British Comedy Sitcom Guidelines | Research

Our show, ‘Young & Famous’ is desired to be a British Comedy Sitcom, and in order to write the content and create the series correctly, I wanted to do some research to ensure everything was done to the same standard as it would be in a professional setting.

Traditional sitcoms are made up of a series of individual stories in each episode, with a cast of continuous characters in a set-up that remains the same throughout. Traditional sitcoms are usually recorded in front of a live audience, like Fawlty Towers, My Family, Mrs Browns Boys, etc. However, comedy series’ are different from traditional sitcoms, due to the element of having a consistent storyline throughout each series. Also, they differ as a comedy series tends to be recorded on location, rather than in front of a studio audience, like Gavin & Stacey, Outnumbered and Motherland (a new comedy sitcom as of Nov ’17).

Both sitcom & comedy series episodes are always roughly 30 minutes long.

Poet Philip Larkin said, that situation comedy is in some ways written in a dramatic form, meaning that is must tell as story of some kind. A good story must have a beginning, a muddle and an end, and the muddle in the middle is what makes the story interesting and involving with the audience. The script is usually organised into three acts to make space for adverts when it’s on screen. The first act sets up the main story of the episode and introduces the main plot for the series, the middle act develops the narrative and creates problems, and the final act resolves both the main plot and the sub-plot. However, since our show is planning to be aired on a Broadcasting channel that doesn’t show adverts, our script doesn’t need to be sectioned into acts. But the episode will still be split into these sections within the narrative to create the story, this means the script would typically be between 25-40 pages. Due to the limitation of time w have for our final film, our script will be roughly 15-18 pages long, with a one page per minute format.

One of the key characteristics of sitcoms is that the main protagonist(s) don’t change much throughout all episodes, and seasons. So, whatever happens within the episode, the situation must end where it began. Each episode starts with the protagonist setting a goal which will be solved by the end of the episode.

When developing characters, they need to be recognisably human while also being out there and heightened. The personalities need to be realistic and some may even cause conflict and disagreement, which can be good within a story. Also, the characters need a history in order to create the characters and plot in an effective way.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/writersroom/writers-lab/genre-toolkits/writing-tv-sitcom

Here is a breakdown of the what the script should contain, in order for it to resemble and follow a sit-com guideline and format:

The Teaser (1-3 Minutes)

This is a short sketch that introduces the show before the title sequence. It introduces the protagonist(s) and shows some of their personality, while also sharing the main obstacle, they need to overcome, with the audience. However, most of the time, this is used as a quick joke to get the ball rolling.

The Trouble (3-8 Minutes)

We see the characters where we left them from the last episode, but a new problem has occurred and that forms the main plot in the episode. During this, a subplot will be introduced and this will be smaller than the main plot. Sometimes the subplot will be linked to the conclusion of the main plot, but this isn’t a necessity.

The Muddle (8-13 Minutes)

The plan that was drawn up to tackle the main plot will be put into action, but this plan can’t work or else the episode would be finished too early. There needs to be another obstacle, that requires an amusing delay to the success of the fist plan. Then this obstacle needs to be overcome so the characters are one step further to completing their first goal.

The Triumph/Failure (13-18 Minutes)

At this point, the protagonist is desperate and the stakes are quite high, as they’ve tried one and failed. They then turn to a last resort, and this either works or fails. Failures work in sitcoms as they are humorous and the characters or main plot don’t change. Unlike in feature films, the result must be successful.

The Kicker (19-21 Minutes)

Like the teaser, there is usually an “outro” which will show the protagonist in the aftermath of the episode’s action. It’s comforting for the audience to see nothing has changed and life has rest to the beginning again. It might end with a nice and funny punchline that brings back a joke from earlier within the episode or a previous episode.

https://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2014/12/cracking-the-sitcom-code/384068/    

Our episode should follow these guidelines in terms of content and characters, however the story won't be as long as it is in this research, due to the time limitations we have.