not to know. They'd have a nice meal together and he'd make a slight comment that would reveal he knew.
Or b) Kim would call KFC. Mike would eat it and enthuse about how much it tasted just like his Mum's cooking. Afterwards Kim would confess to his Mum, only to find out that that was her secret, too.
(The nice thing about this ending was that it would give Kim the idea that maybe she COULD look after him in the way his mother did... A hectic and busy Mum probably has her little tricks, after all.)
Or c) Gary would call and give her an out. The joke being that instead of saying, "WHAT?!", she'd say, "Oh, thank God!" and be able to leave.
Of course, none of these endings added any heart to show -- which was needed, because that's the show it was.
Nice how the final two scenes mirrored each other with Kim consoling Gary the way Mike had consoled her.
Looking forward to tomorrow's post.
Absolutely love Nancy Travis. Loved her on Becker . . . loved her in this episode . . . wish the show had flown . . . would love to see more of her.
Hope you write another show featuring her. She's tops!
FRIDAY QUESTION, for which this post was kind of a nice lead-in. Due to the volume of sitcom hours I've watched, I've picked up the nack for the sitcom punch line. Unfortunately, sometimes, in real life, I can't resist the urge to respond to someone with sitcommy comeback instead of what real life dictates I should have said instead. Do sitcom writers contantly struggle with the urge to give the sitcommy response in real life when some other response is less likely to get your ass kicked (or kicked out of bed)?
very good post
Am I supposed to ignore what's going on the background from 5:05 to 5:16 because....well, I can't.
Hello everyone.
Hi Ken, I really enjoy reading everything you put up on this blog regarding sitcoms & sitcom writing etc. And you've wrote for almost ALL of my favorite sitcoms I've loved since I was a little boy. So, in other words, I'm a HUGE fan & I'm also a wannabe writer.
I've come up with an idea for a sitcom & I would be honored if you could grant me the time to pitch it to you. Either way, I'd love it if I could get some sort of feedback.
And to anyone reading this, if you are experienced in this field of sitcom writing, you can reach me on my twitter handle @aces_9
This is my dream & I'm willing to work extra hard to achieve it. Help me achieve it :)
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