I’ll be getting notes on a script from a network or studio exec and she’ll say, “Sure it’s funny, but…”
I want to stop her right there and say, “Excuse me, do you have any idea how hard it is to write something that is truly funny?” The ability to craft a joke that will make 200 strangers in the audience laugh or 6 million viewers takes genuine talent. Because it’s not just “jokes”, the laughs have to be in character and move the story forward. Trust me, it is a skill that very few possess. And the time and effort that goes into fine tuning those jokes to ensure that the absolute best version is going on the air is enormous.
A number of current sitcom writers who are in development say the networks tend to ignore “the funny.” They’ll give notes like, “Don’t concentrate on the funny; give us more backstory.” Or “you can make it funnier later.” And then my favorite: “Sure it’s funny, but…”
These are COMEDIES. Situation COMEDIES. What do you mean “it’s funny BUT…”? For my money, the big problem with network comedies is that they’re just not funny. Networks should be pushing writers to make their shows FUNNIER. People don’t tune in for backstory. Dole that shit out along the way, but make the viewer laugh (however you choose to do that).
A lot of the executives in comedy development at both the network and studio level are not inherently funny people. They push likeability (which is comedy death), they lobby for more warmth, they champion formulas. You think they’d learn something from SEINFELD. When people turn on sitcoms they want to LAUGH. Sure, they want to care, but they want to laugh. In superhero movies, yeah, you can establish relationships as long as people are flying and cities are being destroyed.
So to those executives I would like to respectfully say, “Sure you have that job, but…”
from By Ken Levine
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