{"id":660119,"date":"2026-11-13T23:06:14","date_gmt":"2026-11-13T23:06:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/660119\/"},"modified":"2026-11-13T23:06:14","modified_gmt":"2026-11-13T23:06:14","slug":"comedy-writers-on-episodic-orders-tone-and-the-state-of-the-sitcom","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/660119\/","title":{"rendered":"Comedy Writers on Episodic Orders, Tone and the State of the Sitcom"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\tTV comedy vet Michael Schur (\u201cParks and Recreation,\u201d \u201cThe Good Place\u201d) is worried about the state of the sitcom. As he prepares to launch his latest series, Peacock\u2019s \u201cDig<\/a>,\u201d he\u2019s concerned about the industry\u2019s focus on \u201ccompletion rates.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cThat\u2019s part of this new kind of \u2018tech bro\u2019 ethos that has seeped into our business,\u201d he told the audience at Variety\u2019s annual Night in the Writers\u2019 Room: Awards Season Edition. \u201cIt doesn\u2019t matter how many people sample the show. It matters how many people end up watching the whole thing.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tBut in comedy, he pointed out, audiences often take time to bond with characters and understand what kind of people they are before they get in a groove and find them funny. Shows like \u201cCheers,\u201d \u201cSeinfeld\u201d and \u201cThe Office\u201d weren\u2019t out-of-the-box hits; it took time for the writers and actors to find their show\u2019s sweet spot \u2014 and gel as the megahits they became.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cI just wish that we were still in the world where you could fail in comedy for a while and because the failure is the R&D,\u201d he said. \u201cIn the old system, you had a couple months to fail, and now you don\u2019t. Because if people tune out in the first two episodes, the research shows that they never go back. That\u2019s the part of this that really rankles me as a comedy writer.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tSchur noted that his \u201cParks and Recreation\u201d only found its voice at the end of Season 1, and that\u2019s when the show as we remember it really took off. \u201cWe only got there because we failed a bunch of times in a row figuring out how to get to that point,\u201d he notes.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe old broadcast model of 22 or more episodes a season \u2014 which only a handful of sitcoms still enjoy \u2014 gave comedies room to find their groove, and then created the kind of legendary shows that viewers still go back and binge. \u201cYou get to tell a lot of story, and out of 24 episodes, there\u2019s maybe three weak ones,\u201d said HBO\u2019s \u201cThe Comeback<\/a>\u201d co-creator Michael Patrick King.<\/p>\n

\n\tEven \u201cThe Comeback\u201d co-creator and star Lisa Kudrow noted that \u201cFriends\u201d didn\u2019t really take off until the summer after its first season. \u201cRepeats were run after Seinfeld, and that\u2019s when it exploded,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\n\tBut now, with most streaming comedies topping out at eight or 10 episodes a season, storytelling has changed. And Schur is worried that the institutional memory of how to produce a hefty load, like those 22-episode seasons, has gone away. \u201cThere\u2019s very few people left who have a muscle memory of how to actually execute that. And I don\u2019t want it to go away. I think we need it back.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tAnd that\u2019s why the panel was so encouraged by the news \u2014 announced earlier that day \u2014 that FX\u2019s \u201cAdults<\/a>\u201d had been renewed for Season 3 with 16 episodes. Creators Ben Kronengold and Rebecca Shaw noted that the large commitment will allow them to expand into holiday episodes and storylines that are more character-driven without having to raise the stakes with so many plots.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cFrom a production standpoint, we\u2019re, of course, very daunted,\u201d Shaw said. \u201cBut from a storytelling perspective, it\u2019s so exciting.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tKronenberg and Shaw benefited from that rare dose of network patience that Schur was lamenting rarely exists now. In the case of \u201cAdults,\u201d FX suggested the pair go back and retroactively shoot a new pilot episode that introduces the series\u2019 characters and universe more fully. They took on that challenge, and it has helped with more audience sampling.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201c[FX boss] John Landgraf gave us a call and said, \u2018Listen, the show is responding with Gen Z, which is great. We want it to be bigger. We think it can be bigger,\u2019\u201d Shaw said. \u201cI think the metaphor that was used was, \u2018we\u2019re throwing a party, how do we put down a welcome mat?\u2019 John talked about how there\u2019s a reason that shows used to have a premise pilot.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tIn this fickle streaming age, it\u2019s also become more important than ever to quickly establish a series\u2019 tone \u2014 and with just eight episodes, Prime Video\u2019s \u201cRide or Die<\/a>\u201d executive producer Matt Miller said that was a tall order. His series, starring Hannah Waddingham as an assassin and Octavia Spencer as her best friend (who has just been clued in to the truth), mixes action, adventure, mystery, relationships and comedy.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cWe want the comedy to be a relief to the action, to the mystery,\u201d he said. \u201cIf you bring that into the danger and into the thriller element of the show, it becomes silly. We\u2019re always super conscious of, how would a person behave in this. What is the grounded version of this? To the extent that the show works at all the different genres, humor is the hardest part.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tIn reuniting with \u201cParks and Rec\u201d star Amy Poehler for \u201cDig,\u201d Schur said the two of them quickly got back into their groove. \u201cShe\u2019s been producing and directing for a decade now, and so she thinks differently,\u201d he said. \u201cShe doesn\u2019t only think like an actor, but had a lot of this stuff about the show figured out already by the time she called me. Tone is the hardest thing. No one can actually define it.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tBut Schur tried: \u201cPeople pitch jokes or come up with ideas, and for some reason, you\u2019re just like, \u2018I don\u2019t think that\u2019s right\u2019 and you throw it away,\u201d he said. \u201cThen you keep removing the stuff that doesn\u2019t seem right, and what you\u2019re left with is the tone of the show.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tKing said it might even be a trap to try to define tone: \u201cIt\u2019s tricky because if it\u2019s already recognized, the show might be dead,\u201d he said. \u201cThe only reason we got to keep going [with \u2018The Comeback\u2019] after it went away and came back was because the tone was original and people responded to it. As Mike was saying, the tone is the people in the room that are removing stuff and adding stuff. So what\u2019s really scary is as the rooms get smaller and smaller, you have fewer people [creating that tone].\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tSpeaking of \u201cThe Comeback,\u201d are King and Kudrow absolutely, positively sure it\u2019s over? They won\u2019t change their minds and come back in another 10 years?<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cNo,\u201d Kudrow said. \u201cWe\u2019re both shaking our heads at the same time, right?\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tAdded King: \u201cIt was harrowing to do it again after 10 years. And it took 10 years because it has to be a thing to come back for. There was a lot of other funny stuff we could have done, but it wasn\u2019t big enough. We kind of think we\u2019re done.\u201d (\u201cDon\u2019t say \u2018kind of!\u2019\u201d Kudrow quipped.)<\/p>\n

\n\tAs for Miller, \u201cRide or Die\u201d has been canceled by Prime Video, but producer Paramount TV Studios is still shopping the show for a new home. \u201cStorytelling-wise, we did a 20-week Season 2 writers\u2019 room. So we do have a good sense of where that\u2019s going to go in the story. Without giving away too much, Octavia\u2019s son is getting married and I don\u2019t know how much I can give away \u2026 but wackiness ensues.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cWe wrote it with the expectation that we\u2019ll get to shoot it, and we\u2019re enormously proud of it,\u201d he added. \u201cProduction\u2019s really hard. Ideally, of course, if Mr. Bezos called and asked us to do Season 2, we would be delighted.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"TV comedy vet Michael Schur (\u201cParks and Recreation,\u201d \u201cThe Good Place\u201d) is worried about the state of the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":660120,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[207473,27709,88853,156,111,139,69,217059,127370,437],"class_list":["post-660119","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tv","tag-a-night-in-the-writers-room","tag-adults","tag-dig","tag-entertainment","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-ride-or-die","tag-the-comeback","tag-tv"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/660119","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=660119"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/660119\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/660120"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=660119"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=660119"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=660119"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}