I've decided to spec Two and a Half Men. Not because I think I'll do it justice, but simply because I want to. At least I'll have fun shoveling shit--assuming that's all that comes out of the exercise. Obviously I'm not setting out to create crap, but, at this point, I have no illusions about being any kind of adult prodigy (if there is such a thing).
As I'm thinking about what I want my spec to be about, it occurs to me that it's a lot harder to write in the framework of characters lives but still be fresh, funny, and interesting week to week. Most shows on TV, especially sitcoms, feature characters that never really do anything major, and whom always end up exactly the same at the end of each episode.
There are books which will tell you all about this. I'll boil it down for you: people like to see the same thing week to week because it's like comfort food. Most people like to eat one or two different kinds of ice cream or junk food whenever they're in the mood for it; it's the same way with anything/everything else--TV, movies, books, whatever. People like the same ole. Oh, we all play lip service to the pleasures of "variety" but ultimately it isn't variety (for the most part) that makes us happy.
There's an additional component that makes sitcom rely heavily on characters rarely, if at all, changing. In life we're all basically the same year to year, day by day. It's frustrating to always forget where the hell you put your keys, but no matter how hard you try, most of the ways you are become set in concrete after a certain time. If you ever do change it is very slowly, and only by working very hard at it. TV, more than most story mediums reflects this aspect of reality. Think about it: did Ross, Rachel, Chandler, Joey, or Pheobe really change that much over many years that Friends was on the air? Not really. Not at all. They were essentially the same people at the end as they were in the beginning. Yet we stayed with them for ten years, breathlessly anticipating each weeks adventures in the land of Friends.
Two and a Half Men is no exception--or at least it shouldn't be. Alan, Jake, and Charlie really haven't changed much if any. Jake is only growing up physically, not really internally.
Keeping all this in mind, it becomes apparent why so many of the Friends episodes were entitled simply "The One Where Ross Likes Bananas" (or whatever). Since your characters cannot change that much, or effectively at all, in the course of an episode, your story must really be about nothing major. Or, if it's a major subject, it must be handled in a minor way. If someone's died, you have to make it no more important than Alan taking up bowling to meet chicks. You can't have anyone (at least in the core cast) coming to any really big life realizations. The fact that Two and a Half Men is already starting to head this direction (in the finale of the 4th season) gives me the impression that the show may be near the end of it's lifespan. Perhaps the showrunners are tired of the show, running out of steam, or some such.
Regardless, for the purposes of my spec, I have to come up with something minor which I can make a big deal about but which won't change any character's life, or something major which I can make light up and avoid changing a character's life.
I have to put myself in my characters POV, drop into their lives, and voyeuristically get a peak at what they're up to this week; something trite, meaningless, irrelevant overall...like a new pet or a hygiene problem.
As I'm thinking about what I want my spec to be about, it occurs to me that it's a lot harder to write in the framework of characters lives but still be fresh, funny, and interesting week to week. Most shows on TV, especially sitcoms, feature characters that never really do anything major, and whom always end up exactly the same at the end of each episode.
There are books which will tell you all about this. I'll boil it down for you: people like to see the same thing week to week because it's like comfort food. Most people like to eat one or two different kinds of ice cream or junk food whenever they're in the mood for it; it's the same way with anything/everything else--TV, movies, books, whatever. People like the same ole. Oh, we all play lip service to the pleasures of "variety" but ultimately it isn't variety (for the most part) that makes us happy.
There's an additional component that makes sitcom rely heavily on characters rarely, if at all, changing. In life we're all basically the same year to year, day by day. It's frustrating to always forget where the hell you put your keys, but no matter how hard you try, most of the ways you are become set in concrete after a certain time. If you ever do change it is very slowly, and only by working very hard at it. TV, more than most story mediums reflects this aspect of reality. Think about it: did Ross, Rachel, Chandler, Joey, or Pheobe really change that much over many years that Friends was on the air? Not really. Not at all. They were essentially the same people at the end as they were in the beginning. Yet we stayed with them for ten years, breathlessly anticipating each weeks adventures in the land of Friends.
Two and a Half Men is no exception--or at least it shouldn't be. Alan, Jake, and Charlie really haven't changed much if any. Jake is only growing up physically, not really internally.
Keeping all this in mind, it becomes apparent why so many of the Friends episodes were entitled simply "The One Where Ross Likes Bananas" (or whatever). Since your characters cannot change that much, or effectively at all, in the course of an episode, your story must really be about nothing major. Or, if it's a major subject, it must be handled in a minor way. If someone's died, you have to make it no more important than Alan taking up bowling to meet chicks. You can't have anyone (at least in the core cast) coming to any really big life realizations. The fact that Two and a Half Men is already starting to head this direction (in the finale of the 4th season) gives me the impression that the show may be near the end of it's lifespan. Perhaps the showrunners are tired of the show, running out of steam, or some such.
Regardless, for the purposes of my spec, I have to come up with something minor which I can make a big deal about but which won't change any character's life, or something major which I can make light up and avoid changing a character's life.
I have to put myself in my characters POV, drop into their lives, and voyeuristically get a peak at what they're up to this week; something trite, meaningless, irrelevant overall...like a new pet or a hygiene problem.
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