Writing TV Sitcoms

Situation comedy is in some ways a dramatic form, in that it must tell a story.

Philip Larkin put it neatly when he said a satisfying story has a beginning, a muddle and an end. New writers often start at A and get to Z in a straight line. The muddle in the middle is what makes a story involving.

It is useful to think of organising a story in three acts. The first act (often three to five pages of a 30-minute script) sets up the major story of the episode, and introduces the major sub-plot. The final act (again, three to five pages) resolves both main plot and sub-plot. The middle act develops the narrative but also pushes things off into an unexpected direction. The audience should always want to know what is going to happen next, and be intrigued.

Involvement in a story depends on the characters through whom it is told. Whether the characters are heightened a lot or a little, they need to be recognisably human, behave in ways that people behave in life rather than in an artificial sitcom world, have personalities which will generate comic conflict and disagreement, and have tones of voice which are immediately and obviously theirs.

When planning a new idea, the characters should come first and if they are the right characters they will arrive with their world attached. Don't say: "Estate agents (or libraries, or dating agencies or undertakers) are funny, so I'll set a comedy in that world and then people it."

Think about the people first, give them histories (even if you never refer to them in the story/script), test them out in different situations where they are under pressure and see how they react, think about what makes them happy or scared or angry, write monologues for each character in that character's tone of voice, find ways of exploring them fully. Make the people authentic, put them in an authentic world and then find their comic tone.

It's always useful to plan and write out a storyline before embarking on a script. Describe what happens in each scene, remembering that each scene should be a mini-drama in itself, and should move the story or sub-plot forward. When the storyline is working satisfactorily, then start on the script.

Tailor your script to its intended market. If you are writing a sitcom to be recorded with a studio audience look at examples and note that there are generally three large sets and perhaps two small ones, that there is a limited amount of location taping, and that the action generally happens over a short period of time - because every different day demands a change of costume that slows down the recording.

If you are writing a comedy to be shot entirely on location, then try to avoid complicated set-ups. Location shows use one camera, and every angle has to be covered. Look analytically at a sequence in this sort of show, and see how many shots go to make it up.

Read TV comedy scripts here.